Tag Archive for: NFL Draft

Dolphins send Laremy Tunsil and Kenny Stills to Texans in massive trade

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Laremy Tunsil seemed safe. It seemed like he was going to remain a member of the Miami Dolphins. Then the front office pulls the rug out from under everyone. The Houston Texans sent pass rusher Jadeveon Clowney to the Seahawks. That should have been it. But then the Dolphins sent the Texans young star left tackle Laremy Tunsil and wide receiver Kenny Stills. They also added a fourth round pick for 2020.

In return, Miami received a 2020 first round pick, a 2021 first round pick, a 2021 second round pick, cornerback Johnson Bademosi and offensive tackle Julién Davenport. With that, the Dolphins officially topped the massive trade that the Raiders pulled off, sending star defender Khalil Mack to the Bears last season. The compensation for the 25-year old tackle and a solid wide receiver is huge, and GM Chris Grier is undoubtedly satisfied with his work.

But this does mean that now, the offensive line is without its best player. Which means that in 2019, both Ryan Fitzpatrick and Josh Rosen may spend most of the season running for their lives.

The Future

As large as this trade is, it does send a message loud and clear to the fan base and the remaining players in the locker room. 2019 is not intended to win games. In spite of everything head coach Brian Flores is saying, winning is not something Miami expects to do a lot of. Not that they will ever admit it publicly. All attention now needs to be placed on the next two drafts. The Dolphins are in a prime position to earn the first overall pick and have their quarterback of choice. Then with that extra first rounder, there’s no telling what they could do.

But there’s one thing that needs to be said now. Grier has to make sure he hits on these next two drafts. Many are saying that the Dolphins are taking the path the Cleveland Browns took. That path was a long one, and even with all the picks they’ve had over the last several years, only now are they actually a good football team on paper. Most importantly, his next selected quarterback needs to be a superstar.

2019, more than ever, is going to be about development. Miami has a young core on defense. Undoubtedly, they will add more in the coming seasons. It’s the offense that needs a lot of work. Unless Michael Deiter, Shaq Calhoun and Isaiah Prince develop, the Dolphins will need to overhaul the line again. Wide receiver has Jakeem Grant and Preston Williams. There’s no telling whether Albert Wilson will return after 2020. Wide receiver will need investing. And what of Josh Rosen? Will he get a chance to prove himself? Or is this Arizona all over again and he’s merely trade fodder or backup material? 2019 may not provide the answer. 2020 might.

There might even be more draft picks coming for the rebuild, if the Dolphins trade Kiko Alonso as expected. Who knows what will come of that? All that can be done now is to monitor the situation closely.

Prepare for pain before the pleasure. Rebuilding is never a fun process, but if Miami gets it right, then the next several years after the storm could be glorious.

Luis Sung has covered the Miami Dolphins for numerous outlets such as Dolphins Wire for six years. Follow him on Twitter: @LuisDSung

Josh Rosen acknowledges he has a lot to prove as he joins the Miami Dolphins. (Craig Davis photo)

You bet Josh Rosen has a monster chip on his shoulder

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DAVIE – Josh Rosen acknowledged he’s got a lot to prove as the starts fresh with the Dolphins, not just to his new team but to all the critics of his rough rookie season with the Cardinals.

Dolphins general manager Chris Grier said after the trade to acquire the quarterback from the Cardinals that he expected Rosen to come to Miami with a chip on his shoulder.

“I don’t think my chip’s got to grow any more, I might tip over,” Rosen said with a smile during his introductory media conference Monday.

Rosen strives to overcome bad rep, show he’s a good teammate

Rosen avoided sounding cocky but made it clear he is confident despite his struggled with Arizona. Asked if he still believed he can become the franchise-caliber quarterback the Dolphins have been seeking for two decades since Dan Marino retired, Rosen said, “Yes, because I think I am a good quarterback and I think I am a good leader.”

He indicated he understands that attaining that level in the NFL is an endless challenge.

 

Josh Rosen discusses overcoming the negative perception about him during his introductory news conference with the Miami Dolphins. (Craig Davis)

Josh Rosen striving to erase bad rep, show he’s a good teammate

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DAVIE – New Dolphins quarterback Josh Rosen came out of college with the reputation of having a big arm and a mouth to match.

Rosen said Monday that he has made an effort to prove that he is a good teammate, and that is on his mind as he starts fresh with another team.

“I think I had a little bit of a bad perception at first, but what I’ve tried to do is not really say do anything extra, just kind of be me and continue on and keep my head down, and eventually the story will straighten out,” he said. “I think it has for the most part.”

You bet Rosen has a monster chip on his shoulder

There were reports while he was at UCLA that he was disliked by teammates. He is a complex personality and didn’t shy away from expressing controversial opinions, including criticizing Donald Trump and the NCAA.

“I was thrown into the spotlight pretty quickly at UCLA. I was pretty young, so I didn’t really have all of my answers as perfectly crafted as I do now,” he said with a grin. “I just kind of said some things kind of off the cuff about all different kinds of things and people kind of misconstrued them in certain different ways. “

Rosen said it is important to him to earn the trust of teammates and that he intends to do that by trying to “be consistent, be thee came guy, have the same kind of energy every time I step into the locker room and the facility so that all of my teammate know what guy they’re getting.

“So I think time and consistency is the best medicine to cure the narrative. … Over the test of time and being consistent and trying to be a really good teammate, I think the narrative is starting to straighten out a little bit.”

 

 

 

Dolphins seeking specific trait for their rebuild

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The Dolphins have been a dull football team for a long time.

And while it would be an unfair accusation to say they’ve been a dumb one too, they haven’t exactly been marked by their overall intelligence. Unlike the Patriots, who seem to adjust to every circumstance, between or within games,the Dolphins have struggled to make the proper play when it matters — in part because they don’t seem prepared.

It appears, now that they are basically run by former Patriots, that they are determined to address that.

This applied to the Dolphins’ third round pick too…

Will this translate to success? It’s impossible to say. When Bill Parcells came in, back in 2008, the slogan he, Tony Sparano and Jeff Ireland used their first season was “Smart. Tough. Disciplined.” It was even etched in the wall in the auditorium. It worked the first season. Chad Pennington never made a mistake, the receivers ran tight routes, the defense was opportunistic, and the Dolphins went 11-5, a record they haven’t replicated since. But they stumbled their next three seasons, and that regime was out.

This one is trying the strategy again.

That doesn’t mean every player will be a mensa candidate. But the emphasis is obvious, and welcome.

 

If the Dolphins keep No. 48, who should they take?

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The Dolphins have the 16th pick in the 2nd round (#48 overall) and the 15th pick in the 3rd round (#78 overall).  After taking Christian Wilkins 13th overall, the Dolphins have gone a long way to solving their issues on the interior Defensive line, but they have Nothing on the Edge, are under staffed in the secondary, and can use Linebacker depth.  The work on Defense has just begun.  Good thing they got some draft luck as the entire NFL conspired to ignore the entire Secondary group till the Giants took Deandre Baker at #30 (This writer’s CB2).  Then we have the Rosen trade drama, and Drew Lock possibly dropping to #48. What happened to Jawaan Taylor?

It’s an intriguing day 2.  So here is the wishlist (in order of preference) for pick #48:

1. Greedy Williams, CB, LSU

2. Chase Winovich, EDGE, Michigan

3. Rock Ya Sin, CB, Temple


4. Jawaan Taylor, RT, Florida


5. Drew Lock QB, Missouri

6. Eric McCoy, C, Texas A&M
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skTg8cDxcHA

7. Nasir Adderley, S, Delaware


8. Juan Thornhill, S, Virginia


9. Hakeem Butler, WR, Iowa State

10. Cody Ford, OG, Oklahoma

Five 1st Round Picks From South Florida In NFL Draft. None From UM.

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As most first rounds are, the NFL Draft saw South Florida represented well beyond just the Dolphins picking at 13. Five players from the Dade/Broward area were selected in the opening 30 picks.

Nick Bosa, the Fort Lauderdale product who went to St. Thomas, went 2nd to the 49ers.

Devin Bush, the Flanagan alumnus from Pembroke Pines, went 10th to the Steelers, who traded up to get him

 

Brian Burns, from Plantation and American Heritage, went 16th to Carolina

Hollywood Brown is from… Hollywood, Florida and went 25th to the Ravens

Deandre Baker went 30th to the Giants, who also traded up to get him, and went to Miami Northwestern

The talent in our communities is staggering. Unfortunately, from a college point of view, none of those players went to UM. Bosa followed his brother to Ohio State. Bush came out of Michigan. Brian Burns from FSU. Hollywood Brown went to the least Hollywood place in America, Oklahoma. And Deandre Baker went to Georgia.

While none of this is a particular indictment on anyone currently in the program. Nor is there any reversing the reality that major college football programs are going to come to Miami and Fort Lauderdale on the lookout for the best players in America.

But we really won’t see the University of Miami back at the highest levels of college football until the commissioner starts saying “from the University of Miami” at the end of these picks. Which seems obvious, but Manny Diaz has a lot of work to do to regain his turf.

Everyone is here now, but this talent base is the reason why UM should always be at the top of this sport. And it’s his job to win these recruiting wars and have the NFL stars stay in their backyard and win ACC Championship for the Hurricanes.

CK Parrot on the Dolphins draft options

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Chris Kouffman (@CKParrot) is everywhere.

(Well, he’s actually in Tampa watching tape and managing money, but you get what we mean.)

He appeared on more than five hours of draft previews on our popular Three Yards Per Carry podcast. He made a stop in with Brendan Tobin and Brett Romberg and our Kevin Mayer on the 790 The Ticket morning show.

And he popped in for an hour with Ethan Skolnick and Chris Wittyngham on the Five Reasons flagship podcast.

You can find that episode here. 

We spent a lot of time debating Josh Rosen — Ethan likes trading a third round pick for the Arizona Cardinals quarterback, and CK does not.

Here are some of CK’s takes on players who may be available to Miami at some point in the draft:

Jawaan Taylor, Florida (OT): “He is the best tackle in the draft. The best left tackle in the draft specifically is Andre Dillard of Washington State. And he’s going to get pushed up because he is a left tackle. But Jawaan Taylor is the best tackle period. He reminds me of Laremy Tunsil. He would give me pause certainly if he were available at that 13 overall pick, even looking at him next to a Jeffrey Simmons. But most likely they’re going to try to trade down.”

Isaiah Johnson, Houston (CB): “This is a guy that is a lengthy corner that has genuine speed and good hips. Whereas Greedy Williams is not going to help you much in the run game and support tackling, Isaiah Johnson has a different sort of attitude and will come up and hit you and be really physical. I’m not saying he’s better than Greedy Williams. He is a wide receiver convert and so it’s going to take him a little bit of time. But again, if you don’t care about 2019 as much, you will allow him to develop. I think that will be a fantastic pick for the Dolphins somewhere in Day 2.”

L.J. Collier, TCU (DE): “A Trey Flowers clone. If you watch him on tape and watch him play against offensive tackles, I counted like six times in two games that he just straight up punched an offensive tackle to the ground. It wasn’t that the tackle tripped on somebody. He just knocked his ass up. He’s got those heavy hands, he’s a very powerful passrusher, he’s got different pass rush moves. He can pass rush inside, outside. Really productive guy at TCU. He went to the Senior Bowl and Pro Football Focus had him with the highest pass rush win rate of anybody.”

For more evaluations, check out this story from Josh Houtz here.

 

Three Yards Per Carry: Mug Contest!

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We like giving you stuff here.

And since it’s NFL draft week, what better time to toast to whatever the Miami Dolphins do?

(Or choke on your coffee).

Three Yards Per Carry has you covered — as well as Xavien Howard, better than the Dolphins’ extra defensive backs.

Here are the Rules for the Mug Giveaway.

. Provide a List of Ten Names in this Format: (Player Name, Position, School, Draft Round)

(EXAMPLE: Kyler Murray, QB, Oklahoma, 1st Round)

. Whoever gets the most names drafted by the Miami Dolphins, Wins. The Tie Breaker is the Draft Round.

. Provide that List of Names in the Comments Below, make sure to include your Twitter Handle.

*Entries MUST be received BEFORE the 1st Pick in the 2019 NFL Draft is Made*
*Must Live/Ship in the Continental United States to be eligible*
*Up to Three Mugs will be awarded*

Good Luck!