I was just reading Jeff Darlington's Q&A over on the Miami Herald's website and two of his responses peeked my attention. The first one is about Matt Ryan and where John Beck would rank if he was in this draft. The second is Jeff's view on why the Dolphins won't be able to trade the #1 pick.
A: I'm actually not expecting the Dolphins to draft a quarterback on the first day of this year's draft. I just think this team has too many other needs. Plus, Flacco, in my opinion, doesn't come close to comparing with John Beck's potential. If Beck were in this draft, I think we'd be talking about him in the same breath as Matt Ryan.
Like Jeff, I, too, am thinking that the Dolphins will not take a QB in the first two rounds of the draft. I've said it before and I'll say it again: I think this new regime has been pleasantly surprised by John Beck. And what Darlington says about Beck compared to Matt Ryan is something I, too, was thinking about. I believe I brought up the idea in the past that if Matt Ryan was in last year's draft, he likely would have been taken right around the same spots as Kevin Kolb and John Beck. So how could any team take Ryan in the top 5 of this year's draft if he would likely be a late first or early second rounder in 2007?
The fact that Darlington actually likes Beck's potential more so than Ryan's is very encouraging. And like many of you know, I'm 100% in agreement with Darlington that Beck has far more potential than Joe Flacco or any other 2nd tier QB in this draft. So taking a QB in round 2 would be a giant waste of a pick.
The other interesting nugget is below:
A: I understand the implications of the salary cap when a No. 1 overall pick doesn't work out, and I also understand that Miami would still like to trade out of the spot, but there's one problem with all of this: They don't have a choice at this point. Every other team views that selection with the same eyes as the Dolphins. All that said, there's still some talented players available at the top of the board, and I think the Dolphins will get somebody who can have an impact on this team for a very long time.
I find this interesting in light of Jeff Ireland's statement yesterday in which he claims the Dolphins have indeed fielded some calls about the #1 pick. More than likely, Jeff was smokescreening (if that's a word - hell it should be) by saying what he said. I'm more inclined to take Darlington's side here and believe that interest in trading up to the #1 spot is very minimal, if there is any at all.
Oh, and by the way, change is coming to The Phinsider. You may not recognize the site come the middle of next week, but there surely will be the same old banter and bickering going on. For a preview of what the new site will look like, head over here. More on this in the coming days. But just two things I want to point out. One: you will have to "claim" your old account game so that you can get all your posts and comments back as archives. I wouldn't suggest changing your name when it does come time to claim your account. I'd hold off on that for a while. Two: one of the best new features will be "auto-refreshing" comments that update in real time when a new comment is made. That means more lively game threads. And we'll be able to have that feature for the draft, which will be HUGE! Again, more on this as Wednesday approaches.