Building through the draft

After 2 decades of mismanagement, including the beginning of Grier the Dolphins are finally building through the draft. The key is to keep a solid core while drafting a replacement player or player in waiting. We currently have 2 players, Xavien H and Mike Gesicki that already have their respective replacements on the roster as long as the replacement can play at or near the same level watch Miami wheel and deal disgruntled players for picks with which they can continue maintaining the team through the draft.

I agree with the concept, but not many teams are able to pull this off.

Let's hope the Phins are able do it.

You build your core through the draft, and fill in with free agents. The general idea is to let players walk when they become too expensive, and you'll have young, cheap players ready to fill in. BUT - when you have a very good player, you do try to keep him even when he does become expensive. That's the case with Gesicki, IMO.

At the TE position, it is pretty clear that the Phins want a strong 2-TE tandem. By adding Long and pairing him with Gesicki, they now have that (at least potentially, if Long pans out). Getting rid of Gesicki creates a hole that the team then needs to fill again. Point is, I think the Phins are looking at it as Long AND Gesicki - not Long OR Gesicki.

Saving money is great - but sooner or later you have to pay for high-end talent. No reason to get rid of Gesicki and create a hole when we'll have the cap space.

Continually dropping good players that cost money sounds like a great way to never win a Super Bowl, but always be good enough to be "competitive". I'll pass.

First and foremost is a Super Bowl caliber QB. That is the most important piece of the puzzle and really the only piece that can't easily be replaced. Coaching and scheme matter. Players that fit the scheme matter. Individual players outside the QB are replaceable.

In theory Tua is the part that can't be easily replaced. The rest of the players are schematic. We brought in a Patriots coach to build in a similar fashion a team resembling the Patriots dynasty. The center piece being the QB. The defensive and offensive players fit the scheme. The player is never regarded as irreplaceable. The goal is drafting replacement players. Lots of 2nd and third round players that fit within the scheme. Those players are never valued more than the sum of the parts. All of this is contingent on the QB being above average.

CarsonChris wrote:First and foremost is a Super Bowl caliber QB. That is the most important piece of the puzzle and really the only piece that can't easily be replaced. Coaching and scheme matter. Players that fit the scheme matter. Individual players outside the QB are replaceable.

In theory Tua is the part that can't be easily replaced. The rest of the players are schematic. We brought in a Patriots coach to build in a similar fashion a team resembling the Patriots dynasty. The center piece being the QB. The defensive and offensive players fit the scheme.  The player is never regarded as irreplaceable. The goal is drafting replacement players. Lots of 2nd and third round players that fit within the scheme. Those players are never valued more than the sum of the parts.  All of this is contingent on the QB being above average.

I agree with you 100 percent about the QB situation.  We need to see if Tua is the guy.  He has all the intangibles as far as attitude, work ethic, etc., so now he needs to produce on the field.  

As far as replacement players, yes and no.  The real goal of any draft is to get as many guys on the field contributing at a high level as possible, and hitting some major finds every year.  You just can't continue to draft 2nd and 3rd tier guys and expect to mold a team out of them, you MUST get stars out of drafts with your early picks, be that either through trade for vet talent or picking the right players.  Technically speaking, the Dolphins have picked a couple guys in the last couple of drafts that were "star" rated.  We shall see if they pan out.  I'm hopeful that they will, but 200 years of shit has not helped my optimism at all, so I can understand coming at this from the point of "put up or shut up" because we're all sick of the mediocre-to-horrific teams they've put out on the field since even before Marino retired.  That said, it seems like the dial is starting to gradually point in the upward direction, and they have done some things that I think will really pay off in the future.

We, as fans, deserve it.

CarsonChris wrote:We brought in a Patriots coach to build in a similar fashion a team resembling the Patriots dynasty.

The Patriots paid big $ to extend two TEs that they had drafted: Hernandez and Gronk. At the time of his contract, Hernandez got the highest signing bonus by a TE in the history of the NFL. So if you want to use the Patriots as a blueprint, there certainly is precedent for extending a good young TE, and for using a 2-TE system.

I suspect JMP is dead on about how Grier feels about Gesicki. They want to sign him to a long term deal. Trouble is, I also suspect, some other team is going to be willing to pay him FAR MORE than Grier wants to pay him. Especially if Gesicki goes out and has a great season.

We shall see.

If they want Gesicki, they need to get him signed BEFORE he hits the free agency IMO.

finfanatic wrote:I suspect JMP is dead on about how Grier feels about Gesicki.  They want to sign him to a long term deal. Trouble is, I also suspect, some other team is going to be willing to pay him FAR MORE than Grier wants to pay him. Especially if Gesicki goes out and has a great season.

We shall see.

If they want Gesicki, they need to get him signed BEFORE he hits the free agency IMO.

Yep, we are in agreement there. With the cap increase, it wouldn't surprise me at all to see some team throw a $15 million a year offer at Gesicki. But the Phins can always franchise him if they want him that badly and he refuses to sign an early extension - and with a franchise number of just under $12 million (I think) for TEs, that is a reasonable way to go if they do in fact want to keep him.

Unfortunately, if they franchise him, they'll have to pay him a boatload after that if they want to keep him long-term because he'll be "offended".  Just get the deal done early, realize that he's one of the top receiving TEs out there right now, and pay him commensurately.  Tua needs a good safety blanket, and Gesicki is a good receiver.

Degarmo wrote:Unfortunately, if they franchise him, they'll have to pay him a boatload after that if they want to keep him long-term because he'll be "offended".  Just get the deal done early, realize that he's one of the top receiving TEs out there right now, and pay him commensurately.  Tua needs a good safety blanket, and Gesicki is a good receiver.

By that point we know Howard will be gone and with a cap increase there should be room. As I've said before I wouldn't sign any non-rookie to a deal longer than 2 years because players getting offended a year or two into a 5-plus year contract is the new normal. Franchise tag next season + a two year deal afterwards = three more years of Gesicki, by which time Tua might be on the way out anyway and changes in society will likely make the NFL irrelevant/even more unwatchable than it already is.

DolFan 316 wrote:

Degarmo wrote:Unfortunately, if they franchise him, they'll have to pay him a boatload after that if they want to keep him long-term because he'll be "offended".  Just get the deal done early, realize that he's one of the top receiving TEs out there right now, and pay him commensurately.  Tua needs a good safety blanket, and Gesicki is a good receiver.

By that point we know Howard will be gone and with a cap increase there should be room. As I've said before I wouldn't sign any non-rookie to a deal longer than 2 years because players getting offended a year or two into a 5-plus year contract is the new normal. Franchise tag next season + a two year deal afterwards = three more years of Gesicki, by which time Tua might be on the way out anyway and changes in society will likely make the NFL irrelevant/even more unwatchable than it already is.

You don't want to watch the first transgender bowl? My god man or whatever gender you identify with that's not very PC

CC wrote:You don't want to watch the first transgender bowl? My god man or whatever gender you identify with that's not very PC

That's funny as heck. But sadly, maybe prophetic. Did you all see the "female" weightlifter recently who won some weightlifting thingamajig... Straight up big ugly arsed DUDE!! competing as a female, cause.... who the heck knows why anymore?

The more absurdity they can inject into society the easier it is to bring the whole thing down I am thinking.

finfanatic wrote:

CC wrote:You don't want to watch the first transgender bowl? My god man or whatever gender you identify with that's not very PC

That's funny as heck. But sadly, maybe prophetic. Did you all see the "female" weightlifter recently who won some weightlifting thingamajig... Straight up big ugly arsed DUDE!! competing as a female, cause.... who the heck knows why anymore?

The more absurdity they can inject into society the easier it is to bring the whole thing down I am thinking.

It's a mans world after all, just ask the women getting beat by men in sporting competitions!