The Miami Dolphins offensive line has been one of the biggest issues for their team this year.
The group has severely hindered their passing attack, as Tua Tagovailoa can’t allow plays to develop downfield, meaning most decisions need to be made quickly. That’s why Tagovailoa has to get the ball out in 2.54 seconds (third-fastest in the league), and why he averages just 7.2 intended air yards per attempt (fifth-fewest in the league).
Production in the run game has been tough to come by all year as well, and a lot of people have placed the blame for that on the big men in the trenches. However, co-offensive coordinator and running backs coach Eric Studesville believes that the line isn’t the only problem.
“It’s not one unit that’s responsible for it,” Studesville said in his media availability. “There’s different runs, runs hitting different places, there’s different schemes, so if we’re running a toss play outside, that may be a different emphasis on who’s the point of attack blocking than if you’re running a dive play inside. To put the responsibility on five guys and say that they’re the only ones who affect what happens in the run game, that’s not what we do.”
Studesville is right here. While the line has been one of the reasons why they’ve struggled, it’s not the sole reason. For the majority of the season, Miami’s running backs have had some trouble finding the right holes and attacking them as soon as they open up.
Tight ends and wide receivers haven’t always had the perfect blocks either, resulting in some outside runs resulting in losses of yards.
So, while the offensive line has been one of the Dolphins’ biggest problems this season, they aren’t the only problem plaguing the run game.
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