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: and then there were four divisional weekend in the books,
Speaker 1: thirty rather twenty eight teams eliminated for to go, Let's
Speaker 1: go ahead and recap those games and take our second
Speaker 1: dive into the offseason capsules, taking a look at what
Speaker 1: has become one of my favorite positions to look at
Speaker 1: this entire offseason, the tight ends from the Baptist Hell
Speaker 1: Studios inside the Baptist Health Training Complex. This is the
Speaker 1: Draft Time Podcast Gaffe. Well, what a great weekend of
Speaker 1: football it was, even if you're rooting against the Buffalo Bills,
Speaker 1: like every single person listening to this podcast is. We'll
Speaker 1: get to that crazy three turnover Ravens performance here in
Speaker 1: just one second. But let's go ahead and kick it
Speaker 1: off chronologically here Chiefs and Texans. And what did we
Speaker 1: talk about last week in that Denver Buffalo game? Mistakes
Speaker 1: early on margins on special teams, the Texans allow a
Speaker 1: dynamic kickoff return for sixty seven yards, They force a fumble,
Speaker 1: cannot recover it, and the guy who forces the fumble
Speaker 1: takes his helmet off and throws it for a fifteen
Speaker 1: yard penalty, and they talked to him out for the game,
Speaker 1: and he seems to have no contrition or idea about
Speaker 1: him doing something wrong. And that's not even talking about
Speaker 1: him pushing his coach, which I think was done in
Speaker 1: a moment of celebration and excitement more so than frustration.
Speaker 1: But I think the coach was getting on him for
Speaker 1: being an idiot for throwing his helmet. But you're on
Speaker 1: the road against a fifteen win team, you're a double
Speaker 1: digit underdog or close to it, and you have a
Speaker 1: special team's gaff and a fifteen yard foul to put
Speaker 1: the ball at the plus thirteen yard when start the game.
Speaker 1: You're never gonna win those games like you are not
Speaker 1: gonna win games when you're that big of a dog
Speaker 1: to a team like that. The defense is sick though,
Speaker 1: right They allowed negative one yard and a field goal
Speaker 1: after that. And there's you know, the Texans against opposing
Speaker 1: quarterbacks this year. I mean the four picks on Herbert,
Speaker 1: the three picks on Tua. They held Josh Allen to
Speaker 1: nine for thirty, passing five picks on Jared Goff. That's
Speaker 1: kind of what they do to opposing quarterbacks. And you know,
Speaker 1: watching this game, I had perhaps a bit of an
Speaker 1: epiphany that even in those lopsided games, when it's not
Speaker 1: even a total washout, it comes down to like specific situations.
Speaker 2: Right.
Speaker 1: There are so many plays in a game, it's gonna
Speaker 1: come down to the eight short yardage or critical red
Speaker 1: zone plays. And the Texans got backed up twice and
Speaker 1: they made stops. You know, getting six points they're compared
Speaker 1: to fourteen is going to keep you in every single
Speaker 1: football game that you can do that within. But they
Speaker 1: were also stopped in the red zone as well, and
Speaker 1: a great way to get those stops not just short
Speaker 1: yardage but also third down or rather not short yards jaw,
Speaker 1: but just third downs with pass rushers that can win
Speaker 1: against elite pass protection. Anderson with a third down sack
Speaker 1: and a tackle for loss on that first and goal
Speaker 1: play on the opening drive of the game. That's two
Speaker 1: drive altering play. You get off the edge, and what
Speaker 1: do I do but come back to Jalen Phillips, Bradley
Speaker 1: Chubb and Chop Robinson.
Speaker 2: I mean it has to be those guys.
Speaker 1: You're kind of locked into them, whether or not you
Speaker 1: believe in their ability to stay healthy or not, but
Speaker 1: it has to happen with those guys, and at the
Speaker 1: very least, at the very least, you have three guys
Speaker 1: that all can destroy one on one protection, they all
Speaker 1: can rush from interior positions. We'll see if they can
Speaker 1: stay healthy. We'll see if Chubb still has the fastball
Speaker 1: at this stage of his career. We'll see what two
Speaker 1: years of basically not playing football does for Jalen Phillips.
Speaker 2: And then chop I. You know, you have to have
Speaker 2: full confidence in him.
Speaker 1: But my point is you're not in a position if
Speaker 1: you're the Dolphins to make a splash at that spot.
Speaker 2: But luckily this is supposed to.
Speaker 1: Be the year, should be right where you finally have
Speaker 1: your full complement of rushers. And just look at the
Speaker 1: two sides, third and shorts to mediumish conversions like this
Speaker 1: is my biggest takeaway from the entire weekend. These were
Speaker 1: bang bang throws to Dalton Schultz, to Travis Kell. We'll
Speaker 1: see to Nico Collins and we'll get to this here
Speaker 1: later on as well. You gotta have size, man, You
Speaker 1: got to have size among your eligibles. Guys that can
Speaker 1: withstand cold weather or contacts from the defense and not
Speaker 1: drop the football right like it's tough to catch the
Speaker 1: ball on the cold weather. It's tough to catch the
Speaker 1: ball on the cold weather when you know you have
Speaker 1: a two hundred and twenty five pound safety bearing down
Speaker 1: on you or a two hundred and forty five pound linebacker,
Speaker 1: you also give yourself more opportunity to fit the ball
Speaker 1: into tight windows with height, with bigger catch radius, but
Speaker 1: just the toughness of contested catches, because all these big
Speaker 1: time plays in these games, for the most part, are
Speaker 1: like bang bang balls. There defense that arrives for the
Speaker 1: hit and I just picked your backer. Harken back to
Speaker 1: all the plays we had that were dropped or that
Speaker 1: we couldn't find those tight windows. That was a big
Speaker 1: takeaway from the weekend in general. Back to the game here,
Speaker 1: the Chiefs had a critical fourth down conversion with Mahomes
Speaker 1: in the pistol and they went downhill run to Isaiah Pacheco.
Speaker 1: Just seeing the ability to play downhill power football. I
Speaker 1: think that's one of Miami's adaptations I have to make
Speaker 1: this offseason, and you'll be able to tell if they're
Speaker 1: doing that based upon who they sign. Maybe a guy
Speaker 1: like Will Hernandez makes some sense if you want to
Speaker 1: get a little more physical inside the former Giants and
Speaker 1: Cardinals interior offensive linemen. And then on the Texans side,
Speaker 1: Stroud was running. Stroud's running was a big difference for
Speaker 1: them in this game. And that's not because they designed
Speaker 1: it that way. It's what the Chiefs wanted, right, And
Speaker 1: that's one area that you know, I don't want to
Speaker 1: see Tua add this weight back again, because you kind
Speaker 1: of have to have this stuff to win, Like if
Speaker 1: they're gonna blitz with man or man match on the
Speaker 1: back end and you get defenders backs to him. Once
Speaker 1: he could sense the pressure and get away from him,
Speaker 1: he could then burden them with his legs and it
Speaker 1: became a serious issue for the Chiefs defense at specific
Speaker 1: times in that game.
Speaker 2: I don't think Stroud played poorly.
Speaker 1: I saw, you know, the same people that want to
Speaker 1: make every game about Tua and the Dolphins and compare
Speaker 1: it all back like playoff games are unique, They're tough.
Speaker 2: They just are staying on their own merit. Like Stroud
Speaker 2: played well.
Speaker 1: I don't care if he you know, led them to
Speaker 1: twelve points, whatever the argument was, Like he played well
Speaker 1: in this game. I wrote on my know it's Chiefs
Speaker 1: regression in twenty twenty five. Haha, you fool, It's not
Speaker 1: gonna happen. But like, they can't keep doing this, right,
Speaker 1: this has to be the year the voodoo magic runs out.
Speaker 1: Hopefully it doesn't run out this Sunday because we have
Speaker 1: They just have to be Buffalo.
Speaker 2: Come on. I don't think they will, but they have to.
Speaker 1: Also, I'm tired of mahome man, the whole stick of
Speaker 1: like flopping. Dude, grow up, Come on, Peter Pan that
Speaker 1: knock that stuff off. Lions and commanders. Holy moly, Jayden Daniels,
Speaker 1: this guy for real, his development from Asu to now,
Speaker 1: and how the legs pair with the ability to play
Speaker 1: the position. Like I talk all the time about how
Speaker 1: Tua's ability to read the defense out and progress through
Speaker 1: it can force defenders to cover areas of the field
Speaker 1: that he really has no intention of attacking, and it
Speaker 1: creates more space for underneath outlets and space underneath. Daniels
Speaker 1: does that but also has like nearly Lamar Jackson running ability.
Speaker 1: He's a better player. I mean, that's what are you
Speaker 1: gonna What else can you say about it? That was
Speaker 1: my biggest takeaway from the game and the other thing
Speaker 1: was the fourth down variants and the anatomy of a
Speaker 1: massive upset that the Commander's of this all year long.
Speaker 1: But if you're gonna go into a visiting teams or
Speaker 1: a home team's building, a number one seeds building who
Speaker 1: won fifteen games, and your nine point dogs, whatever it was,
Speaker 1: and you're gonna win, you're gonna have to convert on
Speaker 1: fourth down. This is a team that converted eighty percent
Speaker 1: of their fourth downs this year, which is what absolutely wild.
Speaker 1: They went four for five in this game and just
Speaker 1: found answers. They found ways to get it done. I
Speaker 1: also wrote down that Jamar Gibbs is what we think
Speaker 1: de von Achen is in terms of the vision and
Speaker 1: the creativity as a runner and the ability to hit
Speaker 1: small creases. That's there's a big difference in those two
Speaker 1: players right there. Also the commanders in this game and
Speaker 1: the line you heard Tom Bray talking about how the
Speaker 1: Lions have to get out of this aggressive man coverage.
Speaker 1: The commander has just had so many nice answers, whether
Speaker 1: it was man or zone or blitz. You know, the
Speaker 1: man beaters, the two man combos to get that horizontal separation.
Speaker 1: They're muddle huddles and quick break snaps were fun to watch.
Speaker 1: I kind of came away from that game hoping Mike
Speaker 1: McDaniel watched that game and said, oh, I can do
Speaker 1: more than like you know these extravagant twenty word play
Speaker 1: calls that take me down to the five second mark
Speaker 1: of the play clock. Like, there was a lot of
Speaker 1: variants and mixing up things they did offensively for the
Speaker 1: commanders in this game. I also hope he was watching
Speaker 1: for either side screen game. They both were fantastic. That
Speaker 1: McLaurin touchdown. The Lions drive before the Laporte touchdown was
Speaker 1: all screen game and they executed it beautifully. Also, I
Speaker 1: love what Jeremy Chin looks like. The commander's safety could
Speaker 1: be an awesome fit for this Antheony Weaver defense, provided
Speaker 1: Anthony does not leave he has his second interview in
Speaker 1: New Orleans. Don't take that job, coach, It's no quarterback.
Speaker 1: Your cap situation is screwed. You don't have a great
Speaker 1: draft pick, Like, come on, one more ride, get a better
Speaker 1: job next year.
Speaker 2: Let's see.
Speaker 1: GoF reminds me a lot of Tua in some ways,
Speaker 1: like he'll play thirteen really good games of the course
Speaker 1: of a season. But he has four stinkers and maybe
Speaker 1: three two or three of those stinkers are in a
Speaker 1: huge spot, and that's gonna kill you, and it's gonna
Speaker 1: cause a bunch of conversations among fan bases.
Speaker 2: That's who those guys are at this stage of their career.
Speaker 1: It's kind of funny to see the Lions and really
Speaker 1: all the commentary on GoF over the You're like, oh,
Speaker 1: he's a rib, he's at quarterback.
Speaker 2: And now those same accounts are saying like, this.
Speaker 1: Is why the Rams got rid of golf, and man,
Speaker 1: maybe that's true, but I think it's funny the flip
Speaker 1: flopping we see on that And then Sunday, how about
Speaker 1: those football games on Sunday?
Speaker 2: My god, man Eagles and Rams.
Speaker 1: The playmakers were popping off in this game, and not
Speaker 1: even just the big name guys like DeMarcus Robinson taking
Speaker 1: the football away from people. You talk about the need
Speaker 1: to play in tight quarters and be tough and physical
Speaker 1: and take the ball away from the opposing player defense
Speaker 1: or offense or otherwise, like DeMarcus Robinson, AJ Brown, Dallas Goddard,
Speaker 1: Puka Nakua, Cooper Cup, all these guys making these big
Speaker 1: time plays and maybe it's more of a contested catch thing,
Speaker 1: but everything is just tighter against these good teams man,
Speaker 1: Like you saw it all throughout the weekend, whether or otherwise,
Speaker 1: you just see these bang bang plays that we've seen
Speaker 1: result in drops or dislodges, whatever it is for an
Speaker 1: incomplete pass. Also look at the safety play throughout the
Speaker 1: course of the weekend, or rather just DB's that can rotate,
Speaker 1: play multiple roles and love to come down and hit people.
Speaker 1: Chauncey Gardner, Johnson, Cam Kitchens, Cameron curl Reblankenship as a
Speaker 1: monster watching the game on in the night time with
Speaker 1: the with Kyle Hamilton and our Darius Washington, Like all
Speaker 1: these guys can play from depth and come hit you
Speaker 1: in the run game. It's fun to watch, and as
Speaker 1: that first game went along, it was tough to really
Speaker 1: garner takeaways when you consider the football or whether the
Speaker 1: footing and the elements impacting the passing game, the ability
Speaker 1: to separate or drive off the route was all impacted.
Speaker 1: And that goes way back to the level of diversity
Speaker 1: you have to have in your attack. Because the biggest
Speaker 1: plays we saw in the second half were those contested
Speaker 1: plays that touch that cup, like fifty yard catch on
Speaker 1: their go ahead touchdown drive. And also I have a
Speaker 1: friend back home who suggests that we should be playing
Speaker 1: all these games indoors, away from the elements. You're crazy.
Speaker 1: This reminds me of the tweets like you guys just
Speaker 1: don't like football, do you? This is football, man, adjust,
Speaker 1: adapt and deal with what comes at you and have
Speaker 1: different ways to win games. It's not seven on seven.
Speaker 1: That's not flag football. If they do that, I will
Speaker 1: that's gonna be the day you hear me start to
Speaker 1: be like, ah, this isn't the game that I used
Speaker 1: to that I grew up loving. Now all of this said,
Speaker 1: the rams as rush just finds wins man, I think
Speaker 1: we have that in our back pocket. Think the Dolphins
Speaker 1: can win that way. It doesn't matter who they're going
Speaker 1: up against. A really good Eagles front. These teams are
Speaker 1: just so much better all the teams we saw this
Speaker 1: weekend going at their backup players and playing around the
Speaker 1: absences they have, like or a guy like Oran Burks
Speaker 1: who just comes in and plays at a different level. Like,
Speaker 1: you have to have guys in backup roles. They're not
Speaker 1: just content to be in those backup roles like saw
Speaker 1: Duke Riley come off the bench this year and just
Speaker 1: do nothing right like it was bad oron Burks is
Speaker 1: like I want to make a name for myself.
Speaker 2: I'm gonna go hit some people.
Speaker 1: That was a big takeaway I had in that game
Speaker 1: as well, and then Bills and Ravens. Everything about Lamar's
Speaker 1: game is heightened by his ability to run, and you
Speaker 1: see the way defenders are always thinking about it, Like,
Speaker 1: but the way the Bills played him. If he's like
Speaker 1: incredibly comfortable knowing his answers against man or zone, he's
Speaker 1: gonna bull you off the field. And I wrote this
Speaker 1: after the second turnover, like he was playing lights out
Speaker 1: outside of those two atrocious plays, But that turn never
Speaker 1: really came. I thought it would in this game, but
Speaker 1: Buffalo was blitzing every other play and had simp pressure
Speaker 1: on every snap, and Matt Mulona was such a force
Speaker 1: multiplier for the way they can use him. I just
Speaker 1: love the way he runs to the football, Like there
Speaker 1: was that catch down the field by I think it
Speaker 1: was Bateman when he hurt him. Excuse me where he
Speaker 1: came back and was spying Lamar and then hit Bateman
Speaker 1: and just really really good football player who plays with
Speaker 1: a certain desire, and watching this game reminds me that
Speaker 1: we just like were really really good last year, but
Speaker 1: we went eleven and two against everybody else and zero
Speaker 1: to five against Baltimore, Buffalo and KC. But each of
Speaker 1: those teams and what you can learn from this requires
Speaker 1: you to play basically a perfect game, and if you're
Speaker 1: going to play for a Super Bowl, you probably have
Speaker 1: to beat at least two of them, right, And never
Speaker 1: mind playing perfect, Miami just has to find a way
Speaker 1: to play on par in terms of the mistakes and
Speaker 1: self inflicted wounds in those games. Baltimore lost that game
Speaker 1: last night because of mistakes. Can Miami get to a
Speaker 1: game like this, yes, but can they like not shut
Speaker 1: down all operation and become a shell of themselves. That's
Speaker 1: what they have to figure out. Big game good opponent
Speaker 1: recipe is you have to be discipline, physical, and situationally
Speaker 1: sound because is going to come down to how many penalties,
Speaker 1: how you can run off the football and beat teams up,
Speaker 1: and how you can essentially win those critical third and
Speaker 1: shorts or fourth downs or red zone moments. And in
Speaker 1: this one, it was the team that just made the
Speaker 1: mistakes right, all those Ravens turnovers, even the critical penalty
Speaker 1: on the kick return on the final drive.
Speaker 2: So there you go.
Speaker 1: Take a break right there, come back into the tight
Speaker 1: end capsule here on the Draft Time Podcast. That's next
Speaker 1: Draft Time Podcast, your host Travis Wingfield, brought to you
Speaker 1: by Auto Nation.
Speaker 2: We will get back into.
Speaker 1: The rest of the league on Friday and pick the
Speaker 1: conference championship games and get you all ready for what
Speaker 1: we can learn from the final four in the National
Speaker 1: Football League. But for now, back on the topic at hand,
Speaker 1: as we take a look at the tight end position
Speaker 1: here for your twenty twenty four Miami Dolphins and what
Speaker 1: could be ahead for that room, for that group in
Speaker 1: this offense in twenty twenty five. Let's go ahead and
Speaker 1: kick it off with a Dolphins internal capsule, and in general,
Speaker 1: we just witnessed what I would call the best Dolphins
Speaker 1: tie end room. Since I don't know before my time,
Speaker 1: I guess the first year that came to mind was
Speaker 1: two thousand and eight with Fossano and David Martin, but
Speaker 1: combined they didn't even have John hu Smith numbers together. Now,
Speaker 1: their run game impact was substantial in that wildcat season.
Speaker 1: Then You've got Randy McMichael's great seasons, but really his
Speaker 1: best year was two thousand and four and that didn't
Speaker 1: really scratch what John new Smith did this year and
Speaker 1: there was basically no depth behind him. Still, there is
Speaker 1: so much room despite that big jump for the Dolphins
Speaker 1: group this year, for growth in twenty twenty five, and
Speaker 1: I think tight End two was replacement level and tight
Speaker 1: End three was below that. So I think there's plenty
Speaker 1: of space to grow here in this tight end room,
Speaker 1: but it has to get better beyond John new Smith.
Speaker 1: Julian has to be more consistent, and I think you
Speaker 1: have to move on from number eighty one, and the
Speaker 1: person you add needs at minimum to challenge Julian's role
Speaker 1: as the number two or really what it is is
Speaker 1: the top why tight end because John U versus Julian
Speaker 1: and Durham play basically different positions, So I don't think
Speaker 1: Durham did enough to challenge Julian in that role this year,
Speaker 1: and I think we can do better than that in
Speaker 1: twenty twenty five. And oh, by the way, I'm including
Speaker 1: alec Ingold in this group since he and John Whu
Speaker 1: were listed at the same position on the depth chart.
Speaker 1: And really the fullback is more in tune technically speaking
Speaker 1: with a tight ends than he is with the running backs.
Speaker 1: Sound good, all right? So players off the top? Number nine,
Speaker 1: John new Smith, what more can you say? One of
Speaker 1: the most obvious free agent hits that I can remember
Speaker 1: for this team, watching his Falcons tape and seeing what
Speaker 1: he did there, getting to know him around the building,
Speaker 1: his approach, his leadership, the weight that his voice carries,
Speaker 1: not just in what he says, but the bass that
Speaker 1: kind of makes you listen to what he's saying at
Speaker 1: all times. I think you saw that all come to
Speaker 1: a head on three catches on a game winning drive
Speaker 1: that kept our season alive in that thrilling ot winner
Speaker 1: against the Jets back in December. He's got strong hands.
Speaker 1: He makes tough catches look routine, something we just don't
Speaker 1: really have otherwise on the roster, Like most of the
Speaker 1: guys that make their plays are pretty open when they
Speaker 1: make those catches and don't do a lot to fend off,
Speaker 1: you know, contested aspects. I think Waddle does a good
Speaker 1: job of that, but for the most part, it's kind
Speaker 1: of Johnny and then everybody else. He has a veteran
Speaker 1: understanding of space and how to pace his routes accordingly, big,
Speaker 1: big run after the catch threat as always. I just
Speaker 1: cannot say enough about John new Smith, and when I
Speaker 1: think he provides this team, I am stoked to get
Speaker 1: him back for a second year in this offense and
Speaker 1: just hit the ground running.
Speaker 2: Now.
Speaker 1: I think you can look at some of our short
Speaker 1: yardage failures and see nine getting his face crossed by
Speaker 1: an edge that blows up the play, probably too frequently.
Speaker 1: I think you can look at a lot of the
Speaker 1: blocking work and say that's not good enough, but that's
Speaker 1: never really been his game. He's good enough in that
Speaker 1: area that allows you to maintain flexibility and diversify your
Speaker 1: groupings with his baseline level of work in the run
Speaker 1: game and the screen game as a blocker. So it's
Speaker 1: like good enough, but we can do better. But we're
Speaker 1: certainly happy to have him on the field because of
Speaker 1: the versatility he features as a pass catcher and being
Speaker 1: just good enough in that area of his game. Now
Speaker 1: elsewhere number eighty nine Julian Hill on the roster. You
Speaker 1: have to be an expert at that role because he
Speaker 1: got five hundred and fifteen snaps this year and just
Speaker 1: nineteen targets. He's a six offensive lineman, right, that's what
Speaker 1: he is. That the Rams had this with Ben Skronic
Speaker 1: for a long time. The Chiefs do some of this
Speaker 1: with their offense. I know it's a different system, but
Speaker 1: they do some of that with their offense. The Niners
Speaker 1: have players in their offense that do similar roles as well,
Speaker 1: like Jawan Jennings before he kind of had a breakout
Speaker 1: two years ago, was essentially a plus blocker in their system.
Speaker 1: I think Julian is one of, if not the most
Speaker 1: undervalued players on the roster. And please don't misconstrue what
Speaker 1: I'm saying there. I'm not trying to tell you that
Speaker 1: he's one of these great players that's a massive needle mover.
Speaker 1: But we get a lot of casual comments like why
Speaker 1: is Julian Hill on my team? And usually it's because
Speaker 1: of like a penalty he commits or a landmark that
Speaker 1: was not well defined that he didn't get to a
Speaker 1: block in time. And he gets the brunt of the
Speaker 1: prustration from fans that, let's be real, don't know the
Speaker 1: scheme and what's called for and just see the game
Speaker 1: on the broadcast, and you know, mimic what they hear
Speaker 1: from a broadcaster like I've made my thoughts about his
Speaker 1: struggles being tied back to the scheme plenty known, but
Speaker 1: he also has plenty of misses that he has in
Speaker 1: his own right. So I just think there's a massive
Speaker 1: disconnect about what his job is and what this offense
Speaker 1: calls for. With what his tape shows you and how
Speaker 1: the fans treat him. There is a lot of good
Speaker 1: tape and how he scrapes and approaches those blocks on
Speaker 1: the perimeter. We talk about that rap block all the
Speaker 1: time and jet motion come across the edge and kick
Speaker 1: out that force defender. He's as physically imposing as they come.
Speaker 1: He's durable for us in a role that really asks
Speaker 1: a lot of him, not just from a physicality standpoint,
Speaker 1: but a processing standpoint. He's very, very crucial in that regard.
Speaker 1: There are just so many decisions that he has to
Speaker 1: make with moving and changing landmarks as a blocker, especially
Speaker 1: coming around that corner on those rap motions to kick
Speaker 1: out that force defender. If you pull up our big runs,
Speaker 1: chances are eighty nine was making a key block at
Speaker 1: the point. Now, I'm not going to gloss over the shortcomings.
Speaker 1: We don't do that on the show. I feel like
Speaker 1: there's a little bit of a frenetic energy with this
Speaker 1: player that really shows up when he's an intended target
Speaker 1: in the passing game, like he's not calm and poise.
Speaker 1: He kind of fights the football that way. He's fumbled
Speaker 1: the ball twice on twenty eight career targets and even
Speaker 1: fewer catches obviously, and there are some drops where he
Speaker 1: doesn't put the football away. You had to fumble down
Speaker 1: on the goal line this year in the Arizona game.
Speaker 1: I think you can see that frenetic energy sometimes when
Speaker 1: he's put in a snap decision post snap as a blocker, like, oh,
Speaker 1: they snapped it a gap early. Now my landmark and
Speaker 1: my emotion kind of change who I'm supposed to go
Speaker 1: pick up off the edge. I hope that can chill
Speaker 1: out with a third year in the offense, but I
Speaker 1: think ideally he's your tight end three with potential to
Speaker 1: become a quality two or a good backup to your
Speaker 1: why tight end. It's kind of how I viewed Julian,
Speaker 1: But for a guy that makes minimum, these are the
Speaker 1: kind of players that you want on the bottom of
Speaker 1: your roster.
Speaker 2: He has a role he's cheap.
Speaker 1: He helps keep your books clear up top number eighty one,
Speaker 1: Durham Smyth. This has been one of the stranger players
Speaker 1: for me to evaluate year over year. I was so
Speaker 1: done with the production we got in twenty twenty one,
Speaker 1: thought it was better in a new system in twenty
Speaker 1: twenty two, best in twenty three, and then in twenty
Speaker 1: four I thought was just an abject disaster, just like
Speaker 1: really really bad tape. Week in and week out, we
Speaker 1: saw his snaplow decrease, and I tend to think there's
Speaker 1: writing on the wall with how that goes. Like.
Speaker 2: I don't have a lot more to add.
Speaker 1: I just think that you have to get a lot
Speaker 1: better at that position, and especially for the cost that
Speaker 1: you're paying for what became a twenty snap per game
Speaker 1: type of player. Tanner Connor number eighty There's not a
Speaker 1: lot to get into here. I like his skill set,
Speaker 1: but he can't stay healthy, right. It's if you can't
Speaker 1: stay healthy, how can you develop? How can you get
Speaker 1: the practice reps? How can you get game reps. He's
Speaker 1: under contract at twenty twenty five, and I guess we'll
Speaker 1: have a chance to get through camp and stay healthy.
Speaker 1: But if you can't do it, then there's there's no
Speaker 1: point investing time into this number thirty alec Ingold, all
Speaker 1: the things I said about John news Smith in terms
Speaker 1: of his leadership and the value offered, you know the
Speaker 1: way that way applies tenfold with alec Ingold, our Walter
Speaker 1: Payton Mann of the Year nominee, a voice of reason
Speaker 1: and stability and locker room. And then there's the work
Speaker 1: on the field, a punishing blocker who assumes countless roles,
Speaker 1: contributes on special teams, and hell, he missed the Rams
Speaker 1: and Raiders game before returning for the Patriots game, where
Speaker 1: he played just a few snaps, so it was like
Speaker 1: three games where he didn't get a lot of playing
Speaker 1: time or any playing time. And we had sixty seven,
Speaker 1: eighty two and sixty five rushing yards in those games
Speaker 1: when he came back, or rather when we were without him,
Speaker 1: and that reduced version of him. But the five games
Speaker 1: prior to him missing one oh six, one ninety three,
Speaker 1: one eighty eight, one fifty and one forty nine, so
Speaker 1: he's a pretty big key of your running game. I
Speaker 1: did think this was his worst year as a Dolphin
Speaker 1: on tape, and then we pivot to what this room needs.
Speaker 1: I think a true why will unlock this offense in
Speaker 1: a way that I don't think any other position can
Speaker 1: contribute to the offense. And the spoiler, if we got
Speaker 1: a Rob Gronkowski type or a George Kittle type, not
Speaker 1: there are skills necessarily that would be awesome, but someone
Speaker 1: that can do all the true why stuff but also
Speaker 1: be a stud in the Tyler Warren, then we can
Speaker 1: really really get going. And I wrote my note spoiler,
Speaker 1: I think that's Tyler Warren. I do like some other
Speaker 1: tight ends. We'll get into that here on the next segment.
Speaker 1: But man, if we can get better off the edge
Speaker 1: in the wide zone scheme, someone that can fold back
Speaker 1: inside and down block and be amenable to a man scheme,
Speaker 1: that alone, that mere presence would be a huge boon.
Speaker 1: And to reiterate, if that player can be a true
Speaker 1: receiving threat, then buddy, we are cooking with gas, especially
Speaker 1: in what I anticipate will be a post Tyreek Hill world.
Speaker 1: I've made no secret that I think this team's best
Speaker 1: course of action is to move off that player. And
Speaker 1: people will think that you need to get an equally
Speaker 1: talented wide receiver, but I think for a team that
Speaker 1: runs as much twelve personnel and as few eleven personnel
Speaker 1: as we do lowis in the entire league. We can
Speaker 1: get that from the tight end position, and if it's Warren,
Speaker 1: you just basically become a full time twelve personnel team,
Speaker 1: which inhibits you to run the football better. I think
Speaker 1: Waddle is a great twelve personnel receiver the league. Washington
Speaker 1: becomes kind of a you know, ancillary role, and you
Speaker 1: can go find a number two like a in the
Speaker 1: free agent market or even the draft to make him
Speaker 1: like your fourth or fifth option in the passing game.
Speaker 2: Like you can make it work.
Speaker 1: Think about a team that has like Waddle with Nick
Speaker 1: Westbrook Akina, and then john Us Smith, Tyler Warren, and
Speaker 1: then like Diami Brown with Malik Washington and you know,
Speaker 1: Devon a Chan and Jalen Wright. I love that group
Speaker 1: of eligibles. But this team desperately, desperately needs better play
Speaker 1: at the why position more than anything else on the
Speaker 1: offense and more than anything on the entire team besides
Speaker 1: safety play. For my money, let's go ahead and get
Speaker 1: a quick break right there, come back and do a
Speaker 1: long segment taking a look at the off season that
Speaker 1: was the internals. We're gonna take a look at free
Speaker 1: agency and the draft class at the tight end position.
Speaker 1: That's next Draft Time podcast, your host Travis Wingfield right
Speaker 1: to you, Ba, I don't know. We've done the internal review.
Speaker 1: Now it's time to look outward. And I feel like
Speaker 1: I laid out pretty clearly. But just for re To's sake,
Speaker 1: we aren't even in the business of an f for
Speaker 1: my money in free agency. Maybe a developmental late round pick,
Speaker 1: but I think that's even more in the territory of
Speaker 1: UDFA and try to find a Tanner Connor type who
Speaker 1: can maybe actually stay on the field and see the field.
Speaker 2: So this is purely.
Speaker 1: Going to be wise in the free agent process, which
Speaker 1: automatically excludes Mike Gasicki. And you guys know how I
Speaker 1: feel about that player who got his first four yards
Speaker 1: of yak in his career in that Pittsburgh game Week eighteen,
Speaker 1: Harris and Bryant, Tyler, Conklin, Kyle Granson, even a possible
Speaker 1: cut candidate like Evan Ingram or Noah fan who I
Speaker 1: loved last year for us before Johnny who became available.
Speaker 1: So prepare yourself because this class is bad, like, for instance,
Speaker 1: you know. Moley Cox was a guy that I put
Speaker 1: in my mock off season back in like twenty eighteen
Speaker 1: or something like that. I watched fifteen snaps of his
Speaker 1: and I didn't like one of them. Slow, takes forever
Speaker 1: to break down his route, drops his head into blocks,
Speaker 1: doesn't drive with a line scrimmage, has no real plan, and
Speaker 1: password protection hard hard pass. So I got into the
Speaker 1: tape and you're gonna laugh at the names I'm gonna
Speaker 1: give you here, but John Bates. First thing you notice
Speaker 1: from the Washington commanders is the technique does a great
Speaker 1: job of playing from his base up through the punch,
Speaker 1: properly spaced base of power where he generates that from
Speaker 1: that he holsters until it's time to go, really good
Speaker 1: hand placement as a blocker. He seems to get off
Speaker 1: the snap late often, which is strange, but I'm not
Speaker 1: sure you know why that's the case. They use him
Speaker 1: on a lot of the stuff that we do here
Speaker 1: on outside zone that escort screen. Now that said, I've
Speaker 1: seen him miss a handful of blocks in space. He's
Speaker 1: so much better suited to play inside, which kind of
Speaker 1: creates a tell when you have him out there, which
Speaker 1: this offense is allergic to that but not allowed to
Speaker 1: write home about. Is a pass catcher limited radius nowhere
Speaker 1: after catch, compounded by no shape at the top of
Speaker 1: his route.
Speaker 2: Now the most attractive part.
Speaker 1: I think that he really helps your short yardage game
Speaker 1: when you get down around the goal line. He can
Speaker 1: straight out bully some safeties and even smaller backers all
Speaker 1: the way out of the play by himself. And what
Speaker 1: do I keep saying? We struggle blocking the edge more
Speaker 1: than anywhere else. A player like this could help you
Speaker 1: fix that. And it's the type of guy that you're gonna,
Speaker 1: you know, possibly sign for a tight end three role
Speaker 1: for like three hundred snaps. Like it's not some crazy investment.
Speaker 1: I could see the Dolphins getting a player like this
Speaker 1: and then using the draft to see how it plays
Speaker 1: out to provide competition for you know, a Julian Hill
Speaker 1: and have this guy be like, you're tight end three
Speaker 1: or maybe elevated tight end two because of depth and
Speaker 1: injury concern So I think that this is like a
Speaker 1: Durham Smith type replacement up next zach Ertz would be
Speaker 1: a bigger investment than that. What a marvelous guy is
Speaker 1: at age thirty three, still doing it and doesn't take
Speaker 1: more than a few reps on tape to see why.
Speaker 2: He just gets it.
Speaker 1: Angles, leverage, when to shoot, the hands, good base to
Speaker 1: operate from, very crafty route runner. They run a variety
Speaker 1: of things in Washington, whether it's flexed out in eleven personnel,
Speaker 1: which is one back, one tight end, heavy, thirteen personnel,
Speaker 1: three tight ends. In the field, he's out there, chip releasing,
Speaker 1: running deep over routes, reaching the nine technique on wide runs,
Speaker 1: taking the point on Dax greens. He's got exceptional hands.
Speaker 1: He catches everything, and I think his veteran presence was very,
Speaker 1: very valuable for a Washington team that was not expected
Speaker 1: to get as far as they got this year. He's
Speaker 1: the kind of guy that I would break the mold
Speaker 1: for here. He's on the wrong side of thirty, but
Speaker 1: I think he's the right kind of old guy in
Speaker 1: terms of his approach, his professionalism, and he brings people
Speaker 1: along with him. That Washington tight end room is very good,
Speaker 1: and I think his impact was noticeable there, both on
Speaker 1: the aforementioned baits and the rookie ben Soonat. I bet
Speaker 1: they bring back Ertz and let Bates walk to elevate Sonata.
Speaker 1: So we'll see their conclusion here basically asking for a
Speaker 1: whole new tight end room down the line. But I
Speaker 1: think he's a good one year guy that gives you
Speaker 1: a ton of talent, experience, and a dog in the
Speaker 1: tight end room. He can still play, probably cost you
Speaker 1: a little bit too much, though. Johnny munt is up
Speaker 1: next alphabetically difficult to find a better fit in terms
Speaker 1: of his ability to play with the technique and fundamentals
Speaker 1: of an outside zone tight end. He understands the importance
Speaker 1: of attacking the angle, attaching the shoulder, keeping the outside
Speaker 1: arm free, and running your man off the ball through
Speaker 1: placement and drive more so than pure strength, which is
Speaker 1: such a If you come watch a Dolphins practice, watch
Speaker 1: the O line in individual drills. In the way they
Speaker 1: run off their blocks, it's not hands striking. It's like,
Speaker 1: drop your shoulder and run this guy off and keep
Speaker 1: your hands free for the next block you're gonna get to.
Speaker 1: He cut off Aiden Hutchinson as a backside edge and
Speaker 1: put him on the turf for a huge cutback lane
Speaker 1: in their first game against Detroit back in the regular season.
Speaker 1: If he gets to his landmarks and if guys are
Speaker 1: trying to one gap or take themselves out of the play.
Speaker 1: He understands that leverage to let them and then trap
Speaker 1: them at that point. I think there's something there. As
Speaker 1: a route runner, he gets off the football with urgency
Speaker 1: and can stack a safety. You know, we saw him
Speaker 1: do it to Dane Belton for the Giants on opening
Speaker 1: Day and was open for a long touchdown, but Sam
Speaker 1: Darnold didn't pull the trigger. He's got the contact balance
Speaker 1: to thwart re routes and contact before the ball arrives.
Speaker 1: Things again that I think we lack. He started with
Speaker 1: Sean McVay, then went to Minnesota for Kevin O'Connell. Miami
Speaker 1: next stop. I think he makes a lot of sense
Speaker 1: here to sign him and go into the draft with
Speaker 1: the intentions of taking one, and depending on where you
Speaker 1: get one, whether it's Warren or Helm, he becomes tight
Speaker 1: end three, or if it's like Jackson Hawes later on,
Speaker 1: then he has a shot to be tight end two
Speaker 1: while said player develops.
Speaker 2: Conclusion here best.
Speaker 1: Scheme fit in the entire free agent class who can
Speaker 1: come in and contribute from day one with his play style.
Speaker 1: Contract here probably inflated a bit compared to other potential
Speaker 1: suitors outside of the system tight end two candidate at
Speaker 1: outstanding tight End three and has the y makeup to
Speaker 1: pair with Johny Smith. Last on my list of four
Speaker 1: players here is Tommy Tremble. There's not a lot of
Speaker 1: wiggle at the top of the route. The tree is
Speaker 1: very limited to me to design action like, I don't
Speaker 1: think he's gonna take a one on one route and
Speaker 1: be a matchup. He takes poor angles and technique of
Speaker 1: attack as the attached why in the running game he
Speaker 1: stops his feet upon contact at the second level and
Speaker 1: his hands get extended out over his feet, which causes
Speaker 1: a lot of reps to that look like they're holding.
Speaker 2: But it's not.
Speaker 1: Just depends if they call it, but there is some
Speaker 1: good footwork and technique on blocks of the point of attack.
Speaker 1: He was able to reach a wide nine in Nolan
Speaker 1: Smith on a successful wide zone running in the game
Speaker 1: against Philly. He's also an interesting option as the flat
Speaker 1: leak peel type of passing option off play action, which
Speaker 1: is design scheme type of passing attacks offers some athletic
Speaker 1: ability with the ball in his hand.
Speaker 2: This is a player that Kyle Krabs likes. I don't
Speaker 2: see it.
Speaker 1: He's a flawed player who pigeonholes you a little bit
Speaker 1: when he's on the field. Combos is the second level
Speaker 1: or a non starter, though we typically have our tight
Speaker 1: ends either at the point of attack on the forced
Speaker 1: defender or in space on defensive backs. He's a tight
Speaker 1: end three option, possibly tight end two in a thin room,
Speaker 1: and really more of a backup to John New to
Speaker 1: me than a true why tight end. The way I
Speaker 1: rank these guys trembles fourth, I got Baits third, Ertz
Speaker 1: as second, and Johnny Munt my top guy there. So
Speaker 1: not great, but luckily the draft class is full of
Speaker 1: guys that I think are outstanding fits here. And let's
Speaker 1: go ahead and start with the college All Star Games.
Speaker 1: And again the work is far from done here on
Speaker 1: this position group. But we go into this Senior Bowl
Speaker 1: roster with mister Van Wilder, Elijah road Arroyo from Miami
Speaker 1: like a nine year college player, Gavin Bartholomew from Pittsburgh,
Speaker 1: Jake britting Stool from Clemson, CJ. Deprie from Alabama, Harold
Speaker 1: Fanning Junior Bowling Green, Terrence Ferguson at Oregon, Jackson Hawes
Speaker 1: at Georgia Tech, Gunner Helm from Texas, Maliky Motava from UCLA,
Speaker 1: and Mason Taylor from LSU at the Shrine Bowl, Eli
Speaker 1: Stowers from Vanderbilt, Rivaldo Fairweather from Auburn that sounds like
Speaker 1: a key and peel name, Arondez Gadsden the second from Syracuse,
Speaker 1: Jalen Conyers from Texas Tech, Luke Latchie from Iowa, Carter
Speaker 1: Runyon from Towson, and Ben Eurosik from Georgia. How I
Speaker 1: stack them today? I have six players that I have
Speaker 1: gone through and this is basically the top part of
Speaker 1: the draft class.
Speaker 2: We're gonna do hopefully into April and maybe even March.
Speaker 1: We'll get into some Day three prospects and guys to
Speaker 1: keep an eye on with what I expect to be
Speaker 1: a bustling Day three slew of draft picks for your
Speaker 1: Miami Dolphins, especially as we go along here and maybe
Speaker 1: get some more draft picks for players that we move
Speaker 1: off of what we shall see. How I stack them today?
Speaker 1: You know this by now. Number one's Tyler Warren from
Speaker 1: Penn State. To go brock Bauers Tyler Warren and back
Speaker 1: to back years is kind of silly. This is more
Speaker 1: of a T. J. Hawkinson style of player. But I
Speaker 1: like them both the same. Everything you lacked is an offense.
Speaker 1: Everything I think we want to change and become. I
Speaker 1: think you can do it through Tyler Warren. You know
Speaker 1: the concept of no tight ends in the first round.
Speaker 1: To me, that illustrates a lack of understanding of what
Speaker 1: this offense does and wants to be. And you can
Speaker 1: tell me, well, I don't want the offense to be
Speaker 1: that anymore, but it's what this It's the most prominent
Speaker 1: system in the National Football League. And he would button
Speaker 1: up a lot of the issues that I think are
Speaker 1: blamed on other players because of preconceived notions and confirming priors.
Speaker 1: If you struggle with crackbacks on the outside in your
Speaker 1: run game, boom, fix it with flex seal. Boom, Billy Mays. Here,
Speaker 1: Tyler Warren is flex seal. You need him to drive
Speaker 1: down on a Sam Becker for counter on inside zone. Boom,
Speaker 1: flex seal. You can put your boat in the ocean. Now,
Speaker 1: whatever the hell he does. You need a short yard conversion,
Speaker 1: throw it to him and let him go get that
Speaker 1: forward lean. We all saw that play in the Orange
Speaker 1: Bowl where he trucked over Exavier Watts, who Kyle Krabs
Speaker 1: has as the tenth player in his draft board this year.
Speaker 1: He brings an element of physicalities to his game. He
Speaker 1: gives you size in the red zone and on the
Speaker 1: perimeter against those cover two honey hole shots. I think
Speaker 1: the knock you'll see on him relates to his movement skills.
Speaker 1: But damn it, man, he is such a polished route runner.
Speaker 1: He hit this crossing route against Notre Dame where he
Speaker 1: stacked his way up the stem. A little bit of
Speaker 1: lean into the defender then looks like a push off,
Speaker 1: but it's not, and it generates like three yards of separation.
Speaker 1: Then he runs the pass down. He catches everything. I
Speaker 1: think he can be back your up back in twenty
Speaker 1: one personnel like your full back, which could save you
Speaker 1: a roster spot. You know you're attached why in balanced
Speaker 1: and unbalanced twelve personnel formations With he and John new Smith,
Speaker 1: he can flex out in eleven personnel. The only thing
Speaker 1: that he's not going to do is a vertical against
Speaker 1: a cornerback. He's on a blazer in that way. But
Speaker 1: that's the trade off you accept when you get a
Speaker 1: player who is dominant at the point of attack off
Speaker 1: the edge, which again, is the biggest need this offense has.
Speaker 1: I project him as a top fifteen pick this year.
Speaker 1: Number two is Gunner Helm from Texas. I think he's
Speaker 1: the next first rounder in line at this position. As
Speaker 1: far as what Miami looks for at tight end, six
Speaker 1: foot five, two hundred and fifty pounds, seam busting speed,
Speaker 1: physicality at the point of attack, some room to grow
Speaker 1: with his blocking technique and fundamentals.
Speaker 2: It's all there. Man.
Speaker 1: They would use him as a six man in protection
Speaker 1: and not just have him chip and release, but give
Speaker 1: him an actual matchup against an edge rusher, and he
Speaker 1: would erase that. He's also a blitz eraser, not just
Speaker 1: in that way, but he can also sneak into the
Speaker 1: vacancy and become a problem with the football in his hands.
Speaker 2: After the catch.
Speaker 1: They run him across the field on leak, they dump
Speaker 1: it to him, on glances off rpo looks, they run
Speaker 1: wide zone to his side, they screen it to him.
Speaker 1: He's so impressive, man, talk about a contested catch guy too.
Speaker 1: You can go to him with tight k He's going
Speaker 1: to survive hits in contact. But I just keep coming
Speaker 1: back to the fact that I think he's ready to
Speaker 1: contribute today as an inline blocker in addition to all
Speaker 1: the passing game prowess he provides.
Speaker 2: And I've made no bones, but.
Speaker 1: The fact that I think that that with the receiving
Speaker 1: skill set he offers, gosh, it makes you a flexible
Speaker 1: offense with what you can do and what you can
Speaker 1: get to. And again, I don't even think he's a
Speaker 1: finished product by any stretch here.
Speaker 2: I think if you took this guy, it would beam.
Speaker 1: You would beam at his upside to just work on
Speaker 1: things you can prove with with time on task like
Speaker 1: ham placement and pad level shoot. They kept him in
Speaker 1: for a primary blocker until this year. Then he goes
Speaker 1: off for sixty seven, eighty six, and seven like former
Speaker 1: basketball player, great arm, length to high point, the football,
Speaker 1: strong at the catchpoint, huge, huge fan of his game.
Speaker 1: I project him as a first round pick. Number three
Speaker 1: is Colston Lovelin from Michigan. I saw a great tweet
Speaker 1: by Daniel Jeremiah who urged draft fans to focus more
Speaker 1: on the evaluation than the ranking. Since draft experts don't
Speaker 1: have an actual team they're picking for, they're just grating
Speaker 1: guys arbitrarily. And it made me think of Colston Lovelin,
Speaker 1: who I think could be tight end one for a
Speaker 1: lot of teams on their board because he is the
Speaker 1: best f in the entire class. But that is the
Speaker 1: position that John news Smith plays. He is electric off
Speaker 1: the line of scrimmage. He gets into the secondary and
Speaker 1: forces the middle of the field coverage to declare itself
Speaker 1: quickly because they have to run with him or match
Speaker 1: or declare their leverage. I think we're going to see
Speaker 1: players like this, and Warren and Helm for that matter,
Speaker 1: have more and more of an impact with the current
Speaker 1: model of NFL defenses. For all that space inside and
Speaker 1: how they can create all the inverted two, all the
Speaker 1: Tampa two that teams are running, it can take teams
Speaker 1: out of those looks, which is what kind of kills
Speaker 1: our offense.
Speaker 2: Quite frankly.
Speaker 1: His ability to get on defenders quickly and then have
Speaker 1: a real burst at the top of the route and
Speaker 1: the body control that equates this massive catch radius all
Speaker 1: lead me to thinking he's going to become this best
Speaker 1: friend of whichever quarterback he plays for the next level.
Speaker 1: He's going to test better than all the other tight
Speaker 1: ends and his production twenty two way through the first
Speaker 1: round quarterback was a glimpse of what he can be
Speaker 1: as a feature element of the passing offense. Fourteen and
Speaker 1: a half yards per catch that year down to ten
Speaker 1: and a half this year, and there are misthrows all
Speaker 1: over that tape. He lined up in line consistently and
Speaker 1: was asked to do a lot of the nitty griddy
Speaker 1: work at that position is called upon to do. But
Speaker 1: I don't think that's his calling card at the next level.
Speaker 1: I think pad level, hand placement, leg drive, that will
Speaker 1: all be stuff he has to polish up at the
Speaker 1: pro level. But there's no reason he can't be an
Speaker 1: Evan Ingram type of player. Projected range top fifty pick
Speaker 1: for me, he probably goes in the first round. Quite frankly,
Speaker 1: I know I've got a lot of first rounds here already,
Speaker 1: but I think that someone's gonna have miss tightened one
Speaker 1: on their big board. Number four is the name that
Speaker 1: you know, Mason Taylor. This class was loaded, dude. The
Speaker 1: bloodlines have to get you excited about this player. And
Speaker 1: the thing I liked about a prospect whose whole life
Speaker 1: has been one of preparation for the league is they
Speaker 1: typically have little nuance to their game that you don't
Speaker 1: get from other players, the way Taylor can attack blind spots,
Speaker 1: the way he sets up his routes with different releases,
Speaker 1: but also the physicality to take the real estate that
Speaker 1: he feels he's entitled to. You want to get past
Speaker 1: a team that thinks they can throw your timing off
Speaker 1: with press and reroutes. Insert a player like this who
Speaker 1: will beat you up at every level of the route
Speaker 1: and maybe get him out of that coverage. He's been
Speaker 1: a go to target in big spots in big games.
Speaker 1: That game winner against Bama two years ago, trusted hands
Speaker 1: presence in the red zone short yardage. He presents a
Speaker 1: matchup problem for most guys that he sees because there's
Speaker 1: also the wiggle of a Hall of Fame pass rusher
Speaker 1: and the blood lines there too. He's fluid, strong, detailed.
Speaker 1: He catches everything he runs over dbs after the catch.
Speaker 1: He played almost a fifty to fifty split of attached
Speaker 1: versus slot alignments. There are just two reasons I think
Speaker 1: he's not quite in the first round. More polish as
Speaker 1: a drive blocker and more complex run scheme like we run,
Speaker 1: and the fact that this class is just loaded.
Speaker 2: Other years.
Speaker 1: He's probably a top thirty pick. I project him in
Speaker 1: the second round. Number five is Jackson Hawes from Georgia Tech.
Speaker 1: This is the best true whine in the entire class.
Speaker 1: You can see the fit in a Shanahan style offense,
Speaker 1: the control he plays with as he sifts his way
Speaker 1: through traffic on counter tray on GT lead onto his assignment,
Speaker 1: the way he does all that stuff and split flow
Speaker 1: rat blocks. It's special combination blocks reaching the wide nine
Speaker 1: and outside zone heading up the point in the screen game,
Speaker 1: all those rap blocks we run off the edge. He
Speaker 1: has a wealth of experience doing all of that. They'll
Speaker 1: jet motion him from the slot and pull another player
Speaker 1: backside and leave them both with fluctuating landmarks post snap
Speaker 1: and assignments, and he just plays so composed he finds
Speaker 1: his target, squares him up, and drives him the hell
Speaker 1: out of the play. You can set your watch to it.
Speaker 1: There is legit teach tape of all those types of
Speaker 1: blocks I mentioned, which are Brett and butter on our offense.
Speaker 1: My favorite being his kickout lead on a strong side
Speaker 1: toss against Miami where he gets the outflanked force defender
Speaker 1: reaches him and drives him out of bounce and the
Speaker 1: beck cuts off of that block for a touchdown, where
Speaker 1: he falls behind my top fours in the passing game,
Speaker 1: a little bit tight, doesn't move very well well, not
Speaker 1: a lot of pass game production there. He's not going
Speaker 1: to destroy tacklers with the ball in his hands. That's
Speaker 1: why I think he's a top the day three pick.
Speaker 1: And I say that remembering that this is an offense
Speaker 1: that had Julian Hill on the field for five hundred
Speaker 1: and fourteen snaps, fourth most amongst our eligibles, and we
Speaker 1: only threw him nineteen targets. You do not have to
Speaker 1: touch the football to be a problem in this offense.
Speaker 1: He's an early day pick three for me. Number six
Speaker 1: is a Rondez Gatz in the second from Syracuse speaking
Speaker 1: of NFL blood lines, and if you remember that famous
Speaker 1: catch that Pops had against the Jets, go watch his
Speaker 1: boy make a catch against BC this year. Unreal highlight
Speaker 1: reel of one handed snags, concentration, body control, all the
Speaker 1: things that Pops did well. Now, he was a receiver
Speaker 1: slash converted tight end at Syracuse, but I think that
Speaker 1: I haven't seen a single draftnick that thinks he'll play receiver.
Speaker 1: He's just not cut for that position. I include myself
Speaker 1: in that he can condense inside as a big slot
Speaker 1: and f type that can create mismatches and possibly be
Speaker 1: assolved some of the stuff we talked about with Mason Taylor.
Speaker 1: Now they did kick him, they did not kick him
Speaker 1: inside in the running game almost at all. So that's
Speaker 1: a total projection for him at the next level, which
Speaker 1: takes a lot of time to get I think, especially
Speaker 1: in this offense, and why I would say there's a
Speaker 1: bit of a drop off for him after my top
Speaker 1: five players at the position. Outstanding fifty to fifty ball
Speaker 1: catcher and high point skills and strong hands. He's not
Speaker 1: explosive off the line or with the ball in his hands.
Speaker 1: I think he's probably a twenty twenty six player if
Speaker 1: you draft him twenty twenty five projected Day three pick.
Speaker 1: All right, there you go. Tight end capsule done. I
Speaker 1: want to do running backs by Wednesday, but we're going
Speaker 1: to keep this fluid and just get to it as
Speaker 1: the work gets done. In the meantime, you all please
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Speaker 1: rating and review.
Speaker 2: Why do I keep the look down on?
Speaker 1: Follow me on social at Winkfield, NFL. The team at
Speaker 1: Miami Dolphins. Check out Seth and Juice on the Fish
Speaker 1: Tank podcast. The Shawn Wooden episode was great. Check out
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Speaker 1: much more, and last, butt not least, Miami Dolphins dot com.
Speaker 2: Until next time, fins up Caroline and Cameron.
Speaker 1: Daddy, He's coming, hope,