NFL Draft Rumors: Dolphins Looking to Trade into Top 10 for WR Kevin White

We're officially 3 weeks away from the first day of the 2015 NFL Draft, and we have a fresh new draft trade rumor to discuss.  Last night, CBS Sports Rob Rang posted an article discussing the Miami Dolphins and their interest in trading up into the Top 10 for West Virginia WR Kevin White.  This is the 2nd team in the mid-teens of the first round who reportedly has interest in trading up to the top of the draft for a WR.  Last week it was the 49ers who fell in love with Alabama WR Amari Cooper and were interested in possibly trading up as high as 5 or 6 to get in front of the Chicago Bears. Here is a portion of Rang's article, discussing their interest, and bringing up a previous trade for comparison.

With only six picks in 2015, the Dolphins don't have much ammunition. That hasn't stopped the 'Fins from fishing.

The Dolphins appear to be targeting another playmaking wide receiver with West Virginia's Kevin White ranking highest on their board, sources suggest. If it happens, Miami's trade could mimic a similar move as the one division rival Buffalo completed a year ago, jumping up to No. 4 overall to land Sammy Watkins. Whereas the Bills continue to struggle at quarterback, the Dolphins boast a quality young passer in Ryan Tannehill to build around.

In the Amari Cooper article, we discussed two previous trades in similar ranges for the 49ers(pick 15) to trade up to #5 with the Redskins.  Rang brings up the Sammy Watkins deal which we didn't analyze in the article, but was discussed in the comments section.  In the Watkins trade, Buffalo traded up 5 spots using two picks from this years draft(1st and 4th round).

2014 NFL Draft:

Sammy Watkins trade:

Cleveland trades: 1st(#4)

Buffalo trades: 1st(#9), 2015 1st(#19) and 4th(#115)

Analysis: The Bills and Rams swap 1st and 3rd round picks, and the Bills gain a 2nd and a 7th in the deal.  The Bills lose value in both the 1st round(8 places) and 3rd round(7 places) swaps. Using the old trade value chart, the deal is almost equal with the Bills trading draft picks equal to 1635 points, and the Rams trading picks worth 1649 points.

Cleveland's pick after trade down: Cleveland used this pick and their 5th round pick to trade up 1 spot for CB Justin Gilbert

The Dolphins do not have a 3rd round pick this year, after trading it to New Orleans for WR Kenny Stills. Would they be willing to trade a future 1st and more to move that far up the draft for another WR?  Similar to the 49ers/Amari Cooper discussion, it all depends on how highly they rate Kevin White.  If they consider him an elite, game changing talent it could be worth it to them.  They bolstered their defense in free agency with Ndamukong Suh, but also traded WR Mike Wallace.  Their current top two receivers are the recently acquired Kenny Stills, and Jarvis Landry who was drafted last year.

The big question from the Redskins side of this potential trade is how far are they willing to trade down, and how much do they value picks next year.  Scot McCloughan has stated that he didn't plan on changing the team's scouting/personnel departments until after the draft, but the team reportedly tried to poach Alonzo Highsmith from the Green Bay Packers and create a personnel position for him.  It is expected that McCloughan will make changes, and the team has already not retained A.J. Smith.  If McCloughan sees value in the teens of the 1st round, and is looking to gain more picks for next year's draft, this could be the perfect opportunity.  He will have the ability to scout for a full year, bring in his people, and go into Year 2 with multiple high picks to shape the team.

Sounds like a plan, now someone just needs to convince to the Dolphins they're a WR away.  Three more weeks...