Dolphins keep bringing in O-linemen. Why there is concern
Finding five above-average starters on the offensive line has been difficult enough for the Dolphins in recent years.
But unearthing good enough backups? That’s a whole other matter, one that continues to create angst for the Dolphins and many other teams.
Miami finally might have five good starters with the addition of accomplished guard James Daniels and highly-regarded second-round pick Jonah Savaiinaea, supplementing left tackle Patrick Paul (who has had a very good camp), center Aaron Brewer and right tackle Austin Jackson, who is dealing with a leg injury but is expected back by the Sept. 7 opener at the Colts.
But finding competent backups remains a challenge. Miami’s backup defensive linemen and edge players have dominated the second team offensive linemen for much of training camp.
The Dolphins have added three offensive linemen since the start of camp, including Sunday’s signing of veteran Germain Ifedi, a guard/tackle who has started 90 NFL games.
Ifedi, who started seven games for Cleveland last season, was the 31st overall pick in the 2016 draft, selected by Seattle out of Texas A&M. He has made seven starts at left tackle, 24 at right guard and 59 at right tackle – in nine seasons with Seattle (2016-19), Chicago (2020-21), Atlanta (2022), Buffalo (2023) and Cleveland (2024).
With Jackson sidelined, No. 3 tackle Larry Borom filled in on Sunday. His play was competent but he struggled during the first week and a half of camp. He was a peculiar signing because he allowed seven sacks in just 237 pass blocking snaps for the Bears last season and 20 over the past four seasons.
Kion Smith, Ryan Hayes, guard/tackle Jackson Carman and Ifedi are the other experienced tackles on the roster who are competing to fill in for Jackson and back up left tackle Patrick Paul. The Dolphins seem to like Carman and Smith at guard but both have tackle experience.
The backup interior positions are also a concern. One positive has been the play of second-year center Andrew Meyer, but he left Sunday’s practice with an undisclosed injury.
With Liam Eichenberg sidelined indefinitely with a leg injury, they Dolphins are hopeful they’ve found a competent top backup guard and center in Daniel Brunskill, a serviceable former starter for the 49ers and Titans. But his training camp play has been uneven so far.
Brunskill said it has been an adjustment moving back to a scheme that he hasn’t played in since 2022, his final year in San Francisco.
“There’s a lot to improve on, trying to get back in the system,” he said Friday. “In Tennessee, it was a little more lateral, less attacking the line. I had to break that from my old experience with the Niners. Now it’s like breaking back into it. Now it’s more downhill movement, getting into the line, attack the line of scrimmage, getting back to those movements.
“You would think it’s really easy, but once you get your body mechanics trained a certain way, you’ve got to train them back. It takes some time. I’m still working on that.”
Brunskill explained that in the 49ers’ offense (where his tenure overlapped with Mike McDaniel’s), “we would attack the line of scrimmage a lot. They do a really good job [doing that] here, plus they have very fast backs…
“There’s a lot of freakin’ speed here. The more we can attack the line of scrimmage, those guys make big plays. That’s what’s great about this offense. I’m very comfortable with the system. A lot of terms that are similar. They have changed a few things, a few things that they’ve added from San Fran. A couple things are slightly different.”
Brunskill said the Dolphins called him the first week of free agency but “at that point, it was kind of early for us. We decided to wait” instead of taking a low-money deal at that point. (He ended up signing for the $1.2 million.)
The question with Brunskill is a simple one: Can he be a better Eichenberg? The Dolphins could keep both, with Meyer, Smith and Carman also in the mix for two or three backup jobs.
Last season, Pro Football Focus ranked Eichenberg 69th among 77 qualifying guards: 51st as a run blocker and 67th as a pass blocker. PFF said Eichenberg permitted only two sacks, but his 29 pressures were 21st most allowed among NFL guards.
PFF rated Brunskill 37th of 40 centers, and that low rating was more a reflection of his run blocking than pass blocking. He allowed no sacks and 11 pressures in 395 pass blocking snaps. Only nine NFL centers pass protected more plays without allowing a sack.
Brunskill, who went undrafted out of San Diego State in 2017, started 14 and 10 games the past two years for Tennessee, after starting 16 and 17 games in 2020 and 2021, for San Francisco, but said backing up is fine with him.
“That’s how my career started,” he said. “My whole career and why I’m in the NFL is being ready to go on short notice, not knowing if you’re going to start that week. That’s how I started at all five positions.”
None of Brunskill’s $1.2 million salary is guaranteed, while all of Eichenberg’s $2.2 million salary is guaranteed. But McDaniel has been non-committal about whether Eichenberg will be ready for the regular season opener.
For now, the backup offensive line remains a worrisome work in progress. In that regard, the Dolphins are hardly alone.
This story was originally published August 3, 2025 at 12:53 PM.
