Mars wrote:

WACoug wrote:

The Dolphins have reached a deal with Jake Long and will take him with first pick in NFL draft.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/draft08/news/story?id=3358424

No surprise there. Though I think passing up McFadden will prove to be a mistake...

http://www.nfl.com/draft/history/alltimeno1

The Dolphins, John Beck, and even Darren Mcfadden are not better players if they reached and took him.


Unless someone like Adrian Peterson falls in your lap (like he did for Minnesota) at 7; it's not common practice to reach for a running back. And when teams do, it usually (not always) bites them in the rear. (these are all top 1st round picks......Ricky Williams, Reggie Bush, Ronnie Brown, Cadillac Williams, KiJana Carter, George Rogers, Billy Sims, Garrison Hearst, TJ Ducket, Ron Dayne, Tim Biakabatuka, Curtis Enis, Rashaan Salaam, Brent Fulwood, Sammie Smith, Blair Thomas, Tim Worley, Alonzo Highsmith)

Emmit Smith went 17, Shaun Alexander 19, Eddie George 14 - Mcfadden is not any of these 3 guys

I'll take an Orlando Pace, Jonathon Ogden, Anthony Munoz, Jack Slater, any day over an Emmitt Smith or Barry Sanders.

Defensive line? Reggie White, Bruce Smith, Deacon Jones, Jack Youngblood, Julius Peppers

In fact, I'd take a sure fire hall of fame corner like a Deion Sanders, Darrell Green, Champ Bailey, Michael Haynes before I'd risk my franchise on a back with a 6-7 year shelf life.

Running back is an awful big gamble for a player with a short shelf life. You don't rebuild a franchise with a back; it just doesn't happen and you certainly don't need an all pro back to win the Super Bowl. You do need Pro Bowl offensive and defensive linemen.

And don't tell me that you can't find running backs late in the draft. Denver has made it a common practice. Green Bay rode Ryan Grant almost to the Super Bowl last year. Priest Holmes went undrafted.



Ex: Dallas with Herschel Walker in his prime - nada
Barry sanders - no rings
Ladainian Tomlinson - no rings
Eddie George - no rings
Eric Dickerson........
Reggie Bush......
Priest Holmes went undrafted, yet never went to a Super Bowl in his record breaking seasons
Indy never won one with Edgerrin James
Bo Jackson in his prime - nada
Ricky Williams? killed 2 franchises

In fact, there hasn't been a running back, super bowl MVP in over 10 years and only 3 in 25 years

Exceptions: (keep in mind, that every team on the list had probowl and hall of fame linemen)
Walter Payton got one arguably in the twilight of his career (less than 3 yards per carry that game for 60 total)
Franco Harris got his share
Emmitt Smith (went late 1st round Btw) with a preexisting Oline - (and as a result of all the picks they got for Herschel Walker)
Marshal Faulk had 17 yards rushing when they won the SB
Terrell Davis (2 super bowls) was a 5th round draft pick and arguably one of the most dominant post season backs for as short as his time was
Marcus Allen
Tony Dorsett

The Dolphins sorely need wide receivers and linebackers. Adding Long to the O line is a good move. McFadden is a brilliant football player but he doesn't have the cleanest criminal or behavior record so he is a gamble for any team. I haven't seen anything out of Matt Ryan to make me believe he will be a stellar pro, at least not yet. And he certainly isn't heads and tails better than Beck so why waste the pick on him? I think Miami should take a WR or two and add depth at LB and RB. Ronnie Brown isn't a bad RB, but who is behind him? Not really anybody of worth. Hopefully our boy John comes to camp ready and wins back the starting job and gets some tools to work with. You know Parcells will demand better from the entire team and that plays into John's hands because he demands the same.

I was watching Sportscenter last night when they were talking about the Jake Long deal and they made this comment "Bill Parcells has decided that John Beck is going to be the quarterback that they are going to build around."

I doubt it has any merit, but it sure was cool to hear!

Slugger wrote:

The Dolphins sorely need wide receivers and linebackers. Adding Long to the O line is a good move. McFadden is a brilliant football player but he doesn't have the cleanest criminal or behavior record so he is a gamble for any team. I haven't seen anything out of Matt Ryan to make me believe he will be a stellar pro, at least not yet. And he certainly isn't heads and tails better than Beck so why waste the pick on him? I think Miami should take a WR or two and add depth at LB and RB. Ronnie Brown isn't a bad RB, but who is behind him? Not really anybody of worth. Hopefully our boy John comes to camp ready and wins back the starting job and gets some tools to work with. You know Parcells will demand better from the entire team and that plays into John's hands because he demands the same.

Miami certainly wasn't ready to offer a guy like Michael Turner the contract he got in Atlanta (they don't have the pieces to win with him and of course they still have to figure out what they're doing with Ronnie Brown etc.) But you can find a servicable running back in free agency.

Honestly, I think Michael Turner will have a better career than Mcfadden, without the potential baggage.

Shaun Alexander is now a free agent ironically
http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/8062378?MSNHPHMA

This story just proves that the MVP's in 2005 should have been Steve Hutchinson and Walter Jones, not Alexander.

runbyu1 wrote:

I was watching Sportscenter last night when they were talking about the Jake Long deal and they made this comment "Bill Parcells has decided that John Beck is going to be the quarterback that they are going to build around."

I doubt it has any merit, but it sure was cool to hear!

I believe they picked up Josh McCown (strong armed journeyman but relatively young) so it's not going to be handed to Beck; not that anyone assumed it would be.

craigoscarson wrote:

runbyu1 wrote:

I was watching Sportscenter last night when they were talking about the Jake Long deal and they made this comment "Bill Parcells has decided that John Beck is going to be the quarterback that they are going to build around."

I believe they picked up Josh McCown (strong armed journeyman but relatively young) so it's not going to be handed to Beck; not that anyone assumed it would be.

The recent quote is that both Beck and McCown are the #2 QB until one of them steps up and takes the starting job.