In our last mock draft, I accepted trade offers and fell back in the first round while still getting Lamp, Cunningham and others that can add depth to our roster. Lets face it, we will be lucky if we grab 2 starters for 2017. For the most part, we will wind up with cheaper guys who can grow into starters in a year or two, become permanent backups or get released.
Our organization looks like everyone is reading off the same page, from Tannenbaum to Grier to Gase. And that is exactly were we need to be if we want to continue to grow into a championship franchise.
So in this version, I want to try to fall back again and pick up a couple additional picks along the way. As everyone on the planet knows, we need OL, LB, CB, DE, DT and TE depth with a preference to find a starting LG and OLB if possible.
I will be utilizing an app to pick for the other 31 teams so here we go:
Round 1 Pick 22: We have a choice to pick either OG Lamp, FS Baker, SS Adams, DE/OLBs Harris or McKinley or Watt, TE Njoku and CBs King, Humphrey or White. There is still some talented guys sitting there even if I fall back and risk losing Lamp. We are offered 4 trades. I accept the one from Cleveland offering their 2 second round picks 1 (33) and 19 (51).
Round 2 Pick 1 (33) from Cleveland: Everyone mentioned above is gone except Lamp and Watt. Lamp is now a Dolphin and starting at LG!!
Round 2 Pick 19 (51) from Cleveland: We need to focus on defense now and we can grab DE/OLBs Rivers, Williams or Basham, OLBs Riley or Bowser, CBs Jackson, Wilson, Jones or Tabor, FS Sanders-Williams or SS Jones. Lots of talent for the pickings. I like DE/OLB Tim Williams from Alabama here a lot as a pass rush specialist who can learn from Wake and take over on the left side at DE. However, we have one trade offer from Oakland offering 2nd round 24 (56), 4th round 23 (130) and 5th Round 24 (168). Since we pick again 3 picks from now at our 22 lets take the trade and see if Williams is still hanging around. If not, we grab another guy and pick up 2 picks, one of which gets us back into the 4th round.
Round 2 Pick 22 (54): Haha, Williams is still there. Well, not anymore as he is now a Dolphin!!
Round 2 Pick 24 (56) from Oakland: We get 4 trade offers but eventually you have to pick guys and if you keep trading you wind up with 19 fifth through seventh round players. I want to grab an OLB here since the talent level at OLB drops off significantly after the 2nd round in this years draft.
So lets welcome to the team Tyus Bowser from Houston. At 6'3", 247 LBS he ran a 4.65 40 and benched 21 reps. He is an athletic specimen having played both hoops and football at Houston for his frosh and sophomore years. Lets hope the Heat don't find out about him coming to the Dolphins.
Round 3 Pick 33 (97) Comp: The pickings are slim for starters now. So its all about depth and finding someone who can step in and play without hurting you too if the starter goes down. I haven't looked this next guy's way in any draft because he is only 5'10" as a CB. I prefer taller guys but Michigan's Jourdan Lewis is no slouch. He has been starting since 3 games into his sophomore year and is projected to be a good slot corner since he doesn't shy away from the LOS and plays the run well. Welcome to the Dolphins, Mr. Lewis!
Round 4 Pick 23 (130) from Oakland: More depth for the defense, this time at Safety. Can we find a good pass coverage guy who can play center field in this Pass Heavy NFL?? Well, we just did. Welcome from Boston College, 6'0", 208 LBS, John Johnson. He runs the 40 in 4.61 and has starting experience at both CB and Safety. Last year he had 77 tackles, 2.5 for loss, 3 INT and 9 pass break ups. His Junior year, he had 63 tackles, 1.5 for loss, 3 INT, 3 PBU. Not bad. Hell in the 2016 Quick Lane Bowl against Maryland he had 12 tackles of which 11 were solo. So he isn't afraid to stick his nose in there and can play both CB and Safety. When you can only dress 46 guys from the 53 man roster for each game, being able to kill 2 birds with 1 stone is huge.
Round 5 Pick 22 (166): Still looking for depth and want to address the DL so lets grab a big ole mountain of a DT in USC Stevie Tu'ikolovatu. Granted not too many equipment managers or media personnel are going to love dealing with that last name but I am sure he will wind up being Stevie Tu. At 6'1", 331 LBS, its pretty clear what his job is. Stuff the run and tie up blockers so the LBs can be free to pursue the ball. He could be a problem to block with Suh getting doubled only a few feet away.
Round 5 Pick 24 (168) from Oakland: Lets grab an OT for some depth. So how about UCLA Conor McDermott. My God, this guy is 6'8", 310 LBS. 6'8". He is a project though since he doesn't have enough core strength to play right away but he certainly has a frame to put some muscle on. He started the past 2 years at LT in the PAC-10 so how bad can he be having been voted 2nd team all conference the last 2 seasons.
Round 5 Pick 34 (178) Comp: Here comes a special teamer. A kick coverage dude who runs a 4.51 40. Get this, he runs that fast at 6'4", 221 LBS. Yep, he is a wide receiver, Mack Hollins, from North Carolina. When you are that big and can run that fast, you will make a roster whether we need another WR or not. Then again, he could be just another 5th round cut.
Round 5 Pick 40 (184) Comp: Here comes another edge type rusher from the OLB position or a special teamer to cover kicks. From TCU, 6'3", 242 LBS, Josh Carraway earned 2 consecutive All Big-12 First Team selections. He had 11.5 tackles for loss and 9 sacks followed by 11 TFL and 8 sacks this past season. The guy is an athlete. Pure and simple. Camp will tell us just how tough he is.
Round 7 Pick 5 (223) Comp: Time for a sentimental journey. Or what the hell, the acorn doesn't fall too far from the tree or like father, like son or its getting late and I gotta show a house!! So lets grab a name you should all remember, Bryan Cox! That's right, the same nut job who played for us (and well BTW) has a son coming out of Florida and looking to play the DL and create havoc. Too bad he is not as talented as his Dad but he does have the size at 6'3", 265 LBS. He is big and quick but only 16 reps benching tells me he spent little time in the weight room.
So there we have it. A couple trades and we wind up with starting LG Lamp, rotation DE Williams, back up/ possible starter OLB Bowser, back up slot CB Lewis and back up FS Johnson plus some special teamers and push other guys to play better picks.
Lets see how it shakes out next week.
Phins Up!!
Carl Leone
Dolfan since 12/25/1971
Our organization looks like everyone is reading off the same page, from Tannenbaum to Grier to Gase. And that is exactly were we need to be if we want to continue to grow into a championship franchise.
So in this version, I want to try to fall back again and pick up a couple additional picks along the way. As everyone on the planet knows, we need OL, LB, CB, DE, DT and TE depth with a preference to find a starting LG and OLB if possible.
I will be utilizing an app to pick for the other 31 teams so here we go:
Round 1 Pick 22: We have a choice to pick either OG Lamp, FS Baker, SS Adams, DE/OLBs Harris or McKinley or Watt, TE Njoku and CBs King, Humphrey or White. There is still some talented guys sitting there even if I fall back and risk losing Lamp. We are offered 4 trades. I accept the one from Cleveland offering their 2 second round picks 1 (33) and 19 (51).
Round 2 Pick 1 (33) from Cleveland: Everyone mentioned above is gone except Lamp and Watt. Lamp is now a Dolphin and starting at LG!!
Round 2 Pick 19 (51) from Cleveland: We need to focus on defense now and we can grab DE/OLBs Rivers, Williams or Basham, OLBs Riley or Bowser, CBs Jackson, Wilson, Jones or Tabor, FS Sanders-Williams or SS Jones. Lots of talent for the pickings. I like DE/OLB Tim Williams from Alabama here a lot as a pass rush specialist who can learn from Wake and take over on the left side at DE. However, we have one trade offer from Oakland offering 2nd round 24 (56), 4th round 23 (130) and 5th Round 24 (168). Since we pick again 3 picks from now at our 22 lets take the trade and see if Williams is still hanging around. If not, we grab another guy and pick up 2 picks, one of which gets us back into the 4th round.
Round 2 Pick 22 (54): Haha, Williams is still there. Well, not anymore as he is now a Dolphin!!
Round 2 Pick 24 (56) from Oakland: We get 4 trade offers but eventually you have to pick guys and if you keep trading you wind up with 19 fifth through seventh round players. I want to grab an OLB here since the talent level at OLB drops off significantly after the 2nd round in this years draft.
So lets welcome to the team Tyus Bowser from Houston. At 6'3", 247 LBS he ran a 4.65 40 and benched 21 reps. He is an athletic specimen having played both hoops and football at Houston for his frosh and sophomore years. Lets hope the Heat don't find out about him coming to the Dolphins.
Round 3 Pick 33 (97) Comp: The pickings are slim for starters now. So its all about depth and finding someone who can step in and play without hurting you too if the starter goes down. I haven't looked this next guy's way in any draft because he is only 5'10" as a CB. I prefer taller guys but Michigan's Jourdan Lewis is no slouch. He has been starting since 3 games into his sophomore year and is projected to be a good slot corner since he doesn't shy away from the LOS and plays the run well. Welcome to the Dolphins, Mr. Lewis!
Round 4 Pick 23 (130) from Oakland: More depth for the defense, this time at Safety. Can we find a good pass coverage guy who can play center field in this Pass Heavy NFL?? Well, we just did. Welcome from Boston College, 6'0", 208 LBS, John Johnson. He runs the 40 in 4.61 and has starting experience at both CB and Safety. Last year he had 77 tackles, 2.5 for loss, 3 INT and 9 pass break ups. His Junior year, he had 63 tackles, 1.5 for loss, 3 INT, 3 PBU. Not bad. Hell in the 2016 Quick Lane Bowl against Maryland he had 12 tackles of which 11 were solo. So he isn't afraid to stick his nose in there and can play both CB and Safety. When you can only dress 46 guys from the 53 man roster for each game, being able to kill 2 birds with 1 stone is huge.
Round 5 Pick 22 (166): Still looking for depth and want to address the DL so lets grab a big ole mountain of a DT in USC Stevie Tu'ikolovatu. Granted not too many equipment managers or media personnel are going to love dealing with that last name but I am sure he will wind up being Stevie Tu. At 6'1", 331 LBS, its pretty clear what his job is. Stuff the run and tie up blockers so the LBs can be free to pursue the ball. He could be a problem to block with Suh getting doubled only a few feet away.
Round 5 Pick 24 (168) from Oakland: Lets grab an OT for some depth. So how about UCLA Conor McDermott. My God, this guy is 6'8", 310 LBS. 6'8". He is a project though since he doesn't have enough core strength to play right away but he certainly has a frame to put some muscle on. He started the past 2 years at LT in the PAC-10 so how bad can he be having been voted 2nd team all conference the last 2 seasons.
Round 5 Pick 34 (178) Comp: Here comes a special teamer. A kick coverage dude who runs a 4.51 40. Get this, he runs that fast at 6'4", 221 LBS. Yep, he is a wide receiver, Mack Hollins, from North Carolina. When you are that big and can run that fast, you will make a roster whether we need another WR or not. Then again, he could be just another 5th round cut.
Round 5 Pick 40 (184) Comp: Here comes another edge type rusher from the OLB position or a special teamer to cover kicks. From TCU, 6'3", 242 LBS, Josh Carraway earned 2 consecutive All Big-12 First Team selections. He had 11.5 tackles for loss and 9 sacks followed by 11 TFL and 8 sacks this past season. The guy is an athlete. Pure and simple. Camp will tell us just how tough he is.
Round 7 Pick 5 (223) Comp: Time for a sentimental journey. Or what the hell, the acorn doesn't fall too far from the tree or like father, like son or its getting late and I gotta show a house!! So lets grab a name you should all remember, Bryan Cox! That's right, the same nut job who played for us (and well BTW) has a son coming out of Florida and looking to play the DL and create havoc. Too bad he is not as talented as his Dad but he does have the size at 6'3", 265 LBS. He is big and quick but only 16 reps benching tells me he spent little time in the weight room.
So there we have it. A couple trades and we wind up with starting LG Lamp, rotation DE Williams, back up/ possible starter OLB Bowser, back up slot CB Lewis and back up FS Johnson plus some special teamers and push other guys to play better picks.
Lets see how it shakes out next week.
Phins Up!!
Carl Leone
Dolfan since 12/25/1971