This story was originally published April 14, 2026 at 2:04 PM.<\/p>\n
The Dolphins brought at least a fourth and five draft-eligible quarterback to team headquarters, hosting Iowa\u2019s Mark Gronowski and Kansas\u2019 Jalon Daniels on a visit.<\/p>\n
Daniels\u2019 trip to team headquarters, first reported by ESPN\u2019s Jordan Reid, and Gronowski\u2019s (conveyed by a source) gave Miami\u2019s coaches and executives a chance to visit with two potential late-round prospects.<\/p>\n
Gronowski, who was the MVP of the FCS championship game in both 2023 and 2024 for South Dakota State, met with a top Dolphins executive in recent weeks after not being invited to the NFL Combine. He went 49-6, with 93 touchdowns and 20 interceptions in four seasons at South Dakota State.<\/p>\n
He wasn\u2019t as productive in his one season at Iowa, finishing with 10 TDs and seven interceptions, with a 63% completion rate. But he rushed for a Big 10-leading 16 rushing touchdowns on 4.2 yards per carry in his one year in the Big 10, and he has good size (6-4) and strength. Gronowski was MVP of the East\/West Shrine game and could be a Dolphins option in the seventh round or after the draft.<\/p>\n
Daniels, 6-0, started all 12 games last season and completed 62.1% of his passes with 22 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He also ran 117 times for 404 yards (3.5 per carry) and four touchdowns.<\/p>\n
He was a finalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy, which is essentially the Academic Heisman Trophy award.<\/p>\n
For his career, he has 67 TDs and 31 picks and has thrown for 9282 yards in 49 games, with a 61.5% completion percentage.<\/p>\n
Daniels, who has good speed, has a 3.4 career average on 420 carries (which includes sacks) and 23 TDs rushing. He was second-team All Big in 2022 after throwing 22 touchdowns and four interceptions and was selected as the 2023 Big 12 Preseason Player of the Year, the first Kansas player to receive the award. But he played in only three games in 2023 because of a back injury.<\/p>\n
He threw a Big 12-leading 12 interceptions in 2024 but led the conference in yards per completion that season at 14.4.<\/p>\n
He ranks 20th in conference history in passing yards and 21st in career passing touchdowns.<\/p>\n
Daniels started \u201cMOM2JD6 Foundation\u201d in honor of his mother, Star, to aid single mothers raising athletic children through mentorship, training, financial aid and community resources.<\/p>\n
NFL.com\u2019s Lance Zierlein sized him up this way: \u201cSixth-year senior who was unable to live up to the promise shown earlier in his career. Daniels hasn\u2019t shown the ability to consistently dissect defenses and win with accuracy from the pocket. He has a decent arm but lacks consistent mechanics, timing and three-level ball placement. The vast majority of his interceptions were due to a lack of coverage recognition. Daniels\u2019 running ability helps, but he appears ill-prepared for an NFL passing game.\u201d<\/p>\n
Besides Gronowski and Daniels, the Dolphins also have brought in Alabama\u2019s Ty Simpson, Arkansas\u2019 Taylen Green and UM\u2019s Carson Beck for predraft quarterback visits.<\/p>\n
Malik Willis, Quinn Ewers and Cam Miller are the Dolphins quarterbacks under contract.<\/p>\n
Johnson weighs in<\/p>\n
The Dolphins\u2019 only safety with more than three career starts has become the ultimate NFL vagabond, switching teams every year- in some cases, more than once a year \u2014 for five years running.<\/p>\n
Lonnie Johnson Jr. hopes the Dolphins, his seventh team in five years, keep him around awhile.<\/p>\n
After playing his first three seasons in Houston, Johnson has changed teams every year the past five seasons \u2014 going from Tennessee to New Orleans to Carolina to Las Vegas, and now to Miami. He also spent time with the Chiefs and the Texans (a second stint) during offseason programs but didn\u2019t appear in a game.<\/p>\n
While sustaining a seven-year NFL career has been fulfilling, the journey itself has become exhausting.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been upsetting, frustrating, been hurt by it,\u201d he said. \u201cMy emotions have been everywhere because of myself and my family. People don\u2019t understand a lot of moving pieces especially when you have kids and a wife. It\u2019s tough. You\u2019ve got to try to find a team that really cares about you and it\u2019s not just business. Hopefully it works out.\u201d<\/p>\n
As a second-round pick out of Kentucky, Johnson started 19 games in three seasons and had three interceptions for the Texans in 2021. But the Texans traded him three months before his fourth season, sending him to Kansas City for a 2024 conditional seventh-round pick.<\/p>\n
The Chiefs cut him midway through training camp, and he has bounced around since, starting only three of his past 48 games.<\/p>\n
In his career, Johnson has started 22 of a potential 92 games, snagging four interceptions and registering 17 pass breakups. His most recent stint with the Raiders yielded 25 combined tackles and two pass deflections across nine appearances, two of which were starts. He logged 321 defensive snaps for Las Vegas, allowing 11 completions in 17 attempts for 147 yards and a TD.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been a roller coaster ride; I\u2019ve been through every emotion career wise,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cThat\u2019s probably why I\u2019m so even keeled now. It\u2019s helped me with patience on the field, accepting my role. There are guys that have been in front of me that I know I\u2019ve been better than. I\u2019m happy I\u2019m still in the league going on eight years. I\u2019m going to continue to do my part. If it shows up, it shows up. If they don\u2019t see it, they don\u2019t see it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Johnson has played 2,394 career snaps on defense and 1,245 on special teams. He joins veteran special teams core player Zayne Anderson, second-year player Dante Trader Jr. and developmental player Omar Brown as safeties on the Dolphins\u2019 roster.<\/p>\n
This is a rare case of someone who could end up a team\u2019s No. 1 safety or not on the roster at all. He could potentially start by default, but he also could be cut in August; it\u2019s telling that Miami guaranteed just $187,500 of his $1.4 million salary.<\/p>\n
Johnson has a career 104 passer rating in his coverage area, with 11 touchdowns allowed and four interceptions on 159 targets.<\/p>\n
His versatility should be an asset: \u201cI\u2019ve played outside to nickel to safety,\u201d he said. \u201cThe more you can do in this league the better.\u201d<\/p>\n
If he\u2019s looking for another team against next spring, it won\u2019t be for lack of diligence.<\/p>\n
He said he\u2019s \u201cin the building early\u201d and will be \u201cone of the last ones to leave\u201d and will help \u201csome of the younger guys that come in\u201d and teach them \u201chow to handle financial situations [and] being a great teammate and showing them how to be coachable and adapting to different situations.\u201d<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s my Tuesday piece<\/a> on the Dolphins\u2019 search for a safety in the draft and their options.<\/p>\n This story was originally published April 14, 2026 at 2:04 PM.<\/p>\n
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