Continuity of Dolphins offensive line a reason for optimism in 2021 season
When Greg Mancz was traded from the Baltimore Ravens to the Dolphins a little over a week ago, he was leaving an established offensive line room. Among the projected starters in Baltimore, there are a combined three Pro Bowl appearances and over 20 years of experience.
In Miami, Mancz, 29, is an elder statesman of a young group that has only one other player older than 25, Jesse Davis. Though most of the nine offensive linemen who made the initial 53-man roster are fairly inexperienced, they are highly regarded — five were selected within the first three rounds of the NFL draft — and they have left a good impression on Mancz.
“The first thing that I noticed is how much fun they have at practice,” Mancz said. “They are young, excited and full of energy. I came from a team with a lot of older vets. They are just excited. It’s just a different vibe. I’m excited to figure out how I fit, where I fit and how I can help.”
After exhausting all options in the offseason in search of upgrades, the Dolphins are once again set to enter the 2021 season with a novice offensive line. While established players such as Matt Skura and DJ Fluker were signed to provide competition, neither outlasted the team’s returning starters. Fluker was released early in training camp with an injury settlement and Skura was one of the final cuts ahead of the deadline to trim the roster to 53. That left a cast of second-year starters and only one player with more than 16 career starts, Davis.
For all the growing pains in 2020 — and at times during the summer — the Dolphins can be most encouraged by the continuity of their returning linemen. The unit ranked in the bottom third of the NFL in 2020 for pass block win rate and run block win rate, ESPN’s metrics for the rate at which linemen can sustain their blocks for 2.5 seconds or longer. But according to Football Outsiders’ grading system for offensive line continuity, only six teams in the NFL had more continuity than the Dolphins in 2020. The Dolphins made just five line changes last season, which ranked ninth-fewest leaguewide.
The offensive line won’t look that much different from 2020, though there will be faces in new spots. Austin Jackson will once again play at left tackle after starting 12 games as a rookie. Though no official announcement has been made, it appears Solomon Kindley, who started 13 games at right guard as a rookie, beat out second-round pick Liam Eichenberg to start at left guard. After starting 15 games at left guard as a rookie two seasons ago and zero in 2020, Michael Deiter has re-emerged as the team’s starting center. Robert Hunt has acclimated nicely moving from right tackle to right guard. And Davis, who started 15 games at multiple spots, is entrenched at right tackle.
Eichenberg, who spent time at left guard and right tackle in training camp, figures to be the top reserve. Mancz and Greg Little, a former second-round pick acquired in a trade with the Carolina Panthers in August, are experienced options off the bench. And Robert Jones is a promising developmental piece who was one of two undrafted rookies to make the roster.
The unit had its struggles at times during training camp with so many moving parts but improved as time went on. Deiter acknowledged the significance of the unit to the offense’s success.
“It will be super important,” Deiter said. “I mean you can’t have great skill players, a great quarterback and all of that and then have a line that isn’t helping the offense. It will just hold them back and we need to be a group that doesn’t hold them back but helps us excel. That just starts with consistency, playing smart, good technique and all of that. We just need to make sure we’re doing everything we can to make this offense go and not have it be the O-line that’s holding them back.”
The offensive line also saw a shakeup within the coaching ranks. Dolphins coach Brian Flores tapped Lemuel Jeanpierre to coach the offensive line, making him the team’s fourth position coach in less than three seasons. A former offensive lineman himself, players have gravitated toward the diligence and passion of Jeanpierre, 34.
Players haven’t just sought cohesiveness on the field; they’ve worked to bond off it, doing everything from meeting for Topgolf or grilling.
“During the offseason, that was one of our things. Our coach wanted us, even though some people weren’t here, we always talk to each other,” Kindley said. “Talk to each other because offensive line, all five of us have to be good. One person can’t be bad or it’ll be a negative play but if all five are good, it can be a positive play. It’s like that everywhere on the field, but offensive line is so important. To give a call from the right side all the way to the left side. Our chemistry came together when we were in the offseason, talking to each other and everything, that brotherhood outside of here, we are very close. We are always laughing and sending TikToks back and forth. All type of stuff.”
For an offense that upgraded the skill position players around second-year quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, the group protecting him and responsible for opening lanes in the running game may come under more scrutiny this season.
“I wouldn’t say we’re at any point in any journey but we’re getting better and that’s all we need to focus on,” Deiter said. “We know we can be way better and we want to be way better and more consistent and all of that; but we just need to keep working every day to get a little bit better every day. Then maybe at the end of the year, I can say we’re finally at the point we wanted to be at. But right now we’re not at any point in our development or anything like that. We just need to get better, more consistent and all of that.”
This story was originally published September 5, 2021 at 9:39 AM.
