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1st Round (#28) DE Jared Odrick, Penn State

Key Player(s) Passed On: DE/OLB Jerry Hughes

Analysis: It is hard to find fault with the Odrick selection. He was a terrific player at Penn State and has the long arms and height to play defensive end in Miami's 3-4 defense. Odrick will fit in nicely on the Dolphins' defensive line. Miami needed outside linebacker prospects who can rush the quarterback. Jerry Hughes was one of the better college defensive ends who could have been converted to outside linebacker in this draft. Hughes would have been a solid selection. However, Odrick was a fundamentally sound and probably the safer pick. Miami has a young and talented defensive line (DE Philip Merling, DE Jared Odrick, NT Randy Starks and reserve DE Kendall Langford) that should be good for a number of years.

2nd Round (#40) DE Koa Misi, Utah

Key Player(s) Passed On: DE Sergio Kindle

Analysis: The loss of Joey Porter and Jason Taylor made finding a young pass rusher at outside linebacker a very high priority. The Dolphins chose Koa Misi over Sergio Kindle. Misi consistently gives good effort, but he has to learn more counter moves. He also has to finish plays better. The former Ute gets close, but lets quarterbacks and running backs escape his grasp too often. PFDN preferred Kindle over Misi by a fair amount. Which outside linebacker prospect to draft was a key decision for Miami. Kindle and Misi will be compared for years. Miami will be missing a lot of pass rush pressure with the departures of Porter and Taylor. Miami has to hope that Misi adjusts well to the outside linebacker position and converts more opportunities into sacks and tackles for loss.

3rd Round (#73) OT/OG John Jerry, Mississippi

Key Player(s) Passed On: S Chad Jones

Analysis: Jerry has a chance to be a quality starting guard in the NFL. He has to raise his conditioning level to reach his full potential. Jerry's run blocking prowess will help a Miami line that is much stronger at tackle than it is inside. The safety play for Miami last season was very weak. The team released Gabril Wilson and could use additional talent. Chad Jones would have made sense because he is just scratching the surface of his potential. John Jerry was a solid pick. However, safety was a bigger weakness than the offensive line and Jones has substantial upside.

4th Round (#119) LB A.J. Edds, Iowa

Key Player(s) Passed On: CB Akwasi Owusu-Ansah

Analysis: Edds is a smart and fundamentally sound player. He can be a solid backup and contribute on 3rd down passing situations. He is not much of a pass rusher, but Edds has a good feel for pass coverage. We thought Owusu-Ansah had more upside potential. Miami needs help in the secondary and Owusu-Ansah has potential at cornerback and free safety. Edds can carve out a niche for himself in the Dolphins' defense, but we doubt that he will ever be more than a situational player.

5th Round (#145) CB Nolan Carroll, Maryland

Key Player(s) Passed On: TE Andrew Quarless

Analysis: Carroll had a lot of injury issues in college and missed most of his senior season with a broken leg. Miami missed Will Allen when he was injured last season. Every team wants to have quality depth at cornerback. However, Carroll is a raw size/speed prospect who did not make many plays as a cornerback for Maryland. He also was not a dangerous kick returner. Andrew Quarless would have provided quality depth behind Anthony Fasano. Quarless runs better than Fasano and has starting potential. Dolphins' general manager, Jeff Ireland, shies away from character risks and likely passed on Quarless for that reason. Quarless showed more maturity as a senior and represented little risk in the 5th round.

5th Round (#163) S Reshad Jones, Georgia

Key Player(s) Passed On: RB Jonathan Dwyer

Analysis: Reshad Jones was a decent pick in the 5th round. He displayed a combination of hitting ability and ball skills at Georgia from the strong and free safety position. He also was very inconsistent and made mental mistakes in coverage. The biggest question concerning Jones is how well will he handle the mental side of diagnosing complicated pro passing attacks? Miami has Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown at running back, but they both have issues. Williams is 33 years old and Brown is 28 and returning from another injury. Jonathan Dwyer is a young, big back who could have injected youth into a position that is getting long in the tooth.

7th Round (#212) DE Chris McCoy, Middle Tennessee State

Key Player (s) Passed On: TE Dorin Dickerson

Analysis: McCoy is a conversion project from defensive end to outside linebacker. He had a productive senior season (64 tackles, 20 tackles for losses and 7 sacks), but it took him until his 5th year to be a full-time starter. McCoy is not unusually quick, strong or fast. He faces long odds to be anything more than decent depth. Dickerson is really an H-back. He catches the ball well and has speed. Miami may have been able to come up with an offensive package on passing situations to take advantage of his skill-set.

7th Round (#252) LB Austin Spitler, Ohio State

Key Player(s) Passed On: CB Donovan Warren

Analysis: Spitler spent much of his career at Ohio State backing up James Laurinaitis at middle linebacker. He played more as a redshirt senior and had modest production. Spitler is a good special teams player and he will have to be very strong in this department to make the Dolphins. PFDN rated Donovan Warren as the better prospect with more potential. Warren is comfortable in press coverage and could have been tried at free safety. Warren dropped like a stone in the draft partly due to a bad ankle that resulted in slow 40 times. He was a three-year starter at Michigan. Warren clearly made a mistake from a draft standpoint in coming out after his true junior season. He has talent and we thought he was worth a late-round selection to secure his services and see what he can do in camp.

Bottom Line: Miami came away with three potential starters (Odrick, Misi and Jerry) from this draft. The Dolphins really need Misi to develop into an outside linebacker who can post double-digit sack totals consistently. We question whether he is that kind of player. The team did not adequately address their safety position, in our opinion. Miami also did not add a young running back to the mix and passed on improving the depth at tight end.

Grade: B-

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