So the NFL draft came and went in a whirl wind weekend. I think we made out pretty well. 2 major holes filled, or potentially filled, it’s still unknown at the moment. In my mind, the order of importance for me was QB, DL, OL. That’s how I saw it, and it wasn’t going to be easy to fill all those needs completely in one draft. For perspective, we used 6 picks in this draft, next season we have 12 picks, one 1st RD pic, two 2nd RD picks, two 3rd RD picks, two 4th RD picks, one 5th RD pick, and two each of 6th and 7th RD picks. We’re going to do a lot of fixing next season, and it’s not only a substantial draft haul, we will be flush with cap money, near $100M, so we will have plenty of flexibility to continue to add quality players to our roster.
So here’s what we did so far . . .
DT Christian Wilkins 6’3 315 Clemson Round 1 Pick #13
Wilkins was one of the top prospects on the DL in this draft. A very high character player with off the charts leadership abilities, he’s a foundation player that can set the tone in the locker room, as well as on the field. A very productive player at Clemson, Wilkins was a 4 YR starter with excellent tackling ability,. He can also get to the QB with 16 total sacks in 4 seasons. He has great burst and short are quickness, and should slide in immediately as a starter in either a 3-4 or 4-3 front.
QB Josh Rosen 6’4 226 UCLA/Arizona Cardinals Round 2 Pick #62 + 2020 5th RD Pick
Originally the 10th overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, Josh spent last season with the Arizona Cardinals. Rosen started 13 games last season for Arizona finishing with 11 TD’s and 14 INT’s as well as a 55% completion percentage. It was a difficult rookie season on a very poor team evidenced by the firing of rookie HC Steve Wilks after 1 season. RB David Johnson was coming back after missing most of the previous season and was not the same player and rarely found any running room and finished with 1386 total yards in 2019 after finishing with 2118 total yards in 2016, his last full season. Larry Fitzgerald was really the only reliable target on a poor offense.
OG Michael Deiter 6’5 309 Wisconsin Round 3 Pick #78
Dieter was a 3 year starter at Wisconsin, and was actually a first team all-conference pick as a starter at LT. He played the rest of his college career however at at both guard spots and center. Obviously, Deiter is versatile and play most anywhere but is projected as an OG/C. Deiter neeeds to work hark hard in the weight room, but is a capable player who may end up playing sooner than later considering our depth along the O-line. He’s a good run blocker playing in Wiconsin’s pro style offense.
OLB Andrew Van Ginkel 6’3 241 Wisconsin Round 5 Pick #151
Andrew Van Ginkel was a 2 YR starter at OLB for Wisconsin. He has pass rushing ability and has 12 sacks in 2 seasons. Think of him as a Chase Winovich or T.J. Watt lite. He has athletic ability running a 4.56 40, a 38″ vertical, a super quick 4.14 20 yard shuttle and very good 6.89 3 cone drill. He’s a physical specimen that can hopefully find a place on our roster as pass rusher and chase and tackle LB.
OT Isaiah Prince 6’6 305 Ohio St. Round 6 Pick #202
Prince was a 3 YR starter at Ohio State, all at RT. Not coincidentally, we have a huge need at RT with the departure of Ja’Wuan James. He’s a project of sorts, not a natural knee bender and just beginning to improve with pass protection. I would imagine he will be in competition for a starting spot due to the lack of quality depth at the position with Zach Sterup and Jesse Davis. Another prospect that needs to hit the weight room (most do).
FB Chandler Cox 6’1 236 Auburn Round 7 Pick #233
Chandler Cox just sounds like a New England Patriot, doesn’t it? Cox played sparingly during 4 seasons with the Auburn Tigers. Cox was projected as an undrafted FA, but the Dolphins wanted him here. I expect Cox to make the 53. If the Patriots can get a starting QB late in RD 6, surely we can get a FB late in RD 7! Cox performed well at the Auburn pro day running a 4.7 40 with a 32″ vertical. Look for him to be worked hard to help spring the potential of our 2019 ground game, which should be exciting with the next guy I’ll discuss.
RB Myles Gaskin 5’9 204 Washington Round 7 Pick #234
Gaskin was a 4 YR starter at Washington and a very productive one at that. You look at his height weight combo you think bowling ball, but Gaskin is built more like a scat back, but he’s definitely an inside runner too, so he can do it all. Gaskin has 5323 rushing yards and 57 rushing TD’s in 4 seasons with Washington, along with 65 receptions and 465 yards receiving and 5 TD’s. This dynamo ran a 4.58 40 with a nice vertical. He’s got a lot of wiggle in him, and I think he’ll definitely be part of what I view as a very nice, diversified backfield with Kenyan Drake, Kalen Ballage and FB Chandler Cox. He has a lot of mileage but I expect he’ll continue to rack more up here in Miami.
In addition to our draft picks, we were busy as expected picking up a number of undrafted free agents. I’m not positive this is the most up to date or accurate list, but this is what I found . . .
- Terrill Hanks, LB, New Mexico State
- Preston Williams, WR, Colorado State
- Tyler Horton, CB, Boise State
- Deion Calhoun, OL, Mississippi State
- Nik Needham, CB, UTEP
- Montre Hartage, CB, Northwestern
- Ryan Anderson, OL, Wake Forest
- Wes Farnsworth, LS, Nevada
- Dewayne Hendrix, DE, Pitt
- Jonathan Ledbetter, DE, Georgia
- Trenton Irwin, WR, Stanford
- Aaron Monteiro, OL, Boston College
- Rob Rolle, S, Villanova
- Tre Watson, LB, Maryland
All in all, I’m really very pleased with the end result of the draft weekend. Am I looking at this through Rosen colored glasses? Of course I am! I’m getting more enthusiastic about acquiring QB Josh Rosen each day. I think he’s going to come in here and work very hard to be a difference maker, and although I think Ryan Fitzpatrick is a swell guy, I think his impact will be more as a mentor than a starting QB. I think Rosen will be our starter in 2019, and I think he’s going to earn it all the way.
This doesn’t mean we’re a Superbowl team, we still have some big holes. Our O-line needs to get settled, and I don’t think we’re done there yet either. Once cuts start happening, there will be a few veteran OL that could probably help us and I expect to pick up 1 or 2 there. Same goes for the D-line, we have little talent on the edge and also expect to get a little help once cuts begin for the DE position as well.
No one expected us to rebuild everything in one season, that’s just totally unrealistic. That doesn’t mean we can’t get to the point of being respectable. I think we can achieve that, and not be an easy beat for any team. I want to continue to improve each week and see growth, and that will put us in great position next season where we have 12 picks, and multiple picks in the first 100, and likely around $100M in cap space. It’s very promising indeed! GO DOLPHINS!
#staythecourse
Josh Rosen’s introductory press conference
https://www.miamidolphins.com/video/josh-rosen-introductory-press-conference
Finsmob Unleashed 
I’m at the left end of the scale with Tim. It’s early, we’ve still got some free agents they may sign, there’s still cuts to come from other teams, some of the other teams may be willing to make a trade and it’s only May.
Just like when FA was initially happening I wasn’t screaming for this guy or that guy this year like I did in the past. Just sat back and watched them work their plan and that’s what I’m going to do.
That Rosen trade and the way they played it says to me this front office has it’s shit together. I’m not worried in the least.
The front office has followed their plan just like they said they would. We all know they’re rebuilding this team in a different way. The past plan didn’t work. So what do you want them do, stay status quo? I don’t get the dark side stuff at this juncture.
neither do I. we’ve all seen how adding a bunch of less than adequate veteran free agents hasn’t amounted to much in the past, yet, some or many still want to go that route so when maybe can win a couple of extra games this year and feel good about it.
I’d like to have another guy who can rush the passer but if we’re going to get anyone worth it I’d rather see them do it thru trade and get a guy they actually want than be forced to pick the bottom of the barrel that’s remaining in free agency.
Plus, like I said before, I really don’t want a one yr or two year vet who really isn’t that good to come in and take a job away from someone we could be developing. Sure, he may help get us to 7-9 instead of 5-11 but then we lose out on developing our talent and it puts us behind the curve.
I agree for the most part about the vet FAs but we do need bodies so it doesn’t hurt bringing them in on cheap prove you still have it contracts. If they get beat out by young players so be it. Similar to what happened when Jimmy Johnson brought in Jack Del Rio at MLB and Zach beat him out. Del Rio was cut because he didn’t play STs and then he retired.
https://www.tor.com/2019/01/23/the-wheel-of-time-tv-series-adaptation-production-fall-2019/comment-page-1/
I’m glad to hear that the WOT series is FINALLY coming to TV, but Damn it! It had to be Amazon! I am feuding with Amazon and refuse to pay $0.01 into that multi-trillion conglomerate. You can’t search for anything without Amazon being the fist two pages of returned data. FUCK THEM!
The ‘Mat Infant’ tweet is ridiculous. This whole concept of ‘if they don’t do this,the only answer is TANKING’ has gotten so old. Binary thinking is Pleistocene Epoch. Live in the now!
here we go. now I have to Google a word.
Ice age
It was a time when Mike E. was born. LOL
LOL
I’m approximately a 37.52 on the RoboMeter.
If we can find some solid help cheap on the OL in FA, I could get to the low 30s, but the lack of a real pass rusher precludes outright optimism.
Subject to change in the pre season if some of the UDFA pups show out strong at EDGE, but I doubt they will.
If Prince sucks, I’m more in the 40s.
to me, this isn’t about “patience brigade” stuff. if we’re in year four and still not doing anything at that point then, yeah, it’s a different story. but I can be patient and watch them build a team from the ground up and not be yelling about every free agent we didn’t sign to big contracts because we’d have a few extra wins.
I want a team that’s has the ability to compete every year; not just one year. I don’t want the best team money can buy and I’m glad they decided to do this the right way this time around rather than going out and bringing in other teams rejects like they did in the past.
And just an FYI. Statistically, the Rams D was actually worse last year with Suh than it was the year before without him.
This is basically where I’m at. We’re in month 4 of a rebuild, lol. Why do people think we’re going to solve everything in 6 months? If it was as simple as sign all the best players for every position…well everyone would do it. I’m willing to wait and see what kind of team this new regime fields before I start ripping what they do.
Back to that infant tweet, if we beefed up the line and hadn’t gotten a potential QB, then the narrative from some people would be “clearly we’re tanking, since we didn’t get a QB other than Fitz”. (And by some people I’m not poking at people on this board, but rather at the proverbial ‘they’.)
Exactly! ‘They’ can’t wrap their head around what a rebuild is. They have to use idiotic words like tank to create drama. I really hope Rosen wins the starting job, plays well and we’re winning enough games to end the tanking narrative.
Suh is not the same player he once was. I thought he looked disinterested at times during the season. He gave up on plays when he missed the first time.
He’s more interested on building his portfolio and becoming a billionaire. He should talk to David to get some keen stock tips.
I agree. If he doesn’t get a contract he feels is worth it to play I would not be surprised if he retires.
When you have 20 things to accomplish and you’re in year one of a rebuild, there are going to be things you can’t fully address. That’s just the realistic fact. That doesn’t mean the things you haven’t yet addressed aren’t important to you, but with one draft with less than 8 picks, and a strategy in place not to overspend in FA, we did pretty well so far. We got a QB, we drafted a very good DT prospect who is a leader on and off the field. We also might have filled holes on the O-line with mid and later RD picks, but that remains to be seen.
I feel pretty good about Deiter and he’s versatile. He’s played C, G and T. I also think our sleeper pick could be Van Ginkel as a pass rusher. I do believe Gaskin will be productive in a RB by committee approach. If Cox can provide STs and the FB role when called on that’s a win too. Prince is a guy we all hope will pan out but he’s coming off a senior season where he struggled so he might need some development before he’s considered a starter.
I feel good about getting him too, but neither of us know whether he’s ready to start, and if he starts, whether he can be effective. Same goes for Prince. Gaskins will definitely help immediately and Cox too.
Yeah at worst Deiter gives a depth flexibility if he’s not ready to start right away.
I’ve looked at all the FA’s available. Give me Jihad Ward at DE. that’s the best I can do. At least there may be some potential there.
Shane Ray and Nick Perry don’t interest me in the slightest.
The problem with Shane Ray is he’s had 4 wrist surgeries. Nick Perry was released by the Packers so we don’t have to wait until after midnight to sign him so it won’t impact the compensatory formula. My guess is if we do sign him to compete it will be a bargain deal.
It’s kind of easy to draft good, when you have so many holes, including the 2 7th round RBs.
the problem with Shane Ray is he’s from Missouri.
I don’t know what it is about Misery (Missouri) players over the last decade or so, but that university seems to be cursed. I wouldn’t touch a player from Misery for quite some time, but that’s just me.
I’m pretty sure that some folks Prejudices would have let Minka walk out of our lives also??????????
I agree. Way too many guys drafted who were hyped and just died out in the NFL
I wanted Calvin Ridley and although Minkah may turn out to be a good db for us I still would rather Ridley.
He did have 8 sacks his 2nd season but his wrist issues basically derailed his career.
As for what you were talking about earlier with personnel and going young over has beens, rookie minicamp is Thursday thru Sunday so the coaches get a glimpse of what they have at this level. That will help them a bit in how they go about scouring the waiver wires and FAs still out there. Step by step in the process.
Chris Grier so far has done everything he said he believes in on how to rebuild a team. Clearing cap space with vets that weren’t helping the team succeed. Making some trades for future draft capital and no big FA signings. He even landed last year’s #10 pick QB for a low 2nd after trading down and acquiring another 2nd in 2020. We had to give up a 2020 5th. For a potential franchise QB, that’s a no-brainer and Rosen’s salary is so manageable for the next 3-4 years. I know I’m 100% positive scale guy lol, but when you look at how he’s managed the early phases of this, it’s brilliant.
I’m interested to see where they go from here. I know I’m going to be surprised with what the front office does when it comes to adding talent to the team between now and preseason and even before the trade deadline.
I’m sure they’ll be active in some way because they’re going to continue to build throughout the year and not just stop at any particular point. Just because it’s a rebuild doesn’t mean they stop once the preseason hits and then just sit back and wait until the beginning of FA next year.
But, I’m just going to sit back and enjoy it and wait until the season. I’ve got no favorites as to who I really want them to sign or trade for and no favs in camp either. I just want to see a bunch of players with a shot go out there and take their best shot and not give up. I like the underdogs and love it when one of them makes it. Hopefully, we’ve found some guys that surprise us and do more than we expect them to do.
wyoming85 says:
May 7, 2019 at 8:29 pm
I’m pretty sure that some folks Prejudices would have let Minka walk out of our lives also??????????
————-
LOL! You have a very good memory, my man! Minkah has now broken my prejudice of Alabama DBs. SO GLAD that we took him, and he’s just getting warmed up!
Good call(!), but I still frown on Misery players until proven wrong.
I guess Misery (Missouri) players are going to have to SHOW ME, being they come from the ‘Show Me’ state! 😀
Ah, yes… Matty I (“Infant”, as Cav Kong very well stated). I’m not a fan of his, and he’s not a fan of mine. I’ve railed against him pretty hard in the past on here, and I’ve challenged him on Twitter several times. He’s another ‘wanna be’ with a huge ego, very thin skin, with very subjective opinions… most often aligned with the flavor of the month to sellout.
He’s WEAK, but that’s JMO. I don’t even bother to engage him any longer… he’ll hang himself.
Yes pass on a chance to land a young QB with talent at a bargain because you don’t have everything around him just yet. LOL
^
the only thing I can say about him is I’ve been blocked by Fahey, CK Parrott and several of the other wanna be’s because I’ve disagreed with their points of view or called them out on something but he’s the only one who hasn’t blocked me. I don’t agree with a lot of his stuff and I’ll let him know but at least he doesn’t run home to mommy.
It’s just information to chew on!
I’ll pass it all on , Good or Bad!
Doesn’t mean I agree with it!
No problem here, my man! It’s all good. I’ll never tell people what to post or what not to post. I’m actually happy that you posted Matty I’s tweet here. We got a good sample size of what people think of his “tank” opinion here.
LOL I actually thought this when this scene happened.
LMAO, so great
😆
someone on Twitter just put things into perspective. Jimmy G signed a 5 yr, $137,500,000 contract and he’s started less games than Mayfield, Darnold or Rosen. And what exactly has he done to this point?
He was Tom Lady’s understudy? I dunno, but we all know how that’s worked out for so many other Tom Lady understudies… FAILURE.
don’t know. Why did Matt Cassel get 62 mil from KC?
I think they gave him that contract way too early. Problem was they traded a 2nd rd pick for him in the 4th year of his contract. He was a UFA the next year and whether you agree or not, other teams would have signed him to big money. The 49ers had to be all in with him. He got hurt and missed a big portion of the season. It doesn’t look good now but we’ll see.
Compare that to how we obtained Rosen for 3-4 years at pennies on the dollar. 🙂
So as it stands right now our draft next year looks like this – 1., 2a., 2b., 3., 4a., 4b., 6a., 6b. and 7. We’re projected to get a 3rd (James) and a 5th (Wake) with compensatory picks. We’ll have a ton of cap space too – projected over $80M.
How can you be concerned about the approach from Grier and his staff so far? We all know performance in games is key. But in the offseason all you can do is evaluate the personnel moves made and how. We’ll know more about the coaching as they go through the camps.
I’m not concerned at all. With all the players we lost who supposedly would have helped the team if we came out of this with close to the same record I would think we’re ahead of the curve.
I can’t see us winning just 2 or 3 games. 5 possibly or even 6. Maybe they surprise us and win a few more. IDK. But I’m not ready to throw in the towel and say this team is going to be that bad and the reason is because in the past we’ve looked better on paper and weren’t.
Like I said before, if Foster doesn’t go down in ’16 forcing Gase to play Ajayi not only do we probably not make the playoffs but after starting 1-4 it’s most likely another losing season. So, coaching is going to have something to do with our success this year.
Geez, we should be up at least 3-1 on the Stars right now. Bishop is giving them every chance in the world.
People say what if Rosen doesn’t pan out. Okay it happens. But we gave up a 2nd and a 5th rd pick to trade for him. Right… but in the process we also traded down in the 2nd and acquired a 2nd rd pick in 2020 that became part of the deal. So we covered our bases and have 3 picks in the top 64 next year. I really hope we have a heist on our hands. 🙂
I’m not concerned with Rosen panning out. Is there a possibility he suffers and injury that knocks him out for the season or a good portion of it? Sure. That can happen to anyone.
But in terms of pure passer talent he’s as good as anyone who has come before him and he has the ability to get it done. Avoids pressure well enough to buy time too. He’s pretty much the complete package when you look at him.
The biggest thing about the offense this season will be execution. If everyone “does their job” like they say in NE then things shouldn’t be all that bad and we should get a really good idea of what we’ve got at qb this year. In fact, we should she the difference having a real quarterback makes.
Now I know some aren’t going to be happy with that last comment but I just think that the ability between the two is huge and we’ll see it on display this year.
On the scale, I’d have to say I’m a 10, not sure what else they could’ve done. I’m reserving judgement on the field, because I’ve seen it too many times, but I like the start. Good draft, no over spending, lots of picks/cap next year…possible franchise QB.
If they somehow get us an RT and pass rush I’ll go down to a 5.
Watch out for UDFA out of Cal Patrick Laird.
2OT in St. Louis. Bishop looking impenetrable.
YESSSSSSS!! Whew, what a game.
Cav : I have not watched a full game since You eliminated my Jets .. hard pressed to say who is still and harder pressed to say who is up .. good luck to your Blues
Cheers, Toba. I didn’t expect us to get past Dallas. Colorado or San Jose next. I like our chances to get to the finals. Not sure how we’ll do against either the Bruins or Hurricanes though if we make it that far.
i have started a scale, i just wonder where some are on this scale????????
Tim being very patient and understanding with this team, and opposite of Tim OD calling for the owners HEAD!
TIM —————————————— OD
0……………………….^……………………..100
……………..THE MIDDLE = 50
wyoming85 says:I usually run about a 30?
Mike E. says:I fluctuate like a faulty thermostat, I’m all over the place.
CavalierKong says: ^
Rockphin says:I’m OD 80 right now.
stangerx gonna be a bad winter but the ice will melt.
ocalarob I’m probably at 51
professorloumiamidolphinsblog :I’m at the left end of the scale with Tim
naplesfan2010 I’m approximately a 37.52 on the RoboMeter
steveccnv says: On the scale, I’d have to say I’m a 10
Probably 40 for me
ROSEN HAS PROVEN that he can lead a team to the overall #1 pick in the draft, especially if he has a below average O-Line. ALL the ingredients for failure are present. Worst owner in Fins’ history; GM who has questionable qualifications; personnel guy with many “MISSES.”
————————
AND YOU WONDER WHY I SAY “SHOW ME!?!?”–
OOPS–Left out the old Ross standby: We have a head coach with NO PRIOR HEAD COACHING EXPERIENCE!! How’s THAT worked out for ya the last 10 years???
OD….the difference from inexperienced coaches in the past to the current regime is Jim Caudwell as the asst HC,
so there is HC experience with this coaching staff
The cardinals were actually 0-3 before Rosen started a game for them
It’s not exactly like he lead them to being a bad team
They were a bad team with Sam Bradford at QB too
Show me is fine
But why waste your energy criticizing now until they have a chance to show you?
I do t expect to be good this year
I suspect we will see is being in a RT, a pass rusher or 2 and maybe a new QB between now and the end of the draft of 2020
We have time and ammunition to build up
That’s where I’m at, they cant show me until the season starts, so all I’ve got until then, is what the FO is doing and I cant complain about a single thing, yet.
i don’t put the failures of the past soley on the OL, a good QB and team philosophy can make any OL look great.
when you pass every down…sit back in the pocket having a cup of tea and put all the pressure on the OL, and then point to them as the culprit is short sided.
it’s short sighted
i’m thinking Gaskin will compete for playing time this year over drake and ballage, drake may be the third best rb on this team.
Overall I like Gaskin better than Ballage
Last year when I really spent tome looking at the RBs and before Gaskin announced he would stay in school in 2018, I had him ranked higher than ballage
Ballage does have some advantages though – namely his size
He’s also probably a better receiver than Gaskin
But Gaskin has the vision and maneuverability that helps RBs his size thrive
Ultimately I don’t think it matters who is ranked 1, 2 or 3 on our roster, I suspect we will see each on the field a lot and maybe they all get equal time
Ballage is the only one I think is capable of stringing together a few games of 30+ touches
I think Gaskin is more compact and powerful as a featured back than both Ballage and Drake. seems like he can get you the tough yards
Rosen had 119 more passing attempts than Tannehill and was pressured on 55 more of his drop backs (in three more games that RT) AZ was just a turrible turrible team.
The purpose of my post is to point out that you can’t look at it and say Rosen was pressured 2.7% more times. That is fuzzy math. Rosen had 31% more drop backs than Tannehill.
his was NOT a defense of TH post or a slam of Rosen post. Just pointing out the “comparison” is BS.
It’s not fuzzy math, but I dont get the point. Were these QBs crap last year, because someone was always in their face, or was it their fault (pointing at you RT)? How about adding someone like Brady’s pressure rate too, so we have a comparison.
Stats schmats, how about some context?
Rob, are you going to lose faith in Flores when they trot out Drake on first downs again this year?
WE HAVE A FULLBACK!
I dont know much about Caldwell as a position coach, but he seemed to be a crappy head coach, so I’ll wait and see what value he brings to the team.
yeah, I don’t get the narrative either. Another one who people call a QB whisperer. Peyton Freaking Manning the rest, not so much!
steveccnv says:
May 8, 2019 at 10:45 am
It’s not fuzzy math,
It is absolutly fuzzy math it is adding oranges and apples. 40% of one number and 37% of a different number. The difference is NOT 2.7% difference was my only point.
NEW BLOG UP!!!