{"id":274806,"date":"2026-04-21T10:53:01","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T14:53:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=274806"},"modified":"2026-04-21T10:53:01","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T14:53:01","slug":"miami-dolphins-7-round-mock-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2026\/04\/21\/miami-dolphins-7-round-mock-draft\/","title":{"rendered":"Miami Dolphins 7-Round Mock Draft"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s almost that time. The 2026 NFL Draft is right around the corner, and fans are anticipating the new members of their teams. With it being the week of the 2026 NFL Draft, I thought it’d be fun to run a 7-round mock draft simulation for the Miami Dolphins using AtoZ Sports’ mock draft simulator<\/a>, which simulates picks and trades fairly well. The Dolphins have kept their cards close to the chest in terms of draft plans, but it’s a fun experiment and a way to shed light on some Day 2 and 3 prospects that might not be getting as much buzz.<\/p>\n

I didn’t want to repeat myself on the picks that I have voiced support for, so no Makai Lemon at 11 or Colton Hood at 30. I also opted not to trade up or down in the mock, which most certainly will occur for a rebuilding team like the Dolphins. So we’re sticking and picking for the Fins’ 11 picks in this draft.<\/p>\n

Miami Dolphins 7-Round Mock Draft<\/h2>\n

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Pick 11: Spencer Fano, OT, Utah<\/h3>\n

I have tended to mock corner or receiver at 11 and 30, but there have been reports that general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan and head coach Jeff Hafley want to build “from the inside out.”<\/a> Besides, this is a deep cornerback and receiver class, and the offensive line class most certainly cannot say the same, with there being a gulf between the players within the top 50 and the rest. There have also been reports that the Dolphins love Fano’s versatility and ability to slot in anywhere on the offensive line, and it’s easy to see his game translating. He’s very well-rounded, with his main concern being his smaller arm length, which projects him to perhaps be a better guard than tackle at the next level. But him sticking to tackle is certainly not off the table.<\/p>\n

Fano plugs in nicely at right guard to start and helps shore up an offensive line group that has pieces, but not the full puzzle. Patrick Paul and Jonah Savaiinaea are both developing on the left side of the line; Aaron Brewer is a top center in the league (if the Fins keep him in teal and orange); and Austin Jackson is a serviceable, injury-prone right tackle on an expiring contract. So the Dolphins could select Fano here with plans of him taking Jackson’s spot next season while still contributing in 2026 as a solid guard from day 1.<\/p>\n

Pick 30: Denzel Boston, WR, Washington<\/h3>\n

To quote Adam Rank in his “What every team should do” mock draft<\/a>, “Dolphins: Leaving the first round without a new receiver is not allowed.” This class is quite deep in the late round 1 to top 50 range, so waiting here might be a good call. The selection of Denzel Boston specifically stops at least some of the inevitable discourse surrounding the Dolphins functionally trading Jaylen Waddle for this pick. Boston is very different from Waddle, with him being a true outside X receiver and a dang good one at that. And as much as I like Makai Lemon and K.C. Concepcion (both of whom might not even be on the board at 30) for their great athletic traits, the Dolphins right now need a bona fide number 1 receiver with the size to match that billing, and Boston’s 6’4″, 212 lbs frame is perfect for that role.<\/p>\n

Boston lacks the incredible burst of the other receivers I mentioned, but his catch radius and contested catch ability make him a difficult matchup for corners and should make him an immediate contributor for the Dolphins. This also leaves the door open to draft a more slot-oriented prospect that this class has in spades down the board. Georgia State’s Ted Hurst has also been on the rise and had a pre-draft visit with the Dolphins, so it’s not out of the question to see the Dolphins go with K.C. Concepcion here if he’s still available and take Hurst later on Day 2 with their multiple 3rd-round picks.<\/p>\n

Pick 43: Chris Johnson, CB, San Diego State<\/h3>\n

This corner class is deep, and whoever falls to 43 would be a great pickup for the Fins. Chris Johnson has gotten some first-round buzz recently, so it wouldn’t be too surprising if he isn’t available. But the board fell this way, so I didn’t want to look a gift horse in the mouth. Johnson is a very solid corner, standing at 6’0″ and 193 lbs, with very solid physical tools, who projects to be a boundary corner with very good zone coverage skills. His production in the Mountain West was unreal, allowing only 18 catches on 43 targets for 185 yards with zero touchdowns. Those are shutdown corner stats. Granted, his biggest concern is that his competition wasn’t as good as these Power 4 corner prospects, but it’s hard to deny his talent, especially in a zone-heavy scheme that Jeff Hafley is expected to take from Green Bay.<\/p>\n

Pick 75: Dani Dennis-Sutton, EDGE, Penn State<\/h3>\n

Truth be told, UCF edge rusher Malachi Lawrence was on the board here at 75, but I am trying to be at least somewhat realistic, and I really don’t see Lawrence actually falling this far. Our LWOS mock draft had him going 28th overall<\/a> to the Houston Texans. He would be a no-doubter if he actually somehow got to the third round.<\/p>\n

I waited for an edge rusher to address other needs, but now it seems like the best time to snag one. Dani Dennis-Sutton was decently productive in Happy Valley, posting 8.5 sacks in his final season, but he is a prospect based on traits. His pass-rush ability is decent but raw, and his run defense could really use some work. However, Dennis-Sutton has some outrageous, 1st-round-caliber<\/a> physical tools that could help him develop his game down the line. He posted a 9.96 RAS (Relative Athletic Score) at the combine, thanks to his 6’5″, 256 lbs frame with freakish speed and explosiveness, which is the 9th best RAS score of all time for an edge rusher (dating back to 1987). The Fins signed veteran pass rushers Josh Uche and David Ojabo to 1-year contracts to help 2024 first-round pick Chop Robinson on the edge, so Dennis-Sutton could develop behind the scenes.<\/span><\/p>\n

Pick 87: Deion Burks, WR, Oklahoma<\/h3>\n

Now it’s time to start doubling up on positions of need. Deion Burks is an interesting receiver further down the board. The speed and agility were always there for the Purdue transfer turned Oklahoma Sooner, but he never seemed to find consistent production in college. Perhaps that could be due to Oklahoma playing him on the outside when his smaller frame lends itself more to being a slot receiver. Regardless of the reason, Burks could be a great addition to the Fins’ receiving group that would be able to contribute right away. I’m a little biased since I always liked him as a Boilermaker, but his athleticism and route-running ability supersede his lack of production, in my opinion.<\/p>\n

Pick 90: Jalon Kilgore, DB, South Carolina<\/h3>\n

In looking at other big boards and mock drafts, Jalon Kilgore might be one of the most unprojectable players in this class. Some places have him as an early day 3 projection (AtoZ had him as the #121 player), while other boards have him with second-to-third-round grades. He’s a wild card that can slot in as a corner or safety, though he projects mostly to be a safety or bigger slot corner. Kilgore’s got great athletic tools, posting a 9.60 RAS at the combine this year and 26 career passes defended. However, his technique needs work for him to truly succeed at the NFL level, but I think a defensive-minded coach like Jeff Hafley would love to take a chance on a versatile player like this that can roam the secondary.<\/p>\n

Pick 94: Kyle Louis, LB, Pittsburgh<\/h3>\n

Another player projected all over the place, Kyle Louis was a productive player at Pitt with excellent movement skills, especially his change of direction ability, which projects him well as a coverage linebacker. The main issue is his smaller frame for a linebacker, which leaves him a little positionless at the next level. He reminds me of how teams have struggled to find spots for former first-round pick Isaiah Simmons, though Louis’s size does lend him a bit better to being a linebacker\/safety hybrid. However, when you get to this point in the draft, I value ability over other traits, and as LWOS’s draft profile on Louis mentions<\/a>, he does make sense for the Fins. Similar to the Kilgore pick: draft a good talent and figure out the specific position once you get him.<\/p>\n

Pick 130: Markell Bell, OT, Miami (FL)<\/h3>\n

Another player who has been linked to the Dolphins. Markell Bell is an absolute behemoth of a man, standing 6’9″ and 346 lbs. With that frame, it’s not surprising that he struggles with quickness, but his sheer size and savvy timing got the job done more often than not in pass and run blocking. The Dolphins were one of four teams to bring in Bell for a pre-draft visit<\/a>, so there is some connection there beyond simply playing in the same stadium. If this pick does come to pass and Bell does show great promise, this would most likely mean sticking Fano at guard full-time, which, as I mentioned in his analysis, is far from a bad thing. The more good offensive linemen, the better.<\/p>\n

Pick 151: Keyron Crawford, EDGE, Auburn<\/h3>\n

As mentioned earlier, the Dolphins brought in some edge rushers in the offseason, but nearly all but Chop are on one-year deals<\/a>. They need to replenish their edge depth, and Crawford showed good production opposite of projected first-rounder Keldric Faulk. He does a bit of everything as an edge rusher: decent pass rush ability, decent run defense, and decent athleticism. Crawford should project as a solid rotational edge rusher and should provide at least some impact as a rookie.<\/p>\n

Pick 227: Eric Rivers, WR, Georgia Tech<\/h3>\n

The addition of Tutu Atwell this offseason does provide the Dolphins with a sufficient deep threat, but like the edge rushers brought in, Atwell only has a one-year deal. So why not take a player in the 7th round with legit 4.35 speed to potentially function as a deep threat? Rivers fills a similar role as Atwell as an undersized deep threat with great speed and acceleration, so he could at least potentially help as a special teamer next season. And hey, before playing at Georgia Tech, Rivers played right down the street for the FIU Golden Panthers.<\/p>\n

Pick 238: Jalon Daniels, QB, Kansas<\/h3>\n

It’s slim pickings at the end of the draft, so I opted for the last player on the board that the Dolphins brought in on a pre-draft visit. Daniels would provide the Fins with great character and some solid experience at the position. The former Jayhawk was never outrageously productive, but he was solid in his 6-year career, which also saw him as the first 4-time team captain in Kansas history. The selection of Daniels is certainly not replacing last year’s late-round pick Quinn Ewers, but rather adding a third stringer that, for all intents and purposes, seems like a great locker room presence. Daniels also doesn\u2019t have too dissimilar of a playstyle to Malik Willis, so if disaster strikes the QB room yet again, Daniels should slot in okay in the offense tailored to Willis.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s almost that time. The 2026 NFL Draft is right around the corner, and fans are anticipating the new members of their teams. With it being the week of the 2026 NFL Draft, I thought it’d be fun to run a 7-round mock draft simulation for the Miami Dolphins using AtoZ Sports’ mock draft simulator, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4847,"featured_media":277568,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":true,"sfio_embed_code":"<\/smartframe-embed>","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1647,33761],"tags":[33533,2908,34166,34157,33767,34595,34598,34197,34384,33801,34592,7780,33873],"class_list":["post-274806","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl-draft","category-mock-drafts","tag-2026-nfl-draft","tag-chris-johnson","tag-dani-dennis-sutton","tag-deion-burks","tag-denzel-boston","tag-eric-rivers","tag-jalon-daniels","tag-jalon-kilgore","tag-keyron-crawford","tag-kyle-louis","tag-markell-bell","tag-miami-dolphins-draft","tag-spencer-fano"],"modified_by":"Mike Roberts","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274806","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4847"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=274806"}],"version-history":[{"count":44,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274806\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":277572,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274806\/revisions\/277572"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/277568"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=274806"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=274806"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=274806"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}