Miami Dolphins Grier still doesn’t get notion of protecting a QB investment

The Miami Dolphins are making all the moves to make a run into the playoffs and maybe a shot at the Super Bowl but protecting the QB should be the priority.

I know, both of Tua Tagovailoa’s diagnosed concussions from last season and even the possible undiagnosed or denied third, were the results of Tua himself rather than pass protection. This would be fact.

• Against the Bills – Milano pushes Tua to the ground after the pass is thrown
• Against the Bengals – Tua is slammed to the ground after holding the ball too long
• Against the Packers – Tua scrambled up field and fell backward

In all three cases, the blocking wasn’t horribly bad but that doesn’t mean you don’t try and upgrade your weaker areas on the offensive line.

While Tua is off working on his falling skills by channeling various martial arts techniques, Chris Grier is under the impression that Liam Eichenberg and Austin Jackson are perfectly fit to protect Tua, open the running lanes that will keep pressure off of Tua, and keep things status quo.

So far in this early free agency period, Grier has spent his time focusing on what Vic Fangio needs with secondary help, a new albeit often injured linebacker, and a decision to run back 2023 with the exact same four players that ran it in 2022.

Along the offensive line, Grier is taking a far more inexpensive approach. Why? Because Grier believes that the offensive line is fine the way it is. He believes that Eichenberg and Jackson are the answers, that they need to just be coached.

Through three days of FA, Miami has brought back depth lineman Kendal Lamm. Today they signed Dan Feeney to a one year deal.

Freeney has played in the NFL since 2017. He can play center, guard, and if needed, tackle. He has 64 career starts but only seven in the last two seasons when he played for the Jets. He has previously played for the Chargers most of his career.

Miami fans didn’t expect the Dolphins to break the bank on a guy like Orlando Brown but they were expecting at the very least quality competition for Jackson and Jackson needs real competition to see what he can become, or won’t become.

The problem is that Grier views Jackson as his right tackle and believes that he can handle the job. So bringing in someone else doesn’t make sense to him. Eichenberg is decent enough when Terron Armstead is playing but he isn’t when Armstead is out.

Jackson is coming off an injury that sidelined him most of last season. Why not bring in competition for his job? He will be a free agent next season and barring a stellar season in 2023 won’t be back.

In both cases, Grier believes that coaching could help the situation. Eichenberg maybe, but after three seasons, Jackson still, at best, is serviceable. At least for now.

Grier is risking a lot when it comes to his vision and beliefs in offensive line personnel. Tua is his future and he is riding his career on his shoulders. If Tua goes down this year, Grier’s best option for success isn’t Mike White or Skylar Thompson, it’s a phone call to someone no one in Miami wants to talk about.

The Dolphins are making win-now moves but to win you have to protect your quarterback of the future and if the Dolphins believe that QB is Tua, they are not doing enough to make sure he is in the game for every snap in 2023. They are hoping he is.

Last year, Tua missed quite a bit of time and the Dolphins can’t afford to repeat this in 2023. Tua is doing what he can to change aspects of his game that he can control, Chris Grier is not changing the things in his control.

For all the good things Grier does it makes you wonder why he doesn’t see the issues on the offensive line. Maybe Grier is right and Jackson will be the perfect right tackle in 2023, but if he is wrong, well, Mike White might get to start and reach some of those incentives in his contract.

Note: Miami has also re-signed Geron Christian who spent time with the team last year.