On The Line

Please note that I was not on vacation last week - I was on a relocation mission.  I am officially and finally getting out of California and heading back to my adopted hometown of Portland, OR (technically I'll be in Beaverton, a suburb of the Rose City).  I am now back in Cali to pack up and finish up the project I've been working on for the last 4 years.  In two weeks, my family and I will hit the road in our moving truck and say good-bye to the Sacramento Valley for good.  The good news is that since this blog is based in the ethernet, nothing will change here - in fact, it may actually get better since I'll be upgrading my internet services just in time for the season.

Speaking of football, boy did I miss a lot of stories while I was gone.  I regret not keeping up to date but I have now updated the transactions page and caught up on the puff pieces over at MiamiDolphins.com. The next major task is to update the roster, but that will have to wait until my lunch break.

By far the most interesting story is the Ike Alama-Francis transition to SOLB.  In my opinion, if this transition is effective, he would be the favorite to start at the position opposite Cameron Wake - it's a duo that would be reminiscent of the Joey Porter/Matt Roth dynamic that was pretty successful in 2008.  With the additional penetration from Randy Starks at NT, and additional secondary blitzing, I envision a 50 sack season.  

Also of high interest are the signings of defensive ends, Charles Grant and Marques Douglas.  A week ago we all assumed that Jared Odrick was now the set starter with the injury to Philip Merling.  The addition of Grant and Douglas changes that completely. Grant, if healthy, and despite being 31 years of age, is likely to be better at the position than Odrick will be in his rookie season.  The same should be said about Douglas.  Still, I think the dark horse, Tony McDaniel, should not be overlooked - there were times last year where he looked far better than his 7th round draft pick trade could ever have imagined.  In any event, while it's still early, I would expect Odrick not to be starting on day 1.  Lionel Dotson, meanwhile, has likely dropped out of contention for the 53.

The Dolphins also signed DT Montavious Stanley, but its hard to consider him anything more than camp fodder.