When the Miami Dolphins drafted offensive lineman Patrick Paul, it was with the clear intention of developing him into the left tackle of the future. The offensive tackle out of Houston is a truly enormous human being, even among his peers. Standing at 6’7″, 332 pounds (per the Miami Dolphins official website), Paul earned his accolades on sheer, raw, unadulterated talent and size.

However, in doing so, Patrick Paul earned himself a reputation as a player that would need almost excessive amounts of coaching to make it in the NFL. Scouting reports consistently highlighted his poor footwork, hand placement, and technique overall, which soured many Dolphins fans on his early selection.

With Miami putting everything into trying to win the Super Bowl within the next season or two, the logical choice would have been to pick players who could contribute immediately. Patrick Paul seemed to contradict that philosophy entirely.

But within the first few weeks of training camp and his preseason debut, the 22-year old rookie is defying all of his initial scouting reports, and proving himself to be a fast learner.

“His pass pro is looking really clean. He’s getting a lot of – he’s finding his patience in his pass sets. He’s long. He’s 6’14.” Pro Bowl LT Terron Armstead joked on Thursday. “So he’s able to use his length and he’s keeping his feet in the ground. Still got some things that I want to see from him on a more consistent basis, but he’s starting to see more flashes of the dominance that he has in his body, his toolbox, and that will continue to show more consistently.”

Coming from Armstead – who is known as one of the best in the league when it comes to blocking technique, that’s high praise for Patrick Paul, who played almost the entirety of the team’s first preseason game and impressed all who watched it.

“There are moments in it where you just go out there and you just realize ‘yeah I can do this, this is what I’m made for.’” Paul said after the win against the Atlanta Falcons. “I’ve had those moments. You just got to keep building, trusting in his coaching and trusting in what their plan is for me.”

The Miami Dolphins coaching staff strongly emphasizes player development. The first real example was when the team fought to turn Austin Jackson into a starting caliber lineman, which they appear to have succeeded in doing so far. Now, Patrick Paul is the newest protégé for OL coach Butch Barry to turn into a star.

And if things keep going the way they have been, it’s more and more likely that Paul will be contributing to the team much sooner rather than later.

“I saw the line of scrimmage was a big positive coming out of that game with the younger guys in particular really gravitating towards their new technique and fundamentals.” Mike McDaniel said on Friday. “That being the first time in a competitive situation and game-like situation, they were able to execute those fundamentals.”