The Consequences of Neglect: Dolphins GM Chris Grier's Offensive Line Troubles

Chris Grier is the general manager of an NFL football team and with that comes some swagger and ego. The Miami Dolphins GM has a lot of both.

In most cases, that is what you want out of a G.M. For the most part, Chris Grier has it and that has made fans excited for the moves that he has made but when it comes to the offensive line, he doesn't share the same enthusiasm and it is now biting him in the rear end.

The Dolphins have been dealing with injuries all year long and the offensive line has taken its full share of hits. From Terron Armstead to Isaiah Wynn, only one player has steadily played the entire season, Austin Jackson. Knock as hard as you can on wood.

The news of losing Connor Williams to an ACL injury is tough to swallow. It was a freak accident, one of those plays that are unavoidable. Now, fixing the offensive line becomes unavoidable for Chris Grier.

When Grier told the media they worried more than he did about the line, it appeared that maybe he was right. Butch Barry transformed the Dolphins' horrible unit into a top line but no line can survive injury after injury. Miami's speed offense masked the problems the line has but that too was only a matter of time before being exposed.

Miami's options are not very good right now. They don't have a serviceable center on the roster and will have to rely on former 2nd round pick Liam Eichenberg to take over that role. Eichenberg is fine for a few series or to complete a game but his inconsistency is troublesome.

Free agency doesn't offer much of anything. Even mid-graded centers are not available. Why? Because teams know the value of the position and the need for depth as well. Apparently, the Dolphins were not worried about that. They should have been.

According to Spotrac.com, only 11 centers are available and none are top options. Kyle Fuller, James Ferentz, 30-year-old Matt Skura? 23 players are listed on the site as guards but most of them are unknown and how many of the rest have experience at center?

The trade deadline has passed and now, the Dolphins options are quite low.

What is sad is the Dolphins had a center to work behind Williams if needed. Dan Feeney wasn't great but he had experience. Miami opted to trade him away for nothing.

Williams missed time earlier this year and that was masked by the play of Robert Hunt and Isaiah Wynn but both are injured and that isn't going to help the situation either.