Miami Dolphins best and worst draft picks from the ACC

The Miami Dolphins have had some solid prospects from the ACC.

Georgia Tech – 5 players

The first player out of GT was Randy Edmunds in 1968. His last year in the league was in 1972 but it wasn’t with Miami. He only played two seasons for the Dolphins. Don Bessillieu played three years with Miami and three more elsewhere. The 5th round pick in 1979 started 19 games.

The best player to come out of GT has to be 1992 first-round pick Marco Coleman. Coleman was a tough hard-hitting defensive end/linebacker. He played four seasons with the Dolphins playing mostly on the edge. He started all but two games with Miami.

Following the end of his rookie deal, he left for San Diego for three seasons. Overall he. played 14 NFL seasons. Andrew Gardner was drafted last in 2009. He played only one year with the Dolphins but another six in the NFL.

Louisville – 6 players

Louisville has been a good school for Miami despite only six players coming out of the university.

Mark Clayton can easily be considered the best if not for the fact that Sam Madison is also from the school. I’m sure both players have no problems sharing that honor. Clayton was drafted in 1983 while Madison joined the Dolphins in 1997.

I find it a tad ironic that the 1983 draft produced one of Miami’s best receivers and came from the same year that Dan Marino was drafted. In the 1997 draft, Miami found one of their best all-time cornerbacks, the same draft they took HOF DE Jason Taylor.

The school also produced Larry Ball in the 4th round of the 1972 draft. He played three seasons for Miami initially and then two seasons with Detroit and Tampa before coming back to Miami for his final two years.

The Dolphins’ search for a running back continued in the mid-80s when they selected Ron Davenport. Davenport played five seasons with Miami as a fullback.

The last player from Louisville came in 2015 when Miami made DeVante Parker their first-round selection. After a rocky start to his career, he turned in a great season in 2019 before struggling with the QB switching in 2020 but he is showing why the Dolphins thought so highly of him.

NC State – 3 players

Miami has made three selections from NC State but none of them have spent more than a year or two in the NFL. Chuck Stone in 1980, Rickey Isom in 1986, and David Merritt in 1993. Merritt is the only one to play a down for the Dolphins appearing in four games. He was also the highest player drafted from the school, in round seven.