After what seemed like two weeks and not two days, the Miami Dolphins finally were able to make a selection Friday night in the third round of the 2022 NFL Draft.
Without a top-100 pick for the first time in franchise history, Miami waited patiently until pick No. 102 to call Channing Tindall’s name, making him a Dolphin.
The former Georgia Bulldog is a year removed from a National Championship season on a defense that saw five of his teammates on that unit drafted in the first round on Thursday.
Tindall, part of that stacked group was a valuable role player who may have been lost in the shuffle of the top-tier talent on Georgia’s defense. Regardless, Tindall was on general manager Chris Grier’s radar early in this process.
Immediately following the late-night selection, reporters heard from Tindall, and the new Dolphin confirmed that he was in Miami recently for a team visit.
“I did go down there, and when I went down there, I just loved the campus and the facility they had there,” Tindall said. “I just really got in with the linebackers’ coaches. I talked to the whole staff, and I felt like home, honestly, when I was there.”
Coming from a powerhouse program from the SEC helps to make a rookie pro-ready, as Tindall mentioned to South Florida media.
“It’s very business-like at Georgia,” he said. “Just coming in there and seeing the culture that was already built there before I got there, like in fall camp. With the culture that was already built there and everything that was going on, I just felt like it prepared me.”
Tindall made a leap in production his senior season, and he credits his position coach with his development.
“Coach (Glenn) Schumann, who was my position coach at Georgia, I just took extra time and watched film with him,” Tindall shared. “I feel like I knew what I had to do. “I was on a mission before the season started. I was just on a mission like I have to get this done. I would say the biggest thing is probably just my mindset. My mindset was do or die.”
Tindall finished his 2021 campaign with 67 total tackles, including 7.5 tackles for loss, 5.5 sacks and a championship to boot.
He also shared what new coach Mike McDaniel and the staff like about him as a player and versatility was the buzzword, and the rookie seems prepared to know his role.
“Just Miami as a whole, where they put their linebackers, their linebackers do it all. I feel like I fit into that,” he said confidently.
Tindall told about his connection to a new defensive teammate on the Dolphins, a name that Dolphins fans love to see attached to anything – Jevon Holland. Tindall said that he and the second-year safety met at a Nike event some in the past. He said he and Holland are “pretty cool.”