Miami Dolphins early 2021 NFL mock draft: Defense and WR the focus

An early look at who the Miami Dolphins could select in the 2021 NFL Draft.

It’s been a wild offseason for the Miami Dolphins. After an impressive 5-11 2019 campaign (especially with the roster in place), the team was in a position to make some noise during free agency and the 2020 NFL Draft.

Free agency starting off with a bang, as the Dolphins signed Byron Jones to a massive five-year extension. They added Shaq Lawson, Emmanuel Ogbah, and Kyle Van Noy to the front seven, then brought in Ted Karras and Ereck Flowers to help out the offensive line.

In the draft, they landed quarterback Tua Tagovailoa after a flurry of smoke screens before the draft and didn’t have to move up in the process. They were able to land Austin Jackson and Noah Igbinoghene as well in the first round and kept adding to the trenches later throughout the draft.

Despite the improvements, the Dolphins aren’t likely to make much hay in 2020. It’s unclear how much Tagovailoa will play this fall, so this isn’t a team with Super Bowl aspirations just yet. It will likely take another offseason of building to get Miami where they want to be under head coach Brian Flores. But, the good news is that they’re headed in the right direction.

Yes, it’s only July, but the NFL Draft is a year-round process, and it’s always fun to think about who teams could take months from now based on current needs. The Dolphins still have a few glaring ones that they will likely address in the 2021 NFL Draft. Let’s take an early look at how the first three rounds could shake out for Miami.