By Kevin Perez

On Thursday night, the 2020 NFL Draft kicked off. The highly anticipated event was different than in past years. Like most events in the Coronavirus era, it was virtual.

Dolphins fans were watching.

A new coach, promising a new era for Dolphins fans, had the opportunity to participate in his first draft pick with the team. The Dolphins had the fifth pick in the 2020 NFL draft and there was a lot of speculation over who the team would choose.

Would they select the quarterback of the future? Would it be Justin Herbert or fan favorite, but injured, Tua Tagovailoa?

The decision was swift.

Tua Tua Tagovailoa or Justin Herbert , a record-breaking quarterback out of Alabama is the Dolphins’ newest quarterback.

The Miami Dolphins have watched Tagovailoa’s college football career for some
time, even starting the term “TankForTua” this past season, a slogan that reminded
fans that a losing record would earn the team a higher draft pick.

The team’s owner, Stephen Ross, attended his games during the 2019 season along
with general manager, Chris Grier.

It seemed almost a certainty that Tua was heading to Miami.

But then, on a Saturday afternoon game on November 16th, Tua went down on the field. He suffered a dislocated hip and suffered a posterior wall fracture, seemingly shattering his NFL dreams.

Since then, he has worked and rehabbed, maybe coming back even stronger. This is not a new predicament for the Dolphins. In 2006, the Dolphins passed on Drew Brees because of an injury, choosing Dante Culpepper instead. Brees went on to shatter passing records and win a Super Bowl with the New Orleans Saints. Culpepper played four games that season – and was sacked 21 times before going on to play elsewhere.

That was Nick Saban’s mistake. He was the Dolphins head coach then. Now Saban, the head coach at Alabama, warned the Dolphins not to make the same mistake on Tua that he made with Brees.

As draft day approached, no one was sure what the Dolphins would do. The Dolphins front office fooled everyone into thinking they might not take Tua, with smoke screens flying left and right. Will it be Tua? Justin Herbert? A tackle?

No one knew. Anticipation, after all, builds excitement. But at the end of the day general manager Chris Grier, head coach Brian Flores, owner Stephen Ross and co took a chance on Tua.

Brian Flores and Chris Grier, on video conference, they said they laughed at some of the reports coming out,the speculation over who the team would draft, calling it “just noise.”

“Football is a violent game,” said Grier. “People are going to get hurt. We did a lot of work on Tua. We are very comfortable with [the choice].”

Now what does this mean for the future of the Dolphins?

Along with selecting Tua the Dolphins also drafted left tackle Austin Jackson from USC with the 18th pick and later on drafted Noah Igbinoghene, a cornerback from Auburn with the 30th pick. He joins probably the best cornerback duo in the league: Xavien Howard and Byron Jones in the secondary.

Adding Jackson instantly improves the Dolphins O-line. Expect the team to make more improvements to the offensive line and other positions with their 12 remaining picks in this year’s draft.

Watch out for the defense this year the secondary is looking dangerous, teams will be afraid to throw deep.

So, will Tua get to start this this season? It’s unknown at this point, many analysts expect veteran quarterback, Ryan Fitzpatrick, who had a good season to start and take Tua Tagovailoa under his wing, eventually allowing Tua to start in the 2021 season.

But, if Fitzpatrick ends up getting hurt somehow, Dolphins fans might get the chance to see Tua in action in 2020.