Once upon a time, Dolphins Head Coach Mike McDaniel addressed the Bay Area media as the offensive coordinator of the San Francisco 49ers. He talked about line play and how, if possible, the ideal genetic engineering of an offensive lineman would produce a player standing seven feet tall, weighing 400 pounds.
We still haven't seen a player that big, but second round pick Patrick Paul is pretty large himself. The Dolphins made the six-foot-seven-inch, 331-pound tackle from Houston the 55th selection in the 2024 Draft. Here are the fast facts on Paul:
- Thou shall not pass!
All 2,968 of Paul's career snaps at the University of Houston came at left tackle. He was trusted to keep their right-handed quarterbacks' blindside protected, and that's exactly what he did.
Since 2020, Paul's pass blocking efficiency never dipped below 98.0, concluding his final season with a career-best 98.9, which was second best among all tackles in college football.
Paul earned that near-perfect grade by surrendering just nine quarterback pressures on 496 snaps in pass protection. Rushers only accumulated 51 pressures on Paul over 1,808 career snaps in the passing game.
Last season, Paul was charged with just one sack allowed and one more hit on his quarterback. He allowed his quarterback to be touched by a defender just two times out of 496 reps.
- Built in a lab
Patrick Paul tips the scales up and down the measurements chart. His height and weight (6-7, 331 lbs.) are in the 93rd percentile among tackles measured all time at the Scouting Combine. His 5.13 40-yard dash and 1.77 10-split time rank in the 82nd percentile, even more impressive at his size.
The combination of quickness and strength are as apparent on tape as they were at his workout. His 30 bench press reps of 225 pounds ranked in the 93rd percentile, a mind-blowing feat considering his 36-and-a-quarter-inch arms. The arm length ranks 22nd in the NFL, regardless of position, dating back to 1987.
- Coachable
Eager to work and eager to be coached, Paul hopes to follow a handful of Dolphins linemen who saw a rise in performance last year under new Offensive Line Coach Butch Barry and Offensive Coordinator Frank Smith.
"(Paul) has a vision," McDaniel said. "He's watching how players were developed on the team by Butch (Barry), Frank (Smith) and everyone, so when we say he was yearning for the opportunities because he wants to work and wants to develop his game and is super eager to do it."
Paul spent time with OL Masterminds, a summit of offensive linemen who work on technique and nuances of the position. It's the same place where Dolphins left tackle Terron Armstead has perfected his craft.
"That's why we keep talking about the human being tied to the player, because those types of things he has the ability to be really good at with a lot of deliberate work and motivation to do so," McDaniel said. "Those nuances, he's totally fit to really do well in our footwork fundamentally, and we feel very confident he's willing to put in the work to master the craft."
- Where else would you rather be?
Jobs in sports are unique for several reasons. For the drafted rookie, destinations aren't chosen. Luckily, for Patrick Paul, he wound up exactly where he wanted to be.
"I knew that I wanted to be coached by Coach (Mike) McDaniel and Coach Butch Barry and it was amazing," Paul said. "It was something I knew from the minute I started talking to them that I wanted to be a Miami Dolphin, so this is a blessing."
Paul's eagerness resulted in several texts to his agent, which made their way up the chain to the general manager of your Miami Dolphins.
"He was very enthusiastic about his intentions of wanting to play here," Chris Grier said. "He had expressed to us, 'I don't want to be anywhere but here.' And then all through early (Friday) morning up to our pick, it was a barrage of text messages, not from him, from his agent saying, 'The kid is driving me crazy.'"
For more on Patrick Paul, and the entire 2024 Dolphins draft class, download the Drive Time Podcast with Travis Wingfield.
