The Peanut Gallery Reviews the Miami Dolphins 2025 Draft
- Sheehan Planas-Arteaga
- May 1
- 5 min read
Updated: May 6
The Miami Dolphins prioritized size and strength in the 2025 NFL Draft. Was that the right call?
The Miami Dolphins entered the 2025 draft with a few glaring holes. Glaring holes suck, of course, but the obviousness of them makes them simpler to address. The Miami Dolphins needed help in their secondary and in the trenches. Defensive backs, offensive linemen (mostly interior), and defensive linemen (also mostly interior).
It would also help to add some size on offense at the skill positions. A little oomph to give defenses a different look from the speed created by Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle, and De’Von Achane. Tight end Jonnu Smith gave Tua Tagovailoa a desperately-needed option over the middle last season, especially on 3rd down. But at 6’2”, 240 pounds, even he is undersized compared to other tight ends. The Dolphins are tiny, although the addition of 6'2" Nick Westbrook-Ikhine at wide receiver should help a tad.
Miami ended up picking eight players in the ‘25 draft. They are below:
Round 1, Pick 12: Kenneth Grant, DT, Michigan. 6’4”, 331 lbs.
Round 2, Pick 37: Jonah Savaiinaea, OG, Arizona. 6’4”, 324 lbs.
Round 5, Pick 143: Jordan Phillips, DT, Maryland. 6’2”, 312 lbs.
Round 5, Pick 150: Jason Marshall Jr., CB, Florida. 6’, 194 lbs.
Round 5, Pick 155: Dante Trader Jr., S, Maryland. 5’11”, 196 lbs.
Round 6, Pick 179: Ollie Gordon II, RB, Oklahoma State. 6’1”, 226 lbs.
Round 7, Pick 231: Quinn Ewers, QB, Texas. 6’2”, 214 lbs.
Round 7, Pick 253: Zeek Biggers, DT, Georgia Tech. 6’6”, 321 lbs.
The average weight of these eight men is 265 pounds. If the strategy in the Dolphins war room was to add size, they did a bang up job.
Defensive Line
The Dolphins had a solid run defense in 2024, but it’s fair to wonder if they are due for a regression. Calais Campbell, even in his advanced age, was a key contributor last season. He’s back with the Cardinals in 2025, where it all started for him back in 2008. Kenneth Grant is a clogger who might not get to the quarterback as often as Campbell did, and certainly not as much as the man he’ll have next to him in Zach Seiler. But Grant can be an immediate contributor as a man who can alter the script at the line of scrimmage, while also using his height and long arms to bat passes down.
They would take two more behemoths to add depth to the defensive line. Miami’s defensive coordinator, Anthony Weaver, values depth in the trenches, which allows for many players to both contribute and stay fresh. Apart from Biggers, Grant, and Phillips up the middle, he’ll have a mixture of Benito Jones, the aforementioned Sieler, Jaelan Phillips, Bradley Chubb, Chop Robinson, and a few others to cycle through along the line. Despite a good performance in 2024 as a unit (21.4 PPG), the Dolphins produced just 35 sacks, good for 27th in the league. The d-line should be a major strength in 2025 and, assuming health, will allow them to apply pressure without bringing extra rushers. This will be huge for a secondary that might be…meh.
Secondary
On to that now. The Miami Dolphins secondary will likely be without Jalen Ramsey by Week 1, as they look to trade the 30-year-old star cornerback. He’s clearly lost a step, which is to be expected when corners get into their late 20s and 30s. But he’s still a solid player and one the Dolphins must replace somehow. The Dolphins must also replace safety Jevon Holland, who signed with the Giants after four productive, albeit unspectacular, years in Miami.
Jason Marshall Jr. and Dante Trader Jr. are nice players who both started a lot of games in college, but are likely just depth pieces. A duo of Kader Kohou and Storm Duck at corner will be…exploitable. Taking one corner and one safety doesn’t really seem like enough. It didn’t help that this draft wasn’t loaded with top-end secondary talent. There must be a trade or two coming before training camp.
The Tough Yardage
The Dolphins have been dogshit on offense the past few seasons in 3rd/4th and short situations, i.e. the plays that win or lose you ballgames. Some of the main reasons for this is how cute Mike McDaniel likes to get and how late he gets the play call in, which gives Tua and the offense precious little time to make pre-snap adjustments. This can only be helped in part, but I think Dolphins brass did a good job in addressing the first issue.
I think part of the reason McDaniel doesn’t simply put Tua under center and call a dive is because he doesn’t have the right personnel for that. The Dolphins can’t run between the tackles because they struggle at the guard position and they don’t have a back who can plow forward through contact, nor do they have a Jalen Hurts or Josh Allen-type QB who can just plunge forward for a first down. They can only win through speed and finesse, which will only get you so far.
Jonah Savaiinaea and Ollie Gordon II can be major boosts in this area. I think Savaiinaea is a plug-and-play Day 1 starter. This man is 324 pounds and runs in the 4.9s; imagine him as a pulling guard bulldozing through the open field, with De’Von Achane in his wake. Scary.
Gordon II is a bruising force at running back that they have lacked since McDaniel took over. He doesn’t have the breakaway speed or quickness you’d like to see, but the Dolphins have plenty of home run hitters already. We need a surefire option on 3rd and goal, and I think Gordon II could be that guy, and not just as a ball carrier. He caught 39 passes in 2023 and 29 this past season at Oklahoma State, so don’t sleep on him as a receiver out of the backfield.
QB Depth
Quinn Ewers was a solid pick. He played in a lot of big games as the starter in Texas and was always a good producer. I was surprised he hadn’t been picked already when I saw the Dolphins snag him in the 7th round. Injuries are part of Tua’s reality, unfortunately, so it behooves them to have quality backups should some sort of disaster strike. Ewers will probably start training camp as QB3 behind Tua and the newly-acquired Zach Wilson, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s elevated to the primary backup at some point.
Overall
I pray they have some kind of plan for the secondary and don’t simply hold pat with what they have. I like the investment in size and brute force; I want to see my team play a more smashmouth style of football in 2025. Or at the very minimum, be capable of grinding it out when the big plays aren’t there and the fancy schmancy play designs aren’t working.
I think one of their 6th or 7th round picks should’ve been another secondary piece. Other than that, I was happy with the Miami Dolphins 2025 draft.
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