Before he headed to the combine in Indianapolis, Ohio State linebacker Malik Harrison visited with a former college teammate to gain some insight.
Jerome Baker was happy to help out.
Baker played with Harrison in both 2017 and 2018 before joining the Dolphins, and Harrison crossed his fingers to indicate how tight the two of them are.
"That was my roommate on game days," Harrison said. "I always hang out with Jerome. I was just at his crib before I came here. He was just telling me the whole process of this whole thing."
And the message?
"That it's long," Harrison said. "These days are going to be long, so it's more mental than physical leading up to the draft."
Harrison closed out his college career in 2019 by leading Ohio State in tackles with 75, including an impressive 16.5 for loss. That total was second on the team behind the 21 by defensive end Chase Young, who's considered by some to be the best prospect in the entire draft.
In his first season at Ohio State, Harrison actually got the chance to play with not only Baker but also another Dolphins linebacker, Raekwon McMillan.
"(What stood out is) just the way that they carried themselves and how they work," Harrison said. "Raekwon was a senior when I was a freshman. He was the leader. He was the top dog of the defense. That really helped me a lot this senior year."
Wisconsin watch
Along with having two linebackers from Ohio State, the Dolphins roster also includes two linebackers from the University of Wisconsin — Vince Biegel and Andrew Van Ginkel.
Linebacker Zack Baun, who's considered a potential first-round pick in the 2020 draft, played with both of them at Wisconsin — albeit at different times.
Baun played with Biegel in 2016 when the latter wrapped up his college career. He played with Van Ginkel in 2018 after coming back from missing the entire 2017 season because of a foot injury.
Baun said the possibility of being reunited with the two was an interesting idea.
"Yeah, that would be a cool experience," Baun said. "I looked up to those guys in college and the mentorship at Wisconsin is unlike at any other. It's a true brotherhood. I modeled my game after those guys and still connect with those guys on occasion."
Learning from Godchaux
LSU defensive tackle Rashard Lawrence II had the chance to play with Davon Godchaux during his freshman year in 2016, and he learned valuable lessons from the Dolphins D-lineman during that season and beyond.
"The biggest thing I would take (from playing with Godchaux) is it doesn't matter where you start, it's how you finish," Lawrence said. "I think he would tell you that he didn't have his best showing at the combine but he didn't let that break him. He got better as time went on.
"He made the Dolphins really happy. I think he's going to be a guy that's going to play 10 years, 12 years and the Dolphins really like him, man. I actually got a chance to talk to him. So they love him for what he did and how he's handled himself as a man. So it's very impressive."
Must be in the front row
It's by luck of the draw that where each team sits for the 40-yard dashes, and the Dolphins won that lottery this year.
Based on the results of that lottery, teams are assigned a row (from 1 to 32) where a scout sits and times the players as they cross the finish line.
So the Dolphins got the front-row seat this year, followed by the Chargers, Bengals, Saints and Seahawks.
Fitz Flashback
With the combine in full swing, the CBS Sports website ran a story about the famous Wonderlic test, a series of 50 questions that prospects must answer in 12 minutes to supposedly gauge their intellectual capacity.
The story included the top scores through the years, and the highest score ever produced by a quarterback was done by none other than Ryan Fitzpatrick.
The 2019 Dolphins MVP scored a 46 at the 2005 combine when he came out of Harvard, the school that produced the one player to score a perfect 50, former Cincinnati Bengals punter Pat McInally.
Versatile defender
Clemson's Isaiah Simmons is among the top defensive prospects in the 2020 NFL draft, and one of his best attributes is his ability to play multiple positions because of his size and his athleticism.
Simmons referred to himself as a Swiss Army knife because of how much he moved around at Clemson.
"Personally, I model my game after a couple people," he said. "If I have to go look at film of somebody to get something it would be Von Miller just for pass rush, Jalen Ramsey for man techniques and Tyrann Mathieu just because he plays around everywhere as well. I take bits and pieces from all of them and kind of throw them into my game."
Simmons had the perfect answer for what he would say when asked what position he plays: "Defense."
