{"id":244368,"date":"2026-04-24T06:24:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T06:24:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/244368\/"},"modified":"2026-04-24T06:24:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T06:24:11","slug":"dolphins-pick-alabama-ol-kadyn-proctor-after-trade-down-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/244368\/","title":{"rendered":"Dolphins pick Alabama OL Kadyn Proctor after trade down"},"content":{"rendered":"

MIAMI GARDENS \u2014 The first foundational rookie pieces<\/a> for the Miami Dolphins\u2019 rebuild under new general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan were chosen Thursday night.<\/p>\n

And it started with a shocker<\/a> following a trade down from their original top pick at No. 11.<\/p>\n

The Dolphins selected Alabama offensive tackle Kadyn Proctor<\/a> with the No. 12 pick of the NFL draft\u2019s first round Thursday night minutes after a deal with the Dallas Cowboys.<\/p>\n

Miami selected Proctor after passing on Ohio State safety Caleb Downs, whom the Cowboys chose at 11, and then steered clear of Miami Hurricanes edge defender Rueben Bain Jr.<\/a> with that 12th pick.<\/p>\n

But Sullivan had conviction about selecting Proctor, a mammoth blocker at 6 feet 6 5\/8 and 352 pounds.<\/p>\n

\u201cDowns and Bain are marvelous players,\u201d Sullivan said. \u201cI think those guys are going to be very successful in this league, no doubt about it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe thought Proctor was rare. His height, weight speed, production, the things he can do on the football field for a man his size, he\u2019s an outlier. There\u2019s not many players like him.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the trade with the Cowboys, the Dolphins picked up a pair of compensatory fifth-round picks, No. 177 and 180.<\/p>\n

Proctor made 39 career starts over the past three seasons with the Crimson Tide, all at left tackle.<\/p>\n

The Dolphins don\u2019t need a left tackle, as they have one of their potential franchise cornerstones there in Patrick Paul, but at Proctor\u2019s size and with the power in his game, he is believed to possess positional versatility to also play guard in the NFL.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a 350-pound man with unique athletic traits that can play four spots across the line of scrimmage, the left tackle, right tackle, both guards,\u201d Sullivan said. \u201cThe athletic traits for a man his size are through the roof.\u201d<\/p>\n

The pick holds true to the belief the Dolphins want to build from the inside out. Proctor can move defenders in the run game for speedy tailback De\u2019Von Achane, who is expected to receive a contract extension later this offseason, and can help protect new quarterback Malik Willis.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know that we\u2019re going to run the s\u2014 out of the ball,\u201d said Proctor, who can play with a mean streak when bulldozing defenders standing in his way. \u201cThat\u2019s O-line play. It\u2019s physicality. You\u2019re trying to put the man on the ground, move a man against his will. That\u2019s my favorite part about the game.\u201d<\/p>\n

The selection also shows a belief Miami\u2019s offensive staff thinks Proctor is athletic enough to block in the outside-zone scheme.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel great about it,\u201d Proctor said. \u201cAs I keep the weight in check, I believe that I can play all 60 minutes as fast as I can and really just be that fast, physical, explosive guy that I know that I am and just using my skills to my advantage, going out there and playing fast and free.\u201d<\/p>\n

His weight has been deemed a concern, even by former Alabama coach Nick Saban, who coached Proctor as a freshman. Saban told Pat McAfee Show that Proctor can grow overweight when not in the team\u2019s building.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know there\u2019s been some questions about his weight,\u201d Sullivan said. \u201cIt\u2019s well-documented and, obviously, we\u2019re very aware. We did our due diligence with our resources. We feel really good about where he is at with that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Drafting Proctor also gives Miami the option to kick him out to right tackle in the future if the team moves off from Austin Jackson. In the meantime, the team may have a decision to on whether to play Proctor or Jackson at guard.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel comfortable playing anywhere,\u201d Proctor said. \u201cWhatever I can do to put my team in the best light to go win games, I\u2019m going to do whatever coach tells me to do and go out there and provide for the team in any way I can.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aside from Paul and Jackson, the Dolphins have a key building block on the offensive line in center Aaron Brewer.<\/p>\n

Guard is a big question mark for the team, as the team hopes for development from Jonah Savaiinaea, the previous regime\u2019s second-round pick who was traded up for in last year\u2019s draft.<\/p>\n

The Dolphins signed former Chargers lineman Jamaree Salyer, who can play guard and tackle, and swing tackle Charlie Heck among their free-agent additions.<\/p>\n

After picking Proctor, Miami moved up with its later first-rounder, from No. 30 to 27 with the San Francisco 49ers, to select San Diego State cornerback Chris Johnson<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were convicted on these guys,\u201d Sullivan said. \u201cI really like what we did (Thursday) night. \u2026 I think the Dolphins got better.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Friday, they select at No. 43 in the second round and then have three third-round choices after trading one of their third-rounders to the 49ers. They picked up a compensatory pick from the 49ers in that deal, and the two fifth-rounders acquired from the Cowboys give Miami a total of seven Day 3 picks between the fourth and seventh rounds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MIAMI GARDENS \u2014 The first foundational rookie pieces for the Miami Dolphins\u2019 rebuild under new general manager Jon-Eric…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":244369,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[107650,123,1763,125,124,46388],"class_list":{"0":"post-244368","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-miami","8":"tag-kadyn-proctor","9":"tag-miami","10":"tag-miami-dolphins","11":"tag-miami-headlines","12":"tag-miami-news","13":"tag-nfl-draft"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244368","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=244368"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244368\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/244369"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=244368"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=244368"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=244368"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}