The Ideal Two-Round Dolphins Draft Scenario?

The Miami Dolphins go with offense and defense in an NFL draft analyst's proposed plan

Oct 21, 2023; Champaign, Illinois, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini defensive tackle Jer'Zhan Newton / Ron Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

Amid the endless sea of NFL mock drafts popping up these days, NFL.com draft analyst Chad Reuter offered a different twist this week: Coming up with the ideal scenario for the first two rounds for each team.

In Reuter's exercise, the Dolphins wound up with Illinois defensive tackle Jer'Zhan Newton with their first-round pick (21st overall) and Texas tight end Ja'Tavion Sanders in the second round at number 55 overall.

This is how Reuter explained his selections: "Losing Christian Wilkins in free agency was a major blow to the Dolphins' defensive line; Newton's strength and quickness off the ball give him a chance to contribute immediately. Sanders will get down the seam against defenses worried about Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle outside. This seems like an excellent marriage for an already explosive offense."

EVALUATING THE BEST ONE-TWO SCENARIO FOR MIAMI

The reality is the Dolphins could go in a lot of different directions with their first two picks because they have needs at several positions.

One could argue the most pressing at this time would be an edge defender, interior offensive lineman and even safety, along with defensive tackle and maybe wide receiver.

While Newton and Sanders are two good prospects, they do play two positions the Dolphins addressed en masse in free agency with six new defensive tackles (Teair Tart, Neville Gallimore, Benito Jones, Jonathan Harris, Isaiah Mack, Danyion Nixon), and two new tight ends (Jonnu Smith, Jody Fortson).

Sanders is viewed as a seam-stretching tight end, which is kind of the description that fits Smith, so there could be some redundancy there.

Newton would make for a good long-term pick because all of the newcomers on the interior of the defensive line were signed to one-year contracts and he could become the kind of impact player for the defense that Christian Wilkins was before he left for Las Vegas.

But from this vantage point, it just might be that the ideal scenario for the Dolphins' first two picks — trading down not being an option in this hypothetical — would be an edge defender and an interior offensive lineman.

And that, incidentally, just happens to be what ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. gave the Dolphins in his latest mock draft, with edge defender Jared Verse of Florida State at 21 and guard Christian Haynes of UConn at 55.