Drive Time: Wide Receivers 2024 Dolphins Draft Preview with Taylor Kyles

could face come Draft nine. In order to execute this, we're gonna run a mock draft simulator on pff RIP Draft Network, and I will not use PFNS, and I'll go off of the available names from that list, just so it's not arbitrary, all right, So I ran it, and the big three quarterbacks went first. Then the top three receivers were gone by pick eight. McCarthy and Joe

alt In there as well. Vers and Turner gone, no surprises, brock Bauers gone to corners, Mitchell and Arnold both gone, Latham, Fuaga, Fashanu, Mims, and Barton all of the offensive linemen there, they're gone. And then lot Too and Nix both went off the boards. And this is what I mean, man Like twenty one should it should provide some really good options for the

Miami Dolphins. And that's why I want to look at at who could be eager to get up and who could maybe help us recoup some draft capital and get the player we might covet on the first night. So off the top, here are my preferred players, my short list of guys at twenty one as it stands right now. Number one is you Dubbs Troy Fatanu and look, I've regurgitated this take time and time and time again. He's O line one for me. Getting him here would be not to me that dissimilar to when we left the

first round with Jalen Waddle and Jalen Phillips. Yeah, that's two players and too you know, basically they haven't made the Pro Bowl yet, but I consider them Pro bowlers. Hard to imagine a better scenario from my own scatting reports than getting out of this draft with Troy Fatanu and the way that Jalen Phillips should not have been there at eighteen. I don't think Fatano should be there at twenty one. But it's a deep tackle class, so who the hell knows. But gosh, this board is loaded. Man.

I've got both Johnny Newton and Byron Murphy on the board, and I love both those guys at the spot, we'll go with him in that order. Newton first, Murphy one B, and I refer you back to the podcast last week

where I broke down each of their games. I love love Newton's pass rush, I love love love Murphy's ability to beat three hundred and thirty pound dudes at three hundred pounds and still give you plenty of rush or pop. I should say, as a pass rusher to boot either of those players is a round tripper as they call him in baseball. And then my fourth guy is Jackson Powers Johnson. He was kind of my first darling of this cycle. And that's a typical draft cycle rotation for me.

Fall for a player, watch one hundred more guys, kind of forget about the first guy, and then you come back to him. You always come back to your first love. I dated my high school sweetheart a second time in college. Didn't work out at all, but you do it. But I mean three hundred and thirty pounds, that quickness, the love of the game. I just think that he's going to be a star on the interior for somebody. And this draft again fell in a very nice way for

multiple reasons. If you want a cornerback, Cooper dejan is there, Nate Wiggins is there, and so is kool Aid. McKinstry all there, Peyton Wilson, the top linebacker on PFF's board, and then Brian Thomas, the receiver that I could be indifferent on, and then Xavier Legga is there as well. So I think I'm gonna stay with a four man shortlist board there because they come with to me a

significant gap over the rest of the field. So for this exercise, Troy Fatanu, Johnny Newton, Byron Murphy, Jackson, Powers Johnson are my four players on the short list of guys that were there for the simulation. Let's do four posterity sake one more simulation and see if it changes it all. So Fatano did go off the board on the second simulation, and yes, part of the infatuation with him, let me just say this first, I think he is

a franchise pillar left tackle. But part of the draw is I see a lot of Laramie Tounzel there and that he could come in while you still have Brandon Albert, to Ron Armstead and Austin Jackson on the right side for that matter, and be a damn good left guard while you wait for him to become your franchise left tackle and kick out there seamlessly, smoothly and just become the next layer may Tunzel. That's kind of where I

view Fatano's game. But because he did go off the board and Brian Thomas goes way up at number fifteen, we get Newton, We get no Byron Murphy this time. The corners are all here again. JPJ is there again, but so are JC Latham and Amarius Mims, which would fall into the home run pick category for me. I think Latham is right up there in terms of his upside, and Amarius Mims is the biggest boomer Bus prospect in the draft. So I can see how you wouldn't want

that if you're the Miami Dolphins. But I can also see why it could be a great pick because you could get a franchise stalwart at pick twenty one at one of the premium spots in the national football So that worked out perfectly. I love when your hypothesis provides you the results you hope for, because hey, we're scientists here. We're all scientists, right, we have to be willing to accept that it won't always you won't always get the results you desire, but getting the desired result on your

hypothesis makes it so much better. So with that in mind, and look like, maybe the list is longer, maybe it's shorter for the Dolphins in terms of that pick at twenty one, who the hell knows. But for my own multiple month preparation of work, here back in the studio, back here grinding, watching the tape at grinding the tape on Twitter. That's Kyle. I come away from two simulations

where I have four players. I would leave the first round thrilled about and quite frankly, if I include the corners, it's more like six guys that I love. And when that happens, you try to find your twenty twenty trade from twenty six back to thirty, don't you. You just don't take no Ignaggi this time. You can still get one of those guys and recoup a mid round pick, something I would love to see happen, just because I love the talent in rounds three through four of this class.

So let's take a look at some trade up and trade back options that could exist for the Dolphins come night one of the draft. First thing, a disclaimer, it takes two to tangle, right baby, Oh shopping back dad? You always see this, And look, if we're going to address every take on Twitter, we're gonna be here all day. But oh, I should have traded up or down from that, they could have gotten three picks later. I used three picks because it's hilarious, like, oh, you drafted him three

spots too high. Like those are criticisms you see from Twitter, GMS, right, but like, you can't just force a trade dog. This is not Dwight forcing Andy to sign the title of his ex Terra over. You need two consenting parties. You can't just say sign it, sign it out now, and Andy does it. And here's where it gets tough, Like I think the quarterback is the one you always search for, you know, the rights to get that move down package.

And we were lucky, the lucky ones in twenty twenty one to be smack dab in the middle of quarterback alley there between Trevor Lawrence is Zach Wilson and then Trey Lance was the guy that the Niners came up to get there ahead of Justin Fields and mac Jones. Right, So that was a prime spot to be to recoup draft capital. But here the one guy I think that makes any sense for anybody, and then maybe you don't

take him here. This is why I think he could slide because once you get to that, like there's one quarterback left that everybody kind of likes, but you know, isn't willing to go all in on. They tend to slide. Whether it's Aaron Rodgers in two thousand and five, or shoot, who was with Jimmy Klausen was the guy that slid? Who was the one last year? Somebody will Levis slid

last year? Right Like, once they get past that threshold of the teams that suck in the top of the first round, you kind of hit that loll where it's like, well, we already have a quarterback and we can get you later on because no one else can take the quarterback here because they all have quarterbacks too. But here with Pennix on the board and probably not coming off anytime soon, right Like I said, Philly, Dallas, Green Bay coming up. But then there's Minnesota and Tampa Bay in that range

at twenty three and twenty six as well. But I suspect that Minnesota does find a dance partner up higher to get one of the top five quarterbacks. I don't think you move that capital to go up and just pick at twenty three and eleven. We'll see, but I don't imagine that happens. I also don't imagine Tampa Bay gives Baker Mayfield that contract, even though it's not like the top of the line quarterbacks, which is such a

rare spot. You're like, hey, you're gonna be our starter, but we don't think you're like a top twelve quarterback. It's kind of weird limbo. You're in there. But when you get that contract up, do you then move up for a quarterback? Probably not. They could take one, but I doubt they leap a bunch of teams who already

have established quarterb to go get their guy. And then it's Arizona with Kyler Murray, Buffalo with Josh Allen, Detroit but Jerard Goff Baltimore, Lamar Jackson, San fran with Brock Purdy, and case with that freaking Patrick Mahomes guy. Like, show

me the quarterback needy team there? It doesn't exist. So I think the most plausible route is going back into round two because what you probably need from a non quarterback standpoint is one of those top tackles or offensive lineman right to drop to you, whether that's Graham barton the top of your interior guys or whoever it might be, or if it's Latham or whoever might be. But then are you passing that up? Like if JC Latham falls to you, do you pass on that? I don't think

you do. I don't know, but go to any draft publication. In my own perception as well as offensive line is going to be one of your top three needs going into this draft, right, So if the team agrees with you, then you'd think it's hard to believe that happens. And then it's like, do you want Dude Newton or Murphy drop? Well?

I like both of them, and I think there's a good case to be made to draft the defensive tackle, and we don't think we have you know, we have Wilkins, and the aggregate, we don't have wilkins replacement shot for shot. Then there's like a bunch of good cornerbacks. So who is enticed to come up right here to somebody love Jackson powers Johnson enough to come up I kind of doubt that too. And then at the top of round two, you figure all those teams are gonna get their quarterback

in the first round. The Panthers took theirs last year. Whoops the Patriots at thirty four. If they don't get one in at number three, maybe they're a guy a team that comes up here, but they probably don't trade with you in that position. Thirty five Arizona they have theirs. Washington surely takes a quarterback at two, right, they're at thirty six. Maybe then it's them coming up for receiver to pair with Daniels may or mccarthur, whoever they take,

Chargers Titans. They're gonna go with Will Levis this year. I mean the Chargers should could maybe move off Justin Herbert right because he's been disappointing. I kid, I kid, but yeah, I just Carolina Washington again, Like, I just don't think you're getting the quarterback takeer there so forecasting who would be and for what beyond that is very very tricky. Maybe Dallas wants to get up three spots

and jump Philly to get their Tyrone Smith replacement. Maybe Arizona finds a player, a cornerback they like of the Eagles pick because the Eagles need corner help that they cover it. They have the draft capital to be aggressive after the Will Anderson trade last year, So maybe that's

the spot that makes the most sense. All these cornerbacks Arizona six spots behind put you in position to still get the guy you want, probably and recoop what would be a pick that's worth one hundred and twenty points them to go from twenty seven to twenty one, and using the very outdated Jimmy Johnson Draft trade value chart, which is a kin to the this, it provides a pick that is a kin to the ninety fifth pick, a third round pick, and so Arizona happens to have

the ninetieth pick. So let's say you can recoup that third round pick that you forfeited for in the tampering nonsense stuff a while back. So that's what you get here. And what's nice about the mock simulator is you can force the opposing team to make the trade. Do it, turn it, turn it right now. Pffs. Some of the cardinals were not interested. I said, too damn bad, buddy, learn you better learn trade a knees real quick. So then I went twenty seven edge layout tow lot to

from UCLA. If that's the case, go ahead and mount the statute today because getting him on a trade back is ridiculous. And then pick fifty five. I did this a few time, and this guy was always the pick right here. Guard Christian Haynes from Yukon. I think he's a plug employee star our day one. He's your rob hunt of twenty twenty four, and then it picked ninety. You know, I'm gonna love this wide receiver Malachai Corley Western Kentucky. I would be so happy with that draft

class right there. And then straight up options. I mean, first you have to identify a player you love, right you can't know who that is for any given team, of course, So we look at mine, which is Troy Fatanu,

and so I look at another simulation. Seven offensive linemen go in front of me, most notably Fatanu at fifteen to the Colts, And that comes off the heels of a really good potential tackle run there with the Saints, who lost Ramcheck for the entire season already, the Raiders need to right tackle to pair of Colton Miller with the other tackle spot. The Jets are at ten. Figure to go offensive line or receiver. I think is pretty

obvious there the Jags. I mean, you can throw a penny up the draft board, it probably lands on a team that needs a tackle. But I like that fifteenth spot with Indy because it gets you ahead of Jacksonville Sincey and Pittsburgh, who all have o line and tackle spots as their top needs. In the offseason, Seattle has a guard at their top need as well. So that cost to get up on the JJ draft chart is two hundred and fifty points, which is probably next year's

natural third. And remember we figure to get two additional third round picks in the comp formula next year. So like I think that I affords you some aggressive You're the opportunity to be aggresive if you want to. And then that fifth round pick this year that makes up the two hundred and fifty points, So next year's third, this year's fifth round pick to go up and get Troy Fatanu. Is it worth it? I think it is, so I think either way you have lots and lots

of choices, and good ones too. Those extra projected COMP picks afford you the opportunity to be aggressive, and depending how the board falls, you could even stand to gain more capital and get one more guy that you love. Fun exercise, let's go ahead and take our first break right there. Come back on the other side and get to my guest and preview this wide receiver class with the great Taylor Kyle's That's Next Draft Time podcast, your

host Travis Wingfield, brought to you by Auto Nation. The first of our draft position previews with my esteem guest, my Rollodecks of Knowers as it were here on the Draft Time podcast. We kick it off with the position group that I cannot shut up about this entire draft process. The receivers. I love this year's class. I think that there's a chance we see Miami go after that position

at some point in this draft. And to help us go through it all and talk about these prospects from Patriots CLNS formally of next year on stats, so you know he's covered in the resume. There are Taylor, Kyle's Taylor. What's happening?

becomes different pivot point. But they could be the pivot point in this year's draft at number three, and I'm curious, quarterback receiver, what do you think is gonna happen at that third pick? And then also what does GM Taylor want to do with the third pick?

really accumulate picks. Girod Mayo said during the Coaches breakfast couple weeks back that you know, the best way to do well in the draft is to accumulate more picks, give yourself more shots. So I do legitimately think that they're open to trading. If they do that, I'd like to see them getting offensive tackle. I think we've seen one Elliott Wolf at all of his stops. They've done a really good job with the Browns and the Packers of finding wide receiver talent in the middle the late

rounds of the draft. But tackle is that position. We're past Day one. You're not getting many immediate contributors. Patriots do have Chucsokoro four, who I think could play left tackle for them. Solid starter, he's got experience, he's a solid pass protector, some nastiness as a run blocker, but not great. But again, that offensive tackle spot I think you want to address early because the rest of the guys are more developmental, although there is good depth.

is Jayden Daniels. I think he's super talented. But yeah, if they like the quarterbacks, I think they're gonna stay put. But if they're not so sure, I think we could see them probably trade out.

that he is now. So it's like, do you it's such a tough discussion to have for a team, I'm sure because you don't plan on being up here again ever, right especially under this current regimenists going back into this for the first time with Gerardmeo, like you mentioned, you don't want to be in the spot again. So if you take the Godfather Hall, then where does the quarterback come from? Because we saw the Patriots take a first round quarterback mid round and it was what mac was

the fifth quarterback off the board that year. You kind of limit your upside potential there, So I get the idea of doing that. And speaking of the Godfather Hall, I mean, Dolphins fans know all about that. I mean the Laramie Tunnel trade was the main branch of Jalen Waddell, of Javon holland of Tyreek Hill of Brown, Like, we got so many good players off of that one trade.

So it's a really difficult balance there. Now, you didn't mention the receivers, which I'm glad you didn't because I want to ask you about this because let's go ahead and pivot into the actual topic of the podcast here today and the draft wide receivers. If the Patriots want to really talk all of us and not take the Godfather Hall and not take the quarterback, I would have to imagine it would be one of the top three receivers.

How do you stack those guys? Where do you like Rome and neighbors in order.

in totally different categories in that department. But you look at the upside with Neighbors, the explosiveness, the ball skills, the flashes of route warning where you see this guy's a crazy athlete, Like if we can teach him more expansive route tree, he's going to be very difficult to cover, especially if he kind of refines his ability versus press.

So I think has the higher upside there. But Marvin Harrison Junior, I mean, you want to talk about floor, maybe the highest floor that we've seen in a very long time with you know, there's probably room to grow as well once he actually enters the pros and refines his game even further.

at all those things and he really scares defenses. Like I was watching the podcast that boutleg Football did with Matt Harmon and they're talking about how with Rome, I mean, they give him back shoulder fades all day because they're scared of him going over the top. And the fact that you have to respect him so much. But he can also you know, kick inside, he can play the z X. He's got that versatility and the size kind of like an MMHJA Neighbors hybrid where he gives you

so many of those things that you look for. So I with Neighbors and Harrison, I think they're in the same kind of bracket. It's what do you want the up do you want the guy who's guaranteed to be an annual pro bowler? And then Roma Duonsa is right under them as a guy who's just so good at everything, so talented, but doesn't have quite the ceiling I think as the other guys.

being Roma dunes In. So I kind of hold him in a negative regard in that sense because he beat my Kugs and what was kind of the last Apple Cup of all time in my opinion. That's another point for another day, doesn't Marvin Harrison Junior kinda remind you of his dad, like the way you described him right there, Like we knew yet. They have good speed, their great separators, but like just they just get open and catch the football, right, Like that's what they do best.

it makes a lot of sense. Like him and his dad probably talk a lot of ball because the attention to detail that you see from him, where he's really maximizing the physical traits that he has crazy impressive to watch and I'm not one to I don't think the Patriots can afford to pick a receiver that early, because I think you either get the quarterback or again, tackle

is just like it's like hurricane insurance. You know, it's not the sexiest investment, but you know when those storms come knocking, it makes a whole lot of sense and you're happy you got it. But I mean, if they even had one of those things covered, I loved you to say, hey, get Marvin Irrison Junior and know you're getting an excellent player. Although I suspect if they did go receiver, just hypothetically, I think they'd want to go with neighbors upside.

question there. But the Dolphins could be in the receiver market when this podcast comes out. Who knows who the number three receiver is right now as we talk to as I talk to you, it's Tyreek and Waddle. Then we'll see what happens after that. But the Dolphins could be in the receiver market at pick twenty one. It's possible. Who do you think it is the next guy?

the tools that you're looking for. I think he got to kind of put him at that next spot under a But then I look at ad Mitchell now I think he's kind of been put under a microscope more because there's inconsistent effort where sometimes people say, you know, he takes plays off and he doesn't run the routes one hundred percent if he's not one of the main targets.

think he's a bit more refined. You know, both those guys Thomas and Mitchell, he didn't see a ton after that catch from them, but you do see that vertical explosiveness, and with Thomas, I think they can both be using

that Z role. I like Mitchell a bit more, to be honest, But again, if you're looking at that upside, I feel like it's kind of similar where ad with the route running like he's on put him at X one on one let him thrive not as great against Sown, but again, I really think he's good in those man situations, whether it's horizontally or vertically. But I think Brian Thomas

right now is probably better. It is more of a vertical guy, and then you want to work out and round the rest of his game, although he can be very good on like those slants and hitches as well, so not one dimensional, but you know, again, I think it's that deep element of his game that really stands out. So Thomas and then ad Mitchell for me in the same kind of category.

how you can attack teams. So I know it's kind of silly for Dolphins fans to be like, we want more receivers, but we kind of do want more receivers here to just maximize the offense weapons we have currently. Under two talking about Lowe and Mike McDaniel. Speaking of that, you mentioned ad Mitchell, you mentioned Brian Thomas, Mitchell has a teammate, and Xavier' Worthy that Dolphins fans are very excited about his potential, the four to two one speed.

Maybe he's in your second round category there, because I think for the Patriots standpoint, you know, if you do go quarterback at three, I think that pick in the early second round could easily be a wide receiver. Give me someone that you like in that second round and if you could, Taylor, if you could, who do you think would best fit the McDaniel, the Shanahan, the McVeigh, the lafleur. Who fits this Dolphins system the best? Do you think that in that second round?

but the ability is definitely there. And another thing about his game, We're watching him and looking at his size, I'm thinking, Okay, he's probably not going to be great at the catch point. You know, probably goes down after first contact easily. That wasn't really the case. His ball skills, concentration, toughness at the catch point, and tracking really impressive. Where you know, Tyreek Hill different because I think xader Worthy kind of is small, whereas Tyreek is short.

I was really impressed. Where there's a lot of guys who have speed in this class and honestly more than I would have expected who know how to use it like Troy Franklin's in that category as well, but Worthy especially, he knows how to scare defenders and use his speed to his advantage get himself open. He's a guy where I really would not want to deal with the Dolphins

condensed formations. Knowing that Worthy, Waddle and Hill are all on the field together, That's just too much speed to account for on every play.

So it's kind of funny that you made that comparison there, because ty like dude when you watch Tyreek out here in practice, like he wears the you know, the short shorts, and just like dude, he's built different. I mean, that's a funny phrase to say, but he is absolutely built different and just the I mean the makeup of his body. It's crazy. That makes sense why he's so fast and explosive. I know you're dying to get to this last one here.

I have a name that I want. I'm gonna save it in my head, and if you mention his name, I'll let you know if you've got it right or wrong. Not wrong, but just if he said the name, you're sleepers right. Because Miami goes from pick fifty five and doesn't pick again until pick one fifty eight in the fifth round. I'm curious, who are some Day three sleepers

you like? And if you could try to find a way to mold it into dolphins fits because you just talked about guys in the speed element, the outside vertical threat. We love those. Give me some sleepers and Day three for you, Taylor, so.

really like. Malik Washington. That's another one where just his ability after they catch really good football player doesn't get a lot of talk. Like he's at the Shrine Bowl. Obviously, everybody talks about the Senior Bowl. There's not as much

coverage for the Shrine Bowl, but he really shined. I love his ball skills smaller guys, so yeah, he'd fit into that Miami receiving core in that respect, and again doesn't have blazing speed, but I really do think with his toughness, his physicality after the catch, I really like his fit. And another guy, Anthony Gould. Now this is someone who, again not the biggest guy in the world, but if you look at yards per route run in this draft class against man coverage, it's xavierly Get and

then it's Anthony Gould. He's someone where we're six feet tall and had a bigger frame, you'd be talking about him as like a first round, second round pick because he's a really good route runner. He's tough at the catch point, outstanding after the catch. A dude has legit speed.

I don't think the Patriots are gonna get him because they typically like those bigger bodied guys, but I really hope if he's around kind of later on Day three they invest in him because the size is admittedly concerning, but he plays bigger than that and just has a really well rounded skill set that you don't see in the area that he's probably gonna be.

We get smarter every time Taylor does the podcast. We're going to keep these rolling on Wednesday, get ready to learn quarterback and these that's the second time hes a joke on the podcast. We're going to talk quarterbacks with Jordan Reid from ESPN. You don't want to miss that. We'll also get some Dolphins content in there for you guys as well. In the meantime, it's going to be my time you will. Please be sure to subscribe to the podcast on Apple, Spotify, wherever you get your podcasts from.

Go ahead and leave us a rating, leave us a review. You can follow me on social at winkld NFL. The team at Miami Dolphins turned out the Fish Tank podcast with Seth and Juice, the YouTube channel for media availabilities Dolphins Today, all the free agent interviews on Drive Time and Last Button not Lease from Miami Dolphins dot Com until next time. Finn's Up, Carolina, Cameron, Daddy, just come and hold