Dolphins — 2026 Draft Recap

Welcome back to Muffed. The Miami Dolphins walked out of the 2026 draft with 13 picks and one theme General Manager Jon-Eric Sullivan and Head Coach Jeff Hafley kept circling back to: physicality and versatility. No top-ten selection, no first-round edge, no quarterback — Sullivan said the board didn't fall that way and he likes the room with Malik Willis and Quinn Ewers. What Miami got instead was a trenches-and-receivers haul with a clear identity. Bigger. Faster. Tougher.

Start up front. Miami's 2025 passing offense gave up 38 sacks and finished with minus 4.8 total passing expected points added — league-average inefficiency on a quarterback room that needed help, and pick 12 is the help. Kadyn Proctor, Alabama tackle, 21 years old, Relative Athletic Score of 8.79 — that's a zero-to-ten grade comparing combine and pro-day testing to every player at his position since 1987, and 8.79 puts Proctor in the top 12 percent of offensive tackles ever measured. Hafley was explicit that Proctor gets looks at both guard and tackle in the spring — quote, the job is to get the best five on the field, end quote. Texas guard DJ Campbell followed at pick 200, a 7.89 Relative Athletic Score for interior competition.

Then Miami absolutely smashed the pass-catching room — three receivers, two tight ends, and the Day 2 trio is where the money went. Pick 75, Texas Tech's Caleb Douglas: 53 catches, 830 yards, 7 touchdowns, fifth in the Big 12 in receiving yards, and a 9.49 Relative Athletic Score — top five percent at the position. Pick 87, Ohio State tight end Will Kacmarek — modest box score at 15 catches for 168 yards, but a predicted points added per play of plus 0.80, the college equivalent of NFL expected points added. Specialist role, high leverage. Pick 94 is the production headliner: Louisville's Chris Bell, 72 catches, 917 yards, 6 touchdowns, a total predicted points added of plus 57.07 — smashed-it territory in the ACC, fourth in the conference in receptions and 28th nationally. Day 3 piled on. Missouri's Kevin Coleman Junior at 177 — 66 catches, 732 yards in the SEC, taken specifically for explosiveness and return ability. Mississippi State tight end Seydou Traore at 180 — 35 catches, 372 yards, 5 touchdowns, a 9.42 Relative Athletic Score, and a Sullivan quote that does the work: a, quote, raw, athletic ball of clay, end quote.

Flip to defense. Miami's run defense gave up 2,269 rushing yards and a positive 19.94 rushing expected points added allowed in 2025 — real points bleeding on the ground — and the answer was three linebackers. The headliner is pick 43, Texas Tech's Jacob Rodriguez: 122 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, a 9.61 Relative Athletic Score, top four percent ever tested. Sullivan called it best player available over need, established starters be damned. Day 3 added Texas's Trey Moore at 130 with a 9.47 Relative Athletic Score, and Pittsburgh's Kyle Louis at 138 with 79 tackles, 8 tackles for loss, and 3 sacks. Hafley's framing was the tell — quote, can he play outside backer, can he play inside backer, can you insert him in different spots on the field, end quote. Tweeners by traditional scouting. Weapons in this scheme.

The pass defense got three picks, headlined by the other first-rounder. Miami's 2025 pass defense allowed a positive 69.7 passing expected points added even with 39 sacks — a real hole — and pick 27 is the down-payment: San Diego State corner Chris Johnson, 21 years old, 47 tackles, 7 pass breakups, ninth in his conference in deflections, and a Relative Athletic Score of 9.85. Top two percent of corners ever measured. Hafley said Johnson was one of his favorite players in the class, wouldn't have been surprised to see him go earlier, and emphasized he can win at all three levels and play inside. Texas safety Michael Taaffe came at 158 — 70 tackles, a 7.85 Relative Athletic Score, tone-setter without elite ball production. The final selection, pick 238, was Iowa edge Max Llewellyn: 9 tackles for loss, 6 sacks, an 8.53 Relative Athletic Score, and a Hafley callout for, quote, toughness and rugged play style, end quote. That's the right swing that late.

Pick of the draft. Make the case for Proctor at 12 on position value. Make the case for Bell on per-snap production. The pick is Chris Johnson at 27. Cornerback is the position where athletic profile most reliably translates to NFL impact, and a 9.85 is a different stratosphere — the testing band that historically separates high-end starters from depth. Pair that with a Hafley defense built on versatility, and a three-level corner who can also play inside is the rare piece you don't have to scheme around. Youngest of the premium picks, highest athletic grade in the class, tightest value-versus-need overlap on the board. Foundational.

The biggest thing to watch in 2026 is whether the front seven can cash the check Sullivan and Hafley wrote. Three linebackers and one Day 3 edge, but no premium pass rusher on Days 1 or 2 — and that positive 69.7 passing expected points added isn't going away on vibes. The bet is that Hafley's scheme generates pressure from disguise and movement with Rodriguez, Moore, and Louis rather than from a single dominant edge. If it works, this class is a foundation. If it doesn't, Johnson is going to be asked to cover for a pass rush that didn't get the resources. Either way, Sullivan got his wired-right players, Hafley got his chess pieces — now they coach it up. That's the Dolphins 2026 draft. See you next week on Muffed.