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[first&goal]

I agree the Gordon trade was terrible, but Rick very likely saw the writing on the wall at that point and knew that he had to take a 100 to 1 shot that Gordon would be a hero and save the season (and Rick's job).

I don't agree that the Feeley trade was that bad. This team needed a QB early in the offseason, and Rick made a list. Washington tied up his top two marks, and Feeley was the third and final option. The choice was between getting Feeley and getting nothing. Getting nothing meant going through another season with a Brian Griese coming in late and not learning the offense. We know how that worked out. Again, I think it was a matter of doing what he had to do to save his job. Somebody here pointed out that the real mistake was giving Wanny a do or die year. That is what led to Rick becoming GM (to take that off of Wanny's plate) and what led to desperate moves. I don't blame Rick for being desperate -- he was getting one shot and had to try to make the most of it. Do you actually think that he'd still be here if he had made trades more popular with the fans or had kept those picks? I don't -- Saban wanted his guy in the job, which is totally natural.

When a GM can get a team a starting guard in the 6th round, a backup LB in the 7th, and a starting CB in the 4th, he's a pretty darn good GM in my book.

Very nice post, I totally agree with you!

 

[Jimi]

I agree the Gordon trade was terrible, but Rick very likely saw the writing on the wall at that point and knew that he had to take a 100 to 1 shot that Gordon would be a hero and save the season (and Rick's job).

I don't agree that the Feeley trade was that bad. This team needed a QB early in the offseason, and Rick made a list. Washington tied up his top two marks, and Feeley was the third and final option. The choice was between getting Feeley and getting nothing. Getting nothing meant going through another season with a Brian Griese coming in late and not learning the offense. We know how that worked out. Again, I think it was a matter of doing what he had to do to save his job. Somebody here pointed out that the real mistake was giving Wanny a do or die year. That is what led to Rick becoming GM (to take that off of Wanny's plate) and what led to desperate moves. I don't blame Rick for being desperate -- he was getting one shot and had to try to make the most of it. Do you actually think that he'd still be here if he had made trades more popular with the fans or had kept those picks? I don't -- Saban wanted his guy in the job, which is totally natural.

When a GM can get a team a starting guard in the 6th round, a backup LB in the 7th, and a starting CB in the 4th, he's a pretty darn good GM in my book.

Darn good college scout/evaluator.
Suspect GM.

 

[aesthetic]

Not neccessarily a suspect GM, but horrible at playing poker. His (together with J.J. Wannabe's) undervaluing high draft picks was his undoing

 

[Ohiophinphan]

Great thread! Great analysis! All the best coachs bring in "their guys" yet we see a true purge going on here with Saban remaking the team in his tough image. The Wanny years are going to be looked at by Dolphin history as the worst since the Wilson years.

Speilman threw the dice a couple of times and I respect his guts but his results are going to prove to be lacking, the Feeley and Gordon trades being exhibits one and two. Good trys but......................

As to the Shula years, I think Shula's best years were when George Young and/or Bobby Beatherd were the personnel guys. Late in the Shula era we see the infamous '95 draft. Billy Milner and Andrew Greene were utter busts and Pete Mitchell, Norman Hand, and Jeff Kopp only made names for themselves after they left the "phins.

Guys like Ronnie Bradford, Chris Gray, Brant Boyer, and the above three were drafted by Shula but for some reason he and his staff were unable to develop talent that went on to better things in other places.

There are no bigger fans of Shula out there than me but his last couple of years he lacked the personnel touch that had marked his earlier years.

 

[Sirspud]

I agree the Gordon trade was terrible, but Rick very likely saw the writing on the wall at that point and knew that he had to take a 100 to 1 shot that Gordon would be a hero and save the season (and Rick's job).

I don't agree that the Feeley trade was that bad. This team needed a QB early in the offseason, and Rick made a list. Washington tied up his top two marks, and Feeley was the third and final option. The choice was between getting Feeley and getting nothing. Getting nothing meant going through another season with a Brian Griese coming in late and not learning the offense. We know how that worked out. Again, I think it was a matter of doing what he had to do to save his job. Somebody here pointed out that the real mistake was giving Wanny a do or die year. That is what led to Rick becoming GM (to take that off of Wanny's plate) and what led to desperate moves. I don't blame Rick for being desperate -- he was getting one shot and had to try to make the most of it. Do you actually think that he'd still be here if he had made trades more popular with the fans or had kept those picks? I don't -- Saban wanted his guy in the job, which is totally natural.

When a GM can get a team a starting guard in the 6th round, a backup LB in the 7th, and a starting CB in the 4th, he's a pretty darn good GM in my book.

I have one thing to say about the Feeley trade. We might have thought a lot differently about Feeley and Spielman's job as a GM if Ricky would have stayed. I think it easy to say that Feeley would have performered better with our offense oriented around Ricky. Rick had no way of knowing what was about to happen when he made the trade. A second rounder seems ridiculous now due to Feeley's poor performance, but it has been accepted as the standard for a young developmental QB. Remember that Feeley looked good in Philly. And I never considered a 3rd for Gordon that much of a reach because he was drafted reasonably high, not sure exactly where.

 

[touborg]

Isn't that part of being a good talent evaluator? Knowing the value of talent?

No, I don't agree that you can mix the scouting and business part of it. Those are two separate skills, unfortunately Rick didn't have both.

 

[ckparrothead]

No, I don't agree that you can mix the scouting and business part of it. Those are two separate skills, unfortunately Rick didn't have both.

I disagree with you. Being a good talent evaluator means knowing what price to pay for what talent, and being able to put them into some sort of spectrum of rank. It does nobody any good to scout college players and end up with a list of guys that are "good" and a list of guys that are "not good" How do you know which guys to draft where?

 

[ckparrothead]

BTW JJ's roster turnover WAS a blatant insult to Shula's personnel decisions. In some cases, however, Johnson ended up being foolish by releasing guys who could have continued to help the Phins and keeping other guys who couldn't. Shula's personnel blew up when he had to deal with the salary cap year in and year out I think.

 

[Ohiophinphan]

BTW JJ's roster turnover WAS a blatant insult to Shula's personnel decisions. In some cases, however, Johnson ended up being foolish by releasing guys who could have continued to help the Phins and keeping other guys who couldn't. Shula's personnel blew up when he had to deal with the salary cap year in and year out I think.

JJ's ego got in the way with some of his personel decisions. I agree. Regarding Shula and the cap, good observation

 

[MDFINFAN]

The number of players who made Nick Saban's 53-man roster who were on the Dolphins during the Wannstedt-Spielman era.

In one season, Nick Saban has literally replaced HALF the players on the official roster with other players. And, he did this in a year where the Dolphins were among the top 5 or 7 worst salary cap situations in the NFL.

Nick Saban could not have given a more poignant accusation of personnel ineptitude had he stood on a soap box and began shouting obscenities at Rick and Dave.

BTW, of the 28 players that are still on the Dolphins, 12 of them were just acquired in 2004. Some time when I get home I'll give a final breakdown of what Saban's personnel moves have done to the Dolphins' height.

For those that remember I broke that down before while we had 75 players or so

I think when you break this down, you'll find that Speilman did the same thing last year, he turned this team over, he started rebuilding the O, which needed to happen and I think had he been da man this year, you'd still see about the same amount of turnover.