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Maybe fairly well is a bit of an understatement. Following the NFL Draft, every analyst develops their own set of draft grades, looking at every pick made and how they will fit in with the team. Jason Cole of Yahoo! Sports released his draft grades this week, and the Miami Dolphins came out on top.
According to Cole, the Dolphins had the only A grade in the AFC. When you add in the NFC, the Dolphins are second only to the San Francisco 49ers' A+ grade.
The Dolphins added nine players during the draft, selecting defensive end Dion Jordan, cornerback Jamar Taylor, offensive tackle Dallas Thomas, cornerback Will Davis, linebacker Jelani Jenkins, tight end Dion Sims, running back Mike Gillislee, kicker Caleb Sturgis, and safety (cornerback) Don Jones.
Of his A grade for Miami, Cole writes:
GM Jeff Ireland takes a lot of heat from Miami fans and some of it is deserved. But his past two drafts have been strong despite being very different. Last year, Ireland was in a much more desperate situation to get a quarterback, but stayed put at No. 8 and still got Ryan Tannehill. This year, Ireland wasn't as desperate, but was aggressive in getting Jordan, the consensus pick as the top pass rusher in the draft. The price to move up was cheap (only a second-rounder) and Ireland still came up with a couple of young cornerbacks to help his depleted secondary. Between this draft and free agency (WR Mike Wallace, CB Brent Grimes), the Dolphins have brought in a serious amount of talent, particularly on defense.
While a lot of analysts seem fixated on trying to figure out how Jordan, a pass rusher, will fit on a team that needs a pass rusher, Cole lays out fairly well exactly what Ireland did this draft. Miami looked for talent, and to upgrade the defense after primarily addressing the offense in free agency.