Miami Dolphins GM Jon-Eric Sullivan on how he rates prospects with character concerns
Miami Dolphins GM Jon-Eric Sullivan on how he rates prospects with character concerns
- Sullivan’s approach favors drafting solid, reliable players, similar to the late-round discovery of defensive lineman Zach Sieler by the Ravens.
- Miami has often found defensive gems in the fifth round, including players like Reshad Jones, Davon Godchaux, and Andrew Van Ginkel.
New Miami Dolphins general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan is making no apologies for his approach to the first NFL Draft in which he’ll have the final say.
While Sullivan has nothing against finding a generational talent, he has made it clear he’s not a fan of needlessly swinging for the fences.
“What you can’t do is swing and miss,” he said.
To continue the baseball analogy, Sullivan prefers measured cuts, assuring he makes contact.
“We’re in this thing to draft good football players,” he said. “That’s what wins games, good football players.”
A team of Zach Sielers? Where do you sign up?
If that makes sense in the abstract, it makes even more sense when you start attaching names to it. Here’s a current example of a good football player: Zach Sieler. We all know he fits the description now, but he was the 238th pick in 2018 by Baltimore, which quickly gave up on him and, well, you know the rest.
Offer Sully 11 Zach Sielers with his 11 picks this year (or maybe even half that total) and he’d sign up in less time than it takes to read the period at the end of this sentence.
Sleepers, overachievers, lunchpail guys — call them what you like, but in every draft lurks these solid players whose names aren’t screamed by Mel Kiper but who simply win games for you. Makes you wonder why this franchise has taken so many cuts at a grand slam resulting in that swing-and-miss Sullivan so dreads.
One look no further than 2013, when Jeff Ireland got the itch to trade up from 12th overall to third. So not only did defensive end Dion Jordan cost Miami that pick and a second-rounder, but the return on the investment, one can argue, didn’t even match that of fifth-round selection Caleb Sturgis — a kicker.
“I’m not going to fall into that trap of trying to be smarter than the process,” Sullivan said.
Dolphins have landed lunchpail guys like Myles Gaskin in late rounds
A little humility never hurt general managers or football players alike.
Plenty of these lunchpail guys have worn Dolphins uniforms, and you don’t have to go back to Miami’s glory days of the 1970s to realize that. Starting with the 2000 season and eliminating anyone drafted in the first four rounds either by Miami or any other NFL team, one can easily build the nucleus of a roster with examples of “good football players” who either via the draft or free agency solidified their standing in the Good Football Player Club as a Dolphin.
The Dolphins even had two such players at quarterback in the post-Dan Marino era. Jay Fiedler came aboard immediately after Dan retired, was criticized at the time for not being Marino, but in truth was considerably better than fans gave him credit for. And who would have thought that Ryan Fitzpatrick, pick No. 250 by the Rams in 2005, would have the unique career he did?
Myles Gaskin had two seasons for Miami in which he hovered around 1,000 total yards from scrimmage. All Miami had to do to land his services was trust its board and select him with the 234th pick in 2019.
Day 3 picks are the optimum time to take a slightly bigger swing than Sullivan normally would. In 2015, the Dolphins gambled on durability concerns by taking a Boise State running back in the fifth round. Who can forget that 200-yards-per-game binge Jay Ajayi went on in his second season en route to the Pro Bowl?
Long before he was the father of a Chargers receiver of the same name, undrafted Oronde Gadsden was kicked to the curb by the Dallas Cowboys and picked up by Miami, where he became a fan favorite. A four-year string of at least 674 receiving yards, plus 22 total touchdowns, probably had something to do with that.
The Dolphins were shopping for a tight end in 2011. By Round 6, they were on the clock with pick No. 174 and figured they’d take a shot at a soft-spoken guy from Tulsa. You’ll find his name, Charles Clay, on the list of the NFL’s top 100 players for 2014.
Fifth round has been sweet spot for Dolphins defensively
And we haven’t even mentioned the value of some Dolphins late-round finds on the other side of the ball, giving new meaning to the term No-Name Defense.
Yeremiah Bell was a hard-hitting safety no one wanted until the sixth round in 2003.
But if any round has been kind defensively, Miami will gladly take the fifth, even going back to the 1990s, when linebackers Bryan Cox and Zach Thomas were discovered. The Dolphins hit pay dirt in Round 5 in 2010 (safety Reshad Jones), 2017 (defensive tackle Davon Godchaux) and 2019 (linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel). Jones made the Pro Bowl; Godchaux and Van Ginkel were handed rich free-agent contracts elsewhere once their rookie deals expired.
And that doesn’t include undrafted talents at end such as Adewale Ogunleye and Cameron Wake, and defensive back Kader Kohou.
Sullivan is about to enter draft week with a stockpile of seven picks in the top 100. Hitting in the first several rounds obviously is essential.
For a team with needs almost everywhere, so is winning on Day 3.
