B
Miami Dolphins
The Dolphins fleeced the room on the phones and earned a B.
by Fins1981 ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 23 picks
· 5 steals
· 11 reaches
Some picks age like wine; Eric Gentry at slot 227 will need to, sitting 125 spots clear of his grade. It nets out to a B, which feels about right.
On value alone, McNeil-Warren makes the weekend a net positive. They won the margins on every swap, and it adds up fast. The interior defensive lineman spot stays a question, and it was the one they most needed an answer at.
Add it up and it is a good, unfussy class.
Pick-by-Pick
In pick 30 they get a cornerstone up front, reach and all. A real need, handled.
In No. 31 they get protection for the quarterback, a steep price for the projection. A clean fit for the roster.
Zachariah Branch in the 38th overall pick is a bet on their own eyes over everyone else's grade. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
A market-rate edge rusher, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Gabe Jacas. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
Eli Stowers in the 72nd pick is a gift, value that borders on unfair. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
Quietly one of the better values of the day, Keionte Scott at the Round 3 slot. Useful depth more than a marquee fix.
They let Jacob Rodriguez come to them and pounced at the Round 3 slot. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
Somehow Emmanuel McNeil-Warren was still sitting there in pick 94, and they pounced on premier safety value. A minor need, but a need all the same.
Mason Reiger in Round 4, Pick 11 is a reach so steep the board needed a second look to believe it. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
A tidy little value on Justin Joly in pick No. 126, a step better than break-even. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
No edge and no loss on Eli Raridon in the 130th overall pick; it is a wash and a sensible one. The roster fit checks out.
They paid sticker price for Drew Allar in slot 151, and that is fine. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
Good things come to war rooms that wait, and Dametrious Crownover at the 155th pick is the proof. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
Domani Jackson in No. 168 is exactly on the number, no argument either way. Pure best-available; the position was not exactly begging.
They paid up for Jeff Caldwell at pick No. 170 when waiting would have done the job. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
By-the-book stuff, Taylen Green at slot 187 squarely in line with his ranking. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
They took Lander Barton at par in No. 226, which is nothing to complain about. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
A swing that ignored the value entirely, Eric Gentry well ahead of where he belonged. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
The board had cheaper options than Isaiah Jatta at the 229th pick, and it noticed. A need, and now a little less of one.
A reach for Bryce Foster in pick 238; a little patience would have been rewarded. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
They reached into another round for Logan Taylor, and the board is nowhere close to agreeing. It fills a real need, too.
Enrique Cruz Jr. at Round 7, Pick 40 is an overdraft of the loud, memorable kind. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
Riley Mahlman at Round 7, Pick 41 is a steep price for a hunch, hard to square with any board. A need, and now a little less of one.