Mock Draft Roundup: April 12 Edition

The Miami Dolphins will be splitting their two first-round picks between offense and defense based on the latest survey of mock drafts

The mock drafts have remained pretty consistent when it comes to projecting what the Miami Dolphins will do in the first round of the 2021 NFL drafts, in terms of prospects and positions.

And that hasn't changed even after the Dolphins traded down from third to 12th in the first round and back up to sixth.

Based on 20 national mocks done after the two trades with the San Francisco 49ers and Philadelphia Eagles, the consensus is still for Miami to take a skill position player at number 6, followed by a defensive player at number 18.

At 6, it's actually practically unanimous that the Dolphins will go with a skill position player, with only one exception to that rule.

That, of course, would be the much-dissected mock draft by NFL Network analyst Peter Schrager, who had the Dolphins taking Northwestern offensive lineman Rashawn Slater at that spot. It was an idea that we argued wasn't nearly as crazy as some of the Twitter backlash might have suggested.

The strong favorite among mockers was LSU wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase, who was mentioned nine times, followed by Florida tight end Kyle Pitts with five mentions.

The others getting nods at number 6 were the two Alabama wide receivers, with Jaylen Waddle mentioned thee times and DeVonta Smith mentioned twice.

Doing the math, that's a 70 percent vote for a wide receiver (14 of 20), which might or might not represent the best value for that draft position.

When it comes to the 18th pick, there obviously are a lot more players mentioned because the further you get into the draft the less separation there is between prospects.

There are three names that stand out at that spot, and they are edge defender Kwity Paye of Michigan, linebacker Micah Parsons of Penn State and running back Najee Harris of Alabama.

Paye was one of five edge defenders mocked as the Dolphins pick at 18, but the only one to get more than one mention. The others were Gregory Rousseau from the University of Miami, Jayson Oweh from Penn State and Azeez Ojulari from Georgia.

Two other defensive players were mentioned, safety Trevon Moehrig from TCU and linebacker Zaven Collins from Tulsa, along with Virginia Tech offensive lineman Christian Darrisaw, Florida wide receiver Kadarius Toney and Clemson running back Travis Etienne.

We recently debated the idea of the Dolphins taking Harris at number 18 in terms of the positional value of a running back, and the same logic certainly applies to Etienne.

One final scenario for the Dolphins' second first-round pick came from ESPN's Todd McShay, who had them trading up from 18 to 16 to select USC guard/tackle Alijah Vera-Tucker.

The mock drafts surveyed ranged from ESPN to NFL.com to CBSSports.com, with several national newspapers in between (Chicago Sun-Times, Dallas Morning News, San Diego Union-Tribune).