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A few Dolphins who should see fewer opportunities in 2024.
Miami Dolphins general manager Chris Grier has put together a talented roster loaded with superstar veterans and rising youngsters that was good enough to make the postseason in 2023.
While Grier will have his work cut out for him over the next several months through free agency and draft season, there are some players on the roster who should see their playing time go down next year.
Let’s take a look at three Dolphins who should get fewer opportunities in 2024.
A look at Miami’s offensive linemen, and the year they had in 2023.
The Miami Dolphins finished their 2023 campaign with an 11-6 record and made the postseason for the second time in as many years under head coach Mike McDaniel. Unfortunately, it came to an end with a loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in the wild-card round.
While other teams are in the midst of their playoff run, it’s time to do some reflecting on the team in South Florida.
Over the next couple of weeks, we’ll be reviewing and evaluating different positions for the Dolphins in 2023. Today, we’ll look at the offensive linemen.
Miami’s HC updated the media and fans on a number of injured Dolphins.
The Miami Dolphins have had some tough injury luck in recent weeks, and that didn’t stop during their Week 14 loss to the Tennessee Titans on Monday night at Hard Rock Stadium.
Mike McDaniel’s team lost a number of key players to injuries at different points in the contest, and while some made their way back onto the field, others were unable to return.
On Tuesday, McDaniel spoke to the media and provided many updates on his injured players.
Here’s what he had to say:
Some nuggets from Sunday’s win.
The Miami Dolphins returned from their Week 10 bye on Sunday at Hard Rock Stadium and dealt the Las Vegas Raiders their first loss under interim head coach Antonio Pierce, as Miami’s defense was key in the 20-13 win.
Mike McDaniel’s team gets to 7-3, still holds a 1.5-game first-place lead in the AFC East division and heads into a short week with a Black Friday matchup at MetLife Stadium against the New York Jets in five days.
With a four-game stretch of very winnable games ahead, the Dolphins needed this momentum to start the second half of their 2023 season.
Before getting ahead to that Week 12 matchup, here’s a look at some of the news, notes and nuggets from Miami’s win over Las Vegas.
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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If he plays a snap at center this year it will be his fourth different spot that he’s played.
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Entering his third NFL season, Miami Dolphins offensive lineman Liam Eichenberg hasn’t exactly lived up to his second-round pedigree.
Since trading up to draft the former Fighting Irish, the Dolphins have moved Eichenberg around from left tackle to right tackle back to left tackle and then to left guard.
The coaching situation has been a bit chaotic as well, as he’s going to be working with his third offensive line coach in as many years with Butch Barry’s arrival in 2023.
While Eichenberg hasn’t earned a guaranteed starting spot on the offensive line, he’s learning yet another position to make himself more valuable to the team, as he’s taking snaps at center.
Connor Williams and Zach Sieler, who have made strong cases for contract extensions /new deals, remain away from voluntary workouts. With Williams away, Liam Eichenberg says he's working some at center. Liam hopes to win LG job again
— Barry Jackson (@flasportsbuzz) May 31, 2023
Miami, interestingly, brought in Connor Williams last year, who had been at guard during his time with Dallas, to be their starting center, and he was strong in his first season in South Florida. This offseason, they signed Dan Feeney, who has guard and center versatility as well to compete for the starting left guard job and provide depth at both spots if he didn’t win.
Eichenberg’s opportunities at center could put him in the exact same position. He’s still an inexpensive, young offensive lineman, and even if he hasn’t lived up to expectations, he should probably still be kept around for depth and development purposes.
The additions of Isaiah Wynn and Ryan Hayes, who are both expected to have some guard and tackle versatility, make Eichenberg’s growth that much more needed if he wants to make the roster and play meaningful snaps in the second season under head coach Mike McDaniel.
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Making sense of the last pick.
The Miami Dolphins have concluded their 2023 draft process by selecting Michigan offensive tackle Ryan Hayes with pick No. 238.
Hayes played left tackle for the Wolverines and was a second-team All-Big Ten player for two consecutive seasons. He was part of a unit that won two straight Joe Moore Awards for the best offensive line in college football. He was also a three-time Academic All-Big Ten Honoree. He even was a 2022 graduate student last season.
The knock on his ability to play tackle in the pros is due to reports of limited arm length, but he has great size for the interior. He’s powerful and has football smarts, but he does need work in overall fundamentals, including footwork. He could do well in a system like Miami has with their RPO and play actions.
Hayes is a technically sound blocker, with fine size for the pros at 6-foot-6 and 298 pounds. He could be a quality left-guard candidate to compete with Liam Eichenberg, if he moves to the interior as some predict. In a pinch, he could be a quality competitor in camp at multiple areas of the line, while providing backup depth for veteran Terron Armstead.
The pass protection could use some fine-tuning, but Hayes is clearly very coachable and has a good combination of size and strength. He has a solid overall athletic background, playing baseball and basketball as well in high school. He also has a pedigree in athletics, with both of his parents being athletes and his brother, too, playing for the University of Pittsburgh.
Hayes makes for a very quality capper of a pick, in a draft process that checked off a number of needs for the Dolphins, especially taking into account the fact their missing picks, this year, are Bradley Chubb and Jalen Ramsey.
The Dolphins have had a productive offseason thus far, with more free agents on the market, and a post-June 1 scrap heap of potential cuts on the way. Not to mention the $13.6 million in cap space that is returning to the Dolphins with the official release of cornerback Byron Jones.
As the 2023 NFL draft comes to a close, Miami will certainly have a long list of undrafted free agents that’ll be added to this year’s rookie class of cornerback Cam Smith, running back Devon Achane, tight end Elijah Higgins and offensive lineman Ryan Hayes.
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There have been 102 Notre Dame players drafted since 2000. How many more will hear their names called this week?
Notre Dame’s 21st century didn’t start the way anyone would have liked as the Bob Davie, Tyrone Willingham, and Charlie Weis eras all left something to be desired but the ship changed course under Brian Kelly who led the Irish back to the brink of the greatness that is expected for Notre Dame football.
Since 2000, more than 100 different Notre Dame football players have had their names called in the NFL draft. Several others have signed as undrafted free agents but we’ll focus on those who were drafted for now.
Last year saw Kyle Hamilton and Kyren Williams have their names called. This spring Michael Mayer and Isaiah Foskey will certainly hear theirs early, and others will join them in days two and three of the draft.
So who are the 102 who have had their names called since 2000?
Who wound up having the best careers and who didn’t have the career they or you were hoping?
You can almost certainly name plenty but there are some former Notre Dame greats you’ve likely forgotten about as well. Here are the 102…and counting.
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.
Survive and advance for Buffalo.
It seemed like the Buffalo Bills had things on easy mode Sunday when they jumped out to an early 17-0 lead against the Miami Dolphins in the AFC Wild Card match-up. Although the day would end successfully for Buffalo, it wouldn’t come without plenty of drama along the way.
Miami, playing with backup quarterback Skylar Thompson, scored 17-straight points to tie the game up shortly before halftime. Buffalo was able to answer with a field goal late in the half to take a 20-17 lead to break.
A turnover for a touchdown gave Miami a 24-20 advantage early in the second half but Buffalo’s defense tightened and just as importantly, the Bills didn’t turn the ball over the rest of the way, after doing so four times to that point.
As a result the Bills survived as a 34-31 winner, despite entering the game as a nearly two-touchdown favorite. With the win the Bills advance to the divisional playoffs next weekend as the AFC’s second seed while Miami heads home with a 9-9 overall record this season.
The loss means the end of the road for the 2022 season for former Notre Dame standouts Liam Eichenberg and Durham Smythe while no former Golden Domers advanced with the Bills.
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