Darius Butler (CB), University of Connecticut

5'10", 183

Miami had a great season last year following going 1-15 by going 11-5 and beating the Patriots to the AFC East Title. They have done this by adding quality depth at most positions and by getting Chad Pennington from the Jets - who knew he was that good, obviously not the Jets anyway. So looking at this draft their main area of need on offence would be at WR so I contemplated players like Percy Harvin and Hackeem Nicks at this position. Harvin might be too similar to Ted Ginn Jr and Nicks could be the next Anquan Boldin but has issues with his weight and work ethic so I am not sure Parcells would take the risk. On defense Miami has a need at OLB but judging on the draft so far so do a lot of teams. So the talent remaining at this position isn't as high as it is for the defense other big need cornerback. Even though they signed Eric Green in free agency they really need to improve the competition at this position. Some quality CB's on the board still Alphonso Smith and Sean Smith are both interesting - Smith could be another DRC but I don't think he is as athletic. Darius Butler however has good size and great speed and agility. He racked up 10 interceptions with the Huskies which could have been better but I think will improve with coaching. He also has experience returning kicks so I think he will beat out Green and probably Jason Allen to be the starter day 1 and be an excellent addition to a secondary that added Gibril Wilson also this off-season.

Strengths: Good height and athletic build. Very instinctive, reads and reacts without hesitation. Very fluid hips and nice body control. Has the recovery speed and initial acceleration you look for, no questions athletically. Competitive and plays with a swagger. Anticipates routes in press man coverage. Physical and can play bump-and-run. Solid work ethic.

Weaknesses: Needs to work his run support. He is a typical corner back tackler and needs to do a better job of completing his tackles. Should have produced more interceptions at Connecticut so needs to work on his ball skills.

Many thanks to CardsIrish for submitting this pick and supplying an excellent write up. The Ravens and Fireking are now on the clock (e-mail to revengeofthebirds@gmail.com), with the Colts and Irishcardinal on deck. If anyone needs to refresh their memory on the draft order, check here.