Reader Rick James had a great idea to start an in-depth draft discussion.
Brian proposed these names below. Let’s discuss
1 – Reuben Foster
2 – Jarrad Davis
3 – Zach Cunningham
4 – Cody Whitehair
5 – Vadal Alexander
6 – Jalen Tabo
7 – Dan Feeney
8 – Montae Nicholson
9 – Pat Mahomes in the 3rd if he is still there but I doubt he will be
10 – Tanoh Kpassagnon this kid is a beast at 6 – 6 and a 3rd round steal if hes there
I feel we need a slew of linebackers drafted and make some of them stick. Yes, we might have a need at DE, but I can’t think of a single loss from last season that was due to DEs. It was LBs.
A huge problem is that no matter who we draft, our defensive coordinator is some unknown position coach who’s never called plays. He’s gonna have a slow learning curve himself, while coaching players with slow learning curves. These guys go up against the likes of Matt Ryan, Cam Newton, and Tom Brady twice next year. We’re dead unless we find some rookie standouts.
But they’ll probably draft 5 WRs as usual
@Admin
I agree with that I only put Tanoh Kpassagnon on my list because i he is available at some late stage I would love to have him cheap but I doubt he will be. The kid may have the most raw talent on the DL in the draft but it may take some time to hone that in…. if at all but if its a cheap gamble I would take it. Problem is I think there are a lot of teams with needs at DE and I think everyone sees the same thing with him. He would passed over like Jason Taylor was.
He wont be passed over like JT….sorry
Tanoh is intriguing, especially if you convert him to play LB, at least some of the time. They talked about doing this for years with Dion Jordan, and because of Dolphin indecisiveness and Dion’s love of Ecstasy, nothing ever came of it.
They talked about moving Kiki Alonso to the middle for a few games, but decided against it.
You see the history here. Dolphins let the players dictate where they want to play, instead of the coaches demanding where they should play. Gase needs to step it up this season.
Zach Cunningham is the LB I would love to get. The kid is BIG 6-4 and he can run.
Montae Nicholson plays bigger then his 6-2 and absolutely devastates receivers when he hits them.
Both of these guys LOVE to hit and knock guys to the ground when they do!
In my opinion if we grabbed them both it would be a huge upgrade. Thats what we need is a few big, fast defenders who opponents DO NOT want to get hit by.
There seems to be a lot of quality linebackers this year and that’s good considering how bad the Dolphins nedd them. As well as two starting caliber guards.
@Rick James
I would prefer a starting guard and a starting center! We could keep pouncy as a backup Guard/Center that way we only need him for the three or four games he is likely to end up playing in 2017!
Guards and centers are always important, but they’re also a dime a dozen on the open market, and maybe not a draft necessity.
I always study the new England model. They sign any old free agent offensive linemen whenever they can, and they spend the draft on defense.
@Admin
I’m not opposed to that eather….. but we need at lest one guard and preferably a center so we can use Urbik at a guard spot and then since apparently Miami is going to keep Pouncy we can use him in a more limited roll since his certain injury will obviously limit him.
As you all know I am not someone who is quick to advocate getting rid of talented players especially Pro Bowl players but the guy is a walking injury report. It’s hard for me to come to terms with his production because of this:
2011 – games played – 16
2012 – games played – 16
2013 – games played – 14 out injured for 2 made pro bowel
2014 – games played – 12 out injured for 4 made pro bowel
2015 – games played – 14 out injured for 2 made pro bowel
2016 – games played – 5 out injured for 11 games
now let’s look at cost
2015 – 7,000,000
2016 – 10,025,000
2017 – 8,975,500
2018 – 9,000,000
Ok lets look at this objectively……
None of Pounceys Pro Bowl apperances were 1st team so lets just put that out there. He was never the best center in the NFL ok.
but he is the 3rd highest paid center in the NFL
Only Travis Frederick of the Cowboys and Alex Mack of the Falcons are paid more then Pouncy and only by a few dollars.
Is Pouncy as good as Alex Mack? NO WAY
OH YA and both Mack and Frederick were 1st team pro bowl centers last year! How about that!!!!!!
Now to Admins point who was that 24 year old kid playing center for NE in the Superbowl?
David Andrews…… who? Yep no knows the kid because he was an undrafted free agent they signed in 2015 and last year he made 530,000
Sick isn’t it……
and were going to pay pouncy 9mil for half a season? We can sign two LB with that money…..
Let him walk MIAMI if not at lest plan for the season with him out at lest 6 games.
BTW I see Dan Feeney as a great gaurd because he has a low center and really quick feet. He is also a BIG BIG man. I would love to have him but I can’t see Miami reaching for him in the second round where he will probably be picked early. Plus I would rather see Miami spend a little to get Cunningham in the 2nd although I could see him sneaking into the 1st round because despite all the negatives with him you just cant argue his production and the fact he had very little help at Vanderbuilt. Also the kid just wants to make plays and hit people. Got to love that from a LB
It really really seems like he played a lot less than that. He never missed a game in 2011 AND 2012 COMBINED?
Only missed 2 games in 2015? Seems like he played 2…not missed 2.
In any event, I feel the team is partly to blame too. They IR’ed him, and it turns out he was fine and ready to play in the playoffs, but was ineligible because of the IR.
The Dolphins aren’t the only squad to do this. Houston IR’ed JJ Watt way too early in the year, and he was good to in the playoffs but ineligible.
My favorite is Haason Reddick. He could play any LB position and is versatile. He used to play DB so he’s good in coverage great instincts and good tackler. Great athlete crazy fast ran a 4.52 at the combine and good jumping. Downside is he isnt strong may not be able to shed blocks at the next level. Also he’s never played LB played DE and DB in college. In my opinion he has a lot of upside and a huge chip on his shoulder due to him having to walk on to college.
Yes Riddick looks like he could be a very versatile chess piece defensively. Hopefully the Dolphins will have a chance to pull the trigger on him. It wouldn’t be implausible to come out of this draft with two young stud linebackers.
I think before discussing the draft too much FA is going to help with some of those decisions. Popular talk is signing Timmins or one of the OG for starting positions. Not sure on Timmins who does everyone else like in a perfect world? I do agree that a it would be nice to add a vet LB and OG. You can then fill in the rest from the draft.
Key comment from the Fins is that they prefer to draft as you can mold the players into what you want whereas FA they come in with their own way of thinking and playing it can be hard to change them. I can see this but they need some vets at those positions I mentioned…what does everyone else hope for?
A franchise QB
GEEZ!
Looks like DE Andre Branch is going to re-sign, and I think that’s good. Branch earned his keep toward the end of the year after the Mario Williams experiment failed.
Yeah just saw that he didn’t come cheap at 9 M for 3 years but that’s the market for DE’s. He will also have a full year to start so his numbers should get better too. I still expect them to draft another DE but it takes the pressure off.
Two reports that indicate we will sign Jay Cutler tomorrow. Which means Matt Moore will be gone, if true.
No please don’t sign jay cutler the guy is a cancer. He is the guy with all the talent but no real heart.
I really like both foster and Davis but I don’t think Miami will be able to get either unless they trade up or back. I think foster will be gone in the top 20 even with what happened at the combine, and the 22nd pick is way to high to take Davis so they would have to trade back to get him. Hopefully Cunningham drops to us, that I’m not sure about that either, teams like big linebackers so we’ll see if he slips to Miami. I hope overall if the talent is there the draft order for the first 4 rounds is linebacker, linebacker, offensive guard, offensive guard.
Kenny Stills coming back with a 4 year 32 Million. 20 guaranteed.
Glad we were able to lock up Stills. He and Tannehill have undeniable chemistry. Dolphins new philosophy on is apparently to target depth in free agency and use the draft to acquire impact players. I like that approach better.
Agreed! More to come tomorrow. I like this re-signing
They’re also sending a message to the team that if you give it your all you will be paid and not shipped off. They could have signed a cheaper WR and a cheaper DE but they made that statement instead. Hopefully the players appreciate this and more will want to come to Miami.
How bout signing Tony Romo to replace TannePuke?
Why? 2 games and he’s hurt for the season….
Not always..
@Jay
Welcome to the conversation with your usual meaningless add nothing stupid comments!
You know for a few days this seemed like a real forum and then you got done with all your moms chores and are back to muck that all up!
@ Brian
Take a long walk on a short bridge …DUMBASS!
Looks like Dion Sims is headed to Chicago but the Dolphins are bringing back Anthony Fasano. This should help the run-blocking and pass pro tremendously.
Fasano is a better receiver than Simms this wouldn’t be a down grade. Gase will have more weapons now hope they get him!
Dion Sims is a guy i liked, but for too long, the Dolphins rely on servicable, average players. What we need are more studs. A few years ago, I would have said “No wait!! We need to keep Sims because he’s reliable and loyal and…” But then think about it…how many games has Sims won for us? How many titles has he contributed to.
Landry, Stills, Franks, Ajayi…even Moore and Tannehill, can all be credited with leading us to wins.
Qudus is apparently getting cut after failing his physical. His injury is being labeled as career-ending. Now we need another safety too.
That’s too bad. I liked him a lot. And Louis Delmas. Both had freaky neck injuries. Add that to Reshad Jones’s ailments, and we’ve had bad secondaries every year
More like horrific luck you simply can’t lose both starting safeties. I think that they’ll be in better shape this year as it can’t get worse! Just need Jones healthy which it seems he will be.
Miami re signed reshad jones, hopefully he can stay healthy from here on out, when he’s on the field he’s one of the best safties in football. I also saw Miami is drawing intrest from both Lawrence Timmons and Donte Hightower. If Miami can get one of them and draft a linebacker in the first round the line backing core can go from a weakness to a strength. Can’t forget that we really need a corner back to, antiono brown had 100 reciving yards in the first quater against us in the playoffs.
So far no Timmons or OG’s but they are signing up their key players and systematically building depth all over the team. We were worried about DE but now they just traded for Hayes from the Rams seems solid as the Rams line has been good for years.
I’ll be ecstatic if they can sign a LB and OG before the draft…Larsen OG is being brought in he’s serviceable and an actual OG! I’m wondering if Jordan is being moved to OLB to possibly resurrect his career as DE is being filled up? He would fill the bill as an athletic OLB who can cover or rush the passer that would be my dream!
Either way its looking closer that they can go into the draft with less needs which means more BPA picks. Although FS may now be a need too…
DE William Hayes coming to Miami in a trade with Rams.
Miami fleeced the Rams in that trade got him for a 6th rounder!
William Hayes is 31+ years old. But still a decent trade.