NFL Draft is here, but Dolphins, Chris Grier have already done most of the heavy lifting

Dolphins general manager Chris Grier welcomed reporters back to the team facility last week for the league-mandated pre-draft news conference, which Grier called the most fun media session of the year.

“Where no one says anything,” he said.

Grier was only partially joking. Laying cards on the table before a draft is never a general manager’s M.O. In the end, though, the joke was Grier. Reporters naturally asked about Tua Tagovailoa’s health. About newcomers, particularly Jalen Ramsey. About the offensive line and Tyreek Hill and Eric Saubert.

Hardly anybody asked about the draft.

The reason is simple. It’s as if, right after the Dolphins were eliminated from the playoffs by the Buffalo Bills, Grier rolled up his sleeves, pulled out a legal pad and made his offseason to-do list.

Then, Grier attacked it the way Christian Wilkins does ballcarriers.

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It wouldn’t be realistic to expect Grier to have checked off everything on his list today, but he has come close. When the NFL Draft runs Thursday through Saturday in Kansas City, Grier is scheduled to have only four picks — the highest being 51st overall — via a series of trades and the forfeiture of a first-round pick due to tampering with Tom Brady and Sean Payton.

Grier always has been of the “best-available” school of thought rather than reaching for draft prospects out of need, but the smart money would have him looking hard at one of the deepest, most-solid tight end classes in years, filling a hole created when free agent Mike Gesicki signed with New England.

Draftniks believe a first-round run on tight ends is possible. No one expects Utah’s Dalton Kincaid or Notre Dame’s Michael Mayer to slide past Round 1. But it’s not unreasonable to think the Dolphins could have a shot at players such as Iowa’s Sam LaPorta, Oregon State’s Luke Musgrave, South Dakota State’s Tucker Kraft or even  Georgia’s Darnell Washington.

Jalen Ramsey, Bradley Chubb additions affect draft

So many of the other holes Grier needed to address no longer concern him. Chief among them was a cornerback to bookend Xavien Howard. The Dolphins jettisoned Byron Jones, who missed the 2022 season. Replacing him is Jalen Ramsey, giving them Pro Bowl experience at both corners but costing them a third-round pick.

While that took heat off Grier to draft a cornerback who could start immediately, other moves bolstered the roster at linebacker (David Long in, Elandon Roberts out), backup quarterback (Mike White in, Teddy Bridgewater out) and return specialist (Braxton Berrios in, revolving door out). They also picked up the fifth-year option on Tagovailoa. Don't forget, too, the midseason trade last year that effectively made Pro Bowl edge rusher Bradley Chubb the Dolphins' "first-round pick" this year.

Not to mention possibly the most impactful addition of all: The Dolphins landed veteran Vic Fangio and made him the highest-paid defensive coordinator in the league.

Where does that leave Grier and the Dolphins?

For starters, Thursday should be a snoozefest in Miami Gardens. This is scheduled to be the second consecutive year the Dolphins do not have a first-round pick, following 2022 and the blockbuster Hill trade. How rare is it for the Dolphins to go back-to-back years as Round 1 spectators? Very. It first happened in 1970-71, when they instead obtained receiver Paul Warfield and coach Don Shula. It didn’t happen again until a five-year stretch from 1999-2003 in which they exercised only one first-round pick — and wished they didn’t. In 2001 they took cornerback Jamar Fletcher. Six picks later, quarterback Drew Brees came off the board. The Dolphins’ four other first-rounders were swallowed up by the Ricky Williams trade, a trade-up and a trade-down.

Could Chris Grier trade back up into first round?

But you may not want to go to bed early Thursday because there’s always that chance Grier pulls off yet another trade to move back into Round 1.

“We’ve had a couple of teams in the bottom half of the first round reach out, saying they would be interested in coming down possibly if their guys aren’t there, and if we’d be interested in moving,” Grier said. “So for us, again, any opportunities we can to get a player, we’ll look at it. So no serious conversations but we’ve had those and we’ll keep those options open.”

Even keeping with the best-available philosophy, what are the other positions the Dolphins would like to target?

Offensive line: The Dolphins historically have spent more draft picks here (120) than anywhere else. They believe they have players to fill the final two spots on the line with Austin Jackson at right tackle and Liam Eichenberg at left guard. Jackson was a first-round pick in 2020 and Eichenberg was taken in the second round in 2021 via a trade-up, but neither has performed as expected to date.

Final, strange point: Despite all the attention the Dolphins have paid toward building a dominant offensive line, only twice in their history have they gone an entire draft without taking an O-lineman — and both instances occurred in the past five years, including last year.

Secondary: If there’s one thing the Dolphins learned last year, it’s that you can never have too much depth here. Surely the secondary can’t have as many injuries as it did in 2022. Miami is pleased with the promise of young players such as Kader Kohou, Brandon Jones and Nik Needham, but if there’s a safety or corner on the board they like, it would be hard to pass (terrible pun, we know).

Running back: The Dolphins went from having nobody under contract for 2023 to bringing back the running back corps as a whole. So the work is done, right? Maybe not. In the lead-up to the draft there has been buzz that the Dolphins have their eyes on a premier running back in this draft. Wisdom says don’t burn a first-rounder on a back, but what if one is available as Round 2 cranks up? The Dolphins could be tempted to slide up several notches to complement the passing attack.

Dolphins reporter Hal Habib can be reached at  hhabib@pbpost.com and followed on Twitter  @gunnerhal.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: NFL Draft 2023 arrives, but Chris Grier has built most of Dolphins