Dolphins winning the rebuild in a three-year plan that includes patience with Tua | Opinion
The NFL Draft and free agency are past, and now the Miami Dolphins and other teams await what the coronavirus threat will allow. When will teams be able to go from virtual meetings via video to hands-on with their newest players? When will football fields go from empty acres to crawling with activity again? Will the season even start on time? Will it start with no fans allowed in stadiums?
None of those answers are yet known.
But this is:
The Dolphins keep reminding us that things are different now.
For everybody, yes, on account of the deadly COVID-19 virus. But I mean for one long-forlorn franchise in particular. For one team picking itself up and – in the midst of a pandemic – spreading nothing but hope to its hungry fans.
The feeling is palpable. The once-proud, long-off radar Dolphins are building something here. There is a plan. There is a clue. General manager Chris Grier and coach Brian Flores are fronting an organization that, for the first time in some 20 years, seems to finally know what it is doing again.
National relevance awaits. In the petri dish a winning culture grows. Dolfans’ optimism is allowed again. The idea Miami might soon join that chosen echelon of teams expecting to be in the playoffs every year — that doesn’t seem so preposterous anymore.
“It’s building a process of building this team,” Grier described it after the draft fronted by expected franchise quarterback Tua Tagovailoa out of Alabama. “It’s a calculated plan that we are looking to achieve in terms of roster building and looking long-term.”
The transition from years of losing — 19 seasons in a row since the last playoff win — to whatever is ahead will be deliberate, not rushed. It might mean a “redshirt” year for Tagovailoa in 2020 as he learns from mentor Ryan Fitzpatrick, grows comfortable, mostly gets completely healthy after his November hip surgery.
An early over/under via sportsbetting.ag has 3,200 yards and 19 touchdowns for Tagovailoa his rookie year. “Under” could be the play. Eager fans might be chanting his name, but chances are good the team’s No. 1 draft pick (fifth overall) will begin the season as Fitzpatrick’s understudy.
Tua is saying what you would expect and want him to:
“I’m going to compete as if I’m preparing to be the starter, even if I’m not going to be the starter right away or the entire season. I think that has to be the mind-set. Competition is usually always healthy.”
I would not be surprised if he plays very little as a rookie because abundant caution will be the priority. Grier says “we’re very comfortable” about the medical prognosis on Tagovailoa. But, as Flores notes:
“Look, we haven’t even seen him. Obviously with the pandemic and all that’s going on our doctors haven’t seen him. We have a long way to go before we can say who’s doing what. It’s way too early to speculate on this year [for Tagovailoa] and how this is going to go.”
The patient approach with the new quarterback is in keeping with what clearly is a three-year plan by the Dolphins.
Year 1 was the tanking in 2019, the ground-up reboot, the trading away of top players for draft picks and salary-cap space.
Year 2 is what we are seeing now. The ability to have been active, big spenders in free agency. The three first-round picks for the first time in club history and a league-leading 14 selections overall entering the draft. The arrival of a true franchise quarterback for the first time since the 1983 draft brought Dan Marino.
Year 3 will be 2021, when Miami again will have a plethora of draft picks including two in the first round and two in the second.
It will be 2021-22 when the plan begins to coalesce, when expectations of contending will kick in and available excuses will recede. This coming season (whenever that is) will very much be a developmental year where the focus is on building more than winning.
That is reflected in all three of Miami’s new first-round picks.
In addition to patience and complete recovery being the priorities with Tagovailoa, offensive tackle Austin Jackson from Southern Cal and cornerback Noah Igbinoghene from Auburn both are high-upside projects who will need coaching up in a learning-curve season.
Some saw Jackson as a reach at 18th overall, but Miami loves his potential. Igbinoghene is young and converted from receiver to corner in college, but has the elite speed and dominance in man-to-man coverage (which Miami primarily plays) to join starters Xavien Howard and free agency star Byron Jones to form a heck of a triumvirate in an increasingly pass-happy league.
I loved that Miami took the risk to aim high on Tagovailoa.
Loved they took a first-round corner even though the “need” was not pressing.
Loved the choice of guard Robert Hunt.
Loved they got a safety in Brandon Jones.
Loved they loaded up with three offensive linemen.
Loved the pass rush emphasis in free agency.
Love that they continue to bring in versatile guys, such as seventh-round pick Malcolm Perry out of Navy, a receiver/running back/QB hybrid they hope might be their version of the Saints’ Taysom Hill.
And I loved the Matt Breida trade. Getting him from the 49ers for a fifth-round pick felt like a steal, or at least a bargain. He’s a just-turned-25 running back with a 5.0 career average who will compete with free agent Jordan Howard for the featured role.
Fortifying the offensive line and the running back room are ways to protect Tagovailoa and take pressure off him, both with blocking and with offensive balance.
Everything Miami is doing feels right at the moment, a refreshing change from regimes past.
So much of the grand plan relies, of course, on Tagoavailoa shaking the “damaged goods” rap and showing he’s all that.
“My biggest thing is trying to prove that [the Dolphins made] the right decision,” he says.
Miami is making enough right decisions lately to trust in this biggest one.
This story was originally published April 27, 2020 at 12:53 PM.
