Jackson will bolster an offensive line that allowed 58 sacks last season, and Igbinoghene slides into the most improved secondary in the A.F.C. East. But Tagovailoa is the centerpiece, and for a team that’s been searching for a quarterback since Dan Marino retired, he represents an altogether fitting choice.

By shedding talent last off-season, the Dolphins chose an unpopular rebuilding path. They were chided and lampooned. It was a risk because weird things happen in the N.F.L. and even bad teams win sometimes. In the end, that strategy led them to Tagovailoa, who, because of health and durability concerns, is hardly a safe pick. But the Dolphins were rewarded for their aggressiveness once, and now they hope they will be again.

The Patriots played to type.

The Tom Brady era may be over in New England, but don’t expect coach Bill Belichick to change. The Patriots had the 23rd pick in the first round, but rather than use the spot to upgrade at, say, quarterback, it traded the pick to the Los Angeles Chargers and received a second-round pick (37th overall) and a third-round pick (71st overall) in return.

There’s a method to Belichick’s trades. The Patriots had traded a second-round pick last season to get wide receiver Mohamed Sanu, and have not made a first-round pick in four of the past eight years. Now they have 13 picks over the next two days of the draft.

But as my colleague, Bill Pennington, noted, the Patriots will probably have to trade a top player to create salary cap space. They currently have about $1 million in cap space, which isn’t enough to sign even their incoming draft class. But packaging, for example, the All-Pro guard Joe Thuney with a valuable 2021 pick would free up $15 million in cap space.

The SEC remained dominant.

The ultimate currency in any debate about the strongest college conference is how many players end up in the N.F.L. This year, the Southeastern Conference was undeniably the winner, with 15 of its players selected with the first 32 picks of the draft. Nine of those picks came from L.S.U., the national champions, and Alabama. Auburn and Georgia each had two players selected. Three Ohio State players were chosen Thursday, including the second (Chase Young) and third (Jeff Okudah) picks over all.