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Kudos to Grier/Flores

Below average would be a HUGE upgrade to what we had last season and probably what we'll have this season. We won't be below average, we'll be bottom 7 (which would be a big improvement from last year). The world is not falling nor is the team trending the wrong way, but the one spot to not be overly optimistic is the RB room and production - we are going to be dismal again.
 
We had more draft resources than anyone. And while we may not have maximized their uses, IMHO, we still came away with 5 good football players and potentially one great player in Jaelan Phillips if everything works out. Who knows, maybe Waddle can deliver on the Tyreek Hill comparison everyone seems to want to make ... but I doubt it. Holland is an intriguing prospect who, like Phillips, is perfectly suited for Coach Flo's defense, and could really flourish into a top player. But, he has a lot of risk as well. He's a thin kid and has had some injuries. He is in that danger zone of becoming a jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none that is precisely what Minkah Fitzpatrick wanted to avoid. The Swiss Army Knife of good but not great. The Crash Jensen of Coach Flo's defense.

Tua can't say we didn't build around him, because with a high 1st round WR choice (Waddle), high 2nd round OT choice (Eichenberg/Mr.Eincredible), and a highly rated 3rd round TE (Long), we essentially surrounded him with an entire draft on top of an entire draft last year 1st (Austin Jackson), 2nd (Robert Hunt) and 4th (Solomon Kindley), plus big FA acquisitions in WR Will Fuller and C Skura to go along with the most productive TE room in Miami Dolphins' history. So, if Tua cannot succeed ... it's not because we didn't surround him with talent. That's like 9 of the other 10 starting positions on offense fully invested in building around Tua. We have set Tua up for tailor-made success. If it doesn't work ... it's on Tua.

So the clock starts ticking. What is our offense's PPD (Points Per Drive), what is Tua's YPA (Yards Per Attempt), what is our 3rd down conversion rate? These are now all on the table as valid discussion topics. He's fully healed, fully supported, stocked with lots of top talent from both the legacy team, draft, and free agency. If Grier is going to build a winner ... the time is now.

No more talk about us rebuilding. We are rebuilt.

Now let's WIN. The clock starts NOW.
Well said, but there will be the 2 OC thing “IF” he fails.
 
While there's no way to know how successful a draft is just hours after it's completion, by all accounts it sure looks like Grier/Flores nailed it. We are hearing that from scouts and media, which are almost all in agreement. The Sporting News ranked the teams drafts from 1-32, and the Dolphins were at #1. Mel Kiper said "Miami crushed it." Just a few views, but I also felt the same way. I am cautiously optimistic, knowing that these assessments can go south in a hurry and how much injuries factor into NFL success.

On paper, Miami looks ready to compete for an AFC East title, though. Buffalo certainly has to be the favorite and I don't think you can discount New England either. At first glance, all the rivals in the AFC East looked like they drafted well. The one player I am unsure about is Rousseau, who went to Buffalo in R1. Unlike Phillips, he doesn't win at the snap, but he is a good closer and has good vision to the ball. I do think Basham is underrated. Elijah Moore to NYJ was an absolute steal for them, as was Barmore to New England.

Anyway, back to the Dolphins. With free agency and the draft, Grier has improved the wide receiver room significantly, the offensive line, the secondary and potentially the pass rush. Skura could be an upgrade over Karras and the linebacker room is potentially better, although that could be debatable.

What do you all see as the team's weakness at this point? Is it running back, center?

I, too, am cautiously optimistic
 
I like that the Dolphins didn’t draft a RB in the first two rounds. I think its better value to draft RBs in the later rounds. The Dolphins have a pretty young team so that might be a weakness. The team should only get better in the next few years.

I read somewhere that Flo & Grier believe you need to establish the OL & vertical passing game 1st.

When you have those, you can then slather gravy on the potatoes.... so to speak
 
Below average would be a HUGE upgrade to what we had last season and probably what we'll have this season. We won't be below average, we'll be bottom 7 (which would be a big improvement from last year). The world is not falling nor is the team trending the wrong way, but the one spot to not be overly optimistic is the RB room and production - we are going to be dismal again.
If our passing game is as a dismal as it was last year, expect to see the same thing.
 
If we have a bottom 20-25% in the league run game then something went drastically wrong with our line, pass game or both. I think it's going to be shocking and refreshing for us to watch how honest defenses are going to have to play us now having added two legit play-making speed demons. Tua will be able to torture defenses with the short stuff all day but be able to go over the top anytime. Would have been quite helpful to have that down the stretch last year as Grant dropped, what, 4 or 5 fifty yarders game after game just killing any offensive momentum or continuity.

Gaskins and the crew are good enough to be average if our line is actually good this year and not a liability and with this speed addition. Plus we have two additional backs for depth and the all important short yardage situation. Not perfect but should be a heck of an improvement on last year and can be solved once and for all hopefully with just one high RB pick down the road if that really is all we lack. I like starting with play making speed at WR and a good OL, average backs will look fine in that situation.
 
Well said, but there will be the 2 OC thing “IF” he fails.
Great point. I'd say that this ultimately falls on Coach Flo depending upon how the team does. If the team succeeds, he's a genius for doing it and bold for going against the grain. If the team falters, it will be pointed to as an obvious mistake and bad management. If the team loses and the offense succeeds, people will be pointing fingers everywhere, LOL. Let's hope it works ... and we can return to normalcy soon without losing good coaches.
 
What would have been "right"?

Smith or nothing?
They traded up for Eichenberg. Why not just take Sewell at 6?
If you are committed to WR at 6, then I’d take Smith.

Like I said, I hope it works out for the best. I believe they could have gone another way and had better results.
 
I read somewhere that Flo & Grier believe you need to establish the OL & vertical passing game 1st.

When you have those, you can then slather gravy on the potatoes.... so to speak
That makes sense. Still, I do wonder if Williams was the target at #36.
 
What would have been "right"?

Smith or nothing?
IMO, getting it right would have been a second quarterback. Jones fell beyond the 12 slot that we briefly owned, and Fields fell within a cheap ladder back up. Obviously that's impossible to pinpoint ahead of time. But with 5 highly rated quarterbacks I think Miami's priority should have been to come away with one of them. I am not a believer in arbitrarily calling a guy a franchise quarterback then waiting around for him. How can anyone argue there's not enough time or reps in practice based on what we've experienced recently, when reporters covering those events didn't have any trouble proclaiming that Fitzpatrick was well ahead of Rosen, etc? It's a ridiculous cop out to pretend you don't know anything unless both guys have equal footing in game situations with the first team.

Trey Lance is a really impressive guy. Frankly I didn't know a darn thing about him until watching the interviews and clips. He's extremely well spoken and seems to be sharp. From a football standpoint he holds the ball low and he's got too long of a windup. That stuff needs to be cleaned up. He also needs to put on some weight. Right now he's built like a Fresno State quarterback. That's the look they always send out recently, an athletic kid who technically also throws the ball.

I think Grier got stuck on the notion of wide receiver and playing hopscotch instead of grasping the immense value of the 3 pick, especially given 5 quarterbacks in play. Or maybe 3 quarterbacks since 2 would be gone. He should have taken his best shot in terms of identifying who he preferred among Jones/Fields/Lance and then maneuvered accordingly. Or don't maneuver at all if you think you can only get him at 3. It seemed obvious late that Justin Fields would slip somewhat. He's got the great downfield capability but hindered by the awful high elbow crank. This organization needs a specialized coach who understands mechanics at every position and can evaluate stuff like Lance's long delivery and Fields' poor backswing.

We are now drafting impressive human beings, and not glassy eyed airheads like Dion Jordan. That's the greatest difference I see recently. My youth featured the same type of thing. We were considered the smartest most resourceful team in the league in those days and it was immediately apparent as soon as you heard them speak. Then somehow for decade after decade we brainstormed to draft guys who made me cringe upon the first sentence or two out of their mouth. Even if I wasn't thrilled with the Hunter Long pick there's no question he fits the blueprint of type of guy who Flores will appreciate because he's got a lot of Flores in him.

Tua's college tape looks very ordinary the more I look at it. That's the concern. Not the passes themselves but the effort required and the overall level of athlete delivering the ball. Last season I didn't care about YPA or anything else compared to the shocking aspect that Tua looked a bit overmatched out there. Contrast to Bon Griese who never looked out of place for one second. I wouldn't have been intent on a second swing at quarterback without those images of Tua as lacking. Now he just needs to prove me wrong via all the adjustments like strength training and one year further removed from injury. In the meantime I wish we had someone like Justin Fields or Trey Lance or Mac Jones on the roster even if it meant forfeiting Jaylen Waddle.
 
They traded up for Eichenberg. Why not just take Sewell at 6?
If you are committed to WR at 6, then I’d take Smith.

Like I said, I hope it works out for the best. I believe they could have gone another way and had better results.
I always believe my way I'd better too
 
We had more draft resources than anyone. And while we may not have maximized their uses, IMHO, we still came away with 5 good football players and potentially one great player in Jaelan Phillips if everything works out. Who knows, maybe Waddle can deliver on the Tyreek Hill comparison everyone seems to want to make ... but I doubt it. Holland is an intriguing prospect who, like Phillips, is perfectly suited for Coach Flo's defense, and could really flourish into a top player. But, he has a lot of risk as well. He's a thin kid and has had some injuries. He is in that danger zone of becoming a jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none that is precisely what Minkah Fitzpatrick wanted to avoid. The Swiss Army Knife of good but not great. The Crash Jensen of Coach Flo's defense.

Tua can't say we didn't build around him, because with a high 1st round WR choice (Waddle), high 2nd round OT choice (Eichenberg/Mr.Eincredible), and a highly rated 3rd round TE (Long), we essentially surrounded him with an entire draft on top of an entire draft last year 1st (Austin Jackson), 2nd (Robert Hunt) and 4th (Solomon Kindley), plus big FA acquisitions in WR Will Fuller and C Skura to go along with the most productive TE room in Miami Dolphins' history. So, if Tua cannot succeed ... it's not because we didn't surround him with talent. That's like 9 of the other 10 starting positions on offense fully invested in building around Tua. We have set Tua up for tailor-made success. If it doesn't work ... it's on Tua.

So the clock starts ticking. What is our offense's PPD (Points Per Drive), what is Tua's YPA (Yards Per Attempt), what is our 3rd down conversion rate? These are now all on the table as valid discussion topics. He's fully healed, fully supported, stocked with lots of top talent from both the legacy team, draft, and free agency. If Grier is going to build a winner ... the time is now.

No more talk about us rebuilding. We are rebuilt.

Now let's WIN. The clock starts NOW.
Gotta agree. Impressive that they concentrated on the line. Loved bringing in Fuller and Waddle in the same offseason, and a two TE set. Tua must get it done.
 
Gotta agree. Impressive that they concentrated on the line. Loved bringing in Fuller and Waddle in the same offseason, and a two TE set. Tua must get it done.
Exactly. Every combo is available, every package viable, every position has depth and redundancy. Tua will not be lacking for weapons or protection. And honestly, Gaskins and Ahmed are similar backs too, so you could say we have RB depth as well.
 
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