Dolphins spend time with these potential non-QB top 10 picks. And more players contacted
A six-pack of Miami Dolphins notes on a Monday night:
▪ It would be a mild surprise if the Dolphins do not draft a quarterback at No. 5, but it’s notable that Miami has spent time in recent weeks with at least three non-quarterbacks projected in that draft range.
According to an Auburn source, the Dolphins recently conducted a video-conference session with defensive tackle Derrick Brown, who’s considered a top 10 pick. That’s notable, because Brian Flores and defensive coordinator Josh Boyer already had spent hours with Brown and other Auburn defenders in a private classroom setting on the Tigers’ campus on March 5.
According to sources, the Dolphins also have done FaceTime sessions in recent weeks with two offensive tackles projected to go in the top 12 - Georgia’s Andrew Thomas and Iowa’s Tristan Wirfs.
The Dolphins like both of those tackles but likely would need to take either at 5 -- or move up from 18 - to assure getting either one. Wirfs had been invited to Dolphins headquarters on a “30 visit” but that was canceled because of coronavirus.
The thinking is that a team that wants one of the top tackles might need to move ahead of Cleveland at No. 10 to assure getting one.
Meanwhile, the Dolphins hadn’t had a lot of contact with Alabama right tackle Jedrick Wills Jr. as of early last week. They have not done a video-conferencing session with Louisville’s Mekhi Becton, a fourth offensive tackle projected by some for that range. That doesn’t necessarily mean the Dolphins aren’t interested.
It’s unclear how much contact the Dolphins have had with Clemson linebacker Isaiah Simmons, who’s another projected top 10 pick.
The odds are that the Dolphins will go quarterback at No. 5, and they’ve spent time getting to know Tua Tagovailoa and Justin Herbert in recent weeks.
But the time they’ve spent with the aforementioned non-QB prospects - combined with the considerable time they’ve spent with projected mid-to-late first round quarterback Jordan Love - suggests it’s no certainty. Draft analyst Tony Pauline reported he’s hearing the Dolphins could take Thomas at No. 5.
▪ The Dolphins like defensive backs who can play both cornerback and safety, and Louisiana Tech’s 6-2 La’Jarius Sneed has caught their eye.
According to a source, Miami recently did a video-conference with Sneed, who had three interceptions as a cornerback in 2018 and three as a safety in 2019. He’s projected to play cornerback in the pros, with the ability to move to safety if needed.
NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein calls him a “defensive back with good size and length. He’s much more likely to be considered as a cornerback than a safety. His experience as a split-safety and slot cover corner could push him up a round or so as a draftable Day 3 prospect.”
Miami is looking for competition at slot cornerback, where Nik Needham and Jamal Perry (formerly Jomal Wiltz) sit atop the depth chart.
▪ NFL Net’s Daniel Jeremiah said on Twitter that he “talked to a bunch of GMs over the weekend. A couple of guys that will go higher than anticipated: USC OT Austin Jackson; TCU WR Jalen Reagor; Alabama CB Trevon Diggs and Tennessee edge [defender] Darrell Taylor.”
Here’s what the Dolphins have done with those four: They have interest in Jackson and tried to book him for a pre-draft visit at team headquarters before the NFL banned such visits because of coronavirus... The have called Reagor, who had 43 catches for 611 yards and five touchdowns last season... They’ve had no particular special contact with Diggs, as of a week or so ago, but his ability to play in the slot (as well as obviously the boundary) could put him on Miami’s radar.
As for Taylor, we’re told the Dolphins like him and have had a video-conference session with him. He had 45 tackles, including 8.5 sacks, and four pass breakups last season and could emerge as a possibility at 56 if he’s there. He can play in a 4-3 or 3-4, which Miami likes.
Zierlein said: “The toolbox has plenty in it, but additional development as a pass rusher might be the difference between functional backup or dangerous starter.”
▪ As The Draft Network’s Jordan Reid noted, the Dolphins conducted a video-conference interview with safety Kenny Robinson, who has the distinction of being the only XFL player eligible for this draft.
Robinson had seven interceptions in 23 games at West Virginia, and earned all Big 12 honors, but was dismissed from West Virginia last summer because of an academic violation.
With his mother battling cancer, Robinson opted to join the XFL instead of transferring to another university, and he intercepted two of the eight passes thrown in his coverage area in five games for the XFL’s St. Louis Battlehawks.
He’s a projected Day 3 pick.
“Teams can never have enough players who can cover, and Robinson projects as a guy who can cover the deep part of the field well,” Pro Football Focus said. “While his lack of experience in the box or in the slot is something of a concern, he will have a role at least in sub-packages early on, as more and more teams play with three or more safeties on the field at the same time.”
▪ With the release of Gerald Willis, the Dolphins have only three natural, experienced defensive tackles on their roster: Davon Godchaux, Christian Wilkins and Zach Seiler, who played very well against the Bengals in Week 16 but whose experience is limited. The other defensive tackle under contract is Durval Queiroz Neto, a developmental project who spent last season on Miami’s practice squad with a special 11th player exemption.
Outside of left tackle and running back, there’s now no greater immediate need on the roster, and Miami will have options among Brown and South Carolina’s Javon Kinlaw (if they take one of those two in the first round) and potential second-day picks Raekwon Davis of Alabama and Leki Fotu of Utah (Miami has spent time with both Davis and Fotu), Oklahoma’s Neville Gallimore, TCU’s Russ Blacklock, Ohio State’s Davon Hamilton and Texas A&M’s Justin Madubuike.
Miami also reached out to two potential third/fourth round defensive tackles: Penn State’s Robert Windsor and LSU’s Rashard Lawrence.
▪ Plugged-in agent Drew Rosenhaus does not represent Oregon quarterback Justin Herbert, but Rosenhaus expects Herbert to be the Dolphins’ pick at No. 5.
“I believe based on everything I’ve heard, it’s going to be quarterback Justin Herbert,” Rosenhaus said on his weekly segment on WSVN-Fox 7. “It’s a tough call between Herbert and Tua Tagovailoa. I think what it boils down to is the Dolphins can’t afford, with the fifth overall pick, to gamble.
“It’s really unfortunate for the Dolphins and Tua Tagovailoa for obvious reasons. The coronavirus is unfortunate for everyone, but it wreaked havoc on the draft process. Teams couldn’t visit with guys, couldn’t [do a] physical [with] them [in the weeks] after the Combine and that really hurt Tagovailoa and his chances of being drafted by the Miami Dolphins.”
Rosenhaus said he would not be shocked if Miami did not pick a quarterback at No. 5, “if they decide to take an offensive tackle. The Dolphins would have to find a way to come away with Tua or Jordan Love” later in the draft.
Meanwhile, draft analyst Tony Pauline of Pro Football Network reported Monday that “a source close to Stephen Ross tells me that the Dolphins owner is talking as though quarterback Justin Herbert is not in the team’s plans with the fifth overall pick. The source tells me that he feels it’s either Tua Tagovailoa with pick number five or a position player at that spot with a later maneuver for Utah State’s Jordan Love.”
That thinking, that Tua and Love were Miami’s initial preferences at QB, is consistent with what I reported in January. Since February, many in the industry - Daniel Jeremiah, Mel Kiper, colleague Armando Salguero, myself and others - have been told that Herbert has at least been receiving consideration.
NBC’s Peter King, in his mock draft, has Miami trading up with Detroit to take Herbert third and expects Miami to end up with Herbert, though he admits he doesn’t really know how the Dolphins are leaning.
Here’s my Monday piece explaining what three network draft analysts would do if they were in Dolphins general manager Chris Grier’s shoes.
Here’s my Monday Miami Hurricanes draft piece.
This story was originally published April 20, 2020 at 8:53 PM.
