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Defensive Lineman
Miami has an important decision to make on both starting defensive ends. Cameron Wake is due to make a hefty $8.2 million, a number the Dolphins can not afford to pay a 34 year old defensive end, returning from a torn Achilles. On the other hand, Oliver Vernon is looking to get more than $15 million a season, something Miami could feel is too steep for the 25 year old defensive end. If Miami loses one or both players, they will be actively seeking a replacement in the off-season.
Players to watch
Joey Bosa (OSU), DeForest Buckner (ORE), Noah Spence (EK), Robert Nkemdichi (OleMiss), Shaq Lawson (CLE)
table via SBNation
| Name | School | Height | Weight | 40-yard dash | Bench | Vertical | Broad | 3-cone | Short shuttle |
| Mehdi Abdesmad | Boston College | 6'6 | 284 | 5.10 | 25 | 29.5" | 9'0" | 7.55 | 4.62 |
| Sterling Bailey | Georgia | 6'4 | 285 | 5.23 | 20 | 30" | 9'3" | 7.46 | 4.73 |
| Jimmy Bean | Oklahoma State | 6'5 | 264 | -- | 20 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Andrew Billings | Baylor | 6'1 | 311 | 5.05 | 31 | 27.5" | 9'5" | 8.05 | 4.82 |
| Ronald Blair | Appalachian State | 6'2 | 284 | 5.15 | 32 | 30" | 9'5" | 7.95 | 4.53 |
| Joey Bosa | Ohio State | 6'5 | 269 | 4.86 | 24 | 32" | 10'0" | 6.89 | 4.21 |
| DeForest Buckner | Oregon | 6'7 | 291 | 5.05 | -- | 32" | 9'8" | 7.51 | 4.47 |
| Jonathan Bullard | Florida | 6'3 | 285 | 4.93 | 23 | 32" |
9'8" | 7.31 | 4.56 |
| Vernon Butler | Louisiana Tech | 6'4 | 323 | 5.33 | 26 | 29.5" | 8'8" | 7.82 | 4.76 |
| Shilique Calhoun | Michigan State | 6'4 | 251 | 4.82 | 23 | 35" | 9'7" | 6.97 | 4.25 |
| Kenny Clark | UCLA | 6'3 | 314 | 5.06 | 29 | 28.5" | 8'6" | -- | 4.62 |
| Maliek Collins | Nebraska | 6'2 | 311 | 5.03 | 25 | 29.5" | 9'1" | 7.53 | 4.52 |
| Kamalei Correa | Boise State | 6'3 | 243 | 4.69 | 21 | 33" | 9'0" | -- | -- |
| James Cowser | Southern Utah | 6'3 | 248 | 4.82 | 21 | 31.5" | 9'3" | 6.80 | 4.31 |
| Sheldon Day | Notre Dame | 6'1 | 293 | 5.07 | 21 | 30" | 8'6" | 7.44 | 4.50 |
| Kevin Dodd | Clemson | 6'5 | 277 | 4.86 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Jason Fanaika | Utah | 6'2 | 271 | 4.92 | 23 | 35.5" | 9'5" | 7.06 | 4.39 |
| Adam Gotsis | Georgia Tech | 6'4 | 287 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Javon Hargrave | South Carolina State | 6'1 | 309 | 4.93 | 29 | 34.5" | 9'1" | 7.90 | 4.70 |
| Joel Heath | Michigan State | 6'5 | 293 | 5.02 | 26 | 33" | 9'5" | 7.44 | 4.52 |
| Willie Henry | Michigan | 6'3 | 303 | 5.00 | 28 | 30.5" | 9'2" | 7.57 | 4.53 |
| Matt Ioannidis | Temple | 6'3 | 299 | 5.03 | 32 | 28" | 9'0" | 7.78 | 4.71 |
| Branden Jackson | Texas Tech | 6'4 | 273 | 5.06 | 20 | 31.5" | 9'5" | 7.40 | 4.77 |
| Quinton Jefferson | Maryland | 6'4 | 291 | 4.93 | 24 | 29" | -- | 7.95 | 4.37 |
| Austin Johnson | Penn State | 6'4 | 314 | 5.32 | 25 | 26" | 8'3" | 7.84 | 4.75 |
| Chris Jones | Mississippi State | 6'6 | 310 | 5.03 | 26 | 24.5" | 8'10" | 7.44 | 4.62 |
| Matt Judon | Grand Valley State | 6'3 | 275 | 4.73 | 30 | 35" | 9'1" | 7.67 | 4.52 |
| Ufomba Kamalu | Miami (Fla.) | 6'5 | 295 | 5.01 | 26 | 25" | 8'10" | 7.32 | 4.58 |
| Bronson Kaufusi | BYU | 6'7 | 285 | 4.87 | 25 | 30" | 9'3" | 7.03 | 4.25 |
| Darius Latham | Indiana | 6'4 | 311 | 5.32 | -- | 29" | 8'4" | 7.76 | 4.63 |
| Nile Lawrence-Stample | Florida State | 6'1 | 320 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Shaq Lawson | Clemson | 6'3 | 269 | 4.70 | -- | 33" | 10'0" | 7.16 | 4.21 |
| Dean Lowry | Northwestern | 6'5 | 296 | 4.87 | 30 | 32.5" | 9'6" | 7.26 | 4.38 |
| Luther Maddy | Virginia Tech | 6'0 | 287 | -- | 29 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Chris Mayes | Georgia | 6'3 | 338 | 5.34 | 33 | 23.5" | 8'8" | -- | 5.13 |
| Alex McCalister | Florida | 6'6 | 239 | 4.80 | -- | 34.5" | 10'8" | 7.01 | 4.00 |
| Carl Nassib | Penn State | 6'7 | 277 | 4.84 | 21 | 28.5" | 9'6" | 7.27 | 4.37 |
| Giorgio Newberry | Florida State | 6'6 | 285 | 4.94 | 20 | 30" | 9'6" | 7.53 | 4.78 |
| Yannick Ngakoue | Maryland | 6'2 | 252 | 4.75 | 26 | 34.5" | 9'10" | 7.35 | 4.50 |
| Dadi Nicolas | Virginia Tech | 6'3 | 235 | 4.74 | 14 | 41" | 9'8" | 7.04 | 4.38 |
| Robert Nkemdiche | Ole Miss | 6'4 | 294 | 4.87 | 28 | 35" | 9'8" | -- | -- |
| Shawn Oakman | Baylor | 6'8 | 287 | 4.96 | 23 | 32" | 10'3" | 7.53 | 4.56 |
| Victor Ochi | Stony Brook | 6'1 | 246 | 4.86 | -- | 32" | 9'11" | 7.24 | 4.40 |
| Emmanuel Ogbah | Oklahoma State | 6'4 | 273 | 4.63 | 20 | 35.5" | 10'1" | 7.26 | 4.50 |
| Romeo Okwara | Notre Dame | 6'5 | 265 | 4.90 | 23 | 33" | 10'0" | 7.38 | 4.53 |
| Drew Ott | Iowa | 6'4 | 273 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| D.J. Pettway | Alabama | 6'2 | 265 | 4.99 | 17 | 28" | 9'0" | 7.74 | 4.69 |
| Sheldon Rankins | Louisville | 6'1 | 299 | 5.03 | 28 | 34.5" | 9'10" | 7.44 | 4.59 |
| D.J. Reader | Clemson | 6'3 | 327 | 5.33 | 30 | 29.5" | 8'3" | 7.90 | 4.71 |
| Jarran Reed | Alabama | 6'3 | 307 | 5.21 | -- | 31" | 8'8" | 7.77 | 4.75 |
| Hassan Ridgeway | Texas | 6'3 | 303 | 5.02 | 24 | 32" | 9'5" | 8.28 | 4.82 |
| A'Shawn Robinson | Alabama | 6'4 | 307 | 5.20 | 22 | 26" | 8'10" | 7.80 | 4.74 |
| DeVaunte Sigler | Jacksonville State | 6'4 | 298 | 5.15 | 23 | 25" | -- | 7.90 | 4.97 |
| Noah Spence | Eastern Kentucky | 6'3 | 251 | 4.80 | 25 | 35" | 10'1" | 7.21 | 4.35 |
| Charles Tapper | Oklahoma | 6'3 | 271 | 4.59 | 23 | 34" | 9'11" | -- | -- |
| Lawrence Thomas | Michigan State | 6'4 | 286 | 4.98 | -- | 35" | 9'5" | -- | -- |
| Ron Thompson | Syracuse | 6'3 | 253 | 4.92 | 18 | -- | -- | 7.46 | 4.50 |
| Vincent Valentine | Nebraska | 6'4 | 329 | 5.19 | 17 | 29" | 9'2" | 8.03 | 4.59 |
| Jihad Ward | Illinois | 6'5 | 297 | 5.11 | 20 | 25" | 9'3" | 7.38 | 4.63 |
| Adolphus Washington | Ohio State | 6'3 | 301 | 5.17 | 21 | 27" | 8'3" | 8.06 | 4.79 |
| Antwaun Woods | Southern Cal | 6'0 | 318 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Connor Wujciak | Boston College | 6'3 | 291 | 4.91 | 22 | 34.5" | 9'9" | 7.32 | 4.27 |
| Anthony Zettel | Penn State | 6'4 | 277 | 4.81 | 28 | 30.5" | 9'1" | 7.63 | 4.39 |
Linebackers
The Dolphins added Ndamukong Suh last off-season in hopes of fixing the teams' poor run defense. Without a real play-making middle linebacker, the Dolphins run defense finished 28th out of 32 teams in 2015. Miami can rely on OLB Jelani Jenkins, the only above-average linebacker currently on the Dolphins' roster. Miami will have their choice of linebackers in the first, but could opt towards the later rounds to find their future defensive signal caller.
Players to watch
Myles Jack (UCLA), Darron Lee (OSU), Reggie Ragland (ALA), Tyler Matakevich (TEM), Scooby Wright (ARI) Leonard Floyd (GA)
table via SBNation
| Player | School | Height | Weight | 40 time (official) |
| Dominique Alexander | Oklahoma | 6'0 | 232 | -- |
| Devante Bond | Oklahoma | 6'1 | 235 | 4.70 |
| Kentrell Brothers | Missouri | 6'0 | 245 | 4.89 |
| Beniquez Brown | Mississippi State | 6'1 | 229 | 4.77 |
| De'Vondre Campbell | Minnesota | 6'4 | 232 | 4.58 |
| Su'a Cravens | USC | 6'0 | 226 | -- |
| Steven Daniels | Boston College | 6'0 | 243 | 4.86 |
| Kyler Fackrell | Utah State | 6'5 | 245 | 4.72 |
| Travis Feeney | Washington | 6'4 | 230 | 4.50 |
| Leonard Floyd | Georgia | 6'6 | 244 | 4.60 |
| Josh Forrest | Kentucky | 6'3 | 249 | 4.91 |
| Kris Frost | Auburn | 6'2 | 240 | 4.97 |
| B.J. Goodson | Clemson | 6'1 | 242 | 4.69 |
| Myles Jack | UCLA | 6'1 | 245 | -- |
| Jordan Jenkins | Georgia | 6'3 | 259 | 4.80 |
| C.J. Johnson | Ole Miss | 6'1 | 234 | 4.81 |
| Deion Jones | LSU | 6'1 | 222 | 4.59 |
| Raphael Kirby | Miami (Fla.) | 6'0 | 236 | -- |
| Nick Kwiatkoski | West Virginia | 6'2 | 243 | 4.73 |
| Darron Lee | Ohio State | 6'1 | 232 | 4.47 |
| Cory Littleton | Washington | 6'3 | 238 | 4.73 |
| Steve Longa | Rutgers | 6'1 | 241 | 4.78 |
| Curt Maggitt | Tennessee | 6'3 | 247 | -- |
| Blake Martinez | Stanford | 6'2 | 237 | 4.71 |
| Tyler Matakevich | Temple | 6'0 | 238 | 4.81 |
| Cassanova McKinzy | Auburn | 6'1 | 248 | -- |
| Jared Norris | Utah | 6'1 | 241 | 4.80 |
| Montese Overton | East Carolina | 6'2 | 223 | 4.61 |
| Gionni Paul | Utah | 5'10 | 231 | 5.05 |
| Joshua Perry | Ohio State | 6'4 | 254 | 4.68 |
| Reggie Ragland | Alabama | 6'1 | 247 | 4.72 |
| Joe Schobert | Wisconsin | 6'1 | 244 | 4.76 |
| Jaylon Smith | Notre Dame | 6'2 | 223 | -- |
| Terrance Smith | Florida State | 6'3 | 235 | 4,77 |
| Eric Striker | Oklahoma | 5'11 | 227 | 4.80 |
| Nick Vigil | Utah State | 6'2 | 239 | 4.72 |
| Stephen Weatherly | Vanderbilt | 6'4 | 267 | 4.61 |
| Scooby Wright | Arizona | 6'0 | 239 | 4.90 |