Hayden Fox's Draft Assessment

[MartinTheSNAKE]

I guess I'm one of the few people that were encouraged from what they saw in Egnew last year. I watxh just about all the games and went to a few live. While there I paid close attention to Egnew trying to figure out whats up?

Bottomline the guy has gotten A LOT better at blocking and whenever the ball was thrown his way he caught it. IF anything I would argue there were a lot of times when the ball didn't go his way when it should have.

It was acknowledge that he would need time coming out and he has improved every year. Yet, we want to cut him out right? I really don't get it.

Agree with this. I hope Egnew gets a fair shot in TC/PS.

He impressed me last season compared to his rookie season. HE blocked much better and had some nice catches. He didnt get enough touches/looks. I have been very critical of Egnew, but nothing he did last year makes me believe he deserves to be cut. He should have seen more field time and wish we would have given him some snaps at the goaline/inside the redzone. With his height/athleticism we coudl have used him as a jump ball target.

 

[twistedjay]

I think Egnew gets the axe. Keep Clay, Sims, Lynch and Gator as the tight ends.

Hard to see Lynch as egnews replacement. Two totally different skillsets. Lynch does what sims was drafted to do. Block and be a safety valve for the qb.

Sims was a terrible blocker last year. I definitely think he is on the hot seat. If egnew is bumped off the roster by anyone, my money is on hoskins.

 

[Ricky4Life]

Hard to see Lynch as egnews replacement. Two totally different skillsets. Lynch does what sims was drafted to do. Block and be a safety valve for the qb.

Sims was a terrible blocker last year. I definitely think he is on the hot seat. If egnew is bumped off the roster by anyone, my money is on hoskins.

I think Egnew is bumped off the roster by either. I just see him as the odd man out.

 

[FearTheBeard]

Well done Hayden. I have only one big question for you or anyone. WHY did Hickey not pay for or, overpay for one more proven guy on the OL in FA? Some say that they did not want to come here, which is silly. After Albert, there were at least six much better options than what we now have. IF Hickey would have signed just one, we would not be having the discussion on being overly concerned od the OL, which is justified,

I'd be curious as to who those better options were SB. The market was barren, especially for our scheme and I don't think we had much of a shot at Beadles or Asamoah considering how quickly they signed. I'm not overpaying for Saffold or the Jets old RT...6 mil is simply not worth it for a right tackle. Guard market was WEAK...really weak this year.

And good write up Hayden...though I have trouble believing you saw a big gap between Moses and James considering how high you were on Moses.

 

[X-FACTOR]

· I would have liked to see a big bodied DT added to the mix. Whether it was UFA or the draft, I wonder if the D-line is too light up front. I think there is a ton of talent that can disrupt with early penetration. I just wonder if Miami can get in a “street fight” with a smash mouth team and win.

Good write up Fox. This worries me almost as much as the former o-line issues. Our front four looks very light on paper.....If I were the opposition I would attack there early and often, wear them down and dominate from there. We were pushed around last year with "Big Paul" and now who will pick up that slack. I just wonder if the right strategy was to go light and quick. Can we handle (Sea, SF, NYJ) run first type teams. Even NE will play smashmouth if they percieve it as a weakness. Are our guys stout enough is a big question mark right now. Perhaps the younger/heavier reserves will emerge.

 

[FearTheBeard]

I'd like to bring Satele back to compete/depth or stick him at center and move Pouncey to guard.

No you don't.

 

[DolphanB]

I am surprised that no RB was drafted that might have been able to push “power back” Daniel Thomas. I would have guessed that a physical presence would have been added by now.

Moreno is a 220 lbs power back.

I would have liked to see a big bodied DT added to the mix. Whether it was UFA or the draft, I wonder if the D-line is too light up front. I think there is a ton of talent that can disrupt with early penetration. I just wonder if Miami can get in a “street fight” with a smash mouth team and win.

MIA has 4 x 300+ lbs DTs, three of them starting quality. DT is not a weakness.

With that said, this draft was about the development of Ryan Tannehill.

Nearly this entire offseason has been about building the offense around Tannehill. I am pretty sure the team saw what PFF did - when the OL gave Tannehill more than 2 seconds to throw, he was a top 6 QB last season.

I wonder if Dion Sims is in trouble. Between the drafting of Arthur Lynch and signing of UDFA Harold Hoskin, Sims is going to have to make a jump in order to make the team. I like Sims and think he as some potential. However, with a new GM, Sims might be on the outs.

I suspect that Egnew, Miller and Ogbuehi have more to worry about. Gator Hoskins may be slotted as a FB/H-back.

 

[WVDolphan]

Positives
· Dennis Hickey was correct to take Ju’wuan James at 19. Yes, it may have been possible to trade down some. However, a RT starved team may have been able to jump Miami and snag James if Hickey had bailed. To me there was a significant drop off from James to Morgan Moses, Joel Bitonio and Cyrus Kouandijo. Hickey must also be given credit for also taking James before the run occurred on the next group of linemen.

· Hickey and Philbin had to address the Offensive Line. Between yielding 50 plus sacks and the Martin Fiasco, the line needed an upgrade in talent and simply new faces. With Branden Albert, Shelley Smith, Ju’wuan James and Billy Turner, the line has been upgraded and fits the objectives of the offense. The line is now more athletic fitting a ZBS. However, make no mistake, this line was put together to pass block. I expect the team to sling the ball around a ton this year. With the addition of Knowshon Moreno, a tremendous pass blocker, I expect the Dolphins to “pitch and catch” even more than we have seen…and that is a lot.
· If anyone has an issue with the O-line being addressed early in the draft, they must acknowledge that Hickey was simply correcting “mistakes” of Bill Parcells and Jeff Ireland. Efforts to improve the line had to happen this offseason.

How do you know that James is so much better than those other 3 players? Hell, James could wind up being one of the best 2 linemen taken in the entire draft. We just dont know yet. Lets see them play, then decide. For all you know, those 3 guys you listed could all be better than James.

Secondly, what run on the next group of linemen? There were 4 linemen taken who were projected as 1st round picks. Then James went a few picks later, but much higher than most anticipated. After that, 2 of the guys you mentioned went in round 2 and Moses in like round 3 or something. I hardly call that a run on linemen.

The bottom line on all of that is unless James turns out to be significantly better than those 3 players, Hickey made a colossal mistake by not trading down and getting more picks if a deal was indeed available. Because even if someone had taken James before our eventual pick, those 3 guys you mentioned would have certainly been available.

As for the part about correcting Parcells and Ireland's mistakes.................... wasnt their mistake in that they drafted OL too early and too often while missing opportunities to solve the QB issue? If so, then Hickey might not be correcting mistakes and instead repeating them.

 

[Austin Tatious]

MIA has 4 x 300+ lbs DTs, three of them starting quality. DT is not a weakness.......




.

You are citing essentially the lower reaches of what an effective DT can weigh if not close to a bright line limit with only a few outliers. So, when Hayden is saying "wide bodied" it is in that context meaning, wide bodied relative to the typical. Paul Soiiai goes 340, not 300. Miami lost a wide body like him and replaced him with a quicker athlete in Earl Mitchell who is a gap penetrator as opposed to a gap filler like Soliai. Ideally you have a rotation of guys who complement each other. Right now, Miami lacks the big wide bodied guy.

 

[roy_miami]

The bottom line on all of that is unless James turns out to be significantly better than those 3 players, Hickey made a colossal mistake by not trading down and getting more picks if a deal was indeed available. Because even if someone had taken James before our eventual pick, those 3 guys you mentioned would have certainly been available..

The bottom line is if James is a decent cornfed and Tannehill can get us 10 or 11 wins nobody will give a ****. I'm sure many Eagles fans hated the Johnson pick and I would guess very few are complaining about it now. And I'm pretty sure the Saints deal for their third round pick was on the table so if rejecting that was a "colossal mistake" then where do you draw the line for fair compensation? Would you have taken their 5th or 6th just to make sure we got a "free" pick?

Do you know what would have happened if hedid make the trade for a third? Let me lay it out for you: The same people complaining now would still be whining about reaching for James. People would make up stories that we were targeting Cooks or something and let him get away. And people would be killing Hickey for giving up too much value in trading down.

I'm pretty sure Hickey went into the day prepared and knew exactly what he would accept as fair compensation ahead of time, I know I appreciate that approach over this frazzled "OMG, WE GOTTA TAKE WHATEVER WE CAN GET" mindset. I called it in the chat that when the Cowboys couldn't move down and none of the top prospects fell that we were probably ****ed.

 

[DolfanDuBbZ~]

How do you know that James is so much better than those other 3 players? Hell, James could wind up being one of the best 2 linemen taken in the entire draft. We just dont know yet. Lets see them play, then decide. For all you know, those 3 guys you listed could all be better than James.

Secondly, what run on the next group of linemen? There were 4 linemen taken who were projected as 1st round picks. Then James went a few picks later, but much higher than most anticipated. After that, 2 of the guys you mentioned went in round 2 and Moses in like round 3 or something. I hardly call that a run on linemen.

The bottom line on all of that is unless James turns out to be significantly better than those 3 players, Hickey made a colossal mistake by not trading down and getting more picks if a deal was indeed available. Because even if someone had taken James before our eventual pick, those 3 guys you mentioned would have certainly been available.

As for the part about correcting Parcells and Ireland's mistakes.................... wasnt their mistake in that they drafted OL too early and too often while missing opportunities to solve the QB issue? If so, then Hickey might not be correcting mistakes and instead repeating them.

We should follow Atls blue print. Oh wait.

 

[SF Dolphin Fan]

I think Miami had a pretty solid draft. James and Turner should both start as rookies. James, in particular, should be an instant upgrade over Clabo at right tackle. I think Landry will end up as the "slot" guy for Miami beating out Gibson. Aiken and Tripp are intriguing and may develop down the road. If Miami can cut the sacks in half and give Tannehill time to set and throw, this draft is a success. It looks good, in that sense, on paper.

I really don't like the linebackers on this team at all, unless someone like Jordan emerges there. The coaching staff has indicated that Jordan is a DE and that concerns me as to whether the coaching here is good enough to use a player like Jordan creatively. I also think the team could struggle against physical teams as Miami has become much more finese overall under Philibin.

 

[dlockz]

Amazing how you spinned on the James pick. You had a thread about over and underrated and talked about James should be available at 50 along with Moses and at that point it was a good pick.
So a guy you thought should be available at 50 is now a good pick at 19. OK. The same with quite a bit of the board. All we heard is don't reach on a lineman but as soon as we took one that many did not have rated that high its a good pick.

---------- Post added at 01:44 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:43 AM ----------

We should follow Atls blue print. Oh wait.

Atlanta had a bad season last year but in comparism to our blue print its not even a discussion at least they have made the playoffs quite a few times but of course not making the playoffs is the same in some people's eyes

 

[Digital]

You are citing essentially the lower reaches of what an effective DT can weigh if not close to a bright line limit with only a few outliers. So, when Hayden is saying "wide bodied" it is in that context meaning, wide bodied relative to the typical. Paul Soiiai goes 340, not 300. Miami lost a wide body like him and replaced him with a quicker athlete in Earl Mitchell who is a gap penetrator as opposed to a gap filler like Soliai. Ideally you have a rotation of guys who complement each other. Right now, Miami lacks the big wide bodied guy.

I realize that you were not responding to me, but I just wanted to say that it is an excellent point.

With Soliai our run defense was adequate but not great because our fast LB's were not strong enough. When teams wanted to run on us hey had some success. But when Soliai wasn't available and they could game plan for it, our run defense was very poor.

When we played all gap penetrators like we will full time this year, it is gambling on every play. We don't have a guy dictating the double team and so the offense Se dictates play to us and opens holes. If our quick guys can't jump the hole and hit them behind the line of scrimmage, we gift the offense easy yardage and become very vulnerable to being worn down and run over completely by the 4th quarter.

Last year we won with our defense and our underneath game to Gibson moving the chains. Without Soliai, we will need to offense to dominate regularly. That adds a lot of pressure.

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[northnj dolfan]

love reading your assessments, spot on!!