Barry Jackson ‏@flasportsbuzz 1m
Sources: The Dolphins are working on finalizing a deal with Tyson Clabo. He has emerged as their choice at right tackle.

Am I the only one who has never heard of this dude?

Jason La Canfora ‏@JasonLaCanfora 2m
Tackle Tyson Clabo is signing with Miami today

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Phinfever Live!!!

Listen Live: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/finsradio

RIP Tom
RIP Tone

A 2010 Pro Bowler...never heard of him until today. Hopefully he still has it

Barry Jackson
‏@flasportsbuzz
Clabo's agent just confirmed my report: Clabo is signing with Dolphins today. One year deal.

Barry Jackson ‏@flasportsbuzz 1m
Pro Football Focus ranked him 14th of 80 tackles last season. He was ranked 2nd in 2011. Good player.
Clabo isn't a hall of famer but he is a really good player and has been for a while now

He's been a very good RT for Atlanta over the past few years. Ranked 14th last season and 2nd in 2011 by ProFootballFocus.

If you've never heard of an offensive lineman, that's a good thing. Good move on the part of Ireland

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Tyson Clabo is a very good ORT. The Falcons released him in regards to salary cap issues. Clabo is a physical, mauler type of OT, so while he is not the so called ideal fit for the zone blocking system of Miami, they saw enough in his workout to think he would fit the system.

Also tells you what maybe teams are seeing in Eric Winston, who would be a better fit as he has played in the zone blocking system.

I would imagine this means the Dolphins will move forward with Jonathan Martin at OLT, and I think he is up to the task as he is now at his natural postion.

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Yes. He has been a very good (and healthy) player for the Falcons.

Not the best scheme fit but tackle is no longer a hole if Martin steps up.

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Clabo was the 14th ranked offensive tackle in the NFL and the 5th ranked right tackle according to PFF.

23rd in pass blocking overall and 7th at right tackle.

21st overall in run blocking and 10th at right tackle.

Clabo allowed 5 sacks, 10 hits and 25 hurries.

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In 2011, Clabo was ranked 2nd overall for all tackles, 1st for right tackles.

5th in pass blocking and 13th in run blocking.

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More and more, it seems like Ireland is pushing all his chips in for this year. I don't mean that in a bad way ("recklessly desperate"), just that for the first time, he seems determined to give the coaches the players they need to do the job. And, he's doing it without mortgaging the future, it seems. I like the aggressiveness, for sure.

Another thing to consider is this...

all these 1-year contracts seem like a short-term fix. Not necessarily, though. For one, they can always extend the guys they want to if they earn it and prove they are healthy enough (Keller, Grimes). Meanwhile, they see how the young kids develop to determine which vets they need to keep around, and for whichever ones they lose, they can pull in compensatory draft picks. I realize that comp picks don't replace good players, but it's better than nothing.

Not a bad philosophy, if they can clear up the cap room next year to work in the extensions for the players they want to keep around.

You certainly can't say he didn't have a plan! Finesse, are you ready for the GM of the year bandwagon?

I am relieved that they were finally able to add some veteran depth at the tackle position.

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IMO, Jonathan Martin/Tyson Clabo tandem is no worse than Jake Long/Martin, and Martin/Nate Garner for the last 4 games of last season. Not to mention there will be some good battles for the 2 guard spots between Dallas Thomas, Incognito, Lance Louis and Jerry.

We will be fine.

And I will add that sophomore Jonathan Martin at his natural position "should" be better than rookie Martin.

Last year there were no receivers constantly open, that should change this year with the addition of Wallace and Keller, that will help the O-line.

We will be fine.

Who the hell is Chris Kouffmann?

One of the Draft Winds writers.

Sweet, this gives me something quick and light to post about today before I go into the top 5 at each position for next year's draft.

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www.aspoonfulofsports.blogspot.com
www.aspoonfulofsports.com

Nice move. I love that the Dolphins are putting the right kinds of pieces around Tannehill to make him successful. Last year the o-line looked like it didn't fit the scheme and the receivers were terrible. Now we've added several viable options at receiver and have done a fairly good job of addressing the offensive line. Clabo is a solid veteran tackle that should be able to help us out right away.

For the most part, the offensive line still doesn't fit the scheme. Incognito, Clabo and Jerry are not really zone guys.

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I never heard of him.

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You're right, Incognito and Jerry definitely weren't zone guys. But Incognito did a fairly good job last year despite that fact. Also, I heard he showed up to OTAs looking a little more svelt that he did last year. Perhaps he cut weight this offseason in order to improve his mobility? Jerry too also cut the weight. Many are saying that the light has come on for him this offseason (we'll see).

Also, Clabo played in Atlanta under Jim Mora (who ran a zone blocking scheme) in 2005 and 2006 (his second and third seasons). In addition, he also played under Mike Shanahan in Denver as a rookie who als is a big time zone blocking guy. So while he isn't coming from a zone scheme, and he hasn't played in one for a while, he will at least be familiar with it. I think he's more than capable of doing an excellent job for us this year at right tackle. Don't let his size fool you, this guy is a lot more mobile than people think. He's also going to come in with a wealth of knowledge at pass protection (Atlanta throws it a ton).

So while these guys may not have started out as zone blocking guys (except Clabo), I think they all have the potential to be good at it so long as they possess the strength, athleticism, and foot work/speed required to do it, and they're willing to work at it (seems like they are).