The Dolphins have agreed in terms to 2 trades so far, both with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Miami will be sending a 2017 7th RD draft pick in return for TE Julius Thomas. Speaking of Julius Thomas, he was in for his physical yesterday in Miami, and has passed that physical, so now we just wait until March 9th at 4PM, when the trading actually begins! Now that Branden Albert is gone, last years gasser of a pick Laremy Tunsil gets to begin his career as the blindside protector of QB Ryan Tannehill , provided Tannehill plays in his own right, with his mysterious knee condition. Julius Thomas gives Miami a good pass catching TE, but not a lot more than that. He’s not really in an line TE, and doesn’t block, so that means, at least in my view, that the Dolphins should be contacting TE Dion Sims A.S.A.P. Besides being fairly one dimensional (Thomas), Thomas has only played in 27 games out of a possible 48 in the last 3 years. (Jordan Cameron anyone?)
The Dolphins yesterday signed rookie Long Snapper Winston Chapman. Chapman played for Mississippi St,, but tore his ACL in 2015. This is his first NFL contract, which is why he has rookie status. Of course we have long time veteran John Denney, who happens to be an excellent LS and ST’s player. Chapman is a long shot to make the team, and is the annual “Bring in a guy to push Denney”
CB/NB K’Wuan Williams, who Miami was purportedly (love that word!) (in Miami’s case it should be porportedly, right) interested in has decided to sign with the SF 49ers. Good luck with that! Former Dolphins DT’s Jared Odrick (JAX) and Paul Soliai (CAR) have both been released. Would the Dolphins have any interest in either making a return? Not likely.
With the subtraction of former LT Branden Albert, Tunsil moves to LT, and that leaves 2 gaping holes, and maybe even 3 unless you’ve already bought in that C Mike Pouncey will actually be able to play the 2018 season, and I mean the WHOLE season. So how do the Dolphins approach this situation. I have made myself pretty clear for quite some time, and I’m sticking to my grits! Please sign RG Kevin Zeitler. We’ve cleared cap space, and I can’t think of a better way to use it. As Brian in NY was kind enough to point out to me, Zeitler is the 2018-2022 version of Ron Popeil’s “Set it and Forget it” Ronco Oven. Wouldn’t it be great to have finally solved one of the OG spots on our line? We still need a LG. I had brought up Luke Joeckel, and Phelon yesterday pointed out OG Austin Pasztor (MIN). Joeckel could be a relatively low end sign (<$4M)), one with more risk, and Austin Pasztor would be a mid level signing (>$4M). Still, both would be affordable options. I think it’s also imperative that we draft a G/C early in this draft, there are a few good options.
GO DOLPHINS!
Finsmob Unleashed 
OG’s are actually becoming just as valuable as OT’s in todays NFL. There was an article about it, I’ll see if I can find it. No big difference between RG and LG anymore either.
Read the piece Dave Hyde has on the importance of offensive guards on teams that have won championship over the past few years. None of them had any kind of major talent at the guard positions.
Like I said before, I have absolutely NO issue if we use and additional draft pick to move up in the 2nd to go after Elflein.
If we can get our guy on defense in the first, whether it be Tak, Reddick or whomever, and then get Elflein in the 2nd we are building a solid draft.
^^^^^
I don’t know. I guess I’m guilty of getting stuck on a number like I’ve said about others in the past. Where others were getting stuck on a yearly avg. I seem to be stuck on the total of Zeitler’s contract when I know that he’ll never see more than half that.
So, if we do sign him we’ll probably guarantee around $29M or so and that’s what he’ll get to play for us for three years. If THAT’s the case I can live with it more than I thought I could.
Mike E,
YUP! There’s no ONE RIGHT WAY to get it done. We’re just using different approaches/philosophies to get to the same end. NOBODY is wrong here, we’re just going about it differently. ALL GOOD! 🙂
http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/agents-take-a-changing-of-the-guard-in-how-the-nfl-values-top-linemen/
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/dave-hyde-blog/fl-sp-hyde-dolphins-guards-20170222-story.html
I wonder if part of the approach we’re going to take is by releasing Albert, we’re going to use a chunk of that on the OL, by releasing Mitchell we’re going to use a chunk of that at DT etc. just with new personnel?
Well one thing we should be thankful for is that we have an owner who carryovers cap each year when unspent. So wherever the save money goes it will be spent at some point. Lots of fans can’t say that.
Not sure if they judge unit, but then look at the OL. Both James and Tunsil come on the relative cheap. What’s it matter if we sign a big dollar FA or use our first on it?
Guys, it’s a passing league under Goodell. What that means is that pass-rushers and rush-defenders are equally important. In other words, EVERY D-Line and O-Line position is important.
Do the best one can under a salary cap. Doling out top-dollar to every position will land one in hot water (see Tannenbaum as GM of the stej). I hope Tannenbaum has learned his lesson.
He really only did that once trying to go for it all and it blew up in his face. He was GM of the Jets for 7 years and they did get to two AFC Championship games as well. It seems all anyone focuses on was the mistake he made and not the good he did for the team.
Lou
Did you read Hyde’s article? He wants to move Urbik to a starting OG spot. LOL
Basically, he’s just undervaluing the position. Ajayi would be creaming for Zeitler, or someone like him.
I read that and, yeah, it’s a bona-fide bonehead move but you look at all those teams who didn’t have any kind of real star power at the guard positions. #GuardsDon’tMatter
Sounds like MIke E and I are on the Guards Matter Team. Part of me would like to sign a kick ass LG and then basically tell teams, “we are running Left….see if you can stop us.” Then when they move that way do something else. Sorta like the old days of the Skins and their trap runs.
Yes – Should we make up t-shirts #GuardsMatter?
#GuardsMatter it is….lol.
Alternative would be #looking4Keith Sims
We did that in the first two games where Ajayi ran for 200+. Ran left all day because we put James as an extra offensive lineman on the left side and put Young at RT.
We ran to the left every play so having Young at RT didn’t matter. lol
Problem is, Zeitler is a RG and RG only. He doesn’t play LG. Never has and probably never will.
So them maybe it ain’t Zeitler…..have no problem if it is not.
New England could have Moe at LG, Curly at C and Larry at RG, and still be SB champs. lol
We run a ZBS so the OL is always moving and trapping which allows for cutback runs which Ajayi is very good at seeing the lanes.
And that means all the more reason they would have to worry about the cutback right if Ajayi always at least fakes left behind three studs. Would keep them even more honest.
OOPS forgot………#GuardsMatter
Ajayi is also good at seeing the outside run and getting there quickly. I would imagine Drake would be too, he’s even faster but it’s more of a vision thing.
Lou
There are always teams who don’t have a star at “X” position, and they are used as “SEE, you don’t need expensive players at “X” position”. New England is a system. They can have interchangeable parts, and it works, because they have a great system run by a great coach that can adapt to anything. No 1 player is going to make that much of a difference. I mean we have Suh, and our defense has sucked since he’s been here. He’s great, but because not enough of the players around him are too, we’re just average or below average.
I think one of the things about the thinking in this situation is we say we “trust in Gase” but, then again, we really don’t trust in Gase.
Yes, NE has a system that they use and developed over the years. It’s a system Belichick started when he was in CLE but never really go a chance to put into place. Gase has a system too and I truly believe Gase is going to get this team to the plug ‘n play realm where the parts become interchangeable, although I think we’re probably one more season away from that point.
And you’re point about no 1 player making that kind of difference is exactly what I’m talking about. He won’t. I’ve been using Suh as an example in my posts over the past two months. That’s why I’m saying signing Zeitler isn’t going to solve the offensive line problems.
He’s a piece of the puzzle. You need 5 guys on the offensive line. They don’t all need to be great; just need to be able to play the game. Our coaching is good enough to make the difference. We’ve got 3 first rd picks on the offensive line and I really don’t believe you need to have ALL first rd picks there to have a solid line. Coaches need to earn their money.
If you have coaches who say “yeah, we need this guy” they’re saying they aren’t the best at their jobs. But I don’t think that’s the coaching staff we have.
However we do it, see lots of opportunities for a run first team being a real competitor. Everyone is so worried about the passing games that teams are turning lighter and faster in their Ds, least in the back seven. And not so different from what we turned too this year.
So line up against a team built to stop Brady, Rodgers, etc and do some smash mouth and that at least could keep you on the scoreboard and in the game. You’d need a strong D too, but that is another subject.
Yeah that’s why I’d like us to re-sign Sims and go with more 2-TE sets along with Thomas. He can also act as the 3rd receiver to create mismatches against a team’s base defense. We’ve already established that you better stop Ajayi. We can set so many things up off of that.
And Ajayi is a perfect back to set that around. Undersized LBs and safeties might track him down, but then tackling him is quite another thing. Want Sims back too, or at least some like him. For sure their will be a guy who can block at TE in the base, and don’t see what he offers other than that as special (even if he has good hands).
Why are we talking about backup point guards, when we don’t have the starters?
2017 NFL unrestricted free agents by position
Guards
Evan Mathis, Arizona Cardinals
Chris Chester, Atlanta Falcons
Tom Compton, Atlanta Falcons
Vladimir Ducasse, Baltimore Ravens
Chris Scott, Carolina Panthers
Ted Larsen, Chicago Bears
Eric Kush, Chicago Bears
Kevin Zeitler, Cincinnati Bengals
Austin Pasztor, Cleveland Browns
Ronald Leary, Dallas Cowboys
Larry Warford, Detroit Lions
T.J. Lang, Green Bay Packers
Oday Aboushi, Houston Texans
Hugh Thornton, Indianapolis Colts
Luke Joeckel, Jacksonville Jaguars
Patrick Omameh, Jacksonville Jaguars
Jermon Bushrod, Miami Dolphins
Brandon Fusco, Minnesota Vikings
Mike Harris, Minnesota Vikings
Tim Lelito, New Orleans Saints
Jahri Evans, New Orleans Saints
John Jerry, New York Giants
Breno Giacomini, New York Jets
Andrew Gardner, San Francisco 49ers
Chance Warmack, Tennessee Titans
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000773114/article/2017-nfl-unrestricted-free-agents-by-position
Top 2017 NFL Free Agents List: No. 01-100
RK, Player, Pos., Team, Age, Note
11. Kevin Zeitler G CIN 27
14. T.J. Lang G GB 29
24. Larry Warford G DET 26
25. Ronald Leary G DAL 28
71. Austin Pasztor G CLE 26
74. Stefen Wisniewski G PHI 28
92. Patrick Omameh G JAX 27
96. Chance Warmack G TEN 25
98. Luke Joeckel G JAX 25
http://nfltraderumors.co/top-2017-nfl-free-agents-list/
Lots of young’ns too. Would be shocked if one of those wasn’t on the team next year if the Albert deal goes through. #GuardsMatter
2017 NFL Free Agents: Guards
1. Kevin Zeitler, G, Bengals. Age: 27.
2. Andrew Norwell (RFA), G, Panthers. Age: 25
3. T.J. Lang, G, Packers. Age: 29.
4. Larry Warford, G, Lions. Age: 26.
5. Evan Mathis, G, Cardinals. Age: 35.
6.Ronald Leary, G, Cowboys. Age: 28.
http://walterfootball.com/freeagents2017G.php
Lou
I trust Gase, and whoever we get for OG, will be who we wants, and that’s fine with me, whether it’s Zeitler or anyone else. Urbik, well, maybe I’d have my doubts.
The NWS has issued a tornado advisory for my area with this cold system moving in after all of this hot weather. Prof Lou, you are affected. To my NE Brothers, it’s coming your way soon. Take care and be prepared.
It’s still nice out but the wind has kicked up here. Be safe!
Thanks, Tim. You too, man.
Lou has it bad for…..
Now that Julius is in the fold, I see us definitely upgrading @ OG & possibly DE/LB in FA.
Get JPP in here, pay him Mario’s money and we can start getting after Brady quicker….
I wouldn’t be surprised if we were active right out of the gate. Melvin Ingram could be our target as well.
HMMMMMM?
Ian RapoportVerified account@RapSheet 12m12 minutes ago
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Ex-#Jets center Nick Mangold, 33, is not retiring. He’ll find his share of suitors. Meanwhile, #Jets have his replacement in Wesley Johnson
I didn’t know they released him.
Geez, I’ve NEVER heard this much thunder in February. All of my local news stations are covering this, as though a tornado touchdown is imminent. WOW…
Wilkes-Barre is flooding and Scranton is in trouble. Man, I hope Prof Lou is alright.
Stanger, Sims can be a sneaky receiver at TE. He’s not a dominant pass catcher but he’s faster and more athletic than people think. While teams are focused on our other skill guys he can sneak out even if only on short and medium range passes.
I really like that aspect of Sims, but then also think sneaking into to open spaces is part of what any TE should do. All for keeping him at the right price. Also guessing his price in FA won’t be off the charts either by teams that look at his tape.
Was glad we did not keep Clay (who I also liked) at the number the BIlls signed him for cause in a different way thought he too was benefiting from scheme on such.
His market won’t be off the charts. I’d say $3-4M per range.
Tim, yeah Ingram would be a good get for sure, as would Zach Brown….imo
If we landed those too they would help our defense dramatically.
Yup, then we could go crazy in the draft with whoever excites the coaches enough to coach up.
GD, if we signed say Ingram and Brown then drafted maybe Zach Cunningham we’d be on our way to more speed and impact in our front 7.
Tim
Yeah I heard it reported earlier. He had a great career with the Jets. 33 years old, injuries and $9M per was the reason.
Tim, yeah, agreed….that could be suddenly a big time defense to “compliment” Gase & Tanny on a fast offense! 🙂
Get the OL sorted out, pound the rock lead by Ajayi and play-action off of it like we were doing during our 6 game winning streak. Run more throw less but make the passes count and play opportunistic defense. 🙂
Tim,
The only reason Sims is “sneaky” is because teams never bother to cover him! Lol
That’s their problem. LOL
Though I agree with you. That’s what I was basically saying. Sims in not the focal point of a defense nor should he be but he’s more skilled than some might think and that’s where he can hurt you. Kind of like a FB who’s in for blocking but can catch out of the backfield.
Tim — Sims very well may be part of their plan and he is pretty much everything Thomas is not and vice versa. If we keep him at $4 mil per year though it will be cause he blocks a whole lot better than Marquise Gray, the potential they see in him in practice plus that he can be a servicable every down TE if Thomas goes down.
Dorian Johnson from PIT sounds like the perfect fit at LG for us. 6-5 300, very agile, good on the move in the run game and solid in pass pro. He’d be a quality 2nd rd pick.
Stanger, I know that Gase became very impressed with Sims as the season went on and said there’s not many guys who can block a DE and also be a factor in the passing game. That tells me we’d like to re-sign him. Maybe his market value is around 4 years $12-14M.
And I’d be fine with that, Sorta guessing that is what we do get him for, but then you never know. Pats turned the league TE crazy and with all the nonblocking receivers out there might be more than one team willing to pony up more for him for the same reasons I see the fit with us. What this QB watcher isn’t good enough to judge is how good his blocking actually is compared to others…..and that’s what he will mainly be paid for.
To me Sims is about Ajayi. If we were going more spread it would be Thomas, Gray and others. I think Gase is going to build his passing game around Ajayi’s threat in the ground game. Sims helps us run the rock, can double down as a pass blocker and then be a sneaky receiver. 🙂
Okay just got two quick rain storms with lightning. Haven’t seen lightning or had much thunder in awhile. Not much thunder yet though – just a few rumblings. It’s pouring now.
Just had relatives from Patsy land leave here from my Dolphins porch. It’s hard to hold on to the past even with the undefeated season with kids that are too young to understand. We need to start winning championships again. I need the leverage.
“Oh you guys are getting better” is bullshit to hear from a 13 year old.
I about threw my cousin and her family out of the house…
… and I haven’t seen her in 8 years
I would never but I did give my cousin in law? An ear full about how much they used to suck and that the AFC East used to belong to US.
Come on Gase get Tannehill to stop being a pussy lol
Only Randy and Lou understand what I’m talking about
How come I just found out yesterday that Tom Coughlin is the VP of Football in Jacksonville?
Solid move
Maybe I listen to too much fake news lately. (Way to go Rush)
If Deshwan is there at 22 it’s a no brainer as simple as the Tunsil pick
Same for Foster and OJ (regardless of Thomas)
Is this thing on?
Imagine if Tannehill’s status was still up in the air along with Cutler on the market.
Cutler sucks. Badly. I would hate the thought of him coming here.
My go to draft site – Draftsite – has us taking OJ
There was once a time when the Dolphins had not one but TWO OJ’s on the team at once.
Bonus points for names…
McDuffie and Brigance and I didn’t have to look it up.
If Cunningham becomes a Dolphin would the other two linebackers be called Potsie and Ralph Malph?
I know. I’m an OL mouthpiece. Sue me! Lol
***
I think people underestimate the value of having dominant guards…or guards who can win most plays. It’s like having a dominant center. If your guards can control the center of the line, it allows the team to basically do whatever they want. It makes protection easier, it allows you to put more weapons into the play. It lengthens plays and gives your skill players more time….running and passing games. And, interior DL nowadays are beasts. They are big, strong and quick. I get that guards aren’t flashy or make big plays to fans. But, they are often doing a difficult job. They have to be agile and smart and beat DL, lbers and DB sometimes.
***
What is one of the first things you think of that stops an offense? For me, it’s interior pressure…controlling the middle of the line. If you have guards who can do that one-on-one most of the game, you win a lot more. All the attention gets focused on LTs giving up a big sack. If your guards are winning, those plays happen less often because you can shift your focus to it or work away from it. If your guards can’t, you’re usually screwed. You don’t want to always set your protection to stop interior pressure. It puts your edge guys on an island….bad. Also, I will say this is one of my biggest issues with Pouncey. He gets beat with power often. He moves great. He causes issues when asked to hold the POA or move a big DT…and sooner or later it comes to that. Bad hips can affect your ability to sink into your stance. I hope he’s healthy.
***
I’m not saying signing Zeitler is a must or the team even should. I am also aware of my OL bias! I’m not a big money FA type guy. All I’m saying is that for a pretty good player at a major need…you explore it and always keep your options open. I don’t get the money thing. Everyone says we have plenty of money and the cap keeps going up, but I don’t follow that crap much. If he plays well, won’t people say his contract was worth it in a couple years anyway? It usually seems to go that way. Lol
I think Sims has become a pretty good blocking TE. He’s not outstanding, but he is good. He also usually plays hard. He’s not gonna be pressing the seam on any offense, but he is good at what he is. I wish they would start using him a little more in, say, 3rd and 3 sort of situations on a quick play action where he initially blocks and just takes a quick break away from his block. I think he’d be open for those sorts of plays. If teams start to recognize it and cover him, it opens up other things behind it. It doesn’t seem like we see that much.
Randy, we did start doing that with all our TEs, the problem was we got banged up there too. We were using all our TEs. No real chemistry with anyone. Then Sims got hot down the stretch. But again he’s not a go-to-guy. I think Thomas open up our offense.
Tim,
Yep, he’s not a go-to guy, and that’s why I say use his sneakiness in certain situations to start converting more of those third and shorts. Get teams reacting to our play action and pop him out there once in awhile. I hope our running game gets even better this year, so our playaction can improve. We have got to find a way of winning those third downs more often.
Problem w/ that is Sims just isn’t a player who’s fluid getting open quickly off those short PA routes. I think that’s why they used Gray in that roll frequently. Now when given time to get into his intermediate routes Sims becomes effective. Once again I think Michael Roberts can be that threat you’re talking about.
The one thing I don’t understand is the number of people who want the team to sign Brandon Williams in free agency. Williams comes with an estimated price tag of $64m, an est. avg of nearly $13M/yr.
Between he and Suh we’d be paying $32M for two defensive tackles. Top that off with the fact that we’ve got a guy in Phillips who should develop into one of the better defensive linemen in the league and those same people want to see Phillips as the backup.
Who the fug thinks of this shit? Seriously.
Talking heads and fantasy football “gurus” who think it is the same as real football.
That’s a valid point Lou, one that I agree with, but who is saying this? The chance I think it will happen .01%