In a post last week, I discussed the idea that some teams give up on players too early, only to see them go on to another team to either star or at least become solid players. I then asked the following question:
Which player or players do you believe the Miami Dolphins gave up on too early, only to see them go to another team to be a solid to great player?
Below are some of your thoughts and answers-
SuperG! has a few guys, including Van Ginkle, who I wish we still had.
Easy one. Minkah. (The first time, not the second time). Letting AVG walk was a dumbass move by the Dolphins. I would say Tunsil, but honestly, the trade easily made sense at the time.
Phoenix6 has a solid list.
Vontae Davis (CB): Traded to the Indianapolis Colts.
Became a top-tier cornerback.
Jarvis Landry (WR): Traded to the Browns.
Became a multi-time Pro Bowler.
Jay Ajayi (RB): Traded to the Eagles.
Became a key contributor to that Super Bowl-winning team.
MiamiItaliano is probably correct if for no other reason than that Grier should have been able to build a solid, winning team with the proceeds of that trade, along with our own picks, but instead failed miserably.
Tunsil, hands down. 5x pro bowler since he left Miami.
Reid_305 points to a guy who became a top star in the NFL after leaving.
Welker…
FinsSince70 points to a quarterback who went on to win a Super Bowl over us.
Joe Theismann. Drafted in 4th round in 1971. Didn’t want to sit behind Griese and went to the CFL. Traded to Washington for a 1st round pick in ’74 and beats us in SB XVII.
LSC20&Olney also see how damn good AVG has been for the Vikings.
AVG
davidson11 believes there will be regret about Tua.
Tua
miamimaniac is another who thinks the Dolphins should have just extended Welker before it even got to the point where the Patriots could literally steal him.
Welker!
JUK points to a couple of defenders.
AVG is an obvious one. Minkah is probably top for me though in recent times
PA phinphan points to a couple of guys that Shula gave up on too soon.
In the 70s, Leon Gary never played a down for the Dolphins but became an All-Pro for the Oilers.
In the 80s, Gary Fencik was also drafted by the Dolphins and never played a down. He went on to star for the Bears. He was an All-Pro as well.
krammm points to a guy who had some okay to solid years with the Titans.
Everyone kicked Ryan Tannyhill to the curb but when you gave him a running game and a defense he was almost the MVP of the league.
Running game and a defense. WHAT A CONCEPT.
Well, that’s our selection of comments for this evening. It seems when you look at the list in the entirety that the Dolphins giving up on guys too early has been going on for a very long time, and maybe it’s just one of those things that every team does, as you can not always predict what a guy might develop into given enough time. I have long wondered if the NFL had a legit way to run a minor league, what some of these guys who come into the league with a lot of promise but are out of the league in a couple of years could have become had they just been given more time to develop. I assume most would still fail, but somewhere in there would be some amazing stories of guys eventually proving that they belong at the NFL level. As always, thank you to each of you who join us each evening and join in our question of the day and the debate in general.
