http://www.miamidolphins.com/news/tony-sparano-draft-helped-us-several-areas
Interesting to find out what his mind set was regarding the draft that many Dolphins fans have panned.
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ToddsPhins, djphinfan and padre31 like this. -
Two things struck me about that interview:
1) I owe padre31 a six-pack as Sparano basically said Pouncey's going to play C.
and...
2) He mentions sticking to the board "at the time" and feeling really good about it, but I really wonder about who was on, or off, that board at the time and whether or not that's going to come back to bite he and Jeff Ireland after this season. -
Feature Back.
I'd be willing to bet they evaluated Pouncey at C and G and thought he was NFL caliber at both positions which is why they drafted him at #15, they saw him as a can't miss at either position which if true means he was a solid value at #15.
And he played for the "father" of the modern WC, Gus Malzahn, at Tulsa, what I hope though is they did not get to caught up in mutli talented stuff and these guys can do 1 thing really well in the NFL. -
Hmm, I took the opposite away from that interview, Pouncey may play either position.
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His answers seem very disingenuous.
They stuck purely with their draft board. Right. They notched an interior OL, traded up for a RB, got the fastest WR in the draft, and then took a #2 TE, all in their first four picks of the Draft, all need areas, and he'd have us believe they stuck with their draft board...100% BPA and not needs-picking. Right.
Tony Sparano should be a car salesman.DolfanJake likes this. -
Hmmmm. I would have liked to hear Sparano say the reason they didn't draft a QB was that they have confidence in Chad Henne, not "the way the draft fell". Probably being honest though. Leads me to believe they have someone in mind in free agency. I just hope they don't use next year's picks...
DolfanJake likes this. -
I got the same perception from that. Not a ringing confidence in Henne. I hope too that they don't mortgage the future on Kolb or someone else and not let the new regime that comes in next year without a 1st round pick. That would be par for the course here as of late. :tantrum:
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I think part of it is that he has more grace with the fans than Henne. He wants to keep that. I think even if they thought Henne was better than all the QB's draftable, they wouldn't have named him the starter until right before the season publicly. They don't want to be the ire of the fans this early. As long as the possibility of Free Agency sits out there, they still have a good portion of the fans hoping for a FA QB. -
I don't think it was completely disingenuous.
1. We didn't have a lot of options with our 1st round pick. Therefore based on who was available, Pouncey could've been the highest rated player on their board.
2. If Thomas had a 2nd round grade on him, then it's possible he represented both need and value at the bottom of the 2nd round (hence trading up for him).
3. Gates was a need, but he was an even greater value in the 4th round.
4. Clay was tremendous value in the 6th.
IMO at least 2 of our picks represented outstanding value while coincidentally fulfilling a serious need. I think we lucked out with both Gates & Clay.