It’s time for the Miami Dolphins to get personal with draft prospects
By Sean Moon
At the 2020 NFL combine, the Miami Dolphins busy offseason now needs to get personal as they meet with prospects.
The 2020 NFL Combine is underway and it gives the Miami Dolphins a chance to interview, interact and get to know these athletes on a personal level. The Miami Dolphins General Manager, while speaking at the combine interview session Tuesday, was asked about what he intends to find out about some of these athletes, Chris Grier responded,
"“Really it’s just getting to know all of these kids. It’s every position. Like we tell you, every position is crucial, especially when you’re building where we are at this point, and just getting to know the type of person, the leadership, mental toughness, character on and off the field."
I stated in my last article, the whole process of the NFL Combine is to obtain data, mainly measurables, but more importantly, it is to get to know the athletes. That helps with the information on team fit, the athlete’s work ethic, off-field interests and to make sure you’re not drafting a locker room cancer.
This is the time of year where you really cannot believe anything that is being said. Everyone has opinions, theories and of course, insiders. The smokescreen is hard and heavy and the only ones that truly know what is happening now are the top Miami Dolphins brass.
GM Chris Grier, Head Coach Brian Flores, and Owner Stephen Ross are the men with the plan and anyone else who says they know what is going on is lying, period.
Of course, most of the fans believe or at least are really hoping for, a QB with the first pick in this year’s NFL Draft, but what happens if that falls through or what if there is another plan? GM Chris Grier touched on this scenario a bit when asked yesterday at the combine. If you guys don’t get the quarterback to finish this rebuild, where do you guys stand?
"“No, we’ll just keep building and working and doing everything we can to win here. Like I said, we’ll keep working, doing everything and build it the way we think will be the right way to bring a championship here to Miami. We’ll do everything we can to try and add the right people.”"
Even listening to the General Manager speak, it is hard to read between the lines, everything that is said is so vague and deceptive, it’s all a part of the master plan to keep everyone guessing, a game if you will. No one wants to show their hand or tip their cap, so everything is a calculated response.
Head Coach Brian Flores was also in attendance yesterday at the combine, and he too spoke at the interview session. Brian Flores had a lengthy interview and many topics were brought up, but one of the questions he responded to that I found particularly interesting was, on the team’s draft capital and trades and how aggressive they will be? Brian Flores responded,
"“I think it’s entirely too early to kind of talk about how aggressive – there’s a lot of smokescreens out there from trade this, trade that. Look, I think we’re going to – you’re right. We have some capital; but again, it’s not just one position. Not in this game. There’s 22 guys on the field at a time, so we’re trying to build a talented roster. Depth is important in this league as you know, and there are injuries every week, so we want to build as talented a roster as we can. The quarterback position is part of that like (someone) mentioned earlier, but they’re all important to me. – MiamiDolphins.com"
That is exactly what I want to hear from the team’s decision-makers, looking to build and improve all areas of this team. I mean I want a stud QB, sure, I personally think it is the most important position on the team, (I know, let the beating begin) but that doesn’t mean I want to trade 13 picks in two drafts to obtain one.
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I want to see a solid game plan in this years draft, I want to see that it was well crafted and implemented, when it’s all said and done. I want to see that if plans A, B, and C fall through, that there is a plan D, E or F. There must be a thorough game plan, not just swinging from the hip.
When Head Coach Brian Flores was asked about smokescreens and speculation and how he decides how to move from that? Do you stay, go, move around? he said,
"“I don’t read much. I don’t have a Twitter, Facebook or Instagram. I kind of stay out of that, so I don’t really get much of it. If it’s Pro Football Talk, maybe I’ll read it. I know what’s going on in our building. I don’t really worry about what’s going on in everybody else’s building. Everything for me is about how do I make the Dolphins better, how do I help the Dolphins get better. That’s kind of where I’m at.”"
So I tried to stay away from all the Tua Tagovailoa talk, as it was brought up a whole lot yesterday, and surprisingly, yesterday was the first chance for both Chris Grier and Brian Flores to speak with the former Alabama star, as I’m sure there were plenty of questions for him and his health.
No matter where you stand on Tua Tagovailoa he is a major factor in the game plan or draft strategy moving forward for the Miami Dolphins, whether he is a legitimate player they want to draft or at bare minimum used as leverage or smoke-screen to get someone else they covet.
Regardless of all the talk, one thing is for sure, I do believe that this regime has this Miami Dolphins team moving in the right direction, and all the scouting experience throughout the building cannot hurt this year’s master plan, it can only help. It will be for a must-watch offseason, that is for sure, so stay tuned.