The NFL Draft was shaken up last week when the Los Angeles Rams jumped from the 15th overall pick up to the first pick that had been held by the Tennessee Titans. The Rams, who are returning to LA with a splash, will add a quarterback at the top of the Draft, though they are playing coy with which of the top two passers, North Dakota State's Carson Wentz or California's Jared Goff, they will select.
Dan Kadar from SB Nation updated his weekly 2016 NFL Mock Draft for the first time since the trade, trying to re-map the Draft after the swap. As for fans of the Miami Dolphins, who hold the 13th overall pick after trading back from the eighth-overall selection, the question becomes, will the impact of the Rams' trade change Miami's pick?
According to Kadar, no.
The Draft now starts with the Rams selecting Wentz, according to Kadar, followed by the Cleveland Browns using the second-overall selection on Goff. The San Diego Chargers then pick the player formerly projected to be the number one pick, Ole Miss offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil. The Dallas Cowboys use the fourth pick on UCLA linebacker Myles Jack, according to Kadar's projection, followed by the Jacksonville Jaguars selecting Florida State cornerback/safety Jalen Ramsey.
Jumping to the Dolphins, Kadar once again has the team picking Clemson cornerback Mackensie Alexander. About the pick, which is a fairly consistent projection for Kadar, he writes:
The Dolphins would love to see Elliott fall to this pick, but that's not going to happen. Alexander is disciplined and smart cornerback who would give the Dolphins a shutdown player to go with Byron Maxwell. Alexander may not have overly impressive size, but he's a lock-down player and never really got beaten for a big game during his college career.
Once again, Alexander is not a bad pick for Miami, but he does come with some question marks. He had no interceptions in two years at Clemson, which is not a good stat for a first-round cornerback, but he also was not targeted very often by opposing quarterbacks and did not give up a touchdown. At 5-foot-10, he is shorter than perhaps the Dolphins would like, but he plays with athleticism. He can get beat at the line of scrimmage and does not have the most ideal footwork, but recovers quickly and closes gaps to make a play.
Alexander is a hard player to evaluate, because there are good things to be seen, but every now and then there is something that you have to question. The fact that quarterbacks stayed away from him makes it even more difficult to decide exactly what kind of player he will be in the NFL, because he was not asked to perform on those plays. If Miami were to take Alexander, there would not be a lot about which to complain, and he will likely be able to step into the starting lineup from day one, giving the Dolphins their starter opposite Byron Maxwell.