The Miami Dolphins' offensive line still has some questions to answer before the preseason concludes and the 2024 regular season gets underway. In particular, that relates to the interior of its offensive line.
One of the Dolphins' major offseason free agency acquisitions was directed at helping to resolve that question with the signing of former Tennessee Titans IOL Aaron Brewer. That said, despite appearing to be the solution at center, it wasn't 100% clear as to which of those spots Brewer would ultimately lock down based on the roster makeup.
After all, Brewer played both guard and center in Tennessee, so he could presumably play either for the Dolphins. Miami also hasn't yet brought back its starting center from 2023 in Connor Williams, who suffered a torn ACL back in December.
However, IOL Liam Eichenberg spoke with the media after practice on Tuesday during the Dolphins' OTAs, and he noted that Brewer is taking over for him at center - at least for the time being.
"As you guys know, I'm going to play wherever they need me to play," Eichenberg said. "So, I'm excited to be out there. I'm excited to be healthy right now. End of the year last year I was kind of banged up pretty good. So, it's nice being able to run without some pain. So, I'm excited right now. I'm working to be the best center for this team right now. Obviously, when Brewer gets back, I'm going to start working at guard, and I got some good work in, first couple of weeks of OTAs. So, I'm looking forward to getting out there in team [activities] and showing what I can do."
There's still a long way to go in the offseason, and the possibility still exists that the Dolphins might not be done adding to their offensive line; i.e. Williams. After all, they did literally nothing to address their interior offensive line in the draft, so perhaps there's another shoe yet to drop.
However, it's unknown if Williams would even be ready for the start of the season if they were to bring him back. Given his injury occurred in December, early September could be too much of an ask for the veteran lineman.
Brewer also certainly had his best season at center while at Tennessee and seems to be more of a natural fit there. As such, at least for the time being, it appears as though Brewer is indeed set to take over as the man snapping the ball to Tua Tagovailoa when the season gets underway.
