The Dolphins and the Senior Bowl
The 2022 Reese's Senior Bowl practices got under way Tuesday in Mobile, Alabama, marking kind of the unofficial kickoff to draft season.
While we always caution against putting too much stock in a week of practice in February when it comes to evaluating players, there's no question that prospects can help their cause by validating what they showed on tape.
You also can count on the Miami Dolphins selecting one of those players in Mobile this week in the 2022 NFL draft, perhaps more.
This is where a look back at the Dolphins' recent draft history could provide a clue.
THE DOLPHINS' PAST 10 DRAFTS AND SENIOR BOWL PLAYERS
Over the past 10 drafts, the Dolphins selected 19 players who participated in the Senior Bowl and at least one every year except for 2015.
But the Dolphins haven't looked that much to the Senior Bowl in recent years, taking only one player from the game each of the past three years and five of the past six.
There was third-round tight end Hunter Long last year, fifth-round defensive lineman Jason Strowbridge in 2020, third-round guard Michael Deiter in 2019, fifth-round Isaac Asiata in 2017 and third-round running back Kenyan Drake in 2016.
On the flip side, the Dolphins went really heavy on Senior Bowl prospects in both the 2013 and 2014 drafts under two different general managers — Jeff Ireland and Dennis Hickey, respectively.
In 2013, the Dolphins picked four Senior Bowl participants: CB Jamar Taylor in Round 2, CB Will Davis and G/T Dallas Thomas in Round 3; and RB Mike Gillislee in Round 5.
The 2014 Dolphins draft always will be remembered for its heavy flavor small-school flavor with six of the eight picks coming from non-FBS schools. The first-round pick that year was Senior Bowl participant Ja'Wuan James, and he was followed by other Senior Bowl players like T Billy Turner (Round 3), DB Walt Aikens (Round 4), TE Arthur Lynch (Round 5) and LB Jordan Tripp (Round 6).
The 2022 Senior Bowl will be played Saturday at 2:30 p.m. ET and will be televised live by NFL Network.
For wall-to-wall coverage on the Senior Bowl and everything dealing with the draft, check out SI Fan Nation sister site NFL Draft Bible.
