More Pete King

Stephen Ross is not backing down. "When you try to do big things, you're going to swing and miss sometimes,'' the Miami owner told me. "It hasn't made me a shrinking violet.''

Ross told me he never offered his coach job to Jim Harbaugh last year and the Dolphins didn't have the comfort level and familiarity with Peyton Manning that Denver had with him. He also said he thinks Jeff Ireland "has done a terrific job and is a great talent evaluator,'' and the way to build a winning team is primarily through the draft.

I was encouraged to see Ross be more public during the meetings. He's begun to talk to the media in south Florida more, which he needs to do, and he picked his spots nationally, as he did with me last Tuesday. "We had to get out of the bunker mentality,'' Ross said, and he's right.

This draft is extremely important for Miami. If the Dolphins love Tannehill, they have to find a way to move up for him, even at the risk of overpaying.