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Benton: center uncertain

Discussion in 'Miami Dolphins Forum' started by Triggercut, Jul 29, 2014.

  1. Triggercut

    Triggercut Well-Known Member

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    There's been a number of tweets of Benton saying Smith may not be good at center (unclear/uncertain). However Benton is optimistic. Any chance Hickey kicks the tires on some FA centers today, especially with Brenner going down?
     
    Bpk likes this.
  2. PhinGeneral

    PhinGeneral PC Texas A&M, Bro Club Member

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    Always the possibility, but unfortunately they're stuck at a time where the pickings might be pretty slim.
     
  3. PhinsRDbest

    PhinsRDbest Transform and Transcend

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    the next dimension
    Probably should rent Satele then
     
  4. ckparrothead

    ckparrothead Draft Forum Moderator Luxury Box

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    Sam Brenner's injury will dictate that they hit the free agent wire today or tomorrow, but that doesn't necessarily mean they are giving up on the Shelley Smith experiment.

    It's way too early to let a few bad practice snaps dictate giving up on that I think. Benton said the first preseason game will tell them what they need to know so I expect that will be the decision point.
     
    Tin Indian likes this.
  5. rdhstlr23

    rdhstlr23 Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    I was just going to add that last sentence. It sounds like this experiment will go on through next week. However, I still think it would be wise if Miami picked up a guy like Satele, assuming Brenner is down for extended time.
     
  6. Alex13

    Alex13 Tua Time !!! Club Member

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    the interviews with Lazor, Benton are up on the homepage now too
     
  7. 77FinFan

    77FinFan Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    Yeah, 3 days of snapping the ball is nothing to worry about if he is doing other things well.
     
  8. Sceeto

    Sceeto Well-Known Member

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    Man, so far, this has been a really depressing off-season.
     
  9. ckparrothead

    ckparrothead Draft Forum Moderator Luxury Box

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    That changed pretty quick.

    Everyone seemed all tickled about the additions of guys like Branden Albert, Knowshon Moreno, Shelley Smith, Earl Mitchell and Louis Delmas. I won't include Cortland Finnegan in that because I think the general consensus was negative on him, especially at the price they got him. Seemed like Miami fans loved their draft though.

    Maybe the honeymoon has wore off a bit?
     
  10. Dol-Fan Dupree

    Dol-Fan Dupree Tank? Who is Tank? I am Guy Incognito.

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    Not to bad. No Ricky Williams retires and Dave Boston blows out his knee bad.

    Or failing forward faster with Ronnie Brown catching returns.

    Or trying to sign a new coach without firing your old coach and then giving the old coach an extension.
     
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  11. Alex13

    Alex13 Tua Time !!! Club Member

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    i don't see a reason why it would be depressing, the pouncey loss stings, but thats rather it, meanwhile the washington post reports the redskins might cut Morgan Moses because his failure to adjust to the speed of the game

    90% of the fanbase wanted Ireland gone, Sherman got fired too
     
  12. phinswolverinesrockets

    phinswolverinesrockets If he dies, he dies

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    I wouldn't call it depressing. I am just confused as to why they felt moving Shelley Smith (never played center in his life) to center over just plugging in Tyler Larsen (a career center with 50 college starts, all-american, and good stats) was the better move. It makes no sense whatsoever to me. Now, we're having to move Garner over to backup center when he was just settling in at backup LT. We've had to bring in some bum offensive tackles off the street (who got dominated today in practice from what i hear).

    They should have just left Shelley Smith at LG. Inserted Larsen at Center. Left Garner at backup LT. And kept it movin'.

    That's been my only gripe.
     
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  13. djphinfan

    djphinfan Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    I think at this point it's all oline related, I think beside that the team will improve.

    I'm not as down as most because I'm confident in how bad the oline was talent wise last year..

    A lot of this stuff is hyperbole, Smith has never played center, like you referred to in the other thread, be patient on that..

    I still have a strange feling that Pouncey will not be out as long as has been speculated..

    Bottom line, the two tackles are huge upgrades in talent and athleticism, I can live with some mental errors, what I can't live with is being out talented, and out muscled on one on one matchups that get our Qb killed, or hurried consistently..

    To me that's all I know until I can study preseason games and see what we have myself, on paper I believe were better.
     
  14. djphinfan

    djphinfan Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    Jmo Wolf, but I don't think Larsen has the goods to start, so maybe they feel the same and don't want to waste precious reps..
     
  15. Dol-Fan Dupree

    Dol-Fan Dupree Tank? Who is Tank? I am Guy Incognito.

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    Wow, shows my youtube draft analysis isn't very good.
     
  16. ckparrothead

    ckparrothead Draft Forum Moderator Luxury Box

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    You know what is hilarious is the one of those three examples that I feel like doesn't really belong is the one that led to the worst of the disasters.

    Easy to forget but Cam Cameron was regarded as an offensive genius. Everyone was hot on this idea that the Dolphins didn't need some strong personality dominating the franchise, that between Cam Cameron's offense, Dom Capers' defense and Randy Mueller supplying the talent the team was going to go 10-6. That offseason from a personnel standpoint wasn't necessarily terrible, either. They snagged Joey Porter in free agency and everyone loved that one. There were some positive feelings about Trent Green. There was the Brady Quinn/Ted Ginn snafu but I don't think it was taken very seriously at the time.

    I personally think it was a lot easier to predict looming disaster on the horizon after the Ricky/Boston thing and then after the Harbaugh/Sparano fiasco.
     
  17. Alex13

    Alex13 Tua Time !!! Club Member

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    if Benton believes he can play C so do I, he was with him in houston, so he knows him, also you would plug a 3rd rookie on this line, because thats what you basically can call dallas thomas after last year ?
     
  18. phinswolverinesrockets

    phinswolverinesrockets If he dies, he dies

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    You're probably right. But if i'm going to experiment at Center, I would take the college all-american center over our new starting guard, who has never snapped a ball in his life. Shelley is the best guard we have. He should be focusing on that position, imo.
     
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  19. MrClean

    MrClean Inglourious Basterd Club Member

    You know what would depress me? If I were a Carolina fan anyway. Tyler Gaffney goes down for the year with a knee injury. If the Panthers want to IR him outright, they are required to carry him on the 90 until the first cut down. So what does Dave Gettleman do? He wants to add another RB in Fozzy Whitaker, so is forced to make a roster move. So tries to sneak Gaffney through waivers, which would have allowed them to immediately IR him. The Patriots claimed him! Damn!!! The Dolphins had priority in waiver claims over the Pats. 29 teams did I think. I'd have been ecstatic if the Dolphins had claimed him to just salt away until next season. There are any of several players I'd have waived to allow them to carry Gaffney until the first cut down.
     
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  20. phinswolverinesrockets

    phinswolverinesrockets If he dies, he dies

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    Shelley Smith is a rookie at Center....so where is the difference?
     
  21. Alex13

    Alex13 Tua Time !!! Club Member

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    he has played some games already in this league though, zac stacy looked pretty good last year didn't he
     
  22. Alex13

    Alex13 Tua Time !!! Club Member

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    i really don't know much about gaffney, but I saw the patriots claimed him, so you think he is worth the wait ?
     
  23. MrClean

    MrClean Inglourious Basterd Club Member

    I'd have liked to seen Larsen get some reps with the first team guard and tackles too. With career LG Colledge on board, I'd have Shelley at RG though. If Larsen cannot cut it after a few weeks, then have either Satele or Kyle Cook already signed as a backup and move them into the starting lineup when/if it becomes apparent Larsen ain't ready.
     
  24. MrClean

    MrClean Inglourious Basterd Club Member

    I loved him at Stanford. Not much different than Toby Gerhart IMO. Their 6th rounder this year and a great value at that point. Lost forever now, because they thought they could get cute and sneak him through waivers.
     
  25. djphinfan

    djphinfan Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    It's not an easy call considering smith has never taken a snap there,I think the move is to first get the most talented five on the field and see if it works..
     
  26. phinswolverinesrockets

    phinswolverinesrockets If he dies, he dies

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    I agree with everything you just said.
     
  27. MrClean

    MrClean Inglourious Basterd Club Member

    I see it as an attempt to lineup with the best 5 healthy OL too. Between Smith, Colledge, and Thomas, they must have felt Smith was the best candidate to move to Center, and that such a trio in the middle would be better than any of those two combined with either Brenner, Garner, or Larsen, for reasons unbeknownst to we common simple fans.
     
  28. phinswolverinesrockets

    phinswolverinesrockets If he dies, he dies

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    True. I just disagree with it and don't think it will work. It's not easy to become a consistent Center in just a month or two.
     
  29. Sceeto

    Sceeto Well-Known Member

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    Not for me.

    I liked the addition of Albert. I have concerns about his health, but I liked the signing. Still do.

    I wasn't thrilled at all with the Moreno signing. I thought he wasn't type of RB the team needed and then factor in playing with Manning and that OL and that team overall. Meh.

    I was meh on S. Smith. It was partly due to me not knowing a lot about him and either way, it just wreaked of "mehhh". I'm not against it. I'm looking forward to seeing what he can do. We certainly needed an upgrade, but the loss of Pouncey changes things a lot. Despite him being a douche a times, he was a very good player.

    As for Delmas, there certainly were the injury concerns, but I didn't mind taking a shot on him. Neither here nor there regarding that signing. Though Clemons has been solid, I would , however, like a S with better ball hawking skills.

    I liked the idea of what change can sometimes bring. I'm looking forward to see what Lazor can bring to the table. That, at this point, seems like an intriguing hire.

    Honeymoon? I don't know about that, not for me. Just hopin'
     
  30. ckparrothead

    ckparrothead Draft Forum Moderator Luxury Box

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    The devil's advocate position on this would be to think about it in terms of hindsight.

    Let's pretend everything DOES go south on us. You have to imagine how that would feel and how it would change your view of what happened during the off season.

    1. The Ted Wells report on the bullying scandal came out on February 14th. Easy to forget but that report was chalk full of scandalous details nobody had seen or heard before. That started up a pretty vicious news cycle of egg on Miami's face. It became clear from the report that John Jerry was probably not going to be asked back, that Jonathan Martin was going to be released or traded, and it seriously put questions on Mike Pouncey's future with the team.

    2. The Wells Report also led to the firing of head trainer Kevin O'Neill right in front of all his peers at an NFL conference for trainers, an action which was swiftly followed by a news cycle following O'Neill's promises of bringing suit against the Dolphins and revealing lots of "where the bodies are buried" information along the way.

    3. The team went through a classic "should we fire the coach" period, and the owner settled on scapegoating the offensive coaches (for good reasons) but keeping the head coach (for not so good reasons). That sounds awful familiar...

    4. The team fired its General Manager (for good reason) and then conducted one of the most confused, meandering, bumbled, embarrassing GM searches most people can even remember in recent history. They were turned down by numerous candidates who wished to stay on at lower positions with their old teams, again a virtually unheard of development.

    5. They kept a disastrous linebacking unit completely in tact, allowed their big run stuffing defensive tackle to leave and replaced him with a guy who will play the same position and role in the defense despite being 50 lbs lighter, replaced two young and athletic secondary starters with older veterans with medical issues who both arguably played worse in 2013 (as per PFF grades) than their younger, healthier counterparts, and then handed out the second-largest contract in all of free agency to a 30 year old left tackle with injury issues that have caused him to miss 4 or 5 games a year the last couple of years.

    6. They drafted a player in the 1st round at 19 overall that most had not even pegged as a 1st round pick. You know this will be brought up in hindsight if JaWuan James struggles as a rookie (as ROOKIES often do).

    7. The best player on the offense (who is hilariously a center) takes an injury during off season training sessions that virtually ends his season before it starts, and then he holds a birthday bash that results in a lawsuit and accusations that he, his brother and entourage beat up a gay guy and a woman.

    8. Your former #3 overall-turned-rotation-player gets suspended 4 games for using PEDs.

    When you think about it that way...yeah I'd say this could be viewed down the road in hindsight to have been a particularly disastrous offseason.
     
  31. phinswolverinesrockets

    phinswolverinesrockets If he dies, he dies

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    lol...i am just going to give you a fist bump and let that marinate.
     
  32. Dol-Fan Dupree

    Dol-Fan Dupree Tank? Who is Tank? I am Guy Incognito.

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    To add, technically they wanted demot the GM and the GM didn't want to be demoted, so they mutually parted ways.
     
  33. ckparrothead

    ckparrothead Draft Forum Moderator Luxury Box

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    That technique of pretending you're from the future and therefore you already know that the Dolphins have failed, and viewing each development in real time through the lens of that knowledge of failure...should be named the "LBsFinest".
     
  34. ckparrothead

    ckparrothead Draft Forum Moderator Luxury Box

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    Oh if only it were that positive. What they actually offered him was a technical promotion and a pay increase, but it would have come with a reorganization that saw him no longer having control over player personnel. Essentially they were going to demote-by-promotion.
     
  35. PhinGeneral

    PhinGeneral PC Texas A&M, Bro Club Member

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    Being a collegiate All-American doesn't necessarily equate to be a quality NFL player though. If it did, he wouldn't have been there for signing as an UDFA.
     
  36. phinswolverinesrockets

    phinswolverinesrockets If he dies, he dies

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    True. But it's a good start. Don't forget the 52 straight collegiate games at center.
     
  37. Dol-Fan Dupree

    Dol-Fan Dupree Tank? Who is Tank? I am Guy Incognito.

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    He still has the chance to earn it. There is plenty of time before the season starts.
     
  38. PhinFan1968

    PhinFan1968 To 2020, and BEYOND! Club Member

    Ya it kinda surprised me too, but Benton's a pro, so I guess I'll just go with it (like I have a choice anyway). My thought is that maybe Smith's run-blocking abilities (top notch by many accounts) is what he wants out of the center position...Pouncey's known for it too...and that's why he has Smith at center.

    Maybe that's why they signed the new QB...to hang out with his hands up Smith's a$$ :)
     
  39. phinswolverinesrockets

    phinswolverinesrockets If he dies, he dies

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    If they give him a fair shot. IF...
     
  40. LBsFinest

    LBsFinest Banned

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    That's even more embarrassing. Stephen Ross didn't want Ireland to be the GM anymore but he actually still wanted him as part of the front office. Can you imagine how bad that would've been? How toxic? It's already awkward and embarrassing enough with a public demotion, add to that now you have to work alongside your replacement, it's clear why Ireland declined Ross's offer, but had he accepted, our GM search might have ended up being even more of a disaster, not only does the new guy have to inherit Philbin and Aponte, but also the former GM that the two stabbed in the back, which resulted in his decision making power being taken away?

    that woulda been great for Hard Knocks, horrible for the franchise though.
     

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