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The Jacksonville Jaguars take on the Miami Dolphins on Friday evening to open the 2013 preseason. We know a lot about the Jaguars, but what about the Dolphins? I got a hold of Kevin Nogle over at The Phinsider to ask him some questions about the Dolphins, and what we can look for.
The biggest thing I took away from the Hall Of Fame game was that the Dolphins left tackle position seemed to struggle, so that's of course the first thing I asked him.
The left tackle position looked rough for the Dolphins in the HOF game, how much concern is there at that spot right now?
There's concern, but it's still early as well. Everyone is watching Jonathan Martin, because, through Twitter, it appears he is having a horrible training camp. But, in reality, I think it's a lot better than people realize. The tweets report every time he gives up a sack, but not every time he stops the defender. That leads to the appearance that he is only giving up sacks. During the Hall of Fame Game, he actually played a lot better than people realized. He got beat badly on one play, but the other 9 snaps he took were not bad, and some were really good. Martin will take some time to develop, but the Dolphins aren't looking for Jake Long All Pro play. They want someone solid to hold down the position.
Behind Martin, everyone saw how miserable the play of Dallas Thomas was. Part of that can be attributed to him being a rookie playing in his first professional game. The other part, and this is much bigger, is Thomas is likely playing out of position right now. Before the season starts, I expect him to be moved inside permanently, likely as the second string left guard. A player who had a good game at left tackle, but did not get much notice, is third year player Will Yeatman. As a rookie in 2011, Yeatman was a reserve tight end for Miami; upon the arrival of head coach Joe Philibin in 2010, the team moved Yeatman to tackle. Now, a year after making the switch, he is trying to prove the team's efforts weren't for naught.