There’s nothing quite like the first day of school when graduating to an institute of higher learning. The Miami Dolphins will welcome their 2022 rookie class on Tuesday, as the youngsters report to camp. Ironically, these rookies, on their first day of class, will report to a freshman professor.
Ivy-league educated and west-coast football groomed first-year NFL head coach Mike McDaniel will get his first class of pupils to orientate into professional football life. All at the same time, he’s getting assimilated to his new role and a new opportunity to create something great in South Florida.
The 2022 Dolphins rookie class includes a franchise-low of just four selected players and just over a dozen undrafted free agents that will make the first week of camp competitive.
Remember, Miami traded their top two 2022 picks to the Kansas City Chiefs to acquire wide receiver Tyreek Hill, so the 2022 Dolphins class was smaller. Third-round linebacker Channing Tindall, fourth-round wide receiver Erik Ezukanma and a pair of sevenths in linebacker Cameron Goode and quarterback Skylar Thompson round out the names Miami called in May’s Draft.
Throw in the undrafted free agents, and you truly have the beginning of training camp battles, especially at running back, wide receiver, and most importantly, offensive line.
While not a first-round pick, it’s arguable that Tindall has that type of talent. Miami made him their first pick of 2022, but the potential for first-round impact is there. He has electric speed in the middle of the second tier of the defense and will complement Jerome Baker and Elandon Roberts in a group looking for a young heavy-hitter.
Flipping to offense, Miami will be looking to build their running back room, and McDaniel will undoubtedly have tough choices to make. The Dolphins have returning runners Myles Gaskin, Salvon Ahmed and 2021 rookie Gerrid Doaks. However, signing three free agents this offseason in Raheem Mostert, Chase Edmonds and Sony Michel, and inking an undrafted in ZaQuandre White, may indicate the writing is on the wall for Gaskin and Ahmed.
White has a full week to be the apple of his new coach’s eye, as McDaniel specializes in the running scheme. If White impresses early, and when things pick up next week when veterans report, Gaskin and/or Ahmed could be on the chopping block. Gaskin, a seventh-round pick in 2019, holds some trade value if Miami would attempt that route.
Sticking with the skill positions, Ezukanma is a wide receiver from Texas Tech and will get an opportunity to learn from a former NFL pass catcher, who was both a Red Raider and Dolphin.
Current Miami wide receiver coach, Wes Welker and Ezukanma have that commonality, and that can only help in the rookie’s efforts to battle his way not only onto the roster but into the snap count consideration.
In four years at Texas Tech, Ezukanma caught 138 passes for 2,165 yards and 15 touchdowns. He joins a loaded room of talent with Hill, 2021 rookie record holder in receptions, Jaylen Waddle, and newly signed free agent Cedrick Wilson Jr.
In the mix for the main spots on the 53-man roster, should Miami keep six or seven active weekly, this leaves the imminent competition with Ezukanma and veterans Lynn Bowden Jr., Preston Williams, Trent Sherfield, River Cracraft, Cody Core and CFL standout DeVonte Dedmon. The Dolphins also signed undrafted free agent receiver Braylon Sanders from Mississippi who could be a potential practice squad player.
Perhaps the make-or-break determiner of success this season for Miami is the offensive line. Heading into camp, the good news is that the Dolphins add elite left tackle Terron Armstead, formerly of the New Orleans Saints. They also added guard (at the time of signing) Connor Williams from the Dallas Cowboys who’s rumored to have the lead on the starting center spot based on early reports from OTAs last month.
The new Dolphins join a youthful line that includes 2020 first-round pick Austin Jackson and his fellow draft classmates Robert Hunt and Solomon Kindley. 2019 third-round pick Michael Deiter and 2021 second-round pick Liam Eichenberg are also heavily in the competition. 2021 undrafted free agent Robert Jones could be fighting for swing guard reps, and two UDFAs will start their train camps this week in Blaise Andries from Minnesota and Kellen Diesch from Arizona State.
There seem to be more questions than answers heading into camp regarding the construction of the offensive line both of which five and where each will play. The only name you can lock in with iron-clad ink is Armstead at left tackle. Pencil in Hunt at right guard, and then there will be battles all over the line with guys like Jackson and Eichenberg with the leads at the moment.
The depth of the line will be important, and thanks to the position flexibility of guys like Deiter and Jones, Andries and Diesch could compete for the practice squad. The wild card in this was Williams playing center, as he spent his first four NFL seasons in Dallas as a left guard.
Questions will soon be answered, as the Dolphins’ 2022 training camp officially opens in South Florida.
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