As I mentioned in yesterday's post on Miami's first round choice, Miami has some very important holes that need to be filled. We still need a left tackle to protect Ryan Tannehill's blindside. We need at least one cornerback to put on the opposite side of Brent Grimes. We also need an elite pass rusher that we can put opposite of Cam Wake to give us some much needed skill up front. For all the talk of Miami's corners being weak last season, a lot of those issues would have been moot had Miami had another threat rushing the passer. With their first pick in the draft, I have Miami addressing a concern that is not mentioned here, the need for a playmaker on offense. The addition of Tyler Eifert will give our passing game an added dimension in someone who can attack the seams and poses a big target in the red zone. With Dustin Keller coming off of an injury and being on a one-year contract, the need for a TE who can be a bit more of a guarantee would not be a terrible pick for us.
With that in mind, I feel like the second round is where Miami is going to do the bulk of their work in addressing their remaining issues. The Dolphins have two picks in this round and this is where most experts feel that this draft is strongest. It doesn't have a lot of elite talent at the top of the draft, but it's very, very strong in the middle rounds. The Dolphins first pick in this round is number 42, and this is where I see them addressing their desire for a pass rusher. I think that Miami should be targeting Damontre (or as my fiancee' says 'DemonTree') Moore, the defensive end from Texas A&M. Damontre has been making a name for himself in College Station, Texas since the days of Von Miller. In his first year at Texas A&M, while splitting time in the linebacking core with the aforementioned Miller, Moore managed to net 6.5 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks. The next season, when Moore was moved into the starting lineup after Miller's departure, his numbers grew to 17.5 tackles for loss and 8.5 sacks. After that season, he was moved to defensive end with the arrival of new coach Kevin Sumlin. Rather than having a dip in his numbers due to the move and having to adjust to new responsibilities, reads, and techniques, Moore's numbers grew even more to 21 tackles for loss and 12.5 sacks. Moore very clearly has all the talent in the world to be an elite pass rusher and if he's still on the board when Miami goes to make the pick, they should be stumbling over themselves to pick this guy up.
With the second of our two picks in this round, this is where I see Miami addressing their need for a left tackle by trading the pick to the Kansas City Chiefs in exchange for their LT Branden Albert. Albert will become expendable when KC drafts Luke Joeckel, as Albert is unwilling to move to the right side of the line and also wants to be paid as a premiere left tackle, which he is. As it stands right now, KC is holding out hope of getting a higher pick in the second round, but Miami is currently the only team talking to them about Albert and, as such, has all the leverage in the situation. A lot of fans have balked at the idea of paying Albert the money that he wants, saying that if they were going to pay someone that money why wasn't it Jake Long? The fact of the matter is that Albert is a better LT than Long was for us. He's ranked in the top 10 in PFF rankings for left tackles consistently and, while he does have some injury concerns with missing substantial time last season to a back injury, he's much healthier right now than Long has been. I don't see any reason for us to NOT pay Albert the money he is looking for. According to recent reports from NFLNetwork's Ian Rapoport, neither does Jeff Ireland.
Stay tuned tomorrow for my final installment of what I think the Dolphins should do to address the rest of their issues.
No comments:
Post a Comment