What Dolphins decided, and what they haven’t, after spending high picks on linemen
The Dolphins have decided that they made the right decision moving Austin Jackson from left tackle to left guard; he will play that new position for the foreseeable future, potentially well beyond this season.
The unanswered question is whether the Dolphins have found their future left tackle in Liam Eichenberg.
The Notre Dame rookie must play a lot better than he did Sunday in Buffalo to be the long-term answer at that vital position. If he doesn’t, he’s likely going to be shifted to right tackle or right guard at some point. And that would leave the Dolphins with an unfilled hole at left tackle after using three picks on tackles in the past two drafts.
After the Dolphins’ Week 4 loss to the Colts, the Dolphins shifted Jackson — the 18th overall pick in 2020 — from left tackle to left guard, and Eichenberg from right tackle to left tackle.
In four games since, Eichenberg — according to Pro Football Focus — has allowed 16 pressures and three sacks, including two sacks and six pressures against Buffalo. PFF rates him 73rd among 79 qualifying tackles.
Also per Pro Football Focus, Eichenberg has allowed six sacks overall, tied with Seattle’s Duane Brown for the most in football. He has relinquished three of those sacks playing right tackle.
“I think I can play a lot better,” Eichenberg said this week when asked if his play at left tackle has met his expectations. “It goes to my technique, and moving a lot more efficiently in pass pro and the run game.”
The good news: PFF rates Eichenberg above average as a run-blocker, 53rd of 124 NFL tackles this season.
“He’s improving,” offensive line coach Lemuel Jeanpierre said on Tuesday when asked to assess Eichenberg’s first four games at left tackle. “He’s very hard on himself. Big thing about him is keeping him playing fast and being able to react. We have the right guy in terms of character and work ethic.”
How long do the Dolphins need to determine if Eichenberg can be an effective NFL left tackle?
“This question is hard for me; it’s hard to put a time limit on it,” Jeanpierre said. “Some guys are more of a natural, fits no matter what. Whether a guy sticks at a spot, it’s based on need and ability... Need be, I can put him at guard.”
Jackson, meanwhile, has been far better at guard than at tackle. Per PFF, Jackson hasn’t yielded a sack in four games at guard, though he appeared to be at least partly responsible for one sack.
After permitting four, five and four quarterback pressures in his first three games at left guard, Jackson didn’t allow a single pressure against Buffalo.
He also has graded out well against the run, and coach Brian Flores said the Dolphins have decided that guard is Jackson’s best position.
Since moving to guard, Jackson “has improved. He’s been able to use the traits he’s been blessed with, in terms of physicality, being aggressive, the strength, quickness in there. He’s on the phone with me, trying to get more tape. He’s thirsty, trying to be the best player he can be.”
Even though he missed the opener against New England and even though he didn’t permit a single pressure against Buffalo, Jackson still has relinquished 33 pressures, the second most of any NFL offensive lineman, behind only Detroit’s Matt Nelson (34).
But at least there has been improvement at guard.
“Wherever you put him, he’s very athletic,” Jeanpierre said. “Very quick. Very powerful. The big thing is understanding he’s a strong and wants to bury guys so much that he can get overextended at times. It’s not like I have to tell him to be more aggressive, which is very good in run blocking.”
Whether Eichenberg is better suited to left or right tackle — or right guard — won’t become clear until later in the season.
Eichenberg didn’t allow a sack at left tackle in his final 2½ years at Notre Dame. So what pass rush moves are giving him trouble as an NFL left tackle that he handled adroitly in college?
“It’s a handful of everything,” he said. “My hands being in the wrong spots, my feet not being underneath me. It’s just kind of a mixture of everything. It’s not one specific thing.
“At the most important moment, you need your fundamentals and technique to be at its best. In college you can kind of get away with certain things.”
Days before he was moved to left tackle, Eichenberg said he believed he had a better NFL future at right tackle. Does he still feel that way?
“It’s wherever the team wants me,” he said. “I honestly couldn’t tell you. I’m focusing on this week and hopefully I’m at left tackle this week.”
The Dolphins thought they were getting three potential tackles in the past two drafts, with Jackson, Robert Hunt (selected 39th in 2020) and Eichenberg (chosen 42nd in 2021 after trading a 2022 third-rounder to the Giants to move up eight spots).
But the Dolphins determined after last season that Hunt was better at guard than tackle and made that same decision with Jackson last month.
If they eventually make the same call with Eichenberg — he played guard in training camp — that could force the Dolphins to move Hunt back to right tackle, where he played last November and December. The Dolphins prefer him at guard but haven’t ruled out a move back to tackle.
Considering that right tackle Jesse Davis has allowed the fifth-most pressures of any NFL offensive lineman (29) along with two sacks, why don’t the Dolphins move Davis to guard and Hunt back to right tackle?
After all, Hunt hasn’t exactly been great at guard; he has allowed 19 quarterback pressures, tied for sixth most among guards, per PFF. Hunt ranks 86th as a run blocker among 108 players who have logged time at guard. PFF rates him 52nd of 74 guards who have played a lot this season.
Jeanpierre declined to explain why the Dolphins don’t flip Davis and Hunt beyond an overall desire for continuity.
But he said: “In terms of the Jesse/Rob thing, that’s something we continue to look at every week. This year, in my grading scale... Rob has been doing well, improving where he’s at. Jesse also has been having good things as well.”
Jeanpierre was the assistant offensive line coach behind Steve Marshall last season but said he doesn’t know whether Hunt was better at tackle in 2020 than guard in 2021.
This much is clear: The Dolphins need Eichenberg to succeed at left tackle mostly because they prefer not to invest even more draft capital — or big free agent money — on a position they thought they had fixed.
This story was originally published November 2, 2021 at 12:03 PM.
