Three teams that must excel in NFL Draft

Vikings: A team at a crossroads

ROBINSON: After years of fortifying their core through expensive
extensions, the Vikings stripped some parts this offseason. Minnesota released two longtime starters – cornerback Xavier Rhodes and defensive tackle Linval Joseph – and allowed four-year starting cornerback Trae Waynes and slot corner Mackensie Alexander to leave in free agency. Ten-year sack artist Everson Griffen is not expected back, and wideout Stefon Diggs is a Bill. The Vikings did little in free agency to address these new areas of need, amplifying the importance of this draft.

Deploying a top-10 scoring defense in each of the past five seasons, the Vikings doled out extensions to seven defensive starters from 2016-19. QB Kirk Cousins’ fully guaranteed contract changed their math, and his 2020 re-up -– two years, $66 million -– tethers the upper-middle-class quarterback to the Vikings for at least the next two seasons. He was signed to elevate their talented roster to a Super Bowl, which makes Minnesota’s blowout divisional-round loss in San Francisco -– after missing the 2018 playoffs –- a sobering experience.

Even the Vikings’ well-built rosters were unable to snap a 43-year Super Bowl drought. A less-talented team now resides at a crossroads and needs this draft to supplement what is left of GM Rick Spielman’s prized nucleus.

The Diggs trade procured Minnesota first- fifth- and sixth-round picks. Most importantly, the Vikings hold two first-rounders (No. 22 and No. 25) for the first time in seven years. Thanks to the success the Vikings experienced drafting and extending draftees, they have not possessed such glaring needs in years.

This is the right draft to need a wide receiver; it contains historic depth at the position. But Spielman has missed on his past two investments at that position. Cordarrelle Patterson became a talented return man, but the Vikings were aiming higher when they took him in the 2013 first round. Would-be WR3 Laquon Treadwell (2016 Round 1) contributed next to nothing. Adam Thielen missed six games last season. Ex-Titan Tajae Sharpe, whose last 500-yard season came in 2016, joins Chad Beebe and Bisi Johnson (combined NFL catches: seven) as Thielen’s supporting cast.

The Vikings probably require more than one wideout in this draft. They need more than one corner too. Rhodes’ play slipped since his 2017 All-Pro season, and Waynes topped out at “above average” since his 2015 first-round arrival. But among the corners still on the roster, none graded in the top 60 –- per Pro Football Focus -– at the position last season. If Griffen is truly out of the picture, the Vikings also need a sidekick for Pro Bowl defensive end Danielle Hunter.

Thielen will be 30 in August; perennial Pro Bowl safety Harrison Smith is 31. Franchise-tagged safety Anthony Harris will be 29 next season. Pro Bowl linebackers Eric Kendricks and Anthony Barr are squarely in their primes at 28. The Vikings need this draft to help make good use
of the back ends of their remaining stalwarts’ careers. If the franchise cannot find multiple starters this week to compete in an even stronger NFC, Spielman’s Cousins-centered setup may not make sense much longer.

Dolphins: Five picks in first two rounds

MUELLER: The Bengals have the top pick in the draft, but no team’s long-term fate hinges more on what it does Thursday, Friday and Saturday than Miami.

The Dolphins are rich in draft capital, which is a good thing, because they, despite their promising 3-2 finish to the 2019 season, still have plenty of holes. Miami has five picks inside the first two rounds, including three in the first (5, 18, 26). Only Pittsburgh’s surprising 8-8 finish prevented the Minkah Fitzpatrick trade from giving Miami a second top-10 pick.

The Dolphins’ mission seems simple on the surface: Draft Alabama QB Tua Tagovailoa. Whether they should deal another one of their first-rounders to do it is another matter.

General manager Chris Grier and head coach Brian Flores are trying to build something special in South Florida, however, and the best way to do that is to assemble the most talent possible – which only goes so far in the absence of a franchise quarterback. This is Miami’s dilemma, and there isn’t a good or easy answer.

Improving the roster around Ryan Fitzpatrick and not drafting a quarterback means punching a ticket for a 6-10 or 7-9 season, thus losing out on a shot at Clemson QB Trevor Lawrence in 2021.

The Dolphins need major help at just about every position other than cornerback. They are particularly deficient on the offensive line and at linebacker. If Tagovailoa is there at pick No. 5, Miami must take him and then get the best available offensive tackle at pick No. 18. A playmaking safety or wide receiver could be had at No. 26, and then Miami can use the 39th and 56th picks to further add youth and athleticism to their defense.

Miami, more than any other team, needs to ace it this year, or fans will turn away from the franchise. Loyal fans had to endure plenty of humiliating, demoralizing losses in 2019, and the draft is supposed to be payback for that. This is Grier’s second year with full control of Miami’s personnel decisions; before that, the job was not entirely his. It is also Flores’ second season as head coach. The draft is a pivotal moment for both.

Miami’s bounty of top picks means it has an opportunity to set itself up as a contender for the next decade. Conversely, a series of missteps will devastate the franchise and squander an opportunity that won’t come around again, and probably shouldn’t, given the on-field humiliations that made it possible.

The Dolphins’ strategy is debatable, but the urgency of their moment is not. Miami has more riding on the 2020 NFL Draft than any team in the league, and it’s not close.