D
Miami Dolphins
The Dolphins lost the trade table, and the D tells the story.
by wes ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 19 picks
· 9 steals
· 8 reaches
The David Walker selection is the head-turner. The Dolphins reached 99 spots for him, and it will define how this weekend is remembered. Put together, it is a D.
However the rest shakes out, Johnson at that price is a win they earned. The trade table is where this weekend went wrong. Quarterback was the priority and it is no longer a question, which is most of the job.
A rough weekend that leaves the roster with more questions than answers.
Pick-by-Pick
A market-rate cornerback, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Shavon Revel Jr.. Useful body for a position without much behind the starter.
In Round 1, Pick 27 they get a cornerstone up front, even if it was a touch early. A clean fit for the roster.
This one needs a full-page explanation: Donovan Jackson in No. 51, miles early. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
A big swing on David Walker at slot 58, well ahead of any board in the building. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
They robbed the room for Tyler Warren here, a fall nobody at the table saw coming. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
Omarr Norman-Lott slipping to pick 86 is the kind of luck good rooms make for themselves. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
Dillon Gabriel in Round 3, Pick 25 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 Tez Johnson in slot 98, a step better than break-even. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
You do not let a safety like Andrew Mukuba reach the Round 4 slot and blink. They did not. A minor need, but a need all the same.
The board fumbled Kaleb Johnson all the way to pick 120, and they scooped it up. The roster fit checks out.
Circle this one: Azareye'h Thomas at pick No. 123 is a fall that decides a draft. They added to a strength when a need was still open elsewhere.
Hayden Conner at the 133rd overall pick is a conviction pick that outran the value. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
Steal is underselling it; Danny Stutsman at the 149th pick is a heist with the alarm still ringing. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
Antwane Wells Jr. at No. 154 jumps the queue by a touch more than is comfortable. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
A top-tier linebacker at a bargain, Smael Mondon Jr. in the 157th pick, plain and simple. A need, and now a little less of one.
Jaeden Roberts at pick 189 is a first-round grade at a bargain-bin price, no notes. It fills a real need, too.
Jared Wilson at the Round 7 slot is the steal of the weekend, a first-round talent at a bargain-bin price. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
A wild overpay on Jimmy Horn Jr. in pick No. 231, the sort that defines a class for the wrong reasons. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
Jamaree Caldwell in the 252nd overall pick is a bet on their own eyes over everyone else's grade. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.