Mel Kiper Lists Dolphins As Round One Loser

With the 13th selection of the 2025 NFL Draft the Miami Dolphins selected Kenneth Grant, a defensive tackle from Michigan.

Though many analysts recognized the defensive trenches as an area of very real concern for the Dolphins, Mel Kiper thinks there was more value on the board.

“The Dolphins could have had Will Johnson… They could have had Jahdae Barron,” wrote Kiper. “Yes, Grant is explosive, and sources told me the league was hot on him heading into the draft. But he was 30th on my board.”

Jahdae Barron was the first corner taken (excluding Travis Hunter), while Will Johnson went to sleep last night without hearing his name called. Kiper believes there are a lot of question marks in the Miami corner room.

“If they do trade Jalen Ramsey, their cornerback room would include Kader Kohou, Storm Duck, Cam Smith and Ethan Bonner. That’s a problem, and Miami opted to skip the position to draft a nose tackle,” Kiper continued.

Dolphins Fan’s Come To The Defense Of Their Newest Weapon

Mel Kiper may disagree with the pick, but a fanbase that has watched their team ship off talent on the defensive front time and time again has few qualms with the decision.

“Chris Grier backed himself into a corner with the free agent losses of Christian Wilkins, Calais Campbell, and Da’Shawn Hand in recent years,” defended Mike Olivia of dolphinstalk.com. “You can’t lose guys like that and not need to backfill the position.”

Olivia believes that the team drafted for need as opposed to striking on the best player available.

“The Dolphins’ defensive line was, and still is, a disaster,” continued Olivia. “Outside of Zach Sieler, they had nothing. Now, at least, they have Sieler and Kenneth Grant.”

In his closing remarks, the blogger expressed his wish to see a continued effort to fill out the defensive line. Luckily for him, this is one of the deepest defensive line classes in NFL Draft history.

Plenty Of Talent Left On The Board

As previously mentioned, the cornerback from Michigan who ahs experienced quite the all from grace in the last 12 months, is still yet to be taken. Additionally, there is a handful of day one starting defensive backs sitting around.

With needs at corner and safety, Miami could set their sights on East Carolina’s Shavon Revel or Notre Dame’s Benjamin Morrison. This presumes Johnson is off the board, but these two could very realistically be available at 48.

Nick Emmanwori is a freak athlete safety who would almost certainly take some sort of trade to acquire, as many are surprised to see his name still on the board.

Twelve of Todd McShay’s top 50 prospects were edge rushers or interior defensive lineman, nine of whom heard their name in round one. The three remaining are JT Tuimoloau from Ohio State, Donovan Ezeiruaku from Boston College, and Darius Alexander from Toledo.

It is safe to say that if the Dolphins select any one of the seven names mentioned above, they have successfully addressed a need with a high caliber prospect.