2018 NFL mock draft has Dolphins going offense
By Brian Miller
The Miami Dolphins haven’t kicked the tires on 2017 but already mock drafts are popping up and every expert has the solution for the Dolphins.
Today we venture across the internet divide to showcase the latest mock from our sister site, NFLMocks.com. And while mock drafts are always fun regardless of how far away they are from reality, sometimes you just have, well, mock them.
There are a few things that should be pointed out about the NFLMocks 2018 mock draft. First whatever their thinking is regarding the draft positions, they don’t think very highly of the New York Jets. Not that many do, but the NFLMocks guys have the Jets picking number one overall. Which of course means an abysmal season for the Jets in 2017.
They don’t think too highly of the Buffalo Bills either placing them at number eight. That’s great for the Dolphins except they don’t think that much higher of the Dolphins either.
Despite going 10-6 last season the Dolphins still are not getting the respect that so many had hoped for and that is perfectly fine with the Dolphins. Let other teams underestimate them. To be fair, the Dolphins won a lot of close games in 2016 that easily could have gone the other way. Can’t have your cake and eat it to.
NFLMocks has the Dolphins drafting 14th which means they finished pretty poorly. As in top 15 status. That’s not good and frankly it would be a little surprising if that is where they ended up but honestly, no one has viewed what the Dolphins did this off-season as a success. In fact many believe they went backwards. Apparently NFLMocks.com did as well.
For the record, they have the Patriots winning the Super Bowl and drafting last in round one. Hey everyone loves cheaters right?
With the 14th pick George Stockburger, the author of the mock draft has the Dolphins taking Notre Dame guard Quenton Nelson. So we should start there with how wrong that pick actually is.
While it’s not a slight on Nelson, he could have a fabulous year in 2017 but if there is anything about history and the Miami Dolphins under Mike Tannenbaum and company, the Dolphins don’t draft guards in round one, and they sure as heck don’t draft guards in the top 15.
To give Stockburger some relief, it’s clear that the Dolphins need offensive line help. You know it, I know it, most of the Miami media know it, it’s just the Dolphins don’t know it. When and hopefully they won’t figure out that they do, they still are not going to draft a guard with pick 14.
So what might Miami look at in the 2018 draft? Defensive secondary makes a lot of early sense but since the Dolphins went defense heavy this year and Adam Gase is an offensive guy, the pendulum should swing back to offense unless a top linebacker or defensive tackle is on the board.
Offensively there isn’t a lot of needs and guard certainly is one of them. So is tackle. Ja’Wuan James is a big question and his 5th year option could easily be taken away if he performs poorly in 2016, creating a need. Tight-end could be a target as well.
I’m not disagreeing with Stockburger here in terms of the Dolphins needs but 14 is too high and if I truly believe they are going to finish that high in next years draft, there is a very high increase in that pick being an impact defensive player. Guard is just too high and way out of character for this regime. But hey, it was great to see someone else share the same outlook with the J. E. T. S.