So what did Mando think of the Dolphins draft? Is he gonna rip ‘em?
Two questions I’ve gotten since the NFL Draft ended and the Miami Dolphins walked away with their seven new players:
Question 1: What did you think of the Dolphins draft?
Question 2: Are you gonna rip ‘em?
Let me answer the second question at the outset. No, I’m not “gonna to rip ‘em.”
I mean, how does one rip a draft unless it goes obviously sideways? Like, do I definitely know how these rookies are going to play? How or whether they’re going to develop? Whether they’re going to fulfill the vision the team has for them?
I don’t know.
Neither do the Dolphins, by the way.
General manager Chris Grier and coach Brian Flores are projecting. All teams are projecting with these young men.
And this year, with some of the players having not played in 2020, or the interviews not being in person, or the medical exams not being up to the standards of past years, there is likely to be more mistakes by everybody than in the past.
My guess is the top personnel departments will overcome the handicaps and deliver.
And the average or below-average personnel departments will come away with some gargantuan mistakes.
I am not in a position to tell you definitively which one the Dolphins will be.
So why would I rip this draft?
There are, however, things I really like about this Dolphins draft.
There are things I really dislike about this Dolphins draft.
And there are things I have questions about.
But rip ‘em? Nah.
So, some things I think about this Dolphins draft ...
▪ I think I liked that trade out of the No. 3 overall selection much, much more in March when it happened than I did after the draft’s first night.
When the Dolphins initially traded from No. 3 to No. 12 overall and got a first-round pick in 2022 and another in 2023, plus a third-round pick next year, I thought Grier plundered the San Francisco 49ers.
But then the 2022 first-round pick went away in the trade up to No. 6.
And then we recognized the Dolphins assured themselves of not getting either Ja’Marr Chase or Kyle Pitts.
And, sitting here, I wish the Dolphins had simply stayed at No. 3. I believe both Chase and Pitts are going to be more productive than new Dolphins receiver Jaylen Waddle. And I mean this year, next year, and over their careers based on their ceilings.
That 2023 first-rounder? It will start to feel good next year if the Dolphins need to use it in a massive trade up or in trade for some superstar player. But for now, it’s merely a shadow in the future that gets lost in the full light of the present.
▪ I think Waddle has to be Tyreek Hill for the Dolphins to get the value out of him they just spent.
And maybe that happens. After all, Waddle is practically as fast as Hill, is potentially dynamic and scary like Hill. And has return game abilities like Hill.
The problem with all that is there’s only one Tyreek Hill.
In his least productive season, Hill scored seven touchdowns for the Chiefs. Again, that’s his least productive season.
God bless Waddle and Grier if Miami’s first pick scores seven touchdowns in 2021. That would be outstanding.
The Dolphins’ touchdown leader in 2020? Mike Gesicki scored six touchdowns.
▪ The Dolphins picked Waddle, a slot receiver, out of a draft loaded with dynamic slot receivers.
Waddle, at 5-foot-9 and 180 pounds, was great at Alabama.
But Elijah Moore, at 5-9 and 185 pounds, was great at Ole Miss.
Both great slot receivers. Both lit up the SEC.
Waddle was picked at No. 6.
The New York Jets picked Moore at No. 34.
Waddle must be better.
Same thing with Florida’s Kadarius Toney, who went No. 20 to the New York Giants. And Rondale Moore (No. 49, Arizona), D’Wayne Eskridge (No. 56, Seattle) and Tutu Atwell (No. 57, L.A. Rams).
All these smallish slot guys are going to make plays in the NFL.
The question is whether Waddle is going to be the best of the bunch? Or merely part of the bunch?
He has to separate to make the Dolphins look good.
▪ Jaelan Phillips?
If he stays healthy, outstanding pick. Not good. Outstanding.
If he doesn’t stay healthy, the hindsight crew will say he came to the Dolphins with a significant injury history and the Dolphins ignored the history.
But as far as Phillips the football player?
He’s going to be really good.
Waddle, smallish, is an exception at his position. Phillips, by comparison, is a prototype at his position.
I talk to personnel people around the NFL and this is what one said about Phillips: “The Patriots, Jets and Bills were not happy the Dolphins got Jaelan Phillips.”
By the way, Mike Klis of 9 News in Denver reported the Broncos tried to trade back into the first round to pick Phillips but didn’t have the resources.
▪ Flores really likes the versatility of second-round pick Jevon Holland. And there’s a lot to like. This was a good pick.
I don’t think anyone will look back on this pick and believe the Dolphins got it wrong.
But, we might look back on this pick and be reminded how the Dolphins — and Flores specifically — got it wrong on Minkah Fitzpatrick.
Because Holland is talented and has a lot of tools. But he’s not quite as good as Fitzpatrick and doesn’t have quite as many tools as Fitzpatrick.
And it was the coach’s determination to use Fitzpatrick in a manner the player no longer wished to be used — as in doing everything — that ultimately forced the Fitzpatrick trade.
Interestingly, Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin put Fitzpatrick in one spot and loves him.
So, yes, the Dolphins just replaced Fitzpatrick with the Holland selection. And Holland will be good.
But, honestly, Fitzpatrick was better. And the Dolphins traded him because the coach, in his first year at the time, was determined things must be done his way.
▪ The selection of tight end Hunter Long from Boston College in the third round feels like a good pick. Because he’s going to be a good player.
(Oh no, I’m projecting!)
An NFL personnel man compared him favorably to Tampa Bay’s Cameron Brate. Actually, Long is heavier than Brate. He’s going to be a better blocker than Brate.
The addition of Long cannot be good news for Durham Smythe, who is scheduled to become a free agent after the 2021 season.
This story was originally published May 4, 2021 at 12:09 AM.
