My Wes Welker Blog

What can you say about the 2007 Miami Dolphins?

Not much.

It looks like the Dolphins have a real chance of going 0-16. If you look at their schedule, they face the Patriots, Giants, Eagles, Steelers, Ravens and Bengals.

The only real shots they might have at winning are against Buffalo and the New York Jets. But even that might be a stretch considering the Bills have almost defeated the Cowboys and Broncos. The Jets can score as well, and have put up decent numbers against lack luster defenses. The real reason for the 'fins' lack of success is due to the front office continually making bad personnel moves.

In fact, the only players that have gone to Pro Bowls that are still with the team are Zach Thomas and Jason Taylor. Both of whom were brought in by Jimmy Johnson before he retired (1996-1999). They added a Pro Bowler in Joey Porter, but nobody they play against has noticed.

When you look at the successful teams around the league they all have certain fundamental systems when it comes to hiring players and evaluating talent. The Steelers build through the draft and find players that have been left for dead by other franchises. Some of Pittsburgh's best talent has been picked up off of the scrap heap (Willie Parker for instance). The Patriots are much the same, and this year they went out and acquired talent in free agency to add to what they already had in place (Wes Welker, Donte Stallworth, Randy Moss).

On the other hand, the worst franchises in the league do not draft well and their free agent moves and trading are very suspect. The Lions have perhaps the worst front office in league history and it looks like the Dolphins are working on catching up.

Let's look at Miami's last 10 years of the draft. Over 100 players in 10 years. Only 20 are still on the roster, and only 7 start, with Zach Thomas and Jason Taylor being drafted before 2000. The other impact players that have been selected have been traded or haven't been resigned. Compare that to the Steelers. Of the 22 starters, 19 were acquired in the draft. 31 players, over the past decade, are still on the roster.

If you take a look at the Patriots you see similarities starting when Belichek took over in 2000. Before that, only 3 players from 1996-1999 are still on the roster (Tom Brady, Kevin Faulk and Teddy Bruschi). A total of 26 players on the current roster were acquired in the draft. 12 of them are starters.

And Indianapolis is right there as well. Since 1996, 30 players drafted are on their current roster. 11 are starters.

Now the flip-side of the coin is definitely different.

The Detroit Lions have 22 players on their roster brought in through the draft, 9 of which are starters. But after drafting 4 wide receivers with their first round pick, 4 years in a row, only two of them remain on the roster.

You can easily spot the difference when it comes to player management, as well as scouting. If the Dolphins don't start making changes in the front office, they will be headed down the same road as the Lions.

Talent to build with, but no chance of growth.

This was originally written for another web site. But I posted it here as well to try and make a point with those that think we should not be 18 million under the cap.

The fact is you don't have to spend all of the cap to have a quality program. You need to draft players that are high character, high I.Q., high motor and full time dedicated. If you watched the Giants at all this year, Plaxico would still take plays off, and now that his touchdown streak is done, I bet you see a lot less production from him again. Remember, we didn't let Plax go because he didn't produce, we let him go because he didn't produce consistently. And to harp about Washington is foolish. He was never intended to be a number 2, and our offensive system is now designed for more tight end play and less three wide receiver sets. If we got a player like Wes Welker, I think that's an excellent move. But to get a guy like Randy Moss is a huge risk. Right now Randy is happy, but if the Pats were struggling, Moss would probably be back to his old ways. You have to also remember that rookie players are getting huge guaranteed bonuses now. To sign on a plethora of high price free agents, or to sign current players to long term deals, will cut your legs off in the long run. The truth of it is, we don't know what kind of chemistry Ben and Plax would of had. Another thing you have to keep in mind is if you sign a player and then they fail to produce, you have another problem. Both Chad Scott and Kordell Stewart's contracts counted against our cap even after they were cut (bonus money). When we do go out and acquire talent, it's not always a guy like Quincy Morgan. How do you think we got James Farrior?

Look, all I'm saying is we are 4-2 with a growing team. As for the question of whether or not the Broncos are as bad as their record, you guys are just joking right? Of course not, but they are going through some growing pains as well. The Colts and Pats are working with veteran players in an established system. The Steelers should find themselves in the thick of things in the post-season. With a few more weeks in the new offensive scheme, and a few more weeks for Tomlin to get acquainted with our opposition, we will be ready to make some noise.

Tim Campbell writes for the Steeler Maniacs fansite at http://www.SteelerManiacs.com