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Luke Musgrave

Dolphins Notes: Draft, Trades, TEs, Hill

April 20th, 2023 at 11:55am CST by Adam La Rose

With only four picks in this year’s draft (and none in the top 50), the Dolphins have received less attention than many other teams in the build-up to next week’s event. They, like their counterparts, have continued to do their homework on positions of need, however.

That includes taking a look at several tight end options, as detailed by Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. The Dolphins have met with Georgia alum Darnell Washington, who has been one of the more popular prospects at the position and is likely to be off the board by the time Miami is on the clock at No. 51. Other options they have looked into include Tucker Kraft (South Dakota State), Sam LaPorta (Iowa), Brenton Strange (Penn State) and Luke Musgrave (Oregon State). The Dolphins are in need of a Mike Gesicki replacement after the veteran had a underwhelming 2022 campaign and departed in free agency.

Another spot which is receiving plenty of attention, per Jackson, is the interior offensive line. Miami has “given serious thought” to drafting a guard, and the position will be a target for undrafted free agents as well. The Dolphins’ o-line faces questions heading into the 2023 season, but Austin Jackson‘s future appears to remain at right tackle. Keeping him at that spot would create the need for at least a depth addition or two along the interior this spring.

Here are some other notes out of South Beach:

  • Given their lack of draft capital, the Dolphins would not represent a strong candidate to trade up. However, a number of teams have called them to discuss the possibility of moving into the first round, as noted (on Twitter) by Outkick’s Armando Salguero. With the Dolphins only owning one third-round pick in 2023 after No. 51, along with one sixth- and seventh-rounder, a package including 2024 picks would be needed for such a scenario to take place. As a result, it remains unlikely at this point that Miami will be involved on Day 1 next week.
  • Part of the reason the team is short on picks, of course, is the price they paid for Tyreek Hill. The four-time All-Pro wideout signed a four-year, $120MM deal upon his arrival in Miami, something which was driven in large part by the changes in the position’s market. As Hill recently acknowledged on a podcast appearance on Sports Radio 810 WHB, the lucrative nature of Christian Kirk‘s Jaguars pact (four years, $72MM) influenced his asking price. “He signed the deal and like he surpassed me, and I’m like, bro, I compete on the field, and I also compete on the business out of this, too,” Hill said. “So, I’m not going to let Christian Kirk have a higher contract than me. I’m just not” (h/t Pro Football Talk’s Charean Williams).
  • Given their situation with only four picks, Miami is in line to be active on the UDFA market following the draft. As Jackson writes, the team could be eyeing a kicker addition to serve as competition during OTAs and training camp. Jason Sanders as been in place as the team’s kicker since being drafted in 2018, and has remained consistent from short and medium range during his tenure. Sanders has gone just 2-for-6 on kicks of 50 or more yards in each of the past two campaigns, however, which could open the door to a strong-legged rookie making an impact in the summer.

NFL Draft Rumors: Richardson, TEs, Wright

February 25th, 2023 at 10:53am CST by Ely Allen

Every year come draft time there are prospects that divide scouts and analysts. Never has that been more apt than this year with Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson. We reported this dichotomy back when Richardson first announced his intentions in December, and nearly four months later, teams are still torn.

ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler went on NFL on ESPN to discuss first-round quarterbacks and the conversation eventually fell to Richardson. Fowler reported that he’s never seen “a bigger variance leaguewide on a feeling about a” quarterback, saying that while some talent evaluators have him as a first-round talent, others (sometimes on the same team) aren’t thinking to look for him until the fourth round.

Fowler believes that Richardson is a bit of a project who will need to find a situation in the NFL where he can sit for a year and develop but notes an NFL executive who calls Richardson a combination of Cam Newton and Justin Fields. Quoting NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah, Aaron Wilson of KPRC2 asserts that some teams have Richardson as the second-best quarterback on the board. I’ve personally seen a mock draft by Chris Trapasso of CBS Sports that has the Bears trading Fields and taking Richardson at No. 1 overall.

All this to reiterate sentiments from our breakdown of his initial draft announcement. Teams are evaluating Richardson off of 13 games of film of the one-year starter in Gainesville. That single season saw him complete only 54.2% of his passes for 2,631 yards, 17 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions. He added 680 rushing yards and nine touchdowns on 115 rush attempts. He went 6-7 as a starter for the Gators. The college stats aren’t great, but there’s so little to work with that scouts are still betting on the potential he held as a four-star recruit coming out of high school.

Last year, experts predicted as many as four quarterbacks would be taken in the first round. Only Kenny Pickett actually heard his name on Day 1 of the draft. Evaluators are equally bullheaded this year on quarterbacks going early and often, but with nearly two months until Draft Day, there is still much that we don’t know.

Here are a few other quick notes on upcoming prospects:

  • Notre Dame tight end Michael Mayer has long been thought of as the 2023 NFL Draft’s best prospect at the position. Well, according to Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated, one tight end made a strong case for himself at the Senior Bowl. Oregon State tight end Luke Musgrave made a lasting impression on scouts at the all-star event. Musgrave measured at 6-foot-5 and 255 pounds and impressed with his physicality, speed, route-running, and hands. Breer posits that Musgrave did enough to earn the top spot on position rankings.
  • Another prospect who may be higher than initially thought is Tennessee offensive tackle Darnell Wright. The O-lineman also attended the Senior Bowl with many believing that he had a lot that he still needed to prove. According to Matt Miller of ESPN, Wright may have already done enough. Miller claims Wright is a top-32 prospect and finds it hard to believe that he’ll slip past the first round. The Volunteers didn’t expect to keep the consensus five-star out of West Virginia for all four years and the fact that they did had many thinking Wright is not a first-round talent. An impressive performance at the Senior Bowl and a first-team All-SEC selection in 2022 should prove otherwise as Wright continues to work towards the goal of hearing his name called on the first night of the draft.