Reflecting On The Trade Of Ted Ginn

I was watching the game Seattle vs San Francisco yesterday, and I watched former Dolphin Ted Ginn Jr. virtually win the game for his team, without doing a single thing on offense.  He returned a kick 100+ yards to the house, which wowed me.  Then he followed that up with a long Punt return touchdown, and I thought back to how I felt when the Dolphins dealt Ginn.

The Dolphins made a trade a few weeks before the 2010 NFL Draft, acquiring a 5th round pick from the San Francisco 49ers.  In order to acquire the pick, they parted ways with a former 1st round pick, Ted Ginn Jr.  At the time I was outraged at the move.  I couldn't believe it...trading away a 1st round pick after only 3 years? And only getting a 5th rounder in return?  That sounds like your giving up on a high-potential guy a bit early, and I didn't see the logic in it.

Let's look back at Ginn's 3-year career with the Dolphins:

Ginn clearly didn't live up to the expectations that he carries as a Top 10 pick in the 2007 Draft.   He had a breakout season in 2008, but couldn't put it together '09. But what I see from these stats, is just this:  A 3rd receiver who can stretch the field with long routes, as well as our team's primary kick and punt returner.

We all hoped for more than that from Ginn, but we traded away a solid 3rd receiver and a top returner in the league for a 5th round pick? 

Ginn clearly couldn't handle the load and the burden that was put on his shoulders, as fans and the team expected him to be a top target who would produce 1,000+ yards per year.  That didn't work, but Ginn would be so valuable in the receiving group we had last year and again this year (take out Gates, which I'll get to in a moment).  As a defense, you absolutely can't let him go man-to-man with no safety help.   Not only is he as fast a lightning, but he's actually a good route runner.  He could make the little moves that could freeze a defender as he blew by.  It didn't really matter that he could do that a few years ago because teams would always have safety help while the defense happily took a one-on-one with Greg Camarillo.

I said I would get to Edmund Gates later, and later is now.  Sparano and Ireland are content with giving away Ginn for a 5th rounder, and then 2 years later try to draft his replacement in the 4th round.  Think about it...Gates will serve the same role in the offense this year as Ginn would if he were still in town (except I'll take Ginn now over Gates now).  They are both incomplete receivers, guys who are somewhat one-dimensional.  Gates' role in the offense this year as the 4th receiver will be to run deep to move the safeties and stretch the field, and run some short routes and try to gain YAC with him speed.  Gates might also be used on Kick Returns because he starred in college at that.  If you think about substituting Ginn in for Gates on the roster, he would do pretty much the same things. 

So what's the difference between them?  Ginn is a proven bona-fide returner on both kicks and punts, and also is somewhat considerable as a polished route runner (watch the moves he makes in the TD video below, at :45).  Gates will probably not become the type of returner Ginn is.  And Gates might not even develop into a solid 3rd target reciever.

I was on Ted Ginn's bandwagon.  I loved the guy, and I thought he would have a long career as a Dolphin.  I knew he would never have success as a #1, or even #2 receiver.  But I felt if the Phins could get 2 good targets (they did, Marshall and Bess, and Hartline too), allowing Ginn to be the 3rd or 4th guy with not alot of pressure on him, he would thrive.  We all saw what he could do on returns, and he showed it again this sunday be returning 2 kicks to the house in a 49ers jersey.  I think he'll be the latest Devin Hester...teams will strategically kick away from him, giving the team solid field position on a consistent basis.  And we gave gim up for a 5th round pick.

I won't make this a completely negative post, however.  I mean, we did use that 5th round pick to take Nolan Carroll, who is looking pretty decent right now.  He was pretty decent on kick returns last season, but didn't appear to have the ability to break a big one the way Ginn can.  He should also be good in the nickelback/dimeback role this season.  A 5th round pick could've completely busted, but Carroll seems like he was a good pick.

Either way, I wish we still had Ted Ginn Jr., so he could be returning kicks to the house for us, and creating big-play TD magic like he did on Monday Night Football vs the Jets;  and it doesn't feel like it was that long ago...

The best part of it is that he rented out Revis' Island without asking him first (and without paying).

Oh well, I'll drink some Gin(n) and forget about the whole situation. Then I'll proceed by watching the Dolphins vs Patriots tonight on Monday Night Football.