With 2018's version of free agency set to kick off in the coming weeks, I thought it would be a good idea to start a thread where we can share our predictions or play armchair-GM. In this case, I will be predicting what the front office will do this offseason from free agency to the draft, as well as how it will translate into a 53-man roster. This is not necessarily what I would do as GM, but more or less an educated guess at what Tannenbaum and Co. will do. I won't get into excruciating detail, especially in regard to camp signings/cuts/draft, because those things are so unpredictable at this point. I'll provide a full mock draft with my thoughts on each 1st-round pick and each Dolphin pick before the draft. As for my credentials? Hey, I did successfully mock Charles Harris to the Dolphins before the draft last year--that's something, right? We'll start with Miami's impending free agents. Obviously, Jarvis Landry has already been tagged, so we'll count that as a freebie. Michael Thomas is a class-act, a locker-room leader, and a force on special teams. Damien Williams is a hard-working, quality change-of-pace back. John Denney is, well, John Denney. Cody Parkey had a phenomenal season. Terrence Fede, like Thomas, is a quality special teams player and provides decent depth along the line. Impending Free Agents: Jay Cutler, QB: RELEASE William Hayes, DE: RELEASE Koa Misi, LB: RELEASE Nate Allen, S: RELEASE Jermon Bushrod, G: RELEASE Anthony Fasano, TE: RELEASE Michael Thomas, S: RE-SIGN Damien Williams, RB: RE-SIGN Matt Moore, QB: RELEASE John Denney, LS: RE-SIGN Alterraun Verner, CB: RELEASE Sam Young, OT: RELEASE Jarvis Landry, WR: TAG David Fales, QB: RELEASE Walt Aikens, CB: RELEASE Cody Parkey, K: RE-SIGN Terrence Fede, DE: RE-SIGN Next, we'll consider cutting and restructuring players. Julius Thomas and Lawrence Timmons are virtual locks for the chopping board, and Stephone Anthony can net the team a nice chunk of cap space as well. Together, these three should account for 13.6 million (give or take) in cap. This won't be enough, however, and Miami will need to get creative to free up some more space. It would be wise to revisit some contracts, including Ryan Tannehill, Cameron Wake, and Ndamukong Suh. Ideally, between the three, an extra 7 million in cap is generated, setting the team up nicely at a respectable 20 million. (Note: I, personally, would cut Mike Pouncey as well, but given recent news, it seems as though he's staying.) Cut: Julius Thomas, TE Lawrence Timmons, LB Stephone Anthony, LB Restructure: Ryan Tannehill, QB Cameron Wake, DE Ndamukong Suh, DT Then, we'll look at free agency. There are rumors circulating about C.J. Anderson's future in Denver, and it isn't bright. It's likely that the FO would pursue him again to form a quality one-two punch with Kenyan Drake. Xavier Su'a-Filo hasn't lived up to his 1st-round pick status, but he's an ideal candidate for a '1-year prove-it' contract. He also fits nicely into Gase's zone blocking scheme. Jordan Hill is a quality run defender, and with William Hayes hitting the market, Miami is in need of one. New DL coach Kris Kocurek is sure to convince the FO to bring in one of his guys (Hill, Haloti Ngata, or Dwight Freeney) and I think Hill makes the most sense. Tahir Whitehead is a perfect candidate for Miami's 4-3 wide-9 scheme, given that something similar was run in Detroit, and I'm sure Kocurek will have more nice things to say about him. Free Agency: C.J. Anderson, RB Xavier Su’a-Filo, G Jordan Hill, DT Tahir Whitehead, LB Lastly, we'll take a gander at the draft. We know that Tannenbaum's philosophy is to address needs in free agency and target BPA in the draft. As such, we'll operate under the assumption that Miami's glaring needs are addressed by this point in the offseason. Here is what I've got: Draft: 1: Joshua Jackson, CB, Iowa 2: Hayden Hurst, TE, South Carolina 3: Luke Falk, QB, Washington State 4: Brett Toth, OT, Army 4: Ade Aruna, DE, Tulane 6: Steve Ishmael, WR, Syracuse 7: Tyree Robinson, S, Oregon 7: Myles Pierce, LB, The Citadel Notable UDFA: Will Gleeson, P, Ole Miss And, without further ado, the projected 53-man roster: QB (2): Ryan Tannehill Luke Falk (R) RB (4): Kenyan Drake C.J. Anderson Damien Williams Senorise Perry WR (6): Jarvis Landry Kenny Stills DeVante Parker Isaiah Ford Jakeem Grant Leonte Carroo TE (3): Hayden Hurst (R) MarQueis Gray Thomas Duarte T (4): Laremy Tunsil Ja’Wuan James Brett Toth (R) Eric Smith G (4): Xavier Su’a-Filo Jesse Davis Ted Larsen Isaac Asiata C (2): Mike Pouncey Anthony Steen DE (5): Cameron Wake Charles Harris Andre Branch Terrence Fede Ade Aruna (R) DT (4): Ndamukong Suh Jordan Phillips Jordan Hill Davon Godchaux LB (6): Kiko Alonso Raekwon McMillan Tahir Whitehead Chase Allen Neville Hewitt Myles Pierce (R) CB (6): Xavien Howard Joshua Jackson (R) Cordrea Tankersley Bobby McCain Tony Lippett Jordan Lucas S (4): Reshad Jones T.J. McDonald Michael Thomas Maurice Smith K (1): Cody Parkey P (1): Will Gleeson (R) LS (1): John Denney KR (3): Jakeem Grant Kenyan Drake Jarvis Landry PR (3): Kenyan Drake Jakeem Grant Jarvis Landry
Anthony, Hayes, and Taylor will all probably be on the 53 next season. Out of those 3...they have to keep Hayes.
I believe they will resign Sam Young and Fasano. Young actually played well over the last five games last season and he is a valuable backup on the OL. Fasano is the only TE who actually blocks anyone and unless they draft a TE in the first two rounds of the draft, I think he will be a Dolphin in 2018. I don’t see Landry on the roster unless he is willing to sign a long term deal in the $10-11 million dollars a year range. I think right now the Dolphins just wanted to control what happens with Landry this year and that is why they franchised him. If they can’t agree on a new contract in the coming months, I expect they will try to trade him and they will be very happy to get a second round pick or and early third round pick in a trade for him. If they were looking to trade him during the 2017 season when they were paying him on his rookie contract. There is no reason to believe they aren’t willing to trade him now that they will have to pay him over $14 million dollars next season if he doesn’t agree a long term deal at a lot less money per year.
I think we are going to go Quarterback in the first round of the draft this year. That will shock some people and to others it will make a lot of sense. In other words the BPA will in fact be a Quarterback when it is our turn to pick. As far as free agency goes (which yes I know is before the draft) CJ Anderson seems like a lock one would think. He's literally perfect to pair with Drake, and as alluded to before, we have shown considerable interest in him in the past. Whoever we decide to pursue through (FA/draft), i'm sure with vary from who we all think, but if i'm going to make a prediction, i'll make two that I definitely feel likely will happen. FA #1 CJ Anderson will be a Miami Dolphin Draft #2 Either Baker Mayfield or Josh Rosen will be a Miami Dolphin on draft night.
Yeah I saw that Vincent Taylor missing from the roster too. I doubt that happens. We just drafted him last year - good rotational player that had some moments and a good special teams player, I believe he even blocked a kick or two. And we traded picks for both Anthony and Hayes. I just cant see those going down the drain. Hayes was good in run downs and set the edge well. Anthony..i don't remember him hitting the field much till the very end of the season, but a 5th round pick we traded. We trade Ajayi (a probowler) for 1 pick shy of being a 5th rounder, yet give up a 5th for Anthony (for half a season) and let him walk. Man I hope not. Other than that I like the thought you put into it, nice work and good free agent and draft looks
Personally think and afraid to say that Tylernator predictions most likely seem realistic to what our organization see's. RT better be healthy and get a good pair of running shoes because the OL is going to be the " Surprise " area of inefficiency for what the 15 year..... Like to say no way but sadly see the pattern and on top of Tylers prediction would just see them add a drafted OL rd 2 or 3 for the organization to feel like they did something......Oh ya bring in a couple of hasbeen cross your fingers they can play types... This will be so sad but expected.. Could also see Parker shipped out... Like to have said Dolphin will do what they have to, to get Norwell find away to get Nelson at 11 or better. 86 Pouncey and get Ragnaw or Wynn or Price rd 2. Then forget about the OL for years.....At least we'd finally have an OL after decades. And have a more solid foundation moving into a actual future in 2-3 years. Instead of this lunacy we do every year.... Any money left over look for LB's... Forget TE's for now, we have much more critical areas to fill besides TE. That is unless you think we got a shot at being a legitimate contender if so there's a bridge for sale in Brooklyn if you hurry you might get it before Gase does.. Hopefully Tylers prediction which are credible but Man they better be WAY...WAY off. Now for you bridge buyers , Ya spending all the focus and most cap space on OL sadly whats needed after 2 decades of abuse... Understand were looking at a couple years minimum to be a ligitimate team that can go out there and beat or give NE, Ravens, Eagles, Steelers all they can handle, or better yet to much for them to handle.....Thats my idea of success and not this potential crawling to a playoff spot and getting totally out played....Christ try it for 2-3 years we've already wasted almost 20 years. And I'm not getting any younger...lol
I'm keeping Sam Young, Vincent Taylor, and William Hayes without a doubt. Also leery about departing with Nate Allen, despite his subpar play, until we can find another FS for package flexibility. Stephone Anthony was a waste of a 5th rd pick, and if I get to play GM, Alonso and Pouncey are gone yesterday. IDGAF about cap ramifications.
When you restructure a contract you have to give more guarenteed money. Not sure we should or would do that.
I agree about Taylor, Hayes, and Young. I disagree about Anthony and Kiko. Anthony has problems learning the scheme. I think he needs a full off season playing for Burke before I make a decision on whether or not he was a waist. As for Kiko, again, he's not a bad LB. He was put into bad situations on top of a year filled with bad situations. I also think Pouncey wasn't as bad as some think. I'd like to see him take less money, but he was very good in the pass. Albeit not good in the run game.
Dude's straight up ****ing horrible vs the pass & run. I'm astounded that anyone would think otherwise and you're strictly clinging to a few highlights & splash plays that overrides any common sense analysis for his overall poor play. And considering you also think Anthony is worthy of anything other a loss of a 5th rd pick pretty much confirms to me your inability to assess defense.
lol... I guess you didn't comprehend what I wrote. And here I was thinking I was writing in a very simple way. First, and once more, Kiko was put into bad situations last season. Did he make bad plays? Yes. But give me the name of one player in the league who didn't make bad plays. Did Kiko play like a top 5 or top 10 LB? No. However, he's getting paid middle of the road money for average play. And yes, overall last season his play was about average. You claim that I'm basing my opinion of him off of a few splash plays and you're basing your opinion off of just his bad plays. I think Anthony has learning problems. The fact that you don't realize this confirms to me your inability to think past the nose on your face. Giving him a full off season and seeing what he can do this next season means nothing more than that. He's very athletically gifted and played great his rookie season. In his second season he was moved around and his play suffered, but he was hurt the majority of that season. Last season was his 3rd year in the league and he's played for 2 different teams and basically 3 different positions.
Alonso has been supposedly put in a "bad situation" since the moment he's donned our colors. A few highlights compared to 2,057 snaps. I could easily go 5 to 1 bad/good for every good play you claim he makes. Go away.
Kiko's play has not been "average". He was among the worst linebackers in the league in coverage, well below average. Against the run he was slightly better but still below average. His PFF score was also well below acerage. Add in all of his mistakes, missed tackles and the fact that most of his tackles come 8 to 12 yards downfield and I don't see how you qualify him as average.
Typically you're fairly respectful...so...period? I'm not sure what set you off, but you should really tone it down. But let me ask you...did Kiko all of a sudden forget how to play football or do you think something else was going on?
PFF is pretty much a steaming pile of ****...They are good for some things, but player rankings is not one of them.
We've done this already, and apparently others have as well. You either take heed or get ridiculed; it's up to you.
lol..."Take heed"? To you? Here's the thing. If you want to use PFF as your measuring stick be my guest. If you want to cherry pick plays and refuse to look at the entire picture. Be my guest. However, if you're going to do those things and then call someone a dunce when they refuse to paint themselves into a corner while using half the data then you're the one that's going to get ridiculed. There is a lot more to Kiko's play last season than PFF or even good plays and bad plays. His surroundings played a large part. What he was asked to do played a large part. If I ask an ostrich to fly instead of run fast who is the dunce? The ostrich or me? Kiko was asked to do things he's not very good at because there was no one else...to put it simply. He's the ostrich and you wanted him to fly. So, who's the dunce? So, take that cap and shove it up your ***.
I haven't seen many people suggesting trading back in the first and acquiring more picks. Most mocks I see have us taking a QB which at that spot I don't think is the best idea, or taking Davenport or Johnson. I'm not in love with either of those players and doesn't seem to fit a pressing need anyway. If you trade back, grab BPA (I like Price) and get another 2nd or 3rd for additional LB OR DE depth I think it helps the TEAM. FA- who knows. Probably either trade Landry or Parker. Hayes I think returns, Williams I think is gone (especially if you bring in Anderson). OL maybe they keep James if he restructures, but he'll probably be a market casualty. KIKO- he's better than Spencer Paysinger, Neville Hewitt, or Jelani Jenkins so I guess it could be worse. Plus I do agree are LB Corp has been a dumpster since he got here so not completely his fault.