We won't know for at least a couple of years whether Miami Dolphins general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan crushed his first draft, blew it, or achieved rather middling results with his 13-member maiden rookie class. What is certain is that Kadyn Proctor was a bit of a head-scratching pick to kick things off.
Proctor may very well develop into an All-Pro player. However, drafting a left tackle at 12th overall and converting him to left guard right away is not what most would deem "great value."
Perhaps the Alabama product can eventually kick over to right tackle, as Patrick Paul is holding it down on the left side. For now, head coach Jeff Hafley won't waver from the plan to start Proctor at left guard. His rationale for this is actually very sound and self-assured.
Miami Dolphins coach Jeff Hafley quells concerns about the plan for Kadyn Proctor at left guard
While holding court with the media on Wednesday, Hafley explained why Proctor is dialed in on playing left guard, as opposed to cross-training at right tackle while Austin Jackson works his way back from a foot injury:
"When we're just talking about schematically, learning the playbook, we believe that it's his best bet not to overload him...to try to learn too much. And then when it comes down to actually having to play it, you're not ready to play anything. [...] I've even made the mistake in my past of, you take one player and you say, 'I'm going to teach him this position, this position,' and then you start playing him and it's like, 'Man, that's not fair what we just did to that guy. He's not ready to play.'"
Too bad Hafley didn't have a handheld mic for that one, because my goodness, drop that thing!
Hafley's straightforward communication style is quite the change-up from Mike McDaniel's meandering, filler-filled word salads. Not that press conferences guarantee coaching competency. In fact, these pressers are liable to become far more depressing once the actual games start, given that the talent cupboard is pretty bare on this roster.
To springboard off of what's implied in that last sentence, Miami hasn't been afraid to shake things up from the old regime. About 13 months ago, the Fins traded up in the second round of the draft for Jonah Savaiinaea. He played right tackle and right guard in college at Arizona.
As a rookie, Savaiinaea played left guard instead — and proceeded to be the worst guard in the entire NFL. Hence why he's in the process of moving back to right guard.
The ripple effect of Savaiinaea's failures informed the strategy for Proctor. Had Savaiinaea settled in on the left side, perhaps Proctor would kick to right guard, or play right tackle right away, rendering Jackson a more likely trade candidate.
This is where Miami is at instead. At least Proctor is playing on the same side of the offensive line that he's used to, and has a player in Paul next to him who looks like a legitimate franchise cornerstone.
Good on Hafley for learning from prior experiences. As opposed to, you know, youth movement-ing for the sake of youth movement-ing, booting Jackson off the team, and thrusting Proctor into opposite-tackle duty after three full years at left tackle in college.
Proctor needs to be ready to hit the ground running. Hafley is putting him in the best possible position to do that.
...Because yes, the Dolphins have some time to turn this thing around, but before we know it, they'll be fresh off a badly losing season. Expectations will skyrocket in 2027 with how much money they'll have to spend in free agency, plus a high draft position to score more premier talent.
Patience will be the name of the game and a virtue to cling to, yet Proctor must show enough promise as a rookie to cement his place as a key player for this new era of Dolphins football.
Add us as a preferred source on Google