The most important Dolphins player may not be who you think

The fortunes of the Miami Dolphins this season hinge on the health of an offensive player, but his name is not Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle or even Tua Tagovailoa. 

Sure, the health of Tagovailoa is paramount, especially after he suffered multiple concussions last season, but whoever throws passes for the Dolphins must stay upright.

That's why the most important player for the Dolphins is starting left tackle Terron Armstead. Without him, the Dolphins are a completely different team. Miami averaged 25.9 points when Armstead played last season and 18.7 without him.

Armstead suffered right leg injury Aug. 17 at practice, and he has not participated in team drills this week leading up to the opener against the Chargers in Los Angeles. Armstead, who has never played a complete schedule in his 10-year NFL career, is listed as questionable for Sunday.

“I plan, when he’s not practicing, to play without him. However, I’m not gonna go into that crystal ball because I would have been wrong when I was right last year,” head coach Mike McDaniel said recently, per Pro Football Network. “[We] had a good conversation today, had a good conversation yesterday with where he’s at.”

Armstead regularly missed practice last season and was still able to play come game time. He made the Pro Bowl — his fourth — after playing in 13 games. (Miami went 1-3 when he was injured.)

"It’s already hard enough to block them the way that Terron is able to do," McDaniel said, per SI.com. "But to do it without going through the calls, the calls between your teammates, the assignments live speed, it’s pretty remarkable what he was able to do last year."

Yes, it is true that Tagovailoa is left-handed and the right tackle position is his blind side. But the issue when Armstead doesn't play is the shuffle it creates with other personnel on the roster. McDaniel could insert backup tackle Kendall Lamm into Armstead's place, but that is a gigantic drop-off. 

The other option is to move free-agent pick-up Isaiah Wynn over to tackle from the guard position he won and give incumbent Liam Eichenberg back the position he lost to Wynn. Both of those options massively weaken the unit and will give whoever is at QB less time in the pocket.  

In addition, the Dolphins love to run behind Armstead, so without him the ground game will also suffer. Armstead is a glue guy and does more than just hold the offensive line together. He is a smart leader who understands the offense and makes guys around him play better.

Tagovailoa went to great lengths to get himself healthy for the season, but he needs max protection to stay on the field. The only way for the Dolphins to ensure a healthy Tagovailoa, who led the NFL last year in passing rating, is to always have their most important player, Armstead, on the field with him.