The Miami Dolphins fell to the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, dropping to 0-4 as they continue navigating a significant roster rebuild. While wins and losses matter, much of the focus in 2026 remains on the development of Miami’s young talent.
That is especially true along the offensive line, where rookie left guard Kadyn Proctor and second-year right guard Jonah Savaiinaea are important pieces of the team’s future. How are they performing this season? Each week, we take a closer look at the guards
and what is being said about their most recent performance.
Kadyn Proctor
Jonah Savaiinaea
What We Learned
First: 39 snaps?! Keep the alarmingly small sample size in mind when looking at the grading. Also, we knew this was going to be a tough game against an aggressive defense. The Dolphins’ ascending left tackle Patrick Paul had two holding penalties plus a third one that was declined.
We’ve talked before aboutthe, well, subjective nature of PFF grading. I don’t put a lot of stock in the grades themselves as much as the trends. Is Kadyn Proctor’s run blocking experiencing a decline? Is Jonah Savaiinaea improving as a pass blocker? Where will these two be grading at the end of the year compared to where they started?
For more context, I thought I would poke around the intertubes and see what others had to say:
- On October 6, Kyle Crabbs of LockedOn Dolphins and AtoZSportscompleted his “first-quarter report.” He gives Kadyn Proctor a B and said he is a player who “moves the needle.”
- Also on October 6, Barry Jackson with the Miami Herald posted a story on Jonah Savaiinaea, commenting that Savaiinaea hasn’t given up a sack yet and is a “clearly better player than he was a year ago.”
- On October 4, Alain Poupart of Sports Illustrated said in a mailbag that “there is no question that Savaiinaea has looked better early in his second season than he did as a rookie,” and, despite some work to do in pass protection, “he has looked good in the running game and there has been a clear improvement.”
- In his review of the offensive line play against the Vikings, offensive line coach Eric Smith graded both players lower than in previous weeks. Smith remains bullish on Proctor’s long-term outlook, saying the rookie’s physical tools are obvious and that “we’re going to have a really good player here.” His concerns centered more on communication, processing and run-game execution than physical limitations. As for Savaiinaea, Smith called it his lowest-graded game of the season but said his Year 2 improvement is real and expects him to bounce back in the coming weeks.
Four games into the season, the trend line remains encouraging. Proctor continues to earn praise for his upside, while Savaiinaea is drawing recognition for tangible improvement from a difficult rookie season. Let’s see how they do against the Bengals on Sunday.
The tracker will be updated each week throughout the season. For a more in-depth breakdown of Proctor’s and Savaiinaea’s performance, check out offensive line Coach Eric Smith’s film analysis of the game, which you can find on his YouTube channel, Focused on Fins.
