Michael Deiter? Connor Williams? Dolphins face critical OL decision at center
MIAMI GARDENS — Michael Deiter is the incumbent as the Dolphins’ starting center, but make no mistake: The position is up for grabs in the eyes of the new coaching staff.
It’s why the team scouted centers for the draft, only to come away empty-handed.
And it’s why Connor Williams, the free agent acquisition, is getting a look at center even though he was a guard for the Dallas Cowboys, who briefly tried him in the middle last summer.
Fortunately, it’s only May. While it would be easy to speculate about what would happen if the season began tomorrow, the fact is, the season doesn’t begin tomorrow.
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But how long could this uncertainty linger before coaches — especially new line coach Matt Applebaum — get edgy?
“I could see why you’d ask that question,” Applebaum said Friday.
Applebaum doesn’t have an answer yet, even though the issue is high on his priority list. The center makes the calls for the line and is the foundation on which the line is built. Look no further than the two best lines in Dolphins history. They were anchored by Hall of Fame centers Jim Langer and Dwight Stephenson.
Nobody is expecting that level of production from whoever wins the job in 2022. But might it take well into August before Applebaum knows who his best option is?
“I don’t really envision that happening,” he said.
The Dolphins can’t afford it. The decision on a starter will have a domino effect on the line. If, say, Williams were to win the job, it creates a hole at left guard, his natural position and where it was assumed he’d be. If the left side of the line with Terron Armstead at tackle and Williams at guard wasn’t previously set in stone, it at least was written in ink rather than pencil.
The Dolphins also like the idea of Rob Hunt remaining at right guard, leaving center and right tackle as gray areas.
Right tackle will be an important decision, too
Given that right tackle protects Tua Tagovailoa’s blind side, and given how poorly the line performed last season, it’s enough to have fans on edge and paying more attention to the trenches than they’d like.
But guess who isn’t so nervous. Applebaum, after studying tape of 2021.
“I was encouraged,” he said. “I see negative plays like everyone else sees but I see a lot of positive plays, too. And I like to focus on the positive.”
One negative is that the Dolphins didn’t draft until the third round, meaning the most coveted center prospects, such as Iowa’s Tyler Linderbaum, were long gone.
So, is Williams the answer?
“I think that’s something we’re in the works of trying to figure out,” Applebaum said. “We’re seeing him at a couple of different positions and seeing what he’s capable of doing.”
Or is Deiter still the answer?
“I think Michael Deiter is giving us everything we’re asking right now,” Applebaum said. “He’s smart, he’s articulate, he’s shown athleticism, he has improved over the course of Phase 2. I really like working with him. I don’t think there’s this ‘one thing’ where it’s like, ‘OK, if he does that, he’s cemented there.'”
If Williams becomes the man in the middle, Deiter automatically would be in the mix at left guard, where he started as a rookie in 2019.
Rob Hunt at guard is likely to happen
As for Hunt, there’s every indication he’ll be at right guard even though, when asked whether any possibility remains of Hunt sliding over to that all-important right tackle spot, Applebaum said, “The door is never closed on anything, especially at this stage in the year.”
Austin Jackson, the 18th overall pick in 2020, has had his well-publicized issues at right tackle, but Applebaum said he, too, “is a really talented young guy.”
Applebaum added: “I think he’s actually put some good stuff on tape up to this point, but we all know the nature of his position. When things don’t go well, then all that stuff kind of falls off to the side.”
That leaves Liam Eichenberg, the second-rounder last year who endured growing pains, and Solomon Kindley, a starter as a rookie two years ago who rarely played last season. Applebaum said Eichenberg is “ascending” and could be productive at multiple positions. Applebaum didn’t want to address why Kindley virtually disappeared last season but said he has done everything coaches asked.
Although Applebaum is having linemen work at multiple positions, he knows that can go only so far.
“I think there’s more to playing at a different-sided stance than people want to give it credit for,” he said. “But it’s certainly not impossible. Guys do it all the time. There’s people who have made a career out of being a swing tackle."
Hal Habib covers the Dolphins for The Post. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Dolphins face key choice at center with Michael Deiter, Connor Williams
