We are just a couple of weeks away from the upcoming 2023 NFL Draft! As you should know by now, our Miami Dolphins don’t have a lot of picks, as we either traded them away or they got taken away due to tampering. This leaves us with four draft picks to work with. What’s the front office going to do with those four picks? Are they going to trade back for more picks? Will they trade away some picks for proven veteran players? Will they sign a free agent that has a second-round tender placed on them? As of today, it’s all speculation. What we do know, though, is how our second-round picks have panned out in recent years. Today I’ll be ranking my top five Miami Dolphins second-round picks in the last five drafts. In the last five drafts, Miami has had at least one pick in round two-three times.
Number 5 – Liam Eichenberg
Liam Eichenberg was the 42nd overall pick in the 2021 NFL draft. He played college football at Notre Dame and had a successful offensive tackle career. He was consistent during his final two and a half seasons with the Irish, capped off by a very dominant fifth-year senior season. September 29, 2018, was the last sack he would allow in his college career. For reference, that game was his fifth career start, and he would go on to play the next 33 games without giving up a sack and only allowing four Quarterback hits. He faced some athleticism concerns pre-draft but eventually had those questions answered at his pro day. Multiple scouts believed that Liam Eichenberg had the highest ceiling of any offensive tackle in his draft, and some said his NFL comparison was Baltimore Ravens, Ronnie Stanley. In his two seasons with the team, he’s started 26 games while playing in 27. In those 27 games, Eichenberg has accumulated fifteen total penalties and eleven sacks. Looking at the film, for whatever reason, Liam Eichenberg just hasn’t looked comfortable out on an NFL football field. Does he need more time? Is it because he’s had to learn two different playbooks in two seasons? Is he not fully adjusted to NFL speed? Does he need a change of scenery? Is he lacking confidence? As of now, Mike McDaniel, head coach of our Miami Dolphins, has come out and said that Liam Eichenberg would continue to be given a chance to compete for left guard or right tackle. If given the opportunity to start this upcoming year, we need to see a much improved Liam Eichenberg if this offensive line wants to be as successful as they want to be.
— DolphinsTalk.com (@DolphinsTalk) April 15, 2023
Number 4 – Raekwon Davis
Raekwon Davis was the 56th overall pick in the 2020 NFL draft. Davis played college football with current teammates Tua Tagovailoa and Jaylen Waddle at the University of Alabama. He had a successful four-year career at Alabama, with 175 total tackles, 19 tackles for loss, 11.5 sacks, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery, and one interception in 43 games. Since becoming a pro, Raekwon Davis has been a bit overshadowed by fellow defensive lineman Christian Wilkins, but for what it’s worth, Davis has been a solid draft pick for us so far. In his 46 games (41 starts), Davis has collected 101 total tackles, three tackles for loss, four quarterback hits, and 1.5 sacks. In his rookie year in 2021, Davis had a 12.5 missed tackle percentage, but he’s only improved since. In his second year, he followed up with a 5.5% increase. Davis had only missed a tackle seven percent of the time. That off-season, Davis continued to put in the work, and this past season, Raekwon Davis only had a 2.9 missed tackle percentage. Not only has Raekwon Davis been consistent throughout his NFL career, but he’s also been consistently improving as well. With the addition of defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, could we see an even bigger improvement and impact in Raekwon Davis? Only time will tell, but my guess is yes.
Number 3 -Mike Gesicki
Mike Gesicki was drafted 42nd overall in the second round of the 2018 NFL draft. Mike Gesicki had a very good college career at Penn State. He finished fifth in receptions in the Big Ten in 2017 with 57 catches and found himself third in receiving touchdowns in 2017 with nine touchdowns. The previous season, in 2016, Gesicki would finish tenth in the Big Ten in receiving touchdowns with a total of five. Eventually, Gesicki would end his four-year college career with 129 receptions, 1481 yards, and 15 touchdowns. Since becoming a Miami Dolphin, Gesicki would only improve year in and year out of his career up until this past season. Early in his Dolphin career, Mike Gesicki found himself as a top pass-catching option for the offense. After his rookie year, he became the number-one option for this offense. Gesicki would go on to have 231 catches for 2617 yards and 18 touchdowns in his five-year career with Miami. Once Mike McDaniel became head coach and brought over a completely different style of offense than previous years, Gesicki saw a decrease in snap counts and a decrease in targets. Why is that? For starters, Mike McDaniel brought over a ton of talent with him that was a better fit for the offense he wanted to run. Mike Gesicki’s previous offense under coach Brian Flores would use the tight end position as more of a pass catcher for mismatches than it would ask the tight ends to block. Gesicki soon found himself as the number fifth option after Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle, Trent Sherfield, and running backs Raheem Mostert and Jeff Wilson Jr. As this past season went along, it became more clear that Gesicki just wasn’t as good of a scheme fit as he once was. Mike Gesicki, now in his sixth NFL season, will look to rebound his career with Miami Dolphins AFC East rival, the New England Patriots.
Number 2 – Robert Hunt
Robert Hunt was the 39th overall pick in the 2020 NFL draft. Hunt played college ball for the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns. At the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Hunt received a first-team All-Sun-Belt award in 2019 and was second-team All-Sun-Belt in 2018. Robert Hunt may be best known for his catch-and-run screen pass against the Baltimore Ravens in week ten of the 2021 season. It may not have counted and resulted in a penalty, but seeing Hunt do a front flip into the end zone for a would-be touchdown was more than worth the flag. Hunts 2022 season wasn’t all that he had wished for in terms of penalties, as he came away with career-high TEN penalties for the year. Five of those were false starts, and I’d assume these penalties won’t be a problem for Hunt in this upcoming season as he gets more comfortable with the slang and verbiage of this new offense. In his three years with the team, Hunt has been nothing but one of the lone bright spots on the offensive line and has only improved and gotten more comfortable going up against some of the world’s biggest athletes. In Hunt’s three seasons with the Miami Dolphins, he has played nearly 3,000 snaps and has played 100% of games in 2021 and 2022. In his 2,930 snaps as a pro, Hunt has only surrendered EIGHT total sacks in his career. It’s safe to say that Robert Hunt is one of the most consistent offensive linemen that the Miami Dolphins have had in recent years. He’s been a great building block for this line and a great protector for quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.
Number 1 – Jevon Holland
Jevon Holland was the 36th overall pick in the 2021 NFL draft. Jevon Holland studied at the University of Oregon, where he played two full seasons and sat out the 2020 season due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In his two full seasons with the Ducks, Holland came away with 108 total tackles and nine interceptions, with one returned for a touchdown. He was used as a punt returner in 2019, where he had 16 returns for an average of 15 yards per return. Holland was a decorated collegiate player with multiple awards and honors. He received awards and honors in punt returns, punt return yardage, yards per return, interceptions, and interceptions for touchdowns. Since becoming a professional safety in the NFL for our Miami Dolphins, his career has been nothing but extraordinary. In his two seasons so far, Holland has a total of 165 tackles, four tackles for loss, eight quarterback hits, one forced fumble, three fumble recoveries, and four interceptions. Jevon Holland can play at all three levels of the defense. He can line up at the line of scrimmage and come in for a quarterback pressure. He can line up in the box and make plays by spying on the quarterback or covering tight ends close. Holland also specializes in deep coverage and has been great at reading the opposing quarterbacks’ eyes and the opposing teams’ offensive route combinations. Jevon is a highly effective unicorn for this defense and will only continue to thrive for this defense as his career goes on. Jevon Holland may have only played two seasons so far, but he’s well on his way to becoming one of the top safeties in the league. With an improved pass rush to go along with the additions of Vic Fangio and Jalen Ramsey, expect even bigger things for Jevon Holland. Holland is arguably one of the best players on this defense and can soon find himself as the best second-round pick Miami has ever drafted. I can’t stress this enough, but again, expect big things from Jevon Holland in the upcoming 2023 season.
I’m looking for great things to come from the Dolphins this year! Can’t wait until football season!!