Martin Struggling At LT

Jul 21, 2013; Davie, FL, USA; Miami Dolphins tackle Jonathan Martin (71) during training camp at the Doctors Hospital Training Facility at Nova Southeastern University. Mandatory Credit: Robert Mayer-USA TODAY Sports

The Miami Dolphins are not looking good along the offensive line and it’s not just John Jerry‘s injury.  Jonathan Martin‘s struggles on the left side at tackle could have a huge impact on the success of the Dolphins season.  Consider that the free spending team of the 2013 free agency period invested little more than a few bandaids to repair a line that struggled a year earlier.

While most will agree that Jake Long was not the answer any more at LT and most of those same would argue that Jonathan Martin should be moved to LT to replace him, there are others who believe that the team should have drafted a LT in the first round of April’s draft.  The Dolphins opted to take Dion Jordan, the DE rather than say Lane Johnson the LT.  Jordan has looked very solid thus far in camp but he is going again Martin.  So is it Martin or Jordan?

The team added Lance Louis a free agent high end guard through free agency but only on a one year deal.  He has yet to practice.  They added Tyson Clabo who is being schooled by Cameron Wake on the right side which he believes is a good thing to make him better…and it will.  Yet Clabo doesn’t play the interior and the Dolphins are in a tight mess there.

Ritchie Incognito has moved to the RG position and Josh Samuda to the LG position with Dallas Thomas trying to learn enough to make a move into the upper depth chart.  So far nothing the Dolphins are doing is making a difference.  Yet they need to find a solution and doing so quickly won’t hurt.  The good news is they have five pre-season games ahead of them.  The bad news is they have only five pre-season games ahead of them.  In other words August is going to fly by and they are going to need to add depth to a thinning unit.

The gamble to add players like Louis on a one year deal is not paying off.  The problem is that right now there simply are not enough qualified guards on the street looking for work that could improve the line considerably.  That will become a problem later if the team can’t get the right combination to work.  It’s an uphill battle for now and one that the Dolphins can’t afford to slack on.  This team needs an offensive line that can give Ryan Tannehill time to throw as well as open running lanes for  a young group of backs.

It’s going to be one of the more watched positions throughout the next month and it’s definitely becoming one of the more critical ones.  The progress of Jonathan Martin is going to go a long way in determining the success or the failure of this teams production.  This past off-season was regarded as a positive one for Martin but so far his struggles are putting the team at a disadvantage and he needs to figure out what he needs to do to correct his deficiencies.