Bill Parcells made his most important move immediately upon taking over in Miami—firing GM Randy Mueller and bringing in a competent personnel guy in Jeff Ireland. This week, the inevitable happened when coach Cam Cameron lost his job. Being associated with a 1-15 disaster was too much for the first-year head man to overcome.
But the root of the Dolphin's problems this year wasn't Cameron—it was a history of atrocious personnel decisions, especially on draft day.
In the last five years, the Dolphins have had 37 draft picks, and while nine of the players selected occupied starting roles this year, that's misleading.
In truth, the only player the Dolphins have drafted in the last five years who could start for most teams in the league is Ronnie Brown.
Ted Ginn, the No. 9 overall pick in 2007, started all season but hardly set the NFL on fire, finishing with 34 catches. Ginn isn't the kind of player who will ever be a No. 1 receiver in the pros.
Three other starters are no more than run-of-the-mill offensive linemen: Vernon Carey, Samson Satele, and Rex Hadnot.
Three more start on defense: Channing Crowder at linebacker, Jason Allen at free safety and Matt Roth at defensive end. None would start for a solid NFL team.
Little-used fullback Reagen Mauai is a starter in name only. Brandon Fields, finally, is a punter.
Other recent draft picks still on the roster include John Beck, a project at QB; Lorenzo Booker, a rookie RB who had only 28 carries for a team in desperate need of a running back; Paul Solaia, a DT with benchwarmer written all over him; and perennial backups DB Travis Daniela, T Anthony Alabi, LB Derick Pope, and WR Derek Hagan.
This is hardly an inspiring group of young talent around which to build a team.
In today's NFL, the draft is key to success. In five years of drafting, you need to get at least a couple of Pro Bowl-type players. The Dolphins got none.
You should also get at least 10 solid starters in those five years. The Dolphins at most got five.
And you need to get role players out of the late rounds—players who stick around and compete to make the team better, and can fill roles on special teams.
Amazingly, of the Dolphins' 37 draft picks in the last five years, seven never even made it onto a regular-season roster anywhere in the league, nine are completely out of football, and six are on other teams.
My point?
The seeds of this disaster were sown long ago. Cam Cameron was doomed from the day he was hired.
And the Tuna has his work cut out for him.
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