I'm not 100% certain but I suspect I would have gone for this guy at #18 (or traded back). No knock on Jaelen Phillips (and maybe he goes on to be a great pick for the Dolphins) but since we had two picks in the first I would have liked to see this guy in Aqua and Orange: He wouldn't be at 1000 yards with the Dolphins, the line is what it is, but I think he would have not only helped up a lot, but been a great boost to the locker room, already had chemistry with Tua, and it incredible in the community. I know people don't like RB's in the first, but like I said, since we had two this year, I might have spent the second on this guy at #18. Ah well. It is what it is.
I am very happy with Phillips, and would have been happy with Najee. I agree with the lockerroom, chemistry aspect. But he's also struggling to run the ball up there just like he would have here... and most of his production has been in short checkdown passes that we already have enough of as is. Big fan of his. Would have loved him. But love Phillips too and he looks like he's got the potential to be a monster. If Phillips hits... he'll have more value than Najee. But both look like they're going to be good...
Many of us here really wanted him or Etienne at 18 (Etienne is out for the season, got hurt in training camp). Either would have been a serious upgrade and they're very hard runners. There was a big debate which was better and I still don't know the answer- Najee is more powerful/violent and Etienne is better out of the backfield. Both are pure studs though!
I was one of those that wanted Harris. I was pissed we didn't grab him. I liked Etienne also but was scared of his health because Clemson ran the hell of of him and put a lot of mileage on him and said as much.
I know it is unpopular with the fan base but I would rather have Jalean Phillips and Javon Holland over Harris. Now if Miami could have traded Liam and Hunter's picks to get Harris, I would rather have had that. If Miami was able to draft Waddle, Phillips, Harris, and Holland in the draft, I think that would have been an awesome draft.
Agree. We still need to draft a RB because Gaskin isn't cutting it, but the 2021 draft is shaping up pretty well. Ignoring the value of trades (e.g., for Waddle), it's looking like we came away with 3 solid starters from that draft: Waddle, Phillips and Holland, with Holland I think the most impressive. That's a good draft. Not so happy with the other drafts since Flores has been here, but if Tua works out longer term (still to be determined) it would really help because there are a lot of busts in those drafts.
Give me a defensive end that can play for 10+ years over a running back who you might get three good seasons out of.
I was leaning towards Etienne just for overall utility, but we couldn't have gone wrong with either one- plus Williams or Carter out of NC would have been solid upgrades as well. I wanted any of the four to be honest and a team jumped us in round 2 for Williams.
It is not just Harris. The Dolphins have passed numerous solid RBs in recent years for positions that they value more. The problem is that their philosophy is having a problem with reality. I 100% agree that RBs are low in overall positional value. That being said, how much would a RB like Harris or Taylor help our struggling offense? Although there are usually multiple great RBs in a draft class, guys like these have really lifted their offenses. Another thing that the Dolphins are not considering is odds of drafting a successful RB early on in the draft. Honestly, most first or second round RBs are more or less as advertised. We drafted Noah I. in the first round in a position that is significantly more important, but the odds of hitting on the draft pick is much lower. We drafted a more valuable position, but we also drafted a player that does not even dress. There is a ton of unrealized value in simply drafting players that are good NFL players. This may sound obvious, but it is worth consideration on draft day if you think that one player has a significantly higher chance of producing at the NFL level than another. RB exemplifies this more than any other position. It is not nearly as important, but a very, very high chance of being successful.
I would have much, much, much rather stayed where we originally were and taken Kyle Pitts at #3 and Javonte Williams at #18. They are both going to be elite players in the very near future, and IMO are already better than anyone on our roster.
Personally, I don't want to see us make any moves until we fix the OL. I like Harris a lot and wouldn't have complained if we'd taken him but I think we'd be sitting close to where we are if we'd taken him. A great RB or QB might struggle to be good behind a subpar OL. But a good RB or QB can be great behind a superior OL. For the past 25 years, we've been trying to build an OL that's "good enough" and I'm not going to be a happy fan until I see a line that's sustainably "better than necessary to dominate". Get that in place, then draft a stud RB.
I agree with a lot of what you say. But I think that its going to take a completely new coaching staff before that can happen. This one is wholly incompetent on the offensive side.
I had been begging for the Dolphins to draft Harris. Him or Etienne. I knew we needed a strong power running back to pound the rock and to help out our offense
Taylor and Dobbins were my dudes the year before. Harris was good, but maybe a bit overdrafted. As atrocious as the OL is, it wouldn't matter. Bad would be an upgrade for them. Short of Barry Sanders, nobody is doing much work behind them. We definitely need an upgrade from Gaskin, but that OL is priority 1 (LT), 2 (LG) and 3 (C) at least. And the whole OL coaching room needs to be wiped and experienced and successful ones brought in. FTFY. But my suspicion is they want him to replace Giesicki because they don't want to pay him Kelce money.
I will say, the TE position is a literal rookie wasteland. The duality of being blockers and passers seems to really overload them and make it one of the hardest to translate from college to the NFL. Even higher end pass catchers really struggle initially. That said, him not even being active or seeing the field is ... concerning. And then you look at some of the OL that we passed on to get him and it's just kind of bad.
Agreed that it is concerning, however, it is also not in a way since Smythe, Gesicki, Shaheen, and even Carter are all quality tight ends. It makes sense that a rookie tight end doesn't break the line up. It it also doesn't make sense because, "why did you draft a tight end in the third round when a tight end isn't needed?" I guess if they let Smythe go, however, if they can get him for a smaller contract, he would be worth keeping. Gesicki is also worth keeping. So dumping Shaheen, which is fine. But why use a third for a rotational tight end? I think they felt they were done drafting after the 2nd round, which was a mistake.
I wanted sewell and najee personally as the first 2 picks but i understand why you go edge rusher that early in the first round. It was the draft they took noah over a rb that really bent us over.
Especially when Michael Carter was still available and I thought he looked decent/good before he got injured.