Not much except the lockout

I have no news to report on the Miami Dolphins because the NFL lockout is still in effect. The labor dispute is now in the courts, with a hearing scheduled for September 12. September?? That's after the regular season is supposed to start! I don't see how this is good for any of the parties involved -- the owners, the players, and especially the fans.

Dolphins don't draft a QB

The Dolphins ended up with a second round pick after all. Unfortunately, they had to give up their third, fifth, and seventh round picks for the privilege of moving up to select Kansas State RB Daniel Thomas. Thomas had good stats in college, but he isn't known as a fast running back. With their fourth round pick, Miami selected Abilene Christian WR Edmund Gates. Gates will be a project, but he is fast and can help on kick returns. The last three picks are FB Charles Clay, DT Frank Kearse, and DB Jimmy Wilson. I don't know anything about these three players.

Interestingly, Miami didn't draft a quarterback, which everyone (including me) expected them to do. Ryan Mallett, the QB most often associated with the Dolphins before the draft, fell to New England in the third round. We'll see if the Dolphins made a mistake in not picking Mallett.

Dolphins draft C Pouncey in first round

It wasn't the sexy QB pick that some hoped for, but the Dolphins did a good job with their first round selection by picking center Mike Pouncey from Florida. Pouncey may be best known in NFL circles for his brother Maurkice, who made the Pro Bowl as a rookie with the Steelers last year. If Miami's Pouncey is nearly as successful, the Dolphins have made a good choice. I'm just glad the Dolphins didn't reach for a player or pick someone because of outside pressure, as they've done in previous years (can you say Eddie Moore?).

Unfortunately, the Dolphins weren't able to trade down and gain a second round pick this year. Barring any last minute trades, Miami has seven picks remaining in this year's draft.

Who will the Dolphins draft #1?

It's almost draft time again. Who will the Dolphins pick this year? Will it be a quarterback? A running back? Will they trade down to get more draft choices, especially a second rounder because they don't have one this year?

The mock drafts I've seen are all over the place. Some have the Dolphins picking RB Mark Ingram from Alabama (as likely as any pick I can think of if Miami doesn't trade out of the #15 pick. Others have the Dolphins going with defense (an unlikely scenario IMHO). One even has QB Cam Newton dropping down to the Dolphins at #15. My personal hope is that the Dolphins wait to see if a highly ranked player drops to them, and if not, trade down for more draft picks. There's no one rated the 15th best player on anyone's draft board who makes me salivate and believe that he's not worth trading down for.

NFL Labor Talks trump Dolphins news

There hasn't been much news on the Miami Dolphins front lately. The league has been focused on labor talks instead, and rightly so, because without an agreement in place, everything else is moot. Let's hope the owners and players reach an agreement soon so that we have a full NFL season this year.

The other big event recently were the combines in Indianapolis. Cam Newton got a lot of press, but I'm still not convinced he is the Dolphins' savior. IMHO, he is no Dan Marino or even Michael Vick. There's a greater chance of him being the next Jamarcus Russell than the next Dan Marion. If I were the Dolphins, I wouldn't use the first round pick on a QB. There are other holes that can be filled with that pick.

Time to give up on Henne?

For about thirty years, the Dolphins had it good at the quarterback position with Bob Griese and Dan Marino, two Hall of Famers. It's now been more than ten years since Dan Marino retired, and the Dolphins have had fifteen starting QBs in that time span. None have been very good (except perhaps for Chad Pennington's one good season), including current starter Chad Henne. Looking at the past few Super Bowl winners, you can see that they had great quarterbacks -- Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees (who the Dolphins could have had but let slip away!), the Manning brothers, etc.

The question is, should the Dolphins continue to let Henne hold the reigns at the most important position on the team? One could argue that Henne is still young and learning, but I feel that he didn't make any progress last year, and that's worrisome. The problem is that even if the Dolphins give up on Henne, what are the options? Is there a good veteran free agent out there that the Dolphins can get? None come to mind. Is there someone they can draft? Unfortunately, none of the QB prospects in this year's draft excite me, including Cam Newton. If Andrew Luck had declared himself eligible, that would be different, but the Dolphins would have to trade up to get him. The only option I see is a trade... or wait another year with Henne and hope for better options next year.

Brian Daboll is new offensive coordinator

Brian Daboll is the Miami Dolphins' new offensive coordinator, replacing the retired Dan Henning. If you're like me, your first reaction is probably: Who?? Then you find out that he was offensive coordinator for the Cleveland Browns, whose offense was worse than Miami's. Then your next reaction is: Why??

I'm not here to defend the decision, and I certainly wonder why they picked Daboll. However, he was a WR coach for the Patriots from 2002-2006, so maybe he learned some things from Bill Belichick. He is also young at 35 years old. For the time being, I'll take a wait-and-see approach. The offense can't be worse next year than they were this year, right?