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Miami Dolphins Thread; For all the Fish Fans out there
Topic Started: Aug 21 2006, 04:19 AM (7,451 Views)
True Magic
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Kind of lame to pick a OT #1 overall, forgot the last time that happened. And I agree MME, these kids get a ton of money for not even proving a thing in the NFL yet. It's too much.
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Black and Blue
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I actually disagree, and I'm harder on the Dolphins more than most people. My assessment of this pick:

The Dolphins have no one except Vernon Carey on the offensive line right now, so they NEED to get at least two quality O-linemen in this draft to even field a team. From that perspective, it is the top hole on the team entering this season. Many can argue that in addition to QB, the Phins haven't had a decent O-line since Marino's days.

As for the position, the left tackle on a team usually protects the QB's blind side, making it the most important position on the line. All of the league's best QBs are good because they have great left tackles. With us getting a franchise left tackle, we basically ensured 10+ years of our QB being given time to throw (whomever that QB may be...hopefully Beck).

As for Jake Long, he was universally the best O-lineman in what is considered an AMAZING draft for lineman. He actually was rated better than Browns star lineman Joe Thomas when they were in the same conference, making the case that he is as close to a safe Pro Bowl bet as you can draft. He only allowed 2 sacks in his entire career, one of which was to top 10 pick Gholston. The guy just steamrolled people left and right.

As for the money involved, while Jake is now officially the highest paid O-lineman in the league without taking a snap, this is more a byproduct of the crapfest known as the #1 overall pick these days. We got him for less $ than Jamarcus Russell last year, which is saying something. Also, we lost any leverage we had to negotiate with multiple clients because Tom Condon (Jake's agent) also represents Gholston and Matt Ryan. Chris Long's agent flat out said he wouldn't discuss contracts unless his client was the team's first choice. Sadly, with the money involved we did the best we could.

At the end of the day, we got a huge solid anchor for one of the most important positions in our offense. We also got what many analysts agree is the safest player to draft in this draft (If Jake fails at left tackle, he has already proven he is a pro bowl quality right tackle). In the end, that will keep our QB safe and our defense off of the field.

I'm happy with this pick, and see it really paying dividends down the road. :yes:
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Kwik10z
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^^^nice analysis on the draft choice.

that was interesting!
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MAGICMANEVAN
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You totally sold me B&B!! Great analysis!!!
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True Magic
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Real good post. You know the Dolphins better than I do, hopefully it pays off for them.
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TheFalcon
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Good post B&B, and I agree that LT is a very important position. But I still think they would have been better served trying to get out of that spot. In a draft loaded with offensive lineman, they could have picked up an anchor of lineman late in the first or early second round, and could have snagged another player or pick in the deal. The Dolphins have more holes than a block of swiss cheese, and really could have gotten more value out of that pick.

With that said, I think Long is going to be a stud. It's just a shame they couldn't have gotten more pieces out of that asset. And they gave him an insane amount of money - I'm not too sure that was a great idea :/
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Black and Blue
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TheFalcon
Apr. 23, 2008 03:57 PM
I still think they would have been better served trying to get out of that spot. In a draft loaded with offensive lineman, they could have picked up an anchor of lineman late in the first or early second round, and could have snagged another player or pick in the deal.

Falcon, I totally agree with you that the Phins would have been way better off trading out of the spot. The sad thing is that the Phins tried, oh how they tried!, and couldn't find any takers. It got so desperate at one point that even their GM Ireland came out and said in about 3 press conferences in a row at various times that they were looking to trade out. No one wanted the top spot (and thus the most expensive contract) in a draft where the top 6 players were around the same talent level.

After a while, the Dolphins realized they were screwed and stuck with the spot, so they started negotiating with the guy at the top of their board. It's great you bring up that angle, because pretty much every Dolphins fan is thinking the same thing (myself included): Ah well...we couldn't trade out even though we did everything to try, but at least the pick is great for rebuilding the team from the foundation up. :)
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TheFalcon
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Eh, good points. I'm not a Dolphins fan so I don't have a ton of backround knowledge. I guess if you can't get out of the pick, you have to draft somebody, and it might as well be the best lineman available.

But I still can't get over that contract :/
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MAGICMANEVAN
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Yeah really! He got like.. what 10+ million a year? :X I think I remember seeing the contract was like 57 mil/5 years
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TheFalcon
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It's a lot of money of a non-skill-position player...

Highest paid lineman in the league, and he hasn't even put on a jersey.
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True Magic
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Yup, I heard that as well. Highest paid lineman in the league and hasn't proved a thing yet.
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MAGICMANEVAN
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Well, no matter what they are gonna dog him like they did Mario Williams because of the super high expectations.
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CLos
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From what I've heard, he's better than Joe Thomas. With that being said, he doesn't deserve that big of a contract, but he should be a Pro Bowl type player. They really should've drafted Ryan but I guess they are sold on John Beck. I'm not a Dolphins fan so I can't say really anything on the subject.
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MAGICMANEVAN
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Well... Ryan is more of a risk because its tougher for QBs to adjust to the NFL. So, Long is more of a "safe" pick because they know he will transition over easier and hes hopefully "already" going to have pro bowl type skills. Some do consider him the best player overall, some don't. There is a difference from the best overall player and the #1 player chosen.
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Black and Blue
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Very true about Ryan, MME. People are suggesting he is "a potential franchise QB" but the fact is that he has an extremely high interception rate, poor accuracy, and would only be a better than average risk for a team late in the first round. He's mostly hype since he's one of those "marginally athletic, big heart kids" who played hurt a lot in school.

Brian Brohm was head and shoulders a better QB in college, and in my opinion is much more deserving of the #1 QB drafted. If the Dolphins somehow get him at pick 32, it would be insane. I bet the Bears get him though.

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