Miami Dolphins could control draft but should stay put and use the picks
By Brian Miller
Players are an important part of developing a roster like the Miami Dolphins and trading away draft picks is trading away players.
When the NFL Draft rolls around in late April, the Miami Dolphins will need to decide if one player is more important than multiple players because that is exactly what they will be doing if they trade up for a quarterback.
Make no mistake, the quarterback is the most important position on the team and it is even more important when your team hasn’t had a player at the position that could be considered the face of that franchise. That being said, is one player more important than the whole of the team? It depends on who you ask.
Ask a Tua Tagovailoa die-hard fan and they will tell you that Miami should pony up three first-round picks and more if need be to land this “generational” talent. Ask someone who isn’t a die-hard fan and you are likely going to get the opposite.
I’m not a die-hard Tua fan so I’m going to give you the opposite.
Trading up for Tagovailoa is not going to be cheap. Miami will likely have to part with their 5th overall, one of their other 2020 first-round picks, a second-round pick and likely one of their firsts in 2021. That is a lot of future to throw at one player, a player with durability concerns. A lot for a player coming off a hip injury, regardless of what the medicals state.
The Dolphins need to be smart. They need to stay at five and let the draft play out in front of them. If another team trades up for Tua, great, let them have him. It likely means Justin Herbert falls to them at five.
Honestly, I would rather have Herbert at five and draft an offensive tackle and corner with my other draft picks in the first. Maybe a stud edge defender and still have two picks in round two to draft more offensive lineman and maybe a running back. Put them all together and my rebuild is looking really good.
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That is not to say that Tagovailoa won’t change the franchise, he very well might but can we honestly, without question say he will be so far above Herbert that we should throw the farm out to get him? I don’t see that. Not even close.
If I’m the Dolphins, I’m calling other NFL teams’ bluffs. Let the Chargers sell their draft for him or let the Lions bank on him changing their franchise at three. Honestly, I’m not sure the Lions go quarterback and I don’t see the Chargers moving up to three. Maybe they move up to four ahead of the Dolphins. Again, if they do, I draft Herbert. If both Herbert and Tagovailoa are gone, I draft Jordan Love later in round one.
Regardless, I have to hold my draft picks. Using them to move up and down in the mid-rounds makes sense but the compensation to do so is much cheaper. The top of the draft is the most expensive and Miami needs to be careful of what they are willing to give up.