Could Injury Concerns Keep Dolphins from Some Prospects?

The Miami Dolphins will have to weigh the risk involved in certain top 2025 draft prospects

Dante Collinelli | Mar 19, 2025

Alabama linebacker Jihaad Campbell (LB05) participates in drills during the 2025 NFL Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

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Miami Dolphins

Under General Manager Chris Grier and head coach Mike McDaniel, the Miami Dolphins have consistently been burned by injury-prone players.

The 2025 NFL draft features another opportunity for the Dolphins’ decision-makers to consider whether a player’s injury history should keep them off Miami’s board.

Jordan Reid of ESPN reported Wednesday that potential top-15 pick Alabama linebacker Jihaad Campbell recently had surgery for a torn labrum in his shoulder. Campbell joins a few other top prospects with injury concerns tied to their scouting report.

We’ve decided to analyze just how concerned the Dolphins should be about some of these top prospects and why adding injury-prone players is extra risky for them specifically.

Miami’s Injury Risk

Injuries are a part of football, but the Dolphins are in a more difficult spot than most teams for a few reasons. For starters, this is largely a do-or-die year for Grier and McDaniel.

Although they’ve made the playoffs two out of three years and crafted a capable roster on paper, the Dolphins have effectively won nothing of value. Zero playoff wins. Zero division titles. This looks worse for Grier, who has held the GM title since 2016.

Grier and McDaniel need to win this season, and banking on a player in the top 15 with major injury concerns is a pretty big risk.

Second, the Dolphins already have a bad history with injury-prone players, especially recently. Starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is the poster child for this, but other examples exist.

Starting right tackle Austin Jackson has missed a lot of time in his career with injuries. It’s unknown whether Terron Armstead will return next season — it’s unlikely — but he’s also battled injuries his whole career.

On defense, star pass rushers Bradley Chubb and Jaelan Phillips are also oft-injured players. Plus, the Dolphins spent the 51st pick on cornerback Cam Smith in the 2023 NFL draft, and his development has been completely stunted due to injuries.

Even some of Miami’s best free agent acquisitions have injury concerns. Projected starting guard James Daniels is coming off an Achilles tear, and potential starting safety Ifeatu Melifowu only got to free agency because he’s had so many injuries in recent years.

You can even go back to players from before McDaniel took over. DeVante Parker got screws put in his foot before he was a first-round pick and struggled with ankle injuries throughout his time in Miami.

Again, injuries happen, and there’s a fair argument that several players listed above are well worth what the Dolphins pay them despite their injury history.

But betting on another key piece with injury concerns doesn't seem wise in a year when Grier and McDaniel must win something of real value.

Top Prospects With Injury Conerns

Before we discuss which players the Dolphins should examine closely, it should be noted that college injury information is more scarce than in the NFL.

We don’t have the in-depth reports that teams do, and in some cases, even the specific injury itself can be difficult to pin down. Still, we’ll do our best to read the tea leaves and find the best information possible.

Jihaad Campbell, LB, Alabama

Injury Concern: Medium

Campbell’s aforementioned labrum tear in his shoulder was discovered at Alabama’s Pro Day after he was seen walking around in a sling. The Alabama linebacker did compete in tests at the NFL combine, scoring quite well in all facets.

Campbell clearly had the surgery afterward, and most medical professionals place the recovery time for a torn labrum into two phases. The first four to six weeks are for the ligament to reattach to the shoulder, and the second four-to-six-week timetable is for re-strengthening the muscle.

Those timetables will vary depending on the severity of the injury, but most best-case scenarios require a minimum of three months for full recovery. If Campbell had surgery in March, his earliest return date would be roughly sometime in July.

That means Campbell should be ready for training camp and the start of the season. However, a shoulder injury for a linebacker isn’t exactly ideal. Campbell is a hard hitter, and linebackers take on a lot of contact in the NFL.

Overall, there’s some risk with Campbell, but it’s far from the worst injury he could have.

Will Johnson, CB, Michigan

Injury Concern: Low

We recently mocked Johnson to the Dolphins at No. 13 overall, so it shouldn’t be too surprising that we’re not overly concerned with Johnson’s reported injuries.

That said, he has suffered two injuries since October. The first was a turf toe injury that kept him out of the Wolverines' final six games. The second was a hamstring injury he suffered after the NFL combine, which prevented him from competing in Michigan’s Pro Day.

ESPN has reported that Johnson has not suffered any setbacks in recovering from turf toe and that his hamstring injury isn’t serious. He’s expected to have a private workout April 14, which will be a good opportunity to show teams he’s ready to play in 2025.

Our concern for Johnson’s long-term prospects remains low, as he played in 12 and 14 games in 2023 and 2022, respectively. Additionally, while a hamstring injury would prevent him from doing workouts, players still suit up with hamstring injuries all the time.

There’s no reason to believe that, with his toe fully healed, Johnson wouldn’t suit up for an actual game.

Josh Simmons, OT, Ohio State

Injury Concern: Low

Simmons isn’t mocked to Miami too often, but the team’s quest to fix the offensive line could make him an option. Without his injury, there’s a good chance Simmons would be seen as the best tackle in the draft.

However, he suffered a torn patellar tendon in October, knocking him out of the lineup after playing in just six games. Simmons is expected to go in the first round, but this is not a minor injury.

The patellar tendon connects the kneecap to the shinbone and allows the knee to extend. A complete tear of this muscle usually takes six to 12 months to fully recover from. A complete tear puts the recovery time closer to 12 months, while a partial tear lands closer to six.

Simmons told reporters at the NFL combine that his recovery is “ahead of schedule” and that he’s planning to work out at Ohio State’s Pro Day in April.

If that’s true, it would be a remarkable recovery for Simmons and could alleviate some of the concerns teams have about his health for this coming season.

Shavon Revel, CB, East Carolina

Injury Concern: Low-Medium

Revel is a player who gets paired with the Dolphins more often at pick 48 than pick 13, and the reason for that is because of his ACL injury. The East Carolina cornerback suffered the injury in September, ending his season after just three games.

ACL tears are pretty common for NFL players, and there’s a good history of players returning to full health after missing roughly eight to 12 months of action.

Revel is progressing well, according to his doctor, Daniel E. Cooper, who sent a letter to NFL teams before the combine saying Revel would be ready for the start of the 2025 season.

If the Dolphins were to select Revel, they’d likely rely on him to start Week 1 opposite Jalen Ramsey. Even if Revel is cleared for action, it would be unfair to expect him to be fully up to speed, especially considering he would be a rookie at one of the league’s most complex positions.

That’s why our concern is a little more than “low.”

Benjamin Morrison, CB, Notre Dame

Injury Concern: Medium - High

Morrison is another defensive back sometimes mocked to the Dolphins at pick 48. He missed the final 10 games of this past season with a labrum tear in his hip — not like Campbell who tore the labrum in his shoulder.

Morrison is about five and a half months removed from surgery, according to The South Bend Tribune. The former Notre Dame cornerback told reporters at the combine that he would hold a private workout for teams in South Florida after Notre Dame’s late March Pro Day.

A proper return to sports can take anywhere from three to six months, so Morrison working out sometime in April would be within the typical recovery window.

The higher level of concern is centered around the long-term outlook for a cornerback with a hip injury. Cornerbacks have to be capable of quickly flipping their hips and changing directions to match receivers at three levels of the field.

Morrison seems to be on track for a full recovery, but a hip injury for a cornerback is likely to scare any NFL evaluator at least a little bit.