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Dolphins News: Patrick Surtain and Kenny Mixon Taken
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Dolphins News: Patrick Surtain and Kenny Mixon Taken
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*** DOLPHINS NEWS ***
Apr 18, 1998: -- Patrick Surtain and Kenny Mixon Taken --

The Dolphins second and third picks in the 1998 draft were cornerback Patrick Surtain from Southern Mississippi and defensive end Kenny Mixon from LSU. These two players were taken with the 14th and 19th picks in the second round, respectively.

Surtain is a very smart, very productive cornerback who has produced 12 interceptions in the last 2 years. Apparently he escaped the notice of many scouts, because he wasn't on two of the draft profiles that I looked at. In fact, in the official NFL draft profile, he isn't listed.

Despite these oversights, Surtain is considered very smart with good coverage skills and good judgement. He is very good at man-to-man coverage and even though he is not considered very fast, he doesn't get beaten deep because he knows how to keep with the fastest receivers.

Kenny Mixon is more of a project than an immediate starter. He is big at 6'4" and 270 pounds and can rush the passer well, getting 7 sacks last year. However, he has only started for one year after being suspended in 1996 for unspecified violation of team rules. He is more of a "potential" player than a starter.

And last, but not least, the Dolphins have traded their last pick in the 2nd round to the Lions for Detroits 3rd, 5th and 6th round picks. My Comments:

As a defensive back pick, I like Surtain a lot. Given his smarts and his abillity to play the ball and not get beaten deep, I think that he may be a candidate for a move to safety. But he seems to be a good candidate for either cornerback or safety.

He seems to have been overlooked by a lot of people and JJ may have stolen him out from under a lot of other teams.

Mixon is a project with a lot of potential, but is not a starter in the near term. He's more of a pass rusher than a run defender at this point, but that's more of a need for the Dolphins right now in any case.

The only concern I have at this point in the draft is that the Dolphins still need some serious offensive linemen and they have't taken anyone yet. However, given JJ's draft philosophy of not taking offensive linemen early in the draft, we may have to wait until the third round to see him take a lineman.

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Curt Fennell, curt@phins.com, DOLFAN in New Rochelle (almost)
     
   

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Curt Fennell
curt@phins.com
DOLFAN in New England