Tua Tagovailoa’s decision will have big ramifications for the Miami Dolphins

Tua Tagovailoa revealed that he will make his decision at a conference on January 6. Regardless of his choice, the Dolphins are stakeholders in his future.

First things first, I need to paint a picture.

I don’t know if any Community fans are reading this, but there’s an episode where they have a party, and the pizza delivery guy rings the buzzer.

No one wants to get the pizza, so they roll a dice to see who has to get it.

Of course, the TV guru character, Abed, famously says, “You are now creating six different timelines.”

I brought up this episode because that’s what Tua Tagovailoa’s decision is turning into the for the Dolphins.

Tua Tagovailoa’s choice is going to create at least two different timelines for the Dolphins.

The first one is obvious.

Tagovailoa declares, and the Dolphins take him with the fifth overall pick in the 2020 Draft.

And everyone’s happy.

Then, Tagovailoa sits out in 2020 while Ryan Fitzpatrick starts again in Act Two of his magical ride in Miami.

This allows Tagovailoa to rest up and recover, and with the other dozen of 2020 draft picks, the Dolphins can ride their 2019 momentum into a new season.

Then in 2021, Tagovailoa takes the reins and leads the franchise to 23 straight Super Bowls.

What happens if Tua Tagovailoa goes back to school for 2020, though?

Well, there are a lot of questions that pop up for the Dolphins as it relates to next spring’s draft.

Do they skip the quarterback altogether at five and take someone like Andrew Thomas, Isaiah Simmons, or Jeffrey Okudah and draft a quarterback with the 18th pick from the Steelers or in the 20s from the Texans pick?

Or do they gear up for a trade-up in 2021 for Trevor Lawrence, Justin Fields, or Tua Tagovailoa?

After this season, I don’t foresee the Dolphins finishing poorly enough in 2020 to warrant a high enough pick for any of them organically.

The Dolphins could listen to other teams looking to move up in this year’s draft and add even more ammo to their collection of picks in 2021.

It’s a tricky question. I don’t even have a definitive answer of my own for the potential quandary.

I would be OK with taking Tagovailoa at five this year and redshirting him, but the best shot of accomplishing that revolves around him declaring.

There are also some other quarterbacks I like in this year’s class, like Jordan Love, but he would also benefit from sitting for a year.

If Tagovailoa doesn’t declare this year, then the prospect of going after Lawrence, Fields, or Tagovailoa is exciting. Still, it requires another year of waiting for the quarterback of the future.

There’s also no guarantee that the Dolphins could pull off a trade-up in the 2021 Draft.

I’m interested to see where everyone else stands on Tua Tagovailoa’s decision. What would you do as GM if Tagovailoa returned to college for 2020?

And to borrow from Community again, how would you avoid the “darkest timeline”?