Dolphins’ Position Battles To Watch
After moving on from Tua Tagovailoa, Tyreek Hill, and Jaylen Waddle in the offseason, the Dolphins have essentially initiated a bit of a rebuild. A big part of that process is identifying which pieces are worth building around, so Miami will be keeping an eye on the outcome of a few key position battles this summer.
A year ago, the Dolphins exchanged a third- and fourth-round pick for a fifth-rounder in order to move up 11 slots in the second round of the 2025 NFL Draft to select Arizona offensive lineman Jonah Savaiinaea. As a rookie, Savaiinaea started every game of the season for the Dolphins at left guard, grading out as the worst of 79 players graded at the position last year, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required).
Miami drafted Alabama’s Kadyn Proctor with their first of two first-round picks, but the college tackle will start his NFL career at Savaiinaea’s left guard spot. With starting right guard Cole Strange departing in free agency, the Dolphins have opted to move Savaiinaea over the right side of the line in the hope that he might play better on the side he played on in college. The team isn’t banking on that possibility, though. According to Omar Kelly of the Miami Herald, if Savaiinaea continues to struggle through Year 2, the new front office/coaching regime will be perfectly willing to give an opportunity to their own roster additions in the sixth-round rookie out of Texas, DJ Campbell, or free agent addition Jamaree Salyer.
At running back, the Dolphins already worked this offseason to secure star rusher De’Von Achane to a four-year deal, but in order for him to be effective all four years, Miami needs him to have some help at the position. Last year, second-year back Jaylen Wright and rookie rusher Ollie Gordon both finished the season with 70 carries apiece. Wright didn’t get on the field until Week 7 due to injury but proved to be efficiently productive when he did play, averaging 4.1 yards per carry to the tune of 288 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.
Gordon was viewed as a fantasy sleeper early on in the season due to concerns about Achane’s durability, but the Oklahoma State-product saw a difficult transition to the pro-level, averaging only 2.8 yards per carry to finish Year 1 with 199 yards and three touchdowns. Miami will hope that coming into the season healthy will help Wright make a bigger impact early in his third season of play or that Gordon will be able to recapture the big-play ability he displayed as the NCAA’s 2023 rushing yards leader as a sophomore with the Cowboys. They’ll rely, of course, on Achane first, but they’ll need change of pace to keep him effective.
Lastly, the Dolphins saw their top three cornerbacks depart in free agency this offseason, and the team will have to find new starters this summer. Miami spent their second first-round pick this year on San Diego State’s Chris Johnson, and the team expects the rookie corner to slot into one of the starting boundary positions. According to Kelly, the opposite boundary spot will see JuJu Brents, Storm Duck, and Ethan Bonner as the main contenders for a starting spot.
Brents and Duck have started a few games as part of the defensive rotation in recent years, and Bonner saw increased responsibility off the bench last year, as well. Kelly calls this “an open competition,” though, granting that any defensive back will have an opportunity to land starting honors. Recent free agent additions Darrell Baker Jr. and Marco Wilson are two names that stand an outside shot of earning a bigger role.
Kadyn Proctor’s Dolphins Career To Begin At Guard
In 2016, the Dolphins benefited from Laremy Tunsil‘s slide to No. 13 overall. Although Miami eventually stationed the high-level prospect at his natural left tackle position, Year 1 featured Tunsil at guard while Branden Albert remained on Ryan Tannehill‘s blind side. Kadyn Proctor‘s NFL journey may begin similarly.
The Dolphins intend to use the Alabama left tackle — this year’s No. 12 overall pick — at guard to open his career, GM Jon-Eric Sullivan said during an appearance on the Joe Rose Show (h/t ESPN.com’s Marcel Louis-Jacques). Specifically, the new Miami GM said left guard will be where Proctor begins his NFL run.
While the Dolphins intend to cross-train the college left tackle at both guard and tackle, the team will have him learn LG while 2025 LG Jonah Savaiinaea moves to RG. All 982 of Savaiinaea’s rookie-year snaps came at left guard. Rather than ensure continuity there and have Proctor try right guard to begin his career, a new Dolphins regime will relocate Chris Grier‘s final second-round pick.
Proctor’s draft stock was partially boosted by his left tackle ability, per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, as the two tackles drafted before him — Spencer Fano and Francis Mauigoa — were primarily RTs in college. Ditto Lions first-rounder Blake Miller. Proctor played left tackle for three seasons at Alabama, earning first-team All-SEC and second-team All-America honors last season. Our Ely Allen noted in PFR’s mock draft that many teams would be interested in seeing how Proctor looks at guard, and the Dolphins will kick the tires here.
Proctor checked in at 6-foot-6 and 352 pounds at the Combine. He will become one of the NFL’s biggest guards. Sullivan said (via Louis-Jacques) following the Proctor pick — which came after a one-spot trade-down move via Dallas — he could potentially play four positions along the O-line (all but center). Featuring needs at many positions entering the draft, the Dolphins made Proctor their first pick — over the likes of Rueben Bain Jr. and Makai Lemon — of the Sullivan era. The team also traded out of No. 11, giving the Cowboys Caleb Downs access. Passing on Bain and Downs certainly provide expectations for Proctor, whose path to a left tackle job may not materialize as Tunsil’s did nearly 10 years ago.
The Dolphins moved Tunsil to LT in 2017 upon trading Albert to the Jaguars. The Sullivan-Jeff Hafley regime, however, has Patrick Paul going into his second season as the left tackle starter. Austin Jackson is in place at RT, though injuries have regularly impacted the O-line nomad in Miami. Jackson has settled at RT, receiving a three-year extension worth $36MM in late 2023, but he did play guard previously with the Dolphins.
Paul replaced a retired Terron Armstead at LT last year, doing so as Jackson missed 11 games (after missing nine in 2024). Jackson missed 15 games in 2022, with his healthy 2023 leading to the extension. Miami gave Jackson a pay cut this offseason, potentially opening the door for Proctor at RT (the team also lost swing tackle Larry Borom in free agency). Jackson’s deal expires at season’s end. More clarity will come on Proctor’s positional future by then, but for now, a Tunsil-like path at LG to open his career is in the cards.
Miami drafted another guard — Texas’ DJ Campbell — in Round 6. The team is planning to try the former Longhorns blocker at center in addition to guard, the Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson notes. The team also added ex-Charger swingman Jamaree Salyer in free agency, providing another potential answer at tackle or guard.