Dolphins fans turn to draft talk with season over

Should the Miami Dolphins lose out or win out? That’s a question that many fans are pondering these days as talk of the NFL Draft is beginning to take over with the Dolphins now out of the playoffs.

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There are still three games left but let’s be real here for a second, the Dolphins have pretty much been out of the playoff picture for a few weeks now. It’s that darn word “mathematically” that kept the talk alive. Now that the word is no longer connected to the team, Dolphins fans are now free and clear to discuss April.

The Dolphins currently sit in the 10th spot, tied with five other teams who are at 5-8. They are one loss away from having a top five draft pick and two losses away from a top three. San Diego sits in the second spot at 3-10. Miami plays the Chargers in San Diego on Sunday.

No fan roots against their team but there does come a time when the season is over to look at the future and see what is best for your franchise. In 2011 the Dolphins were on a major slide and a quasi “Suck for Luck” campaign took a foothold in the fan base. Of course the Dolphins played well enough to take themselves out of the Luck contention and thus drafted Ryan Tannehill at number eight.

Whether to root for or against your team for draft position is a debate that will continue long after the season is over and throughout the next seasons as well. Are you giving up on your team or rooting for what’s best for them? Making the entire issue more heated is the fact that drafting a player at the top of the draft does not mean he will be a Hall of Fame player. The Dolphins traded up for Dion Jordan three years ago. If Miami was picking in the 3rd spot on their own, would that selection be any better? Any worse?

For the players and coaches it’s about pride. You play to win. Losers play to lose and Dan Campbell won’t have any of losing for a draft position. That being said is it playing to lose if you begin playing your younger less experienced players? At some point you need to have real game tape to evaluate these players and they can’t get that riding on the bench. We all know what Brent Grimes can do but do what know what Tony Lippett can do?

Thankfully the season will officially be over in three weeks and that will allow the Dolphins to concentrate on their coaching search. It won’t change the opinion of fans when the topic of draft position comes up yet again. And it will.