Dolphins top needs more available in free agency than draft | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

Dolphins top needs more available in free agency than draft

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Mike Tannenbaum has plenty to tackle when he officially takes over on Feb.1.

His top priority, of course, is helping identify and acquire the talent needed to get the Dolphins over the hump.

And yet, the earliest projections of May’s NFL Draft present an early red flag. The top tier is weak at places the Dolphins need help most: Up the middle on both offense and defense.

That’s according to ESPN’s Todd McShay, whose business is to know these things. And based on his hour-long Q&A with sportswriters from across the country this week, the Dolphins better fix their porous run defense in free agency, because the talent might not be there to do it in the draft.


“There’s a good amount of talent, probably better than average, on the perimeter,” McShay, speaking of edge rushers expected to be available.

As for defensive tackle, inside linebacker and safety – all positions where the Dolphins need reinforcements?

“Average,” was McShay’s assessment.

Arguably the best inside linebacker in the draft? Miami’s Denzel Perryman, who will be lucky to go late in the first round.

That’s bad news for the Dolphins, who finished 8-8 and again will draft in the no-man’s land: the middle of the first round. Mediocre seasons are unfulfilling in two ways: Not quite good enough to get to the playoffs, and not quite bad enough to be in position to draft an elite player.

They had to sweat out 18 picks before taking Ja’Wuan James – the last offensive tackle with a first-round grade – last year.
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Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/nfl/miami-dolphins/article5693724.html#storylink=cpy
 
All this means unless a top-tier player unexpectedly falls, the Dolphins might be best served to trade back and accumulate picks, or simply stand pat and take the best player available, regardless of need.

There should be some good ones available, including Alabama safety Landon Collins, Georgia outside linebacker Leonard Floyd, Florida defensive end Dante Flowers, running back Melvin Gordon, Clemson outside linebacker Vic Beasley and West Virginia receiver Kevin White – who at 6-foot-3 could finally provide the team with a big target in the red zone.

Stand pat and take best player available IMO. No more trade back to accumulate average players. I didn’t always feel that way but this is part of the problem we have getting over the hump.
 
We can only expect two players from the draft to fill needs this year. I still target WR #1, and wait for FA past that. Unless a VG player drops, the BPA is very misleading. When we pick there will likely be around 5 players who are graded very close to the same, at least in the first 2 rounds.
 
"They had to sweat out 18 picks before taking Ja’Wuan James – the last offensive tackle with a first-round grade – last year."

Wait. What? Every Finheaven GM swore we could have traded back another 15 picks and still grabbed him. The crying of 'Reach!' was of epic proportions for months afterwards.
 
Mr. Day said:
When your team is not in the playoffs the draft starts in December. Getting kind of sick of it too.
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Teams scout year round. If your organization doesn't start the next year's draft process immediately after Mr. Irrelevant is picked, you're already behind the ball.
 
Southbeach 2 said:
We can only expect two players from the draft to fill needs this year. I still target WR #1, and wait for FA past that. Unless a VG player drops, the BPA is very misleading. When we pick there will likely be around 5 players who are graded very close to the same, at least in the first 2 rounds.
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I dont think you can cap it to just two players to feel needs. It all depends on who is picking and what is there
 
jc4005 said:
"They had to sweat out 18 picks before taking Ja’Wuan James – the last offensive tackle with a first-round grade – last year."

Wait. What? Every Finheaven GM swore we could have traded back another 15 picks and still grabbed him. The crying of 'Reach!' was of epic proportions for months afterwards.
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Reach is all in opinion of what the entire board is. The draft is not a strict flow and a reach to some is a good pick to others.
I like James as a potential player but looking at board feel we should have traded down. There were alot of good linemen left on the board.
Even better trading up for Zack Martin would have been ideal.
 
Every year leading up to free agency everyone on this board says we need this player or that player. This year the fins are over the projected cap and while they can get significantly under it, it will come at a cost. For every player cut we will assume some dead cap space and for some, this dead capspace will be spread over the upcoming season and the following season(june 1 cuts). Dead cap space is designed to put teams at a disadvantage. Effectively lowing a teams total cap by the amount of dead cap space. The reason teams chose to accept this disadvantage is past mistakes and poor contracts make the alternative untenable. When you look at our potential cuts this year they are almost all free agent pickups from other teams: Gibson, Ellerbe, Wheeler, Finnegan, and maybe Wallace, as opposed to Hartline and Starks. I believe this is why the most successful teams in the NFL primarily rely on resigning their own free agents and developing through the draft. My hope is that this is the year Miami learns from its past mistakes and resigns its own players while concentrating on developing it's own talent and looking for impact players in the draft regardless of the players position.
 
Doesn't matter where you pick, just ask all the perennial playoff teams that continue to accumulate talent year after year and draft after us all the time. The key is to scout and draft good football players or players with elite traits!
 
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