Benefits from the Jake Long Selection

[FinFanatic80]

1. He immediately helps open holes for the strength of our offense, the running game.

2. He will help in pass protection so that Beck has more time in the pocket and also advance his development as a quarterback.

3. Selecting an OT now, allows us to go best-player-available at pick #32 more than it would if we picked someone else.

4. He's a much safer pick than any of the other players. If he doesnt pan out at LT he can play other O-Line positions which can not be said about McFadden, Ryan, Gholston, or Chris.

5. His overall money is less than Russell's from last year.

[newlownorder]

Exactly, by selecting him the dolphins are able to be proactive in the draft rather than reactive. meaning that they don't have to worry about taking a tackle in round 2 because they would have had to in they didn't. Now they can take the two best players available in round 2 or trade around if they want. If they had waited to draft a tackle there was no promise that one of the elites would have been there in round 2. They would have been stuck having to sign Nicks who has off-field problems and is somewhat of a potential guy or Sam Baker who doesn't really fit the Parcells type of player. Now they can go out and take whoever they want at 32 or trade out of that pick and pickup more draft picks. When all is said and done, don't be suprised if Miami takes 2 more O-linemen in this draft.

Excellent topic btw.

[The Juggernaut]

Yeah let's not forget our D was a much bigger problem than a LT was last season. Also Jake signed for more than the QB Russell just for less years, which is better for the player. He's getting as much guaranteed money for less years and making more salary per year.

[lane26]

the thing about our D being not that great last year....we traded/cut much of that D...now we signed a ton of players on both sides.

should be a different team next year (im hoping)

[Smoke]

Originally Posted by The Juggernaut

Yeah let's not forget our D was a much bigger problem than a LT was last season. Also Jake signed for more than the QB Russell just for less years, which is better for the player. He's getting as much guaranteed money for less years and making more salary per year.

I disagree. Our oline was pathetic last season. Pass protection was the worst in the league. Run blocking was also subpar and very inconsistant. The pocket would collapse with eight in the box! OT was far and away the biggest area of need on this team. Vernon Carey did a decent job at LT but has proven that he can be an outstanding RT. Depth was awful and we had Shelton playing tackle when he had no business being anywhere but guard. Prior to signing Long, we had no starters at LT or LG. Now we only have to worry about guard where we can get a guy in a later round to battle with Mormino to start.
On the defensive side of the ball we're not in that bad of shape. We acquired Starks and Ferguson who could each play major roles. We have have two great OLBs with great pass rush ability. We'll have a healthy secondary with better depth. Not to mention we still have eight picks in the draft with a lot of good CB and LB prospects that will be available when we pick.

[Crazy685]

Giving up less Sacks than two pro bowlers is "decent" now?
We need to resign Vernon Carey

[The Juggernaut]

LOL Yeah Carey gave up less sacks and had better run #'s than most pro bowlers thats a little better than decent. I think our D was way more pathetic than our o-line was when healthy and had Ronnie running. Our D literally got run over by everyone and never got QB pressure, we put up decent offensive numbers with Ronnie healthy.

[lane26]

we can work on resigning Carey after this year...or late this year.

The good thing is we got a good football player that is motivated to play.

my opinion...get a OG and WR ....all the rest on Defense.

[Bill C]

The better news is that the Long signing allows us to resign/extend Carey as a RT - which will be less money than we would have had to pay if he were still playing LT.

[The Juggernaut]

Originally Posted by Bill C

The better news is that the Long signing allows us to resign/extend Carey as a RT - which will be less money than we would have had to pay if he were still playing LT.

You think Carey's agent will so happily accept RT money when he knows on the market Carey can sign as a young good LT? After the way Long's agent bent us over with the contract, Carey will be looking for a lot of money next season.

[X-Pacolypse]

Originally Posted by Bill C

The better news is that the Long signing allows us to resign/extend Carey as a RT - which will be less money than we would have had to pay if he were still playing LT.

To an extent. Carey may want a little more coin because he showed the versatility to play LT last season. Regardless, giving Vernon a contract extension needs to be a priority.

[3rdandinches]

Originally Posted by The Juggernaut

You think Carey's agent will so happily accept RT money when he knows on the market Carey can sign as a young good LT? After the way Long's agent bent us over with the contract, Carey will be looking for a lot of money next season.

Which makes signing J.Long even more important, if VC wants a billion dollars we'll let him go and fill in the RT spot easy with a FA or mid round draft pick. Then as a bonus we'll get a 3rd round comp. pick for losing him to FA.

On the flip side if VC signs we have bookend OT's for years to come, that to me is a win win situation. Great move by the FO !

[Digital]

Originally Posted by The Juggernaut

LOL Yeah Carey gave up less sacks and had better run #'s than most pro bowlers thats a little better than decent. ... we put up decent offensive numbers with Ronnie healthy.

Actually, we need to put Carey's 'numbers' in perspective. We had an absolutely horrible team last season, particularly on offense. While you make a good point about injuries, such as Ronnie Brown's, but let's take a closer look at the offense.

1. When we had everyone healthy, meaning we had a veteran QB in Green, a feature running back in Ronnie Brown, and our starting WR in Chambers and starting TE in Martin, we actually did pretty well on offense ... but that didn't last long. During that time Carey did just fine and we were a legitimate NFL offense.

2. Then the injury hurricane hit, and when it had passed the casualties included our only quality QB, all 3 of our quality RB's, our best WR, our only starting caliber TE, and others. That's essentially every one of your 'skill positions' missing. During this time Carey struggled. I was pleasantly surprised that he did as well as he did, but let's be honest he did not do well.

3. Vernon Carey allowed one of the highest amounts of hurries of any LT in the NFL. While his sacks total was skewed a little bit because of forced fumbles, QB's getting rid of the ball or running, and other things, this is still a very bad mark. This 'number' is compounded by the fact that our offense was so bad that we didn't run many plays, so he had less snaps to give up sacks and hurries. All in all, Carey was one of the poorest LT's in the NFL last season ... but he wasn't quite the total disaster I expected him to be.

Jake Long is an instant upgrade at LT in every aspect of the game, including pass protection. Selecting Jake also has the benefit of letting Vernon Carey switch from a very poor LT to a good RT, which helps our passing protection, running game, and his confidence.

There was a reason that every single professional ranking of this very good Tackle class had Jake Long ranked #1. It is because he is a fantastic player, and better than all the rest. Nitpick, sure, but there isn't a single prospect in this draft that's a sure-fire instant-great pass protector. Despite what people have been saying as they re-write history, Joe Thomas was considered just as suspect at pass protection as Jake Long now is. That doesn't mean Jake will be as good as Joe, but it does help understand that all college kids need to learn, and offensive line is just one of those positions where there's significantly more to learn than these kids picked up in college.

Jake Long has very good technique, but he's not without areas of improvement. Footwork is something he's going to be working on from day one, as is using his fantastically long arms. If Long, Clady, Albert, Otah, Baker and Williams all end up starting at LT next year (unlikely but it could happen), don't be surprised if Jake Long allows fewer sacks than the rest. Not because he is the quickest or has the best footwork, but because he doesn't make many mistakes, and even those with better feet still make mistakes. And I seriously doubt any of those guys can compete with Jake in the run game, including Otah and Albert. Gosder Cherilius will be a great run blocker, but he simply cannot play LT at the NFL level.

Jake Long may not be Jonathon Ogden or Orlando Pace, but he is going to be a dominant LT for his entire career. He is going to be one of those guys that ends up being an automatic selection for the Pro-Bowl almost every year. Players fear him, coaches gameplan around him, and the Dolphins will sit on his shoulders and ride him as far as we possibly can go.

[3rdandinches]

The right side of our line just improved, our run game just improved, our QB just got alittle better, our defense just got better, our coaches just got smarter, our 4th down conversion rate just went up, our ability to take BPA the rest of the way improved the talent level on our whole team, what a great pick J.Long is. Maybe I'm one of the few who believe it but he's worth the 30mil guaranteed, no other player would have this direct and indirect effect on the team.

[FinFanatic80]

Originally Posted by 3rdandinches

The right side of our line just improved, our run game just improved, our QB just got alittle better, our defense just got better, our coaches just got smarter, our 4th down conversion rate just went up, our ability to take BPA the rest of the way improved the talent level on our whole team, what a great pick J.Long is. Maybe I'm one of the few who believe it but he's worth the 30mil guaranteed, no other player would have this direct and indirect effect on the team.

WOW, i'm not in love with the pick as much as you, but i definitely like it.