Dolphins Go Defense in Latest SI Mock Draft

The Miami Dolphins sure appear to have hit with their first-round pick of the 2024 NFL draft with Chop Robinson, named this week to the PFWA All-Rookie team.

Can they hit again with their first-round pick in 2025?

And will they go with a defensive player again with their first selection?

The first answer won't come until we're at least halfway through the next regular season and the second will have to wait until the night of April 24.

In the meantime, there will be plenty of speculation as to who the Dolphins will take, specifically plenty of mock drafts.

THE DOLPHINS GO DEFENSE IN SI.COM'S LATEST MOCK DRAFT

Sports Illustrated unveiled its latest mock draft Wednesday morning, version 5.0, and the Dolphins indeed were pegged to take another defensive player.

After going with Robinson last year, the Dolphins were tabbed in this mock to select safety Malaki Starks from the University of Georgia.

As indicated by writer Daniel Flick, the Dolphins' biggest needs at this time are on the defensive line, the offensive line and in the secondary. We'd add backup quarterback, but flat-out don't see the Dolphins giving any thought to taking a quarterback in the first round.

It wouldn't unprecedented for the Dolphins to select a safety in the first round; in fact, they did seven years ago when they took Minkah Fitzpatrick with the 11th overall selection. That turned out to be a good pick because Fitzpatrick is a perennial All-Pro, though the issue is that it's happened with the Pittsburgh Steelers and not the Dolphins, though that's a story for another day.

After taking Fitzpatrick in 2018, the Dolphins had the 13th pick the following year and selected Christian Wilkins.

The players who started at safety for the Dolphins in 2024 all are pending free agents — Jevon Holland, Jordan Poyer and Elijah Campbell — except for veteran Marcus Maye, who was released after starting three games.

This is what wrote about his selection of Starks for the Dolphins: "The Dolphins have needs in the trenches on both sides of the ball, but with standout safety Jevon Holland entering free agency, Starks feels like a seamless replacement. Starks is a reliable tackler on the back end, capable of covering pass catchers outside and in the slot and he’s proficient working downhill against the run. Miami’s pass defense was a strength in 2024 — Starks will ensure it stays that way moving forward."

THE DOLPHINS' 2025 DRAFT PICKS

The Dolphins finished as one of four teams with an 8-9 record in the regular season, but their league-lowest .417 opponent combined winning percentage put them at the top of those four teams and 13th overall in the first round.

The Dolphins finished with the same record as the Indianapolis Colts, Arizona Cardinals and Atlanta Falcons and will rotate between 13th and 16th in every round, with the teams moving in a forward direction.

That means the Dolphins will go from 13th in the first round, to 16th in the second (because they can't go higher than 13th and have to return to the back of that line), to 15th in the third ... and so forth.

The Dolphins currently are slated to have seven picks in the 2025 draft, plus the expected three compensatory picks that should include a third-round selection for the loss of Robert Hunt and possibly a fourth for the loss of Wilkins. The compensatory picks likely will be announced in March.