Kelly: The 2021 draft class threw off the Dolphins’ rebuilding process
Exactly when did the latest Miami Dolphins rebuild get off its track? That’s an important question the organization’s circle of decision-makers should be asking themselves before scavenging to put a job saving run together this offseason. Clearly the coach swap — going from Brian Flores to Mike McDaniel after the 2021 offseason — was the first hiccup. But I would argue we saw the first derailment months before that. While there are massive misses and second-guess specials in the 2020 Dolphins draft, it’s hard to argue against a draft class that produces six NFL starters — Tua Tagovailoa, Austin Jackson, Noah Igbinoghene, Robert Hunt, Raekwon Davis and Brandon Jones — five years into their career, even if more than half of those players are starting for other teams. Sometimes that’s just part of doing business in the NFL. The Carolina Panthers wanted to pay Hunt $100 million and the Dolphins couldn’t afford it. Replenishing the roster with young, inexpensive players with upside is how successful franchises build solid foundations, and Miami has failed to do that during this rebuild, which was led by general manager Chris Grier from its start. Allow me to argue that this rebuild officially got off the rails in the 2021 Draft. The 2021 draft class was the last of the treasure chest of draft picks the Dolphins squirreled away for the purge of 2019.
That was the year that followed the Tank for Tua draft class of 2020, and these were supposed to be the finishing pieces for Flores’ team, which had just been enhanced through free agency the year before. It was a pivot — time to win — season, with the expectations being that Miami would build on its 10-6 finish in 2020. But Grier and the team’s talent evaluators bobbled the snap with his very first draft move. Miami traded down from pick No. 3, which they had previously acquired from Houston for sending the Texans stud offensive lineman Laremy Tunsil and Kenny Stills, a starting receiver, for picks and a collection of players not worth mentioning anymore since most were space fillers. Miami sent pick No. 3 to San Francisco, putting the 49ers in position to draft quarterback Trey Lance. The Dolphins then moved back up the draft, going 12 to six by packaging one of its first-round picks to the Philadelphia Eagles and selected Jaylen Waddle. Pair Waddle with a 2022 late-round first (pick No. 29 they got from the 49ers, and that was the last of the gifts that unloading Tunsil provided. Problem with that approach is that the Dolphins could have stayed where they were, pick No. 3, and selected JaMarr Chase fifth overall.
