Dolphins bring talented safety and the son of former Dolphins veteran to team headquarters
A six-pack of Miami Dolphins notes on a Thursday:
▪ The Dolphins have only four draft picks — none in the top 100 — but they’re still making good use of their 30 permitted predraft visits.
Baylor safety JT Woods is among the draft prospects who has been flown to Dolphins headquarters to meet with team officials, according to a source.
Woods played four years at Baylor and had three interceptions in 2020 and five in 2021. It’s questionable whether he would be available at No. 102, the Dolphins’ first pick in the draft.
Here’s how NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein assessed Woods: “Long-levered safety with excellent top-end speed and the potential to become a rangy playmaker if he can learn to play with better overall discipline….
“If he can play with better decisiveness, he has the length, burst and striking power to impact catch tries and take the ball away. Woods’ tools are likely to make him a Day 2 pick, but he’ll need to prove that his run support and tackle finishing are on a functional level for the pro game.”
The 6-2 safety ran a 4.36 40-yard dash time at the NFL Combine. He’s considered a high-character player.
The Dolphins have four picks in the draft: 102, 125 and two seventh-rounders: 224 and 247. They will likely sign several undrafted rookies as well.
Under NFL rules, teams can invite as many as 30 draft prospects to their offices for meetings, medical checks and blackboard work. But they are not permitted to work out during those visits.
During Chris Grier’s tenure as general manager, the Dolphins’ draft picks have been a mix of players who have visited team headquarters and some who have not visited. The Dolphins, like many teams, never announce their “30 visits.”
▪ Georgia running back and former Miami Central standout James Cook will work out at Dolphins headquarters on Friday as part of the team’s annual “local day,” according to his agents Eric Dounn and Matt Leist.
The NFL allows teams to invite players who attended high school or college in their market (or close by) to work out for the team in the weeks before the draft.
Cook ran for 1,503 yards, on 6.5 per carry, and caught 67 passes for 730 yards (a 10.9 average) in four years for the Bulldogs.
He rushed for 728 games on 6.4 per carry for Georgia’s national championship team last year.
Zierlein’s assessment of Cook on NFL.com: “Change-of-pace runner with vision and flow but a lack of functional play strength. The younger brother of Vikings running back Dalvin Cook, James has his brother’s one-cut talent and ability to stack cuts seamlessly through the second level. However, he is missing his big brother’s build, contact balance and toughness between the tackles… His slashing style fits with outside zone and toss plays. He can also be used as a mismatch option as a pass-catcher. Cook has big-play ability but is unlikely to see his carry count get very high.”
His ability to thrive in an outside zone scheme would make him a good fit with the Dolphins.
Other running backs who will work out for the Dolphins on Friday including FIU’s D’vonte Price (considered a top 10 running back in this draft class) and UM’s Cam’Ron Harris.
▪ Beyond Cook, some of the non-UM and non-FIU players expected to audition for the Dolphins at their “local day” on Friday include Washington State receiver Calvin Jackson Jr., Northern Illinois linebacker Lance Deveaux Jr. and FAU tight end Zaire Mitchell-Paden.
Jackson, who attended Coral Springs Charter School, is the son of former Dolphins defensive back Calvin Jackson, who died last March at 49.
He had 104 catches for 1,403 yards and 10 TDs in four seasons at Washington State and came on very strong as a senior; his 987 receiving yards last season were second in the Pac-12.
Deveaux, who attended Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas, had 74 tackles, including nine for loss, last season.
Mitchell-Paden caught nine passes for 90 yards in his only season at the FBS level, after four seasons with Notre Dame College, a Division II school in Ohio.
Here are some of the UM players expected to attend the Dolphins’ local day.
▪ One Dolphins player relayed positive feedback about the first week of the team’s offseason program, noting players like the offense and the terminology is simpler.
As several players have said publicly, Mike McDaniel strikes players as smart and likable.
The first two weeks of the offseason program — which began Monday for the Dolphins — is limited to meetings, strength and conditioning and physical rehabilitation.
▪ Xavien Howard was pleased to see the Dolphins hire former Dolphins Pro Bowl cornerbacks Sam Madison and Patrick Surtain.
“I love that,” Howard said. “Especially a couple of guys that played in the league. They’re Miami greats. I feel like they’re Miami Dolphins greats. Just learning from them guys and picking from those guys’ brains, I feel like they can help me take my game to another level.”
Madison will be the cornerbacks coach and pass game coordinator. Surtain will be a defensive assistant coach.
▪ ESPN’s obsession with Tua Tagovailoa continued on Thursday. Though regular host Mike Greenberg was off, First Take spent a segment assessing Tagovailoa for the fourth time in two weeks.
ESPN’s Chris Canty, the former NFL defensive end, said: “Tua has to prove he can lead the Dolphins to being better than third in his division…. I can’t give [general manager Chris Grier] too much credit because this is the guy that passed on Justin Herbert.
“If Tua doesn’t prove the guy, the Dolphins are not only going to be in the market for a quarterback in 2023, they’re probably going to be in the market for a general manager, too. Chris Grier has eliminated all the excuses as to why Tua can’t have success.
“The head coach that doesn’t believe in, wants to replace you, we got rid of him. We got the No. 1 receiver in Tyreek Hill, paid him $30 million a year. Spent big money on Terron Armstead and Connor Williams in free agency, not to mention signing Raheem Mostert and Chase Edmonds in the backfield.
“Bro, if you can’t get it done with this squad, then you’re just not the guy. If you have got to keep asking the question of whether or not he’s the guy, you are going to eventually land on the answer being no.”
During that ESPN segment, former NFL linebacker Sam Acho said: “I love how Chris Grier has maneuvered this offseason.”
This story was originally published April 7, 2022 at 3:40 PM.
