Analyzing the Dolphins Draft Needs
Draft time is coming, the question is who to pick, what do we need, who can help us the quickest, and of course, how much money do we have to spend? Some people may say, pick the best player available. Some say pick a player who can score points. Some say pick a player who can stop that point scorer. Others like me say, pick a player for a position that needs help.
We know The Raiders with the #1 pick needs a QB badly so the likely choice is JaMarcus Russell from LSU. From there, the #2 pick to the last pick, anything can happen.
Detroit with the second pick, needs lots of things, will they pass on another QB (Brady Quinn) like they did last year when they passed on Leinart and Cutler—very big mistake. Will they take Calvin Johnson WR from Georgia Tech—picking a WR for the fourth time in five years?
The third and fourth picks between Tampa Bay and Cleveland are still up for grabs and will be decided by a coin flip. Picks five through eight, a running back, offensive tackle, defensive end, and defensive tackle, will probably be taken. This brings us to the reason I am writing this:
The all important 9th pick overall for The Miami Dolphins. Who will they pick? What do they need? My choice along with others is a QB, if available. Cam Cameron is an offensive minded coach and Miami has a good core of offensive players, but there is one position of need: quarterback. Miami has Daunte Culpepper who if 100% healthy, could be what they need. However, I don’t think he will ever be what he was in Minnesota. But there have been great comebacks in recent NFL seasons. Dan Marino won comeback player of the year, so maybe Culpepper can as well. But let’s say he doesn’t produce, then what? Joey Harrington? Not. Cleo Lemon: maybe in a few years he can be good. Shane Matthews 13 years in will never be a starter again. So, that leaves them trying to find a quarterback pretty damn quick.
The free agent market is not that impressive. Jeff Garcia is out there, but Philadelphia will probably keep him as a solid backup to starter Donovan McNabb. There is Matt Schaub, Damon Huard, and Tim Rattay who are only good for backup in an emergency. So what does that leave?
Looking ahead to the draft, Brady Quinn and Troy Smith the only two quarterbacks good enough to start in the NFL. The problem is that Quinn may not be around at #9. However, Smith will be. Does Miami then use their first pick on a player who might still be there in the second round, or do they look towards another need like Ted Ginn Jr., wide receiver from Ohio State, Levi Brown, offensive tackle from Penn State who is 6’5” 324lbs, or defensive tackle Amobi Okoye from Louisville.
Brown seems to be a good choice. Miami has been trying to fill the left tackle position since the Richmond Webb era came to an end. Ginn however, could be an excellent playmaker for the Dolphins offense. Okoye is definitely something special and worth looking at very closely. Players like this are not available that often. Miami’s defense is starting to get up there in age, but still producing. How long, however, will they be able to continue doing this on a consistent basis? This indicates that they should start bringing in the young blood in order to start grooming them now to take over when players like Zach Thomas, Jason Taylor, and Vonnie Holliday retire.
Miami is a team in need of several keys to unlock its true potential, and ultimately become a winner. On April 24th at 12:00 pm EST it will become a new ballgame. Some fans will be happy while some are disappointed, muttering “Huh, what the…” Lets just hope that we Dol-fans are amongst the happy.
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