Dolphins drafted a lacrosse player who has surprising upside for NFL career

Billy Heyen

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Dolphins drafted a lacrosse player who has surprising upside for NFL career image

One of the Dolphins' newest NFL Draft picks was a top-five recruit in the country during his senior year.

For lacrosse.

That's Dante Trader Jr., who went on to play both lacrosse and football at the University of Maryland.

On Saturday, the Dolphins picked Trader with the No. 155 overall pick during the fifth round.

Trader had five career interceptions for the Terrapins on the football field to go with 190 total tackles.

On the lacrosse field, he was an athletic, short-stick defensive midfielder.

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He's also got one big-time draft expert as a big fan.

ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. had great things to say about Trader before the draft.

"Dante Trader Jr., pound-for-pound, was one of the best players in the Big Ten," Kiper said. "And I think for Maryland, for the Terrapins, he was a guy that screamed, 'look at me, why am I not getting more attention?' And he's going to get it. There's no question that he's going to get it in these months leading up to the draft."

When you consider that Trader's full energy in college wasn't even on football all the time, there's some extra upside here. 

The Dolphins may have just gotten themselves a pretty versatile steal in the fifth round.

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Billy Heyen

Billy Heyen is a freelance writer with The Sporting News. He is a 2019 graduate of Syracuse University who has written about many sports and fantasy sports for The Sporting News. Sports reporting work has also appeared in a number of newspapers, including the Sandusky Register and Rochester Democrat & Chronicle