Random thoughts about a month-and-a-week out from the 2026 NFL Draft …

• There was no part of general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan‘s moving of Jaylen Waddle that doesn’t make sense. Not only did he net a first and third round pick but also consider that 2026 is already widely held to be a bare-bones type season. So looking to the next season of potential hope, Waddle will turn 29 during the 2027 season and his pricetag is $23.4 million.
• Naysayers love to point out that the first round pick in the deal is 30th. I like to look at it from a different perspective. In a draft characterized by a lack of high-end talent but good depth through the end of Day 2, the Dolphins have covered many of the spots a team would like to be. The pick at 30 is intriguing as it relates to cornerback, as Miami could arguably land just a player with just as much pro potential as one the team could select at 11. That is how flat the talent gets after the top five or six picks of the draft.
• The one player it baffles me there is not more talk about or movement on from where he ranks among prospects is Clemson’s T.J. Parker. The lone complaint seems to resurface time and again — he had a down year. Okay, well give me the guy whose down year is 39 tackles, 9.5 TFLs and 5 sacks and is arguably the most complete of all edge players in terms of defending the run and pass.
• Another note on Parker — most mocks seem to have him going somewhere between Miami’s two picks. A little closer to the 11th, but mostly right in-between.
• Just like every other year, the early projections on some prospects are getting cleaned up, boards taking shape. One player whose stock seems to be up is North Dakota State wide receiver Bryce Lance, The thought that he still resides on some people’s day three list is ludicrous. He’s Christian Watson 2.0 with room for growth. From where I sit, he’s a second-round pick. If he makes it to round three, don’t think the guy who likely helped bring Watson to Green Bay can’t see the similarities.

• This is not a great draft in a lot of areas, but there are a lot of prospects of similar skill ranges. It is definitely a draft where taking as many cracks at it as you can is better than ‘moving up for your guy.’ Its always a good strategy to employ, but this year there aren’t real noticeable dropoffs in early round talent as is custom.
• This is the worst quarterback class in memory. Mid-first round guys going first overall (no offense to the kid), questionable day two guys being talked about for round one (like Ty Simpson) and really nothing until about round five. It is quite astonishingly bad.
• Speaking of quarterback, the team’s current situation sure does lend itself to the Green Bay way of drafting a Day 3 player. Miami has an incumbent starter and two second-year players with promise. Do they draft an ultra-athletic guy who needs a ton of work like Taylen Green or Cole Payton? Or do they wait even later in the draft for what is becoming an NFL luxury, drafting a collegian with a lot of experience who is ready to come in and show you if they can play or not, a la Tyler Shough last year. This year’s version is Connecticut’s Joe Fagnano, who quietly lit up college football the last two years (48 touchdowns, 5 interceptions the last two years). He also went interception-free until UConn’s final game last year and could make it to UDFA territory.
• Feel like its pretty undeniable that Mansoor Delane is the best, most versatile cornerback in this draft and despite it being the biggest position of need for Miami, Delane’s measurables put it in question Jon-Eric Sullivan’s level of interest. If one were a student of history, Green Bay shifted its stance on length in Ted Thompson‘s tenure and hasn’t drafted a Day 1 of Day 2 corner with arms shorter than 31 inches since 2015.
• Prior to about a week ago, there are few less interested in the Dolphins selecting Oregon’s Kenyon Sadiq than myself. A few brief notes on what turned me:
  • a) I don’t think the Dolphins will be utilizing a roster spot on a true fullback or even lining up with one. Yes, fullback is a part of the Shanahan system — the Kyle Shanahan system. The OG, Mike Shanahan, used a fullback his first four years in Denver then went to using what’s called a ‘blocking H’ in run sets. So instead of three tight ends and a fullback in your rotation, expect just three tight ends: ideally a Y, an F, and a ‘blocking H.’
  • Like the elder Shanahan, Green Bay’s Matt LaFleur utlizes the blocking H, which is an H-back or F tight end who lines up offset just behind a tackle. Three years ago his primary blocking H was tight end Ben Sims, who Miami just signed after a year of going unused in Minnesota.
  • The F tight end most famously used in Denver by Mike Shanahan was Shannon Sharpe. Which leads me back to why Sadiq could make sense at 11 for Miami — as an F tight end, he does not have a chink in his armor. He’s even a good blocker. Question him as a Y tight end and it is a fair criticism. But in Mike Shanahan’s version of the scheme, and with a mobile quarterback who is a threat to hurt you with his legs (like Shanahan had), it starts to make sense. Even if in your heart you want an edge, guard or corner.
• There will be some good cornerbacks as late as the fourth or fifth round. Hezekiah Masses of Cal, for example, did not test well but he is a complete ball hawk. Another is Toledo’s Andre Fuller, who popped every time you went to watch his safety teammate.
• Miami will not have a problem finding a larger receiver if it wants one this year. Round three is an ideal place to start looking. USC’s Ja’Kobi Lane would be ideal, while Louisville’s Chris Bell — a thick, fast receiver with first round talent — may be available for someone who is willing to wait for him to return from an ACL injury suffered in November (clean tear).
• Its hard to see the Dolphins drafting a running back unless it’s late and they want to provide competition at backup. The Packers have not carried more than three backs on the active roster in years, so expect similar roster construction here. That said … if the Dolphins select a back at 30 like Notre Dame’s Jadarian Price or on Day 2 like Mike Washington Jr., your eyes have to perk up if Devon Achane is still on the roster. Maybe the new regime is unconvinced by the backups who are in house, or maybe the chess piece with the highest value (Achane) is still in play to be on the move.