B+
Miami Dolphins
The Dolphins checked most of the boxes and earned a B+.
by Fins1981 ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 20 picks
· 8 steals
· 7 reaches
Nobody else had Joshua Braun anywhere near the 227th pick. The Dolphins did, by 55 spots, and that gap is the whole story.
On value alone, McNeil-Warren makes the weekend a net positive. The Dolphins indulged a want in Moore while a need in quarterback stayed open.
They covered a lot of ground and still skipped quarterback, which is a strange place to end up.
Good work on the whole, with quarterback the one box left unchecked.
Pick-by-Pick
A premium they did not need to pay, Derrick Moore a notch or two before his time. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
A swing that ignored the value entirely, Dani Dennis-Sutton well ahead of where he belonged. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
Somehow Caleb Banks was still sitting there in the Round 2 slot, and they pounced on premier interior defensive lineman value. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
Emmanuel McNeil-Warren at pick 75 is daylight robbery; nobody expected him to last. Useful body for a position without much behind the starter.
They robbed the room for Keionte Scott here, a fall nobody at the table saw coming. It adds depth where they could use a little.
They read the board right and Mike Washington Jr. was the payoff at the 87th overall pick. The roster fit checks out.
A top-tier linebacker at a bargain, Jacob Rodriguez in pick 90, plain and simple. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
Nothing to complain about; Ted Hurst went a shade earlier than his grade, which is fine. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
A curious use of pick No. 94. Quarterback needed the pick; a cornerback in Devin Moore did not.
Michael Trigg at No. 97 is an overdraft of the loud, memorable kind. A need, and now a little less of one.
A want over a need in slot 120: Treydan Stukes adds a cornerback while quarterback keeps waiting.
A surprising call. With quarterback still to address, they spent the Round 4 slot on Jalon Kilgore, a cornerback they were not short of.
A reasonable price with a little left over, Joe Royer in the 130th pick. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
A straight-up fair deal on Zxavian Harris at the 151st overall pick, value and slot in agreement. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
A market-rate running back, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Demond Claiborne. It fills a real need, too.
Domani Jackson in pick 160 is early enough to raise a brow, if not a full objection. Pure best-available; the position was not exactly begging.
They let Ar'maj Reed-Adams come to them and pounced at Round 5, Pick 37. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
Value said wait; Bryce Foster in the 221st pick says they were not listening. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
A wild overpay on Joshua Braun in No. 227, the sort that defines a class for the wrong reasons. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
Enrique Cruz Jr. at the 238th overall pick is a steep price for a hunch, hard to square with any board. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.