Dolphin Fans Assess Jeff Ireland

There has been a lot of debate on Jeff Ireland’s ability as a GM, but little in the way of real objective information that could lead to a conclusion. As a Dolphin fan I am very emotional about our team and at times I allow this to cloud my objectivity. When I feel this happening I try to get coldly analytical and look at pure data. What follows is a chart tracking every personnel move Jeff Ireland has made in his first 4 years.

 

I would like to follow this up with an article on what I think this data means, but before that I would like my fellow Dolphin fans to review the data and see what perhaps I did not correctly assess.

V=Value, in this column I placed a value on the player based on the priority they were acquired. A high dollar free agent would be a 5, a street FA would be a 1. The trade value is based on what was given up for the player. The draft value was based on the round of the selection, a number 1 draft pick would be a 5, a second would be a 4, etc. then from 5 to 7 a 1.

 

G=Grade, in this column I placed the value on how that player performed trying not to associated it with the V column so as not to cloud the data. A starter was at least a 4 and a good player was given a 5. A player that got on the field but maybe not a starter was a 3 and a player that was a poor performer was 2, etc.

 

From that point I simply subtracted the Value from the Grade and was able to get a number. Anything positive is good and anything negative is bad. I would like each of the Dolphinshout readers to take some time with this chart and discuss in the comments section what you agree or disagree with and since this is a spreadsheet, I will change it based on your consensus.

 

In the end I hope we come out with an assessment of Jeff Ireland based, not on emotion, but on the true value of his performance. This is your chance to take an objective look and allow us to come to a factual conclusion.

 

 

	GRADING JEFF IRELAND - V = VALUE, G = GRADE
	2008
V	FREE AGENT	POS	G	V	TRADE	POS	G	V	DRAFT	POS	G
1	Matt Baker	QB	1	5	Jason Ferguson	DL	5	5	Jake Long	OL	5
2	Trey Darilek	OL	2	3	Akin Ayodele	LB	3	4	Phillip Merling	DL	2
1	Junior Glymph	LB	1	5	Anthony Fasano	TE	5	4	Chad Henne	QB	3
2	Joey Thomas	CB	2					3	Kendall Langford	DL	4
1	David Kircus	WR	2					3	Shawn Murphy	OL	2
1	Sean Ryan	TE	1					2	Jalen Parmele	RB	2
5	Ernest Wilford	WR	2					2	Donald Thomas	OL	3
3	Charlie Anderson	LB	2					1	Lex Hilliard	RB	3
3	Josh McCown	QB	2					1	Lionel Dotson	DL	2
5	Justin Smiley	OL	3
5	Randy Starks	DL	5
3	Reggie Torbor	LB	3
2	Boomer Grigsby	FB	2
1	Keith Davis	S	1
1	Dave Rayner	K	1
2	Nathan Jones	CB	2
1	Tab Perry	WR	1
3	Chris Crocker	S	3
2	Will Billingsley	S	2
3	Steve McKinney	OL	2
5	Yeremiah Bell	S	5
4	Greg Camarillo	WR	4
3	Patrick Cobbs	RB	3
3	Michael Lehan	CB	3
3	Ike Ndukwe	OL	3
65			58	13			13	25			26
	SCORE	-7			SCORE	0			SCORE	1
	2009
V	FREE AGENT	POS	G	V	TRADE	POS	G	V	DRAFT	POS	G
2	Tearrius George	LB	2	4	Tony McDaniel	DL	4	5	Vontae Davis	CB	4
1	Ethan Kilmer	S	1					4	Pat White	QB	1
4	Cameron Wake	LB	5					3	Sean Smith	CB	4
5	Gibril Wilson	S	2					3	Patrick Turner	WR	1
3	Joe Berger	OL	2					2	Brian Hartline	WR	4
5	Jake Grove	OL	3					2	John Nalbone	TE	2
4	Eric Green	CB	1					2	Chris Clemons	S	3
1	Jy Bond	P	1					1	Andrew Gardner	OL	3
3	Jason Taylor	DL	4					1	J. D. Folsom	LB	1
4	Yeremiah Bell	S	4
5	Vernon Carey	OL	3
4	Channing Crowder	LB	3
3	Quentin Moses	LB	2
2	Ike Ndukwe	OL	1
46			34	4			4	23			23
	SCORE	-12			SCORE	0			SCORE	0
	2010
V	FREE AGENT	POS	G	V	TRADE	POS	G	V	DRAFT	POS	G
5	Karlos Dansby	LB	4	5	Brandon Marshall	WR	4	5	Jared Odrick	DL	4
3	Richie Incognito	OL	4	2	Pat McQuistan	OL	2	4	Koa Misi	LB	4
3	Cory Procter	OL	2					3	John Jerry	OL	3
1	Montavious Stanley	DL	1					2	A. J. Edds	LB	2
1	Marques Douglas	DL	1					2	Nolan Carroll	CB	3
1	Charles Grant	DL	1					2	Reshad Jones	S	3
2	Bobby Carpenter	LB	1					1	Chris McCoy	OLB	1
1	Clifton Smith	KR	1					1	Austin Spitler	ILB	1
1	Jeron Mastrud	TE	2
18			17	7			6	20			21
	SCORE	-1			SCORE	-1			SCORE	1
	2011
V	FREE AGENT	POS	G	V	TRADE	POS	G	V	DRAFT	POS	G
1	Pat Devlin	QB	1					5	Mike Pouncey	OL	5
4	Kevin Burnett	LB	3					4	Daniel Thomas	RB	3
2	Jason Trusnik	LB	2					2	Edmond Gates	WR	3
1	Ronald Fields	DL	1					2	Charles Clay	TE	3
3	Marc Colombo	OL	1					1	Frank Kearse	DL	1
3	Jason Taylor	DL	4					1	Jimmy Wilson	CB	3
1	Kevin O'Connell	QB	1
1	Ray Willis	OL	1
1	David Nixon	LB	1
1	John Matthews	WR	1
1	Tyler Donohue	OL	1
2	Larry Johnson	RB	2
1	Gerald Alexander	S	1
2	Will Yeatman	TE	2
2	Dante Rosario	TE	2
3	Will Allen	CB	3
3	Igor Olshansky	DL	3
2	Steve Slaton	RB	2
3	Matt Moore	QB	4
1	K.J. Gerard	CB	1
1	Marvin Mitchell	LB	1
2	Ryan Cook	OL	2
2	Nate Jones	CB	2
43			42					15			18
	SCORE	-1							SCORE	3
	TOTAL FREE AGENT				TOTAL TRADE				TOTAL DRAFT
	SCORE	-21			SCORE	-1			SCORE	5
					TOTAL SCORE	-17