Speaker 1: Factors. Patrick, What a win for this Miami Dolphin team. Wow,
Speaker 1: What is up? Dolphins? And welcome to the Drive Time Podcast,
Speaker 1: part of the Miami Dolphins official podcast network, covering your
Speaker 1: Miami Dolphins each and every day. How is it going everybody?
Speaker 1: I am your host, Travis Wingfield, and I am here
Speaker 1: to bring you your daily dose of Miami Dolphins football.
Speaker 1: And on today's show, we jump right back into the
Speaker 1: No the Enemy series and take a look at the
Speaker 1: Las Vegas Raiders. The key to the Raiders resurgence in
Speaker 1: the ground game last year, the lynch pins of the
Speaker 1: defensive overhaul, the relationship between Derek Carr and John Gruden.
Speaker 1: All of that and more from the foremost expert on
Speaker 1: Raiders football. He writes for The Athletic He's a must
Speaker 1: follow on Twitter. We're talking to Ted Winn on this Wednesday,
Speaker 1: July the eighth edition of the Drive Time Podcast. Sixteen
Speaker 1: December seven, Giver Take. Depending on some schedule, t B
Speaker 1: D S Vegas Baby the Dolphins in Las Vegas to
Speaker 1: take on the Raiders and that game could be on
Speaker 1: Sunday or it could be flexed into that Saturday triple
Speaker 1: header like we had last year in Week sixteen, A
Speaker 1: fun time for the NFL. A very interesting team here
Speaker 1: for the Raiders. Year three out of a ten year
Speaker 1: contract for John Gruden. They have remade the offensive line
Speaker 1: successfully in the last couple of years. Now they're working
Speaker 1: on the defense. Gruden got his speed merchant out wide
Speaker 1: to par with this quarterback there and Derek Carr. And
Speaker 1: let's not waste any more time and go ahead and
Speaker 1: get to my guest today. He is a must follow
Speaker 1: good film work on the Athletic on his Twitter timeline.
Speaker 1: So let's go ahead and welcome in now to the
Speaker 1: podcast Ted Winn and writing Shotgun now Here on the
Speaker 1: Drive Time podcast is Ted Winn. He's a staff writer
Speaker 1: for The Athletic and FL and the host of the
Speaker 1: Run the Film and State of the Nation podcast. Ted
Speaker 1: Welcome in, man, Thank you appreciate you having me on.
Speaker 1: So you guys are getting ready to move to a
Speaker 1: whole new not just facility, but new city, new state.
Speaker 1: How's that going for you in terms of your journalistic endeavors?
Speaker 1: Is that a challenge for you? Just kind of talk us,
Speaker 1: talk to us about moving from one city to another
Speaker 1: in the NFL O. Lucky for me, I'm a film guy.
Speaker 1: I'm not a beat writer, so I don't I don't
Speaker 1: have to move to Vegas, but I think, you know,
Speaker 1: it would be more challenging to have to deal with, um,
Speaker 1: you know, traveling to Las Vegas every week for the
Speaker 1: home games if that does happen this season, or you know,
Speaker 1: if maybe that if media maybe you know, might be
Speaker 1: allowed to go next season. I don't know. Everything's up
Speaker 1: in the air right now. As you know, everything is
Speaker 1: pretty you know, nothing set with COVID coming in, So
Speaker 1: I don't know if we have we are even allowed
Speaker 1: to go to games this year or we have to
Speaker 1: wait another year. But yeah, I mean, it's just a
Speaker 1: challenge to have to instead of just having to write
Speaker 1: is in my backyard and have to take flight uh
Speaker 1: two games. But luckily it's not too far. It's only
Speaker 1: about an hour flight. Yeah, just a hop scamp and
Speaker 1: I jump over there. You mentioned COVID, They're real quick.
Speaker 1: I'm just curious. I know you're a film guy, so
Speaker 1: game pass definitely probably your bible as far as your
Speaker 1: work habits go. But has it been different for you
Speaker 1: getting to cover football and cover the team right now
Speaker 1: during the pandemic? Um, you know, everything for football is
Speaker 1: on the same schedule as of right now, you know,
Speaker 1: because like the draft was on at the same time,
Speaker 1: we're in the same period in offseason. It will be
Speaker 1: weird when training camp does come along. Everything is normal
Speaker 1: as of right now, but things will start getting weird
Speaker 1: as training camp comes along. Yeah, it's been it's been
Speaker 1: unique covering these these events and these press conferences and
Speaker 1: things from a distance and not being there in person.
Speaker 1: Let's go ahead and talk about the reason you're here.
Speaker 1: Talk about this Las Vegas Raiders team. Man, it feels
Speaker 1: weird to say that. And I want to start at
Speaker 1: the most important possession, and we start here every podcast
Speaker 1: here on the Know the Enemy series at quarterback and
Speaker 1: talk to you about Derek Carr, because you know, ted
Speaker 1: from an outside perspective, we've heard about John Gruden be
Speaker 1: in love with Kyler Murray. We've heard about his possible
Speaker 1: infatuation with two A tongue volo, a Dolphins quarterback. Is
Speaker 1: Derek Carr his guy? And what do you think of
Speaker 1: that relationship and what it ultimately turns into this year
Speaker 1: and beyond. I think Derek Carr hasn't proven to be
Speaker 1: Gruden's guy just yet, but he's he's he plays at
Speaker 1: a level that's good enough to where he's very harder place.
Speaker 1: But I think Gruden wants that, you know, that a
Speaker 1: plus um elite type of Tier one quarterback that Carter
Speaker 1: hasn't played like in a in a long time. So
Speaker 1: anytime there's a chance that he gets that Kyler Murray
Speaker 1: type of player or of a player that has potential
Speaker 1: to be a that tier one quarterback, it's me tantalize.
Speaker 1: But the Car is just at that borderline where he's
Speaker 1: just good enough, smart enough, makes enough plays to where
Speaker 1: he he's harder place. And you know, obviously we talked
Speaker 1: about how Gruden is just he just gets tempted when
Speaker 1: he when he sees these types of quarterbacks. So I
Speaker 1: think that kind of shows you that he's will he's
Speaker 1: willing to upgrade if he has that chance. But it's
Speaker 1: just extremely hard to upgrade over Car. And they signed
Speaker 1: Marcus Mariota this offseason, and they gave him a contract
Speaker 1: that's just huge on incentives. So I think it's gonna
Speaker 1: be very tough for Mariota to replace Car in this
Speaker 1: offense that's hard to learn. It's gonna take some time off.
Speaker 1: He's gonna be shortened. But who knows. If Car doesn't
Speaker 1: play well enough into the season, Mariota can't take over.
Speaker 1: I mean, I just haven't seen a contract like the
Speaker 1: one that Mariota has as a backup. Um. I don't
Speaker 1: think there's a very high chance he takes challenges Car
Speaker 1: in the in the off season, but if he if
Speaker 1: Car doesn't play up to par during the season, we
Speaker 1: might see Mariota. Yeah, there's all kinds of connections when
Speaker 1: you talk about Derek Carr and Marcus Mariotta to a
Speaker 1: Dolphins quarterback or former Dolphins quarterback and Ryan Tannehill and
Speaker 1: how he basically did to Mariotta, what Mariotta would hope
Speaker 1: to do to Derek Carr there in Las Vegas. Obviously
Speaker 1: for the Raiders that would not be ideal because you
Speaker 1: want Derek Carr to be your guy and be the answer.
Speaker 1: But it is that unique situation, that unique territory where
Speaker 1: you have a quarterback who's good, but you also have
Speaker 1: a chance to possibly upgrade on that quarterback if you can,
Speaker 1: And I think that's probably a good thing, right Like
Speaker 1: the fact that John Gruden's out there trying to find,
Speaker 1: you know, trying to get better every position and just
Speaker 1: trying to add more good players to the roster, right, Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean, and naturally you want to always look for
Speaker 1: always have to get better, and you get you get
Speaker 1: better at upgrading each position and just being you know,
Speaker 1: looking at every position without you know, just with a
Speaker 1: business like perspective, kind of like what the Patriots do.
Speaker 1: But with quarterback it's a sensitive you know, it's a
Speaker 1: sense of position. Usually when you have a quarterback, you
Speaker 1: just commit percent. And maybe they're doing that behind behind doors,
Speaker 1: but it just seems like from an outside perspective they
Speaker 1: aren't quite settled yet. But car has a chance to
Speaker 1: shut everybody up and really solidify himself as a franchise
Speaker 1: quarterback this year. He's going to have one of the
Speaker 1: best offensive lines of football this year. He has a
Speaker 1: bit of upgraded wide receiver corps with Henry Ruggs coming
Speaker 1: in the first round draft pick, and Tyrelle Williams is
Speaker 1: gonna be healthy. Williams looked great in camp and looks
Speaker 1: really good in the first game, but then he got
Speaker 1: foot injury that really hampered him throughout the season. So,
Speaker 1: I mean, Carr has has a good offense to built
Speaker 1: around him and This will be his third year in
Speaker 1: this offense. He showed a lot of remprovement a second year,
Speaker 1: but he has more to prove and he really has
Speaker 1: his step up and solidify his spot this year if
Speaker 1: he wants to remain the Raiders quarterback. Well, I do
Speaker 1: want to touch on that offensive line and the addition
Speaker 1: of Henry Ruggs, an absolute speed merchant on that offense.
Speaker 1: But I want to stay here on Derek Carr and
Speaker 1: ask you from a film watcher's perspective in All twenty
Speaker 1: two on such as yourself, like, what is it that
Speaker 1: Derek Carr does that does put him in that echelon
Speaker 1: of quarterbacks that he's tough to replace? But maybe what
Speaker 1: is it about his game that makes him not in
Speaker 1: that upper elite level area like maybe he was back
Speaker 1: in Well, he's extremely intelligent. I mean, this is not
Speaker 1: an easy offense to learn. Gruden is not an easy
Speaker 1: coach to play for because he had banded so much
Speaker 1: from the position. But he he seems to have a
Speaker 1: really good grasp of this offense. He could make audible
Speaker 1: as he could read defenses. He has a lot of
Speaker 1: arm talent. He could he could he could make every
Speaker 1: throw in NFL. He he's made some pick tackler throws.
Speaker 1: But the thing that has always kind of hurt him
Speaker 1: is his his his conservativeness. Sometimes he just won't unleashed
Speaker 1: unleash the ball. And he has the arm talent to
Speaker 1: do it, We've seen it, but he there's times where
Speaker 1: he just is too conservative. Um So, hopefully with an
Speaker 1: upgraded receiding corps and weapons that he could trust. I
Speaker 1: think that trust is a big deal for him. It's
Speaker 1: hard for him to trust receivers and when he does,
Speaker 1: he'll he'll let go. And I think he showed that
Speaker 1: with micro crabtree. Uh. But you know, I still believe
Speaker 1: that even when he doesn't have an ideal receiving corps,
Speaker 1: he has to find a way to be more aggressive
Speaker 1: and he has a talent to do it. So how
Speaker 1: does that factor Henry Ruggs into the offense? When you
Speaker 1: talk about maybe more of a conservative nature, maybe John
Speaker 1: Gruden wants to be a little bit more vertical, and
Speaker 1: I think the Henry Ruggs addition to the offense would
Speaker 1: certainly suggest that how does that work together when you
Speaker 1: have a quarterback who might be a little bit hesitant
Speaker 1: to go vertical? And a receiver who really shines in
Speaker 1: that area, well, it gives them one less excuse to
Speaker 1: be conservative because now you have a guy that could
Speaker 1: get behind defenses and has that ability to separate. UM.
Speaker 1: So you know, last year, I think you could have
Speaker 1: you could make the you could reason out and say,
Speaker 1: you know, Tyroll Williams was hurt and he really didn't
Speaker 1: have any weapons around uh in a receiving course, So
Speaker 1: maybe that's why he was conservative. But this year, when
Speaker 1: you you add in a high first round draft pick
Speaker 1: out wide receiver that could just get behind defenses, uh,
Speaker 1: Tyre will Williams healthy, Darren Waller really established himself. You
Speaker 1: have those weapons, and you really want to see car
Speaker 1: take a step up and be more aggressive with a
Speaker 1: better receiving corps. So you've mentioned Darren Waller, We've talked
Speaker 1: about Henry Ruggs and Tyrelle Williams. I'd probably throw henter
Speaker 1: Renfro Hunter Renfro into that mix as well. How do
Speaker 1: you stack those guys in terms of the pecking order,
Speaker 1: in terms of who gets the most targets this year? UM,
Speaker 1: I think you know, Henry Ruggs could make a huge
Speaker 1: impact with with minimal targets. I think that was one
Speaker 1: of the reasons why they wanted Rugs because defense the
Speaker 1: Raiders got were so good at running the ball. Last year,
Speaker 1: they saw a lot of eight man front, a lot
Speaker 1: of defenses cheating up at the line of scrimmage because
Speaker 1: they didn't respect the receiving corps. And but they knew
Speaker 1: this offensive line was big. They knew Josh Jacobs could
Speaker 1: run the ball. So another best part of the reason
Speaker 1: why they got Ruggs because they wanted defense to back
Speaker 1: the deep speed and put another safety back there. So
Speaker 1: even if Ruggs is not getting a ton of targets,
Speaker 1: but he does hit a few deep routes, uh you
Speaker 1: know once or once or twice a game, that that'd
Speaker 1: be huge for this Raiders offense. Um and Tyrolle Williams
Speaker 1: is a guy that I think should see more targets
Speaker 1: when he's healthy. I thought he was in line for
Speaker 1: a big year, but again, that injury was big. But
Speaker 1: I wouldn't be surprised if Hunter Rentfro was one of
Speaker 1: the leaders and targets by the end of the year,
Speaker 1: just because he's so good underneath. Then he showed how
Speaker 1: reliable he was a third down and we talked about
Speaker 1: trust with car. I think he's really established a nice
Speaker 1: trust with UH, with Hunter Rentfro and obviously Darren Waller
Speaker 1: is I believe he's, you know, one of the top
Speaker 1: five tight ends in the league, so he should see
Speaker 1: a lot of targets as well. But I wouldn't be
Speaker 1: surprised to see Hunter Renfrow just get a ton of
Speaker 1: targets just because he could work underneath. That doesn't mean
Speaker 1: he'll get the most yards, but I think he'll see
Speaker 1: a lot of targets. Yeah, you talk about Hunter Renfron,
Speaker 1: reliability is the first word that comes to mind there.
Speaker 1: He was dabbles when he guy in Clemson catching all
Speaker 1: those big passes from Deshaun Watson down there in college.
Speaker 1: And you allude to the running game, they're a little
Speaker 1: bit and Josh Jacobs and maybe teams playing more of
Speaker 1: a two high structure now that they do have that
Speaker 1: speed guy to take the top off the defense. And
Speaker 1: I'm curious if this running offense was really just a
Speaker 1: product of Josh Jacob's being so good at what he does,
Speaker 1: because you go back under the two years with John Gruden,
Speaker 1: they were and then thirteenth in rushing yards in the NFL.
Speaker 1: The year before Gruden arrived, they were also twenty five.
Speaker 1: So was that improvement you talked about this offensive line?
Speaker 1: Was that improvement just a Josh Jacobs thing, an offensive
Speaker 1: line thing? Was it a running scheme thing? Like? Why
Speaker 1: did the run game get so much better this past season?
Speaker 1: I think it does have a lot to do with
Speaker 1: the offensive line. I mean the offensive line, they're just massive.
Speaker 1: I mean you have you have the right tackle, uh,
Speaker 1: Trent Brown, who is the biggest human in the NFL.
Speaker 1: And you know, you have Games Jackson, you have Rodney Hudson,
Speaker 1: Richie Incognito played like one of the best guards in
Speaker 1: the league last season. Colton Miller is improving. So you
Speaker 1: have this huge offensive line, and then you have, you know,
Speaker 1: the whole Antonio Brown fiasco that happened last season. I
Speaker 1: think that really hurt their passing games. So they had
Speaker 1: to Gruden had to rely on the run. They had
Speaker 1: to rely on a lot of two tight end three
Speaker 1: tight end sets. Uh. They have a fullback alec In
Speaker 1: Gold who was an undrafted free agent who really played
Speaker 1: like one of the best fullbacks last season. He was
Speaker 1: just pulvering, pulverizing, guys on lead blocks. So I think
Speaker 1: it's a combination of having to they you know, they
Speaker 1: had to rely on the run game and they had
Speaker 1: their personnel. Is just they're just a bunch of big guys.
Speaker 1: Josh Jacob is um really you know, you just look
Speaker 1: at him and you see a big, powerful runner, but
Speaker 1: he's really a mature inside runner, great vision, great discipline.
Speaker 1: He really maximizes runs and breaks a lot of tackles too.
Speaker 1: So just a culmination of things resulted into them relying
Speaker 1: on a run last year. But you know, undoubtedly they
Speaker 1: have the personnel to do it. Yeah. I recall and
Speaker 1: moved the podcast when Daniel Jeremiah and Bucky Brooks were
Speaker 1: talking about how these Alabama backs that kind of filter
Speaker 1: through the system there and maybe some guys don't get
Speaker 1: enough carries, and they always say like who was the
Speaker 1: guy getting carries and the biggest spots, And it was
Speaker 1: always Josh Jacobs when he was there in college. So
Speaker 1: all that really did for the Raiders was preserved the
Speaker 1: tread on the tires for him. We're talking Las Vegas
Speaker 1: Raiders almost at Oakland there here with Ted Wyn, he
Speaker 1: works for the Athletic Covers the NFL. There's a great
Speaker 1: job there on Twitter, a couple of podcasts as well,
Speaker 1: and Ted you mentioned the beef on the offensive line.
Speaker 1: My goodness, it kind of reminds me of what Miami's
Speaker 1: doing up front this year by all the girth they
Speaker 1: added along the offensive line. But I want to flip
Speaker 1: this thing over to the defensive side of the ball
Speaker 1: here and talk about a guy who I was a
Speaker 1: big fan of coming out of Eastern Michigan. You wouldn't
Speaker 1: assume you would be a big fan of a player
Speaker 1: coming from a school like that, but he had a
Speaker 1: really big rookie year. I think it was fifth round
Speaker 1: draft pick. Correct me if I'm wrong. Should we expect
Speaker 1: him to play at that level again? And can Cleland
Speaker 1: Farrell get on that level? And just kind of talk
Speaker 1: about this defensive line forest ed Um, Yeah, I mean
Speaker 1: Cleveland Farrell was a big surprise getting picked as high
Speaker 1: as he did. He was kind of seen as a
Speaker 1: mid mid first round draft pick, late first round draft pick.
Speaker 1: But I mean, he he you know, he's he was
Speaker 1: good against the run. You know, maybe he works really hard.
Speaker 1: He did have to deal with some sickness and weight
Speaker 1: gain issues during his rookie year. Uh that they played
Speaker 1: they played him inside a little bit where I thought
Speaker 1: he you know, he he said he was, Um, I
Speaker 1: don't think he was as comfortable in that role. And
Speaker 1: we'll see what happened this year when he has an
Speaker 1: offseason really work on his body at focus playing on
Speaker 1: the edge. But he just was a bit of a
Speaker 1: disappointment being picked that high, especially when you see what
Speaker 1: Brian Burns and Josh Allen was doing with the Jaguars.
Speaker 1: Uh So Crosby was a surprised by you know, like
Speaker 1: you said, it's kind of weird to say, you know,
Speaker 1: you're a big fan of him, but when you watch
Speaker 1: his film coming out of college, he was just he
Speaker 1: just jumped off the film. He was so explode us
Speaker 1: if uh you know, his hands looked sort of funny
Speaker 1: at times, but they were they were active and um,
Speaker 1: you just saw that that short air quickness that a
Speaker 1: lot of great pass switchers have and translated to a
Speaker 1: huge rookie season for him. And and the Raiders were
Speaker 1: really fortunate to hit hit on Prosby because uh, Ferrell
Speaker 1: was just wasn't very productive in his uh his first year.
Speaker 1: Um and Maurice Hurst also played really well towards the
Speaker 1: end of last season, and they added Malik Collins, who
Speaker 1: has a really high pressure rate from the Dallas Cowboys
Speaker 1: that he should improve the interior rush for the Raiders.
Speaker 1: Help refreshment memory here. Maurice Hurst fell on the draft
Speaker 1: because of some medical concerns. Right, Yes, he fell fell
Speaker 1: in draft because of a heart condition. He was seen
Speaker 1: as a first round um guy before that. Some people thought,
Speaker 1: you know, he was a really high I thought he
Speaker 1: should have been really high draft pick. Uh. Some people
Speaker 1: thought he was more of a lower first round guy.
Speaker 1: But the consensus seemed to be that he was a
Speaker 1: first round guy who wasn't for his heart condition. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I think that Mike Mayock and John Grew and have
Speaker 1: done a really good job of kind of rebuilding that
Speaker 1: roster into their vision. And Cleveland Ferrell, Max Crosby a
Speaker 1: couple of guys that kind of really, you know, perpetuate
Speaker 1: that vision. And and they took a lot of flak
Speaker 1: for the Khalil Mack trade, but man, they turned it
Speaker 1: down some really good players and they're continuing that this
Speaker 1: year at the second level of the defense at linebacker
Speaker 1: via free agency. And I want to get your take
Speaker 1: on what Nick Kwitakowski and Corey Littleton can do to
Speaker 1: change the middle of that raid defense. The Raiders have
Speaker 1: neglected the inside linebacker position for a long time, and um,
Speaker 1: I can understand what you know. The inside linebacker is
Speaker 1: a position that's sort of thought of as as you know,
Speaker 1: similar running back, where it's not a high value position.
Speaker 1: But the Raiders have really neglected the inside linebacker position
Speaker 1: for a long long time. But this year they spend
Speaker 1: big money on two uh young linebackers that are improving,
Speaker 1: that are very athletic. Nick Kwitkowski, who uh start with
Speaker 1: the Bears. He is Last year, he he started off
Speaker 1: as kind of a role player, didn't play a ton
Speaker 1: of snaps, and because of injuries, he had to play
Speaker 1: more and more and he just flashed and got better
Speaker 1: and better. And uh, he's good against the run. Everybody
Speaker 1: knew that, but then he just kept on getting better
Speaker 1: against the pass. And I think that was one of
Speaker 1: the reasons why he was one of the hotter free
Speaker 1: agents is just he just improved so much and you
Speaker 1: have to be able to defend the pass in this league.
Speaker 1: So Kwaikowski is a guy that doesn't have a ton
Speaker 1: of good film quite yet, just because he doesn't have
Speaker 1: a lot of PT. But he did put some together
Speaker 1: some really nice games towards the end of last season. Uh,
Speaker 1: Corey Littleton's guys, that's been steadily improving. He started his
Speaker 1: career as a special teams guy. Um and, but he's
Speaker 1: put a huge numbers. He's filled the statuet with tackles,
Speaker 1: tackle for losses, interceptions, past past defense, um and he
Speaker 1: I think he's gonna be one of the top linebackers
Speaker 1: in NFL. Uh next year. I mean he was last year,
Speaker 1: but I mean he still has some weaknesses. He's still
Speaker 1: learning the game, but I think this year's is a
Speaker 1: real breakout years. So the Raiders really improved on the
Speaker 1: second level. We talked about that Khalil Mack trade and
Speaker 1: what they got back for and draft value. Again, similarities
Speaker 1: I think are pretty prevalent here between this Raiders team
Speaker 1: and what the Dolphins are trying to do down in
Speaker 1: Miami and two of the players they got in that
Speaker 1: Khalil Mack trade, if I'm not mistaken, or a couple
Speaker 1: of defensive backs this year with Damon Arnette or maybe
Speaker 1: he was their natural selection. You can correct me on that.
Speaker 1: If I'm wrong. And Jonathan Abram last year, who was
Speaker 1: one of my favorite players in the entire draft because
Speaker 1: the way he plays, the temperament he plays with, he
Speaker 1: just defines silver and black football to me. The guy
Speaker 1: got kicked out of a spring game for personal fouls,
Speaker 1: are for hitting, unnecessary roughness penalties. That's just it's an
Speaker 1: awesome story to me. I don't care if he can't
Speaker 1: pronounce the word salmon, right. I love watching him play football.
Speaker 1: Is he the kind of key the catalyst coming back
Speaker 1: to that defense this year? I think the safety position
Speaker 1: for the Raiders is not very deep and kind of
Speaker 1: unproven to Marius randall Um looks to be a starter
Speaker 1: to sign him from Cleveland, but he's kind of an
Speaker 1: up and down type of player as well. I think
Speaker 1: Jonathan Abram, unfortunately he tore his should in the first
Speaker 1: game of the season and was out for the entire season.
Speaker 1: But in camp he just he was making a lot
Speaker 1: of plays. Is always near the ball. I thought he
Speaker 1: made a lot of plays against the Rams when they
Speaker 1: had a joint practice together. Um too, So yeah, I
Speaker 1: mean Abram looks like he has that really you know,
Speaker 1: that instinctual safety type of mold, but he hasn't proven
Speaker 1: it yet. So the safety position is just really kind
Speaker 1: of unknown for the Raiders right now. Air Harris was
Speaker 1: a starter last year. He made a lot of plays,
Speaker 1: but he again he was the up and down guy
Speaker 1: as well. Um Uh, Karl Joseph was the Raiders starter
Speaker 1: last year. He really improved. He has a former first
Speaker 1: round pick, but they let him go in free agency.
Speaker 1: Uh So I like Abram as well, but he you know,
Speaker 1: we just haven't seen enough of him to really know
Speaker 1: what he is in this league just yet. And how
Speaker 1: about the cornerback position. They're getting Damon Arnett out of
Speaker 1: Ohio State. I love the way those guys compete there
Speaker 1: at the Horseshoe under Urban Meyer and Ryan Day this
Speaker 1: past season. He's so physical and just so aggressive in
Speaker 1: the way he plays. Is he the top cornerback? And
Speaker 1: what do they got behind him? If he is at
Speaker 1: the top cornerback? Is Trayvon Mullein the the Raiders second
Speaker 1: round draft picked last year out of Clemson. Um. He
Speaker 1: had a little bit of a rough camp and he
Speaker 1: was kind of forced into starting duty after Gary Conley
Speaker 1: got hurt in Week one and he got torched by
Speaker 1: Emmanuel Sanders and didn't see much playing time after that
Speaker 1: until later on in the season when they did trade
Speaker 1: away Garon Conley, and he really had a strong end
Speaker 1: of the end of the season, played well against some
Speaker 1: big time receivers can including DeAndre Hopkins. Um So, the
Speaker 1: Raiders are really excited about Trayvon Mullen. Uh he'll be
Speaker 1: going into a second year. But they needed a starter
Speaker 1: opposite of him, and they wanted to get Byron Jones.
Speaker 1: They wanted to find a top corner, but they couldn't
Speaker 1: find one free agency, but they did end up signing
Speaker 1: um Prince of Mamura from the Bears and drafting Damon Arnette.
Speaker 1: So Damon Arnette and Prince, I'm like screwing up his
Speaker 1: last game right now, Maca Mara. They're gonna be competing
Speaker 1: for that last starting spot, so we'll see what happens
Speaker 1: with that. But I love our Nets film to kind
Speaker 1: of like Abrahams. He looks like one of those defensive
Speaker 1: backs that just love being annoying, and I think that's
Speaker 1: a great trait to have as a defensive back. Um So,
Speaker 1: our Nett was a bit of surprise to me. I mean,
Speaker 1: he was a surprised to me being drafted in the
Speaker 1: first round just because of his poor measurables in the combine,
Speaker 1: and measurables are very important for a cornerback. But there's
Speaker 1: all sorts of stories that are coming out now that
Speaker 1: he might have been hurt during that forty or they
Speaker 1: might have missed. I'm at forty, but you know, that
Speaker 1: was sort of a big deal. H So we'll see
Speaker 1: what happens with that with that competition. But Trayvon Mullen
Speaker 1: is the top corner for the Raiders. Jonathan Abram is
Speaker 1: that kid on the basketball court that wouldn't even look
Speaker 1: at the ball. He would just face guard you and
Speaker 1: cover you with both of his arms sticking out the
Speaker 1: entire time, and you just by the end of the
Speaker 1: game you wanted nothing to do with that kid because
Speaker 1: he was so annoying on the basketball court. You also
Speaker 1: fit right in Ted with the mispronunciation of names. That's
Speaker 1: like my calling card here on this podcast. So you're
Speaker 1: in good company there, my friend. So I had this
Speaker 1: in my notes, and we just got the note the
Speaker 1: news rather about a Patrick Mahomes contract extension right before
Speaker 1: we came on the air to record this podcast, and
Speaker 1: As a person that has watched Tom Brady in my
Speaker 1: division for twenty years, I'm curious to get the take
Speaker 1: of someone who is basically at the front part of
Speaker 1: that for an elite level quarterback and all time great
Speaker 1: looking quarterback to be in your division. Is that kind
Speaker 1: of the Raiders focus for how they build this team,
Speaker 1: trying to find a way to compete with Patrick Homes
Speaker 1: and to beat him specifically. Yeah, but I mean it's
Speaker 1: so difficult to do because you he's he's making all
Speaker 1: sorts of plays that you've never seen the quarterback quite
Speaker 1: make before. If you concentrate too much on building your secondary, um,
Speaker 1: and you give him too much time, he's gonna buy
Speaker 1: time and um, he's gonna buy time and make big plays.
Speaker 1: And if you know, you focus too much on the
Speaker 1: pass rush and you don't have the corns to cover
Speaker 1: those extremely fast Kansas City receivers, you're screwed. And you know,
Speaker 1: if you have a really strong defense and you don't
Speaker 1: have the offense to keep up with Patrick Mahomes, because
Speaker 1: he always eventually finds the way to score some points, um,
Speaker 1: then you know you're screwed too. So, I mean, I
Speaker 1: understand why they gave him the biggest you know, possibly
Speaker 1: it's gonna be the biggest contract, And in NFL history.
Speaker 1: He's just so dangerous of a player, and he's done
Speaker 1: so much and just you know, his two years starting
Speaker 1: already having a for Bowls. So yeah, watching him first hand,
Speaker 1: and man, this year he went to Oakland, the last
Speaker 1: game of the Chiefs played the Raiders in Oakland. It
Speaker 1: looked like the Raiders had a chance in the first quarter. Uh,
Speaker 1: they're playing him tough, and all of a sudden, he
Speaker 1: just you know, comes out. I think they scored like
Speaker 1: twenty eight points of the second quarter or something like that,
Speaker 1: and it was just ridiculous watching him throw these bombs
Speaker 1: off his back foot, and I was just like, man,
Speaker 1: this guy is just insane. He literally needs one quarter
Speaker 1: to beat you. And we kind of saw in the
Speaker 1: Super Bowl to the Chief's offense not really getting things
Speaker 1: cranking early on. Then he comes out in the second
Speaker 1: half and just rolls it up on the Niners and
Speaker 1: goes out and gets himself a championship in a year
Speaker 1: where he threw half as many touchdown passes as he
Speaker 1: did in the previous year. So dangerous guy, dangerous player.
Speaker 1: We're not talking about the Chiefs here, though. I want
Speaker 1: to finish up this podcast with one more question for you.
Speaker 1: Actually check that I have two questions. We'll get to
Speaker 1: the playoff question here in just one second. Give us
Speaker 1: a player on this Raiders roster that the casual fan
Speaker 1: maybe doesn't know about or maybe should know about. This
Speaker 1: kind of under the radar. Who is the Raiders big
Speaker 1: time unsung star on that football team? You know? I
Speaker 1: think Maurice Hearst is a guy that doesn't get a
Speaker 1: lot of love. I think defensive tackle numbers are hard
Speaker 1: to judge at times. I mean, everybody's judging you off
Speaker 1: Aaron Donald. But I think Hearst is a guy that
Speaker 1: gets consistent interior pressure, and I think he's gonna have
Speaker 1: a much bigger year this year if especially if the
Speaker 1: edge pressure proves a little bit. So I keep my
Speaker 1: eye on hers. I think he's in line for I
Speaker 1: don't know if he's gonna put up monster numbers, but
Speaker 1: I think he's in line for a pretty solid season
Speaker 1: for the Raiders. Anytime you have a player that draft
Speaker 1: the drops in the draft for a reason pretty much
Speaker 1: out of his control, I always find myself really rooting
Speaker 1: for that guy, so really rooting for ma Reice Hearse
Speaker 1: and his career. Last question I have for you here,
Speaker 1: the Raiders are a playoff team, and if and you
Speaker 1: fill in the blank, if the defense plays at an
Speaker 1: average level, I mean the Raiders defense has been just terrible,
Speaker 1: like bottom of the league for so long that if
Speaker 1: this defense even plays at an average level, I think
Speaker 1: offensively they have enough to be a playoff team. I
Speaker 1: mean it's hard to play the style of offense they
Speaker 1: want to play if teams are just you know, rolling
Speaker 1: and scoring twenty eight points before you can blink an eye. So, um,
Speaker 1: if the Raiders defense plays at an average level, it
Speaker 1: stops offenses here and you know here and there. Not
Speaker 1: much to ask, but uh yeah, it's just the defense
Speaker 1: has been so bad for so long that just some
Speaker 1: approvements on that side, I think it would be a huge,
Speaker 1: huge boost for the Raiders. Yeah, you mentioned the style
Speaker 1: of player they want to play with. It's it's so
Speaker 1: unique in the NFL these days to have a solid,
Speaker 1: strong starting five on the offensive line, something the Raiders
Speaker 1: certainly haven't. Can build around that on offense. He is
Speaker 1: ted Wyn. You can find his work up on the
Speaker 1: athletic NFL. He also hosts the State of the Nation
Speaker 1: podcast and run the Film podcast, and you can find
Speaker 1: him on Twitter at fb Underscore Film Analysis on Twitter. Ted,
Speaker 1: thanks a whole lot, man, I appreciate your time. Thanks
Speaker 1: for having me on, and away he goes another a
Speaker 1: f C West team on the Dolphins schedule. The two
Speaker 1: road teams now in the books. We have gone over
Speaker 1: the Broncos last week. We have the Raiders up on
Speaker 1: this episode. We've covered the Patriots, the Bills, and JAG's
Speaker 1: gonna work on getting the Seahawks and Niners, Chargers, Rams, Cardinals,
Speaker 1: Jets the rest of the teams on this Dolphin schedule
Speaker 1: here in the Know the Enemy series. We have the
Speaker 1: written content up on Miami Dolphins dot com. I believe
Speaker 1: we are through September and October on the written portions,
Speaker 1: taking in depth look at these teams as we get
Speaker 1: closer and closer to the start of the NFL season
Speaker 1: and training camp and all that fun stuff ahead. But
Speaker 1: as for today's edition of the Drive Time podcast, that
Speaker 1: is gonna be my time you all. Please be sure
Speaker 1: to subscribe to the podcast on Apple, podcast, Spotify, tuned in,
Speaker 1: wherever you get your podcast from Go ahead and subscribe,
Speaker 1: rate and review the show. Give me a follow on Twitter.
Speaker 1: It's at Wingfield, NFL. Follow the Dolphins at Miami Dolphins.
Speaker 1: Check out The fish Tank and the Audible podcast. We
Speaker 1: had a new episode of The fish Tank with Ray
Speaker 1: Lucas up on Tuesday, and of course Miami Dolphins dot
Speaker 1: com Until next time finds up