Breaking Down the Dolphins Pick in the Fan Nation Mock Draft

The Miami Dolphins have several different avenues they could choose with the 21st overall selection

Adding to the seemingly endless list of mock drafts ahead of the real thing next week, the publishers of the team sites for Fan Nation conducted their own exercise this week.

The one caveat in the SI Fan Nation mock draft was that no trades were allowed — it makes doing an exercise like this extraordinarily complicated — even though the reality is that there will be trades involving first-round picks beyond those that already have been made.

With that in mind, my selection for the Dolphins at pick number 21 was defensive tackle Byron Murphy II from the University of Texas.

EXPLAINING GOING WITH BYRON MURPHY II

If I had the privilege of being the real Dolphins general manager, and based on who was still available, my priority would have been to look for a trade partner to move down to later in the first round — maybe six or seven spots — and try to recoup a third-round pick since the Dolphins' own selection was forfeited because of the whole tampering saga involving Tom Brady and Sean Payton.

With no trades being allowed, it became an issue of picking the best player for the present and the future.

This is how I explained the pick: "The Dolphins could go in several directions with this pick, including trading down, but Murphy’s upside as a disruptive interior pass rusher is too tempting at this spot. The Dolphins signed a lot of defensive tackles in the offseason in the aftermath of Christian Wilkins leaving as a free agent, but most of them are role players as opposed to potential difference-makers such as Murphy. An edge defender or offensive lineman also are possibilities at this spot, with WR Brian Thomas Jr. an option."

I also could add that edge defenders Jared Verse and Laiatu Latu would have been my two favorites at this spot, but both were gone.

Chop Robinson from Penn State could have been another option, but Murphy just looks like the higher-end prospect from this vantage point, and the same could be said for another defensive tackle, Jer'Zhan Newton from Illinois.

And, yes, the Dolphins did sign a lot of defensive tackles this offseason, but remember Chris Grier's comment about operating with a two-year view and consider that those DTs all were signed to one-year deals.

Besides, not one of them has the upside that Murphy possesses.

That became the rationale for the pick. But the preference would have been to trade down.