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What happens to the Miami Dolphins' draft plans when Greg Robinson, Jake Matthews, Taylor Lewan, Morgan Moses, and Zack Martin are all off the board prior to the 19th overall selection? Add in Eric Ebron, Aaron Donald, and C.J. Mosley also being selected, and suddenly, the Dolphins' pick at 19 becomes a muddled decision based solely on how the team ranks players on the board.
That's exactly the scenario presented in ESPN analyst Todd McShay's updated 2014 NFL Mock Draft this morning. The first three tackles, Robinson, Matthews, and Lewan, were taken in the first six picks, with tight end Ebron joining them in the top ten picks. Then, from 11 to 17, tackle Moses, linebacker Mosley, defensive tackle Donald, and tackle/guard Zack Martin all come off the board.
In this situation, Miami has to be considering a trade. It's almost a requirement that the Dolphins bail out of the 19th pick, add some extra selections, and wait for the board to make a little more sense. McShay, however, cannot make trades in his mock, according to the rules established, which gives us an idea of how the Dolphins could react if they simply cannot find a suitable trading partner.
McShay sees Miami turning their attention to the wide receiver position in this scenario, adding USC wide receiver Marqise Lee. Explaining the selection, he writes:
I felt a bit stuck with this one, as trades aren't allowed and there aren't any offensive linemen worthy of being selected here in this scenario. So in the absence of addressing the team's biggest need, I opted to help young quarterback Ryan Tannehill in another way, by adding a weapon in the passing game who could play alongside Mike Wallace and Brian Hartline. This might be a bit of a reach, but Lee is an excellent route runner with big-play ability.
(On a side note, our own Keith Beebe actually mocked this pick to the Dolphins a month ago today, explaining "Branden Albert's presence means the Dolphins don't necessarily need to use this selection on an offense lineman (though they could still do that). Lee is a knockout prospect in regard to what the Dolphins want to do on offense. Great route-runner; underrated speed and gamebreaking ability." Not that we are bragging or anything.)
How would you react to a Lee pick from the Dolphins? Did McShay do the right thing in this situation? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.