{"id":861494,"date":"2026-04-08T20:12:21","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T20:12:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/861494\/"},"modified":"2026-04-08T20:12:21","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T20:12:21","slug":"what-history-says-the-dolphins-seven-picks-in-rounds-1-3-could-mean","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/861494\/","title":{"rendered":"What History Says the Dolphins&#8217; Seven Picks in Rounds 1-3 Could Mean"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"inline-text-0\" class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6g\">The Miami Dolphins are on track to set an interesting franchise record with their seven picks in the first three rounds of the 2026 NFL draft, and barring an injury they&#8217;ll also tie the high mark around the NFL.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-1\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6j\">Yes, no team has ever had more than seven picks in the first three rounds, though it&#8217;s been done six times before.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.minutemediacdn.com\/platform\/google_discover_icon.svg\" class=\"shrink-0\"\/>Add us as a preferred source on Google<a aria-label=\"Follow si.com on Google News\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=si.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" class=\"flex h-[30px] w-[30px] shrink-0 items-center justify-center rounded-full bg-primary font-group-large text-sm font-medium text-white transition-colors hover:bg-secondary focus:bg-secondary md:w-auto md:gap-2.5 md:px-4 md:py-[5px]\">Follow<\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-2\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6p\">So the Dolphins will become the seventh team with seven picks in Rounds 1-3, making for some nice symmetry.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-3\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6s\">What&#8217;s more interesting and relevant is that history has shown that maximizing those picks can lead to some big-time success down the road.<\/p>\n<p>WHEN OTHER TEAMS HAVE HAD SEVEN PICKS IN THE FIRST THREE ROUNDS<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-5\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6y\">For starters, let&#8217;s run down that list of teams with seven picks in Rounds 1-3 and it consists of the Los Angeles Rams in 1975, the Seattle Seahawks in 1976, the New England Patriots in 1982, the Dallas Cowboys in 1991, the Rams again in 1994, and most recently the Arizona Cardinals in 2024.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-6\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"71\">NFL history buffs will recognize that four of those teams were in the Super Bowl within five years of having that draft bounty, highlighted by the Cowboys winning the Super Bowl in the 1992, 1993 and 1995 seasons.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-7\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"74\">There&#8217;s a Dolphins connection there as well, as it was Jimmy Johnson who oversaw the trade that produced all that draft capital, the famous \u2014\u00a0or infamous looking at it from the other side \u2014\u00a0trade of Herschel Walker to the Minnesota Vikings.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-8\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"77\">When the Cowboys won the Super Bowl in 1995, their starting lineup included five of those seven picks in the first three rounds of the 1991 draft \u2014\u00a0tackle Erik Williams, wide receiver Alvin Harper, defensive tackle Russell Maryland, and linebackers Dixon Edwards and Godfrey Myles.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-9\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7a\">The draft wasn&#8217;t nearly as significant for the Super Bowl runs of the Rams in the 1979 season or 1999 season (though it did produce Hall of Famer Isaac Bruce), or the Patriots in the 1985 season.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-10\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7d\">Having seven picks in the first three rounds only was going to do so much for the Seahawks in 1976 considering this was their first draft in their first season as an expansion team.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-11\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7g\">And while it&#8217;s still too early for a final verdict, having seven picks in 2024 hasn&#8217;t provided much help in getting the Cardinals to the playoffs.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-12\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7j\">Arizona, incidentally, had two picks in the first round that year, along with one in the second and four in the third \u2014\u00a0just like the Dolphins in 2026 as things stand right now.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-13\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7m\">With those seven picks, Arizona took WR Marvin Harrison Jr., DT Darius Robinson in Round 1, DB Max Melton in Round 2, and RB Trey Benson, G Isaiah Adams, TE Tip Reiman and DB Elijah Jones in Round 3.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-14\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7p\">Harrison has been a disappointment so far as the fourth overall pick and none of the other players really has stood out.<\/p>\n<p>THE DOLPHINS&#8217; HISTORY<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-16\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7v\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nfl\/dolphins\/onsi\/news\/where-the-miami-dolphins-draft-capital-ranks-among-the-best-in-team-history-01kmdjspatfe\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">The Dolphins&#8217; draft capital this year is reminiscent of 2020 when they had six picks over the first three rounds, including three in Round 1.<\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-17\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7y\">The Dolphins just didn&#8217;t quite get enough out of those picks, which is why they&#8217;re finding themselves in rebuilding mode again six years later.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-18\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"81\">The Dolphins addressed a good variety of positions with their premium picks in 2020 with two offensive linemen, along with one quarterback, one defensive tackle, one cornerback and one safety.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-19\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"84\">Whatever positions they choose to address in 2026 with those seven picks in Rounds 1-3, they just need more impact \u2014\u00a0if they&#8217;re hoping for a franchise turnaround sooner rather than later and, in a wild best-case scenario, a repeat of those Super Bowl appearances within five years of that &#8220;lucky seven.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Miami Dolphins are on track to set an interesting franchise record with their seven picks in the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":861495,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2049],"tags":[217,7,216,251,2087,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-861494","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-miami","11":"tag-miami-dolphins","12":"tag-miamidolphins","13":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116370917279421953","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/861494","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=861494"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/861494\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/861495"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=861494"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=861494"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=861494"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}