The Clemson Tigers stormed back from down 16-0 to claim a 29-23 victory over the Ohio State Buckeyes and punch their ticket to the national championship. We hope the Miami Dolphins were watching — the collection of NFL talent on the field in Tempe last night is probably the best showcase of NFL talent outside of the SEC this entire season. And boy, did it not disappoint! The overall display was fantastic and if Miami is wise, their short list for each of the team’s five picks in the first two rounds of the 2020 NFL Draft will feature at least one talent from either school from last night’s throw down.
The Miami Dolphins are in dire need of a fresh threat out of the backfield and either Ohio State’s J.K. Dobbins or Clemson’s Travis Etienne would certainly do the trick. The two backs alternated explosive plays throughout the game, with Etienne’s catch and run in the final two minutes serving as the deciding score.
Defensively, the 2020 NFL Draft should see two top-10 overall talents from last night’s contest, too. Ohio State Chase Young is well established as a top name, but what about Clemson linebacker/safety Isaiah Simmons? The Tigers defender plays the same role Miami envisioned for DB Minkah Fitzpatrick this season, except Simmons plays it at 230 pounds versus Fitzpatrick playing it at 205 (and Simmons is still more explosive).
And of course, we’d be remiss to ignore the obvious — if the Dolphins pass the buck on drafting a quarterback in 2020, they’d be pretty well off targeting either quarterback on the field last night. Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence enjoyed his most clutch performance of his young, budding career while helping Clemson climb out of a two score deficit early on. Lawrence will be the source of much debate over the next 12 months as fans try to decipher whether a “tanked” 2020 is in the cards. It won’t be for Miami, but if the Dolphins get lucky and a non-QB needy team lands the top pick? Miami would be wise to repeat having more 1st-round picks in 2021, just as they do in 2020. Ohio State’s Justin Fields doesn’t look like a bad consolation prize in his own right. Fields said before the game he was at approximately 80-85% health with a knee injury suffered in the Big Ten Championship Game, yet he still looked the part of a top shelf quarterback.
And this doesn’t even get into some of the other potential top-50 picks on the field, such as Ohio State CBs Jeff Okudah, Shaun Wade and Damon Arnette and Clemson wide receiver Tee Higgins.
As the Dolphins transition from the 2019 season to creating roadmaps to a more competitive team, expect them to have this one on repeat in the personnel department.
[jwplayer bXhjRkvi-ThvAeFxT]