Evaluating the Dolphins Options at 21

The Dolphins could go offensive line, defensive line, wide receiver, trade up or trade down, but what's the best move?

The Miami Dolphins will enter the 2024 NFL draft with a first-round pick for the first time in three years, but what will they do with that selection?

The positions of choice should be pretty obvious by now, and they include offensive line, interior defensive line, edge defender with wide receiver also a possibility and maybe defensive back in the distance.

There's also the idea of the Dolphins trading down in the first round to pick up, say, a third- or fourth-round pick considering they don't have a pick in either round at this time. And who's to say the Dolphins won't be moving up if there's a prospect they really like but fear will be drafted before their turn arrives.

Because they're drafting relatively late in the first round, it's much more difficult to pin down exactly what the Dolphins will do, as evidenced by the fact the 31 national mock drafts we analyzed Wednesday had 12 different players as the projection.

And then a 13th different name was mentioned Thursday morning when NFL Network's Peter Schrager released his day-of mock draft with a twist involving the Dolphins.

So what's the most ideal option? As always, that's subject to debate, but here's our take on all the possibilities.

SELECTING AN OFFENSIVE LINEMAN

This was the overwhelming choice among the national mock drafts and the reasoning is sound, that the Dolphins need to be better up front if they want to compete with the heavyweights in December and January, something they failed to do last season when they came up short against Baltimore, Buffalo and Kansas City in their final three games.

With three starters back from last season — Terron Armstead, Isaiah Wynn and Austin Jackson — and free agent Aaron Brewer arriving from Tennessee, the obvious spot to upgrade is at right guard, where right now we'd be looking at a competition between Robert Jones, Liam Eichenberg, Lester Cotton and newcomer Jack Driscoll.

Then there's the two-year view, which suggests a tackle would be a good choice because Kendall Lamm already has said he's retiring after the 2024 season and Armstead has said he's contemplated retirement after the past few offseasons.

So in a perfect world, the pick would be a tackle of the future who could handle a guard position as a rookie and represent an upgrade at that position, something like what the Dolphins did with Laremy Tunsil in 2016.

Troy Fautanu from Washington looks like the ideal candidate for that role, but most projections have him gone before the Dolphins' turn at 21. So maybe he's that one prospect for whom the Dolphins should consider giving up future assets.

He's that much of an ideal pick.

The name Graham Barton also has been mentioned because of his versatility, though most draft analysts agree his best position in the NFL will be center. And while there's a school of thought he's versatile enough that he could line up anywhere on the offensive line, there is risk involved in having him play a different position as an NFL rookie.

Another popular choice in the national mock drafts was tackle Amarius Mims from Georgia, the prospect with perhaps the biggest upside of any offensive lineman in the draft. But he's also got very limited experience, may not be able to contribute very much as a rookie, and is viewed as a tackle only.

So this would be a pick made almost strictly with 2025 and beyond in mind, and the Dolphins still are in a win-now mode, so that pick doesn't make much sense from that standpoint.

Jackson Powers-Johnson from Oregon is another lineman that's been linked to the Dolphins, but he's an interior lineman only, so he would have to represent a massive upgrade at guard for that selection to make sense.

SELECTING DEFENSIVE TACKLE JER'ZHAN NEWTON

This is the player most often connected to the Dolphins based on our national mock draft survey, and that was before highly respected NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah joined the parade in his mock unveiled Wednesday night.

The logic behind this move is sound, that Newton could help the Dolphins somewhat make up for the departure of Christian Wilkins with his disruptive play in the middle of the defensive line.

Yes, it can be countered that the Dolphins already addressed the defensive tackle position by signing seven — yes, seven — players at the position in the offseason: Benito Jones, Teair Tart, Jonathan Harris, Neville Gallimore, Isaiah Mack, Daviyon Nixon and Da'Shawn Hand (in his case, re-signed).

And one absolutely can wonder whether it would be overkill for the Dolphins to add yet another defensive tackle and they would have to think that Newton has to chance to be awfully special to make that move.

From this vantage point, it's definitely an option to consider, though it certainly wouldn't be at the top of the list.

TAKING AN EDGE DEFENDER

This maybe wouldn't even be a consideration if not the concerns about when Bradley Chubb and Jaelan Phillips will be back from their 2023 season-ending injuries and more importantly when they'll be back to being Bradley Chubb and Jaelan Phillips.

Given the work ethic of each player, there's absolutely reason to be optimistic that it could happen early in the 2024 season, but there certainly are no guarantees.

The Dolphins did add depth at the position when they signed veteran Shaquil Barrett after the Tampa Bay Buccaneers let him go, but added protection certainly can't hurt — for the present and the future.

Like many high-priced Dolphins veterans, Chubb doesn't have any guaranteed money remaining beyond this year, which is why Spotrac lists the 2025 offseason as the potential "out" from under Chubb's contract.

The edge defenders mentioned in our mock draft survey as a potential Dolphins pick were Jared Verse from Florida and Laiatu Latu from UCLA.

Latu is viewed as the better prospect, but he does come with a medical question mark after his career was put on hold because University of Washington wouldn't clear him because of a neck issue.

Another question with both prospects is whether either will be available at 21.

Given the risk involved with Latu, maybe Verse would be the better option here if the Dolphins can land him.

SELECTING A WIDE RECEIVER LIKE XAVIER WORTHY

Look, we get Mike McDaniel's fascination with speed and it would be crazy to think what the Dolphins offense would look like with Worthy, the combine 40-yard dash record-holder, but would that really put the Dolphins closer to the elite teams in the AFC?

The answer from here is no.

The idea of drafting a bigger wide receiver to add a different element to the passing game has been mentioned as well, and Brian Thomas Jr. from LSU is the player mentioned here.

But adding another offensive playmaker doesn't feel like a top priority at the top of the draft, particularly considering the very large number of quality wide receivers in the draft.

That position should be addressed later, quite frankly.

TRADING DOWN

For those who have forgotten, the Dolphins don't have a third-round pick because it was part of the sanctions for tampering with Tom Brady and Sean Payton and they don't have a fourth-round selection because it was part of the trade that brought Chubb over from the Denver Broncos.

The Dolphins have a lot of talent on their roster, but they're also very top-heavy with a lot of potential changes coming sooner rather than later.

To be able to achieve consistent success through the years, the Dolphins probably need to upgrade their base of young talent (especially cheap young talent), so it just may be that more is better for this draft.

There also is a good chance that there will be several prospects between 21 and 28, 29, 30 who all could help the Dolphins, both in 2024 and beyond, and who have very little separation in terms of prospect potential, and it says here that picking up a third-round pick, for example, would be worth moving down a few slots.

THE BEST CHOICES FOR THE DOLPHINS

Option number 1 from here would be trading down in the first round and picking up a third-round pick in the process.

Option number 2 would be that tackle of the future who could play guard in his first season or maybe his first two.

Option number 3 would be an edge defender to add depth and provide insurance.

Option number 4 would be Jer'Zhan Newton as the disruptive interior defensive lineman, the new Christian Wilkins, if you will.

The wild card would be taking Iowa cornerback Cooper DeJean with the idea of using him at safety in a role similar to what the Baltimore Ravens have done with Kyle Hamilton.