"Stephen Ross made his wishes clear enough back in January, right after he finished flirting with Jim Harbaugh as a potential new coach for the Miami Dolphins and gave Tony Sparano a two-year extension. The team owner wanted more excitement on offense, referring reporters to "the days of Dan Marino, the days we all want to go back to." Would you believe back to the days of Bill Parcell instead? By taking Florida center Mike Pouncey in the first round Thursday night, General Manager Jeff Ireland continued a trend that began with the drafting of Jake Long in 2008, his first year in Miami. It's still all about fundamental football around here, winning the line of scrimmage, running the ball until somebody stops you and drilling the quarterback to check down in a pinch rather than risk interceptions. It's still Ireland and Sparano fully in charge, with Chad Henne as their quarterback. No panic on Ireland's part about this possibly being his last chance to get the Dolphins out of their 7-9 rut. No war-room meddling by the owner, who from the tone his public comments might well have preferred a roll of the dice with quarterback Ryan Mallett or one of the other passers still available when Miami's pick came around at No. 15 overall. Pouncey is the epitome of a safe pick. He can play center or guard in the NFL. He can stay up, too, judging by the success of his twin brother, Maurkice, who missed out on a Super Bowl start as a Pittsburgh rookie only because of a late-season injury. Consequently, I'm not down on the kid, just disappointed that the Dolphins continue to rebuild brick by sturdy brick, the old-fashioned way, the patient way, when all of South Florida is fed up with being an AFC East also-ran." Read more: http://www.palmbeachpost.com/sports...s-make-safe-pick-with-florida-ol-1441753.html
