Lost in the shuffle of Miami’s busy first two rounds of the 2019 NFL Draft is the selection of Wisconsin offensive lineman Michael Deiter. Deiter, who has 10+ starts at center, guard and tackle throughout the course of his college career, will provide the Dolphins ample flexibility to attack to the offensive line in the third wave of free agency.
Why? Because he can play just about anywhere. Deiter’s projection to the pro level provides limited upside at tackle, but Miami should feel great about Deiter’s ability to play any number of spots. What does that provide the team? Assurance that they’ll have an interior spot filled, no matter where it needs to be.
Does Deiter have a preference?
“Honestly, anywhere in the middle three – center, left guard and then right guard,” said Deiter. “At the end of the day, I think I could still play tackle if need be.”
Miami will need to make more additions on the offensive line so that they may accurately assess the play of new quarterback Josh Rosen — expect him to win the quarterback competition that Dolphins brass announced he would enter with Ryan Fitzpatrick.
But with Deiter’s flexibility in positions, Miami can gauge the available talent on the free agent market and make the moves necessary to shuffle their deck and get the best combination of five players to man the unit. And if and when injuries strike the Dolphins’ front, they may choose to use Deiter’s flexibility again to shuffle the interior.
An interior offensive lineman may not be a high profile addition, but Miami fans should know well enough by now how important they can be to an offense’s identity and consistency. Deiter provides improvement there.
