As per usual, the main concern the Miami Dolphins have entering the yearly NFL Draft is their offensive line. It’s become so commonplace that fans assume that it will be an issue year in and year out. The good news is, there’s only one pressing need, which is at right tackle. The bad news is 1) that is Tua Tagovailoa’s blind side, 2) He has shown to have injury issues while in the NFL, and 3) the only real option on the roster right is either Austin Jackson, who has shown little promise since being draft in 2020, or Robert Hunt, who has had few snaps at this position in the NFL.

Another issue the Dolphins are dealing with in this particular case is that they don’t currently have a first-round pick in this year’s draft, which means they are likely out of the range of guys like Darnell Wright or Broderick Jones. Guys like Matthew Bergeron, Anton Harrison, Jaelyn Duncan, Dawand Jones, and Tyler Steen all have “warts,” which means they aren’t likely to be a day one starter either.

So the issue becomes who can the Dolphins acquire at right tackle that will be an immediate difference maker without breaking the bank? Someone like Matt Feiler could do a serviceable job filling that role. While he played left guard with the Chargers this past year, he has plenty of experience playing right tackle when he was in Pittsburgh. The issue with Feiler is that he is 30 years old and is unlikely to be the long-term solution. So the only real options for a long-term solution for the Dolphins are two restricted free agents, Terrance Steele of the Dallas Cowboys and Yosh Nijman of the Green Bay Packers.

Starting with Steele, he has had the most experience among the two playing right tackle. He has a couple of things going for him. First, he is only 25 years old. That bodes well for his long-term future with the Dolphins. He is a plus pass protector, only allowing one sack in 2022. In the running game, he helped Tony Pollard and the Cowboys lead to the eighth-best rushing attack in the NFL with almost 2300 yards rushing and 24 touchdowns, which was good for second in the NFL. Talent isn’t his issue for the Dolphins. The issue with Steele is that 1) he is coming off an ACL tear that won’t allow him on the field until Training Camp, and 2) he has a second-round tender on him, meaning if the Dolphins offer him a contract and he signs is that they are required to give the Cowboys their second-round pick this year. So they would have to sign Steele to presumably a fairly large contract extension and lose their highest available pick to them as well.

Overall though, Steele is a talented and young enough player that doing both would most likely pay off in the long run.

Now for Nijman, he is also an interesting player to keep in mind. He is still young at 27 years old, but most importantly, he comes from a scheme very similar to what the Dolphins run. He also is not coming off an injury and could immediately get to work with the team. He has position flexibility to play both left and right tackle with little drop-off in performance between the two. While Steele has played both as well, he is more known to be a right tackle. Nijman, on the other hand, could easily switch over to left tackle to fill in for Terron Armstead should/when he does get hurt in the middle of the season.

For the Dolphins, though, the main thing should be to secure the blind side of quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and make sure that they are doing everything they possibly can to ensure that his injury issues are of as little impact on the season as possible.