Meet your new right guard and left defensive end

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Meet your new right guard and left defensive end

By Ben Volin | Tuesday, August 19, 2008, 01:53 PM

Tony Sparano officially ended the right guard competition Tuesday afternoon, and is close to solidifying his defensive front seven.

Rookie sixth-round pick Donald Thomas, who didn’t play organized football until his sophomore year at the University of Connecticut, will be the Dolphins’ right guard. He has played with the First Team since the second week of training camp, and Sparano said Tuesday that it is “Donald’s job to lose.”

“Donald’s a young player that’s shown great progress,” Sparano said. “I like what he does in there and he’s continuing to get better, and as long as that happens I think he’s going to stay there.”

The Dolphins’ offensive line is now set - Jake Long, Justin Smiley, Samson Satele, Thomas and Vernon Carey. Sparano said having two rookie starters “requires patience,” but is excited about Long and Thomas anchoring the line for many years to come.

“Those two young guys, they are as conscientious as it gets as far as getting the job done the right way, and at the same time they’re tough, they’re physically tough,” Sparano said. “What I’m starting to see is them playing a little bit more like a younger veteran player than like a rookie. One of the things we’ve done with both of them is we threw them right into the fire. They’re going to play until their tongues fall out.”

On the other side of the ball, rookie third-rounder Kendall Langford is now the starter at left defensive end. Langford has started both exhibition games, and leapfrogged Randy Starks on the latest depth chart, released Monday. Matt Roth was previously the starting LDE, but now is listed as a strong outside linebacker.

Rookie second-rounder Phillip Merling is still listed behind veteran Vonnie Holliday. But Langford, Sparano said, “might be in there for a long time.”

“We watched him and this guy has done a heck of a job,” Sparano said. “I was impressed with what he did early in the game last week with his hands, had a couple of pressures early on in the game.”

“The good thing is he’s playing against good people right now. He’s out there starting a ballgame playing against the best people. We’re getting a really good evaluation of him, so I like him in there. He might be in there for a long time.”

The Dolphins have few open competitions remaining, now that LDE, RG and Kicker (rookie Dan Carpenter) have been decided, and quarterback is essentially decided (Chad Pennington as the starter).

Sparano said he still has “tough decisions” at receiver, with eight players vying for five or six spots, and safety, with six guys competing for four or five spots. The running backs, fullbacks and linebackers aren’t set in concrete, but players will likely rotate at those positions throughout the season.

“There’s going to be tough decisions there, but that’s what we wanted,” Sparano said.