Miami Shouldn’t Close the Door on a Connor Williams Reunion
Credit: Jim Rassol / THE PALM BEACH POST / USA TODAY NETWORK
This offseason, the Miami Dolphins made a change at the center position. Connor Williams, who was the leader of the Dolphins offensive line, suffered a torn ACL late last season and thus far has not been brought back by the team. Instead, general manager Chris Grier opted to sign the cheaper, yet still effective Aaron Brewer to replace Williams. The former undrafted free agent-turned-Tennessee Titan has experience at both center and left guard, and is a perfect fit for the Dolphins outside zone rushing scheme.
With training camp less than a month away, the Dolphins offensive line appears to be solidified. Three-time Pro Bowl left tackle Terron Armstead, left guard Isaiah Wynn (who is an interesting player in his own right), right guard Robert Jones, right tackle Austin Jackson, and the aforementioned Brewer are all projected to make up Miami’s Week 1 starting offensive line. Overall, the group isn’t as talented as last year’s group, but they’re not terrible, either.
Granted, “not terrible” isn’t exactly a ringing endorsement by any stretch of the imagination. Make no mistake, the Dolphins are in Super Bowl or Bust mode. Grier has been very active signing ring-chasing veterans like Marcus Maye, Calais Campbell, and Odell Beckham Jr. well past the first wave of free agency and the NFL Draft. With that mindset, the Dolphins shouldn’t close the door on a Connor Williams reunion before the start of training camp.
The first counterpoint, and arguably the largest hurdle preventing the Dolphins from signing Williams, is the presence of Brewer. It would be weird for Williams to return to a team that signed a starting-caliber player at his position in the offseason. Williams’ agent Drew Rosenhaus said in a recent interview that while his client is open to resigning with the Dolphins, the addition of Brewer makes it less likely because Williams is fully committed to playing center. Essentially, the Dolphins don’t need Williams anymore.
But just because the Dolphins no longer have a major need at center, doesn’t mean they shouldn’t pursue Williams while he’s still on the open market. After all, there’s no such thing as too much quality offensive line depth. Look at what the Minnesota Vikings did this offseason.
Last year, Dalton Risner was their starting left guard, and a good one at that. Yet they were able to promote backup swing tackle Blake Brandel to become the team’s starting left guard, and they were still able to re-sign Risner to a dirt-cheap contract late in the offseason. So it’s not unprecedented to re-sign starting-caliber linemen this late in the offseason program, even after their succession plan was put in place.
If the Dolphins were to re-sign Connor Williams, he’d be able to reacclimate himself from the torn ACL he suffered late last season. He could focus on that while not having to learn new terminology in Miami, which wouldn’t be the case anywhere else. Sitting behind Brewer to start the year in a familiar offense is the best-case scenario for a player who is slowly rehabbing from injury.
When Williams is ready to return, he could replace Aaron as the starting center while Brewer slides over to left guard. Then they could start Wynn could transition to right guard, given his tenacity as a run blocker, allowing Jones be a backup once again.
However, the biggest reason why the Dolphins should bring back Williams is because when healthy, he’s a significantly better player at his position than Brewer is. Yes, Brewer is a mighty fine run blocker, but his pass protection is pretty lacking. Last season, Brewer finished the year with a PFF pass-block grade of 45.0, and his true pass set pass-block grade was only 32.7.
Now, compare that to Connor Williams who was solid in pass protection last season, with a PFF pass-block grade of 70.7 and a true pass set pass-block grade of 63.3. That gives you a sense of where the two stack up against each other. The real icing on the cake is that Connor Williams graded out as a much better run blocker (90.5 PFF grade) than Aaron Brewer (78.7), despite that being Brewer’s calling card.
If the Dolphins still plan on running a Tyreek Hill-iocentric offense, then they’ll need reliable pass protection up front. Even though Tua Tagovailoa has slimmed down this offseason, he’s definitely not the most mobile quarterback. With the loss of Robert Hunt this offseason, Miami already has a massive gap on the interior offensive line. Why make it worse by letting arguably one of the best centers in the league sign elsewhere?
Although the odds of it happening are unlikely, Grier should at least kick the tires on Williams. If there’s somehow any mutual interest between both parties, then the Dolphins should bring him back. He’s simply too good of a player to pass up on, especially when embarking on a potential Super Bowl campaign in 2024.
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