Several Canes, a QB and a tackle-for-loss specialist among those auditioning for Dolphins
The Dolphins will welcome a slew of Miami Hurricanes and former South Florida prep high school standouts to their Miami Gardens facilities on Friday for their annual local day.
Over their history, the Dolphins have had more players on their roster from UM than any other school. And the Dolphins always have embraced players with local ties.
The NFL permits teams to invite players who attended college or high school in their geographic areas to attend a designated local day. They’re the only draft prospects who are permitted to do on-field work at NFL facilities. By contrast, players invited to team headquarters for “30 visits” can meet with coaches and executives and do medical testing but cannot work out.
Many of the players auditioning Friday for the Dolphins will be fringe NFL prospects who are likely to go undrafted and will be seeking a rookie mini-camp invitation, or contract, after the draft.
Some of the players considered better prospects are typically invited to a Thursday night dinner with Dolphins officials.
Friday’s group is expected to include UM tight end Will Mallory, offensive linemen DJ Scaife and Justice Oluwaseun and cornerback DJ Ivey, among other Hurricanes.
UM cornerback Tyrique Stevenson, the Canes’ top draft prospect, isn’t planning to attend the Dolphins’ local day because he has a “30 visit” scheduled with another team on Friday.
NFL teams rarely announce who’s invited to their local days, but sources said these were among other players that are expected to attend the Dolphins’ local day:
▪ Quarterback Todd Centeio. The former West Palm Beach Dwyer High standout played three years at Temple, two at Colorado State and one at James Madison, finishing with 48 touchdowns, 17 interceptions, including 25 and 5 last year for JMU.
▪ Safety Gurvan Hall. He played four years at UM (and picked off one pass) before transferring to Utah State last season, where he had an interception in eight games.
▪ Defensive lineman/linebacker Kivon Bennett. The former St. Thomas Aquinas standout had 6.5 sacks in 20 games at Tennessee, then had 12.5 sacks in 23 games at Arkansas State the past two years. He’s the son of former Buffalo Bills All-Pro linebacker Cornelius Bennett.
▪ Tight end Daniel Barker. The Deerfield Beach High alum had 21 catches for 239 yards and two touchdowns at Michigan State last season. Before that, he played four years at Illinois, catching 64 passes for 827 yards and 11 TDs.
▪ Offensive lineman Kadeem Telfort. The 6-foot-8 Booker T. Washington alum was UAB’s left tackle last season and was first-team All Conference USA.
▪ Linebacker Vandarius Cowan. The Palm Beach Gardens alum played one year at Alabama (two games appearances), three at West Virginia (38 tackles and four sacks there) and last season had 13 tackles in eight games for Maryland.
▪ Defensive back Datrone Young. The Delray Beach Atlantic grad had an interception and seven passes defended in four years at Iowa State, then had an interception and seven passes defended in one year at Duke.
▪ Guard Grant Miller. The former St. Thomas Aquinas standout was rated by Pro Football Focus as the fourth-best guard in the Big 12 last season and 60th best among all FBS guards. He was named All Big 12 by Pro Football Network.
▪ Safety Marquis Waters. The Delray Beach Atlantic grad had three interceptions and 16 passes defended in four years at Duke, then had two interceptions in two seasons at Texas Tech. His 13 tackles for loss were fifth in the Big 12 last season - impressive for a safety. He has 27 career tackles for loss.
▪ Southeast Missouri receiver Johnny King. The former Boyd Anderson standout had 69 catches for 797 yards and six touchdowns last season.
▪ There are others that we’ll mention in a column later this week.
