Speaker 1: To us buyers touch style by Waddle snucked into the
Speaker 1: end zone of Miami Boy tight froll type window. They
Speaker 1: had to get that touchdown on that play. They get it.
Speaker 1: What is up? Dolphins? And welcome to the Drivetime Podcast,
Speaker 1: part of the Miami Dolphins podcast network covering your team,
Speaker 1: your Miami Dolphins. How's it going everybody? I am your
Speaker 1: host Travis Wingfield And on today's show, part two of
Speaker 1: our two NFL Draft preview series starts today or continues today.
Speaker 1: I should say with e J. Snyder of the Bootleg
Speaker 1: Football Podcast, He's gonna talk all things wide receivers, including
Speaker 1: the Tyreek Hill Edition, Cedric Wilson Jr. Edition, Trent Sherfield,
Speaker 1: and how Jaln Waddle kind of benefits from the additions
Speaker 1: and the receiver's room Davante Parker trade, as well as
Speaker 1: the in depth look from the receiver position at the
Speaker 1: NFL Draft. All of that in the heck of a
Speaker 1: lot more from somewhere in South Florida. This is the
Speaker 1: Drive Time Podcast. Let's go ahead and welcome and our
Speaker 1: guest today, e J. Snyder and joining me now on
Speaker 1: the Drivetime Podcast from the Bootleg Football Podcast, Wendy City
Speaker 1: Gridiron and uh Bears over beers. E J stumble over
Speaker 1: that every single time. He is. E J Snyder, my
Speaker 1: Pacific Northwest brother, and e J, you're staying safe out
Speaker 1: there in stormy Seattle. We're okay. We got a break
Speaker 1: in the weather today. We had a pretty good wind
Speaker 1: storm yesterday, but no damage luckily. And now you know,
Speaker 1: we get to talk about football, so it's all good.
Speaker 1: You know. It's you were sending those pictures of of
Speaker 1: the trees down your neighborhood, and like I I kind
Speaker 1: of missed that, but I kind of don't miss that
Speaker 1: at the same time. But I wanted to start here
Speaker 1: because you know, like you, I am a Pacific Northwest
Speaker 1: native and a non Seahawks fan that that's not very
Speaker 1: common in those parts. And I was curious. I had
Speaker 1: to ask you before we get into anything else here.
Speaker 1: What took you away from the Seahawks at a young age. Yeah, well,
Speaker 1: I actually wasn't born on the West coast. I was
Speaker 1: born on the East Coast. But equally so, people ask
Speaker 1: me why I'm not a Bills fan or Jets fan
Speaker 1: or Giants fan. Um. I was one of those kids
Speaker 1: that didn't really get football loyalty handed to me from
Speaker 1: my parents, So I got to choose when you sort
Speaker 1: of get to that age in middle school, and um,
Speaker 1: I was a bit of a free agent as a fan,
Speaker 1: and basically, short story long, I saw Walter Payton, fell
Speaker 1: in love, became a Bears fan, and that's that's been
Speaker 1: it since then. I always I like, I like to
Speaker 1: hear you and Brett kind of commiserate about your your
Speaker 1: Bears fandom because I know he's kind of jumping in
Speaker 1: that realm as well, uh, leaving the Texans bandwagon as
Speaker 1: it were. So I always appreciate the fan element you
Speaker 1: guys present on the podcast and on on the video show,
Speaker 1: on YouTube and everything you guys do. So it's it
Speaker 1: connects you in a way I think to a lot
Speaker 1: of fan bases around the National Football League. That's that's
Speaker 1: pretty cool. But um yeah, man, I wanted to talk
Speaker 1: some wide receivers with you here and kind of kick
Speaker 1: things off. But before we do that and talk about
Speaker 1: the draft, I want to revisit the Dolphins offseason so far,
Speaker 1: what they've done to really overhaul the receiver room the
Speaker 1: last two years really and in total, and you know,
Speaker 1: Jalen Waddle had a franchise record setting red rookie season,
Speaker 1: and I'm a massive fan of his. And we go
Speaker 1: out and get Cedric Wilson Jr. Who I think is
Speaker 1: just beginning to start to scratch the surface on his skills.
Speaker 1: And then of course you get the big cannonball on
Speaker 1: the deep end to the move Tyreek Hill, the cheetah. Here,
Speaker 1: let's go ahead and start with the individuals. What does
Speaker 1: Tyreek Hill bring to the Miami Dolphins offense? E J.
Speaker 1: I think what he brings is really well known because
Speaker 1: the Chiefs have had a lot of primetime games over
Speaker 1: the last couple of years, and it's game breaking speed.
Speaker 1: But there's a lot more than that. And I'm sure
Speaker 1: you've dug into two Tyreek since he's become a Dolphin
Speaker 1: in in a bit more. Probably come away impressed, if
Speaker 1: you're anything like me, with how his game has developed,
Speaker 1: because he was certainly drafted as speed threat, uh, but
Speaker 1: he's bulked up, He's worked on his short to medium
Speaker 1: out running. He can still run one cross and burn
Speaker 1: any defensive back in the National Football League. But if
Speaker 1: you really look at him, people that sort of made
Speaker 1: that impression of him and just stopped and said, well,
Speaker 1: that's what he is. Are really sewing him short. So
Speaker 1: he brings a lot to the Dolphins wide receiver room,
Speaker 1: and I think probably even a lot more because of
Speaker 1: the change you've had in head coach. You now have
Speaker 1: a head coach that understands a sort of multiplicity of
Speaker 1: roles that are can be accessed underneath that sort of
Speaker 1: wide receiver banner. And Tyreek is gonna serve you know, role,
Speaker 1: role and a half two roles depending on how you
Speaker 1: look at it, because he's very strong, he's incredibly fast,
Speaker 1: and he's continued to develop. He's a good contested catch receiver.
Speaker 1: He's going to be able to be used in so
Speaker 1: many ways in the Dolphins offerings. Oh man, I cannot
Speaker 1: wait to see it come come to fruition on the
Speaker 1: field on Sundays and before that, O t A is like,
Speaker 1: I can't wait take it out to practice at the
Speaker 1: stage and watch shows guys go up against xaviing Howard
Speaker 1: and Byron Jones and all the dudes in that Dolphins
Speaker 1: defense as well. We'll go ahead and stay in the
Speaker 1: receiver room here and talk about Cedric Wilson junior little
Speaker 1: because I have a feeling that you were. I just
Speaker 1: get the feeling you were a fan of him watching
Speaker 1: some of those Mountain West games after dark as we
Speaker 1: call it, you know, packed all after after dark as
Speaker 1: it were. What was your kind of report on Cedric
Speaker 1: Wilson as a college or I should say, a prospect
Speaker 1: and then now four years into his career. Yeah, as
Speaker 1: a prospect coming out of Boise State, I liked him
Speaker 1: as a mid round receiver who I thought could do
Speaker 1: kind of exactly what I see him doing in Miami,
Speaker 1: which is rounding out a wide receiver room. He wasn't
Speaker 1: a sort of one alpha type that you're gonna line
Speaker 1: up over on the left and run your offense through.
Speaker 1: I thought he had the potential if he continued to improve,
Speaker 1: to really become a solid, you know, Z receiver, a
Speaker 1: number two in a pro offense. Uh. You know, he
Speaker 1: went to Dallas first, got to be part of what
Speaker 1: was an exceptional wide receiver room there, and now gets
Speaker 1: added to the Dolphins. Kind Of at the time he
Speaker 1: was added, you thought, all right, like this could be
Speaker 1: the solid number two he could he could alternate. They
Speaker 1: bring in Tyree Hill and now you're like, okay, that's
Speaker 1: one of the most solid number three's in the league.
Speaker 1: If you're looking at it that way. I still think
Speaker 1: he'll play outside. I still think he'll play Z's got
Speaker 1: really good size. Um, he's fast, but he's a good
Speaker 1: possession receiver across the middle as well. And one of
Speaker 1: the guys that I was actually hoping my team, the
Speaker 1: Bears would look at. They have a let's just say
Speaker 1: the polar opposite of a wide receiver room. It's pretty threadbare. Uh.
Speaker 1: And Curdric Wilson was out there as a free agent.
Speaker 1: I thought, now there's a guy that's going to present
Speaker 1: value if he last the sort of second or third wave,
Speaker 1: I hope they make an offer. Dolphins pounce early. He
Speaker 1: ends up going to work with Mike McDaniel, And now, look,
Speaker 1: you've got three incredible weapons in Hill, Waddle and Cedric
Speaker 1: Wilson doesn't have to again be that um. You know,
Speaker 1: Daniel Jeremiah talks about he and Bucky Brooks talk about
Speaker 1: tractors and trailers. Right, is this the guy that's gonna
Speaker 1: pull the offense along or a guy that's going to support.
Speaker 1: Cedric Wilson is a great trailer. He is a really
Speaker 1: good supporting cast member in a wide receiver room. So
Speaker 1: the Dolphins are you know, talking about the draft is
Speaker 1: a little bit of a luxury for the Dolphins because
Speaker 1: the wide receiver room is real solid at the Well.
Speaker 1: I do want to get there eventually, but I want
Speaker 1: to stay here because I want to keep talking about
Speaker 1: these guys because it's one of my favorite position groups
Speaker 1: on the entire team. And speaking of favorites, I mean
Speaker 1: I've I've made no no bones about it here that
Speaker 1: I really really have an affinity for what Jalen Waddle
Speaker 1: is as a player because you mentioned this with Tyreek
Speaker 1: Hill about the contested catch nature of his game, and man,
Speaker 1: Waddle competes his butt off, dude, like every day in
Speaker 1: practice on Sundays as well. He competes for every single
Speaker 1: football and just has that that ball's mind type of mentality.
Speaker 1: And I think all three of those guys we just
Speaker 1: talked about have that that same mentality. But I was
Speaker 1: curious about, again, the same idea you're scouting report on
Speaker 1: Wattle more recently just last year, compared to what he
Speaker 1: is now after one full year in the pros setting
Speaker 1: records for Dolphins rookies for for catches and yards in
Speaker 1: a rookie season. Yeah, speed was the thing at the
Speaker 1: top of everybody's menu when they were looking at other
Speaker 1: than a waddle. He had a different level of speed
Speaker 1: and and playing in the conference he did, the top
Speaker 1: conference in the country, he gets to compete against all
Speaker 1: the guys. He's gonna compete against the pros, all all
Speaker 1: the cornerbacks, all the safeties, and he was running past them.
Speaker 1: Then uh, he's still running past them. And it's that
Speaker 1: ability to take pretty much literally any ball on the
Speaker 1: field and go eight year ninety yards because of instant
Speaker 1: acceleration and a great top end. Not the biggest guy,
Speaker 1: but a really quick, really fast and when you add
Speaker 1: in that competitive element of that ball's mind, I'm gonna
Speaker 1: win contested catches, I'm gonna go up in situations where
Speaker 1: it might not be a clear catch, and I'm gonna
Speaker 1: bail my quarterback out um. And then you just add
Speaker 1: all that, you know, really top tier I would say,
Speaker 1: like top five to maybe in the NFL sort of
Speaker 1: yards after the catch ability and the familiarity had with
Speaker 1: to coming out of the Alabama program certainly didn't hurt
Speaker 1: at all. I I don't think he could have done
Speaker 1: anything more in his rookie year. To say, Hey, that
Speaker 1: was a really solid choice and he's gonna be a
Speaker 1: cornerstone in our wide receiver room going forward. I'm glad
Speaker 1: you mentioned the the the yard after catch, but also
Speaker 1: a separation skill set of those guys, because all three
Speaker 1: of the guys we just talked about ranked in the
Speaker 1: top twenty five last year on next Gen Stats. And
Speaker 1: that's something that Mike McDaniel has talked about really repeatedly,
Speaker 1: about the ability to create yards after catching. I love
Speaker 1: the humility he shows when people ask me about his
Speaker 1: offense and he says, all I really do is put
Speaker 1: the ball in the hands of my really good players
Speaker 1: and they take care of it from there. And so
Speaker 1: with that in mind and the the the thought about
Speaker 1: what this offense might be, I mean, we obviously have
Speaker 1: elements and and things that we can take from his
Speaker 1: previous stops and you know, the Kyle Shanahan offense and
Speaker 1: then Sean mcvain the wide zone. We talked about that
Speaker 1: a little bit before it came on the air here
Speaker 1: and what that might look like. But I'm still sure
Speaker 1: there's gonna be plenty of you know, Mike McDaniel Miami
Speaker 1: Dolphins specific influx in terms of what exactly it is,
Speaker 1: because you know, every offense has their core principles and
Speaker 1: then you can tailor it to your certain else setting
Speaker 1: all that stuff. So with all of that kind of
Speaker 1: you know, in the back of your mind, how do
Speaker 1: you think the speed and the skills of these guys
Speaker 1: in the receiver room match up with an offensive system?
Speaker 1: What that could look like here under Mike McDaniel, it's
Speaker 1: gonna be really interesting, like you said, to see what
Speaker 1: he keeps and to see what he introduces as his
Speaker 1: own his own wrinkles. Um. He's been with Kyle shanahan
Speaker 1: for a long time, like their relationship goes way back.
Speaker 1: They've been at multiple stops together and and anything you
Speaker 1: would say about Kyle Shanahan over the last decade really
Speaker 1: you kind of have to include Mike McDaniel in the
Speaker 1: same breath because they have been sort of tied at
Speaker 1: the hips. So a lot of it's going to be
Speaker 1: similar and look familiar. But you've got to think a
Speaker 1: guy takes a grab at the brass ring at the
Speaker 1: top spot with the notion of I can do that
Speaker 1: and be better. There's some things I want to do
Speaker 1: that are mine that I've kept in my bag for
Speaker 1: this time, and he's got every tool he needs to
Speaker 1: unleash all of those. If I was going to play
Speaker 1: the Dolphins this year and I'm a defensive coordinator, I'm
Speaker 1: not gonna sleep real well the night before the game
Speaker 1: because you've got somebody that understands offense and how really
Speaker 1: to use an offense to stretch a defense. And he's
Speaker 1: got the biggest stretchers there are in the NFL at
Speaker 1: his disposal now. Jalen Waddle was one, Tyreek Hill was
Speaker 1: another who probably was thought to be out of reach
Speaker 1: by just about everybody, including me. And now you've got
Speaker 1: them sort of under the tutelage of Mike McDaniel. And
Speaker 1: when they start working together, they're gonna be some defenders
Speaker 1: who are put in impossible spots. And that's exactly what
Speaker 1: you want as an offensive coach. And it's going to
Speaker 1: cause you to score points. It's really gonna be. It's
Speaker 1: gonna be so difficult for Dolphins opponents this year. Oh Man,
Speaker 1: I talked about conflicts in the podcast all the time.
Speaker 1: You talked about conflict, You talked about the move the
Speaker 1: sticks podcast, two very very frequent themes to talk about
Speaker 1: here on the Drive Time Podcast. Man, I'm I'm so
Speaker 1: excited for We get a long way to go till
Speaker 1: we get there. And you know one thing that I
Speaker 1: find myself doing right now, e J. We talked a
Speaker 1: little bit about, you know, the process of watching tape
Speaker 1: and getting ready for the draft, and usually April is
Speaker 1: my sprint to the finish line, you after covering free
Speaker 1: agency and this year coaching change, and April is all
Speaker 1: about getting in all the film I possibly can. I
Speaker 1: keep finding myself going back to watching old Niners games,
Speaker 1: you know, the Chiefs games, that the Cowboys games from
Speaker 1: last year, watching to Ah operate when he was really
Speaker 1: playing well last year, and finding out where those pieces
Speaker 1: kind of fit in. And I find myself getting distracted.
Speaker 1: So I want to go ahead on our next segment
Speaker 1: here and talk about the draft class at the serio
Speaker 1: position here with EJ. Styer from the Bootleg Football Podcast.
Speaker 1: Here on Drivetime with Travis Wingfield, brought to you by
Speaker 1: Auto Nation. Alright, Drivetime Podcast with Travis Wingfield. My guest
Speaker 1: today e J. Snyder from the Bootleg Football Podcast. Easy
Speaker 1: enough for me to say, e J. I'm all congested, man,
Speaker 1: I'm having a hard time getting my words out right,
Speaker 1: and I appreciate you hang in there with me on
Speaker 1: the podcast. It's it's been a long week so far,
Speaker 1: but I want to I want to turn this thing
Speaker 1: over here real quick and and kind of follow a
Speaker 1: theme that I did at least on the first edition
Speaker 1: of our draft preview series Joe Marino offensive line came
Speaker 1: out on Wednesday. You're here on Drivetime talking receivers with E. J.
Speaker 1: Sneyder on a Friday, and I asked this question to Joe,
Speaker 1: and I have a feeling your answer is the polar opposite.
Speaker 1: But I'm just curious. How do you watch film? What
Speaker 1: is your process like? Is there a certain type of music?
Speaker 1: Do you get a certain food going? Do you have
Speaker 1: a drink? Like? What is your film process like? Your
Speaker 1: film watching process look like? Oh wow, that's a great question. Um.
Speaker 1: The answer is, with as much film as I watch,
Speaker 1: it has to vary. If I do the same thing,
Speaker 1: that's like four and a half months of whatever it is,
Speaker 1: So um, I'll change the music. Uh, definitely needs some music.
Speaker 1: One of the things that I learned it was only
Speaker 1: a few years back. For the first seven or eight
Speaker 1: years I did this, I didn't have any access to
Speaker 1: ALL twenty two at all. Um, A lot of people
Speaker 1: are surprised by that, but I watched all TV tape
Speaker 1: and you can learn a lot about TV, a lot
Speaker 1: about players on TV tape. But um, uh you know
Speaker 1: it has commentary, right, you have commentators, and sometimes the
Speaker 1: commentators are good, sometimes they're not. On ALL twenty two,
Speaker 1: A lot of people don't know. This is dead silent.
Speaker 1: There's no audio whatsoever. And the tapes are longer because
Speaker 1: there's two views of every play. So I got there
Speaker 1: and I was like, now what do I do? And
Speaker 1: so I had to develop some some musical taste and whatever.
Speaker 1: But largely from me, my tape watching is late at night.
Speaker 1: Still have a regular job, so it's after the family
Speaker 1: goes to bed, turn on the tape, come down, fire
Speaker 1: up the monitors, uh, put a little music on low
Speaker 1: and um. You know, it really depends on the position.
Speaker 1: I've got checklist for each position. I've got a big database.
Speaker 1: I go through UM and I feel like I get
Speaker 1: better at that every year. But I feel like wherever
Speaker 1: my process is, the most important thing is that it
Speaker 1: evolves and changes with what I learned every year. So
Speaker 1: I'd say I'm at a decent point on the road,
Speaker 1: but I'm still staring at that point down towards her.
Speaker 1: I loved to hear. And the reason I thought it
Speaker 1: would be opposite because Joe told me he's up at
Speaker 1: five thirty in the morning, and I told him, I'm like,
Speaker 1: e J, I'm I'm in here late at night and
Speaker 1: I'm not a morning person at all. We both have
Speaker 1: Joe and I both have two year old kids, and
Speaker 1: that then definitely throws a monkey wrench into the whole
Speaker 1: thing too. So try to try to come down here
Speaker 1: when she goes to bed at night and get as
Speaker 1: much time as I possibly can. And it's, you know,
Speaker 1: I'm more of a night al anyway, So I I
Speaker 1: do better in that in that vein. Also have the
Speaker 1: Miami heat on in the background when I do that
Speaker 1: stuff as well. So it's, you know, multitasking, that's how
Speaker 1: you do get a lot done in this business, e J.
Speaker 1: And speaking of multitasking, I told you I was gonna
Speaker 1: boost this from you guys, the question from the Bootleg
Speaker 1: Football pod, And what did you guys call it? It
Speaker 1: was the other guys, right, it was the other guys. Yeah,
Speaker 1: we we we uh we teased the idea of calling
Speaker 1: it draft doubles, but we ended up with the other guys.
Speaker 1: I was wondering if that was an offshoot of the
Speaker 1: Will Ferrell Mark Walbert vehicle. We thought about that afterwards
Speaker 1: because we're like, oh, I actually made the joke and
Speaker 1: sent the gift to to Brett about the other Guys movie.
Speaker 1: But um, the whole the whole point was if you
Speaker 1: miss out on your guy at the top, who can
Speaker 1: you get later on in the draft that has a
Speaker 1: similar skill set or offers you a lot of the
Speaker 1: same things for a much better draft value. Well that's
Speaker 1: a perfect segue into the question. So for a fan
Speaker 1: that pre Tyreek Hill trade. And again, who knows what
Speaker 1: happens with the Dolphins draft if they go after receiver,
Speaker 1: if they don't. But let's let's just put all positions
Speaker 1: on the board, and since we're talking receivers with you
Speaker 1: will go in that direction. So if you were a
Speaker 1: Dolphins fan that was clamoring for, I don't know, it
Speaker 1: can be anybody you want, Jamison Williams, John Dotson, maybe
Speaker 1: Chris o. Lave With that twenty nine pick, maybe that's
Speaker 1: fortuitous to assume any of those guys to be available.
Speaker 1: But let's say that was your guy early on, who
Speaker 1: were some guys that kind of fit those molds at
Speaker 1: pick one oh two or possibly even later on down
Speaker 1: in the draft. Yeah, it's a great question because this
Speaker 1: is always the argument that occurs in NFL draft rooms. Right,
Speaker 1: you either receive first coach or like, nope, we need
Speaker 1: that number one receiver, and the offensive line coach is like, yeah,
Speaker 1: we need that number one guard, and down in the twenties,
Speaker 1: you know, basically you're gonna have to sort of pound
Speaker 1: it out on the table and then it's either the
Speaker 1: GMS call or the head coach is called, depending on
Speaker 1: the team, to say, well, this is what we need more.
Speaker 1: And if you're the wide receiver's coach and then and
Speaker 1: the offensive line coach wins, you don't get your guys.
Speaker 1: So you gotta go to the next guy in line
Speaker 1: and say, hey, I still need a bunch of those skills. Um,
Speaker 1: what can I find. Let's just say that Tyreek Kill
Speaker 1: wasn't a dolphin because he is now and you can
Speaker 1: just revel in that. Uh, and it was it was
Speaker 1: more speed, right, Jalen's on one side, you got a
Speaker 1: lot of speed and you're like, no, I just I
Speaker 1: want more speed. I want to tear open defenses. So
Speaker 1: you're like, maybe Jamison Williams with his injuries, gonna fall
Speaker 1: to the late twenties. I want Jamison Williams. And you
Speaker 1: go and you pound the table and you you lose
Speaker 1: to the offensive line coach. They pick up a guard,
Speaker 1: and now you're like, all right, I need a guy
Speaker 1: that's got speed later on down in the draft because
Speaker 1: I really want to prize some defenses open, and there
Speaker 1: are guys in this draft that would do that. Uh.
Speaker 1: Probably the closest allegory to you know, Jamison Williams is
Speaker 1: a guy like Alec Pierce out of Cincinnati. Um, he's
Speaker 1: a Chicago guy from high school. I went to College
Speaker 1: of Cincinnati's part of that great Cincinnati offense. A lot
Speaker 1: of players from that going to get drafted this year.
Speaker 1: And Alec Pierce is many things that Jamison Williams is
Speaker 1: not quite as fast, but he's very fast. He's quite tall,
Speaker 1: really good boundary sideline contest catch wide receiver, can get
Speaker 1: behind defensive backs, poses a bunch of different problems. You
Speaker 1: can't put a small guy on him, you can't put
Speaker 1: a slow guy on him. So if you're a wide
Speaker 1: receiver's coach and you missed out on Jamison Williams, I'd
Speaker 1: be sort of biden my time to about the oh
Speaker 1: somewhere between eighty five and one fifteen and saying, all right,
Speaker 1: go get me Alec Pierce and I'll be I'll be
Speaker 1: pretty darn happy with that. I've seen his name pop
Speaker 1: up a lot for for what he did at the combine,
Speaker 1: and I guess that matches the tape as well to
Speaker 1: according to what you and and many others have said
Speaker 1: there too, So that seems to be the mold these
Speaker 1: days with these receivers. Man, they either are fantastic technicians
Speaker 1: and route runners, so they can just flat out explode
Speaker 1: and beat you with the release package. And if you
Speaker 1: can do both those things like a wattle like a hill,
Speaker 1: and then you're cooking with gas there. So you know
Speaker 1: that that brings me back to a point. I wanted
Speaker 1: to ask you about e J here because the reference
Speaker 1: move the sticks earlier. Daniel Jeremiah. I talked about him
Speaker 1: all the time in the podcast. I love his work,
Speaker 1: and you know, I wanted to ask you about that
Speaker 1: track element because one of the things that he said
Speaker 1: about how he would build an offense around to a
Speaker 1: tunge Bylowa here in Miami. Would to go out would
Speaker 1: be to go after that track style offense. And he's
Speaker 1: talked about that with the Buffalo Bills and Josh Allen.
Speaker 1: He's talked about it with Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens,
Speaker 1: and I'm thinking about it, and like, all three of
Speaker 1: those quarterbacks could not be more diametrically opposed to the next,
Speaker 1: Like they're all so different. So I'm curious, do you
Speaker 1: agree with that? Is that the way you would go?
Speaker 1: And is there anybody else the Dolphins could look at
Speaker 1: late in the draft that would kind of give him
Speaker 1: a third speed merchant like that or is it kind
Speaker 1: of getting redundant that point. Well, I don't think it is,
Speaker 1: and I think that's what DJ is getting at. I too,
Speaker 1: am a huge fan of him. I was lucky enough
Speaker 1: to get to meet him when I was the Senior
Speaker 1: Bowl and UH didn't swallow my tongue, so I took
Speaker 1: it as a win. Um. But now what he's talking
Speaker 1: about is if you fill up an offense with guys
Speaker 1: that can, they're fast right that if you make a mistake,
Speaker 1: they're gonna crack it open and not just go five
Speaker 1: yards or ten yards, but they're gonna reel off or thirty.
Speaker 1: And look, if you've got some of the guys at
Speaker 1: the top end of that speed merchant category, like Wattle
Speaker 1: and Hill, they're not gonna go twenty or thirty. They're
Speaker 1: gonna go until they stop in the end zone. And
Speaker 1: the more threats that you can assemble like that on
Speaker 1: an offense doesn't matter if, like you said, your quarterback
Speaker 1: has a huge arm and can throw it, you know,
Speaker 1: eight yards in the air, or if you can throw
Speaker 1: it twenty yards really accurately and quick and again take
Speaker 1: advantage of that separation and then just really break the
Speaker 1: fail the field open with speeds. So I don't think
Speaker 1: there's ever too much speed on an offense because as
Speaker 1: a defense, it really it forces you to stay honest, right,
Speaker 1: you have to play honest. When we were interviewing players
Speaker 1: at the Shrine bol one of the things I thought
Speaker 1: was most interesting when we asked about what was most
Speaker 1: difficult or what was one of the most difficult teams
Speaker 1: or players that you played against. He talked about it
Speaker 1: was a defensive lineman, and he talked about an offense
Speaker 1: that didn't have any tells. And he said, normally, it's
Speaker 1: a very smart player studies film and he said, normally
Speaker 1: I could cheat, right, I would. I would. I would
Speaker 1: pick up a tell and I would know it was run,
Speaker 1: so I'd shade my gap a little bit. But they
Speaker 1: didn't give off any tells. The whole offense was really disciplined.
Speaker 1: So I had to play right in the middle, and
Speaker 1: that gave them the advantage because I wasn't getting a
Speaker 1: free half step. And what speed does to defense is
Speaker 1: it makes you play in the middle right. You can't
Speaker 1: shade it, you can't cheat it. You can't if you
Speaker 1: get your eyes in the backfield, they're going to be
Speaker 1: by you. So I don't think there is such a
Speaker 1: thing as too much speed on an offense because it
Speaker 1: just puts a defense under such tremendous pressure. And when
Speaker 1: you talk about that, the first thing my mind goes
Speaker 1: to is thinking about having to stay in the middle
Speaker 1: of the field, and then that stretch zone, that wide
Speaker 1: zone running game with Raheem most with Chase Edmonds Man.
Speaker 1: You could be in trouble if you don't have the
Speaker 1: speed on the defensive side to match because like you
Speaker 1: talk about in a league where you know, the twelve
Speaker 1: play drives are great, but if we can cut that
Speaker 1: down to have a couple of five play drives to
Speaker 1: go for for six as well, that's pretty nice too
Speaker 1: and can help your defense really kind of get that lead.
Speaker 1: This Dolphins defense loves to play with and get after
Speaker 1: the quarterback with all the blitz packages and stunt games
Speaker 1: they have upfront. So we're getting way off the rails here.
Speaker 1: So I want to kind of bring this back to
Speaker 1: the receiver position, just because I'm so excited about this season,
Speaker 1: e J. If you can't tell, but I want to
Speaker 1: finish up with this before our last break and we'll
Speaker 1: come back with a couple more questions for you on
Speaker 1: the other side. Back to the Jeremiah move, the sticks,
Speaker 1: the track, the truck and trailer, the track, the track
Speaker 1: team offense. They also have one component they always talked
Speaker 1: about with the basketball line up, but I was curious
Speaker 1: to kind of get your take on that because you know,
Speaker 1: we talked about you can never have enough speed, but
Speaker 1: also is there some value to a balance because you know,
Speaker 1: you talked about basketball, like go go plug on Mike
Speaker 1: Asicky tape, and I know he's a tight end, but
Speaker 1: he's gonna hold on some rebounds in the back of
Speaker 1: the end zone for you. So like there's some value
Speaker 1: to the balance of that too, because they've got him,
Speaker 1: and you talk about Cedric Wilson's size and he can
Speaker 1: certainly block down the field. I think Trent Sherfield is
Speaker 1: a bit of a sleeper prospect in that regard to
Speaker 1: you know, Lin Boone Junior does multiple things, so it's
Speaker 1: pretty well spread to that's there's value to that also, right,
Speaker 1: Oh for sure, there's no one right answer to any
Speaker 1: of the speed speed kills, and always will but you're
Speaker 1: not always going to be lucky enough to be a
Speaker 1: team like the Dolphins and have guys like Wattle entirety
Speaker 1: kill like speed merchants that can also ball are tough
Speaker 1: to find. That's why they go for really high draft picks. Um.
Speaker 1: So if you need some complementary skill sets, again, it's
Speaker 1: taking what's offered to you. And if what you can
Speaker 1: find in the late rounds is a guy that's six
Speaker 1: for super physical and we'll just maully you for the
Speaker 1: match every time. But look he ran a four or five,
Speaker 1: five or or six to like that works too, there's
Speaker 1: a bunch of different ways to win. One of the
Speaker 1: best things that I read early in this draft season,
Speaker 1: or let's say late NFL season, was there's three ways
Speaker 1: to win as a wide receiver. Right. We always say, oh,
Speaker 1: you have to be able to win off the line.
Speaker 1: That's not true. Like that is absolutely one way to win,
Speaker 1: and it's a really good one because you win early
Speaker 1: in the route right, then you can win the middle
Speaker 1: of the route. Right, you can win at the top
Speaker 1: of the stem. You can win with a fake, you
Speaker 1: can win with a really good sharp cut. You can
Speaker 1: win in the middle of the route too, and then
Speaker 1: you can win at the end of the route. Right,
Speaker 1: you can win at the catch point. Because there are
Speaker 1: receivers that do not win off the line, do not
Speaker 1: win in the middle of the route, and they win
Speaker 1: at the catchpoint consistently. Is that a win still counts
Speaker 1: as a catch. It is, so be real careful when
Speaker 1: you're looking at wide receivers about saying, well, he doesn't
Speaker 1: you know, it can't be pressed, so he's never gonna win.
Speaker 1: Some guys can't beat pressed, but they still find ways
Speaker 1: to win. I feel like what you just talked about
Speaker 1: is a scouting lesson you get every single year when
Speaker 1: you convince yourself this guy can't win because of this,
Speaker 1: and then you get to the NFL and he can
Speaker 1: win because of this instead of X, instead of Y. Right,
Speaker 1: So talking about what players can do, Yeah, that's that's
Speaker 1: that's good stuff. E J. I want to come back
Speaker 1: on the other side of the break here and get
Speaker 1: a couple of players that fit those molds. The the
Speaker 1: guy that wins at the catchpoint or the second the
Speaker 1: second level of the route, or the speed guys that
Speaker 1: win early in routes, whatever the case may be. I
Speaker 1: want to talk about some of those Day three prospects
Speaker 1: or possibly post pick one hundred guys up next here
Speaker 1: e J Snyer from the Bootleg Football podcast Travis Wingfield
Speaker 1: Drive Time brought to you by Auto Nation. Alright, we're
Speaker 1: back here on the Drive Time podcast. My guest today
Speaker 1: is e J. Snyder talking all things wide receiver and
Speaker 1: two NFL Draft class. And you know e J. Every year,
Speaker 1: it seems. Then we talked about this before you came
Speaker 1: on and recorded about how you love basically is it
Speaker 1: the fifth round and and on? Or just where where's
Speaker 1: your sweet spot? Would you say? I don't have one,
Speaker 1: but I do have a soft spot in my heart
Speaker 1: for any player that's not going to be considered until
Speaker 1: sort of post fifth round, sixth round, seventh round, U
Speaker 1: d f A, any of that. Um, the line is
Speaker 1: so thin. I mean, we're if you're talking about the
Speaker 1: after the fifth round, you're talking about two hundred and
Speaker 1: twenty football players out of all the football players in
Speaker 1: the country that year that are coming out, that are
Speaker 1: excluded from that. Right, the first five rounds is like
Speaker 1: two hundred players, right, and everybody after that, out of
Speaker 1: all the football players that are eligible, there's like eighteen
Speaker 1: hundred guys in this draft, right, that's everybody else. The
Speaker 1: line is really thin talent wise, opportunity wise, sometimes it's injury.
Speaker 1: There's as many stories and reasons that people end up
Speaker 1: down there as as possible, and there's so much skill.
Speaker 1: I love digging through those stories, digging through that tape
Speaker 1: and and finding those gems down there. That's exactly what
Speaker 1: we have you here on the podcast. Let's go ahead
Speaker 1: and stay in that range, like the fifth sixth round range,
Speaker 1: because that's where I'm Miami's you know, they got a
Speaker 1: couple of earlier picks in that, but that's kind of
Speaker 1: where their picks fall. This year, only have the four picks,
Speaker 1: none of them our original picks for the Miami Dolphins.
Speaker 1: Pretty pretty fascinating draft this year for the Dolphins. But
Speaker 1: you know, for whatever reason, I don't know why this
Speaker 1: happens every year, but it does. Like gave Davis Darnell
Speaker 1: Mooney speaking on the Chicago Bears, every year we get
Speaker 1: a guy in this range that comes up and has
Speaker 1: any media impact. Who are some guys that can make
Speaker 1: an immediate impact in this year's draft class in that
Speaker 1: fourth fifth, sixth round range. Yeah, there's there's so many.
Speaker 1: This draft, one of the things your listeners might not
Speaker 1: be familiar with is one of the largest in history
Speaker 1: because so many guys went back for the extra year
Speaker 1: of eligibility that last year's draft class was one of
Speaker 1: the smallest and then they all had to come out,
Speaker 1: so they're coming out this year. There's just a ton
Speaker 1: of players that are available, so a lot to choose from.
Speaker 1: There's a lot of depth in this draft and a
Speaker 1: lot at wide receiver and boy, I'm I'm thinking even
Speaker 1: farther down, there's a guy named Jaquez and zard Uh
Speaker 1: and this he was on Bruce Feldman's Freaks list. For
Speaker 1: those of you that aren't familiar, Bruce Feldon right for
Speaker 1: the Athletic puts together a list every year of guys
Speaker 1: that are really really athletically talented, like top five percent
Speaker 1: of athletic talent and jakez is Ore Sam Houston State,
Speaker 1: little guy, very slight but has a tremendous amount of value,
Speaker 1: not only because he's really fast, but he also adds
Speaker 1: a dynamic element to the return game. And look, you've
Speaker 1: got a great returner in Jalen Waddle, but you really
Speaker 1: don't want to put wide receiver one out on the
Speaker 1: field and return situations and get him banged up. So
Speaker 1: could you get a guy in the sixth round, the
Speaker 1: seventh round, maybe even as a U d F A.
Speaker 1: But I really think his art is probably gonna get
Speaker 1: drafted UM again down towards those bottom rounds because he
Speaker 1: brings that dynamic return element. So guys like him are
Speaker 1: going to be available, UM if you're looking for size UM.
Speaker 1: One of the guys we saw a shrine Bowl tamar
Speaker 1: Um Davon Tavian is his first name, but he goes
Speaker 1: by T from Oklahoma State. Uh really slightly built but
Speaker 1: really tall, wiry receiver uh from Oklahoma State that most
Speaker 1: guys built like that don't have that contested catch mentality.
Speaker 1: He's the opposite. He will absolutely value for the ball,
Speaker 1: which is crazy because he's he's real thin. Um. But
Speaker 1: he's gonna be available late. Um. Yeah, there's just so many.
Speaker 1: I've got a list here, like thirty five guys, but
Speaker 1: I'll give you one I haven't talked about um really anywhere.
Speaker 1: Uh and it's Amika am Easy from South Carolina. And
Speaker 1: I don't know why he's not getting more buzz because
Speaker 1: he is not slight, he is incredibly well built. He's
Speaker 1: not slow, he's not super fast, he's not a burner,
Speaker 1: but again, played in a big conference, was productive. Every
Speaker 1: time I see him on tape, I think, man, that's
Speaker 1: a guy that could win in the NFL. And you
Speaker 1: don't even really see him in the draft double range
Speaker 1: right now. He's in the if you're looking at sort
Speaker 1: of a DP for the for the projective draft, he's
Speaker 1: down in like the three hundreds. And you just look
Speaker 1: at a guy like that with that much talent, that
Speaker 1: many physical skills, plenty of production, and I wonder why
Speaker 1: he's not getting talked about. But there are guys like
Speaker 1: him all over the place. That's I mean, that's perfect
Speaker 1: because my next question here for you, and you ticked
Speaker 1: it off the checklist on the very first player you
Speaker 1: talked about. I'm not gonna try to repeat his name
Speaker 1: from Sam Houston because I'll butcher you j if I
Speaker 1: try to do that. But uh, you know, special teams
Speaker 1: such a big element of if you do go in
Speaker 1: this direction this late in the draft, if you're gonna
Speaker 1: make a football team, you know, fifth round or beyond,
Speaker 1: you probably have to contribute on special teams. You know,
Speaker 1: who's who's a guy in this year's draft class that
Speaker 1: plays receiver that you'd like as a gunner, as a
Speaker 1: you know, kick return or whatever the case may be.
Speaker 1: Who's someone that could have a big four down contribution. Yeah,
Speaker 1: if you're talking about returners, another guy is Stanley Barry Hill,
Speaker 1: the third from Arizona Wildcats. Didn't have a great pro
Speaker 1: roum this year, but again brings that dual threat capability
Speaker 1: as a guy smaller come in this lot, has pretty
Speaker 1: good speed, real good routes, but it is a great
Speaker 1: returner as well. Um in the gunner category, again, all
Speaker 1: these guys. What you really want is somebody that has
Speaker 1: that experience, and it really just depends on the program.
Speaker 1: Some programs believe in playing their starters on special teams
Speaker 1: and some don't. And so you're looking for guys that
Speaker 1: have a ton of special team snaps in college. There
Speaker 1: aren't that many of them, strangely, but you want somebody
Speaker 1: that either was that or was like a receiver in
Speaker 1: a run heavy system, so they had to block a lot,
Speaker 1: They had to go out and get physical, they had
Speaker 1: to you know, make contact defensive backs and try and
Speaker 1: push them around because it's a lot of the same
Speaker 1: skills that they're going to use as a special team
Speaker 1: s Gunner. Um, let me see if I can pull
Speaker 1: it off my list real quick. Uh, well, I'm easy,
Speaker 1: would be good. I don't think he's got the experience.
Speaker 1: Oh I've got one for you. And and we have
Speaker 1: talked about him quite a bit on Bootleg and that's
Speaker 1: Tanner Connor from Idaho State. Tanner Connor is huge. He's
Speaker 1: six three fully two thirty UM. The official time reported
Speaker 1: he ran at the U DUB Pro Day week ago
Speaker 1: and the official time reported was four or five UM.
Speaker 1: He ran a lot faster than four or five. The
Speaker 1: hand time was somewhere between four three seven and four
Speaker 1: four two. And that's legit. He's a track guy, ran
Speaker 1: high hurdles, um, he's a weight room guy. And he
Speaker 1: is a football player. He's not a track star playing football.
Speaker 1: He is a football player. He loves it so wide
Speaker 1: receiver for the Bengals of Idaho State. But that's a
Speaker 1: guy that has enough physical capability and experience blocking and
Speaker 1: doing everything else that you can bring him in and
Speaker 1: he's fully going to expect to be on special teams.
Speaker 1: And look, he got a guy you know, he's six
Speaker 1: three thirty runs aboard four Like, there's your special teams gunner. Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1: I mean, Nick, I look at the Dolphins this offseason
Speaker 1: with you know, whether it was key on Cross in
Speaker 1: the audition or bringing back Sam Egill Von and Duke
Speaker 1: Riley and on the other side of the football Seeth
Speaker 1: and Carter at Tita and Clayton Federlman's a safety. All
Speaker 1: these guys have really a big special teams experience. So
Speaker 1: I just have to imagine it'll be a point of
Speaker 1: emphasis for this Dolphins team. And I appreciate e J
Speaker 1: going through all these potential prospects beyond the top one hundred.
Speaker 1: But I won't get you out of here without giving
Speaker 1: you a chance to talk about a potential top one
Speaker 1: hundred pick. And you mentioned this about eighty I think
Speaker 1: you said eighty to one fifteen in that range. So
Speaker 1: let's say there's a player in this draft that you
Speaker 1: love and he starts to slip a little bit too.
Speaker 1: Let's say that eight eight five range. The dolphins first
Speaker 1: pick is one oh two. So if there's a player
Speaker 1: that makes to that spot and you're the Miami Dolphins
Speaker 1: and you're sitting at one oh two, and you think,
Speaker 1: I gotta give up a future pick in this draft,
Speaker 1: or I should say a later pick in this draft
Speaker 1: or a future pick next year, to go up and
Speaker 1: get a guy who's the guy that you're pounding the
Speaker 1: table for a go up and get at pick sixties
Speaker 1: seventy eight in that range. Who do you love? M
Speaker 1: That's a great question, um, And you're gonna make me
Speaker 1: choose the biggest blueberry. And that's gonna be tough, because
Speaker 1: I love a lot of these guys. The guy named earlier,
Speaker 1: Alec Pierce, is he's probably not gonna make it to
Speaker 1: that range. I think he's probably gone, you know, might
Speaker 1: be as early as the sixties, probably very solidly by
Speaker 1: the eighties. If he was anywhere even into the mid eighties,
Speaker 1: I'd start thinking about it because he has all the
Speaker 1: elements together right size, speed, hands, experience in a major program,
Speaker 1: the sort of competitive want to is a three sport
Speaker 1: guy in in high school as well, so again, a
Speaker 1: really well rounded athlete. And I think he's got ceiling.
Speaker 1: We're gonna we're gonna talk about this on an upcoming
Speaker 1: bootleg episode, the sort of All Ceiling Team. Uh. And
Speaker 1: he's one of those guys that if he hits his
Speaker 1: sort of athletic high points, he can be one of
Speaker 1: the best receivers in the trap. So if he's floating
Speaker 1: down towards a hundred, I'd be really interested in it. Um,
Speaker 1: let me go to my other list really quickly. Who's
Speaker 1: gonna float down towards that range? Uh? Calvin Austin on
Speaker 1: the other the spectrum, Calvin Austin, the third from Memphis,
Speaker 1: really small, super productive. I don't think he gets anywhere
Speaker 1: near a hundred, but if he's there, I'd be incredibly
Speaker 1: interested because he's impossible to keep up with. I was
Speaker 1: pretty solid on the Calvin Austin train before the Senior Bowl.
Speaker 1: Watched all the top cover guys in the country try
Speaker 1: and contain him down there in Mobile. Nobody was able to.
Speaker 1: He won against everybody, And at that point I was
Speaker 1: solidly like, punch my ticket for the Calvin Austin train.
Speaker 1: Yes he's really small. No, I don't care. That's great,
Speaker 1: that's that's that's my type of guy. Man. That's the
Speaker 1: type of guy where we're lowing up on right now
Speaker 1: here in Miami as well. So maybe we'll see, we'll
Speaker 1: see what happens. I really have no idea what direction
Speaker 1: they're gonna want to go in. But that's what makes
Speaker 1: the draft so much fun. E J. You said to
Speaker 1: all my friend at the draftsman FB on Twitter, the
Speaker 1: Bootleg Football Podcast, Win d CD, Gridiron and Bears Over
Speaker 1: Beers Podcast. E J. Snyder, thank you again so much,
Speaker 1: my friend. I really appreciate it. Hey, we've been talking
Speaker 1: about it for a long time. I'm glad we were
Speaker 1: able to finally polish it off, finally made it happen.
Speaker 1: I appreciate him a man, have a good one, and
Speaker 1: there he goes. E J. Snyder. Fun stuff here. Man
Speaker 1: learning a lot on these draft preview series already. We're
Speaker 1: gonna come back on Monday and have more of those
Speaker 1: as well as some sit down interviews with some of
Speaker 1: the Miami Dolphins scouts I spoke to up in Indianapolis
Speaker 1: at the Combine. Plenty of content coming your way in
Speaker 1: the meantime. That's gonna be my time, you all. Please
Speaker 1: be sure to subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts,
Speaker 1: Leave us a reigning, leave us a review. You can
Speaker 1: follow me on Twitter and Instagram at Wingfield NFL, follow
Speaker 1: the team across all social channels at Miami Dolphins. Check
Speaker 1: out the fish Tank podcast with Seth and o J.
Speaker 1: Great content on there as well, and our YouTube channel
Speaker 1: where you can find the Dolphins Today weekly. You can
Speaker 1: also find our media availabilities and all the drivetime sit
Speaker 1: downs with the free agent class, and of course, last
Speaker 1: but not least, Miami Dolphins dot Com. Until next time,
Speaker 1: fins Up Caroline Daddy's coming up