Jeff Ireland gets it.
He needed a home run of an offseason. He needed to make this one count. He needed to be bold, daring, and ambitious.
On Thursday night, the embattled Dolphins GM took all of those things, balled them up, and threw us a Yu Darvish-esque curveball...
TWICE!
Not only did Ireland trade up to the third overall pick in the NFL Draft's first round, but he then shocked, well, everyone by passing up LT Lane Johnson for DE/OLB Dion Jordan.
Ballsy, Jeff. Touche'.
I love it. I loved everything about it.
It addressed a GLARING need for this team. Cameron Wake is begging for a compliment on the right side of the defensive line, and now he's got one.
It came at a surprisingly low cost, as Ireland only had to give up one of his second round picks to move up. For a move like that, you'd usually have to give up a second and a third rounder.
And, most importantly, this gave the Miami Dolphins a GAME CHANGER on the defensive side of the ball. The safe pick would have been Lane Johnson, probably the most logical one too. But offensive lineman don't win you championships. Offensive lineman don't make game changing plays. Offensive lineman aren't impact players.
Defensive ends are. Especially one's with the potential elite talent that Jordan possesses.
If Jeff Ireland has learned anything over the last five seasons, it's that if you do not constantly pressure Tom Brady, you will NEVER beat the New England Patriots. Cameron Wake can only do so much. He's been a one man show out there for years now. He had 15 sacks last season while the other three DE's had only 8.5 COMBINED.
Jeff Ireland has gone all in this offseason.
He went all in tonight.
As Stephen Ross said, "This is an impact player. It's a great thing. It's a great day."
Welcome to Miami, Dion.
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