I’d like to welcome Michigan’s behemoth 6′ 7″ left tackle Jake Long to the dysfunctional Miami Dolphins family. As I’ve previously stated, I didn’t have a favorite among the candidates and would have been just as happy with Chris Long, Glen Dorsey, or Vernon Gholston. But, going with Long is a very solid pick and I hope he turns out to be the cornerstone of our offensive line for the next 7 to 10 years.
Two of the most important factors in winning football games are protecting your quarterback and pressuring your opponent’s quarterback. Jake Long will hopefully help accomplish the first task. If he proves to be a stud LT along the lines of Orlando Pace or Ron Yary, the only other offensive tackles taken with the 1st overall pick of the NFL draft, our QB’s and RB’s should be in excellent shape to be successful over the course of the next decade.
Both John Beck and Ronnie Brown should be extremely happy with this pick and I hope for their sakes, as well as mine as a fan, that he proves to be worth the five year, $57.75 million contract with $30 million guaranteed he just signed for. Now it’s all about me anxiously waiting to see who the Dolphins select with their 2nd pick, which is the first pick of the 2nd round but is essentially the same as the last pick of the first round because it’ll be the 32nd player chose because of the Pastryshits’ forfeiture of the 31st pick. Maybe we can get a QB or pass rusher with that selection!
