No Standouts at Guard yet but the Chiefs Could Offer a Solution
No Standouts at Guard yet but the Chiefs Could Offer a Solution
There is no mystery that the biggest concern and need of the Miami Dolphins is at the Guard position, and it is not just at one Guard position, but both. The coaching staff was hoping that during the recent OTA’s one or two players would emerge as the front runner for each guard position, however instead there are now 4 players in the mix for the starting job: Dallas Thomas, Jamil Douglas, Jeffrey Linkenbach, and Billy Turner. No offense to any of these players, but no one in this bunch is going to allow Tannehill to have a good night’s sleep this season.
As a result of the lack of talent at the guard position, Miami has been tied directly to looking to acquire Evan Mathis. However, Mathis is looking for more money than the Dolphins are probably willing to offer. The one good thing for Miami is that Mathis is still on the market because it appears that the Dolphins are not the only team that thinks Mathis is asking for too much money.
If the Dolphins do not sign Mathis, which most of the pay per head bookie service sites like AcePerHead.com would put as plus odds, then Miami needs to have a plan B. The offensive line may not be a glamor position in the NFL, but it is the foundation and cornerstone of any successful offense. The Dolphins have spent a lot of money and resources in upgrading the skill positions on offense, but the Guard positions unfortunately were not addressed adequately enough. However, the Guard position is just as important as any other position on offense, because if you can’t run block or pass block then you will not be able to run or pass well.
It appears that Miami is actually going to enter training camp and let their four guards duke it out for the two starting positions, but when each team is forced to make the necessary roster cuts to get to the required 53 man roster, then Miami is going to be a hawk on the waiver line for Guards.
One rumor that just hit the airwaves is that Miami may be interested in trading for, or waiting for one of the Kansas Chiefs linemen to become available. The Chiefs are very deep on the offensive line with 8 to 9 serviceable players on their current roster: Eric Fisher, Ben Grubbs, Eric Kush, Donald Stephenson, Jeff Allen, Mitch Morse, Paul Fanaika, Zach Fulton, and Laurent Duvernay-Tardif. Clearly, Fisher, Grubbs, Stephenson, and Kush are locks to make the Chiefs roster and start for them, but any of the others could be trade bait or could be a roster cut causality. The most intriguing player of the other 5 players is Jeff Allen, who is heading into a contract year, and generally, those type of players usually play their best.
Obviously, the Chiefs offensive line unit is just one of the many teams that the Dolphins will be closely monitoring to see if they can snag a useful acorn to help upgrade the guard position. Are there any other Guards that may be cut from other teams around the NFL that the rest of the Miami Dolphins news fans would be interested in signing?
