• With Miami not likely to land free agent Josh Norman, cornerback remains a high priority, though we hear a few other players also intrigue the Dolphins with their first-round pick if they fall to their range at No. 13.
If the Dolphins rate a non-cornerback as the best player on their board when they're picking at No. 13, there's a belief they could still land a quality corner at 42 and/or 73, a prospect such as UM’s Artie Burns (if there at 42) or Baylor’s Xavien Howard or Virginia Tech's Kendall Fuller or Samford's James Bradberry, among others.
Drafting two corners is very much a possibility.
Ohio State running back Ezekiel Elliott’s visit here Tuesday went very well, he would welcome the Dolphins drafting him if he slips to 13, and Miami has strong interest, according to someone involved. He already has a lease on an apartment in Miami, though that has nothing to do with any possibility of him landing with the Dolphins.
Meanwhile, the Dolphins recently sent a contingent to Los Angeles to conduct a private workout with UCLA’s Myles Jack, the draft’s best linebacker. There’s Dolphins interest if he surprisingly slips out of the top 10.
• What about UF’s 5-10 Vernon Hargreaves, who could be the best corner available at 13? Though he cannot be ruled out if he’s the best player available, I do know this: There is some resistance to Hargreaves among some Dolphins scouting/front office people who believe he’s undersized and see him more as a nickel back. Miami’s preference is a big, physical boundary corner.
The Dolphins prefer bigger corners in general and are intrigued by Houston’s William Jackson and Ohio State’s Eli Apple, two 6-1 corners who visited. Jackson at No. 13 is certainly a possibility, but analysts disagree about whether Jackson is good value at 13. (Mel Kiper says he’s not.) Most pundits have Apple in the 20s or lower.
One Dolphins official said trading down from 13 for a corner would be a consideration, if there's not a player at 13 that Miami covets in that range and if it believes one of the tall corners would be available later in the first round.
• Besides Jack, Elliott and the corners, the Dolphins have closely studied a handful of first-round front-seven defenders, including Clemson defensive ends Kevin Dodd(visited, but 13 is higher than projected) and Shaq Lawson and linebackers LeonardFloyd (Georgia), Reggie Ragland (Alabama) and Darron Lee (the Ohio State product is Kiper’s choice for the Dolphins, but at 6-1, 232 pounds isn’t their ideal size preference).
Ragland told Sirius XM tonight that he made seven visits in the past two weeks, and the Dolphins, Bears and Saints have shown the most interest in him. And we've also been told the Dolphins like Ragland.
• As one of several fallback options, the Dolphins have discussed taking one of the top offensive tackles if one slips and moving him to guard, though 13 is high for a guard. Kiper said would take Texas A&M guard/tackle Germain Ifedi (who visited Miami) in the first round. But 13 would seem too high.
• The Dolphins, looking for a skilled returner who could lessen Jarvis Landry’sworkload on special teams, have been in touch with several. They summoned Texas Tech’s 5-6 Jakeem Grant to Davie this week; he had four kickoff returns for touchdowns in his career and a 26.2 average last season. At UCLA, they auditioned Devin Fuller (24.2 kickoff average last season), among others.
They’re open to finding competition for kicker Andrew Franks and dispatched special teams coach Darren Rizzi or other staffers to privately audition several, including Texas’ Nick Rose and Albright’s Daniel Sobolewski.
• One team official said the past coaching staff didn’t use tight end Jordan Cameron to his strengths and expects that to change… Dolphins conversations remain ongoing with free agent defensive end Jason Jones, with both sides interested.
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/spor...re-player-workouts-and-more-whiteside-wa.html
If the Dolphins rate a non-cornerback as the best player on their board when they're picking at No. 13, there's a belief they could still land a quality corner at 42 and/or 73, a prospect such as UM’s Artie Burns (if there at 42) or Baylor’s Xavien Howard or Virginia Tech's Kendall Fuller or Samford's James Bradberry, among others.
Drafting two corners is very much a possibility.
Ohio State running back Ezekiel Elliott’s visit here Tuesday went very well, he would welcome the Dolphins drafting him if he slips to 13, and Miami has strong interest, according to someone involved. He already has a lease on an apartment in Miami, though that has nothing to do with any possibility of him landing with the Dolphins.
Meanwhile, the Dolphins recently sent a contingent to Los Angeles to conduct a private workout with UCLA’s Myles Jack, the draft’s best linebacker. There’s Dolphins interest if he surprisingly slips out of the top 10.
• What about UF’s 5-10 Vernon Hargreaves, who could be the best corner available at 13? Though he cannot be ruled out if he’s the best player available, I do know this: There is some resistance to Hargreaves among some Dolphins scouting/front office people who believe he’s undersized and see him more as a nickel back. Miami’s preference is a big, physical boundary corner.
The Dolphins prefer bigger corners in general and are intrigued by Houston’s William Jackson and Ohio State’s Eli Apple, two 6-1 corners who visited. Jackson at No. 13 is certainly a possibility, but analysts disagree about whether Jackson is good value at 13. (Mel Kiper says he’s not.) Most pundits have Apple in the 20s or lower.
One Dolphins official said trading down from 13 for a corner would be a consideration, if there's not a player at 13 that Miami covets in that range and if it believes one of the tall corners would be available later in the first round.
• Besides Jack, Elliott and the corners, the Dolphins have closely studied a handful of first-round front-seven defenders, including Clemson defensive ends Kevin Dodd(visited, but 13 is higher than projected) and Shaq Lawson and linebackers LeonardFloyd (Georgia), Reggie Ragland (Alabama) and Darron Lee (the Ohio State product is Kiper’s choice for the Dolphins, but at 6-1, 232 pounds isn’t their ideal size preference).
Ragland told Sirius XM tonight that he made seven visits in the past two weeks, and the Dolphins, Bears and Saints have shown the most interest in him. And we've also been told the Dolphins like Ragland.
• As one of several fallback options, the Dolphins have discussed taking one of the top offensive tackles if one slips and moving him to guard, though 13 is high for a guard. Kiper said would take Texas A&M guard/tackle Germain Ifedi (who visited Miami) in the first round. But 13 would seem too high.
• The Dolphins, looking for a skilled returner who could lessen Jarvis Landry’sworkload on special teams, have been in touch with several. They summoned Texas Tech’s 5-6 Jakeem Grant to Davie this week; he had four kickoff returns for touchdowns in his career and a 26.2 average last season. At UCLA, they auditioned Devin Fuller (24.2 kickoff average last season), among others.
They’re open to finding competition for kicker Andrew Franks and dispatched special teams coach Darren Rizzi or other staffers to privately audition several, including Texas’ Nick Rose and Albright’s Daniel Sobolewski.
• One team official said the past coaching staff didn’t use tight end Jordan Cameron to his strengths and expects that to change… Dolphins conversations remain ongoing with free agent defensive end Jason Jones, with both sides interested.
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/spor...re-player-workouts-and-more-whiteside-wa.html
