The Dolphins shocked many when they decided to trade RB Lorenzo Booker to the Eagles for a fourth-rounder over draft weekend. Although he didn't produce much in his rookie season, Booker was showered with compliments from the new regime, as his superb quickness and speed were seen as tools they could exploit in numerous ways. “I don't think he really fit our system that we're trying to put in place here,” GM Jeff Ireland explained after the first day of the draft. While Ireland wouldn't explicitly say what the “system” they're implementing is, it's pretty clear from the makeup of the coaching staff and the second-day selections of thumping RBs Jalen Parmele and Lex Hilliard that the Dolphins are adamant about forging ahead with a power running game. Although the rail-thin Booker has exceptional open-field ability — a good fit in the Eagles' spread offense — his slight build was ultimately seen as a liability for the hard-nosed brand of football the Dolphins are implementing. The physical nature of the club is not just an offensive issue. Six of the Dolphins' nine draft picks are offensive or defensive linemen, with Parmele, Hilliard and QB Chad Henne representing the three draftees not operating in the trenches. http://www.profootballweekly.com/PFW/The+Way+We+Hear+It/default.htm
I think it's more along the lines of they were on the horn with Jayson Foster and thought they could basically get the same player as Lorenzo Booker undrafted while monetizing Booker for a 4th round pick.
I agree. A few days ago I posted that he needs to be exactly like Booker, only faster, to make the final roster. Maybe add in ST flyer if he indeed ran in the 4.3's.
i understand what your saying but Booker was a 3rd pick while Foster went undrafted. i would think if Foster is basically the same player as Booker he would have been drafted imo... If Foster pans out it's a good trade.. Your thoughts
Thats a big reason there.He wasnt much help in the special teams and another reason that I have heard lately is that he was very slow in learning the playbook .In practices he would go left instead of right etc .That could have been one of the reasons he didnt play until late in the season. IMO his talent was easily replaceable by someone with equal or better skills. The third round pick was a reach IMO .Getting a 4th round pick back was a real achievement
If I may throw my 2 cents in here I think much of that is because Booker was a fairly polished product drafted at a position he played at, whereas Foster is much more of a risk being a project.
Booker provides added dimension The News The Philadelphia Eagles trade for running back Lorenzo Booker provides the organization with the ability to be more creative on offense in 2008, according to the Trenton Times. "He's somebody we really liked in the draft last year, but we couldn't pull it off where we were able to get him," head coach Andy Reid said of Booker, whose presence will allow Westbrook to line up more in the slot. "I think he and Brian on the field will be a nice combination for our offense." http://www.fanballnews.com/nfl/
IMO its BS they just wanted a 4th round pick because they saw value. I heard Ireland say why he drafted Parmele, going to be our 3rd Runningback, going to be a kick/punt returner, and will make an impact on ST. Tell me why Booker couldn't do any of that? I'm pleased we went with Parmele he was the Running back I wanted.
The reason Booker didn't fit is because they wanted a guy that could eventually jump Ricky Williams on the depth chart. Ricky ain't gonna be here long. They may even trade him before the deadline this season. Everyone involved here prefers a two-back system just like they had in Dallas, from Bill Parcells to Jeff Ireland to Tony Sparano to Dan Henning. They all favor two backs in a near-even split. They traded Booker because they are absolutely not comfortable with him being that second back, because he doesn't have the size or power. Plus, when it comes to using someone as a 3rd down back, even though Booker was quite good in that role, Ronnie Brown was better. Jayson Foster represents the same kind of player, at a cheaper price that more fits in with the size of that kind of player's role on this roster.
Booker isn't a between the tackles runner from what I've seen and heard. Were we hoping he'd develop like Dunn did? And he was horrible fielding a punt/kick.
Cant argue with that. Only thing i can see to argue that point is whoever Drafted Booker made a mistake and a big one wasting a 3rd rounder for him. I'll be watching how he gets on at the Eagles with some interest especially if Foster doesnt show up this season.
Yeah time will tell. I remember when booker played people were happy with him even his team mates said he breaks people ankles with his cutting + running style. all the fans were questioning Cam for not playing him early in the season..
Its just my opinion Mate.Not a popular one I grant because he as one of the few players that looked good at late in the season and he developed quite a following. However I think one of the reasons he looked good was because the rest of the team looked so bad. We wre grasping for someone to cheer for
Good point. Shame a player whom a lot of ppl were calling for finally showed up though and proved he could at least provide a spark. Next thing we know hes gone. Lets hope Lorenzo Booker will do good things for his new team and we can improve without him.
I still don't get this trade. And then draft 2 more RB. Why didn't they get bigger at CB with this pick? Godfrey went one pick after this one, he was the biggest, fast CB out there, he fell right into my lap and then... Making holes and then filling them with lesser talent while failing to fill areas of need AND value leaves thinking WTF???????
This draft wasn't about fixing all of this teams many problems in one season. It was about blocking and tackling. One of the main reasons our QB situation is such a mess is because we couldn't block anyone. We couldn't run the ball and we couldn't pass protect. Those won't be issues anymore. On defense, we couldn't stop the run and that took teams out of passing situations which eleminated Jason Taylor and Joey Porter's strenghths. This year, we'll be able to stop the run much better. Why? Because we are now much stronger in the trenches than we were a year ago. That's where games are won. Charles Godfrey was one of my favorite players. But I understand why we didn't draft him. We went into this draft wanting to accomplish three things. Get blockers, get tacklers, and to provide insurance at the QB situation. We accomplished those goals. Are we a Super Bowl team? No, I don't think so. Are we better than we were last year? Yes, big time. And the Giants showed last year than you don't need great CBs if you have a great Dline. Say what you want about Sam Madison and Corey Webster...they aren't top CBs in this league. [mod] Please keep thread on topic. [/mod]
The article has it right. I liked LoBook and the excitement he brought when he was on the field. More than liked it - it pysched me up to see him play. However, when Parcells and Co. came, I knew what kind of football team we were going build almost as much as I know the sky is blue. Physical and beating down other teams' fronts by being bigger, stronger, and better in the trenches... that's Parcells' m.o. right there, and you can bet the house that if he's hiring Jeff Ireland and Tony Sparano - no matter who's making the decisions - that they're in line with that philosophy as well. A power running game fits in with that philosophy, so that's what we're going to see. More to your post, regarding the jettisoning of Lorenzo Booker, what holes have we created by trading a guy that would hardly see the field? If he did see it, it would only be for a gimmick play now and then, and that's not really a staple of the power running game. He's not a better receiver than Ronnie Brown, so he won't be our third down back. He doesn't run between the tackles, which will be the staple of our running game. He has little to no value on special teams. Drafting two backs that aren't as quick or good in the open field doesn't mean they are less talented, especially in regards to our system. For our system, I'd glady make the talent debate with you. Both those guys can play special teams. One of them is likely to transition to fullback, which, obviously, LoBook is not going to do. The only knock on Ronnie Brown a person can legitimately make is his injury history. In the event that Ronnie (and Ricky, who also now has a recent injury history... in Canada and now last year), yo want to insert backs that can keep the same offense running. LoBook couldn't do that. We saw that last year. Once Brown, Williams, and Chatman went down, our whole offensive scheme had to change (into that, we inserted John Beck -- but that's an issue for another thread), to play Booker and get the most out of his talents. I think we were even having to bring in Samkon Gado because Booker didn't fill the hole. So I do take issue with us creating holes by trading Booker. That's not the case at all. The "failing to fill areas of need" is even more out there, imo. We had no greater need than to get better in the trenches. Our run defense was horrendous, and I haven't checked but I'd wager was close to dead last in the NFL last year. There was no greater need than to fill that area of the team. Not even the offensive line was a greater need. To that idea, we plugged in Jason Ferguson and Randy Starks in Free Agency, and then we've drafted Phillip Merling and Kendall Langford to put in our 3-4 (and sometimes 4-man fronts on passing downs) defense. The draft filled that need. But that's not all. Our O-line only had three legit starters. So enter Jake Long, Shawn Murphy, and Donald Thomas. Long will start from Day One. My bet is that Murphy will, too, at RG - and Thomas will stick either on the team or the practice squad, but he has the requisite athleticism to be a guard in this league and for this team in the long run - probably more overall ability than any of the other candidates including Murphy. Again, filling areas of need. As much as our secondary is lacking, our front seven and offensive line are more important - and more important by far - in the Parcells/Ireland football worldview. To think we were going to go out and draft CBs or WRs, and I said this before the draft so it's not just a hindsight being 20/20 type of thing, I just believe that was not going to be our front office's way. We may go in that direction next year - and I've heard many on these boards say that - but you know what, if I had to bet, I'd still bet on a LB or NT being our number one pick next year. From the Parcells' way, which again, Ireland and Sparano adhere to, you cannot have enough of those guys on your team. Good article, ffic, and right on target. Edit: seems like this needs to be merged.
I hope in the end that this team is built physically like the Jaguars. They run the ball down your throat as much as they can, and then as your opponent starts getting sick of it and putting their guys in the box, you toss it over the top.
I have to say, I wasn't shocked when Booker was moved. I had been wondering if the smashmouth dinosaurs running the offense would have any idea of what to do with a player like LoBook, and figured they just wouldn't know how to use him effectively in their system. It was a good, sensible trade.
I honestly was. I figured since he was such a dynamic player, he could be moved to the slot. He wasn't the biggest player and you kind of figured that this team would be smashmouth because of Parcells past so I figured, hes a new player, hes dynamic, he can't fit in the backfield, why not move him to WR? He has good hands. But now that hes gone, thats out the window. Wish him the best in Philly (even though I still dont understand them picking him up).
They could groom him to replace Westbrook over the next year or two, I guess. He seems less physial than Westbrook as a runner, though... and that's saying something, as Westbrook is anything bu t apower runner! lol. Bpk
Exactly lol, thats why I dont understand them making that move. I look at it as a addition by subtraction move for us. Breakdown: Dallas Trade: Miami receive: Ayodele and Fasano Cowboys receive: 4th rounder Philadelphia Trade: Eagles receive: Lorenzo Booker Miami receiver: 4th rounder In the end, we get Ayodele and Fasano for free while getting rid of a player who didn't fit our plans for compensation of a 4th rounder that we gave up in the previous trade.
He didn't fit our system and considering he didn't play much at all its not a bad deal to get a 4th rounder for him. This happens when coaching staffs change over, there are players that fit the last system that don't fit the new one, its not a huge issue. Booker wasn't going to be the difference between us getting to a Superbowl. He will be good in Philly he fits that system nicely.
I still didn't like this trade, he was one of few playmakers for us and could have been a catching 3rd down back, return specialist and maybe wr!
We had 4 RBs on the roster on draft day, there are going to be at least a 1/2 dozen good backups get cut b4 the season starts, guys w/ experience and ST skills. The Raiders and the Titans are both RB rich right now for instance. RB was so far down on the need list for this draft IMO it shouldn't have happened once, let alone twice. And to ignore better players at positions of greater need just boggles the mind, but twice????? We don't really know who are starting CB's are, whos the back-ups? Using 3 roster moves for areas of the team that could have been addressed much later confuses me is all. Bottom line, this trade turned out OK but it could have been outstanding.
Compared to Reggie Bush. whose only advantage over Booker is that he can catch punts and kicks, Booker was a steal.
