Dolphins looking to get more out of a key starter in 2023
The Miami Dolphins' aerial attack took off in 2022, ranking fourth in the league in team passing yards (4765) and passing touchdowns (30). Whether the team as a whole can ascend from a fringe playoff team to a true AFC contender could depend on whether one particular unit can improve in 2023: the offensive line. […]
The Miami Dolphins' aerial attack took off in 2022, ranking fourth in the league in team passing yards (4765) and passing touchdowns (30).
Whether the team as a whole can ascend from a fringe playoff team to a true AFC contender could depend on whether one particular unit can improve in 2023: the offensive line.
Hampered by injuries to tackles Terron Armstead and Austin Jackson, Miami's offensive line was a question mark for much of the season. And while Miami got solid play from interior linemen Connor Williams and Robert Hunt, there was one position that was a glaring problem, and that was left guard.
Liam Eichenberg was the starter for the first half of the season before missing most of the rest of the regular season with an MCL injury. The second-round draft pick in 2021 out of Notre Dame has struggled mightily to establish himself as a capable starter, having earned Pro Football Focus grades of 50.8 and 39.8 in 2021 and 2022, respectively.
However, Mike McDaniel has seen a reason for optimism in Eichenberg's play entering his second year in Miami's offense since McDaniel took over as head coach. A large part of that, per McDaniel, has been a better understanding of the offense and improvement of his communication and timing, among other things.
Year two is exciting for multiple reasons. What we do from an offensive line standpoint, there's some trust fall involved where you're like, we don't want you to just block this person safely. We want you to aggressively attack thereby making you vulnerable. Ebbs and flows. We felt it last year. The players knew it. Sometimes, in the heat of battle, you revert back to things that we don't emphasize. That doesn't mean things were bad. It means now you're off with your teammate. The synergy of it.
He's really, really taken a step forward that way [in] year two. Since, you know, what words mean, what play calls mean, how we communicate, how we target, aiming points, timing. Since he does know that, he's been able to do some things we were unable to do in year one that I was adamant that we didn't do in year one. That was move him around a little bit, too. I really love where he is at in the progression.
But again, it is a progression that's long, because – like I was alluding to before – we're trying to do stuff at a high level that you kind of have to empty all the old thinking and can't revert in the heat of battle. That's where our biggest problems came, were people reverting.
Right now he's doing a great job, but what happens when the [defensive] line is turned up today? What happens next week when you have different people? Those are the things that are monumental for him as well as the guys who have been here to make sure that what we're doing on a day-to-day basis is engrained and not just a practice technique. – Mike McDaniel via Dolphins YouTube channel
It's interesting to hear McDaniel talk about trust falls, because there isn't a whole lot of reason to trust a player who hasn't been pulling his weight for the better part of two seasons. Whether or not that is coach speak or whether they have seen something that gives them confidence that he's improving significantly will eventually be proven on the field beginning with the team's first preseason game on August 11 against the Atlanta Falcons.
And the position is not without competition for the rising third-year player. Robert Jones provided, at minimum, no real drop off in performance after taking over for Eichenberg at left guard during the middle of last season. There's also former Patriots tackle Isaiah Wynn.
Wynn signed with the Dolphins on May 15 after spending his first four seasons in New England. Starting 25 games between 2020 and 2021 at left tackle, he earned PFF grades of 82.6 and 74.9, in 2020 and 2021, respectively, before falling off a bit in 2022. He could challenge either Eichenberg for the left guard spot or Austin Jackson – who missed almost all of 2022 with an ankle injury – for the right tackle position.
The Dolphins simply have to get more out of the left guard position this fall if their offense is going to be what they need it to be to compete in the rugged AFC. If they still have that trust by the end of August that they don't need to catch their former second-round pick from falling, then there's a decent chance that could happen.
Featured image via Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
