The NFL Draft has not proven overly fruitful during the Parcells era. On the one hand, people can point to Jake Long and Vontae Davis as successful picks.
However, lets be real here. Jake Long was the #1 pick in the entire draft and Vontae Davis was the #1 rated corner in his draft class. These guys were expected to be good.
On the other hand, the Dolphins selected Pat White and Phillip Merling in the first 40 picks of their respective drafts and neither one of them looks like they have any future with the team.
More importantly, great teams consistently find gems in the middle and later rounds of the draft, and the Dolphins have demonstrated a tendency to swing and miss in these rounds.
In the past two years, the Phins have traded up to select OG Shawn Murphy (waived one year later) in the fourth round, taken little known TE John Nalbone (on the chopping block) in the fifth round, and selected WR Patrick Turner (who was inactive his entire rookie year) in the third round over potential stud WRs like Mike Wallace (Steelers, round 3), Louis Murphy (Raiders, round 4), and Austin Collie (Colts, round 4).
In sum, I am still waiting to be convinced that Parcells and GM Jeff Ireland are especially skilled at uncovering talent like former Phins coach Jimmy Johnson.
The Phins did nothing spectacular in this year's draft and failed to fill critical voids at FS, OLB, and NT. I know Ireland said that the team plans to move Randy Starks to NT. The fact that Starks was only asked to move after the team failed to nab at NT like Dan Williams in round one, however, is an indication that this was plan B and not plan A.
I also know that they drafted DE Koa Misi from Utah to play OLB in the second round. I have little doubt that Misi will make this transition nicely, but Misi never produced double digit sacks in the Mountain West Conference. What are the odds that he will produce enough sacks in the NFL to make Phin fans forget about Jason Taylor?
Despite the Phins critical need at FS, they failed to land Morgan Burnett, their target, in the third round when he was selected by the Packers just two spots before the Phins' pick.
The Phins did trade two picks to move up and draft safety Reshad Jones from Georgia in the fifth round, although he is probably better suited to replace Yeremiah Bell at SS in one or two seasons than he is to start as a FS in his rookie year. This is also a curious move given that the Phins could have coughed up these two picks to move up two spots in round three and secure the rights to FS Morgan Burnett.
I do think that Jared Odrick (pictured above) was a solid value pick at the bottom of round one. I have few doubts that he will be an upgrade over Phillip Merling at DE in a 3-4 front, and also a future leader of the Dolphins' defense.
I also thought AJ Edds, a LB from Iowa, was one of the more underrated backers in this draft. While I applaud the Phins decision to select him in the fourth round, I am puzzled why the team drafted two ILBs, Edds and Spitler, and traded for another, Tim Dobbins, when they already had Dansby, Crowder, and Torbor on their roster. One has to think Crowder or Torbor will be playing elsewhere next season.
I would have preferred to see them take Ricky Sapp, a highly athletic OLB prospect from Clemson, who slid all the way to the Eagles in the fifth round. Sapp was expected by many to be taken in the first three rounds and would have helped provide more depth at OLB, a position that is much more in need of talent than ILB.
The Dolphins also selected Nolan Carroll, an injured CB from Maryland, in the fifth round ahead of a NT, Cam Thomas, who many believed was worthy of a third or fourth round grade.
The Phins had a chance to scout Cam Thomas at the Senior Bowl so it is hard to argue with their decision not to draft him; however, from the outside looking in it seemed like an odd decision given that Thomas could have challenged Paul Soliai to become a better player and allowed Starks to remain at DE, where he was an absolute beast last year.
The Chargers, a 3-4 team, pounced on Cam Thomas with the very next pick, which only made me more convinced that the Dolphins made a mistake.
Even with my criticisms, I think this was by far the Dolphins' best draft under Parcells. I would not be surprised to see every single player drafted make the team. There were no "what the hell were they thinking?" moments in this draft.
Each player chosen except one was a captain of their respective college team, comes with very little risk, and represents excellent value for where he was chosen in the draft.
While I would have preferred if the team had added another OLB or FS in the first few rounds, I am convinced that the team took no major risks and made no major mistakes in this draft. In short, this draft was solid not sexy.
With Brandon Marshall on offense and thirteen (that's right, 13!) linebackers to choose from on defense, there is no question the Phins should be significantly improved next season. The only question is how much the Patriots and the Jets will also improve.
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