RAS Roundup: How athletic are the top offensive tackle prospects for the Miami Dolphins in the 2023 NFL Draft?

The Miami Dolphins will be looking to fill many roster holes with their selections in the 2023 NFL Draft. To hone in on specific players, teams use various tools to determine who fits specific criteria they might be valuing over others. One such tool is RAS — or Relative Athletic Score.

What is RAS?

RAS was developed by Kent Lee Platte and is a score that is given to prospects based on that player’s athletic testing results from the NFL Combine and/or that player’s pro day. The 10-point sliding scale factors in things such as height, weight, vertical jump, 40-yard dash time, bench press reps and more. Once a player’s overall score is determined, one can easily compare how athletic that player is to his peers or even past draft prospects.

With this exercise, I’m aiming to give our readers the top 10 RAS scores for positions of need for our Miami Dolphins, while also using Pro Football Focus’ Mock Draft simulator to predict where the Dolphins will need to pick certain highlighted players if they don’t want to be left out in the cold.

Please note that not all players qualify for a RAS score due to skipping particular drills.

Today’s position group is an important one that Miami will surely be looking at in the upcoming draft — offensive tackles! Let’s dive in.

1. Blake Freeland — Brigham Young — RAS: 9.90
2. Joe Witt — Northern Michigan — 9.80
3. Darnell Wright — Tennessee — 9.78
4. Earl Bostick Jr. — Kansas — 9.71
5. Broderick — Georgia — 9.57
6. Nick Saldiveri — Old Dominion — 9.45
7. Tyler Steen — Alabama — 9.44
8. Jaelyn Duncan — Maryland — 9.43
9. Cody Mauch — North Dakota State — 9.32
10. Peter Skoronski — Northwestern — 9.29

Darnell Wright

Darnell Wright is a very interesting prospect to me because he might be the best pure right tackle in the 2023 NFL Draft and unless you’ve been living under a rock, the right tackle position for the Miami Dolphins has been in need of a serious upgrade for quite some time. Now, Wright did not bench, nor did he test in the 3-cone or shuttle drills, but he tested as an elite athlete in his speed drills and as a great athlete in the broad and vertical jumps.

Pro Football Focus initially rated Wright as a third round selection, however his stock has skyrocketed in recent weeks in part to his testing and in part to draft communities catching up to his abilities. The Dolphins will be lucky to see the former Tennessee Volunteer fall to their first selection in the 2nd round, but if he does, don’t walk — SPRINT to the podium and make him the selection.

Tyler Steen

Steen played his college ball at Alabama, and if you know Chris Grier, he loves him some ‘Bama boys. Could Steen be the next former member of the Crimson Tide to suit up for the Miami Dolphins? If you put stock in his RAS numbers, that could very well be the case. Steen tested well in the vertical jump, but posted an elite grade in the broad jump. He posted a good score in the 3-cone drill, but his shuttle time was elite. Also elite? His bench press score of 31 reps.

If PFF is to be believed, Steen could be had in the late fourth round of the 2023 NFL Draft. Will the fact that he plays a premium position cause him to shoot up draft boards? It’s totally possible. Miami owns a second round pick and a third round pick, but doesn’t select again until rounds six and seven. If Steen is a target, maybe a trade-back scenario makes sense for Miami.

Cody Mauch

Cody Mauch is the next North Dakota State offensive lineman to join the NFL ranks, following former Bison ballers Cordell Volson and Dillon Radunz who made the transition in recent years. While Mauch started his college career as a tight end, he made the switch to offensive line and played both the right tackle and left tackle spots for NDSU. Some wonder if he may fit best as a guard or center in the NFL. Mauch posted great scores in the speed testing portions of the NFL Combine while posting elite numbers in the agility department. He also put up 29 reps on the bench press.

Initially projected as a second round selection, much like other offensive linemen, he has found himself in the first round conversation as of late. If he does slip to Miami’s second round spot, they better take him if they want him, because he won’t last much longer than that. Could Miami find themselves wanting to trade up for Mauch if he slips far enough? It’s possible, but with the Dolphins possessing so few picks, it’s unlikely in my opinion.

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The Dolphins have plenty of work to do between now and the 2023 NFL Draft, which means so do we. Keep an eye out for another edition of the RAS Roundup coming soon as we check in on another position group the Dolphins could be targeting!