The ultimate decision made by the Miami Dolphins organization was to invest in a quarterback with the team’s first selection in the 2020 NFL Draft — picking Alabama signal caller Tua Tagovailoa as the second quarterback off the board. And while we still need to see how Tagovailoa acclimates to the pro level, looking at the forecast for the 2021 offseason seems to indicate that the Dolphins did right by choosing to target a quarterback in the here and now instead of waiting for next season to roll around.
Some Dolphins fans wanted to see Miami put off their quarterback decision for another year and invest in building the best supporting cast possible instead of drafting a quarterback early in 2020 — but the forecast isn’t kind to that thought process.
While there’s plenty of time for the quarterback landscape to change — but as things currently stand there is an assumed “big three” of 2021 quarterback prospects: Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence, Ohio State’s Justin Fields and North Dakota State’s Trey Lance. Lance, who will be a redshirt sophomore this season, is no guarantee to come out given his youth, too.
And with the Dolphins facing the prospect of improving their roster elsewhere, it is hard to envision Miami being positioned well enough to draft one of the top two names from the 2021 class in Lawrence or Fields without giving up a monstrous amount of assets in order to trade into position to get one. The Dolphins have spent aggressively and are intent on being a better overall football team in 2020. The record should indicate that, too.
Looking across the NFL, there are a few teams clearly sitting in Miami’s shoes from just one year ago. The Carolina Panthers have spent for some offensive pieces but the team defensively is a wreck and faces a potent gauntlet of quarterbacks in the NFC South. The Jacksonville Jaguars have plenty of youth, but their banking on Gardner Minshew being “the guy” for them and the team generally did not upgrade an offense that finished 26th in scoring last season. Add in Jacksonville’s continued shopping of DE Yannick Ngakoue and RB Leonard Fournette and things may well continue to get worse before they get better.
Miami wouldn’t even be close to a contender to secure one of those top picks in the draft — which would make them desperate and ready to overpay in order to acquire a high pick.
So with an eye towards the future, there’s little doubt that this decision was the right one for Miami, no matter how it turns out. The team would be fighting a losing battle in a race to the top of the draft charts and the availability of Tagovailoa with the No. 5 overall pick made Miami’s decision super easy.