Dolphins address proverbial elephant in the (draft) room: ‘No regrets’
Until we see Jaylen Waddle perform, or not ... until we see Kyle Pitts and Ja’Marr Chase perform, or not, there’s going to be one lingering reason to feel uneasy about this Miami Dolphins draft:
The Dolphins could have had Pitts, the University of Florida tight end and perhaps the draft’s best non-quarterback prospect.
The Dolphins could have had Chase, the LSU receiver who is universally considered the best in this draft at his position.
But the reason the Dolphins selected Waddle with the No. 6 overall selection is because last month they traded out of the No. 3 spot, which would have guaranteed them either Pitts or Chase.
The Dolphins traded down from that spot to effectively add a third-round pick in 2022 and a first-round pick in 2023.
That begs the question how did general manager Chris Grier feel seeing Pitts and Chase slip from his grasp knowing he could have had either by not making that trade?
Any buyer’s remorse?
“No,” Grier said late Thursday night. “I’ve told you we’re very comfortable where we were.
“We had a number of players — like we said — about four players we felt really good about taking at six and we’d be tremendously happy to have. So we had — again, don’t look back — but at the end of the day, we’re tremendously excited and this was a player we’ve been looking at for a couple years.
“So for what we want to do for our team and our roster, we’re very happy to have Jaylen and no regrets, and I say that with all honesty to you.”
And this is where I say to you that all NFL general managers have defining moments.
Generally, one of those moments comes when he picks his forever quarterback. Pick a good one and your job is solidified. Pick a bad one and it’s a slippery slope to unemployment.
One of Don Shula’s first decisions as Dolphins coach was to sign quarterback Earl Morrall at a high cost (for the time) despite complaints from owner Joe Robbie. Morrall saved the perfect season.
Another for Shula came in 1983 when he selected Dan Marino, a quarterback several other teams passed on.
Shula rode those outstanding decisions for decades.
A couple of QB decisions that didn’t work out in Miami included Dave Wannstedt and Rick Spielman passing on Drew Brees in the 2001 draft and then Nick Saban, the chief decision-maker in 2005-2006, passing on Brees as a free agent.
So QB decisions are career-making decisions for NFL coaches and GMs.
(Unless you’re Ryan Pace in Chicago. He totally blew it on Mitch Trubisky in a draft that served up Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson and somehow is still the Bears’ GM, which is stunning.)
There can be other defining moments as well.
For Jimmy Johnson, one such moment was selecting Hall of Fame defensive end Jason Taylor in the third round in 1997.
But another came in 1998 when Johnson traded out of a pick before the draft that might have brought him Randy Moss to play with Marino.
For Jeff Ireland, one such moment was the entire 2013 offseason which was no bueno.
For Bill Parcells that moment came when he selected Jake Long No. 1 overall and Chad Henne in the second round.
Well, if Waddle turns into the “dynamic” and “explosive” player the Dolphins said Thursday night he’s going to be, while Pitts and Chase are not all that, Miami’s predraft trade of 2021 will go down as a moment to celebrate Grier.
If not ...
Yikes.
This story was originally published April 30, 2021 at 12:05 PM.
