What the 'Green Bay Way' Suggests for 2026 Dolphins Draft

Predicting an NFL team’s specific personnel decisions, whether it be through free agency or the draft, is near impossible. For the Miami Dolphins, General Manager Jon-Eric Sullivan and the current personnel team in charge have no track record together in Miami, but there are clues as to how Sullivan will handle things come draft time.

As a reminder, not only did Sullivan come from the Green Bay Packers organization, he cut his teeth there.

It is fair to state “just because that’s how Green Bay did it, doesn’t mean he’ll do that here," but at the same time, it also would be naïve to not consider the habits of the place he spent all of his 22 years employed in the profession.

THE QUARTERBACK AND WIDE RECEIVER TREND

Without going too far into details, those who pay attention to how front offices behave have not had a hard time noticing trends in Green Bay, most notably at two of the league’s most high-profile positions.

As Sullivan has noted, the Packers virtually did draft a quarterback every year or every other year — but they did it almost without fail in the fifth round and beyond.

Last season, Green Bay selected wide receiver Matthew Golden of Texas with the 23rd overall pick. This was notable because it was the only time in the last 23 years that the Packers took a receiver in Round 1.

So in 22 years, Sullivan never saw a receiver drafted in the first round until the year before he left for Miami. And, make no mistake, this was Green Bay’s draft plan, not a coincidence.

PACKERS FIRST-ROUND TRENDS LEAN DEFENSE

With Jaylen Waddle, the only accomplished outside receiver on the roster last week , now in Denver, it’s natural to think the Dolphins will be looking to select a wide receiver with the 11th overall pick.

A quick Packers history lesson throws that in doubt, however.

Focusing on the last 20 years (2006-2025), it is pretty clear the focus of the organization — defense.

Since 2006, Green Bay has selected 16 defensive and just five offensive players in the first round, with the last two years being outliers (OT in 2024, WR in 2025). In fact, prior to 2024, the Packers were on a run of 14 years with just one offensive player selected (QB Jordan Love in 2020).

All told, they took four linebackers, four defensive tackles, three edge rushers, three safeties, three offensive tackles, two cornerbacks, one receiver and one quarterback.

FAVORING LONG ARMS

With the exception of cornerback, Green Bay also made a habit of selecting longer players. No edge selected had arms shorter than 33 inches and only two of all their picks (corners) had arms that were in the 30-inch range.

The Packers took three offensive tackles and no guards in those 20 years. The three tackles were all 6-5 with 33- to 35-inch arms.

Twenty years ago, Green Bay was selecting linebackers and defensive tackles every other year it seemed. Recent history, however, offers no real clue of a positional preference other than simply “defense.”

Come draft night, now with two first-round picks in pocket, it will be interesting to see how Sullivan prioritizes the use of now 11 draft picks, especially considering the myriad of holes on Miami's roster.