What O-Line Coach Said About Savaiinaea's Progress

Among the many Miami Dolphins issues that have contributed to their miserable 1-5 start, the offensive line has been a focal point, more precisely the disappointiong performance of rookie Jonah Savaiinaea.

After they traded up in the second round to select Savaiinaea near the top of the second round of the 2025 NFL draft, the Dolphins immediately put him in the starting lineup, with GM Chris Grier saying the team needed him to make an impact right away.

Unfortunately, it's been a negative impact that Savaiinaea has made.

His performance has been underwhelming by any measure, regardless of how much credence you want to put on Pro Football Focus's grading system, which has him dead last among NFL guards.

Offensive line coach Butch Barry spoke to the media Thursday morning for the first time in the regular season, and not surprisingly the very first question he was asked dealt with Savaiinaea and his progress.

BARRY DISHES ON JONAH

Barry's answer regarding Savaiinaea's development was extensive and he got very animated at one point.

"I would say that coming in as a rookie, there's development that happens, right?" Barry said. "You get put into a lot of situations, and you got to play right away. And so we've talked about it before. Development is the core foundation of everything that we got to do, right? And so it takes time, right? When you talk about development, it's, every day, where is he at foundationally, right? So every player starts at a different place. It's the consistency, it's the standard of work that we approach it with, right?

"So how often can I build that recall? How often can I get to use his inside hand? How often can I get him to do that, right? Because he's got to build that recall. He's got to build that feel, right? That people say muscle memory, but it's that recall, that memory of how it occurred. So how often can I force that him to do that, to use his hands every time, to stay inside out, right? To keep his feet moving and mirror the defender. Every day we got to work it every single day, and endlessly amount of reps, and then the fuel starts to happen. And it may only happen five times in practice, right? But then tomorrow maybe happens, 10, is that improvement? Yeah, that's twice as many.

"Could he improve from one game to the next? Yes, there's development. Is it going at the rate that everyone wants it at? That's for everyone to answer, right? What is the expectation of what that place should be at this point in time? But as long as it keeps getting better, now we're talking about the progress that we want, and that's the development. Because everyone starts in a different place. Everyone has a different foundation. So how do we build that? And so that's the key. And there is progress and there is development."

Another topic that's come up with Savaiinaea is whether the Dolphins should have had him start off on the right side, where he had more experience at the University of Arizona and whether that should be a consideration now.

Barry fought back against the idea that the side has been a factor in Savaiinaea's struggles.

"Because if we're looking at everything at all times, if we felt like what the issues were, what would be deemed as an issue, would that be over there on the right side, right?" Barry said. "And so when you look at it and say, it doesn't matter what side he's playing on, the things that we need to get better at are going to be the same things we have to get better at, no matter what side he's played. And he played right and left side, whether he's at left tackle, which is in when guys go from college NFL, they're moving positions all the time, so he's played right and left."

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