BUILDING BLOCKS IN PLACE
Dolphins’ draft focuses on solidifying lines
Tua Tagovailoa was the sizzle.
But the rest of the 2020 NFL Draft was a big, thick, porterhouse steak for the Miami Dolphins.
You want flash? You’ve got the wrong team.
The last three days were about building the team the right way: From the ground up.
The Dolphins selected 11 players Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
And we’ll all remember that this was the year they finally got their franchise quarterback (or at least that’s the hope).
But the truth is, this was a meat-and-potatoes, eat-yourpeas affair. Three offensive linemen. Three front-seven pieces. No costly trades up for a running back. Organizational discipline. And Brian Flores type of players, one through 11.
“Brian and I got together and started talking about — when we first hired him — we always talked about building from the ground up and a big part for us was just finding the right types of guys to fit what Brian and the coaching staff want,” Dolphins general manager Chris Grier said. “For us, we always talked about … and that’s how you win in this league — with O-lines and
D-lines — so we saw great value. We got players that we were excited to have and we feel really good about the picks.”
Those remarks came late Friday night/early morning, after the Dolphins had taken offensive tackles Austin Jackson at 18 and Robert Hunt at 39 and defensive tackle Raekwon Davis at 56.
Trench reinforcement didn’t stop then, however. The Dolphins added guard Solomon Kindley in Round 4 and edge defenders Jason Strowbridge and Curtis Weaver in Round 5.
And after an ugly 2019, who can blame them?
Their offensive line stats on both sides of the ball were garish.
The Dolphins last year ranked last in sacks (23), last in rushing yards gained (72.3 per game), and last in sacks taken (58).
It’s a wonder how they won two games, let alone five.
But Flores and Grier were determined to get better — fast.
That overhaul began in free agency, when the Dolphins signed 10 players, including guard Ereck Flowers, center Ted Karras, edge defenders Shaq Lawson and Em
manuel Ogbah, and linebacker Kyle Van Noy.
They’ve also doubled down at running back, signing Jordan Howard in March and trading for 49ers back Matt Breida Saturday.
(Let’s take a second, by the way, to credit Flores and Grier for showing discipline. Many wanted them to trade up for Ohio State running back J.K. Dobbins in the second round. He stood firm, took Davis a pick after Dobbins went off the board, and then used the asset it probably would have taken to move up, a fifth-round pick, to acquire Breida.
Two impact players for the price of one.)
No argument: This is a better team.
A much better team.
It’s constructed to maximize Tagovailoa’s odds of success, surely.
But you can be sure Ryan Fitzpatrick has a smile on his bearded face, particularly after seeing the team add five offensive linemen — including at least two (and probably three or four) starters — over the course of the last eight weeks.
The future is bright.
But don’t discount the present.
The Dolphins won five games last year with a glorified XFL roster. There’s nothing minor league about the team that’s been assembled since.
Flores, of course, wasn’t going there late Friday.
A reporter asked him how much better the offensive line had gotten this weekend, but his answer could have applied to the roster as a whole.
“Games aren’t won in March and April,” Flores said.
“We don’t have the players [in the building],” he added. “When guys don’t play for a long time, it’s hard to say, ‘you’re better at this or better at that.’ We’ve got to get them here. We’ve got to get them the terminology. We’ve got to work together as a group, as a unit. I think we feel good about the players we’ve selected, but at the same time there’s a long road ahead. We’ll start by getting them here, which with all that’s going on, obviously that’s an obstacle and we’re going to have to find a way to get them the information — the terminology, the information — through obviously these types of platforms. On the offensive line or the defensive line, it’s a team game. We’ve got to get to know each other, trust each other and build communication; so we’ve got a long way to go.”
Flores’ fingerprints were all over this draft, all the way until the final pick, Navy’s Malcolm Perry. Smart. Disciplined. Hard working. Team first.
Another way we know this was a Flores draft: There were two defensive backs taken (Noah Igbinoghene in the first round and Brandon Jones in the third) but no wide receivers.
The fattening, comfort draft food might come in 2021.
This weekend, it was almost all lean meat.
“I think really what we are trying to do is get good players,” Flores said. “We want to bring good players onto this team who will work and compete. To talk about starting positions, I mean these guys have never been in an NFL locker room. I think that’s asking them a lot.
“I think we just take it day-to-day, and that’s the message I’m always going to send to all of our players, especially young players.”