I've been getting excited about what our areas of need will be next year and who we may draft. I came across something that sparked my attention, its a quote from Jeff Ireland from a pre draft interview last year:

(On after quarterback, what positions he feels are most important in building a team) Jeff Ireland– “I think there are certain core positions out there that you have to have. One is cornerback, one is left tackle, pressure players, a quarterback, a No. 1 receiver, nose tackle. I think those are all important and I think those are all core positions.”
(On how many of those core players he feels are on the team now) Jeff Ireland-- “We don’t have a whole lot of those core positions right now, to be honest with you. We need probably all of them in every area.”


Looking back at Parcells drafts I noticed that every 1st round pick was one of those positions Jeff said. I started to think that the quote could be something Jeff got from Parcells. Here are the drafts that Bills was either the GM or had major factor in choosing the pick:

1993: Patriots

Round 1 #1 Drew Bledsoe, QB Washington St.
Round 1 #31 Chris Slade, LB Virginia
Round 2 #51 Todd Rucci, OT Penn St.
Round 2 #56 Vincent Brisby, WR Louisianna-Monroe
Round 4 #86 Kevin Johnson, DT Texas Southern
Round 4 #110 Corwin Brown, SS Michigan
Round 5 #113 Scott Sisson, K Georgia Tech
Round 5 #138 Rich Griffith, TE Arizona
Round 6 #142 Lawrence Hatch, CB Florida
Round 8 #198 Troy Brown, WR Marshall

1994:

Round 1 #4 Willie McGinest, LB USC
Round 2 #35 Kevin Lee, WR Alabama
Round 3 #78 Ervin Collier, DT Florida A&M
Round 3 #90 Joe Burch, C Texas Southern
Round 4 #121 John Burke, TE VT
Round 5 #135 Pat O’Neill, P Syracuse
Round 6 #166 Steve Hawkins, WR Western Michigan
Round 6 #168 Max Lane, OT Navy
Round 7 #198 Jay Walker, QB Howard

1995:

Round 1 #23 Ty Law, CB Michigan
Round 2 #57 Ted Johnson, ILB Colorado
Round 3 #74 Curtis Martin, RB Pittsburgh
Round 3 #88 Jimmy Htchcock, CB North Carolina
Round 4 #112 Dave Wohlabagh, C Syracuse
Round 6 #195 Dino Philyaw, RB Oregon
Round 7 #234 Carlos Yancy, DB Georgia

1996:

Round 1 #7 Terry Glenn, WR Ohio St.**Bill didn't agree, he wanted Brackens**Both are still considered CORE**
Round 2 #36 Lawyer Milloy, SS Washington
Round 3 #86 Tedy Bruschi, LB Arizona
Round 4 #101 Heath Irwin, G Colorado
Round 4 #119 Chris Sullivan, DE Boston College
Round 4 #124 Kantroy Barber, RB West Virginia
Round 5 #139 John Elmore, G Texas
Round 5 #149 Christian Peter, DT Nebraska
Round 6 #173 Chris Griffin, TE New Mexico
Round 6 #195 Mario Grier, RB Tennessee-Chattanooga
Round 6 #206 Devin Wyman, DT Kentucky St.
Round 7 #216 Lovett Purnell, TE West Virginia
Round 7 #247 J.R. Conrad, C Oklahoma

1997: Jets

Round 1 #8 James Farrior, OLB Virginia
Round 2 #31 Rick Terry, DT North Carolina
Round 3 #88 Dedric Ward, WR Northern Iowa
Round 4 #102 Terry Day, DE Mississippi St.
Round 4 #104 Leon Johnson, WR North Carolina
Round 5 #131 Lamont Burns, G E. Carolina
Round 6 #164 Tim Shaft, Northwestern
Round 6 #191 Chuck Clements, QB Houston
Round 7 #202 Steve Rosga, DB Colorado
Round 7 #229 Jason Ferguson, DT - Georgia

1998:

Round 2 #56 Dorian Boose, DE Washington State
Round 3 #67 Scott Frost, DB Nebraska
Round 3 #87 Kevin Williams, FS Oklahoma St.
Round 4 #111 Jason Fabini, OT Cincinnati
Round 5 #134 Casey Dailey, LB Northwestern
Round 5 #141 Doug Karczewski, G Virginia
Round 5 #146 Blake Spence, TE Oregon
Round 5 #149 Eric Blakeman, OT BYU
Round 6 #163 Eric Ogbogu, DE Maryland
Round 6 #174 Chris Brazzell, WR Angelo St.
Round 6 #183 Dustin Johnson, RB BYU
Round 7 #195 Lawrence Hart, TE Southern Univ.

1999:

***heres a hicup to my theory, although it is not a first rounder but a second rounder and this was the year following the Jets making it to the AFC Championship game and their CORE positions were filled(in my opinion) so Parcells goes with a non core position***
Round 2 #57 Randy Thomas, G Mississippi St.
Round 3 #90 David Loverne, G San Jose St.
Round 4 #123 Jason Wiltz, DT Nebraska
Round 5 #162 Jermaine Jones, DB Northwestern State-Louisiana
Round 6 #183 Marc Megna, LB Richmond
Round 6 #197 J. P. Machado, G Illinois
Round 7 #223 Ryan Young, OT Kansas St.
Round 7 #235 J. J. Syvrud, LB Jamestown

2000:

Round 1 #12 Shaun Ellis DE Tennessee
Round 1 #13 John Abraham OLB South Carolina
Round 1 #18 Chad Pennington QB Marshall
Round 1 #27 Anthony Becht TE West Virginia***Only first round pick not considered core, but I have to consider this special circumstances being as its the first time in NFL history a team has 4 first rounders***
Round 3 #78 Laveranues Coles WR Florida St.
Round 5 #143 Windrell Hayes WR USC
Round 6 #179 Tony Scott S North Carolina St.
Round 7 #218 Richard Seals DT Utah

2003:Cowboys

Round 1 #5 Terence Newman, CB Kansas St.***Bill did not like this pick, he wanted a NT still are both considered core. This also shows how Bill wasn't the final say in Dallas***

Round 2 #38 Al Johnson, C Wisconsin
Round 3 # 69 Jason Witten, TE Tennessee
Round 4 #103 Bradie James, LB LSU
Round 6 #178 B. J. Tucker, CB Wisconsin
Round 6 #186 Zuriel Smith, WR Hampton
Round 7 #219 Justin Bates, G Colorado

2004:

***Another hicup and another second rounder***
Round 2 #43 Julius Jones, RB Notre Dame
Round 2 #52 Jacob Rogers, OT USC
Round 3 #83 Steven Peterman, G LSU
Round 4 #121 Bruce Thornton, CB Georgia
Round 5 #144 Sean Ryan, TE Boston College
Round 7 #205 Nate Jones, CB Rutgers
Round 7 #216 Patrick Crayton, WR Northwestern Oklahoma St.
Round 7 #223 Jacques Reeves, CB Purdue

2005:

Round 1 #11 DeMarcus Ware, OLB Troy St.
Round 1 #20 Marcus Spears, DE LSU
Round 2 #42 Kevin Burnett, LB Tennessee
Round 4 #109 Marion Barber, RB Minnesota
Round 4 #132 Chris Canty, DE Virginia
Round 6 #208 Justin Beriault, DB Ball St.
Round 6 #209 Rob Petitti, OT Pittsburgh
Round 7 #224 Jay Ratliff, DE Auburn

2006:

Round 1 #18 Bobby Carpenter, LB Ohio St.
Round 2 #53 Anthony Fasano, TE Notre Dame
Round 3 #92 Jason Hatcher, DE Grambling St.
Round 4 #125 Skyler Green, WR LSU
Round 5 #138 Pat Watkins, FS Florida St.
Round 6 #182 Montavious Stanley, DT Louisville
Round 7 #211 Pat McQuistan, OT Weber St.
Round 7 #224 E. J. Whitley, C Texas Tech

2007:

Round 1 #26 Anthony Spencer, OLB Purdue
Round 3 #67 James Marten, OT BC
Round 4 #103 Isaiah Stanbeck, WR Washington
Round 4 #122 Doug Free, OT Northern Illinois
Round 6 #178 Nick Folk, K Arizona
Round 6 #195 Deon Anderson, FB Conneticut
Round 7 #212 Courtney Brown, CB Cal Poly-S.L.O.
Round 7 #237 Alan Ball, CB - Illinois


Bored yet...?

Now, alot of people break down Bill Parcells first round draft picks by saying he likes drafting LB's or defensive players, but I think its possible that he has a philosophy that first round draft picks are only worth drafting if they are "CORE" positions. And if no player fits the bill or they have there core positions filled then he would be more prone to trade down or make some sort of move.

On to the Dolphins and what position we will draft. Lets take a look at our Core positions.

QB- We are covered with the Chads.

LT- With Jake Long and I'm comfortable saying that its locked down.

WR- This one is debatable, but with the year that Ginn, Bess and Camarillo are having and this quote from an Armando Salguero blog entry, Wr may be covered:

"I talked to him (Bill Parcells) a week or two ago and he was telling me he has only three or four players down there," another NFL legend said. "He believes he's got a punter [Brandon Fields], he's got a center [Samson Satele], he's got TED GINN, and maybe he's got a running back if Ronnie Brown gets back to being the guy he was early last year. But even Brown he's not really counting on."

here's the link Dolphins In Depth: What Bill Parcells is telling his peeps


CB- Allen or Goodman could both be considered our #1 guy.

Pressure players & NT- Here are the positions we will be going after. We all can see that Peezy is the only player getting any pass rush on our team so it goes without saying that it is an important area to address this offseason. And at NT Ferg is good but is getting a little long in the tooth. Here's a question asked to Jeff from this link:COLUMN: General Manager Jeff Ireland - MiamiDolphins.com

Q. It was obvious the offensive lines and defensive lines were the big focus this past off season. Are you satisfied where the team stands at both of those spots?

Ireland: You are never totally satisfied. You are always looking to get better. I feel good about where we are there, but I don't think we are done by any means. I like the acquisitions we hit on. But we obviously have a 34-year-old nose tackle (Jason Ferguson), so there are some things there.

Now I know many people already have said we will go with a pass rusher or NT with our first round pick but have they posted a super huge boring post explaining why.....? I don't think so!

Thats all or now.

 

If my theory is right, it would also mean that they believe that all Gaurds, TE's, Safeties, Runningbacks, and non core positions are to only be drafted later on in the draft. I find that interesting.

I do think its very telling that he drafts a OLB 50% of the time but I'm proposing that in the 1st round his first pick will be a core position 100% of the time.

Conuficus we should write a book together it would be huge, our dediication would be 79 pages long with graphs.