Five “What If” scenarios in Miami Dolphins history

Miami Dolphins “What If” #2: What if Tunsil never hit the mask bong?

You know the story by now. Minutes before the draft, a video surfaced of a highly touted prospect smoking weed out of a gas mask. After being a potential top-three pick, his stock plummets, and he falls to the 13th overall pick, where the Miami Dolphins bite the bullet and select him.

Laremy Tunsil spent his first three years in the league as a solid piece on the Dolphins’ offensive line before Texans head coach and general manager Bill O’Brian came calling to Miami’s front office. Houston offered two first-round picks and a second in exchange for Tunsil and a couple of smaller pieces, a deal the Dolphins couldn’t turn down.

It is what they have done with those picks since then that gives us a “what if Tunsil never fell to the Dolphins?” scenario.

Through a series of trades with San Francisco, Philadelphia, and others, the Dolphins have been able to turn the haul that they received from Houston in to a potentially franchise-changing collection of players. At the time of writing, the list looks like this:

Tyreek Hill
Jevon Holland
Jaylen Waddle
Solomon Kindley
Noah Igbinoghene
2023 1st rd pick (SF)
+  more

This particular “what if” is obviously still in the works. We know that the pieces that have been acquired are mostly good-to-great players, but whether that will translate to wins for the Dolphins remains to be seen.

But if it does all go to plan and works out like general manager Chris Grier and the front office hope it does, and the Miami Dolphins become Super Bowl contenders or even winners, then the Tunsil trade could potentially go down as the most important transaction in franchise history.