Oline changes to be made

According to team sources, Solomon Kindley — who started the first two games at left guard — is expected to go to the bench against Las Vegas and rookie second-round pick Liam Eichenberg is expected to be inserted as a starter Sunday, barring another change of heart by the staff during practices this week.

Austin Jackson is expected to keep his job at left tackle for now, but he knows he must improve. Internally, he graded out as Miami’s second-worst lineman against Buffalo, per sources [Davis being the worst].

...and has been one of the NFL’s lowest-graded tackles since the start of his rookie season in 2020.

Dolphins coaches and officials, this week, privately and briefly discussed the wisdom of two global issues: moving Robert Hunt back from right guard to right tackle and possibly shifting Jackson from left tackle to guard. The sources said both remain on the table as long-term options, but the Dolphins are not expected to execute either of those moves now.

Per sources, the Dolphins have gone back-and-forth about where to play Jesse Davis and Eichenberg. There’s some thought to having Davis continue at right tackle and Eichenberg at left guard, and it wouldn’t be surprising if that’s the direction they go against Las Vegas.

But there’s also some internal support to having Davis move to left guard (where he has experience) and playing Eichenberg at right tackle, where he played (and allowed five pressures) after Davis left Sunday’s game with a knee injury.

It won’t be an advantageous matchup every week — but Miami should certainly have a leg up in the trenches this weekend against the Raiders. Maxx Crosby is the star of the show up front for Las Vegas. He’s 255 pounds. Yannick Ngakoue is the other starting defense end — he’s nearly 10 pounds lighter than that at 246. Quinton Jefferson mans an interior spot at 291 pounds. There’s a lot of side advantages for Miami to key on up front.

Nose tackle Jonathan Hankins is 340 pounds; but here’s every other defensive lineman on the roster for the Raiders and their current stature:

Crosby: 255 pounds
Ngakoue: 246 pounds
Carl Nassib: 275 pounds
Clelin Ferrell: 265 pounds
Jefferson: 291 pounds
Solomon Thomas: 280 pounds
Darius Philon: 286 pounds
Malcolm Koonce: 250 pounds
Damion Square: 293 pounds

The Dolphins top-6 offensive lineman average a 43.6 pound advantage over the size of the Raiders’ defensive line. And if the Raiders want to combat that by playing more of Carl Nassib and Clelin Ferrell, then it helps the Dolphins resolve the conundrum of how to slow down the Raiders’ pass rush.

And if you can’t run the ball on the Raiders with this kind of size advantage, it will probably be time to ask some hard questions about personnel, coaching and how all the pieces of the puzzle fit together. But right now things seem pretty simple for Miami. Run downhill at the Raiders and put all this size you’ve coveted up front for three years to good use.

white1 wrote:Yep.  Early reports are both Penei Sewell and Rashawn Slater are playing great, their respective teams are thrilled with them.

Only two teams have allowed QB pressure on more than 50% of their dropbacks through Week 2, per
@PFF
:

New York Jets (52%)
Miami Dolphins (55%)

mercury22nathan wrote:

Only two teams have allowed QB pressure on more than 50% of their dropbacks through Week 2, per
@PFF
:

New York Jets (52%)
Miami Dolphins (55%)

https://twitter.com/PFF_AustinGayle/status/1440338757199155202?s=20

wow!!

CarsonChris wrote:I feel some Wildcat offense on the horizon.  

Rookie Liam Eichenberg said he has practiced this week at both guard and tackle. “They flipped me around the whole week,” he said.

According to a source, the Dolphins began the week intending to start Eichenberg at one position and move Solomon Kindley to the bench, provided Jesse Davis — off a knee injury — is able to play. But Eichenberg must practice well for the Dolphins to stick with that plan.

Davis was again limited in practice on Thursday with a knee issue.