Speaker 1: What is up Dolphins, And welcome to the Draft Time Podcast.
Speaker 1: I am your host, Travis Winfield, And on today's show,
Speaker 1: I am fired up because we are breaking the format
Speaker 1: of the previous two weeks. Here on the show, we're
Speaker 1: talking all things roster evaluation, where things stand following the
Speaker 1: first couple of waves of free agency, with an eye
Speaker 1: towards the draft. Kind of a comprehensive look behind and
Speaker 1: look ahead on this edition of the podcast from the
Speaker 1: Baptist Health Studios inside the Baptist Health Training Complex.
Speaker 2: This is the Draft Time Podcast.
Speaker 1: So as free agency has wound down rather significantly, we
Speaker 1: are well past the first phase obviously, and maybe even
Speaker 1: past the second phase entering the third one here and
Speaker 1: the Dolphins kind of showed you their plan through their action.
Speaker 1: In my opinion, Let's spend mid market money on a
Speaker 1: on one guy really and then kind of go roll
Speaker 1: shopping the rest of the way. That player, of course,
Speaker 1: being James Daniels, the very very good guard, and that
Speaker 1: right there, I think signals something of a change in
Speaker 1: terms of philosophy because of the past thought that eight
Speaker 1: million dollars for a guard was just something you would
Speaker 1: not see in not just this offensive system, but the
Speaker 1: other offensive systems across the league the share our core philosophies,
Speaker 1: and I do think they looked at James and said,
Speaker 1: this guy is probably closer to a fifteen million dollar player.
Speaker 1: I mean, he's a better player than Aaron Banks and
Speaker 1: it's not even close to my opinion. And because of
Speaker 1: his injury situation last year, we can capitalize and get
Speaker 1: him a massive reduction of the cost. Which that's not
Speaker 1: a shift in organizational philosophy, because that has clearly been
Speaker 1: the mo of Chris Greer, who has told you in
Speaker 1: the past, like this league in sport has an injury
Speaker 1: rate of one hundred percent, and so I don't think
Speaker 1: they factor that as much as other teams do, for
Speaker 1: better or worse.
Speaker 2: More on that in a moment.
Speaker 1: We're not going to just make this a two minute podcast,
Speaker 1: but in the interest of sort of following essay style storytelling,
Speaker 1: assert your point, prove your point, reassert your point, get out,
Speaker 1: I think the best way to sort of blanket describe
Speaker 1: the Dolphins free agency class was one of prudence. We
Speaker 1: had Daniel Jeremiah, the Bootleg guys EJ and Brett on
Speaker 1: the show. We've discussed major talking points from our talking
Speaker 1: points rather from major podcast and what was the prevailing
Speaker 1: thought about this year's class that it was lacking real
Speaker 1: firepower up at the top. And by the time the
Speaker 1: new league year even started, reported signings were flooding in
Speaker 1: and re signings and has essentially wiped out more than
Speaker 1: half of the nfl dot Com Top one oh one
Speaker 1: free agents before the new league year even started. I mean,
Speaker 1: we saw players who have been relatively middle of the
Speaker 1: pack among their position in terms of production cash in
Speaker 1: in the top of the mark deals. And that's that's
Speaker 1: what has happened in the past. And it used to
Speaker 1: be like really quality talent that would go towards like
Speaker 1: the top of the market. Now you're starting to see
Speaker 1: like adequate starters get cornerstone money. It's it's kind of crazy,
Speaker 1: you know. James Daniels was the marquee signing right we
Speaker 1: went over this last year. Free agency really should be
Speaker 1: viewed in the same prism of the draft. You're never
Speaker 1: going to bat a thousand, but the Dolphins hit on
Speaker 1: the multi year guys, the Jordan Brooks, the John new Smith,
Speaker 1: the Aaron Brewer. Where you had some one year guys
Speaker 1: like Jonathan Harris, Neville Gallimore, Jack Driscoll that didn't make
Speaker 1: the team, and you have to approach it accordingly. And
Speaker 1: a lot of these contracts the Dolphins signed to one
Speaker 1: year deals probably aren't going to work out. But as
Speaker 1: long as you hit on the ones you invest in,
Speaker 1: you get your own internally evaluations right, and you draft well,
Speaker 1: you can afford to spend, you know, or go acquire
Speaker 1: ten free agent contracts that are one year deals, and
Speaker 1: if half of them work out, then you can re
Speaker 1: you know, re up them, and that's great, But that's
Speaker 1: a departure from my point. My point is that I
Speaker 1: feel like James Daniel was a really good value get
Speaker 1: for the Dolphins. I think he's a perfect scheme fit
Speaker 1: that perfectly compliments Aaron Brewer and improves the run game
Speaker 1: and makes your entire protection scheme better because of his
Speaker 1: intelligence and his skill set. You signed Daniels to be
Speaker 1: a starter. That's the too long, didn't read version rate there.
Speaker 1: I think that applies to Willy Gay too. I mean, explosive,
Speaker 1: can beat blocks in multiple ways. Plays with this temperament
Speaker 1: and fire gives you two incredibly athletic modern day linebackers
Speaker 1: who are capable of playing twenty yards downfield and coverage
Speaker 1: or rushing the quarterback, and the value that provides in
Speaker 1: this defense that is built around that that has seen
Speaker 1: the Baltimore Ravens, which is the kind of offshoot of
Speaker 1: this defense, right build their linebacker corps around two All
Speaker 1: pros R two guys and Patrick Queen and Rokwan Smith
Speaker 1: that are thought of as top ten players to their position.
Speaker 1: I think Miami's right in that frame of mind now,
Speaker 1: although Willie Gay's more of a projection in terms of
Speaker 1: how he fits in this defense. But well, I feel
Speaker 1: confident I'll be proven right in that. Outside of that,
Speaker 1: to me, it was pretty role based, and you could
Speaker 1: even say Willy Gay was role based too, because you
Speaker 1: kind of filled the linebacker room out with guys that
Speaker 1: have specific traits and skills. I think I probably think
Speaker 1: higher of Willy Gay than most pundits out there. I
Speaker 1: just think the athletic ability, explosion, temperament, play style, and
Speaker 1: modern skill set is really going to click for this
Speaker 1: defense and really take off in what he's asked to do.
Speaker 1: But talk about the role based approach, we talked about
Speaker 1: finding ways to be better off the edge blocking in
Speaker 1: the running game. Pharaoh Brown and Nick Westbrook Akine are
Speaker 1: two of the best blockers at their position in the
Speaker 1: entire league. I mean it's Farroh. Brown is an extra
Speaker 1: offensive lineman that can catch the football, and Nick Westbrook
Speaker 1: Akine is a guy that can really expand what you
Speaker 1: do in situational football down the red zone, third and short.
Speaker 1: He can make your personnel groupings flexible because of his
Speaker 1: ability to attach and block or beat one on one coverage.
Speaker 1: Not a lot of guys that are number two and
Speaker 1: three cornerbacks in this league I think can handle westbrook
Speaker 1: a Kine all on their own. He's a very crafty
Speaker 1: route runner and a big body and a good catch
Speaker 1: radius and good strong hands. We talked about getting more
Speaker 1: athletic on defense. You know, if he melafon Wu is
Speaker 1: a modern day chess piece and Ashton Davis has really
Speaker 1: good range in the back end, will he click here
Speaker 1: and make an impact.
Speaker 2: We'll see.
Speaker 1: But that is definitely the calling card of his game,
Speaker 1: even if I don't think it's, you know, a proven
Speaker 1: asset at this point, and with melafon Wu obviously he's
Speaker 1: far from that, given the fact that he has missed
Speaker 1: like half the career games. But I wrote that before
Speaker 1: the Willie Gay signings, So yeah, go ahead and amplify
Speaker 1: that ten times because Willie is, pound for pound, one
Speaker 1: of the best athletes in the game.
Speaker 2: He's a dog. And between those.
Speaker 1: Three guys, you've accomplished that in some form and fashion.
Speaker 1: You needed to find someone for that. Anthony Walker based
Speaker 1: down role with his departure to Tampa Bay, right, and
Speaker 1: he was elevated into a role beyond that when David
Speaker 1: Long flamed out kind of spectacularly. I mean, he went
Speaker 1: from being a really good linebacker to a guy that
Speaker 1: couldn't play anymore. And I don't know that he'll find
Speaker 1: a team this year. So the plan almost kind of
Speaker 1: changed right away on you. And that's the nature of
Speaker 1: the league, right And with kJ Britt, obviously we'll have
Speaker 1: you know, camp and plenty of things to track in
Speaker 1: terms of who plays where and how much. But BRIT's
Speaker 1: tape tells me that he can definitely be the enforcer
Speaker 1: in the running game and a bit of a tone setter,
Speaker 1: a temperature changer. He plays that style and there has
Speaker 1: been you know, I've talked to all these guys except
Speaker 1: for if he melafon.
Speaker 2: Will And just for your guys.
Speaker 1: For transparency's sake, we didn't get Iffy on the show
Speaker 1: because he just wasn't here when our content team was
Speaker 1: ready for him.
Speaker 2: So that's why it didn't happen.
Speaker 1: There's no mysterya around that we just couldn't make it
Speaker 1: happen with this schedule.
Speaker 2: Back to this programming.
Speaker 1: Here you watch Larry Borham's tape, and when there were struggles,
Speaker 1: I thought they were largely things outside of the scope
Speaker 1: of what the Dolphins would ask him to do schematically,
Speaker 1: and the things they do emphasize schematically was where Larry's
Speaker 1: best tape was. Again, because I get accused of this
Speaker 1: all the time, I'm not sitting here saying this is
Speaker 1: going to tell you this guy's going to be a
Speaker 1: starting left guard and a great player. I can just
Speaker 1: see the thought and the thinking and the fit. That's
Speaker 1: all I'm telling you on that topic. Alexander Madison has
Speaker 1: been pretty consistent his entire career and brings more of
Speaker 1: that hammer mentality. And I just like the way he
Speaker 1: can kind of push piles and keep his feet chopping
Speaker 1: when it gets clogged up. That's why his conversion rate
Speaker 1: is very good. He also provides a third down presence
Speaker 1: with good pass protection, receiving skills, and that short yard ability,
Speaker 1: which again on those situational elements, which this Dolphins team
Speaker 1: can put up four hundred yards pretty much anytime they
Speaker 1: want to. Right like that, They're a consistently explosive offense.
Speaker 1: But when they've had issues, it's been in situational football.
Speaker 1: And I realize that a lot of these signings are
Speaker 1: to me signal a cure towards third and short, towards
Speaker 1: red zone, towards the critical eight or twelve plays over
Speaker 1: the course of a sixty minute game that decide the
Speaker 1: winner or decide you know, the massive points swings, and
Speaker 1: the cumulative result of those moments is what decides the
Speaker 1: winner in the games. And look, I know it wasn't
Speaker 1: a great run for Zach Wilson with the Jets, but
Speaker 1: you can't tell me the quarterback rooms not vastly improved
Speaker 1: with him in it. Now. It's a low bar because
Speaker 1: last year's quarterback, besides Tua, was not a NFL caliber,
Speaker 1: But Zach Wilson, I think, is a little bit over
Speaker 1: that that threshold, that line of demarcation. Ryan Stonehouse is
Speaker 1: a weapon already burns his tape intrigues the hell out
Speaker 1: of me. But of course that's the injury aspect to
Speaker 1: that to him as well, which makes you know, for
Speaker 1: a low risk, high reward potential. And since you've got
Speaker 1: some clear fits and starters from this group, you invest
Speaker 1: a couple of players like that, and if you hit
Speaker 1: on two or even one of them, then you feel
Speaker 1: like you've got a pretty good class because you've you've
Speaker 1: got two like surefire starters, you've got four or five
Speaker 1: role guys that give you critical important snaps every Sunday.
Speaker 1: And oh, by the way, we hit on ifimlafon Wu in,
Speaker 1: you know, and maybe Zach Wilson like cool. Now we've
Speaker 1: got like a four or five guys that can play.
Speaker 1: And we've got those four or five role players. Now
Speaker 1: we can go into the draft and get some more
Speaker 1: cornerstones for the future. So I think you can extrapolate
Speaker 1: the those thoughts and say, here's collectively some takeaways and
Speaker 1: things the Miami Dolphins got better at in this free
Speaker 1: agency class, starting with the running game. And if you
Speaker 1: guys listen to the film recap pods last year, and
Speaker 1: I guess just the general sentiment about Devon a Chan,
Speaker 1: you know, that I don't think that the role that
Speaker 1: he played last year suits what he does best. I
Speaker 1: think there's vision issues. I think there's take what's there,
Speaker 1: you know, the maturity of just taking the yards that
Speaker 1: are there. I think there's severe pass protection issues, and
Speaker 1: all of those things combined to me says that Jalen
Speaker 1: Wright should get more run and that a Chan should
Speaker 1: get more antillary snaps on the perimeter as a receiver.
Speaker 1: But I do think that the plan is for Jay
Speaker 1: Dubbs to kind of be that physical presence alongside a
Speaker 1: Chan and that kind of thunder to Devon's lightning, which
Speaker 1: you know, and Jalen's got no slouch. He's no slouch
Speaker 1: in the speed department either, But I think you have
Speaker 1: to find a good way to kind of, you know,
Speaker 1: combine those two elements to make the ultimate, you know,
Speaker 1: one two punch. And you think about j dub as
Speaker 1: a kind of tones that are a physical back, which
Speaker 1: yet I think he is. With bigger body acquisitions like
Speaker 1: James Daniels three twenty seven, like Larry Boram three thirty five,
Speaker 1: who only add to your sheer mass while maintaining your
Speaker 1: athletic ability on the offensive line, shoot you got better
Speaker 1: than what you were a year ago because Liam and
Speaker 1: Rob weren't as big as those two guys. And that's
Speaker 1: assuming that Borham even starts, which I don't think he will.
Speaker 1: I hope he's not. That's not the plan. But if
Speaker 1: you have those two guys in for Liam and for
Speaker 1: Rob Jones, you're vastly more athletic, and you're bigger. I
Speaker 1: think that makes you more amenable amenable now to the
Speaker 1: various run schemes. Aside from just running the ball to
Speaker 1: the perimeter and trying to outskied scheme teams with some
Speaker 1: of those outside runs, I think the ability to line
Speaker 1: up on third and one when everyone knows the dive
Speaker 1: is coming and you can still grind out two yards,
Speaker 1: I would feel better about that. And this is getting
Speaker 1: really inside baseball and probably shouldn't even say this, but
Speaker 1: there was a report that Dolphins moved off of their
Speaker 1: head of analytics, and if you go to his blog
Speaker 1: and look at some of the core philosophies, it was
Speaker 1: that third and one is actually a better shotgun. Is
Speaker 1: better to be out a shotgun than it is line
Speaker 1: up under center, which I get the concept of it,
Speaker 1: but I think you got to change that philosophy and
Speaker 1: be able to smash mouth and play more downhill football.
Speaker 1: Not to mention, continuing that point, there were things on
Speaker 1: Nick westbrook Akine and Faroal Brown's tape that I think
Speaker 1: really opens up your run game menu but doesn't take
Speaker 1: away from your ability to threaten with the passing game.
Speaker 1: By having them on the field again, especially down the
Speaker 1: red zone, I think your offensive personnel grouping has become
Speaker 1: much more expansive and unpredictable, and those two things have
Speaker 1: been kind of one thing holding you back at various
Speaker 1: points offensively. When you've got when we got our quarterback
Speaker 1: out there, we move the ball, we score points. But
Speaker 1: the short yardage stuff and then the occasional bad red
Speaker 1: zone game. If you just improve your proficiency, there a
Speaker 1: little tiny bit that can be the difference in you know,
Speaker 1: a game several points a game, wins and losses, and
Speaker 1: with short yardage. The same story on defense, As you
Speaker 1: maintain possessions longer and help those guys out, it's just
Speaker 1: a ripple effect that makes your entire team better. Defensively,
Speaker 1: I thought it was very important to get faster, more explosive,
Speaker 1: more athletic, getting JP and Beechub helps that as much
Speaker 1: as anybody can, but melafon Wu really exemplifies that. Again,
Speaker 1: if you can ever stay healthy, which I'm not going
Speaker 1: to bet on. Artie Burns is a crapshoot, but he
Speaker 1: also satisfies that with length and athletic ability. I also
Speaker 1: thought they had to get a lot meaner and tougher,
Speaker 1: and I think kJ Britt brings that in the same
Speaker 1: way that Daniels and Brown and Westbrook Akine and Pharaoh
Speaker 1: Brown do on offense. And that was before Willie Gay arrived,
Speaker 1: just one of the best pure athletes in the game.
Speaker 1: And then there are a lot of options in this
Speaker 1: draft that do all this too, but we'll save that
Speaker 1: for later on. But yeah, man, getting getting Gay and
Speaker 1: Britt and having them in that chair across from me
Speaker 1: on drive time, like you can feel it. You can
Speaker 1: feel the impact there. So that's sort of the ten
Speaker 1: thousand foot view of the class. And I think this
Speaker 1: team got better. And then let's go ahead and round
Speaker 1: it out with what I will call each player's calling
Speaker 1: card and their flaw, and we'll do that in the
Speaker 1: next segment here we'll get to more draft stuff where
Speaker 1: the team got better, where they got worse. We'll take
Speaker 1: a look at the color coding roster board once again.
Speaker 1: All of that next here on the Draft Time podcast,
Speaker 1: your host Travis Wingfield, brought to you by AutoNation.
Speaker 2: Comprehensive free agent review in the books.
Speaker 1: Let's go ahead and talk about each individual and kind
Speaker 1: of get you a recap here. Now, I've watched a
Speaker 1: lot of tape on all these guys, so over the
Speaker 1: last two weeks of podcasts, this has all been said.
Speaker 1: So if you're an everyday listener, just kind of a refresher.
Speaker 1: For those that are new to the show, go back
Speaker 1: and check those podcasts out as well. And let's go
Speaker 1: ahead and just kind of go in order here of
Speaker 1: how I like these sightings. Number one James Daniels. Actually
Speaker 1: that's not true. I put a few of them up top,
Speaker 1: but this kind of it gets wonky after the first three.
Speaker 1: Just FYI, James Daniels opens up the run game menu,
Speaker 1: improves your offensive line communication, adds an element of nasty
Speaker 1: an elite athlete who gives us legit center option in
Speaker 1: the events of happens to Aaron Brewer, which this team
Speaker 1: has not had ever under Mike McDaniel's always been Connor
Speaker 1: Williams or Aaron Brewer and then bust. Now, the downside
Speaker 1: coming off a major injury is the only downside for
Speaker 1: me with James Daniels.
Speaker 2: This guy is an absolute stud.
Speaker 1: Willie Gay Junior, the modern day linebacker Mold gives you
Speaker 1: two guys that are both so adept at being amenable
Speaker 1: to personnel changes in versatility. The temperament is freaking awesome.
Speaker 1: He loves football, It's all he cares about. I think
Speaker 1: the way he creates even more flexibility in your rush
Speaker 1: and sim pressure packages is absolutely ideal. He is my
Speaker 1: favorite fit on that side of the ball and my
Speaker 1: favorite acquisition beyond James Daniels. Now, he has been known
Speaker 1: to have a missed assignment that produces a big play. Again,
Speaker 1: we covered that on his film study podcast last week.
Speaker 1: Safety i Fatu melifon Wu is a three level defender
Speaker 1: with elite pass rushing.
Speaker 2: Ability as a defensive back.
Speaker 1: His instinct on the back end to make game changing
Speaker 1: plays and mask the defensive call until the ball is
Speaker 1: snapped are absolutely positives in his game is the tape
Speaker 1: is great, but he's available half the time. Thirty seven
Speaker 1: games in four years. That's two out of four seasons,
Speaker 1: hopefully that changes, but to expect anything different is kind
Speaker 1: of silly, right Laman Larry Borum playing in space, whether
Speaker 1: it's at guard or tackle, the way he can reach
Speaker 1: a nine technique as a tackle or a five technique
Speaker 1: as a guard, that fit seems obviously clear to me.
Speaker 1: Now the downside is when he's in true pass protection
Speaker 1: reps at tackle, it's not good, to put it politely,
Speaker 1: it's better at guard, but not great. But if you
Speaker 1: have one of those in your offensive line, if you
Speaker 1: have one deficiency in your pass pro you can usually
Speaker 1: cover that with guys around him. And you know, I
Speaker 1: keep seeing this stuff about like the Dolphins are and
Speaker 1: search for a left tackle, like, no, they're not. Patrick
Speaker 1: Paul's a left tackle if t Stead's not back, so
Speaker 1: go ahead and put a just scratch that off the
Speaker 1: list right away. But that with the concept that no
Speaker 1: scheme and there's some fans that do not want to
Speaker 1: hear this, but it's the truth. No scheme mitigates that
Speaker 1: as much as this one does. And so please don't
Speaker 1: take that as me saying it's completely irrelevant. I'm not
Speaker 1: saying that you can be me. Travis Wingfield plass blocking
Speaker 1: and makes the offense okay. But every time we've gone
Speaker 1: down multiple scores, you see that show up, and that's
Speaker 1: when those games get really ugly.
Speaker 2: Right.
Speaker 1: It's why we don't just lose, we get blown out
Speaker 1: of the water. In my opinion, That and going for
Speaker 1: every fourth down against offenses like Buffalo when you're behind
Speaker 1: and on short fields like it just all accumulates into
Speaker 1: these forty eight to twenty scores that you get in
Speaker 1: these big time games. But if you ignore the way
Speaker 1: the scheme helps, I think you're also short changing this
Speaker 1: discussion the way you'd call me out for saying his
Speaker 1: pass blocking is entirely irrelevant, which again I'm not. So
Speaker 1: that's the downside, but there is some hope that with
Speaker 1: how you can maybe mitigate that downside of his game
Speaker 1: through what you do best and your quarterback's biggest strength,
Speaker 1: quarterback Zach Wilson.
Speaker 2: It's the upside, right, the growth with the Broncos.
Speaker 1: I think if it was a tangible thing, if you
Speaker 1: get more of that, if you get him in a
Speaker 1: system that accentuates his skills, then you might have something
Speaker 1: to play with here, and not just for a backup
Speaker 1: this year, maybe a long term solution you know down
Speaker 1: the road. Literally haven't seen it. That's the downside. The
Speaker 1: downside is the tape with the Jets when he played
Speaker 1: regular season football was abhorrent. It was terrible football. We
Speaker 1: have to see it before we believe it. First, right
Speaker 1: wide receiver Nick Westbrook aikine. I think it's the combination
Speaker 1: of being able to get vertical as a route runner
Speaker 1: but also run you over if you don't buckle your
Speaker 1: chin strap in the running game. And that's before we
Speaker 1: even get to some of the asks of him in
Speaker 1: the running game. You can copy and paste some of
Speaker 1: the stuff you did with Julian Hill, which changes your
Speaker 1: personnel grouping right and who the defense has to match
Speaker 1: that with. They have to go cornerback over linebacker because
Speaker 1: you can't put freakin' Who's a good example, You can't
Speaker 1: put Terrell Bernard from the Buffalo Bills on Nick Westbrook
Speaker 1: aa kinne win that matchup. You could if it was
Speaker 1: Julian Hill and be totally fine with it. And then
Speaker 1: I also love his attention to detail as a route runner.
Speaker 1: I'm just a big fan of his game. The downside,
Speaker 1: he's not insanely explosive or dangerous as a runner with
Speaker 1: the football, but for three million dollars a year, I
Speaker 1: am more than okay with those concessions. Safety Ashton Davis.
Speaker 1: The ball production and range in the post stands out
Speaker 1: eight interceptions on one thousand and fifty snaps. I mean
Speaker 1: that's eight interceptions in a full season of starting football.
Speaker 1: But he hasn't been able to do that because the
Speaker 1: rest of his game hasn't been good enough. And that's
Speaker 1: the downside is the closer he gets to the line
Speaker 1: of scrimmage in coverage or against the run, the more
Speaker 1: I feel he gets stuck. And I don't think is
Speaker 1: a great tackler either. Linebacker kJ Britt is a B
Speaker 1: gap to B gap patrol man with attitude, a preparation
Speaker 1: plan that gives him a leg up on most snaps,
Speaker 1: and I think can rub off on the players around
Speaker 1: him in a very positive way. The downside, he's very
Speaker 1: limited in coverage and as a blitzer, so he is
Speaker 1: a kind of a one trick type of pony. Running
Speaker 1: Back Alexander Madison's balanced through contact to generate linear yardge
Speaker 1: accumulation layah. That's a mcdanielism for those keeping score at home,
Speaker 1: And I think his best traits are his ability to
Speaker 1: turn stalemate blocks into positive yards and then his ability
Speaker 1: to hammer on short yardage, combined with the pass protection
Speaker 1: and receiving skill sets to be an option on third downs,
Speaker 1: especially third and three or less. Like I think about
Speaker 1: the possible ability of having him and a Chan in
Speaker 1: the game on third down, giving the defense a two
Speaker 1: back set, which impacts how they call their defense, and
Speaker 1: then a Chan flexes out and who the hell knows
Speaker 1: if you're going to run a pass play with three
Speaker 1: sub four to four receivers or a two hundred and
Speaker 1: twenty pounds back up the a gap, who's going to
Speaker 1: be tough to get to the ground. The downside, he's
Speaker 1: limited athletically and he's not really special in one particular area.
Speaker 1: He's just kind of a guy, which is why you
Speaker 1: have him as a third number three back tight end.
Speaker 2: Pharaoh Brown.
Speaker 1: I think that his goal of being the best why
Speaker 1: blocking tight end in the league is incredibly attainable. You
Speaker 1: can you can't watch his tape and come away with
Speaker 1: anything other than WHOA that was impressive? Like he is
Speaker 1: a people mover and an exceptional exceptional pass blocking tight end.
Speaker 1: I am curious to see him in camp because the
Speaker 1: twenty twenty three receiving was good enough. In twenty four
Speaker 1: I didn't think it was I just thought he was
Speaker 1: limited athletically.
Speaker 2: But that's a few more. There's a few more of
Speaker 2: those guys now right.
Speaker 1: Seems like they are kind of rounding out a team
Speaker 1: that already had premier athletes all over the field with
Speaker 1: more kind of ass kickers. Ryan Stonehouse booming league leg
Speaker 1: led the league in punting distance twice, gets it out
Speaker 1: pretty quick as well. The downside, I don't have concerns.
Speaker 1: I think it's his directional kicking, hangtime. I think all
Speaker 1: that stuff is a farce. We have one of the
Speaker 1: best punters in the NFL, that's my takeaway. And then
Speaker 1: cornerback already burns the length to press up and play
Speaker 1: any of the three corner positions, impress, but also process
Speaker 1: from off coverage. That versatility is what drives this defense.
Speaker 1: So it's a low risk, high reward hopefully. I like
Speaker 1: the tape, not as much as like Mela Fanoo's tape,
Speaker 1: but he also hasn't played more than three hundred snap
Speaker 1: since twenty eighteen, so this is a very very long shot.
Speaker 1: What still needs to be done on this team. They
Speaker 1: have to round out the defensive line rotation. But I
Speaker 1: think you're seeing kind of the emphasis on the edge
Speaker 1: group and how that kind of funnels the defense more.
Speaker 1: And the linebacker position, where the defensive tackle spot you
Speaker 1: have one player like Zach Seeler, and then the bill
Speaker 1: last ye was kind of thinking Harris Gallimore, all those
Speaker 1: guys that didn't make the team. It wound up being
Speaker 1: Benito in hand and Kalaeis. I think you try to
Speaker 1: get Kalayis back is hard as you can, but Nita
Speaker 1: comes back obviously, but you're probably still looking at the
Speaker 1: first or second round there to find a defensive tackle
Speaker 1: in this group. And like Kenneth, Grant just basically makes
Speaker 1: it all good. Make an offensive line move that bumps
Speaker 1: everybody down, so a starter. I guess to to sign
Speaker 1: a left guard would be one of my things. I
Speaker 1: think Will Hernandez makes a bunch of sense there. Identify
Speaker 1: a legit number two cornerback. I don't think that there's
Speaker 1: anybody here, though I might, you know, that might wind
Speaker 1: up being the approach, and I you know, hopefully that
Speaker 1: cam or Storm or Ethan emerges, but I don't like
Speaker 1: that idea so much, I think you need another safety.
Speaker 1: I don't think that Davis is a starter, and you
Speaker 1: can't count on Iffy. This is a great year to
Speaker 1: get a contributing safety on day two, maybe early day three,
Speaker 1: a Billy Bowman, a Lathan Ransom, or even in the
Speaker 1: first round with you know, Malachai Starks or Nicky Man worry.
Speaker 1: Hell if you got Iman Worried to go with Iffy
Speaker 1: Brooks and Willie Gay my gosh.
Speaker 2: And that's pretty much it.
Speaker 1: I mean, maybe you know offensive line depth right on
Speaker 1: the defensive line rotation, a number two cornerback, another safety.
Speaker 2: I feel pretty good about that. Let's go ahead and
Speaker 2: pick it.
Speaker 1: Up here and talk about where this team is better
Speaker 1: and where this team is worse. We'll do that next
Speaker 1: as well as my overall roster color coordination board on
Speaker 1: the Draft Time podcast. Your host Travis Wingfield brought to
Speaker 1: you by autoonation. So you're probably wondering, Hey, Travis, where
Speaker 1: are we better and where are we worse? We'll I'll
Speaker 1: go ahead and tell you about it right now. So
Speaker 1: the quarterback room better. I think Zach Wilson is way
Speaker 1: better than anything we had last year by a long shot.
Speaker 1: Even though I don't think it's a good player per se.
Speaker 1: I think it's a huge upgrade over what you had.
Speaker 1: More of an indictment on the twenty twenty four room
Speaker 1: than a positive thing about the twenty twenty five room.
Speaker 1: But there is something they didn't have last couple of years,
Speaker 1: and that is upside In the quarterback room and running back,
Speaker 1: it's worse. I think going from Raheem Moster to Alexander
Speaker 1: Madison's a downgrade. But also you got to think about
Speaker 1: that position being more role based now in the event
Speaker 1: of an injury. I do wish we did have Heam
Speaker 1: available as a possible number one to step in there,
Speaker 1: but I don't think he was going to be content
Speaker 1: as a guy waiting for an injury to get his reps.
Speaker 1: So I think we're a little bit worse there. We'll
Speaker 1: see what happens in the draft. At receiver better, I mean,
Speaker 1: we need Reagan Waddle to be Reagan Waddle again, because
Speaker 1: you know that's what makes this off makes this offense work, right.
Speaker 1: But Nick Westbrook Akine is the best number three we've
Speaker 1: had in the Mike McDaniel era. And if you want
Speaker 1: to say Travish, you were way wrong about OBJ and
Speaker 1: can't be trusted there.
Speaker 2: That's fair.
Speaker 1: That was a big miss I had last year. Plus,
Speaker 1: Malik Washington is now pro ready, whereas last year it
Speaker 1: took him about half the year to get involved. Tight end,
Speaker 1: Faraoh Brown is a much better player than Durham smyth.
Speaker 1: I doubt we're done at the position, but that's that's
Speaker 1: a huge upgrade. Much better off there, offensive line better,
Speaker 1: James Daniels is significantly There's a guy in the beat
Speaker 1: that says that it's on an upgrade. I don't know
Speaker 1: what he's doing, but James Daniels is a significantly better
Speaker 1: guard than what we've had the last year. I mean,
Speaker 1: and also left guard post Isaiah win injury in twenty
Speaker 1: twenty three. Tron Armstead for Paul is likely to be
Speaker 1: a regression. But if Paul takes a step in play
Speaker 1: seventeen games, that could be a wash because seventeen games
Speaker 1: of good tackle play versus twelve or thirteen games of
Speaker 1: really good tackle play to me is about the same.
Speaker 1: I think Larry borum Is as a guard is better
Speaker 1: than last year's starters as well, by a decent margin.
Speaker 1: Two And again I highly doubt we're done there, but
Speaker 1: the offensive line is better today than it was in
Speaker 1: December of twenty twenty four. Defensive tackle worse, but if
Speaker 1: Kalayas Campbell comes back, it's basically a wash. I do
Speaker 1: think this position will get a high draft pick and
Speaker 1: possibly a double dip if not bringing back Kalayis as
Speaker 1: one of the answers there as well. So we're at
Speaker 1: defensive tackle and running back is worse. Quarterback receiver, tight end,
Speaker 1: offensive lines better, the edge is significantly better. It was
Speaker 1: hard to get worse because last year the injuries deeply
Speaker 1: did that key spot healthy Jalen Phillips and Bradley Chubb.
Speaker 1: Chopp is now pro ready and ready to be a
Speaker 1: freaking monster this year. Grayson Murphy coming back, Mo Kamara
Speaker 1: may be ready to contribute next year. I think one
Speaker 1: of those two guys will give you positive play in
Speaker 1: twenty twenty five. It's just kind of how I feel
Speaker 1: about the law of averages and two guys whose tapes
Speaker 1: I liked. We're talking about adding two starters, quality starters
Speaker 1: at that point in place of Ogba and Tyas Bowser.
Speaker 1: I think that you've successfully achieved all those things at linebacker.
Speaker 1: So much better, Probably the biggest upgrade on the entire roster,
Speaker 1: maybe the best linebacker room in the league. It was
Speaker 1: better before wille Gay got here. Now you just added
Speaker 1: a quality starter on top of that. Tindall bumps back
Speaker 1: to maybe a fringe roster guy. I mean, you're four
Speaker 1: deep here. I love this position group. At cornerback it's worse.
Speaker 1: You have to find a Kendall Fuller. I imagine we're
Speaker 1: looking at a pretty high draft pick here. I think
Speaker 1: Judaea Barron from Texas is an instant starter. I think
Speaker 1: Savon Revel from ECU is an instant starter. I think
Speaker 1: Will Johnson would be in that category as well. But
Speaker 1: I am worried about hoping it's one of the incumbents
Speaker 1: taking that number two job. I don't trust the idea
Speaker 1: of like let's just see what happens with Cam Smith,
Speaker 1: Storm Duck and Ethan Bonner. It just it has to
Speaker 1: improve upon that. You can't go into the draft or
Speaker 1: into the training camp with that philosophy. At safety, it's
Speaker 1: better now. Not that I think that we're great there
Speaker 1: or that it's set, but that was the worst say
Speaker 1: you play in the entire NFL last year. Names aside
Speaker 1: I think Jordan Poyer was legit one of the worst
Speaker 1: players in football. I lost track of all the missed
Speaker 1: assignments and miss tackles by Javon Holland, so you know,
Speaker 1: there was one splash play all year long. So I
Speaker 1: think we're better at safety, even though it's not. It's
Speaker 1: kind of like the the quarterback room. It's like, yeah,
Speaker 1: it was more of an indictment on the twenty twenty four,
Speaker 1: so there's still weren't to be done. What it means
Speaker 1: for the draft, I think you could be looking at
Speaker 1: a double dip at defensive tackle, possibly unless Kalais comes back,
Speaker 1: which is still very much a possibility. Cornerback I think
Speaker 1: early makes a ton of sense here, and we'll see
Speaker 1: it depends if they feel the same way I do
Speaker 1: about Cam and Duck and Bond of those guys. I
Speaker 1: think linebacker is off the board entirely now. I think
Speaker 1: offensive line will be a draft pick somewhere in the
Speaker 1: first four rounds. What that means for me in my
Speaker 1: short list for pick number thirteen, I'm down to I
Speaker 1: think four guys right now. I really just don't see
Speaker 1: offensive line providing the value in the first round because
Speaker 1: of what I think will be on the board, and
Speaker 1: but I think we'll be on the board otherwise outside
Speaker 1: of the offensive line. So I've basically got down to
Speaker 1: four guys right now. You guys know how I feel
Speaker 1: about Tyler Warren. I think that he is the cream
Speaker 1: of the crop in the class. I think he's a
Speaker 1: guy that is a force multiplier that changes all three
Speaker 1: elements of your offense if you get him, I would
Speaker 1: take him there if he's there. Johnny Barron from Texas
Speaker 1: is a Brian Branch clone, and I think if you
Speaker 1: READID the draft back in twenty twenty one, Brian Branch
Speaker 1: would go in the top fifteen much like Kyle Hamilton did.
Speaker 1: He can play in your slot. I think he's going
Speaker 1: to play outside. I think he can be part of
Speaker 1: your two safety packages and split field and be able
Speaker 1: to rob and do multiple things as a pass rusher.
Speaker 1: I like his game a heck of a lot. I
Speaker 1: think he'll be gone by pick thirteen. Kenneth Grant is
Speaker 1: a three down Dexter Lawrence clone in my opinion, with
Speaker 1: great hustle and athletic ability. At three hundred and forty
Speaker 1: possibly three hundred and fifty pounds. I think that if
Speaker 1: you just drop him into this defense, you're pretty much
Speaker 1: done in the front seven. And then Malachi Starks. I
Speaker 1: do think there was a bit of draft like fatigue
Speaker 1: with him where everyone got critical of his game after things,
Speaker 1: you know, after a junior season that was really good,
Speaker 1: and then by his senior year or maybe I'm talking
Speaker 1: about sophomore in junior year, but he just kind of
Speaker 1: got like draft fatigue by people, and here's this great
Speaker 1: player who should go off the board, the top fifteen
Speaker 1: picks that could be there for you.
Speaker 2: He would solve so many issues at the safety position.
Speaker 1: But I also love, like, you know, Derek Harmon at
Speaker 1: pick forty eight, he's not going to be there. I
Speaker 1: like Alfred Collins at pick forty eight at the defensive
Speaker 1: tackle spot. If you can't get Kenneth Grant. I also
Speaker 1: like CJ. West and Jamari Caldwell. On Day three, I'm
Speaker 1: going to be doing a whole bunch of these, you know,
Speaker 1: talking about the defensive tackle position, you know, the position
Speaker 1: of need and the group of players that are going
Speaker 1: to be available in the draft, but talking about the
Speaker 1: sense of a needs based draft, Like right now, it's
Speaker 1: defensive tackle, cornerback, O line and safety right. And so
Speaker 1: with your first four picks, you know, here's four options
Speaker 1: for you. Kenneth Grant, Savon Ravel the cornerback from ECU,
Speaker 1: Lathan Ransom, the Ohio State safety, a kind of intimidator,
Speaker 1: a patrol on defense in the middle of the field,
Speaker 1: a big hitter, and then Jackson Slater, the Sacramento State
Speaker 1: guard who fits the offensive system quite well. Option two
Speaker 1: Johnny Barron from Texas the do it all slot corner
Speaker 1: safety combination. Alfred Collins the defensive tackle from Texas who
Speaker 1: I think is a Kalayis Campbell potential fit at the
Speaker 1: next level. And then Zach or Miles Frasier I should say,
Speaker 1: the offensive line from from LSU in the third round.
Speaker 1: And then Billy Bowman, the safety from Oklahoma who can
Speaker 1: play some cornerback as well as your fourth round pick.
Speaker 1: Or you go Malachi Starks to get the safety off
Speaker 1: the board early. Gray's Abel your flex left guard there
Speaker 1: who can play all three interior spots. In the second round.
Speaker 1: He's a Day one starter at left guard in my opinion.
Speaker 1: Jacob Perish, the cornerback from Kansas State who can be
Speaker 1: your slot guy as well, who can play all three
Speaker 1: spots and then C. J. West the defensive tackle on
Speaker 1: the back end, or maybe in the first round you
Speaker 1: go with Will Campbell, the LSU guy that falls to
Speaker 1: the to the to the pick to pick thirteen, nick
Speaker 1: Eman Worry, the safety from NC State, maybe he falls
Speaker 1: to pick forty eight, and then you come back with
Speaker 1: Darius Alexander, the defend to tackle from Toledo, and Kobe Bryant,
Speaker 1: a very good cover corner who doesn't tackle all that well,
Speaker 1: in the fourth round at cornerback. So that's some possible
Speaker 1: options there that I like, and that leads me before
Speaker 1: the draft the free agent recap here with the following
Speaker 1: color coordination board.
Speaker 2: You all ready for this? You all ready for this?
Speaker 1: But no, no, no, okay quarterback, I remember the colors
Speaker 1: are Blue is cornerstone, Green is plus starter, Orange is
Speaker 1: quality starter, and then we get to the not so great.
Speaker 1: Purple is quality depth or special teams, Pink is replacement level,
Speaker 1: red is camp body, and then black is unknown incomplete injuries,
Speaker 1: whatever it might be. So Blue, green, orange, purple, pink, red, black,
Speaker 1: good okay quarterback to a Tungueoai low a cornerstone player
Speaker 1: for me, Blue quarterback I don't think you're gonna upgrade
Speaker 1: on him unless you trade for Josh Allen, Patrick mahomes
Speaker 1: Lamar Jackson, and if those guys are available, great, go
Speaker 1: do it. I have Zach Wilson as replacement level. I
Speaker 1: do think there's potential to go higher than that. We
Speaker 1: haven't seen it so right now, he's a pink player
Speaker 1: at running back. I have Devon ah Chan in the
Speaker 1: Green category plus starter. I have Jaln Wright in the
Speaker 1: Orange category as a quality starter. I think that's a projection.
Speaker 1: I think he'll it is a projection. I think he's
Speaker 1: gonna have a good year and kind of get himself
Speaker 1: in the good graces. I have Madison as a pink
Speaker 1: replacement player, and then ingold is depth and special teams
Speaker 1: because it's kind of what the fullback is right. I
Speaker 1: still have two cornerstone wide receivers despite what happened last year,
Speaker 1: Tyreek Hill Angelen Waddle both are blue players. I have
Speaker 1: Nick Westbrook, a Knean orange player, as a quality starter.
Speaker 1: And then I have two quality depth guys I'm a
Speaker 1: League Washington and d S Gridge. I have a replacement
Speaker 1: or rather a camp body and Eric Azukama and then
Speaker 1: Taj Washington and Tarique Black are both in the black
Speaker 1: category unknown At tight end, I have John hus Smith
Speaker 1: in the green category as a plus starter my tight end,
Speaker 1: Pharaoh Brown is quality depth. In the purple category, Julian
Speaker 1: Hill is replacement level, and then Tanner O'Connor and Hayden
Speaker 1: Rouchie are both camp bodies. At tackle, I have Patrick
Speaker 1: Paul as a quality star. I think he's gonna make
Speaker 1: that jump this year and be a good player for you.
Speaker 1: I have Austin Jackson as a plus starter in the
Speaker 1: green category, and then Keon Smith is black because I
Speaker 1: don't know, you know where he's gonna wind up with
Speaker 1: the injuries. And then I have Braden Daniels, Jackson Carmen
Speaker 1: and Ryan Hayes in the red camp body category, and
Speaker 1: then Armstead is just an unknown hanging out there still
Speaker 1: on defense. On the defensive line, I have Zach Seeler
Speaker 1: as a blue player, a cornerstone player. I have Benito
Speaker 1: Jones as quality depth, and then Matthew Dickerson and Neil
Speaker 1: Ferrell as red camp bodies. Off the edge, I have
Speaker 1: two plus starters in Jalen Phillips and Chop Robinson. I
Speaker 1: knocked Bradley Chubb down to the orange category as the
Speaker 1: quality starter. We'll see what he looks like coming off
Speaker 1: the injury. And I have four players that are in
Speaker 1: the purple category for quality depth, Quentin Bell, Mo Kamara,
Speaker 1: Cam Good and Grayson Murphy, and then William Bradley King
Speaker 1: is in the red camp body category. At linebackers green
Speaker 1: two players Jordan Brooks and Willie Gay Jr. I have
Speaker 1: Tyrrel Dotson as a quality starter in the orange category.
Speaker 1: kJ Britt is purple quality depth, and then two red
Speaker 1: players and Chang Tyndall and Dakwan Jackson. At cornerback, Ramsey
Speaker 1: still a cornerstone player for me.
Speaker 2: He's blue. Cater Coho is.
Speaker 1: Orange quality starter, and then Ardi Burns his quality depth
Speaker 1: in the purple category. I have Cam Smith, Ethan Bonner
Speaker 1: and Storm Duck in the red category as camp bodies.
Speaker 2: I just am not seeing it.
Speaker 1: And then that's the same for Bump Cooper, and then
Speaker 1: I have Isaiah Johnson and Jason Matrie and the black
Speaker 1: uncertain we don't know what they are category. At safety,
Speaker 1: I have Iffy Mela fon Wum as a plus starter.
Speaker 1: He's green, He's a great player. He just doesn't stay healthy.
Speaker 1: Then I have two purple players, and Elijah Campbell and
Speaker 1: Patrick McMorris, and then I have Ashton Davis as a
Speaker 1: pink replacement level player, and Jordan Colbert is red as
Speaker 1: I can't buy.
Speaker 2: So there you go.
Speaker 1: There's your roster evaluation, post free agency, some draft thoughts.
Speaker 2: We'll have more.
Speaker 1: Content coming away over the next month, including guests, scouting
Speaker 1: reports on these players, all kinds of fun stuff here
Speaker 1: on the Draft Time Podcast. In the meantime, you all
Speaker 1: please be sure subscribe, rate review, follow me on soul
Speaker 1: at week for NFL the team at Miami Dolphins. Check
Speaker 1: out the Fish Tank Podcast with Seth and Juice, the
Speaker 1: YouTube channel for Dolphins HQ, Draft Time interviews, media availabilities,
Speaker 1: and so much more, and last but not least, Miami
Speaker 1: Dolphins dot Com. Until next time, fins Up, Carolina, Cameron Daddy,
Speaker 1: He's coming home.