Can Isaiah Wynn Adapt to the Dolphins’ New-Look Offensive Line?
Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
In the climax of Captain America: The First Avenger, our hero Captain America (A.K.A. Steve Rogers) climbs aboard the main antagonist Red Skull’s super-bomber during takeoff to prevent him from deploying weapons of mass destruction on major American cities. Captain America eventually defeats Red Skull and saves millions of lives by crashing the super-bomber into an iceberg in the middle of the Arctic Ocean.
By crashing into the iceberg, Steve Rogers was cryogenically frozen for nearly 70 years. Then one day, Captain America is recovered from the iceberg and wakes up in a hospital. Rogers goes outside to investigate and is shocked to see that his surroundings have completely changed. It has to be a feeling similar to how Miami Dolphins left guard Isaiah Wynn felt when he was frozen on IR in October 2023 and missed the rest of the year. When he woke up, Wynn found out that the old teammates he was used to playing with were now long gone.
Even though the past is all Wynn can remember, there’s no time to dwell on it right now. The only thing that matters now is how well he can adapt to Miami’s present-day offensive line. Unfortunately for Wynn, that’s where the similarities between him and Steve Rogers end. In the movies, technological advancements played a part in helping Captain America perform his duties at a higher level. Whereas for Wynn, the talent around him is significantly worse than it was last year.
For starters, the Dolphins no longer have Connor Williams, who was arguably the best center in the league, after suffering a torn ACL in December that ended his tenure in Miami. Nor do the Dolphins have right guard Robert Hunt, who the Carolina Panthers wooed away with a five-year, $100 million deal in free agency.
With the Dolphins’ two most dominant players on the interior offensive line out of the picture, Chris Grier did his best to replace them with the limited amount of cap space at his disposal. Grier signed former Tennessee Titans center Aaron Brewer to a three-year, $21 million deal. Meanwhile, Robert Jones, who was a backup guard for Miami last season, is now the projected starter at right guard.
Perhaps the bigger challenge for Wynn may not just be the reduction in talent around him, but rather his inability to stay on the field throughout his professional career. Through his first five years in the NFL, Wynn has yet to turn in a healthy season as a starter. Wynn missed at least 50% of the regular season in four out of the six years he’s been in the league.
This includes Wynn missing his entire rookie season in 2018 after tearing his Achilles in Week 2 of the preseason. The following season, Isaiah was named the starting left tackle out of training camp, but only started in 8 out of 16 games for the Patriots. From that point on, Wynn missed a total of 15 more games during his time in New England before his rookie contract expired. Wynn has one season where he played 16 games (of a possible 17 in 2021), but hasn’t played more than 10 before or since.
That being said, Wynn has had to adapt to change throughout his entire career. Wynn spent the majority of his time at Georgia starting at guard, yet when he was drafted by the Patriots they moved him to tackle. It was a position he never seemed fully comfortable with. Isaiah struggled early on in his career and was labeled a bust despite playing out of position.
On top of that, he only had two seasons with the same guard beside him in Joe Thuney, who the Patriots let walk in free agency following the 2020 season. Replacing Thuney at left guard was Ted Karras, who wasn’t nearly as good as his predecessor. Just when Isaiah Wynn got settled in at left tackle after three years of starting there, New England suddenly moved him to right tackle for the 2022 season.
Wynn’s time in New England was defined by injuries and constant change. Once he got to Miami, Wynn was able to settle down a bit, at least until injuries struck again. Miami moved him back to his natural position at guard, where he greatly benefitted from the position switch. Of course, it also helped having Williams and Hunt to aid him on the interior offensive line, and it’s unknown if he can maintain that play without him.
The Dolphins saved Wynn’s career by switching him back to guard and creating an environment that allowed him to perform at his best. Now the question becomes: Can he adapt to the Dolphins new-look interior offensive line and become the hero that Miami needs him to be? It’ll be one of many major questions the Dolphins will have to answer this season.
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