Dolphins Should Start Patrick Paul

Kendal Lamm is questionable about starting at Right Tackle Sunday when the Miami Dolphins play the New York Jets with an elbow injury. Terron Armstead is questionable to start at Left Tackle as he is working through a knee injury, but he most likely will play. 

I think the Dolphins should start rookie Tackle Patrick Paul on Sunday against the Jets. Paul is potentially considered Armstead’s replacement, but he also needs to work on his game and gain some experience. Paul is starting to cross-train at right tackle, so it seems like the perfect spot for him to start on Sunday. The Dolphins need to see what they have with him moving forward. 

Paul has all of the physical tools to play, but he also needs to work on some of his weaknesses, such as his footwork or going against speedy edge rushers. I feel the Dolphins have nothing to lose and everything to gain by doing. Giving him playing time now and potentially the rest of the season will also show the front office and coaching staff if they have a potential starter and if they need to find someone else, just in case. 

The Dolphins also have at least a handful of offensive line players who aren’t under contract next year. Lamm has already said that this will be his last season, and Armstead contemplated retiring last year, which is why the Dolphins invested a second-round pick in Paul. 

Paul has had a lot of work practicing as he worked a lot with the first team at left tackle, which the team was basically doing a load management workload with Armstead considering his durability concerns. He also played in all of the preseason games and played almost the whole game in all of them. The question now is can he do it in regular season games? He started in the 4th game filling in for Armstead and I thought he did a decent job. 

With the Dolphins all but mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, they really should start considering playing some of their younger players, such as Paul, to see what they have and if they have a future with this team. The Dolphins can’t assume that going into next year, he is going to continue to develop and be fine. They were in denial about the backup quarterback with Skylar Thompson, so look where that got them when Tua Tagovailoa got hurt. 

I think if Paul plays down the stretch, he will be fine because he has Armstead and Lamm to help him out, just like they did in training camp and the preseason. He also has a good offensive line coach in Butch Berry.  

The Dolphins have major questions on the offensive line next year especially at the guard position because nobody on the roster at those positions is under contract. The Dolphins can’t afford to have those same questions at tackle if Paul doesn’t get some experience to see what they have in him.