R1-12 Johnathan Cooper- OG North Carolina Good fit for the system, also one of the safest picks out there. Allows Incognito to move back over the right side, ends the yearly “Will John Jerry show up in shape?” saga for good. ***R1-30 Menelik Watson- OT Florida St. Final piece to the puzzle on the OL. The alternatives are trading for Albert and paying the fat contract or trading up past AZ to grab of of the top LTs. R2-42 Tank Carridine- DE Florida St. Powerful quick twitch DE with a motor to match his physical gifts. Should lighten the load on Wake. R3-77 Stefan Taylor RB- Stanford Not spectacular but solid in every facet of the game, the ideal back up RB. Adds additional value as a special teams player. R4-111-Logan Ryan- CB Rutgers Fresh legs for the secondary. Grimes, Marshall and Patterson are the 1-2-3, but for how long? Should push Carroll and Wilson for the 4[SUP]th[/SUP] spot and contribute on ST. R5-166 Michael Williams- TE Alabama Keller, Clay, and Egnew all rank between below average and terrible as inline blockers. Williams will be an asset in goal line and heavy formations. As well as on ST. *** Picks 54, 82, and 146 were swapped in order to trade up for Watson. If you're still awake after that snooze fest of a draft, allow me to explain. Mike Pouncey came out a few days ago and guaranteed a 1300 yd season from Lamar Miller. That's a bit of a stretch yet his point is well taken. Last season's running game was productive despite opposing teams' best efforts to shut it down. The offense ran into 8 man fronts for most of the year, with a back ill suited for the job and no credible threat to punish teams for stacking the line of scrimmage. This year, Mike Wallace and Dustin Keller will make overplaying the run A LOT riskier and Lamar Miller will not bail teams out by needlessly bouncing the ball to the perimeter. Things will be a lot "more interesting" as Pouncey put it. Open running lanes for Miller, stretch the field with Wallace and above all protect Ryan Tannehill. Strategically, it's that simple. That means addressing the OL. Cooper allows Incognito to shift back to his original spot on the right side. Watson plugs in at RT to give us a solid starting 5. Jerry, Samuda, Louis and Garner provide excellent depth and flexibility. Behind a line like that, with Wallace to keep the safeties occupied Miller is a 15-20 yd run waiting to happen. With Miller breaking off good runs Wallace becomes a ticking time bomb, they go hand in hand. Keller creates matchup problems in ways Fasano never did, especially off of play action. Hartline and Bess will take their proper role as 3rd and 4th options. Gibson and Matthews provide the depth needed to run the fast paced attack Philbin wants. Taylor can fill in if Thomas or Miller get banged up. Williams backs up at TE if Clay isn't ready to go. If Tannehill shows even modest improvement the offense should be a formidable one... Defensively, Carridine improves the nickel rush package this year while paving the way for Odrick to slide inside if Starks walks next season. Logan is depth, but what do you expect at CB in the 4th round? Coyle and co. will basically have to make due with what they have. Having an offense that scores another 5-7 points per game will do wonders for them. One additional score won the Arizona, NYJ, Buffalo, and Indy games last season. This year it means a trip to the playoffs.
You're a lot more comfortable with our current CB's than I am. Absolutely LOVE Taylor!! Would also love the Tank, but not sure he lasts that long.
Also Menelik is raw. He's got great upside but you won't get it his rookie year. I really wouldn't want 2 raw tackles.
I would be fine with this! It's at least a whole lot better than most... like the Eifert/Austin crowd.
Logan Ryan won't last till the 4th IMO. He's a late 2nd or maybe the 3rd, so flip flop he and Taylor.
Merling and Bowers fell because of injury concerns so it's possible. Teams looking for a plug and play guy might shay away, teams who can afford to bring him along more slowly may be more willing to take the risk.
Tank may last till 42. IMO he is in about the late 20s to late 30s range, so possible he makes it to 42. Do you know if he has ran yet? I read he was supposed to run on April 4 at a pro day in Cincinnati. But haven't heard if he was able to or how he did.
Good point. But he did go from a tiny 2 year school to starting for FSU to a borderline first round talent in 2 years. I'm willing to sit through some growing pains if there's going to be solid production on the other side of them.
April 4th? I was hearing the 20th myself.....but you bring up a very good point. Nobody has any idea where he actually is right now. That run will rise or drop his stock perhaps a round? That is amazing to me actually, but true...and a very good point Clean. Back to the draft. I actually do have a big problem with Cooper and Watson being 1 and 2. We are really needing help at a handful of positions. Guard is really far down that list IMHO. IF we take a Tackle at 12..or move up, then great. But that does nothing to address the real need, and that is certainly CB, and even moreso LT. Watson won't be playing LT obviously, and chances are, he won't be beating anybody out at RT for at very very minimal 1 year. We need two starters with those first two picks. All you have currently addressed is moving a starter aside for Cooper and putting another guy, alongside Martin, as a future possible starter. Ryan Tannehill won't last a season with this mindset. Poor kid will be John Beck back there getting pelted on every passing down. The other positions we really need help at are TE (Still? Yes, until Egnew can show us something....anything...) and RB (I know, all the Lamar lovers hate this, but the kid is not going to be a feature back. He just isn't). You have done a very nice job of addressing the RB with Taylor. It's astounding how little love this kid has received. Watching him play against Oregon, he was easily the best RB on the field, and I really have high regards for Barner. You have already stated the obvious with the Williams pick. Not a bad pick, but not the backup that Keller really needs. We can do better in FA, and maybe that makes the Williams pick okay actually..... EDIT: I'm on the fence in regards to Austin and Eiffert, but lets be honest, both those guys would indeed help our offense tremendously. Both are absolute playmakers. IF we were able to move down maybe 6-8 picks, pick up another 2nd or 3rd and 4th and pick up Eiffert, pick up Trufant, man that would really be sweet....but yeah, that would indeed still leave us with at least one gaping hole on the O-line.
whilst Cooper is the best G available (inside OL period) .... we would be just fine with Warford either in the 2d or 3d ... we don't have to spend #12 on him ... if the FO is hard pressed on Cooper - then trade back ... he'll likely still be available as late as 20.
Yeah but these aren't sleeper commodities. There is a fair amount of conjecture that these guys will find not only success in the NFL but high level success there.
I think if healthy, Louis is the best OG we have. No way he is on the bench if he is fully recovered.
Eifert and Swope later on is one plan. Getting two first round picks is my objective, so looking at Eifert/Watson or Eifert/Hayden..Sheldon Richardson/Eifert would be ridiculous for me personally, have Richardson as a blue chip prospect.
Love Cooper but I do not believe the Dolphins need an OG that early in the draft considering they have Incognito and Louis in the found with Jerry as a backup. I like Watson but not moving up to get him I actually agree with you that Tank could be sitting there at 42. The fact he was injured and missed part of last season and no one really know where he is in his recovery leads me to think that an NFL team is going to have a hard time taking a shot in the dark at him. I have seen Taylor play a lot over that past two years. Solid RB but I think I would prefer J Franklin (UCLA) or L Bell in the 3rd or 4th round backup RB's IMO, waiting til the 4th round to take a CB is a huge mistake. My desire would be to trade down with the 49ers and get the 31st and 34th picks. 1. Tank 2a. Hayden CB (I know there is a lot of talk of him going in the 1st round but I dont think that is going to happen with his chest still recovering) 2b. Justin Pugh OL 2c. DJ Swearinger S USC 3a. S Bailey WR WV 3b. Brennan Williams OT UNC 4. Marcus Lattimore RB USC 5a. Hugh Thornton OL 5b. Joseph Fauria TE UCLA With this draft you have addressed our weakest position OL. You address the back end of the defense with a CB and a S. AND you have added a passrusher opposite Wake
I've made no secret of the fact I'd love to get Austin in the 1st, but if you take a guard like Cooper, that is such a tremendous upgrade it would be hard for me to fault the pick. This guy is a Randall McDaniel or Guy McIntyre clone, and if you can get a guard like that you better do it when you get the chance. Having an interior of Richie, Pouncey and Cooper would be wicked, and we could probably even be ok with Jerry or Garner at RT in that scenario. I would like to see us draft Cooper's teammate though too for RT, Brennan Williams. Between him, Garner, Jerry, and Yeatman, we should be able to come up with a viable starter at RT. I honestly was very impressed with Yeatman's feet and movement skills last preseason and hope he gets a chance. You gotta come up with those kind of gems sometimes IMO. Also that we got him from the Pats would make it even more sweet if he were to emerge as a starter quality tackle.
Huh? Mroz lists one player from the state of California. Fauria. He has going by states or regions, 3 from the Carolinas, one out of Florida, upstate New York, Texas, Illinois, and West By God Virginia. How is that predominately Cali???
If Austin goes to the Bills or Jets, I'm going to be sick. Can you imagine having to cover him and still account for Spiller's breakaway ability 2x a year for the next several years if Buff got him? If we don't get Austin, I really really really hope he goes to the NFC.
A path to 11-5 that involves taking one of the very best players in the entire draft all the way down at 42 overall...kind of symbolizes our chances of going 11-5. I respect what the selection of players represents...re-commitment to the lines after a brief pause to go bananas in free agency on the skill positions. But I can't see how taking a guard at 12 overall presents the best long term value option for this franchise. The biggest source of discomfort I continue to have with Menelik Watson is that it means handing the keys to Tannehill's blind side over to Jon Martin. Tank Carradine won't be available at 42 overall. Logan Ryan makes me nervous. There will be lots of players better than Cobi Hamilton at the next level and he helped Cobi have a record breaking day. If you're getting Michael Williams, you might as well just be bringing a third tackle onto the field.
So, a more realistic look at the same priorities to reach 11-5 could be.. 1) Sign Winston. 2) Trade back to 18 w Dallas for their 2nd (they take Vaccaro or Star). Use their second round pick to acquire Albert (may require trading/releasing on of Bess, Marshall or Patterson for cap) 3) At 18 take Cooper or, if he is somehow still there, Warmack. 4) Use pick 2a on best CB or DE on board. Possibilities include: Datone Jones, Hayden, Banks, Trufant. 5) Use pick 2b on Corey Lemonier, pass rush specialist. 6) Use pick 3a on slot WR or YAC H-back: possibilities like Swope, Bailey, Patton, Jordan Reed. 7) Use pick 3b on a talented developmental tackle with upside like Xavier Nixon or Reid Fragel as Winston's successor 8) Use remaining picks to address things like running back (Montee Ball), TE (Escobar), DE depth (Cornelius Washington), Safety (Swearinger, Rambo), DT (not sure whose left by rounds 4-7). 9) Consider trading late picks for backups on other teams, like Fasano trade (4th for Fasano and Ayodele) 10) Win division. Make playoffs.
As badly as I want Tank, his valuation is problematic. I think he goes higher than we will value him due to the injury risk factor.
I know I would take him pretty high, I don't know they would. If you think about it everyone's talking about the initial gauntlet of the 2013 season against Indy, New Orleans, Atlanta and Baltimore...they're going to want someone that can help with that right out of the box. That might not be Tank. Unfortunately.
I'd want to throw up if Ireland spent over 100 million on upgrades for the WR and TE group only to to turn around and use 2 high picks on those same positions.
I'm all in for two first rounders as long as one of them is an OT. Hayden and Richardson = good picks IMO. Eifert I'm not a big fan of.
