Speaker 1: Actually it's wrong looking down Miami un What is up,
Speaker 1: Dolphans And welcome to the Drive Time Podcast, part of
Speaker 1: the Miami Dolphins official podcast network, covering your team, your
Speaker 1: Miami Dolphins. How's it going everybody? It is Tuesday. I
Speaker 1: am your host, Travis Wingfield, And on today's show, we're
Speaker 1: gonna talk a little bit about continuity as we continue
Speaker 1: to approach the off season here ahead less than a
Speaker 1: month away. And with that, we're going to continue our
Speaker 1: off season preview series, Part two, taking a look at
Speaker 1: tight ends and the offensive line. All of that and
Speaker 1: more on this Tuesday, February twenty three edition of the
Speaker 1: Drive Time Podcast. And first up, some news from late
Speaker 1: last week. Part of the Miami Dolphins Foundation, which funds
Speaker 1: something called the Miami Dolphins Food Relief Program, committed to
Speaker 1: spending one million dollars directly on local minority owned restaurants
Speaker 1: before June one. This happened last summer and we're still
Speaker 1: roughly three months away from that gold date. Well, the
Speaker 1: Dolphins announced on Friday that that one million dollar goal
Speaker 1: has in fact been surpassed. So continuing to do great
Speaker 1: work here in the community and providing people in South
Speaker 1: Florida with meals since this COVID pandemic really became part
Speaker 1: of our life, so really proud to be a part
Speaker 1: of that. Really happy to announce that here and share
Speaker 1: that with you on the podcast. And some more cool
Speaker 1: organizational news here as we found out um on Friday
Speaker 1: that our very own Jason Jenkins was named as one
Speaker 1: Black Men in Excellence by the Black Professionals Network for
Speaker 1: his corporate leader and community advocacy in the area of
Speaker 1: South Florida. So congrats once again Jason, and of course,
Speaker 1: as always, thank you for everything you've done for me
Speaker 1: here with the Miami Dolphins. It's it's greatly appreciated and
Speaker 1: it's cool to see hard work and just a great
Speaker 1: guy be recognized like that, So again, congrats to Mr Jenkins.
Speaker 1: Now on the Friday podcast, I had talked to you
Speaker 1: guys about going out to a restaurant for the first
Speaker 1: time and who knows how long, and of course everybody
Speaker 1: else had the same idea that I did, as there
Speaker 1: was like an hour long wait at this restaurant, my
Speaker 1: favorite restaurant here in my hometown back in Washington State.
Speaker 1: Went out with my brother who lives about forty five
Speaker 1: minutes the way, he drove up and we went out together,
Speaker 1: so a nice little family outing for the first time.
Speaker 1: My wife was was doing something on our own back
Speaker 1: at the house, so I got to spend some time
Speaker 1: with my brother over the weekend. And of course everybody
Speaker 1: else had the exact same idea we did to go
Speaker 1: to this restaurant, so we had to put in for
Speaker 1: a reservation, which was like an hour long, so we
Speaker 1: basically had to wait an hour out in the car
Speaker 1: and just go find something to do. But we were
Speaker 1: so excited to get a chance to go out back
Speaker 1: in public and do that again. And they wound up
Speaker 1: seating us over in the bar section of this restaurant
Speaker 1: where nobody's there's no bar back there anymore, they don't
Speaker 1: actually have the bar service open, and they kind of
Speaker 1: like forgot about us, like they didn't come back by
Speaker 1: for twenty minutes after they sat us at first, and
Speaker 1: they basically brought the food and didn't come back. And
Speaker 1: at one point the server had walked by and I
Speaker 1: asked for a thing of catch up because we had
Speaker 1: French fries with these these big burgers that we had,
Speaker 1: and I swear she heard me, but she walked by
Speaker 1: and ignored me. But still beyond all of that, I
Speaker 1: was so happy to be out and to go have
Speaker 1: a drink with my brother and get some some dinner.
Speaker 1: Was a lot of fun. Other than that, this weekend
Speaker 1: watched again plenty of television. I found out that Boy
Speaker 1: Meets World is on Disney Plus, and that's a great find.
Speaker 1: You know, watch out with my daughter. She gets a
Speaker 1: kick out of just staring at the screen and watching
Speaker 1: things move around. But it was funny because I was
Speaker 1: watching it with my wife and uh we saw like
Speaker 1: Mr Feeney and Mr Turner that the English teacher in
Speaker 1: the early episodes and even in the Matthews you know
Speaker 1: Mr Matthews, Corey's dad had like injured his back in
Speaker 1: an episode, and I was like, I find myself sympathizing
Speaker 1: with the parents now opposed to watching this as a
Speaker 1: child and being like what's going with Corey and and Sean?
Speaker 1: But now it's like, oh man, the you know, the
Speaker 1: parents are the more sympathetic characters in that show. So
Speaker 1: that was my weekend. I know, not very much fun,
Speaker 1: but the big restaurant outing was my big thing. And then,
Speaker 1: like I talked about last week, the rest of the weekend,
Speaker 1: no football on, so not much to watch from that end,
Speaker 1: just the TV. I did watch the Heat beat the Lakers.
Speaker 1: That was a pretty fun game. We had that on
Speaker 1: our phone at the table actually at the restaurant watching that.
Speaker 1: So go Heat and please hurry up and get here
Speaker 1: baseball season as well as the NFL off season, because
Speaker 1: I'm still a little bit bored. Alright, that was my weekend.
Speaker 1: Let's go ahead and get into it here and start
Speaker 1: with some league news. As we learned late last week
Speaker 1: that one of the teams in Miami's conference, the Indianapolis Colts,
Speaker 1: jumped off the quarterback carousel as it were. Carson Wentz
Speaker 1: goes from Philly to Indianapolis to replace the retired Philip Rivers.
Speaker 1: And we have our second big trade of the off
Speaker 1: season already, of course, the Matthew Stafford, Jared goff Rams
Speaker 1: and Lions trade that was reported before the Super Bowl.
Speaker 1: So plenty of activity already going on. And there's a
Speaker 1: few ties to the Dolphins that I want to explore
Speaker 1: here with this in the idea of trades, But first
Speaker 1: I just want to look knowledge at. The off season
Speaker 1: has always been a fun event for me as someone
Speaker 1: that follows the entire league with a very interested eye
Speaker 1: and has a strong feel for the roster of other teams,
Speaker 1: for instance, and the profiles of those players on the roster.
Speaker 1: Like I watch a lot of football and digest a
Speaker 1: lot of information, so I tend to have a good
Speaker 1: feel for what's going on outside of the Miami Dolphins.
Speaker 1: And we talked on a podcast a week or two
Speaker 1: ago about the ability to utilize multiple avenues to improve
Speaker 1: the roster and how we saw that last year with
Speaker 1: the Dolphins draft class. Of course, all the free agents
Speaker 1: that had a considerable impact on this team. I mean
Speaker 1: consider Byron Jones, Emmanuel Ogba, Kyle van Noi, Shack Lawson,
Speaker 1: all in their first year with the team, and they
Speaker 1: are part of a scoring defense that finishes sixth in
Speaker 1: the league in that category and really had a big
Speaker 1: improvement from nineteen and more on that and continuity here
Speaker 1: in just a moment. But in addition to the draft
Speaker 1: and free agency, like we've seen Miami use, they've also
Speaker 1: used the waiver wire to turn the roster to rEFInd
Speaker 1: a piece like Zack Seeler on your defensive line. We've
Speaker 1: also seen them utilize the avenue that makes up the
Speaker 1: larger point here, the trade avenue, and for my money,
Speaker 1: the NFL offseason great as it already was over the
Speaker 1: last I don't know, four or five six years or so,
Speaker 1: where the league as a whole seems to have embraced
Speaker 1: the art of the trade and it has thrown this
Speaker 1: element of chaos into the roster building portion of the calendar,
Speaker 1: as I like to call it. And how much more
Speaker 1: fun has that been as a football fan? I mean,
Speaker 1: free agency, the draft is great, but when you get
Speaker 1: random news on Tuesday about a trade, I mean, that's
Speaker 1: just that's timing spent on social media and go and
Speaker 1: comment on it and then get engaged in the conversation
Speaker 1: and they consider how it has an impact on your
Speaker 1: team around the league, it just makes a lot of fun,
Speaker 1: Like it's fun to watch other teams make deals, and
Speaker 1: it's certainly a lot of fun to watch how Chris
Speaker 1: Career and company use their capital at their disposal to
Speaker 1: improve this Dolphin's roster. A trade, for instance, like Lynn
Speaker 1: Bowden last September, the acquisition of the fourth or third
Speaker 1: round draft pick rather of the Raiders who comes over
Speaker 1: to Miami for some draft pick swaps, so that's my
Speaker 1: I suppose monologue on how an already great part of
Speaker 1: the NFL calendar has gotten even better in recent years,
Speaker 1: and the more focus point here what we might be
Speaker 1: looking at from a continuity standpoint this year across the league.
Speaker 1: I think it was Adam Schefter who said he could
Speaker 1: see as many as eighteen teams with new starting quarterbacks
Speaker 1: from last season in the NFL this year. Now, this
Speaker 1: current Dolphins team is one that knows all about the
Speaker 1: acclamation period. Right. We've seen considerable roster overturned since Brian
Speaker 1: Flores arrived, and not just strictly specific to the top
Speaker 1: part of the roster with the first round draft picks,
Speaker 1: the premium by free agents. I mean, take it from
Speaker 1: someone who wrote a daily news piece five days a
Speaker 1: week last August during training camp, when the Dolphins would
Speaker 1: scour the waiver wire and constantly turn that bottom part
Speaker 1: of the roster, and they'd eventually even bring guys back
Speaker 1: to in some insens is, like, for instance, Javarus Davis
Speaker 1: was signed in August, he was let go and then
Speaker 1: brought back, spent time on the practice squad, and now
Speaker 1: he's here on a futures deal. The point is they've
Speaker 1: done the due due diligence on getting their guys on
Speaker 1: a lot of players, and that bottom part of the
Speaker 1: roster continues to overturn, and wouldn't you know it, this
Speaker 1: team found itself playing its best football as the season
Speaker 1: went along. Of course, we know now about the one
Speaker 1: in three start. The defense allowed some of its higher
Speaker 1: point totals of the season in that first month, with
Speaker 1: thirty one points allowed to both Buffalo and Seattle, and
Speaker 1: they would go on to allow just thirty one points
Speaker 1: two more times over the next twelve games. So a
Speaker 1: jurassic improvement that way by the defense. We saw the
Speaker 1: offense hit strides as experience kind of continued to accumulate there, like,
Speaker 1: for instance, Robert Hunt, we've talked about his six game
Speaker 1: finish to the season at that right tackle position, how
Speaker 1: he continued to grow and get better. Austin Jackson playing
Speaker 1: some of his best ball after getting back from that
Speaker 1: injury that knocked him out for a few games in
Speaker 1: the middle of the season. So now, after plenty of
Speaker 1: work done to the roster, the five win improvement from
Speaker 1: nineteen while a lot of these rookies stacked up snap
Speaker 1: counts and a lesson with each and every one last season, Right,
Speaker 1: every snap counts a chance to learn a lesson and
Speaker 1: a play on tape to go back and look at.
Speaker 1: Now the Dolphins have an opportunity for some continuity, and
Speaker 1: of course with four picks in the top fifty and
Speaker 1: some more flexibility with the cap space and that kind
Speaker 1: of thing. Of course there will be new players. But
Speaker 1: you get a chance to see Jackson, Hunt and Kinley
Speaker 1: now go into a training camp with experience. Like we
Speaker 1: talked about with field dates in the podcast. They know
Speaker 1: how to get to the building, how to get to
Speaker 1: the locker room, how to get to the cafeil like,
Speaker 1: they know their way around the building. It's not gonna
Speaker 1: be those first day of school. Like new habits you
Speaker 1: have to form. They've got the routine down now, right,
Speaker 1: you get a chance to watch ray Kwon Davis continue
Speaker 1: the trajectory where he took off in the second half
Speaker 1: of the season. And I told you guys have been
Speaker 1: running back the tape here on this team in this
Speaker 1: in this season recently, we saw Lynn Bowden come from
Speaker 1: occasional active, sometimes inactive on game day, but when he
Speaker 1: was on the field, he'd get like a few snaps
Speaker 1: a target, maybe a carrier two here there, and that
Speaker 1: was it. But by the end of the season he's
Speaker 1: playing fifty plus snaps and contributing to the passing game
Speaker 1: and the offense as a whole. We're gonna see Brandon
Speaker 1: Jones continue to have the game slow down for him,
Speaker 1: something he talked about throughout the course of the season.
Speaker 1: The third highest snaptaker at that safety position, with his
Speaker 1: studious nature that we've covered on this podcast on Miami
Speaker 1: Dolphins dot Com, that he's talked about himself at press
Speaker 1: conferences and the like. You have to imagine that only continues,
Speaker 1: and that list goes on and on and on. The
Speaker 1: whole backfield currently is made up of guys going into
Speaker 1: year two or three. I mentioned Boden Net receiver. He's
Speaker 1: not the only second year player in that receiver room
Speaker 1: coming back, of course, Malcolm Perry and Kirk Merritt on
Speaker 1: a futures contract. I mentioned the offensive line, and speaking
Speaker 1: of that, how about the work of Michael Dieter and
Speaker 1: what he did in limited action last year off the bench.
Speaker 1: I thought he played pretty damn well in that game.
Speaker 1: Another year of development for him. That's always gonna be
Speaker 1: a boon too, but Aito Jones on the defensive line
Speaker 1: got some time behind the big three you know, Wilkins, Seiler,
Speaker 1: and Davis we have covered here on this podcast, playing
Speaker 1: in place at times of the injured Devon god Shaw
Speaker 1: Van Ginkl. We saw that year one to year to Jump,
Speaker 1: I mentioned Brandon Jones and of course no eg Bnogamy.
Speaker 1: Both those guys get valuable snaps last season as well.
Speaker 1: So all these position groups, from quarterback, running back, receiver
Speaker 1: down to the defensive backs on that side of the football,
Speaker 1: all these position groups, there are resources to bolster those positions,
Speaker 1: but we should see a lot of continuity and reason
Speaker 1: to expect growth really early in each one of those positions,
Speaker 1: because again last year, so many of these guys were
Speaker 1: coming into their own and their first really experience here
Speaker 1: in the NFL with the Miami Dolphins. So finally have
Speaker 1: some continuity at those positions in addition to the capitol
Speaker 1: to benefit and improve your roster. So in a year,
Speaker 1: we're probably gonna see some crazy quarterback movement and maybe
Speaker 1: similar madness at other positions as well. Here's to continuity
Speaker 1: from one as this roster continues to improve and get
Speaker 1: better under Chris career and Brian Flores and as I
Speaker 1: almost forget here, a footnote to the whole idea, the
Speaker 1: impact of the draft. You know, the way the veteran
Speaker 1: quarterback market shakes out always shapes the way the draft
Speaker 1: takes hold. Right, it's going to change the way teams
Speaker 1: will approach their draft if you get a quarterback compared
Speaker 1: if you don't get a quarterback that you're happy with
Speaker 1: going into the season. And with a third pick this year,
Speaker 1: it's conceivable that when the Dolphins pick comes up, they
Speaker 1: could have the pick, the non quarterback pick of the
Speaker 1: litter could be at their dispose. We've seen quarterbacks go
Speaker 1: one too in the draft a lot before, and then
Speaker 1: at that point, how much value does that pick have.
Speaker 1: It's it's all going to be connected, and it's all
Speaker 1: going to be fascinating, and it starts here very shortly.
Speaker 1: We are getting very very close to the start of
Speaker 1: the new year. Alright, let's go ahead and get into
Speaker 1: the off season preview our second part here, and let's
Speaker 1: remind the folks out there that these are the opinions
Speaker 1: of yours truly and in no way reflect the team's opinion.
Speaker 1: Compeche on that, alright, so on Friday we did the quarterbacks,
Speaker 1: running backs, and wide receivers. If you missed that episode,
Speaker 1: go ahead and give us a quick pause. We'll wait
Speaker 1: for you. Listen to that episode, then come back and
Speaker 1: finish up this pod. We're gonna get to the offensive
Speaker 1: line and tight ends here on part two, and let's
Speaker 1: go ahead and start with the ladder there, the tight
Speaker 1: ends and first our incumbents. Not one of them is
Speaker 1: targeted for free agency. So the whole gang is in
Speaker 1: toe right now with fourth years Mike Gatsicky and Durham Smith.
Speaker 1: They're both back, the recently extended Adam Shaheen after coming
Speaker 1: over this off season in a trade with the Chicago Bears.
Speaker 1: He is under contract after that extension, and Temple Tough
Speaker 1: Chris Myrick entering his third season. He's here on a
Speaker 1: futures contract. And the consistency of this group is really
Speaker 1: to me what I found most pleasing. When Smith went
Speaker 1: down for a couple of games, Shahem was right there
Speaker 1: to pick it up and really fulfilled that role of
Speaker 1: the guy that kind of does the dirty work. Is
Speaker 1: Durham so often hasn't his time here in Miami. And
Speaker 1: that's not to say Shaheen wasn't already doing that in
Speaker 1: games with Durham up and active and playing, but they
Speaker 1: found ways to get all three of the guys onto
Speaker 1: the field different times this year, some thirteen personnel packages.
Speaker 1: I even asked Coach Godsey, the Dolphins tight end coach,
Speaker 1: in about being able to utilize third team personnel and
Speaker 1: go empty from that group, in which they did a
Speaker 1: couple of times, and he just said that spoke to
Speaker 1: the versatility of all three of those guys. Of course,
Speaker 1: plenty of twelve personnel and tons of good dig out blocks,
Speaker 1: second level blocks and chips from these guys. I really
Speaker 1: enjoyed watching their work in the running game this year.
Speaker 1: And then of course there was Mike Gasicki and another
Speaker 1: year of really top end tight end production, so that
Speaker 1: five times fast in the passing game, and of course
Speaker 1: the room as a whole set franchise records and receptions
Speaker 1: and yards and tied the franchise mark with eleven touchdowns,
Speaker 1: one catches and one thousand sixty one yards. For good
Speaker 1: measure on those franchise marks, Gisicky chipped into those numbers
Speaker 1: a lot fifty three catches was twelve most among tight
Speaker 1: ends in the NFL. His seven hundred and three yards
Speaker 1: were fourth most among all tight ends and his six
Speaker 1: touchdowns were tenth best at the position. And as he
Speaker 1: goes along, he just gets better at the little things
Speaker 1: that make his game continue to grow and improve, like
Speaker 1: fighting through contact at all levels of the route and
Speaker 1: maintaining his balance, fighting through a podcast when you're Toddler
Speaker 1: was screaming downstairs, high pointing tough catches, getting more and
Speaker 1: more involved as a blocker, and making himself dual functionality
Speaker 1: as all these tight ends are. So you've got the
Speaker 1: absolute weapon in gisicky, two stout blockers who can catch
Speaker 1: a pass in the flat and then run somebody over.
Speaker 1: We saw Adam Shaheen get nominated for angry Runs this
Speaker 1: season by Kyle Brandt on Good Morning Football. Not to
Speaker 1: mention big time special teams contributions, we've heard from Coach Crossman,
Speaker 1: Dolphins special teams coordinator, the challenges they have of replace
Speaker 1: seeing Durham Smith on special teams when he's not available.
Speaker 1: And then of course Chris Myrick, he made his NFL
Speaker 1: debut this last season. A nice, well rounded tight end
Speaker 1: room there for the Dolphins. Now should should the Dolphins
Speaker 1: explore the market. What's out there? Glad you asked, Let's
Speaker 1: go ahead and start with Pro Football focuses list of
Speaker 1: their top one hundred and fifty free agents. Plenty of
Speaker 1: good tight ends on this list. Hunter Henry checks in
Speaker 1: first at number ten overall out of the Chargers tight end.
Speaker 1: A great player who's missed a lot of games in
Speaker 1: his career, but it looked like he was back to
Speaker 1: his form with the Chargers after a c L tear.
Speaker 1: The first season off that big of an injury, sometimes
Speaker 1: takes some time to regroup and get back to the
Speaker 1: mental reps and the mental fortitude and the physical strengthening
Speaker 1: of that ligament, so he looked like he was back
Speaker 1: in full force. In John who Smith comes in at
Speaker 1: thirty two on the PFF Top one hundred and fifty
Speaker 1: free agents. One of my favorite players in the league,
Speaker 1: man just I can't imagine such a good young player
Speaker 1: who's integral to that play action heavy attack they use
Speaker 1: their in Tennessee gets out the door guy average is
Speaker 1: six point eight yards of yak. Remember this is a
Speaker 1: tight end six and a half yards or six point
Speaker 1: eight yards rather after the catch on average. Gerald Everett
Speaker 1: is next at forty nine. A move tight end, athletic
Speaker 1: guy that's average more than five yards per catch in
Speaker 1: his career with thirty broken tackles on one thirty catches.
Speaker 1: He's basically a broken tackle every I'm no mathematician, but
Speaker 1: what does that four and a quarter catches? Athletic and
Speaker 1: dangerous with a football in his hands. Grant comes in
Speaker 1: at sixty three. Of course, came out of retirement to
Speaker 1: be with his boy Tom down Tampa Bay. Signed that
Speaker 1: one year deal. We'll see where he winds up after
Speaker 1: the Super Bowl run. Jared Cook number seventy nine on
Speaker 1: this list. This guy has produced a ton in this league,
Speaker 1: thirty four years old, but still getting it done in
Speaker 1: the NFL. Anthony Firks or another Titans tight end at
Speaker 1: one twelve checks in next he moved all over that
Speaker 1: Arthur Smith formation once again. You've got h backs, inline blockers,
Speaker 1: guys flexed out wide, making you know, different formations out
Speaker 1: of similar personnel grouping. And he's big enough at two
Speaker 1: forty six to do some of that dirty work as well.
Speaker 1: So pass catcher well round the tight end there. Trey
Speaker 1: and also on this list. Dan Arland, also on this list,
Speaker 1: put a nice year with the Cardinals last year after
Speaker 1: coming over from the Saints. They round out a pretty
Speaker 1: solid group of potential free agents there on the Pro
Speaker 1: Football Focus Top one hundred and fifty free Agents one.
Speaker 1: Then we look ahead to the draft in April, and
Speaker 1: I don't think it's hyperbolic to call Kyle Pitts the
Speaker 1: best tight end prospect since at least Vernon Davis. He
Speaker 1: moves like a gazelle. He can burn good good sec
Speaker 1: cornerbacks on double moves, cornerbacks sec on double moves with
Speaker 1: suddenness deception, and just great overall route running. He could
Speaker 1: posterize anybody by winning with body position. He was a
Speaker 1: production machine at Florida and just an utter matchup nightmare
Speaker 1: for whichever defense is going to face him because of
Speaker 1: the ability to play all over the formation and just
Speaker 1: give mismatches to safety's corners, linebackers, you name it. And
Speaker 1: Pitts is going to be interesting in the sense that
Speaker 1: he challenges conventional norms. Like you usually say, the tight
Speaker 1: end position isn't one that comes off the board early, right,
Speaker 1: But some folks think that he is just the best
Speaker 1: non quarterback in this class in general, and that's really
Speaker 1: saying something. But as we mentioned conventional norms, there's nothing
Speaker 1: conventional at all about this kid. A lot of draft
Speaker 1: pundits are using wide receivers as their camp for him.
Speaker 1: He's gonna play all over someone's formation and make tons
Speaker 1: of plays in this league. He is the fourth ranked
Speaker 1: player on the Draft Networks big board. Up next among
Speaker 1: tight ends is Pat fire Muth friar Muth excuse me,
Speaker 1: who's thirty three on their big board. Another pass catching
Speaker 1: tight end, but he has the frame and mindset to
Speaker 1: really develop his ability as a blocker as well. At
Speaker 1: six ft five to fifty, he had a nice career
Speaker 1: at Penn State. Then Brevin Jordan is next for them
Speaker 1: at thirty six before a big drop in rankings on
Speaker 1: t d N and Kane's fans are familiar, you know.
Speaker 1: They're twitched up, athletic mismatch who can hit the big
Speaker 1: home run ball down the field and make big plays
Speaker 1: after the catch, the type of guy you can put
Speaker 1: on the field and really seamlessly transition from personnel groupings
Speaker 1: because of his ability to threaten the defense once again
Speaker 1: from multiple alignments. So he's thirty six, Breven Jordan out
Speaker 1: of Miami and then at ninety one. The next tight end.
Speaker 1: Their fourth tight end comes on their big Board rankings,
Speaker 1: Tommy Tremble out of Notre Dame, Hunter Long out of BC,
Speaker 1: Tray McKitty out of Georgia, and then Kenny yo Boa
Speaker 1: rounds out the tight ends and the top two hundred
Speaker 1: on the Draft Network. And that last name there, he
Speaker 1: played in the Senior Bowl. Kenny Yoboa out of Old Miss.
Speaker 1: I'm intrigued by his game six ft four, two fifty
Speaker 1: pounds and wouldn't you know it, athletic as all get out,
Speaker 1: exceptional body control and he produced big time for an
Speaker 1: Old Miss offense and did a lot of that working
Speaker 1: in line as well as down in the red zone.
Speaker 1: So a classic f type tight end there from what
Speaker 1: he showed on tape. So that's the tight end position.
Speaker 1: Let's go ahead and finish up the offense here on
Speaker 1: the offseason Preview, Part two of four parts here on
Speaker 1: the Drivetime podcast with me, your host, yours truly, Travis Wingfield.
Speaker 1: We're gonna finish up this with the offensive line before
Speaker 1: get to the defense later on down the line. Either
Speaker 1: this week or next week, we'll see what the podcast
Speaker 1: schedule looks like. But that's your tight end group. Let's
Speaker 1: go ahead and get inside to the beef the offensive
Speaker 1: line in area. We saw sweeping changes on this roster
Speaker 1: last season, and let's go ahead and start with the
Speaker 1: incumbents and the scheduled free agents. There's three of them,
Speaker 1: all unrestricted, Julian Davenport, Adam Panky, and Ted Carriss. And
Speaker 1: Panky got some snaps and heavy personnel last season, as
Speaker 1: did Davenport, but he also filled in for Austin Jackson
Speaker 1: when Jackson went down in that Seahawks game. And then
Speaker 1: Ted Carriss, who played every single snap this year for
Speaker 1: the Dolphins at center, and just one of my favorite
Speaker 1: interviews every time we got a chance to talk to him.
Speaker 1: Really nice and easy going guy, team captain for the
Speaker 1: Dolphins up front. He's scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent.
Speaker 1: As far as the guys under contract, the incumbents heading
Speaker 1: in the one. We know about Austin Jackson, the third
Speaker 1: youngest player in the National Football League last year, and
Speaker 1: we know about his story by now about how he
Speaker 1: didn't have the off season his final season at USC
Speaker 1: and he worked together, you know, get his weight back,
Speaker 1: at his strength back, and we saw the athletic build
Speaker 1: of Austin Jackson. I thought all year long with how
Speaker 1: quickly he gets into his past sets and how you
Speaker 1: can slide a protection away from him, because he does
Speaker 1: have that two way go type of responsibility where he's
Speaker 1: athletic enough and has the feet work the footwork it
Speaker 1: enough to handle a pass rusher threatening upfield coming back
Speaker 1: underneath where you don't have the inside help with the
Speaker 1: guard because you slide protection away to a possible blitz
Speaker 1: to the other side of the formation wherever it might be.
Speaker 1: Jackson has that makeup, of course, is what made him.
Speaker 1: That skill set, is what made him the eighteenth pick
Speaker 1: in the draft last year. So I can't wait to
Speaker 1: watch him develop and just get better and better. Sam
Speaker 1: is this is the case with Solomon Kinley, who had
Speaker 1: eight games last year with a goose egg in the
Speaker 1: past protection department as far as pressures allowed on the quarterback,
Speaker 1: and we talked all season long about how he would
Speaker 1: punish dudes and play through the echo of the whistle.
Speaker 1: Brandon Thorn, who did the podcast about a month ago,
Speaker 1: talked about punishing jumpers, how when a guy tries to
Speaker 1: jump up to back the ball down with the last
Speaker 1: scrimmage and affect your quarterbacks vision and passing lane. You
Speaker 1: put them on the ground, and Kinley did that routinely
Speaker 1: throughout the year. Fun tape to watch, and just a
Speaker 1: different built dude. He is so big and and gets
Speaker 1: that push in the run game and and can really
Speaker 1: be just dense in the passing game as well. It's
Speaker 1: really excited about the future of Solomon Kinley, as I
Speaker 1: am about Robert Hunt, who was a punishing mover in
Speaker 1: the run game and the back half of the season.
Speaker 1: I was also impressed by his refinement and pass protection.
Speaker 1: You've got the first rep of his career at right tackle.
Speaker 1: He played some heavy personnel, but his first actual pass
Speaker 1: set where he's not in there to go bowl somebody
Speaker 1: over at the line of scrimmage, he goes up against
Speaker 1: Eric Armstead and looks like a veteran handling a really
Speaker 1: long armed, strong, just dominant pass rusher there in Armstead.
Speaker 1: So those three guys growing and developing together and the
Speaker 1: way they kind of work together in terms of they're
Speaker 1: all very big, They've got loose hips and loose feet
Speaker 1: that can really help them get the second level and
Speaker 1: make those second level blocks and and get that push
Speaker 1: in the running game too, should go a long way,
Speaker 1: as they developed with rookie quarterback to a tongue of
Speaker 1: by Lowa, all four of those guys in the same
Speaker 1: class coming along together. Then we go to the veterans
Speaker 1: of the group and Eric Flowers, who prior to the injury,
Speaker 1: I thought he was one of the most consistent players
Speaker 1: along the offensive line all season long, played really good
Speaker 1: football people mover man. So many touchdown runs were off
Speaker 1: of his butt down those goal line shortyard and situations
Speaker 1: where the Dolphins would punch in over the goal line
Speaker 1: for six coming off that left guard spot with a
Speaker 1: lead block by someone like Christian Wilkins or something. But
Speaker 1: you always had Flowers and they're turning guys out. He
Speaker 1: also was fun to watch on tape because he would
Speaker 1: bounce up and go pick up his running back downfield
Speaker 1: after a big play. So a lot of energy hometown
Speaker 1: kid fund to root for. Jesse Davis captain in every
Speaker 1: sense of the word. Has played four positions and even
Speaker 1: cross trained this year at the fifth at center this
Speaker 1: past season, so that flexibility goes a long way, and
Speaker 1: he's been a reliable guy for this Dolphin's offensive line
Speaker 1: for a while, I mentioned Michael Dieter. He filled in
Speaker 1: in that Cincinnati game when injuries were just piling up. Flexible,
Speaker 1: durable technician. With the notes I have on Deeter, then
Speaker 1: we've got four futures contracts with Tyler Gothier, Jonathan Hubbard,
Speaker 1: Dervall Kei, Rose, Nato, Cameron tom an interior offensive lineman
Speaker 1: who spent time with the Saints last season, and we
Speaker 1: talked about on a previous edition of the Drivetime podcast.
Speaker 1: Here all the flexibility in those guys and their ability
Speaker 1: to play not just different positions, but different schemes are different,
Speaker 1: They're different skill sets, allow you to run a multiple
Speaker 1: scheme type of offense at takes advantage of the weekly matchup, right,
Speaker 1: That's something that Brian Flores is very big on. I
Speaker 1: think this group and of course we'll see what happens
Speaker 1: this offseason, but this group gives you a really good
Speaker 1: start as far as the ability to be flexible in
Speaker 1: your game plans. But also it allows you to be
Speaker 1: flexible and how you address the roster where you can
Speaker 1: take maybe the best offensive lineman you want if you
Speaker 1: choose to do that, regardless of position, because that's the beauty, right,
Speaker 1: of having a bunch of flexible guys that can play
Speaker 1: guard tackle or guys that can play center guard, is
Speaker 1: you can move them around and fill out the roster
Speaker 1: as you see fit that way and continue to get
Speaker 1: the guys that are versible, can do multiple things and
Speaker 1: play with those nasty main streaks on that offensive line.
Speaker 1: So the Pro Football Focus Top one hundred and fifty
Speaker 1: free agents ahead of the one off season, and first
Speaker 1: up on the offensive line list at the tackle position.
Speaker 1: As Trent Williams we know about that future Hall of
Speaker 1: Famer's career, Missen came back in and picked right up
Speaker 1: where he left off Taylor Moton out of Carolina the
Speaker 1: offensive tackle there for the Panthers. He is a really
Speaker 1: good scheme diverse, get some push in the running game,
Speaker 1: works in the passing game as well. Number fourteen on
Speaker 1: the Pro Football Focus Top one hundred and fifty free
Speaker 1: agents list, and you'll see a theme here of guys
Speaker 1: that are into their mid thirties that continue to play well.
Speaker 1: Like number thirty three Russell Okung. He's been getting it
Speaker 1: done forever, and that's just like a trend in the
Speaker 1: NFL nowadays, older tackles can play into their mid to
Speaker 1: late thirties, like Ala and Andre Villeneueva from Pittsburgh and
Speaker 1: PF Row, there's immense value in solid mid tier offensive
Speaker 1: lineman and that's exactly what Villaneueva has been throughout his career.
Speaker 1: He's created between seventy four and eighty two, and each
Speaker 1: of his last five seasons he ranks in the fifty
Speaker 1: four percent time pf pass blocking grade and forty six
Speaker 1: percent tile and pass blocking grade on true pass sets
Speaker 1: during that time, so they like him as a good
Speaker 1: free agent value by Darryl Williams is next on their list.
Speaker 1: He went from Carolina to Buffalo under Sean McDermott, had
Speaker 1: the best year of his career in twenty. Kelvin Beachum
Speaker 1: another example of a thirties tackle getting it done still
Speaker 1: today and then also in Pittsburgh, speaking of Villaneueva, Matt
Speaker 1: Feeler started for the Steelers last season and he can
Speaker 1: play either tackle position, so he has that swing tackle ability.
Speaker 1: And then Mike Remers, Cam Robinson, Cameron Fleming, and Tie
Speaker 1: and Secky round out the tackles on pffs top one
Speaker 1: hundred and fifty free agent list. But this year's draft
Speaker 1: class is absolutely legit and a lot like the receiver position,
Speaker 1: where these last two years have just been absolute boons
Speaker 1: of talent and fluxed into the NFL. That's the same
Speaker 1: deal with the offensive tackle group. Man last year was
Speaker 1: a great, great class. This year's looks just as good.
Speaker 1: And let's go ahead and start with the tackles in
Speaker 1: the draft, and a lot like the tight ends were
Speaker 1: all pretty much athletic freaks out there. These these tackles
Speaker 1: have such mean, finishing type of temperaments that I just
Speaker 1: love to watch. And it starts with Pine Suol out
Speaker 1: of Oregon. And this was a kid that was dominant
Speaker 1: his first day on campus as a true freshman. And
Speaker 1: he's still just twenty one years old, already six ft
Speaker 1: five three, well defined, just looks the part typewriter feet
Speaker 1: with you know, talked about the Austin Jackson ability to
Speaker 1: be athletic to get inside outside. This guy can do
Speaker 1: that as well. He is of that just rare, rare,
Speaker 1: nasty streak, is about to finish plays. He's a rare
Speaker 1: offensive tackle prospect. He's number two on the Draft Network's
Speaker 1: overall big board, number nine on their boarders their second
Speaker 1: offensive tackle, Christian Derris, Saw out of Virginia Tech and
Speaker 1: again finishing. You watch this guy get out in space
Speaker 1: at votech just bullying people two people at a time,
Speaker 1: getting his hands on multiple guys and making an impact
Speaker 1: that way. And he also is pretty good in past
Speaker 1: protection out there at left tackle as well. Rashawn Slater
Speaker 1: out of Northwestern number ten on their big board. He
Speaker 1: did not play this year like Piney Swool. Both of
Speaker 1: those guys opted out, but Daniel Jeremiah has Slater as
Speaker 1: his top offensive tackle in this year's class. He is
Speaker 1: really you know, that same, that same mold, like if
Speaker 1: you're gonna be top ten, you better be athletic and
Speaker 1: be able to move guys in the running game. That's
Speaker 1: the case for all three of these guys. Jalen Mayfield
Speaker 1: out of Michigan. Haven't gotten around to watching his tape yet.
Speaker 1: He's number twenty one on td n's big board. Dylan
Speaker 1: rad On's out of North Dakota State. We heard Jim
Speaker 1: Naggy talk about him on the podcast. We saw him
Speaker 1: have a great week at the Senior Bowl. His North
Speaker 1: Dakota State tape is they played one game this year,
Speaker 1: but you go back to he's ridiculous man like. There's
Speaker 1: instances where he's blocking guys three or four gaps across
Speaker 1: the formation, not even that's not even hyperbola like. He's
Speaker 1: doing it. He's taking guys from one hash mark to
Speaker 1: the other hash mark. He's getting it done in past protection,
Speaker 1: taking on, taking on two rushers at once with one
Speaker 1: hand on each guy like it's video game type of film.
Speaker 1: At North Dakota State. Jackson Carmen number thirty nine from Clemson.
Speaker 1: He's on this list. A massive, massive guy, six ft
Speaker 1: five five pounds, big wingspan. Liam Eichenberg out of Notre Dame.
Speaker 1: Difference different type of build their six ft six three
Speaker 1: oh five, but he's one of the more technically refined
Speaker 1: tackles in this class. Had a great week at the
Speaker 1: Senior Bowl. Tevin Jenkins number forty seven out of Oklahoma State.
Speaker 1: I just watched him in the day. My goodness, you
Speaker 1: want to talk about a bully out there? This guy.
Speaker 1: We talked about Robert Hunt's tape last year, how he
Speaker 1: was throwing guys all over the football field routine lee
Speaker 1: Tevin Jenkins as the exact same thing. Go check out
Speaker 1: his Texas tape against Joseph Assai, who was probably a
Speaker 1: first round draft pick at the edge spot. He had
Speaker 1: some great reps in that battle between those two guys.
Speaker 1: Go watch that tape. Speaking of Texas, Samuel Cozmi the tap.
Speaker 1: The tackle from Texas comes in at fifty one on
Speaker 1: their big board. He's he had a good, long career
Speaker 1: there at Texas. Same is true of Alex Leatherwood, number
Speaker 1: sixty one on their list. He played all four years
Speaker 1: at Alabama. Walker Little from Stanford, Spencer Brown from Northern Iowa,
Speaker 1: six eight and a half three, fourteen pound Spencer Brown,
Speaker 1: he played at the Senior Bowls well, and that length
Speaker 1: was on display throughout the course of that week. So
Speaker 1: this tackle classes, it's good, It's got different flavors. You
Speaker 1: might like, it's deep. I won't go into the rest
Speaker 1: of this this list here because there are some players
Speaker 1: I think they have an impact, you know, Day three
Speaker 1: type of pick guys on this list. But go ahead
Speaker 1: and check out the Draft network for yourself. Let's go
Speaker 1: ahead and move to the interior offensive line. We talked
Speaker 1: about the Dolphins incumbents on that group. Ted care scheduled
Speaker 1: to be a free agent, played every snap at center
Speaker 1: last season. Let's go ahead and look at the free
Speaker 1: agents to be top one fifty on PFF. And we'll
Speaker 1: go ahead and finish up this part two offseason preview
Speaker 1: edition here of the Drivetime podcast with the interior offensive line,
Speaker 1: and we start with number nine, Brandon Schurf from Washington.
Speaker 1: He was a free agent heading into last offseason, but
Speaker 1: he got hit with the franchise tag and then just
Speaker 1: went out there and killed it once again, as he
Speaker 1: has done his whole career. The former number five pick
Speaker 1: in the draft has lived up to that building every
Speaker 1: step of the way. And next on this list is
Speaker 1: another guy who was scheduled to hit free agency but
Speaker 1: got hit with the franchise tag before that could happen,
Speaker 1: and Joe Tuney out of New England. And both those guys,
Speaker 1: Sheriff and Tuney were bells of the ball last year,
Speaker 1: and that's kind of an idea of how free agency
Speaker 1: works in the NFL. This list looks great on paper
Speaker 1: right now, but it will get picked cleaned by franchise
Speaker 1: tags and extensions before we actually get to mid March.
Speaker 1: But Joe Tuney, five years in the league, has never
Speaker 1: missed a snap. He's as good and as durable as
Speaker 1: they come now. The twenty six player on their list
Speaker 1: is our next offensive lineman interior, and that's a center
Speaker 1: and Corey Linsley from Green Bay. One of the top
Speaker 1: centers in the NFL, and he had perhaps his best
Speaker 1: season in PF credited him with just four pressures allowed
Speaker 1: on four hundred and thirty seven pass blocking attempts this season.
Speaker 1: Yet another homegrown offensive lineman there with the Packers, and
Speaker 1: PF projects they do not let him leave. He's been
Speaker 1: a key part of that battery between he and Aaron Rodgers.
Speaker 1: The next interior offensive lineman is also a center and
Speaker 1: Patriots David Andrews. He checks in at sixty nine and
Speaker 1: it was just great to see him back on the
Speaker 1: field playing football again this year after missing the twenty
Speaker 1: nineteen season with blood clots in his lungs. But Pro
Speaker 1: Football Focus says he has one of the lowest negatively
Speaker 1: graded play percentages in the league, so basically, you're not
Speaker 1: gonna have plays blown up by David Andrews on the interior.
Speaker 1: That's a great trade to have to develop that consistent
Speaker 1: inside running game. Number seventy three on the list is
Speaker 1: a center, also, Austin Ryder from Kansas City, big year
Speaker 1: with the Chiefs last year, was not flagged and allowed
Speaker 1: just seven pressures all season at number eighties center Alex mac.
Speaker 1: You look in the dictionary, the NFL dictionary that is
Speaker 1: at zone scheme centers, and there's a picture in there
Speaker 1: of Alex Mack. He really hit his stride in that
Speaker 1: Shanahan Falcons offense for a number of years there. He
Speaker 1: was with Shanahan and Cleveland as well. And even though
Speaker 1: he's entering his age thirty six season, this guy can
Speaker 1: still play football. And then there's Ted care checking in here.
Speaker 1: He allowed just eleven pressures for the Dolphins this season
Speaker 1: per Pro Football Focus. We finish up here with the
Speaker 1: interior offensive line draft class and the Draft Network's top
Speaker 1: rated interior offensive lineman played tackle in college and Elijah
Speaker 1: Vera Tucker from USC. Now, people love his quickness, his
Speaker 1: ability to get out in space, his ability to kind
Speaker 1: of pop the hips and get leverage in the blocking
Speaker 1: game that way, a zone type of run blocking game
Speaker 1: that way, and he's a really really good player. Now
Speaker 1: Why at Davis out of Ohio State is next on
Speaker 1: their list at thirty one, and he is the opposite
Speaker 1: He's a maller a mean, guy's gonna mug you, run
Speaker 1: you over, and just get consistent push. He's got NFL bloodlines,
Speaker 1: plenty of snaps, lots of experience, kind of a plug
Speaker 1: and play type of guy. In Whyatt Davis and the
Speaker 1: same cod be said of number fifty eight on the
Speaker 1: list their third interior offensive lineman, It's Creed Humphrey out
Speaker 1: of Oklahoma, who there were so many times in that
Speaker 1: Oklahoma passing offense where he would like just have nothing
Speaker 1: else to do after the rep because he would lock
Speaker 1: out his guy so strong and so quickly that he
Speaker 1: didn't have any other work to do besides just stand
Speaker 1: there and hold him off. So at times it looks
Speaker 1: like he's just kind of chilling there, but he's just
Speaker 1: getting the job done consistently in the passing game. Josh Meyers,
Speaker 1: Ohio State number seventy two, plays interior offensive line there
Speaker 1: as well, on the center position six ft five three twelve,
Speaker 1: another one of these four year stars there at Ohio State.
Speaker 1: At they just produced guys on that offensive line. Landon
Speaker 1: Dickerson rounds out the players in the top one hundred
Speaker 1: on the t D end list. He tore his a
Speaker 1: c L at the end of the season. He had
Speaker 1: that great story where he got in the National Championship
Speaker 1: Game to to have a kneel down snap even though
Speaker 1: he had the torn a c l Just an absolute
Speaker 1: uses leadership out of Landon Dickerson. He was at the
Speaker 1: Senior Bowls bill of coaching guys up and doing things
Speaker 1: down there too. So Dickerson is a big time prospect.
Speaker 1: The next guy in the list is a player that
Speaker 1: I really kind of fell in love with his tape
Speaker 1: back in twenty nineteen. Trey Smith out of Tennessee. He's
Speaker 1: number one oh seven here on t d n's big board.
Speaker 1: But man, he is a mountain of a man, three
Speaker 1: thirty one pounds six five and a half and he
Speaker 1: will absolutely blow guys off the football. So big powerful
Speaker 1: body there. They have a couple more guys here in
Speaker 1: the top two hundred with Drake Jackson. We talked about
Speaker 1: him the Senior Bowl. He had a really good Senior
Speaker 1: Bowl week. You've also got Quinn Minors out of Wisconsin
Speaker 1: and Whitewater, who had a hell of a week at
Speaker 1: the Senior Bowl. Had the famous belly hanging out of
Speaker 1: his out of his jersey and just moving guys off
Speaker 1: the football. They showed a clip of him during the
Speaker 1: Senior Bowl. His off season training he does up in
Speaker 1: Canada where he's like chopping wood and and running around
Speaker 1: in the woods, just doing a bunch of high intensity stuff.
Speaker 1: So he's a fun guy to watch. Deante Brown was
Speaker 1: also with the Senior Bowl, number one fifty two here
Speaker 1: on the t d N Big Board. He's a just
Speaker 1: a mountain of a human being, three hundred and sixty
Speaker 1: four pounds there out of Alabama. So check out the
Speaker 1: Draft Network, check out Pro Football Focus. Plenty of off
Speaker 1: season content for you guys out there in the ether.
Speaker 1: We're gonna continue to cover that stuff for you here
Speaker 1: on the Drive Time podcast, gets some more guests on
Speaker 1: the off season, and continue to work towards getting you
Speaker 1: guys towards that new league year, towards free agency. We're
Speaker 1: gonna have that stuff covered for you wall to wall
Speaker 1: here on Drivetime and continue to get you good guests
Speaker 1: and good content here on the podcast in the meantime.
Speaker 1: As for my time, that's gonna be my time, you all.
Speaker 1: Please be sure to subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcast,
Speaker 1: leave us a rating, leave us a review, give me
Speaker 1: a follow On Twitter. It's at Wingfield, NFL. Follow the
Speaker 1: team at Miami Dolphins check out the fish Tank and
Speaker 1: the audible podcasts, and of course Miami dolphins dot com.
Speaker 1: Until next time, fins Up.