Once again this draft day, the Dolphins go into the selection process hoping to work the phones to get back a second round pick to overcome a trade or other transaction that led the team to give up the pick.
The second round has been interesting for the Dolphins the past decade. It has been the team's most active round. It has been the quarterback round for Miami, as four quarterbacks were brought to the team as a result of second round investments. The second round, in short, has been a heartache round for Miami.
There are studies that say only 50 percent of the players selected in the second round actually become four-year starters for the team. I would tell you the study of Miami's second-round performance the past decade has not lived up to those modest standards.
But let the proof speak for itself. What follows is what the Dolphins have done in the second round the past decade.
2001 Chris Chambers was selected 52nd overall selection. Solid pick as Chambers was a starter through the early part of the 2007 season. No, he wasn't a star as he was always seemingly an afterthought and never bold enough to demand being anything else. He was in the Pro Bowl in 2005, but also led the conference in drops that very year. He was traded to San Diego in 2007 for a second round pick.
2002: No pick. Traded to Philadelphia in 2001 for a trade up in the third round that netted Morlon Greenwood, who was by most accounts neither a bust nor a good player.
2003: Eddie Moore. All I need to tell you about this trade is that the Dolphins were starved for receiver talent then and went with a linebacker coach Dave Wannstedt said would improve the special teams. In the second round! The other thing I should tell you about this pick is that Moore never contributed on special teams or defense. His claim to infamy was getting knocked out by a patron in a local club.
2004: No pick. The selection was traded away the previous year to New England for a third round selection. The Dolphins used that selection on Wade Smith, a college tight end that they turned into a left tackle. Smith played a handful of years with the Dolphins before being ignored once his rookie contract expired in 2006. Ironically, he played for several more years as a starter with Kansas City and the Jets.
2005: The Dolphins had two second round picks this year. They gave up the first to Philadelphia in the A.J. Feeley trade which was, simply, an unmitigated disaster. The second pick they got in trade with Kansas City when they sent Patrick Surtain to the Chiefs, knowing they probably could not afford to pay him his asking price for a new contract. The Dolphins used the pick from the Surtain trade to pick Matt Roth, who had all of one good season as a starter with the Dolphins -- that in 2008. But in 2009, Roth had this curious episode with a groin injury which led him to lie to coach Tony Sparano which led him to fall out of favor which led the Dolphins to simply waive him and get nothing in return for him.
2006: No pick. The selection went to Minnesota in exchange for Daunte Culpepper. Terrible.
2007: Ah, two selections this time around and both turned into an embarrassment. The Dolphins got an extra pick from the Patriots because they signed Wes Welker as a restricted free agent. So far not terrible. The team used that pick on Samson Satele, who started every game his rookie season. So far not terrible. Here's the terrible part: Welker became Tom Brady's favorite target in New England and a multiple time Pro Bowl player. Satele fell out of favor with the incoming Parcells-Ireland-Sparano administration because he wasn't big enough or strong enough at the point of attack. He was traded away for a chance to move up in the fourth round a mere 18 spots. Are you kidding me? What a another waste.
2008: The Dolphins had plenty of ammunition in the second round with two picks. The first pick of the round (32nd overall) was mathematically a first round selection. The team used the pick on Phillip Merling who is so far a reserve with unmet potential. The next pick in the round for Miami was 57th overall and that translated into Chad Henne, a starting quarterback everyone hopes could become a game-changer but so far has been only an inconsistent game-manager.
2009: You want the good news or the bad news? The good news is Miami found a starter in Sean Smith with the 61st overall selection. Yes, Smith struggled to get on the field last season after earning a starting spot as a rookie, but he is a contributor. He needs to learn to catch the football. The bad news is the team used the 44th overall selection on Pat White. White was a gimmick addition to the offense in 2009, didn't complete a pass and was cut in training camp last season, the classic definition of a bust.
2010: Two picks again. The Dolphins traded their original pick to Denver in the deal that brough Brandon Marshall to Miami. The Dolphins are also invested in giving away this year's second-rounder for Marshall. Marshall for whatever reasons had his worst season of the past four seasons with the Dolphins. Marshall is also now a off-field question mark as he was recently stabbed by his wife in what is his ninth brush with a domestic violence since 2004. The Dolphins picked up a second round to actually use in the draft by trading down in the first round and picking up a second-rounder from San Diego in the exchange. They then used that pick on SOLB Koa Misi, who was solid and a starter as a rookie.
There you have it. A decade of second round picks. The total number of picks is eleven, including the picks Miami got in trade and gave away in trade.
The haul from all of that?
Five players that are still on the roster with four of them being starters, and none that are Pro Bowl players. Oh, Miami's second round ledger also includes four outright busts in the second round.
So why are we so eager to get a second-rounder back again?
[NOTES: I will update this blog with several posts before the draft even begins today, so do not go anywhere. Tonight there will be a live blog when the draft begins. And for the moments you must break away from here, follow me on twitter.]
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