O-Line Shakeups

[EDGECRUSHER]

Due to how atrocious they have been, the team is shaking up the O-Line. Solomon Kindley is being replaced by Liam and Robert Hunt is likely going back to RT while Austin Jackson moves to Guard.

I guess the silver lining is they have been so bad they can all be replaced by practice squad guys and that may motivate them. On the other hand, the large regression by Solomon and Austin is alarming. I don't ever remember O-Line guys starting out good or okay in their rookie years and then hitting the wall in their second season. It's not a position that regresses that quickly or at all before age and injury take hold.

Do we have new O-Line coaches this season?

[Dolphster]

I'm not quite ready to eat crow yet.  But I was a big supporter of the 2020 OL draft.  I was a big fan of Austin Jackson and Solomon Kindley and I thought that Hunt was a real sleeper who could be really good with some good coaching and experience.  So I was a little baffled when they drafted Liam in an early round this year.  Not giving up any of them quite yet, but they all had decent rookie seasons and have seemingly regressed this year (although two games is a small sample size). 

I was confused during camp when the Dolphins kept bringing in so many veteran OL guys for tryouts, etc.  I just figured it was for experienced depth.  But now I'm wondering if the Fins knew they had OL problems during pre season and were trying to bring in guys to compete for starting spots.  Hell, it would have been before pre season since they drafted Liam. 

So now the big question becomes, did all three of last year's rookies inexplicably regress from where they ended last year or is it an OL coaching problem or a blocking scheme problem or a combination of all of those factors?

[EDGECRUSHER]

So now the big question becomes, did all three of last year's rookies inexplicably regress from where they ended last year or is it an OL coaching problem or a blocking scheme problem or a combination of all of those factors?

I would like to blame the coaching but we have had problems with players and coaching along the line for over a decade now. So, who knows?

IIRC, Hunt was graded out pretty well in the last half of the season at RT so it might be good for him to return there.

[CF DolFan]

The only thing I've seen or heard for sure is that Solomon Kindley is being replaced by Liam. The other scenarios were only guesses.

The good news I heard is that they don't expect the Raiders to change their defense to blitz like Buffalo but be the best versio of themselves as they can be. If they are only sending 4 that will really help us.

[EDGECRUSHER]

The only thing I've seen or heard for sure is that Solomon Kindley is being replaced by Liam. The other scenarios were only guesses.

The good news I heard is that they don't expect the Raiders to change their defense to blitz like Buffalo but be the best versio of themselves as they can be. If they are only sending 4 that will really help us.

It would be foolish to not challenge our O-Line on every play, especially with a backup QB at the helm. We can hurt them with some quick slants to our speedy guys but it's a better plan to make us prove we can rather than play cautious.

I hope they don't but it would be surprising if they didn't blitz heavy to start the game.

[Downunder Dolphan]

The thing I can't get my head around was that last year the right side of that line protecting Tua's blind side was very solid with Hunt at RT and Kindley at RG...

So we go into this season without that combo there? What the heck happened in the offseason/preseason?

Jackson had some poor moments last year, but the Jonathan Martin level of play to start this season is a huge worry.