The Miami Dolphins made a trade to move up in Round 2 to select Jonah Savainaea the guard from Arizona.
THE TRADE: Miami Gives Up 48, 98 and 135 this year for picks 37 and 143.
With the trade-up, he should replace Liam Eichenberg in the starting lineup and will be expected to start.
With both of their first-round picks now, Miami has addressed the trenches and are building up both lines of scrimmage.
The Dolphins’ offensive line needs help, and Savainaea will do just that
NFL.com Draft Profile
Overview
Durable three-year starter who is built like a right guard but has valuable protection experience as a collegiate tackle. Savaiinaea doesn’t have the athleticism to stick at right tackle in the NFL, but can play there in a pinch with some help. He’s very wide and can engulf smaller opponents as a base blocker while sealing off double teams and down blocks. His feet often deaden on contact, creating opportunities for defenders to leak through his edges in both the run and pass games. Savaiinaea’s size works to his advantage and he could become a serviceable starting guard in time.
Strengths
- Dense frame with excellent thickness through limbs.
- Patient with hands but fires them with timing and accuracy.
- Uses posture and core to control rushers once he’s locked in.
- Space-eating frame will be tough to beat quickly inside.
- Able to shove angle blocks around with upper-body strength.
- Does a nice job of finding and fitting up second-level targets.
Weaknesses
- Has trouble sitting heavy and anchoring against bull-rushers.
- Below-average recognition and response to twists.
- Doesn’t bend and slide well enough to protect his inside edge.
- Lacks leverage and hand placement as a drive blocker.
- Falls off of base blocks due to inconsistent body control.
The Draft Network
Jonah Savaiinaea, OT, Arizona
Size:
Height: 6041
Weight: 324
Arm: 33 ⅞”
Hand: 10 ¼”
Accomplishments:
All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention (2023, 2022) • Freshman All-American (2022)
“Jonah Savaiiinaea has the necessary length and athletic profile to develop into a reliable starter on the next level.”
Strengths:
- Ideal length and mass
- Good football IQ
- Ability to anchor in pass protection
Concerns:
- Plays with high pad level
- Reactionary athleticism in pass protection
- Hand placement leads to holding penalties
Film Analysis:
Jonah Savaiinaea is a multi-year starter for the Arizona Wildcats team that surprised everyone with their program turnaround, led by an offensive explosion in 2023. Savaiinaea served as a key piece to this offensive turnaround by being a reliable starter on the offensive line. In his time at Arizona, he has shown to have a good combination of length and mass—key physical attributes that aid in his success as an OT.
In pass protection, Savaiinaea’s best reps come when he can maintain inside leverage on defenders and force them around the arc. Using his heavy inside alignment, he forces defenders who want to work a tighter angle to run through his frame, allowing Savaiinaea to use his mass to his advantage. Savaiinaea has enough overall strength to anchor against defenders and stop their rush.
In the run game, Savaiinaea appears to have good overall athleticism and range to get to defenders and make effective blocks. Savaiinaea can smother defenders with his size and force them to have to go around his frame to win the rep, which means the defenders have vacated their gaps, creating a running lane for the ball-carrier. Savaiinaea can also climb to the second level of the defense and make effective blocks.
Looking at Savaiinaea’s improvements as a player, they start with his lower half and his ability to keep his feet active. Oftentimes, Savaiinaeea stops his feet on contact and lunges, whether it’s in the run game or in pass protection, which transitions him from being in a good position to having to lunge at defenders or put himself in position for holding penalties to be called. Being able to sustain blocks is a huge part of Savaiinaea’s needed improvement because he does a good job making initial contact, but the ability to consistently sustain/finish blocks to make them effective blocks is a missing piece.
Overall, Saviinaea projects to be best suited in a heavy zone run scheme where he can use his athleticism to beat defenders to a spot and be effective. Saviinaea presents a lot of NFL-translatable qualities as a prospect, he just needs to improve the details of his game to become more consistent in his effectiveness.
