2 weeks Ago By Chris Perkins
MIAMI GARDENS — I like the Miami Dolphins drafting Michigan nose tackle/defensive tackle Kenneth Grant in the first round of the draft on Thursday night. I like Grant’s attitude and mentality. Granted, I didn’t think he’d get selected at No.
13 , which is where the Dolphins drafted him. I thought Grant would go in the first round, but in the late teens or 20s. Whatever.
He’s a run-stopper who talks of playing with force and utilizing his bull-rush skills. He talks of eventually bringing more power to his pass rush. He talks the talk, and it sounds good.
“I think this addition of me to the Miami Dolphins is going to be one for the books,” Grant said Thursday night on a Zoom conference call with South Florida media. Grant (6 foot 4, 331 pounds) is a large man who gobbles up runners as easily as he gobbles up double teams. Grant is joining a team that’s been accused of playing a finesse brand of ball and folding in cold weather.
He should break both molds. He says he knows the importance of playing in the trenches. “You’ve just got to have a dawg mentality,” Grant said.
“A ‘team over me’ type of mentality, kind of a head space. Just being able to be a guy that does all the dirty work, you know, let other teammates shine.” Grant, with his attitude and skill level, is a ray of sunshine in an otherwise glum Dolphins offseason that’s included the departures of offensive tackle Terron Armstead, defensive tackle Calais Campbell, a trade situation with cornerback Jalen Ramsey and knucklehead behavior by wide receiver Tyreek Hill .
Grant represents hope for a team that is coming off a disappointing and injury-filled 8-9 season. General manager Chris Grier said the Dolphins were “very happy” to select Grant. “He was one of the players that we had targeted,” Grier said, echoing the words and thoughts of every other NFL GM on Thursday.
“There are a number of players we had liked at that spot, and he was one of them.” What you want from this draft pick is for Grant to be aggressive and physical, two traits the Dolphins lack, and two traits that Grant possessed in college. Toughness should be a huge priority for the Dolphins in this draft.
At some point, the Dolphins must trade their finesse 7-on-7 mentality for a knock-you-on-your-butt tackle football mentality. Understand a few things ..
. We know this draft pick won’t help with the Dolphins’ top two problems — culture, and their Big 3 shrinking against top teams. As for the culture, I’ve told you their priorities are mixed up , that some players care more about contract extensions, statistics and social media popularity than winning playoff games.
This first-round draft pick won’t help that. As for the Big 3, I’ve told you that wide receivers Hill and Jaylen Waddle don’t have a 100-yard game against a playoff team in two years. In that span quarterback Tua Tagovailoa has 15 touchdowns and 14 interceptions against playoff teams.
And the Dolphins have a 2-10 record against playoff teams in the past two years. So, as long as you understand that Grant won’t help Tyreek and Waddle get open against playoff teams, and he won’t help Tua throw more touchdowns and fewer interceptions against playoff teams, we’ll be OK moving forward. Here’s something else to keep in mind — the Dolphins badly need to reinvent their thinking on trench play, meaning the offensive and defensive linemen.
Grier said the Dolphins would “invest” in the offensive line this offseason. They’ve made a small investment, signing guard James Daniels, who is recovering from an Achilles injury that limited him to four games with Pittsburgh last year, signing guard-tackle Larry Borom, a backup, and re-signing guard-center Liam Eichenberg, also a backup, and guard-tackle Jackson Carman, another backup. On the defensive line the Dolphins re-signed little-used tackles Matt Dickerson and Benito Jones.
They’ll need more defensive line help later in the draft and also in free agency. That could be an issue. Grier has been in charge of the Dolphins’ drafts since 2016.
His best first-round picks — offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil in 2016, safety Minkah Fitzpatrick in 2018, defensive tackle Christian Wilkins in 2019, Tua in 2020, right tackle Austin Jackson in 2020, Waddle and edge rusher Jaelan Phillips in 2021 — were really good players. His second through seventh rounds are a bit shaky. That’s irrelevant for now.
I like Grant. I like his mentality and I like the selection. Here’s hoping he brings physicality and aggression along with his run-stuffing skills, and I think that’ll happen.
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