Jeff Ireland is having a great draft so far

[NYFin]

At least the plan makes sense.  I like the picks in rounds 2 and 3.  I don't think the 4-7 picks were bad or anything.  They seem respectable.  But it's rounds 4-7.  Those guys aren't going to come in and fill immediate needs in 2012 unless you really get lucky.

Everything Ireland has done though will be overshadowed by the success/failure of Tannehill experiment.  And we'll probably be in the dark on that for awhile since Tannehill isn't going to start for awhile.

[Brian Fein]

I don't want to hear Tannehill's name until 2013.  Period.  However, I am certain that the first interception Matt Moore throws, the cameras will immediately be on Tannehill's face and clipboard.

[MikeO]

I don't want to hear Tannehill's name until 2013.  Period.  However, I am certain that the first interception Matt Moore throws, the cameras will immediately be on Tannehill's face and clipboard.

Don't be shocked if Matt Moore is one of the final cuts of the Miami Dolphins this year. If he can't beat out Garrard in camp, then why have him around? He serves no purpose at all for this team. He will walk at seasons end anyway. Might as well let Tannehill be the #2 and get back-up reps

[MikeO]

At least the plan makes sense.  I like the picks in rounds 2 and 3.  I don't think the 4-7 picks were bad or anything.  They seem respectable.  But it's rounds 4-7.  Those guys aren't going to come in and fill immediate needs in 2012 unless you really get lucky.

Everything Ireland has done though will be overshadowed by the success/failure of Tannehill experiment.  And we'll probably be in the dark on that for awhile since Tannehill isn't going to start for awhile.

The plan makes perfect sense. The defense is returning damn near everyone that matters, they were 3rd vs the rush and 6th in scoring defense last season. The unit is working just fine, don't touch it or tinker with it too much.  They had few needs outside DE on defense, so there wasn't much to do there. They got their DE. Took a developmental DT late, which is smart. And they got a Linebacker who probably will be a special teams guy from the start and provide depth. But not much needed on a unit (defense) that is very successful!!

The Dolphins offense sucks top to bottom. Needed help everywhere. You got guys like Bush, Fassano who could be cut or will be gone after the year as FA's you don't want to re-sign. Steve Slaton sucks and the kid from Canada they signed was just a training camp body who isn't special, he won't make it out of training camp and make the team. RB was a need! Especially with Bush's injury prone history and Thomas was injury prone last year.  You address QB (finally), get a plug-n-play RT from day 1 with a 1st round grade in Rd 2. Take a TE who fits the style of TE that is successful in the NFL these days. They grab a RB who can split time with Daniel Thomas going forward, guy with a 1st or 2nd round grade (depending on the expert) and got him in Rd 4.

ROME WAS NOT BUILT IN A DAY!!! WR is still a need. They couldn't fix every problem in this draft. Even though it was a deep WR crop, maybe Miami didn't like the WR's. Who knows! But Miami fixed enough of problems on offense. The o-line looks finally to be somewhat solved after all of these years. Christ with Pouncey, Long, Martin as 3 anchors with Incognito, 4 of the 5 spots are solid. I can hope they can move forward finally. RB position is young now with some explosion in it now. TE with Clay/Egnew looks to be somewhat solved for the immediate future.

And there was no need to address much on defense this year because that unit is one of the better defensive units in the league. The numbers don't lie that unit is successful. 

[AquaandOrange]

Don't be shocked if Matt Moore is one of the final cuts of the Miami Dolphins this year. If he can't beat out Garrard in camp, then why have him around? He serves no purpose at all for this team. He will walk at seasons end anyway. Might as well let Tannehill be the #2 and get back-up reps

Totally 100% agree. Look for him to be either traded or cut.

[MikeO]

Totally 100% agree. Look for him to be either traded or cut.

I mean if he beats out Gararrd then obviously he's the guy for the year. But if he doesn't beat out Gararrd he has zero value for this team. Last year of his deal, not a starter, if Gararrd gets hurt or stinks then the year is pretty much shot at that point anyway, and playing Tannehill while maybe not ideal wouldn't be the worst situation. So its worth the risk.

You don't want Tannehill to play in games this year but you do want him to get a lot of reps in practice. As a #2 QB he will get reps. As a #3 he will get close to nothing!

[AquaandOrange]

I mean if he beats out Gararrd then obviously he's the guy for the year. But if he doesn't beat out Gararrd he has zero value for this team. Last year of his deal, not a starter, if Gararrd gets hurt or stinks then the year is pretty much shot at that point anyway, and playing Tannehill while maybe not ideal wouldn't be the worst situation. So its worth the risk.

You don't want Tannehill to play in games this year but you do want him to get a lot of reps in practice. As a #2 QB he will get reps. As a #3 he will get close to nothing!

Totally agree.

[EKnight]

Ugh stop with the "defense didn't need upgrading" stuff. The secondary sucked. They were 25th in the league against the pass, and they cut their most productive player in the secondary. With the pass rush they had last year and the way they played the run, I would have drafted a DB long before one of the LBs or DLs that was taken. Miami had a good draft- certainly not great. I get that "Rome wasn't built in a day," but secondary and WR were far bigger needs than TE or LB. How those needs were minimalized is beyond me, but teams on the Dolphin's schedule with even marginally effective wideouts have got to be licking their chops at the chance to exploit them. -EK

[Doc-phin]

You have less info than any of the teams.

You are handing out grades based on how the teams drafted in comparision to how well ESPN scored the draftees. 

I have equivalent information to any fan and my rating is based on that of a fans rating. I never claimed to be a professional analyst. My rating is valid on the level I am presenting it out.

For the record... I use as many sources as possible to make judgement. I don't just listen to ESPN. I research sources I consider credible and then verify or regect them based on my observations. I am not a perfect observer but I am better than average.

[mecadonzilla]

Ugh stop with the "defense didn't need upgrading" stuff. The secondary sucked. They were 25th in the league against the pass, and they cut their most productive player in the secondary. With the pass rush they had last year and the way they played the run, I would have drafted a DB long before one of the LBs or DLs that was taken. Miami had a good draft- certainly not great. I get that "Rome wasn't built in a day," but secondary and WR were far bigger needs than TE or LB. How those needs were minimalized is beyond me, but teams on the Dolphin's schedule with even marginally effective wideouts have got to be licking their chops at the chance to exploit them. -EK

after this draft
Yeah, that's pretty much true.  They needed a DE desperately just to try to put pressure on QBs to help the secondary, but a DB or 2 was desperately needed before this draft.

[mecadonzilla]

Lots of desperation, basically.

[MikeO]

after this draft
Yeah, that's pretty much true.  They needed a DE desperately just to try to put pressure on QBs to help the secondary, but a DB or 2 was desperately needed before this draft.

The logic was Richard Marshall to replace Will Allen as the nickle back. Giving them a nice 1-2-3 CB tandem for the most part. I'm not a huge Sean Smith fan but for where this team is right now its good enough.

They felt cutting Bell was addition by subtraction because he was so old and slow and got beat so bad last year in the passing game. He was terrible.  They have confidence in Culver at SS. Or moving Rashed Jones to his natural position of SS works if need be. And they bring in Tyrell Johnson to compete with them for that job. So some nice depth there. PLUS, Chris Clemons is going to have to step up at FS this year, or they can move Jones back to FS if need be and let one of the others start at SS

Once again ROME WASN'T BUILT IN A DAY!! And offense was/is a far bigger problem than defense. The little problems they have on defense pale in comparison to what the offensive problems are. And its not like Miami is winning a Super Bowl this year and needed to put the finishing touches on the defense and get the last piece or two. There is going to be a draft next year to address the little problems on defense and continue to build up the offense!

This was never a team that was going to FIX everything in 1 draft. Yet some people are shocked by that notion and upset.

[EKnight]

I'm not shocked or upset. I'm just sick of hearing how great the defense was. You love to keep bringing up the "points allowed" stat but you ignore the fact that the secondary got beat badly week in and week out. How many times do you keep saying, "it's a QB league," when you refer to why Miami needed to upgrade offense? Well guess what? That works on both sides of the ball. No one cares if you can shut down the run if you're in the bottom 20% of the league in pass coverage because it's a QB league. I'm happy with the first three picks. After that safety and WR should have been a priority, not RB and more LBs. -EK

[Fins4ever]

Totally 100% agree. Look for him to be either traded or cut.

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I think Moore beats out Garrard and if he doesn't Devlin is the odd man out.

[MikeO]

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I think Moore beats out Garrard and if he doesn't Devlin is the odd man out.

Moore or Gararrd will be gone by the 3rd preseason game.  Unless there is an injury of some sort