Speaker 1: That's booking cutsdown, Miami Ute Run. What is up, Dolph Fans,
Speaker 1: and welcome to the Drive Time Podcast, part of the
Speaker 1: Miami Dolphins podcast network, covering your team, your Miami Dolphins.
Speaker 1: How's it going everybody? I am your host, Travis Wingfield
Speaker 1: and as always now in the month of July, I
Speaker 1: am here to bring you your daily dose of Miami
Speaker 1: Dolphins football. And on today's show, it is part four
Speaker 1: of the training camp preview series. As we wrap up
Speaker 1: the quote unquote skill players, every player at this level
Speaker 1: is a skill player. We're talking Dolphins tight ends, the
Speaker 1: unique facts about this group, the individual skill sets, Coach
Speaker 1: god sees, influence, and a whole lot more. Plus, we
Speaker 1: continue our NFL season preview with Part six Are you
Speaker 1: keeping those tallies on the parts of these series will
Speaker 1: take a look at the a f C North, which
Speaker 1: features one team that Miami will see this season in
Speaker 1: the Baltimore Ravens. All of that and a heck of
Speaker 1: a lot more on this edition of the Drive Time Podcast.
Speaker 1: So we jumped into the tight end position here for
Speaker 1: the fourth part of our preview series. We have already
Speaker 1: covered the receivers, running backs, and quarterbacks, and now we
Speaker 1: get to the guys that play really in all three
Speaker 1: phases of the offensive part side of the game, with
Speaker 1: past protection, route running, and in the running game. And
Speaker 1: this rate here, I mean these podcasts, these episodes, this
Speaker 1: time of year, this is really my wheelhouse, my bread
Speaker 1: and butter, if you will, because I love the draft,
Speaker 1: Don't get me wrong, It's probably the best part of
Speaker 1: the year outside of the actual NFL or the NFL season.
Speaker 1: I'm also a big fan of free agency and watching
Speaker 1: the tape to see how new parts kind of factor in.
Speaker 1: But with the season on the horizon, I can feel
Speaker 1: the football coming down the pike. And this prep work
Speaker 1: it does wonders for your season knowledge heading into the
Speaker 1: upcoming season. It gives me a chance to sharpen up
Speaker 1: on some of the numbers I may have missed from
Speaker 1: the previous season, plugging in the all twenty two to
Speaker 1: get your final work from the previous year's tape done,
Speaker 1: and then working to memorize the jersey numbers, because nothing
Speaker 1: is more important for training camp than memorizing everybody's numbers.
Speaker 1: You have to know the numbers if you want to
Speaker 1: have any chance of getting quality constructive notes on a
Speaker 1: snap by snap basis because it happens so fast out
Speaker 1: there on the practice field with ninety one guys given
Speaker 1: the Dolphins exemption with derv All Cires netto players on
Speaker 1: their nine roster. So we roll on here on part four,
Speaker 1: and I find this group of Dolphins tight ends interesting
Speaker 1: for a few reasons. And this is basically the entire roster,
Speaker 1: so you know, I'm not trying to just say it
Speaker 1: to hype up every episode, but genuinely, I think each
Speaker 1: group has a lot of intrigue to it. And with
Speaker 1: this one, first they set the franchise record and then
Speaker 1: they weren't complacent as are as numbers go in past catching.
Speaker 1: I love the way the position was invested in, like
Speaker 1: we talked about with the receiver position, in terms of
Speaker 1: giving yourself a myriad of options, not just for one
Speaker 1: but beyond that as well. Because you draft Mike get
Speaker 1: Sicky and Derham Smith in the same class, that obviously
Speaker 1: means they come up as far as their contracts go
Speaker 1: in the same year. This season is the last of
Speaker 1: their rookie four year contracts, and so while not losing
Speaker 1: any of the four incumbents on the roster, the Dolphins
Speaker 1: went out and made additions in three completely different avenues,
Speaker 1: three different pipelines as far as bringing talent into the building.
Speaker 1: Number one Seethan Carter the free agent route, a pretty
Speaker 1: common route and accomplished player with regards to special teams
Speaker 1: and as a blocker in the running game. He has
Speaker 1: some receptions too, but it hasn't been the bread and
Speaker 1: butter of his career so far. You spend a premium resource,
Speaker 1: I think eighty first pick in the draft as a
Speaker 1: premium resource, what would you say that cut off of
Speaker 1: his I'm gonna say top one hundred picks are where
Speaker 1: the premium cut off is. Either way, you get Hunter
Speaker 1: Long at pick one, and man, he has been high
Speaker 1: functioning in both the run and the past game in
Speaker 1: college at Boston College. Then you give yourself something of
Speaker 1: a low risk, potentially high reward with the U d
Speaker 1: f A and Jibrey Blunt. IM not sure that you
Speaker 1: can expect a basketball player to pick it up right
Speaker 1: away in year one, but that's a nice project to
Speaker 1: work on. A guy that can work on developing his
Speaker 1: game and getting used to the game of football because
Speaker 1: he was a basketball player in college. Especially when you
Speaker 1: consider the track record of Hooper's turned into not just
Speaker 1: you know, good players in the league, but some some
Speaker 1: of the star tight ends in the Hall of Fame.
Speaker 1: Tight ends in this league started their career that way
Speaker 1: on the basketball court. And Jibrey is pliable, athletic as
Speaker 1: hell and has all the length in the world, and
Speaker 1: they slid two forty five pound frames, so he's intriguing
Speaker 1: that way from the on paper look with that player. Finally,
Speaker 1: you look at the ages of these players. Hunter Long
Speaker 1: is the newcomer who turns twenty three prior to opening day,
Speaker 1: Jimbrey Blunt is twenty four, then everybody else is basically
Speaker 1: the same age and the range with birthdays that come
Speaker 1: close to each other. All of those guys either twenty
Speaker 1: five or twenty six years old. So in total, all
Speaker 1: seven guys in this room would be in a hypothetical
Speaker 1: high school at the same time between proverbial seniors and
Speaker 1: Adam Shaheen and Durham Smith and Sethan Carter, with Hunter
Speaker 1: Long as the freshman at twenty three years old, and
Speaker 1: then Gisicky and Maya Rick are both twenty five years old,
Speaker 1: I guess they would be your juniors on this four
Speaker 1: year analogy, with Blunt as the sophomore, so to speak.
Speaker 1: So Tree twenty six, all these guys in that same
Speaker 1: age range. And additionally, we talked about this in the
Speaker 1: receiver's Preview, how Mike Gisicky has the alignment, the snaps
Speaker 1: and the production of a good slot receiver in the
Speaker 1: National Football League. Now, he can play anywhere, and he
Speaker 1: has out wide, in the slot or in line. And
Speaker 1: I remember the twenty nineteen Jets game when they flexed
Speaker 1: him out because the Jets were insistent on covering him
Speaker 1: with linebackers throughout the course of that game game and
Speaker 1: they just couldn't do it. So the Dolphins put him
Speaker 1: out wide and he took advantage of those matchups and
Speaker 1: had the biggest day of his career to that point
Speaker 1: in twenty nineteen. So you can capitalize on his abilities
Speaker 1: as an outside receiver when the situation calls for it.
Speaker 1: But I love the red the way the rest of
Speaker 1: this room really compliments what Mike does well. And he
Speaker 1: was the most accomplished player on the roster last year
Speaker 1: at the position. You look at the workloads of Shaheen
Speaker 1: and Smythe they have accomplished pass and run blocking numbers
Speaker 1: and resumes in this league, not from college in the
Speaker 1: National Football League. So, for instance, when you go to
Speaker 1: tight ends, which is your twelve personnel set, or it
Speaker 1: could be two personnel, the second number and the two
Speaker 1: number phrase for personnel is your tight ends. It goes
Speaker 1: running backs then tight ends. So when you do go
Speaker 1: twelve personnel, two tight ends, you can call on one
Speaker 1: of those guys to stay in for more of a
Speaker 1: max protection type of look while you let Mike a sicky.
Speaker 1: When typically you go match protect, it's two routes, but
Speaker 1: you can use Mike as either one of the two.
Speaker 1: You can use them for a third player in the route.
Speaker 1: Either way, it helps give you my Gisiki's route running
Speaker 1: ability and the past blocking ability of those other two
Speaker 1: tight ends with how they complement one another. Now Hunter
Speaker 1: Long can do that too, but also has the receiving
Speaker 1: resume coming in out of college and we'll see if
Speaker 1: he can continue that as a pro. But his last
Speaker 1: year at Boston College led college football or tight ends
Speaker 1: and all of college football and receptions. Last year he
Speaker 1: was the focal point of the offense. You saw it
Speaker 1: when they played good team or bad team, whatever it was,
Speaker 1: the offense ran through Hunter Long at BC in the
Speaker 1: passing game when he was prior to that mostly an
Speaker 1: inline blocking tight ends. So all that being said, we
Speaker 1: should remember this with Ghisicky and Smith too. Learning tight
Speaker 1: end is a tough task in this league, all three
Speaker 1: phases of offense with a past game, the running game
Speaker 1: as well as past protection. But Hunter is a sharp kid.
Speaker 1: You know about the fact that he builds computers and
Speaker 1: can solve a rubricks cube and like the snap of
Speaker 1: a finger, he's a sharp kid that has done it all.
Speaker 1: So hopefully that process for him because of the intel,
Speaker 1: the intellect or intelligence what do you want to say there?
Speaker 1: Because of that, maybe he can be a bit accelerated
Speaker 1: in his process. Then again to mention the development opportunity
Speaker 1: for a guy like Blunt, Carter's ability to play the
Speaker 1: up back, an h back, in line and on special teams.
Speaker 1: And then maya Rick is definitely in that mold of
Speaker 1: a dirty work type of tight end. He did his
Speaker 1: entire career at Temple. So we mentioned the additions to
Speaker 1: the to the tight end room. Nobody left Sethan Carter,
Speaker 1: Hunter Long and Jibbrey Blunt are the additions. Nobody out
Speaker 1: the door on the other side and coaching these guys
Speaker 1: up is George Godzy, Miami's tight ends coach last year,
Speaker 1: has been promoted to co offensive coordinator and under his
Speaker 1: watch last year, collective receptions and one thousand and sixty
Speaker 1: one yards spread among the Dolphins tight ends. Both of
Speaker 1: those were franchise records among Dolphins tight ends, and eleven
Speaker 1: touchdowns tied the franchise mark. So what a great year
Speaker 1: for George Godzie's position room. And this will be Godzie's
Speaker 1: third year with Miami, and you look at his track
Speaker 1: record across a couple of decades of coaching football. He's
Speaker 1: coached every position on offense besides the offensive line, receivers,
Speaker 1: tight ends, running backs, quarterbacks. He was even the contingency
Speaker 1: planned quarterback last year. We heard coach Flora's talk about this,
Speaker 1: all the contingencies of Dolphins team had in the COVID
Speaker 1: protocol year and what a weird, weird year that was.
Speaker 1: And we saw a coach Godz get some I guess
Speaker 1: double duty there to get elevated to quarterbacks coach when
Speaker 1: Robbie Brown was not available. And the first game that
Speaker 1: he was available as the quarterbacks coach, George Gotzi was
Speaker 1: the Arizona game went two or three for over three
Speaker 1: hundred yards and the offense was clicking big time in
Speaker 1: that game. So we talked this. We've talked about this
Speaker 1: on every podcast so far, and it's going to be
Speaker 1: a theme on the defensive positions as well. This Dolphins
Speaker 1: coaching staff, these guys, it's it's not like I talked
Speaker 1: about on the podcast with the receivers. It's not just
Speaker 1: the players on the field. The entire organization under Brian
Speaker 1: Flores calls for versatility and wearing multiple hats, the more
Speaker 1: you can do in this league. And coach Godzi he
Speaker 1: was even a defensive assistant and slash special projects with
Speaker 1: the lines. He was the tight ends coach back for
Speaker 1: the Patriots in the early odds back when they had
Speaker 1: the Gronkowski Hernandez dual threat there, which was, you know,
Speaker 1: kind of revolutionary at the time in the NFL. So
Speaker 1: all this is to say that god Sees resume his
Speaker 1: track record, his experience. It all lends itself to the
Speaker 1: idea why he would get this promotion and be in
Speaker 1: a position to be an offensive coordinator co offensive coordinator.
Speaker 1: And if you if you've heard George talk at all
Speaker 1: on the press conferences, we had him bi weekly last year.
Speaker 1: I believe it was he just goes so in depth
Speaker 1: and talks about the differences between how you attack certain alignments,
Speaker 1: certain personnel packages, certain route concepts. He just is very
Speaker 1: good at communicating what he what's in his head and
Speaker 1: getting on a paper and teaching it that way. He
Speaker 1: taught me as much as any coach last year in
Speaker 1: those press conferences, So you can see kind of why
Speaker 1: he has earned curried favor here in Miami. We talked
Speaker 1: about the group already, the seven guys all kind of
Speaker 1: in that same age range. Mike at Sicky up top
Speaker 1: with finishing the top ten among tight ends and catches
Speaker 1: and touchdowns and and yardage seven hundred and three yards
Speaker 1: six touchdowns. Last year, Smith had career highs and all
Speaker 1: three categories as well, twenty six to awight and two
Speaker 1: and Shaheen matched his reception in touchdown total twelve and
Speaker 1: three and his one and twenty seven yards was a
Speaker 1: career high. And then Chris Myerick made his NFL debut
Speaker 1: last year, appearing in three games as a practice squad
Speaker 1: call up. And then of course the newcomers, as Sethan
Speaker 1: Carter was a special teams captain with the Bengals Jibri
Speaker 1: Blow We talked about his length and athletic ability and
Speaker 1: Hunter long among the most productive tight ends in all
Speaker 1: of college football last season. As far as some more
Speaker 1: in depth talk on these individuals, we start here going
Speaker 1: in order of the jersey number. Adam Shaheen's up first.
Speaker 1: He wears number eighty. He's got four years NFL experience
Speaker 1: out of Ashland. You might recall he got a contract
Speaker 1: extension last year so he doesn't have to deal with
Speaker 1: going into free agency twenty six years old on Opening Day,
Speaker 1: and remember he was acquired not on the eve of
Speaker 1: training camp, but a couple of weeks before training camp
Speaker 1: kicked off down here in Miami. And he made it
Speaker 1: a point talking to us in the media about some
Speaker 1: of his career goals and personal goals, and one of
Speaker 1: the things that he wanted to do was to stay
Speaker 1: healthy because it was a problem for him in Chicago
Speaker 1: where he'd only get a few games and every season
Speaker 1: he'd have to go to the injured reserve or injured list,
Speaker 1: whatever it might be, and he wasn't available for the
Speaker 1: Bears in those games. So he made a point of
Speaker 1: emphasis to make sure that he worked on his body
Speaker 1: to get himself ready for a season, and he wound
Speaker 1: up playing all sixteen games last season, again matching career
Speaker 1: best and touchdown and receptions, and that forty three yard
Speaker 1: catching run in Week six against the Jets, and that
Speaker 1: shutout victory was the longest of his career, and I
Speaker 1: thought was really the moment that kind of turned that
Speaker 1: game because it was ugly early on. The Dolphins defense
Speaker 1: was getting after it, but they also were having problems
Speaker 1: putting points on the board offensively, and then Adam Schaheen
Speaker 1: hits a big run down the middle, down into the
Speaker 1: five yard line. Dolphins punched in and from that point
Speaker 1: you kind of felt like with the way the defense
Speaker 1: was playing, the Jets had their backup quarterback in, you
Speaker 1: felt like the game was kind of not locked away,
Speaker 1: but you felt good about it at that point. So
Speaker 1: a big play there from Adam Schaheim. He also allowed
Speaker 1: just one quarterback pressure on thirty nine hass blocking reps,
Speaker 1: and he also cleared the land some big runs from Miami,
Speaker 1: particularly off the edge as the end man on the
Speaker 1: line of scrimmage. I love the way he runs the
Speaker 1: football after he catches it. He was a nominee for
Speaker 1: Kyle Brandt on Good Morning Football his Angry Runs segment,
Speaker 1: he drops the shoulder and has enough juice to win
Speaker 1: the edge on those flat routes where it's a race
Speaker 1: between a tight end and a linebacker. He's got the
Speaker 1: juice to win that edge, turn that thing up and
Speaker 1: turn a five or six yard game into a twelve
Speaker 1: or thirteen yard game. And he also with the way
Speaker 1: he's used so much in the blocking game and kind
Speaker 1: of ceiling and cracking down, that creates opportunities to throw
Speaker 1: to guys like him as well as Dirham Smith. We'll
Speaker 1: talk about here in just one second, to throw to
Speaker 1: those guys on kind of some tendency breakers down around
Speaker 1: the red zone and they can catch the football and
Speaker 1: put that thing away and put six points on the board.
Speaker 1: Speaking of Drham Smith, number one three years NFL experience
Speaker 1: out of Notre Dame, he too will be twenty six
Speaker 1: years old come opening Day. In addition to setting career
Speaker 1: best in the major receiving categories, he has been a
Speaker 1: core special teams ACE from Miami since his rookie sees
Speaker 1: and playing better than two hundred snaps every single year
Speaker 1: so far of his career two hundred twenty four snaps
Speaker 1: last year on Danny Croftsman's special teams unit and played
Speaker 1: a key part in a unit the ranks number three
Speaker 1: on Football Outsiders in terms of special teams overall rankings.
Speaker 1: He did not allow a single hit on his quarterback
Speaker 1: in sixty six pass protection reps and was on the
Speaker 1: field for two hundred thirty one run blocking plays. And
Speaker 1: when you watch him in the running game, he functions
Speaker 1: in multiple capacities as a blocker, whether he's climbing to
Speaker 1: the second level, hitting that second level block on a linebacker,
Speaker 1: ceiling off the edge for a c gap run or
Speaker 1: an outside run even or coming across the formation to
Speaker 1: dig out the backside defender. That's my favorite thing that
Speaker 1: Durham does so well. That there was a play against
Speaker 1: the Patriots in eighteen. Yeah, it was the miracle game
Speaker 1: when Brandon Bolden had a long touchdown run for Miami
Speaker 1: the one year Bolden was here in Miami, And if
Speaker 1: you look at that play, Durham Smith had the key
Speaker 1: block in the hole coming across the formation. So I
Speaker 1: like watching him get that work done again, the dirty
Speaker 1: work that no one really appreciates as far as the
Speaker 1: You know, watching the game on Sundays on your big
Speaker 1: screen TV, you kind of have to go back through
Speaker 1: the film to really appreciate what Durham does so well.
Speaker 1: And it's the same deal as Shaheen where you talk
Speaker 1: about his usage can create chances down in the red
Speaker 1: zone because he's such a good blocker that a lot
Speaker 1: of times down there in those thirteen personnel packages with
Speaker 1: heavy offensive line, you expect a running play, You pull
Speaker 1: that thing back out of the belly and you toss
Speaker 1: it to a wide open tight end. Just see Durham's
Speaker 1: touchdown against the Chargers where there was nobody within you know,
Speaker 1: they were over in in in Broward County and we
Speaker 1: were down on Dade County at hard Rock Stadium. So
Speaker 1: that's what both those guys can do for you in
Speaker 1: the red zone. Seethan Carter the next guy up on
Speaker 1: our list here, number eighty two, four years experience all
Speaker 1: with the Bengals. He played in Nebraska at college twenty
Speaker 1: six years old on opening day and again operated in
Speaker 1: a multiple roles for the Bengals the last three years.
Speaker 1: He missed eighteen, so he's played three seasons, has been
Speaker 1: in the pros for four years. But he aligns all
Speaker 1: over the offensive formation, but use largely in a blocking role,
Speaker 1: and you really love the way he wins with technique
Speaker 1: but also also effort, and that was evident on a
Speaker 1: sixty two yards screen pass to Joe Mixon. And this
Speaker 1: is going way back. I went and watched a lot
Speaker 1: of his tape when we first signed him in seventeen
Speaker 1: where Carter sprints twenty five yards down the field for
Speaker 1: a key block on a huge screen pass for the
Speaker 1: Bengals on that particular game. He also finished top fifty
Speaker 1: in the NFL. All three years that he has played
Speaker 1: in special teams tackles, he had twenty four tackles on
Speaker 1: eight hundred ninety six career special teams reps while earning
Speaker 1: a career best grade last year from Pro Football Focus
Speaker 1: at eighty two point one. So captain in Cincinnati on
Speaker 1: special teams, he can get the job done that way.
Speaker 1: Hunter Long our next player up here at the rookie
Speaker 1: number eighty four out of Boston College, twenty three years
Speaker 1: old on opening day. The fifty seven catches he made
Speaker 1: lad all college tight ends and again, just another one
Speaker 1: of these well rounded guys you add to the room.
Speaker 1: And he talked about this. With the first couple of
Speaker 1: years of his career, they were a sixty six to
Speaker 1: thirty three run heavy team Merry call A J. Dillon
Speaker 1: and those Boston College games like he would get thirty
Speaker 1: forty Kerry and they would win games seventeen to thirteen.
Speaker 1: And Hunter Long was a big part of that as
Speaker 1: the end men on the line of scrimmage, getting the
Speaker 1: dirty work done as a run blocker. But then this
Speaker 1: last year they became a passing team and it was
Speaker 1: more fifty five in favor of the past and Hunter
Speaker 1: said this. I asked him about that after he was
Speaker 1: drafted him he said, I always say that I feel
Speaker 1: like I got the best of both worlds at BC
Speaker 1: with both offenses. Obviously it was more run heavy offense,
Speaker 1: and then this past year we really opened up the
Speaker 1: past game. I think it allowed me to become a
Speaker 1: well rounded tight end and work at all aspects of
Speaker 1: the position. And as a catching tight end. He caught
Speaker 1: sixty seven percent of his passes an average fourteen points
Speaker 1: six yards per catch. It's a big figure for a
Speaker 1: tight end might get sick. He had thirteen point three
Speaker 1: this year and he was in the top ten in
Speaker 1: the National Football League and the fourteen point six yards
Speaker 1: per catch came along with nine touchdown catches at BC
Speaker 1: for Hunter Long And when I watched his tape in college,
Speaker 1: I like the way he understands the nuance of route
Speaker 1: running in terms of how you attack defenders to put
Speaker 1: them at a disadvantage because he has that big frame,
Speaker 1: that big body, and when you use the body to
Speaker 1: accomplish creating that leverage on the defender, you really have
Speaker 1: to use your hands away from the frame to kind
Speaker 1: of catch the football, and he can do that. But
Speaker 1: he also has the ability to kind of explode off
Speaker 1: the top of that route with some quickness at the
Speaker 1: top of the route, and with a big catch radius
Speaker 1: and those trusty hands, you create another, you know, half
Speaker 1: yard of separation in that particular arena that could make
Speaker 1: all the difference in the world. Throwing the ball to
Speaker 1: his direction, but he uses his arms his hands to
Speaker 1: create windows for his quarterback and to to get the
Speaker 1: defender kind of off balance as they try to shoot
Speaker 1: to jam him or press him or to reroute him.
Speaker 1: He's really good at just kind of staying within his
Speaker 1: framework and staying consistent and staying on track on speed
Speaker 1: off the stem of his route to get to the
Speaker 1: top of the route before he breaks that thing off.
Speaker 1: So I really enjoyed watching him play. We saw that
Speaker 1: at rookie mini camp into O T A S and
Speaker 1: we'll get a chance to see that here at training
Speaker 1: camp coming up in just a couple of weeks. Chris Myrick,
Speaker 1: number eighty five, two years with the Dolphins, mostly on
Speaker 1: the practice squad out of Temple, years old on opening Day,
Speaker 1: made his debut last year, played in three games, played
Speaker 1: just fifteen snaps, with seven of those on special teams,
Speaker 1: eight on offense. He's six ft five to sixty one,
Speaker 1: so the biggest dude in the room in terms of
Speaker 1: his weight, and he came to the pros with an
Speaker 1: established college resume once again as a run blocker. A
Speaker 1: lot of these guys can play that extra man on
Speaker 1: the end line to help the running game, but on
Speaker 1: the practice squall the last two years. But you watch
Speaker 1: him develop his game. He gets better every single year,
Speaker 1: every single month. And again, I'm a big Temple tough guy.
Speaker 1: I love watching Temple, especially back in the Matt Rule days.
Speaker 1: Big fan of his training camp in twenty nineteen. I'm
Speaker 1: really curious to get a look at him this year
Speaker 1: early on in the preseason games. Man, I'm so excited
Speaker 1: for preseason football. You probably think I'm crazy. Mike Kasicki
Speaker 1: number eighty eight, three years out of Penn State, twenty
Speaker 1: five years old on Opening Day and one of my
Speaker 1: favorite parts of last season was having Rondo gats down
Speaker 1: the podcast before the Bengals game and talking about that
Speaker 1: famous catch that he had or a couple of the
Speaker 1: famous catches he had, and then Mike Asiki goes out
Speaker 1: and does the exact same thing almost on the same
Speaker 1: part of the field that Gadsden did. That that was
Speaker 1: really cool to see you. But this guy has been
Speaker 1: the most productive Dolphins tight end since Randy McMichael, and
Speaker 1: Gassicki's career trajectory continues to climb. He's gotten better on
Speaker 1: every category every year so far, improving really his entire
Speaker 1: game every season. That's exactly what Brian Flores has talked
Speaker 1: about with this team, like get better than you were
Speaker 1: in the previous day, the previous week, the previous month,
Speaker 1: and so on and so forth. With this guy is
Speaker 1: becoming not just a big time, you know, highlight reel
Speaker 1: catching tight end, but the big play tight end as well.
Speaker 1: He averaged eleven point six a dot average depth of
Speaker 1: target last year, and that was second in the National
Speaker 1: Football League behind just Rob Groundkowski of the Buccaneers, and
Speaker 1: as a result, Gisicky tied for fourth among tight ends
Speaker 1: with a third team point three yards per reception figure
Speaker 1: last year. That long catching run against the forty, I
Speaker 1: think we all remember that seventies something yards on that
Speaker 1: catch and run. He also caught seventeen of twenty nine
Speaker 1: contested catches in he averaged eight point five seven yards
Speaker 1: per target, a real nice figure there, and one point
Speaker 1: six yards per out run. All of these numbers career
Speaker 1: best last year from Mike Gazicki, and his seven and
Speaker 1: three receiving yards was fourth most and his six touchdowns
Speaker 1: tied for eighth among all tight ends in the National
Speaker 1: Football League. So every stat across the board, this guy
Speaker 1: was in the top ten at the position group. And
Speaker 1: I talked about the improvements he made statistically for me,
Speaker 1: the contact balance, and there's a there's a great play
Speaker 1: against the Jets last year, his touchdown catch where he
Speaker 1: post a rised the Jets defender after he beat him
Speaker 1: off the snap and fitched through a nice kind of
Speaker 1: backpile on ball, but he had to come back and
Speaker 1: get over the top of the defender. But on that
Speaker 1: play you watch the safety basically he's on his toes
Speaker 1: playing forward. So and I asked Mike about this post
Speaker 1: game about how what do you see was as far
Speaker 1: as how you get around that guy or how do
Speaker 1: you manage to improve what you have to do to
Speaker 1: get to the point of the route you have to
Speaker 1: get to when a defender is trying to reroute you.
Speaker 1: He talked about how reading the leverage of the defensive
Speaker 1: back and knowing that he wants to get hands, so
Speaker 1: you make yourself harder to hit by kind of showing
Speaker 1: some wiggle but also some strength to absorb that contact
Speaker 1: and stay on your line, stay on your route. And
Speaker 1: doing that and also learning how to kind of stay
Speaker 1: on his feet and maintain that speed and acceleration through
Speaker 1: contact has been a big boon from Mike Gasicki as
Speaker 1: far as I'm concerned. When I watched the tape, He's
Speaker 1: been really good in that area, a big area of
Speaker 1: growth from his rookie season. And plus for a quarterback
Speaker 1: like to who really shines with the anticipatory throws and
Speaker 1: kind of throwing the ball to a location. His ability
Speaker 1: to go up and haul down those contested catches that
Speaker 1: goes a long way with the skill set that to has.
Speaker 1: So looking forward to a nice year here from Mike Gasicki,
Speaker 1: and we finish out this this position group with Jibrey Blunt,
Speaker 1: number eighty nine, the rookie out of North Carolina Central,
Speaker 1: twenty four years old opening day. I don't have any
Speaker 1: football stats for you, but I can tell you between
Speaker 1: Cleveland State and North Carolina Central, he played college hoops
Speaker 1: for five years. He stands six ft five ways two pounds.
Speaker 1: He had nineteen point one points per game last year
Speaker 1: and nine point three boards per game. I was really
Speaker 1: curious see his rebound total while also leading the conference,
Speaker 1: and this kind of speaks to his length because stealing
Speaker 1: is all about getting your hands in passing lanes. He
Speaker 1: led the conference and steals en route to his MEAC
Speaker 1: Player of the Year honors. In If his name sounds familiar,
Speaker 1: it's because his father is Mel Blunt, the legendary NFL
Speaker 1: Hall of Famer. A cool story I read about Jibria
Speaker 1: is that once when he was in the third grade,
Speaker 1: he took his dad's two super Bowl rings that he
Speaker 1: had at the time he would go on to win four.
Speaker 1: He took two of them to school as a third
Speaker 1: grader without mel knowing, and I'm sure that that was
Speaker 1: a bit of a heartache for mail that at that moment,
Speaker 1: but once he got them back, I'm sure it was
Speaker 1: all a great story. As we tell it here on
Speaker 1: the podcast, that's your tight end room. Again. We've done
Speaker 1: the quarterbacks, running backs, and receivers. We're gonna continue on
Speaker 1: this podcast talking about our sixth of the eight divisional previews,
Speaker 1: the a f C North, and we're gonna see one
Speaker 1: team from this division this year on Thursday Night Football
Speaker 1: Week ten at hard Rock Stadium for an eight twenty
Speaker 1: pm Eastern kick on November eleven against the Baltimore Ravens.
Speaker 1: Go ahead and start there with the dreaded Ravens. I mean,
Speaker 1: how many times in your lifetime as a Dolphins fan,
Speaker 1: and this is a team that came into the league
Speaker 1: in the late nineties, so it's not like they've been
Speaker 1: around forever, But how often does this team seem to
Speaker 1: serve as a roadblock for the Dolphins and crucial seasons
Speaker 1: going back to two thousand one playoffs when they eliminated
Speaker 1: Miami a pro player stadium, or the two thousand eight
Speaker 1: playoffs to the exact same thing. Once again. There was
Speaker 1: a big game in twenties six team when we went
Speaker 1: to Baltimore, and that game did not fare very well.
Speaker 1: Thursday Night Football four and two go into Baltimore. They're
Speaker 1: banged up, still can't get that w. So this is
Speaker 1: a team that Dolphins fans maybe don't look upon so finally,
Speaker 1: and that's out of respect because of such a good
Speaker 1: football team. But the biggest win the Dolphins seemed to
Speaker 1: have notched over Baltimore this century was the two thousand
Speaker 1: seven grade cam Ario moment. But all of that has
Speaker 1: me excited for this one because how can we defend
Speaker 1: Lamar and that run game. I view the Ravens as
Speaker 1: a measuring stick, a litmus test of sorts, because of
Speaker 1: how good they are in that regard, a team that
Speaker 1: so different than what the rest of the league has
Speaker 1: kind of trended towards in the passing game. First, they're offseason.
Speaker 1: I loved it personally, Sammy Watkins and Rashad Bateman and
Speaker 1: Thyland Wallace to the receiver corps. I think all three
Speaker 1: of those guys mixed well with Lamar Jackson, Kevin Zeitler,
Speaker 1: and Michael Schofield Alejandra Villaneueva. On the offensive line, does
Speaker 1: he step in and replace Orlando Brown? It's a big
Speaker 1: loss on the offensive line. He was a monster of
Speaker 1: a player on that offensive line. Juwan James signs with Baltimore. Now.
Speaker 1: He got injured this offseason. There was a big deal
Speaker 1: with he and the and the Broncos and the p
Speaker 1: A about his injury being uh at the team facility
Speaker 1: or away from the team facility. But either way he
Speaker 1: winds up here with Baltimore and the Ravens. He'll be
Speaker 1: back probably next season. And then in the draft Odafe
Speaker 1: oh Way, you might have remember him as Jason away
Speaker 1: from Penn State. He changed his name. Good for him
Speaker 1: be who we are. Uh. He's one of the freakiest
Speaker 1: pass rushers in this entire draft class. Dalen Hayes Geno Stone,
Speaker 1: the veteran safety they add him, and then Sean Wade
Speaker 1: out of Ohio State, another guy like they got him
Speaker 1: in the seventh round of this year's draft. I don't
Speaker 1: really think there's a storyline here with the quarterback position,
Speaker 1: despite the fact that everybody seemingly wants to make one
Speaker 1: out of it. Lamar Jacksons in elite quarterback. It's all
Speaker 1: there is to it. I mean, he threatens the defense
Speaker 1: in multiple ways and he is the ultimate creator of conflict,
Speaker 1: our favorite word on this podcast this summer, I've seen
Speaker 1: the idea that so many of these Ravens running backs
Speaker 1: are big time players. But you know what the one
Speaker 1: constant is with all those running backs is lit Lamar
Speaker 1: Jackson's there. He makes the running game go. How about
Speaker 1: that Browns game last year, the Monday Night Football Classic,
Speaker 1: Remember how things were looking kind of dark there for
Speaker 1: the Ravens and really great for the Dolphins because if
Speaker 1: Baltimore loses that game, if Lamar Jackson stays in the
Speaker 1: locker room for one more play on that fourth down
Speaker 1: and they lose that game, the Dolphins are in the
Speaker 1: playoffs at ten wins. So he pinched it off, came
Speaker 1: back in and got the Ravens into the winner circle
Speaker 1: and that crazy, exhilarating, fun game, but ultimately the worst
Speaker 1: game of the year on the calendar for Miami. But
Speaker 1: either way, Lamar Jackson, you saw the difference that he
Speaker 1: brought to the offense when he was out of the
Speaker 1: lineup and then back in the lineup for that Ravens team.
Speaker 1: Even his rookie season, they were like three and three
Speaker 1: and he comes in. They win almost every game the
Speaker 1: rest of the way, get into the playoffs, and then
Speaker 1: have the great season in twenty nineteen and last year
Speaker 1: have another good run towards the end of the year
Speaker 1: to make a push all the way into Divisional round
Speaker 1: of the playoffs. Speaking of the running backs, I love J. K. Dobbins,
Speaker 1: I always have. I think he's the most talented guy
Speaker 1: that they have or that they've given Lamar Jackson so far.
Speaker 1: To pair in that backfield, and they're gonna be a problem.
Speaker 1: They both have so much speed and breakaway ability, and
Speaker 1: the storyline with this offense is his emergence coupled with
Speaker 1: the added weapons they have, and Rashad Bateman is a
Speaker 1: perfect addition for them to play that RPO kind of
Speaker 1: the exposition, quick hit when with physicality type of receiver.
Speaker 1: But he's more than just physicality. He can also create
Speaker 1: separation with his rouse. He compliments the track team they
Speaker 1: have with Hollywood Brown and Devin Duvernet, plus going out
Speaker 1: and getting Samuye Watkins and they add Thayland Wallace, who
Speaker 1: can do a little bit of everything to really talking
Speaker 1: myself into this offense as we go along here, not
Speaker 1: to mention one of the best tight end rooms in
Speaker 1: the league, led by Mark Andrews. They get Ronnie Stanley
Speaker 1: back up front on the offensive line, one of the
Speaker 1: biggest losses in the NFL last season, and they did
Speaker 1: what we talked about with multiple resources invested to attempt
Speaker 1: to fill a vacancy left there by Orlando Brown, with
Speaker 1: Juwan James, with Villanueva and Tyree Phillips also developing their
Speaker 1: in year number two and at some point losing on
Speaker 1: the other side of the ball, losing all these stud
Speaker 1: pass rushers, you would think has to catch up to them, right,
Speaker 1: because it seems like every year a big time name
Speaker 1: goes out the door. This year it's Matt Judon who
Speaker 1: goes to the Patriots. They do bring back Parnell McFee,
Speaker 1: who continues to just kill it in that scheme. He
Speaker 1: was back last year with the team after going to
Speaker 1: Chicago from Baltimore originally. But they also add Adope o
Speaker 1: A who I have little doubt will be a hit
Speaker 1: for this team because that's what they do with the
Speaker 1: draft guys and they turn into stars on that defense.
Speaker 1: But then you look at the secondary after, you know,
Speaker 1: talking about maybe some question marks up front. Secondary is
Speaker 1: one of the few in the league that I think
Speaker 1: I would measure up to what Miami has on their roster.
Speaker 1: Marlon Humphrey elite, elite cornerback. Marcus Peters is a takeaway machine.
Speaker 1: Tavon Young and Jimmy Smith are at worst number two
Speaker 1: cornerbacks on at least half the rosters in the National
Speaker 1: Football League. They're probably were three and four corners and
Speaker 1: this on this uh particular club, Emon Marshall, Anthony Aver.
Speaker 1: Then they get Seaan Wade, who had a tough season
Speaker 1: Ohio stay after being a possible top pick in twenty nineteen.
Speaker 1: He goes back and his stock suffers a little bit.
Speaker 1: That way, you add Geno Stone to go with Chuck
Speaker 1: Clark and de Shawn Elliott and Anthony Levine. The names
Speaker 1: just keep coming on that Baltimore defense. This is the
Speaker 1: most difficult team in the NFL to come from behind
Speaker 1: on because they can take the air out of the
Speaker 1: football and play such good takeaway defense, and if you
Speaker 1: put the ball up in the air, fifty times. They're
Speaker 1: gonna take it away a couple so they're really tough out.
Speaker 1: I cannot wait for that game in November. Also in
Speaker 1: the a f C North, the Pittsburgh Steelers. What a
Speaker 1: team and transition here for Pittsburgh. The offensive lines the
Speaker 1: big story here for me, David decash Row's out. Trey
Speaker 1: Turner is in and it was tough sledding last year
Speaker 1: and now pounced he is retired. You'll lose Matt Feeler
Speaker 1: to the Chargers. And then with Big Ben at this
Speaker 1: stage of his career, what is he going to be?
Speaker 1: The offense really struggled late in the year. They had
Speaker 1: no ability whatsoever to push the ball vertically down the
Speaker 1: field and had no running games, so teams were just
Speaker 1: squatting on their short intermediate passing game and it did
Speaker 1: not work at all for Pittsburgh after the eleven and
Speaker 1: oh start, did they do enough to score enough points
Speaker 1: in one? We know their defense dazzles, but what about
Speaker 1: on offense. I mean, it's basically Ben or bust at
Speaker 1: this point. He and he's missed games pretty much every
Speaker 1: year of his career for a decade now. And if
Speaker 1: he's ineffective again, do you go back to Mason Rudolph.
Speaker 1: I mean, we'll see those were actually I guess kind
Speaker 1: of the stories of the off season was the losses
Speaker 1: this team took. Mike Hilton was a big player for
Speaker 1: them in the secondary. Now it's going to be you know,
Speaker 1: justin lane or camera in Sutton stepping up into that
Speaker 1: possible second cornerback. You have to play over one thousand
Speaker 1: snaps if you play every snap at that position. And
Speaker 1: the top guy, Joe Hayden, I mean, he's been a
Speaker 1: good player for a long long time, but how much
Speaker 1: longer can he do it for? So the question on
Speaker 1: this team is probably in the secondary and the offensive line,
Speaker 1: but the rest of that defense is low it up
Speaker 1: man up front, they are as good as anyone with
Speaker 1: Cameron Heyward, Steffontua and t J. Watt. How do they
Speaker 1: replace Bud Dupree. We'll find out about that. But back
Speaker 1: to the offense here real quick? Can they find a
Speaker 1: running game in a division that has two of the
Speaker 1: top three or four running teams in all of football?
Speaker 1: Chase Claypool and ju Jue Smith shooter was a nice
Speaker 1: duo with Deonte Johnson might even be one of the
Speaker 1: better of the three showing his medal as a route
Speaker 1: runner and big play guy. Last season had some drop seas,
Speaker 1: but you watch him create space and create separation. That's
Speaker 1: a big part of his game. Speaking of big plays,
Speaker 1: James Washington and Ray Ray McLeod. Mcloud's more of a
Speaker 1: return man, but they have weapons and again are the
Speaker 1: complimentary parts going to make it all function as well
Speaker 1: as you'd like it to. In Pittsburgh for the Steelers,
Speaker 1: they're off season. Naj Harris, we know all about his
Speaker 1: college accomplishments. Pat friar Muth. Their first two picks on offense,
Speaker 1: not on the offensive line, was an interesting way to
Speaker 1: go after it. But they did get two good players there.
Speaker 1: Trey Turner in for de Castro. They get Joe hag
Speaker 1: on the offensive line as well, Isaiah loud Milk and
Speaker 1: Tyson Alu. Alu add to the defensive line with Chris Warmly,
Speaker 1: and they go out and they get Quincy Rochet out
Speaker 1: of the University of Miami. The Cleveland Browns. I kind
Speaker 1: of want to put this team as the a f
Speaker 1: C North champion. We'll talk about that here in just
Speaker 1: one second, but they're offseason. Malik Jackson, Tommy Togi. A
Speaker 1: couple of nice defensive tackles Jadeveon Clowney and Tack McKinley
Speaker 1: get added on the edge. Jeremiah Woosue Coramoa. Can he
Speaker 1: be that Joe Schobert replacement because they've really missed Schobert.
Speaker 1: Anthony Walker another one of these good athletic linebackers. Troy
Speaker 1: Hill add to the defensive secondary from the Rams. Greg
Speaker 1: Knewsome their first round draftic out of Northwestern and then
Speaker 1: John Johnson the do it all safety slash slot there
Speaker 1: from the Rams. Troy Hill and John Johnson were two
Speaker 1: of the best, one of the best pairings of auditions
Speaker 1: any team made in the National Football League this offseason.
Speaker 1: They also go out and get Richard LeCount the safety
Speaker 1: from Georgia this past draft as well, So that right
Speaker 1: there is your storyline. They injected talent into the defense.
Speaker 1: Every name I just gave you was on defense because
Speaker 1: they just didn't really have a hole to fill on
Speaker 1: offense after season. But the big additions in the secondary
Speaker 1: from the Rams is what you point to here to
Speaker 1: go along with Denzel Award, and then we'll see if
Speaker 1: Grant Delpitt and Greedy Williams can find their college form,
Speaker 1: delput coming off an injury, and with Greg Newsom into
Speaker 1: if they get one of del Pitt or Williams to hit,
Speaker 1: that's the five solid guys you need out there in
Speaker 1: that secondary. Plus you added Clowney to compliment Miles Garrett,
Speaker 1: who's the best player in the damn division. For my money,
Speaker 1: off the edge, I mean, good luck running the football there.
Speaker 1: And if Garrett is, you know, the best outside rusher
Speaker 1: in football, that just gives him even more opportunities out
Speaker 1: on that other edge. So a big place seems like
Speaker 1: a guarantee on this defense. You also got a lot
Speaker 1: faster in the second level with a USA Coramoa and
Speaker 1: Anthony Walker. Offensively, Baker Mayfield just has to play point
Speaker 1: guard and distribute the football to play winning football. I
Speaker 1: think he's not one of these quarterbacks that kind of
Speaker 1: catches a bad rap. He gets through his progressions quickly,
Speaker 1: and he had that same kind of feet hip quick
Speaker 1: action that I love, the way he manipulates defense with
Speaker 1: his physical action opposed to just the eyes that I've
Speaker 1: raped about in Two's game, A lot of that that
Speaker 1: was there in Baker's game as well. He just needs
Speaker 1: to not play hero ball and they'll be fine because
Speaker 1: they have the best running back tandem with Nick Chubb
Speaker 1: and Kareem Hunt. I like Jarvis and O'Dell. I don't
Speaker 1: think either one's an elite player, but they're both very
Speaker 1: good players. And then a good combo and perhaps the
Speaker 1: most underappreciated player and the entire team is Richard Higgins.
Speaker 1: He's a big play waiting to happen. On top of that,
Speaker 1: you probably have the best offensive line of football with
Speaker 1: Jack Conklin, Wyatt Teller, j C. Treader, Joel Betonio, and
Speaker 1: Jedrick Wills. And oh yeah, three good tight hands in
Speaker 1: Austin Hooper, David Njoku and Austin Bryant. We finish up
Speaker 1: in the state of Ohio almost at the city with
Speaker 1: the Cincinnati Bengals. Their offseason was Jamaar Chase, Riley Reef
Speaker 1: and Jackson Carmen with Larry Oak and job always good
Speaker 1: to get a division rivals player away from them. From
Speaker 1: the Browns, Tyler Shelbon, the l s U rookie Trey
Speaker 1: Hendrickson the big offseason addition, Cameron Sample, Joseph Assi love
Speaker 1: his game, Cheeto Wosier from the Cowboys, and Mike Hilton
Speaker 1: of the Steelers, another theft from the division and the
Speaker 1: big story for me with the Bengals suddenly becoming spenders
Speaker 1: like Hilton and a luge just one year after they
Speaker 1: signed Trey Waynes and Mackenzie Alexander, as well as Von
Speaker 1: bellat safety. A total remake without going heavy at the
Speaker 1: rookie position in the draft. If they can get those
Speaker 1: guys playing at their peak and they get them communicating
Speaker 1: early on, always tough to get guys to kind of
Speaker 1: come together and get the communication right away, they could
Speaker 1: really turn around that defensive production. Are they going to
Speaker 1: be better on the offensive line, because burrow season ending
Speaker 1: injury just kind of seemed imminent last year when you
Speaker 1: watched them every week. He was getting hit so much,
Speaker 1: so frequently, and they always looked so bad and then
Speaker 1: finally he does take a bad hit and it cost
Speaker 1: him his season. Also, it's weird that you look at
Speaker 1: the deep passing charts and the numbers bear out that
Speaker 1: they just could not hit vertical deep passes. One year
Speaker 1: after l s U was kind of going back and
Speaker 1: forth with Tua and Bama as the most prolific vertical
Speaker 1: passing games and the history of college football, and all
Speaker 1: of a sudden they can't do it. So it's a
Speaker 1: volatile stat but it was weird to see that Burrow
Speaker 1: off the a c L with an offensive line that
Speaker 1: really only added the Reef and Jackson Carmen. That's a
Speaker 1: big storyline. Now what he does have is a nice
Speaker 1: arsenal of offensive weapons. I wasn't as high on Higgins
Speaker 1: and Chase as somewhere, but I do think Tyler Boyd
Speaker 1: is among the best slot receivers in the NFL. The
Speaker 1: three of them together is a very nice trio. And
Speaker 1: I also liked their collection of tight ends with c
Speaker 1: j Uzama and Drew sample from you dub gokugs on
Speaker 1: that tight end position, and then in the backfield of
Speaker 1: Joe Mixing can stay healthy, he's one of the very
Speaker 1: best pure winners in the game. But they do lose
Speaker 1: Geo Bernard's so the depth there has taken a hit.
Speaker 1: If Mixing gets banged up again, I'll be curious to
Speaker 1: see how swapping out Carl Lawson for Trey Hendrickson works
Speaker 1: and if year two will kind of have that remade
Speaker 1: linebacker corps come together better than it did last season.
Speaker 1: It was a challenge, but getting injected speed at the
Speaker 1: position with Marcus Bailey and a Keem Davis Gaither was
Speaker 1: a big boon for that Bengals defense. So for the
Speaker 1: NFC North, the best player for me is Myles Gaskin.
Speaker 1: The best quarterback is Lamar Jackson by a long shot.
Speaker 1: For my money. Most might not think, so what I do.
Speaker 1: The best defender in the division, it's gotta be Garrett, Right,
Speaker 1: We'll go with t J Wat to kind of balance
Speaker 1: it out there. The best rookie I think will be
Speaker 1: Nag Harris. The best coach is Jim Harbaugh with the Ravens.
Speaker 1: The most intriguing team to me is the Bengals. How
Speaker 1: does Burrow come back off the A c L? Can
Speaker 1: they protect him? Can that defense get better? And the champion?
Speaker 1: I had the Browns written down, but I'm gonna go
Speaker 1: with the Ravens. I'm taking the Ravens because I just
Speaker 1: trust the quarterback, I trust the head coach, and their
Speaker 1: defense always finds a way and I like the additions
Speaker 1: they have made on the offensive firepower position of the team.
Speaker 1: All Right, that's gonna be it for this week of podcast.
Speaker 1: It was great to be back with you all. Here
Speaker 1: on Drive Time. We're gonna pick it right back up
Speaker 1: on Monday with the offensive line. Finish out the position
Speaker 1: previews as well as the NFL divisional previews, and that
Speaker 1: includes our a FC East preview coming your way next
Speaker 1: week as well. You don't want to miss that Until
Speaker 1: next time. That's gonna be my time, you all. Please
Speaker 1: be sure to subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcast,
Speaker 1: Leave us a rating, leave us a review, Follow me
Speaker 1: on Twitter at Wingfield NFL, Follow the team at Miami Dolphins,
Speaker 1: check out the Fish Tank and the Olivele pod Cast,
Speaker 1: and of course Miami Dolphins dot com. Each of these
Speaker 1: podcasts are accompanied by a written piece up on the
Speaker 1: website giving you all the stats, facts and details you
Speaker 1: want to know about each of these players, and go
Speaker 1: check us out there as well. Until next time finds
Speaker 1: up