That's not at all what I'm doing here. I simply see other teams get by with less productive LT play at a fraction of the price. And by get by, we're seeing the elite teams not only get by, but go deep in the playoffs.
Sign Jake, Pay Jake, Play Jake. Wanna see things get ugly in a hurry, let go of one of your team's best leaders who also plays the second most important position on the field.
Sherman has recently come out and said the left tackle is an elite position in terms of its importance.
That's exactly how I feel. I don't want to create a hole, I realize he is no longer the best LT and doesn't deserve to get that kind of money. Offer him what he's worth, leave a little room for negotiating, but if he is dead set on to LT money, show him the door.
That's generally speaking not how it works. If a running back is blocking inside, it's going to be because they are anticipating a blitz, not helping out an offensive linemen, and if he's assigned to actually help a linemen instead of blitz pickup he's going to commit pretty quickly. It's easier for a back to help on the outside(chip, etc.) than inside. Examples certainly exist, but you're misinterpreting the context of that game which is pretty important. Justin Smiley couldn't block Vince Wilfork. He was struggling with a shoulder injury after already being a finesse guy who gave up a lot of weight to Wilfork. The Patriots spent both games that year putting Vince Wilfork as a 3-technique on the left side predominantly. The Dolphins had a choice to either let Smiley get annihilated by Wilfork or have Jake Long block a guy that wasn't really worth his talents in pass protection and eliminated the edge he provided in the run game. Any number of reasons? Bad years you can't really explain aren't by any means rare in the NFL.
If anything there is way less man pass protection this year than when Henning was here and now it's primarily zone pass protection. A lot of Jake Long's perceived issues have come from issues with blockers on the left side of the line not properly picking up who they were supposed to block. Some of the time it absolutely has been Long not making the correct block, but a lot of times it's been a back or Incognito screwing up too. I think an underrated aspect is that they're letting Ryan Tannehill have a lot of flexibility with adjusting the blocking scheme and it's not always working out. Either he's not making the right call or the blockers are screwing up, but I think there's been a lot of issues with the right adjustments being made.
Well when your eliminating those two, non injury, contract year from the equation, I'm inclined to think that one of the reasons is he doesn't want to be here..
Well my examples were from a randomly picked game and randomly picked plays on their first few drives in the game. When I get a chance I'll go back and randomly pick another game from 09. And I'll even avoid the Falcons game. I'll come back and post my views. I disagree with this based off that first half of the Patriot game displayed above. Maybe you're right and Jake was tasked more inside because of other OL deficiencies in that game, but comparing that game with a randomly selected game this year, I'd say Jake Long has been blocking the opposing team's RDE more often on that Island. Bottom Line, Disgustipate: Do you franchise Jake next year, and sign him long term if he has another identical 1.5 season as he's had this .5(half) season? Even at 6 years 70 million or a comparative rate? Here's what I would do: Franchise Jake next year because we can afford 14-15 million next year, and he's still very good, a seemingly good leader, and Ryan Tannehill can only benefit in his sophomore season with good LT play. It's 2014 where the real decision comes into play, and I wouldn't be surprised if this same type of conversation is one that Jeff Ireland and the Dolphin's Front office has had recently or will have soon.
It's not an island thing though, it's the way blocking assignments are figured This is exactly what I would do.
Jake Long is once again having back problems, an injury that kills it fior most big men playing pro FootBall, IMO it won't get better only worse. He is not a Philbin player and he has not played up to his earlier standard since playing hurt last year. To resign him to another long term contract is not a wise move when there are some good OT draft options in the upcoming draft plus having a guy on the other side who is a Philbin guy. Jake will get his money lets just hope its not from the Dolphins.
Did I miss the first one? Also it has been knee injuries along with a shoulder that has put Jake on the sidelines in recent years.
I can only imagine the unwarranted uproar if we let Jake walk and we use a pick on a tackle. Should be good.
He's just reminding me how jealous I am of the Undefeated Falcons and their MVP worthy QB selected after him...
His back bothered him all last year So yeah, I'd say you missed the first one. It flat out took him out of a game December 11
Sam Baker @ 3,760,000 EVERY player on the Atlanta Falcons offensive line including McClure Manley Hawley Johnson Holmes Konz Baker Klabo Blaylock MAKE $16,105,000 LONG AND INCOGNITO MAKE $17,683,333 OR MORE THAN THE 9 OFFENSIVE LINE PLAYERS OF ATLANTA COMBINED
He honestly hasn't been that great either, but the Falcons still have Matt Ryan. Chad Henne can't beat out Gabbert and Merling isn't in football anymore. I think they come out ahead on that one.
Jake was signed under the old CBA where rookies got stupid contracts. I'd bring back Long on a franchise deal and maybe let him walk after the 2013 season.
If we have extra money and it does not interfere with anything else. Sure. It's not our money. But if it precludes us from doing anything else (like signing someone else), then hmm ...
From Miami's free agents, the ones I'd bring back, at least right now, would be Randy Starks, Brian Hartline, and Anthony Fasano. In that order. I think it's safe to assume Pat Devlin comes back as well as he's an ERFA. If Miami's going to throw money at a left tackle in free agency this year, why not go for broke and go after Ryan Clady - one of two left tackles to not allow a sack going into the games today (Houston's Duane Brown is the other), or Jermon Bushrod from New Orleans? Clady broke off contract extension talks with Denver over the summer, so he's probably looking to cash in. He's worth it IMO, as he's younger than Long despite coming out the same year, and hasn't suffered as many injuries as Long. Bushrod on the other hand said he's open to the franchise tag as he wants to stay in New Orleans - he might be a harder get than Clady in that regard, regardless of money. My top 3 free agent targets, assuming Miami hasn't retained Jake Long in some capacity: Ryan Clady Mike Wallace Dashon Goldson Landing one of those three would be an upgrade at their respective positions.
Clady will be franchsed. As for Long, the gamble is whether or not you believe he will regain his HOF form, or if injuries have simply made him an above average, rather than great player. I don't know what the answer is, but I know that I can find a LT to play at the level of the current Jake Long for alot less than Jake Long will be asking for. Do you bet big money on the HOF Jake Long coming back?
You could take a look at the Atlanta and Miami franchises starting from 2008 to present and make a nice 'how to' and 'how not to' video about rebuilding a franchise. It's really sad thinking about how much better a job Atlanta has done. People here will defend Jeff Ireland to the bitter end though.
I find it hard to believe this approach is really up for discussion any longer, toss in Defenses simply put their best passrusher vs the RT today and this meme should be put to bed.
Right, but as much as winning is tied to the performance of the quarterback in this league, you're really talking about primarily the difference in one draft pick there: Jake Long versus Matt Ryan. I'm not saying the Dolphins would be doing exactly as well as the Falcons right now had that draft pick been swapped, because the Falcons also have pieces the Dolphins don't have, but the difference would be huge IMO. And if you leave room for the possibility that Bill Parcells, rather than Jeff Ireland, was responsible for the Jake Long pick, you may have some idea why Ireland is still here and Ross has given him additional time to build something with his own QB (Tannehill).
The Falcons have done other things to help their team outside of that one draft. For instance they've drafted Julio Jones and signed Tony Gonzales in free agency. I'm sure there are other moves contributing to the Super Bowl contender in Atlanta right now. I agree that the Dolphins still wouldn't be doing as well as the Falcons because even if Parcells/Ireland would have gotten Matt Ryan over Jake Long right I see no reason to believe they could have built as good a team around him.
what a stupid comment...jake long was a former 1st overall pick and yes without a rookie wage scale...so you do the math
http://miami.cbslocal.com/2012/08/28/fins-jake-long-goes-down-to-injury/ http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/20...20827_1_jake-long-vontae-davis-practice-field
Jake long is done.Pancaked by over the hill shawn ****ing merriman.Long and martin both suck.I said this in 2008 and I was 100% right they should have drafted matt ****ing ryan.If anybody argues this point anymore they are a ****ing idiot.