Speaker 1: To us buyers touch style by waddle stuck into the
Speaker 1: end zone of Miami Boy, tight froll, tight window. They
Speaker 1: had to get that touchdown on that play. They get it.
Speaker 1: What is up, Dolphans And welcome to the Drive Time
Speaker 1: Podcast part of the Miami Dolphins podcast network, covering your team,
Speaker 1: your Miami Dolphins. How's it going everybody? I am your host,
Speaker 1: Travis Wingfield. And on today's show, it's a free agency special.
Speaker 1: Connor Williams will join us. We'll break down his game
Speaker 1: as well as get him in here to talk some
Speaker 1: football as well as his decision to join the Miami
Speaker 1: Dolphins this season from the Baptist Health Studios inside the
Speaker 1: Baptist Health Training Complex. This is the Drivetime Podcasts. So
Speaker 1: a new offensive lineman here in tow as the Dolphins
Speaker 1: get a big body up front with plenty of experience
Speaker 1: and per auction in the National Football League. And we
Speaker 1: just begin this year with Connor Williams production so far
Speaker 1: with four years of the Dallas Cowboys, and you talk
Speaker 1: about a team that has fielded some of the best
Speaker 1: offensive lines in the National Football League going back for
Speaker 1: over a half decade. Now, Williams was kind of a
Speaker 1: final piece to that team back when he was drafted,
Speaker 1: when they had Travis Frederick, Zack Martin, Lyle Collins, uh
Speaker 1: Tyrant Smith. They needed one more guy, and they plug
Speaker 1: in Connor Williams and he winds up being a hit
Speaker 1: for them as well. He was a tackle at Texas,
Speaker 1: kicked inside to play primarily left guard. He had eighty
Speaker 1: one snaps not at left guard for the Cowboys, and
Speaker 1: it really seems like he's hitting his stride now heading
Speaker 1: into just his age twenty five season. A theme here
Speaker 1: of these Dolphins acquisitions, a lot of second contract guys
Speaker 1: twenty six that range in terms of their age. And
Speaker 1: you know, he surrendered just one sack last year, which
Speaker 1: gave him a ninety eight point five pass block efficiency
Speaker 1: that was the third best on Pro Football Focus among
Speaker 1: all qualifying guards in the National Football League, not left
Speaker 1: guards or right guards, all of them. In total, he
Speaker 1: allowed thirteen QB pressures. That was the second fewest among
Speaker 1: guards that had at least two hundred pass blocking snaps,
Speaker 1: and he had well more than that. His third team
Speaker 1: pressures allowed were fewer than fifty seven of the guards
Speaker 1: in the National Football League one. He started all thirty
Speaker 1: four games the last two years. That includes the one
Speaker 1: playoff game against the Niners this past January, logging two thousand,
Speaker 1: one hundred and seventy five offensive snaps in the process.
Speaker 1: He's played three thousand, seven hundred twenty two snaps over
Speaker 1: a four year career. That's an average of nine thirty
Speaker 1: point five per season, and since being selected in the
Speaker 1: second round of NFL Draft, he's been as durable and
Speaker 1: reliable and dependable therefore the Cowboys as anybody. With just
Speaker 1: twelve sacks, allowed, eleven QB hits and total pressures over
Speaker 1: the course of four seasons, so that gives you an
Speaker 1: average of three sacks, less than three quarterback hits per season,
Speaker 1: and under twenty five total QB pressures per season. That's
Speaker 1: going to give you a career pass blocking efficiency of
Speaker 1: ninety seven point four. Very very solid numbers there in
Speaker 1: pass pro and among guards with at least two hundred
Speaker 1: run blocking snaps. On Pro Football Focus, Williams graded out
Speaker 1: as the tenth best run blocking guard from PFF and
Speaker 1: best in when running left to the A and B gaps.
Speaker 1: Off of Williams right in the A gap off of
Speaker 1: his left in the B gap, the Cowboys average four
Speaker 1: point four yards in both those gaps and scored four touchdowns,
Speaker 1: and they had some good numbers running off left guard
Speaker 1: the previous couple of seasons to some five point two
Speaker 1: and five point eight numbers in going in behind Connor
Speaker 1: Williams at that left guard position, so plenty of production
Speaker 1: running behind him and passed and pass pro as well.
Speaker 1: His athletic ability is a big part of that. I
Speaker 1: think we talked again about Daniel Jeremiah and the run
Speaker 1: to the draft, about guys that can move in smart
Speaker 1: offensive lineman, his ability to it in space and execute
Speaker 1: reach blocks and pull techniques and just anything that requires
Speaker 1: quick movement skills. Those were all on displayer for Williams
Speaker 1: and his four year career with the Cowboys and before
Speaker 1: that in the NFL scouting combine where he showed the
Speaker 1: elite movement skills. Based upon the timing numbers, they're a
Speaker 1: five oh five forty yard dash as a left guard,
Speaker 1: a thirty four inch vertical leap, a hundred and twelve
Speaker 1: inches in the broad jump. He tested the ninety percentile
Speaker 1: among all guards dating back to Night seven. In total,
Speaker 1: Williams earned a nine point one five relative athletics scorecard
Speaker 1: out of a possible ten points. That cumulatively is in
Speaker 1: the eighty five percentile, so an upper echelon athlete for
Speaker 1: the Miami Dolphins offensive line. And again he can play
Speaker 1: tackle or guard. Talk about smarts and intelligence. Again, guys
Speaker 1: that can move we mentioned that as well. But the
Speaker 1: movement skills we check that box with the R A.
Speaker 1: S scorecard, right. The intelligence, well, here here you go.
Speaker 1: Williams was an early enrollee at the University of Texas.
Speaker 1: He graduated high school early and that allowed him to
Speaker 1: get on the football field for the long Horns at
Speaker 1: left tackle and right away earned Freshman All American honors.
Speaker 1: He did that while maintaining a three point five grade
Speaker 1: point average and earning admission into you u t s
Speaker 1: highly highly prestigious McCombs School of Business. I'm reading that
Speaker 1: that's very rare. We'll talk to him about that here
Speaker 1: in just one second. It's hard to get into that school,
Speaker 1: I should say, so. Versatile in life and on the
Speaker 1: football field, because what's one thing you always look for
Speaker 1: in a fifty three man roster that can dress forty
Speaker 1: six active players on game day? Versatility and the more
Speaker 1: you can do will go a long, long way. For
Speaker 1: a football player in their career and for a football
Speaker 1: team in the way they perceived those guys. And that's
Speaker 1: what Connor Williams offers left tackle at the University of
Speaker 1: Texas before pivoting inside to the left guard position during
Speaker 1: his rookie season with Dallas, and he was a solution
Speaker 1: there for essentially four years for the Dallas Cowboys. He
Speaker 1: did play a hundred and eighty snaps at left tackle
Speaker 1: when Hyrn Smith went down and also flipped over to
Speaker 1: the right side to give you some work at the
Speaker 1: guard position. And he also almost never comes off the field.
Speaker 1: Takes a lot to get him off the field. Remember
Speaker 1: last week he talked about leam Meikenberg in that swollen
Speaker 1: eye and not leaving the field. Connor Williams got injured
Speaker 1: in a game against the Eagles in twenty left the
Speaker 1: field to go to the locker room on the final
Speaker 1: play of the drive, came back, didn't miss a snap
Speaker 1: the rest of the game, played seventy snaps played the
Speaker 1: rest of the season as well. So he is very reliable, durable,
Speaker 1: and versatile. And then how about some of some fun
Speaker 1: stuff off the field. Here read the story about him
Speaker 1: at his days at Texas and kind of in his
Speaker 1: childhood and getting up to high school and in college level, uh,
Speaker 1: you know, standout from day one. But he knew the
Speaker 1: NFL aspirations meant adding some proverbial sand to his pants.
Speaker 1: He had to get a little bit bigger. So he
Speaker 1: went from two eight five pounds to three hundred pounds
Speaker 1: between his freshman sophomore seasons at Texas. And that's not
Speaker 1: a rarity. It happens all the time in college football.
Speaker 1: But that's thanks in large part to his skills in
Speaker 1: the kitchen, he says. I guess he wanted to be
Speaker 1: a chef when he was younger. The story I read
Speaker 1: says his parents told him he was a good cook
Speaker 1: and that he wanted to be a chef, even to
Speaker 1: the point that where he and his brother Dalton, who
Speaker 1: also shared an affinity for the art of cooking, competed
Speaker 1: in a Top Chef style cook off in the early years.
Speaker 1: Both were given five ingredients to come up with their
Speaker 1: best dish. I'm looking forward to asking Connor about that,
Speaker 1: and speaking of let's go ahead and get Connor on here.
Speaker 1: We'll ask him about that and plenty more here next
Speaker 1: on the Drivetime podcast, with Travis Wingfield brought to you
Speaker 1: by Auto Nation. Dolphins new offensive lineman Connor Williams coming
Speaker 1: up next. What's up? Dolphin's Travis Wingfield Here the host
Speaker 1: of the Drivetime podcast on Miami Dolphins podcast Network, and
Speaker 1: I'm joined today by new Dolphins offensive lineman Connor Williams. Connor,
Speaker 1: how you doing man? How's it phil? Be here in Miami? Oh?
Speaker 1: It's exciting. I'm so excited. You can feel the energy
Speaker 1: around the building and everything. Just so pumped to be here.
Speaker 1: You mentioned the building. What do you think of the
Speaker 1: new building here? This is our our second season here
Speaker 1: in Miami Gardens. What do you think of it all? Oh,
Speaker 1: this thing's sick. I mean it's it's definitely a top
Speaker 1: of the line and excited to get in here, start
Speaker 1: working out and get him with it. That's high praise
Speaker 1: coming from Frisco. I mean you saw some good building
Speaker 1: over there too. Definitely palm trees and everything. You can't
Speaker 1: beat it. It looks pretty nice, especially at night time,
Speaker 1: the sun, the sunset, it looks perfect. But so you know,
Speaker 1: I got to ask you this because my all time
Speaker 1: favorite dolphin is a Texas longhorn and he guess what
Speaker 1: that might be. It's Ricky Williams. So I'm curious who
Speaker 1: is who is your all time favorite Longhorn? Uh? You
Speaker 1: know growing up and watched him. I remember getting out
Speaker 1: of bed and watching events events run run for the Roses.
Speaker 1: So I'd have to say Vans. When you say getting
Speaker 1: out of bed, you mean I was. It was. I
Speaker 1: was in middle school. It was a school night and
Speaker 1: I got a bed and watched him running. So, um yeah,
Speaker 1: I just remember that memory very Finally, one of those
Speaker 1: were opportunities where could stay up late and watch a
Speaker 1: football game, right because it was a special one of
Speaker 1: the big national championship exactly, all that stuff. So before
Speaker 1: you get to Texas, I understood that you wanted to.
Speaker 1: You had aspirations of being a chef potentially. Uh yeah.
Speaker 1: Mom always Mom always said I could be a chef, so,
Speaker 1: you know, just cooking at home and everything. She was like,
Speaker 1: do what you're passionate about, do what your past and about,
Speaker 1: go to cooking school and wentnot. And I was like,
Speaker 1: uh so, yeah, football trumps that. I think you made
Speaker 1: the right choice. But when you do get in the kitchen,
Speaker 1: what's your favorite your go to dish to make hum.
Speaker 1: I'll beab my fiance, I'll be able to tell you.
Speaker 1: But she likes she likes the pasta, so I usually
Speaker 1: go pasta out. I can't go run with the cardboard loading. No,
Speaker 1: not at all, especially for a big game. So you're
Speaker 1: here in Miami. Now what attracted you to the Miami
Speaker 1: Dolphins in this whole process and free agency? Oh? Um?
Speaker 1: I mean just with the new coaching staff and and
Speaker 1: the scheme and the fit. It's just it perfectly aligns.
Speaker 1: And just excited to be here. Just the sun, the team, everything, everything,
Speaker 1: it's just a perfect fit. You got the awkwahad on already,
Speaker 1: Pops Man, the color pops and you mentioned the scheme.
Speaker 1: You know, what is it about Mike McDaniel and this
Speaker 1: Dolphin system? Do you think that really benefits your skill
Speaker 1: set on the offensive line? Yeah, I've always been uh.
Speaker 1: I mean I played tight end in high school, so
Speaker 1: I've always been the athletic type of offensive alignment. So
Speaker 1: being able to get out moving space, run the rock
Speaker 1: and uh and that's all they say. So it's singing
Speaker 1: to me. So very excited catch a bunch of touchdowns
Speaker 1: as a tight end um one or two, maybe not
Speaker 1: I know you're an athletic guy, so that that definitely
Speaker 1: tracks as well here. But you know you mentioned Mike McDaniel,
Speaker 1: this Dolphins system and there's plenty of offensive line coaching
Speaker 1: experience here with Frank Smith. John Embrey has running game
Speaker 1: coordinator experience as well. How do you think all that
Speaker 1: experience on the offensive line can benefit you and this
Speaker 1: Dolphins team going forward? So just more heads at it,
Speaker 1: you know, being able to coach, being able to teach
Speaker 1: you technique and everything, and being able to pick up
Speaker 1: other people's brains. It's awesome. It's uh, it's gonna be
Speaker 1: a good family fit. And when you got drafted by
Speaker 1: the Cowboys, you were kind of the fifth piece of
Speaker 1: the final piece on a really good offensive line and
Speaker 1: you guys had production for for your entire career there
Speaker 1: in Dallas. Is there one thing you kind of took
Speaker 1: away from all the greatness you were surrounded by on
Speaker 1: that Cowboys offensive line? You know? I mean I was
Speaker 1: I was privileged to be able to play with thanks
Speaker 1: to such great guys and Hall of famers and just
Speaker 1: being able to watch them and watch how they go
Speaker 1: about their business and day in and day out, and uh,
Speaker 1: I got drafted there when I was twenties. So being
Speaker 1: able to learn from them at such a young age
Speaker 1: and develop into my own, um, it's it's experience. I
Speaker 1: want to be able to take that. So last year
Speaker 1: I saw, just kind of going back over some of
Speaker 1: your tape, you had some untraditional staffs where you're kind
Speaker 1: of moving around the backfield and going to not going
Speaker 1: to motion, but in the backfield. And you know, Mike
Speaker 1: McDaniel used Trent Williams last year on some motion stuff
Speaker 1: with the forty nine. Have you seen that? Have you
Speaker 1: thought about that at all? No, I haven't even thought
Speaker 1: about it. But I mean, wherever I'm needed, I'm going.
Speaker 1: It's kind of a dreamboll to get a head start,
Speaker 1: that wouldn't be Oh yeah, most definitely. So there was
Speaker 1: a there was a stretch of games last year where
Speaker 1: you you came back onto the field and really perform
Speaker 1: late in the season. Uh. And it is you know,
Speaker 1: after overcoming some adversity within that season last year, how
Speaker 1: did that kind of happen for you? How did you
Speaker 1: learn from that process and get back onto the field
Speaker 1: and really produced with the Cowboys. I mean that's I mean,
Speaker 1: that's football, that's life. I mean, adversity comes in and goes,
Speaker 1: and it's about handling adversity. And and um, I knew
Speaker 1: my day would come again, and it came quicker than
Speaker 1: I thought. And uh, I just got back on the
Speaker 1: field and and playing football at theend of the day.
Speaker 1: You know, you're playing with Harry, You playing with passion
Speaker 1: and playing the game that you always played as a kid.
Speaker 1: So it's not much more to it. Yeah, we love
Speaker 1: to see that down here, especially Lee and I want
Speaker 1: to go back to the Texas talk right here because
Speaker 1: you're gonna reunite with one of your former long home
Speaker 1: teammates and Brandon Jones. Have you guys stayed in touch.
Speaker 1: Good to see a familiar face here. I'm excited to
Speaker 1: see him. You know, I haven't talking i haven't talked
Speaker 1: to him in a while, and I'm excited to see him.
Speaker 1: I'm excited to be able to link up with them. Yeah,
Speaker 1: he's a pretty energetic guy here that we have and
Speaker 1: a lot of those guys down here in the building,
Speaker 1: so you'll fit right in with them. Um. So as
Speaker 1: we get going here, you know what are you most
Speaker 1: excited about this opportunity? It could be football, the culture
Speaker 1: of South Florida, some food, maybe you talk about being
Speaker 1: a chef dealer's choice. What are you most excited about
Speaker 1: here with the Miami Dolphins. Uh, you know what. I'm
Speaker 1: born and raised and text my whole life went to
Speaker 1: Uta and everything. Being able to get out of that
Speaker 1: bubble and a new fresh start with some new energy
Speaker 1: and new team, new faces and everything. Just excited for
Speaker 1: the next step. Is there anything that you have to
Speaker 1: check off your bucket list down here, like whether it's
Speaker 1: going out to the Everglades. We're gonna go see a
Speaker 1: Miami Heat game. What's one thing you're looking forward to
Speaker 1: doing away from the football fan? I guess we're gonna
Speaker 1: have to drive down the Keys. Yeah, yeah, I can't
Speaker 1: go wrong with all good man. Connor Williams, new Dolphins
Speaker 1: offensive lineman, thanks for joining us today. Thank you pleasure,
Speaker 1: And there he goes. New Dolphins offensive lineman Connor Williams
Speaker 1: here on the Drivetime Podcast. These are shorter episodes than usual,
Speaker 1: but we have a bunch of them for you guys,
Speaker 1: so hopefully you enjoy all these interviews with these new
Speaker 1: free agents here for your Miami Dolphins. All really fun
Speaker 1: guys to talk to. Upbeat, energetic, and very informative too.
Speaker 1: As to this coaching staff, this roster, this team, why
Speaker 1: they decided to join the Miami Dolphins. Plenty of good stuff.
Speaker 1: Let's go ahead and put a bowl on this episode.
Speaker 1: But first our last break here on the Drivetime Podcast
Speaker 1: Travis Wingfield brought to you by Auto Nation. Alright, Drivetime
Speaker 1: Podcast Travis Wingfield presented by Auto Nation Connor Williams. Episode
Speaker 1: hope you guys enjoyed that the new Dolphins offensive lineman
Speaker 1: a lot of good experience at the left guard positions,
Speaker 1: some left tackle experience as well, even on the right
Speaker 1: side of the offensive line, so he has that versatility
Speaker 1: and the production to go a long way there as well,
Speaker 1: as you heard in that opening segment. As for this
Speaker 1: edition of the Drivetime Pod, that is gonna be my
Speaker 1: time again Miami Dolphins dot Com. All the write ups
Speaker 1: on all these guys. We're gonna have these interviews coming
Speaker 1: out for you on the podcast as well. Plenty of
Speaker 1: content with the lounge interviews taking a look at those
Speaker 1: guys kind of more of their personality, behind the scenes
Speaker 1: type of stuff. Again, all the content you guys could
Speaker 1: want on Miami Dolphins dot Com. YouTube, social channels and
Speaker 1: everything in between. In the meantime, that's gonna be my time.
Speaker 1: You all, please be sure to subscribe to the podcast
Speaker 1: on Apple Podcast, Leave us a rating, leave us a review.
Speaker 1: You can follow me on Twitter at Wingfield NFL. Follow
Speaker 1: the team at Miami Dolphins across all social channels. Check
Speaker 1: out the fish Tank with Seth and o J again,
Speaker 1: the YouTube channel with all of our media availabilities Dolphins Today,
Speaker 1: and of course, the video versions of these interviews. You
Speaker 1: can find those there. Last, but not least, Miami Dolphins
Speaker 1: dot com. Until next time finds up Caroline, Let's go
Speaker 1: to the beach.