MIAMI GARDENS — Miami Dolphins coach Jeff Hafley was dead on when he described second-year guard Jonah Savaiinaea’s performance last week as a step.
That’s all it was.
A step. One step, in a journey.
Take one step backward, it’s like the step forward never happened.
Take more steps forward, it’s like 2025 never happened.
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That’s the warning needed to put Savaiinaea’s play against the Washington Commanders in perspective. Maybe you’ve seen the clips on social media, clips that are 180 degrees from the clips mocking Savaiinaea’s play last year as a rookie.
Here’s Jonah driving his man 2, 3, 4 yards backward on a running play.
Here’s Jonah stonewalling his man in pass protection.
Here’s Jonah lending a helping hand to
center Aaron Brewer by casually knocking Ricky Barber on his keister. Usually when players get leveled like that in the NFL, it’s a guard teeing off on a cornerback, not a 6-foot-3, 295-pound defensive tackle.
Put the highlight clips together and they account for a significant piece of Savaiinaea’s night. The guy played 22 snaps. This wasn’t selective editing.
“All I had to do was go out there and just play,” Savaiinaea said. “So that’s what I did.”
It can’t be that simple. Can it? Because if it is, you wonder why Mike McDaniel’s coaching staff didn’t find a way to yank Savaiinaea out of the left guard spot and return him to his college position of right guard, where he looks infinitely more comfortable. At left guard, Savaiinaea looked lost — inching toward being a lost cause. A second-round draft pick is a terrible thing to waste.
To those of us who never played offensive line, the shift sounds simple enough. Left? Right? What’s the big deal? At times like this, we’re reminded of the all-timer line from Josh Sitton after he joined the Dolphins in 2018.
“I could compare it with trying to wipe your (backside) with your opposite hand,” Sitton said.
So maybe it shouldn’t be a surprise that Savaiinaea is now talking about playing faster and not having to think about every movement. Of just going out and using that 6-5, 325-pound mass to move people.
“One hundred percent,” he said.
Jonah Savaiinaea sees benefit in life's adversities
That’s not to say Savaiinaea bemoans last year’s growing pains.
“I’m big on my faith and my whole life is all about adversities,” he said. “I thank God for adversities, because without them I wouldn’t to be where I'm at today. So being able to go through it, it's OK to fail. It's August and I don't want to talk about last year anymore because that's like far, far behind me. I'm already moving forward. So all I got to say is embrace those failures and adversities, because it'll help you in the long way.”
The Dolphins began the game with their lone exclamation point of the evening, a 14-play, 93-yard drive for a touchdown. Savaiinaea began with an outlook you wouldn’t have expected a year ago.
“When the ball was spotted backed up, I looked at K.P.,” Savaiinaea said, referring to left guard and first-round pick Kadyn Proctor. “I was like, ‘Get ready. Buckle up. It’s going to be a long one.’ And it so happened to be his first drive. I’m proud.”
Savaiinaea is equally bullish on Brewer.
“I mean, every team should scheme him,” Savaiinaea said. “He shouldn’t be able to climb to the second level if that were me. But him being able to sneak up to the second level and not even touching a down lineman, they play him a certain way. That’s what makes my job easy.”
Fine, but Brewer was the second-team All-Pro center last year, so he's not exactly a secret in this league. Savaiinaea played next to Brewer then, too, only Brewer lined up to his right, not his left.
So the pieces fit, at least in make-believe game No. 1. Remember, though, that the player Savaiinaea knocked on his fanny has two games of NFL experience. Cameron Heyward, he’s not.
“I got to give it up for Jonah,” Hafley said. “I thought Jonah took a step. He was physical. And I showed some clips in front of the entire team this morning of him just coming off the ball and driving people back of him, knocking guys on the ground.”
Turning them into stepping stones.
Hal Habib covers the Miami Dolphins for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at HHabib@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Miami Dolphins' Jonah Savaiinaea takes step he never did in 2025
