DOLPHINS PICK THREAD

[cddolphin]

1 hour ago, freak_of_nature said:

So McDonald, Jones, and Fitzpatrick are going to be on the field a lot together?

 

Here's a good read too:

https://www.seccountry.com/alabama/minkah-fitzpatrick-nfl-draft-2018-analysis

Quote

Watch an Alabama game, and you see Fitzpatrick play anywhere and everywhere: He will line up in the slot, his designated position; as a middle-of-the-field safety; as the spinner in a two-man tandem, rotating late towards the line of scrimmage or helping split the field in half; as a traditional box safety; as a boundary corner; as a dime linebacker; as an edge defender; and in any number of funky and wonderful blitz alignments.

 

 

In short: yes, most likely. Think of how the Honey Badger was used (before injuries took their toll); he was deep safety, slot corner, played in the box, blitzed off the edge. I think there will be plenty of packages where Minkah, TJ, and Reshad are all on the field.

[mountainpd]

2 hours ago, cddolphin said:

So either we fell into an alternate dimension, or all the posters who were banging the table for a QB haven't posted since the draft... nobody dislikes this draft?

 

1(11) S Minkah Fitzpatrick (A+)  Fills a position of need (someone to cover TEs), will be the joker of our defense likely playing at FS and nickel CB. For some reason people are knocking Saban DBs but remember Gase has a direct line to Saban, whom he coached under early in his career. I'm sure Gase got some inside info. My 4th favorite prospect of the draft and he fell to Miami at 11.

2 (42) TE Mike Gesicki (B-)  A pure move TE with some of the funniest blocking cut-ups I've ever seen, seriously look them up. Someone never taught this kid about leverage or something. I understand Gase will likely as him to run routes 90% of the time but you want your TE to be at least halfway serviceable as a blocker.. He seems to attack the ball and win 1-on-1s but doesn't move as fluid as his metrics would indicate.

3 (73) LB Jerome Baker (B) Pure weak-side chase-and-run LB who actually has some decent tape in man coverage against TEs, RBs, even slot WRs. At 6'1" and 225lbs (7lbs smaller than Roquan Smith), he's slight but not 'undersized' - many WILL LBs in the NFL play at his size. However, his athleticism comes at a cost: he's not very physcial and is weak at the point of attack.

4 (123) TE Durham Smythe (C+) Taken with the Landry pick, Smyth is the yin to Gesicki's yang; a blocking TE who rarely had a chance to run routes. Clear pick for need here, as AJ Derby, Gray, Duarte, and Esobar are all move-TEs.

4 (131) RB Kalen Ballage (B+) Miami takes a RB with the pick they got for Ajayi. As far as character goes, he seems like the anti-Ajayi: when he had an 8 TD game last season, he brought up his entire offensive line to the press conference to give them credit. He also said that he didn't care about the personal best, as long as the team got the win. A high character athlete who can catch balls out of the backfield, and will likely compete for the starting KR/PR job while also spelling Drake & Gore.

5 (147) LB Stephone Anthony (C-) Miami shipped out this pick to NO last year for former 1st rounder Stephone Anthony, who played about 20 defensive snaps per game (mostly on passing downs) over the last 6 games of the season. I wouldn't be shocked if Anthony ended up out-snapping Baker in 2018, as he is a three year veteran. Miami is very unlikely to excercise his 5th year option in 2019 unless he blows up through some bizarre circumstance. Hard to give this a decent grade when it was a bandaid fix last year due to injuries, and he's unlikely to make a big impact this year or be on the roster next.

6 (209) CB Cornell Armstrong (C) A 5'11" corner with experience on both the boundary and in the slot, Armstrong will have to fight for a roster spot on a team with many young defensive backs, especially corners. He'll likely be competing against Tracy Howard, Jordan Lucas, and Torry McTyer for 1-2 roster spots.

7 (227) LB Quentin Poling & C Daniel Kilgore (B+) Another LB drafted where speed, athleticism, and production was valued over physical prowess. Miami's LB room certainly has a type. Special teams will be the key to making the team here, but he'll be competing with the likes of Mike Hull and Chase Allen, not exactly world beaters. Grade gets a bump here because Miami dropped a mere 4 spots to number 227 and also acquired their new starting center.

7 (229) K Jason Sanders (D) Blech, just sign some UDFAs. I guess we have contractual control for four years, but the last K Miami drafted left a bad taste in my mouth.

 

Overall I give this draft a B. At least three rookies should see significant snaps right away. I'd go as high as B+ if they had drafted a QB to challenge Fales/Osweiler instead of the kicker.

I was in the ‘select QB camp. I didn’t want to trade up or touch Allen. I don’t know how I would have liked this draft if we had passed on Rosen.

1. Fitzpatrick (A) I like the Fitzpatrick pick as the value is great and I firmly believe safety is a need. I would have picked James over him but splitting hairs to be honest and can’t fault the pick one bit.

2. Gesicki (B) one of the few to prefer him over Dallas. Let’s hope he creates the match ch up nightmare we could have had when we turned down Graham. I am a little concerned about his blocking but hopefully we won’t be asking him to block.

3. Baker (B) Elevated slightly as we needed a LB and I think he was he correct pick at the time. Reminds me a lot of the McMillan pick and not sure he is a SLB, may have problems if we play him and Kiko as OLB against the run, I wouldn’t be surprised if we try and trade Alonso now.

4. Smythe (D) I get it. I thought he could have been had later and other players on the board would have been better imo. A lot will depend on his own catching ability to be part of our long term plans. If he can grab 25-30 passes a year he could stick for a long time if not meh.

4. Ballage (B) like the value and the prospect if we can coach some production out of him. Sounds like a team player. Lands on the roster in a good position to contribute. HWS very impressive.

6. Armstrong (E] Not sure he will make the roster I think a QB or DT should have been the pick after not grabbing one in round 4.

7. Poling (B) I quite like this pick looks a nice player on tape. Should find a spot on special teams and wouldn’t surprise me if he gets some game time.

7. Sanders (D) not my favourite prospect but we needed a nice we will bring in a vet before season starts.

 

 

[ericsvibe]

I was one of the posters banging the table for a QB. I can understand the logic of not trading up for one. From what has been reported, it was only a 2 QB race to begin with. They wanted Baker or Rosen, and once they were gone, they forgot about QB altogether. I watched all of the after the draft press conferences. The front office is hoping that a QB gets released, that they like, so that they can add another arm. However, they seemed fine to roll with what we have if they need to. Brock was brought in because Gase already knows what he needs to fix, and Brock is young enough that he can improve. That was Grier's exact words. The Dolphins never thought that Fitz would fall to them. He was in their top 5. Fitz has a work ethic and football IQ that was off the charts. The FO did work out Mike G., and did prefer him over Dallas. When asked about his blocking, Grier said that they were well aware of his problems, and they will work on it. He is actually very strong, he put up over 20 reps with those long arms. As I said in another post, if Tannehill goes down, Miami will be trading everything next year for a QB. I would like to go on the record and say that if Tanny goes down before the trade deadline, I would like for the Phins to give up the picks to bring in Nick Foles. I know it would be expensive, but so would trading up. Foles has proved he can play at a high level, you can't say that about a 1st round QB.

[Rgossett07]

On 4/29/2018 at 8:59 AM, ericsvibe said:

Overall I like this draft. A couple of things can also be learned about where the Dolphins are heading. One of the announcers made a comment about the Dolphins building a defense for the future of the NFL. He seemed to imply that with the new rules, especially the keep your eyes up at all times rule, speed is going to be more important that brute strength. Also with the QB's that are coming out of college, the spread offensive style is starting to win. Taking all that into consideration, Miami went for speed on defense, especially LB. The Dolphins finally got a move TE with elite size.

The biggest negative I see is that when Tannehill goes down, Osweiler will be the starter. Not to say that Brock doesn't have good qualities. He has excellent arm strength, and was very accurate in college. For some reason, he made a bunch of bone headed decisions when starting in the NFL. From the physical standpoint, he is elite. I hope that the coaching staff can help him get past some of these dumb mistakes he makes. 

Hopefully, Tannehill goes back to his 2016 play, with a better O-line, and we are successful. If Tannehill goes down, we are going to be trading everything next year to go up and get a QB.

This draft was all about Leadership, character, speed and versatility.  It's clear they want guys that just want to get on the field and are "team first" guys.  The Fitzpatrick pick set the tone.  DB was not Miami's biggest need but they wanted a uber talented guy that will be in the defensive backfield for the next 12-15 years like Ed Reed or Troy Polomalu.  He can do everything.

To be fair, I think when the 2018 season is over, you'll have to look at the production of Landry/Thomas and compare it to Amendola,Wilson/Gesecki's production.  I'm sure Gase wants to spread Landry's production around and would rather see his TE eat into some of those catches.  Thomas was worthless last season which helped Landry's numbers.

The only pick I didn't not like was the K in the 7th.  There were better K on the board.  

My prediction is Smythe catches 3+ TD's in 2018.  All the attention will be elsewhere.

[Tetsujin]

Looking at next year's draft class, I think I would've traded our 1st this year for a 1st next year. The number of stud DL for 2019 is going to be sick.

[Swampbilly]

I would offer the Browns a pick for Tyrod Taylor right before the 2018 trade deadline.  I think Tannehill and Taylor would be an awesome QB bullpen with no need for a 3rd QB on the roster. ( update, just noticed Tyrod will be an UFA in 2019 and will likely be out of the price range for a backup since he is currently making $15 mil a season )

I am sure the plan is for Gesicki to eat into the number of catches that Landry would’ve had for us and with Gesicki at TE and Amendola in the slot we look a little bit faster on Offense.

Im really looking forward to seeing what Ballage can bring to our Offense.  I’m not expecting much from him this year but hopefully he can show a flash or two on special teams and / or receiving out of the RB position.

I wasn’t a fan of the seventh round kicker we drafted.  I just don’t get it despite what Darrin Rizzi claims about the FG percentage.  I feel like why draft a K with those stats.......just invite him to camp as an UFA and draft someone that has more potential.

[ericsvibe]

A thing to add about the kicker. Rizzi said that over half of the holds were bad and that is what hurt his field goal percentage so much. No way for us fans to check that, as we don't get the coaches tape to see the hold. I guess we will see during training camp.