Miami Dolphins 7-Round Mock Draft 3.0
The NFL Draft is less than a week away and this is the point in the process where teams have pretty much finalized their draft boards.
It was reported recently that the Dolphins have 140 players on their board and that vice president of football operations Mike Tannenbaum and general manager Chris Grier will take a "best player available" when Miami is on the draft clock.
After finishing 10-6 and making the playoffs for the first time since 2008 this past season, the Fins are in a position where it can use this draft to bolster their roster and position themselves to challenge the New England Patriots for the top spot in the AFC East.
This is the final update of this mock draft before the NFL Draft (April 27-29).
View Mock Draft Version 1.0
View Mock Draft Version 2.0
Round One – 22nd Overall
Jarrad Davis, LB, Florida (6-foot-1, 238 pounds)
There seems to be two schools of thought about the Dolphins' first round pick.
There's the group of people who think Miami should take an offensive lineman at No. 22.
I was in this group going back to the 1.0 version of this mock and Alex Donno's campaign for the Fins to draft Forrest Lamp was beginning to convince me to come back in the 3.0 update.
However, the other school of thought – that Miami should fill one of its needs on defense in the first round – just makes too much sense.
After mocking Vanderbilt All-American Zach Cunningham in this spot in the 2.0 update, the final decision is for the Fins to take Florida linebacker Jarrad Davis.
I did mock Davis to Miami as a second round pick in 1.0, but that now has become a pipe dream. Davis' draft stock has soared in the past couple of weeks and he has all but solidified himself as a first round pick.
Miami taking the 6-foot-1, 238-pound Davis does a couple of things.
One, it completes the Dolphins total makeover in its linebacker corps. Miami re-signed Kiko Alonso and picked up Lawrence Timmons – and adding Davis would theoretically give the Fins three new starters in the middle of the defense.
Alonso lined up as Miami's middle linebacker this past season, but the team has already flirted with the idea of moving to one of the outside linebacker spots. And it would seem that they are totally committed to that idea with their signing of Timmons, who has only played middle linebacker in his career and has made the Pro Bowl doing so.
Second, he'd give Miami a new, young face to its defense – a player that can end up being one of the cornerstones of the unit for the next decade.
In Davis, Miami gets a player who has been praised for both his tangible skills and his intangible traits.
As a junior, he racked up 98 tackles, 11 for loss, 3.5 sacks and four pass breakups. He is a "sideline to sideline" linebacker that knows how to finish tackles. He also has the potential to be an effective blitzer off the edge as well as being athletic enough to spy athletic quarterbacks.
Better yet, Davis will be a model citizen within the organization.
ESPN Draft Analyst spoke highly of Davis' maturity.
"From an intangible standpoint, he's top five in the class. He's a player that loves the game. You can see the passion and the energy that he has for the game when you study him on tape," McShay said.
Bottom line is, taking Davis over Lamp or any other offensive lineman would solidify a position group that was horrible in 2016 and give Miami a player with the ability to contribute right away and make an impact.
Round Two – 54th Overall
Dorian Johnson, OG, Pittsburgh (6-foot-5, 300 pounds)
The first round pick begets the second round pick.
Even though the Dolphins signed free agent guard Ted Larsen and re-signed Jermon Bushrod, who started all 16 games at right guard for the team in 2016, there's still a need for competition and depth along the interior of the O-Line.
Johnson checks all the boxes needed to be an NFL lineman. He's 6-foot-5, 300 pounds with long arms and big hands. He's a solid athlete, evident by his 30-inch vertical leap and 114-inch broad jump, and he was productive in college – being named first-team all-ACC and a select All-American in 2016.
There aren't any glaring holes in Davis' game. He is good as a run blocker with his powerful lower body and hip flexibility. His long arms and smarts when it comes to hand placement make him good as a pass blocker.
With Laremy Tunsil kicking out to left tackle this coming season, Johnson can come in and compete right away with Larsen for the starting left guard spot. Or the team could elect to play Johnson on right side and move Bushrod to left guard – so not to play two young linemen next to each other.
Either way, in taking Johnson, Miami gets a player who was described as "hard-nosed and smart" and a player who will be a "Ten-year starter in the league" by NFL scouts.
You can bet Ryan Tannehill and Jay Ajayi would approve of this pick.
Round Three – 97th Overall (Compensatory)
Ahkello Witherspoon, CB, Colorado (6-foot-3, 198 pounds)
It has been par for the course in this series of mocks for the Dolphins to address their need at cornerback in the third round.
The 2.0 update was a bit ambitious with the pick, but this one seems to be right in the wheelhouse and would be a pretty good value pick.
Ahkello Witherspoon, who's given first name is actually James, is a dream pick in the third round – on paper.
Witherspoon is 6-foot-3, 198 pounds and runs a 4.45 40. He has long arms (33 inches) and can jump with the best of them (40.5-inch vertical). In his final collegiate season, his completion percentage against was just 26.5 and he tied for second in the nation in passes defended (one interception and 22 pass break-ups).
Physically, there aren't many other defensive backs in this year's draft class that are more impressive than Witherspoon.
Where he falls short – and potentially into the Dolphins' laps – is his style of play.
Witherspoon has been called a "finesse cornerback" that has shown "little to no interest in coming up in run support".
Being willing to "stick your nose in there" is a trait is always welcomed by boundary defenders – especially with the amount of plays that are either designed to test the edges or get stretched outside the hash marks.
Coaches can teach Witherspoon better tackling techniques. They can encourage – or downright admonish him – to be more aggressive in run support.
But what they can't teach is the speed to stick with the speediest of receivers and the agility to mirror the league's elite pass catchers.
Not comparing Witherspoon to him – at all – but Deion Sanders never led the league in tackles. Just saying.
Round Five – 166th Overall
Jonnu Smith, TE, Florida International (6-foot-3, 248 pounds)
Even though there's a customary rule that you pick at least one University of Miami Hurricane in any Miami Dolphins mock draft, I'm going to ask for partial credit for this pick.
FIU's Jonnu Smith's name sounds familiar for not so great reasons. He was the player who was doused with a pot of boiling water by his pregnant girlfriend during an argument. Unfortunately, he missed time at the end of the Golden Panthers' season because of the injuries, but he's healed and has been working out for teams.
Off field issue aside, Smith can play football.
He was a four-year producer at FIU – totaling 178 receptions for 2,001 yards and 18 touchdowns.
Smith plays with good urgency and has excellent speed and burst to attack the seams. He's also a dangerous threat after the catch – able to run away from most linebackers and strong enough to bowl over defensive backs.
Though Miami traded for Julius Thomas and signed Anthony Fasano, Smith can carve out a niche on the roster because he works alongside either them.
Smith is a former high school weight lifter and has shown the ability to be a more-than-solid in-line blocker. Conversely, he is athletic enough to split out and create mismatches while working against any level of the defense.
He needs to trust his hands more when catching passes, but he's a guy that can add more juice to the Fins offense.
Round Five – 178th Overall (Compensatory)
Carlos Henderson, WR, Louisiana Tech (5-foot-11, 199 pounds)
At this point in the draft, you start looking for players who may be projects in the long term but also have traits that would translate to them being special teams contributors right out of the gate.
In Carlos Henderson, Miami gets a player who was a kick return ace and someone who will be out to prove that his game is bigger than what the "small school" stigma tries to dictate.
Henderson was named Conference USA's Offensive (82 receptions for 1,535 yards; 14 carries for 133 yards) and Special Teams (25 kickoff returns for 805 yards) Player of the Year in 2016. He also ranked fourth in the FBS with 23 total touchdowns (19 receiving, two rush, two kickoff returns), although he missed two games with an ankle injury.
Miami only has six receivers on its roster going into the draft and Henderson is a player that provides immediate value on special teams while also being a player who has plenty of room to eventually grow into a key contributor in the passing game.
Round Five – 184th Overall (Compensatory)
Tanzel Smart, DT, Tulane (6-foot-1, 296 pounds)
Smart was a highly effective defensive tackle that showed the ability to anchor in against the run as well as rush the passer. He racked up 40 tackles for loss and nine sacks in three years of work and was a two-time All-American Conference first team honoree.
A player like Arkansas' Jeremiah Ledbetter (6-foot-3, 280 pounds) could be enticing here because he has better physical measurables than Smart, but Smart offers more in the way of potential for early contributions as a situational pass rusher.
Round Seven – 223rd Overall
Anthony Walker, LB, Northwestern (6-foot-1, 238 pounds)
I've finally hopped off the Ben Boulware train.
A bit too high for the Fins' blood.
Instead, Miami takes a player that I personally watched throughout his high school career at Miami Monsignor Pace High School and a player I believe to be destined for a productive professional career.
During his time at Northwestern, Anthony Walker was one of the team's most productive defenders and playmakers.
The program began referring to Walker as "The Franchise" in his sophomore season and he lived up to the moniker – totaling 215 tackles (29 for loss), six sacks, nine passes defended, seven forced fumbles and five fumble recoveries in two seasons.
Walker is a productive, downhill linebacker and he checks all the desired boxes for football and personal character and he can be counted on to do what it takes to improve his game.
Being a Miami native should only make him want to work harder. Walker is a guy who will start as a special teams guy and eventually works his way into the meat of your lineup – he's flashed too much ability not to.