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A Dolphins rookie has a unique connection to Arch Manning<\/p>\n
The Miami Dolphins<\/a> will hope that the 2026 NFL Draft class will help lay the foundation for years to come as the team addressed a majority of their needs with their 13 selections. However, one position the Dolphins did not address was quarterback.<\/p>\n This goes against what general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan had previously said. When asked about the quarterback position after being hired, Sullivan said, \u201cWe will draft quarterbacks every year, if not every other year, because I think you have to.\u201d<\/p>\n Of course, Sullivan did address the quarterback position in free agency, as the team signed quarterback Malik Willis<\/a> to a three-year, $67 million contract. While the Dolphins will certainly hope Willis is the answer at the position, if he isn\u2019t, Miami will likely be in a position in next year\u2019s draft to select one of the premier quarterback prospects.<\/p>\n And now, the team has a new link to Texas quarterback Arch Manning in one of the rookies from this year\u2019s draft class.<\/p>\n Miami Dolphins Connection to Arch Manning<\/p>\n Texas defensive back Michael Taaffe, who the Miami Dolphins selected in the fifth round, was the host for Arch Manning during his recruiting visit. Regarding Taaffe, Manning previously said, <\/a>\u201c(Michael Taaffe) was a hell of a host. I\u2019ll tell you that. Just having him as a friend and a teammate, he\u2019s the biggest leader I\u2019ve ever been around. He was a walk on, moved his way up the depth chart, got on scholarship, became an All-American. Someone should write a movie about the guy.\u201d<\/p>\n Manning is currently projected by USA Today in their way-too-early 2027 mock draft to be the first overall pick. USA Today\u2019s Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz wrote:<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cA year ago, Manning was a staple of these exercises despite having only a minimal body of work. Those projections proved premature, but they weren\u2019t off base. After a tumultuous start to taking over the reins for the Longhorns, Manning settled down and showcased the tantalizing skill set that puts him at the head of the class for next year. There\u2019s still work to be done, particularly in becoming much more precise when throwing on the move, but Manning would provide an unparalleled level of hope and excitement to a franchise that doesn\u2019t look equipped to end the lengthiest active postseason drought in North American men\u2019s team sports anytime soon.\u201d<\/p>\n Manning was projected to land with the New York Jets<\/a>, while the Dolphins were projected to have the second pick and select Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith.<\/p>\n Michael Taaffe\u2019s Prospect Ranking<\/p>\n While having the Arch Manning connection is a fun story, and may prove useful in the future, Taafe is a solid prospect in his own right. He was ranked by The Ringer\u2019s Todd McShay as the 153rd-best prospect. Regarding Taaffe, McShay wrote:<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cTaaffe is lean with short arms and good\u2014but not elite\u2014top-end speed. However, he\u2019s a much better football player than his athleticism suggests, and he\u2019ll have a high floor in the NFL. He makes quick reads, closes quickly, and times his hits well when driving on passes. He reads the quarterback, tracks the ball well in single-high looks, and can turn and run with running backs when he lines up in the box. He doesn\u2019t have the length or range of a true center fielder, and his smaller frame raises concerns about his ability to match up with tight ends and bigger slot receivers in the NFL. He can overreact to play-action.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tJose Esquer<\/a> Jose Esquer is a Mexican-American sportswriter and communications student based in San Diego, CA. His work spans football, basketball, baseball, and soccer. He has written for platforms like RotoWire and DolphinsTalk. You can find him on Twitter\/X @JEsquer8, usually talking Dolphins, world football, or both. More about Jose Esquer<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty A Dolphins rookie has a unique connection to Arch Manning The Miami Dolphins will hope that the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":875115,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2049],"tags":[217,7,216,251,2087,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-875114","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\/116470714521330417","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/875114","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=875114"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/875114\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/875115"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=875114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=875114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=875114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}