Dolphins Week 1 Spotlight: Ja’Wuan James

The Miami Dolphins are sporting five new starters on the offensive line entering week one but only rookie Ja’Wuan James has no experience on the NFL level. He will be shoulder to shoulder Sunday with right guard Shelley Smith who will need to make sure James knows what his assignments are.

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Last season the Dolphins started 3-0 before dropping their next four. While the team as a whole played well, the right side of the offensive line, anchored by Tyson Clabo did not. Clabo was an early season turnstile and was benched midway through the season when Jonathan Martin was moved back to the right side. Martin left the team and Clabo moved back to the first unit. After his move, Clabo found a better rhythm and his game improved. The Dolphins can not afford the same kind of learning curve this year with their first round pick.

James didn’t receive a lot of love from some Dolphins fans when he was drafted this past May. Many felt the teams general manager, Dennis Hickey, should have addressed the position in free agency and that James was a reach given speculation that their other top choices were already off the board. It doesn’t matter now however as James is the right tackle and has earned the position.

James saw far more opportunities in pre-season than any other starting lineman. Head coach Joe Philbin made sure that James got the reps needed to improve from week to week. It appeared as though he had, in the final pre-season game all of the starters were given the night off. If James played in that game it was minimal.

James has improved over the course of camp after some early struggles. Naturally a rookie is going to have a few hiccups along the way but working daily against Dolphins DE Cameron Wake has helped and Wake has been given James advice along the way.

This week James gets his first crack at the regular season and he will face a steady pass rush from left defensive end Rob Ninkovich. Ninkovich has been trouble for the Dolphins over the last few years and while he is getting older he still has the ability to use solid acceleration and cuts to get deep into the back-field. He has 16 sacks in the last two years. How James controls Ninkovich off the edge both in pass protection and drive blocking in the running game will go a long way towards the Miami Dolphins have a notch in the win column.

The Dolphins will have their hands full on Sunday but this weeks offensive spotlight will be on the teams number draft pick, Ja’Wuan James.