Speaker 1: Practice, Rolphins Patrick drawing the teower. What a win for
Speaker 1: this Miami Dolphin team. Wow, What is up? Dolphins? And
Speaker 1: welcome to the Drive Time Podcast, part of the Miami
Speaker 1: Dolphins official podcast network, covering your Miami Dolphins each and
Speaker 1: every day. How is it going, everybody? I am your host,
Speaker 1: Travis Wingfield, and I'm here to bring you your daily
Speaker 1: dose of Miami Dolphins football. And on today's show we
Speaker 1: dive into your questions via the Twitter mail bag. We
Speaker 1: welcome in a very special guest who I am willing
Speaker 1: to say has a claim as the biggest Miami Dolphins
Speaker 1: fan on planet Earth and as the best analytics man
Speaker 1: in the business. For my money, Warren Sharp puts out
Speaker 1: his annual NFL preview. Will look at some data from
Speaker 1: Warren Sharp himself and how it concerns the Miami Dolphins
Speaker 1: and the construction of this defense. All of that and
Speaker 1: more on this right a July the tenth edition of
Speaker 1: the Drive Time Podcast. And again he is my absolute
Speaker 1: favorite analyst in the business. Warren Sharp of Sharp Stats
Speaker 1: and Sharp Football Analysis. He has multiple avenues, all branded
Speaker 1: and self titled publications. I'll try to get him on
Speaker 1: at some point this summer to talk some football. But
Speaker 1: I just ordered his three hundred and fifty page manifesto
Speaker 1: and we'll dive into that here on future podcast. But
Speaker 1: I want to take a look a quick peek here
Speaker 1: at an article that he published up on sharp Football
Speaker 1: analysis dot com, and it takes a look at the
Speaker 1: frequency of sending just three rushers at the quarterback in
Speaker 1: today's NFL. And the reason I want to look at
Speaker 1: this is because the Dolphins ranked near the top of
Speaker 1: the league in doing this. And our guest that we're
Speaker 1: gonna have on here in just one minute posed a
Speaker 1: specific question to me that will lead into the mailbag
Speaker 1: regarding defensive back usage and specifically about Nick Needham and
Speaker 1: his spa on the football team. And so when you
Speaker 1: look at Miami's defensive makeup in a traditional sense, right,
Speaker 1: we go back to the A. J. Dewey podcast from
Speaker 1: a couple of weeks ago, and he told us how
Speaker 1: you mostly had eleven guys who started on the on
Speaker 1: the defense for you in a game, and they played
Speaker 1: pretty much the entire game for the most part. So
Speaker 1: from that lens, a little bit of an antiquated lens,
Speaker 1: you would use four down linemen and three linebackers or
Speaker 1: of course three down linemen and four linebackers with four
Speaker 1: defensive backs regardless of which front you used on every snap,
Speaker 1: give or take a few. Right, Well, this is good
Speaker 1: tangible evidence of how the game has evolved and the
Speaker 1: vision of coach Flores to have a litany of cover
Speaker 1: guys on the back end that can really help drive
Speaker 1: this defense. So from Warren Sharp, the Dolphins utilize three
Speaker 1: man rushes on of the nineteen defensive snaps, one out
Speaker 1: of every five plays. That was second most in football
Speaker 1: behind the Detroit Lions. And the article was really in
Speaker 1: earnest about the New England Patriots, and they were down
Speaker 1: to fifteen percent last year after going to three man rushes.
Speaker 1: But you go back to the previous three years from
Speaker 1: through sen they rushed three in the twenty two percent range,
Speaker 1: so nearly one quarter of their snaps they would rush
Speaker 1: three guys. And Sharp talks about the way these rushes
Speaker 1: are effective and how it might be one of the
Speaker 1: potential answers to all of these athletic, fleet of foot
Speaker 1: quarterbacks that can make you pay so dearly with their feet.
Speaker 1: We're doing the Know the Enemy series right now up
Speaker 1: on Miami Dolphins dot Com as well here on the podcast.
Speaker 1: And just look at the schedule. I mean week one,
Speaker 1: Week fifteen, you got Cam Newton there with New England.
Speaker 1: You got Josh Allen with the Buffalo Bills two times
Speaker 1: a year. You've got Gardner Minshew, he can make some
Speaker 1: plays with his legs. Russell Wilson on the schedule there,
Speaker 1: justin Herbert or Tyrod Taylor in week seven, Kyler Murray's
Speaker 1: on there. Joe Burrow, we saw what he did in college.
Speaker 1: Patrick Mahomes obvious lee. So that's what the NFL has become,
Speaker 1: a league where the quarterback is just as much a
Speaker 1: liability in terms of beating you with his legs as
Speaker 1: they are with their arms. For the most part, with
Speaker 1: modern day quarterbacks, right, the game has changed, and so
Speaker 1: on defense you have to keep up with that. And
Speaker 1: he talks about how you can affect those types of
Speaker 1: quarterback that can really make you pay with their legs.
Speaker 1: And he shows this example of a rush play on
Speaker 1: third down and fifteen against Buffalo where the ends kind
Speaker 1: of fan out and widen out that defensive line and
Speaker 1: they create this pocket for Alan to step up to
Speaker 1: rather than going into that hell Marry mode where he
Speaker 1: breaks the pocket and you allow guys to uncover downfield
Speaker 1: because you just can't get a hand on the quarterback.
Speaker 1: And this is one of the ways Sharp rites that
Speaker 1: you can manufacture a rush over the idea of just
Speaker 1: relying on one guy like for instance, Cam Wake. For
Speaker 1: how many years did we have to have Cam Wake
Speaker 1: win his pass rush matchup? Otherwise we didn't get pressure
Speaker 1: on the quarterback. You can manufacture this pass rush through
Speaker 1: this team ski rush approach, and the Patriots last year
Speaker 1: we're second and total pressures despite ranking on ESPN's pass
Speaker 1: rush win rate that's a mouthful, which is a measure
Speaker 1: of success within getting to the quarterback within two and
Speaker 1: a half seconds after the snap. So you don't have
Speaker 1: to necessarily get to the quarterback immediately to win with
Speaker 1: your pressures because more coverage on the back end gives
Speaker 1: you more time to get after the quarterback. And so
Speaker 1: how this all relates and comes back to the Miami
Speaker 1: Dolphins is that it pairs so well with a secondary
Speaker 1: that has so many good cover guys like we hope
Speaker 1: to have here with Byron Jones, Xavian Howard, Noah Igbanogamy,
Speaker 1: Nick need Um, Bobby McCain, Eric Rowe, Brandon Jones. You
Speaker 1: guys know the usual suspects in the secondary by now,
Speaker 1: and Sharp notes that from this defense, you have multiple
Speaker 1: guys that are liable to come after the quarterback at
Speaker 1: any time. He mentions Kyle van Noy rushed on se
Speaker 1: of his snaps, but they also have two more guys
Speaker 1: that exceeded six rush rate and an other who had
Speaker 1: at rush rate coming after the quarterback from that linebacker position.
Speaker 1: And this can make the quarterbacks pre snap read foggy
Speaker 1: and maybe force an error in his a signing of
Speaker 1: the past protection assignments up front. And once you get
Speaker 1: that with eight guys falling into coverage, boy, that becomes
Speaker 1: tough to beat, especially when you can show this look
Speaker 1: and still wind up sending a fourth or even blitzing
Speaker 1: a fifth on that confused past protection alignment in front
Speaker 1: of you. And so I look at the Dolphins and
Speaker 1: the coverage skills they have, and you go down the
Speaker 1: board with whether it's pre draft scouting reports or the
Speaker 1: NFL tape they've put together in conjunction with coverage grades
Speaker 1: via sites like Pro Football Focus or NFL Next Gen Stats,
Speaker 1: whatever your flavor is, these guys great out well in
Speaker 1: that area for the most part. Then comes the idea
Speaker 1: of the position list front seven defense. I just rewatched
Speaker 1: the second game against the Jets from last year, the
Speaker 1: game on the road, and there was one instance where
Speaker 1: we have one down lineman and three linebackers and the
Speaker 1: other seven to fenders on the field our defensive backs.
Speaker 1: That is your quarter package Nicholas five defensive backs, Diamond six,
Speaker 1: quarter seven, and Dollar is eight. And the broadcast crew
Speaker 1: is just flabber gassed by this defense. And it was
Speaker 1: a successful play. The defense got the stop and got
Speaker 1: off the field. So I look at how you might
Speaker 1: utilize Kyle van Noy and Vince Bagel and Shack Lawson,
Speaker 1: Emmanuel Ogba pick your poison. You really see the idea
Speaker 1: of the defense and how you really set yourself up
Speaker 1: to win on that critical down. The money down. Third
Speaker 1: down is everything in this league, and I'm a big
Speaker 1: fan of this idea of how you win on those
Speaker 1: third downs. Okay, that's our deep dive into the analytics
Speaker 1: for the week. Let's transition now and get to a
Speaker 1: very special guest here on the Drivetime podcast. He was
Speaker 1: the winner of our virtual draft sweepstakes. And if you're
Speaker 1: on Dolphins Twitter, you certainly know him by now. If
Speaker 1: you've been to Dolphins training camp, you know who he is.
Speaker 1: You can't miss him. He is big E. And here
Speaker 1: is my interview with arguably the biggest Dolphins fan on
Speaker 1: planet Earth, Big E, Ian Burger and writing shotgun now
Speaker 1: on the Drive Time podcast. Is the winner of our
Speaker 1: virtual fan experience. You guys all know who he is.
Speaker 1: If you're on Dolphins Twitter by now, he is Ian Burger. Ian.
Speaker 1: How's it going, man, I'm doing great, Travis. Thanks so
Speaker 1: much for having me today. I really appreciate it. Man.
Speaker 1: We're very excited to have you on because I almost
Speaker 1: feel like, in a way you represent the Dolphins season
Speaker 1: ticket members because of your very public facing persona. You
Speaker 1: got the jersey you were a training camp every year
Speaker 1: that has your name on it. And is it number?
Speaker 1: What numbers on that jersey? Sixty six represents my height
Speaker 1: I'm six ft six inches tall, But it's also Larry Little,
Speaker 1: so we can't gotta give him a lot of credit
Speaker 1: for that. Well, you can't miss Biggie because he is
Speaker 1: six six because he has the jersey. Also a good
Speaker 1: company there with Larry Little, who did a flashback podcast
Speaker 1: with us, one of my favorite guests we've had so
Speaker 1: far on this podcast. But enough about the past. Ian,
Speaker 1: you're on the podcast today to talk about kind of
Speaker 1: your fan experience, and you're decked out in the full
Speaker 1: on Dolphins garb right now, I am myself. We both
Speaker 1: love this team through and through aqua running through our veins.
Speaker 1: I want to ask you when did you first when, like,
Speaker 1: what was the moment where you were like, Okay, I
Speaker 1: am not only a die hard football fan, but I
Speaker 1: am a die hard Miami Dolphins fan to my core.
Speaker 1: I think when I probably about fifteen twenty years ago,
Speaker 1: is when I really realized that I was a die hard.
Speaker 1: I mean, my my grandfather took me to my first
Speaker 1: ever game in five, but it took me a while
Speaker 1: to really get into the game, to understand it. My
Speaker 1: parents weren't really big into football, so I never I
Speaker 1: never watched it. It was never on the TV at home. Um.
Speaker 1: But then around two I started bringing my dad to games,
Speaker 1: to his first ever football games, and UM, I'd say
Speaker 1: after ninety two I really started growing the fandom. UM.
Speaker 1: And then about ten years ago I joined this wonderful
Speaker 1: social media thing called Twitter, and I think Twitter has
Speaker 1: just blown my fandom, you know, out of the water
Speaker 1: because the ability to be able to interact with fans
Speaker 1: not just locally but around the world and there are
Speaker 1: a lot of Dolphins fans around the world. Um, that
Speaker 1: has actually helped me become better fan because I want
Speaker 1: to learn more and I want to engage more with them.
Speaker 1: Football is certainly a family affair. I think that's true
Speaker 1: for a lot of fans that kind of go through
Speaker 1: generations of you know, getting season tickets and being there
Speaker 1: at the stadium and all these fun things to go
Speaker 1: along with that. You mentioned the fan base around the
Speaker 1: globe for for the Dolphins, and I'm a great example
Speaker 1: of that because I'm from the Pacific Northwest, and you
Speaker 1: mentioned kind of being there at the stadium and getting
Speaker 1: indoctrinated with the game itself, but not really growing into
Speaker 1: the big fan you are you've become until about five
Speaker 1: years ago. It was kind of the same for me
Speaker 1: because I grew up in a generation where I was
Speaker 1: all about going to the Kingdom and watching King Jr.
Speaker 1: And my Seattle Mariners. But then does Dan Marino guy
Speaker 1: came around in my life and kind of swayed me
Speaker 1: over to the football side. I have to imagine he
Speaker 1: was a big influence for you too well. And remember
Speaker 1: back in that was that was Dan Marino's heyday, So
Speaker 1: you know, my I had many years of watching him,
Speaker 1: and I think the great thing about Dan Marino which
Speaker 1: we have you know, which we may not have seen
Speaker 1: over the last twenty years, is it didn't matter if
Speaker 1: it was a winner loss With Marino, you were gonna
Speaker 1: have about four hundred yards in the air. It was
Speaker 1: going to be a high scoring affair, and it was
Speaker 1: gonna be a lot of fun to be there because
Speaker 1: the fans go crazy for every touchdown. Um. So yeah,
Speaker 1: he was definitely a strong influence for me, for me
Speaker 1: through my Dolphins years. It's funny, man, we have these
Speaker 1: new rules in today's NFL where it's a little bit
Speaker 1: trickier to play defense and defensive back, and so you
Speaker 1: have some stats there may be a little bit more
Speaker 1: inflated than they were back in the eighties, like you mentioned,
Speaker 1: and this has been a topic on Twitter this week,
Speaker 1: is Dan Marino's four season. It just to me it
Speaker 1: stands alone in a class of its own in terms
Speaker 1: of football accomplishments. Individually on the football field from a
Speaker 1: statistic standpoint, So, Dan Marino, we all can kind of
Speaker 1: rally around that guy. But you mentioned years as a fan.
Speaker 1: How long have you been a season ticket member for?
Speaker 1: So I was. I've actually been a season ticket holder
Speaker 1: for about eighteen years. But the way that it worked
Speaker 1: is back eighteen years ago, I I had a co
Speaker 1: worker who was upgrading to club, but she didn't want
Speaker 1: to sell her regular seats, so I volunteered to buy them. Um,
Speaker 1: I wasn't able to go to all the games, so
Speaker 1: I ended up selling some of them and kind of
Speaker 1: made some of that money back. And then about eight
Speaker 1: years ago, I actually started my own account and I
Speaker 1: have two tickets, so I get to rotate between my wife,
Speaker 1: my fifteen year old daughter, and my thirteen year old daughter.
Speaker 1: But I am the consistent one that will go to
Speaker 1: every single game from start to finish, regardless of what
Speaker 1: the score is, and all preseason games from start to finish.
Speaker 1: So um, we have made it a true family affair,
Speaker 1: and my kids and my wife they love going to
Speaker 1: the games. It's it's really more about the experience of
Speaker 1: being there and doing everything that we do versus what
Speaker 1: the final score is for them, even though of course
Speaker 1: I prefer a win, and I think we all prefer
Speaker 1: the win. You know, we'll get there two hours before.
Speaker 1: We'll set up a tent with just either my daughter
Speaker 1: and I or my wife and I throw the football
Speaker 1: around for a while, we'll play some cards, just hang out,
Speaker 1: and then we'll go in about an hour before the
Speaker 1: game because we want to see what's going on in
Speaker 1: the field and make sure we catch the pregame warmups. Um.
Speaker 1: And then we'll stay. You know, we'll stay till the
Speaker 1: very end for four thirty. And you've got to stay
Speaker 1: till the very end, of course, because you know, the
Speaker 1: Miami miracle happened to the people that stayed till the
Speaker 1: very end. Um. So that's uh, that's that's part of
Speaker 1: the experience. And I think when my kids get older,
Speaker 1: they're not going to really remember what the final scores were,
Speaker 1: who we played. They're just gonna remember they had a
Speaker 1: really nice time going with dad to football games, and
Speaker 1: that's what I've really tried to create for them. I
Speaker 1: have a couple of questions off of that answer that
Speaker 1: I think are just terrific in terms of what football
Speaker 1: and family can mean for people. One. I was at
Speaker 1: the Miami Miracle and the last four games I've been
Speaker 1: to whereas press and the previous game that I went
Speaker 1: to as a fan in the stands was two thousand
Speaker 1: eight against the Patriots. We lost the wildcat year, but
Speaker 1: I was at the Miracle game and it was unlike
Speaker 1: anything I had ever seen. Is there a game that
Speaker 1: sticks out in your mind that's the greatest game you've
Speaker 1: ever been to their hard rock stadium? Is that, you know,
Speaker 1: there's there's a lot of them. Obviously that one is
Speaker 1: right up there. I'll take you back two years ago,
Speaker 1: you know, to the what is it the it's the
Speaker 1: world record for the longest NFL game. And what was
Speaker 1: great about that was that we got there nor you know,
Speaker 1: game time started at one o'clock. We got there little early,
Speaker 1: did like we normally did, and then we were in
Speaker 1: the stands, and then of course the first delay happened,
Speaker 1: and my daughter, I brought my at the time, she
Speaker 1: was eleven, and you know, she was all good for
Speaker 1: the first time. Then the second delay came, you know,
Speaker 1: and then more and more people started leaving, and uh,
Speaker 1: and I finally said to my daughter, I said, hey,
Speaker 1: we don't have plans tonight, would you want to stay?
Speaker 1: You know, what would be the latest that you would
Speaker 1: want to stay? And she said, well, Dad, you know
Speaker 1: I'm in the stands. I'm kind of bored right now.
Speaker 1: She's like, would you mind if you got me Instagram
Speaker 1: and I won't bother you the rest of the game.
Speaker 1: So I had downloaded Instagram for her, and then we
Speaker 1: stayed till the bitter end, and of course not bitter end.
Speaker 1: It was actually a great end because obviously the Dolphins
Speaker 1: beat the Titans that game. But with that was was
Speaker 1: that an eight and a half hour game or something
Speaker 1: some some ridiculous amount of time? And I'm proud to
Speaker 1: be able to say I'm part of some sort of
Speaker 1: NFL record for the my Amy Dolphins, which is pretty cool. Yeah,
Speaker 1: a great bargaining tool. There's something I'm gonna have to
Speaker 1: use in my negotiations with my new daughter when uh,
Speaker 1: when she gets of age to do things like that.
Speaker 1: We can actually start kind of bartering to each other
Speaker 1: to get things, you know, from one another. But you know,
Speaker 1: you mentioned your daughter and one of my favorite game
Speaker 1: day traditions speaking of Twitter and how it kind of
Speaker 1: connects all of us as dolphins fans. Is you have
Speaker 1: I'm not sure which one it is one of your daughters,
Speaker 1: loads up the car with the magnets, pregame right, which
Speaker 1: which daughter is that and kind of talk to us
Speaker 1: about that tradition. That is my youngest daughter and uh
Speaker 1: and she I don't I don't remember how it happened.
Speaker 1: It just kind of happened where we started taking pictures
Speaker 1: of her adding so we add about twelve magnets to
Speaker 1: my car and we had four flags to the car,
Speaker 1: and we started taking pictures and then everybody started calling
Speaker 1: her the good luck charm. So, you know, we just
Speaker 1: started doing it more and more than we did it
Speaker 1: as a time lapse and we did it as a
Speaker 1: slow mode. We just and it just became this real
Speaker 1: big thing. And I think a lot of people know
Speaker 1: her as the good luck charm, you know. And and
Speaker 1: last year we we kind of put some stuff on
Speaker 1: the side because it was a little bit of a
Speaker 1: challenging season last year, so we said we'll save it
Speaker 1: for the next year when we know it will probably
Speaker 1: be a little better. Um, so she's gonna be back
Speaker 1: in the uh in the in the reins of doing
Speaker 1: this again this year. So the great thing is too,
Speaker 1: I was out of town one one weekend for aurn
Speaker 1: away game, and I love the fact that she even
Speaker 1: though I wasn't home, she still put the magnets on
Speaker 1: my wife's car and she took pictures and sent it
Speaker 1: to me. And that just meant the world to me
Speaker 1: because she kept up the tradition, which is so important. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think you've succeeded in having your your family become
Speaker 1: all Dolphins fans, because not every parent is fortunate enough
Speaker 1: to have that. My my family out here as Seahawks fans,
Speaker 1: So I was the one that got away, I guess
Speaker 1: from the family, the family fan based so to speak.
Speaker 1: And and the reason we have you on here, Ian
Speaker 1: is because you were the winner of the virtual draft
Speaker 1: sweepsticks to come on and do some some special things
Speaker 1: here as a member season ticket member. What are some
Speaker 1: other benefits you've had of being a season ticket member
Speaker 1: now with the Miami Dolphins, going back to however many
Speaker 1: years it's been, I will tell you it's it's actually
Speaker 1: been really cool because they've had a bunch of different
Speaker 1: events that you can go to as a season ticket holder,
Speaker 1: Like a couple of years ago they did like a
Speaker 1: family few type thing in Nova and a couple of
Speaker 1: the players were involved and you got randomly selected in
Speaker 1: the audience to participate. Unfortunately, we weren't able to do that,
Speaker 1: but um, it was a lot of fun to be there.
Speaker 1: Last season during training camp, we were able to go
Speaker 1: into the bubble, which was something I never thought I'd
Speaker 1: be able to do. And we actually got a chance
Speaker 1: to meet all of the players who were on the
Speaker 1: roster uh last year before training camp and you got
Speaker 1: to take pictures with them. It was just a really
Speaker 1: great opportunity for us to to meet face to face
Speaker 1: and see the players that you know. Otherwise you see
Speaker 1: them on TV, you never really have that opportunity to
Speaker 1: get that close to them. Um, you know, and some
Speaker 1: other things. I will tell you last year one of
Speaker 1: the greatest opportunities, and I don't think it happens all
Speaker 1: the time, but it just so happened for us. Was. Um,
Speaker 1: my oldest daughter went to a game and she doesn't
Speaker 1: go to as many as she used to, and it
Speaker 1: was last game of the season, and I called up
Speaker 1: my ticket rep actually a couple of weeks prior, and
Speaker 1: I said, hey, listen, I love you know what we're
Speaker 1: doing on the field before the game starts with the
Speaker 1: United States flag and how we're doing that. Is there
Speaker 1: an opportunity for us to get on the field, And
Speaker 1: he said absolutely. He's like, let me just find the
Speaker 1: right date. So the date was the Washington Redston's game.
Speaker 1: Got there really early, participate in that, and I will
Speaker 1: tell you that that was That's something that I will
Speaker 1: cherish forever because it was the first time we had
Speaker 1: ever done it, but my daughter will as well. You know,
Speaker 1: just being being able to be there, listen to the anthem,
Speaker 1: hold the flag with everybody cheering around you, it's just
Speaker 1: an amazing experience. It definitely is something that I would
Speaker 1: love to do one of these days, get down there
Speaker 1: and be part of those pregame anthems and the pregame
Speaker 1: antics that really kind of, you know, really tell you
Speaker 1: what football is all about in community and all that
Speaker 1: fun stuff. So great to hear on that end, Ian
Speaker 1: and you talk about going into that bubble man, that
Speaker 1: thing is impressive with how you walk out from the
Speaker 1: South Florida heat and then you're right there and air
Speaker 1: conditioning in an instant and it's just it hits you,
Speaker 1: like like those coolers at the big you know, grocery
Speaker 1: stores with like the Walmart or whatever, the massive amount
Speaker 1: of just cold air right in your face. It's a
Speaker 1: great feeling when you enter that bubble. Now. And we
Speaker 1: talked about training camp. You and I had a chance
Speaker 1: to run into each other last year at training camp.
Speaker 1: I think I was like leaving the media room when
Speaker 1: you were coming out, going up the ramp to the stands.
Speaker 1: You're trying to go to training camp every single year.
Speaker 1: I really started going to training camp about four years ago.
Speaker 1: I think that it was something where I didn't realize
Speaker 1: the availability as much and my schedule was always messed up.
Speaker 1: So about four years ago I made it a point
Speaker 1: to as soon as I know the training camp days,
Speaker 1: I schedule it and I'll schedule other things around it
Speaker 1: if possible during the week I'm working, but it's mainly
Speaker 1: on the weekends, you know. And that is also something
Speaker 1: that as a season ticket holder, there was a season
Speaker 1: ticket holder day at training camps as well, so you know,
Speaker 1: you get some extra special stuff like popcorn, free trinks
Speaker 1: and um and they do some great things with kids
Speaker 1: there too, where if you're there early enough or they
Speaker 1: had done this in the past. You know, they'll they'll
Speaker 1: have some players signed some autographs for the kids, and
Speaker 1: after the training camp is over, you'll get a good
Speaker 1: ten to twelve player that will come over and meet
Speaker 1: you and sign our graphs. And I'm I'm always impressed
Speaker 1: with them because they just went through, you know, a
Speaker 1: couple of hours worth of practice in nine degree weather
Speaker 1: and they will come over to the fans and they
Speaker 1: will sign the autographs and they'll take a picture. Um,
Speaker 1: and I'm always impressed with that and the way that
Speaker 1: that setup has been. It's going to be great. But
Speaker 1: I understand this new facility in uh In, Miami for
Speaker 1: the training camp. I saw it a couple of weeks ago.
Speaker 1: It looks very very impressive. So I know that's not
Speaker 1: gonna be this season, possibly next season, but I'm excited
Speaker 1: about that too. Yeah, we can't wait to move in.
Speaker 1: And last year was my first training camp, and you
Speaker 1: mentioned the way the guys come off the field. They
Speaker 1: take their socks off and they can ring them out
Speaker 1: like wet wash cloths, and they just look completely spent
Speaker 1: because they did leave everything they have on the football
Speaker 1: field for the last two hours in that heat and
Speaker 1: sort of be able to go and connect with the fans.
Speaker 1: Really cool moment there for all the fans, all the players,
Speaker 1: the entire team. It's it's it's a fun experience. I
Speaker 1: highly recommend getting out there when you can, when we
Speaker 1: all can get back to it. Now, Ian, I want
Speaker 1: to give you the floor here and give us your breakdown,
Speaker 1: your details. You mentioned this year's team might be one
Speaker 1: that you're looking forward to more. What's this team gonna
Speaker 1: look like this year? We got a good chance. I
Speaker 1: uh so, So I'm optimistic by trade, I guess you
Speaker 1: can say so. I'm always telling my wife that this
Speaker 1: is going to be a great year for us. But
Speaker 1: I really think that this year is going to be
Speaker 1: a great year for us. And here's here's the reasoning why.
Speaker 1: You look at what we were able to do last
Speaker 1: year under quote coach Floras, you know, and he took
Speaker 1: us to five wins, which a lot of a lot
Speaker 1: of analysts that thought that the Dolphins weren't gonna have
Speaker 1: any wins last year. Um, and he did it with
Speaker 1: some guys that probably wouldn't have gotten an opportunity to
Speaker 1: start on another NFL football team. But then you look
Speaker 1: at this year, what we've done on the off season
Speaker 1: with you know, the free agents, with the draft, and
Speaker 1: we have such young talented players. Um you still have
Speaker 1: coach Flores, which is going to be the common denominator.
Speaker 1: I feel very optimistic that this is at least an
Speaker 1: eight and eight team are better. And I know a
Speaker 1: lot of people think I'm a little crazy for that
Speaker 1: because it is a new team. But I think when
Speaker 1: you have the right leader in charge, and you've got
Speaker 1: the right person that has that message that players really
Speaker 1: respond to, I think you'll see good, positive things coming
Speaker 1: out of it. I would expect nothing less from you,
Speaker 1: Big East, some optimism coming out of your end over there. Now.
Speaker 1: I know you're very active on Twitter, and I think
Speaker 1: with a couple of publications there, tell the folks when
Speaker 1: they can find you on Twitter where they can find
Speaker 1: some of the stuff and kind of maybe read some
Speaker 1: of your worker or here some of your work on
Speaker 1: other podcasts. Yes, thank you, Travis. So I write for
Speaker 1: Dolphins Talk dot com www dot Dolphins Talk dot com.
Speaker 1: I also I am now putting together a weekly two
Speaker 1: minute drill which is just a two minute video clip
Speaker 1: of the recent Miami Dolphins news. Really keep the opinion
Speaker 1: out of it. Just the straight news that's going into it.
Speaker 1: And then um, I will be conducting podcasts with the
Speaker 1: Dolphins Talk Network as well. Coming up in the probably
Speaker 1: in the next couple of weeks, is as training camp
Speaker 1: opens and as the season opens. So um, that's gonna
Speaker 1: be my home for for as long as as long
Speaker 1: as they have me. I guess you could say, Ian,
Speaker 1: I'll never forget your first two minute drill. The very
Speaker 1: first topic you talked about was congratulating me and my
Speaker 1: wife on our new child. And I'll never forget that, man,
Speaker 1: So thank you so much for saying that. That's that
Speaker 1: meant a lot to me. You're welcome. I got one
Speaker 1: more thing for you here because we are going to
Speaker 1: kind of transition into another segment here on the Drivetime
Speaker 1: podcast into the mail bag. Is there a question you
Speaker 1: want to post me live on the air here? Um?
Speaker 1: You know one question I would probably have is, uh,
Speaker 1: you know Nick need Um. He showed some amazing, amazing
Speaker 1: success last year, an improvement from pre season when I
Speaker 1: think a lot of people didn't think he was going
Speaker 1: to be on the team to the end of the
Speaker 1: year where he was starting. So my question would be,
Speaker 1: where do we see Nick Needham fitting in the season
Speaker 1: and what is a long term prospect going to be
Speaker 1: for him with this team, especially now that we've got
Speaker 1: such great talent at the cornerback spot. Yeah. I don't
Speaker 1: think you look at any of the additions they made
Speaker 1: in the second area and think that it really pushes
Speaker 1: guys out the door. I think it was more about
Speaker 1: just adding more quality bodies to the room because you
Speaker 1: look at Brian Flores pas Asked and Josh Boyer as well,
Speaker 1: their former defensive backs coach and now defensive coordinator. They
Speaker 1: want to have seven, eight nine guys that can play cornerback,
Speaker 1: can play safety, that can come down and match up
Speaker 1: and man coverage and play that way too. And that's
Speaker 1: kind of the thought there with getting Byron Jones to
Speaker 1: go along with X and to add to Nick need
Speaker 1: Him and Bobby McCain and Eric Row and all these
Speaker 1: guys that have versatile backgrounds that can do multiple things.
Speaker 1: And you go back to Nick need Him. Last year
Speaker 1: in training camp, I remember writing about him as one
Speaker 1: of the U d f A's to keep an eye
Speaker 1: on because he had such good footwork and he was
Speaker 1: so smooth in and out of his brakes and transition
Speaker 1: and all that fun stuff, and I thought, this guy
Speaker 1: can probably hit if he just kind of works at
Speaker 1: his game and makes it happen. And that's what he
Speaker 1: was doing. He was out there at training camp every day.
Speaker 1: You probably saw it two Biggie. He was out there
Speaker 1: working on special teams, working with the gunners and the
Speaker 1: flyers on punt team, and getting extra reps in making
Speaker 1: a name for himself, and I thought he did so
Speaker 1: well to do that and to work hard. I think
Speaker 1: you may have talked to his mom on a podcast
Speaker 1: at one point. I know she's done some other podcast.
Speaker 1: I talked to her. She talks about the way he grinds,
Speaker 1: the way he works, just kind of has that in
Speaker 1: his you know, that Brian Flores type of trait that
Speaker 1: he loves so much. And so with the way he works,
Speaker 1: the production he had last year, I think he can
Speaker 1: be a long term fit here for the Miami Dolphins
Speaker 1: in the defensive backfield. That's great. And yeah, I wasn't
Speaker 1: the one who had his mom on, but we communicate
Speaker 1: a lot on Twitter and she is his number one fan,
Speaker 1: and I think that's the best thing to have a
Speaker 1: mom that supports you so much and and really supports
Speaker 1: what you do. So but thank you, thank you for
Speaker 1: answering that, Travis. I'm encouraged by that absolutely. And as
Speaker 1: far as being fans, we appreciate you, Biggie. You're you're
Speaker 1: one of the biggest, most recognizable Dolphins fans we can
Speaker 1: all reach out to. And thank you so much for
Speaker 1: your time today. Man, thank you for having me, Travis.
Speaker 1: I really appreciate buddy and the way he goes. Ian Burger.
Speaker 1: If you don't know him by now on Twitter at
Speaker 1: Ian six nine three, give him a follow in a
Speaker 1: world where maybe there's a little bit of negativity going on,
Speaker 1: he is always a bright light that makes the timeline
Speaker 1: just much better to look at. So Ian, thank you
Speaker 1: so much for your time. And with that, with his question,
Speaker 1: he posed to us, let's go ahead and transition now
Speaker 1: into the Twitter mailbag. I put the call out on Twitter,
Speaker 1: you respond with your questions, and we talked about it
Speaker 1: here on the podcast. Let's go ahead and start here
Speaker 1: first with Shorty. He's at Fins or Die on Twitter.
Speaker 1: Who are your top three wide receiver prospects for one draft?
Speaker 1: And I've talked about this at length on the pod
Speaker 1: or on Twitter. I should say how much I love
Speaker 1: this next year's receiver's class, when this past year's receiver
Speaker 1: class got so much hype and buzz, and rightfully so.
Speaker 1: But this next one, it's really difficult to pick three.
Speaker 1: I am a massive ron Dale Moore fan. I watched
Speaker 1: his first game at per Due. He broke the school's
Speaker 1: all time all purpose yards record in that game. Big
Speaker 1: touchdown after big touchdown creates separation. Kind of a shorter,
Speaker 1: stocky build, but man, he is explosive. He squats. I
Speaker 1: think it's sixty six thousand pounds. I believe it's his squad.
Speaker 1: He can do. He's impressively built, strong, fast, explosive, all
Speaker 1: that fun stuff. I'm gonna put him in there. I'm
Speaker 1: gonna put Rashad Bateman in there, out of Minnesota. He
Speaker 1: is kind of the antithesis of Rondale Moore are and
Speaker 1: that he's tall and lengthy, but he also has great
Speaker 1: straight line speed. He's a terrific route runner. He eats
Speaker 1: up the blind spots and attacks leverage beautifully. He is
Speaker 1: awesome there. Now, the issue I have with putting these
Speaker 1: two guys on this list is now, I've only got
Speaker 1: one spot for Davonte Smith out of Alabama for Jamaar Chase,
Speaker 1: last year's Blit Nakough winner out of l s U,
Speaker 1: Jalen Waddle another Alabama product, and plenty of other receivers
Speaker 1: that really have a chance to get into this top
Speaker 1: three range. But I'm gonna go ahead and go with
Speaker 1: Jamaar Chase because that guy was a video game last
Speaker 1: year with the statistics he put up, with the one
Speaker 1: on one wins he had over elite level coverage cornerbacks.
Speaker 1: Who again, go watch Igbo up against Jamaar Chase and
Speaker 1: watch that matchup to elite players going at it on
Speaker 1: that matchup. So I'll go Jamar Chase, I'll go Rondel Moore,
Speaker 1: and I'll take Rashad Bateman out of Minnesota for my
Speaker 1: top three receivers and next year's NFL draft. This next
Speaker 1: question here from Pat He's at Patty Perk on Twitter,
Speaker 1: is a really interesting question. He asked, do you anticipate
Speaker 1: Flores and company treating the offensive line like the defensive line,
Speaker 1: where you keep the starting OH line fluid depending on
Speaker 1: the matchup. I don't, Pat, And here's the reason why.
Speaker 1: Because as much as we talk about positionless players and
Speaker 1: and being rotation based and matchup based. Flora said last
Speaker 1: year at the start of camp when they were trying
Speaker 1: to figure out who the starting five are going to
Speaker 1: be about getting the best five guys out there and
Speaker 1: how impatiparative it was for them to build continuity, for
Speaker 1: them to stack days together and have that communication and
Speaker 1: stuff like that down. So I think you want to
Speaker 1: get your top five guys out there and play them
Speaker 1: as long as they're healthy, as long as they're playing well,
Speaker 1: you keep the same five together. It's a lot like
Speaker 1: a basketball team in that chemistry and the way they
Speaker 1: communicate and how important that is. So I think at
Speaker 1: least for now, it would be just the five guys
Speaker 1: like it traditionally has been. I don't think anybody's ever
Speaker 1: done that on the offensive line, and I wouldn't expect
Speaker 1: it to start now. Next question you hear from Derek Shoop.
Speaker 1: He's at Derek Underscore Shoop on Twitter, making it easy
Speaker 1: on me. Get your crystal ball out. Travis prediction time.
Speaker 1: Who will lead the team and tackles? Well, this is
Speaker 1: a really a question. You can go in one direction
Speaker 1: right towards your probably middle linebacker, the guy that plays
Speaker 1: the most at linebackers a safe bet because defenses are
Speaker 1: designed to create tackles for the linebackers. Defensive lineman eat
Speaker 1: up blocks, defensive backs cover, and linebackers come downhill and
Speaker 1: they make tackles. But I'm gonna go a little bit
Speaker 1: off the reservation here and I'm gonna pick safety Eric
Speaker 1: Rowe because he is involved in so many of those
Speaker 1: fronts where he comes up and fills the gap in
Speaker 1: the running game or plays over the tight end up
Speaker 1: on the line of scrimmage, and has so many run
Speaker 1: fit responsibilities that he can get himself involved and make
Speaker 1: tackles that way too. And since we love context on
Speaker 1: this podcast, I'll go ahead and throw out his tackle
Speaker 1: numbers from last season. He made that transition from more
Speaker 1: of an outside corner into a safety role right around
Speaker 1: Week six last year against Washington, But he made eighty
Speaker 1: one total tackles last year, and even when he was
Speaker 1: playing cornerback, he rapped up some tackles out there as well.
Speaker 1: He made eleven in the season opener against Baltimore. That
Speaker 1: was kind of an anomaly for an outside cornerback to
Speaker 1: make that many tackles, but he did so. Eighty one
Speaker 1: tackles last year. I'll go with Eric Rowe for the
Speaker 1: most tackles this year for the Dolphins. Next question here
Speaker 1: from Morgan Lewis at MO Underscore lou twenty on Twitter.
Speaker 1: Where do you recommend someone start if they want to
Speaker 1: get into scouting and film review books on what to
Speaker 1: look for or just start watching and former opinions based
Speaker 1: on what led too good and bad plays. Well, I
Speaker 1: always say, you don't know what you don't know, so
Speaker 1: don't just dive in right away and just trying to
Speaker 1: pick it up. I mean, that will help for sure,
Speaker 1: but you need to have some basic understanding of what
Speaker 1: the what defenses and offenses want to do to attack
Speaker 1: each other. And I do think for that reason, books
Speaker 1: are a great place to start. But also just go
Speaker 1: on Twitter and look at some of the best follows
Speaker 1: you can find out there. I retweet guys and like
Speaker 1: tweets all the time from my favorite Twitter follows. When
Speaker 1: it comes to xs and knows, you can learn so
Speaker 1: much from just a two minute clip where they talk
Speaker 1: to you about specific coverages or techniques or things guys
Speaker 1: do like. For instance, Darius Butler, former Colts and Patriots
Speaker 1: Corner has a Twitter time Twitter account everything dB I
Speaker 1: think it is, and he breaks down some defensive backcover
Speaker 1: Jim Man. He really can teach you a ton in
Speaker 1: a short period of time. But definitely get yourself into
Speaker 1: the All twenty two and definitely get yourself some books.
Speaker 1: One of my favorites is Steve Belichick's Football Scouting Methods.
Speaker 1: Anything Bill Walsh ever published is a great way to
Speaker 1: go because he's one of the innovators, or the innovator,
Speaker 1: i should say, of the West Coast offense, and so
Speaker 1: many offenses today are based off principles from that West
Speaker 1: Coast offense. And the same is true of Vince Lombardi
Speaker 1: when it comes to running game concepts and how you
Speaker 1: block up certain run schemes. He is the ultimate innovator
Speaker 1: of running the football back when he was around with
Speaker 1: the Green Bay Packers. They're a great book by paul's Immerman,
Speaker 1: Doctor Z, the guy that I really tried to model
Speaker 1: myself after when I was younger. New Thinking Man's Guide
Speaker 1: to Pro Football. You will learn a ton from Doctor Z.
Speaker 1: Another go one from Pat Kerwin. Take your Eye off
Speaker 1: the Ball is an exceptional place to start there as well.
Speaker 1: So yeah, there's plenty of options. Get yourself into some
Speaker 1: videos on YouTube, on Twitter, whatever it might be, get
Speaker 1: into some books, and then try to apply those lessons
Speaker 1: yourself when you watch the tape back on All twenty two.
Speaker 1: Next question from Greg Larson at g s l Now
Speaker 1: on Twitter. Realistically, what part of the season does to
Speaker 1: make his debut whenever he's the best quarterback on the roster.
Speaker 1: I think it's pretty cut and dry that way. If
Speaker 1: you're the best player for the job, you'll play on Sunday's.
Speaker 1: Next question from Tannis stand for Life at Twist to
Speaker 1: J nine three one. Any interest in someday doing play
Speaker 1: by play of work? Yeah. I I've always been a
Speaker 1: fan of both sports talk radio or play by play commentary.
Speaker 1: Just talking about sports is what I've always wanted to do,
Speaker 1: So if I could ever make that jump, I would
Speaker 1: be all for it. Although I will say it is
Speaker 1: so much harder than it looks, the work that goes
Speaker 1: into it, the ability to do it live and not
Speaker 1: really make any flubs as it were on a live broadcast.
Speaker 1: It's a hard job. I would have to practice and
Speaker 1: learn for it, but would love to do that someday.
Speaker 1: Next question from Jesse Picadas at finn Reeper. You walk
Speaker 1: into a cafeteria for lunch and the Dolphins players are
Speaker 1: taking up a room but are but there are three
Speaker 1: seats available. Do you sit at the offense, the defense,
Speaker 1: or the special team's table. I'm gonna have to go
Speaker 1: with the offense, just because by nature, I've always gravitated
Speaker 1: towards the offensive side of the ball. I own I
Speaker 1: think something like fifteen or sixteen Dolphins jerseys, and every
Speaker 1: single one of them. And this is sacrilege because Zach
Speaker 1: Thomas and Jason Taylor and Cam Wake every single jersey
Speaker 1: I own is on the offensive side of the ball.
Speaker 1: It's just always really sparked my interest or piqued my
Speaker 1: interest more on that side of the ball. I mean,
Speaker 1: even just the quarterbacks alone. Ryan Fitzpatrick can teach me
Speaker 1: about whatever he wants to with that Harvard education. He's
Speaker 1: also a very nice and fun loving guy to a
Speaker 1: tongue of la same story, very nice guy as well.
Speaker 1: Josh Rosen, super smart guy, can probably talk to me
Speaker 1: about the same things Ryan Fitzpatrick can. So just that
Speaker 1: portion of the cafeteria alone is gonna be super interesting.
Speaker 1: I'll go over to the receivers and talk to them
Speaker 1: about who can win at two K or Call of
Speaker 1: Duty or Mario Kart, whatever video game we're playing that week,
Speaker 1: So give me the offensive side in this scenario. Let's
Speaker 1: do a couple more of these, this one from Joe
Speaker 1: at Underscore Joe for Underscore under a storyline heading into camp,
Speaker 1: I think I'll just go with the development of some
Speaker 1: players that maybe we don't pay enough attention to because
Speaker 1: you look at last season, for instance, at this time
Speaker 1: last year, like we didn't have the same thought about
Speaker 1: some of the players that kind of rose through the
Speaker 1: ranks and made a bunch of big plays, and now
Speaker 1: we consider them cornerstone pieces on the roster, and how
Speaker 1: those guys took to coaching and really made themselves into
Speaker 1: the players they are now. I'm curious to see which
Speaker 1: guys can take that next step at this point in
Speaker 1: their career. Obviously, you have plenty of rookies from last
Speaker 1: year going into your number two, Like, how does Christian
Speaker 1: Wilkins evolve into your number two? How does Andrew van
Speaker 1: Ginkel after coming back off the I R step into
Speaker 1: his role? Where does Michael Dieter fall in line? All
Speaker 1: of these guys that have so much talent and just
Speaker 1: have to put it together on the field. How do
Speaker 1: they develop in year two and year three and so on.
Speaker 1: And that's not just for draft picks, for guys on
Speaker 1: the roster from top to bottom. I want to see
Speaker 1: how they developed and grew from last year. Last question
Speaker 1: here is from Brandon Christie at b A C in Demand.
Speaker 1: Who are the top three candidates to go to the
Speaker 1: Pro Bowl this year? Pro Bowl is tricky because I
Speaker 1: was actually watching a Cowboys game the other day from
Speaker 1: against the Giants, and they talked about in that game
Speaker 1: how Byron Jones had no picks that season, but he
Speaker 1: was headed to the Pro Bowl, and that's had a
Speaker 1: lot about his reputation as a cover guy. But counting
Speaker 1: stats tend to be what gets you to the Pro Bowl,
Speaker 1: So maybe not getting picks makes that tough, which is
Speaker 1: kind of a shame because the idea for a cornerback
Speaker 1: is to play such good coverage so they don't want
Speaker 1: to throw the ball to you, or that you can
Speaker 1: break it up and make a play on the football.
Speaker 1: But I'll still go with Byron Jones. I think the
Speaker 1: world of his skill set and his ability. I'll say
Speaker 1: Devanta Parker gets back in after last year's snubbing not
Speaker 1: getting into the Pro Bowl. And I'll go with Kyle
Speaker 1: van Noy because I think he's gonna play just about
Speaker 1: every snap. He's gonna get a bunch of sacks, he's
Speaker 1: gonna be a big part of the run defense. He's
Speaker 1: gonna be there in coverage as well. So give me
Speaker 1: Byron Jones, Kyle van Noy and DeVante Parker. Is my
Speaker 1: top three Pro Bowl picks this year. All right, that's
Speaker 1: gonna be my time. We have more questions in the
Speaker 1: mail bag. We'll try to get to some of those
Speaker 1: next week on the podcast. I apologize if I did
Speaker 1: not answer your question here. We are out of time though.
Speaker 1: As for today's podcast, that is gonna be my time.
Speaker 1: You all please be sure to subscribe to the podcast
Speaker 1: on Apple Podcast, leave us a rating, leave us a review,
Speaker 1: Go ahead and give me a follow on Twitter. It's
Speaker 1: at Wingfield, NFL. You can follow the team at Miami Dolphins.
Speaker 1: Check out the fish Tank and the Audible podcast, and
Speaker 1: of course Miami Dolphins dot com. The Isaiah Ford Foundation
Speaker 1: piece as well as they know. The Enemy Part two
Speaker 1: piece is up on the website right now. Until next time,
Speaker 1: enjoy your weekend, Fins up