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Dolphins History Lesson: Rookie Offensive Linemen and What It Means for Austin Jackson and Robert Hunt

Austin Jackson and Robert Hunt became the ninth and 10th offensive linemen selected in the first or second round of the NFL draft since 2000
Alain Poupart|
Dolphins History Lesson: Rookie Offensive Linemen and What It Means for Austin Jackson and Robert Hunt
Dolphins History Lesson: Rookie Offensive Linemen and What It Means for Austin Jackson and Robert Hunt

If we're going based on recent Dolphins history, 2020 draft picks Austin Jackson and Robert Hunt both will be in the starting lineup when the team opens its regular season against the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium on Sept. 13.

It's that simple.

Jackson and Hunt became the ninth and 10th offensive linemen the Dolphins selected in the first two rounds since 2000, and the recent data suggests it's pretty much a foregone conclusion both will be opening-day starter.

Of the first eight linemen who were Dolphins first- or second-round picks between 2000 and 2019, guard/tackle Vernon Carey is the only one who did NOT start in Week 1 of his rookie season.

The Dolphins selected Carey with the 19th overall selection in the 2004 NFL draft, but he began the season as the backup right tackle behind offseason acquisition John St. Clair.

Carey made his first NFL start in Week 5 that season and started again in Week 6 before going back to a backup role.

The other seven offensive linemen not only started opening day, but started every game they played as rookies.

Those seven offensive linemen selected in the first or second round were tackle Todd Wade (second round in 2000), center Samson Satele (second round in 2007), tackle Jake Long (first round in 2008), center/guard Mike Pouncey (first round in 2011), tackle Jonathan Martin (second round in 2012), tackle Ja'Wuan James (first round in 2014) and tackle Laremy Tunsil (first round in 2016).

Wade, Satele, Long, Pouncey, Martin and James started every game in their rookie season, while Tunsil missed two games because of an injury.

Tunsil also had to switch positions as a rookie. After playing left tackle at Ole Miss, Tunsil moved inside to left guard as a rookie because the Dolphins already had veteran Branden Albert in the lineup.

Tunsil took over as the left tackle in 2017 and remained there until the Dolphins traded him to the Houston Texans a week before the start of the 2019 regular season.

The Tunsil move could apply with Hunt, who played right tackle at Louisiana-Lafayette but was listed by both Todd McShay and Mel Kiper Jr. as the No. 1 prospect at guard in their pre-draft rankings.

Jackson, meanwhile, would become only the fourth rookie to start a season opener at left tackle in franchise history. He would join Richmond Webb (1990), Wade Smith (2003) and Long (2008).

Webb, like Long, was a first-round pick, while Smith was a third-round selection in 2003.

Three different players started at left tackle for the Dolphins in 2019. Jesse Davis started the first three games before he was switched back to right tackle, where he could battle Hunt for the starting job this year. Veteran J'Marcus Webb started the next six games, but he's currently an unrestricted free agent.

Julién Davenport, who came over in the Tunsil trade with Houston, started the final seven games after coming back from injured reserve and figures to battle Jackson for the starting job in 2020.

We haven't even mentioned fourth-round pick Solomon Kindley, the guard from Georgia, but here's a nugget that pertains to him.

The last offensive lineman selected by the Dolphins in the fourth round or later who started an opener as a rookie was Donald Thomas, who did it as a sixth-round pick in 2008.

Unfortunately, the guard from UConn, sustained a severe foot injury in that very first game and was done for the season. Thomas started 12 games the following season for the Dolphins before playing four more years in the NFL with the Patriots and Colts.

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Alain Poupart
ALAIN POUPART

Alain Poupart is the publisher/editor of Miami Dolphins On SI and host of the All Dolphins Podcast. Alain has covered the Miami Dolphins on a full-time basis since 1989 for various publications and media outlets, including Dolphin Digest, The Associated Press and the Dolphins team website. In addition to being a credentialed member of the Miami Dolphins press corps, Alain has covered three Super Bowls (for NFL.com, Football News and the Montreal Gazette), the annual NFL draft, the Senior Bowl, and the NFL Scouting Combine. During his almost 40 years in journalism, which began at the now-defunct Miami News, Alain has covered practically every sport at one time or another, from tennis to golf, baseball, basketball and everything in between. The career also included time as a copy editor, including work on several books, such as "Still Perfect," an inside look at the Miami Dolphins' 1972 perfect season. A native of Montreal, Canada, whose first language is French, Alain grew up a huge hockey fan but soon developed a love for all sports, including NFL football. He has lived in South Florida since the 1980s.

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