Top 15 Dolphins Drafts of All-Time | Page 2 | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

Top 15 Dolphins Drafts of All-Time

I think Stanfill was very underrated and so was Ven Den Herder. Great memories.
If memory serves Vern Den Herder and Bob Kuechenberg both played in all five of Miami's super bowls. Was there anyone else?
 
Along with Overstreet and Gordon, I believe Rusty Chambers died in that era as well. I feel like it was three years in a row we lost someone, or 3 out of 4?
Anyway...for those of us who were kids in the 70s, I enjoy talking about these old teams. I used to cry when they'd lose.
 
Along with Overstreet and Gordon, I believe Rusty Chambers died in that era as well. I feel like it was three years in a row we lost someone, or 3 out of 4?
Anyway...for those of us who were kids in the 70s, I enjoy talking about these old teams. I used to cry when they'd lose.
Losing was somewhat of a shock back then! I definitely expected Miami to win every week.
 
That draft would have been an absolute homerun if Miami took Randy Moss. Dan Marino to Randy Moss for a couple of seasons would have been fun.

I recall being VERY upset on draft day because I had my heart set on the small school WR (yes, I know about his history at Notre Dame and FSU).

MIA was sitting in prime position to land Moss at 19. IDK whether Jimmy Johnson didn't believe he'd slip that far or whether he just wanted no part of him, but when he traded down from #19 to #29 PRIOR to the draft I was devastated. As Moss continued to slip, I held out false hope that he might make it to #29. But, of course, he did not.

When Moss blew up right out of the gate in 1998 -- I nearly cried.

Other than maybe Jerry Rice, I don't believe there was a more taylor made WR for Dan Marino than Moss. Of course Danny was on his last legs, but I always dreamed about what his quick release and accurate throws down field to Moss would have looked like.

Now if he had a freak like Moss in back in his prime??? GTFO. If he could throw 18 TD's to 5'9 Mark Clayton, I could only imagine what unreachable records he could have set with Moss.

Moss was Duper (speed) and Clayton (vertical leap) rolled into one player but 7 inches taller!
 
I recall being VERY upset on draft day because I had my heart set on the small school WR (yes, I know about his history at Notre Dame and FSU).

MIA was sitting in prime position to land Moss at 19. IDK whether Jimmy Johnson didn't believe he'd slip that far or whether he just wanted no part of him, but when he traded down from #19 to #29 PRIOR to the draft I was devastated. As Moss continued to slip, I held out false hope that he might make it to #29. But, of course, he did not.

When Moss blew up right out of the gate in 1998 -- I nearly cried.

Other than maybe Jerry Rice, I don't believe there was a more taylor made WR for Dan Marino than Moss. Of course Danny was on his last legs, but I always dreamed about what his quick release and accurate throws down field to Moss would have looked like.

Now if he had a freak like Moss in back in his prime??? GTFO. If he could throw 18 TD's to 5'9 Mark Clayton, I could only imagine what unreachable records he could have set with Moss.

Moss was Duper (speed) and Clayton (vertical leap) rolled into one player but 7 inches taller!
JJ said right after the draft that if he had stayed at 19 he wasn't going to draft Moss.......he's said before he'd have draft Vonnie Holliday in that spot.
 
Yes....JJ did say that I remember. Whether it was a cover because he blew it we will never know.
But I remember that interview, he said 19 was too high..."but at 29? Well then we would have considered it."
"""
 
And speaking of crying after those seventies teams lost, one that stands out to me is that Monday night game at Houston when Earl Campbell made that long TD run...outran Curtis Johnson to the end zone. Just sick. Bad angles and all from the LB's.
 
JJ said right after the draft that if he had stayed at 19 he wasn't going to draft Moss.......he's said before he'd have draft Vonnie Holliday in that spot.

Yeah, I was gonna mention that. But I never believed his excuse. Bopkin is on the right track, IMO. It was a CYA move. JJ was well known as a shrewd evaluator of talent and draft champion. I don’t believe he wanted to admit he messed that one up by trading down too soon.

Even then, Vonnie Holiday would have been a much better move than what he did.
 
We selected John Avery at 29, correct?
You know, I understand he is one of the biggest first round busts in our history, but my complaint at the time with him was that, in my opinion, he was totally misused. They were just blasting him into the middle of the line the same way they were using Abdul Jabbar. They needed to get him out in space with swing passes or whatever- gadgets, be creative with him and there was NONE of that. He could have been a decent weapon had he been used properly, maybe. But we will never know. Can you imagine giving John Avery to Andy Reid? Forget it...Reid would make him a D's worst nightmare because Reid GETS IT.
 
I recall being VERY upset on draft day because I had my heart set on the small school WR (yes, I know about his history at Notre Dame and FSU).

MIA was sitting in prime position to land Moss at 19. IDK whether Jimmy Johnson didn't believe he'd slip that far or whether he just wanted no part of him, but when he traded down from #19 to #29 PRIOR to the draft I was devastated. As Moss continued to slip, I held out false hope that he might make it to #29. But, of course, he did not.

When Moss blew up right out of the gate in 1998 -- I nearly cried.

Other than maybe Jerry Rice, I don't believe there was a more taylor made WR for Dan Marino than Moss. Of course Danny was on his last legs, but I always dreamed about what his quick release and accurate throws down field to Moss would have looked like.

Now if he had a freak like Moss in back in his prime??? GTFO. If he could throw 18 TD's to 5'9 Mark Clayton, I could only imagine what unreachable records he could have set with Moss.

Moss was Duper (speed) and Clayton (vertical leap) rolled into one player but 7 inches taller!
If memory serves, Moss had some off the field concerns. But I agree with you. Watching him at Marshall I had never seen that type of talent for a wide receiver.
 
If memory serves, Moss had some off the field concerns. But I agree with you. Watching him at Marshall I had never seen that type of talent for a wide receiver.

True. He had off field concerns going back to HS. Which is a big reason he didn’t end up at Notre Dame to begin with.

BUT, let’s not forget that Jimmy Johnson coached at the U — where there were many players with various concerns on the roster over the years.

JJ typically recruited or drafted the very best talent above all else.
 
I think Stanfill was very underrated and so was Ven Den Herder. Great memories.

They weren't really underrated at the time. But somehow their reputation and ability level hasn't transferred through the decades. It seems like younger fans hear the story about Manny Fernandez' great Super Bowl against the Redskins but there's nothing for them to latch onto regarding Stanfill and Den Herder.

I would say that has been my biggest test on Finheaven...to remain quiet when all-time Dolphin teams are listed and somehow two defensive ends are placed above Bill Stanfill. Beyond maddening. I haven't always been totally quiet but trust me I have canceled one pointed post after another.

Likewise when the same type of team includes Reshad Jones above Dick Anderson.

But that is such pure comedy it's much simpler to ignore.

The only problem I ever had with Bill Stanfill is that the Dolphins drafted him with Ted Hendricks still on the board. Both were very famous college players. That type of reality tends to get lost also. There is some strange idea that because the internet did not exist, and cable television did not exist, that we only knew about a sparse number of players nationally. Preposterous. My friend Stan and I used to pick every college game against the spread every week beginning early '70s in 7th grade and when we did so we would be rattling off names of one player after another, from small schools and big schools. Bill Stanfill and Jake Scott were huge high profile at Georgia. When I attended a college all star game in the Orange Bowl on Christmas night 1968 there were tons of kids my own age sitting low in the west end zone and shouting to Mercury Morris during pregame warmups. He was a megastar, touted on ABC all season. Considered the small college O.J. Simpson. When the Dolphins drafted him in the third round nobody had to ask who that was. We were astonished he was still available.

Stanfill was the quiet farm boy from Georgia. That was already his reputation. There had been televised features on him. Hendricks was the local hero and more of a character. Hendricks was a 3-time All America and always rated above Stanfill in terms of overall fame and ability. Then for whatever reason we heard rumors Hendricks was slipping toward the draft. Not a perfect position. It made no sense. It still makes no sense. The draft really wasn't covered wall to wall in those days but I remember the delight that the Dolphins got Bill Stanfill combined with the dismay that Hendricks slipped and slipped. He wasn't taken until early second round by Baltimore.

I've always wondered how it would have played out if Miami had picked Hendricks instead of Stanfill. Shula may have had trouble controlling Hendricks, while Stanfill was the yes-sir type.

Regarding the two Miami ends, while Stanfill was always the superior player Den Herder was more talkative and a big favorite with local media, while Stanfill was mostly quiet. I think that is another thing that helps to blend the two in terms of how they are remembered, along with Den Herder having a longer career that spanned into the early '80s.
 
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They weren't really underrated at the time. But somehow their reputation and ability level hasn't transferred through the decades. It seems like younger fans hear the story about Manny Fernandez' great Super Bowl against the Redskins but there's nothing for them to latch onto regarding Stanfill and Den Herder.

I would say that has been my biggest test on Finheaven...to remain quiet when all-time Dolphin teams are listed and somehow two defensive ends are placed above Bill Stanfill. Beyond maddening. I haven't always been totally quiet but trust me I have canceled one pointed post after another.

Likewise when the same type of team includes Reshad Jones above Dick Anderson.

But that is such pure comedy it's much simpler to ignore.

The only problem I ever had with Bill Stanfill is that the Dolphins drafted him with Ted Hendricks still on the board. Both were very famous college players. That type of reality tends to get lost also. There is some strange idea that because the internet did not exist, and cable television did not exist, that we only knew about a sparse number of players nationally. Preposterous. My friend Stan and I used to pick every college game against the spread every week beginning early '70s in 7th grade and when we did so we would be rattling off names of one player after another, from small schools and big schools. Bill Stanfill and Jake Scott were huge high profile at Georgia. When I attended a college all star game in the Orange Bowl on Christmas night 1968 there were tons of kids my own age sitting low in the west end zone and shouting to Mercury Morris during pregame warmups. He was a megastar, touted on ABC all season. Considered the small college O.J. Simpson. When the Dolphins drafted him in the third round nobody had to ask who that was. We were astonished he was still available.

Stanfill was the quiet farm boy from Georgia. That was already his reputation. There had been televised features on him. Hendricks was the local hero and more of a character. Hendricks was a 3-time All America and always rated above Stanfill in terms of overall fame and ability. Then for whatever reason we heard rumors Hendricks was slipping toward the draft. Not a perfect position. It made no sense. It still makes no sense. The draft really wasn't covered wall to wall in those days but I remember the delight that the Dolphins got Bill Stanfill combined with the dismay that Hendricks slipped and slipped. He wasn't taken until early second round by Baltimore.

I've always wondered how it would have played out if Miami had picked Hendricks instead of Stanfill. Shula may have had trouble controlling Hendricks, while Stanfill was the yes-sir type.

Regarding the two Miami ends, while Stanfill was always the superior player Den Herder was more talkative and a big favorite with local media, while Stanfill was mostly quiet. I think that is another thing that helps to blend the two in terms of how they are remembered, along with Den Herder having a longer career that spanned into the early '80s.
Great post as usual. Always look forward to some of these stories from back in the day.
 
They weren't really underrated at the time. But somehow their reputation and ability level hasn't transferred through the decades. It seems like younger fans hear the story about Manny Fernandez' great Super Bowl against the Redskins but there's nothing for them to latch onto regarding Stanfill and Den Herder.

I would say that has been my biggest test on Finheaven...to remain quiet when all-time Dolphin teams are listed and somehow two defensive ends are placed above Bill Stanfill. Beyond maddening. I haven't always been totally quiet but trust me I have canceled one pointed post after another.

Likewise when the same type of team includes Reshad Jones above Dick Anderson.

But that is such pure comedy it's much simpler to ignore.

The only problem I ever had with Bill Stanfill is that the Dolphins drafted him with Ted Hendricks still on the board. Both were very famous college players. That type of reality tends to get lost also. There is some strange idea that because the internet did not exist, and cable television did not exist, that we only knew about a sparse number of players nationally. Preposterous. My friend Stan and I used to pick every college game against the spread every week beginning early '70s in 7th grade and when we did so we would be rattling off names of one player after another, from small schools and big schools. Bill Stanfill and Jake Scott were huge high profile at Georgia. When I attended a college all star game in the Orange Bowl on Christmas night 1968 there were tons of kids my own age sitting low in the west end zone and shouting to Mercury Morris during pregame warmups. He was a megastar, touted on ABC all season. Considered the small college O.J. Simpson. When the Dolphins drafted him in the third round nobody had to ask who that was. We were astonished he was still available.

Stanfill was the quiet farm boy from Georgia. That was already his reputation. There had been televised features on him. Hendricks was the local hero and more of a character. Hendricks was a 3-time All America and always rated above Stanfill in terms of overall fame and ability. Then for whatever reason we heard rumors Hendricks was slipping toward the draft. Not a perfect position. It made no sense. It still makes no sense. The draft really wasn't covered wall to wall in those days but I remember the delight that the Dolphins got Bill Stanfill combined with the dismay that Hendricks slipped and slipped. He wasn't taken until early second round by Baltimore.

I've always wondered how it would have played out if Miami had picked Hendricks instead of Stanfill. Shula may have had trouble controlling Hendricks, while Stanfill was the yes-sir type.

Regarding the two Miami ends, while Stanfill was always the superior player Den Herder was more talkative and a big favorite with local media, while Stanfill was mostly quiet. I think that is another thing that helps to blend the two in terms of how they are remembered, along with Den Herder having a longer career that spanned into the early '80s.
It's also interesting that you didn't really see much movement in the draft back in the day. Very seldom did you see teams trading up or down.

Even looking back to 1983 when Dan Marino was falling, the Dolphins didn't trade up for him. Was always surprised he got past Pittsburgh.In the Don Shula book by DeVito it sounded like Miami would have taken Mike Charles at #1 if Marino wasn't there. I always assumed Miami would have taken Darrell Green, an absolute steal by the Redskins one pick later.
 
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And speaking of crying after those seventies teams lost, one that stands out to me is that Monday night game at Houston when Earl Campbell made that long TD run...outran Curtis Johnson to the end zone. Just sick. Bad angles and all from the LB's.
Plus, they stole our fight song! Great game, electric kind of night.
 
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