I like Chris Grier and respect the Miami Dolphins’ top executive, and everyone should too because he’s the type of co-worker you want to work with, the boss you want to work for.
He’s a hard worker, a survivor in a sport that eats ego-less men like him alive.
But many have overlooked one very important aspect of Grier’s rise to power, which began in this organization in 2006, and it’s that he has been a part of this poorly run franchise, which has committed misstep after misstep in their decision-making process, for two decades.
We’re talking 20 years of mediocrity, 20 years of bad hires, and horrible decisions, which led to the scorched-earth cleanse we saw this past offseason.
The problem with this rebuild is the fact that Grier has been a part of assembling what has been torn down, and I’m not sure if the man making all the final decisions with this $100 million in cap space, and bounty of 14 NFL draft picks has learned from the organization’s many mistakes.
“Give him the benefit of doubt,” some Dolphins insiders say.
“Maybe he was the lone voice of reason,” they said, explaining why owner Steve Ross gave Grier final say on the football side of the organization when he fired Mike Tannenbaum last January.
That would be putting a lot of faith in an executive who traded a 2019 second-round pick and a 2020 fifth-round selection to the Arizona Cardinals during this year’s draft to acquire second-year quarterback Josh Rosen, despite having a full season of film to properly assess how slowly he reads defenses.
Grier’s the same decision-maker who selected an Alabama second-string tailback in Kenyan Drake in the third round of the 2016 draft, and then traded up to get back into the third round to draft receiver Leonte Carroo, who is now out of football.
Two drafts later, Grier selected Kalen Ballage, whose 1.8 yards per carry average this year had him on pace to have one of the worst seasons for a running back in NFL history before being placed on injured reserve Tuesday.
Those are Grier’s picks at running back. He’s the first to admit he’s made all of Miami’s draft decisions since 2016, when he was named the general manager. Therefore, he’s part of the reason this year’s Dolphins team is on pace to set a new franchise low in rushing yards.
The Dolphins lack a pass rusher, and edge setters this season despite Miami’s use of a 2017 first-round pick on Charles Harris, who can officially be put into the bust category now based on his three seasons of limited production (3.5 sacks).
Harris, who has settled in as a backup and is playing behind linebacker Vince Biegel, was a Grier pick.
These kinds of draft misses, poor decisions like taking tight end Mike Gesicki over Dallas Goedart, and then doubling down with another tight end in Durham Smythe in the same draft to handle the blocking role you know Gesicki couldn’t do, are unacceptable.
Grier’s four-year bounty of selections have produced very little benefit to this team with the exception of Xavien Howard, a 2016 second-round pick who has proven he’s an elite cornerback.
Laremy Tunsil, Minkah Fitzpatrick and Drake have all been traded away. Carroo, Jordan Lucas, Brandon Doughty, Thomas Duarte, Isaac Asiata, Vincent Taylor, Cornell Armstrong, Quentin Poling are all gone.
That’s 11 players Grier selected in a three-year span who were either moved for a future asset, didn’t fit what these current coaches want, or weren’t talented enough to play in the NFL.
That’s 11 of 23 draft picks gone, failure on nearly half the players selected over the course of three years. And we’re not even mentioning the disappointments like Ballage, Cordrea Tankersley, Isaiah Ford and Smythe, who would all likely struggle to find work if released by Miami.
At this rate we can safely expect half Miami’s 2020 draft picks to turn out to be failures, and that’s troubling.
Grier needs to do better going forward for this franchise to turn things around.
Grier deserves this opportunity, and he’s assembled what many feel is a phenomenal staff of lieutenants in Marvin Allen, who is one of the NFL’s most respected college evaluators, and Reggie McKenzie, who was named the 2016 NFL Executive of the Year for building that Oakland Raiders team.
There’s no doubt he’ll listen to their insight because that’s who he is. But when it comes down to it, Grier’s the man responsible for building up this roster in free agency and the draft, and hopefully he’s as good at doing that as he was at stripping it down.