It's been almost 12 years, but it still has to be painful for the Miami Dolphins and their fans to watch tackle Lane Johnson getting ready for his third Super Bowl and hear him say he's not done after this season in a career that could end with him in the Hall of Fame.
This is a player the Philadelphia Eagles selected with the fourth overall pick in the 2013 NFL draft right after the Dolphins made perhaps their biggest-ever draft blunder by taking Dion Jordan at number 3 after moving up from 12th via a trade with the Raiders.
It is easily the most glaring example of the Eagles making the right move around the same time the Dolphins were making the wrong one, but unfortunately not the only one.
And it's partly because of those significant personnel decisions that the Eagles find themselves in the Super Bowl again while the Dolphins are still looking for that elusive playoff win.
Before moving on to other examples of Philly wins against Miami losses, let's add that the Dolphins absolutely could have used a right tackle in 2013 because their starter that year ended up being Tyson Clabo, a 30-something veteran whose career would end after the 2014 season.
THE TIGHT END MISSTEP
Another glaring example of the Dolphins being outdone by the Eagles came in the 2018 draft, the second round more specifically.
Both teams were looking for a tight end, and the Dolphins decided to take Mike Gesicki, a high school volleyball player with pass-catching ability but also a one-dimensional prospect.
Seven picks later, the Eagles took South Dakota State's Dallas Goedert, a much more well-rounded prospect, though level of competition was a concern.
Almost seven years later, Goedert is a high-end tight end for the Eagles while Gesicki is on his third team after playing the 2024 season with the Cincinnati Bengals.
Advantage Eagles.
More examples:
-- The Dolphins and Eagles both traded to land their top wide receiver, Miami for Tyreek Hill and Philadelphia for A.J. Brown. While Hill's production has been better than Brown the past three seasons, it's not by much and the Dolphins surrendered five picks to get Hill (a first, a second, two fourths, and a sixth) compared to two for the Eagles to get Brown (a first and a third).
-- Each team traded up in the 2021 draft to get their second wide receiver, but again the Dolphins paid a higher price (surrendering a first to move from 12th to sixth) to land Jaylen Waddle than the Eagles did (giving up a third to move from 12th to 10th) to land Devonta Smith. Through four seasons, the players' numbers are very similar, but Smith probably has been the more reliable of the two and he didn't cost as much.
-- In that same 2021 draft, the Dolphins had the 36th pick in the second round (thanks to the Houston Texans) and selected Jevon Holland, who has been a good safety for most of his time with Miami so far. With the very next pick, the Eagles selected offensive lineman Landon Dickerson, and he's been good enough to be selected to the Pro Bowl the past three seasons, earn second-team All-Pro honors in 2024, and be a big part of the best offensive line in the NFL. Again, advantage Eagles.
-- Even this year, it was more of the same in the draft, though to a much lesser extent and still early enough that it could change, but while Chop Robinson was good for the Dolphins as a rotational player as the 21st overall pick in the 2024 draft, Quinyon Mitchell was very, very good as an immediate starting cornerback for a defense that finished first in the NFL in fewest yards allowed.
-- We also could debate the two quarterbacks, Tua Tagovailoa and Jalen Hurts, each taken in the 2020 draft, but it's a tough discussion because a large part of Hurts' success is that he fits so well into what the Eagles have built. But considering the Eagles got Hurts in the second round and the Dolphins took Tagovailoa fifth overall, it would be difficult to argue the idea that Philadelphia has gotten the better value there as well.
-- If we want a Miami-Philly comp that's worked out in the Dolphins' favor, we'll throw out defensive tackle where Christian Wilkins (2019) and Jordan Davis (2022) both were the 13th overall selection and Wilkins was more productive in his first three seasons than Davis has been. But it's still early there for Davis, and the way things have gone, we almost should expect him to become a star next season.
The Dolphins shouldn't feel isolated, though, because the Eagles' personnel decisions have helped them assemble what most would agree is the best roster in the NFL. It's just frustrating that some of those key contributors were there for the taking for Miami.
