Debating the Pros and Cons of the Proctor Plan

The Proctor plan remains unchanged.

Prized Miami Dolphins first-round pick Kadyn Proctor will continue to work exclusively at left guard in his rookie season when the team kicks off training camp practices Wednesday.

Head coach Jeff Hafley confirmed in a pre-camp press conference Tuesday that the idea of cross-training Proctor and having him work at tackle was not in the plans, affirming a stance the coaching staff took in the offseason program.

Hafley explained Tuesday, as he had during the offseason, that the goal was to simplify and centralize Proctor's focus to make his adjustment to the NFL as smooth as possible.

"He's going to start off at left guard and try to get good at one position," Hafley said. "I think that's fair to him, and it's the best thing. Ultimately, we need to do what's best for our team. In this case, I think it's best for him and I think it's best for our team. So that's what we decided to start, and we'll go from there."

As always, unforeseen circumstances could mean a change of plans, but it does appear as though the Dolphins are clear with what they want to do with the 12th overall selection in the 2026 NFL draft.

THE DOLPHINS PRECEDENTS WITH JACKSON AND TUNSIL

Neither new GM Jon-Eric Sullivan nor Hafley has discussed the Dolphins' plans for Proctor beyond the 2026 season, though one would suspect he'll wind up at tackle — whether on the right side to succeed Austin Jackson or maybe even the left side to replace Patrick Paul if an extension for him becomes problematic — after his decorated career at that position at the University of Alabama.

Essentially, the Dolphins are adopting the same playbook as they did in 2016 for their first-round pick that year, Laremy Tunsil.

After he was the 13th pick that year following a great career at Mississippi as a left tackle, the Dolphins had him start off at left guard because of the presence of Pro Bowl left tackle Branden Albert on the roster.

But Tunsil got practice reps that year at left tackle along with left guard.

A more recent offensive line draft pick who cross-trained in his first training camp was 2021 second-round selection Liam Eichenberg. Now, Eichenberg wasn't in the same class as Tunsil or Proctor as an NFL prospect, but he was considered a good prospect in his own right.

Eichenberg's career never panned out — and he's now in limbo because of a serious leg injury — and one can't help but wonder whether it might have turned out better if he hadn't been moved around so much early in his career.

Austin Jackson, a first-round pick in 2020, also has moved around quite a bit in his career, but he spent his entire rookie training camp working at left tackle before the position switches occurred.

And this is where we'd side with the Dolphins here on the idea of keeping Proctor at one spot for the entire 2026 season — regardless of whether Jackson again gets sidelined because of injuries — for the sake of his long-term outlook and also because the Dolphins logically aren't one offensive lineman away from playoff contention this year.

THE LONG-TERM OUTLOOK FOR PROCTOR

The next question with Proctor will be what happens in 2027 and beyond.

It's a pretty well established fact that tackles have a greater impact on team success than a guard, no matter how good the guard, and it says here that spending the 12th overall pick on a career guard will not have been the best use of draft capital if that's what ends up happening with Proctor.

We always bring up the examples of Quentin Nelson and Zack Martin, the two best guards of this generation, who combined to win four playoffs in 19 total seasons with the Colts and Cowboys, respectively, and never reached a conference championship game.

There would be nothing wrong, per se, if Proctor became a perennial Pro Bowl guard or even an All-Pro, it's just that we could then say the Dolphins could have gotten more bang for the buck (or in this case the 12th overall pick).

The best guess remains that Proctor indeed will move to right tackle starting in 2027 and hopefully have a long and successful career there.

But it's got to start somewhere, and that somewhere clearly will be at left guard.

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