dlockz
Hall Of Famer
This basically came down to one basic, primal reason. Starting with the year Marino was drafted, the team made some of the worst draft decisions in the history of the NFL. This was coupled with some very bad luck as far as injuries to draft picks that seemed to be turning out ok.
Im going to go indepth with the draft picks and decisions that kept him from achieving the championship that he deserved.
1983-The year we drafted Marino. No draft can be all bad that includes this hall of famer but we started our major misteps quite soon after this pick.
2nd Round -Mike Charles DT/DE Syracuse- Actually was turning into a solid player in his third season in which he had 7 sacks after previous years of 3 sacks. After that had 1 sack the rest of his 9 year NFL career and was never an impact player. Played 4 years in Miami to decent success but far from an impact player on defense.
3rd round- Charles Benson DE Baylor - Did not start one game in three years for the phins and to top off matters we traded a 3rd,4th and a 5th to move up and take this guy in the third. To make matters worse we could have kept that pick and still drafted Charles Mann(4x pro bowler) or Greg Townswnd(4 x all pro).
Did draft Roby and Clayon later in draft but the missing on top picks would become a cycle for years to come.
1984- For some reason we liked Jackie Shipp so much that we traded our first and two third's to draft him. Somehow we smuggled a 3rd round pick for david Woodly out of Pittsburgh and we follow that by giving all this to Buffalo for a less than mediocre LB who although he actually started for us was not very good. He however seems like an all star compared to our second round pick Jay Brophy who also was out of the league by the end of his rookie contract. We took Joe Carter in the 4th , who seemed very promising as a rookie with 495 yards rushing but after that he was a blip on the radar due to injuries. He made a stellar play on a kickoff in the superbowl causing us to recover a kickoff. If we were going to trade up for a linebacker we should have moved up three more spots and took Wilbur marshall. This was also the season we lost promising fullback Andra Franklin to injury. Basically got three seasons out of Franklin our 1981 second round pick.He was also the last dolphin runningback prior to Ricky Williams to make the pro bowl. In a draft where only two players are on your team 5 years and the other is named Bud Brown you had an extremly bad draft. We also traded a second round pick in 1985 for Pete Johnson who averaged 2.3 a carry for less than 200 yards. We were able to trade two players no longer needed in Dennard And Harris for 3rd and 4th round picks that we basically just threw away in 1985. We also lost David overstreet to a car accident that year. To be followed by Larry Gordon and Rusty Chambers in follwoing years.
1985-Anytime you draft a college team's third option at runningback, in the first round, the results will usually not be too promising. Lorenzo Hampton look alot like Eric Dickserson in uniform, thats the end of the similarities. Lorenzo actually had a very good second year when he had like 1270 yards of total offense. He was out of NFL in 5 years and that was the only season he had any impact. We drafted George Little DT in the third round and he lasted as many years as rounds. He started one full season for 4 sacks and thats about all he did. We followed that up drafting LB Alex Moyer from Northwestern in the third who was in the league a whole two years before joining Arby's. In the 4th we took Mike Smith Db UTEP who was done in the NFL after three years without even an interception. Our best draft pick in this draft was in the 4th round Jeff Dellenbach who was a solid fill in lineman for his career of 10 years here and 3 in Greenbay. The rest of the draft was even more forgettable and useless. During the 85 season we also aquired Hugh Green for a 1st and 2nd round draft pick in 1986, one of which we got for Anthony Carter. Green was a solid player for us for years and with the history of the draft picks at the time was better than anyone we would have drafted. We could have also chosen Hershal Walker with one of our 4th round picks instead of Smith who was basically useless.
1986-For the first time since Marino we drafted an impact player in John offerdahl. Injury plagued but very good with 5 pro bowls in 8 years. Offerdahl went on to start a bagel business which became Einstein's after he was bought out by Boston Market. We drafted TJ Turner in the third who was a productive but unspectacular de for 7 years(16 sacks). We drafted James Pruitt in the 4th who actually had two stints with us and had 63 lifetime receptions in 67 games played. Nobody else from this draft had any impact but relative to other drafts it was fairly successful for us.
1987-We trade down 2 spots to gain a 5th rounder and draft John Bosa a promising workout warrior who was out of the league in three seasons due to injury. In retrospect we would have been better served by drafting an olineman in a deep draft but yet again we draft a guy that does not make it past his rookie contract. We then draft Rick Graf LB out of Wisconsin who Ia dmit I thought would be a great pick. After showing some minor promise as a rookie was basically an NFL journeyman after that and never played at any high level again for us. For some reason we traded a 3rd and a 5th to move up to the late second round to grab Scott Schwedes who had a grand total of 19 receptions in his 4 year NFL career. In what seemed like a good pick after year one we chose Troy Stradford who went on to become the offensive rookie of the year. He had over a 1000 all purpose yards as a rookie and just over doubled that the rest of his NFL career. Nothing much else came from this draft except for minor success from Mark Dennis OL.
1988- Soon as they called Eric Kumerow's name in the first round it felt like disaster. Not sure which quest was more pitiful the search for a runningback or the search for an impact linebacker. He never started one NFL game and finished with 5 sacks in his career of three seasons. The best thing he ever did for us was net us Vestee Jackson in trade who was minor here but better than Eric. In the second round we netted a solid player in Jarvis Williams who played safety for us for six years.We drafted Ferrel edmunds in the third who was a solid player that somehow made the probowl twice although his best season was his rookie season. After three solid years he no longer was a factor at TE for us. We take Greg Johnson OT after that who cannot even survive a full season in the NFL.
In the ninth we got very lucky with Jeff Cross who was very productive and a pro bowler in 1990. We also drafted Harry galbreath offensivelineman who was a starter for 5 years in the 8th round. nothing special at all about the guy but at least we got some production out of him. Overall with some late gems the draft was decent but missing so bad in the first round really set us back again.
1989-Must admit after we drafted Sammy Smith and Louis Oliver back to back was in a very good state of mind. Finally found that stud runningback, then reality hit when he actually played. There is always a problem with any runningback that has more fumbles than touchdowns in his career. Promising 2nd year basically erased because he could not hold onto the damn ball. Lasted three years here before being traded for Bobby Humprey who after looking solid in limited play was arrested and shot in the offseason of 1992 ending his NFL career. We traded a 2nd and 3rd round pick for a late first and took Louis Oliver, one of the few times trading up has been good to us. We then took David Holmes a cb that never played in the league. We did get a solid C in Jeff Uhlenhake later in the draft along with Pete Stoyanivich K. Bert Weidner started some for us at guard although he was not very good. JB BRown as a 12th round pick was a starter in the secondary for 6 years.
1990- The year that we secured the left side wall of protection for Dan marino for the almost the next decade. 7 time probowler Richmond Webb and 3 time probowler Keith Sims. we drafted Alfred Ogelsby in the third and he showed some promise his first two seasons but was out of the NFL in less than 5 years. Scott Mitchell in the 4th was a very good pick as backup Qb who went on to have an 11 year NFL career with an awesome season in 1995 with 32 tds and 12 int with 4000 yards passing for Detroit.
left as a free agent after his third season. For some strange reason traded a 5th for Scott Secules Qb from Dallas, nothing much else in this draft but easily one of the better top 2 picks in team history.
1991- Drafted local product Randall the Thrill Hill who promptly held out and was traded almost immediatly to Arizona where he had 41 receptions as a rookie. This mistake actually worked out quite well because we traded him for a first rounder that turned out to be 7th overall. Hill was nothing special and ended up with 14 career tds and actually came back to Miami as a free agent for two seasons. Still outdid our next U of M Wr prospect by far. We also had traded a 2nd to Sf fo Tim Mckeyer the previous season then this season traded him for a 3rd to Atlanta. Took Aaron Craver in the third who was almost invisible here as a dolphin but did have some minor success with other teams as a FB. We traded our third rounder for short term player John Grimsly and traded our 4th the previous year. In the fifth we struck gold drafting Bryan Cox who started as an outside linebacker who had 14 sacks in his second year and became an inside linebacker. He was a three time probowler for us. No one in this draft was significant for us although Gene Williams became a solid player elsewhere and we got a 4th for him.
1992- Rare fortune shined on us when GB took Terrel Buckly over local product Troy Vincent. All 5 of his probowls happened elsewhere but he was very good for all four seasons in Miami. I think letting Vincent go was one of Jimmy's Johnson's biggest mistakes of many in Miami. he went on to play in the NFl 15 years. One of the better two way corners of his day, strong versus the run and pass. With our second pick of the first round we took Marco Coleman who went on to play in the NFL 14 years. Was solid here and actually went to a probowl with Washington in 2000. 2nd round pick Eddie Blake was an NFL disaster and Larry Webster was in the NFl for a while but always just a promise unfulfilled with us. Dwight Hollier in the 4th was a solid depth type of player who actually played 8 years for Miami. The rest of the draft was non existant although Dave Moore lasted in the NFL 15 years on other teams , mainly TB. Not a wise decision to cut him for Greg Baty.
1993-Looked like we might revitalize our offense day one but drafting OJ McDuffie round 1 and trading a 2nd and 3rd rounder for Irving Fryar Wr. Mcduffie turned into a great late first round pick. As a rookie returned two punt returns for Td's and would later lead the NFL in receptions with 90(although got screwed out of his pro bowl birth by Ed McCaffrey) Was a huge loss when he never recovered from his injury. Only Dolphin to ever lead the league in receptions. Actually one of my favorite dolphins ever. We drafted the ever injured but one of the most supremely talented highschool backs ever in Terry Kirby in the third round. As a rookie had 75 receptions and averaged almost 12 yards a reception. Seemed on his way to be a very valuable back for us and tore up his leg in one of the worst looking injuries I ever saw on television. Amazingly he came back to play at a fairly decent level for 10 years but just never seemed the same to me although he did have 66 receptions in his third year. One of the more versatile backs that could play FB later in his career as a good returnman. I firmly think if he never got that severe of an injury that he would have became an NFL star. Ronnie Bradford did nothing for us in the 4th. Chris gray went on elsewhere to have a fairly good NFL career which just ended last season as a ten year starter for Seattle. Another draft with no additions to have as depth.
1994- Traded down to take a relative unknown and unproven Tim Bowens who was actually missing toes and became a very good DT for us for the next decade with two probowls and clogged the middle for us. we then follow that up with another failed experiment at LB Aubrey Beavers in the second round, who lasted all of two seasons for us. In the third we drafted our center for the next decade Tim Ruddy(1 time pro bowler). We did however pay a steep price with two fourth rounders and a third. In the 4th we continue our drafting of another LB that does nothing for us in Ronnie Wilfork. Noone else in this draft had any impact for us although Brant Boyer spent a decade as a special teams ace elsewhere.
1995- We started off well getting a 2nd rounder for keith jackson then proceeded to basically throw away our first two picks in the draft on Billy Milner and Andrew Greene. This draft was probably our least effective ever and the draft that got Shula forced out. Not one player from this draft lasted 2 seasons with this team. Milner's only value was he got us Troy Drayton on rental. He lasted 2 NFL seasons and was gone. The Pats and Vikings screwed us pretty hard by taking Ty law and Korey stringer right ahead of him. Shula attempted to recreate the magic he had with Webb and Simms and to a lesser extent Giesler and Toews but failed miserably. Andrew Greene did go onto a long professional and successful pro career , unfortunately it was in the CFL. At 39 he is still playing in Canada. Pete Mitchell also had a solid NFL career unfortunately it was in Jacksonville. Norman hand also went on to find very good NFL success elsewhere starting for NO and SD. we might as well had just taken the year off from this draft. we also traded a 2nd and a 3rd for Trace Armstrong who did have a pro bowl year in 1990 with 16.5 sacks.
1996- Shula was no gone and Jimmy Johnson went on his three year mission to get rid of Dan Marino. He also basically gave Bryan Cox, Troy Vincent and Marco Coleman thier walking papers thus wiping out three of the fairly successful draft picks we had had. Not totally his fault since miami was now in cap hell to a great degree. did receive a 4th for Terry Kirby and a 5th for Stoyo. Still continued with the wasting of draft picks by totally missing on Dorien Brew and Kirk Pointer as well as lacurtis Jones.
Did snag Zach Thomas in the fifth and Daryl Gardner in the first(thought he was best player in that draft but needed constant motivation) Both were very good for quite a few years although Gardner was traded the year after we signed him to a huge contract. Wanny I guess figured out he was lazy at times(cant get nothing past wanny). Thomas should be a hallf of famer so great pick although he did pass over Thomas quite a few times so it was more luck than great choice. Jabbar in the third seemed a solid pick and produced our first 1000 yard rusher since Delvin williams in 1978. Jabbar had 27 tds in his first two seasons but injuries soon caught up with him.
1997- Marino nearing the end of his career needing a dangerous wideout they take highly rated Yatil Green in the first round, who due to injuries had 18 career receptions two years after being drafted. Took stellar CB Sam madison in round 2 and jason taylor in round three. Sam madison has went to 4 pro bowls and Jason taylor 6 so very successful picks they both were. of 14 picks the only other one that was successful long term were Ed perry who was our longtime longsnapper and Derrick Rodgers was a solid lb for us for 6 years.
1998- Jimmy Johnson trades down before draft even gets started and ends up taking John avery late in the first. Thus we never even had a chance to select Randy Moss who would have definately helped marino's quest. Avery had an ok rookie year but got in doghouse and was traded for an even bigger first round dissapointment who never played for us in Marcus Nash. Had 4 career receptions. The worst thing is this clown has two superbowl rings one in denver and one in Baltimore. He also was offensive player of the year, unfortunately that was in the arena league.
Patrick Surtain was a stud that we traded a 1st round pick to select in the second round. He is a three time probowler. kenny Mixon was a decent player but definately not worth his second round selection. we then missed once again on a LB in the third round with Brad jackson who did not even make the team. In the 4th we drafted our version of Randy Moss according to JJ, he was quite wrong with larry shannon who never caught a pass in the NFL in his one year. Aside from Lorenzo Bromell the rest of the picks were total misses.
1999- In a monumentally bad draft, even for us we take JJ Johnson in the second round. He rushes for 500 yard as a rookie and is out of the NFL in 3 years. We take Rob Konrad in the second also and when healthy was one of the better fullbacks in the NFL, although he was rairly healthy. he was never untilized fully as a receiver and actually was kind of a waste here in Miami. he never played a full season healthy in his NFL career. Grey Ruegemeyer never did anything for us but later became a decent role player on other teams, did not even make our team as a third round pick.
Has two super bowl rings and is currently with the giants. cecil Collins was a low risk 5th round pick that could not even keep himself clean for a full season. Cant fault us for taking a chance but had to mention his dumb azz. Noone else of any value was added in this draft.
I know this was a long post and basically just an overview of our drafts following Marino but just wanted to point out that Marino had to deal with getting less impact from draft picks all those years than probably any other super bowl qb.
Im going to go indepth with the draft picks and decisions that kept him from achieving the championship that he deserved.
1983-The year we drafted Marino. No draft can be all bad that includes this hall of famer but we started our major misteps quite soon after this pick.
2nd Round -Mike Charles DT/DE Syracuse- Actually was turning into a solid player in his third season in which he had 7 sacks after previous years of 3 sacks. After that had 1 sack the rest of his 9 year NFL career and was never an impact player. Played 4 years in Miami to decent success but far from an impact player on defense.
3rd round- Charles Benson DE Baylor - Did not start one game in three years for the phins and to top off matters we traded a 3rd,4th and a 5th to move up and take this guy in the third. To make matters worse we could have kept that pick and still drafted Charles Mann(4x pro bowler) or Greg Townswnd(4 x all pro).
Did draft Roby and Clayon later in draft but the missing on top picks would become a cycle for years to come.
1984- For some reason we liked Jackie Shipp so much that we traded our first and two third's to draft him. Somehow we smuggled a 3rd round pick for david Woodly out of Pittsburgh and we follow that by giving all this to Buffalo for a less than mediocre LB who although he actually started for us was not very good. He however seems like an all star compared to our second round pick Jay Brophy who also was out of the league by the end of his rookie contract. We took Joe Carter in the 4th , who seemed very promising as a rookie with 495 yards rushing but after that he was a blip on the radar due to injuries. He made a stellar play on a kickoff in the superbowl causing us to recover a kickoff. If we were going to trade up for a linebacker we should have moved up three more spots and took Wilbur marshall. This was also the season we lost promising fullback Andra Franklin to injury. Basically got three seasons out of Franklin our 1981 second round pick.He was also the last dolphin runningback prior to Ricky Williams to make the pro bowl. In a draft where only two players are on your team 5 years and the other is named Bud Brown you had an extremly bad draft. We also traded a second round pick in 1985 for Pete Johnson who averaged 2.3 a carry for less than 200 yards. We were able to trade two players no longer needed in Dennard And Harris for 3rd and 4th round picks that we basically just threw away in 1985. We also lost David overstreet to a car accident that year. To be followed by Larry Gordon and Rusty Chambers in follwoing years.
1985-Anytime you draft a college team's third option at runningback, in the first round, the results will usually not be too promising. Lorenzo Hampton look alot like Eric Dickserson in uniform, thats the end of the similarities. Lorenzo actually had a very good second year when he had like 1270 yards of total offense. He was out of NFL in 5 years and that was the only season he had any impact. We drafted George Little DT in the third round and he lasted as many years as rounds. He started one full season for 4 sacks and thats about all he did. We followed that up drafting LB Alex Moyer from Northwestern in the third who was in the league a whole two years before joining Arby's. In the 4th we took Mike Smith Db UTEP who was done in the NFL after three years without even an interception. Our best draft pick in this draft was in the 4th round Jeff Dellenbach who was a solid fill in lineman for his career of 10 years here and 3 in Greenbay. The rest of the draft was even more forgettable and useless. During the 85 season we also aquired Hugh Green for a 1st and 2nd round draft pick in 1986, one of which we got for Anthony Carter. Green was a solid player for us for years and with the history of the draft picks at the time was better than anyone we would have drafted. We could have also chosen Hershal Walker with one of our 4th round picks instead of Smith who was basically useless.
1986-For the first time since Marino we drafted an impact player in John offerdahl. Injury plagued but very good with 5 pro bowls in 8 years. Offerdahl went on to start a bagel business which became Einstein's after he was bought out by Boston Market. We drafted TJ Turner in the third who was a productive but unspectacular de for 7 years(16 sacks). We drafted James Pruitt in the 4th who actually had two stints with us and had 63 lifetime receptions in 67 games played. Nobody else from this draft had any impact but relative to other drafts it was fairly successful for us.
1987-We trade down 2 spots to gain a 5th rounder and draft John Bosa a promising workout warrior who was out of the league in three seasons due to injury. In retrospect we would have been better served by drafting an olineman in a deep draft but yet again we draft a guy that does not make it past his rookie contract. We then draft Rick Graf LB out of Wisconsin who Ia dmit I thought would be a great pick. After showing some minor promise as a rookie was basically an NFL journeyman after that and never played at any high level again for us. For some reason we traded a 3rd and a 5th to move up to the late second round to grab Scott Schwedes who had a grand total of 19 receptions in his 4 year NFL career. In what seemed like a good pick after year one we chose Troy Stradford who went on to become the offensive rookie of the year. He had over a 1000 all purpose yards as a rookie and just over doubled that the rest of his NFL career. Nothing much else came from this draft except for minor success from Mark Dennis OL.
1988- Soon as they called Eric Kumerow's name in the first round it felt like disaster. Not sure which quest was more pitiful the search for a runningback or the search for an impact linebacker. He never started one NFL game and finished with 5 sacks in his career of three seasons. The best thing he ever did for us was net us Vestee Jackson in trade who was minor here but better than Eric. In the second round we netted a solid player in Jarvis Williams who played safety for us for six years.We drafted Ferrel edmunds in the third who was a solid player that somehow made the probowl twice although his best season was his rookie season. After three solid years he no longer was a factor at TE for us. We take Greg Johnson OT after that who cannot even survive a full season in the NFL.
In the ninth we got very lucky with Jeff Cross who was very productive and a pro bowler in 1990. We also drafted Harry galbreath offensivelineman who was a starter for 5 years in the 8th round. nothing special at all about the guy but at least we got some production out of him. Overall with some late gems the draft was decent but missing so bad in the first round really set us back again.
1989-Must admit after we drafted Sammy Smith and Louis Oliver back to back was in a very good state of mind. Finally found that stud runningback, then reality hit when he actually played. There is always a problem with any runningback that has more fumbles than touchdowns in his career. Promising 2nd year basically erased because he could not hold onto the damn ball. Lasted three years here before being traded for Bobby Humprey who after looking solid in limited play was arrested and shot in the offseason of 1992 ending his NFL career. We traded a 2nd and 3rd round pick for a late first and took Louis Oliver, one of the few times trading up has been good to us. We then took David Holmes a cb that never played in the league. We did get a solid C in Jeff Uhlenhake later in the draft along with Pete Stoyanivich K. Bert Weidner started some for us at guard although he was not very good. JB BRown as a 12th round pick was a starter in the secondary for 6 years.
1990- The year that we secured the left side wall of protection for Dan marino for the almost the next decade. 7 time probowler Richmond Webb and 3 time probowler Keith Sims. we drafted Alfred Ogelsby in the third and he showed some promise his first two seasons but was out of the NFL in less than 5 years. Scott Mitchell in the 4th was a very good pick as backup Qb who went on to have an 11 year NFL career with an awesome season in 1995 with 32 tds and 12 int with 4000 yards passing for Detroit.
left as a free agent after his third season. For some strange reason traded a 5th for Scott Secules Qb from Dallas, nothing much else in this draft but easily one of the better top 2 picks in team history.
1991- Drafted local product Randall the Thrill Hill who promptly held out and was traded almost immediatly to Arizona where he had 41 receptions as a rookie. This mistake actually worked out quite well because we traded him for a first rounder that turned out to be 7th overall. Hill was nothing special and ended up with 14 career tds and actually came back to Miami as a free agent for two seasons. Still outdid our next U of M Wr prospect by far. We also had traded a 2nd to Sf fo Tim Mckeyer the previous season then this season traded him for a 3rd to Atlanta. Took Aaron Craver in the third who was almost invisible here as a dolphin but did have some minor success with other teams as a FB. We traded our third rounder for short term player John Grimsly and traded our 4th the previous year. In the fifth we struck gold drafting Bryan Cox who started as an outside linebacker who had 14 sacks in his second year and became an inside linebacker. He was a three time probowler for us. No one in this draft was significant for us although Gene Williams became a solid player elsewhere and we got a 4th for him.
1992- Rare fortune shined on us when GB took Terrel Buckly over local product Troy Vincent. All 5 of his probowls happened elsewhere but he was very good for all four seasons in Miami. I think letting Vincent go was one of Jimmy's Johnson's biggest mistakes of many in Miami. he went on to play in the NFl 15 years. One of the better two way corners of his day, strong versus the run and pass. With our second pick of the first round we took Marco Coleman who went on to play in the NFL 14 years. Was solid here and actually went to a probowl with Washington in 2000. 2nd round pick Eddie Blake was an NFL disaster and Larry Webster was in the NFl for a while but always just a promise unfulfilled with us. Dwight Hollier in the 4th was a solid depth type of player who actually played 8 years for Miami. The rest of the draft was non existant although Dave Moore lasted in the NFL 15 years on other teams , mainly TB. Not a wise decision to cut him for Greg Baty.
1993-Looked like we might revitalize our offense day one but drafting OJ McDuffie round 1 and trading a 2nd and 3rd rounder for Irving Fryar Wr. Mcduffie turned into a great late first round pick. As a rookie returned two punt returns for Td's and would later lead the NFL in receptions with 90(although got screwed out of his pro bowl birth by Ed McCaffrey) Was a huge loss when he never recovered from his injury. Only Dolphin to ever lead the league in receptions. Actually one of my favorite dolphins ever. We drafted the ever injured but one of the most supremely talented highschool backs ever in Terry Kirby in the third round. As a rookie had 75 receptions and averaged almost 12 yards a reception. Seemed on his way to be a very valuable back for us and tore up his leg in one of the worst looking injuries I ever saw on television. Amazingly he came back to play at a fairly decent level for 10 years but just never seemed the same to me although he did have 66 receptions in his third year. One of the more versatile backs that could play FB later in his career as a good returnman. I firmly think if he never got that severe of an injury that he would have became an NFL star. Ronnie Bradford did nothing for us in the 4th. Chris gray went on elsewhere to have a fairly good NFL career which just ended last season as a ten year starter for Seattle. Another draft with no additions to have as depth.
1994- Traded down to take a relative unknown and unproven Tim Bowens who was actually missing toes and became a very good DT for us for the next decade with two probowls and clogged the middle for us. we then follow that up with another failed experiment at LB Aubrey Beavers in the second round, who lasted all of two seasons for us. In the third we drafted our center for the next decade Tim Ruddy(1 time pro bowler). We did however pay a steep price with two fourth rounders and a third. In the 4th we continue our drafting of another LB that does nothing for us in Ronnie Wilfork. Noone else in this draft had any impact for us although Brant Boyer spent a decade as a special teams ace elsewhere.
1995- We started off well getting a 2nd rounder for keith jackson then proceeded to basically throw away our first two picks in the draft on Billy Milner and Andrew Greene. This draft was probably our least effective ever and the draft that got Shula forced out. Not one player from this draft lasted 2 seasons with this team. Milner's only value was he got us Troy Drayton on rental. He lasted 2 NFL seasons and was gone. The Pats and Vikings screwed us pretty hard by taking Ty law and Korey stringer right ahead of him. Shula attempted to recreate the magic he had with Webb and Simms and to a lesser extent Giesler and Toews but failed miserably. Andrew Greene did go onto a long professional and successful pro career , unfortunately it was in the CFL. At 39 he is still playing in Canada. Pete Mitchell also had a solid NFL career unfortunately it was in Jacksonville. Norman hand also went on to find very good NFL success elsewhere starting for NO and SD. we might as well had just taken the year off from this draft. we also traded a 2nd and a 3rd for Trace Armstrong who did have a pro bowl year in 1990 with 16.5 sacks.
1996- Shula was no gone and Jimmy Johnson went on his three year mission to get rid of Dan Marino. He also basically gave Bryan Cox, Troy Vincent and Marco Coleman thier walking papers thus wiping out three of the fairly successful draft picks we had had. Not totally his fault since miami was now in cap hell to a great degree. did receive a 4th for Terry Kirby and a 5th for Stoyo. Still continued with the wasting of draft picks by totally missing on Dorien Brew and Kirk Pointer as well as lacurtis Jones.
Did snag Zach Thomas in the fifth and Daryl Gardner in the first(thought he was best player in that draft but needed constant motivation) Both were very good for quite a few years although Gardner was traded the year after we signed him to a huge contract. Wanny I guess figured out he was lazy at times(cant get nothing past wanny). Thomas should be a hallf of famer so great pick although he did pass over Thomas quite a few times so it was more luck than great choice. Jabbar in the third seemed a solid pick and produced our first 1000 yard rusher since Delvin williams in 1978. Jabbar had 27 tds in his first two seasons but injuries soon caught up with him.
1997- Marino nearing the end of his career needing a dangerous wideout they take highly rated Yatil Green in the first round, who due to injuries had 18 career receptions two years after being drafted. Took stellar CB Sam madison in round 2 and jason taylor in round three. Sam madison has went to 4 pro bowls and Jason taylor 6 so very successful picks they both were. of 14 picks the only other one that was successful long term were Ed perry who was our longtime longsnapper and Derrick Rodgers was a solid lb for us for 6 years.
1998- Jimmy Johnson trades down before draft even gets started and ends up taking John avery late in the first. Thus we never even had a chance to select Randy Moss who would have definately helped marino's quest. Avery had an ok rookie year but got in doghouse and was traded for an even bigger first round dissapointment who never played for us in Marcus Nash. Had 4 career receptions. The worst thing is this clown has two superbowl rings one in denver and one in Baltimore. He also was offensive player of the year, unfortunately that was in the arena league.
Patrick Surtain was a stud that we traded a 1st round pick to select in the second round. He is a three time probowler. kenny Mixon was a decent player but definately not worth his second round selection. we then missed once again on a LB in the third round with Brad jackson who did not even make the team. In the 4th we drafted our version of Randy Moss according to JJ, he was quite wrong with larry shannon who never caught a pass in the NFL in his one year. Aside from Lorenzo Bromell the rest of the picks were total misses.
1999- In a monumentally bad draft, even for us we take JJ Johnson in the second round. He rushes for 500 yard as a rookie and is out of the NFL in 3 years. We take Rob Konrad in the second also and when healthy was one of the better fullbacks in the NFL, although he was rairly healthy. he was never untilized fully as a receiver and actually was kind of a waste here in Miami. he never played a full season healthy in his NFL career. Grey Ruegemeyer never did anything for us but later became a decent role player on other teams, did not even make our team as a third round pick.
Has two super bowl rings and is currently with the giants. cecil Collins was a low risk 5th round pick that could not even keep himself clean for a full season. Cant fault us for taking a chance but had to mention his dumb azz. Noone else of any value was added in this draft.
I know this was a long post and basically just an overview of our drafts following Marino but just wanted to point out that Marino had to deal with getting less impact from draft picks all those years than probably any other super bowl qb.
...j/k
