Only time will tell if this becomes a team scenario, however, it's certainly a possibility worth considering, and so... Branden Albert - It's possible that he could start and be his usual, dominant self, or that he's able to start but not quite himself (in that scenario I imagine he'll still be the starter and everyone will just have to cope). However, what if Albert doesn't start week one and/or gets reinjured? What do the Phins do then?
I don't like fear based What If's. If we are going to play the What If game, let me ask, What If our guards surprise us by playing very very well this year? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I thought this was going to be biggest what if ever thread. lol I was going to say hands down what if Drew Brees were a Dolphin. I think We would have at least one superbowl win and Saten may still be our head coach. Although what if Marino had a workhorse running back when he was in his prime would be another big one.
you roll with Jason Fox, cause you aint gonna find anything better in the left tackle market, now as the season approaches and our doctors tell us he's not gonna be ready, you still have to roll with Fox, I mean if a left tackle is gonna get cut on the final cut day, the chances of that guy being better than a guy who's been in our system for two years and been practicing all summer and camp are slim to nil.. so in short, there are no what ifs, the solution is already in place and his name is Fox. That all being said, our doctors and trainers should know whether he's gonna be ready come mid september, if there are questions about it, and they think he may need another month into the season I would look for us to sign Evan Mathis for obvious reasons.. in fact I'm pretty sure that whats going on right now and why there might be a delay in mathis being signed.
And to back up Fox in an emergency I hope that Billy Turner gets a little practice at LT...maybe Jamil Douglas too.
I am going to go out on a limb (not really) and predict the offensive line is the Achilles heal of the 2015 Miami Dolphins........again Fox/Turner decent rotaters ......not starting talent in the NFL
I think your not looking the other way and stating the obvious. All of the posters on this board want to win. Most will ignore this and will pray if they ignore what is obvious it might just go away. It seems You have legitimate concerns that warrant discussion. There is no "obvious answer". We still have issues here on the OL. Maybe that was career OL coach Joe Philbins job and he dropped the ball
Biggest "What If" isn't Albert getting injured, it's Tannehill. Oh, and there's this guy Suh we could play a "What If" game with too.. The current Dolphins team has pretty good starters (aside from that pesky OG spot), but we're not great depth-wise at most positions. Because depth at so many positions is an obvious concern for us, I agree with those that don't think asking these "What If" questions is that important (we already know the answer). Maybe if we had decent depth it would be a more interesting question.
I think this is a very good point. The general feeling is we are going to be a lot better this year. But, what is it going to take to become a strong team from the core - not just on the outside looking in. that answer is many fold and will take several years to accomplish, no matter what the answer ends up being. With the current roster and cap numbers moving forward we must hope for a good year. If we go 8-8 with what we got, even more questions arise including the biggest of all Who is the head coach moving forward??
I'm not going to think of that possibility. B.A. has 3 months to rehab and I expect him to be 90% for the start of the season.
Mickey Baucus might just surprise some people. Probably not for a couple years but I really hope they keep him on the PS. He is just the knid of player that could really benefit from year round professional strength and conditioning training. I hope we get to see him get some quality snaps in preseason. This team is way too much in love with moving guys back and forth from guard to tackle and back again. The last thing I want to see is them moving Billy Turner around. Just let him play RG until 2025.
Same. Worrying about a player not being healthy to start the season isn't productive for a fan. Why dwell on gloom and doom? This is optimism season.
I'll play along. Losing Albert means cutting back on the number of times and ways Lazor can attack down the field. More emphasis on the run and using play action when throwing down field is required. More defenses flooding the short zones bc they're confident they can disrupt the QB before anything develops deep. It's a major handicap but not a season killer.
Lol...I know that I use them allot but I was told awhile back that people were taking my post in the wrong way...that I was talking too brashly or something and honestly I try to be a very respectful person and I am judged too quickly because of this,so it was suggested that I use the emoticons so people could understand my intent and now I use them all the time...lol
Yes sir Rev Rick..so right you are and never ever should we have ever been exposed to Cuck Studley argh.
Hmmm, how about, if Albert doesn't start or can't, or gets injured, our OL get's a lot worse. If that happens, then the offense gets impacted again. This isn't "fear based, it's a simple look at a real possibility, because a team isn't just their starters. We might ask "What if" about Tannehill, but honestly, those what if's are more theoretical. What if Suh get's himself ejected for stomping all over people is a real question, and worth asking what happens to DL if isn't there. Even in that scenario, though, I'd say the OL without Albert will be a weaker link for the Dolphins than the DL without Suh. It's easy to get hyped about our chances with all our players present and at full capacity, but the what if question, is what if that isn't going to happen. Instead of talking about Albert, Thomas (shudder), Pouncey, Turner/Douglas, James, WHAT IF, it's Fox, Thomas (double shudder), Pouncey, Turner/Douglas and James? No one wants to think about the Dolphins going 8-8 again, and with the offensive improvements at WR and TE it's exciting to think of all those extra points on the board. However, what if that weak-link OL ruins those chances? What if Tannehill ends up on his butt more than any other QB, again? What if he gets injured because of it? Not strengthening the OL, not deepening it in really terms, is, in general, stupid. Remember the usual "it's a passing league" talk? How can you know that and not have a strong OL be a heart of the team? Now, this isn't a direct criticism of the front office. In some ways there just hasn't been much out there this year to bring in. You can only work with what's available. And yet, at times, this really feels like playing on the edge of a cliff. For everything else there's some nasty potential problems waiting to happen. I really, really hope that all goes well, that even the seemingly under performing or under-talented members of the OL exceed all expectations and have T17's back all season long. However, on paper not much has changed. Too much remains unproven, and it sticks out like a sore thumb. Surely and talk of realistic expectations this year, has to take this unproven OL into consideration? As for "we know what the answer is". Isn't this a forum for discussion. We could take that attitude with anything, we know who the players are, so let's all stop talking and just roll with the season. No? How about evaluation? Fox might be the answer, but what sort of effect might that have?
Bro I hear ya but it is absolutely 100% unequivically Philbin or Tannenbaum or Hickey's (whoever is running the team) responsibility to play the what if's. If B.A is not a go and we go into the season patched up and vulnerable I want someone's head on a platter. We all know every team we play will expose that weakness and we will be toast. This is the NFL which stands for NOT FOR LONG with decisions like that. It is tantamount to looking the other direction and pretending the problem doesn't exist, which is non sense. This is not arena football
This is a legit question because our coaching staff made what a lot of people think were some very questionable moves on the oline after we had to shuffle due to injuries. If Albert goes down for a serious amount of time again, and it is at least somewhat likely, does the coaching staff have a plan or are we going to have guys out of position and playing poorly again? I do think we should have made a move for another quality vet, hopefully we can still get one but the pickings are slim this time of year.
The question was answered in the post. Sometimes you can only work with what's available. That doesn't make not strengthening it more "stupid". That makes it a circumstance you deal with. And even in a passing league you don't need your OL to be strong, just competent. That's basically the circumstance that Seattle dealt with the last two seasons and they've had a couple of pretty good seasons.
Whats available?? Their was an entire draft and free agency. There was plenty available. I just forgot our number one glaring need was Defensive Tackle - so we signed Suh to a contract that IMO will haunt this team for years to come. At some point we will need to pay the piper if we are going to compete for a trophy. Next year SUH is 1/5 of the entire salary cap. Kicking the can down the road can only be done for so long. I hope I am wrong but I doubt it. If we were a Suh away from the superbowl - ok. We will be lucky to make the playoffs with who is in our division less alone compete for the trophy. Expecting the OL to make it through the entire year without any injuries is russian roulette. There were plenty of moves that could have been made - they just didnt get it done. Again, I hope I am wrong and we can sail through the season without any injuries to the offensive line. The biggest tell tale for me is looking at the roster past 2017. Right now per overthecap.com we have 9 or 10 players under contract. Which means we are going to have to negotiate with almost the entire team or there is going to be huge player turn over. I look to huge player turn over due to salary constraints. Maybe not. I think it is pretty obvious that when a team purges almost its entire roster in less then 3 years it is no recipe for success. I hope I am wrong but I doubt it.
I disagree. A good OL is much more about fit than raw talent. Just throwing first round picks at it isn't the solution. I didn't care for most of the top OL available in the draft. And arguably Douglas may have been the best fit out there. I have been pushing for the signing of Mathis, but beyond that there was nothing out there I regret not trying for. I see the OL they did add as about as good as can be expected based on what was out there which wasn't much.
If you have a great qb, which we hope tannehil becomes, a player like Suh on defense, and a very good personal dept, you can make it work, we just need tannehill to be that guy to shoulder some of the heavy load, and be able to make plays without a plethora of riches at his disposal..right now he has a lot of talent around him, lets see how far he gets with it, I'm sure he will be better, how much better is the question..
Have another uneven season. When Brandon Albert went down, the entire dynamic of the offensive line changed for the worse. If Albert isn't healthy for any stretch, Miami is in trouble. Which is sad, considering this offense is looking ripe for a massive year. Tannehill is reportedly looking sharp, entering year 4 of his career, year 2 of Lazor's offense, and the offensive weapons are the best the Miami Dolphins have had since... 92? Albert's ACL recovery scares the **** out of me. I don't think it's wrong to play the "what if" game when discussing a 30 year old, injury prone LT, who tore 2 ligaments in his knee...
i dont understand what your looking for..We have to roll with Fox..if our trainers deem Albert to be out til week 5, expect to make a push to sign Mathis, if they have him on target to start the season, all is good.
Our OL situation is really an indictment of our coaches (OL related). Seriously, how many teams have three 1st rounders on the OL that by all accounts are pretty good and still have a bad OL?!? One should NOT have to throw so much talent at this unit. It is what it is though.. so go get Mathis!
I guess I don't understand the complaints about getting Suh. There's not one player that we could have picked up, other than him, that can literally make everyone else's job easier. Every guy on defense's job is easier because of him. We should be giving up fewer points, and less yardage, so the offense shouldn't have to be scoring 30+ in a majority of games, and they should have better field position, too. I'd love to have a better oline, but you can't upgrade every unit in the same off season. We improved the defense and the offensive weapons, let's hope the coaches can get our oline to be at least average.
I have only heard 1 person say they think it may wreck our cap...who are all these people your referring to?
I didn't say there were a lot of people. I said I don't get the complaints. There's been an undercurrent of complaints about Suh, and the money, since we got him. I don't understand it. You have to pay for great players.
You have some evidence that La'el Collins would have signed a contract, had we grabbed him in the fifth, or whenever? Chances are, he would have refused to sign...
I am kinda glad that La'el picked Dallas because I just have a Leary feeling about him staying out of trouble....I may be wrong.....but I may be right.
