D-
Miami Dolphins
The Dolphins got the worse of every deal, and it shows in the D-.
by Phins-Up 2024 ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 11 picks
· 2 steals
· 4 reaches
It is the swing that defines the weekend: Taulia Tagovailoa in No. 236, a good 51 spots before the room expected him. The board pushed back all weekend, and the D- is the result.
The trade table is where this weekend went wrong. The linebacker hole is the one line item this class does not answer. It is a win-now wager, and the future is the stake.
Barton falling to them is the kind of break a good board is built to catch.
Bottom line, they will need several of these picks to beat their grades just to break even, and linebacker is still a hole.
Pick-by-Pick
In the 21st overall pick they get juice off the edge, outstanding value to boot. The biggest hole, addressed.
They let Graham Barton come to them and pounced at slot 40. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
They paid sticker price for Braden Fiske in pick 55, and that is fine. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
They took Devontez Walker at par in the 67th pick, which is nothing to complain about. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Good price on Brenden Rice in the Round 3 slot, a hair ahead of his grade with no real quibbles. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
No drama and no debate, Sataoa Laumea went about where he belonged in pick No. 114. A need, and now a little less of one.
A straight-up fair deal on Tyler Davis at pick No. 116, value and slot in agreement. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
A conviction pick on Xavier Thomas at Round 5, Pick 17 that the board grades a round light. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
They jumped the gun on AJ Barner, taking him earlier than his grade liked. It fills a real need, too.
Frank Gore Jr. at the 212th pick jumps the queue by a touch more than is comfortable. The roster fit checks out.
Taulia Tagovailoa in No. 236 is a reach so steep the board needed a second look to believe it. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.