Mike Mayock top 5 by position

Which tells me that is if only Smith leaves, look for a CB in the 1st. Such as Banks. If only Long leaves, look for Lane Johnson.
If only Starks leaves, look for Floyd, or Richardson. Or, perhaps Ansah if they decide Odrick moves inside in the base.
If only Fasano leaves, I think Ireland will be on the phone to DJ asking whether he should take Eifert or Ertz at 12. Then DJ will tell him to hold the phone a minute because he wants to check with his good buddy MrClean.

Of course it is more likely that more than one of them leaves than only one of them IMO. Then he'll pick the player among those positions and WR that he believes can make the most immediate contribution.

 

I live in Cali as well, and have seen most of his reps, the kid comes down with the ball in traffic situations, has absolutely no problem going across the middle, and the class must have something to be desired because I do believe he has the most natural hands of the receivers, really not sure about your questions about his balance, don't see that as a problem at all.

 

They wanted the kid to win the job. No question in my mind at all.

 

I don't think they wanted to start RT. Sure they would have been thrilled if Garrard was healthy but RT was just so good that they couldn't keep him off the field, but that was the dream, not the plan. I think the plan was to play Garrard and have RT sit all year except for some garbage time. But when Garrard got hurt and the comparison was between RT and an ill-fitting Moore then they had to play RT.

 

If Moore is ill-fitting, then why do they want to resign him?

 

Watson has the tools to eventually be as good as any OT in the draft. IMO.

 

It seemed like they had suspicions that he was ill-fitting originally but became comfortable with him, the rumor or speculation is that he's a ****ty practice or meeting player to the point where it is off-putting.

 

This may be problematic as hits on defenseless receivers are flagged more aggressively. The big-hitting safety will decrease in value in such an environment.

 

I'd still want the big hitter, all others things being equal. There is no restriction on how hard they can hit running backs. Ya just need to make sure it's a big hitter who also plays smart.

 

Theres a big difference between playing with violence and taking cheap shots or being dirty. Watch his form when he tackles. Its clean but its aggressive. Its not just wrap em up and get the player to the ground. Its more make sure we get the player down but hit em as hard as I can. Id compare him favorably to someone like a Morgan Burnett.

 

They may not of envisioned him starting Rafs, but I promise you this, the moment he stepped on the field there was such a difference in talent level between he and what Garrard displayed when he was competing, that it would of been only a matter of time in camp before the kid won everyone over, to go with Moore or Garrard over what Tannehill was displaying from a talent and command of the offense standpoint would of been a travesty..Fans would of revolted...I couldn't believe how cool he was..

Any reports about Garrard being the best looking were imo were not accurate..him and Moore each had their days of looking better than the other, then when the kid stepped on the field it was a no brainer.

 

That's how you answer a damn question..

 

To me it's looking like Miami will shoot their wad at the WR position before the Draft even gets here, like in 2010. This all reminds me very much of 2010 when we were obsessing about Dez Bryant at a time that the Dolphins were readying a trade for Brandon Marshall that made the Dez Bryant question a dead question come April.

I think you take what happened in 2010 and you look at it within the context of Jeff never having spent higher than a 3rd round pick on a rookie wide receiver either in Dallas or Miami, and you also look at the kinds of receivers he's steered toward...it kind of tells you some things. He's got a WR problem, he knows he has a WR problem, and he knows everyone in the league thinks he's got a WR problem. That was also the case in 2010. I think this is going to be a lot like 2010, he's going to look to shoot his wad early with a player that makes an immediate impact. Then by the time we get to the Draft the only people still calling for Cordarrelle Patterson will be viewed as just being greedy.

So come draft day we're going to be talking about offensive tackles (if they let Jake Long go), defensive tackles (if they let Randy Starks go), safeties (if they let Chris Clemons go), corners and perhaps even tight ends (in a trade down situation).

I personally maintain that they'll find a way to make things work with Jake Long. I think they're both just so damn fond of one another, Long would like to stay here and Ireland WOULD like to keep him, that they'll just figure this out when it gets to crunch time. For whatever reason, they also seem pretty interested in bringing Chris Clemons back, and he's a highly affordable player so if they want him it can easily be done.

Randy Starks is a more difficult question. I don't have a bead on that.

And the Brian Hartline situation is too complicated to really have a bead on that as well. Even if they lose Brian Hartline though, I think what they do at the WR position will be significant enough pre-Draft that Jeff Ireland will steer away from the position at 12 overall.

Put a gun to my head and I say that the Dolphins are choosing between a DT and CB at #12 overall. Sheldon Richardson or Xavier Rhodes.

 

Adam Schefter on ESPN has been speculating the past day or so that Miami will likely Franchise tag Sean Smith. Said something about going to wait till after the Combine to finally decide.

 

He might be, but IMO, corner back is a much bigger need at this point. Will Sean Smith be back? If not, all Miami has to rely on at this point are Richard Marshall and Dimitri Patterson. Not only will Miami be taking a cornerback high in this draft. They may spend two of those first 5 picks on the position.

What position can Miami take at 12 that will come in and immediately start for the team? Corner back. Right now, I have them taking Xavier Rhodes. I think Kevin Coyle would like to play press a little more than they were able to last year, and his best press corner is likely going to leave via free agency. Even if they retain Smith, they might just be enamored with the idea of having Smith and Rhodes at corner with Patterson covering the slot.

A move that wouldn't surprise me and fits with your idea here is Miami taking Rhodes in round one and following up in round 2 with Jonathan Cyprien.

 

I don't think Cyprien makes it to our second round pick. He's too good.

 

Said that Ireland wants to gauge interest from execs and scouts at the combine.

 

randy does have a lot of miles on his body, and Sheldon has a great deal more potential athletically, and an immediate starter, makes sense if we let Starks walk and blow our wad in free agency on the receiver position.

 

Given some of the off field history with Sheldon they may steer toward Xavier Rhodes.

 

I'm a fan of Rhodes as you know. Mocked him to us at twelve a while ago. What I find interesting is that Peter King had three things to watch at the Combine. The first one and the third one were about random players. The second was about Rhodes and how well he runs. King knows nothing about college football but is as well connected as anyone who covers or has covered the league. He's been told something by someone about Rhodes. Which means to me that someone has told him that Rhodes is going high, that he's well liked by GMs and scouts. That was too out of the blue to be coincidence. Of all the stories going into the Combine, he chooses whether Rhodes can run?????

Not having that as anything other than something's going down.

 

This year's situation makes me think of the 2006 situation. Back then, I think you, CK, and I had pretty much pin pointed two players for Miami: Jason Allen and Antonio Cromartie. Allen was the odds on favorite because Nick had recruited him and coached against him in the SEC. However, Cromartie had the ball skills that Nick likes to look for.

This year, I think once Johnthan Banks elevates his draft stock back up at the combine, we can pretty much debate the pros and cons of Xavier Rhodes vs Jonthan Banks at 12.

The player I think we need to keep track of for the 2A pick is Stedman Bailey. Jeff Ireland and his scouts have spent quite a bit of time watching West Virginia live this year. IMO, for this offense, they are likely looking at Bailey more than Austin. Bailey is more polished as a route runner and has more capability as a receiver than Austin, IMO. He's going to be less work to get him ready to play, and if he measures out in the 5'10" to 5'11" range, then he's going to be even more attractive. His RAC ability is the best among the receivers in the draft based on their actual YAC averages.

 

He's a good teammate and won't complain about being a back-up. He'll never get the ball out quick enough to fit this offense but isn't horrid either. In this offense he really isn't good enough to be a regular starter. He's a back-up and an injury fill-in. In a different system (like what we had last season) he could be a passable starter.

 

I disagree. Garrard got the ball out much quicker. He was on time with his passes. RT was fast for a rookie, but it took him a good half the year to get the ball out as fast as Garrard did in camp. RT would have surpassed him eventually, but there's no way that would have happened in camp.

 

IMO, it's less than 50/50 odds he'll be OTB when we pick at 12.

 

Oh no, he said TBuck has been talking to him about technique.


I jest, I jest. Actually I liked TBuck when we had him on the team. Made some impact plays.

 

The guy I think that is going to surprise (if he gets a chance) this preseason is Devlin. Last preseason he looked like a natural in the WCO, and with another year to gain maturity and strength, I could foresee him impressing.

 

Corner might be a need, but the fact we play a hell of a lot of zone could push the 'importance' of the position down a bit. You may not need top end athleticism for the position as you might for more man to man. You may see corners taken in rounds 3 & 4 rather than 1 & 2 for that very reason. I think a player like Vaccaro offers more versatility than anyone else available in the secondary that high in the draft, and he can in many ways act like a nickel corner.

It allows to be more versatile with our fronts to a greater degree than any corner. I agree we need corners, but I don't think we need to go after them in round 1 to get some decent players, especially if we take arguably the best secondary player - period.

 

I think he is a very natural fit. I don't think he's as talented of a QB as Moore, but in this offense he could be as or even more productive.

 

I agree. I don't have all those CBs on my list of most likely players at #12. I would replace them with several DEs.

 

Considering the degree of red flags these days, getting suspended for missing class and calling out an opponent seems pretty slight..kid has high goals for himself, dominated in a tough conference with a bum shoulder, and wants to be the best..

Have you started looking at his interviews and his personality traits yet?