Chris Perkins: Dolphins second- and third-round draft picks get passing grade, but team needs more wow factor
Published in Football
MOBILE, Ala. — When you peruse a list of the Dolphins’ second- and third-round picks during the past 10 years, it becomes a bit more clear why the franchise has hovered around the .500 mark for most of that time.
Overall, it’s been an average to slightly above average crew, just as the Dolphins have been during that stretch. There hasn’t been enough of a wow factor among those selections.
The Dolphins, whose first three picks in the April 27-29 draft are a second-rounder and a pair of third-rounders, need to hit on at least one starter among those picks, and it’d be nice if one of the other two was a regular contributor from scrimmage.
Finding such players is among the Dolphins’ many tasks at this week’s Senior Bowl practices at the University of South Alabama in Mobile, Ala., and Saturday’s Senior Bowl game. In addition to scouting players on the field, the Dolphins also get to interview players, an important component of the draft process.
Among the 21 players the Dolphins selected in the second and third rounds in the last 10 years, two — cornerback Xavien Howard and wide receiver Jarvis Landry — have earned a Pro Bowl berth with the Dolphins.
Roughly half of the 21 were considered starters at some point during their time with the Dolphins, which is OK.
But 11 of the 21 second- and third-round picks of the last 10 years didn’t live up to their draft status, or haven’t yet lived up to their draft status.
If those picks were given a letter grade they’d get a C or C+.
The second- and third-round picks of the past 10 years include many success stories in addition to Howard (second round, 2016) and Landry (second round, 2014).
There’s safety Jevon Holland (second round, 2021), guard/tackle Robert Hunt (third round, 2020), safety Brandon Jones (third round, 2020), tight end Mike Gesicki (second round, 2018) and linebacker Jerome Baker (third round, 2018).
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