Dolphins to coach Senior Bowl, evaluate prospects
The Dolphins, who own a treasure trove of picks in April’s NFL Draft, assured themselves a first-hand look at dozens of college prospects when they agreed in recent days to coach one of the teams in the Senior Bowl.
The Jan. 30 game in Mobile, Alabama, is preceded by a week of practices. The staffs of the Dolphins and Carolina Panthers will work with players throughout that week.
Teams are offered a chance to coach in the game based on inverse order of record. Jim Nagy, the Senior Bowl’s executive director, said Miami ranked 18th in that pecking order and not third, even though the Dolphins own the Texans’ first-round pick at No. 3.
But the Dolphins still got the nod when 16 other teams bypassed the chance to coach the Senior Bowl — some because of not wanting to deal with COVID protocols and some because they are hiring coaching staffs.
The fact the Dolphins committed to the game indicates Miami likely will have a new offensive coordinator in place by Jan. 25, when practices begin for the game.
Among the top prospects committed to this year’s game: Pittsburgh defensive end Rashad Weaver, Wake Forest defensive end
Carlos Basham, Oklahoma guard Creed Humphrey, Florida quarterback
Kyle Trask, UF receivers Kadarius Toney and Trevon Grimes, Clemson receivers Amari Rogers and Cornell Powell and
Ohio State running back Trey Sermon.
Defensive end/linebacker Quincy Roche and kicker Jose Borregalas are the two Miami Hurricanes who have accepted invitations.
The Dolphins own the third, 18th, 36th and 50th picks in the first two rounds, as well as their own third-round pick.
RUNNING BACK ADDED
Former Fort Lauderdale Aquinas and UF running back Jordan Scarlett signed a futures deal with the Dolphins, his rep Eric Dounn said.
Scarlett, a Panthers fifthround pick in 2019, had four carries for 9 yards for Carolina in 2019 before a knee injury ended his season. He was cut by Carolina this past August and joined Detroit’s practice squad in December.
AUSTIN JACKSON’S STANDING
When the Dolphins are on the clock with the third overall pick in April’s NFL Draft, there very likely will be two very enticing wide receiver prospects in Alabama’s DeVonta Smith and LSU’s Ja’Marr Chase.
But even though receiver is Miami’s most glaring need, the discussion might not end there.
The Dolphins might have the option of selecting Oregon left tackle Penei Sewell if the Jets take a quarterback second overall or trade the pick.
But you ask, “Didn’t the Dolphins just use a firstround pick on a Laremy Tunsil replacement just eight months ago?”
Why yes, Miami did just that in selecting Southern California’s Austin Jackson 18th overall last April.
Jackson was neither great nor awful this season and clearly has room for growth.
Pro Football Focus rated him 78th of 83 qualifying tackles, but he never looked overwhelmed, either.
If there was a case to pick Sewell, this would be it: He’s viewed as an elite left tackle prospect, among college football’s best in recent years. He’s the only sophomore ever to win the Outland Trophy for college football’s best offensive lineman, and his draft stock didn’t suffer at all even though he opted out of the 2020 season. He allowed just one sack combined in 2018 and 2019.
“Sewell is massive in pass protection and plays a disciplined game,” said ESPN’s Todd McShay, who ranks him second behind only Clemson quarterback and Jacksonville Jaguars-bound Trevor Lawrence. “He has the feet to excel as a zone blocker and the power to move defenders in the run game. Sewell has rare upside and can be a starter from day one in the NFL.”
Jackson was not asked about Sewell when he spoke with reporters recently — now that would have been awkward — but he made clear that what the Dolphins saw from him this year is not a finished product.
He said he feels strongly that he will be a better player next season.
“I feel pretty strong about it,” he said. “The game slows down the longer you play. I think the first year, you learn a lot. The second year, you kind of a handle more. So I would say I would expect to get a lot better next year, and then the year after that and then the year after that.”
Jackson, who missed three games because of a foot injury, allowed only four sacks in 13 starts — not an egregious number for a rookie; 18 NFL tackles allowed more. Andrew Thomas, picked fourth overall by the Giants, yielded 10 sacks. Mekhi Becton, selected 11th by the Jets, permitted seven.
But Jackson also relinquished 40 quarterback pressures, which was ninth most.
As a run blocker, Pro Football Focus rated him 76th among 83 qualifying offensive tackles.
But keep in mind that he’s only 21, started fewer games in college than many offensive line prospects (25) and was considered more raw than the four offensive linemen drafted ahead of him last April.
“I think I’ve done a good job just showing up every day and getting better,” Jackson said. “There’s a lot of new things, new adjustments from college to the pros, but one little thing I try to live by is I try not to make the same mistake twice. So whenever I come into a situation, make sure I do what I’ve got to do to get past it and get better, and make sure I’m getting better every single day.”
Where must he improve? “There’s a lot of things you can get better on, especially when your goal is to be the best,” he said. “So I’m always going to be working to get better and better at everything.”
If the Dolphins draft Sewell, they could move Jackson to right tackle, where rookie Robert Hunt played generally well, and move Hunt to guard. Or they could move Jackson to guard.
“I did play right tackle my freshman year of college,” Jackson said. “I can play anywhere on the Oline, really.”
He emerges from this most unusual NFL season with plenty of enduring memories. Among them:
“I’ll never forget pregame warmups against the Patriots — first game of the year. I’m just walking off the field like, ‘Wow, this is really the Patriots stadium,’ and I see Cam Newton running right past me. It’s my first time ever seeing Cam Newton. That was probably the most kind of surreal moment in the
NFL. I love getting down and playing football every day, but when stuff like that — that’s when it really hits you where you are, seeing guys you’ve been watching on TV since middle school.
“It feels like every week there is somebody new that I used to watch on TV or drafted in my little Madden fantasy. It’s like that every week, but now I’m more used to it. I see different people every day that I’m like ‘wow, I remember you.’ ”
He also appreciates the friendship forged with fellow rookie offensive linemen Hunt and Solomon Kindley.
“We compete in everything we do,” he said, such as number of pancake blocks. “We don’t have a set prize. It’s more like, you see someone off their A-game and you go correct them. You let them know.”