How Can the Miami Dolphins Finish Offensive Line Rebuild in Free Agency?

Rome wasn't built in a day, and the Miami Dolphins offensive line wasn't built in one offseason. 

Now, the Dolphins front office must finish the job they started and find upgrades on the offensive line if they want to see any noticeable improvement on offense in 2015. Meanwhile, the Dolphins must also decide where to slot their linemen in a configuration that gives their offense the best chance to protect quarterback Ryan Tannehill and open holes in the running game.

Position	Player	Years in NFL
LT	Branden Albert	7
LG	Dallas Thomas	2
C	Mike Pouncey	3
RG	Billy Turner	1
RT	Ja'Wuan James	1

The latter of those two areas was a strength last year, as the Dolphins rushed for 4.7 yards per carry, the second-highest average in the NFL. The former, however, was a weakness, as the Dolphins once again allowed too many sacks on Tannehill (46, ranked 10th-most in the NFL). 

That's still better than the hot mess of 2013, in which the line allowed Tannehill to be sacked 58 times—the most in the NFL that year, and the most allowed by the Dolphins in team history—and opened up holes for a below-average rushing attack (4.1 YPA ranked 17th in 2013).

Thus, it was no surprise that the Dolphins went with an 80 percent rebuild, bidding farewell to starters at four of the five offensive line positions between the 2013 and 2014 seasons.

The changes began swiftly; left tackle Branden Albert signed a six-year, $47 million contract; guard Shelley Smith signed a four-year, $5.5 million deal; guard Daryn Colledge signed a one-year, $2 million deal; the Dolphins also drafted offensive tackle Ja'Wuan James and offensive lineman Billy Turner in hopes that both would develop into starters. 

Albert was looking like the Dolphins' MVP before a knee injury ended his season in November. Depending on Albert's timetable for recovery, James could be thrust into the starting role at left tackle, where he struggled for the final month of the 2014 season, yielding 20 pressures, three hits and four sacks, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required).

With Albert and James at the tackle spots, the Dolphins aren't in too dire need of adding protectors on the outside. They are, however, in the market for two interior offensive linemen, whether it's two guards or a guard and a center.

Between Turner and third-year lineman Dallas Thomas, the Dolphins are certainly hopeful that their young linemen can make some improvements to better position themselves for starting roles in 2015, particularly at guard. The Dolphins may, however, want to get back on the open market to make sure that those positions are stocked in an effort to add depth and provide competition.

Mike Pouncey was the team's starting center for the first two years of his NFL career, but the arrival of Samson Satele allowed the Dolphins to move Pouncey to guard last year after he finished serving a four-game suspension. It would behoove the Dolphins to look for two guards and move Pouncey back to center.

Guards like Mike Iupati (San Francisco 49ers), James Carpenter (Seattle Seahawks), Orlando Franklin (Denver Broncos) and Clint Boling (Cincinnati Bengals) are all available on the open market, but aside from Franklin and Iupati, there aren't many needle-movers hitting free agency. 

Iupati isn't much of a fit for what the Dolphins need, as Pete Damilatis of ProFootballFocus.com points out that Iupati fared much better as a run-blocker than he did in pass protection.

The best bet of those options would be Franklin, who has experience playing both guard and tackle (which would come in handy in the event of an injury, or if Albert is not ready for Week 1), and also has experience in a zone-blocking scheme similar to the one the Dolphins run. 

The Dolphins could also go with a stopgap option in an older veteran like Dan Connolly (New England Patriots) or Willie Colon (New York Jets); both men are over 30 years old but could come in and start for a year or two while the Dolphins figure out what is going on with their younger linemen.

The Dolphins are only a piece or two away from completing their rebuild up front. There are a few options available, and now all the Dolphins have to do is decide which ones work best for their vision.

All contract and salary-cap information provided by Spotrac.