The Miami Dolphins are going to be in the market for defensive backs this offseason — that much is for sure. After watching the team churn through street free agents to populate the back end of their defense for the final month or so of the 2019 season, fans can be rest assured that reinforcements will be added throughout the course of Miami’s pivotal 2020 offseason. And fortunately for Miami, it is shaping up to be a pretty darn good year to need defensive backs — both in free agency and via the draft.
Not quite as good as what it could have been, though.
The Ohio State Buckeyes will have several talents in the 2020 NFL Draft pool, including star cornerback Jeffrey Okudah. But they won’t have their most diverse defender, who would have served as a home run fit for the Dolphins late in the 1st-round or early in the 2nd-round.
Cornerback Shaun Wade announced yesterday that he intends to return to Ohio State for the 2020 college football season, despite his status as a top-40 prospect in the upcoming NFL Draft. The decision is a calculated one for Wade, who will now get a chance to showcase his skill on the perimeter now that Okudah is off to the pros in 2020. If Miami wants a Buckeye defensive back, they’ll still have two really good ones to choose from in Okudah and fellow cornerback Damon Arnette — but there’s little question Brian Flores would have loved Wade’s versatility as a nickel defender who can play physical inside of five yards of the line of scrimmage but also put opposing receivers on lockdown in man to man coverage.
Wade’s decision should help provide some clarity on the Dolphins’ second wave of picks between the late 1st and early 2nd round of the 2020 NFL Draft.
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