Recap on the Booker Trade

I never really addressed this I only really had a blurb on it on the live blog for Day 1 of the draft but its been much of a bigger deal than most of the draft for Miami fans. Booker last year was a 3rd round pick and was dealt for a 4th rounder but although he was somewhat of a fan favorite, and gave hope for the future he was not necessarily the best fit. Hugo Guzman of RealFootball365.com wrote an article on the trading of Booker and I’ll Break it down a little bit.

For all the flash and dash, Booker finished the 2007 season with 128 yards rushing on 28 carries. That’s a solid 4.5 yards per try, but nothing to write home about considering the situations in which he was utilized. Booker also snagged 28 receptions for 237 yards, which is very impressive for the amount of games he played (seven), but most of those were of the dump-off variety. And the bottom line is that he failed to find the end zone despite getting 56 combined touches. Not exactly the home-run-hitting capability you might expect from such a dynamic player.

I kind of disagree with him on this, although his stats and descriptions of the plays he ran were true we still don’t know for sure what else he could do. The dump passes for the most part were due to intense pressure on the QB and the need to give it to somebody. Booker was a third string running back for most of the season and you would not really expect him to be utilized very much in the offense so that explains the situations he was used in.

Still, it’s fair to assert that Booker has what it takes to be legitimate contributor to an NFL offense, but that wasn’t enough to make him an untouchable. If Parcells and company didn’t feel that Booker was going to be a major factor in their offense, then the best thing that they could do was to move him for a mid-round pick. In some respects, getting a fourth-round choice for Booker was impressive; after all, established NFL commodities like Randy Moss have recently been traded for more or less the same compensation.

He is correct here in that booker was not really a Parcells type player. Booker is too small and does not have the power behind him. The pick ups in the 2008 draft reflect Parcell type players, ones who have power and can get to the second level. Adding on to what he said I think comparing him to Randy Moss is kind of overstating it, Moss was unhappy and he didn’t want to be there and Booker was just traded.

Sure, it would have been nice for Miami to get a third-rounder (as mentioned, that’s what was used to snag the former FSU standout in the first place), but that wasn’t an option. Incidentally, the Dolphins promptly traded up from the 115th pick that they acquired from Philadelphia, moving up to choice No. 110 and selecting offensive guard Shawn Murphy. If Murphy ends up starting, which is what some pundits are projecting, that alone should be enough justification for this most unpopular of trades.

The line was a huge need in the draft, the Dolphins needed to fill up the LT role and the LG/RG role and the Dolphins drafted two players to fit that, Murphy and Donald Thomas so maybe the trade for the pick will work out to better the line and allow Ronnie and Beck/McCown/Henne to throw and run. When going to Philly most of the Fans had no idea who he was and assumed he would get cut. So giving up this pick was not exactly what they wanted so basically neither teams wanted it. But Philly fans may or may not get to see what he does most likely being the 3rd RB on the team but if he does light it up as said in the article expect very, very mad fans.

Source:

http://www.realfootball365.com/index.php/articles/dolphins/11064

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