Examining the rise of the Dolphins offensive tackle
The Miami Dolphins will get an on-field look at their 2024 draft class when they conduct their rookie minicamp this weekend with the hope it's the start of something big for their seven selections. But what reality and precedent tells us is that not every one of those seven draft picks — Chop Robinson, Patrick Paul, Jaylen Wright, Mohamed Kamara, Malik Washington, Patrick McMorris, Tahj Washington — will have the same degree of success in the NFL and those players also won't develop at the same pace.
And if it takes too long for one of those picks, particularly the early selections like Robinson or Paul, to start making an impact, we present the case of Austin Jackson.In light of Jackson conducting a Zoom media session last week, a lot of focus was directed toward offensive line coach Butch Barry for the job he did in helping Jackson emerge as a front-line starting right tackle in 2023, his fourth season in the NFL. But, while Barry does deserve some credit, putting most of Jackson's breakout season on him is shortchanging the player himself.For starters, we have to understand that the wide zone scheme implemented by head coach Mike McDaniel is much better suited to Jackson's skill set, which centers around his mobility. We never really got the chance to see what Jackson could do in that scheme in 2022 under offensive line coach Matt Applebaum because Jackson sustained an ankle injury in the season opener, missed two months, then aggravated the injury in his first game back and was done for the season. All told, Jackson played 84 offensive snaps in 2022 and, even though, he had looked better in training camp than in his first two seasons, he still was judged heading into the 2023 season based on those first two seasons when his performance wasn't up to par for a first-round pick. But here's the thing: Most draft analysts believed when the Dolphins made him the 18th overall pick in 2020, with a selection obtained from the Pittsburgh Steelers for Minkah Fitzpatrick, that he would need some time to develop. This was the overview on his NFL.com draft profile page:"Early-entry tackle prospect who is raw but gifted and is likely to be coveted by a variety of teams, thanks to his true left tackle traits. Jackson has loads of athletic ability and play talent that is waiting to be developed and harvested. Inconsistent hand placement and footwork could be exploited early on if teams try and rush him into the starting lineup, but issues are correctable. He's scheme-diverse with potential guard flexibility if he improves his strength. He could become an early starter but may offer a wider split between floor and ceiling than some teams might like." Also remember that Jackson was only 20 years old when he came into his first NFL training camp, and along with developing his technique, Jackson worked on his body. He came into the 2023 training camp looking leaner and stronger, and that also made a difference in his performance. To a lesser degree, Tua Tagovailoa is another example of a prospect who doesn't reach his potential immediately — though in his case there were other factors involved — but Jackson truly is the poster child as he heads into the 2024 season hoping to build on his breakout 2023 performance.
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