The Dolphins Make Me Cry.com - Forums

By Omar Kelly, Commentary
5:53 p.m. EDT, April 9, 2013

Close your eyes and follow me on this journey through the Dolphins playmakers paradise.

Pro Bowl receiver Mike Wallace is going deep, using his 4.3 speed to take a cornerback and safety with him downfield.

New Dolphins tight end Dustin Keller is running an option route down the right seam of the field, and uses his 4.4 speed to create separation from a linebacker.


Envision Davone Bess, Brandon Gibson, Armon Binns, or a draft pick of your choice, running a drag route across the middle of the field.

This fantasy should be an offensive utopia for Ryan Tannehill, the Dolphins starting quarterback, and Mike Sherman, the team's offensive coordinator. However, it could turn into a nightmare quickly if the Dolphins don't approach the 2013 draft properly.

Open your eyes and pay attention to the defensive lineman about to level the Dolphins with a bone-crushing sack. Envision the pocket consistently collapsing. See what I see, which is now an offense filled with weapons, but one lacking a line that can adequately protect the quarterback.

Take a good look at the Dolphins' offensive line that finished last season as the starters, the players who remain the front runners to start again in 2013 if the unit isn't upgraded in the draft.

Jonathan Martin was one of the NFL's worst offensive tackles during his rookie season according to ProFootballFocus.com, which rated him 76th out of 80. And now he'll be protecting Tannehill's blindside fulltime.

On the right side is Nate Garner, who has been respectable in a fill-in role as a tackle or guard, but in four years hasn't proven he's reliable enough for a starting role. Garner allowed one sack and a season-high six hurries in the season's final loss to New England.

And then we've got everyone's favorite fat boy, John Jerry, who reported to training camp at 370-plus pounds last season. Jerry started all of last season at right guard, but describing his performance as "good" would be stretching the truth.

Coach Joe Philbin, who worked his way up the coaching ranks as an offensive line coach in college and the NFL, is the first to admit Miami's offensive line presently isn't athletic enough to maximize the team's zone blocking concepts. The big question is, what will the Dolphins do about it moving forward?

Fail to fortify the offensive line and everything General Manager Jeff Ireland has done this offseason to "provide Tannehill more toys" will be wasted because a quarterback can't thrown pretty passes without proper protection.

The Dolphins offensive line isn't deep. The unit lacks top end talent with the exception of Mike Pouncey and 2012 Pro Bowler Richie Incognito. And few players fit the team's preferred scheme, which requires more athletic 300-pounders and less bulldozers like Incognito and Jerry.

Still not concerned? Still prefer Miami select another playmaker in the first round? Fine, but answer this question.

What happens to the offense if Martin isn't capable of blocking the league's premier pass rushers? And where does Miami go if Martin suffers a season ending injury in August? Keep in mind Jerry is the player on the roster who has played the second-most snaps at left tackle in an NFL game?

That's right. A 350-pound underachiever is Miami's break-in-case of emergency blindside protector. And behind him is Will Yeatman, is a converted tight end.

That is why the Dolphins must seriously consider using its first-round pick on Central Michigan's Eric Fisher, Texas A&M's Luke Joeckel, Oklahoma's Lane Johnson and North Carolina's Jonathan Cooper. Those four offensive linemen, which all fit Miami's scheme, are universally viewed as the elites of the 2013 draft class.

It is likely that the Dolphins would need to trade away one of the team's two second-round picks to move ahead of fellow offensive line starved teams like Arizona (pick No. 7) and San Diego (pick No. 11) to take one of the three elite tackles. Waiting to take an offensive lineman in the second round could be a risky proposition considering there will likely be an early run on the offensive linemen.

Selecting a fifth offensive lineman in the draft's first two-rounds since 2007 certainly isn't sexy, but Tannehill might not get to visit playmaker paradise without it.

Copyright © 2013, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/miami-dolphins/fl-omar-kelly-dolphins-0410-20130409,0,6609761.story

I think the last line kind of summed it up. "Selecting a fifth offensive lineman in the draft's first two-rounds since 2007 certainly isn't sexy, but Tannehill might not get to visit playmaker paradise without it."

I for one have never been happy about it but I could certainly see why it would be important now.  I hope they are able to move up and get one. I would be less impressed if they went RG although Kiper had mentioned it as a possibility.

I would rather trade a 2nd round pick to KC for Albert, but if we don't do that then in Rd 1 we must trade UP to get one of the Top 3 tackles in this draft.

And what made it important now?  The previous regimes' failures.

That would be the best option for us because then it wouldn't cost us two picks. That would be awesome!!

How much salary cap is one extra pick worth?

If MIA trades for Albert, he's going to cost a lot more (in salary) than a rookie would.

but you can "find" yardage from average skill position players.  You can't cheat at the line.  No amount of blocking scheme is going to make up for having better players.  You have to put your resources to shore up the O-Line and D-Line is you want to win in this league.  Then, you find diamonds in the rough for those other positions.

It's not my style to say which individual player should stay/go or who should be drafted.  I'm not a scout, I'm not at practice, and I'm certainly not a doctor.  So, while I like Long and would've liked to see him stay, I don't feel like I have enough info to determine whether or not he was worth his asking price, because 1) I don't know the price, 2) I don't know HOW hurt he was, and 3) I don't know what the team was asking him to do and how well he was able to do it.  Once they decided that they weren't going to retain him, I just have to deal with that.

With the info that I have NOW, that we have no LT, I'm OK if you want to trade up to get one, regardless of what you did before.

Just no...... You find play makers, you don't keep drafting OTs with your first pick. You find guys in the later rounds for that. CB, WR, and pass rushers should be the focus, not linemen.