{"id":771871,"date":"2026-02-23T21:05:38","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T21:05:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/771871\/"},"modified":"2026-02-23T21:05:38","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T21:05:38","slug":"dream-for-dolphins-to-draft-him","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/771871\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Dream’ for Dolphins to draft him"},"content":{"rendered":"

AVENTURA \u2014 Wesley Bissainthe is Miami through and through.<\/p>\n

A Miami Central High product, he stayed home in his college football recruitment to play for the Miami Hurricanes.<\/p>\n

Four years later, as he\u2019s in the 2026 NFL draft and this week\u2019s scouting combine in Indianapolis, Bissainthe says he would love if, when his name\u2019s called in late April, it\u2019s his hometown Miami Dolphins making that selection.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would be a dream to play for them,\u201d Bissainthe told the South Florida Sun Sentinel while training in South Florida at Bommarito Performance Systems<\/a> ahead of the combine. \u201cI\u2019m not saying that\u2019s going to happen, but it\u2019ll definitely be crazy and definitely be a dream come true.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bissainthe said he \u201cmost definitely\u201d grew up a Dolphins fan.<\/p>\n

Playing his college career with UM at the Dolphins\u2019 home venue and finishing it at Hard Rock Stadium with a national title game appearance, he said he talked to scouts from the team at the East-West Shrine Bowl. Bissainthe hopes to introduce himself to more Dolphins personnel at the combine this week.<\/p>\n

\u201cNew start, new faces in the building. Just got to see where it goes,\u201d he said, as the team has gone in the direction of new general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan and coach Jeff Hafley this offseason.<\/p>\n

A three-year starter for the Hurricanes, Bissainthe was a key cog in a defense that enjoyed a major turnaround in 2025, with other UM defenders in this draft including defensive ends Rueben Bain and Akheem Mesidor<\/a>, nickel cornerback Keionte Scott and safety Jakobe Thomas. Bissainthe had 71 tackles, three for loss, a sack and an interception as a senior.<\/p>\n

He is projected to be a Day 3 draft pick. Only about a month out from his last game, against Indiana in the championship Jan. 19, it\u2019s uncertain how many workouts he\u2019ll do at Lucas Oil Stadium this week versus Miami\u2019s pro day later in the draft process.<\/p>\n

\"Nebraska<\/p>\n

Nebraska running back Emmett Johnson works out at Bommarito Performance Systems in Miami, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026. (Joe Cavaretta\/South Florida Sun Sentinel)\n<\/p>\n

\"University<\/p>\n

University of Miami defensive end Akheem Mesidor works out at Bommarito Performance Systems in Miami, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026. (Joe Cavaretta\/South Florida Sun Sentinel)\n<\/p>\n

\"Indiana<\/p>\n

Indiana University cornerback D\u2019Angelo Ponds works out at Bommarito Performance Systems in Miami, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026. Ponds is a graduate of Chaminade-Madonna College Preparatory School. (Joe Cavaretta\/South Florida Sun Sentinel)\n<\/p>\n

\"Georgia<\/p>\n

Georgia wide receiver Colbie Young runs at Bommarito Performance Systems in Miami, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026. (Joe Cavaretta\/South Florida Sun Sentinel)\n<\/p>\n

\"Boston<\/p>\n

Boston College offensive tackle Logan Taylor runs at Bommarito Performance Systems in Miami, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026. (Joe Cavaretta\/South Florida Sun Sentinel)\n<\/p>\n

\"Pete<\/p>\n

Pete Bommarito instructs players on how to improve at Bommarito Performance Systems in Miami, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026. (Joe Cavaretta\/South Florida Sun Sentinel)\n<\/p>\n

\"Nebraska<\/p>\n

Nebraska running back Emmett Johnson runs the 40-yard dash at Bommarito Performance Systems in Miami, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026. (Joe Cavaretta\/South Florida Sun Sentinel)\n<\/p>\n

\"University<\/p>\n

University of Miami linebacker Wesley Bissainthe works out at Bommarito Performance Systems in Miami, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026. (Joe Cavaretta\/South Florida Sun Sentinel)<\/p>\n

\"Pete<\/p>\n

Pete Bommarito times an athlete in the 40-yard dash at Bommarito Performance Systems in Miami, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026. (Joe Cavaretta\/South Florida Sun Sentinel)\n<\/p>\n

\"University<\/p>\n

University of Miami defensive end Akheem Mesidor is seen at Bommarito Performance Systems in Miami, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026. (Joe Cavaretta\/South Florida Sun Sentinel)\n<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 10<\/p>\n

Nebraska running back Emmett Johnson works out at Bommarito Performance Systems in Miami, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026. (Joe Cavaretta\/South Florida Sun Sentinel)\n<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a><\/p>\n

Bissainthe looks back on his college career appreciative he was able to leave the Hurricanes in a better position than when he came in. UM was 5-7 in 2022 and 7-6 in 2023 before back-to-back 10-2 regular seasons. This past season, it netted the team a College Football Playoff berth and run through three CFP wins before the championship defeat to the Hoosiers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the work we put in. Just believing in coach (Mario) Cristobal,\u201d Bissainthe said. \u201cI\u2019ve been there four years. We were 5-7 my freshman year. To go into the national championship, that\u2019s the work and the grind we put in over those years. Just getting the right group of men for the culture, and it showed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe knew the team we had. We knew that, if they gave us a chance, we were going to go far. Once they got us in the playoffs, we knew we were going to take off with it. That\u2019s the brotherhood we had as a team. We knew we had a certain brotherhood, and it carried us. We were able to get to the national championship. We didn\u2019t get it done, but we did something Miami hasn\u2019t done in a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n

What Bissainthe hopes NFL teams come away knowing about him at the combine: \u201cI\u2019m a winner. I feel like, wherever I go, we win. That\u2019s what I\u2019m going to show these teams, that I\u2019m going to elevate a program, not only myself but guys around me.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AVENTURA \u2014 Wesley Bissainthe is Miami through and through. A Miami Central High product, he stayed home in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":771872,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2049],"tags":[339,217,7,929,216,251,2972,2087,6,9],"class_list":{"0":"post-771871","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-miami-dolphins","8":"tag-college-sports","9":"tag-dolphins","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-latest-headlines","12":"tag-miami","13":"tag-miami-dolphins","14":"tag-miami-hurricanes","15":"tag-miamidolphins","16":"tag-nfl","17":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116121984025196835","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/771871","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=771871"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/771871\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/771872"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=771871"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=771871"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=771871"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}