Speaker 1: Drive Time with Travis Wingfield begins. Now, let me check
Speaker 1: your pulse if you're not far though, What is up? Dolphins?
Speaker 1: And welcome to the Draft Time Podcast, part of the
Speaker 1: Miami Dolphins podcast network, covering your team, your Miami Dolphins.
Speaker 1: How's it going, everybody? I am your host, Travis Wingfield,
Speaker 1: And on today's show, we go across enemy lines. Although
Speaker 1: I hate when people say that we're talking to a
Speaker 1: member of the opposition's beat or at their radio row,
Speaker 1: I should say the Washington Commanders. JP Finley joins me
Speaker 1: to break down this matchup and talk about the commanders
Speaker 1: in general, which is kind of fun because they're a
Speaker 1: bit of a mess right now, and he gives us
Speaker 1: a detailed look into that, and we also get to
Speaker 1: think about the fact that we are not in that situation.
Speaker 1: So we'll talk to JP Finley, we'll hear from the
Speaker 1: assistant coaches, we'll pick the week thirteen games from the
Speaker 1: Baptist Health Studios inside the Baptist Health Training Complex.
Speaker 2: This is.
Speaker 1: The Draft Time Podcast. Maggie Jeffy my guest today. JP
Speaker 1: Finny joining us now is the co host of the
Speaker 1: b Mitch and Finley Show on one oh six seven
Speaker 1: the fan in DC JP, Finley JP. Thank you for
Speaker 1: your time today, sir and dropping by and talking some
Speaker 1: Dolphins and commanders with us.
Speaker 3: Yeah, happy to man, Thanks.
Speaker 1: For having me anytime. And I usually start these interviews
Speaker 1: off by discussing the opposing quarterback because it is the
Speaker 1: most important position in all of sports. And we'll get there,
Speaker 1: but I want to start today about expectations following some
Speaker 1: changes on the commander's defensive staff. I'm curious, you know,
Speaker 1: it's funny because it technically was Rivera's defense, right, but
Speaker 1: now he's the one back in full charge calling the defense.
Speaker 1: What do you expect to see as they transition from
Speaker 1: Jack del Rio as the kind of de facto DC
Speaker 1: there to now back to Ron Rivera.
Speaker 4: It's gonna be interesting. I don't know that it's gonna
Speaker 4: be particularly different. I think on the back end, Ron's
Speaker 4: going to play a pretty conservative just play cover three
Speaker 4: or quarters for a lot of the game, which honestly,
Speaker 4: I think will kind of like fall right into Mike
Speaker 4: Daniel in Tyreek Hill's hands. Perhaps you see a little
Speaker 4: more aggression up front Jack Jack really wasn't big on
Speaker 4: blitzing or trying to create pressure because he just wanted
Speaker 4: to rely on his defensive front, and you can kind
Speaker 4: of understand why when they had Chase Young, Montees Sweat,
Speaker 4: John Allen, Duran Payne. They've obviously since traded away Young
Speaker 4: and Sweat.
Speaker 3: You know, I think they're not getting much pressure.
Speaker 4: They did against Tommy DeVito a couple of weeks ago
Speaker 4: with the Giants, but I think that was more of
Speaker 4: a Tommy DeVito factor than anything else. And they also
Speaker 4: played a ton of man I don't think they're gonna
Speaker 4: play a ton of man coverage against the offense of
Speaker 4: the kind of crazy too. So you know, it's funny
Speaker 4: because people are expecting it to be like a new voice,
Speaker 4: but Ron's been there. You know, he hasn't been calling it.
Speaker 4: But also, defensive play calling isn't like offensive play calling,
Speaker 4: like you know, seventy of the time, it's maybe it's
Speaker 4: sixty percent against Miami, like they're gonna be a nickel
Speaker 4: and occasionally there's a blitz or you're mixing something up,
Speaker 4: but it's not like there's a play coming in every
Speaker 4: snap with option routes and all sorts of stuff. And
Speaker 4: maybe they have to play more dime against like maybe
Speaker 4: they need more dvs on the field against the Dolphins.
Speaker 3: But the way your boys.
Speaker 4: Run the ball, Washington linebackers are probably bottom five in
Speaker 4: the NFL, and I think they're gonna have I think
Speaker 4: McDaniel's gonna exploit that this week.
Speaker 1: Honestly, you kind of went down my I did a
Speaker 1: preview podcast just taking look at the matchup in the
Speaker 1: film myself already. You kind of went down the list
Speaker 1: there in terms of those you know, the zone coverages,
Speaker 1: the shell, the roof of the defense that you know.
Speaker 1: I go back to the Week one game against the
Speaker 1: Chargers for Miami, and they got all kinds of those
Speaker 1: fifteen eighteen twenty yard in breaking routes in front of
Speaker 1: those safeties, in behind those linebackers, and I saw a
Speaker 1: lot of that on the Washington tape, especially in that
Speaker 1: Dallas game on Thanksgiving. So it's nice to cross reference
Speaker 1: and cross check that and get confirmation from you on that,
Speaker 1: especially when it benefits us down here in terms.
Speaker 3: Of what you might see someday for the Dolphins.
Speaker 1: But I want to go to the other side of
Speaker 1: the ball, because you know, instidying this Commander's team. There
Speaker 1: was a player that I was very impressed by and
Speaker 1: it's my first time really taking a look at Sam
Speaker 1: Howe on the All twenty two tape. I was really
Speaker 1: impressed by his game. I think there is some feast
Speaker 1: or famine there with him, but I was curious. You know,
Speaker 1: you're around it every day, you talk about it every day.
Speaker 1: How have Commanders fans kind of perceived his performance this
Speaker 1: season and do you think that they want him to
Speaker 1: be the guy long term? Do you think he's the
Speaker 1: guy long term there in Washington? Oh, man, that can't work? Yeah?
Speaker 4: Really, Sam is uh. He's an exciting young player. He's
Speaker 4: got a big arm, good feet, good eyes. His footwork
Speaker 4: and keeping his eyes down field has really improved over
Speaker 4: the course of the season. He was taking a ton
Speaker 4: of sacks early on, but it's kind of settled down.
Speaker 4: I mean, he's still leading the league in sacks, but
Speaker 4: it was forty sacks through seven games and now I
Speaker 4: want to say he's at fifty five through twelve, so
Speaker 4: he's kind of figured something out.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 4: I think before the season really started going sideways for Washington,
Speaker 4: most folks here thought he was the guy, or at
Speaker 4: least the guy that gets another year. Because he's on
Speaker 4: a rookie deal, and it's so advantageous from a salary
Speaker 4: cap perspective that they can't even talk about a new
Speaker 4: deal with him until the end of the next season,
Speaker 4: right until at January twenty five. The only kind of
Speaker 4: complicating factor now is I mean, if the season ended today,
Speaker 4: they Washington with draft fifth overall, and when you get
Speaker 4: into that top ten, top five world, you've got to
Speaker 4: consider all your options.
Speaker 3: And if one of these all war you.
Speaker 4: Know, all time major prospects gets to them at five,
Speaker 4: they Caleb and Drake are probably gone. But what do
Speaker 4: you think about the kid from LSU right and his game,
Speaker 4: his game breaking playmaking ability.
Speaker 3: I think that has kind of become a complicating factor now.
Speaker 4: They could probably if they win a couple of games
Speaker 4: down the stretch, maybe they end up drafted like eight
Speaker 4: or nine, and it's not really an issue, but they're
Speaker 4: remaining schedules so hard and and honestly, the things just
Speaker 4: feel kind of ire irrevocably broken in Washington right now.
Speaker 4: You've probably seen this with the Marlins. I grew up
Speaker 4: an Orioles fan. I've seen this plenty. But when you
Speaker 4: got a baseball team that's got ninety losses and has
Speaker 4: two weeks left.
Speaker 3: In September, and they're kind of just playing out the string.
Speaker 4: That's kind of what it feels like in Washington right now,
Speaker 4: and so you just you don't know what.
Speaker 3: You're gonna get week to week. And like even that
Speaker 3: Dallas game on Thanksgiving, it.
Speaker 4: Was twenty to ten started the fourth quarter, right they were,
Speaker 4: and then in the blink of an eye it was
Speaker 4: thirty eight to ten and then forty five to ten.
Speaker 4: So is Sam the guy for the future.
Speaker 3: Is a complicated question. There's a lot to like, but
Speaker 3: some of the.
Speaker 4: Statistical stuff with him is totally kind of padded. They
Speaker 4: throw the ball more than anybody in the league, more
Speaker 4: than they should, frankly, so you know, some of his
Speaker 4: numbers are a little inflated.
Speaker 3: He also, I mean, he's got pick sixes in back
Speaker 3: to back weeks.
Speaker 4: His if you look at kind of some of the
Speaker 4: advanced stuff, his turnover worthy plays are fairly significant. He's
Speaker 4: coming off a three I in t performance two weeks
Speaker 4: ago against the Giants. There's a lot to like, but
Speaker 4: there's when you look at the whole picture, there's some
Speaker 4: stuff too that you're like, all right, is this a
Speaker 4: young quarterback that can learn or is this kind of
Speaker 4: some stuff that he just does.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's interesting. It's one of the situations where he
Speaker 1: could tech play himself into the role next year by
Speaker 1: winning games this year, like you mentioned, to push the
Speaker 1: Commanders out of that you know, prime quarterback range in
Speaker 1: the draft. And it kind of leads into my next
Speaker 1: question here for you JP Finley from one of one
Speaker 1: of six to seven the fan in DC covering the
Speaker 1: Washington Commanders, because you know, you talk about the quarterback
Speaker 1: on a rookie deal and how it allows you to
Speaker 1: build the rest of your roster, and I think that
Speaker 1: the best part of his commander's roster in my opinion.
Speaker 1: You can correct if I'm wrong. Here is the receiver
Speaker 1: group and the skill players in general on offense, and
Speaker 1: so you have how with all these you know, dynamic
Speaker 1: weapons on the outside, but also Logan Thomas and Brian
Speaker 1: Robinson look good.
Speaker 2: Uh.
Speaker 1: I guess my question here is is I'm surprised they
Speaker 1: haven't scored more because of that? Why do you think
Speaker 1: they haven't scored more offensive? I mean, you kind of
Speaker 1: went over the issues there with you know, the taking sacks,
Speaker 1: and they've improved that. Some pick six is here and there.
Speaker 1: But I feel like personnel wise, this offense has left
Speaker 1: a little bit of meat on the bone. Maybe would
Speaker 1: you agree with that?
Speaker 3: Dude?
Speaker 1: They had.
Speaker 4: I want to say, one hundred and twenty five yards
Speaker 4: rushing and controlled possession for like thirty five minutes against
Speaker 4: Dallas and scored ten points. And they've had they've had
Speaker 4: three or four I think they've had at least three
Speaker 4: single digit scoring games. And you talk about the receivers, Dude,
Speaker 4: Terry McLaurin is a stud wide out. He's headed towards
Speaker 4: he's headed towards career low numbers.
Speaker 3: I mean, his numbers are really struggling. John Dotson looked.
Speaker 4: Like a real valuable weapon last year coming out of
Speaker 4: as a rookie. Now he missed some time, but he
Speaker 4: led this team in receiving touchdowns. He had seven touchdowns
Speaker 4: in like eleven games. And his numbers, I mean, he's
Speaker 4: falling off a cliff. I imagine like people in fantasy
Speaker 4: are just dropping him. So yeah, Eric Pienemy is the
Speaker 4: new play caller here. Came from Kansas City. A lot
Speaker 4: of excitement then. And if you just look at the numbers,
Speaker 4: pool but they are fourteenth in the NFL and yards game,
Speaker 4: but only twenty first in scoring. Now, some of that
Speaker 4: is red zone efficiency, but some of that is also
Speaker 4: they have a bad habit. And if you want to
Speaker 4: say you're just competing to the final whistle, terrific.
Speaker 3: To me, it looks a little like you're padding stats.
Speaker 4: If you go through their game logs, there's a lot
Speaker 4: of hollow yardage, Like they were down twenty seven to
Speaker 4: three to the Damn Bears at halftime in week five,
Speaker 4: I want to say, Thursday Night game, twenty seven to three.
Speaker 4: So then they kind of come back and kind of
Speaker 4: pretend to make it a game in the second half
Speaker 4: and pile up a ton of yardage. But are you
Speaker 4: actually accomplishing anything there, I'm not so sure.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it makes sense. I mean it's I only went
Speaker 1: back and watched a couple of games. That Seattle game,
Speaker 1: I was still impressed by the offense and howl and
Speaker 1: in the Dallas game, like you mentioned, I was just
Speaker 1: as a neutral observer on Thanksgiving, just trying to you know,
Speaker 1: bridge the time between the turkey getting done and you know,
Speaker 1: actually serving dinner, like trying to watch a football game.
Speaker 1: And it didn't turn out that way. But on the
Speaker 1: other side of the ball. I am curious because you know,
Speaker 1: you mentioned the Giants game and the pressures allowed. I
Speaker 1: went back and looked at the way they pressured opposing
Speaker 1: quarterbacks post Young and Sweat trade, and it has fallen
Speaker 1: off pretty substantially in terms of just QB pressures. How
Speaker 1: are they replacing those two guys who have been the
Speaker 1: primary edge guys in place of Chase Young and Montees Sweat.
Speaker 4: Oh boy, your euros down there is not gonna have
Speaker 4: nightmares about these fellas.
Speaker 3: Casey two Hill is, you know, is a useful player.
Speaker 4: He's definitely like worthy of a defensive line rotation, good speed,
Speaker 4: not a ton of size on the edge, but good speed,
Speaker 4: a high motor, smart player. He's been kind of one
Speaker 4: of the bookends. And then on the other side was
Speaker 4: he guy James Smith Williams, but.
Speaker 3: He's been hurt and I haven't. I don't. I don't
Speaker 3: know that I saw him yesterday. I don't. I wouldn't
Speaker 3: expect him to play. I could be wrong.
Speaker 4: Those two are kind of your primary guys. After that,
Speaker 4: they've got a pair of rookies, kind of late round rookies.
Speaker 3: kJ Henry is a kid out of Klebs and then
Speaker 3: another young.
Speaker 4: Man, Andre Jones, who's a rookie out of Louisiana, not LSU,
Speaker 4: but Louisiana. And you know, they're big, strong guys trying
Speaker 4: to learn and doing an okay job. But the myth,
Speaker 4: the one myth I want to dispel for your listeners
Speaker 4: is to understand it's kind of how bad things are
Speaker 4: in Washington and just how necessary overhaul is here. They
Speaker 4: were dead last in points allowed when they had chasing
Speaker 4: montees also, and they were middle of the pack in
Speaker 4: sacks of pressures. So it's not like like trading those
Speaker 4: guys was the right move because you weren't getting anything
Speaker 4: done with them, so.
Speaker 3: You might as well try to build for the future.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you're always gonna be looking ahead, and especially with
Speaker 1: you know, new ownership like you mentioned that was it
Speaker 1: was cool to see the celebration that you know, kind
Speaker 1: of came across nationally when when Josh Harris took control
Speaker 1: of the football team finally, and you mentioned the pass
Speaker 1: rush there being down early in the year and the
Speaker 1: defensive production not being there. I'll finish with this before
Speaker 1: I asked, actually my penultiate question, because I always ask
Speaker 1: how can the Commanders win this game? And based on
Speaker 1: your conversation here, jpidaphone, you're not gonna give me much
Speaker 1: of an answer on that, but I do want to
Speaker 1: ask it still. But first before that, just real quick
Speaker 1: on the interior. Deron Payne and Jonathan Allen are two
Speaker 1: of the best football players I have watched in the
Speaker 1: last decade, but right now their pass rush production is
Speaker 1: nowhere near where it usually is. Again, my question is
Speaker 1: why what's going on there? Why are those two guys
Speaker 1: who are so dang good not being as productive as
Speaker 1: they should be.
Speaker 3: Oh? I mean that's a sorry, man, that's just it's okay, dude.
Speaker 4: That's probably about a forty two million dollar question if
Speaker 4: you look at those two salaries. I think Alan started
Speaker 4: year dealing with planner fashion in his foot. I think
Speaker 4: that kind of impacted him.
Speaker 3: Pain. Pain is like.
Speaker 4: In baseball, you watch a guy that's like a fifteen
Speaker 4: to eighteen home run guy, but he's a good player.
Speaker 3: He's a middle infield or whatever.
Speaker 4: He is, right, he gets on base, maybe a couple
Speaker 4: of steels, whatever, and then all of a sudden he
Speaker 4: has one year where he hits thirty six home runs.
Speaker 3: Like, what do you expect the.
Speaker 4: Fifteen to eighteen or the thirty six and Pain basically
Speaker 4: had the one huge pop year in a contract.
Speaker 3: Here.
Speaker 4: Pain's a really good player, but he's not gonna get
Speaker 4: you double digit sacks like he did the one season.
Speaker 4: The other thing with Pain and you can ask like
Speaker 4: personnel guys around the league. He and Sweat ran this
Speaker 4: just devastating stunt, probably better than any duo did in
Speaker 4: the league, where Sweat would put crack down onto the
Speaker 4: guard and then Payne could loop it on the outside
Speaker 4: and get to the quarterback.
Speaker 3: I mean, they were devastating with this move and.
Speaker 4: They've run it a couple times a game, and I
Speaker 4: think in the in the aftermath of not having Montes
Speaker 4: Sweat there, you know that's a factor for Garl.
Speaker 1: Just real quick, JP, you want to let you know
Speaker 1: that you're making a bunch of the baseball references here
Speaker 1: on the show. You're right in my wheelhouse, my friend,
Speaker 1: I do that almost daily on the show. So a
Speaker 1: good company there making the baseball crossover references.
Speaker 3: There.
Speaker 1: Last question for you here and again I'll I know
Speaker 1: kind of where you're gonna go with this, but I
Speaker 1: gotta ask it. The commanders can win this game if
Speaker 1: and then you fill in the blink.
Speaker 4: Sure, I mean it's the NFL, dude, crazy stuff happened
Speaker 4: there right right, Like that's just you got to start
Speaker 4: with that as the baseline. Turnovers. You know, Ji has
Speaker 4: got to throw some picks and fumbles stuff like that.
Speaker 3: Washington has to.
Speaker 4: Keep it clean on the turnover sheet, like a pick six,
Speaker 4: a punt return touchdown, something like like, you gotta They're
Speaker 4: gonna have to generate some points, probably from somewhere besides
Speaker 4: their offense. But that said, Washington can move the ball,
Speaker 4: and they can if they can score touchdowns in the
Speaker 4: red zone, not field goals. They have a bad habit
Speaker 4: of red zone turnovers. And I if it was me,
Speaker 4: and it's not, and Eric vieenemy doesn't really subscribe to
Speaker 4: my theory on this, but I would really try to
Speaker 4: limit possession and I'm not snapping anything until there's five
Speaker 4: seconds or less on the play clock. I would try
Speaker 4: to run the ball in this thing you got. Washington's
Speaker 4: defense gives up the most explosive plays in the NFL.
Speaker 4: Miami scores the most explosive plays in the NFL. Try
Speaker 4: to limit how many times Tula and Tyreek get to
Speaker 4: hold the ball.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm just laughing because I saw you tweeted that stat.
Speaker 1: I've been I've actually used some of my content here.
Speaker 1: It's fun to It's always fun when you have to
Speaker 1: forces like that coming into a game, especially when your
Speaker 1: team is the one that has the advantage, and that
Speaker 1: JP great.
Speaker 4: There's one force and then there's one like empty plastic
Speaker 4: bag flopping around.
Speaker 1: I definitely misspoke when I said in that term for
Speaker 1: either side of that equation, but either way, we all
Speaker 1: get it. It makes a lot of sense. One on
Speaker 1: six seven the fan in DC be mentioned Finley NBC
Speaker 1: four Sports. You can find him on social at JP
Speaker 1: Finley NBCs JP. Appreciate your time today, man, enjoy the
Speaker 1: game Sunday, and we'll talk to you soon for Commander's Radio.
Speaker 1: All right, thanks a lot, man, And so there he goes.
Speaker 1: You know, I always get a kick out of talking
Speaker 1: to the opposing beat or radio personalities, whatever you want
Speaker 1: to call it, when their team's not having a great year,
Speaker 1: because the honesty that you get sometimes can be pretty fun,
Speaker 1: and I think JP is pretty fun with all that there.
Speaker 1: So you go, I want you guys to stay tuned
Speaker 1: right here because you're going to because you listen to
Speaker 1: the podcast in the first place. But I'm very excited
Speaker 1: about these next two segments. Go ahead and stay tuned.
Speaker 1: We're gonna come back and talk about Jalen Waddell, the competitor.
Speaker 1: We're going to talk about Jason Pierre Paul and fit Here.
Speaker 1: We're gonna hear from Vic Fangio to a Tongue, Bi
Speaker 1: Looa and Frank Smith, who got emotional and his press
Speaker 1: conference today. And I'm gonna tell you about some very fun, exciting, thrilling,
Speaker 1: captivating makes the hair on your arm stand up type
Speaker 1: of information for how the Dolphins potential playoff path could
Speaker 1: potentially could potentially look in one month. That's all Next
Speaker 1: Draft Time podcast, your host, Travis Wingfield, brought to you
Speaker 1: by Auto Nation. Before we get to the assistant coach
Speaker 1: media here, I wanted to run some sound real quick
Speaker 1: because I love it. As you guys know and seth listening.
Speaker 1: I know you're gonna text me about this. I love
Speaker 1: getting confirmation on something that I've been shouting from the
Speaker 1: rooftops from a coach or a person in position of power,
Speaker 1: and in particular, last week, I gave waddle a top
Speaker 1: five tape because he caught everything, but he played his
Speaker 1: ass off as a blocker, as a route runner when
Speaker 1: he wasn't part of the main progression. And I just
Speaker 1: mentioned how the physicality he displayed in the run game
Speaker 1: and in that game in general, you know, catching contestant
Speaker 1: balls as well, shows me that he's feeling as healthy
Speaker 1: as he has been all year. In a year where
Speaker 1: he's battled all kinds of nicks and bruises and let's
Speaker 1: just call it what they are, injuries. He's been injured
Speaker 1: a lot. So this question for Tua on Wednesday about
Speaker 1: what does Wattle do that doesn't show up in the
Speaker 1: box score? I've been talking about it. Two was gonna
Speaker 1: say the exact same thing, but I think it carries
Speaker 1: a little more weight when the quarterback says this. Here's
Speaker 1: Tua talking about Jalen Wattle.
Speaker 5: Go watch what kind of a player he is in
Speaker 5: the blocking game.
Speaker 2: Go watch what kind of player he is?
Speaker 6: Very physical, you know, he he's he's really like and
Speaker 6: I really say this as a testament to him, you know,
Speaker 6: obviously being the competitor he is, like, he doesn't really
Speaker 6: come up to me and like tell me, like, dude,
Speaker 6: throw me the ball or like he just understands like
Speaker 6: when my when my opice is here, like I'm gonna
Speaker 6: make sure I make use of all all of that.
Speaker 5: So you know, it's it's not it's not something where
Speaker 5: we're trying to put Jalen to the side.
Speaker 2: Jalen's in the mix.
Speaker 5: It's just as we run plays for him, the coverages
Speaker 5: just don't allow us, you know, the the throw for,
Speaker 5: you know, the right look for for Jalen. But you know,
Speaker 5: he's continued to stick it in there, and uh, you know,
Speaker 5: I think he's done a great job.
Speaker 1: So just keep an eye on this. We've not seen
Speaker 1: statistically the same version of Jalen Waddle as last year,
Speaker 1: but I think it's bubbling to the surface. And we
Speaker 1: saw that, you know, as evidence on Friday by the
Speaker 1: way he performed in that game. And I think he's
Speaker 1: a critical, critical cog for this offense to hit the
Speaker 1: stride in December. That would pair with how the defense
Speaker 1: is playing to make the Dolphins the most dangerous football
Speaker 1: team in January when you need to be your very best.
Speaker 1: Speaking of adding to what you've already got, JPP is here.
Speaker 1: He's kind of glorious. We haven't talked a lot about him,
Speaker 1: but I think it's time that we do first my
Speaker 1: own thoughts. I kind of say, guys, I think he's
Speaker 1: gonna be a very important piece to this defense down
Speaker 1: the stretch. First off, losing Jalen, you lost a complete
Speaker 1: player who offered size that can sometimes be required to
Speaker 1: tighten up the edge right. And what I mean by
Speaker 1: that is he can be an effective rusher while also
Speaker 1: holding the point because he doesn't have to rely on
Speaker 1: speed or getting to the upfield shoulder with a counter
Speaker 1: move to kind of surprise the tackle to beat him.
Speaker 1: He can play right through that tackle that has fifty
Speaker 1: pounds on him in the weight department, and that helped
Speaker 1: him take him to plays in the running game where
Speaker 1: run and pass is a viable option, right first downs,
Speaker 1: second medium, etc. Plays where the offense is as likely
Speaker 1: to run the football as they are to throw it.
Speaker 1: Let's go ahead and hear from coach Fangio, and I
Speaker 1: asked him on Thursday, just how important is size off
Speaker 1: the edge in this defense? Because Phillips is a big dude.
Speaker 1: Bradley was a big dude, Emmanuel Ogba is a big dude,
Speaker 1: and now JPP weighs like two sixty seven.
Speaker 7: You do want size on the edge, for sure. You
Speaker 7: want to play big on the edge. You know, there's
Speaker 7: some guys that are only in the mid forties low
Speaker 7: fifties that played big on the edge, so you know,
Speaker 7: so obviously if you're bigger, that helps, But there are
Speaker 7: some guys in the forties to low fifties.
Speaker 3: That do play big and strong.
Speaker 2: But it's very important.
Speaker 1: I just don't think you could have found a better
Speaker 1: replacement for a guy that you lost at this stage
Speaker 1: of the calendar. In fact, I think you're lucky in
Speaker 1: general that he was available in the capacity that he
Speaker 1: was right on the New Orleans practice squad. But just
Speaker 1: watching some of his recent tape, like all the same
Speaker 1: stuff stands out. The long arms, they stand out, and
Speaker 1: that's probably the best trait for setting the edge because
Speaker 1: it keeps you in a position where you can keep
Speaker 1: the offensive lineman out in your chest plate the key
Speaker 1: area they want to strike, and you can kind of
Speaker 1: dictate the terms terms of inside outside At that point.
Speaker 1: He's a terrific option in the game packages stunts and
Speaker 1: twists because he can dent and collapse with the power
Speaker 1: that he has, but also the agility to kind of
Speaker 1: knife across those moves. Inside he can rush from that
Speaker 1: three tech position like JP did so many times, and
Speaker 1: he's a closer man. He can get you one on
Speaker 1: one wins in pass rush situations late in games. He's
Speaker 1: got ninety four and a half sex and he knows
Speaker 1: what he's doing there a little bit. I think the
Speaker 1: reason that he was available at this stage of the
Speaker 1: season is that some of the juice he used to
Speaker 1: have that really made him JPP it's not there anymore.
Speaker 1: He's not a young pupp anymore, which is to be expected,
Speaker 1: but he's not going to blow you away with that
Speaker 1: first step quickness. But his ability to be a physical
Speaker 1: presence I think will be huge. So finally, this was
Speaker 1: my first time meeting JPP, and I thought that he
Speaker 1: was just outstanding in his first media availability, very personable,
Speaker 1: he was very enlightening and kind of told us about
Speaker 1: his time in the league and what he learned from
Speaker 1: that time in the league. And he was asked about
Speaker 1: his big game experience playing multiple massive games for the Giants,
Speaker 1: for the Ravens, for the Bucks, and what it takes
Speaker 1: to win at the highest levels.
Speaker 8: Gotta be seen, you know what I mean? I don't
Speaker 8: been on two good Super Bowl teams, and to remember
Speaker 8: those things where we all all had in common. Everybody
Speaker 8: was sink, you know when it really matter. We locked
Speaker 8: in and we did our jobs, and we trusted each other,
Speaker 8: trusted the coaches do their job, trusted the players that
Speaker 8: do their job in and we just played physical and
Speaker 8: walls out. So you know, everybody got to be sinking
Speaker 8: and ready to go no matter what the situation is.
Speaker 8: You just gotta believe in yourself. They have faith, they
Speaker 8: won't get a job done.
Speaker 1: The first comment was you got to be in sync.
Speaker 1: I know it's hard to hear there. So I wanted
Speaker 1: to follow up with him on that and say, you know,
Speaker 1: how does a new guy who comes in December assimilate
Speaker 1: into a program full of very tight knit bonds this
Speaker 1: team has. How do you do that? Here's Jpp once more.
Speaker 8: It's different, you know obviously, you know, like I said,
Speaker 8: I feel like the guys accepted me. You know, everybody
Speaker 8: will saying what's up to me? And they know who
Speaker 8: I am, you know, But for me, I just to
Speaker 8: open up and be myself, you know, And I feel
Speaker 8: like I'm being myself anywhere I go out be myself.
Speaker 8: So you know, uh, and I'm and I'm adapting to them,
Speaker 8: to be honest, and I'm seeking with them. But I
Speaker 8: think they already got it here, you know what I mean.
Speaker 8: I can see the guys out there running around having fun.
Speaker 8: That's the most important too, having fun and being sek
Speaker 8: with each other. So as I'm looking and you know,
Speaker 8: learning the plays and watching everybody, I see that, you
Speaker 8: know what I mean, they got a good team here.
Speaker 1: And then, just to follow up for and totally irrelevant
Speaker 1: to the point type of answer here, I asked him,
Speaker 1: what was your first impression of coach McDaniel when you
Speaker 1: met him? Uh, it's a.
Speaker 8: Cool dude, man, you know, he he himself.
Speaker 1: Man.
Speaker 7: I like that.
Speaker 8: You know, guy's telling me that's him. You know, you
Speaker 8: can't expect nothing of him, but you know he's he's
Speaker 8: he himself every day and I think that's important for
Speaker 8: a head coach, you know, to be himself. And you know,
Speaker 8: I think that's what he's doing. You know, he came
Speaker 8: in the meeting room earlier. I ain't know who was
Speaker 8: talking until I look down. You know, he was right, Doren,
Speaker 8: because I'm sitting in the front row. But obviously I
Speaker 8: talked to him. You know, he know my history, and uh,
Speaker 8: we're gonna get a cracking.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 8: I told him happy to be here, and they gave
Speaker 8: Hi an opportunity of good opportunity and to come home
Speaker 8: and you know and try to win a super Bowl,
Speaker 8: which I know these guys can, and you know he's
Speaker 8: gonna get a cracking and put it all the pieces together.
Speaker 1: We're going to finish this segment here with some sound
Speaker 1: from Frank Smith because I just thought was really cool
Speaker 1: to hear the way he spoke about his name being
Speaker 1: linked to a head coach job. And if you can't
Speaker 1: sense it in the audio, I'll just go ahead and
Speaker 1: tell you Coach got pretty emotional when asked about that.
Speaker 2: Not flattering, it's more humbling, so you know, you.
Speaker 9: Like, I remember why I got into coaching. So it's
Speaker 9: like when all this stuff comes up, it's pretty cool.
Speaker 9: But the minute you worry about your goals and where
Speaker 9: you want to go, like you forget, like like.
Speaker 2: For me, how lucky I am to be here today.
Speaker 9: So all this stuff's cool, but like I really enjoy
Speaker 9: every day here and that's the cool part.
Speaker 2: And it's, you know, one of those words, because like,
Speaker 2: like I'm gonna walk on from Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Speaker 9: You know, every day in my life I remember it,
Speaker 9: So those things are pretty cool, but it's not a
Speaker 9: good effect today.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I can't get enough of genuine vulnerability in a
Speaker 1: league where that's not always encouraged all the time. So
Speaker 1: good on you, coach. Let's go ahead and take our
Speaker 1: last break right there, come back on the other side,
Speaker 1: pick the week thirteen games. But also I have a
Speaker 1: fun segment, a fun monologue for you guys. That's next
Speaker 1: Draft Time podcast, your host Travis Wingfield, brought to you
Speaker 1: by Auto Nation. So I usually like to open up
Speaker 1: a little bit of a monologue to begin the third
Speaker 1: segment on a Friday show or a Thursday show ahead
Speaker 1: of the game picks, And I think this ties into
Speaker 1: the game picks because of what I'm going to say
Speaker 1: for those picks for starters. Do you guys know the
Speaker 1: last time the Dolphins were favored in a playoff game?
Speaker 1: Before we do that, do you know the last time
Speaker 1: we had our starting quarterback in a playoff game? That
Speaker 1: would be fifteen years ago when we were bludgeoned by
Speaker 1: the Baltimore Ravens and Ed Reid Chad Pennington. Wasn't it
Speaker 1: four picks? If I recall correctly in that day? Yikes?
Speaker 1: Think about that. We've limped into the playoffs the last
Speaker 1: two times, in twenty twenty two and twenty sixteen with
Speaker 1: our third string and a backup quarterback. In those games,
Speaker 1: and in the backup in twenty sixteen, Matt Moore got
Speaker 1: the ever living whip wop blasted out of him and
Speaker 1: it looked like, for a moment, we're gonna see TJ. Yeats.
Speaker 1: That's like the Dolphins fan fate, right, TJ Yeats in
Speaker 1: a playoff game.
Speaker 2: Fun.
Speaker 1: The last time the Dolphins were favored in a playoff
Speaker 1: game was two thousand and two, by the way, that's
Speaker 1: the wild card round of two thousand and one, when
Speaker 1: we hosted the Baltimore Ravens again, the damn team, right.
Speaker 1: We were two and a half point favorites and barely
Speaker 1: scored two and a half points, lost by by seventeen
Speaker 1: twenty to three, and the Ravens literally urinated on the
Speaker 1: field after the game. Fun, right, Cool, that's fun for us.
Speaker 1: This is all my diatribe and a way of saying
Speaker 1: that we're going to host a playoff game this year
Speaker 1: most likely, right unless unless you know Travis d befollows
Speaker 1: us here. Soon we are going to be favored and
Speaker 1: said playoff game. And hopefully, hopefully if we are those
Speaker 1: first two things we should have, this will be we'll
Speaker 1: have our starting quarterback for the game. And that's my
Speaker 1: way of saying, I think you're going to get the
Speaker 1: converse of what happened to us in twenty twenty two
Speaker 1: and in twenty sixteen. And by that I mean I
Speaker 1: think you're gonna get a play a team that has
Speaker 1: a Matt Moore or a Scalar Thompson playing quarterback for
Speaker 1: them down here in this building where we eat quarterbacks
Speaker 1: like the VECNA eats the kids and Stranger Things? Do
Speaker 1: they eat kids? You watch Strange Things?
Speaker 9: Right?
Speaker 1: Do they eat kids?
Speaker 3: Now?
Speaker 1: I guess they don't eat kids. I haven't seen the
Speaker 1: show besides the first season, but I thought they ate kids.
Speaker 2: I don't know.
Speaker 1: But to bring this all back around, I have become
Speaker 1: addicted the NFL Playoff machine on ESPN, and frankly, it
Speaker 1: gets boring because I wind up with the Dolphins at
Speaker 1: thirteen and four or fourteen and three every time. The
Speaker 1: one game I can never pick is the Ravens game.
Speaker 1: If I have to pick one loss on the schedule,
Speaker 1: it's that one right road game, tough environment, cold weather,
Speaker 1: really good team, YadA YadA yah. If we run the table.
Speaker 1: I do believe that fourteen and three will be good
Speaker 1: enough for the one seed, but really I think the
Speaker 1: aim has to be the two just because the Chiefs
Speaker 1: probably have only one real shot at losing in to
Speaker 1: me as Buffalo, but Monday could be tricky against the
Speaker 1: Packers as well. Baltimore has the Jags, the rape the
Speaker 1: Niners and us. The Jags have a pretty easy row,
Speaker 1: but do play Baltimore, who I think whips them pretty
Speaker 1: good in that game. But the whole point is there's
Speaker 1: a scenario where the two seed could be the ultimate
Speaker 1: prize and here's why. So obviously the week off and
Speaker 1: automatic advancement to the divisional round is superior. I get that,
Speaker 1: I admit that, But what if and allow me to
Speaker 1: if you will, as Richard Brecky does so eloquently, allow
Speaker 1: me to paint a picture for you. And if I talk,
Speaker 1: you get money, But I never talk. Do you get
Speaker 1: the reference? Mostly you probably don't. So case is the
Speaker 1: one seed we are the two. That's kind of what
Speaker 1: I think the goal should be. Buffalo goes on a
Speaker 1: run and gets in. But there are several teams that
Speaker 1: I think are in play for that seventh seed in
Speaker 1: the playoffs. And the way I projected out after doing
Speaker 1: this a few times is the Buffalo winds up in
Speaker 1: the six. We're the two, with the Ravens and the three,
Speaker 1: and the Jags in the four seed. The way I
Speaker 1: have it played out is Houston's the five, Buffalo's the six,
Speaker 1: and then I have this pile up where it changes
Speaker 1: every time I do it between Cleveland with Dorian Thompson Robinson,
Speaker 1: Indianapolis with Gardner Minshew, and Pittsburgh with Kenny Pickett, Like,
Speaker 1: come on, man, and if you look at those teams schedules,
Speaker 1: somebody is getting in. Someone just is because they have
Speaker 1: easy roads. Maybe it's Denver. Their road is harder, So
Speaker 1: I don't believe in that. But even then we beat
Speaker 1: those guys by fifty points. So if it plays out
Speaker 1: that way and the seventh seed is one of these
Speaker 1: teams and you get the two seed, you are a
Speaker 1: win over Pittsburgh, Cleveland or Indy away and a Buffalo
Speaker 1: upset in Baltimore in this instance a six over three game,
Speaker 1: which would then send the six to the one seed
Speaker 1: to play the divisional round. You are that scenario away
Speaker 1: from hosting Jacksonville or Houston in this building in the
Speaker 1: divisional round. I mean, if I told you that was
Speaker 1: the case back in September, you would assigned your life
Speaker 1: away for that. If I told you that right now,
Speaker 1: you would do the exact same thing. Steelers Brown one,
Speaker 1: Jags Brown two. You would take that in a heartbeat.
Speaker 1: And then and then if Buffalo somehow goes to KC
Speaker 1: and gets another upset, if they stay hot, we would
Speaker 1: host Buffalo here for the AFC Championship game. And as
Speaker 1: we've all learned, the entire city is allergic to the sun.
Speaker 1: Or we go back to k C and Tyreek has
Speaker 1: an ultimate revenge game, But that's different scenario. That's one
Speaker 1: of countless scenarios. But I think it's worth knowing that
Speaker 1: we are very likely to a be heavily favored in
Speaker 1: a playoff game for the first time in a long time,
Speaker 1: aka a great spot to snap a twenty two year
Speaker 1: playoff win. Drout or B and B, I should say,
Speaker 1: but potentially being pretty significant favorites in the divisional round
Speaker 1: as well. That's my take. That's my segment. Let's do
Speaker 1: the picks. Let's put a bow on this edition of
Speaker 1: the Draft Time podcast by picking the week thirteen games.
Speaker 1: Coming off another very good Week twelve, we lost four
Speaker 1: of the sixteen games. Got that big upset on Thanksgiving
Speaker 1: Day with the Packers over the lines. Can we replicate
Speaker 1: that on Sunday Night Football against the Chiefs. We'll find
Speaker 1: out here in just a second. Go ahead and cue
Speaker 1: the music. One hundred and twenty seven and fifty five
Speaker 1: on the year is sixty nine point eight percent. If
Speaker 1: we can get another eleven twelve win game week here,
Speaker 1: we should be able to push into the seventies again.
Speaker 1: Cue the music and start tonight on Thursday Night Football.
Speaker 1: I'm taking the Cowboys over the Seahawks. I think the
Speaker 1: Seahawks as the NFC West winners is probably my worst
Speaker 1: preseason prediction. They are kind of falling by the wayside there,
Speaker 1: although getting Abe Lucas back their right tackle formerly of
Speaker 1: Washington State, Go Koogs is a big get for their
Speaker 1: offense line. So Cowboys over Seahawks tonight. I'm taking the
Speaker 1: Dolphins over the Commanders. Duh. I'm taking the Colts over
Speaker 1: the Titans, who had a back and forth affair with
Speaker 1: the Panthers last week, which I kind of think tells
Speaker 1: you more about them than the Panthers at this point.
Speaker 1: But the Colts are rolling right now behind another Washington
Speaker 1: State Cougar, gardner, Minshew go Koog's give me the Colts
Speaker 1: to stay very much alive in the AFC playoff mix.
Speaker 1: And that kind of jives with the previous comment we
Speaker 1: had about the potential matchups you could see in the
Speaker 1: postseason right possibly the Colts, maybe the Browns, maybe the Steelers.
Speaker 1: Colts keep winning. That's why I'm rooting for the Colts,
Speaker 1: the Steelers and the Browns and all those teams. I digress.
Speaker 1: Colts over Titans. Give me the Falcons over the Jets.
Speaker 1: I am taking the Jets to lose every game from
Speaker 1: here on out because of their quarterback situation. I'll take
Speaker 1: the Lions over the Saints. Lions I think are shaky
Speaker 1: right now, but the Saints offense is an absolute mess
Speaker 1: and Derek Carr saying all the wrong things. Give me
Speaker 1: the good team over a team I do not believe
Speaker 1: is good at all. Give me the Texans to bounce
Speaker 1: back over the Broncos. I think Denver right now is
Speaker 1: about as big of a farce as anybody in the
Speaker 1: Nation Football League. It is funny because they've beaten Buffalo
Speaker 1: and Casey on the streak, But like throwing the run
Speaker 1: of the ball for two yards on first and second
Speaker 1: down and then having Russell scramble and check the ball
Speaker 1: down for another scramble first down like for the running back,
Speaker 1: I should say, I just don't think it's sustainable offense.
Speaker 1: Like wansteaed ball is not gonna get you very far.
Speaker 1: I'm taking the Texans to put it to the Broncos
Speaker 1: here pretty good. In this one. I will take the
Speaker 1: Chargers over the Patriots. I mean, one of the Patriots
Speaker 1: done at all to convincetion they can win a football game.
Speaker 1: The Chargers are also terrible, but in this case the
Speaker 1: less of two evils Steelers over Cardinals. I really wanted
Speaker 1: to go Cardinals upset here, but even though Kyler's back
Speaker 1: and a really good player, I think the Steelers are
Speaker 1: still or the Cardinals rather are still a very very
Speaker 1: bad football team. So give me the Steelers to win
Speaker 1: against a bad football team, which is what they've done
Speaker 1: all year long, right, and they're gonna keep doing it,
Speaker 1: probably all go into the playoffs again. Root for the Browns,
Speaker 1: Root for the Steelers, Root for the Colts. Maybe we
Speaker 1: see those guys in the first round of the playoffs.
Speaker 1: Next Tampa Bay over Carolina. I will not pick the Panthers,
Speaker 1: especially after watching David Tepper talk the other day. Take
Speaker 1: the Niners over the Eagles in the big one. Philly
Speaker 1: has to lose a game at some point this year,
Speaker 1: besides the Jets game they lost. I think it's this one.
Speaker 1: I think the Niners travel well in this instance and
Speaker 1: go get a big win in Philadelphia to avenge last
Speaker 1: year's NFC title game. Give me the Rams over the
Speaker 1: Browns again. Root for the Browns, But with that quarterback situation,
Speaker 1: is DT are even gonna play?
Speaker 2: Is it?
Speaker 1: PJ Walkers Joe Flacco? No options are good. Give me
Speaker 1: Matt Stafford in that one. I'm taking the Packers on
Speaker 1: Sunday Night Football over the Chiefs. I don't feel great
Speaker 1: about it, but I think Jordan Love's playing really well
Speaker 1: right now. I think the Chiefs have gotten lucky a
Speaker 1: lot of their wins in this eight. One of the
Speaker 1: eight and three stretch they've been on against the Raiders
Speaker 1: last week as well, kind of looked really bad in
Speaker 1: the first half of that game. I just don't think
Speaker 1: they're as good as they usually are in this instance.
Speaker 1: Probably wishful thinking, but give me the Packers over the
Speaker 1: Chiefs on Sunday Night Football, and then the Bengals also
Speaker 1: fall into that category of teams. I'm not picking the
Speaker 1: rest of the way because Jake Browning, I saw enough
Speaker 1: of your dub tape to know you can't play the guitar.
Speaker 1: So give me the Jags over the Bengals. Those are
Speaker 1: your Week thirteen picks. That's the podcast here. You all
Speaker 1: please be sure to subscribe, rate, review, all that fun
Speaker 1: stuff that we always talk about every single time we
Speaker 1: do the show. Go ahead and leave us a rating,
Speaker 1: leave us a review. Follow me on social at Winfield, NFL.
Speaker 1: Follow the team at Miami Dolphins. You can find me
Speaker 1: on pre and postgame show with Goldie and Juice, Pregame
Speaker 1: postgame with Juice and my man Seth Levitt on one
Speaker 1: oh six five FM on the iHeart app and nine
Speaker 1: to forty local here. I believe, I hope I got
Speaker 1: all of that right. I also check out The Fish
Speaker 1: Tank podcast with Seth and Juice. The olybay Verunnon podcast
Speaker 1: is out and is a great Go ahead and check
Speaker 1: that out. Also the team YouTube channel for media availabilities
Speaker 1: Dolphins Today, we have another breakdown coming your guys away
Speaker 1: next week Jalen Ramsey courtesy of Yours truly don't miss that,
Speaker 1: and of course, last but not least, Miami Dolphins dot
Speaker 1: Com until next time, fins up on camera and Daddy,
Speaker 1: He's coming home.