While Texans picks thrive, here’s how few Dolphins picks make a difference when it matters

The Great Tank of 2019 began with a treasure trove of draft choices and the wishful thinking that those picks could be parlayed into the foundation of a perennial contender after years of irrelevance.

Here’s how that worked out:

The Dolphins drafted 32 players during the first five years of the rebuild (2019 through 2023).

Just seven of the 32 were in uniform on Sunday. None of them made any kind of tangible difference in a 20-12 loss at Houston, Miami’s latest no-show against a good team.

So in the most important game of the season, the Dolphins went 0 for 32 with the 2019-to-2023 picks that were supposed to be much of the nucleus of a team built to win now. Some were missing because of injuries. Others were traded. Some simply underperformed. And some were simply busts, an indictment of this general manager and personnel department. (At least a few of the 2024 draft picks were fine Sunday; more on them later.)

Meanwhile, on the other sideline, and you saw difference-making Houston draft picks everywhere you looked.

Cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. snatched two critical fourth-quarter interceptions.

Quarterback C.J. Stroud (106.4 passer rating) did just enough on a day the Dolphins defense generally played well.

Third-round rookie safety Calen Bullock intercepted Tua Tagovailoa.

Second-round pick Kamari Lassiter had six tackles and was a nuisance all day. So was former third overall Will Anderson Jr., who forced a fumble.

So was receiver Nico Collins, a Texans third-round pick who caught two touchdowns.

And there was linebacker Henry To’oto’o, a fifth-round pick in 2023, making difference-making plays while five years of underwhelming Dolphins drafts doomed them on another Sunday, just as they’ve doomed them time after time against good teams.

Let’s take a closer look at those 32 picks between 2019 and 2023 — a handful of which came over from Houston in the Laremy Tunsil trade — beginning with the seven in uniform for the Dolphins on Sunday when another season essentially died:

Tagovailoa was awful Sunday, with three interceptions and four turnovers. Jevon Holland missed a tackle, resulting in a sizable gain, and hasn’t made a genuinely impactful play in weeks.

Liam Eichenberg was abused all day at right guard and committed two costly penalties. Channing Tindall committed a penalty on a return and hasn’t played a defensive snap all season.

Jaylen Waddle left early, without a catch, with a knee injury. De’Von Achane mustered just 41 yards on 3.4 per carry, marking the fifth time in the past six games he failed to average even 3.5 per carry. Ryan Hayes, an elevation for the game, was active only because the Dolphins played without their top offensive three tackles.

Four of those 32 picks — Christian Wilkins, Andrew Van Ginkel, Robert Hunt and Brandon Jones — were assets when they played here, and could have helped this year, but none were prioritized this offseason and all departed.

Two key picks — Jaelan Phillips and Austin Jackson — were sidelined by injuries.

Most of those five years of draft picks are long gone, from Noah Igbinoghene to Michael Deiter to Raekwon Davis.

It’s an even greater indictment if you include the 2018 draft; Pro Bowler Minkah Fitzpatrick is long gone because Brian Flores didn’t want to play Fitzpatrick at a single position and general manager Chris Grier acquiesced to the subsequent trade request, parlaying Fitzpatrick into a first round pick used on a lesser player (Jackson).

It’s an even greater indictment if you could include the 2017 draft, when the Dolphins picked Charles Harris (19 career sacks) over T.J. Watt, who has 106.

Now let’s be clear: Grier didn’t whiff on all of those picks. Tagovailoa had been very good the past six weeks before unraveling Sunday. Phillips has been snake-bitten by injuries. Achane is a good player, though he has been a subpar runner the past month without adequate blocking. Jackson has been a competent right tackle, though the Dolphins originally envisioned him as a left tackle.

But not nearly enough of the 32 have been good enough to comprise the foundation of a division title contender, let alone the Super Bowl contender that owner Stephen Ross envisioned.

And because many of the picks didn’t work out, the Dolphins have needed to keep spending and spending in free agency, leaving them with precious little cap space to address myriad needs next offseason.

Because Jackson couldn’t become an effective left tackle, they had to spend more than $60 million on Terron Amstead, who has been very good but lacked durability and missed Sunday’s game.

Because Erik Ezukanma couldn’t become a good No. 3 receiver, they had to waste $3 million on Odell Beckham Jr.

Because Tindall couldn’t become a rotation linebacker, they had to sign David Long Jr. and Anthony Walker and will need to address the position again this offseason.

Because Eichenberg couldn’t become an above-average starter, they’ll need to find another starting offensive lineman this offseason.

Because they couldn’t afford to keep Wilkins and Hunt (or make other tough decisions to be able to afford them), they’ll need to find a quality defensive tackle and a guard this offseason.

Because they opted for Shaq Barrett instead of paying Van Ginkel an extra $2.5 million in guaranteed money, their pass rush wasn’t nearly good enough this season in the absence of Bradley Chubb and for most of the season, Phillips.

Because they allowed Jones to leave to Denver and because Holland has seemingly regressed and because the Jordan Poyer signing was a mistake, they will need to find two safeties this offseason.

Because Cam Smith has been injury-prone and ineffective when healthy, they will need to keep spending for a veteran cornerback. (At least Jalen Ramsey, Kendall Fuller are under contract next season, and Miami controls Kader Kohou’s rights in 2025.)

In fairness, Grier appears to have hit on several 2024 picks. Patrick Paul was mostly competent at left tackle on Sunday and projects to be Armstead’s successor. Chop Robinson, who has the NFL’s best pass-rush win rate among edge players since Week 10, had two sacks.

Malik Washington led the Dolphins with 52 yards on five receptions.

But you can’t play a critical December game in Year 6 of this rebuild — or whatever you want to call it — and have none of your 32 draft picks in Years 1 through 5 make any significant difference at all Sunday, and only seven of the 32 in uniform.

And for all the good things Tagovailoa has done, he must play better in games against playoff teams.

He’s now 1-10 against playoff teams in the past two years – 1-6 last season against teams that made the 2023-24 playoffs and 0-4 this season against teams that are currently in playoff position (Buffalo twice, Green Bay and Houston).

Of those 11 games, he played well enough in the second Buffalo game this season, in the one win (against Dallas) and against Green Bay on Thanksgiving. He wasn’t good enough in any of the eight others, which included scoring outputs of 17 against Philadelphia; 20, 14 and 10 against Buffalo; 14 and 7 against Kansas City; and 19 against Baltimore and 12 on Sunday, a day in which he threw three interceptions and lost a fumble.

“I’ve got to protect the ball,” Tagovailoa said. “I’ve got to play better ball. Very disappointed how I played today and conducted myself on the field with our guys, with our team. I need to be better in all aspects.”

Stingley’s game-sealing interception, which he snatched from Hill, was underthrown.

“It was not a good ball,” Tagovailoa said. “I need to throw it further down for Tyreek.”

Hill, who caught just two passes for 36 yards, said it was a “tremendous play” by Stingley, calling him “one of the best young playmakers in this league.”

The four turnovers Sunday “are on all of us, whether ball placement or not being in the right spot,” Hill said.

If the Seahawks remain in playoff position and the Rams miss the playoffs and the Texans remain in first in their division, then Miami will end the season 0-5 against playoff teams, with a negative point disparity of 66. Last season, Miami was outscored by 130 points in going 1-6 against playoff teams; only Washington had a worse differential.

“This was a game we thought we were ready to go win and we weren’t,” McDaniel said.

“My message for the team was not to run from how this feels. It was terrible, a game we thought we were ready to go win and we weren’t. We had a team that fought tooth and nail to the very end.”

I’ve hesitated to call the rebuild a failure because at least the Dolphins (6-8) made the playoffs the first two seasons of the Hill era. They likely won’t this season.

And if you’re looking for reasons why, start with the five years of drafts that were supposed to be the bedrock of a team built to win, a team that instead seems nowhere close to winning anything meaningful.