Month: April 2017

DOLPHINS SELECT G ISAAC ASIATA IN FIFTH ROUND

• Asiata continued a streak of 52 consecutive years the Dolphins have selected an offensive lineman – every draft in the team’s history.
• Asiata is the ninth Utah Ute to be drafted by the Dolphins and the first since Koa Misi was a second-round pick (40th overall) in 2010.
• The Dolphins now have three Utah Utes on the roster. Asiata joins linebackers Koa Misi and Trevor Reilly.

DOLPHINS SELECT DT DAVON GODCHAUX IN FIFTH ROUND

• Godchaux is the 10th LSU player to be selected in team history and third defensive lineman. Other Tigers defensive linemen selected by Miami include Kenny Mixon in the second round (49th overall) of the 1998 draft and J. Duhe in the first round (13th overall) of the 1977 draft. Duhe was selected as a defensive end despite being a Pro Bowl linebacker for the Dolphins.
• Miami’s last draft pick from LSU was in 2014 when the team selected wide receiver Jarvis Landry (63rd overall).

DOLPHINS SELECT DT VINCENT TAYLOR IN SIXTH ROUND

• Taylor is Miami’s first draft pick from Oklahoma State since 1985, when the team selected defensive back Adam Hinds in the ninth round (251st overall).
• At No. 194 overall, Taylor becomes the second-highest picked Cowboy in Dolphins history. Linebacker Cleveland Vann went in the fifth round at No. 130 overall in 1974.
• With Taylor’s selection, the Dolphins have now picked five Oklahoma State players in team history.

DOLPHINS SELECT WR ISAIAH FORD IN SEVENTH ROUND

• Ford is just the second Virginia Tech player to be selected by the Dolphins in team history. He joins quarterback Don Strock who was a fifth-round pick (No. 111 overall) in 1973. Ironically, the 1973 season is the last time the Dolphins won a Super Bowl.
• Miami has now selected a wide receiver in four straight drafts dating back to the 2014 selections of Jarvis Landry and Matt Hazel.

POWER FIVE CONFERENCES

• The Dolphins selected players from each of the Power 5 conferences – the SEC (Harris and Godchaux), Big Ten (McMillan), ACC (Tankersley and Ford), Pac-12 (Asiata) and Big 12 (Taylor).
• It is the first time since 2012 the Dolphins have taken players from each of the Power 5 conferences in the same draft.

NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

• The Dolphins selected two players who won national championships – McMillan won a title as a true freshman at Ohio State in 2014 and Tankersley won a national championship as a senior at Clemson in 2016.
• McMillan and Tankersley join Kenyan Drake, Anthony Steen and Mike Pouncey as the only players on the Dolphins roster to win national championships. Steen (2011-12) and Drake (2012, 2015) each won two national championships at Alabama while Pouncey was on Florida’s 2008 national championship squad.
• The last time the Dolphins took two players who won national titles in the same draft was 2001 when they selected quarterback Josh Heupel and running back Travis Minor. Heupel won the 2000 national title as the starting quarterback at Oklahoma while Minor was on Florida State’s 1999 national championship team.

QUICK HITS

• The five defensive players the Dolphins selected are the most on that side of the ball since 2013 when they also took five.
• This is the sixth time since 2000 the Dolphins have had the majority of their selections on the defensive side of the ball.
• Miami selected just two offensive players in this year’s draft. In 2016, the team selected just two defensive players.
• The last time the Dolphins used back-to-back picks on defensive linemen was in 2006 when they selected Frederick Evans (212th overall) and Rodrique Wright (226th overall) in the seventh round.
• This year is the first draft in team history the team has taken three straight defensive players to begin the draft.
• Miami selected four players that have won divisional championships in college. Harris won the SEC East at Missouri in 2014, McMillan won the Big Ten East in 2014, Ford won the ACC Coastal in 2016 and Tankersley won the ACC Atlantic at Clemson in 2015 and 2016.

DOLPHINS SELECT LB RAEKWON McMILLAN IN SECOND ROUND

• McMillan became the first linebacker selected by the Dolphins since Jordan Tripp was picked in the fifth round (171st overall) of the 2014 NFL Draft.
• At 54 overall, McMillan is the highest linebacker to be picked by Miami since Koa Misi was chosen in the second round (40th overall) in the 2010 NFL Draft.
• McMillan is the sixth player the Dolphins have selected who played at least part of his collegiate career under Urban Meyer, but the first since Meyer moved to Ohio State in 2012. The Dolphins selected four players Meyer had coached during his tenure at Florida – Jelani Jenkins (2013), Mike Gillislee (2013), Caleb Sturgis (2013) and Mike Pouncey (2011) – and selected Paul Soliai (2007), who was at Utah with Meyer in 2004.

DOLPHINS SELECT CB CORDREA TANKERSLEY IN THIRD ROUND

• Tankersley’s selection marks the fifth consecutive draft (2013-17) the Dolphins have selected a cornerback.
• Miami has now taken five cornerbacks in the past three drafts – Bobby McCain (2015), Tony Lippett (2015), Xavien Howard (2016) and Jordan Lucas (2016).

NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

• The Dolphins have now selected two players who won national championships – McMillan won a title as a true freshman at Ohio State in 2014 and Tankersley won a national championship as a senior at Clemson in 2016.
• McMillan and Tankersley join Kenyan Drake, Anthony Steen and Mike Pouncey as the only players on the Dolphins roster to win national championships. Steen (2011-12) and Drake (2012, 2015) each won two national championships at Alabama while Pouncey was on Florida’s 2008 national championship squad.
• The last time the Dolphins took two players who won national titles in the same draft was 2001 when they selected quarterback Josh Heupel and running back Travis Minor. Heupel won the 2000 national title as the starting quarterback at Oklahoma while Minor was on Florida State’s 1999 national championship team.

CLEMSON

• With the selection of Tankersley, the Dolphins now have three Clemson players on the roster and all three play defense. Andre Branch finished his Clemson career in 2011 and Byron Maxwell wrapped up at Clemson in 2010.
• Tankersley is the first Clemson player selected by Miami since safety Chris Clemons was a fifth-round pick (165th overall) in 2009.
• At No. 97 overall, Tankersley becomes the second-highest picked Clemson player in Dolphins history. Defensive end Phillip Merling was picked in the second round (32nd overall) in the 2008 NFL Draft.

OHIO STATE

• McMillan is the 13th player Miami has selected from Ohio State and the fifth linebacker. The last time Miami drafted a Buckeye was linebacker Austin Spitler in the seventh round (252nd overall) of the 2010 NFL Draft.

ALL-TIME DOLPHINS DRAFT PICKS FROM OHIO STATE

YEAR	RD	PICK	POS	PLAYER
2017	2	54	LB	Raekwon McMillan
2010	7	252	LB	Austin Spitler
2009	4	108	WR	Brian Hartline
2007	1	9	WR	Ted Ginn
1999	6	192	P	Brent Bartholomew
1989	5	121	C	Jeff Uhlenhake
1988	1	16	DE	Eric Kumerow
1988	6	156	RB	George Cooper
1987	12	322	QB	Jim Karsatos
1986	7	193	LB	Larry Kolic
1984	6	165	LB	Rowland Tatum
1983	11	306	G	Joe Lukens
1974	4	100	LB	Bruce Elia

• The Dolphins have had 26 players from Ohio State appear in a regular season game, the third-most from a single school in team history.

SCHOOLS WITH THE MOST ALL-TIME DOLPHINS PLAYERS

SCHOOL	NO.
Miami (Fla.)	36
Tennessee	28
Ohio State	26
Florida	20
Alabama	20

QUICK HITS

• This marks the first draft in team history the team has taken three straight defensive players to begin the draft.
• Miami has already selected more defensive players (3) in this year’s draft than they did all of the 2016 NFL Draft. The team still has four picks remaining on Day 3.
• All three players Miami has selected have won divisional championships in college. Harris won the SEC East at Missouri in 2014, McMillan won the Big Ten East in 2014 and Tankersley won the ACC Atlantic at Clemson in 2015 and 2016.

 

DOLPHINS SELECT DE CHARLES HARRIS IN FIRST ROUND 

• Harris became the 11th defensive lineman and ninth defensive end to be selected by Miami in the first round of the NFL draft.

ALL-TIME DOLPHINS FIRST-ROUND PICKS (DEFENSIVE LINEMEN)

YEAR	PICK	PLAYER	SCHOOL
2013	3	Dion Jordan	Oregon
1969	11	Bill Stanfill	Georgia
1992	12	Marco Coleman	Georgia Tech
1988	16	Eric Kumerow	Ohio State
1987	16	John Bosa	Boston College
1996	20	Daryl Gardener	Baylor
1994	20	Tim Bowens	Mississippi
2017	22	Charles Harris	Missouri
1972	25	Mike Kadish	Notre Dame
1974	26	Don Reese	Jackson State
2010	28	Jared Odrick	Penn State

THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI 

• Harris is the fifth player the Dolphins have picked from the University of Missouri and second defensive lineman. The team also picked defensive end Jeff Cross from the school in the ninth round (239th overall) of the 1988 NFL draft.

ALL-TIME DOLPHINS DRAFT PICKS FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI

YEAR	RD	PICK	POS	PLAYER
2017	1	22	DE	Charles Harris
2012	3	78	TE	Michael Egnew
1985	6	145	WR	George Shorthose
1988	9	239	DE	Jeff Cross
1967	12	295	DB	Jim Whitaker

THE SEC 

• This marks the second consecutive season and the third in the past four that the Dolphins have used their first-round draft pick on a player from the Southeastern Conference. The team also selected Mississippi tackle Laremy Tunsil with the 13th overall pick in 2016 and Tennessee tackle Ja’Wuan James with the 19th overall pick in 2014.
• The SEC has had the most players selected in 10 consecutive NFL drafts (2007-16). Over the past seven drafts (2010-16), the SEC has had 346 players drafted, the most of any conference in the country.
• Harris is the 16th Dolphins first-round draft pick that has played at one of the 14 schools that currently comprise of the SEC.
• Miami has taken an SEC player in the first round of five of the past seven NFL drafts – Mike Pouncey (2011), Ryan Tannehill (2012), Ja’Wuan James (2014), Laremy Tunsil (2016) and Charles Harris (2017).

QUICK HITS 

• Harris’ selection at No. 22 overall marks the first time in Dolphins history they have selected a player with the 22nd pick of the draft.
• In Miami’s 52 NFL drafts, Harris marks the 11th time the team has taken a defensive lineman with its top overall selection.
• Harris becomes the only player on the Dolphins roster to be from the state of Missouri or finish his collegiate career at the University of Missouri.
  • The Dolphins will play in his hometown of Kansas City, Mo. in Week 16 this year when they play at the Kansas City Chiefs on Dec. 24.