The Miami Dolphins were sitting in their so-called war room late Thursday evening, watching the NFL draft on television, when Mississippi offensive lineman Laremy Tunsil began to slide.

He was out of the Top 3. And then he was out of the top 5. And when he got passed over at No. 6 by the Baltimore Ravens, suddenly there was a buzz in the room.

"We're sitting there watching the best player in the draft fall and we started talking about this might actually be happening for us," a source I spoke with early Friday morning told me.

And when Tunsil dropped all the way to No. 13 where the Dolphins eventually selected him, the disbelief was as palpable as the satisfaction over what had just happened.

"We're picking 13 and the best player in the draft just fell to us," I was told.

The Dolphins promised weeks ago that No. 13 player in the draft would be a starter for them.

Laremy Tunsil will be the fulfillment of that promise. He is today a starting offensive lineman for the team.

No, he's not going to be a tackle, the position he played at Mississippi. He's going to be a starting guard by the time the 2016 NFL season rolls around. That is assuming both of Miami's tackles stay healthy. And if the worst happens with either Branden Albert at left tackle or Ja'Wuan James at right tackle, then Tunsil will be the candidate to fill the vacancy at either spot.

A true swing tackle who isn't going to let quarterback Ryan Tannehill get killed.

But if disaster does not strike, Tunsil is a guard who will upgrade a position that has begged upgrading for some time.

(Halellujah, the Miami Dolphins addressed the guard position)!

That's the vision the Dolphins have for what happened Thursday evening.

Now, is it a vision with no clouds? No. Of course not.

Tunsil comes with a problematic history and issues that need addressing, as I wrote in my column. There are legitimate reasons Tunsil dropped.

But the Dolphins are aware of these issues and they plan to address them.

The Dolphins tell me Tunsil and all of their rookies are going to get coached up on life skills, dealing with living in Miami, understanding their roles as professionals, all these things adults need to learn. All that in addition to learning the playbook when they show up at the team's Davie, Florida facility.

"The majority of the players coming into the NFL today are far from polished people much less players," a Dolphins source told me.

The team recognizes this. The team will address this.

The expectation is also that Tunsil will come to his new team with "his eyes wide open" because he just got a master's degree on how life can go wrong very fast. Think about it: Thursday morning Laremy Tunsil was expecting to be drafted maybe as high as No. 3 overall.

By Thursday night he had his privacy invaded, his reputation and habits unearthed to public scrutiny, and his earning potential was greatly diminished as a result. If that's not a life lesson for Tunsil, then there is no hope for this kid.

So, yes, there are reasons to doubt this will go right. As the Dolphins told me, "You've seen it go wrong before so you doubt ..."

Heck yes, I doubt, because it is true. I've seen movies like this reach bad endings before.

But this is a new coaching staff. This is a newly revamped personnel department. This is a different player.

The Dolphins, in short, believe this is a new day.

Let's see.