The Miami Dolphins have been on a quarterback search since Dan Marino retired (or was basically forced to retire). That search continues today.

In the 2012 NFL Draft, there will be the oppotunity to draft a dynamic athlete who is also a polished passer in Robert Griffin III. Miami should do everything possible to get him. But that will require moving up in the draft, possibly as high as pick #2. We're talking multiple draft picks, probably 2 first rounders (one this year, one next year), a second and a third or 2 second rounders (one this year, one next year).

Normally, I believe in the value of keeping draft picks or trading down to get more, but I think Miami is in the right situation to go for broke to address the quarterback position longterm.

The Dolphins have a relatively young nucleus. The defensive line (Starks, Odrick, Soliai, Langford) and linebackers (Burnett, Wake, Dansby) are either at or near their peak years. The cornerbacks (Smith, Davis, Wilson) are young, up and coming players. There are very young players at offensive line (Long, Pouncey), wide receiver (Marshall, Bess, Hartline), tight end (Clay) and running back (Thomas). There is even a quarterback in place who is in his late 20s and can hold down the fort while a rookie develops.

What does that mean? It means that Miami can afford to mortgage the future to address the quarterback position for years to come. There are needs on the roster but not so many that draft picks need to be stockpiled to address them. Needs include right tackle, right guard, tight end, and safety. All positions that can be address via free agency or in the later rounds of the draft.

Quarterback? There aren't too many sexy longterm options in free agency and we all know how difficult it is for quarterbacks taken in the later rounds to develop into franchise players.

Having a quarterback that can make all the throws and also make plays with his legs, read defenses and develop into a guy that can make it happen in crunch time is crucial for a team to turn it around. In fact, having that player can make up for a lot of deficiencies in other parts of the roster. See Brady leading the Patriots to the AFC Championship game with one of the worst defenses in the NFL as a prime example.

If the Dolphins scout RGIII and determine he has what it takes to become a franchise quarterback, this is the time to do what needs to be done to get him.

_________________

LETS DO IT!!!!!

_________________
Caution: Reply may contain sarcasm

I agree, there comes a point when ya just have too!!... if not WASH or CLE will!!

If only it were as simple as being willing to trade up. Miami also has to be able to offer the kind of compensation in terms of draft picks and/or veteran players to make our offer more appealing than the other teams' offers. Cleveland has 2 1sts and 2 4ths this year from the Julio Jones trade. If St. Louis wants to pile up picks for this year, we can't compete. On the other hand, we have a better roster to be able to offer a veteran or two in the mix. The Rams sure could use help on the defensive side of the ball...

One thing Miami needs is to get lucky. I mean finding a Pro Bowl player in Rd. 5 or 6. If I wrong someone let me know. Miami has not had a late Rd. pick develop into that type player since Zach Thomas.

That is too long. Maybe its the constant change over at HC, but a team cannot be that bad at developing players.

I mean finding a Pro Bowl player in Rd. 5 or 6. If I wrong someone let me know. Miami has not had a late Rd. pick develop into that type player since Zach Thomas.

Finding a franchise QB is number 1. Like you said though, it would be nice to find a LB or safety late and be a stud.

Could not agree more.

Opinions are all over the place with Griffin. But if Ireland and his staff feels he will be the guy, there is no price that is too high.

Plus, Miami has A LOT of cap room to work with in Free Agency. I'm not cap expert, but the other day I calculated where Miami's salary is, based off of recently released salaries by the Palm Beach Post, and adding prorated signing bonuses to those numbers. I came out with a salary number of 91.5 million for 2012. That gives Miami plenty of room to resign Langford and/or Soliai, and still add some pieces in Free Agency. The cap is also going to spike in 2013 with new TV deals, so resigning young players in a year or two won't be an issue. Losing a couple of early draft picks should not inhibit our ability to put a quality team on the field.

With the AFC being as weak as it is, right now is the time to go all out for a QB. Let's do whatever it takes.

I'm all aboard the quarterback train, but if we're going to trade up I want it to be for Luck. Griffin just seems like a huge risk. I know I know...who cares? It's a quarterback in the 1st round and a talented one and why not take a risk when we haven't for so long and it hasn't worked?

I'm just skeptical is all. I have concerns with 1. his style and 2. his accuracy. He's got an arm that can throw it pretty good, but he's stiff arming linemen in the college ranks and that simply won't work in the NFL. No, he's not petite like Vick, but he's not a monster like Newton. He's in the middle, and Vick is ridiculously fast and Newton is huge, so if Griffin is just average he's going to need to be able to throw the ball consistently.
Tebow has gotten away with it, but I just don't see that working out for them.

Anyway, that was probably one of the flakier posts I've written.

_________________

He's as fast as Vick and is a much more polished passer than either Vick or Newton were coming out.

He's also got incredible intangibles and showed huge improvement each year at Baylor. He's certainly not as safe as Luck, but Luck isn't available. It's either Griffin, or settling/reaching for 2nd/3rd tier talent.

We don't need to find a Pro Bowler in round 5 or 6. A solid starter would be enough.

And who cares, if you have a franchise quarterback...

_________________

I've been campaigning for Robert Griffin for months now on this board. He is going to turn some team's fortunes around. Could be Cleveland, could be us.

I could honestly care less if we have a hole at safety or guard. You win with a quarterback. All other pieces go to waste without a top flight QB. Just look at what the Pats and Colts have been doing with inferior rosters. Who cares how much young talent you have if you don't have the Quarterback.

I cerainly agree that RGIII would change the dynamic of this team and be a an exciting draft pick fo us to look forward to. But I don't know if I like the idea of trading two first round picks and possibly more to get him.

I think it would be worth it if we knew we could address other team needs (RT, RG, TE, OLB, FS, Wr?) through free agency.

One of the things about drafting top caliber lineman which I like is that they can usually be plugged right in and contribute. So I don't hate the idea of taking one this year;s top linemen in the first and addressing other team needs, including Qb, in the following rounds.

RG3 would make it very difficult to address the oline immediately through the draft this year and ensure we have a full line of great young players. I thought the line was seriously at fault for the lack of offensive production we saw in the beginning of the season.

If it wasn't for Matt Moore I 'd say trade everything for RG3. But I like Moore enough to want to see what he can do with a beefed up oline and a defense that shows up to play from week 1 and not week 8.

_________________

We'll have a better idea of where this goes once Washington and Cleveland decide how they are going to handle the QB situation. If Griffin is that legit then both of those teams should be willing to offer what Miami is, only a better version of it. However, Cleveland could decide they need more pieces and might be better suited to gamble on Flynn while using picks to acquire weapons to surround him with. Washington may be in the same boat but I'm not sure they're as bad off in the talent department as Cleveland.

Cleveland is in the best position to go up and get RG3. They have to draft pick ammo we don't have.

You can address all those needs and not have a franchise quarterback and be an also-ran. Or you can acquire that franchise quarterback who trumps a lot of those needs because he becomes your playmaker on offense.

I'll take acquiring the franchise quarterback over trying to fill those positions.



How many later round QBs succeed versus 1st round QBs? The probability isn't even close. We've been trying to address the QB position with picks in the "following" rounds or through trades or free agency for over a decade.

Meanwhile, teams that take 1st round QBs are having a higher probability of success with those players because they are getting better at developing them (Matt Ryan, Matthew Stafford and Cam Newton come to mind).



And addressing the offensive line will prevent us from seriously addressing the most important position on the roster.



Having Matt Moore makes getting RGIII make even more sense. Now you have a guy in place who can at minimum be a caretaker while you give your young QB time to develop.

If you only stick with Matt Moore and he doesn't work out, you're back to where you were before and the Dolphins continue to wallow in mediocrity.

Better to have a serious plan B than no plan B at all.

_________________

That may be so, but that doesn't preclude us from making a move. You can have the ammo, but you also need the will. And as was mentioned before, we have some chips on the roster to put down on the poker table as well.

_________________

I certainly understand this perspective. And to be honest, I am not very sure about who is available through FA that we can get to immediately help the line or some of our other needs. Any idea of who is out there?

If RGIII can have the impact that Cam Newton or any of those guys you mentioned above has had, I'm in.

_________________

Let me get this straight. You were against keeping Ireland in the driver's seat or here at all if it meant landing Fisher, yet you give him enough credit to accurately determine if Griffin is the real deal or not? I'm confused....

As far as Griffin goes, I'm not saying he is this or that. I will say that he has a high boom or bust factor to him though. He arose meteorically this year to grab the Heisman. Those types of players sometimes workout, and sometimes are horrible (Jemarcus Russell, Vernon Gholsten, Darrius Heyward-Bay). I shudder to think of us giving up so much to move up an get a guy who has that much risk. If he didn't pan out, we would be screwed in the draft for the next two years. At least we wouldn't be screwed with his contract though (thank goodness for rookie payscales). I'm just not sure Griffin is the type of player you take that much risk for. Again though, I don't know that he isn't, I'm just stating my concern here.

Sorry not a clue. And we don't need worldbeaters on the offensive line, just role players that are going to help glue the unit with Long and Pouncey.

Still, the priority has to be QB.



And understandably, that is always the IF with rookie QBs. We can spend all that on RGIII and he flops and we're in the same place or worse (if that's possible).

But sometimes you have to take a risk for greatness rather than play it safe and keep going .500 or below every year.

RGIII would have to be part of a larger strategy. If we are going to get him, we would need to have a coach in place that has experience developing QBs. Whether it is a Pete Carmichael Jr or a Rob Chudzinkski, you need a guy that understands the position.

This, by the way, is the strategy Green Bay deployed with Mike McCarthy and Aaron Rodgers.

You get a talented, smart QB in here and you find a coach that knows how to develop QBs and you have a winner. I think all of these QBs, Bradford, Ryan, Sanchez, etc have the tools to win in the NFL. Some have been fortunate to have a good staff in place to help them develop, others have not.

The best example of this is Alex Smith out of San Fran. Coming out, he had all the necessary tools to succeed as a QB, including pretty good mobility, but he had 7 different OCs or whatever his first 5 years. Now he has a head coach with knowledge of the position (former NFL QB, helped develop Andrew Luck) and he is getting it.

_________________

Let me get this straight. You were against keeping Ireland in the driver's seat or here at all if it meant landing Fisher, yet you give him enough credit to accurately determine if Griffin is the real deal or not? I'm confused

I don't remember Rich saying Ireland in his post.

You don't have it straight. Not even close.



I think you need to look at his numbers the previous year. They were pretty darn good. He was also good his rookie season as well. He isn't a one-year wonder.

_________________

I know you edited your post, but I think you were right on the money with what you removed LOL....

And you are right, I never said that.

_________________

What, an insult?

You were upset because Ross wasn't in favor of Fisher bringing in his own GM or having final say over Ireland. Isn't that right?

My question is that if you have that little confidence in Ireland as a GM, why would you trust him to give up two drafts to move up and get the right QB?
If I'm wrong I sincerely apologize. Maybe I have you pegged for someone else....?

What, an insult?


No I did not insult you. The post added nothing to the thread so i deleted it. Rich got to see it before I deleted it.

Like I said, you're wrong. First of all, I wasn't upset. My blog was not posted out of emotion but rather out of seeing what has been happening with this franchise since Stephen Ross has taken over as owner. I thought I clarified that in the thread and pointed to the stumbling, bumbling approach to talking to Jim Harbaugh last year. I also defended Ireland's role in that whole fiasco. Not to mention, I have repeatedly pointed out that Ireland has only had total control of personnel moves for this season now that Parcells is gone.

I never said I wanted Fisher to hire his own GM, not sure where you pulled that from, or that he should have final say OVER Ireland.

Have you gone back and looked at RGIII's stats before this season yet?

_________________

Right away he thought it was an insult...lol






It was not an insult.

_________________

Ok, I apologize. I didn't get my facts straight it appears.


I'll check it out now.

http://espn.go.com/college-football/pla ... riffin-iii

Robert Griffin III
CAREER STATS
SEASON CMP ATT YDS CMP% YPA LNG TD INT SACK RAT
2011 291 402 4293 72.4 10.68 87 37 6 27 189.5
2010 304 454 3501 67.0 7.71 94 22 8 20 144.2
2009 45 69 481 65.2 6.97 42 4 0 4 142.9
2008 160 267 2091 59.9 7.83 61 15 3 28 142.0

His numbers look pretty good last year too. His TD/INT ratio is very good. The thing that jumps out to me most though is the extraordinary amount of sacks the guy took. For a mobile qb, you would expect that number to be much much lower. I wonder the quality of offensive line he has? I didn't notice from his highlight real that he held the ball very long, but then again that is highlights not lowlights.

Really, you think 20-27 sacks is a lot in an 11 game season? That's less than 3 sacks a game. The Dolphins allowed something like 52 sacks this season.

Also, look at his rushing stats. 8 TDs in 2010, 10 TDs in 2011.

_________________

I didn't see his running stats.
I do think the amount of sacks he took was quite a bit. He gave up an average of 25 a season when you take away his sophmore year (when he was hurt). For comparison, and I did this, look at the sack numbers for random qbs, such as: Luck, Tannehil, Jones, Thomas (Oregon - mobile qb), McCarron, Lee (LSU - mobile qb). I just chose these guys at random, but their sack totals are significantly lower. Maybe they had solid olines and Baylor's sucked? I don't know....

In comparison, those numbers do seem high. Still, the production is there and he isn't a one year wonder as some have stated on these forums. He has been production his entire career, he just gets significantly better this year.

The biggest concern I have is the level of competition he played against.

_________________

I am completely on board with moving up to get RGIII

I disagree. We'll see what his time is at the combine, but he's currently listed at 4.5 40 time, which is no where near Vick's 4.2 times.

I really don't know how much better Griffin is than Tyrod Taylor....I believe RG is MUCH more consistent throwing the ball as Taylor, but other than that?

_________________

If you believe he is the man then you get it done. I don't see any other way we are going to get the franchise QB unless you somehow pull off a deal for Luck. Who knows which one will be better? Make a decision and go for it.

Against ranked teams last season, (6 games), he was:

141-204, 69% completions
23 total TD's (20 passing, 3 rushing), 5 INT's
2359 passing yards, 190 rushing yards

That's a 130.3 NFL QB rating, non including the rushing stats. Also consider that Baylor wasn't even on the map without Griffin.

The other day on ESPN they were comparing Vick to RG3, and they had a figure up comparing their 40's. Griffin's was faster. Can't remember the exact numbers, but it was like 4.31 vs. 4.35 or something. I'll try and find it if I can.

I know Griffin placed 3rd in the country as a Freshman in the 400 meter. The guy can fly.

The Rams and thier new head dick, opps, I mean Coach, get to stick it to the Fins again when they trade down with Cleveland. Says so On PFT. Sure it was the QB Jeffie.

Lets just say for the pure sake of argument here that Vick and RGIII would/will have similar careers (minus taking a couple years off for killing dogs). Would you give up two firsts and two other first day picks to get Vick (hypothetical/alternate reality of course)?