There is a reason why Miami has languished at and around the foot of the league for the past few years, without a trip to the playoffs since 2001 and the infamous James McKnight 'neck catch'.
The key period for this franchises' malaise came specifically during the period where Dave Wannstedt was head coach and Rick Spielman was GM, or Director of Player Personnel, as he was. It's that period, 2000-2004, where other teams are seeing veterans from those drafts flourish into solid players, sometimes with them, sometimes, in this era of free agency, with other teams, that I'm looking at. And it's the draft where, despite free agency, you build the foundations for your team.
So I thought I'd look at the root cause of our problem and analyse Miami's drafts, against 5 other teams, fairly or unfairly, who have been at the top end of the game for the past few years; the last three Superbowl champions, the Patriots, the Steelers and the Colts, as well as the Seahawks and the Bears, the losers of the last two championship games. Why are they so special, whilst we muddle along in and around the basement? I mean, we all KNOW our drafting has been bad, but just how bad?
The first point is that four out of those five have solidified the QB position and for all Rex Grossman's flaws in the 2nd half of the season, he was two careless picks away from winning a Superbowl. But the QB debate aside, lets look at the drafting and see why that 5 draft period was so bad for us, that we're still trying to recover from it.
Miami:
In the draft, specifically, through that five draft period from 2000 to 2004. Miami drafted 35 players. Only 5 remain on the roster – Chris Chambers, Yeremiah Bell, Vernon Carey, Rex Hadnot and Derrick Pope. And of those 5, only four are starters. And only one of them has been to the Pro Bowl.
Once.
And of that 35, only 14 are still in football. That's just a 40% success rate at staying in the damn league.
To recap:
35 picked, 14 in football = 40%
35 picked, 5 on team = 14%
So consider the most successful team since 2000, the Patriots, three titles and an AFC Champonship during that period. They drafted 44 players from 2000-2004. Now only 12 of those picked remain on the roster, but 30 players are still in the league. And every player, but two, that they drafted between 2002 and 2004, that’s 3 drafts, 22 players, are still on active rosters or practice squads. Those two players are Virginia TB Antwoine Womack and LSU passer Rohan Davey. Davey has bounced around the league and is currently in Arena Ball, whilst Womack was always going to struggle to recover from a bad knee injury at Virginia.
Is it any wonder they’ve won three of the last 5?
And if you break it down and look at how appalling that 2000 draft was – save for future Hall of Famer Tom Brady – and Patrick Pass; that's Adrian Klemm, J.R. Redmond, Greg Randall, Dave Stachelski, Jeff Marriott, Antwan Harris, David Nugent and Casey Tisdale and consider if they’d hit on more of those 8 picks, then that 5 draft period would have been even more special. That's a 28% better average than us on picking players still in football and a 10% better average on keeping players, although the Patriots have, during the Pioli/Belichick era, allowed many players to depart through FA that others would have kept. And they traded one of their 44 players picked for a 1st rounder, (Deion Branch).
To recap:
44 picked, 30 active = 68%
44 picked, 12 on team = 27%
So how about the past 2 Superbowl winners? Let’s start with the Steelers;
They drafted just two more players than Miami, with 37. 25 are still active in the NFL, 13 on the roster. That's 68% of players picked still in football and 35% still on the team, which, like the Pats, is 28% better than Wannstedt and Spielman. And an 18% better hit rate on players still on the roster.
To recap:
37 picked, 25 active = 68%
37 picked, 13 on team = 35%
The team they beat in Superbowl XL, Seattle, drafted a remarkable 47 players. 32 are active, 17 are still on the roster. Again that's 68% in football and 40% still on the roster.
This year's winners, Indianapolis, drafted 39 players over that period, 4 more than Miami. 27 are still active, 17 still on the roster.
To recap:
39 picked, 27 active 69%
39 picked, 17 on roster 44%
And the team they beat, Chicago, drafted 44 players across that 5 draft period. 26 are still playing, 15 are still on the roster. That's 61% of active players and 34% of players stil on the roster.
What's even scarier is that the percentage of players still on the roster would be much higher for all the teams apart from Miami, if they hadn't all lost quality players in free agency;
Patriots; Dan Graham, David Givens, Tully Banta Cain, Branch traded to Seattle.
Indy; Marcus Washington, David Macklin, Rick DeMulling, Larry Tripplett, David Thornton and Steve Scuillo.
Chicago; Anthony Thomas, Mike Gandy, Marc Colombo.
Pittsburgh; Plaxico Burress, Antwaan Randle-el and Chris Hope.
Seattle; Ike Charlton, Koren Robinson, Steve Hutchinson, Ken Lucas, Alex Bannister and Wayne Hunter.
Miami; Travis Minor (3rd string TB), Wade Smith (3rd string OC), Seth McKinney (2nd string OC), Morlon Greenwood (1st string LB).
So it's not like I'm telling you anything new, just telling you just how bad it is and underlining just why we are where we arv with such a poor foundation and why were in such cap hell.
That's what RandyCam is up against.
The key period for this franchises' malaise came specifically during the period where Dave Wannstedt was head coach and Rick Spielman was GM, or Director of Player Personnel, as he was. It's that period, 2000-2004, where other teams are seeing veterans from those drafts flourish into solid players, sometimes with them, sometimes, in this era of free agency, with other teams, that I'm looking at. And it's the draft where, despite free agency, you build the foundations for your team.
So I thought I'd look at the root cause of our problem and analyse Miami's drafts, against 5 other teams, fairly or unfairly, who have been at the top end of the game for the past few years; the last three Superbowl champions, the Patriots, the Steelers and the Colts, as well as the Seahawks and the Bears, the losers of the last two championship games. Why are they so special, whilst we muddle along in and around the basement? I mean, we all KNOW our drafting has been bad, but just how bad?
The first point is that four out of those five have solidified the QB position and for all Rex Grossman's flaws in the 2nd half of the season, he was two careless picks away from winning a Superbowl. But the QB debate aside, lets look at the drafting and see why that 5 draft period was so bad for us, that we're still trying to recover from it.
Miami:
In the draft, specifically, through that five draft period from 2000 to 2004. Miami drafted 35 players. Only 5 remain on the roster – Chris Chambers, Yeremiah Bell, Vernon Carey, Rex Hadnot and Derrick Pope. And of those 5, only four are starters. And only one of them has been to the Pro Bowl.
Once.
And of that 35, only 14 are still in football. That's just a 40% success rate at staying in the damn league.
To recap:
35 picked, 14 in football = 40%
35 picked, 5 on team = 14%
So consider the most successful team since 2000, the Patriots, three titles and an AFC Champonship during that period. They drafted 44 players from 2000-2004. Now only 12 of those picked remain on the roster, but 30 players are still in the league. And every player, but two, that they drafted between 2002 and 2004, that’s 3 drafts, 22 players, are still on active rosters or practice squads. Those two players are Virginia TB Antwoine Womack and LSU passer Rohan Davey. Davey has bounced around the league and is currently in Arena Ball, whilst Womack was always going to struggle to recover from a bad knee injury at Virginia.
Is it any wonder they’ve won three of the last 5?
And if you break it down and look at how appalling that 2000 draft was – save for future Hall of Famer Tom Brady – and Patrick Pass; that's Adrian Klemm, J.R. Redmond, Greg Randall, Dave Stachelski, Jeff Marriott, Antwan Harris, David Nugent and Casey Tisdale and consider if they’d hit on more of those 8 picks, then that 5 draft period would have been even more special. That's a 28% better average than us on picking players still in football and a 10% better average on keeping players, although the Patriots have, during the Pioli/Belichick era, allowed many players to depart through FA that others would have kept. And they traded one of their 44 players picked for a 1st rounder, (Deion Branch).
To recap:
44 picked, 30 active = 68%
44 picked, 12 on team = 27%
So how about the past 2 Superbowl winners? Let’s start with the Steelers;
They drafted just two more players than Miami, with 37. 25 are still active in the NFL, 13 on the roster. That's 68% of players picked still in football and 35% still on the team, which, like the Pats, is 28% better than Wannstedt and Spielman. And an 18% better hit rate on players still on the roster.
To recap:
37 picked, 25 active = 68%
37 picked, 13 on team = 35%
The team they beat in Superbowl XL, Seattle, drafted a remarkable 47 players. 32 are active, 17 are still on the roster. Again that's 68% in football and 40% still on the roster.
This year's winners, Indianapolis, drafted 39 players over that period, 4 more than Miami. 27 are still active, 17 still on the roster.
To recap:
39 picked, 27 active 69%
39 picked, 17 on roster 44%
And the team they beat, Chicago, drafted 44 players across that 5 draft period. 26 are still playing, 15 are still on the roster. That's 61% of active players and 34% of players stil on the roster.
What's even scarier is that the percentage of players still on the roster would be much higher for all the teams apart from Miami, if they hadn't all lost quality players in free agency;
Patriots; Dan Graham, David Givens, Tully Banta Cain, Branch traded to Seattle.
Indy; Marcus Washington, David Macklin, Rick DeMulling, Larry Tripplett, David Thornton and Steve Scuillo.
Chicago; Anthony Thomas, Mike Gandy, Marc Colombo.
Pittsburgh; Plaxico Burress, Antwaan Randle-el and Chris Hope.
Seattle; Ike Charlton, Koren Robinson, Steve Hutchinson, Ken Lucas, Alex Bannister and Wayne Hunter.
Miami; Travis Minor (3rd string TB), Wade Smith (3rd string OC), Seth McKinney (2nd string OC), Morlon Greenwood (1st string LB).
So it's not like I'm telling you anything new, just telling you just how bad it is and underlining just why we are where we arv with such a poor foundation and why were in such cap hell.
That's what RandyCam is up against.
