Buffalo Rumblings: An SB Nation Community

Navigation: Jump to content areas:


Sports blogs for fans, by fans.
New Blog: Sounder At Heart for Seattle Sounders Fans!

Around the AFC East, Week 4: Miami Dolphins

In this pool photo provided by the Miami Dolphins, Miami Dolphins head coach Tony Sparano, left,  general manager Jeff Ireland and Bill Parcells, executive vice president of football operations, look on during NFL Draft day, Saturday, April 25, 2009 at the team's training facility in Davie Fla. (AP Photo/Miami Dolphins, Pool)

More photos » AP

6 months ago: In this pool photo provided by the Miami Dolphins, Miami Dolphins head coach Tony Sparano, left, general manager Jeff Ireland and Bill Parcells, executive vice president of football operations, look on during NFL Draft day, Saturday, April 25, 2009 at the team's training facility in Davie Fla. (AP Photo/Miami Dolphins, Pool)

In 2008, the upstart Miami Dolphins finished 11-5 and managed an AFC East division title behind rookie head coach Tony Sparano, veteran quarterback Chad Pennington, an opportunistic defense and, perhaps most relevantly, the implementation of the Wildcat offense.  Behind the run-oriented offensive attack and the dependable rushing duo of Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams, Miami finished No. 11 in the league in rushing, averaging 118.6 yards per game on the ground.

Miami, however, struggled just as mightily as other non-playoff teams - our Bills, the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Seattle Seahawks included - in rushing efficiency.  Like the Bills, Jaguars and Seahawks, the Dolphins averaged just 4.2 yards per rush, good for a middle-of-the-pack finish in league standings.  In a division that features solid DT play from Vince Wilfork, Kris Jenkins and Marcus Stroud, Miami's decision-makers (pictured above) decided that its rushing issues were a result of a deficiency on the interior of its offensive line.

Center Samson Satele was shipped to Oakland.  The Dolphins began researching big center options that could handle the division's excellent defensive tackles.  Yet the only addition of significance was former Raiders center Jake Grove, who signed a five-year, $29.5 million deal with $14.5 million guaranteed.  Is that enough change to fortify what is easily Miami's biggest weakness offensively?  Matty I of The Phinsider is our go-to guy...

There were times in 2008 when the Dolphins struggled to move the football - and Dolphins brass decided that the interior offensive line was the issue.  Satele was traded.  Grove (and Joe Berger) were signed.  Donald Thomas was returning from injury, but now he's back on the shelf.  Have the Dolphins improved enough on the interior to the point where their play will match that of their excellent tackles, Jake Long and Vernon Carey? Or is this still a problem area?

Matty I: Well let me first point out that left guard Justin Smiley deserves some mention here, too.  He was having a very good season in his first year as a Dolphin in 2008 before a bad leg injury ended his season prematurely.  But he’s back at full strength now and will be the team’s left guard in 2009 – which is an instant boost for the unit as a whole.

I think that the interior of the line improved instantly when Jake Grove was signed.  The Dolphins’ front office decided after watching film that Satele was a liability up front in run-blocking – especially against the bigger nose tackles.  Grove, meanwhile, has very impressive metrics as a run-blocking center and his physical play is exactly what this regime wants from their offensive line.

But until the Dolphins identify their right guard, the interior line is still an issue.  Donald Thomas looked the part last training camp and won the starting job as a rookie right out of the gate.  Bill Parcells even referred to Thomas, a sixth-round pick, as a "godsend."  But his injury history is concerning.  The foot injury last year cost him all but the season opener.  And while his latest injury, a torn pectoral muscle, is healing well, you can’t help but be concerned about how his career has began.  A young, inexperienced player like Thomas needs all the reps he can get at this stage of his career.

The backups at right guard are a mixture of inexperience and limited talent.  Guys like Brandon Frye (a converted tackle), Andy Alleman, and Ike Ndukwe don’t exactly inspire confidence.  Therefore, until we see some solid play from our right guard on the field, interior line play remains an area of concern.

***

Matty's concerns are well-founded.  Right guard might be a continued issue for them.  He's also right in that Smiley's return to health is a welcome development; Smiley was the first player signed by the Parcells/Ireland duo, and he was playing nicely last season before going down.

But Matty's thoughts on Grove perplex me.  Grove is a five-year veteran who spent his entire career with Oakland.  He's injury-prone, having missed 19 games over the past four seasons.  What's more, the "impressive metrics" that Matty mentions weren't so impressive to him back when the signing occurred:

We know that the Raiders ground game hasn't performed particularly well when rushing up the middle behind Grove.  Football Outsiders ranks the Raiders 30th in "Adjusted Line Yards" when running up the middle in 2008 and 28th in the same category in 2006 (Grove played in all 16 games in '06 and in all but 4 in '08).

I still think Matty's original assessment is more accurate.  Handing out $6 million per year to an injury-prone player coming from a bad offense is risky business.  I still consider center the weak point on Miami's line, even if there is a defined starter there - that's a big gamble the Dolphins are taking.  In the spirit of fairness, however, a Bills signing of a former underachieving lineman has worked out well; Langston Walker is now our starting left tackle.  Perhaps Miami is onto something as well.

1 recs  |  Comment 13 comments |

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

Display:

Can we really say that a middle of the pack 4.2 yards per carry is struggling? It’s not great, but it sure doesn’t seem like struggling to me….

~K
"As the governor of Louisiana once said, the only way Chris Kelsay can lose his job is if he got caught in bed with a dead girl or a live boy."

by Kurupt on Jun 12, 2009 2:49 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

What I meant by “struggling” is that, like the Bills last year, there were times when Miami just flat out could not run the ball. Case in point: they had 52 rushing yards in their first win over us. Ted Ginn made up for it, obviously, but that was my point – they were inconsistent, even with the Wildcat.

Wouldn’t you say that Buffalo struggled to run the ball at times last year? We had the same rushing average.

Buffalo Rumblings - all you care to know about the Buffalo Bills and more

by Brian Galliford on Jun 12, 2009 2:51 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Wouldn’t you say that Buffalo struggled to run the ball at times last year? We had the same rushing average.

Yes of course, but I thought you were inferring the season as a whole, instead of just inconsistent play. My b.

~K
"As the governor of Louisiana once said, the only way Chris Kelsay can lose his job is if he got caught in bed with a dead girl or a live boy."

by Kurupt on Jun 12, 2009 3:18 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Satele, if memory serves, was one of the very few centers who graded out below Fowler and Preston. Shipping him off is addition by subtraction, almost without regard to the player they brought in to replace him.

by Ron From NM on Jun 12, 2009 2:58 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Right but that doesn't make Grove the answer....

Playing Realistic Optimist at Buffalo Rumblings since 2008. Fear can hold you prisoner. Hope can set you free.

by MattRichWarren on Jun 12, 2009 3:06 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

True. It’s possible that Grove could be worse. (Indeed, we hope for exactly that as Stroud/Williams/McCargo/Johnson would have a field day.) It’s also possible, though highly improbable, that Hang will be worse than Preston/Fowler.

by Ron From NM on Jun 12, 2009 9:14 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

true true...

but one came from a great line in Carolina and one from a suspect line in Oakland.

Playing Realistic Optimist at Buffalo Rumblings since 2008. Fear can hold you prisoner. Hope can set you free.

by MattRichWarren on Jun 12, 2009 9:36 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

I think it’s laughable that Miami gave Jake Grove, a 29 year old, average (at best) starter who has only played in more than 12 games once in the last 5 years a 30 million dollar contract. I thought it was one of the worst moves that any team made during the offseason. On average, they are paying their starting offensive lineman about 6 mil per season. It’s a 30 mil per year offensive line and while it’s a good line, it’s not 25% of your team spending good.

by kaisertown on Jun 12, 2009 4:31 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Are we in a position to laugh at anyone?

Think about Kelsay’s contract and try to laugh at Miami. I dare you.

by Ron From NM on Jun 12, 2009 9:14 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

It's not six mil a year though....

Playing Realistic Optimist at Buffalo Rumblings since 2008. Fear can hold you prisoner. Hope can set you free.

by MattRichWarren on Jun 12, 2009 9:36 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

I can still laugh at Miami. It’s not that they can’t laugh at us, but I can definitely laugh about giving a very mediocre player 6 mil a year when they already had 3 players on the OL making 5 mil a year. You can even take Jake Long and his huge contract out of the mix and with Grove on board, the Dolphins OL starters make an average of 4.5 mil per season.

by kaisertown on Jun 13, 2009 10:36 AM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

I like the way you guys think...

… enjoy this issue, and I too am apalled at the contracts given…. whatever the team.

30 "Phinsider Fued" Points..!!
"What's the point of getting in a sword fight with a guy you can run away from?" - Chris Doleman

by Alpha6 on Jun 14, 2009 3:49 AM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Sorta like

teams laughing at Buffalo for shelling out $7 million a year for Dockery.

Glad OBD finally cut their losses there…

Get the Bills back to the big game!

by Blitz on Jun 15, 2009 3:05 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Comments For This Post Are Closed


User Tools

SB Nation's home for daily Buffalo Bills coverage.

Community Guidelines

Start posting about the Bills »

Join SB Nation and dive into communities focused on all your favorite teams.

FanPosts

Community blog posts and discussion.

Recent FanPosts

Run_like_hell_small
Belichick Interview
Bills_small
Good future draft pick to keep an eye on.
Beast_small
To Lighten Up The Mood...
Small
Bills Coaching Future?
Jphshrink_small
The Back of Ralph Wilson’s Football Card
261x_small
Continuity will lead to success with Buffalo
Small
Fixing This Team Starts in the Trenches
Cody_small
Deja Vu All Over Again
122857_red_sox_angels_baseball_small
Anyone know of any updates on Kevin Everett?
Picture_2_small
Our best chance is keeping Jauron

+ New FanPost All FanPosts >

Latest NFL Headlines from SB Nation

Turf Show Times
Rams get ratings; TST joins Sprint's NFL Mobile Live
Cincy Jungle
The Cincinnati Bengals should think about lower ticket prices to close the home schedule
Mile High Report
Broncos add Ty Law, Waive CB Jack Williams

Editor-in-Chief

Dawesome_copy_small Brian Galliford

Editors

Sucks_small Kurupt

Mrsinister03_small sireric

Homertexans_small MattRichWarren

Authors

Dynamics_small Ron From NM