The 2019 NFL draft is in the books and the Dolphins came away this weekend atop the NFL headlines after making a big trade with the Arizona Cardinals for former first-round pick and 2nd year quarterback Josh Rosen.
The 2019 NFL draft was held in Nashville, Tennessee where hundreds of thousands attended by the day, two hundred thousand on Thursday night alone. I was lucky enough to attend the draft on Saturday and the atmosphere was electric. The masses were controlled but rowdy enough to fuel the high energy atmosphere and anticipation throughout the weekend. The NFL and sports media world overtook the city with the thousands in attendance and turned music city into football city. It was an experience I as well as anyone who attended will remember forever, especially those who felt their team came away winners in this year’s draft.
Now back to the Dolphins – do I feel they came away winners in this year’s draft? Yes, I do. If I had to give them a grade for this year’s draft it would be a ‘B’.
Miami shocked the NFL world when they acquired Josh Rosen from Arizona but not before getting an elite defensive talent in Christian Wilkins out of Clemson and securing 11 picks (not including the compensatory picks from the departures of Cameron Wake and Juwann James) for the 2020 draft class. Dolphins should be celebrating what General Manager Chris Grier did this weekend, playing hardball with Cardinals – trading out of the 48th pick, securing a 2020 2nd rounder while using the Saints 2019 2nd round pick (No.68) to bring Rosen to Miami.
The Josh Rosen trade is not low risk, high reward for Miami – it’s a win/win. If Rosen pans out and becomes a great quarterback for the Dolphins, you have him for 3 years at $6 million and can use your 11 plus 2020 picks to build around him. If he doesn’t pan out and he’s just average or plain bad, you are only paying $6 million for 3 years and can use the 2020 draft capital you have to trade up and grab your guy.
Now on to the players selected this weekend:
Round 1, No. 13 overall: Christian Wilkins, DT, Clemson
My take: Wilkins stole the show on draft night after almost taking out Roger Goodell as he made his way to the podium with a giant shoulder bump. His high energy and unquestioned charisma were easy to notice and makes it easy to become an instant fan no matter who you wanted Miami to take. The big defensive lineman out of Clemson is an elite talent and should be able to make an immediate impact on the field, off the field, and in the locker room and shouldn’t take long before Wilkins is viewed as a team leader. He has experience playing all spots on the defensive line, the Dolphins may want to experiment with him to get all their best players on the field in the 2019 season and to see where he fits best but there is no doubt, this pick was a home run for Miami.
Round 3, No. 78 overall: Michael Deiter, G, Wisconsin
My take: The Dolphins needed to address their offensive guard spot and they did with a solid pick up with the selection of Michael Deiter. He is one of the better run blocking guards in the draft and should contribute right away in year one as the starting left guard.
Round 5, No. 151 overall: Andrew Van Ginkel, OLB, Wisconsin
My take: If you said, “Who the heck is that?” when Miami selected Andrew Van Ginkel, you weren’t the only one but Ginkel could become an early contributor for Miami on special teams and on coverage plays on defense. He may be able to compete for a starting spot in 2020 if he shows promise this coming season. Ginkel is a high energy linebacker who piles up the stats and has a year at defensive end under his belt.
Round 6, No. 202 overall: Isaiah Prince, OT, Ohio State
My take: No matter who your quarterback is, he won’t last if he doesn’t have a decent offensive line protecting him. So the Dolphins continue to add to that unit by selecting Prince out of Ohio State. The hope for Miami is for Prince to replace former starter Ja’Wuan James who left for Denver during the offseason. Prince had a solid year in 2017 but struggled in 2018, which dropped his stock. The Dolphins hope with the right coaching, he goes back to his 2017 form and builds on that to become a solid long-term starter to protect the right side.
Round 7, No. 233 overall: Chandler Cox, FB, Auburn
My take: Fullback is back in Miami! The Dolphins took Auburn’s Chandler Cox to refill the abandoned position of fullback. Cox will most likely see a lot of time this season. He has experience playing multiple positions (FB, HB, QB, WR, and TE), he could end up being another Charles Clay for the Dolphins.
Round 7, No. 234 overall: Myles Gaskin, RB, Washington
My take: This pick surprised me, not because it’s a running back because I expected Miami to target a back but because Gaskin was still available, and the Dolphins were able to grab him. Gaskin was the workhorse in the backfield for the Huskies, leading the team with 5,323 yards and 57 touchdowns in his college career. Gaskin should see playing in his rookie year as the third back in a running back committee featuring fellow Dolphins backs Kenyan Drake and Kalen Ballage.
