ESPN’s Jordan Reid Has Dolphins Picking No. 1 in 2027 NFL Draft — Then Trading Down
Jordan Reid of ESPN released his first 2027 NFL Mock Draft, and with it, he has the Miami Dolphins picking 1st overall, but he has them trading down three spots to the #4 overall pick. I’m not sure most Dolphins fans would like this, but some would.
Below is the trade, and who he has Miami selecting at #4.
TRADE
Browns Get
Pick 1 in Round 1 of the 2027 Draft
Dolphins Get
Pick 4 in Round 1 of the 2027 Draft
Pick #32 in Round 1 of the 2027 NFL Draft
Round 5 pick of Cleveland in the 2027 NFL Draft
Round 2 pick of Cleveland in the 2028 NFL Draft
Round 1, Pick #4: Miami Selects Jeremiah Smith, WR, Ohio State
“The Dolphins fell three spots via our mock trade and would still be able to get my top-ranked player at a severe position of need. Smith grew up down the road from Hard Rock Stadium and would immediately become Miami’s go-to receiver. At 6-foot-3, 225 pounds, he is a physically imposing wideout who glides past defenders and is capable of winning with speed or power. He’s the best of Ohio State’s recent run of first-round receivers. Not only would he be a massive upgrade from Malik Washington and Jalen Tolbert, but he would also allow Miami to correctly evaluate QB Malik Willis.”
Smith came out of Chaminade-Madonna Prep in Florida as the top recruit in the country, winning three straight state titles and earning Maxwell High School Player of the Year honors after an 88-catch, 1,376-yard, 19-touchdown senior season. Every major recruiting service rated him a five-star prospect.
As a freshman in 2024, Smith caught 76 passes for 1,315 yards and 15 touchdowns during Ohio State’s national championship run, earning Big Ten Receiver of the Year and Freshman of the Year honors plus Rose Bowl offensive MVP recognition after a 187-yard playoff performance against Oregon.
In 2025, Smith led Ohio State with 87 receptions for 1,243 yards and 12 touchdowns across 13 games, earning unanimous All-American honors, a second straight Big Ten Receiver of the Year award, and a Biletnikoff Award finalist nod. He caught six passes for 123 yards and two touchdowns against Penn State in November and closed the year with seven catches for 157 yards and a score in the Cotton Bowl playoff quarterfinal against Miami. The Buckeyes went 12-0 in the regular season before losses to Indiana in the Big Ten Championship and Miami in the playoff.
Tall, powerful X at 223 pounds with rare top-end speed for the size
Proven downfield weapon who went for 157 on Miami in the CFP semifinal
Reliable hands and elite focus (dropped just two of 106 targets in 2025)
Snaps off breaks with suddenness that belies his frame and stacks corners deep
Skilled tracker on vertical shots, adjusts and extends outside his frame
Physical after the catch (378 yards after contact on mostly quick-game touches)
Answered every marquee test, 144 on Indiana and 157 on Miami in the playoff
Runs a full route tree already, 1,243 yards and 12 scores as a wide alignment X
Perimeter blocking is willing but the technique still needs refinement
Physical press slowed him at times (held under 45 by Michigan and UCLA)
Underneath route detail slightly lags his polished outside-breaking work
There is no projection with Smith, only the question of how quickly a staff hands him the keys. A wide-alignment X who closed 2025 with 1,243 yards and 12 scores, he pairs a 223-pound frame with rare top-end speed, the combination that lets him play above smaller corners and run past bigger ones. His 157-yard afternoon against Miami in the playoff semifinal was the loud proof, but the steadiness beneath it is the point.
What sets him apart is the absence of holes. He caught 87 balls and dropped only two, tracked the deep shot as well as anyone in the class, and turned quick-game touches into 378 yards after the catch. Physical press bothered him in spots, with Michigan and UCLA holding him under 45 yards, and his perimeter blocking is more willing than refined. Those are footnotes on a profile this complete, and even his quietest games still moved the chains.
He fits any scheme that wants a true X to build around, comfortable isolated on the boundary or motioned inside for a rub. Overall, Smith steps in as a Week 1 starter with a rare blend of size, speed and reliability, and the production to match, the surest bet in the receiver class and a foundation piece for a passing game.
Pros for Jeremiah Smith
Offers a surreal blend of height, weight, and speed on the perimeter.
Overwhelming physicality that shows up both in the contact window and at the catch point.
Provides eye-opening acceleration with the ball in his hands to stress pursuit angles.
Has created loads of vertical separation with double moves or subtle hand fighting downfield.
Has illustrated excellent concentration, body control, and catch radius to adjust to tipped or errant throws.
Cons for Jeremiah Smith
Offers a lot of mass in a large frame, so sharp-angled routes don’t offer the same twitch and change of direction as his vertical game & in-breakers.
Will be very expensive when it comes time for his second contract!
Background
Smith is from Miami Gardens, FL and played his high school football at Miami Central High School & Chaminade-Madonna HS in Hollywood, FL. He is cousins with New York Jets starting quarterback Geno Smith. In high school, Jeremiah went on to become one of the biggest prizes in the 2024 recruiting class. He was also a two-sport athlete who won state championships in the 110m and 400m hurdles to go with his high school football career.
Coming out of Chaminade-Madonna HS, Smith was rated as a 5-star recruit and the No. 1 ranked recruit in the entire country by 247 Sports for 2024. Additionally, Smith is the highest ranked wide receiver in the 247 Sports database since 2000 – and the 10th-highest ranked recruit at any position. The players in front of him: Jadeveon Clowney, Cyrus Kouandjio, Trevor Lawrence, Justin Fields, Bryan Breese, Bryce Young, Walker Little, Robert Nkemdiche, and Leonard Fournette.
Smith committed to Ohio State over several in-state powerhouses, including the local program in Miami. He promptly earned a slew of accolades for his performance in 2024 as a freshman. In helping the Buckeyes to the 2024/2025 National Championship, Smith was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year, the Big Ten Wide Receiver of the Year, First-Team All-Big Ten, and First-Team All-American. Smith followed that season up by being named a consensus All-American in his sophomore season in 2025.
Player Evaluation
This is who your 99-overall Create-A-Player creates HIS player after. Jeremiah Smith offers a hilariously overwhelming profile of vertical speed and aggressiveness attacking the football. Add in physicality at the line of scrimmage, and a monster catch radius to vacuum in footballs that reach his general vicinity, too. This is the kind of field-tilting player that will dictate coverages and overwhelm individual assignments at the NFL level. He’s on that plane of existence as a physical talent. We’re talking split the half-field safety and the pressed corner for wins down the field levels of dominance.
Smith profiles as an X-receiver at the NFL level. He’s the prototype player to set on the line of scrimmage in isolation and work. With his vertical threat and physicality, most teams will have to choose how to cover him with more than one hat in coverage. Getting an isolated boundary receiver who can still pull a safety not only serves as respect for his ability. It changes the math of the rest of the defensive shell.
Smith can be whatever you want him to be in your offense. He can run the slants and free access hitches for quick game targets. Lord knows he can stretch the field. And he’s lethal on in-breaking routes and working intermediate areas, too. This is one of the more complete player profiles I’ve done in years at any position, let alone at just wide receiver. Smith, with a clean off-field effort and an injury-free 2026, should be one of the first picks of the 2027 NFL Draft.