After one Dolphins 5th-round pick washes out, coaches see ‘flash’ in other 5th-rounder
I admit it: When the Miami Dolphins waived/injured Curtis Weaver earlier this week after I wrote the outside linebacker and defensive end Jason Strowbridge, the club’s two fifth-round picks, had not sparkled the first week of training camp, I was a little concerned...
...For Strowbridge.
Because the first week I hadn’t seen explosion or any sort of playmaking from Strowbridge. And then on Wednesday I watched him the entire practice and in some drills he looked fine. But in other drills, not so fine.
In a one-on-one pass rushing drill against right tackle Jesse Davis, Strowbridge got punched so hard at the snap he simply popped up from his stance and kind of just stood there for a beat before regaining himself and rushing upfield -- too late.
On multiple plays in the team drill portion of practice, against backup offensive linemen, he kind of seemed to get stalemated. A stalemate is often good for the offensive lineman in pass protection. A stalemate is not often good for a defensive end on a pass-rush play.
So, yeah, concerned.
Then I listened to Dolphins defensive line coach Marion Hobby talk about the 6-foot-5 and 273-pound prospect. Hobby, you should know, is not concerned.
Example:
Strowbridge has many things to improve so what are the most pressing ones of those, coach?
“Probably about his natural get-off,” Hobby said. “He’s kind of thinking a little bit. You can tell he’s a young guy. He wants to please and sometimes ... A guy told me a long time ago, ‘A confused player and a non-motivated player look the same,’ and I think sometimes he’s a little bit confused.”
In other words, Strowbridge is eyebrow deep in information and speed of the game adjustment that many rookies encounter in their first training camp. And Hobby wants the lineman to sort of just let it loose and play.
“He wants to please, wants to be correct and sometimes, just man, just turn it loose and go,” Hobby said.
But there’s a but.
And it’s a good but.
“But I’ll tell you what, he does flash at you a lot,” Hobby said. “He does a lot of good things that catch your eye that keeps you on his trail. You push him a little bit, but he does a lot of good stuff. I always tell him, ‘Hey man, react,’ rather than thinking this thing through.”
So (follow-up question alert) what specifically are those things that “flash?”
“I would say sometimes in the run game,” Hobby said. “He’s a 275-pound guy. He can hold the point, get separation on the offensive linemen.
“But I’ll tell you, in the pass game sometimes he – you’d think he would just be a power guy and then sometimes he gets on the edge on an offensive lineman and you can really see his natural quickness, too.
“So when he’s going, he’s going now. Now, did I think he was going to be just more of just-a-hands-on power guy? I did. But then sometimes you’ll see him get on the edge of linemen and see him work his hips and that finesse aspect of him and you’ll go, ‘Okay, I see you, Strowbridge.’ “
Give us a bottom line, coach.
“So I think he’s got a little bit of a variety to his game and it’s just a matter of when it’s starting to come out,” Hobby added. “I think he can rush a little bit. He can play the run. That’s what you want to see – a guy who can hopefully develop into a three-down player over time.”
Concern alleviated.
