Laremy Tunsil ready for starting left tackle job with Dolphins
The Miami Dolphins made Laremy Tunsil the 13th overall selection in the 2016 NFL Draft, which was somewhat surprising at the time.
Today, it’s paying major dividends. You just never know how things will work out in the NFL, and less than a year after even drafting Tunsil, the Dolphins were rumored to be cutting starting left tackle Branden Albert, but will now attempt to trade him instead.
Whatever way Albert finds his way out of Miami, the Dolphins will be moving Tunsil from the left guard position (where he played as a rookie due only to Albert’s presence) to the left tackle position.
It’s a position he is ready to take.
While Tunsil wasn’t perfect in his rookie season, the player that was once considered to be a top five lock in the draft and the best left tackle in a very good class of players now will have a chance to be the Dolphins’ franchise left tackle moving forward.
It’s clear why this team has confidence in him.
Tunsil has always been very strong and athletic, and those traits were on display his rookie year at both tackle and guard. Right out of the gates last season, the Dolphins struggled with consistency on the offensive line. After releasing a couple of former third round picks in Billy Turner and Dallas Thomas, the line became a major reason why the Dolphins eventually wound up in the postseason.
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Paving the way for Jay Ajayi’s Pro Bowl season, the line for the Dolphins also gave up just 29 sacks of Ryan Tannehill, which seems like far too many (and it probably is) but it was the least Tannehill had been sacked his entire career. The Dolphins also didn’t really miss much of a beat in the regular season when Matt Moore took over for an injured Tannehill.
Moore played in four games, starting three, and was sacked just one time in the final month of the season. That all changed in the playoffs when the Steelers found way to disrupt the Dolphins’ offensive line, but there’s no doubt that the presence of Tunsil up front was a huge reason for the Dolphins’ success in 2016.
Now, he’s moving over to left tackle, the position that made him a highly regarded prospect. He’s going to be more than ready.