Dolphins OL Kadyn Proctor just learned a valuable lesson: show up when it matters
Kadyn Proctor didn’t have the best end to his first week of training camp.
In the waning moments of Friday’s practice, the coaches called for a single, winner takes all play. With the offense in a third-and-goal situation from the 6-yard line, all eyes were on the unit to punctuate its most successful day of practice so far. That is, until the defense brought pressure and star defensive lineman Zach Sieler pushed past the rookie offensive lineman with ease and got to Malik Willis before the shifty quarterback could make a move. Practice over. Winner: defense.
It was a valuable learning lesson for the 2026 first-round pick, one that must be hammered into his head early if the Dolphins want to have the successful rush-first offense that coach Jeff Hafley has extensively spoken about.
“Got to stay engaged,” Proctor said. “That’s the biggest thing. They dialed it up pretty well, the defense did, and they won the competition. But that’s all it’s about – competition, having fun going out there. We can learn from that play. We’ll get to it in the film room.”
Patrick Paul put it a lot simpler.
“Play your best football when it matters,” the left tackle said of Proctor’s mistake.
Despite the lackluster final play from Proctor, the rookie hasn’t looked terrible in training camp. The lack of pads, of course, should be factored in yet the offense has shown some success when running towards the left. Tailback Jaylen Wright loves the fact that he has two big behemoths to clear paths for him on that side.
“Them boys be moving,” Wright said, repeating “they be moving” to add further emphasis. “Big boys to run behind, they big and athletic, Pat Paul and Kadyn. Kadyn, I feel like he’s going to be a wonderful, wonderful athlete. He has a long career ahead of him, so does Pat Paul. So I’m just happy to work with those boys.”
And as much as fans want to overreact to one play, the position switch – remember, Proctor played left tackle his entire career at Alabama – as well as the jump to the NFL can’t be disregarded. Proctor, to his credit, hasn’t complained once.
“It’s been pretty good,” Proctor said of the transition to left guard. “I feel like I’ve been taking it very serious. I’m out there. We’re competing every day and if I’m not doing my one-eleventh, then nobody’s going to get better. I got to push Sieler, too, even though I’m 21 years old, young or whatever, like I still have to push him. He has to get better, too. So I got to raise my level of play.”
Even more important: it will be up to Paul and Brewer to get the rookie up to speed.
“Just helping him out with any questions he might have,” Paul said. “Just speaking, encouraging him every day, just showing him how it’s done. Trying to be a good leader for him, show him how we operate, how we do things and what our standard is so he can just follow along. And he’s been doing that.”
Added Brewer: “I’m just trying to keep pushing him and just allow him to know like it’s more and just have him, like not competing with what he see every day out here. Like it’s more to the league, it’s 32 teams and there’s plenty of great defensive linemen out there. So I want him to be prepared for when he’s going against the bottom of the bottle and the best of the best. I want him to be the best player he can be. I want him to be the No. 1 guard in the league.”
Those high aspirations, however, don’t appear to affect Proctor. In fact, he’s already shaken off the “first-round pick” label. Proctor just wants to focus on what’s in front of him: being the best left guard possible.
“The draft pick, that’s out the way,” Proctor said. “There’s a lot of undrafted guys out here that are working and working – and they’re trying to take my spot. So I’m just coming in here and focusing on all that.”
This story was originally published August 1, 2026 at 7:00 AM with the headline "Dolphins OL Kadyn Proctor just learned a valuable lesson: show up when it matters."
