How Patrick Paul Is Approaching His Biggest Challenge Yet

The Miami Dolphins’ Week 7 matchup against the Cleveland Browns probably isn’t viewed as an exciting game for most. It’s between 1-5 teams, who have arguably made more noise off the field than on it. 

However, Dolphins left tackle Patrick Paul is extra excited because he gets to match up against one of the NFL’s best — Myles Garrett. 

“Definitely, he’s an excellent player, and I’m really excited to go against him,” Paul told reporters this week. “You could watch him, a tackle could be in a great position, and he still wins. He’s a very, very good football player, so this is going to be really fun and I’m very excited.”

The game Sunday will be an excellent measuring stick for Paul, who has been great in pass protection this season, and a revenge game after Garrett got after Paul quite a bit in their matchup last season. 

Why Paul vs. Garrett Part 2 Will Be More of a Fair Fight

The numbers from Paul’s first game against Garrett and the Browns in Week 17 of last season don’t look great. He allowed one sack, three pressures, and three hurries, several of which came against Garrett.

However, those numbers don’t tell the full story of that game. Paul was thrust into the game after an injury to starting left tackle Terron Armstead — he didn’t get a chance to prepare for an entire week to face Garrett. 

Also, of course, that was just the sixth appearance of his NFL career. It’s hard to imagine any rookie handling that assignment well. 

But things have changed for Paul this season. He’s started in all six of Miami’s games, and he’s allowed just two sacks and seven pressures total, according to Pro Football Focus. 

On tape, he’s been technically sound and has held up quite well on an island in pass protection. He’s shown all of the traits (length, athleticism, physicality) that made the Dolphins so high on him in the first place. 

Paul is having a good season, and one performance against the NFL’s best pass rusher won’t change that, regardless of the outcome. However, a lockdown game against Garrett would basically remove all questions about his future. 

It would be the best sign you could possibly ask for that the Dolphins finally have a homegrown, stud left tackle. 

“I think as competitors, you want players on your team who look for the competitive challenge of attacking some of the league’s best,” Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said Wednesday. 

“I think it will be probably the second time that Patrick (Paul) has blocked him. He was able to play against him last year and knows all the problems that he can present, so it’s a good challenge for Patrick that again is not his and only his. You spread that over a unit when you’re dealing with a player of that magnitude.”

McDaniel is right that Paul is not the only one responsible for Garrett. However, it should be noted that the overwhelming majority of Garrett’s snaps this season have come against the left tackle. 

He’s played 237 snaps at right end (left side for the offense) this season compared to just 30 snaps at left end (right side for the offense).

Sure, the Browns could move Garrett around to get better matchups, but it seems more likely that he and Paul are on a crash course for a long battle on Sunday. 

For the Dolphins, it’ll be an excellent test of whether Paul is ready to be the team’s franchise left tackle.