Mel Kiper Mock Draft 2.0 released: Dolphins adding offensive weapon

ESPN is officially off and running with mock draft season. Last week, they published the second version of Todd McShay’s projection of the first round, and today they came back and updated Mel Kiper, Jr.’s, 2017 NFL Mock Draft. This week, Kiper focused on how teams will decide when to draft a running back, a position he thinks can be addressed on day three of the selection process, but could have teams jumping to take Leonard Fournette and Dalvin Cook in the first round.

Ultimately, he decided that Fournette would not make it past the New York Jets with the sixth overall selection, while Cook comes off the board with the 17th overall selection going to the Washington Redskins.

As for the Miami Dolphins’ selection, Kiper sees the 22nd overall pick being used to add Miami tight end David Njoku. Of the projection, Kiper writes:

The Dolphins have weapons at wide receiver, but they don't have a player like Njoku on the roster. He will be listed with the tight ends, but this is a 6-foot-4 guy who can run in the 4.5 range and set up and run past defenders. He also has the size to go up and get the ball over smaller players (that's most anyone in the secondary). Tannehill should be even better in his second year with Adam Gase, and Njoku would help.

This seems to be an ever-more-popular prediction for the Dolphins right now. The team does need to address tight ends somehow this offseason, where Jordan Cameron, Dion Sims, Dominique Jones, and Thomas Duarte are all scheduled to hit the free agent market if they are not re-signed prior to the start of the new league year in the beginning of March. If Miami were to add Njoku to the roster, potentially paired with a re-signed Sims, the Dolphins could have a dynamic two-tight end set.

Are you starting to get on board with the idea of a first-round tight end for the Dolphins?