It is part of history now, the first round of the 2015 NFL draft is in the books and the Dolphins should be feeling pretty good about the way things turned out for them. The needs for the Dolphins are many, but after trading away the costly Mike Wallace during free agency, a nagging question continued to be asked of Miami's decision makers, questions about the lack of a deep threat. Soon after Wallace's departure from Miami, the Dolphins, in a trade with New Orleans, acquired wide receiver Kenny Stills. Stills, a speedster himself, is only in his second year as a pro and many experts questioned if Miami had improved as a deep threat. The trade also cost the Dolphins a 3rd round selection in the 2015 draft, leading some to think that the Dolphins would trade down to regain the lost pick.
This was a deep draft for wide receivers and fast wide outs could be found deep into the first and part of the second round. What would the Dolphins do? Along with the need for yet another deep threat, the Dolphins also needed a corner, a guard, and help at linebacker along with needing to maybe trade down in order to replace the lost 3rd round selection. The top tier of fast receivers was expected to be gone off the board by the time the Dolphins selected at 14. The top corner in the draft, Trae Waynes was also expected to have been taken before the Dolphins turn on the clock came up. One by one, wide receivers started to disappear and eventually so did Waynes. Cooper and White fell to teams in need of a receiver and only DeVante Parker remained with Saint Louis' turn coming up, it began to look as if Miami would have to reach into the second tier, but for some reason, the Rams went for the top running back in the draft when they selected Todd Gurley from Georgia and when the Dolphins' turn came, there was little doubt as to what they would do.
No one knows if DeVante Parker will turn out to be better or worse than the former Dolphin wide receiver, but Parker is now a member of the Miami Dolphins which makes the Dolphins a double deep threat, offering Miami QB Ryan Tannehill more than just one deep option and causing potential headaches to Defensive Coordinators around the league. The offense needs only to focus on addressing the guard position in the upcoming rounds, perhaps as early as the second, but Dolphin fans must be feeling good about their team, as they anticipate another evening of selections which promises to bring more intrigue and suspense to fans of the aqua and orange.
Next up, a recap of rounds 2 through 7