The reason for Miami Dolphins chasing 2020’s first overall draft pick has just imploded
The plan the Miami Dolphins are following goes like this: Divest the roster of significant talent in 2019 by cutting, trading or not re-signing players, and set the team up for a large degree of failure. Call that plan tanking or a strategic retreat or a demolition. Call it a fuzzy doodlesack for all I care, as long as you recognize that’s the plan.
The plan concedes there will be significant pain and embarrassment in ‘19 because, again, the team’s roster has been decimated. And so far, so good because the Dolphins go before a national television Monday Night Football audience in the Steel City with a wobbly 0-6 record.
The payoff for all this unhappy, unsightly, smelly losing comes in 2020 when the Dolphins enjoy the NFL’s greatest salary cap space, multiple first- and second-round draft picks, and the opportunity to make those selections very high in the draft order, perhaps even at No. 1 overall.
And all of this is done ostensibly because the Miami Dolphins haven’t had an elite franchise quarterback since Dan Marino retired after the 1999 season and this pain is the trade-off for correcting that issue.
Except that last part is collapsing now.
Because the elite franchise quarterback everyone believed would be Miami’s target at No. 1 overall next spring is clearly not going to be the most talented player in the 2020 draft. He might not even be the most talented quarterback in the draft.
Whoops.
Tua Tagovailoa, the Alabama touchdown pass machine, is not considered the top talent for the 2020 draft and it’s not even close. The most talented and most likely franchise defining player is Ohio State edge rusher Chase Young.
Not Tua.
Not LSU quarterback Joe Burrow.
Not Oregon quarterback Justin Herbert.
Chase Young.
The 6-5 and 265-pound junior has 13 1/2 sacks and five forced fumbles this year and should be a Heisman Trophy candidate. And because he’s long and strong, fast and quick, and has every elite pass-rusher trait at heights no other player matches at his respective position, Young should be the No. 1 overall selection in the 2020 draft.
And that’s not just Fake GM Mando who believes this. I had two NFL personnel people tell me this weekend Young is the best player in the country. One of them called Young a better prospect than either Bosa brother who preceded Young at Ohio State. This personnel man went so far as to say Young will be better than either Nick Bosa or Joey Bosa, which is bold considering both are emerging NFL stars.
The other personnel man said Young is as good or a better prospect than Jadeveon Clowney was before he was selected No. 1 in the 2014 -- without the concerns about his motor or durability.
And none of this is a secret, folks.
So, um, this presents the Dolphins with a problem. And a dilemma.
The problem is simply this: The point of 2019’s uncomfortable fuzzy doodlesack was to get a franchise quarterback. The reason the Dolphins alienated scores of fans and players such as Minkah Fitzpatrick, Kiko Alonso, Kenyan Drake is because they want to stink enough to solve the problem that has kept the franchise from reaching consistent success for nearly 20 years.
And now we come to find out an edge rusher is the best player in the draft? Are you serious?
The Dolphins are tanking for a chance to pick a defensive end No. 1?
Look, dominant edge rushers are important. They play a cornerstone position. But they don’t generally lead a team to championships. They definitely help the charge. But they don’t lead the charge.
The Dolphins had a Hall of Fame edge rusher in Jason Taylor in the late 1990s and early 2000s. But they had multiple losing years, including a 1-15 campaign, with Taylor on the team.
So, you’re probably thinking, the solution for the Dolphins should they get the No. 1 overall selection would be to pass on Chase Young and pick their favorite quarterback anyway.
And that’s where the dilemma comes into play.
Because that would mean the Dolphins will be going against practically every draft board in the NFL, which will likely have Young as the premier talent and prospect. And that would mean the Dolphins will be overdrafting a quarterback.
So do the Miami Dolphins pass on the consensus most talented player on the board in favor of the best quarterback on their board? There’s the dilemma.
Whichever direction the Dolphins choose is fraught with uncertainty. Because if they pick Young and he’s awesome, Miami will likely not have accomplished the mission of drafting the best quarterback in the draft.
And if they pick the quarterback who is admittedly the inferior prospect and Young turns out to be the better player as his pre-draft status will suggest, there’s going to be a very unhappy fan base in South Florida.
That leads to this: There are reasons NFL teams don’t tank like the Dolphins have done in 2020. One significant reason is it requires ownership, the personnel department and the coaching staff to be in lock step in the understanding that there is a quarterback of immutable, amazing talent that must be the target of the tanking.
Andrew Luck in 2012, for example.
The 2020 NFL draft doesn’t necessarily have that quarterback. The draft does have an immutable, amazing talent. It’s Chase Young. But he doesn’t play quarterback.
And that could be problematic for the Miami Dolphins.
This story was originally published October 28, 2019 at 12:16 AM.
