Miami Dolphins 2015 Draft: The Good, the Bad and the Baffling
There's a wide spectrum of how each pick in the 2015 NFL draft will pan out. Some will be dominant players at their position, others will be serviceable starters, others will be out of the league in a matter of months.
But we won't know about all of that for quite a few years. For now, we can classify each move as "good," "bad" or "baffling."
Whether it's a player they picked or didn't pick or a trade they made, the Miami Dolphins made moves that fall into each of those three categories.
For this article, "the good" will be classified as picks that filled a need with a talented player that fits the scheme or a trade that collected good value; "the bad" will be a pick that did not fill a need or was not a scheme fit, or a trade that did not net enough value; "the baffling" will be any pick or trade that is simply confusing—we may have to wait awhile to find out whether these moves will be classified as "good" or "bad," but for now, we're left in wonderment.
Here's a summary of the Dolphins' "good," "bad" and "baffling" decisions over the weekend.
The Good: Adding DeVante Parker to the Receiving Corps
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The exodus of wide receivers has led to an influx. The departures of Mike Wallace, Brian Hartline and Brandon Gibson have paved the way for the arrivals of Kenny Stills and DeVante Parker, and now, the Dolphins' rebuild at wide receiver appears complete.
Stills is a dominant intermediate receiver who can run deep and win matchups on the outside. Jarvis Landry is a smaller receiver who wins underneath and can create yards after the catch. Parker is unique to the Dolphins' pass-catching group in that he can line up on the outside, force the safeties to respect the long ball, win jump balls and make contested catches.
And anytime you're drawing comparisons to Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver A.J. Green, you're doing something right.
Good job by the Dolphins to identify a need, address it with an early pick and find the prospect that fits best.
The Good: Drafting Jamil Douglas
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Dallas Thomas and Billy Turner simply weren't going to cut it. The Dolphins had to find some answers at guard, and they did exactly that with the selection of Arizona State linebacker Jamil Douglas in the fourth round.
At 6'4" and 304 pounds, Douglas is considered a "finesse, left-guard only prospect" by NFL.com's Lance Zierlein. That being said, he's also considered an "effective blocker in screen game with ability to adjust to moving targets in space," which perfectly sums up everything that's missing from the Dolphins offensive line.
The Dolphins will hold a competition between Thomas, Turner and Douglas for the two starting spots opposite center Mike Pouncey, and based on what we've seen from Thomas early in his career, there's a good chance that Douglas could beat him out for one of those jobs.
The Baffling: No Solid Perimeter Cornerback
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I like the selection of Memphis cornerback Bobby McCain for the Dolphins defense. He may be a bit undersized at 5'8" and 190 pounds, but he is described as "feisty" by NFL.com's Lance Zierlein—and I'm not sure there's a better word that could be used for a cornerback in the Dolphins defense.
He also has the skill set that will make him a solid fit in their versatile, zone-heavy defense with quickness. That being said, the Dolphins have stockpiled on those undersized cornerbacks who project as better fits in the slot than on the perimeter, which could leave them prone to being burned by bigger, more physical receivers.
The Dolphins have beefed up the defensive front, and those quick-twitch cornerbacks could be a great fit if quarterbacks are being disrupted in the pocket on a consistent basis. If the pressure isn't getting home, though, those quarterbacks will have all the time they need to find the mismatches in the secondary.
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The Good: Trading Down in the Second Round
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When there are no good players left on the board, or at least no players a team likes, the best thing a team can do is trade down. That's not always possible—after all, it takes two to tango, and it takes two teams to execute a trade.
That being said, the Dolphins have been great about maximizing value for their unwanted assets this offseason—just ask wide receiver Mike Wallace and linebacker Dannell Ellerbe. Both players were on the verge of being cut before the Dolphins flipped them for talented players or draft picks.
There was a run on linebackers before the Dolphins went on the clock at No. 47 overall. Benardrick McKinney, Hau'oli Kikaha and Eric Kendricks were all taken within five picks before the Dolphins went on the clock.
With the value diminishing at a position of need, the Dolphins were wise to pull the trigger on a trade with the Philadelphia Eagles that moved them down five spots to No. 52 overall and netted them two extra picks in the fifth round.
The Bad: Passing on Linebackers at No. 47
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The Dolphins may have gotten good value in trading the No. 47 pick to the Eagles, but they also passed up an opportunity to draft a few key players that might have helped the team.
Particularly, there were a few linebackers on the board who could have given the Dolphins some answers at a position of dire need.
The Dolphins parted ways with both Dannell Ellerbe and Philip Wheeler this offseason, and although they have Koa Misi and Jelani Jenkins to fill the void, they are lacking depth, it would be hard to argue that a prospect like Miami's Denzel Perryman or TCU's Paul Dawson wouldn't have been able to help the team. Yes, they're both a little undersized—Perryman is 5'11" and 236 pounds, and Dawson is 6'2" and 230 pounds—but the Dolphins could use linebackers of all shapes and sizes given their lack of depth.
The Good: Addressing Most of the Needs
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Filling needs does not a good draft make.
That being said, it does give the Dolphins an opportunity to improve at every position that's been a weakness for them in the past.
Defensive tackle, guard, cornerback, running back and wide receiver all were considered holes on the roster, and all those holes were filled over the course of the weekend. The Dolphins didn't just address the needs, though; they did it with players that fit their scheme and that could contribute from an early stage in their careers.
The only need the Dolphins did not address was at linebacker, but questions at that position will subside if Koa Misi and Jelani Jenkins step up and answer the bell as the future at linebacker in the Dolphins defense.
Needless to say, if the Dolphins don't improve, it won't be because they didn't try.
Unless otherwise noted, all scouting combine information and draft notes provided by CBSSports.com and NFL.com.
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