The Dolphins added one of college football's most productive defensive players in the fourth round of the 2026 NFL Draft. With the 138th overall pick, Miami selected Pittsburgh linebacker Kyle Louis.
Louis, who has been billed by some pundits as the steal of the draft, filled up the stat sheet over the past two years. He's earned high praise from Pittsburgh coaches for his commitment to his team and the game.
1. Film guru
Pittsburgh Head Coach Pat Narduzzi has seen a lot of great football players come through his program. He says new Dolphins linebacker Kyle Louis is the best he's ever been around at one of the most important aspects of playing football.
"Nobody in my 10 years at Pitt watched as much tape as Kyle," Narduzzi said via The Athletic’s ‘The Beast’ draft guide.
2. Filling up the box score
Louis's work in the film room translated directly to his performance on the field. Over the last two seasons, he racked up 182 tackles, 50 quarterback pressures, 24 tackles for loss, 10.0 sacks, six interceptions, 12 passes defensed, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries.
The instincts jump off the tape in all aspects, but particularly in coverage. A high school safety converted to linebacker, Louis just kept getting better. He continued his performance straight into the postseason all-star circuit with a standout showing at the Senior Bowl.
The reel below features Louis in coverage during the one-on-one portion of practice. Before watching that, it's important to understand how much this drill is tilted in the offense's favor. Given the entire field to work with, completions are typically easy to come by – but not when Louis was on the other side.
The endless hours of film study are evident in that clip. He races to get into positive leverage positions, reads the hips of the route runner, gets his tell and breaks on the football. That skill set is all over his tape against both the run and pass.
3. Vast deployment options
The only question coming into the draft for Louis was the position he'd play in the NFL. Across 1,638 career snaps in college, he played 875 reps in the box, 248 on the line of scrimmage and 559 plays in the slot. He can do it all.
"We see his third down value in coverage," Assistant General Manager Kyle Smith said. "Very athletic guy. Can run, play man coverage, can align as a big nickel, dime linebacker; as he keeps developing in stack alignments which he's done at Pitt. Both (Louis and Trey Moore) are tackling machines and attack you in different ways."
For more on the Dolphins 2026 NFL Draft selections, download the Drive Time Podcast with Travis Wingfield, available wherever you get your podcasts.
