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Decade in Review: Top drafts

As we continue on with our look back at the decade known as the "00s" it's time to talk about everybody's favorite offseason topic: the NFL Draft. We know the Dolphins have had some very bad drafts this past decade - most notably the 2003, 2006, and 2007 drafts. But they've also had some good ones. Below are, in my opinion, Miami's top three drafts of the decade.

Read my quick thoughts, post your own thoughts, and then cast your vote on which draft you feel is or will eventually be the best of the "00s."

Number 3: The 2005 Draft
The Dolphins only had six draft picks and only two are still with the team. But those two have been key contributors to this team's success. Third round pick Channing Crowder, for all his faults, has been a very solid third round selection. Anytime you get an above average starting linebacker in the third round, you have to be satisfied. But it's first round pick Ronnie Brown - the #2 overall selection - that makes this draft the 3rd best of the decade. As you all know, I hold Ronnie in high regard. He's a Pro Bowl talent. And without Ronnie, the Dolphins would have never introduced the 'Wildcat' to the world - and Miami would not have won the division in 2008.

Number 2: The 2009 Draft
It's early but you have to like how the '09 draft is shaping up. First round pick Vontae Davis and second round pick Sean Smith had an up and down season as rookies but showed enough to excite. I still firmly believe we're going to have two very good corners on our hands in a year or two. Brian Hartline also had a solid rookie season and has the potential to develop into an excellent complementary receiver. If only Pat White or Patrick Turner could just develop into solid role players, this draft would look like a very good one for the Fins.

Number 1: The 2008 Draft
There's no question that the first draft of the "Parcells, Ireland, and Sparano era" is looking like it will become an outstanding draft. The Dolphins spent the #1 overall pick on one of the NFL's best left tackles. Jake Long has already gone to two Pro Bowls and is a premier left tackle - who still has room to get better. Chad Henne showed in 2009 that he just might be the long-term solution at the quarterback position. And any time you find a franchise LT and potential franchise QB in one draft, that's an awesome job. But when you factor in a starting defensive end (Kendall Langford), starting right guard (Donald Thomas), and key backups like Phillip Merling and Lex Hilliard, there's no question that the '08 draft really provided a solid foundation to build around for the future.

Poll
Which draft class is (or will be) the Dolphins' best of the past decade?
2005
21 votes
2008
704 votes
2009
88 votes
Other
20 votes

833 votes | Poll has closed

0 recs  |  Comment 36 comments |

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Long + Henne alone

is enough to make 2008 the best draft. Langord, Thomas, Merling and Hilliard are just excellent bonuses. This may have been the best draft in franchise history, actually.

Driver of the Make David Lee OC Bandwagon
Repentant Former Driver of the Trade-Ronnie-Brown Bandwagon.

by joel311 on Jan 15, 2010 12:29 AM EST reply actions   0 recs

matty

i’d be interested in a write-up about the three worst drafts of the decade.

by frostyphinfan on Jan 15, 2010 12:42 AM EST reply actions   0 recs

LOL

"I hope you know a lot more than you believe in"-Gram Parsons
"Townes Van Zandt is the best songwriter in the whole world and I'll stand on Bob Dylan's coffee table in my cowboy boots and say that."-Steve Earle

by texascowpunk on Jan 15, 2010 5:23 PM EST up reply actions   0 recs

best draft

as much as i praise ronnie, i’m willing to admit his faults… it can’t make up for an entire class with the #2 overall. (i know we had less picks overall). the 08 class has a solid foundation that will be the wall we build our championships with.

by learninfools on Jan 15, 2010 12:45 AM EST reply actions   0 recs

God I hadn't even realized

How orgasmic their 2008 draft was til now. Wow. I remember seeing it and following all of these players, but never was I aware that they all came from that same draft.

That’s the definition of impressive.

David A. Fuller, CPA, MST

2009 Unofficial "The Phinsider" (Phinaddict's League) Fantasy Baseball League Champion

by Dave.Phuller on Jan 15, 2010 12:56 AM EST reply actions   0 recs

lol orgasmic

Driver of the Make David Lee OC Bandwagon
Repentant Former Driver of the Trade-Ronnie-Brown Bandwagon.

by joel311 on Jan 15, 2010 3:26 AM EST up reply actions   0 recs

No joke

Not to get too descriptive but when I read that, I X’ed out of my usual video site and..

Alright I’ll stop there.

David A. Fuller, CPA, MST

2009 Unofficial "The Phinsider" (Phinaddict's League) Fantasy Baseball League Champion

by Dave.Phuller on Jan 16, 2010 11:17 PM EST up reply actions   0 recs

perfectly described

A man can be an artist... in anything, food, whatever. It depends on how good he is at it. Creasey's art is death. He's about to paint his masterpiece. - Man on Fire

by Davone_Is_BessT on Jan 15, 2010 6:33 AM EST up reply actions   0 recs

tough to argue w/Matty's picks...

because most of the 2000’s drafts were so horrible!

by Natalya on Jan 15, 2010 4:40 AM EST reply actions   0 recs

I loved the 2008 draft...

One thing you didn’t mention Matty is that we also picked up two starters that were undrafted….Our best receiver Davone Bess and DC$…

Hopefully the 2010 draft can fill some holes and make us an elite team again

by scbrandon on Jan 15, 2010 8:07 AM EST reply actions   0 recs

i know

i purposely avoided them cus undrafted guys aren’t part of a draft class, in my opinion.

by Matty I on Jan 15, 2010 5:42 PM EST up reply actions   0 recs

2008 was a great foundation building draft

But if 2009 and 2005 are the next best draft classes of the decade (and I agree that they are), it just shows how pathetic the Phins drafted in this decade. An injury prone RB, a below average starting ILB, 2 rookie CB’s (one was rated as the worst CB in the AFC East this year: http://www.thephinsider.com/2010/1/11/1244099/weekend-roundup-talking), and a 4th or 5th WR. And yet we consider those as successful drafts! How low is the bar for this franchise?

by ct1361 on Jan 15, 2010 9:37 AM EST reply actions   0 recs

Are you the negative guy around here...

Or just the guy that states facts!? Haha

GEtSICK 4 JC

by GEtSICK13 on Jan 15, 2010 10:11 AM EST via mobile up reply actions   0 recs

I'll admit I see things differently

But I don’t think I’m negative. But you have too admit, the drafts by our phins have been less than stellar this past decade.

by ct1361 on Jan 15, 2010 10:28 AM EST up reply actions   0 recs

Well I think there's usually a strong correlation between...

a team’s long term success & the quality of their drafts…

I mean what did we manage in the 2000’s…..3 playoff appearances total? not to mention two of them were back to back ‘00 & ’01 with mostly JJ’s players, especially on D.

So yeah, 3 playoff trips in 10 years and just one in the last 8 or so, bad drafting overall yes.

by Natalya on Jan 15, 2010 3:03 PM EST up reply actions   0 recs

No your negative.

"I hope you know a lot more than you believe in"-Gram Parsons
"Townes Van Zandt is the best songwriter in the whole world and I'll stand on Bob Dylan's coffee table in my cowboy boots and say that."-Steve Earle

by texascowpunk on Jan 15, 2010 5:25 PM EST up reply actions   0 recs

So...

you don’t like the pickup of the 2 CB’s in last years draft? You don’t like the potential that it brings to the secondary in the not so distant future?

by kozam9707 on Jan 15, 2010 10:33 AM EST up reply actions   0 recs

I loved the Smith pick

I didn’t like the Davis pick because I watched him play in college and wasn’t overly impressed. He wasn’t someone who stood out to me as a dominant CB. Plus, if you were planning on drafting Smith in the 2nd round and signed Will Allen to a long term deal, why do you need another CB? Especially when there were other needs on Defense (ILB, OLB, NT) that were apparent prior to last years draft.

Regardless of why he was drafted though, Davis just didn’t play well this season. Matty’s post link above pretty much proves that. Yes he intercepted 4 passes, but he also gave up a ton of big plays and allowed 60% completions. I hope he improves, but it wouldn’t surprise me if in a couple of years he isn’t a starting CB in the league. He might be better suited as a FS, which would be fine with me.

by ct1361 on Jan 15, 2010 10:48 AM EST up reply actions   0 recs

In all honesty

Davis will probably be a good # CB in the league. But he should have been playing the nickle this year where he would have absolutely owned the slot receivers he was playing against. We drafted 2 CB’s because we lost Goodman and in the NFL (Especially when you play the patriots twice), you have to have a good nickle corner. I did expect that our 2 corners INT stats to be reversed, since Smith had a history of playing WR and Vontae was supposed to be the sure tackling/run support kinda corner (which sounds like a nice nickle option to me). I’m not knocking him, I just think Smith is better paired against the Moss’s and TO’s and Edwards’ of the league while Vontae would be better suited against the Welker’s and Cotchery’s and Evans’.

I, for one, expected the FO to trade down and pick up an extra late round 2 and pick up Darius Butler and Smith.

by kozam9707 on Jan 15, 2010 11:02 AM EST up reply actions   0 recs

I have to say on the #2 2009 draft....

Hartline impressed the most this season… That kid has some damn fine skills
at receiver !!!!!

Jimbo

by Dolphinator on Jan 15, 2010 1:56 PM EST reply actions   0 recs

Far, far, FAR better

pick & production from him than the Pat White pick.

You hit on some, you miss on other.

by Natalya on Jan 15, 2010 3:04 PM EST up reply actions   0 recs

There have been some interesting picks overall..

Vernon Carey has been pretty solid – not great, but an above average performer at T if nothing else. Um, too bad the rest of that draft sucked….

Another one is Yeremiah Bell in the 6th round back in ’03 – pretty good value.

Overall though, way more bad than good

by Natalya on Jan 15, 2010 3:09 PM EST reply actions   0 recs

how sad is it that he could only list 3 good drafts?

For every woman masturbating right now, there is a guy masturbating while imagining that woman masturbate.

2009 NY Phin PhansFantasy League Champion
2009 Best Regular Season Record in NYPPL.

by Patssuck456 on Jan 15, 2010 3:10 PM EST reply actions   0 recs

i'll come out and say it; 2007 draft is best class

Round 1: Ted Ginn
Round 2: John Beck
Round 3: Lorenzo Booker
Round 4: Paul Soliai
Round 6: Reagan Mauia
Round 6: Drew Mormino
Round 6: Kelvin Smith
Round 7: Brandon Fields
Round 7: Abraham Wright

HA! What a joke. Guess our best value pick was Brandon Fields, a punter! Thanks cam, way to dig a whole for such a rich Dolphins legacy.

by and1ms238 on Jan 15, 2010 4:56 PM EST reply actions   0 recs

Heh, don't look now,

but i remember how excited some people were about that class & the constant refrain of ‘give mueller & cam-cam time’.

I’d say after 3 years we can decisively say it was among the worst of an already bad decade of drafts.

by Natalya on Jan 15, 2010 5:13 PM EST up reply actions   0 recs

Hands down....2008 draft.

Pretty much, eveyone’s a starter or a backup.

"Welcome to The Doghouse"
"The more people I meet the more I like my dog."
Draft Aaron Hernandez in the 2010 Draft.

by Kdog92 on Jan 15, 2010 8:30 PM EST reply actions   0 recs

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