‘Rob Ninkovich Lesson’ Key For Phins… & Fans

M.J.

5 years ago

The Phins team-building process demands plenty of ‘Ninkovich like’ returns to find success

Phins did nothing with Rob Ninkovich when they had him

The team-building process that Chris Grier and Brian Flores are installing has received equal parts cheers and jeers from Phins Fans.

Robert Frost’s poem ‘The Road Not Taken’ sums up this philosophy:

‘Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference. ‘

Okay, what’s all this ‘hoity-toity ‘ bookworm stuff have to do with the Dolphins?

Over the last twenty years, Miami has built like most teams: Sacrifice the future to ‘win now’ with a heavy diet of expensive Free Agents.

Why not? Aren’t blue-chip draft picks, expensive Free Agents, and adding dead money to your future Cap for wiggle room today the only way to build a successful franchise?

Right!?

Most teams would agree. The Dolphins did with double-thumbs up.

In fact, Miami mastered the ‘art’ of spending the most in Free Agency and restructuring their player’s contracts. Owner Steven Ross had open pockets and not even the lint was spared. The Phins were declared offseason champs year after year… after year. But big splash move after big splash move ended in ugly belly flops.

These big purchases felt so good at the onset, and fans mostly loved it. The media sure loved the pump and dump.

Hope is eternal in the offseason with blue-chip picks and a ton of money spent.

Ultimately, the Regular Season dispelled this ‘success’ as nothing more than a mirage driving the Dolphins further and further with each game played into a desert bone-dry of hope.

Thin Phin teams always crumbled like a Saltine Cracker hit by a wrecking ball. But oddly, the one constant over these years is Miami found their best players in the back-end of the draft or as Undrafted Free Agents.

Thinking caps on and heart in lockup, please.

Delayed gratification isn’t in vogue with fans because it’s a tough and uncompromising road that demands brilliance.

Meanwhile, throughout this two-decade march into obscurity, the Patriots took the road less traveled and spent little in Free Agency, moved back in the draft, and cut or traded stars. But the most fundamental philosophy was the Pats built a winning franchise on a foundation of obscure and unwanted players.

Most Miami Dolphins fans say the Wes Welker ‘deal’ is the prime example of the Pats outsmarting the Phins. There’s no doubt it was a brilliant move. The Pats won that deal by turning the 2nd rounder sent into a star, while Miami squandered their extra draft choice.

The tale of the tape for the last twenty years is the Patriots have a plan and the Dolphins run blind.

Miami could have turned this situation into a win-win scenario. They picked up a 2nd Rounder for an undrafted player. That’s excellent value, but the problem was Miami did little with the pick by drafting Center Samson Satele. Missing out on Ryan Kalil by one spot added insult to injury.

They were desperate for a center and ‘figured’ one would fall to them in the draft. Almost. Phins didn’t do their homework on the Panthers. In their ‘Uhh-‘ moment, Phins were ‘forced’ to fill a bare cupboard with an incomplete player in Satele. They even drafted Drew Mormino in the 6th, but both players flopped. Satele was cut and replaced with expensive Jake Grove. Mormino was out of the league ‘Tout de suite‘.

Finding Centers and getting them to start as rookies isn’t easy. Satele didn’t fit Parcell’s physical plan, so the center went elsewhere and succeeded. Grove played 12 games for Miami and his career ended on an injury.

Miami was back in a hole at Center with dead money on a player not playing.

A forced hand, lack of preparation, and thin depth exasperated Miami’s search for a center. If Miami was ‘hell-bent’ on finding one in 2007, they should’ve moved up a few spots to get Kalil… or signed a cheap vet as insurance. Even a placeholder at center for the 2007 Season would have offered them options. A trade back for more picks when the Panthers drafted Kalil or drafting a player they liked at another position instead of taking a ‘need’ would have been the right move.

Desperation is a dangerous trap that gets you every time, but the Phins had to win now. To hell with the future and value.

On the flip side, when the Patriots ‘needed’ a center to replace Bryan Stork they found undrafted David Andrews. They had a plan for Andrews and groomed him into a star.

Smarts team know it’s not all about a player’s pedigree or what they can’t do

No, the real ‘job’ done on Miami by the Patriots was with Rob Ninkovich. Not only did the Pats pick up a diamond in the ruff Miami tossed, but it revealed the fundamental flaws in the Phins team building philosophy.

Wide is the road of failure and narrow is the path of the champion.

Phins picked up Ninkovich after the Texans disposed of him. He sat on the Dolphins roster for two seasons before his release. The same inflexible regime that traded up for OLB Dion Jordan and made him pack on 20 lbs with a bum shoulder to play defensive end.

Sound sorta’ similar to what we did with Charles Harris?

Lack of vision has been ingrained in this Franchise for generations.

The Pats picked up Ninkovich off the scrap heap, and over the next 8 seasons, he was a pillar to their defense racking up 274 Tackles, 46 sacks, 23 Pass and 5 interceptions. The Pats system is built on flexibility, and it allowed this ‘no talent’ to focus on what he did best. Contrary to what many believed, his skill set was much bigger than realized.

In gratitude and desire to be part of a winner, Ninkovich took home discount after home discount.

Ninkovich just was one of many such cases… and it’s not that the Pats are great elevators. They aren’t. They miss a lot in the draft. But, the overall philosophy and their scheme flexibility allow them to get the best from the players they keep. Other teams think, scheme, and rigidly plan.

As Bruce Lee once said, “Be like water, my friend.”

Over the last ten years, the Patriots have leaned more and more on trading back in the draft and reliance of later round picks and Undrafted Free Agents. In fact, over this time no team had a larger portion of their roster composed of UDFAs than New England.

This is THE best template for success in the NFL, but hacks need not apply because they will be devoured.

Plan and simple: What is this road less traveled Miami is on… if it matches New England?

No player or coach is above the team.
All players have strengths and can be effective if they are smart, disciplined, and give everything to the team.
Team values can’t be compromised for talent.
Move on a year early rather than a year late.
Discipline in Cap, valuation of players, and on the field and in the locker room is paramount.
Everyone competes, and they will award no player anything unearned.
Never trade the future for the present in an uneven deal.
of a team is more valuable than a few stars with a few holes.
Never break any of the above tenants.

For a fan base and ownership starved for success, this isn’t an easy pill to swallow. There’s no way to slice it, the path the Dolphins have set will take patience, will probably fail, and certainly will appear cringe-worthy at times, even if it works.

Winning takes willpower to stick with the plan… no matter what

You can bet with the pay per head software like AcePerHead.com, that a talented player will be traded and cut if they don’t take home discounts. A la this year, Free Agency will be ‘ho-hum’ and ‘nobodies’ will be the backbone of this team. Needs won’t be chased at all costs and in the early stages, there will be bumps… lots of bumps.

Like it or not, this is the formula, and it’s the only road to take for lasting success. There’s no doubt that this isn’t the path for a squeamish regime ( or fans) because only brilliance will create success from this philosophy. But we’ve been on the wrong path for years and what has it won us? Nothing. This is without a doubt the best path. I find comfort in that because I wondered back in December if Steven Ross had the stones to do what is right. He does…

… Unfortunately, nothing but the best will make this path work. Go Phins!!!