I believe as of now we are projected to have the 12th or 11th pick in the NFL draft. That being said, there are 13 teams with our record or worse. So lets say we we end up with the 13th overall pick. What would your board look like right now? You can rank players 1 to 13 however you want. Keep in mind you are the GM; with that in mind I don't have any QBs on my board because I want to give Tannehill another season, even though its likely a QB gets chosen in the top 13. Additionally, you can include 3 players you would consider trading back for. Here is what my board looks like: 1.) DE/OLB Anthony Barr - An absolute freak in his first year on the defense side of the ball. Dynamite in his legs. 2.) OLB Jarvis Jones - One of the best pass rushers coming out this year. Curious to see the medical reports about his back. 3.) DE Bjoern Werner - While I am not as high on him as others (in terms of his pass rush ability), I think he is solid all around. Plays with leverage and would be good opposite Wake. 4.) OT Luke Joeckel - Wouldn't be the happiest with this pick, but he is a solid player and would allow us to replace Long at a much cheaper rate. Better use the saved $$$ though. 5.) S Matt Elam - While I think Elam is more natural at SS. I think he is a can't miss prospect. Always around the ball and making plays. I think him and Jones have enough coverage ability combined to be an effective combination in our backfield for quite a while. 6.) DT Star Lotulelei - This pick would be somewhat shocking, but boy oh boy can Star play. I would be scared to see what him and Soliai could do together on the interior. Adding Star improves our run defense (can it get any better?) and our pass rush. I'd be scared trying to stop a team with Soliai, Star, and Wake. There is only so many people you can double team. I think Star would be perfect to combat Brady because he get flustered really easy under pressure. I don't know how he would be able to deal with the pressure Soliai and Star could generate. Yes, I wrote this much to justify taking a DT lol... but I doubt he is there when we pick anyway. 7.) CB Dee Milliner - I have him and Moore (#8 on my list) ranked fairly closely. I give the edge to Milliner because we will HAVE to take a CB early if we lose Sean Smith. Also I don't know how I feel pairing Milliner and Smith because both are tall, lengthy but neither are burners. If I took Milliner here I would try to get a faster CB to cover the track star WRs. 8.) DE Damontre Moore - I need to do more film work on him to really solidify my opinion. This is were I would rate him based on what I have seen. 9.) ILB Mante Te'o - While a lot of my posts make it seem like I don't like Te'o, I do in fact like him and think he will be a good player. I just like a lot of the "pressure" players better. If all the above mentioned guys are gone I wouldn't have a problem taking him. 10.) OT Taylor Lewan - Wouldn't be the happiest with this pick, but he is a solid player and would allow us to replace Long at a much cheaper rate. Better use the saved $$$ though. 11.) S Eric Reid - Having a hard time making these last three picks. At this point I would prefer to trade back. Reid is a bit too aggressive for me and gets out of position at time. I don't know how fast he will time either. 12.) WR Keenan Allen - Not a huge fan and I really hope we don't take him super high, but at this point I am having a hard time deciding who to place on my big board. Allen has good size and good hands, but what scares me the most is he lacks elite speed and doesn't break enough tackles. In the NFL if you are a big target and can't separate or break tackles your chances of having success are not going to be high. At this point, I would prefer trading back. 13.) DE Dion Jordan - I was tempted to put Mingo here, but I just couldn't do it. Mingo has all the skills in the world, but he doesn't strike me as a "football player." I think Mingo has a really high bust factor, but if the light turns on watch out. As far as Jordan goes I really haven't looked that much into him. Skinny frame and needs to add weight. I think in the real draft he falls a lot farther than our pick. Again, at this point I would rather trade back and put up additional picks. Trade Down Targets 1.) WR Terrance Williams - love his game and ability to stretch defenses. While he isn't the most complete WR he could finally allow us to get both safeties out of the box. 2.) WR DeAndre Hopkins - Not sure if he comes out, but he is one of my favorite WR prospects. Great hands, ability after the catch. Hard worker. 3.) Chance Warmack or Barrett Jones - I know this wouldn't be a popular pick, but I have always believed you go with the BPA. I listed both players because I think Warmack is the better player overall, but I think Jones might fit our scheme a little better and offers more versatility. IMO, there is no way our first pick in the coming draft will be a OLman. I just don't see Ross okaying it.
Honestly it doesn't matter if we come away with 1 of those guys we are going to have a nice combo to go with Wake.
http://www.latimes.com/sports/college/football/la-sp-1216-ucla-football-20121216,0,4308006.story Says Barr is likely to return.
Off the top of my head my top 10 would look like this assuming Miami's probably picking somewhere between 10th and 18-ish: 1) Dee Milliner - CB - Alabama - Miami's going to need to address the CB spot even if they bring back Sean Smith as Stanford and McCann are both RFA's. 2) Jonathan Banks - CB - Mississippi State - I think his speed could be an issue at the next level, but again, in terms of other players available I like Banks. 3) Giovani Bernard - RB - North Carolina - To quote Philbin, I'd feel "queasy" going into next year with Lamar Miller and Daniel Thomas at RB. 4) Alex Okafor - DE/OLB - Texas - I think Werner, Jones, and Mingo will be off the board. Okafor gives you some flexibility as he's lined up at both DE and OLB. 5) Matt Elam - S - Florida - I think he could fit well into Miami's system, though I'd be more interested in signing Dashon Goldson than drafting someone in the 1st. 6) Chance Warmack - G - Alabama - One of, if not the best linemen in college football. 7) Sheldon Richardson - DT - Missouri - I think this guy could play as an over-sized DE, a la Odrick now, or take on Randy Starks' role if Starks isn't re-signed. 8) Dion Jordan - DE/OLB - Oregon - The next best pass-rusher in my opinion. Like Okafor, he gives you position flexibility as a DE or hybrid OLB. 9) DeAndre Hopkins - WR - Clemson - Probably a reach where Miami's picking, but I think he gives you a different dynamic over some other receivers in this class. 10) Jonathan Cooper - G - North Carolina - Like Warmack, he's pretty impressive on the move, and is one of the better players out there. My next 5 in line: 11) Xavier Rhodes - CB/S - Florida State - Could be in the mix as a S conversion type guy. 12) DeMontre Moore - DE/OLB - Texas A&M - Not overly impressed by him, but it fills a need. 13) Keenan Allen - WR - California - Not impressed by him either, but again, it fills a need. 14) Tyler Eifert - TE - Notre Dame - I'd like to see what happens via free agency, but could be a nice fit. 15) Chase Thomas - LB - Stanford - Dark horse candidate here, but just a good player. Is he a DE or a true SAM LB?
I don't feel Giovani Bernard belongs near the top 12. He's not enough of an upgrade over a "jag" to warrant that high of a pick IMO, and he's night and day apart from similarly sized CJ Spiller in the explosiveness department. He better either run a sub 4.3 or look like Adrian Peterson 2.0 to be drafted that high, and he's neither in my eyes. He's not a feature back, lacks the NFL level explosiveness needed at his size, and I wouldn't rate him a higher prospect than Doug Martin (not even close), let along Mark Ingram, LeSean McCoy, Ryan Williams, or Ben Tate. In my eyes, I don't see a back who makes me feel comfortable saying, "this is a guy who's gonna break into the league's top 20", and I'm not even certain he'd upgrade what we currently have, especially not enough to warrant a 1st or 2nd round pick. If we're gonna gamble like that, I'd personally rather do it with either 2b on the powerful back Lacy or explosive back Ellington, a 3rd on Marcus Lattimore and his injured knee, or a late round pick on Knile Davis, as Bernard's upside isn't as high IMO.
I think Bernard possesses a lot of talent but the concern is the past injuries. What's his medical history going to come out as?
1. Jonathan Banks CB-doesn't matter if Sean Smith leaves or not, we need help in the secondary. 2. Bjoern Werner DE-don't see how you let a player of his stature pass. 2nd coming of Watt. 3. Jake Matthews OT-assuming we let Jake Long go. Martin at LT, Matthews at RT. Joeckel is not as good as advertised imo, Matthews is. 4. Matt Elam S 5. Keenan Allen WR 6.Chance Warmack OG 7. Dee Millner CB 8. Ezekiel "I'm all in" Ansah DE/OLB 9. Sheldon Richardson DT 10...?
We will see what happens if he gets a 1st round grade. I read that paper earlier and actually watched the interview. He comes off as humble and truly not knowing what he is going to do. I think he is still on the fence and is trying to figure out what he wants to do. Its hard to pass up a sure opportunity at millions of $$$.
I'm going to be very intrigued as to where Tavon Austin ends up at the end of the evaluation process.
How bad do you think his height will impact his draft position? Height and frame, isn't he listed at like 170 lbs too?
He may be the top WR on my board in terms of fit for this team. I think he'll drop though, probably to end of first, early to mid second.
Short of a HOF CB, I see it as one of the least impactful positions in today's game. I don't see that kind of talent in any of the CBs being discussed as first round prospects. IMO a first round CB would be a wasted pick for Miami.
The very first thing you have to look at is what he can't do. I don't think you can have him line up on the outside at receiver. What that means is he's only going to be a fit in some systems which rely heavily on 3-WR personnel groupings and formations and are open to getting their slot receiver involved in the ground game.
If I'm the GM I'm focused on play making WRs, DBs and pass rushers- nothing new there. I'm also keeping an eye out for OL, and I'm embarrassed that so much time, money and draft picks have been spent on the OL in the last several years, and the OL still a mess because nothing much has worked except throwing premium picks at it. BTW David DeCastro is playing again, post injury. I keyed on him a bit against the Cowboys and he looked rock solid to me. If I'm the GM I also feel a bit queasy after last night's SF/New England game, specifically after seeing Rob Ninkovich track down Colin Kaepernick for a sack, his 8th of the year. Especially since I cut Ninkovich, who is playing great football now for a division rival, and went instead with Jason Trusnik, who looked like an overmatched fool last week as Kaepernick raced by him for a 50 yard rushing TD. Then I watch Wes Welker produce as usual, Donald Thomas ball on the OL for NE, and Brandon Lloyd rip it up for almost 200 yards, realizing that I could have easily had him on my team as well. Then I throw up.
I think it goes back to an excellent point Chris made at the weekend about fits for Tannehill and predicting players that would work best with him and that the Jack of All Trades type may have better success. Austin is the epitome of that. I agree that his size will make him drop. But I could see NE letting Welker go and drafting him.
