Guard and DTs join selections
DAVIE — Miami Dolphins executive vice president of football operations Mike Tannenbaum had a simple description for his team’s 2017 NFL Draft.
“Generally just competition and depth,” he said from the team headquarters Saturday. “That was kind of our plan.”
None of the draftees are projected as immediate starters. But that’s fine with the Dolphins because they figure many will be key contributors.
The Dolphins, who finished 10-6 last year and made their first playoff appearance since the 2008 season, used five of their seven selections on defensive players. Their defenseheavy draft started with defensive end Charles Harris, Thursday’s first-round pick from Missouri, who had nine sacks last season.
Asked who he thought was the most surprising draftee from the standpoint of being unexpectedly available, general manager Chris Grier didn’t hesitate.
“I’d say probably Charles Harris,” he said.
The Dolphins made their first offensive draft choice Saturday when they traded up in the fifth round and selected guard Isaac Asiata from Utah with their first pick of the day.
Fourteen selections later (at 178), Miami picked LSU defensive tackle Davon Godchaux, and then took another defensive tackle with the 194th pick in the sixth round in Oklahoma State’s Vincent Taylor. The Dolphins traded back in the seventh round and received Tampa Bay’s 2018 seventh-round pick. Miami selected Virginia Tech wide receiver Isaiah Ford with the 237th pick.
Grier said the hope is this is a competitive group.
“I think the expectation is they all come in and compete for [a starting job],” he said.
Asiata, who can play on the left and right side and can also play center, likely would have been drafted earlier if not for a knee injury.
A 24-year-old redshirt senior who served a twoyear Mormon mission in Tulsa, Okla., Asiata described himself as a physical player.
“I’m a real hard-nosed football player,” he said. “I believe an offensive lineman needs to play with intellectuality and brutality.”
In the trade, the Dolphins and Eagles exchanged fifth-and sixthdraft picks. The Eagles sent picks 164, a fifth-rounder, and 194, a sixth-rounder, to the Dolphins. In return, the Dolphins sent the Eagles picks 166 and 184, both fifth-rounders.
Godchaux, a two-year starter for LSU, could be regarded as a bit of a project who is strong at the point of attack but a bit slow off the ball. He posted 62 tackles and 6.5 sacks in 2016 as a third-year junior, and that followed a sophomore season in which he posted 41 tackles and 6.0 sacks.
Taylor is regarded as a strong player with good pass-rushing skills, but needs polish overall. Many scouting reports see him as a rotational player but not a starter.
Ford (75 receptions, 1,164 yards, 11 touchdowns last season) might have a tough time finding a roster spot among a group of wide receivers that includes Jarvis Landry, DeVante Parker, Kenny Stills, Leonte Carroo and Jakeem Grant. And Ford doesn’t have much special teams experience.