Dolphins lose to Giants, could still get Heisman winner Joe Burrow (audio story included)

In a way, yesterday’s 36-20 loss to the New York Giants wasn’t bad. The Miami Dolphins stayed in the top four in the draft race and were competitive at times. However, the team lost despite intercepting Eli Manning three times.

The game started off great. Ryan Fitzpatrick threw a dime to DeVante Parker, who, along with wide receiver Albert Wilson, was surprisingly cleared from concussion protocol on Saturday night. The two receivers gave a boost to the Fins offense and were productive. Parker finished with two touchdowns and Wilson went 5 for 59 on the day. It wasn’t enough for the Fins as the running game still failed. 

If you look at the stats from yesterday’s game, things don’t seem that bad. Patrick Laird ran 12 times for 46 yards and Myles Gaskin went 9 for -43. Watching the game shows that, but the two backs got most of their yards in garbage time and off long runs. There wasn’t a consistent running game for the 14th straight game this season. They’ve played 14 games…

The Miami Herald’s Adam Beasley tweeted out that the Fins are just seven one-thousandths of a point higher than the Washington Redskins in draft order. As my favorite website, Tankathon, notes: it’s a tight race in the top eight picks. Right now, the Cincinnati Bengals, New York Giants, Redskins, Dolphins, Detroit Lions, Arizona Cardinals, Jacksonville Jaguars and Atlanta Falcons (in that order) make up the top 8. Both the Redskins and Giants have beat the Fins, which helps. The Fins will face the Bengals this Sunday. 

The Redskins will face the Giants and the Dallas Cowboys in their final games, while the Giants face the Redskins and the Eagles. These results will decide at least one of the top two picks. If the Cincinnati Bengals beat the Fins this weekend (which is possible considering they have the second-highest strength of schedule) and the Cleveland Browns in Week 17, they could fall out of the top three. This would be the biggest win of the season for the Fins. If they lose out and the Bengals win out, the Fins will finish with the No. 1 overall pick. They will do so while being competitive throughout the season and gathering two extra first-round picks from the Houston Texans and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Over the weekend, LSU quarterback Joe Burrow won the Heisman trophy. There is now no doubt he will be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 NFL draft. Burrow has only started one full season in college football and some argue that teams need a bigger sample size. If the Fins luck out and get the No. 1 pick, there is no doubt he will be the selection. If they don’t, you should expect to see either Tua Tagovailoa, Justin Herbert or Jordan Love in a teal and white uniform next season. 

Kai’Chien Chisholm is currently studying broadcast media and wants to become sports broadcaster. He currently works for the ProFootballNetwork and is the Podcast Network Director for the site while running his own podcast.