That's the question that I've been pondering for months now. And I still can't decide. Generally, though, I see the wide receiver position as a luxury - not a need. After all, the Patriots won three Super Bowls without a great receiver. In fact, in two of their three Championship seasons, they didn't even have a 1,000 yard receiver. But the last four Super Bowls were won by teams that do have at least one true #1 receiver (Steelers, Giants, and Colts). So I guess there are multiple ways to win championships.
But back to the question at hand, KC Joyner made his feelings known last week when he pointed out that WR was not Miami's greatest need. But since then, both Todd McShay and Mel Kiper have come out and said that they feel the Dolphins should take a receiver with their 25th pick. But the one statement I really question was written on Tuesday by the Miami Herald's Greg Cote. He says:
An NFL team might count itself lucky when its most obvious weakness and an upcoming draft's bounteous strength are the same. That is, the intersection of Opportunity & Need, and a team is wise to obey the signs and stop there. It means stars have aligned to assure that team of mortaring a major roster hole with major talent -- even if that team is selecting only (using a totally random number), say, 25th
Into the Dolphins' lap such a situation falls in this NFL Draft, and it means the biggest hazard facing them in Saturday's first round is overthinking their selection. Squinting so hard you don't see what's right in front of you.
This is the team to pick a wide receiver.
This is the time to pick a wide receiver.
The name of the pass-catcher to be chosen certainly is open to debate because Miami figures to have its choice of as many as four guys who are judged first-round in talent. But there shouldn't be much debate that wideout needs to be the position the Bill Parcells brain trust is homing in on come early Saturday evening.
Really? Receiver is this team's "most obvious weakness"? Am I missing something, or is one of our starting cornerbacks currently Eric Green or Jason Allen? How can you call the WR position the team's "most obvious weakness" when you have the same receivers returning that were here last year and contributed on an 11-5 division winning team? Sure - they could use an upgrade. But the Dolphins lost one of their starting corners in free agency - the CB who was arguably the team's best in 2008.
I'm sorry, Mr. Cote, but there's just no freakin' way that wide receiver is the "most obvious weakness" of this team. And there's certainly no way that there "shouldn't be much debate that wideout needs to be the position" that they target with the 25th pick. No, sir. This decision is far from clear-cut. And pretending that it is as cut and dry as you want your readers to believe is just plain wrong.
But after all these months and all this debate, I think I'm just going to enjoy draft day. After all, Jim Mandich said it best:
This much I do know -- unlike some of the idiots in the past that were drafting for us, I have great confidence in the Bill Parcells' team. In Parcells I trust. Look at last year's draft. They hit on nearly every pick. An awesome draft! And sunday afternoon we are going to know this at the end of the day, the Miami Dolphins are going to be a better football team.