Why Miami Dolphins would be insane to consider any position or player other than Tua | Opinion
Eyes on the prize, Miami Dolphins. Stay strong. Focus.
As the Cornelius Brothers & Sister Rose famously sang in 1972, “It’s too late to turn back now.”
We’ve been reading it and hearing it from South Florida media to the talking heads on this week’s Dolphins-Steelers Monday Night Football telecast. The what-if game on the 2020 NFL Draft has begun. The notion that whomever ends up with the overall No. 1 pick next spring — including the favorite, Miami — dare not pass on the draft’s hot new shiny object, Ohio State’ havoc-wreaking pass rusher Chase Young.
As if on cue, ESPN draftnik Todd McShay this week elevated Young to No. 1, ahead of Tagovailoa, in his latest updated draft rankings.
Let us hope the suggestion the Fins should consider drafting Young ahead of a generational QB qualifies as a classic sports straw man — a false narrative floated purely for the sake of argument.
Because, at least in the Dolphins’ case, it is an absurd supposition that Miami should or might bypass the franchise arm because, what, the trendy defensive end is a point higher on your draft board?
The whole point of this season, of this exquisitely orchestrated tanking, is to wind up with Tua Tagovailoa, the generational QB from Alabama.
That is the reason for the season, for all of the pain and embarrassment the franchise and Dolphins fans are enduring.
A quick word on tanking. A definition, if you will. The Dolphins are clearly tanking, but at the ownership/management level, where the decision to trade talent for future draft picks is made. Dolphins players and coaches are trying to win, no matter the conspiracy theorists rising up like groundhogs to see game-fixing in every call gone wrong or dropped pass.
The corporate tanking? It is smart, and overdue.
Heck, this club hasn’t just been working all season toward what’s next. The Fins have pretty much been working 20 years toward this.
Toward their first true franchise QB since Dan Marino left after the 1999 season, or, really, since a few years before that, when his best days left.
Miami has not had a Pro Bowl quarterback since 1995, the longest such drought in football. Which is hardly insignificant in an age when passing is paramount and just the right QB can be the panacea for what ails you.
Now Tagovailoa is within Miami’s sight and grasp and we’re supposed to actually entertain the thought this team might spend its top pick on somebody else? On a different position?
It boggles the rational mind.
I’ve never fully bought into the “best available athlete” mindset — not when maybe the next-best available athlete is the one that better suits your dire need.
If Tagovailoa and the DE Young both reach stardom and turn out to have comparable NFL careers, it is the quarterback you’d wish you had. And it isn’t close.
Three times, post-Marino, Miami has held the overall top-three draft pick all but assured in 2020. This happened:
▪ 2005: Miami drafts OK/not bad running back Ronnie Brown No. 2 overall. It was not seen as a great QB draft (Alex Smith went No. 1), although some guy named Aaron Rodgers went 24th overall.
▪ 2008: Miami drafts pretty-good-when-healthy left tackle Jake Long No. 1 overall. Selected third? Matt Ryan. Ouch.
▪ 2013: Miami trades way up to take bust defensive end Dion Jordan No. 3 overall. That was a miserable QB draft. The top three taken were future journeymen E.J. Manuel, Geno Smith and Mike Glennon.
The point? In sequence, Miami failed like most teams to see what Rodgers would become, erred in not jumping on Ryan, then understandably didn’t think QB in 2013, still convinced (wrongly) that ‘12 top pick Ryan Tannehill would turn into something big.
This is different. Tagovailoa will be the most highly regarded quarterback that Miami has had a realistic chance to draft in 20 years. Since Marino.
Even in elevating Young to No. 1, McShay writes of the ‘Bama QB:
“Simply put, Tagovailoa is a special talent. The lefty has elite accuracy at all three levels, displaying a smooth delivery, solid arm strength and excellent touch. His anticipation and fast eyes are high-end.”
You don’t overthink that. You don’t think, “Yeah, but Chase Young could be the next Nick Bosa!” You don’t swoon over how great ‘Bama receiver Jerry Jeudy is. You don’t think offensive tackle or cornerback.
And you don’t rationalize that you can get a perfectly fine QB later in draft. Because you can’t. Oregon’s Justin Herbert comes closest. LSU’s Joe Burrow, Washington’s Jacob Eason and maybe Georgia’s Jake Fromm could also be first-rounders.
None of them is Tua.
If you’re Miami, you take the consensus best QB, either No. 1 overall or by spending to trade up. You take the guy you believe will be your Patrick Mahomes, Deshaun Watson or Russell Wilson -- your ticket out of mediocrity and back into relevance.
Eyes on the prize, please:
Tua.
This story was originally published October 30, 2019 at 1:44 PM.
