The Dolphins have one of the best cornerbacks in the league in Brent Grimes. He may be small but he is an athletic freak that has a nose for the football. However, lined up on the other side of the field they have what most football gambling fans would call just a bunch of other guys. The list of other guys includes Jamar Taylor, Will Davis, Brice McCain, T.J. Heath and Walt Aikens (penciled in as a back up Free Safety). There is potential in this list, but besides McCain, there is not a lot of solid game time experience, and even McCain has limited experience. Drafting a cornerback is clearly an option, however that just means adding another unknown cornerback with no NFL experience.
Trae Waynes from Michigan State is the hands down number one cornerback in the draft and he has all the tools; size, speed, and good cover corner skills. However, unless Miami is in complete love with him, than I would say they should pass on him.
After Waynes there is a large group of 11 other cornerbacks that are speculated to be drafted anywhere from as high as the first round to as low as the third round, such as Jalen Collins (LSU), Kevin Johnson (Wake Forest), Ronald Darby (Florida State), Marcus Peters (Washington), P.J. Williams (Florida State, he was just arrested for a D.U.I, which will definitely hurt his draft stock), Alex Carter (Stanford), Ifo Ekpre-Olomu (Oregon), D’Joun Smith (Florida Atlantic), Bryon Jones (Connecticut), Quinten Rollins (Miami Ohio), and Eric Rowe (Utah). To me any of these players including Waynes are all hit or miss, because Cornerback along with Quarterback are two of the hardest positions to play in regards to transitioning from College Football to the Professional NFL.
Like I have said a few times before, this coaching staff has already drafted 3 CB’s (Davis, Taylor, and Aiken) in 3 years worth of Drafts and all three have huge question marks still and none of them have proven that they could be a legitimate starting cornerback yet. I would much rather either try to trade for a legitimate starting cornerback or find a corner in free-agency or during camp.
However, since CB is still a major need, considering it is such an important position in a league where defending against the pass is becoming more crucial, then I would lean on drafting either Kevin Johnson or Ifo Ekpre-Olomu. Both players should be available when Miami selects in the second round, and if Miami can pick up a third round pick they may still be around in the third round as well.
Johnson is tall and lanky and has good athleticism to cover big receivers along the sidelines, he just needs to bulk up a bit, because he is listed at only 188 pounds. Ekpre-Olomu is an interesting case because he tore his ACL in a bowl game practice, but if it was not for that he may actually have been considered the best CB in this draft class, ahead of even Waynes. He has great football instincts, which is the kind of thing that you can’t teach, and is also very good at not allowing separation. If completely healthy he could be the best corner to come out of this draft class.
Miami may not have the luxury to select a player with a significant injury, but since they are now in year 3 waiting on Davis and Taylor to perform, it may be worth waiting a few extra months for Ekpre-Olomu to be ready to play. What is the rest of the Miami Dolphins News fans feelings on the Dolphins cornerback situation, and if this is a position that we can finally find an answer for in the Draft?