Dolphins should look elsewhere for QB help as Mayfield stock rises
By Brian Miller
The NFL Draft is always a tricky thing to predict. This years biggest predictability problem is Baker Mayfield and the Miami Dolphins should look elsewhere for their quarterback issues.
There are few questions as to whether or not Miami will address the quarterback spot this off-season. Ryan Tannehill is coming off a long absence and a knee injury, Matt Moore will be a free agent, Jay Cutler better never step foot back in a Dolphins locker room and the duo of David Fales and Brandon Doughty are still long shots for the active roster.
That leaves free agency and the draft. Free agency is another subject entirely and we won’t touch that one here because Miami may only add a back-up to from that market. Instead we can look at the draft and wonder if the rumors of Miami’s quarterback obsession is a real one or not.
One name more than any other get floated around when you start listening to fans or the media discuss the Dolphins first round draft spot at 11 overall. Baker Mayfield. Previously I called him a non-generational type quarterback and that brought some lovely responses. He isn’t but he is quickly becoming the best quarterback in this years draft class.
So why should Miami look elsewhere? Because Baker Mayfield is likely going to be gone by the time the Dolphins pick at 11. Only a few weeks ago Mayfield was the hot pick for the Dolphins in almost every mock draft.
A quick Senior Bowl outing and an Instagram comment suggested that Mayfield had his hopes set on Miami but things in the world of mock drafts change quickly. Just as quickly as a player will rise and fall.
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With two months still between the NFL and the draft there is a ton of dates that will shape this classes draft positioning. The NFL Combine, private workouts, and of course the players pro-days, are all on the schedule for teams to poke, prod, pinch, and measure.
Some players will rise higher in the ranks while others will slide due to poor interviews and intangibles. Mayfield is not expected to fall. A leader on the field with the drive to succeed and the ability to lift his team around him is a rare trait for a college player. Mayfield has that.
While often viewed by some as being immature, Mayfield has already started to shake that image and as a result his stock is rising. So much so that many mock drafts, including the latest from WalterFootball.com has Mayfield at four.
Mayfield is doing everything right at the moment. Mainly staying away from any controversy that could hurt his stock. He is likely to show off his talent at the NFL Combine and many believe that he will by the time of the draft be a top five quarterback.
For obvious reasons this hurts the Dolphins if they were indeed hoping to land Mayfield. Only Josh Rosen who is expected to go number two to the Giants has as much potential. This years quarterback class is deep however and that bodes well for a team like the Dolphins.
From Mayfield and Rosen to Sam Darnold and Josh Allen, the top of the draft could be one of the best in many years but for the Dolphins, if Mayfield’s stock does indeed rise beyond the 11th spot as most mock drafts are now predicting, the Dolphins will need to focus their attention to other quarterbacks in this years draft. The question, one that will be answered in another article, is who has the potential to be Miami’s future?