DOLPHINS SELECT S MINKAH FITZPATRICK IN FIRST ROUND
  • Fitzpatrick became the third safety and seventh defensive back to be taken by the Dolphins in the first round.
  • All three safeties played in the SEC – Louis Oliver (1989) at Florida, Jason Allen (2006) at Tennessee and Fitzpatrick (2018) at Alabama.

ALL-TIME DOLPHINS FIRST-ROUND PICKS (DEFENSIVE BACKS)

YEAR PICK PLAYER SCHOOL
1992 7 Troy Vincent Wisconsin
2018 11 Minkah Fitzpatrick Alabama
2006 16 Jason Allen Tennessee
1980 21 Don McNeal Alabama
2009 25 Vontae Davis Illinois
1989 25 Louis Oliver Florida
2001 26 Jamar Fletcher Wisconsin
BEDNARIK AND THORPE AWARD WINNERS
  • Fitzpatrick won the Chuck Bednarik Award (nation’s top defensive player) and Jim Thorpe Award (nation’s top defensive back) as a junior in 2017.
  • Fitzpatrick is just the third player in NCAA history to win both the Bednarik and Thorpe Awards, joining CB Charles Woodson (Michigan) and CB Patrick Peterson (LSU).
  • Fitzpatrick is the first Dolphins draft pick to win the Bednarik Award.
ROLL TIDE
  • Fitzpatrick is the 10th player in Dolphins history to be drafted from the University of Alabama and the first since RB Kenyan Drake was a third-round pick (73rd overall) by Miami in the 2016 NFL draft.

ALL-TIME DOLPHINS DRAFT PICKS FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA

YEAR RD PICK POS PLAYER
2018 1 11 S Minkah Fitzpatrick
2016 3 73 RB Kenyan Drake
2004 7 222 LB Derrick Pope
2001 5 156 T Shawn Draper
1986 6 163 DT Brent Sowell
1984 4 109 RB Joe Carter
1980 1 21 DB Don McNeal
1980 2 48 C Dwight Stephenson
1979 3 61 RB Tony Nathan
1977 2 40 DT Bob Baumhower
THE SEC
  • This marks the third consecutive season and the fourth in the past five that the Dolphins have used their first-round draft pick on a player from the Southeastern Conference. The team also selected Missouri defensive end Charles Harris with the 22nd overall pick in 2017, Mississippi tackle Laremy Tunsil with the 13th overall pick in 2016 and Tennessee tackle Ja’Wuan James with the 19th overall pick in 2014.
  • The SEC has had the most players selected in 11 consecutive NFL drafts (2007-17). Over the past eight drafts (2010-17), the SEC has had 399 players drafted, the most of any conference in the country.
  • Fitzpatrick is the 17th Dolphins first-round draft pick that has played at one of the 14 schools that currently comprise the SEC.
  • Miami has taken an SEC player in the first round of six of the past eight NFL drafts – C Mike Pouncey (2011), QB Ryan Tannehill (2012), T Ja’Wuan James (2014), T Laremy Tunsil (2016), DE Charles Harris (2017) and S Minkah Fitzpatrick (2018).
QUICK HITS
  • Fitzpatrick won two national championships (2015, 2017) in his three seasons at Alabama and is the fourth Dolphins draft pick in the past three seasons to win a national title. LB Raekwon McMillan (2014 at Ohio State) and CB Cordrea Tankersley (2016 at Clemson) also won national championships and were selected by Miami in the 2017 NFL draft while RB Kenyan Drake was a teammate of Fitzpatrick’s on the 2015 Alabama national title team and was selected by the Dolphins in the 2016 NFL draft.
  • Fitzpatrick joins DE Bill Stanfill as the only players selected by the Dolphins with the 11th overall pick. Stanfill was the 11th pick of the 1969 NFL draft and went on to four Pro Bowls. He was named to the Dolphins Honor Roll in 2010.
  • Fitzpatrick joins RB Kenyan Drake as the only two players on the Dolphins roster from the University of Alabama. However, Fitzpatrick played in the same secondary as S Maurice Smith, who began his collegiate career at Alabama (2013-15) before transferring to Georgia following the 2015 season.