2009 Draft Recap

Well Dolfans we had another solid draft that we’ve come to expect from the new leadership in Davie. Say to say we didn’t make any traders for Bolin or Edwards. But we did make some nice moves for some receivers.

First pick in day 2 was for Patrick Turner, WR out of Southern California. This kid is huge, 6’5 and 223 lbs. About everything I’ve read he’s being compared to Keyshawn Johnson. If you watch his highlight video’s on the net you’ll see he’s a receiver that likes to make a huge impact on the field. Every video clip is almost touchdowns, which is what we need! Next receiver was a possible Wes Welker replacement with Brian Hartline, WR out of Ohio State. This guy also is 6’2 and 195 lbs. Brian played with Ginn in OS, and also was high rivals with Ginn during their high school years, which should make for some nice competition between them. With the 5^th round pick we picked up another tight end from Monmouth, John Nalbone. He too is 6’4 and 251 lbs. John is said to be a great receiver as well as blocker. We also had another 5^th round pick and we picked up Chris Clemmons, Safety from Clemson. With the current roster we have he must have been added to give more depth and also to add competition with cornerbacks and safeties. He definitely has a knack for finding the ball. There are several nice highlight videos on the net of him. With the last 2 picks of the draft we went for more depth in the Tackle and Linebacker positions. We added Andrew Gardner, OT from Georgia Tech which is 6’7 and 304 lbs, and also J.D. Folsom, LB from Weber State who is also 6’3 and 230 lbs. Both are solid position players who didn’t get a lot of attention coming out of college but Jeff Ireland said both have great up side. We had one more pick in the draft but we did trade that one to the Chiefs for a pick in next year’s draft. If you see one thing that was definitely noticeable in this draft is Parcells and team is looking for BIG and STRONG players, something that Tony made very clear last year.

So what’s next you may ask? Well the Dolphin leadership is already signing draft free agents. Sunday after the draft we sign Jared Bronson, TE from Central Washington. Yes if you’re counting that’s now 5 total tight ends, but check this out. This kid is also 6’4 and 255 lbs, and during his senior year missed 5 games and still finished with 502 receiving yards and 6 touchdowns. Sounds like this kid might be able to play a little. Also we’ve signed Oregon Ducks offensive lineman Mark Lewis. In college he started for the Ducks at guard his last 2 years, and has some experience at center also. So don’t think we’re done yet, because their more to come. Don’t forget Devone Bess came from the undrafted free agents.

So one last thing that’s on my mind is we didn’t really address the defensive line to much. So that means we couple possibly looking to bring Jason Taylor back. He has to be feeling like he’s chances of coming back got better after the draft. Jeff Ireland did admit that they needed to make a decision about him soon. I’m interested to see what a healthy Taylor and Porter could do to the quarterbacks in the league. Also this draft shows that the team’s leadership has a lot of confidence in Cameron Wake ability. I really can’t wait to see what this young man can do. He’s a beast and has really quick feet. So the next step toward a champion it the rookie mini camp. Talk to you soon,