Senior Bowl Players Dolphins Fans Should Watch: Defense

The Miami Dolphins have a new general manager, coaching staff, and five picks in the top 100.

If the Dolphins are going to become a contender anytime soon, it’ll start with knocking this 2026 NFL draft process out of the park.

That process begins with this week’s Senior Bowl, which features the entire NFL world converging on Mobile, Alabama, to watch three days of practice by some of the best prospects in the class.

We’re on site scouting the Dolphins’ top needs, and to prepare you for the event, we’re breaking down a bunch of players to watch at each position. In this one, we'll cover the defense.

Senior Bowl Players to Watch for Dolphins: Defense

Interior Defensive Tackle

Caleb Banks, Florida
Gracen Halton, Oklahoma
Zane Durant, Penn State
Dominique Orange, Iowa State

Since I’ve got a good idea of Jeff Hafley’s scheme, it’ll make narrowing down the defensive groups a lot easier. With that in mind, this list is mostly filled with players who are good at splitting gaps and playing with an attacking style.

Banks is currently my top-rated interior defensive lineman. He missed a lot of time with injuries, but he returned late in the season and looked good. He’s an impressive athlete with great speed, power, and burst. He needs some development, but his ceiling is quite high.

Halton and Durant fall into the same category. They’re both likely Day 3 picks, but play the penetration style game that Hafley’s defense likes to use. Both could be good complements to Kenneth Grant and Jordan Phillips.

Lastly is Dominique Orange, who I’m not sure is a scheme fit or a need since he’s a nose tackle. However, his nickname is “Big Citrus,” and his tape is awesome, so I feel it’s my duty to tell you that he exists.

EDGE Rusher

TJ Parker, Clemson
Gabe Jacas, Illinois
Ahkeem Mesidor, Miami
LT Overton, Alabama
David Bailey, Texas Tech
Rueben Bain Jr., Miami

This group might be the first one that feels like an above-average group. There are a lot of players who will go inside or near the top-50 on this roster, which is great for the Dolphins because they need a lot of help.

Bailey is someone we mocked to the team already, and although he’s a tad small for the Packers (likely now Dolphins) prototype, he’s athletic enough to get consideration.

Parker and Overton are both bigger edge players who play with a power profile. Overton could project inside, while Parker is closer to the model Green Bay has drafted in the past.

Mesidor and Jacas are both technicians on the outside who would be excellent long-term rotational pieces behind more dominant players. Still, they project as productive pass and run defenders.

Bain likely won’t be on the board for the Dolphins, but he’ll be fun to watch either way. I'll also noted that it wouldn't shock me if Bain and Mesidor don't practice or only practice in a limited capacity. Miami just finished playing, and that's usually what happens with those players.

Some names if Bain and Mesidor opt out: Zion Young (Missouri), Dani Dennis-Sutton (Penn State), and Derrick Moore (Michigan).

Linebacker

Jacob Rodriguez, Texas Tech
Xavian Sorey Jr., Arkansas
Kaleb Elarms-Orr, TCU

Frankly, the East-West Shrine Game has a much better group of linebackers, but there’s one name that is super interesting: Jacob Rodriguez.

Rodriguez is the perfect late Day 2 or early Day 3 linebacker prospect. He’s smart, plays bigger than his size, is a ball magnet, and proved to be an excellent leader in college. I’m not sure he’s got the juice that Hafley and Jon-Eric Sullivan will like at the position, but man, he’s got a lot of heart.

Sorey and Elarms-Orr at least have some juice, and Elarms-Orr specifically has some really solid grades across the board from this season. He’s a bit small at 6-2, 230, but most college linebackers are too small these days.

Cornerback

Chris Johnson, San Diego State
Daylen Everette, Georgia
Julian Neal, Arkansas
Colton Hood, Tennessee
Keionte Scott, Miami

This year’s cornerback group is incredibly solid, which is good news for Miami because it needs a lot of help at this position.

Johnson projects as a solid started into a zone-heavy scheme, which I think the Dolphins will run under Hafley. Everette also projects well to that scheme, but he’ll be a lot less reliable right away. Still, both are worth watching.

Neal looks and plays like a press-man cornerback, but I could see Hafley talking himself into Neal’s length and physicality being an asset for the defense. There’s some development needed, but playing in a Cover-3 scheme might actually help Neal long-term.

Scott is smaller, but plays way bigger than their size. He played the nickel spot for the Hurricanes this past season and did an excellent job. He’d be a plug-and-play starter for the Dolphins.

Hood is someone who gets mocked into the back end of the first round pretty often. He's a smooth mover with enough size and ball skills to be an impact starter early in his career.

Safety

Emmanuel McNeil-Warren, Toledo
Kamari Ramsey, USC
Jakobe Thomas, Miami
AJ Haulcy, LSU
Genesis Smith, Arizona

We saved the best for last because this year’s safety group is awesome. Every player listed above would be a good fit for the Dolphins, and likely will go within the top 100 picks.

McNeil-Warren might be my favorite player at the event. He can play all three safety spots, has awesome ball skills, and seeks out contact like an old-school player.

Ramsey and Haulcy are good options in deep zones with high football IQ and ball skills to boot. Ramsey played in the slot this past season, but that’s because USC needed him there, not because that is his best spot.

Smith and Thomas did a little bit of everything for their respective teams. Both are about 6-2, 200 pounds. Thomas’ varied usage might be specifically appealing to Hafley. Smith does his best work playing on the roof of the defense in deeper zones.

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