Philbin looks to upgrade Dolphins' offense
New Dolphins coach Joe Philbin has spent the past five years orchestrating a high-octane west coast offense in Green Bay, so does he plan to bring that style of attack to Miami?
"I've been in the west coast system for nine years and I'm still not sure what that means," Philbin said. "With that being said, I think it's a mistake to take the Green Bay Packers playbook and plop it on the table here in South Florida.
"One of your responsibilities in coaching is to put your players in the best position to succeed. We have to learn more about our players and learn what they do well, and hide what they don't do well."
Philbin said he'll formulate more of a plan - west coast or pro sets, 3-4, 4-3 or multiple defensive schemes - once he puts together a staff of assistants together, and once they've thoroughly examined and tinkered with the personnel.
The Dolphins already have most of the pieces a west coast offense would need.
Reggie Bush is the quick, shifty tailback who can produce yards running the ball, or catching passes out of the backfield. He's under contract for one more season.
West coast offenses typically use a fullback and Charles Clay contributed 233 yards and three touchdowns on 16 catches his rookie season, but he wasn't used as a lead blocker.
Brandon Marshall says he "was raised in a west coast offense," referring to his Denver days playing for Mike Shanahan.
Davone Bess and Brian Hartline have both been productive in two different offenses, and tight end Anthony Fasano had his third straight productive season.
All that's missing is the quarterback to execute a west coast offense, and owner Steve Ross is adamant about finding a quarterback better than Matt Moore, who produced an 87.1 passer rating in his 12 starts last season after being elevated from his backup role.
"I'm looking for a franchise quarterback," Ross said. "That's the highest thing on our agenda."
Peyton Manning and Matt Flynn are on Miami's radar if they become unrestricted free agents, but there's no guarantee the Dolphins will land their quarterback. Manning will select his next team once the Colts release him, and Flynn, who has spent four years learning under Philbin as Aaron Rodger's backup, will play for the highest bidder.
If that's not the Dolphins then expect General manager Jeff Ireland to take an all-in approach to select Baylor's Robert Griffin III or Texas A&M's Ryan Tannehill in the first round of the 2012 draft.
Ireland, who played at Baylor, has a high opinion of Griffin, and would likely trade a serious amount of assets to St. Louis or Minnesota to acquire him. Tannehill started at quarterback for two years under Mike Sherman, the Dolphins' new offensive coordinator, who was fired as Texas A&M's offensive coordinator after the 2011 season.
The only major free agents the Dolphins have are offensive linemen Marc Colombo, Vernon Carey and Lydon Murtha. Considering how poorly the offensive line performed last season - leading the NFL in sacks per pass play - expect the right side of the offensive line to be rebuilt.
That means Colombo, the starting right tackle, and Carey, the starting right guard, will likely be signed elsewhere. However, Murtha, who is a restricted free agent, will likely be re-signed, and could be put in position to serve as the starting right tackle.
The Dolphins need to fortify the offensive line no matter what quarterback gets added because the offense won't improve until that unit's blocking does.
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