Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Mix ’n’ match on the O-line
Dolphins look to find their best group ahead of opener vs. Ravens
DAVIE — Dave DeGuglielmo watched Julien Davenport come out his stance a little high, which is understandable considering he’s all of 6-foot-7, and immediately laid the law down.
“Get lower!” DeGuglielmo, the Miami Dolphins offensive line coach instructed on Wednesday during the team’s position drills.
“Just making sure everything’s crisp and a little better,” said Davenport, who allowed 68 pressures and 16 penalties last season in the 15 starts he made for the Houston Texans. “Footwork, finishing, your fits, hands, all of that.”
Davenport, who was sent to Miami along with cornerback
Johnson Bademosi in the trade that sent left tackle Laremy Tunsil, receiver Kenny Stills and a 2020 fourth-round pick to Houston for 2020 and 2021 first-round picks, and a 2021 second-round selection, allowed 15 sacks last season in his first year as a fullfledged starter.
Davenport played left tackle all throughout his collegiate career at Bucknell and most of his NFL career until injuries decimated that unit, and forced him to play right tackle.
“Looking back at my film from that season my technique was horrible,” Davenport said. “But I got better with time.”
Davenport does need to improve technique, and will likely be given an opportunity to do so in Miami because of how desperate the Dolphins are for starting talent on the offensive line.
With Sunday’s 1 p.m. opener against the Baltimore Ravens looming, the Dolphins don’t have time to bring Davenport and two other newcomers added to the offensive line via trades along slowly.
According to coach Brian Flores, that unit is playing a shell game with every center, guard and tackle to ensure the team has the best five starting on the field.
“There is a lot of versatility with this group,” Flores said. ” We have an opportunity here where we can mix and match it and see what the best group is.”
Rookie guards Michael Deiter and Shaq Calhoun, who have spent every preseason game as the starters, now have legitimate competition from Evan Boehm and Danny Isidora, two new have comers Miami traded late-round picks for.
Isidora, a former University of Miami standout, has started three of the 21 games he’s played. He’s primarily played on the right side.
Boehm, who played guard and center, has started 13 of the 42 games he’s played in the past three seasons. Boehm’s addition could also allow Chris Reed to enter the mix at guard since he held a starting spot all offseason.
But it’s really the tackle spots that need to be stabilized.
Jesse Davis, who has started at right guard the past two seasons, had spent the past five weeks transitioning to right tackle.
Now Miami’s coaches have him taking reps at left tackle, where it’s possible he could serve as Tunsil’s replacement this season.
“We’re playing around with different combinations and that’s one that’s been suggested, but I don’t know that anything specific is going to happen,” DeGuglielmo said about Davis being cross trained on both sides. “It’s a work in progress, let’s just say that. We have some interesting parts that come into the building and that’s part of the process.”
Davis served as a swing tackle in his final two seasons at the University of Idaho, rotating sides based on the play each snap. While he’s played left tackle before, it’s something acknowledges will require an adjustment.
That move would open the door for Davenport to play right tackle if he can hold off Isaiah Prince, a rookie who struggled most of camp.
Hindering the newcomers will be the fact that they don’t know all of the playbook, which means they’d strictly be limited to the game plan and plays Miami practiced unless Daniel Kilgore can figure out a system that clues them in on their assignment.
“It’s going to be tough because they have to learn on the go. This week we have make sure they are dialed in and ready to go, and that’s going to require everyone putting in that extra time,” Kilgore said. “We have to get in the playbook and get a good feel for the cadences so we can do what we’re trying to accomplish as an offense.”