A Big Date in Dolphins Draft History

April 26 will be remembered for the Miami Dolphins getting Dan Marino, but that's just one of the major draft developments on this date

Wednesday marked the 40th anniversary of perhaps the best draft moment in Miami Dolphins history, the day Dan Marino mysteriously dropped in the first round of the 1983 proceedings to allow them to land the future Hall of Fame quarterback.

As Dolphins fans no doubt know by heart, five other quarterbacks were selected before Miami got Marino with the 27th overall pick — John Elway, Todd Blackledge, Jim Kelly, Tony Eason and Ken O'Brien.

How the Dolphins were able to land Marino was documented in a great 30 for 30 documentary titled, appropriately enough, "From Elway to Marino."

With that alone, that date April 26 deserves a big place in Dolphins history, but the 1983 draft was just one of many on that date that helped shape the course of the franchise.

APRIL 26, 1992 — TWO FIRST-ROUND PICKS

This was a draft where the Dolphins had two first-round picks, as the result of trading their 1991 first-round pick, Randal Hill, to the Cardinals the previous September. The Dolphins ended up with the seventh and 12th overall picks that year and selected CB Troy Vincent and edge defender Marco Coleman. Both players had long NFL careers, though they left the Dolphins after four seasons after Jimmy Johnson took over as head coach and several key veterans left via free agency partly because of cap issues.

APRIL 26, 2003 — MISSING OUT ON BOLDIN

That one hurt. The Dolphins didn't have a first-round pick in 2003 when the first three rounds took place Saturday, April 26 and the last four occurred April 27. It wasn't the lack of a first-round pick, the aftermath of the Ricky Williams, that was painful, but rather the Dolphins' choice as their top pick. It was linebacker Eddie Moore, whose post-selected conference call with the media included his stunning admission that he didn't expect to get drafted that early. To make matters worse, the Dolphins passed on the chance to take Florida State wide receiver Anquan Boldin. Ouch.

APRIL 26, 2008 — THE JAKE LONG DECISION

The Dolphins had the first overall pick for this one after their 1-15 finish of the previous year, but there was no suspense on this night because they already had signed tackle Jake Long to a contract a few days earlier (the practice of the first overall pick before the day of the draft has been discontinued). That pick is a source of great debate because the Dolphins passed up the chance to take QB Matt Ryan, who was taken third overall by the Falcons after the Rams took DE Chris Long second. This pick didn't pan out for the Dolphins, but only because injuries derailed what has the look of a Hall of Fame career for Jake Long.

APRIL 26, 2012 — TAKING TANNEHILL

Before the Dolphins took Tua Tagovailoa in 2020, the 2012 draft had been the last time Miami selected a quarterback in the first round. On this night, that quarterback was Ryan Tannehill, who would spend seven seasons in Miami, though he never quite lived up to his draft status.

APRIL 26, 2018 — FITZPATRICK OVER A QB

The 2018 draft wasn't quite like 1983 in terms of first-round quarterbacks, but it was close, as five were selected in the first round. The Dolphins certainly could have been justified in going for a quarterback given that Tannehill was coming off a season spent on IR, but instead went for Alabama safety Minkah Fitzpatrick with the 11th pick. The Dolphins, though, watched Buffalo move from 12th to seventh in the first round to land Josh Allen, who's the biggest reason the Bills have won the last four AFC East titles. Multiple reports have indicated the Dolphins had an offer to trade down in that first round and owner Stephen Ross brought up the possibility of taking Lamar Jackson, who ended up going late in the round to the Ravens, but GM Chris Grier stayed firm in his belief in Fitzpatrick. For those keeping score, the other first-round quarterbacks were Baker Mayfield going first overall, Sam Darnold going third, and Josh Rosen going 10th.

APRIL 26, 2019 — REACHING FOR ROSEN

This was the second night of the 2019 draft and the Dolphins, in full rebuilding mode, made a pitch for a quarterback after passing up on the five of the year before. But while they deserve credit for taking a shot at landing a potential franchise quarterback, sending a second-round pick and a fifth-round pick to the Arizona Cardinals for Rosen a year after he was the 10th overall pick failed to produce the desired results — to put it mildly.