Speaker 1: Book, Feel Touchdown, Miami n What is up, Dolphans And
Speaker 1: welcome to the Drive Time Podcast, part of the Miami
Speaker 1: Dolphins podcast network, covering your team, your Miami Dolphins. How's
Speaker 1: it going everybody? I am your host, Travis Wingfield and
Speaker 1: as always, I am here to bring you your daily
Speaker 1: dose of Miami Dolphins football. And on today's show, it's
Speaker 1: part three of the training camp preview series as we
Speaker 1: stopped by the wide Receiver's room to detail one of
Speaker 1: the deepest position groups on the team in my opinion,
Speaker 1: with an infusion of speed and explosiveness this offseason. Plus
Speaker 1: I did it, I ranked every I think you should
Speaker 1: leave sketch from the wildly popular second season of the
Speaker 1: Netflix show on Rotten Tomatoes. Will close out this podcast
Speaker 1: with some TV talk. But first we got receivers to
Speaker 1: talk to, and there are a bunch of them on
Speaker 1: this roster. Let's go ahead and jump right in. So
Speaker 1: this receiver's room was a point of emphasis in the
Speaker 1: off season. Miami only lost one player from the receiver's room,
Speaker 1: Isaiah Ford was a departure with four incoming players and
Speaker 1: Will Fuller, Robert Foster, Jalen Waddle and Kai Locksley and
Speaker 1: the first thing I wanted to look at was a
Speaker 1: question I had for coach Grizzard back. I think it
Speaker 1: was in May, maybe early May. I can't remember the
Speaker 1: exact date, but there was a quote from a question
Speaker 1: I asked him about something that receivers talked about last
Speaker 1: year in the Chan Gaily system, how there was a
Speaker 1: little bit more freedom in the routes compared to other
Speaker 1: offenses that players have played in. With regards to I
Speaker 1: need you at this spot at this time, I don't
Speaker 1: really care how you get there in terms of the footwork,
Speaker 1: the steps you take, because oftentimes that's kind of how
Speaker 1: timing and rhythm is sync up. In a asking game.
Speaker 1: You want to have the quarterback has his three step
Speaker 1: drop timing, his five step drop timing, his quick you know,
Speaker 1: get the ball out of the hands quickly timing, and
Speaker 1: then you have the receivers that take you know, maybe
Speaker 1: it's two or three steps before they break into the
Speaker 1: slant or into the out or into the curl, whatever
Speaker 1: it might be. It's all timed up and seeked up.
Speaker 1: That's why you know professional football is such a marvel
Speaker 1: to watch, because go watch a high school game, that
Speaker 1: stuff is you know it's night and day. The difference
Speaker 1: you see there, so part of the NFL is is
Speaker 1: the beauty of it, is the fact that these guys
Speaker 1: are so precise in their timing. And the question I
Speaker 1: had for coach Grizzard was how much of that changes
Speaker 1: this year and how much do you coach that in
Speaker 1: the receiver's room, And he said, there's pretty good carry
Speaker 1: over when it comes to having that freedom to win
Speaker 1: the route, but also having the same timing and tempo
Speaker 1: and sense of urgency that we know the timing of
Speaker 1: the play. We've got to get open and cannot take
Speaker 1: too long. It just really is being on the same
Speaker 1: page with the quarterbacks and seeing it through the same lens.
Speaker 1: So kind of the idea there of rep being and
Speaker 1: practice and getting this stuff down. I think that right
Speaker 1: there shows you some of the value of having this
Speaker 1: full compliment of an off season for the Miami Dolphins
Speaker 1: with this young team that was the second youngest team
Speaker 1: in the National Football League last year. For a lot
Speaker 1: of the season, they were the youngest team until some
Speaker 1: injuries or guys going on I R changed that across
Speaker 1: the league. But the main idea was that this team
Speaker 1: was so young and to get that offseason work together
Speaker 1: with a room that has plenty of incumbents but also
Speaker 1: has some newcomers. I think that can prove valuable this season,
Speaker 1: especially as the year goes along. The second thing I
Speaker 1: wanted to look at with regards to this room and
Speaker 1: how it's constructed as an argument that I've seen made
Speaker 1: often on the Move the Sticks podcast, and this idea
Speaker 1: of attacking your receiver's room kind of like you would
Speaker 1: a basketball lineup, and in the sense that maybe this
Speaker 1: isn't so true today where everybody can shoot thirty foot
Speaker 1: jumpers and and knock those down, and the maybe dumping
Speaker 1: the ball into the post is a bit of a
Speaker 1: thing in the past, but having your variety on the
Speaker 1: floor could be viewed as a similar translation or idea
Speaker 1: or theory, whatever you want to call it at the
Speaker 1: receiver position. So I'm kind of thinking about how would
Speaker 1: I describe these receivers in terms of that basketball analogy.
Speaker 1: And I'm kind of looking at like this like you've
Speaker 1: got so many options for all five positions on the field,
Speaker 1: Like I put Will Fuller as my point guard because
Speaker 1: he's an accomplished receiver. In the NFL twenty seven years old.
Speaker 1: He's showing growth every single step of the way. His
Speaker 1: route running continues to get better. He has the vertical threat,
Speaker 1: but he also can turn guys around in the short area.
Speaker 1: Just go back and watch the Thanksgiving game last year
Speaker 1: against the Lions. With the Houston Texans, he was creating
Speaker 1: three four five yards of separation with relative ease, or
Speaker 1: not relative ease, but with regularity. I put Jalen Waddle
Speaker 1: as my two guard because I mean, this guy can
Speaker 1: do just about anything you want to. But we're gonna
Speaker 1: use him to free him up and get him shots
Speaker 1: and you know, use jet motion him in the backfield,
Speaker 1: whatever it might be. You have so many options with
Speaker 1: him that I think that he puts that role of
Speaker 1: we can create certain plays in certain ways to give
Speaker 1: him the football. On top of the idea that he
Speaker 1: can do a lot of the things we talked about
Speaker 1: will Fuller in terms of creating separation as a pure
Speaker 1: route runner, vertically intermediate and the short area as well.
Speaker 1: I was trying to decide between who was the small
Speaker 1: forward and power forward between Devonte Parker and Preston Williams,
Speaker 1: and I think I'm going with Preston as my small forward.
Speaker 1: Because he's got plenty of wiggle and shake at the
Speaker 1: top of the route as he kind of One thing
Speaker 1: you want to watch for these guys is you want
Speaker 1: every route to look the same, and one way you
Speaker 1: can do that is to sink the hips into the
Speaker 1: route so that you're not giving away the route with
Speaker 1: your body language or your footwork or how you set
Speaker 1: the route up. If you can sink your hips, that
Speaker 1: allows you to stay within the framework of your route
Speaker 1: and make everything look the same. So with Preston, he's
Speaker 1: got an ability to do that, and he has going
Speaker 1: back to Colorado State. I think it's a big reason
Speaker 1: why he's had such big training camps in the one
Speaker 1: big preseason and then production when he's been on the
Speaker 1: field the last couple of years, because he does have
Speaker 1: that vertical skill set. He has the height to challenge
Speaker 1: cornerbacks on back shoulder throws or vertical throws. But also
Speaker 1: when you can do that and snap things off and
Speaker 1: come back to the quarterback and run horizontal, that's a
Speaker 1: little bit more of that three position on the basketball court,
Speaker 1: the small forward where Davante Parker I'm gonna put him
Speaker 1: out there and we'll talk about why here in terms
Speaker 1: of the stats that proved this out. I'm gonna put
Speaker 1: him in the post and power forward him and just
Speaker 1: throw him contested balls and let him go up over
Speaker 1: people and draw fouls as it were, you know, pass
Speaker 1: interference or a foul, you know, hack a shack type
Speaker 1: of basketball, and just body guys and pull the ball
Speaker 1: in on those contested catches. Be my red zone guy,
Speaker 1: my touchdown maker. He's been doing that the last couple
Speaker 1: of years here in Miami. And then I don't think
Speaker 1: there's a great center option. And again this kind of
Speaker 1: goes back to the idea that the center is maybe
Speaker 1: a little bit dead in the NBA as far as
Speaker 1: real true impact players. But I think the easy comparison
Speaker 1: here is Mike get Sicky, even though I know he's
Speaker 1: a tight end, but he plays the majority of his
Speaker 1: reps in the slot. So you know, a receiver slash
Speaker 1: tight end a move piece that can do a lot
Speaker 1: for you. So we'll go with him there. Then I've
Speaker 1: got backcourt options a plenty. I mean, Lynn Bowden, Albert Wilson,
Speaker 1: Joachim Grant, Malcolm Perry, all these guys can do the
Speaker 1: horizontal stuff, the drag routes they can do hookups, they
Speaker 1: can run screens, you can you can put these guys
Speaker 1: in the backfield. All of these guys have run plays
Speaker 1: from the backfield, either in their college or pro career.
Speaker 1: Then as my kind of front court off, you know,
Speaker 1: behind Parker and Williams and Mike, I've got Robert Foster,
Speaker 1: Mac Hollins, Kirk Merritt, Alan Hearns, and Kayle Loxley. I mean,
Speaker 1: the depth there, it just it goes on and on
Speaker 1: and on and on. You've got almost these line changes
Speaker 1: you can run with this group. It's evenly balanced, it's
Speaker 1: evenly complimentary. I am just such a fan of how
Speaker 1: this room was constructed in the off season. I remember
Speaker 1: at the start of free agency, there was, you know,
Speaker 1: so many name brands on the market that folks were
Speaker 1: pointing to, and that was something we talked about for
Speaker 1: months on the podcast, on Twitter and among Dolphins fans yourselves,
Speaker 1: Like you know, into pendant of my content, you know,
Speaker 1: the likes of Juju Smith Schuster who goes back to
Speaker 1: pittsburgher Kenny Golladay who winds up on a huge contract
Speaker 1: with the Giants, who you know, I like Kenny Golladay,
Speaker 1: but I think his game was a bit redundant to
Speaker 1: what the Dolphins had here, So it's not like adding
Speaker 1: him makes you not a boy our team. He certainly would,
Speaker 1: but I think you look for more complementary skill sets
Speaker 1: to what you have. And the two names I liked
Speaker 1: in that area where Will Fuller and t Y Hilton
Speaker 1: of the Colts, who then of course resigned back to
Speaker 1: the Colts late in the free agent process. I also
Speaker 1: loved me some Curtis Samuel went off the board pretty
Speaker 1: quickly in free agency, if I recall correctly to the
Speaker 1: Washington football team. Man he and why am I forgetting
Speaker 1: his name all of a sudden? Terry McLaurin and Washington
Speaker 1: is a fun duo. Can't wait to watch those guys
Speaker 1: get after it. We'll have the NFC East preview on
Speaker 1: a podcast coming up here in the coming weeks. But
Speaker 1: getting Will Fuller was such a perfect fit for I
Speaker 1: thought the room needed heading into the offseason. Then you
Speaker 1: come back and get the absolute again opinion, perfect fit
Speaker 1: for what the room was missing with Jalen Waddle and
Speaker 1: by now you know that I think the world of
Speaker 1: this guy as a prospect. I just love seeing position
Speaker 1: groups have certain needs. You know, it's not just put
Speaker 1: receiver X in that position like you see it in
Speaker 1: mock drafts, for instance, like, well, team X needs a receiver.
Speaker 1: The third receiver in the draft is on the board
Speaker 1: right here. Let's go ahead and assign him. But if
Speaker 1: he's not a fit for your system, or if he's
Speaker 1: not going to up end a veteran on in terms
Speaker 1: of what he does well with his skill set, then
Speaker 1: you're being redundant. And so I thought the way they
Speaker 1: went after this with having certain needs in the front
Speaker 1: office and the coaching staff identifying those needs and investing
Speaker 1: in that particular need, not just in addressing it, but
Speaker 1: investing in it. And we saw it last year with
Speaker 1: the offensive line, where you pair draft picks with free
Speaker 1: agent signings, giving you a good balance of veteran and
Speaker 1: young players with obviously Eric Flowers and Ted Harrison free agency,
Speaker 1: and then you get Austin Jackson, Robert Hunt, and Solomon
Speaker 1: Kinley in the draft. And now you come back this
Speaker 1: year and you identify the receiver position and we'll talk
Speaker 1: about this with coach Flores and his comments this offseason
Speaker 1: as well, and you address it with Will Fuller and
Speaker 1: Robert Foster and you draft Jalen Waddle. All three of
Speaker 1: those guys have clocked sub four forties at one point
Speaker 1: or another in their career, and not to mention getting
Speaker 1: back Albert Wilson another sub four four guy, and Alan Hearns,
Speaker 1: a guy that has eaten up the field in the
Speaker 1: middle of the field from that slot position as well
Speaker 1: as played outside in his career. Both those guys back
Speaker 1: in after opting out in. So the approach of getting
Speaker 1: balanced at this position with size and speed, it also
Speaker 1: allows you to be adaptable, and we talked about this
Speaker 1: on the Running Back podcast with how all of those
Speaker 1: guys at their very best can be fungible across different systems,
Speaker 1: you know, zone, man, outside, inside, We talked about that
Speaker 1: on the Wednesday podcast. Different facets of the game, running,
Speaker 1: game passing, game pass blocking, special teams, and I see
Speaker 1: a lot of the same things here at the receiver position.
Speaker 1: We talked about it in that basketball lineup breakdown. You
Speaker 1: have seemingly infinite permutations where you can get whichever skill
Speaker 1: sets you need on the field for that particular down
Speaker 1: or that series, or that quarter or that game, whatever
Speaker 1: it might be. And last year attrition was a problem
Speaker 1: late in the year. It got to a point where
Speaker 1: you're trying to survive losses of Preston Williams, of Albert
Speaker 1: Wilson and Alan Hearns from opting out in the beginning
Speaker 1: part of the year, you know, right before training camp
Speaker 1: gets gets going, you're kind of limited in your options
Speaker 1: as far as how you can address the position, with
Speaker 1: free agency and the draft both by gone. Davanta Parker
Speaker 1: and jakeem Grant take late season injuries and have to
Speaker 1: miss some time in game and also miss games at
Speaker 1: the end of the year. Not to mention Mike get sick,
Speaker 1: he goes down late in that Patriots game too. So
Speaker 1: really a lot of your top receiving options in terms
Speaker 1: of targets, receptions, yards, touchdowns, however you want to play it,
Speaker 1: we're not available to you late in the year. So
Speaker 1: now I think you feel a lot better about being
Speaker 1: protected against something like that happening. Again, it's kind of
Speaker 1: been a focal point of the off season to build
Speaker 1: up every position group, not just for competition, but to
Speaker 1: give yourself that depth so that you can survive the
Speaker 1: attrition that is the National Football League, and that also
Speaker 1: extends into the way you game plan. You know, We
Speaker 1: talked about being interchangeable on this podcast. We talked to
Speaker 1: the coaching staff about we talked to the players about it.
Speaker 1: It's a organizational philosophy to have people that can do
Speaker 1: multiple things, and that goes for the entire you know,
Speaker 1: the entire organization of podcasts like me, I'm learning about
Speaker 1: SCO for instance, and working with Emily Latham are great,
Speaker 1: great web developer designer, the one that helps me the
Speaker 1: most on the back end design with the website stuff.
Speaker 1: We have people that are multifaceted, and that is an
Speaker 1: extension of Brian Flores and his message and his team
Speaker 1: and being interchangeable in the sense that you can be
Speaker 1: a team that does X primarily one week and then
Speaker 1: pivots to why the following week. For instance, when they
Speaker 1: were down bodies late in the season, you call upon
Speaker 1: a mac Hollins who plays a career high sixty nine
Speaker 1: snaps on offense, and all they do is roll up
Speaker 1: two fifty rush yards after having a prior season high
Speaker 1: of one d and thirty eight yards, almost double the
Speaker 1: rushing total of this previous season high. And you go
Speaker 1: watch that tape, watch Mac Hallins number eighty six blocking
Speaker 1: in the running game. He is wiping guys out, he's
Speaker 1: holding up multiple guys at the point, he's selling edges,
Speaker 1: he's downfield. Anytime you get a big run, there's gonna
Speaker 1: be a downfield blocked by a wide receiver and eighty
Speaker 1: six was hitting him on that day. You stacked this
Speaker 1: group up against the rest of the league. I mean
Speaker 1: Pro Football Focus has been doing uh, position by position
Speaker 1: rankings across the league, and they ranked the Dolphins receiver
Speaker 1: room ninth. And it seems like it's been since the
Speaker 1: Dan Marino days since you can say that about the
Speaker 1: Miami pass catchers, that they'd be viewed in that regard. Chambers,
Speaker 1: Booker and McMichael. Maybe. I know McMichael's a tight end,
Speaker 1: but back then, you know, there was a different league.
Speaker 1: You played a lot of twenty one personnel with two backs,
Speaker 1: Rob Conrad and Lusaka polite types in the league, Irving
Speaker 1: Friar O j McDuffie and mark Ingram in the mid
Speaker 1: nineties maybe, and then for sure before that, like definitely,
Speaker 1: the the Marx brothers held up that end of the bargain.
Speaker 1: But I asked Brian Floores about, you know, going back
Speaker 1: to the idea of the emphasis on the passing game
Speaker 1: and playmakers he talked about post draft. I asked him
Speaker 1: because Chris Greer had said pre draft that we do
Speaker 1: want to add playmakers both of the offensive and defensive
Speaker 1: side of the football. And then after Javon Holland, the
Speaker 1: safety was drafted in the second round out of Oregon,
Speaker 1: I had a chance to ask coach, you know you
Speaker 1: talk about addressing playmakers on both sides of the ball.
Speaker 1: Can you kind of speak more to that, and he
Speaker 1: he said this verbatim quote, it's a passing league. I
Speaker 1: think we all know that you need to be able
Speaker 1: to defend the past. You have to. You've got to
Speaker 1: defend the run also, But if you just look at
Speaker 1: the percentages and strictly the numbers, it's a passing league
Speaker 1: in my opinion, and Chris Greer and I have had
Speaker 1: many discussions about this. We want to be able to
Speaker 1: defend the deep part of the field and limit explosive
Speaker 1: plays and a quick aside right here g A coach
Speaker 1: Gerald Alexander has talked multiple times last season, and I'm
Speaker 1: sure we'll hear it this year about how mistakes in
Speaker 1: the secondary lead to touchdowns. That's where you cannot make
Speaker 1: your communication airs in the secondary, so limiting explosive plays.
Speaker 1: Part of that is athletic ability on the back end,
Speaker 1: but also communicating and so back to Brian Floores is
Speaker 1: quote here. In order to do that, to limit explosive plays,
Speaker 1: the guys who are back there are the defensive backs.
Speaker 1: I think Chris puts an emphasis on that with the scouts,
Speaker 1: and we talk about the back end constantly. We feel
Speaker 1: it's important. We feel like it's all important. I hate
Speaker 1: to kind of talk about one thing because every position,
Speaker 1: from the nose tackle to the three technique to the linebacker,
Speaker 1: it all plays as one. But at the end of
Speaker 1: the day, there's nothing a nose tackle can do about
Speaker 1: a fifty yard ball. We put an emphasis on that.
Speaker 1: The next thing we have to do is get them
Speaker 1: coached up. It's one thing to add players, it's another
Speaker 1: thing to get them coached up and get them all
Speaker 1: on the same page so we can try to defend
Speaker 1: these offenses that are very good in this league. So
Speaker 1: that point kind of evolved into a point about the defense,
Speaker 1: which is what I asked coach, So I appreciate him,
Speaker 1: you know, answering the question that I asked, But I
Speaker 1: thought that was relevant to the point about the offense,
Speaker 1: And you talk about limiting explosive plays and defending the
Speaker 1: deep part of the field. While on offense, which free
Speaker 1: agent threatens the deep part of the field more than
Speaker 1: Will Fuller There wasn't one. In the National football We'll
Speaker 1: talk about that here in just one second. Which player
Speaker 1: in the draft threatened the deep part of the field
Speaker 1: more than Jalen Waddle, There wasn't one. We'll talk about
Speaker 1: that here in just one second. And you talk about
Speaker 1: making an emphasis on the playmakers. I just got the
Speaker 1: War and Sharp season preview magazine. He does great work.
Speaker 1: He does so many models and analytics and in depth
Speaker 1: advanced metrics. They give you an idea and a feel
Speaker 1: for what team is and what they can be. And
Speaker 1: it's it's just a unique look at the game and
Speaker 1: by the numbers, and I think it's a really good
Speaker 1: balance to what you see on film. Use both those
Speaker 1: things that kind of come to a final conclusion. But
Speaker 1: in that he has positional salary rankings in terms of
Speaker 1: what teams allocate their cash towards which position, and the
Speaker 1: number one team in the league as far as receiver
Speaker 1: payroll and defensive back payroll both of those belong to
Speaker 1: the Miami Dolphins. So they talk about it, they have
Speaker 1: a vision, they approach it, they attack it, and they
Speaker 1: are I mean, that's that's my favorite part about this
Speaker 1: Dolphins iteration under this current regime is they talk about
Speaker 1: things they want to do and they go out and
Speaker 1: do it, like you don't have to look for between
Speaker 1: the lines that they're gonna do what they say they're
Speaker 1: gonna do. That's their vision, that's their belief and it's
Speaker 1: been fun to watch it come together. So this group,
Speaker 1: you know, creating conflict. I just I don't know how
Speaker 1: you avoid the conflict that this team can present. Because
Speaker 1: you play man coverage with all that speed we talked about,
Speaker 1: the vertical and horizontal stretching element is going to just
Speaker 1: open up space for everybody, not just the speed guys,
Speaker 1: but the big guys that create space in the middle.
Speaker 1: And you get those guys one on one opportunities like
Speaker 1: a Mike Kisiki or Davante Parker or Preston Williams and
Speaker 1: down the list. If those guys get one on one,
Speaker 1: that's where they excel and bodying guys up and making
Speaker 1: those contesting catches, you play two high defense that creates
Speaker 1: chances for the running game. You get a two way
Speaker 1: go from the slot where the receiver can can go inside,
Speaker 1: can go outside. That forces you to play coverage unless
Speaker 1: you want to rely on your off safety or maybe
Speaker 1: a nickel cornerback playing off coverage to be responsible for
Speaker 1: the possibility of this where Jalen Waddle or Will Fuller
Speaker 1: is lined up on you, you have a ten yard
Speaker 1: cushion and you're the only man in the deep part
Speaker 1: of the field, so you have to be worried about
Speaker 1: him stepping to the corner and then crossing face back
Speaker 1: to the post or doing the opposite. There's a great
Speaker 1: clip of Jalen Waddle against Missouri this past season late
Speaker 1: in the game where he does just that. The nickel
Speaker 1: cornerback blitzes the safety rolls over to cap and kind
Speaker 1: of replace that cornerback and Waddle he gives him no chance.
Speaker 1: He runs straight at him with that four three speed
Speaker 1: or sub four three speed really, and the safety flips
Speaker 1: his hips to the corner. He runs to the post
Speaker 1: and creates like five yards of separation. The ball didn't
Speaker 1: find him, but that's besides the point. You know, process
Speaker 1: over results, so I look at the the offense and
Speaker 1: the conflict that can create. That's the most exciting part
Speaker 1: about this to me. Conflict, conflict, conflict. And finally, I
Speaker 1: also think you have the potential to maybe add to
Speaker 1: future capital with this room because there's what double digit
Speaker 1: capable receivers in this room that we know of. That's
Speaker 1: before we get a chance to see some of these
Speaker 1: drafted guys or players that haven't had NFL experience, like
Speaker 1: a Kirk Merit for instance, We'll see what is what
Speaker 1: can he bring to the table. You can't keep them all.
Speaker 1: You can't keep ten receivers, So can you possibly use
Speaker 1: that to your advantage if maybe someone goes down in
Speaker 1: camp on some on some other team that needs a receiver,
Speaker 1: maybe you do that that way, this receiver's room could
Speaker 1: be ultimately the gift that keeps on giving to these
Speaker 1: Miami Dolphins. So let's go ahead and get to the
Speaker 1: written piece up on Miami Dolphins dot com taking a
Speaker 1: look at every position here heading into training camp in
Speaker 1: eleven part series, We're gonna be with you guys in
Speaker 1: the podcast here up until the opening day at camp,
Speaker 1: and then we're gonna break down all the action. Nine
Speaker 1: player evaluations throughout the course of the month of August
Speaker 1: and preseason games and training camp practices. I've said it before,
Speaker 1: I'll say it again. It's my favorite football to watch
Speaker 1: because you're not stressing out about the results. You just
Speaker 1: get to sit there and enjoy it and do the
Speaker 1: evaluation and kind of put your own knowledge of the
Speaker 1: game to the test. So check it out Miami Dolphins
Speaker 1: dot com. Training camp previews are live up on the website.
Speaker 1: And also will you have a Moment? The only thing
Speaker 1: we ask from you from this podcast we give you
Speaker 1: the podcast ad free. There's no charge is to go
Speaker 1: leave us a rating and a review and subscribe to
Speaker 1: the podcast wherever you get your podcast. So we talked
Speaker 1: about the additions to the receiver room Will Fuller, Jillian Waddle,
Speaker 1: Robert Foster, and Kayle Locksley and Isaiah Ford was the
Speaker 1: loan departure from last year's group. The coach of this
Speaker 1: group is Josh Grizzard. He enters his second season as
Speaker 1: Dolphins receiver's coach. It's his fifth year with Miami. He
Speaker 1: served previously as a quality control offense offensive quality control
Speaker 1: coach My Apologies, as well as an assistant receiver's coach
Speaker 1: to Carl Durrell, who of course got the head coaching
Speaker 1: job in the Pac twelve a couple of years back.
Speaker 1: He played his college ball, Grizzard did at Yale before
Speaker 1: making the jump to student assistant for one season prior
Speaker 1: to a three year stint at Duke as a graduate
Speaker 1: slash a graduate assistant, a g a slash quality control coach,
Speaker 1: and when you look at coaches room as a whole,
Speaker 1: we talked about this and their ability to make contestant
Speaker 1: catches last year, and we talked about in the quarterback
Speaker 1: pod cast to a tongue of blows, forty seven point
Speaker 1: five percent completion rate on tight window throws, which is
Speaker 1: when there's a receiver or a defensive back rather within
Speaker 1: one yard of the receiver was tops in the NFL.
Speaker 1: And that's you know, a two person stat right there,
Speaker 1: the receiver in the quarterbacks to make the catches on
Speaker 1: those good throws in those windows. Davanta Parker had his
Speaker 1: second best season as a pro last year as far
Speaker 1: as some of the statistical categories go receptions, yards, touchdowns,
Speaker 1: and some others. Preston Williams I thought developed a good
Speaker 1: rapport with the young quarterback early on in that Arizona game,
Speaker 1: had like four catches for sixty yards and a touchdown
Speaker 1: in the first half of that game. And then again
Speaker 1: to complement the size and the strength of the incumbents,
Speaker 1: Miami goes in search of speed this offseason and they
Speaker 1: found it will Fuller in fifty three catches, eight hundred
Speaker 1: and seventy nine yards and eight touchdowns. Robert Foster again
Speaker 1: one of these sub four four guys. He had a
Speaker 1: big rookie season, has not matched it in the last
Speaker 1: two seasons, but he comes here to Miami looking to
Speaker 1: do that, but also has some big contributions in his
Speaker 1: career as a special teamer. Albert Wilson as well as
Speaker 1: Alan Hearns back off of the opt out list from
Speaker 1: last year, the sixth overall draft pick in Jalen Waddle
Speaker 1: who caught five hundred ninety one receiving yards and four
Speaker 1: touchdowns in five games last year at Alabama. And then
Speaker 1: we talked about the depth of the room and how
Speaker 1: the goal of the off season from coach Flores and
Speaker 1: from Chris career was to breed competition in every room.
Speaker 1: Talked about mac Hollands notching his first touchdown as a
Speaker 1: Dolphin last year, the big touchdown catch against the Cardinals,
Speaker 1: Jakeem Grant earning All Pro honors as a return man,
Speaker 1: Lynn Bowden and Malcolm Perry approving really difficult to tackle
Speaker 1: after the catch. And then of course Alan Hearns the
Speaker 1: other opt out from last season, Kirk Merritt spent all
Speaker 1: but one game on the practice squad during his rookie year,
Speaker 1: and then Kayle Loxley looks to make the switch from
Speaker 1: collegiate quarterback to professional professional wide receiver. Easy for me
Speaker 1: to say, we start here in order of jersey number
Speaker 1: with Albert Wilson. He's entering his seventh season out of
Speaker 1: Georgia State, twenty nine years old on opening day, wearing
Speaker 1: number two this year, so keep an eye on that.
Speaker 1: Training camp number two is Albert Willson. And I think
Speaker 1: all of us look back as far as Dolphins fans
Speaker 1: go at Albert Wilson against the Chicago Bears and eighteen,
Speaker 1: he had two catches in the fourth quarter that total
Speaker 1: a hundred eighteen yards, and combined on those hundred eighteen yards,
Speaker 1: a hundred and ten of those came after the catch
Speaker 1: on long touchdown catch and runs through a tired Chicago
Speaker 1: Bears defense. Kind of a breakthrough campaign for Wilson that
Speaker 1: year before prematurely ending that season with an injury the
Speaker 1: following game against the Lions, where once again he caught
Speaker 1: the ball and was off to the races and someone
Speaker 1: tripped him up. But I think he doesn't get tripped
Speaker 1: up on that play. He might have damn well scored again.
Speaker 1: So that was kind of a setback in his career.
Speaker 1: But that injury, he missed some time early in twenty
Speaker 1: nineteen and came back towards the end of the season
Speaker 1: and he looked like himself again. He was slipping tackles
Speaker 1: every single week. The final three games of the year,
Speaker 1: he had seventeen catches for a buck nineties seven and
Speaker 1: he broke seven tackles, and those three games with a
Speaker 1: hundred and ten of his one hundred ninety seven yards
Speaker 1: coming after the catch. And come training camp, he will
Speaker 1: be thirty three months removed from that injury, so I'm
Speaker 1: excited to see what he looks like out there on
Speaker 1: the practice field. Will full or number three, he has
Speaker 1: five years of NFL experience out of Notre Dame, twenty
Speaker 1: seven years old, kind of hitting that prime age, and
Speaker 1: we saw that last season, and he stepped into that
Speaker 1: number one role last year with the Texans after DeAndre
Speaker 1: Hopkins went to Arizona, and boy, he did not disappoint.
Speaker 1: He led the NFL and yards per target at eleven
Speaker 1: point seven, and he set career highs and receptions, receiving yards,
Speaker 1: and touchdowns. And I thought this that was interesting. Average
Speaker 1: depth of target was thirteen point three for will Fuller.
Speaker 1: That was the twenty four highest among receivers who had
Speaker 1: at least forty targets last year, and he's still caught
Speaker 1: over seventy of those targets. Only one other receiver with
Speaker 1: a average depth of target of thirteen yards or better
Speaker 1: caught better than seventy of their passes. That was Cleveland's
Speaker 1: Richard Higgins at seventy five point four percent. That's from
Speaker 1: Pro Football focus. So he can get vertical and give
Speaker 1: you a high catch rate. So where you're you kind
Speaker 1: of get weary about attacking vertically is the low percentage
Speaker 1: throws you get yourself in second down and long. But
Speaker 1: with will Fuller, you don't run that risk as much
Speaker 1: because he catches most of the balls that are thrown
Speaker 1: to him. Seventy percent of the time. He also graded
Speaker 1: him on the top of the receiver class in terms
Speaker 1: of Matt Harmon's reception perception data for last season. We
Speaker 1: did a podcast with Matt previewing the receiver draft class
Speaker 1: this year. We talked a lot about Jalen Waddle, but
Speaker 1: us talked a lot about will Fuller. If you have
Speaker 1: not heard that, I believe it was in late April,
Speaker 1: right before the draft, go back and check that podcast out.
Speaker 1: But Fuller posted better than league average success rates on
Speaker 1: every single route chartered besides one, the out route. He
Speaker 1: was just below league average in that one as far
Speaker 1: as Matt Harmon's charting went, and he defeated press coverage
Speaker 1: at a clip of seventy four point two percent that
Speaker 1: was in the top eighty percent tile of the National
Speaker 1: Football League. Will Fuller, there are just so many stats
Speaker 1: that that encourage you about what his production has been
Speaker 1: in his career. Last year and in the eleven games
Speaker 1: he late, he was on the field for two of
Speaker 1: the offensive snaps on eight of those occasions, so a
Speaker 1: full time player last year to the max twenty three
Speaker 1: point nine percent of his snaps and the slot last
Speaker 1: year the four point three to forty yard dash gives
Speaker 1: you the flexibility to do multiple things as well, but
Speaker 1: catching the deep ball, catching passes underneath, and taking into
Speaker 1: the house sixteen point six yards per catch last season,
Speaker 1: two point to eight yards per route run that was
Speaker 1: eleventh in the National Football League, and Texans quarterbacks had
Speaker 1: a one thirty two point five passer rating when targeting
Speaker 1: Fuller last season. He is a big play waiting to
Speaker 1: happen and a lot of fun to watch play football.
Speaker 1: Up next here on our list is Lynn Bowden junior
Speaker 1: number six, now another jersey number change. One of the
Speaker 1: four Dolphins receivers wearing single digits are gonna have Wilson too,
Speaker 1: Fuller and three, Bowden and six, and Alan Hearns and eight.
Speaker 1: So try to keep up on that at training camp.
Speaker 1: We see you out there in a couple of weeks.
Speaker 1: Number six. One season NFL experience out of Kentucky. He'll
Speaker 1: be twenty three years old on opening day, and his
Speaker 1: skills are I think best explained by his collegiate accomplishments
Speaker 1: because he was a receiver. And you know this isn't
Speaker 1: the Ryan Tannehill thing where you heard every single week
Speaker 1: this guy was a former receiver in college. No, it
Speaker 1: was like Tannehill, where he was a receiver who moved
Speaker 1: to quarterback because his team needed him in that role,
Speaker 1: and he did that. He entered that season on the
Speaker 1: Bullet Nic Cough Award watch list for the nation's top receiver.
Speaker 1: And all he does is go on to play quarterback
Speaker 1: that season after the first and second string quarterbacks go
Speaker 1: down to injury, and he sets a record for most
Speaker 1: rushing yards in a game by an SEC quarterback, beat
Speaker 1: Tim Tebow's record and went bananas in their bowl game
Speaker 1: for a bunch of yards and touchdowns as well. And
Speaker 1: he got here last year a week before the season
Speaker 1: opener in that trade with Las Vegas, and you saw
Speaker 1: his playing time increase as the year went along. He
Speaker 1: was targeted just twice to the first twelve weeks of
Speaker 1: the season, but he saw at least four targets and
Speaker 1: four of the last five games. During that final month,
Speaker 1: he caught twenty seven passes for two and twelve yards,
Speaker 1: and he broke at least one tackle in every single game.
Speaker 1: He is slippery with the ball in his hands. Number
Speaker 1: eight Alan hearns six years NFL experience out of Miami.
Speaker 1: He'll be twenty nine on opening Day. He had that
Speaker 1: contract extension back in twenty nineteen, which just through the
Speaker 1: pandemic through it all seems like so long ago, but
Speaker 1: he did that before the Week ten game in twenty nineteen.
Speaker 1: After the extension, he finished the year with nine team catches,
Speaker 1: two forty six yards and a touchdown, which was good
Speaker 1: for eight point seven nine yards per target and a
Speaker 1: sixty eight point one percent catch RaSE. So he he
Speaker 1: did a lot of work inside outside. He caught some tough,
Speaker 1: contested balls in the middle of the field. He brings
Speaker 1: you some value in that way. Up next is number ten,
Speaker 1: Malcolm Perry, the second year player out of Navy. He'll
Speaker 1: be twenty four years old come opening Day. A versatile
Speaker 1: offensive weapon. We saw him do kind of what he
Speaker 1: did in college in terms of playing multiple positions both
Speaker 1: on offense and special teams. He caught nine passes on
Speaker 1: thirteen targets for ninety two yards and a touchdown. He
Speaker 1: also carried the ball three times for five yards and
Speaker 1: returned to punt for twelve yards. So Malcolm Perry kind
Speaker 1: of a jack of all trades in this receiver's room.
Speaker 1: Davante Parker number or eleven, that hasn't changed six seasons
Speaker 1: as a pro out of Louisville, twenty eight years old
Speaker 1: on opening day, and this guy has mastered the craft
Speaker 1: of high point in the football. I talked about this
Speaker 1: after how it seems like it seems like those high
Speaker 1: point catches are just from the casual I or maybe
Speaker 1: the untrained. It looks like there might be like some
Speaker 1: luck involved, Like you just go up and you hope
Speaker 1: you get your hands on it. But you watch the
Speaker 1: way Davante does it. He's so good at manipulating what
Speaker 1: the defender can do in terms of kind of putting
Speaker 1: his body into the defender and kind of hanging up
Speaker 1: in the air and using those long arms and strong
Speaker 1: hands to pluck the ball because the defensive back can't
Speaker 1: get around him because he's kind of blocked him out
Speaker 1: or shielded him out. And I think that's the most
Speaker 1: impressive part of Davanta Parker's game. But he also moonlights,
Speaker 1: and this is kind of an unknown fact about Davanta Parker.
Speaker 1: I think he plays a lot inside too. He can
Speaker 1: win from the slot on slants and outs and flats
Speaker 1: and some of that fun stuff you do from that position.
Speaker 1: He's capable of playing every position at the receiver spot,
Speaker 1: strong hands, the top shelf, leading ability, exceptional body control,
Speaker 1: forty three contested catches over a two year period. That's
Speaker 1: best in the National Football League and a very valuable
Speaker 1: asset for a young quarterback. He had the twelve hundred
Speaker 1: two yards back in and that was despite ranking in
Speaker 1: the bottom five in the NFL from Sports Info Solutions
Speaker 1: in terms of catchable targets. He was also twelve that
Speaker 1: year in a DOT at fourteen point four yards average
Speaker 1: depth of targets, So pulling down the football on low
Speaker 1: percentage throws was Vante Parker's game. Robert Foster number sixteen,
Speaker 1: three seasons NFL experience. He comes out of Alabama as well,
Speaker 1: twenty seven years old on opening Day, and another one
Speaker 1: of these guys that has a blend of size and
Speaker 1: speed at six ft two with a four four one
Speaker 1: forty yard dash and he averaged twenty point one yards
Speaker 1: per catch as a rookie, and that was his most
Speaker 1: productive campaign when he caught twenty seven passes for five
Speaker 1: hundred forty one yards and three touchdowns twenty one downs
Speaker 1: and he did that at twelve point three yards per target.
Speaker 1: And again, this guy can get done on special teams.
Speaker 1: Jalen Waddle number seventeen, a rookie out of Alabama, will
Speaker 1: be twenty two years old come opening Day, and he
Speaker 1: was the most explosive player in college football according to
Speaker 1: GPS tracking in terms of his speed and change of
Speaker 1: direction and all the stuff that tracks instant offense. Caught
Speaker 1: twenty one of twenty six deep targets last year. That's
Speaker 1: passed his throwing twenty or more yards caught twenty one
Speaker 1: outwenty six. That's like, that's like screen numbers right there.
Speaker 1: It's ridiculous. And the average twenty two point three yards
Speaker 1: per catch, nineteen point two yards per target that final
Speaker 1: year there Alabama, and he also averaged nineteen point three
Speaker 1: yards per punt return with two touchdowns on thirty eight chances.
Speaker 1: In his career, he averaged a hundred twenty three point
Speaker 1: eight yards per game out of the slot that led
Speaker 1: college football by a country mile. And he also finished
Speaker 1: sixth in college football with an average of ten point
Speaker 1: one yards after the catch last season. We keep on
Speaker 1: rolling along here with number eighteen, Preston Williams two years
Speaker 1: experience out of Colorado State. He'll be twenty four years old.
Speaker 1: On opening Day, and you can bind his two seasons together.
Speaker 1: He got injured after his eighth game both seasons, and
Speaker 1: of course played that Cardinals and for the first half,
Speaker 1: so seven and a half games really, But through sixteen
Speaker 1: games in two seasons, fifty catches, seven hundred and sixteen
Speaker 1: yards and seven touchdowns. I mean, you give me a
Speaker 1: U d f A and in one season will take that.
Speaker 1: Two years is even pretty good too, for a guy
Speaker 1: that you know has the low percentage chance of making
Speaker 1: a roster like a U d f A typically does.
Speaker 1: But he burst onto the scene with a great training
Speaker 1: camp into the preseason and then produced on the field
Speaker 1: on Sundays when it counted. Average depth of target was
Speaker 1: fourteen point eight last year, his average reception was fourteen
Speaker 1: point three yards. Of This guy again vertical skill set,
Speaker 1: but also enough to win underneath Number nineteen Jachem Grant
Speaker 1: five years NFL experience out of Texas Tech. He'll be
Speaker 1: twenty eight years old come opening Day, and his speed
Speaker 1: and explosiveness makes for some of the more intriguing in
Speaker 1: white knuckle plays on the NFL landscape, and especially at
Speaker 1: training camp. He has so much fun to watch practice.
Speaker 1: He broke franchise records last year for both the longest
Speaker 1: punt return at eighty eight yards and most punt returned
Speaker 1: touchdowns in franchise history with three, and we scored it
Speaker 1: from his owned twelve yard line in that seventeen win
Speaker 1: over the Rams. He also has two kickoff return touchdowns,
Speaker 1: giving him the franchise record for most special team scores.
Speaker 1: But he also notched ten point three yards per target
Speaker 1: last year that was the best on the Dolphins team,
Speaker 1: and the averages six point four yards after the catch
Speaker 1: on eighty nine career receptions. We got a few more
Speaker 1: to get to here. Kirk Merritt number eighty three last
Speaker 1: year was his first out of Arkansas State. A twenty
Speaker 1: four year old player who started his career at Oregon
Speaker 1: transferred to Arkansas State, where he caught nineteen touchdowns and
Speaker 1: one thousand, eight hundred and seventy two receiving yards in
Speaker 1: two seasons. I also thought he was really looking sharp
Speaker 1: out there in o t As this past summer. Mc
Speaker 1: collins number eighty six four years experience out of North Carolina,
Speaker 1: twenty seven years old on opening Day and again carving
Speaker 1: out a real nice role for himself in the NFL.
Speaker 1: As a key special teams contributor, but also his blocking
Speaker 1: work in the running game. He came on late last
Speaker 1: year and had sixteen catches on twenty five targets for
Speaker 1: a hundred and seventy six yards and that big touchdown
Speaker 1: against the Arizona Cardinals. We talked about his work in
Speaker 1: the running game. He had a huge block on that
Speaker 1: fifty eight yard Miles Gaskin touchdown in Las Vegas, and
Speaker 1: had so many big blocks on Miami's two hundred and
Speaker 1: fifty yard rushing day against the New England Patriots. Kai
Speaker 1: Locksley number eighty seven, a rookie out of Texas El Paso,
Speaker 1: twenty four years old. On opening day. He was a
Speaker 1: dual threat quarterback at U TEP had two hundred and
Speaker 1: thirty seven rushing attempt and three hundred and fifty passes
Speaker 1: in college, twenty total touchdowns, eleven of those on the ground.
Speaker 1: So he's a little bit uh tough to tackle. Like
Speaker 1: so many of these guys on this roster, can make
Speaker 1: place after the reception. So that's your Dolphins receiver's room.
Speaker 1: That's the training camp preview for it. I gave you
Speaker 1: a promise. We talked about some TV here I first
Speaker 1: want to cover the show Dave on FX, which we
Speaker 1: talked about almost weekly. It seems like here on the podcast,
Speaker 1: how good has this season been? Mina Kimes tweeted about it,
Speaker 1: saying how great the show is, and I replied to
Speaker 1: her saying that my favorite part of the season so
Speaker 1: far was the scene or the episode where Gaeta was
Speaker 1: trying to get his phone charged and there just was
Speaker 1: this overwhelming sense of tension and fear that something bad
Speaker 1: was about to happen to him. But that wasn't the
Speaker 1: case at all. Spoiler he winds up being the star
Speaker 1: of the episode. I went from like just it's gonna happen,
Speaker 1: something bad is gonna happen to cheering at the end
Speaker 1: of the episode. Rick and Morty. Three episodes into the
Speaker 1: new season, it's kind of like Dave, where it's not
Speaker 1: that much of a comedy to me anymore as much
Speaker 1: as a great drama. I'm loving watching that. And my
Speaker 1: new show I'm into right now is Atlanta, also an
Speaker 1: f X production. FX makes bangers, but akin to Dave,
Speaker 1: Donald Glover is so talented. You probably know him as
Speaker 1: Childish Gambino, the singer, but he does so much stuff
Speaker 1: with comedy and acting and just the true triple, quadruple, five, tuple,
Speaker 1: whatever that word is. He's a true threat in every
Speaker 1: single aspect. And as promised my I think you should
Speaker 1: leave power rankings. I went through every sketch and graded
Speaker 1: them or not gread at him. I just ranked him
Speaker 1: in order by which ones I liked the most. I
Speaker 1: think there's like twenty eight total. I'm not going to
Speaker 1: go through all of them. But this show is on
Speaker 1: Rotten Tomato is Seth Rogan called it one of the
Speaker 1: funniest shows he's ever seen, So I recommend you go
Speaker 1: check it out because everybody else is and they're all
Speaker 1: loving it. Season one was great. I personally think season
Speaker 1: two is even better. So my top ten, let's go
Speaker 1: with that. And this isn't gonna make sense to some
Speaker 1: of you, but go watch you you'll find out. Brian's
Speaker 1: hat slash Insider Trading, the hat with the Safari flaps
Speaker 1: and the fedora, that was number one sketch in the
Speaker 1: entire season for me. Dan Flashes number two. The great
Speaker 1: shirts with the complicated designs, that was number two. The
Speaker 1: Ghost Tour where you can say whatever you want on
Speaker 1: the adult Tour was number three, corn Cob TV bring
Speaker 1: back coffin flops, he didn't do it. Number five was
Speaker 1: the Crash Detective crash More a O L Blast interview
Speaker 1: or Santa Claus is playing Detective crash More. Sloppy Steaks
Speaker 1: is number six. I Can't Drive is number seven when
Speaker 1: the guy was stuck in the parking lot couldn't get
Speaker 1: out because Tim Robinson could not drive his car. Carl
Speaker 1: Havoc is number eight. The great scene where he questions
Speaker 1: his entire life because of the sketch they're pulling, and
Speaker 1: then Driver's ed was number nine where the lady in
Speaker 1: her tables didn't make sense at all. And number ten
Speaker 1: was the carbor vack because is that why are you sure?
Speaker 1: That's why you're really sure? That's why that's number ten.
Speaker 1: I got the rest of my rankings here. We'll talk
Speaker 1: about it on Twitter. Tell me your rankings, Tell me
Speaker 1: how much you love that show. Tell me what you're
Speaker 1: watching right now. I love hearing some recommendations and what
Speaker 1: everybody is doing outside of their football viewing. As for
Speaker 1: my time on this podcast, Part three of the Training
Speaker 1: Camp Preview is gonna be a rap you all. Please
Speaker 1: be sure to subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcast.
Speaker 1: Leave us a rating, Leave us a review. Follow me
Speaker 1: on Twitter at Wingfield NFL. Follow the team at Miami Dolphins,
Speaker 1: check out the fish Tank and the Audible podcast, and
Speaker 1: of course Miami Dolphins dot com. Until next time, fins up,