Dolphins Draft Breakdown: Why Jonah Savaiinaea Makes Sense for Miami

The Dolphins might have finally found a solution to their long-time offensive guard problem

Arizona Wildcats offensive lineman Jonah Savaiinaea (71) against the Colorado Buffalos at Arizona Stadium. | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Miami Dolphins general manager Chris Grier said the Dolphins would invest in the offensive line this offseason, and that’s precisely what they did with their second pick in the 2025 NFL draft. 

The Dolphins traded up from pick 48 with the Las Vegas Raiders to select Arizona offensive guard Jonah Savaiinaea at pick 37. Savaiinaea is expected to start immediately, filling one of the Dolphins’ most significant needs. 

This is part of our draft film review series, where we’ll do in-depth breakdowns for the Dolphins’ top picks in the 2025 NFL draft. We’ll examine each prospect's strengths, weaknesses, and fit with the Dolphins. 

Let’s dive into Savaiinaea's skill set. 

Jonah Savaiinaea's Run Blocking 

Considering how much Miami struggled to run the ball down the stretch last season, it’s easy to see why Savaiinaea was high on its board. 

He is an enforcer on the interior who loves to play bully ball. He’s got ample lower- and upper-body strength to create displacement up front. He’s also excellent at washing down the line of scrimmage to create easy outside rushing lanes.

Many of Savaiinaea's best plays look something like this one against TCU. He loves finishing his blocks into the ground and consistently plays with an edge. 

Offensive linemen like this tend to get typecast as unathletic plodders who don’t offer much in space. While there’s some truth to that in Savaiinaea's pass-blocking profile, he’s wildly athletic when moving forward. 

Watch him pull out into space and punish this USC defender on the second level. This play is called “crack toss,” a staple of the Dolphins’ playbook. Although Savaiinaea is a power player, he’s more than athletic enough to execute the Dolphins’ outside zone scheme. 

Savaiinaea had a 1.72 10-yard split at the NFL combine, which was the best time among offensive linemen who weighed more than 315 pounds at the event. 

With that said, Savaiinaea’s power, physicality, and leg drive could open up the Dolphins’ running game next season. Miami’s outside zone rushing attack has become somewhat predictable, but it didn’t have the proper body types to consistently run more power or “Duo” concepts. 

Savaiinaea, along with Patrick Paul and James Daniels, should change that. Last season, Austin Jackson was the only consistent starter who was a true, downhill mauler. 

Putting Savaiinaea next to Jackson up front could allow the Dolphins to leverage their two strongest offensive linemen in short-yardage situations and through different looks at teams who have gotten used to preparing for outside zone and nothing else. 

The only real negative in Savaiinaea’s run-blocking profile is that he can get a tad overaggressive when climbing to the second level. He’ll arrive at contact unbalanced and whiff on those reps. 

This isn’t an uncommon problem for young offensive linemen, especially ones with Savaiinaea’s physical mentality. 

Jonah Savaiinaea's Pass Blocking 

It’s impossible to discuss Savaiinaea’s pass blocking without talking about his position switch to guard at the NFL level. 

Last season, he spent 364 reps at right tackle and 345 reps at left tackle. He held up well enough for the Wildcats, but it was pretty clear that he’d be better off at guard. 

Many college tackles are moved to guard because of a lack of length, but that’s not the case for Savaiinaea. He has a 61st percentile arm length and a 73rd percentile wingspan for an offensive tackle. 

Savaiinaea’s issue is that he is not as good as an athlete when forced to move backward in space. 

So many of his worst reps in pass protection come on plays like this, where the edge rusher is lined super wide and has infinite space to work across Savaiinaea’s face. He’s just not the most reactive athlete in these scenarios. 

At guard, he won’t be forced to cover so much ground to match pass-rush counters. Defensive linemen won’t be able to just outflank him outside, either. The position change will allow Savaiinaea to get his hands on defenders early and bully them with his strength. 

Savaiinaea excels in close quarters, as he has enough athletic ability to win once he has hands-on defenders. He shows impressive grip strength to maintain his blocks and the anchor to maintain the pocket’s integrity against power rushers. 

The extra nice part about this transition is that it won’t be entirely foreign for Savaiinaea. He played 790 snaps at right guard in 2022 and 195 snaps in 2023. 

Now, Savaiinaea playing guard won’t solve all of his pass-blocking issues. He’ll still be challenged by speed rushers on the interior occasionally, and he needs to get more accurate with his hand placement. 

He likes to throw his hands early in reps, allowing defenders to swipe them away and get a clean win. The Dolphins feel like they can fix this issue because Paul and Daniels also have this littered throughout their tape. 

Overall, Savaiinaea projects as an average pass blocker. He won’t wow you, but he should be reliable and solid, especially considering how quickly the ball comes out in Miami’s offense. 

The Bottom Line With Savaiinaea 

Savaiinaea is a good example of why sometimes a reach against the consensus makes sense. The Arizona product was between 55th and 60th on most media boards, so taking him at pick 37 is a reach. 

However, for a team like the Dolphins, Savaiinaea makes so much sense that reaching on him can be forgiven. Miami has struggled to fill its guard spots with long-term, quality players for the better part of three years. 

The team also has been battling a narrative of being soft in the trenches, especially after how this past season ended. 

Savaiinaea is a starting-caliber guard — even by his consensus ranking — and has the physical mentality the team has been missing under coach Mike McDaniel. It follows a trend of the players Miami has added this offseason. 

Kenneth Grant, James Daniels, Larry Borom, Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, KJ Britt, Willie Gay, Ifeatu Melifonwu and Pharaoh Brown are all players known for their toughness and physical mentality at their respective positions. 

Giving up pick 98 to trade up for Savaiinaea is a tough pill to swallow, especially considering the Dolphins’ other needs. However, the trade doesn’t change how good a player Savaiinaea can be. 

If Savaiinaea is a quality, long-term starter at guard, that’s worth giving up the 98th selection — a compensatory selection that wasn’t a true third-round pick. On the flip side, it does add some pressure to Savaiinaea. If he’s not a long-term starter, this is a much bigger swing and miss. 

Ultimately, the Dolphins got a player they believe can be an impact starter at a position of need. Although we didn’t have Savaiinaea going this early, the film backs up the Dolphins’ evaluation. 

If that’s what Savaiinaea becomes, it’s a good pick, regardless of the trade value.