The Dolphins' Patrick Paul has dominated during training camp. Here's why

Miami Herald

2 days ago

Patrick Paul loves one-on-ones.
You can tell by the way the 6-foot-7-inch, 326-pound tackle smiles wide when asked about the drill.
'One-on-ones was always my favorite thing coming in,' Paul said Saturday. 'It's a way to work your craft in the pass setting and then just a way to compete. So every rep, I'm competing and I can't let any one get past me.'
And through the first five days of padded practices, virtually no one has done just that. The second-round tackle has been almost unstoppable during one-on-ones, erasing defenders from Bradley Chubb to Chop Robinson like it's nothing. Paul's growth could be a catalyst to the Dolphins' offensive success.
'If you can stop someone in one-on-ones, you can definitely stop him in team periods,' Paul said.
The 2024 second-round pick's development has even earned him praise from coaches, mentors and players alike.
'He's been on a steady confidence climb and it was very helpful getting ingratiated into the NFL game and being able to play behind Terron Armstead – one of the best to do it,' coach Mike McDaniel said Friday, later adding that 'Players on the team, he has earned respect being as intentional and deliberate as any player on the team. You have a gigantic player with an athletic skillset that is attacking what really matters, not, 'Hey, I blocked him,' or 'Hey, I didn't,' but angles of sets, how to keep your balance, how you drive off the ball, landmarks, all of those things, pad level. He's all in to his game and I think people are starting to see that on the practice field and we hope that turns into the game.'
'He's put in the work to become a grown man!!' the recently retired Terron Armstead tweeted Wednesday. 'He will have his growing pains, but we will keep fine tuning his technique! His ceiling is so high!!'
Saturday's practice embodied every bit of Armstead's assessment. During one particular team period, Waddle took a screen 30 yards for a touchdown – in large part due to Paul who pulled to left and led the charge down the sideline into the end zone. The only problem? Paul was so eager to go that he committed a false start.
'Honestly it was just fun – getting out in space, working on the timing of it but then once you're out there and the play goes you're just trying to take anything out,' Paul said, slying smiling and putting a finger to his lips when asked if it was his infraction. 'I don't even know. I don't even know.'
Despite the penalty, Waddle still praised the second-year tackle.
'It was good,' Waddle said Friday. 'Paul is a great block. He's having a tremendous camp, so any time I've got a big guy like that in front of me it definitely slows down defenders and just getting behind him as a shield, go out there and make a play.'
With Armstead's offseason retirement, Paul was always believed to be the five-time Pro Bowler's successor. The 337 or so snaps in relief of Armstead during his rookie season in 2024, however, yielded subpar results.
'There's some things that we thought that he's going to get some really good learned lessons from, growing from good things he did blocking-wise,' Dolphins offensive coordinator Frank Smith said in Oct. 2024 after Paul's first start. 'It's just ultimately when you start off the season and it's not going too well overall for the offense, it's all of us together getting better. And I know he's going to approach it and he's been really diligent with the guys and working hard, and I think overall all of us will continue to grow from this point in the season.'
Experience, though, is sometimes the best teacher and it looks like that small sample size has already begun to pay dividends.
'He's been very intentional,' center Aaron Brewer said Sunday. 'Since the season ended last year, I've spent a lot of time with Pat. So our grind, his mentality, his work, doing two-a-days, three-a-days, stuff like that, it's different. Not the average athlete or just person is doing stuff like that, so how he's coming into Year Two, I love where he's at. His mentality, his work ethic, I love it all.'
The 23-year-old has certainly showcased that growth during training camp, leaving little doubt about who will hopefully be a mainstay at left tackle for years to come.