{"id":289944,"date":"2026-05-30T09:53:31","date_gmt":"2026-05-30T09:53:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/289944\/"},"modified":"2026-05-30T09:53:31","modified_gmt":"2026-05-30T09:53:31","slug":"savaiinaeas-move-to-right-guard-could-unlock-dolphins-run-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/289944\/","title":{"rendered":"Savaiinaea\u2019s move to right guard could unlock Dolphins\u2019 run game"},"content":{"rendered":"

The writing was on the wall with De\u2019Von Achane\u2019s extension<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In the first year under coach Jeff Hafley, the Miami Dolphins will be a run-first team, one led by the star tailback who\u2019s now under contract through 2030. The additions of Kadyn Proctor along the offensive line and blocking tight end Will Kacmarek almost certainly affirmed that.<\/p>\n

And with Proctor slotted in as left guard, Jonah Savaiinaea will move back to the right guard, something that will hopefully allow him to reach his potential.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been really good,\u201d Savaiinaea said. \u201cIt\u2019s always good to move to your original spot, one that you played for a long time. But my mentality doesn\u2019t change as it\u2019s always what\u2019s best for the team. As far as comfortability, there\u2019s always room for improvement.\u201d<\/p>\n

The former Arizona standout had a subpar rookie season. Among 81 qualified guards<\/a>, Savaiinaea ranked dead last in overall grade, according to Pro Football Focus. He also allowed eight sacks, the worst mark at his position.<\/p>\n

Although Savaiinaea was extremely lackluster as a rookie, it could be argued that he played out a position. Sure, the offensive lineman lined up on the left side in college \u2014 345 snaps at left tackle<\/a> to be exact \u2014 yet he had never played left guard. In contrast, Savaiinaea had 987 snaps at right guard across his three-year collegiate career.<\/p>\n

Luckily, the new coaching staff realized that the right side was likely the best for him.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe seems more comfortable there,\u201d coach Jeff Hafley said, later adding that offensive line coaches Zach Yenser and Matt Applebaum \u201cseem to believe that he\u2019s more comfortable there, but it\u2019s also Year 2 for him so he\u2019s going to be more comfortable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Added Hafley: \u201cHe\u2019s got more cumulative reps and muscle memory on the one side. Is it a mental thing? Is it a physical thing? If you ask Jonah, he feels good on the right side. So whether it\u2019s mental, whether it\u2019s physical, whether it\u2019s confidence, whether it\u2019s Year 2, our job is to make sure he has a better year than he did last year.\u201d<\/p>\n

That Savaiinaea was able to gain experience \u2014 albeit out of position \u2014 as a 17-game starter gave him a boost of confidence. Even better: not much has really changed with departure of coach Mike McDaniel as former passing game coordinator Bobby Slowik, a fellow Kyle Shanahan disciple, took over as offensive coordinator.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything\u2019s pretty much the same,\u201d Savaiinaea said, explaining that just the terminology \u2014 \u201ceveryone has a different word\u201d \u2014 was just the biggest difference. He also credited Yenser for \u201cbringing that mentality that the dog is always in the room.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s always pushing us to create a second line of scrimmage and come off the ball with violence and speed,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n

Despite Savaiinaea\u2019s rookie struggles, Achane managed to record a league-leading 5.7 yards per carry<\/a> in addition to rushing for 1,350 yards and eight touchdowns in 2025. He also added another 488 yards and three touchdowns through the air off of a team-high 67 receptions. Achane\u2019s 1,838 yards from scrimmage ranked second in franchise history behind Ricky Williams in 2002.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s hope that Achane can match those totals in 2026, especially with the additions of the aforementioned rookies as well as a dual threat quarterback in Malik Willis. This could give the Dolphins quite the unique rushing attack.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThe defense is going to have to think,\u201d Savaiinaea said. \u201cThey\u2019re going to have to make a decision on how to play what. The mentality, however, up front doesn\u2019t change: if it\u2019s a run, we got open holes for the guys behind us.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n \"Profile
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

C. Isaiah Smalls II<\/a><\/p>\n

Miami Herald<\/p>\n

C. Isaiah Smalls II is a sports and culture writer who covers the Miami Dolphins. In his previous capacity at the Miami Herald, he was the race and culture reporter who created The 44 Percent, a newsletter dedicated to the Black men who voted to incorporate the city of Miami. A graduate of both Morehouse College and Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, Smalls previously worked for ESPN\u2019s Andscape.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The writing was on the wall with De\u2019Von Achane\u2019s extension. In the first year under coach Jeff Hafley,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":289945,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[123,125,124],"class_list":["post-289944","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/289944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=289944"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/289944\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/289945"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=289944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=289944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=289944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}