Finsmob Unleashed

The 2025 Miami Dolphins have 10 draft picks for this upcoming NFL Draft. Most of the scouting has already been done, but fans, and scouts also pay attention to the Scouting Combine, also known as the “Underwear Olympics”. The 40 yard dash is the most popular skill position drill, but the reality is, in any given game, how often is a player running at full speed 40 yards down the field? It’s just one tool to use, and top speed, and how quickly you get there is an important metric for WR’s, CB’s, RB’s, and to a lesser degree, TE’s, S, LB’s and DE’s. Having said that, of utmost importance is the game tape that all these players have already put out during their college careers, however long or short they were. This is probably at least 90% of how you evaluate a player, with the combine results adding a bit more. It’s important for perspective that most of the game is played with contact, and players rarely get to run free without contact, so a WR who runs a 4.25 but can’t stay balanced once a defender engages him with a bump isn’t nearly as valuable as an athlete with elite body control and balance that can run through the contact.

As I’ve mentioned many times already, we’re in the market for an enormous amount of players, some through the draft, we currently own 10 picks overall. We’ll likely be trying to fill close to 30 roster spots, which really is a huge turnover of the roster. Free agency comes first, preceding the draft, and we need to hit on just about every move we make. It’s hard to believe that we need to find at least 3 starters in this draft, and beyond that, find some other players that can give us contribution this season as well. We have 2 offensive guard spots, starting OG spots that more than likely one will be filled in Free Agency. We’re not going to be able to afford an elite OG, as we witnessed just a year ago as our best OL OG Robert Hunt got a 5YR/$100M contract. Hunt may not be a top 5 OG in the NFL, but he was our best. Clearly, we should have tried harder to keep Robert Hunt the previous year and sign him to a more team friendly deal. In any case, we’re going to have to overpay someone else’s player now, but on a lower scale because we simply don’t have the money available.

We also need Defensive Tackles. The trenches are bare, the one year contract players are now gone, and we’re left with a scarce amount of players on both sides of the ball. To add, normally a player DT/DE Calais Campbell doesn’t fall into your lap, his return is still up in the air at the moment. If he does return, I wouldn’t think the huge discount he played at last season would still apply, considering the tremendously impactful season he had.At age 38, Campbell have us nearly 60% of the snaps on defense, and played at a very high level. His play will be very difficult to replace, and while Zach Sieler had another excellent season, he does need a little protection on the opposite side for him to be the sole defender the offense can constantly double or triple team. I would not be surprised if we draft a DT with our first pick.

We also have no players at safety, other than last year’s 6th RD pick (#198) S Patrick McMorris, who in no way projects as a starter, so we have a lot of work to do there. If it seems like I’m repeating myself with “A lot of work to do” I apologize, but Grier didn’t build a team, he just filled up a lot of spots, and now the toll bell is a ringing! We also need a starter opposite CB Jalen Ramsey, and we’ll need some depth too. As of right now, we have 2024 UDFA signee CB Storm Duck, 2023 2nd RD Pick ), 2023 2nd RD Pick (#51) CB Cam Smith, NB Kader Kohou, mostly a ST’s player in DB Ethan Bonner, and then guys recently signed to futures contracts Jason Maitre and Isaiah Johnson. CB is such an important position, valued right after QB, OT and pass rushers. We saw what happens when you bring in a less expensive vet CB like Kendall Fuller, it doesn’t always work. We might have to hope one of our young players flourish or we may have to hit on a draft pick.

When it comes to our first pick in the draft, which is at the moment #13, I most importantly want a great player that makes an impact on this team immediately and for a long future as well. It doesn’t have to be an OT/OG, a CB or a S. Heck, if TE Tyler Warren is there and he has the highest grade on the board, TAKE HIM! To be fair, he’ll probably be gone, but my point is not to pigeon hole yourself by position, just get a great player that can help us for a decade or so. What really kills me is we kind of had that with DT Christian Wilkins and OG Robert Hunt but we failed miserably to retain them, and once again I point out, it didn’t have to happen when they hit free agency, but before. Both players emerged as our best players on either side of the ball, and after so many draft misses, it sucks to let the ones you hit on walk out the door. It’s not that we didn’t get any compensation, but late 3rd RD compensatory picks aren’t going to fill those shoes, especially given GM Chris Grier’s draft history. Maybe we find another Robert Hunt, that would be wonderful, and hopefully it’s in RD 4 where Hunt was found. Maybe we find another Christian Wilkins too, that would be splendid.

Some early top performers at the combine were DE DE James Pearce (Tennessee) who at 6’5 245 ran a 4.47 40 and a quick 1.56 10 yard split. LB Jihaad Campbell was right behind him at 4.52 and a very quick 10 yard split of 1.53, as well as an impressive 10’7 broad jump. The 10 yard split gives you a very good metric for short area quickness and agility, something most of the game is actually played at, and the broad jump shows you a players explosiveness. Previously mentioned TE Tyler Warren (Penn State) will not be participating in any drills at the combine, and he doesn’t have to. He’s the consensus top pick at TE, a super high character player with fantastic physical ability and play strength. It’s not crazy to want a player like that, even if it’s not our top priority by position. Like I said though, getting the best player should be our priority.

As Free Agency comes first, I think it’s imperative to nail down a starting OG, a starting caliber CB, and starting caliber safety. As we know, cap space is limited, despite the increase of approximately $24M from last year’s cap. The Dolphins are + 9.4M, not a good place to be. There are ways to clear more space with the dreaded “R” word, restructure. There are definitely a few contracts I don’t want them touching, and those are DE Bradley Chubb, QB Tua Tagovailoa, and WR Tyreek Hill. They best not gain money to make any of those contracts any worse than they already are in the future. That alone should have them immediately fired if not shot by a firing squad! Don’t effing do it! You made these contracts, (read MISTAKES), eat them, don’t compound the problem and make them worse. Be responsible now, and for the future of this team, I beg you! Let’s just hope they heed my advice, or I’ll be saying this same nonsense for the next 3 years or more, and I’m sure as hell positive you’re tired of hearing it.

GO DOLPHINS!!!