FLOWERS BLOSSOMS FOLLOWING MOVE
■ New Miami Dolphins guard Ereck Flowers was a punching bag for the New York tabloids just two years ago. But after switching from tackle to guard with the Redskins in 2019, the ex-Miami Hurricane is back on track.
Fourteen thousand, three hundred.
That’s the number of results generated by the Google search “Ereck Flowers Bust.”
A sampling of headlines, just on the very first of hundreds of pages of stories:
Ereck Flowers named biggest draft bust in Giants’ history (via USA Today’s GiantsWire).
New York Giants left tackle Ereck Flowers a historic bust (FanSided).
All-Time Giants Draft Bust Ereck Flowers Lands Massive Deal in Free Agency (Heavy.com).
Obviously, one of those three is not like the others. How can a player that epically disappointing — who once shoved an ESPN reporter into a locker after an emotional loss — land a $10 million-per-year deal? (Or to put a finer point on it, what were the Dolphins thinking giving the former first-round pick that big payday?)
Here’s how: Flowers isn’t the same player now that he was in
2017.
He’s not the guy who gave up 169 pressures through his first three NFL seasons — the most of any tackle, according to Pro Football Focus.
He’s not the guy who ex-teammate Geoff Schwartz said “quit” on the Giants (or at least he better not be).
Perhaps all it took was a change of scenery. And a change of position.
Flowers, the former Miami Hurri
cane, is now out of New York and back home, signing a three-year, $30 million deal with the Dolphins earlier this month.
The Dolphins aren’t paying him to play tackle, which he proved he can’t do at this level.
They’re paying him to play guard, which he did exceedingly well in Washington last year.
“I love Flowers,” thenRedskins interim coach Bill Callahan said in December. “I loved him coming out of the draft. I think the world of him. I think he’s one of our better offensive linemen, and to make the switch that he made, coming here from New York and playing tackle and then going inside to play guard — and honestly speaking, with [Trent Williams’] situation being unresolved in the spring during OTAs, we played him at left tackle and then he really only had the opportunity in a short period of time in training camp to make the transition into guard, but he made it remarkably well, and it’s a really good position for him.”
Callahan continued: “He’s playing better in live tight-quarter situations. He’s physical, he’s been really good in pass protection, he’s a strong square force in that respect. I just love the kid. I just like the way he works, how he goes about his business. Sometimes, it’s just a breath of fresh air. I’ve had a lot of guys in my career, a couple of different places, that sometimes a different exposure to new techniques, a different system, it kind of revives them. I can point back to a lot of guys in my career that that’s happened to, and I’m just happy for him . ... He’s a great kid and he’s worked hard to get to where he’s at, and he’ll hit the free agency market and I think he’ll do pretty well.”
Callahan was prescient. Flowers’ $10 million APY is tied for 13th among all NFL guards. Not bad for a guy who was seemingly on his way out of the league 18 months ago.
“I think the switch plays into a lot of my natural strengths,” Flowers told Miami reporters last week. “It really helped to have Callahan make that switch. To make the switch with the best offensive line coach in the league, I think I was very fortunate in the situation and the timing and placement and all of that together. I’m just looking forward to taking those next steps and getting better.”
Flowers said the Dolphins “haven’t gone into details” about his role in Miami, but the expectation is he’ll play left guard in 2020.
It will take some time to gel with his new team. But that will have to happen in an abbreviated fashion. Coronavirus has postponed the offseason conditioning program and there’s a real chance the team won’t practice until training camp.
“Preparation,” Flowers said, when asked the key to successful offensive line play. “And that’s from the coaches to the players, in both aspects — being on the same page and preparation. I would say putting the work in, really. Most of the O-line play is muscle memory. There are a whole bunch of things that come into it.
“I really learned this past year playing next to a Pro Bowl guard [Brandon Scherff], seeing what he does and what he does for his preparation. This past year was my first time — this past year, I was on the line with such good players. You kind of see what makes them so good and what makes the room pretty good. There are a lot of things that go into that. I’d say preparation is the number one thing.
“Then it’s going out doing what you practiced, really. It’s one thing to practice and then go out there and actually do what you practiced.”