Miami Herald Logo

Miami Dolphins narrow prospects for No. 12 pick in NFL Draft | Miami Herald

×
  • E-edition
  • Home
    • Site Information
    • Contact Us
    • About Us
    • Herald Store
    • RSS Feeds
    • Special Sections
    • Advertise
    • Advertise with Us
    • Media Kit
    • Mobile
    • Mobile Apps & eReaders
    • Newsletters
    • Social
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Google+
    • Instagram
    • YouTube

    • Sections
    • News
    • South Florida
    • Miami-Dade
    • Broward
    • Florida Keys
    • Florida
    • Politics
    • Weird News
    • Weather
    • National & World
    • Colombia
    • National
    • World
    • Americas
    • Cuba
    • Guantánamo
    • Haiti
    • Venezuela
    • Local Issues
    • Crime
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Health Care
    • In Depth
    • Issues & Ideas
    • Traffic
    • Sections
    • Sports
    • Blogs & Columnists
    • Pro & College
    • Miami Dolphins
    • Miami Heat
    • Miami Marlins
    • Florida Panthers
    • College Sports
    • University of Miami
    • Florida International
    • University of Florida
    • Florida State University
    • More Sports
    • High School Sports
    • Auto Racing
    • Fighting
    • Golf
    • Horse Racing
    • Outdoors
    • Soccer
    • Tennis
    • Youth Sports
    • Other Sports
    • Politics
    • Elections
    • The Florida Influencer Series
    • Sections
    • Business
    • Business Monday
    • Banking
    • International Business
    • National Business
    • Personal Finance
    • Real Estate News
    • Small Business
    • Technology
    • Tourism & Cruises
    • Workplace
    • Business Plan Challenge
    • Blogs & Columnists
    • Cindy Krischer Goodman
    • The Starting Gate
    • Work/Life Balancing Act
    • Movers
    • Sections
    • Living
    • Advice
    • Fashion
    • Food & Drink
    • Health & Fitness
    • Home & Garden
    • Pets
    • Recipes
    • Travel
    • Wine
    • Blogs & Columnists
    • Dave Barry
    • Ana Veciana-Suarez
    • Flashback Miami
    • More Living
    • LGBTQ South Florida
    • Palette Magazine
    • Indulge Magazine
    • South Florida Album
    • Broward Album
    • Sections
    • Entertainment
    • Books
    • Comics
    • Games & Puzzles
    • Horoscopes
    • Movies
    • Music & Nightlife
    • People
    • Performing Arts
    • Restaurants
    • TV
    • Visual Arts
    • Blogs & Columnists
    • Jose Lambiet
    • Lesley Abravanel
    • More Entertainment
    • Events Calendar
    • Miami.com
    • Contests & Promotions
    • Sections
    • All Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Op-Ed
    • Editorial Cartoons
    • Jim Morin
    • Letters to the Editor
    • From Our Inbox
    • Speak Up
    • Submit a Letter
    • Meet the Editorial Board
    • Influencers Opinion
    • Blogs & Columnists
    • Blog Directory
    • Columnist Directory
    • Andres Oppenheimer
    • Carl Hiaasen
    • Leonard Pitts Jr.
    • Fabiola Santiago
    • Obituaries
    • Obituaries in the News
    • Place an Obituary

    • Place an ad
    • All Classifieds
    • Announcements
    • Apartments
    • Auctions/Sales
    • Automotive
    • Commercial Real Estate
    • Employment
    • Garage Sales
    • Legals
    • Merchandise
    • Obituaries
    • Pets
    • Public Notices
    • Real Estate
    • Services
  • Public Notices
  • Cars
  • Jobs
  • Moonlighting
  • Real Estate
  • Mobile & Apps

  • el Nuevo Herald
  • Miami.com
  • Indulge

Latest News

Miami Dolphins narrow prospects for No. 12 pick in NFL Draft

BY ADAM H. BEASLEY

    ORDER REPRINT →

April 12, 2013 12:01 AM

With just two weeks before the NFL Draft, the Dolphins have whittled a pool of hundreds down to three or four prospects they would take with the 12th overall pick.

That’s assuming they actually stay there.

During general manager Jeff Ireland’s artful dissemination Thursday — a 30-minute predraft news conference during which he tried to make as little news as possible — he did provide a couple of useful morsels:

• His war room has targeted a handful of players worthy of the team’s first-round selection.

Sign Up and Save

Get six months of free digital access to the Miami Herald

SUBSCRIBE WITH GOOGLE

#ReadLocal



A trade up is very much on the table, and with 11 picks, Miami has enough “ammunition” to go all the way to first overall (Ireland said he doubts he will jump that high, however).

• The most obvious need — offensive line — will be addressed. Ireland said he wants to upgrade the line “as a whole.”



There’s more uncertainty at the top of the draft than in recent memory, making for a fun — but potentially volatile — first hour.

“No one’s really showed their hand yet,” Ireland said, “which is fine. That’s how we want it.”

Count Ireland among those keeping his cards flush to his vest. You would need a microscope to read between the lines Thursday.

So no, Ireland did not come out and say the Dolphins will trade up into the top 10 for a tackle, which is the buzz in football circles.

Other league sources, however, believe the Dolphins will stand pat at 12, and if any of the three premier left tackles — Luke Joeckel, Eric Fisher and Lane Johnson — is available, grab one. If not, they will trade back to take advantage of a deep draft.

This is all conjecture at this point. Only a handful of people know what the team plans to do on the last Thursday in April. And with the 12th overall pick, they are at the mercy of events beyond their control — by the teams picking ahead of them and those behind them who move up.

Ireland puts more stock in need than those who go strictly by the board — and after an aggressive splash in free agency, they simply don’t have many needs left.

Mike Wallace and Brandon Gibson have recast the receiving corps. Dustin Keller will start at tight end.

And Brent Grimes — whose torn Achilles has healed to the point that he might participate in offseason conditioning drills — has shored up the cornerback position.

“I think it gave us a lot of flexibility in the draft,” Ireland said.

The only glaring hole remaining is at offensive tackle, with Jonathan Martin as the only clear-cut starter. He can play either right or left, giving the Dolphins flexibility. Ireland said he is comfortable with Nate Garner, a career backup who started the final month of the season after Jake Long got hurt, at tackle.

Draft guru Mel Kiper thinks the Dolphins will select right tackle D.J. Fluker at 12, although that would go against Ireland’s philosophy of taking what he calls “core positions” high (quarterback, left tackle, pass rushers, corners and wide receivers).

The team could at any time sign Eric Winston, the former Miami Hurricane who’s currently a free agent, but has not been in a hurry to do so. Winston told The Miami Herald this week he thinks the team might be waiting to see what happens in the draft before getting serious.

It’s possible the Dolphins would even take a megatalented guard such as Chance Warmack or Jonathan Cooper if either slips to 12.

When asked about the reaction he would get by selecting yet another lineman that high — since 2008, the Dolphins have drafted Long, Mike Pouncey and Martin in the first two rounds — Ireland shrugged.

“If I get another Pouncey and another Jake Long, I’d do it every draft,” Ireland said. “I wish I had a team full of Mike Pounceys and Jake Longs.”

If the Dolphins don’t take a lineman, other candidates include a corner (Dee Milliner, Desmond Trufant and Xavier Rhodes), a pass-rusher (Ezekiel Ansah, Dion Jordan, Bjoern Werner) or a tight end (Tyler Eifert).

Of course, there could be a complete curveball, too. Linebacker Manti Te’o’s visit to Dolphins headquarters Wednesday was a reminder of that.

• Equipment manager Joe Cimino and accounting manager Craig Heil will again represent the Dolphins in New York during the draft. It’s their responsibility to turn in the card with the team’s selection.



• Season-ticket holder Giovanni Estevez will announce the Dolphins’ fourth-round pick from the stage at Radio City Music Hall. He won a promotion open to members of the Fin Club.



• If the Dolphins pick at 12, it will be just the second time in team history they have picked in that spot. The previous time was in 1992, when Marco Coleman was taken.



Related stories from Miami Herald

armando-salguero

Armando Salguero: Miami Dolphins’ Jeff Ireland must find a star in draft

April 12, 2013 12:01 AM

politics-government

Miami Dolphins kick off campaign for May 14 referendum on stadium re-make

April 11, 2013 07:10 PM

HOMEPAGE

Miami Dolphins Blog | Dolphins in Depth

January 07, 2012 11:41 AM

HOMEPAGE

Sports Buzz: Dolphins draft notes

April 11, 2013 08:50 PM

  Comments  

Videos

Baby born on a JetBlue flight

The Cuban government didn’t allow a cruise ship from the Port of Palm Beach to dock in Havana Friday (IN SPANISH)

View More Video

Trending Stories

Military planes carrying 180 tons of aid for Venezuelans fly from Miami to Colombia

February 16, 2019 08:00 AM

Here are some of the worst mistakes immigrants make applying for legal papers

February 15, 2019 11:26 AM

Dolphins sign former second-round defensive end and a young cornerback

February 15, 2019 03:30 PM

‘Crazy chick’ didn’t want to sit next to a toddler on a plane. Then came the outburst.

February 15, 2019 03:28 PM

U.S. looks to send food aid to Haiti as violence brews humanitarian crisis

February 15, 2019 06:27 PM

Read Next

Haiti PM promises to tackle corruption but offers no economic plan to end crisis

Haiti

Haiti PM promises to tackle corruption but offers no economic plan to end crisis

By Jacqueline Charles

    ORDER REPRINT →

February 17, 2019 12:07 AM

Haiti’s Prime Minister promises to tackle the Venezuela PetroCaribe scandal, but other than promises to talk to the international community and some local investors, he offered no real solutions to the crisis that has triggered violent demonstrations since Feb. 7.

KEEP READING

Sign Up and Save

#ReadLocal

Get six months of free digital access to the Miami Herald

SUBSCRIBE WITH GOOGLE

MORE LATEST NEWS

It needed overtime, but Palmer Trinity boys’ soccer will defend its state title

Miami-Dade High Schools

It needed overtime, but Palmer Trinity boys’ soccer will defend its state title

February 16, 2019 07:59 PM
LaSalle boys’ soccer will play for a state title — and made school history along the way

High School Sports

LaSalle boys’ soccer will play for a state title — and made school history along the way

February 16, 2019 11:20 PM
For the first time in eight years, Varela boys’ soccer returns to state title game

Miami-Dade High Schools

For the first time in eight years, Varela boys’ soccer returns to state title game

February 16, 2019 07:56 PM
Police: Aurora attacker used gun he shouldn’t have owned

Latest News

Police: Aurora attacker used gun he shouldn’t have owned

February 16, 2019 06:42 PM
The Latest: CEO: Gunman passed background check when hired

Latest News

The Latest: CEO: Gunman passed background check when hired

February 16, 2019 06:05 PM
Military planes carrying 180 tons of aid for Venezuelans fly from Miami to Colombia

Venezuela

Military planes carrying 180 tons of aid for Venezuelans fly from Miami to Colombia

February 16, 2019 08:00 AM
Take Us With You

Real-time updates and all local stories you want right in the palm of your hand.

Icon for mobile apps

Miami Herald App

View Newsletters

Subscriptions
  • Start a Subscription
  • Customer Service
  • eEdition
  • Vacation Hold
  • Pay Your Bill
  • Rewards
Learn More
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletters
  • News in Education
  • Public Insight Network
  • Reader Panel
Advertising
  • Place a Classified
  • Media Kit
  • Commercial Printing
  • Public Notices
Copyright
Commenting Policy
Privacy Policy
Terms of Service


Back to Story