Big Challenge for New-Look Dolphins O-Line

It's becoming an annual occurrence for the Miami Dolphins offensive line to have a lot of new starters, and this year is no exception.

There are two major differences that are going to make things more difficult for the Dolphins offensive line in 2020: First, the Dolphins could have two, three, maybe even four rookies starting up front; second, the prep time has been drastically reduced because of the coronavirus pandemic, with no offseason practices, a delayed start to training camp practices, and no preseason games.

It's going to make it a difficult task for new offensive line coach Steve Marshall to get his unit ready for the start of the regular season.

"It’s certainly a challenge and it’s completely different," Marshall said. "I’ve coached football for 40 years. There’s a lot of ways to do it and, again, that is a challenge. That will be a challenge as we start these walk-throughs and things like that. That’s one of the things that we’re doing is making sure that we’re communicating with each other, not only on the field but off the field, and guys getting to know each other where instead of meeting them through Zoom, they finally get to kind of meet them in person.

"Yeah, jelling is a big, big term and really, the term gelling is communicating. It’s communicating together as a group and that’s what these Zoom meetings are and these walk-throughs that we’re having. We’re making strides in that regard.”

After the mess that was the 2019 season for the offensive line, the Dolphins went out and signed guard Ereck Flowers and center Ted Karras as free agents and then selected Austin Jackson, Robert Hunt and Solomon Kindley in the 2020 draft.

Who will start and even who will line up where is still to be determined, though it obviously would be ideal if Jackson and Hunt were opening-day starters considering they were first- and second-round picks and represent the future.

Thrusting any rookie offensive lineman into the starting lineup right away can be a dicey proposition — the Dolphins haven't started two rookies on their offensive line since 1995 — particularly when dealing with prospects considered a bit on the raw side, which Jackson and Hunt both were coming out of USC and Louisiana-Layafette, respectively.

“Well, if they were in three preseason games, four preseason games or zero preseason games, it’s the nature of the business when you have rookies playing for the first time in the NFL, that we are going to feel a sense of trepidation and have we done enough to prepare them (to be) ready," Marshall said. "No preseason game is like a regular season game. So to answer your question, absolutely (there'll be some uneasiness). But it wouldn’t change if we were getting ready to play our first preseason game — that’s about this time of year. We’re going to have everybody in the same boat that way. The answer is yes, yes and yes. But I’ll be worried for veteran guys in their first game. Like I said, when the first ball game is the New England Patriots on the road, we certainly have a challenge there. Whether you’re a rookie or a four-year guy, my job is to get them prepared to play the best they can play.”

For the record, the Dolphins have four new starters in 2019 based on the players who started the most games — Julién Davenport, Michael Deiter, Daniel Kilgore and Shaq Calhoun. In 2018, they actually had five new starters based on starts from the previous year.

Along with the changes in personnel, there also has been a lot of turnover in terms of the position coach.

This season will mark the sixth consecutive year with a new offensive line coach, as Marshall will follow Dave DeGuglielmo (who replaced Pat Flaherty early in training camp) in 2019, Jeremiah Washburn in 2018, DeGuglielmo in 2017 and Chris Foerster in 2016 after John Benton was the last O-line coach to serve in consecutive years (2014-15).

Marshall has been coaching for 39 years, and most recently was with Memphis of the Alliance of American Football. His last stop in the NFL came from 2015-17 with the New York Jets, where he worked for two seasons with new offensive coordinator Chan Gailey.

“Obviously once we went with Chan, I thought it was important to go with someone who was familiar with that style of play, so that played a role in hiring Steve," head coach Brian Flores said. "He’s a good coach. He’s a teacher, a very good teacher, of O-line play. I had a good feeling and a good vibe when we had … let’s call it our interview process. He works well with Chan. He works well with the offensive staff. He’s a good coach. He’s a tough coach. He asks a lot of his players."

How those offensive linemen respond could go a long way toward determining the success of the offense in 2020.