C+
Miami Dolphins
The Dolphins lost the trade table, and the C+ tells the story.
by [email protected] ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 12 picks
· 3 steals
· 5 reaches
The Dolphins did not so much draft Kalil Alexander as overpay for him, 66 picks clear of his grade. It sets an uneasy tone for the weekend. The good and the questionable cancel out to a C+.
They lost the exchange badly enough to drag the whole class down. That is a linebacker worth more than the slot they spent on him, plainly. They will regret leaving running back for another day if the season turns on it.
In the end, a coin-flip class: fine today, with a wide range of outcomes ahead.
Pick-by-Pick
In the Round 1 slot they get a go-to option on the outside. The biggest hole, addressed.
In slot 31 they get a coverage-and-run second-level piece, and a steal at that. A clean fit for the roster.
Elijah Sarratt at pick 75 is right where the board had him, plain and simple. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
By-the-book stuff, Skyler Bell at the 87th overall pick squarely in line with his ranking. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Value said wait; Kaleb Proctor in pick No. 90 says they were not listening. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Michael Trigg at Round 3, Pick 30 is the kind of overdraft that needs everything to break right. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
Nadame Tucker in slot 130 is a bet on their own eyes over everyone else's grade. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
Nice patience on Hezekiah Masses, who had no business lasting to Round 5, Pick 11. Useful body for a position without much behind the starter.
Charles Demmings in No. 153 is exactly on the number, no argument either way. Depth on depth, at a spot that was hardly crying out.
Value with a capital V on Cole Payton in pick No. 212, a genuine coup. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
They reached into another round for Kalil Alexander, and the board is nowhere close to agreeing. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
Deven Eastern at pick 238 is the pick scouts circle, and not in a good way. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.