Speaker 1: Look, Miami quarter drawn. What is up, Dolph Fans, and
Speaker 1: welcome to the Drive Time Podcast, part of the Miami
Speaker 1: Dolphins official podcast network, covering your team, your Miami Dolphins.
Speaker 1: How's it going? Everybody? It is Friday, n C Double
Speaker 1: A Tournament is here, the new league year is here.
Speaker 1: And on today's show, we're catching up on the latest
Speaker 1: roster activity. We're gonna take a look at the remaining
Speaker 1: free agent board heading into week two of free agency,
Speaker 1: Reset the roster and you guessed it, breakdown all the
Speaker 1: signings and roster moves with tape study, roster impact scheme
Speaker 1: fits all of that, and a whole bunch more on
Speaker 1: this Friday, March the nineteenth edition of the Drive Time Podcast.
Speaker 1: And if you have not listen to the Wednesday edition
Speaker 1: of the Drive Time Podcast, or if you're new here
Speaker 1: to the Miami Dolphins podcast network, go back to the
Speaker 1: Wednesday show and get the breakdowns on Bernardrick McKinney, Isaiah Wilson,
Speaker 1: Michael Pollardi, and Seethan Carter. And go ahead and hit
Speaker 1: that subscribe button because we're gonna be bringing you, guys
Speaker 1: interviews with each of the new acquisitions here with the
Speaker 1: Miami Dolphins as the new league year is here and
Speaker 1: we are talking free agency and new roster moves and
Speaker 1: how they might fit into the roster. And you know,
Speaker 1: we'd covered the day one aspect of free agency and
Speaker 1: played some audio there from coach Flora's about how maybe
Speaker 1: you can't always get what you want in free agency.
Speaker 1: Well that played out kind of like he said it
Speaker 1: would on that podcast or on that interview in that
Speaker 1: press conference. And today we're gonna dive into the additions
Speaker 1: that really began to trickle in from reports late on
Speaker 1: Tuesday evening from those around the league, the Tom Pellacero's,
Speaker 1: the Ian Rapp Reports, the Adam Schefter is all the
Speaker 1: heavy hitters in the league, and then into Sdnesday morning,
Speaker 1: a couple more additions to the roster. We're gonna go
Speaker 1: in chronological order, so we start here with the first
Speaker 1: one that came across that we did not cover on Wednesday,
Speaker 1: and that was Malcolm Brown, the running back formerly of
Speaker 1: the Los Angeles Rams now you're Miami Dolphins, an undrafted
Speaker 1: free agent out of Texas and of the St. Louis Rams,
Speaker 1: who of course moved to Los Angeles in two thousand sixteen.
Speaker 1: But he spent all six of his years there in
Speaker 1: the NFL with the Rams average four yards per carry
Speaker 1: over his career one thousand, one hundred and eighty eight
Speaker 1: yards on the ground. He's two and twenty pounds and
Speaker 1: man watching this guy on tape, he packs a punch,
Speaker 1: an absolute hammer in short yard of situations, and he's
Speaker 1: got a nose for picking out blitzers in the passing
Speaker 1: game to really help buy his quarterback that extra half second.
Speaker 1: When you watch a running back work through their past
Speaker 1: protection responsibilities inside out, you want to get the immediate
Speaker 1: pressure off the quarterback, whether it's the nose tackle a
Speaker 1: linebacker coming up the a gap, and then you work
Speaker 1: to the outside because it's a longer path of the quarterback,
Speaker 1: so take away the immediate pressure. And you see the
Speaker 1: way he processes that in the film. It seems to
Speaker 1: really really click for this guy in past protection. So
Speaker 1: three down back that can stay on the football field.
Speaker 1: And the thing I like about his running style his
Speaker 1: legs never go dead upon contact. He squeezes every possible
Speaker 1: inch out of each run that he has, and he's
Speaker 1: kind of a build up speed type of guy that
Speaker 1: then seeks collisions in that second level You're gonna have
Speaker 1: fun watching this guy run the football. He's a smart
Speaker 1: runner with patients vision and a knack for finding lanes
Speaker 1: in the passing game on screens, swings and flares. The
Speaker 1: Rams used him in every asset imaginable or every aspect
Speaker 1: of the game imaginable. So you think that that flexibility
Speaker 1: here has to have attracted him to the Miami Dolphins
Speaker 1: brass and the fit. You know, talking about the system
Speaker 1: that he was in with the Rams. We all know
Speaker 1: Sean McVeigh runs one of the more popular schemes in
Speaker 1: the NFL in terms of the adaptations of it with
Speaker 1: Kyle Shanahan and San Francisco and Matt Lafleur with the
Speaker 1: Green Bay Packers and now Mike Lafleur up with the Jets.
Speaker 1: Any of that system in the NFL? And what's that
Speaker 1: system based upon wide zone runs that helps set up
Speaker 1: to play action bootleg to get the quarterback naked on
Speaker 1: the backside and make throws that way. And as a result,
Speaker 1: two hundred and ten of Brown's three D and seven
Speaker 1: career attempts, so about two ten to ninety seven. Actually
Speaker 1: it's exactly two ten to ninety seven in terms of
Speaker 1: runs from gap scheme versus zone scheme, and it looked
Speaker 1: like to me he was best when he could get
Speaker 1: north and south and dropped that shoulder and inflict punishment
Speaker 1: that way. Looking at some of the stats we talked
Speaker 1: about past protection. One forty career pass protection snapped for
Speaker 1: this guy. Zero sacks allowed, three hits, allowed, eleven pressures
Speaker 1: in his career, so he's really really adept in past protection.
Speaker 1: In fact, Jordan rod Riecke of The Athletic for Los
Speaker 1: Angeles RAMS said that he was both a great mentor
Speaker 1: to young backs fantastic and fantastic and pass protection, and
Speaker 1: that bears out here with the statistics and you know,
Speaker 1: keeping the quarterback upright nineties seven point nine percent of
Speaker 1: his reps and pass for detection. He also converted six
Speaker 1: out of eight short yardage runs last year on third
Speaker 1: or fourth down that's third or fourth down with less
Speaker 1: than three yards to gain. He picked up six of
Speaker 1: those eight attempts. He also forced seventeen miss tackles on
Speaker 1: one hundred and ten attempts last year, So he's gonna
Speaker 1: make guys miss, which really is the running backs job
Speaker 1: is to make the first tackler miss right he's so
Speaker 1: good at doing that, so you see the fit there
Speaker 1: as well, and the rams more than doubled his career
Speaker 1: passed targets in he caught twenty five or thirty four
Speaker 1: passes seventy five point three percent reception rate for one
Speaker 1: hundred and seventy five yards. And I mentioned that he
Speaker 1: was good at picking up little little holes in the
Speaker 1: screen game. One hundred ninety four of those one d
Speaker 1: seventy five receiving yards came after the catch, so he
Speaker 1: caught the ball behind the line and gain yards that way.
Speaker 1: He fits into this backfield with Miles Gascon and Savan
Speaker 1: akh Met, a pair of sub two hundred pound backs,
Speaker 1: the guys that had the most work last season. So
Speaker 1: he provides some balance in terms of that bigger back,
Speaker 1: short yardage prowess, a guy that can play on the
Speaker 1: field all three downs. Like we mentioned at not to
Speaker 1: leave out Patrick Lair, Jordan Scarlett, and Sethan Carter off
Speaker 1: this list, just talking about last year's top two production
Speaker 1: running backs on the roster. He offers some juxtaposition to
Speaker 1: those guys, So you get some depth here, you get
Speaker 1: a three down back, and I don't think this prevents
Speaker 1: the Dolphins from continuing to address the running back position
Speaker 1: as we head towards the draft. More on that here
Speaker 1: in just one second at the end of this podcast.
Speaker 1: But the number one takeaway for him is that I
Speaker 1: think that he ran so much outside zone with the Rams,
Speaker 1: and I think that kind of the inside runs inside
Speaker 1: zone or gap scheme or duo, some things he can
Speaker 1: do inside might be better for his skill set as
Speaker 1: far as a match for Malcolm Brown. So that signing
Speaker 1: came in on or the announcement of that signing came
Speaker 1: in on Tuesday night, the rumors from I believe it
Speaker 1: was Tom Pellaicero. We also got another addition to the
Speaker 1: backfield or reports of that addition to the backfield on
Speaker 1: Tuesday night, with quarterback Jacoby Brissette. And the note that
Speaker 1: I put down here with Brissette is the juxtaposition from
Speaker 1: Ryan Fitzpatrick to Jacoby Brissette as your backup orderback you
Speaker 1: want to talk about risk adverse. His one point three
Speaker 1: percent interception rate is the lowest in NFL history among
Speaker 1: all quarterbacks with at least nine pass attempts. He's not
Speaker 1: going to put the ball in harm's way. So if
Speaker 1: he comes off the bench in relief of ta If
Speaker 1: Tua gets injured and has to come out of the game,
Speaker 1: this guy is gonna come in, protect the football, manage
Speaker 1: the game, and keep you in the game and let
Speaker 1: your run game and defense take advantage that way. He also,
Speaker 1: you want to talk about a prime mentor a guy
Speaker 1: that is beloved by his teammates, Go check out any
Speaker 1: time he gets on the field for the Colts, and
Speaker 1: he did a lot last year because they would use
Speaker 1: him on sneaks and hell Mary throws and stuff like
Speaker 1: that at the end of football games in place of
Speaker 1: Philip Rivers trying to protect the now retired quarterback, and
Speaker 1: Bursett would get mugged by his teammates every single time
Speaker 1: that he was able to convert a first down or
Speaker 1: make a big play for his offense. Absolutely beloved by
Speaker 1: his teammates. They're in Indianapolis. He started thirty games in
Speaker 1: his career. Began his career back in team with the Patriots,
Speaker 1: then much traded to the to the Colts, where he
Speaker 1: spent the next four years of his career. Six ft
Speaker 1: four two d thirty eight pounds, A big, big body
Speaker 1: back there, big stature in the pocket. He's tough to
Speaker 1: bring down, and he's got some some subtle little instincts
Speaker 1: and nuance and movement in the pocket. He's not gonna
Speaker 1: Lamar Jackson youa and take a zone read off the
Speaker 1: edge and run for eighty yards. Doesn't have that kind
Speaker 1: of long speed or athletic ability, but when the pocket crumbles,
Speaker 1: he can slide around and show you that pocket mobility
Speaker 1: and find a new platform to throw the football from.
Speaker 1: Or he can scramble. He had two hundred to scramble
Speaker 1: yards in that per Pro Football Focus, so he can
Speaker 1: make plays off script. He also averages two point nine
Speaker 1: four seconds from snap to throw. His last year in Indianapolis,
Speaker 1: there was a starter nineteen. So he's more of a
Speaker 1: traditional drop back thrower with a big strong arm that
Speaker 1: kind of lets things develop and sees the thing that
Speaker 1: the route concepts developed down the football field. Has a big,
Speaker 1: big strong arm. He can stretch the field both vertically
Speaker 1: and horizontally. Because of that, so thirteen interceptions in his
Speaker 1: career on n three pass attempts, one point three pick percentage,
Speaker 1: and again, although not an open open field burner, his
Speaker 1: pocket mobility allows him to make big plays down the field.
Speaker 1: As for the fit here in Miami. You know, we
Speaker 1: talk all the time about the Dolphins desire to be
Speaker 1: this team that can adapt according to what the defense
Speaker 1: or the offense on the other side of the football
Speaker 1: might do. To you from their game plan standpoint, how
Speaker 1: to attack their weaknesses, how to be a week to
Speaker 1: week game plan team. And to me, Brissette's experience in
Speaker 1: so many different schemes and under so many different coaches
Speaker 1: and different systems really gives you that flexibility at the
Speaker 1: backup quarterback spot, because one of the backup quarterback's main
Speaker 1: jobs is to help prepare your starting quarterback, whether it's
Speaker 1: going through the third down reel of the opposing defense
Speaker 1: or their blitz reel, picking things up, showing him, hey,
Speaker 1: here's a couple of weaknesses I saw in their scheme
Speaker 1: where you can attack when they do X, Y and Z.
Speaker 1: And you know, his rookie season with the Patriots, he
Speaker 1: oversaw what was a run heavy attack when he came
Speaker 1: into the game after Brady was suspended and Garoppolo was injured.
Speaker 1: He played for two and a half games. Actually his
Speaker 1: first game was against our Miami Dolphins, and he saw
Speaker 1: this run heavy attack basically a Cam Newton style offense
Speaker 1: where they just ran, ran, ran, quarterback lead a lot
Speaker 1: of that with him at the controls. He then served
Speaker 1: as Brady's backup for the twelve games remaining that season
Speaker 1: in seen, and that, of course we know is a
Speaker 1: complex rhythm based timing scheme with countless site adjustments for
Speaker 1: the receiver, so you have to be sharp and precise
Speaker 1: in that regard. Then seen with the Colts Rob chad Zinski,
Speaker 1: who if you go to this article on Indianapolis Colts
Speaker 1: dot com, he talks about that week to week adaptability
Speaker 1: and he's been all over college in pro football too,
Speaker 1: So some more nuance in the system verbi agent understanding
Speaker 1: of multiple schemes for for Jacoby Brissette, and then from
Speaker 1: he plays under the uber aggressive Frank Reich and now
Speaker 1: Nick Sirianni the head coach with the with the Eagles
Speaker 1: and played in their offensive system which was down field,
Speaker 1: four verts, attack, attack attacks, So multiple schemes for Jacoby Brissette.
Speaker 1: And you know I talked about him coming onto the
Speaker 1: field for Philip rivers in rushing situations or sneak situations.
Speaker 1: Seventeen rushes last year only average one point one yards
Speaker 1: per carry, which is a great stat but he converted
Speaker 1: twelve of those seventeen rushes into touchdowns or first downs
Speaker 1: three touchdowns and nine first down so he can he
Speaker 1: can push the pile. And he started fifteen games back
Speaker 1: in twenty nine team for Andrew Luck passed for just
Speaker 1: under three thousand yards, eighteen touchdowns and six picks with
Speaker 1: the passer rating of eighty eight point oh that year,
Speaker 1: play action seven touchdowns, one interception, under pressure, four touchdowns,
Speaker 1: one interception, and deep passing twenty yards or more down
Speaker 1: the field, he was twelve for forty three eight yards,
Speaker 1: two touchdowns and a pick and a passer rating a
Speaker 1: fifty one point one. So Jacoby Brissett steps into the
Speaker 1: roster as a backup quarterback, and again, not only does
Speaker 1: he provide that veteran experience that veterans sound board for
Speaker 1: the twenty three year old to a tongue of byaloa,
Speaker 1: he can come in and manage the offense to victory
Speaker 1: in the event that the starting quarterback goes down. So
Speaker 1: those guys came in. The news came in late on Tuesday,
Speaker 1: Wednesday morning, We wake up out here on the West coast,
Speaker 1: were recorded the podcast. Right now, we got news about
Speaker 1: two defensive additions, and before we jump into Justin Coleman,
Speaker 1: just a general note on the defensive editions so far.
Speaker 1: I mean, they haven't been the Markee type of signings
Speaker 1: that's gonna make the entire COGNIZENTI as it were, really
Speaker 1: lose their collective minds. But you look at how each
Speaker 1: of these pieces might plug into this defense. That reminder
Speaker 1: was number one and third down defense last year and
Speaker 1: number one and takeaways, two very very important traits of
Speaker 1: playing effective defense. I think they got better in both
Speaker 1: of those areas. Let's go ahead and start here with
Speaker 1: Justin Coleman and my notes on him after you know,
Speaker 1: going back over his Seahawks tape, because this is a
Speaker 1: guy whose career began with the Patriots and Brian Flores
Speaker 1: as well as Josh Boyer up in New England and
Speaker 1: he played there for a couple of seasons before winding
Speaker 1: up with the Sea Hawks for two years and then
Speaker 1: spent his last two years with the Lions. And he
Speaker 1: came into the league as an undrafted free agent with
Speaker 1: the Vikings, but then signed with the Patriots before camp
Speaker 1: got going or before the season got going, and played
Speaker 1: his ball there. But you look at his skill set,
Speaker 1: it's painfully easy to see why the Dolphins would have
Speaker 1: interest in Justin Coleman sticky, aggressive corner. It's got inside
Speaker 1: outside flexibility and the familiarity he has with the system,
Speaker 1: again coming from the New England you know system a
Speaker 1: few years back, but he still played in it, and
Speaker 1: more of his snaps are on the slot than on
Speaker 1: the perimeter. But he has shown the ability to cover
Speaker 1: from that position. Sometimes referred to as the toughest job
Speaker 1: on defense. Gerald Alexander actually called the nickel spot the
Speaker 1: toughest spot on defense last season. And Coleman can handle
Speaker 1: the responsibilities of kind of funneling and bracketing and doubling
Speaker 1: in that spot. But he can do more than that.
Speaker 1: He can handle it by himself without that safety help.
Speaker 1: And here's the reason why I think he can. He's very,
Speaker 1: very patient at the line of scrimmage, whether he's up
Speaker 1: and press, whether he wants to throw a jam or
Speaker 1: just mirror and react that way, or when he's off
Speaker 1: kind of in that five yard range, you'll see guys
Speaker 1: try to close the space between he and the line
Speaker 1: of scrimmage, and he just patiently sits there and waits
Speaker 1: and reacts to the movement of the receiver, and this
Speaker 1: helps him drive on the ball. He's got forty one
Speaker 1: career pass breakups, a couple of picks, and two touchdowns,
Speaker 1: and that's that's how he gets there. Because he's so patient,
Speaker 1: he's so studied. He drives out of that not even
Speaker 1: really a drop, just out of his initial alignment and
Speaker 1: makes plays in the football. And I think the reason
Speaker 1: he can get away with that because again, in that
Speaker 1: slot position, there are two way goes. You can be
Speaker 1: beat outside inside and on the outside. It's tougher because
Speaker 1: sometimes the progression of the route you have to win.
Speaker 1: Inside it you're only option. But in the slot you've
Speaker 1: always got that two way go inside outside. And the
Speaker 1: reason I think that he's so adept at handling this
Speaker 1: is because he has exceptionally quick feet and change of
Speaker 1: direction skills. You go back to his measurements at the
Speaker 1: combine and the player profile dot Com track some fantasy stats,
Speaker 1: but it also measures the player's explosivity rankings. From an
Speaker 1: analytical standpoint, he is in the percentile for his agility score,
Speaker 1: which covers three cone ten yards split. Some of the
Speaker 1: other metrics that measure how quick a guy can get
Speaker 1: in and out of breaks and change directions, and man,
Speaker 1: he is fun to watch in that regard because this
Speaker 1: guy is uber athletic. He was a high school track star,
Speaker 1: ran eleven second one, also finished second in his class
Speaker 1: in four a Georgia for the three hurdles, So a
Speaker 1: super super athlete, which is so necessary at that spot
Speaker 1: for a Brian Floores and Josh Boyer in Miami Dolphins
Speaker 1: coach defense, they love to have guys with ball skills,
Speaker 1: long speed guys that can play man coverage and track
Speaker 1: the football in the air. And they've got a bunch
Speaker 1: of these guys now. And Justin Coleman joins that group
Speaker 1: in a group where you can never have enough good
Speaker 1: cornerbacks in this league. And I believe Justin Coleman, after
Speaker 1: a dip in production the last two seasons with the Lions,
Speaker 1: I think this guy is a very very good football player.
Speaker 1: I think you're gonna have a better chance to have
Speaker 1: him get back to his Seahawks form because of the system,
Speaker 1: because of the scheme, because of the fit here in Miami.
Speaker 1: And speaking of the fit in Miami, one of the
Speaker 1: interesting aspects of this addition, as I was looking at
Speaker 1: the Dolphins roster, Coleman is the sixth player in the
Speaker 1: Dolphins secondary who has at least five years of NFL experience,
Speaker 1: and I thought that seems like a lot because this
Speaker 1: is such a young roster. So I went back and looked.
Speaker 1: The receivers have three players with five or more years
Speaker 1: of experience in Devonte Parker, Alan Hearns and Albert Wilson.
Speaker 1: The offensive line has two with Eric Flowers and Jesse Davis.
Speaker 1: And by the way, Ted carrossiwn at the Patriots now,
Speaker 1: so he is no longer on the roster, but they
Speaker 1: had two guys on the offensive line and no other
Speaker 1: position group had multiple players with five or more years
Speaker 1: of experience. So I thought about that and how in
Speaker 1: Ted role it is to have guys on that back
Speaker 1: end that can communicate that don't have the breakdowns because,
Speaker 1: as once again G. A. Gerald Alexander said, last season,
Speaker 1: big plays come through communication breakdowns in the defensive backfield.
Speaker 1: And we saw Bobby Kine, Eric Roe just like a
Speaker 1: foodsball tables what I always call it. The way they
Speaker 1: moved was in tandem. There was never like guys turning
Speaker 1: around putting their palms up to the air. Like I
Speaker 1: thought you had him this time. That just didn't happen
Speaker 1: this season because for me, because of the veteran experience
Speaker 1: and communication on that back end with McCain, row Xavien Howard,
Speaker 1: Byron Jones, and then of course Brandon Jones and Nick Needing,
Speaker 1: a couple of young players sprinkled in there. But now
Speaker 1: you get Justin Coleman, a veteran, experienced player back there
Speaker 1: that can just continue to help that and help you
Speaker 1: excel in that. I also think he gives you a
Speaker 1: great matchup opportunity when teams roll out those four receiver
Speaker 1: sets or even three receiver sets if he plays the nickel,
Speaker 1: because who led the league last year and ten personnel
Speaker 1: sets the Buffalo Bills, and they just destroyed teams with
Speaker 1: four receiver sets, And so you kind of combat that
Speaker 1: by ushering extra defensive backs onto the field. And remember
Speaker 1: Miami with formations with six or more defensive backs were
Speaker 1: seventh most in the NFL last season, So they use
Speaker 1: a lot of defensive backs in the defense to help
Speaker 1: combat the modern day passing attacks of opposing offenses. And
Speaker 1: again back to Coleman in that sticky man coverage, I
Speaker 1: just think this gives you another guy that can help
Speaker 1: you play that cover zero look, can help you press man,
Speaker 1: can help really just lock up the first two seconds
Speaker 1: of the route while the pass rush gets home. I
Speaker 1: think it's a great fit, a great match. Some of
Speaker 1: his stats. This guy has a nose for the football
Speaker 1: to career touchdowns, four force fumbles, four more recovered fumbles,
Speaker 1: and has logged a total of forty one passes defense
Speaker 1: in his career. And here's a stat for you. Opposing
Speaker 1: quarterbacks when targeting Coleman in the slot position over his
Speaker 1: career have a passer rating of just eighties six point one.
Speaker 1: So he's played so well in that position. And two
Speaker 1: years with Flores em Bowyer back in fifteen and sixteen,
Speaker 1: thirty nine receptions on seventy eight targets. That's fifty completion
Speaker 1: for four hundred and sixty seven yards at five point
Speaker 1: nine nine yards per target, so under six yards per target.
Speaker 1: What an early career he had there with the Patriots
Speaker 1: and the Seahawks. Bit of a lull death of Lions.
Speaker 1: We'll see if he can kind of rebound and get
Speaker 1: back to his old ways. I think he can here
Speaker 1: in this system, joining that that secondary full of established veterans,
Speaker 1: ball hawks, guys that play tight, sticky man coverage, and
Speaker 1: I just think he fits the bill athletically mentally with
Speaker 1: a smart, tough, physical, smart player. I'm very excited about this.
Speaker 1: Justin Coleman signing, and speaking of signings, I am excited about.
Speaker 1: Let's go ahead and finish up the Wednesday activity with
Speaker 1: Adam Butler, who I was pretty pumped on Bernardrick McKinney.
Speaker 1: Adam Butler can play football, man. This guy is a
Speaker 1: football player through and through all four seasons so far
Speaker 1: in his career up there with the Patriots. And you
Speaker 1: want to talk about consistency for an undrafted free agent
Speaker 1: comes in and plays the highest snap workload of his
Speaker 1: career that rookie year five hundred twenty four snaps and
Speaker 1: the rest of his time four eight four four eight
Speaker 1: one snaps. He's played forty seven or forty eight possible games,
Speaker 1: consistently plays the same amount of reps every single season.
Speaker 1: His QB pressures and twenty eight. He just consistently does
Speaker 1: the same stuff year in and year out, the same
Speaker 1: deal on the run stop side of things. And when
Speaker 1: you look at his body composition and the tape six
Speaker 1: ft five three pounds thirty three inch arms, and that
Speaker 1: pairs well with a one oh one inch broad jump
Speaker 1: and nearly thirty inches on the vertical leap. Tells you
Speaker 1: about his lower body explosive explosiveness, and it gives him
Speaker 1: a very quick get off. He is scary quick out
Speaker 1: of his stance. He can shoot gaps and penetrate upfield
Speaker 1: as a one gapper, or he can park the bus
Speaker 1: and play strength and more of a read and react
Speaker 1: to gap style of defensive tackle man. He uses that
Speaker 1: weight to lean on opposing centers and guards and that
Speaker 1: forces them into this retreat position. We're from there. He
Speaker 1: can then use that lateral quickness and his active hands
Speaker 1: to help him kind of create momentum, get those guys
Speaker 1: off balance and then eventually earn the leverage and beat
Speaker 1: them and both pass rush and run situations. And talking
Speaker 1: about lateral agility, where do you need that the most?
Speaker 1: That's right when you execute games slants, twist stunts, and
Speaker 1: the Dolphins called those things so often. He is a
Speaker 1: perfect fit for that job. And though most of his
Speaker 1: third down work comes pretty much nose up over the
Speaker 1: over the center and that nose tackle position or with
Speaker 1: a shade one technique off either shoulder of that center.
Speaker 1: He is capable of playing multiple positions. On early downs,
Speaker 1: he would kick outside to a three technique or sometimes
Speaker 1: a two or two I, which the three technique is
Speaker 1: the outside shoulder of the guard. The two technique is
Speaker 1: head up over that guard, and just again execute a
Speaker 1: variety of of calls one gap to gap, twist, stunts, slants,
Speaker 1: whatever it might be. And he comes to Miami to
Speaker 1: fortify a defensive line that had plenty of success in
Speaker 1: two thousand twenty. The Dolphins are strengthening a strength on
Speaker 1: the roster right here by getting Adam Butler involved his production,
Speaker 1: but also his selflessness to help create chances for his teammates,
Speaker 1: because this guy will set picks and create lanes for
Speaker 1: pass rushers. I just pictured Jerome Baker and Bernardrick McKinney
Speaker 1: mugged up in a gaps with Adam Butler on either side,
Speaker 1: and all three of those guys have extremely explosive first
Speaker 1: step quickness. And you've got the power of McKinney, the
Speaker 1: agility of Baker and Butler. With a little bit of
Speaker 1: both of those two things, you can drop any of
Speaker 1: them un coverage because Adam Butler has fallen back into
Speaker 1: that hook zone, kind of like Christian Wilkins last year,
Speaker 1: getting that big I n T. You can confuse pass
Speaker 1: protection schemes. You can beat them immediately with one of
Speaker 1: those first step quicknesses off the snap. I mean, these
Speaker 1: guys they meshed together and pair together so well from
Speaker 1: that one formation that perspective, I love the fit. Butler
Speaker 1: has fifteen career sacks nineties, six total tackles, nine career
Speaker 1: passes defense he's forced to fumble and again, like I mentioned,
Speaker 1: played in forty seven out of forty eight possible games
Speaker 1: twenty run stops back in nineteen. That was a career high.
Speaker 1: Had fourteen last year as well. So he helps the
Speaker 1: interior defensive line kind of to me toss their hat
Speaker 1: in the ring for the best position group on the team.
Speaker 1: Christian Wilkins, Zack Seeler, Ray Kwon Davis, and Benito Jones
Speaker 1: is there as well, where each significant contributors in playing
Speaker 1: a variety of roles and producing against both the run
Speaker 1: and the past. And we talked about this as far
Speaker 1: as how the flexibility of these Dolphins players and a
Speaker 1: positionless defense can help you have that flexibility now with
Speaker 1: these four defensive tackles, you can really kind of use
Speaker 1: them for defensive end snaps. You can use them for
Speaker 1: defensive tackle snaps. I think it all just comes together
Speaker 1: very well at that position. And in addition to really
Speaker 1: piling up hurries, hits and sacks, this guy just he
Speaker 1: is such a team friendly pass rusher who will stay
Speaker 1: true to his gap and rush and set picks and
Speaker 1: just blow up blockers and create lanes for his guy.
Speaker 1: So I am super excited about this position and again
Speaker 1: to fortify that third down defense man with the pass rush,
Speaker 1: the ability to put quarterbacks at kind of some unease
Speaker 1: in the middle of the formation staring down Baker McKinley
Speaker 1: or McKinney rather and Adam Butler. And I think you've
Speaker 1: got your penetrator with Adam Butler, your blitzer with Bernardic McKinney,
Speaker 1: and now a new slot that can help you rotate
Speaker 1: where the double teams go and confuse the quarterback that
Speaker 1: way because they might not know where the brackets gonna
Speaker 1: come from, and give me that good aggressive man coverage
Speaker 1: across the board. The Dolphins third down defense was the
Speaker 1: best in the National Football League last year, and I
Speaker 1: think it got better and back on the offensive side
Speaker 1: of the football, the Dolphins at a receiver and Robert Foster,
Speaker 1: who was undrafted in out of Alabama. He signed with
Speaker 1: the Buffalo Bills and had a nice rookie season twenty
Speaker 1: seven catches, five d forty one yards for an average
Speaker 1: of twenty yards per catch. He scored three touchdowns, catching
Speaker 1: sixty one percent of his passes for twelve point three
Speaker 1: yards per target. And I had Joe Marino, the host
Speaker 1: of Lockdown Bills, on an episode of the Lockdown Dolphins
Speaker 1: podcast a couple of years ago, and he had Foster
Speaker 1: pegged for a breakthrough candidate in twenty nineteen. It didn't
Speaker 1: happen that way. He caught three passes that year and
Speaker 1: then moved on to Washington last season, where he caught
Speaker 1: two passes for thirty seven yards. But he's a four
Speaker 1: three three forty yard dash guy, explosive as all get out,
Speaker 1: six foot too, just as Smidge under two hundred pounds,
Speaker 1: he can flat burn. He'll have a chance to kind
Speaker 1: of get back to that form here with the Miami
Speaker 1: Dolphins this season. All right, there's a good little gap
Speaker 1: to go ahead and add any additional free agents that
Speaker 1: do sign with Miami over the next couple of days,
Speaker 1: and as we head into the weekend, and speaking of
Speaker 1: that happy March Madness, y'all, I mean, how bad did
Speaker 1: you miss having that tournament last year? March Madness has
Speaker 1: to me always been the bridge between the Super Bowl
Speaker 1: and baseball season that helps complete that lull in the
Speaker 1: sports calendar. And I will say, I am finding myself
Speaker 1: getting more and more into the Miami Heat. I've tried
Speaker 1: for a long time. Dwayne Wade really helped, and he
Speaker 1: first came into the league back in two thousand four three.
Speaker 1: But the super team that won two titles definitely helped
Speaker 1: as well. But you just can't force love. And my
Speaker 1: heart still belonged to the Seattle Super so US for
Speaker 1: over a decade after they left town here. But I
Speaker 1: find myself checking Heat scores and air dropping the games
Speaker 1: onto my TV from my phone. So let's go Heat, baby.
Speaker 1: But still I'm excited that we get Marsh Madness this year.
Speaker 1: Let's go ahead and pick this thing back up with
Speaker 1: the free agent board what it still has to offer.
Speaker 1: And again, we might have to edit this thing a
Speaker 1: bit before publishing as we try to make the podcast
Speaker 1: as up to date as we possibly can be. Just
Speaker 1: bear with me. If we don't get to something on
Speaker 1: this podcast, we'll get to you on the next podcast.
Speaker 1: So just well, we'll get it all. We'll get it
Speaker 1: all in trust me. That's what drive time does here.
Speaker 1: We're comprehensive. We include everything. And speaking of that, we're
Speaker 1: going to exclude the quarterback and running back possession here
Speaker 1: and the free agent look ahead because of Burssette and
Speaker 1: Brown into and start with what has been the most
Speaker 1: interesting position so far in free agency. The wide receivers
Speaker 1: Corey Davis, Nelson, agil Or Kendrick born A, J. Green
Speaker 1: go off the board Marvin Jones early in the week.
Speaker 1: And those guys all ranked in that you know, fifty
Speaker 1: to fifty range of those top PFF, NFL dot com
Speaker 1: whatever list you looked at, those guys would off the
Speaker 1: board first. And how weird is that it's almost always
Speaker 1: top of the market first, reset, reassess, and then the
Speaker 1: second wave goes off. But these guys go first, while
Speaker 1: some guys that were top ten, top twenty on the
Speaker 1: free agent list for PFF guys like Kenny Golladay, Juju Smith, Schuster,
Speaker 1: it'll be interesting to see what type of deals these
Speaker 1: guys get if they can be in Miami's plans. As
Speaker 1: the Dolphins continue to add value buys to bolster rotations
Speaker 1: in depth and create more flexibility for one and two,
Speaker 1: and not just with the cap, but they're giving themselves
Speaker 1: draft flexibility, which me to me allows you to stick
Speaker 1: to your price points because you can just say to
Speaker 1: his prospective free agent, hey, we have four picks in
Speaker 1: the top fifty. We can address those positions and any
Speaker 1: four of those spots and be totally okay. But as
Speaker 1: far as the free agent board goes, I'm still intrigued
Speaker 1: by those names by t Y Hilton, will Fuller, and
Speaker 1: Demere Bird, who all remain unsigned. On the offensive line,
Speaker 1: Ted Carris, we mentioned this earlier, signed with the Patriots,
Speaker 1: and that gives us Michael Dieter with some college experience
Speaker 1: and he played some there in the preseason back in
Speaker 1: two thousand and nineteen, and Jesse Davis who played there
Speaker 1: in camp last year a little bit but not much,
Speaker 1: and also Cameron tom who's on a futures contract. As
Speaker 1: your centers under contract right now, So let's get a
Speaker 1: look at this class. And I think David Andrews probably
Speaker 1: tops the market currently, the guy that Ted Carriss is
Speaker 1: going to New England to supposedly replaced, which is funny
Speaker 1: because they were both on that roster together for a
Speaker 1: few years and Carriss was his backup and a guard
Speaker 1: backup as well, the swing interior guy. But David Andrews
Speaker 1: has been a very good player for a long time.
Speaker 1: To me, he's the top center on the market. Will
Speaker 1: see what happens with him and where he winds up,
Speaker 1: but that's I guess. Besides that, it's the center market
Speaker 1: in free agency is always pretty thin. This year. I
Speaker 1: also like Nick Martin from Houston. He's a good player,
Speaker 1: but other than that, seems like he's a little bit
Speaker 1: The market's a little bit thin at that center spot.
Speaker 1: Now where else the market is thin is at the
Speaker 1: edge position because so many players have signed from that
Speaker 1: position group, whether it's outside linebackers or defensive ends. And
Speaker 1: we covered this with the Adam Butler signing giving Miami
Speaker 1: for damn good defensive tackles that maybe you can kind
Speaker 1: of adjust the scheme and just have your Emmanuel Ogbas
Speaker 1: and you're Andrew Van Geinkles and and possibly some work
Speaker 1: from Jason Strowbridge as well as the draft and whatever
Speaker 1: that brings you. But currently, I think right now there's
Speaker 1: one bell of the ball at the edge position, and
Speaker 1: that of course is Jadeveon Clowney, who has been connected
Speaker 1: to the Dolphins a couple of times in the past,
Speaker 1: but he is a free agent right now. He remains
Speaker 1: unsigned and truthfully probably is the only guy out there
Speaker 1: on the market that you can expect to sign, plug
Speaker 1: him in and get eight hundred plus snaps out of currently.
Speaker 1: Of course, again, the draft might offer you some options
Speaker 1: that way as well. So we look at the rest
Speaker 1: of the group. On defense, I think defensive back, you know,
Speaker 1: you could have some more bargain possible shops back there,
Speaker 1: as you can never have enough defensive backs and good
Speaker 1: cover corners, and that linebacker. We'll see what happens there
Speaker 1: as well. But Bonargac McKinney and Jerome Baker, those are
Speaker 1: two guys that rarely leave the field, So anybody coming
Speaker 1: into that group is gonna have to either beat them
Speaker 1: out or serve as backup roles behind those guys. So
Speaker 1: we'll cover more of this as it goes along. Here.
Speaker 1: I want to go ahead and finish up this edition
Speaker 1: of the Drive Time podcast kind of a week one recap,
Speaker 1: take a look at the roster and way where the
Speaker 1: needs still exists, where the opportunities are, where we might
Speaker 1: go in the draft. Let's go ahead and start at
Speaker 1: the quarterback position and do sort of a rapid fire edition,
Speaker 1: and starting with those qbs. Obviously to a tongue, by
Speaker 1: lower your starter, you'r your player you're hoping to develop
Speaker 1: and and turn into a long term answer. Here at
Speaker 1: the quarterback spot with Jacoby Brissette as your backup, I
Speaker 1: think you have to look at those top two guys
Speaker 1: and feel pretty good about your ability to both win
Speaker 1: games and develop that young guys the starter. And then
Speaker 1: if he goes down in the game and you need
Speaker 1: snaps or throws from your backup quarterback, you can do
Speaker 1: a lot worse than Jacoby Brissette at that backup quarterback spot.
Speaker 1: And then read Senet on a futures contract will compete
Speaker 1: and develop as well at the running back spot. We
Speaker 1: talked about this pretty in depth gascon acmed Laird and
Speaker 1: Malcolm Brown with Jordan's Scarlett on a futures contract. I
Speaker 1: think there's an area of opportunity there whether it's in
Speaker 1: the draft, in free agency, and come back and add
Speaker 1: another body to that room, maybe a guy that's that
Speaker 1: fits this mold of three down backs and a guy
Speaker 1: that can play of your workload on Sundays. We know
Speaker 1: by now about the top three guys in that first
Speaker 1: tier with Travis E, t n Nag Harris, and Javonte Williams.
Speaker 1: Benjamin Saliac broke that down on the podcast for US
Speaker 1: last week. I think if you if you want to
Speaker 1: go that route, to me, all three of those guys
Speaker 1: could go in the first round, and to me, all
Speaker 1: three of them will be off the board by pick
Speaker 1: thirty six, So you could see some maneuvering if that's
Speaker 1: where you want to go. You could make a pick
Speaker 1: at eighteen there if you want to go that route.
Speaker 1: But there are multiple options and multiple scenigos for the
Speaker 1: Dolphins should they choose to go out and acquire another
Speaker 1: running back and continue to attack that position at receiver.
Speaker 1: We've talked about this market at length. I think the
Speaker 1: way that the free agent market develops will be highly
Speaker 1: intriguing and couldn't provide Miami with veteran options and maybe
Speaker 1: this deep draft classes helping kind of whole things up
Speaker 1: there at the top as teams look to possibly get
Speaker 1: a game breaker on night one, and maybe even valuable
Speaker 1: contributors even as rookies in year one on day two
Speaker 1: and in the early day three even but with Parker, Williams,
Speaker 1: Bowden Grant, Perry Hearns and Wilson and Kirk Merat on
Speaker 1: a futures contract, there is talent in the room. But
Speaker 1: as Brian Flores and Chris Career mentioned in their joint
Speaker 1: press conference a couple of months back, adding playmakers is
Speaker 1: a priority, and there are between free agency and the
Speaker 1: draft a ton of playmakers to be had at that spot.
Speaker 1: At tight end, I think you feel pretty good about
Speaker 1: the position. We've discussed my affinity for Kyle Pitts, and
Speaker 1: I don't really classify him as a tight end. I
Speaker 1: think you just drop him into your offense and worry
Speaker 1: about descriptions for him later. But you add this h
Speaker 1: back type and Seethan Carter to the dangerous Mike Ga
Speaker 1: Sicky and the rock solid good inline blockers and Durham
Speaker 1: Smith and Adam Shaheen, with Chris Meyer still developing, you
Speaker 1: feel pretty good about that group there. Now we mentioned
Speaker 1: Ted Harris and David Andrews at center position that right
Speaker 1: now appears to be one spot you might need to
Speaker 1: add a body to be able to line up on Sundays.
Speaker 1: And before I continue that thought, I am interested to
Speaker 1: see where Michael Dieter is at this point in his development.
Speaker 1: Year three out of out of the third round back
Speaker 1: in twenty nine team. But if they want to make
Speaker 1: a splash there, David Andrews is a damn good player.
Speaker 1: And then Creed Humphrey and Landon Dickerson to me are
Speaker 1: around one plug and play. You hand them their draft cap.
Speaker 1: You also hand the starting position night one or the
Speaker 1: draft if you make that move. Those are the three
Speaker 1: guys that are kind of in my cross hairs. I'm
Speaker 1: also interested in tackle depth in this draft because I
Speaker 1: think they're going to be some really good players that
Speaker 1: get pushed down because of how good this class is.
Speaker 1: A guy like Samuel cos Me out of Texas comes
Speaker 1: to mind as a bruising right tackle type. On defense,
Speaker 1: I waxed poetic about the interior defensive line, so I'll
Speaker 1: mostly be good there at that spot unless it's like
Speaker 1: a Day three space eater type. But the edge, I
Speaker 1: think there are all kinds of options there if you
Speaker 1: want more of a Shack loss In type replacement. Carlos
Speaker 1: Basham from Wake Forest, a guy I've talked about on
Speaker 1: this podcast a lot. If you're looking for a Kyle
Speaker 1: van Nois replacement, and that's not McKinney, guys completely different players.
Speaker 1: If you're looking for a van Nois replacement, I think
Speaker 1: you might look at Texas as Joseph Aside, because like
Speaker 1: Van Noy, he was an off ball guy that moved
Speaker 1: to edge, and this last season at Texas was the
Speaker 1: only tape he had there and showed a lot of
Speaker 1: bite despite only having one condensed season of tape at
Speaker 1: that position. And he was even a little bit unrefined
Speaker 1: at that spot, still getting production as he learned the position.
Speaker 1: So I picture him with coaching from a Flora as
Speaker 1: in a Boy or Austin Clark and Robbie Leonard, and
Speaker 1: I like his chances there in that spot as well.
Speaker 1: Zaven Collins another big time prospect at first round type
Speaker 1: prospect and attractive option we've covered on this podcast as well.
Speaker 1: Linebacker again, just I think we're pretty much good there
Speaker 1: unless they want to add depth. I think corner is
Speaker 1: pretty well taken care of as well with Justin Coleman,
Speaker 1: especially with Noah Ignagny still in tow and developing. I
Speaker 1: have very high expectations for him as well. And then
Speaker 1: it's safety again. I think you exclusively look to the
Speaker 1: rookies like a Tyree Gillespie from Missouri. He is my guy.
Speaker 1: Outstanding instincts and play speed, a guy that I would
Speaker 1: be thrilled to get. Maybe late day too, early day three.
Speaker 1: So with week one of free agency about to wrap, receiver,
Speaker 1: draft and or free agency, running back probably through the draft, center,
Speaker 1: draft or free agency, tackle depth in the draft, edge
Speaker 1: through the draft, and maybe a safety through the draft
Speaker 1: as well. That's my take. That's my time. That's the
Speaker 1: week here on this edition of Drive Time. A reminder
Speaker 1: we're gonna have exclusive interviews with the new acquisitions here
Speaker 1: on the Drivetime podcast. We'll start start rolling those out
Speaker 1: sometime next week. In the meantime, you all please be
Speaker 1: sure to subscribe, rate, review the podcast on Apple podcast, Spotify,
Speaker 1: wherever you get your podcast from. Keep your eye out
Speaker 1: for us on YouTube. We're coming your way on YouTube
Speaker 1: here soon. Follow me on Twitter at Wingfield NFL. Follow
Speaker 1: the team at my end Dolphins. Check out the Fish
Speaker 1: Tank and the Audible podcast, and of course Miami Dolphins
Speaker 1: dot com. We're gonna have scheme fit film study stats
Speaker 1: posted too Miami dolphins dot com with all of these
Speaker 1: players breaking them down here as they become official. Until
Speaker 1: next time, fins Up.