5 Moves That Put the Miami Dolphins Into Mediocrity | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

5 Moves That Put the Miami Dolphins Into Mediocrity

twofactor23

twofactor23

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The retirement of a player is inevitable. Not drafting a replacement is the decision that still haunts this franchise.

IMO, the team being sold to Wayne Huyzienga is amongst the critical moves that propelled this team into mediocrity.
 
Add the constant return of Jason Taylor. It is time for him to hang it up. Coincidentally he was not on the team that went 11-5.
 
how many times does it need to be noted, we did NOT let go of wes welker. he did not want to be here, in an interview a month or so afterwards he said he used to stand on the sidelines and think about how he wanted to be a patriot. all we could've done was franchise him every year, and he wasnt worth a franchise tag. honestly at the time he was not worth a higher tender than what we placed on him (a 2nd). the pats signed him to a poison pill contract and didnt even have to give us the 7th round pick that they gave us on the sign. he was a goner, we couldnt keep him unless we wanted to pay him 8 mil a season and have him stuck here being miserable
 
interesting....slide 5 refers to Henne as a "bust".....certainly don't agree with that. Kind of hard really to call anyone on this current team a bust given the way the coaches run things. At any rate he certainly showed us something worth having this season.

And why would anyone put a slide even talking about Long in an article about mediocrity?? I get that it was saying that pick could have been used on Ryan but since he got here he has dominated the left side of football.
 
1. Entrusting the franchise to an HC with no experience running an organization and expecting, on the basis of his coaching heydays, a bit removed, to rise to the occasion, stepping up to the next level.

2. Entrusting the franchise to an HC with no experience running an organization and expecting, on the basis of his coaching heydays, a bit removed, to rise to the occasion, stepping up to the next level.

3. Entrusting the franchise to an HC with no experience running an organization and expecting, on the basis of his coaching heydays, a bit removed, to rise to the occasion, stepping up to the next level.

4. Entrusting the franchise to an HC with no experience running an organization and expecting, on the basis of his coaching heydays, a bit removed, to rise to the occasion, stepping up to the next level.

5. Entrusting the franchise to an HC with no experience running an organization and expecting, on the basis of his coaching heydays, a bit removed, to rise to the occasion, stepping up to the next level.

PS: why does it seem that every list most everywhere these days is a slideshow instead of just a simple listing with links to the details? I friggin hate it!
 
1. Constant passing of a first round QB pre and post Marino retirement.. Brees, Rodgers and Ryan. Miami was too comfortable with Marino for many years and had no serious plan after he retired. Sometimes you gotta take a shot on a guy. The Brees/Culpepper I'll throw in this category also.

2. Ricky Williams trade. He was exciting, but that trade has been a curse to this franchise. Ever since that trade we have not won a playoff game. 2 solid year and we gave up 2 first rounders and a third I believe. Ugh

3. Poor Head Coach selections - I think this goes without saying.

4. Bill Parcells and his ancient philosophy. While teams like Atlanta, Baltimore, Green Bay and New Orleans got coaches more in tune to "today's" game, we picked up a guy who is stubborn as a mule and then runs away after he fails. Funny thing is, he did that before also.

5. Terrible drafting. We just haven't drafted well at the offensive skill positions. No QB's, RB's, WR's or TE's that we have drafted that have made a difference. Since Marino retired 12 seasons ago our first team of draft picks on offense would be:

QB - Chad Henne
RB - Ronnie Brown
WR - Chris Chambers
TE - Randy McMichael

Hardly a worthy all decade team for any team.
 
Don't agree with your first two.

1) It was hiring Dave Wannstedt in the first place that ran a playoff team into mediocrity in just a couple of years, not how he used Ricky.

2) Marino retiring was a natural thing and not some mistake this franchise made, the other great blunder of the decade was drafting Ronnie Brown over Aaron Rodgers(the best QB in football now).
 
crumpdaddy said:
how many times does it need to be noted, we did NOT let go of wes welker. he did not want to be here, in an interview a month or so afterwards he said he used to stand on the sidelines and think about how he wanted to be a patriot. all we could've done was franchise him every year, and he wasnt worth a franchise tag. honestly at the time he was not worth a higher tender than what we placed on him (a 2nd). the pats signed him to a poison pill contract and didnt even have to give us the 7th round pick that they gave us on the sign. he was a goner, we couldnt keep him unless we wanted to pay him 8 mil a season and have him stuck here being miserable
Click to expand...

Saying that Welker wasn't worth more than a 2nd round tender is like saying it made sense to trade a future Pro Bowler because he wasn't a Pro Bowler yet, or that not signing Brees made sense because his shoulder was hurt. It's the job of the FO to make judgements on a player based on what he can or should be, not what he has been. Welker had shown enough signs. Today, Welker is the #1 receiver in the NFL, so they screwed that one up, by definition.
 
1. Trading for Dante instead of picking up Breese in FA (no draft pick required). That in of itself was a no brainer. Never give up picks if you don't have to. Better to risk cap space than high draft picks. You can always cut a guy, eat the cap hit, and move on. You can NEVER get that pick back. This is why Saban was a HORRIBLE coach. This move will live in infamy forever.

2. Ignoring the QB position and investing (wasting) an army of second round picks on it. We used a second on Feeley, Culpepper, Beck, Henne, & White. Those second round picks could have built a great, deep offensive line. Instead we wasted them on inept quarterbacks. You do NOT find franchise quarterbacks in the second round. You just don't. And if you somehow do, you're lucky. And luck is not a strategy. What we should have done is make the QB a position of priority. In other words, we should have drafted Breese and if that didn't work out (give him a couple years), draft Rodgers (give him a couple years), draft Brady Quinn (give him a couple years), draft Matt Ryan (give him a couple years), etc. Sure, we may have picked a couple busts in the mix (Quinn), but we should NEVER GIVE UP ATTEMPTING TO FIND A QB WITH OUR FIRST ROUND PICKS UNTIL WE FIND ONE. And by the way, most of this was AFTER we gave Jay F&&&& Fiedler four years of starting. Jay Fiedler was absolutely horrible and should never have been given free reigns for that long. Totally inexcusable and wasted the best years of a really good defense.

3. Targeting cornfed, mediocre linemen instead of skill players in the first rounds. We could have found some great cornfed linemen with all those second round picks if we didn't waste them on bad quarterbacks.

4. Treating draft picks like turds during trade negotiations. During the Wanny years, we traded away a disgusting amount of picks and were unable to draft a single, dominant player during that era. Hence, why we have such a team void of talent now. Trading for Lamar Gordon, AJ Feeley, Culpepper, etc is pathetic and inexcusable. Trading a 4th to move up one spot to pass on Wilfork for Carey. Although Wanny was the most notororious for trade incompetence, all our coaches/gms have had this trait. In trading for Ricky and Marshall, we simply gave up too much. Draft picks are gold. It wreaks of short term prioritization. I'm just glad Ross wasn't dumb enough to let this regime do that for Orton. Sometimes owners do need to butt in. Especially, when a failed, desperate regime is in place.

5. Too much change and ownership never getting it right. I blame huizenga for most of this. We have had five coaches (if you count Bates) in 7 years and God knows how many offensive coordinators and look to have another regime next year. Continuity is essential. We do not have it anywhere.
 
Thank you all for reading! You guys point out a lot of things I didn't think of. I know the whole Jake Long/Matt Ryan debate has been discussed ad nauseam on this board. For the record, I like Jake Long and know LT is one of the most important positions on the line. However, I just would have liked us to start the regime with a franchise QB in Matt Ryan.
 
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