Miami Dolphins: Fill in the Blanks

It is a well establish convention that the O-Line & D-Line is where the battle is won; but conventions are not always followed through on in today's NFL.

Factors such as the Salary Cap, Free Agency, Contract Re-negotiations, and the "three-year window" often cause anxious coaches on the "hotseat" and GM's trying to put 'fans in the stands' to start off write and then move on to a new project before the job is done.

Sexy picks like quarterback, wide receiver, and running back are easy to defend as they generate lots of excitement. But without that O-line, a young QB looks easily flustered and jumpy, a young Wide Receiver is vainly getting behind the secondary just as the the quarterback is throwing to the checkdown for a two-yard gain, and the speedy shifty back never gets past the wall of giants to turn on the mojo.

The Middle of the field is where the actions is.

The Parcells/Ireland/Sparano trio started the job right when the passed over Matt Ryan and selected Jake Long as the 1st overall in the 2008 draft. In doing so they finally brought a long term answer to a problem that was left unsolved since Richmond Webb was asked to leave.  

The Dolphins finally have their Left Tackle for the next decade. Now is the time to finish the job of building a dominant Offensive Line that can stop blitzing Linebackers, open holes for Running Backs and provide a few precious seconds of protection for a quarterback waiting for his young wide receivers to break their routes.

So how do they go about this important task?

1) Re-sign Vernon Carey

Full Stop. The Miami Dolphins had a great deal of success running to the right side. Carey got beat a few times this season; however, he was instrumental in both Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams averaging over four yards per carry. Drafting a rookie RT will require at least one year of seasoning before the unit can gel and get maximum production.

Allowing Carey him to hit the free agent market will cause his price go up as teams will view Carey as a possible Left Tackle, a position he adequately played with an injury riddled supporting cast. Get him signed NOW. 

2) Draft

This year's draft is purported to be stock full of quality Centers. Satelle showed promise of Pro-bowl caliber play; but, that was in a system that leaned more on Zone Blocking and looked for interior Lineman with quickness, even if it meant sacrificing a few pounds.

In Parcells' system, BIG is BETTER and Satelle is not "Big" so they better get someone BIGGER and make the unit Better (there's a tongue twister). Satelle has little trade value at this point (compared to the second-round pick invested in him), but he offers great depth as a Guard/Center for a team that closely monitors snap counts and rotates their Big Men.

They have to draft Center that has the size to fit into this system and allow him to get into the rotation until he is ready to be the starter.

3) Sign Another Offensive Guard in Free Agency

Bringing in a competitive starting veteran will compliment the return of Smiley, push Thomas, and allow a young Center to develop with more security having two quality Guards at his sides.

This simple, read SIMPLE, NOT 'easy' plan will put the Dolphins in Phase II of building a Dominant O-Line. It will provide a few more first downs on 3rd-and-short, a few more seconds for Chad Pennington to find the open man, and a much more balanced offence. Possibly even a better chance to win a playoff game against an opponent with a dominating defense.