Speaker 1: Looking Down, Fail, Touchdown, Miami n What is up? Dolphans
Speaker 1: And welcome to the Drive Time Podcast, part of the
Speaker 1: Miami Dolphins podcast Network, covering your team, your Miami Dolphins.
Speaker 1: How's it going? Everybody? It is Monday. I am your host,
Speaker 1: Travis Wingfield, and as always, I am here to bring
Speaker 1: you your daily dose of Miami Dolphins football. And on
Speaker 1: today's show, I hope you're enjoying these positional previews that
Speaker 1: are packed with facts, stats and analysis, because we've got
Speaker 1: a lot more where that came from, including today when
Speaker 1: we get into the lengthiest position group that will cover
Speaker 1: here on the roster, it's all things offensive line today
Speaker 1: and nothing else will break down Lemuel John Pierre's room,
Speaker 1: talk about the remade nature of the position over the
Speaker 1: last couple of years, the Prince pulls of the room,
Speaker 1: the individual notes, and a whole bunch more on this
Speaker 1: edition of the Drive Time Podcast. And we are presented
Speaker 1: by Auto Nation here on the Miami Dolphins Podcast Network,
Speaker 1: and we're talking all things offensive line. If you guys
Speaker 1: have not been following along on Miami Dolphins dot com,
Speaker 1: we have written elements of these podcasts available for you.
Speaker 1: They're a little bit easier to navigate the particular players
Speaker 1: or statue you want to read about on that page,
Speaker 1: So check it out Miami Dolphins dot com. We are
Speaker 1: done with the offense and tomorrow we turned the page
Speaker 1: to the defense, and these are gonna cover you every
Speaker 1: single day or weekday, I should say, right up until
Speaker 1: the start of training camp. And that again, as I
Speaker 1: mentioned every day on the podcast, the last couple of
Speaker 1: weeks my favorite time of the football calendar. But that's them.
Speaker 1: Let's go ahead and get into the offensive line now,
Speaker 1: and as we have done on these podcasts, kind of
Speaker 1: talking about the general makeup or some of the interesting
Speaker 1: theories or ideas or thoughts about what this offensive line
Speaker 1: is or what it might look like, or some of
Speaker 1: the key principles of the room, or shared traits of
Speaker 1: the players. And one of those shared traits goes back
Speaker 1: to last season and we talked about it on the
Speaker 1: podcast a lot with Austin Jackson, Robert Hunt, Solomon Kinley,
Speaker 1: Eric Flowers as the free agent acquisition that he was,
Speaker 1: and the size of each of those players. Now, Big
Speaker 1: Rob Hunt was listed in the three thirties originally, but
Speaker 1: he might have cut some weight or maybe the U
Speaker 1: l L team would listen to him a little bit
Speaker 1: heavier than he was. He checked in under three thirty
Speaker 1: in the three range on the team official website last season.
Speaker 1: That's where he is again this year. But you also
Speaker 1: look at Solomon Kinley over three d and thirty five pounds.
Speaker 1: Austin Jackson comes in at three three. Eric Flowers was
Speaker 1: in that range when he was signed last year, and
Speaker 1: that theme kind of continued this season with the addition
Speaker 1: of a d. J. Fluker, a plus three thirty pound guy.
Speaker 1: Same deal with Jermaine Iluminoire. So these guys packed in
Speaker 1: that size, that density, that strength, the a bill just
Speaker 1: by by that sheer size to make it more difficult
Speaker 1: for pass rushers to get around because you decrease the
Speaker 1: size of those gaps and you make the wall in
Speaker 1: front of t a tongue by loa significantly larger just
Speaker 1: based on the pier size of those guys. Plus all
Speaker 1: three of Matt Skura, Michael Dieter, and Cameron tom can
Speaker 1: occupy space and play big inside as well. Part of
Speaker 1: that is their sheer density and size, but also they
Speaker 1: have the feet to kind of be able to shuffle
Speaker 1: back and forth between either guard to protect those a
Speaker 1: gaps and prevent the quickest route to the quarterback from
Speaker 1: becoming detrimental in the past protection game. And Brian Flores
Speaker 1: talks about this a lot or he has this offseason
Speaker 1: about the passing league. We played his soundclip for you
Speaker 1: guys in the podcast on the Receiver edition the Receiver
Speaker 1: Preview edition here of Draft Time brought to you by Automation,
Speaker 1: where he talked about the direction of the league and
Speaker 1: going after all these defensive backs and going after the
Speaker 1: receivers and the draft to pair with their young quarterback
Speaker 1: who they brought in last season, and how that jives
Speaker 1: with the direction of the modern game. I mean, if
Speaker 1: you're gonna beat a Patrick Mahomes led Chiefs team, or
Speaker 1: a Josh Allen led Buffalo Bill's team, or a Tom
Speaker 1: Brady led Tampa Bay team, you're probably gonna have to
Speaker 1: score in the thirties on on most instances. Now, last year,
Speaker 1: Miami held Tampa Bay or rather sorry, Kansas City to
Speaker 1: thirty points in the game, and they held Buffalo to
Speaker 1: thirty one in the first contest. The second contest was
Speaker 1: a different story. But this defense can compete at that level.
Speaker 1: But you round out the offense to compete with their firepower. Man,
Speaker 1: you put this defense with an explosive offense, all of
Speaker 1: a sudden, you're cooking with gas. And so the idea
Speaker 1: I'm having here with these guys as you go over
Speaker 1: the status and we'll talk about it here in a minute,
Speaker 1: but to a man, their past protection numbers hold up,
Speaker 1: and especially on the interior, you'll notice the pressure numbers
Speaker 1: on the interior are going to be lower than what
Speaker 1: you have either tackle position. And it makes sense, right
Speaker 1: there's more room to work with. You have a two
Speaker 1: way go where you can get outside of the guy
Speaker 1: and kind of work up field. But you also have
Speaker 1: your better pass rushers in the league, typically on the
Speaker 1: outside except for a few guys like Aaron Donald and
Speaker 1: the like. So you're gonna see more pressure number from
Speaker 1: the tackle position, but in general on that interior when
Speaker 1: you do have that, for lack of a better term,
Speaker 1: thickness upfront, man, it makes it tough to collapse the
Speaker 1: pocket from the interior because one with that size and
Speaker 1: that base, you're gonna have a hard time bull rushing
Speaker 1: and putting those guys in their back. So when you
Speaker 1: have three of them, that kind of condense the space
Speaker 1: between one another. You have to go through them, and
Speaker 1: that's a tough, tough ask, especially in an offense under
Speaker 1: two of last year that consistently got the football out
Speaker 1: of his hands one of the quickest rates in the
Speaker 1: National Football League per NFL next Gen Stats. And so
Speaker 1: where to a really shines in the passing game, really
Speaker 1: shines in terms of what these receivers and pass catchers
Speaker 1: and quarterback can do is play off that RPO game.
Speaker 1: Hit those quick hitters, accentuate too short area accuracy to
Speaker 1: help those receivers like a Will full or a Jalen
Speaker 1: Waddle DeVante Parker catch the football, get into open space
Speaker 1: and make place after they have the ball in their
Speaker 1: hand ends and I think the offensive line with that
Speaker 1: size really kind of capitalizes on that idea. Another thing
Speaker 1: about this room that I like is, you know, last
Speaker 1: year we saw rookies play two thousand, three hundred fourteen snaps.
Speaker 1: I have the stating here we'll get to in just
Speaker 1: one second, but Jackson, Kinley and Hunt played a lot
Speaker 1: of snaps last year, more than any other rookie offensive
Speaker 1: line group in the National Football League, And of course
Speaker 1: Miami had the most rookie snaps in the NFL in general.
Speaker 1: And while you had Eric Flowers and Jesse Davis and
Speaker 1: Ted Carriss playing a lot of reps on the offensive
Speaker 1: line too, you had Julian Davenport who got reps also
Speaker 1: and those guys who have since departed. But what Miami
Speaker 1: did was bring in some more veteran experience, more guys
Speaker 1: that have not just versatility at multiple positions, but guys
Speaker 1: that have played thousands of reps in the National Football League.
Speaker 1: And so with that, ideally you think with the experience
Speaker 1: one they can rub off on your young players and
Speaker 1: kind of teach them how to work like a pro,
Speaker 1: how to pick up certain things, certain site adjustments. You
Speaker 1: put them on the field next to a young player,
Speaker 1: maybe it helps that inside post of a young tackle
Speaker 1: on the outside, for instance, with that experience next to him.
Speaker 1: But also just balancing the roster is always a good practice.
Speaker 1: And this Dolphins team, you've got seven young guys that
Speaker 1: were added to the roster within the last couple of years,
Speaker 1: and then the other eight guys in the roster on
Speaker 1: the offensive line combined for a whole bunch of snaps.
Speaker 1: I like that balance of you put Flucker Illumino or
Speaker 1: Scura up front with those young players, with a Liam Eichenberg,
Speaker 1: with the undrafted Brookies, like a Robert Jones. You make
Speaker 1: a good compliment of age and experience and youth all
Speaker 1: in that room. And it also creates a fun, diverse
Speaker 1: work environment within the classroom setting of the offensive line.
Speaker 1: So that's the construction of the roster. We've talked to
Speaker 1: Eikenberg and Jackson and Hunt and Kimdley and some of
Speaker 1: the other cast members upfront on the offensive line, as
Speaker 1: well as our offseason media with Lemiel John Pierre, and
Speaker 1: they talked about their three principles and each of those pressers,
Speaker 1: and we kind of continued that theme of asking the
Speaker 1: players after lem talked about being detailed, disciplined, and nasty.
Speaker 1: And I look at some of the acquisitions this offseason,
Speaker 1: like Matt Skura, for instance, almost never gets flagged. He
Speaker 1: has like four flags over the last three seasons from
Speaker 1: Pro Football Focus. Also the nasty element of it. Boy,
Speaker 1: you watch all of the three rookies from last year, Jackson,
Speaker 1: Kinley and Hunt, but especially Solomon Kinley punishing jumpers. If
Speaker 1: you want to get your hands up and try to
Speaker 1: swap the football down at the line. We're gonna put
Speaker 1: you on your back and make sure you don't want
Speaker 1: to do it again. You might try it, but you're
Speaker 1: not gonna want to because it's gonna hurt you get
Speaker 1: put on your back. There's plenty of great clips from
Speaker 1: Brandon Thorne, who does fantastic work charting and grading and
Speaker 1: and evaluating offensive line play. He's a big Solomon Kindley
Speaker 1: fan because of the way Solomon plays through the whistle
Speaker 1: and because he puts those jumpers on their back and
Speaker 1: again that short rhythm passing game that goes a long
Speaker 1: way in that type of offense. And then also Robert
Speaker 1: Hunt's college tape. I mean, I tweeted out a clip
Speaker 1: that I have shared back when he was drafted, just
Speaker 1: to kind of remind folks about what he looked like
Speaker 1: on tape in college and why he was the thirty
Speaker 1: nine pick and the draft despite playing the Sun Belt,
Speaker 1: which is a you know, ah, not Power five or
Speaker 1: Group of five conference in college football, lower level competition
Speaker 1: usually tougher to get drafted higher. But Robert Hunt's tape
Speaker 1: was so good that he wound up going thirty nine
Speaker 1: in that draft, and you saw that kind of bear
Speaker 1: out late in the season. With that, you know that
Speaker 1: promise of a young player showing upward trajectory like a
Speaker 1: ray Kwon Davis last year, for instance, like a Robert Hunt.
Speaker 1: You show that trajectory, you feel pretty good about that
Speaker 1: player going into year two. But his tape in college
Speaker 1: and in the pros full of those three things, detailed, discipline,
Speaker 1: and very nasty. So those are the ideas of the
Speaker 1: offensive line. The personnel changes. The Dolphins add Matt Skura
Speaker 1: and d J. Fluker Bowl from Baltimore, Jermaine Illuminoire from
Speaker 1: New England, Liam Eichenberg and Larnel Coleman are draft picks,
Speaker 1: and then Robert Jones, an undrafted free agent out of
Speaker 1: Middle Tennessee State. And then you have Cameron tom who
Speaker 1: spent the last four years of his career, all four
Speaker 1: years of his career with the New Orleans Saints. The
Speaker 1: coaching staff we mentioned Lemill John Pierre another one of
Speaker 1: these guys on Brian floores his staff, whether it's Jaw
Speaker 1: Bowyer or Charles Burke's or Josh Grizzard, and if I'm
Speaker 1: freating a name, forgive me for that. But another one
Speaker 1: of these guys that has been promoted from an assistant
Speaker 1: positional coach to getting their own room under head coach
Speaker 1: Brian Flores. Development does not stop with the personnel on
Speaker 1: the roster. It's all throughout the organization. And lem had
Speaker 1: a six year playing career with the Seahawks before he
Speaker 1: then swapped out his helmet for the headset to coach
Speaker 1: again with Seattle, and that was with Tom Cable, and
Speaker 1: then he followed Tom Cable to Oakland where he served
Speaker 1: as offensive line assistant for a couple of years before
Speaker 1: taking that same title with Miami last year under Steve Marshall.
Speaker 1: And now here he is in position and the players
Speaker 1: have talked about the value of having an ex player
Speaker 1: in the room to kind of teach him about some
Speaker 1: of those finer tricks of the trade. And John Pierre
Speaker 1: has that experience, he's been in the league recently to
Speaker 1: know how kind of pass rushers work in the modern game.
Speaker 1: So having him in their corner in that room to
Speaker 1: help them with their experience, with what they see, with
Speaker 1: their checks, with their development, all that stuff could prove very,
Speaker 1: very valuable for Lemuel, John Pierre his group At a
Speaker 1: glance here we talked about this at the top I
Speaker 1: mean they have reshaped the offensive line arguably more than
Speaker 1: any other position group under the three years here of
Speaker 1: or I guess two and a half years under Brian
Speaker 1: Flores and Chris Career, the three picks inside the top
Speaker 1: one hundred and eleven with Austin Jackson eighteen, Robert Hunt
Speaker 1: thirty nine, and Kinley won eleven and that Triumvirent combined
Speaker 1: for two thousand, three hundred and fourteen snaps, and all
Speaker 1: of those guys have a chance to earn a starting role.
Speaker 1: But I think the competition this year is going to
Speaker 1: be even stiffer and camp because of all the additions
Speaker 1: made up front on the offensive line. Also joining those
Speaker 1: those second year players as rookies Leam Eikenberg the forty
Speaker 1: second pick in the draft, Larnel Coleman the two dred
Speaker 1: and thirty first pick in the draft, and then Robert
Speaker 1: Jones and Jonathan Hubbard were signed as U d F
Speaker 1: A one, respectively. That gives Miami seven first or second
Speaker 1: year players on the offensive line at an average age
Speaker 1: of twenty two point nine. You gotta love that upside there.
Speaker 1: And then the veteran group of incumbents, Jesse Davis Michael Dieter,
Speaker 1: Adam Panky, and Dervall cires Netto to go along with
Speaker 1: the new acquisitions and veterans Germaine, illuminoires, DJ Fluker, Matt Skura,
Speaker 1: and Cameron tom That collection of players has combined for
Speaker 1: two hundred and thirty one starts in their career. So
Speaker 1: plenty of experienced, plenty of youth, plenty of upside, and
Speaker 1: plenty of versatility and flexibility on the offensive line. And
Speaker 1: we start here in order of jersey number, taking a
Speaker 1: look at each of these players. Matt Skura is up first.
Speaker 1: We've talked about him a lot this offseason because we
Speaker 1: wrote a piece on him, We did a podcast on him,
Speaker 1: had him on the podcast, a very fun interview. If
Speaker 1: you haven't heard that, go back and check out the
Speaker 1: Drivetime archives to listen to those free agent interviews with
Speaker 1: the players that signed here in Miami Hill were number
Speaker 1: sixty two. He's got five years experience of the National
Speaker 1: Football League out of Duke, twenty eight years old on
Speaker 1: opening day, and I go back to a quote from
Speaker 1: Greg Roman, who was an O C for the Ravens
Speaker 1: there when Matt Scurro was their center. After Ryan Jensen
Speaker 1: left for the Buccaneers, and he talked about his intelligence
Speaker 1: and his communication and how it really helped the ball
Speaker 1: to more offensive line kind of have seamless communication with
Speaker 1: checks and protection slides and all that fun stuff up front.
Speaker 1: And of course, being a duke guy, you know, he's
Speaker 1: a pretty smart guy too. So he's played one thousand,
Speaker 1: eight hundred and twenty four reps in his four years
Speaker 1: in past protection and allowed just five sacks and nine
Speaker 1: QB hits. He's pretty solid in that area. We talked
Speaker 1: about this on the tape that I watched back in March,
Speaker 1: that there's some really impressive work against guys like the
Speaker 1: Steelers and Cameron Hayward and stefond to it upfront, getting
Speaker 1: outside and hitting a block to steal off t J. Watt.
Speaker 1: I mean, we're talking about some of the best defenders
Speaker 1: in the league, and he goes toe to toe with
Speaker 1: those guys. And then we talked about the discipline up top.
Speaker 1: Just eleven penalties over three thousand, three hundred and seventy
Speaker 1: four career reps. That's one every three hundred and six
Speaker 1: snaps in his career. Up next, another interior offensive line,
Speaker 1: although he's played tackle as well. Michael Dieter, number sixty three,
Speaker 1: has two years of NFL experience out of Wisconsin, and
Speaker 1: he's gonna be twenty five years old opening Day, and
Speaker 1: he has a phenomenal record that I don't think it's
Speaker 1: enough credit in the college football landscape. Fifty four consecutive
Speaker 1: starts he started from his first game to his last
Speaker 1: game at Wisconsin, never missed one in between. That's a
Speaker 1: record at at you dub there and the other you
Speaker 1: dub and that's a place that turns out professional offensive
Speaker 1: lineman and basically every season. And then he rolled that
Speaker 1: right into playing fifteen games as a rookie and got
Speaker 1: himself almost a thousand reps nine ninety six worth of
Speaker 1: experience played garden center going back to his time as
Speaker 1: a collegian. Played some tackle as well, twenty three snaps
Speaker 1: last year as a kind of a interior backup off
Speaker 1: the bench. But head coach Brian Flores talked about him
Speaker 1: this offseason and talked about his place on the team,
Speaker 1: and I thought he had an interesting quote talking about
Speaker 1: Michael Dieter about how quote, I think when you get
Speaker 1: into year two or year three, there's a sense of urgency,
Speaker 1: which he Michael Dieter has and you can see that
Speaker 1: to earn a bigger role on the team, He's definitely
Speaker 1: worked towards that, but he knows there will be a
Speaker 1: competition there and the best man will win. So I'm
Speaker 1: curious to get a look at Michael Dieter this training camp,
Speaker 1: see him kind of come back in year three and
Speaker 1: see if he can seize a job upfront. Another guy
Speaker 1: he's gonna be competing with upfront is Cameron tom number
Speaker 1: sixty four, four seasons in the NFL out of Southern
Speaker 1: miss twenty six years old on opening Day. He was
Speaker 1: a U d f A with the Saints back in seventeen,
Speaker 1: and he's had an interesting career where he kind of
Speaker 1: goes to the practice squad, gets called up for a
Speaker 1: handful of games, goes back to the practice squad. He
Speaker 1: missed eighteen or the majority of it on i R.
Speaker 1: He's six ft four, three hundred pounds, has just a
Speaker 1: hundred eighty one reps of professional experience, but he's allowed
Speaker 1: just four pressures on those reps and no QB hits
Speaker 1: in the seventies six pass blocking reps, so no sacks
Speaker 1: are hits allowed. On a small sample size, he played
Speaker 1: both guard positions and center with the Saints. Robert Jones,
Speaker 1: number sixty five, another rookie upfront, middle Tennessee State, twenty
Speaker 1: two years old on opening Day. He's six ft four
Speaker 1: three twenty two pounds, And if you listen to the
Speaker 1: Emery Hunt podcast where he broke down the undrafted free
Speaker 1: agent class of the Miami Dolphins, this was the guy
Speaker 1: he pointed to as his favorite out of that group,
Speaker 1: saying that he has a chance to develop and be
Speaker 1: a starter in this term, in this league. Long term,
Speaker 1: I should a but of course he has to kind
Speaker 1: of earn his way up there and stack up good
Speaker 1: days on top of good days before we get to
Speaker 1: that point. But it's cool to hear a respected analyst
Speaker 1: like Emery Hunt talked about his upside and what he
Speaker 1: was at college and earning his way to the Senior Bowl,
Speaker 1: because this is a guy that didn't start playing football
Speaker 1: until his junior season of high school. He was a
Speaker 1: basketball player and didn't make his varsity team, and they said, hey,
Speaker 1: why don't you go try football? And what a great
Speaker 1: idea that was because he winds up becoming one of
Speaker 1: the top tackles and Juco and junior college, gets flipped
Speaker 1: inside to guard at Middle Tennessee State, and then here
Speaker 1: he is a year in his final year of college,
Speaker 1: he gets an invite to the Reese's Senior Bowl and
Speaker 1: winds up on an NFL roster for training camp, number
Speaker 1: sixty six on the roster of Solomon Killy. You guys
Speaker 1: know him. He's a fun, fun fan favorite who has
Speaker 1: a lot of great things to talk about on his
Speaker 1: press conferences, as podcasts and otherwise. One year experience out
Speaker 1: of Georgia, twenty four years old on opening day, a
Speaker 1: fourth round pick last year, he opened up training camp
Speaker 1: with the first team and held that spot through Week
Speaker 1: twelve last season. Now, injuries cost him some time late
Speaker 1: in the year, but three hundred thirty five pound absolute
Speaker 1: people mover can blow people up. In the blocking game,
Speaker 1: was charged with just seventeen pressures allowed on four D
Speaker 1: forty eight pass blocking reps. That stat and all these
Speaker 1: pressure stats courtesy at Pro Football Focus. He played both
Speaker 1: guard positions and developed a reputation as that nasty finisher
Speaker 1: who plays through the whistle, which I don't think you
Speaker 1: can pay an offensive lineman a higher compliment than that,
Speaker 1: and in eleven of the fifteen games Kiley played, he
Speaker 1: allowed one or fewer QB pressures. You might recall the
Speaker 1: inside the Numbers piece we published on was it Mondays
Speaker 1: or Tuesdays? Last year? I forget breaking down all the
Speaker 1: stats from every single game. There was so many instances
Speaker 1: where Kiley was pitching clean sheets or allowing just one pressure.
Speaker 1: So that's the you go, eleven out of the fifteen
Speaker 1: games he played in one or fewer pressures allowed. Also
Speaker 1: in that rookie class with Solomon Kinley, Robert Hunt number
Speaker 1: sixty eight, the one year experience out of Louisiana Lafayette
Speaker 1: twenty five years old on opening day and especially last
Speaker 1: season when there was no off season to kind of
Speaker 1: work through the O T A s and get the
Speaker 1: you know, the cond ning and the mental side of
Speaker 1: the game down with your team on field. I mean
Speaker 1: they had the zoom sessions in the classroom sessions about
Speaker 1: just working with a team on the field. I think
Speaker 1: it was expected that maybe there would be less rookie production,
Speaker 1: or at least rookies might run into that proverbial rookie
Speaker 1: wall towards the end of the season. But Robert Hunt
Speaker 1: saved his best for last, and perhaps it was because
Speaker 1: he came into the lineup late, but either way, he
Speaker 1: played pretty well in his rookie year. From week eleven
Speaker 1: on he was PFS number six overall ranked tackle and
Speaker 1: run blocking, and he was just behind Tehran Armstead of
Speaker 1: the Saints, who's been an All Pro tackle in this league.
Speaker 1: His four team pressures allowed Robert Hunts were good for
Speaker 1: a consequent nineties seven point three pass blocking efficiency metric,
Speaker 1: which also checked in just a tenth of a point
Speaker 1: below to Ron Armstead. So that's great company to keep
Speaker 1: there for Robert hunt down the stretch of the season.
Speaker 1: And he was also Miami's highest graded run blocker last
Speaker 1: year on PF and had a cumulative pb E pass
Speaker 1: blocking efficiency rates of nineties six point nine. Up next
Speaker 1: on our list, number sixty nine derv All Kiras netto
Speaker 1: two seasons experienced so far, all on the Dolphins practice squad.
Speaker 1: He arrives via Brazil and the International Pathway Program International
Speaker 1: Player Pathway Program. My apologies. He'll be twenty nine years
Speaker 1: old come opening day, and you guys know who he is,
Speaker 1: the former judo champion the standing backflip. I mean at
Speaker 1: his size to be able to do what he does
Speaker 1: it's it's freaky to watch quite frankly athletic, powerful, and
Speaker 1: it's been refining his game the last couple of years
Speaker 1: on the Dolphins practice squad. I'm excited to get a
Speaker 1: chance to watch him plays without camp. Last year, you
Speaker 1: didn't get a great look at him because you know,
Speaker 1: on practice squad and not getting a chance to see
Speaker 1: him in games or preseason. I'll be curious to get
Speaker 1: a look at him really for the first time in
Speaker 1: earnest since nine in August of that season. So we'll
Speaker 1: get a good look at d q N. Jonathan Hubbard
Speaker 1: up next, number seventy one. Last year was his first
Speaker 1: out of Northwestern State, twenty four years old come opening day,
Speaker 1: six ft five pound offensive lineman, and he's packed on
Speaker 1: eighteen pounds from the combine where he measured at two.
Speaker 1: So get in the NFL weight training program, getting some
Speaker 1: more muscle on his body. PF charted only a hundred
Speaker 1: and fifty six of his pass blocking reps at Northwestern State,
Speaker 1: and I have to imagine that's because they just didn't
Speaker 1: have the tape available for a Northwestern State. But he
Speaker 1: posted a goose egg and the sacks allowed column there
Speaker 1: on those reps, so no sacks in college. As far
Speaker 1: as what PF charted. He was on the practice squad
Speaker 1: from Miami last year. We'll get a better look at
Speaker 1: him this training camp as well. From a couple of
Speaker 1: inexperienced players on the practice squad to a guy that's
Speaker 1: played in the NFL for four years now. Jermaine Illuminoire
Speaker 1: seventy two is his jersey number. Four years of professional
Speaker 1: experience out of Texas, A and m He's twenty six
Speaker 1: years old come opening Day, and he was born in
Speaker 1: England on a town called Chalk Farm. And I found
Speaker 1: the interesting on his Wikipedia page of all places that
Speaker 1: he took interest in American football when he saw the
Speaker 1: inaugural London game between Miami and the New York Giants
Speaker 1: back in two thousand seven. You might recall that was
Speaker 1: a very boring, tough, tough game to watch in the
Speaker 1: pouring rain. They had the grass cut like a soccer pitch,
Speaker 1: so guys were sliding all over the place like the
Speaker 1: The most memorable play from that game for me was
Speaker 1: when Eli Manning beat Jason Taylor to the corner because
Speaker 1: Dat slipped and fell on the wet grass like slow.
Speaker 1: Eli Manning of all people, gets to the corner for
Speaker 1: that Giants team but would not win the Super Bowl
Speaker 1: that year, and Miami goes one and fifteen. But that
Speaker 1: was his first exposure to American football. He came to
Speaker 1: the States at age fourteen, and he has played for
Speaker 1: some absolute football institutions, starting with Texas A and M
Speaker 1: and the Aggies, then going to the Ravens and the
Speaker 1: Patriots two of the more accomplished franchises over the last
Speaker 1: couple of decades. Three forty five pound dude, he's huge,
Speaker 1: fits right in with the offensive line, just sheer density
Speaker 1: they have up front. He started eleven career games. He's
Speaker 1: appeared in thirty nine. He's played seven hundred and ninety
Speaker 1: snaps in his career, just about a little bit less
Speaker 1: than a full season, with only twenty two pressures allowed
Speaker 1: on three pass blocking reps. We go to from one
Speaker 1: of the older offensive line on the roster to one
Speaker 1: of the younger ones and Austin Jackson seventy three is
Speaker 1: his jersey number. Last year was the first year of
Speaker 1: his career. USC product twenty two years old on opening day,
Speaker 1: he was the third youngest player in the National Football League.
Speaker 1: Last season and you saw him flash the ability that
Speaker 1: made him the eighteenth pick in the draft because you
Speaker 1: watched him work out and you said, this kid with
Speaker 1: the athletic ability. And we all know the story by
Speaker 1: now about him having to miss an entire offseason because
Speaker 1: of the bone marrow transplant with his sister to help
Speaker 1: save her life. It's an incredible story. We've written about it,
Speaker 1: we've talked about it. I'm sure you guys know about
Speaker 1: it if you don't google it. Jordan Reed of The
Speaker 1: Draft Network wrote a great piece on Austin Jackson when
Speaker 1: he was back at usc and going through the off
Speaker 1: season basically not being able to work out because he
Speaker 1: was stuck to his bed recovering from that surgery. But
Speaker 1: even still at the combine, he got himself into great
Speaker 1: enough shape to run a five oh seven forty yard
Speaker 1: dash with a thirty one in vert and a nine
Speaker 1: seven and broad jump, and his cumulative r a s
Speaker 1: scorecard from math Bomb Kent Lee Platt on Twitter he
Speaker 1: scored a nine four seven out of ten, which was
Speaker 1: near the top tier of offensive tackles of all time,
Speaker 1: and you can confirm that with the tape. As far
Speaker 1: as his explosiveness, his first quick step the kickslide to
Speaker 1: get out of the stance and get into position to
Speaker 1: kind of mirror the pass rusher. But then he also
Speaker 1: has the athletic ability and the hip flexibility and the
Speaker 1: smooth feet to redirect and stay on balance against all
Speaker 1: these high level pass rushers. You're gonna see off that
Speaker 1: left tackle side in the National Football Like, very excited
Speaker 1: for year two of Austin Jackson. Going back to another
Speaker 1: rookie offensive lineman that can play a couple of spots
Speaker 1: as well. Liam Eichenberg, the second round draft pick. He's
Speaker 1: gonna war number seventy four for your Miami Dolphins out
Speaker 1: of Notre Dame twenty three years old. We talked about
Speaker 1: Michael Dieter being one of these guys that has his
Speaker 1: name etched on the record books at one of the
Speaker 1: most prestigious offensive line schools there is in this country.
Speaker 1: Same deal here with Liam Eichenberg, I mean, arguably the
Speaker 1: most NFL ready lineman per various scouting outlets, whether it's
Speaker 1: the Draft Network or NFL dot Com, Daniel Jeremiah, Dane
Speaker 1: Brewer at the Athletic, all these guys talked about his
Speaker 1: ability to step in right away and play, and that's
Speaker 1: because he was an absolute stalwart on an offensive line
Speaker 1: that had so many NFL principles and notre Game started
Speaker 1: thirty eighth straight games for the Irish and the last
Speaker 1: time he was charged with a sack by PFF was
Speaker 1: his freshman season. So he has a streak that spans
Speaker 1: thirty three games, one thousand, two hundred eighty three career
Speaker 1: pass blocking reps. He has allowed just four QB hits
Speaker 1: and thirty two total pressure. That's good for one hit
Speaker 1: every three hundred and twenty point eight snaps. He gets
Speaker 1: his quarterback hit one quarter of season, like one every
Speaker 1: four games, and he also allows one hurry every forty
Speaker 1: point one snaps. Your quarterbacks under pressure with Leam Eikenberg
Speaker 1: pretty much once per game. That's a phenomenal mark. And
Speaker 1: the rookie also tested percentile with his thirty three bench
Speaker 1: press reps. The eighty second percent tile in his shuttle
Speaker 1: at four point five eight seconds and the seventy eight
Speaker 1: percentile in the three cone at seven point five three seconds,
Speaker 1: So you paired that kind of nasty ruggedness and there's
Speaker 1: a I mean, you guys noticed by now there's a
Speaker 1: great photo of him during a game last year where
Speaker 1: he got socked in the face and his eyes swelled
Speaker 1: up and he played with one eye shut and finished
Speaker 1: the game, coming out a half time to finish that game.
Speaker 1: But you pair that toughness and that physicality and the
Speaker 1: fundamentally technically sound play of Liam Eichenberg with those metrics
Speaker 1: that showcase a bit of a change of direction skill
Speaker 1: set that pairs up nicely for a good, solid player
Speaker 1: in this league. We'll see if he can put together
Speaker 1: and develop and really become a trusted piece of the
Speaker 1: offensive line up next from a rookie to the most
Speaker 1: experienced player on the line. DJ Fluker number seventy six,
Speaker 1: eight years NFL experience out of out of Obama. He'll
Speaker 1: be thirty years old on opening Day. And again, versatility
Speaker 1: and dependability and size seemed to be the real hallmarks
Speaker 1: of what these players are on this Miami offensive line.
Speaker 1: Check check check for d J. Fluker three hundred and
Speaker 1: fifty pounds on the official team site. He's played almost
Speaker 1: double the amount of football. The second most experienced player
Speaker 1: in this room has Jesse Davis, who's played over three
Speaker 1: thousand snaps. Flukers played sixty seven hundred snaps in his career,
Speaker 1: and he played tackle exclusively last year for the Ravens,
Speaker 1: and he surrendered just five quarterback hits on two hundred
Speaker 1: and nine pass blocking reps the two years prior in Seattle.
Speaker 1: He played one thousand, six forty five snaps those two
Speaker 1: years combine, and all but one of those snaps came
Speaker 1: at right guard. So he can play. I mean he
Speaker 1: can and has played a lot of football at both
Speaker 1: tackle and guard, left and right side. So very flexible,
Speaker 1: very experienced, and apparently in great shape too. Up next,
Speaker 1: Jesse Davis, number seventy seven, has been that way since
Speaker 1: six years NFL experience. Isn't that crazy to think about?
Speaker 1: Davis has been here for six years now out of Idaho,
Speaker 1: twenty nine years old, and the captain of the line
Speaker 1: last year. He defines that lunch pale mentality. He shows up,
Speaker 1: does his job, doesn't say a word, just a real
Speaker 1: quiet leader of people. And he talked about this last
Speaker 1: offseason about reading books on leadership and kind of taking
Speaker 1: that role more seriously. I think we saw that play
Speaker 1: out as the season went along last year. It just
Speaker 1: you just have to love Jesse Davis's approach to the
Speaker 1: game and the only trade. That might be more valuable
Speaker 1: than his versatility, because he's played all for four of
Speaker 1: the five positions on this Dolphins offensive line, and he
Speaker 1: crossed trained last year at center and talked about that
Speaker 1: in media. But perhaps more valuable than that is the
Speaker 1: fact that the guy is always available. Three thousand six
Speaker 1: snaps in four years, that's essentially four full season's worth
Speaker 1: of snaps played from Jesse Davis, and he's just always
Speaker 1: been available, always been starting and playing on the offensive line.
Speaker 1: Even in a couple of games last year where he
Speaker 1: didn't start, he winds up getting into the lineup and
Speaker 1: finishing out those games because of injuries or shuffling or otherwise.
Speaker 1: So Davis solid, solid player. In twenty he was charged
Speaker 1: with just one sack allowed while playing significant time at
Speaker 1: three positions. A PFF had him at one d eighty
Speaker 1: six reps at left tackle, five hundred nine hey my
Speaker 1: former area code at right guard, and three hundred fifty
Speaker 1: four at right tackle. Two more players left here. Adam
Speaker 1: Panky number seventy eight. He got himself a contract this
Speaker 1: offseason after his original one expired at the end of
Speaker 1: He's got four years experience out of West Virginia he'll
Speaker 1: be twenty seven years old opening Day, and he appeared
Speaker 1: in six games over the last two years here with
Speaker 1: Miami and got that resigned contract I mentioned earlier, and
Speaker 1: most of his work came as an extra offensive lineman
Speaker 1: heavy package where you bring six or seven offensive lineman
Speaker 1: onto the field thirty three run blocking snap to just
Speaker 1: eight and pass protection. But I talked about this at
Speaker 1: camp last year. I thought he had a really solid,
Speaker 1: strong training camp. Will take a look at him again
Speaker 1: this August once more. But he played one snap at
Speaker 1: left tackle and one at right guard. The rest were
Speaker 1: as the extra man on the end of the line
Speaker 1: of scrimmage. And we finished up with rookie Larnel Coleman.
Speaker 1: And every time I talked about Larnell, I can't help
Speaker 1: but think about Draft DAO and the flores Men announced
Speaker 1: that draft pick Brian Floors with his two boys, Max
Speaker 1: and Miles. That was really cool to see number seventy
Speaker 1: nine out of you. Mass a rookie twenty three years
Speaker 1: old opening day. A two sports star in high school,
Speaker 1: he eventually hung up the sneakers to pursue football full
Speaker 1: time and get rid of the hardwood pursuit that he
Speaker 1: had but he talked about how basketball helped teach him
Speaker 1: the finer points of offensive line basics, because offensive line
Speaker 1: you want to stay between your man and the quarterback,
Speaker 1: and in basketball, on defense, you stay in front of
Speaker 1: your man and the basket. He said this quote, I
Speaker 1: think defensive basketball is the same thing as playing offensive line,
Speaker 1: or at least playing tackle. I feel like a lot
Speaker 1: of the athleticism is definitely going to translate to the field,
Speaker 1: and it has been. I think, as you can see
Speaker 1: on my film end quote, this guy is massive, thirty
Speaker 1: five and a half inch arms, eighty four and seven
Speaker 1: eight inch wingspan, already one of the largest in the
Speaker 1: National Football League. He also ran a five point one
Speaker 1: forty yard dash and leapt a hundred and thirteen inches
Speaker 1: on the broad jumps. So there's the athletic ability we
Speaker 1: talked about there. He was tabbed with just one sack
Speaker 1: aloud and three total quarterback pressures on one pass blocking
Speaker 1: reps last year in you masses shortened season because of
Speaker 1: the pandemic. So there's your offensive line preview. Again. All
Speaker 1: these pieces written up on Miami Dolphins dot com and
Speaker 1: go back and check those out and listen to all
Speaker 1: the episodes as well getting you ready for training camp.
Speaker 1: And the fun part about the pieces on md dot
Speaker 1: com Miami Dolphins dot Com are that we have the
Speaker 1: player card listens, so there's some information on the players
Speaker 1: as well as the stats and stuff. So you can
Speaker 1: kind of track along at training camp MP with your
Speaker 1: roster and fall along and say, hey, number is made
Speaker 1: to play. That's d J Fluke. I know that because
Speaker 1: of the article on Miami Dolphins dot Com. A couple
Speaker 1: of more notes here. I talked about this on Twitter,
Speaker 1: like I like to do. Cooper's Hawk Winery and Restaurant.
Speaker 1: My goodness, what a place that is. Had a fantastic
Speaker 1: blue cheese and onion straw burger. They're one of the
Speaker 1: best I've ever had. Great great stuff. Also, one of
Speaker 1: my things I've been keeping on eye on every single
Speaker 1: day going to hard Rock Stadium is the construction of
Speaker 1: the F one track. Men. I can't wait for that
Speaker 1: race down here. Let's get to the football season first,
Speaker 1: but next year after football, I cannot wait to watch
Speaker 1: F one down here in Miami. It's coming along nicely.
Speaker 1: It's really cool to see it every single day. I
Speaker 1: just want to keep you guys updated on the f
Speaker 1: one and the Dolphins and the experience of being at
Speaker 1: hard Rock Stadium and Dolphins Camp every single day as
Speaker 1: we work towards the season. All right, that's gonna be
Speaker 1: my time on this edition of Drive Time. You all
Speaker 1: please be sure to subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify,
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Speaker 1: podcast from. Go ahead and leave us a rating, leave
Speaker 1: us a review. That's all we ask. O you hear
Speaker 1: on the podcast, Give me a follow on Twitter. It's
Speaker 1: at Wingfold NFL. You can follow the team at Miami Dolphins,
Speaker 1: check out the Fish Tank and the Audible podcast, and
Speaker 1: of course, once again Miami Dolphins dot com. Until next
Speaker 1: time depends up