3 men and a Little Lady

Like most movies, the sequel never quite lives up to it’s predecessor. Forget the fact that normally it doesn’t come close to beating it. For those of you who remember “3 Men and a Little Lady”, well, let’s just say I’m glad I’m not the only one that old.

The Ted Ginn pick is so reminiscent of the Jamar Fletcher/Drew Brees debacle that it is almost sick. There is no way to say that Ginn will be that bad, but it still lingers thick in the South Florida air. It is that stale smoke on someones clothes. It won’t go away. Don’t believe me? Go ask a Jets fan about their draft history and they will tell you what it’s like. Yes, it is that bad. Jamar freaking Fletcher. To this day…”Your Kidding Me, Right?”

Prior to the draft this year, I promoted the slogan “Just say no to Ginn.” It didn’t work as the Dolphins brass decided to smoke against my attempt at Nancy Reagan. Ex-Presidents wife for all you younguns out there. After stewing on it for the better part of a month, I began to feel better after seeing what John Beck could do. After watching Ginn this past week against KC, the fact that he no longer will return kick-offs…so he can learn to return punts….very hard job to learn by the way…I am impressed that he has made the starting lineup at that spot, I have lost that feeling better mentality. I’m back to “what the hell were you thinking?”

Cam Cameron promised on draft day that Dolphins fans would “fall in love with what this kid can do for our return game.” Perhaps I misunderstood, I thought you meant on the field. This is a sad state of affairs when the fastest guy in perhaps the NFL, uses his speed to outrace the coverage team to the sidelines. Yes, Ginn is that good.

Let us take a quick look at 3 guys we could have drafted not named Ginn and see where they are at. I will of course save the obvious for last.

Amobi Okoye – Houston Texans. Okoye was drafted in the 10 slot by the Texans one pick after the Dolphins selected Ginn. You may not have realized it. As a Dolphins fan you were probably oblivious to what happened in the next hour. In fact, even if you were not a Dolphins fan, you probably did not know who was taken given the media attention to the biggest surprise in the draft. So what is he doing now?

After struggling with the heat of south Texas, Okoye has struggled at times. He has been inconsistent yet shows some flashes of why he was so hyped up. Still, he is listed on the teams 1st unit at DT. He is young, very young at 19 and will progress. The kid loves football. In his first game he recorded 1 tackle against the Bears and showed his ability to break double team blocking schemes, getting out of the Bears Oline crunch to disrupt the back-field.

Overall, Okoye has been quiet and he does have a ways to go. Still, he is a first unit player and will likely be there all year long. Regardless of his play level now, he is a safe bet to get better.

Patrick Willis – LB – SF 49ers: Taken 2 picks after Ginn, Willis is already on the starting unit with the 9ers. He was not just given it, he earned it. HC Mike Nolan said that it has been Willis’ play in practice and the first 2 games that led him to the move. Willis was just promoted to the first unit on Monday. How well is he doing? Last years starting LB and leading team tackler with 114 Brandon Moore has been relegated to the second unit.

Willis is far from being a great All-pro, but he is definitely poised to contribute immediately and with success. The 49ers have a potential future star in Willis. It appears Willis is making the most of his opportunity.

Brady Quinn – QB – Cleveland Browns: It does not matter where he was picked in terms of how close he was to Miamis’, he was there and the Dolphins passed on him for Ginn. He slid to number 22. o.k. there I said it.

So what has Quinn done? He has held out for the better part of training camp, looked exceptionally shaky in mini-camp, looked just as bad on his first two days of camp, sat out the first pre-season game, then played in the 4th quarter of the 2nd game. He came into the game with just over 7 minutes remaining, led the team to two scoring drives, the 2nd coming with just over 2 minutes. Had an exceptional QB rating, threw 2 TD’s and no picks and had it not been for the spiked balls, would have had only 2 incomplete passes.

Quinn looked sharp. He showed poise, he showed leadership, and he showed why the Browns were high enough on him to trade back into round 1 to get him. Still, it is pre-season, 4th quarter against guys that will not make the team. You can not take away what Quinn did by who he did it against. He still looked very solid. Time will tell and the more work he gets will fuel more debate among Dolphins fans one way or the other. The real comparison in the end will not be Quinn vs. Ginn, but rather Quinn vs. Beck.

John Beck was who the Dolphins wanted and that is who they got. That is who they chose to lead the future of the franchise. As it stands now, Beck is having moments of brilliance himself, but he also has some flaws to work on as well. Not that Quinn doesn’t. They all do.

Ginn may or may not be a good pick. It is his the slot he was drafted in that is the question. So far Ginn has made no “wow” returns, no “wow” catches. In fact, Ginn has made me say “wow” a few times, as in “what did they see in this kid?”

With all of his speed there will always be potential, whether he realizes that potential is a different story. Ginn will never be the next Jerry Rice. Lets’ just hope he doesn’t become the next Desmond Howard…tons of speed but little of anything else.