The Miami Dolphins may have lost their matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday at Hard Rock Stadium, but they also lost right guard Jonah Savaiinaea early in the contest to a lower-body injury.
Without much experienced depth, Miami turned to Jarrett Kingston, who slid in between Aaron Brewer and Austin Jackson. The 26-year-old played at Washington State from 2018-22 and at USC in 2023 before the San Francisco 49ers took him in the sixth round of the 2024 NFL Draft.
Since then, he's also had stints with the Carolina Panthers and Houston Texans, with the Dolphins claiming him off waivers after roster cuts.
Kingston finished the game playing 48 snaps at right guard and received a 78.3 overall grade from Pro Football Focus, which was the second-highest
grade of any Dolphins offensive player (Greg Dulcich - 80.9).
On Monday, Dolphins head coach Jeff Hafley spoke about his impressions of Kingston in his first action in Miami.
"I was impressed with Kingston in the small sample size that we had," Hafley said. "Even watching with the team today, there were quite a few clips and I kind of called him out in front of the team as just a great example of a guy that has stayed locked in and a guy that has practiced with limited reps but was ready for his moment. He was physical, and he executed, and those were some good guys they had inside yesterday, and there was some real good physicality. So I thought he did a nice job."
Hafley wasn't the only one impressed by Kingston's performance, as Brewer echoed a similar sentiment.
"I think JK played great when he came in. Like his first run play, he pancaked Dexter Lawrence," Brewer said. "So to come in, cold start, and that's how you come out, that's a great game. He finished the game pretty solid. He held his own."
The Dolphins are off in Week 6, which should give Savaiinaea some extra time to rest and recover, but if he can't go in Week 7 against the New York Jets, Miami might not have to panic about right guard.
This article originally appeared on Dolphins Wire: Dolphins impressed by performance of backup OL thrust into larger role
