B-
Miami Dolphins
Caldwell should have been long gone. The Dolphins pounced, and earned a B-.
by RJF ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 16 picks
· 5 steals
· 5 reaches
The best pick of the weekend was also the simplest. The Dolphins watched Jeff Caldwell slide 34 picks past his grade and did not hesitate. It does the job without flash, and the B- reflects it.
Reaching for Green left real value on the table behind him. The Stukes pick is fine in a vacuum, less so with edge rusher and running back still on the board.
They punted on edge rusher, and it is the miss that keeps the grade honest.
All told, a draft that does its job without fuss, and there is real value in that.
Pick-by-Pick
In No. 11 they get a downhill thumper at linebacker. A clean fit for the roster.
In the Round 1 slot they get a press-man option on the boundary at fair value. Need was not the driver here.
A market-rate safety, with the board and the slot shaking hands on A.J. Haulcy. A minor need, but a need all the same.
Good things come to war rooms that wait, and Christen Miller at slot 75 is the proof. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
Ted Hurst at pick 90 is neither steal nor reach, just the going rate. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Sam Roush at the 91st pick is right where the board had him, plain and simple. It fills a real need, too.
They bypassed pressing needs at edge rusher and running back to take Treydan Stukes, a cornerback that was not the priority.
Keylan Rutledge at the 97th overall pick is daylight robbery; nobody expected him to last. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
They liked Kaleb Proctor enough to skip the value, taking him in slot 126. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
J.C. Davis in the 130th pick is early enough to raise a brow, if not a full objection. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
A reach for Beau Stephens in the Round 5 slot; a little patience would have been rewarded. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
Taylen Green at pick 171 is a steep price for a hunch, hard to square with any board. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
Reggie Virgil in pick No. 196 is a gift, value that borders on unfair. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Jeff Caldwell in the 227th overall pick is the kind of fall that makes a whole class. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Jaren Kanak in No. 238 is fair value, right on his grade. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
Jack Kelly at Round 7, Pick 31 is an overdraft of the loud, memorable kind. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.