Many a Miami Dolphins fan was slightly disappointed on draft day. It's not that Kadyn Proctor is a bad player by any stretch of the imagination. The reality is, after months of pre-draft discourse declaring Ohio State safety Caleb Downs as perhaps the best player in the class, and hometown EDGE prospect Rueben Bain Jr. as the top player at his position, few expected both to be available when Miami was on the clock. Alas, they both were.
Dolphins general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan opted instead to trade down with the Dallas Cowboys, who promptly gobbled up Downs. No matter — Bain Jr. must be the pick then, right? Wrong. Miami bypassed both and selected Proctor, a mountainous offensive lineman from the University of Alabama who, at only 20 years old, boasts potential in droves. He also has some red flags, including issues maintaining a healthy playing weight at times in college.
With their second first-round pick, acquired in the Jaylen Waddle trade, Miami nabbed San Diego State cornerback Chris Johnson. This selection was met with far more praise, as the only concern scouts seemed to have about the shutdown cover man was the competition level he faced at SDSU. His selection was a prime example of marrying talent with need. Barring something unforeseen, he will be a starter for the Dolphins from day one.
The latest bit of reporting from Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated indicates that Jon-Eric Sullivan had an almost eerie grasp on the draft board.
"The Dolphins felt strongly enough about [their scouting report on Proctor] going into the draft that, on the Thursday afternoon of the first round, Sullivan off-handedly remarked to assistant GM Kyle Smith, ‘Wouldn’t it be cool if we wound up with Proctor and Johnson.’ Johnson was San Diego State cornerback Chris Johnson—a very clean prospect in a class of flawed DBs, with the three-position flexibility to play corner, nickel and safety—and, yup, the Dolphins got him, too."
Insider report reveals Miami Dolphins GM Jon-Eric Sullivan's dream scenario played out exactly as he wished on draft day
It would be a rarity for a team to acknowledge that they didn't get the player they wanted in any context. It would set things off on the wrong foot to tell a rookie coming through the door that they weren't the first choice. In any case, it's a positive development for the future of the franchise that the general manager clearly has a network in the league to know how teams view certain players. It speaks to the competence, experience, and overall aptitude of the new regime that they had an idea how the draft might play out.
The part of this that gets complicated for Sullivan, however, is that there are no excuses. Say what you will about draft experts and the media, but few would have taken issue with the Dolphins if they opted for Downs or Bain Jr. With the decision to make a riskier selection, the organization has opened itself up to criticism. Either they were smarter than the consensus, or Sullivan bungled his first selection as a lead decision-maker.
The same way Tua Tagovailoa and Justin Herbert were inextricably tied throughout the former's tenure in South Florida, fans will be keeping close tabs on Downs and Bain Jr. throughout their NFL careers. With this report, there's no doubt remaining about who wanted to swing for Proctor and Johnson. By letting it leak out to the media, Sullivan has also surrendered any plausible deniability.
These were his guys. After a quarter century of mediocrity, fans simply hope his eye for talent will prove to be fortune-changing. If nothing else, he showed his proclivity for the bold rather than adhering to the safe choice. That's admirable ... when it works. Ultimately, only one thing matters to Miami's deserving fanbase: winning. If Jon-Eric Sullivan's approach brings a winner to South Florida, build the damn statue.
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