Speaker 1: That's all booking, Clutch Down, Miami Run. 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? It is hump Day.
Speaker 1: I am your host, Travis Wingfield and as always, I
Speaker 1: am here to bring you your daily dose of Miami
Speaker 1: Dolphins football. And on today show, it's a deep dive Wednesday,
Speaker 1: We're gonna hear from the PhDs themselves. I've got audio
Speaker 1: from conversations with coach Fry, Lemuel, John Pierre, coach grizz
Speaker 1: Coach Burke's coach g A, Coach Clark, and coach Campanelli.
Speaker 1: Plus we talked about the two thousand twenty and two
Speaker 1: thousand twenty one draft classes on the Monday podcast. I
Speaker 1: think it was, but we're gonna take a deeper dive
Speaker 1: into the progression of those players now one and a
Speaker 1: half and a half year into their pro careers. Busy,
Speaker 1: Busy edition of the Drivetime Podcast from the Baptist Health
Speaker 1: Studios inside the Baptist Health Training Complex. This is the
Speaker 1: Drivetime Podcast. It's midweek. It feels like it's been about
Speaker 1: a month since the last Dolphins game. But in the
Speaker 1: best way possible, anybody else fired up for Sunday, I share, am,
Speaker 1: but that's half a week away. We have today's practice
Speaker 1: and the meetings and all that we have to get through,
Speaker 1: as well as the rest of the week. But on
Speaker 1: Tuesday we had assistant coach availability, and what better way
Speaker 1: to really examine this theme that I've been going on
Speaker 1: for a couple of weeks now with these last two
Speaker 1: Dolphins draft classes and how they are progressing so far
Speaker 1: a little bit over midway into season. And I'm not
Speaker 1: gonna be labor this point because you've heard me talk
Speaker 1: about it at least twenty five times now. But take
Speaker 1: a look at the game logs of guys like Xavian
Speaker 1: Howard and Mike get Sicky and see when their careers
Speaker 1: began to really take off. And that's not rule by
Speaker 1: any means. I mean, shoot, look at the trajectory of
Speaker 1: this year's Dolphins class and the way it stacks up
Speaker 1: right now. And Coach Flores has talked about this directly before,
Speaker 1: how development is not linear and it's not the same
Speaker 1: for any one player. It's a case by case situation.
Speaker 1: And the point there is to say it's a process.
Speaker 1: It's a process. It's a process, develop a plan, get
Speaker 1: the right kind of guys in the building, and as
Speaker 1: they execute the plan, they can start to see the
Speaker 1: fruits of that labor, as their physical traits and the
Speaker 1: makeup of who these guys are as people in the
Speaker 1: way they work start to come to the surface because
Speaker 1: they put in that requisite work. And that's a theme
Speaker 1: you're obviously used to hearing, and one you'll hear again
Speaker 1: on today's pod as we hear from significant portions of
Speaker 1: this Dolphins coaching staff. I got to as many as
Speaker 1: I could. I didn't get to everybody, but I got
Speaker 1: too as many as I could. But before that, I
Speaker 1: kind of want to look around the league and just
Speaker 1: talk about your standard draft class, because I think in
Speaker 1: order to talk about the Dolphins, you have to compare
Speaker 1: you know, the rest of the league and see what
Speaker 1: the norms are and what a good class looks like,
Speaker 1: what's the norm and so forth and so on. And
Speaker 1: I want to start with the great classes of recent memory,
Speaker 1: and really just the seventeen draft class here, because the
Speaker 1: last or the best draft class in my opinion, over
Speaker 1: the last decade. And I'm not sure this is up
Speaker 1: for debate. Was the seventeen New Orleans Saints class. Marshawn Lattimore,
Speaker 1: Ryan ram Check, Marcus Williams, Alvin Kamara, Alex Anzeloni, Trey Hendrickson,
Speaker 1: Alkaden Mohammed and full transparency. I forgot about those last
Speaker 1: three picks. Anzeloni starts for the Lions, Hendrickson got that
Speaker 1: monster free agent contract after like a fifteen sack year
Speaker 1: last year from the Saints. He's now in Cincinnati, and
Speaker 1: Mohammed's a big time impact player for the Colts. Not
Speaker 1: to mention the three all pros off the top with
Speaker 1: another very solid starter in Marcus Williams. That's the standard,
Speaker 1: but very very far from the norm, as I found
Speaker 1: out going through and twenty nine teen draft classes. And
Speaker 1: the reason I went there is because I think you
Speaker 1: you're starting to have enough of a sample size for
Speaker 1: all three of those classes, especially seventeen and eighteen, now
Speaker 1: in years four and five, but now year three for nineteen.
Speaker 1: So this is something of a continuation of the scanning
Speaker 1: the social segment we did that we do every single week,
Speaker 1: but I did the one this week talking about this
Speaker 1: draft class. I wanted to expand upon that because it
Speaker 1: was brief in nature and I wanted to expand upon
Speaker 1: the progress of our own guys where they're going here
Speaker 1: late in the season, and then look around the rest
Speaker 1: of the league and kind of see how that measures
Speaker 1: up to the rest of the league. So with that,
Speaker 1: I went over every single draft class from those three
Speaker 1: seasons and I marked how many impact players each team
Speaker 1: selected in that given year. And it was up to
Speaker 1: my own discretion, So it's not, you know, black and white.
Speaker 1: It's kind of some subjectiveness in here, but um, I
Speaker 1: just wanted to look at it and give you guys
Speaker 1: a comparison overall. So I'm not gonna go through and
Speaker 1: read the numbers I have for everybody, but I did
Speaker 1: want to kind of point towards something that stand out,
Speaker 1: like just taking one portion of this chart, for instance,
Speaker 1: and giving you the numbers on some of these teams
Speaker 1: over those three years, like impact players and the years
Speaker 1: that that happens. Like, for instance, this chunk of teams
Speaker 1: is just right in the middle, so kind of taking
Speaker 1: a look at it. Denver one two and two, Detroit
Speaker 1: one two and two, Green Bay zero two and three,
Speaker 1: Houston one to one, Indianapolis one five to Jacksonville to
Speaker 1: one too. You get the sense there like there are
Speaker 1: lots of ones and twos in there where teams come
Speaker 1: out of draft classes with only a couple of guys
Speaker 1: that are long term impact players on their roster. So
Speaker 1: I think the expectation out there might be a little
Speaker 1: bit misguided because of that, And that was certainly for
Speaker 1: myself as well, kind of looking at these numbers, I
Speaker 1: mean eat for instance, like even after the Saints that
Speaker 1: year they had seven, which is by far the gold standard,
Speaker 1: the Ravens had six and twenty eight teen that I
Speaker 1: thought were impact players. But after that there was not
Speaker 1: really any juggernaut type of numbers, Like the norm is
Speaker 1: three or four for the teams that really did well
Speaker 1: in those particular years. But even after the Saints had
Speaker 1: that seven that one year, they follow up with one
Speaker 1: and two the following two drafts. So seventeen the Saints
Speaker 1: had seven, nobody else had more than three. On my list,
Speaker 1: six teams did have three, and fourteen had either zero
Speaker 1: or one that season, and teen the Ravens had six
Speaker 1: and three teams only three other teams had four or more,
Speaker 1: one of which is Miami by the way, and nine
Speaker 1: teams had one or zero, and then twenty nineteen, this
Speaker 1: class ended the kind of absurdity set by New Orleans
Speaker 1: and Baltimore. The highest number was actually three this time around,
Speaker 1: so a big drop off from seven and six, and
Speaker 1: several teams did hit that number, so it's a little
Speaker 1: more widespread throughout the course of that draft, but twelve
Speaker 1: teams still wound up with one or zero on my account,
Speaker 1: so fourteen teams, nine teams and twelve teams. Again not
Speaker 1: very good at math, but that tells me twenty six
Speaker 1: plus nine thirty five teams over three years wound up
Speaker 1: with one or zero impact players from a given draft
Speaker 1: class from my own listing here, and this is that's
Speaker 1: hardly scientific, just going over the draft class and looking
Speaker 1: at the players and the recognition and the production based
Speaker 1: upon what I know from their league experience and productions
Speaker 1: so far. So in earnest, if you hit three impact
Speaker 1: players in a class, you were on top of the game,
Speaker 1: like the very best in the league, and that class
Speaker 1: accomplished that. In the twenty nineteen classes kind of on
Speaker 1: that fringe as well, with much fewer picks to work with.
Speaker 1: But Christian Wilkins Andrew Van Giegel and Miles Gascon play
Speaker 1: a bunch of snaps for this team and have given
Speaker 1: you plenty of production over those three years. And then
Speaker 1: we arrive at one classes the focus of today's podcast,
Speaker 1: and you're seeing progress really almost across the board. And
Speaker 1: sure some of the guys are at a different pace
Speaker 1: than others, but as coach Flores told us, that's to
Speaker 1: be expected, and the way that that progress is trending,
Speaker 1: I think you're looking at at least three per class,
Speaker 1: and of course it's incumbent upon them to continue to
Speaker 1: put in that work. It's a long way to go
Speaker 1: for all of these guys, but the way they work
Speaker 1: and the bite they've shown so far, I think there's
Speaker 1: a really good chance that if we did this exercise
Speaker 1: in four and we will down the road, you can
Speaker 1: look back at these last two classes as ones that
Speaker 1: really shaped a solid quality young core for the Miami Dolphins.
Speaker 1: And what's more, doing that with guys that you have
Speaker 1: on these rookie deals perpetually each and every season for
Speaker 1: really you know, four or five seasons, depending on first
Speaker 1: round or not, well, all that does is opens up
Speaker 1: space to be aggressive with your future draft picks and
Speaker 1: free agency with the amount of money you're not spending
Speaker 1: because of all those rookie and early contract players, and
Speaker 1: you can attack the holes you have on your roster
Speaker 1: with veteran maybe some more proven presences, and obviously you
Speaker 1: have the money as well to spend on your own
Speaker 1: guys that you want to keep around as well. And
Speaker 1: to top that off, the draft pipeline just keeps going.
Speaker 1: Two more first rounders coming your way in twent three.
Speaker 1: But that's besides the point. I want to show you
Speaker 1: some numbers slash data that can show direct lines of
Speaker 1: progress along with the opinions who really matter the most,
Speaker 1: that of the coaches and each of their respective rooms.
Speaker 1: So let's go ahead in order here by when the
Speaker 1: guys were drafted, and we start in the fifth overall
Speaker 1: pick the quarterback position to a tongue of Voloa. And
Speaker 1: first of all, you know to Ah is kind of
Speaker 1: the spark plug for a lot of the conversations that
Speaker 1: come up on this podcast, because you talk about your
Speaker 1: quarterback as much as anybody, and obviously he's a a
Speaker 1: figure that's got a lot of notoriety for his college
Speaker 1: exploits and then also as a professional quarterback, and so
Speaker 1: just kind of you know, sparking a debate here to
Speaker 1: a kind of is at the center of that for
Speaker 1: how this debate began. But his rookie season, the discourse
Speaker 1: around that rookie season was honestly completely wild to me.
Speaker 1: He played just like you'd like your rookie quarterback to play.
Speaker 1: There's ups and downs, plenty of flashes, some big time
Speaker 1: moments come from behind wins like the big third down
Speaker 1: throws and the scrambles against the Cardinals. You know, correcting
Speaker 1: mistakes that he made within the same game, that first
Speaker 1: quarter interception last year against the Patriots, to then later
Speaker 1: get a similar look for a play breaks down down
Speaker 1: around the goal line on third down and he makes
Speaker 1: the move and scrambles in for a touchdown. To see
Speaker 1: something similar and make that correction within the same game
Speaker 1: is what you really want to see. Obviously, the Chiefs
Speaker 1: come back that he helped orchestrate to get the defense
Speaker 1: a chance to get the football back for a chance
Speaker 1: to win that game. So I just think you look
Speaker 1: at that rookie season and it's kind of looked upon
Speaker 1: almost with inaccurate lenses in terms of what actually happened
Speaker 1: on the field. And by the way, since nineteen twenty
Speaker 1: thinks to stat head for this research that I was
Speaker 1: able to pull up on this Tuesday recording this podcast.
Speaker 1: Among quarterbacks with at least two hundred and fifty pass
Speaker 1: attempts in the rookie season, two was passer rating since
Speaker 1: nineteen was sixteenth best all time. And you can talk
Speaker 1: about era adjusted numbers, and that's a fair argument, it
Speaker 1: certainly is. But also it's why Dan Marino is the
Speaker 1: absolute go. He's like the only guy in from the
Speaker 1: eighties or nineties. He had stats four but some of
Speaker 1: the names below to on this list, Cam Newton, Andrew Luck,
Speaker 1: Josh Allen, just to name a few. But how about
Speaker 1: the progression, because that's not We're not worried about what
Speaker 1: he did in his rookie season anymore. He just kind
Speaker 1: of helps to establish the point we want to see
Speaker 1: the progression this year. Right, Well, it's here from coach
Speaker 1: Charlie Fry here in just one second. But how about this.
Speaker 1: Two of his four highest rated games as as far
Speaker 1: as quarterback rating goes, we're the last two games he played,
Speaker 1: including the Baltimore game which wasn't a start, three of
Speaker 1: his four games, and this discounts to the Buffalo game,
Speaker 1: where he played two series and had just four passes thrown.
Speaker 1: Three of the four games have produced a higher passer
Speaker 1: rating than his rookie year cumulative mark. So progress, right,
Speaker 1: let's hear from coach Fry. Yeah, I've seen growth. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, the more experience you get, the you know,
Speaker 1: the game slows down a little bit. Um. And it's
Speaker 1: just through through repetition, through work in the film room,
Speaker 1: work at practice, you know, obviously getting to go through
Speaker 1: uh an offseason or training camp and then stacking all
Speaker 1: those things and carrying them with you throughout the season.
Speaker 1: So yeah, definitely seeing growth, Definitely seeing improvement. Now. I
Speaker 1: thought this answer was especially not telling, but informative from
Speaker 1: coach Fry because I asked him about you know, there's
Speaker 1: a lot made about arm strength and the value of
Speaker 1: arm strength of the quarterback position, and so I kind
Speaker 1: of just asked him, you know, when you when you
Speaker 1: talk about ranking of arms at this level, what is
Speaker 1: really the difference between a quarterback that has all the
Speaker 1: armed talent as far as the physical ability to drive
Speaker 1: the football, I don't know, fifty yards on the line,
Speaker 1: whatever you want to talk about, versus a guy that
Speaker 1: does have more of an adequate arm and has found
Speaker 1: a way to have success. You might say Drew Brees
Speaker 1: had an adequate arm, but obviously that led to a
Speaker 1: Hall of fame, one of the all time great quarterback
Speaker 1: careers ever in the history of this league. So I
Speaker 1: asked Coach Fry what's the difference between an adequate arm
Speaker 1: and a great arm? And he didn't go towards the
Speaker 1: arm strength aspect. He talked about what he believes to
Speaker 1: be the most important trait at the position. Accuracy. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's you look back at, you know, the history of
Speaker 1: the game, and the one you know common trait is accuracy.
Speaker 1: You know, there's a lot of big arm guys that
Speaker 1: haven't been as successful as the guys that are pinpoint accurate.
Speaker 1: I think that's probably the biggest attribute that a that
Speaker 1: a passer has in this league. And So to follow
Speaker 1: up to that question, because I became so enamored by
Speaker 1: the thirty five yard completion from two of a waddle
Speaker 1: the other night against Baltimore, I just wanted to ask
Speaker 1: coach about when you get up to a situation like that,
Speaker 1: do you know ahead of time on the throw that
Speaker 1: you're gonna have to kind of layer this ball out
Speaker 1: because obviously was not one of those just throw the
Speaker 1: ball as hard as you can. Yeah, you had to
Speaker 1: get the ball forty five yards in the air according
Speaker 1: to next Gen stats, but you also had to layer
Speaker 1: it over and underneath defender and drop it in in
Speaker 1: front of over the top defender. So I asked, coach,
Speaker 1: is that something where you know you have to make
Speaker 1: this type of throw going into the play? Do you
Speaker 1: adjust on the fly? Here's coach. Yeah, I think there's
Speaker 1: man throws and there's zone throws. You know, whether you
Speaker 1: have to layer the ball, you know, over second level defenders,
Speaker 1: and when there's no second level defenders, when it's man
Speaker 1: and man covers and now you can just throw it
Speaker 1: on a rope. So the trajectory of the throw is
Speaker 1: is based on if there's if there's zone coverage, there's
Speaker 1: guys underneath, or there's man coverage and and now you
Speaker 1: have there is no windows. It's just now you you're
Speaker 1: throwing over the flatter ball. But yeah, that ball right there.
Speaker 1: Throwing it over, you know, knowing the trajectory of the
Speaker 1: ball and still having enough juice on it, you know,
Speaker 1: be the reaction of the defense so that you hear
Speaker 1: from the Dolphins quarterbacks coach on the Dolphins quarterback let's
Speaker 1: keep this thing rolling here with the eighteenth pick in
Speaker 1: that year's draft, Austin Jackson, who of course has kicked
Speaker 1: into guard. Let's hear from coach Lemuel John Pierre on
Speaker 1: Austin Jackson's progression a year and a half into his career,
Speaker 1: but most with the most progression, just how you see
Speaker 1: from developed so far through year now? Um, I think
Speaker 1: I think mentally he's developed a lot in terms of
Speaker 1: like understanding that the next level either with a lot
Speaker 1: of guys coming from the college game and just understanding
Speaker 1: ball more. Um, he's always been a really good athlete
Speaker 1: and he's trying to hone it in even now continue
Speaker 1: to grow in terms of where he's been putting the
Speaker 1: understanding football and the functions of it, not just at
Speaker 1: a certain spot. With his understanding, he's like of leverages
Speaker 1: eye placement and how the defense reacts and stuff like that.
Speaker 1: And then I wanted to follow up the coach because
Speaker 1: I've been so impressed by Austin's play through the echo
Speaker 1: of the whistle. I just asked him he kind of
Speaker 1: has an edge to him, right? Is that a new
Speaker 1: thing for Austin Jackson Nope, a thing for him, No, No,
Speaker 1: I mean Austin's very you know, he knows how to
Speaker 1: hand himself in terms of you know, when he's cool
Speaker 1: and relax, he's a really good guy and like a
Speaker 1: lot of guys in the room, but when he's when
Speaker 1: he's not, when he's angry, like you guys remember last
Speaker 1: year Jacksonville, he got that pilloting no matter awesome, you
Speaker 1: can't be the same guy, you know what I'm saying,
Speaker 1: Like he always has that age I got you closed,
Speaker 1: But we're trying to help him continue to control that
Speaker 1: using the positive way, like he's saying, pushing the pile
Speaker 1: and things like that, changing the ball and not losing
Speaker 1: it in terms of any other way. So he's always
Speaker 1: at that age. That's for the last couple of games
Speaker 1: I thought, rather the last game I thought was Austin's
Speaker 1: best of the season as far as Pro Football Focus goes.
Speaker 1: Two pressures surrendered in that game only his low mark
Speaker 1: on the season. He's also top ten among guards and
Speaker 1: run blocked win rate, and when you watch him on
Speaker 1: tape that checks out too. He's moving some guys in
Speaker 1: the running game and Also, his last three games have
Speaker 1: each been his lowest pressure allowed totals of the season,
Speaker 1: So again progress midway through his second season here for
Speaker 1: Austin Jackson. Keep this thing moving here, because we got
Speaker 1: a lot to get to next. Let's go ahead and
Speaker 1: go back to Coach Burke's for the Dolphins other first
Speaker 1: round draft pick that season, Noah Ignogny. I think Coach
Speaker 1: Brooks pointed out well here about the fact that Noah
Speaker 1: is really right now learning from and playing behind two
Speaker 1: of the very best in the game. Here's Coach Burks
Speaker 1: on no no, no, no, uh, you know, he he
Speaker 1: just really hasn't take advantage of the opportunities that he's given. Uh.
Speaker 1: You know, he played for us in the Jaguar game,
Speaker 1: you know, and I thought, really, you know, there was
Speaker 1: two catches there, but I thought that was his most
Speaker 1: complete game as a pro. You know. Uh, it's the
Speaker 1: reality of his situation is he has two guys at
Speaker 1: that position playing at a high level, you know. So, uh,
Speaker 1: then that's just is what it is with the situation.
Speaker 1: You know, he comes to work, goes goes to practice,
Speaker 1: works on his craft, tries to get better each and
Speaker 1: every day, and that's all they can control, and that's
Speaker 1: you know what we're up with that. So we're gonna
Speaker 1: go back to Lemuel John Pierre here and go back
Speaker 1: to the second round of that year's draft, and Robert
Speaker 1: Hunt one of the guys playing really well at this
Speaker 1: point of the season. He's currently fifth among guards and
Speaker 1: run win rate at se on ESPN stat tracking. There
Speaker 1: he has the fewest pressures allowed him on qualifying offensive
Speaker 1: lineman on this team. Here's what Lemiel John Pierre had
Speaker 1: to say about Robert Hunt's transition from tackle last year
Speaker 1: inside the Garden. I mean Rob's big, massive human being, humongous.
Speaker 1: Quaus I called him like like quad sore and stuff
Speaker 1: like that, But I mean Rob, Rob's doing well in
Speaker 1: terms of just once again learned the ball. He always
Speaker 1: had the He even talking about us unless see but
Speaker 1: you know the combine he was like, you know, we
Speaker 1: had my interview and my my thing with him and
Speaker 1: y'all like, you know, I want to be the best
Speaker 1: and he works for that. He does and in the
Speaker 1: classroom he works. He asked questions, he always processes, and
Speaker 1: he always tries the best not to have any repeats
Speaker 1: and just trying to be the example you're doing right
Speaker 1: every time. So, I mean, that's been awesome about Rob.
Speaker 1: It always looks to me like something. I mean, he's
Speaker 1: a big man and you know, the cur people up
Speaker 1: and he's focused on his job. So you tell him
Speaker 1: to do something, he kind of folcus on doing that job,
Speaker 1: and then he keeps development from there. You know, the
Speaker 1: basis up, and he's developed a really nice a bit
Speaker 1: of a blip on the radar last week with six
Speaker 1: pressures allowed in the game, but prior to that, he
Speaker 1: had not allowed more than two pressures in a game
Speaker 1: from Pro Football Focus since Week three in Las Vegas.
Speaker 1: And to kind of further that point, the rushing yards
Speaker 1: off either side of Rob Hunts, between center and right
Speaker 1: guard and between right guard and right tackle has been
Speaker 1: trending upward all season long. Obviously a lot goes into
Speaker 1: that from play call, tight ends and tackles everything as
Speaker 1: well as the running back. But it's a good sign
Speaker 1: the work he's doing that that run block win rate
Speaker 1: ranking and the running behind him in those particular gaps.
Speaker 1: The other second round draft pick that season, of course,
Speaker 1: ray Kwon Davis, and you know, Rey Kuan had the
Speaker 1: injury this season and Austin Clark said, took him some
Speaker 1: time to get back to form, but he feels like
Speaker 1: he's coming on in that regard. Yeah, I would say
Speaker 1: the first thing he stands out to me is his
Speaker 1: preparation and you know, his week to week. He's in
Speaker 1: a routine now of how to prepare, what to look for.
Speaker 1: You know, he knows how to watch state, he knows
Speaker 1: how to do a lot things outside of just the
Speaker 1: meeting room and practice, you know, and he his growth
Speaker 1: there has been exponential, and I think as a player,
Speaker 1: he's gaining confidence every day every day he's here, you know,
Speaker 1: especially I think he definitely had that towards the end
Speaker 1: of last year, but when you get dinged up early
Speaker 1: in the year, you know, I think that it kind
Speaker 1: of took a little time. And now he's back back
Speaker 1: to where he was I think a lot last year. Uh,
Speaker 1: very stout in the run game, um, and and becoming effective.
Speaker 1: You know, he forces double teams, uh, plays really hard, um,
Speaker 1: you know, and I think that his I still think
Speaker 1: his best ball. Like he's got a lot of growing
Speaker 1: left to do, for sure, but he's eager and this
Speaker 1: guy loves football and he comes to work every day
Speaker 1: with that mindset, and you know, I'm excited about where
Speaker 1: his play can go. Each day. We're focused one day
Speaker 1: at a time with him, and he's doing a good job.
Speaker 1: So the natural follow up there for coach Clark was
Speaker 1: what did ray Kwon do with that time where he
Speaker 1: was down in terms of taking the advantage of the
Speaker 1: mental reps and kind of having a chance to step back.
Speaker 1: Sometimes folks say they have an opportunity to do that
Speaker 1: and it's a positive for their career. Wasn't the same
Speaker 1: way for Raakwon Davis. Here's how he approached that time
Speaker 1: on I R. According to coach Clark, Oh, absolutely, I
Speaker 1: mean those games he wasn't playing, he was involved in
Speaker 1: the game on the sideline and helping guys and understanding
Speaker 1: the game, you know. And I think it's a real
Speaker 1: credit to him what he's done, uh, in terms of
Speaker 1: learning more so not as much the game, but the
Speaker 1: scheme and what his role is, what we kind of
Speaker 1: asked him to do and being able to play multiple
Speaker 1: spots and do some different things. So yeah, he definitely
Speaker 1: used that the right way. And moving on to the
Speaker 1: third round here, Brandon Jones second among all safeties and
Speaker 1: QB pressures. Six of those twelve pressures have occurred in
Speaker 1: the last three games, just as four of his eleven
Speaker 1: run stops have as well. He's playing sub package linebacker,
Speaker 1: split safety in the box. He does everything. Let's go
Speaker 1: ahead and hear from Gerald Alexander on Brandon Jones. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think with with Brandon, and you know, just specifically
Speaker 1: with Brandon. You know, again, understanding leads to control. You know,
Speaker 1: the more he's experienced, the more games that he's played,
Speaker 1: the more practice press that he's had. You know, he's
Speaker 1: really starting to slow the game down through understanding. And
Speaker 1: he's another guy that works diligently as at his preparation,
Speaker 1: you know, from a physical standpoint to a mental standpoint. So, um,
Speaker 1: you start to see the fruits of their his labor
Speaker 1: and their labor um starting to kind of be put
Speaker 1: on display. And we still got a lot more work
Speaker 1: to do. There's still a lot of things we want
Speaker 1: to get accomplished, obviously as a as a team and individually,
Speaker 1: but um, the the work is shown. Will play some
Speaker 1: more audio from g A when we get to the
Speaker 1: other impressive looking young safety on this roster. Back to
Speaker 1: Lem though, and though we haven't seen him from a
Speaker 1: couple for a couple of months now. On Sundays, Lemuel
Speaker 1: John Pierre does say that Solomon Kiley, even though he's
Speaker 1: not playing on Sundays on offense, is still involved in
Speaker 1: this team and on the offensive line in that room
Speaker 1: with everything they do, really been doing great. He has.
Speaker 1: He's working a hell out to get back on the
Speaker 1: field for sure and just be important to the room,
Speaker 1: into the team. He wants him to that impact. And
Speaker 1: the cool thing about Solomon is, you know, he continued
Speaker 1: to just grow mentally, you know what I'm saying. On
Speaker 1: the price field, He's working his trash, still being a
Speaker 1: service where he is when he gets his rested in
Speaker 1: his reps. But also that like you hear him the
Speaker 1: back being more engaging and like yo, you hear a
Speaker 1: play and he's over there trying to speak like the sender.
Speaker 1: You know what I'm saying, He's really growing growing that
Speaker 1: way a good bigness really is really impressive about something.
Speaker 1: And that's one thing that is consistent when you hear
Speaker 1: these coaches talk is these guys that maybe aren't playing
Speaker 1: as much as they would like to or are not
Speaker 1: let it affect them, and they're being positive influences and
Speaker 1: staying engaged. You'd love to hear that let's go onto
Speaker 1: this year's class and go to the number six picking
Speaker 1: this year's draft and hear from coach Josh Gizzard on
Speaker 1: Jalen Waddle's progressions. And I think the biggest thing is
Speaker 1: the work that he puts in his capacity to take
Speaker 1: on bigger roles or new um positions is something he's
Speaker 1: eager to do because he just wants to win. Uh.
Speaker 1: And in terms of his di eleman, I think he's
Speaker 1: improved uh as a route runner and just understanding timing
Speaker 1: on plays and and getting open has been one thing.
Speaker 1: And then the main thing that I just mentioned to
Speaker 1: Barry was that I think his understanding of defenses, because
Speaker 1: sometimes when you come from college, uh, you're not gonna
Speaker 1: face them amount of defenses you're gonna face here and
Speaker 1: from a week to week basis so him being able
Speaker 1: to understand how they're trying to attack him, what's the
Speaker 1: leverage of the guy over me? Uh? You know this
Speaker 1: coordinator is similar to that coordinator that we played four
Speaker 1: weeks ago. I think that he's being able to retain
Speaker 1: a lot of that and just add to his knowledge
Speaker 1: of structures of defenses, because ultimately, if you have an
Speaker 1: idea on what's going on with that, then you have
Speaker 1: a better chance of finding, avoiding his own or beating
Speaker 1: the man that you're lined up across. So waddles on
Speaker 1: track for a Dolphins rookie record and receptions and receiving
Speaker 1: yards currently fifth in the NFL and receptions among rookies
Speaker 1: veterans or otherwise. But as I have said, you know,
Speaker 1: I'm really more interested in the progres us. It looks
Speaker 1: like he's really on the cusp of making some more
Speaker 1: impact plays while also checking in with those big plays.
Speaker 1: Two four point one yards average yak and his rookie
Speaker 1: season and his average depth of target the last two
Speaker 1: weeks entering those two games was below seven yards on average,
Speaker 1: but in week nine it was nine point eight, then
Speaker 1: last week thirteen point eight, almost double his new season
Speaker 1: average of seven point oh. He also has not dropped
Speaker 1: a pass since Week six. He's catching just under seventy
Speaker 1: of his passes. He's increasing his position versatility. As Griz said,
Speaker 1: there and I really don't think there's a lot of
Speaker 1: persuasion that needs to be made here, but he looks
Speaker 1: the part of the number six overall pick in the draft.
Speaker 1: Let's go back to coach Gazar real quick. I had
Speaker 1: asked him about a film breakdown I saw on a
Speaker 1: route that Waddle ran a while back that was impressive
Speaker 1: because of the coverage that came against. And I asked
Speaker 1: coach about the play and he said, I know exactly
Speaker 1: what player talking about. Let's just go ahead and here
Speaker 1: from Coach Gazard here on Waddle. Oh, it is just
Speaker 1: for him to understand why this guy is playing this leverage.
Speaker 1: And I want to say leverage that we're always talking
Speaker 1: to those guys about is he outside or is the
Speaker 1: inside of my alignment? And then is he pressed up?
Speaker 1: I mean basically, is he gonna touched me rounding the
Speaker 1: ball snapped or is he giving me access or playing off?
Speaker 1: So on that one, just for him to be able
Speaker 1: to recognize that and then be able to find the
Speaker 1: sweet spot in the defense ended up being in that
Speaker 1: particular play. Um, really by the ticks right by the sideline. Uh.
Speaker 1: And so just to have the urgency of Okay, I'm pressed,
Speaker 1: I need to get off of this and I need
Speaker 1: to continue to get my depth and try to get
Speaker 1: to my landmark on time. Uh. It is impressive. And
Speaker 1: like I said, that's one of the things that he
Speaker 1: has played outside more now because when he really first
Speaker 1: got here a lot of it was inside. Uh so
Speaker 1: he's being able to add that to his game. That
Speaker 1: was running off a cloud coverage corner who basically is
Speaker 1: off in a cover to look and finding a gap
Speaker 1: on the out route, which, as coach Grizzard said, right
Speaker 1: there was a very impressive thing to do as far
Speaker 1: as the route running, the depth of landmark, all that
Speaker 1: fun stuff. So there you go with Wattle. Let's keep
Speaker 1: this thing rolling to another first rounder, another Jalen. Let's
Speaker 1: first go back to coach Austin Clark on Jalen Phillips
Speaker 1: and his growth from day one till now. Yeah. I
Speaker 1: think when he came in he worked his tale off
Speaker 1: and he's been that same guy every day. You know,
Speaker 1: um physically and athletically he has, he has all the tools. Uh.
Speaker 1: He plays extremely hard. I think that's the thing that
Speaker 1: really sets him apart. It stands out to me anyways,
Speaker 1: is his motor and how he attacks every player he's in.
Speaker 1: I think he's he's gotten better each week. He's extremely
Speaker 1: versatile and you know, like great Kwan. You know, his
Speaker 1: best ball is ahead of him, and you know, we
Speaker 1: just gotta take it one day at a time with
Speaker 1: these guys and UH and keep working him. And he's
Speaker 1: got a great attitude and he's doing all the right things.
Speaker 1: So it's only two pressures this season, a second among
Speaker 1: all rookies for Jalen Phillips according to Pro Football Focus,
Speaker 1: and after having four pressures in his first three games,
Speaker 1: he has eighteen over the last seven and the sack
Speaker 1: production also coming along at least a half sack in
Speaker 1: each of the last two games, as well as impact
Speaker 1: plays the pressure and pursue on Tyrod Taylor that led
Speaker 1: to an interception creating chances for his teammates, and sacks
Speaker 1: for Emmanuel Ogba, flagging down Lamar Jackson on wide runs
Speaker 1: and as you heard coach Clark say, a guy whose
Speaker 1: versatility is showing more and more each week so far
Speaker 1: in the National Football League second round of and one
Speaker 1: of the hottest players in the league right now, Javon
Speaker 1: Holland continues to show up and make plays, and Brian
Speaker 1: Flores said on Monday, the javan Holland is mature beyond
Speaker 1: his years, so talking to coach at Gerald Alexander. I
Speaker 1: wanted to see if he could elaborate on what makes
Speaker 1: Javon mature beyond his years. I've been just his everyday
Speaker 1: approach to just being in the building and working diligently
Speaker 1: every day, you know, really since we got him, um,
Speaker 1: even before we moved facilities. You know, it just his approach,
Speaker 1: his questions, you know, the things that he wants to know,
Speaker 1: the things that he works on, the accountability he holds
Speaker 1: himself too, out there on the field and retaining the
Speaker 1: information really from the very beginning. So you know, when
Speaker 1: you've got a guy, a young guy who understands what
Speaker 1: it takes um to go beyond the required time in
Speaker 1: order to to to be a true pro at this level,
Speaker 1: I mean that's when you look at his maturity and
Speaker 1: you see that he's he's well beyond what your average
Speaker 1: rookie would be just from a maturity standpoint. Well, to
Speaker 1: pick us right back up with g A asked him
Speaker 1: about a play that Brian Baldinger actually broke down where
Speaker 1: Holland followed someone in motion and kind of changed his
Speaker 1: priest napp alignment and got the Dolphins correctly aligned. Because
Speaker 1: you can kind of see him barking out orders and signals.
Speaker 1: So I asked you about the impressiveness of that from
Speaker 1: a young player and how much his ability to communicate
Speaker 1: this early in his rookie season has helped the defense
Speaker 1: as a whole. Well, there, we're to play that position
Speaker 1: in our defense, you have to be a great communicator
Speaker 1: and to again to his credit, um, he's done the
Speaker 1: necessary word to figure out what to say, when to
Speaker 1: say it. Uh, the adjustments that need to be you know,
Speaker 1: uh executed in certain defenses. And you know, really the
Speaker 1: biggest challenge for him as he was trying to get
Speaker 1: this information and understand what to say is the confidence
Speaker 1: in the value human which he says. And so now
Speaker 1: he can establish himself as a guy who's given the
Speaker 1: primary communication to guys, and guys will listen to him
Speaker 1: because they know that he knows what he's doing. So
Speaker 1: Javon Hall and the most pressures of any safety in
Speaker 1: the National Football League with fourteen. Pro Football Focus has
Speaker 1: him in the top ten among all safeties in both
Speaker 1: coverage grade and pass rush grade, and his run defending
Speaker 1: grade also top twenty. So he's really well thought of
Speaker 1: by Pro Football Focus. First impressures and among safeties at
Speaker 1: least two hundred and fifty snaps and coverage this season.
Speaker 1: His fifty seven point one percent completion rate allowed his
Speaker 1: tenth best, and we've seen him coming on the last
Speaker 1: few weeks as well as Brandon Jones. Real quick, I
Speaker 1: want to play some audio here from coach g a
Speaker 1: about Brandon Jones's comments last week how he and Javon
Speaker 1: Holland can kind of operate and communicate without even verbalizing
Speaker 1: their thoughts because they're on the same page and have
Speaker 1: developed that chemistry. Is that chemistry rare for a couple
Speaker 1: of young players like this. You can see that those
Speaker 1: guys have a good report with one another, and again
Speaker 1: it all goes back just to the work that they
Speaker 1: put in um really from the start of the season.
Speaker 1: And the more that those guys getting wrestled one another,
Speaker 1: the more that we're able to kind of go through
Speaker 1: new experiences with plays and games and in practice, and
Speaker 1: you know, I get a chance to kind of coach
Speaker 1: up certain things, and and so those guys, you know,
Speaker 1: have an opportunity to to to build that chemistry and
Speaker 1: sometimes do some things. Not everything requires communication, and they
Speaker 1: don't got it just yet, but those guys are doing
Speaker 1: a really good job of, you know, building the chemistry
Speaker 1: back there and and ultimately the communication is always got
Speaker 1: to be on point. So one more to go here,
Speaker 1: Let's go to Lemiel John Pierre on Liam Eichenberg. Here's
Speaker 1: Coach Lamb on Leam Eikenberg's progress. The toughness is the
Speaker 1: first thing that we knew about him. He has his
Speaker 1: meal of toughness about him, you know, like he always
Speaker 1: had his trade faces, always focused where you know, I'm
Speaker 1: always like, you know, just make sure of being a
Speaker 1: young rookie and playing a lot and loved out in
Speaker 1: the league, and maybe a player in this league's hard
Speaker 1: enough until he works his tail off. Extu Metis bottom
Speaker 1: Field called me texting me, and that's been really impressive
Speaker 1: being said the young guys from mature. He's not lost.
Speaker 1: You know, we recruit, recruit or you any of you guys,
Speaker 1: you're like, hey, can you handle being in Miami. This
Speaker 1: guy's all ball. He's always been that way, and he's
Speaker 1: always kind of care himself that way. Where whatever help
Speaker 1: the team where you need to put that's fine with me.
Speaker 1: And he just wants to do his best for the
Speaker 1: team for the guys room. It's really important for him.
Speaker 1: So I asked Coach also about how it kind of
Speaker 1: works on the line with regards to how your college
Speaker 1: production and the notoriety and what you have as far
Speaker 1: as technique and everything you do at that level, how
Speaker 1: it translates. And I framed the question like this. You
Speaker 1: know a lot of draft pundens thought Liam was a
Speaker 1: plug and play type of guy as anybody in this
Speaker 1: class could be, and really acknowledge level at which he
Speaker 1: played from a technical standpoint. So I wanted to ask
Speaker 1: Lamb if it's something that you can translate or is
Speaker 1: it something where once you get to this level you
Speaker 1: have to start from the ground floor. Here's coach l
Speaker 1: you guys stout over. I mean, you'd like to see
Speaker 1: the thing in terms of the techniques, and you might
Speaker 1: like the he's They've done a great, great job. He
Speaker 1: came from Dame and developing just players there and the
Speaker 1: people there. So now when I was fortunate to go
Speaker 1: to the pro day, it's really impressive just the guys
Speaker 1: there for sure. And so once you get the lead,
Speaker 1: those still a brain new animal. You see guys you know,
Speaker 1: from the smallest schools making the biggest impact because when
Speaker 1: you get here, I mean, the draft is nice novel.
Speaker 1: Once you get on this field, this field doesn't have
Speaker 1: a draft pick on it. You gotta go fight forwards
Speaker 1: what you need, and he does. He's working on it.
Speaker 1: He's working as Crafty's studying it, and he's always trying
Speaker 1: to be improven every day, not just on game day,
Speaker 1: but he tries to focus from practice, even the small things. Right.
Speaker 1: So two guys we didn't touch on there. I did
Speaker 1: not forget Hunter Long or Blake Ferguson. I just wasn't
Speaker 1: able to get to coach Croftsman and coach at god
Speaker 1: C for a question on them. But we know that
Speaker 1: Blake has been a centerpiece for the team's unit and
Speaker 1: Hunter's progress is happening more behind the scenes. So I
Speaker 1: don't have any data for y'all like right there, just
Speaker 1: as I don't for Jared Oakes and Larnel Coleman this
Speaker 1: year seventh round draft picks. But I think in total
Speaker 1: we proved that hitting on three impact players per year
Speaker 1: is really well above the league average. You stay in
Speaker 1: that ballpark, your roster is eventually going to bear that fruit.
Speaker 1: And we can't we can't sit here and call any
Speaker 1: of these guys, you know, your fire hits or mrs
Speaker 1: at the stage, because that's not how it works. It's
Speaker 1: a long process. It's not a linear league. There are
Speaker 1: ebbs and flows, and all of these guys still have
Speaker 1: so much work to do to both maintain the level
Speaker 1: of success they've had to this point, but also and
Speaker 1: of course key among all of it, to improve and
Speaker 1: become real difference makers. But after all that, can you
Speaker 1: look within both the one classes and say you feel
Speaker 1: good about at least three of those guys from both
Speaker 1: classes being a part of the long term solutions here?
Speaker 1: You know my answer, Let's go ahead and finish up
Speaker 1: with two more comments here because they were so good,
Speaker 1: actually three of them, one from Coach Clark on Christian Wilkins,
Speaker 1: then two from Coach Camp because well we haven't had
Speaker 1: a food take from Coach Camp in Awhile let's actually
Speaker 1: start here with Austin Clark on Christian Wilkins. I think
Speaker 1: the biggest thing for Christian is just understanding. He now
Speaker 1: knows how to use his hands, what blocks he's getting,
Speaker 1: what type of pass rusher he is, and and he
Speaker 1: studies you know him and uh Seiler especially these guys
Speaker 1: study together and they do a great job of um
Speaker 1: on their own, you know, outside of just our meeting
Speaker 1: times and all this stuff we do with him. And uh,
Speaker 1: you know, he just plays really hard. I think that's
Speaker 1: the thing you see with Wilkins. And you know, we're
Speaker 1: we're challenging him to each week. We you know, last
Speaker 1: week's over. We're all on the jets here and and
Speaker 1: we got to replicate that same effort. And uh, if
Speaker 1: he does that, I think you're just gonna keep growing.
Speaker 1: So there's Coach Clark talking about Christian Wilkins. Let's pick
Speaker 1: it back up here with one last coach commentary. Coach
Speaker 1: Anthony Campanelli didn't have any young guys really talked to
Speaker 1: him about on that linebacker crew. But we can talk
Speaker 1: about Jerome Baker, who I thought showed so much in
Speaker 1: that game last week, and more so than nod to
Speaker 1: his overall versatility and willingness to do whatever the coaching
Speaker 1: staff asks of him. Here's coach Campanelli on Jerome Baker's
Speaker 1: versatility and playing more down off the edge. Last week. Yeah. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think, um, I think he did a really good job.
Speaker 1: You know, ask him to jump into a different role
Speaker 1: there are on a short week. Um, But I think
Speaker 1: that just speaks to the Like I've talked about the
Speaker 1: multiplicity of our defense before, and each guy kind of
Speaker 1: understanding what what each position is asked to do. And
Speaker 1: I think because he has a good understanding of the system,
Speaker 1: he was able to step right in and do a
Speaker 1: good job and give us, um, you know, a bunch
Speaker 1: of a bunch of guys that can run on the
Speaker 1: field against the a team that does a really good
Speaker 1: job running the ball, and obviously with a good athlete
Speaker 1: at quarterback, so um, you know, each game plan calls
Speaker 1: for different stuff. And like I said that, this last week,
Speaker 1: being a short week, I thought he did a good
Speaker 1: job being able to um, you know, play within the
Speaker 1: game plan and execute getting more speed on the field
Speaker 1: for a Lamar Jackson type and just kind of talks
Speaker 1: about or really speaks to the Dolphins ability to get
Speaker 1: their different game plans for different oppositions and different looks.
Speaker 1: And also Jerome Baker on a short week to be
Speaker 1: able to do that again just really points to his
Speaker 1: preparation of what he means for this defense. One more
Speaker 1: question here for coach Campanelli, and you'll surely notice the
Speaker 1: uptick and his voice. He st right here as I
Speaker 1: talked about the food question because softa dean formally of
Speaker 1: a South Florida Sun Sentinel, no longer here to ask
Speaker 1: uh coach camp the food questions. But I had to
Speaker 1: ask him. We're not going to talk to him again
Speaker 1: before Thanksgiving. What does Thanksgiving look like in the Campanelli household?
Speaker 1: You know what, my my wife, she does unbelievable job
Speaker 1: on Thanksgiving. I gotta give her the plug it there
Speaker 1: on that one. But but yeah, we gotta do something.
Speaker 1: You gotta do all the Italian food first and then
Speaker 1: you then you go for the bird and all that. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you gotta do that first. That's like you know, I remember,
Speaker 1: you know, I'm talking about something my friends about Dak
Speaker 1: growing up, and some guys didn't understand that all the
Speaker 1: Tanik kids did. But you gotta eat that food first,
Speaker 1: and then you know antipas or macaroni was lasagnio or whatever,
Speaker 1: and then you have then you have to Thanksgiving food. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: so my dad was a stickler for that. He didn't yeah,
Speaker 1: he was there was He wasn't budget on that. So
Speaker 1: I'm not sure if you heard that faint laugh there
Speaker 1: at the end of the question or what I said
Speaker 1: to coach, But but I basically told him I don't
Speaker 1: know how you guys do the full Italian and the
Speaker 1: full bird thing. After that, I said, I wouldn't have
Speaker 1: any room for that in my frame. And you thought
Speaker 1: that much pretty funny. So good stuff there from all
Speaker 1: the coaches. I hope you guys learned something I sure
Speaker 1: as hell did. That's gonna be my time on this
Speaker 1: edition of Drivetime. We'll come back tomorrow and preview the
Speaker 1: Jets game. In the meantime, 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, Follow me on Twitter
Speaker 1: at Wingfield NFL. Follow the Dolphins at Miami Dolphins. Check
Speaker 1: out the fish Tank podcast with Hunter Goodwin. This week
Speaker 1: a great episode with Seth and o J. We're all
Speaker 1: going to beat the MetLife takeover as well, so come
Speaker 1: see us, I believe at Slatery's on Saturday and the
Speaker 1: tailgate on Sunday morning before the game. Also the YouTube
Speaker 1: channel for all the media availability as well as Dolphins
Speaker 1: Today and of course Miami Dolphins dot Com. Until next
Speaker 1: time finds up. Caroline Daddy is coming home,