The Tampa Bay Bucs have claimed former Dolphin guard, Shawn Murphy, off of waivers. Murphy was a disappointment in 2008. After being drafted in the 4th round, he spent the entire year inactive on the 53-man roster.
This year he was much-improved, and didn't embarrass himself in taking over the starting role for the then-injured Donald Thomas. But it took literally days for Thomas to win his starting job back, and in the pre-season games it was night and day who was the better guard.
Still, it was a surprising move yesterday when the Dolphins waived him and signed Lydon Murtha off the Lions' practice squad. According to Coach Sparano, it was a humbling experience having to let Murphy go, but he felt they were in need of an offensive tackle.
The roster move begs for speculation, and here is mine. The Dolphins are not comfortable with Andrew Gardner yet and bringing in Murtha provides another young tackle to compete with. Nate Garner will likely continue to work at both Tackle and Guard, and will dress as the backup Tackle, with Joe Berger continuing to dress as the reserve Guard/Center. I suspect that whomever looks the best between Gardner and Murtha will remain on the team while the loser of that battle may be the victim of Matt Roth's re-activation. Since NFL rules dictate that Murtha must remain on the roster for 3 weeks, it could be an indication that the Dolphins are in no rush to bring Roth back on to the 53. Of course, if Murtha outshines Gardner, then it could all be moot.
The players more in danger of losing out to the Roth dilemma are Erik Walden and Quentin Moses.
For the record, today was Matt Roth's first practice, and Sparano said he looked lively out there, but needs to see how his body handles the work before deciding when/if he rejoins the team. Earlier today, the Miami Herald posted this AP article, which was clearly written by someone in Germany, not South Florida.
I think Roth being back will have a great impact on our defense. JT was intended to be used situationally (is that a word?), and Roth will allow him to be fresh for those obvious throwing downs. Maybe we see him do a little better than we expect with a year at OLB under him and recovery time for a nagging injury? I don't think a guy like Roth will need time to bounce back from practice contact. If he truly can come in game ready, I'd love to have him for the Saints. He seals the deal on their run game, and improves our pass rush by keeping JT fresh. Take away their run, Brees has to work harder (hopefully he has a bad day at the office).
ReplyDeleteAs for Murphy, overall it tells me good things.....You aren't always going to hit on your picks, but at least we have guys who will give these picks a chance, and move on if it doesn't work out. Also, the bar has been raised, this roster has improved. Murph might pick up on another team and work out.
Tin, you hit the nail on the head. Murphy wasn't even close to Thomas and Berger and Garner have more position flexibility. He's not the first 4th round pick not to make it. That's a 50-50 round anyway.
ReplyDeleteThe issue with Andrew Gardner is he has to change his body and because of his shoulder injury he couldn't work out enough to be the best player he could be heading into camp. He has the tools to be pretty good. He was very solid in college and durable most of his career. Ireland and Sparano said he has LT feet but he has to get stronger before he can be a force at this level.
Lydon Murtha is an excellent athlete and I was impressed with some of the things he did at the combine. I had him in the late rounds in my many mock drafts for the Dolphins. I thought he fit their profile being naturally big and athletic but he is raw at his position at the NFL level so he's a project.