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Dolphins MUST ace draft

DKphin

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1) Dolphins' rebuilding plans. I don't know if general manager Chris Grier is a hardcore basketball fan, but his apparent plan for rebuilding the Miami Dolphins into a perennial contender seems eerily similar to the blueprint several NBA executives have used to revamp their respective squads into winners. Now, I'm not suggesting the Dolphins are adopting the "tanking" strategy that helped the Philadelphia 76ers become legitimate contenders in the NBA's Eastern Conference. But Grier is assembling the kind of draft capital that should enable the team to acquire enough blue-chip players to compete with the heavyweights in the NFL.

After a flurry of trades and massive personnel reshuffling, highlighted most recently by a deal that saw left tackle Laremy Tunsil and receiver Kenny Stills head to the Texans, the Dolphins have four first-round picks and four second-round picks in the 2020 and 2021 NFL Drafts. In other words, Grier should have more than enough ammunition to put together a roster containing the requisite number of blue-chip players needed to contend.

As my colleague Daniel Jeremiah and I have frequently discussed on the "Move the Sticks" podcast, it takes about 12 blue-chip players to vie for the title, including a quarterback, two pass rushers, three defensive playmakers, three offensive playmakers, and three offensive linemen, though the final total can vary by a positional player or two.

Reviewing the Dolphins' roster, I believe Xavien Howard is the only blue-chip player on the team. The Pro Bowl cornerback, who is locked up through 2024, is arguably one of the best cover corners in the league, and his emergence as a "shutdown" guy should be the starting point for the team's rebuilding plans. Outside of No. 25, the Dolphins lack an established star -- the team can only hope that one or more of its recent top draft picks (2018 11th overall pick Minkah Fitzpatrick and this year's 13th overall pick, Christian Wilkins) will emerge as a blue-chip player in time.

"Championship teams have eight to 10 'blues' (blue-chip players) on the roster," said a former NFL vice president of player of personnel. "You need to have some stars to win in this league. It is better when they're homegrown guys who've been drafted and developed within your system. They become your core players and the foundation to the program ... Championship teams are built around those guys."

The next step for the Dolphins -- turning their picks into players -- can be challenging in today's NFL. My NFL Network colleague Charley Casserly believes the success rate of first-round picks amounts to a coin flip (as in, each first-rounder has a 50 percent chance of becoming a high-end starter), with the rates declining by about 10 percent for each subsequent round. Given those percentages, the Dolphins have their work cut out for them when it comes to rebuilding their team through the draft.

"They've done a great job of acquiring picks, but they have to get the right players," said the former NFL exec. "Since they don't have a lot of blue-chip players already on their roster, I believe they need to find at least four 'elite' players or high-end starters with those eight picks ... They can't afford to miss in the early rounds, because those busts would set back the rebuilding process ... I like what they've done, but it definitely puts pressure on Grier to knock it out of the park on draft day."

With that in mind, the Dolphins have to buck the odds if they want to pull off a quick rebuild in the Brian Flores era. The defensive-minded first-year head coach will need to keep games competitive with lesser players at the outset of his tenure, at least, until Grier can stockpile the roster with enough ballers to actually win games. Flores' experience as an assistant in New England could help him scheme up a few wins thorough clever game-planning and tactical execution, but winning consistently in the NFL still comes down to talent. The Dolphins need to strike gold in the next two drafts to become the winner Grier envisions taking over the AFC.

 
Everything you said here is the first thing I think of when I hear the words tank or watching up build more draft capital.

I can only pray and hope that when we're drafting that we nail the picks. ONLY by getting good players in the draft will we finally get out of mediocrity.

That's all I'll have my mind as the season progresses and hoping the young guys develop and add to the team.
 
Patriots blue chippers
Tom brady
Rob gronkowski
The corner from buffallo
Julian edleman
Mc Courtey
Bellicheat
That’s six counting belicheat as one I don’t see 12 and if there is more than that then you could say Miami has more.
 
Patriots blue chippers
Tom brady
Rob gronkowski
The corner from buffallo
Julian edleman
Mc Courtey
Bellicheat
That’s six counting belicheat as one I don’t see 12 and if there is more than that then you could say Miami has more.

Over the years though they had Vince Wilfork, Logan Mankins, Wes Welker, plus numerous others, but they build, sign free agents and coach better than any other team.
 
I’m more impressed by Jerome Baker’s development than Minkah. So I’m going to give Jerome the Blue Chip as well.
 
Over the years though they had Vince Wilfork, Logan Mankins, Wes Welker, plus numerous others, but they build, sign free agents and coach better than any other team.
I’m talking about they just one a super bowl with that squad
 
Minkah is a big dissapointment..
 
Minkah is a big dissapointment..
Is he trying to overcompensate for everyone else instead of his own assignments - because he is surrounded by CFL tweener skills out there and we haven’t hit injuries yet

I think that is the case he is trying to do to much leaving him unable to just react
 
Well if Grier is true to his word, expect more trades on draft day. He's already stated how he'd like to have a minimum of 10 draft choices in every draft moving forward. If Miami can hit on at the very least the Four 1st round choices and Two of the Four 2nd round choices, I can see the theory of Casserly and Jeramiah working. I'll through a monkey wrench into to the fire and say, Miami looks to trade Howard in a year or two, knowing they'll not want to pay a higher price for an older player as his current contract gets closer to expiring.
 
The major requirement is a top 10 caliber quarterback. I'm not sure too many teams have 10 or more blue chip players. Half of Miami's already want out.
 
Got to nail the QB most of all.

The great Bill Belichick loses more than he wins when Tom Brady doesn't play and he has had some good QBs (Kosar, Testaverde, Bledsoe, Cassel, Garrapolo) starting in their prime.
 
Patriots blue chippers
Tom brady
Rob gronkowski
The corner from buffallo
Julian edleman
Mc Courtey
Bellicheat
That’s six counting belicheat as one I don’t see 12 and if there is more than that then you could say Miami has more.


Patrick Chung, Collins, josh Gordon, Antonio Brown, Sonny Michel, James White
 
Patrick Chung, Collins, josh Gordon, Antonio Brown, Sonny Michel, James White
other than Antonio brown Maybe josh Gordon none of those are blue chip players, but I was talking last years team that didn’t have josh Gordon or Antonio brown playing.
 
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