Miami Dolphins can miss on QB but not the other draft picks
By Brian Miller
The Miami Dolphins rebuilding process won’t come without hiccups but while the team can afford to miss on a QB, they need to get the other draft picks right.
It is difficult to say that the Miami Dolphins can afford to miss on a top quarterback in the 2020 NFL Draft but the reality is they can miss so long as what they do with the rest of their draft picks work out.
There is a clear reason why. Tua Tagovailoa.
The consensus early 2019/2020 top draft pick will be the quarterback from Alabama and it really doesn’t matter if the Dolphins are in the first pick slot or someone else. Either by trade or straight-up selection, Tagovailoa will be the number one pick next April.
Of course, things can and do change but right now, no one is even close to what Tua can bring to an NFL franchise and if that means he is a Miami Dolphin by the end of that Thursday night then so be it and if not, then something must have gone horribly wrong. For him at least.
As the Dolphins rebuild their roster finding a quarterback is a big key to turning the franchise around but if that QB is Tagovailoa Miami can afford to miss. The reason is simple, he is the likely safest pick in the draft and if Miami spends a number one overall first-round pick on him and he flames out, they have two more first-round picks, two second-round picks, and likely two third-round picks to make up for it.
It will be those picks that will have the biggest immediate impact on the Dolphins roster. Hit on those and missing on Tua would allow you to draft a QB the following year or maybe the year after that. It is not ideal don’t get me wrong. It is only that Tua is perceived as that good and missing on him would not be an evaluation of the talent problem but a problem with Tua himself.
There are really good QB prospects in this year’s draft and 2021 could potentially see another franchise-type player in Trevor Lawerence hit the draft. Either way, there is a small cushion if MIami lands Tua and Tua fails to impress.
Miami will not be afforded the same with the other draft picks. That is why they are more important than that first overall QB that everyone sees the team tanking for.