B
Miami Dolphins
The Dolphins checked most of the boxes and earned a B.
by RJF ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 18 picks
· 6 steals
· 4 reaches
Somewhere a scout is still blinking. The Dolphins spent the 148th pick on Taylen Green, a name the board had a full 46 spots lower. A sturdy weekend that grades out a B.
The Stowers value carries more weight than any single miss elsewhere. The edge rusher hole is the one line item this class does not answer. The Dolphins indulged a want in Scott while a need in edge rusher and running back stayed open.
The future picks help the war chest more than the win-now roster.
Good work on the whole, with edge rusher the one box left unchecked.
Pick-by-Pick
In No. 29 they get an island corner. More want than need.
In the Round 1 slot they get a centerfielder for the defense at fair value. Need was not the driver here.
Anthony Hill Jr. at Round 2, Pick 6 is right where the board had him, plain and simple. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
They took Max Iheanachor at par in the 46th overall pick, which is nothing to complain about. A need, and now a little less of one.
They read the board right and Germie Bernard was the payoff at pick 75. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
The needs board was loud and they turned it down, spending pick No. 87 on Keionte Scott with edge rusher and running back unsolved.
Keylan Rutledge slipping to Round 3, Pick 26 is the kind of luck good rooms make for themselves. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
Eli Stowers at slot 94 is the steal of the weekend, a first-round talent at a bargain-bin price. It fills a real need, too.
The eyebrow-raiser of the weekend. They went safety with Bud Clark while clear needs at edge rusher and running back sat open.
Kaleb Proctor at the 116th overall pick is an overdraft of the loud, memorable kind. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
Trey Zuhn III at No. 130 nudges the ledger their way without any fuss. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
They did well to land DeMonte Capehart in pick 141, just ahead of his grade. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
Taylen Green at the Round 5 slot is the pick scouts circle, and not in a good way. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
A conviction pick on Beau Stephens at pick No. 151 that the board grades a round light. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
Josh Cameron at pick 195 is a sensible buy, a touch better than market for the wide receiver. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Toriano Pride Jr. at No. 227 is the sort of value that quietly wins a weekend. They added to a strength when a need was still open elsewhere.
They reached a country mile for Jack Kelly at Round 7, Pick 22, and the board is aghast. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
A cornerback of that caliber at the 257th pick is the definition of value, full stop. A luxury on a unit that was already in good shape.