Dolphins mailbag: How to fix offensive line, who to blame for loss to Bills and more

The Dolphins’ promising start to the 2021 season was fleeting, as the Buffalo Bills dominated the team in a 35-0 blowout at Hard Rock Stadium in Week 2. Not only were the Dolphins embarrassed in front of their home crowd but quarterback Tua Tagovailoa left early because of a rib injury.

His status for the team’s Week 3 road game against the Las Vegas Raiders is up in the air. Coach Brian Flores said Tagovailoa is “day to day” and reports indicate Tagovailoa’s availability will come to down pain threshold.

In this week’s mailbag, I assess the state of the offensive line that allowed the injury-inducing hit to Tagovailoa, analyze the front-office decisions that have left the Dolphins in this situation and more. And a reminder that if you have questions you would like me to answer in future mailbags, you can ask me on Twitter or email me.

Here we go:

What do you think should be the starting OL heading into Vegas after seeing yesterday’s performance? - @TheHomiiie

What would you do for the O-Line? - @jalbz305

What changes do you think can be made to elevate the protection issues? - @jaywdmason

Why does Miami have such a hard time building a strong O-line. It seems KC overhauled their entire line successfully since their Super Bowl loss a few months ago. - @edleddy66

The overwhelming majority of questions received for this week’s mailbag were pertaining to the offensive line and for good reason. The unit gave up six sacks to Buffalo, along with countless pressures the fateful hit that resulted in Tagovailoa’s rib injury.

It’s a particularly disheartening development considering the draft capital that has been injected into building the offensive line. Of the five starting offensive linemen against the Bills, four have been selected in the first four rounds of the NFL Draft within the past three years. And Liam Eichenberg, who played the second half, is a second-round pick in the 2021 Draft. Not to mention Flores has gone through several offensive line coaches in his brief tenure, with Lemuel Jeanpierre currently holding the title.

There’s no easy fix for this offensive line, and that might be the most disappointing part of this ordeal. Each player on the line has had struggles, from miscommunication on blocking to flat-out losing 1-on-1 matchups. The Dolphins’ RPO-heavy offense actually works in favor of a young and overmatched offensive line but when facing typical drop back situations, things become a lot tougher for a unit that has to diagnose potential pass rushers and work as a cohesive unit.

At this point, the coaching staff has seen one-and-a-half games worth of tape from Eichenberg, and if they feel comfortable with his progression, he could unseat Austin Jackson, who particularly struggled at left tackle against Buffalo. Greg Little has been inactive for the first two games, which should tell you how the coaching staff sees him at this point. The only other veteran option on the roster is Greg Mancz, who has the most experience of the group but will only marginally impact the unit, if that. Could a free agent signing be a slight improvement at a position? Maybe, but the team already tried that with Matt Skura and D.J. Fluker and neither made the 53-man roster. Any other position change from starters could be an admission of a mistake after players such as Solomon Kindley and Robert Hunt underwent changes before the season started.

Maybe this is just the continued progress of growing pains for the group. But as Hunt said after the game, we could only keep saying that for so long.

When does Deshaun Watson’s plane land? - @torytotha

The Watson talk was inevitable after Tagovailoa’s injury and the Dolphins’ embarrassing showing. And with Watson not expected to play for the Texans any time soon, I don’t expect the discourse to cool down either.

Let me preface my comments by saying that Watson is a generational talent. But as I tweeted after the game, if Watson had to play behind this offensive line, he just might have seen the same fate as Tagovailoa. There’s no question that Watson would mask issues with the offensive line, and across the team, frankly. But if Sunday showed anything, it’s that the Dolphins have questions beyond just the quarterback. There are concerns about the offensive line and now a defensive front that has struggled a bit against the run and can’t generate consistent pressure without blitzing.

Relinquishing enormous amounts of draft capital — and potentially young cornerstones — would be a risky gamble not just on Watson’s ability to cover roster deficiencies but also a willingness to accept whatever the fallout is of his lingering legal situation, which includes 22 civil suits accusing him of sexual misconduct. I understand the team’s ongoing quarterback situation may force the front office to make the bold move, but I’d punt on it now.

What are thoughts questioning the GM’s ability to evaluate and draft talent? Right now, it seems Noah’s a bust, and Jackson and Tua seem to be big questions about their talent? - @0131Dolly

It’s a fair question and I’ll start by saying that Chris Grier has had his share of success stories, notably selecting All-Pro players Xavien Howard and Jakeem Grant after Day 1 of the draft, signing Nik Needham as an undrafted rookie and picking up players such as Zach Sieler and Salvon Ahmed from the waiver wire.

But in the NFL, draft currency is like gold, with none more valuable — and consequential — than first-round picks. I won’t pass judgment on the 2021 draft just yet but in the previous two years, Grier has made questionable selections. The team is still in the waiting stages for Tagovailoa (fifth overall in 2020), hoping he can be a franchise quarterback. Noah Igbinoghene (30th overall in 2020), hasn’t been active for the first two games and the pick is looking worse by the week, while Jackson (18th overall in 2020), has struggled mightily so far. I won’t go down the laundry list of players the Dolphins could have selected instead of that trio, but if Grier gets instant-impact players at 18 and 30, the future of the organization is looking a lot brighter.

Christian Wilkins (13th overall in 2018) has been a solid starter, but the best first-rounders from the Grier regime — Minkah Fitzpatrick and Laremy Tunsil — are no longer with the team. You can miss with some mid- to late-round draft picks but striking out on first- and second-rounders can set a franchise back for several years.

If you look at teams that have acquired top talent via trading first-rounders — Chiefs, Rams, even Houston before they melted down. Do you think the Dolphins should try to acquire proven commodities by giving up first-rounders? Maybe some O-line help. We have three in the next two years. - @Nick01736583

Given the front office’s missteps with drafting players early in the draft, it should certainly be a possibility, and that’s why there are reports of the team’s interest in trading for Watson.

In recent years, the Los Angeles Rams have ignored the value of early round draft picks for established veterans such as Jalen Ramsey and Matthew Stafford. The one thing is that doing so leaves you susceptible to a top-heavy team with little depth, unless the front office can find low-value, cost-effective players in the later rounds of the draft and free agency.

Grier and Flores have shown a clear blueprint for how they want to assemble this team, unloading players and acquiring significant draft capital in the past two seasons. The cores of the last two Super Bowl champions — the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Kansas City Chiefs — were mainly built through the draft. But again, another method must be under consideration with some of the recent draft whiffs.

Who or what is the biggest reason for optimism after that awful weekend? - @knowlesm

They don’t call it Overreaction Monday for no reason, and it is tough to keep the faith after a tough loss like that. But how about the defense? The unit extended its streak of forcing turnovers to a league-high 24 games and kept the Dolphins competitive through halftime. I think the defense played a little better than the 35-point scoreboard indicates and they won’t face a quarterback as talented as Josh Allen every week.

Before the season started, I was under the belief that if the Dolphins were going to compete for a playoff spot, it was going to be riding the aggressiveness of the defense and by getting timely plays from an improved, but not great, offense. Sunday’s game didn’t do anything to inject confidence that the offense will be much better but it doesn’t seem like Tagovailoa is facing a serious injury and there’s more than enough time left in the season to regroup. Now we wait to see if Brian Flores and Co. can make the necessary adjustments.