The latest 2026 NFL Draft intel helps paint expectations for the Dolphins’ options on the board at the end of the first round
Some new insight on the 2026 NFL Draft from ESPN’s Matt Miller and Field Yates helps create expectations for the first round. How will it effect the Miami Dolphins?
The Miami Dolphins‘ 2026 NFL Draft plans can be both simple and complex. On one hand, the Dolphins should be eager to draft the best players for their scheme with each and every pick.
On the other, you do have preferred outcomes every time you’re on the clock. Miami? They’re scheduled for 7 picks on Thursday and Friday combined. That’s a lot of preferred outcomes. Do they complement one another? Are they realistic? Some recent intel from ESPN’s Field Yates and Matt Miller helps to craft the picture around the Dolphins in the first round of this year’s NFL Draft.
The math around the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft narrows the scope for the Miami Dolphins
Yates and Miller recently dropped an “NFL Draft buzz” piece over at ESPN. One of the more interesting exercises that the duo tackled was the head-count of how many players at certain positions would go in the first round. Most draftniks have a hard time matching double digit players and teams in mock drafts — but the standard for getting the players who go early in the draft is much higher. For example, Mel Kiper Jr. got 27 of 32 players to go in the first round correct in his final mock draft.
So when the ESPN duo of Miller and Yates call their shot on the number of edge defenders, wide receivers, and offensive tackles to go in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft, I take notice. All three are, admittedly, primary positions of need for the Miami Dolphins long-term.
So what’s the headcount? They have 6 edge defenders, 6 offensive tackles, and five wide receivers going in the first round. That would be more than half of the first round across those three positions. But they do note we could see three more edge defenders and one more offensive tackle sneak into the top-32.
What if Miami skips the run?
Suppose they’re right. Miami could, in theory, get two of the 21 players at those three positions. But what if they don’t? What if the best player available at No. 11 happens to be another position, and then the run on the three positions in questions goes hot and heavy between no. 11 and 30?
This gets interesting when you determine who the 11 best other players in this year’s class are. QB Fernando Mendoza (he’s going first overall), RB Jeremiyah Love, TE Kenyon Sadiq, OG Vega Ioane, LB Sonny Styles, SAF Caleb Downs & Dillon Thieneman, and CBs Mansoor Delane, Jermod McCoy, Avieon Terrell, and Colton Hood may be the “next” eleven to fill out 32 first-round options. Those pairings could also craft up some killer duos for Miami.
But here’s where scarcity kicks into play. If the ESPN duo of Yates and Miller is right and Miami ends up hauling two of the above names that DON‘T play wide receiver, offensive tackle, or EDGE defender, the question that begs to be asked is a scary one. Who will be left at those spots for Miami’s next run of picks? That’s an answer the Dolphins brass must be comfortable with if they’re going to avoid the positional rat race later this month.
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