‘He’s going to take the next step.’ How Chris Grier plans to build around Tua in draft
Chris Grier is the one who makes the picks.
Brian Flores is the one who coaches those picks.
And Stephen Ross is the one who pays those picks.
But make no mistake: Regardless of title and rank, Tua Tagovailoa is the most important Miami Dolphins character in the movie that is the 2021 NFL Draft.
Most every move the Dolphins brain trusts makes will be motivated by this question:
How will this help Tagovailoa excel?
Which pass-catcher fits his skill set best?
Which running back will remove the most pressure?
Which offensive lineman will give him the most time to throw?
The Dolphins, at least in 2021, are all-in on Tagovailoa.
And a big part of their draft plan is loading up on complementary players, likely beginning with the sixth overall pick.
Grier met with reporters ahead of his sixth draft as Dolphins general manager, and confirmed that Tagovailoa, the quarterback entering his second season, will weigh heavily in the team’s thinking next week.
“When you’re picking where we’re picking, you’re always looking at your team,” Grier said. “Tua is a big part of that and so as we build around and what we’re doing, yeah, you’re always looking at what does your quarterback do best?
“But you’re also looking at weighing that versus the best players available and what you do for your team because at the end of the day it’s always about the team,” he added. “It’s not about one player, one pick, one person. You’ve heard Brian [Flores] talk about team-first players that fit right. For us, it’s just looking for the right player, the right person, the right fit for our team, as well as the mesh with the quarterback.”
Luckily for Grier, he has an excellent idea of how Tagovailoa meshes with two of the draft’s top four pass-catchers. Tagovailoa played with both DeVonta Smith and Jaylen Waddle at Alabama, and both are real options at No. 6.
At various points this offseason, this organizational investment in Tagovailoa was far from certain. The Dolphins were one of many teams interested in the availability of Deshaun Watson before he was accused by nearly two-dozen massage therapists of engaging in inappropriate behavior.
A trade for Watson isn’t happening now or any time soon, so the Dolphins went back to Plan A: loading up around Tagovailoa.
For his part, Tagovailoa has accepted the role as the team’s leader, organizing off-campus passing camps with current Dolphins receivers.
“He’s been around,” Grier said. “He’s working hard. He’s been working with the receivers. He’s a very competitive kid, as you know. Coming off the injury last year with no OTA’s, no minicamp and being just thrown in right away — that’s a hard transition. Especially coming off the rehab part of it that he was doing.”
Grier added: “I’ve seen a couple of videos [of Tagovailoa working out], I’m not on social media very much. He’s been working very hard and our guys have been around, they’ve popped in and out of here. He’s been great with the players and the receivers have been working. He’s going to take the next step. The kid has been a winner everywhere he’s been. I’m really excited for him, especially to have an offseason under his belt. I think that’ll be really important for him.”
As for the draft’s top running backs, Grier of course didn’t reveal if he prefers Alabama’s Najee Harris, Clemson’s Travis Etienne or North Carolina’s Javonte Williams.
Ask to compare that group to the 2020 draft’s star-studded class, Grier replied:
“Every year is always different. This year’s class there are good players at that position, throughout the draft, just like last year. Last year there [was one] back taken in the first round and there was a big run in the second, third round. People talk about valuing, devaluing positions. At the end of the day, I think teams are always looking at their roster and evaluating. And good players get picked where teams feel that value. It’s a good group of backs. At the end of the day where they fall there are good players. And they will be good players in this league.”
This story was originally published April 21, 2021 at 1:27 PM.
