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Today’s Phinsider Question Of The Day is of course about the draft that many of us just spend a huge amount of time following over the last three days. I assume that this year had more Miami Dolphins fans watching and following than possibly any previous draft. The draft as far as the entire nation, pulled in massive record numbers that followed and or watched live on TV. This of course has a lot to do with a) the fact that we are, for the most part, stuck in our homes and b) the fact that most of the country is craving nothing more than some sort of live sports when there are none and this is about as damn close as you are going to get right now.
I know that I have watched more highlight videos in the last month than I probably have in the year previous to that combined. I am like many of you starved for football the second the season ends so that combined with being stuck in the house and there being no other live sports to follow at this time has driven me to look at videos of players that we might acquire or highlight videos of some of our new or blooming star players praying for a better future for my Miami Dolphins.
This year’s draft for the Dolphins was one for the books if for no other reason than the sheer number of new players that we have added to our roster to sort through. Then there’s the anticipation that has been building for the last year. We added a new head coach who after one season has already replaced some of his first year staff. I for one think that a lot of staff turnover is a bad thing in general but I also like a head coach that sends the signal that if you are not getting it done the way I expect then expect to be replaced if you are a player or a coach. No one is safe if you don’t do things the way we expect. Maybe growing up with a father in the military and being mostly raised by my grandmother and grandfather who was also in the Army made me believe in the my way or the highway kind of discipline if you want to get things done.
In the military if you do not do things the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines way there are, depending on how stupid your actions were, some very serious consequences. At least much more serious than those on the outside world for the same behavior or mistakes. I of course do not find anything in the NFL as serious as why the military must have such a high level of discipline and adherence to doing things the military way but the new powers that be have sent out the message that you are going to do things the Miami Dolphins way and do not confuse those things with the Miami Dolphins way of the past.
In the past we would have placated a Mika Fitzpatrick and kissed his *** to assure that he stuck around. Things have changed and that complaining, despite his obvious massively high level of talent got him a one way ticket out of town to Pittsburgh to play with the Steelers where, surprise, surprise, even after an appearance in his first pro bowl, he once again complained about how he was being used. Now will Mika be a career long malcontent that is in the league for years but never reaches his full potential despite always having the talent to stick around the league but never sticks one place long enough to truly meld into the system and show his full abilities or will he mature and figure out that hes shooting himself in the foot and enjoy the amazing benefits of being able to even be a part of the NFL? I don’t know but when a team like the Dolphins gives up on a guy with his level of talent you know they are not playing. Either get with the program and do things the new Dolphins way or don’t even bother unpacking your bags.
Why did I spend so much time on Mika who’s long gone? Because it correlates to what happened this past weekend. Fans flipped out and I mean some of you lost your minds. First off this is a game so stop acting like any draft pick is possibly the end of civilization as we know it and you and your family are now going to have to go into hiding in some small country that no one has even heard about. Good luck with that by the way because their internet is probably going to suck and that’s terrible during a pandemic. Anyway I guess a big part of my point is also about why people freak out. It has to do with some mythical rating that each player has.
Okay, these ratings are not myth as they exist but who decides this? Everyone has one that they follow, quote, make a decision on whether we took a guy too late or too early. Somehow missed in this is the fact that every one of these has guys in different spots all over the board. Now take in account that these player ratings and boards put together by the media are nothing more than guesses on their part. It’s not that none of these talking heads have any idea of what they are talking about as many of them even played this game for a long time at the highest of levels or even coached but there is also a reason that they are doing what they are doing and not a part of any NFL teams scouting department.
Every team’s boards are even different and some vary widely. Every guy that we took, according to some fan, too early or a round too early etc... was also ranked where they were taken or even higher by someone. Every team runs their own system and even though every system in the NFL is related in some way to every other one each teams system is also unique on the kind of players that they want to make their version of their system go and work as they envision it. I can’t tell you how many times you hear some so called draft expert claim that they had a guy rated to go in the first or second but he finally went off the board in the middle of the 6th. Well it seems as if 32 teams did not have him ranked as high or someone would have snatched him up before then just based on pure value at that spot. Now back to the rating systems that we follow, that same guy is probably responsible for the system that some or many of you are following and yet it seems as if the entire NFL and all 32 teams scouting departments and coaches disagreed.
So my question is actually simple but I ask this hoping that you answer it with an open mind. Many more fans seemed disenchanted with this draft than those that were pleased with it. Maybe that’s because those of us that are happy are less vocal? I don’t know for sure but I think part of it is a result that many younger fans (the Madden generation if you will) are looking for some player for them to get excited about. Like a stud wide out or running back or something flashy. Linemen, which we seemed to focus on are not exciting and or flashy normally. Their highlight videos are not of them scoring a touchdown. They are never the hero’s of the game even if a teams stout line is the reason that they win the big games. But all of that aside, and knowing that this team is not going to draft like most teams because we have a head coach that came up in a system, I mean Brian Flores literally, before coming to Miami had spent his entire career in scouting and then coaching with one franchise. The one franchise that is known for three things, cheating, winning a lot and doing things different than everyone else.
If you think that our drafts are always going to be this over the top exciting list of players you wont get that any more than you do with the Patriots. The Patriots always take guys that make you say “who” but then the talking heads praise them because they are the Patriots that win the most and the assumption is that this little known guy that no one else even knew about is going to kill it for the Patriots. Now this happens far too often for them and yet sometimes the reason you never heard of the guy becomes obvious and he’s out of the league in a couple of years.
When we make as many picks as we did and add as many players as we have some are going to fail. No one has a “perfect” draft no matter what ESPN told you. Some guy that is sure fire will be sitting at home in two or three seasons and some UDFA will be a superstar in this league. But assuming that we picked the guys we picked because they fit the new Miami Dolphins way I am comfortable and do not give two ***** about draft grades as the proof of what this class will become down the road. So with all of that in mind how do you feel about this year’s draft and how the Dolphins as an organization went about filling some of the obvious holes on our roster?
Please use this live thread to discuss anything you wish from the days topic to of course your Miami Dolphins to whatever your kid/grand-kids are up to these days. Please remember to not delve in to any topics that involve religion or politics for obvious reasons. Other than that its up to you so long as you are following the sites rules.
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