How many guys that we drafted have been busts in “top 40” picks over the past 35 years? I think you are overthinking things. We have consistently been drafting better than the league average over the past 5 drafts. Our 2021 draft is what wins championships. That is as good as it gets. What are your expectations?
You need to expand your view. We have no doubt the Dolphins can identify solid
defensive prospects.
We've seen it with
Howard,
Minkah,
Holland,
Kohou,
Baker,
Van Ginkel,
Wilkins,
Phillips, etc.
They've been able to bring in solid pieces in trade and free agency as well:
Elliott,
Long,
Seiler,
Chubb, etc.
Drafting for defense has been solid since
Jeff Ireland was around. We have many of the same scouts so it makes sense we continue to find solid, reliable players. We tend to default to a lot of big programs anyhow which I think keeps us pretty safe: Clemson, Alabama, Ohio State, Texas, Miami, etc. A few R1 picks combined with quality DCs like
Brian Flores and
Vic Fangio running your defenses you ought to be pretty respectable which we've been.
The '21 draft still emphasized the same problems we've continuously seen though--namely OL.
> You drafted
Jaylen Waddle when you could've had one of the NFL's best Tackles in
Penei Sewell.
> You drafted
Jevon Holland when you could've had
Landon Dickerson (2x Pro Bowl Center for the Eagles).
> You drafted
Liam Eichenberg when you could've had
Creed Humphrey (2x Pro Bowl & 2nd team All-Pro Center for the Chiefs).
At some point you have to start hitting on more offensive linemen. Note how the Lions were on the doorstep of the Super Bowl and how the Eagles and Chiefs have actually been there with those OL they took. It matters.
And you can't be citing a WR you picked in the Top-10 as great value. That's a huge indulgence for a team that needed more interior players. Fact is, they had to draft a WR in the Top-10 largely because of all the previous failures they had on the roster at the time, many of whom were players they drafted in the years immediately prior.
May I present our 2020 roster:
Preston Williams was another name continuously being given chances to start.
In fact, to further emphasize that issue they actually took TE
Hunter Long in R3 of that very 2021 Draft and (not surprisingly) he ended up doing
nothing. He's had 1 catch for 8 yards in his 3-yr NFL career.
You can't continuously fail at OL and bust that hard in the mid-rounds and sit there thinking that level of drafting,
'is what wins championships.'
You compare Miami's drafting to that of the worst teams. That's great if you want to be a team that wins somewhere between 7-11 games every season leading to an appearance on the road in Wildcard Weekend.
If you actually want to talk "championships" you have to face reality and ask for a level of drafting that we've never seen before. The problem is we're already behind when it comes to picks:
We don't have a pick in R3 or R4 and our highest is at #21 so we can't so easily find an elite talent like Jaylen Waddle to stick in somewhere.
Maybe Grier can step up but he's got to do more than good players in the Top-40. And unfortunately he's now set himself up with very little to actually work with.