Last year Miami’s offensive line finished ranked dead last according to Pro Football Focus and credited the line with a league-leading 235 pressures surrendered. General Manager Chris Grier made it no secret before free agency that they were going to be aggressive in attempting to improve that unit. So far, they have done just that. Left guard Connor Williams was the first addition brought in and would have the ability to improve the line on his own. There are concerns about his holding penalties from a year ago, with 11 being accepted against him, but from 2018-2020 he had a total of 10 combined. Connor explained during his introductory press conference that it was just a bad season, not a trend, and I’m inclined to believe him. Aside from the penalties, Connor Williams is one of the top guards in the league. In 2020 Williams was rated as the 16th best guard in the league according to Pro Football Focus. Last season, Williams was only attributed with 13 pressures out of 560 pass-blocking snaps, making him the third-best pass blocker behind only Joe Thuney and Kevin Zeitler. Along with his impressive pass blocking, Williams graded out as the 17th best guard (out of 59) in run blocking.
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As much as Williams is an improvement over everyone Miami had playing on the line last year, he is no longer the biggest improvement added to the unit. On Tuesday, fans finally got the news we were waiting for – Miami has agreed to a deal with 3-time Pro Bowl left tackle Terron Armstead. Armstead was widely regarded as the best free agent in this year’s class, being ranked #1 by ESPN and NFL Network and #2 behind Davante Adams by PFF. Please make no mistake about it; Terron Armstead is one of the best left tackles in the sport. Entering the 2021 season, PFF had him rated as the 4th best offensive tackle in the league. Last year although only appearing in 8 games, Armstead still ranked as the 26th best tackle, a drastic improvement over Jesse Davis and Liam Eichenberg, who was ranked 79th and 80th. Armstead has been credited with just 131 pressures given up throughout his career. Last year alone, Eichenberg allowed 62, and Davis allowed 57. There is an injury concern with Armstead, however, and rightfully so. He has never played a full season, and last year he missed nine games with knee and elbow injuries. However, new head coach Mike McDaniel has recent experience with a premier left tackle in their 30s with injury history helping turn an offensive line around. Before the 2020 season, Trent Williams hadn’t played a full season since 2013 due to injuries. That didn’t stop the 49ers from trading for the tackle before his age 32 seasons, and the team was rewarded the last two years with one of the best left tackles in the game. In 2020 and 2021, Williams was named to 2 Pro Bowls and was named 1st team All-Pro, while only missing two games both seasons. Miami is hoping Armstead can have similar success.
The additions of Williams and Armstead will solidify the left side of the offensive line and could be one of the best Guard-Tackle duos in the league. There is still work to be done, as Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald eluded that Miami isn’t done upgrading the line, with Center being a position the team is also looking to improve. Right tackle is also a significant concern. Last year, Robert Hunt was the team’s right guard and showed improvement throughout the season. However, he may be asked to slide out to tackle if the team adds another guard through the draft. Other options include Austin Jackson and Liam Eichenberg, who are still very young and coming off bad seasons on the left side of the line. Chris Grier and Mike McDaniel have both talked about how much they believe the new coaching staff will be able to help the young offensive linemen improve. For Tua’s sake, I hope they are right. Regardless, the line should be much improved from what it has been the last few years.
