They drafted 3 offensive linemen who can play tackle. They also have Davis and Davenport who can play tackle. They signed Flowers to play guard because he did show last year with the Redskins that he is a solid guard. The only way I could see them putting him at tackle would be if they had a number of injuries at the tackle position or the young players they drafted just don‘t get the job done.
No .. no they didn't.
1. OT Austin Jackson in the 1st round - Not in 2020
Had bone marrow transplant (he donated to his sister) prior to the 2019 offseason and was way out of shape to start the season, which was to be expected. He just started to round into shape in the latter half of the 2019 season. He was one of the youngest OT's in the draft, and has lots of potential, but .... he needs to add a considerable amount of muscle. His technique is sloppy and he would get destroyed against NFL competition. Good prospect, but even against decent collegians (e.g. Epenesa) he got destroyed. Giving up 2 sacks a game is horrible in the NFL. This kid is not ready for prime time. Like the prospect, but NO, he cannot play OT in the NFL in 2020. To me, this pick screams that we're planning for 2021, not 2020. It means Tua sits as a rookie, which I'm kinda happy about honestly, let Tua heal and learn.
2. OT Robert Hunt in the 2nd round - Not an OT
This kid comes from Louisiana Lafayette, and dominated piss-poor competition and looked sloppy doing it. No doubt he's a road grader and can become a good run blocking OG. But, he never really pass protected against elite pass rushers, and even as primarily a run blocker, he still flails about quite a bit against low level competition. At best he's a projection at pass pro, and a massive projection from a small school. As a guard, maybe, but as an NFL tackle ... LOL, no.
3. OG Soloman Kindley in the 4th (?) round - Not an OT
I actually like Kindley, and think he can become a good guard, but he's not an OT. We could go into the specifics of why the best pass protecting OL end up playing LT at the collegiate level, but do we really need to explain the obvious? On a stacked Georgia OL that had Andrew Thomas at LT, I would understand if Kindley had played RT ... but he was a guard. The SEC is good competition--the best in the collegiate ranks--but it's not as good as the NFL by a wide margin. Kindley cannot shift UP in difficulty to become an NFL OT ... I just don't see his lateral agility, arm length and technique to work as a tackle. If any other team in the NFL saw a tackle, he would have gone in round 1 or early round 2. It's clear Kindley is a stud run blocker at guard, and he's a good prospect. Reminds me of Deiter a bit actually.
None of those 3 drafted OL can play OT in 2020. Only 1 of them--Austin Jackson--has the ability to play OT ever.
What I'm saying is that we agree that the Dolphins signed 2 FA interior linemen, starter-money Ereck Flowers to play OG, and backup-money Ted Karras to play C/G. I'm sure the plan at the time was to augment them with a top OT to start opposite Jesse Davis, and then get a stud interior OG and an OC to eventually replace Karras. They tried ... and while their gamble worked out and they got Tua at 5, but their next gamble (really stupid one IMHO) to expect one of those top 4 OT's to fall to 18 failed. They had to take the next best thing, which was correctly Austin Jackson, even if he was overdrafted at that point and clearly not ready to start in 2020. Their gamble to get an elite OC to replace Karras went off the rails as they missed out on Ruiz and let the other good OC prospects slide by them completely in Biadasz and Cushenberry (sp?). Instead, they gambled big-time on Robert Hunt. The only one they got right was Kindley, the stud OG.
So yeah, they spent massive resources on the OL, and do not yet have a serviceable OL. Flowers at OG, check. Karras at OC, check. Let Deiter and Kindley (and Hunt) fight it out for the other OG spot, check. That only leaves one more starting OT ... and he's simply not on the roster in 2020. You mentioned Julie'n Davenport, but he's not a viable option. Davenport is terrible ... never should have played a snap in the NFL type terrible. Dallas Thomas laughs at this guy. Ja'Marcus Webb was brought in to replace him .... that's how bad he was. The tools are there ..... but the player is atrocious.
This OL is not very good. The fact that we brought in 2 FA's and spent a 1st, 2nd, and 4th on OL, shows we addressed the need. The players we got suggests we have no idea what we're doing along the OL. It's very disappointing.
