B
Miami Dolphins
The Dolphins won the weekend at the trade table. Grade: B.
by Fins1981 ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 21 picks
· 4 steals
· 11 reaches
The move everyone will second-guess came early. The Dolphins reached some 125 spots for Eric Gentry, and value like that does not grow back. More right than wrong, and a B to match.
The phones were where this weekend was really won. Whatever else happened, they won the night they took Scott. If this class has a fault line, it runs straight through edge rusher.
The Moore pick reads as want over need, and the roster will feel it at edge rusher and interior defensive lineman.
Add it up and it is a good, unfussy class.
Pick-by-Pick
In Round 1, Pick 12 they get a workhorse for the backfield, outstanding value to boot. A clean fit for the roster.
By-the-book stuff, Blake Miller at the Round 2 slot squarely in line with his ranking. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
This one needs a full-page explanation: Markel Bell in the 47th overall pick, miles early. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
Nice patience on Jake Slaughter, who had no business lasting to the 72nd pick. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
The board screamed and they did not listen, reaching into the next round for Keylan Rutledge. It fills a real need, too.
They barely believed it either: Keionte Scott still on the board at pick No. 91. It thickens a room that could stand to be thicker.
A curious use of slot 92. Edge rusher and interior defensive lineman needed the pick; a cornerback in Devin Moore did not.
They talked themselves into Dametrious Crownover at the 94th pick, and the board did not agree. The roster fit checks out.
They liked Emmett Johnson enough to skip the value, taking him in the Round 3 slot. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
No edge and no loss on Michael Trigg in the 112th overall pick; it is a wash and a sensible one. A need, and now a little less of one.
Sam Hecht in No. 113 should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
A reasonable price with a little left over, Joe Royer in pick No. 130. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
A premium they did not need to pay, Isaiah World a notch or two before his time. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
A market-rate quarterback, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Drew Allar. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Domani Jackson at slot 168 jumps the queue by a touch more than is comfortable. Depth on depth, at a spot that was hardly crying out.
Jeff Caldwell at the 177th overall pick is a conviction pick that outran the value. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
Ephesians Prysock in No. 182 is the kind of reach that only looks good if he outplays it. It is more luxury than necessity; they were already set here.
A tidy little value on VJ Payne in the 199th pick, a step better than break-even. Not urgent, but hardly pointless.
A reach for Robert Spears-Jennings in pick 221; a little patience would have been rewarded. They added to a strength when a need was still open elsewhere.
Eric Gentry at Round 7, Pick 11 is the pick scouts circle, and not in a good way. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
Adam Randall in the Round 7 slot is a bet on their own eyes over everyone else's grade. The roster fit checks out.