Who's the Better DT Prospect Fit for Dolphins: Grant, Nolen or Harmon?

The Miami Dolphins’ most crucial needs in the 2025 NFL draft have come into focus.

With the first two waves of free agency finished, it’s clear the Dolphins’ primary needs are guard, safety, cornerback, and interior defensive line. There are some depth needs across the roster, but those are the positions where the team needs a starter.

Although the positions where the Dolphins need the most help are obvious, which player they should select is far less so. In this series, we’ll cover the top players available at each position of need and break down who fits the Dolphins best.

Part 2 of this series will cover the interior defensive line options, after part 1 covered cornerback.

Let’s look at Walter Nolen (Mississippi), Kenneth Grant (Michigan), and Derrick Harmon (Oregon).

Walter Nolen’s Fit With Miami

Pros of Nolen’s Game

Nolen is a high-upside prospect, and his strengths are centered around that. Drafting Nolen at pick 13 wouldn’t be a bet on what he is right now, but one on what he could become with some NFL coaching.

Most of Nolen’s best plays are when he uses speed and quickness off the line of scrimmage to shoot a gap into the backfield. He’s much quicker than your average defensive tackle, which makes him a tough one-on-one assignment for most offensive linemen.

Nolen’s ability to create initial displacement off the line of scrimmage pops off the tape. The initial shock he can generate with his hands and burst will reset the line of scrimmage at the NFL level.

For the Dolphins, Nolen would be an interesting complement to Zach Sieler and Benito Jones. While Sieler has developed into a great pass rusher and one of the Dolphins’ best players, athleticism isn’t his calling card, and it’s not Jones’ either.

Nolen would give the Dolphins something different upfront, and if he can iron out some of his weaknesses, he and Sieler could be one of the NFL’s better interior duos for a long time.

Cons of Nolen’s Game

Every issue with Nolen’s game is centered around consistency. Nolen has every athletic tool you’d want in an interior defensive lineman, but his use of those tools is wildly unpredictable.

Probably his biggest issue is keeping his pads low. He has a bad tendency to pop out of his stance right off the snap, removing any leverage advantage he might have had. This affects his ability to win against the run and pass.

As a pass rusher, Nolen is mostly reliant on winning with his natural gifts. He doesn’t have a cohesive, repeatable pass-rush plan or hand counters that he can use if his natural speed and strength aren’t enough to win.

Additionally, Nolen is on the smaller side for a defensive tackle prospect. His weight, arm length, wingspan, and hand size all rank below the 28th percentile for defensive tackles since 1999.

That lack of size makes Nolen difficult to trust against the run. He can get moved out of gaps easily and won’t stack and shed linemen overly often. Instead, he relies on shooting gaps.

For some teams, that’s fine, but the Dolphins prefer their defensive linemen to be two- or one-and-a-half-gap players.

Kenneth Grant’s Fit With Miami

Pros of Grant’s Game

Grant is a popular mock draft selection for the Dolphins, and it’s not hard to see why. He’s a supersized defensive tackle who pairs perfectly with Sieler and fits the Dolphins’ scheme.

Grant’s massive size (6-3, 331 pounds) is complemented nicely by his wingspan and arm length, which rank in the 83rd and 63rd percentile, respectively. Many nose tackles with Grant’s weight struggle in the length department, making it hard for them to be a scheme-diverse talent.

Grant has no issues there, and his natural strength combined with his size make him one of the better run defenders in this class. He can challenge blockers with quickness and overwhelm them into the backfield.

Grant is still figuring things out as a pass rusher, but it’s clear he’s got the tools to be an effective disruptor. His 2023 tape is probably a better example of what he can do rushing the passer, as he showed immense power and violent hands during Michigan’s National Championship run.

Like Nolen, Grant possesses a lot of upside in his profile. Players built like him shouldn’t move as well as he does. However, Grant’s floor as a solid run defender makes him a pretty safe prospect.

He has improvements to make, but it’s hard to imagine Grant not being at least a valuable rotational lineman at the NFL level.

Cons of Grant’s Game

Speaking of improvements, Grant would have to develop quite a bit as a pass rusher to be worth the 13th overall pick. Right now, he’s primarily reliant on his size to compress the pocket and his quickness to take offensive linemen by surprise.

He doesn’t have a solid hand move that he uses to free himself, and he’s a huge target for lineman to land their hands. There’s no reason Grant can’t get better in this area, but it’s not a guarantee.

Additionally, while Grant is a good run defender, he did go through stretches last season when he was getting moved out of his gap a little too easily for a player of his size.

The culprit seemed to be pad level, as Grant’s height can allow some offensive linemen to get under his pads and uproot him. The Dolphins’ coaching staff would need to help Grant in that area.

However, there’s only so much coaching can do. Grant won’t get shorter anytime soon, so this will likely always be something that’s an inconsistent part of his game.

Derrick Harmon’s Fit With Miami

Pros of Harmon’s Game

After transferring from Michigan State, Harmon enjoyed a breakout season with Oregon in 2024. He increased his career high in quarterback hurries from 18 to 43 and increased his career in sacks from 3 to 5.

Harmon slimmed down his weight after transferring to Oregon, and it helped him become much more dynamic when rushing the passer. He’s quick off the snap, allowing him to create half-man relationships and then bully his way into the backfield. He was also an effective option on stunts and twists, especially as a crasher.

Dolphins defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver likes to use a lot of stunts and twists in his defense, so this could be a small area where Harmon stands out.

Harmon paired his increase in pass-rush production with his already solid run-defensive profile. He’s a hard player to move in the middle of the line (6-foot-4, 313 pounds) and has an excellent understanding of how to counter different blocking schemes.

Harmon made a lot of splash plays in the backfield by getting off the line and then just muscling his way through gaps. He would flash into the backfield a lot, forcing running backs to get creative behind the line.

Even if Harmon wasn’t making the tackle every time, he was still a disruptive presence.

Cons of Harmon’s Game

Harmon’s profile is somewhat hard to pin down. His size, length, and football IQ all show that he should be a long-term starter at defensive tackle.

While his improvement at Oregon last season was encouraging, it’s fair to ask how much of that was a product of playing on a stacked defensive line. Harmon also slimmed down quite a bit from his time at Michigan State.

His slimmer frame helped him rush the passer last season, but it did affect his consistency against the run. Harmon has the tools to be a two-gapping presence, but he struggled to consistently get off blocks at times.

There aren’t many glaring holes in Harmon’s game. It’s just hard to be sure which player you’re getting. Is he the pass-rush producer he showed he could be at Oregon? The stout run defender without much juice he was at Michigan State? Or something in between?

Either way, that uncertainty could make him a hard sell for the Dolphins at pick 13.

Nolen vs. Grant vs. Harmon — Verdict

Part 1 of this series featured a close race between Jahdae Barron and Will Johnson, ultimately down to preference rather than on-field play.

However, the race at interior defensive line is a blowout. Grant is easily the best interior defensive lineman the Dolphins can take at pick 13, assuming his Michigan teammate, Mason Graham, is off the board.

Grant is a perfect scheme fit. His size and strength will help the Dolphins immediately against the run while he develops his athletic ability into a more robust pass-rush profile.

The question is more about how the Dolphins should view Harmon vs. Nolen. There’s a solid chance Grant doesn’t make it to pick 13 since the 49ers (pick 11) and Cowboys (pick 12) also need interior defense line help.

Although the Dolphins have a huge need at defensive tackle, they shouldn’t force that pick in the first round. Harmon and Nolen are good prospects, but neither is worth a top-15 selection based on their tape. Plus, it’s a deep defensive tackle class with options in every round.

If we had to stack them, we’d rank Harmon higher than Nolen.

Harmon’s floor is much higher than Nolen’s, and he’s got enough upside to warrant a first-round selection. Ideally, Harmon would only be on the Dolphins’ board in a trade-back situation, but taking him at 13 wouldn’t be the worst pick they could make.

On the other hand, Nolen would incur a ton of risk if taken that high. That’s especially true for a team like the Dolphins, who would expect Nolen to play a lot of snaps as a rookie. Nolen can contribute next season, but asking him to be a full-time starter wouldn’t be wise.

Overall, Grant is the best fit for the Dolphins. That said, the team might be better off addressing the interior defensive line later in the draft, whether or not Grant is available in the first round.