And two good/average (or below) lines have met in the Super Bowl for about the last decade.

Neither the 49ers nor the Ravens made it to the Super Bowl because of their OL. They made it because they have playmakers all over the place on offense, and they have strong defenses that force turnovers and defend the pass well.

If you already have a QB and a solid nucleus of skill position players on both sides of the ball, by all means - invest in the OL. But the days of building teams in the trenches first and then filling in the rest later are over. Nowadays, you win with playmakers. That is the priority. Until you get game-changing players at key positions, the OL isn't going to make a difference in how many games you win.

The 49ers are a great example. They were never going to sniff the Super Bowl with game manager Alex Smith at QB, regardless of how good their OL is. They switched to a playmaking QB and BAM! - Super Bowl. That's not a coincidence.

and with the first pick in the 2013 Vatican League Draft, the Cardinals select.....Angelo Bagnasco, Univ of Genoa.

If I look at Baltimores line. They have long term players on it. Two 1st rounders, two 3rd, and a 6th. Most of them were FA acquisitons. Our problem isn't where we've picked our linemen it's how they've played. Our FA haven't lasted. Injury or play wasn't what it needs to be. Our drafting of linemen hasn't helped much either. Long has been the one that hurt us most. His play is declining and for a #1 over all pick he has left us very little choice on what we do with the player. Long wasn't a bad pick if he's there for 10 plus years. It's the fact that he's most likely gone after five. That creates a hole that either needs to be filled through the draft or FA. Compound that with the fact that we haven't found playmakers through the draft or FA and we are in a world of hurt. Baltimore hasn't drafted 1st round playmakers. They've found their big scoring threats in the second round or FA while we wasted our second round picks on Pat White, Chad Henne, Merling, Misi, Martin, Sean Smith. Our first round picks, Long, Davis, Odrick, Pouncey, and Tannehill.

That's ten picks. 3 are already gone. Two look like they are on the way out. Misi and Odrick look average. Pouncey is the best of the bunch so far. The jury is out on Tannehill and Martin.

Two corners and both are most likely gone.
Three O linemen and one looks like he may be a long term keeper and the jury is out on Martin
Three QB and only one is on the team and the jury is out on Tannehill
Two D linemen and one is average the other is gone
One linebacker that plays average.

Go back and look at Baltimores draft record. They had 9 first round draft picks since 2002. 6 of them played in the super bowl as major members of the team. Their second round selections are play makers. Torrey Smith and Ray Rice. Their FA playmakers Jacoby Jones. Traded for Anquan Boldin. Look at that team and you see outstanding play makers and long term linemen.

Carson, I think we've gotten off-track. You don't need to convince me that Baltimore is one of the best drafting teams and Miami has been one of the worst. I'm completely on board with that and have been for ages.

My only point in this discussion is that right now we need to stop pumping high draft picks into the OL and start focusing on adding playmakers at key positions, positions that will actually lead to more wins. I am proposing that we use all of of picks in the first three rounds on difference makers. I am not proposing that Miami should do things the way the 49ers or Ravens do them...but I am proposing that the Dolphins change the way they've been doing things and focus on game-changers rather than offensive linemen. We need home runs in the draft, particularly at the top...not singles. To me, a starting offensive lineman is a single.

A great WR can make a decent OL look better.

And a great QB makes everyone look better!

I've said this many times, but in today's passing game the OL really takes a back seat to the QB - and even WRs, as 61 brings up.

The best offenses today have playmakers that get open quickly (thanks in part to the rules that limit defenders), and QBs that read, react and release quickly. The OL's job in pass pro is no longer to block a guy for 5 or 6 seconds like in the old days; it's to block a guy for 2-3 seconds. After about 3 seconds, if the ball's not out the play probably isn't going to work. Defenses are smart and fast today, and successful offenses need to be smarter and faster. So, you need O-linemen that can occupy blockers for a couple of seconds. Honestly, it shouldn't be all that difficult to find guys that can do that, and you don't need to use high picks on them.

Obviously, this is a somewhat simplified view of offense - but it really is the direction the sport has been heading in the past few seasons.

Absolutely. Used to be the ball came out at about 3 seconds, now you have QB's that consistently get the ball out sub 2.5.

I agree with JMP and FF4E on this.

I think what I'm trying to say is that I don't think we really have a foundation in place yet. Our drafts haven't worked for over a decade. A play maker can be any position. A lineman can be a play maker. He just needs to be there for a long time so we aren't having to address the position again and again and again. A player that lasts 3-5 years isn't a solution. It's a hindrance. That's where we find ourselves. Great teams find long term solutions for problems. Either through the draft or FA. Baltimore had a foundation and then they added a few key players to make the super bowl run. Same with San Francisco. Of all the people we've drafted and brought in there are very few positions on the team that I believe are long term solutions. Pouncey is the only one I'm sold on.

I agree. You don't need the best linemen, but you need a core line that works well together. A line is a unit, you don't need an assload of 1sts and 2nds to get it done in this league, but you DO need a cohesive line that works well with each other. Shanahan's lines are proof of this theory.

I too think Pouncey is the only solid lineman we have right now for this scheme. We need two new athletic guards (unless John Jerry comes into camp 60 pounds lighter), Martin needs to step up his game big time this season and we need a RT. We should have signed Eric Winston last year, IMO.

Bleh, we're full of holes going into Year 6 of the current regime.