Dolphins get potential draft setback. And ex-first rounder gets Dolphins tryout and notes

A six-pack of Dolphins notes on a Tuesday:

▪ The Dolphins, currently slotted 15th in the first round of the NFL Draft, could end up picking anywhere from 12th to 18th if they miss the playoffs, and obviously later than that if they make the playoffs, depending on what round they’re eliminated.

But one mild draft setback came to light on New Year’s Eve, when compensatory pick expert Nick Korte (of overthecap.com) revealed that he expects the Dolphins will get a fourth-rounder, not the expected third-rounder, for losing Christian Wilkins to Las Vegas in free agency.

Miami was due to get a third-rounder, but Korte conveyed on X, and again in a private exchange, that the current formula projects Miami getting a fourth-rounder for losing Wilkins.

A season-ending broken foot, sustained in Week 5, has dropped Wilkins’ play-time percentage to less than 25 percent of the Raiders’ defensive snaps and Korte said “that means that he gets no boost at all in the compensatory formula, and that could drop the round his contract is valued from the third to the fourth.”

Korte conveyed to me that he expects Miami to end up with three compensatory picks: a third-rounder for Robert Hunt (who signed with Carolina), a fourth-rounder for Wilkins and a seventh-rounder for Pittsburgh safety DeShon Elliott.

Dolphins signings in free agency canceled out other departures, including the loss of Andrew Van Ginkel, who has 11.5 sacks for Minnesota.

In terms of first-round draft order, Pro Football Talk explains that “draft picks are awarded in order of lowest winning percentage, and the tiebreaker is opponents’ winning percentage, with the team that played the easier schedule picking first. If the teams have the same strength of schedule, division or conference tiebreakers are applied.”

The draft will be held April 24-26 in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

▪ Four Dolphins finished in the top 10 at their positions in NFL fan voting, which has ended.

Alec Ingold was fourth among fullbacks, Jonnu Smith fifth among tight ends and kicker Jason Sanders and special teams ace Siran Neal were 10th.

The Pro Bowl teams will be announced at 9 a.m. Thursday on NFL Network.

Votes of fans, players and coaches each count one-third toward selection of the teams.

▪ The upshot of potentially re-signing free agent linebackers Anthony Walker Jr. and Tyrel Dodson: Neither would break the bank, both are reliable and the team likes their leadership skills.

The downside, with Walker, is risk of injury. He has played in 13, 3, 12 and 14 games the past four seasons, and his status for Sunday’s finale is dubious because of a knee injury.

But the Dolphins love that Walker has “got great control and command of what he’s trying to do,” as inside linebackers coach Joe Barry said. “When you have the green dot [as the play-caller], he truly is out quarterback on the defensive side of the ball. What he brings to us is pretty unique and special. His leadership qualities, his command... He is our quarterback on our side of the ball. He brings that to us and it’s been great.”

Why does Walker and not Jordyn Brooks have the green dot on the helmet, given to the defender who shouts out signals to teammates?

“Do you have a listener or do you have a talker?” Barry said, implying that Walker is far more talkative. “Anthony can process a lot and can communicate.”

But there’s no bigger fan of Brooks than Barry.

▪ Former third-round pick Channing Tindall might make it through his entire third season without playing a snap on defense.

Does Barry have any idea what would happen if he played a full regular season game?

“I can judge that from being around him one offseason,” Barry said. “I was quite happy what he was able to do in the preseason. He played three quarters of every game. He was kind of being the guy who was going to play almost wire-to-wire. It’s unfortunate for him he’s got the four guys he has in front of him [Brooks, Walker, Dodson, Duke Riley].

“From Day 1 I met him through the offseason through training camp through preseason he’s made strides and improvements. Just unfortunate he hasn’t been able to show it on Sundays.”

His rookie contract has one more season.

▪ The Dolphins worked out four offensive linemen on Tuesday, including a former Raiders first-round pick.

As noted by Aaron Wilson and the NFL transaction wire, the Dolphins worked out tackles Alex Leatherwood, Lucas Niang and Cameron Erving and guard Gunner Britton. None have played in a regular-season game this year.

The Raiders selected Leatherwood with the 17th pick in 2021, and he started all 17 games and then was shockingly cut. He played in four games for the Bears in 2022 and hasn’t appeared in a game since. A former Outland Trophy winner (given to the best lineman in college football), Leatherwood spent most of this season with the Chargers but was cut Dec. 10.

Niang, a former third-rounder, has appeared in 33 games and started nine for Kansas City.

Erving had made 58 NFL starts, including two for New Orleans last season.

Britton, an undrafted rookie from Auburn, spent training camp with Buffalo.

▪ Quick stuff: Fox is expected to air Sunday’s 4:25 p.m. Dolphins-Jets game in a large part of the country, particularly in the Eastern and Central time zones, with No. 2 team Joe Davis and Greg Olsen on the call. Fox lead team Kevin Burkhardt and Tom Brady were assigned to Tampa Bay-New Orleans at 1; the Buccaneers will win the NFC South with a victory…

One thing you kept hearing this season is how much Malik Washington reminds the Dolphins of River Cracraft. Receivers coach Wes Welker: “It’s almost like Malik is a younger version of him, being able to play all three positions, helping other guys in the room be prepared.” Even Cracraft says he sees it…

Jason Sanders, on hitting a 54-yard field goal off the crossbar in Cleveland on Sunday: “The grass wasn’t very strong, so it made the plant a little harder so I wasn’t able to get into it as much. But the suspense of hitting the crossbar, I hope never happens again. I stared at Jake Bailey the whole time and was like, ‘tell me it goes in.’ Like just give me the result. So I hope that suspense never comes ever again, but it was a good kick in a tough stadium.”