Good Dolphins Genes: Surtain the Latest in a Long Line

The Dolphins have had their share of good players through the years, but they've also had a good number of productive fathers when it comes to delivering future NFL stars.

The latest case in point is Alabama cornerback Patrick Surtain II, the son of the three-time Dolphins cornerback of the same name (minus the II).

Surtain is widely expected to become a first-round pick in the NFL draft, and he interestingly has drawn comparisons to a cornerback with Dolphins ties: not his father, but rather 2020 free agent acquisition Byron Jones.

It was NFL.com analyst Daniel Jeremiah who made that comparison.

"His size, jumping ability and consistency remind me of the Dolphins' Byron Jones," Jeremiah wrote. "They have a similar body type and movement skills. Both guys have the ability to recover down the field and they avoid giving up big plays. They can each fill/tackle against the run and bring an overall toughness to their defensive unit. I think Jones has better short-area quickness and Surtain has better ball skills. This isn't a perfect comparison, but I think they'll have similar success in the NFL. Jones cashed in during free agency this offseason after spending five seasons with the Cowboys, and Surtain should be highly coveted once he makes the leap to the next level."

Actually, Surtain should be lucky if he becomes either another Byron Jones or another Patrick Surtain because his father was a tremendous cornerback who, along with Sam Madison, was part of the greatest tandem in Dolphins history.

If Surtain indeed becomes a first-round pick, he would be at least the eighth NFL first-round pick whose father played for the Dolphins.

The first seven include a pair of brothers, Nick and Joey Bosa and Tremaine and Terrell Edmunds.

Joey and Nick both happened to be top 3 picks, Joey going third overall in 2016 and Nick going second in 2019 before becoming the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year.

The Edmunds made history by becoming the first brothers to be selected in the first round in the same year, with the 2018 draft seeing Tremaine going 16th to the Bills and Terrell going 28th to the Steelers. There's a third Edmunds brother in the NFL: Running back Trey Edmunds, who was not drafted but has been in the league three years and now is teammates with Trey in Pittsburgh.

The other first-round pick who were sons of Dolphins were Baltimore Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey (son of RB Bobby Humphrey), Ravens running back Mark Ingram Jr. (son of former WR Mark Ingram) and new Jets wide receiver Breshad Perriman (son of former Dolphins WR Brett Perriman).

The Dolphins have had other players whose sons went on to play in the NFL, though not as first-round picks.

Three of them actually were Dolphins father-son combinations: Bob and Brian Griese, Randy and Channing Crowder, and Rudy and Kantroy Barber.

Additionally, new Bills defensive end Bryan Cox Jr. is the son of the three-time Dolphins Pro Bowl linebacker Bryan Cox, and Atlanta Falcons starting cornerback Isaiah Oliver is the son of Muhammad Oliver, who played the same position for the Dolphins in 1994.

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