Back in the Saddle
I just want to apologize to our faithful readers, that I was unable to post articles the last couple of weeks due to some personal issues that needed to be taken care of, but I would like to thank M.J Curtis for an admirable job in keeping everyone informed. I will give a brief overview of all the exciting new happenings in Dolphin land in this article and over the next bunch of articles, I will go in more depth in some older draft news, but will look to give my opinion on it, and see what all the rest of the Miami Dolphins news fans feel about it as well.
The Draft was very exciting and the Dolphins were fortunate enough to land DeVante Parker in the first round, who they were highly coveted, and without having to move up in the draft to do it. The Draft board fell perfectly for them in the first round, and if the Rookie mini-camp is a sign of things to come, then I would say Parker is going to be the real deal and is a player that will be able to add 7 to 10 touchdowns for us this upcoming season. (He should be able to pick up some of the touchdown slack that we lost when we traded away Mike Wallace.) In addition, we were able to pick up Greg Jennings, who was my personal favorite of the remaining free-agent wide receivers on the market. He will be a great mentor for these youngsters and is a perfect Philbin locker room guy. Also, it appears that those Rishard Matthews trade/release rumors have been revisited and the best pay per head reviews sites will bet that Miami will either try to trade him, or just cut him, and unfortunately not get anything in return for him. One last note on the wide receiver group, keep an eye on second-year player Matt Hazel, he showed up for Rookie camp and showed significant improvement, and will most likely be Matthews’s roster replacement.
In the second round of the Draft, the Dolphins had a chance to land LB Denzel Perryman, however, they decided to trade back and get two additional 5th round picks and then draft DT Jordan Phillips with their second-round pick. Most football gambling fans would agree that was the most controversial pick of Miami’s entire draft, and we will get into that in another article. However even with Suh’s signing we still had to replace both Starks and Odrick, and Phillips has a ton of upside potential. Phillips is aware of his reputation for being lazy and he has already expressed a desire to prove it wrong and is intent on learning a proper NFL work ethic from fellow teammates like Wake and Suh. The Phins love rotating the defensive linemen so Phillips should get plenty of snaps this season to prove if he belongs or not.
In the fourth round, the Dolphins selected Left Guard Jamil Douglas and his skill set fits perfectly for how Miami utilizes their offensive linemen. Douglas was mainly a Left Tackle in college, but it is evident from Rookie mini-camp that he is going to play Left Guard, and will get every possible chance to earn the starting spot from Dallas Thomas. Most football gambling fans are betting that Douglas will win the job, and begin the season as the Dolphins starting Left Guard, which means Miami could possibly have 3 solid starters from there first 3 picks.
Miami’s first pick in the 5th round was CB Bobby McCain. This pick along with Miami’s other two Cornerback free agent signings of Bowman and McCain show that Miami has added a backlog of competition for the other Cornerback position opposite Grimes, and the Nickel spot. They did not pick up any star players, but they added a lot of tough feisty football players that have a strong desire to compete, which will help make this entire group better. In addition, the Dolphins also added WR Tony Lippett with their last pick in the fifth round, who they will be also be throwing into the CB mix. Competition breeds performance and the Dolphins added a lot of competition to this group, which should pay off dividends during the season.
The Dolphins’ second pick of the 5th round was Jay Ajayi the running back from Boise State that was projected as a 2nd round pick but dropped like a stone due to concerns over the health of his knee. Ajayi is the perfect compliment to Miller, and he even has excellent hands to catch passes out of the backfield, which is secretly giving Bill Lazor wet dreams at night. If Ajayi can stay healthy he has the chance to be the biggest steal in the entire draft. Ajayi can easily add 5 to 7 touchdowns for us this upcoming season.
Miami’s third pick of the fifth round was Safety Ced Thompson, who is a perfect fit for a free safety, and should be a solid depth player behind Delmas. Thompson reminds me a lot of Reshad Jones when he came out of Georgia, a bit raw, but with excellent ball skills. Thompson with some grooming this season can develop into Delmas’ replacement and could be a nice compliment with Jones in the future.
The Dolphins neglected to draft a linebacker, however they immediately went out and signed 4 undrafted linebackers who have each shown flashes during the Rookie minicamp; Mike Hull, Zach Vigil, Jeff Luc, and Neville Hewitt. Each of these players was a tackling machine in college, and most football gambling fans are betting that at least one of these players is going to make the team, and possibly even two. My money is on Vigil and Hull, and one of them will get a decent amount of snaps this season. Two other undrafted free agents that will make a threat for roster spots are WR Christion Jones and RB Dee Hart. Before the Dolphins signed their undrafted rookie class I would have given their draft a B+, but I believe we will get at least one impact LB from this group, so my overall grade with the undrafted rookies included is an A-. Clearly, this is just a paper grade and is based more on the potential upside for these players.
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The NFL finally punished the Patriots and Tom Brady and even though I feel it was a slap on the wrist type of punishment, at least Brady will be missing time. They are going to fight it, but most football gambling fans believe that Goodell will stay strong and keep the 4 game suspension in place. The Patriots have tough opponents in the first four games which include the Steelers, Bills, Jaguars, and Cowboys. The Patriots should stumble in at least 1 or 2 of those games, which could crack open the door for the rest of the AFC East. In addition, Miami’s schedule came out and on paper, Miami has the chance to win 11 games and could make a real run at the perennial division champs.
Lastly, Dion Jordan screwed over the organization again by getting suspended for the entire year for having a diluted drug test, which in the rules is a positive test. Not only will he not be playing this season, but he probably has stamped is a ticket out of Miami for the future. He also prevented us from trading him to a team like the Eagles, who we did make our only trade of the draft day weekend with.
All in all, it has been an exciting couple of weeks, and minicamp is insights and before we know it the season will be upon us. Once again this is the time of year for hope, and at least after a busy off-season, we can agree that the fans have at least been given a healthy dose of that.
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A leopard doesn’t change its spots!! The Dolphins had a chance to take the second most sought after running back and chose a receiver. This is not to say that there pick was bad, because the D.P. was a and is a great receiver! They could have chosen (Melvin Gordan). We know that the Chargers got him on the next pick. Then we needed a offensive guard and or a linebacker, but we chose a individual who has a poor work ethic. Most teams in the NFL pick the best player available, and especially if they need them to fill a need. Now the dolphins have picked up (4) linebackers that were not drafted in the draft. Remember our last season when Tannahill got sacked again and again! He did not have time to throw long to a quality receiver. Then we pick up in free agency a receiver from the Vikings that they released! And let another one go to the Raiders. Evan the Cowboys will be able to run and throw long because they have a offensive line. Tell me why we reached in the draft when we had the opportunity to draft QUALITY picks with our draft picks!!!! Numbers are meaningless!!! Help me understand our picks.
Dan, Who is to say that Jay Ajayi will not duplicate Gordon’s numbers? I can guarantee you that there will not be a 5th round WR that will duplicate Parker’s output. Parker is going to be special and is exactly what this offense needs. RB’s shelf life is half that of WR’s, a true #1 WR prevents defenses from stacking the box, not so w/RB.
Phillips was a first round talent taken in the second round, great value and great pick. Do you truly believe that Suh will allow the guy lining up next to him to take plays off, ABSOLUTELY NOT!!! That is why getting Suh changes all, again he is that kind of player, on and off the field. What if Jordan lives up to his potential? We will have the best D front in football for the next 5-6 years at their current salaries. Miami is on to something here, they truly are. Picking Phillips where they did was picking their highest rated player on their board. A luxury that Miami has been able to do since the mid-late 90’s, thank you Hickey/Tannenbaum.
The roster is not completely finished, for some reason, I feel that Evan Mathis will be on this roster, and that will leave a handful of guys fighting for one starting guard spot. Jamil Douglas was a perfect fit with our scheme (athletic, with the ability to move and block out if front of plays). Dallas was so successful running the ball because defenses could not stack the box, which gave them an advantage running, and when a safety sneaked in the box, over the top with Bryant. Something that Miami will be duplicating this year.
As far as Jennings, Minnesota’s release was more financial than anything else. Miami didn’t get Jennings thinking he was the answer, better yet, a positive influence in the film room/locker room and on the practice/playing field with much valuable experience he can share. We have such a young WRing core, a veteran was needed for said purposes, he actually is a great fit for the job.
Even though you and many other Miami fans, na sayers, were not happy with the current LBers on the roster, Miami’s staff was, and they again did a great job bringing in competition, drafted or not. Again, going back to the Suh factor, all LBers are better with Suh in front of them (not to mention Phillips = BIG man, BIG body, LBers will be kept clean). I don’t think majority realize what the Suh signing brings, he is that kind of a player.
I agree Dunner lots of great points, and I have that same feeling that Mathis could still be a player we find a way to get later in the offseason
I will take Parker and Ajayi over Gordan every single time.
I agree we had a great draft this year and I am thrilled by it I hope it gets us an additional 3-4 wins this year. I would like to ask you Jimmy about the knee issue with Ajay, there is a doctor in the Jersey area that has a system of injecting some sort of material into the knee that will solve a problem of bone on bone. that’s not to say the guys in the FO aren’t aware of the cutting edge medicine but I can’t believe they would just close their eyes and hope for the best, and no one seems to be addressing it. And to add about Collins I thought his agent said if he wasn’t selected by the second round he wouldn’t sign.
Well Hickey did mention that the teams doctors had an extremely thorough look at Ajayi’s knee, and even though I am not certain if this included the idea of using injects to solve the bone on bone issue, I am sure the doctor’s are looking at every option and they may very well be one of them. Ajayi has been healthy for his entire last two years in college so he has in fact been healthy, the bone on bone is just more of a long term concern, but clearly something that the Dolphins are not worried about. I think he will prove to be one of the biggest steals of the draft. I was pretty sure that Collins agent said the third round, but regardless the point is that teams were scared off that he would not sign his rookie contract if he was selected on the last day of the draft, which scared all the teams away from taking a late flier on him.
Welcome back, Jimmy. I don’t know about a lot of you, but this is the time of the year when I miss football the most, after the draft and before training camp, so having some topics to discuss makes the time go by a little faster. Allow me to add some of my thoughts over some of our drafted players. It is practically needless to say anything about DvP, absolute home run. When the Saints selected Peat I jumped for joy. Every second on the clock I was saying, “come on Devante,” because even though last year’s pick Ja’wuan James turn out to be a fantastic pick, I must confess I had a brief “Who the F” moment last year, so I was scared that they might not go for the obvious pick. But he already looks fantastic in every category. Physical and mental. I would be lying if I didn’t say I am concerned about Phillips and I hope he proves those concerns wrong. I think Defensive Tackle is probably one of the two toughest position to play on the body as there is contact on every play. His size and athleticism makes him a college standout from a physical perspective but not so much in the NFL. He will need to get buy on more than just his measureables now. Can he play as hard as Suh? Can he train as hard as Wake, OV? Those are some really important questions, and laziness is not something you just snap your fingers away. Time will tell, but the hot, humid training camp that awaits that young man will give us a better idea of where his words and actions divide.
I am very excited about Jamil Douglas though. Of course I am the first to attest that I am no college scout, and he might be overwhlemed as a rookie in his transition to the NFL, but he is not learning a new position by playing guard. As a matter of fact he played guard during most of his time at ASU. He didn’t move to LT until this last season, which most scout takes that I read said he played better at guard. He was voted Pac 10 All Conference as Left Guard. Looking through some of his tape, we seems to pull like the best of them. A powerful and willing blocker. Looked good in pass protection too. As a matter of fact, when facing USC’s Leonard Williams who a lot of people were calling the best player in the draft, and is now tragically a Jet being coached by Kacy Rodgers, he consistently won his matchup. There is actually a good video of him blowing Williams up on a play. If this kid can jump right in and prove he is strong enough to hold his own, then we may have got something. Seems like its the first actual guard we have drafted in a long time, especially one who played in a Zone Blocking scheme. I know Pouncey was a guard but we always had plans for him at C. We have been playing college tackles as Guards and they haven’t adapted fast enough. But at least Hickey and Tbaum have been getting their coaches, players that fit their scheme.
I hope Ajayi has a big chip on his shoulder and comes in similar to Knowshon last year. I read some expert’s analysis of Mccain and I thought he hit a good point. Personally I was really hoping that the plan at corner was Ifo-Ekpre Olomu but, before any of our slew of 5th round picks, before Ajayi we selected him first, so the organization clearly liked him, so I am excited. His tape looks a little suspect but there are flashes of Grimes.
Lippett is one of my favorite picks just in terms of the organization taking a gamble on a guy who if he can develop at corner, gives us a really tall corner with great ball instincts and first hand knowledge on route running.
Hope the MLB Royal Rumble finds us a stud. Again love the strategy. I’m pulling for Luc and Hull. Luc has all the measureables you want, and grew up in South Florida, a Dolphins fan.
One last undrafted player/gamble to keep an eye on: Tim Semisch. TE Northern Illinois, 6’8″, 270 lbs!! Runs nice routes. Wow, I hope the coaches can turn this guy into a producer.
Thanks for reading and putting up with my humble opinions; I am ready for some football!!
Thanks Diego for your input I agree with a lot of what you say, especially that this time of year is when I miss football the most. That was a great point about Douglas that he had the opportunity to go against Williams every day in practice, a player who was regard as a top draft pick. I also like the Lippett pick, he looks like the kind of player that can come in and do multiple things for our team, special teams, CB, WR. I do like the undrafted LB’s, one or two will make the team, and I also have heard many good thins about Semisch, a potential dark horse to make the roster, and can’t go wrong with his size
Welcome back jimmy
As you said you are giving us a summarized recap of the draft news
I think hickey did a great job again this year
I only wish we would have had the foresight to say what if la’el Collins is innocent and taken him with our last draft pick
Or trade one of next years 6th round picks for a seventh this year and taken him with that pick
Oh well …….. Too late now to cry over it
What’s left now is to see if there’s a possibility that trade Richart Matthews for somebody
Maybe also give up a third or fourth rounder for Memphis from the Eagles and not have to compete if he gets caught 20 other teams for his services
Now that would give us an excellent front line
I totally agree on Collins I was secretly hoping that they were going to take a late round flier on him, I would have taken the chance. I guess all the teams including the Dolphins were scared off from Collins’ comment that he would not sign his contract if he were drafted after the third round..
I would like to trade Matthews and there should be some faith in doing so, considering everyone and their mother knew the Dolphins were looking to get rid of Wallace and Ellerbe and they were still able to pull off trades for both players. Would love to get he guard Evan Mathis in some kind of a trade deal with the Eagles