C+
Miami Dolphins
The Dolphins lost the trade table, and the C+ tells the story.
by [email protected] ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 13 picks
· 4 steals
· 5 reaches
There is conviction, and then there is this. The Dolphins took Deven Eastern a full 54 picks ahead of where the board had him, an overdraft steep enough that it colors the whole weekend. A mixed bag that lands at C+.
If one pick saves this weekend, it is Slaughter. They lost the exchange badly enough to drag the whole class down.
That tight end hole did not close this weekend, and it was the biggest one on the wall. The Kilgore pick is fine in a vacuum, less so with tight end still on the board.
A perfectly average weekend, for better and for worse.
Pick-by-Pick
In the Round 1 slot they get a three-down second-level presence at a price that makes it sweeter. A real need, handled.
A tidy bit of business in pick No. 43, where Chris Johnson graded well above the range. A quiet depth add at a thin-ish spot.
Elijah Sarratt at pick 75 is right where the board had him, plain and simple. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Lee Hunter in the 82nd overall pick should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
Caden Curry at Round 3, Pick 26 is an overdraft of the loud, memorable kind. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
They barely believed it either: Jake Slaughter still on the board at No. 94. A need, and now a little less of one.
Hard to square with the roster. With positions of obvious need still on the board, Jalon Kilgore adds a cornerback and leaves tight end untouched.
The board screamed and they did not listen, reaching into the next round for Nadame Tucker. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
A tidy little value on Charles Demmings in the Round 5 slot, a step better than break-even. They added to a strength when a need was still open elsewhere.
Cole Payton in slot 198 is fine work, a shade of surplus and no downside. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
Value said wait; Deven Eastern in Round 7, Pick 11 says they were not listening. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
This one needs a full-page explanation: Jack Kelly in No. 235, miles early. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
A wild overpay on Adam Randall in the 238th pick, the sort that defines a class for the wrong reasons. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.