Friday, May 29, 2009

Sophomore Snapshot - JAKE LONG, LT


Talk about a winning combination...7-7-7!
Henne: "Hey, what do you say after this we go get drafted by the same team and play some NFL ball?" Long: "Oh man, isn't four years enough?" Michael Phelps wishes he had gone this route:

Playing at Michigan means that every fan of OTHER Big Ten football teams will waste every single breath of their lives trying to beat you down. In the end, you become the top pick in the draft and the highest paid offensive lineman ever, and they end up sweeping up meatloaf droppings at the local Hometown Buffet. (click on image below to see a bigger, readable image)

Being sworn in by the Dolphins' head sock judge (honestly, why are they in just socks?):
So what has Jake been up to since taking his shoes off with Channing Crowder?

Well apparently he's been working out. Based on the video I've seen of him during OTAs, he looks to have dropped any baby fat he had on him, and added some more muscle. This dude does NOT look like an NFL offensive lineman, he looks like Paul Bunyan's bigger, stronger brother. And Coach Sparano and Jake both agree that he comes into 2009 much stronger, more confident, and with higher expectations. And his cohorts are no slouches either. Justin Smiley, known as more of a beach ball physique, also has slimmed down and then bulked up. Even Vernon Carey looks slimmer and stronger. One thing is for certain, the days of the big fat slow guys playing on the line are over in Miami. This 2009 O-line is made up of tall, slim, power-blockers. I'm very excited to see the running game.

And for all those excited about the Wildcat, don't get too worked up, as Justin Smiley didn't get the memo (the trifecta seems very intent on saying they'll be running loads of Wildcat plays, even letting the media see many plays run out of it during the open OTAs, something they didn't do last year), and blurted out in an interview yesterday that the Dolphins game plan is NOT to run the Wildcat, but to be a power running team. Think about it, Long, Smiley, Grove, and Thomas (all the trifecta guys) are all known as run blockers. Chad Pennington is a game-manager who is known for taking snaps under center. And Ronnie Brown, Ricky Williams, Lex Hilliard, and Anthony Kimble are big powerbacks. Do you honestly think we'll be running a lot of the Wildcat just because we drafted Pat White?

The 2009 Offensive line

25 comments:

  1. The Knight who says Ni!May 29, 2009 at 10:55 AM

    Tin, I do think we'll see the Wildcat but we may see more spread offense stuff with Pat White. Now that we have more talent and depth at WR I think we can be productive in the spread offense.
     
    We have more options to create mismatches with Ginn's speed and London and Turner's size. Bess will likely see most of his time as a slot receiver which is his best fit in my opinion and I view Hartline as the same type of player as Camarillo but a little bigger and a little faster. Is he as savvy? We'll find out. Armstrong has excellent speed but he's even smaller and thinner than Ginn. We'll see what he can do this year when the pads go on.
     
    I don't really care what the WRs do in OTAs because they don't have to worry about getting hit. The most important thing in these OTAs is how well the young guys pick up things mentally. The vets are just getting themselves ready for the football season, they've been here done that before.

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  2. The Knight who says Ni!May 29, 2009 at 10:58 AM

    Oh yeah, good stuff on Jake Long. LOL
     
    I've been working on my "Why Not Us?" article but I think I'm competing with "War and Peace" so I need to do some editing or it won't be an enjoyable read. I'm off today so I'll try to finish it up today and this weekend and at least have it ready for a Monday read.

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  3. I can tell you're at home because your comments are actually showing up in my inbox.  When you're at work, they don't show up so I have to find them by chance and they have that toxic tattoo band at the bottom of them, lol.
     
    btw, I'm putting up a mini-contest today, and will let it stand over the weekend, so Monday would be perfect timing on your Epic Novel!  Just keep in mind, Gmail has a 5 gigabyte limit on e-mails, lol

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  4. The Knight who says Ni!May 29, 2009 at 11:09 AM

    Wow, that's strange with the home/work thing. I don't get it.
     
    Anyway, my article should come in just under 5 gigs.  =-O
     
    So what was that bomb scare all about, any info. on what was up with that?

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  5. Crowder is wearing a judges robe, a leather helmet, swearing Long in with a red, white and blue football, and you comment on the fact they are both wearing socks?
     
    The tutu photo is too, too strange.  Men must have lots of strange rituals I will never understand, nor do I want to.
     
    And as for the wildcat, I think showing some of it yesterday, maybe saying something different, it's confusing.  Which is what they want.  
     
    What is this contest!?

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  6. The Knight who says Ni!May 29, 2009 at 11:14 AM

    Another thing about Jake Long, Chad Henne is a big guy with a thick build. Jake makes him look small. Jake definitely has a one of kind frame for an offensive lineman. Parcells likes naturally big, strong, athletic lineman on both sides of the ball, not guys who carry 25-50 lbs. of goo on them. Not good for Paul Soliai if he doesn't get his act together.

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  7. It's under investigation so I don't know any solid info, but I was at my desk at 8:30am and had a company rep come in and we were literally shaking hands and saying hello when the business manager came skidding by and forcibly told everyone as she was moving to go to the conference room 'NOW!'
     
    The rep went over to another building (i told him I'd meet him over there after our sudden meeting) and then went into the conference room where we were all told that some one had called in a bomb threat.  This is my second bomb threat in 5 years, and I narrowly averted the London bombings in 2005.  Can't escape this stuff anywhere. 
     
    Anyway, so everyone in the office decided they were going to go to Starbucks down the road, and I practically had the taste of frappucino in my mouth, when the big boss told me to go have my meeting with the company rep at HIS office which was a good 30 miles away.
     
    To make this even better, I  couldn't find the guy's office and didn't have any contact info.directions since we were in the middle of an evacuation at the time we decided to meet there. 
     
    But I did manage to get myself a blended coffee by the time I found the office.
    :-P

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  8. Anyway, the cops came (we managed to evacuate about 200 people in ten minutes) and brought sniffer dogs and after about three hours cleared the site for re-entry.  Of course, this was about the time I finished driving back to town from my meeting...

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  9. You'll have to come back later to see ;)   It'll be up within the hour.

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  10. I'm sure you already watched the video of yesterday's OTA, but if you didn't go check it out on aquavision.  Maybe it's just me, but I actually thought Soliai looked to be in very good shape (for him).  Of course, big guys tend to look ok before they put the pads on.  Once the tights are on however...

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  11. Oh, and Fergie has his fair share of goo.  That Louis Ellis though looks like the incredible Hulk from the 80s.

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  12. The Knight who says Ni!May 29, 2009 at 11:33 AM

    Crazy stuff!

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  13. The Knight who says Ni!May 29, 2009 at 11:34 AM

    I have not but I will check it out.

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  14. The Knight who says Ni!May 29, 2009 at 11:36 AM

    Fergy is an older guy though and those guys tend to have that gut. But he's reportedly in the 310-320 range, not 350 like some of those fat NTs we've seen over the years. Soliai is just a big dude like a lot of samoans and they have a hard time with weight. But he's young and employed by the NFL so he has to stay in shape or he won't be around long.

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  15. It's not going to be another one like the last one, is it?  It's the weekend after all.

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  16. From the Aquavision clips Cohen is looking STRONG as well.  He's not as tall or wide as the other guys but his punch just knocks the hell out of the practice dummie.  Knocks it right out, the weeble doesn't get back up! LOL

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  17. The Knight who says Ni!May 29, 2009 at 2:01 PM

    Joe Cohen is supposedly very strong. He did 38 reps at the combine in 2007. Crowder who was his teammate at Florida said he's extremely strong. That's what you want more than just size at NT. Strength, good feet and a bit of a nasty streak.

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  18. I don't think we'll run the WildFIN"alot"simply b/c we drafted PW,just more than last yr,sprinkled in amongst smashing mouths.. AND IF PW gets that WR/QB number,I think we'll see alot more fleaflickers,(like RWs TD drop vs that grntm in the CHAMPIONSHIP clincher)...
     
    I think we'll be wasting sooo many potential scenarios,IF they don't change his number,(while giving the opponent's less to practice for)!!
    When's the deadline for that potential number change??
     

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  19. <div id="comment-140893372-content" class="comment-content"><span>

    Just watched the JSmiley(aquavision)thing,where he said ""We don't care about the WC thing,we're gonna smashmouths""..
    He also said some things about last yrs depth getting some reps due to the injuries to himself,and others,which caused me to reflect on some of MY thoughts,after the StL game in which JS was injured..
     
     
     
    """WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOF IIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNGGGGGG HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!Too bad about Justin,Camarillo,Thomas!!But knowing they'll all be 100% healthy starters come 09,gives me a good feeling about their YOUNG backups/BACKUPS getting some substantial playing time in critical game mode..It's a setback toward this year,where we'd likely be manhandeled in the playoffs anyway's should we find a way to get there(even w'the IR roster),but it's a huge positive towards 09!!@least the brass will have a better idea of what will need to take place during the offseason @ OL,WR,and the guys that stick will have a plethora of experience that they lack @ this moment..Road W,and the rest of the division lost @ home!! ONE game out,GOFINS!!
    </span></div>
    <p>Posted by: 13kvFINS | <span style="color: #004276;">November 30, 2008 at 08:32 PM</span>"""

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  20. <div id="comment-140947820-content" class="comment-content"><span>

    You've come a long way TIN,CONGRATS on THIS SITE!!
    FUNNYSTUFF,along w'a warmth to my heart ,goin back in time,and being reminded of how much the TEAM,and we as fans have evolved!!
    NOT to discredit you,but ML got 31yrds,and 92 in BOTH games combined,you naysayer you(LOL),JUSKIDN BRO!!!   ;)
     
    AGAIN,CONGRATS on THIS SITE,I like it ALOT,(THANX!!!)
    Stay Humble,(ie your 1st sentence)!!!
     
     
     
     
    """If I'm correct, and I rarely am, the only way we could make the playoffs is if we either win the division (meaning we would have to win out all our remaining games), or Indy and NE together would have to lose a couple more games than us down the stretch. There's virtually no way we could supplant Baltimore as they have the tiebreaker and lets face it, they're a much better team than us. Right now I would go with the winning the division scenario although I don't see us beating Buffalo as they can't possibly stay in their slump for much longer. They grossly outplayed their opponent yesterday and turned the ball over twice inside the red zone, and if Steven Jackson could put up 90 yards on us, then Lynch could muster 120 or so. Plus we are playing in a canadian stadium which will be quieter than St Louis but hopefully nicer carpet (it could be flourescent orange for all I know). As for the Jets, that will be a nail biter. San Fran and whoever else we're playing should be cakewalks but we don't seem to be able to walk on cake very well.
    </span></div>
    <p>Posted by: Tinshaker | December 01, 2008 at 12:10 PM"""

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  21. The Knight who says Ni!May 30, 2009 at 5:22 AM

    <span style="color: #404040; line-height: 18px;">"but we don't seem to be able to walk on cake very well."</span>
     
    <span style="color: #404040; line-height: 18px;">LOL </span>

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  22. Wow, talk about a throwback comment!
     
    To be fair, I WAS right about the winning the division and it being a nailbiter (took a defensive TD near the end to win).
     
    I look forward to making more outrageous comments like that at the end of 2009!
     
    :-D

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  23.  ""I had this thought. What if Miami had Pennington, White and Ronnie on the field at the same time.""
     
    You just now had this thought??
    I see it happening,though PW will have to change his number,OR Henne will have to be the #3QB!!
    I'm ALL FOR PW changing #s,but NOT for Henne being the #3QB!!
     
    I'm hoping the PW number change is simply being delayed till the last moment,to give the scheduled opposition less time to figure-out defensive strategy for such a possibility.. 

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  24. Wrong blog article, lol.

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  25. The Knight who says Ni!June 1, 2009 at 6:32 PM

    <span style="color: #404040; line-height: 18px;">"I look forward to making more outrageous comments like that at the end of 2009!" </span>
     
    Me too!  :-D

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