Every year there seems to be at least one draft-day shocker. From the New York Giants nabbing Daniel Jones at number 6 while Dwayne Haskins was still on the board to the Cleveland Browns seemingly becoming enamored with Baker Mayfield within the hours leading up to the draft, there is always a surprise pick that makes some fans scratch their head. In this article, we’ll be going over some potential draft-day scenarios that would shock the NFL world, many of which I could see happening.
Tua ends up in burgundy and gold?
The Washington Redskins hold the second overall pick in this year’s NFL Draft. While most mock drafts have them taking Ohio State pass rusher Chase Young, I don’t believe that is as sure of a pick as many people think it is. As you may know already, the Redskins fired head coach Jay Gruden in a season they would soon like to forget as the once-promising Redskins team finished 3-13. Shortly after the season ended, the Redskins hired former Panthers head coach Ron Rivera and also parted ways with team president Bruce Allen.
So what does this mean for Tua? Well, whenever a team hires a new head coach and shakes up the front office, it’s fair to wonder whether the new guys in town want to bring in their own players, and that may start at the quarterback position. It’s obvious Dwayne Haskins didn’t light it up when he finally got onto the field in 2019, and that leads me to believe that he could potentially receive the ‘Josh Rosen’ treatment. Do I believe the Redskins shock people and take Tua Tagovailoa with their number 2 pick? Not necessarily, but I wouldn’t sweep the idea under the rug.
Miami chooses Love or Herbert over Tua
Throughout the whole NFL Draft process, it seems like Tua Tagovailoa heading to the Dolphins was the worst kept secret outside of Joe Burrow heading to Cincinnati. However, with recent reports coming out saying that Tua “flunked” two of his pre-draft physicals, with one of the teams selecting inside the top 10, it’s fair to wonder what this could do to his draft stock, and if that mystery team inside the top 10 was the Miami Dolphins themselves.
Tagovailoa suffered a brutal season-ending hip injury this past season, but was reportedly on the right track in his recovery process and was expected to be ready by week 1 for whatever team called his name on draft night. However, with these new reports coming out that his injuries may be worse than previously reported, it’ll be interesting to see whether or not Miami feels comfortable nabbing the Alabama product at number 5 overall while there will definitely be other options on the board.
Joe Burrow pulls an ‘Eli Manning’
Back in 2004, the then-San Diego Chargers selected Ole Miss quarterback Eli Manning with the first overall pick. As Manning was presented with his new teams’ jersey on stage the look on his face made it obvious, Eli did not want anything to do with the Chargers and he was soon traded to the New York Giants for their draft choice Philip Rivers and the rest is history.
This got me thinking. With Cincinnati not being one of the most flashy places to play in the NFL, and Burrow coming off of one of the most prolific seasons under center in college football history, could we see a potential ‘Eli Manning’ move where Burrow demands a trade and refuses to sign his rookie deal with the Bengals?
If this happens, where would he end up? And how much would a potential trade partner have to give up to land the National Champion? I think the most obvious destination is the Miami Dolphins, as they possess 3 first-round draft picks and are in the need of a quarterback. In this case, we could end up seeing a Tua Tagovailoa-led Cincinnati Bengals offense and a Joe Burrow-led Miami Dolphins offense.
With the NFL Draft approaching, it will be interesting to see what happens and what teams make us scratch our heads. These are just some of the endless possibilities.
