Bill Parcells and Friends have narrowed it down. They always do by the end of March. They now know who is on their very short list (five names or less) of prospects that they will choose from with their top pick.

The first task, which is stacking the board, is complete. The Parcells-era Dolphins do this horizontally by position, not vertically as other teams do. No more than 150 players overall are on it. They’ve all been graded and debated at least twice, some thrice. As players come off the board, the list is reduced. When the Dolphins go on the clock, they’ll look across the board at top rated players at each position and sort out the ones with the highest grade overall. Then they’ll use ‘need’ as a criteria to break ties amongst the group to determine the final choice.