The Miami Dolphins completed their draft on Saturday evening, selecting eight players in the 2025 NFL Draft. The team went into the draft with a number of significant roster concerns on the lines of scrimmage and in the secondary. Boy, how they addressed them this weekend.
Here’s how I grade each pick and the overall class.
Round 1, pick 13: Michigan DT Kenneth Grant
This is a quality pick that addressed a serious need, as well as helping begin the transition of finesse to tough that this franchise needs. The only reason I’m not giving this a higher grade, fair or not, is that they didn’t find a way to move down (Chris Grier said he had some calls with some interested teams) and add more picks in a draft that would have been nice to have them.
Grade: B+
Round 2, pick 37: Arizona OL Jordan Savaiinaea
Love the pick for Miami, as Savaiinaea is an absolute mauler. But it cost a pretty penny to pull off, having to part with their only third round pick to do it. That hurts, but it’s hard to knock the move too much, as they finally added some nastiness to an offensive line that’s not been tough enough.
Grade: B+
Round 5, pick 143: Maryland DT Jordan Phillips
Miami’s needed depth in the trenches, and they got it in a big way with Phillips, who should immediately slot in as a rotational piece on the Dolphins’ defensive front. A need-based pick with a player who appears can help them quickly.
Grade: A
Round 5, pick 150: Florida CB Jason Marshall, Jr.
Marshall is a player who didn’t deliver many interceptions – only 2 in four years, which is kind of worrisome – but overall, he is a good, physical player who should hold up well when Miami is in press man particularly.
Grade: B
Round 5, pick 155: Maryland S Dante Trader, Jr.
Another pick, another problem area tackled by Chris Grier and Mike McDaniel. Trader isn’t big, but he hits harder than one would expect for a player of his size and tackles well, as evidenced by an incredible 4.8% missed tackle rate in 2024. He also brings some positional flexibility, with 281, 209, and 72 snaps at box safety, free safety, and nickel corner, respectively, in 2024.
Grade: A
Round 6, pick 179: Oklahoma State RB Ollie Gordon II
Gordon is someone I listed as one of my draft crushes and mocked the Dolphins to take. The team was interested enough to bring him in for a visit, and they obviously liked what they saw. He’ll add a physical element to a room that needs it. Was arguably the best RB in America in 2023, so he has significant potential. Could be a steal after a down 2024 for all of Oklahoma State’s offense dropped his draft stock.
Grade: A+
Round 7, pick 231: Texas QB Quinn Ewers
I’m not terribly high on Ewers, as injuries and stretches of streaky play didn’t have him on my list of draft crushes. However, at the seventh round, I expected him to have been gone a while before. A low price to pay to roll the dice on a player with the arm strength talent he has.
Grade: B
Round 7, pick 253: Georgia Tech DT Zeek Biggers
Yet another defensive tackle, and one who won’t play on a three-down basis. However, at 6’6″, 321 pounds, he’s a load in the middle who can clog things up and help create negative plays on early downs. A need pick with a logical choice with a legit path to making the roster. Can’t hate that.
Grade: B+
Overall draft grade: A-
I would have liked to have seen the Dolphins do more to add picks, which is really my only knock of the decisions made in this draft.
However, the picks are hard to argue with, any of them. Grier and McDaniel leaned fully into drafting need areas with reasonable selections, and their chances of winning in 2025 just took a step forward.