Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald reports that the Dolphins will not use a first-round pick on Alabama OT Cyrus Kouandjio due to injury concerns.
According to Beasley, the Dolphins have first-round grades on five offensive tackles tackles including Zack Martin (Notre Dame), Taylor Lewan (Michigan), Jake Matthews (Texas A&M), Greg Robinson (Auburn) and Ja’Wuan James (Tennessee).
Tony Pauline of DraftInsider.net recently reported that Martin is the “object of their desire,” but Miami reportedly doesn’t expect him to be available by the time they are on the clock.
A previous report did say that Dolphins’ GM Dennis Hickey prefers Kouandjio to Martin, but it appears as though this isn’t actually the case.
Dane Brugler points out that former Buccaneers GM Mark Dominik said that James is “locked down” first-round pick and actually worked directly with Hickey last year.
Martin has been a popular name connected to the Dolphins in recent Mock Drafts, but apparently they have other targets in mind.
Reports from the NFL Combine mentioned that “several” NFL teams failed had failed Kouandjio after giving him a physical.
He was able to participate in Alabama’s Pro Day and some evaluators have said that they still like him a lot, but’s hard to say if they like him enough to draft him in the first round.
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