Speaker 1: Down, Miami Drawn. What is up, Dolphans, And welcome to
Speaker 1: the Drive Time Podcast, part of the Miami Dolphins official
Speaker 1: podcast network, covering your team, your Miami Dolphins. How's it
Speaker 1: going everybody? It is early week. I am your host,
Speaker 1: Travis Winfield, and on today's show, we're gonna get into
Speaker 1: Coach Flora's press conference his media availability from the end
Speaker 1: of last week. We'll talk about his comments on two
Speaker 1: A tongue by looa, the third pick in the draft,
Speaker 1: some coaching staff reshuffling, and a whole lot more. Plus
Speaker 1: we'll get you updates on the latest pro days and
Speaker 1: get you ready for free agency kicking off this week
Speaker 1: here on the Drive Time Podcast. All of that and
Speaker 1: more on this on this final episode of the league year,
Speaker 1: a day shin of the Drift Time Podcast. So we've
Speaker 1: got Coach Flora's last week in lieu of his annual
Speaker 1: live Combine presser and flow spoke to the media through
Speaker 1: our good old Zoom platform. And I might be a
Speaker 1: victim of hyperbole like a lot of the time. For instance,
Speaker 1: I told my friends that the South Park vaccination special
Speaker 1: that came out last week was the best episode those
Speaker 1: guys have ever done, and I still stand by that claim,
Speaker 1: but I can see how they can tell me that
Speaker 1: I'm crazy for saying that after a twenty four year
Speaker 1: run of Brilliance and how much that's saying about the show.
Speaker 1: But I thought that this press conference from Coach was
Speaker 1: the best one he's given since I've been here for
Speaker 1: these press conferences. And I will say this, Normally we
Speaker 1: get a very fired up, loose but excited ear to
Speaker 1: ear grin on Coach before the season opener, at the
Speaker 1: start of training camp, whenever there are pads popping and
Speaker 1: football to be played, because well, he's a utball coach.
Speaker 1: He's told us before how much he loves coaching football.
Speaker 1: But I got that same vibe from him last week
Speaker 1: at this presser. He entered the chat by asking everybody
Speaker 1: how they're doing, a big smile on his face. He
Speaker 1: congratulated Omar Kelly for the birth of his child, and
Speaker 1: a congrats are in order here on the Drivetime podcast
Speaker 1: to Omar and his wife. Omar was one of the
Speaker 1: first people that kind of showed me some South Florida
Speaker 1: hospitality when I was down there for training camp in
Speaker 1: twenty nineteen. So Omar, congrats to you and your wife,
Speaker 1: my good friend, and he was joking with Cam Wolf
Speaker 1: of ESPN, another friend here of the podcast and a
Speaker 1: friend of mine as well, about parenting a newborn. Cam
Speaker 1: also recently had a little one, and oh yeah, before
Speaker 1: I buried the lead any further speaking, a little ones,
Speaker 1: Caroline took her first steps this weekend, and I celebrated
Speaker 1: that harder than I did the two of the Holland's
Speaker 1: touchdown the fits to Holland's sideline shot in the Raiders
Speaker 1: game to any play this year. I was spiking the football,
Speaker 1: so to speak, after watching Caroline take her first steps.
Speaker 1: But now I feel like dropping her off at college
Speaker 1: is like right around the corner. Time truly does go
Speaker 1: by way too fast for a parent. She's been around
Speaker 1: for ten months and I feel like the time was
Speaker 1: already flown by. But back on track here, it was
Speaker 1: just great to be back in one of these and
Speaker 1: as brief as they are, it's great to get tangible
Speaker 1: football news and not just the old according to sources
Speaker 1: type of headlines rumors that we see from January through
Speaker 1: the start of the league new year, the new league year,
Speaker 1: especially without the scouting combine, and we were fortunate to
Speaker 1: get the Senior Bowl this year with coach, but that
Speaker 1: was six weeks ago. So the football kind of feels
Speaker 1: like it's picking back up a little bit here. And
Speaker 1: just as I'm sure you are as well, I am
Speaker 1: here for it. Let's go ahead and kick this off
Speaker 1: with Brian Flores his opening remarks. We're gonna hear from
Speaker 1: coach Flow and then check in with my thoughts and
Speaker 1: analysis after each answer. So first, here's coach talking about
Speaker 1: a sort of state of the Dolphins, type of a drest.
Speaker 1: So a couple of quick updates last couple of months,
Speaker 1: you know, as I you know, last time we talked,
Speaker 1: I want to say, at the Senior Bowl, and you know,
Speaker 1: at the end of the season, I talked about, UM,
Speaker 1: you know, us kind of doing a full evaluation of
Speaker 1: our team, UM and really the entire operation season. H.
Speaker 1: So we did a deep dive on a self scout
Speaker 1: from that perspective, really across the board, offense, defense, special team,
Speaker 1: our operation, UH, you know, scouting any and any everything
Speaker 1: that we felt like we could approve on. We kind
Speaker 1: of talked about, UM, look, our our goal is to
Speaker 1: to improve at every position UM coaches players, strength and
Speaker 1: addition and you know, nutrition, training. So we kind of,
Speaker 1: uh that's kind of been what we've done the last
Speaker 1: couple of months. UM, Chris and our stock scout and staff,
Speaker 1: they've been they've been great, they've been phenomenal. We just
Speaker 1: actually just got done with our draft meetings last week,
Speaker 1: UM look with no no combine and UM quite a
Speaker 1: few limitations this year due to do the COVID nineteen
Speaker 1: and the pandemic. Really they've kind of handled that without
Speaker 1: any complaints, no issues, and they did a really nice
Speaker 1: job as far as getting background and we had some
Speaker 1: really good uh good dialogue and a lot of great
Speaker 1: meetings over the last couple of weeks. UH. And that
Speaker 1: is you know, specific to the draft, but also free agency,
Speaker 1: you know, pro pro department first. UM, So we're gonna
Speaker 1: name Danny Craftsman assistant head coach UM and Special Teams.
Speaker 1: Danny as as you guys know, UM has been uh
Speaker 1: instrumental in the development of uh this team or coaches staff,
Speaker 1: and I'm just grateful to have someone of his skills
Speaker 1: UM to bounce ideas off of two uh. Uh. He's
Speaker 1: just been an invaluable asset. UH. Named Georgian Eric co
Speaker 1: coordinators on offense, UM look, they've both done uh on
Speaker 1: outstanding jobs and they at their respective positions. UM, have
Speaker 1: a lot of respect for both guys, very knowledgeable, UM,
Speaker 1: very good teachers, and uh I think they both bring
Speaker 1: different you know, uh uh they both have different perspectives
Speaker 1: and that that that uh, that's that's been a good Uh.
Speaker 1: We've had a lot of great dialogue. Really, I would
Speaker 1: say these last couple of months with with those two
Speaker 1: as as well as our entire offensive staff other offensive
Speaker 1: coaching staff changes and look, you guys have got a
Speaker 1: press release on this later on today. Uh So, Mike
Speaker 1: Judge is going to go to um, you know, from
Speaker 1: quality control to assistant tight ends, and Sean Flaherty, who
Speaker 1: was uh also a quality control goa, will go to
Speaker 1: assistant on line offense. Defensively, a couple of changes there.
Speaker 1: So Charles Burke's, um, well, he'll be the cornerbacks coach.
Speaker 1: Obviously he worked with the corners you know for the
Speaker 1: last couple of years. He's done a nice job. So
Speaker 1: officially the cornerbacks coach. Austin Clark's gonna coach defensive line,
Speaker 1: and Robbery Land is going to move to outside linebackers.
Speaker 1: So there you have at the opening UH State of
Speaker 1: the Union address there from coach some coaching staff changes
Speaker 1: as well, and he took on another question regarding coach
Speaker 1: Godzie and Studentsville later on, so we'll circle back to that,
Speaker 1: but it is official those are your co offensive coordinators.
Speaker 1: Other moves along with that, Danny Crossman promoted to assistant
Speaker 1: head coach and you know a respective guy in the
Speaker 1: building communication on point A leader. We talked about the
Speaker 1: scream here on the podcast. It's a question I asked
Speaker 1: the special teams, the core special teamers on this team.
Speaker 1: I always like to ask him about the scream of
Speaker 1: Danny Crossman because of training camp, you can hear it
Speaker 1: from anywhere within earshot of the facility there. And there
Speaker 1: was a great story on the Blake Ferguson, Sam egg
Speaker 1: Will Vaughan podcast we did back in December for My
Speaker 1: Cleats My Cause, and I asked Ferguson about the last
Speaker 1: time he got screamed out by Crossman and he told
Speaker 1: me about a half hour ago at practice, and then
Speaker 1: I asked Sam the same question. He said, well, blake'sid
Speaker 1: a half hour ago, so for me it was about
Speaker 1: forty five minutes ago. So he's always Uh, He's always
Speaker 1: making sure guys are coached up and most of all,
Speaker 1: he's overseen one of the better special teams units in
Speaker 1: the league and for my money, the most innovative as
Speaker 1: far as creating plays through deception, whether it's fakes, blocked kicks, returns,
Speaker 1: pinning kickoffs deep and forcing the return man to come
Speaker 1: out that sort of thing. So well deserved their coach
Speaker 1: absolutely a position that he's earned through his time here
Speaker 1: in Miami. Mike Judge gets the call from quality control
Speaker 1: to assistant tight ends to work with George Gatzi in
Speaker 1: that tight end room, and Gotzi retains that tight ends
Speaker 1: position as well as Eric Studisville retaining his position as
Speaker 1: the running backs coach. The other movie, you heard coach
Speaker 1: talk about their Charles Burke's. That was a name that
Speaker 1: Gut reference on the podcast a lot last year and
Speaker 1: impressed conferences through players and coaches about a guy who
Speaker 1: worked kind of hand in hand with the players on
Speaker 1: individual instruction. Byron Jones talked a lot about this when
Speaker 1: he would speak to us, and I mentioned it from
Speaker 1: my observations at practice how much he and Charles Burke's
Speaker 1: work together pre practice on ball skills and turning and
Speaker 1: locating the football and catching the football and all the
Speaker 1: stuff that went into Byron Jones' career high this year
Speaker 1: with the two interceptions. So Charles Brooks he also gets
Speaker 1: that promotion. Austin Clark goes from his old post as
Speaker 1: the outside linebackers coach to defensive line coach, and he
Speaker 1: was one of the guys that was talked a lot
Speaker 1: about among players this year in terms of his ability
Speaker 1: to teach and help guys develop their skill sets. From
Speaker 1: Andrew van Ginel who complimented coach time and and time again,
Speaker 1: time and time again. Jerome Baker talked about him, Coach Campanelli,
Speaker 1: the linebackers coach, talked a lot about him. So he
Speaker 1: gets moved to the defensive line, where really his his
Speaker 1: specialty was a little bit of the pass rush moves
Speaker 1: and and how he got guys to develop the arsenal
Speaker 1: of pass rush moves. He's he was talked about a
Speaker 1: lot of Emmanuel Ogbas Shack Lawson in that regard as well.
Speaker 1: So he gets that call and then finally taking over
Speaker 1: his role as the outside linebackers coach previously is Robbie Leonard,
Speaker 1: who was also an assistant position coach last year there
Speaker 1: as well, so some changes to the staff. Coach Flor
Speaker 1: has covered those as well as the kind of unorthodox
Speaker 1: move to have co offensive coordinators. I don't think any
Speaker 1: other team in the NFL has that, So we're gonna
Speaker 1: find out how that works. And coach was of course
Speaker 1: asked about that at the first question at his press
Speaker 1: conference about the collaboration between George Gadzi and Eric Studisville
Speaker 1: co offensive coordinators. Definitely collaborative. I think, Uh, that's something
Speaker 1: we've talked about, UM, and those are kind of ongoing discussions.
Speaker 1: So we have I would say, cemented a a way
Speaker 1: of how we're gonna do it. UM. But I think
Speaker 1: just from a play calling standpoint, a lot of that
Speaker 1: the leg works done during the week. I know George, uh, Eric,
Speaker 1: George's call plays in the past. Uh, Like Eric was uh,
Speaker 1: you know a COVID. You know, we had the situation
Speaker 1: where we had to have a back about every position.
Speaker 1: So Eric, Eric was preparing to call the game if
Speaker 1: something happened to Chan the entire year. So I think
Speaker 1: both guys are equipped to do it, and we have
Speaker 1: not cemented a hey, we're gonna do it like this. Uh,
Speaker 1: but I think, you know, we'll figure out a way
Speaker 1: that's collaborative at the end of the day, puts our
Speaker 1: team in the best position to have success offensively. Success offensively,
Speaker 1: I mean that's the key, right getting the offense up
Speaker 1: and down the field, putting points on the board, regardless
Speaker 1: of how you do it through the passing game, the
Speaker 1: running game, a combination of both professional style attacks college
Speaker 1: style looks that have become more and more prevalent in
Speaker 1: the National Football League over I guess the past decade
Speaker 1: or so, But you look at what both these coaches
Speaker 1: have done in their short times in Miami and their
Speaker 1: careers beyond that. Eric Steudisville, I mean, I've rember praising
Speaker 1: this guy's running schemes back in eighteen when originally with
Speaker 1: Adam Gae in the mix, it was all outside zone.
Speaker 1: You recalled that ten season with Jagi. Get out on
Speaker 1: the edge, let him pick his hole and then let
Speaker 1: him get vertical or let him get square rather to
Speaker 1: the line of scrimmage and get himself upfield on those
Speaker 1: outside runs. And then we go out and signed Frank Gore.
Speaker 1: Here comes Eric Studisville, and you've got missed direction, You've
Speaker 1: got gap scheme. You've got all kinds of different whaan
Speaker 1: blocks and traps and different counters and and different ideas
Speaker 1: in the running game. And I became a big fan
Speaker 1: of coach at that time. He of course one of
Speaker 1: the holdovers from that previous coaching staff here under Brian Flores.
Speaker 1: So it tells you about his his ability to lead,
Speaker 1: his ability to teach, and what Brian Flores thinks about
Speaker 1: what makes a good coach. I think Eric Studisfield checks
Speaker 1: those boxes. And look at the running backstables that Studentsville
Speaker 1: has worked with here in Miami. I mean last season alone,
Speaker 1: everyone projected Jordan Howard Matt Brita as a one to
Speaker 1: punch and who's the running back that goes out there
Speaker 1: and get seventy seventy percent of the workload in week
Speaker 1: one and produces in a big time way. Finishes the
Speaker 1: season with the eleventh most average yards per scrimmage per
Speaker 1: game in Miles gascon And we saw that in training camp.
Speaker 1: If you guys read the training camp reports, listen to
Speaker 1: the podcast back in August, your boy was very very
Speaker 1: high on Miles Gaskin despite the fact that he went
Speaker 1: to you dub Go Coogs. But I was here to
Speaker 1: watch him just shred up defenses as a member of
Speaker 1: the Miami Dolphins, and he was doing that, and Eric Studisville,
Speaker 1: I think seventh round draft pick here, has a little
Speaker 1: bit to say about the development of that young player.
Speaker 1: So teaching leadership type right type of guy for this job.
Speaker 1: And then George Gotzian and you go back to some
Speaker 1: of the old transcripts last season. He was always a
Speaker 1: great interview last year and I can only imagine that
Speaker 1: if he can explain football to US media adults the
Speaker 1: way he did, then he can definitely do that to
Speaker 1: professional football players. I asked him a question last year
Speaker 1: about going empty, which is where you have no running
Speaker 1: backs in the backfield. You've got your five offensive lineman,
Speaker 1: you've got your quarterback, and your five available options. Your
Speaker 1: five eligible options in the passing attack are all fly
Speaker 1: xed out. And when you're in thirteen personnel, which means
Speaker 1: one running back, three tight ends, the first number is
Speaker 1: the running backs, the second number is the tight ends,
Speaker 1: and then the leftover is your receivers. So one running back,
Speaker 1: three tight ends, and one receiver, and they would go
Speaker 1: empty out of that package because you've got Mica SICKI
Speaker 1: who's uber athletic. Adam Shaheen. Same idea there as far
Speaker 1: as the way he scored at his combine workout, and
Speaker 1: Durham Smith can do some things in the passing game
Speaker 1: as well. And so when I asked him that question,
Speaker 1: he lit up. How to thorow insightful answer about the
Speaker 1: advantages of being able to go to that third team
Speaker 1: personnel package and to go empty from it when you're
Speaker 1: gonna get a base defense to counter that look. So
Speaker 1: I just look forward to what both he and students
Speaker 1: feel can cook up together in a collaboration, and also
Speaker 1: their press conferences with us this year, because they were
Speaker 1: great in I have to imagine that continues in Coach
Speaker 1: Flores was then asked about his quarterback, of course, to
Speaker 1: a tongue of Valoa, a hot topic down here in
Speaker 1: South Florida, a topic, a point of contention, a player
Speaker 1: that Coach Flora's is very excited about for his second
Speaker 1: year in the National Football League. Yeah, I mean I'm
Speaker 1: excited about, you know, to a in this upcoming season.
Speaker 1: We think, uh you know, we we you think about
Speaker 1: his situation last year coming off the hip kind of
Speaker 1: threw him in the fire there um on week seven,
Speaker 1: a week uh we game. I'm not sure exactly what
Speaker 1: week it was, but you know he started nine games.
Speaker 1: I thought he made a lot of improvement really throughout
Speaker 1: the course of the season, had some ups, had some rounds,
Speaker 1: UM and like all the rookies, UM and like any rookie, uh,
Speaker 1: I'm really excited about this. Uh this this you know
Speaker 1: that year when a year to jump having uh being
Speaker 1: more comfortable even down here in South Florida has got
Speaker 1: a place. I mean, I love that rookie year. You
Speaker 1: got a lot going on. You know, you gotta get
Speaker 1: a house, you gotta get a car, you gotta move
Speaker 1: to a old new city. I mean, there's so many
Speaker 1: things that are going on. I thought he handled it
Speaker 1: well last year. But I'm really excited um about you know,
Speaker 1: this upcoming year. Especially you know again we gotta think
Speaker 1: that he had O T A s and you know
Speaker 1: I had a different training camp. Uh So look, you
Speaker 1: guys know me. I mean I'm all about the development
Speaker 1: of players, uh and you know, helping them develop and
Speaker 1: helping them u UM get better. And I think, uh,
Speaker 1: you know this this time or you know an off season,
Speaker 1: UM is really going to be helpful to him. Um
Speaker 1: and really all the rookies, and I'm really excited about,
Speaker 1: you know, working with him in all season. So that
Speaker 1: was the first question about the quarterback position. We're gonna
Speaker 1: circle back to the backup question towards who will be
Speaker 1: to us back up this season. Let's go ahead and
Speaker 1: though and get another follow up here about the starting
Speaker 1: quarterback into a tungue by looa from head coach Brian Flores. Yeah,
Speaker 1: like I said, I think he's, you know, a talented player.
Speaker 1: I think, um, you know, we here believe in developing
Speaker 1: players at all positions. And I think I think, you know,
Speaker 1: with an off season with its votas, with you know,
Speaker 1: more reps, more repetitions, like like you know, any player
Speaker 1: or uh, I think you know, they develop and get
Speaker 1: and get better. So um, and I think he feels
Speaker 1: the same way. Man. Look too, and I had lunch yesterday,
Speaker 1: so uh we we we you know, and look, we
Speaker 1: talked about his family and I think a lot of
Speaker 1: that is you know, that development about building relationships. So uh,
Speaker 1: you know, he's doing well. He's confident. I'm confident in him. Um,
Speaker 1: and uh, I think you know, I'm looking forward to
Speaker 1: this Auson. So there's a lot to unpack there from
Speaker 1: coach Flora's a couple of long answers there about his quarterback.
Speaker 1: The number one takeaway, the smile, the excitement about his
Speaker 1: young quarterback twenty three years old, rookie deal got a
Speaker 1: team on the upswing. Why wouldn't coach be excited about
Speaker 1: where this football team is going? And remember this time
Speaker 1: last year to a ton of Volo was you know,
Speaker 1: arguably the top quarterback in the draft class, and he
Speaker 1: was battling all season long with Joe Burrow for that
Speaker 1: distinction before the injury occurred. And of course he was
Speaker 1: then available at the fifth pick in the draft. But
Speaker 1: this is a young man that is breaming with talent
Speaker 1: and special skill sets and leadership quality and spirit that
Speaker 1: is infectious and can really reverberrate throughout the course of
Speaker 1: the locker room. A guy that could be a catalyst,
Speaker 1: a guy that can be the one that rises all tides,
Speaker 1: as it were. You recall the great UH conversation that
Speaker 1: Nick Saban reference when he was at Alabama after to
Speaker 1: have suffered that devastating hip injury, and Nick Saban dials
Speaker 1: up to UH and two was the one that cheers
Speaker 1: him up. It's just that type of character, the type
Speaker 1: of person. It's something that Brian Flora's and Chris Career
Speaker 1: have both spoken about in terms of what he was
Speaker 1: as a person in the locker room and a person
Speaker 1: as a Miami Dolphin. And you heard coach talk there
Speaker 1: about having lunch with his young quarterback and asking about
Speaker 1: his family and building that relationship. When Flores was first
Speaker 1: hired here and I did Locked on Dolphins, I had
Speaker 1: a great Brian Flores podcast where I had Patriots beat
Speaker 1: writers on former Patriots players talking about Brian Flores. And
Speaker 1: one of the things that came across my research was
Speaker 1: he had won an event at the y m c
Speaker 1: A up there in Boston, or not an event, he
Speaker 1: won an award at an event celebrating the y m
Speaker 1: c A and his brother and all the charitable contributions
Speaker 1: he had made. And Devin mccordy was one of the
Speaker 1: people that presented an award, the award to Brian Flores,
Speaker 1: him and a couple of other Patriots players, and they
Speaker 1: talked about how genuine his care was for those players
Speaker 1: and how much he meant to them as not just
Speaker 1: a coach, but as a man, a mentory person that
Speaker 1: made them better people, better husband's, better fathers. And we're
Speaker 1: gonna roll something here at the end of the podcast
Speaker 1: that kind of confirms that the way Flores is perceived
Speaker 1: about the league, and we're gonna go back to last
Speaker 1: year's free agency podcast to go ahead and prove that point.
Speaker 1: But I think that's a very critical element here about
Speaker 1: the coach and the quarterback having that relationship, kind of
Speaker 1: seeing the game the same way, seeing life in a
Speaker 1: similar way, and having that trust with one another. I
Speaker 1: think that's gonna go a long way. But well, I
Speaker 1: think also goes a long way is act to the
Speaker 1: skill set. And I tell some friends this now and then, because,
Speaker 1: as you guys know, all I do is update my
Speaker 1: white board here and watch Dolphins games and and just
Speaker 1: pretty much immerse myself in Miami Dolphins football. That's what
Speaker 1: I've been doing since I was about sixteen years old.
Speaker 1: And rewatching the games. After the Rams game, which I
Speaker 1: thought he played much better than the box score indicated,
Speaker 1: after the Cardinals game, where he was flat out dealing
Speaker 1: and showing you the processing and anticipation and off script
Speaker 1: ability and accuracy and third nine conversions and big time
Speaker 1: fourth quarter game, tying drives and putting the team in
Speaker 1: position to win the game in the fourth quarter with
Speaker 1: the Jason Sanders field goal. And then you go into
Speaker 1: the Chargers game and it's fourteen zip Dolphins driving into
Speaker 1: the red zone. We get a bad snap that turns
Speaker 1: into a turnover and a big return for the Chargers.
Speaker 1: But at that moment, about a quarter and a half
Speaker 1: into that Chargers game, to have had thrown several strikes anticipation,
Speaker 1: he had that great play where the ball was snapped
Speaker 1: at his feet, he scoops it up, throws a fifty
Speaker 1: fifty ball to DeVante Parker who pulls it down. And
Speaker 1: if you go back to that Charger's game and think
Speaker 1: about the Rams, Cardinals and the first quarter and a
Speaker 1: half that Chargers game. I don't know about y'all, but
Speaker 1: I was thinking this team was ready to compete for
Speaker 1: a Super Bowl because of the defense, the upstart offense,
Speaker 1: the skill players were still healthy in there, and too,
Speaker 1: it was really coming into his own with that offensive
Speaker 1: line and the young players developing in general on the offense.
Speaker 1: And the reason I thought that was because we saw
Speaker 1: the traits that really attracted me and you guys know
Speaker 1: how to give a to a fan. I was all
Speaker 1: throughout his college days. That really attracted me to his game.
Speaker 1: The footwork, the way he's able to get to his
Speaker 1: drop quickly or slower to kind of sync up with
Speaker 1: the timing of the offense. The ball comes out quickly,
Speaker 1: awkward platforms, whether his hips are square to the linon
Speaker 1: of scrimmage, whether his shoulders are square to the lion
Speaker 1: of scrimmage. He can throw the football from any platform
Speaker 1: and get that thing out accurately, on time and in rhythm.
Speaker 1: And you heard Benjamin Slack on the Friday Drivetime podcast
Speaker 1: talk about the accuracy, how this kid could hit a
Speaker 1: bull's life from anywhere on the football field. I just
Speaker 1: don't know where the traits got lost along the way,
Speaker 1: Like this kid can still flat out play. There was,
Speaker 1: of course, a little bit of a valley there, a
Speaker 1: little bit of a lull in the middle of the
Speaker 1: season for him, the end of the season for the Dolphins,
Speaker 1: and coach talked about that the peaks and valleys of
Speaker 1: a rookie season. He also talked about the difficulties of
Speaker 1: getting used to life in the NFL in your rookie season.
Speaker 1: Now think about yourself at age twenty two, What were
Speaker 1: you doing? I mean, I think I worked at Subway
Speaker 1: at age twenty two and was trying to get through
Speaker 1: junior college at the time, Like it wasn't really, you know,
Speaker 1: that far along in my life, and so to move
Speaker 1: to a new area at that age. I've told the
Speaker 1: story before about bumping into ray Kwon Davis in the
Speaker 1: hallways at the facility at Davy and how he was
Speaker 1: lost and I was lost and we tried to get
Speaker 1: out of the building together, because it's like freaking maze
Speaker 1: up there. And you compare that with the fact that
Speaker 1: there's multiple parking lots of the facility where I've been
Speaker 1: lost a couple of times. There's a parking garage at
Speaker 1: Nova across the street where I had to go park
Speaker 1: on the third story and find the stairs and walk
Speaker 1: down to the to the pro shop to get in.
Speaker 1: Like there is a lot that goes into your first
Speaker 1: year and not knowing the building, not knowing the facility,
Speaker 1: not knowing the league, not knowing the expectation of the
Speaker 1: professional football league just yet, it's a lot. And so
Speaker 1: I expect, you know, those those traits to translate much
Speaker 1: better here. Your number two, even though I thought he
Speaker 1: was good in his rookie season. So that's the starting
Speaker 1: quarterback talk from coach Flora's what about the backup position,
Speaker 1: which right now remains a little bit unforeseen Read Senet
Speaker 1: is signed to a futures contract, Ryan Fitzpatrick is an
Speaker 1: unrestricted free agent with Jake Ruddock a restricted free agent.
Speaker 1: So coach was asked, does he want Ryan Fitzpatrick back
Speaker 1: and if so, if not, what does he look for
Speaker 1: in that backup quarterback position specific to fits Obviously in
Speaker 1: a week I have a lot of respecting admiration for him. Uh. Look,
Speaker 1: he's tough, he's smart, he's competitive, he loves to play,
Speaker 1: he's got really invited his old characteristics. You know we're
Speaker 1: looking for here. Um. Yeah, honestly, we'd love to have
Speaker 1: him back. But you know, I think this is a
Speaker 1: very unique year. Um from a cap standpoint. Um, obviously
Speaker 1: we just had the cap the number set yesterday, so uh,
Speaker 1: those conversations are fluid and UM, but yeah, we're looking
Speaker 1: for somebody with those characteristics in in in the backup
Speaker 1: quarterback position. Um, someone who is smart, someone who you
Speaker 1: know we feel like, um, you know, yea hopefully this
Speaker 1: doesn't happen. But if you know he had to go in,
Speaker 1: we could we can still win the ballgame. Um, and uh,
Speaker 1: there's there's a few guys out there that you know,
Speaker 1: we've we've taken a look at them all, and you know,
Speaker 1: we're still kind of putting that plan in place, honestly
Speaker 1: with the just kind of setting the number yesterday and uh,
Speaker 1: you know those meetings that are kind of ongoing, and
Speaker 1: you know a couple that with um, you know a
Speaker 1: number of releases that are happening really on a day
Speaker 1: to day basis, so we're almost re ranking on a
Speaker 1: daily basis. So, UM, I wish I had more for
Speaker 1: you there, how, but you know, those characteristics are what
Speaker 1: we're looking for. A tough, smart, competitive, obviously accurate and
Speaker 1: all the things from a talent standpoint that you needed.
Speaker 1: The quarterback position decision making and you know, commanded the offense.
Speaker 1: So there you go, backup quarterback position, veteran younger player,
Speaker 1: developmental rookie. Which direction will they go? It's one of
Speaker 1: the more intriguing, uh, you know, storylines of this entire
Speaker 1: offseason because having that backup quarterback then come off the
Speaker 1: bench and win a game and a pitch, like coach mentioned,
Speaker 1: if you are in the unfortunate situation where that does
Speaker 1: have to happen, that's a very valuable thing to have
Speaker 1: in this league. As we saw, for instance, in the
Speaker 1: game at the Jets last year. To a bands up
Speaker 1: his thumb and practice, we have to go to Fitzpatrick
Speaker 1: and that game is one rather comfortably because of quality
Speaker 1: quarterback play back there to help the offense get along there.
Speaker 1: So there's coach talking about the backup quarterback position, and
Speaker 1: up next, how about the players that are gonna catch
Speaker 1: footballs from to and possibly a backup quarterback at some
Speaker 1: point in the future, the skill players. How aggressive does
Speaker 1: coach Flora's want to be rounding out the offense with
Speaker 1: skill with with free agents and draft picks. On that
Speaker 1: offensive side of the football, here's coach regarding adding talent
Speaker 1: and playmakers to the offensive side of the football. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think you always want all the most talent you
Speaker 1: can get, the most uh playmakers offensively, defensive in the
Speaker 1: kicking game. Uh. But you know, at the end of
Speaker 1: the day, you want uh we want you know, you
Speaker 1: don't need eleven stars, Uh, you need eleven guys, eleven
Speaker 1: teammates who work together and wasn't one goal in mind? UM,
Speaker 1: and uh, you know that's really what we're looking for. Uh.
Speaker 1: So yeah, we want talented players, but we want we
Speaker 1: want we want a good cohesive unit and guys will
Speaker 1: fit well together. And that's uh, that's not that's that's
Speaker 1: not always eleven stars. It's uh, it's almost never that way. So, UM, look,
Speaker 1: we've we've we've scoured the you know, free agency, the draft, UM,
Speaker 1: and I think we have a pretty good feel for um.
Speaker 1: You know that the types of guys were looking for
Speaker 1: UM from a skill set standpoint, but at first honestly
Speaker 1: from a locker room fits standpoint as as people as
Speaker 1: well as I think that's important. That's an important factor
Speaker 1: that UM, that can't that can't be overlooked. So there's
Speaker 1: coach talking a little bit about the approach to the
Speaker 1: offensive side of the football and not being a star
Speaker 1: driven league, and that might be an indicator of what
Speaker 1: you look at in free agency as far as how
Speaker 1: those tears are broken down. Let's go ahead and get
Speaker 1: another blur up here from coach talking about the free
Speaker 1: agency period and how you can't always get what you want. Again,
Speaker 1: you know, this is a very unique year. Um h,
Speaker 1: very unique year. Yeah, we do have some uh uh
Speaker 1: some money from a cap standpoint that we can spend.
Speaker 1: But again, I mean, it's it's it's it's an interesting year.
Speaker 1: I think I'm gonna be playing the song you can't
Speaker 1: always get what you want, you know that day want
Speaker 1: free agency to be honest with you, um, because we
Speaker 1: may get priced out on some guys that we we
Speaker 1: were looking uh and we'd like to have. They made
Speaker 1: just want to go elsewhere. So this is I think
Speaker 1: we're going to try to do the best we can.
Speaker 1: We've had multiple meetings about this. In Again, I would say,
Speaker 1: just getting the cap number yesterday kind of uh you know,
Speaker 1: kind of sets the stage for us to at least say, hey,
Speaker 1: we're gonna have this, we can do this, this, this
Speaker 1: and this, and kind of forecasting for Dick paid said
Speaker 1: player we expect him to to get this, which you know,
Speaker 1: you know, I would say, wipes out this amount whatever
Speaker 1: percentage of cash we have to spend. So see, I
Speaker 1: kind of talked about that in the previous podcast. How
Speaker 1: I love doing those mock off seasons, the mock draft
Speaker 1: simulations because it kind of gives you an idea for
Speaker 1: what might happen around the league. Obviously not going to
Speaker 1: be fully accurate, but you hear coach talking there about
Speaker 1: both of those aspects about you can't always get what
Speaker 1: you want, about it's not about getting eleven star players
Speaker 1: on one side of the ball. And we've talked about
Speaker 1: this a lot, right the number of transactions this team
Speaker 1: has made since Chris Career and Brian Flores got here.
Speaker 1: I think about last camp when it seemed like there
Speaker 1: was a new defensive back coming in every day, scouring
Speaker 1: not just free agency, in the draft, at the waiver
Speaker 1: wire and finding the right fifty three coaches talked about
Speaker 1: that as well, the message being consistent about getting people
Speaker 1: that they want to buy into what the Dolphins are
Speaker 1: building here in Miami, and talking about the free agency.
Speaker 1: You know, you spend big money in free agency and
Speaker 1: all of a sudden you've got a new player transporting
Speaker 1: to a new system, and does it click right away?
Speaker 1: Will that work out right away? Will you get a
Speaker 1: player that plays up to that sixteen, seventeen, eighteen million
Speaker 1: dollar figure that you have to pay them on that
Speaker 1: first day of free agency? At premier positions like a
Speaker 1: pass rusher, for instance, a wide receiver. If you do
Speaker 1: go out and spend eighteen million bucks a year on
Speaker 1: a player, he then has to become pretty much a
Speaker 1: Pro Bowl, All Pro type of guy. Otherwise the value
Speaker 1: in the contract versus the production is not quite there.
Speaker 1: So you hear to coach talk about that maybe in
Speaker 1: that tier to a free agency where guys are, you know,
Speaker 1: in the weekend or next week after free agency kicks off,
Speaker 1: they've kind of seen the market saturate a little bit,
Speaker 1: they've seen the big dollars it's spent, and they come
Speaker 1: around to that second wave of free agency that might
Speaker 1: be where the true value is in a player, for instance,
Speaker 1: like a Manual Agba who got two years fifteen million
Speaker 1: last season. And we won't go into the fire details
Speaker 1: of the contracts because that's when stuff gets bit confusing,
Speaker 1: but nine sacks third most pressures among all defensive edge
Speaker 1: players last year the NFL with sixty six, and Agba
Speaker 1: outperformed the contract he received with his production on the field.
Speaker 1: And that's why I think tier two of free agency.
Speaker 1: Tier three is a better a better market for the
Speaker 1: buyer because you you have a better chance for that
Speaker 1: players to live up to the production and of course,
Speaker 1: in a league where you only have a certain amount
Speaker 1: of salary assets and allocation, that is very key and
Speaker 1: very integral to the success of your football team. And
Speaker 1: speaking of free agency, the part of the calendar that
Speaker 1: comes after free agency is of course the draft. And
Speaker 1: we've been breaking this thing down for you guys for
Speaker 1: a couple of weeks here talking about the value of
Speaker 1: that third pick. Let's go ahead and here from coach
Speaker 1: Flores about that third pick and what it could mean
Speaker 1: for this Dolphins operation. Look, when you ever, anytime you
Speaker 1: pick third overall, there's there's a number of players and
Speaker 1: other number of ways we can go. Um. So I think,
Speaker 1: uh again, our scouting staff, like I said earlier, I
Speaker 1: think they've they've done a really great job as far
Speaker 1: as u narrowing down who the top top players are
Speaker 1: in this draft. We have a pretty good idea of
Speaker 1: who those are. I think everyone or most people who
Speaker 1: are kind of analyzing it, you know, you know who
Speaker 1: those players are. We'll have an opportunity to grab uh
Speaker 1: one of them at least and that let's call it
Speaker 1: a top ten um. But you know, obviously having that
Speaker 1: that that type of pick, there's there's a lot of other,
Speaker 1: uh avenues we could go, Um, you know, I think, yeah,
Speaker 1: we'll explore those also, and uh, that's that's that's we're
Speaker 1: we're we're fortunate that way and hopefully we don't know
Speaker 1: you can take advantage. So one thing I like to
Speaker 1: look at here with the value of that third pick
Speaker 1: in the draft is the famed Jimmy Johnson draft chart,
Speaker 1: which is, you know, a little bit outdated. I don't
Speaker 1: think teams necessarily abide by this like some kind of
Speaker 1: letter of the law, but just in general, that third
Speaker 1: pick is worth points. The first pick is worth three
Speaker 1: thousand points. So you see how valuable these top of
Speaker 1: the draft picks are. Whereas by the time you get
Speaker 1: to round two year down to five eight for the
Speaker 1: thirty third pick in the draft. So the value of
Speaker 1: this pick really is worth two mid first rounders. It's
Speaker 1: worth a boatload of future first rounders in second round
Speaker 1: draft picks. So the true value of this third pick.
Speaker 1: You find a way to maximize that, whether it's a player,
Speaker 1: whether it's recouping more draft picks in the future. Like
Speaker 1: coach Floras said, there are options and many many avenues
Speaker 1: Dolphins can take with that pick. Alright, let's go ahead
Speaker 1: and wrap up the press conference. Rate there a couple
Speaker 1: of pro days I wanted to talk about here on
Speaker 1: the podcast, just real quick and passing. Was the forty
Speaker 1: yard dash time of Travis E. T. N Out of Clemson.
Speaker 1: Wanted to be more electric running backs in the draft
Speaker 1: this year. You might recall a video with he and
Speaker 1: Isaiah Simmons a couple of years ago, the first round
Speaker 1: pick last year, the linebacker from Clemson racing in a
Speaker 1: forty yard dash and coming in neck and neck in
Speaker 1: that race. E T. M Blaze a four four five
Speaker 1: forty yard dash his pro day. And then Joseph Asai
Speaker 1: of Texas, one of the better edge prospects in this class.
Speaker 1: A stand up linebacker and come down off the edge
Speaker 1: and and play a pass rushing role, can cover, can
Speaker 1: defend the run. He can also play off ball linebacker.
Speaker 1: He's six ft two and two hundred and fifty pounds,
Speaker 1: a real nice build, pro type for those defense. He
Speaker 1: had a forty one and a half inch vertical which
Speaker 1: tells you about his explosiveness in the lower body strength
Speaker 1: and the explosiveness he has that way. So a couple
Speaker 1: of really cool notes there from the pro days. I
Speaker 1: want to finish up this podcast with some sound bites
Speaker 1: from the podcast. Last year around this time, we interviewed
Speaker 1: each of the Dolphins free agents. I want to play
Speaker 1: some of the best clips from those free agent podcast
Speaker 1: interviews here and why these players decided to sign with
Speaker 1: the Dolphins last year. And we start with the big
Speaker 1: get from last year's free agency class in Iron Jones.
Speaker 1: To be honest, what I really like about the Dolphins
Speaker 1: team is it's young and um and for me, this
Speaker 1: would be a new challenge in terms of not just
Speaker 1: leading by example, but leading with my voice and speaking
Speaker 1: up and talking to guys and making sure I'm changing
Speaker 1: the culture in that in that young locker room. UM.
Speaker 1: So that that gives me the opportunity to do that,
Speaker 1: and that that, to me was a really exciting challenge. Um.
Speaker 1: I believe in what coach Flow was doing. I spoke
Speaker 1: to a bunch of coaches about him and everyone had
Speaker 1: nothing but good things to say about him. So I
Speaker 1: know he's building something special and I want to be
Speaker 1: a part of it. Also fired up to come to
Speaker 1: Miami last season was center Ted Carriss. Here he is
Speaker 1: talking about his decision to sign with the Dolphins last March. Well,
Speaker 1: you know, I had the opportunity to play three seasons
Speaker 1: with him here in New England, and I thought, you know,
Speaker 1: he says a tough attitude, loves the game, Um, you know,
Speaker 1: wants to win and prepare to win. And I think
Speaker 1: those are all qualities but that we share. And uh,
Speaker 1: you know, I'm very grateful for the opportunity, really excited
Speaker 1: to get down and get to work. Another former Patriot
Speaker 1: that was with coach Flora's there, the Landing Roberts, elaborated
Speaker 1: on why he decided to sign with the Dolphins last
Speaker 1: free agency. Man. You know, yeah, I can't put it
Speaker 1: enough on you know, coach Flora as he was my
Speaker 1: coach all my years and uh, New England and and
Speaker 1: even you know, that's the first thing women coach I
Speaker 1: had met, you know, for my pro coming out of college.
Speaker 1: So the relationship was there, and then you know, just
Speaker 1: just watching you know, the organization. Of course we play
Speaker 1: them two times, and we played them two times a year,
Speaker 1: so watching that that that grow you know this past
Speaker 1: season you know and whatnot. It was just the best
Speaker 1: decision to go that way. And I'm I'm a dent,
Speaker 1: uh glad to be a part of the organization and
Speaker 1: I can't wait to just get there and get started working.
Speaker 1: And that was a pretty consistent message from Byron Jones
Speaker 1: and Landing Roberts, Ted Carress, Emmanuel ogbas Shack Lawson, Clayton Federal,
Speaker 1: and COMMU grouge Hill. All those guys had nothing but
Speaker 1: positive things to say about coach and playing for him
Speaker 1: here in my me. So we'll see what this free
Speaker 1: agency brings to the Dolphins roster and we'll get those
Speaker 1: guys on the podcast here as well, just like we
Speaker 1: did last year. Go ahead and go back and check
Speaker 1: out those podcasts. As for this edition of the Drive
Speaker 1: Time podcast, that is going to be my time you
Speaker 1: all please be sure to subscribe to the podcast on Apple, podcast, Spotify,
Speaker 1: wherever you get your podcast from. Go ahead and leave
Speaker 1: us a rating, leave us a review. You can follow
Speaker 1: me on Twitter at Linfold NFL, follow the team at
Speaker 1: Miami Dolphins, check out the Fish Tank and the Audible podcast,
Speaker 1: and of course, last but not least, Miami Dolphins dot com.
Speaker 1: Until next time, fins up.