The Dolphins Trade for 6 - Wandering Owner Talk - Take Kyle Pitts, Please

 It’s taken me some time to process the last - whatever - ten days or so of football news.

Since I learned about the Deshaun Watson allegations, my football brain has gone on hold. Waiting for there to be damning movement on either side of this thing. But I don’t want to talk about Deshaun Watson. I feel like I need to, at some point, but now isn’t that time.

Miami traded their third overall pick for the 49ers 12th overall, then the 12th overall to the Eagles for the 6th. There were some other pieces that moved in that, but Miami ends up with two 1s in next year’s draft anyway.

Let’s take a moment to give Chris Grier a round of applause. I know he’s been getting applause since the trade was finalized. But let’s just keep taking moments to applaud him.

In an effort to try to spark feeling like I had something different to say than all the people paid to spew words about the Dolphins and the NFL at large, I flipped through headlines out of Miami. Seems like mock drafts are where the clicks are going. I’m not interested in mock drafts. What I am interested in is this idea out of Miami sports fans that this team isn’t going to get good quickly and be good for a long time.

I couldn’t disagree more.

These guys have a plan, and they’re leaving breadcrumbs for the fans to follow it. Coaches and GMs speak in code. You hear talking heads lose their minds over phrases like, “He’s our Quarterback - for now.” Because that means something. It means they’re trying to move him. When coaches and GMs aren’t talking about their players, aren’t giving answers about their players, it’s because they’ve already said what needs to be said. 

Tua Tagovailoa is the Miami Dolphins’ Quarterback for the foreseeable future.

I appreciate that Tua isn’t Justin Herbert at this stage of their NFL careers. But Herbert wasn’t Tua in college - you know, the last time he played on a fully healthy hip. You see a lot of hype about Tua working out. Good for him for getting that out there. Let the critics - and the fans - see him using his body with no pain or apparent limitations. Not gonna lie, I didn’t watch.

The NFL, for me, isn’t interesting as a cult of personality. But it is interesting from a problem-solving standpoint. How are the Dolphins going to get over the hump of mediocrity? The answer was clear enough over the last twenty years that it wasn’t going to be by chasing offensive linemen high in the draft and signing pricey free agents. For years my only real hypothesis was that Miami was deep in a crisis of ownership.

It’s not popular to talk about how ownership impacts a franchise. Mostly because the owners of said franchises either own, are invested in, or have lawyers who can quickly call media outlets if the wrong thing is said. I’m not a media outlet, and I don’t know those owners, and I’m still aware that anything I say about them could get construed as libel.

But I haven’t heard or seen Stephen Ross since Brian Flores’s introductory press conference. 

Now, I’m not looking for him. He’s a billionaire - and a Trump supporter, for what it’s worth - I am not among his fans. But I think the Kenny Stills stuff kinda brought all that out in the open - for the better? I’m not sure. The team has certainly been less distracted and prone to making Jerry Jones-type decisions. Is that Ross learning? Or is that Ross doing what a good owner should do and stepping back and letting the professionals be professionals?

When you buy a car, it’s fun to tinker with it. To get in and act like you know how it works and to make decisions about its future. A business is little different to these people - billionaires. The best ones know that if they want their car or business to run and look the best, they give it to people who actually do know what they’re doing.

Anyway, I’m optimistic about the Miami Dolphins’ future. 

At the number 6 spot, they don’t really have competition for a pass catcher. You know where I’m going with this if you’ve seen me Tweet: Kyle Pitts is an easier sell to the fanbase at 6 than three. Especially when you see so many mock drafts having him go between 7 and 17. But let’s enjoy the journey for a moment.

The Atlanta Falcons are not likely to go pass catcher. The offense is not and has not been the problem. Getting Julio Jones the ball in the endzone has. But that’s a coordinator issue. Not one of talent. (I’ve been seeing Patrick Surtain II going to Atlanta a lot. It would be neat if he could find his way to Miami on his second or third contract) 

The Cincinnati Bengals might go pass catcher, with AJ Green taking his walking papers to Arizona. But I would be shocked. They’re a meat and potatoes organization. Don’t be surprised if they go offensive line. Gotta protect Joe Burrow, and I’m not sure they’re sold on Zac Taylor as a head coach. They won’t move from him. But I wouldn’t be surprised if they try to stack this team with talent over the next few years and you start hearing rumors the guy just can’t get it did.

That leaves Miami at 6 with, potentially all the pass catchers on the board.

If it’s me, and I’m playing Madden, and I’ve already exploited three other teams for draft picks this this draft, I trade back. I know I said Chris Grier wouldn’t mess this pick up. I know I said trading back is for GMs who get squeamish. And usually I mean that. But everything Miami might want, and my top player overall is still on the board. So let’s look at who’s next.

The Detroit Lions are taking a pass catcher. Do they take Kyle Pitts? Actually, we could probably stop this exercise right here, and damn if Chris Grier doesn’t look even more like a genius to me. The Lions have Dan Campbell at the helm. Dan Campbell was a Tight End. Dan Campbell has Jared Goff to make look good. TJ Hockenson was good in college. Sure, they need to replace their Wide Receivers, but you know how I feel about Tight Ends versus Wide Receivers - give me two pass catching Tight Ends over two Wide Receivers any day. Yeah, wow. Scrolling through this draft, between 6 and 12 are the Lions, Giants, and Eagles. Teams who have Quarterbacks to bolster.

Just give me Kyle Pitts at 6 and let’s roll! 

I’m laughing at myself. I should have researched this. It might have been a more pleasant read… but I didn’t. And I had fun sharing the experience with you.

Thanks for reading! Maybe I’ll sort my thoughts about Deshaun Watson someday - or I’ll actually look at the runners in this draft class. We’ll see, won’t we?