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The title alone is not very flattering: “Rocky Start for Dolphins’ First-Rounders”.
This is how NFL.com presented its review of the 2020 draft among the AFC East teams, along with its ratings.
The Dolphins were awarded a C in Gennaro Filice history.
It was the lowest rating given to any team in the division, behind the Patriots (B), Jets (B) and Bills (B-).
While it’s worth reading, evaluating a draft after a year isn’t exactly fair.
Rather, the truest gauge, as is often suggested, is three years.
And that would take us to the 2018 Dolphins Draft, and three years later we’ll have to say it was actually a really good race – with a big asterisk.
As a reminder, the Dolphins’ eight picks in 2018 ended up being safety Minkah Fitzpatrick in the first round, tight end Mike Gesicki in the second round, linebacker Jerome Baker in the third round, tight end Durham Smythe and running back. Kalen Ballage in round 4, cornerback Cornell Armstrong in round six, and linebacker Quentin Poling and kicker Jason Sanders in round seven.
Of the eight players, the top four are starters and Sanders has just won All-Pro honors in his third season.
It is, in all respects, a good success rate.
The big asterisk goes next to Fitzpatrick’s name of course, as the 11th overall in the 2018 draft has become a real star – only with a different team.
But the fact that Fitzpatrick ended up being traded logically falls more on head coach Brian Flores for allowing a conflict to get to the point where Fitzpatrick wanted out – unless we want to buy into the narrative that Fitzpatrick is. entered with an attitude problem, in which case it shouldn’t have been drafted so early.
RELATED: Revisiting the Minkah Mess
Either way, the Dolphins ended up getting a Steelers first-round pick for Fitzpatrick that was used on tackle Austin Jackson, who is going to have to step up his game to match the exploits of Fitzpatrick, who was named All. -Pro. each of the last two seasons.
But we still call it a good choice in retrospect.
Gesicki has gradually improved and set to become one of the elites who receive tight ends in the NFL, Baker has finished the 2020 season very well, Smythe is a versatile tight end both ways, and we already have discussed Sanders.
RELATED: All-Pro Honors For Sanders, Howard
Ballage was a bad assist, even though it happened in the fourth round. It’s a bad patch because the Arizona State book about him was that he was not as efficient as his physical attributes suggested.
Armstrong played at least five games in each of his three seasons in the NFL, the last two with the Houston Texans, so he certainly wasn’t a sixth-round pick wash. Poling was unable to start his career due to injuries.
But if you look at the big picture, the Dolphins did a really good job of selecting players in this 2018 draft after a rather indescribable first year for this rookie class. It was a great rebound after a totally forgettable 2017 draft for Miami.
The overriding lesson should be to take NFL.com history for what it’s worth: a fun read for now, but not something you’ll make a final decision on for the 2020 Dolphins Draft Class.
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