State of the Miami Dolphins Roster: Interior OL

actually isnt a very good pass blocker. He only gave up one sack but he was beaten multiple times inside that led to quarterback hurries. Gaurds tend to give up fewer sacks than tackles for a few reasons. One is that in the congestion its easier to pass block as a gaurd because the defender has less attack option and 2 because the Quarterback can maintain his vision easier on the interior compared to outside pass rush. So grading gaurds in terms of sacks compared to a Tackle just isnt fair, and sacks given up as a whole isnt a great stat for a gaurd.

Personally i dont like John Jerry very much. He isnt a very good pass blocker, he tends to expose himself on his front foot which makes him susceptible to a variety of moves. he tends to drop his eyes which was extremely detrimental and i found he struggled blocking when he became disconnected from the rest of the line, and badly. i dont think he is very good when pulling, his vision is just ok and he tends to wander and not find defenders at the second level. In the run game he makes alot of the same mistakes, I see him get beat off-balance alot. i know he is young but fundamental things should improve throughout your rookie season and frankly i didnt think he got much better.

So essentially all im saying is I think John Jerry isnt as good as your giving him credit for, especially in pass-blocking.

I also think Joe Berger isnt the answer as our starting center moving forward. Tony Sparano said in camp that he chose Joe Berger over Jake grove because “Joe is simply better at the point of attack”. I still dont understand this. Jake Grove is a great player besides his injuries, which obviously hampered his play. Jake Grove was amazing at the point of attack, and the biggest knock on Joe Berger this season is his timidity in this area. Tony does have a tendency of twisting the truth and i simply just dont believe he honestly felt that way. The only explanation for the move to me is Jake Groves injury status and that he simply wasnt going to be an asset because of it.

Joe Berger is alot like John Jerry, he isnt as good in pass protection in my eyes as some people see, and he isnt very good at the point of attack. I think overall he is a little better than John Jerry fundamentally and at the second level, but they are pretty close. Both have alot to offer as backups.

im going to condense everything else i have to say into this comment. So anyhow i dont disagree with the grades you applied to Berger and Jerry just some of the things you said about them.
Richie Incognito: Richie has to be resigned. He is an absolutely vital piece of our interior and should be a top priority come FA. He really doesnt have any major flaws in his game and is an outstanding run blocker both physically and fundamentally. This season he showed some ring rust moving back to Center but ultimately the move was huge. Centers are hard to come by and they are expensive in this league. Filling that hole with Incognito is vital moving forward.
Pat McQuistan: McQuistan isnt very good. Hes raw for his age. He isnt very fast. He isnt very physical. He doesnt have good vision and cant find assignments at the second level. As many shortcomings as Jerry and Berger have they both are quality backups with upside and starting experience. McQuistan is a guy you dont really want on the field. Hes too unreliable and makes too many mental and technical errors throughout a game to have real value. I think we should let McQuistan go.
Nate Garner: Personally I think he is better than McQuistan. He has just as much versatility but is far more consistant. Coming off the injury he is though and missing a full season is a huge concern
As for Ray Fienga and Cory Proctor we havent seen much of them but they are both bottom of the roster players. Proctor played well in the Jets game in week 3 but suffered the strangest season ending injury ive ever seen. Ray Fienga has had legal trouble and no real play time. Both men are big question marks.

The players we have starting are backup quality players for the championship teams we see year in and year out. If we have success at all in a football game, it starts with the O-line. We need to upgrade every interior line position to be competitive in the NFL. It is that simple. This is the solution to victory, but year in and year out we fail to make the appropriate upgrades and wonder why we are out of the playoffs.

All the Brandon Marshalls in the world cannot even begin to affect the outcome of a football game if the QB is on his butt. And all the Ronnie Brown’s in the world will not be able to make a single positive offensive play if the D-line wins the line of scrimmage and creates penetration.

and we are below average with Long – and we spent the 1st overall pick on Long…
Long is a great player and i am glad we have him, but…. NO Tackle is EVER worth a FRANCHISE QB…think of it this way – if we had taken Matty Ryan – and struggled to find a decent LT for last 2 years (unlikely) – this year we could easily get a good tackle at #15 overall – we will never get a great QB at 15…. The year we had the #1 overall pick – and passed on a QB – these chances just don’t come around often…(you at least should have traded down if you didint like ryan at #1) Its worse this year – but I would take Blaine Gabbert If I was at #1 and needed a QB – trading down a few slots first if possible…
BUT YOU JUST DON’T PASS ON A QB WHEN YOU ARE IN THE SHAPE MIAMI IS…we are now past a F n g DECADE needig a QB….to me nothing else matters until we get a QB…..nothing.

I’d like to get Wisniewski for our center, but he probably won’t be there…plus that would put Richie back at guard.
If he is a better center, I would like to trade down a little and pick up Dan Watkins for our guard. I think he’s the next Mankins.
Then pick up Rob Housler for TE, but thats another article.

… it’s Mark Ingram. These Dolphins aren’t going anywere without a RB. And Ronnie and Ricky are toast this off season…

Defenitely need to keep Richie!

The Phins OL isn’t perfect. It is average, just like the vast majority of the league. The 2 OL’s that just played in the Super Bowl are on par with the Phins OL and in most instances worse. But they had superior talent at all the skill position players with the exception of Marshall.

Let’s also recap. Grove is so good that he wasn’t picked up by another team after he was cut from the Phins. Smiley was signed by the Jags and played 5 games. Thomas was a backup for the great OL in Detroit. By letting these three players go, what exactly did the Phins OL miss? A grand total of 5 games played in ’10.

OL is so far down on the list of problems with this team. QB, RB, TE, 2 WR’s are all so much more important needs. If the Phins had more speed on offense, how much better would the OL seem to be? If the Phins had a game breaker at RB, how much better would the OL seem to be? If the Phins had a speedy WR that could actually occupy a Safety deep, how much better would the OL seem to be? If the Phins had a QB that could make defenses fear the passing game, how much better would the OL seem to be? Solve those things and the OL becomes better overnight with no new players.

So we have 7 Oline players? Aren’t we suppose to have 9-10 on the 53?

It aint the lousy offense, the poor clock management, the regressing QB play, or even the crappy special teams— IT is THe Piss-poor job he did with our O-LINE!

When you are a no-name O line coach and you get an opportunity to coach one of the premeire franchises in the NFL, the very least you should do is do a great job with your O line!
Sparano allowed our teams biggest strength to become prehaps our biggest weakness. This is the main reason I do not think he should have been brought back. I would have given Mike Nolan the job after our coaching search debacle.

a 65-comment breakdown of the interior OL of the Dolphins. Maybe 18 games isn’t such a bad idea.