Miami needs to take Chase Young if they end up with the #2 pick

While all the talk surrounding the Miami Dolphins 2020 draft plans, an Ohio State Buckeye by the name of Chase Young might be the better option.

By the end of this season, Miami may finish as high as second in the 2020 NFL Draft. If that ends up being the case, Miami needs to consider Chase Young, a stud pass rusher that can wreak havoc on the AFC East for years to come.

The Miami Dolphins have a lot of needs heading into the last few months of the NFL season. For anyone watching the games, it is pretty easy to see the variety of holes on both the offensive and defensive units. Many of these holes are self-inflicted and Miami has done a good job building enough draft capital and cap space to fill many of them in the 2020 offseason. When it comes to the draft, Miami needs to focus on finding a franchise quarterback, a few quality offensive linemen, and a pass rush.

With Miami’s two-game winning streak, they played themselves out of the competition for the 1st overall pick and, more than likely, LSU Quarterback Joe Burrow. All season, Miami fans and NFL analysts alike have targeted Tua Tagovailoa as their next quarterback and savior destined to take Miami from the bottom to the top of the league. However, with his recent hip injury, there are a number of questions as to whether he will recover and, if he does recover, if he can stay healthy long enough to help the Dolphins win while playing at the same level that he did to enamor Dolphins fans the last few years. With all of these question marks, Miami should consider waiting on a quarterback until later in the first round and focus on taking arguably the best player in the draft.

Hello, Chase Young.

With Miami moving on from pass rush extraordinaire Cameron Wake during this most recent offseason, the Dolphins have struggled with getting to opposing quarterbacks, only tallying 14 sacks as a team. Young, who has been a complete stud for the Ohio State defensive line this season, has 16.5 sacks in just 9 games. If the Dolphins took him in the draft next year, they would immediately solve a huge portion of their pass rush problem. We have seen some solid performances from this year’s defensive line, but we need to get significantly better in the trenches if we are going to build a defense that can scare people in this division.

There have been many times throughout this year where opposing quarterbacks look like they have all day to throw the football. No matter who you have as linebackers and in your secondary, any quarterback with tons of time in the pocket will be able to carve up a defensive unit. Young could help solve this problem and open up the pass rush for players like Davon Godchaux and Christian Wilkins as well making it harder for quarterbacks to rip this defense, which has been up and down all year, apart.

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There is no doubt that the quarterback position must be addressed in this year’s draft and that Tagovailoa, when healthy, could be a game-changing quarterback. But, because of his injury, there is a chance that he could still be there later in the first round for Miami to pick with one of their other choices. They also have more than enough ammunition to move up if they are truly concerned about him going to somebody else as the draft plays out.

To be clear, I understand the importance of the quarterback in today’s NFL and understand that you need a competent signal-caller if you really want to stand a chance on Sundays. I am, in no way, doubting that fact.

Yet, with all of that being said, if Miami has the chance to take a defensive monster like Young at #2 and I’m in charge, I’m pulling the trigger knowing that he is going to ruin Sundays for Josh Allen, Sam Darnold, and Tom Brady (assuming he’s still playing until he’s 57) for the next decade.

I’ve always seen the Brian Flores hiring as a response to the league’s shift to more offensive-minded head coaches in the last few years. Giving Flores a weapon like Young could help this defense rebuild faster and give the young head coach a major cornerstone piece to build off over the next few seasons.