Dolphins’ destiny?

Hyde: Plenty of unknowns as NFL draft begins.

I don’t know. Let’s start with those three words. I don’t know who the Miami Dolphins want, or should want, or in their secret heart of hearts say they want. Only a few people inside the franchise do. And even those few don’t know for sure, because their 11th selection tonight in the first round of the NFL draft depends in good part on who falls to them.

So let’s deal with the known as draft-day arrives:

The Dolphins are building a defense based on opposing offenses using a threereceiver formation 65 percent of the time against them last year. That’s not surprising. That’s the trend in the league. The plan is to use three defensive ends a lot, which lessens the needed investment in a defensive-tackle. It suggests a back-seven defensive player, meaning linebacker or defensive back.

They’d like to operate from a position of strength at the quarterback position. Dolphins coach Adam Gase loves Ryan Tannehill. But Tannehill is 30. He hasn’t played in 20 games. He’s been good at times, not great. He had knee surgery, which means his speed is in question, and mobility is a prime desire in Dolphins quarterback play.

Combine the two ideas and you have a suggested checklist of what to look for in the draft. It doesn’t mean they couldn’t change for the right player. What if a top talent, like guard Quenton Nelson would fall?

The Dolphins need a dynamic player.

That’s it. Go through their recent first picks — Ja’Wuan James, DeVante Parker, Laremy Tunsil, Charles Harris — and there are questions to them all. You expect more with the 11th pick. So let’s look at the checklist:

Quarterbacks (5): Josh Allen, Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold, Josh Rosen and Lamar Jackson

Linebackers (2): Roquan Smith, Tremaine Edmunds Cornerbacks (1): Denzel Ward Safety (2): Minkah Fitzpatrick, Derwin James

Great players outside Dolphins thoughts (3): Nelson, running back Saquon Barkley, defensive end Bradley Chubb.

That’s 13 players. Miami’s pick probably is somewhere in there, if you connect the philosophical and available dots. The Dolphins don’t plan on trading up, because (a) they expect a good player to drop to them, and (b) they need draft picks to get a starting tight end and, perhaps, a starting linebacker.

So if you keep this column handy and scratch off the names as they’re called, Miami’s pick will come down to a couple of players. One of those probably will be Jackson. The native of Pompano and Boynton Beach grad was rated by many outside the topfour quarterbacks.

Since it’s my column, I include him. He’s the most fascinating player in the draft to me. Others with actual NFL pedigree agree, like former Arizona coach Bruce Arians and NFL executive Mike Lombardi. And the talent that separates him is increasingly needed by quarterbacks as the game changes and offensive lines devolve: Mobility.

He has Michael Vick-ish mobility. He has accuracy issues. The opposite candidate: Rosen, who might fall to the Dolphins as well. Rosen is graded as the best passer in the draft by many. He also had two concussions last year and didn’t study football away from the facility, according to his former UCLA coach, Jim Mora.

Does that matter? Does Rosen’s lack of mobility matter? Does Mayfield’s size matter coupled with his lack of off-the-charts athleticism (see Drew Brees, Russell Wilson)? That’s why Gase was hired. His specialty is quarterbacks. It’s where the front office of Mike Tannenbaum and Chris Grier earn their money.

Getting a quarterback is half a front office’s mission. Other than winning games, the best way to keep your job is have a quarterback trending in the right direction. It’s also a position that teams seem to throw darts at the board and pray more than know what they’re doing.

Maybe they fortify the quarterback position. Maybe this is the start of a year-long tryout for the 2019 season. Or maybe they get a cornerback. Or linebacker. Or …

I don’t know. That’s something you don’t hear enough leading into the draft. But I really don’t know where this night goes. I just think the next Dolphin is in that list of 13 players.

Dave Hyde