So, let's look ahead to the off season shall we?

[Kyndig]

First of all, congratulations to the Dolphins, I feel like for the first time in 15 years we have a chance to build upon this years success to have sustainable success going forward.

This is what I feel like our highest off season needs are:

3 linebackers (two starters and another for depth)
2 Defensive backs (1 more starting cornerback, and one more safety)
1 Starting Guard
1 Center who is starter quality who could play guard when Pouncey is healthy, and move inside to start at center when Pouncey inevitably gets injured again
1 Tight End upgrade if we can find one
1 Defensive End who can rush the passer just for the future more than anything else as who knows how long Cam can keep it up.

Obviously, well use both Free agency and the draft to address these needs, so who is the best available?

Here are the top guards available:

Kevin Zeitler	87.1	G	27	CIN	1087	UFA
T.J. Lang	85.7	G	29	GB	791	UFA
Andrew Norwell	85.7	G	25	CAR	1108	RFA
Larry Warford	82.0	G	26	DET	974	UFA

2017 Free Agent Guard class is a little thin. I didn't bother with anyone lower rated than 82. the large numbers are the number of snaps this year. Clearly Zeitler, and Lang look like our best options here.

Here are the top Centers:

J.C. Tretter	84.1	C	26	GB	488	UFA
A.Q. Shipley	82.4	C	31	ARZ	1148	UFA

Very thin with the centers as well, we should probably should draft one.

Here are the top linebackers available:

Dont'a Hightower	85.1	LB	27	NE	709	UFA
Perry Riley	84.2	LB	31	OAK	625	UFA
Zach Brown	84.1	LB	27	BUF	978	UFA
Gerald Hodges	82.4	LB	26	SF	584	UFA

Buffalo is in turmoil, and a crappy place to live, so perhaps we can pick up Zach Brown? Not sure what Oakland's salary cap situation is, but perhaps we can also have a shot at Perry Riley?

Here are the top Corners available:

A.J. Bouye	90.9	CB	26	HST	717	UFA
Malcolm Butler	90.8	CB	27	NE	1007	RFA
Terence Newman	86.4	CB	38	MIN	754	UFA
Morris Claiborne	84.9	CB	27	DAL	406	UFA
Darius Butler	82.6	CB	31	IND	472	UFA
Logan Ryan	81.9	CB	26	NE	896	UFA
Trumaine Johnson	81.0	CB	27	LA	954	UFA

Some good talent available here. A.J. Bouye being the cream of the crop and no doubt expensive. Morris Clairborne may be able to be had considering Dallas's salary cap situation.


There aren't any good Free Agent Safeties available, so we are going to have to continue to develop our own and draft one, Same with tight ends, I don't see Bellichick letting Bennet get away.

There are some Free Agent Defensive Ends available if we want to upgrade our pass rush:

Melvin Ingram	88.1	ED	28	SD	960	UFA
Chandler Jones	87.4	ED	27	ARZ	938	UFA
Jason Pierre-Paul	86.2	ED	28	NYG	793	UFA

Melvin Ingram or Chandler Jones would be really nice additions. We have quite a bit of cap space available, so perhaps we might try and make a splash here?

I got all of this data from PFF:

https://www.profootballfocus.com/pro-2017-free-agency-tracker/

Now onto the draft.

Here are the top 10 Linebackers according to Sports Illustrated:

1	Reuben Foster	Alabama	6' 1", 240 lbs.
2	Zach Cunningham	Vanderbilt	6' 4", 230 lbs.
3	​Raekwon McMillan	Ohio State	6' 2", 243 lbs.
4	Jarrad Davis	Florida	6' 2", 238 lbs.
5	Kendell Beckwith	LSU	6' 3", 247 lbs.
6	Anthony Walker	Northwestern	6' 1", 235 lbs.
7	Jalen Reeves-Maybin	Tennessee	6' 0", 230 lbs.
8	Vince Biegel	Wisconsin	6' 4", 245 lbs.
9	Micah Kiser​	Virginia	6' 2", 240 lbs.
10	Matt Milano	Boston College	6' 1", 221 lbs.

You can probably eliminate Zach Cunningham and Matt Milano, they are too small. According to Walter Football, every one of these linebackers should be available to us when we draft. Rueben Foster is and inside linebacker, and I could see one scenario where we could draft him (which I would be thrilled), we kick Kiko to the outside, and then maybe we sign Zach Brown from Buffalo to instantly upgrade our linebacking corp.

These are the outside linebackers or Defensive ends (edge rushers available in the draft)

1	Myles Garrett	Texas A&M	6' 5", 262 lbs.
2	Derek Barnett	Tennessee	6' 3", 265 lbs.
3	Tim Williams	Alabama	6' 4", 252 lbs..
4	​DeMarcus Walker	Florida State	6' 4", 280 lbs.
5	Solomon Thomas	Stanford	6' 3", 256 lbs.
6	Carl Lawson​	Auburn	6' 2", 253 lbs.
7	Takkarist McKinley	UCLA	6' 4", 230 lbs.
8	Charles Harris	Missouri	6' 3", 235 lbs.
9	Harold Landry	Boston College	6' 3", 250 lbs.
10	Ryan Anderson	Alabama	6' 2", 253 lbs

Tricky to project who would be available to us in this category, I've Perhaps Charles Harris, or Carl Lawson? There seems to be a consensus that this is a pretty deep group of pass rushing edge players available, so we should be able to get somebody good in this group.

Here are the top Cornerbacks available in the draft:

1	Quincy Wilson	Florida	6' 1", 213 lbs.
2	Desmond King	Iowa	5' 11", 203 lbs.
3	Sidney Jones	Washington	6' 0", 181 lbs.
4	Marlon Humphrey	Alabama	6' 1", 198 lbs.
5	​Jourdan Lewis	Michigan	5' 11", 186 lbs.
6	Jalen Tabor​	Florida	6' 0", 191 lbs.
7	Marshon Lattimore	Ohio State	6' 0", 192 lbs.
8	Cordrea Tankersley	Clemson	6' 1", 200 lbs.
9	Gareon Conley​	Ohio State	6' 0", 195 lbs.
10	Chidobe Awuzie	Colorado	6' 0", 195 lbs.

Another deep class, some of the taller cornerbacks which seems to be our preference should be available when we draft such as Marlon Humphrey for example.

Here are the safeties:

1	Jabrill Peppers	Michigan	6' 1", 205 lbs.
2	Jamal Adams	LSU	6' 1", 213 lbs.
3	Malik Hooker	Ohio State	6' 2", 205 lbs.
4	Budda Baker	Washington	5' 10", 192 lbs.
5	Justin Evans	Texas A&M	6' 1", 195 lbs.
6	Marcus Maye	Florida	6' 0", 216 lbs.
7	Marcus Williams	Utah	6' 1", 195 lbs.
8	Eddie Jackson	Alabama	6' 0", 194 lbs.
9	Quin Blanding	Virginia	6' 2", 215 lbs.
10	Josh Harvey-Clemons	Louisville	6' 5", 212 lbs.

Walter Football has 3 safeties coming off the board before we pick 1st. I would still think that Linebacker is a higher priority for us, but it just depends on who is available when you are picking, you never know.

Tight end is a deep class this year, check this out:

1	O.J. Howard	Alabama	6' 6", 251 lbs.
2	Jake Butt	Michigan	6' 6", 250 lbs.
3	Evan Engram	Ole Miss	6' 3", 235 lbs.
4	Bucky Hodges	Virginia Tech	6' 7", 245 lbs.
5	Jeremy Sprinkle	Arkansas	6' 6", 256 lbs.
6	Gerald Everett	South Alabama	6' 4", 215 lbs.
7	Jordan Leggett	Clemson	6' 5", 260 lbs.
8	Cole Hikutini	Louisville	6' 5", 248 lbs.
9	Michael Roberts	Toledo	6' 5", 270 lbs.
10	Josiah Price	Michigan State	6' 4", 248 lbs.

I would be absolutely thrilled with either Howard or Butt, that would be a nice weapon to add to our offense that could help with both the passing and run game.

Lastly, here are the top Centers:

1	Pat Elflein	Ohio State	6' 3", 300 lbs.
2	Ethan Pocic	LSU	6' 7", 302 lbs.
3	Tyler Orlosky	West Virginia	6' 4", 296 lbs.
4	Kyle Fuller	Baylor	6' 5", 315 lbs.
5	Jon Toth	Kentucky	6' 5", 310 lbs.

Pocic can pull, has good mobility, so he is definitely worth looking at.

Here is the link for those draft rankings:

http://www.si.com/2017-nfl-draft-position-rankings

In summary, we have quite a bit of salary cap room in 2017, and there are many opportunities where we can upgrade our linebackers, secondary, and interior O-line which are the highest priorities as well as sign some of the many players that we want to keep that are free agents this year. Matt Moore just got stripped sacked and it is halftime. Normally, this would make me sad, but I am quite optimistic about the future, I think we will be even better next year if we address some of the holes mentioned above.

 

[Kyndig]

There may be more cuts that I didn't anticipate after this one

 

[Kyndig]

Don[t worry guys, Ryan has one more year in Gase's system, comes back healthy, we plug a few holes and we will not get blown out in the first round of the playoffs next year!

 

[Rolltide03]

Sign Hightower, Clairborne and one of the quality guards. Get Foster round 1, and trade up in the 2nd for Howard. Eddie Jackson would be good a pick if he's there in the 4th

 

[Ryan1973]

I just saw on ESPN where we have the 22nd pick in the 1st round.

 

[royalshank]

The entire FA class is meh. Going to be a lot of competition for a handful of guys = huge overpayments coming. I like this Malcom Butler and not because what he did in the SB - I watch him play he is always in the right place. X-factor in Dion Jordan coming back?

 

[Kyndig]

Sign Hightower, Clairborne and one of the quality guards. Get Foster round 1, and trade up in the 2nd for Howard. Eddie Jackson would be good a pick if he's there in the 4th

I doubt the Patriocheets let Hightower get away.

 

[Kyndig]

The entire FA class is meh. Going to be a lot of competition for a handful of guys = huge overpayments coming. I like this Malcom Butler and not because what he did in the SB - I watch him play he is always in the right place. X-factor in Dion Jordan coming back?

No way the Patriots let Butler get away, then again, maybe he'll be to expensive. There are a couple of solid linebackers available in Riley and Brown, and a couple of corners and guards, but in general, yes you are right, not a deep free Agent class pre-cap casualty cuts. Those guys are usually a bit older though, but with our cap space I think we can get 3 or 4 quality Free agents to help out at positions of need. We'll see I suppose...

 

[Njphinsfan]

Don't see Houston parting with Bouye, they'll pay him. If not, he will demand a lot of money. The kid is good. Would love him, but we would be silly to spend that kind of money on 1 guy when we need like 10. But, boy would I love to see him in a Dolphins uniform!! We haven't had a shutdown corner in a while. Grimes was good when he first got here, but he wasn't a shutdown corner.

 

[DrH238]

Don[t worry guys, Ryan has one more year in Gase's system, comes back healthy, we plug a few holes and we will not get blown out in the first round of the playoffs next year!

Unless tannehill has the surgery to repair his acl, we will constantly have to worry about it tearing the rest of the way next season.

 

[ronnieb_23]

Take care of our own guys first

Kevin zietler and zach brown for sure then possibly a corner. I think our secondary is a solid group but it depends how they feel about Maxwell

If we draft a MLB in round one then I love the Alonso, Foster/Cunningham, Brown possibility

 

[AL R]

Like all the effort you put into the thread. I dont think its likely we can fill all those positions/wants you have listed. I dont really expect that much coming out of FA except maybe attempting to re sign some of our own. Hoping we get at least 2 good players out of the draft so LB and Dline would be my choice, would love the TE for Gase but dont see how that may work unless a later pick. So lets say we get maybe 3 good players?

Going to maybe have to go into next year with all these corners we have including the rookies we picked this year. Maybe a Lucas and a Hendy can be players next yr. we need some more of this years draft class to grow and step up some also.

 

[Despacio]

Build through the draft not FA. From what we've seen Gase seems to prefer the low key approach not the big splashy FA approach which has not really benefited Miami the past decade.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Kyndig]

Build through the draft not FA. From what we've seen Gase seems to prefer the low key approach not the big splashy FA approach which has not really benefited Miami the past decade.
k

It's not a zero sum game, we can use both the draft and free agency to add talent to our team.

 

[Kingdom Come]

The cap room is going to be there and it has to be spent. Of course we are signing some free agents. All teams sign free agents. Some more than others but, all teams function basically the same. Obviously, coaching and front office decisions are far more important than most fans realize.

We have several players who aren't playing anywhere near what their pay level is; or, they aren't playing at all because they are always injured. Cuts and restructures with reductions are coming.

The Dolphins will likely enter the free agency period with around 50 million in cap room after they sign their own free agents who played well and are willing to sign a reasonable contract.

If we don't overpay for an elite free agent guard, and the best LB we can possibly get,then, our GM is truly an idiot.

A couple more things to consider....Brandon Albert had an abysmal year grading out at the bottom of league, and he isn't getting any younger. For crying out loud, stop counting on Mike Pouncey to be healthy, and if he is healthy, there is no guarantee that he will ever be as effective as he once was. He is enormously overpaid. His contract was an abomination from the start.