Predictions for the Miami Dolphins starting offensive line in 2020

The Miami Dolphins offensive line went through big changes this off-season.

It starts in the trenches. If you can’t protect the quarterback, then you’re sunk. What will the Miami Dolphins offensive line look like in 2020?

It’s going to be different. That’s the TL;DR answer. But if you want a more nuanced explanation, then I think by the time the regular season starts, there will be five new starters on the offensive line. Part of this is utility, and part of it is to get the rookies on the field as soon as possible. It’s advantageous to get them on the field faster. That’s how I view it.

If they take their lumps now, then they can get accustomed to the next level and turn the corner that much sooner. It’ll be ugly at first. I think the decision to have multiple rookie starters on the line will force the coaching staff’s hand on how to handle the quarterbacking situation, too.

I’d prefer the offensive line to get their NFL bearings with Ryan Fitzpatrick under center and not rolling the dice on Tua Tagovailoa immediately. And that’s not an indictment on Tagovailoa.

It isn’t a situation where Miami Dolphins fans can have their cake and eat it too, at least not at first. The offensive line rookies getting their feet wet is more critical than Tagovailoa hitting the turf in Week 1. It’s more important — and forgive the wording here — that the rookie guards and tackles get thrown to the wolves and galvanize before entrusting them with the quarterback of the Miami Dolphins’ future.

In a vacuum, I’m leading the fan club for Tagovailoa to start Day 1, but it makes me nervous thinking about him having not played a snap in the NFL and getting his career started behind the greenhorns.

I wrote about it in my July 1 article, and the offensive line will have a lot of inexperience. Plopping Tagovailoa behind that situation is a perfect storm for an unhappy ending. And when I talk about the inexperience on the offensive line, I’m not just talking about my projection of three rookie starters: Austin Jackson at left tackle, Solomon Kindley at right guard, and Robert Hunt at right tackle. I’m also talking about my other two projected starters that are new to the team: Ted Karras at center and Ereck Flowers at left guard.

As a quick aside: I can’t believe how different the Miami Dolphins’ offensive line is going to look this year.

But back to our regularly scheduled content, the offensive line is going to be what I imagine a lot of fans have wanted all along: rebuilt. That’s the silver lining. It never seemed like it was one of the team’s strengths, at least in recent memory, but now, it’s adequately addressed.

I mean, once upon a time, there was Laremy Tunsil and Ju’Wuan James bookending the unit, and I felt good about the future, but those days are gone. It’s hard to believe Tunsil hasn’t even been gone a year. It seems so much longer…

A reconstruction of the offensive line was a big step in the right direction, but right now, it’s still on paper. Putting it into practice could yield different results. But for the rebuild to be a success, the draft selections and new free agency guys need to hit the field as much as possible.

To sum it up neatly, I think we’ll be looking at a Jackson-Flowers-Karras-Kindley-Hunt offensive line initially for 2020. Jesse Davis will become a right-side swing specialist if Kindley or Hunt falls short. Shaq Calhoun and Michael Deiter will be waiting in the wings; they’re both enigmatic right now, so I’m not sure how their second years will look. I do expect them both to make the team and get some playing time at some point, though.

I’m not sure if Julie’n Davenport makes the team, and I think a couple more guys could get added via later-period free agency or during the preliminary waves of roster cutdowns. A few more changes are coming, but you’re already looking a the heavy-hitters for the 2020 offensive line — luckily, many of the newer additions will be around for a few years.