Dolphins' poor start rooted in five years of bad drafts

[DKphin]

Miami's misses have been all over the board. Saban whiffed on cornerback Jason Allen in the first round in 2006, prompting Jeff Ireland to take Vontae Davis and Sean Smith three years later. Cameron missed on Ted Ginn Jr. in 2007, which led to the trade for Brandon Marshall in 2010. Ireland's decision to pass on Matt Ryan in 2008 has left the quarterback situation muddled.

"When you miss the repercussions are huge, not only because you've wasted resources on a player who doesn't perform for you but now you have to waste additional resources trying to fill that void," said CBS analyst Brian Billick, who coached Baltimore to a Super Bowl title in 2000.

The Dolphins of the last decade are far removed from that model. Huizenga hoped he had the answer in December 2007 when he brought in Bill Parcells, who subsequently hired Ireland as his GM and Tony Sparano as his coach. In their first major decision five months later, the trio opted to take left tackle Jake Long with the No. 1 pick over Matt Ryan, then got Chad Henne 56 picks later, in the second round.
"If you don't hit on the quarterback, it magnifies all the other misses, and that's where they are right now," ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. said. "You can't get stuck in the '80s, which they did. You can't say, 'We'll do this now because it worked then.' The teams that have won Super Bowls the last several years got by without an elite left tackle, but you can't do it without an elite quarterback anymore.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/sports...tml?cxtype=rss_dolphins&viewAsSinglePage=true

 

[Shouright]

The Jake Long versus Matt Ryan choice was the demise of the Bill Parcells era.

 

[SkapePhin]

The Jake Long versus Matt Ryan choice was the demise of the Bill Parcells era.

Honestly, I am not so sure Matt Ryan is an elite QB... He might have been "Chad Henne" here in Miami.

The person who REALLY screwed up was Saban, passing on Aaron Rodgers, who IS an elite QB.

 

[Phinatic8u]

Kiper wanted to say elite Right Tackle.

 

[dlockz]

Honestly, I am not so sure Matt Ryan is an elite QB... He might have been "Chad Henne" here in Miami.

The person who REALLY screwed up was Saban, passing on Aaron Rodgers, who IS an elite QB.

maybe aaron Rodgers would be chad henne here by your logic. Ryan is one of the top qb's in the NFL> he went to an Atlanta team that had not made the playoffs in three years and was as much a mess as our dolphins were.

 

[SkapePhin]

maybe aaron Rodgers would be chad henne here by your logic. Ryan is one of the top qb's in the NFL> he went to an Atlanta team that had not made the playoffs in three years and was as much a mess as our dolphins were.

Ryan's stats this year:

Season Outlook Passing Rushing Sacked Fumbles
G QBRat Comp Att Pct Yds Y/G Y/A TD Int Rush Yds Y/G Avg TD Sack YdsL Fum FumL
Last 4 Games 4 84.8 102 164 62.2 1135 283.8 6.9 6 4 9 44 11.0 4.9 0 13 93 3 3
Week 1 (@CHI) 1 76.5 31 47 66.0 319 319.0 6.8 0 1 0 0 0.0 N/A 0 5 43 1 1
Week 2 (PHI) 1 91.5 17 28 60.7 195 195.0 7.0 4 2 4 6 6.0 1.5 0 4 15 0 0
Week 3 (@TAM) 1 75.7 26 47 55.3 330 330.0 7.0 1 1 1 12 12.0 12.0 0 4 35 2 2
Week 4 (@SEA) 1 94.4 28 42 66.7 291 291.0 6.9 1 0 4 26 26.0 6.5 0 0 0 0 0

Up and Down like Henne.

Record 2-2.

Playoff record: 0-2

It's also a fact that Ryan didn't play well two years ago in the playoffs against the Cardinals. In that game, he also threw two interceptions, lost one fumble and came up short of 200 passing yards.

Those are his only two playoff appearances, and both can be fairly classified as failures. In those games, Ryan has thrown three touchdown passes against six turnovers. The same label has been slapped on quarterbacks for less than that.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/sh...-member-of-the-Can-t-Win-the-B?urn=nfl-308144

 

[Valandui]

maybe aaron Rodgers would be chad henne here by your logic. Ryan is one of the top qb's in the NFL> he went to an Atlanta team that had not made the playoffs in three years and was as much a mess as our dolphins were.

I disagree. Atlanta was in a very similar situation to where we are now. They had a bunch of talent but no real direction. They traded talented "problem" players like DeAngelo Hall and Alge Crumpler for extra second round picks and were in way better position, both pick and player wise, to move around the draft and get the players they wanted while at the same time having fewer holes to fill.

 

[The Confessor]

I disagree. Atlanta was in a very similar situation to where we are now. They had a bunch of talent but no real direction. They traded talented "problem" players like DeAngelo Hall and Alge Crumpler for extra second round picks and were in way better position, both pick and player wise, to move around the draft and get the players they wanted while at the same time having fewer holes to fill.

Yep, I agree completely.

Matt Ryan is a serviceable QB.
His stats are not great even though he has a GREAT offensive line, a top 7 RB, a top 7 WR and perhaps the best recieving TE to ever play the game. He is "Okay", nothing more, nothing less.

 

[Dogbone34]

spend money for personnel who can evaluate talent

put a shark in charge of draft picks and trades to aquire more

focus on players who can easily transition to sunday football



we suck every year on draft day

 

[dlockz]

I disagree. Atlanta was in a very similar situation to where we are now. They had a bunch of talent but no real direction. They traded talented "problem" players like DeAngelo Hall and Alge Crumpler for extra second round picks and were in way better position, both pick and player wise, to move around the draft and get the players they wanted while at the same time having fewer holes to fill.

Alge crumpler was released and this was not an ultra talented team by any means at the time. They diiligently signed good free agents and went after the most important needs in the draft. The fact is they are better run and coached and thats why they put ryan in a position to succeed in having one of the best rookie seasons ever for a qb.

 

[MiamiDolfan85]

With Sparano & the coordinators during this regimes era,Ryan wouldn't have excelled here.
Now,you plug in Mike Smith instead of Sparano THEN draft Ryan...then you got something....


In other words,we don't have the coach staff,nor the resources to groom a young QB.

 

[dlockz]

Seriously people have a right to opinions but really if u think Ryan is just a servicable qb then you really are not paying attention.

 

[NBP81]

Seriously people have a right to opinions but really if u think Ryan is just a servicable qb then you really are not paying attention.

Or maybe, just maybe you labelled Matty ice ''franchise material'' a bit too soon...

 

[Valandui]

Alge crumpler was released and this was not an ultra talented team by any means at the time. They diiligently signed good free agents and went after the most important needs in the draft. The fact is they are better run and coached and thats why they put ryan in a position to succeed in having one of the best rookie seasons ever for a qb.

I didn't say they were a great team and I totally agree about their coaching and personnel departments being better than ours. Demitroff is leaps and bounds above what Ireland could ever hope to be. They did, however, have way fewer holes to fill and were in way better position to fill them then we were. They were also just about forced to take a QB high by the Vick fiasco. I applaud them for taking the opprotunity to fill the QB spot like they did, but so far all Ryan has proven to be is a choke artist. It's still very early for him, but so far he seems to fall apart when the playoff pressure is on.

 

[Rev Kev]

Missing on A Rodgers makes missing on the "sure thang" M Ryan - moot


J Allen - P White - S Smith (AARRGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!)