What would you do at 6 and 18 if you ran the Dolphins’ front office? Evaluators weigh in
What would you do if you were the Dolphins?
That’s the pre-draft question we’ve annually posed to people who study the draft as part of their livelihood.
In this year’s installment, we offer feedback from those we either asked directly or those who opined on that issue in public forums.
Some of the feedback:
▪ NFL Net’s Daniel Jeremiah told me in his best case Dolphins scenario, he would take UF tight Kyle Pitts at No. 6 and Michigan edge player Kwity Paye at 18.
“I know [Mike] Gesicki is there. I don’t care. I’m taking Kyle Pitts and we’ll figure out how to be out there with two tight ends. Pitts is the best football player they can get. He’ll give them so many easy throws. That would be my dream scenario [at 6]...
“Maybe I like Kwity Paye more than some others. To me, that would be a home run pick for them. Just the energy and effort to go with the explosiveness he brings, that would be a home run pick [at 18] to pair up with what they do at 6.”
▪ ESPN’s Todd McShay, with Pitts and Oregon tackle Penei Sewell off the board, said on ESPN.com that he would take LSU receiver Ja’Marr Chase at 6 if he ran the Dolphins’ draft:
“Miami absolutely has to get another weapon for Tua Tagovailoa,” McShay said. “Suddenly he’d have Chase, Will Fuller and DeVante Parker. You can win with that trio.”
At 18, with Penn State linebacker Micah Parsons off the board, McShay would take Notre Dame linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah instead of UM pass-rushers Greg Rousseau and Jaelen Phillips, Michigan’s Paye or any running back.
“I’m getting them something they haven’t had in a while: a versatile linebacker who can cover and fill multiple roles,” McShay said.
With the top three running backs off the board, McShay said he would take Notre Dame tackle/guard Liam Eichenberg at No. 36 and Texas tackle/guard Samuel Cosmi at 50.
▪ Pro Football Network’s Tony Pauline, a longtime draft analyst, told me in a conference call on Wednesday that his dream scenario would be Chase at 6 and Alabama running back Najee Harris at 18 “and fill it in with some defensive players and offensive linemen later on in the draft. [But] I don’t think that’s the way they’re going to go.
“I’ve reported there are some people in the front office who really want to stay away from opt out players. That’s why they traded down from No. 3. I don’t agree with that.
“Someone told me there were a few people in the front office who were having buyers remorse. They thought they moved up into the sixth spot a little bit too soon. If a team like Denver wants to move up three spots to get one of the quarterbacks, I think Miami would move down. I don’t think they’re going to move that far down because they want to stay within the top 12 to get one of the premier players in this year’s draft.”
▪ Bucky Brooks, a former NFL scout, and Marc Ross, a former Giants personnel executive, did this exercise on NFL Network about how they would run the Dolphins draft.
Ross went first, with Miami’s pick at 6: “Kyle Pitts, who I believe is the most talented player regardless of position in the draft. When you watch Kyle Pitts, his athletic ability, his playmaking ability are just rare for the position. Probably the best tight end who I have scouted. When you have someone who is rare like that at the position, you want to make sure you take him. When you have a rare playmaker like Kyle Pitts, it will help bail out Tua. When all is in doubt, just chuck it up to Kyle; he will make plays for us. To go along with the fact that he’s unguardable by a safety, by a corner, by a linebacker.”
Brooks handled Miami’s second first-round pick: “Now you have Pitts with Mike Gesicki. It allows you to control the middle of the field. What you want to control on defense is being able to knock down the quarterback. How about [UM’s] Gregory Rousseau at 18? When I look at Rousseau, not only his play but his Pro Day numbers, he is eerily similar to [three-time Pro Bowler] Jason Pierre Paul. A long, rangy pass rusher, someone who still needs to be developed, someone who has been able to get to the quarterback.”
Ross said at 36, “let’s take Joe Tryon out of Washington and replicate the success we had with the New York Giants with multiple pass rushers to make Brian Flores, the defensive minded head coach, happy. Different type of players. Joe Tryon is more of a physical, violent type player at the point of attack, a little bit more varied rush. But a great complement if you have Rousseau and Tryon together on that Miami defense to go after Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills.”
Brooks said at 50, “Let’s continue to help Tua. [North Carolina running back] Javonte Williams is the closer, the finisher. You have Pitts to put points on the board. The two pass rushers to knock it down. Fourth quarter, we need to salt the game away. Javonte Williams puts the ball in the paint. He’s a physical runner, soft hands out of the backfield. Tua would love having this guy behind him in the backfield.”
▪ CBS and NFL Network analyst Charles Davis told me that if Pitts and Chase are both on the board at No. 6, he would take Pitts because “tight ends are young quarterbacks’ best friends/safety blankets. ‘Easy’ throws that can break for big [gains].”
He said his dream scenario for the Dolphins at No. 18 would be taking Notre Dame’s Owusu-Koramoah, who would project as an inside linebacker in Miami’s 3-4 scheme.
Because of Owusu-Koramoah’s skills, Davis was undeterred by the fact Miami needs another edge rusher or the fact the Dolphins have Jerome Baker and Benardick McKinney available at inside linebacker.
“JOK’s speed, versatility should supersede any challenges on where McKinney/Baker line up,” Davis said.
▪ Fox college football and NFL analyst Brock Huard told me: “The best case at 6 would be Chase for me. Unique athlete, hungry and we know wide receivers can step in and make an enormous difference. See DK Metcalf and Justin Jefferson and many others) Pitts would be 1A for all the same reasons.
“At 18, I’d say [Tulsa inside/outside linebacker] Zaven Collins or [Michigan edge player] Kwity Paye. Big, physical thumpers with quite a bit of twitch. [Neither will] make the impact the sixth pick will right away, but Brian Flores knows thump plus twitch impacts games even if the learning curve needs to be climbed.”
▪ Former Dolphins executive Mike Tannenbaum said on ESPN.com that he would take Chase over Pitts and DeVonta Smith at 6 because “Chase is a special player who would provide a spark on offense. I also thought about offensive line, as a stronger unit would allow Tagovailoa to climb the pocket and make better throws.”
He would take Southern Cal guard Elijah Vera-Tucker at 18 because “I just don’t see Ereck Flowers as a long-term solution on the interior of the line [Flowers was subsequently traded], and Tua Tagovailoa needs better protection to find some Year 2 success. Vera-Tucker allowed only one pass pressure in 561 pass blocks at guard in 2019, and he allowed a 1% pressure rate as a left tackle in 2020.”
Tannenbaum notes he could make a case for Alabama’s Harris or Tulsa’s Collins at 18.
I would be stunned if the Dolphins use the 18th pick on a guard.
▪ Former Redskins and Texans GM Charley Casserly, offering a combination of what he would do and what he expects:
He would take Chase at No. 6 (with Pitts off the board fourth to Atlanta), and ahead of Smith, whom he slots seventh.
Casserly would take UM’s Phillips at 18, ahead of Rousseau (23), Harris (32) and others.
▪ A former NFC general manager who requested anonymity because he’s still involved in the game:
He said would take Pitts at No. 6 because he’s a matchup nightmare and Harris at 18 because he believes the standout running back is going to be as good as Tennessee’s Derrick Henry, another Alabama alum.
He said he doesn’t worry about 18 being too high for a running back because he doesn’t have a strong conviction about any of the edge rushers in that range and he believes Harris can be a longterm Pro Bowl caliber bell cow back.
This story was originally published April 28, 2021 at 11:26 AM.
