Detroit took Central Florida and ex-Miami Southridge running back Kevin Smith, who fell short of Lions great Barry Sanders' NCAA season rushing record.
When he first arrived in South Florida as the Dolphins' new coach, Tony Sparano did his best to refute the notion that this new regime tends to favor physically massive players when it comes to building a team.
Jason Taylor and Bill Parcells are at odds, and that should be hard to believe because these men need each other -- Taylor needing a genius football man to bring him a championship and Parcells needing a savant pass-rusher to bring him a championship defense.
Defensive tackle Andre Fluellen, selected by the Detroit Lions with the 24th pick (87th overall) in the third round, was the first Seminole selected.
It was exhausting to watch the The Newest Hope work the room on this, his first day officially representing the Miami Dolphins to the world.
NFL DRAFT 2008: MEET NEW DOLPHINS IN SPORTS, 1D
At the end of a cul-de-sac on Mulberry Lane, a few blocks from the cornfields and tractors that make this place home, a new black Ford F-250 pickup is waiting in Jake Long's driveway.
Despite a flurry of rumors and even inaccurate media reports, the Dolphins in fact did not trade Jason Taylor on Saturday. The Dolphins didn't even field calls for Taylor, according to general manager Jeff Ireland.
UM
First round, second round or any round, the NFL Draft could signal the materialization of longtime dreams for several University of Miami football players.
Phillip Merling -- the Dolphins' top pick in the NFL Draft on Saturday, not counting the guy you knew about four days earlier -- seemed a bit fuzzy on what he was getting himself into. Joining a team coming off a 1-15 season, that might not be entirely bad. Some people go through years of expensive therapy to disassociate from such trauma.
The Dolphins went to the offensive line to end any Who's Your Big Daddy? drama at the top of their 2008 draft. Expect the remaining draft drama the next two days to concern the defensive side of the ball.
DOLPHINS
Legendary Miami Dolphins coach Don Shula has seen this before. He has been through dozens of NFL Drafts that appeared settled before they began -- just as today's drama appears already deflated by the Dolphins' announcement early this week that offensive tackle Jake Long would be the first overall selection. As a result, Shula also has a simple warning: ``You never know what's going to happen.''
SOUTH FLORIDA
The Cowboys added another Bull to their defense with the team's second first-round draft pick in Saturday's NFL Draft. Dallas selected South Florida defensive back Mike Jenkins with the 25th overall selection.
A year after showering since-dismissed coach Cam Cameron with boos, Dolphins fans attending Saturday's draft party departed in considerably better spirits.
Dolphins general manager Jeff Ireland said with an Easter Island expression that the Dolphins spending a second-round pick on University of Michigan quarterback Chad Henne had nothing to do with last year's second-round quarterback pick, John Beck.
The streak lives. University of Miami safety Kenny Phillips was selected 31st overall by the Super Bowl champion New York Giants in Saturday's NFL Draft, extending the Hurricanes' streak of first-round picks to 14 years.
