What early mock drafts reveal about Canes players and Dolphins, Heat options
You might think that the week following the NFL Draft ends mock draft season.
Hardly.
Between early projections for the 2027 NFL Draft, and two-month-out predictions for June’s NBA Draft, the final week of April has become paradise for mock draft enthusiasts.
A couple of this week’s mock drafts from national outlets offered insight into the Dolphins, Heat and Miami Hurricanes, even though everything, of course, is fluid.
Several takeaways:
Miami Hurricanes
The injection of talent into the UM program was amplified over the weekend, when nine Canes were drafted, the program’s highest total since 2017 and tied for fourth most among all college programs in 2026. That included three first-rounders.
The Canes could have at least two first-rounders next April, based on early projections.
The Athletic’s Dane Brugler slots defensive tackle Ahmad Moten 14th and edge player Damon Wilson 25th in his way-too-early 2027 mock draft.
“While Rueben Bain Jr. and Akheem Mesidor made their presence known, Moten was the Hurricanes’ most impactful defensive lineman in the national championship game,” Brugler said. “If he builds off that performance, you can pencil him in for the first round next April.”
Brugler added: “Missouri’s leader in sacks last season with nine, Wilson has the unenviable task of filling the shoes of Bain and Mesidor — but he has the talent to make a name for himself.”
Several other Canes could go in the first two rounds, including defensive tackle Justin Scott, running back Mark Fletcher Jr., defensive end Marquise Lightfoot and quarterback Darian Mensah.
ESPN’s Pete Thamel asked 10 NFL scouts to rank the 2027 quarterback class going into the season and gave three points for a first-place vote, two for a second, and one for a third. Mensah finished 10th. Here were the results:
1. Dante Moore, Oregon (24) 2. Arch Manning, Texas (16) T3. Julian Sayin, Ohio State (5) T3. Brendan Sorsby, Texas Tech (5) 5. LaNorris Sellers, South Carolina (3) T6. Frew Mestemaker, Oklahoma State (2) T6. Sam Leavitt, LSU (2) T6. CJ Carr, Notre Dame (2) 9. Menshah, Miami (1)
Dolphins
Mocks a year before a draft seem somewhat pointless.
As perspective, here were Dane Brugler’s top 10 picks in his way-too-early 2026 mock draft for The Athletic from a year ago: 1). Manning (stayed in school). 2). Sellers (stayed in school). 3). Utah tackle Spencer Fano (selected ninth by the Browns last week).
4). Clemson edge player TJ Parker (35th pick by Buffalo). 5) Penn State QB Drew Allar (76th pick by Pittsburgh). 6). Auburn defensive tackle Keldric Faulk (31st pick by Tennessee).
7). Ohio State’s Caleb Downs (11th pick, by Dallas). 8). Alabama’s Kadyn Proctor (12th pick by Dolphins). 9). UF offensive lineman Austin Barber (86th pick, Cleveland). 10). Oregon edge Matayo Uiagalelei (staying at Oregon).
For 2027, Brugler — a longtime draft analyst — has Arizona picking first and taking Manning; Miami selecting second and picking Ohio State receiver Jeremiah Smith; Cleveland selecting third and taking Oregon quarterback Moore, the Jets snapping up Notre Dame cornerback Leonard Moore fourth overall; and Tennessee choosing South Carolina edge player Dylan Stewart at No. 5.
The players rounding out Brugler’s top 10: Texas receiver Cam Coleman, Texas edge player Colin Simmons, Oklahoma State QB Mestemaker, LSU offensive tackle Jordan Seaton and Oregon defensive tackle A’Mauri Washington.
Heat
The Heat has a 4.8% chance to move from 13th to a top four-pick when the random-but-weighted draft lottery is conducted on May 10 (3 p.m., ABC).
If the Heat stays at 13, here are the players projected for Miami’s range, per ESPN’s Jeremy Woo’s newest mock draft this week:
Woo has Miami taking Alabama combo guard Labaron Philon Jr., who averaged 22.0 points, 3.5 rebounds, 5.0 assists in 33 games: “He’s a proven scorer with positional size.”
Woo’s picks from 10 to 12: Tennessee swing forward Nate Ament, New England Breakers swing forward Karim Lopez and Michigan swing forward Yaxel Lendeborg.
His picks from 14 to 16: Michigan center Aday Mara, Kentucky center Jayden Quaintance, Washington power forward/center Hannes Steinbach and Houston power forward/center Chris Cennac Jr.
The Heat can pick only first, second, third, fourth, 13th or 14th (in the highly unlikely event that Charlotte moves from 14 to the top four).
The Heat cannot trade the pick before the draft but hypothetically could select a player on behalf of another team to facilitate a prearranged trade that would be completed after the draft.
Here’s my Wednesday piece with details about the Heat’s blueprint moving forward.
Here’s my Wednesday piece with lots of news from Dolphins general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan.
