DOLPHINS MAKE TUA TAGOVAILOA NO. 1 PICK! Our column and Grade the Pick poll. Vote now!; plus we live-graded our Mock Draft pick by pick; also, Greg Cote Show podcast Episode 8, column links & more

1) It's SATURDAY, APRIL 25. Hang in, stay apart and eventually we rise together! 2) Our Greg Cote Show podcast is now separately on Twitter and Instagram! Follow on both at TheGregCoteShow. 3) Find our latest Back In My Day from Le Batard Show on ESPN Radio HERE. 4) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): Our 29th annual Mock Draft, Greg Cote Show podcast & more. 5) Join us on Twitter.com/gregcote and Instagram.

GREG COTE SHOW PODCAST: EPISODE 8 OUT NOW: Our new(ish) Miami Herald podcast, "The Greg Cote Show With Greg Cote," debuted in early March and Episode 8 is now out. Find a new Greg Cote Show every Monday on Apple, Spotify or wherever you do your podding, and of course at MiamiHerald.com. Find all eight episodes we've done so far right here. Please listen, subscribe, rate and review! Our podcast is a variety show: Sports and non-sports, 3-0-5 and national, fun and (when necessary) serious. In Episode 8 we take a deep dive into Dolphins' NFL Draft with ESPN Fins reporter Cameron Wolfe, and, in Stugotz 2.0, he talks Grateful Dead and shares something you didn't know about Dan Le Batard.

COLUMN: DOLPHINS AIM HIGH, WIN BIG WITH TUA TAGOVAILOA PICK

POLLS: GRADE DOLPHINS FIRST-ROUND PICK!: We have a Dolphins draft poll on the top pick -- QB Tua Tagovailoa, fifth overall.

 

HOW WE DID ON OUR 29th ANNUAL NFL MOCK DRAFT, PICK BY PICK: Our 29th Official Miami Herald NFL Mock Draft lists our forecasts for the entire first round Thursday night, including all three Miami Dolphins picks (scheduled as 5th, 18th and 26th overall). To read our full analysis with capsules on each selection, plus Super Bonus Draft Facts, please visit Greg Cote's 2020 NFL Mock Draft. And here is my draft preview column: Hackers, Barking Dogs, Crazy Pressure: Why Virtual NFL Draft IS Biggest Ever For Dolphins. Follow here along Thursday/tonight as we grade how we did, pick by pick, below:

RED BULL'S-EYE = Exacto! Perfect pick -- exact player to exact team.

 

GREEN CHECK MARK = Partial hit. Had player in round but not to right team.

 

BLACK 'X' MARK = Strikeout. Player was not selected in first round.

 

       My mock pick / Team's actual selection 

1. Cincinnati Bengals: Joe Burrow, QB, LSU / As expected, Burrow. Never a doubt. So much for that big trade-up by the Dolphins.

2. Washington Redskins: Chase Young, DE, Ohio State / Another no-brainer. If only the rest of the first round were this easy. 

3. Detroit Lions: Jeff Okudah, CB, Ohio State / Wow, no trade. We're 3-for-3 and it looks like the Fins are sticking at 5.

4. New York Giants: Isaiah Simmons, OLB, Clemson / A surprise with OT Andrew Thomas, whom I had going 14th overall. 

5. MIAMI DOLPHINS: TUA TAGOVAILOA, QB, ALABAMA / It's Tua. I love LOVE getting the Fins pick right! Column coming.

6. Los Angeles Chargers: Justin Herbert, QB, Oregon / It's Herbert. I am en fuego in my mock so far!

7. Carolina Panthers: Derrick Brown, DT, Auburn / Brown. Another one right. Pinch me! No, not literally. Keep your social distance.

8. Arizona Cardinals: Jedrick Wills Jr., OT, Alabama / Oh well. They took Simmons, whom I had going 4th overall.

9. Jacksonville Jaguars: C.J. Henderson, CB, Florida / Henderson gets us back on the Bull's-Eye Train!

10. Cleveland Browns: Mekhi Becton, OT, Louisville / They took Wills, whom I had going two spots earlier.

11. New York Jets: Jerry Jeudy, WR, Alabama / So close. They took Becton, whom I had going one spot earlier. 

12. Las Vegas Raiders: CeeDee Lamb, WR, Oklahoma / Close again. Right position. They took Ruggs, whom I had going one spot later.

13. TRADE: Tampa Bay, from San Francisco: Henry Ruggs III, WR, Alabama / Bucs take OT Wirfs, whom I had going 18th to Fins.

14. TRADE: San Francisco, from Tampa Bay: Andrew Thomas, OT, Georgia / 49ers take Kinlaw, whom I had going 27th. 

15. Denver Broncos: Justin Jefferson, WR, LSU /Right position. Pick is Jeudy, whom I had going 11th overall.

16. Atlanta Falcons: K’Lavon Chaisson, OLB, LSU / They picked the CB Terrell, whom I had going 31st overall.

17. Dallas Cowboys : Xavier McKinney, S, Alabama / They picked WR Lamb, whom I had going 12th overall.

18. MIAMI DOLPHINS: TRISTAN WIRFS, OT, IOWA / Right position. Fins take OT Austin Jackson of USC, whom I did not have going in the first round. A reach by Miami or a misfire by me? Mel Kiper had Jackson as his 48th ranked overall prospect, which translates to second round. (Wirfs went 13th to Bucs).

19. Las Vegas Raiders: Jordan Love, QB Utah State / Pick is Damon Arnette, Ohio State CB. Did not have him in my first round. 

20. Jacksonville Jaguars: Brandon Aiyuk, WR, Arizona State / They got Chaisson, whom I had going a bit sooner, at 16th. 

21. Philadelphia Eagles: Tee Higgins, WR, Clemson / Right position, wrong player. TCU WR Jalen Reagor was not in my first round.

22. Minnesota Vikings: Trevon Diggs, CB, Alabama / Took the WR Jefferson, whom I had going earlier, 15th overall.

23. TRADE: L.A. Chargers, from New England: A.J. Epenesa, DE, Iowa / Bolts take the LB Murray, whom I had going 28th. 

24. New Orleans Saints: Patrick Queen, ILB, LSU / N'Awlins took C/G Cesar Ruiz, whom I did not have in my first round. 

25. TRADE: San Francisco, from Minnesota: Yetur Gross-Matos, DE, Penn State / 49ers select WR Aiyuk, whom I had going 20th overall.

26. TRADE: Green Bay, from Miami: D'Andre Swift, RB, Georgia / Pack trades, get QB Love as Aaron Rodgers successor. Had Love going 19th.

27. Seattle Seahawks: Javon Kinlaw, DT, South Carolina / Take LB Jordyn Brooks from Texas Tech, not in my first round. 

28. Baltimore Ravens: Kenneth Murray, ILB, Oklahoma / Crows take LB Queen, whom I had going a bit sooner, 24th overall.

29. Tennessee Titans: Zack Baun, OLB, Wisconsin / Take OT Isaiah Wilson, whom I did not have in my first round.

30. TRADE: MIAMI, FROM GREEN BAY: Michael Pittman, WR, USC / Dolphins get CB Noah Igbinoghene of Auburn, who was not in my first round.

31. TRADE: MInnesota, from San Francisco: A.J. Terrell, CB, Clemson / Vikes get CB Jeff Gladney, who was not in my first round.

32. Kansas City Chiefs: Jonathan Taylor, RB, Wisconsin / Right position, wrong guy. Champs take LSU RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire.

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Revisit this blog often because it updates regularly. The Associated Press Sports Editors 2018 writing awards ranked the blog's author a Top 10 national sports columnist in the major-outlet category. Greg is also a regular co-host on the Dan Le Batard Show With Stugotz on ESPN Radio. Finding Greg Cote:  Twitter.  Instagram.  Facebook.  Columns.  Podcast.  Podcast on Twitter.  Podcast on Instagram.  LeBatard Show.  Fins At 50.  Songs: Letting Go and The Ballad Of 1440.