Tag: Austin Jackson

Dolphins sign RT Austin Jackson to a three-year extension

Miami keeps their RT around on a new 3-year deal.

The Miami Dolphins have a lot of key players in the final years of their deals who they’ll need to make decisions on in the coming months, and they’ve started doing so early.

On Thursday morning, the Dolphins agreed to a three-year contract extension with right tackle Austin Jackson that will pay him $36 million and $20.7 million guaranteed, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.

Miami decided not to pick up Jackson’s fifth-year option this past offseason, and the right tackle has played very well since.

With the chance to make up to $39 million over the next three seasons, Jackson will be protecting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa’s blindside for years to come.

Dolphins RT Austin Jackson ejected vs. Jets

Miami down to just one starter on the offensive line.

The Miami Dolphins entered the fourth quarter with just two starting offensive linemen – center Connor Williams and right tackle Austin Jackson.

However, after a successful extra-point attempt, Jackson was involved in some scuffling and was ejected from the game.

It will be interesting to see what Miami will do on the line with left tackle Terron Armstead on the sideline with an injury and backup Kendall Lamm also dealing with an injury of his own.

Dolphins 2023 midseason awards: From MVP to most improved

Midseason awards for Miami at the bye week.

With the NFL season moving to 17 games last season, there’s no longer an exact mid-point in the year, but nine games seems like a good spot to start assessing teams.

The Miami Dolphins have gone 6-3 through the first nine weeks, and they’re currently in first place in the AFC East, ahead of the Buffalo Bills, and they’re in fourth in the conference.

As Mike McDaniel’s team heads into their bye week, now is a great time to assess the performance of some of the team’s best players.

Let’s reflect on the first half of the 2023 season and hand out some midseason awards.

Dolphins LT Terron Armstead has been impressed by RT Austin Jackson this year

Miami’s LT sings the praises of the RT.

Entering the 2023 offseason, there was a strong sentiment building that the Miami Dolphins should try and upgrade their right tackle position and move on from Austin Jackson as a starter.

However, the team remained committed to the former first-round pick after he played in just two games in 2022 and had been uninspiring at left tackle and left guard in his first two seasons.

Jackson has rewarded the Dolphins for their faith, with some really solid play so far in the 2023 campaign. He’s played every offensive snap this season (578), and he’s been attributed with just three penalties and one sack allowed.

Earlier in the week, Jackson’s counterpart on the left side of the line, veteran offensive tackle Terron Armstead, sang his praises for his effort and play to this point in the year.

“He’s been great,” Armstead said. “His technique, his attention to detail, his fundamentals, his approach every day, his willingness to work and the desire to be great every day, it’s hard to do. That’s the hard part about this league, especially up front, is the consistency of it. But he approaches it the right way. He’s ascending. It’s been great to watch and be a part of.”

Back in May, Miami decided not to pick up Jackson’s fifth-year option, which would’ve been roughly $14.2 million in 2024. While it looked like a smart decision at the time, the former USC Trojan’s play has some questioning if it was the right move now.

For now, the Dolphins have a consistent player at right tackle who’s playing well in this system. And, with all of the injuries that they’ve had up front so far, it’s nice to have someone that they can count on being out there and doing their job each week.

New Dolphins OL coach Butch Barry happy with Austin Jackson’s work

The former first-round pick is trying to earn the starting right tackle job for 2023.

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Entering the 2023 season, the Miami Dolphins made a change to their coaching staff, replacing Matt Applebaum with Butch Barry after just one season.

The Dolphins are no strangers to shuffling offensive line coaches, as they’ve had seven since the start of the 2016 season.

Barry has experience working with Mike McDaniel, as the two worked together in 2021 in San Francisco.

He’ll be tasked with figuring out the two spots that aren’t currently manned by Terron Armstead, Connor Williams or Robert Hunt. Left guard and right tackle have been sore spots for the Dolphins in recent years, and last year, Liam Eichenberg and Austin Jackson were given those jobs out of camp.

Both dealt with injuries in 2022, with Jackson playing in just two games. While they’ve only been working together for a short time, Barry is already liking what he’s seen from Jackson this offseason.

“He’s been awesome to work with,” Barry said (transcribed by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel). “He really has. He’s been very intentional in everything that we try to do. He’s taking the approach, the process, the standard that we’re trying to go about it and he’s embraced it.

“And look, it’s not going to be perfect. No player plays the perfect game. No player has the perfect practice. But he has intentionality in everything he’s trying to do. And he comes with an emphasis every day. Every day, he has an emphasis on what he wants to get better at, and as a coach that’s all you can ever ask for.”

Jackson has to really show that talent that got him drafted in the first round of the 2020 draft if he wants to earn that starting job again in 2023. He’ll have competition for the role, as Miami signed two former first-round selections in Isaiah Wynn and Cedric Ogbuehi to at least push Jackson if not take the job from him completely.

At least he’s showing the effort now, but he’ll need more than that to be protecting Tua Tagovailoa’s blind side against the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 1.

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Where did Dolphins’ offensive line fall in PFF’s 2023 rankings?

It’s not great.

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The Miami Dolphins have wrapped up their offseason training program, as rookie minicamp, organized team activities and mandatory minicamp are all in the rearview.

Now, there are a few weeks of downtime before Mike McDaniel’s squad meets again for training camp and joint practices starting in late July.

Until then, the NFL world doesn’t sleep. There will be plenty of transactions to keep everyone busy and entertained, and as always, there are discussions regarding where players rank among their peers.

Pro Football Focus has been ranking each position, and Sam Monson was responsible for ranking entire offensive line units for each team. The Dolphins landed at No. 20, as Monson has the team going into the season with the same starting five as last year.

Here’s what Monson had to say about Miami’s big men up front:

“Miami’s line improved last season, but they haven’t attacked the weaknesses as much as they could have this offseason. Adding Isaiah Wynn does provide an upgrade in Terron Armstead insurance, however.

Austin Jackson and Liam Eichenberg are significant weak links on paper, with Eichenberg earning a 39.8 overall PFF grade last season.”

Shockingly, Miami’s line is ranked as the second-best in the AFC East only behind the New England Patriots, who came in at No. 13.

The Dolphins recognize that they can’t go into 2023 with exactly the same group, so they’ve brought in players to compete for starting roles. Interior offensive lineman Dan Feeney and offensive tackles Isaiah Wynn and Cedric Ogbuehi could push Eichenberg or Jackson from their starting jobs.

At worst, Miami has added some solid depth, which, as we saw last year with Armstead, Eichenberg and Jackson dealing with injuries at points, is extremely important for this group.

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Dolphins OT Austin Jackson reveals he had offseason ankle surgery

This may explain some of the tackle additions.

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Last season, Miami Dolphins offensive tackle Austin Jackson had his season cut short due to injuries, as he played just 14 snaps in the season opener against the New England Patriots and 70 in Week 12 against the Houston Texans.

On Tuesday, after Miami’s second organized team activities session, the former first-round pick revealed that he had reconstructive surgery on his right ankle during the offseason. Jackson participated in team drills on Day 2, and the team is hoping that he can stay on the field throughout the work.

“I never really had a season-ending injury before,” Jackson told the media after the session. “So that was tough, but I’m really excited to get back and play now. It’s actually kind of like angry excited.”

Earlier in the offseason, Dolphins general manager Chris Grier said that Jackson was expected to start at right tackle in 2023, but since then, they’ve brought in two veterans (Isaiah Wynn and Cedric Ogbuehi) as well as a couple of rookies (Ryan Hayes and James Tunstall) at the position.

“I get to build on my coaching points from last year,” Jackson said. “And that’s the expectation of me as a second-year player in a system is to obviously build off of what I know. So I’m looking forward to doing that.”

The 23-year-old has played three different positions in his three seasons in the NFL, and he hasn’t been particularly great at any of them. However, he’s also had a new offensive line coach every year since being selected back in 2020, including this upcoming year, the first for Butch Barry.

Miami will likely give him a shot to earn the job this offseason, but there should be no guarantees that he’s the starter come Week 1.

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Dolphins not picking up fifth-year options for Austin Jackson, Noah Igbinoghene

Tua Tagovailoa is the only Dolphin to receive it this year.

Near the end of a first-round pick’s contract, the team that drafted that player has the opportunity to add a fifth year onto the contract to keep them with the team for another season.

This year, the Miami Dolphins had three players to make that decision on, including quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, offensive tackle Austin Jackson and cornerback Noah Igbinoghene.

Miami announced earlier in the offseason that they’d be picking up Tagovailoa’s option, but no news had come out regarding the other two. That is, until Tuesday, when ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported that the Dolphins wouldn’t be picking up the options for Jackson or Igbinoghene.

The options would’ve been $14.2 million for Jackson and $11.5 million for Igbinoghene.

Jackson, since being selected 18th overall in 2020 out of USC, has started in 30 of 50 possible games while taking snaps at left tackle, left guard and right guard. In 2022, he appeared in just two games after being named the starter responsible for protecting Tagovailoa’s blind side.

Igbinoghene, who was taken 30th overall in 2020, has had even more struggles. He’s appeared in just 32 games for Miami in his three seasons, as he’s been a healthy scratch a number of times. 2022 was probably his best season, but the former Auburn Tiger still hasn’t shown enough to earn the option.

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Dolphins expect Austin Jackson to start at right tackle

He played in only two games last season.

The Miami Dolphins did a lot to improve their offensive line after the 2021 season, adding two experienced veterans through free agency in Terron Armstead and Connor Williams to hold down the left tackle and center positions.

With Robert Hunt a talented, young right guard in place, Miami just had to figure out left guard and right tackle.

In 2022, those positions were expected to be held by Liam Eichenberg and Austin Jackson, respectively. However, both dealt with injuries, as the latter appeared in just two games.

Heading into 2023, Miami has brought back some depth, but no one to really push Jackson, so when general manager Chris Grier and assistant manager Marvin Allen sat down with the media on Wednesday, it’s no surprise that the first question that was asked was regarding the protection of Tua Tagovailoa’s blind side.

“The expectation is Austin is the starter at right tackle,” Grier said. “We’re excited for him. I know he was frustrated with some of the injuries last year, but he’s been working hard. He’s doing a lot of stuff here in the offseason. Having Terron (Armstead) around here, another year being around him for a year in the offseason will be a tremendous value for him.”

Grier also clarified that Hunt would not be moving from his position.

“For us, we’d like to see Robert stay at one position right now, stay at guard where, again, you’ve heard me say it here many times, I think he has tremendous potential, and he’s already, I believe, a very good player at that position in the league,” he said.

Consistency for Miami is great, but Jackson hasn’t been on the field enough to prove that he can do the job. He played just 84 offensive snaps in 2022, and that comes after moving from left guard and left tackle in his first two seasons.

Expecting Jackson to be sufficient might be a move that ends up coming back to bite the Dolphins, but it appears that they’re ready to take the risk.

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Grading the Miami Dolphins offensive linemen after their 2022 season

How much better was the group from last year?

While the Miami Dolphins’ 2022 campaign is in the rearview, it’s a good time to look back at the season that was and reflect on some of the best and worst performances of the year.

We’re going through different positions and reviewing how they played in their first season under head coach Mike McDaniel. And, after starting with the quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers and tight ends, we’ll round out the offense with the big boys up front.

These are the grades for the Dolphins offensive linemen during the 2022 season.