The Miami Dolphins’ quest to return to glory runs through Las Vegas, Nevada. Sin City serves as the host of the 2020 NFL Draft — which the Dolphins have already shifted one eye towards in preparation for a massive infusion of talent to their now-barren roster.
The Dolphins’ fortunes for 2020 aren’t just tied to their own ineptitude, however. Miami has a lot riding on the team successes and failures of the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Houston Texans in 2019. It’s been a mixed bag on that front, but progress was made thanks to a key loss in yesterday’s action. Here’s an updated look at where each of Miami’s three 1st-round picks for the 2020 NFL Draft currently sit in the draft order after Week 7, according to Tankathon.com.
Dolphins’ pick: 2nd overall
Miami at this point just needs to focus on holding serve with the Cincinnati Bengals — who own the 1st-overall pick as things currently stand because they haven’t served their bye week yet. The tiebreaker in NFL Draft ordering isn’t head to head results — it is strength of schedule. Keep that in mind for when Miami plays Cincinnati in Week 16, as the Dolphins’ strength of schedule is currently much worse (.485) than the Bengals’ (.540) is. At this point if the Dolphins and Bengals finish with the same record, this feels like Miami will have the tiebreaker.
Steelers’ pick: 10th overall
No damage done to the standing with this pick with Pittsburgh on their bye — but the Steelers host the Dolphins on Monday Night Football next week and figure to be moving up in the standings with a win there. Pittsburgh moving to 3-4 with a win could see them jump as high as 15th next week, depending on other action across the league.
Texans’ pick: 22nd overall
For all the praise the Texans have gathered in recent weeks, they’re suddenly not in first place in the AFC South! That distinction goes to the Indianapolis Colts at 4-2, leaving the 4-3 Texans as the 6th seed in the AFC playoff picture. The real win would be if the Oakland Raiders (at 3-3) could chase Houston down and keep them out of the postseason, which would guarantee this to be a top-20 pick.
