Speaker 1: To I Remove Gall and Deep Speedways Past Hell. From
Speaker 1: the Baptist Health Studio inside the Baptist Health Training Complex.
Speaker 2: This is Drivetime with Travis Wingfield. He's gone my hands
Speaker 2: in the playoffs? What is up? Dolphins?
Speaker 1: And welcome to the Draft Time Podcast. I am your host,
Speaker 1: Travis Wingfield. And on today's show, it is a busy
Speaker 1: one and just like Steve Balmer, whoa pretty cool I
Speaker 1: am just fired up to be here because we have
Speaker 1: two signings to break down and a chat with one
Speaker 1: of said signings.
Speaker 2: Kalaias Campbell is here. He is glorious.
Speaker 1: We're gonna break down his tape and talk to the
Speaker 1: six time Pro bowler and Walter Peyton Man of the Year,
Speaker 1: assessing how he fits in with this Dolphins defensive front.
Speaker 1: Then we'll move back to the defensive backfield and evaluate
Speaker 1: Marcus May's fit here with your Miami Dolphins. From the
Speaker 1: Baptist Health Studios inside the Baptist Health Training Complex.
Speaker 3: This is.
Speaker 1: The Drive Time Podcast, my chat with the Great Kalais Campbell.
Speaker 1: Join usday on the podcast. A man who really needs
Speaker 1: no introduction will do it anyways. Kalaias Campbell, a big fellow.
Speaker 2: Welcome, home. Man, how's it phill be back here in
Speaker 2: South Florida.
Speaker 3: It feels good. It feels really good, you know, really
Speaker 3: happy to be here.
Speaker 1: There's so many things I want to discuss with you,
Speaker 1: but I guess we'll start with that, the homecoming, right,
Speaker 1: Because you had options different teams. Maybe you also could
Speaker 1: have called it a career with an eye towards Canton
Speaker 1: in five years down the road, but you didn't do that.
Speaker 1: Have another year here with the Miami Dolphins. My question is,
Speaker 1: why why do you want to come down here?
Speaker 3: Well? Well, first of all, playing football. You know, I
Speaker 3: could have retired, but I definitely felt like I saw
Speaker 3: some good ball left in me and I just want
Speaker 3: to go out there and just I mean just leave
Speaker 3: it on the field, you know. And I mean what
Speaker 3: better place to do it than in Miami with a
Speaker 3: team that's stacked, you know, roster's top to bottom stacked, this,
Speaker 3: I mean super stacked. You got the you know secondary,
Speaker 3: you know, the offense putting up points, whatay it did
Speaker 3: last year? If we can just get you know a
Speaker 3: little bit of at it again, I mean I thought
Speaker 3: this could be a real big year. And you know,
Speaker 3: just the people here, you know, I mean especially Anthony Weaver.
Speaker 3: You know, he's a guy of a great relationship with
Speaker 3: a lot of respect for as a defense coordinator. You know,
Speaker 3: I was hoping he got a head coaching job this year,
Speaker 3: but when that didn't work out, you know, I was
Speaker 3: happy that, you know, he got the d C role.
Speaker 3: And you know, this is such a great place. When
Speaker 3: I went through my list of teams of you know
Speaker 3: I would play for, this is number one of my
Speaker 3: lists and so you know, some other teams got evolved
Speaker 3: in you know, miss interest and pitches and definitely made
Speaker 3: interesting for sure, But in the end, you know, it
Speaker 3: was the relationships with the coach were you that really
Speaker 3: made it made a big difference, And just the people
Speaker 3: here that I met on my visit, and then just
Speaker 3: knowing the guys on the field man this roster stacked,
Speaker 3: and knowing that I think I can add a lot
Speaker 3: of value in a lot of ways.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I do want to come back to coach Weaver
Speaker 1: because obviously the connection there is strong. But I'm curious
Speaker 1: to ask because you mentioned the idea of winning, and
Speaker 1: this team, you know, has won a lot of games
Speaker 1: the last four years, but hasn't gotten over that you know,
Speaker 1: proverbial hump, and you've been part of different teams, different
Speaker 1: building cycles. The first year Super Bowl, you guys kind
Speaker 1: of go back a few years later to the NFC
Speaker 1: Championship game down the road with the Cardinals. You go
Speaker 1: to the Ravens team and you get them over the hump.
Speaker 1: You can't get the Jaguars deep into the playoffs. What
Speaker 1: do you think you add in terms of helping a
Speaker 1: team that's kind of there on the precipice make that
Speaker 1: next step.
Speaker 3: Experience, you know, experience is huge, you know. I mean
Speaker 3: I haven't won the Super Bowl. There's guys like Shank
Speaker 3: Bearry who have you know, and Jayla Ramsey, you know,
Speaker 3: but there's there's definitely a you know, a good mix
Speaker 3: of guys who've had a lot of successions league. But
Speaker 3: for me, you know, I feel like I'm you know,
Speaker 3: still super hungry because I haven't you know, gotten to
Speaker 3: that that mountaintop just yet. But I have played the
Speaker 3: three championship games, you know, and have been a part
Speaker 3: of some really talented defenses, and you know, I feel like, uh,
Speaker 3: you know, I take great pride in being the leader
Speaker 3: and is knowing like you know, how to bring the
Speaker 3: best out of everybody around me, you know, And so
Speaker 3: that's something I've got to do my best at, you know,
Speaker 3: is trying to just you know, put you know, put
Speaker 3: put together just a good messaging, you know, going with
Speaker 3: the coaches say, trying to get guys to buy in
Speaker 3: and just you know, give they're all. But when you're
Speaker 3: just talented and you can get guys to buy in,
Speaker 3: you know, I mean, you know, we're gonna win a
Speaker 3: lot of ball games, you know, if we can just
Speaker 3: lock in and play with that kind of focus that
Speaker 3: you need. But at the same time, though, I mean,
Speaker 3: you got to earn it every day.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 3: It's not gonna be easy, you know, and so uh
Speaker 3: but I do believe that, you know, what I bring
Speaker 3: is just a unique perspective of with with experience of
Speaker 3: of just you know, getting guys to to buy into
Speaker 3: the bigger picture, sacrifice self, you know, check ego out
Speaker 3: the door, and uh and do what's required to win
Speaker 3: ball games.
Speaker 1: So that leadership aspect that you mentioned, it's apparent in
Speaker 1: your career have done it as so many spots. Now
Speaker 1: when you come into a new organization and you are
Speaker 1: the new guy, how does that kind of change your
Speaker 1: approach to leadership, do you kind of ease your way in? Like,
Speaker 1: what's your approach to being a leader on a brand
Speaker 1: new football team?
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, you got to earn the respect of
Speaker 3: the guys, right. You can't come in and say I'm
Speaker 3: the leader now, you know. I mean, uh, you know,
Speaker 3: especially like in my my current situation. You know, I'm
Speaker 3: you know, the agent vet. You know. Now, I still
Speaker 3: think I got some great football. I mean, you know,
Speaker 3: you know, I think sometimes you know, but when you're
Speaker 3: coming to a new a new place, you know, you're
Speaker 3: not the high paid, top free agent, you know. I mean,
Speaker 3: people are really looking to you to be a leader.
Speaker 3: But because of my history and you know, my relationship
Speaker 3: with some of the guys are already on the team,
Speaker 3: I feel like, you know, uh, you know, it's just
Speaker 3: earning the respect, earning the respect, showing them that you
Speaker 3: know that you know that you know I can still
Speaker 3: play at a high level, but also showing them that, like,
Speaker 3: you know, I just I believe, you know what it
Speaker 3: takes to be successful and if we can all believe
Speaker 3: that same thing, you know. But I think when you
Speaker 3: go to a new team, though you don't really want
Speaker 3: to come in and you know, I think you know,
Speaker 3: for me coming into a new team, first time I
Speaker 3: want to do is just lead by example, go out
Speaker 3: there and compete at a high level and just you know, uh,
Speaker 3: you know, go out there and just play out the
Speaker 3: standard that's worthy of being a champion. And I think
Speaker 3: that's contagious in the self, because energy is contagious. Every
Speaker 3: time you go out there, you know, somebody's either bringing
Speaker 3: you down or you're bringing them up, you know, depending
Speaker 3: on who you are and how hard you're going. And
Speaker 3: so uh that that level right there by itself is
Speaker 3: going to make a difference. But then also feel like,
Speaker 3: you know, just like kind of like with my experience
Speaker 3: and knowing what to say in moments and being in
Speaker 3: pretty much every situation you can be in on the
Speaker 3: football field. You know, I played in every big game.
Speaker 3: You know, I understand like the process and the preparation
Speaker 3: and all of stuff that goes into it. I think
Speaker 3: that's where it really comes a big deal when we
Speaker 3: getting those big games and we're in moments and sometimes
Speaker 3: something needs to be said. You know, a lot of
Speaker 3: times in my experience, I know what needs to be
Speaker 3: setting those moments, and that's why I feel like it's
Speaker 3: going to be a big deal. But at the same time, though,
Speaker 3: I mean, there are other guys on this team that
Speaker 3: I think are going to be great leaders too. And
Speaker 3: you know, one of the things I've been doing later
Speaker 3: in my career is trying to you know, you know,
Speaker 3: my version of leading is helping younger guys with big
Speaker 3: voices and with the right makeup to be good leaders,
Speaker 3: helping or stimming to becoming more leaders. You know, last year,
Speaker 3: you know, you know, when I was in Atlanta, Jesse Bates,
Speaker 3: who's you know, all pro superstar safety, big money guy,
Speaker 3: and I you know, we competed each each other when
Speaker 3: I was in Baltimore, he was a Cincinnati. I always
Speaker 3: knew what he can do. Uh you know, you know,
Speaker 3: he started kind of being that vocal leader on the team,
Speaker 3: and I remember we have put in conversations where he
Speaker 3: was like, and thank you for challenging me and get
Speaker 3: me to speak more because I seeing that he understood,
Speaker 3: you know, what it meant to win and what it
Speaker 3: was a take to win, and he knew what to say.
Speaker 3: He just needed to be you know that. You know
Speaker 3: the same thing happened to me when I was a
Speaker 3: young buck, you know, like I became, and a resulta
Speaker 3: like had your guys saying like, hey, you guys, speak
Speaker 3: up more. You know, you got to be the guy
Speaker 3: people are looking to you. You know, you got to
Speaker 3: be the one. So that's part of it too, is
Speaker 3: just finding the guys on the team who have the
Speaker 3: natural born leadership qualities and helping them you know, realize that.
Speaker 2: So no, yeah, it's great.
Speaker 1: I think it's a good fall to the sex question
Speaker 1: because the communication aspect of defense is so critical in
Speaker 1: any part of football really. But and watching you know
Speaker 1: your tape for one, which is a blast for me.
Speaker 1: I love watching your game, but also a lot of
Speaker 1: the breakdowns you've done, like with Brian Balding your for instance,
Speaker 1: who I think is just the world of his his breakdowns,
Speaker 1: Like they show off your ability to mention the or
Speaker 1: to notice these fine details and how they really inform
Speaker 1: your game, like splits motions down in distance, anything that
Speaker 1: you can use to help you get an extra step.
Speaker 1: I'm curious when it comes to being a vet leader
Speaker 1: that has that nuance and has that experience and knows
Speaker 1: you know this, if this guard wants to reach me,
Speaker 1: maybe opens up a backside b gap for a linebacker,
Speaker 1: whatever the case may be. I'm curious how you communicate
Speaker 1: those nuances to other players, Like how can your experience
Speaker 1: help create advantages for your teammates in that same regard.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, a lot of it is communication and
Speaker 3: prep work, you know, and then even being able to
Speaker 3: communicate in game, you know, and so like there's a
Speaker 3: process of watching tape this week. These guys like to
Speaker 3: do whatever. You know, example, you want to give and
Speaker 3: this sob I want to play it, you know, so
Speaker 3: this you should play off me, you know, talk with
Speaker 3: the linebackers or guys on the edge or you guys
Speaker 3: in the middle or whatever it may be. There are
Speaker 3: so many circumstances you go through. But was all the
Speaker 3: time where like we're talking throughout the week, Hey, this
Speaker 3: is what they like to do when they you know, uh,
Speaker 3: you know, get down and they're in the pinchlet's their
Speaker 3: bread and butter. And when they come to this play
Speaker 3: like this time a play and we can make this
Speaker 3: play the backfoot if we play it this way. And
Speaker 3: a lot of that is wild, like Coach Weave too,
Speaker 3: because you know, he's in those conversations and he's like yeah, man,
Speaker 3: you know, they take control of how do you want
Speaker 3: to play? It was trying the same page, make sure
Speaker 3: we're all on line. So when I hurt each other
Speaker 3: and then mu'st play it that way. And then in game,
Speaker 3: you know a lot of times too, it's like okay,
Speaker 3: you know, because everybody game plans and each week they're
Speaker 3: kind of going with, you know, three or four things
Speaker 3: that it's like new for that week, you know, and
Speaker 3: so once you kind of get in the middle of
Speaker 3: the game, you know, you see what they're trying to
Speaker 3: do to you. You know, you start you know, talking about, hey,
Speaker 3: you know, I spun up playing it this way, but
Speaker 3: that's not working. Let's adust im gonna start playing it
Speaker 3: this way. And so when you see this, you know,
Speaker 3: just go this way or whatever it may be. There's
Speaker 3: so many examples you can give, but that happens a lot,
Speaker 3: and that's where the experienced places have been wrong. You know,
Speaker 3: I had a lot of reps. I don't know how many
Speaker 3: games have played, but it's a lot, and you know,
Speaker 3: and in those games, a lot of reps, you know,
Speaker 3: so I didn't see in everything you can do on
Speaker 3: the football field. I mean, if they come up with
Speaker 3: something new, I'd be shocked.
Speaker 1: I'm glad you mentioned it because I have the numbers
Speaker 1: here for you because they blow me away. So a
Speaker 1: sixteen year career, you average seven hundred and sixty snaps
Speaker 1: per season. Are you aware of how crazy that is
Speaker 1: for for a defensive lineman, Like guys don't play that
Speaker 1: many snaps, especially for sixteen years. Your career can drive
Speaker 1: at this point, and you play more snaps than most
Speaker 1: guys in every single year.
Speaker 2: So my question is what is the secret? Man?
Speaker 1: Like the nutrition, the workout, how do you stay so
Speaker 1: durable and so you know, available for so long?
Speaker 3: I mean, I do all the things that you have
Speaker 3: to do to get availability. But I think you know,
Speaker 3: when it comes to like most of this is like
Speaker 3: just the busts from above, right, God has busted me
Speaker 3: because you can go through all the right things. I
Speaker 3: don't think it's really going to matter, if you know,
Speaker 3: if it's just you know, it's a lot of football fortune,
Speaker 3: right just you know, I've been in some BASD situations
Speaker 3: get rolled up on and Okay, I got I got
Speaker 3: through just barely. You know that could have been ugly,
Speaker 3: you know, you know, I mean so many beast sedoas
Speaker 3: on the football field, and it came through an other side. Good.
Speaker 3: But I do spend a lot of time and resources
Speaker 3: on my body. I do work with a lot of specialists.
Speaker 3: I mean I literally last year had you know, six
Speaker 3: different people coming in flying in from different cities that
Speaker 3: were specialists and something working on my body with me,
Speaker 3: you know, weekly, I got all the machinery you know
Speaker 3: that that you know over the years from you know,
Speaker 3: Aberbartic Chambers and you know all you know, just cool
Speaker 3: things that exists out there to help you know, recovery
Speaker 3: and speed all that up, you know, and you know,
Speaker 3: I just but I feel like, you know, I alwuld
Speaker 3: encourage young guys when they're trying to like how do
Speaker 3: you take care of your body? Is like try it,
Speaker 3: you know, all the things that is this out there
Speaker 3: and figure out what works for you. Because there are
Speaker 3: things out there that I tried to I don't really
Speaker 3: feel the difference, so it doesn't really work for me.
Speaker 3: And there's things where it's like other guys like that
Speaker 3: worked for you that didn't really work for me, But
Speaker 3: for me, use everything you know, so you know, everybody's
Speaker 3: body is different, and learning your body learning what works
Speaker 3: for you. But I've put a lot of time and
Speaker 3: effort and a lot of resources and to figure it
Speaker 3: out what works for my body. And I got a
Speaker 3: good routine going and right it it will fallow off.
Speaker 2: You found it.
Speaker 1: You found out what works for you perfectly, because like
Speaker 1: I said, it's it's just doesn't happen in this league
Speaker 1: to do to have that type of longevity and durability.
Speaker 1: So you've alluded to coach Weaver a few times, I'll
Speaker 1: just go ahead and ask you straight up, like what
Speaker 1: does he do to empower you and your teammates to
Speaker 1: get the best out of a defense?
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, a lot of things. Honestly, I think he's
Speaker 3: a brilliant football mind, another football junkie. I mean we
Speaker 3: could talk football for hours, you know, and you know,
Speaker 3: but the history of the game, you know, different you know, techniques,
Speaker 3: different ways of doing things, different schematics. You know how
Speaker 3: you know some of these tweaks on different semantics. I mean,
Speaker 3: you know, there's only so much you could do on
Speaker 3: the football field, especially as a office lamon trying to
Speaker 3: block somebody. I mean, there's only so many ways you
Speaker 3: can move, you know, you can try to add some
Speaker 3: variations to things with like camp placement and you know,
Speaker 3: different ways and stuff. But at the end of the day,
Speaker 3: there's a football you know, like so much you can do. Uh.
Speaker 3: But you know, we talked through all those different scenarios
Speaker 3: and I think the best thing about him as a
Speaker 3: coach is, I mean, he's his football allows for him
Speaker 3: to understand the players at a high level. So when
Speaker 3: we come and have conversations from an intellectual standpoint about
Speaker 3: the game, you know, he's not, you know, super compative.
Speaker 3: And there's other coaches that also listen to players and respond,
Speaker 3: but you know, I feel like, you know, he's probably
Speaker 3: you know, you know, one of the best, if not
Speaker 3: the best at understanding you know, you know, letting the players,
Speaker 3: you know, have a say so and taking some ownership
Speaker 3: of what we do on the football field. Because there's
Speaker 3: definitely coaches I've had where it's like I want you
Speaker 3: to do it this way and this way only, you know,
Speaker 3: especially when you're young, you know, you know, this is
Speaker 3: the only way I know works, and it's like, well,
Speaker 3: I mean, first of all, you're asking, you know, three
Speaker 3: people with three different body types to play the same
Speaker 3: technique who have different three different strengths. You know, it
Speaker 3: doesn't make sense, you know. I think that you have
Speaker 3: to have a variety, you have to have, you know,
Speaker 3: different ways of playing. And now this is what I
Speaker 3: feel like works the best, and so my teacher do
Speaker 3: it this way. I want you to try it this way.
Speaker 3: But you know, if you have the other techniques that
Speaker 3: you feel like can work and the same thing, this
Speaker 3: is ultimate goal we want. And so one of the
Speaker 3: things I like when I was working with Weven Baltimore
Speaker 3: is I mean, like literally like whatever technique I wanted
Speaker 3: to play each week, as long as I communicated with
Speaker 3: him and we had an open dialogue on why you know,
Speaker 3: I mean, and that once was he like, yeah, I
Speaker 3: don't think that's worked for you.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 3: Now you know if I try it, it ain't working. You know,
Speaker 3: you're coming like, hey, you know, you try to this
Speaker 3: is the same what I wanted to look like. So
Speaker 3: it's trying a different way, you know. And we talked
Speaker 3: through that scenario as well. But I think that you know, now,
Speaker 3: obviously being at the coordinator level, it's a lot different.
Speaker 3: But even a guy like you know, Jayalen Ramsey or
Speaker 3: you know, these other guys in the back end, you know.
Speaker 3: I mean I played with Jaalen and Jacksonville and we
Speaker 3: had a you know, really good, you know, really good
Speaker 3: seasons seventeen and me and him were like the like
Speaker 3: the leaders of that defense, even being a young guy,
Speaker 3: you know, but he really was very all spoken on
Speaker 3: how he wanted to play things. And I think we've
Speaker 3: gonna be a really good coach for him because, like
Speaker 3: you know, at the end of the day, like you know,
Speaker 3: he gives his ownership right, so you know, he has,
Speaker 3: you know, what he wants as well. But if you
Speaker 3: feel like, okay, if I can play with a certain
Speaker 3: technique to get you what you want so we can
Speaker 3: all be successful, that he's gonna give us that freedom.
Speaker 3: And I think, you know, somebody like Janna is really
Speaker 3: gonna benefit from that because he definitely is a very
Speaker 3: brilliant football mind, and he studies a lot about the
Speaker 3: game and he knows like how he wants to do things,
Speaker 3: and so having that kind of freedom and being able
Speaker 3: to communicate that, it's gonna be huge.
Speaker 1: And like yourself, very virstaile player too, can play inside outside,
Speaker 1: and so for a guy like you just played five
Speaker 1: technique played you know, some nose tackle, and everywhere in between. Right,
Speaker 1: that versatility seems to be one of the hallmarks of
Speaker 1: this defense. You've kind of feel that same way on.
Speaker 3: A hundred percent, you know, I already I mean they're
Speaker 3: asked me in the press conference, you know, you know,
Speaker 3: do what else, like I'm gona play at And I
Speaker 3: was like everywhere, you know, because we've i mean, he's
Speaker 3: he's really smart and in matchups and and looks and
Speaker 3: trying to like make things, you know, uh like you know,
Speaker 3: doing simple things, you know, but making it look complicated,
Speaker 3: and a lot of that is a linements and moving
Speaker 3: around and stuff. And so like I already know, I'm
Speaker 3: a line up everywhere literally everywhere. Uh we all will,
Speaker 3: we all take times, line up different things, and it
Speaker 3: just makes i mean makes some more challenge on offices
Speaker 3: because I mean we might you know, give you a look,
Speaker 3: do something out of it, and next week we give
Speaker 3: you a similar look. You do something completely different, you know,
Speaker 3: and then you know, give you a you know, a
Speaker 3: look that is different, but then give you the same
Speaker 3: thing we gave you before. Like it's just exactly it's
Speaker 3: not that confusion, but offices will be confused.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's good.
Speaker 1: You guys we're looking forward to So we'll go ahead
Speaker 1: and finship for you here real quick, because I saw
Speaker 1: on your Instagram page a picture of you and your
Speaker 1: son boogey boarding, and I'm curious, how tough is it
Speaker 1: for a man of your stature to balance on my
Speaker 1: booge board?
Speaker 2: Are pretty good at it? I thought that might be
Speaker 2: the case. I want to ask you.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I have up on a surf board, and you know,
Speaker 3: so I'm still a good athlete. That wasn't that long
Speaker 3: going through. But I got up, and you know that
Speaker 3: was you know, just it was a great challenge. I
Speaker 3: really want to see if I can do it, and
Speaker 3: I did it.
Speaker 2: But yeah, way more impressive surfing and that's tough.
Speaker 3: Yeah, But I love being down the ocean, love being
Speaker 3: on the brigie board. My son loves it, you know.
Speaker 3: So it's it's a big, great year. I'm happy to
Speaker 3: be here.
Speaker 2: He came to the right place. Class camp appreciate time.
Speaker 2: They man, Thank you so much. Klais Campbell, new Dolphins
Speaker 2: defensive lineman.
Speaker 1: As advertised, I mean, if you thought that was good,
Speaker 1: to go ahead and just get through the break with
Speaker 1: us here for one second, becuse we're gonna come back
Speaker 1: on the other side and break down the tape of
Speaker 1: the Big Fella. I was in here on a Monday
Speaker 1: morning in the middle of June watching tape, cheering and
Speaker 1: clapping because this is such a great addition to the
Speaker 1: football team. We'll talk about that next year. Draft Time podcast,
Speaker 1: your host Travis Wingfield, brought to you by Auto Nation.
Speaker 2: So we heard from the big man.
Speaker 1: Now let's go ahead and talk about how impactful he
Speaker 1: can be for this team and help us stack some
Speaker 1: wins and make a run at this damn thing. First
Speaker 1: things first, the last time Kaleis Campbell was not a
Speaker 1: good football player, well, you probably have to go back
Speaker 1: to the first practice of his pee week career, though
Speaker 1: I imagine it did not take him very long to
Speaker 1: pick up the game. What I'm trying to say is
Speaker 1: that he was awesome at the U. I have no
Speaker 1: doubt he dominated high school football and middle school all
Speaker 1: before that too. Then he got to the Cardinals and
Speaker 1: was awesome, went to the Jaguars and finished second and
Speaker 1: defensive Player of the Year, went to the Ravens and
Speaker 1: kicked some more ass there, and then plays one year
Speaker 1: with the Falcons. And leads the team in sacks and
Speaker 1: has another year of excellent, excellent tape. And you guys
Speaker 1: might recall the joint practices down here last year in
Speaker 1: South Florida when there was panic about because of the
Speaker 1: Falcons defense actually performing quite well against the Dolphins offense.
Speaker 1: And again just remember this, don't take long term stock
Speaker 1: in what what results happened in practice. But Kalais Campbell
Speaker 1: was a big reason the Falcons pass rush got after
Speaker 1: the Dolphins in a couple of those joint practices. But
Speaker 1: at thirty seven years old, now there's a guy on
Speaker 1: the team older than I am, which is a win
Speaker 1: for us.
Speaker 2: Old dudes.
Speaker 1: He played every game last year. He's played two hundred
Speaker 1: and forty four games in his which is an average
Speaker 1: of fifteen and a quarter games over a sixteen year career.
Speaker 1: That's twelve thousand, one hundred and sixty nine nice snaps.
Speaker 1: By the way, I don't think I've ever evaluated a
Speaker 1: player who had more than twelve thousand snaps, or even
Speaker 1: close to that for that matter. That is seven hundred
Speaker 1: and sixty snaps per year over sixteen years. His career
Speaker 1: can drive. And he's playing three quarters of the snaps
Speaker 1: every year in those years. Remember when Joe Thomas, the
Speaker 1: great Browns left tackle, played ten thousand consecutive snaps at
Speaker 1: left tackle and it was a hallmark achievement, and rightfully so,
Speaker 1: I kind of feel like this is that impressive, if
Speaker 1: not more. He played seven hundred and twelve snaps last year.
Speaker 1: So if you're worried about him breaking down and not
Speaker 1: you know, having the same production. If that happens, it's
Speaker 1: because the cliff just came out of nowhere. There is
Speaker 1: zero precedence that says this player no longer can do it.
Speaker 1: He was better last year than he probably was the
Speaker 1: previous three years and f career before that. He turned
Speaker 1: in over fifteen hundred snaps for Baltimore and their defensive
Speaker 1: line coach Anthony Weaver. Actually that was just two years
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty two and twenty twenty one, but that's
Speaker 1: plenty of time to learn how to communicate with a
Speaker 1: coach and get the system down. Pat and we'll talk
Speaker 1: about his fit in the film section. I don't know
Speaker 1: how to say this anymore clear. Campbell has been good
Speaker 1: literally every year of his football life. From twenty sixteen
Speaker 1: to twenty nineteen, he was the third highest graded interior
Speaker 1: defensive lineman in the NFL from Pro Football Focus behind
Speaker 1: Aaron Donald and JJ Watt. From twenty twenty to twenty
Speaker 1: twenty three, He's been a top twelve graded interior defensive
Speaker 1: lineman by Pro Boball Focus each and every year, and
Speaker 1: guess what.
Speaker 2: Last year was the best year of that run.
Speaker 1: I know we don't love PFF grades, but I like
Speaker 1: to say them when they jive with the tape and.
Speaker 2: What I've gleaned from said tape.
Speaker 1: So that's why I use that there as a way
Speaker 1: to preference what we're going to talk about here on
Speaker 1: the tape and saying it's not just me that sees this,
Speaker 1: other people see it as well. What I'm saying to
Speaker 1: you is that there is positively no reason to expect
Speaker 1: him to decline. There's mountains of evidence that he's declined
Speaker 1: proof and again that cliff Sometimes it just comes for
Speaker 1: guys out of nowhere. But that's gonna have to be
Speaker 1: what would happened here for Campbell because he has been
Speaker 1: really good up to his last snap in twenty twenty three.
Speaker 1: Forty two quarterback pressures last year and thirty six stops
Speaker 1: that ranks nineteenth and ninth among his interior defensive lineman peers,
Speaker 1: And yeah, it's kind of tough to put him in
Speaker 1: that position because he did play lots of edge. He
Speaker 1: plays everywhere, so you can't really pigeonhole him into one spot.
Speaker 1: But taking those metrics against guys on the interior defensive line,
Speaker 1: that's where he would have ranked nineteenth and nine as
Speaker 1: a pass rusher in terms of pressures and against the
Speaker 1: run in terms of making stops that are defensive wins
Speaker 1: for that particular rep. And yeah, you can classify him
Speaker 1: as an edge too because he plays both. But six
Speaker 1: foot eight, two hundred and eighty five pounds, I think
Speaker 1: it's tough to put him in the same bucket as
Speaker 1: a Jalen Phillips for that matter. And you start to
Speaker 1: look at the fit, it's like the rest of the
Speaker 1: defense in the way it's put together this offseason.
Speaker 2: It's so obvious.
Speaker 1: First though from a pure number standpoint, it's interesting when
Speaker 1: you go back over the Ravens defenses of the past,
Speaker 1: they've really had one big snap eater inside and that
Speaker 1: has been justin Madubuike since he was drafted and developed
Speaker 1: a few years back and just got his big contract
Speaker 1: this offseason. Beyond that, it was a bunch of rotational
Speaker 1: guys who could give you two hundred to three hundred
Speaker 1: snaps alongside said player in platoon roles.
Speaker 2: And when you look at.
Speaker 1: What Tier Tart, Jonathan Harris, Benito Jones, Neville Gallimore have done,
Speaker 1: it's that it's exactly that. So now you insert a
Speaker 1: guy that's played seven hundred, six hundred, six hundred and
Speaker 1: five hundred snaps the last four years, clearly capable of
Speaker 1: taking on as big of a role as you need,
Speaker 1: and I'm really fascinated to see what it looks like.
Speaker 1: I mean, answer, whatever it is is a good one, right,
Speaker 1: I mean, you've just added cheese to an already great burger.
Speaker 2: Like we had what we needed, now we got more.
Speaker 1: And I think that might be my favorite part about
Speaker 1: this is the insurance of sorts that it provides because
Speaker 1: that platoon option and who knows, maybe two guys stand
Speaker 1: out above the rest. And it wasn't as deep of
Speaker 1: a platoon as I thought initially, But let's say that
Speaker 1: that was the plan, and I think it is. Well,
Speaker 1: if Zach Sealer had to miss a chunk of time,
Speaker 1: then what's your solution, you have none. I don't think
Speaker 1: that you had an option to go beyond that. But
Speaker 1: now with kalai As Campbell showing you time and time
Speaker 1: again that he can give you forty to fifty snaps
Speaker 1: per game and then have that rotational spot filling around him,
Speaker 1: you've increased your options. You've added massive length, which in
Speaker 1: a league that wants to play with light boxes, I mean,
Speaker 1: good luck trying to run duo or inside zone on
Speaker 1: the combination of Zach Sealer and Kalay Campbell. You just
Speaker 1: can't do it. I think it does even more to
Speaker 1: help free up the fastest, most instinctive linebacker room in
Speaker 1: the National Football League. I just can't find anything but
Speaker 1: heaping positives that come from this.
Speaker 2: And this is before.
Speaker 1: I even had a chance to crack open the film,
Speaker 1: which we'll do right now. And having written that before
Speaker 1: I watched the film, and now having watched the film
Speaker 1: and coming back and recording, that hypothesis is confirmed.
Speaker 2: Dude, Like, let's go ahead and talk about this.
Speaker 1: So it takes a play or two when you watch
Speaker 1: him to see the fit you're going to get this
Speaker 1: year in the Dolphins defense. I think more true even
Speaker 1: fronts and overfronts where you have a traditional four down
Speaker 1: lineman look. And we saw Seler doing a lot of
Speaker 1: this early on in terms of that backside four or
Speaker 1: four eye technique, and what that means is the weak
Speaker 1: side of the formation. He's lined up in a three
Speaker 1: or four point stance head up over the backside tackle
Speaker 1: or off the inside shoulder of that tackle. That's a
Speaker 1: four technique and a four eye technique. And even the
Speaker 1: play side five technique, which is the strength of the formation.
Speaker 1: Your tight end or you're back aligned to that part
Speaker 1: of the formation and you're now on the outside shoulder
Speaker 1: of the tackle.
Speaker 2: We clear on that.
Speaker 1: So five, four and four I that goes outside, head up,
Speaker 1: inside of the tackle. Are those positions and how that works. Now,
Speaker 1: it was limited work that we saw through the course
Speaker 1: of the spring, but I didn't think it was Seiler's
Speaker 1: best spot playing that four four eye technique in a
Speaker 1: true four point stance. I prefer zach to being a
Speaker 1: three technique or a backside one shade or even a
Speaker 1: zero technique head up over the center, more traditional defensive
Speaker 1: tackle positions. But with kalayis that conversion to a four
Speaker 1: point stance four technique defensive end is so clear and
Speaker 1: so seamless, and if you want to incorporate that front,
Speaker 1: go get Kalaias Campbell and they did, and I think
Speaker 1: they do want that, especially that backside where he can
Speaker 1: overwhelm with his physicality and sort of take away one
Speaker 1: of the toughest gaps in the run game, because he
Speaker 1: has to play outside contain for wind back runs that
Speaker 1: can get back outside as sort of a quasi force defender,
Speaker 1: and the force defender is the guy that must contain
Speaker 1: back inside because he's the last line of defense outside
Speaker 1: and when you lose outside contain, that's when explosive plays
Speaker 1: typically happen. But to also from that position be able
Speaker 1: to get back inside the block and cut off the
Speaker 1: B gap wind back lane, which if you play it
Speaker 1: too wide, is also just as dangerous because you can
Speaker 1: get to that B gap and then stretch the run
Speaker 1: to the second level out wide and outrun linebackers in safeties.
Speaker 1: And Kalayis does this all the time, like they put
Speaker 1: him in these positions where, hey, if you mess up
Speaker 1: your job, big fella, we're talking about a run out
Speaker 1: the gate. And he just did it all the time,
Speaker 1: and that what does that do. It frees up other
Speaker 1: guys to have easier roles and easier jobs on your defense.
Speaker 1: You just do not get displacement on Kalais Campbell. You
Speaker 1: don't because he's quick off the snap, with his with
Speaker 1: his punch, with his shooting, his hands, and the length.
Speaker 1: You can't get to his chest because he's longer than you.
Speaker 1: He's just got longer arms than you. He's an immovable object.
Speaker 1: This allows him to to gap as effectively as anybody
Speaker 1: I've ever studied on tape, ever, ever, ever, ever, don't
Speaker 1: mistake him for a one gap penetrator. But you know what,
Speaker 1: we already have a bunch of those guys because Kalais
Speaker 1: plays so much like Zach Seeler. And Zach doesn't win
Speaker 1: because he flashed one six ten split get off speed.
Speaker 1: It's because he's a complete technician with unnatural length that
Speaker 1: looks unnatural, and strength that no one should possess. That's
Speaker 1: Kalayis's game as well. And now the opposing offense has
Speaker 1: to block two of those guys on most snaps. This
Speaker 1: is just another one of these moves, kind of like
Speaker 1: I've been raving about Odell or Malik Washington or John
Speaker 1: new Smith in the passing game, where man, it just
Speaker 1: makes so much sense when you play Zach and Kalais together,
Speaker 1: you can essentially swallow up blow and let free runners
Speaker 1: work behind them unencumbered by blockers by bigger offensive linemen.
Speaker 1: Or you can also get platoon action and have one
Speaker 1: of them on the field at times. It'll certainly be
Speaker 1: a mixture of both. What I'm saying is it gives
Speaker 1: you an embarrassment of riches in terms of depth, because
Speaker 1: now we have two A players. For my money, this
Speaker 1: tape is still elite an A player in the National
Speaker 1: Football League, Like maybe not blue chip like, but green
Speaker 1: like the you know, the grating category I have like
Speaker 1: right there on the precipice of being a blue chip
Speaker 1: player with also around them tons of guys that sign
Speaker 1: deals that commesurate that are commesurate with rotational work, right Like,
Speaker 1: that's kind of where they stack up based upon how
Speaker 1: their contracts were laid out. And we have waves and
Speaker 1: waves and waves.
Speaker 2: I am pumped.
Speaker 1: Let's go ahead and get back into the tape here
Speaker 1: because I am two series into the Saints game from
Speaker 1: last year and I've seen him shoot inside the B
Speaker 1: gap from the weak side five technique which we talked
Speaker 1: about that right, it's playing outside the tackle. You have
Speaker 1: to get cross face back inside, then get back out
Speaker 1: wide of that tackle to cut down the wide run
Speaker 1: that bounced outside of that.
Speaker 2: That is exactly to a t I talked.
Speaker 1: About two gapping, playing two roles and basically eliminating an
Speaker 1: advantage the offense has because you can basically play the
Speaker 1: role of two players. I've seen him condense inside to
Speaker 1: a three technique as a pass rusher on third and long,
Speaker 1: swipe the hands of the guard and angle back to
Speaker 1: the quarterback and make that guard look like he doesn't
Speaker 1: know what he's doing, and then slot back outside to
Speaker 1: the five technique, shoot inside, and then wipe out the
Speaker 1: split flow blocker, which is the tight end who comes
Speaker 1: across the formation. And here's Kalaius Campbell saying, yeah, that's cute.
Speaker 1: I'll go ahead and stack you up and make the
Speaker 1: play in the backfield. I write that down. Then the
Speaker 1: next play he gets slide protection away from him. That
Speaker 1: leaves him one on one on an island with Andres Pete,
Speaker 1: the Saints left tackle, who is then doing the same
Speaker 1: thing the guard did earlier in the game, where he's
Speaker 1: leaning out over his skis and trying to run backwards,
Speaker 1: hopefully to get a body in front of Kalais, just
Speaker 1: to protect quarterback a little more before his quarterback gets
Speaker 1: killed by Kalais. What I'm saying to you is I
Speaker 1: watched four snaps of this game, and he did four
Speaker 1: different great things. His tape is full of understanding, like momentum,
Speaker 1: how to create it and exploit it, like get you
Speaker 1: leaning one way and go across the other way. He
Speaker 1: makes you think he's going to, you know, make one
Speaker 1: move and then uses his length and then the utter
Speaker 1: fear that he creates from his power to get you
Speaker 1: flat footed.
Speaker 2: It makes these guys look silly. It makes him look like.
Speaker 1: Their sun Belt offensive lineman. Nothing against the sun Belt,
Speaker 1: but like you can't block guys like Kalais Campbell if
Speaker 1: you play in that league. Probably I compare his peer
Speaker 1: power to the speed we have on the perimeter on offense,
Speaker 1: Like you better be ready to get vertical before our
Speaker 1: guys have shown that route, because if you're not at
Speaker 1: least ready for it, you're gonna be chasing Tyreek Hill
Speaker 1: when he throws up the deuces into the end zone,
Speaker 1: or you're gonna get to watch Jalen waddle around the
Speaker 1: end zone with his teammates with Kalayis, you had better
Speaker 1: bring your big boy pants and get ready to anchor,
Speaker 1: because if you don't, you're going to be all of
Speaker 1: the toys that hal has in the episode of Malcolm
Speaker 1: in the Middle when he rents out the steamroller for
Speaker 1: twenty four hours and runs all of them over. You're
Speaker 1: going to be flattened on this on the concrete. And
Speaker 1: Kalaeus knows this and uses it to his advantage. And oh,
Speaker 1: by the way, he does it with some of the
Speaker 1: longest arms the game has ever seen. So you cannot
Speaker 1: get first hands on him. It's not possible because he
Speaker 1: knows how to use that length. Think Raekwon Davis if
Speaker 1: he were good at football. That's what we're talking about here.
Speaker 1: When I watch him with the Falcons versus the rate
Speaker 1: or compared to when he played with the Ravens, it
Speaker 1: makes me wonder how you might use him because they
Speaker 1: were entirely different. But the coach that was there with
Speaker 1: him in Baltimore is here right, So there he played
Speaker 1: more inside two two I, three, four four I alignements.
Speaker 1: It's all inside the tackles, all those positions from the
Speaker 1: inside of the tackle into the nose position, but he
Speaker 1: also played a lot off the tackle in Atlanta. I
Speaker 1: just think you use all of that to your advantag
Speaker 1: As we mentioned earlier, this defense, and we think at
Speaker 1: least the origins of the Ravens rush schemes requires guys
Speaker 1: that can play multiple spots, and then you dial up
Speaker 1: your blitzes based on two or three word calls where
Speaker 1: everybody knows every rush path from every position. They talk
Speaker 1: about it in Seattle right now with Lennard Williams talking
Speaker 1: about Mike McDonald's defense, it's gonna be the same thing here,
Speaker 1: I would venture to guess. And when you think about
Speaker 1: Seiler and Campbell as I've described them to you, or
Speaker 1: you think about how Gallimore played on the nose and
Speaker 1: Dallas but it's probably more suited for the three technique,
Speaker 1: or how Harris played some one shade all the way
Speaker 1: out to the five technique, or how tier Tart is
Speaker 1: the exact same way. How about how Phillips and Chubb
Speaker 1: can play everywhere. Damn it, man, it just all makes
Speaker 1: so much sense. Last thing on the Campbell tape, he
Speaker 1: did a game pass film session with Brian Baldinger, where
Speaker 1: he talked about the keys and reads he makes on
Speaker 1: a given play and the conversations he has with his
Speaker 1: linebackers to play off the adjustments he makes. You guys
Speaker 1: have heard me talk about David Long Junior on the
Speaker 1: podcast here on the show, talk about his instinctive nature.
Speaker 1: You've heard me talk about Jordan Brooks in the podcast
Speaker 1: and Anthony Walker coming on here talking about their film study.
Speaker 1: Find me a trio of linebackers, more instinctive, more in
Speaker 1: tune to using tape to make them great players.
Speaker 2: You can't do that.
Speaker 1: And my apologies for going back to the golf analogies here,
Speaker 1: but here's how I would equate it. So, in golf,
Speaker 1: you have different types of shots you should be hitting.
Speaker 1: Right now, most of us want to hit the ball
Speaker 1: straight at the flag and hope for the best. But
Speaker 1: when you get really, really good, you start learning how
Speaker 1: to draw the ball, how to cut the ball, how
Speaker 1: to really manipulate the ball for the shape the shot requires,
Speaker 1: whether it's a dog leg or you want to bring
Speaker 1: it in over the right side of the green to
Speaker 1: create less danger. There's just different types of shots you hit.
Speaker 1: It's one thing to know how to do this, it's
Speaker 1: another thing to execute it in the moment. You have
Speaker 1: to walk up to your ball and find out the
Speaker 1: shot shape, how you want to manipulate the club. You
Speaker 1: don't get a practice stroke. You just get to sweep
Speaker 1: grass and then you have to go do it. And
Speaker 1: the best in the world can do it. That's Kalays
Speaker 1: Campbell on the defensive line. He knows he can ride
Speaker 1: the wave on an outside zone run away from his
Speaker 1: side as the one shade the backside nose tackle, and
Speaker 1: he so he knows he needs to hold the block
Speaker 1: and carry it to free up his blockers. But if
Speaker 1: he gets a key that the backside cutback lane is
Speaker 1: the new track for the back he can then shed
Speaker 1: that block and go get himself into that gap, effectively
Speaker 1: changing gaps with the linebacker. So I think the ripple
Speaker 1: effect of how much better he'll make everybody else is very,
Speaker 1: very apparent. I don't know if that accurately describes how
Speaker 1: tough this is. But when you know you need to
Speaker 1: be able to shed a block or maybe stick to it,
Speaker 1: and then you can just do whatever the play calls for,
Speaker 1: that's the definition to me of elite.
Speaker 2: I have to get this done. I can do whatever
Speaker 2: I want to.
Speaker 1: I cannot believe we just added this guy to our
Speaker 1: defense by signing his name to a piece of paper, Like,
Speaker 1: what a freaking addition. This is absolute monster of a player,
Speaker 1: high character guy, mentor smart, knows the defense.
Speaker 2: Damn man, you drop him in.
Speaker 1: Jordan Brooks, Kendall Fuller, and Jordan Poyer, Like that's a
Speaker 1: player at every level of the defense who knows ball,
Speaker 1: who can play anywhere and brings a certain type of
Speaker 1: ish to them right, Like, I don't know, man, I
Speaker 1: don't know. All these big media outlets are concerned about
Speaker 1: the pieces lost on defense, about Vic Fangio leaving, and
Speaker 1: I'm sitting here looking at the schedule from last year.
Speaker 1: Pace it on my wall with a piece of tape
Speaker 1: right here that says forty eight points to Buffalo, thirty
Speaker 1: one to Philly, and a complete inability to get off
Speaker 1: the ball or off the field in the entire fourth
Speaker 1: quarter fifty six at Baltimore, the Bills and Chiefs going
Speaker 1: for both over four hundred yards despite being a little
Speaker 1: bit sloppy dropping passes, and yeah, we got some luck
Speaker 1: against the Chiefs. They dropped some touchdowns because it was
Speaker 1: negative twenty five out there, or the Bills squandering plays
Speaker 1: at the end of the half, getting tackled the one
Speaker 1: yard line inbounds before the halftime buzzer, or turning it
Speaker 1: over in the end zone twice.
Speaker 2: I'm watching all these games.
Speaker 1: We played our heels against on our heels, i should say,
Speaker 1: against the game's top quarterbacks and just got blasted by
Speaker 1: them each and every single time we lined it up,
Speaker 1: or a defense that got dominated by elite quarterbacks the
Speaker 1: years prior as well.
Speaker 2: I see change. I see a change in mindset.
Speaker 1: I see a coach that's going to bring about that
Speaker 1: change and players who reflect that change. That was a
Speaker 1: fun segment. And then what if I told you there's
Speaker 1: another menace for opposing offenses joining our defense. We'll go
Speaker 1: ahead and break down Marcus May in the backfield on
Speaker 1: the next segment here of the Draft Time Podcast, your
Speaker 1: host Travis Wingfield, brought to you by Auto Nation, wrapping
Speaker 1: up a Tuesday edition of the Draft Time Podcast with
Speaker 1: Marcus May And it sort of felt like another move
Speaker 1: was coming at safety right just based upon the composition.
Speaker 2: Of the room.
Speaker 1: Javon Holland is good enough to be an annual Pro
Speaker 1: bowler we know what we have there, Jordan Poyer. There
Speaker 1: probably isn't a non dolphin whose game I know and
Speaker 1: admire more over the last five years than Jordan Poyer.
Speaker 1: He was where I always began my Bills study because
Speaker 1: he and Micah Hyde and Tarn Johnson the slot corner
Speaker 1: were the straws that stirred the drink of our best
Speaker 1: division rival and the biggest obstacle for the AFC East title.
Speaker 1: And I say all of that because I don't think
Speaker 1: you can find more players that you can count on
Speaker 1: two hands who are smarter than Jordan Poyer, which obviously
Speaker 1: equals versatility. Elijah Campbell's one of the specialists in the
Speaker 1: team and a guy that I've always thought was like
Speaker 1: an ideal dimeback. And then you have the ultimate unknown
Speaker 1: in a couple of rookies, right McMorris, the sixth round
Speaker 1: pick has the look of an immediate special teams contributor
Speaker 1: as well. And then the undrafted guys with us all
Speaker 1: leads the concept of a third safety who can join
Speaker 1: holland employer and match their flexibility. This defense, or I
Speaker 1: should say the influences of Coach Weaver in the past,
Speaker 1: has operated from a lot of these principles, plenty of
Speaker 1: three safety packages, Big Nickel, it's your slot cornerback is
Speaker 1: not a slot cornerback. He is a third safety that
Speaker 1: comes into the game. Baltimore ran that package four hundred
Speaker 1: and sixty three times last year, third most in the
Speaker 1: National Football League. Blitz packages with streamline terminology that requires
Speaker 1: the players to learn the rush patterns from each position
Speaker 1: so they can get any rush package from any personnel
Speaker 1: grouping in alignment that we talked about that in the
Speaker 1: klay As Campbell segment. And then finally relatively similar movement
Speaker 1: on the back end to what we just said position flexibility.
Speaker 1: And that third point is where I think May really
Speaker 1: comes into play. I just may eat some clay down
Speaker 1: by the bay to bump coverage responsibility, which is essentially
Speaker 1: in zone when they go motion, you bump someone else
Speaker 1: out to cover a guy that moves from your zone
Speaker 1: to a different zone. And this exists when you have
Speaker 1: this almost numberless defense, this positionless defense, like, yeah, that's
Speaker 1: Javon Holland and coverage. Oh they just motioned and bumped
Speaker 1: it to Marcus May. We can do that because our
Speaker 1: safeties I think are entirely interchangeable. As a threesome, not individually,
Speaker 1: but as a threesome on their abilities to play weak,
Speaker 1: strong post in the box, rush, the edge, fit a
Speaker 1: gap in the run game, play the screen game, and
Speaker 1: they all love to hit. They love physicality. They all
Speaker 1: understand angles and keys in the run game. I mean,
Speaker 1: every damn move this defense has made this offseason, it
Speaker 1: is just so obvious the fit. I feel like there
Speaker 1: is absolute direction and May and Campbell really solidified that
Speaker 1: for me this month. More on the Fit in a moment.
Speaker 1: May is entering his eighth season. It was a second
Speaker 1: round pick by the Jets out of Florida, actually the
Speaker 1: exact same year they took Jamal Adams sixth overall, and
Speaker 1: May went on to have a better Jets career than
Speaker 1: Adams did, and next in fact, a better NFL career
Speaker 1: than Jamal Adams did. He wound up in New Orleans
Speaker 1: to essentially replace Marcus Williams and Dennis Allen's Saints defense,
Speaker 1: who went to Baltimore to play for Mike McDonald. So
Speaker 1: it's kind of funny how that worked out. And that
Speaker 1: was back in twenty twenty two. He had two good
Speaker 1: years with the Saints, although in limited action because he
Speaker 1: played just seven games last year and ten games in
Speaker 1: twenty twenty two, so he's missed some time, even going
Speaker 1: back to twenty twenty one with the Jets when he
Speaker 1: played just six games there, So he's missed a lot
Speaker 1: of time. Four hundred and forty four, six sixty nine
Speaker 1: and three hundred and sixty two snaps those are his
Speaker 1: last three seasons. That gives you a little over one
Speaker 1: thousand over a three year run, and in that time
Speaker 1: he produced twenty nine stops, two picks, a sack, and
Speaker 1: three tackles for loss. That would be a good single
Speaker 1: season of production when you boil it down, But that's
Speaker 1: not exactly how it works, right. He's playing limited snap
Speaker 1: counts because of injuries to give you that cumulative one
Speaker 1: year worth of production. I do think though, however, it's
Speaker 1: indicative of what the tape shows, and with the tape
Speaker 1: shows me goes back to what I said about the
Speaker 1: types of players they have been at to this defense.
Speaker 1: I keep thinking about Chris Greer, or maybe it was
Speaker 1: coach McDaniel saying that Weaver brought visuals for what he
Speaker 1: wants at every position. So damn it, you have such
Speaker 1: consistency in what you've brought in with that thinking in mind,
Speaker 1: smart instinctive, anticipatory veterans who can react to the alignment
Speaker 1: and initial flow of a play and seamlessly rotate or
Speaker 1: pivot responsibility to make the quarterback or the back hesitate
Speaker 1: for a fraction of a second on pass or running plays.
Speaker 1: And then we use that hesitation in a league where
Speaker 1: he who hesitates is lost to beat you with our
Speaker 1: sheer talent. That and the makeup of these guys all
Speaker 1: cut from the same cloth of study, prepare and win
Speaker 1: in the classroom before the game even starts.
Speaker 2: Gosh, that is Marcus May's tapes.
Speaker 1: We talk about the motion a lot and how how
Speaker 1: it plays tricks on the defense. Right, that quick movement
Speaker 1: before the snap can confuse coverages, especially in zone and
Speaker 1: how you bump your coverage.
Speaker 2: We just talked about that, right.
Speaker 1: So like May a lot, like Poyer, Fuller, Ramsey Brooks Walker,
Speaker 1: they are all veterans who've played a ton of football,
Speaker 1: been in multiple schemes, seeing offensive evolution, to understand various keys.
Speaker 1: He's just another guy that can do that. I've got
Speaker 1: five clips where he's in the backside of a formation,
Speaker 1: a weak side safety in Dannas Allen's defense. So it's
Speaker 1: based upon the pre stat motion and the motion man
Speaker 1: from a bunch or a stack, whatever goes across the
Speaker 1: formation to the other side of the formation, and so
Speaker 1: May bumps the coverage. Hey, you go out wide and
Speaker 1: cover him, I'm going to insert in your run fit
Speaker 1: and make a play in the running game. He does
Speaker 1: all the time. He knows where he can take his
Speaker 1: chances within the scheme. I just think that even if
Speaker 1: it takes a little bit of time to get everybody
Speaker 1: on the same page for a new defense, that we
Speaker 1: are going to see a defense that when it comes together,
Speaker 1: and maybe it's October, maybe it's August, who knows. But
Speaker 1: when it does, I think you're going to get a
Speaker 1: totally connected, singular unit. And that's part of the singular
Speaker 1: vision and.
Speaker 2: The benefit of that.
Speaker 1: We also talked about Campbell's ability to do multiple jobs
Speaker 1: from multiple alignments. It helps you play a lot of
Speaker 1: light boxes, which is a staple of modern NFL defense.
Speaker 1: A player like May is like when a basketball team
Speaker 1: has their big lineup out there and you've got three
Speaker 1: seven footers like Dirk Wemby and Karl Anthony Towns who
Speaker 1: can also connect on forty percent of their three point shots.
Speaker 1: We just can do everything. We can make one call
Speaker 1: for a look and then oh, we have to have
Speaker 1: a linebacker here, go play linebacker Jordan Poyer or Marcus May. Okay,
Speaker 1: maybe that's a little bit too much name power as
Speaker 1: far as the Hoopers go, but you get the analogy.
Speaker 1: I can play in big nickel and split Javon and Poyer,
Speaker 1: with Marcus playing this rover type of role where he
Speaker 1: can read alignments and keys and come down and convert
Speaker 1: to a will linebacker who can fit the run or
Speaker 1: peel off on bootlegs and cover the tight end or
Speaker 1: the back in the flat or a spot up route. Flexibility, versatility, interchangeability,
Speaker 1: positionless defense. That's the modern game, and this defense is
Speaker 1: so well equipped to do that if they so desire. Now,
Speaker 1: I had nothing to knock on Campbell's tape because he's
Speaker 1: a perfect player to me. But with May, I think
Speaker 1: if you get him isolated in space, get him in
Speaker 1: a situation where he has to vertical match, that could
Speaker 1: be bad news. But you can scheme around them, especially
Speaker 1: provided that Holland is up and available. Now, if you
Speaker 1: lost him and it's Poyer and May. I think that
Speaker 1: that would open up deficiencies of their games as players.
Speaker 1: But if I have Holland available, I can work around it.
Speaker 1: If I can have him playing Marcus May, that is
Speaker 1: a robber role or matching a tight end from an
Speaker 1: offman look. He can get to spots with his anticipation
Speaker 1: and knowledge and short area burst. But when it comes
Speaker 1: to peer matchup, that's where I think that he struggled
Speaker 1: with the Saints last year. There's a clip where he
Speaker 1: gets a pick on a deflection against the Titans, and
Speaker 1: I hated the rep because it's the same chair concept
Speaker 1: that we run, where you have a vertical route and
Speaker 1: a deep over route that's supposed to split these safeties
Speaker 1: and put him into peril, and he just bails on
Speaker 1: the over route and goes vertical. Who's already covered And
Speaker 1: if Tannehill had seen the throw, it's an easy room
Speaker 1: service thirty yards of air yards completion and he just
Speaker 1: throws it into the deep shot. For what reason, I
Speaker 1: don't know, but I don't want to put him in
Speaker 1: situations where he's chasing guys across the field. I think
Speaker 1: May is a depth package, specialty, rotational speed piece, big
Speaker 1: Nickel thirty five to forty percent of your snaps. I
Speaker 1: think Campbell is a cornerstone type of addition. Nothing wrong
Speaker 1: with the former, just think it's important to clarify the
Speaker 1: difference there. Every team needs both. Dolphins got both here
Speaker 1: in the month of June. But the defense has tons
Speaker 1: of talent. The challenge is what we said, getting everybody
Speaker 1: up to speed quickly, but coach Weaver has a lot
Speaker 1: of ingredients to work with now and two more in
Speaker 1: Kalais Campbell and Marcus May.
Speaker 2: There you go.
Speaker 1: I think the next episode of Drift Time, we're going
Speaker 1: to dive into the positional and divisional previews, taking a
Speaker 1: look around the National Football League, comparing teams to your
Speaker 1: Miami Dolphins, and also getting ready for training camp with
Speaker 1: the position by position preview, taking a look at each
Speaker 1: player when they offer your football team here coming up
Speaker 1: for the new season which begins in just a couple
Speaker 1: of months. But as for my time today on Drift Time,
Speaker 1: that's going to be my time you all. Please be
Speaker 1: sure to subscribe to the podcast, leave us away and
Speaker 1: leave us a review. Follow me on social at Winfield
Speaker 1: NFL A team at Miami Dolphins. Check out the Fish
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Speaker 1: channel for media availabilities, Dolphins Today and so much more,
Speaker 1: and last, but not least, Miami Dolphins dot com. Until
Speaker 1: next time, Friends up call on Cameron Daddy, He's coming home.