The National Football League Draft day is when many future football players’ dreams come true. NFL teams select college football prospects from across the country to improve their rosters and discover young talent. Higher ranked athletes are the most sought after, and teams that perform the poorest in the previous season get first pickings in order to maintain the fairness of play in the league. From a player’s perspective, this is a great opportunity to propel their careers to the highest level of professional football. From the Miami Dolphins’ perspective, the NFL Draft is a chance to gain a new asset that will push our local team to glory.

“I would give the Dolphins an A+ draft. Although we did not draft Kyle Pitts who was my preferred prospect, we did land great players and the future for the Dolphins looks even brighter than before,” Daniel Michel said.

The Dolphins went all in for the NFL Draft, trading away their first-round number three pick to the San Francisco 49ers in order to gain four first-round picks over the next three years. For the 2021 NFL Draft, the Miami Dolphins received the 12th pick in the draft. Once they gained this pick from San Francisco, the Dolphins front office traded the 12th pick and a few first-round picks in the 2022 and 2023 drafts to the Philadelphia Eagles in order to also gain the sixth pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.

This strategy of trading picks in order to drop in the draft ruled the Dolphins out of the range to draft any of the sure-fire prospects but still gave them a chance to claim a notable player. Their front office may have done this because the team already has a young star quarterback in 2020 first round-pick, Tua Tagovailoa. However, the sixth pick still kept the Dolphins in range for the best receivers in the draft, allowing for the Dolphins to add quality to their receiving core if they deemed necessary for the rest of their squad.

“We have an abundance of young talent now and we’re hoping to build off of the success of the prior season. I am excited to see how they develop coming into the next couple of seasons,” junior Danny Cen said.

The sixth pick that the Dolphins ended up gaining was wide receiver Jaylen Waddle from the University of Alabama. Waddle attended Episcopal High School in Bellaire, Texas where he took part in the United States Army All American Game as a result of his high-achieving accolades. The 5’8”, 180-pound wide receiver had scored 17 touchdowns in the Alabama Crimson Tide colors. Waddle could pair well with Tagovailoa in the Dolphins’ young offensive line since both attended the University of Alabama, possibly meaning that their chemistry will set the football field ablaze.

The 18th pick in the first round was also taken by the Dolphins in the form of defensive end Jaelen Phillips from the University of Miami. Although he is from Los Angeles, Phillips came to the University of Miami in 2019 to study music. His efforts on the football field have granted him a spot in the Miami Dolphins organization as he averaged 21 solo tackles as a junior with 8 sacks, proving his future will be bright in the teal and orange.

The Miami Dolphins have invested in their future by strengthening several different positions to help their ambitions moving forward. The Dolphins already had a good young core, but these additions will push that to the next level. Last season, the Dolphins were on the cusp of a playoff berth with a 10 loss and 6 win record. However, with the drafting of Jaylen Waddle and Jaelan Phillips, the Dolphins have hope in not just making the playoffs, but being the biggest fish in the sea.

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