Phins take Aaron Rodgers over Ronnie Brown

Phins signed Drew Brees

Two major eval screwups

At least Ronnie Brown gave us good years at running back.

Is Jamar Fletcher did not come anywhere close in value to Brees.

We could have the second coming of Dan Marino.....ITS NOT THE QB!! True Ossie does overthrow and misses a lot , but no QB could be successful here. Not one. This ball club is Fu*ked.

GO DOLPHINS!!!!

Interesting dynamic in that drafting Rodgers in 2005 may have prevented the Phins from being a serious contender for Brees in 2006. I happen to believe that with either Rodgers or Brees in 05/06, we would have been a more attractive place for an exceptional coach...whether that means Saban staying or a coach much better than Cameron/Sparano/Philbin/Gase being the one to follow him. While I believe there's something of a symbiotic and mutually-beneficial relationship between HC & QB, I think it's most often the case that the coach benefits more from having a great QB. For argument's sake, let's say that Saban still decides that college is his best bet, and moves on but we somehow get Mike McCarthy (who, coincidentally was a TE at my alma mater) as the Phins HC instead of GB getting him.

I think, in the case that we have a successful HC/QB combo, we join the ranks of most franchises like that and have a decade of legitimately competing for the SB. Rather than having to try to make franchise-defining selections high in the draft (Ginn @ 9, Long over Ryan, Pat White/Beck/Henne all in the 2nd...leading to Tannehill in the 1st, to name a few), we could have worked on architecting a team. And, given that an elite QB covers a multitude of sins, the picks and FAs themselves likely would have been more successful. We wouldn't have fielded an underperforming OL with 4 1st rounders costing more than a fair share of the cap. Teams with elite QBs seem to be able to "squeeze a lot more juice out of the orange" when it comes to the other players on the roster. More often than not, we'd be on the winning end of discarding players before their cost exceeds their value. We wouldn't have had an environment where Bullygate happens. In fact, we'd have the chance to pick up exceptional talent on the cheap and discard them if they don't work out...looking like a smart, well-run franchise in the process.

I don't think that our success would look quite like GB's in the division because of the Pats. I think our scenario looks a lot more like the AFC North or NFC South where there are a couple of teams that are always in the legitimate hunt for the division and a run at the SB (BAL & PIT, NO and either CAR/ATL). And that's probably the most interesting NFL-wide dynamic. How much more competitive is the AFC and even the SB overall if NE really has to earn the division title with some real stress and bloodshed. Who knows - it may have elevated their play even higher...or it may have enabled some really well-constructed teams to have better chances at the SB from the AFC.

In summary, I think my life as a fan would have been better :-)