Offensive Line Changing

Offensive line begins major overhaul

When the Dolphins' minicamp starts today, as many as four spots on the line might be occupied by a different player than at the end of last season.

BY ARMANDO SALGUERO
asalguero@MiamiHerald.com

The Dolphins could have an entirely revamped offensive line by the time the 2007 season starts in September. And today they will draw the curtain on the first phase of that overhaul.
When the offense takes the field this morning for the first day of a three-day minicamp, the players at four of the five line positions might be different than the ones who finished the 2006 season and even manned the spot at the team's last minicamp in April.
And to underscore Miami's uncertainty along the line, today's group might be changed several more times before the regular season.
''It's a work in progress,'' Dolphins coach Cam Cameron said recently.
A work of faith in progress if one studies some of the proposed changes.
The Dolphins are installing Vernon Carey at left tackle, moving him from the familiar right tackle spot where he has started 32 games the past three seasons.
Cameron, looking for a consistent protector of his quarterback's blind side, believes Carey has the ability to fill the role.
''He and I've talked about it,'' Cameron said. ``. . . He's excited about that opportunity, and this young man has a lot of ability, and I came in with an open mind. In my view we've got a guy who can develop into the kind of left tackle we're looking for.''
That is asking a lot of a player who only a year ago was a question mark at his familiar right tackle spot, a player who was a left guard and right tackle in college, a player who had a short experiment at left tackle his rookie year.
An experiment that failed.
But the Dolphins will nonetheless be mixing Carey and other players in the lab the next few days trying to conjure a starting offensive line.
L.J. Shelton, who has played left tackle most of his career, came to the Dolphins last season to fill that position. But in starting there the first five games, he was the lowest-graded starter along the line in three of those.
So the Dolphins moved him to right guard, where he played well enough to start the final 11 games of the season. Shelton was still at right guard during last month's minicamp but now will go to right tackle, a spot he has played only one of his eight NFL seasons, in 2004 with Arizona.

MOBILE GUARDS

''In an ideal sense we don't want guys 330, 340, 350 pounds playing guard,'' Cameron said. ``We want guys that can think, and can move and are mobile. We'd like our bigger guys to be at tackle. Obviously they need to be athletic. L.J. has had a ton of time in this league playing tackle.''
But Shelton has never really found a home during that time.
The Cardinals, a team needing talent on the offensive line, released him in 2005. The Browns, also needing talent there, let Shelton leave in free agency after one season.
Other players might also get a chance at the tackle spots if the Shelton and Carey experiments explode in coaches' faces. Joe Toledo, at 6-5 and 330 pounds, might get a chance at tackle and, in fact, is listed as a tackle on roster. He played mostly guard during the 2006 preseason.
Anthony Alabi, who manned the left tackle spot in the last minicamp, might get a chance to compete at either tackle spot once he recovers from arthroscopic knee surgery.
All this while the interior of the line is also in flux.
Free agent acquisition Chris Liwienski was at left guard during the last minicamp and might remain there for now.

HADNOT MIGHT SHIFT

The Dolphins could keep Rex Hadnot at center or move him to right guard while giving rookies Samson Satele (second rounder) and Drew Mormino (sixth rounder) a chance to compete at center.
''We were looking for a communicative guy, a guy who could make the calls, and he obviously does that,'' general manager Randy Mueller said of Mormino.
Satele and Mormino eventually might get a chance to compete at a guard spot also.
The situation is such that when a reporter suggested Cameron had said he's comfortable with the line, Cameron, who actually had said he felt ''pretty good,'' quickly corrected the error.
''Did I say comfortable?'' Cameron asked. ``I don't think when you're trying to grow offensively you're going to sit here at the end of April and say we're comfortable.''