Roadmapping The 2024 Miami Dolphins Draft Class Via Drew Rosenhaus' Shortlist

Did NFL super-agent Drew Rosenhaus just lay out the roadmap for Miami at the No. 21 overall selection on his weekly appearance with Josh Moser? If so...what could the classes look like?

Apr 23, 2024

If there’s a population of human beings on the planet right now who have a truly better-than-average idea of what is going to happen on Thursday and Friday nights this week for the NFL Draft, it is probably the agent community. There’s a lot of gamesmanship happening behind the scenes of the league right now — as agents attempt to control narratives and look for any edge that may help push their client up in the draft order at the last minute. Most of the leaks that come out this time of year are from the agent side of things, too.

There are a lot of interested parties who have general ideas of the dominoes that are set to fall; many of which are pushing or pulling in opposite directions. It’s a brilliant, chaotic mess.

And few (if any) play the game better than Drew Rosenhaus.

When Drew talks, you’d be wise to listen — particularly about a Miami Dolphins organization that is littered with Rosenhaus Sports clients. This isn’t to say Rosenhaus is chatting it up with Chris Grier about Miami’s draft plans. But Rosenhaus and Grier have spent plenty of time talking this offseason about re-signings for players like Braxton Berrios, free agent signings for players like Jordan Poyer, and keeping up with the latest from superstar wide receiver Tyreek Hill.

All are Rosenhaus clients.

Rosenhaus also partakes in a weekly guest spot with Josh Moser of WSVN 7News and is typically good for a few strong nuggets about the current events in football. Yesterday’s spot was no different; as Moser was given a short-list of names reportedly in consideration in Miami’s draft room this week.

Rosenhaus’ Dolphins shortlist:

OL Graham Barton, Duke
EDGE Jared Verse, Florida State
EDGE Laiatu Latu, UCLA
WR Xavier Worthy, Texas

It'd be hard to be too upset with any direction out of these four names. I released my personal 2024 Miami Dolphins-Specific Draft Board over the weekend and the players included on the Rosenhaus short-list are well represented:

EDGE Jared Verse, FSU - No. 8 overall (First Round Value)
EDGE Laiatu Latu, UCLA - No. 11 overall (First Round Value)
OL Graham Barton, Duke - No. 23 overall (Late 1st Round Value)
WR Xavier Worthy, Texas - No. 44 overall (2nd Round Value)

But what would the dominoes look like behind each of these would-be choices at No. 21? I’ve tapped in ESPN’s NFL Mock Draft Simulator and ran simulations to select each of the four names included, giving us four different 7-round mock drafts to compare to one another.

Which do we like the most? Let’s dive into each.

Thank you for reading Touchdown, Miami!

The good news is that the Dolphins got the best player out of the four possible names mentioned in this mock with Jared Verse. The bad news is that Miami got an awful break in this mock coming back around to No. 55 overall — with little to no offensive line talent available to me that I felt would warrant starting for the team in 2024. The best players available on the OL at this point included OL Dominick Puni (Kansas) and Kiran Amegadjie (Tackle, Yale). I simply couldn’t justify either at No. 55 overall; so I instead opted for a third safety in Georgia’s Javon Bullard.

Bullard is a versatile, smart player who would be an incredible addition alongside Jordan Poyer and Jevon Holland before presumably taking over for Poyer in 2025.

But he doesn’t help the line. So I had to double dip on Day 3 with Adams, who has guard flexibility, and McMahon — a zone scheme fit. I wouldn’t sleep on Luke McCaffrey as a Mike McDaniel Day 3 match either; his brother Max is on the Dolphins’ coaching staff as an offensive assistant in 2024.

The Laiatu Latu Mock

Oh man, where can I sign?

Latu’s pass rush abilities are already a needle-moving addition to the Dolphins roster when you pair him with Bradley Chubb and Jaelan Phillips. Either Latu or Verse would go a long way in easing the pressure on both returning veteran players amid their season-ending injuries in 2023, too.

But then you get to pick No. 55 and WR Ricky Pearsall is staring me in the face? I couldn’t say no. Pearsall is my favorite wide receiver fit among Day 2 targets — he’s ranked No. 26 overall on my Dolphins-specific board with an Early 2nd round value. “Pretty Ricky” was too good to pass up. (The best available OL here, since I know I’ll be asked, was Houston OT Patrick Paul and Michigan OG Zak Zinter.)

Bortolini being available at No. 158 was a nice consolation prize. I didn’t expect to see him sitting there for Miami when I submitted the Pearsall pick; he tested as an unbelievable athlete at the 2024 NFL Combine and could feasibly play guard. The Dolphins would still need to sign a veteran in this scenario, however. Eboigbe felt a lot like Bortolini — I was surprised to see him in RD6 and feel he could take modest rotational reps for the Dolphins’ front in 2024.

The Graham Barton Mock

Rest easy, fans of the trenches. You get your fix here.

I actually really like the 1-2 punch of this draft class with Barton and Dorlus. The duo oozes versatility. Between Barton’s ability to play all 5 positions along the offensive line (he’s a guard in 2024 for sure, though) and Dorlus’ ever-changing role in the Oregon defense? Miami would be offered a lot of flexibility in their bid to replace both Robert Hunt and Christian Wilkins.

Dorlus’ alignment usage the last three seasons, per Pro Fooball Focus:

Snaps by Alignment

A GAP: 8 (2023), 6 (2022), 22 (2021)

B GAP: 253 (2023), 86 (2022), 354 (2021)

OVER TACKLE: 159 (2023), 163 (2022), 180 (2021)

OUTSIDE TACKLE: 160 (2023), 393 (2022), 106 (2021)

OFF BALL: 7 (2023), 3 (2022), 3 (2021)

Just a hilarious amount of mobility within the front. And he’s flashed wins in just about every way, too.

The problem with this draft class? I feel the most underwhelmed by the Day 3 collection I was able to put together. I’m not sure there’s one meaningful snap taker out of this Day 3 collection.

The Xavier Worthy Mock

If you asked me to pick any draft without the 1st-round player, I think this would be the one. Haynes is a well-documented man crush of mine as a fit in the Dolphins’ scheme. Mustapha brings a level of “alpha” to the safety position and is a better deep player than I think he gets credit for. Lovett is unsexy but stout as hell at the point of attack, and you get a really nice blend of speed (Thomas) and power (Jeffcoat) on the edge.

And then there’s Worthy — who I objectively like and can see the value of him being inserted into the offense. He’s potentially a long-term WR2 replacement (because the WR2 is going to be your long-term WR1). He keeps the identity of the offense the same but adds a man-beating speed option that is difficult to reconcile for defenses.

So what say you? Which class is your favorite? If you had to blend draft classes together, would you? Mercifully, we’re just a few days away from knowing the chosen path the Dolphins will take.