Day 794, Quasi-Quarantine: After Sitting Out Day 1 Of The Draft, Miami Makes Limited Entrance On Day 2

Following its seismic trade for Kansas City wideout Tyreek Hill -- in which Miami sent essentially its draft to the Chiefs -- the Dolphins were casual observers on the 2022 selection show's first day. While I both understood and would not have made that deal (more on that on another day), the fallout is that the 'Fins were relegated to trying to make the most of its first pick of the draft: 102 choices in.

The pluses: Miami used that third-rounder (as announced by franchise legend Larry Csonka) on Georgia's Channing Tindall, a highly athletic 6-2, 230-pound linebacker. In a season that saw the Bulldogs win the national title, he recorded 67 tackles, including 7.5 stops for losses and 5.5 sacks. Powered by a 42-inch vertical and a 4.47-second 40-yard dash, Tindall rose up the rankings as the draft neared, with Dane Brugler, draft guru for The Athletic, slotting him as the No. 74 player in the draft. Scouts cited his acceleration, burst, aggressive runs fits, striking ability, and sideline-to-sideline style of play.

The negatives: Overshadowed by more prominent Georgia linebackers Nakobe Dean and Quay Walker, Tindall was seen as something as a slow developer after tallying just 41 tackles in his first three seasons in Athens. Without a pass breakup in his entire career, he's seen as a liability in coverage, exhibiting poor pass breakups and anticipation. As a result, Tindall was primarily considered a rotational linebacker whose speed and hitting ability could help him eventually evolve into a starter.

The bottom line: Linebacker is a position where Miami has mostly been trying to just get by with patchwork additions in recent years, so investing in the unit was long overdue. Tindall would appear to be a good scheme fit for an aggressive, attacking defense, with high potential as a blitzer and quarterback spy. If he can give Jerome Baker some help with pressure from the linebacker corps and earn situational reps, Tindall will justify being the Dolphins' first choice in an anomaly of an NFL Draft for Miami.