Option C: Jordan Love (Utah State) and a veteran – Love possibly has the highest ceiling out of all the draft-eligible quarterbacks. If everything goes well, Love can be the best quarterback from this draft. Unfortunately for him, Love has not exactly helped his stock — he’s had a tough year. Love lost some talent off of his offense this past offseason and isn’t on a team littered with talent like Burrow and Tagovailoa. The projection of Love in the NFL can be very high and typically teams draft players based on how they project them at the next level.
The Utah State star has all of the tools teams look for and makes way throws on a regular basis. Some of his completions defy the odds, similar to what we saw at Texas Tech from Patrick Mahomes. That’s not to say Love is as good of a prospect but he does have similar traits. Love could be worth drafting in the 1st-round with the Pittsburgh or Houston pick. If they do that, it would be wise for the Dolphins to keep both Josh Rosen and Ryan Fitzpatrick, which would allow Love to sit and learn.
Option D: Tua Tagovailoa (Alabama) and an insurance backup plan – As mentioned before, there are concerns over Tagovailoa’s injuries — he’s now had three surgeries since last year. He is expected to make a full recovery from this latest one, but anyone drafting him should have a contingency plan in place. It would be mighty difficult for Miami to draft Tagovailoa and just assume the durability questions will go away, especially when he cannot throw until the spring in the very best case scenario.
That is where “insurance” comes in. The Dolphins could look to add a veteran quarterback such as Teddy Bridgewater or Cam Newton to play for a year in front of him.
They could also stay the course with Ryan Fitzpatrick and/or Josh Rosen, too. Miami could have one of them start in front of Tagovailoa until he is ready to take over. Should there be concern that the former Crimson Tide quarterback cannot recover, they could draft a quarterback in mid-rounds, too. Regardless, the Dolphins need to make sure they have a backup plan if they choose Option D.