Dolphins' OTA takeaways and outlook to training camp Part I: Trenches
· Yahoo Sports
The Miami Dolphins finished their minicamps and organized team activities over the last few weeks. Aside from rookies hanging around this upcoming week, there will be a break for a bit over a month. Training camp will begin in July, and new coach Jeff Hafley has indicated that when the pads and helmets come on, that is the time when a true assessment of his players and team can be made.
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As he told South Florida media earlier in the week, “I think we got to evaluate all these guys when the pads come on. I mean, you can see who can process. You can see who can take from the field out to the grass. You can see who can see things and react. So those are all really important things.”
With an extremely young team, a slew of one-year, minimum salary free agents, as well as 13 drafted rookies, this training camp should be one of the more competitive in recent memory for the Dolphins.
In a multi-part series on Dolphins Wire, based on what transpired during the OTAs, here is the biggest area to focus on when training camp begins in five weeks.
The Trenches – Offensive Line
First and foremost, when full hitting commences, trench play will be on full display. It is at this time that the coaches can ascertain how the offensive line, as a whole, will be gelling. Especially individuals amongst that group, mainly a rookie first-round draft pick. The 12th overall selection in last April’s NFL Draft, Kadyn Proctor, will reportedly man the left guard spot, which is a change from his usual tackle position while in college at Alabama.
He will play next to left tackle Patrick Paul, and this could create a formidable and potentially dominant left side of the line, which could be the biggest in the league, with a pair of 6-foot-7 linemen, totaling 375-plus pounds. Proctor can team with Paul to help protect the new quarterback in town, Malik Willis, as well as create running room for the recently extended running back, De'Von Achane.
The man in the middle is recently extended center, Aaron Brewer, who just this week inked a three-year, $52.5 million extension with $37 million guaranteed. Brewer is one of the best centers in the league and is now being compensated as such.
To his right, last year’s rookie and second-round selection Jonah Savaiinaea was quite literally the league’s worst overall graded qualified guard at 28.4, 81 out of 81, according to Pro Football Focus. Although playing on the right side of the line while in college at Arizona, Savaiinaea experimentally moved to the left in 2025, which was a remarkable failure of the previous coaching regime. Now moving back to his home on the right side, Savaiinaea needs to find his comfort zone, and he needs to have a vastly improved second season, to say the least.
Regarding Savaiinaea’s switch, Dolphins offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik told South Florida reporters last week, “He did the right side for so long, got used to the left. Now going back to the right, he was excited about it, but there was a little bit of, ‘Okay, is this going to be right away? How long is this going to take?’ And I think he picked up the feel for it really quickly, which has been fun to see, and he's dedicated a lot of time.”
Veteran right tackle, entering his seventh season in the league, is 2020's 18th overall pick, Austin Jackson. The issue with Jackson has been both the consistency of his play and, mainly, his availability. He has played 17 games just once in his six seasons so far, which was in 2021, and 16 back in 2023. He has missed significant time the last two seasons with various injuries, and could be in for a final run in Miami.
The Dolphins also need to find who their swing tackle could be, as well as overall depth. A name to know, who has been floating around the Miami roster since 2021 but has only seen 23 games, is Kion Smith. Smith sticks around for his third head coach, and Hafley praised his performance to reporters, saying, "I think there's progress and we moved him around. I think he shows his versatility. I think he's done a good job with the scheme."
The offensive line is one of the key areas in which Hafley and general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan came to Miami to fix and change the identity of this team. Becoming tougher with the ability to dominate the trenches, especially when the temperature and elements are less than desirable, as opposed to the friendly confines of South Florida, will be paramount in the development of this team.
The Interior Defensive Front
On the defensive side of the ball, a trio of second-year players all need to take steps and progress to help make the front line of the defense an overall better run-stopping unit, while helping pass rushers and linebackers do their jobs effectively.
Kenneth Grant, pick No. 13 in 2025, will be spotlighted and has to improve from his rookie season. While showing development in the latter part of last season, the consistency was not there in year one, and his second season in the NFL will be extremely important. Especially with a new regime that has indicated competition will be a key focus, and nobody is guaranteed anything heading into this summer.
Hafley endorsed Grant so far and said to reporters on Tuesday, “I think he's taking a step forward. I know he's changed his body. He's faster. He looks more like the guy that I saw in his college tape with his lateral quickness, his pass rush ability, his ability to play the run, just the way he's moving.”
He added, “And I also think that goes back to Year 1, lack of experience, lack of reps, lack of maybe a little bit of confidence as you're out there. I just feel like right now, he's starting to believe in himself and his abilities that we know that he has, and hopefully once the pads come on, we'll see that to continue.”
One of Miami’s fifth-round picks from last year’s draft, who has shown extreme potential, is interior defensive lineman Jordan Phillips. The Maryland product could be a fixture in the middle of the front, especially at the zero-tech or nose tackle. Turning 22 at the end of this month, and showing maturity well beyond his years, Phillips could be a major factor on this team for years to come, as well as a future captain, maybe even as early as this season.
He made an excellent first impression on Hafley, as the coach told the media last week, " The thing I'll say about him is I think it was probably the day after I got hired, I came in early, and he was probably the only guy in the building. I remember at that point, I had nothing to do, and when I was walking out at night, he was walking out at night. So he was either following me or – I'm just joking, he wasn't following me – but the guy just, he always works."
Hafley continued the Phillips praise, saying, "He takes care of his body. He eats right. He is in the weight room on days off, and he embraces playing the run, and he embraces double teams, and he embraces the dirty work, which most people in our league don't like to do. He's an unselfish player who truly loves to play this game. Again, I'm very excited to see him when we actually start playing real football."
Additionally, last year’s seventh-round pick, Zeek Biggers, has shown potential in being more than just a special teams player and situational defensive lineman. He has shown the ability to be factored in as a defensive end and came into minicamp leaner than last season, giving coaches much desirable flexibility in his position and potential. At 6-foot-6 and 319 pounds, and showing great athleticism, Biggers could take a big leap in progression in 2026.
When Hafley was asked about Biggers and his edge play potential and if he could see snaps there, the coach was excited in saying, " I do, and if you've watched, he's been out there on the edge a little bit. I think he's a guy who, based on down distance, personnel, who they have, how many tight ends are in the game, are they going to line up in two tight ends, two backs, it gives us a bigger guy. He added, "Whether we go five defensive linemen in the game or four and play with three bigger guys and just one kind of edge guy, he gives us that versatility."
The line is, of course, anchored by team elder statesman and captain, Zach Sieler. The eight-year veteran will begin his seventh full season with Miami after being one of the franchise's best acquisitions in team history. He was a 2019 seventh-round draft pick of the Baltimore Ravens, then waived late in that season. Miami claimed him in December, and the rest is history.
Sieler has had Miami’s best two seasons in the sack department by a defensive lineman in team history, having 10 in both the 2023 and 2024 seasons. He was second in the league in sacks in 2024 among interior defensive linemen, behind the Seattle Seahawks Leonard Williams, who had 11.
A team captain, Sieler is the longest-tenured player on this young roster and has said he would like to remain in Miami for his career. At the start of minicamps, he told reporters, “I love it here. My home is here. My wife and I love it down here. We want to make a name, and I want to retire a Dolphin, so I'll do whatever it takes to stay here.”
The next part of this series will focus on the secondary, which could be a major X-factor for Hafley and Miami in 2026.
This article originally appeared on Dolphins Wire: Dolphins' OTA takeaways and outlook to training camp Part I: Trenches