With the Philadelphia Eagles owning the Miami Dolphins’ first draft selection in the 2022 NFL Draft, and the Dolphins owning the San Francisco 49ers’ pick, Miami has no control of their own destiny in the first round.
Right now, Jimmy Garoppolo and Kyle Shanahan have led the 49ers to a 6-6 record, which is currently good enough to be the last seed in the NFC playoff picture. If they were to finish in that position, the Dolphins would get the 19th overall pick.
In their most recent mock draft, Draft Wire has Miami selecting Mississippi State offensive tackle Charles Cross with the pick.
Here’s what Draft Wire’s Luke Easterling had to say about this potential selection:
“It’s sad how bad this offensive line still is, considering how many early draft picks the Dolphins have invested recently in this unit. They need to keep swinging, though, if Tua Tagovailoa is going to reach his full potential. Cross has tons of potential, and has been tested against some of the nation’s best pass rushers.”
Jesse Davis and Liam Eichenberg have been failed experiments to this point, knowing that the latter is still adjusting to the pro level, so it’s extremely likely that tackle will be targeted early in this draft or in free agency. They can’t continue to rely on the 76th-ranked and 80th-ranked tackles, according to Pro Football Focus.
Cross’ ability as a run blocker hasn’t been tested all that much because of Mike Leach’s Air Raid system that he’s played in at Mississippi State, however, being in the SEC, his pass blocking should be up to the NFL standard’s.
It’s unknown whether or not Tagovailoa is going to be the starting quarterback of the future, but either way, someone needs to be protecting whoever it is that’s taking snaps for this team going forward.
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