Thursday, May 24, 2007

Three more draft picks signed

[Update]: RB Lorenzo Booker's four-year contract is worth $2.01 million, including a $795,000 signing bonus. [End Update]

The team signed three more of its draft selections today. Those players are RB Lorenzo Booker, P Brandon Fields, and LB Abraham Wright. All three players were signed to four-year contracts, although terms were not released. Along with the signing of LB Kelvin Smith, the Dolphins have now signed four of their ten draft picks.

Here's my post-draft write-up of the newest three players to sign with the team:

Round 3 (71) - RB Lorenzo Booker, Florida State
Rounding out Day 1, Miami chose its fourth offensive player. Booker is going to be a really interesting player to watch on offense since he is much more than just a RB. He can line up as a slot receiver, an outside receiver, catch passes out of the backfield, stay in as a blocker, catch screen passes, and return kicks. He's a swiss-army knife on the offensive side of the ball and the ability to move him around before the snap is going to confuse many defenses. He presents the opportunities for some great mismatches. As a RB, he's probably best suited as a change-of-pace type runner, and he perfectly complements Ronnie Brown's all-around ability with a quick burst of speed. He's a slasher and he excels in the open field, but he can't break tackles. That's why he'll be spread around so much to try and get him open. Booker is a smallish back who is better suited to being a role-player, at least at first.

Expectations: Booker is going to add another burst of speed to Miami's offense. Whether it's being used on a toss-sweep or lining up as a slot receiver, Cameron has a bevy of ways to utilize his abilities. I would expect Cameron to ease Booker into the NFL where he should really excel as a jack of all trades for the offense. He will make an impact in some way for this offense as a rookie.

Round 7 (225) - P Brandon Fields, Michigan State
I'm not a big fan of drafting a punter, but with three seventh-round picks, Miami was able to get the one they wanted. This guy is huge for a punter and he can certainly boom the ball with his strong leg. He also has experience kicking off, should the need ever arise. The biggest concern is his inconsistency. He has trouble angling punts out of bounds and he will probably shank one every now and then. Another big problem is that he holds onto the ball too long and is a big risk to have his punt blocked. Luckily, the problems he has can be corrected with some good coaching.

Expectations: Since Miami spent a draft pick on Fields, I'm pretty sure that he will be the punter for this team. His immensely powerful leg is a treat, but he will have to get better at directional kicks, as well as becoming more consistent. It will probably take a while to see significant changes take place in his game, so he might struggle this season. Down the line, I think he'll make a solid if unspectacular punter.

Round 7 (238) - DE/LB Abraham Wright, Colorado
Wright is a smallish, tweener-type player who might play DE or OLB. His small size makes him poor against stopping the run, but he is an above-average pass-rusher. He didn't play much special-teams in college, so it's yet to be seen whether he'll be able to make an impact there for Miami.

Expectations: His versatility is a plus, but Wright may find himself bouncing between the practice squad and the roster until he matures and polishes some skills. Hopefully he shows that he can play special-teams. In the future, I could see him filling the role of David Bowens as a pass-rush specialist.

No comments: