Kelly: Dolphins need more from Chris Grier’s draft classes | Opinion
Every time Cam Smith steps on an NFL field he might as well have a target on his back because lining up opposite Pro Bowler Jalen Ramsey makes this second-year cornerback a marked man.
Quarterbacks generally prefer to go the path of least resistance, and that means going after the Miami Dolphins’ young and inexperienced 2023 second-round pick, who will likely serve as Kendall Fuller’s replacement until the nine-year veteran is cleared to play after sustaining his second concussion of the season last week in Miami’s 23-15 win against the Los Angeles Rams.
But that’s only if Smith earns, and keeps the job.
After beginning this season on injured reserve because of a hamstring injury he sustained in training camp, Smith has played plenty the past three games — 97 defensive snaps — and as a result he has faced heavy fire.
“I’m just grasping everything,” said Smith, who has allowed 13 of the 15 passes thrown to receivers she’s covering the past three games to be completed, which clearly isn’t ideal since it produced a 99.5 passer rating when opposing quarterbacks are targeting him. “It’s been different facing other receivers that aren’t my teammates.
“I have to make the plays that come to me,” said Smith, who didn’t play much last season because he was stuck in former defensive coordinator Vic Fangio’s doghouse. “That’s all it is.”
Smith’s struggles put a spotlight on a bigger issue since he’s one of the Dolphins’ numerous draft picks in recent years who have been unable to establish themselves as core contributors, if not starters.
SLOW START FOR DRAFTEES
The struggles Miami has had with draftees like Smith in recent years has handcuffed the team because it has created a roster built off free agency and trades, and that produces a payroll that eventually becomes financially challenging.
Miami has worked off that “buy a player” model since 2021, and as a result the team has had financial challenges each offseason, which has led to massive roster turnover.
The Dolphins are projected to have less than $4 million in cap space next offseason despite having only 37 players under contract. And that’s before attempting to retain Miami’s own free agents, and sign players to improve what will be a 90-player training camp roster.
Productive drafts build a solid foundation for a football team.
Lackluster drafts create instability, and the need to spend in free agency to supplement the roster.
For instance, Miami wouldn’t have needed to sign Odell Beckham Jr. last offseason if Erik Ezukanma, a fourth-round pick in 2022 who is currently on Miami’s practice squad, had planned out.
Miami wouldn’t be forced to sign linebacker Jordyn Brooks in free agency if Channing Tindall, a third-round pick in 2022, was groomed and ready to replace Jerome Baker when Baker’s contract exceeded his contributions.
Tindall’s on his third season of being inactive for most games.
The Dolphins wouldn’t have needed to sign Fuller in free agency last offseason if Smith had proven he was capable as a rookie contributor. This week he’s competing with Storm Duck and Ethan Bonner, two undrafted players, for the vacant starting spot.
“I don’t necessarily think it’s a struggle for Cam,” said defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver, who unlike his predecessor, is an advocate for playing youngsters and letting them learn from their mistakes. “I just think you’re just going through some growing pains from a younger player.
“The one thing that I know for sure is if you’re out there and you’re playing in this league, you are an incredibly confident human being,” Weaver continued. “if you’re not, that’s usually when you’re struggling and we’ve got to find a way to build that confidence back up.”
The Dolphins made a similar investment in pass rusher Chop Robinson, the 2024 first-round pick, who got off to a rough start this season. But Robinson has begun to heat up lately, producing his first two sacks in the past two games, and the hope is that he will continue to blossom as he gains more experience.
That should be the goal for all of Miami’s youngsters to begin delivering a healthier roster.
And there are instances, like with Malik Washington, a 2024 sixth-round pick, where immediate development is actually happening.
“We wanted to get some guys involved other than Tyreek and Jaylen and I was that guy,” said Washington, who scored a touchdown in his very first NFL start last week. “I’m just capitalizing on that moment, capitalizing on that opportunity….So much work has been put into that moment.”
Washington got there, working his way into the playing rotation, by “being a pros pro,” according to receiver coach Wes Welker, who said the rookie handles himself like a veteran.
“For a rookie to be able to play all three positions is a testament to him, and the work he’s put into it,” Welker said.
Is Washington a finished product? Far from it, but he’s showing that there’s upside worth an investment, and that hasn’t happened consistently with many Dolphins rookies since 2016.
DOLPHINS CAN’T AFFORD WASTE
The pitfalls of having lackluster drafts, picks that are wasted on players such as Charles Harris (2017 first round), Cordrea Tankersley (2017 second round), Kalen Ballage (2018 fourth rounder), Michael Dieter (2019 third rounder), Noah Igbinoghene (2020 first rounder), Solomon Kindley (2020 fourth rounder), Hunter Long (2021 third rounder), handcuff a franchise.
And it doesn’t help that Miami’s had thin draft classes the past the seasons because of the draft picks traded to acquire high-profile, but expensive players such as Tyreek Hill, Bradley Chubb and Ramsey.
Still, more than half of the Miami Dolphins roster — 30 players, two of which (offensive tackle Kion Smith and tight end Tanner Conner) are on injured reserve right now — is made up of draftees, or players the team signed and developed as undrafted rookies such as tight end Julian Hill, who beat out a drafted player (Elijah Higgins) for a roster spot.
These handpicked players represent the core of the 2024 team, but that’s not always a good thing, especially if the draft classes haven’t been strong, which you can make a case for about the Dolphins the past few years.
The 2024 Dolphins feature 22 draftees from Chris Grier’s tenure as general manager of this franchise since 2016. That’s 22 keepers from the franchise’s 62 draft picks — a 35% hit rate — made since 2016.
That’s the year Grier was put in charge of the team’s draft. He gained full power of the franchise in 2019 after Mike Tannenbaum was removed as the vice president of football operations.
Six of those 22 players — quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, right tackle Austin Jackson, receiver Jaylen Waddle, safety Jevon Holland, offensive guard Liam Eichenberg, and tailback De’Von Achane — are current starters for the Dolphins.
While Grier’s draft classes have featured a couple of hits — Pro Bowl talents such as Laremy Tunsil, Xavien Howard, Minkah Fitzpatrick and Tagovailoa — there have quite a few flops too.
During the span of nine offseasons there has been a ton of roster waste because of those draft misses and free agent defections, like the departure of draftees like Christian Wilkins, Robert Hunt, Andrew Van Ginkel, Brandon Jones and Raekwon Davis, who all signed elsewhere when Miami allowed them to become unrestricted free agents this past offseason.
Bad draft picks turn into wasted opportunities because player development, what we’re seeing from Smith, Robinson and Washington, is the best, and most fiscally conscious way to build a winning NFL roster.
That’s how the San Francisco 49ers, Baltimore Ravens, Pittsburgh Steelers and Philadelphia Eagles generally get the job done, and if the Dolphins want to have that kind of sustained success they need better drafts to foster a healthy roster.
This story was originally published November 16, 2024 at 6:11 PM.
