Dolphins making offensive line changes, discussing others. Details, and insight from coach

Eager to fix an offensive line that was dominated against the Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins coaches this week discussed several potential lineup and position switches.

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.

Per Pro Football Focus, Jackson permitted nine quarterback pressures and at least one of Buffalo’s six sacks 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.

They want to continue to develop Jackson as a tackle, but for the first time, the idea of playing him at guard has been raised and could happen at some point.

Hunt played well at right tackle the final six games of last season, but Miami moved him to right guard in April, believing he has more upside there.

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.

An MRI revealed nothing serious with Davis, and he was moving around well Monday and hopeful of playing at Las Vegas.

Kindley was removed late in Sunday’s 35-0 loss to the Bills — even though he wasn’t injured — and replaced with rookie Robert Jones. Offensive line coach Lemuel Jeanpierre declined to explain why but said all five jobs will have open competition this week, though sources said they already have a plan barring something in practice changing that plan.

The Miami Herald asked Jeanpierre several pointed questions on Tuesday. His responses, edited for space:

▪ Will Eichenberg get a chance to compete with Jackson at left tackle?

Jeanpierre declined to say, responding only: “Multiple guys will have opportunities to compete at left tackle throughout the week.” He said Eichenberg was simply “OK” at right tackle after replacing the injured Davis on Sunday.

▪ Have you given any thought to whether Jackson would be better as an NFL guard?

“Yeah,” he said. “If you get guys really good at one spot, you would love to keep them there.”

▪ But if Jackson doesn’t improve as a tackle could you see a scenario where you play him at guard ?

“If you’re on that field and you’re not improving, you shouldn’t be on the field,” Jeanpierre said. “It’s not, ‘If Austin can’t do it at tackle, will he go to guard? ’He needs to show he’s one of the top five guys on this squad.”

▪ Pro Football Focus said Hunt graded out well at right tackle over the final six weeks last season, but you moved him to right guard. Is there any thought to moving him back to right tackle?

“We always said he has versatility,” Jeanpierre said. “Rob is a really good player in general. He has some natural things that are hard to teach. I love his effort.”

▪ Have you given any thought to giving starts (at guard potentially) to Greg Mancz, who has 28 NFL starts?

Jeanpierre declined to answer, but a source said the answer is no at this time.

▪ Are you convinced these three high picks (Jackson, Eichenberg, Hunt) are at their best positions?

“I thought [Tristan] Wirfs from Tampa was an All-Pro guard who would dominate,” Jeanpierre said of the second-year player. “Obviously, he’s a pretty good tackle too… Those three guys all have a skill set that will make them really good players.

“Because Austin has always been a left, we see him mainly at left. What we do this week moving forward, I don’t know. I know he’s really quick, really strong.”

▪ Some fans and media are worried that what if Jackson, Eichenberg, Hunt, Kindley and Michael Deiter — all these draft picks — don’t develop? Do you believe those five — or most of them will become quality NFL starters?

“Yeah,” Jeanpierre said. “I’m high on my guys because of things I know. The sky is not falling. The character of those guys you mentioned — and Greg Little, Mancz, Rob Jones - … is really off the charts. Sometimes things happen in a negative way early. I told the guys... if it’s going to happen, let’s learn from it now rather than later in the season.”

▪ You’re the fourth offensive line coach here in 26 months. General manager Chris Grier has given you high draft picks. Do you feel a burden to develop these players?

He said that poor performance on Sunday “is not on them alone. I take a lot of that burden on myself to do whatever I need to do to get it right.”

Jeanpierre confirmed that center Deiter has a role in blitz pickup, but didn’t solely blame him for two early sacks. He said communication in days leading up to the game must improve.

With the amount of high draft picks allocated to the line, what’s the gap between what the Dolphins are getting and what they should logically expect to get?

“That’s interesting,” he said. “A lot of times, you don’t know until you get into this level. That’s why you see late draft picks, undrafted, come in and produce and you all are surprised. When you get to this level, that draft pick is nice but it’s gone now; you have to perform.”