phinatic1399
Diehard Phinatic!
1. Dolphins in danger of heading to Senior Bowl without a head coach.
Not landing Jeff Fisher as their next head coach hurt the Dolphins on two fronts.
For one, they now have to settle for their second choice (or third, or fourth….). And two, waiting on Fisher for five days last week stalled their coaching search to the point that it could affect their scouting for the draft.
The Dolphins still don’t have a coach today, and the clock is ticking. The Senior Bowl starts this coming Monday in Alabama, in which all 32 NFL teams will get their first close look at about 100 mid-tier prospects during four days of practices. These aren’t the blue-chip prospects, but they’re the sleepers and depth guys the Dolphins could potentially draft any time after their first pick, which will be 8th or 9th overall. Recent Senior Bowl draftees include Jared Odrick, Koa Misi and Charles Clay.
For the past four years, Jeff Ireland and Tony Sparano have sat next to each other during practices to scout the players collectively (except for 2010, when the Dolphins coached one of the teams). They interviewed the players together in private sessions. Although Ireland was ultimately responsible for the draft, Sparano was heavily involved in decision-making (like, for example, picking offensive lineman John Jerry in the third round in 2010 after watching him for a week at the Senior Bowl).
Yet this year, with the Dolphins under a lot of pressure by the owner and fan base to reach the playoffs in 2012, the Dolphins are in danger of not having a head coach to scout the players he will be working with.
Not having a coach at the Senior Bowl also makes Ireland’s job a bit tougher, as he would then have to sell each coaching candidate during the interview process on his scouting and draft plan.
It won’t be tragic if the Dolphins don’t have a head coach in place by Monday – Ireland and his scouts will all be at the Senior Bowl, and have been scouting the players for the past two years – but it’s certainly not ideal for a team looking to turn around its fortunes in 2012.
3. Peyton Manning is the safer option than RG3.
Joe Rose and I got into it a little bit this morning on his radio show about the Dolphins, the draft and the team’s future at quarterback. Joe, like many fans, wants the Dolphins to do whatever it takes to trade up for Baylor QB Robert Griffin III in April’s draft.
No one disputes that the Dolphins need to find a franchise quarterback even though Matt Moore played well in 2012. But “whatever it takes” will mean at least two No. 1 draft picks – perhaps three – and potentially several lower-round picks or veteran players to the Rams or Vikings, who pick second and third. At least three other teams probably want Griffin (Cleveland, Washington and Seattle), and two are in better position than Miami – the Browns have the No. 4 overall pick and are loaded with picks after last year’s big trade with Atlanta, and the Redskins have the No. 6 pick.
So to get RG3 – probably the only rookie franchise QB in play for the Dolphins – they will have to mortgage the next few years of the draft, plus face pressure from the fans and owner to play him immediately, even if Moore continues to play well next year.
Instead, the Dolphins should seriously consider making a run at Peyton Manning, who is a decent bet to part ways with the Colts this offseason as they prepare to draft Andrew Luck No. 1 overall.
Manning, who is 35 years old and missed this entire season with a neck injury, is obviously a risk. Some believe that Manning may never play again, let alone return to his elite pre-injury form.
But assuming he’s healthy enough to play (and that the Colts cut him in the first week of March instead of paying him a $28 million bonus), Manning accomplishes all of Stephen Ross’ goals. He would bring buzz to South Beach, bring a championship pedigree to the locker room and make the Dolphins contenders in a weakening AFC.
And Manning won’t be too costly. Yes, he may command a high salary, but if the Dolphins can fit him under the salary cap, who cares? More importantly, he won’t cost the Dolphins several key draft picks, like RG3 will. And even if the Colts find a way to keep Manning on the roster in order to make a trade, he likely would command just one first-round pick, at most.
RG3 is also a four-year investment. If he’s no good, the Dolphins still have to stick it out. But if Manning is no good? The Dolphins can cut bait in one or two years – no harm, no foul.
Not landing Jeff Fisher as their next head coach hurt the Dolphins on two fronts.
For one, they now have to settle for their second choice (or third, or fourth….). And two, waiting on Fisher for five days last week stalled their coaching search to the point that it could affect their scouting for the draft.
The Dolphins still don’t have a coach today, and the clock is ticking. The Senior Bowl starts this coming Monday in Alabama, in which all 32 NFL teams will get their first close look at about 100 mid-tier prospects during four days of practices. These aren’t the blue-chip prospects, but they’re the sleepers and depth guys the Dolphins could potentially draft any time after their first pick, which will be 8th or 9th overall. Recent Senior Bowl draftees include Jared Odrick, Koa Misi and Charles Clay.
For the past four years, Jeff Ireland and Tony Sparano have sat next to each other during practices to scout the players collectively (except for 2010, when the Dolphins coached one of the teams). They interviewed the players together in private sessions. Although Ireland was ultimately responsible for the draft, Sparano was heavily involved in decision-making (like, for example, picking offensive lineman John Jerry in the third round in 2010 after watching him for a week at the Senior Bowl).
Yet this year, with the Dolphins under a lot of pressure by the owner and fan base to reach the playoffs in 2012, the Dolphins are in danger of not having a head coach to scout the players he will be working with.
Not having a coach at the Senior Bowl also makes Ireland’s job a bit tougher, as he would then have to sell each coaching candidate during the interview process on his scouting and draft plan.
It won’t be tragic if the Dolphins don’t have a head coach in place by Monday – Ireland and his scouts will all be at the Senior Bowl, and have been scouting the players for the past two years – but it’s certainly not ideal for a team looking to turn around its fortunes in 2012.
3. Peyton Manning is the safer option than RG3.
Joe Rose and I got into it a little bit this morning on his radio show about the Dolphins, the draft and the team’s future at quarterback. Joe, like many fans, wants the Dolphins to do whatever it takes to trade up for Baylor QB Robert Griffin III in April’s draft.
No one disputes that the Dolphins need to find a franchise quarterback even though Matt Moore played well in 2012. But “whatever it takes” will mean at least two No. 1 draft picks – perhaps three – and potentially several lower-round picks or veteran players to the Rams or Vikings, who pick second and third. At least three other teams probably want Griffin (Cleveland, Washington and Seattle), and two are in better position than Miami – the Browns have the No. 4 overall pick and are loaded with picks after last year’s big trade with Atlanta, and the Redskins have the No. 6 pick.
So to get RG3 – probably the only rookie franchise QB in play for the Dolphins – they will have to mortgage the next few years of the draft, plus face pressure from the fans and owner to play him immediately, even if Moore continues to play well next year.
Instead, the Dolphins should seriously consider making a run at Peyton Manning, who is a decent bet to part ways with the Colts this offseason as they prepare to draft Andrew Luck No. 1 overall.
Manning, who is 35 years old and missed this entire season with a neck injury, is obviously a risk. Some believe that Manning may never play again, let alone return to his elite pre-injury form.
But assuming he’s healthy enough to play (and that the Colts cut him in the first week of March instead of paying him a $28 million bonus), Manning accomplishes all of Stephen Ross’ goals. He would bring buzz to South Beach, bring a championship pedigree to the locker room and make the Dolphins contenders in a weakening AFC.
And Manning won’t be too costly. Yes, he may command a high salary, but if the Dolphins can fit him under the salary cap, who cares? More importantly, he won’t cost the Dolphins several key draft picks, like RG3 will. And even if the Colts find a way to keep Manning on the roster in order to make a trade, he likely would command just one first-round pick, at most.
RG3 is also a four-year investment. If he’s no good, the Dolphins still have to stick it out. But if Manning is no good? The Dolphins can cut bait in one or two years – no harm, no foul.
