Miami Dolphins first step to fix the Oline might be Applebaum

The Miami Dolphins hired an offensive line coach, Matt Applebaum, and he comes with experience both in college and the NFL.

Applebaum admittedly hasn’t looked at much film on the players he just inherited but when speaking with the media earlier this week, he made it clear he is aware of the problems.

When talking about the offensive line and the problems they have had in the past, Applebaum was told about the problems. He replied, “I’ve been told”.

Miami’s offensive line problems are huge and they have lingered for years. The Dolphins attempts to fix the line have not gone well. Is that a coaching problem? It could be. Miami has gone through four line coaches in three years including Lemuel Jeanpierre who coached the unit last year. Jeanpierre will stay on staff as an assistant line coach because he wants to learn more. Clearly he wasn’t ready last season.

Applebaum has a lot to fix as the Dolphins will work to implement a zone blocking scheme and now he will need to decide if Austin Jackson, Michael Dieter, Robert Hunt, and Liam Eichenberg can get the job done all the while looking at free agency to find upgrades if possible.

Miami’s offensive line has a ton of problems and maybe Mike McDaniel and Applebaum can coach them up. If it is a matter of coaching, then Miami might turn out fine because there really hasn’t been much the last three seasons.

Regardless, the offensive line is going to be a big off-season priority. It has to be fixed to run the McDaniel offense he wants to implement. The question is how will they fix it? Will they add players from the market or try to coach up the players already on the roster? Perhaps it should be a little of both.