Miami Dolphins bring in talented draft prospect who starred in national title game
The Dolphins, who still need a long-term solution at inside linebacker alongside Jerome Baker, had a recent South Florida visit with one of the draft’s top 10 prospects at the position: Georgia’s Channing Tindall.
Tindall met with Dolphins officials at team headquarters last week.
On Georgia’s 2021 national championship team, Tindall was overshadowed, to an extent, by two Bulldogs linebackers who are projected to go in the first round: Quay Walker and Nakobe Dean.
Tindall, who is 6-2 and 230 pounds, had 67 tackles (including 7.5 for loss) and 5.5 sacks and a forced fumble in 15 games last season and was named second-team All-SEC.
He was outstanding in the national championship game win against Alabama, matching a career high with eight tackles, including 1.5 tackles for loss, plus a sack and five quarterback pressures.
He had 12 sacks in four years and 38 games in Georgia.
NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein called Tindall “an inside linebacker who proved his toughness and dependability in Georgia’s stop unit. Tindall played in a great scheme surrounded by NFL prospects, so projecting his pro potential is a little trickier. He has average size and instincts for work between the tackles, but the pursuit speed and tackling talent to run and hit from sideline to sideline.
“Play recognition versus the run and pass should improve with additional playing time. Tindall should be an early backup and instant four-phase special-teamer with the potential to eventually step into a starting role.”
NFL.com quoted a scouting director with an NFC team as saying Tindall is “an underrated player. He deserves more accolades as a player, but with so many guys in that front, he gets forgotten a little bit.”
He ran a 4.47 in the 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine.
The Dolphins have only four picks in this draft — 102 (end of third round), 125 (fourth round) and two seventh-rounders: 224 and 247.
Beyond Baker — who is signed through 2024 — the Dolphins don’t have another inside linebacker signed beyond 2022. Elandon Roberts, Duke Riley and Sam Eguavoen all signed one-year deals this offseason.
NFL teams are permitted to invite 30 non-local prospects to team headquarters for meetings, medical checks and blackboard work, but on-field workouts aren’t permitted. The Dolphins never announce their “30 visits.” Baylor safety JT Woods is among Miami’s other 30 visits, according to a source.
THIS AND THAT
Miami Hurricanes quarterback D’Eriq King -- who is trying to make an NFL roster as a multiposition player — had to choose between attending the Houston Texas’ local day and the Dolphins’ local day, which were both held Friday.
And King picked the Texans because they like his ability as a quarterback, in addition to his upside as a receiver and potentially as a returner, according to a source.
Since he attended high school in Texas and college in Miami, King met NFL rules to participate in the Dolphins’ or Texas’ local days – NFL-authorized sessions that allow draft prospects to work out for teams in the regions where they played prep or college football.
Receiver Charleston Rambo, who grew up in Texas and attended UM, opted to work out for the Cowboys instead of the Dolphins.
▪ According to the NFL players union, the Dolphins have $20 million in cap space after trading DeVante Parker and redoing Xavien Howard’s contract, which dramatically dropped the Pro Bowl cornerback’s 2022 cap hit.
Only five NFL teams have more cap space than the Dolphins, even after Miami’s offseason spending spree.
The Dolphins can use a bit of that money to sign their small draft class and a practice squad and use part of the rest to fill needs that remain after the draft or holes created by injuries in the months ahead. Miami also can carry over that space to the 2023 offseason.
