This story originally appeared on Dolphins Wire.
If you couldn’t tell by now, the Miami Dolphins are serious about getting themselves depth and competition along the offensive line. Miami has been persistent in their efforts to introduce new blood into a unit that has served as a sore spot for the team for quite some time — even going back to when the team still had Laremy Tunsil secured as the team’s left tackle. Miami invested early and often up front with their 2020 NFL Draft selections and returned to the well in free agency again this offseason with the addition of former Ravens center Matt Skura.
Miami is now tapping into the Baltimore pipeline once again, with veteran offensive lineman D.J. Fluker announcing on Instagram that he’s signed with the Dolphins. Fluker played last season in Baltimore and started 8 games for the Ravens, taking 52% of the team’s offensive snaps in his only season with the team.
Beyond experience on the field (59 career starts), Fluker has the potential to serve as a viable mentor to young lineman such as Robert Hunt and Solomon Kindley — Fluker’s style of play meshes with the strengths of both 2020 rookies on the right side of Miami’s line. And given that Fluker, like fellow interior lineman Ereck Flowers, has taken starts at both guard and tackle, Miami will be expanding their potential offensive line combinations for the fall with this latest addition.
Listed at 342 pounds, Fluker is yet another heavyweight lineman to step into the fray for Miami. Flowers, who overlapped with Fluker in New York with the Giants previously, also tips the scales in excess of 340 pounds and Kindley is listed on the roster at 339 pounds. Miami’s brand up front is becoming quite clear: they want the biggest and meanest road graders they can find — so account for that when assessing which 2021 NFL Draft prospects will fit best with the Dolphins in next week’s big event.