The first move made to fix the Miami Dolphins’ most troublesome unit was adding former Dallas Cowboys offensive guard Connor Williams.
Williams, who has started 51 of 57 games during his four seasons with the Cowboys, is set to sign a two-year, $14 million deal, which guarantees him $7.5 million, according to his agent Drew Rosenhaus.
He’s spent most of his playing career at left guard, so it will be interesting to see what Miami’s vision is for Williams, who played offensive tackle at the University of Texas before the Cowboys selected him in the second round (pick No. 50) of the 2018 NFL draft and transitioned him inside.
Williams had a rough season last year, and it led to his benching mid-season in favor of second-year Cowboys guard Connor McGovern.
He eventually got the starting job back in week 15, but struggled a bit in the final five games of the season. It’s unclear if injuries played a factor in his performance. But Williams has had some issues with knee injuries throughout his career. In 2020 he tore an ACL in week 13 and missed the remainder of the season.
At one point last season was leading the NFL in penalties with 17 called, and 14 enforced. Eleven of those penalties were false starts, but that was the first time he had struggled with that issue in the NFL.
The season before he had a career year, and he’s viewed as the type of athletic offensive lineman Miami is looking for to make the wide-zone (outside zone) running scheme they plan to implement this season under new coach Mike McDaniel work.
Where Williams plays will depend on the coaching staff’s vision for him.
Liam Eichenberg, Austin Jackson and Robert Hunt, who have all played and practiced at tackle and guard. Eichenberg, Jackson and Hunt are all young players Miami has invested early draft picks into, and this coaching staff seems encouraged by the prospects of working with all three, helping them clean up their game and maximize their skillset.
Miami’s offensive line has been one of the team’s worst performing units for nearly two decades, with few exceptions (the 2008 and 2016 season).
Last year the Dolphins offensive line led the NFL in pressured allowed, and only paved the way for the team to rush for 1,568 yards with 12 touchdowns on 442 attempts, averaging 3.5 yards per carry.
Only the Atlanta Falcons and Houston Texans rushed for fewer yards in 2021, and only the Texans had a worse yards per carry average.
At this point it’s unclear if Williams’ signing is the only move Miami plans to make to improve the offensive line in free agency, which began on Monday and will formally begin when players can sign their deals on Wednesday.
The Dolphins have 12 offensive linemen under contact and typically take 15 to training camp. Offensive tackle remains a concern based on how Eichenberg, Jackson and Jesse Davis played as starters there last season. But it’s possible these coaches could move Robert Hunt back to right tackle, moving him back to the spot he started most his rookie season at before playing right guard last season.
Michael Deiter is presently the only center on the roster because Greg Mancz is a unrestricted free agent, so its logical to expect Miami to sign or draft a center or two at some point this spring and summer.
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