Sunday Dolphins Mailbag: Skylar, Toast, Draft Priorities, and More

Part 2 of a combine weekend SI Fan Nation All Dolphins mailbag:

From Dave (@angryvet59):

Coach McDaniel has a knack for finding RBs, Grier doesn't like selecting them early. Is there a happy medium somewhere? What are your odds on defense being the priority at least second & first third-round pick? Thanks for all your good work Alain!

Hey Dave, yeah, I’m not sure it’s that clear cut, beyond the point I made earlier that Chris Grier will go with the BPA approach. Even if players of equal ability are available, I might suggest that tight end is just as big a need as cornerback or linebacker. Also remember that the needs might change based on what happens in free agency.

From Jane (via email):

Hi Alain, have been a Dolphin fan since they drafted Bob Griese. First game I saw in person was Super Bowl VII. Have a silly, curiosity question: If the Dolphins are the last undefeated team of the season, when they lose, will the '72 team have their rumored toast?

Hey Jane, that’s a great question, and I’ll start by saying a lot of the ’72 players are pushing back against the “toast” narrative. But playing along here, I’d say that I think they’d still have the toast because it was that specific 1972 group that did it, not as much the Miami Dolphins as a whole. I think that if any team were to have a perfect season, they’d prefer it be the Dolphins, but if you gave them truth serum, they’d still prefer that nobody match it.

WATCH: SOUTH ALABAMA WR JALEN WAYNE DISCUSSES COMBINE MEETING WITH MIAMI DOLPHINS

From Hebert Gutierrez Morales (via email):

Hi Alain, I hope you enjoyed your time in Indy. I know the league's new year starts in less than two weeks but the Dolphins hadn't made any movement yet (release players or adjust the contracts) in order to get below the salary cap. I know there's still time but, for example, the logical move is cutting Byron Jones as post June 1st. What are the Dolphins waiting for? Is there any advantage if Jones retires instead of cutting him?

Hey Hebert, understand that cutting Jones with a post-June 1 designation doesn’t help them with salary cap space until then, so I’m not sure there’s any great urgency to do anything there. Also, from a cap standpoint, there is no different whether Jones retires or is cut.

From Chris Robinson (via email):

Hey Alain, what’s the likelihood of the Dolphins keeping 3 QBs on the active roster again next year? If they don’t trust Skylar Thompson to be the backup, do you think they will try and slip him onto the practice squad? Would Skylar have enough value to be traded? Or just keep him on the active roster again as QB3? Secondly, because I often link the two players in my head, how would you compare the situation with Reid Sinnett to the situation with Skylar Thompson?

Hey Chris, good questions both. On the first issue of keeping three QBs, it wouldn’t surprise me if the league adopted a rule to make it easier for teams to have three QBs. If they don’t, yes, I think I’d expect the Dolphins to keep three on the active roster — unless they’re totally convinced that Skylar is ready to be a full-blown No. 2 guy. While it was clear after last season he’s got a ways to go, he showed enough last year that it might be tough to try to slide him through waivers to get him back on the practice squad but I also don’t know what you could get for him in a trade. Secondly, his situation is different from that of Sinnett in that the Dolphins saw enough in him at Kansas State to actually spend a draft pick on him, whereas Sinnett was an undrafted free agent. So Thompson always was going to have a bit longer leash to show what he could do.

WATCH: CB TYRIQUE STEVENSON TALKS ABOUT FORMER UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI TEAMMATE JAELAN PHILLIPS

From NY – Fins Up (azomback34):

Any chance Iowa LB Jack Campbell is available when the Dolphins finally pick in RD 2? If not, can you see a trade up to grab him? Does his game remind you at all of one of the new HOF inductees who wore aqua and orange?

Hey there, hmm, yeah, I think I see what you see as far as certain Zach Thomas traits, but I don’t think Campbell is nearly as quick as Zach was, though he’s a whole bigger. Regardless, he does look like a very good prospect. I’m not sure he’s good enough for the Dolphins to sacrifice even more draft capital when they’re already down in that department. And I’d be inclined to believe that Campbell will be gone by the 51st overall pick, which is when the Dolphins make their first selection.

From Thee Dolphan (JamesBi88402129):

Would love to see Miami get Andre Carter from Army. What is his draft prospect?

Hey James, I’ve been curious about him myself because I wondered for a second whether he was related to former NFL player and former Dolphins assistant Andre Carter (he’s not). Carter was viewed as a pretty good prospect after the end of the 2022 college season, but by all accounts he didn’t perform particularly well at the Senior Bowl and he had a poor showing in the bench press at the combine, and those aren’t going to help him. He’s a very long edge defender, but you have to wonder how he’d hold up against the run.

From John Kerns (@yitwail):

Which should Fins prioritize in draft, BPA or positional need? Ideally, they get both, but I’d prefer the BPA to maximize chance of getting someone ready to play.

Hey John, as I indicated before, I always believe in BPA unless a team just needs to fill one spot to have a Super Bowl roster and there’s somebody available who could help immediately. I do hope the Dolphins avoid a repeat of last year when they got almost nothing out of their first two picks, Channing Tindall and Erik Ezukanma.

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