The case for a WR
I know what you're going to say ... The Dolphins have Chris Chambers coming off a Pro Bowl, Marty Booker had a good season last season and Wes Welker had his most productive season catching the ball with 29 receptions as the No. 3
Here's my opinion: That is a good stable of receivers for a 9-7 team. For a team that is trying to do as Chris Chambers said and host the Super Bowl, not so great.
Chambers is indeed a surging force in this offense. I look for him to benefit tremendously from the addition of Daunte Culpepper and I sense in him a greater willingness to step out as a leader and performer on offense. If he were a stock, he'd be offering dividends.
But after that there is a lot of uncertainty.
First I thought it was a big mistake to lose Bryan Gilmore. He was relatively cheap to keep on the team (He went to SF for $585,000 this season) and he was a tough competitor with the rare combination of upside and experience.
Marty Booker is a good player -- perhaps the only good starter Rick Spielman brought to Miami -- but he'll be 30 years old this year and is on a financial time clock that is ticking. Booker is signed through the 2008 season, but his salary that year is $4.3 million which is quite expensive for a No. 2 receiver. That means the Dolphins have only this year and next with Booker under a more reasonable salary even as he continues to age.
Finally, Welker is pound-for-pound the toughest player on the Dolphins. If he were a dog he'd be a pitbull. But he is what he is -- a good No. 3 receiver and special teams specialist. He's not the future at the position.
That means the Dolphins need help, especially when you consider that they have invested sooo much on getting Daunte Culpepper. The biggest mistake a team can make is to have a great quarterback and foofs at WR.
You simply do not hire a gunslinger and not give him ammunition. Jimmy Johnson did that in the late 90s and he wasted Dan Marino's final few seasons as a result.
So you need to give Culpepper enough instruments to make beautiful music. I'm not saying the Dolphins MUST take a receiver in the first round, but I could understand it if they do, and failing that, I expect they'll take one in later rounds.
Who?
I don't know but I do know who it won't be: Ohio State's Santonio Holmes and Florida's Chad Jackson will be so outta here by No. 16, it won't be funny.
But Miami's Sinorice Moss will probably still be hanging around, if for no other reason than he's 5-8 and 185 pounds. Wisonsin's Brandon Williams, Notre Dame's Maurice Stovall, Pittsburgh's Greg Lee and Arizona State's Derek Hagan will also be available, although it's unlikely they are first-round type players.
One guy I LOVE for his later-round potential is Todd Watkins of BYU. He's almost as fast as Moss, he likes to block which is rare, and he's 6-2 1/2. Yes, the guy needs polish, but that's the reason he's not going in the first round.
Here's my opinion: That is a good stable of receivers for a 9-7 team. For a team that is trying to do as Chris Chambers said and host the Super Bowl, not so great.
Chambers is indeed a surging force in this offense. I look for him to benefit tremendously from the addition of Daunte Culpepper and I sense in him a greater willingness to step out as a leader and performer on offense. If he were a stock, he'd be offering dividends.
But after that there is a lot of uncertainty.
First I thought it was a big mistake to lose Bryan Gilmore. He was relatively cheap to keep on the team (He went to SF for $585,000 this season) and he was a tough competitor with the rare combination of upside and experience.
Marty Booker is a good player -- perhaps the only good starter Rick Spielman brought to Miami -- but he'll be 30 years old this year and is on a financial time clock that is ticking. Booker is signed through the 2008 season, but his salary that year is $4.3 million which is quite expensive for a No. 2 receiver. That means the Dolphins have only this year and next with Booker under a more reasonable salary even as he continues to age.
Finally, Welker is pound-for-pound the toughest player on the Dolphins. If he were a dog he'd be a pitbull. But he is what he is -- a good No. 3 receiver and special teams specialist. He's not the future at the position.
That means the Dolphins need help, especially when you consider that they have invested sooo much on getting Daunte Culpepper. The biggest mistake a team can make is to have a great quarterback and foofs at WR.
You simply do not hire a gunslinger and not give him ammunition. Jimmy Johnson did that in the late 90s and he wasted Dan Marino's final few seasons as a result.
So you need to give Culpepper enough instruments to make beautiful music. I'm not saying the Dolphins MUST take a receiver in the first round, but I could understand it if they do, and failing that, I expect they'll take one in later rounds.
Who?
I don't know but I do know who it won't be: Ohio State's Santonio Holmes and Florida's Chad Jackson will be so outta here by No. 16, it won't be funny.
But Miami's Sinorice Moss will probably still be hanging around, if for no other reason than he's 5-8 and 185 pounds. Wisonsin's Brandon Williams, Notre Dame's Maurice Stovall, Pittsburgh's Greg Lee and Arizona State's Derek Hagan will also be available, although it's unlikely they are first-round type players.
One guy I LOVE for his later-round potential is Todd Watkins of BYU. He's almost as fast as Moss, he likes to block which is rare, and he's 6-2 1/2. Yes, the guy needs polish, but that's the reason he's not going in the first round.
posted by Armando Salguero at 5:04 PM
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7 Comments:
Great insight, Armando. And, unlike some other columnist at a competing South Florida paper (ahem - sunsentinel), you actually update your blog regularly... Thanks for the daily fins fodder to keep us going as the draft draws near.
am definitely digging the blog, along with the opportunity to comment when I disagree... at least one of either Santonio Holmes or Chad Jackson will be available at 16. mark it down...if not, then there will be a steal available at another position of need
I love you ARmando, but I think Marty Booker is pretty good and will get better. But I agree the Dolphins should add a receiver
I went to Pitt undergrad, and if we can get Greg Lee in a late round he's got a lot of potential.
Armando, sorry mate, but you should have got someone who knows about the draft to write this for you. Hagan, Williams and least of all Greg Lee garner ZERO 1st round consideration. Lee is a 2nd day guy and so, more than likely, is Williams.
The likeliest teams to pick a WR ahead of the Fins are the Ravens (13), Eagles (14) and Broncos (15). And while Holmes and Jackson could conceivably go to any two of these three, I think only Jackson will be swept up by the time No. 16 rolls around.
The Ravens need to add to their aging defense and have a big hole at DT. The Eagles too need defense and will probably address their WR needs in the later rounds. The Broncos are targeting Jackson at 15.
Which means Holmes should be there at 16. And if Saban does in fact make his draft choices according to “value,” Holmes would be a no-brainer here. I love Holmes and it wouldn’t surprise me if he’s a Dolphin on April 29. Although I agree with Armando and I too love this kid Watkins from BYU.
i like chad jackson...dude is carved out of stone.
gunslinger without ammo does remind me of the JJ-era...anyone remember (of course you do) Yatil Green? yeeeesh.
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