Back on right tackle, Dolphins' Carey under new spotlight

DAVIE - When the Dolphins drafted an offensive tackle with the No. 1 overall pick, most fans weren't thinking about how it would affect veteran tackle Vernon Carey. They had other things on their minds, like Jake Long's behemoth build and his equally beefy $57.75 million contract, the richest ever given to an offensive lineman.

Now the spotlight is back on the former University of Miami standout, whose progress this season could have a significant impact on the line and the team's overall success in 2008.

Long's addition sends Carey, who started all 16 games at left tackle last season, back to right tackle. That's the position he primarily played at the University of Miami and the first three years of his NFL career. While Carey has previously admitted he feels more comfortable playing on the right side, that doesn't mean the transition has been easy.

"It was a little shaky at the beginning," Carey said during last weekend's minicamp. "I go out and I try to watch film every day and evaluate that. I won't say I'm [comfortable] yet, but it's going to be there."

Coach Tony Sparano, a former offensive line coach, doesn't see Carey's transition as difficult.

"If you can play left tackle in our league, you can play right tackle in our league," Sparano said. "With Vernon, he's a big, strong guy and the right tackle is a more powerful position. I think that's an easier transition, certainly, for him."

Offensive line coach Mike Maser agrees Carey, who is 6 feet 5, 335 pounds, fits better on the right side.

"He's a big guy and you'd like your right tackle to be a big, thick guy like Vernon," Maser said. "I kind of think he naturally fits into that mold."

With 10-year veteran Steve McKinney sidelined with a knee injury, free-agent signee Justin Smiley and Carey are the only veterans practicing on the line, and each says he has relished the opportunity to serve as a leader.

"If I have a question or a problem, I've gone to Vernon, I've gone to Smiley and talked to them," Long said. "They've been around the league for a while. They went through those situations."

Carey says he wasn't as lucky when he first entered the league.

"When I first came in, I didn't have guys come and tell me, help me out," said Carey, a Miami native and Dolphins fan. "That's why I always look at it like, 'OK, a young guy coming in, I'm going to try to help him.'"

Carey's goal is to help Long accelerate his growth during the training camp and the exhibition season.

According to Carey, if minicamp is any indication, training camp, which opens in late July, will be more intense this season.

"It reminds me of a couple years ago when we [were] with [Nick] Saban, when we was just hitting and going hard and competing," Carey said. "It's the words people use. Sparano and Saban, they use a lot of [similar] words like, 'competing, playing hard, playing tough.' Last year we talked about more technique, doing what it takes to win.

"[This year is] more grinding, more toughness, more football."

(sun-sentinel.com)