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Yesterday wasn’t just any regular Sunday. And heck, it wasn’t even just the two week mark from the first NFL Sunday of the 2020 calendar year. No, yesterday was a significant landmark for the Miami Dolphins — it was the one year anniversary of the Laremy Tunsil trade with the Houston Texans. The Dolphins were a team firmly entrenched in a rebuild before the trade of Tunsil went down, but the deal that shipped the Dolphins’ left tackle to Houston for a boatload of draft picks formally kicked off the “Tank For Tua” campaign and ignited a ton of debate and conversation about Miami’s intentions for the season.
Of course, Miami would go on to go 5-11 on the season and win 5 of their final 9 contests on the year. And Tunsil would go on to help stabilize the Texans’ offensive line, cash in a monster payday with a record-setting contract that made him the highest paid tackle in football. It appeared to be a win-win. But this is really going to be a deal that only works out well for the Dolphins if Miami indeed fixes their offensive line woes.
How does the unit measure up now to the group Miami was poised to start at the beginning of last season before Tunsil was traded? Let’s take a look:
2019 Projected Starting Offensive Line
Left Tackle: Laremy Tunsil
Left Guard: Michael Deiter (R)
Center: Daniel Kilgore
Right Guard: Deion Calhoun (R)
Right Tackle: Jesse Davis
Tunsil is clearly the best asset on this group, with Jesse Davis likely serving as the next most reliable player. Youngster Michael Deiter entered the year as a rookie and likely would have played better with Tunsil to his left — but never the less he struggled to play consistently throughout the course of the season.
2020 Projected Starting Offensive Line
Left Tackle: Austin Jackson (R)
Left Guard: Ereck Flowers
Center: Ted Karras
Right Guard: Solomon Kindley (R)
Right Tackle: Jesse Davis or Robert Hunt (R)
Tunsil is still the best of the bunch. But between all 10 possible players, Flowers and Karras are the next best two options, plus the potential of Austin Jackson at left tackle as he gains more experience. The Dolphins’ 2020 group lacks the staple of Tunsil on the blind side but they offer exponentially more depth and even the overall talent in spots two through four in the starting five favor the 2020 edition up front for the Dolphins.
We’ll need to see how this group gels together, but at the very least this is an excellent start to Miami getting their line right and making the most of the deal that sent Tunsil packing. What a difference a year makes.