C+
Miami Dolphins
The Dolphins won the weekend at the trade table. Grade: C+.
by Reheheheheh ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 21 picks
· 8 steals
· 9 reaches
Somewhere a scout is still blinking. The Dolphins spent the 133rd pick on Deven Eastern, a name the board had a full 150 spots lower. A weekend of give and take that grades a C+.
Landing Lemon that late papers over a lot of smaller sins. They robbed the room blind at the table, and it lifts the grade on its own.
They will answer for taking cornerback early while quarterback, tight end and other spots went begging. The quarterback spot stays a question, and it was the one they most needed an answer at.
So much rides on Spencer Fano that the real verdict is a season or two away.
Pick-by-Pick
In Round 1, Pick 11 they get a plug-and-play piece up front. A real need, handled.
In pick 12 they get a downhill thumper at linebacker, a steep price for the projection. A clean fit for the roster.
In the 20th overall pick they get a lockdown presence outside at fair value. More want than need.
In the 30th pick they get a go-to option on the outside, though the board says they badly overpaid. Exactly the need they had to hit.
A swing that ignored the value entirely, Bryce Lance well ahead of where he belonged. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
They zigged when the board said zag, taking Tacario Davis at cornerback with quarterback, tight end and other spots open.
Caden Curry in No. 75 is a reach so steep the board needed a second look to believe it. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
A market-rate edge rusher, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Dani Dennis-Sutton. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
Of all the spots to shop, they chose cornerback. Chris Johnson in Round 3, Pick 23 leaves quarterback, tight end and other spots for later.
Olaivavega Ioane in the 90th overall pick is a gift, value that borders on unfair. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
They barely believed it either: Jordyn Tyson still on the board at pick No. 94. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
VJ Payne at the 97th pick is an overdraft of the loud, memorable kind. It thickens a room that could stand to be thicker.
Patrick Payton at pick 127 is the kind of overdraft that needs everything to break right. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
The eyebrow-raiser of the weekend. They went cornerback with Charles Demmings while clear needs at quarterback, tight end and other spots sat open.
A big swing on Deven Eastern at the Round 4 slot, well ahead of any board in the building. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Isaiah World at Round 4, Pick 38 is neither steal nor reach, just the going rate. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
Steal is underselling it; Makai Lemon at slot 139 is a heist with the alarm still ringing. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
A safety of that caliber at pick No. 151 is the definition of value, full stop. It is more luxury than necessity; they were already set here.
Devin Moore at the 186th pick is a first-round grade at a bargain-bin price, no notes. A luxury on a unit that was already in good shape.
Ar'maj Reed-Adams in the 227th overall pick is the kind of fall that makes a whole class. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
They will replay Ephesians Prysock at No. 238 for years; that is how good the value is. Nice player, but the depth chart did not need him here.