The Miami Dolphins have been a very busy team this offseason. In addition to making defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh the highest-paid defender in NFL history (six years, $114 million, with $60 million guaranteed), they also added tight end Jordan Cameron as a free agent, snagged talented receiver Kenny Stills from New Orleans in a trade for peanuts, and unloaded Mike Wallace and his overly large contract to Minnesota.
It's been an aggressive series of movements, designed to push Miami toward the playoffs in the team's fourth season under Joe Philbin and Ryan Tannehill. How will Kevin Nogle of The Phinsider supplement all of his team's real-life movements with the No. 14 overall pick in our 2015 NFL mock draft? By giving Tannehill a talented partner in the backfield.
14. Dolphins: Todd Gurley, RB, Georgia
More from our team site
More from our team site
Nogle: The way the NFL has looked at the running back position in recent years, selecting one with the No. 14 overall pick seems to be out of the norm, especially one who may not be ready for the season opener. The Dolphins, however, have starter Lamar Miller in place, and could wait for Gurley if the knee is not fully recovered by the time Week 1 rolls around. Gurley looks like he should be a special running back, and the Dolphins could use that in the offense they're building around Ryan Tannehill.
Ideally, one of the top three receivers -- Amari Cooper, Kevin White, or DeVante Parker -- falls to Miami here, but they are all off the board, as are some of the other considerations, such as Trae Waynes. The Dolphins could consider Dorial Green-Beckham, but between health and character concerns, I would think Miami leans toward the knee (assuming they feel the autographs issue with Gurley is not an off-the-field concern). The other player I considered here for Miami is Alabama safety Landon Collins, who could be the future of the safety position in the Dolphins secondary, but Miami just re-signed Louis Delmas and seems to be happy with him and Reshad Jones in the back end of the defense, so Gurley seems to be the right pick here.
Dan Kadar, SBNation.com: The notion the past few years is that you don’t need to take a running back highly in the draft. But at some point, talent is talent. Gurley is the best running back in the last three drafts and the type of player who can be a dominant lead runner in the NFL. He can break tackles, has speed to bust big runs and almost always generates positive yards. The only issue with Gurley is the health of his knee. But if a team is confident he won’t have long-term issues with it, there’s nothing wrong with taking him with the No. 14 pick. That’s especially true when you consider what the Dolphins have at the position.
Dan's Top 5 players remaining
- 13. Eddie Goldman, DT, Florida State
- 15. Marcus Peters, CB, Washington
- 17. Dorial Green-Beckham, WR, Oklahoma
- 19. Eric Kendricks, LB, UCLA
- 20. Arik Armstead, DE, Oregon
All picks from this mock draft
Dolphins picks
- 1-14: Todd Gurley, RB, Georgia
- 2-47: (coming April 13)
We have one more pick for you today before a weekend off -- publishing at 3:00 p.m. ET, from Niners Nation for the San Francisco 49ers.