The NFL’s 2021 offseason is set to start at high speed – with a two-month sprint that will feature the opening of the NFL league calendar and the NFL Draft. All 32 league rosters must be very different. Each team will have the opportunity to seek inspiration for the NFL’s 2021 Draft in their previous decisions; movements to make and movements to avoid in the same way.
Pro Football Focus brought together the best NFL Draft decision of each NFL team in the past five years, highlighting the most monumental choice each team has made in recent memory for a fun look down the memory line in some critical selections.
For the Miami Dolphins, Pro Football Focus credited Miami for making a decision that the team is still reaping the benefits of: ending Laremy Tunsil’s offensive attack by dropping out of the top 10 teams in 2016.
“The Dolphins were willing to stop Laremy Tunsil from falling to 13th overall in 2016 and have been reaping the benefits ever since. Not only was he an initial quality left tackle for the Dolphins for two seasons, but he also earned the team the third overall choice in this year’s draft, after swapping him with the Texans in 2019. . ” – Mike Renner, Pro Football Focus
PFF did not give honorable mention options for each team, but one would think that another 2016 team would rank high on a Miami runner-up list – the Dolphins climbed CB Xavien Howard in the 2nd round of the same year.
But there is little to deny the domino effect that Tunsil’s sketch brought to the Dolphins. Miami enjoyed three seasons of solid play with former Ole Miss Rebel before exchanging it for a wealth constraint for the Houston Texans, who promptly gave up under the poor leadership of coach / general manager Bill O’Brien between 2019 and 2020 The Dolphins chose the right dance partner in their deal with the Texans, who presented the team with overall choice # 3 in this year’s draft as a direct result and extension of the 2016 decision to write Tunsil amid concerns about the character after a video of him in a gas mask bong leaked moments before the 2016 project started.
But, as fruitful as a selection was, Miami’s final payment will be decided according to how they decide to invest in the choice in April. The team should not have a shortage of options while sitting so high in the order. But an expanding choice that changes the team’s dynamics could put the decision to recruit Tunsil in a privileged position to be a monumental crux of all time.