20 days to go until the 2025 NFL Draft, where basically our entire season is hinged upon. Normally that’s not the case, but this team still has so many holes, and some of those holes are bigger than others. We legitimately need a starting player at LG, LDE, CB, S, and then of course we need depth at a few positions as well. I know some feel CB is the most important spot to fill and I can’t say they’re wrong, it’s all a matter of opinion. Others feel DT/DE or S are the most important, I see mock drafts with safeties and cornerbacks as our pick at #13 quite often (I scream inside my head BTW). Then there are those who feel OL is the top priority, and you can count me at the top of that crew. Right now, considering it looks very much like LT Terron Armstead isn’t returning in ’25, we have LT Patrick Paul, no LG, C Aaron Brewer, RG James Daniels, and RT Austin Jackson. Consider this, despite the glaring hole at LG, we’re going to be starting Patrick Paul at LT who played 337 snaps there last season, including 3 game starts. C Aaron Brewer is an undersized move center at less than 300 lbs, maybe even less than 290 lbs, and then we have RG James Daniels returning from an achilles injury. At RT, Austin Jackson is also retuning from a knee injury which cost him 9 games last season. Think of how very tenuous all this looks. No matter how I think about it, we have to put a put a top prospect for the O-line on this team to play LG. Then we have to draft another one for depth, because how many times do we have to watch the attrition on our O-line? Will James Daniels be healthy enough to start right away and healthy enough to finish? Is Patrick Paul really ready now after redshirting due to Terron Armstead? Is Austin Jackson OK from his knee injury and can he return to 2023 form?
Armand Membou heads my list, he just feels right. If he’s there at #13, I’d be absolutely thrilled. There are 2 other OL that I’d have to stay put at #13 and grab them, OL Will Campbell and OL Kelvin Banks. If somehow all 3 were gone, that would likely push a really good player to us, and if it fell that way, and CB Will Johnson is there then so be it. If we trade back, instead, I think O-line first is off the table unless the player meets the need. There are a few lesser OT prospects like Josh Simmons and Grey Zabel that may fit that criteria, but we shouldn’t reach there. Maybe we go DT or S or CB first, and if that’s how it goes that’s fine, but I’m probably taking two OL and not too far apart. I think it’s safe to say that no one here wants to see Liam Eichenberg starting on opening day at LG.
The veteran route. There are a players at both CB and OL that I feel I’d be good with signing. The bigger issue is how much. There are a few CB’s who will likely be pricy, but there are some older FA CB’s that wouldn’t be. If we had a rotation at the CB spot opposite Ramsey with say Jalen Mills or Stephon Gilmore, along with our young guys Storm Duck, Cam Smith, Isaiah Johnson, Ethan Bonner and Jason Maitre, along with a draftee in the mid to later rounds, maybe that works. Call me crazy, but I feel like the O-line is a lynchpin to the entire season. If it’s good, we may also be good as a team, but if it’s bad, I can almost guarantee you things will be bad here for our 2025 Miami Dolphins. I truly don’t think that one CB spot holds as much importance to our season. I don’t think either Jalen Mills or Stephon Gilmore will be uber expensive but they’re available now, but it’s possible they come off the market quickly after the draft after teams reassess their needs. No matter how many times I try to switch it up and justify taking a CB or DT first and I always regret it. Let’s hope we don’t all have that same regret.
GO DOLPHINS!!!
Finsmob Unleashed 
seems to be no game tape this year only highlights, hard to evaluate players without seeing the bad or avg plays
Yeah, I scan through the highlights to find video’s that show every snap vs a specific team. Those have been hard to come by this year.
Kelvin Banks vs OSU. Not much run blocking in this one. He doesn’t look like a top 15 OT. His feet seem slow to me. LG, yeah but need to see more. Sawyer is meh anyway.
A 7th round or UDFA prospect.
LOL, the biggest negative on Membou and Campbell is they won’t be there at pick #13.
Banks’ pass protection technique can be a bit hit or miss at times. He likes to lunge out of his stance to land his hands, which leaves him unbalanced.
That led to many reps where he was swim-moved or shed to the ground. This led to several easy pressures and blown blocks in the running game. Patrick Paul had a similar issue at Houston, so perhaps the Dolphins don’t mind this flaw in offensive linemen.
That would make sense since the team needs quick winners in the running game, and Tua Tagovailoa gets the ball out so quickly in the passing game.
Still, if the offense wants to evolve at all, it would be a good idea to take offensive linemen who can hold up a little longer than a few seconds. Banks is certainly capable of being that player, but he needs some refinement before he can take that step.
Full article:
Miami Dolphins Potential Fits for O-linemen Membou, Will Campbell, Kelvin Banks Jr.
It seems to me only a handful of OL are NFL ready coming out of college.
While that might be true, we see a bunch do well in the NFL immediately, and I’ll add that it appears as if we’ve put ourselves in a position where we need one to succeed immediately. I guess we can add another vet after the draft, and that’s possible. We might want to see how the draft plays out first so we can see if we still have a need for a vet OL like Brandon Scherff
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