Written by Alen1

NFL General Manager’s and coaches strive to be like the New England Patriots,the Indianapolis Colts and the New York Giants. These three teams are fighting for a Super Bowl championship consistently because they make solid free agent acquisitions, despite not overpaying players ala the Washington Redskins, they develop their players and they draft well year in and year out. The Miami Dolphins are hoping to follow in the footsteps of the three recent Super Bowl champions.

It was said to be a rebuilding year this past season in Miami; the team had twenty-nine new acquisitions to the roster and got rid of players that were with the organization for their whole careers like Zach Thomas and Jason Taylor. However, behind a fiery new head coach in Tony Sparano, the team had immediate success, winning eleven games and a playoff appearance. Quarterback Chad Pennington had the Dolphins organization and its fans excited by bringing stability and success to a position that the team severely lacked since Dan Marino retired. A new weapon and dimension was added to the offense, the Wildcat, that helped pave way to the playoffs. On the defensive side of the ball, Joey Porter notched a career high 17.5 sacks one year after being called a free agent bust while Andre Goodman, Will Allen and Yeremiah Bell formed a solid defensive backfield. With all that success, the Miami Dolphins were exposed when they met a physical Baltimore Raven s team in the first round of the playoffs. The Ravens consistently got pressure to QB Chad Pennington, they took away the run game and created turnovers. After that loss, the management was back to the drawing board, singling out free agent targets as well as possible draft targets.

Unlike previous years, the Dolphins are picking in the bottom half of the first round and have many options at the twenty-fifth selection. Holes along the roster such as corner back, both inside and outside linebacker spots, wide receiver, and nose tackle are positions that will be looked to be filled in the first round. In the upcoming draft, there is quite a bit of talented players that can be had at the Dolphins selection and I hope to give the readers my thoughts on who will be there and who may be targeted.

The biggest need on the roster at the moment is corner back. The team has one starting-quality corner back in Will Allen, who was banged up last year and is in a contract year. Last year’s starter opposite of Allen, Andre’ Goodman, left the team to sign with the Denver Broncos. One of the prospects that could be available to us here is Vanderbilt’s D.J. Moore. Moore had a poor combine,measuring in at an unexpected 5'8 7/8 and also ran a rather poor forty yard dash (4.53) for his size. However, despite the lack of combine numbers, he’s a very good player. Moore is very fluid, has good ball skills and is a play maker at multiple spots on the field. He has taken part on offense, defense and special teams - something the front office looks for. Another possibility is my number one corner back, Sean Smith of Utah. Sean Smith is a bigger defensive back, checking in at 6’3 1/2. The worries that seem to come with a taller corner back is that they are not fluid and have trouble flipping their hips. However, Smith doesn’t seem to have those problems when I watch him on tape. He’s very fluid, has good recovery speed and ball skills. One big positive is that he has played free safety at his time in Utah as well. Two other prospects that will be looked at with the first round pick are Wake Forest’s Alphonso Smith and Connecticut’s Darius Butler. Smith is undersized (5’9) like D.J.Moore but he has the best ball skills in this draft to go with great athleticism, hands, play making ability confidence and quickness. He’s also an underrated player in run support, making game-changing plays such as forced fumbles. On the flip side, Darius Butler of Connecticut has good ball skills as well and has good hips. There are worries that he lacks the recovery speed to be an elite corner back at the next level.

Moving on to linebacker, there are several defensive ends that are likely to convert to outside linebacker if they were to be selected by a team that runs a 3-4 defensive scheme, such as our beloved Miami Dolphins. The first player that will come to the minds of many is Ohio State’s James Laurinaitis. Laurinaitis was once considered a possible top ten selection but returned to school and now has seen his draft stock plummet. While Laurinitais is very good in coverage, showing good instincts and intelligence, and he’s an effective blitzer off the edge, he is not a player that fits in a 3-4 scheme, in my opinion. The reason being is that he struggles to shed blocks when taking them head on, rather looking to go around them. A prospect that does fit our scheme is USC’s Rey Maualuga. Maualuga is likely to be a top fifteen selection but there have been rumors that he may be slipping due to a poor combine as well as questions surrounding his game. Maualuga is a thumper, in other words the big hitting inside linebacker, and that is what’s needed at the spot opposite of Channing Crowder. Maualuga plays at a faster speed than everyone else it seems, blowing up blockers to get into the backfield and making game-changing plays. However, he does seem to lack instincts in coverage and he gets too much depth when dropping. Other issues include his off-the-field character - he was involved in a fight during his freshmen year at USC;  also the rude dance that he did behind ESPN’s Erin Andrews has brought up red flags - and him over-pursuing often when playing the run. In my opinion, I don’t see him slipping to twenty-five but I wouldn’t count it out.

At the outside linebacker position, Virginia’s Clint Sintim. Sintim isn’t often talked about due to the college he played at but he is a very good player inhis own right. He’s played weak side, strong side linebacker and defensive end. He’s got good athleticism which helps him avoid trash (defenders) at his feet and has good quickness off the line. A case can be made that he’s quicker off the snap with his hand in the dirt but nonetheless, he’s got good quickness off the edge wherever he lines up and has a knack for getting to the Quarterback. He’s spent time in the 3-4 his whole college career under Bill Parcells disciple Al Groh. Over the years, Sintim has been dropping in coverage more and it showed this past season, when he was asked to cover slot receivers and not justonly tight ends like in the past. Two other names that will merit consideration are Northern Illinois defensive end Larry English and Tennessee’s Robert Ayers. English has been productive during his college career, matching numbers that were posted by Dallas Cowboys’ linebacker Demarcus Ware. Like Ware, English is quick off the edge and a case can be made that he has the quickest first three steps off the line of scrimmage. He has a great motor and displays good lateral speed that helps him when pursuing after ball carriers. The knock on English is him not doing a good job of setting the edge. He has struggled quite a bit atthat aspect of his game and that is why he’s likely to be a situational passrusher if he was to be selected by the Miami Dolphins. The last name I mentioned was Tennessee’s Robert Ayers. Ayers doesn’t have much production at UT due to struggles but came around this past season, displaying good quickness and strength off the edge. He also showed good instincts, batting down screen passes and intercepting one as well.

The wide receiver position has been a big question mark for this organization.There are three sold wide receivers on the roster (Ginn, Camarillo and Bess)but there is no number one wide receiver. Luckily, there are a few players that can become that go-to wide receiver if they were selected twenty-fifth overall.T he first one is North Carolina’s Hakeem Nicks. Nicks stepped up big this past season after fellow teammate Brandon Tate tore up his ACL. Nicks has very good hands to go with great upper body strength. Similar to Arizona’s Anquan Boldin,Nicks can gain a lot of yardage after the catch despite the lack of elite speed (4.54 forty). Another option is Rutgers Kenny Britt. Britt is widely considered to be a second rounder come April but a strong combine may have put him in the first round. If he’s available, he will absolutely be considered in my opinion. He’s a big (6’4”) wide receiver whose a physical blocker and has good hands. He does a good job of using his upper body to create separation from defensive backs. The names continue with Maryland’s Darrius Heyward-Bey. Heyward-Bey is a track star playing football and brings the explosiveness that Bill Parcells was quoted as looking for during an ESPN interview. He’s not the tallest receiver at 6’1” but he has a 38.5” vertical and blazing speed (4.30 with a reported 4.20 ran on campus) to create separation down field. However, he’s very inconsistent and doesn’t always give the best of efforts on the football field. Last, Florida’s Percy Harvin doesn’t fit what this team is looking for in terms of durability and size but he’s the most dynamic player in college football. That alone brings him into consideration. I don’t expect the organization to select him but he does have good hands and is a decent blocker when willing. He would also be a great asset to the Wildcat formation, which Tony Sparano is reportedly installing more of in next year’s playbook.

Furthermore, the nose tackle spot will need to be replaced eventually because of Jason Ferguson getting up there in age. There are a few players that are likely to be available come our first round draft choice and they are LSU’s Tyson Jackson, San Jose State’s Jarrron Gilbert and Auburn’s Sen’Derrick Marks. What’s ironic about these three players is that they haven’t spent much time or if any at all playing nose tackle. However, they do possess the strength to play the position. Tyson Jackson of LSU is a very strong player who I have seen move double teams alone with brute strength. He’s also stout against the run. He is also considered as 3-4 defensive end. San Jose State’s Jarron Gilbert has very good explosiveness off the line and has good strength to take on double teams. While he is underweight at 288 pounds, I think he still has room to fill out his frame and man the nose tackle spot for us. He, like Jackson, is considered as a 3-4 defensive end but I feel that he can also man the position. Marks of Auburn is a very interesting prospect. He has very good quickness off the line, has good lateral speed and strength. He’s 306 pounds and has played defensive tackle and defensive end.

Finally, there are a lot of ways the Dolphins can go with their first round pick as the team has many needs. It is likely that they will select a player that will be an immediate contributor.

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