2021 NFL Mock Draft: Miami Dolphins Select LB Zaven Collins at No. 18

With the 18th pick of the 2021 DBN Community NFL Mock Draft, the Miami Dolphins select...

Zaven Collins, LB, Tulsa

The selection and write-up were made by Mudville:

Ideally, in this scenario I would be looking to trade back a couple picks to find better value and pick up an additional second rounder. With realmccoy improving the offense by selecting Ja’Marr Chase with the Dolphins’ sixth pick, the Fins grab a do-it-all LB playmaker on defense.

The Dolphins have a decent front 3 with Emmanuel Ogbah, Raekwon Davis, and Christian Wilkins. However, they lost Kyle Van Noy (70 tacks and 6 sacks) and Shaq Lawson (33 tackles and 4 sacks). LBs Jerome Baker and Andrew Van Ginkel are ok starters, but other LBs competing for the other two starter spots include:

(1) LBs Sam Eguavoen and Calvin Munson who had 11 tackles between the two of them last year

(2) One-year contract rentals in Brennan Scarlett (24 tackles with HOU) and Duke Riley (46 tackles with PHI)

(3) One-year contract extension in Vince Biegel (57t / 2.5s)

(4) Overpaid Benardrick McKinney on a 5yr/$50M contract acquired via trade (37t with HOU).

Collins can do it all. At 6-foot-5, 260 pounds, he still possesses sideline-to-sideline speed, beats blockers to the point of attack to augment the run defense, and he earned a 93.0 coverage grade this past season for Tulsa, including four interceptions with two of them returned for TDs. He will immediately upgrade the Dolphins front seven and is a perfect fit for the Dolphins blitz/man heavy defense.

Pokorny: “The Dolphins already added a key weapon a No. 6 overall to help their offense, so I like the balance of addressing the defense now. With the subtractions of Van Noy and Lawson, you don’t want to weaken the position too much in one offseason. Collins helps shore things up, and also has a lot of versatility to his game to match Miami’s defensive system.”

The Washington Football Team are up next, led by ScooterDMD.