Speaker 1: The thirty seventh pick in the twenty twenty five NFL
Speaker 1: Draft to Miami Dolphins select Jonah Savayanaya, offensive guard Arizona.
Speaker 1: Let's go all right, and they listed him as a guard.
Speaker 1: He could play outside, could play inside. Mike Aya Patti
Speaker 1: is who he reminded me of coming out of college.
Speaker 1: That inside outside versatility, big strong, powerful men who can move.
Speaker 2: Like he tested really really.
Speaker 1: Well, ran four, nine to five and the forty, so
Speaker 1: he can he can really scoop to me, you get
Speaker 1: him physical in the run game, but you don't lose
Speaker 1: all that movement if you want to get out to
Speaker 1: the perimeter as the Dolphins.
Speaker 3: Like to do.
Speaker 2: What is up, Dolphins and welcome to the Draft Time Podcast.
Speaker 2: I am your host, Travis Wingfield in oh I got
Speaker 2: Muswaga back on today's show. The Dolphins get aggressive and
Speaker 2: go up the board and get my guy, the guy
Speaker 2: you heard about for money on this podcast and your
Speaker 2: boys absolutely fired up, as you can tell. Jonah Sylvy
Speaker 2: and I I think I got that right this time.
Speaker 2: It's a tough one to pronounce, but we're gonna get
Speaker 2: through it here together. Let's talk about the tape, the
Speaker 2: fit for the team here here from Chris Greer and
Speaker 2: Mike McDaniel, and I had an exclusive with our first
Speaker 2: round pick, Kenneth Grant. That's all ahead from the Baptist
Speaker 2: Health Studios inside the Baptist Health Training Complex. This is
Speaker 2: the Draft Time Podcast, Maie gaff I am so fired
Speaker 2: up for Arizona guard slash tackled Jonah Savoy and Aya,
Speaker 2: and I am just thrilled that he is a Miami Dolphin.
Speaker 2: He was a guy that I had been discussing throughout
Speaker 2: that throughout the entire process here and really honed in
Speaker 2: on as a preferred target at pick forty eight when
Speaker 2: I parsed out how I thought the board might play
Speaker 2: out here with the value of the offensive line where
Speaker 2: it would be in this draft, And to me, man,
Speaker 2: this was it. You talk about scheme fit, you talk
Speaker 2: about culture fit, all the stuff we're gonna get into
Speaker 2: here on this episode of the Draft Time Podcast, and
Speaker 2: I want to start here before before we get too
Speaker 2: far into it, because we've seen two players added. And
Speaker 2: I actually wrote this up on Friday morning, and I
Speaker 2: contemplated the options that might parse through it. And while
Speaker 2: I thought the cornerback options were good there, I still
Speaker 2: felt the offensive line was kind of the sweet spot
Speaker 2: here for the forty eighth pick, and the Fins obviously
Speaker 2: agreed in pursuing Savoy and Aya in this year's class.
Speaker 2: That's going to be the hardest one since Ignogay for
Speaker 2: me to get down. We'll get there eventually, and you
Speaker 2: know the details of the trade are this, Dolphins give
Speaker 2: up the forty eighth pick and the ninety eighth pick
Speaker 2: and the one hundred and thirty fifth pick for the
Speaker 2: thirty seventh pick and the one hundred and forty third pick.
Speaker 2: So the way to kind of boil that down to
Speaker 2: make it more simple to understand, we gave up the
Speaker 2: third round draft pick and then our late fourth round
Speaker 2: pick was swapped with the Raiders's early fifth round pick,
Speaker 2: a total of one of that eight spots. And if
Speaker 2: you put it up on the draft value chart, the
Speaker 2: Dolphins actually got one more point out of it, so
Speaker 2: very equal trade, but Miami technically edges it out the
Speaker 2: Raiders in that regard. But they get their guy, they
Speaker 2: solidify the offensive line in that way. Before we get
Speaker 2: into the fits and the film, I had the concept
Speaker 2: for a little bit of a segment that I wrote
Speaker 2: with Jonah in mind, and I contemplated maybe holding it
Speaker 2: until Monday, but since we were aggressive and went and
Speaker 2: got the guy to me, it speaks to my thought
Speaker 2: here and kind of solidifies it a little bit more strongly.
Speaker 2: And you know, just have we only have the one
Speaker 2: player breakdown for you guys here tonight because we traded
Speaker 2: the third round pick. But I think this is as
Speaker 2: good of a time as any and a follow up
Speaker 2: from last night. And you know, this is the problem
Speaker 2: with doing a speed podcast at one o'clock in the
Speaker 2: morning after hosting a four hour draft event. Some things
Speaker 2: can slip through the cracks at times, but we'll get
Speaker 2: back to it eventually, always on the show. It's the
Speaker 2: beauty of having a daily show or three times a
Speaker 2: week right now, but after, you know, a three am bedtime.
Speaker 2: I was thinking this morning over my coffee about something
Speaker 2: and it was this, and it stemmed from this comment
Speaker 2: from Mike McDaniel on Thursday about the tonality and not
Speaker 2: just the need at defensive tackle, but a certain type
Speaker 2: of need and a shot an injection of culture and
Speaker 2: a certain type of player in person into the whole,
Speaker 2: the entire organization, the entire building. So here's Mike McDaniel
Speaker 2: on the tonality they want to set for twenty twenty five,
Speaker 2: and I'll get back into it after he talks.
Speaker 4: It was important to have a tonality set, you know,
Speaker 4: for the the twenty twenty five Dolphins and adding you know,
Speaker 4: a real presence up front and a you know, just
Speaker 4: a just a player that is going to attack it
Speaker 4: and try to play to the tonality that that we
Speaker 4: aspire to. You know, I think I think it's very
Speaker 4: well in step with, you know, our vision as we
Speaker 4: approach the whole process, open minded, but trying to you know,
Speaker 4: figure out by round how we can make the Dolphins better.
Speaker 4: So this, uh, he's been on our mind for a
Speaker 4: long time and we thoroughly overly threw, really vetted and
Speaker 4: so very excited about what we're adding because we feel
Speaker 4: like we have a very clear clear picture of what
Speaker 4: that is.
Speaker 2: So we have a pretty good chunk of the offseason
Speaker 2: now done. Still plenty to go here, and once again,
Speaker 2: you know, Chris has reminded us plenty of times, Chris
Speaker 2: Greer that there are free agents out there, plenty of
Speaker 2: things to explore in that market and trades and another
Speaker 2: seven picks to go tomorrow on the draft. But with
Speaker 2: what's happened so far, man, you can trace the bread
Speaker 2: combs back to all the various tempole events that Mike
Speaker 2: McDaniel as well as Chris Grear have spoken at. You know,
Speaker 2: they mentioned the investment in the offensive line back at
Speaker 2: the end of season press conference with Chris Greer, Mike
Speaker 2: McDaniel talking about setting culture through the draft picks at
Speaker 2: the owners meetings, about learning lessons about the shortcomings from
Speaker 2: the previous season, the funny car wash attendant story who
Speaker 2: mentioned short yards to coach and how the Dolphins have
Speaker 2: to get better at it. We hear about that every December, right.
Speaker 2: We hear about the Dolphins and their flash and their
Speaker 2: sizzle and their high powered offense in September and October.
Speaker 2: But once the weather gets tough and the the inclement
Speaker 2: weather comes in, the environments get tough on the road
Speaker 2: down the stretch, and you need toughness, and you need
Speaker 2: running game, and on and on and on. Right, and
Speaker 2: if you go back to free agency, we've gone from
Speaker 2: one of the oldest rosters in the NFL to the
Speaker 2: seventh youngest before the draft, before you add potentially nine
Speaker 2: players or maybe fewer, or maybe more than that right. Now,
Speaker 2: they've peeled back on some of the cash spending. Right
Speaker 2: The free agency was short term, one year, cheap type
Speaker 2: of deals outside of one or two signings here and there.
Speaker 2: But the one big splash was an area, excuse me,
Speaker 2: that you haven't splashed around in before. As my son
Speaker 2: Cameron would say, splash agua. He loves to go out
Speaker 2: in the puddles or into pools or in the bath.
Speaker 2: Anywhere he can splash agua, he will splash Agua. But
Speaker 2: the Dolphins didn't splash Agua this offseason. And you do
Speaker 2: it with James Daniels on the interior offensive line, a
Speaker 2: pretty big investment in that position, and quite frankly, a
Speaker 2: lot of the teams that have run this system traditionally
Speaker 2: don't splash Agua in that regard either. And this system
Speaker 2: traditionally does not take interior offensive linemen that high. They
Speaker 2: take tackles and centers that high, but typically guards. Until
Speaker 2: a few years ago, we saw the Rams make that
Speaker 2: pivot with the Jonah Jackson trade. The Alaric Jackson Jonah
Speaker 2: Jackson and Alaric Jackson acquisitions they made were kind of
Speaker 2: a pivot towards that and Kevin Dotson as well. We've
Speaker 2: seen the Green Bay Packers pivot to more of that
Speaker 2: concept with Josh Jacobs being behind a very good offensive line.
Speaker 2: The Niners are in that process that we are also
Speaker 2: joining as well. It's bigger interior offensive line. And the
Speaker 2: Dolphins accomplished getting bigger and staying more athletic than they
Speaker 2: were last year. Last year was a three hundred and
Speaker 2: fifteen pound and a three hundred and twenty pound guard
Speaker 2: who were not elite movers and quite frankly, weren't that
Speaker 2: greatest scheme fits. And now your projected lineup is two
Speaker 2: more of two of the most athletic guards in all
Speaker 2: of football, and they come in with rare athletic ability
Speaker 2: and big size, and that is different than what we're
Speaker 2: used to. So back to the splash and free agency,
Speaker 2: I mean, all of the offseason has been adding big, physical,
Speaker 2: tough players. James Daniels, he spent on a guard big
Speaker 2: for the first time in four years. Nick Westbrook, A
Speaker 2: Kine and Faroh Brown both to me, you are better blockers
Speaker 2: than pass catchers at eligi positions, and I think Westbrook
Speaker 2: Akeene is a damn good pass catcher an incoming potential
Speaker 2: increased role for Jalen Wright, who I think will be
Speaker 2: a much bigger role player than eighty three carries this year.
Speaker 2: And you also signed Alexander Madison. Both those guys are
Speaker 2: bigger running backs. You signed three off ball inside linebackers,
Speaker 2: including two including the first throwback type of player since
Speaker 2: Eland and Roberts and kJ Britt, as well as two safeties,
Speaker 2: including a big time presence in the box. And he
Speaker 2: fought to melafon Wu. It's not necessarily sexy, but I
Speaker 2: think they have the right approach for how to fix
Speaker 2: things didn't work a year ago and building it up
Speaker 2: in that way because the Dolphins started this thing from
Speaker 2: the inside out. They didn't put up their fancy, you know,
Speaker 2: siding and roofing. They went to the foundation and built
Speaker 2: their pillars. They built out the offensive line. They they
Speaker 2: rounded out the tight end room. They went after the
Speaker 2: running back position. They attacked the interior defensive line in
Speaker 2: the first round of the draft. They go after linebacker
Speaker 2: in safety. They've made the steps to address the concept
Speaker 2: of playing in the elements, playing tougher, more competitive football
Speaker 2: down the stretch, which will all of that work We're
Speaker 2: gonna see. That's why they play the games. But to me,
Speaker 2: the vision is crystal clear, and quite frankly, I feel
Speaker 2: like the fan base had been asking for this for
Speaker 2: a long time now. Maybe it's not the same big
Speaker 2: time names that get get all the attention and give
Speaker 2: the off season accolades that you used to get for
Speaker 2: the Miami Dolphins, but who wants that. I mean, the
Speaker 2: last several years you can point to the off seasons
Speaker 2: and say, like, teams that didn't have flash or sexy
Speaker 2: moves are the ones that were the team standing at
Speaker 2: the end of the season. So we'll see how it goes.
Speaker 2: No guarantees, but I like the vision. I like the
Speaker 2: change it speaks of. And let's go ahead and close
Speaker 2: with this updated discussion from Mike McDaniel on that idea
Speaker 2: of tonality, but this time from nine two. After you've
Speaker 2: added a three hundred and forty pound defensive tackle and
Speaker 2: now a three hundred and twenty five three hundred and
Speaker 2: thirty pound offensive guard, that's a lot of humanity coming
Speaker 2: at you. Let's go ahead and hear from Mike McDaniel
Speaker 2: on the idea of toughness and the feedback that he
Speaker 2: received from his teammates and the building that told him
Speaker 2: they have to get better in that area.
Speaker 3: I think that there's a mutual.
Speaker 4: Understanding amongst Dolphins right now for the twenty twenty five
Speaker 4: version that just started getting there, their working that you know,
Speaker 4: non negotiably, we're gonna be one team moving in one
Speaker 4: direction and we're gonna earn everything we get, and and
Speaker 4: so in terms of narratives, in terms of like those
Speaker 4: expectations that guys should have. But when I tell you,
Speaker 4: there's not really any time spent talking about what other
Speaker 4: people are saying. The opportunity that you have is to
Speaker 4: do with action what people will ultimately have new narratives for.
Speaker 4: So if you you're you're controlled variable, if you can
Speaker 4: put forth a good day's day of work and you
Speaker 4: have teammates that you trust, you know all the things
Speaker 4: that being being said about whatever, that takes care of itself.
Speaker 4: So I think, uh, you know, the team will embrace
Speaker 4: are two of draft picks thus far, because you know,
Speaker 4: we kind of know the team that we have and
Speaker 4: the type of guys that will flourish. And I think
Speaker 4: it fits something that you know, we're really trying to
Speaker 4: define every day, which is the type of people we are,
Speaker 4: the type of team we are and that will be
Speaker 4: defined by our work.
Speaker 2: Let's go ahead and pause for our first break right there,
Speaker 2: come back and get to the film, the testing metrics.
Speaker 2: I have more audio. We're going to talk about the
Speaker 2: fit in the system. We're going to talk about his stats,
Speaker 2: all of that fun stuff, his background and more on
Speaker 2: the next side of the Draft Time podcast, brought to
Speaker 2: you by Autoation. Always a nice thing when the first
Speaker 2: two players you draft on Thursday and Friday are guys
Speaker 2: that you've already done deep dives on their film. It
Speaker 2: makes the rest of the workload much more doable. Let's
Speaker 2: go ahead and kick this thing off here with his tape.
Speaker 2: The first that jumps off is the physicality and the
Speaker 2: size and the mass and just how he moves people
Speaker 2: and the way that they are impacted when he hits them.
Speaker 2: When when you see him from that standpoint, you think, Okay,
Speaker 2: this is a gap scheme power player, but then you
Speaker 2: watch him get out in space and it's like, oh,
Speaker 2: he's actually like the best mover in the entire class.
Speaker 2: On top of all of that. In fact, let's cut
Speaker 2: into the film here real quick and get into the
Speaker 2: testing metrics. If you list him at guard which Chris
Speaker 2: Greer said, they see Jonah as a guard with four
Speaker 2: position flexibility as a plus, he played tackle and guard
Speaker 2: in college. But if you list his workout metrics as
Speaker 2: a guard, which we'll hear from Greer, that's what they're
Speaker 2: going to do. This year. He was a eighty fifth
Speaker 2: percent tile size guy at three hundred and twenty four pounds.
Speaker 2: His twenty nine inch vertical and eight foot ten inch
Speaker 2: broad jump those were both in the eightieth percent tile
Speaker 2: of guards as well. His four to six six shuttle
Speaker 2: time was in the eighty second percent tile among all guards,
Speaker 2: and his forty yard dash his ten split and twenty
Speaker 2: split two forty yard dash was four point ninety five.
Speaker 2: That's ninety eight percent tile and a ten split of
Speaker 2: one seven to two good for ninety six percentile man.
Speaker 2: We have discussed this type of addition for a few
Speaker 2: years on the show. Quite honestly, it was a big
Speaker 2: part of me talking about a player like Jackson Powers
Speaker 2: Johnson last draft process, a plus mover at three hundred
Speaker 2: and thirty pounds who was always intriguing because you could
Speaker 2: keep your deadly outside zone run menu available, which is
Speaker 2: the bread and butter of the offense. And the entire
Speaker 2: starting point for the offense. But when you needed tough
Speaker 2: yards inside, you could saddle up a three hundred and
Speaker 2: thirty pound guard and run the football behind him. Two
Speaker 2: of them, And now you've dropped in a three hundred
Speaker 2: and twenty five pound people mover in the middle. And
Speaker 2: in addition to all the sizzle and the ability to
Speaker 2: move the ball in a flash, now you get into
Speaker 2: those third and twos, you have the menu of your
Speaker 2: outside zone run game. You have your quick passing game
Speaker 2: that's super efficient and effective. And the screen game they've
Speaker 2: converted on those situations, those speedouts, the slant game, the
Speaker 2: screen game. They have so many options to move the
Speaker 2: chains in those ways. And now I fully believe you
Speaker 2: have the element that makes all those other elements even
Speaker 2: more dangerous to defend, the capability to line up and
Speaker 2: run it downhill and move the line scrimmage and move
Speaker 2: the change, because when guys know you can do that,
Speaker 2: those other things open up even more. To say that
Speaker 2: I am fired up about this one would be an understatement.
Speaker 2: Daniel Jeremiah off the top of the show that compared
Speaker 2: him to Mike iu Potty, the former first rounder of
Speaker 2: the Niners, with rare, rare size and athletic ability himself.
Speaker 2: And yes, it's like Kenneth Grant. He doesn't come in
Speaker 2: here and just get handed the keys right away. He
Speaker 2: has to earn it. But you can hear how much
Speaker 2: the Dolphins love this guy so much so that Chris
Speaker 2: Greer cut to the Chase about how they view him.
Speaker 5: At the end of the day, this was a player
Speaker 5: that we were convicted in that was going to be
Speaker 5: a starter for us, and he'll play guard for us,
Speaker 5: and he understands that we've talked to him about it,
Speaker 5: and so we're excited about it.
Speaker 2: Also that one seven to two ten split time was
Speaker 2: the best at the combine of anybody who weighs three
Speaker 2: hundred and fifteen pounds or more. Back to the film here,
Speaker 2: the first thing that jumps out about his game is
Speaker 2: the pop. There's popping his get off, if there's popping
Speaker 2: his hands, there's popping his hips. Lots of pop, so
Speaker 2: to pop. You could say, let's break that down step
Speaker 2: by step. Here the way he fires off the football.
Speaker 2: He comes out with exceptional pad level, which allows him
Speaker 2: to impact guys on combination blocks to easily disengage off
Speaker 2: that first level and climb up to this linebackers on
Speaker 2: the second level, or even peel back and find work
Speaker 2: with a green dog blitzer, a delay blitz right, or
Speaker 2: someone looping off in a rush game. And that's where
Speaker 2: the pop in the hips comes from. He can drop step,
Speaker 2: open up his gate, and explode back across his body
Speaker 2: and just be a fluid mover in his change of
Speaker 2: direction skill set. More on that in the fit piece. Gosh,
Speaker 2: the feet they are so sweet, man. He's so light
Speaker 2: on his feet at three hundred and twenty four pounds,
Speaker 2: The way he can change directions working backwards. You're gonna
Speaker 2: hear Mike McDaniel talk about his ability to set the
Speaker 2: pocket from a pass protection standpoint, The way he can
Speaker 2: transition his weight, drop the anchor slide to find work.
Speaker 2: It's all the look of a plug and play starter
Speaker 2: from day one. I'm very, very convinced that he can
Speaker 2: be that for you right away. He's so light on
Speaker 2: his feet, can take away the edge and redirect back inside.
Speaker 2: Massive frame, long arms, good for a guard, obviously thickly built.
Speaker 2: I bet you could tack on some more weight if
Speaker 2: you wanted to because of his frame. Exceptional balance that
Speaker 2: allows him to mirror and the patience to not get
Speaker 2: out over his skis and protection. He's a smart player.
Speaker 2: His hands are bare claws. They impact people and send
Speaker 2: guys flying to the ground. You know how we talk
Speaker 2: about bringing your feet through contact as a tackler. He
Speaker 2: brings his feet through his blocks. Never heal clicks and
Speaker 2: can just glide around the field with smooth, effortless power.
Speaker 2: He reminds me of that guy at the driving range
Speaker 2: who has a smooth golf swing and the ball jumps
Speaker 2: one hundred and ninety yards off of his seven arm,
Speaker 2: and he is just an easy, easy mover. And I
Speaker 2: keep coming back to that McDaniel comment about tonality and
Speaker 2: the film of Jonah. He's always looking for work. He
Speaker 2: loves football. He plays through the echo of the whistle man,
Speaker 2: just the reps outside the numbers. He is rolling guys
Speaker 2: off the football outside the numbers. Impressive, impressive stuff. Talking
Speaker 2: about the fit for the football team. I have a
Speaker 2: bunch of get to here, but first let's go ahead
Speaker 2: and hear from two sound bites, first from Chris Greer
Speaker 2: and then Mike McDaniel. Chris Greer up first, talking about
Speaker 2: just the pick in general and how the Dolphins were
Speaker 2: aggressip to go get this player, and you know, passed
Speaker 2: on another pick on this particular day to go get
Speaker 2: this guy. We'll hear that first and then come back
Speaker 2: and hear from Mike McDaniel on what makes him a
Speaker 2: scheme fit for the Miami Dolphins.
Speaker 5: Was a player that we had targeted, we spent a
Speaker 5: lot of time with. We had him in on a
Speaker 5: thirty visit, and spent a lot of at All Star Games,
Speaker 5: butch went out and spent a day with them and
Speaker 5: had a.
Speaker 3: Private workout with them.
Speaker 5: So this is the player we're very convicted on for
Speaker 5: what he can add with his size, his power, he's
Speaker 5: got versatility, He's played tackle guards, so he's an athletic kid.
Speaker 5: And as we spent time getting to know him, he
Speaker 5: was the right kind of guy for us, and he
Speaker 5: loves ball. He's very competitive, and so for us, it
Speaker 5: was important that as we were going through the board,
Speaker 5: he was the highest rated guy we had, and so
Speaker 5: the opportunity and we took.
Speaker 4: It well, I think, first and foremost beyond the scheme fit,
Speaker 4: you know, we were elated to have We had an
Speaker 4: objective going into the draft of how the types of
Speaker 4: people we wanted to add and the types of impact
Speaker 4: we'd hope they'd have. And I think first and foremost,
Speaker 4: setting the pocket in protection is something that he is very,
Speaker 4: very skilled at, the idea of adding not only a
Speaker 4: fierce competitor, but someone that plays with the tonality of
Speaker 4: violence and aggression. That that was something that you know,
Speaker 4: Chris and I had talked at length about how many,
Speaker 4: how how many people could fit that bill, you know,
Speaker 4: so that strong conviction, you know we've the draft picks
Speaker 4: are each every round is important to us. But you're
Speaker 4: also away that with do you have an opportunity to
Speaker 4: get someone that fits the bill in multiple ways for
Speaker 4: something that we've identified for a long time needs to
Speaker 4: be our focus if we have that opportunity, so really pumped.
Speaker 4: I think pass protection and run scheme I think is
Speaker 4: a great fit for him.
Speaker 2: And look, we do all kinds of window addressing, right,
Speaker 2: There's lots of eye candy in this offense. We motion
Speaker 2: at the highest rate in the NFL. We can pull guys,
Speaker 2: we can dummy pool guys. Your eyes have to be
Speaker 2: really good to defend us effectively that way. So that
Speaker 2: creates a lot of indecision for the guys up front
Speaker 2: the famous Max Crosby quote like, you guys are tough
Speaker 2: to prepare for. You use some cuss words in there
Speaker 2: when talking to Mike McDaniel after that game in twenty
Speaker 2: twenty three. You have to brace for the run but
Speaker 2: also be able to reset the pocket as a rusher,
Speaker 2: and when you introduce the indecision through the idea of
Speaker 2: scheme flexibility, like I have to be prepared for all
Speaker 2: these different looks that can give me, But then I
Speaker 2: also have to be worried about a three hundred already
Speaker 2: pound guy catching me on my heels and squaring me
Speaker 2: up and just pure humanity rolling down hill at me
Speaker 2: in a controlled chaos that way, that can be a
Speaker 2: lot to contend with. For sixty minutes, McDaniel talked about
Speaker 2: the ability to sit the pocket and think about Toa's
Speaker 2: quick release and the ball out nature of this offense.
Speaker 2: You get the sheer mass inside, bigger bodies who can
Speaker 2: anchor and hold up one on one man, the quick
Speaker 2: passing offense becomes even tougher to impact that way. I
Speaker 2: think the way this line has been built can help
Speaker 2: ease some of the pressure off to it as well,
Speaker 2: maybe even get him under center more. But that's all
Speaker 2: different discussion for a different podcast we'll get into as
Speaker 2: the weeks go along here. I think Savoy and Ayah,
Speaker 2: I think the is an ideal outside zone guard with
Speaker 2: the rare ability to feature as a man gap blocker
Speaker 2: and total butt kicker on the inside, and the idea
Speaker 2: of tonality right the toughness element, the way he finishes.
Speaker 2: He's the kind of guy that you'll need a cold
Speaker 2: tub immediately after the game when you block him for
Speaker 2: sixty minutes. He embraces the nastiness that is playing on
Speaker 2: the offensive line that combine with his spatial awareness. I mean,
Speaker 2: my goodness, Paul Daniels, Brewer, Jonah Austin, these are five
Speaker 2: players with exceptional ability to get out in space, and
Speaker 2: four of the five are really comportable to a power
Speaker 2: element we've talked about here. I don't think that's Brewers
Speaker 2: gain necessarily, but he's so good in other areas and
Speaker 2: good enough in that area that it's going to work
Speaker 2: with the four guys around him, Like who it's got
Speaker 2: me fired up. Let's go ahead and hear from coach
Speaker 2: McDaniel right now on the entirety of the offensive line
Speaker 2: and what excites him about this group of five guys
Speaker 2: that I think is one of the better starting groups
Speaker 2: in the entire league because I believe in Patrick Paul.
Speaker 2: I think James Daniels and Jonahvana are perfect fits. You
Speaker 2: know what I think about Brewer and Austin Jackson. Very
Speaker 2: bullish on this Dolphins offensive line? What say you, Mike McDaniel.
Speaker 4: You know, it's about getting better. I think that was
Speaker 4: a focus, a major focus of ours. So we've been
Speaker 4: very focused to find the right people take advantage of
Speaker 4: the opportunity. We think we have.
Speaker 3: It.
Speaker 4: You know, the I think there's something that guys believe
Speaker 4: in that what does that mean and what is that line?
Speaker 4: They will tell us with with their work, and that's
Speaker 4: what they're excited to do. Obviously, we feel convicted, you know,
Speaker 4: the players that we've had added this year, and you
Speaker 4: know some of the pieces that we've had at that position.
Speaker 4: But more than anything, you know, I think we have
Speaker 4: the right type of guys to go to work and
Speaker 4: attack the process so they can define what the offensive
Speaker 4: line is for the Miami Dolphins. I will say that
Speaker 4: through the collective group, all the people you've mentioned and
Speaker 4: some more players, they're all very hungry and eager to
Speaker 4: uh to work at their craft and uh and and
Speaker 4: help us grow as an organization.
Speaker 2: And just to continue here, sorry because I keep finding more.
Speaker 2: Kyle Krabs brought on his touchdown Miami Blowpot. The Wildcats
Speaker 2: were struggling with the USC front this past season and
Speaker 2: Jonah volunteered to kick inside to block a player named
Speaker 2: Bear Alexander who was wrecking them on the interior. He
Speaker 2: moves inside and just turns the tide of the entire game.
Speaker 2: Kyle wrote that Jonah developed a reputation of positional flexibility
Speaker 2: and mental toughness, which pairs well with the powerhouse play
Speaker 2: style and explosive athleticism. And Jonah is also quoted on
Speaker 2: his player bio on the Arizona website. Because he wanted
Speaker 2: to flip the program arounds why he chose the program.
Speaker 2: Sure Enough, the year he gets there, they were one
Speaker 2: to eleven the previous season. The next two years five
Speaker 2: and seven, and then ten and three. They did stumble
Speaker 2: to a four and eight mark last year with multiple
Speaker 2: quarterback injuries. He's played a fifteen hundred forty four career
Speaker 2: snaps in college, didn't miss a start in three seasons
Speaker 2: thirty six consecutive there, from his first game as a
Speaker 2: freshman to his last game as a junior. He played
Speaker 2: three positions. He played just under a thousand snaps at
Speaker 2: right guard, just over one thousand snaps at right tackle,
Speaker 2: and then three hundred and forty five more at left tackle.
Speaker 2: PFF graded him with three negatively graded run plays on
Speaker 2: the entire season. We talked about that being a big problem.
Speaker 2: Last year, Miami had the most negative run plays in
Speaker 2: the league. You're not going to get those with James
Speaker 2: Daniels and Jonah casting it, Jonah Savoy and Ayah I'm
Speaker 2: gonna get that. I am gonna get that here. Eventually.
Speaker 2: He allowed only fifteen pressures this season. That's out of
Speaker 2: four hundred and seventy eight pass blocking snaps, good for
Speaker 2: a pass block efficiency score over ninety eight, which is
Speaker 2: elite territory for a tackle. He's even better inside as
Speaker 2: a guard. He was flagged one time this year, a
Speaker 2: holding call against Kansas State. His background his one year
Speaker 2: as a full time starter at guard was a freshman,
Speaker 2: and he was a freshman All American. This from Dane
Speaker 2: Brugler is the beast. NFL scouts say Jonah's swagger helped
Speaker 2: maintain Arizona's culture after Jed Fish left following the twenty
Speaker 2: twenty three season. He played his high school football at
Speaker 2: Saint Louis High School in Honolulu, the same school as
Speaker 2: to a Tongua bai Loa, and their families know each other.
Speaker 2: All right, go ahead and take our last break right here.
Speaker 2: I think the Day three preview we're going to go
Speaker 2: ahead and punt on that because it's kind of the
Speaker 2: same thing I've taught about, you guys, know, looking at cornerbacks.
Speaker 2: This board's getting picked up pretty good right now, but
Speaker 2: hopefully you can find a guy like a Jacob Parrish
Speaker 2: sometime on Day three, maybe go after the safety spot
Speaker 2: with JJ Roberts at Marshall. Some of the names I like,
Speaker 2: I'm kind of doing this podcast during the third round
Speaker 2: of the draft, so I don't want to give you
Speaker 2: guys names that get picked off the board, so we'll
Speaker 2: save that for the pod tomorrow. I think you'll get
Speaker 2: that content elsewhere too, So let's go ahead and pause
Speaker 2: for our last break right there. Come back and finish
Speaker 2: up the podcast on the other side with my chat
Speaker 2: with the very lovable, very fun fun guy I talk
Speaker 2: to you and a very smart, knowledgeable football player and
Speaker 2: Kenneth Grant. That's next Draft Time podcast, brought to you
Speaker 2: by Auto Nation. What's Up, Dolphins, Welcome back into the
Speaker 2: Baptist Hell's to us for another edition of the Draft
Speaker 2: Time podcast. Here my exclusive interview with Dolphins first round
Speaker 2: pick Kenneth Grant, Kenneth ken Kenny G. What should I
Speaker 2: call you here? Man?
Speaker 3: Welcome in, Kenny g KG. I like all of it,
Speaker 3: all of it.
Speaker 2: Keny G. You flared with the sax player as well
Speaker 2: from the nineties before your time.
Speaker 3: I'll look them up on Safari, but I haven't listened
Speaker 3: to any of his music.
Speaker 2: That's my first thought. You guys are a little bit
Speaker 2: different though, in terms of your professions and your career.
Speaker 2: So a good company though. So the first thing that
Speaker 2: really stands out for me and fascinates me about this
Speaker 2: whole job is players like you. Because guys that are
Speaker 2: your size should not be able to move the way
Speaker 2: that you do, right, And some of that is natural gifts, obviously,
Speaker 2: but I'm always curious to know what goes into building
Speaker 2: the perfect NFL body like that. So, what is the
Speaker 2: process for getting yourself ready for a football season? And
Speaker 2: being so big a swathletic. What's that all look like
Speaker 2: for you? Yeah?
Speaker 3: Really just rest and recovery. I'll say the biggest thing
Speaker 3: is because like you said, I'm just so big moving
Speaker 3: at this size, you know, I need to always be
Speaker 3: in a cold tub and a sauna, get massages or
Speaker 3: dry kneeling and things like that. So it's really just
Speaker 3: like taking care of your body and eating the right
Speaker 3: things for sure.
Speaker 2: So that seems to be like a Michigan thing, a
Speaker 2: program that pumps out all these well conditioned athletes year
Speaker 2: after year. What it being part of that program under
Speaker 2: the last you know several coaches, you guys have had
Speaker 2: defensively head coaches, a bunch of great coaches. What did
Speaker 2: that program teach you about discipline and training your craft?
Speaker 3: Well, yeah, I'll say it all started with the strength
Speaker 3: and conditioning staff. That's where it started. You know. They
Speaker 3: they're the ones we spend the most time with. They
Speaker 3: trained us to be, you know, discipline and also know
Speaker 3: how to conduct our business, our business in a mannerly way,
Speaker 3: just because like off the field and on the field,
Speaker 3: they translate, So what you do off the field can
Speaker 3: translate what you do on the field, so you know
Speaker 3: they're they're always, you know, being mentally tough on us,
Speaker 3: you know, preparing us to be mentally tough and expect
Speaker 3: the unexpected whenever. Every day, like I'll tell you a
Speaker 3: quick story, like we have like on our running days,
Speaker 3: we have like our rollers all laid out, and then
Speaker 3: right next to it is a card. Every every roller
Speaker 3: has a card next to it. And if you flip
Speaker 3: the card and he says, what's your card on, the
Speaker 3: whole group has to go jump in the cold tub
Speaker 3: and then then run your conditioning tests. So that's a
Speaker 3: quick funny thing.
Speaker 2: You're going to bring one of those games down here
Speaker 2: to south forth, maybe you can get the other guys
Speaker 2: that on that same game.
Speaker 3: Might as well make them there you go.
Speaker 2: Let's talk some of the actual on field football stuff here,
Speaker 2: because man, a guy like you that can play the
Speaker 2: nose tackle, can play the three technique all the way
Speaker 2: out to the five technique. Again, that stuff fascinates me,
Speaker 2: and I'm always so curious about players and processing things.
Speaker 2: And for the defensive line perspective, you have a snap
Speaker 2: of a finger to read pass, to read, run, play pass,
Speaker 2: whatever it might be. So I guess my question for
Speaker 2: you is is how does reading the blocks from those
Speaker 2: different positions differ for you in terms of how you
Speaker 2: process and when you line up in different positions.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's not really just really it's not really different.
Speaker 3: You know, it's just like a different type of technique
Speaker 3: and different leverage that you have to you know, play with.
Speaker 3: You know, in a one technique, you kind of got
Speaker 3: the advantage because the center, you know, has one hand
Speaker 3: on the ball and one hand free, so he doesn't
Speaker 3: have two hands, so you gotta be quick with your hands.
Speaker 3: But in the three technique, you know, the guard he
Speaker 3: has both his hands and you know he already knows
Speaker 3: where you're going in the snap counts. So that's when
Speaker 3: you have to really tighten down your technique and be
Speaker 3: fast off the ball. I think what what plays into
Speaker 3: that is, you know, having quick hands, hims, hands and feet,
Speaker 3: you know, need to be quick and coming off the
Speaker 3: ball asap.
Speaker 2: I think it was the Ohio State game Donovan Jackson.
Speaker 2: You ran like a loop off of the outside edge
Speaker 2: and beat him with speed around the coorum Like, okay,
Speaker 2: that's the guy that can play nose tackle a three
Speaker 2: forty five and do that as well. We're in good
Speaker 2: company here speaking your Michigan days. Mike McDonald the first
Speaker 2: DC there when he was there when you got recruited, correct, Yeah, okay,
Speaker 2: so he was on staff there, and I'm a coaching
Speaker 2: clinic ner like watching those guys talk about coaching and
Speaker 2: just different ideas football philosophies. And he was talking about
Speaker 2: the installation of pass rush games and the interchangeability in
Speaker 2: terms of the alignments we just talked about. Right, Can
Speaker 2: you tell us about how translatable that is on this
Speaker 2: defense with coach Weaver, who I don't know if you
Speaker 2: knew this, but he coached under Mike McDonald and Baltimore.
Speaker 3: Yeah. So when I took a visit here, you know,
Speaker 3: we went over to playbook and things like that, and
Speaker 3: I was kind of like, oh, this is you know,
Speaker 3: it's kind of the same thing as Michigan, but you know,
Speaker 3: different verbage in different like little tweaks and techniques. But
Speaker 3: you know, I was real comfortable with the playbook and
Speaker 3: his style of play, you know, just understanding what the
Speaker 3: coach is one and how their philosophies are.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's really good stuff. I think it's it's going
Speaker 2: to translate pretty quickly for your here and so just
Speaker 2: kind of talking to you about this stuff, Like you
Speaker 2: get a big smile on your face right time I
Speaker 2: bring it up. It seems like you love football. It's
Speaker 2: kind of a read I get on you, like, what
Speaker 2: is it? What is it about football that you love
Speaker 2: so much? I don't like to lose, to be honest,
Speaker 2: like nobody. Yeah, I don't like to lose, even if
Speaker 2: it's like a rep or a practice rep or you know,
Speaker 2: even in the weight room, like competing in the weight room.
Speaker 2: I don't like to lose anything, to be honest. So
Speaker 2: back in high school, you played on the offensive line
Speaker 2: or sorry, the offensive line as well as a defensive line.
Speaker 2: What did that teach you about playing d line?
Speaker 3: It kind of, you know, tell me that you you
Speaker 3: kind of got advantage that offensive line. You know, you
Speaker 3: know where you're going, know to snap count, so you
Speaker 3: can get off of guys real quick. But you know,
Speaker 3: for me, it was really funny, you know, just being
Speaker 3: able to physically dominate guys and kind of you know,
Speaker 3: use that advantage of me playing defensive offense against them.
Speaker 3: So it's pretty fun.
Speaker 2: You're two athletics down on the offense side. Those guys
Speaker 2: got go defense because you're you're more athletic than the
Speaker 2: guys on the offensive side. Right, oh yeah, kind of
Speaker 2: how that goes. So also basketball in high school through
Speaker 2: a shot put, track and field. I'm just curious. Tell
Speaker 2: me about all the sports. You probably try them all
Speaker 2: at some point in your youth, right yeah.
Speaker 3: So I'll see, My first sport is baseball, played t
Speaker 3: ball when I was little. Then kind of transition of football,
Speaker 3: pop warning and things like that, and then once I
Speaker 3: got to the high school, carried on football, you know,
Speaker 3: out of basketball track. The funny thing is are during
Speaker 3: the off season with football, our head coach made us
Speaker 3: go up with the wrestlers and wrestles, so, you know,
Speaker 3: out of a love of that to my weapon tar,
Speaker 3: but you know, all around great athlete.
Speaker 2: How big were you in the basket? Like, what was
Speaker 2: your size in high school and basketball?
Speaker 3: Probably a little heavier than I am now, but really yeah,
Speaker 3: for sure you got.
Speaker 2: To play high school basketball. I have like to defend
Speaker 2: you in the post. That would not be fun for
Speaker 2: a little high school.
Speaker 3: Man, especially getting all the rebounds and everything.
Speaker 2: That would be hilarious. Watch a little drop step a little
Speaker 2: three hundred fifty pounds and do a one hundred and
Speaker 2: forty pounds soaking wet kid. That's hilarious to think about.
Speaker 2: Let's finish up right here. We all the viral play,
Speaker 2: the Penn State play k Tron Allen chase him down
Speaker 2: from the back. I'm curious if you can take us
Speaker 2: through that and what that play says about about you
Speaker 2: and your in your game.
Speaker 3: Yeah, so I'll just start off with the player and
Speaker 3: what I saw. You know, they had ran a center
Speaker 3: and a guard pool play towards the outside. And then
Speaker 3: I was like, I think kind of everybody in the
Speaker 3: defense knew that that side specifically was our weak side,
Speaker 3: and they schemed it up perfectly. I'll give him that.
Speaker 3: And I was like, in the playoff, was like, oh, snap,
Speaker 3: that's a big hole. So I saw our linebacker Mike
Speaker 3: be He was the closest, so I tried to push
Speaker 3: him into the hole to force him to make the tackle,
Speaker 3: but that didn't work out. So I was like already
Speaker 3: facing towards the runner. So I was just hawked them down.
Speaker 3: But you know what it says about me is, you know,
Speaker 3: I'm gonna do the unexpected things. You know, guys don't
Speaker 3: like to do. I mean I'm running down the field
Speaker 3: thirty yards, but you know, the next play out lined
Speaker 3: up and it was time to go. So I think
Speaker 3: I'm very well conditioned. And you know, I got that
Speaker 3: gritting me to stick in, stick into things like that.
Speaker 2: Was that film review fun the next day taking a
Speaker 2: look at that rep. Oh yeah, just get some love.
Speaker 3: Yeah, a lot of.
Speaker 2: It's toff New Dolphins defensive tackle, thirteenth pick in this
Speaker 2: year's draft. Kenneth Grant, thank you so much for your
Speaker 2: time that he man, I appreciate you. Good stuff fins up, baby,
Speaker 2: And after the interview he told me, hey, great questions, man,
Speaker 2: which told me like, all right, this guy just loves
Speaker 2: football and loves talking about football. So great stuff there.
Speaker 2: So it always feels good to I'm not gonna lie
Speaker 2: about that. Let's go ahead and call it a podcast.
Speaker 2: We'll come back tomorrow and break down a lot of
Speaker 2: the picks we're gonna make here. I'll probably do half
Speaker 2: the draft picks we make tomorrow and then save the
Speaker 2: rest of that for Monday. We're gonna have the fast
Speaker 2: fact stories up on Miami Dolphins dot com, be tweeting
Speaker 2: some some clips out hopefully here Soon's all kinds of
Speaker 2: content covering the Miami Dolphins twenty twenty five draft. But
Speaker 2: until next time, you all please be sure subscribe, rate,
Speaker 2: review the podcast, go ahead and follow me on social
Speaker 2: at WINFLD NFL for allow the team at Miami Dolphins.
Speaker 2: Check out the Fish Tank Podcast with Seth and Juice,
Speaker 2: the YouTube channel for my Kenneth Grant interview for Dolphins
Speaker 2: HQ for Draft time exclusive, and so much more. Last,
Speaker 2: but not least, Miami Dolphins dot Com. Until next time,
Speaker 2: fins up Caroline and Cameron. Daddy, He's coming home.