A sharp general manager could make an enormous difference. This franchise has had a warped value system for so long that it's rubbed off onto the fans and somehow we've accepted it as proper thinking.
In three top ten picks over the past decade, we took a 5th year senior running back who redshirted in college and always split carries, a somewhat overaged quarterback who played wide receiver earlier and never excelled at quarterback while leading an underachieving team, and a skinny defensive end who was a part time player. That's not drafting. That's idiocy. You'll grind yourself toward broke with that type of philosophy. The early picks should be demonstrably great players, no questions asked. Then in later rounds the idea is to look for top talents who have been devalued late in their career for some reason, like injury or a coaching change. We do it in reverse, and then wonder why the happy adjustments at the top of round one don't fully pan out.
Rick Spielman panicked and traded a 4th to Minnesota to move up one spot. The Lamar Gordon trade is an all timer. He traded for a third string quarterback after bragging that he watched every one of Feeley's throws on tape. No kidding you had to watch every play to make any case that he was worth trading for. I'll be beyond thrilled when we find a general manager who understands the big picture and knows he doesn't need to watch every play.
I'll be the first to concede I don't know much about the candidates. But I would make sure to probe them on general matters, like the ones I mentioned above, to get a feel for their value system. It's imperative to make sure we don't align with another dummy who makes moves like the Reshad Jones contract. I would ask them questions not related to football at all, but ones designed to see if they understand that early indications are more significant than the latest trivia on tape. Any goof can overreact to the most recent news. That's why losing investors buy high and sell low. I would also make sure that the guy is well versed on other topics. I would ask about current events, or things like naming the senators in his home state. Lots of posters here tried to wave off Tannehill's ignorance of the division as meaningless. I couldn't disagree more. In more than two decades in Las Vegas I've met hundreds of guys who arrived on the sportsbook scene and had an opinion. I've had to explore if they had angles and opinions that could benefit me. Virtually without exception the guys who have unique perspective on sports betting are also very well rounded and interesting on other matters.
I'm not as convinced an offensive coordinator will make a dramatic difference. Obviously I hope for more emphasis on the running game but Philbin doesn't seem to think it matters. Tannehill has nice ball handling and stretch fakes so I think we need to make more use of that. Those type of plays can partially negate his lack of pocket presence.