Speaker 1: To on the move, Going Deep, Speedless peas Doll. From
Speaker 1: the Baptist Health Studios inside the Baptist Health Training Complex.
Speaker 2: This is Drivetime with Travis Wingfield.
Speaker 3: He's got my hands in the playoffs. What is up?
Speaker 1: Dolphins? And welcome to the Draft Time Podcast. I am
Speaker 1: your host, Travis Wingfield. And on today's show, the preview
Speaker 1: series continues onto the perhaps funnest division in the NFL.
Speaker 1: The AFC North is up? Is it better than the
Speaker 1: AFC East? Is it the best in all of football?
Speaker 1: We'll discuss that and much more, plus where the Dolphins
Speaker 1: can learn from each of these teams. And I caught
Speaker 1: up with Dolphins undrafted rookie the edge the outside linebacker,
Speaker 1: Grayson Murphy. You do not want to miss that. I
Speaker 1: think he has a great chance to make this football team.
Speaker 1: From the Baptist Health Studios inside the Baptist Health Training Complex.
Speaker 1: This is the Drivetime Podcast. Couple of items off the
Speaker 1: top here. First, you can probably tell my voice, I
Speaker 1: am not feeling well at all.
Speaker 2: It's been a long, long week.
Speaker 1: The You know how when you have kids, you basically
Speaker 1: just sometimes you get sick for like a full month
Speaker 1: and then you kind of build up a immunity for
Speaker 1: the next six months or so, I then do it
Speaker 1: all over again. We are in that in the month
Speaker 1: of June, and so I am struggling big time. Another
Speaker 1: thing was, I saw a new review came in on
Speaker 1: Apple and somebody, and rightly so was dogging the sound quality.
Speaker 1: And I'm guessing you're going back to the Blake Ferguson
Speaker 1: Jake Bailey and Jason Sanders podcast, which I know was terrible.
Speaker 1: I felt terrible putting it out there. I had no
Speaker 1: other options to clean that audio up. We do have
Speaker 1: Adobe Premiere which I run the audio through, and it
Speaker 1: doesn't sound great to try to fix that, but when
Speaker 1: you have guys that don't talk to the microphones, when
Speaker 1: you have a recording device that wasn't accurately working that day,
Speaker 1: like it was just a rough day and we recorded
Speaker 1: like twenty interviews that day, So my apologies for that.
Speaker 1: I think otherwise the sound quality mostly pretty good on
Speaker 1: the show. It is just me that does this, so
Speaker 1: it comes back to me, So I apologize for that.
Speaker 1: Let's go ahead and get into the AFC North here.
Speaker 1: One of the funner divisions to really dive into here,
Speaker 1: because every team has intrigued to me, even though there's
Speaker 1: one team that I think is a far cry from
Speaker 1: the other three. At this point, we kick it off
Speaker 1: in order of how it finished last year with the
Speaker 1: twenty twenty three Ravens, who finished thirteen and four first
Speaker 1: in the division. They lost the conference championship seventeen to ten.
Speaker 1: And you guys, listen to these podcasts. No, I'm making these,
Speaker 1: you know, relatable back to the Miami Dolphins. The reason
Speaker 1: I include the score there is because I think it
Speaker 1: can be instructive. It is so hard to reach the
Speaker 1: mountaintop in this sport more than any other, because why
Speaker 1: single elimination. I mean, the Panthers just lost three games
Speaker 1: in a row and they are still Stanley Cup champions, which,
Speaker 1: by the way, vlmas Scott, it was very cool to
Speaker 1: see that you run into one bad matchup one day
Speaker 1: where you don't have your a stuff and it is
Speaker 1: saya nara, we'll see you later for the for the
Speaker 1: next season, really foray next year, especially when a young,
Speaker 1: already legendary quarterback stands between you and the big game.
Speaker 1: And quite frankly, that's been the AFC in my entire existence.
Speaker 1: I grew up in the I was born in the eighties,
Speaker 1: grew up in the nineties, and really became a diehard
Speaker 1: football fan in the early two thousands. And that's when
Speaker 1: freaking Tom Brady arrived and Ben Roethlisberger and Peyton Manning
Speaker 1: and now it's Patrick Mahomes. It's just always been that
Speaker 1: way in the AFC. And I say this because look
Speaker 1: at the juggernaut that was the Ravens last year. I mean,
Speaker 1: I remember doing this episode one year ago talking about
Speaker 1: how this team is undeniably the best in the AFC,
Speaker 1: despite the fact that the Chiefs have Mahons, and all
Speaker 1: of a sudden they meet this brick wall, and this
Speaker 1: narrative doesn't just return, it grows. And actually, after I
Speaker 1: wrote this segment down, I saw that no quarterback in
Speaker 1: league history has a greater disparity in regular season winning
Speaker 1: percentage versus their postseason winning percentage. Then, Lamar Jackson, I've
Speaker 1: been thinking about this a lot and just paired up
Speaker 1: with this write up. I know I'm in the vast
Speaker 1: minority here, but it works in basketball, baseball not so much,
Speaker 1: but football and basketball in particular, I just don't think
Speaker 1: we should hold players or teams to the standard of championships.
Speaker 1: I lost a lot of you right there already, but
Speaker 1: here let me explain that to you. I reject the
Speaker 1: idea that only one team can have a good year
Speaker 1: in a given year, that a player can be diminished
Speaker 1: because he didn't reach the ultimate team accomplishment. I think
Speaker 1: the best passer in the league, or the best pass
Speaker 1: in the league he's ever seen Dan Reno went seventeen
Speaker 1: seasons and never hoisted a Lombardi Trophy. I think Lamar
Speaker 1: Jackson will be unfairly hit with this label again this year,
Speaker 1: or at the very least, it'll be a narrative once
Speaker 1: we get past Christmas, right, And I think the reason
Speaker 1: that it really irritates me the way it does is
Speaker 1: because what's what is Lamar Jackson? Twenty eight years old?
Speaker 1: I'm gonna pull it up live on the spot here,
Speaker 1: would I'm okay with the idea of holding out he yeah,
Speaker 1: he's just turned twenty seven in January. I'm okay with
Speaker 1: the the idea of once the career has wrapped, being like, damn,
Speaker 1: he didn't hit the mountaintop. It's kind of what happened
Speaker 1: to Marino, right, And it's still a story to this day.
Speaker 1: Or trying to see a freaking tweet. But who's the
Speaker 1: greatest athlete who never won a championship? Dan Marino is
Speaker 1: all over that stuff. But he's twenty seven years old,
Speaker 1: and all it takes is one time for that all
Speaker 1: to go away. I just think it's too hyperbolock. I
Speaker 1: think it's two in the moment, because this was a
Speaker 1: team who earned the one seed in the tougher of
Speaker 1: the two conferences. By this is how their season ended.
Speaker 1: They beat the Rams, which that was one of the
Speaker 1: games of the year. They blew out a Jaguars team
Speaker 1: who was at that point like eight and four. They
Speaker 1: dismantled the Niners on Christmas, which was the Niners were
Speaker 1: rolling at that point, and they obliterated us, who, if
Speaker 1: we had won that game, were the one seed in
Speaker 1: the AFC playoffs. That's three playoff teams, two that were
Speaker 1: either within striking distance or holding the top one seed
Speaker 1: in their conference at the time, a juggernaut, and then
Speaker 1: they get bounced. I think you should strive to be
Speaker 1: what the Ravens have been and give yourself a crack.
Speaker 1: Just about every single year except those two years they
Speaker 1: didn't have their quarterback and they went out in the
Speaker 1: wild card round and didn't get into the playoffs the
Speaker 1: other season. I think that provides stability, and stability gives
Speaker 1: you an edge within a game of inches. Win most
Speaker 1: of your games, and we'll figure it out when we
Speaker 1: get there. That's sort of the Macro way I view
Speaker 1: this sport and league, and few teams have embodied that
Speaker 1: better than the Baltimore Ravens five double digit win seasons
Speaker 1: of the last six, and Miami, frankly is just a
Speaker 1: notch below that with four straight winning seasons. However, to
Speaker 1: continue it, the Ravens are gonna have to deal with
Speaker 1: more turnover than they've had in quite some time here.
Speaker 1: But I also like some of the moves they'd made
Speaker 1: to bring guys in like Derrick Henry, who is probably
Speaker 1: the most at pro pro at at PAPRO. How do
Speaker 1: you say that app Po pro Apple pro? Derreck Henry
Speaker 1: is just he's in Baltimore, even through and through the
Speaker 1: way he looks, the way he plays, he just looks
Speaker 1: like he belongs in that organization.
Speaker 2: I like the Josh Jones addition.
Speaker 1: Deontay Hardy tore hearts out of our chest last January
Speaker 1: in the Week eighteen game he joins the Ravens now
Speaker 1: Kadar Hallman, and then their first round pick was Nate Wiggins.
Speaker 1: But look at the outgoing list here, Patrick Queen, Kevin Zeitdler,
Speaker 1: Devin do Orne, Odale Beckham, Junior, JK. Dobbins, Gus Edwards,
Speaker 1: Ronald Darby, Rocky sin Morgan, Moses Tyas spous Or, Tyler Huntley,
Speaker 1: mac Mike McDonald, and Anthony Weaver.
Speaker 2: Holy Molly.
Speaker 1: It's major coaches, a defensive coordinator, major parts of that defense,
Speaker 1: and just overall personnel that they relied upon for a
Speaker 1: lot of big wins and big production over the last
Speaker 1: couple of years.
Speaker 2: What do they do well well?
Speaker 1: The run game has always worked, and it's because of
Speaker 1: Lamar Jackson. I think what you see when you had
Speaker 1: like glimpses of JK. Dobbins, you know, flashing elite back
Speaker 1: ability which he always has had you just can't stay healthy.
Speaker 1: Then you see like, oh, this is a revolutionary run game.
Speaker 1: It goes to one of the more dangerous weapons in
Speaker 1: the league. When you basically only ever get that exclusively
Speaker 1: from the passing game, right, Like you don't get dangerous
Speaker 1: explosive run games.
Speaker 2: In twenty twenty four.
Speaker 1: But the Ravens can do that, and they're pretty unlimited
Speaker 1: with their complminary speed to run, trap power, quarterback Lee
Speaker 1: all the jet sweep inside zone, outside zone stuff from
Speaker 1: today's game, and now they get this power element with
Speaker 1: Derrick Henry, and I just think we could see a
Speaker 1: zig of an offense to the rest of the league
Speaker 1: zag and if Henry has any juice left, and I
Speaker 1: think he does, this is going to be a team
Speaker 1: that I think gives every single opponent fits because of
Speaker 1: their play style. My first thought was, I will say
Speaker 1: they have to do that because of the big wide
Speaker 1: receiver investments they made last offseason not paying off, and
Speaker 1: now it's over because Beckham is gone. We're still kind
Speaker 1: of waiting on Rashad Batemanseya Flowers looks like an absolute stud.
Speaker 1: But then I go back to them getting Mark Andrews back,
Speaker 1: who missed most of that stretch run we just talked
Speaker 1: about where they steamrolled some of the best teams in league.
Speaker 1: They also been to the Detroit Lions too, by the way,
Speaker 1: earlier in the year.
Speaker 2: They also have a.
Speaker 1: Budding star in Isaiah Likely, who I don't know how
Speaker 1: the hell he made it to the fourth round of
Speaker 1: the draft that year. He was so obvious he was
Speaker 1: a great player. And I just say, stay in twelve personnel,
Speaker 1: run an offense. I don't think anybody in the NFL
Speaker 1: with these undersized linebackers is equipped to stop defensively. I
Speaker 1: don't think he'll get wholesale changes as they promote from within,
Speaker 1: simplifying terminology, staying positionless, being deep in your subgroupings, utilizing
Speaker 1: one of the strongest defensive interiors with Justin Matdabweke Rokwan
Speaker 1: Smith and Kyle Hamilton down the middle to out physical
Speaker 1: teams and make you play on their terms. What's the
Speaker 1: concern or fatal flaw here if the defense takes a
Speaker 1: moment to come together. They have KC, Dallas, Buffalo, and
Speaker 1: Cincinnati on the schedule over the first five weeks, and
Speaker 1: a slow start in that division might bury you. Then
Speaker 1: you have to go on the road in the playoffs,
Speaker 1: and who knows from there a wide receiver depth. As
Speaker 1: much as I raved about their ability to win, differently,
Speaker 1: to me, it's kinda Zey Flowers and then nobody else
Speaker 1: like I don't. I'm not a big believer in Bateman's
Speaker 1: skill set. We saw what happened to them in the
Speaker 1: playoffs when they got outplayed at the line of scrimmage
Speaker 1: by the Chiefs. The goal is to win the Super
Speaker 1: Bowl for them, right, Like, I know, I just talked
Speaker 1: about how that shouldn't be how we judge teams, and
Speaker 1: I think the Ravens are one of the best teams
Speaker 1: in the NFL because they haven't gotten to the mountaintop.
Speaker 1: That's going to be their narrative. But that's also the
Speaker 1: next step for them, Like it's not gonna be, you know,
Speaker 1: considered a huge success every year if you don't eventually
Speaker 1: get there. So that's kind of where you need to be,
Speaker 1: you know, focused towards beating the Chiefs, otherwise you can't
Speaker 1: get back to that game. And to do that, you
Speaker 1: know you're gonna need more than ten points. You're not
Speaker 1: gonna beat that team just ten points. So yeah, Kansas
Speaker 1: City is a problem, right, We've established that so far
Speaker 1: in the podcast. Some interesting things about them are the
Speaker 1: biggest storylines is fighting narratives of big games and postseason success.
Speaker 1: It's gonna come down to you know, it's it's gonna
Speaker 1: be there for them at the end of the year,
Speaker 1: just like it is for us, And I think that's
Speaker 1: interesting every single year replacing those big names on defense,
Speaker 1: their staff and their personnel. Is it gonna be as
Speaker 1: easy as plug and play there with you know, Zach
Speaker 1: or the defensive coordinator and losing a guy like Anthony
Speaker 1: Weaver and losing so many critical pieces on that defense.
Speaker 1: Will they revert back to more of a ball control,
Speaker 1: run game offense, because last year they kind of open
Speaker 1: things up a little bit and they were pretty good
Speaker 1: at it too. So whatever they want to do, they
Speaker 1: can probably do, even though they don't have much as
Speaker 1: much weapons on the perimeter this year as they did
Speaker 1: last year. Then special teams in kickoff change and the
Speaker 1: best kicker in the game and Justin Tucker plus John
Speaker 1: Harbaugh's special teams background. Just watch the Ravens win a
Speaker 1: game or two this year because of weird special teams stuff,
Speaker 1: and they won a game on a walk off punt
Speaker 1: return last year, So it's not even that far of
Speaker 1: a you know, alleged to go out on some final
Speaker 1: roster thoughts. The concerns to me, even though they talk
Speaker 1: about all the losses, are so slim because this is
Speaker 1: one of the game's deepest rosters, even with all those losses,
Speaker 1: they just keep developing, replacing, and it's all over Brandon
Speaker 1: Stevens game. It matures as soon as Marcus Peters exits,
Speaker 1: Kyle Hamilton arrives in three years, they say good bye
Speaker 1: Tony Jefferson, Chuck Clark and Gino Stone and they're better
Speaker 1: for it. Patrick McCarry makes Morgan Moses expendable. Likely is
Speaker 1: that when Andrews goes down, it's all over the roster
Speaker 1: with how they replace. What can they tell us with
Speaker 1: the Dolphins, I'm talking so fast, I can't brie you guys.
Speaker 2: I'm so sorry.
Speaker 1: We already did that. They're in the class. The Dolphins
Speaker 1: now find themselves in a regular playoff team who has
Speaker 1: to solve the puzzle of the best team in the
Speaker 1: NFL with the best quarterback we've seen, maybe ever, and
Speaker 1: they have to do it within a tough division features
Speaker 1: teams that can knock them off any single sunday they
Speaker 1: face them. They're going to play into massive games within
Speaker 1: massive games every single year, and you just hope you
Speaker 1: can stream them together at some point and slay the
Speaker 1: giant that is the Mahomes led Chiefs. They can tend
Speaker 1: with Cincy the way the weekn ten with Buffalo, and
Speaker 1: these teams are all in the same conference at a
Speaker 1: tough road every single year.
Speaker 2: The AFC is tough.
Speaker 1: Let's go ahead and move down to the Cleveland Browns
Speaker 1: eleven and six last year, second in the division, a
Speaker 1: wild card round loss of the Houston Texans and who
Speaker 1: had Joe Flacco coming out of retirement to leave to
Speaker 1: lead the Cleveland Browns to the playoffs on their bingo card.
Speaker 2: What a crazy league.
Speaker 1: Every year, not something like this, but something similar to
Speaker 1: this happens where a team comes out of left field.
Speaker 1: Whether it's a team that was supposed to be good
Speaker 1: or a team that loses their quarterback and you takes
Speaker 1: the Nick Foles to the super Bowl. It happens every
Speaker 1: single year. And there's no denying how great Joe Flacco
Speaker 1: was down the stretch, truly, but make no mistake about it,
Speaker 1: this team was driven by a stellar defense, particularly prior
Speaker 1: to Flacco's arrival, when they were rescuing weekly poor quarterback
Speaker 1: performance play by the original starter who has been straight
Speaker 1: booty cheeks since he got there, and all the backups
Speaker 1: replacing him throughout an injury plagued season. After double digit
Speaker 1: defeats of the Broncos and Rams, and back to back weeks,
Speaker 1: the Browns won four straight to put themselves in position
Speaker 1: to rest their starters. In Week eighteen, they couldn't get
Speaker 1: a stop against the Texans in the wild Card round
Speaker 1: and have since gone back to work rounding out yet
Speaker 1: again one of the best rosters and defenses really in
Speaker 1: the National Football League.
Speaker 2: This off season is pretty good for these guys.
Speaker 1: They bring in Brian Allen to anchor the interior of
Speaker 1: the offensive line. Deontay Foreman a nice complimentary back there
Speaker 1: to Nick Chubb whenever he's healthy again. Not Nick Chub, Yes,
Speaker 1: Nick Job, Nahim Heinz, Jordan Hicks, Quinton Jefferson from the Jets,
Speaker 1: they just gave him away. Basically, Tyler Huntley a better
Speaker 1: backup quarterback there. Jamis Winston's there as well. That's a
Speaker 1: crazy dynamic in that quarterback room going out. Joe Flacco
Speaker 1: goes to the Colts, Harris and Briant to the Raiders.
Speaker 1: Anthony Walker comes here and Nick Harris goes to Seattle.
Speaker 1: Way more in than out there for these guys, What
Speaker 1: do they do well? I don't think anybody outside have
Speaker 1: probably spat disguise is better between zone and man looks
Speaker 1: with the ability to get pressure from either look of
Speaker 1: those from any front from you know, different groupings, and
Speaker 1: it's built around having one of the toughest assignments in
Speaker 1: the National Football League and Miles Garrett and Schwartz has
Speaker 1: always had that in his defense. Going back to in
Speaker 1: Dominicansu with the Lions, they id, they bump, they feel space,
Speaker 1: They communicate as well as anybody. Denzel Ward is fantastic,
Speaker 1: Martin Emerson is very good, Greg Newsom, Grant Delpitt, Rodney
Speaker 1: McLeod wan Thornhill. They're just one of the deeper secondaries
Speaker 1: in the National Football League and their second level is
Speaker 1: led by one of the best cover linebackers in Jeremiah
Speaker 1: Owusu Corromoa. I'm curious to see does Nick Chubb return,
Speaker 1: because I thought that his balance, albeit Stefanski finding out,
Speaker 1: you know, finding other productive backs in his place, that
Speaker 1: Chubb was the elite piece really moving the needle for
Speaker 1: that offense. They're scoring outbursts where the results of mastery
Speaker 1: of play action game and attacking defenses on early downs
Speaker 1: with chunk plays sound familiar. Like Baltimore. They can do
Speaker 1: a lot with their personnel groupings with two tight ends,
Speaker 1: especially since one of them is one of the games
Speaker 1: premier players and David Nijoku, what's the concern or a
Speaker 1: fatal flaw, Like we are realistically one more bad year
Speaker 1: away from an all time awful move at the quarterback position,
Speaker 1: and quite frankly, are probably already there.
Speaker 3: Right.
Speaker 1: I'd like that they signed two insurance policies and hunting
Speaker 1: and jamis on top of the continued development of Dorian
Speaker 1: Thompson Robinson, but I don't think it's gonna work out
Speaker 1: for him. But I mean, Deshaun Watson fully guaranteed contract
Speaker 1: been one of the worst quarterbacks and leaks he's he
Speaker 1: got there, so it's interesting to see how that plays out.
Speaker 1: It can tank the entire team. They did get destroyed
Speaker 1: last year by o line attrition by the end of
Speaker 1: the year, but that group is healthy heading into the
Speaker 1: season and I think it's probably just about it. Like
Speaker 1: this is a very deep and good roster. Some interesting
Speaker 1: things about them. There's still a bunch of guaranteed money
Speaker 1: on Watson's deal. What happens if year three is much
Speaker 1: like year one and year two, and then what happens
Speaker 1: if Joe Flacco winds up playing well or playing at all,
Speaker 1: and then playing well in Indianapolis. Indianapolis, Ken Dorsey also
Speaker 1: gets another crack and an oc job. Does he have
Speaker 1: the the stones to make this work? And then how
Speaker 1: many elite years can you get out of a defense?
Speaker 2: I asked that all the time.
Speaker 1: I just think it's not it's not replicatable across like
Speaker 1: four or five years. You can get two or three,
Speaker 1: but usually it kind of slows down. But you know,
Speaker 1: Jim Schwartz being there for another a second year just
Speaker 1: makes me think they can get even better this year.
Speaker 1: But how fast does that run out? Some final roster
Speaker 1: thoughts on them. I mentioned the offensive line that has
Speaker 1: Conklin Wills, Teller Botonio and then brings in Brian Allen.
Speaker 1: Not many as good as this one in Cleveland. And
Speaker 1: that's not including Dewan Jones or Ethan Posik or Hakeema
Speaker 1: Denji or Michael Dunn or Wyatt Davis in the holster.
Speaker 1: All these guys have played football, you know, over the
Speaker 1: last couple of years and played pretty well. So it's
Speaker 1: a good offensive line. The trenches on the other side
Speaker 1: are flat out awesome too. We mentioned Garrett's, Darius Smith,
Speaker 1: Shelby Harris, Dalvin, Tomlinson. They've all been hit additions, and
Speaker 1: then they add Quentin Jefferson a lot to like there.
Speaker 1: What can the Browns tell us about the Dolphins. I'm
Speaker 1: not sure there's something here. Maybe it's that it's better
Speaker 1: to commit to a quarterback that you've seen excel within
Speaker 1: your program, because we saw Wilson not work in Denver, right,
Speaker 1: that led to a total overhaul rebuild. And why, you know,
Speaker 1: came from a big play hunting you know, kind of
Speaker 1: absorb hits in the pocket and try to get the
Speaker 1: ball on the field to this quick strike passing, precision,
Speaker 1: precision passing game that's not really his game and it
Speaker 1: hasn't worked out at all in Cleveland. And that's essentially
Speaker 1: what's turned a could be Super Bowl contender into a
Speaker 1: team that's not made noise beyond getting into the postseason.
Speaker 1: Imagine if they had just gotten that position right, in
Speaker 1: addition to all the other roster building, they would have
Speaker 1: been right there. Either way, the big quarterback deal did
Speaker 1: the opposite of what it was intended to do, at
Speaker 1: least so far in the case of the Browns, and
Speaker 1: the jury is still out in twenty twenty four, unlike
Speaker 1: the Denver Broncos. Should we discuss the whole two a
Speaker 1: tongue of my low thing for I just want to
Speaker 1: go ahead and mention this real quick, like y'all, not y'all.
Speaker 1: I see a little bit of it on Twitter. But
Speaker 1: we got to stop accepting things as just truths, Like
Speaker 1: there are negotiations that happen within media, there are reports
Speaker 1: that league for certain reasons, like don't take everything as fact.
Speaker 1: Please just don't don't do that. Okay, I don't want to.
Speaker 1: I don't think it's worth talking about anymore. It's so time,
Speaker 1: I think it's going to happen, So just let's just
Speaker 1: chill on all that stuff. Let's go ahead and take
Speaker 1: our first break. Comeback on the other side and hear
Speaker 1: from Grayson Murphy, who was a delight to talk to.
Speaker 1: That's next Draft Time podcast, your host Travis Wingfield, brought
Speaker 1: to you by Auto Nation. What up, guys, back here
Speaker 1: with another Dolphins player, Grayson Murphy from UCLA Dolphins linebacker Grayson,
Speaker 1: How you doing today, man? And first off, how has
Speaker 1: your transition to the rookie season been going so far?
Speaker 3: I've been doing I'm doing good.
Speaker 4: You know, I appreciate y'all having me on, you know,
Speaker 4: to honor, but can't complain about the rookie season.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 4: The only thing that is kind of a little bit
Speaker 4: different is I don't have my twin brother here, you know,
Speaker 4: go through it with me, and so I'm kind of
Speaker 4: doing a loan this year. You know, I had a
Speaker 4: twin brother at UCLA. You know, we've played football everywhere since,
Speaker 4: but you know, this is the first time we've kind
Speaker 4: of played away and it's just a little different.
Speaker 2: So was he at North Texas with you as well?
Speaker 4: Yes, sir, he's a North Texas. We've spent two and
Speaker 4: a half years there, than transferred to UCLA spent another
Speaker 4: two and a half years there, so played all our
Speaker 4: college ball together.
Speaker 1: Was it a package deal? When you guys are looking
Speaker 1: at transfer, was like, I'm not going if he's not going.
Speaker 3: Yeah, absolutely, Yeah, same way as in Hotspit.
Speaker 4: It was kind of like, you know, we wanted to
Speaker 4: play together, and uh, when we transferred ultimately decided to
Speaker 4: go to Eastly, We're like, man, we want to pay
Speaker 4: together too, you know.
Speaker 1: That's yeah, yeah, well you got I wish you guys
Speaker 1: wouldn't have because I was telling you about this before
Speaker 1: you came in and you got basically you you two
Speaker 1: and uh oh shoot now I'm forgetting his name La Latsu.
Speaker 2: Yeah, the first round pick.
Speaker 1: You guys destroyed my Washington State Cougar last year when
Speaker 1: were pretty hot coming into that game when you gotta
Speaker 1: shut things down. So I kind of wish you wouldn't
Speaker 1: have done that, But we're happy to have you here now.
Speaker 1: So with your with your twin brother, like you know,
Speaker 1: a non twin here's all these things, like they're telepath
Speaker 1: they know, starts thinking all the time. Was there benefit
Speaker 1: to that as pass rushers together?
Speaker 4: Yeah? Absolutely, you know, seeing looking across from you and
Speaker 4: seeing your brother, you know, it's just it's just kind
Speaker 4: of a different feeling. You know. I never felt like
Speaker 4: we had like the telepathic kind of thing, but it's
Speaker 4: always like, you know, we kind of like, you know,
Speaker 4: when we give each other that look, we kind of
Speaker 4: like you know them know, like hey man, if you
Speaker 4: don't get there, I'm going to get here, you know,
Speaker 4: type of thing. But you know, it's awsome playing with
Speaker 4: your brother. It's always been a childhood dream of wars
Speaker 4: and it was good for the Lord to give us
Speaker 4: that accomplishment.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Absolutely.
Speaker 1: They talk about, you know, chem street being developed within
Speaker 1: a year or two. Here, it's like we go back
Speaker 1: like twenty years to have that chemistry. So it works,
Speaker 1: It works pretty good. So I want to pivot to
Speaker 1: this now because I have this debate all the time
Speaker 1: with friends who I'm from the West Coast. So they
Speaker 1: tell me the best time zone for a sports fan
Speaker 1: is the West Coast because you get early kickoffs for football.
Speaker 1: The primetime games aren't super late. I argue because I
Speaker 1: have two young children that I get to watch the
Speaker 1: primetime games once they go to bed late at night,
Speaker 1: eight eight thirty kickoffs, whatever it is. Now you've lived
Speaker 1: in Dallas, Southern California, and now you're in South Florida.
Speaker 2: Which time zone is the best man man?
Speaker 3: For prime time games? The kickoff? You can't beat that
Speaker 3: California Tom zone.
Speaker 4: You're not five fives absolutely, But you know Texas, you
Speaker 4: know that Central Tom zone. I love that too, because
Speaker 4: you know, you know, if you kind of want to
Speaker 4: downturn the game on, you know, get to enjoy sit
Speaker 4: on the couch and whatnot and just you know, kind
Speaker 4: of like in California. You watch a game, you kind
Speaker 4: of you know, one day you have a team meeting.
Speaker 4: If off there, you'll miss part of the game, you know.
Speaker 4: And that central time zone you're always at eight eight thirty,
Speaker 4: and you'll get to get to enjoy the game pretty good.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's why I like the late time because all
Speaker 1: my stuff are done, has day has been done.
Speaker 2: I don't got any.
Speaker 1: More obligations or chores to do. It's it's all taken.
Speaker 2: Care of it.
Speaker 4: One thing I will say is I'm a big MASS fan,
Speaker 4: and i'n't been able to watch the Mass games out
Speaker 4: here because I'm going to bed a little bit earlier
Speaker 4: in the game. That is to come on too, like
Speaker 4: nonnine thirty out here.
Speaker 1: But just being a pro, Yeah, that's pretty cool though,
Speaker 1: you've been a lifelong Mavericks.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yes, sir, Yes, sir.
Speaker 1: First game I one of the first games I ever saw.
Speaker 1: I saw that I grew up in the Seattle area,
Speaker 1: so the Gary Payton songs from this team I grew
Speaker 1: up watching. But one of the first games I did
Speaker 1: see after like late into like the two thousands was
Speaker 1: Dirk Nevitski traveling to Seattle. So he's got to be
Speaker 1: your fair player.
Speaker 4: Oh absolutely, you know, going up with him twenty push
Speaker 4: years in Dallas. Yeah, you know, nobody in the coach
Speaker 4: had done that. So yeah, you know, just he's a
Speaker 4: living legend in Dallas, has a stats outside of the stadium,
Speaker 4: and yeah, like you said, he's my favorite player going up.
Speaker 1: Well, I know every single Dolphins fan is pulling for
Speaker 1: the mas because we do not like Boston teams any sport.
Speaker 1: So you've got the entire Dolphins nation behind you and
Speaker 1: the Masks. Even though y'all knocked off the dream team
Speaker 1: once upon time that can be twenty eleven whatever.
Speaker 2: It was good company there.
Speaker 1: So I want to ask you more about your time
Speaker 1: at UCLA because you guys had such a good pass
Speaker 1: rush and you were a part of that. How do
Speaker 1: you think that that time there prepared you for this opportunity.
Speaker 2: Here with the Dolphins.
Speaker 4: Man, you know, at UCLA, like you said, like we
Speaker 4: were so we were so multiple, you know, me and
Speaker 4: my brother and Lea two and another guy called named
Speaker 4: Crul Jones was you know, kind of part of that rotation.
Speaker 4: It kind of was like kind of in a sense
Speaker 4: our SPA guy, you know, kind of cleaned us up.
Speaker 4: You know, took care of us whether we we could
Speaker 4: do like a three men rush and kind of go
Speaker 4: all over the place. You know, me and my brother
Speaker 4: kind of lined up inside outside, you know, where the
Speaker 4: team needed this and it was just a lot of fun. Men.
Speaker 4: I think that's why we had so much success, because
Speaker 4: everyone was having fun out there.
Speaker 2: That's kind of what they do here, right, having fun.
Speaker 1: And you talk about lining up all all of the
Speaker 1: formation like we don't mean you do, but we don't
Speaker 1: really know what coach Weavers defense might look like yet.
Speaker 1: But if you go back to Baltimore with the Ravens
Speaker 1: like they were so multiple, you know, they would put
Speaker 1: their addressers over the nose and have a nosebacker rush.
Speaker 1: And you guys did the UCLA a lot too. Do
Speaker 1: you think that experience is going to translate well to
Speaker 1: your time here in mind?
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's actuallyunny you say that because our coach, our
Speaker 4: defensive coordinay from UCLA, actually came from Baltimore with coach
Speaker 4: we I love it, and it was the DV coach
Speaker 4: up there in Baltimore and kind of brought some of
Speaker 4: those schematics and things like that to UCLA and kind
Speaker 4: of we learned a little bit, a little bit of
Speaker 4: you know, what they did in Baltimore, you know, kind
Speaker 4: of what we're doing down here, although it's kind of
Speaker 4: vanilla what we've kind of picked up now and kind
Speaker 4: of what we're getting right now. But you know, I
Speaker 4: see like the progression. You know, we'll probably get to that,
Speaker 4: you know, eventually down the line.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's early, right, A lot a lot of defense
Speaker 1: to be installed here. And speaking of that defense, I mean,
Speaker 1: you've got some real names in that room, man, Jalen
Speaker 1: Phillips was having speaking of UCLA. I was having some
Speaker 1: kind of year last year until that. I get emotional
Speaker 1: because JP is such a good dude and I love
Speaker 1: him so much. That Hard Knocks episode of him going
Speaker 1: down it was just so brutal to watch, and then
Speaker 1: we lose Bradley later on the year. Have you lean
Speaker 1: into those guys yet and kind of picked their brains
Speaker 1: a little bit? Yeah?
Speaker 3: Absolutely, you know, it's actually fun in Miami.
Speaker 4: Came down about two years ago to UCLA when they
Speaker 4: played the Rams and kind of used our facility and
Speaker 4: things like that. So that was the first time I
Speaker 4: got to meet JP and Bradley Chubb, and you know,
Speaker 4: ever since then, we kind of uh not kept in contact,
Speaker 4: but kind of you know, keping connect from a four
Speaker 4: and uh, you know when I first came up here,
Speaker 4: you know, those are the first guys that really you know,
Speaker 4: talk to and they've been kind of you know, coaching
Speaker 4: me up, giving me some game, you know, kind of
Speaker 4: been really leaning on them, you know, getting my feet
Speaker 4: wet and the NFL if you will.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it makes perfect sense. And on that same topic,
Speaker 1: I mean, you're one of a few rookies like the
Speaker 1: last couple of years and you know this is just
Speaker 1: my Dolphins historian and me, like we haven't really had
Speaker 1: like the youth in the edge group. It's been like
Speaker 1: those two guys and then we're trying to kind of
Speaker 1: develop a couple of other guys that haven't worked out.
Speaker 1: But now we got you, we got Chopped, we got Mo. Like,
Speaker 1: is there I guess is there a benefit to having
Speaker 1: these three rookies come in together and try to learn
Speaker 1: the same position, the same group together.
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 4: Absolutely, you know those three guys that you're just missing
Speaker 4: me chopping Mo. You know, we're all, uh, it's all
Speaker 4: it's it's always you know, fun to have someone that's
Speaker 4: going through something the same thing that you are, you know,
Speaker 4: at the same time. You know, we're all trying to
Speaker 4: learn the defense at the same time, so it's kind
Speaker 4: of helping each other out and just you know, you
Speaker 4: kind of get to build that personal connection with each
Speaker 4: other since we're spending so much time with each other,
Speaker 4: and you know, I think that's gonna translate big on
Speaker 4: the field.
Speaker 1: Start getting some flash cards, go something something, guys, and
Speaker 1: tuned in there. Last question here for you, bringing it
Speaker 1: back to the very beginning. So your twin brother, I'm
Speaker 1: always curious to ask us about twins. Do you guys
Speaker 1: are a pull fast ones as kids? You know, you
Speaker 1: go to my class, I'll go to your or anything
Speaker 1: like that.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's actually funny you say that. You know, everyone
Speaker 4: kind of askers that when they first get to meet us.
Speaker 4: But we were actually homeschooled, you know, coming up all
Speaker 4: the way unto sixth grade, so we didn't get a
Speaker 4: freet way into middle school and whatnot until seventh grade,
Speaker 4: and by then we were kind of like of age.
Speaker 4: We really weren't trying to pull like tricks and things
Speaker 4: like that. But in high school our senior year, we
Speaker 4: got the pool one over on our teacher, our English teacher,
Speaker 4: and it worked out pretty good and she had no idea,
Speaker 4: so that was pretty fun.
Speaker 1: Good stuff. Man, appreciate your time today. Murphy Dolphins linebacker
Speaker 1: and away he goes really fun chat there with him.
Speaker 1: He has some interesting skills and as you can tell
Speaker 1: by that chat, really just wired the right way. I
Speaker 1: think there is a bright future in this league, whether
Speaker 1: it's here or somewhere else for Grayson Murphy at some
Speaker 1: point in his career. He's gonna have a good NFL career.
Speaker 1: Let's go ahead and take our last break rate there.
Speaker 1: Come back on the other side, finish up the AFC
Speaker 1: North of the Steelers and the Bengals. That's next Draft
Speaker 1: Time podcast Travis Wingfield, brought to you by Auto Nation.
Speaker 1: The Pittsburgh Steelers the cockroaches of the NFL twenty twenty three.
Speaker 1: They were ten and seven, third place in the AFC North.
Speaker 1: And I call them the cockroaches because somehow they got
Speaker 1: back into the postseason where they got properly waxed by
Speaker 1: the Buffalo Bills. Almost impossible to believe they made it
Speaker 1: back in especially after losing three straight to Arizona, New
Speaker 1: England and Indianapolis before beating the Bengals and Jake Browning
Speaker 1: and Seattle with was Ginos Smith start in that game?
Speaker 2: Was it Drew Luck I can remember?
Speaker 1: And then a Baltimore team who rested everybody in the
Speaker 1: finale to get them to ten wins, a trip to
Speaker 1: Buffalo to then get blown out, and if I'm being honest,
Speaker 1: I think all the time, like once a week at
Speaker 1: least about the alternate universe where we played them at
Speaker 1: home and then with a win host the Chiefs in
Speaker 1: South Florida a post to negative twenty five degrees. But
Speaker 1: that's the bed we made by losing to the freaking
Speaker 1: Titans two years after making Kenny Pickett a first rounder,
Speaker 1: and they are off that project. Mason route Off was
Speaker 1: the quarterback of the winning streak and playoff game, but
Speaker 1: this was an offense that had so many upgrades to make,
Speaker 1: and they tried to do just that at quarterback. Russell
Speaker 1: Wilson and Justin Fields are in Quarterrell Patterson's at running back,
Speaker 1: Van Jefferson at receiver. They also made some changes on defense.
Speaker 1: Patrick Queen and Deshaun Elliott, our former friend here joins
Speaker 1: their secondary, and their first round pick really their entire
Speaker 1: draft class I loved, but Troy Fatanu was my favorite
Speaker 1: pick in the entire draft, leaving Kenny Pickett, Mitch Trubisky,
Speaker 1: Deontaey Johnson, Allen Robinson, and Chikuma okafora all exit via
Speaker 1: free agency or trades. What they do well they win
Speaker 1: games in the fine margins. I'm not sure there's a
Speaker 1: coach over the last decade who has gotten more from less.
Speaker 1: I just don't think any less of these. I just
Speaker 1: don't think any of these last two or three Steelers
Speaker 1: teams had any business winning more than half their games.
Speaker 1: And yet every year they need a win and to
Speaker 1: get two or three breaks, and they do it, they
Speaker 1: get back into the postseason.
Speaker 2: It seems like every single year.
Speaker 1: We almost lost that Jets game in twenty twenty two
Speaker 1: with Skyler Thomps, which would have gotten seether was in
Speaker 1: that year and they had no business being in the
Speaker 1: playoffs that year. How do they do this every single year?
Speaker 1: They also rushed the passer as well as anybody in
Speaker 1: the NFL. Watt sets the table for him, but they
Speaker 1: disguise with interchangeable safeties and have maybe the most underrated
Speaker 1: pass rusher in the NFL. On the other side of TJ.
Speaker 1: Watt and Alex Highsmith. Both of them play off the
Speaker 1: strength and power and pocket collapsing of Cam Hayward inside.
Speaker 1: And now they add keanuh Benton and Larry Oguin joby
Speaker 1: last year and it made it even better. They have
Speaker 1: an explosive passing play element and that's basically through George
Speaker 1: Pickens now from both design and skilled deficiency from a
Speaker 1: play caller and quarterback that are no longer there. I mean,
Speaker 1: Matt Canada was awful, and so was Kenny Pickett. But
Speaker 1: look at how you know Wilson still pushes the ball
Speaker 1: down the field to maybe maybe get even more out
Speaker 1: of out of Pickens. You have to imagine there they
Speaker 1: envision a strong run game that can hit the electric
Speaker 1: play once a game to kind of grind out these
Speaker 1: you know, twenty three to twenty victories that they seem
Speaker 1: to love. What's the concern or fatal flaw? Did they
Speaker 1: actually solve their quarterback issue? Because Russell Wilson doesn't see
Speaker 1: the field anymore and without the or never did really,
Speaker 1: but without the explosive run element to his game, it's
Speaker 1: kind of exposed the rest of his flaws as a
Speaker 1: passer right. And then Justin Field's talking about seeing the field,
Speaker 1: Like everybody always asks me, why is Justin Fields It's
Speaker 1: because he can't see the field. It's because playing quarterback
Speaker 1: you have to see the field and you can't do it.
Speaker 1: It's like Josh Rosen, You're gonna throw hospital balls ten
Speaker 1: times a game and get your guys hurt because you
Speaker 1: can't see how the coverage moves and you that means
Speaker 1: you can't play the position. So that's a soapbox for
Speaker 1: a different day. Najie Harris does not get his fifth
Speaker 1: year option picked up, which he seemed, you know, critical
Speaker 1: to the power run gig when he was first brought in.
Speaker 1: And he's been beaten out by Jilen Warren, who is
Speaker 1: a you know, damn good back in his own right.
Speaker 1: Do they have enough weapons? I contend they don't because
Speaker 1: it's pretty much pickings. And then what else some young
Speaker 1: players Calvin Austen, you know, Roman Wilson. I like his
Speaker 1: game a lot.
Speaker 2: He's a rookie.
Speaker 1: Corner was an issue for them last year. They have
Speaker 1: they have to get Joey Porter Junior up to his
Speaker 1: first round stat or second round stass actually, and then
Speaker 1: who between Anthony Averrette, Dante Jackson. Darry Rush can step up.
Speaker 1: Cam Sutton is back, but he's a total knucklehead, so
Speaker 1: we'll see if that actually works out for them. I
Speaker 1: guess Dante Jackson is the guy in the slot there
Speaker 1: for them. Just critical questions in one of the most
Speaker 1: key areas on the field on defense in particular. Some
Speaker 1: interesting things about them and biggest storylines the quarterback battles.
Speaker 1: You know, I used to always write articles about this
Speaker 1: when I would write for various websites or my own
Speaker 1: website about like camp battles and the rookie versus the
Speaker 1: VET and who's gonna win this quarterback battle. They're kind
Speaker 1: of a thing in the past, aren't They Like teams
Speaker 1: kind of either get themselves a quarterback or they just don't.
Speaker 1: And then it's like, all right, the rookies up, or
Speaker 1: you know, the guy that we know can't really play,
Speaker 1: he's up as well. They did say that Russell Wilson
Speaker 1: gets first crack, But which one in the NFL is
Speaker 1: more intriguing than this one with Fields, Fields and Wilson.
Speaker 1: It's it's mid versus mid at best, but it's usually
Speaker 1: a VET that we know doesn't really have it right
Speaker 1: versus a first round pick. The vet wins and the
Speaker 1: rookie comes in by week three and it's over. But
Speaker 1: this one holds intrigue, though I think you know, both
Speaker 1: Fields and Wilson aren't that good. The winning season streak
Speaker 1: always intrigues me. I just think it's worth putting in
Speaker 1: here for interesting storylines. I'm curious to see how their
Speaker 1: prized free agent works out because Patrick Queen really struggled
Speaker 1: before Roquan Smith arrived in Baltimore, and now there's all
Speaker 1: this beef back and forth with them in the Ravens
Speaker 1: and it makes for to me a much more fun rivalry.
Speaker 1: And then just the challenge of the AFC North and
Speaker 1: the team that I think is probably behind the other
Speaker 1: three by quite a big margin. Some final roster thoughts.
Speaker 1: That line features my top two tackles from the last
Speaker 1: two classes in both Fatanu and Broderick Jones. I thought
Speaker 1: Zach Frazier and Mason McCormick were both great picks and
Speaker 1: starters from that class, and they also brought in James
Speaker 1: Daniels and Isaac Somalu last year for big money. So
Speaker 1: the offensive line, which wasn't very good last year, just
Speaker 1: based upon the investment, should be pretty good this year.
Speaker 1: I also loved the Peyton Wilson selection. The linebacker seems
Speaker 1: like a natural replacement for Landon Roberts whenever his time
Speaker 1: is up there and that whole draft la I mean,
Speaker 1: Roman Wilson to that group of the offensive line. Just
Speaker 1: a really, really good draft for the Steelers. What can
Speaker 1: they tell us about the Miami Dolphins. I think this
Speaker 1: is the least comparable team to Miami in the entire division.
Speaker 1: They're built differently, new quarterback. The two teams, despite similar records,
Speaker 1: have been in different discussions annually in terms of their
Speaker 1: threat to contend more ball control and defense for Miami
Speaker 1: is obviously the most explosive offense in the entire National
Speaker 1: Football League. Let's go ahead and finish up here with
Speaker 1: the last team in the division, but a team that
Speaker 1: I think a lot of folks will pick to win
Speaker 1: the division this year in the Cincinnati Bengals, who finished
Speaker 1: nine to eight last year and in the basement with
Speaker 1: a winning record of the AFC North winning season, and
Speaker 1: you still finish in the celler tells you how good
Speaker 1: the division is and how weird football is. Right, They
Speaker 1: go three to one in the first four games without
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow, only to lose two to Pittsburgh and Casey
Speaker 1: to effectively end their season. With Jake Browning at the helm,
Speaker 1: they also scored more points three point five more points
Speaker 1: per game with Browning than they did with Joe Burrow.
Speaker 1: They also gained more yards. It was only eight yards
Speaker 1: per game, but they did gain more yards per game
Speaker 1: with Browning than Burrow. I think you could look back
Speaker 1: at this Bengals team as one that maybe didn't strike
Speaker 1: when their iron was hot. Feels a little counter what
Speaker 1: I said earlier about measuring success. But the way I
Speaker 1: write that because well, because the Bengals they're kind of
Speaker 1: a poverty franchise, right They definitely are. They don't pay
Speaker 1: free agents, they don't pay scouts. They you know, Duke
Speaker 1: Tobin's come in. They're done a great job getting talent
Speaker 1: in there.
Speaker 2: But they don't want to win.
Speaker 1: They're kind of like the Seattle Manners in baseball, Like
Speaker 1: winning is not the priority there. They're trying to make
Speaker 1: money and be a profitable organization and they're not gonna
Speaker 1: commit big money to guys outside of Joe Burrow, right,
Speaker 1: Like they'll they'll spend their salary cap or whatever, but
Speaker 1: they're not gonna, you know, to put massive guarantees and
Speaker 1: money into escrow and mortgage in the future.
Speaker 2: They're just not gonna do that.
Speaker 1: And the Packers went that way for a long long
Speaker 1: time and they struggled for a long long time to
Speaker 1: break through. I think the Bengals could follow the exact
Speaker 1: same template, even if Joe Burrow stays healthy and goes
Speaker 1: back to being Joe Burrow, which that's a whole other question.
Speaker 1: I just think the Bengals miss their opportunity within the
Speaker 1: Borough rookie contract because of how uniquely.
Speaker 2: Built instead up they are as a franchise.
Speaker 1: What a crazy season and a sneaky massive one coming
Speaker 1: up in twenty twenty four. All years are big, but
Speaker 1: I think they have some questions for the first time
Speaker 1: in a few years, especially pertending to that quarterback and
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow I think is one of the best in
Speaker 1: the game, but availability and production have not been there
Speaker 1: the last two seasons. Offseason changes for the Bengals in
Speaker 1: Trent Brown, Zach Moss, Sheldon Rankins, Von Bell, Gino Stone,
Speaker 1: Amarius Mims their first round draft picks, So once again
Speaker 1: more investments to the offensive line. They've been doing that
Speaker 1: for a few years now and it hasn't really panned
Speaker 1: out for them. They do go out and get Sheldon
Speaker 1: Rankins and they bring Von Bell back, which I thought
Speaker 1: their defense really fell off when they said goodbye to
Speaker 1: Jesse Bates and Von Bell. So getting Bell and Gino
Speaker 1: Stone's a big addition there. The biggest ones could be
Speaker 1: on the horizon after you hear this podcast. Both Higgins
Speaker 1: and Hendrix put in trade request ahead of contract years
Speaker 1: and that has more to do with the Bengals operation
Speaker 1: we talked about right like, they don't take care of
Speaker 1: guys like that, and they're both gonna play under the
Speaker 1: final year there and then probably move on and get
Speaker 1: comp picks for both those guys at key positions right
Speaker 1: receiver and defense. Eve Vent leaving Chidobi a Wouse, Marcus
Speaker 1: Bailey the linebacker goes to the Cardinals, Tyler Boyd goes
Speaker 1: to the Titans. DJ Reer goes to the Lions, and
Speaker 1: what a big what a big loss of this for them.
Speaker 1: Jonah williams IRB Smith, and Nick Scott all depart as well.
Speaker 2: What do they do well?
Speaker 1: They create spacing and matchup issues for one of the
Speaker 1: game's top receivers and Jamar Chase, and the offense is
Speaker 1: designed very well to get him opportunities, who has an
Speaker 1: inherent chemistry with his quarterback because they play together at LSU.
Speaker 2: That's the best thing about this entire franchise.
Speaker 1: They also create off schedule and turn pass block losses
Speaker 1: into massive plays because of the quarterbacks mastery of vision
Speaker 1: and feel for space and the pre snap aptitude. All
Speaker 1: the mental aspects of the position are checked with Joe
Speaker 1: Burrow speed and athletic ability the second level. This allows
Speaker 1: them to rush four and play coverage with such range
Speaker 1: in that area and effectively, you know, effective and effective
Speaker 1: draft haul of Logan Wilson, Jermaine Pratt, a Keem Davis
Speaker 1: Kaithier in consecutive years. A few years back, what is
Speaker 1: the concern or the fatal flaws here? Slow starts? I
Speaker 1: mean Joe Burrow hasn't had a camp because of an
Speaker 1: appendectmy because of the hamstring last year. Like, he just
Speaker 1: misses time and camp every year and they start off
Speaker 1: horribly every year. He's missed seventeen starts in his career.
Speaker 1: He's ended two years on IR and in general had worse.
Speaker 1: Career production twenty twenty three is six touchdown passes and
Speaker 1: ten games and just six point three yards per pass.
Speaker 1: I hate when people do this, but if Tua did that,
Speaker 1: y'all would lose your damn minds. Mane He gets hit
Speaker 1: a lot behind an offensive line that has hasn't failed
Speaker 1: to invest, but had struggled to do the job. They'll
Speaker 1: look to the outside again with more help from Trent
Speaker 1: Brown and Amarius Mims once again. And safety was a
Speaker 1: massive issue last year after losing both Baits and Bell.
Speaker 1: Bell is back, but two years later down the road right,
Speaker 1: And this is what I mean by the importance of
Speaker 1: drafting for this team. Dax Hill was supposed to be
Speaker 1: the guy that would step in and fit in for
Speaker 1: von Bell, and it did not work out at all.
Speaker 1: They did get some of that from Cam Taylor Britt
Speaker 1: at cornerback, but that group in the defensive backfield is
Speaker 1: super thin. Some interesting things about this team this year
Speaker 1: is you know, I sort of covered it, but Burrow's
Speaker 1: return and can he stay healthy?
Speaker 2: Because if we can't, then what do you do?
Speaker 3: Uh?
Speaker 1: Higgins and Hendrickson both free agents at the end of
Speaker 1: the year. Is lou and a rumo going to get
Speaker 1: a head coaching because he's been brilliant for them the
Speaker 1: last few years. And it's a tough division. And if
Speaker 1: you can't win the division and you get more change
Speaker 1: next year, then what happens in twenty twenty five. Some
Speaker 1: final roster thoughts. I kind of love what they've done
Speaker 1: to remake the backfield post Joe Mixon. I think Travion
Speaker 1: Williams is a good fit for them. I think Chase
Speaker 1: Brown's a fun player, and I think the offensive line
Speaker 1: should curry more favorite to the running game, with both
Speaker 1: Brown and Mims being huge upgrades in terms of their
Speaker 1: push and they're ability to get displacement on the defensive line.
Speaker 1: Still a fun skill group with Chase and Higgins. I
Speaker 1: like Jermaine Burton quite a lot, Drew Sample and all
Speaker 1: those running.
Speaker 2: Backs a good group to throw to.
Speaker 1: Really deep up front on defense with both Hubbard and
Speaker 1: Hendrickson off the edge, Hill and Rankins inside. They add
Speaker 1: Chris Jenkins inside the former Panther Chris Jenkins, Joseph Asai, Miles, Murphy,
Speaker 1: cam Sample. Really good group there, and then Mike Hilton.
Speaker 1: Just want to make a note that he's one of
Speaker 1: the best slots in the entire game. What can they
Speaker 1: tell us without the Miami Dolphins. I think the parallel
Speaker 1: here is just how important it is to draft well
Speaker 1: and find young players who can provide cheap production. They've
Speaker 1: gotten that over the years from Burrow and Chase and Higgins,
Speaker 1: and that allow them to be up with free agents
Speaker 1: on defense and basically build a super Bowl caliber defense
Speaker 1: through free agency. But now those contracts are paid, are
Speaker 1: about to be paid, about to walk and take the loss.
Speaker 1: You see the need to replace those the defense that
Speaker 1: was constructed of imports with your own guys like Cam Taylor,
Speaker 1: Britt Logan Wilson. They'll need Chris Jenkins, n Amarius Mims,
Speaker 1: one of the young backs, a young receiver. They need
Speaker 1: all those guys to step up for them. And the Dolphins,
Speaker 1: you know, are entering a similarly a similar territory in
Speaker 1: some respects Okay, that's the Bengals. How about the division
Speaker 1: in general? So this could change from now to August, right,
Speaker 1: I just want to make that very clear. I think
Speaker 1: that there could be some cannibalization here within the division.
Speaker 1: I really like three of these teams and rosters and
Speaker 1: the only one I don't I literally always proves me wrong,
Speaker 1: so we'll see. But and probably got better at the
Speaker 1: most important position at quarterback, but we haven't seen the
Speaker 1: entire division stay healthy for a few years. If that happens,
Speaker 1: you'll get three more playoff teams again, so many big
Speaker 1: time stars with a lot to prove. This to me
Speaker 1: is the best division in the NFL. I'll go at
Speaker 1: the Ravens winning it again with eleven to twelve wins,
Speaker 1: the Bengal ten to eleven wins, the Browns nine to
Speaker 1: ten wins. I just don't think that Watson's good enough anymore.
Speaker 1: And the Steelers I'm gonna do it again six or
Speaker 1: seven wins for a roster that I think just comes
Speaker 1: up well short of the rest in the division. The
Speaker 1: best quarterback my superlatives here, Lamar Jackson. That's still pretty
Speaker 1: easy to me. The best non quarterback on offense is
Speaker 1: Jamar Chase. I think the best defensive player is Miles Garrett.
Speaker 1: I think the best coach is John Harbaugh. My favorite
Speaker 1: rookie you guys know us by now Troy Fatanu, the
Speaker 1: tackle out of you, dub and my fantasy sleeper is
Speaker 1: Traveon Henderson, who I think I said Williams earlier in
Speaker 1: the podcast. My apologies for.
Speaker 2: That, So there you go. AFC North is a rap.
Speaker 1: We're gonna come back on Monday and do the NFC North,
Speaker 1: the Lions, Bears, Packers and Vikings and hopefully I feel
Speaker 1: much better by then.
Speaker 4: Butt.
Speaker 2: Until then, that's gonna be my time.
Speaker 3: You all.
Speaker 1: Please be sure to subscribe, rate, review all that fun stuff.
Speaker 1: Follow me on social at Winfold NFL. The team at
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Speaker 1: Come on, Cameron, Daddy just coming up.