Dolphins Should Approach 2022 Draft with BPA in Mind

As it pertains to roster construction, each NFL offseason features two chaotic, tumultuous cycles: free agency and the draft. The Miami Dolphins entered the 2022 free agency period with the most open cap space of any team in the league. 

They added a few pieces on short-term deals such as guard Connor Williams, running backs Chase Edmonds and Raheem Mostert and wide receiver Cedrick Wilson Jr. Still, a lot of their space went toward keeping the 2021 roster intact by retaining core pieces defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah and Mike Gesicki as well as a host of contributors.

There are still moves to be made as Miami has been linked to offensive tackle Terron Armstead, defensive end Jadeveon Clowney and center J.C. Tretter among others. The Dolphins still have significant cap space as well as prudent cuts to make to clear even more space if needed. Regardless of the moves they make in the coming weeks with trades or free agency, one thing should be clear at this point: Miami should approach April’s draft with a best player available mentality.

More often than not, particularly in the early rounds, teams are drafting for need. That could mean they have a glaring hole at quarterback and either select the one they love or move up in the first round to secure him. If they need a running back, they go looking in rounds 2-3 for a guy that can take 20+ carries for the next half-decade. 

This can be seen as an easy fix, but it also comes with a significant amount of risk. The greater the need and the more valuable the position, the more a team may be willing to overdraft a player. This could lead to passing over better players or seeing what they want to see in an evaluation to feel like they eradicated the lingering issue.

Miami, other than offensive line which we will get to shortly, does not have any glaring holes entering the draft. Tua Tagovailoa will enter his third season and will do so with an offensive-minded head coach known for maximizing talent on that side of the ball and catering gameplans to a roster’s strengths. Mostert and Edmonds join incumbent Myles Gaskin to employ what should be an improved running back room. Gesicki, Durham Smythe and last year’s third round pick Hunter Long figure to be a deep tight end room, and Jaylen Waddle, Devante Parker and Wilson give three strong options at receiver. The defense also returns nearly everyone from a unit that has shown the propensity to be dominant at times over the last two seasons.

As it pertains to the offensive line, Miami has famously invested high-dollar draft capital in the unit in recent years. In 2021, the Dolphins traded a 2022 third rounder along with their second round pick to move up to No. 42 to take Notre Dame tackle Liam Eichenberg. In 2020, general manager Chris Grier selected USC tackle Austin Jackson and UL-Lafayette guard Robert Hunt at picks 18 and 39, respectively. Add in 2020 fourth round guard Solomon Kindley and 2019 third round center Michael Deiter, and you have a full commitment to the room the last three drafts.

It’s no secret the unit has left a ton to be desired. There are questions abound whether the issue was poor coaching or missed evaluations. Internally, optimism remains it was the former. Now, the team has offensive coordinator Frank Smith and line coach Matt Applebaum in the building. Both Smith and Applebaum have been praised for their ability to develop talent. While it is unlikely all five players will reach a level of serviceable to above-average along the line, they cannot all be dismissed at this point, either.

If the issue was indeed misevaluations, that decision cannot be made until the new coaching staff has an opportunity to work with the line they have, something which won’t be done pre-draft. Besides, if you are a Dolphins fan and that was the problem, you cannot hope for the same general manager to use more valuable picks on offensive linemen if you don’t think he made the correct choices the previous five times.

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On top of that, this draft class is supremely talented in offensive linemen at the top, but none of those will be close to available by the time Miami is set to pick at 29. Whether it’s in the first round or beyond, any lineman taken will be no more of a question mark than the players already in the facility who boast NFL experience.

With that said, it’s a fortuitous place to be in where Miami can either take the most-talented player left on the board or trade down with a team looking to fill a need thus allowing the Dolphins to accumulate more picks. Players drop for a variety of reasons, be it character, health issues or other teams reaching for needs that allow better players to fall by the wayside.

Some players who are available at 29 in various mock drafts that Miami should consider are Georgia linebacker Nakobe Dean, Arkansas wide receiver Treylon Burks, Alabama wide receiver Jameson Williams, Washington cornerback Trent McDuffie and more. It’s difficult to speculate at this point as each year there tends to be a player who drops well below what they were expected, so some of the players seemingly out of reach now may very well be in play come April.

There’s also the piece about quarterbacks. There are no quarterbacks in this crop currently viewed as worthy of a top five or maybe even top 10 pick. Those teams picking in those spots will likely use their first round selection on elite talent at other positions, but that won’t rule them out for trading back into the first round to take a player like Pittsburgh’s Kenny Pickett or Ole Miss’s Matt Corral should either or both be available toward the end of Thursday night. If that is the case, the Dolphins could put up a for sale sign on the pick and welcome all offers, adding another second or third round pick in the process of moving down a couple spots.

On the flip side, if there’s a player Grier and Co. love, they can move up within reason if they’d like to secure that prospect. For instance, Iowa center Tyler Linderbaum is seen by many as a can’t-miss player, though center is a position that is devalued by many. It’s not unthinkable to imagine Linderbaum remaining on the board in the early 20s. Going by the draft capital trade chart, if Miami trades 29 and 102, that could be enough to get pick 24 or 25 from Dallas or Buffalo, respectively. Going even more aggressive, the Dolphins could theoretically ship 29 and 50 to return 20 and 84 from Pittsburgh. 

There are plenty of avenues for the Dolphins to go in the first round and beyond. What they need to do is decide the talent first and the position second. By doing so, they can improve the overall roster’s talent without compromising for the sake of any one room. Of course, what the team needs to do and what they will do are entirely two different questions.