Speaker 1: You're listening to the Miami Dolphins Podcast Network.
Speaker 2: This is Drive Time with Travis Wingfield. Back to throw
Speaker 2: to a looking clips a dolt.
Speaker 1: A wide Olphen touchdown, trick quel, uncolievable, just blue fire
Speaker 1: for a second time.
Speaker 2: Don knew where he was going right away? Want to
Speaker 2: hit that man. I'm going to help you. Someone will
Speaker 2: keep on his man.
Speaker 1: Away Wattle Wadle to a shotgun, back to throw, looking
Speaker 1: at them.
Speaker 2: Up myers touchdown. It's Waddle his sixth touchdown, paradown.
Speaker 3: How's the team?
Speaker 2: Drive Time with Travis Wingfield begins.
Speaker 1: Now check your.
Speaker 4: Pulse if you're not for.
Speaker 2: What is up?
Speaker 1: Dolphins? And welcome to the Drift Time podcast, part of
Speaker 1: the Miami Dolphins podcast Network, covering your team, your Miami Dolphins.
Speaker 1: How's it going everybody? I am your host, Travis Wingfield,
Speaker 1: and we have now gone past the divisional preview series
Speaker 1: and we are into training can't preview next week? It
Speaker 1: all gets started here from Miami Gardens. We're going to
Speaker 1: talk to Mike White today, Dolphins quarterback, and we're also
Speaker 1: going to preview the quarterback and tie end positions here
Speaker 1: on the training camp preview series, which starts right now.
Speaker 1: From the Baptist Health Studios inside the Baptist Health Training Complex.
Speaker 1: This is the Draft Time.
Speaker 2: Podcast, Maggie Jeff.
Speaker 1: First, let's go ahead and kick this thing off with
Speaker 1: another walk and talk.
Speaker 2: We've been doing a whole bunch of these.
Speaker 1: Let's go right back to that quarterback room and hear
Speaker 1: from new Dolphins QB Mike White.
Speaker 2: What's up, guys.
Speaker 1: Travis Pinfield here again for another edition of one hundred
Speaker 1: Yards with Travis Winfield Dolphins quarterback Mike White joining me today. Mike,
Speaker 1: Welcome home, man.
Speaker 3: Thanksah, we're happy to have you.
Speaker 2: So Pembroke Pine Native.
Speaker 3: Right, that's correct.
Speaker 1: I was just telling you My home golf course is
Speaker 1: the Pembroke Lakes Golf Course. Yeah. There very hot.
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, I've been out there at time or two.
Speaker 1: What's you favorite hole?
Speaker 3: Whatever? Aren't the park? Three's Part three are my nemesis.
Speaker 1: Yeah, they're rough. I like that a dogleg on number nine,
Speaker 1: So you know it way better than I I'm there
Speaker 1: all the time.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's impressive.
Speaker 1: Yeah, between you know, watching the kids being here at work,
Speaker 1: it's playing golf. So that kind of takes my next question.
Speaker 1: It's the father of two, is there anything in the
Speaker 1: world you miss more than sleep. Oh my gosh.
Speaker 3: No, it's just the things you take for granted are
Speaker 3: just like even when you do get to go to sleep,
Speaker 3: the whole time in the back of your mind is
Speaker 3: just like please don't wake up, like please just let me.
Speaker 3: So you're not even getting a good night sleep, like
Speaker 3: I'm sure you know.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, watch TV. You hear the little cry in
Speaker 1: the background.
Speaker 3: It's like, oh, yes, yes, you start hearing these phantom
Speaker 3: Krajet's that a baby exactly right?
Speaker 2: So what are you up to since you got back?
Speaker 1: You're enjoying the hometown and getting back to your old routie,
Speaker 1: exploring some new stuff. What are you up to?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean it's it's it's funny just driving the
Speaker 3: old streets I would drive just like going to high
Speaker 3: school or like hanging out, you know what I mean.
Speaker 3: So it's it feels weird coming back. A lot's changed,
Speaker 3: but everything's still the same, if that makes sense. But no,
Speaker 3: I've just been trying to hit make sure I hit
Speaker 3: all my South Florida food spots like Flanagans Flanagans as
Speaker 3: might go to. I've had Flannigans easily six to seven times.
Speaker 3: I've been trying to go as many Panthers games as
Speaker 3: they can. Big Panthers guy, even the heat. I haven't
Speaker 3: made it to a Heat game, but been watching the heat.
Speaker 3: I mean, La Caretta has been fantastic. Trying to get
Speaker 3: as much Cuban coffee as I can, and it's just, yeah,
Speaker 3: I've been soaking up the sun, not worrying about am
Speaker 3: I wearing a hoodie outside this time of the year.
Speaker 1: It's fantastic. Choice every day is the way to go.
Speaker 1: So you come down here, a new team, new offense,
Speaker 1: all that stuff. I know, the offense a little bit
Speaker 1: carry over from what you did with the Jets with
Speaker 1: Michael Floor now Mike McDaniel. How you're fitting in, how
Speaker 1: you're enjoying the system. Just kind of talk about getting
Speaker 1: here for the last couple of months.
Speaker 3: Yeah, No, just being in here for OTAs is good,
Speaker 3: just to learn the receivers and kind of learn everybody's
Speaker 3: got their own unique way of running routes and their
Speaker 3: body language coming in and out of cuts and all that.
Speaker 3: So just learning the guys and then the system is similar.
Speaker 3: But there's definitely a lot of nuances that the guys
Speaker 3: here have have been able to do, and I think
Speaker 3: a lot of it is just the speed that we
Speaker 3: have here. It's it's it's nothing like I've ever been around.
Speaker 3: It's it's like a freaking four x four team out here.
Speaker 3: So getting used to that has been has been different
Speaker 3: but cool. It's cool to watch.
Speaker 1: How do you dial? Like do you have to recalibrate
Speaker 1: your dep balls because.
Speaker 3: You got to get out of your own head? Is
Speaker 3: the big thing? Is like listen, like, just as long
Speaker 3: as you throw it on time at the required yards, like,
Speaker 3: you'll be good, but just know that if you take
Speaker 3: a second hitch, you might be right.
Speaker 1: So you join a quarterback room with two A tongue
Speaker 1: by low obviously what's been like getting to know him
Speaker 1: two has been awesome.
Speaker 3: The quarterback room in general has been great. Just being
Speaker 3: able to watch to you kind of watch from afar
Speaker 3: being in the same same division, but you don't get
Speaker 3: to watch as much as you do obviously being here
Speaker 3: every day. So just like taking as much from his
Speaker 3: game as I can. You know, the anticipation, the accuracy
Speaker 3: that he plays with is very very impressive, and being
Speaker 3: able to see it every day is cool too, as
Speaker 3: opposed to just like on Crossover film when I was
Speaker 3: up in New York.
Speaker 1: Absolutely so in that same quarterback room coach Darryl Bebbell.
Speaker 1: I mean you go down his list of his quarterbacks,
Speaker 1: he's coach. It's like hall of famer, hall of famer,
Speaker 1: hall of famer. What's just like playing under him? Yeah.
Speaker 3: So he we did an introduction our first day here,
Speaker 3: and he hit us with that coach Daron Rodgers, Bright
Speaker 3: far Matt Stafford, Russell Wilson, and you're like, holy cop,
Speaker 3: it's cool. So yeah, when he draws back on that, like, hey, listen,
Speaker 3: this is how Brett thought of this, or Aaron gave
Speaker 3: me a good tidbit here, Russell, Matt. So when he
Speaker 3: gives you those nuggets, it's you definitely got to soak
Speaker 3: it all in and get what you can from it
Speaker 3: because he's seen a lot, a lot of good quarterback play.
Speaker 1: So when you get down here with the one yard
Speaker 1: line of the practice field here, when you get down here,
Speaker 1: what's your go to play call?
Speaker 3: You want to go quarterback? Sneak?
Speaker 1: Got it be?
Speaker 4: What's the selling when you get in See that's like
Speaker 4: I always have all these ideas of celebrating, Like I
Speaker 4: remember when when like my kids were born, and like
Speaker 4: I said, all right, my first touchdown, I'm going to
Speaker 4: do some type of oh to them or something.
Speaker 3: But like I score, and I just lose my mind.
Speaker 3: I black out and just like find the nearest teammate
Speaker 3: and just start yelling in his fade, just losing my mind.
Speaker 3: So if I would be lying to you, if I
Speaker 3: told you I had a celebration, because knowing myself, I
Speaker 3: would just lose my mind and go nuts and stuff.
Speaker 1: I appreciate you, man, Like why Dolphins quarterback and away
Speaker 1: he goes, We're gonna go ahead and take our first
Speaker 1: break right there and come back on the other side,
Speaker 1: talk about this quarterback room, talk about the tight end room.
Speaker 1: That's next Draft Time podcast, your host Travis Wingfield.
Speaker 2: Brought to you by Auto Nation.
Speaker 1: Originally, when I put together the summer content plan here,
Speaker 1: my thought was I was going to be doing a
Speaker 1: divisional preview with a walk and talk and a positional preview.
Speaker 1: But as I am wont to do, I typically go
Speaker 1: long winded, and that happened on every single divisional preview,
Speaker 1: And so we're going to go ahead and just give
Speaker 1: you more episodes. Does that sound good? I think it does.
Speaker 1: Let's go ahead and crank these training camp preview podcast
Speaker 1: out this week as well as Monday and Tuesday next
Speaker 1: week before training camp kicks off here in South Florida
Speaker 1: on July twenty sixth, And we start at the quarterbacks
Speaker 1: because well we heard from Mike White, but also that's
Speaker 1: usually where you start right top of the list in
Speaker 1: terms of For me, it goes quarterback, running back, wide receiver,
Speaker 1: tied end O line, and then defense interior, edge, off ball, linebacker, cornerback,
Speaker 1: safety specialist. That's how I've always done it, the same
Speaker 1: way I do AFC, East, North, Southwest, and then NFC.
Speaker 1: Same rotation there. But I'm getting into the weeds here.
Speaker 1: Let's talk about the Dolphins quarterbacks and start with number one.
Speaker 1: To a tongue of Bay Lowo, you're starting quarterback for
Speaker 1: the Miami Dolphins, and most teams go as their quarterback
Speaker 1: goes right, at least to a certain extent, you get
Speaker 1: outliers where teams bring it all the way home without
Speaker 1: premier quarterback production. Fittingly, the one season of his career
Speaker 1: where he was not producing like an All Pro was
Speaker 1: one of those two years that Peyton Manning hoisted a
Speaker 1: Lombardi Trophy in his final year with the Denver Broncos.
Speaker 2: There you go back to the Trent Dilford debate.
Speaker 1: Brad Johnson, Rex Grossman started in a Super Bowl once
Speaker 1: upon a time, But by and large, the teams who
Speaker 1: qualify for the postseason and perform well there typically have
Speaker 1: a quarterback who was among the best in the league
Speaker 1: that season. Just look back at the AFC playoffs last year.
Speaker 1: Josh Allen, Patrick, Mahomes, Joe Burrow, Justin Herbert, Trevor Lawrence,
Speaker 1: and then Lamar Jackson to a tongue by low did
Speaker 1: not start those games with a worthy primary quarterbacks for
Speaker 1: those teams. Pretty cut and dry, those were the top
Speaker 1: seven quarterbacks in the AFC a season to go. And
Speaker 1: don't get it twisted. The category he's the piers in
Speaker 1: which two are ranked among those categories, it's those same
Speaker 1: guys you mentioned, Alan Mahomes, Hertzburrow, Tua. He was absolute
Speaker 1: aces eight point nine yards per pass. I mean, all
Speaker 1: of these are top three finishes in the NFL last year.
Speaker 1: Eight point nine yards per pass, a three to three
Speaker 1: point one two five touchdown interception ratio, two hundred and
Speaker 1: seventy two point nine yards per game. He was second
Speaker 1: in EPA per dropback. He was also up there in
Speaker 1: sack percentage just under five percent tops and passer rating
Speaker 1: at one oh five point five and number two in
Speaker 1: total QBR at sixty.
Speaker 2: Eight point nine.
Speaker 1: And in those games that he started and finished, the
Speaker 1: Dolphins were eight and four. They were competitive to the
Speaker 1: last play in those four losses, and those games all
Speaker 1: could have gone really either way. And then the victories
Speaker 1: for the most part were offensive clinics with the Dolphins
Speaker 1: just posted big time point totals four consecutive games with
Speaker 1: thirty points against Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, and Houston. Obviously the
Speaker 1: fantastic comeback in Week two against Baltimore. You had some
Speaker 1: big time production in the Buffalo game that Saturday night,
Speaker 1: and some big wins too against you know mentioned.
Speaker 2: Baltimore beat in Buffalo.
Speaker 1: Those are big time wins for this franchise, and you know,
Speaker 1: led by a quarterback that was playing some of his
Speaker 1: best ball within those games. And I'm looking back at
Speaker 1: my notes from a season ago, and here's what I wrote.
Speaker 1: His ability to was to attack the whole field based
Speaker 1: on a snapshot of information, the strides he made with
Speaker 1: this eye discipline, the downfield threat that was among the
Speaker 1: best in the league, and the ability to make plays
Speaker 1: against pressure, mitigating free hitters or create with his pocket mobility,
Speaker 1: the accuracy that turns a fifteen yard completion versus the
Speaker 1: Packers into a chance for Jalen Waddle to run at
Speaker 1: eighty four yards all the way to the end zone,
Speaker 1: or the fifty seven yarder in Baltimore, or the sixty
Speaker 1: seven yarder in Buffalo. Like you get the idea. I
Speaker 1: think we have a quarterback who has shown high, high
Speaker 1: level play in terms of between the ear stuff. He
Speaker 1: took a professional approach, put in the work and showed
Speaker 1: you he has what it takes to excel in the
Speaker 1: most important arena of the position, the processing, manipulation and
Speaker 1: application of the skills once the ball has been snapped.
Speaker 1: And the best part about that, he's twenty five years old.
Speaker 1: He was twenty four last year. But he's only twenty
Speaker 1: five years old. It's only going to get better. We
Speaker 1: even saw growth with things this past year. Even in
Speaker 1: game Mike described the mistakes of the second interception of
Speaker 1: the Baltimore game and what he was able to do
Speaker 1: after that, where he's able to compartmentalize it, forget about it,
Speaker 1: and move on to the next high level stuff. So
Speaker 1: that was twenty four a season ago. Now at twenty
Speaker 1: five and having seen him get that second go round
Speaker 1: in the system for a couple of brief ota practices,
Speaker 1: take ownership of the offense and really take ownership of
Speaker 1: the team in general.
Speaker 2: I just think you can see those.
Speaker 1: Fine details buttoned up even more. And when you get
Speaker 1: to this level, this level of a profession, it kind
Speaker 1: of reminds me of golf, where you just make a
Speaker 1: minor tweak, a very small calibration.
Speaker 2: And it can have the biggest impact.
Speaker 1: Like if you just make a small change in your putter,
Speaker 1: all of a sudden, you're shaving a putt per hole,
Speaker 1: maybe you know ten puts per round, it's a huge deal.
Speaker 1: Going from you know, nine to eighty is a big
Speaker 1: deal on the golf course. And for Tua, those small tweaks,
Speaker 1: those fine calibrations. In the second year, I think you
Speaker 1: can really see that ratchet up the play to even
Speaker 1: a further step because last year what were some of
Speaker 1: the shortcomings for this offense in general was offensive penalties,
Speaker 1: a little bit late, getting out of the huddle in
Speaker 1: the operation to have mentioned that being one of the
Speaker 1: focal points this offseason. Going into the twenty twenty three season,
Speaker 1: you button those things up, all of a sudden, you
Speaker 1: start seeing a better third down conversion rate, longer time
Speaker 1: of possession, which is going to need to more points,
Speaker 1: and obviously keeps your defense fresher on the other side
Speaker 1: and keeps them off.
Speaker 2: The field too.
Speaker 1: So fine calibration, I think can have big, big impacts.
Speaker 1: We played the sound from Ronaldo Hill back during OTA's
Speaker 1: where he said two is in a great job of
Speaker 1: forcing that defense to really harp on their rules and
Speaker 1: play through each progression as to a stress them all,
Speaker 1: like understanding that we have this shell coverage, whatever it
Speaker 1: might be, well, you have to be able to rally
Speaker 1: up and tackle because two is going to find that
Speaker 1: fourth or fifth option in the passing game if you
Speaker 1: cover up.
Speaker 2: One, two, and three very well.
Speaker 1: So he gets his information pre snap, he assesses quickly
Speaker 1: post snap, and the ball is out. Not only is
Speaker 1: this great for obvious reasons, but it also helps the
Speaker 1: offensive line that wants to play aggressively downhill. It helps
Speaker 1: the wide receivers operate in space once they catch the football.
Speaker 2: It just helps the entire offense.
Speaker 1: Obviously, we have to keep the quarterback upright and keep
Speaker 1: them healthy because if that happens, we can see this
Speaker 1: offense really shine for an entire season. That's the key
Speaker 1: this year to this guy's game. He has all the
Speaker 1: tools in the tool bag to be a highly efficient,
Speaker 1: highly effective quarterback like we saw a year ago, and
Speaker 1: I cannot wait to see what year two under Mike
Speaker 1: McDaniel looks like for Tua. A healthy Tua makes this
Speaker 1: team incredibly dangerous this year.
Speaker 2: In the National Football League.
Speaker 1: Number fourteen, Mike White, you heard from him, held likable
Speaker 1: of the guy as he also two kids, loves to
Speaker 1: play golf, South Florida guy like hey spider Man meme.
Speaker 1: And in the instance where we do have to turn
Speaker 1: to another quarterback, I think this room is well balanced
Speaker 1: this year with a lot of potential for a potent,
Speaker 1: a possible spark off the bench, starting with my White.
Speaker 1: He just has something to him, that kickstarter type of
Speaker 1: energy off the bench. You know, I think about Ryan
Speaker 1: Fitzpatrick or Gardner Minshew who just kind of have that
Speaker 1: backup quarterback. I'm gonna come in right now, cold, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna go to the golf course and not hit balls
Speaker 1: before the round, and I'm gonna my first t shot
Speaker 1: is gonna be excellent.
Speaker 2: You know, too many golf metaphors or parallels here.
Speaker 1: But his teammates love him. He plays a similar pace
Speaker 1: and urgency as you see with Tua. He's got familiarity
Speaker 1: in a similar system, and he's had huge days of
Speaker 1: production in this league. I mean two separate games over
Speaker 1: four hundred yards. How many quarterbacks can can say that.
Speaker 1: I mean the top guys can multiple times, but not
Speaker 1: a lot of quarterbacks kicking around out there that have
Speaker 1: multiple days over four hundred yards. Two years ago, he
Speaker 1: came off the bench in a Week six game up
Speaker 1: in New England and posted this following stat line seventy
Speaker 1: three eight yards per pass and five touchdowns within the
Speaker 1: next three games after he came off the bench for
Speaker 1: that game against the Patriots, before suffering an injury against
Speaker 1: the Colts on a Thursday night. This year, he gets
Speaker 1: the nod for a game versus the Bears after the
Speaker 1: Jets lost a ten to three heartbreaker to those same Patriots,
Speaker 1: where they again only scored three points, and he posts
Speaker 1: a twenty two for twenty eight day with three hundred
Speaker 1: and fifteen yards through the air and three touchdowns. I
Speaker 1: don't know if you guys remember the following game in
Speaker 1: Minnesota after that, which I remember watching it very tightly
Speaker 1: because the Dolphins were playing the Niners in the late window,
Speaker 1: and the Dolphins and Jets at that time, I believe
Speaker 1: we're both seven and four within one game of each other,
Speaker 1: and watching the Jets, we needed to see them lose
Speaker 1: against the Vikings that day, and Mike White was not
Speaker 1: gonna go down, you know, quietly. He did get picked
Speaker 1: off twice, but there was a couple of drops in
Speaker 1: that game that essentially prevented the Jets from winning that
Speaker 1: game against a team who won thirteen games a year ago,
Speaker 1: including a drop in the end zone and the final
Speaker 1: minute of that game that would have put them in
Speaker 1: the lead.
Speaker 2: I just like the way he plays.
Speaker 1: He sound from the pocket, He's quick in everything, he does,
Speaker 1: a little bit of scramble ability. Those are all really
Speaker 1: good traits for QB two off the bench. And then
Speaker 1: we'll have number sixteen out here as well in camp
Speaker 1: James Blackman out of Florida State and then Arkansas. After that,
Speaker 1: I should say he was a transfer, a circuitous route
Speaker 1: as a collegiate Lands blackman in his first NFL camp
Speaker 1: here with the Dolphins, and there's a lot of talent
Speaker 1: there evident by some of those games I mentioned Back
Speaker 1: at Florida State. I remember watching him early on in
Speaker 1: his career there and saying, man, that I can push
Speaker 1: the football down the field. Playing time became a bit
Speaker 1: of a scarcity that final year, just four games in
Speaker 1: that pandemic shortened season, or however you know teams handled
Speaker 1: their schedule that year. I know the PAC twelve canceled
Speaker 1: after like four games, so that was a bummer to see.
Speaker 1: But just two seasons after he played only three games
Speaker 1: due to an injury. He wound up getting a fifth
Speaker 1: and sixth year of eligibility and transferred to Arkansas State,
Speaker 1: where he played nineteen games and through twenty two touchdowns
Speaker 1: compared to just seven picks.
Speaker 2: Smooth released, high arching deep.
Speaker 1: Ball, and some pretty good athletic ability for the position.
Speaker 1: So I mentioned Mike White as a you know, potential
Speaker 1: spark off the bench. Well, he's gonna have to battle
Speaker 1: with Skyler Thompson number nineteen here, the second year quarterback
Speaker 1: for that role. Like White, we saw Skyler get some
Speaker 1: action in relief, but also as a starter.
Speaker 2: Go back to that.
Speaker 1: Vikings tape when you know, despite some penalties, he was
Speaker 1: in that first half and showed you some of the
Speaker 1: improvisational skills that helped him in the offense stay on
Speaker 1: schedule in that game For a seventh round pick. I
Speaker 1: don't know that you would have expected a rookie to
Speaker 1: get that much time a year ago, but how valuable
Speaker 1: that could that experience possibly be. He did some big
Speaker 1: plays and OTAs had that one day in mini camp
Speaker 1: where he just threw a bunch of touchdowns, and I
Speaker 1: thought he showed you the improvement you want to see
Speaker 1: from a rookie season to second year quarterback. I think
Speaker 1: you have a different quarterback room this year than you've
Speaker 1: really had going back to when toul was drafted. We
Speaker 1: heard coach say this offseason that he felt like the
Speaker 1: quarterback room needed to be changed from a year ago
Speaker 1: in the sense that Toua was now like the man
Speaker 1: in the room right and not that he wasn't a
Speaker 1: year ago, but he was again still just twenty four
Speaker 1: years old. So you often see teams in that situation
Speaker 1: drop an experienced veteran into the room and kind of
Speaker 1: prioritize that position and pay top end dollar for a
Speaker 1: backup quarterback who has started games and been in multiple
Speaker 1: quarterback rooms. It's just kind of the mo of how
Speaker 1: you build a quarterback room around a young starter, just
Speaker 1: to give that additional experience inside the room. But coach
Speaker 1: felt the need for that was less this year, and
Speaker 1: thus you get a crack at a high upside guy.
Speaker 1: And that's what I think he is, like a Mike White.
Speaker 1: There's just a lot of good football ahead of the
Speaker 1: career of Mike White. Then of course some valuable playing
Speaker 1: time last year for Skyler as a rookie, and then
Speaker 1: a talented looking rookie there in James Blackman.
Speaker 2: As well in the room.
Speaker 1: So those are your quarterbacks. Cannot wait to watch these
Speaker 1: guys spin the football out here at camp. Gonna see
Speaker 1: plenty of Tuam, Gonna see plenty of Mike White and Skyler,
Speaker 1: and we'll see how many reps we can get for
Speaker 1: James Blackman. But we'll have you guys covered on all
Speaker 1: four of those quarterbacks heading in a training camp. We're
Speaker 1: also gonna have you covered on the tight ends, which
Speaker 1: will take a break here and come back on the
Speaker 1: other side and talk about the quarterback's best friend position,
Speaker 1: the tight ends. That's next on the Draft Time podcast,
Speaker 1: your host Travis Wingfield, brought to you by Auto Nation.
Speaker 2: We heard from Mike White. We broke down the quarterback room.
Speaker 1: Let's go ahead and button up this episode talking about
Speaker 1: the tight ends. We'll see out here at the Miami
Speaker 1: Gardens practice field at the Baptist Health Training Complex here
Speaker 1: in Miami Gardens. Of that kind of backwards, we start
Speaker 1: off for the tide ends here number forty eight. Tyler Croft,
Speaker 1: a newcomer in this kind of reconstructed tight end room.
Speaker 1: I think this is one of those under the radar
Speaker 1: signings where he could come in, give you a few
Speaker 1: hundred snaps and really maximize his impact within those reps.
Speaker 1: He's a two way type of tight end in terms
Speaker 1: of how he can execute a wide variety of blocking
Speaker 1: schemes from the attached classic y alignment, but also has
Speaker 1: some juice as a pass receiver. He joked at his
Speaker 1: first media availability with the team that he's viewed as
Speaker 1: a blocking tight end exclusively, and I agree with him.
Speaker 1: He said that's not how he views himself. I agree
Speaker 1: with that, because there's some tape out there. Where he
Speaker 1: gets on top of guys. It never hurts having knowledge
Speaker 1: of the system, coming off back to back years playing
Speaker 1: with Shanahan in San Francisco and Mike Laflor with the
Speaker 1: New York Jets. So he's got the new terminology, or
Speaker 1: got to get the new terminology down, I should say,
Speaker 1: and varied wrinkles of Mike McDaniel's system. But he's very
Speaker 1: familiar with the concepts and rules of what this offense
Speaker 1: wants to do. And how about this, He averages four
Speaker 1: point five yards after the catch per reception in his career.
Speaker 1: He's allowed more than one QB pressure in two of
Speaker 1: his eight seasons, just fifteen career pressures allowed in three
Speaker 1: hundred and thirty six total pass blogging snap. So Tyler
Speaker 1: Croft first year here in Miami, number eighty. Tan O'Connor
Speaker 1: second year here in Miami, had a couple of reps
Speaker 1: a season ago in regular season action. Every time I
Speaker 1: think about Connor, I think about that preseason kickoff coverage
Speaker 1: snap where he would fly down there and he was
Speaker 1: clocked at a top speed of over twenty miles per hour.
Speaker 2: In one of those runs. We saw him get a
Speaker 2: little bit of run on offense.
Speaker 1: But he's got that seam busting ability where he can
Speaker 1: get on top of the second level and make some
Speaker 1: plays down the field. Former college wide receiver who showcased
Speaker 1: to those ball skills in camp last summer kept popping up,
Speaker 1: who's number eighty not rookie Tanner Connor? Huh, the kid
Speaker 1: from Kent, Washington. We've heard so often how tough it
Speaker 1: is to really get the tight end position down pat
Speaker 1: As a rookie, you have to be able to play
Speaker 1: all three phases of the offense, receiving, run blocking, pass blocking.
Speaker 2: So for a guy to.
Speaker 1: Be a positional convert, I think that you can hope
Speaker 1: to see everything move a little bit slower for him
Speaker 1: or g faster as the game slows down for him.
Speaker 1: And a second year player like Tanner Connor from the
Speaker 1: inexperienced to the very experienced Number eighty one Durham Smyth
Speaker 1: from a second year wide receiver convert, green behind the
Speaker 1: years player to one of the longest tenured players here
Speaker 1: in the building. Mister reliable durham Smyth. He's earned extensions
Speaker 1: each of the last two years. And don't look now,
Speaker 1: hope this doesn't make you feel as old as it
Speaker 1: does me. Durham's heading into year seven, where does the
Speaker 1: time go. Durham is at the point of attack so
Speaker 1: often that split zone flow, He's matching up on the
Speaker 1: force defender, and I think what I respect most out
Speaker 1: of Durham is he shows up and does his job,
Speaker 1: regardless of how that job might evolve year to year
Speaker 1: or even week to week within the opponents. Think back
Speaker 1: to twenty twenty when this offense went heavily through the
Speaker 1: tight end position, scores a couple of touchdowns, had some
Speaker 1: big catches, But if you need him to go knock
Speaker 1: heads in the running game for sixty minutes, he'll do
Speaker 1: that as well. He has a chance to surpass one
Speaker 1: thousand career receiving yards this year. He's at eight twenty
Speaker 1: nine averages, four point two yak per catch in his
Speaker 1: career and one point oh four yards per route. Ran
Speaker 1: Durham Smith Year seven for durham smyth number eighty two.
Speaker 1: Eric Saber another newcomer here to the room. One of
Speaker 1: the players I'm most looking forward to seeing in camp
Speaker 1: because I've seen him do a little bit of everything
Speaker 1: on tape and his pro career. I can't wait to
Speaker 1: see the role that coach McDaniel and John Embry cook
Speaker 1: up for him. I think he's got a springy first
Speaker 1: step in the ability to play over defenders in coverage
Speaker 1: with his size, but also the big mits he has
Speaker 1: for hands to haul in the football just vacuums that
Speaker 1: thing and when it hits him in the hands, especially
Speaker 1: in tight quarters, like you're gonna get down on the
Speaker 1: red zone, like you're gonna get at a position that
Speaker 1: does not typically traditionally generate a ton of separation, you
Speaker 1: have to make contested catches and big hands will go
Speaker 1: a long way with that. He had career best last
Speaker 1: year fifteen grabs one hundred and forty eight yards in
Speaker 1: his second career touchdown, also had one back in twenty
Speaker 1: twenty one. He was pretty predominantly featured in a blocking
Speaker 1: role for much of his career. PFF loves his pass
Speaker 1: blocking work five of seven years greater than their green category,
Speaker 1: which is well above the average, basically signify the good
Speaker 1: player in that regard. Also has a couple of years
Speaker 1: in that same distinction regarding his run blocking, which I
Speaker 1: think is a strength of his game, especially in an
Speaker 1: offense that wants to play fast and can take advantage
Speaker 1: of that ten split of his, which is going to
Speaker 1: be a theme in this room and on this team.
Speaker 1: Like number eighty four Elijah Higgins, the rookie sixth round
Speaker 1: draft pick here of your Miami Dolphins. And speaking of
Speaker 1: ten split, the first thing I noticed watching Elijah at
Speaker 1: Stanford was the way he fires off the football. It
Speaker 1: is fast, and his release package, whether it's simply chewing
Speaker 1: up a cushion or thwarting press and getting into his
Speaker 1: stem with physicality. I just like his work as a
Speaker 1: route runner really in general, and of course, like Connor,
Speaker 1: he's making the position change and that can come with
Speaker 1: some learning curves. But like coach McDaniel has said, as
Speaker 1: long as he learns from his mistakes, then he'll be
Speaker 1: in a good shape to help the football team.
Speaker 2: You know, maybe right away.
Speaker 1: I'm really intrigued by his ability to make that conversion,
Speaker 1: but really just the varied roles of the skill players
Speaker 1: and how some of those roles can be occupied by
Speaker 1: wide receivers or tight ends just need the right makeup,
Speaker 1: and I think Higgins has that in a few categories.
Speaker 2: I can see him being the lead motion man on
Speaker 2: blocks on outside runs.
Speaker 1: He's also got the potential to run down the field
Speaker 1: on special teams. Very excited to see how this guy
Speaker 1: develops here in his time with the Miami Dolphins. And
Speaker 1: we finish up here with the second rookie, the Campbell
Speaker 1: product number eighty nine, Julian Hill, big dude who can move,
Speaker 1: which is obviously a theme in this room. Had a
Speaker 1: chance to chat with him at Rookie Media and he's
Speaker 1: just a really fun, easy going personality who just kept
Speaker 1: going back to the joy of the work and the
Speaker 1: game and how grateful he is to be here.
Speaker 2: He caught thirty eight balls for.
Speaker 1: Six hundred and fifty nine yards last season and five
Speaker 1: touchdowns there at Campbell.
Speaker 2: So there you go.
Speaker 1: Quarterbacks, tight ends in the books. Mike White's interview also
Speaker 1: in the books. So here's the schedule for the training
Speaker 1: camp preview episodes tomorrow Wide Receivers. We're also gonna hear
Speaker 1: from Miles Gaskin and de von A Chain on Wednesday,
Speaker 1: the nineteenth, offensive line Isaiah Win, Austin Jackson going to
Speaker 1: join me, and then on the twentieth we'll do running
Speaker 1: backs and linebackers and talk to David Long, new Dolphins linebacker.
Speaker 2: On Friday, the twenty.
Speaker 1: Fourth, we're going to do the edge position and talk
Speaker 1: to Emmanuel Ogba. We'll come back on Monday the twenty
Speaker 1: fourth and do DBS and cater Ko who will also
Speaker 1: join the podcast. Then the twenty fifth special Teams and
Speaker 1: interior defensive Linemen with Raykwon Davis and Jake Bailey joining
Speaker 1: me on the podcast, and then his training camp. So
Speaker 1: that's a schedule. That's the podcast.
Speaker 2: You all.
Speaker 1: Please be sure to subscribe to the podcast on Apple, Spotify,
Speaker 1: or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 2: Leave us a rating, leave us a review.
Speaker 1: You can follow me on Twitter at link for NFL,
Speaker 1: follow the team at Miami Dolphins. Check out the fish
Speaker 1: Tank Pod with Seth and Juice, check out the YouTube
Speaker 1: channel for Dolphins Today, Media availabilities, and so much more,
Speaker 1: and last.
Speaker 2: But not least, Miami Dolphins dot Com.
Speaker 1: Until next time, Finns Up Caroline Cameron, Daddy's Coming Home.