Strongest QB candidate Dolphins are looking to draft, according to some, throws Thursday
If you want to see a possible and perhaps even likely future for the Miami Dolphins come to life, tune your TV to the quarterbacks’ on-field testing at the NFL Scouting Combine on Thursday and watch Justin Herbert throw the football.
Because that guy is currently a strong candidate — the strongest candidate, depending on who’s talking — to be the Dolphins’ first selection of the NFL Draft in April.
So think on this ... Justin Herbert.
Miami Dolphins quarterback.
It’s a thing, friends. And it’s a poorly kept secret here at the league’s annual rumor convention. Multiple NFL personnel people are starting to link Herbert to the Dolphins.
And, no, it’s not a done deal. It would not be correct to say it’s even close.
The Dolphins both publicly and privately insist their process continues as does their search for a quarterback who can perhaps someday lead them to championships. So there are more interviews to conduct, Pro Days to watch, test scores to grade and tape to pore over.
But Herbert currently looks like the guy with the slight lead over Tua Tagovailoa to be Miami’s No. 5 overall selection.
That can change, of course, because while Herbert is walking the halls of the convention center here all 6-6 and healthy, smiling and scheduled to throw, Tagovailoa still has not been cleared from his November hip surgery that repaired a dislocation and fracture.
That clearance isn’t expected until March 9, but every whisper of Tagovailoa’s progress here has been extremely positive.
So a Tua rally is almost certainly coming when he is again able to throw with that sniper’s accuracy and when he has his personal Pro Day on April 9.
Until then it will be unclear if the lead Herbert seems to have over Tagovailoa in the mind of Dolphins people can be overcome.
Some clarity on that has been coming this week:
At this annual event, Herbert and Tagovailoa were scheduled to take a Wonderlic test — just like all the other players — to assess their learning and problem-solving aptitude.
Herbert is actually the odds-on favorite to post the highest result of any quarterback at the Combine, according to BetOnline.ag.
Herbert is also expected to be the only one of the top three quarterback prospects to throw Thursday. Joe Burrow, the presumptive No. 1 pick of the Cincinnati Bengals, is not expected to throw, and Tagovailoa can’t because he hasn’t been cleared.
So it’s Herbert’s show among the quarterbacks at the top of the draft right now.
It’s his time to shine.
Or not.
The Dolphins came to this event willing to love Tagovailoa and Herbert. They’re open. But it’s Herbert’s job to endear himself to the team in ways Tagovailoa cannot right now.
It’s up to him to go out Thursday and spin the football as well and accurately as he ever has and convince the Miami contingent he should absolutely be the guy.
It’s up to Herbert to go into his formal meeting with the Dolphins and show coach Brian Flores and general manager Chris Grier, offensive coordinator Chan Gailey, and Hall of Famer Dan Marino, that he’s confident, that he’s a leader and he’s ready to be the face of their franchise.
Tagovailoa will be meeting with the Dolphins, as well. And he’s going into that meeting with an advantage in that Alabama coach Nick Saban, who is close to Grier, raves about his former quarterback’s leadership.
So Tagovailoa basically just has to confirm to the Dolphins that he is the person Saban says he is.
“First off, I think going into the interview rooms and these informal interviews, I just feel like I’ve got to be myself,” Tagovailoa said. “If I’m not the person for the organization, then I’m not the person. I just feel like if I’m just myself going into the interviews, the right team will find me.”
The expectation for Herbert is different. His climb is perhaps steeper. He came to the Combine to prove he offers more than a prototypical body. He must show teams he has the intangibles.
“That I’m a competitor,” Herbert said when asked what he must prove. “I want to come out here and I want to do everything, have fun, get better, learn. I think it’s all about the long haul, so anything I can do to extend my game is what I’m going to do.”
If Herbert does all of that — throws well Thursday, shows confidence and leadership in meetings, and scores like everyone expects on that Wonderlic — he and the Dolphins could forge a bond that becomes more obvious to everyone as the draft nears.
This story was originally published February 26, 2020 at 3:31 PM.
