Holding a league-high 14 draft selections in the 2020 NFL Draft, the Miami Dolphins are poised to complete yet another element of their rebuild process under head coach Brian Flores. Tied pretty much to a quarterback since the 2019 season even began, the likes of Tua Tagovailoa and Justin Herbert are the names at the top of the list for the Dolphins, provided LSU QB Joe Burrow goes first overall to the Cincinnati Bengals like he is projected to.
But even having that many picks to work with does not guarantee a successful draft, as shooting many shots at different targets does not always guarantee accuracy. And for Miami, as has been the case with every single team in the NFL, their draft history has been littered with early draft busts that can easily turn a successful draft class into one of the franchise’s worst.
Going back a few years to look at how bad some of their drafts have been, here are the five biggest NFL Draft busts of all time for the Dolphins.
Dion Jordan, DE
Year Drafted: 2013
Pick Number & Round: 3rd, 1st round
One of the most recent draft selection blunders for Miami is defensive lineman Dion Jordan, who the team moved up to pick and regretted it almost immediately. He was on the team from 2013 until 2017, when he was released after forcing the hand of the front office due to his off-field issues.
Jordan, a former member of the University of Oregon Ducks, was a highly-regarded prospect that fell flat in the league with his first team. He was able to slightly improve upon his football career with the Seattle Seahawks in a bit of a career resurgence but ultimately has never lived up to his third-overall draft selection.
Across the four years and two on-field seasons with Miami, Jordan amassed three sacks, seven QB hits, 46 tackles, and three pass defenses across 26 games, including a full 16-game slate in his rookie year. The best year of his career to date came in the first season with Seattle, as he produced four sacks, 18 combined tackles, and one forced fumble in only five games.
Towards the end of Jordan’s tenure with the Dolphins, his off-field issues kicked into full gear and made him miss the entirety of both the 2015 and 2016 seasons in full before he was released in the 2017 offseason, ending a longer-than-needed stint with the Dolphins. He violated the league’s policy against substance abuse and was unable to clear himself for over two seasons.
After being released by Miami, Jordan signed on with the Seahawks and produced two non-eventful seasons there before signing with the now-Las Vegan Raiders for one year. Jordan only suited up for seven games with the Raiders and is currently looking for work as a free agent.
Jamal Fletcher, CB
Year Drafted: 2001
Pick Number & Round: 26th, 1st Round
While cornerback Jamal Fletcher was not necessarily considered any sort of a reach for the Dolphins to choose him at the back-half of the first round in 2001, it was who they decided to pass up that magnifies this whole issue for Miami.
In need of a solid signal-caller at the time to lead their offense, Purdue QB Drew Brees fell down the board and was right there for the taking for the Dolphins at 26, which would have provided the team with a strong sense of leadership and offensive stability, especially with the kind of career that Brees has and continues to put together. Instead, the team decided that they valued adding a corner to their already-strong rotation of Patrick Surtain and Sam Madison instead.
By beefing up a position that did not need early-round depth pieces added to it, the Dolphins passed on what could still potentially be their starting QB 19 years later, but yet again, they decided to mismanage their assets and waste a pick on a player that ultimately turned out three sub-par seasons with the team.
Brees is still in the league, a first-ballot Hall of Fame lock, and a player that fell to his ultimate first stop in the NFL, the San Diego Chargers, six selections later.
Ted Ginn Jr., WR
Year Drafted: 2007
Pick Number & Round: 9th, 1st Round
A tale of a player being drafted over the slot and to a team that did not truly know how to fully harness his talent, Ohio State receiver Ted Ginn Jr. was the player on the wrong end of an early draft selection that ultimately benefited no one.
For Miami, they ended up passing on the likes of linebacker Patrick Willis, running back Marshawn Lynch, cornerback Darrelle Revis, and tight end Greg Olsen, among others, this the 2007 draft, which was started off by the fateful no. 1 overall selection of LSU QB Jamarcus Russell by the Oakland Raiders (so ultimately their draft could have gone a lot worse).
Coming out of school, Ginn was regarded as a speedster, one that could take the top off of a defense and light up the scoreboard through the return game and gadget-like offensive players. Disappointingly enough, Ginn never truly realized that ceiling in Miami, especially with the likes of former UM quarterback Chad Henne under center.
While Ginn is still making a living in the NFL relying on his speed and his craftiness, the Dolphins failed to fully execute on their plan of using Ginn as a helpful tool in their offense, especially when they needed a reliable offensive weapon to try and help spread the football.
John Avery, RB
Year Drafted: 1998
Pick Number & Round: 29th, 1st round
Going back a few more years, the Dolphins decided to pull the trigger on running back John Avery for the 29th selection in the 1998 draft, which was ten slots lower than they were first slotted to pick.
And after 17 games, Avery was off of the Miami roster.
In that trade down, the Dolphins and then-head coach Jimmy Johnson, who had successfully orchestrated the Emmitt Smith trade that helped make the Dallas Cowboys so successful years earlier, moved down 10 slots and missed out on the player that they absolutely needed – wide receiver Randy Moss.
The team needed a field-stretching receiver capable of taking the top off of the defense, and Moss, who went no. 21 to the Minnesota Vikings, would have been the perfect weapon to cure that ailment. Instead, Miami moved down and got the much-worse end of the deal, resulting in a failed experiment at RB and a wasted first-round selection.
Pat White, QB
Year Drafted: 2009
Pick Number & Round: 44th, 2nd Round
The Dolphins selected the lone non-first round option on this list, West Virginia QB Pat White in the second round in 2009 because they were looking to continue to capitalize on the Wildcat formation that they helped bring into the league recently.
They currently had incumbent starter Henne and Comeback Player of the Year Chad Pennington on the roster already, so adding White to an already-established QB room was quite the puzzling move in the second round.
Playing in only 13 games in his entire career, White was 0/5 as a QB and rushed for 81 yards on 21 carries in his lone season, putting a very disappointing cherry on the top of his short NFL career.
Honorable Mentions
Eric Kumerow (DE) – 1988, 16th overall
Sammie Smith (RB) – 1989, 9th overall
Jason Allen (S) – 2006, 16th overall
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