Dave Hyde: Is Grier’s 10th year running Dolphins draft the charm — or the end?
Six winters ago, Miami Dolphins owner Steve Ross promoted Chris Grier from running the NFL draft to running the entire organization because, “everything you want to see for this job is embodied in Chris.”
Mediocre decisions?
Underwhelming drafts?
Glaring problems?
That’s the embodiment of Grier’s work. He is the Liam Eichenberg of general managers, given yet another chance to prove his worth, playing to a public chorus hoping to finally see in him what Ross once did.
It’s a fair question about who carries more of this team’s burden this coming season, Grier or coach Mike McDaniel. Grier built a leaky roster, McDaniel a leaky culture. But it’s Grier’s time right now with 10 picks in the upcoming NFL draft. March and April are his November and December.
Grier needs be smart like the Philadelphia Eagles boss, Howie Roseman, who drafted two rookie defensive backs, signed three minimum wage free agents and built enough around a second-round quarterback to win the Super Bowl.
Grier needs to think like the Los Angeles Rams’ Les Snead, who went all-in in winning the 2022 Super Bowl yet reconfigured the roster so quickly through shrewd drafts that a team starting three rookies and five second-year players gave Philadelphia its toughest playoff game.
Related Articles
- Miami Dolphins | NFL rescinds extra compensatory draft pick for Dolphins
- Miami Dolphins | Dolphins to sign veteran tight end from Seahawks
- Miami Dolphins | Listen to Dolphins Deep Dive with Perk: The Miami Dolphins Podcast
- Miami Dolphins | Dolphins to re-sign starting guard
- Miami Dolphins | Dolphins Deep Dive: What else should the team do in free agency? | VIDEO
Grier needs to be like Tampa Bay’s Jason Licht, who rebuilt a 2021 Super Bowl winner that mortgaged the future into a team with a good future, or Kansas City’s Brett Veach, who was fearless in drafting Patrick Mahomes and has managed the roster to five Super Bowls in six years.
There are stars in NFL front offices, you see, and their teams are a reflection of that. It works the other way, too, as some are accountably quick to acknowledge even in rebuilding years.
“Last season, ultimately, the roster was on me,” New England general manager Eliot Wolf said last month. “We were 4-13. Just didn’t get enough done. Certainly, the free agency class didn’t live up to our expectations. The draft class, you know, it’s too soon to tell, but we were expecting a bigger impact from some of those guys. … Every on (quarterback Drake Maye), I felt responsible for that. Just ultimately, didn’t do enough.”
Has Grier ever been so accountable?
Instead, he chuckled at media in August for questioning the guard situation and said the backup quarterback is just fine. After the season collapsed in good part because of the interior line and backup quarterback, he acknowledge they were now priorities.
It doesn’t help the season to see the problem afterward. Bill Parcells would tell assistants during games he needed answers immediately because it wouldn’t help on Monday morning.
This past week’s free agent period said the Dolphins are done playing fantasy football of buying proven players in part because it didn’t work. They’re back to building through the draft.
The first part of scouting remains self-scouting. The Dolphins have been awful here. It wasn’t just guards and the quarterback room. They let more talent go out the door last season — Christian Wilkins, Robert Hunt, Andrew Van Ginkel, Brandon Jones, DeShon Elliott … — than could ever come in the door.
What if they’d signed Jones before free agency came into sight? Or Elliott early in that 2023 season? Would they need two safeties this winter?
The Dolphins need a defenseman lineman and cornerback now, too. The Chargers made the playoffs starting Teair Tart, who was cut by the Dolphins in August, and two fifth-round rookie cornerbacks.
You see how it can work? How it has to work some years?
This is one of those years. In his 10th season running the draft, Grier needs his best draft. He needs to create a younger, better, healthier and cheaper roster.
Eichenberg was re-signed this past week and (surely) fighting for the last offensive lineman’s spot on the roster.
Grier is fighting for his job, too. The preliminaries are out of the way after the first week of free agency, too. The main of the NFL draft looms. Is his 10th year running the draft the charm?
-
Dolphins bring in Alexander Mattison to bolster running back room, AP source says
The Miami Dolphins added a power-running veteran to their running back room on Thursday, agreeing to a deal with Alexander Mattison, a person with knowledge of the agreement told The Associated ...Yahoo Sports - 1d -
Dolphins docked a draft pick after NFL 'recalculation' of compensatory formula
The NFL announced Friday they mistakenly gave the Dolphins a pick for Cedrick Wilson Jr. earlier in the week.Yahoo Sports - 1d -
NFL Draft: Cowboys, 49ers, Ravens, Dolphins tie for most 2025 compensatory picks; here's the Rounds 4-7 order
The full draft order has been set. How do you feel about your team's selections?Yahoo Sports - 3d -
Kartal's memorable Indian Wells run ended by Sabalenka
British lucky loser Sonay Kartal sees her memorable Indian Wells run ended emphatically by world number one Aryna Sabalenka.BBC News - 2d -
Kartal's memorable Indian Wells run ended by Sabalenka
British lucky loser Sonay Kartal sees her memorable Indian Wells run ended emphatically by world number one Aryna Sabalenka.Yahoo Sports - 2d -
Dolphins adding 'nasty' veteran blocking tight end, per report
The Dolphins are adding a tight end who was described by the Seahawks' GM as "one of the top two or three blocking tight ends in the NFL."Yahoo Sports - 1d -
NFL changes compensatory pick allotment, giving one to Saints and taking one from Dolphins
Someone at the league office forgot to check their work before announcing the compensatory picks for the 2025 NFL draft.Yahoo Sports - 1d -
Dolphins agree to sign TE Pharaoh Brown
The Dolphins are adding a tight end.Yahoo Sports - 1d -
QB Zach Wilson gets reported 1-year deal with Dolphins
Zach Wilson will have a shot at the backup QB job to Tua Tagovailoa in Miami.Yahoo Sports - 4d
More from Yahoo Sports
-
Is France vs Scotland on TV? Kick-off time, channel and how to watch Six Nations clash
Everything you need to know ahead of the final fixture of the championshipYahoo Sports - 16m -
Mbappé scores twice to give Real Madrid 2-1 win against Villarreal in La Liga
Kylian Mbappé scored twice to lead Real Madrid to a 2-1 comeback win at Villarreal and move three points clear atop the Spanish league on Saturday. Mbappé scored in the 17th minute to cancel out ...Yahoo Sports - 17m -
Utah Football Spring 2025 Preview: Running Backs
Running backsAfter losing 1,000 yard rusher Micah Bernard to graduation, the University of Utah overhauled theirYahoo Sports - 18m -
Oklahoma State softball, baseball teams return to field Sunday after wildfires hit Stillwater
The Oklahoma State softball and baseball teams had to cancel Friday and Saturday games because of wildfires in the areaYahoo Sports - 19m -
Tigers revert to habits of year's past, lose ugly in SEC Semi, 70-65
An Auburn team that once looked like clearly the best in the country as now lost three of its last four contests.Yahoo Sports - 21m
More in Sports
-
Is France vs Scotland on TV? Kick-off time, channel and how to watch Six Nations clash
Everything you need to know ahead of the final fixture of the championshipYahoo Sports - 16m -
Mbappé scores twice to give Real Madrid 2-1 win against Villarreal in La Liga
Kylian Mbappé scored twice to lead Real Madrid to a 2-1 comeback win at Villarreal and move three points clear atop the Spanish league on Saturday. Mbappé scored in the 17th minute to cancel out ...Yahoo Sports - 17m -
Utah Football Spring 2025 Preview: Running Backs
Running backsAfter losing 1,000 yard rusher Micah Bernard to graduation, the University of Utah overhauled theirYahoo Sports - 18m -
Oklahoma State softball, baseball teams return to field Sunday after wildfires hit Stillwater
The Oklahoma State softball and baseball teams had to cancel Friday and Saturday games because of wildfires in the areaYahoo Sports - 19m -
Tigers revert to habits of year's past, lose ugly in SEC Semi, 70-65
An Auburn team that once looked like clearly the best in the country as now lost three of its last four contests.Yahoo Sports - 21m