Rejoice! A quiet draft with no 1st-round pick was great news for Dolphins, and here is why | Opinion
It was the quietest, most uneventful NFL Draft in the Miami Dolphins’ 57-year history, whispering by with the fewest total picks (four) of any team in the league, and none in the first two rounds.
On the first day of the draft Miami’s “war room,” typically a cacophony of activity, was library-quiet, telephones sitting still.
It was a beautiful sound for Miami.
It shouted how the Dolphins had done so much building and buying already that the draft was almost superfluous.
It stated with force: The Fins are close now. They are a team in full, ready to win, playoffs not just an expectation but a starting point.
This is a long-down franchise that finally has arrived. A long below-radar club that matters again, with some excitement and national profile to it.
After two previous drafts in which Miami had five first-round picks and nine in the first two rounds, this week’s quiet spoke loudly of the team’s progress and status.
General manager Chris Grier described what he was doing during the first round Thursday night as he sat with new head coach Mike McDaniel while the rest of the league made their top picks.
“Eating a lot of food,” he said, smiling. “Mike and I just sitting there talking and watching our weight go up.”
More to the point:
“We were trying to figure out what we were going to do on draft day,” said Grier, “and one of the guys said, ‘We’ll just watch Tyreek highlights in the draft room to make us feel good.’”
Boom.
Tyreek Hill, the difference-making wide receiver acquired in a blockbuster trade from Kansas City, is why Miami had no picks before the 102nd overall, and it was draft capital well spent, boldly and smartly spent.
That followed a bountiful, winning free agency period that saw Miami sign the top-ranked overall available player in tackle Terron Armstead, along with receiver Cedrick Wilson, guard Connor Williams and running backs Chase Edmonds and Raheem Mostert.
The haul left the roster looking set even before the draft -- one that might accurately count Tyreek Hill as Miami’s No. 1 overall pick.
Oh by the way, the Fins did have four selections, and I am duty-bound to rave about the first one -- Georgia inside linebacker Channing Tindall late in the third round, 102nd overall -- because I picked it accurately in my mock draft.
Tindall, off the best college defenses in the country, is a really fast, sideline-to-sideline guy who will immediately push Elandon Roberts for a starting job in Miami’s already-stout 3-4-4 D. In a division with Josh Allen, Tindall’s strengths will fit really nicely.
It was a luxury pick, because holes are few now, although I also would have liked more offensive line help here..
“The versatility, the speed is what we like,” Grier said of Tindall. “He has the ability to play all three downs and special teams as well. He has the toughness and character. And Kirby [Smart, Georgia coach) says the arrow is still going up on Channing.”
“I thought [Tindall] might go 50 picks before then,” said ESPN draftnik Mel Kiper Jr.
Said Tindall: “Miami’s linebackers, they have them do it all. I feel like I fit into that”
Miami’s fourth round selection (125th overall) was a bit curious. Texas Tech wide receiver Erik Ezukanma joins a crowded WR room and may fight for even a roster spot. He was selected higher than projects and the report on him notes dropped passes. But also this: Vertical speed. Which seems to be a theme here.
Fins ended with a pair of seventh round picks. The first was Cal outside linebacker Cameron Goode, a pick not at a position of great need, but for depth. The last was a quarterback -- Kansas State’s Skylar Thompson, who behind Tua Tagovailoa and backup Teddy Bridgewater, will have a shot to compete with Chris Streveler for third string/practice squad.
Historically 7R guys who amount to anything are rare as cordial conversations about politics, but here come two more to try to buck the odds.
Historically as well, drafts in which Miami did not have a No. 1 pick bode well for the coming season, because it has almost always meant the capital had been spent toward the team being close to contending, maybe a piece away. For example:
This is the 10th draft in which the Fins did not have a first-round pick, and, the previous nine were followed by eight winning seasons, six playoff appearances and two Super Bowls including the ‘72 Perfect Season.
That’s anecdotal evidence, but what it suggests is good for these Dolphins -- especially coming off consecutive winning seasons, with almost $20 million in salary cap space still to spend, and with a bounty of picks in the 2023 draft including two first-rounders and five overall in the first three rounds.
That means Miami will be in good shape to move up in the ‘23 draft a year -- a quarterback-rich draft -- if Tagovailoa does not unequivocally assert himself as The Answer in his third season, given all of the surrounding weapons led by Hill but including Jaylen Waddle and major improvements in the running game and O-line.
I believe Tua will blossom this season. But if he doesn’t, Alabama QB Bryce Young and Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud (or vice versa) figure as the 1-2 overall picks in ‘23. I have seen early mock drafts mention as many as six other QBs as possible 1R-worthy -- and keep an eye on Miami’s Tyler Van Dyke.
The Hurricanes guy is currently rated the 16th overall prospect by CBS Sports, with a chance to play up into a top 10 pick. The Dolphins will select 17th and 29th next year.
The notion of UM’s Van Dyke staying at home to be the Fins’ next big hope -- should Tua falter -- is definitely in play, assuming Miami could not trade into the top two spots for Young or Stroud.
OK, brakes, please. Enough conjecture about next year.
This one seems like it will be worth savoring.
The AFC is loaded. And now it has added stars like Russell Wilson, Davante Adams, Matt Ryan and Amari Cooper. (And Deshaun Watson is back). Sportsbooks like MGM and Caesars still have Miami mid-pack in the AFC for a Super Bowl shot.
Understandable. Miami must find a way to get past Buffalo, among Super Bowl favorites, in its own AFC East. Little benefit of doubt is deserved or shown to a franchise that last made the playoffs in 2016 and last won a playoff game in 2000.
Then there are the doubts about Tua Tagovailoa entering their third year. And a rookie head coach who’ll be unproven until he isn’t. Both must deliver.
Because the Dolphins look solid overall and in places, stacked. And Hill brings starpower, excitement.
If you didn’t know it before, the quietest draft in club history just told you, and loudly:
This is a team fully built. The “somedays” have run out. Win-now is here.
This story was originally published April 30, 2022 at 3:04 PM.
