Brandon Graham high on Miami's wishlist | Page 3 | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

Brandon Graham high on Miami's wishlist

Mr. Magoo said:
According to you. And if I were running things, me too.

But Parcells/Ireland and Nolan's history tell a different story. It can't be ignored that men of Graham's height are almost never taken by these guys to play linebacker, especially outside linebacker, and especially that high.

These guys don't have the same philosophy as the Steelers, who don't really seem to care about height in the outside backers. But the prototype for our defense is 6'3, 255 pounds. That's Terrell Suggs' size, who Nolan helped pick at the top of the 1st round in Baltimore. That's John Abraham's size, who Parcells and Nolan picked in the top of the first round in New York. It's been their prototype for years and I see no reason it'll stop this year.

I agree Graham has fantastic tape, but I can absolutely see them sitting there going, "nice production, but an overachiever without prototypical size and no outstanding measurables. Late first, early second round grade." Other teams will of course have him higher than that so we don't end up with him.

Not the way I'd grade him. But I can see it happening.
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I disagree with that statement altogether, especially with respect to Mike Nolan.
 
Let's hope this report is true.

A couple months ago I wrote a bunch of long and detailed posts explaining the NUMEROUS positive points to Graham's game. How I would love this guy to be our 1st round pick.

Extremely NFL ready and polished player. He is a gazillion times better than JPP and Kindle.. it's not even funny how those guys are 3, 4 and 5 notches below Graham's game.
 
EireTiger said:
For those posting negative comments on Jason Pierre-Paul, could you provide some explanation as to why you think he would be a bad pick other than that the fact that he played two years of JUCO ball and 1 year in Div 1?

Is there a specific reason you don't think he is good?
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3 words!

Vernon Gholston Junior!
 
ckparrothead said:
I disagree with that statement altogether, especially with respect to Mike Nolan.
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Disagree all you like, but I've already made a study of it.

In the 17 years Nolan has been a defensive coordinator or a head coach, his teams have drafted 14 pure linebackers and 9 defensive end to linebacker conversion guys.

Of those 23 players, only 4 were shorter than 6'2.

6'1, 237 pound Jessie Armstead, the 207th pick in 1993.
6'1, 230 pound Twan Russell, the 148th pick in 1997 (while running a 4-3).
6', 255 pound Paryls Harralson, the 140th pick in 2006.
6'1, 240 pound Patrick Willis, the 11th pick in 2007.

http://www.finheaven.com/forums/f75/comprehensive-study-every-defensive-player-drafted-while-mike-nolan-was-the-dc-hc-271786.html

As you can see, Patrick Willis was the only even remotely high pick of those, and Harralson was the only conversion guy of the 9 shorter than 6'3, much less 6'2.

Now a lot of people like to point to guys like Dumervil (6'1 Ray Lewis being another example, though interestingly the Giants and then-DC Nolan passed on him in 1996) as proof that Nolan doesn't care about height, but I have to say I consider this viewpoint rather foolish. When you're a new defensive coordinator and you come to a team, there's only so much you can change right away. For the most part you have to work with the guys you have, especially if they're guys like Dumervil and Lewis who are really talented and prove up close they can do it despite not meeting the prototype.

Sure, you can jettison the Gibril Wilson's of the world, but you're not in a position to demand the prototype at every position from the get go. These preferences come out as you move along down the years in the draft and free agency, when you have control over who you bring in (6'4 Karlos Dansby being a recent example).

As much as I love Brandon Graham, he doesn't fit Nolan's proven prototype. And he doesn't have the kind of eye popping measurables a player like Willis has to make you think about looking the other way.

As Sparano recently said, he doesn't like making exceptions for players because if you do you suddenly turn around and you have a roster full of exceptions. I'm fairly well convinced Brandon Graham would be an exception for them, especially as high as #12.
 
Right at the 1:30 mark... Notice a Photo of Chad Henne right over a pic of Graham on a pole (or column) in Michigan's weight room.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-Aky4TdRuI

You can also get a good look at it at 1:52.

is that a sign ?? There are other columns with other pair's of Michigan players... But on that particular one it's only Henne and Graham.

hmmm..... the 2 leaders of our offense and defense over the next 10 years plastered together there ??

And of course, we all know how much Parcells just loves good productive players from the University of Michigan.... and yeah, this just so happens to be an off season where the FO's #1 priority is rebuilding the Linebacker corps.... with Roth, Ayodele, Taylor, and Porter all gone from the start of last year.

That wall could very well be the young leaders of this Miami Dolphins team for a long, long time.
 
I think we are very high on him if he drops to 43. Not 12. Just my blowhard opine.
 
For those of you who feel that Brandon Graham is going to turn off Parcells and Nolan due to his size, I'd like to remind you of a player by the name of Elvis Dumervil who Mike Nolan coached last year. While Dumervil is 6'0 wearing stilts, he also happens to be a top 5 pass rusher in football. I see a lot of Dumervil in Brandon Graham because of his motor, his versatility, his pass rush ability and his toughness. Graham is also very stout against the run, despite what his size might indicate.
Brandon Graham is not only underrated, I think he is the best 3-4 olb prospect in this draft, and I believe he would be a steal at #12.
 
THis is the draft where I wish Ireland/Parcells weren't in charge. THe pick should be Dez Bryant hands down according to team needs and value. However, if it has to be a linebacker, and it probably does, hopefully it's McClain. We passed on Ray Lewis in favor of Daryl Gardner and WIllis in favor of Ginn. If we pass on McClain over a tweener or a high potential guy i'm gonna be sick.
 
McClain is no Patrick Willis or Ray Lewis.
 
I not once compared Graham to Dumervil. So don't know where you got that from... they are different players... Graham is a lot more stout and a lot stronger at the point of attack, for instance.

If Graham ends up on a 3-4 team I will bet good money that he will be a better pro than Rolando McClain... and make more of an impact on a team.

And lastly, ILB is not as an important position as OLB is on a 3-4 defense.

There have only been a couple ILB's taken in the top 10 over the past 15 years..... and if you want to go further, there have been far more OLB's/DE's drafted in the first round than ILB's in any scheme... ILB is simply not as important as OLB is in such a scheme... for obvious reasons.
 
AZStryker said:
And Graham is no Dumerville. My point is that we reached for potential instead of just taking the best player at the position.
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To me, the draft is all about matching up need with BPA. Now, you may feel that McClain is a better player than Graham, and I wouldn't necessarily disagree with you, but it's pretty damn close. The fact is that we have a much bigger need at OLB than we do at ILB at the moment, and in today's NFL there is a much higher premium on pass rushers anyway.
The way our roster is now, Crowder is making way too much money to just cast him aside, and he's more than adequate as a #2 ILB in the 3-4. IMO, McClain would be a luxury pick for us, and we just can't afford to be making those. See Pat White last year.
 
Brandon Graham is a Parcells player,and even though he hasn't been in Davie yet(for what we know of),neither was Jake Long when he was drafted...Hell,no Dolphins scout was even at his Pro Day.I think Miami has legit interest in Graham.
 
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