Six facts and six conclusions to be made on a key Dolphins position that’s in flux

A six-pack of nuggets on the Dolphins’ offensive line, and conclusions to be made, with data courtesy of Pro Football Focus:

▪ Fact: Despite durability injuries, left tackle Terron Armstead played at a very high level when healthy, allowing only one sack and six pressures in 317 pass blocking snaps.

Consider that no other offensive tackle permitted as few pressures in anywhere near as many pass blocking snaps as Armstead logged. He yielded 1.9 pressures per every 100 pass blocking snaps, which is extraordinary.

And PFF rated him 13th as a run blocker among 84 offensive tackles.

Incidentally, Armstead said as recently as two weeks that he hadn’t completely ruled out retirement. But the expectation is he will continue to play and won’t retire.

Conclusion: A discussion about his long-term future likely will be had internally because he missed seven games in 2023 after missing four in 2022, and his full $13.3 million salary becomes guaranteed March 16. (He already is guaranteed $5 million.).

But the view here is it would be unwise to move on from Armstead, not only because of his strong play when healthy but also because of the high dead money cap hit ($11.4 million) if he’s cut. (The dead money hit is $24 million before June 1.) And if the Dolphins draft an offensive tackle at No. 21, do they really want to gamble that he will be ready to be an opening day starter?

Bottom line: The Dolphins need to keep him at least one more season.

▪ Fact: Right tackle Austin Jackson’s pass blocking dropped from exceptional for the first three months to average over the final month, but he finished allowing only four sacks and 21 pressures in 592 pass blocking snaps.

On the plus side: Only five tackles who played as many snaps allowed fewer sacks than Jackson.

PFF rated Jackson 28th as a run blocker, which is in the top third of 84 qualifying offensive tackles.

(Overall, PFF rated Armstead 10th and Jackson 36th among all tackles.)

But here’s the thing in evaluating the Dolphins offensive line: Tua Tagovailoa’s exceptionally quick release eliminates sacks that many other quarterbacks might take. That makes evaluations of their linemen trickier.

As ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. noted, Miami’s pass block win rate was second worst in the league, even though the Dolphins permitted the fourth-fewest sacks.

Conclusion: The Dolphins made an understandable move at the time by giving Jackson a three-year, $36 million extension. They aren’t going to find a better, cheaper in-his-prime tackle than the Jackson we all saw in September, October and November. But they need him to be that player - not the late-season version - in 2024.

▪ Fact: Though Liam Eichenberg did the best he could filling in, no player was missed on offense more than Connor Williams.

Remember: Williams was an elite run blocker and pass blocker before sustaining a torn ACL against Tennessee.

PFF rated Williams the league’s best run blocking center and the second best center overall, behind Detroit’s Frank Ragnow.

What’s more, Williams allowed only one sack and just six pressures in 280 pass blocking chances.

As perspective, no center who had anything close to as many pass blocking snaps as Williams allowed as few pressures; the next closest was Cleveland’s Nick Harris, who permitted three pressures in 169 pass blocking snaps.

Yes, Tagovailoa’s quick release helped all the linemen. But give Williams some credit here.

Conclusion: The Dolphins were very smart in moving Williams from guard to center when they signed him in March 2022, and they need to do everything they can to keep him. One general manager told me he’s worth north of $10 million a year.

Even with the Dolphins facing a cap crunch, he needs to be a priority. Whether he will be is a question; the sides couldn’t agree to a new contract last spring, and general manager Chris Grier disputed my premise that the line wasn’t as good without him.

▪ Fact: Eichenberg allowed four sacks and 20 pressures during the regular season in 479 pass blocking snaps at guard and center.

In the Dolphins’ final three games (Baltimore, Buffalo, Kansas City), he yielded two sacks and eight pressures, after giving up two sacks Oct. 1 against Buffalo.

Conclusion: Eichenberg went from a borderline roster player to a versatile sixth or seventh lineman this season. His ability to play all five positions, generally competently, should keep him in the league for years.

He’s due to make a reasonable $1.7 million next season in the final year of his rookie contract. The question is whether the Dolphins have him compete with Rob Jones to start at left guard, or whether they bring back Isaiah Wynn, or whether they draft a guard at No. 21 to be a plug-and-play starter at left guard or right guard, if Robert Hunt leaves in free agency.

▪ Fact: Right guard Hunt played at an elite level when he wasn’t sidelined seven games by hamstring injuries.

PFF rated Hunt sixth of 81 guards this season, including eighth as a run blocker.

He yielded just one sack and five pressures in 329 pass blocking chances.

As perspective, only one other guard in football who pass blocked for more than 122 snaps allowed fewer pressures: teammate Wynn, who permitted no sacks and four pressures in 224 pass blocking snaps before his season-ending quadriceps injury against Philadelphia.

That’s a testament to the good work of Hunt and Wynn and Tagovailoa’s quick release.

Conclusion: The Dolphins -- who are about $50 million over the cap, pending the final cap number -- conveyed an interest in keeping Hunt during the season. But Miami also seems at risk of losing him if the bidding becomes unmanageable with their cap situation.

Wynn, despite a history of injuries, should be offered a low-money deal with incentives, with the hope he can stay healthy.

▪ Fact: Several offensive tackles are projected for Miami’s draft range. That group includes Arizona’s Jordan Morgan, Alabama’s JC Latham, Georgia’s Amarius Mims, Oregon State’s Taliese Fuaga, Oklahoma’s Tyler Guyton and Washington’s Troy Fautanu, who played left tackle for the Huskies the past two seasons but is projected by some as a guard.

Conclusion: Miami needs to strongly consider an offensive tackle at No. 21 so there’s a succession plan in place when the Dolphins move on from Armstead. A guard at pick No. 21 also could be justified.

Keep in mind that none of Armstead’s $13.3 million salary is guaranteed in 2025, and his dead money cap hit - under current terms of his deal - would drop from $20.7 million to $6.3 million if he is released after June 1, 2025.

If Armstead sticks around and misses a lot of games next season, having a cheap, talented successor already in place would be advantageous.