*** DOLPHINS NEWS ***
Apr 18, 1998: -- John Avery is First Pick --
The Dolphins have selected John Avery with their first pick of
the 1998 draft. To get Avery, the Dolphins traded their first pick to
the Green Bay Packers for the Packers' first round and second round
picks.
John Avery is a running back from Mississippi with terrific
speed and acceleration, who can make players miss with his ability to
cut and dart and then outrun them to the endzone. The only knock on
Avery is that he's not very big and he might not be able to take the
pounding as an every-down back in the NFL.
At 5'9" and 183 pounds, Avery is very small by modern
running-back standards. During his college career at Miss., he
averaged 5.5 yards per carry and 33.7 yards per kickoff return.
The Dolphins will let him compete with KAJ and Lawrence
Phillips for the starting running back position, but will probably be
more interested in having return kicks. In 1996, he returned 17
kickoffs and broke 2 for touchdowns. In 1997, he returned 13
kickoffs, including 1 for a touchdown.
My Comments:
When JJ traded down with the Packers, I thought that it might
be to take Avery. Given the way Avery's stock has risen over the last
few weeks, I didn't think that Avery would last until the 44th pick of
the 2nd round and JJ clearly wanted him badly enough to take him as
high as 29th.
Overall, I'm pretty pleased with this pick. Given the talent
available at #19 today, trading down to get Avery and another 2nd
round pick was a good move.
Related Info:
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Curt Fennell,
[email protected], DOLFAN in New Rochelle (almost)
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