More proof that the myth of Parcells is just that, a myth. Spread by the cult that is the NY loving media.
If you're going with a certain narrative regarding the success of a particular draft class, then what the other teams did is inherently a key component to the argument.
For the sake of context, here are the aggregate Career AV scores for players drafted by team in the 08 draft: TM-AV ATL 196 KAN 174 BAL 150 TEN 124 DEN 122 CAR 120 GNB 118 MIA 115 CHI 112 DAL 112 IND 103 PHI 102 ARI 94 NOR 92 DET 91 STL 82 HOU 79 NYG 74 TAM 72 SEA 72 BUF 71 WAS 71 CIN 70 OAK 67 NYJ 62 SFO 58 NWE 53 MIN 45 PIT 38 JAX 32 SDG 29 CLE 28 Miami's draft wasn't a homerun by any means, but it certainly was above average.
By all means, I'd suggest people go and actually look at the results of the draft: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_NFL_Draft This isn't really giving an appropriate view of how good or bad the Dolphins draft was. Do the Steelers get credit because they've got Doug Legursky on their roster still?
My argument isn't that Ireland is totally to blame. I don't even want to bother with that never-ending, circular debate. My stance is only that draft class was a miss mainly due to Long over Ryan.
Yes, and I understand the thinking behind it. I can't excuse it though. I'm tired of losing. I am not calling for anyones head at the moment. I'm happy with the selection of Tannehill. I am happy that Ireland is trying to make things happen and that they/he has managed this cap so well. My opinion of Ireland is far from completely positive but i'll leave it at that.
By all means, name multiple teams who successfully did that in that draft. I'll spot you the Ravens and Chiefs*. See if you can get to five, which would put you at a lofty +/- 15% success rate of drafts. It's open to anyone, by the way.
It's a failure imo..the GM needs to draft players that are first and foremost adaptable players, football players, complete players, if you don't know how to identify the type then you should find another job..Parcells was a joke.. It's the Dion Jordan debate I'm having with some, most are willing to pass on the player because they don't see a fit, all I see is a natural movement football player who could be used in multiple ways.. It's an evaluation problem if no one is left from your draft 5 years ago..I believe that was all Parcells..
There are some big differences between Wanny and Irish. First, Wanny had a FO/GM that reported to him. He made moves/lack of moves that killed this franchise for years to come, as we have seen. He left this team devoid of anything but a few starters... His saving grace was that he won the regular season...like it or not, he accomplished that. Irish was not in total control for the first 3 yrs of his tenure here and Quitcells stench was still hovering around the fourth year with Sparano and the style he wanted to run. As of last offseason, we had a new regime here, even tho Irish stayed. His MO for acquiring players has had to make a dramatic shift. He seems to be doing that, although the jury is still out... You can continue to villify him for moves he made under the stench of Quitcells, but it'll always be there...if you care to call it an excuse...do so... The bottom line is that Ross has decided to give this 'new' regime a shot and that regime includes Irish... One other note...completely off the Wanny/Irish thing... This build thru the draft agenda is changing as we speak. Not that your drafts don't have to be the basis for your team any longer, but the fact is, with the new CBA I think we'll see more and more guys coming off their rookie contracts and moving on to greener grass....They don't get the big contracts like they used to, so I suspect we'll see more guys trying to recoup that lost money in their second contract and teams will be losing those 1st and 2nd round guys (and any other round guys that blossom in their first 4 yrs) to teams who'll pay more for them (as we've seen Irish do this offseason)... I think it's passe to say "Build thru the draft" is the way to build your team. FA finally makes a significant difference...even the Stillers and Ravens are seeing that...
Or in the salary cap era it can be a money issue. Had Long not shown a regression from his all-pro form, he would have received a Joe Thomas contract last year. Langford currently plays inside in a 4-3. We play a 4-3 but we have depth at the position so signing him made little sense. Today you have to put a valuation on a player and if your's doesn't match his, then he has to be allowed to walk.
This is ridiculous. Henne is nowhere near as accurate as Matt Ryan. Henne's accuracy is actually pretty awful, it's the reason he'll be out of the leauge in 2 years or so.
If you had the ability to look at the situation with the info available at the time the decision was made, it wasn't ridiculous. not even close.
It is ridiculous. One guy is accurate and the other one isn't. One guy took an awful Boston College team to 10 wins the other guys has sucked everywhere he's been.
Long, Henne, Langford, Davis, Smith, all good picks IMO. White, Turner and Merling sucked. 5 outta 8 ain't bad if you look at it in the context of how typical draft classes turn out. The problem is that the team isn't winning and that clouds people's perception.
Oh, I thought you wanted to debate when you wanted to cry instead. My bad for not recognizing emotionally fueled drivel beforehand.
Now you are just being ridiculous. Henne didn't suck at Michigan. No logical reasonable person can look at his numbers at Michigan and conclude those were posted by a QB who sucks.
Then that was a good financial decision made by the team. As for this whole "build through the draft" concept, the reason teams adopt this is because you get cheap labor for 4-5 years. From that point on, it's not a failure if your draftees are no longer on your roster because if they are, they're no longer cheap labor.
Your making sense, however I would like to be able to resign a few of my own that I made the right eval on at draft time..problem is we don't know if Ireland is cleansing himself of Parcells.
The numbers mean nothing in college football. Pat White put up awesome numbers. Anyone with eyes could see that Henne was being propped up by the players around him at Michigan. He was always inaccurate and made poor decisions and never won anything on a college team with a lot of NFL talent.
This is only true as of the current CBA. "Build through the draft" existed prior to 2011, when rookie contracts were larger than free agent contracts.
Jake probably shouldn't have even been a top 10 pick imo. Looking through that weak draft, I counted at least 10 guys I would take over him. In hindsight, of course.
Henne actually threw some pretty damn nice balls while at Michigan so this is... let's say... hindsight.
Based on his first 3 years of work he was a HOF candidate and his top 10 draft selection was more than justified. Injuries the last 2 years don;t change how good he was, and probably will be again.
Only the top half of round one was ridiculous. The latter part of round one and into the second round provided excellent financial value.
On a team starved of a QB the most glaring miss was QB. Two Franchise QBs taken that first round. Most good QBs stay on the team that drafted them (AJ smith's ego notwithstanding).
Nobody is a HOF candidate after 3 years. Try 6-8 the we'll talk. \ I cringed when I kept reading around these parts, people referring to Jake as a Future HOF. really?
He had under 10 ints/year each of his last 3 years. He threw 87 TDs to 37 Ints during his college career. You're basically saying so much crap that is simply not true and in such trollish manner, I think its time a mod explained to you what trolling is.
Wait, Dolphins on the verge of re-signing OT Nate Garner! Now we know the master plan behind letting Long leave. Brilliant!
Sparano and Henning were trying to create a caretaker at a time when the league was looking for playmakers at the QB position. Say what you will about Henne, but it's tough to grow as a player when you're weighed down by the fear of negative plays.
Probably get it back? Highly unlikely. He isn't getting any younger and he's been in steady decline both performance and health wise the last 3 seasons. The last 2 seasons, he's been closer to average than elite. Betting on Long to return to being a top tackle is a fools bet. He ll be lucky to see the final year or two of that contract. I'm glad he's gone. He's been overpaid by the fins for way too long.
I'll rephrase, he was well on his way, on an early HOF pace. IIRC he was a Pro Bowler or all pro each of the 1st 3 years, and he was considered the best or very nearly the best LT in the game a couple of years ago. No need to cringe, he was that good- after 3 years there was nothing to indicate that he wouldn't continue to be a perennial Pro Bowler. That's far from a reach imo- it strikes me that he often doesn't get his due on this board. Injuries aside, he played outstanding football for us, no reason to think that at 27 and healthy he won't be outstanding again. Big loss for us, he was a rock when healthy. We'll see this year how much he is missed.
Career comp pct of 59.7% is inaccurate? When he was a senior didn't he lead Michigan to a bowl win over a heavily favored Florida team?
