Dolphins Offensive Line Picture Becoming Clearer

If head coach Brian Flores has his way, the make-up of the Miami Dolphins' starting offensive line will remain a secret until the regular season opener against the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium on Sept. 13.

But it would seem at this time that a clear picture has emerged, and it features two rookie draft picks.

By all indications, first-round pick Austin Jackson will be starting at left tackle, with veteran free agent pick-ups Ereck Flowers and Ted Karras at left guard and center, respectively.

That leaves the two spots on the right side of the line, and one has to believe that one of those spots will belong to Jesse Davis, the longest-tenured member of the offensive line.

And Davis said during a Zoom media session Tuesday that he's been getting his most reps lately at right tackle.

Things, of course, can change before the start of the regular season, but having Davis at right tackle certainly would make a lot of sense because of his experience and the fact that rookie second-round pick Robert Hunt hasn't exactly looked like he could step in and be an impact player right away.

So that would leave the right guard position to go to either Hunt or rookie fourth-round pick Solomon Kindley, barring an unexpected late push by someone like veteran Danny Isidora or 2019 third-round pick Michael Deiter.

This is what Flores said before practice Tuesday when he was asked about a starting offensive line and what factors would come into play.

“All those things go into the decision — conditioning, best fit, best overall — but I would say the No. 1 thing is the overall group," Flores said. "We’re talking about five guys who need to get on the same page from a communication standpoint and I think the three rookies — Austin, Robert Hunt, Solomon Kindley — they’ve all played well at times during training camp. They’ve all made mistakes as well.

"These are tough decisions that we have to make and, look, things change over the course of the season. We may fell a certain way now, put a group out there and, look, if a player freezes up, then we’ve got to make an adjustment. We all know that. But I like where they’re at. I think they’re all working. Look, we’re still in a little bit of an evaluation phase here. They’ll practice today, a couple of practices later in the week. So no officials decisions have been made. Honestly, you guys probably won’t know until opening day the exact what it is. But I like where they’re all at.”