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With the Miami Dolphins’ 2020 NFL Draft plans quickly being finalized, the team will look to make several critical key additions to the roster during next week’s three days of drafting. For the Dolphins, free agency served as a big boost to the team’s ability to “go with the flow” and attack value throughout the board instead of marrying themselves to specific team needs at certain picks.
But what might the positions in consideration look like at critical junctures of the draft? How soon might the Dolphins decide that one position is the best available value to their team? In such a deep class, the Dolphins will have a slew of options and may find the action in front of them in the draft queue makes their decisions for them when it is all said and done.
For the offensive guard position, the Dolphins are faced with a difficult challenge. Miami still has a notable need at the guard position opposite Ereck Flowers — 2019 rookie Michael Deiter did not play well enough to deserve the benefit of the doubt and be handed the starting job in 2020 without competition. But the value of “plug and play” starters among the interior offensive line group leaves the Dolphins with no clear and obvious values to grab one.
The best of the best (minus Michigan’s Cesar Ruiz, who should be in consideration in the last 1st-round) will all likely be available when the Dolphins come on the clock at 39. But if they go a different direction at 39, Miami may see a run on the position between their picks. If that is the case, the Dolphins are going to have to have backup plans readily available. The ceiling for the position feels like 26 overall with Cesar Ruiz — but he also comes with experience playing center.
If the Dolphins want to tab a starting guard, they’re likely to consider it at 39 but it will be a much more likely proposition late in the 2nd-round when the Dolphins come on the clock at 56. That means the likes of Lloyd Cushenberry of LSU, Jonah Jackson of Ohio State and Ruiz are likely to be gone. But if 56 is the spot for an interior offensive lineman, keep an eye on Louisiana’s Robert Hunt as a logical add for the Dolphins — he’s got tackle experience as well but would fit right in to Miami’s gap/power rushing offense.