Dolphins on clock for No. 1 pick in 2020 NFL draft in Las Vegas

With the first pick in the 2020 NFL draft in Las Vegas, odds are that the Miami Dolphins will select Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.

“It would be hard to picture anybody beating out the Dolphins for that pick,” Westgate sportsbook director John Murray said. “They’re considerably worse than everybody else and they want to be bad.”

Miami is one of six 0-3 teams. The others are the Washington Redskins, New York Jets, Denver Broncos, Cincinnati Bengals and Pittsburgh Steelers. The Bengals and Steelers meet Monday night.

“I don’t think the Redskins are that bad, and I do think the Jets will eventually get (quarterback) Sam Darnold back,” Murray said.

The Dolphins have been historically bad, getting outscored 133-16 by the Baltimore Ravens (59-10), New England Patriots (43-0) and Dallas Cowboys (31-6).

“And they’re going to get worse,” CG Technology sportsbook director Tony DiTommaso said. “They’re going to quit sooner or later, if they haven’t already.”

The Dolphins might steal the Raiders’ thunder in Las Vegas during the 2020 NFL draft with three first-round picks and 12 overall.

No. 1 pick prop

Tagovailoa was the minus 225 favorite to be the No. 1 overall draft pick when the Westgate posted odds on the prop in May. Oregon QB Justin Herbert was the second choice at 7-1.

The numbers moved to minus 200 on Tagovailoa and 4-1 on Herbert, with Georgia QB Jake Fromm the 5-1 third choice, before betting on the prop closed in the preseason.

The Westgate took a $300 wager to win $9,000 on Alabama wide receiver Jerry Jeudy at 30-1 and a $100 bet to win $3,000.

“We’ve seen him at the top of a mock draft,” Murray said. “But it’s always our belief that a quarterback is going to go first overall. A team will talk itself into a quarterback.

“The way it shapes up, Miami will pick first, and it will pick the quarterback it wants.”

In five games, Tagovailoa is completing 76.3 percent of his passes for 1,718 yards and 23 touchdowns with no interceptions.

Several other quarterbacks also have compiled impressive numbers, including Herbert, who has completed 74.4 percent of his passes in four games for 1,127 yards and 14 TDs with zero interceptions.

Murray said he wouldn’t be shocked if another quarterback was taken before Tagovailoa.

“You can always get another quarterback to fly up the board,” he said. “Last September, I don’t think anybody thought Kyler Murray would be the No. 1 pick or that Daniel Jones would go No. 6.”

Heisman hopefuls

The past two top overall draft picks — Murray and Baker Mayfield — were Heisman Trophy winners.

Tagovailoa is the plus 180 favorite to win the 2019 Heisman Trophy, followed by Louisiana State QB Joe Burrow (+350) and Oklahoma QB Jalen Hurts (4-1).

“We really think it’s going to be Tua,” Murray said. “He’s putting up these huge numbers, and we kind of feel voters owe it to him. We felt he got screwed last year. The only reason he didn’t win was because Alabama was winning by so much, they took him out of the game early. That didn’t seem fair to me.”

Burrow has completed 80.6 percent of his passes for 1,520 yards and 17 TDs with two interceptions in four games. One Westgate bettor placed a $150 wager to win $30,000 on Burrow to win the Heisman at 200-1 odds, and two other gamblers placed $100 bets to win $20,000 each.

“We have pretty serious liability on that guy, and it’s possible he can win,” Murray said. “He’s the one concern we have in that pool.”

Hurts is bidding to become the third consecutive Oklahoma quarterback to win the Heisman. In four games, the former Crimson Tide QB has completed 77.7 percent of his passes for 1,295 yards, 12 TDs and one interception while rushing for 443 yards and five scores.

“There’s a lot of support for Jalen Hurts. He’s put up video game numbers,” Murray said. “But we feel there’s voter fatigue, and they won’t give it to an Oklahoma quarterback three years in a row.”

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Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on Twitter.