In the biggest surprise of the first round, the Dolphins landed Laremy Tunsil, offensive lineman from Ole Miss. Before the draft began, a video was mysteriously tweeted out from Tunsil’s Twitter account, which showed him smoking marijuana. Once the video surface, GM’s around the NFL started to pass on him, one after the other.
Tunsil was #1 or #2 on almost every GM’s board. He was expected to be a top 3 pick. Meanwhile, Miami originally had the 8th pick, but then traded that to the Eagles in exchange for Kiko Alonzo and Byron Maxwell. Most of the talk leading up the draft was Miami’s infatuation with RB Ezekial Elliot. There was also rumored interest in Jalen Ramsey as well.
Once Elliot and Ramsey were off the board, it seemed like the Dolphins would be taking someone with a major drop off in talent. But then Tunsil started dropping. The Ravens took another offensive lineman over him. Then the Titans traded back into the top 10 and took an offensive lineman as well.
By the time the 13th pick rolled around, Miami had the opportunity to get the best player in the draft and shore up an offensive line that has been among the leagues worst the last 4 years.
Tunsil is hands down the best pass blocking lineman in the draft. He still has some work to do in the running game, but with time that should fall into place. With Brandon Albert healthy, Tunsil will probably start his rookie year off at guard. However, should Albert or Juwan James go down Tunsil can step into fill that void.
Something else should also be noted. Even though it was pure luck, Mike Tannenbaum and Chris Grier pulled off the best trade in the draft in regards to immediate impact. They were able to trade down 5 spots, giving up no other players or picks and acquire 3 starters at 3 positions of need. Many feared Mike T would do something crazy and trade up for Elliot or Ramsey and mortgage the future away. But for at least one night, lady luck was on Miami’s side.
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