The Miami Dolphins entered the 2023 NFL draft with just four selections due to tampering violations as well as multiple trades made by general manager Chris Grier.
While Grier has been known to make moves, he completed the three-day event without making a trade for the second year in a row.
Miami stayed put and made all four selections, drafting South Carolina cornerback Cam Smith, Texas A&M running back De’Von Achane, Stanford wide receiver/tight end Elijah Higgins and Michigan offensive tackle Ryan Hayes.
Following the draft, Twitter user René Bugner compiled grades from 29 evaluations of 2023 NFL draft classes, and the Dolphins were ranked No. 29 in the league.
🏈🧑🏻🎓 I´ve compiled 29 evaluations of the 2023 NFL draft and totaled the team grades.
Here is the spreadsheet. Sorted by GPA for all 32 teams.
I also sorted the 29 evaluations by GPA. From left (soft graders) to right (hard graders).
Thanks to all who give out grades every year! pic.twitter.com/lEvqCkViCT— René Bugner (@RNBWCV) May 25, 2023
Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar broke down the rankings a bit further. Here’s what he wrote about Miami’s four rookies:
“Losing your first-round pick because you were messing around with Tom Brady is automatically going to sink your overall draft grade, and with just four picks overall, the Dolphins don’t have a lot here. However, I’m fully on board with their first two selections. Cam Smith is an NFL-ready cornerback who is just as good in off-coverage as he is in press; he does everything well with no real liabilities. And for a team that under head coach Mike McDaniel wants to put a track team on the field on offense, Devon Achane is a literal perfect fit, as his track background shows up all over the field. He will be quite fun to watch in that offense. Achane ran a 4.32 40-yard dash at the combine, and last season, 18 of his 196 rushing attempts went for 15 or more yards. And Ryan Hayes could break through in Miami’s iffy line — last season, he allowed no sacks and 11 total pressures in 357 pass-blocking reps.
Elijah Higgins is a huge (6-foot-3, 235-pound) receiver who isn’t an obvious deep receiver, but the Dolphins already have enough of those guys, and this is a good change of pace. Not a bad draft for the Dolphins; you would have liked to see more of it, is all.”
The overall sentiment makes sense. Miami should’ve had more draft picks and losing one for no gain hurts. They could’ve added another talented rookie to this group, maybe the most talented of them, considering it was a first-round pick that was taken.
The players that they drafted aren’t poor talents, but they could’ve added more to a roster that seems to be ready to contend.
