As a lead-up to the 2023 NFL draft, we've broken down the current depth chart of every NFL team and identified the biggest draft and team needs for the Miami Dolphins.
You can find additional team-by-team draft needs articles and other draft content on our 2023 NFL Draft hub.
Who did the Dolphins pick in the NFL Draft?
The Miami Dolphins selected Cam Smith (CB, South Carolina) with the 51st pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.
The Dolphins added Devon Achane (RB, Texas A&M) with the 84th pick.
Dolphins Draft Needs: Top Positions of Need in 2023
- Offensive Line
- Pass Catching Tight End
- Wide Receiver Depth
What Picks do the Miami Dolphins have in 2023?
The Miami Dolphins have four picks in the 2023 NFL Draft, including:
- Round 2 (51)
- Round 3 (84)
- Round 6 (197)
- Round 7 (238)
Miami Dolphins Draft Capital Stats
Our Sharp Draft Value Rank is a valuation of draft capital based on a combination of average performance delivered and average dollars earned on second contracts.
This is based on two public models: performance delivered based on draft slot (the AV model created by Chase Stuart) and contractual earnings in non-rookie deals based upon draft slot (the OTC model created by Brad Spielberger and Jason Fitzgerald).
- Dolphins Sharp Draft Value Rank: 32 of 32 teams
- Dolphins AV Model Draft Value Rank: 32 of 32 teams
- Dolphins OTC Model Draft Value Rank: 32 of 32 teams
Miami Dolphins Draft Value vs Other Teams:
The Dolphins' draft value is 60% lower than the league average of all 32 teams. The Dolphins have the lowest draft value entering the 2023 NFL Draft.
Miami Dolphins Draft Prediction:
Mock draft expert Ryan McCrystal predicts the Dolphins could target an offensive lineman like Matthew Bergeron (OL, Syracuse) with their top pick at No. 51 overall in the second round.
The Dolphins do not have a first-round pick.
Miami Dolphins Strength of Schedule, 2023
The Miami Dolphins have the fifth hardest NFL strength of schedule for the 2023 NFL season.
Miami Dolphins Offense: Depth Chart, Analysis & Draft Needs
Rich Hribar breaks down the offensive depth chart by position for the Miami Dolphins, identifying areas where the team could improve in the upcoming 2023 NFL Draft.
2022 Miami Dolphins Offensive Rankings
Quarterback Depth Chart, Dolphins:
- Tua Tagovailoa
- Mike White
- Skylar Thompson
Tua Tagovailoa enjoyed a breakout season in 2022.
- Miami posted an 8-5 record in Tagovailoa’s 13 starts. They now have a 21-13 record with him as a starter over three seasons.
- After throwing 27 touchdowns over his first two years in the league, Tagovailoa tossed 25 scores last season and led the NFL with a 6.3% touchdown rate.
- After passing for 6.3 and 6.5 yards per pass attempt over his first two seasons, Tagovailoa led the league with 8.9 yards per attempt in 2022.
- From an expected points added stance, only Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen provided more EPA per dropback than Tagovailoa (0.18) while he closed the season fifth in success rate (47.4%) as a passer.
Miami wasted no time in picking up Tagovailoa’s fifth-year option this offseason. This buys them not only some time in negotiating a potential long-term deal but also provides more runway for the organization to assess Tagovailoa and his early-career injury history.
Tagovailoa has now missed starts due to injury in four consecutive seasons going back to college. As great as his 2022 breakout campaign was, it was shrouded with concerns surrounding multiple head injuries and how they were handled by the organization.
As added insurance, the team added Mike White to compete with Skylar Thompson.
With Thompson forced on the field as a rookie, the Dolphins averaged just 4.17 yards per play with -51.9 EPA added on those snaps.
With Tagovailoa on the field, Miami averaged 6.68 yards per play with a running total of 75.6 EPA.
With just four draft picks, the Dolphins are unlikely to pursue another quarterback via the draft.
Running Back Depth Chart, Dolphins:
- Raheem Mostert
- Jeff Wilson
- Myles Gaskin
- Salvon Ahmed
- Alec Ingold (FB)
- John Lovett (FB)
With Mike McDaniel coming over, the Dolphins were expected to run the football better than in previous seasons and they accomplished just that.
Miami closed the 2022 season ranking sixth in the league in EPA per rush (-0.01) on running back carries and fifth in the league in success rate (41.2%) on those backfield attempts.
Entering the offseason with an open board, the team retained all three of their free agents at the position, re-signing Raheem Mostert, Jeff Wilson, and Myles Gaskin to new contracts.
Wilson (84 carries) and Mostert (80 carries) shared the workload after Wilson was acquired at the trade deadline.
Over that span, Mostert ranked third among running backs in success rate per carry (46.3%) while Wilson was ninth (42.9%).
Wilson failed to gain yardage on just 11.9% of his carries with the Dolphins, which was the third-best rate among backs over that span.
13.1% of his carries with Miami went for 10 or more yards (eighth) while 16.3% of Mostert’s carries over that period resulted in gains of 10 or more yards (third).
The only real sub here is that neither back has a great track record of staying healthy. Both Wilson (28 years old in November) and Mostert (who turns 31 this April) are older on the age spectrum for the position.
While Miami does lack a perceived premier talent at the position, they have a set of backs that have success in this system and can be used in unison.
Both Salvon Ahmed and Myles Gaskin have had small pockets of production when pressed at the NFL level.
With limited draft capital at their disposal, it is hard to see the Dolphins adding a major threat here to their veterans.
Wide Receiver Depth Chart, Dolphins:
- Tyreek Hill
- Jaylen Waddle
- Cedrick Wilson
- Braxton Berrios
- Erik Ezukanma
- Freddie Swain
- River Cracraft
- Braylon Sanders
When Miami threw the football, they were throwing to their wide receivers. And when they were throwing to their wide receivers, they were throwing it to two players.
The Dolphins targeted their wide receivers 67.1% of the time in 2022, which was second in the league behind only the Eagles (69.5%).
Tyreek Hill led the team with 170 targets, which was 53 more than the next closest target in Jaylen Waddle. Waddle then had 65 more targets than the next closet Dolphin, which was Mike Gesicki.
At the end of the season, Hill and Waddle combined for 51.1% of the team targets, 52.7% of the receptions, 64.3% of the receiving yards, and 50% of the receiving touchdowns.
Hill actually had one of the greatest wide receiver seasons of all-time and it kind of went overlooked in that capacity.
He averaged a league-high 3.08 yards per route run on 578 routes.
The only seasons that were better over the past decade from a wide receiver with over 500 routes per TruMedia were Julio Jones in 2016 (3.23 yards per route) and Cooper Kupp in 2021 (3.12 YRR).
Hill was targeted on a career-high 32.0% of his routes and averaged 2.93 yards per team pass attempt, both of which paced all wide receivers.
He was also the only player in the NFL last season to be targeted on over 30.0% of his routes versus both zone coverage (32.5%) and man coverage (34.0%).
Mike McDaniel definitely understood the assignment in not only using Hill but also opening the door for Waddle to flourish.
Following a rookie season in which Waddle was used as a low-leverage puddle jumper, McDaniel and this offense showcased the full-field ability Waddle displayed at Alabama.
After averaging 7.09 air yards per target as a rookie, Waddle averaged 12.6 air yards per look in 2022.
After he played 54.0% of his snaps in the slot as a rookie, Waddle was inside for 19.9% a year ago.
As a rookie, Waddle had just 8.6% of his targets on throws 20 yards or further downfield, which climbed up to a 17.7% rate this past season.
Those newfound downfield opportunities allowed Waddle to raise his 9.8 yards per catch as a rookie all of the way up to a league-leading 18.1 yards per catch in 2022.
Miami does not have a lot of draft capital to press target competition for Hill and Waddle, but the door is open after the team lost both Mike Gesicki (52) and Trent Sherfield (51 targets), who were third and fourth on the team in targets a year ago.
The Dolphins still have Cedrick Wilson, who they signed last season at the open of free agency.
After a breakout with the Cowboys in 2021, Wilson appeared in 15 games with Miami last season but only played 26% of the offensive snaps.
The Dolphins added Braxton Berrios to chip in from the slot and special teams, but Berrios has never caught more than 46 passes in a season while averaging just 10.1 yards per catch for his career.
It is hard to see Miami having enough behind Hill and Waddle, especially should either end up missing time in 2023.
Tight End Depth Chart, Dolphins:
- Durham Smythe
- Eric Saubert
- Tanner Conner
No team targeted their tight ends at a lower rate than Miami did in 2022 (12.8%).
On top of the limited opportunities, the team also allowed Mike Gesicki to walk in free agency after placing the franchise tag on him the year prior. Gesicki was third on the team with 52 targets.
The team also included 2021 third-round pick Hunter Long as part of the Jalen Ramsey trade.
Durham Smythe sits at the top of the chart while both he and newly signed Eric Saubert are block-first tight ends.
Smythe has just 115 targets over five NFL seasons (20 targets in 2022) while Saubert has just 52 over six years in the league.
Miami did not throw to their tight ends at all in 2022, so it may not matter in their approach. Still, they are lacking a pass catching option should they want to incorporate one into their offense moving forward.
Offensive Line Depth Chart, Dolphins:
LT: Terron Armstead/Kendall Lamm
LG: Liam Eichenberg/Robert Jones
C: Connor Williams/Dan Feeney
RG: Robert Hunt/Lester Cotton
RT: Austin Jackson/Geron Christian/Kion Smith
The Dolphins are still working to get their offensive line in order.
In 2022, they closed the season ranking 24th in ESPN’s pass block win rate and 21st in their run block win rate (71%) metric.
Over at Pro Football Focus, Miami ranked 29th in collective pass blocking grade but seventh in run blocking grade.
The biggest issue in 2022 for this unit was health.
The most often used line combination for the Dolphins in 2022 was on the field for just 27.4% of their offensive snaps. That ranked 25th in the league in terms of rate for a team’s most frequent combination.
Right tackle Austin Jackson appeared in just two games due to ankle injuries. Jackson now enters the final year of his rookie contract providing no evidence he can buck the questions about holding up against top edge rushers he had entering the league.
Jackson has allowed a 7.0% pressure rate in his career, which is the third-highest rate of any offensive lineman with 1,000 or more pass blocking snaps over that span.
There is a low probability Miami picks up Jackson’s fifth-year option before the May 1st deadline.
To be fair to Jackson, both players that filled in at right tackle (Brandon Shell and Greg Little) last season were objectively among the worst linemen in the league in 2022 and were not retained. At least there is a low bar to clear.
Liam Eichenberg is the offensive lineman who has allowed the highest pressure rate from that subset of linemen highlighted above. Miami has tried Eichenberg out at tackle and guard, but he has been below the fold at both positions.
Eichenberg has allowed an 8.1% pressure rate over 1,044 pass blocking snaps, the worst rate in the league for a player with that many reps. Eichenberg also missed seven games (and another postseason game) in 2022.
The team aggressively paid up to acquire Terron Armstead as a free agent last offseason and immediately got the full Armstead experience.
Armstead allowed a pressure on just 3.5% of his pass blocking snaps (11th among tackles in 2022) and just one sack on those plays (eighth).
When Armstead was on the field, Miami quarterbacks were pressured on just 28.4% of their dropbacks and sacked on 4.3%.
With Armstead off of the field, that pressure rate climbed to 46.5% with a sack rate of 9.0%.
Armstead missed four games due to injury and still has yet to play a full NFL season through 10 years in the league.
Both Connor Williams and Robert Hunt also have expiring contracts after this season, giving Miami short-term question marks at multiple spots on their line paired with long-term contractual depth overall.
The only linemen signed beyond this season are Armstead, Eichenberg, and Kion Smith.
Miami Dolphins Defense: Depth Chart, Analysis & Draft Needs
Dan Pizzuta breaks down the defensive depth chart by position for the Miami Dolphins, identifying areas where the team could improve in the upcoming 2023 NFL Draft.
2022 Miami Dolphins Defensive Rankings
Interior Defensive Line Depth Chart, Dolphins:
- Christian Wilkins
- Raekwon Davis
- Zach Seiler
- Jaylen Twyman
- Josiah Bronson
Christian Wilkins was a monster in 2022. 22.1% of his run defense snaps featured a tackle, easily the highest for a defensive lineman.
His 20 run stuffs ranked fifth, and he was ninth in tackles that produced a positive play for the defense. All of the players ranked above him were linebackers.
Zach Seiler played 77% of the defensive snaps for the Dolphins. He was a good complement to Wilkins against the run and was productive enough against the pass, matching Wilkins’ 3.5 sacks on fewer pass rushes.
Raekwon Davis played 51% of the defensive snaps and was mostly a space-eating nose tackle that helped open up lanes for others on the line. As a 2020 second-round pick, Davis is entering the final year of his rookie contract.
EDGE Depth Chart, Dolphins:
- Bradley Chubb
- Jaelan Phillips
- Emmanuel Ogbah
- Andrew Van Ginkel
- Malik Reed
- Cameron Goode
There might not be a team that will shift more in its pass rush philosophy from 2022 to 2023 than the Dolphins.
Miami is going from a blitz-heavy scheme to Vic Fangio’s system that more often rushes four, even if which four are disguised.
Miami had the fourth-highest blitz rate last season but ranked just 13th in pressure rate.
When Bradley Chubb and Jaelan Phillips were on the field together, the Dolphins had a 41% pressure rate. That did come with a 31.8% blitz rate, but on four-man pass rushes with those two on the field, Miami still had a 40% pressure rate.
Chubb signed a massive extension after his midseason trade and Phillips still has two years plus a fifth-year option on his rookie contract.
Emmanuel Ogbah has run high pressure rates when he’s been on the field, and Andrew Van Ginkel has been a versatile rush linebacker who has taken advantage of some of Miami’s heavy pressure looks.
Van Ginkel was brought back on a one-year deal.
Off-ball Linebacker Depth Chart, Dolphins:
- Jerome Baker
- David Long Jr.
- Channing Tindall
- Duke Riley
Jerome Baker has been a productive linebacker throughout his career.
He was 29th among linebackers in yards allowed per coverage snap last season, which was impressive given how often he was left on an island in the middle of the field with all the blitzing in front of him. He played 89% of the defensive snaps and has two years left on his deal.
The Dolphins took a high upside swing on David Long in free agency.
He was available for just $11 million over two years because of injuries, but he has made an impact whenever he is on the field. Long ranked 15th in yards allowed per coverage snap in 2022 and was a plus run defender.
Channing Tindall is a fascinating linebacker.
He was a super athletic prospect who was a big part of a stellar Georgia defense in 2021. He is a sure tackler with plus instincts but he was only on the field for nine defensive snaps during his rookie season.
Cornerback Depth Chart, Dolphins:
- Jalen Ramsey
- Xavien Howard
- Kader Kohou
- Noah Igbinohenbe
- Nik Needham
- Keion Crossen
- Justin Bethel
- Tino Ellis
- Trill Williams
Getting Jalen Ramsey was obviously the biggest move for the Dolphins this offseason.
Ramsey is still one of the best to do it, especially if he stays in the slot. Last season in a “down” year, Ramsey ranked 15th among slot corners in adjusted yards allowed per coverage snap.
Having Ramsey’s presence in the slot would also allow Xavien Howard to stay on the outside.
Howard had to move into the slot at times in 2022 and struggled there. Howard ranked 43rd among 43 qualified slot corners in adjusted yards allowed per coverage snap last season but was 37th among 87 outside corners while running a high rate of man coverage.
Kader Kohou was 22nd among slot corners in adjusted yards allowed per coverage snap, an impressive feat for an undrafted free agent.
His role is unknown with the addition of Ramsey, but he will at least be solid depth along with Nik Needham, a 2019 undrafted free agent.
Safety Depth Chart, Dolphins:
- Jevon Holland
- Brandon Jones
- DeShon Elliott
- Verone McKinley III
- Elijah Campbell
Jevon Holland is a rising star at safety.
He played 70% of his snaps deep but is able to make an impact all over the field. He has 17 passes defensed over his first two seasons in the league.
He could take another step in the Fangio defense.
After a breakout 2021 season playing in the box, Brandon Jones only played seven games in 2022.
When he is on the field, he has been an impactful downhill player. His 2021 season featured 10 quarterback hits and five sacks. He still managed two sacks in 2022.
DeShon Elliott is a similar downhill player but with a bigger impact against the run rather than pass rush.
Elliott played deep for Detroit last season but still managed 53 tackles on run plays with seven run stuffs. Elliott was signed for just a one-year deal.