Denzel Perryman convo will be interesting for Dolphins

The Senior Bowl is in full swing and Miami Dolphins general manager Dennis Hickey will address the media from Mobile, Ala., today. (Check back for updates on that).

One player Hickey and the Dolphins want to talk to is University of Miami middle linebacker Denzel Perryman, who is a very popular man at the Senior Bowl.

Perryman, the Hurricanes' leading tackler the past couple of years, told reporters Tuesday he had talked to or planned to meet with the Dolphins, Packers, Raiders, Broncos, Panthers, Eagles and Bucs. And that was only after one day in Mobile.

Clearly, the kid is going to be drafted. And he's likely to go somewhere in the second or third round.

But here's the thing:

Drafting Denzel Perryman is going to require a long and thoughtful debate in Miami because while Hickey doesn't often mind drafting players that do not meet prototypical size and speed requirements -- Jarvis Landry is an example -- his right hand man Eric Stokes, Miami's assistant general manager, is a strong proponent of drafting players who meet height, weight, speed requirements.

And Perryman does not meet those requirements.

Perryman on Tuesday was measured at the Senior Bowl at 5-10 1/2 which is obviously smaller than the 6-foot mark the University of Miami listed him at on their roster. Even if Perryman had cracked reached the 6-foot stripe he would be considered an undersized linebacker.

And I know what you are already muttering ...

Zach Thomas was a smallish linebacker at only 5-11 and he was outstanding.

That is true. But Thomas had a heart and motor like Secretariat. He was also quicker than people gave him credit for. And he worked endless hours to hone his craft -- studying ways to improve his body, studying opponents and others who played his position.

Is that Perryman?

I don't know. I do know this: Zach Thomas was a fifth-round draft pick.