Kelly: Dolphins can’t afford another disappointing rookie class | Opinion

There’s just as good a chance that some undrafted rookie reporting to the start of training camp on Tuesday will be as much, if not more of a significant contributor than any of the Miami Dolphins’ seven draft picks in 2024 based on this franchise’s recent history.

That was the case in 2019 when Preston Williams and Nik Needham outshined all but Christian Wilkins in Brian Flores’ first rookie class.

It was the case when Kader Kohou established himself as a rookie starting cornerback in a year where all four of those 2022 draftees sparingly played.

And last season, despite having plenty of opportunities and needs for players to step up at their positions, De’Von Achane and tight end Julian Hill were the only rookies to contribute.

Achane, a third-round pick from Texas A&M, set an NFL record for yards per attempt (7.8) in a season as he rushed for 800 yards and scored 11 touchdowns on 103 attempts.

During last year’s training camp Hill outperformed a drafted tight end named Elijah Higgins, who latched onto Arizona after being released by Miami in August and caught 14 passes for 163 yards and one touchdown for the Cardinals. Hill handled the second-most snaps (434) at his position, shining as a blocker while contributing 48 receiving yards on six receptions.

In the meantime, Cam Smith, a second-round pick from South Carolina, barely sniffed the field because of what coaches labeled a maturity issue, Higgins got released, and offensive tackle Ryan Hayes didn’t survive training camp and eventually found his way back on the practice squad after a brief stint with the Indianapolis Colts.

In fairness to general manager Chris Grier, his past three draft classes have been limited by the trades that have produced Tyreek Hill, Liam Eichenberg (traded future picks for the right to draft him), Bradley Chubb, a couple of other players such as Adam Sheehen and Bernardrick McKinney who really aren’t worth mentioning, and Miami’s penalty for tampering with Sean Payton and Tom Brady in the 2022 offseason, when the franchise was trying to lure the recently retired Saints coach and Brady, who was pondering retirement after two seasons in Tampa Bay, to Miami.

Grier and his staff have basically worked without a full arsenal of draft picks for three straight seasons.

However, let’s not pretend that having undrafted players outperform talent the team used a draft pick to acquire is a good thing.

Finding hidden gems should be praised, but drafting duds — which the Dolphins have indeed done far too often, late and early — should be criticized because its a waste of resources (draft capital) and roster space.

If inside linebacker Channing Tindall, a third-round selection in 2022, developed into the player Miami thought he was coming out of Georgia, they wouldn’t need to sign Jordyn Brooks to a lucrative three-year, $26 million contract to replace Jerome Baker, who was purged this offseason as part of Miami’s salary cap cleanse to fix the team’s finances.

If Erik Ezukanma, a fourth-round pick in 2022, blossomed instead of tease the coaches the past two years, Odell Beckham Jr. wouldn’t have been added this offseason to serve as Miami’s No. 3 receiver.

If Smith lived up to his pedigree as a 2023 second-round selection, Eli Apple wouldn’t need to be signed to start a season, and Kendall Fuller would be on another team, and not the front-runner to start opposite Jalen Ramsey after Miami released former Pro Bowler Xavien Howard to clear cap space this offseason.

Good franchises, healthy franchises, draft and develop talent consistently. They keep bullets in the chamber, and they don’t need a treasure chest of early draft picks, or numerous trades for superstars to build a winning team.

That is why the Dolphins have to start doing more than banking on trades, or top picks in every draft class because drafting and developing young talent is the key to sustained success in the NFL.

The tide has to turn, and it needs to start with this year’s Dolphins edge rushers, Chop Robinson and Mohamed Kamara, whom Miami will likely call on to start, if not serve as rotational players until Bradley Chubb (ACL) and Jaelan Phillips (Achilles) return from the season-ending injuries they suffered late last year.

Both will be thrown into prominent roles early this camp, and we will quickly learn if the puppies bite. That’s a Bill Parcells-ism, which stems from the former Dolphins executive’s belief that rookies who make impact plays in their first season are possible foundational pieces, if not superstars.

The hope is that Jaylen Wright and his 4.38 40-time speed will help him replicate Achane’s success, and that he will find a role in Miami’s crowded backfield, or on special teams.

Head coach Mike McDaniel can always find use for players who runs a sub 4.4 40-times, and the Dolphins did trade away a 2025 third-round pick to put themselves in position to select the former Tennessee standout, who rushed for 2,297 yards and averaged 6.2 yards per carry in his three seasons with the Volunteers, in the fourth round.

But that’s not as critical as Patrick Paul, a towering offensive tackle whom the Dolphins selected 55th overall after ignoring the team’s glaring need for offensive guard help, soaking up all of Terron Armstead’s teachings, and developing into the perfect left tackle understudy in the training camp and exhibition season snaps he will inherit because of Armstead’s expected absence from July and August’s practices and games.

Anything else the Dolphins get from the rest of the 2024 draft class, which includes former Virginia receiver Malik Washington, former USC receiver Tahj Washington, California safety Patrick McMorris and the 12 undrafted rookies added to the training camp roster, will be gravy if Robinson and Kamara blossom into reliable contributors, Paul proves he’s Armstead’s successor and Wright becomes another weapon in McDaniel’s arsenal.

What the Dolphins can’t afford is another season where the draftees sit on the sidelines, sparingly contributing while Grier has to sign veterans and make trades to address roster voids.