Miami Dolphins: The long road of replacing Jake Long, have we reached the end?
By Kevin Hood
The Miami Dolphins have had plenty of misses along the road to finding a replacement for Jake Long. The all-pro and foundation of the Miami offensive line from his first snap after being 1st overall during the 2007 NFL draft, his talent and leadership was not going to be easy to replace after his knee cut his playing career far shorter than any Miami fan cared to see. Long played at a high level from 2008 to his final year in Miami in 2012. After his departure, Miami has made a few blunders and misses from 2013 to today.
2013 – Miami brought over former pro-bowler Bryant McKinnie. McKinnie has played at a very high level his years before coming to south beach, but age finally took away the limited speed and lateral step that helped a man that big play at such a high level. The 34-Year-old only started ten games for Miami and was not the future at the position.
2014 – Miami spent a considerable amount the bring over Branden Albert from Kansas City. Pairing him with 1st round pick Ja’Wuan James Miami had envisioned bookend tackles for years to come, like when Jake Long and Vernon Carey early in Jake Longs Miami Career. Albert was never more than serviceable. James left after his rookie deal being paid for his potential by the Denver Broncos, not based on his mediocre production while in Miami.
2016 – Laremy Tunsil fell into Miami’s lap, emerging from a cloud of smoke (pun intended) to save the Dolphins pass rush woes. He played left guard but was being groomed to replace the elder Albert, whose play was far from perfect.
2017 – 2018 Laremy Tunsil slowly progressed into a pro bowler and everything Miami could have hoped for at one of the most critical positions along the Offensive line. His time in Miami was cursed with inferior interior lineman playing alongside him. He never played on a well-performing offensive line while wearing aqua but was used to leverage multiple draft picks and underperforming Julie’n Davenport from the desperate Houston Texans.
2019 – Miami only picked up Michael Deiter and Isaiah Prince for offensive line help. After losing Ja’Wuan James during the offseason. Prince is no longer on the team, and Deiter had a few down years before being named the starting center for the 2021 Miami Dolphins. But as Miami traded away Tunsil in the weeks before the start of the 2019 NFL season, they didn’t anticipate the loss at the LT spot. That is probably why Miami asked for the inclusion of Houston’s previous starting tackle, which made them so desperate to make such a trade.
2020 NFL Draft changed the Miami Dolphins. It changed which Tackle position is most important to the team. Drafting left-handed quarterback Tua Tagovailoa from Alabama. It doesn’t change the traditional string side and weak side, who plays opposite, and how other teams play. But being a left-handed quarterback, the blindside protector is now the right tackle. In my opinion, in today’s NFL, you need bookend tackles who can give you the same level of consistency to be successful, so filling the void at left tackle is still an unsolved problem from the Laremy Tunsil trade.
After selecting Tua 5th overall, Miami still had two remaining first-round picks to plug the holes along the offensive line. The next pick was 18th overall Austin Jackson from USC; having played left tackle for during his time in southern California, it was presumed he would shift over to play Tua’s blindside, but Miami quickly put that to bed after only using him there from the start of camp. Then with the 30th pick, Miami may have made a misstep, selecting Noah Igbinoghene from Auburn over may starting-caliber offensive lineman. But Miami recovered by taking the versatile Robert Hunt 39th overall from Louisiana. He started at the right tackle during the 2020 season; he played well enough during his rookie year.
2021 – This is the year Miami has not been ever during the 20 plus years of watching the Miami Dolphins play. They have more lineman that can play multiple places and be placed in many ways to develop their youthful tackles. Having played right tackle during his rookie year only allowing three sacks, Robert Hunt was moved to guard. Only allowing 1 Sack, Jesse Davis has taken hold of the right tackle and is being entrusted with Tua’s blindside protection. And returning left tackle Austin Jackson who had an up and down year in 2020 with four sacks and five penalties, started the year as the starting left tackle. Miami also selected Liam Eichenberg from Notre Dame in the 2nd round of the 2021 NFL draft.
The week before the 2021 season opener at the New England Patriot, Austin Jackson found his way onto the COVID-19 list and was in danger of not being available for the season opener. After not traveling with the rest of the team, Jackson was cleared the day before the game and finally cleared protocols the day off with his name being removed for the injury report. After many fans, including me, it was a shock to see Liam Eichenberg march out during the first offensive play, but he was firmly planted in that sport even with Jackson available and dressed. Eichenberg was credited with pressure but no sacks during the season opener. The pressure was a drive killer and stalled the Miami Dolphins. It looked like Eichenberg was pancaked by the New England Defender and was planted backward. But after further film work, it seems as though Eichenberg found starting left guard Solomon Kindley’s outstretched leg, and Eichenberg tripped over his teammate.
We will have to see what Coach Flores does with his offensive line moving forward to the Buffalo Bills. After a solid outing, it will be interesting to see if Miami continues the journey to find the left tackle to anchor this young line, or could this have been the first start for young Liam Eichenberg. Either way, it is a refreshing sight to see Miami has more quality players than positions to play along their offensive line.