5 picks in the top 96...What positions? What order?

[datruth55]

Have you seen Adrian Bushell from Louisville yet at the CB spot? Athletic kid with good enough size (5'11" 185 lbs) and a great special teams rep (25 yard KR avg, 4 pass BRUP 2 FR 26 TAK). He struggled putting it all together and with maturity last season but so far this season has his head screwed on straight and has been playing relatively well. Seems to me he could be a steal in the late rounds and has great upside.

Really? When was the last time anybody from Louisville did anything for the Dolphins?....I kid of course. We've actually had pretty good luck with guys from Louisville on the Fins. I can remember quite a few players from there like Larry Ball, Mark Clayton, Ron Davenport and of course Sam Madison....boy would I love to have another Sam Madison.

[MiamiDolphin618]

Hard to peg posiitons, because you have to pay attention to who you're taking.

I could envision some scenario though where you're taking a look at a Bjoern Werner in the 1st round, then a Stedman Bailey in the 2nd round.

The unfortunate thing is the CB group has to be overhauled in the wake of the Davis trade. I don't think Richard Marshall is cutting it there longer term. You probably need two guys though I'm not sure if one of them will be a free agent and another will be a draft pick or they'll both be draft picks, etc. I would go for a free agent. Being honest. I have a lot of respect for veterans at that position because it takes a long time for some of these guys to get any good. Here's something I wrote on free agent corners:

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Very good point here. I think if we could resign our core guys and still afford either Grimes at CB or Jennings at WR that would really open things up for us. Steadman Bailey is a stud..and Id run that up to the podium in the 2nd round. Where do you think the value lies with some of these TEs...Ertz, Toilio, Fauria etc? Another guy who seems to be flying under the radar a bit is Sean Porter. I know OLB isn't a HUGE need..but if he were to make it to the 2nd..Id pull the trigger all day.

[LouPhinFan]

Really? When was the last time anybody from Louisville did anything for the Dolphins?....I kid of course. We've actually had pretty good luck with guys from Louisville on the Fins. I can remember quite a few players from there like Larry Ball, Mark Clayton, Ron Davenport and of course Sam Madison....boy would I love to have another Sam Madison.

I don't know that Bushell is another Madison, but U of L is loaded with talent. Most of the talent isn't draft eligible yet though. Aside from Bushell, the only other draft eligible talent is probably RB Jeremy Wright and SS Hakeem Smith. RB coach Kenny Carter says Wright is one of the best all around RBs he's ever coached and he coached RBs at Florida. Smith was Big East defensive rookie of the year 3 years ago and has been a starter his entire stay here. He is a tackling machine from the strong spot and this new coaching staff has really improved his coverage skills.

As good as Smith is, his fellow safety sophomore Calvin Pryor will probably end up being better. At 6'2" and 213 lbs, the kid literally covers from sideline to sideline. RB Senorise Perry has good size and is currently leading the team in rushing.

The WR spot is the deepest on the team and I can see 2 or 3 of these guys playing on Sundays in some capacity. The jewel of the unit is DeVante Parker. He had 6 TDs on only 18 receptions last year. So far this season teams have been keying on him so he only has 1 TD reception but he's big, talented, and has great hands. Another WR to watch out for is Charles Gaines. His teammates and coaches call him the fastest player on the team, regardless of position.

Of course the best prospect on the entire team is probably QB Teddy Bridgewater. What OC Shawn Watson has done with this kid is phenominal. He's taken the #2 ranked dual-threat QB recruit and turned him into a pocket passer that runs when he needs to. The kid spreads the ball around to all his recievers and makes at least 1 "wow" throw a game. He's only a sophomore too. The program is already saying that when its said and done he will probably be the best QB to ever come through U of L. That's pretty high praise considering we've had Redman, Brohm, Nagle, Unitas, etc.

If you get the chance it would be well worth your time to check out some U of L games this season. They're on a bye this weekend but play at Pitt next weekend. Then we have USF coming in here for homecoming on 10/20. After that a good one to catch is the game against Cincinnati on Friday night, 10/26. Its going to be on ESPN2. Of course there are some non-skill position talent as well. Jon Miller (sophomore guard), Jamon Brown (sophomore tackle), and Mario Benevides (senior center) will all probably play on Sundays at some point.

[chrispepper]

Also remember a few of those needs will be addressed through free agency. After re-signings we should still have 30+ mill in cap space

[ckparrothead]

You mention Quinton Patton and then don't list him as a WR target for us? I think he's the exact type of kid that Philbin looks for. Good route runner, shifty, good yards after catch ability, consistent hands. I don't think he'll blow the top off a defense but he seems to fit the mold of a WCO receiver.

By the way I really like Okafor's length and speed at the DE position for us.

Okafor is not getting as much love because he's not the uber athlete people want to see but he's a very solid football player with movement skills and an all-around game.

Patton may have destroyed Hawthorne but I remain unconvinced on him.

[ckparrothead]

Very good point here. I think if we could resign our core guys and still afford either Grimes at CB or Jennings at WR that would really open things up for us. Steadman Bailey is a stud..and Id run that up to the podium in the 2nd round. Where do you think the value lies with some of these TEs...Ertz, Toilio, Fauria etc? Another guy who seems to be flying under the radar a bit is Sean Porter. I know OLB isn't a HUGE need..but if he were to make it to the 2nd..Id pull the trigger all day.

I've been on Fauria for a LONG time now, ever since his couple of touchdowns against Stanford really. The more I dug the more I liked. But he's going to end up pretty high. I think he's got potential as a blocker in addition to what he presents in the passing game. But I do really like Toilolo.

Sean Porter has always struck me as a pure linebacker, but a darn good one. I don't know if there's enough tape out there of him putting his arm down or getting into an obvious pass rush situation and rushing the passer.

If you want a guy that is going to go out there and play Sam or Will backer for two downs and then put his hand on the ground for third down and rush the passer opposite Cam Wake, to me Dion Jordan is your best bet out there. That's your combination Sam/DE player. The Dolphins are currently having Koa Misi serve that purpose because they don't have a better pass rusher than him to throw at DE opposite Cam Wake in obvious pass situations.

But Koa Misi is such a good Sam right now that you almost hate to do that. I think Jared Odrick at DE is pretty unnecessary. If I'm trying to fix things that I view to be broken on the defense then I'm moving Odrick back to DT where he belongs and rotating him much more actively with Randy Starks and Paul Soliai. Then I'm grabbing what I view to be a couple of true DEs that can rotate and man those DE spots on all downs. Bjoern Werner is an every down DE that could be just as effective on 1st and 2nd down stopping the run and screen pass as he is on 3rd down rushing the passer. He's a special player and I would love to have him.

But if you want to go with a Dion Jordan or Jarvis Jones type guy, replacing Koa Misi in the process, that's certainly one way to go about your business. You'd have Odrick continuing to play exactly as he's playing, Starks and Soliai in the middle, Wake on the other side, Dion Jordan/Jarvis Jones at Sam backer, Burnett and Dansby at Will and Mike, and then on passing downs you'd take Soliai off the field, Odrick moves inside, and Dion Jordan/Jarvis Jones comes down and lays their hand on the ground. It is certainly a valid way to go about things. But I think that has drawbacks that I'm not in love with and I would prefer the other way.

[edaniel1717]

1st Round - DE
2nd CB then WR
3rd. LBs

[Markcalius]

Everyone will still be pretty obsessed about the WR position for good reason. I favor the aforementioned Stedman Bailey, Marquess Wilson if he comes out, Corey Fuller, Aaron Mellette, DeAndre Hopkins, Keenan Allen, Justin Hunter and Robert Woods...price depending.

Is Stedman Bailey really that much better than Tavon Austin? I hadn't watched much WV in recent years until this past weekend, but...I'm a grad student at UT, and in that UT-WV game this past Saturday, Tavon Austin was ungodly. He was so much faster than everyone else, he looked like a man amongst boys.

[Roman529]

1. BPA
2. BPA
3. BPA
4. BPA
5. BPA

We have five picks in the top 100 overall picks. I don't think we necessarily have to focus these picks on a particular need. The one really big need I feel we have is a top #1 WR, someone who hopefully is long, fast, and can make all the catches. A guy like a AJ Green who can go up for the ball in traffic and pull it down, and a speed guy who can get deep, with great hands. I think Keenan Allen is this type of guy, but there are also a few other WR's who are similar to Allen. We need help in many other areas - pass rushers, better defensive backs, some o-line help. I would probably focus on BPA's at each position, and then maybe fill in the rest through trades or free agency.

[Roman529]

Is Stedman Bailey really that much better than Tavon Austin? I hadn't watched much WV in recent years until this past weekend, but...I'm a grad student at UT, and in that UT-WV game this past Saturday, Tavon Austin was ungodly. He was so much faster than everyone else, he looked like a man amongst boys.

I think the only guy who might be faster than Tavon Austin is Oregon's De'Anthony Thomas, but Thomas won't be available in next year's draft. Austin is only 5'9 and 170 pounds, so he is going to have to add some weight in the pro's. I would rather go after a bigger receiver like Keenan Allen.