Speaker 1: Fail touchdown, Miami drawn. What is up, Dolph Fans? And
Speaker 1: welcome to the Drive Time Podcast, part of the Miami
Speaker 1: Dolphins podcast network, covering your team, your Miami Dolphins. How's
Speaker 1: it going? Everybody? It is Friday. I am your host,
Speaker 1: Travis Wingfield, And on today's show, we're gonna take a
Speaker 1: closer look at the flexibility and the multiple fronts in
Speaker 1: Miami's defensive arsenal after free agency is basically a rap
Speaker 1: and we're heading to Gainesville and Baton Rouge to cover
Speaker 1: the l s U and Florida Pro days as Kyle
Speaker 1: Pitts and Jamaar Chase both put on an absolute show.
Speaker 1: All of that and more on this Friday, April, the
Speaker 1: second edition of the Drive Time Podcast. And so, so
Speaker 1: we came across the wire earlier this week. The NFL
Speaker 1: has approved the seventeen game schedule for the season and beyond,
Speaker 1: and so your Miami Dolphins are going to be hosting
Speaker 1: the New York Giants for their seventeenth game this season.
Speaker 1: The a f C East will play the NFC East,
Speaker 1: so we're gonna get the Buffalo Bills. All of the
Speaker 1: a f C teams are gonna host the NFC team,
Speaker 1: So Buffalo Bills will get Washington, the Patriots get the Cowboys,
Speaker 1: and the Jets get the Eagles in those matchups. Taking
Speaker 1: a look at what all this means three preseason games
Speaker 1: now the NFL will reduce that, I'm curious to see
Speaker 1: what this does to NFL records as far as yardage
Speaker 1: and completions and touchdowns and all that fun stuff. I
Speaker 1: think it probably won't start to take a major impact
Speaker 1: on career numbers for a long time, but single season
Speaker 1: marks are certainly in jeopardy now, especially with the expansion
Speaker 1: of the offensive just overall firepower and the way the
Speaker 1: rules are geared towards more offensive football in today's National
Speaker 1: Football League. But taking a look at this, I like
Speaker 1: it because I like more football, you know, less preseason
Speaker 1: football and more actual in season football. I like it
Speaker 1: because we get more unique matchups. I've always kind of
Speaker 1: not like the idea that you can only come to
Speaker 1: an NFC town if you're an a f C team
Speaker 1: every eight years, especially being a Dolphins fan in the
Speaker 1: Northwest my entire life, so I like that element. For instance,
Speaker 1: Packers and Chiefs this year. Are you kidding me? Who
Speaker 1: doesn't want to watch that? On a Monday night primetime
Speaker 1: slot Seahawks and Steelers. That's a cool looking matchup, so
Speaker 1: plenty of fun stuff to look at here. With the
Speaker 1: new seventeen game NFL scheduled the expansion became official earlier
Speaker 1: this week, Dolphins will host the Giants. With that seventeen game,
Speaker 1: I want to cover the L s U and Florida
Speaker 1: Pro days from earlier in the week. We'll go ahead
Speaker 1: and circle back on that, but I want to get
Speaker 1: to something that sparked my interest as I was rewatching
Speaker 1: another Dolphins game as I want to do it was
Speaker 1: the San Francisco game, And first off, just how much
Speaker 1: fun was that game in general as a fan? Forty
Speaker 1: three to seventeen, an instant three now on the opening possession,
Speaker 1: a touchdown to respond to that, then a quick touchdown
Speaker 1: again after that as Miami built up the fourteen nothing
Speaker 1: lead and cruised to victory after seven and never became
Speaker 1: less than a two score game again in that first half.
Speaker 1: And some of the individual matchups in that game, I
Speaker 1: mean Eric row on George Kittle. We talked about the
Speaker 1: Travis Kelsey and Darren Waller performances this year, Well how
Speaker 1: about Eric row on George Kittle in this game. He
Speaker 1: was spectacular. Robert Hunt on Eric Armstead had a great
Speaker 1: game in his first start at right tackle. That was
Speaker 1: the start of what I thought was a very good
Speaker 1: rookie season for Robert Hunt. The offense relentlessly going after
Speaker 1: that Brian Allen matchup with either Preston Williams Davante Parker
Speaker 1: over and over again. Andrew Van Geinkle showing his ability
Speaker 1: to dip and bend the corner as a pass rush.
Speaker 1: That was the first game shack lost and missed. Van
Speaker 1: Giggle got an elevation and snap counts a man. He
Speaker 1: played a heck of a game, had a big strip
Speaker 1: sack in that game. And Emmanuel Ogba, he kind of
Speaker 1: took off a couple of weeks before this, but he
Speaker 1: continued his pace where he just became a wrecking ball,
Speaker 1: a force to be reckoned with off the edge over
Speaker 1: their baton down passes, walking guards, and tackles into the
Speaker 1: quarterbacks lap among all those fun highlights, though, it was
Speaker 1: a five yard gain on the first play of the
Speaker 1: game that really sparked a thought for me, And that's
Speaker 1: kind of how I generate ideas for different segments in
Speaker 1: the podcast. Sometimes I just immersed myself in Dolphins football
Speaker 1: and see what my brain comes up with. And it
Speaker 1: was this innocuous looking outside run where where he most
Speaker 1: started as tackled by Jerome Baker for five yards, like
Speaker 1: first and ten, first play of the game, five yard game.
Speaker 1: Usually fans are still finding their seats. The broadcast crew
Speaker 1: is gonna roll through the offensive and defensive lineup graphics
Speaker 1: on the screen, talk about both teams. No one really
Speaker 1: cares about that first play, it seems like most of
Speaker 1: the time, especially when it's just a regular three, four
Speaker 1: or five yard run. But it was the role that
Speaker 1: Jerome Baker was fulfilling on that play that's it's got
Speaker 1: me thinking. Because he was the overhang linebacker down off
Speaker 1: the weak side of the formation and the Niners motion
Speaker 1: over their tight end, who throws a dummy block at
Speaker 1: Jerome Baker before he climbs up to the second level
Speaker 1: and the fullback Kyle you Check comes in and tries
Speaker 1: to seal Baker off the edge. What does Baker do?
Speaker 1: He smacks him, stacks him, sheds him, and gets to
Speaker 1: the ball carrier before he gets through that c gap
Speaker 1: off the outside. And that was something that wasn't you know,
Speaker 1: that wasn't in Jerome Baker's makeup back in like, for instance,
Speaker 1: his rookie season back in But every year this guy
Speaker 1: adds something to the tool belt, and it's not all
Speaker 1: that surprising at age, right because he's continuing his development.
Speaker 1: Crazy how that happens in this league with this team,
Speaker 1: But I think the ability to stand up off the edge,
Speaker 1: absorb those big poolers, lead blocks, kickout blocks is an
Speaker 1: element that would be such a boon for this defense
Speaker 1: and their personnel, especially when you factor in the improvement
Speaker 1: we saw from gink in similar regards on the other
Speaker 1: side last season. His ability to beat blocks with physicality
Speaker 1: opposed to just working around them has become night and
Speaker 1: day compared to what it was back at Wisconsin just
Speaker 1: a couple of seasons ago. Speaking of Wisconsin, we know
Speaker 1: Vince Beagle conserve in that roll off the edge, Duke
Speaker 1: Riley and Sam egg on our picture perfect subpackage linebackers
Speaker 1: that can play in that role in addition to their
Speaker 1: roles on special teams, and Brennan Scarlett did plenty of
Speaker 1: that on early downs in Houston. And speaking of Houston,
Speaker 1: then there's Bernardrick McKinney who can do some sam work
Speaker 1: as well, but he also operates highly efficiently between the
Speaker 1: hash marks that B gap to B gap defender in
Speaker 1: a classic stack position. A stack linebackers when your linebacker
Speaker 1: lines up behind one of the defensive lineman, so he's
Speaker 1: not so he is covered up by one of your
Speaker 1: defensive lineman. So what did I just give you? Seven
Speaker 1: players that can all operate in different capacities, most of
Speaker 1: them capable of doing at least two different roles, if
Speaker 1: not three or four. It just continues this theme of
Speaker 1: being able to adapt week to week based upon your opponent.
Speaker 1: You want to run this wide zone offense like the
Speaker 1: one this defense completely shut down back in week five,
Speaker 1: back in October and turned over four times. Great. We
Speaker 1: have the speed off the edge and no problem sacrificing
Speaker 1: size because the origin of that outside zone of that
Speaker 1: stretch run game is athletic lineman. So we match the
Speaker 1: athleticism there with our own athleticism and we can sustain
Speaker 1: the loss and density at that position because of the
Speaker 1: big defensive lineman on the roster who can kick outside
Speaker 1: and play the five technique like a three hundred pound
Speaker 1: Zack seeler or three pound Christian Wilkins. You want to
Speaker 1: go twenty one personnel and bang on early downs. Perfect,
Speaker 1: We'll drop Bnardrick McKinney, any Land and Roberts in the
Speaker 1: line up. Both those guys are guns for hire who
Speaker 1: shoot gaps for a living. I've talked about this until
Speaker 1: I was blue in the face, but we have so
Speaker 1: many different looks in fronts we can call upon. I
Speaker 1: joked about with Ben Finel on the On the Wednesday
Speaker 1: podcast about how misguideds talk about three four and four
Speaker 1: three defenses. Those are sub packages. Every package is a
Speaker 1: sub package because you're gonna be in your two two
Speaker 1: R two three or two four, your three three front,
Speaker 1: whatever it might be. This Dolphins defense and structure has
Speaker 1: so many nuanced packages that allow Flores and Bowyer to
Speaker 1: call upon their frequent usage of extra defensive backs. That's
Speaker 1: that's the real crux to it. All. The seven highest
Speaker 1: rate of six or more defensive backs on the field
Speaker 1: in the National Football League last season, and I think
Speaker 1: they got even more flexible upfront to further reinforce that philosophy.
Speaker 1: So that's my take right there. On Jerome Baker making
Speaker 1: a five yard stop on a tackle on the first
Speaker 1: play back in week five. Let's go ahead and fast
Speaker 1: forward back to the now and get to your questions
Speaker 1: via the Twitter mail bag. We used to do this
Speaker 1: on Lockdown Dolphins every single week. I want to do
Speaker 1: it more here on the Drive Time Podcast. Get your
Speaker 1: guys just takes and opinions and thoughts on the podcast.
Speaker 1: I put out the call on Twitter for the questions
Speaker 1: for the mail bag. You guys respond with your questions,
Speaker 1: You get a shout out here on the podcast and
Speaker 1: your question answered if I select it. We had about
Speaker 1: sixty questions, could not get to them all, but continue
Speaker 1: to ask me questions and eventually we'll get to them
Speaker 1: here on the Drive Time Podcast. And the best way
Speaker 1: to ensure that you do get your question answered, go
Speaker 1: ahead and put a question in the reviews on Apple podcast.
Speaker 1: I'll read all of those questions and answer them here
Speaker 1: on the podcast. While you're there, go ahead and leave
Speaker 1: us a rating and subscrip ride of the podcast and
Speaker 1: all that fun stuff. So let's go ahead and kick
Speaker 1: this thing off here, and the first question comes in
Speaker 1: from at dole Kane on Twitter. The defense was the
Speaker 1: finn strong point last season, with some turnover this year.
Speaker 1: Do you think they can replicate that success? In a word, yes,
Speaker 1: I look at the elements that made this defense as
Speaker 1: stingy and as dangerous as it was in and they're
Speaker 1: all still here. Lockdown cover corners who posted they combined
Speaker 1: fourteen interceptions and forced fumbles, veteran versatile safeties who can
Speaker 1: come down and cover, they communicate well and limit big plays.
Speaker 1: Emmanuel Ogba and the impact he's had off the edge
Speaker 1: of the defense, and then just the parts to execute
Speaker 1: the many fronts and different rush schemes of this defense.
Speaker 1: You consider Jerome Baker's versatility, the development and strides of
Speaker 1: Andrew Van Geinkle last year, those three defensive lineman who
Speaker 1: all play all over the formation and gave you quality
Speaker 1: reps against both the run and the past. And then
Speaker 1: the new addition sprinkled in with Adam Butler and the
Speaker 1: interior pass rush he brings, the hard nosed run defending
Speaker 1: of Bernardrick McKinney, the sticky slot cover skills from Justin Coleman,
Speaker 1: Brendan Scarlett who plays just about every position in the
Speaker 1: front seven, and Duke Riley and the cover skills he
Speaker 1: showed in Philadelphia. It's always tough to replicate dominant defense
Speaker 1: year in and year out. But I like Miami's chances
Speaker 1: to get that done. And there are plenty of draft
Speaker 1: questions in this mail bag obviously, So if you hear
Speaker 1: a question that sounds like yours, we're not going to
Speaker 1: replicate that answer here on the podcast, or if we
Speaker 1: talked about it earlier in the podcast, we'll go ahead
Speaker 1: and skip over it as well. But here's a question
Speaker 1: from Kevin Garrard at Kevin Garrard thirteen on Twitter. He
Speaker 1: asks edge or running back at pick eighteen, who is
Speaker 1: your pick at both positions if they go there at eighteen? Well,
Speaker 1: I think that trio of running backs between nase Harris,
Speaker 1: Travis E. T and Javonte Williams, I think all three
Speaker 1: of those guys are first round talents. I think they're
Speaker 1: all bell cows that can give you three downs, you know,
Speaker 1: can be three down backs and play the entire game
Speaker 1: basically for you. I think that they all feature elements
Speaker 1: of the reason why you take a running back in
Speaker 1: that first round. Now, I'm kind of hard pressed between
Speaker 1: Nasey and Javante because I think Javonta at two twenty
Speaker 1: pounds at twenty years old, with you know, so much
Speaker 1: less wear and tear on the tires. I think the
Speaker 1: upside might be higher. But getting Najy harris Man, you
Speaker 1: know exactly what you're gonna get production inside running, physical
Speaker 1: short yardage guy that can also break the big runs,
Speaker 1: has the athletic ability, also the familiarity there with your quarterback.
Speaker 1: So I have a tough time between those two. They're
Speaker 1: really one A one B. I'll go ahead and go
Speaker 1: with Nagy with the one A distinction and Javanta the
Speaker 1: one B. Now, as far as edges go to me,
Speaker 1: Jalen Phillips is the best edge in this class and
Speaker 1: he fits what you might do here at two d
Speaker 1: sixty pounds with the ability to get around the edge.
Speaker 1: But I think he's long gone by that point. I
Speaker 1: think Quitty pay makes some sense there as well, and
Speaker 1: I'm also a very very big fan of Boogie bash
Speaker 1: them out of wake Forest. I see him ranked routinely
Speaker 1: in the low like outside the top fifty of this draft,
Speaker 1: but I couldn't disagree with that more kind of my
Speaker 1: antoine wind filled from last year. I had him the
Speaker 1: top twenty pick and he winds up going in the
Speaker 1: second round. That's kind of Boogie bashing. To me, I
Speaker 1: think he belongs in that first round, so I would
Speaker 1: put him in that conversation, even though the rest of
Speaker 1: the draft world probably doesn't see it that way. With
Speaker 1: Boogie Basham and a quick follow up here from Chris
Speaker 1: Lrondo at extortion on Twitter, He's asked me basically, where's
Speaker 1: the sweet spot for drafting and running back in that
Speaker 1: first round? He says eight teams a little bit rich.
Speaker 1: He'd feel more comfortable in five range. Of course, if
Speaker 1: you can trade down and get your guy, certainly do it.
Speaker 1: But I think the Jets at pick twenty three and
Speaker 1: then the Jets again at thirty three or thirty four
Speaker 1: rather are probably very likely to get running back in
Speaker 1: one of those two spots if they can get one
Speaker 1: of these three guys. So you play with fire when
Speaker 1: you do that a little bit. I think Miami's calculated
Speaker 1: risk to do that from three to six was had
Speaker 1: some backing behind it, right that you know those quarterbacks
Speaker 1: are gonna go early, and then the Bengals with Sewell
Speaker 1: and Chase seems pretty obvious there as well. So you
Speaker 1: put yourself in a position where you can still get
Speaker 1: one of the top players at that skill spot, but
Speaker 1: doing it this late in the draft, it's kind of
Speaker 1: a gamble. So if you want that player there at
Speaker 1: that pick, you think he's w you know, if you
Speaker 1: think he's worth twenty three, just take him a eight teen.
Speaker 1: Because I think that the term reach is so overused
Speaker 1: and so overrated that if you pick a good football player,
Speaker 1: nobody cares where he went in the draft. This next
Speaker 1: question here from Kyle the Commission. Which linebacker in the
Speaker 1: first two rounds do you feel best fits our team?
Speaker 1: I like Baron Browning out of Ohio State as much
Speaker 1: almost as jam And Davis out of Kentucky. Now, Davis
Speaker 1: is the kind of more off ball linebacker, and so
Speaker 1: that's why I think maybe I'll go more towards Baron
Speaker 1: Browning because he can come down play that edge position
Speaker 1: and give you give you strength and size off the edge,
Speaker 1: set the edge in the running game, but also the
Speaker 1: jumping metrics he showed at Ohio States Pro Day. I
Speaker 1: think that he can really give you some more explosion
Speaker 1: by way of blitzing, pass rushing and coverage and all
Speaker 1: that fun stuff too. So give me Baron Browning out
Speaker 1: of Ohio State, who also worked with coach Campanelli and
Speaker 1: this Dolphins coaching staff of the Senior Bowl down in Mobile.
Speaker 1: Next question here from Gabe Genovic at Gabe Geno thirteen
Speaker 1: on Twitter. You probably have several, but do you have
Speaker 1: a specific I made it moment, a time where it
Speaker 1: hits you that you're employed by the team we're all
Speaker 1: obsessed with. Yeah, like you mentioned, there are several. The
Speaker 1: first one would be the damn Marino photo that I
Speaker 1: put back on Twitter a while back, getting a chance
Speaker 1: to meet Dan. I mean, that's self explanatory. I don't
Speaker 1: gotta tell you guys how crazy that was. But also
Speaker 1: just being in the building around the players, even with
Speaker 1: social distancing and the contact tracing and staying away from everybody,
Speaker 1: you still could see him across the hallway, see him
Speaker 1: on the other side of the kitchen, that sort of thing. So,
Speaker 1: for instance, my favorite story to tell is when I
Speaker 1: would go into the kitchen right around two or three
Speaker 1: o'clock most days and get my bang because I usually
Speaker 1: did podcasting in the morning and I wrote in the afternoon,
Speaker 1: and the Bank Energy drink is my you know, stay
Speaker 1: awake post launch writing material drink that I require. And
Speaker 1: so I'm also very weird about drinks. I like my
Speaker 1: drinks as cold as they can be. Like I'll put
Speaker 1: soda or energy drink or anything in the freezer until
Speaker 1: it gets like almost slushy. But you don't want to
Speaker 1: get slushy. Right before it gets slushy, that's when you
Speaker 1: pull it out and then you have yourself an ice
Speaker 1: cold beverage. I did that with the diet pepsi they
Speaker 1: provide there at the facility, but I had to bring
Speaker 1: my own bangs, obviously, So I popped both those things
Speaker 1: in the freezer, and every once in a while I'd
Speaker 1: go in there and I would see Two and Fits
Speaker 1: were together. They were always together, and Two was always
Speaker 1: making coffee and Fits is always just kind of hanging
Speaker 1: back and commenting on different things going on in the room,
Speaker 1: which this time was me. So I entered the room
Speaker 1: with a diet Pepsi and a bang in either hand,
Speaker 1: and Fits looks at me, and I I he gets
Speaker 1: that look in his eye like I'm gonna I'm gonna
Speaker 1: ask him about this, and he's like, what do you
Speaker 1: got there? Is that a Is that an energy drink
Speaker 1: or in a pepsi? What are you? What's going on
Speaker 1: with that? And I just thought to myself, like, better
Speaker 1: come up with something good here. So I told him,
Speaker 1: you know, if it's you don't get this physique you're
Speaker 1: looking at before you today without pounding bang energy drink,
Speaker 1: and he thought that was hilarious, and I just said,
Speaker 1: you know, I've been Travis wing flub. That's my time.
Speaker 1: You all have a good night, tip your bartenders and waitresses,
Speaker 1: and got the hell out of there. So that was
Speaker 1: kind of a cool, surreal moment. Walking by the practice
Speaker 1: field on Tuesdays when the players were off, I would
Speaker 1: have to walk from my office over to the studio
Speaker 1: to record, so I frequently made this walk basically across
Speaker 1: the entire campus and every Tuesday, right around ten o'clock
Speaker 1: there would be guys day off right players day off.
Speaker 1: There was always guys out there working. I remember seeing
Speaker 1: Miles Gaston out there all the time. I thought that
Speaker 1: was cool to see. But after we beat the Rams,
Speaker 1: you know, to us first start, I saw two of
Speaker 1: going out there with somebody. I didn't recognize who it was,
Speaker 1: but he was going out his first day off after
Speaker 1: starting and getting the first w He was out there
Speaker 1: working on that Tuesday, and I thought that was just
Speaker 1: cool to see, you know, young men out there taking
Speaker 1: taking control of their careers and taking control of their
Speaker 1: futures here in the NFL by putting as much work
Speaker 1: as they can, especially your young quarterback who just got
Speaker 1: his first career wins. So those are a few cool moments.
Speaker 1: Next question here from at quarter Seric seven. I probably
Speaker 1: butchered that. I'm sorry. What if you grew up in
Speaker 1: South Florida, die hard Dolphin fan, but you're raising kids
Speaker 1: in the DC area, so they are w f T fans.
Speaker 1: He has to convert his own children, he says, or
Speaker 1: disso in their lack of aqua and orange blood. Well,
Speaker 1: I think that when you're young, you get your your
Speaker 1: free agent. Until you're let's say thirteen years old, maybe
Speaker 1: maybe even a little bit older. Sixteen years old, you're
Speaker 1: a free agent. Because I had jerseys of every single
Speaker 1: player I liked in my closet that was always on
Speaker 1: my on my Christmas wish list. I had Ricky Williams
Speaker 1: for the Saints. I had Sean Alexander for the Seahawks,
Speaker 1: Sean Springs for the Seahawks. I had Charles Woodson for
Speaker 1: the Raiders. Like I was, I was a connoisseur of
Speaker 1: all things football, and the Dolphins just kind of where
Speaker 1: the team that I was into at that time. And
Speaker 1: then you know, you get more obsessed with the game
Speaker 1: itself and you become more research and nuance, and then
Speaker 1: you just all right, that's my team. So I think
Speaker 1: it has to happen naturally. I've tried to force myself
Speaker 1: into fandom, like the NBA is a great example. I
Speaker 1: haven't been a fan of the NBA since two thousand
Speaker 1: and eight when the Songs left, Like, I'm done as
Speaker 1: a fan, But I find my I've tried to insert
Speaker 1: myself as a Heat fan, and I've always liked the
Speaker 1: Heat because of Dwayne Wade. But I tried to insert
Speaker 1: myself and you just cannot manufacture to me the emotion
Speaker 1: and the level of care as you do from a
Speaker 1: team you truly care about. But I find myself maybe
Speaker 1: it's maybe repetitions make taking a hold, because I find
Speaker 1: myself being more and more intrigued by the Miami Heat
Speaker 1: and watching more of their games. So maybe it does work,
Speaker 1: But I think it has to happen naturally. Give them
Speaker 1: time to explore and be free agents, and uh yeah,
Speaker 1: Caroline's gonna be a Dolphins fan. They'll go ahead and
Speaker 1: put that note there at the very end. Next question here,
Speaker 1: what has been or sorry from at Cobo Nation? What
Speaker 1: has been your favorite thing about working for the Miami Dolphins,
Speaker 1: And a bonus question, what has been the most shocking
Speaker 1: slash unexpected? Well, the most shocking unexpected was my whole
Speaker 1: rookie year basically being a trial COVID based season, where
Speaker 1: I mean everything was not what I thought was gonna be.
Speaker 1: I went to the Combine, was my first assignment here
Speaker 1: with the team, and I was over the moon excited
Speaker 1: about how cool that was. And then basically life changed
Speaker 1: for the past year with COVID. So the fact that
Speaker 1: couldn't be you know, as in the locker room, couldn't
Speaker 1: really develop those impersonal relationships because you just weren't around
Speaker 1: the guys as much. That was the most shocking unexpected
Speaker 1: part that I just didn't like as much. Now my
Speaker 1: favorite part is the converse of that, the relationships you
Speaker 1: do develop, because, for instance, Isaiah Ford, we did a
Speaker 1: story on Isaiah Forward last summer and it was about
Speaker 1: his foundation. We wound up like Sharon d MS because
Speaker 1: I was tweeting out his Foundation, and we became buddies
Speaker 1: over that, and we would talk every now and then.
Speaker 1: You know, he'd gives massages on two on his player
Speaker 1: day off and I would be back in the podcast studio.
Speaker 1: We'd we'd meet and talk and just catch up. And
Speaker 1: so developing those relationships, like Shack Lawson, he and I
Speaker 1: bonded over the loss of our parents on the podcast
Speaker 1: we did a while back. The Fitzpatrick in the Kitchen Story,
Speaker 1: you know, asking to a question at his first presser
Speaker 1: as a starting quarterback and having him say that's a
Speaker 1: great question. Just these little relationships you build up and
Speaker 1: getting to know the guys, Like when Adam Butler on
Speaker 1: his free agent interview, he said he was a country boy,
Speaker 1: so I said, oh, yeah, I know. It was Zach
Speaker 1: Seeler's farm, Like that's where you gotta go. And like
Speaker 1: getting to know Zach and getting to know his dad,
Speaker 1: Randy Seeler. Just all the relationships you develop their unmatched
Speaker 1: and it's it's really beyond cool to be able to
Speaker 1: be in this position to have those happen. So that's
Speaker 1: a couple of personal occurrences, and I love these kind
Speaker 1: of off the football brand questions here talking more. I
Speaker 1: think it gives up the podcast a little more dead.
Speaker 1: And speaking of that, how about this question here from
Speaker 1: my first ever podcast co host and Kevin Dern, the
Speaker 1: Old Analysis podcast back in the perfect Ville days at
Speaker 1: Kevin m D four. Does Slim Reaper stick if Miami
Speaker 1: Draftsavante Smith? I think it has to be. That's one
Speaker 1: of the best nicknames that I've ever heard of. I'm
Speaker 1: on the like nicknames died a while back train when
Speaker 1: they started giving everybody the same nickname the first letter
Speaker 1: of your first name and the first three layers of
Speaker 1: your last name like a Rod. That's not a nickname,
Speaker 1: that's just your name abbreviated. So Slim Reaper is one
Speaker 1: of the all time great nicknames. I hope it sticks
Speaker 1: wherever he goes. And then also Kevin asked Dad live question,
Speaker 1: which children's show do you secretly enjoy watching. I've always
Speaker 1: been a SpongeBob fan. Caroline is not there yet. She
Speaker 1: watches the show Baby Bus, and when you put it
Speaker 1: on and they screamed baby Bus in the beginning, she
Speaker 1: loses her collective you know you know what, and so
Speaker 1: watching her react to that, to me, that's that's the
Speaker 1: best part of the whole experience. Next question here from
Speaker 1: at a K Finn fan. If we're unable to address
Speaker 1: one position via the draft, which one is it and
Speaker 1: how do we fill that gap? To me, I look
Speaker 1: at the needs is like running back, receiver obviously, or
Speaker 1: possibly tight end if you want to call Kyle Pitts.
Speaker 1: It's tight end, um receiver, depth, edge help, offensive line,
Speaker 1: investment development, safety, and sam linebacker. So I think those
Speaker 1: last three positions there, the offensive line, safety, and linebacker.
Speaker 1: Look at the position groups as a whole, and where
Speaker 1: do they start to get thin? Typically offensive line gets
Speaker 1: pretty thin after the beginning of Day two. You really
Speaker 1: don't find if you look across the league, the day
Speaker 1: three of the draft is not producing tons of like
Speaker 1: starting quality offensive line. So I think that if you
Speaker 1: don't do it early, maybe you don't because you have
Speaker 1: so many young guys that are still developing on your roster.
Speaker 1: Maybe that's the one that gets short changed. And the
Speaker 1: way you fill the gap is just continue to develop,
Speaker 1: develop your own guys, like a Michael Dieter, for instance,
Speaker 1: continuing his work, Adam Pinky becoming a possible swing tackle
Speaker 1: for you, Jesse Davis's role expanding upon what it might be,
Speaker 1: so I think offensive line might be my pick for
Speaker 1: that one. Next question from at Scott F. Ken Ward,
Speaker 1: what do you hear about der valnetto any chance this
Speaker 1: guy ever sees the field? Honestly, I only see him
Speaker 1: in training camp because that's when he is on the
Speaker 1: field working. Also in practice when we get a chance
Speaker 1: to get out there and watch and practice. But I
Speaker 1: just don't have a complete answer for you, Scott. I
Speaker 1: know that he's part of the developmental program, so he's
Speaker 1: had those two years of practice squad exemption or roster
Speaker 1: exemption there. So we'll see if he's back this year
Speaker 1: working in training camp and what he might be able
Speaker 1: to do. But I know he's big, he's thick, he's strong,
Speaker 1: and he's super athletic. Next question here from at a
Speaker 1: Bellow twelve fifty seven. How's dad life been treating you?
Speaker 1: My little girls? About the term three? And I can't
Speaker 1: take it? Yeah, that last part you mentioned there about
Speaker 1: how quickly they grow up. I was supposed to be
Speaker 1: in South Florida from when I moved in August down forever.
Speaker 1: Like I wasn't supposed to come home besides, you know,
Speaker 1: breaks and holidays and time off and stuff like that.
Speaker 1: But because of the NFL's changing COVID protocols, I wasn't
Speaker 1: allowed to be back in the building. So I got
Speaker 1: to come home, and I've I've been home since Christmas,
Speaker 1: and seeing the development she's taken in that time, like
Speaker 1: I didn't know what I didn't know in terms of
Speaker 1: what I was going to miss in her development. And
Speaker 1: I'm real glad that it worked out this way, because
Speaker 1: I wouldn't have been happy if I missed this stuff,
Speaker 1: and that was our own. I was, like my wife
Speaker 1: and I his decision for a financial reasoning and for
Speaker 1: health reasons to not go down there together as a
Speaker 1: family last year. But I'm glad that it worked out
Speaker 1: this way because seeing her grow, like every day she
Speaker 1: learned something new, Like she's waving at us now. She
Speaker 1: obviously learned how to walk, because you guys see on
Speaker 1: Twitter the last couple of weeks. Every every day she
Speaker 1: just like progresses so much. And I'm so glad that
Speaker 1: I'm not missing that. So I'm I definitely will miss
Speaker 1: my baby when she grows up and becomes you know,
Speaker 1: not a baby and and probably hates me at that point,
Speaker 1: but yeah, man, it's it's been going great, better than
Speaker 1: I ever thought it could have been. It's it's definitely
Speaker 1: life changing. And then Adrian also asks about which past
Speaker 1: catcher best fits are remaining needs and do you potentially
Speaker 1: see us trading down again from number six. I answered
Speaker 1: those questions in the first segment, Adrian, so I'm sure
Speaker 1: you heard that already, but I definitely appreciate the question.
Speaker 1: Next question here from at SPF Underscore Rip, do you
Speaker 1: see Scura as a starter or do you think someone
Speaker 1: will be brought in to compete first center. I think
Speaker 1: competition is always going to be the focal point on
Speaker 1: this roster, and there's a couple of guys in this
Speaker 1: draft Creed Humphrey and Landon Dickerson that I think are
Speaker 1: darn good centers, and even some more guys beyond that
Speaker 1: that could give you competition at that spot too. But
Speaker 1: Scura can play both guard positions. He was a guard
Speaker 1: before he played center. But just going back over his
Speaker 1: twenty nineteen and even some of his twenty tape, I
Speaker 1: watched the Steelers game and I had a clip where
Speaker 1: he's he's kicking out and blocking t J. Watt. He's
Speaker 1: moving steffonto it in the in the running game, he's
Speaker 1: holding up in past protection and anchoring against Cameron Heyward.
Speaker 1: Like I thought, his tape was really good, so I'm
Speaker 1: impressed by what I've seen. Obviously, the snapping thing occurred
Speaker 1: last year in that rainy game in New England, and
Speaker 1: you have to get that sorted out. But I think
Speaker 1: this guy is an above average starter for sure, if
Speaker 1: not better when he's healthy and right and good to
Speaker 1: go on the field. Came back from that that devastating
Speaker 1: knee injury in twenty nineteen to be back there last season,
Speaker 1: so I think you could see more of his twenty
Speaker 1: nineteen for him this year. And I thought that was
Speaker 1: some damn good tape for Matt Scura. Al Right, I
Speaker 1: go ahead and wrap up the mailbag right there. Appreciate
Speaker 1: all your guys as questions. Those were great to get to,
Speaker 1: and there's not enough time to get to all fifty
Speaker 1: five that we had in here. But I'm gonna keep
Speaker 1: doing more mailbacks here on the podcast. I'll keep asking
Speaker 1: me the questions and we'll get to you guys eventually.
Speaker 1: If you did not get your question answered today, let's
Speaker 1: go ahead and move on here now to a couple
Speaker 1: of pro days. I wanted to take a look at
Speaker 1: in this week l s U and Florida with Jamaar Chase,
Speaker 1: Kyle Pitts, Kadarius Tony and all the stud athletes those
Speaker 1: two schools have to offer. And there's been, I mean,
Speaker 1: multiple pro days going off every single day now, and
Speaker 1: multiple pro days for each school as well in the
Speaker 1: absence of the combine testing periods, and Kyle Pitts and
Speaker 1: Jamar Chase, we're both out there for their pro days
Speaker 1: on Wednesday, and my goodness, and you talk about the
Speaker 1: way the narrative kind of shifts around certain pro days.
Speaker 1: I mean, I saw earlier in the week Zach Wilson's
Speaker 1: Pro day made him like the number one quarterback prospect
Speaker 1: in so many people's eyes, and then Justin Fields goes
Speaker 1: out and works out. Now he is all of a sudden,
Speaker 1: everybody forgetting about Trevor Lawrence, the number one presumed pick
Speaker 1: who the Jaguars already have said they're gonna pick number one.
Speaker 1: So Pro day season does have this inherent recency bias
Speaker 1: kind of built into it right now, and that's kind
Speaker 1: of the way football works in general. What have you
Speaker 1: seen lately that's going to be the most prevalent in
Speaker 1: your mind. So these pro days are kind of taking over.
Speaker 1: But Kyle Pitts and Jamaar Chase both put on a
Speaker 1: show at their Wednesday pro days. And Kyle Pitts in particular,
Speaker 1: at almost six five, almost six six, he's six five
Speaker 1: and five eights two eight pounds, ten and ten and
Speaker 1: a half inch hands, and then at eighty three and
Speaker 1: three eights inch wingspan, the largest by over a half
Speaker 1: inch tight end wing spam in the history of the
Speaker 1: National Football League. He blazed a four point four or
Speaker 1: four or forty yard dash. And if you want to
Speaker 1: look at a comparison, here Calvin Johnson, the Hall of
Speaker 1: Fame receiver of the Lions, six ft five two thirty
Speaker 1: nine pounds, eighty two inch wing span four three five
Speaker 1: forty So Kyle Pitts is taller than Calvin Johnson, He's
Speaker 1: six pounds heavier, has a larger wingspan, and ran just
Speaker 1: a tenth of a second slower in the forty yard dash.
Speaker 1: And I talked about this on Twitter on Wednesday, how
Speaker 1: his size and athletic profile combination makes him just almost
Speaker 1: uncoverable inside. When you have a two way go, what's
Speaker 1: a two way go. You can break inside, you can
Speaker 1: break outside. And if you want to go ahead and
Speaker 1: play outside leverage, where you're gonna go ahead and give
Speaker 1: him the inside lane, he's just gonna go ahead and
Speaker 1: stack you and use that wingspan length because you can't
Speaker 1: get over the top of him. You want to play
Speaker 1: outside leverage and fortunate to go towards the outside. Well
Speaker 1: that whip route in the video I shared on Twitter
Speaker 1: where he puts his foot in the ground and turns
Speaker 1: that thing around. He's gonna leave you in the lurch,
Speaker 1: just standing there on your heels without being able to
Speaker 1: explode out of your stance because you don't know which
Speaker 1: direction he's going. So I think about the way Kyle
Speaker 1: Pitts can can really enhance this offense and influence the defense.
Speaker 1: I think it's very rare. I think he's very special.
Speaker 1: I think, to me, the best player in the entire draft.
Speaker 1: And then Jamar Chase went out and did some stupid
Speaker 1: stuff himself the l s U receiver, And that's kind
Speaker 1: of the debate right now. You're gonna see among draft pundits,
Speaker 1: who did Miami go up to number six to draft?
Speaker 1: It has to be one of these two guys, right,
Speaker 1: maybe we'll see it could be. There's also Devonte Smith
Speaker 1: and Jalen Waller, both to me, top of the line
Speaker 1: level prospects in this class, first round draft prospects. But
Speaker 1: I think that when you look at the pass catching options,
Speaker 1: they might have their number six, you have to feel
Speaker 1: good about where they are in that position. And then
Speaker 1: there was Jamaar Chase's workout, who was also ridiculous in
Speaker 1: its own right. In the last twenty years, receivers that
Speaker 1: had over a vertical jump, a broad jump over eleven feet,
Speaker 1: ran a sub four or five forty, and put up
Speaker 1: at least twenty reps on the bench. Jamaar Chase is
Speaker 1: the only one to ever do that. So this guy's
Speaker 1: athletically gifted, and where he really excels to me is
Speaker 1: when he gets in that second level, when he makes
Speaker 1: the move that forces the defensive back to make a
Speaker 1: decision about coming up and covering him in the short area.
Speaker 1: His acceleration off that point to get vertical and then
Speaker 1: to attack the football, that's where he really shines. So
Speaker 1: these two guys blowing up the workout, you know, blowing
Speaker 1: up the pro day session of the draft process, of
Speaker 1: the draft season to me, only bodes well from Miami
Speaker 1: because now you're in a spot where that pick might
Speaker 1: have been even more valuable after the Pro Days had
Speaker 1: gone off when Miami traded back up to number six.
Speaker 1: The key is going to be that fourth pick with
Speaker 1: the Falcons. If that's a quarterback, you're gonna get a
Speaker 1: crack at one of these two guys at least. So
Speaker 1: we'll see how that works. We'll see what the Dolphins
Speaker 1: want to do. I can't wait. We have another month
Speaker 1: here to go before the draft comes along. We're gonna
Speaker 1: get guests here on the podcast, guys that have covered Florida,
Speaker 1: Alabama and l s U, some big time national scouts
Speaker 1: as well, and talk about all this stuff here in
Speaker 1: the next month on the Drivetime podcast. As from my
Speaker 1: time today, it is my two year wedding anniversary with
Speaker 1: my wife. I'm gonna go ahead and surprise her and
Speaker 1: take her out to dinner. Last year we went and
Speaker 1: got take out and eight in the car because of COVID.
Speaker 1: This year we're gonna have a chance to go to
Speaker 1: our first the restaurant we had our first date in
Speaker 1: and have dinner there in a limited capacity with masks
Speaker 1: and all that fun stuff, so looking forward to that.
Speaker 1: I hope you guys all enjoy your weekend, enjoy the
Speaker 1: final four, enjoy the national championship. Gun Zaga is gonna
Speaker 1: absolutely role as they have all tournament, and we'll check
Speaker 1: back in with you guys on Monday. In the meantime,
Speaker 1: you all please be sure to subscribe, rate review the
Speaker 1: podcast on Apple podcast Spotify. That really helps the podcast
Speaker 1: grow and get out to more Dolphins fans, So if
Speaker 1: you haven't done that, please go ahead and leave us
Speaker 1: a five star rating. Give me a follow on Twitter.
Speaker 1: It's at Wingfield, NFL. Follow the team at Miami Dolphins.
Speaker 1: Check out the Fish Tank and the audible podcast. Check
Speaker 1: out our YouTube channel. We're gonna be putting a lot
Speaker 1: more content on the YouTube channel, including the video interviews
Speaker 1: with each of our free agents. Will do that again
Speaker 1: in draft season with all the draft picks as well,
Speaker 1: so plenty of stuff coming your way. And last but
Speaker 1: not least, Miami Dolphins dot Com Until next time, fins up.