The Dolphins got a reminder last Sunday that one missing piece can throw the whole front off balance.
Miami came out of the loss to New England with a halftime lead and a real shot at a second straight win over a division opponent, but the offense never looked settled once the game wore on. That was especially true up front, where the absence of rookie left guard Kadyn Proctor seemed to ripple through the unit.
Proctor’s season has been worth tracking because he’s one of the key young pieces on this offensive line, alongside second-year right guard Jonah Savaiinaea. And when Proctor was out against the Patriots, the whole group looked disjointed.
The numbers matched the eye test: Ollie Gordon had 19 carries for 69 yards, a 3.6 yards-per-carry average, and the Dolphins allowed five sacks. As a team, Miami finished with a season-low 3.2 yards per carry.
How much of that came from Proctor’s absence is impossible to pin down with certainty, but the timing sure stood out. The encouraging part for Miami is that Proctor has cleared concussion protocol and is back in the lineup against the Lions.
Savaiinaea, meanwhile, had one of his roughest outings of the year. He was flagged for holding in the second quarter, his first penalty of the season, and his overall PFF grade was the lowest among this week’s five starters on the offensive line, even below Jarrett Kingston, who filled in for Proctor.
The trend line has also been moving the wrong way. After strong showings against the 49ers and Chiefs in September, Savaiinaea has posted below-average grades in each of his last four games.
That’s not just a PFF story, either. OL coach Eric Smith, in his weekly YouTube offensive line review, also pointed to Savaiinaea’s recent drop-off and said last week’s performance looked a lot like 2025, when Jonah was statistically one of the worst guards in the league.
Here’s how the two guards have graded out this season:
Kadyn Proctor has played every snap in the games he’s appeared in, with 59 snaps at the Raiders, 56 at the 49ers, 73 against the Chiefs, 39 at the Vikings, 66 against the Bengals, and 65 at the Jets. He was a DNP against the Patriots.
His PFF highs came against the Bengals, when he posted a 72.7 overall grade, including a 74.9 run-blocking mark. His lowest overall grade came at Minnesota, where he finished at 51.2.
Savaiinaea has been on the field for 59 snaps at the Raiders, 56 at the 49ers, 73 against the Chiefs, 39 at the Vikings, 18 against the Bengals, 65 at the Jets, and 65 against the Patriots. He picked up no penalties until last Sunday, when the holding call showed up in the stat sheet. His best overall grade came at San Francisco, where he posted a 65.9, and his pass protection has swung wildly from week to week, including a 77.5 against the Vikings and a 31.4 against the Jets.
The bigger takeaway is that the offensive line may be more vulnerable to losing one starter than a position group like wide receiver, because those five linemen have to function as a single unit. Miami’s showing against New England gave that idea some weight. This week should tell us more.
In Other News...
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Dolphins Suddenly Have A Week 9 Edge Fans Didnt Expect
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Detroit, meanwhile, is dealing with a much longer list of absences and uncertainty heading into the game. The Lions have already ruled out five starters, and several more players are either questionable or still working through injury protocols, which gives Miami an opening it did not necessarily expect when the week began. [Read more 🡒]