Fortunately for Dolphins, left tackle position seems set

By Hugo Guzman  |   Tuesday, January 01, 2008  |  Comments( 4 )

Miami Dolphins
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The Miami Dolphins are a franchise mired by question marks. From quarterback to coach to general manager (and seemingly everywhere in between), Bill Parcells is staring at a dark abyss of unknowns.

Fortunately for Parcells, it appears that one of the NFL's most difficult positions to fill seems set in Miami.

Though some fans and irresponsible media pundits will be quick to lump Vernon Carey in with the rest of Miami's offensive malfunctions, the reality is that he turned in an extremely impressive 2007 campaign. Along with the surprisingly solid rookie center Samson Satele, Carey anchored a rushing attack that was among the league's best early in the season. Even after electrifying starter Ronnie Brown went down with a knee injury, Carey continued to help pave running lanes for the five other backs who carried the football in the former's absence.

Though the Dolphins dipped down to 23rd in the league in rushing by season's end, averaging 98.1 yards per game, some of that drop in production can be attributed to Miami's perpetual conundrum of falling behind early and being forced to pass, as well as a lack of depth and talent as the season progressed.

When Brown was in there, he averaged roughly 5.5 yards per carry when running behind Carey; and for the season, Dolphins running backs averaged well over 4 yards when the former University of Miami standout was leading the way.

However, run blocking is just half the story when it comes to evaluating the play of an offensive tackle, and some will be quick to at least partially blame Carey for Miami's steady decline in pass protection over the course of the season.

But are those accusations valid? Did Carey hold up his end of the bargain when it came to protecting the blind side? The answer is a resounding "yes."

Of the 42 sacks Miami's offense surrendered in 2007, the four-year veteran was responsible for just three. Granted, NFL stats for offensive linemen are far from 100 percent accurate, but even if you allow for a few extra sacks, his '07 performance was impressive.

Just how impressive was it? Carey's three sacks allowed are significantly better than three of the four Pro Bowl starters at tackle: New England's Matt Light (6.5), Buffalo's Jason Peters (six) and Seattle's Walter Jones (six). He was also slightly better than the fourth starter, Dallas' Flozell Adams, who finished the season with 3.5 sacks allowed.

Kind of makes you wonder why Carey wasn't offered an invitation, even if only as an alternate.

Mind you, Carey still has plenty of room for improvement, especially in the false-start department (he was flagged seven times). Fortunately, the fact that he came into 2007 with just three false starts in three prior seasons suggests that '07's total was more of anomaly than a trend. Moreover, Carey did not commit a single holding penalty during the year, and he has only been whistled for that offense twice in four seasons.

At 6-foot-5 and 335 pounds, the Miami native is a prototypical left tackle, and his performance suggests that he's on the verge of ascending to Pro Bowl status. Parcells is certainly entitled to evaluate Carey's performance and determine for himself if he is the Dolphins' left tackle of the future, but chances are that the franchise's new head man will come away pleased with what he has to work with.

It appears as if left tackle is set, thus meaning one fewer question needs answering in Miami.
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About Hugo Guzman

Co-founder of RealFootball365.com. Born in Argentina, of Dominican descent, living in Hoboken, but from Miami through and ...
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