All over twitter right now. Passed his physical and is off PUP. Can't post any tweets as of right now, sitting at a red light. Certainly good news thought.
Jake Long can't make up for poor blocking on the opposite side. I was cautiously optimistic about a Carey-Colombo pairing on that right side, but the results aren't nearly what I thought they'd be. Ugh. This definitely frees up Murtha to compete with Colombo, though.
Perfect timing. We get a few games to play around at RT. Gonna see Murtha there. - sent from my EVO 3D -
I think Murtha will be fine considering that with these 3 and 4 WR formations we're facing smaller defensive lines. He'd be too weak to be a road-grading right tackle he'd be too weak. I'd say aside from Long though he's probably the best pass blocker the Dolphins have. Garner is not a bad bet at right tackle either but might be a little better and more disciplined overall player. Between the two of them the tackle position feels better. Then there's also Vernon Carey who might chomp at the bit to play well at RT again with some incentives perhaps involved. Three good candidates and then the guy who is likely going to start in Colombo (fack).
Be nice if they just put Carey back at RT, gave him a possible 2m in incentives and told him have fun with that and go get it. We'd have you know our good starting right tackle back.
There are some very contradictory reports on Colombo's play. Same goes for Vernon Carey, Pouncey and the whole offensive line. I don't know what to say to that.
IDK, Muck's mentioning that Thug Murtha did not practice today sort of surprises me, and tbh, not sure if I'd put a ton of stock in Garner at RT as he makes a bit more sense as the swing OL, let Murtha and Colombo fight it out over RT. This way, if Carey is deemed not up to snuff, Garner can play RG, if Colombo beats out Murtha (who is injury prone) and then stinks, we always have Garner, locking Nate in at RT really decreases our flexibility.
You sure the flag came while blocking Johnson? Norwood and Johnson changed sides a lot in that game. I saw Norwood at RDE some, and Johnson at LDE some too. That makes more sense for the Panthers anyway, since Norwood only goes 6'1 and 240. Edit: Murtha was called for hands to the face blocking Norwood, and called for holding later on while blocking Johnson.
I'm watching Colombo now on whatever highlights etc I can find and he looks bad. Really bad. His guy is always the first one through. Murtha will beat him for that spot at this rate. I honestly think that Carey from last year though was better than both.
Watch for yourself. I'll tell ya though from what I've seen, Colombo's pass blocking is totally up to snuff. Murtha's has been too. Neither is getting beat to speak of with speed around the corner. Colombo has to work hard to maintain the outside edge and sometimes has to push the man on past behind the QB but he does it. I ain't gone back and did a 2nd look at the Panthers game to focus on the OL yet though. Just tried to on the replays.
That's funny, because in the Falcons game he allowed not one pressure, hit or sack. I ain't watched the Panthers game a 2nd time yet, but sure do not recall his man, either Johnson or Norwood, getting close to Henne.
Maybe Murtha tweaked an ankle or something during the game. I'd not over think anything about him missing a practice. Garner, to me, looks better inside than he does outside. I kind of like him as the 6th man too, since he can get you by at any of the 5 spots on the OL.
Problem I have with Colombo is I don't see any real strengths in his game, I sort of see a guy who scraps, but does not really do anything well.
And if you put him in as a Starter, if someone goes down, you shuffle 2 positions instead of just one. To me that was one of the lessons of the 2nd pats game, Murtha went down, we had to move Incognito off of Center and put him at RG then move McQuistan out to RT with Berger going back in at Center and that weakened the unit overall.
Just watched some things from last night's game. Columbo really had some poor plays. He couldn't get a push. Running away from him was our best option. I did notice that even with some defenders close by, Henne still stood tall and took the throw, cheating for Columbo on a few plays.
Here was an article I just read on Jake being back: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/miami-dolphins/fl-miami-dolphins-notes-0821-20110820,0,374629.story Doesn't sound like Jake will play in the preseason. I'd like for him to get some action just so the line can start to gel.
That is why I said I like him as the 6th man. If someone goes down, Garner can step in anywhere and the other 4 stay put.
Colombo reminds me of Ron Heller when he was here. Heller never really got any push and didn't look pretty, but he was tough and scrapped and generally got the job done.
http://www.miamidolphins.com/video funny thing about Thor, he scared the microphone and there is no sound on his MDC.com interview.
The point for me though is that it's hard for me to be convinced that Colombo is an upgrade over last year's Carey. Carey is a good right tackle that's all I know and it's enough for me. Is Murtha better now than what Carey could be, there's a great chance. It's all difficult to project right now. I still want to see Incognito at RG or C where he belongs not as the pulling guard.
Heller is exactly who I think of with Columbo...is he on his heels more than you would like on the bullrush ? Yes...does he lunge more than you would like when someone threatens the edge? Yes but he KEEPS his feet and bottom line that is the unforgivable sin for an OL and I don't see him off his feet.
Colombo didn't have any trouble handling Johnson on the pass rush. Murtha got the hands to the face penalty blocking Norwood and when they moved Johnson to RDE as the Dolphins are moving down for the first TD, Murtha got called for a pretty obvious hold when Johnson bullrushed him back into Henne. Colombo handled Johnson with relative ease, while he gave Murtha a little trouble. I agree, Colombo is seldom off his feet. In the first two drives I never saw him on the ground. Later on, when I was watching the first time, I recall him off his feet at least once. Another time he got his man on the ground and then sort of "accidentally" fell on top of the guy so he couldn't get up. I've seen him blocking on the 2nd level effectively against LBs too. Bottom line, IMO, the folks ragging on Colombo either ain't watching him, or are seeing something different than I am. Agree with you and Fineas, Ron Heller is a great comparison. edit: Just completed the 1st half for the 2nd time. I saw just one play that I'd call a total negative for Colombo. The incomplete pass to Hilliard just before the FG. On that play he had two rushers coming at him, one to his left and one to his right and hesitated I guess because he wasn't sure which one to block, blocked neither, forcing Henne to roll right and throw the incompletion just out of Hilliard's reach.
I do not recall Heller's time in Miami, did he play well? I think he was a JJ signing along with Kevin Gogan? Anyway it is approached though, our Oline situation appears better this season as even vets like Carey who switch positions do not have the learning curve that young players have, and the young players we do have, Murtha and Garner, and to a lesser extent, Feinga, all have game experience and we sort of know what we are getting out of them. Save for Pouncey, Wilfork is a beast, so is Haynesworth, welcome to the NFL Rook.
