Dolphins draft prospect Roquan Smith declares for NFL Draft

The Miami Dolphins won’t say they want Georgia linebacker Roquan Smith who declared for the draft today, but they better be thinking long and hard about him.

Earlier today we talked about what the Dolphins could do to fix the problems that are ailing them and there really were not that many issues that need addressed. Linebacker however is one of them.

The Dolphins will get Raekwon McMillan back in 2018 after missing his entire rookie season with a knee injury. McMillan was supposed to be the starter in the middle of the Dolphins linebacker group. A group that failed in 2017 for the second consecutive year.

With Kiko Alonso returning on a contract that prohibits the Dolphins from moving on Miami will be forced to make a decision on Lawrence Timmons who did not have a good season, was not the leader they had hoped for, and was suspended to start the season after leaving the team.

In other words, the linebacker group is a huge problem for the Dolphins and Roquan Smith can fix it.

Smith is the best linebacker prospect in this years class and after Miami passed on Reuben Foster in 2017’s draft, they really can’t afford to not take a blue-chip prospect in this years draft. With McMillan returning and Smith on the roster, the Dolphins could go from one of the worst linebacker units to one of the best.

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• Looking ahead to the 2023 NFL Draft for the Miami Dolphins

Smith has a fast motor and plays both the run and pass coverage equally strong. In 2017 the Bulldog had over 100 tackles and 11 of those were for losses. He added 6.5 sacks as well. The good news is that he is not a one season wonder. He had an equally impressive 2016 season as well.

The question is will he be

available for the Dolphins to select when they are on the clock at number 11. Several teams ahead of the Dolphins could take Smith but they all have other needs as well and players with high potential available to them. There is a good possibility that Smith falls to Miami.

The next question of course will be whether or not Miami takes him if he is on the board. The Dolphins have other needs they have to address as well as we discussed in the above linked article. One thing is certain, Smith is going to get a lot of play for the Dolphins in up coming mock drafts. In fact, he was our selection in our first mock draft of the season.