Thursday, January 31, 2013
Miami's first-round options
By Tim Kavanagh
More and more mock drafts are being posted these days -- we've got a little under three months to go -- and one team that has drawn a different choice from nearly every analyst is the Miami Dolphins, currently at No. 12 overall.
Part of the reason for this is that the Dolphins are expected to be players in free agency for the spots where they have a need, including WR, CB and potentially at OT if they don't re-sign Jake Long (and have to move Jonathan Martin over to LT). NFL.com published the work of four analysts -- Bucky Brooks, Daniel Jeremiah, Charles Davis and Gil Brandt -- and while picks 1-11 for the quartet were either the same, or similar, the picks for Miami were quite divergent.
Brooks sent them Tennessee WR Cordarrelle Patterson, who has become a popular pick for Miami in mock drafts in general. Jeremiah has them taking LSU DE Barkevious Mingo, though many believe he may go to the Jets at No. 9. Meanwhile, Brooks has the Dolphins addressing the CB position with Mississippi St.'s Johnthan Banks while Brandt went with BYU DE Ezekiel Ansah.
Here's ESPN AFC East blogger James Walker on why there's so much disparity between the different mock drafts when it comes to Miami:
