Welcome back to another year of the SB Nation Community Mock Draft!
NFL mock draft 2026: Miami Dolphins select Chris Johnson, CB, SDSU
The Dolphins add to their secondary by selecting San Diego State CB Chris Johnson in SB Nation’s Community Mock Draft!
As we do every draft season, all 32 NFL sites at SB Nation come together to fill out an entire first-round mock draft leading up to the actual event that takes place from April 23-25. One by one, our site managers will make their picks and provide their reasoning behind the selection. From there, I will provide further analysis on top of giving a final opinion on the pick!
Without further ado, let’s head down the final stretch!
With the 30th overall pick in the 2026 SB Nation Community Mock Draft, The Phinsider’s Kevin Nogle and the Miami Dolphins select Chris Johnson, cornerback, San Diego State!
Nogle’s analysis:
NFL
SB Nation NFL Mock Draft: With the 30th pick the Miami Dolphins select...
Chris Johnson, CB, San Diego State
The Dolphins shored up their offensive line with the addition of the University of Miami's Francis Mauigoa with the 11th pick. Now it comes time to address the defense - with either edge rusher or cornerback the main targets here. Based on the board, my choices came down to either Johnson or Texas A&M edge rusher Cashius Howell. Either would work, but concerns over Howell's measurables, the Dolphins likely needing to select two cornerbacks this year, and the depth of the edge rushers heading into the second round givers Johnson the nod here.
Johnson may need a little time to adjust to the NFL game from San Diego State, but his production cannot be ignored and his Combine performance shows he should be able to bring that production to the NFL level.
Rec 2ReplyRead 10 replies
My analysis: Johnson is a lesser-known name in this first round of this year’s draft but don’t let that lead you to believe he’s not worthy of being a top-32 pick. The San Diego State corner is a high-floor, no-frills defender who simply puts his head down and goes to work in stopping a team’s passing attack. He’s got adequate size and play strength and he wins with rock-steady fundamentals for the position that he can rely on no matter how big the moment.
If the Dolphins are looking for a building block on defense to help kickstart the Jeff Hafley era, they’re getting a good one here.
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