Dolphins In Depth 2020 mock draft: Dolphins go trade crazy to resolve ... offensive line
I don’t know anything. Let’s start there.
I’m not going to play plugged-in insider and tell you these teams are telling me everything. I’m not even going to tell you the Dolphins are telling me things lately, either. That stopped when I put the Justin Herbert and Tua Tagovailoa story out and everybody in the organization freaked the freaky-frick out.
But other folks talk to me. And they hear things.
And I have a mind.
And I’m a gifted critical thinker. So I figure some stuff out.
That’s what this mock draft is about. This is what seems plausible to me.
(Except for that blockbuster trade way down there with New England. That’s just me going crazy. Sort of.)
So I present to you the Mando mock draft:
1. CINCINNATI BENGALS: QB Joe Burrow. Only one team has enough draft capital to make a trade with the Bengals for this pick and that’s the Miami Dolphins. But the Bengals are about 99.99 percent locked in to using this pick on this player.
2. WASHINGTON REDSKINS: Edge Chase Young. That talk of the Redskins picking a QB? Or trading down? Nah, the Redskins are picking perhaps the best prospect in the draft, regardless of position.
3. LOS ANGELES CHARGERS: (Trade with Detroit for first No. 6 overall and second (No. 37 overall) QB Justin Herbert. The Chargers want the draft’s best deep thrower and a player with great potential for the future. Herbert’s leadership issue? The Chargers have a veteran team. Herbert’s accuracy issue? Keenan Allen, Mike Williams and Hunter Henry will help ease that issue.
4. NEW YORK GIANTS: LT Tristan Wirfs. The Giants have spent premium picks the past years on the quarterback and running back. Time to get those guys some premier blocking.
5. MIAMI DOLPHINS: QB Tua Tagovailoa. Well, Joe Burrow is gone. So is Justin Herbert. So the highest-remaining quarterback on the Dolphins’ draft board is selected here. I don’t think the Dolphins want to trade up for anyone other than Burrow. This is not a value pick, because other prospects have better grades, but they’re not QBs. So Tua it is. He better stay healthy.
6. DETROIT LIONS: (From trade with Chargers) CB Jeff Okudah. This is the reason the Lions want so badly to trade down. They move down three spots and still get a player in Okudah they valued at No. 3, plus they pick up a second-round pick. Lions also like Derrick Brown.
7. CAROLINA PANTHERS: DT Derrick Brown. The Panthers are rebuilding, and this move shows they’re doing it from the inside out.
8. ARIZONA CARDINALS: LB/SS Isaiah Simmons. The Cardinals need to help Chandler Jones and Patrick Peterson on defense, and Simmons can play in the front seven and the secondary so he fills the need all the way around.
9. JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS: CB C.J. Henderson. So easy. The Jags go with the semi-local guy from the University of Florida who arguably is the best cornerback in the draft and fills the vacancy created in the Jalen Ramsey departure.
10. CLEVELAND BROWNS: LT Andrew Thomas. The Browns have loud voices with big egos in their locker room. Thomas is not going to be searching out the microphones and television cameras but will be a stalwart left tackle and not cause any issues either on or off the field.
11. NEW YORK JETS: RT Jedrick Wills. Sorry, Dolphins but Adam Gase plucks your coveted OT target. Wills will have to earn his spot in New York during training camp but will be the starter in the regular-season opener — kind of the way Gase treated Laremy Tunsil in 2016.
12. LAS VEGAS RAIDERS: WR CeeDee Lamb. The Raiders made due last year when Antonio Brown blew up their wide receiver plans. They address the position with a playmaker who is a YAC (Yards After Catch) machine.
13. MIAMI DOLPHINS: (Trade with San Francisco for first (18th) and second (56th) OL Mehki Becton. What the Dolphins should want to do is pick Jedrick Wills (whom they love) or Andrew Thomas (whom they love) at No. 5 and trade to this spot for Tagovailoa. I don’t perceive the organizational “courage of conviction,” as Don Shula used to call it, to do that so they play it safe and still get a top-tier OL plus a QB.
14. TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS: OT Austin Jackson. Way too early for Jackson, but the tackle run is on with three selected in the last four picks so the Bucs do Bucs thing to protect their 42-year-old quarterback. I’m trolling. This is a solid pick, and I wouldn’t be shocked if Jackson is more a Dolphins-type player than Becton — in fact, I’m pretty sure of it.
Can I get a do-over?
15. DENVER BRONCOS: WR Henry Ruggs. The Broncos have suffered the pains of dealing with Tyreek Hill in their division for long enough to understand speed of that caliber kills. Ruggs has speed of that caliber to provide quarterback Drew Lock.
16. ATLANTA FALCONS: DT Javon Kinlaw. So the Falcons want to trade up. That fails. They want a cornerback. That fails. Next best thing to upgrade the defense is provide disruptive play in the front seven and Kinlaw does that from the inside.
17. DALLAS COWBOYS: Edge K’Lavon Chaisson. And now a defensive line run as the Cowboys look to pour resources into the defense after spending big on offense with more spending due to quarterback Dak Prescott. Also, Robert Quinn and his 11.5 sacks (more than he ever provided Miami) left for Chicago in free agency, so here’s his replacement.
18. SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS: WR Jerry Jeudy. The 49ers get it. Trade down, add a pick in the second round and now add arguably the best route-running receiver in the draft.
19. LAS VEGAS RAIDERS: CB A.J. Terrell. The Raiders could go crazy and double down on wide receivers, but the more prudent move is to provide a much-needed upgrade to the secondary with a good player.
20. JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS: QB Jordan Love. This feels a little bit like overdrafting a player, but he’s a quarterback with playmaker potential. If you believe the Jags are completely sold on Gardner Minshew then you be blessed and get outta my sight.
21. PHILADELPHIA EAGLES: WR Justin Jefferson. Another precise route-runner who helped Joe Burrow earn the top pick of the draft. Now all he has to do is make Carson Wentz great again.
22. MINNESOTA VIKINGS: CB Kristian Fulton. There are a couple here who can fit, but Fulton has played at the highest level (SEC) and is a scheme fit for the Vikings. The Vikings might be tempted to draft a WR to fill the Stefon Diggs void, but there is talent to address that later.
23. MIAMI DOLPHINS: (Trade with New England plus rights to OG Joe Thuney for first (26th), second (39th) and thirrd (70th) OT Josh Jones. So this is a blockbuster. And I’m spitballin’ here so work with me. The Dolphins move up three spots and draft another offensive tackle. Jones is not plug-and-play ready, but he has the talent to play a long time.
Now the Dolphins have their two starting offensive tackles of the future, plus solid veteran backups already on the roster for the present in case the rookies stumble out of the gate. Miami adds Joe Thuney, New England’s franchise player, to complete the Miami offensive line once he signs his new contract.
So the new Dolphins OL of the future is left to right ... LT Mehki Becton, LG Ereck Flowers, C Ted Karras, RG Joe Thuney, RT Josh Jones.
Done.
And, yes, I understand Thuney played left guard in New England. He will play wherever Brian Flores asks because he’s going to get paid. And, yes, the tackles are rookies. Make it work, people, that’s why coaches get paid so much money.
This has the potential to be the most talented Dolphins offensive line in decades with Jesse Davis, Julie’n Davenport and Michael Deiter competing for playing time.
The trade-off is the Dolphins no longer have a second-round pick or a third-round pick. You got to take a good cut to hit a home run.
24. NEW ORLEANS SAINTS: CB Trevon Diggs. The Saints will always find a way to score points but too often lose because other quarterbacks are able to close out games. This needs to stop.
25. MINNESOTA VIKINGS: WR Tee Higgins. The Vikings traded Stefon Diggs to the Buffalo Bills and have to find a way to fill the void. Higgins might not be your classic WR1, but he’s 6-4 and he comes from a winning culture, something the Vikings can use.
26. NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS: (From Miami) S Xavier McKinney. He’s the top safety on many boards and he’s very smart. Plus Patrick Chung is going to be 33 in August.
27. SEATTLE SEAHAWKS: Edge Yetur Gross-Matos. Seattle GM John Schneider can find pass rushers hidden in the four corners of the Earth, and he does it again here. This doesn’t make the likely loss of Jadeveon Clowney a moot point, but it should lessen the pain.
MANDO LOSING INTEREST ...
28. BALTIMORE RAVENS: LB Kenneth Murray. The Ravens couldn’t stop Derrick Henry in the playoffs, and that erased a 14-2 regular-season record. Cannot let that happen again.
29. TENNESSEE TITANS: Edge A.J. Epenesa. Some pundits mocked him to the Dolphins. Others to the Patriots. I sent him to Tennessee because that’s another New England-type outpost, and Mike Vrabel will use his heavy hands to get disruption on passers.
30. GREEN BAY PACKERS: WR Denzel Mims. So most people have him in the second round. I don’t know if you have noticed but I don’t care what most people say.
31. SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS: RB D’Andre Swift. Perhaps the running back position doesn’t have the value it once did, but Swift is a first-round talent and, on this team loaded with talent, he would thrive.
32. KANSAS CITY CHIEFS: CB Jaylon Johnson. The Chiefs have no issues scoring points but want to keep adding speed on offense, anyway. That can be done in the second round. The greater need is cornerback and thus, Johnson.
This story was originally published April 21, 2020 at 12:01 AM.
