I like the addition of Greg Jennings, and I believe it was necessary for insurance purposes before the draft. That doesn't mean Miami should be done upgrading the position, though. I'm still waiting for that alpha-dog! http://youngspeaksports.com/2015/04/24/dolphins-add-jennings-still-need-a-receiver/ I'm becoming fond of the idea of Kevin White or Amari Cooper.
You can get one thing straight, Miami isn't going to sniff Kevin White or Amari Cooper unless the team trades up into the top-10. I wouldn't be surprised if both WRs are off the board by the 7th or 8th pick, nor would I be surprised if another team outside of Miami wanted to trade up for one of them. I just said this in another thread but the fact Miami delayed the signing of Jennings for so long and then finally made it happen the week before the draft tells me that whatever plans they had as far as moving up probably fell apart. They would've signed Jennings a lot earlier had they been committed to him. There would have been no reason to wait. If Miami felt they had a chance at Cooper or White they probably wouldn't have signed Jennings at all.
Might not get a shot at any high draft picks if things pan out. Might as well try for one of the two.
In the past week, Miami met with a few WRs - like Breshad Perriman & Nelson Agholor - and then immediately signed Greg Jennings. In fact, the Greg Jennings signing happened only a few hours after Miami met with Breshad Perriman. Louisville WR DeVante Parker meets with Dolphins at combine February 19, 2015 http://dailydolphin.blog.palmbeachp...evante-parker-meets-with-dolphins-at-combine/ Fast-rising USC receiver Nelson Agholor visiting Miami Dolphins April 21st, 2015 http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap30...ceiver-nelson-agholor-visiting-miami-dolphins Dolphins hosting UCF receiver Breshad Perriman April 22nd, 2015, 8:17am http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/...er-breshad-perriman-today-20150422-story.html Greg Jennings agrees to terms with Miami April 22, 2015, 6:19 PM EDT http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/04/22/greg-jennings-agrees-to-terms-with-miami/ So it's possible that Miami met with all the WRs they were considering at #14 (DeVante Parker, Breshad Perriman & Nelson Agholor), they didn't like what they saw, which caused Miami to increase their offer to Jennings, which lead to the signing.
I agree it doesnt preclude us from drafting a WR but it could be with a lower round pick. Alpha dogs are not necessary in a Lazor offense and we have so many needs.
I'm well aware that White/Cooper will not fall to 14. I wasn't suggesting that; a trade up would have to be made. Your second paragraph is an interesting point, and I hope it's not true. Do we know if Jennings was given an offer several weeks ago? Maybe Miami wanted to do its homework on Crabtree, Welker, and some other options first?
We shouldn't assume the Dolphins took this long to sign Jennings because they were exploring other options, not necessarily. All I've seen indicates Dolphins offered Jennings a contract as soon as he visited, and it was Jennings who wanted to explore his options and visit all other callers. For all we know, signing Jennings has not affected any of the draft-day plans of the Dolphins, and indeed, Jennings' contract suggests the team will surely be thinking future for the WR position come the draft.
I am under the impression that the timing of Jennings signing was on him. We had an open offer, he sniffed around some other places and came back to us.
That is what I believed, as well. Plus, he's only under a two year contract. It's not as if he's the future of the position. He's strictly for veteran advisory and insurance. If we're creating assumptions, the argument could even be made that Jennings was brought in to mentor a young wide out - such as White or Cooper.
Listen, Jennings may not have broken the bank, but I don't think he is making $8M over two years just for his leadership, advising, mentoring or whatever you want to label it. If you want to hire someone to do that you spend $80k, not $8M, lol. I hate when I hear that stuff. Miami signed Greg Jennings to play WR first and foremost because Rishard Matthews was set to inherit a starting role with virtually no back-up in place and that indicates a clear lack of WR talent. However, Miami obviously felt that Jennings was a guy worth only a certain amount and thus whether they low-balled him and he looked at other options or they just delayed their offer, it indicates the same thing--Miami doesn't view Jennings as a high-value FA. But the fact that Miami sat there for so long with just Stills and Matthews on the outside is damning evidence that they were passionate about taking a WR high in the draft. Miami let Bowe and Maclin and several other high profile WRs switch teams in FA without getting into the mix. They had no qualms about dropping Gibson. They let Hartline and Wallace go when they could've kept either and simply said they needed 1 hold-over for the sake of consistency. Miami clearly had a chance to put WRs on the team and they simply didn't do it. There's no other way to take that other than to see that as evidence that their plan involved the draft. The fact Jennings came in late only shows that they are protecting themselves or at least trying to raise the talent up to a more competitive level given that a 2nd or 3rd round WR out of this draft may wind up making little to no impact in a worst case scenario. Look, it's perfectly fine. Maybe they realized it was going to be too expensive to trade up or that none of the prospects were really as good as they initially thought but one thing is highly unlikely now and that is that Miami comes out of the draft with a WR that will make an instant impact. With White and Cooper out of the equation Miami will be looking at several WRs that will need quite a bit of polishing. If Miami didn't add Jennings, this off-season could've easily blown up in their face with Stills and Matthews as full-time X and Z receivers and Matt Hazel or some rookie being the only contingency against injury. That would've been bad, especially after dropping a guy that scored 10 TDs last season, lol. So I'm not sure what Miami's plan is but I highly doubt it involves trading up. All signs point to no.
Miami offered Jennings a deal during his original visit. It was Jennings that wanted to visit every team that was interested in him, then decide with his wife where he should play. The delay was because of him. He said so himself.
And, I want to add that Miami signing Jennings absolutely means they could walk away from this draft without drafting another WR. I think it's likely that they will draft at least one more WR, but now they don't have to. Landry, Stills, Jennings and Matthews is a pretty solid receiving corps. Not to mention Jordan Cameron at TE.
Or it could mean we aim for a 3rd (in draft trade down) or 4th round guy to develop instead. I think we have bigger issues at corner, interior OL and LB.
The only way we draft a receiver in the first two rounds is if Parker falls to 14, we trade down..or someone like Perriman,Strong, Green-Beckham, Agholor or even Dorsett falls to us in the 2nd round. I think Devin Smith would be a bit of a reach for us in the 2nd. Worst case scenario: Gurley, Waynes and Parker are all gone at 14 in which case I think the safe play would be to get La'el Collins. And then hope we can get one of those receivers or maybe McKinney or Perryman for LB will be there in the 2nd
This is for me the more important reason for this signing. Veteran advisory for young players certainly can help but it's a bit overrated. For 8M salary Jennings has to catch passes and score TD's as his primary task. If he also advise our youngsters - nice.
Veteran mentors are most def overrated. Like older players are going around teaching younger guys how to take their en masse.
This is where I'm at. I think Jennings, Stills, Landry, Matthews, is a better WR corps than we had last year. And that doesn't include Cameron, as you mentioned, who blows Clay out of the water as a receiver. We're better off today than we were yesterday, we already gave up a 3rd round pick for a WR, so I don't see the need or value of drafting a WR @ 14 or via trade up. Maybe draft a WR later on in rounds 4-6, but we're OK.
Yes, obviously he can still play football. I wouldn't say he's a "very good receiver," though. He'll be decent - good enough to be a contributor. Jennings is more of an insurance policy in my eyes. Miami knows what it has in him; it doesn't know what it has in Stills, Cameron, and Matthews. None of the free agent receivers were elite talents, so it doesn't surprise me that Miami didn't inquire about them. I've said this several times, and maybe I'm in the minority, but I still believe Tannehill needs a reliable target who be can lean on under pressure. It's easier to find offensive lineman and corners later in the draft than it is to find elite receivers.
The Dolphins do not have the draft picks to move up high enough to get White or Cooper. With no third round pick, they would have to be willing to trade their first and second round picks and possibly a late round pick to move up and take one of these WR's. If they were just one WR away from being a SB contender, that trade might make sense. It makes absolutely no sense considering all the needs this team has. They need another starting CB, at least another starting caliber LB, if not two and a starting offensive guard. They also need to draft a power running back to complement Miller and probably look at adding another defensive lineman in the later rounds. They obviously are not going to be able to fill all their needs with the draft picks they have now. Trading up to select Cooper or White and ending up with only one pick in the first three rounds is not something the Dolphins can afford to do at this time, IMO.
Speaking from having seen his work in 2014, he's still a very good receiver. Working with scrubs and a rookie getting acclimated to the NFL tends to have a deflationary pressure on your statistics. Jennings showed that he still has good ability and when put in the right position he can produce near his GB levels. It hurts to lose the best in the business as your QB, it hurts even more when he's replaced by inconsistency.
