This offseason, the Miami Dolphins gave out two contracts worth potentially over $100 million combined to help address their obvious issue along the offensive line.
Terron Armstead and Connor Williams were brought in to stabilize the unit that was one of the worst in the league in 2021. However, with Williams, Austin Jackson and Liam Eichenberg all potentially starting at new spots on the line, there are still a lot of questions about the group heading into 2022.
Pro Football Focus continued their recent offseason rankings of positional groups for each team, and Michael Renner was tasked with tiering and ranking the different starting offensive lines around the league. The Dolphins fell into the fourth tier that he called “At least one good tackle,” and they ranked 23rd overall.
Here’s what Renner wrote about Miami’s big men up front:
“The Dolphins’ offensive line should be massively improved in 2022, but that’s after the unit was one of the NFL’s worst in 2021. Terron Armstead is a top-five left tackle when healthy and immediately brings stability to the group. With so many draft picks invested in the rest of the offensive line in recent years, there are going to be a lot of training camp competitions to shake out this eventual lineup.”
Renner also had the offensive line listed as Armstead at left tackle, Williams at left guard, Michael Deiter at center, Robert Hunt at right guard and Liam Eichenberg at right tackle. For those who have been paying attention to the reporting around OTAs and minicamp, that hasn’t been the group they’ve been using to this point.
While they could be just trying things out, it seems like they’re not going to run with that lineup.
If Miami wants to reach their full potential this year, they’re going to need an offensive line that’s better than No. 23 in the NFL protecting Tua Tagovailoa and providing push for their improved stable of running backs.
