Dolphins Refuse to Fix the Line

[Finsup1981]

I wouldn’t completely agree with this statement being we drafted a guard in the 2nd round and we signed Daniels, but I do think we didn’t address the depth at all being we have Eich and Borom as our top 2 current reserves along with Kion Smith. I would’ve loved to draft Mbow in the 5th for better quality depth, and we just gotta hope these UDFA can be useful this year. Also think we could’ve spent a bit more on quality depth this offseason.

Also like the bit about Trader, if he can be another good 5th round safety that would be a big boost.

Miami Dolphins​

Miami's draft theme was to strengthen the trenches and get bigger and younger up front.

The Dolphins' selection of second-round guard Jonah Savaiinaea is considered a solid move in league circles, with his ability to play four different spots along the line (all but center) and provide physicality at 6-foot-4, 324 pounds.

Miami has selected one first-round offensive lineman (Austin Jackson, 2019) in the past nine drafts despite losing key members in back-to-back years -- guard Robert Hunt to free agency and Terron Armstead to retirement. One NFC exec pointed out that Miami "refuses to really fix" the line with more reinforcements. The Dolphins entered the draft with enough holes that it failed to address the line beyond Savaiinaea.

Among Day 3 sleepers, Miami is confident that fifth-round safety Dante Trader Jr. will play early thanks to instincts and versatility. And, with sixth-round running back Ollie Gordon II, Miami sought a different body type at 6-foot-1, 226 pounds -- a bruiser to complement De'Von Achane and Jaylen Wright.

NFL draft nuggets for every team's rookie class: Exec reaction, draft room maneuvers, remaining needs

With the draft dust having settled, we canvassed the league on the biggest decisions and most surprising picks.

www.espn.com

 

[Mello Yello]

The Miami Dolphins have absolutely gambled on a strategy of waiting until the final moment wherein upon their future rests on the immediate production of uncertain commodities.

There is no doubt.

This is the team that started their rebuild by letting their RT walk in FA and trading away their franchise LT all before adding a QB that wasn't just young and inexperienced by undersized, immobile and injury-prone.

The team followed that up with 2 years of bad OL development before adding a LT that was a known injury-risk before which they finally low-balled (and ultimately lost) the one good IOL they actually managed to find.

I am not going to make any excuses about a team whose OL has been an outstanding issue Ross took over ~15 years ago.

The list of names from Dallas Thomas and Billy Turner to Tyson Clabo and Mark Columbo to Jesse Davis and Liam Eichenberg is utterly absurd.

We can only pray this unit (unproven as it is) stays healthy and ends up something like the reliable OL we've been begging for far longer than is in any way, shape or form defensible.

 

[Finsup1981]

The Miami Dolphins have absolutely gambled on a strategy of waiting until the final moment wherein upon their future rests on the immediate production of uncertain commodities.

There is no doubt.

This is the team that started their rebuild by letting their RT walk in FA and trading away their franchise LT all before adding a QB that wasn't just young and inexperienced by undersized, immobile and injury-prone.

The team followed that up with 2 years of bad OL development before adding a LT that was a known injury-risk before which they finally low-balled (and ultimately lost) the one good IOL they actually managed to find.

I am not going to make any excuses about a team whose OL has been an outstanding issue since Philbin was here ~15 years ago.

The list of names from Dallas Thomas and Billy Turner to Tyson Clabo and Mark Columbo to Jesse Davis and Liam Eichenberg is utterly absurd.

We can only pray this unit (unproven as it is) stays healthy and ends up something like the reliable OL we've been begging for far longer than is in any way, shape or form defensible.

Yea if we manage to stay healthy, we've actually had some lines that were pretty good, 2022 and 2023 more recently, but injuries completely ruined any continuity we had and the replacement players just werent good enough. We keep relying on injury prone players to not get injured and when they do we trot out some of the worst depth in the league.

I think if we manage to get thru all 17 games with one starting Oline unit we'll easily make the playoffs, the offense is just too good at the other positions for it to be otherwise. I also think McDaniel is gonna hopefully learn and pound the ball with Gordon and these new maulers we got for guards.

The moment a couple of these guys go down is when Im scared, particulary if Eich and Borom are ever in the game at the same time. It's possible to scheme around one of their weaknesses but not both.

 

[eMCee85]

I completely agree we didn't do enough on the o line. I just knew there would only be one linemen drafted. I think we should've drafted more. I hate that we traded up and lost our 3rd because I think that third rounder should've been used for another o linemen.

Daniels: could be a good signing but this is exactly what Grier does. He brings in players coming off huge injuries or is often injured and thinks that's enough. He literally did this again here with this FA signing. I'd bet money Daniel's misses games or doesn't finish the season.

Borom: do I even need to say anything about this other than this is embarrassing?

Depth: we have none. Before the draft I said we needed eight new o line players. Two new starting guards, one starting quality LT and ALL NEW BACKUPS. Now I realize that's un realistic but that is what's needed. We need depth. We have non. How can anyone say they are confident in any of our linemen other than our center? Jackson is cool but he's hurt a lot. So 1.5 linemen can be counted on. Lol

I understand Rome wasn't built in a day but at this pace, it won't be built for another 20 years. Ffs.

 

[Mello Yello]

Yea if we manage to stay healthy, we've actually had some lines that were pretty great, 2022 and 2023 more recently, but injuries completely ruined any continuity we had and the replacement players just werent good enough. We keep relying on injury prone players to not get injured and when they do we trot out some of the worst depth in the league.

I think if we manage to get thru all 17 games with one starting Oline unit we'll easily make the playoffs, the offense is just too good at the other positions for it to be otherwise. I also think McDaniel is gonna hopefully learn and pound the ball with Gordon and these new maulers we got for guards.

The moment a couple of these guys go down is when Im scared, particulary if Eich and Borom are ever in the game at the same time. It's possible to scheme around one of their weaknesses but not both.

The Dolphins don't get to complain about injuries to Terron Armstead. That's for sure. They most certainly can't complain about Isaiah Wynn either. He's never been a serious asset for anyone. His entire career has been spent on IR and it's a joke he was brought in as anything beyond depth. Even Austin Jackson did nothing in years 1-2 to warrant the continue chances (and the extension) he got thereafter.

The only acquisition that warrants any sympathy would be Connor Williams whose injuries were both extreme and surprising.

Then again, this is also the team that passed on Penei Sewell. Having seen the Dolphins actively pass-up on James & Tunsil, having lived through the trauma of Philbin/Gase's OLs and having witnessed Jackson's struggles in year-1 there's nobody who would've objected to Penei Sewell being selected in '21 as the other bookend OT.

You're exactly right. If anything goes wrong with this OL the Dolphins are likely in trouble.

I'm just saying they'll get 0 sympathy from me about it. This has been 15 years in the making.

 

[McDolphins]

To me, we’ve got what looks like it could be a strong starting offensive line after signing JD and drafting Jonah. I had hoped we’d take advantage of a deep class and draft one more lineman for depth and development (Rivers and Mbow were names I was hoping to hear in the 5th round) but I’ll take whatever progress we can get. The hope is that Paul is more durable at LT (lack of experience alone will make the production a little worse from an all pro level vet this year but I’ll take that if he can start 17 games), our guards are more physical than last year’s, and Jackson stays healthy enough to play at least 80% of the snaps throughout the season.
Anyone we have coming off the bench is a gamble but that still puts us in the same circumstances as the majority of the rest of the league.

 

[Finsup1981]

To me, we’ve got what looks like it could be a strong starting offensive line after signing JD and drafting Jonah. I had hoped we’d take advantage of a deep class and draft one more lineman for depth and development (Rivers and Mbow were names I was hoping to hear in the 5th round) but I’ll take whatever progress we can get. The hope is that Paul is more durable at LT (lack of experience alone will make the production a little worse from an all pro level vet this year but I’ll take that if he can start 17 games), our guards are more physical than last year’s, and Jackson stays healthy enough to play at least 80% of the snaps throughout the season.
Anyone we have coming off the bench is a gamble but that still puts us in the same circumstances as the majority of the rest of the league.

Pretty sure there’s not a single team in the league with a worse duo than Eich and Borom at guard. We have the worst guard depth in the league unless one of these UDFA is a hidden gem

 

[phinsforlife]

I wouldn’t completely agree with this statement being we drafted a guard in the 2nd round and we signed Daniels, but I do think we didn’t address the depth at all being we have Eich and Borom as our top 2 current reserves along with Kion Smith. I would’ve loved to draft Mbow in the 5th for better quality depth, and we just gotta hope these UDFA can be useful this year. Also think we could’ve spent a bit more on quality depth this offseason.

Also like the bit about Trader, if he can be another good 5th round safety that would be a big boost.

Miami Dolphins​

Miami's draft theme was to strengthen the trenches and get bigger and younger up front.

The Dolphins' selection of second-round guard Jonah Savaiinaea is considered a solid move in league circles, with his ability to play four different spots along the line (all but center) and provide physicality at 6-foot-4, 324 pounds.

Miami has selected one first-round offensive lineman (Austin Jackson, 2019) in the past nine drafts despite losing key members in back-to-back years -- guard Robert Hunt to free agency and Terron Armstead to retirement. One NFC exec pointed out that Miami "refuses to really fix" the line with more reinforcements. The Dolphins entered the draft with enough holes that it failed to address the line beyond Savaiinaea.

Among Day 3 sleepers, Miami is confident that fifth-round safety Dante Trader Jr. will play early thanks to instincts and versatility. And, with sixth-round running back Ollie Gordon II, Miami sought a different body type at 6-foot-1, 226 pounds -- a bruiser to complement De'Von Achane and Jaylen Wright.

NFL draft nuggets for every team's rookie class: Exec reaction, draft room maneuvers, remaining needs

With the draft dust having settled, we canvassed the league on the biggest decisions and most surprising picks.

www.espn.com

it also would have been nice if we weren't in the position where we needed to burn draft capital to trade up and likely reach for a guard in the 2nd round too. grier left us in a terrible position going into the draft. if you think about it, burned draft capital for eichenberg, who didnt work out, now have to do same thing all over. compounding mistakes. you don't get better this way, you just run in place to stand still, at best. now we got a guard, but we gave up the draft pick, so we don't have a secondary. are we better or worse for that? seems to me we didnt help ourselves as much as many seem to think when you look at it holistically

 

[67Stang]

I can't even remember when we had even a "good" offensive line. We were FAR from great in 2022-2023. A lot of our OL issues have been masked by Tua's ability to get the ball out fast and with anticipation. I mean the last line that I can remember that even approached somewhat average was with Pouncey, James, and Albert.

 

[stillhardcore]

The Miami Dolphins have absolutely gambled on a strategy of waiting until the final moment wherein upon their future rests on the immediate production of uncertain commodities.

There is no doubt.

This is the team that started their rebuild by letting their RT walk in FA and trading away their franchise LT all before adding a QB that wasn't just young and inexperienced by undersized, immobile and injury-prone.

The team followed that up with 2 years of bad OL development before adding a LT that was a known injury-risk before which they finally low-balled (and ultimately lost) the one good IOL they actually managed to find.

I am not going to make any excuses about a team whose OL has been an outstanding issue Ross took over ~15 years ago.

The list of names from Dallas Thomas and Billy Turner to Tyson Clabo and Mark Columbo to Jesse Davis and Liam Eichenberg is utterly absurd.

We can only pray this unit (unproven as it is) stays healthy and ends up something like the reliable OL we've been begging for far longer than is in any way, shape or form defensible.

Agreed we are not done on OLIne yet, but I believe we are better off than last year, although Paul is still a question mark to me.

 

[Finsup1981]

I can't even remember when we had even a "good" offensive line. We were FAR from great in 2022-2023. A lot of our OL issues have been masked by Tua's ability to get the ball out fast and with anticipation. I mean the last line that I can remember that even approached somewhat average was with Pouncey, James, and Albert.

I really think the Armstead-Wynn-Williams-Hunt-Jackson line would’ve been great that year, we only saw them together for one game vs Denver when we put up 70.

Think that was our year to contend if we didn’t get destroyed by injuries

 

[WCUPUNK]

I still don’t understand the logic of letting Kendall Lamm walk, he was good as an average starter the last two years and he was paid back up money. Borom’s tape is abysmal, like Eichenberg bad. If Jackson or Paul misses any real time the OL will be a total mess again

 

[Finsup1981]

Agreed we are not done on OLIne yet, but I believe we are better off than last year, although Paul is still a question mark to me.

You think we are signing any more FA? I highly doubt it, think we are going with whats on the roster

 

[GatorFin73]

Paul is the key. Injuries of course very important but just focusing on players, guards look improved, Brewer and AJ healthy. Will Paul be able to man the fort at LT from the get go and develop positively through the season? If not we're in trouble but if he does this could be a decent unit, especially if we uncover any additional depth throughout the rest of FA and camp.

 

[BahamaFinFan78]

I can't even remember when we had even a "good" offensive line. We were FAR from great in 2022-2023. A lot of our OL issues have been masked by Tua's ability to get the ball out fast and with anticipation. I mean the last line that I can remember that even approached somewhat average was with Pouncey, James, and Albert.

Tony Sporano would be my guess.