3 unconventional 2026 NFL Draft prospects Dolphins must consider

The Miami Dolphins are the NFL roster equivalent of a gigantic sieve. They have holes everywhere and not enough assets to plug all of them in one offseason.

Not that new GM Jon-Eric Sullivan is approaching his first year on the job as if it's some quick fix. He's cutting veterans all over the place, and will soon have highly-paid quarterback Tua Tagovailoa packing his bags one way or another.

While the Dolphins must come away from the 2026 NFL Draft with two viable starting cornerbacks (my take), they can get creative with that mission. That's what having three third-round picks and being an obvious team that'll look to trade down will do for you.

In light of how much flexibility Sullivan has in his first Miami draft, and how the Dolphins aren't exactly building to contend for a Super Bowl in 2026, here are some outside-the-box prospects who can help them maximize their present while setting the foundation for an electrifying future.

3 NFL draft prospects Miami Dolphins should consider that stray from consensus

Toledo safety Emmanuel McNeil-Warren is a prime first-round trade-down target

If you want a smart leader with uncanny play recognition and coverage instincts who can also bring the thunder as a run defender, Emmanuel McNeil-Warren is necessarily-capitalized Him.

Yes, he played in the MAC at Toledo. The competition level is not exactly SEC-caliber. Who cares? Quinyon Mitchell hailed from that Rockets program. He's an elite cornerback and a Super Bowl champ in Philly. McNeil-Warren is at least close to Mitchell's caliber of prospect in my humble opinion.

Quinyon was my seventh-rated player in the 2024 class. Cooper DeJean was 10th. Wanted my beloved Bengals to draft both of them. They both went to the Eagles and won a Lombardi Trophy.

Howie Roseman masterclass. Anyway, pending the impending Combine, I have McNeil-Warren 16th overall. His "positional value" at safety will likely push him down draft boards; PFF has him 34th on its big board. Stands to reason Miami could trade pretty far back from Pick 11, hopefully gain a key asset for the 2027 draft, and still get McNeil-Warren later in the first round.

Trade speculation is swirling around All-Pro safety Minkah Fitzpatrick, who played more nickel than anything else for the Fins in 2025. That ain't his wheelhouse.

Fitzpatrick will probably be on the move. Miami has some other youngsters in the safety group. Nobody near the caliber of McNeil-Warren. In his three years and pocket change as a collegiate starter, EMW was successful on 205 of his 230 tackling attempts and allowed a 54.8 passer rating with five interceptions. Only one penalty, too.

Another second-round guard who could very well steal Jonah Savaiinaea's job

...And wouldn't you know it? This young man's forename is also Emmanuel!

We're talking about Emmanuel Pregnon, the left guard out of Oregon who could put 2025 second-round pick Jonah Savaiinaea to shame. Savaiinaea was quite easily the worst starting guard in the NFL last season. Hard to come back from that when you're that terrible by NFL standards as a rookie.

Has there ever been a first-year player who was so in over his head and roared back to be a passable starter within a couple of seasons? It's pretty rare in my experience.

Pregnon's PFF marks in 2025 were sensational. He had a 93.0 zone blocking grade and let up only two QB hurries. The guy is an absolute mauler in the run game and is technically sound in pass protection, evident in his minimal pressures allowed.

Watch this film cut-up and let me know if you see any glaring holes in Pregnon's game. I can't find any. Maybe a tad slow to strike on occasion, but like... he has every capacity to recover.

The Dolphins will have let their trade up in Round 2 for Savaiinaea go to waste if Pregnon is their pick. Oh well. Better than doubling down on a dude who can't hack it, right?

Jadon Canady would not be the Round 3 he's currently implied to be

I mentioned the whole Minkah Fitzpatrick as a nickel thing not being great, right? Unless the Dolphins intend to run it back with Kader Kohou coming off a missed year due to a torn ACL (doubtful), they should be in the market for a new, proper slot cornerback.

Is it still outside the box if all these prospects connect together so logically in sequence? Whatever. I think I'm still delivering on the premise of this article.

Pregnon's Oregon teammate, Jadon Canady, is among the most slept-on prospects in the 2026 class to this point in the pre-draft process. Miami can afford to take a bit of an early flyer on Canady with that plethora of third-round picks at 75, 87, and 90 overall.

Whether Canady is the choice at one of those slots or he goes at Pick 111 in Round 4, he'd be an excellent value. The master consensus board has him 194th overall; I have him at 100th.

The Shrine Bowl extended Canady an invitation to showcase his talents, and he made the most of it.

It was quite the odyssey of a college journey for Canady. He began at Tulane and stayed there for a couple of years before transferring to Ole Miss. He had eight penalties for the Rebels in 2024, playing mostly on the boundary, but came into his own for the Ducks this past year as a slot/safety type.

Canady cut his penalties to only two, gave up a 41.8 passer rating, and missed only 9.8% of his tackle attempts. The blend of experience and competitive tenacity Canady brings to the field offsets concerns about his 5'10", 175-pound frame. He'd be a heck of a get for Miami on late Day 2 or early Day 3 of this draft.