Miami Dolphins lay cornerstones of rebuild in 7-round 2020 mock draft

Since Dan Marino left after the 1999 season, the Miami Dolphins have been in search of their next franchise quarterback. Jay Feely, Chad Henne, Chad Pennington, Ryan Tannehill — who is now in Tennessee — and most recently the duo of Ryan Fitzpatrick and Josh Rosen have all had their chances.

As much as I believe in the potential of Rosen and believe he’s been dealt a bad hand thus far in his NFL career, Tua Tagovailoa has a far better chance of being the future of the Dolphins offense.

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Heading into the 2019 college football season, Tua was widely recognized as the best quarterback prospect in the 2020 draft class — that was until Joe Burrow arrived on the scene and took over the landscape and is now projected to be the No. 1 pick.

Even though Tagovailoa is no longer the top quarterback prospect, it doesnt mean he isn’t extremely talented. The two things that separate Tua from the rest of this quarterback class are his ball placement and his quick processing ability.

Before Burrow’s emergence, Tagovailoa was the most accurate quarterback in this class. He would pick teams apart with his accuracy in the intermediate and short areas of the field. But it wasn’t just getting it to his man; he frequently put the ball in the right spot to allow his receivers to make something happen after the catch as well.

Most rookie quarterbacks usually struggle with the speed it takes to process the game at the NFL level as they make the jump. That’s not a concern for Tagovailoa, however, as he was able to process the field quickly and make the proper throws in the Crimson Tide offense.

The Dolphins need an upgrade at almost every position on their roster but the most important one is the quarterback. Tagovailo could end up being one of the better quarterbacks in the NFL when he reaches his prime. There are the obvious injury concerns with Tua but, as his recovery seems to be going swimmingly, Tagovailoa could be the franchise quarterback Miami has been searching for.

Other Players Available: Derrick Brown, Jerry Jeudy, Andrew Thomas