Speaker 1: Practice row. What a win for this Miami Dolphin team. Wow,
Speaker 1: What is up? Dolphins? And welcome to the Drive Time Podcast,
Speaker 1: part of the official Miami Dolphins podcast network covering your
Speaker 1: Miami Dolphins. I am your host, Travis Wingfield, and as always,
Speaker 1: I am here to bring you your daily dose of
Speaker 1: Miami Dolphins football. And on today's show, the film has
Speaker 1: been digested all ten free agent additions, every snap of
Speaker 1: their twenty nineteen season, and detailed notes on what the
Speaker 1: Dolphins are getting from the all twenty two of each
Speaker 1: of these new signees. We're gonna get to five of
Speaker 1: them today and we'll get back into five more editions
Speaker 1: of the all twenty two breakdowns on tomorrow's podcast, covering
Speaker 1: the players we don't cover today. Up today the non
Speaker 1: front seven players Byron Jones, Clayton Federalum, Jordan Howard, Ted Carriss,
Speaker 1: and Eric Flowers along the offensive line and in the
Speaker 1: defensive secondary. All of that and much more here on
Speaker 1: this Monday, March the thirtieth edition of the Drivetime Podcast.
Speaker 1: And I know we wrapped up these free agent sign
Speaker 1: ese a week ago, but you come here for the
Speaker 1: comprehensive coverage, and I didn't want to roll out some
Speaker 1: half baked analysis on the newest members of the Miami Dolphins.
Speaker 1: So I made it a point to lock myself in
Speaker 1: the bunker. What a time to do that right now.
Speaker 1: Hope everyone's staying safe out there with the coronavirus and
Speaker 1: on our lockdown quarantine, I made it a point to
Speaker 1: go back and watch every rep of all ten players
Speaker 1: the Dolphins signed during free agency to ultimately unveil a
Speaker 1: film slash All twenty two heavy edition of the Drivetime Podcast,
Speaker 1: and we'll break it into two parts since five of
Speaker 1: the ten signings were in the defensive front seven, so
Speaker 1: we're gonna use that as our separator. On tomorrow's podcast,
Speaker 1: we're gonna get to Kyle van Noy, Shack Lawson, Emmanuel Ogba,
Speaker 1: Landon Roberts, and Commu grug A Hill. But for today's show,
Speaker 1: we're getting into the tape of Jordan Howard, Ted Carriss,
Speaker 1: Eric Flowers, Clayton Federlum, and Byron Jones. And we'll start
Speaker 1: there with Byron Jones, a player who says a big
Speaker 1: reason he wanted to come to Miami was to be
Speaker 1: a catalyst for establishing Brian Flores his culture here, and
Speaker 1: if you haven't done so yet, I strongly urge and
Speaker 1: recommend you to go back and listen to my interview
Speaker 1: with Byron on this podcast. The Dolphins signed him on Wednesday,
Speaker 1: March and the podcast debut on March, so go back
Speaker 1: and check that out, along with all the interviews of
Speaker 1: the Dolphins free agents. And you're definitely gonna love this
Speaker 1: guy's interview on the podcast. Very enlightening, sharp and dedicated guy.
Speaker 1: But you're also gonna love the tape, which I want
Speaker 1: to talk about right now. And quite frankly, it would
Speaker 1: take a lot less time to list the things that
Speaker 1: Byron Jones can't do, because I'm not sure if those
Speaker 1: things even exist. Look, we've heard about the interception argument,
Speaker 1: which is beyond tired and lazy. His ball production is terrific.
Speaker 1: He has forty one career pass breakups, and he could
Speaker 1: play around the line of scrimmage. He can press and mirror.
Speaker 1: He has the loose hips to flip, turn and run
Speaker 1: with the speed receivers of today's game. He stays in
Speaker 1: phase and on that inside hip. I love love the
Speaker 1: way he plays the ball on the rare occasion where
Speaker 1: he can't get his head around. Usually he does get
Speaker 1: his head around, and sometimes you have to recover and
Speaker 1: just play the receiver's eyes and hands, like on a
Speaker 1: fade route where the ball comes out too quick for
Speaker 1: the cornerback to get his head around. Think about it
Speaker 1: like a basketball defender playing straight up and down to
Speaker 1: avoid fouling the shooter. That's kind of what Byron Jones
Speaker 1: does when he attacks the football at the catchpoint. It
Speaker 1: results in a lot of separated passes from receiver's hands
Speaker 1: once the ball gets in there. Very good at that
Speaker 1: skill set. He can play man, he can play zone,
Speaker 1: doesn't really matter where he does play. He recognizes and
Speaker 1: anticipates route concepts. He can set the edge as a
Speaker 1: run defender and give way out there because he does
Speaker 1: have the speed to win the foot race, so he
Speaker 1: can honor the inside lane, but also have the recovery
Speaker 1: speed once again to the outside edge on run defense.
Speaker 1: And that foot speed really really shows up on a
Speaker 1: play against Washington last season against Terry McLaurin. And remember
Speaker 1: Terry McLaurin runs a four three five forty yard dash
Speaker 1: at his combine last year and Byron Jones has lined
Speaker 1: up an outside leverage and what this means is that
Speaker 1: Jones has lined up on the outside shoulder of Terry McLaurin,
Speaker 1: and mclaurin's running an inside post and wants that inside release,
Speaker 1: so he takes that access to the inside portion of
Speaker 1: the field, which means that Jones is already at a
Speaker 1: disadvantage against a four three five forty guy, But he
Speaker 1: stays in stride, step for step and carries that route
Speaker 1: all the way to the post. The ball gets out there,
Speaker 1: he makes a play on the football, so you see
Speaker 1: the speed and the ball skills downfield four Byron Jones,
Speaker 1: your new Dolphins cornerback. A couple of plays I saw
Speaker 1: that really stood out that one against Washington Terry McLaurin
Speaker 1: quite obviously, a couple of plays against the Eagles he
Speaker 1: made in the Week sixteen, crucial game in the NFC
Speaker 1: East at the end of last year. And the one
Speaker 1: play in particular is an outside run from Miles Sanders,
Speaker 1: the speedback who ran a four four five in his
Speaker 1: own right, so you know that he can burn as well,
Speaker 1: and Byron Jones on the outside edge. They run a
Speaker 1: little bit of misdirection. The ball comes back Jones's way
Speaker 1: and while he maintains that outside contain he's able to
Speaker 1: also honor the inside. So Sanders does have to bounce
Speaker 1: it outside thinking that he can beat Jones to the edge,
Speaker 1: but not so fast. My friend Jones runs him down,
Speaker 1: makes a tackle right around the line of scrimmage. And
Speaker 1: he is such a sure tackler when he does get
Speaker 1: his hands on the ball carrier and he's aggressive, he'll
Speaker 1: stick his nose in there and make plays down in
Speaker 1: the box against a running back, against the tight end
Speaker 1: coming across the formation. You name it, Byron Jones is
Speaker 1: gonna do it. And there's a separate play in that
Speaker 1: Philadelphia game where he's got coverage on the back side
Speaker 1: of the formation, and there are two routes running in
Speaker 1: the general direction the general vicinity of Byron Jones, and
Speaker 1: he does so well to basically keep himself in position
Speaker 1: to make a play on either route if the football
Speaker 1: comes to either of those pass catchers. One is a
Speaker 1: post route from the outside receiver, the other is a
Speaker 1: flag route to the corner from the tight end zach Ertz,
Speaker 1: and Jones just keeps gaining depth and gaining depth and
Speaker 1: eyeing the quarterback and once he recognizes the ball is
Speaker 1: going to urge the tight end. He comes out of
Speaker 1: that back pedal, out of that drop and drives on
Speaker 1: the football and makes a play on it and breaks
Speaker 1: the pass up. Just shows you really good instincts, really
Speaker 1: good and nate feel for the position. He just he's
Speaker 1: a smart football player. And you can see that time
Speaker 1: and time again, rep after rep in the way he
Speaker 1: gets himself into proper position over and over again. And
Speaker 1: that's why his production. We talked about it on the
Speaker 1: Byron Jones episode last week, that's why his production is
Speaker 1: so good against some of the best receivers in the league,
Speaker 1: because he's so consistent across the board and everything he does.
Speaker 1: The smarts, the instincts, the ball production, the speed to
Speaker 1: turn and run with the burners of the NFL, and
Speaker 1: the toughness. My goodness, he is such a tough football player.
Speaker 1: I posted a clip on my Twitter timeline about a
Speaker 1: week back showing a play back in against the Jets
Speaker 1: where jones kneecap comes out of place and he just
Speaker 1: pops it in, gets back up and is in there
Speaker 1: for the next play. Just incredible toughness to fight through
Speaker 1: the elements of going through the war of attrition. That
Speaker 1: is an NFL season. He's gonna stay on the field
Speaker 1: for his teammates. We talked about that on that podcast,
Speaker 1: So he really checks all the boxes you want in
Speaker 1: a player at that position. I've got notes on one
Speaker 1: last play here against the Buffalo Bills on the Thanksgiving
Speaker 1: Day game, and Jones is aligned as the perimeter defender
Speaker 1: on a wide side of the field alignment, and the
Speaker 1: receiver tries to run a fade route on him, goes
Speaker 1: to the end zone and Josh Allen sees it almost
Speaker 1: immediately because there's nobody up over the top and takes
Speaker 1: that shot, and Jones gets his hands on the receiver,
Speaker 1: stays in stride step for step, and then once the
Speaker 1: ball arrives, he punches it up into the air and
Speaker 1: damn near gets himself an interception for his teammate because
Speaker 1: of that work. It kind of reminded me of the
Speaker 1: play way back in the was it twenty fourteen NFC
Speaker 1: Championship game the Seahawks and Niners when Richard Sherman punched
Speaker 1: that ball out for the interception to clench that game.
Speaker 1: It looked just like that, only the Cowboys safety couldn't
Speaker 1: secure the catch and bounds, But it just shows you
Speaker 1: the ball skills and the instincts to make a play
Speaker 1: for his teammates and try to help his friend out
Speaker 1: to make a play, and just being involved around the
Speaker 1: football at all time. I really can't say enough about
Speaker 1: his tape. It speaks for itself. You can find a
Speaker 1: couple of these play breakdown clips on John Conjemmi's All
Speaker 1: twenty two up on Miami Dolphins dot com. We've tweeted
Speaker 1: him out, put him on Facebook. You can find it
Speaker 1: anywhere the Dolphins are. And also, if you want to
Speaker 1: go even further in depth, get yourself a game pass account.
Speaker 1: It's free right now from the NFL. Check out Byron
Speaker 1: Jones's tape. It's a lot of fun to watch. I
Speaker 1: promise you'll love it. Up next on my list, here
Speaker 1: is the center coming over from the Patriots. Ted Carriss
Speaker 1: talked to him on that podcast as well, and from
Speaker 1: that podcast you can infer some of the things you
Speaker 1: see on his tape. A smart, communicative player, really the
Speaker 1: type of guy mentally that you want in the middle
Speaker 1: of things, calling out your prodection to your protections rather
Speaker 1: and working in unise him with the back in the
Speaker 1: running game. As far as leverage points and angles go
Speaker 1: He's always finding additional work. He was the first to
Speaker 1: admit on our podcast that maybe he's not the most
Speaker 1: athletics center in the world, but you wouldn't necessarily know
Speaker 1: what from his tape based on the way he approaches
Speaker 1: blocks in the open field. He's able to come in
Speaker 1: control and has the feat to stay square over his
Speaker 1: path ads and lines up his shots so that he
Speaker 1: can alter the tackler's route to the ball carrier and
Speaker 1: it makes things easier both on the back and his
Speaker 1: fellow interior offensive lineman to work in unison on those blocks.
Speaker 1: He just takes terrific angles at both the first and
Speaker 1: second levels, doesn't over extend himself, and typically maintains his balance.
Speaker 1: And you see that in his ability to mirror in
Speaker 1: the middle of the offensive line. You know that drill.
Speaker 1: You see it the combine with the rabbit, where one
Speaker 1: offensive lineman works back and forth chasing a fellow offensive
Speaker 1: lineman who's just trying to run from cone to cone
Speaker 1: and get him off balance. And that really serves in
Speaker 1: game function for stuff like twist and slants and stunts
Speaker 1: from the defensive line, and you can see that come
Speaker 1: into play with Carriss's tape, even though the drill is
Speaker 1: now a thing of the past, but it's an area
Speaker 1: where Carrerass will excel because of his patients. He doesn't
Speaker 1: click his heels and his football acumen allows him to
Speaker 1: anticipate those games stunts, twists and slants up front and
Speaker 1: match those rush moves. So if a Russia wants to
Speaker 1: cross his face, he has the ability to get over
Speaker 1: there and make that block. And what pairs really well
Speaker 1: with his skill set is the ability to really drop
Speaker 1: that anchor and pass protection. He's so technically refined that
Speaker 1: he can absorb the bull rush from much bigger defensive
Speaker 1: tackles and stonewall them at the point of attack. He
Speaker 1: can win when he's out leveraged. For instance, if he
Speaker 1: has to seal someone that has him outflanked, and all
Speaker 1: I mean by that is he's lined up on the
Speaker 1: middle of the football if there's a tackle to his
Speaker 1: left off of his left shoulder, if they want to
Speaker 1: run the ball to the left, that means he's outflanked
Speaker 1: and you then have to hit that reach block. And
Speaker 1: this is when you're trying to run the ball to
Speaker 1: that same side of the field. You have the play
Speaker 1: side tackle, whether it's a one technique, a two technique,
Speaker 1: a two eye technique, and those just line up with
Speaker 1: where the players are in the specific gap, and the
Speaker 1: center has to get out in front and turn that
Speaker 1: man and create a seal on the play side. And again,
Speaker 1: the balance, the acumen and proper alignment of his angles
Speaker 1: allows him to execute those difficult blocks the majority of
Speaker 1: the time. And he also has really good hands to
Speaker 1: throw his own punches inside the chess plate and really
Speaker 1: helps him control the rep and that works both in
Speaker 1: the running game and in the passing game. There's a
Speaker 1: couple of plays I think that really signify what he
Speaker 1: brings to the table. One against the Bengals last year.
Speaker 1: It's the first quarter, a third and ten on the
Speaker 1: plus twenty three yard line, eleven fifty two to go.
Speaker 1: In that first quarter, they throw a little swing route
Speaker 1: to James White. He gets out in space, he hits
Speaker 1: the guy he's supposed to block, initially spins off of it.
Speaker 1: The player recovers karas stays in line, stays in front
Speaker 1: of him, and then buries him and that's the key
Speaker 1: block to lead James White into the end zone. Really
Speaker 1: impressive rep there. Out in space for the new Dolphins
Speaker 1: center a play against the Cleveland Browns. He's working the
Speaker 1: middle of the formation. It's the first quarter to fourteen
Speaker 1: to play second down and seven ball on the plus
Speaker 1: eight yard line, so about to go in for the score,
Speaker 1: and Ted Carriss does so well to match and mirror
Speaker 1: player who wants to cross face and try to throw
Speaker 1: a slant at him, and he's not having it. Just
Speaker 1: gets into his pass set, matches him, mirrors him, goes
Speaker 1: back and forth and really shuts down that interior pass
Speaker 1: rush for the Patriots to score a touchdown on that play.
Speaker 1: Then going back even further in the season, I think
Speaker 1: it was a week sick scame against the Giants in
Speaker 1: the fourth quarter, two minute warning at second down and
Speaker 1: eight on the plus thirty five and I talked about
Speaker 1: him being outflanked by a one technique, which again just
Speaker 1: means the tackles lined up off the shoulder of the
Speaker 1: center and he has to get to the opposite side
Speaker 1: of that tackle, so he has to reach him and
Speaker 1: get out in front and turn and seal that gap.
Speaker 1: And he does it so beautifully on that play. It
Speaker 1: creates a huge running lane that creates a big play
Speaker 1: in the running game, and then finally a play against
Speaker 1: Washington earlier in the season. It's the third quarter, there's
Speaker 1: five minutes and fifty three seconds to go second down
Speaker 1: and seven on the minus forty five, and I think
Speaker 1: this play really showcases his ability to stay aligned and
Speaker 1: to keep his balance against a pass rush that's throwing
Speaker 1: multiple different things at him. On this particular play, there
Speaker 1: is a nose tackle lined up head over him and
Speaker 1: tries to rush off Ted's left and then once he
Speaker 1: sees the gap created over the right side of Ted
Speaker 1: because the right guard and right tackle of kind of
Speaker 1: fanned out a little bit in their protection assignments, he
Speaker 1: tries to cross face and Ted just matches him and
Speaker 1: stays locked in the entire time, doesn't get off balance,
Speaker 1: doesn't get over his skates, doesn't fall off the block,
Speaker 1: and finishes the block and the results in a big
Speaker 1: play for the Patriots offense. So tough, durable player who's
Speaker 1: gonna be out there for you and be reliable. He's
Speaker 1: very smart, can communicate things he sees on the field,
Speaker 1: and we know by now from talking to him how
Speaker 1: excited he is to get down to Miami and get
Speaker 1: to work this offseason, and I think what Miami gets
Speaker 1: with Ted Carriss is a very durable, very sturdy, very
Speaker 1: dependable player in the middle of the offensive line that
Speaker 1: can play both guard and center respectively. As for a
Speaker 1: guy that Ted Carriss is going to be blocking for
Speaker 1: this season, New Dolphins running back Jordan Howard. I went
Speaker 1: over all the production stats on that previous podcast, but
Speaker 1: just a refresher, really really good pass protection numbers, really
Speaker 1: good third and fourth down in short production numbers, and
Speaker 1: a guy that really in terms of general production has
Speaker 1: been one of the top five or six back since
Speaker 1: he came into the league back in with Chicago, played
Speaker 1: multiple offenses, multiple running style has been part of all
Speaker 1: three aspects of the game as a runner, as a
Speaker 1: pass catcher, and past protection. And I love the way
Speaker 1: he always presses the designed whole of the run. He
Speaker 1: doesn't get big eyes and bell on the target or
Speaker 1: mesh point in terms of where the play is supposed
Speaker 1: to go, and he reads his breaks based upon what
Speaker 1: he sees and how the play develops and how he
Speaker 1: anticipates it. So he presses the design of the play
Speaker 1: and then makes his decision to bend, bang, or bounce
Speaker 1: and bounce means you kick it outside, bang means you
Speaker 1: bang it right up in that gap, or ben means
Speaker 1: you bring it back across the formation and bend it backwards.
Speaker 1: Has a super powerful lower half with a forward lean
Speaker 1: that turns out extra yardage upon contacts, typically falls through
Speaker 1: that contact for the additional yards, and does really well
Speaker 1: to set up and manipulate the blocks to increase the
Speaker 1: likelihood that his lineman can get the correct angle on
Speaker 1: that particular block. And what I mean by an anticipation
Speaker 1: runner is very well played out in this carry against
Speaker 1: the Chicago Bears last year, third quarter, four to go
Speaker 1: with the first and tent on the minus twenty seven
Speaker 1: yard line, and the play is designed to go off
Speaker 1: the left side of the formation, and Howard just keeps
Speaker 1: working and just keeps working to get that play stretched out,
Speaker 1: and then he sees a cutback angle to get to
Speaker 1: the backside of the formation, and he not only gets
Speaker 1: to that lane, but he condenses that cut back in
Speaker 1: tight to his lineman, so it creates better leverage and
Speaker 1: better angles for those linemen to hit those blocks. And
Speaker 1: not only does it make the job easier for his
Speaker 1: offensive lineman, it makes it tougher for the defenders to
Speaker 1: find the correct gap to shoot and try to make
Speaker 1: a play on the ball carrier. So you can see
Speaker 1: the intelligence and anticipation and vision of Jordan Howard. Then
Speaker 1: you go to a game earlier the week prior against
Speaker 1: the Buffalo Bill's first quarter on the clock, second down
Speaker 1: and ten on the minus twenty seven yard line, and
Speaker 1: Howard gets a carry that puts him in a one
Speaker 1: on one situation with the Bills linebacker Chermaine Edmunds, one
Speaker 1: of the better young linebackers in the NFL, and it's
Speaker 1: a monoemno power verse power situation and Howard just lines
Speaker 1: it up, squares it up, and runs Edmonds over. So
Speaker 1: that's a good look for a guy that has that
Speaker 1: power and vision combination. And speaking of the vision, there's
Speaker 1: a play of the week prior against the Dallas Cowboys.
Speaker 1: It's the first order seven seventeen to go first and
Speaker 1: ten on the minus twenty eight yard line, and we
Speaker 1: talked about how Howard can set those blocks up at
Speaker 1: the first level, but he's very good and very innate
Speaker 1: at doing that at the second level as well, again
Speaker 1: creating better leverage points for his lineman climbing to that
Speaker 1: second level, hitting those linebackers and creating space in that
Speaker 1: second level so he can then get that power into
Speaker 1: the third level, into the second dary. And Howard does
Speaker 1: so well again to condense things run up tight against
Speaker 1: those linemen, and it just forces defenders to make quicker
Speaker 1: decisions and to be more sound and more sharp on
Speaker 1: those decisions. And that minuscule second of delay can be
Speaker 1: the difference between a three yard game and breaking that
Speaker 1: tackle and getting into the second level and turn it
Speaker 1: into a thirty yard gain. So plenty of examples there,
Speaker 1: and he also does well to turn potential disasters into
Speaker 1: positive gains. There's a play against the Vikings last year
Speaker 1: where the tackle gets beat inside by the defensive end
Speaker 1: and Howard wants to stretch it out wide, and instead
Speaker 1: of just taking on that contact and possibly taking a loss,
Speaker 1: he continues to stretch it out and gives the lineman
Speaker 1: a better angle to cover and get that block or
Speaker 1: at least make some kind of contact, so Howard can
Speaker 1: take care of him with his speed and with his
Speaker 1: own physical running style, just does a good job of
Speaker 1: helping out his lineman making plays. And I think the
Speaker 1: best Jordan Howard game from t nineteen was a Week
Speaker 1: four contest in Green Bay, a game the Eagles had
Speaker 1: to have their one and two heading into a short
Speaker 1: week on the road, and Jordan Howard's physical running style
Speaker 1: really wore the Packers down in the fourth quarter. He
Speaker 1: had six carries for forty four yards and a touchdown
Speaker 1: in that fourth quarter. And the play I'm looking at
Speaker 1: right here is the first play of the fourth quarter
Speaker 1: of first and ten at the plus eighteen yard line,
Speaker 1: and once again it's the same story. He just finds
Speaker 1: these cutback lanes and these short gaps to burst through
Speaker 1: to where he can square his shoulders up to the defense,
Speaker 1: square his shoulders up to the goal line, and just
Speaker 1: get going north and south and inflict punishment on the defense.
Speaker 1: And you see that on a later run, a second
Speaker 1: touchdown run against the Packers, where it's he against Blake
Speaker 1: Martinez and Martinez is there in the gap ready to
Speaker 1: square up on Jordan Howard, and Howard just pops and
Speaker 1: blasts him. You see Martine is fall off to the
Speaker 1: side and Howard falls right through into the end zone.
Speaker 1: It's just that fewer that pure physical power he brings
Speaker 1: to the offense. It gives you a mindset, it gives
Speaker 1: you a mentality, It gives you an identity on offense
Speaker 1: when you can run the ball that way, when the
Speaker 1: defense knows it's coming, everyone in the stadium knows it's coming.
Speaker 1: And Jordan Howard can still give you three, four or
Speaker 1: five yards a pop in those situations. And I think
Speaker 1: that game, the way he wore the Packers down in
Speaker 1: the fourth quarter is a good example of what you
Speaker 1: can do in Miami, particularly in those early season games
Speaker 1: in that hot, humid weather as teams get tired in
Speaker 1: the fourth quarter, and quite frankly, I think most guys
Speaker 1: don't want to make that tackle on the player like
Speaker 1: that in that situation, So it gives you an added
Speaker 1: benefit there at your home field too. As for the
Speaker 1: other aspects of the game for Jordan Howard, we talked
Speaker 1: about past protection off the top, the way he goes
Speaker 1: out and seeks the contact and initiates that contact and
Speaker 1: really does a good job of finding out where the
Speaker 1: immediate pressure is as that last line of defense. And
Speaker 1: like we talked about in the podcast interview with Jordan's
Speaker 1: he's only allowed two hits on his quarterback and his
Speaker 1: entire career on two D and five pass blocking reps,
Speaker 1: so clearly he gets the job done. I posted a
Speaker 1: video from Brett Coleman on my Twitter timeline a while
Speaker 1: back last week sometime where he broke down Jordan Howards
Speaker 1: rookie season, and there's a couple of clips in there
Speaker 1: against the Colts from that year where two defensive backs
Speaker 1: tried to blitz and Jordan Howard flatten um put him
Speaker 1: on their backside. Again. That kind of mindset, that toughness,
Speaker 1: that physical brand of football. He brings it every single time.
Speaker 1: And on that topic, as a pass catcher, his production
Speaker 1: has gone down every year as his career has gone along,
Speaker 1: But that's more about usage and actual targets than anything else.
Speaker 1: I mean, when you talk about the screen game, what
Speaker 1: is the screen game, it's deception, it's patients, it's setting
Speaker 1: up your blocks, letting those big guys get out in front.
Speaker 1: And that's his best trade. So he can do a
Speaker 1: lot of things for you in the passing game because
Speaker 1: of that wiggle, because of the way he understands the
Speaker 1: concepts and leverage to win as a route runner out
Speaker 1: of the backfield, setting up guys on the angle route,
Speaker 1: coming back over the middle, finding the proper landmark on
Speaker 1: flares and flats. I think he can contribute in all
Speaker 1: three phases of the game, and he's dropped just two
Speaker 1: ass is the last two years on forty targets. As
Speaker 1: a pass catcher, he's smoothed and his ability to gather
Speaker 1: and get his head upfield without losing balance. And it
Speaker 1: can also do that with the football off of his
Speaker 1: frame if he has to reach out wide or down low.
Speaker 1: So plenty of good work there from Jordan Howard in
Speaker 1: all three phases of the game. Going back to the
Speaker 1: offensive line, I now want to talk about the Miami
Speaker 1: native coming home, Eric Flowers, and I think first it's
Speaker 1: important to note the position change last year. We can
Speaker 1: laud Flowers for his versatility, but the truth is last
Speaker 1: year was really his first at guard, whether it was
Speaker 1: in college or the pros. A tackle at Miami attackle
Speaker 1: with the Giants last year in Washington a guard, and
Speaker 1: with Flowers, the Dolphins get exactly what they want and
Speaker 1: a player a tough, physical, workman like mindset that can
Speaker 1: play multiple positions across the offensive line. And Flora's has
Speaker 1: talked about this. The more guys can do, the more
Speaker 1: game day active roster flexibility. It gives you, say we've
Speaker 1: got and this is totally hypothetical, say we've got two
Speaker 1: or three very capable interior backups and a tackle goes
Speaker 1: down with an injury and game you can kick Flowers
Speaker 1: out there and then elevates your sixth man into his
Speaker 1: guard position and pick up right there. So versatility that's
Speaker 1: apparent before you turn the tape on. But you also
Speaker 1: see the light come on at guard as the season
Speaker 1: wears on, and that has to be a major selling
Speaker 1: point for his upside at just twenty five years old.
Speaker 1: Mind you, I think it's entirely fair to say that
Speaker 1: his best football of his life is ahead of him.
Speaker 1: And if that's the case, if he approves upon his
Speaker 1: second half of the season showing last year, then you've
Speaker 1: got a damn good one here in Miami. You read
Speaker 1: any pre draft stuff from and you're gonna find a
Speaker 1: lot of similar scouting notes. I talked about lanzer Line
Speaker 1: suggesting that Flowers kicking inside immediately upon getting drafted could
Speaker 1: be best for him, and I found an article from
Speaker 1: sp Nations Stephen White, who played defensive end in the
Speaker 1: league for eight years, and he talks about Flowers pad
Speaker 1: level being more in line with playing inside. But what's more,
Speaker 1: he talks about Flowers and the ability at that size,
Speaker 1: at six ft six pounds, to really square up on
Speaker 1: his second level blocks, and that, my friends, is where
Speaker 1: we get into the discovery of how great Flowers potentially
Speaker 1: can be in those blocks. He had some blocks, man,
Speaker 1: where he just wipes people out, and I can analogize
Speaker 1: it for you guys this way. Think about trying to
Speaker 1: hit a nine fastball with a baseball bat that weighs
Speaker 1: fifty ounces. Now, typically big leaguers are going to use
Speaker 1: a bat in the thirty three to thirty seven ounce range,
Speaker 1: So you've got this cut of lumber that's way bigger
Speaker 1: than a normal bat, and you're trying to maintain your
Speaker 1: bat speed and catch up to the velocity of a
Speaker 1: major league picture. Well, Flowers is using that fifty ounce bat,
Speaker 1: and he's getting his hands around quick enough, so to speak.
Speaker 1: He's hitting those open field blocks impressively despite those defensive
Speaker 1: backs and linebackers with time and opportunity to get out
Speaker 1: of the way of those blocks and get around them
Speaker 1: and make a tackle. But he is pretty consistent in
Speaker 1: the way he squares them up from the tape and
Speaker 1: pass pro He's long enough and that wingspan six ft
Speaker 1: six thirty four and a half inch arms, and the
Speaker 1: wide base to base set that he gets into the
Speaker 1: ability to stone wall and initial rusher, disengage with one
Speaker 1: arm and search for help on his outside or inside post.
Speaker 1: There's a rep on the first draw of the Jets
Speaker 1: game last year where he does this. Takes on the
Speaker 1: initial surge of a bulrush, takes his left arm off
Speaker 1: and helps his left tackle like he's so powerful that
Speaker 1: he can hang onto that block one handed. He seems
Speaker 1: to really understand rush gaps and where guys are coming
Speaker 1: from and when they are bluffing the blitz. He gains
Speaker 1: enough depth, stays light on the balls of his feet
Speaker 1: to find good angles, and searches for work when his
Speaker 1: guy bails out, goes out and help somebody else out,
Speaker 1: making the jaw on everybody else easier. A common theme
Speaker 1: with these Dolphins free agent signings. Guys that help their
Speaker 1: teammates by the way they play, and he works especially
Speaker 1: hard to find games and anticipates them. He's very technically
Speaker 1: sound on his double teams shoulder or shoulder hip to hip.
Speaker 1: I love watching the way he searches for guys coming
Speaker 1: across the face when they do run slants or twist
Speaker 1: or stunts. He executes some hilacious double teams with that
Speaker 1: shoulder to shoulder, hip to hip mentality. There's a play
Speaker 1: against the Panthers in that game last year where he
Speaker 1: gets a chip on Drill McCoy and sends him into
Speaker 1: the tackle and McCoy gets turned all the way around
Speaker 1: and completely out of the play. He then climbs to
Speaker 1: the second level on luke Keickley and drives him five
Speaker 1: yards downfield. That's Luke Keickley, a future Hall of Fame
Speaker 1: linebacker that he pretty much wipes out of that play altogether.
Speaker 1: In that Carolina game, had several other plays. On one
Speaker 1: particular play, he pulls from the back side to the
Speaker 1: play side and puts a defensive tackle on his butt
Speaker 1: on a trap block. Really fun looking play there for
Speaker 1: Eric Flowers. Putting a player on his back had several
Speaker 1: pancakes in that game. Another rep where he stays patient
Speaker 1: and his pass set draws a punch out of the
Speaker 1: defensive lineman and just swipes it like it's no big
Speaker 1: deal and knocks the guy to the ground. For another pancake.
Speaker 1: Another play in that game, a second level climb where
Speaker 1: he completely wipes out the mic linebacker, squares him up,
Speaker 1: puts him on his back side again. A play against
Speaker 1: the Lions in the second quarter of that game where
Speaker 1: he contacts three guys with incredible push, goes left hand
Speaker 1: right hand to help reposition the center's block and makes
Speaker 1: that block easier on him, then climbs the second level
Speaker 1: and gets that block on the linebacker. Last year for Washington,
Speaker 1: it was a bit of a revolving door at left
Speaker 1: tackle with Trent Williams missing the entire season, so Flowers
Speaker 1: not only had the play a position that was new
Speaker 1: for him, he also had to pick up a lot
Speaker 1: of slack on that offensive line. The growth you saw
Speaker 1: from him week to week, Week one, all the way
Speaker 1: to Week seventeen, where he was just aces against the
Speaker 1: Cowboys in that game, that should not be short changed.
Speaker 1: It's an impressive growth season for him. And consider this.
Speaker 1: The Dolphins team we saw in September compared to the
Speaker 1: one we saw in December was very different. And that's
Speaker 1: after the War of Attrition started to fill up the
Speaker 1: injury list and after Miami broke the record for most
Speaker 1: players to take a snap in a single season. Those
Speaker 1: two factors Flowers growth and the Dolphins growth. I think
Speaker 1: they pair together like peanut butter and jelly baby. And
Speaker 1: the last guy on our list here is safety slash
Speaker 1: special teams captain from the Bengals last season, Clayton federal Um,
Speaker 1: and I pulled the very first play on his game pass.
Speaker 1: Script is a kickoff in a week seventeen game against
Speaker 1: the Browns. It's a kickoff with one to go in
Speaker 1: the fourth quarter. He's lined up on the hash mark
Speaker 1: closest to the kicker. Everyone stays in their gap and
Speaker 1: Federlum is just hunting the football, crosses the formation, takes
Speaker 1: on a block and makes the tackle. The dude just
Speaker 1: plays with his hair on fire. It's fun to watch.
Speaker 1: And while he was the Bengal special team captain last year,
Speaker 1: he did play a hundred and twelve snaps on defense
Speaker 1: and you see him line up everywhere that the safety
Speaker 1: possibly can go, So it's not like he's an exclusive
Speaker 1: box safety or a deep safety. One thing I am
Speaker 1: sure of is he's a damn good tackler. He gets
Speaker 1: to his spot, drives out of it, and closes down quickly.
Speaker 1: And he arrives with force. A couple of times he's
Speaker 1: on the field third down and long and dime packages
Speaker 1: as the sixth defensive back, and he basically plays the
Speaker 1: sticks and tries to rally and make the play, and
Speaker 1: he's so sounded getting that job done. He covered some
Speaker 1: tight ends and some backs down around the box. He
Speaker 1: played one of the two split safeties deep off the football,
Speaker 1: did some post snap rotation. So, just as is the
Speaker 1: case with a lot of Miami signings, he's got the versatility,
Speaker 1: the complete utter desire to leave everything he has in
Speaker 1: the football field. And I want to talk about one
Speaker 1: more kickoff with this guy, because this play blew my mind.
Speaker 1: It's against the Jets, first quarter, a minute twelve to
Speaker 1: play in the first quarter, and again he's aligned alongside
Speaker 1: the kicker on the hash mark in the middle of
Speaker 1: the field. He runs forty yards downfield before he meets
Speaker 1: his first blocker at the minus thirty and he just
Speaker 1: if you've ever seen Major League Jack Parkman on rue
Speaker 1: Baker runs him over when the trains and the tracks,
Speaker 1: you better get off onto the next Then after that
Speaker 1: he catches a block square in his face and just
Speaker 1: chucks the guy like a rag doll to the ground,
Speaker 1: finds the ball carrier and makes the tackle. My goodness,
Speaker 1: this guy is some fun, fun special teams tape and
Speaker 1: that carries over to his defensive tape as well. He
Speaker 1: made a really really nice play on a draw play
Speaker 1: on third and seventeen and the season opener against the
Speaker 1: Seahawks and open space Chris Carson gets him one on one,
Speaker 1: he gets him to the ground. So just a very
Speaker 1: sound tackler who plays hard and can do multiple things.
Speaker 1: Sign me up for a roster with fifty three guys
Speaker 1: that can do that. So on tomorrow's podcast will cover
Speaker 1: the other five players we didn't talk about today, Shack Lawson,
Speaker 1: Kyle van Noy, Emmanuel Ogba, Landing Roberts, and Commu grug Hill.
Speaker 1: We're gonna wrap up free agency and all the notes
Speaker 1: you guys need to get on these ten new Miami
Speaker 1: Dolphins players putting the team in position to attack the
Speaker 1: draft aggressively with flexibility. Will have plenty of coverage on
Speaker 1: this draft from now up until Draft Day, which is
Speaker 1: just over three weeks away. For the moment we've all
Speaker 1: been waiting for his Dolphins fans, I can't wait to
Speaker 1: bring that information and that detailed analysis for you guys.
Speaker 1: We have plenty of great stuff planned here on Miami
Speaker 1: Dolphins dot com, on the Drivetime podcast, on our Socials,
Speaker 1: the entire network going to cover this thing comprehensively as
Speaker 1: your go to source for Miami Dolphins football. But as
Speaker 1: for today's podcast, that is going to be my time
Speaker 1: you all. Please be sure to subscribe to the podcast
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Speaker 1: Follow me on Twitter at Wingfield, NFL, Fall the Dolphins
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Speaker 1: the Audible with Kim and John, and of course Miami
Speaker 1: Dolphins dot Com. Until next time, fins up,