The Dolphins want to improve in trenches. Here are a few options at the Senior Bowl
The new Miami Dolphins regime made it clear from Day 1.
This team will put a supreme emphasis on the trenches.
“We’ll build this from the inside out,” general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan said during his opening news conference. “I think you have to do that. I think you have to, to make sure that your line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball is big, tough, resilient and that there’s depth so that you can survive — it’s a violent game, there’s going to be injuries — that you can survive injuries. The thing that I think we have to focus most on right now is making sure that we build infrastructure.”
With that in mind, the Dolphins will likely descend upon Mobile in search of reinforcements on both sides of the ball at the Senior Bowl. Offensively, players such as Georgia Tech’s Keylan Rutledge, Ohio State’s Ethan Onianwa and Iowa’s Gennings Dunker stood out. Defensively, it was Texas Tech’s Lee Hunter, Western Michigan’s Nadame Tucker, Mizzou’s Zion Young, Illinois’s Gabe Jacas and Florida’s Caleb Banks.
A single play on the first day of Senior Bowl practices turned heads Rutledge’s way. It occurred during a scrimmage when the run play didn’t go in the offensive lineman’s direction. Still, Rutledge drove his defender into the ground, something he couldn’t help but smirk about a bit later.
“That should be the No. 1 characteristic of an O-lineman,” Rutledge said, adding his toughness “is what’s most important to me.” “You want to finish your guy into the dirt; you just don’t want to position block him.”
Onianwa and Dunker displayed a similar proficiency throughout the day — though the latter believed he overthought everything.
“I was probably thinking too much yesterday,” Dunker quipped, explaining that he hadn’t suited up in roughly a month. “The rest of the week, I’m just going to let it rip.”
During 1-on-1s, virtually nobody got past Dunker while Onianwa, who primarily played tackle for the Buckeyes, slid down to the guard spot without a lapse in ability.
“Being at Ohio State, I had to be versatile,” Onianwa said, explaining that he wants to display his “competitiveness and physicality.” “I’ve played from left tackle to right tackle to right guard.”
Flip to the other side for the ball and the five aforementioned players were equally impressive. On the interior, Banks’ size and arm length showcased his versatility as he was willing to line up everywhere while Hunter took on double-teams yet still managed to make plays at the line of scrimmage.
“I’m just having fun and playing the game the way that it’s supposed to be played,” Hunter said. The defensive tackle added that he wants to showcase his ability as a run stopper and pass rusher. “You love the game, the football gods will reward you in many ways.”
Each of the trio of edges — Tucker, Young and Jacas — flashed during various parts of practice. Tucker consistently found himself in the backfield during the scrimmage while Jacas and Young made opposing offensive linemen look like turnstiles in 1-on-1s.
With the Dolphins in search of a new identity under Sullivan and coach Jeff Hafley, the importance of the trenches cannot be understated. The Dolphins have a plethora of holes — most obviously quarterback — yet the philosophy to build the margins of the roster should not fall second to the search for an elite signal caller.
For far too long, Miami has prioritized speed over toughness, an identity that can only last so long. That, however, appears to be in the past.
“Yes, we need to get the quarterback situation in place, but we’re not going to do it in an irresponsible manner, where we sacrifice building the infrastructure of this football team so that when we do find our guy, he can go be successful,” Sullivan said. “We’ve all seen teams that go about it, maybe in a questionable manner and you get a really good player at quarterback, but he can’t stay healthy because he’s getting killed or he doesn’t have anybody to throw to.”
Added Sullivan: “We will find our guy, but we’re going to make sure that we’re building the infrastructure along the way.”
