Christian Wilkins: Impact Is Imminent

The Miami Dolphins had quite a few options when their turn came to make a selection in this year’s first round of the NFL draft. They could have selected a quarterback, an offensive lineman, linebacker or they could have traded the pick, to accumulate more draft capital to use later.

Instead, they chose former University of Clemson defensive lineman Christian Wilkins, and I for one am very pleased with this move. From his soirées into the opposing team’s backfield to dump quarterbacks and ballcarriers for losses during his four years as a starter to his exuberant stage dive of league commissioner Roger Goodell when the Dolphins announced his selection, this is a guy who goes all out, all the time, and the kind of cornerstone type guy you use to build a team around.

Look for Brian Flores and his coaching staff to use Wilkins in a variety of ways; he does a lot of things well, and they may decide to line him up in different spots, depending on down, distance and who they want to match him up against. What impressed me about Wilkins when I looked at his college highlights was his athleticism; a guy 6’3, 315 pounds just isn’t supposed to be able to do some of the things he does. The youngest of eight children, he weighed nearly ten pounds at birth. Now, that’s a big boy!

Here’s to hoping Wilkins will be the first of many great players drafted and developed by the new regime in Miami, as the Dolphins look to return to relevance in the AFC East and the NFL.