The Right Direction if Dolphins Go Secondary at Pick 13

The Miami Dolphins were projected to take a cornerback in a beat writer mock draft by The Athletic

Michigan defensive back Will Johnson celebrates a touchdown after intercepting USC quarterback Miller Moss during the second half at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The NFL scouting combine takes place next week, but in the meantime the barrage of mock drafts continues and a new name and a new position emerged for the Miami Dolphins from a recent national outlet.

The Athletic conducted a beat writer mock draft and projected the Dolphins to take Michigan cornerback Will Johnson with the 13th overall selection.

"If this happens on draft night, Dolphins fans might start shouting angrily at their TVs, upset their team passed on an offensive lineman," senior editor Jim Ayello wrote. "I get it. I strongly considered taking Alabama guard Tyler Booker here, but I couldn’t pass on the elite upside of Johnson — especially at a major position of need for Miami. Jalen Ramsey will be 31 next season, and his future could be at safety anyway. The Dolphins just cut Kendall Fuller, while Kader Kohou is set to hit free agency. Johnson is a big, physical cornerback with great ball skills who could step right in and play opposite Ramsey before transitioning into Miami’s CB1 of the future."

As Ayello mentioned, the overriding sentiment seems to have the Dolphins going for an offensive lineman with the 13th pick, which is why we've seen names like Tyler Booker, Kelvin Banks Jr. and even Will Campbell mocked to them. But then we've also seen mock drafts projecting them to take Georgia safety Malaki Starks or even Penn State tight end Tyler Warren.

WHY WILL JOHNSON MAKES PERFECT SENSE

Without question, the Dolphins need to beef up their offensive line after the guards didn't perform up to par in 2024, and the need became even more glaring after the way the Philadelphia Eagles rode their offensive line to the Super Bowl title.

But an elite cornerback might be more difficult to land in the draft than an elite draft and it's also a more premium position because a defense that can't cover is a defense that can't succeed.

In terms of positional value, there's no comparison there, and as proof check out previous draft results and you'll see a lot more cornerbacks taken in Round 1 than guards.

The Dolphins still can boost the interior of their offensive line this offseason without spending their first-round pick on the position.

In terms of positional value, cornerback has to rank near the top along with quarterback, tackle, pass rusher and maybe even interior defensive lineman if you can find one with pass-rushing ability.

And then in terms of what's currently on the roster, the Dolphins are in a good enough shape at tight end with Jonnu Smith to not overly need Warren, and Starks would be a good pick except that a safety isn't as valuable as a cornerback.

Obviously, those generalizations are based on players of equal ability and the Dolphins would be silly to take a B-type cornerback over an A-type safety or tight end, and the goal always should be to match up best player to biggest need if possible.

But we'll still say here that if the Dolphins evaluation justifies the pick, then Will Johnson absolutely makes perfect sense at number 13.