This Dolphins unit has been getting together to learn a new system. What we’re hearing
A six-pack of Miami Dolphins notes on a Friday:
▪ The NFL’s recommendation, last weekend, for players to stop working out together — because of growing COVID-19 numbers in some pockets of the country — temporarily halted some significant work being done by Dolphins offensive linemen.
A bunch of them — rookies and veterans — had been getting together regularly on a South Florida field not only for conditioning but also to perfect making the correct line calls and beef up on learning the terminology implemented by new offensive line coach Steve Marshall, who is the team’s third offensive line coach in 11 months.
With the transition on the line — Jesse Davis is potentially the only 2019 starter essentially assured of starting in 2020 — the offensive linemen are taking very seriously the need to become as cohesive as quickly as possible. New left guard Ereck Flowers has been a key component of those sessions, one player said.
Because of the NFL’s COVID-19 rules, players cannot work out together — in the weight room or on the field — at team facilities. And coaches are not permitted to attend the players’ off-site workouts.
Marshall, who replaced the dismissed Dave DeGuglielmo, has spent 40 years coaching offensive linemen and has worked 10 seasons in the NFL, most recently as the Jets’ offensive line coach from 2015 through 2017, where he was a colleague of Chan Gailey, the Dolphins’ new offensive coordinator. Marshall was among several offensive coaches dismissed by the Jets after the 2017 season.
Last year, he was the offensive line coach for the Memphis Express of the since-shuttered Alliance of American Football.
As for personnel decisions on the line, here’s what we know: The Dolphins are still determining whether second-round pick Robert Hunt is better suited to play guard or tackle as a rookie. There are mixed views on this. Miami believes he can ultimately be a quality right tackle….
There’s a good chance Davis remains at right tackle in 2020, but that could change if Hunt gets a chance at right tackle in camp and is very good there…
The impression of one player is that Michael Deiter, besides playing guard, also will be given a chance to compete at center. South Carolina rookie Donell Stanley also is competing at backup center….
Ted Karras obviously will start at center and Flowers at left guard. The Julien Davenport/Austin Jackson battle at left tackle will play out in August. The Dolphins are pleased how Jackson has learned the system.
▪ Coach Brian Flores ended the team’s offseason program Friday, the final day that organized offseason activities are permitted. The sessions for most veteran players ended earlier in the week, but rookies continued Zoom sessions through this week.
Because of COVID-19, teams have conducted offseason programs almost entirely via Zoom sessions. Dolphins players next will convene July 28 for the start of training camp.
▪ Kudos to Georgia rookie offensive lineman Solomon Kindley for losing 21 pounds since the college football season ended. He was 352 in January, 337 at the NFL Combine and now 331.
The expectation is that he will lose another seven pounds or so during training camp. The Dolphins expect Kindley to compete at right guard and back up at left guard.
▪ Durval Queiroz Neto, who was added to Miami’s practice squad last season through the NFL’s international player development program, has been moved from defensive tackle to guard. The Dolphins are pleased how he has picked up the system, but how he plays in training camp obviously will determine his immediate future here.
Miami has the right to keep him on the practice squad for another season, with a special roster exemption. But Neto hopes to make the 53. Flores has said he sees potential with Neto, in part because of his core strength.
Incidentally, Neto is sharing a locker with rookie quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, who has been allowed in the team facility because he is recovering from last November’s hip surgery at Alabama.
▪ The Dolphins are having second-year receiver Gary Jennings learn the slot (where he had great success at West Virginia) and the boundary receiver positions.
The thinking, if he makes the team, is to create mismatches by using the 6-1 Jennings on smaller, slower players.
Drafted by Seattle in the fourth round last April, Jennings was claimed by the Dolphins off waivers from the Seahawks in November but was injured in his first game as a Dolphin.
He likely will compete with Allen Hurns and Isaiah Ford, among others, for a fifth and sixth receiver job.
Tagovailoa hasn’t worked out with the Dolphins’ top veteran receivers during his first two weeks in Miami, but he has spent time with Jennings.
A couple of the team’s other young receivers (undrafted rookies Matt Cole and Kirk Merritt) have been doing their Zoom sessions outside of South Florida but have been in touch with the Dolphins’ rookie quarterback.
▪ Quick stuff: There’s talk that the practice squad could go from 10 to 16 players, which would help the chances of players such as Merritt and Cole, two skilled receiver prospects. Cole, perhaps the best receiver in Division II last season, is best suited for the slot but also has been taught the Dolphins’ system for boundary receivers...
Per Pro Football Focus, DeVante Parker had the second-most receiving yards last season on contested catches (400), behind only Detroit’s Kenny Golladay. Parker’s ability to make catches with a defender on him was one of the most impressive aspects of his breakout 2019 season…
Though Miami is listing rookie fifth-round pick Curtis Weaver as a defensive end on its roster, he’s being trained in a linebacker/edge role. PFF rated him the fifth-best pass rusher in college football last season and his 59 pressures were ninth in the country. He lost some weight in the move from end to linebacker. He has the potential to be a fifth-round steal.
STEPHEN ROSS INVESTMENT
Dolphins owner Stephen Ross announced a personal $13 million investment during the next four years in his RISE foundation, an organization whose purpose is to create “a nation unified through sports committed to racial equity and social justice.”
Ross’ $13 million investment brings his total commitment to $30 million since establishing RISE in 2015.
“Growing up in Detroit, I saw firsthand what racism did to tear apart our community, destroy lives and further inequality,” Ross said. “I started RISE based on the belief that our nation must address the scourge of racism directly to achieve true unity. Now more than ever, our mission and the need for this work is clear.”
Former Dolphins cornerback Troy Vincent, now the NFL’s executive vice president/football operations, said in a statement released through RISE: “During this time of national unrest, many individuals have stepped up to being part of the solution. Stephen continues to dedicate his time, resources and vision, as he has for decades, in an unwavering commitment to ending racism in partnership with the leadership, heart and influence of athletes globally. Stephen’s words are backed by his actions demonstrated by his body of work to advance equality, respect and understanding as a leader in the national dialogue on race and social justice.”
We are posting a Dolphins story every weekday we’re working this offseason. Here’s the link to the rest of this week’s stories.
This story was originally published June 26, 2020 at 11:43 AM.
