So It's True – Size Matters

All these years I have heard women say, to close friends of mine and my brothers…that they shouldn’t worry so much, size doesn’t matter.  Sure, they would say.  Now, it appears that size does matter, take notice little brothers…your wives are lying.  According to the Miami Dolphins, size does indeed matter.

The Miami Dolphins offensive line got a whole lot bigger today when Bill Parcells and Jeff Ireland added 300+ pound center Jake Grove.  Grove, 6-4, was drafted in the 2nd round by the Oakland Raiders in 2004.  He was immediately penciled in as the starter.

Injuries have plagued his 4 NFL seasons.  Injuries not all together considered serious but the fact that he has missed considerable playing time at times makes one begin to wonder if he can in fact stay healthy.  On the positive side, the Raiders have been through more coaches than Miami in that time period and as such, off-season conditioning programs have to come into question.  Grove will likely find that life on the southeast coast of the United States is quite a bit different than the westcoast.  He hasn’t seen the likes of Bill Parcells stop by while he lifts weights.

When healthy Jake has earned high praise for his consistent play at the Center position.  Anchoring a line that was ranked 10th in rushing last season, despite one of the worst teams in the league.  He is tenacious and a mauler something that the Phins have been looking for to replace a more passive Satele.

Grove is Miami’s first real “free agent” signing since the start of the league new year.  He has agreed to a 5 year 29.5 million dollar deal with 14 of that guaranteed.  A far cry from the contract that top center Jason Brown signed and sought.   The Dolphins feel they have their starter although some believe that the team will still hold on to Samson Satele rather than trade him and make the two compete.  The problem is that Groves’ contract is more in tune with a starter.

The signing of Grove also allows the Dolphins to possibly address another need in the first round of April’s draft as well as the free agent market.  The Phins will still need to specifically address the LB and CB positions.  CB has become a major need with the loss of last years INT team leader Andre’ Goodman.

The Parcells regime has once again decided to address the team through diligent work that has landed cheaper options at the positions they address.  Smaller contracts for bigger players.

Hmmmm, maybe it is what you do with you have to work with…that should be good news for my brothers, and the other one up in Cleveland.