There is a beautiful thing that the Miami Dolphins have as they head towards round one of the 2021 NFL Draft on April 29th, and that word is options.
Originally obtaining the number 3 overall pick from the Houston Texans as part of the Laremy Tunsil deal, the Miami Dolphins continue to accumulate assets for future years to build on cheap(er) contracts around their prized quarterback, Tua Tagovailoa.
To recap, the Dolphins traded back with the San Francisco 49ers from 3 to 12 to get additional first-round picks in 2022 and 2023 and a 3rd round pick in 2022 (a compensatory pick from 49ers DC Robert Saleh leaving SF to become the Head Coach of the Jets). Then Miami trades back up to 6 with Philadelphia and gave up their own 2022 first-round pick to do so. That says 2 things:
- The Miami Dolphins are betting that the 49ers will have the worst record of the two in the 2021 season, assuming the Niners pick a rookie quarterback with the 3rd pick and he goes through the typical rookie growing pains.
- The Miami Dolphins like somebody in the draft a lot.
What would make this a disastrous pick at 6 is if the Dolphins pick either OT Peneii Sewell, which if the Cincinnati Bengals are smart, they pick him at 5. Or the other is if the Dolphins go a linebacker or edge rusher that early.
[pickup_prop id=”6235″]
If you watched at least half of the Dolphin games in the 2020 season, you saw that the Dolphins lacked pass catchers. They were one of the worst teams in yards of separation in 2020, and don’t get me started with all the dropped passes, especially in Week 17. The Dolphins were not the worst team in dropped passes they were 12th worst, but a 10-6 team and with 20 dropped passes (a little over 1 per game) could make the difference between making the playoffs and watching from home. Just ask Jakeem Grant about the Week 14 game against Kansas City.
So again, Miami has options at number 6, and the player that could move the needle for the Miami Dolphins offense is Florida TE Kyle Pitts.
Why? Pitts being a primary pass catcher as a Tight End, creates multiple 2 Tight End sets with Pitts and Mike Gesicki, creating all sorts of confusion. Defenses asking themselves, “who is the ball going to?” Will Fuller V? Devante Parker? Mike Gesicki? Kyle Pitts? Who?
Let’s not forget this; this Wide Receiver class is stacked for multiple rounds. The Tight End group in the 2021 Draft after Kyle Pitts does not live up to that. Pat Frieiermuth (Penn State) and Brevin Jordan (Miami) are not expected to go round one.
In round 2, the Miami Dolphins can still draft Wide Receivers like Rashod Bateman (Minnesota), Elijah Moore (Ole Miss), and Jamar Chase’s teammate Terrance Marshall (LSU) just to name a few among many other WR’s expected to go in Rounds 2 and 3.
— DolphinsTalk.com (@DolphinsTalk) April 11, 2021
Would I be upset if the Dolphins pick Chase, Waddle, or Smith over Pitts? Not at all; the fact that Miami traded back and got even more future draft capital and flexibility is a win on its own, the draft pick at 6 is a bonus. The writing on the wall says “pass catcher.” I could be wrong, but I don’t see how the Dolphins do not go that route of pass catcher at 6.
Why not Kyle Pitts? However, that is if he falls to number 6. The highest I see him going is number 4 overall to the Atlanta Falcons. I don’t see the Bengals passing on both Peneii Sewell and Jamar Chase. They need an offensive lineman to protect Joe Burrow, and Jamar Chase has familiarity with the 2019 Heisman Trophy Winner. Atlanta is the team to watch at 4. There are reports that they are shopping the 4th pick, so maybe that means that in the first round of the 2021 Draft, we could see four Quarterbacks taken with the first four picks, which means more of Miami’s options will be on the table at 6, make their pick and run with it. So if you’re a Miami Dolphins fan, you should hope that the Falcons trade out of the 4th pick.
The Miami Dolphins could be following a trend of teams rebuilding. 2019 and 2020, they built the trenches on both sides of the ball, got their quarterback in Tua Tagovailoa, paid big money to the secondary, and less than a handful of front 7 players. Early in this free agency period, they got a pass catcher in Will Fuller V on a one-year deal; now it’s time to double down in the draft to completely turn it over from the previous season and help Tua Tagovailoa take that leap from year one to year two. It helps that now he has a full offseason to train instead of using an offseason to rehab an injury.
“What would make this a disastrous pick at 6 is if the Dolphins pick either OT Peneii Sewell, which if the Cincinnati Bengals are smart, they pick him at 5. Or the other is if the Dolphins go a linebacker or edge rusher that early.”
…
“Would I be upset if the Dolphins pick Chase, Waddle, or Smith over Pitts? Not at all”
— Waddle is a #3 or slot receiver like Jakeem Grant. I would be very upset if someone used the #6 overall pick for Jakeem Grant. Smith is very skinny at 170 lbs. He doesn’t look like a #1 WR to me. He is neither particularly tall nor fast.
Pitts is ok, but he’s 240 lbs, so he can’t block, and redundant since we have Gisecki. So he’s a benchwarmer for a year, while he gains 20 lbs.
Chase is the top WR in the draft; he seems reasonable. With Will Fuller and Parker, there is some question of need, but you can’t go wrong with the best.
Sewell is the same size/speed of Laremy Tunsill, without the gas mask baggage. This seems like a reasonable spot to take him. Doing so shuffles the line. Probably the best value at #6 though.
On DE, it is common for several to go in the first round. The top guy is probably either of the UM guys as Rousseau or Philips. Our current starter is Jason Strowbridge, which is a giant hole on the team. I wouldn’t be upset if we got the top DE at #6; I also wouldn’t be upset if we traded back down a few spots and took one of these guys, as whoever they take, you can pencil in as a starter.