Miami Dolphins Draft: Round 1

The NFL Draft is only a few days away. All the speculation, rumors, and anticipation will finally come to a head this Thursday night. If you're anything like me, you've been waiting for this day since at least the end of "March Madness" if not since the final whistle of the Super Bowl. With this in mind, I would like to use the days leading up to the draft to throw out there my "mock" for how the Dolphins should spend their picks in the first three rounds. Today I'm going to address what we should do in the first round.

With the Dolphins first selection, number 12 in the first round, I feel fairly confident in saying that they will select Tyler Eifert, the TE from Notre Dame. Eifert is the best prospect in this year's draft at his position and I'm pretty convinced by now that Eifert is the direction that Miami wants to go in. With Keller being on a one year contract and coming off of an injury, it's not a bad way to go either. Eifert has had a stellar career at Notre Dame and excelled in March's Combine. He was the top performer at his position in every major test run at the combine. While 12 might be a bit high to take a tight end, with the rookie wage scale that has now been implemented in the NFL, if you like a guy, there is really no reason not to take him regardless of what position you are picking.

The only knocks on Eifert are his build and his blocking. At 6'6" and 250lbs, Eifert resembles more of a lean receiver than a stout TE, which leads me to question both his toughness and his durability. Durability was never an issue for him at Notre Dame, but this is a completely different beast here in the NFL. His blocking skills are another weakness that needs to be addressed if he wants to become an all-around player. He's an excellent pass catcher, but as a TE, that's only half of his job. A good TE also needs to be able to contribute in the running game and I'm not quite sure that he is going to be able to make that contribution for us right out of the gate.

As a fan, I think that I would rather see the Dolphins address one of their other key issues coming into the draft, whether it be with a pass rusher, another corner to go opposite Brent Grimes, or filling holes on the offensive line. With the 12^th pick I would rather see Miami choose either Chance Warmack, the guard from Alabama, Alec Ogletree, the inside linebacker from Georgia, or Desmond Trufant, the cornerback from Washington. Obviously, if Dee Milliner were to fall to us at our pick I would change my tune, but as things stand today I don't see him getting past Cleveland's pick with the 6^th selection.

Stay tuned tomorrow for what I see Miami doing with their two picks in the second round.