The SI AllDolphins Preseason AFC East All-Rookie Team: Offense

Rookies logically will have a harder time making an impact in 2020 because of the lack of offseason practices and, it appears, because of the lack of preseason games.

That comes into play perhaps more dramatically for somebody like Tua Tagovailoa because he's a quarterback and he's also coming back from a severe hip injury.

But that certainly wasn't going to stop us from making Tagovailoa the choice at quarterback on the SI AllDolphins Preseason AFC East All-Rookie Team.

He's one of three Dolphins players on the team, which includes one running back and three wide receivers since that's how most offenses usually line up.

SI ALLDOLPHINS PRESEASON AFC EAST ALL-ROOKIE OFFENSE

• Quarterback: Tua Tagovailoa, Miami: Tua is the only choice here, even though there's no guarantee he'll even start a game in 2020. None of the other three teams in the division have a rookie among their top two quarterbacks.

• Running back: Zack Moss, Buffalo — The third-round pick from Utah should replace the ageless Frank Gore as the backfield partner for Devin Singletary.

• Wide receiver: Denzel Mims, N.Y. Jets — The Jets got Mims in the second round after he was projected as a likely first-round pick. Mims was highly productive at Baylor.

• Wide receiver: Gabriel Davis, Buffalo — A fourth-round pick from the University of Central Florida, Davis will try to carve out a role in the Bills passing game, which already features newcomer Stefon Diggs and John Brown at wide receiver.

• Wide receiver: Isaiah Hodgins, Buffalo — We were tempted here to go with Kirk Merritt, the Dolphins rookie free agent from Arkansas State, but the task for UDFAs to make an active roster is going to be more difficult in 2020. Hodgins was a sixth-round pick who put up big numbers at Oregon State.

• Tight end: Devin Asiasi, New England — The Patriots selected two tight ends in the third round of the 2020 draft, but Asiasi is the one with the athletic ability to become a factor in the passing game right away.

• Tackle: Mekhi Becton, Louisville — The 11th pick in the 2020 NFL draft, Becton will be charged with protecting Sam Darnold's blind side.

• Tackle: Austin Jackson, Miami — It's impossible not to go with the other first-round pick at offensive tackle, even though Jackson will first have to make sure he wins the starting job.

• Guard: Robert Hunt, Miami — We put Hunt on our preseason all-conference team, so obviously he belongs on the all-rookie team.

• Guard: Cameron Clark, N.Y. Jets — The choices were limited here, so we went with Clark, a fourth-round pick from Charlotte.

• Center: Donell Stanley, Miami — Stanley faces a tough battle just to make the active roster, but there was no center drafted by an AFC East team this year, so everybody was in the same position.

• Kicker: Tyler Bass, Buffalo — There were two kickers drafted by AFC East teams in 2020, but Bass gets the nod over Justin Rohrwasser of the Patriots.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Get the latest Dolphins news by joining the community. Click "Follow" at the top right of the AllDolphins page. Mobile users click the notification bell.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Alain Poupart has covered the Miami Dolphins on a full-time basis since 1989. You can follow him on Twitter at @apoupartFins.