The rivalry between the conferences in college football has been hotly contested — but make no mistake, the bid for superiority runs quite clearly through the Southeastern Conference. With national heavyweights such as Georgia, Alabama, LSU headlining the conference and recent championship programs in Florida and Auburn in the second tier of teams, the SEC is the cream of the crop.
The same can be said for the NFL Draft landscape. And for the Miami Dolphins’ 2020 rookie class, the SEC offers the team with most of their best performing rookies through the first week of practice. The Dolphins nailed down four SEC talents with their first seven selections in April’s draft:
- QB Tua Tagovailoa, Alabama
- CB Noah Igbinoghene, Auburn
- DL Raekwon Davis, Alabama
- OG Solomon Kindley, Georgia
Tagovailoa serves as the star of the show given his national profile and his position. But he’s arguably been the least impactful of the Dolphins’ SEC rookies this past week in practice. Kindley is a heavyweight in the middle who is looking like a possible Week 1 starter for the Dolphins. Igbinoghene’s name comes up at the end of every practice session for getting his hands on the football in coverage — so much so that he’s arguably been the best performing cornerback this past week. And DL Raekwon Davis, whose updated bio lists him at a whopping 6-foot-7 and 330 pounds has been a bulldozer in one on one drills all week.
Each of these players have been forged by the fires of the SEC and it shows. So as you look for which Miami Dolphins rookies are poised to make the transition to the NFL game in stride, look to where they played their college ball. These SEC rookies have been bred for the NFL game with the quality of the play in the conference.
That’s good news for Miami, given we have “open season” for starting jobs at right guard (Kindley) and cornerback (Igbinoghene, given Xavien Howard’s absence). For Davis, a pass rush role feels possible and a rotational role feels probable, especially with him tipping the scales at 330 pounds.
The SEC rookies aren’t the only ones set to make an impact for the Dolphins — but their pedigree from the best conference in football has helped them flash the most early on for the Dolphins at camp.
