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For all the celebration around skill positions in the NFL, the success of every team lies in the play of its offensive and defensive lines. Miami is no different. Vontae Davis might end up being a decent player. Sean Smith and Pat White might end up contributing next year as well, but Miami’s success will hinge on the men up front. Collectively, last year’s OL wasn’t the worst Miami has ever had by any stretch of the imagination but they couldn’t run block their way out of a wet paper bag.
It took a version of the old high school “student body right” play before Miami started finding success on the ground. So guys like Jake Grove and Brandon Frye, Donald Thomas, and Justin Smiley will likely play a key role if the Dolphins are to have a successful 2009 Season. The unit has yet to take a snap in the regular season but already there are questions. Thomas, for all the hype about his performance in camp and the preseason, has yet to produce on the field due to injury. Smiley was just finding his groove when he went down last season. Jake Grove has an injury riddled past. Other than bringing in Grove, there was little attention paid to the OL this year. Frye was brought in via FA but the guard position was ignored in the draft.
If questions along the OL don’t bother you, then shift to defense. While Miami certainly shored up its LB corps, the DL pretty much went as-is into 2009. Langford, Ferguson and Merling are the usual suspects, after that, it gets pretty slim. When Ferguson went out with injury last year and Solai was suspended, Miami really suffered trying to stop the run. Outside of Starks, the backups at DE look like a whose-who of nobodies.
So depth here is a real concern. Again like the guard position, there were no changes added via the draft or in FA for the interior of the defense. The difference here is that the interior of the defense did its job last season, for the most part. So barring some unfortunate injuries to the group they should improve slightly due to the improvement of both Merling and Langford now that they have experience.
In short, the play of both interiors is pivotal to any success this team will enjoy in 2009.
