How early could the Dolphins realistically draft a safety?

How early could the Dolphins realistically draft a safety?

[jwplayer K4JcjceC-ThvAeFxT]

With the Miami Dolphins’ 2020 NFL Draft plans quickly being finalized, the team will look to make several critical key additions to the roster during next week’s three days of drafting. For the Dolphins, free agency served as a big boost to the team’s ability to “go with the flow” and attack value throughout the board instead of marrying themselves to specific team needs at certain picks.

But what might the positions in consideration look like at critical junctures of the draft? How soon might the Dolphins decide that one position is the best available value to their team? In such a deep class, the Dolphins will have a slew of options and may find the action in front of them in the draft queue makes their decisions for them when it is all said and done.

For the safety position, this is a possible candidate to be drafted in the 1st-round of this year’s draft — but the momentum of the safety class seems to be stalling as the actual event draws near. That’s a good break for the Dolphins, who may now be able to secure a top safety prospect at 26. The status of LSU’s Grant Delpit seems to be mostly in question. He’s a star athlete and a former prized recruit who was an impact player for the Tigers during his three seasons with the program — including in 2019 as the Tigers romped through the college football landscape on their way to a national championship.

But Delpit did not test at the NFL Combine and had lingering injury issues with caused issues with his tackling — and so the NFL may penalize him on draft night. If Delpit slides, he’s an obvious value to Miami at 26. If the value elsewhere is too great and Delpit somehow makes it to 39, he’s now a home run pick given how much press coverage the Dolphins are likely to play and how much turf Delpit can cover.

If Miami finds they prefer other safeties, Alabama’s Xavier McKinney is another strong candidate for 26th overall — so, too, is Minnesota’s Antoine Winfield Jr. Winfield Jr. is the hottest of the safety prospects right now given his bloodlines and strong athletic profile. There’s some durability questions there that will contribute to Winfield Jr’s draft status, so Miami attacking any of these players at 18 would be a surprise.

26 feels like the right spot for Miami to start looking to the safety position.