The Miami Dolphins improved its o-line this offseason, but one question won’t be answered until the pads come on
To say that the Miami Dolphins revamped its roster this offseason is quite the understatement. In fact, this level of modernization is rarely seen outside of reality shows like ‘Extreme House Makeover: Home Edition’ and ‘Pimp My Ride.’
The franchise put the offensive side of the football first by making Mike McDaniel coach of the team. General Chris Grier took things a step further by adding a fresh wave of playmakers in Tyreek Hill, Chase Edmonds, Raheem Mostert and Cedrick Wilson.
With all that in mind, atop Miami’s to-do list was to improve one of the worst offensive lines in all of football, which it accomplished by bringing in tackle Terron Armstead and guard Connor Williams to solidify the left side of the unit.
Pro Football Focus released its list of the NFL’s top tackles, with Armstead taking the No. 6 spot. Armstead, who is about to enter his tenth season in the NFL, was the first tackle listed in PFF’s Tier 2, which is also known as “Great when healthy, but have some injury concerns.”
“Miami made it a priority to add high-end talent to its offense this offseason, and Armstead was at the center of those plans,” wrote PFF’s Ben Linsey. “He should immediately help to solidify what has been one of the worst offensive lines in the NFL over the last few years. “
The issue, however, is that Armstead has played at least 80 percent of snaps just three times in his career and his coming of a 2021 season where he played 43 percent of the snaps in New Orleans.
Armstead was considered the biggest free agent of the offseason and the Dolphins signed him at a relatively team-friendly deal. In fact, Armstead is slated at No. 27 in the list of highest paid tackles in 2022, according to OverTheCap.com.
There is no denying that acquiring Armstead made Miami’s offensive line much, much stronger. I’m not breaking news by saying football is a physical sport, and no one is expecting Armstead to play 100 percent of snaps.
On paper, there is no doubting that the Dolphins have solidified the offensive line with the addition of Armstead. Once the pads come on, though, a new question will have to be answered: How long can Miami celebrate the addition of Armstead before worrying about an unforeseen subtraction from the lineup?
