This season has been an emotional roller coaster. If you have asked any Miami Dolphins fans, they would agree wholeheartedly that the Dolphins' record of 4-6 isn't what anyone expected, especially with losses against the Tennessee Titans and Indianapolis Colts.
Retrospectively, you have to ask yourself the most important question - why are we here? Who was in charge of building this team to succeed? The answer is Chris Grier. Don't get me wrong, the Dolphins are on a two-game winning streak with a long, challenging road to potentially make the playoffs. But they shouldn't be in this difficult situation - if they had the right players, or better yet, the right contingencies if the worse were to happen.
The worst did happen, which was Tua Tagovailoa's concussion in Week 2, which led to a four-game absence. What didn't make sense to the fans is that the Dolphins were strapped with plenty of cap space to make a qualifying offer to a veteran quarterback but chose not to. They also had draft capital to make a strategic move but once again chose not to. Standing pat led to a 1-3 record without Tagovailoa.
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Everyone saw what Joe Flacco did last year for the Cleveland Browns. Marcus Mariota played well when Jayden Daniels got hurt.
It isn't just the quarterback position that failed, it's endless draft picks that have never played out properly. If you do not secure assets with your draft picks, you are then forced to overpay in free agency for positions that could have been secured otherwise. Taking a closer look at the Dolphins' draft picks in terms of retention rate, from 2016 to now - that value is 36%.
Dolphins' poor draft record falls on GM Chris Grier
Only 36% of the Dolphins' draft picks have turned into actual contributors for the past eight years. Another way of thinking about this is that if you have seven draft picks in this upcoming draft - only two of them will be relevant to the Dolphins' squad in the future.
That's sad. The Dolphins are wasting draft capital, and Grier is responsible for this. On the other hand, the retention rate for the top four teams in the AFC in the same time period:
- Ravens: 64%
- Chiefs: 62%
- Bills: 57%
- Steelers: 50%
So why would Steven Ross, or, better yet, Dolphins fans, believe that things will change this upcoming offseason? Grier drafted Cam Smith and Noah Igbinoghene but then signed Kendall Fuller, traded for Jalen Ramsey, and re-signed Xavien Howard. Grier drafted Austin Jackson and Patrick Paul but signed Terron Armstead to a massive five-year contract. These are just a few examples of cap management gone wrong.
This team has not won a playoff game in over two decades. This isn't the path to success. And the Dolphins' path forward should be without Grier, regardless of how this season unfolds.