Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Doubting Thomas
Dolphins lineman tries to make up for poor season.
DAVIE — Dallas Thomas won’t lie to himself, or to the world by saying he didn’t have opportunities to earn a starting spot on the Miami Dolphins’ disappointing 2013 offensive line.
Thomas was the first lineman the Dolphins plugged in to replace an injured John Jerry early in last year’s training camp, had Thomas performed well the starting job was his. He didn’t.
The Dolphins moved Richie Incognito to right guard for a couple of practices to experiment with Thomas as the starting left guard in camp, but Thomas’ performances didn’t improve.
When that experiment failed Thomas was plugged in as the backup left tackle, but he got embarrassed in the exhibition opener against the Dallas Cowboys, resembling a turnstile.
Thomas rookie season was so bad Sam Brenner, an undrafted rookie, started four games at the spot he played at Tennessee, the left guard spot Thomas has spent the past three weeks manning the starting spot for.
“This ismy opportunity,” said Thomas, a 2013 third-round pick who played two snaps on offense last season. “It happened to me in camp last offseason. They gave me opportunity and I failed. I failed at it and I’m learning from it. I know I
have to make it count.”
This is Thomas’ second chance to make a good first impression on John Benton and Jack Bicknell Jr., Miami’s new offensive line coaches. Instead of playing all over the offensive line like last season, where he worked at every spot but center, the Dolphins have allowed Thomas to settle in at guard.
“We wanted to give him a home to where at least he can kind of get his feet in the ground a little bit, feel some level of comfort from an assignments standpoint and technique standpoint. It’s a little bit different. It’s not two totally different worlds, but it’s different,” coach Joe Philbin said of the coaching staff’s new approach with Thomas.
“It’s not necessarily that that’s where he’ll ultimately end up, but right now we wanted to kind of let him get somewhat acquainted with the new system, the new scheme playing at guard,” Philbin said.“He’s done relatively well.”
But it is still early, and the pads won’t come on until the second week of training camp in August. That’s when the defensive linemen will get physical and thatwas the aspect of the game Thomas struggled with last season.
However, plenty of last year’s issues can be attributed to the same shoulder issue that limited defensive end Dion Jordan last year. Both Jordan and Thomas had a torn labrum repaired last February, and not being allowed to push that repaired shoulder physically compromised some of their strength.
That became obvious when Thomas was asked to hold his ground against hulking defensive tackles like Randy Starks, who would consistently put him on skates.
During the offseason Thomas redefined his body, getting his shoulder stronger and added muscle. There’s been such a noticeable difference Philbin has been singling him out since March.
“If I didn’t do something related to football I felt like I wasted a day,” said Thomas, who worked with a nutritionist to change his diet. “I made sure I had no wasted days. If I didn’t work out I was in the playbook, or looking at film, studying stuff.”
Thomas said he’s noticed the difference in his physique — he’s down to 315 pounds — and his level of preparation.
“It is night and day. Now I can sit and squat and hold guys off instead of just going back slow with it,” Thomas said. “Now I can sit in there and hold my ground.”
He’ll need to because of Billy Turner, the Dolphins 2014 third-round pick, who is pushing for the starting left guard spot. But Thomas has a slight edge because he played left guard in college and Turner is making the transition from left tackle.
“I know what to expect now. That’s the biggest thing,” Thomas said. “Coming in as a rookie I didn’t know what to expect, or how practice was going to be. Now I know.”