Miami Dolphins lucky draft is deep at cornerback

The Dolphins find themselves on the right side of luck for a change. This year’s draft is loaded at the cornerback position. Will the Dolphins take advantage of the deep secondary options, or decide to go in a different direction early?

With the NFL draft less than two weeks away, teams across the league are finishing filling out their draft boards, conducting player interviews, and making their final preparations as to which players they will pick and welcome into their organizations.

The Dolphins, however, face peculiar challenges as they gear up for the draft —a new coach, a new stadium, and the search for a new identity and a complete cultural overhaul.

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Despite these obstacles, of course, the name of the game remains football. And in football, you still need talent to be successful. Most certainly, new head coach Adam Gase and the rest of the Dolphins coaching staff can make things a hell of a lot easier on themselves by drafting said talented players.

The Dolphins may finally find themselves on the right side of luck in this department. While the Dolphins must address the cornerback position, this year’s draft has plenty of talented defensive back’s from which to choose.

The release of Pro Bowl cornerback Brent Grimes and veteran Brice McCain this offseason has left the Dolphins razor-thin in the secondary. Bringing in veteran Byron Maxwell from Philadelphia helped soften the blow a little, but the Dolphins must find another player capable of starting on the opposite side of the former member of Seattle’s “Legion of Boom.”

As it stands, with the exception of Maxwell, the rest of the Dolphins cornerbacks consist of an undersized second-year player (Bobby McCain), a former college receiver-turned cornerback (Tony Lippet), a last year seventh round draft pick with injury concerns (Ifo Ekpre-Olomu), a headache that can’t stay healthy (Jamar Taylor), and a couple of under-developed young journeymen.

This is a good draft to address an immediate need. With the Dolphins having the number 13^th pick in the draft, there most certainly will be an ample amount of cornerbacks to choose from. Florida State’s Jalen Ramsey will already have been selected, but a few interesting names to consider (who may be around at pick 13), are University of Florida’s Vernon Hargreaves, Ohio State’s Eli Apple, and William Jackson out of Houston.

All three of the abovementioned players can start immediately opposite of Maxwell, and they are athletic and talented enough to play either man or zone.

Ranking 21^st in the league against the pass, allowing opposing quarterbacks to post a QBR of 97.4, and losing your only proven commodity at the cornerback position makes it all too obvious that the Dolphins secondary needs a complete overhaul.

It’s not often that you have a chance to draft an immediate starter for your defense, and the Dolphins have three, if not more, to choose from. Watching the tape of Hargreaves, Apple, and Jackson, it’s clear to see why all three are highly sought after prospects. Luckily for the Dolphins, if they want another starting cornerback, they’ll have one at the end of April.

Of course, we have no idea what the Dolphins are going to do. However, if they want to fix a defense that got torched by Tyrod Taylor and Ryan Fitzpatrick, they might want to consider drafting a cornerback or two.