Dolphins host Iowa QB Mark Gronowski on top-30 visit after FCS dominance

Miami used one of its top-30 pre-draft visits on Mark Gronowski, a clear sign the Dolphins want a closer look at one of the most decorated quarterbacks to come through the FCS. With the 2026 NFL Draft set to start April 23, Gronowski’s meeting at team headquarters put his draft case in front of a franchise still sorting out its long-term quarterback picture.

The appeal starts with the résumé South Dakota State built before Gronowski transferred to Iowa for the 2025 season. Iowa lists him at 6-foot-2 and 235 pounds, and says his 58 career wins make him the winningest quarterback in NCAA history across all levels. That kind of production is hard to ignore, especially for a quarterback whose path began as a zero-star recruit from Naperville, Illinois and turned into a run of national hardware.

At South Dakota State from 2020 through 2024, Gronowski won the Walter Payton Award in 2023, was the FCS championship game Most Outstanding Player in both 2023 and 2024, and helped the Jackrabbits win consecutive national titles in 2022 and 2023. His biggest stage tape is the kind NFL staffs study closely: in the 2023 title game, he threw for 223 yards and three touchdowns in a 45-21 rout of North Dakota State. A year later, he again took home top offensive honors after South Dakota State beat Montana 23-3 for another championship.

That is the profile Miami is examining. The Dolphins can bring in up to 30 prospects for official top-30 visits, and this one matters because Gronowski brings more than box-score production. He was a three-year team captain at South Dakota State, earned academic honors, and added another national showcase at the East-West Shrine Bowl in January, where he was named Offensive MVP after the West’s 21-17 win in Frisco, Texas. For an NFL team evaluating whether a college winner can handle pro processing and leadership demands, those markers carry weight.

The visit also lands against a sharper Miami backdrop. The Dolphins signed Malik Willis to a three-year, $67.5 million contract in March, making the search for quarterback depth and future options more consequential. For Gronowski, the meeting was not just another stop on the pre-draft circuit. It was validation that an FCS star with championship pedigree, size, and a history of winning big games still has a real path into an NFL room.