With the No. 6 overall selection in the 2021 NFL draft the Dolphins select: Greatness
With the sixth overall selection in the NFL draft’s first round ...
The Baltimore Ravens picked Ronnie Stanley in 2016. And it was a great pick because the left tackle has been a fixture starter on the Ravens offensive line, and he’s been to the Pro Bowl, and the team was is so pleased with him it made him the league’s highest-paid lineman last October.
The New York Jets, bumblers of multiple drafts that they are, got it right by selecting Jamal Adams in 2017. And it was an outstanding pick because the safety immediately became a starter and team captain and Pro Bowl player and team MVP.
And, yes, the Jets ultimately traded Adams to Seattle but the Seahawks thought Adams so valuable they gave up two first-round picks in trade.
The Indianapolis Colts picked Quenton Nelson in 2018. And it was a great pick because the guard has been an All-Pro three consecutive years and a stalwart starter for a playoff team.
The Los Angeles Chargers picked Justin Herbert in 2020. And it looks great right now because the quarterback threw 31 touchdowns against 10 interceptions as a rookie and won the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year award.
These are the No. 6 overall selections since Chris Grier became general manager and head of the Miami Dolphins drafts in 2016.
The pick, obviously out of the top 5, has been a boon for the teams holding the spot during the Grier era in Miami.
(Well, not for the New York Giants in 2019. They selected quarterback Daniel Jones and that journey has gone sideways more than once as the team tries to navigate having merely a good, much less a star quarterback.)
The point: The Dolphins, holding the No. 6 pick in the draft that begins Thursday evening, have a grand opportunity.
And success with that pick should not be measured by whether Grier picks an OK player. Or even a starter.
The bar is set at great.
At multiple Pro Bowl player.
At standout, glowing-in-neon outstanding.
Because that’s what four of the five general managers holding that pick have selected since Grier became Miami’s drafter-in-chief.
The Dolphins initially had a list of four players they would be happy drafting at No. 6.
“When we made our move,” Grier said, “we had targeted a number of players that we liked that we’re comfortable with getting.”
That may or may not have changed. The list might include fewer players now.
And barring a huge surprise, it’s easy to guess which players are on that list — no, Grier isn’t sharing the names.
So ...
Florida tight end Kyle Pitts.
Louisiana State receiver Ja’Marr Chase.
Oregon offensive tackle Penei Sewell.
Alabama receiver DeVonta Smith.
I have no idea if Alabama wide receiver Jaylen Waddle is on that list. Or ever was on that list before. But it’s probably good to include his name for the sake of CYA.
(Don’t ask me to explain it to you.)
The top priorities on that list are quite easy to (again) guess:
Pitts first because he is simply a unique weapon and matchup nightmare.
Chase second because he’s big, strong, fast, fluid and highly productive.
The other two, Sewell and Smith, are harder to figure out.
The Dolphins could definitely use a great lineman because all their other guys are, well, not near great. And protecting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is a priority.
But the Dolphins also definitely need a playmaker of the highest order. They need someone to get open every down, at every level, against double coverage because he’s that good.
The Dolphins need someone who can run a variety of routes. Someone with great football smarts. Someone with great work ethic. Someone who pays attention to technique and strategy and is a master of his craft.
Someone such as Smith, who lit up college football last year as the Heisman Trophy winner.
There are knocks on Smith, by the way.
There were knocks on Herbert coming out. And Adams, and Stanley.
It didn’t hold them back.
There are also Smith advocates.
No less than Fort Lauderdale native and University of Miami great Michael Irvin, a Pro Football Hall of Fame wide receiver, was asked on the Colin Cowherd Show if he’d be concerned about Smith’s durability because he has weighed between 166-170 pounds.
“In the old NFL, I would,” Irvin said. “It used to be, you have a big receiver and a small fast receiver. Now the big receiver is the fast receiver and the small receiver plays a lot of football behind the line of scrimmage.
“It’s jet sweeps. It’s quick outs. You know, he doesn’t have to be taking a pounding in the middle of the field. We’re running him all the crossing routes, going over. They can’t hit him five yards out the field, now it’s just a track meet.
“Last year in the draft, the fourth-best receiver went first because he was the fastest receiver. Henry Ruggs is not better than CeeDee Lamb, Jerry Jeudy, or Justin Jefferson, but he was faster than all of them and he went first. It will be interesting to see what happens with DeVonta Smith ‘cause he has that speed also this year.”
Yeah, that’s a lot to unpack.
There are advocates for Waddle because of his speed. But is he the best or second-best prospect at his position?
Waddle and Smith have been teammates for three years. Smith has been the better and more productive receiver on the field each of the past two seasons.
And Waddle isn’t exactly a prototype size guy with no football concerns because the consistency of his hands are a question.
This isn’t an argument or debate. These are facts Grier and the Dolphins’ personnel department must decipher.
If either Pitts or Chase are available, there won’t be a conversation about those three. But if those two are drafted ahead of Miami’s pick, then the Dolphins have to figure out if Smith or Waddle is a superior prospect to Sewell.
I don’t care who the Dolphins pick. But that doesn’t mean I don’t have a horse in the race.
My horse is Secretariat. Whomever the Dolphins pick, given the recent history of the No. 6 overall selection, he better be a Ronnie Stanley ... Quenton Nelson ... Jamal Adams ... or Justin Herbert.
NFL Draft facts box
▪ What: 86th annual NFL draft.
▪ Where: From Cleveland, Ohio.
▪ When: April 29 to May 1, 2021.
▪ Thursday: Round 1 starting at 8 p.m.
▪ Friday: Round 2-3 starting at 7 p.m.
▪ Saturday: Rounds 4-7 starting at noon.
▪ TV: ABC, NFL Network, ESPN.
▪ Dolphins: Two picks in Round 1 (Nos. 6 and 18), two picks in second round (Nos. 36 and 50), third round (No. 81), fifth round (No. 156), seventh round (Nos. 231 and 244).
