B
Miami Dolphins
The steal of the weekend belongs to the Dolphins and McNeil-Warren: B.
by CMS2 ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 14 picks
· 10 steals
· 1 reaches
You build a draft on nights like this. Emmanuel McNeil-Warren had no business being available in pick 106, and the Dolphins did the only sane thing and turned in the card.
Every board in the league had Green lower, and that gap is the story. For all the activity, edge rusher went untouched, which is hard to explain.
The Thieneman pick is fine in a vacuum, less so with edge rusher and running back still on the board. They went 6 of 8 on their needs, which is most of what a draft is for.
In sum, a sturdy weekend with one asterisk, the edge rusher spot they never got to.
Pick-by-Pick
A quiet steal in No. 11: Caleb Downs for less than the market said. Not urgent, but hardly pointless.
Quietly one of the better values of the day, Caleb Lomu at pick No. 43. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
Of all the spots to shop, they chose safety. Dillon Thieneman in the 59th pick leaves edge rusher and running back for later.
The board had Eli Stowers higher than Round 3, Pick 5, and the tight end fell to them anyway. The roster fit checks out.
They barely believed it either: Christen Miller still on the board at slot 77. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Elijah Sarratt slid further than he should have, and pick 87 is lovely value for the wide receiver. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
Bryce Lance at the 94th overall pick is neither steal nor reach, just the going rate. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
A surprising call. With edge rusher and running back still to address, they spent the Round 4 slot on Emmanuel McNeil-Warren, a safety they were not short of.
Steal is underselling it; Kyle Louis at the 130th pick is a heist with the alarm still ringing. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
By-the-book stuff, Charles Demmings at pick No. 151 squarely in line with his ranking. It adds depth where they could use a little.
Taylen Green at the 155th overall pick is the pick scouts circle, and not in a good way. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
The board fumbled Kobe Baynes all the way to slot 217, and they scooped it up. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
Kaden Wetjen in Round 7, Pick 11 is fair value, right on his grade. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Aaron Graves in pick 238 is a gift, value that borders on unfair. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.