Dolphins mandatory minicamp will highlight state of Tua progress and position battles

The Miami Dolphins’ mandatory minicamp begins Tuesday, and rather than thinking of it as the last three days of practice before a month of vacation for most players and coaches, this is actually an important final exam and a preview of what is to come.

During the next three days the Dolphins will come to know how well the offseason programs took for players. And how close to ready for the starting of training camp in July this team actually is.

Coaches will measure the conditioning of the athletes. They will see how advanced (or not) the players are with the new offense and a defense that hopes to “evolve,” as defensive coordinator Josh Boyer said.

And everyone will come to understand how budding position competitions are progressing.

That’s a lot to weigh during three days, but none of this is new stuff. Many teams generally go through a similar exercise this time of year.

But the answers the Dolphins come up with could serve as a valuable preview to training camp. Because the Dolphins have so many important questions to answer.

The questions?

Consider:

Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is learning a refurbished offense. And he’s still learning to be an NFL quarterback. So unlike some other players on offense that are more experienced, Tagovailoa has more to digest.

“I’d say it’s still a work in progress with all of those things — having the guys hear my cadence, getting the order of operation of hearing the play call in the huddle, getting to the line, shifting guys, moving guys and getting everyone in the right spot,” Tagovailoa said the last time he spoke with reporters two weeks ago.

“I still think that’s something that I’ve got to continue to work on.”

This minicamp will answer how far along that work has come. And how much further it needs to go.

This minicamp will serve on many levels to tell us how well the Dolphins are coming together.

The competition at multiple positions will begin in earnest and serve as a preview of what we’ll see in training camp come late July.

The Dolphins have no less than six starting jobs available before the start of the regular season in September. And although jobs such as center, right tackle and left guard are impossible to determine now because there is no violent contact in the offseason, this camp could offer coaches a pecking order from which players must work.

So, the open starter jobs:

Right tackle: The entire Earth knows the Dolphins would love rookie Liam Eichenberg, a second-round selection, to win the job. But he has to beat out multiple players, including veteran D.J. Fluker and possibly Jesse Davis down the road. There’s also a slim chance Robert Hunt, who started 11 games at right tackle last year but is expected to be the right guard this year, could be moved back if all else fails.

Left guard: This is going to be a difficult call because Davis, who might win the right tackle job if Eichenberg and Fluker cannot, is also a candidate to start at left guard. And Solomon Kindley, who started 11 games at guard last season, could factor but he’d be moving from the right side to the left side.

The Dolphins moved on from Ereck Flowers, who they signed in free agency last year, and that opened the starting left guard job to competition.

Center: The candidates are veteran Matt Skura, signed as a free agent from Baltimore, plus Michael Dieter and Cameron Tom. Dwight Stephenson isn’t walking through those doors, folks.

The team must be hoping Deiter, in his third season and second at center, suddenly blossoms after being a third-round pick in 2019. Same with Tom after he’s spent the past two seasons on the New Orleans Saints practice squad.

Skura, who started 39 games at center for the Baltimore Ravens, should be the favorite but he’s got to prove the job belongs to him before, you know, the job belongs to him.

Nickel cornerback: Nik Needham has had this job the majority of past two seasons but the Dolphins have more than made noise about pushing him because they signed free agent Justin Coleman from Detroit and have talked about letting 2020 first-round pick Noah Igbinoghene try to play the spot as well.

Free safety: The entire Earth also is aware the Dolphins would love second-rounder Jevon Holland to be the guy. If he can win the job as a rookie it suggest the team has a very good player on its hands. But the Dolphins added veteran Jason McCourty as something of a fallback option despite the fact he’s going to be 34 years old when the season begins and has never been a full-time safety in the NFL.

McCourty, however, is a very intelligent veteran who has shown past ability to adapt quickly and his off-the-charts leadership and communication abilities make him a viable fit at free safety.

Some players will be moving in and out of spots as a coaching staff that talks incessantly about loving versatile players measures whether candidates are versatile or not.

So rookie Jaelan Phillips might be a linebacker. Or an end. Probably a little of both eventually.

Igbinoghene eventually might be outside at corner or in the slot.

Davis might be a starting guard. Or a starting right tackle. Or a backup.

The Dolphins have to start figuring out if former Houston linebacker Benardrick McKinney, who coach Brian Flores has said is very versatile, will take to all the assignments the coach has dreamed up for the new player.

And, of course, the minicamp will gauge the mindset of some players who want new contracts.

Tight end Mike Gesicki, defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah, and cornerback Xavien Howard have had their representatives speak with the Dolphins about contract extensions or, in Howard’s case, a raise to his current deal.

Some players use the mandatory minicamp to make a statement about their contract status. But at this stage it would surprise Flores, who has said he expects everyone to attend this camp, if any of those three fail to report and incur the fine for doing so.

Players can always report for the mandatory camp to avoid the fine for not showing up, but then do little by way of practice as they treat minor aches and pains — thus avoiding both the fine and the possibility of an injury.