Hyde: On board with this tank job

Two consecutive quarterback-rich draft classes on the horizon

DAVIE — Despite my attempt to buy a tank, my encouraging fans to hop aboard the tank-wagon, my main question being why they didn’t drive further down Tank Avenue — despite such seeming tipoffs, there seems some doubt on my thoughts about the Miami Dolphins’ strategy.

So let me be as obvious as the 0-16 record ahead:

I’m all in on this tank job.

I’m the Tank McNamara of the plan ahead.

I expect champagne to pop about Week 13 this year when the No. 1 pick is sealed, meaning the first franchise quarterback is in hand come draft day. And another bottle should be ready for the 2020 season if the second No. 1 pick is sealed for Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence or traded for a wheelbarrow of draft picks.

Normally, you see, tanking is un-American, anti-establishment and symbolic of a swift descent into nihilism. But this Dolphins’ strategy is different. Richer.

More opportunistic.

It can’t be called brilliant, because tanking always is the last refuge of dumb franchises. But maybe, just maybe, the Dolphins’ 20 years of dumb has been replaced by people smart enough to seize on a perfect storm of a unique timeline.

Look at it: A new regime with five-year contracts. A bad inherited roster. An awful inherited salary-cap situation. New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady nearing an expiration date.

And — pay attention, folks — two straight draft classes with franchise quarterbacks sitting there waiting to be plucked like clover.

If the Dolphins are bad enough to pluck them.

And, yep, they’re certainly that bad this season.

So hop aboard the tank-wagon, folks. After two decades of mostly drek, what’s 16 more games of puke, especially when it comes with an actual and understandable plan out of the wilderness?

There are a lot of comparisons to the Cleveland Browns, who sat in tank limbo for years, and the Philadelphia 76ers, the pioneers in serial tanking. But the Browns never had franchise quarterbacks sitting at the front of the draft (much less two drafts) until Baker Mayfield.

The 76ers had to contend with the messy NBA draft lottery.

Do you see how this Dolphins tank job is — no, not brilliant, not quite that — but perfectly timed? And shows some good, gutsy vision?

Coach Brian Flores was asked twice on Monday if he knew what was coming upon taking this job last February. He hemmed and hawed for some reason. But of course he knew what was coming They all knew. They were all in on this from the start.

Again, why do you think Flores got a five-year contract rather than the customary four years?

Let’s not focus on today’s answers. It’s tomorrow’s plan that matters. No one could foresee Houston, for example, offering a picks-heavy trade for Laremy Tunsil and Kenny Stills. And that, to be sure, looks a little dicey.

Tunsil was the one good lineman to provide protection for tomorrow’s quarterback. Now he’s gone, meaning Josh Rosen will have no support this year and some must be found by next year for The One.

On Monday, the Dolphins’ line wasn’t even settled for the opener. Jesse Davis started at right guard last year, moved to right tackle this preseason and now might be the left tackle.

But, again, that’s this year’s problem. And there are problems all across the roster in way that shows what’s really at work.

Here’s the list of 2018 starters gone for the start of 2019: Tunsil, Stills, Ryan Tannehill, Ja’Wuan James, Frank Gore, Danny Amendola, Ted Larsen, Travis Swanson, Cameron Wake, Akeem Spence, Robert Quinn, Kiko Alonso and T.J. McDonald.

That’s 13 starters gone from a seven-win team. That doesn’t really show how the Dolphins are tanking, though. That’s shown by how few were replaced with upgrades. This 2019 roster underscores the drive down Tank Avenue.

But that’s getting ahead of ourselves. As Flores insisted Monday, the Baltimore opener is here. Don’t lose focus. Do your job. Keep the blinders on.

One loss at a time, folks.

This is the worst-equipped Dolphins team since the expansion era. But who cares?

This is the best-equipped the Dolphins have been in two decades for moving forward. They have draft picks in place. They have a poker hand to play. And two, consecutive quarterback-rich draft classes are waiting for them.

There are 234 days until the next NFL draft, and let the countdown begin. Let’s also be clear where I stand about the Dolphins plan for that:

Tank on.

JOE CAVARETTA/SOUTH FLORIDA SUN SENTINEL Coach Brian Flores, left, and general manager Chris Grier have made the moves to put the Dolphins in position to get a franchise quarterback.

Dave Hyde