The bell has rung. It’s the 10-day countdown to the NFL Draft and, astonishingly, all of the following statements are true to various degrees of arguably-so to absolutely-certain:
This 85th NFL Draft will be the weirdest of them all.
This 55th Miami Dolphins draft will be the most interesting in franchise history.
The most important, too.
And the most pressure filled.
Oh, and Tua Tagovailoa — whom the Dolphins should either be wisely targeting or should avoid like somebody standing too close and coughing, depending on one’s point view — is a figure of controversy and wildly differing opinions such as few drafts have ever seen.
Not counting Bullygate or other intermittent pratfalls like an offensive line coach snorting cocaine from his office desk, the Dolphins have not been the center of NFL attention probably since Dan Marino led them into their most recent Super Bowl appearance to end the 1984 season.
But all eyes will be back on this usually off-radar team the night of April 23 as Miami sits at the poker table with the tallest stack of chips — three first-round picks, the fifth, 18th and 26th overall, and a league-leading 14 picks overall — in club history. And as Miami covets, most believe, the all-or-nothing risk named Tua.
That means all eyes will be on the front-office team of owner Stephen Ross, general manager Chris Grier and coach Brian Flores, the triumvirate with much to prove and now tasked with making the once-proud Dolphins matter again, and reanimating a large but worn down fandom.
On top of a somewhat promising free agency haul, an A-grade draft gives Miami a chance to position the Dolphins to at last have a trajectory into relevance and winning — all of this coming in the midst of bizarre times.
We don’t need a reminder of the coronavirus pandemic that has shut down all of sports and chased us inside our homes until this global beast has been caged. It is all around us, part of our lives.
It is funny seeing the things being televised these days as sports substitutes. The main headline Monday on ESPN’s website: ‘Grading every player in the HORSE quarterfinals.’ Oh how I wish I were kidding. Yes because Sunday should have been the final round of the Masters, Tiger in a blood-red shirt, but the coronavirus wiped that out, too. So instead we had grainy videos of bored NBA players in a backyard trick shot event. Gawd.
Next week’s NFL Draft will be bizarre, too, defiantly going on as scheduled despite the pandemic (and calls to postpone), but upside down because of it.
There will be no teeming crowds in Las Vegas, no teams and top prospects all gathered in a one room. The whole thing will be done remotely, team war rooms far flung, players in their own houses as their names are called. The scenario is ripe for technological glitches. And for controversy, because you know some kid drafted will be shown in the midst of a boisterous, crowded house party, social distancing be damned.
I am picturing commissioner Roger Goodell announcing the first-round picks in a jacket and tie (but wearing no pants) from behind a lectern in his den as his labradoodle yaps incessantly in the background.
As the increasingly agitated commissioner is about to announce the Dolphins’ first pick:
“And with the No. 5 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, the Miami Dolphins select — Jane, for Christ’s sake will you shut up that !@#$%&! dog!?!”
Theories abound about the Dolphins’ plans at No. 5, mainly because Your Friend the Media has little else going on to talk about.
That’s why you get speculation about Miami trading up to No. 1 for Joe Burrow (won’t happen).
It’s why ESPN’s Bil Barnwell on Monday threw out myriad draft trade proposals including one that had Miami swapping the No. 5 for Dak Prescott (only if Jerry Jones has had too much Johnnie Walker Blue).
It’s also why you hear guesswork on the quarterback-shopping Dolphins maybe leaning to Oregon’s Justin Herbert or even to Jordan Love over Tua if they can’t pry Burrow from Cincinnati.
Won’t happen. Or, more accurately: Shouldn’t happen.
I have been all in on Tagovailoa for Miami and am not wavering as the 10-day countdown begins.
I don’t care that annoying coach-turned-annoying analyst Rex Ryan just called Tagovailoa “the biggest gamble in the history of the NFL Draft.”
If you trust the medical opinion that he has fully recovered from his hip injury, Tagovailoa also has the biggest upside, and is the biggest missing piece to the Dolphins puzzle.
Having capable Ryan Fitzpatrick back means Tagovailoa need not be rushed as a rookie in Miami. That the Fins are not expected to win big real soon also alleviates pressure. Chan Gailey, back as offensive coordinator, has ample experience to tailor an attack that suits Tua’s skills.
I fully expect to hear Tagovailoa’s name called for Miami on April 23.
That’s unless pandemic-related technological difficulties suddenly erase the remote feed to Goodell’s den, or his labradoodle’s yapping drowns out the announcement.
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