How the Draft Lines Up to Meet the Dolphins' Needs

Miami Dolphins GM Chris Grier expressed confidence the draft could take care of roster issues

Miami Dolphins GM Chris Grier | Alain Poupart/Miami Dolphins On SI

One of the most prominent themes of Miami Dolphins general manager Chris Grier’s recent press conference was that the team believes the 2025 NFL draft lines up with its biggest positions of need.

Previously under Grier, the Dolphins tried to fill their roster spots with free agents before entering the draft, allowing them to take a “best player available” approach with their picks.

The team seems to be straying from that model, leaving massive holes at interior defensive line, offensive guard, safety, and cornerback.

“The strength of the draft was a little bit of the reasons,” Grier told reporters Tuesday when asked why the team’s approach changed. “We’re going to need NFL-ready players. There’s no ‘let’s hope this guy is ready.’ These guys will be forced into playing, and that’s a good thing.”

While the Dolphins might like the draft class’ depth at key positions, the team only has three top 100 selections (picks 13, 48, and 98), so acquiring more picks would make sense.

One way to do that would be by moving back in the first round, something Grier said the team is open to doing.

“Yeah, we’re definitely open to moving around in the draft,” Grier said. “But if the opportunity arises to figure out how to get a really good player, we’d be open to figuring out a way to go get them.”

Since the Dolphins are hedging a lot of their roster quality on being right about the strength of the draft class at specific positions, it’s a good time to look at whether the 2025 NFL draft aligns with Miami’s needs — defensive tackle, cornerback, safety, and guard.

Interior Defensive Line

Out of all of the groups we’ll cover in this article, this is by far the easiest to judge. The interior defensive line group this year is incredibly talented and deep.

There is a player who fits every prototype the Dolphins could possibly want.

If the Dolphins are looking for a nose tackle to pair with Zach Sieler, Alfred Collins (Texas), Jordan Phillips (Maryland), Kenneth Grant (Michigan), and Jamaree Caldwell (Oregon), all project as rookie contributors.

When it comes to rushing the passer, Walter Nolen (Mississippi), Darius Alexander (Toledo), T.J. Sanders (South Carolina), Rylie Mills (Notre Dame), and Omarr Norman-Lott (Tennessee) are all excellent options.

The only wrinkle is that the class doesn’t have the most star power at the top. Mason Graham is the best defensive tackle in the class, but he’ll likely be off the board when Miami picks.

The only other player talented enough to go at pick 13 is Grant, so that doesn’t give Miami a ton of flexibility to take an interior defensive lineman early.

The strength of the class this year is its depth, so it makes sense for the Dolphins to feel confident about finding several viable options with their 10 picks, even if they don’t take one in Round 1.

Verdict: We agree with Grier. It’s a great IDL class.

Cornerback

Miami’s cornerback situation got a lot more complicated when it was revealed that the team and Jalen Ramsey mutually agreed to part ways. If Ramsey is off the roster before Week 1 — something Grier wasn’t sure would happen — the Dolphins need two starting outside cornerbacks.

Luckily, this class should afford the Dolphins a chance to add a few talented cornerbacks if they want. Unlike defensive tackle, the cornerback class lines up a little better with the team’s first-round selection.

Jahdae Barron (Texas) and Will Johnson (Michigan) could be on the board at pick 13, and both project quite well to the Dolphins’ system.

Barron’s versatility to play inside, outside, and at safety might make him more appealing, but Johnson is probably the more talented player overall.

When looking at pick 48, the Dolphins could have multiple solid options, including Shavon Revel (East Carolina), Benjamin Morrison (Notre Dame), Azareye'h Thomas (Florida State), and Jacob Parrish (Kansas State).

Revel and Morrison have injury concerns, but both players' medical checks reportedly have been positive. Thomas is an outside-only player, and Parrish projects best in the slot; however, both look like rookie starters.

Potential Day 3 options include Quincy Riley (Louisville), Nohl Williams (California), and Dorian Strong (Virginia Tech).

Cornerback is one of the hardest positions to transition from, especially in Year 1. Relying on multiple rookies to be starters in the secondary isn’t an ideal approach, but it’s hard to argue that this class isn’t talented.

Verdict: We’ll side with Grier again. This cornerback class has plenty of solid options.

Safety

The safety class has good talent, but it’s not deep like the cornerback and defensive tackle groups.

Malaki Starks (Georgia) and Nick Emmanwori (South Carolina) are viewed as the best prospects and are popular mock draft picks for the Dolphins.

However, Grier also mentioned he feels like the Dolphins already have their starting safeties, so it seems unlikely the team will take one early. This would also make sense if viewed through the lens of the Dolphins’ belief in the strength of the safety class.

When looking past the top options, things start to get a little less solid.

Xavier Watts (Notre Dame) and Andrew Mukuba (Texas) are mocked to Miami at pick 48 a lot, but they’re both undersized and not impressive athletes, even if their tape is good.

Kevin Winston Jr. (Penn State) is coming off a major injury, Jonas Sanker (Virginia) is a solid but unspectacular player, and Bill Bowman (Oklahoma) is yet another undersized option who really struggles to tackle.

All of those players could be solid starters, but their profiles have bigger pitfalls than some of the depth options at other positions.

The Dolphins signed two safeties this offseason in Ifeatu Melifonwu and Ashtyn Davis, so waiting to select one until pick 98 — or later — makes sense in a vacuum.

However, the quality players at safety will likely dry out quicker than other spots.

Verdict: This safety is class is just OK.

Guard

The guard class mirrors the safety class in a lot of ways. There are plenty of potential starters, but they start to dry out when considering they might have to fall to pick 98 for the Dolphins to select them.

There’s also the whole consideration about which offensive tackles will be considered guards at the next level. We’ve covered that problem extensively already, but the idea is that the Dolphins would be better off targeting a true guard or a tackle with guard experience at pick 48.

That would likely take the team out of the Grey Zabel (North Dakota State) and Tyler Booker (Alabama) sweepstakes, although Booker isn’t the Dolphins’ type.

A few options we like at pick 48 include Jonah Savaiinaea (Arizona), Tate Ratledge (Georgia) and Donovan Jackson (Ohio State). It’s unlikely all three are still on the board, but one of them should be available.

At pick 98, the options get a little slimmer. We like Caleb Rogers (Texas Tech) and Miles Frazier (LSU), but they easily could be off the board.

The problem with calling this a deep guard class is that there’s a significant talent drop-off past the top five or six players. Rogers and Frazier would be fine picks at 98 overall, but they wouldn’t be shoe-ins to start.

The drop-off between them and a prospect like Ratledge is fairly substantial.

The Dolphins need a quality starter, and if they wait to take one because they need multiple cornerbacks and interior defensive linemen, they might miss out on getting one.

Verdict: The guard class is okay but lacks starter-level depth.