The “For Real?” Files: Isaac Asiata

The premise for this series is simple: we want to know who is in the Miami Dolphins’ “young nucleus”. Today, we’ll vote on Isaac Asiata.

And you might be surprised, but I’m not going to break down tape or share stats in this series. YOU watched the games just like I did, so I don’t necessarily care if your perception derives from a hard look at the metrics and data or you simply have a feeling about the guy (although I’d like to hear about your take in the Comments Section).

Here’s a player we’re going to have to do more prognostication than evaluation. We didn’t see the guy play in 2017 (OK, technically, we saw 2 special teams snaps). We’re literally operating on gut instinct alone.

Yet, we’d all agree, there are some issues along the offensive line, none more so than in the interior of the line. There are more questions than answers for this young man. Should Asiata be expected to win the starting gig going into 2018? If he doesn’t, is it a wasted 5th round pick? Considering the guard issues in 2017 (both performance and injury), how was he not able to challenge for reps?

We simply don’t know. But I’m going to ask what you think of his prospects as a Miami Dolphins anyway. We’ve had some “lay-ups” to this point, so don’t expect everything in this series to be easy:

Installment #1: Xavien Howard, 91% Yes, 4% No, 5% I’m stupid.

Installment #2: Kenyan Drake, 93% Yes, 4% No, 3% I’m stupid.

Installment #3: Laremy Tunsil, 83% Yes, 14% No, 3% I’m stupid.

The tape out of Utah suggested that a “mean streak” was getting added to the Miami Dolphins offensive line. And to be honest, we were more in the “zone-blocking/finesse OL” business for a few years. The meanness and vulgarity in Asiata’s tape at Utah showed a strength and fearlessness that, I believed, were welcome additions to that OL group. We simply haven’t seen how those traits measure up in the pros yet.

The question remains: is Isaac Asiata for real? Is this a member of the “young nucleus”?