As a result of self-proclaimed “NBA boredom,” Shams Charania of Stadium of The Athletic, the young basketball newsbreaker who’s only ever covered the NBA, broke some NFL Draft news on Thursday night.
With the Miami Dolphins picking fifth overall and some questions about which quarterback they would take, Charania swooped in for a big NFL scoop, nailing the Tua Tagovailoa pick for Miami.
NBA boredom: Miami is drafting Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa with the No. 5 pick in the NFL Draft, sources say.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) April 24, 2020
The pick, sure to be a relief for college football fans who saw the best of Tagovailoa prior to a hip injury late in the 2019 season, was seen as a decent possibility by many analysts, but it was far from a lock. Charania got in there and scooped most every NFL reporter aside from Albert Breer of SI’s MMQB.
Perhaps Charania was drawn to the means by which Miami ended up with Tagovailoa, after engineering a super NBA-like teardown and tanking for a top pick.
Looking a bit deeper, Tagovailoa hired longtime deal-maker Leigh Steinberg as his agent, and Steinberg at one point was an NBA agent in addition to having dozens of NFL clients. There’s a decent chance Charania and Steinberg crossed paths, but even considering that potential connection, it’s impressive that Charania was able to break some NFL news. Add it to the list of things that made the 2020 draft such a bizarre night.
Shams wasn’t done, as he also broke the Jets taking Louisville OT Mekhi Becton.
Bored in the house, in the house bored … New York Jets drafting Louisville’s Mekhi Becton with the No. 11 pick in the NFL Draft, per sources.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) April 24, 2020
