Tag: 2020 Supplemental Draft

Here’s hoping that teams hoping to tack on some extra talent for the 2020 season weren’t banking on the 2020 supplemental draft to get it done. The news broke yesterday that the NFL announced to teams that there will be no supplemental draft later this month, a decision that will prevent college talent from flocking into the NFL en masse amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the uncertainty that looms over the 2020 college football season as a result. For the Miami Dolphins, the prospect of the supplemental draft was attractive for what may come as a result of the unknowns of college football.

Could we have seen prominent college players jump ship and avoid the potential bottoming out of college football this season? After all, many players decided to return to school in order to hone their craft and improve their stock — but how much can stock really be improved if there are no games to be played?

But it is all a moot point now — and that is for the best for the Dolphins. Because Miami has already been quite aggressive with their added talent. Yes, the Dolphins stayed patient in the 2020 NFL Draft to not leap up the draft board and give away a bunch of picks, but the team spent heavily in free agency and welcomed aggressive selections and trades on the 2020 draft’s third day in order to make the most of their picks.

The presence of college talent in the 2020 supplemental draft would have given Miami a new chance to add talent but that would have come at a key cost to team flexibility throughout their rebuild. Everything the Dolphins have done to date has been done with the intent of being flexible in the long-term. Miami’s cash commitments were paid out in a way that allows the team to avoid getting trapped in bad contracts. And when some players bust on Miami — and it will inevitably happen — the team will have the ability to pivot as needed because of the plethora of resources Miami has pooled in their first year of the rebuild. If, for example, Miami spent a high pick on a player in the supplemental draft, that’s one less pick to make after the 2020 season — after the Dolphins have a chance to assess the state of their roster through another 16 game season. This is a long-term project for the Dolphins and spending too many of their assets too quickly is the fastest way to cut down on the team’s flexibility to take adversity in stride.

So while it may be a bummer to hear there will be no supplemental draft, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing for the Miami Dolphins, given all the change they’ve already introduced to the team this year.

The NFL’s supplemental draft has generally become something of an afterthought these days, but it didn’t always used to be that way. Wide receiver Josh Gordon is the most high-profile pick of the last decade — the former Pro Bowler was drafted with a 2nd-round selection in the 2012 NFL Draft after being dismissed from Baylor with a failed drug test. But other prominent NFL names were also Supplemental Draft picks, including LB Ahmad Brooks (2006), WR Cris Carter & LB Brian Bosworth (1987) and QB Bernie Kosar (1985).

The Supplemental Draft may have been marginalized as of late, but it is very much capable of bringing legitimate NFL talent to the table. And amid the COVID-19 pandemic and with the college football season in question, some are feeling as though this year’s Supplemental Draft may be more busy than usual. Broncos general manager John Elway is one who is bracing for the possibility of a bigger draft pool, as he discussed in his post-draft press conference.

“We have talked about the possibility of more kids coming back out, especially with the uncertainty of the college season and where that sits,” said Elway.

“Each week and each day we find out more and more information of where everything’s going. I would think with the situation that there is a possibility that there’d be more kids in the supplemental draft especially kids that were thinking about coming out.”

Who should the Dolphins be eyeing about a potential early entry? One sensible target would be Alabama wide receiver DeVonta Smith, who spurned the NFL this past winter to return to Alabama for his senior season. But if there’s questions on whether or not there will be a senior season to be played, perhaps Smith will make the leap of faith. If he does, he’s the perfect compliment to the Dolphins’ current wide receiver room — and he’s also got plenty of chemistry with Miami’s new franchise quarterback, Tua Tagovailoa. The duo hooked up for two separate 200 yard receiving efforts this past season (the second coming against LSU) and Smith caught 5 touchdown passes in a single game from Tagovailoa in the fall against Mississippi.

What would Smith cost? He’s a little more fluid that Miami’s projected outside starters in DeVante Parker and Preston Williams and would be the perfect target running those slant patterns on RPOs that Tagovailoa routinely saw his receivers make house calls on in Tuscaloosa. Smith likely comes with a 1st-round price tag — but the good news is even if the Dolphins elected to spend one on Smith, the team would still own a 1st-round pick in 2021 anyway thanks to the Laremy Tunsil deal.

Of all the possible talents to enter the 2020 Supplemental Draft, this is the one the Dolphins should keep a close eye on. It is a match made in heaven from a stylistic perspective, a chemistry perspective and a cost perspective.