15. G Mike Pouncey C+

This one was pretty predictable. At one point, Mark Ingram was the consensus here. After his knee concerns were raised, Pouncey became the consensus here. I’m assuming they tried to trade down, which would have been the best scenario for this team as they try to reacquired a 2^nd round pick, but I think there were better picks here. I don’t have a first round grade on Pouncey, though he does fill a major need.

62. RB Daniel Thomas A

Running back was one of their biggest needs heading into the draft and Daniel Thomas fits the range well. Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown are both free agents and struggled last year. They have rebuilt their running game in the first two rounds with Pouncey at guard and Thomas at running back. That will help this team a lot. Chad Henne isn’t very good, but their defense is and now their running game is better. That will go a long way towards taking the pressure off of Henne.

111. WR Edmond Gates A-

They had bigger needs than wide receiver, but they could use some speed at the position as their top 3 receivers, Brandon Marshall, Brian Hartline, and Davone Bess are all speed receivers and Gates is a great value in the 4^th round.

174. TE Charles Clay A-

Tight end is needed for the Dolphins and Clay fits the range, but I’m not sold on him as a tight end. He might be a tight end, but he might just be a fullback or a special teamer.

231. NT Frank Kearse D

This one didn’t make any sense. Defensive line depth was one of the few things they didn’t need and Kearse won’t be able to play special teams. On top of all that, Kearse was a minor reach.

235. CB Jimmy Wilson B

Cornerback depth was a pretty big need, but I had Wilson outside of my top 300 so this is a minor reach.

Overall:

The Dolphins’ main goal of this draft was to beef up their running game to help take some of the load off of Chad Henne and they did that in the first 2 rounds by getting Mike Pouncey and Daniel Thomas. Pouncey might have been a reach as the first guard off the board at 15, Thomas wasn’t a reach and there’s no doubting Pouncey will help beef up a position that was a huge need for them last year. They got a good value with Edmond Gates and Charles Clay could fill a need. I would have liked to have seen them take some sort of developmental quarterback behind Chad Henne, but overall, I liked this draft.

Grade: B