Dolphins draft: 3 Defensive lineman that would be perfect fits in Miami

Jer'Zhan Newton is close to a Christian Wilkins replacement.

Can't replace a Gart Bertier, can't replace a Christian Wilkins. But, you can get close. You may actually find a better Christian Wilkins. What, there's no way Miami will ever have a better defensive tackle than Wilkins? It can be done and Jer'Zhan Newton might be able to do that.

Jer'Zhan Newton is the latest flavor of the week in terms of players that fans of the Miami Dolphins discover and then start saying that he would be great for the team. That's typically a big part of the life cycle of the draft prospect.

But as a Big 10 alum like myself, I've admired the work that Jer'Zhan or Johnny as his close friends are allowed to call him Newton for a few seasons. More so this year, I watched this man be a force of nature like a mini Ndamukong Suh. Not to that level of course but I watched Newton single-handedly keep Illinois in games and win some of them. As a defensive lineman that's impressive.

Newton is a little smaller than Wilkins but he's much more twitchy and quick. He also is very versatile where he can be placed anywhere on the defensive line and will be just as good as any other spot.

His size does make you think that in the NFL he might get run over in the run game. I can understand that thought. But I'll say that he played in the BIG 10 where you're not allowed to pass that much meaning he played the run a great deal and he didn't get over-matched.

To me, Newton is like Duke explaining to Apollo why Rocky was all wrong for him in Rocky 2. Teams load up to try and stop Newton and the man just keeps coming.

If Miami trades back in the 1st round, Jer'Zhan Newton could be the perfect player to take. He fills a need and he very well might be the best available.