Dolphins landed most talent per pick according to analyst’s board

When it comes to NFL Draft evaluation, there are few in the game who can lay claim to being as good as NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah. Jeremiah, who boasts league experience and has served as the network’s top analyst ever since Mike Mayock left to run the Raiders, is thorough, detail-oriented and, most importantly, often right. The Miami Dolphins should be crossing their fingers and toes that Jeremiah’s forecast of this 2021 NFL Draft is right when things are said and done — because no team in this year’s draft got more talent on a per-pick basis than Miami did according to his big board.

Jeremiah shared the tidbit yesterday: Player One on Jeremiah’s board was worth 150 points and each spot down was worth one point less until reaching the player ranked 150th (1 point). The end result had Miami, with 7 draft choices, landing the second most total points — but they finished only slightly behind the Carolina Panthers for the top spot.

And Carolina logged 4 more picks this weekend.

Miami’s draft class is headlined by a top defensive prospect at three separate positions: wide receiver (Jaylen Waddle), defensive end (Jaelan Phillips) and safety (Jevon Holland). Should those three live up to their reputations, Miami’s class is going to be a force.

When compared to the top-3 picks of the 2020 class for Miami, the Dolphins of this season got more consensus top talent. The selection of Austin Jackson at 18 overall last year was generally considered a bit of a reach based on the run at the position and Miami’s need for a tackle and the selection of Noah Igbinoghene was perceived to be a “best player available” choice by the Dolphins’ staff — but expectations for Igbinoghene quickly spiraled into unrealistic territory when considering how hard that transition to the pro level is and how little experience he had at playing cornerback at Auburn.

This year’s class won’t have that problem. And, hopefully, their immediate impact will surpass Miami’s 2020 class, too — as that would be the greatest indication you could have of a star draft class in the making.