O-Line Injury Problems Leading to Lowdown…

That, of course, followed both guard Robert Hunt and tackle Terron Armstead leaving the previous game against the Washington Commanders when Hunt aggravated a hamstring injury and Armstead was kicked by a falling player on a Raheem Mostert touchdown run.

It almost would be funny if it weren’t so sad.

However, how peculiar is the Dolphins’ string of injuries to their offensive line, and what more could the team have done to prepare for every scenario rather than risk having to start a free agent at center who only recently joined the team (Jonathon Harrison or Matt Skura)?

IS THE DOLPHINS INJURY LUCK ON THE O-LINE WORSE THAN USUAL?

If either Harrison or Skura end up starting against the Jets, as expected, it will give the Dolphins not only a 10th different combination but also a 10th different offensive line starter.

We tracked the Dolphins starting offensive line since 2016 — an arbitrary starting point, to be sure — and the 10 different starters will match the highest total from the past eight seasons, but it’s also not out of whack with the past three seasons when Miami had nine different starting offensive linemen each time.

But the Dolphins also have had their projected starting five less than at any time in that span except for 2019 when there was a lot of roster turnover everywhere. The Dolphins’ starting five of Armstead, Isaiah Wynn, Williams, Hunt and Austin Jackson have combined to make 43 starts out of a possible 65 for a 66.2 percent.

That’s down from the 69.4 percent from last year. The starting offensive lines of 2018, 2020 and 2021 all were at 80 percent or higher, with the “Unicorn” starting five of 2016 just under at 78.9 percent.

The Dolphins have been hit harder than most when it comes to offensive line injuries, but there are other examples around the league.

The Jets, for example, have opening-day starters Alijah Vera-Tucker and Connor McGovern on injured reserve and veteran tackle Duane Brown has missed most of the season with a hip injury.

The Cleveland Browns placed starting tackles Jedrick Wills Jr. and Dawand Jones on IR this week, where they joined opening-day starter Jack Conklin.

DID THE DOLPHINS DO ENOUGH?

Addressing the offensive line seemingly is an annual issue for the Dolphins, and they did make some moves in the offseason to build a solid unit, but the current situation at center has left them open to fair criticism.

The Dolphins should be commended for adding experience after signing Skura and Harrison in response to this week’s injuries to Williams and Eichenberg. However, they also cut rookie center Alama Uluave from the practice squad. It’s reasonable to wonder why a player is on the practice squad if the team doesn’t have enough faith in him to play in an emergency, which the Dolphins are obviously experiencing.

Could or should the Dolphins have signed Harrison and/or Skura to the practice squad before this week to have an option ready to go instead of now having to rely on somebody with, yes, experience but also practically zero familiarity with the way the Dolphins do things.

In a bigger picture, though, the Dolphins did put together a decent group for the 2023 but simply have been overwhelmed by the amount of injuries.

Too rosy? Think about it: When the season began, the Dolphins’ top backup at tackle was a player with 87 games and 29 starts on his resume (Kendall Lamm). One of the backup interior linemen was a recent second-round pick with starting experience (Liam Eichenberg).

And the starting five was pretty solid all season, except it’s been together in a regular season game exactly one time in 2023: The home opener against the Denver Broncos in Week 3 — and we all know how that turned out.

When the Dolphins signed Dan Feeney as an unrestricted free agent in the offseason, they attempted to acquire an experienced backup center. However, the move proved unsuccessful, and they ultimately traded Feeney to the Chicago Bears for a late-round draft pick. Therefore, that move was a disaster, and it is obvious that the front office should take responsibility for failing to find someone better—someone who could have persuaded the coaches to maintain strict guard over Eichenberg.

But overall, the Dolphins did put together a decent offensive line. But, at some point, the Dolphins also needed some kind of injury luck. And that just hasn’t been there.

The DOLPHINS STARTING OFFENSIVE LINEMEN THROUGH THE YEARS

2023 — 9

Austin Jackson 13, Connor Williams 9, Robert Hunt 9, *Liam Eichenberg 8, Kendall Lamm 7, Isaiah Wynn 7, Terron Armstead 6, *Lester Cotton 5, Robert Jones 1

2022 — 9

Connor Williams 17, Robert Hunt 17, Terron Armstead 13, Brandon Shell 11, Liam Eichenberg 10, Robert Jones 7,* Greg Little 7, Austin Jackson 2, Kendall Lamm 1

2021 — 9

Robert Hunt 17, *Austin Jackson 16,* Jesse Davis 16, *Liam Eichenberg 16, Michael Deiter 8, Austin Reiter 5, Greg Mancz 4, Solomon Kindley 2, Robert Jones 1

2020 — 6

Ted Karras 16, Ereck Flowers 14, Austin Jackson 12, *Solomon Kindley 12, Robert Hunt 11,* Jesse Davis 15

2019 — 10

Michael Deiter 15, Jesse Davis 15, Daniel Kilgore 13, *Julien Davenport 8, *J’Marcus Webb 8, *Evan Boehm 8, Shaq Calhoun 7, Danny Isidora 3, *Keaton Sutherland 2, Isaiah Prince 1

2018 — 10

Jesse Davis 16, Ja’Wuan James 15, Laremy Tunsil 15, Ted Larsen 14, Travis Swanson 11, Daniel Kilgore 4, *Jake Brendel 2, Zach Sterup 1, Josh Sitton 1, Sam Young 1

2017 — 9

Mike Pouncey 16, Laremy Tunsil 15, Jermon Bushrod 10, *Jesse Davis 10, Ted Larsen 8, Ja’Wuan James 8, Anthony Steen 6, Sam Young 6, Zach Sterup 1

2016 — 10

Jermon Bushrod 16, Ja’Wuan James 16, *Laremy Tunsil 14, Branden Albert 12, Anthony Steen 7, *Kraig Urbik 6, Mike Pouncey 5, *Billy Turner 2, Sam Young 1, Dallas Thomas 1