Dolphins' OL Options if Starter Misses Week 1

The Miami Dolphins’ 2025 season hasn’t even officially started yet, and the team might already be playing a backup offensive lineman Sunday. 

Starting right guard James Daniels wasn’t spotted at practice Friday, and coach Mike McDaniel said he's questionable with an ankle injury for the team’s Week 1 game on the road against the Indianapolis Colts. 

Daniels signed a three-year, $24 million deal this offseason to help stabilize the team’s guard position. It was Miami’s most significant free agent investment, but Daniels was coming off an Achilles tear, so he hasn’t played since the early part of last season. 

It doesn’t seem like Daniels' injury is too serious since he could still play on Sunday, but it does seem like Miami’s offensive line has dealt with more injuries than usual in recent seasons. Even this offseason, Liam Eichenberg suffered an injury that is keeping him on the Physically Unable to Perform list. 

Miami’s Options to Replace Daniels 

Eichenberg likely would been the next man up for the Dolphins if Daniels misses time, but now that duty likely will fall to Kion Smith. He missed all of last season with an injury, so his only NFL experience is 70 offensive snaps from the 2023 season. 

So, Smith would be making his first career NFL start and would be forced to block DeForest Buckner, one of the NFL’s better interior defensive linemen. That is a tall ask. 

The other potential option for the Dolphins would be turning to veteran Daniel Brunskill. The summer free agent addition has mostly been working at center with the Dolphins, but has experience at several spots. 

He was on the 49ers from 2019 through 2022, meaning he overlapped with McDaniel for three seasons (2019-21). In those three seasons, Brunskill made 35 starts, with most of them coming at guard.

Brunskill spent the past two seasons with the Titans, starting 24 games and splitting time between center and guard.

There’s a reason Brunskill remained unsigned for so long, but he has familiarity with the scheme and has significantly more experience playing guard and playing against the Colts, whom he saw twice a year with the Titans. 

The last option worth mentioning is kicking Larry Borom to guard. He’practiced as the team’s swing tackle all summer, but he played some limited guard reps with the Bears and, frankly, looked like a much better player. 

This option would likely only pop up if Daniels misses extended time, but it’s worth keeping in the back of your mind for the future. 

Ultimately, no option feels like a great replacement for Daniels. That’s the nature of offensive line play at the NFL level — there’s a stark difference between starters and backups. 

The Dolphins have put a lot into developing Smith, and he’s next up on the depth chart, so it’s likely he would take Daniels’ spot Sunday.