The Miami Dolphins got some great performances from some of their rookies this past year, and that landed three of them on Pro Football Focus’ All-Rookie Team.
That’s why it’s a little surprising to see PFF rank Miami’s rookie class as the seventh-best among all rookie classes in 2021.
Wide receiver Jaylen Waddle, linebacker Jaelan Phillips, and safety Jevon Holland were all solid contributors throughout the season, two of which broke franchise records for rookies. Left tackle Liam Eichenberg also started 16 games despite being graded as the second-worst tackle in football.
Above the Dolphins were the New England Patriots, Houston Texans, Kansas City Chiefs, Las Vegas Raiders, Cleveland Browns, and Detroit Lions.
The Patriots had quarterback Mac Jones and defensive lineman Christian Barmore who were both really solid players, and running back Rhamondre Stevenson was a good supplement for Damien Harris.
Kansas City selected a starting linebacker and two starting linemen. That’s a successful draft in the eyes of most.
Houston got some first-year contributors, including Davis Mills who could be their starting quarterback going into next year. However, it’s not clear that their group of rookies was better than Miami’s.
The same could be said about the Raiders who used their top pick on offensive lineman Alex Leatherwood. That pick hasn’t turned out to be the best decision to this point. However, they did get two All-Rookie team defenders in safety Trevon Moehrig and cornerback Nate Hobbs.
Cleveland’s first-round pick, cornerback Greg Newsome, was the top-rated rookie at his position and got All-Rookie contributions from Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah as well, but the rest of their class was average at best.
The Lions’ pick of Penei Sewell ended up being a great one after some early struggles, and wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown had a great rookie season as well.
It’s fair to say that some of these teams could be ahead of Miami, but there’s no way they should be seventh.
