John-Eric Sullivan Will Bring A New Vision

John-Eric Sullivan Will Bring A New Vision

When the Miami Dolphins hired John Eric Sullivan, I didn’t know who he was, except that he had worked with the Green Bay Packers for over 20 years and had worked his way up the ranks. He has a background in scouting and finding talent and was apparently the driving force behind the Packers’ drafting quarterback Jordan Love in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft. The hire was considered by many a great move as some said he has an eye for talent and finding players. 

One of the things he said in a statement after his hire was that football is a young man’s game, and the draft is your bloodline. I couldn’t agree more. I think it’s something the Dolphins have gotten away from for years. They started doing it from 2019 to 2021, but then got away from it.

I expect Sullivan to get back to that. 

The Green Bay Packers are a team I have admired for years, and I have been impressed by how they have built their team over the past 3 decades, despite being a small-market, community-owned team. When I started watching football as a young kid in the late 80’s, the Packers weren’t a very good team; at best, they were average. However, things changed when they hired Ron Wolf as GM and he rebuilt the Packers through the draft and they have been a playoff contender since.

They have also won a couple of Super Bowls. Wolf brought in a new scouting department and some younger guys as well. He then passed the torch to Ted Thompson after the 2004 season. The Dolphins interviewed Thompson for the GM job that offseason, but they passed, and I always wondered what could have happened if they hired him.

Thompson continued building the Packers and drafted a QB who slipped in the 2005 draft, Aaron Rodgers, and a couple of years later let Brett Favre go because Rodgers was waiting in the wings, and Favre had long thought of retiring. Thompson took a lot of heat for it, but he won a Super Bowl with Rodgers. 

Sulivan started his career learning from Wolf and then Thompson. He worked his way up from scout to director of their scouting department. He is also considered a rising star in some NFL circles. When he pushed the Packers to draft Love, it showed that he learned from his predecessors: looking for a quarterback even when you have one. The Packers, even when they had Favre and Rodgers, would draft quarterbacks, such as Matt Hasselbeck, Aaron Brooks, Matt Flynn, and others, because they always felt you had to draft one just in case. 

I’m sure Sullivan will bring that to the Dolphins. Think about it since Dan Marino retired. How many quarterbacks have the Dolphins drafted? I believe it is 7, which isn’t a lot, which means either the Dolphins have a quarterback, or they aren’t doing enough to look for one.

The answer is the latter, and I expect that to change because it’s not like the Dolphins haven’t had opportunities to take other quarterbacks. They could have taken Justin Herbert, Josh Allen, Russell Wilson, Rodgers, Matt Ryan, and others in the draft who were there to be taken or within a few picks to trade up and get them. This is something that will change, I believe. I think Sullivan is going to rebuild this team and tear it down this offseason.

It’s totally needed, but it will come with a purpose and a vision, which is something that has been lacking. 

Does this mean it will work out? No, but at least the Dolphins found someone who will bring a new vision for building homegrown talent and who will look at a position even if they have someone, which will be refreshing.