he Miami Dolphins offensive line remains the most unsettled position on the entire roster, and there's little happening in training camp to alleviate many of the concerns. The most notable development at practice Tuesday was the high number of bad snaps or bad center-quarterback exchanges, which actually were worse than the problematic display a day earlier. Then there's the overall health of the group, with presumptive starting left guard Isaiah Wynn still on the Active/Physically Unable to Perform list and left tackle Terron Armstead practicing for the first time Tuesday, although it didn't involve any team work. For a unit that has fans a bit nervous — OK, a lot nervous — this was not a great way to wrap up the first week of practice. QUESTION MARKS ALONG THE LINE While Armstead missing a lot of practice time really isn't a big deal because he's been really good for the Dolphins with limited practice since he got here in 2022, Wynn's absence may be is a bit more problematic. Wynn hasn't practiced at all since he sustained a quad injury in the Week 7 game against the Philadelphia Eagles last season after doing a respectable job to that point. This would be problematic for any player, let alone for one with Wynn's lengthy injury history. While Armstead, new center Aaron Brewer and right tackle Austin Jackson will be in starting lineup, there will be competition at the guard spots and there will come a time when Wynn no longer is a slam dunk to start on the left side. Reading into head coach Mike McDaniel's words from before practice Tuesday, it doesn't sound as though Wynn's return is imminent. "He’s in the building every day," McDaniel said. "He’s doing well and his process is diligent. He’s been steadfast, fixture within the building and the team and he’ll keep progressing. I’ll give you an update when it’s a little clearer.” The competition involves Liam Eichenberg, Robert Jones, Lester Cotton and perhaps newcomer Jack Driscoll, but it may be some time before we have clear answers as to what the final starting five will look like. "I really don’t think about the competitions, I really don’t," McDaniel said. "I’m observing with a laser focus on how players are responding to good or bad plays and really it’s almost like I have a spreadsheet in my mind of how many opportunities are in front of them with today – there’s like, 25 opportunities for each guard and in that, I’ll assess that and then with a clear mind, watch how people tell me the story. I’m not going to forecast anything and get ahead of myself and diminish the importance of their daily development. "What I do like to see is from a team perspective, I see guys making plays at the guard position and then I see guys being in tough situations that they can learn from because our defense is challenging every day. So we as a team, it’s not just watching players do things successfully, especially at the O-line position. You’re going to have your share of stresses and you’re going to have your share of things that maybe negatively cost the entire team on a play or two. How do you respond? We don’t have time for a passive mind-set, so who knows? It’s not just coachspeak. I live it. I’m way far away from truly assessing who’s a leader in the clubhouse, but I will say that the competition is real.” ROUGH WEEK OF PRACTICE SO FAR FOR O-LINE In the meantime, it would be nice for the offensive line to pick up its play. Beyond the consistent pressure on the quarterbacks over the past few days, the snapping and exchange issues have been troubling. Brewer and Tua Tagovailoa have had three muffed exchanges over the past two days. Armstead explained there's an adjustment period involved with Brewer because his snapping point might be different than what Tua was used to with former starting center Connor Williams. But the high shotgun snaps — Driscoll and rookie free agent Ireland Brown — each cleared their quarterback's head at different times need to get fixed. The good news is we're still very early in training camp, so there's plenty of time for progress. But until that happens and there's more clarity on the offensive line, the group will continue to be a source for concern.
That’s what I heard read as well. Butch has to work his magic to make something out of nothing and hopefully Armstead holds up for most of the season and eventually playoffs. Definitely our weak link talent and injury prone player wise.
Until Grier makes the OL a high priority like he has all of the skill positions, we’re only going to be able to go so far.
QB, WR, CB, and Edge are the only positions that I can see prioritized over OL from a resource allocation stand point. Not sure I would disagree with doing it that way. He just hasn't hit like he did for RBs. Though retaining Hunt would have helped that. Really hope they extend Holland soon to make sure he doesn't price himself out like Hunt did.
Groundhog Day again.. Grier will never build an offensive line year in and out this has been our problem and guess what week 12 we will start the out oline was decimated talk. I have zero faith we will ever fix this
Having fantastic players in skill positions is great, no doubt about it but if you don’t have a solid offensive line, it doesn’t matter who you have as quarterback…running back…or even wide receiver. Look back a decade when we were debating Tannehill. How many times was it rightly pointed out with how porous our offensive line was, we could have had Brady as our quarterback and it wouldn’t have made a difference. I’m this day and age of Madden Football it just boggles my mind how many people overlook the importance of a solid offensive line.
There were rumblings that Miami tried to acquire Wirfs before Tampa Bay gave him a massive extension. I think they are actively in the trade market for on offensive lineman.
That would be the goal for sure, but it hasn’t been very achievable around the league the past few years, especially last season, when OL play was atrocious almost everywhere.
It’s been achievable throughout the league…just not in Miami. There are STUD offensive linemen from Armstead to Wirfs. We’ve just not been able to draft and develop them.
Would you guys rather have Penei Sewell or Jaylen Waddle? I mean that was and still is a hell of a tough call to make. Both are stars at their positions.
On this team? Waddle. It’s been shown that this team can win with average oline play. It hasn’t been shown that they can win without Tua, Waddle, Tyreek etc.
I'm 50/50 on it because both players have turned out to be amazing at their positions. We definitely didn't get the pick "wrong." The only people that might feel that way are the ones that hate Grier. Coincidentally the ones that hate Grier, also hate Tua AND the team. Like I said, we couldn't have gone wrong either way and I'm damn happy with Waddle.
Waddle is a very talented WR. But a very talented WR is not as valuable in the long run as a very talented O lineman. Grier has never understood this.
I think in a lot, maybe most, of cases this is true. However, this offense dictates that WR’s be very Waddle/Tyreek like. As I mentioned, this offense produces greatly with an average oline. The problems we saw last year was that not only were the average starters hurt, but their back-ups also. Rotating that many people on the oline is a recipe for disaster like we saw last season. I think Waddle is more valuable in this offense than one great LT. Now, if we could get all pros on every oline position I think that would be better, but it’s never going to happen. And Grier has spent a lot of resources on the oline. Unfortunately they haven’t panned out (excluding AJ who looks like he’s a very good pick). And Armstead, if he can play the majority of the season, is also a great pick-up. Hopefully he can this season.
One angle you have to consider in the Sewell vs Waddle debate is whether Tua stays as this teams QB when he has absolutely nobody to throw to in year 2. Would you want Sewell and no QB? Sewell and washed Watson? What if they take a bust WR in place of Phillips or Holland?
