Adam Schefter Just Blew Up The Miami Dolphins' Spot
For the last few weeks, the Miami Dolphins have been playing it cool. Like a poker shark, they've been quietly stalking in the weeds, waiting for the best time to play a stacked hand and cash in.
Then Adam Schefter went ahead and showed at least part of the hand they've seemingly been trying to hide recently.
Less than a week before the NFL Draft kicks off, Schefter reported on Twitter that the Dolphins tried to rush an in-person visit with Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa before coronavirus locked down the nation.
On the night before the league halted visits between college prospects and NFL teams, the Dolphins rushed to try to get Tua Tagovailoa to Miami, per a source. Tagovailoa was the first college prospect the Dolphins tried to bring to Miami in March. But March 13, NFL banned visits.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 17, 2020
While this may seem obvious, it's significant for many reasons. Chief among them: the Dolphins' priority, at least in early March, was getting some face-time with Tagovailoa. They've long been rumored to want to draft him, and the primary speculation was they'd have to move up to the Lions' pick at No. 3 to get him. But over the last fortnight, those reports have seemingly dried up as the Dolphins put up smokescreens to keep their plans for this year's draft under wraps.
The Dolphins currently have the fifth, 18th and 26th picks in the draft. Recent reports suggest they're happy staying at five and picking the best QB available. Mel Kiper even had them picking Justin Herbert in his latest mock draft. Both of those ideas now seem like misdirection if their primary interest was meeting with Tagovailoa, who suffered a dislocated right hip late last college football season.
On the other side of the game, Lions GM Bob Quinn said today that he's talking with teams who want to move up to their spot. Other QB-needy teams like the Chargers, Jaguars and Raiders have also been tied to Tagovailoa so Quinn could be trying to get the Dolphins to ante up because, just looking at the picks, they have the most attractive potential package.
It's a game of cat and mouse at this point with both sides leaking information to try and get the other to show their hand. For the last few weeks, the Dolphins have done a good job of keeping theirs hidden, but with one tweet, Schefter reminded us all about the ace they have up their sleeve.