When the Dolphins made Stanford left tackle Jonathan Martin a second-round pick in 2012, some saw Martin as the eventual replacement for 2008 first-overall selection Jake Long. The Dolphins denied it. And now only one year later Martin is the replacement for Long.
The Dolphins could soon be wishing they’d kept Long.
Martin’s performance to date in his first training camp on the left side is causing a bit of a panic in South Florida. Joe Rose of WQAM brought it up today during our weekly Friday morning visit, and Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald points out that Olivier Vernon beat Martin three times for sacks on Thursday, a day after rookie Dion Jordan beat Martin twice for sacks.
“I think it’s been going pretty well,” Martin said Thursday, via Salguero. “You have some good days and some bad days out there. My goal is to try to be consistent against a talented D-line. . . . It’s been challenging but I like it. I like going against the best.”
Dolphins fans are hoping that’s the accurate explanation. If Martin is facing the next great NFL defensive line in practice, it would be good news for the defense and not bad news for the offense, especially since Martin won’t see anyone better in real games.
Especially since he won’t see Aldon Smith again until 2016.
Either way, it’s a another reason to tune in for the early stages of Sunday night’s preseason opener between the Cowboys and the Dolphins on NBC.