Sports Buzz- Dolphins going hard after Albert and Saffold

Why? Because of her prowess as a scout and personnel evaluator?

 

She is probably pretty good, but I really doubt she is the primary reason the team was a playoff contender last year or this coming season.

 

Albert is something that I'd expect, but Saffold is a pleasant surprise, especially if he's not too expensive.

The guy flat out looked really good at guard last year when he got moved there. He's got the movement stuff down and would probably be a quite good fit here.

 

If it's 10m per, I will be disappointed.

 

Monroe is younger, better, and less injury prone and they go after Albert? Smh

 

Something tells me that Monroe is gonna stay with Baltimore...I know there's nothing going with them now, but I can't see Ozzie letting him go...despite the cost....

We'll see, this could all be a ruse, maybe Monroe IS the guy they're targeting ??

 

If it's for similar money I will be very disappointed in our front office.

 

Saffold also gives a team a very good backup at LT, and if Albert is the starter, I'd bet anyone he misses at least a game or two. Saffold could fill in there pretty well.

 

Monroe is better, but Albert is obviously a big improvement to the worst O-Line ever... hopefully he can stay healthy if this is true.

Saffold would be a really interesting and solid signing too. Some hope for the O-Line.

 

We've reached out to him and Veldheer as well as Albert.

As of right now there's no reason to think we favor one over the other.

 

The Branden Albert I saw on Chiefs tape in 2013 was better than Bryant McKinnie, but not significantly so. Additionally, he missed 5 games in 2012 and 4 games in 2013. There were rumors of significant back issues back when the Dolphins were toying with the idea of trading for him the first time around.

Albert was a marginal run blocker in 2013. He lacked the mobility to get his hips in front of cut off blocks, and he was too cumbersome to do anything in space. He's too easy to get around, too easy to disengage from.

He's a better pass protector than run blocker, like McKinnie. The both use a significant frame to keep pass rushers at bay. There's a heaviness to Albert that way, like McKinnie.

However he clearly struggles with speed. When he has to get depth in his kick slide he ends up open to a number of pass rush moves because he's not agile enough to react to the pass rusher's leverage. He lacks the ability to stay mirrored with a pass rusher. He gets perpendicular to the line of scrimmage too early in his kick step and this allows him to be beaten. But he does it because if he doesn't then he's going to get beat anyway. He has real problems in zone protection reacting to threats to his zone and moving over laterally to pick them up.

The end result for Albert is that he can do well against some of your higher quality speed to power pass rushers, guys that have great size, but he will struggle with consistency. When a pass rusher does not execute a move that he planned for, he tends to be beaten. The consistency issue means that when he's beaten it tends to be by someone that isn't a big name like Thomas Keiser or Jerry Hughes. He will also struggle with guys stunting into his zone or linebackers making a delayed blitz call. Bryant McKinnie is similar in all respects as he can do wonderful against a high quality rusher then turn around and get whipped all day by Mario Addison or be beaten thru his zone by a blitzing NE defensive back.

When I reviewed Eugene Monroe's tape, qualitatively he was much better in both phases. He had younger legs and could mirror players easily. In run blocking he was just all the way around superior. He had the mobility to get his hips ahead of targets in zone blocking and he showed power and hand use, as well as the ability to find smaller targets in space. In pass protection he could easily pick up threats in zone protection, as well as block speed rushers. His hands are very good and he keeps them punching effectively. He completely and thoroughly dominated Chandler Jones whom he would see twice a year in Miami, due to his superior hand use. He knocked Chandler on the ground every second or third pass protection snap. Eventually the Patriots had to adjust what they were doing because Monroe was handling him so well.

There are rumors that Monroe did not buy into the zone blocking scheme in Jacksonville. I think their conclusions were premature and their having drafted Luke Joeckel (an obvious left tackle) and not giving Monroe a contract probably had a little to do with his lack of focus, if indeed there was any. Still, it's something to note. He may have treated his Baltimore games as his last and best chance to step up and put out dominant tape in order to get a contract. Even so, it was impressive. He stepped into a completely unfamiliar environment and thoroughly dominated the competition. And the film I saw of him in Jacksonville was good too.

For those that will conveniently argue that Monroe just performed that well for the contract, I would point out that Albert was also in a contract year and if that is what he looks like in a contract year, then ouch.

I haven't gotten around to looking at Jared Veldheer. My preference would have been a discounted contract for Anthony Collins or, absent that possibility a big contract for Eugene Monroe. I don't think you normally get an opportunity to pick up a left tackle of Monroe's quality without drafting one high in the 1st round or trading for one.

I don't approve of giving a big contract to a 30 year old Branden Albert. It's an upgrade. But it's not a wise way to spend the money, IMO.

I strongly approve of signing Rodger Saffold to be a right guard, in a vacuum. However, within the context of sending big money at Branden Albert, signing Saffold presents its own problems. My film study of Saffold led me to the conclusion that he has the ability to be one of the very best guards in football. But he's missed 17 games over the last 3 seasons whereas Albert has also missed 9 games over the last 2 seasons and combined if you sign both guys you're swallowing too much injury risk. By sending big money at both players you are not moderating your risk intake.

I made a similar risk control argument last year about the lack of wisdom involved in replacing both Karlos Dansby AND Kevin Burnett with Dannell Ellerbe and Philip Wheeler. A proper understanding of the concepts of risk and how to control it would not have seen the team voluntarily replacing 4/5ths (by snap count) of a WELL performing linebackers unit with unfamiliar players that have not established consistent records of high level performance...all for the purpose of getting younger and "more aggressive". They compounded that mistake by playing the players out of their natural positions.

 

my guess is when the dolphins contacted monroe's agent they found out that he already has an inkling where he is going.

 

With Albert and Saffold............we are going to be relying on Nate Garner a lot.

Honestly this sounds a lot like repeating history by signing OL with injury histories.

 

I wouldn't lump Saffold in with that group, he would be a fantastic addition.

 

The ravens traded a 4th and a 5th for him, and then he played great for them. I mean, its not like they didn't know he was going to be worth big money when they made the trade. Im surprised its taken this long but i'll be down right shocked if he hits FA.

then again teams like the Raiders have a LOT of money...maybe someones already thrown a monster contract at him.

 

The Herald is corroborating so it seems like it's almost a done deal.

"The Miami Herald has heard the same from league sources."
Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/03/09/3984678/report-lineman-branden-albert.html#storylink=cpy

 

i would rather have monroe over albert but i think with the increase in the cap and teams having 50 or 60 million dollars, he is going to get a big payday. good LT's in their mid 20's rarely come up for free agency. their might be outside reasons why monroe might not want to come to miami he may want to stay closer to home or a bunch of other reasons.

 

If the reports are true and both AZ and MIA are looking somewhere other than Monroe for a FA LT, then I expect they believe he will stay with BAL and aren't wasting their time. If we get Albert or a couple good to decent options on the line I'll be happy that at least Hickey is making an effort to upgrade vs. what we got, or more accurately didn't get, last year.

 

I think Albert is ok when you probably know you will not get Monroe. Interested in seeing the other OL acquisitions, as well as how they address DT need.

 

Same here. Hope we get at least two oline options early in FA for draft flexibility.

 

The guard from the Rams (Saffold) is going to sign with Raiders per reports (Rotoworld).

 

I assume you mean Saffold, the other Rams Guard is hopefully in play (Shelley Smith)

 

Yes, Saffold for around 8 million a year. Miami is reported to pay Albert 9.5 million

 

you may have noticed the 8 million dollar price tag for Saffold

 

I do hope that is one prediction that is wrong, however, Saffold made it known he wanted to play left tackle or guard. The Raiders supposedly want him at LT. The rumored money at 8 million is left tackle money.

 

Come Tuesday I believe this prediction will likely play out. Albert to Miami, Veldheer to Arizona, Saffold to Raiders, Collins to Bengals or Bucs, and Monroe back to Baltimore.

The next prediction to be speculated on will be who Miami pursues at guard. And if these previous predictions play out, I believe Martin would make sense for Miami in the first. However, with that said, I believe Miami might go in a different direction in the first round; my prediction is defensive tackle.

 

For some reason I just don't feel comfortable with Albert as the answer to the LT position.

Even if we go from "worst line in the league" to "middle of the pack" that would give Tannehill a huge boost, along with our running game. We don't need to break the bank to fix everything in one day, as that would probably hurt us even more down the road. If we are going to be handing out hefty contracts for linemen, they should be younger guys with room to grow, not 30 year old injury concerns. We obviously need to improve the line, but we shouldn't bankrupt ourselves in the future in order to fix it now.

Personally I would rather try to keep inexpensive, veteran guys (such as Clabo and McKinnie) at the tackle position for one more year while concentrating resources at both guard positions. There's no way to completely fix the line in one year, so we have to get better while being smart about how we do it.

 

I don't think there is any serious downside to signing Albert as long is its not for a crazy cap killing deal. We simply need a tackle that we can plug in and play from free agency. Period. We can't get cute and go for some unproven guys or someone coming off of major injuries, etc. If we don't have a solid LT on opening day then our entire offseason was a complete waste of time. We aren't in a position to lowball or get cute, we have to go after the best one we can get and offer the most money. It is what it is.

 

I hope so for decent money, maybe even money that stings a little, just not crazy painful money. If we do get him pretty excited about BPA at 19, give or take. There are some exciting prospects out there.

 

"Rumored" to be 9.5 million by the Baltimore reporter

 

Saffold would be a left tackle if he signs with Oakland.

 

I'd think it'd have to be at $8mil wouldn't it?

 

That's the number being reported.

 

Let's say we signed Albert, and a guard like maybe Zane Beadles. Then drafted Zack Martin and say, Gabe Jackson. Wouldn't that pretty well fix the line? That seems very doable to me.

 

I should have added "...without shooting ourselves elsewhere."Resources are finite. I just don't find it prudent to devote all of them to one place no matter how bad it was last year. Winning teams make a lot of smart, frugal decisions. They don't typically make huge FA splashes.