What to Make of the Dolphins' Big Gamble with their First Pick

Jon-Eric Sullivan wasn't kidding around with his comment that in cold weather "fast gets slower, but big doesn't get smaller."

The new Miami Dolphins general manager went about as big as he could go with his first draft pick with the organization, selected massive Alabama tackle Kadyn Proctor with the 12th overall selection. That came after the Dolphins picked up two 2026 fifth-round picks from the Dallas Cowboys to move down from 11th.

Proctor was a late mover, at least in the eyes of the media, in the draft process and became the third tackle selected after the Cleveland Browns took Utah's Spencer Fano with the ninth overall selection and the New York Giants followed that with the selection of Francis Mauigoa from the University of Miami.

Of the three, though, it's pretty well accepted that Proctor has the highest ceiling because he's just flat out a better athlete than either Fano or Mauigoa.

But it also could be that Proctor presents a bigger risk, and it has to do with his weight.

Proctor is a big man at almost 6-7 and 352 pounds, but there were times he actually was closer to 400 pounds during his time at Alabama.

Former Dolphins head coach Nick Saban was still at Alabama when Proctor was a freshman there in 2023, and he had some rather concerning comments about the big offensive lineman when he appeared on the Pat McAfee Show this week.

"The issue with him is, he's not a bad person," Saban said. "He'll do whatever you ask him to, once you get him in the building. But when he's not in the building, he might get a little overweight, he might not come in in the best shape, and those are the things you have to manage with him. But I think they're manageable. He's not exactly a self-starter who will get in great shape and come to camp like you want him. But if you can get him to come to camp, (once) you got him there, you can get him ready to go. So, I don't think that's a huge negative for the guy."

Uh, maybe it's not a huge negative, but it most definitely is not a positive.

What it is, is a potential red flag.

If Proctor can't keep his weight under control, this could wind up a bust of a pick.

The hope, of course, is that it doesn't become or remain an issue because the potential most definitely is there.

This just wasn't what anyone would call a safe pick.

WHERE PROCTOR FITS

Proctor's NFL projection is as a right tackle or guard, and the question is whether the Dolphins will have him start inside.

Logic would suggest he'll wind up at right tackle eventually to take over for solid starter, but also oft-injured, Austin Jackson.

With Proctor on the right side, the Dolphins could find themselves with one of the largest set of bookend tackles with Patrick Paul on the left side.

This was the NFL.com scouting report from draft analyst Lance Zierlein: "Proctor is a mass of humanity with rare size and length at his command. He’s capable as a move blocker but shines when rolling downhill as a bona-fide people mover with bulldozing power. However, slants and quick first steps beat him to the spot in the run game. When set and centered, Proctor is a roadblock to speed-to-power charges. He has a stout anchor and strong hands to stall the rush in its track. He struggles to mirror athletes in space and lacks the range to protect deeper pocket drops against speed. Inconsistency in pass protection hasn’t helped his draft standing, but he still has the potential to become a good right tackle or very good guard."

As the first pick of his tenure as Dolphins GM, Sullivan lived up to his word of building the organization "inside out" by addressing the offensive line.

The Dolphins took Proctor with Caleb Downs still on the board, and he was universally viewed as a much cleaner prospect. He also would have made a great first selection for Sullivan because of his intangibles, sure tackling and versatility.

But Downs is a safety and there's only so much he could have done in terms of bringing that physicality back to Miami.

Proctor will help do that.

But he also wasn't a totally clean prospect, otherwise he wouldn't have lasted until the 12th pick.

In the end, Sullivan decided to make a bold statement with this choice.

A big, bold statement.

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