Did Dolphins’ Grier get last laugh on the running offensive line joke? Exploring the issue
The last time Dolphins general manager Chris Grier hosted a press conference in August, he good-naturedly told reporters that he and Mike McDaniel were laughing about the running joke that the media worries more about the offensive line than he does.
As it turns out, Grier’s faith has been at least somewhat justified.
Though he’s dealing with a knee injury, left tackle Terron Armstead generally has held up physically, missing only one of the first 10 games, and continues to play at an elite level. Pro Football Focus rates him the best tackle in football this season, and he’s one of only five NFL tackles who hasn’t allowed a sack in at least 300 pass blocking chances.
Right tackle Austin Jackson was an asset in the running game before his season-ending knee injury, and offensive coordinator Frank Smith said his replacement, Kendall Lamm, was “great” on Sunday against Las Vegas.
Center Aaron Brewer has been an outstanding free agent addition; PFF rates him the NFL’s fifth-best center this season, sixth in run blocking and eighth in pass blocking. He hadn’t given up a single sack all season before allowing two against the Raiders.
At guard, Robert Jones and Liam Eichenberg have been competent, at the very least.
PFF rates Jones 45th and Eichenberg 67th among 77 guards.
And this is notable: Eichenberg has allowed fewer pressures and sacks than the player he replaced, right guard Robert Hunt, who signed a five-year, $100 million deal with Carolina in March.
Eichenberg has permitted two sacks and 13 pressures in 385 pass blocking snaps, per PFF. Hunt, conversely, has yielded three sacks and 15 pressures in 372 pass blocking snaps while protecting quarterbacks Bryce Young and Andy Dalton in Carolina. That Eichenberg’s numbers are better than Hunt’s is a credit to Eichenberg’s improvement and Tua Tagovailoa’s quick release.
Forty one guards have relinquished more quarterback pressures than Eichenberg has.
Jones, the left guard, has given up too many sacks (four, per PFF); only eight guards have allowed more. But he has yielded only 14 pressures in 10 games, fewer than the total number of pressures permitted by Hunt and 36 other guards.
“I keep improving in the run game, but my whole focus this whole time was pass pro, pass pro, pass pro,” Jones said. “Pass pro is what you have to put the most thought into because you’ve got to be perfect.”
And Jones has been a decent run-blocker. PFF ranks Jones as the 17th-best run blocking guard in football, among the 30 guards with at least 250 run blocking snaps.
“He plays with an intensity that not a lot of people play with,” Brewer said. “He’s violent. Even during a walk through, he’s full speed.”
Offensive line coach Butch Barry said Thursday that Jones will remain the starter at left guard when Isaiah Wynn is activated at some point in the next two weeks.
Before sustaining a season-ending quadriceps injury last October against Philadelphia, Wynn was exceptional as a pass blocker; he permitted no sacks and four pressures in 224 pass blocking snaps, per PFF.
Except for former teammate Hunt, no NFL guard who pass blocked that many snaps permitted fewer pressures in 2023. PFF gave Wynn a much lower run blocking grade -- 96th among 100 guards.
Wynn, 28, came to the Dolphins in the spring of 2023 after playing 43 games and starting 40 in four seasons for the Patriots, primarily as a tackle.
He hasn’t played this season because of quad and knee injuries but began practicing last week, and the Dolphins have 14 more days to activate him. Barry said Wynn has looked good in practice but that Jones remains the starter.
Grier recently told Brewer that “you’re doing a great job,” Brewer said. Tagovailoa said this week that he hopes Brewer, who’s in the first year of a three-year, $21 million contract, is a Dolphin for a long time.
The Raiders game aside, he has dramatically improved his pass blocking after permitting six sacks for Tennessee last season.
After yielding 34 quarterback pressures (third most among all centers last season), Brewer has relinquished just six pressures in 2024; 31 centers have allowed more pressures than that.
While Brewer is rated the No. 5 center, the web site rated the man he replaced in Miami, Connor Williams, as the 17th best of 39 centers this season before he abruptly retired, without a public explanation, from the Seattle Seahawks last week.
The interior of the Dolphins’ offensive line was fully aware of the doubters before the season. Eichenberg, who will be a free agent in March, said they met collectively, this summer, to discuss the need to get better.
“Rob, Aaron, myself, when we reported back,” Eichenberg said, “we were like, ‘we need to improve a lot’. We understood that and took on that standard. I don’t think we’ve gotten to where we fully can. There’s a lot to improve on.”
Jones, asked about the pressure of replacing the players who left (Hunt and Williams), said: “Robert is one of my closest friends. He was paid a lot of money; he’s a good player. People will say stuff when we lose guys like that. We are not trying to be the next Rob Hunt… It’s how can we be the best version of ourselves?”
All the players credit Barry for their growth.
“He brings energy, pushes every single one of us to get better,” Jones said.
INJURY UPDATE
Armstead (knee) and cornerback Kendall Fuller (concussion) did not practice on Thursday; Mike McDaniel has said he’s pessimistic about Fuller playing Sunday against visiting New England (1 p.m., CBS).
Fullback Alec Ingold (calf), guard Jones (knee/groin), defensive tackle Benito Jones (shoulder) and guard Wynn (quad/knee) were limited practice participants Thursday.
Receiver Tyreek Hill (wrist) and cornerback Jalen Ramsey (knee) were upgraded to full participants.
▪ Asked on Thursday why Tua Tagovailoa is able to make more plays off script now, Tyreek Hill cracked: “He’s not fat anymore so he can move.”
This story was originally published November 21, 2024 at 4:14 PM.
