Matt Roth gets tryout as Dolphins starting outside linebacker

[DolFan619]

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/football/pro/dolphins/sfl-mattroth080408,0,4695933.story

Matt Roth gets tryout as Dolphins starting outside linebacker

By Omar Kelly
Sun-Sentinel.com

3:39 PM EDT, August 4, 2008

DAVIE - Matt Roth should be thankful the Cowboys were on the Dolphins' schedule last season.

The prep work for that game provided Dolphins coach Tony Sparano his first extensive look at the young defensive end, and it turns out that first impression has stuck.

After watching plenty of game film, Sparano, who was then the Cowboys' offensive line coach, concluded Roth was going to be one of the more difficult defensive linemen for his Cowboys unit to block because of his "high motor."

"I knew that was a guy who wasn't going to stay blocked. He's kind of one of these all day suckers," Sparano said of Roth, who contributed five tackles and one quarterback hurry in that 37-20 loss to the Dallas.

Turns out the Dolphins are banking on Roth's "high motor" to help him make a smooth transition from defensive end to standup outside linebacker. That's the experiment the Dolphins began working on this week in practice.

Last week it was defensive end Vonnie Holliday who tried out as a standup outside linebacker, which primarily pursues the quarterback and occasionally drops back into coverage in this 3-4 defensive scheme.

Sparano said these types of experiments create "roster flexibility," which benefits the team on game day.

Roth is working with the first team as the strongside linebacker while Joey Porter is moved to the right side, which is where Charlie Anderson has been laboring to replace Pro Bowler Jason Taylor.

Rookie defensive end Kendall Langford, who stood out in his training camp debut most of last week, is filling in for Roth, getting a test drive for the starting left defensive end spot. Sparano said the coaches want to gauge how Langford, a third-round pick from Hampton, performs against the starting offensive line.

Roth's success at his new spot, which he worked at a little during minicamps, will determine whether the position switch sticks.

"We want to see whether or not Matt can handle it. We're anxious to watch it and see what happens," Sparano said. "He's a big strong athletic guy that can hold the point a little bit. He gives us a chance to see Joey in some kind of a pass-rush mode too."

Even though Roth had a quiet first week at practice, Sparano praised him Monday morning in talking about the former second-round pick's strength at the point of attack and his "excellent hands."

"He really is one of the stronger players on our football team in weight room strength," Sparano said. "Weight room strength, sometimes when you watch it on the field you don't quite see it. We spend all this time trying to develop it, but then you don't really see it all the time. This guy plays with weight room strength when he's out here. His motor allows him to get to some plays some other guys really don't get to."