True...however, Miami is a fairly young team that played pretty damn well despite their record. To speak to your points:Brando70 wrote:But you've seen what you're going to get out of Moore, and that's not enough to win the AFC East. He is, at best, Kyle Orton, and I don't even think he's that good. Bradford played pretty well for a rookie, and he clearly was dogged by injuries this year. His upside is obviously a lot better than Moore's.
The Dolphins are definitely the better team, but there are a lot of red flags. Was Reggie Bush's season a breakout or an anomaly? Do you want to take a job in the AFC East or the NFC West? I'd much rather take my chances against Harbaugh and Alex Smith than Hoodie and Brady.
Also, the Ditka trade is the dumbest move in draft history. A team should NEVER give up that much for one player in football, simply because the violent nature of the game ends careers so quickly. It's the draft equivalent of pushing all your chips on hard 10.
Reggie was not an anomaly...it's the first time he's been given the workload of a feature back. The Saints never did that with him and he stayed relatively healthy (I attribute that to playing on grass most of the time) and the game he missed was after he got hurt on the turf in New York. The Miami offensively line knows how to run block...and they had quite a few injuries and a giant turnstile in Marc Columbo in there half the time. So fixing the O-Line with that one position will be a huge priority this offseason and should make the line even better next year.
Yes, they know what they are going to get from Moore...and I have a feeling Bradford is going to be about the same. Yes, higher ceiling, but I don't think he's going to reach it...at least in St. Louis. Miami has better receivers and a better line...that's not going to change overnight, which means Bradford is going to be picking himself up off his back for years to come. What they get from Moore is definitely enough to win the AFC East. Had he started from game 1 instead of game 6 this year, and they hadn't blown two games he started because the D got tired (Dallas and Denver), they would have been near the top of the division.
As for the Ditka trade...yeah it was dumb FOR THEM. The Saints were a middling team without much direction and without many strong units. Ricky made them just above average and that's it. Miami is already average and can become good all while being young all over the field due to fairly good drafts of late and some nice FA signings especially on D. By adding a Franchise QB w/ this draft they would be set. Not really sure who I'd rather have between Luck and RGIII, but either one has a higher upside than Bradford and Moore. If Miami can trade a couple firsts and some lower round picks for either of them...I'm all for it. I don't think we'll ever see anyone trade an ENTIRE draft...but half of two drafts...sure.