The signing of Nate Allen positions Miami perfectly to draft the best safety in the draft, Malik Hooker. Although most scouts think Hooker a top ten prospect, he is likely to fall in the draft due to off-season surgery. Walterfootball reports that Allen will sit for 4-6 months, meaning that any team that takes him must be prepared to be without him at the start of season. Teams with immediate needs might therefore pass on Hooker in order to get a healthy player on the field, unless, of course, they had just signed a journeyman, stop-gap free agent.
Enter Allen, who is exactly such a player. A natural SS, Allen could be asked to cover at FS while Hooker mends, and then leave the starting lineup to back-up Jones at SS. These moves make sense, and thankfully the Dolphins front office seems to make sensible moves these days. Hooker might be a once in a decade player. If Miami can sign him, it would be a coup of similar proportion to what happened with Tunsil.
Hooker also fits our scheme; he is a classic deep safety, with ball skills and closing speed, which means he can cover for the talented gambler who would start next to him.
Should the Dolphins miss on Hooker, they might get a shot at Jamal Adams (an excellent fit for Miami) or Obi Melinfonwu, who are both good fits for our scheme (though Melifonwu is more raw and less proven, having played at UCONN.)
What the Dolphins must not do is draft the overrated Jabril Peppers. A dumpster fire of a pick for our needs, since he is a 'tweener LB/S with no real coverage skills, Peppers would only remind us of a certain LB/DE "athletic freak" who shall henceforth remain nameless in these pages.
This is a deep draft at safety- if the players who warrant a first round pick are gone, simply move on to another position of need (linebacker or Defensive Line seems logical) and circle back at a later round.
But if we get Hooker, man does that Allen signing make sense!
Jay Lopez
Wednesday, March 15, 2017
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6 comments
If he fell to 22, that would be a steal.
I would prefer OLB or DE first, then if a good S is there in the 2nd vs a G, pick the best available, then in the 3rd take whatever they did not take in the 2nd vs S or G. If Phins can get three players out of this draft, after a good FA period, they did super. Not expecting much of two 5th rounders, and a 7th. That would be gravy if any of that panned out...however, remember the J-Train was a 5th round pick!
We haven't had luck drafting injured players in the past, at all! In my opinion we need to draft someone who is a good value and ready to go day 1 regardless off position.
How about Reuben Foster? I've read some teams may pass on him due to his little spat at the combine or something like that. I've read he will most likely not fall out of the top 20, but it's possible. How awesome would a Kiki/Timmons/Foster LB corps be?
KikO.... I meant Kiko...
Reshad Jones was a 5th rder