I have no problem with this FO admitting their mistakes when they realize it. In fact, I think I'm a fan of it.

 

we hit on our 1st, our other 2nd, our 4th, and 5th

all of which are starting. you win some and lose some. 2 of the 4 picks cut were 6th and 7th round picks. you can be succesful missing on late round picks.....dont matter as much.

 

That draft also produced four starters and one top backup.

While the jury is still out on the starters -- McDaniel, acquired for a seventh rounder, played well enough to be offered an extension this spring -- and you don't want to miss during the meaty portions of the draft, that would indicate a pretty good haul.

 

When it come to the draft you never know...there are nuggets and turds kinda like a box of chocolates...never know what you gonna get.

 

The average NFL team hits on just over 40% of their draft picks. Four out of nine lands us at 44%, with starters coming out of it and other contributors. I think we're alright. We could've done better but I wouldn't label the class a bust.

 

Wake and Ikaika should be in that mix as well, not "drafted" but two borderline Free Agents who turned into players for us.

Won't sugar coat that botching our #2 and #3 picks hurts, if we stay true to form though, Wallace or Moore will come through and contribute in their places for us this season.

That is Irish's real saving grace, unlike Wanny or Saban, when Irish misses he just finds players to plug in to make up for the failures.

 

Netting starters is one thing, netting starters that actually produce is another....

It looks like we have our CB of the future in VD, Hartline is solid pick......

jury is still out on Clemons, and especially Smith...if those guys tank it, then yes you are looking at a bad class....

however we wont knwo for 2 more years, hopefully Smith plays up to his potential, and Clemons makes them look good....

 

Our other second is hardly a "quality starter". I'd say the same goes for Clemons. I'd say we hit on our 1st and 4th, with the jury our on Smith and Clemons. Definitely not good enough.

If we are going to be elite, we have to do better. Otherwise, we'll be fighting every year for a playoff spot and it will be a short stay in years we sneak in.

 

Found this article and has some pretty good insight...

http://www.milehighreport.com/2010/3/24/1386838/the-nfl-draft-a-little-less

Maybe it's not how much successful picks you get in the draft, but rather how quickly you realize the bad ones? In this logic of thinking the FO seems rather swell.

 

Exactly. This is a great post. If we continue down this road, we are going to be an average NFL team. Not 1-15. Not with this trifecta. But nothing more than an occasional playoff appearence.

And I know to some this is acceptable. I understand it. But, as a long suffering fan, I sure wish we could break away from average and be outstanding for once (in a very, very long time).

 

so it could be considered a slightly above average draft.

 

This would be true if the draft was the only method of acquiring players.

 

This. :hi5:

In the article I linked a few posts back it seems that the draft is not as highly correlated to a teams success as some would think.

 

It stands to reason that a team that is winning alot of its games isn't going to have alot of room for draft picks. Our cupboard was bare...we were old and slow. We needed alot of players. On good teams, Clemons wouldnt' be starting and I doubt Sean Smith would be as well.

Philly did a great job of this a few years back in the early 90s...their draft picks were usually at positions where they had alot of FAs due the next year. They usually weren't forced into forcing rookies into starting. Andy Reid and Joe Banner and the FO in Philly are fairly shrewd. I wish I could say the same about this regime.

And getting an UDFA to make the team doesnt make up for the guy you whiffed on. While both of these kids are better than Patrick Turner, neither of them is better than Johnny Knox.

Bottom line...We have to do a better job of evaluating players. Stop reaching for need or gimmick players. Those kinds of players (Reshad Jones) will fall to you late in the draft. Pick them up then. In the first two rounds, pick quality football players, regardless of position (probably other than QB).

 

Haha we wont have to wait two years with our coaches. We cut bait fast, the point of this thread right

 

Spot on, that is a concept Ireland has mastered, the draft is such a big deal to us, to godo GM's it is just one of many ways to acquire talent.

 

Wait..you have turds in your chocolate box?

 

You guys are kidding yourself with this 4 starters from the 2009 draft. Like Finyank stated above "Netting starters is one thing, netting starters that actually produce is another....". Smith and Clemons are far from starting material as of today, and even Hartline has to prove something. I'd bet money Hartline isn't starting next year opposite Marshall. I'm not saying these guys won't pan out, but my guess is in two years only Davis will still be a starter.

 

You missed the larger point of that article if thats what you took from it. The reason good teams dont have room for draft picks is because their past drafts made them good teams.

Name me a team that is elite that doesnt draft well? The only one I can think of is the Saints...but even they had drafted better recently. Tracy Porter was a second round pick, ended up being one of the SB heroes.

But its a rarity that teams that dont draft well turn into SB winners.

 

The point I took from it is it's just as important to draft talent as it is to recognize and remove waste.

EDIT: To clarify this,by remove waste, I mean draft picks that didn't pan out and being replaced by FA. Sorry if that was misconstrued.

Also, pretty sure the article was a strong advocate of drafting doesn't equal winning. Have another take at it. :wink2:

 

Its the way to build the foundation of your team. Its the way to stay out of salary cap hell. Next year (if there is football) there will be a cap. We wont be able to go out and trade for the best player on the market and sign the best FA available. This was an aberration.

Getting FAs is usually a way to fill in the gaps (NE earlier in the decade). But the corps of their team was there...Bruschi, McGinest, Brady, Seymour, Light, Law, etc, etc. You fill out the team with Bryan Cox and other cast aways.

I dont know why its "controversial" or why there isnt unanimous agreement that we must draft better. Less than 50% isnt going to get it done. Only in Dolphins forums is this not axiomatic. I love Fins fans, but you guys puzzle the heck out of me sometimes.

 

To expound a bit, even though drafting is only one way of acquiring players, our roster, and our starting roster in particular, is teeming with our own draft picks:

STARTERS

1. Brandon Fields 2007

2. Chad Henne 2008
3. Ronnie Brown 2005
4. Vernon Carey 2004
5. John Jerry 2010
6. Jake Long 2008
7. Brian Hartline 2009

8. Vontae Davis 2009
9. Sean Smith 2009
10. Chris Clemons 2009
11. Yeremiah Bell 2003
12. Koa Misi 2010
13. Ch. Crowder 2005
14. K. Langford 2008
15. Jared Odrick 2010

ROSTERED

16. Lex Hilliard 2008
17. Nolan Carroll 2010
18. Jason Allen 2006
19. Reshad Jones 2010
20. John Nalbone 2009
21. Paul Soliai 2007

22. A.J. Edds* 2010
23. Phil Merling* 2008

* IR/NFI

Obviously, italicized names are draftees prior to the current regime.

It is understood that starters or rostered players are not necessarily going to pan out, but as of today, these players are starters or are rostered.

I'd say this is a pretty good haul for a team still in the rebuilding process.

 

I read it, I re read it. I stand by the fact that if a team is winning most of its games (NE is a great example) there aren't going to be alot of open jobs. In 2008, every draft pick should have made this team. We were horrible in 2007. We had so many slots to upgrade, how did we not draft all contributors?

That said, IF Henne turns out be the Franchise QB we have been searching for, I will give that draft an A+. If you can get a franchise QB and LT in the same draft, its good, regardless of what anyone else does.

2009, I really only like Vontae and Hartline out of that draft. The two Pats, White and Turner, are now history. Smith is living off the one INT in preseason last year. No one else has done much. My grade on that draft right now is a D.

This year, I like it so far...IF, Odrick and Misi and Jerry are quality starters (think Vontae as opposed to Sean Smith)....throw in B. Marshall for a second rounder, and this would be an A, IMO.

But we cant afford off years where we miss on 3 of 4 draft picks. You will improve with drafts like 08 and 10 (if both of my hopes hold true) but you won't be elite. You wont win SBs.

I am really hoping that Sean Smith gets it together, utilizes his skill set and becomes an outstanding CB. If he does, that will save CB from being a need next year.

 

Good work on this. But, would we be done "rebuilding" if we Smith, White, Merling, and Turner were all solid players?

 

Completely agree with this. Drafting is def. important, but as was mentioned, FA/Trades/UDFA/Waiver Claims are also ways to add talent to the team. If you miss with a draft, as the dolphins had, then you better make up for it in the other areas, as the Dolphins did. Wouldn't it be nice to think that the FO knew way back that Turner wasn't going to pan out and that's why they went out and got Marshall?

I know people are questioning things, exp after the cuts, but I think the FO has made really good roster moves overall.

 

Because standards for quality drafts are actually quite low, 2 Starters per draft, Ireland has hit that every draft, in fact we are averaging 3 starters per draft.

08:

Henne
Long
Thomas (until waived)

09:
Davis
Smith
Clemons
:10
Odrick
Misi
Jerry

Irish is much like Bill Polian, hits on #1 picks, finds UDFA's and low level FA's and oddball talent.

I'd submit instead of Bryan Cox and Jr Seau, we've added Charles Grant and Marques Douglas

 

That's hard to say, but no teams hit on all their picks, or not often even on the majority of them. My point was that we've got a lot of our drafted players starting or at least rostered. Some have "panned out", some we will have to wait and see. This team could have done better, of course, but you could say that about all teams. I think the nucleus is there to where by the next 1-2 years we will be in the mix for a championship run. Also, even though we have a few players drafted from 2007 and before, the poor drafting during that time really put us behind the 8-ball. So this regime has done a pretty good job IMHO.

 

The jury is still out on a few of those players

 

I don't know about "bust" but here's the thing; There have been three draft picks I've been absolutely insanely angry about; Eddie Moore, Ted Ginn, and Pat White. I actually turned off the draft and watched "A Knights Tale" with my wife in 09 I was so disappointed and angry.

I lost any ability to ascribe "god" status to TunaCo after that draft.