Why Dolphins' best-available drafting philosophy may really be best available | Habib

Of the many concerns Mike McDaniel had as Thanksgiving weekend approached, pass rush was not one of them. Bradley Chubb and Jaelan Phillips were rounding into the form the Dolphins envisioned. Andrew Van Ginkel was exceeding expectations.

Then, trouble. On Black Friday, Phillips went down with an Achilles injury that everybody immediately knew meant the end of his season.

Then Chubb blew out a knee in Baltimore.

Then Van Ginkel’s Dolphins career ended via a foot injury against Buffalo.

The lesson to be learned — and a lesson to remember this weekend — is that within a span of 44 days, a position of strength for the Dolphins turned into a who-can-we-drag-off-the-street headache.

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It may grate for some fans, but the one given each year at this time is that when general manager Chris Grier meets with reporters for his pre-draft news conference, three words are sure to come up: best player available.

“It’s always the best player available, as we’ve talked about over the years,” Grier said last week.

Chris Grier is hardly alone in this philosophy

Grier is in the majority of NFL GMs. Never mind that fans may look at their team, see offensive tackles acting like turnstiles and say grabbing a pass protector is a no-brainer — as in, if their GM doesn’t draft one, it proves he has no brain.

So why are so many professionals with Grier on this?

“Today’s surplus is tomorrow’s necessity,” Atlanta GM Terry Fontenot told Falcons reporters. “Tomorrow can be August in this league.”

No need to tell McDaniel, whose starting edge rushers in the playoffs were Emmanuel Ogbah (seldom used to that point) and Melvin Ingram (a Dolphin in 2022 — the only reason he wasn’t wearing a “Hello My Name Is” sticker).

“This is probably going back from years when I started to learn under coach (Bill) Parcells years ago and going through coach (Pete) Carroll, Nick Saban and stuff,” Grier said. “You always stack your board and you work hard, but your board, obviously early in the draft, will always look kind of how you set it in terms of best player.”

It goes without saying that GMs love when that best player falls in a position of need. It helps the team. It gets fans off his back. But nobody wants to be the guy who passed on Pro Bowl talent, let alone a Hall of Famer, just because he had a decent player at said position already.

Dolphins have long subscribed to this strategy

The Dolphins recognized this even in their infancy. On the clock with the fourth overall pick in 1967, they took Purdue quarterback Bob Griese even though a year earlier, they went with QB Rick Norton second overall. All Griese did was win two Super Bowls and make the Hall of Fame.

More recently, they devoted high picks in consecutive years to cornerbacks (Sam Madison and Patrick Surtain in 1997 and ’98), receivers (Jarvis Landry and DeVante Parker in 2014-15) and offensive tackle (Rob Hunt and Liam Eichenberg in 2020-21, although both players moved elsewhere along the OL).

At least with those positions, teams need more than one at all times. Quarterback is another matter, but that never stopped some teams from stockpiling them. In 2004, the Chargers had Drew Brees but drafted Eli Manning, then swapped him for Philip Rivers. The poster child for this, of course, is Green Bay, where you may have to search for fans admitting they whined when the Pack drafted Aaron Rodgers even though they had Brett Favre, then took Jordan Love even though they had Aaron Rodgers.

Random thought: Grier says he’s not in the market for picking a QB with his first pick, 21st overall. The last thing the Dolphins want is a quarterback controversy or anything putting doubt in Tua Tagovailoa’s mind. But: 1) With no extension yet agreed upon by the two parties, 2) If — just if — the best-available guy at No. 21 is a QB, what then, Mr. Grier? As they say, just sayin’.

This is the time of year to believe almost none of what you hear and some of what you see.

You’ve got to like Colts GM Chris Ballard explaining to The Indianapolis Star how GMs can have one priority while coaches look at it differently: “I think that’s the general coaching-scouting tug-and-pull that you get. Where we’re looking at: ‘Two years from now, this guy is up, we’ll draft his guy to replace him.’ In coaching, you’re like: ‘Screw that. I need today.’ ”

And Steelers coach Mike Tomlin offered a gem of a Tomlinism, saying his team addressed needs in free agency and therefore the Steelers “don’t feel overly thirsty in any particular area” entering the draft.

Final word goes to Jaguars GM Trent Baalke, who told Jacksonville reporters, "Needs are paramount, but we’re going to stick with our formula and draft the best players available.”

It's a statement that when you really think about it … means what, exactly?

Dolphins reporter Hal Habib can be reached at hhabib@pbpost.com.Follow him on social media @gunnerhal.

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This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Why Dolphins' best-available philosophy may really be best available