{"id":704705,"date":"2026-01-25T20:29:15","date_gmt":"2026-01-25T20:29:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/704705\/"},"modified":"2026-01-25T20:29:15","modified_gmt":"2026-01-25T20:29:15","slug":"dolphins-to-continue-building-new-foundation-at-senior-bowl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/704705\/","title":{"rendered":"Dolphins to continue building new foundation at Senior Bowl"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s an open secret that the Senior Bowl is part scouting operation and part job fair, and you can be certain that the Miami Dolphins<\/a>, under their new regime of general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan and coach Jeff Hafley, will take advantage of both functions this week in Mobile, Al.<\/p>\n

After all, the Dolphins<\/a> emphasized they\u2019ll have a draft and develop philosophy, so both actions \u2014 finding quality players to draft, and finding quality coaches<\/a> to aid their development \u2014 will be under the microscope as Miami establishes its new ways of doing business.<\/p>\n

The Dolphins\u2019 work at the Senior Bowl will including keeping an eye on college prospects at key positions of need such as quarterback, cornerback, defensive tackle, outside linebacker\/edge rusher, guard and backup offensive tackle, to name a few.<\/p>\n

The Dolphins have eight picks in the April 23-25 draft, including five in the top 90.<\/p>\n

Miami has one pick in the first round (No. 11), one in the second (No. 43), three in the third (Nos. 75, 87 and 90), and one each in the fourth, fifth and seventh rounds.<\/p>\n

While eyeing draft prospects the Dolphins will also keep an eye on Clint Hurtt<\/a>, the National Team coach at the Senior Bowl. Hurtt is Philadelphia\u2019s senior defensive assistant\/defensive line coach and interviewed to serve as the Dolphins\u2019 defensive coordinator. The 47-year-old Hurtt, who won a Super Bowl with the Eagles last season in his second year with the team, played college football at the University of Miami from 1997-2000.<\/p>\n

Hurtt spent seven seasons with Seattle, including serving as the Seahawks\u2019 defensive coordinator (2002-23) for two seasons before joining the Eagles.<\/p>\n

Miami might also use the Senior Bowl to fill positions on its coaching staff. The Dolphins have already promoted Bobby Slowik<\/a>, last season\u2019s senior pass game coordinator, to offensive coordinator and hired Chris Tabor as special teams coordinator<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s another advantage of the Senior Bowl, and that\u2019s player interviews.<\/p>\n

This is key because Sullivan mentioned culture as being a key to success at last week\u2019s introductory news conference.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re intentional about the caliber of player and then what they bring to the locker room,\u201d Sullivan said. \u201cYou can\u2019t have good culture if you\u2019ve got guys that aren\u2019t bought in and wired right for what you\u2019re trying to build. That\u2019s what I would say is we\u2019re going to build through the draft and we\u2019ll be very selective and deliberate in free agency.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dolphins left tackle Patrick Paul thought he left a bad initial impression on Dolphins offensive line coach Butch Barry two years ago during his Senior Bowl interview. Paul thought he came across as arrogant, an account that Barry didn\u2019t dispute.<\/p>\n

It turned out not to be a problem. Barry and Paul ended up getting along so well that they did pilates classes together last offseason.<\/p>\n

The highest-profile quarterbacks at the Senior Bowl are LSU\u2019s Garrett Nussmeier (6 foot 1, 205 pounds) and Villanova\u2019s Diego Pavia (6-0, 200) although he isn\u2019t expected to be drafted. Nussmeier is regarded as a third- or fourth-round pick and could interest the Dolphins despite his less-than-ideal size.<\/p>\n

Arkansas quarterback Taylen Green (6-5, 224) is regarded as a fifth- or sixth rounder. North Dakota State\u2019s Cole Payton (6-3, 233) is regarded as a fifth- or sixth-round pick.<\/p>\n

The highest-profile player at the Senior Bowl is Texas Tech linebacker David Bailey, a projected top 5 pick.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Leading the way among Senior Bowl talents that might interest the Dolphins in the first round of the draft is Florida defensive tackle Caleb Banks, although he\u2019s projected in the lower part of the first round.<\/p>\n

Among those that could interest the Dolphins in the first three rounds are Tennessee cornerback Colton Hood, Clemson edge rusher T.J. Parker, University of Miami edge rusher Akheem Mesidor, Oregon center-guard Emmanuel Pregnon, San Diego State cornerback Chris Johnson, Toledo safety Emmanuel McNeil-Warren, Texas Tech defensive tackle Lee Hunter, Indiana wide receiver Elijah Sarratt and Illinois defensive lineman Gabe Jacas.<\/p>\n

Practices begin Tuesday at the University of South Alabama, and the game is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Saturday.<\/p>\n

Among UM players scheduled to play are Mesidor, center James Brockermeyer, safety Jakobe Thomas, cornerback Keionte Scott, and offensive lineman Markel Bell. All are playing for the American team.<\/p>\n

Among Florida Gators are Banks, offensive lineman Austin Barber, defensive lineman Tyreak Sapp, and offensive lineman Jake Slaughter. All except Sapp are playing for the American team.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, there are no Florida State, FAU, FIU, UCF or South Florida players listed on the rosters.<\/p>\n

The Senior Bowl has numerous benefits that don\u2019t happen at other postseason events, mainly actual football \u2014 that\u2019ll also happen at Tuesday\u2019s East-West Shrine Bowl in Frisco, Tx., which will feature Hurricanes linebacker Wesley Bissainthe, offensive linemen David Blay and Anez Cooper.<\/p>\n

The \u201cactual football\u201d means coaches get to observe players doing 1-on-1 drills along with unit drills (offensive line vs. defensive line, 7-on-7 passing, etc\u2026) and 11 on 11, which doesn\u2019t happen at the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis in late February.<\/p>\n

Also, and possibly of particular concern to a certain segment of Dolphins fans, Senior Bowl practices are often conducted in colder weather. This week\u2019s temperatures are expected to be in the mid 40s and low 50s.<\/p>\n

The Senior Bowl annually attracts more than 900 NFL personnel, which makes it an ideal location for teams such as the Dolphins who are trying to complete coaching staffs. The nighttime scene in Mobile features lots of networking.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But talent is the real attraction. <\/p>\n

The 2024 Senior Bowl featured Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix and Eagles cornerback Quinyon Mitchell, a pair of first-round picks who have excelled in the NFL, while the 2025 Senior Bowl featured New Orleans Saints quarterback Tyler Shough (second round\/Louisville) and Dolphins running back Ollie Gordon II, guard Jonah Savaiinaea and safety Dante Trader Jr.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s an open secret that the Senior Bowl is part scouting operation and part job fair, and you…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":698772,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2049],"tags":[217,7,8628,95805,216,251,2087,6,3654],"class_list":{"0":"post-704705","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-miami-dolphins","8":"tag-dolphins","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-jeff-hafley","11":"tag-jon-eric-sullivan","12":"tag-miami","13":"tag-miami-dolphins","14":"tag-miamidolphins","15":"tag-nfl","16":"tag-senior-bowl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115957633198139640","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/704705","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=704705"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/704705\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/698772"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=704705"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=704705"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=704705"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}