2021 Dolphins Mock Draft Roundup: Feb. 15 Edition

The Miami Dolphins are universally expected to take an offensive player with their first pick in the 2021 NFL draft but opinions vary on who that player will be

DeVonta Smith, Ja'Marr Chase, Penei Sewell.

Remember those three names if you're a Miami Dolphins fan because, if you trust national draft analysts and their mock drafts, one of them will be the team's first selection in the 2021 NFL draft at number 3 overall.

We surveyed 18 mocks released by national outlets, from ESPN, to CBSSports.com to NFL.com, USA Today, Yahoo Sports and others during the month of February and there's a clear pattern emerging.

While Todd McShay of ESPN and Josh Edwards of CBS Sports both projected the Dolphins to trade down in the first round — McShay had the Dolphins going from 3 to 8 after a deal with Carolina and Edwards had them sliding from 3 to 6 after a trade with Philadelphia — the other 16 all had either Smith, Chase or Sewell as the third overall pick.

While Smith and Chase evenly split the wide receiver vote with five mentions apiece, it was Sewell who garnered the most mentions at number 3 with six mentions.

The Smith/Chase debate is one we'll be revisiting at some point before the draft — we do have more than two months of draft analysis and breakdowns ahead of us — and another topic will be the idea of taking a wide receiver as early as third overall.

RELATED: Should Smith Be a Slam Dunk at Number 3?

For now, we'll just point out that, sure, Smith and Chase are special talents, but no wide receiver has been among the top three picks of a draft since 2007, and that player was Calvin Johnson, who was elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame earlier this month.

While taking Sewell might be viewed in some circles as overkill considering the Dolphins ended last season with rookie first-round and second-round picks (Austin Jackson and Robert Hunt) at tackle, building a championship-caliber offensive line always should be a consideration and Sewell would be one more important piece toward accomplishing that goal.

While the votes were split for the third overall selection, there was more of a clear choice at number 18, and that's Notre Dame linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah.

Actually, "linebacker" might not be totally accurate because JOK was more of a rover at Notre Dame.

While he might not have a clear position, his versatility will be highly desirable for several NFL coach, one of them clearly being Brian Flores.

Beyond Owusu-Koramoah, four players got two mentions at number 18: Alabama running back Najee Harris, Florida wide receiver Kadarius Toney, Tulsa linebacker Zaven Collins and University of Miami defensive end Jaelan Phillips.

One draft analyst, Nick Farabaugh of Pro Football Network, had the Dolphins doing a full-blown Alabama reunion with Smith and Harris rejoining Tua Tagovailoa.

While the balance was 16-0 at number 3 (with the two trade-downs), it was far more even at number 18 with 10 defensive selections and eight on offense.