Dolphins’ Savaiinaea explains his struggles. And cruel irony of guard situation
Nobody needs to tell Jonah Savaiinaea that his rookie season fell short of everyone’s expectations.
He’s self-aware enough to know that. He’s also self-aware enough to know that he must improve dramatically to remain an NFL starter.
And as he stood and watched last Thursday’s introductory news conference for new coach Jeff Hafley and new general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan, it certainly could not have been lost on him that two of his biggest advocates (Chris Grier and Mike McDaniel) are no longer employed here.
Savaiinaea’s window to prove he can be a decent NFL starter might now be shorter because of the dismissal of Grier, who coveted him enough to trade the 48th, 98th and the 135th picks to Las Vegas to move up 11 spots to grab him 37th overall in last April’s draft.
“Definitely this season was not to my expectations or the standard I wanted to begin my career with,” Savaiinaea said in a conversation at his locker the day after the season. “But I’ve learned and become a better player toward the end of the season. It has been a great learning lesson.”
Considerable improvement is needed.
Pro Football Focus rated Savaiinaea the worst guard in the NFL this season among 81 qualifiers.
As a pass blocker, he allowed 45 pressures (most among NFL guards) in 579 pass-blocking snaps.
His eight sacks were two more than any other NFL guard permitted.
Why did pass blocking give him so much trouble?
He said he needs to be “able to be a heavy-puncher guy. I want to put my hands on guys and be aggressive. I really struggled with” finding the right balance for that.
“That’s something I need to fix throughout this offseason.”
Savaiinaea said he needs to not “lunge in my punch because I get easily swiped” when he does.
The key, he said, is “being able to be quick with my hands. Being able to get power. Power is the No. 1 thing.”
He wasn’t much better as a run-blocker than pass blocker. PFF rated him the worst run-blocking guard in the league among all guards who were on the field for at least 300 rushing attempts. (Savaiinaea blocked for 403 runs.)
Two other realities to consider:
1). The Dolphins have had several second-day draft busts on their offensive line since 2010, and four didn’t improve, or improved only slightly, after disappointing rookie seasons: Jonathan Martin, Dallas Thomas, Michael Deiter and Liam Eichenberg.
Robert Hunt took a big step and John Jerry a modest one.
So there can be improvement. But taking a jump from bad to very good historically doesn’t happen a lot, at least not here. Nevertheless, Savaiinaea has the athleticism to theoretically thrive in this system and nobody questions his work ethic, diligence or desire to improve.
2). The next two guards drafted after Savaiinaea were better players.
Georgia’s Tate Ratledge, who was drafted 57th by Detroit, finished as PFF’s No. 24 guard.
His former Georgia teammate, Dylan Fairchild, was rated PFF’s No. 47 guard as a rookie starter for Cincinnati after being drafted 81st.
The fact that the first two guards drafted by other teams, after Miami traded up to draft Savaiinaea, were Georgia players is a cruel irony because Grier spent a lot of time evaluating Bulldogs players and had an affinity for them.
Ultimately, he selected two Bulldogs who didn’t work out (Solomon Kindley and Channing Tindall) but bypassed the two guards who outplayed the one that he traded up for.
For his part, Savaiinaea, who’s circumspect and mature, vows that he “really going to hit this offseason and come back in April ready to go.”
He will have only a finite amount of time to prove to Sullivan and Hafley that he can cut it as an NFL starter.
This story was originally published January 26, 2026 at 2:23 PM.
