The Miami Dolphins will enter the 2020 NFL Draft with a plentiful collection of top draft choices. And while the team’s 5th overall pick is key among in Miami’s search for a long-term answer at the quarterback position, the other remaining 1st-round selections are both critical pieces to rebuilding the team’s roster through and through. Miamis’ third 1st-round pick, at 26 overall, will offer the Dolphins the chance to target and secure an impact starter.
But what kind of recent history has the pick provided teams?
Here are the picks made with the 26th overall pick since the turn of the millennium back in 2000:
2019: DL Montez Sweat, MISS ST (Washington)
2018: WR Calvin Ridley, BAMA (Atlanta)
2017: DE Takk McKinley, UCLA (Atlanta)
2016: QB Paxton Lynch, MEMP (Denver)
2015: WR Breshad Perriman, UCF (Baltimore)
2014: OLB Marcus Smith, LOU (Philadelphia)
2013: DL Datone Jones, UCLA (Green Bay)
2012: OLB Whitney Mercilus, ILL (Houston)
2011: WR Jonathan Baldwin, PITT (Kansas City)
2010: DT Dan Williams, TENN (Arizona)
2009: OLB Clay Matthews, USC (Green Bay)
2008: OT Duane Brown, VT (Houston)
2007: DE Anthony Spencer, PUR (Dallas)
2006: DT John McCargo, NCST (Buffalo)
2005: C Chris Spencer, MISS (Seattle)
2004: RB Chris Perry, MICH (Cincinnati)
2003: OT Kwame Harris, STAN (San Francisco)
2002: DB Lito Sheppard, UF (Philadelphia)
2001: DB Jamar Fletcher, WISC (Miami)
2000: DE Erik Flowers, ASU (Buffalo)
The history of this pick has been fairly boom or bust. We’ve seen names like Lynch, Smith, Jones, Baldwin, McCargo, Perry, Harris and Flowers all flame out within 5 years of being drafted. But we also have potential Hall of Fame players in Clay Matthews and Duane Brown among this group — and rock solid contributors like Calvin Ridley and Whitney Mercilus.
Of Miami’s three 1st-round picks, this is of course the most volatile. But there’s been clear success here in the right marriage of scheme, fit and polish — many of the busts have come from promising athletes with physical tools but little football prowess. That’s the trap Miami must avoid when targeting their guy for this selection in April.
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