The Miami Dolphins have a lot to prove to the football world, but there is a narrow sliver of a path by which they can shock everyone and be competitive in 2026. It all starts with staying as healthy as possible once the real games start, and that's especially true on the offensive line.
If you look at the potential upside Malik Willis' dual-threat playmaking ability brings to the quarterback position, combined with the uber-talented starting offensive line and a game-changing tailback in De'Von Achane, it looks pretty rosy. Then, say new head coach Jeff Hafley helps his defense overachieve this year.
All of a sudden, Miami could be in for a quicker turnaround than expected. But as we've already seen in Dolphins training camp, this roster is a house of cards, particularly in the offensive trenches. Also, at a majority of those positions, the upside is almost pure speculation.
The Miami Dolphins have a lot of questions to answer along the offensive line before Week 1
Can the Miami Dolphins really count on Jonah Savaiinaea?
The 2025 second-round pick has the draft status to suggest he can handle right guard duties with talented players like Austin Jackson and Aaron Brewer between him. However, Jonah Savaiinaea was PFF's worst-graded guard last year. Jamaree Salyer may have even beaten him out for the right guard gig if he didn't land on IR this week.
The only other viable right guard option now is rookie fifth-rounder DJ Campbell. The Texas Longhorns product is an explosive athlete who ran a 5.01 40-yard dash. You just have to wonder if Campbell will get enough reps in camp to be ready if his number is called in a real game.
Tough spot for Miami, no? Given that this team is in a huge rebuild, there's the luxury of time to develop a possibly-busting high draft pick in Savaiinaea more so than in most similar cases. But at what point do you just turn to a different option if he fails to impress?
The pressure is on for Miami's first-round rookie Kadyn Proctor
Kadyn Proctor played left tackle at Alabama well enough to be drafted 12th overall. He's the inaugural draft pick of GM Jon-Eric Sullivan's tenure.
Proctor already has to convert to a new position at left guard because Patrick Paul is holding his own at the rookie's typical position as Terron Armstead's long-term successor. Early indications from training camp suggest Proctor is leaning on the veterans around him for advice and soaking everything in as much as he can.
Sounds good in theory. But the NFL is a different beast than even the heated competition of the SEC. Since Proctor tips the scales at over 350 pounds, weight will be an ongoing concern.
Can the young fella hold up for all 17 games? If not, the Dolphins don't really have anyone else there other than James Ester, a two-year Green Bay Packers practice squad veteran who is only now converting from defensive tackle to guard.
Umm...is Jon-Eric OK? I get that he and Hafley hail from Green Bay, and they must be confident in any ex-Packer they bring in. But come on. What's the plan at left guard if Proctor doesn't hit the ground running or gets banged up? Ester and cross your fingers??
Dolphins' preseason opener threw Quinn Ewers and Cam Miller to the wolves, er, Commanders
While Malik Willis had a solid start with the 1s blocking for him, the same couldn't be said for Quinn Ewers and Cam Miller in Miami's 20-7 loss to the Commanders to kick off the preseason.
Ewers looked very capable in his three starts down the stretch of last year. You can't convince me he's so bad that he can only complete one of eight throws with an interception. Miller also struggled, with a 3-for-11 passing effort and two INTs.
It's almost impressive how bad those numbers are. If you combine the passer ratings of Ewers and Miller, they add up to 3.9. Throwing all incompletions would result in a 39.6 passer rating. If intentional grounding wasn't a thing, Ewers and Miller would've been better off spiking the ball every time they dropped back to pass versus Washington.
And much of that is to do with the poor pass protection, in addition to a dearth of quality depth at wide receiver. Again, lord help any Dolphins QB if there is one single injury on the o-line.
We got a glimpse of what that looked like in training camp not long ago. It wasn't pretty...
Austin Jackson's recent injury exposed lack of offensive tackle depth
Notice all the questions I've posed in prior sections. At least there are semi-conceivable options at guard. At offensive tackle, not so much. While Paul is more of a proven commodity on the left side, right tackle Austin Jackson hasn't been able to stay healthy in recent years and already missed time in training camp due to injury, though he's since returned.
The Dolphins made a rare trade within the AFC East by acquiring Caedan Wallace from the New England Patriots. That was their version of an answer for the swing tackle position, whose only other realistic candidate to that point was Charlie Heck.
Mere days before the Wallace deal went down, Sullivan went on 104.3 WQAM to speak on how valuable Jackson was to the o-line (h/t FinsXtra on X/Twitter):
"We need him out there. Our offense's not the same when he's not in the lineup...He's eager to prove to this team and to this league that he's one of the upper-echelon tackles in this league."
Wallace barely saw the field in Foxborough. New England was about to release him until Miami's trade offer came through. We're not talking about some late Day 3 draft pick. Wallace was the 68th overall pick back in 2024. The Patriots couldn't wait to get rid of him, and it's not like they're flush with supreme-quality offensive line depth.
Can Wallace beat out Heck and show some of that third-round suggestive potential? I sure hope so for the sake of Fins fans. And the general safety of Malik Willis and De'Von Achane.
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