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The NFL Draft is just over two weeks away and mock draft season is starting to pick up more and more steam as we get closer to the finish line. What will the Miami Dolphins do in this year’s selection process? Will they find immediate starters for the defense? Will they bolster the offensive line? Will there be a surprise awaiting us during the three days of prospect selection?
Dan Kadar has put together his latest mock draft for SB Nation, making two-rounds of picks this week. He starts the Dolphins by using their 22nd overall pick to potentially end any position battles along the offensive line, projecting Miami to add Western Kentucky guard Forrest Lamp.
Kadar writes of the pick, “This may not be a fun pick for the defense, but Lamp gives Miami a starting guard as a rookie and an eventual Mike Pouncey replacement.”
He is not wrong in any of that analysis. It is not the “fun” pick on defense many fans want to see, but it does give Miami an immediate starter at guard, and a reserve option in case Pouncey is injured this year. It could be the unsexy pick that makes Miami’s offense incredibly sexy this year.
Miami’s 54th pick does turn to the defense, according to Kadar. In this mock draft, he has Miami adding Ohio State linebacker Raekwon McMillan.
Kadar explains, “McMillan would somewhat be shoehorned into Miami’s defense, but he’s a smart and tough linebacker who would push his way onto the field.”
McMillan is an interesting prospect this year. He is not the ideal run-stuffing linebacker the Dolphins need, and he probably needs some time to develop into a true starter at the professional level, but he has a ton of talent, and he can cover. He has good instincts, seeming to know where the ball is going as soon as the play begins, but he is too easily blocked out of a play. He is a prospect who probably can be coached up at the NFL level, and his potential to be a solid starting linebacker is there, but can he do it from day one, as the Dolphins would need?
What do you think of a Lamp-McMillan pairing for the Dolphins in the first two rounds?