For the Miami Dolphins and the NFL‘s 31 other teams, the time for choosing is nearly upon us.
After 9+ months of preparation, Chris Grier and his staff will finally make their first-round NFL Draft selection sometime in the 10 p.m. hour Thursday night.
Who will the pick be? We invited Pro Football Network NFL Insider Adam Caplan onto the PFN Miami Dolphins Podcast to separate fact from fiction as the hour draws near.
Miami Dolphins NFL Draft News and Rumors
Caplan’s mock drafts aren’t the normal guessing game. He diligently works the phones with sources throughout the league to get a real sense of the lay of the land.
Don’t be surprised, then, if the Dolphins go defense when they’re on the clock at No. 21.
In Caplan’s latest mock, he has Grier taking Illinois defensive tackle Johnny Newton in Round 1.
The pick in this scenario comes after a bit of bad luck. In Caplan’s latest simulation, Texas DT Byron Murphy II, Alabama CB Kool-Aid McKinstry, Georgia TE Brock Bowers, Penn State OT Olu Fashanu, and Bama OT JC Latham go in the six selections before Miami’s pick.
Caplan, in our final Dolphins podcast ahead of this weekend’s draft, explains his rationale for the Newton pick — going with an interior defensive lineman even though EDGE Laiatu Latu, Oklahoma OT Tyler Guyton, Duke OL Graham Barton, and Penn State EDGE Chop Robinson were still on the board.
Caplan also provided insight into players who might go earlier than expected and prospects whose wait in the green room Thursday night could be longer than most anticipate.
KEEP READING: Miami Dolphins Find Wilkins, Hunt Replacements in Ian Cummings’ 7-Round Mock Draft
The Dolphins are poised to make their first pick in Round 1 since 2021. In all, they have six selections: Nos. 21, 55, 158, 184, 198, and 241.
The NFL stripped Miami’s third-rounder as the final bit of punishment for the penalty the league meted out after determining Stephen Ross improperly tampered with Tom Brady while the star quarterback was still under contract.