Reasons not to draft a NT at #12

I mean, I get the point that nose tackle isn’t a glamor position, but I can almost assure you the person who wants to see a franchise nose tackle in Miami the most is Karlos Dansby.

And though you’ll rarely see Casey Hampton in the opposing team’s backfield, he’s also a big reason why those Steeler linebackers are able to find the gaps and disrupt plays behind the line of scrimmage.

You make a lot of good points, as well, but I would prefer to go with either nose tackle or safety with the No.12 pick.

great information, and a real strong case against a NT in round 1. I do think NT is one of the most important positions to a 3-4 defense, but there are a lot highly-graded NT’s that come from later in the draft, and I’m not sure you need to draft an “elite” guy at the top end of the draft to find a NT that fits the job description in our defense.

And, while rushing the passer isn’t an important part of playing NT, it IS one of the most important parts of playing defense, and drafting a player at 12 that can’t do that isn’t smart IMO. Our problem last year was our Pass Defense, so I think if we do decide to go defense in round 1, it should be somebody that improves our pass D, whether it be a pass rushing LB or ballhawk FS.

While I wouldn’t be disappointed if the Dolphins take Dan Williams in round 1, I do think there is some value in rounds 2 and 3 with the NT position. But at the same time, it’ll be risky to pass on a NT in round one because you don’t know who will still be around as the draft progresses – especially with so many teams now running a 3-4.

And I REALLY don’t want to go into 2010 with Paul Soliai as the starter for at least the first 8 games.

making Matty’s job easier since 2010 hahaha

congrats on the FP bro

prolly Sean Weatherspoon as he could do it all or Brandon Graham. I wouldn’t mind Earl Thomas either though

Too much logic behind it…and rec’d.

in a 3-4 scheme that we play the nose tackle is the most important postion on the field. his job is to basically to clog up any holes that the linemen open up for the run and to get multiple linemen on him so that way it can free up the linebackers to blitz. jesus if they get spiller on a runningback that we dont even need then i will just lose hope in this front office. we are in the top 10 in the league in rushing!!! why do we need another back!? as for the this stat… it doesnt prove anything because DT dont get sacks to often. especially in a 3-4.

BUT – one thing that few take into account is the salary structure of the positions and if the first round money matches that structure… it does for NT or DT …. IIRC Ngata was taken at 12-15 and he has been worth the money and is absent from the list (for gregg) and OLB is also a position that fits into early first round money…. FS does not, nor does a RB in this day and age… unless it’s his 2nd contract. especially when you consider the latest trends with many mid to late round picks stepping right into the fray as play makers…

So – i’m with you on OLB being my first choice …. but the reality is help is needed on the defense even more so then offense and the defensive positions of need match the salary of #12… which one they take i don’t really care as long as it’s a true defensive play maker …. cause they haven’t had one in a while but my order would be OLB – S (just cause i like the top 2 and believe their talent level and far and away exceeds the rest on the board ) – then NT/DT, then ilb (crowder is ok but there is room for improvement inside still) before we get to the offense which can be addressed in the later rounds.

I have to agree with everything you said except for drafting Spiller … I think either OLB or FS could be looked after.

why do we even need him!? whats the point!?

spiller is injury prone too… he was always injured when playing for clemson.
i have no problem picking up a running back in the later rounds but we have way to many bigger needs then at runningback. espically at DT because we do run a 3-4 and it is the most important part to run successfully run a 3-4

yeah you are if you have an injury…
hence the word INJURY prone

spiller is being compared to reggie bush… if you notice reggie bush isnt even the feature back because he cant run well between the tackles. why draft someone like him and then use him as a backup. it makes no sense. we have an aging OLB in taylor, porter who is gone, DT that is suspended, no safety and yet everyone wants the flashy player. we have WAY to many problems then at running back. like i said earlier we were top 10 in the league in rushing. why draft spiller again i ask!?

it makes perfect sense… when a rushing team rushes in the league in the top 10 then we use are number 12 pick on another running back. forget about our bigger needs like i said before and i even forgot to mention how we need a reciever too and yet you still want spiller… no sense at all.

spiller is not going to be drafted my miami so you might as well just let it go. we will address the defense that lost us many games. like against the colts, saints, texans, bills… i mean the list goes on and on. parcells will take DT or OLB with the first pick. bank on it.

The way I read your arguement for an OLB as compared to the impact of NT by the Numbers. You’ve just proven to me why you draft a NT. The purpose of a NT in a 3-4 defense is to consume at least 2 O-Linemen and push the Pocket or clog the Running Lanes. You have listed Wilford, Hampton, Jenkins, and Pickett as examples. 3 of which were Franchised Tagged by their teams. The linebackers are free to make more plays and in turn increase their stat lines. From a Money stand point. Based on draft position you might see a better Return on your investment by selecting a OLB. I agree with that. I feel we should draft a NT and OLB in the first two rounds.
1. D. Morgan
2. T. Cody/C. Thomas
3. R. Jones
4. J. Graham

…you are absolutely misinterpreting the position of NT. They aren’t supposed to get sacks- they’re supposed to occupy space and allow the OLBs to make plays. Tully Banta-Cain is average at best- it’s Wilfork that makes him shine. A good 3-4 D-Line has their front 3 occupy the O-Line, while still preventing the run (hence the huge difference between Run score and Pass rush score).

you’ve convinced me.

judge a 3-4 NT by how many plays his ILB’s are making :)

I’m not saying we should draft a NT in the 1st but if our FO believes that there is a stud there then go ahead, the 2 best NTs in the league in the last decade, in many experts opinions are Hampton and Wilfork, both 1st rounders.

NTs worth as a pass rusher is that it takes two guys to block him, and if they are coming off on 3rd down then they did their job and its 3rd and long and you can put a passrusher in that spot.

Casey Hampton and Vince Wilfork have been the 2 best NTs recently and Hampton has widely been considered the best NT in the league until Wilfork came around, now Jenkins when healthy is a top NT, 2 1st rounders and a 2nd rounder.

Hampton and Wilfork are the proto type NTs, disruptive forces in every game they play, both 1st rounders, and Tuna would give his left arm to have a guy like that anchor his defense for a decade or better.

Can we stop the madness with PFF please, lol, their rankings don’t mean doodily squat, I love the site for STATS but their rankings are funky,

 according to them G Wilson was GOOD last year and Bell sucked,

they also contend that Bess is the 10th best WR in the league, I am a huge Bess fan but that is ridiculous,

and also had C Johnson as the 4th RB last year, lol, and AP was 17th, hahahaha behind B Leonard the rookie FB from Rutgers, who had 80yds at 3.1ypc and no TDs.

Just to refresh our memories, AP had 1300yds at 4.4ypc and 18 TDs

Heck, here is the list:

Ratings
# Name Team Snaps ——-Overall
1 Ray Rice BLT 811 ——-21.3
2 Maurice Jones-Drew JAX 872 ——-19.4
3 Jamaal Charles KC 635 ——-13.8
4 Chris D. Johnson TEN 896 ——-13.5
5 Pierre Thomas NO 381 ——-12.8
6 Jonathan Stewart CAR 443 ——-8.5
7 Justin Forsett SEA 472 ——-8.4
8 Fred Jackson BUF 695 ——-8.0
9 Felix Jones DAL 267 ——-6.1
10 Jason Snelling ATL 416 ——-5.9
11 Reggie Bush NO 396 ——-5.3
12 Kevin Smith DET 628 ——-4.8
12 Michael Turner ATL 349 ——-4.8
14 Darren Sproles SD 393 ——-4.3
15 Ladell Betts WAS 228 ——-4.2
16 Brian Leonard CIN 282 ——-4.1
17 Adrian L. Peterson MIN 717 ——-3.8

Here is linkage; profootballfocus

So R Rice is 21 and AP is 4, that is a large disparity, if I gave you the choice of R Rice or AP who do you take, lol, but according to them its not even close, R Rice is way better than AP.

Like I said I love the site for stats but their rankings are suspect at best, and thats being kind, lol.

The argument against CJ Spiller is that even if we sell Ronnie Brown off, we still retain three pretty good RBs in our corps. Fact is, Ricky Williams isn’t going anywhere. This coming season is his last. Meanwhile, two essential components of our defensive system are not where they need to be.

This is a CLASSIC example of drafting talent over drafting actual, tangible needs. We could easily wait until next year to draft a promising running back. But Ferguson not being around is absolutely crucial. We went from being one of the premier rushing defenses in the league to one of the worst when he got injured. Why do you think guys like Ray Lewis ask to play in front of good NTs?

Assuming that we somehow take care of the wide receiver situation before the draft, the first two rounds are going to be OLB-NT in either order. Period.

And what’s with all the Chris Johnson comparisons? He might be the best RB in this particular class, but I wouldn’t put him light years ahead of Johnathan Dwyer or even Jahvid Best.

and ignore your little CJ Spiller plug :)

Seriously though, good post, and I think a similar post good be done for the safety position. Some positions just aren’t good value with a pick as high as ours.

jason ferguson has best pass rush skills in madden 10!

;)

     Sign him to a 5-6 year deal. I think the limit is usually 5 for pick 12 but it may be different in an uncapped year. Franchise him in year 6 and 7. We will not having a problem at that point turning every offense in the league into a one dimensional offense. Then you play man defense with your 2 young lock-down corners and tee off on the other teams QB. Wait … this is starting to sound similar to the 4-3 defense we used to run when we had Madison and Surtain.
     Oh but wait … back then we also had Tim Bowens and Daryl Gardener playing DT. When did we pick those guys up? 1994 Round 1 pick 20 and 1996 Round 1 pick 20. They were the center of that defense that dominated back then. Do you remember a team being able to run against us consistently? It all started from there and made us a great defense for years.

Getting to Know the NT

good info …
Let’s take a look at where these guys are drafted and see if that helps.
1st Round (5): Hampton, Ngata, Pickett, Raji and Wilfork
2nd Round (3): Rogers, Williams, Jenkins
3rd Round (2): Edwards, Pouha
4th Round (2): Scott, Soliai
5th Round (2): Fields, Frankllin
6th Round (2): Gregg, Rubin
7th Round (2): Ferguson, Ratliff
UDFA (2): Nwagbuo, Robinson

Most of the NTs were not 1st round picks, but there is the highest concentration of them in the round. I also don’t think I’m going out on a limb by saying that some of the best of this group are the 1st and 2nd round picks. That probably means that these guys are pretty easy to spot, which makes sense. These guys are going to be very large, but the best ones are going to have a special athletic ability to move other large men out of their way. The other ones are probably the space eaters who are useful to teams that need NT, but aren’t worth spending a ton of money on.