The waning interest of Miami Dolphin fans is understandable when dissecting the performance of recent GMs. It would be foolish to place the entire burden on a single individual, so Jeff Ireland is merely a guinea pig for the ineptitude of the past as the Dolphins fell from grace. It started way before Jeff, but he's the most recent donkey for this example. (Donkey is kinder than ass, right?)
It’s okay to say it now... A whole draft has come and gone without Jeff Ireland and the difference is obvious. The guy could not even draft a kicker! A freaking kicker? Giving up a 2nd round pick to obtain the 3rd overall pick is okay if the player sniffs the field in two years, but alas, Dion Jordan has not.
Okay excusers explain how other players were selected early and have their own issues. I don’t care. I don’t find comfort in the misery of others. I suppose, for some fans, another player with issues makes Miami's mistakes acceptable. Sorry, I’m playing the BS card, it’s not acceptable…
Drafting three injured players in the first three rounds might be genius in a couple years if they became stars, but it ain’t gonna happen. I still have hope for Jamar Taylor, but Dallas Thomas, ummm, he’ll be lucky to make the roster this year. I know players drafted in later rounds sometimes become great but it's not how to build a great team in the NFL, or piss me off so much.
Great players in later rounds are bonuses and come along rarely. Team-sustaining players need to be picked in the first three rounds or a team will eventually fade into mediocrity or worse.
Let’s review the first 3 rounds for the five years prior to 2014…
2013 – Dion Jordan, Jamar Taylor, Dallas Thomas
2012 – Ryan Tannehill, Jonathan Martin, Olivier Vernon, Michael Egnew
2011 – Mike Pouncey, Daniel Thomas, Edmond Gates
2010 – Jared Odrick, Koa Misi, John Jerry
2009 – Vontae Davis, Pat White, Sean Smith, Patrick Turner
Seventeen players drafted and one Pro Bowl appearance between all of them. Of the seventeen, seven are gone, some completely out of the league. Another three will have trouble getting out of training camp this year. Ten players in the first three rounds over the last five years, gone… Only five players in five years are starters!
Look at the potential trouble spots on the Dolphins this year and start with the offensive line. Four players selected and one starter in the bunch. When they finally give up on Dallas Thomas, three of those players are completely gone. Miami has an issue at linebacker… Anyone see a LB up there, one, poor lonely Koa Misi and he’s good, but Pro Bowl?
The jury is out on Ryan Tannehill, he might be good eventually… Pouncey seems bent on enough stupidity to run himself out of Miami. The only real player in the bunch is Olivier Vernon but I’m left to wonder what happens to him when the third pick in the 2013 draft comes off suspension?
I know the excusers will load up and tell me all the reasons I should polish a turd, but my eyes are not blinded by fandom. I’m not a sheep following a fool into the same burnt pasture. The Dolphins lost their luster because they hired terrible personnel directors while searching for some retread-coaching star.
Poor Jeffery, we’re just using you as our example of the worst GM in Miami history, no offense though, swear…
Jordan was injured and was picked at a stacked position, why trade? I don’t get it? Some chart from one of those coaching-retreads said it was a great value… The bottom line excusers is, none of the top players in that draft were much better and the trade lost a 2nd round pick while gaining nothing.
Tannehill… Well I didn’t know then and I don’t know now. Something tells me, draft a player when they should be selected and take the bonus points if they turn out to be great. Drafting properly works this way, it makes more sense than reaching for a player who was uncertain then, and is uncertain now.
It means another GM whisperer took advantage of our boy Jeffrey and we Dolphin fans get to argue about Tannehill’s potential. WooHoo, I love potential… I wonder how potential beer tastes, must be like O’Douls, a freaking tease!
Pouncey, no reach - PRO BOWL…
Odrick, injured, he’s been okay if you accept a lost year from your first round pick.
Davis, well I don’t need to explain why this pick was never going to pan out…
I think I made my point, argue if you wish, but it fails to sway eyes not easily mislead by blind faith. So without further ado, let’s look at what’s different about the 2014 draft.
First, no reaching…
Ja’Wuan James is a right tackle, Miami desperately needed a starting right tackle. I realize most fans have never taken a three-point stance and tried to make a first step. Here’s the deal, left tackles need to be comfortable planting their right foot. In other words, most of the good ones are left handed. They don’t make good right tackles because those guys are right handed and plant with their left foot.
Jarvis Landry was selected at a position the “experts” are calling the deepest on the team… It’s another case of the “experts” trying to pull the wool over my eyes. Both Gibson and Hartline are coming off injury and Wallace, well let’s just say, he’s got a little Teddy Ginn in him. (Good thing Jeffery didn’t pick Ginn, I could have a field day!)
The running back debate… Hi Dolphin fans, I’ve got a golden chariot and it’s being pulled by the most magnificent donkey you have ever seen! Backs are a dime dozen on any team capable of drafting offensive linemen. GM ineptitude is what this is all about, can anyone say, “cart before the donkey!”
Billy Turner, I don’t know, but the signs are good…
Maybe Miami is on the right track with Dennis Hickey. The Dolphins could sure use a break.
So I guess the whole point is, even Tony Sparano may have been a decent coach, we’ll never know. The problem in Miami has been in the personnel department and unfortunately, it’s been overlooked for the glitz of coaching-retreads.
Jimmy Johnson, Nick Saban, Bill Parcells, riding that golden chariot, whipping the poor hapless donkey.
All along, the horses picked by other teams are winning the race.
The retreads, they sold the gold chariot and retired to retread land where they could fool other fools into following…
Miami fans…
Well I guess they're waiting to see if Dennis Hickey knows the difference between a horse and an ass...
