I was shocked when Tunsil described himself as a finesse player on NFL Network. I can't remember that from an offensive lineman.
Regardless of the numbers, I would be discouraged if we drafted Conklin. He doesn't look like a special athlete to me, whether it's on the field or during his test drills. His head was bobbing all over the place like a kid simply trying harder than anyone else.
I'm reminded of the Clemson vs. Miami game last fall. The outcome seemed obvious more than a half hour before kickoff, when both teams ran onto the field for pregame drills. The gap in frames and basic athletic ability was startling. I was talking about it with the guys seated next to me. I wouldn't have forecast 58-0 but I was certainly content with my wager on Clemson -7.5. Canes fans have some clueless idea that it's all been a coaching gap. Laughable. There was no comparison in the look of those two rosters. One Clemson receiver mauled Artie Burns and flattened him on his butt.
The Dolphins have had the same issue to lesser degree. Our second and third teamers were a farce in preseason last year. IMO, adding someone like Jack Conklin is just another in a long line of uninspired moves, like patching a 29 year old venue. Conklin wasn't rated anywhere near Ronnie Stanley or Laremy Tunsil a year ago at this time. We thought Dion Jordan was a special athlete, despite a flood of evidence that he had flunked every meaningful metric measure, and simply lacked explosiveness. Decades ago scouts were allowed to mistake a big guy gliding alongside another big and undeniably talented guy as indicative of superior athletic ability. Now we have tools to reject that ignorance. Unfortunately Jeff Ireland and apparently everyone else in the organization was wonderfully clueless, or in denial. Yet I read recent articles touting our long term scouts as excellent. Not exactly confidence inspiring.
I would take Nkemdiche. He would be a first step in altering how the Dolphins look when jogging out onto that field. As always I'm willing to gamble. It seems like the league was determined to push Nkemdiche down and down the board, perhaps into the second round, but now there is some opposition. In Las Vegas that late opposition is normally the smart money. I always hate it when I have a bet that is consensus the right side all week and then the late cash moves against me. The Dolphins should be wise enough to be on the front end of the opposition instead of allowing a team 6 or 8 slots below us to gobble a rare athletic bargain.
Regardless of the numbers, I would be discouraged if we drafted Conklin. He doesn't look like a special athlete to me, whether it's on the field or during his test drills. His head was bobbing all over the place like a kid simply trying harder than anyone else.
I'm reminded of the Clemson vs. Miami game last fall. The outcome seemed obvious more than a half hour before kickoff, when both teams ran onto the field for pregame drills. The gap in frames and basic athletic ability was startling. I was talking about it with the guys seated next to me. I wouldn't have forecast 58-0 but I was certainly content with my wager on Clemson -7.5. Canes fans have some clueless idea that it's all been a coaching gap. Laughable. There was no comparison in the look of those two rosters. One Clemson receiver mauled Artie Burns and flattened him on his butt.
The Dolphins have had the same issue to lesser degree. Our second and third teamers were a farce in preseason last year. IMO, adding someone like Jack Conklin is just another in a long line of uninspired moves, like patching a 29 year old venue. Conklin wasn't rated anywhere near Ronnie Stanley or Laremy Tunsil a year ago at this time. We thought Dion Jordan was a special athlete, despite a flood of evidence that he had flunked every meaningful metric measure, and simply lacked explosiveness. Decades ago scouts were allowed to mistake a big guy gliding alongside another big and undeniably talented guy as indicative of superior athletic ability. Now we have tools to reject that ignorance. Unfortunately Jeff Ireland and apparently everyone else in the organization was wonderfully clueless, or in denial. Yet I read recent articles touting our long term scouts as excellent. Not exactly confidence inspiring.
I would take Nkemdiche. He would be a first step in altering how the Dolphins look when jogging out onto that field. As always I'm willing to gamble. It seems like the league was determined to push Nkemdiche down and down the board, perhaps into the second round, but now there is some opposition. In Las Vegas that late opposition is normally the smart money. I always hate it when I have a bet that is consensus the right side all week and then the late cash moves against me. The Dolphins should be wise enough to be on the front end of the opposition instead of allowing a team 6 or 8 slots below us to gobble a rare athletic bargain.