Who’s the most likely QB target for the Miami Dolphins in the 2020 Draft?
By Shawn Digity
It’s all but a foregone conclusion that the Miami Dolphins will take a quarterback in the 2020 Draft. The draft season has just started, but who’s the likely target?
Tell me if you’ve heard any of this before. But 2020 is a good year to need a quarterback.
The Miami Dolphins need one.
Ryan Fitzpatrick is in the last year of his two-year deal, and Josh Rosen is in oblivion.
If you aren’t already, prepare yourself mentally, emotionally, and spiritually because when the draft’s over, we’ll all be rooting for the new rookie quarterback whether we liked him in the predraft process or not.
The Dolphins are going to kick the tires on every major quarterback prospect in the 2020 Draft, from Joe Burrow to Justin Herbert to Jacob Eason to Nate Stanley.
And one of the quarterbacks in this year’s draft will become a Dolphin.
Maybe the front office will even double-dip as the 2012 Redsksins did with Robert Griffin III and Kirk Cousins, but I’ll save that crackpot theory for another day.
The only mystery is who will be the Dolphins guy come April. It’s a vague blanket statement, but the perceived future of the franchise is in this class.
And I think some of them are more likely to be selected than others.
Constrained by their draft position, the Dolphins, picking at fifth overall, will not have their pick of the litter. That honor will go to the Bengals.
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But the Dolphins will have their opportunity to draft from the remaining of the first-tier prospects like Jordan Love or Justin Herbert, maybe even Tua Tagovailoa. That is, of course, assuming that Cincinnati picks Burrow first overall and the Dolphins stand pat.
Many are already under the impression that a trade-up with the Lions to the third pick will be required to take Tagovailoa, and rumors circulated earlier in the week about the Dolphins trading up for Burrow, saying that he was the apple of the Dolphins’ eye.
Unfortunately, there’s a lot of smokescreens around this time of the year, so rumored interest in numerous quarterback prospects is expected. It muddies the waters but not much else.
In a vacuum, I think the most likely target would be Tua Tagovailoa, but his injury threw things through a loop.
Tagovailoa’s draft status was left in flux after his hip injury during the 2019 season, but now it’s on the rebound. Tagovailoa is expected to make a full recovery, and while he won’t be at the Combine or Alabama Pro Day, he’ll be able to have an individual workout to showcase his mobility and recovery as we get closer to the draft.
From the Dolphins’ front office’s standpoint, the injury could be a blessing in disguise if Tagovailoa was the guy they wanted all along. There was uncertainty, fear, and doubt after his injury that sent his draft stock into a freefall — remember when analysts had him dropping to the second round?
But if not for the injury, then the Dolphins would have an even worse chance of getting him. The Bengals could’ve been more enamored with a healthier Tagovailoa than Burrow, too.
But enough with the hem-and-haw, despite Tagovailoa’s injury, I think he’s still the most likely 2020 Draft target for the Dolphins. I do believe it will take a trade-up, though, maybe even higher than the third pick.
Justin Herbert and Jordan Love are the next men up if Burrow and Tagovailoa are both gone, and I’d be excited for either, but I’m still giving the edge to Tagovailoa for now.