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3 reasons why trading back is a good idea for Miami

By Jack Scharr

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When you look at the Miami Dolphins needs and the quality of players in the draft, they would be wise to consider trading back for more picks.

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The Miami Dolphins have a lot of needs to fix before they can move from  being a 6-10 team to a playoff contender. The new coaching staff will be looking hard at the players already on the roster, and the pieces needed to turn things around. Miami needs to make the most of the players drafted, and one of the best ways to do that is to acquire more picks. Here are some reasons why?

1. Needs-At the Dolphins pre draft press conference, Mike Tannenbaum VP of Football Operations, addressed the main reason why trading down and acquiring more picks is so important. He stated “And really our thing here has been, we are coming off a 6-10 season and all through the offseason we feel like we’re not one player away. So there are a number of things we’d like to accomplish at the draft and we’ll see how the board falls to us.”

The Miami Dolphins have a lot of needs and holes that need to be filled in order to jump from a 6-10 team to a playoff contender. They need two starting cornerbacks, one to play outside and one to play nickel. A starting caliber running back to compliment Jay Ajayi is a must. Offensive guard is a major need, just look at the sacks allowed the last two years.

After needs for starting positions, comes the need for depth. Miami has two defensive ends over 30 years old and needs to get younger there. The whole starting linebacker group has a history of injuries. If you don’t address the need of depth, one injury can turn a position of strength into a major weakness.

2. Player Availibilty-The two players that have been most linked to the Miami Dolphins are Vernon Hargreaves and Ezekiel Elliot. Hargreaves is the most NFL ready corner after Jailen Ramsey. Elliot is the best running back in this draft, arguably a game changer similar to Todd Gurley. Both are plug and play kind of players that will immediately start.

The next players mentioned are Eli Apple, William Jackson III, and Mackenzie Alexander. These three cornerbacks should be available to Miami at 13, but they should also be available later in the first round. Miami can use their position to gain more picks to fill the roster and still fill their need in the first round. If Hargreaves and Elliot are both gone before 13, Miami should take advantage and get more picks and their next player.

They can shop their pick at 13 and see what value it has. In fact GM Chris Grier and Tannenbaum were asked about this at the pre draft press conference. “As Chris alluded to, we are going to let the board dictate that for us. If there’s a player we have a strong feeling on, it’ll be hard to move back; but yeah, if the phone rings, we’ll evaluate that opportunity.” The players they have strong feelings on are Hargreaves and Elliot, after that they could be open to moving for the right price.

3. Player Quality-This is a weak draft and that creates problems when you only have a few picks. The quality of players in this draft is not very high caliber. Because there is not a lot of clear cut great players, you need more opportunities to hit on gems. Trading down for more picks is how you can make the most of this draft.

Many people have talked about drafting two corners because Miami has a need for two starting corner positions. Drafting two corners is really good in this draft because it gives you a better chance for one quality starter. Miami can get multiple chances in one draft to fix the same problem. The great thing about trading down is that because the player quality isn’t as good, the player quality at 13 is similar to the player quality at 25.

Miami can make the most of the player quality in this draft by taking more shots. With a lot of needs to fill and a lower draft quality, you need more picks to try and find the gem.

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