Miami’s dedication to mediocrity is best understood when you focus on where they’ve failed to allocate proper draft resources, versus where the top organizations in the NFL have allocated their draft resources in the same time frame. Miami has failed to properly invest at quarterback, linebacker, and defensive back. The effort simply wasn’t there, especially at quarterback and linebacker. Meanwhile, Miami has thrown entirely too many draft resources at the offensive line.
Since 2001, the Patriots, Steelers, Broncos, Ravens, and Packers have been the most consistent organizations in terms of making the playoffs and appearing in the Superbowl. Pay attention to where the majority of their draft picks in first 3 rounds were allocated, as opposed to where Miami’s have been:
Quarterback:
Patriots – 4
Broncos – 4
Miami – 4
Ravens – 3
Packers – 2
Steelers – 2
The Patriots have used 4 draft picks in the first 3 rounds on QB’s during the period that they’ve had Tom Brady. If you look at Miami, it might appear that they’ve allocated the same resources in 4 draft picks in the first 3 rounds to the QB position also in that time frame. Not the same thing. One of those was on Pat White, which doesn’t count. The point is that Miami used 2nd rounders on Chad Henne and John Beck when they had absolutely nothing at the position to begin with in terms of starter or depth. The Packers have dedicated the same amount of draft resources to the QB position in the first 3 rounds with Aaron Rodgers as their starter that Miami has in the past 18 years. Let that sink in.
When you look at the quarterbacks Miami has passed on, and the lack of dedication to spending the resources necessary to create some surplus for themselves at the most important position in sports – it’s not hard to understand why Miami has been so poor for so long. Your goal should always be to try and create surplus for yourself at the quarterback position for quality depth and/or to flip in exchange for more draft capital. This is how good organizations stay ahead and play the draft game. It’s unfathomable that Miami was never able to catch on to how this works.
Linebacker:
Steelers – 11
Ravens – 10
Packers – 7
Patriots – 7
Miami – 6
Broncos – 4
Think about the linebackers Miami has passed on over the past 18 years. HOF’er after HOF’er after HOF’er. They simply haven’t put forth the effort. Teams like the Ravens and Steelers consider the linebacker neighborhood prime real estate. Miami chooses to act like just a ditch. Linebacker is such a critical position to accumulate talent and depth in the NFL. They simply haven’t put forth the effort here in the first 3 rounds, and it has shown Sunday after Sunday over the past nearly 2 decades.
Defensive Back:
Packers – 16
Patriots – 16
Broncos – 13
Steelers – 12
Ravens – 9
Miami - 9
Pitiful. This is another position where you must acquire talent and depth. You can’t do it if you’re not spending the picks there in the first 3 rounds. The few picks Miami has spent here have mostly been disappointments. They’re giving themselves no margin for error at the most important positions. This is the pattern Miami has established.
Offensive Line:
Miami – 13
Ravens – 11
Steelers – 9
Broncos – 9
Patriots – 8
Packers – 5
Miami has adopted a false philosophy in terms of how much they should be allocating to the offensive line in the first 3 rounds of the draft. They’ve invested more than any of these other teams over the past 18 years, and still can’t put together a functioning offensive line. Half of these picks they spent on offensive lineman should’ve been spent on quarterbacks, linebackers, and defensive backs.
Here’s the bottom line - the difference between Miami and the most consistent organizations in the NFL isn’t along the offensive line. Miami needs to get that out of their head if they ever want to stop doing the same thing over and over again and stay mired in mediocrity. The difference between Miami and the best organizations in the league is the quality and depth at the quarterback, linebacker and defensive back positions. They have to change what they’ve been doing in terms of how they think and how they perceive their own football team in order to ever get it turned around.
That's one giant bag of meh.
