With us rolling into April and with all other sports currently put on the back burner on account of the COVID-19 pandemic, the NFL Draft is the only show in town — and we’ve got nearly the entire month of April ahead of us before it arrives. It can serve as a welcomed distraction for sports fans everywhere, including over the next three weeks as the speculation, rumor mills and insider leaks fly at a mile a minute.
The latest tease comes courtesy of ESPN’s Todd McShay, who released his 2020 Mock Draft 4.0 yesterday to the masses — and he has the Dolphins standing firm with the 5th overall selection to make their pick. As such, Miami was able to make a total of 5 selections for the Dolphins in the two-round exercise; we’re pretty certain that Miami fans will be fairly pleased with the haul afforded to the by McShay.
McShay stayed “on script” with Miami’s first pick to draft QB Tua Tagovailoa and with the team’s final 1st-round pick the team landed Houston OT Josh Jones. That middle pick at 18? Miami used it in this mock exercise to draft Alabama safety Xavier McKinney — a selection that would undoubtedly get some unfair pushback due to the unfortunate ending of Minkah Fitzpatrick’s time here with Miami. Fitzpatrick, of course, whined his way out of Miami last season after just two weeks; prompting the Dolphins to trade him to Pittsburgh where he thrived as a true single high free safety for the first half of the season.
By the end of the year, Fitzpatrick was complaining about his usage in Pittsburgh, too.
But Dolphins fans will surely remember the sour taste of Fitzpatrick’s departure and probably be skeptical about another Alabama safety. It’s understandable. But looking at the film, one thing is already clear — McKinney is more of the player Brian Flores and company wanted Fitzpatrick to be, anyway. There’s a bigger tackling presence. He thrived in the box against LSU this past season. Simply put, he checks the boxes to be Miami’s new Minkah.
So if that indeed materializes, be excited, Dolphins fans. It would give the Dolphins their flex safety back into the cards — but this time around the team has a pair of lockdown corners to go with him.