MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel doesn’t plan on starting a cornerback before he’s totally ready.

So don’t expect to see a “learn on the job” situation or a “he’ll grow into the role” type of thing for the Sept. 7 opener at Indianapolis.

“You think I could go in front of the team and say, ‘Hey, we’ve got this guy we’re developing?’ ” McDaniel said Friday. “…You’ve got to be able to roll. That’s why every practice is so important.”

At this point, the Dolphins have one cornerback — nickel/slot Kader Kohou, who has 38 starts — who is “ready to roll.”

And because none of the other cornerbacks seems ready to roll, Kohou might be forced to play on the boundary, which isn’t his best position.

This is why many, including myself, speculate the Dolphins will have to go outside the current roster to find at least one starting cornerback.

McDaniel said it’s too early to think that way.

“I think that defeats the nature of our whole process,” he said. “We’re coaching, developing, evaluating, and always trying to get the team better.”

Understood.

But it’s tough to see this team being effective with its current cornerbacks.

At this point, they’re simply not good enough.

If you’re counting, six of the 10 cornerbacks on the Dolphins roster, aside from Kohou, are undrafted.

Aside from Cam Smith, the 2023 second-round pick, none of the 10 cornerbacks were drafted higher than the fourth round.

It’s a curious situation considering among the eight cornerbacks in last year’s Pro Bowl, were all first- or second-round picks.

As far as the Dolphins’ starting cornerbacks aside from Kohou, I’d guess Kendall Sheffield, the 2019 fourth-round pick by Atlanta, and Storm Duck, undrafted from Louisville in 2024, have the best chance to secure those jobs by the opener.

After that, there’s perhaps Smith, Ethan Bonner, undrafted out of Stanford in 2023, and Jason Marshall, the 2025 fifth-round pick from Florida.

And then there’s a group that includes Isaiah Johnson, undrafted in 2024 from Syracuse; newly signed Cornell Armstrong, a Dolphins 2018 fourth-round pick; BJ Adams, the 2025 undrafted rookie from UCF; Ethan Robinson, the 2025 undrafted rookie from Minnesota; and Ryan Cooper Jr., who was undrafted in 2024 out of Oregon State.

Bluntly, this seems to be an inadequate and inexperienced cornerback crew aside from Kohou.

Sheffield has 20 career starts, but none since 2020.

McDaniel, however, says that’s not the right way to think so early in the evaluation process.

“I think you have to really fight the urge to predict the future and watch, see what you’re working with and knowing exactly what’s out there,” he said. “It literally could be any day, two weeks.”

After the news that the Dolphins and Pro Bowl cornerback Jalen Ramsey mutually agreed to seek a trade, some national NFL experts/know-it-alls opined the Dolphins have perhaps the worst cornerback groups in the NFL. I’m not sure I’d take things that far.

The cornerbacks have flashed in practice during the first three days of training camp. That’s a marked improvement over organized team activities and minicamp, when they were consistently beaten by speedy wide receiver Jaylen Waddle, the Dolphins’ No. 2 at that position.

They were spared the embarrassment of being burned by speedier wide receiver Tyreek Hill, the No. 1 at that position, because he missed most of the offseason while recovering from right wrist surgery.

This year won’t be easy for the cornerbacks considering the quarterbacks and wide receivers they’ll face — Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen, New York Jets wide receiver Garrett Wilson, Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert, Baltimore quarterback Lamar Jackson, Washington quarterback Jayden Daniels, Washington wide receiver Terry McLaurin, Pittsburgh quarterback Aaron Rodgers, Pittsburgh wide receiver DK Metcalf, Cincinnati quarterback Joe Burrow, Cincinnati wide receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. The list goes on.

I’ve expressed confidence in general manager Chris Grier’s ability to find cornerbacks. I think it’s one of his superpowers.

Since 2016, when he became GM, he’s drafted Pro Bowl cornerback Xavien Howard, signed free-agent cornerback Byron Jones, traded for All Pro Ramsey, signed Kohou as an undrafted gem, and found others such as Kendall Fuller and Nik Needham.

In a few weeks I suspect it’ll be time for Grier to tap into his superpower once again.

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