The Dolphins 2009 Draft

Here's what I would do for the 09 'Fins draft. We are drafting 25th overall in the first round and that has to be the worst possible spot considering our needs. The corners will be gone, too early for the level of defensive linemen left, and too late for the great wide outs, too early for the next set. So what do you do? If someone wants to trade back up like the Browns did for Brady Quinn I would do that as long as they got another early-ish second rounder, or draft for position since the talent of the players wont be as good as expected. Say for some odd reason the receivers start to go fast, three or four are gone already, I would immediately go for Darius Heyward-Bey, the Maryland wide out. Or as I like to call him Day Hey Bey. If the receivers are going like last year, not at all, I would take DT Ron Brace (BC) who just seems perfect to take that nose tackle spot for the 'Fins in a year or two. Then take a look at someone like James Laurinitis, Ohio State MLB, if hes still available for the first pick of the second round then take either Ron Brace or Day Hey Bay with the second pick in the second round. If not Laurinitis then maybe Clint Sintim (VT) or a defensive end like Aaron Maybin (Penn) is there instead. So the first three picks for the Dolphins are Ron Brace, James Laurinitis and Day Hey Bey.
In round three your gonna the tail end of the second tier of corners and then the third tier. Players like Victor Harris (VT), Captain Munnerlyn (Scar), Kevin Barnes (Maryland) and the prospect of someone like Wopamo Osaisai (Standford) will all be there. Personally I would take Kevin Barnes because he was a stud up until his injury and then take Wopamo for his speed and upside next round. In fact I would trade back in to grab them both or wait til next round to do so. I'm taking Kevin Barnes and Wopamo are who I take in rounds 3 and 4. Can't go wrong here cause in two years your starting corners, at the least, have the coolest names of any corner tandem if you take the Captain and Wopamo. Plus they could turn out to be like Patrick Surtain and Sam Madison some years back.
That brings me to the next round where I look at Herman Johnson, the BIG guard from LSU, and the rest of the best in running backs. Herman Johnson could be drafted and used just as depth or develop into a nice starter and every line could use at least one man this big. Now the backs this year are deeper than expected I believe and names that should still be on the board are: James Davis (Clemson), Arian Foster (Tenn), Glen Coffee (Bama) and Ian Johnson (Boise State). While I'll probably just miss out on Javon Ringer (Mich St) and work horse Shonne Green (Iowa), the previously mentioned backs are good pickups and the Dolphins don't need a star anyways. I think that the guards and running backs will both pick up and start to go in these rounds so it's a bit of a toss up, but I'm taking Glenn Coffee here because he's psychical and well he plays better than his ranking, Ricky Williams won't be here forever you know, and Herman Johnson has a possibility to drop.
With the rest of the picks, I'm looking for wide outs, corners, ends and linebackers with huge upside that can hopefully make the team. Maybe even a safety if a good one slips this low. Also because I didn't draft a corner back with a high pick and the ones I did grab need some time to develop, I'm also gonna say that I would pick up Ken Lucas to help teach these guys and hold down that number two corner spot for a year or two. I know he has more to teach them than Will Allen. And if not Lucas there is always Dre' Bly, Chris Mcallister or the younger Eric Green. Also some good players left in free agency I'd look at: John Digorgio extra LB played for a rival, Morlon Greenwood another solid linebacker career starter cut for cap reasons, Joey Galloway was worked out of the line up for no reason always a starter always good also available is Marvin Harrison, Cato June once again a good linebacker cut for cap and still young, Duke Preston a promising young guard can play different positions from a rival, and finally Jason Taylor he was here for the good and bad plays the position of a need if he accepts a pay cut and a role off the bench then he should retire a Dolphin.
Some minor notes on my potential Dolphins draft. For their first pick I would seriously consider Alphonso Smith (Wake Forrest) but his ceiling is about the same as the other latter corners. You may ask why I'm taking Ron Brace and Laurinitis, well they are both solid and will be starters in this line up. Brace replaces Jason Ferguson in a year and is a huge cog in that defensive line and Laurnitis steps right into the line up next to Channing Chowder. The biggest question here may be my choice of Day Hey Bey. You can say he is just another fast receiver like Ted Ginn, but his size, hands, YAC and the fact that he has been the man on his past teams make him seem like a potential Larry Fitzgerald like star. He does need to bulk up a bit and his route running and hands could get better and his attitude could turn out to be bad but if he realizes his potential and works on these things he is a great pick this late. And at the very least his speed and Ted Ginn's speed cause some major problems for opposing teams. One thing proven in the NFL is that speed is good, look at Devin Hester or Bernard Berrian. Now onto my corner choices Kevin Barnes is a bigger body lots of upside was a potential first rounder then got hurt. He's quick and has a lot of picks and passes defended. The only problem I see with him is that the receivers and quarterbacks he was facing weren't the greatest. Ditto for Wopamo although the talent he faced in the PAC-10 was slightly better, but he is real fast, former track star, and is still learning the position. Seeing as I only gave you one receiver to look at and that's a big need here's a few more that should be available and I like. Derrick Williams(Penn) and Kenny McKinley (Scar) both seem like good solid prospects and seem like they would give off careers like Bobby Engram, which isn't a joke the man is a solid starter. If a good name slips I think it would be a good idea to try and pick up a safety and/or tight end for depth and competition. Not too many names maybe Michael Hamlin and Travis Beckum fall farther than expected. Also defensive tackle Jarron Gilbert is an athletic big body and depth at DT is always good. Yes he is the guy that jumped out of the pool, I'm a sucker for vertical leap I guess. But then again pair him with Ron Brace and that is a big and very good looking interior d-line. Scott McKillop (Pitt) is a good looking inside line backer if they choose to go defensive end over a line backer like Laurnitis early. The outside line backer and defensive end class seem to not be too deep this year so I wouldn't be against passing on Laurnitis and drafting an end there and then finding a way to get Brandon Spikes (Fla) next year. Now the other offensive lineman I like besides Herman Johnson is Duke Robinson (Okla) and he may slip a bit and would also be a good pickup. However the 'Fins may be looking for an extra tackle, not guard, this year. Last but not least is quarterback, this year isn't the deepest, in fact i doubt it will put out a star but it has some hidden talent in there and Chad Henne is not good at all. I hear all about this Pat White (WV) being the wildcat key or whatever and I like the player but he's gonna be taken too early and I doubt they would play him as a QB. But he would indeed help the wildcat not that we should be using that as a go-to play though. Some other good, well decent names: Mike Teel (Rutgers), Drew Willy (Buffalo) and Curtis Painter from where Ben likes to call Quarterback U, Purdue. Well that's all for now.

EDIT - Just found out the 'Fins signed Eric Green, decent pickup brings the psychical presence we could use. But i still think they should sign Ken Lucas for depth and he's a better potential starter. Also Torry Holt was just released, get on that Tuna.

posted by: Jason