Cold Hard Football Facts rates the drafts 2001-2010 - Fins get a D

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

CHFF, a site dedicated to analyzing football players and teams based on facts and statistics rather than gut and truthiness, has graded each teams drafts for the decade of 2001-2010. 

Dolphins got a D. 

Miami (D)
Pro Bowlers: 4 (t-27st)
Draftees Active in 2010: 39 (t-15th)
Players with 50+ Career AV: 1 (t-23rd)
Players with 20+ Career AV: 13 (t-27th)
Best Pick: S Yeremiah Bell (6th round, 2003)
Worst Pick: QB Pat White (2nd round, 2009)
 
Summary: They did well picking Jake Long No. 1 overall in 2008, and that’s about the end of the good news for the Miami drafts of the 2000s. They drafted 27 players for the front seven, only one of whom has more than 10 career sacks (Matt Roth, who got most of them in Cleveland). Miami has done a pretty good job of instilling toughness in the trenches, but when you don’t come up with talent on draft day it leads to the type of consistent mediocrity that haunts this franchise

http://www.coldhardfootballfacts.com/Articles/11_3751_Ultimate_10-year_draft_grades%3A_back_of_the_class.html

[Brian Fein]

Tell us something we don't know.

...like, what is "Career AV"?

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

Tell us something we don't know.

...like, what is "Career AV"?

In gory detail it can be found here....

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/blog/?page_id=518

The short answer is a metric that was invented by PFR not CHFF that attempts to give a single measure of value for a player across all positions and all years.  While not perfect it is probably a better measure than any other stat you could use such as games as a starter or season as a probowler to measure all football players as a group. 

[Pappy13]

2011 sure didn't get the next decade going in the right direction either.

[masterfins]

2011 sure didn't get the next decade going in the right direction either.

I love your optimism, and fairness to the rookies that haven't even stepped on the practice field yet.  The Patsies are looking for a couple bandwagoners why don't you check them out.

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

2011 sure didn't get the next decade going in the right direction either.

That's why I prefer articles such as this than articles analyzing the 2011 draft.  Maybe the Dolphins drafted 6 guys who in two years will be out of the league.  Maybe the Dolphins drafted 6 future Hall of Famers.  Reality is we have no idea, unless you are presuming that YOU based on reading a few magazine articles and watching a couple of college games have an actual better scouting report the a professional team.  The Dolphins drafted players they believe can help the team.

However, we do know that Pat White was not a good pick.  

Consider this...if someone was to grade the NEP 2000 draft the week after the draft what grade would NE get for drafting Tom Brady?  After the 2008 draft the Jets go high marks for drafting Gholston.  

[Sunstroke]

Tell us something we don't know.

...like, what is "Career AV"?

Career approximate value

Here is a good page to explain AV: http://www.pro-football-reference.com/blog/?page_id=518

[Brian Fein]

I hate "invented stats"

ANY/A
DVOA
Career AV

Got it...

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

I hate "invented stats"

ANY/A
DVOA
Career AV

Got it...

Aren't all stats invented?

ANY/A, DVOA, AV, passer rating, adjusted yards per pass all attempt to present a bit more data than something like total yards can't by itself. 

[Brian Fein]

For the record, I think Passer Rating is crap as well.

[Spider-Dan]

How about completion percentage?  Or sacks?

I mean, when you get right down to it, is there any "real" stat besides W/L?

[Pappy13]

I love your optimism, and fairness to the rookies that haven't even stepped on the practice field yet.

All 3 of them? I admire your positivity, but unless you are a total homer, there's no way that anybody can look at 2011 as a great draft unless you take into consideration draft position. Miami had a mid first, low 2nd and mid 4th round pick and then 3 in the 6th and 7th rounds. Unless one of those 6 or 7th rounds turns out to be the draft equivalent of Tom Brady, at BEST Miami can hope for 3 starters out of this draft and I don't see that happening. Only Pouncey really is considered pretty close to can't miss.

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

at BEST Miami can hope for 3 starters out of this draft

Three starters out of any draft for a team is damn good. 

How often does a team draft three starters in a single season? 

My point is we don't have any clue how this years Miami draft will be judged in 5 years, when judging can actually be done accurately. 

[Pappy13]

Three starters out of any draft for a team is damn good. 

If it's damn good then no way Miami deserves a D for the last 10 years. We've gotten 3 starters from each draft in the last 3 years and I'd be willing to bet that throughout 2000-2010 we've gotten at least a couple players that started at least a few games just about every year. No, I don't think 3 starters is that great of a draft unless at least 1 is a pro-bowler or something.

How often does a team draft three starters in a single season? 

Well Miami is 3 for 3 the last 3 years. Do you consider those great drafts?

My point is we don't have any clue how this years Miami draft will be judged in 5 years, when judging can actually be done accurately. 

And my point is that normally a team will have 4 or 5 picks in the first 5 rounds and you're doing pretty well to get 3 starters. With Miami only have 3 picks in the first 5 rounds, getting 3 starters out of that group is expecting a lot. No, there's no way to predict who will and won't work out, but the odds say at least one of those 3 won't pan out and the odds that one of the 6th or 7th round picks will are pretty low. Maybe you're right and 5 years from now 2011 will look like a pretty good draft, but the odds are against it.

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

We've gotten 3 starters from each draft in the last 3 years and I'd be willing to bet that throughout 2000-2010 we've gotten at least a couple players that started at least a few games just about every year. No, I don't think 3 starters is that great of a draft unless at least 1 is a pro-bowler or something.

You got one from last year.  Koa Misi.  I consider a starter someone who started more than half the games in the season not a guy who was a backup for most games but started one game cause the player he backed up was injured.