Whenever NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah talks about anything related to the NFL Draft, it would be wise to listen. And yesterday, Jeremiah talked about just about the entire first round of this year’s event – breaking out his latest 2021 mock concept scenario to explore what the Miami Dolphins and the rest of the competition could do at the end of the month. Jeremiah’s mock draft featured four quarterbacks in the first four picks; a development that certainly contributed to the dolphins’ cause to obtain a top-flight pass-catcher in this scenario.
But with options comes the ability to make a right (or wrong) decision. What step did Jeremiah take before the dolphins? Here are both of his picks for Miami in the first round of its latest mock-up for 2021:
No. 6 overall – WR Ja’Marr Chase, LSU Tigers
“Miami moved up again after a trade to No. 12, wisely believing they could land Pitts or Chase with the sixth pick.” – Daniel Jeremiah, NFL.com
No. 18 Overall – De Gregory Rousseau, Miami Hurricanes
“Rousseau had some stiffness in his professional day practice, which some teams were concerned about. That said, look at its combination of size, length, and production. In addition, its impressive 10-meter (1.57-second) interval will carry a lot of weight in the evaluations. – Daniel Jeremiah, NFL.com
With Florida TE Kyle Pitts coming off the board at number 5 for the dolphins, the dolphin first pick decision came down to Chase or presumably Penei Sewell. But given Miami’s investments in the offensive line in 2020 and the depth of this year’s offensive line class, Jeremiah felt inspired to offer the Dolphins Chase. The LSU product is the same player that is often also projected to the Dolphins at number 3 overall.
Rousseau is a bit of a surprise; As Jeremiah mentioned, Rousseau’s Pro Day songs were a bit disappointing after not playing in 2020. But there’s no question that this long-arm pass rusher fits in the shape of a dolphin pass rusher and would fit right down the line.