C+
Miami Dolphins
The Dolphins cashed the board's mistake on Orange: C+.
by dagray08 ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 17 picks
· 10 steals
· 2 reaches
The value of the weekend has a name and a slot: Domonique Orange, No. 126, roughly 48 picks past where he belonged.
The trades bled value they could not afford to lose. Every board in the league had Reiger lower, and that gap is the story. Job largely done: quarterback settled and 8 of 8 of the wish list covered.
So much rides on Mansoor Delane that the real verdict is a season or two away.
Pick-by-Pick
In pick No. 26 they get an island corner at a price that makes it sweeter.
In pick 30 they get a moveable chess piece at tight end, outstanding value to boot. A clean fit for the roster.
Good things come to war rooms that wait, and Omar Cooper Jr. at No. 43 is the proof. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
They did well to land Caleb Tiernan in Round 2, Pick 29, just ahead of his grade. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
Nothing to complain about; Chase Bisontis went a shade earlier than his grade, which is fine. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
Emmanuel McNeil-Warren at the 87th overall pick is the steal of the weekend, a first-round talent at a bargain-bin price. Useful body for a position without much behind the starter.
The board fumbled Keionte Scott all the way to the 90th pick, and they scooped it up. A want dressed up as a pick, at a spot they had covered.
Sam Hecht in the Round 4 slot is a gift, value that borders on unfair. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
Mason Reiger at the 120th pick is the pick scouts circle, and not in a good way. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
A top-tier interior defensive lineman at a bargain, Domonique Orange in Round 4, Pick 26, plain and simple. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
Joe Royer at pick No. 128 is the sort of value that quietly wins a weekend. The roster fit checks out.
A swing that ignored the value entirely, Max Llewellyn well ahead of where he belonged. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
Jaeden Roberts in No. 151 lands just on the right side of the ledger. It fills a real need, too.
No edge and no loss on Kevin Coleman Jr. in the 160th overall pick; it is a wash and a sensible one. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
A market-rate linebacker, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Bryce Boettcher. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
Cole Payton slipping to pick 201 is the kind of luck good rooms make for themselves. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
Nice patience on Noah Whittington, who had no business lasting to the Round 7 slot. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.