The first bit of feedback from league executives for the Miami Dolphins’ 2026 NFL Draft effort has arrived
The Miami Dolphins’ high-volume 2026 NFL Draft class is in the books. And we’ve now got our first sense of how the league sees their effort.
The Miami Dolphins have a whopping 13 rookies that are getting folded into the fray from the 2026 NFL Draft.
To put the number into perspective, new general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan drafted just two less players last weekend than the Miami Dolphins picked in the 2022, 2023, and 2024 NFL Drafts. Combined. The explanation for a roster that saw the bottom fall out of it in recent years? It’s right there. Picking in volume is one thing. But how did the Dolphins do with those picks? Thanks to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, we now have our first bit of feedback from those inside the NFL on Miami’s effort.
NFL personnel give ‘high marks’ to Jon-Eric Sullivan and the Miami Dolphins for 2026 NFL Draft
“First-year GM Jon-Eric Sullivan earned high marks in league circles for his first draft. “They killed it,” an NFC executive said. “They got a mix of talent and culture guys, and all of the moves made sense.”
ESPN's Jeremy Fowler
On the league reaction to Miami's draft
Fowler’s post-draft intel dump offered strong marks for the Miami Dolphins. The blend of culture guys and talent, as one NFC executive pointed to, gives the Dolphins a group of players that have room to grow but offer more promise of their intentionality as players. Miami’s last build was one that became too often about the spotlight. The team was built on star power and big names that came with big payroll.
This group seems to be well-grounded and shares a mutual love for the game.
It’s needed. It doesn’t guarantee the kind of success that Miami fans are hopeful this team can finally have after a frustrating drought of postseason success. But it does afford the Dolphins players who can all be on the same page and grow together as a team.
That’s one of the biggest lessons I take away from the past iteration of the Miami Dolphins under Mike McDaniel and Chris Grier. Those rosters were talented. Very talented at times (health willing). But there were just that: collections of talent as compared to a constructed team. This effort from Sullivan feels like the makings of the latter. Which is why it also gets high marks from me. It’s nice to know a few executives across the NFL seem to agree.
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