Miami Dolphins 2022 NFL Draft three day draft predictions

It’s commonly known that the Dolphins plan to add a Center to compete with Michael Dieter, who played the position last year, while also missing significant time due to injury.

The free-agent market has largely dried up, save for fan-favorite JC Tretter, who apparently has a stagnant market and little interest from the Miami Dolphins.

Fortunately, Chris Grier continues racking up his phone bill, as he finds a team that will allow for a significant trade-up, that gives the Dolphins a potential unicorn.

Prediction 1: The Dolphins trade into the early second round to select C Tyler Linderbaum

Undoubtedly the best Center in the 2022 NFL Draft, Tyler Linderbaum (University of Iowa), has been labeled everything from a generational talent, to a unicorn (rare) prospect.

So why should Dolphins fans expect a player with his potential, to be around in the early second round?

There’s a growing belief that Linderbaum could slide out of the first round, in part because the Center position has been historically devalued in the draft. A Linderbaum slide could also be a result of teams selecting in the late first-round simply having bigger needs, or just aren’t in the market for a new center.

Enter, Miami Dolphins.

Linderbaum is a perfect fit for the Dolphins’ new wide-zone running scheme. He’s such a highly athletic and agile player, that he can get to the outside-in zone runs with ease. The Iowa Hawkeyes run a very similar style of outside-zone, with play-action pass sets, so Linderbaum is well-versed in what he’d be expected to do in Miami.

A former wrestler, Tyler Linderbaum shows a relentless tenacity to consistently get to the second level, and always plays through the whistle.

His only knock is having a shorter wingspan, but his wrestling background, and sound technique, allow for him to hold a very steady anchor.

There is no argument around the NFL, that Linderbaum is a highly-skilled center, with the potential to become a perennial Pro Bowl player. If he slides to the second round, the price for Miami to move up, becomes significantly easier to manage, for a team with few assets in the current draft.