Miami might want a WR, but don’t count on the Dolphins taking one in Round 1

March 8, 2022

Jake Rigdon

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As is the case with every team, Miami will have interviewed and/or met with most of the top prospects in the upcoming draft, whether formally or informally.

So take any interview tracker with a grain of salt: They don’t provide much insight into a team’s draft plans.

With that said, it’s hard to ignore the list of players Miami met with at the recently completed Combine. According to Walter Football’s interview tracker, the Dolphins are confirmed to have met with 11 prospects during the event. And of that total, five are receivers, more than any other position.

Those receivers include Arkansas’ Treylon Burks (No. 12 in the Fanspeak-Jake Rigdon big board), Penn State’s Jahan Dotson (No. 38), Alabama’s Jameson Williams (No. 19) and John Metchie III (No. 86) and Miami’s Charleston Rambo (No. 198).

The goal, of course, is to improve a Miami team that ranked 22nd in scoring and had the No. 17 passing offense at 214.8 yards per game.

Out of the trio, Dotson is the most likely to still be there when Miami picks at No. 29 overall. And while his 4.43 40 time isn’t as impressive as Henry Ruggs’ time of 4.27 at the 2020 Combine, Dotson is also seen as a home-run hitter who offers big-play potential as a punt returner.

It’s also possible that Miami will have to wait at least a round to take a receiver, as analysts say as many as six could go in the first round. Overall, 15 receivers are ranked among the top 100 prospects in the latest Rigdon big board and 31 are ranked among the top 264 players. However, there’s a gap between the Tier 1 and the Tier 2 receivers, with only four who are ranked between 33 to 64, which includes Dotson.

Hence why the Dolphins are interviewing players like Metchie and Rambo.

The 5-foot-11, 187-pound Metchie might have been a higher prospect had it not been for an ACL tear suffered during the conference title game in December. He was also diagnosed with a slightly enlarged heart in high school, so his medical evaluations will go a long way toward pinpointing where he’ll be drafted. He’s currently ranked in the third-round range.

And if Miami comes away from Days 1 and 2 without a receiver, they can always wait until Day 3 and still potentially find a rookie contributor. Overall, nine receivers ran a sub-4.4 40 at the Combine, while 18 ran a sub-4.5 40.

Rambo, though, wasn’t one of those players, as he had a disappointing 40 time of 4.57. To put the former Oklahoma transfer’s time into perspective, 13 safeties, nine linebackers and six defensive ends had a faster 40 time than Rambo.

CBS Sports’ Chris Trapasso listed both Rambo and Burks as Combine losers due to their speed. From Trapasso: “At over 6-0 and 177 pounds, Rambo had the height-weight combination to test through the roof. Unfortunately that didn’t happen. A time close to 4.60 in the 40 and less-than-stellar (vertical and broad) jumps will move him down boards across the league.”

Burks was listed at 6-foot-2, 225-pounds and ran a 4.55 40.

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