The main problem with miami's drafts and free agents | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

The main problem with miami's drafts and free agents

fisi

fisi

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This team hasn't been lucky enough to draft or sign a team changing player since Jason Taylor. I mean in today's NFL, all it takes is a good player or two to turn a team's fortune around. We have been waiting for our Dolphins decision makers to hit that draft or FA lottery for ever. Take for instance, the dallas cowboys. They hit it on Dak and Zeke and you have to agree that team is changed for ever. Then the Atlanta Falcons, they hit with Deion Jones and another rookie lbs and that defense is changed forever. I remember back in the 90s, Miami hit it with Richmon Webb and another rookie lineman, forgot his name. Sims ?

All am struggling to say is I want team to draft one f those rookies hat will set the league on fire. We need to go into this draft, get two rookie linebackers and change this defense for good. I still cant believe in a very good linebackers draft, we got none! Also in a very good offensive line draft we only drafted one. We spent 5 picks on two players. Waoo!

On the other hand, I think with Jones, IAQ, Max, Lipett and Howard, Miami could have the best secondary in the NFL. Add two LBS and another pass rusher, our defense could be scary.
 
Wake was pretty team-changing. So was Jones. I think they got another in Ajayi. Tunsil was a very fortuitous pick as well.

I think the problem hasn't been the lack of team-changing players as you call them - it's that other parts of the team have been downright abysmal or ignored during "team-changing" players' tenure. It's not Cam Wake's fault we haven't had a QB since Marino. And if we did, Cam might have been to more playoff games. It's not Ajayi's fault we literally didn't have a linebacking corps this season.
 
Dak and Zeke would be ineffective if not for the O-line. Elliot averaged 3.2 yards per carry BEFORE CONTACT. Imagine if Ajayi ran behind a line like that...he'd be averaging over 6 ypc.
 
oasis said:
Wake was pretty team-changing. So was Jones. I think they got another in Ajayi. Tunsil was a very fortuitous pick as well. I think the problem hasn't been the lack of team-changing players as you call them - it's that other parts of the team have been downright abysmal or ignored during "team-changing" players' tenure. It's not Cam Wake's fault we haven't had a QB since Marino. And if we did, Cam might have been to more playoff games. It's not Ajayi's fault we literally didn't have a linebacking corps this season.
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One thing Miami HASN'T had in a loooonnng time is a play-making LB. KA is the best play-making LB fans have seen in decades?, which says a lot. Yeah, Jones and Wake are play-makers, but it seems GOOD Ds have a LB or two who make the big play in big situations. Miami? Not so much.
 
It's a good point.

I think a big part of the problem is that Miami has been a slave to need in the draft. Because of that, the team has consistently missed on better players. That, plus the changing of coaches and philosophies every few years and you get a bad formula for success.

That changed a little in last years' draft. I don't think previous regimes take a chance on Laremy Tunsil and he looks like a player who could consistently make pro bowls.

Miami does still need some game changing players, but above all I think finding stability in the coaching staff (schemes, philosophies) and front office will serve this team well.
 
psfign said:
Think Dion Jordan was supposed to be that.
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He was never going to be that. He was really an OLB on a 3-4 defense which we didn't play so there was no chance right from the start. He was not ever going to be a star DE on a 4-3 either. Horrible move by ireland and I hate it each time I'm reminded of it

Ozzy rules!!
 
I think Jarvis Landry is that type of player, Ajayi may prove out to be a super star. If we could get a year of good health out of DeVante Parker he could be a star in the making. A huge FA signing is Suh, arguably the best nose tackle in the game. It's been the horrible Coaching since Shula that has kept us from greatness. We now have a top tier Coach so things may just be going our way. We need a huge off season and 2 playmakers at LB, We need 2 guys like Ryan Shazier of the Steelers. We also could use some better luck with injuries. Every great player that we have was hurt at some point last year with the exception of Suh and Landry, that's just crazy bad luck.
 
If we get a stud on D via draft ill be very happy. Another DE or especially LB would solidify our D big time.
 
Linebacker

Again, we come to another position of need. The numbers regarding the linebackers surprised me. I will say again that these might be a little skewed because of the lack of converted DEs on the list.

Of the 303 players drafted, 72 became starters for at least half their careers.
Almost half of the linebackers drafted came in rounds 5-7 but only 5 total starters came from those rounds.
If you select a linebacker in the first round, there is a relatively low bust rate. As a matter of fact, Linebackers have the second highest first round success rate behind only the offensive line. 70% of first round linebackers were starters for at least half of their careers.
There isn't much drop off in the second round either, with a success rate of 55%.
The third round isn't that bad at 34% but after that the drop is steep with the 4th round plummeting to 16%, the 5th round to 4%, 5% in the 6th and only 2% success in the 7th.
For those debating the merits of Perryman, Kendricks, McKinney, Dawson, etc. with an early round pick, the numbers say they could be a good bet. However, those wanting to wait until the 4th round or later to find DJ's replacement will be really trying to find the needle in the haystack as Nico Johnson proved. For the Chiefs, we have been fortunate, in that, we have only drafted five LBs in the last 10 years and two of those have turned into All-Pros (Johnson and Houston). The statistics say that a LB in the first three rounds gives us an opportunity to keep the success rolling.
 
BSQ said:
I think Jarvis Landry is that type of player, Ajayi may prove out to be a super star. If we could get a year of good health out of DeVante Parker he could be a star in the making. A huge FA signing is Suh, arguably the best nose tackle in the game. It's been the horrible Coaching since Shula that has kept us from greatness. We now have a top tier Coach so things may just be going our way. We need a huge off season and 2 playmakers at LB, We need 2 guys like Ryan Shazier of the Steelers. We also could use some better luck with injuries. Every great player that we have was hurt at some point last year with the exception of Suh and Landry, that's just crazy bad luck.
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Problem with Ajayi, and the reason he fell in the draft, will be how long do his knees hold up? He may only have a 4 or 5 year shelf life.
 
I'm not too sold on having a team changing player that catapults you into greatness. Depth is crucial. I think solving the QB crisis was very important. However it did not solve our head coach issue. Had we solved both at the same time, I think we would have been in a much better position today.
 
Superself said:
I'm not too sold on having a team changing player that catapults you into greatness. Depth is crucial. I think solving the QB crisis was very important. However it did not solve our head coach issue. Had we solved both at the same time, I think we would have been in a much better position today.
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Depth is an issue. It's been an issue for a long time and other teams have the same problem. Many of our front line players this past season should be depth players. Improve the starters and we'd have pretty good depth. Problem is we let players go, create more holes and don't address the past years previous issues on the roster. We've got more holes than a New York City street.
 
The main problem with drafts/free agency has been poor leadership and no vision from the front office since JJ. You can't trade away picks. You have to stockpile as many as possible to increase your chances of success.
 
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