Dolphins best drafts pick by season

Aug 7, 2015; Canton, OH, USA; General view of 2015 NFL draft selection cards of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Jameis Winston), Tennessee Titans (Marcus Mariota) and Jacksonville Jaguars (Dante Fowler). Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

The Dolphins are celebrating 50 years of football and today we look back at the best Dolphins draft picks by season.

The Miami Dolphins have had 50 drafts through their history. That’s 50 years of great players and 50 years of a lot of duds. The NFL is a hit and miss league where more players are out of the NFL in less than four years than there are that are in the league more than three.

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It’s been 50 years since the Dolphins played their first game and we have taken time to look back at a lot of the team history in those 50 seasons. One area we haven’t looked at is the draft history of the team. So we are going to today.

This actually a simple look back. I will highlight the best player drafted from every class, mention a few notable players that would be runner-ups if there are any, and in the case that the draft was a complete flop, well, we will look at all of that as well.

Obviously the best place to start is at the beginning so let’s travel back to 1966 when the Dolphins, an expansion team, made their first selections in the draft.

1966

You have to drop all the way down to the 12th round to find Miami’s best draft pick. Wide-receiver Howard Twilley. Twilley spent 11 seasons with the Dolphins and played in all three of their Super Bowls. He was a possession type receiver before possession receivers truly existed. The Dolphins spent their first pick in the 1966 draft on Jim Grabowski, a running back. He would never play a single down for the Dolphins. Because the AFL and NFL were still split, they also held separate drafts. Grabowski was also drafted with the 9th overall pick by the Green Bay Packers in the NFL. He opted to sign with the Packers. After four years in Green Bay he played one more season in Chicago before his career came to an end.

1967

There is no question that Bob Griese, drafted in round one, was the best player taken in the ’67 draft. Griese led the Dolphins to three consecutive Super Bowls and an undefeated season on his way to the Hall of Fame. Griese however isn’t the only notable player from ’67. In round 7, the very versatile Larry Seiple was drafted. Seiple played 11 seasons for the Dolphins as the team punter and tight-end. He even ran the ball few times as well.

1968

Back to back Hall of Fame draftees for the Miami Dolphins as Larry Csonka was taken with the Dolphins first pick in round one. Csonka’s history with the Dolphins is legendary. The draft also brought Dick Anderson in round three, and Jim Kiick in round five making the 1968 draft one of the best in team history.

1969

Another brilliant draft by the Dolphins. In round one Miami selected defensive end Bill Stanfill but perhaps the best player to come out of this draft was Mercury Morris in round three. Morris was the third running back behind Larry Csonka and Jim Kiick but he was much faster than either player. Dropping down all the way to round 16, the Dolphins selected cornerback Lloyd Mumphord. Mumphord would plays six of his ten seasons in Miami.

Next: 1970's