Love is in play as Dolphins mull QB draft options
Could there actually be a scenario where the Dolphins emerge from this draft process without a quarterback in the first round? One team source says it’s possible, but I’m highly skeptical.
Nevertheless, the conundrum would be if the Dolphins miss out on Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa (possible if they decide not to give up a lot of assets to move up to ensure getting him) and if they hesitate to pull the trigger on Oregon’s Justin Herbert, who has some strong support internally but also a record of inconsistent accuracy.
An NFL official who has spoken to the Dolphins say there’s also support internally for a third quarterback — Utah State’s Jordan Love — but likely not at No. 5 overall unless Miami somehow talks itself into that.
We’re told there are differing views inside the Dolphins about how high Love should go, with some viewing him as a mid-to-late first-rounder and others as a secondrounder.
But there is clearly in
terest in Love; Miami rushed to fly him to team facilities for a pre-draft visit on Friday, just before the NFL cut off in-person pre-draft visits due to the coronavirus pandemic.
It seems doubtful Love would be available with Miami’s pick at 18. So if Miami doesn’t end up with Tua or Herbert — and the odds are better than 50/50 they will end up with one of them — should Miami try to trade down several spots from No. 5 to take Love?
“He’s going to go much sooner than you expect,” ESPN’s Louis Riddick said.“If you looked at Jordan Love’s interceptions as a cut-up real/video edit, you would see: poor decisionmaking, poor accuracy, poor play calling, poor route finish by wide receivers. If you draft him, do you have the ability to eliminate/reduce severity of those issues?”
A few things to keep in mind on Love, who had a poor 20-to-17 TD-to-interception ratio last season and a 61.9 completion percentage:
Pro Football Focus believes Love is being overvalued. “Still more unfilled potential than starting NFL quarterback,” PFF said, noting he’s “top five in big-time throws and turnover-worthy throws.”
PFF’s Anthony Treash noted the fact he didn’t play better “against a weaker schedule is alarming. There were only two games when Love faced a Power 5 school in 2019, and he failed to impress in either.” He went 33 for 48 for 416 yards, three TDs and three picks against Wake Forest, and 15 for 30 for 130 yards, no touchdowns and three picks versus LSU.
One issue last season, Treash noted, is “there were an insane number of throws made by Love to his first read that were just head-scratchers.” NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein said: “His delayed reaction from ‘see it’ to ‘throw it’ when making reads is troubling.”
Love has produced a turnover-worthy play on
4.7 percent of his plays, which ranked 109th of 136 FBS quarterbacks, per PFF.
A On the positive side, Love threw 32 touchdowns and six interceptions in 2018, with a 64 completion percentage before his numbers dropped dramatically last season.
ESPN’s Todd McShay said the fact he played with a practically new team last season (nine new starters, new offensive coordinator) cannot simply be brushed aside.
And, McShay said, “If you study two years ago, you see what he can do. He gets the ball out, has good progression reads. If you compare him to Justin Herbert, Love is a better player.”
Some Dolphins people agree; some don’t.
There are the two worrisome “44 percent” issues with Love in 2019: 44 percent of his passes into tight windows were deemed uncatchable by PFF, worse than the other top QB prospects in the past three drafts. And 44 percent of Love’s throws when facing heavy pressure were uncatchable, which PFF says is the worst of any QB taken in the first three rounds during the past four years.
The time the Dolphins have spent with some potential non-QBs projected for the top 10 — including Auburn defensive tackle Derrick Brown — suggests they’re not certain a quarterback will be the pick at No. 5. But they see three QBs in this draft with longterm starting potential — Tua, Herbert and Love — and not landing one would delay the franchise’s biggest priority by a year, without any assurance that a team picking first next year would be willing to deal the pick to Miami to potentially take Clemson QB Trevor Lawrence.
Sports Illustrated reported that Redskins owner Dan Snyder wants to give quarterback Dwayne Haskins more time and loves Ohio State defensive end Chase Young, so Tua going to Washington at 2 — or Detroit at No. 3 —would seem unlikely. But the issue remains Miami’s willingness to give up assets to move up from 5, something it cannot be sure will even be necessary for a QB.
The Dolphins love LSU quarterback Joe Burrow, the expected No. 1 overall pick, but don’t expect Cincinnati to be willing to trade them that pick.
CHATTER
After releasing Reshad
Jones and Daniel Kilgore, the Dolphins will enter free agency this week with just under $100 million in space. …On the final day that the Dolphins traveled to Pro Days amid the coronavirus scare, Miami on Thursday sent senior personnel executive and exRaiders general manager Reggie McKenzie to Clemson to watch linebacker Isaiah Simmons (who would be an option with the fifth overall pick if Miami doesn’t take a quarterback at that spot), receiver Tee Higgins (likely top-15 pick, but Dolphins have told people they’re good at receiver), cornerback AJ Terrell (a potential second- or third-round option) and guard John Simpson (“has the tools to become an early starter,” per NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein) and outside linebacker Tanner Muse.
The MLB players union — which previously filed a grievance against the Marlins, Tampa Bay and Pittsburgh for not spending enough of their revenue sharing money on bigleague player payroll before the 2018 season — amended the grievance to accuse them of doing the same thing before the 2019 season. In the Marlins’ defense, they were in the early stages of a rebuild those two years. And they spent $25 million on outside free agents this past offseason. The Marlins declined to comment. The matter eventually could go to arbitration or be dealt with in the next labor agreement.
If the NBA season eventually resumes,
ESPN’s Tim Legler cited two reasons why the Heat matches up well against the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks: “You play smaller lineups and attack them with dribble drive kick-outs to that many guys that can shoot, that’s a problem. Miami is very dangerous because of the way they shoot.”
And Legler said “zone is something you can use” to flummox Milwaukee at times, and the Heat does that. Miami would play Indiana in the first-round, with the winner likely playing Milwaukee, if the NBA goes straight to the playoffs.
If the regular season doesn’t resume, the Heat would select 23rd in the NBA Draft, a spot that has produced some good players in recent years (OG Anonoby, Aaron Holiday, Rodney Hood, Nikola Mirotic).
Though UM basketball had a second consecutive disappointing season (15-16 and 7-14 in the ACC), the Canes privately believe they could have a Top 25-caliber team next season with the expected addition of five-star Maryland-based small forward Earl Timberlake, who has committed to UM but not signed.
UM also will welcome four-star New Hampshirebased small forward Matt Cross, who was rated the 83rd best player in the
2021 class. He has already signed with Miami.
UM returns point guard Chris Lykes, shooting guard Kam McGusty, forward Sam Waardenberg, this season’s three freshmen (impressive point guard Isaiah Wong, forward Anthony Walker and guard Harlond Beverly) and centers Deng Gak and Rodney Miller.
“Lykes is a really good player, but Wong is more of a concern because he’s bigger, gets to the basket,” Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said.
And transfer Nysier Brooks, the center from Cincinnati, also becomes eligible. The 6-11 center averaged 8.1 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.5 blocks and 22.9 minutes in 35 games, all starts, last season. UM loses only DJ Vasiljevic.