Dolphins summon draft WRs to team offices. And Tolbert, Atwell, Salyer chatter
A six-pack of Dolphins notes on a Monday:
▪ The names of the draft prospects invited to Dolphins headquarters are starting to leak, and it’s probably not entirely a coincidence that three of the first four confirmed names are wide receivers.
As ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. said, the Dolphins must address receiver high — or fairly high — in the draft to allow them to fairly judge Malik Willis and give him a puncher’s chance to be successful.
Kiper has been advocating for the Dolphins to draft Arizona State’s 6-2 Jordyn Tyson at No. 11. But they’re considering numerous others, too, and at least three have been invited for 30 visits at the Dolphins offices: Southern California’s Makai Lemon, Texas A&M’s KC Concepcion and Georgia State’s Ted Hurst.
Lemon, 5-11, would be a potential option at pick 11 or in a slight trade down.
Concepion, 6-0, could be in play with the 30th overall pick, which Miami acquired from Denver in the Jaylen Waddle trade.
And Hurst, 6-4, could be an option for any of Miami’s four third-round picks (75, 87, 90, 94).
Lemon, who had 79 catches for 1,156 yards and 11 touchdowns last season, “has a slot receiver’s build at 5-11 and 192 pounds, but he plays as if he’s much bigger, with a fierce approach to the game,” Kiper said.
Concepcion had 61 catches for 919 yards and nine TDs last season. “Don’t sleep on his ability to also turn quick routes into big gains,” Kiper said, noting his 449 yards after the catch last season. “He’d also make an instant impact in the return game.”
Hurst caught 71 passes for 1l,004 yards last season and has 15 touchdowns in two years at Georgia State.
NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein said Hurst has the “speed and ability to stress corners… Hurst appears capable of surviving the jump in competition and projects as a Z receiver with quality upside.”
▪ Another confirmed Dolphins 30 visit: LSU cornerback Mansoor Delane, who’s firmly in play for Miami’s pick at 11.
Before every draft, teams can summon as many as 30 prospects to team headquarters for medical checks and meetings with coaches and executives. Players who grew up in South Florida or attended any level of school here do not count toward the 30 and can be brought in separately.
▪ After taking on a $26 million dead money cap hit in the Jaylen Waddle trade, the Dolphins quickly erased an $8.5 million salary cap overage by converting base salaries into signing bonuses for De’Von Achane and Aaron Brewer.
That created $4.2 million in cap savings for Brewer and $3.7 million for Achane. Those moves left Miami with $2 million in cap space, with $20 million more in space to be created June 2, when Bradley Chubb’s release is processed.
The restructures with Brewer and Achane will have no impact on Miami’s ability to extend their contracts; both are entering the final year of their deals. General manager Jon-Eric Sullivan has said extension talks with Achane and others will happen later this summer.
▪ Jamaryee Salyer — who has played mostly at left tackle (1,295 snaps) and right guard (1,561) in his NFL career — will be given a chance to win a starting guard spot, as noted last week.
What skills make him well suited to guard?
“I’m a very physical player,” he said. “That’s what’s kind of been instilled in me coming from Georgia and going to the Chargers, being able to play for Coach [Jim] Harbaugh, Coach [Brandon] Staley. It was all about being a physical, physical player, so it kind of starts there for me.
“Obviously, I got the measurables of a guard quote unquote, so I think that helps, and also just play strength, having that short area quickness. I’ve been in the league for a minute now. This is Year 5 coming up, so I’ve seen a lot of things, played against a lot of defensive coordinators and fronts. I saw a lot with Coach [Jesse] Minter in practice every day with the Chargers.”
▪ New receiver Jalen Tolbert, a former Cowboys starter, spoke with Sullivan, receivers coach Tyke Tolbert and offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik before signing with Miami.
“They mentioned that they obviously value me and they liked me coming out of South Alabama,” he said. “[Sullivan and coach Jeff Hafley] obviously played against me a couple times while they were in Green Bay and seeing me live in action and are excited about me being able to come in and compete to go and make an impact for the team. All you can really ask for is an opportunity, so I love it.”
▪ New receiver Tutu Atwell reminded reporters on a Zoom session that he “played quarterback growing up” in Liberty City “and I didn’t know [anything] about the receiver position.”
He said spending five years in the Rams system accelerated his growth.
“Just being around Coach [Sean] McVay and all the other coaches, they did a hell of a job of just teaching me the aspects of the receiver [position]. Sean is a genius, and I feel like we’ll do some type of things that we were doing in L.A.
“Coach [Eric] Yarber did a good job, Coach [Mike] LaFleur did a good job with me just coaching me about that body lean and just watching the Cooper Kupps, the Pukas [Nacua], the Davante Adams and Robert Woods. I had a lot of good receivers that came through that I’ve been around and just watching those guys really helped my game.”
What specifically did he take from those receivers?
“Davante’s releases, Puka’s physicality, Robert Woods’ blocking. Everybody’s got different traits. Me just speed and just running around getting open, but I want to bring more to the table as in a little bit more blocking to the game.”
▪ Atwell’s father also went by Tutu — and the new Dolphins receiver (whose given name is Chatarius) said “I’m a junior, so it was kind of passed down to me. My dad’s cousin couldn’t pronounce our real name, so he just came up with Tutu, and it just stuck forever.”
This story was originally published March 23, 2026 at 10:33 AM.
