Avoid anything that is average or mediocre - Pre-Draft: Which positions are true strengths for the Dolphins, needing no changes? Which positions are true weakness for the Dolphins, needing immediate changes? Then, of those weaknesses, which do you think could realistically be fixed in the 2021 draft? And could any weakness become true strengths?
Strengths- CB, TE(but still would take Pitts), DL Weakness- RB, WR, S I expect some improvement here because of how young we are. But definitely needs to be at a much higher level than last year. Young and developing but needs improvement- QB, OL Somewhere in between- LB Fix in the draft: 6- Chase 18- Paye/Phillips/Oweh/Rosseau 36- Zaven Collins 50- Javonte Williams
I think we are strong at: DB I think I would call our D-line emerging. I do not think we are currently strong, but I would not be surprised if this was a strong unit early on in the season Weak: I am gonna call this group "pass catchers" if you can figure out my hidden agenda. ;-) RB Just like I said the D-line is emerging, I think our LB unit could be a unit that could drop drastically in the next two years. McKinney is essentially on a year-to-year deal at a high salary. If he was gone next year, I would't be surprised. Guys like Elandon Roberts and Vince Beigel have deals that essentially tell you what the team thinks of them. If either one or both were gone next season, I wouldn't be surprised. Finally, there is one that might hurt some of you guys - Jerry Baker. His contract is up next season. I don't think he is good enough to franchise, but I could see teams paying up to get him I could see our front office thinking that his salary could be better spent elsewhere. Don't kill the messenger on this one. Do I think we could have our voids filled by the end of the draft? Absolutely. I think that this is as close to being a Super Bowl contender that we have been in the last twenty years. There was a previous poster that talked about trading up to have two top prospects. I think we should do this because we are so close. I think we are 2-3 players away, honestly. I think we should probably look to snag a developmental LB at some point too.
Strength: Cornerback. We have two of the league's best players at the position tied to big money deals, and spent a 1st round pick last season on a developmental player. Plus, we have a quality reserve in Nick Needham. Unless we're trading one of those guys away, taking a corner would be an absolute shock. Interior Defensive Line. We don't have any Pro Bowlers at the position, but we spent a 1st and 2nd round pick in each of the last two drafts on Christian Wilkins and Raekwon Davis, and both look to be good, young players. We also have Zach Sieler and Adam Butler on board, just brought back John Jenkins as Depth, and have Benito Jones as a developmental project too. While it wouldn't be the shock it would if we drafted a corner, taking a DT with a high pick would be a surprise, given all of the other needs. Weaknesses: Nearly everything else, honestly. We need a lot of work.
Strength: DT/IDL, CB, MLB, OG/OT Weakness: WR, RB, C, DE/Edge/OLB (passrush essentially) IMO we need a Center, RB and WR/Pitts early. I'm less concerned with pass rush but that needs addressing as well. It's a weak class for that though, so I wouldn't force it. If our first 3 picks go Pitts/Chase (or even one of the Bama guys), Harris, Creed then I'm good.
Strongest to Weskest; CB- Top end talent + depth galore DT- Youth, Depth, upside OG- Flowers/Kindley - monster maulers TE- Top receiver/top blocker/Shaheen as versatile depth WR- Solid outside, suspect in slot. Injury concerns everywhere. LB- Solid in pass cov and run D. Stink at pressuring QB. OT- Youth and Upside. Nothing proven. (And Davis) S- Decent veterans. Leave a lot to be desired. DE- One Guy, On a 1 year deal. RB- Gaskin is ‘passable’. Brown is yuck C - Vet lotto ticket and Dieter.
Solid list. I do think that we probably need to combine DE and OLB into Edge players though. We're pretty solid at MLB with Baker and McKinney as starters, and Roberts as the primary backup. (As you have LB in the middle). I would probably group Ogbah and Van Ginkel together at the edge position, but regardless, we absolutely need help there.
