C+
Miami Dolphins
The Dolphins landed square in the muddy middle: C+.
by [email protected] ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 10 picks
· 6 steals
· 4 reaches
The Riley Leonard pick is the one that will follow the Dolphins into the fall. They took him 106 spots ahead of his grade, and the board is not shy about saying so. The good and the questionable cancel out to a C+.
On value alone, Smith makes the weekend a net positive. They punted on edge rusher, and it is the miss that keeps the grade honest. Quarterback is handled and the depth chart looks a good deal healthier for it.
Building through the lines is a philosophy, and they stuck to it.
In the end, one you will need a couple of seasons to truly judge.
Pick-by-Pick
This one needs a full-page explanation: Aireontae Ersery in the Round 1 slot, miles early. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
A big swing on Riley Leonard at pick 48, well ahead of any board in the building. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
Rylie Mills in the 98th pick is a bet on their own eyes over everyone else's grade. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
They robbed the room for Andrew Mukuba here, a fall nobody at the table saw coming. It thickens a room that could stand to be thicker.
The board fumbled Jack Bech all the way to the 115th overall pick, and they scooped it up. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
Brashard Smith in No. 149 is the kind of fall that makes a whole class. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
They liked Joshua Gray enough to skip the value, taking him in pick No. 156. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
Taking Jaishawn Barham in the Round 7 slot is close to grand larceny; a linebacker that good had no business lasting this long. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
Brant Kuithe in No. 231 should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. It fills a real need, too.
Circle this one: Jonah Monheim at the 251st pick is a fall that decides a draft. A need, and now a little less of one.