Miami Dolphins 2012 Draft Grade: The Community Review

The Miami Dolphins' 2012Draft concluded on Saturday, and since then, most of the talk has been about the team's draft grade. On the Phinsider, we have taken a series of polls grading each individual draft pick, starting Monday morning with Ryan Tannehill and ending this morning with Rishard Matthews.

Using the grades given, and the immediate reaction to each pick that was posted as the picks happened throughout the draft, we not have an idea of how we, as a Phinsider community and as Dolphins fans, view the individual picks, and the overall draft, for Miami.

At the end of this, we'll see if you agree with the marks given.

First up is obviously Tannehill. The Dolphins have been searching for a replacement for Dan Marino since 1999. As the team enters their 13th season since Marino retired, they have drafted their first round one quarterback since Marino. There is a lot of pressure on Tannehill, even as fans realize, he may not be ready to start in week one of the 2012 season.

During the initial reaction to each pick, the vote was for "Ecstatic," "Happy," "Neutral," "Disappointed," and "Worst Pick Ever." For the comparison purposes, I equated each of those to an A-F grade.

Player	Initial Grade	Second Grade
Ryan Tannehill	B-	A-

The says off from the intial draft grades to the second sets of votes seems to have brought more people to the side of liking the Tannehill pick. I think there is no doubt, this was the right pick for Miami. Obviously, Mike Sherman knows Tannehill, and believes he can be an NFL quarterback. If he convinced Joe Philbin and Jeff Ireland that Tannehill was the guy, then they did the right thing, grabbing him at the number eight spot.

In the second round, the Dolphins looked to upgrade their offensive line, adding Stanford tackle Jonathan Martin. As the college football and NFL seasons concluded, Martin was orginally projected to be a top ten pick in the draft, and was battling with Iowa's Riley Reiff to be the second tackle selected after Matt Kalil. In fact, while many mock drafts had MIami selecting Reiff, there were still plenty of people who believed the eighth pick would be used on Martin. Instead, the Dolphins were able to land the tackle in the second round.

Martin will come in and immediately compete for the starting right tackle position. While most people believe he already has the job, and he might be slotted as the starter right now, he may find the competition for the position stiffer than he expected, with Lydon Murtha coming back from injury this year. Murtha, who missed the entire 2011 season, filled in for an ailing Jake Long last preseason, and performed well at the left tackle position. The position battle between Murtha and Martin will be a fun one to watch this preseason.

Player	Initial Grade	Second Grade
Jonathan Martin	B+	A+

Just like Tannehill, Martin saw a full letter grade rise between his pick on Friday and the vote on Monday. Martin's pick is great value, at a need position, for the Dolphins, and, if he is able to beat out Murtha, will be the starter at right tackle for many years to come in Miami.

Miami made two picks in the third round, bringing defensive end Olivier Vernon from the University of Miami and Missouri tight end Michael Egnew to the team. Vernon adds a pass rush threat that the Dolphins' desperately need to take some of the attention away from Cameron Wake.

Egnew, meanwhile, adds a pass catching tight end to the Dolphins weaponry. While he is not a strong blocker, he has the ability to become a dynamic receiving tight end. He has the size to cause problems if a defensive back tries to cover him, and the athleticism to be a matchup problem for linebackers. Look for a lot of motion and different lineups from Egnew, as the team looks to gain an advantage in the passing attack.

Player	Initial Grade	Second Grade
Olivier Vernon	B-	B
Michael Egnew	B-	B+

Both third round picks saw a little up-tick from the draft reaction to now, but it seems like everyone pretty much feels the same about the Miami third round today as they did during the draft.

The Dolphins made their most aggressive move of the draft in the fourth round, moving up to the second overall pick to grab running back Lamar Miller. The University of Miami product brings decent size and great speed to the Dolphins. He can complement Reggie Bush, and has break away speed once he is out in the open. However, he has to work on his pass catching and pass-protection.

Player	Initial Grade	Second Grade
Lamar Miller	B+	A

The potential of what Miller could bring to the offense continues to see his draft grade rise among Dolphins fans. He was a borderline A- in the initial grades, and could actually be listed as an A+ grade now. Seems to be one pick most people love.

In the fifth round, the Dolphins doubled down on pass rusher, adding Oregon outside linebacker Josh Kaddu. Kaddu has the speed to be a solid pass rusher in the NFL, but lacks the coverage ability the Dolphins could be looking for in the linebacker position. Kaddu could be looking at a move to a hand in the dirt defensive end, or use in pass rushing situations as a 3-4 outside linebacker.

Player	Initial Grade	Second Grade
Josh Kaddu	C+	B-

The grade on Kaddu matched the up-tick that both Vernon and Egnew saw in their respective grades. The Kaddu pick could prove to be great value for the Dolphins, but it's really too early to know exactly what Miami has in this pick.

The sixth round saw Miami grab the wide receiver most people expected them to take earlier in the draft. Selecting Michigan State wide out B.J. Cunningham, the Dolphins were able to get a big bodied receiver, who runs solid routes. However, his lack of speed could make finding spearation difficult for him.

Player	Initial Grade	Second Grade
B.J. Cunningham	B	B+

Cunningham's grade moved slightly, as more people seemed to move from a "C" grade to a "B" grade, probably as more people get to see exactly what the Dolphins got with this selection.

The final round of the draft saw the Dolphins with two selections again. This time, they used the first pick to grab Texas defensive tackle Kheeston Randall, then nabbed their second wide receiver of the draft, University of Miami's Rishard Matthews.

Player	Initial Grade	Second Grade
Kheeston Randall	N/A	B-
Rishard Matthews	N/A	B-

Unfortunately, we did not have a reaction poll after the seventh round picks, so all we can go by is the draft grade given now. But, both players found their way into the "B" range of grades, coming in with B-'s.

Overall, it seems that the fans believe the Dolphins had a solid B draft. There's a lot of hope that these draft picks pan out, especially, and obviously, Tannehill. DO you agree with these draft grades, and with Miami having a B draft? Let us know in the comments below.