B
Miami Dolphins
The Dolphins won the weekend at the trade table. Grade: B.
by [email protected] ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 19 picks
· 0 steals
· 10 reaches
The CJ Donaldson selection is the head-turner. The Dolphins reached 63 spots for him, and it will define how this weekend is remembered. More right than wrong, and a B to match.
The dealing alone would carry a lesser class. A whole weekend of picks and interior defensive lineman is somehow still a want. Spending an early pick on cornerback with interior defensive lineman open is the decision the grade keeps circling back to.
Good work on the whole, with interior defensive lineman the one box left unchecked.
Pick-by-Pick
In the 18th overall pick they get a premier pass rusher, though the board says they badly overpaid. The biggest hole, addressed.
In the 30th pick they get a lockdown presence outside. Need was not the driver here.
The eyebrow-raiser of the weekend. They went cornerback with D'Angelo Ponds while clear needs at interior defensive lineman sat open.
They paid sticker price for Elijah Sarratt in slot 75, and that is fine. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
A clean, defensible pick in No. 91 with a little surplus value in Zakee Wheatley. Useful body for a position without much behind the starter.
A swing that ignored the value entirely, Ted Hurst well ahead of where he belonged. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
They zigged when the board said zag, taking Treydan Stukes at cornerback with interior defensive lineman open.
A want over a need in the 94th overall pick: Bud Clark adds a safety while interior defensive lineman keeps waiting.
The needs board was loud and they turned it down, spending the Round 4 slot on Jalon Kilgore with interior defensive lineman unsolved.
A reach for CJ Daniels in pick 130; a little patience would have been rewarded. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
A reach on Jalen Farmer in the 151st pick; the board had better options right there. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
They went early on Aamil Wagner in slot 152, and the value did not follow. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
Drew Allar at No. 155 is right where the board had him, plain and simple. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Pat Coogan in pick No. 165 is a bet on their own eyes over everyone else's grade. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
Jalen Stroman in the Round 6 slot is exactly on the number, no argument either way. They doubled down on a strength rather than a need.
A premium they did not need to pay, Aiden Fisher a notch or two before his time. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
Riley Nowakowski at Round 6, Pick 30 is a steep price for a hunch, hard to square with any board. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
Fa'alili Fa'amoe in No. 227 is the kind of reach that only looks good if he outplays it. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
The board screamed and they did not listen, reaching into the next round for CJ Donaldson. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.