Miami Dolphins: Looking at Their Past Three Drafts and Their 2011 First Rounder

The 2011 NFL Draft is but a week away and the feelings of many Phins fans going into the draft is of either optimism or worry.

Believe it or not, for all of the mistakes made, the draft surprisingly has been good to the Phins since the beginning of the Parcells-Ireland regime.

The reputation lies mainly with the failures in the second round; however, we will see that it wasn't as bad as you might think.

Looking back at their previous drafts, the Dolphins have seemingly done well in the first round, picking up Jake Long in 2008, Vontae Davis in 2009 and Jared Odrick in 2010.

Long will continue to be the cornerstone of the Dolphins O-Line (which we'll get to in a minute) for years to come, while Vontae Davis continues to improve and if there's a season in 2011 should make the jump from "very good corner" to "elite."

Since he missed most of the 2010 season, the jury is still out on Jared Odrick.

But it's in the second round where the Dolphins have seemed to have been burned the most. In the last few years, the Dolphins have the reputation for pretty much wasting their second round picks.

However, that is only but a myth.

In 2008, Miami had two second rounders: One was used on Phillip Merling, the other on Chad Henne.

Merling was supposed to be Jason Taylor's replacement at the defensive end position. However, since he was drafted, questions about his personal life, as well as durability issues, have plagued Merling. He still might redeem himself this season, but if he doesn't, then he will go down as another Dolphins second round bust.

On the bright side, Parcells, Ireland and Sparano did find Taylor's replacement, Cameron Wake. If Merling can show the Dolphins why they chose him with an early second round pick, along with Odrick showing why he was drafted by the Dolphins to begin with, and on top of that having Kendall Langford continue to improve (more on him later), then the Dolphins should have one of the most feared pass rushing units in the NFL.

Then you have the great question mark that is Chad Henne.

Henne was drafted in the second round in 2008 and from that point tabbed as the Dolphins quarterback of the future.

While his numbers are comparable to Mark Sanchez in his first two years of the NFL, Henne doesn't have the wins to back it up. On top of that, Henne seems to have a knack for making the dumbest decisions at the worst possible time.

Like I really had to remind my fellow Dolphins fans of that.

How the Dolphins do this season will be dependent on how well Henne has developed. There's no Henning to blame for being too conservative this time around, therefore its put up or shut up time for the man that Stephen Ross once compared to Dan Marino.

Another second round pick, but from 2009, was that of Pat White.

(Shakes my head then moves on.)

The Pat White pick is supposed to be the example of the Dolphins struggles in the second round; however, the struggles seem overblown.

Through the second round, the Dolphins managed to pick up a starting Corner in Sean Smith (2009), as well as a decent OLB in Koa Misi (2010) and the already mentioned Merling and Henne, two players that still have a chance to redeem themselves this season.

Of course, I think Merling can redeem himself, but I'm not too sure about Henne.

If these were NBA Field Goal percentages, the Dolphins have then shot 60 percent. Kobe, LeBron, Wade, hell any NBA player would kill to shoot 60 percent. Michael Jordan shot 50 percent for his career.

Of course, by that I'm only counting the players that became effective when they've been on the field. Misi had 15 tackles and 3.5 sacks as a rookie, Merling in 37 games has 3.5 sacks and 48 tackles and the only complaint I have with Sean Smith is that he can't catch a cold, yet he is effective in coverage.

Obviously, if Henne can redeem himself, the Dolphins go from shooting 60 percent to 80 percent—that's four of five in the second round.

Thus proving Pat White is an anomaly. Of course, if they would've drafted LeSean McCoy with that pick instead, then we wouldn't be wondering about whether to draft Mark Ingram, Mike Pouncey or a quarterback.

If you ask me, the Dolphins would be better off drafting Guard Mike Pouncey in Round 1. None of the QB's that could be available to the Dolphins look like an upgrade over Henne and running backs, let's face it, are a dime a dozen.

In fact, fellow Miami Dolphins featured columnist Zach Duarte makes a good case for this in his mock draft.

However, Pouncey helps to sure up the most important position in football: the O-Line.

Plays, games, and seasons are decided up front. Last season, the Dolphins were a mess up front, with the exception of not great but serviceable play from Vernon Carey and the rock known as Jake Long.

Drafting Pouncey would give Miami exactly what's needed: stability along the line.

But what is the Dolphins brass going to do? Well, considering that this is a now Tuna-less regime that's fighting to keep their jobs, all bets are off and we just don't know.