Miami Dolphins offensive lineman Laremy Tunsil has had it rough already!
The old video of him smoking weed with a gas mask on surfaced cost him a spot in the top 10 of the draft. And with that fall out of the top 10 came a switch from his natural left tackle position. After taking Tunsil at No. 13 overall the Dolphins moved him to guard.
The starting left tackle for the Dolphins right now is a past-his-prime Branden Albert. And even worse than that, Daniel Thomas, who has been struggling from Day 1, is starting at left guard. Just like that, Tunsil went from immediate starting left tackle to backup guard.
Tunsil saw his first NFL action with Miami’s second-team offense in Friday’s preseason win over the New York Giants. He wasn’t exactly a beast out there but he made a good open-field block that sprung first-year receiver Jakeem Grant for a 24-yard gain.
And when you consider how badly Thomas is struggling, we should see Tunsil starting at guard soon. Head coach Adam Gase gave first-team reps in Sunday’s practice to both Tunsil and Thomas. But he’s not in a hurry to change anything with three more preseason games left.
He told NFL.com, “I know everybody is itching to fire everybody and bench everybody. And I understand some people are concerned about every single little thing. When certain people have history, guys who have been here in the past, I know you form opinions. But I said this right from the start: Everybody has a fresh start with this crew.”
It looks like Gase is going to make him earn it but at some point, Tunsil has to win out.