undrafted Rookies

Miami picked up a boat load of undrafted players last year. Who see that same plan happening again?

Four already signed:

Tyshun Render, DE, Middle Tennessee State
Donell Stanley, C/G, South Carolina
Benito Jones, DT, Mississippi
Nick Kaltmayer, OT, Kansas State

Continuing to build the trenches!

Jones was arguably the highest rated player who wasn't drafted.

Also:

Bryce Sterk, DE, Montana State (15 sacks this season)
Kirk Merritt, WR, Arkansas State (12 TDs this season)
Ray Lima, DT, Iowa State (run stuffer)

One more:

Matt Cole, WR, McKendree University (huh???) - small dude with great return ability

he was playing in Lebanon,IL. I have never heard of that place

JMP wrote:Four already signed:

Tyshun Render, DE, Middle Tennessee State
Donell Stanley, C/G, South Carolina
Benito Jones, DT, Mississippi
Nick Kaltmayer, OT, Kansas State

Continuing to build the trenches!

Building in the trenches is always a great thing. was really hoping that Miami picked up another QB but I guess they good with Rosen

rightchea wrote:he was playing in Lebanon,IL. I have never heard of that place

I actually have, oddly enough.

Believe it or not there's a Bogota, Milan and Paris in TN.

There's a Rome in upstate NY.

Anyway...Phins really digging deep with the small schools here!

DolFan 316 wrote:

rightchea wrote:he was playing in Lebanon,IL. I have never heard of that place

I actually have, oddly enough.

Believe it or not there's a Bogota, Milan and Paris in TN.

I play a lady in my Songpop game from Milan, TN.


There is a Milan, IL just outside the Quad Cities, some of my coworkers are from there.

Milan, MO is a small town 20 minutes from my hometown and is the arch rival of my school.

Missouri also has a Paris, Buffalo, Mexico, Miami, and others I can't think of right now.

JMP wrote:There's a Rome in upstate NY.

Anyway...Phins really digging deep with the small schools here!

If they can ball and make the team better why not

rightchea wrote:

JMP wrote:There's a Rome in upstate NY.

Anyway...Phins really digging deep with the small schools here!

If they can ball and make the team better why not

Yeah, I think it's great. There's a lot of great small school players that often get overlooked.

Just as long as you don't pick five small school players in one draft like the Fins in '14. Remember that?

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/mia/2014_draft.htm

Aikens was at least a special teams mainstay who lasted through last season. The rest...didn't work out that well.

I thought that was one of the worst draft Miami has had. I understand that you want small school players to get a chance but that was outrageous.

rightchea wrote:I thought that was one of the worst draft Miami has had. I understand that you want small school players to get a chance but that was outrageous.

Sadly, it was one of the best drafts Miami had during the first half of that decade. Light years ahead of what Ireland did the year before. Landry alone would have made it worthwhile, and James and Turner are still in the NFL at least.

I can't even put it among the bottom 3 Miami drafts ever. I still think 2006 was as bad as a draft can possibly get.

DolFan 316 wrote:Just as long as you don't pick five small school players in one draft like the Fins in '14. Remember that?

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/mia/2014_draft.htm

Aikens was at least a special teams mainstay who lasted through last season. The rest...didn't work out that well.

Perfect example of what I call "throwaway picks" - players that are simply not good enough to ever be in the NFL and have no business being drafted. In 2014, we had not 1, not 2, but THREE throwaways: Arthur Lynch, Jordan Tripp, and Matt Hazel. Zero chance that any of those guys would ever make it - especially Lynch. Just goadawful evaluation on Miami's part.

Billy Turner is actually a pretty good tackle...for the Packers. I always thought he had potential, but it took him forever to reach it. I don't blame the Phins for giving up on him, but it would be nice to have him on the roster now.

Looking more at these undrafted guys, I think Donell Stanley has a realistic chance to stick as a backup center, and Benito Jones as a backup NT. Both of them have impressive highlights and play positions of need.

Yeah, I can see why you might take small school player who you think has huge potential upside, but I have always thought it best to use your lower round draft picks on players from big time schools where the competition was better.

I think that is the way you build quality depth, by having a guy who had to compete to get on the field against guys who got drafted in the upper rounds, rather than getting a small school guy who excelled against lesser competition.

A lot of coaches and GMs see these late round picks as "throwaways" and picks where you take a "flyer" on prospects who are unlikely to make a team. Or, they draft player they would rather invite to camp as an undrafted rookie, just so he can't go to another team?

Anyway... Yeah, 2014 was not that bad a draft IMHO. A lot of stinkers, but if you can get SOME playing time out half your picks you are doing fairly good in today's NFL IMO.

I agree with Hal on 2006....simply atrocious... Not a legitimate Starter amongst the lot of them IMO...

1 - Jason Allen DB Tennessee
 
2 - Derek Hagan WR Arizona State

3 - Joe Toledo T Washington
 
4 - Fred Evans DT Texas State

5 - Rodrique Wright - DT Texas
 
6 - Devin Aromashodu - WR Auburn (

finfanatic wrote:Yeah, I can see why you might take small school player who you think has huge potential upside, but I have always thought it best to use your lower round draft picks on players from big time schools where the competition was better.

I think that is the way you build quality depth, by having a guy who had to compete to get on the field against guys who got drafted in the upper rounds, rather than getting a small school guy who excelled against lesser competition.

That's a good point. Over the years, I have definitely moved toward that philosophy of drafting players from bigger schools. Seems like less of a transition from a bigger school the NFL - generally speaking.

I do like the idea of signing a couple (not all) undrafted players from smaller schools, in the hopes that you unearth a hidden gem!

Here's an interesting article about an undrafted WR the Phins signed from a VERY small school - Matt Cole. Long, but a great read...and interestingly, at the end of the piece it sounds like the Phins have a plan for this guy.
https://www.si.com/nfl/dolphins/news/sports-illustrated-prospect-x-lands-with-miami-dolphins

here some highlights of the some of the undrafted rookies....

Tyshun Render DE MTSU


Donell Stanley, C/G, South Carolina


Benito Jones DL Ole Miss


Nick Kaltmayer, OT, Kansas State


Bryce Sterk, DE, Montana State


Kirk Merritt, WR, Arkansas State


Ray Lima, DT, Iowa State (run stuffer)


Matt Cole, WR, McKendree University

T Jonathan Hubbard


LB Kylan Johnson

Great stuff, rightchea. I'll definitely dig in to these videos later. Thanks for posting!

Rightchea is doing tremendous work for humanity right now

Righchea Great Job, First Two I watched was the WR’s and they look like Both will have a Chance, I like Cole better but Merritt has faced better Comp, I think Grant is really going to have a Great Camp to Keep His Job.

You're welcome guys. I figure since there is no sports on. You will need something to watch