Riley Reiff to Dolphins at No. 8? Are you kidding?

Riley Reiff is a good football player, OK? I have nothing against the offensive tackle from the University of Iowa. I have watched a couple of games in which he has played and he's always performed well enough.

And that, coupled with his size and ability and smarts, is a reason he's considered a top of the first round type of talent. But to the Dolphins? Are you kidding me?

God, I hope not.

Seems Reiff to the Dolphins is a popular stream of thought among NFL draft analysts. ESPN's Mel Kiper penciled Reiff to Miami in his first and only (so far) mock draft. NFL Network talent analyst Bucky Brooks similarly has Reiff going to the Dolphins with the eighth overall selection. And NFL Network reporter Steve Wyche has the Dolphins picking Reiff as well.

I get it.

Reiff is an offensive tackle. He's perfect for the Dolphins to fill the void at right tackle -- even though he played left tackle at Iowa. And, of course, his connections to Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz makes him a natural for the Dolphins because Miami coaches Joe Philbin and Mike Sherman know and respect Ferentz and value his players.

But ...

Riley Reiff, for all his attributes and gifts and the logic of filling an obvious void, would be a terrible pick for the Dolphins at No. 8. Why?

Value.

There is simply not a great deal of value of picking a right tackle in the top 10 selections of the draft. No, there's no rule that says this is a fact. No, there's no philosophy or statistic that has proven this to be the case. But work with me for a second and let me state my case ...

{UPDATE: Since posting this, I got a call from an NFL scout who reads the blog and he told me he has Reiff as a guard. And he said he's not alone in the thinking. So there's that.]

The draft is not only picking the right players, but also getting them in the right round to maximize their value. And in the top 10 a team with so many needs as Miami has should not be investing on a player that neither will score points, nor prevent points from being scored. The offensive right tackle will never, not even on his best day, throw a TD pass, or intercept a pass, or sack the quarterback, strip him of the ball and run it in for a TD. He will never make a game-changing play.

And that game-changer is the only kind of player that brings value to a team in the top 10 picks.

Said another way, I want my team to pick a quarterback, a cornerback, a wide receiver, a 3-4 OLB or 4-3 DE. I want playmakers drafted in the top 10.

I do not want grunts.

Grunts are wonderful additions later.

Why?

Because grunts don't lead a team to the playoffs or the Super Bowl. Playmakers lead teams to the playoffs or the Super Bowl.

That doesn't mean I am against drafting offensive linemen later in the first round or anytime after that. And some special offensive linemen deserve top 10 consideration depending on a team's relative needs and whether the player is a left tackle or center.

But a right tackle? Or a guard?

In the top 10?

Quick, who was Green Bay's right tackle this year while they went 15-1? Quick, who was the last right tackle to be named NFL MVP or even his own team's MVP?

Yeah, thought so.

A top 10 pick is a premium, premium draft choice. It should be used to select premium, premium NFL playmakers.

And right tackles, no matter how gifted, do not qualify. Reiff, by the way, is No. 77 in the video below.