The Miami Dolphins entered the 2020 NFL Draft with nothing but questions. Would the team trade up? Would the team play it safe at the quarterback position? Is Miami really going to bring chaos in an attempt to secure two top five selections in this year’s draft? But once the open bell sounded and the teams were off, we saw that all that nonsense pouring out of Miami was exactly that.
Nonsense.
The Dolphins played a masterful first round of the 2020 NFL Draft and, in turn, cashed in on months and months of misdirection and spy games in order to successfully preserve the team’s NFL Draft capital while still ensuring the team would secure their preferred quarterback.
As a matter of fact, the Dolphins left the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft last night with more picks than they entered with. The Dolphins, after all the talk of trading up, ultimately made one trade — and they went down instead.
Credit where credit is due for the Dolphins, the team appeared prepared to covet the volume of their draft selections over everything else and in doing so are now scheduled to own fifteen total picks. Grier, Flores and company spent months zigging and zagging, presumably leaking deliberate reports to help keep the teams trailing them, such as the Los Angeles Chargers, off their scent.
The Dolphins also deserve credit for standing firm with the Lions amid the negotiations for the No. 3 overall pick. The Dolphins would have been easily justified to desperately make a play and trade up to the third pick for peace of mind. But they didn’t. Instead, Miami strung Detroit out and waited for someone else to feel prompted to start a bidding war with Miami. It never came. And so once the Lions were on the clock, they stayed on the clock. And the Dolphins happily gobbled up their quarterback of the future in Tua Tagovailoa.
All of this talk ahead of the draft was centered around how much the Dolphins would have to give up to draft their quarterback. As it turns out, no extra charge this year. And, to boot, the Dolphins left the round with more picks than they entered with — something to keep in mind as the Dolphins rebuild continues this year and into the future.