Laremy Tunsil had, by most accounts, an average year in 2017 at left tackle. We have lofty expectations for him. Let’s check out some tape to see how he’s doing in 2018.

In no particular order...please provide your analysis of these GIF’s down in the Comments Section!

(And let me address the elephant in the room: I did tape on Josh Sitton last week and he’s out for the year. If anything should happen to Laremy Tunsil in this game, of the long-term variety, you may punch me in the face unannounced, and I will do tape of Tom Brady and other AFC East foes in the hopes of spreading the curse to them as soon as humanly possible.)

The Tape

Kenyan Drake slices inside for the 1st touchdown scored by the Miami Dolphins offense. But wait...THERE’S MORE!

Thanks to jonman’s request, I put together a couple GIF’s in slow motion, Drake’s touchdown being one of them. There could be a healthy debate on whether this is zone or man blocking because it could’ve worked either way, but my guess is that this was a designed zone right play: one of the telltale signs of zone blocking is that the running back takes a short, 45-degree angle step to align hips and shoulders, which is what happens here in my opinion. #99 (Steve McLendon) of the New York Jets gets upfield enough, Drake sees the cutback and the rest is history.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention that the cutback lane opened with Laremy Tunsil having the athleticism to get to Darron Lee, and once he had his paws on the Mike linebacker, Lee wasn’t going anywhere but where he wanted.

Jets run stunts on both sides of the line and the left side didn’t do so hot. I’m not sure why Tunsil drifted so far outside to help Drake who actually had a hell of a block, but Tunsil looked confused and Ted Larsen got caught out of position as well. You don’t like to see Ryan Tannehill take those kinds of hits.

In my heart of hearts, as much as I don’t like people getting hurt, Tunsil probably should have demolished #54. He doesn’t, and #54 makes the tackle.

Nothing remarkable about the block by Tunsil, but notice the unbalanced offensive line. That’s AJ Derby playing RT and Ja’Wuan James and Tunsil lined up next to each other on the left side, with Tunsil lined up as a TE.

Textbook. Quick, choppy feet. Balanced when engaged, digs his heels in and anchors.

Certainly not an Earth-shattering block, but adequate enough to give Drake the crease he needs to bounce outside and pick up additional yardage.

The touchdown to AJ Derby and Tunsil gets pushed back just a bit, but maintains balance, anchors, responds to a spin move perfectly, and gives Ryan Tannehill enough time to deliver the strike. Impressive pocket overall, damn near perfect. Tannehill keeps active feet, but he really just takes one step to his right and darts it.

The Oakland Raiders, in my opinion, are vulnerable in the interior of the line (as well as on the edge, but that’s a different story). Tunsil and Ted Larsen team up briefly and Frank Gore gets some tough yards later in the game.

Jets do a stunt on Tunsil’s side. Aside from the one time up above, Tunsil handled stunts quite effectively. Larsen and Tunsil do their job well, Kilgore either gets caught up in bear hugging McLendon or #99 held Kilgore on this play.

Tunsil does his job here on another stunt. Larsen gets over-extended and it gives enough of a gap for Brandon Copeland to sneak in and get leverage to sack Tannehill.

Conclusion

Absolutely solid tape. Hiccups here and there, but the run blocking is demonstrably better than 2017 thus far, and the pass blocking heads towards the elite category. I see no reason to expect anything less than top half of the league tackle play from Laremy Tunsil, trending towards the top 10 and beyond as more experience shapes him.