A staple of the Miami Dolphins’ offensive line during head coach Mike McDaniel‘s tenure recently called it quits on his NFL career. Offensive tackle Terron Armstead, who spent the last three seasons with Miami and earned two Pro Bowl selections in that span, announced his retirement from the league on April 5.

But the 2025 NFL Draft is approaching, and the Dolphins could use one of their 10 picks in the draft on an offensive tackle who could help fill the hole left by Armstead’s departure. The latest mock draft from Yahoo! Sports has Miami doing just that with its first-round selection, pick No. 13.

Nate Tice and Charles McDonald of Yahoo! Sports foresee Miami using its top pick in the draft on former University of Oregon offensive tackle Josh Conerly Jr.

“Terron Armstead called it a career, ending a stellar run as a blindside offensive tackle and simultaneously creating a huge need on the Dolphins’ offensive line,” Tice and McDonald wrote. “Taking an offensive tackle at this point makes a lot of sense and Conerly would be a nice fit in Miami’s system. Conerly is athletic with a ton of upside and would give the Dolphins another dice roll for their tackle situation to go along with Patrick Paul.”

It’s of note that the Dolphins are slated to have just one first-round pick, and if Miami holds onto the pick, it will mark the highest selection that the team has made in quite some time. The last time Miami drafted higher than the No. 13 pick came when the team used the sixth overall pick on wide receiver Jaylen Waddle in the 2021 draft.

Conerly logged a total of 41 games played across his three-season stint at Oregon. By multiple accounts, he and the rest of the Ducks’ offensive line did a phenomenal job of protecting quarterback Dillon Gabriel in the 2024 season.

Last season, Oregon’s offensive line allowed just 1.4 sacks per game. Plus, Gabriel led his conference in completed passes and passing yards gained per contest played with Conerly and crew protecting him.

Conerly kept Gabriel out of harm’s way in his swan song at Oregon, and perhaps he would do the same for Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa if he lands with Miami. Tagovailoa had difficulties staying on the field for Miami in the 2024 season, as he missed six of the team’s 17 games due to injuries.

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