After compiling a record of 7-10 in the 2025 regular season, the Miami Dolphins are slated to pick with the 11th overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.
After suffering a season-ending injury early in the year, the Dolphins are rumored to be moving on from All-Pro wide receiver Tyreek Hill. Due to that, Miami is predicted to select a big playmaker in the draft.
Miami Dolphins Predicted to Add Wide Receiver From the Big Ten Conference
Despite only being a few years removed from having one of the best offenses in the NFL, the Dolphins find themselves now towards the bottom. In PFSN’s NFL Offensive Impact Metric, the Dolphins’ offense ranked 19th with an impact score of 73.1 and a letter grade of C.
With Hill’s potential departure, the team is going to need help at wide receiver. In PFSN’s NFL Wide Receiver Impact Metric (WRi), Hill’s best season with the team was the 2023 season, where he ranked as the best wide receiver in the league with an impact score of 99.6 and a letter grade of A+. He caught 119 receptions for 1799 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns.
This season, their top-ranked wide receiver was the ever-fast Jaylen Waddle. After catching 64 receptions for 910 receiving yards and six receiving touchdowns, Waddle ranked 22nd in PFSN’s WRi with an impact score of 80.9 and a letter grade of B-.
The only other Dolphins receiver to qualify for PFSN’s WRi was Malik Washington, who caught 46 passes for 317 receiving yards and three receiving touchdowns. In the metric, he ranked 88th among wide receivers, with an impact score of 68.3 and a letter grade of D+.
In PFSN’s Ian Cummings’ 2026 NFL Mock Draft, they predicted the Dolphins to select wide receiver Makai Lemon from USC. Here’s the reasoning:
“Makai Lemon scored a near-elite 85.1 PFSN WR Impact Score in 2025, hinging his success on energized short-area motion, tremendous feel for stem and catch-point leverage, timing, gravity-defying body control, and undaunted contact balance after the catch.”
“Lemon won’t blow the doors off in the 40-yard dash, and his lacking length and size can impact his success against press and early physicality, but as a power-slot alongside Jaylen Waddle, he can tear through opposing defenses as a modern-age Derrick Mason.”
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In three collegiate years, Lemon has racked up 137 receptions for 2008 receiving yards and 14 touchdowns. Another interesting, but odd stat is that he’s carried the ball 9 times in the 2025 season for only 4 yards. However, he scored 2 touchdowns on those nine attempts.
The Dolphins find themselves in an interesting position. They have a lot of holes at a lot of different positions. With that, do you think they should take a wide receiver that early, or should they address another position of need?
