The Miami Dolphins are coming into the NFL draft with a number of needs and on Thursday they could look to make Marqise Lee or another receiver their first round pick and later in the draft, Carlos Hyde, Tre Mason and Andre Williams could be targets along with a potential trade involving Mike Wallace.
The Dolphins are one team to watch in the draft, as they are picking in the middle of the first round and they have some major needs on both sides of the ball and they could go with offense in the top half of their draft. The team scored just seven points over the final two games of the season and went just 8-8 and missed the playoffs and now they are trying to rebound in 2014. The team wants to add more weapons as they try to develop Ryan Tannehill into an elite quarterback and while he has all the talent in the world, he needs a much better running game and he also needs more production from Mike Wallace.
The team is likely to look at running back at some point in the draft and the second or third rounds could fit that bill for the team. The Dolphins have the number 50 pick in the second round and after ranking just 26th in the league in rushing last season they could go for some names like Carlos Hyde, Andre Williams, Tre Mason or Jeremy Hill in the draft. The team used Lamar Miller, Daniel Thomas and Mike Gillislee mainly last season, with Thomas and Miller the main two backs and they only gained 90 yards per game and that was not good enough for the team.
Miller was supposed to have a breakout season as the starter and he had only 709 yards last season and that is one reason why the team opted to sign Knowshon Moreno as a free agent. Moreno is coming off of his best career season and he had over 1,000 yards for the Broncos and he also set career high numbers in receptions and reception yards and that could be a huge element for the Dolphins if they work him out of the backfield in the same way.
Last season Hyde was excellent for Ohio State and he could be the first back off the board in the second or third rounds after rushing for over 1500 yards and scoring 15 touchdowns. Hyde is a solid blocker and a hard runner and he also showed last season that he is competent catching the ball out of the backfield and that is one area where the Dolphins really could use some improvement.
Mason is the fastest back out of the ones mentioned and that could be a nice combo with Moreno in the backfield and Mason is also one of the most productive backs coming out. Last season Mason rushed for over 1,800 yards and scored 23 touchdowns for Auburn and he could be a nice change for the Dolphins. Williams had over 2,000 yards last season, while Hill is also a potential pick after he rushed for 1401 yards and 16 scores last season for LSU.