Speaker 1: You were listening to the Miami Dolphins podcast Network. This
Speaker 1: is Drivetime with Travis Wingfield. Back the throne too a
Speaker 1: looking slips at the water. It's waddle, It's six touchdown
Speaker 1: pad of two. Drive Time with Travis Wingfield begins. Now
Speaker 1: let me check your pulse if what is up? Dolphins?
Speaker 1: And welcome to the Draft Time Podcast, part of the
Speaker 1: Miami Dolphins podcast Network, covering your team, your Miami Dolphins.
Speaker 1: How's it going everybody? I am your host, Travis Wingfield,
Speaker 1: And on today's show, one of my favorite episodes we
Speaker 1: do every year a few times a year, it's time
Speaker 1: to step back and look at the roster and assess
Speaker 1: where we are at this point in the calendar. Free
Speaker 1: agency kind of coming to an end here a little bit,
Speaker 1: at least the first couple of waves. The draft coming
Speaker 1: up later I should say next month. We're still in March,
Speaker 1: but kind of any midpoint of the offseason. Let's go
Speaker 1: ahead and evaluate what this Dolphins roster looks like heading
Speaker 1: into the month of the draft. Will do offense today? Defense?
Speaker 1: On Friday? That heck of a lot more From somewhere
Speaker 1: in South Florida, This is the Drivetime Podcast. May gaffe fish.
Speaker 1: So now that we've hit that point of the I
Speaker 1: don't know a second or third wave of free agency,
Speaker 1: and there's like seven waves. Now as you go through
Speaker 1: post June one, you get into training camp and you
Speaker 1: still get some of those late acquisitions that happen with
Speaker 1: veteran ployers, and who knows how long the Packers situation
Speaker 1: can draw out or the Ravens situation. You just it
Speaker 1: just seems like we get moves twelve months out of
Speaker 1: the year. Let's call eleven, given the kind of dead
Speaker 1: period in July. But what I'm trying to say is
Speaker 1: I want to take a step back today between the
Speaker 1: draft and the main part of free agency and just
Speaker 1: take sort of a thirty thousand foot view of a
Speaker 1: roster that I think most of us feel pretty good
Speaker 1: about in will of course take shape, like I mentioned,
Speaker 1: over the next couple of months, because for the most part,
Speaker 1: you'll get some moves here and there. But once the
Speaker 1: draft comes and goes, we get those five or six
Speaker 1: players that we'll see you new members of the Miami
Speaker 1: Dolphins UDFA signed up. That's always a big chunk of players,
Speaker 1: fifteen twenty players. Sometimes then it's pretty much Ota summer break,
Speaker 1: training camp, and then week one. It's gonna be here
Speaker 1: before you know it. So we have what are we
Speaker 1: at sixty players give or take. Here, we're about two
Speaker 1: thirds of the way to the ninety man roster. But really,
Speaker 1: when you look at what the fifty three could potentially be,
Speaker 1: the truth is you're probably there with about forty five
Speaker 1: or so of those guys. Right, so draft picks a
Speaker 1: couple of slots for the UDFA to compete for replacing
Speaker 1: potential injuries, whatever the case may be, you're pretty darn
Speaker 1: close to seeing the foundation and the bones and all
Speaker 1: of your twenty twenty three Miami Dolphins roster. So with that,
Speaker 1: I think it's a good time to assess that roster
Speaker 1: and man just looking at it, without even diving into
Speaker 1: the individuals off the top here how they might fit
Speaker 1: or benefit from the systems. I just think you're hard
Speaker 1: pressed to find a much better Dolphins roster since for me,
Speaker 1: the easy answer is two thousand and two. But when
Speaker 1: you look at the positions in which Miami are most
Speaker 1: stacked at, they sure as hell make up most of,
Speaker 1: if not all, of the premium positions. When you consider
Speaker 1: which spots tend to break the bank in free agency,
Speaker 1: which spots go at the top of the draft each year,
Speaker 1: or if you just want to do it from a
Speaker 1: number standpoint, how the league spends their money at each
Speaker 1: position each year. Your quarterbacks, your pass rushers, your wideouts,
Speaker 1: your pass protectors, your cover guys, right, essentially the passing
Speaker 1: game with run game elements being kind of one B tier.
Speaker 1: And I say that because the two thousand and two
Speaker 1: team actually did a good job of foundational pieces at
Speaker 1: those premium spots too, especially when you consider how those
Speaker 1: spots have short sort of shifted over the years. Over
Speaker 1: the decades, running back used to be that for the
Speaker 1: younger audience, A lot of offenses actually used to base
Speaker 1: everything they did around a Ricky Williams, Priest Holmes, A
Speaker 1: Larry Johnson, A Brian Westbrook, Curtis Martin, Corey Dillon. You
Speaker 1: get the idea. And conversely, I think you typically have
Speaker 1: your positional counterpart on the other side of the football, right,
Speaker 1: and you can usually determine it is by where would
Speaker 1: your high school player or your star high school player
Speaker 1: have played on the opposite side of the football back
Speaker 1: in high school. And again, maybe this is a generation thing.
Speaker 1: I haven't been to a high school football game since
Speaker 1: I graduated from there seventeen years ago. Damn man. Our
Speaker 1: running backs in high school were also our linebackers. Our
Speaker 1: wide receivers were also our dbs. Our quarterbacks typically played safety.
Speaker 1: Linemen typically played on the line on the opposite side too, right,
Speaker 1: So by the transitive property, I think that's right. I
Speaker 1: don't know math, but I'm gonna use the word because
Speaker 1: that sounds smart. If running back was a premium spot,
Speaker 1: then so too was linebacker. And that's where a player
Speaker 1: like Hall of Famer Zach Thomas, who never left the field,
Speaker 1: ruled the middle of this defense. Jason Taylor certainly fit
Speaker 1: the mold of a blue chip player. Sam Madison, Patrick
Speaker 1: Surtan Brock, Marion, Tim Bowen's the offensive line and had
Speaker 1: some dudes that year. I mean, how good was Jamie
Speaker 1: Nails that season. Let's get back on the rails here, Jamie.
Speaker 1: I say this because just glancing at the roster, I mean,
Speaker 1: you're just built for the modern game, with top of
Speaker 1: the line players at the positions that I believe make
Speaker 1: the biggest impact in a football game in twenty twenty three,
Speaker 1: and as much as I can say the game has changed,
Speaker 1: that defense heavy run game. Two thousand and two team,
Speaker 1: they did fail to qualify for the playoffs at nine
Speaker 1: and seven, and they kind of had the same issues
Speaker 1: that the two twenty two team did. Their quarterback missed
Speaker 1: a handful of games when Jay Fiedler broke his thumb.
Speaker 1: But I like two a tongue of by Low and
Speaker 1: twenty three a lot more than I like to Jay
Speaker 1: Fiedler in two thousand and two. Every team has their
Speaker 1: own mode of player evaluation in the draft is typically
Speaker 1: new Miracle grades. Some teams use color coding, and that's
Speaker 1: what I've always done. Blue players equals blue chip. That
Speaker 1: of course goes back to the nineties vehicle with Shack.
Speaker 1: The movie Blue Chips scouting players for a college basketball
Speaker 1: team as a great movie that one go back and
Speaker 1: check out Blue Chips. But that's kind of how that starts.
Speaker 1: But you can kind of look at the roster and
Speaker 1: I suppose assign your perception of each player in which
Speaker 1: category they fit into. That's where a lot of the
Speaker 1: guys stack up in terms of best of the best,
Speaker 1: in terms of production numbers, film, all that stuff. Then
Speaker 1: you have the projection for what you think they could be,
Speaker 1: and that factors in as well. So when I take
Speaker 1: a look at it, it's what you've done, what I
Speaker 1: expect you to do going forward. We kind of marry
Speaker 1: all that up for the complete package on a player
Speaker 1: like take Javon Holland for instance, I think he's refringing
Speaker 1: on a blue player. I don't think his production would
Speaker 1: necessarily garner that type of evaluation. But we also talk
Speaker 1: to something like, I don't know what it was, twelve
Speaker 1: film experts and analysts in Indianapolis, and every single one
Speaker 1: of them that I asked about who can stand to
Speaker 1: benefit the most from Vic Fangio's defense, they all said,
Speaker 1: Javon Holland's a guy they think can become one of
Speaker 1: the best safeties if he's not already that player, one
Speaker 1: of the best safety in the National Football League. So,
Speaker 1: for instance, a guy like him, maybe not two years
Speaker 1: of blue production, but for number three, I am projecting
Speaker 1: blue for Javon Holland. But to bring this home, before
Speaker 1: we get to the quarterback position on the offense, defense
Speaker 1: in Javon Holland will be Friday's podcast, And think about
Speaker 1: this as you are lifting weights on your walk driving
Speaker 1: to work, wherever you listen to your podcast, how many
Speaker 1: blue chip players do you think are on this roster?
Speaker 1: And I'll do you one further. The next tier I used,
Speaker 1: which if you go back to the Lockdown Dolphins whiteboard,
Speaker 1: was plus starter. That was always my green color. A
Speaker 1: player who is enraged to potentially make the Pro Bowl
Speaker 1: be known as one of the top guys at his position.
Speaker 1: Plus use a previous Dolphin as a good example here,
Speaker 1: I would say Chris Chambers lived in this category for
Speaker 1: most of his career. He made that run that one
Speaker 1: Pro Bowl in two thousand and five, but he was
Speaker 1: right on the fine, fine fringe of pushing for blue
Speaker 1: status really his entire career. But was just a player
Speaker 1: you could count on and knew that roster spot with
Speaker 1: solid if not you know, like his counterparts Reggie Wayne,
Speaker 1: Marvin Harrison, you know players like that back in those days.
Speaker 1: To me, the blue category from Miami eight, maybe nine,
Speaker 1: maybe as many as ten. Then the plus starter, which
Speaker 1: was always green on my board. Another ten players. I mean,
Speaker 1: let's go ahead and just go over right now, because
Speaker 1: looking at the projected lineups, it's impressive and what I
Speaker 1: went through, and we'll get to the entire individual piece
Speaker 1: by piece here and tell you why I think this
Speaker 1: with all these players. But here's my roster breakdown heading
Speaker 1: into this. The blue chip ninetieth percent TILE player at
Speaker 1: your position. You're within the top ninety percent of the
Speaker 1: players at your position, and that varies obviously for how
Speaker 1: many players play your spot. So for quarterback, what would
Speaker 1: that make up at the top, let's see one out
Speaker 1: of every ten, So I guess the top three or
Speaker 1: four players at your position. I guess I've attend that
Speaker 1: probably the top five or six, because quarterbacks a little
Speaker 1: more unique, and that's why we have, in my opinion,
Speaker 1: ten blue Chippers on this roster. We'll talk about each
Speaker 1: individual like I mentioned as we go along here. But
Speaker 1: I have the quarterback, two wide receivers, an offensive tackle,
Speaker 1: two interior offensive lineman, an interior defensive lineman, an edge rusher,
Speaker 1: a corner, and a safety. My plus starters, I've got
Speaker 1: eight of those. Those are seventy fifth percent tile, top
Speaker 1: three quarters of their position in the league. I have
Speaker 1: eight the fullback, interior defensive line one of them, two edges,
Speaker 1: a linebacker, two corners, and a safety. The quality starters,
Speaker 1: which is better than replacement level means I'm expecting to
Speaker 1: get better than just plugging in an average type of player. There,
Speaker 1: I've got eight of those as well, with a running back,
Speaker 1: to edge, a linebacker, a corner, a safety, a kicker,
Speaker 1: and a punter. Replacement level is it's not the worst
Speaker 1: thing in the world. It means you have a job
Speaker 1: in the NFL, but it means you're always probably looking
Speaker 1: for upgrades. There, I've got nine such players quarterback, running back,
Speaker 1: wide receiver, tight end, offensive tackle, interior defensive line, linebacker,
Speaker 1: and the long snapper. The next category is depth in
Speaker 1: complete evaluation or special teams contributor. That's kind of where
Speaker 1: most of the players tend to fall because if you're young,
Speaker 1: you haven't played much. You go here fourteen of them.
Speaker 1: A quarterback, a running back, four wide receivers, two tight ends,
Speaker 1: two interior offensive lineman, an edge, a linebacker, a cornerback
Speaker 1: of safety apart giner peatree. And then the final spot
Speaker 1: is we don't really know what you've got here, and
Speaker 1: they typically are the ones in the red. Thirteen of
Speaker 1: those players don't need to list off those positions here
Speaker 1: for this podcast, but in total, so sixty two players,
Speaker 1: ten blue chips, eighteen players who are green or better.
Speaker 1: That's all but three of your starters that I think
Speaker 1: would qualify as top seventy five percent of their position.
Speaker 1: It's pretty damn good orange or better, which is also
Speaker 1: you know, better than your replacement level player. Twenty six players.
Speaker 1: It's every starter plus four rotational guys, and then thirteen
Speaker 1: in the red. That's where I have the roster outlook
Speaker 1: heading into the month of April. It is all cherry,
Speaker 1: it's all rosy, it's all looking up. Let's go ahead
Speaker 1: and take our first break right there and come back
Speaker 1: and do the individuals, starting with the quarterback position. Here
Speaker 1: on the Drivetime podcast, your host Travis Wingfield, brought to
Speaker 1: you by Auto Nation, looking ahead at your twenty twenty
Speaker 1: three Miami Dolphins, as the roster is two thirds of
Speaker 1: the way complete, with sixty two players in tow, the
Speaker 1: draft still to come, the late phases of free agency,
Speaker 1: roster activity come August, all of that's still ahead, but
Speaker 1: we have the bulk of the roster pretty much in place.
Speaker 1: And then shape right here, we take a look at
Speaker 1: the quarterback room. And I told you guys about the
Speaker 1: color coating here already between two a tongue of bloa
Speaker 1: Mike White and Skylar Thompson. We heard from coach McDaniel
Speaker 1: there's going to be a battle for the number two
Speaker 1: quarterback job, and training camp, we know who QB one is.
Speaker 1: He gets the blue connotation, the blue coating here, and
Speaker 1: I'm saying that because of what I saw last season
Speaker 1: when he was healthy and playing and productive and engineering
Speaker 1: one of the top offenses in the National Football League
Speaker 1: and doing so much high level stuff on top of
Speaker 1: what I expect a year to jump to look like
Speaker 1: in the offense. That's why he gets the blue tag.
Speaker 1: Is one of the top five or six players at
Speaker 1: his position right now in the NFL, A yellow designation
Speaker 1: for a backup quarterback with up and down spots, starting
Speaker 1: experience for Mike White replacement level, and then the a
Speaker 1: on Skyler Thompson, obviously with just a couple of starts
Speaker 1: in a handful of games, still remains incomplete. But as
Speaker 1: a room as a whole, this Dolphins quarterback position, it's
Speaker 1: in a great spot. And this is probably what I
Speaker 1: wanted to look at heading into the offseason in terms
Speaker 1: of the construction. To me, the ideal quarterback room looks
Speaker 1: like this where you have your bona fide starter, one
Speaker 1: of the best players at his position, And that's how
Speaker 1: I'm going to continue to view this guy because the
Speaker 1: head coach views him that way, and this head coach
Speaker 1: knows more than you or I, and I don't know
Speaker 1: what kind of matches my evaluation since like twenty eighteen
Speaker 1: as well, so I'll just stick with that. Also, you've
Speaker 1: got the capable backup with that kind of firestarter mentality
Speaker 1: coming off the bench in a pinch, who can play
Speaker 1: well from the jump, which I think is the key,
Speaker 1: Like just don't come in cold and require a few
Speaker 1: series to get started. We've seen Mike White do that
Speaker 1: for the Jets in the past, and then the young
Speaker 1: guy pushing to challenge him and Skylar Thompson, Like going
Speaker 1: into camp last year, I don't think many would have
Speaker 1: projected more than the practice squad for Skylar Thompson because
Speaker 1: most quarterbacks don't carry three qbs. But he did play
Speaker 1: in such a way all summer that it was undeniedle
Speaker 1: that he belonged on the roster. You put him on
Speaker 1: the practice squad, he probably would have been snatched up
Speaker 1: pretty quickly. Just by the time you filed that transaction
Speaker 1: with the league office, even though the performance in the
Speaker 1: regular season didn't really match that, I think it was
Speaker 1: certainly worth keeping him around to get get an evaluation
Speaker 1: further based upon what he showed you in preseason because
Speaker 1: it was so good, and now with a second year
Speaker 1: here to develop in the system, can he take a
Speaker 1: big jump and challenge for that spot. It would be
Speaker 1: a certainly valuable move heading forward if Skyler Thompson were
Speaker 1: to achieve that role in that status, because you didn't
Speaker 1: have him on club control for a couple more years
Speaker 1: on the cheapest contract imaginable to be your backup behind
Speaker 1: two A Tunga Byloa. So that's kind of where you
Speaker 1: head into camp looking at this from a dollars and
Speaker 1: cent standpoint. But the fact that you have that entrenched
Speaker 1: starter and then competition with the depth and that guy
Speaker 1: pushing is a second year player that you still have
Speaker 1: afforded the opportunity to develop, to me, that's ideal. Like
Speaker 1: you have a different quarterback in each phase of their
Speaker 1: career or various stages of their career. It's like cooking
Speaker 1: a five course meal and you've got to balance the
Speaker 1: timing on all your dishes. The bread goes in right now,
Speaker 1: Let's go ahead and fire up that sauce and start
Speaker 1: mixing it in. Oh, the noodles are ready to be
Speaker 1: strained right now. You just have a lot going on
Speaker 1: and they have to try to finish around the same time.
Speaker 1: That's kind of what I'm looking at here with give
Speaker 1: me the freshest, hottest meal possible rather than having your
Speaker 1: protein sit on the warmer while you wait for your
Speaker 1: starts to finish. Just full of analogies. In this podcast,
Speaker 1: that's what we do, so I love that, But I
Speaker 1: also want to talk about the skill of each of
Speaker 1: these players, and that's where the train slows and we
Speaker 1: go explore the weeds a little bit, as we are
Speaker 1: wont to do here on the Drivetime podcast. I've been
Speaker 1: kicking around this content idea for some time, and I
Speaker 1: think it's a good spot to explore it. It's what
Speaker 1: the league looks for, or even better, what equates to
Speaker 1: good quarterback play versus what you might see on social
Speaker 1: media fans sites or people that do YouTube channels who
Speaker 1: I see takes from all the time that just quite
Speaker 1: frankly don't operate in the same lane that the actual
Speaker 1: league thinks because I see you conspiracy and you know
Speaker 1: what it will was the Deshaun Elliott thing. I saw
Speaker 1: some takes on that about how I don't know, like
Speaker 1: what are we doing here? Man? But anyway, Twitter, I
Speaker 1: do this to myself. I get myself worked up and
Speaker 1: then I can't even begin to conversate about it because
Speaker 1: it just annoys me so much. But the idea is
Speaker 1: that Twitter is not a real place, right. Something like
Speaker 1: six percent of the population has an account, and of
Speaker 1: that six percent, another minuscule fraction is actually active on
Speaker 1: the social media website that continues to get worse under
Speaker 1: new management. But I digress. It's just not a real
Speaker 1: representation of the real world and real people. And I
Speaker 1: think that's the most true with how football is discussed
Speaker 1: on this website. I saw a tweet the other day
Speaker 1: from a fella who fancies himself a draft guru, and
Speaker 1: with these bubbling rumblings even a word that Frank w
Speaker 1: Reich and the Panthers might already have settled on their
Speaker 1: guy before the trade up. I mean, who the hell knows.
Speaker 1: But what I've seen the most of is that that
Speaker 1: guy is CJ. Stroud And the tweet I saw was
Speaker 1: they better surround that guy with weapons. And the genesis
Speaker 1: of that tweet was that Stroud isn't the athle like
Speaker 1: Marvel that Anthony Richardson or Will Levis are right, or
Speaker 1: come with a scramble acrobatics and highlight reel that Bryce
Speaker 1: Young has to offer. Right, Okay, cool? So why do
Speaker 1: you think the Panthers think this way? Assuming they do? Also,
Speaker 1: shouldn't the goal be to maximize your investment like this
Speaker 1: is a sidebar to the sidebar, especially the most important
Speaker 1: position of all in all sports. Why would you buy
Speaker 1: a Ferrari body and dropping an Accord engine with it
Speaker 1: and give you a player Antonio Callaway and Isaiah Ford
Speaker 1: is his top weapons in an offense? It makes no sense, right,
Speaker 1: always surround your quarterback with weapons, especially when on that
Speaker 1: rookie contract in that rookie season, trying to get the
Speaker 1: league figured out. It's a tough position to learn, a
Speaker 1: tough league to learn. So the disconnect is this draft
Speaker 1: Twitter thinks that tangible traits are what makes a great quarterback,
Speaker 1: and this is true for all positions. I think it's
Speaker 1: perfectly ironic that Zach Thomas is going to go into
Speaker 1: the Hall of Fame as this type of debate wages
Speaker 1: on endlessly. Zach was certainly a great athlete, but he
Speaker 1: was he in the Derek Brooks and Brian Urlacker mold.
Speaker 1: Was he Ray Lewis? No, he certainly was not, so
Speaker 1: why he was a fifth round draft pick? But he
Speaker 1: was just as good of a football player. Why is that?
Speaker 1: Because playing football is typically what makes a football player
Speaker 1: good at playing football. And I'm laughing as I'm writing
Speaker 1: this because it sounds so stupid. But get on Twitter
Speaker 1: and tell me that's not necessary. And so to bring
Speaker 1: this back to CJ. Stroud and ultimately our quarterback here
Speaker 1: in two a Tongabailoa, you know what, made two of
Speaker 1: the fifth pick in the draft and probably number one
Speaker 1: if he never suffers that hip injury. You know why
Speaker 1: the Panthers are being linked to CJ. Stroud because they
Speaker 1: excel with rare ability traits that translate to the National
Speaker 1: Football League. That throw with elite timing and anticipation. They
Speaker 1: are accurate as hell. They give their wide receivers chances
Speaker 1: by reacting to their routes faster than the defense can.
Speaker 1: And you'll hear the same BS arguments. Ohio State and
Speaker 1: Bama had loaded offenses. Yeah, they were that, absolutely, But
Speaker 1: do you really think that Mercedes wins seven straight championships
Speaker 1: just because of the car or do you think Lewis
Speaker 1: Hamton had something to do with that? And another thing,
Speaker 1: this isn't even to disparage the two quarterbacks in terms
Speaker 1: of their escapability, their arm strength or whatever. Five percent
Speaker 1: of the time trait we want to blow up into
Speaker 1: being the most important because it's what gets the highlight reels.
Speaker 1: Going go watch two's game. Man, there's a two play
Speaker 1: sequence in the Chicago game right before the Jeff Wilson
Speaker 1: touchdown where TWA gets pressure off his left immediately he's
Speaker 1: dead to rights. It's a free run squared up at
Speaker 1: the quarterback. Two is going to have to get off
Speaker 1: that spot to make this guy miss in the pass rush,
Speaker 1: and he does that. He spins out of the pressure,
Speaker 1: steps up and throws the football away. He knows the
Speaker 1: play is dead. He knows second downs, no bueno. I
Speaker 1: have to get to third down. It sets up third
Speaker 1: and six where he identifies Wilson one on one, gets
Speaker 1: the ball too before he comes out of the break,
Speaker 1: and that allows him to turn up not just to
Speaker 1: find the sticks, but find the pylon, and in that
Speaker 1: moment you get erasing the elite athleticism off the edge
Speaker 1: that most teams have these days. When the pass protection
Speaker 1: breaks down and your play call is caput, you get
Speaker 1: the anticipation to understand how to mac sumize the route
Speaker 1: given the coverage in a situation where the defense has
Speaker 1: the advantage. Right third and six is close to Long's
Speaker 1: it's third and long medium. I think third and four
Speaker 1: to third and six is categorizes a medium. But you
Speaker 1: get the picture and the idea to understand that you
Speaker 1: have to get the ball out quick against that leverage,
Speaker 1: against that coverage, to find Jeff Wilson one on one
Speaker 1: to give him a chance to turn up because the
Speaker 1: defense wants to rally and tackle and get him down
Speaker 1: shore of the sticks. But the timing and throw allows
Speaker 1: him to get the extra yardage after the catch and
Speaker 1: not just the first down yardage, the touchdown yardage. Athleticism, timing,
Speaker 1: placement all on display in elite fashion there. How about
Speaker 1: the Houston game. Remember that just was not our best
Speaker 1: day in terms of pass protection to run. Armstrod exits
Speaker 1: the game early and twas under pressure really all game long.
Speaker 1: Go watch it. I challenge you to go back and
Speaker 1: watch that game again. He is erasing free erunners and
Speaker 1: hitting chunk gains despite what I would call our offensive
Speaker 1: line's worst day of the season and pass protection other
Speaker 1: days they were phenomenal. That's football, right. You're never gonna
Speaker 1: get the same performance back to back, really in a
Speaker 1: given game or given week or given season. I should
Speaker 1: say so, I watch our quarterback do these things that
Speaker 1: translates to success. I see him as the perfect fit
Speaker 1: in this offense that requires pristine timing, understanding of how
Speaker 1: your concepts attack the vulnerabilities presented in a given defensive
Speaker 1: play call. I find myself making this argument so often
Speaker 1: because to me, it's so easy to see. Yet we
Speaker 1: have to listen to debate shows or Twitter discourse. Try
Speaker 1: and tell me that the wheel has been reinvented. It hasn't. Yes,
Speaker 1: there are more and more athletes at the position. But
Speaker 1: you know what makes those quarterbacks elite. It's not the
Speaker 1: two plays a game where they spin out a pressure
Speaker 1: like two win in Baltimore on the great Craft touchdown.
Speaker 1: It's the stick nod throw to Waddle where he moves
Speaker 1: a linebacker and throws with perfect touch over one defender.
Speaker 1: Under another I go back to Patrick Mahomes. The dude
Speaker 1: is the unicorn, right, But you know why he's elite.
Speaker 1: You know why they won the Super Bowl despite losing
Speaker 1: the best wide receiver in the National Football League because
Speaker 1: Patrick Mahomes learned how to attack vulnerabilities and play patient
Speaker 1: against the ever present too deep looks the NFL has
Speaker 1: rolled out in recent years. He learned to not force
Speaker 1: the ball and to limit turnovers. Look at our playoff game.
Speaker 1: Josh Allen's a great player. I'd say he's top three quarterback,
Speaker 1: probably number two for me. But he struggled because he
Speaker 1: tried to push the ball down the field all game long.
Speaker 1: He averaged over fifteen yards per air throw. That's a
Speaker 1: crazy number. He tried to make the splash highlight play
Speaker 1: and it backfired. And their offense wasn't that good in
Speaker 1: that game against a defense that struggled all year long.
Speaker 1: They gave the Dolphins defense points as well as not
Speaker 1: you know, converting a lot of first downs for long
Speaker 1: periods of time in that game, and the Dolphins did
Speaker 1: a great job battling on those and not really getting
Speaker 1: beat deep beyond those first couple of drives. But the
Speaker 1: athleticism also led to a fumble, scoop and score points
Speaker 1: on the board. I'm just saying the reason Allen became
Speaker 1: Josh Allen was the way that he learned how to
Speaker 1: really master the idea of playing the position in twenty
Speaker 1: twenty one, really twenty twenty under Brian Dayball, That's who
Speaker 1: Tua is to me. He's a savant at playing the position,
Speaker 1: and it's why he was one of the top five
Speaker 1: qbs in the NFL last year and why highlist him
Speaker 1: is such there. I think so highly of his game,
Speaker 1: I think so highly of his fit in this system.
Speaker 1: That's the most undervalued thing I think by football, the
Speaker 1: football cognats day. We talk about it in the draft.
Speaker 1: Where you go is even more important than how high
Speaker 1: you go. And they say that because of the fit.
Speaker 1: McDaniel the person and McDaniel's system maximizes those traits and
Speaker 1: makes too a special player. And I think the best
Speaker 1: is yet to come as he gets more and more
Speaker 1: comfortable and coach McDaniel's system. That's why I think you
Speaker 1: have to feel very good about this loaded roster. We're
Speaker 1: talking about being engineered or pioneered or conducted by a
Speaker 1: quarterback who I feel is on par with that start
Speaker 1: level caliber play. That's a lot talking about just one position,
Speaker 1: one player. Really, I think the way Mike White plays
Speaker 1: in the system with his timing and understanding of the game,
Speaker 1: is a nice transition from QB one to QB two
Speaker 1: in the event you don't have QB one and then Skyler,
Speaker 1: with a full year and tons of tape to study
Speaker 1: on himself in the exact same position, fired up for
Speaker 1: this QB real you probably keep three, I imagine with
Speaker 1: the some of the health concerns I went through last year.
Speaker 1: But we'll see it's a long way away. That was long.
Speaker 1: Let's go ahead and just pick it right back up
Speaker 1: here at the running back position, because we're up against
Speaker 1: break number two and we're only through one position so far.
Speaker 1: But let's go ahead and talk about the running backs
Speaker 1: room full of five players, one as a fullback, and
Speaker 1: it's a full running back scenario where the quarterback room
Speaker 1: feels pretty set. It never hurts to bring a fourth
Speaker 1: arm to camp. We'll see. I doubt it, but we'll see.
Speaker 1: I think the running back room could be set, or
Speaker 1: you could still drop in another player from essentially any
Speaker 1: level of investment by that. I mean, you could make
Speaker 1: a legit case to spend pick fifty one on a
Speaker 1: running back and I wouldn't bat an eye at that.
Speaker 1: I think you could also make a case you'll only
Speaker 1: bring in a u DFA or two in training camp.
Speaker 1: But right now it looks like this for he Mostert,
Speaker 1: Jeff Wilson, Savannakhmed, Miles Gaskin. That's how it finished last year,
Speaker 1: That's how it's going to go into the year of
Speaker 1: this year. Alec Ingold also part of that fold. Let's
Speaker 1: go ahead and start with the fullback, who I have
Speaker 1: as a green player, one of the more valuable pieces
Speaker 1: on the roster simply because he just does what no
Speaker 1: one else really can. Yeah, you could probably recreate some
Speaker 1: of his snaps in the interim with your tight end
Speaker 1: of choice. And we didn't get a chance to really
Speaker 1: see who that was last year because we always had
Speaker 1: Ingled available, even with the injured hand. But he unlocks
Speaker 1: so many different formations and plays and man watching him
Speaker 1: wipe out edges on so many of those big runs
Speaker 1: where he has to come out and dig out the backside.
Speaker 1: In addition to what he offers as a fullback and
Speaker 1: pass protection and running the football. There's a reason why
Speaker 1: only Patrick Ricard in Baltimore and Kyle Huschek played more
Speaker 1: snaps last year among fullbacks. I thought Raheem most who
Speaker 1: gets a Orange tag for me a quality starter, got
Speaker 1: better as the year went along, and I could see
Speaker 1: him pushing for a green tag returning from his injury
Speaker 1: that wiped out the entire twenty twenty one season. With
Speaker 1: how quick he gets to the perimeter and then hits
Speaker 1: the hole even faster, I thought it got better all
Speaker 1: year long. I think it's like Tua, just a great
Speaker 1: thing for the system. I know toront Arms has talked
Speaker 1: about how good Raheem is for this particular running game,
Speaker 1: the big plays in the run game, the drive starters,
Speaker 1: his chemistry with Tuah, the way he is in the
Speaker 1: locker room, the year here in the system, him with
Speaker 1: largely the same offensive line, I think the best is
Speaker 1: yet to come there. And then Jeff Wilson, who I
Speaker 1: gave a yellow tag replacement level but also really closer
Speaker 1: to orange as well. We'll see how that plays out
Speaker 1: this year. But coming over from San Francisco after not
Speaker 1: having many opportunities there the injury late in the year,
Speaker 1: some pass pro and drops that happened late in the season.
Speaker 1: Let's go ahead and see more before he bumped that up.
Speaker 1: But he arrives with quite the impact and that touchdown production,
Speaker 1: some big tackle breaking runs. Quite the compliment in terms
Speaker 1: of a one two punch with a speed and power situation.
Speaker 1: I thought we saw some of the ability in the
Speaker 1: passing game early before the drops occurred. But I think
Speaker 1: that when defenses want to play like Buffalo and stay
Speaker 1: in that nickel defense all game long with lighter boxes,
Speaker 1: I think Jeff Wilson's a good answer to that puzzle.
Speaker 1: Y'all know, I'm a huge savan Akmed fan. Speed pass
Speaker 1: catching ability. I think he's come a long way in
Speaker 1: pass pro special team contributor. Love the way he can
Speaker 1: fulfill that role. But also when you're down in the back,
Speaker 1: he doesn't give you some massive drop off in offense,
Speaker 1: like you still have the speed, you still have the
Speaker 1: smarts and some of the intelligence that goes along with
Speaker 1: the running game. To me, that's the premier type of
Speaker 1: depth back, or ideal type of depth back. He does
Speaker 1: get the purple tag because not a lot of offensive production,
Speaker 1: but special teams for sure, and just good quality depth
Speaker 1: and then Myles gask Him, with his vision and smooth
Speaker 1: running style, was probably the best pass catcher of the group,
Speaker 1: but lots of production in this league. Even though it
Speaker 1: wasn't last year for Miles Gaskin, he comes back for
Speaker 1: his fifth season with the Miami Dolphins. So as a whole,
Speaker 1: I think you could look at it and say there
Speaker 1: could be some potential upgrades and maybe you didn't get
Speaker 1: the splash move you wanted, but I think that continuity
Speaker 1: certainly is valuable. I think we saw a lot of
Speaker 1: the backs get better as the year went along, and
Speaker 1: I think the idea is that a full off season,
Speaker 1: a full year of Raheem and Jeff could really benefit
Speaker 1: you in a way. You didn't get the run game
Speaker 1: going is last year, but also wouldn't be surprised, like
Speaker 1: I said, because I think you have to look at
Speaker 1: this offense and say, the next thing this offense can
Speaker 1: unlock is the running game, and if they can do that,
Speaker 1: then maybe this offense can go from being really damn
Speaker 1: good to borderline special. Let's go ahead and take our
Speaker 1: last break right there and come back and do wide receivers,
Speaker 1: tight ends, offensive line. That's next Draftime podcast, Your host
Speaker 1: Travis wing Field, brought to you by AutoNation. Back here
Speaker 1: on the late March roster evaluation edition of the Drivetime Podcast,
Speaker 1: we are two positions in one long winding rant. As
Speaker 1: the quarterback position tends to go for you boy on
Speaker 1: the podcast, here we have three more to go wide receivers,
Speaker 1: tight end's offensive line. Let's go ahead and pick it
Speaker 1: back up with arguably my favorite position group on the
Speaker 1: entire team, the wideouts Tyreek Hill and Jillen Waddle. They
Speaker 1: both get the blue tags. I mean, that's pretty clear
Speaker 1: and obvious to me. Blue Chip elite level player Cedric
Speaker 1: Wilson gets the yellow the replacement level, and then I
Speaker 1: have a handful of purple and complete evaluations. Eric Azokama
Speaker 1: obviously Braxon Barrows gets that category for his special team's prowess,
Speaker 1: not because of lack of evidence. River Cracraft kind of
Speaker 1: that same mold. Braylan Sanders falls in the category of
Speaker 1: just not enough evidence yet, and then Freddie swayin the
Speaker 1: acquisition off Waivers also goes purple because he's a special
Speaker 1: teams guy through and through for Freddie swayin so, as
Speaker 1: you look at this room with two blue chippers, one
Speaker 1: level and five incomplete evaluations, or I should say four
Speaker 1: with three with two special teams aces. What really needs
Speaker 1: to be said about ten and seventeen. I mean they
Speaker 1: make the offense go their speed to threaten vertically and
Speaker 1: how often we hit those vertical shots, which was the
Speaker 1: best vertical passing game in the NFL by the numbers
Speaker 1: a season ago, which is also hilarious to me in
Speaker 1: the face of the discourse. They dictate the way defenses
Speaker 1: have to stretch themselves and it creates much more room
Speaker 1: for everybody else in the offense. And this is all possible, yes,
Speaker 1: because of that speed, But you wouldn't be able to
Speaker 1: get that ripple effect if Tyreek and Jalen were not
Speaker 1: Tyreek and Jalen. And what I mean by that is
Speaker 1: the fact that if they just they just go hard,
Speaker 1: like going one hundred miles an hour at all times,
Speaker 1: not taking reps off, that is what makes the defense
Speaker 1: have to respect them on every single play. So that's
Speaker 1: a marquee trait. But man, these are two of the
Speaker 1: best route runners and the entire National Football League. The
Speaker 1: way Tyreek pays attention to the details, and just because
Speaker 1: my route has offered aping, now he never cheats that route.
Speaker 1: He's gonna maximize and say, I'm gonna expand this window
Speaker 1: that the quarterback has and stretch the defense further by
Speaker 1: finishing this route and driving the leverage until I possibly
Speaker 1: until I really can't possibly do it anymore. We've talked
Speaker 1: about this before with Wattle when watching the games back,
Speaker 1: the way he maintains speed and gets around reroutes is impressive.
Speaker 1: He does this move where he kind of takes both
Speaker 1: of his hands and almost swims over the defender like
Speaker 1: you'd see from a great pass rusher. It gets them
Speaker 1: out leverage and allows Jalen to rip through the secondary
Speaker 1: uncovered without really slowing down. It's a really, really quality
Speaker 1: traite in number seventeen. These dudes are so damn elite,
Speaker 1: and I cannot wait to watch what they do in
Speaker 1: year two. I think it gets even better for the
Speaker 1: Miami Dolphins. Then, it's depth, it's a variety of skills,
Speaker 1: it's some competition. We broke down Barrios's ability to win
Speaker 1: in small spaces and how that could pair well with
Speaker 1: ten and seventeen and certain packages, And to me, I
Speaker 1: look at this room, as you know we saw it
Speaker 1: last year with Sherfield and Craycraft getting a lot of
Speaker 1: the work, kind of not thinking about it in terms
Speaker 1: of snap counts like one, two, three, four, five receiver,
Speaker 1: but rather how you package them with their certain offensive
Speaker 1: groupings like Barrios to me, makes a ton of sense
Speaker 1: and third down eleven personnel like third and short eleven
Speaker 1: personnel for his ability to win quickly and maybe be
Speaker 1: a blitz beater, a one on one beater when you
Speaker 1: have Tyreek and Jalen out there. You know what Craycraft offers.
Speaker 1: He's a real knowledgeable player in the offense, a great
Speaker 1: blocker with just a good understanding of timing and pacing
Speaker 1: of routes and how to marry up his landmarks with
Speaker 1: two US drops. Also some special teams contributions there. I
Speaker 1: think we saw Braylan Sanders's ball skills in camp in preseason,
Speaker 1: then a few targets in the season. I think you
Speaker 1: expect him to compete for a spot Freddie sway Back
Speaker 1: claimed off waivers and then Eric Azukama to me, is
Speaker 1: the catalyst of this part of the wide receiver group,
Speaker 1: and how you feel about him, I think dictates where
Speaker 1: you go with this position group from here up until September.
Speaker 1: I just think the talent is there man, the way
Speaker 1: he bounces off tacklers, the way he can make those
Speaker 1: contests and catches in one on one situations. I keep
Speaker 1: thinking about the catch he made. I think it was
Speaker 1: against phil in the preseason. There was a slot fade,
Speaker 1: and the way he ran the route and stacked and
Speaker 1: elevated and made the catch and survived the ground. We
Speaker 1: talk about Barrios's ability to win in short spaces. Ee
Speaker 1: offers something a little bit of something different in that
Speaker 1: role with his vertical prowess and the rack ability we
Speaker 1: saw in college, and the same way those one on
Speaker 1: one chances for Barrios are attractive. To beat the quick
Speaker 1: zone hitters and let's move the chains as Zukama could
Speaker 1: potentially be a guy that gets those opportunities, slips a
Speaker 1: tackle with no one near him, and then turns a
Speaker 1: five yard gain into a fifty yard touchdown. If that
Speaker 1: carries over to the NFL watch out. I love his game.
Speaker 1: I hope it goes that way, but he, to me,
Speaker 1: is the catalyst. I think conventional wisdom says this room
Speaker 1: is ready for camp, but I also don't think the
Speaker 1: positions off the board completely in the draft and definitely
Speaker 1: not out of the UDFA portion at all. I've mentioned
Speaker 1: the expertise we have with McDaniel and Welker and their
Speaker 1: wide receiver background. I'm all about letting them go uncover
Speaker 1: a gem somewhere akin to what they were able to
Speaker 1: get last year with Braylon Sanders's UDFA. We'll see how
Speaker 1: he develops here. And your number two, let's go ahead
Speaker 1: and talk about the tight end group. And you know,
Speaker 1: I think going into the offseason, this is a group
Speaker 1: you looked at where you can make the most strides
Speaker 1: and most improvement in an offense where it's tough to
Speaker 1: get players up to speed at that position. And frankly,
Speaker 1: I think this position really kind of suffers across the
Speaker 1: league as a whole in terms of the overall value
Speaker 1: you have with it. It's hard to find good players here. Man.
Speaker 1: Like ask the fantasy community, tight end always seems to
Speaker 1: be one of the tricky ones unless you go for
Speaker 1: a Travis Kelcey or you know, formerly Rob Gronkowski. But
Speaker 1: you have to go in the first couple of rounds
Speaker 1: of your draft to get those kind of guys. I
Speaker 1: think the NFL has the same issue here, but we
Speaker 1: have I've got a two replacement level players, and Durham
Speaker 1: Smith and Eric sober and then Tanner Connor is purple
Speaker 1: entirely because of his unknown nature. I would also maybe
Speaker 1: shift Smithe to purple as well, because you know you
Speaker 1: have a core special teamer in his presence on the roster.
Speaker 1: But I've been on this kick for a while now
Speaker 1: that this seems like the room that from the talent
Speaker 1: standpoint obviously, but also just a number standpoint, seems incomplete.
Speaker 1: Like if we're at sixty two players, there's obviously a
Speaker 1: lot more to go. We carried five tight ends last
Speaker 1: year heading into the season opener, so the math tells
Speaker 1: you two more at least one more. Right, Durham Smith
Speaker 1: is back, and you know exactly what you're getting with Durham.
Speaker 1: He's the top of the line special teams, some quality
Speaker 1: reps in the running game, capable as a pass catcher
Speaker 1: when you need him in that role. But obviously you
Speaker 1: kind of go towards the receivers more in this offense.
Speaker 1: Then you've got two relatively unknowns as far as Dolphins
Speaker 1: fans go. We broke down Soberts game on the episode
Speaker 1: last week and man, I'm intrigued by his game. Hand
Speaker 1: size near the top of the charts in terms of
Speaker 1: all time combine measurements. I think you see that in
Speaker 1: the way he catches the football, and let's be honest,
Speaker 1: tight ends typically have to make catches in traffic. That's
Speaker 1: where the big mits coming to play for Sobert and
Speaker 1: I tend to think that this could be the best
Speaker 1: year of his career coming into this offense, just based
Speaker 1: upon the tape and the fit and the opportunity that
Speaker 1: he has right now. But we'll see if that opportunity
Speaker 1: becomes Because how about the potential of whether it's a
Speaker 1: newcomer or Tan or Connor who has track speed, a
Speaker 1: big frame, locks and impressive times running down the field
Speaker 1: on kickoff coverage. He's one of these guys that I'm
Speaker 1: not really sure how to evaluate because I don't think
Speaker 1: we have seen enough of what he has to offer.
Speaker 1: But if he can take a big step, what a
Speaker 1: boon that would be for not just a tight end room,
Speaker 1: but the entire offense and football team in general, because
Speaker 1: this is one area I think we all agree Dolphins
Speaker 1: have to get better. They haven't done that yet. Sober
Speaker 1: is a nice start there, but I think you probably
Speaker 1: look at another addition. But if Tanner Connor can elevate
Speaker 1: his game to be one of the guys that contributes,
Speaker 1: that would be massive for this roster in so many ways.
Speaker 1: Let's go ahead and finish on the offensive line, and
Speaker 1: I know the audience here was happy to hear Coach
Speaker 1: McDaniels kind of pontificating about the position group where they
Speaker 1: currently stand, what is still to come in terms of
Speaker 1: player acquisition. And you look at the offensive tackle position,
Speaker 1: like obviously to Ron Armstead, blue player Austin Jackson, I
Speaker 1: think to this point has been replacement level. And then
Speaker 1: you have three players kind of in that red territory
Speaker 1: where you just don't really know. I mean, all three
Speaker 1: of these guys were unemployed at different times last year,
Speaker 1: so that gives you a feel for where they are currently.
Speaker 1: But that can always change, of course, But you have
Speaker 1: to love what you got from Toronto. Armstead in his
Speaker 1: first year when he was out there just so solid,
Speaker 1: and you think about, you know, what Connor Williams was
Speaker 1: in the pivot and what he did in his new position.
Speaker 1: I think the value both those guys offer in terms
Speaker 1: of their production, but also what they can do with
Speaker 1: your left guard and their ability to just so frequently
Speaker 1: be right in terms of getting the protection, slide correct,
Speaker 1: identify your green dog, blitz as your bluffs, your backouts,
Speaker 1: everything in between. That communication skill set reverberates across the
Speaker 1: entire offensive line, going back to just the tackles. Now,
Speaker 1: Austin Jackson's one of the big keys on this roster
Speaker 1: in terms of him getting back, getting right and getting
Speaker 1: healthy and playing the best football of his career. That's
Speaker 1: what he has to do this season. Had a good
Speaker 1: camp last year, but then the attrition began from the
Speaker 1: opening game, Like he gets injured, comes back out and
Speaker 1: doesn't have a great game against the Texans, goes back
Speaker 1: on the ir for the rest of the season. Getting
Speaker 1: him healthy and playing to that potential we saw back
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty before his first injury that year when
Speaker 1: I thought like Man's like a franchise left tackle. That
Speaker 1: Jacksonville game on Thursday night was incredible. To get him
Speaker 1: back playing like that would be such a potential big
Speaker 1: lift for this team because of what Mike McDaniel talks
Speaker 1: about in terms of the spending on the offensive line,
Speaker 1: Like if you want to go out and spend sixteen
Speaker 1: million dollars a year on Mike McGlinchey, You're gonna have
Speaker 1: to sacrifice somewhere else. You're gonna have to sacrifice, you know,
Speaker 1: at your skill positions with going and getting Jalen Ramsey
Speaker 1: and Xavien Howard a future in the future, paying Javon
Speaker 1: Holland you gonna have to sacrifice. You want to pay
Speaker 1: a premium player like you had to pay to Ron
Speaker 1: Arms at left tackle, Like you can't have them all
Speaker 1: premium players at those spots. So for him to come
Speaker 1: back and realize that potential in year four and maybe
Speaker 1: you know, that makes the cost for year five affordable. Again,
Speaker 1: maybe that's a potential route, but he has the opportunity
Speaker 1: to really help the Dolphins books their roster, their production,
Speaker 1: and ultimately their chance to win a championship, which is
Speaker 1: number one, right, So key key player in Austin Jackson.
Speaker 1: Beyond that, we saw Lamb come in for a pinch
Speaker 1: and play well but minim playing time and then really
Speaker 1: nothing from a Geron Christian and then Keon Smith in
Speaker 1: limited action had some struggles as well. Like the tight
Speaker 1: end position. This is a group that would seem to
Speaker 1: be going a little bit light in terms of having
Speaker 1: how many guys they have going into camp with just
Speaker 1: the five, They're going to be adding guys to that room,
Speaker 1: no doubt. On the interior offensive line mentioned Connor Williams.
Speaker 1: I just think he's such an asset and offense that
Speaker 1: really utilizes the athletic ability at center that Connor has
Speaker 1: not to mention working with Tua to get the protection
Speaker 1: calls right. He's intelligent. He helps us in more ways
Speaker 1: than meet the eye. And alongside Robert Hunt, who I
Speaker 1: think with the way he plays behind his pads, generates
Speaker 1: push and has great awareness and pass protection, to me,
Speaker 1: he's on track to having a Pro Bowl type of
Speaker 1: career where every year you can count on that guy
Speaker 1: making the Pro Bowl. Doesn't have the name recognition yet,
Speaker 1: but I think he will get there eventually. I think
Speaker 1: last year's performance in a game or a recognition that
Speaker 1: kind of takes a couple of years to build at
Speaker 1: that position. I think next year Robert Hunt could be
Speaker 1: the year that he breaks through. Those guys have been
Speaker 1: so damn good to me. They're both blue players. I
Speaker 1: have Robert Jones, who's played at replacement level for me
Speaker 1: over the early part of his career incomplete still on
Speaker 1: Liam Eichenberg because of the injuries and the time missed
Speaker 1: and the rough rookie season. I have Dan Feenie kind
Speaker 1: of in that same mold, just hasn't played a whole lot.
Speaker 1: I think this system and the potential backup center could
Speaker 1: be a boon for him, So maybe he has a
Speaker 1: chance to kind of change that coloring as much as
Speaker 1: Liam Eichenberg does. And then we have Lester Cotton in
Speaker 1: the red to round out that group. But then the
Speaker 1: left guard position another one that has several players that
Speaker 1: got time a year ago, a spot that I don't
Speaker 1: think it's as important as the right tackle spot, but
Speaker 1: to see someone like Leah Meichenberg or Robert Jones sees
Speaker 1: that position, gosh, that would be huge. And Robert Jones's
Speaker 1: sheer mass makes him a good matchup and pass pros
Speaker 1: or like his game, they're a little bit. Leah Meichenberg
Speaker 1: had some improvements last year, but then came back and
Speaker 1: it wasn't kind of you know, what he was hoping
Speaker 1: for in that second go round after the injury. I'm
Speaker 1: really curious to see where Foenie winds up the backup
Speaker 1: center potential. I think he could battle for a starting
Speaker 1: job at left guard because of his fitting skill set,
Speaker 1: and then Lester Cotton got some time lash year in
Speaker 1: the playoff game. I think you know what you have
Speaker 1: at left tackle, center, right guard, and then some potential
Speaker 1: to run out the rest of the group, but right
Speaker 1: now not enough for a five man group. The idea
Speaker 1: to me is to get yourself in a position where
Speaker 1: you don't have a glaring hole at any of the spots.
Speaker 1: Whether it's an incumbent, whether it's improvements, whether it's an
Speaker 1: imported player. We'll see what happens. But I expect this
Speaker 1: coaching staff to understand they have to get better at
Speaker 1: those two spots and we'll see what happens there. So
Speaker 1: that's your offense. I've got the quarterback as a blue player.
Speaker 1: I have a Orange running back, which means a quality
Speaker 1: starter and a replacement level player there as well, with
Speaker 1: a green fullback that's a plus starter. I've got two
Speaker 1: blue chip wide receivers and a handful of developmental players
Speaker 1: in that group. I've got the best thing at tied
Speaker 1: end is a develop a replacement level player there, and
Speaker 1: Eric Sobert on the offensive tackle position, i have a
Speaker 1: blue chip player to Ron Armstead, I have a replacement
Speaker 1: level player there as well, and then a handful of reds.
Speaker 1: And then on the interior, I have two blue chip players,
Speaker 1: and Connor Williams and Robert Hunt one replacement level and
Speaker 1: then we'll see on the rest. So pretty good look
Speaker 1: at the offense there. Defense is going to compete in
Speaker 1: a similar vein one of the defense on the Friday podcast,
Speaker 1: not going to be as long as this one because
Speaker 1: they don't have a quarterback rant to go on as
Speaker 1: I tend to do on the offensive podcast. Here. That's
Speaker 1: my time, though. In the meantime, you all please be
Speaker 1: sure to subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcast, leave
Speaker 1: us a rating and leave us a review. You can
Speaker 1: follow me on Twitter at Wingful NFL. Follow the team
Speaker 1: at Miami Dolphins. Check out the fish Tank podcast with
Speaker 1: Seth and Juice, check out the YouTube channel for Dolphins
Speaker 1: to Day and media availabilities, and much much more, and
Speaker 1: last but not least, Miami Dolphins dot com. Until next
Speaker 1: time finds up Carolina Cameron, Daddy's coming upstairs for dinner
Speaker 1: right now,