B-
Miami Dolphins
The Dolphins robbed the room for Golday. Final grade: B-.
by dagray08 ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 15 picks
· 11 steals
· 0 reaches
The value of the weekend has a name and a slot: Jake Golday, Round 3, Pick 23, roughly 29 picks past where he belonged.
They punted on interior defensive lineman, and it is the miss that keeps the grade honest. The Dolphins indulged a want in Kilgore while a need in interior defensive lineman stayed open.
The trades cost them a sliver of value they did not need to spend. Job largely done: quarterback settled and 7 of 8 of the wish list covered.
Add it up and it is a good, unfussy class.
Pick-by-Pick
In pick No. 27 they get a security blanket over the middle, outstanding value to boot.
In the 30th pick they get a green-dot type in the middle, and a steal at that. A real need, handled.
Good things come to war rooms that wait, and Denzel Boston at No. 43 is the proof. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
They robbed the room for Jake Slaughter here, a fall nobody at the table saw coming. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
A top-tier edge rusher at a bargain, Jake Golday in Round 3, Pick 23, plain and simple. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
Circle this one: Chase Bisontis at the Round 3 slot is a fall that decides a draft. It fills a real need, too.
Taking Kamari Ramsey in the 97th overall pick is close to grand larceny; a safety that good had no business lasting this long. Useful depth more than a marquee fix.
You do not let an offensive lineman like Drew Shelton reach slot 118 and blink. They did not. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
They read the board right and Will Lee III was the payoff at the Round 4 slot. A minor need, but a need all the same.
The eyebrow-raiser of the weekend. They went cornerback with Jalon Kilgore while clear needs at interior defensive lineman sat open.
Of all the spots to shop, they chose cornerback. Davison Igbinosun in Round 4, Pick 30 leaves interior defensive lineman for later.
Eli Raridon at No. 139 is a sound buy, the sort that quietly helps a class. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
A slide stopped in slot 151, with Malik Benson worth more than the price. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
Sawyer Robertson at the 196th overall pick is neither steal nor reach, just the going rate. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Noah Whittington at the 227th pick nudges the ledger their way without any fuss. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.