Dolphins OT Kendall Lamm Would Prefer If You Didn't Believe In Him

Kendall Lamm doesn’t need, or want you to believe.

The journeyman offensive lineman who will replace Terron Armstead as the Miami Dolphins’ starting left tackle for Sunday’s season opener against the Los Angeles Chargers would rather be doubted, second-guessed, criticized.

That’s the kind of energy this Appalachian State product, who entered the league as an undrafted rookie, has used his entire eight-year career to fuel his drive, power his determination, reset his resiliency.

He wasn’t supposed to be in the NFL, which is what former Dolphins George Godsey told him his rookie season back in 2015 he served in the same capacity with the Texans, the franchise that gave Lamm his NFL start, but “I’m still here.”

“I was really never supposed to be here,” said Lamm, who joined the Dolphins as a practice squad player last November, and quickly worked his way up the depth chart, high enough to start the one game he played in before getting injured. “From my perspective, I was always supposed to be here.

“Two to three years ago when I was leaving Cleveland to go to Tennessee my grandfather told me a nugget that shocked me, but it holds true to me today. He said ‘When you told me you were going to the NFL when you were in college, to be honest with you I didn’t believe you.’

“That’s my own grandfather,” Lamm said. “I’ve heard this from year one. This is year nine and I’m still standing.”

Lamm set to make 30th start

Lamm will be starting his 30th game because of the ankle, knee and back injury that will keep Armstead, Miami’s Pro Bowl offensive lineman and a team captain, sidelined for the season opener.

And it's possible that Lamm might be starting more this Sunday's game if Armstead needs more time to be medically cleared. But that's only if he performs like an NFL starter.

The Dolphins trusted Lamm enough to re-sign him in free agency, guaranteeing $100,000 of his $1.2 million salary this spring.

With a full offseason in Miami he quickly locked down the top backup tackle spot, and spent most of this summer as one of training camp’s top performers.

“He uses every slight that’s happened to him to his advantage, not disadvantage,” head coach Mike McDaniel said of Lamm, who McDaniel claims has become a core leader in the Dolphins’ locker room.

McDaniel praises Lamm for camp performance

“My confidence [level in him] is high, just because I see better than I hear and he’s shown me [he’s] as consistent, really, as anybody of what I can expect, what his teammates can expect from him, and that’s a guy that there’s nothing more important to him than what he needs to deliver on for himself and his teammates,” McDaniel continued. “Any time he’s on the field, I get excited for him because he’s been down the rigors of the NFL journey for a player that’s not a lottery pick, so to speak, and he’s coming out a better version than he went in.”

Even though he’ll be facing one of the NFL’s best pass rushing duos in Joey Bosa and Khalil Mack, the 31-year-old doesn’t seem phased.

“Those are two names that everyone knows. But to be very honest with you, one of my first starts in the NFL was Monday Night Football against DeMarcus Lawrence back when I was in Houston,” Lamm said, referring to the Cowboys' top pass rusher, a three-time Pro Bowl selection. “Anytime you’re going to work on the edge you’re going against a top tier guy, no matter what.”