I've thought this particular thought for months and months now, and have even shared it with others in all sorts of different settings, from the Ojus barber shop to the Hallandale Beach Post Office and the Publix grocery store on Hallandale Beach Blvd., whenever I've heard someone opining out loud about what the Dolphins really need to help make themselves relevant again, and end their many years of despair in the wilderness.
I've continued to think this even while listening to some particularly foolish Miami sports talk radio suggesting, in all seriousness(!), that a.) the Dolphins draft yet another QB with their first pick in April's NFL draft, or, b.) equally implausibly to me, draft down.
Finally, last night, over Thanksgiving turkey with my nephew Mario up in Pembroke Pines, I said it was a no-brainer: with the first choice in the 2008 NFL draft, for the good of their team and the delicate psyches of their fans, the Dolphins simply MUST, MUST, MUST draft Arkansas' do-it-all offensive dynamo, Darren McFadden, playing the role of Reggie Bush.
http://www.5darrenmcfadden.com/SportSelect.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=6100&SPID=2420
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/player/profile?playerId=170928
http://www.mcfaddenforheisman.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APEFj8Glx7Q aka The Ultimate Weapon - Arkansas' Darren McFadden
Having watched this afternoon's Razorback upset of LSU at Baton Rouge -Buh-bye LSU in BCS title game in New Orleans- I've seen nothing to give me pause and re-think my intuition that the Dolphins grab McFadden, toute-de-suite!
And in any case, as history suggests on my blog, I have a soft spot for folks from Arkansas.
They've seldom let me down.
As for Kentucky QB Andre Woodson, whom I absolutely love -the spirals in his passes are both silly & mesmerizing- I'd happily grab him in a heartbeat if I wasn't so high on John Beck's leadership upside. I suspect he'll wind up with the Jets, who should've learned their lesson with U of L QBs from the Browning Nagle experience, and take a pass on Brian Brohm.
As for LSU's inconsistent DT Glenn Dorsey, who's been exposed a lot in the second half of the season, perhaps never more so than in a particularly glaring example when CBS-TV's broadcast crew called him out for his invisible play, right before a play where Razorback fullback Peyton Hillis ran right thru Dorsey's spot on his way to a long TD, his stock is going down like a rock.For next year, to replace the often incoherent offense and inconsistent play-calling -but with an offensive line that's played much better than could've been expected, thanks to Hudson Houck's coaching- let's start with a of John Beck at QB, Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams at RB, Ted Ginn, Jr. and Marty Booker at the wide-out spots, with McFadden coming in every few plays at different positions to mix-it up a bit, and catch somebody in one-on-one coverage with a slow-stepped LB, or to -yes- "split the seam. "
I like Cam Cameron a lot and NOT simply because he's both a former Hoosier player and coach, and someone that one of my cute former Alpha Chi housemates at Colonial Crest Apts. once dated while he was the back-up QB at IU.
(That was about 10-12 years before Trista Rehn was an Alpha Chi at IU, and 20 years after longtime SouthBeachHoosier legal eagle favorite Victoria Toensing of DC was there. My six-degrees of Cam will be the subject of an upcoming SBH post, one that's been long in the planning.)
I honestly do believe that Cam's got the right kind of character traits and a willingness to adapt, that can lead him to becoming, in time, one of the best coaches in the NFL, even as he's made far too many bad choices in this his first year.
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/dolphins/content/sports/epaper/2007/11/20/a1c_stoda_1120.html
But honestly, IF he can't succeed with all these guys on offense next season, after having gone thru a complete traing camp together, with everyone "on the same page," Cam will be "Gone with the Wind" before the end of the 2008 season. And rightfully so.
Hmmm... Dontrelle Willis, Dwyane Wade and Darren McFadden all in South Florida?
I can see lots of W's with these D's.
Yeah, I'll take their natural talent, self-evident desire and strong work-ethic any day.
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Something to think about from the Palm Beach Post's Dolphin beat reporter Edgar Thompson in his forum Q&A chat of Tuesday November 20th, http://www.palmbeachpost.com/dolphins/content/sports/dolphins/chats/112007.html
"...A longtime NFL observers recently told me there’s no team even close to the Dolphins when it comes to botching the draft in the past 10 years. From 1998 to 2003, the Dolphins had 59 draft picks and picked 46 players and used 13 picks in trades. With the return of Ricky W, only one player of the group remains on the team. Wayne H knows this and knows it’s time to do something about it. The scouting department is the logical place to begin. Of the Dolphins’ 14 scouts and player personnel people besides Mueller, six have been around for more than eight seasons. Four have been around for 11 seasons or more. It appears to be time for a shake-up in the scouting department. I don’t know enough about the behind-the-scenes workings of the NFL, but it seems to be pretty clear these guys have been missing on players for a long, long time. I have to believe Randy M, in 22 seasons in the NFL, knows who some of the top scouts are out there. Wayne H needs to open his checkbook and get a couple of them..."
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