Miami Dolphins fans have been cheering for a vast number of potential outcomes this season. The team has seen some fans buy into the prospect of a full on tank, hoping for the team to drop games left and right in order to fall further down in the draft order. Others have wanted to have their cake and eat it, too — aspiring for the Dolphins to win but for the team’s other first round picks via the Pittsburgh Steelers and Houston Texans to plummet in the order.
But every outcome has revolved around maximizing the value of Miami’s plethora of picks.
What happens if, in the final three weeks of the 2019 season, the Dolphins were to see everything that could possibly go wrong on that front materialize? What happens if the Dolphins win out, every team mathematically eligible of passing them in the draft order doing so and the Dolphins seeing their other two draft selections swell due to late playoff runs from both Houston and Pittsburgh?
What would the picks themselves look like?
If Miami were to win out, they would finish the year with a final record of 6-10. The absolute worst case scenario for the Dolphins with 6 wins would be picking 13th in the 2020 NFL Draft. That would require the Philadelphia Eagles, Carolina Panthers, Los Angeles Chargers, Denver Broncos and New York Jets to lose out in addition to Miami running the table against the New York Giants, Cincinnati Bengals and the New England Patriots — who will be mired in a battle for a 1st-round bye during their Week 17 contest against the Dolphins.
The odds of this materializing? Slim to none. Almost zero.
And even if everything else did materialize and the Dolphins went 2-1 against the Giants, Bengals and Patriots, Miami would pick no lower than 8th in the draft order.
The other component of a doomsday scenario would involve the Texans and Steelers playing in the AFC Championship game. If Houston finishes as the 4-seed in the AFC Playoffs and the Steelers clinch the 6-seed, it would put them on opposing sides of the bracket and provide a pathway for Pittsburgh and Houston to lock horns for a trip to the Super Bowl.
This doomsday scenario of a Texans/Steelers AFC Championship and the Dolphins finishing 6-10 would result in Miami owning the following picks in the first round:
- 13th overall
- 29th/30th overall
- 31st/32nd overall
Remember: this outcome is extremely unlikely, but it is worth noting that this is where the Miami Dolphins currently stand in a doomsday Draft order scenario.
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