Last minute draft stuff.

[Dave Gray]

I am notorious a crappy contributor around draft time because I don't really watch mainstream college football outside of my individual school, which is not nationally relevant.  We have had a few NFL players all-time, but not guys that go early in the draft.

Because of this, (and because I think the draft is kind of a crap-shoot) I don't know who we should be targeting.

Postionwise, even that's hard -- I think we probably want to put a premium on defense -- maybe Linebacker and D-linemen.  Thoughts for tonight?  What should I be looking for?

[Sunstroke]

It is a great class for WR, O-line (all pos), CB and DL. The DL class is crazy top-heavy.

I'm guessing Miami goes with OT with their first rounder. Same with SF.

[CF DolFan]

We need to bolster our offensive line. With all the yards we had we couldn't run inside on 3rd and 4th down when it mattered and our passing rating was one of the worst in the league. If Tua didn't hit his man quickly he had no shot.

The way I see it we have a few options ...

I hope they draft a Tackle/Guard who can play guard this year and replace Armstead next year like Graham Barton from Duke but I could see him going to center.

Rumor has it McDaniel loves the speedy WR Xavier Worthy who broke all 40 times so there is that.

We could also look to replace Wilkins or add help for Chubb and Phillips.

With all this said we have no 3rd or 4th rounders so we could trade down to add picks

[Fau Teixeira]

we have a comp pic for wilkins don't we ?

nope, we're projected to get 3 in 2025 draft however

[Phishfan]

I expect either DT or DE because offense is going off the board every pick.

[Sunstroke]

Miami is on the clock.   Jer'zhan (Johnny) Newton is the best DT on the board.   Graham Barton is thebest OL, though he is primarily a G/C.  The guy I like, despite it not being a major need, is CB Cooper Dejean from Iowa. Ultimate ballhawk DB who can also be your return man.

Pick coming...

[Sunstroke]

Wow...  Chop Robinson, DE. Crazy-fast edge rusher.

Interesting

[masterfins]

I really wish they selected Graham Barton to play center, getting a long term center would really solidify the line and help the guards.  But I'm okay with Chop Robinson, I think he's a solid pick; and he helps with the loss of Van Ginkel and Wilkins.  I'm just glad they didn't waste a pick on a WR.

I hope they can draft a decent center in Rd #2.

[CF DolFan]

I get the pick but I personally feel our biggest weakness last year was not being able to run when it is 3rd or 4th down and it matters nor did we have anyone we could throw to when we had a short field like the red zone. Fades to Tyreek went poorly even though we kept on trying. For both of these reasons we are thought of as being soft.

[Phishfan]

I get the pick but I personally feel our biggest weakness last year was not being able to run when it is 3rd or 4th down and it matters nor did we have anyone we could throw to when we had a short field like the red zone. Fades to Tyreek went poorly even though we kept on trying. For both of these reasons we are thought of as being soft.

It doesn't help when the play call is behind the line or a slow misdirection. It's a chicken and egg though. Did the staff know there was an issue so they tried to be cute or did being cute cause the issue? Memory feels like I was frustrated with the call more than anything.

[Sunstroke]

Miami only has one more "you can count on it" pick in this draft. After round 2, it's a long wait until  the 5th round.   I am sincerely hoping that Miami addresses the O-line with the 2nd rounder...

[CF DolFan]

It doesn't help when the play call is behind the line or a slow misdirection. It's a chicken and egg though. Did the staff know there was an issue so they tried to be cute or did being cute cause the issue? Memory feels like I was frustrated with the call more than anything.

The bad play calling came after many failed attempts. It was apparent that after criticism he went back to calling their numbers again in short yardage and they continued to get stuffed. We literally had nothing and it showed against good teams.

[Dave Gray]

I get the pick but I personally feel our biggest weakness last year was not being able to run when it is 3rd or 4th down and it matters

I agree with this but I'm not sure how much of the issue was roster talent, as opposed to scheming or just putting guys on the field that did this.  How much talent do you need to run for 2 yards?  We were always trying to get cute.  We didn't just run an I-formation with a forward push...ever.

[Spider-Dan]

MIA had a healthy starting offensive line for exactly one game; a game in which they ran for 350 yards.

[CF DolFan]

I agree with this but I'm not sure how much of the issue was roster talent, as opposed to scheming or just putting guys on the field that did this.  How much talent do you need to run for 2 yards?  We were always trying to get cute.  We didn't just run an I-formation with a forward push...ever.

We didn't get cute until other stuff wasn't working. When everyone was complaining about playcalling we had been failing trying to do it the normal way. We have no one to throw to in the end zone. We had ZERO TDs to our Tight Ends.

Here's an article from Adam Beasley stating that's our biggest shortfall. As of November 21, 2023 the Dolphins had come up short on 31 of their 55 3rd- or 4th-and-1 tries since Mike McDaniel took over in 2022. We never got better at it.

He wrote ... "Teams confident in their ability to pick up a tough yard usually don’t throw screen passes to their 5’10”, 191-pound deep threat on 4th-and-1 near the goal line.

So Miami Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel’s play call early in the second quarter in Week 11 told us plenty about his view of the team’s ability to move the pile.

It wasn’t a surprise that the Tyreek Hill screen-pass gambit failed. But at this point, the Dolphins are willing to try anything in short yardage.

https://www.profootballnetwork.com/an-outside-the-box-solution-to-miami-dolphins-short-yardage-woes/[/b]