*** DOLPHINS NEWS ***
Apr 18, 1998: -- Patrick Surtain and Kenny Mixon Taken --
The Dolphins second and third picks in the 1998 draft were
cornerback Patrick Surtain from Southern Mississippi and defensive end
Kenny Mixon from LSU. These two players were taken with the 14th and
19th picks in the second round, respectively.
Surtain is a very smart, very productive cornerback who has
produced 12 interceptions in the last 2 years. Apparently he escaped
the notice of many scouts, because he wasn't on two of the draft
profiles that I looked at. In fact, in the official NFL draft
profile, he isn't listed.
Despite these oversights, Surtain is considered very smart
with good coverage skills and good judgement. He is very good at
man-to-man coverage and even though he is not considered very fast, he
doesn't get beaten deep because he knows how to keep with the fastest
receivers.
Kenny Mixon is more of a project than an immediate starter.
He is big at 6'4" and 270 pounds and can rush the passer well, getting
7 sacks last year. However, he has only started for one year after
being suspended in 1996 for unspecified violation of team rules. He
is more of a "potential" player than a starter.
And last, but not least, the Dolphins have traded their last
pick in the 2nd round to the Lions for Detroits 3rd, 5th and 6th round
picks.
My Comments:
As a defensive back pick, I like Surtain a lot. Given his
smarts and his abillity to play the ball and not get beaten deep, I
think that he may be a candidate for a move to safety. But he seems
to be a good candidate for either cornerback or safety.
He seems to have been overlooked by a lot of people and JJ may
have stolen him out from under a lot of other teams.
Mixon is a project with a lot of potential, but is not a
starter in the near term. He's more of a pass rusher than a run
defender at this point, but that's more of a need for the Dolphins
right now in any case.
The only concern I have at this point in the draft is that the
Dolphins still need some serious offensive linemen and they have't
taken anyone yet. However, given JJ's draft philosophy of not taking
offensive linemen early in the draft, we may have to wait until the
third round to see him take a lineman.
Related Info:
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Curt Fennell,
[email protected], DOLFAN in New Rochelle (almost)
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