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Evaluating Patrick Paul's First NFL Start

The Miami Dolphins rookie second-round pick made the start in place of injured veteran Terron Armstead

Alain Poupart

Miami Dolphins offensive tackle Patrick Paul (52) celebrates after the game against the Atlanta Falcons at Hard Rock Stadium during the preseason.
Miami Dolphins offensive tackle Patrick Paul (52) celebrates after the game against the Atlanta Falcons at Hard Rock Stadium during the preseason. / Sam Navarro-Imagn Images
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The Miami Dolphins' loss to the Tennessee Titans on Monday night did not give fans much hope for the team's immediate future. However, we did get a look at one player who will be a massive factor in the team's long-term future.

Rookie second-round pick Patrick Paul made his first NFL start against the Titans. With starting left tackle Terron Armstead out, the Dolphins turned to Paul over veteran Kendall Lamm.

Most analysts viewed Paul as a project coming out of Houston.

Despite playing 2,754 total snaps in college, Paul's technique was incredibly raw, especially in pass protection. The Dolphins needed to develop him if he was going to become a starting-caliber lineman in the NFL.

What returns did we see from Paul's first real NFL action? His 54 offensive snaps were a mixed bag, but we dove into the film to see if his performance is something Dolphins fans should get excited about.

PATRICK PAUL'S RUN BLOCKING

Run blocking is where Paul showed the most promise during the preseason. He's got a massive frame and plenty of strength to move opposing defensive linemen off the ball. Despite that, Paul didn't get much chance to impact the Dolphins' running game.

Of Miami's 28 total rushing attempts, just eight were run to the left side, according to Pro Football Focus (PFF). To be fair to Paul, that seems to be a season-wide trend for the Dolphins. They've run the run ball on the left side of the line 30 times compared to 41 on the right.

Miami was not successful when running to the left side Monday night. The Dolphins recorded just 7 yards off the left side of the line, including minus-4 yards running at left tackle. That's not all on Paul, but he's not exempt.

He got a few opportunities to make some plays in the running game but struggled a bit. His worst rep came on Tyreek Hill's fourth-down jet sweep early in the second quarter. Paul was supposed to climb to the second level to seal off Titans linebacker Kenneth Murray.

However, he couldn't get there in time, giving Murray a free run at Hill. That disruption in the play allowed Titans safety Quandre Diggs to stop Hill short of the marker. Many fans were upset with this play call, but this is probably a first down if Paul executes.

The minus-4-yard run we mentioned earlier was at least partly Paul's fault. Sebastian Joseph-Day stacked him off the line, preventing Robert Jones from holding his block on T'Vondre Sweat, who made the tackle for loss.

That said, De'Von Achane — who had a rough night — probably picked the wrong hole. The play was designed with Liam Eichenberg pulling into the gap off of Jones' hip. Achane could have put his foot in the ground and cut upfield to pick up a few yards.

Instead, he tried to bounce the run an extra gap, and Sweat was waiting for him. The original gap was tight because Paul couldn't move Joseph-Day, so assigning total blame to either Achane or Paul is hard. Ultimately, it wasn't a stellar rep for either player.

Although this sounds like a rough evaluation of Paul's play, he was less negative in the running game and more of a non-factor. He did his job on the backside well enough and, like most of Miami's offense, started to pick things up late in the fourth quarter.

PAUL'S PASS PROTECTION

Judging the Dolphins' offensive line is always challenging. Because the ball comes out so quickly, the linemen are rarely left to pass-protect on their own for an extended period.

Last night, Paul had many non-competitive reps — ones where the ball came out so quickly that he was barely engaged with the defensive line, or he was left uncovered because Tennessee sent pressure from the other side (the safety is a good example).

Still, there were enough real reps to have a few takeaways.

Coming out of school, Paul needed the most development in this area. He struggled mightily with hand placement and over-set a lot when getting off the snap. Those issues popped up on Paul's allowed sack with roughly six minutes left in the third quarter.

Again, Joseph-Day got the better of Paul. The rookie's initial punch was outside Joseph-Day's chest, and he lunged to make contact, causing him to become unbalanced.

In the clip, you can see Paul's head go down at the point of contact. Once that happens, he cannot stop Joseph-Day's swim move. This is about as bad as pass protection reps get at the NFL level.

Overall, Paul was charged with the one sack and three pressures allowed by PFF.

PFF is a great tool, but it can be hit or miss in terms of offensive line play. After watching the film, those numbers are hard to argue with. The third pressure they charged him with was questionable.

Tyler Huntley sprinted from the pocket off the snap on what looked like a design play. Achane went to chop-block Key but missed, allowing for the easy pressure. Paul was over there, but given the aforementioned missed chop block, we're not 100% sure Key was his responsibility.

It wasn't all bad for Paul in pass protection, though. He showed some nice lateral quickness to cut off a few inside pass-rush moves by Arden Key. He also held up relatively well when dealing with power rushes off the edge.

THE BOTTOM LINE ON PAUL'S FIRST NFL START

Paul isn't ready to be a starter right now. All of the same flaws that popped up in his college tape were present Monday night. However, Paul wasn't so bad Monday that anyone should panic about his long-term outlook.

He played like a second-round rookie who was making his first NFL start. There were some rough moments, but he didn't look entirely out of place.

Before getting excited about Paul or jumping off the boat entirely because of a few bad reps, Dolphins fans should remain patient and let Paul develop a bit.

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Alain Poupart
ALAIN POUPART

Alain Poupart is the publisher/editor of All Dolphins and co-host of the All Dolphins Podcast. Alain has covered the Miami Dolphins on a full-time basis since 1989 for various publications and media outlets, including Dolphin Digest, The Associated Press, the Dolphins team website, and the Fan Nation Network (part of Sports Illustrated). In addition to being a credentialed member of the Miami Dolphins press corps, Alain has covered three Super Bowls (for NFL.com, Football News and the Montreal Gazette), the annual NFL draft, the Senior Bowl, and the NFL Scouting Combine. During his almost 40 years in journalism, which began at the now-defunct Miami News, Alain has covered practically every sport at one time or another, from tennis to golf, baseball, basketball and everything in between. The career also included time as a copy editor, including work on several books such as "Still Perfect," an inside look at the Miami Dolphins' 1972 perfect season. A native of Montreal, Canada, whose first language is French, Alain grew up a huge hockey fan but soon developed a love for all sports, including NFL football. He has lived in South Florida since the 1980s.

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