Jabrill Peppers In Round One ? No Thanks

Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY SportsThe Miami Dolphins haven't had a meaningful contribution from a first round rookie defender since stud corner Vontae Davis arrived from the University of Illinois, eight long years ago, in 2009. Davis returned an interception for a touchdown in Week Four, against the Bills, and picked off a Tom Brady pass in the end zone that was intended for Randy Moss, to help secure another victory. In 2010, the Dolphins traded down and selected Penn State defensive tackle Jared Odrick near the end of the first round. Odrick, though, who was slated to play end in Miami's 3-4 defense that season, missed virtually his entire rookie campaign after suffering a broken foot barely a month into the season and didn't become a regular until the following year. Since the Dolphins would go on to select an offensive player in the first round in five of the next six drafts, the only other first round defender in recent years was defensive end Dion Jordan. Other than a widely publicized, much vaunted play against New England, when Jordan ran in a straight line down the field with a guy who outweighed him by about thirty pounds, he failed to do much of anything during his rookie year, or since.

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