The end of the 2019 college football season is right around the corner. Shortly afterwards, the NFL season will come to a close — at least for most teams. And when that time comes, the Miami Dolphins’ mad scramble to rebuild their roster will begin. The Dolphins have all the resources in the world, but there’s one thing they still need: clarity.
Which is why Miami Dolphins fans should have a very specific vision for what the college football playoff looks like. Why? Because getting certain teams (more specifically, certain quarterbacks) into the spotlight can help serve as a final exclamation point on who might be the right person to lead the Dolphins back to prominence.
Miami seems to have their hearts set on drafting a quarterback this year, but they’re not in a position to get their pick of the litter at this point. That distinction goes to the 0-10 Cincinnati Bengals. So Miami will need to be thorough on all quarterbacks to ensure they find the right one.
Here’s how the College Football Playoff landscape could best serve as a spotlight for the Dolphins’ quarterback search.
The four teams in: Oklahoma, Georgia, LSU, Oregon
Teams out: Utah, Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State
How do we get here? Georgia and LSU face off in the SEC Championship game and Georgia prevails in a close game. Oklahoma runs the table and defeats Baylor again. Oregon defeats the Utes in the PAC-12 Championship Game, Alabama loses to Auburn in the Iron Bowl and Clemson and Ohio State inexplicably drop their conference championships.
The benefit here is the CFB Playoff would feature four potential 1st-round quarterbacks in Oklahoma’s Jalen Hurts, Georgia’s Jake Fromm, LSU’s Joe Burrow and Oregon’s Justin Herbert.
Is this a likely scenario? No! But it would be the ideal showcase for 2020 NFL Draft talent at the quarterback position.
A more likely (and still beneficial) CFB Playoff landscape would feature:
Ohio State, Clemson, LSU and Oregon
This would involve each of the top-3 teams holding serve, LSU defeating Georgia in the SEC Championship and Oregon leapfrogging Alabama with a win over a top-10 ranked team in Utah.
This gives Miami a look at Burrow and Herbert, two of the top-3 quarterbacks for 2020, but also pits them against Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence and Ohio State’s Justin Fields — two of the top 2021 quarterback prospects.
You know, just in case the Dolphins decide to punt quarterback for a year due to the injury development with Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa.
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