Potential Later Round Quarterback Options for the Miami Dolphins

Should the Miami Dolphins spend all of their first three 2012 draft selections on the likes of wide receiver, offensive line, outside pass rusher, or any of ten other positions besides quarterback, these gentlemen might be targeted via ricochet by the Dolphins on Draft Saturday.


Kirk Cousins




Case Keenum




Russell Wilson




I like this Russell Wilson kid A LOT, and he'd be my preference beyond Tannehill or Osweiler!! He's extremly intelligent, graduated from NC State in 3 years, decided he hadn't had enough of college football, and became the starting QB for Wisconsin as a walk-on after learning their West Coast Playbook in two weeks !! He has every-bit the intelligence, arm strength, accuracy, and mobility as the projected overall number two pick!! If he were three inches taller at 6-2 he'd hold a similar draft status projection to that of RG3!

Others might include Boise States Kellen Moore, a proven winner with Chad Pennington type intelligence, and arm accuracy, though CP has a cannon of an arm in comparison of the two, and K Moore is four inches shorter and 30 pounds lighter than the always broken Pennington!

San Diego States Ryan Lindley, Arizona's Nick Foles, and Southern Mississippi's Austin Davis ..

I personally am only a fan of Russell Wilson, while Austin Davis is described by some experts as "something special"!

THANKS for an Open-Minded Read of an attempt to get us one day closer to our hopes and dreams .. GOFINS!!

The Force will be with the Dolphins

“Need is a terrible negotiator and an even worse evaluator. However, the panic to draft someone who might turn out to be great is immense. Which is why, in addition to worrying about whether Tannehill would be a reach at No. 8, the Dolphins are also worrying about if he'll even be around then. Some other, equally desperate team -- Seattle, for instance -- may trade up to take him first.

The quest to land the quarterback with the Right Stuff -- along with the fear of missing a chance to draft that quarterback -- gets into the heads of football people. Eventually, it can force many people in the game to veer from their principles, abandon strategy and skepticism and ... reach.

Consider, from 1999 to 2011, there were 39 quarterbacks drafted in the first round of the draft, but only 16 drafted in the second round. Teams tend to overrate (and thus) overvalue quarterbacks, and then worry nearly as much about passing on a franchise quarterback as they do about drafting a player who turns out to be a bust.”

Brian Billick

Billick has gotten himself in trouble in the NFL because of a perception of arrogance that billionaire owners do not tolerate from a subordinate. The words above speak of a man who has seen the inside of an NFL draft-room and has identified from being outside, what goes wrong when need becomes the driving force in judgment.

Every coach and GM in the NFL knows their job is riding on the decisions they make on draft day, primarily at the QB position. Send the right name up to the commissioner and a GM is suddenly a genius, send the wrong name and a legacy of failure soon follows. A daunting task will humble even the most confident of men and there is none more daunting than placing your ability to earn a living in the outcome of one decision.

Some men take the path of least resistance, as Jeff Ireland and Bill Parcells did when passing on Matt Ryan for the safety of Jake Long. The number of playoff games the Dolphins and the Falcons have accumulated since that draft should be an indicator of the wisdom of that decision. With each passing year, the decision looms more fateful until the forces that drive the NFL, the QB… Come circling back around again.

Now the name resting at number 8 in nearly every mock draft, from the novice to the self-proclaimed experts has Jeff Ireland right back on the hot seat, with his fingernails chewed to a nub. The Miami Dolphin franchise will move on with or without Jeff Ireland and Joe Philbin but the decision made on Thursday April 26^th will define their future.

Take Ryan Tannehill and live the results, or pass and hope beyond hope that Tannehill does not become a pro bowl QB. These extremes cloud judgment and lead to overvaluing and over-drafting. These extremes lead professionals and fans alike to see more into a player than what is in front of their eyes on tape. The perfect height, the perfect arm strength, the exceptional 40-yard dash time, are all the tangible things that point to success, but mean nothing in the 4^th quarter of a football game.

Joe Montana had none of those things to the degree of his competitors, Tom Brady had so little of these that he was nearly overlooked completely on draft day. Nevertheless, those two gentlemen had something their competition did not have; they had the will to win with the game on the line. Repeatedly, they brought their teams back in college from what seemed like insurmountable odds and won the game.

The intangible force of moxey to drive other players to a higher place is the source of Montana and Brady’s greatness and to overlook it by focusing on the tangibles will lead to failure. The question is can Jeff Ireland clear the cloud of expectation with the clarity of reality? The force of Ryan Tannehill’s personality could not drive those around him to a higher level when games were on the line.

No matter how much Ireland or Philbin wishes this were not true, Mike Sherman is the offensive coordinator of the Dolphins for this very reason. Sherman would be recruiting players as the head coach at Texas A&M if his QB had that certain moxey that defines great QBs. Could Sherman be fooled again into thinking this is going to change? Montana and Brady showed these traits long before they entered the NFL, but moxey was overlooked for tangibles.

Old Ben Kenobi once said, “who’s the more foolish: the fool, or the fool who follows him?” Can Ireland and Philbin be foolish enough to follow Sherman if Sherman has not learned his lesson with Tannehill? Can Philbin think he can train Tannehill in the Jedi art of moxey, teach him to use the “force” of his personality to drive others. Unfortunately, there is no “force” detector to measure midi-chlorian levels in a QB. There is only history and not learning from it is the fatal error caused by the cloud of expectation.

If the Dolphins over-draft Tannehill it will be done out of desperation and the incredibly arrogant thought that Ireland, Philbin or Sherman are more correct, than what history has taught them. Perhaps this is a cold, inhuman analysis of a player, but isn’t that what Miami fans have come to expect from Jeff Ireland? If history is a teacher than those same fans should realize, Ireland will not vary from his own past and he will not select Ryan Tannehill.

If the Dolphins do select Tannehill and he fails, don’t be surprised if Ireland is again the man left standing. However, Ireland has shown the “force” of his personality and for that reason, it will be no surprise when the Dolphins select…

Quinton Coples

Miami Dolphins Three Round Prospect Chart

With the 8th, 42nd, 72nd, and 73rd picks of the 2012 National Football League Draft!!
"THE MIAMI DOLPHINS select"?

Positional Needs	OT	DE	WR	LB	OG	RB/TE	QB
Round 1
8th overall	-Matt Kalil -Riley Reiff	Quentin Coples	-Justin Blackmon -Michael Floyd	Melvin Ingram	David DeCastro	Trent Richardson	Ryan Tannehill
Trade Down	John Martin	Nick Perry Fletcher Cox	Kendall Wright	-Whitney Mercilus -Courtney Upshaw	Cordy Glenn	Coby Fleener	Brandon Weeden
Round 2
42nd overall	-Mike Adams -Marcel Jones	-Andre Branch -Vinny Curry	-Rueben Randle -Mohamad Sanu -Stephen Hill	-Luke Kuechly -Zach Brown	Kevin Zeitler	Dwayne Allen	Brock Osweiler
Pick two just in case	Mitchell Schwartz	Jared Crick	Alshon Jeffery	Shea McClellin	Amini Silotolu	-David Wilson -Doug Martin
Round 3 (Pick Two)
	Zebrie Sanders	Chandler Jones	Brian Quick	-Brian Wagner -Ronnell Lewis	Kelechi Osemele	-Lamar Miller -Orson Charles	Russel Wilson
	Brandon Mosley	Billy Winn	Juron Criner	Lavonte David	James Brown	Michael Egnew	Ryan Lindley
	Bobby Massie	Tyrone Crawford	Greg Childs	Keenan Robinson	Brandon Washington	Ladarius Green	Kirk Cousins

I didn't have room for the less needed defensive backs or interior defensive lineman and had to combine the RB's (Richardson, Martin, Wilson, Miller) and TE prospects into one column! As far as the DBs go, I like Morris Claiborne, Stephon Gilmore, and SS Mark Barron but doubt we'll pick a DB as early as they're projected to go (all are first rounders), though I'd be stoked if Gilmore fell to us in the second.

So this is the 2012 potential fin favorite 63.. 2011's Pre-Draft list of 60 included Pouncey, D Thomas, as well as unknowns C Clay, and C Gates! I don't know that this chart will be as successful, while I tried to pursue a different type of prospect from years past due to scheme changes !! Though we should get at least a few of the players, (because I worked harder than ever before in trying to figure out who fits and why).. They don't necessarly have to be taken as early or late as suggested for the chart to be considered somewhat accurate (as long as some of them are picked somewhere)!! I'm just an outsider lookin-in from the fans point of view, so I could just as easily get skunked.. Who knows, maybe the regime has their eye on Mr Irrelevant at #8, and he ain't on the list : ) !!

The above chart includes the Who's, What's, and When's of my personal preferences. PLEASE make your selections, and feel free to include whoever, whatever, and whenever your preferences may be, while remembering that a first round trade down is a possibility !! Make sure your selection scenario's mesh with each scenario's previous pick.. Make your picks from above, or include your own, GOFANS !!
GOFINS!!

THANKS for an Open-Minded Glance, as we look forward to your final angle of view!!

THE M I A M I D O L P H I N S are "on the clock" !!