Speaker 1: Two fires to Waddle stocked into the end zone of
Speaker 1: Miami type pro tike window. They had to get that
Speaker 1: touch down on that play. They give it. What is up,
Speaker 1: Dolph fans and welcome to the Drive Time Podcast, part
Speaker 1: of the Miami Dolphins podcast network, covering your team, your
Speaker 1: Miami Dolphins. How's it going everybody? I am your host
Speaker 1: Travis Winkfield, And on today's show, we reeled in a
Speaker 1: big big fish. Brian Baldinger from the NFL Network is
Speaker 1: going to join us to break down some exes and
Speaker 1: ohs and talk new head coach Mike McDaniel, the system
Speaker 1: he brings with him, how he could tweak that system
Speaker 1: to fit his personnel here, and how we can see
Speaker 1: the best versions of Tua and Waddle and others across
Speaker 1: the offense. We had plenty of fun with Baldy, Plus
Speaker 1: will break down the games of the three acquisitions of
Speaker 1: the last week in River Cracraft Day Shawn Hall and
Speaker 1: John Lovett from Some are in South Florida. This is
Speaker 1: the Drive Time Podcast. So before we get to my
Speaker 1: guest today, let's go ahead and run down these three
Speaker 1: new acquisitions to the roster real quick with a little
Speaker 1: bit of background on who they are and their game.
Speaker 1: We touched on River Cracraft on the Coaches Announcement podcast
Speaker 1: from Friday afternoon, but I wanted to do more than just,
Speaker 1: you know, figuratively play the w s U fight song.
Speaker 1: Though again I must admit there's a fair amount of
Speaker 1: Washington or University of Washington stuff. I should say that
Speaker 1: I see around the building and Javon Holland rocks his
Speaker 1: UFO his organ stuff now and then. So seeing a
Speaker 1: fellow coug does make this coude pretty happy. As for
Speaker 1: his game, for Crai Craft, not a ton of NFL experience.
Speaker 1: He's been in the NFL since, primarily as a special teamer.
Speaker 1: He caught six passes in for the Niners team that
Speaker 1: was really super banged up that year, and it earned
Speaker 1: him a one year extension for one with thet But
Speaker 1: he didn't catch a pass in twenty nine team at
Speaker 1: the Broncos, and he made his first career catch back
Speaker 1: in again with the Broncos. So seven career catches for
Speaker 1: eighty five yards, twenty four career games, three kick returns
Speaker 1: for forty three yards, and seventeen punt returns for eighty yards.
Speaker 1: He sure handed he won't muff kicks and he won't
Speaker 1: drop passes. That was his game at Washington State. We'd
Speaker 1: put him in the either three to the field, which
Speaker 1: is the closest receiver into the formation, or he played
Speaker 1: all of the formation, but most frequently to the three
Speaker 1: or to the two to the boundary and our spread
Speaker 1: five wide air raid system, and then motion him and
Speaker 1: find a way to get matchups for him in two
Speaker 1: way goes and either hit him with a quick hitter
Speaker 1: to move the chains over and over again, or if
Speaker 1: he got a slower linebacker or safety on him, he'd
Speaker 1: go up over the top for big place. But his
Speaker 1: pro career has been almost exclusively on special teams. All
Speaker 1: one five of his snaps last season we're on special teams.
Speaker 1: In he played a hundred and twelve snaps on offense
Speaker 1: and one six teen on special teams. Just eighteen total
Speaker 1: snaps in nineteen five as a receiver, and then twenty
Speaker 1: seven snaps on offense his rookie season with a d
Speaker 1: eight snaps on special teams back in plus in his tape,
Speaker 1: you'll see the same things every time. He's a very
Speaker 1: advanced route runner in terms of setting up his routes
Speaker 1: and making them all look the same. He'll use a
Speaker 1: subtle lean or a step, or an armbar or a
Speaker 1: head fake to sell you one direction, then cross face
Speaker 1: the other way once he sees the hips flip and
Speaker 1: he catches everything again, which showed up a ton on
Speaker 1: his college tape, tons of contested balls, and man, he
Speaker 1: had a way of pulling them all down. We had
Speaker 1: multiple quarterbacks at w S you that just trusted him,
Speaker 1: from Luke Fawk to Gardner Minshew to Ryan Helinski. It
Speaker 1: just didn't matter. And so, knowing him as well as
Speaker 1: I did with the Coogs, here's what I know you
Speaker 1: can count on. He'll be where he's supposed to be.
Speaker 1: He's gonna work as hard as anybody in the building,
Speaker 1: and if the ball hits his hands, he'll catch it. Now,
Speaker 1: we left off the coaching Announcement podcast on Friday talking
Speaker 1: about the importance of relationships and the importance of maintaining
Speaker 1: those relationships from year to year, and that was one
Speaker 1: of my favorite parts of the announcement that coach McDaniel
Speaker 1: emphasized keeping so many coaches on, even in roles that are,
Speaker 1: you know, seemingly less on paper, but the importance of
Speaker 1: the way they communicate, in the relationships they have with
Speaker 1: guys on the roster and the coaching staff and all,
Speaker 1: you know, all the way from head coach down to
Speaker 1: quality control. That type of stuff really matters. Like here's
Speaker 1: a good example. Maybe not a great example. It's not
Speaker 1: the same thing at all, but for for my personal experience,
Speaker 1: Caleb and Q in the kitchen staff, those are my dudes.
Speaker 1: And when I found out they were moving, man, I
Speaker 1: got really sad. Like Ultimately, what I'm saying is that
Speaker 1: my favorite part of every day is the people I've
Speaker 1: gotten to know in the building. And I think that's very,
Speaker 1: very important, and Coach McDaniel clearly does too. But you
Speaker 1: know what else is great. It doesn't just have to
Speaker 1: be guys you have connections with from previous staffs or
Speaker 1: previous roster, you know, connections. Hence some of the hires
Speaker 1: we were fired up about, right, I mean, actually most
Speaker 1: of the coaches McDaniel never worked on a staff with them,
Speaker 1: like Frank Smith, Darryll Bevil, Sam Madison, Matt Applebaum. Then
Speaker 1: you do have the guys that have like Wes Welker
Speaker 1: and John Embrey on that Niner staff. Best man for
Speaker 1: the job right next. A fullback, John Lovett spent the
Speaker 1: season with the Packers, carried the football three times for
Speaker 1: six yards, playing forty five offensive snaps with one and
Speaker 1: twelve snaps on special teams. He entered the league with
Speaker 1: the Chiefs as a U d F A and twenty
Speaker 1: nineteen and was put on injured reserve and training camp
Speaker 1: that year. He's played some tight ends and fullback through
Speaker 1: his pro career, but he was a quarterback at Princeton.
Speaker 1: Go look at John Lovett's Princeton highlights. They're pretty crazy.
Speaker 1: It was an option heavy offense, lots of quarterback lead
Speaker 1: in power where he did a lot of damage there.
Speaker 1: He was first team All American and twenty eight team
Speaker 1: Annie Walter Payton Award finalists. There he led the number
Speaker 1: one offense in the IVY League, the fourth most points
Speaker 1: in all of FCS, and actually had the six the
Speaker 1: best completion percentage and FCS at sixty six point one percent. Now,
Speaker 1: I can't imagine he'll be throwing too many balls, but
Speaker 1: you get the idea. And the thing that stands out
Speaker 1: on his tape is the quick feet. You watch him
Speaker 1: play that you know, quarterback lead style offense, and you
Speaker 1: wouldn't really expect that from a full back, but man,
Speaker 1: those direct snaps. Not comparing it at all, but the
Speaker 1: style of which he did that was similar to what
Speaker 1: Levy on Bell for the Steelers was back in his prime,
Speaker 1: where it was very, very patient back behind the line,
Speaker 1: pick your spot and then go and hit the big
Speaker 1: yards that way. And the reason he was so successful
Speaker 1: was that he was so light on his feet that
Speaker 1: he could get from gap to gap quickly and then
Speaker 1: he's out there dropping his two pound shoulder on unassuming
Speaker 1: defensive backs. In the IVY League. It's a tough stop
Speaker 1: for those guys. So that'll be interesting to watch. How
Speaker 1: does he utilize that quickness at a position where quick
Speaker 1: is not typically synonymous with fullbacks. But he's got some quicks.
Speaker 1: Some of the Packers tape I saw had him lining
Speaker 1: up as a double y tight end as a twelve
Speaker 1: personnel unbound onsta offensive line, where he would fire off
Speaker 1: the ball and get some push and dent that line
Speaker 1: of scrimmage. He's an intriguing player. We finished up here
Speaker 1: with another intriguing player in Dave Shawn Hall. Now you
Speaker 1: locked on Dolphins fans probably remember this name because I
Speaker 1: was all about his game coming out of Texas A
Speaker 1: and M. He was long. He's still his long, physical,
Speaker 1: well built edge who had a really nice week at
Speaker 1: the Senior Bowl and really blew up and head up
Speaker 1: the draft boards that week. And going back to my
Speaker 1: old tweets, I had him as a third round option
Speaker 1: for the Dolphins that year and he would wind up
Speaker 1: going in the third round to the Carolina Panthers. And
Speaker 1: that was before Josh Bowyer's arrival. And this seemingly prototype
Speaker 1: that has seen guys like a manual oddball Jalen Phillips
Speaker 1: shack laws in these bigger edge defenders come into the fold.
Speaker 1: He's six ft five to sixty five. He hasn't played
Speaker 1: a game since twenty nineteen, a pretty rough rash of
Speaker 1: injuries has prevented him from doing so. He was drafted
Speaker 1: by the Panthers in the third round back in seventeen,
Speaker 1: placed on I R in October, and he wound up
Speaker 1: on the forty Niners practice squad there with Mike mcdan,
Speaker 1: John Embry and before Westmulker was there, and then he
Speaker 1: was signed off the Niners practice squad to the Texans
Speaker 1: a few weeks into the season. He then was placed
Speaker 1: back on their practice squad, only to be signed by
Speaker 1: the Eagles active roster in December, but he tore his
Speaker 1: a c L on the final play in the final
Speaker 1: game of that season, and it's been an uphill battle
Speaker 1: since then. He signed with the Jets in but he
Speaker 1: failed physical and was released four days later. Then wound
Speaker 1: up on the Niners practice squad in December of that year,
Speaker 1: signed a futurist contract, and then was released last July.
Speaker 1: So a fresh start here with the Dolphins. Not a
Speaker 1: ton of NFL tape to go off of just nine
Speaker 1: tackles one and a half sacks in his career, but
Speaker 1: man his college tape, there are things that worked for
Speaker 1: him that work for guys on this line. Like an example,
Speaker 1: we talk all the time about keeping yourself clean against
Speaker 1: the quick game that is the modern NFL passing game,
Speaker 1: and generating distance from the offensive line across from you
Speaker 1: in order to give yourself a chance to elevate knock
Speaker 1: footballs down at the line. Nobody had more of those
Speaker 1: this year than the Miami Dolphins. But his length really
Speaker 1: helps him to do that. He keeps his chest clean
Speaker 1: and he also uses that length for a very very
Speaker 1: nice long arm, which is basically one long arm locked
Speaker 1: out to help you keep your outside arm free to
Speaker 1: the edge to make plays on outside runs or end
Speaker 1: a rounds or reverses, whatever the case may be. And
Speaker 1: it helps him really set that strong edge in the
Speaker 1: running game. And again he just dusted dudes all week
Speaker 1: at the Senior Bowl. That's where I fell in love
Speaker 1: with his game. It's evaluation season. Always fun to have
Speaker 1: guys with high upside like this to work on. Get
Speaker 1: him in the program and see if they stick. That's
Speaker 1: what this time of year is all about before we
Speaker 1: get into the new league year. So coach McDaniel and
Speaker 1: his staff have that and plenty of other things to
Speaker 1: work on and to help break down some of those things.
Speaker 1: Where you're going to be joined next here on the
Speaker 1: Drivetime Podcast by Brian Baldinger. You do not want to
Speaker 1: miss that. Plenty of good stuff here coming up next
Speaker 1: Drivetime Podcast presented by AutoNation. And we're back here on
Speaker 1: the Drivetime Podcast presented by Auto Nation, and I am
Speaker 1: thrilled to be joined by a man who gets us
Speaker 1: all fired up every week with Baldy's breakdowns, especially when
Speaker 1: talking Javon Holland to a tongue of blow, Xavian Howard
Speaker 1: or really any dolphin. The list goes on, Baldi, how
Speaker 1: you doing, man, Trav I'm good. I mean, I'm I mean,
Speaker 1: I don't want to give away We're exactly where I'm
Speaker 1: at right now, you know, after the season, but I'm
Speaker 1: in a good spot. So you gotta kind of you
Speaker 1: gotta kind of catch your breath and uh, kind of
Speaker 1: regroup a little bit after, you know, twenty four weeks.
Speaker 1: But I'm good right now, Travis. I'm it's I'm a
Speaker 1: big fan of what Mike McDaniel has done everywhere he's
Speaker 1: been and happy to share any sort of insight I
Speaker 1: can with you. Well, that's why I wanted to get
Speaker 1: you on here, because number one, you do so much
Speaker 1: good work with the film that's really kind of unique
Speaker 1: in the space out there, I think. And the number
Speaker 1: two just you know, I had a chance to really
Speaker 1: digest your breakdown of that Niners run game under McDaniel,
Speaker 1: and so I wanted to kind of just get some
Speaker 1: XS and O's expertise on here as well, have a
Speaker 1: bit of a deeper dive to coach McDaniel does that
Speaker 1: sound good for you. Yeah, let's do it all right,
Speaker 1: here we go. So, coach McDaniel has been described as
Speaker 1: kind of an out of the box thinker. Right. What
Speaker 1: do you think it is about him that has earned
Speaker 1: him that reputation as a guy who's out of the box. Well,
Speaker 1: I think his background, you know, I mean, he's IVY
Speaker 1: League educated, as you know, and you know it wasn't
Speaker 1: much of a player, you know, to look at him,
Speaker 1: you didn't think football was something in his DNA. But
Speaker 1: he's kind of a football nerd is what he is.
Speaker 1: But in a way that players gravitate towards him because
Speaker 1: players know when they're around him that they can become better,
Speaker 1: that he's going to make them a better player. And
Speaker 1: you know, you know, sometimes you can be Mike Rabel
Speaker 1: and you get the best out of players because you're
Speaker 1: a great player playing for a great coach. And then
Speaker 1: sometimes you can just be yourself and just go this
Speaker 1: is what I see and this is what you can do.
Speaker 1: And I think sometimes Travis players need to know them
Speaker 1: and they need to learn that they can become much
Speaker 1: greater than what they are. And I think most players
Speaker 1: want that found out about them. When, however, long your
Speaker 1: careers are. They want to be told how they could
Speaker 1: become better or great, and I think Mike has that
Speaker 1: ability to do it. There was a great piece Peter
Speaker 1: kingbro this that came out on Monday talking about how
Speaker 1: Deebo Samuel kind of coach approach Deebo Samuel and said
Speaker 1: we need more, not more of a leadership role, but
Speaker 1: maybe kind of step up in that way. And he
Speaker 1: wasn't talking about the raw raw stuff. Just be the
Speaker 1: hardest worker, be the guy who when you're tired, you're
Speaker 1: still putting forth that best effort. It was a great
Speaker 1: blurb there. So we saw Deebo Samuel have a you know,
Speaker 1: almost a two thousand yards from Scure much season this
Speaker 1: year and you did a lot of that as a
Speaker 1: kind of quasi running back. So you had that great
Speaker 1: post about are the great video breaking down the Niners
Speaker 1: running game? Why have those running games been able to
Speaker 1: get such consistent production regardless of who the back is. Well,
Speaker 1: he's got a you know, he's got a long history
Speaker 1: with with Mike Shanahan and then with Kyle and then
Speaker 1: really what brought Mike Shanahan the run game that he
Speaker 1: had in Denver? Alex Gibs. You never crossed paths with Alex.
Speaker 1: I don't believe in Denver, but I I know Alex
Speaker 1: Gibbs and I have seen Alex coach and Alex coach
Speaker 1: is a little bit different than Mike, but the results
Speaker 1: are the same in that what you're gonna get is
Speaker 1: you've got those specific places you have to be that
Speaker 1: you have to get to. And here's the reason why
Speaker 1: when you do this, this is the result. And so
Speaker 1: when Mike coaches the run game, he coaches every part
Speaker 1: of it, the tight ends, the fullbacks, the running backs,
Speaker 1: and he's gonna have a big say in the personnel.
Speaker 1: There's a reason why Raheem Moster was in San Francisco.
Speaker 1: Me go through the list of backs, whether it's Washington, Um,
Speaker 1: whether it's Cleveland, whether it's Atlanta, uh Tevin Coleman. There
Speaker 1: there's a reason why certain backs really excelled in the system,
Speaker 1: and there's a reason why the system has been highly productive.
Speaker 1: And so what you do is you create a pattern.
Speaker 1: You create could be the wide zone. You create a pattern.
Speaker 1: And if you're playing against Fred Warner, you're playing against
Speaker 1: Bobby Wagoner, you're playing against great middle linebackers. Luke Keithley,
Speaker 1: you're playing against great middle linebackers. They don't they know
Speaker 1: where the ball is going. Well, once they know where
Speaker 1: the ball is going, then you break that pattern. That's
Speaker 1: the trick of what Mike can do. He's gonna show
Speaker 1: you this, this, this, and then he's gonna break it
Speaker 1: and it's gonna be to the point where Luke Keickley,
Speaker 1: a Bobby Wagoner, Fred Warner takes himself out of the play.
Speaker 1: They're not even blocked, and there is He understands how
Speaker 1: the defense is going to react to what you show them.
Speaker 1: And that isn't a playbook. That isn't okay, this is
Speaker 1: you know slanty this, it's it's way deeper than that,
Speaker 1: way deeper. And so when you know how a player
Speaker 1: or players or defense is going to react to what
Speaker 1: you show them, and then you give them something different,
Speaker 1: then you got him. And then when you add a
Speaker 1: play action passed to it, you know, then you can
Speaker 1: get big chunk plays. And Mike is that nerve that
Speaker 1: sits there in the film room and just traces those reactions.
Speaker 1: A lot of guys don't have that patience to do it.
Speaker 1: He could do it for twelve or fourteen hours a
Speaker 1: day until he knows how you're gonna respond, and once
Speaker 1: he knows the response, then he can build his running
Speaker 1: game around that. So when you say it's more than
Speaker 1: just the playbook, that's always a big part of that.
Speaker 1: The twelve fourteen hours a day of tracing and finding
Speaker 1: tendencies and breaking those tendencies. Is that like a feel
Speaker 1: that he has like end game because a lot of
Speaker 1: times people, I think a big disconnect for fans is
Speaker 1: what a play caller and what it makes a good
Speaker 1: play caller end game? What is it that makes him
Speaker 1: a good play caller? You know, a guy that can
Speaker 1: that can have the feel for what is happening and
Speaker 1: make adjustments in game that will make him a good
Speaker 1: play caller at this level. Well, it's it's it's a
Speaker 1: lot of it is that is. You know, if you
Speaker 1: look at a guy like Kyle Shannon, you look at
Speaker 1: Sean McBay, you look at some of these play calls,
Speaker 1: just look where they stand when they watch the game.
Speaker 1: I mean there are twenty yards either behind the player
Speaker 1: in front of the play they're either seeing it coming
Speaker 1: at them or they're seeing it going away. Like like
Speaker 1: I would watch the end zone copy of a play
Speaker 1: from you know, from the NFL. So they're they're seeing
Speaker 1: a game like that. But then you know, you listen
Speaker 1: to some of these Wires or Kyle or Sean, like
Speaker 1: they know what the defense is gonna do, and they
Speaker 1: know when they have the right play call and where
Speaker 1: they're gonna be and here it comes, you know, can't
Speaker 1: it's not every play you know, there's there's a place
Speaker 1: for it, and there's a feel for it. I think
Speaker 1: Mike has said, I think has Shawn hasn't. Certain guys
Speaker 1: have it and uh and when to pull that play out,
Speaker 1: when to save it for the right moment in the
Speaker 1: right game. And so some of these guys they're not
Speaker 1: highly emotional people during the game. I mean they are,
Speaker 1: but they're not. They're they're they're able to they're able
Speaker 1: to calm themselves so that they're not too emotional getting
Speaker 1: caught up with the referees and you know, and and
Speaker 1: you know some of the things that can happen during
Speaker 1: a game where they're just you know, takes some out
Speaker 1: of whack where they're just becoming too emotional. Like, these
Speaker 1: guys have the ability to keep themselves controlled so that
Speaker 1: they can feel the game. You gotta feel it, see it,
Speaker 1: and then react to it. I'm sure that that level
Speaker 1: of expertise they feel certainly creates a level of comfort
Speaker 1: to when it comes to kind of keeping those emotions
Speaker 1: and check. And you know, we love to educate on
Speaker 1: this podcast bad It's my favorite things to do and
Speaker 1: that's why I love having someone like you on. So
Speaker 1: two things I wanted to ask you about here. It's
Speaker 1: it's play sequencing and then also all the motion and
Speaker 1: misdirection they use. Let's start with to play sequencing here.
Speaker 1: Can you just kind of give us a one oh
Speaker 1: one on what that means and how I mean you
Speaker 1: kind of answer this already a little bit, But how
Speaker 1: exactly coach McDaniel use his play sequencing to his advantage? Well,
Speaker 1: everything that he's that he will do during a game
Speaker 1: or during a week get ready for a game is
Speaker 1: going to set up everything else. Everything there's a way
Speaker 1: to build, whether it's the wide zone, outside zone. We
Speaker 1: all kind of know what that looks like, but it
Speaker 1: could look different depending on who you're playing against in
Speaker 1: what your personnel grouping is. But you know, I think
Speaker 1: everything sort of comes off of that um you know,
Speaker 1: But it's it's it's way deeper than that. And so
Speaker 1: the movement of what you're showing the defense is very
Speaker 1: specific to what you want to create and how you
Speaker 1: want to get a rhythm going on offense. And the
Speaker 1: rhythm starts really in the run game, you know, because
Speaker 1: defenses are built to stop the r That's that's how
Speaker 1: they think. And so how do you get first and ten,
Speaker 1: how do you get six yards from first down? And
Speaker 1: how important is that to the sequence of what you're
Speaker 1: going to deliver? And so everybody obviously wants to stay
Speaker 1: out of third and thirteen, We understand that. But if
Speaker 1: you can stay out of that because of your play
Speaker 1: sequencing to where your third and three to where you
Speaker 1: can running, to where you can throw it to where
Speaker 1: they have to be able to defend everything, knowing that
Speaker 1: there could be a fourth down play that comes right
Speaker 1: behind it, depending on down distant situation of the game,
Speaker 1: UM analytics, all that stuff plays into it. Uh, it
Speaker 1: could be a two place sequence on third and three,
Speaker 1: and that's why you run. All those things are really important.
Speaker 1: So we talk a little bit about how the misdirection
Speaker 1: the motion that the place sequencing you mentioned there makes
Speaker 1: it difficult on the defense as a guy that's played
Speaker 1: on the offensive line a little bit, How does that
Speaker 1: benefit the offense for those calls where you maybe can
Speaker 1: get those false steps or maybe the eyes that are
Speaker 1: kind of tracking the wrong direction, how does that help
Speaker 1: the offense? Well, sometimes it's window dressing, and it's just
Speaker 1: that it's just window dressing, just getting the defense to
Speaker 1: take their eyes off the prize for a moment. But
Speaker 1: sometimes there was a real specific purpose to that, to
Speaker 1: the motion and to the shifts. I mean, if you
Speaker 1: look at if you study San Francisco, I mean, nobody
Speaker 1: goes the motion more than George Gattle. But is it
Speaker 1: all like you know, I mean you don't even joke
Speaker 1: about it, Like he literally is in motion every play
Speaker 1: from one side of the formation to the other. It's
Speaker 1: is it just changing, you know, from weak side to
Speaker 1: strong side? Is it more than that? What's the defense?
Speaker 1: Is that an indicator man versus own? Like all those
Speaker 1: things are very very calculated, and so there was very
Speaker 1: little I think that is just actually window dressing. And
Speaker 1: be honestly, I think it all has a purpose. And
Speaker 1: so you're gonna get multiple shifts um every single play.
Speaker 1: And but it's all designed to get something freed up
Speaker 1: or to create something like it's it hasn't it does
Speaker 1: have a purpose, but there's gonna be multiple shifts and
Speaker 1: motions almost every single play. That was something we saw
Speaker 1: this Dolphin's offense do a lot this past season with
Speaker 1: under two a tongue of volo and and the options
Speaker 1: they had there. And the guy that went on motion
Speaker 1: the most was Jalen Waddle. And I don't know if
Speaker 1: you've heard coach talk about Waddle, he's pretty excited about
Speaker 1: getting to use that uh that ferrari as it were.
Speaker 1: And you know, he had an interview with Dan Lebotard
Speaker 1: where he asked about one player and before he could
Speaker 1: finish the question, coach said, Waddle. He's very excited about
Speaker 1: Jalen Waddle. So what does this offense do to help
Speaker 1: Jalen Waddle realize his full potential? Well, I think you know,
Speaker 1: sometimes people get paid as being a slot receiver. Let's say,
Speaker 1: and you know, you could look at Jalen size and go,
Speaker 1: he's a slot receiver. Okay, Well with five ft ten
Speaker 1: and you know, not the biggest guy. Um, you can
Speaker 1: put him in there. You can have success. But I
Speaker 1: think that when you have the type of speed that
Speaker 1: he has um, and you have the ability to change
Speaker 1: direction and change speeds like Jalen has, I think you've
Speaker 1: got to play true strength. And so you know you
Speaker 1: can say, okay, well, Deebo became, you know, a quasi
Speaker 1: running back. He became like this, this really amorphous player,
Speaker 1: some of who was out of the necessity in San Francisco.
Speaker 1: They had all these running backs get of her. Some
Speaker 1: of it was they had him at the Senior Bowl
Speaker 1: and Mobile and they saw his body tight and they said,
Speaker 1: from the waist down, he looks like a running back,
Speaker 1: which he does. Um. But you know, the guy like Jalen,
Speaker 1: he's not debo. So I'd be surprised if you know,
Speaker 1: he cared the ball nine times in the game, but
Speaker 1: he will carry it, whether it's on fly sweeps or
Speaker 1: you know, you know, some some part of the run game.
Speaker 1: They're gonna get the ball in his hands because you
Speaker 1: have to. I mean, that's what a good play caller does,
Speaker 1: That's what a good offensivecording or a good offensive mind does.
Speaker 1: Let's get the ball in our playmaker's hands is as
Speaker 1: much as we can without wearing them down, without the
Speaker 1: defense realizing what he's gonna do. And so I think
Speaker 1: I think he's excited because he's a tremendous weapon. Now
Speaker 1: how do you incorporate that into the offense. And so
Speaker 1: I think the offense it's gonna look a lot different
Speaker 1: than it did last year in Miami. Um, I think
Speaker 1: we kind of know that to can do a lot
Speaker 1: of those play action things, and you know, he's got
Speaker 1: very good mechanics as a quarterback. Uh. But I think
Speaker 1: now the offense is just gonna start to build, you know.
Speaker 1: I mean, I don't know what's gonna the future of
Speaker 1: Mike as sick he is, you know, a free agent whatever.
Speaker 1: But I know John Embery and I know what John
Speaker 1: Emery did for George Kittle, and George Kittle would not
Speaker 1: be the player he is right now would not be
Speaker 1: setting records for yards after catch or receiving yards by
Speaker 1: a tight end without John. So I think John will
Speaker 1: challenge Mike in a way that's a good thing for
Speaker 1: Mike if he's you know, if he's still here, because
Speaker 1: I think he's a tremendous athlete that has yet to
Speaker 1: come close to his potential. So I think some of
Speaker 1: those things the offense is just gonna it's just gonna
Speaker 1: grow the more that these players realize the things that
Speaker 1: they can do. Yeah, John Embrey gets an assistant head
Speaker 1: coach role here, And I'm curious if you can talk
Speaker 1: more about him, because I went back over his resume, Baldi.
Speaker 1: Everywhere he went, there was all pro tight ends that
Speaker 1: followed him, whether it was you know, Tony Gonzalez back
Speaker 1: with the Chiefs and in the early two thousands all
Speaker 1: the way up now to George Kittle. What what makes
Speaker 1: him such a great coach? Well, he's got a presence.
Speaker 1: I mean he's a big man, Okay, So like when
Speaker 1: he stands in front of you, there's a presence to John.
Speaker 1: But you know, when George came out of Iowa, you know,
Speaker 1: he was a fifth round pick, I think late, you know,
Speaker 1: middle round, and he was kind of an undersized kid
Speaker 1: that went to Iowa. His dad was an offense line
Speaker 1: coach at Oklahoma, so he understood. But like you know,
Speaker 1: Kirk ference basically told George that you're not going to
Speaker 1: get on the field unless you can block. So when
Speaker 1: George was drafted by the forty niners, he understood that
Speaker 1: blocking was important. He got on the field Iowa because
Speaker 1: he could block. Well. What John said to him was
Speaker 1: he challenged him that one guy should never bring you down.
Speaker 1: You should never run out of bounds, you should never
Speaker 1: give up on a play. There's always yards to be gained.
Speaker 1: And nobody really challenged George like that until he went
Speaker 1: to San Francisco. And so you see, you know, George
Speaker 1: Kittle not going out of bounds. You see him lowering
Speaker 1: his shoulder into defensive backs and running him over and
Speaker 1: getting the extra cars. I mean, go back and watch
Speaker 1: that that shootout in New Orleans between the forty nine ers,
Speaker 1: you know, and in the Saints a couple of years ago,
Speaker 1: and you look how George Kittle basically won that game,
Speaker 1: you know, by not going out of bounds and putting
Speaker 1: him in a position to kick the game winning field goal.
Speaker 1: I mean, that's that's John Emory challenging his tight ends.
Speaker 1: And so I think there's a physical presence to John
Speaker 1: that he wants his tight ends to be that person
Speaker 1: to be more physical than the defensive acts that don't
Speaker 1: really want to tackle him. They don't really want to
Speaker 1: have that tight end dropped his shoulder at two hundred
Speaker 1: fifty pounds, you know, into um, you know, into their
Speaker 1: core work in running them over. So John's gonna challenge
Speaker 1: the tight ends like that, and that would certainly help
Speaker 1: make the offense more explosive here. And one thing that
Speaker 1: would definitely do that is is more explosive from the
Speaker 1: quarterback position just in general. And one thing that we've
Speaker 1: we've looked at with this coaching staff's history is they
Speaker 1: find a way to get quarterbacks to have some of
Speaker 1: their best years and their best stretches of their careers.
Speaker 1: So what is it about this offense that makes it
Speaker 1: quarterback friendly? Well, I think there's a heavy, heavy demand
Speaker 1: in workload that's gonna be put on them. I mean
Speaker 1: when they say quarterback friendly, it's not like okay, just
Speaker 1: take the staffs and here's if you throw it here,
Speaker 1: like some people I think think that like it's just well,
Speaker 1: we we know where to go. I mean, if you
Speaker 1: talk to you, if you talk to Jimmy Garoppolo, let's say,
Speaker 1: I mean, he'll tell you that he never had an
Speaker 1: easy Wednesday or Thursday ever. You know that he was
Speaker 1: the things that he's got to work on, the things
Speaker 1: that he's got to master, like those things have to
Speaker 1: be done in practice on heavy work days Wednesday and Thursday,
Speaker 1: when there isn't all this love for the quarterback, there's
Speaker 1: this you know, this is why we're gonna get better.
Speaker 1: This is how we're gonna get better, and this is
Speaker 1: what you gotta do. And so I think, you know,
Speaker 1: two is is very coachable. Um, you know he's a
Speaker 1: great leader. But you know, I think there's gonna be
Speaker 1: a game plan where you know, Tuesday's are in a
Speaker 1: day off anymore, but you know he's gonna want to
Speaker 1: come in and look at what we're doing for this
Speaker 1: upcoming game against the Patriots or against the Jets, and
Speaker 1: this is how you this is why you have to
Speaker 1: know this, and uh, this is what's gonna change from
Speaker 1: this week to next week. It's gonna change week to week,
Speaker 1: and the quarterback has to understand all of it. He's
Speaker 1: gotta understand the purpose behind the motions, the shifts, where
Speaker 1: we're gonna get the ball, um, how we're going to
Speaker 1: start these drives. And so I think two is gonna
Speaker 1: be pleasantly surprised at how much you can see, like
Speaker 1: just in the staff, you know that he's bringing back
Speaker 1: Frank Smith, whoever it is. Um, there's gonna be a
Speaker 1: lot of teaching that's going on in the classroom on
Speaker 1: the field, uh, and then in the preparation that certainly
Speaker 1: a bodes well for the quarterback in all positions across
Speaker 1: the entire roster. Baldy Man, I'm not gonna ask you
Speaker 1: to get up your location, but I see out there
Speaker 1: living life to the folds with the storkling, the free diving,
Speaker 1: all that fun stuff. Is that kind of where you're
Speaker 1: heading right now? Oh, I'm there. I just have to
Speaker 1: get to a better you know. I mean, I'm looking
Speaker 1: out at mountains right now, but I'll be on the
Speaker 1: coast by early tomorrow morning. And so yes, I'll be
Speaker 1: out there, um, you know, in some tropical place, and
Speaker 1: I'll be in the water every day, every day. I
Speaker 1: gotta get I gotta become. It's a little bit like
Speaker 1: playing for Mike McDaniel, Like I I've got to become
Speaker 1: a better free diver travelers, like my my breath holding.
Speaker 1: It's gotta get better. I gotta work on it. There's
Speaker 1: certain fundamentals I've got a master. Um. I'm not saying
Speaker 1: I'm gonna be underwater for two minutes on this trip,
Speaker 1: but that's the goal of this offseason is to be
Speaker 1: able to go under two minutes and that that's gonna
Speaker 1: take a lot of work. Right now, Well, you said
Speaker 1: Tuesday's not an off day. Tomorrow is a Tuesday. So
Speaker 1: there you go. I think we're in perfect locks out there.
Speaker 1: Brian Balding, your NFL Network, We appreciate your time so much, man,
Speaker 1: Thank you so much, and we'll talk to you soon.
Speaker 1: My pleasure drives anytime, and so there he goes Brian
Speaker 1: Baldinger offering his expertise to us on this Wednesday edition
Speaker 1: of the Drivetime Podcast. We're gonna take our last break
Speaker 1: and come right back and finish up here on the
Speaker 1: other side, Drivetime Podcast with Travis Winfield. We are presented
Speaker 1: by Auto Nation. Here the Drivetime Podcast, your host Travis
Speaker 1: Wingfield covering the three signings from last week, as well
Speaker 1: as talking to Brian Baldinger. On this edition of the
Speaker 1: Drivetime Podcast. We also have plenty of stuff coming your
Speaker 1: way from the scouting Combine in Indianapolis next week all
Speaker 1: the way up into free agency. It never really ends
Speaker 1: here in the NFL calendar, maybe until about late June July,
Speaker 1: but we're gonna be with you guys twelve months of
Speaker 1: the year, and we'll be with you guys three times
Speaker 1: a week all off season except for the bigger events.
Speaker 1: We'll have more podcasts for those like draft and free agency,
Speaker 1: which again is coming your way in just a couple
Speaker 1: of weeks. Plenty of content to come this offseason here
Speaker 1: on the Drivetime podcast and a quick heads up the
Speaker 1: programming coming your way on Friday. We're gonna have assistant
Speaker 1: Dolphins coaches and their media availabilities will have audio from
Speaker 1: that here from new guys like Sam Madison, Patrick, Sir
Speaker 1: Tin West Welker. You won't want to miss that. I'll
Speaker 1: also go ahead and get into Chris Stravelers game, the
Speaker 1: new quarterback for the Miami Dolphins who was signed over
Speaker 1: the course of this last week. I want to get
Speaker 1: deeper into his game more than just a quick snapshot
Speaker 1: of that. We'll do that on Friday as well. Before
Speaker 1: we get out of here, I wanted to go ahead
Speaker 1: and talk to Miami Heat. We have the one seed
Speaker 1: heading into the second half of the season or post
Speaker 1: All Star Break, it's about twenty or so games. I
Speaker 1: fully expect the Heat to go all the way to
Speaker 1: the finals this year. I don't know how you guys
Speaker 1: feel I'm all in on this Heat team. I think
Speaker 1: they're the best team in the Eastern Conference. I think
Speaker 1: they could easily pushed to get into the finals. Then
Speaker 1: once we get there, Phoenix is tough, Golden States tough,
Speaker 1: Memphis is pretty tough. That could be a tough draw.
Speaker 1: But what do you guys think? I think all the
Speaker 1: way to the finals, I'll say they lose to the
Speaker 1: Sons in six. That's my prediction for the Miami Heat.
Speaker 1: Jimmy Butler off the All Star performance, get Tyler hero back. Hopefully.
Speaker 1: Kyle Lowry has been awesome since his return. Bad Moto
Speaker 1: Bio is getting better and better every single game coming
Speaker 1: off the thumb injury. Very excited, very hyped. Let's go
Speaker 1: Heat that I'll get us right into the off season
Speaker 1: mini program or mini camps and off season program here
Speaker 1: for the Dolphins. So plenty of fun stuff coming your
Speaker 1: way here on the South Florida sports landscape. In the meantime,
Speaker 1: that's gonna be my time you all. Please be sure
Speaker 1: to subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcast. Leave us
Speaker 1: a rating, leave us a review. You can follow me
Speaker 1: on Twitter and Instagram at Wingfield NFL. You can follow
Speaker 1: the team at Miami Dolphins across all social media platforms.
Speaker 1: Check out the fish Tank Podcast with Seth and o J.
Speaker 1: Dan Lebotard on the last episode you do not want
Speaker 1: to miss that one. Of course, our YouTube channel for
Speaker 1: Media availabilities and Dolphins Today, and last but not least,
Speaker 1: Miami Dolphins dot com. Until next time finds up Caroline,
Speaker 1: Daddy is coming home. M