Speaker 1: You were listening to the Miami Dolphins podcast Network. This
Speaker 1: is Drive Time with Travis Whingefield. Back to throw to
Speaker 1: a looking what alta wind it open touchtop cleric call unbelievable.
Speaker 1: Just flew by for a second time to know where
Speaker 1: he was going right away. A hit of that man.
Speaker 1: I want to help you soon up on his wattle
Speaker 1: waddle to a shotgun, back to throw looking us up
Speaker 1: fires too, It's waddle. It's six touchdowns para day. Drive
Speaker 1: Time with Travis Winfield begins. Now let me check your
Speaker 1: pulse and far What is up? Dolphans And welcome to
Speaker 1: the Drift Time podcast, part of the Miami Dolphins podcast
Speaker 1: network covering your team, your Miami Dolphins. How's it going? Everybody?
Speaker 1: I am your host, Travis Wingfield, And on today's show,
Speaker 1: Senior Bowl practices going to the week in general is
Speaker 1: a rap. I've been pouring over some of the practice
Speaker 1: tape identifying some of the best performances. We'll talk about
Speaker 1: that and continue our two season review series with the
Speaker 1: tight End Room from the Baptist Health Studios inside the
Speaker 1: Baptist Health Training Complex. This is the Drivetime. We're putting
Speaker 1: together a content proposal peace Um for scouting combine this year,
Speaker 1: and I went back and looked at some of the
Speaker 1: old content we did for the scouting combine, and I
Speaker 1: listened to one of the first episodes of Drive Time,
Speaker 1: at least the first like twenty seconds of it. Boy,
Speaker 1: your boy had some energy and some enthusiasm. It's funny
Speaker 1: how jobs can change that over time. But rolling along
Speaker 1: here with the two season getting deeper and deeper into
Speaker 1: the rear view mirror, we continue assessing an evaluating, the
Speaker 1: critical first step before devising your off season plan. What
Speaker 1: we had in two. We'll go back to the offensive
Speaker 1: side of the ball today and break down the IT
Speaker 1: end room, which had it struggles this past season. We
Speaker 1: first start here with the accomplishments of the group. Forty
Speaker 1: seven grabs for four nine yards or fifty seven grabs
Speaker 1: other and six touchdowns and fifty four snaps played, and
Speaker 1: they were in twelve personnel excuse me, nine point four
Speaker 1: percent of the time. Of course, that's one back too.
Speaker 1: Tight ends. It's a big fixture, a big piece of
Speaker 1: this offense and the way they want to establish not
Speaker 1: just a certain style of running game, but the play
Speaker 1: action game off of that and the ability to be
Speaker 1: explosive or run the football from that twelve personnel package.
Speaker 1: I mean, you get Tyreek and Jalen on the field
Speaker 1: with two good blocking tight ends and equality running back
Speaker 1: and a good offensive line. I mean, who's gonna stop
Speaker 1: that offense? So you have some work to do to
Speaker 1: make that possibility, and within your capacity of your calls,
Speaker 1: I think we see that number increase if you can
Speaker 1: get to that level in the future, because if you
Speaker 1: have to defend both wide areas of the field and
Speaker 1: the running game, you have contend with two four three receivers,
Speaker 1: you have a good quarterback and a good offensive line
Speaker 1: that can protect, and an explosive running back. Man, you're
Speaker 1: cooking with gas. And it kind of brings me back
Speaker 1: to this idea or philosophy or theory that I share
Speaker 1: oftentimes with friends or people that are close to this
Speaker 1: team as well in terms of you know, fans and friends,
Speaker 1: And I pose this question that day to a group
Speaker 1: chat of mine, like, would you rather kind of if
Speaker 1: you only had X amount of premium resources, would you
Speaker 1: rather patch up a couple of spots you have on
Speaker 1: offense and make that like one of the best offenses
Speaker 1: in the NFL? Or would you leave it as is
Speaker 1: and shift those resources in the defense and try to
Speaker 1: see if you can't make your defense go from like
Speaker 1: then you have like a you know, seventh or eighth
Speaker 1: offense and fifteen defense. That's not like an either or situation.
Speaker 1: But if you were posed in or you know, if
Speaker 1: you were putting that hypothetical situation, what would you choose?
Speaker 1: And I tend to lean towards like, make your strength
Speaker 1: your strength, man, make your team identity your team identity.
Speaker 1: So I'm curious to see how it works out this offseason.
Speaker 1: And again I'm not saying they have to choose either or,
Speaker 1: but I'll be curious to see where the priority lies.
Speaker 1: Do they want to fix, you know, the offense and
Speaker 1: that includes this position, like right tackle. You gotta get
Speaker 1: better production from that spot, probably a better production from
Speaker 1: the left guard. You need better health from the quarterback position,
Speaker 1: and you probably need a little bit more running back.
Speaker 1: So like there are you know, areas there to filter
Speaker 1: your resources towards that I think you could accomplish in
Speaker 1: one off season. But one thing I do know is
Speaker 1: this group needs needs some resources, needs some some reinforcements,
Speaker 1: you know, the group as a whole, there was some
Speaker 1: timely playmaking in terms of catching touchdowns and explosive plays,
Speaker 1: but outside of that, there just wasn't much we saw.
Speaker 1: You know, Durham Smith kind of took on that role
Speaker 1: of split flow action try to head up some players
Speaker 1: in the running game that your your six text and
Speaker 1: beyond the you know, edge defender outside linebackers and help
Speaker 1: out with chipping and past protection and off of that
Speaker 1: split flow action kind of be the flat receiver option
Speaker 1: which holds you know, certain parts of the defenders for
Speaker 1: that vertical horizontal stretch. You know, your cloud corner kind
Speaker 1: of pays attention to that flat tight end coming across
Speaker 1: the formation there. And if you can do multiple things,
Speaker 1: that helps your offense stay flexible, helps keep the defense guessing,
Speaker 1: and it just allows your quick decision making quarterback to
Speaker 1: get even more windows and even more advantage based upon
Speaker 1: the way you move things. But you have to be
Speaker 1: sharp in these areas, and Miami wasn't this year. Let's
Speaker 1: just be completely honest about that. It wasn't good at
Speaker 1: the position, and you gotta get better. How that happens,
Speaker 1: we'll have to find out. Let's go ahead and review
Speaker 1: what happened this season. Here for the Miami Dolphins. Number
Speaker 1: eighty Tanner Connor didn't have any passing game production, had
Speaker 1: three targets, and I think two of those were drops.
Speaker 1: The season kind of just got away from him at
Speaker 1: that point in terms of like, well, you can't you
Speaker 1: can't throw the ball to the guy that keeps dropping it.
Speaker 1: But I do think there's a lot of talent in there.
Speaker 1: I know the team loves what they have in Tanner Connor.
Speaker 1: He played just twenty five snaps. Durham Smith number eighty one,
Speaker 1: caught fifteen balls for a buck twenty nine and touchdown
Speaker 1: five hundred and fifty seven snaps. He got the extension
Speaker 1: last year, but there's flexibility there and we'll see what
Speaker 1: happens going forward to the position. But I you know,
Speaker 1: Smith was playing five hundred and fifty seven snaps, was
Speaker 1: the tight end one this past year, and you just
Speaker 1: like I said, We'll put it this way, you just
Speaker 1: need better production at the spot. Number eight four Hunter
Speaker 1: long no passing game production. He played ninety three snaps,
Speaker 1: and the number eighty eight Mike gets Sicky played how
Speaker 1: many snaps did he give us? Sorry? I just clicked
Speaker 1: on an email. Four hundred and seventy eight snaps, caught
Speaker 1: thirty two for three sixty two and five touchdowns. So
Speaker 1: the touchdown production from Gisicky to me was the only
Speaker 1: positive you got here. I'll take five touchdowns from my
Speaker 1: tight end, but everything else it's gotta go up. Those
Speaker 1: are bricking numbers. You got pumples numbers up. Reserved injured
Speaker 1: list was Adam Shaheen and Sethan carter Um. As far
Speaker 1: as the individuals, going back to his kind of talking
Speaker 1: about them, Connor, you know, the explosive nature of his
Speaker 1: of his game, I suppose is what intrigued you. He's
Speaker 1: a former receiver and track champion that can kind of,
Speaker 1: you know, give you the explosive element of the game
Speaker 1: and we'll see what he can do going forward. Smythe
Speaker 1: again kind of limited in what he brings the table
Speaker 1: in terms of that inline blocking, but I think that
Speaker 1: that's the really aspect of his game that needed to
Speaker 1: get better, and it hasn't over the like four or
Speaker 1: five years. I mean, it's gotten better, but not to
Speaker 1: where it needs to be, especially in this system. Hunter
Speaker 1: long has been a slow burn obviously, and then Mike
Speaker 1: get Sicky just kind of a you know, square pad
Speaker 1: round hole, trying to make it work, and it didn't
Speaker 1: work this year. What happens next year, we'll see. But uh,
Speaker 1: just a tough year for this room in general. And
Speaker 1: that brings us to what might be out there this
Speaker 1: offseason among free agents. I mean, there are so many
Speaker 1: guys on the list that you you know, are kind
Speaker 1: of what you just had. You know, Mike get Sicky
Speaker 1: one of them a free agent. Obviously, Evan Ingram a
Speaker 1: much better version of that. He was awesome for the
Speaker 1: Jaguars this year, but he's not gonna line up and
Speaker 1: you know, go be a slobber knocker on a Sam linebacker,
Speaker 1: Austin Hooper, same role, but lesser of a player. But man,
Speaker 1: there are some names I sure do love as more
Speaker 1: of a fit in terms of what tight ends are
Speaker 1: asked to do in this system, right, and and coaches
Speaker 1: talked about kind of retraining guys to do the opposite
Speaker 1: what they learned in their football careers in the system,
Speaker 1: and yeah, let's go get guys that can do that. Now.
Speaker 1: I think you gotta do what it tied in one
Speaker 1: and tied into That's my thought, and I think you
Speaker 1: try to make them as similar and interchangeable like you
Speaker 1: would the safety position, and I think it's a significantly
Speaker 1: priced free agent and relatively high draft pick because this
Speaker 1: is a big priority for me this offseason. I think
Speaker 1: this is the biggest key, along with right tackle towards
Speaker 1: making the offense one of the best to the best
Speaker 1: in the NFL. Hayden Hurst is my number one guy
Speaker 1: all day long. I think he's perfect for I just
Speaker 1: talked about. IRB. Smith is also up there. Not quite
Speaker 1: the end line blocker as Hayden Hurst, but he's really
Speaker 1: good and he's a much better receiver, so there's like
Speaker 1: some options there. I am slightly intrigued by the idea
Speaker 1: of a Robert Tonyan who has played in a similar
Speaker 1: system before and been a good like fourth or fifth
Speaker 1: option in the passing game, which is what we need
Speaker 1: in my opinion at this position. Uh. My top of
Speaker 1: the market guys are IRV. Smith and Dalton Schultz, although
Speaker 1: I'm really only interested in one of those guys. IRB.
Speaker 1: Smith again, first round talent, h back, fullback, tight end,
Speaker 1: flex him out playing wherever you want. I think that
Speaker 1: his market value they have here at ten point two
Speaker 1: million uh per year a p y is pretty pretty
Speaker 1: on brand, pretty tard on target, and I would pay
Speaker 1: that or what we did last year the position for
Speaker 1: the production we got now Dalton Schultz fifteen millions. The
Speaker 1: spot rack market value for him, no way, no, I
Speaker 1: am all the way out on that. But the mid
Speaker 1: level two guys here, I'm really intrigued by Hayden Hurst again.
Speaker 1: Six point eight is his market value on spot Rack.
Speaker 1: Love his game. I think he's just he just brings
Speaker 1: everything you want at this position at in this offense
Speaker 1: and playing for Zach Taylor. The offense is somewhat similar
Speaker 1: kind of an offshooter Sean McVeigh, which of course stems
Speaker 1: off the Shanahan trees, so somewhat similar concepts. And then
Speaker 1: Robert Tonyan again back in that Green Bay offense. He's
Speaker 1: a five million employer per spot Rack. The bargain guys.
Speaker 1: I took four here, which I know is against my
Speaker 1: own rules, but I put Ross Dwelly and Tyler Croft
Speaker 1: because they played in San Francisco like and I know
Speaker 1: Ross Welly is a tight end three tight and four
Speaker 1: type special team or guy that can come in there
Speaker 1: and line up in your in your heavy package, your
Speaker 1: elephant package on the goal line and try to knock
Speaker 1: some guys back because that kind of extra tackle role.
Speaker 1: And then Drew Sample and Jesse James are my other
Speaker 1: two guys. They just missed the entire year last year.
Speaker 1: I think it kind of depresses their value a little bit.
Speaker 1: So if you can get a steal that way, that
Speaker 1: would be nice. So to me, ideally you'll wind up
Speaker 1: with Herb Smith or Hayden Hurst or Robert Touny in
Speaker 1: and then you pair that in the draft with one
Speaker 1: of the deepest draft classes we've had at this position
Speaker 1: in a long time. You should have a potential plug
Speaker 1: and play Day one starter there at pick fifty two
Speaker 1: if you if you want so Dolphin's first pick this year.
Speaker 1: I would have loved to have Darnell Washington from Georgia
Speaker 1: with pick twenty one, but that ain't happening obviously. He's
Speaker 1: my top guy, complete freak. He's like seven ft four
Speaker 1: seven four pounds, just kidding. He's like he is like
Speaker 1: six eight to seventy though or to eighty, and he
Speaker 1: freaking can move. He looks like a basketball player out there.
Speaker 1: He is. He's a phenomenal player, going to be a
Speaker 1: great pro. And he has tape wiping dudes out, catching passes,
Speaker 1: and running away from people. He is impressive, impressive, impressive specimen.
Speaker 1: Notre Dame's Michael Mayer is the one that gets the
Speaker 1: on the radar for everybody I've talked to, and it's
Speaker 1: not hard to see why he's gonna be long gone
Speaker 1: by the time we pick probably the best Jason Witten
Speaker 1: coomp we've gotten since Witten came out of Tennessee, and
Speaker 1: that includes like a lack of separation and explosion at
Speaker 1: the top of routes. But Whitten didn't have that, and
Speaker 1: he still found ways to get open. Mayor is kind
Speaker 1: of in that same in that same world. He also
Speaker 1: the name Dalton Kinkaide from Utah. He's a great player,
Speaker 1: but he's more Gasicky than Kittle, which you know what
Speaker 1: I mean by that. Uh. Sam Laporter from Iowa has
Speaker 1: similar skills in terms of run after the catch and
Speaker 1: making big plays as the tight end you might want here,
Speaker 1: but gosh, if there's an inline weapon working off stretch
Speaker 1: zone offense tied into this class, it's LAPORTA man like
Speaker 1: he gives you the benefit of that kind of horizontal
Speaker 1: stretch type of offense. And here's this four team broken
Speaker 1: tackles on fifty three grabs last year, lad all tight
Speaker 1: ends in the country. That's a crazy number for a
Speaker 1: tight end. And he comes from tight end you at
Speaker 1: Iowa or one of them. I mentioned Musgrave, the Oregan
Speaker 1: State player at the Senior Bowl. He might be a
Speaker 1: guy you look at with pick fifty two. Insane athletic
Speaker 1: ability in a sixty pound frame. He might be my
Speaker 1: preferred pick at fifty two. In general, I'm not far
Speaker 1: enough in yet, but I really really like what he
Speaker 1: brings the table. He can he can kind of be
Speaker 1: like an alec ingold, but at the tight end position
Speaker 1: in terms of how he opens up your offense and
Speaker 1: the things you can do. Cage still Over from Ohio
Speaker 1: State is your run block, first tight end, make plays
Speaker 1: after the fact type of guy. That's why I like
Speaker 1: him and like, you know, probably the day three, if
Speaker 1: you know, late day three, maybe perhaps that number two
Speaker 1: tight end roll there. I think Miami's Will Mallory doesn't
Speaker 1: have the in line pelts to be considered. I think
Speaker 1: Davis Allen is not enough enough of a mover for me,
Speaker 1: and Minnesota's Brevn span Ford intrigues me in the way
Speaker 1: A third offensive tackle would kind of talking about, like, um,
Speaker 1: some of those Ross Dwelly type of roles line up
Speaker 1: in line and go knock somebody off the football. Fascinating class.
Speaker 1: Could definitely see Miami comingway with one on Day two
Speaker 1: in addition to that big free agent we'll see. But
Speaker 1: I think this is a big area of focus in
Speaker 1: a good year to have a deep class at the
Speaker 1: tight end position. Let's go ahead and take our first
Speaker 1: break right there and come back on the other side,
Speaker 1: and I'm gonna tell you about the Senior Bowl and
Speaker 1: when I thought about some of the practice I've seen
Speaker 1: so far, not all the way down, but I have
Speaker 1: a couple of those in the bank right now. That's
Speaker 1: next Drivetime Podcast, your host, Travis Wingfield, brought to you
Speaker 1: by Aunt Nation. Friday. Here on the Drivetime Podcast, we
Speaker 1: had the schefter tweet on Thursday that found Gio is
Speaker 1: once again official or I guess not official, but will
Speaker 1: become official, and we'll have um some podcast content for
Speaker 1: you guys on him when he is officially official, which
Speaker 1: I cannot wait to do that. We've been working on
Speaker 1: that for a while now, so I'm excited to bring
Speaker 1: it to you. Let's go back to the Senior Bowl
Speaker 1: here and off the top, this game has just been
Speaker 1: such draft mecca over the years. Man, I talked about
Speaker 1: it seemingly every year, But it wasn't that long ago
Speaker 1: that you just didn't get first rounders at this game,
Speaker 1: maybe one or two when I first started watching it
Speaker 1: back in just like five, I think it was the
Speaker 1: first year I watched the Senior Bowl and was really
Speaker 1: into it. But now they get five, six, seven, like
Speaker 1: maybe ten and in a great year, the best year.
Speaker 1: The second and third rounds are loaded every year with
Speaker 1: Senior Bowl alumni, Senior Bowl alumni, and the best part,
Speaker 1: it really feels like there are some predictive things you
Speaker 1: see annually with these practices. Personally, the way a player moves,
Speaker 1: I locked away, you move Donnut, Donnut? First time I
Speaker 1: ever a second the podcast. How you guys like that?
Speaker 1: Uh yeah, cast Um. The way a player moves among
Speaker 1: their peers at the Senior Bowl goes such a long
Speaker 1: way with me, because like that's the easiest, most tangible
Speaker 1: thing to spot in terms of Scotty, that guy moves
Speaker 1: different than everybody else. We're gonna talk about a back
Speaker 1: and a backer in this pod where it's just evident
Speaker 1: they move at different speeds and their peers do. I
Speaker 1: also think you get a chance to see a player's polish,
Speaker 1: how pro ready is he. We're gonna talk about a
Speaker 1: receiver who runs just really good, consistent routes with purpose
Speaker 1: and understands all of that. This is a good chance
Speaker 1: to see who is really taking their game already to
Speaker 1: not the peak, but close enough to the peak where
Speaker 1: you can say I can probably count on that guy
Speaker 1: to produce in year one, which is such a big
Speaker 1: deal for a draft prospect. It's not like the biggest thing, obviously,
Speaker 1: but it's a bonus. And then you get the past rush,
Speaker 1: past pro drills, which to me tells a story every
Speaker 1: single year. That remains my favorite thing to watch at
Speaker 1: any football practice in any capacity. And some guys really
Speaker 1: showed you what they've got in that department this week.
Speaker 1: Let's go ahead and get to it. Darnielle Right, the
Speaker 1: tackle from Tennessee, is an easy strider to his landmark
Speaker 1: with good redirect and change of direction back inside. I
Speaker 1: thought he and Will McDonald were really the man chup
Speaker 1: of the week with their one on once. He has
Speaker 1: the length and range to get around the outside but
Speaker 1: the balance and strength to thwart moves back inside, and
Speaker 1: there was a great freak f um. There was a
Speaker 1: image stat image graphic somebody posted from I don't know,
Speaker 1: I don't know where it came from. This is turning
Speaker 1: into Mark Wahlberg and in the Departed Maybe maybe not,
Speaker 1: maybe yourself. Um, but it was a stat that basically
Speaker 1: told you how often teams are putting their tackles on
Speaker 1: an island. And despite having to Ron Armstead arguably one
Speaker 1: of the best left tackles in the NFL, the Dolphins
Speaker 1: were the lowest in terms of leaving their tackles isolated,
Speaker 1: and a lot of that has to do with the
Speaker 1: right tackle position. Right is a guy that you can
Speaker 1: do that with, is what I'm getting at here. Speaking
Speaker 1: of Will McDonald from Iowa State, Holy Molly, he's gonna
Speaker 1: be gone way before we pick. But man, he was
Speaker 1: so impressive you have to mention him incredibly. Bendy has
Speaker 1: a wicked spin move back inside, and he just understands
Speaker 1: his pass rush plan, like when to give more space,
Speaker 1: when to reduce space, when a counter could work. After
Speaker 1: showing a specific move all day long, Like I said,
Speaker 1: he's very likely gone, long gone, by the time Miami picks.
Speaker 1: But you just can't do this segment and not mention him.
Speaker 1: Three more names I have here that we've covered a
Speaker 1: little bit. I think Cody Mock, the interior offensive lineman
Speaker 1: from North Dakota State, Like I said on the on
Speaker 1: the Wednesday podcast, put him into your starting lineup when
Speaker 1: you draft him. He's gonna be that type of player,
Speaker 1: the Alex Cappa, the the Quinn Miners for the Broncos
Speaker 1: last year. He just he's just gonna fit, He's gonna play,
Speaker 1: He's gonna be awesome. He's a really good player. Has
Speaker 1: that temperament you like as well. Uh, A guy that
Speaker 1: plays sleeveless with no teeth in North Dakota like this
Speaker 1: sounds like a great player to go up to the
Speaker 1: Northeast in December and try to win a football game
Speaker 1: with Keanu Brenton from Wisconsin has just been kicking butt
Speaker 1: all week and I didn't I wasn't familiar with this game,
Speaker 1: you know, shack style before before this week. But that's
Speaker 1: why I like about Senior bowl Man. You gotta look
Speaker 1: at these guys you're not familiar with, and they really
Speaker 1: just kind of turn your head and He's done that
Speaker 1: with his pad level and leverage. He has just been
Speaker 1: whooping dudes all week long on the interior. Are the
Speaker 1: dolphins in that market, We'll see. I mean they they're
Speaker 1: pretty good in that position, but it might be more
Speaker 1: move And then Julius Brent's the cornerback from Kansas State, who, buddy,
Speaker 1: you want to talk about length and just keeping guys,
Speaker 1: you know, in their original starting booth, their station at
Speaker 1: the last creamage, not letting them get out until the
Speaker 1: release into the route. Julius Brent's will mess up your
Speaker 1: timing and disrupt your passing game in a big way.
Speaker 1: That dude looks the part, and I'm curiously where he
Speaker 1: goes on draft day and how he runs and how
Speaker 1: he works out. But he has really gotten my attention.
Speaker 1: Leonardo DiCaprio and Django style and Jingo Chain style. I
Speaker 1: know I talked about him in the pod already, but
Speaker 1: I need day on Henley just unreal speed strike ability.
Speaker 1: I mentioned his performance in the preview podcast, but go
Speaker 1: watch his one on one coverage drills on the running
Speaker 1: backs and you'll see what I'm talking about, Like if
Speaker 1: receivers are supposed to in one on one's verse corners.
Speaker 1: Then this is tenfold for running backs to beat linebackers.
Speaker 1: But Henley was all over it. I'll never forget my
Speaker 1: first look at Shack Leonard from South Carolina State, not
Speaker 1: South Carolina, South Carolina State in these drills back in
Speaker 1: then Darius Leonard obviously and being like, Yeah, that dude
Speaker 1: moves like an elite linebacker. That's why I see with
Speaker 1: dayon Henley, and it's not has anything to do with
Speaker 1: Washington State. Go coog Tyreek Stevenson the Miami Corner. Sure
Speaker 1: a lot of you folks here on this pod know
Speaker 1: how I'm talking about a little bit annoyed at myself
Speaker 1: for omitting him on the preview podcast. I thought we
Speaker 1: saw excellent technique from him in terms of press and mirror.
Speaker 1: If you can play up without having to initiate contact
Speaker 1: and can react in a way that disrupts routes by
Speaker 1: cutting them off, it's that's one of the best traits
Speaker 1: for a quarterback. I'm very intrigued, and we saw that
Speaker 1: all week long with Stevenson. Again, these drills were supposed
Speaker 1: to favor the receiver, but he scored as many wins
Speaker 1: as he did losses in this drill. Riley Moss, the
Speaker 1: cornerback from Iowa. Jason Sehorn was he the last white
Speaker 1: cornerback to start a game in the NFL. Riley m
Speaker 1: Als will be the next one. He said he expects
Speaker 1: to run a four three. Uh. Change of direction is ridiculous.
Speaker 1: He is so smooth in and out of his brakes.
Speaker 1: He just kind of springs off the balls of his feet.
Speaker 1: People want to project him to safety into me, that's twofold,
Speaker 1: because one, we don't have any white cornerbacks in the NFL,
Speaker 1: and and actually valid concern is that he hits like
Speaker 1: a safety. But at that size, that change of direction,
Speaker 1: that physicality, that sounds to me like a slot cornerback man,
Speaker 1: especially in a potential four to five package. He got
Speaker 1: beat on a deep ball to Michael Wilson, but he
Speaker 1: literally punched his hand through the pocket. You know, the
Speaker 1: receiver has their elbows tucked into their sides and then
Speaker 1: the open palm so the sky to kind of receive
Speaker 1: the ball coming down from a deep shot. He had
Speaker 1: his hand between the elbows into the hands, separating it
Speaker 1: and Wilson just still caught the football. Good process, right,
Speaker 1: You can't do it better. And this was after he
Speaker 1: knocked Wilson off the route with the drill goes on.
Speaker 1: It's not realistic to run route for five seconds, but
Speaker 1: he did. That's double time you get smart, physical and
Speaker 1: root track athlete mentioned Michael Wilson. That play was one
Speaker 1: of a bunch that kind of caught my eye. I'm
Speaker 1: a sucker for a great route unner in the way
Speaker 1: I love pass rushers who have a plan executed. His
Speaker 1: release package is fantastic. He exposes a blind spot and
Speaker 1: then waste no time going right after it. He also
Speaker 1: showed exceptional ball skills, tracking and finishing. He's one of
Speaker 1: those guys you watch him out there and say that's
Speaker 1: a good pro right there, and you feel confident like
Speaker 1: he'll he'll be a good player in the NFL. I
Speaker 1: talked about day on Henley Go Coogs. I think I
Speaker 1: might have another player that I prefer at the Senior Bowl.
Speaker 1: Ty J. Spears running back from Tulane, a guy we
Speaker 1: mentioned the preview podcast. But if I had to pick
Speaker 1: someone not named Handling is my favorite player, it's him.
Speaker 1: He might even be more. Spears is impressive man. His
Speaker 1: shoulders are always parallel to the lame scrimmage his feet
Speaker 1: are always working and when he makes a decision to go,
Speaker 1: he springs off that cut is up to top speed
Speaker 1: in the flash. I posted a clip or retweeted a
Speaker 1: clip on my timeline. Go look at it. Like when
Speaker 1: he hits that spot and gets off of it, it's different.
Speaker 1: Do you know I'm saying it's It just looks different.
Speaker 1: It's a dude, man. I like the way he reads
Speaker 1: his blocks and team period and also pressed the point
Speaker 1: to make sure he was working gaining ground and reducing
Speaker 1: space for backers or scrape and make plays. I really
Speaker 1: like his game. I really like this guy. And then
Speaker 1: Roushan Johnson, that running back from Texas. Hope I pronounced
Speaker 1: that right. We saw the explosiveness in Juice all year
Speaker 1: when he was spelling Bijon Robinson. What a funny night
Speaker 1: name backfield do that is at Texas? But man, he's
Speaker 1: really showing his salt in the past game and pass
Speaker 1: pro drills. Sturdy anchor strikes the middle of the man
Speaker 1: and holds up in those one on one blitch drills.
Speaker 1: Texas might see both of their backs go on days
Speaker 1: one and two. We're gonna have a guest on the
Speaker 1: next podcast spoiler Kyle Crabs locked on Dolphins my close
Speaker 1: personal friend um to give you more observations on Senior
Speaker 1: Bowl that would be on Monday's podcast. Cannot wait to
Speaker 1: study this podcast more in depth and give you guys
Speaker 1: some more content on the draft. Let's go ahead and
Speaker 1: take our last break comeback on the other side, I
Speaker 1: want to talk about some players that I think are
Speaker 1: gonna be very important for the Dolphins. Let's come season
Speaker 1: or off season program I should say and tell you
Speaker 1: what I'm watching on the tube. That's next Drivetime Podcast,
Speaker 1: your host Travis Wingfield, brought to you by Auto Nation.
Speaker 1: Final segment here on what I would call a bit
Speaker 1: of an abbreviated Friday edition of the Drivetime Podcast, talking
Speaker 1: about those players at the Senior Bowl and in specific
Speaker 1: position groups there that I think are maybe the more
Speaker 1: pressing areas of the team right now. Of course, all
Speaker 1: that could change, but I also wanted to start doing
Speaker 1: the same thing with this practice that I've been kind
Speaker 1: of kicking around for a few days here, and it's
Speaker 1: the idea of certain incumbents that can elevate your roster
Speaker 1: to eliminate the need for certain needs. But I wanted
Speaker 1: to focus on positions I think make the most sense.
Speaker 1: And again, you know, draft good players and the rest
Speaker 1: takes care of itself from the draft prospects standpoint, but
Speaker 1: from a value standpoint and where you need immediate impacts
Speaker 1: versus where you can develop a little bit. And this
Speaker 1: is of course before free agency, which can obviously change things,
Speaker 1: and free agency typically is where you go for the
Speaker 1: immediate impact. But I think these positions right now make
Speaker 1: a lot of sense, and the skill sets of these
Speaker 1: guys make a lot of sense. Now that's not to
Speaker 1: say some are not immediate impact guys. I think you
Speaker 1: could PLoP Henley in and start him tomorrow. I think
Speaker 1: you can do that with Julius Brents as well a cornerback.
Speaker 1: I think you can do that with Darnell Right and
Speaker 1: Cody Mock. The Dolphins off season is interesting to me
Speaker 1: because they're close there. They've got to be super intentional
Speaker 1: about how they spend those premium resources because you're in
Speaker 1: a position where you need the payoff. Right. This is
Speaker 1: always a critical thing, but it's amplified right now given
Speaker 1: the moves to go get Tyreek Hill, to go get
Speaker 1: Bradley Chub with those first round picks, which, by the way,
Speaker 1: can we talk about how smart it is recognize a
Speaker 1: draft picks value decreasing courtesy of the Niners winning so
Speaker 1: many football games the last two years and then stopping
Speaker 1: the process of depreciation by using that pick on a
Speaker 1: veteran I mean, we don't trade for Tyreek. We're stuck
Speaker 1: in the late twenties addressing that position with Christian Watson,
Speaker 1: he was the next receiver taken. How does two look
Speaker 1: with Watson and Tyreek's place? Same thing this year? Bradley
Speaker 1: Chubb or the twenty nine pick. First round draft picks
Speaker 1: are not all the same. You know which edge rusher
Speaker 1: you're getting with twenty pick right, at best, the fifth
Speaker 1: best guy in the draft, probably more like the seventh
Speaker 1: eight best guy. So those premium pieces where you probably
Speaker 1: wouldn't have gotten one otherwise you did. You got a premier, passature,
Speaker 1: premier receiver. I know you folks are up in you know,
Speaker 1: kind of disagreement about Bradley Chubb, but we'll see more
Speaker 1: of that this year, I believe. Uh. Now, another way
Speaker 1: you can address those spots is incumbent approvement, which brings
Speaker 1: you back to the original point. It's a vital piece
Speaker 1: of any team any year. Look at the two Super
Speaker 1: Bowl teams right now. Uh starts with Jalen Hurts and Philly.
Speaker 1: Obviously that's different him being the quarterback. But they also
Speaker 1: got jumps from guys like Miles Standers. Last couple of years,
Speaker 1: Landon Dickerson took a big jump, Josh Sweat, t J.
Speaker 1: Edwards a linebacker. I mean they developed these guys into
Speaker 1: critical core parts of championship teams. You have to do
Speaker 1: that same with the chiefs. Lagarious Snee is a massive
Speaker 1: example of development. That corner position was a huge question mark.
Speaker 1: Now you got him and Jalen Watson making plays back there.
Speaker 1: It's big in house development. So who on this roster
Speaker 1: could go from relatively unknown commodity to a potential solution.
Speaker 1: Here's a few names that chew on tight End Tanner, Connor.
Speaker 1: The whole room you know needs to be reevaluated here,
Speaker 1: but perhaps Connors athletic ability and rab makeup to learn
Speaker 1: how to block at the position can become a useful tool,
Speaker 1: even if that's as tight End too. I mean adding
Speaker 1: his athletic ability and playmaking on those flat releases that
Speaker 1: ran by Durham this year or some of the stick
Speaker 1: crosser options. You can get improvement in that area and
Speaker 1: maybe not even sacrifice that much in terms of the
Speaker 1: split flow, kickout and head up point of attack blocks.
Speaker 1: And if he got to the level of the previous incumbent,
Speaker 1: the added the receiving skills would be a massive boon.
Speaker 1: So it's not just frontline guys, but if you can
Speaker 1: reduce our need for tight end two or even tight
Speaker 1: end three, it would be nice offensive guard. But really
Speaker 1: left guard Rob Owns and really anybody at the left
Speaker 1: guard position, to me, you have to address right tackle
Speaker 1: and if you hit there, you have four really good starters.
Speaker 1: Teams don't have that, And I think I'm probably letting
Speaker 1: a competition, which I'm also going to add with a
Speaker 1: mid round draft pick or mid range free agent occur
Speaker 1: for that job. Is that Rob Jones? Is that Leah Meikenberg,
Speaker 1: Is that Austin Jackson sliding back inside the ladder? Is
Speaker 1: my preference at swing tackle the middle one and probably
Speaker 1: a good on And I do wonder about Jones is
Speaker 1: fit in the system, But I do think the best
Speaker 1: inherent option you've got is Robert Jones. If he solidified
Speaker 1: that spot and you can spend on the right tackle.
Speaker 1: You have your old line in place for a foreseeable future.
Speaker 1: Maybe it's maybe it's a rookie, maybe it's a free agent.
Speaker 1: We'll see wide receiver Eric Aszukama. I think there are
Speaker 1: other options here to make this work, but like I'd
Speaker 1: be pretty surprised if we don't get most of, if
Speaker 1: not all, the receivers back this next year. Surefield to
Speaker 1: me as a no brainer as Zuokama con factor into
Speaker 1: that role because he's more dynamic in terms of playmaking
Speaker 1: at least his makeup than Surefield is or Craig Craft
Speaker 1: and maybe even Cedric Wilson. So it would allow you
Speaker 1: to get a similar type of player with an added
Speaker 1: receiving element at a reduction in cost. That's basically the
Speaker 1: key here, right to kind of make these moves and
Speaker 1: get these progress. You know, this progress to be made
Speaker 1: to afford yourself bigger swings that guys like Tyreek and Chub.
Speaker 1: How can we approve the football team with the lowest
Speaker 1: resource commitment. These guys are cheap and if they emerge,
Speaker 1: it fills a hole. It's the best best of both worlds.
Speaker 1: Linebacker Chaining Tindalls an obvious one would be silly to
Speaker 1: exclude him, and you don't need a big breakdown on it.
Speaker 1: He's got the makeup of the modern day linebacker and
Speaker 1: he can bulk up to be a potential three down,
Speaker 1: you know, two way, go forward, go backward type of linebacker.
Speaker 1: It's kind of up to him at this point. Young
Speaker 1: player hasn't seen much football, but hopefully we get a
Speaker 1: big jump from him in year two. I'm not gonna
Speaker 1: assume it, but hopefully we get that safety position Elijah Campbell.
Speaker 1: I've been on Elijah's corner here for a while. Worst
Speaker 1: case to me is safety for and a core special
Speaker 1: teams player where he could save you a Stempping into
Speaker 1: that safety three role, although I'm not sure that makes
Speaker 1: a lot of sense now because that's a big, important
Speaker 1: role you have to fill, would be a big step
Speaker 1: to see him do that. But the safety four role
Speaker 1: I think definitely fits him. And then cornerback Trull Williams.
Speaker 1: Any cornerback stepping up would be huge because it's such
Speaker 1: an expensive position. We don't know what's gonna happen on
Speaker 1: the Byron Jones front. Trill was a guy that was
Speaker 1: probably gonna be your top option off the bench. Got
Speaker 1: hurt in training camp and at the time didn't seem
Speaker 1: like a big deal, but sure could have used his
Speaker 1: skill set down the stretch as he had fit in
Speaker 1: the system. Now he was really a press man guy.
Speaker 1: Um curious see how that looks going forward. But if
Speaker 1: he could find a role he's got the physical skills
Speaker 1: to make it work, would be a big boon for
Speaker 1: this football team. So there you go. That's the some
Speaker 1: players I think could save you in terms of the
Speaker 1: resource or allocation. With how the Dolphins approached this offseason
Speaker 1: should be a fun one. A couple of things I'm
Speaker 1: watching here lately. The only one I got for you,
Speaker 1: guys is The Last of Us, the episode episode three,
Speaker 1: the air last Sunday. It's one of the best television
Speaker 1: episodes I've seen it a long time, Very very good,
Speaker 1: well written, well acted. And uh, the guy that adapted
Speaker 1: that the video game script whatever for television is the
Speaker 1: same the guy that wrote the Chernobyl series. I didn't know.
Speaker 1: That was pretty cool and it makes sense. It's such
Speaker 1: a good show. So that's what I'm watching. No football
Speaker 1: this weeken, I'm gonna play some golf, excuse me. Looking
Speaker 1: forward to some some downtime here before the Super Bowl
Speaker 1: and then obviously into the offseason. Combine coverage all that
Speaker 1: fun stuff for you guys coming your way this offseason.
Speaker 1: Keep it locked here on the Drive Time Podcast. In
Speaker 1: the meantime, that's gonna be my time. You all, please
Speaker 1: be sure to subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcast.
Speaker 1: Leave us a ready to leave us a review. You
Speaker 1: can follow me on Twitter at Wingfold NFL. Follow the
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Speaker 1: Com until next time finds up Caroline Camera and Daddy's
Speaker 1: Coming Over.