players Miami should look at in the draft

Okay everyone, Miami season is over and Hickey is gone at GM. Tannenbaum is either going to stay as president or will be the next GM himself, but whoever is in the running for the next GM needs to find a HC that is serious about getting Miami to the playoffs. I am a fan of Campbell but at the same time I don't think that he is HC material. I would push him back to a OC first then give him a chance at HC within the next three or four years. Since the college season is almost over, lets look at some players that would help Miami by position.

OFFENSE

Let me start off by saying I waiting for Brad Kaaya to be Miami QB. Even though some sites don't have him coming out until 2017 or 18, He is my football crush at the moment. For the fact that Miami needs to give Tannehill some competition, Miami should look at drafting a QB within the 4th or 5th round. Here are some QB that I am thinking about:

Kevin Hogan, Stanford
Brandon Doughty, Western Kentucky
Trevone Boykins, TCU
Dak Prescott, Miss State

If any of these guys outplay Tannehill then Miami won't have to worry about all that money they trying to pay him.

In My honest opinion, Miami WR, TE and RB are good enough that there is no need to waste any picks on them at the moment, so lets skip to our favorite topic OL. Lets be honest, any player rated within the top four rounds can be better than most of Miami's OL at the moment. From most of the starters to the backup are all bad. Pouncey, James and Albert are the only good player that is on the OL at the moment. Sorry to say boys and girls Miami could use the rest of the draft to find OL players to upgrade.


DEFENSE

So Miami D has been doing okay in the last two games at stopping the run but the pass protection is horrible, but lets start at the line. Suh is definitely a keeper since they paid an arm and a leg for him. Philips also looks like a keeper as well but the rest of the squad....REPLACE!!!!! Here is some of my thoughts:

Kenny Clark, UCLA
Andrew Bilings, Baylor
Adolphus Washington, Ohio State
A'Shawn Robinson, Alabama

Miami DE will need some help in the future. C. Wake will be either gone because of his contract or because of age. For the fact that Vernon is doing good with getting to the QB every game makes him a keeper. Coples has 5 more games left but don't see him lasting too long. Drafting some additional help would be wise:

Shilique Calhoun, Michigan State
Noah Spence, Eastern Kentucky
Emmanuel Ogbah, OK State

Miami LB are a joke. Run support is here or there and Pass protection is no where be seen. Jenkins and Misi is the only light in the dark tunnel. So here some of the players think will fit in:

Su'a Cravens, USC (OLB)
Scooby Wright III, Arizona (ILB)
Jaylon Smith, Notre Dame (OLB)
Tyriq McCord, Miami (ILB)
Leonard Floyd, Georgia (OLB)
Kentrell Brothers, Kentucky (ILB)

You know, I am probably the only one that was on Taylor side when he was drafted but now I am all in for kicking him off the tea at the end of the season. Grimes is another that needs to be kicked off the team at the end of the season. Not saying that Grimes is bad he just not as good as he was when he first joined the squad. Bobby McCain is still learning but everyone needs competition. Everyone else can hit the road. I might as well add Safety in the mix as well since Jones is the only good Safety that Miami has.

DB
Artie Burns, Miami
Jalen Ramsey, Florida State
Kendell Fuller, Virginia Tech
Kevin Peterson, OK State
Maurice Canady, Virginia

S
Deon Bush, Miami
Jeremy Cash, Duke
Josh Harvey-Clemons, Louisville
A.J. Stamps, Kentucky

This list is full of players that I have watched tape on and IMO, Miami should go after as many of these guys that they can.

Excellent work...I don't have time to go through the whole thing but did want to address this:

Miami WR, TE and RB are good enough that there is no need to waste any picks on them at the moment

WR could be a need depending on what happens with Matthews. I think he leaves in free agency, which may leave a hole. I'm not sold on Parker yet (and his foot is a concern), and Stills looks like a mediocre underachiever. I'm not saying we need to use a first or second on WR, but I don't feel comfortable with Landry-Parker-Stills.

TE is a huge, gaping hole. No way Cameron comes back at his $9.5 million cap hit, and re-doing his contract doesn't make much sense given the crappy season he's had. Sims has regressed this season. And we don't have a TE that can block - at all. I think TE is a very big need.

RB may also be a big need if Miller doesn't return. Ajayi has shown very little (and has knee issues), and Williams sucks. Hopefully we can get a competent GM that is able to find a late round gem like every other team seems to do.

I think what Rightchea is saying is that WR, TE and RB are less glaring needs than, say, LB, O-line, CB, D-line, etc. Of course they're needs too, because there isn't a single aspect of this roster that isn't, except maybe for punter. There's imply no way any team could fill all those needs in one offseason, or even two, especially with Cap Clogger Suh around.

If you were Matthews BTW, wouldn't you leave in FA too? Not only would your value never be higher, but just to get away from this clown show.

Ajayi has shown very little??? That's odd, because I keep reading rave reviews about him during the rare moments Lazor allowed him to get a carry. At least let him get more than 3 totes a game before you write him off--the Fins have enough legit busts already

DolFan 316 wrote:I think what Rightchea is saying is that WR, TE and RB are less glaring needs than, say, LB, O-line, CB, D-line, etc. Of course they're needs too, because there isn't a single aspect of this roster that isn't, except maybe for punter. There's imply no way any team could fill all those needs in one offseason, or even two, especially with Cap Clogger Suh around.

If you were Matthews BTW, wouldn't you leave in FA too? Not only would your value never be higher, but just to get away from this clown show.

Ajayi has shown very little??? That's odd, because I keep reading rave reviews about him during the rare moments Lazor allowed him to get a carry. At least let him get more than 3 totes a game before you write him off--the Fins have enough legit busts already

That's my point - we have holes at nearly every position. I think instead of keying on certain positions, we'd be better suited going BPA - at least in the first 2-3 rounds.

As for Ajayi, he had a couple of decent runs in his first two games, and has since done nothing as a runner. I still think his best role will be as a receiving back, but he hasn't been used much in the passing game yet. I just haven't seen him do anything that made me say "Wow! Thais guy is clearly our future starting back." He looks very average to me, as a runner. I think people get excited because he shows some fire, which is sorely lacking on this team. I'm not writing him off - I just need to see more than 18 carries before I anoint him the future starter. Fact is, he can't hold Miller's jock right now.

As far as a late round QB, Jake Coker. Drafting where we are drafting we may have a shot at the top QB in the draft. We will have a new coaching staff that won't be shackled to Turn over Tanny.

That is true but at the same time the Miami needs to do something with their OL. Miami really needs to do the Cowboy move and just update the OL

rightchea wrote:That is true but at the same time the Miami needs to do something with their OL. Miami really needs to do the Cowboy move and just update the OL

We have done exactly what the Cowboys have done - if anything, we may have invested more on the OL than the Cowboys have in terms of free agent $ and draft picks. The problem is, we keep adding the wrong players. Our starting OL consists of one of the highest-paid free agent tackles in football, two first rounders (Pouncey and James) and two third rounders (Thomas and Turner) - and the primary reserve interior lineman was a fourth rounder. That is a TON of resources spent on the OL.

The solution is to get a GM that knows how to identify quality OL talent later in the draft, or quality lower-tier free agents that fit the scheme. It's absurd that we can only get a quality lineman if we draft one in the first or back up the Brinks truck in free agency. It's pure incompetence, and the line will never be fixed until the right people are buying the groceries.

JMP wrote:I think instead of keying on certain positions, we'd be better suited going BPA.

yes - this a million time over!!

no more targeting certain positions because we think we're just a certain position here are there away. this team needs a complete talent overhaul like when JJ let all the veterans walk and brought new young drafted talent - and wasn't afraid to play them. its time for the new breed of Zach Thomas, Jason Taylor, Sam Madison, Patrick Surtain, etc. but of course this all requires someone who is capable of identifying talent.

Well, I know the Phins have some alarming and terrible personnel problems, but I am still thinking the MAIN THING that is wrong with this team is COACHING!

Right now the Phins are a bucket with a lot of holes at various heights in the bucket. They keep trying to plug the holes at the top of the bucket, but the water never gets any higher.

You have to plug the biggest hole FIRST, and right now, that hole is the big one at the bottom of the bucket; COACHING. Until it is plugged, the Phins are just wasting water.

That said, personnel wise IMHO: The Phins need, not in this order:
A. a high impact LB, someone who gives the Defense an IDENTITY
B. a big mean nasty Guard to plug in between Pouncey and Alberts or Pouncey and James. The Phins HAVE TO SHORE up one side of the O line somehow, someway, or all is lost.
C. a pass rusher. Once Cam Wake went down, the defense turned into ultra-pedestrian dog shyte IMO. They cannot stop the run, cannot defend the pass, and are just completely uncompetitive all over the field.
D. a quality CB that has some ball skills. Everyone of the Phins DBs are zone guys IMO. They think their job is to stay in the zone around the receiver, and hope the QB is off target a little and they can breakup the pass. I want to see a CB that is actively looking to INT the ball. Like Sam Madison. A lot of this is the scheme IMO. And that goes back to the MAIN THING wrong with the Phins: Coaching.

The Phins could use a good player at any and ever position though, so....

finfanatic wrote:Well, I know the Phins have some alarming and terrible personnel problems, but I am still thinking the MAIN THING that is wrong with this team is COACHING!

Right now the Phins are a bucket with a lot of holes at various heights in the bucket. They keep trying to plug the holes at the top of the bucket, but the water never gets any higher.

You have to plug the biggest hole FIRST, and right now, that hole is the big one at the bottom of the bucket; COACHING. Until it is plugged, the Phins are just wasting water.

That said, personnel wise IMHO: The Phins need, not in this order:
A. a high impact LB, someone who gives the Defense an IDENTITY
B. a big mean nasty Guard to plug in between Pouncey and Alberts or Pouncey and James. The Phins HAVE TO SHORE up one side of the O line somehow, someway, or all is lost.
C. a pass rusher. Once Cam Wake went down, the defense turned into ultra-pedestrian dog shyte IMO. They cannot stop the run, cannot defend the pass, and are just completely uncompetitive all over the field.
D. a quality CB that has some ball skills. Everyone of the Phins DBs are zone guys IMO. They think their job is to stay in the zone around the receiver, and hope the QB is off target a little and they can breakup the pass. I want to see a CB that is actively looking to INT the ball. Like Sam Madison. A lot of this is the scheme IMO. And that goes back to the MAIN THING wrong with the Phins: Coaching.

The Phins could use a good player at any and ever position though, so....

Completely agree with your list of needs. I also think a couple of big, strong TEs would do wonders for the offense...we need a legit blocker and a legit pass catcher at that position. Cameron and Sims clearly aren't the answers. I would also add a legit fullback to the list, so we can get back to some power I running formations.

But, I sort of disagree on the "main need" being coaching. I don't think we have a "main" need - I think everything is equally weighted in this case: front office, coaching, scouting, roster. All are so abysmally bad, that it isn't even possible to say which is worse...we need major improvement in ALL areas in order to get on track. I'm not sure we can say that one hole is bigger than any of the others.

No, I think if the coaching problem was fixed, it would take care of SOME of the other problems.

Not solve the problem of the lack of playmakers, but for example: Imagine what Belicheck could do with this Dolphins roster? (Besides kicking a few players to the curb, but....)

That is what I mean by fixing the coaching "hole in the bucket". A fix of that caliber is not going to happen, but the handicap the Phins face when they get outcoached in every facet of the game in every imaginable way is too great to overcome, even if they could solve all the personnel issues IMO.

I think a good HC could take this roster and make it better by tailoring his schemes around the talents (or lack of) of the players on the roster. So far, we have seen Coaching that tries to force the scheme on the players whether they are a good fit or not.

We have to get a HC that UNDERSTANDS how to manage the team, the locker room, and the players individually, and is not a "scheme uber alles" kind of coach.

Who that is? I have no idea.

This Sean Payton thing is starting to get some play it seems? I heard Mad Dog ask Peter King about it yesterday?

finfanatic wrote:Imagine what Belicheck could do with this Dolphins roster?

I'm not sure he could do much with this roster. Belichick covets smart, tough, adaptable players that can play a variety of roles and adapt on the fly...aside from maybe Suh, Landry, Miller and Jones, I'm not sure we have any players that fit the bill. Plus, Tannehill is a COLOSSAL dropoff from Brady - that can't be overestimated.

finfanatic wrote:I think a good HC could take this roster and make it better by tailoring his schemes around the talents (or lack of) of the players on the roster. So far, we have seen Coaching that tries to force the scheme on the players whether they are a good fit or not.

I agree about the Miami coaches forcing the square peg-round hole philosophy, but I don't think there's a head coach that ever lived that could do anything with this roster as it currently stands. We have huge, gaping holes at OL, TE, DE, LB and DB (especially LB and DB...) - and maybe some people would add QB. I think the ceiling for this roster is 8-8, and even that would take a herculean effort. This roster is absolute crap.

finfanatic wrote:We have to get a HC that UNDERSTANDS how to manage the team, the locker room, and the players individually, and is not a "scheme uber alles" kind of coach.

I agree to an extent, but I am also not against bringing in a coach with a tried and true system - provided that we get a GM that also understands that system and knows how to find the players for it. That's the key, to me - having a GM and coach that share the same vision. We haven't had that for a long, long time.

finfanatic wrote:This Sean Payton thing is starting to get some play it seems?

Yep, I'm hearing it a lot. I'm not sold on Payton...he's on a downward swing, with losing records in 3 of the past 4 seasons. Not sure I'd want to give up a high draft pick for that. If he had the 2009 version of Drew Brees with him - sure, sign me up. But now? I'm not feelin' it.

I don't know if Sean Payton will be the last piece, big hire needed to right the ship.

What I THINK I know is that it would, at the very least, be a good interim step in the right direction.

This is a proven coach with a history of success, save for the last two years. He's still young. You can at the very least count on an experienced coach who will develop talent, and knows how to come up with a successful offense. No game day learning curve.

Might be the kind of move we need to make, instead of relying on the "On the Job Training" types we've been hiring recently.

As many have said, there are so many questions and holes right now - who's to know what really has to be fixed until some of those holes are filled? You can remove a huge variable by hiring a proven coach, then see where he can go with the roster.

Sorry White1, but a big H to the E to the double L to the NO on Payton It would have the same effect as when the Rams hired Fisher (you know, the guy Ross wanted). In other words, nothing. The Fins would get back up to 8-8 MAYBE, but no higher.

So of course now I fully expect Tannenbaum to try for him, to the point of not even having a Plan B.

It's interesting that Payton has a polarizing effect, on this board at least.

You are right on Fisher. Damn, he is in the process of failing big time, isn't he? At least they have a good defense with some great players, but man that offense is godawful.

We can talk more in the coming weeks, I'm interested to hear the candidates people around here would like to see get the job.

I'm all for Payton or John Harbaugh.

Give the Rams a real QB, and I bet they immediately become a legit contender. There's a lot of pieces on that team...crappy QB play is killing them.

John Harbaugh is a nice dream - he'd be my top choice. But I don't see any conceivable way that the Ravens let him go.

CBS did a Mock draft and has us drafting at #8 and Taking LB Jaylon Smith Notre Dame, They talked about how badly the fins need a LB.

finskev wrote:CBS did a Mock draft and has us drafting at #8 and Taking LB Jaylon Smith Notre Dame, They talked about how badly the fins need a LB.

I'd take Smith in the top 10 for sure. If we come out of the draft with either Jaylon Smith or Reggie Ragland, I wil be very happy. Great players, and they also fill arguably the biggest need on this team.

Smith or Myles Jack are good for Miami at the moment. Miami LB core is horrible.

rightchea wrote:Smith or Myles Jack are good for Miami at the moment. Miami LB core is horrible.

Agreed.

Sad to say, but Sheppard seems to be the best of the starters.

I think there MIGHT be some potential in the younger guys.

As long as the coaching staff keeps settling for mediocre play from Misi, and calling it excellent, there will be no change IMHO.