Goldfish's Way Too Early Draft Rankings 2020 (All up)

[goldfishwars]

8. Miami Dolphins

This Class In One Sentence:
Landing a franchise QB and building up the trenches

Pre-Draft Needs 
QB, T, RB, EDGE, G, S

Selections
1. 5. Tua Tagovailoa  | QB | Alabama
1. 18. Austin Jackson  | OT | USC
1. 30. Noah Igbinoghene  | CB | Auburn
2. 39. Robert Hunt  | G | Louisiana
2. 56. Raekwon Davis  | DT | Alabama
3. 70. Brandon Jones  | S | Texas
4. 111. Solomon Kindley  | G | Georgia
5. 154. Jason Strowbridge  | DE | North Carolina
5. 164. Curtis Weaver  | DE | Boise State
6. 185. Blake Ferguson  | LS | LSU
7. 246. Malcolm Perry  | RB | Navy

Picks Heading In
1. 5.
1. 18.
1. 26.
2. 39.
2. 56.
3. 70.
4. 141.
5. 154.
5. 173.
6. 185.
7. 227.
7. 246.
7. 251.

Favorite Pick
Tua – Kinda dull to pick Tua and obviously he comes with serious durability concerns which should not be downplayed too easily. But on the plus side, he’s a twitchy thrower who can make plays inside and out of structure. He has surprising arm talent too and can make throws with touch and placement. Plus he’s shown he can handle a load in a pass-heavy attack when required. 

Most Questionable Pick
Austin Jackson – I think the best things about Jackson are his age, size and his easy movements. He should also get stronger the further he gets away from the bone marrow transplant which impacted him last year. There were obvious balancing and technique issues holding him back enough to think of him more of a developmental tackle, which isn’t something you would normally look for in an offensive tackle at pick 18. But the NFL seemed to buy into his physical potential here. 

Overview
It’s getting incredibly hard to separate some of these teams at the top of the draft. Clearly Miami were well set-up to make a noise in this year's draft and things could not have gone better for the them at the start of the draft as Grier and co stared everyone down and took their man without trading up. It was a baller move after a flood of rumors, presumably floating out of that building, from the start of the process had fooled enough people to think they were going elsewhere. Clearly they needed offensive line help after the Tua pick and, personally, I was left wondering what it would have taken to go up to get Wirfs given they had plenty of capital. 

After the trade back to 30 from 26, Noah Igbinoghene wouldn’t have been the name most would have come up with there mainly because if there was one place the Dolphins looked reasonably well-stocked, it was at corner. Igbinoghene has come a long way in a short time, showcasing an ability to play the ball in the air. He's got loose and fluid hips, he’s an easy-mover at the back end and could push for a role in the slot early. I really liked the Robert Hunt selection at 39, with offensive linemen flying off the board at that point. Enormous at 6’5 and 330 pounds, he was bad dude on the right-ride of Louisiana’s offensive line where his tape showed someone playing in a whole other tier of power to his opponents. He might be better suited inside in the NFL, but might get looks on the right side in Miami. 

Raekwon Davis at 56 would have sounded ridiculous a year ago, but he really hasn’t fulfilled on that early promise. Even if his pass-rush has gone backwards, he’s still great at two-gapping which fits well with this defense and he should find a role early if he wants it. Brandon Jones was a bit of a forgotten man in the process being injured through most of it, with the safety class having some real depth to it. He’s an energetic and physical downhill strong safety, isn’t particularly rangy and doesn’t appear to have the ball-skills to be a turnover threat. But he does embody the toughness this draft is trying to inject into the Dolphins. 

Kindley, Strowbridge and Weaver were the next three off the board. I like the value of the Weaver pick most, he was a highly productive pass-rusher at Boise and didn’t win with plus athleticism, but with nous, intelligence and effort. Kindley is a bruising interior lineman, he’s got some balance issues – but has also some natural power. Strowbridge I don’t really know what to do with his edge dimensions, yet doing his best work on the interior – there’s a real mix of size and skill sets on that defensive line so there might be a role for him in mind. The long snapper was next and I can confirm that his snaps were long. Malcolm Perry is a kick-return specialist with some natural open-field running ability and that’s where he’ll compete for a spot. 
 

[onejayhawk]

Miami is a volume ranking. With this many premium picks it's hard to miss entirely ad they didn't. No home runs, but a bunch of singles and doubles. 

J

 

[Forge]

27 minutes ago, onejayhawk said:

Miami is a volume ranking. 

Agreed. I'll be frank, but just based on my own opinion of the prospects, was largely underwhelmed with Miami's selections. 

[Hunter2_1]

35 minutes ago, onejayhawk said:

Miami is a volume ranking. With this many premium picks it's hard to miss entirely ad they didn't. No home runs, but a bunch of singles and doubles. 

J

 

yep

[FinSting]

3 hours ago, goldfishwars said:

8. Miami DolphinsThe long snapper was next and I can confirm that his snaps were long. 

Saves me the time of reviewing his game tapes, thank you. 

[Johnny Nix]

I think Miami should be lower considering how many picks they had. Wasn’t a fan

[goldfishwars]

17 minutes ago, johndeere1707 said:

I think Miami should be lower considering how many picks they had. Wasn’t a fan

How much lower would you put them? I'm not a huge fan of every pick, but they got the second-best quarterback (with a big drop-off after) in this class without giving up anything to get him - it's hard to just dismiss that. 

[Johnny Nix]

6 minutes ago, goldfishwars said:

How much lower would you put them? I'm not a huge fan of every pick, but they got the second-best quarterback (with a big drop-off after) in this class without giving up anything to get him - it's hard to just dismiss that. 

I haven’t ranked them myself personally, but there’s been a few teams you have I’d put above them. Middle of the road seems about right. I just think they reached mightily on Austin Jackson. Wished they would’ve added some weapons for Tua as well. I did like the Robert Hunt pick, but that was about it. 

[JaguarCrazy2832]

I know its not fair to put too much emphasis on 1 player especially given his injury concerns but Tua has the potential to be great and i think most would agree if he busts your first guess would be injury rather than talent on the field. I think him alone is good enough to make Miamis draft top-10. In a QB driven league they got someone that everyone thought they were tanking for and just might be better than Burrow

[THE DUKE]

I wasn't a fan of Miami's draft either.  Tua and Hunt are both worthy talents, but both have major injury red flags.  Austin Jackson reminds me a LOT of Cedric Ogbuhi which is worrisome.  About 20-30 picks to early on Igbinoghene in my opinion.  I'm certainly glad the Bengals never entertained trading back with them, not a chance in hell i'd trade Burrow for Tua, Jackson, and Igbinoghene.

[goldfishwars]

7. Minnesota Vikings

This Class In One Sentence:
It's huge, it's massive, there are so many players

Pre-Draft Needs 
CB, IOL, OT, WR, DL

Selections
1. 22. Justin Jefferson  | WR | LSU
1. 31. Jeff Gladney  | CB | TCU
2. 58. Ezra Cleveland  | OT | Boise State
3. 89. Cameron Dantzler  | CB | Mississippi State
4. 117. D. J. Wonnum  | DE | South Carolina
4. 130. James Lynch  | DT | Baylor
4. 132. Troy Dye  | LB | Oregon
5. 169. Harrison Hand  | CB | Temple
5. 176. K. J. Osborn  | WR | Miami (FL)
6. 203. Blake Brandel  | OT | Oregon State
6. 205. Josh Metellus  | S | Michigan
7. 225. Kenny Willekes  | DE | Michigan State
7. 244. Nate Stanley  | QB | Iowa
7. 249. Brian Cole  | OLB | Mississippi State
7. 253. Kyle Hinton  | C | Washburn

Picks Heading In
1. 22.
1. 25.
2. 58.
3. 89.
3. 105.
4. 132.
5. 167.
6. 201.
6. 205.
7. 219.
7. 239.
7. 249.
7. 253.

Favorite Pick
Justin Jefferson – I love the Jefferson pick here, the Vikings desperately needed a receiver who can come in and play from day one and he gives them that. He separates easily in short areas and vertically from the slot. He has ball-skills for days, a large catch radius and can adjust in the air. He was the man on 3rd down for LSU. 

Most Questionable Pick
D. J. Wonnum/KJ Osborn – This is picky because Woonum is a 4th round pick and Osborn was selected in the 5th, but I just didn’t really like either on film. With Khalid Kareem and Alton Robinson going some 30 picks later I thought that represented much better than what the Vikings were able to get here with Wonnum who is a decent run defender, but just not a particularly dynamic athlete. Osborn is decent as a return man, but there were still better receivers on the board at the point with Peoples-Jones, Quez Watkins, James Proche and Isaiah Hodgins all selected later. 

Overview
The Vikings headed into the draft with 13 picks and ended up making an almost unprecedented 15 selections with 11 of those coming on day three. If you don’t mind, I’ll have to do a whistle-stop review through some of those because it writing up this class is hard. With one of the best GMs in the business, Spielman has yet again replenished the roster and put his coaching staff in a strong position to make some noise. There are some questionable selections in that mix, perhaps they could have done more to address the interior offensive line earlier – but generally there are few complaints and what they did in the first round was fantastic. 

I loved the trade back in the 1st and still landing Jeff Gladney who was my favorite cornerback prospect outside of Jeff Okudah. A vocal leader of the TCU defense, feisty and competitive and just does not take a step back. His play speed is very fast and was rarely caught out of position. Ezra Cleveland was a polarizing prospect because the tape doesn’t match the eye-popping work out, but his high-end athleticism finds itself a suitable home here. He’s not dissimilar to Brian O’Neil as a prospect who came good on the right-hand side. The Vikings went back to the corner position and took Cameron Dantzler who was getting some first round hype before running a slow forty time at the combine. With Xavier Rhodes and Trae Waynes out of town and Mike Hughes recovering from a serious neck injury, there’s been a lot of turnover at that spot and a second early run at that position, for someone who is a good scheme fit made sense. 

I liked what Minnesota did with their next three picks. James Lynch was some versatility to shuffle in as a large end, or as an inside lineman who can rush there on third down. Troy Dye is a decent coverage linebacker taken two picks later and was good value for what was a coveted position in this draft. Harrison Hand is yet another prototypical toolsy press corner, clearly they aren’t leaving that position to chance and he's got appealing physical traits. 

Of the next six picks made in round 6th and 7th, I liked the Willikes and Cole picks best. Willikes was a little overhyped coming into the draft, but he’s hard working enough to find himself in a rotational role at some point and you would imagine would be a natural on special teams. Cole is an uber aggressive strong safety, or dimebacker who should flourish as a core special teamer in the first instance. I like the Nat Stanley pick-up late, I thought he could have gone earlier as a developmental quarterback prospect worth keeping around. Kyle Hinton is worth a mention too as a former track star who is small school raw, but has a very intriguing athletic profile at center. 
 

[Calvert28]

I actually think such a large draft class hurts the Vikings.

[EvilenFroggen]

Dadgum, I enjoyed our (Panthers) draft also. 

[THE DUKE]

Can 15 guys even make the team?  Granted the last 6 all happened after pick 200, so I assume some of those end up on the practice squad.

[SteelKing728]

7 minutes ago, Calvert28 said:

I actually think such a large draft class hurts the Vikings.

No, we just didn't have enough picks, obviously!!!

Haha. I think we did very well. This is the lowest I've seen our class ranked so far.