Hyde- 5 Decisions that sunk the Dolphins

[Shouright]

The article focuses on THIS regime only, not the Culpepper/Brees years, and I couldn't agree with it more.

The thing can be boiled down to this: if you're going to draft for the trenches over playmakers, which is the outdated Parcellsian philosophy Hyde is talking about, you better be DOMINANT in the trenches, on both sides of the ball.

We're neither dominant there, nor do we have playmakers.

That's the problem in a nutshell, and why this team is so inept.

 

[Shouright]

falcons drafted matt ryan and sam baker. we got chad henne and jake long. pick your poison.

I'll take the poison that was 13-3 last year.

 

[hoops]

The article focuses on THIS regime only, not the Culpepper/Brees years, and I couldn't agree with it more.

The thing can be boiled down to this: if you're going to draft for the trenches over playmakers, which is the outdated Parcellsian philosophy Hyde is talking about, you better be DOMINANT in the trenches, on both sides of the ball.

We're neither dominant there, nor do we have playmakers.

That's the problem in a nutshell, and why this team is so inept.

but yet you can't see the wisdom in wanting to make sure we get andrew luck...

 

[Shouright]

but yet you can't see the wisdom in wanting to make sure we get andrew luck...

Sure I can. I just want the six hundred and fifty-two threads about it merged into one place, so I don't have to wade through them all to find something useful to read.

 

[Rev Kev]

Philly ignore the trenches equals 4 losses let's not make it sound like RT and C aren't important - we have big NT and dominant DTs in this division and the run sets up the pass always has and always will have the safety and LBers biting

 

[Rev Kev]

So dominant is matt ryan the falcons invested rather gave up a lot to move up for Julio because Matt is poor with big chunk yardage plays - the plays he needs to beat GB or NO consistently. Matt cannot manage chunk yardage plays they throw well when Turner gets his yardage in chunks on the ground. ATL should have went secondary as you saw for yourself that Rodgers will eat them alive with 400 yards. Play makers are great but you still need guys in the trenches - I like a C and a NT and as long as Long can heal we are OK for our next top 3 QB selection

 

[walt]

you can, but the point is picking the top line talent over the top playmaker talent is what was the mistake. Playmakers, not lineman, are what wins in todays nfl

Actually, that isn't true at all. If you look at teams that have won multiple Super Bowls, virtually all of them have had an outstanding OL - Dolphins of the 70's, Steelers of the both the 70's and 2000's, Cowboys of the 90's, Broncos of the late 90's, Patriots of the 2000's. While one player does not make an offensive line, a high performing OL anchored by a couple of Pro Bowl caliber players is very much a key to long term success. Franchise QB's don't look like franchise QB's if they don't have time to throw, or if they can't mix it up with a running game. If Marino's OL could run block, he would have had a few Super Bowl wins.

 

[walt]

I have a big disagreement with #1 (Drafting Jake Long over Matt Ryan). Has Matt Ryan won a Superbowl? Would Ryan have been any better here in Miami???....think about the weapons Ryan has with the Falcons: Gonzalez, White, Harry Douglas, Julio Jones, Michael Turner, compared to Miami which has an overrated Brandon Marshall at WR, and not much of a running game or anything else.

I think the main reason Miami has had problems is they have never brought in an heir-replacement to Marino who really was an upper echelon college QB. They also never brought in any free agent QB's who were all that great. When you never draft a QB in the first round you can't expect much (Not that all great QB's are first round picks, but it helps). Not having a franchise QB has probably been the main reason guys like JJ, Wannstadt, Saban, Cam Cameron have not lasted long as head coach.

Is it me, or did your second paragraph contradict your first paragraph? I thought you point was, which I agree with, that a franchise QB does no good without a supporting cast.

 

[SpaceMountain16]

Matt Ryan is a GOOD QB, not a great one. Taking Jake Long over him was not a mistake, not for what the Dolphins have gotten out of Long (when healthy) - which has generally been a brick wall. A perennial all-pro LT.

If you want to point at a mistake, how about drafting Ronnie Brown over Aaron Rogers? At the time I wanted Aaron Rogers (or Cedric Benson) but was more than happy to have Ronnie Brown. And Ronnie produced for us for a number of years, but overall - now that he's off of the team - wasn't the player we hoped for. As Rogers moves towards a Hall of Fame career with the Packers. This was not an Ireland/Sparano/Parcells move, but it's a move that is still effecting the franchise to this day. Along with not getting Drew Brees. Draft misses like Jason Allen, Travis Daniels, Channing Crowder etc.

Top to bottom this organization is a failure, so pointing to 5 incidents is pointless.