Dolphins first quarter grades are not good
By Brian Miller
Offensive line – D-
They deserve an F but Mike Pouncey is playing hard and Ja’Wuan James is playing well despite one poor game this year. They keep it at a D. Jamil Douglas is showing that he may have what it takes to be a good guard in the NFL but he is still far behind the curve. He has missed blocks and assignments and has given up a lot of pressures on Tannehill. Yet he is still learning and as a 4th round pick that is being thrust into the starting lineup, it’s hard to expect more.
Dallas Thomas gave fans a glimpse of what Joe Philbin saw in him during training camp. Once the season started fans got to see what they always have seen. A rotating turnstile that can’t stop anyone. Thomas’ suffers from playing next to Jason Fox who has been deplorable at left tackle. The entire left side of the line is an absolute mess and when Branden Albert was in the lineup they didn’t look much better. Albert has two weeks to get back into shape and get healthy and then maybe things will change.
Billy Turner has been so bad the Dolphins haven’t activated him on game day. That says a lot about how they feel he is progressing. The Dolphins have spent a lot of money in free agency on players including Albert but they have unilaterally failed at addressing both guard positions and frankly a 4th round pick doesn’t solve the problem. There is no cohesiveness anywhere on the line and the teams front unit can’t block for the run or protect for the pass.
In other words, the Dolphins offensive line is exactly that. Offensive.
Next: The defense gets their own slide