You mocking me?!

Hello Dolphins Nation!

As some of you may know, I'm new here to thePHINS.com. And, this is my first "new thread!" Whoo-hoo! Ahem, anyways...I hope I'm doing the right thing. That is to say, putting the right topic in the right forum, you know...that sort of thing? And, if not, I hope y'all will go easy on me until I get a little smarter about what I'm doing in here.

At any rate, this is what I thought I'd do. You see, I'm participating in a little mock draft on another board for the upcoming draft. And, I have the honor of playing GM for our beloved Miami Dolphins. Now, we have to assume the pick is made (and not traded away) for the purpose of this mock. And, what I was wonderin', what with all the discussion about what everyone thinks Miami's FO should do with our first few picks, is maybe you all could chime in (knowing who is already off the board) on who you think we should take when it's "our" turn. With your input I will then make the selection when it's time to do so. In doing so though, I will have final say (hey...it's my little game, so I get to make the rules ). Basically, I get to play the part of The Big Tuna , and you guys are the rest of the FO trying to convince me who to take. And, if everyone's is into it, we can keep it going through round two, and maybe even beyond. So, what do y'all say? Are you game? I hope so.

OK, so here's the list of players that have already been selected, and in order (which I will update with each new pick as it posted on the other site, OK?). Also, please keep in mind, while I have up to 12 hours to make my selection once it gets to me, out of respect to my fellow mockers I don't want to take up all my allotted time if I can help it.

Round 1
1) Detroit selects Matthew Stafford, QB Georgia
2) St. Louis selects Jason Smith, OT Baylor
3) KC selects Aaron Curry, LB Wake Forest
4) Seattle selects Michael Crabtree, WR Texas Tech
5) Cleveland selects Brian Orakpo, DE Texas
6) Cincinnati selects Eugene Monroe, OT Virginia
7) Oakland selects Jeremy Maclin, WR Missouri
8) Jacksonville selects B.J. Raji, DT Boston College
9) Green Bay selects Aaron Maybin, OLB/DE Penn State
10) SF selects Mark Sanchez, QB USC
11) Buffalo selects Everette Brown, DE Florida State
12) Denver selects Ray Maualuga, LB USC
13) Washington selects Andre Smith, OT Alabama
14) New Orleans selects Chris Wells, RB Ohio State
15) Houston selects Malcolm Jenkins, CB Ohio State
16) San Diego selects Tyson Jackson, DE LSU
17) NY Jets select Derrius Heyward-Bey, WR Maryland
18) Denver (from Chicago) selects Brian Cushing, LB USC
19) Tampa selects Peria Jerry, DT Mississippi
20) Detroit selects Michael Oher, OT Mississippi
21) Philadelphia selects Knowshon Moreno, RB Georgia
22) Minnesota selects Eben Britton, OT Arizona
23) New England selects Clint Sintim, LB Virginia
24) Atlanta selects Brandon Pettigrew, TE Oklahoma St.
25) Miami selects Hakeem Nicks, WR North Carolina
26) Baltimore selects James Laurinaitis, LB Ohio State
27) Indianapolis selects Percy Harvin, WR Florida
28) Philadelphia selects Alex Mack, C California
29) NY Giants select Kenny Britt, WR Rutgers
30) Tennessee selects Darius Butler, CB Connecticut
31) Arizona selects Donald Brown, RB Connecticut
32) Pittsburgh selects Max Unger, C Oregon

Round 2
33) Detroit selects Michael Johnson, DE Georgia Tech
34) New England (from KC) selects Connor Barwin, OLB/DE Cincinnati
35) St. Louis selects Evander (Ziggy) Hood, DT Missouri
36) Cleveland selects Vontae Davis, CB Illinois
37) Seattle selects Clay Matthews, OLB USC
38) Cincinnati selects Larry English, DE/OLB Northern Illinois
39) Jacksonville selects Alphonso Smith, CB Wake Forest
40) Oakland selects William Beatty, OT Connecticut
41) Green Bay selects Ron Brace, DT Boston College
42) Buffalo selects Cody Brown, OLB/DE Connecticut
43) SF selects Sean Smith, CB Utah
44) Miami (from Wash.) selects Paul Kruger, DE Utah
45) NY Giants (from N.O.) select William Moore, S Missouri
46) Houston selects Marcus Freeman, OLB Ohio State
47) New England selects (from SD) Louis Delmas, FS Western Michigan
48) Denver (from Houston) selects Eric Wood, C Louisville
49) Chicago selects Louis Murphy, WR Florida
50) Cleveland (from Tampa) selects Brian Robiskie, WR Ohio State
51) Dallas selects Patrick Chung S, Oregon
52) NY Jets select Josh Freeman, QB Kansas State
53) Philadelphia selects Duke Robinson, G Oklahoma
54) Minnesota selects D.J. Moore, CB Vanderbilt
55) Atlanta selects Robert Ayers, DE Tennessee
56) Miami selects Jairus Byrd, CB Oregon
57) Baltimore selects Mike Mickens, CB Cincinnati.
58) New England selects Victor "Macho" Harris, CB Virginia Tech
59) Carolina selects Ramses Barden, WR Cal-Poly
60) NY Giants select LeSean McCoy, RB Pittsburgh
61) Indianapolis selects Sen'Derrick Marks, DT Auburn
62) Tennessee selects Pat White, QB West Virginia
63) Arizona selects Phil Loadholt, OT Oklahoma
64) Pittsburgh selects Jarron Gilbert, DE San Jose State

Round 3
65) Detroit selects Fili Moala, DT USC
66) St. Louis selects Darry Beckwith, LB LSU
67) Kansas City selects Jamon Meredith, OT South Carolina
68) Seattle selects Andy Levitre, G Oregon State
69) Dallas (from Cleveland) selects Coye Francies CB San Jose State
70) Cincinnati selects Rashad Johnson, S Alabama
71) Oakland selects Lawrence Sidbury, DE Richmond
72) Jacksonville selects Derrick Williams, WR Penn State
73) Green Bay selects Gerald Cadogan, OT Penn State
74) San Francisco selects Fenuki Tupou, OT Oregon
75) Buffalo selects James Casey, TE Rice
76) NY Jets (from New Orleans) select Troy Kropog, OT Tulane
77) Houston selects Shonn Green, RB Iowa
78) San Diego selects Rashad Jennings, RB Liberty
79) Denver selects Roy Miller, DT Texas
80) Washington selects Tyrone McKenzie, LB South Florida
81) Tampa selects Juaquin Iglesias, WR Oklahoma
82) Detroit (from Dallas) selects Dannell Ellerbe, LB Georgia
83) Green Bay (from NY Jets) selects Shawn Nelson, TE Southern Miss
84) Denver (from Chicago) Asher Allen, CB Georgia
85) Philadelphia selects Chase Coffman, TE MIssouri
86) Minnesota selects Antoine Caldwell, C Alabama
87) Miami selects Dorell Scott, DT Clemson
88) Baltimore selects Mohamed Massaquoi, WR Georgia
89) New England selects Andre Brown, RB NC State
90) Atlanta selects Alex Magee, DT Purdue
91) NY Giants Jared Cook, TE South Carolina
92) Indianapolis selects Mike Goodson, RB Texas A&M
93) Carolina selects Sherrod Martin, CB Troy
94) Tennessee selects Jason Phillips, LB TCU
95) Arizona selects Patrick Turner, WR USC
96) Pittsburgh selects Sammie Lee Hill, DT Stillman
97) New England (compensatory selection) selects Jasper Brinkley, LB South Carolina
98) Cincinnati (compensatory selection) selects Jonathan Luigs, C Arkansas
99) Chicago (compensatory selection) selects Herman Johnson, G LSU
100) NY Giants (compensatory selection) select Gerald McRath, LB Southern Mississippi

THE MOCK IS NOW OVER!

 

Good point. But, keep in mind...the GM that chose for Denver didn't realize he was was going to get another first round pick when he selected Maualuga (the Cutler trade happened in between). And, I guess at that point he felt Cushing was the best option available.

It certainly helps a defense that needs a lot of help. Although, admittedly a D-Lineman might've been a better pick at #18.

 

Was hoping to generate a little more interest than this.

Does anyone else have any input? Thanks Big Red for yours. RNI, if you wanna give me some names to consider (rather then generalize by position) that would be helpful.

I'll just throw out that at this point there are a few players that really kind of stand out, for me. And, they would be:

OLB/DE's Matthews, Barwin, English and Johnson
CB's Davis, Butler and Smith
WR's Nicks, Harvin and Britt

Love to get some feedback from thePHINS.com faithful though...

G

 

Er, ummm...thanks for the input guys.

At any rate, and as for all the feedback on Denver's situation, all I can say is I think the Cutler deal kinda muddied the waters. And, although I was glad we caught it before pick #18, I do think it sorta skews the results to some extent. But, not much we can do about that now.

But, back at the ranch I'm still weighing my options with pick #25. And, I think there's a lot of ways I/we could go. There's a lot of talent that is going to still be available. Which is good. If this happens on April 26th, I think we're all gonna be very happy with whatever Miami does. Alen1, I unintentionally omitted Sintim when I posted my short list. So, I appreciate your mentioning him. And, I think he is a real possibility at #25.

Hopefully, this will start to sort itself out a bit more with the next two picks. We'll see.

 

Gish, you're a trip dude. And, I say again...I love your sig!

And, if Nicks is there at #25, I think it will be very hard to let him go.

 

OK folks...the NE GM just selected. Here's his pick:

23) New England selects Clint Sintim, LB Virginia

I can hear the groans from those here that felt he was "our guy." But, he's now off the board.

I expect the Atlanta GM to select right away BTW...

 

As I suspected, the Atlanta GM was quick to make his selection.

24) Atlanta selects Brandon Pettigrew, TE, Oklahoma St.

OK, we have several ways we can go. But, IMO we have three choices, and they are:

CB S. Smith: I love his combination of size and speed for a corner, which should him to handle the likes of Moss and Owens. He reminds me of a young Ronnie Lott. Evetually, I see him switing to FS or SS. But, for now he fills a pretty big void in our secondary. But, he might make it to #44.

LB: C. Matthews. I really like his make up. He has speed (especially quickness to the ball), intensity (i.e., heart...remind you of anyone?), and he comes from a great football family. I know the steroid accusations muddy the waters here. The cynic in me says half the league (or more) is on the juice, so who cares. The eternal optimist say give him the benefit of the doubt. He's innocent until proven guilty. Ultimately, I see him kicking inside and playing ILB. But, he can still provide pressure to the QB along with run support. Question is...is he a three down LB? And, is this an area of greatest need? Some would prefer Barwin instead, but I'm just not sold on him for whatever reason.

WR: H. Nicks. Prototypical size. Speed. Great hands and YAC. He can move the chains and he can hit homeruns for you. He's the surest thing to a #1 WR in this draft behind Crabtree and Maclin IMO. And, we are in desperate need of a true #1 WR IMO. If we want him, we have to take him here, because he won't be here at #44. And, I won't lie...I love the idea of taking him here.

Soooo Dolfans, whaddya think we should do? Lemmie hear from ya, 'cause we are on the clock. I'm gettin' ready to call it a night. But, I'll be back on bright and early. And, I'm looking to make my selection by early to mid morning tomorrow.

G Man...out (for now)...

 

The pick is in!

Here is a copy of my analysis as posted on the other board to support the decision I made:

Although Miami made history last season going from 1-15 to 11-5 and claiming the AFCE title, there is still much work to do to offset years of mismanagement and bad drafting. With that in mind, I think come draft day Miami will be looking to trade down out of the #25 position to pick up another pick. I think it's conceivable they could move back 6-12 picks and pick up another 2nd or 3rd round pick in this year's draft. If so, I fully expect Parcells to jump at the opportunity. But, since we are picking...

Several key positions have glaring holes. The most notable needs are: CB, OLB/DE, NT and WR. Many in Dolphins Nation expect Parcells & Company to use their first round pick on a defensive player (specifically either LB or CB). History shows us that. And, you could argue that's the most glaring need. But, at this point in the draft, and with most of the blue chip prospects already off the board one could also argue that you can get equivalent valued players to fill those needs both at #44 and at #56.

So, in looking at the draft board, and combining BPA along with filling a need position, as well as looking ahead and trying to predict or project other teams picks (based on their needs) gives me a better idea of what prospects likely won't be there when we pick again at #44. This is key. The position I see most likely being targeted by several teams in the next 12-18 picks is WR . And, with three out of the top five prospects already off the board, I just don't think Miami can let a player of Nicks caliber go by.

Nicks has prototypical size at 6' 3/4" and 212lbs, is fast (ran 4.54 at the combine), has great hands, and will get you a lot of tough YAC. He is maybe more of a possession receiver, but he can run by you (and over top of) you too. His stats up been on the up tick every year of his college career, and he's played in a NFL style offense at NC. So, his transition to the NFL should be fairly quick and smooth, which is what you're looking for with your first round pick. With Miami's need of a true #1 WR, Nicks not fills that void, but he also elevates every other receiver by simply being on the field. Ginn should benefit the most from his presence as his speed will certainly exploit any one on one coverage.

Many might argue WR is not nearly as needed as other positions I mentioned, but IMO Hakeem Nicks is simply to good to "pass" on. His addition improves not only our passing attack, but out entire offense.

I will add that while I know many here may not agree with this pick, I do think it's the way to go. And, I think either S. Smith and/or Butler will be there at #44. If not, my feeling is to look at BPA for either OLB/DE (pass rush specialist) vs. CB.

Thanks to all that gave their input. It is very much appreciated. And, for those that want to continue on, I will update the draft as picks are made.