Tag: Christian Hayes

Dolphins grab two offensive linemen in Draft Wire’s new mock draft

Miami doubles down on offensive linemen in new four-round mock draft.

The 2023 NFL season is officially over after the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl. so all 32 teams have mocked into offseason mode.

Now, in just a couple of months, the league will descend on Detroit, Michigan for the 2024 NFL draft, where teams will have the opportunity to make massive improvements to their rosters that could increase their chances of winning a Lombardi Trophy.

This week, Draft Wire’s Curt Popejoy released his newest mock draft, and he predicts that the Miami Dolphins will take Georgia offensive tackle Amarius Mims in the first round and UConn guard Christian Haynes in the second round.

Mims. the two-time national champion, has an impressive combination of size (6-foot-7, 340 pounds) and speed, making him an incredible prospect for any team looking for an offensive tackle.

While the Dolphins currently have two under contract for 2024, there are some doubts about Terron Armstead continuing his career, as he’s been non-committal since the end of the season.

If he were to walk away, offensive tackle would certainly become one of Miami’s top priorities, but there are more pressing needs if he does decide to return.

Guard is one of those.

Isaiah Wynn and Robert Hunt, who manned the two starting guard spots in 2023, are both set to be unrestricted free agents, and even backup Robert Jones, who played 38.1% of the team’s offensive snaps this past year, is a pending restricted free agent.

This would leave the Dolphins with just Liam Eichenberg, Lester Cotton and Chasen Hines as the interior offensive line options on the current roster. Having to start two of those three would be a nightmare scenario for Miami in 2024.

Haynes, considered one of the best interior offensive line prospects in the draft, would be a nice fit to fill one of those spots next to either Armstead or Jackson. He started 49 straight games for UConn over his final four seasons, earning AP Third-team All-American honors in 2022 and 2023. He also had an impressive showing at the Senior Bowl, which could mean he’s gone by the time that the Dolphins are back on the board in the second round.

As noted in the above tweet, he does have some questions, but considering how big the need is, Miami should be willing to consider bringing in the Husky, should he be available.

10 NFL draft prospects whose stock rose during Senior Bowl week

Who were the biggest winners from the Reese’s Senior Bowl for the 2024 NFL Draft? Roman Wilson and Spencer Rattler highlight the group.

The 2024 NFL draft process isn’t just fun, but it’s also complex and in turn, fascinating.

The Reese’s Senior Bowl is the first of many different NFL draft events and it’s arguably the most important of them all. Jim Nagy and his team invite around 120 prospects to Mobile, AL for an all-star week filled with practices, media availability and the game itself of Saturday afternoon.

The most important part of the week for the media is watching practice. It gets everyone, including multiple small school players on the same playing field. The drills allow them to show what they have in one-on-one situations where the best man wins, allowing traits and ability to shine over everything else.

There were plenty of standouts across both teams, including some first round talents like UCLA EDGE Laiatu Latu and Toledo CB Quinyon Mitchell. While they helped their stocks, this list isn’t going to include players who have been projected in the first round. The real joy of Senior Bowl week is seeing players take a massive step forward in their process.

These 10 players that weren’t projected to be first round picks improved their stocks the most during the week.