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Draft Grade Summary

nyashfan said:
If the Patriots packaged their two #1's and another pick to move up to #10 to draft Rosen, they would've been hailed as geniuses; yet, instead they draft the LSU QB in the 7th round and are hailed as geniuses for sticking to their board.

Yet when the Dolphins allow the Cardinals to leapfrog them to draft Rosen, they are lambasted for being "played" when they wanted the best remaining defensive player all along. I'll say this: I'm glad to hear that the Dolphins had no intention to draft Rosen. As much as I love the Dolphins, I couldn't root for that a*****e.

It seems like the Dolphins' draft strategy was all about improving their 3rd down offensive and defensive efficiency. Sounds good to me.
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From what I heard, inside source, can't reveal. Miami is publicly saying they would not have selected Rosen. However if he or Mayfield were there they would have picked them. They made a decision to not trade any picks to move and stand pat in all rounds. Whoever fell to them so be it. They felt there were a lot of needs and they could not address all. So they would address what was available as the draft progressed.
 
I heard they are going to dispense with playing games and the Superbowl and instead just hand out draft grades for the season.
 
Bottom line, I think the Dolphins are a better team today than they were at noon Thursday. I might go so far as to say significantly improved. Minkah makes this team better in many ways; I think we knocked it out of the park getting him. I think Gesicki is the second coming of Jimmy Graham. The Baker pick wasn't going to wow you, but it made sense ... and let's not kid ourselves, that's a lot more than we can say about a lot of our draft picks in the last 35 years. I think Smythe is underrated and might emerge as a surprising weapon in the passing game when you can spread out the field with Gesicki, our WRs and the receiving ability of our RBs.

To me, how Ballage develops probably dictates whether this is a good or great draft. He has all the potential to be a very good NFL back, he just has to show he wants it; I think having guys like Minkah on the team often make guys like Ballage better.

The Armstrong pick made little sense to me, except for one thing: I think our defensive philosophy seems to be doing it like the Eagles -- getting a lot of guys who can rush the passer and a lot of guys who can cover. Armstrong's a bit of a mystery, but he does have a good size/speed combination and can play a couple of positions. Thought we has more sensible choices there, but it seemed to fit the MO for the restructured defense.

I think Poling is a steal where we got him. Lot of athleticism and decent size, can rush or cover ... lot to like getting someone like him in the seventh round. The Sanders pick ... meh. Thought we could have gotten someone as good or better as a UDFA.

We already have a quarterback, whether people like him or not. Drafting a quarterback for the sake of drafting a quarterback on a team with this many needs I think is a waste. Would picking a QB instead of Poling or Sanders made the Dolphins draft? No. So any analysts basing our grade on that really don't get how a team gets built.

One other thing ... the way the Dolphins did this draft renews some of my faith in the organization. They've avoided the splash moves that have harmed us so often in the past and just made smart, solid football decisions. A couple of years of that will put the Dolphins into a very, very good position.
 
It’s a fine draft and the guys we got are solid, hopefully, But, I’d give it a B- or so, based on what I was thinking as I was watching the draft unfold in real time.

Reasoning:

1. Love Minkah. James is obviously good too but I like Minkah overall for our particular situation.
2. I liked Goedert over Gesicki. Gase likes to split the TE wide in isolation and Gesicki might fit that to a tee. I don’t see bust or anything, as I think he will be productive on jump balls and in packages where he’d be split out in isolation. But, I see Goedert as having a better feel in the middle of the field and as a tougher kid. Gesicki is a workout machine. I admit, maybe I’m just fixated on Goedert but I suspect he’s going to be rugged and crafty in the middle of the field on say 3rd and 8. I think he may be a more willing blocker too. The nice thing is Gesicki can improve quite a bit and apparently impressed in interviews, something we can’t see. The hope with Gesicki is he improves and with his raw tools, who knows? It may be frustrating though if Goedert is converting third and longs in prime time on national TV while Gesicki is a jump ball guy in anonymity in 1 pm games no one is watching except local fans.
3. I get that we need speed and coverage at LB, but Baker looks like a positional reach. Perhaps we could have traded down here in terms of value. That was a pretty high third round pick. I think he’s got potential in sub packages. I liked Shaq Griffin as a high end athlete and addition to the locker room. Hopefully Baker gets stronger over the next couple of years and helps erase running backs in coverage and helps defend the middle of the field.
4. I would have taken Mo Hurst in the fourth. Would have filled a major need. Michigan has dealt with the heart and the Raiders have a plan. He would have made this draft a potential A plus. He’s exactly what we need at DT. What an immense missed opportunity. Worst mistake of the draft here. This team isn’t stopping the run this year.
5. I liked Lauletta and Falk. Maybe we didn’t have the ammo to get Lauletta but you’d think we could have found a way on Falk. I don’t know how many options we had to trade down in the third and fourth, but a couple of moves down may have netted us more of our needs.
6. Kicker. I was fixated on Pineiro. I’m just going off stats but the kid we got seems inconsistent. Rizzi hand picked our guy. We don’t have any idea how they interviewed. Rizzi should be nailing this.

Overall, the draft is not terrible but imagine a draft where we got
Minkah
Goedert
Shaq Griffin
Mo Hurst
Falk.
Pineiro
Fumagalli (if we traded down and didn’t get Smythe)

That’d be a draft I’d give an A plus. We didn’t take an aggressive stance or just take the best overall football players after the first. We got enamored with certain skill sets instead of just drafting the best damn players.

Who knows, perhaps my draft won’t age well but those were my opinions.
 
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I loved the draft. We killed it. Especiallythe first 4 picks. We’ll see about smythe and the other Ohio Lb. I like the baker pick but I think he lacks confidence :roflmao
 
Take no notice. Are these experts watching Miami games or even taking notice of team needs and it's injury stats. I doubt it. I trust more in the fans opinions.
 
My only issue is that I would have placed more emphasis on getting a defensive tackle. I can't complain about any of the picks, but maybe Hurst in the 4th instead of one of the players Miami took there. I know nothing about the kicker picked in the 7th, but maybe the DT Thompson from Georgia there.

I am excited about this draft, though. The Dolphins came in with a huge weakness at tight end, probably the worst situation in the entire league. After the draft, I really believe TE could be a strength for Miami. Baker and Fitzpatrick are nice additions to the defense.

I have to believe Miami will look at a DT after June 1 cuts.
 
Did Dolphins address needs in the draft?

Yes.

Pass or Fail?

PASS.
 
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