The Miami Dolphins will be faced with a critical question as it pertains to their 2020 roster rebuild. Where do you even start when you need essentially everything? Well, we’re about to find out.
The Dolphins own three of the first 26 selections and four of the first 40 selections in next month’s NFL Draft — which should provide an exciting influx of talent that opens the door for Miami to quickly turn around their roster and become a contender sooner rather than later. The team will, of course, target a quarterback of their choosing at some point. But what other strategy and thought process might we see in play?
The Dolphins will own picks at 18 and 26, barring trades. And in those spots, Miami might find themselves on the outside looking in at a number of critical positions in need of an upgrade. Would the Dolphins really settle for the 5th best offensive tackle at 18? The middle to late 1st-round is something of a dead window for teams in need of pass rushers, too.
The Dolphins, if they’re intent on getting key pieces, may need to be aggressive or alternatively be willing to continue to kick their assets down the road to get into more attractive value ranges for positions they’d like to address. The 18th selection shouldn’t be too hard to come to peace with — there’s a ton of great football players in this class and one of them should be available to Miami.
But 26? If Miami opts with a tackle with their second pick, the team will be hard pressed to uncover options that are viable starters as impact pass rushers at that spot. So what do you do? Trade back, pick up more capital and find a better value at a lesser position, such as guard? Or trade up aggressively and pay the price to ensure you land one of those critical pass rushers?
There are no easy answers, but the lack of depth at the top of some of Miami’s most critical positions to upgrade is something to monitor.
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