Speaker 1: What is up, Dolphins, and welcome to the Draft Time Podcast.
Speaker 1: I am your host, Travis Wingfield. And on today's show,
Speaker 1: we move into our third positional capsule of the twenty
Speaker 1: twenty five off season slash twenty twenty four review. But
Speaker 1: really it's more about the future and heading into what
Speaker 1: we might expect next season. So we'll do that. Plus
Speaker 1: I have multiple segments planned, but I might push some
Speaker 1: off later down the road because well, we have a
Speaker 1: lot of time to do this. All. We'll go ahead
Speaker 1: and jump right in the running Backs National Championship game
Speaker 1: and maybe some more from the Baptist Health studios inside
Speaker 1: the Baptist Health Training Complex. This is the Draft Time Podcasts. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so the programming notes, I just want to make sure
Speaker 1: I get right out in front of off the top
Speaker 1: here is. You know, I have little bullet points and
Speaker 1: things I've just kind of thought about over the last
Speaker 1: couple of weeks. And that's one of the beauties of having,
Speaker 1: you know, the every other day program that we have
Speaker 1: here in the off season. And you know, I'm certainly
Speaker 1: within my capabilities of doing this daily. As you know
Speaker 1: that I was the kind of the godfather of the
Speaker 1: Lockdown Dolphins podcast doing it daily there, but we don't
Speaker 1: do that here, so I'm able to kind of I
Speaker 1: don't want to say put more thought behind, but I
Speaker 1: marinate on ideas more and I have a quarterback ranking
Speaker 1: list I want to get to. I want to talk
Speaker 1: about the coaching carousel, but for the sake of time
Speaker 1: purposes and the fact that we do have so much,
Speaker 1: you know, to get to, or so much time to
Speaker 1: get to all the stuff over the course of the
Speaker 1: next few weeks, I'm going to do the capsule first
Speaker 1: and just kind of see where we come down at
Speaker 1: the end of it. Sound good, obviously. I'm sure the
Speaker 1: listeners have noticed a bit more liberties here on the
Speaker 1: show in terms of what we can do, and I
Speaker 1: want to lean into that and make sure that we're
Speaker 1: giving you guys the best content possible and not be
Speaker 1: so restrictive on certain things and things we don't So
Speaker 1: no wide receivers coach yet, no special teams coach yet.
Speaker 1: I saw some folks asking me on social about the
Speaker 1: idea or the possibility of Brian Hartline. I love that idea,
Speaker 1: although I think he's a future head coach in college football,
Speaker 1: so that might be kind of tough. To push that
Speaker 1: across the goal line special teams. The only name I
Speaker 1: really had in my mind or off the top was
Speaker 1: John bones Fossil just because of his track record, and
Speaker 1: I think the Dolphins could obviously make a big upgrade
Speaker 1: there if they went in that direction. But he went
Speaker 1: to the Where did he the Titans, I believe is
Speaker 1: where he wound up. So we'll give you guys cover
Speaker 1: on who winds up being in those positions and how
Speaker 1: the Dolphins run out their staff and everything really everything
Speaker 1: from now until they play a football game in September.
Speaker 1: And before we get to the running back position, let's
Speaker 1: go ahead and talk about that national championship game because
Speaker 1: today is kind of the only day that makes sense
Speaker 1: to do that, right, because we're still we're about about
Speaker 1: forty hours removed when this podcast will publish from that game.
Speaker 1: And my first thought is, did any of you guys
Speaker 1: sense the least amount of juice for a college championship
Speaker 1: game in that one than any game other of all time?
Speaker 1: Like I forgot that it was on that Monday multiple times,
Speaker 1: And in fact, we were shooting Dolphins HQ last week
Speaker 1: and my producer was talking about how he thinks the
Speaker 1: game was on Saturday, and I was like, is it
Speaker 1: really That's that is exactly what college football should do.
Speaker 1: Put it on a big Saturday before NFL playoffs. Like
Speaker 1: I do think that they got way too late into
Speaker 1: the calendar in terms of it being on January twentieth,
Speaker 1: but the Saturday night before the conference championships. That kind
Speaker 1: of makes some sense, doesn't it. Why did I just
Speaker 1: go full Trump? I don't know, So that was something
Speaker 1: I kind of thought off the top. My other thought
Speaker 1: was the playoff bracketing kind of ruined it, Like I
Speaker 1: don't Notre Dame getting that path, and of course Carson
Speaker 1: Beck and his eyes being too far apart was the
Speaker 1: second biggest issue he had besides the injury. Him not
Speaker 1: being out there made that game kind of a breeze
Speaker 1: for Notre Dame. And I thought Penn State would win
Speaker 1: against Notre Dame as well, So I don't really know
Speaker 1: how they were able to get all the way through there.
Speaker 1: I thought those were two better football teams they beat,
Speaker 1: but just kind of lacked juice. And for Ohio State, man,
Speaker 1: I like the playoff. I like these bigger games down
Speaker 1: the stretch, but like it used to be, if you
Speaker 1: lost to Michigan brought you didn't get to go to
Speaker 1: the game, So I don't know. It's it seems it
Speaker 1: almost seems diluted. I think college football is. It's a
Speaker 1: they've leaned into what it. One of the elements of
Speaker 1: it that I loved about it, and that's the fact
Speaker 1: that it's the minor leagues. It's it's minor league football
Speaker 1: is what college football is. And I used to love
Speaker 1: it for the pageantry and the tradition and the rivalries
Speaker 1: and the local interest, but that's gone. So that's all
Speaker 1: it is anymore at this point. I like watching tape.
Speaker 1: We're gonna get to the running back class here in
Speaker 1: just one second, which has like thirty names that you
Speaker 1: can consider draft eligible or draft worthy prospects this year,
Speaker 1: on top of a free agent class that is total
Speaker 1: do probably the worst free agent group there is the
Speaker 1: year at the running back position. But in that game
Speaker 1: Quinn Shawn Judkins and Trevion Henderson, Oh brother, I like
Speaker 1: both those players quite a lot. We'll save that for
Speaker 1: the future segments. Is it Riley Leonard like, you know,
Speaker 1: gonna be a future general manager of a car dealership,
Speaker 1: And then Will Howard will see him at the Senior
Speaker 1: Bowl this week. I don't really know how I feel
Speaker 1: about his game, but a Mecca Obuca man, we'll talk
Speaker 1: about receivers down the road here. That's a guy that
Speaker 1: in the second round seems like the type of player
Speaker 1: the Dolphins need at that position for multiple reasons. Speaking
Speaker 1: of receivers, I was I was watching Ted McMillan, the
Speaker 1: Arizona kid. I didn't know he was six ft five
Speaker 1: like I seen him on tape, but I only was
Speaker 1: six foot five. He plays big man. I'm interested in
Speaker 1: him at thirteen as well. Anyway, that was the national
Speaker 1: championship game. It's just stunk. I love Marcus Freeman. I
Speaker 1: think he's gonna be a future possible NFL head coach.
Speaker 1: Ryan Day, you know, kind of saves the day there
Speaker 1: in Ohio State. It was like they wanted to fire
Speaker 1: him before the Michigan After that Michigan game, and now
Speaker 1: here he is a national champion. But my biggest takeaway
Speaker 1: from the game was like snoozefest man. That was boring.
Speaker 1: I didn't even care about it. I didn't watch the
Speaker 1: second half of the game, just really couldn't care less.
Speaker 1: So the college football has to figure out their sweet
Speaker 1: spot because they used to have it, in my opinion,
Speaker 1: and this year they're expanding and trying new things. I
Speaker 1: think they kind of overshot it. They have to reel
Speaker 1: it back in because that was a pretty much of
Speaker 1: a joke of a National Championship game, hard pivot. Like
Speaker 1: I said, I have some thoughts here on I did
Speaker 1: a new quarterback list. I want to talk about the
Speaker 1: coaching carousel here in just a second, or not just
Speaker 1: a second, but at some point, but I want to
Speaker 1: wait until I gets more rounded out. I do think
Speaker 1: it's interesting that the AFC East in a league in
Speaker 1: an era where offensive coaches are kind of the in
Speaker 1: vogue thing. And you know, I remember Brian Florish's talk
Speaker 1: all the time about like not being defensive minded, and
Speaker 1: I always appreciated that perspective. But if you ask Mike Vrabel,
Speaker 1: he'll say the same thing. I'm a football coach. I
Speaker 1: don't have an offense or defensive perspective. It's you know,
Speaker 1: they get tabbed with what they coach, what they played
Speaker 1: in the past. And we have seen this exodus of
Speaker 1: Roberts Law and obviously Bill Belichick, and they bring in
Speaker 1: Gerrod Mayo, and they X, you know, acts out Robert
Speaker 1: Sala and Jeff Olberg gets the interim, so they're like defense, defense, defense,
Speaker 1: and they come back out this cycle. The Jets don't
Speaker 1: have the young quarterback, but the Patriots do, and they
Speaker 1: go out and they hire Mike Rabel, a defensive guy,
Speaker 1: and they go out and they hire Aaron Glenn, a
Speaker 1: defensive guy. And then Sean mcdermot's a defensive guy who's
Speaker 1: grandfathered into that position from a previous era, right and
Speaker 1: Bill Belichick obviously was that. But it's the only division
Speaker 1: in the NFL that has seventy five percent defensive minded coaches.
Speaker 1: And I think it might make things tougher on Tua
Speaker 1: to produce against those teams when he goes out there,
Speaker 1: especially the Patriots, who he kind of seemed to figure
Speaker 1: out that scheme over the years, and now he's gonna
Speaker 1: have to figure out a scheme that has given him
Speaker 1: issues with the with the Titans in the past. But
Speaker 1: it's interesting to me, I think that we don't really
Speaker 1: see that very often, and I think I think of
Speaker 1: Rabel Moore as like a culture guy on like a
Speaker 1: tone setter and just a CEO of the program, which
Speaker 1: I kind of think is a good idea in today's
Speaker 1: NFL with the way players are just a sidebar. I
Speaker 1: just drove home from drop taking my kids a daycare,
Speaker 1: and I drove by several bus stops on the way
Speaker 1: back home. Dude, every kid is just this is like
Speaker 1: such an old band. Take what's the deal with airline food?
Speaker 1: Every kid is so locked in on their phone it
Speaker 1: kind of makes me sad. Man, I don't know, let's
Speaker 1: just put a pin in that, right, there's let's go
Speaker 1: ahead and pivot out to the running back position here,
Speaker 1: you know, and talk about the Dolphins internals, a group
Speaker 1: that I thought was gonna be far more productive than
Speaker 1: it was in twenty twenty four. I'll never forget one
Speaker 1: day after practice, you know, Waddle and a Chan hang
Speaker 1: out together a lot, and Raheem was kind of pals
Speaker 1: around with them, and Reek Wood here and there, but
Speaker 1: not so much. And I was like telling them, I
Speaker 1: was like, yeah, I saw the four of you guys
Speaker 1: in the sideline together. I was thinking to myself, what
Speaker 1: is that about five thousand yards worth of offense right there?
Speaker 1: And they were all like, yeah, yeah, probably, And they
Speaker 1: didn't even come close to that. And the running back
Speaker 1: position was a big part of that. With Raheem, most
Speaker 1: are kind of being relegated to a secondary role. And
Speaker 1: my general take on all of this, and you know,
Speaker 1: I still think you could argue it has maybe the
Speaker 1: most talent in the room of any position group. But
Speaker 1: I just thought the management of the room itself was
Speaker 1: about as wrong or as misplaced as it was in
Speaker 1: any other area of the team, though I can certainly
Speaker 1: understand the ideology behind why it was the way it was. Like, here,
Speaker 1: you have this back that is truly capable of springing
Speaker 1: a big one on any given play, and you know,
Speaker 1: I've seen cutups from the coaches where they talk about
Speaker 1: his ability to make adjustments and hit small creases and
Speaker 1: follow his track, and he turns these eight yard runs
Speaker 1: into the electric ones. And the concept of having backs
Speaker 1: that can do everything in your offense helps maintain that
Speaker 1: illusion of unpredictability. Though I would argue that the Belcow
Speaker 1: situation with Devon a Chan, which is who we're talking
Speaker 1: about here, made things predictable because a He's just not
Speaker 1: a pure inside runner. The vision is not there, it
Speaker 1: doesn't exist for him. Be I thought his vision and
Speaker 1: decision making was really, really poor this year, and that
Speaker 1: comes with the seven hundred and four to two hundred
Speaker 1: and seventy eight snap difference for a chant to Raheem
Speaker 1: to one seventy one for Jalen Right, So your top
Speaker 1: three backs that was gonna be a little bit more
Speaker 1: of a committee, just a stark shift from years past
Speaker 1: when they would rotate and use guys through. And those
Speaker 1: data points are without mentioning the lack of simply grinding
Speaker 1: it out back there. You just can't search for the
Speaker 1: home run on every single carry and the result of
Speaker 1: that was the most negative runs in the NFL since
Speaker 1: twenty seventeen. They had eighty runs that lost yardage this year,
Speaker 1: and with the way the offense was kind of hamstrung
Speaker 1: to playing short, it really it really put a damper
Speaker 1: on things. And the biggest caveat and the most positive
Speaker 1: one is I think that he offers a chan just
Speaker 1: as much value as a true flexed out option in
Speaker 1: the passing game, and that, paired with the more with
Speaker 1: the move up to get Jalen Wright, made me believe
Speaker 1: there was an approach here to get both those players
Speaker 1: on the field. And I called for right to Wally
Speaker 1: pitp Raheem most of the year, I thought he would
Speaker 1: do that, and I thought we got that in the
Speaker 1: New England game back in week five or six, the
Speaker 1: game that Devon mostly missed that concussion, but he became
Speaker 1: reduced in his role. It actually just became more Devon,
Speaker 1: So we saw a vastly different split, and it tells
Speaker 1: you how valuable this position is in the offense. As
Speaker 1: the group saw, excluding alec Ingold, twelve hundred and twenty
Speaker 1: four snaps of the team's eleven thirty eight, so they
Speaker 1: were averaging more than one running back on the field
Speaker 1: per snap on the field at the time, and if
Speaker 1: you include the fullback, it goes up to fifteen sixty one,
Speaker 1: so substantially more usage of this position than others. And
Speaker 1: I have no issue at all with the pairing of
Speaker 1: twenty eight and twenty five next year as the top
Speaker 1: two guys, but I think it needs to be even
Speaker 1: without additional snaps going to Devon as a receiver and
Speaker 1: run that from twenty one personnel or hell, we talked
Speaker 1: about tight ends in the show. How about twenty two
Speaker 1: personnel grouping that has John Eu and Tyler Warren, Devon
Speaker 1: and Jalen Wright and Jalen Waddle as the other eligible.
Speaker 1: I like that five man lineup that maintains the speed
Speaker 1: element you had with Reek. Via Devon, you get that
Speaker 1: Josh Jacobs factor with the physicality I cannot stop talking about.
Speaker 1: With Jalen Wright, fix your blocking woes off the edge
Speaker 1: to a degree and have multiple size options with a
Speaker 1: bona fide number one receiver and we'll get into that
Speaker 1: in the receiver episode. With Waddle, I can argue about
Speaker 1: his skill set until I'm blue in the face. But
Speaker 1: just food for thought there about how the construction of
Speaker 1: this whole thing could look if they make a pivot.
Speaker 1: The individual players here. Devon ah Chan number twenty eight,
Speaker 1: truly one of the most dangerous players in the league.
Speaker 1: With the football in his hands and when he's feeling
Speaker 1: it like he was in that Jets game, he can
Speaker 1: take over games. Sixty yard runs, twenty yard runs, a
Speaker 1: fifteen yard touchdown run. That is needle moving running back play.
Speaker 1: But we didn't hit explosives like that really all year long,
Speaker 1: like we did all year long and twenty twenty three,
Speaker 1: which to me goes back to the usage with how
Speaker 1: you had him with Brahim as a change of pace
Speaker 1: compared to the Belcow aspect of a chance game. It
Speaker 1: reduced the number of explosive plays where we really really
Speaker 1: lacked them, and that's the number one reason the teams
Speaker 1: didn't give us more chances to throw the football down
Speaker 1: the field. If you can't run it and can pay
Speaker 1: for having those light boxes with explosive plays in the
Speaker 1: running game, they're not gonna get involved down in the
Speaker 1: box in the fit and open up the explosive lanes
Speaker 1: in the passing game, because hey, if you can only
Speaker 1: run in for five yards max, we're gonna take away
Speaker 1: the deep passing game. One of my very favorite parts.
Speaker 1: I think you could look at Devaughan in his third
Speaker 1: year with the process to get him more involved in
Speaker 1: even more ways, and one of my favorite parts of
Speaker 1: his game was those digs where he could sink his
Speaker 1: hips into the break and angle that route off at
Speaker 1: ninety degrees, explode off the top of the route and
Speaker 1: make a tough catch off his frame. He doesn't really
Speaker 1: have any interest in providing security for the quarterback and
Speaker 1: pass protection, so those snaps I want to reduce as
Speaker 1: much as you possibly can. In twenty twenty four, Raheem
Speaker 1: most Or at number thirty one was kind of next
Speaker 1: in the pecking order here, kind of got relegated after
Speaker 1: that fumble against the Bills, which I understand. Just a
Speaker 1: difficult year for a guy that just one year ago
Speaker 1: scored twenty one touchdowns and produced just under twelve hundred
Speaker 1: yards from scrimmage. Starts with that injury in the open
Speaker 1: that forces him out of the lineup for three games,
Speaker 1: comes back and logs his highest rep count of the
Speaker 1: year against the Patriots with forty four, has that fumble,
Speaker 1: and Indie plays thirty snaps against the Cardinals, then the
Speaker 1: fumble in Buffalo and saw his snap count reduced for
Speaker 1: about a month. But then he did finish the year
Speaker 1: with four consecutive games between twenty one and twenty six
Speaker 1: snaps in each of those four games. Never really got
Speaker 1: going like he did in twenty twenty three, but man,
Speaker 1: the flashes were still there. Like the Patriots game I
Speaker 1: mentioned when he was rolling up defenders still love to
Speaker 1: watch his blend of track speed and sure sheer determination.
Speaker 1: I think that the way he runs really soften things
Speaker 1: up for HN and twenty twenty three in a way
Speaker 1: that it did not in twenty twenty four. One of
Speaker 1: my favorite Dolphins backs to watch over the years, quite honestly,
Speaker 1: and the injuries, the fumbles and a player that I
Speaker 1: think is a budding star behind him and Jillan Wright
Speaker 1: all kind of points to a relatively obvious cap move here.
Speaker 1: You can get out for a million in dead cap
Speaker 1: space compared to over four million if you bring him back,
Speaker 1: and that could be a swing tackle or a starting
Speaker 1: safety over a number three back, which to me makes
Speaker 1: a lot of sense. Speaking of your number three back,
Speaker 1: number twenty five, Jaalen Wright, his snap count tailed off
Speaker 1: at the end of heam's run of twenty plus snap
Speaker 1: games down the stretch, and I think it really came
Speaker 1: after that fubble against the Jets that the touchdown or
Speaker 1: the Patriots touchdown when he fumbled the snap between he
Speaker 1: and Skylar Thompson. But I still contest that this is
Speaker 1: one of the young players I'm most excited about for
Speaker 1: twenty twenty five. I think you can cut the tape
Speaker 1: on rights runs and compared to the rest of the room,
Speaker 1: put together arguably the most impressive package of straight up
Speaker 1: impressive runs with good pacing decisions, balance power, backside vision.
Speaker 1: I think you can utilize Jay Dubb in a variety
Speaker 1: of concepts and schemes. I think that he could he
Speaker 1: could be your change up to the duo and inside
Speaker 1: zone encounter. He can create explosives in a way that
Speaker 1: I don't think most backs can. We saw it in
Speaker 1: the New England game with the broken tackles to big plays,
Speaker 1: and he damn near slipped out of one against the
Speaker 1: Jets in that finale where he could have had a
Speaker 1: long touchdown run there too. I'm buying big on Jalen
Speaker 1: Wright's upside in his sophomore season. Jeff Wilson, when I
Speaker 1: think a number twenty three, I think about the run
Speaker 1: he had with the Dolphins in his first two games
Speaker 1: where he posted like two hundred forty yards from scrimmage
Speaker 1: in three touchdowns against the Bears and Browns back in
Speaker 1: twenty twenty two, and the twenty twenty three Cowboys game
Speaker 1: winning drive, his crucial runs there on third and short,
Speaker 1: and then the fourth quarter of this year against the
Speaker 1: Jaguars where he kind of took us to victory in
Speaker 1: that one as well. He brings an element of power
Speaker 1: to the backfield and a personality the locker room that's
Speaker 1: impossible not to love. One of my favorite people. He
Speaker 1: is scheduled to be a free agent. I cannot imagine
Speaker 1: he is back. I always thought he was a bit
Speaker 1: miscast in this room. Not the system, but the room,
Speaker 1: and there is a difference there. He's a good zone runner,
Speaker 1: but the explosiveness was never his game. What this room
Speaker 1: needs we talked about it power, physicality, pass protection, as
Speaker 1: semblance of balance in terms of what people are good at. Luckily,
Speaker 1: I think you have those things, and I cannot imagine
Speaker 1: this team thinks differently given the assets that used to
Speaker 1: go get Jalen Wright. Look, I don't get it, I
Speaker 1: really don't. I mean even that indie game he gets
Speaker 1: five for thirty three and really never gets a good
Speaker 1: look again coming off a thirteen for eighty six game,
Speaker 1: and I think that's certainly going to be a there's
Speaker 1: certainly going to be a back or two added this offseason.
Speaker 1: But man, if it's not a chan and right one
Speaker 1: A and one B, then I think you made a
Speaker 1: major miss in terms of resource allocation and projection of
Speaker 1: the player's development. That needs to be the case in
Speaker 1: twenty twenty five. This is not a room that needs
Speaker 1: significant resources allocated to it, just some power, which I
Speaker 1: think it has. That's all I crave and for those
Speaker 1: traits that we are missing. Let's go ahead and take
Speaker 1: a break, come back and talk about the free agents
Speaker 1: and the draft prospects at running back in this year's
Speaker 1: class Draft Time podcast, your host Travis Wingfield, brought to
Speaker 1: you by AutoNation. If the Dolphins are interested in the
Speaker 1: running back position, I do not imagine it will come
Speaker 1: via free agency because watching this class doo dooo, man ah,
Speaker 1: it was tough to watch. It starts off. I'm gonna
Speaker 1: go on athmetical order here for the guys that I watched,
Speaker 1: and I will tell you about the ones I did
Speaker 1: not watch and why Cam akers There is an absence
Speaker 1: of a second gear that is jarring. But but I
Speaker 1: can see the fit and the vision, really good patience
Speaker 1: to press the scrapebacker into the wrong direction then wind
Speaker 1: it back to that lane. And perhaps this is all
Speaker 1: the experience he had with Minnesota, with the Rams, with
Speaker 1: the Houston Texans. But he sees stuff open, presses it,
Speaker 1: anticipates it and gets there without having to give away
Speaker 1: where he's going. There's just nothing special there. He's not twitchy.
Speaker 1: I mean, the injuries have kind of robbed him of that.
Speaker 1: He's not explosive or even fast. He's just a good
Speaker 1: runner that processes and sets up blocks. Well. He's not
Speaker 1: a threat on third downs because he can't pass pro.
Speaker 1: He's a player that you're gonna watch. If you see
Speaker 1: him and you know whoever he plays for, he'll be like, oh,
Speaker 1: we can do better than that. That's that's how you'll
Speaker 1: come away from watching his game. I don't think he
Speaker 1: fits what we're going for at the position and doesn't
Speaker 1: have the discernible traits like game changing speed or the
Speaker 1: immerse power. He's a running back three type, which is
Speaker 1: what we do need, I think. But this is like
Speaker 1: a minimum deal camp type of tryout situation. Again, he
Speaker 1: played in three similar systems here in his career than
Speaker 1: the Dolphins play with. He played for the Rams, the
Speaker 1: Vikings in the Texans. What I'm trying to say, aj Dillon,
Speaker 1: I wrote down two sentences and got out slow, indecisive,
Speaker 1: not overly powerful, even at his size, all the way
Speaker 1: out after just a few runs. He reminds me of
Speaker 1: nause Harris coming off an injury as well. Nope, pass
Speaker 1: conclusion there. JK Dobbins, I love JK. Dobbins tough, low
Speaker 1: center of gravity to bounce off tacklers with a speed
Speaker 1: sites the vision and the shiftiness to create bad tackling angles,
Speaker 1: allowing him to get forward, lean and accumulate extra yards
Speaker 1: and all types of plays. Incredibly willing and pass protection,
Speaker 1: good enough of a threat as a pass catcher to
Speaker 1: keep your third down flexibility in place. There's a love
Speaker 1: of the game, a thirst for him when you watch
Speaker 1: him play, and he's the kind of player who could
Speaker 1: have been counted out several times, but that's justified with
Speaker 1: the injury concerns. I can see why Miami would avoid him.
Speaker 1: He's missed four games this past season, missed all of
Speaker 1: twenty twenty one, missed nine games in twenty two, missed
Speaker 1: sixteen games in twenty three. I bet the Chargers bring
Speaker 1: him back cheap anyway. My conclusion a really, really nice
Speaker 1: compliment to what you have. I just don't think he's
Speaker 1: in our budget for what he's going to ask for,
Speaker 1: for what you would get from this player, even if
Speaker 1: it's a one year prove it situation, because I don't
Speaker 1: think you can offer him the playing time that he'd want.
Speaker 1: I like the player, I don't see the fit would
Speaker 1: complement a scheme shift. Though he does have to see
Speaker 1: he does seem to have a feel for whatever kind
Speaker 1: of play you call so outside zone or inside stuff.
Speaker 1: I think he can do it all. Probably my most
Speaker 1: preferred option in the class is Rico Daddle. I love
Speaker 1: the ability to make a second level defender miss in
Speaker 1: a small space and to squeeze gaps and generate shed.
Speaker 1: You know, the guys that shed the block and try
Speaker 1: to make arm tackles. He can get through those even
Speaker 1: at his size because he's not you know, he's not diminutive,
Speaker 1: but he's not huge. He runs to daylight, and he
Speaker 1: and to outside shoulders to maximize runs like he hasn't
Speaker 1: run through guys and trying to square them up. He
Speaker 1: understands angles and how to make tackles tough. That compact
Speaker 1: build five eleven two fifteen helps him generate some of
Speaker 1: that through you know, weightlifting. You can see the drive
Speaker 1: in his lower half, his feel for the combination that
Speaker 1: he can or like a combination block that he can
Speaker 1: burrow in behind and get extra yards like we need
Speaker 1: that man, Like it's it's third and two. The block
Speaker 1: is being made right at the point of attack, and
Speaker 1: there's nowhere to go but the back the butt of
Speaker 1: your own blocker. Just go between their shoulder pads and
Speaker 1: burrow in there and try to fall forward and get
Speaker 1: those extra yards. He does that really well. Not the
Speaker 1: most consistent decision maker and can run himself into a
Speaker 1: tough look. Does this little half spin thing where he
Speaker 1: winds up getting caught and forced back where a shoulder
Speaker 1: and four lean would generate more positive yards. He has
Speaker 1: a very limited route tree without twitch or technique. He
Speaker 1: does provide pass protection to combine with that short yards
Speaker 1: running ability for a good third and medium to short option.
Speaker 1: My conclusion here probably my preferred player in a class
Speaker 1: where considering cost and skill set, he might be the
Speaker 1: best one. Physical downhill style matches the ability to read
Speaker 1: blocks in his own system that allows us to be
Speaker 1: portable across multiple systems. I have low cost interest to
Speaker 1: round out the running back room here and just be
Speaker 1: done with it for twenty twenty five with like a
Speaker 1: UDFA to go along with it. Najee Harris hoh Man
Speaker 1: lax Burst to consistently win the edge would likely have
Speaker 1: to incorporate a different run scheme when he's in the game.
Speaker 1: Not to mention the tell for the defense. He had
Speaker 1: twenty nine percent success rate and three point three yards
Speaker 1: per carry on runs outside the tackles. That's third lowest
Speaker 1: in the NFL. He's consistently slow, regardless of the scheme
Speaker 1: he telegraphs his decisions, doesn't have the sudden burst in
Speaker 1: short space to influence tacklers into misses. They usually get
Speaker 1: a piece, And even if he's powering with forward lean,
Speaker 1: he's still leaving plenty of yards on the field. I'm
Speaker 1: not even gonna cut the pass pro game tape. It's
Speaker 1: awful conclusion pass Elijah Mitchell coming off a hamstring injury
Speaker 1: in August that cost him the entire season. That's a
Speaker 1: long hamstring injury. But if you want the best runner
Speaker 1: for the system, this is the guy. But I do
Speaker 1: think we will pivot at least a little bit and
Speaker 1: probably aren't just looking for more outside zone runners. But
Speaker 1: that's where he's special. Understands angles and leverage and takes
Speaker 1: great tracks to make great decisions. He's tough too. He's
Speaker 1: a solid base and good feet to keep himself upright
Speaker 1: through contact, even at the line of scrimmage against bigger bodies.
Speaker 1: But the conclusion here missed seventeen games, six games, eleven games.
Speaker 1: His most games playeds eleven. But he is a scheme
Speaker 1: fit that features more physicality than what Twey gives you.
Speaker 1: For instance, you have to do this. If you're going
Speaker 1: to do this on like a one year prove it
Speaker 1: deal to show that he can stay healthy, might be
Speaker 1: the perfect number three typo option for you. I really
Speaker 1: like this idea with a deep day three slash UDFA
Speaker 1: type to round out the room. Javonte Williams, The juice
Speaker 1: that I fell in love with at North Carolina is gone. Man.
Speaker 1: It's crazy how fast it goes for these backs these days. Man,
Speaker 1: A couple of injuries will do that to you as well.
Speaker 1: More years more were on those tires. Just never really
Speaker 1: got back from the major knee injury he did have,
Speaker 1: and they just don't have it, and he doesn't have anymore.
Speaker 1: He's so uncreative in his cuts and how he sets
Speaker 1: up his moves. He doesn't play with his feet beneath him,
Speaker 1: and it causes him to stutter into his moves or
Speaker 1: flat out lose his footing and just leave yards on
Speaker 1: the field. He rarely makes the unblocked man missed or
Speaker 1: turns a ten yard run into a fifty yard run.
Speaker 1: Conclusion for me pass, non explosive, minimal pass game, help
Speaker 1: just a guy. Some notable names I didn't work up,
Speaker 1: but have my list. Here are actually my number one
Speaker 1: and number three players, Nick Chubb and Aaron Jones, And
Speaker 1: in fact we're going to go ahead and rank them.
Speaker 1: I'll go in reverse order first for the drama of
Speaker 1: it all. Javonte Williams number nine, Nausee Harris number eight,
Speaker 1: AJ Dillon number seven, Cam Akers number six, JK. Dobbins
Speaker 1: number five, Rico Daddle number four, Aaron Jones number three,
Speaker 1: but I don't think he's anywhere near r stras fear
Speaker 1: at his age and profile. Number two Elijah Mitchell, and
Speaker 1: number one is Nick Chubb, who is way out of
Speaker 1: our range because that's a great player. Who will see
Speaker 1: what he gets coming off They maybe maybe he is
Speaker 1: a cheap guy. I don't know, we'll see, but Nick
Speaker 1: Chubb would be the top option if he were available
Speaker 1: for a very very very very very very very very
Speaker 1: very very very very very very very very very very
Speaker 1: cheap price. All right, let's go ahead and take our
Speaker 1: last break right there, come back and do the draft
Speaker 1: prospects this group is far more inspiring. That's next Draft
Speaker 1: Time podcast. Your host, Travis Wingfield, brought to you by
Speaker 1: Auto Nation, can already tell you by the time spent
Speaker 1: on this podcast that the rest of the segments itased
Speaker 1: earlier will get bumped to a future episode here on
Speaker 1: the Draft Time Podcast, Let's go ahead and conclude with
Speaker 1: the Draft Eligi Bowl running backs. The Draft declarations. The
Speaker 1: Senior Bull and Shrine Bowl rosters are I believe set
Speaker 1: outside of injuries changing those things. But Donovan Edwards from Michigan,
Speaker 1: Ollie Gordon from Oklahoma State, who will talk about R. J.
Speaker 1: Harvey from UCF, Jarquez Hunter from Auburn, Damian Martinez from Miami.
Speaker 1: I know you folks know him, the former Oregon State
Speaker 1: running back. I have some thoughts on him as well.
Speaker 1: Khalil Mullens from Michigan, Devin Neil from Kansas, somebody I
Speaker 1: have to watch, Brashad Smith from SMU BA schul Touton
Speaker 1: from Virginia Tech, and Marcus Yards from Delaware. I have
Speaker 1: a lot of work to do on this class. Still
Speaker 1: across the board, the Shrine Bowl roster Jaden Blue from Texas,
Speaker 1: Taj Brooke from Texas Tech, Jacorey Krosky Merritt from Arizona,
Speaker 1: jack Quinton Jackson from Arkansas, Corey Kiner from Cincinnati, Phil
Speaker 1: Maffa from Clemson, and Rocket Sanders from South Carolina. How
Speaker 1: about that name. But as you heard, you're not gonna
Speaker 1: see these names on the top five or six backs
Speaker 1: I have you only gonna see one of those names
Speaker 1: on those lists. Number one's Ashton Gent obviously Boise State.
Speaker 1: Difficult to verbalize how special this young man is. Uncanny
Speaker 1: combination of balance, quick feet, relationship with the timing and
Speaker 1: direction of his track to read and set up blocks
Speaker 1: with a pad level that allows him to drop down
Speaker 1: on a second and third level defender to bury them,
Speaker 1: then run away from everybody else with breakaway speed. Generational
Speaker 1: type of talent that can create yards in adverse situations.
Speaker 1: He can exploit good blocking a la Saquon Barkley, plenty
Speaker 1: Capable as a receiver to stay in and play three
Speaker 1: downs with the mindset to provide protection for the quarterback.
Speaker 1: His vision is hardwired to his feet in a way
Speaker 1: that makes tacklers miss in the smallest of spaces. He
Speaker 1: schemed averse and should command a massive workload right away
Speaker 1: he's a top ten pick if he makes it to thirteen,
Speaker 1: which I think he could because of positional value. I
Speaker 1: think you have to think about it. But when I
Speaker 1: do it, it would depend what else is on the board,
Speaker 1: and I would be awfully apprehensive after what I've committed
Speaker 1: to the running back position in the last two years. But man,
Speaker 1: I think about what a running game with a guy
Speaker 1: like him could do for TUA and it makes me excited.
Speaker 1: So I wouldn't put it out of your mind. But
Speaker 1: I don't expect it to happen there at that spot.
Speaker 1: Number two Treveon Henderson from Ohio State. I went back
Speaker 1: and forth on he and Caleb Johnson and spoiler, my
Speaker 1: number four back Quinn Shawn Judkins, his teammate at Ohio State.
Speaker 1: I ultimately projected the sub four to four speed to
Speaker 1: win out. That's just I'm a speed queen. The ability
Speaker 1: to stick his foot in the ground and hit home
Speaker 1: runs in a split decision is kind of what the
Speaker 1: game is about these days. Exceptional player in the screen
Speaker 1: game with a crafty one cut urgency that sets up
Speaker 1: his blocks and blow by defenders for long touchdowns. Big
Speaker 1: game profile doing exactly this. You saw it against Oregon.
Speaker 1: You saw it against Texas, You saw it against freaking
Speaker 1: Notre Dame. His burst from anywhere garners the attention of
Speaker 1: the defense. His ability to work laterally, like while pressing,
Speaker 1: makes for a lot of bad tackle attempts from safeties.
Speaker 1: He's a true home run hitter. When it's blocked, he's
Speaker 1: going to maximize that. Utilized as a route runner, as
Speaker 1: a flexed out option, coverage indicator and winner. He ran
Speaker 1: a slug go for a bar against Purdue for a
Speaker 1: big play this year. Has some pass pro work where
Speaker 1: he dictate the terms, where he goes out and gets
Speaker 1: guys the will and want to makes me think he
Speaker 1: can thrive when introduced to new approaches like more inside
Speaker 1: running and pile pushing. Not a big profile of doing
Speaker 1: that of pushing piles or running diverse schemes inside, but
Speaker 1: he is the lightning to a thunder shared backfield with
Speaker 1: Quinn Shawn Judkins. He's a top sixty pick for my money,
Speaker 1: and a really good football player. Number three is Caleb
Speaker 1: Johnson from Iowa. Now I talk about speed, and he
Speaker 1: didn't have that, but he does have balance, that contest
Speaker 1: gent in that metric, incredibly in control of his body
Speaker 1: through blows to the hip, thigh pad, midsection, up around
Speaker 1: the shoulders, constant foot drive with a gate that allows
Speaker 1: him to explode off any platform any direction. Builds to
Speaker 1: a speed in a way that's like kind of many
Speaker 1: Dereck Henry almost and you see the power in his legs.
Speaker 1: It's a well built lower body bodes well for pushing
Speaker 1: piles and moving chains and short yardage. Good decision maker
Speaker 1: with plus vision to keep him in the rotation on
Speaker 1: all schemes. He doesn't have the breakaway gear, hasn't been
Speaker 1: asked to run a full route tree beyond basic running
Speaker 1: back routes, and doesn't have the stand up and cheer
Speaker 1: pass pro tape. But between he and Henderson, I ponder
Speaker 1: a philosophical thought, do I want more speed or more
Speaker 1: power when I get light boxes. We've seen the packers
Speaker 1: this year go to the power route to full advantage.
Speaker 1: Kind of could be like a Josh Jacobs in that sense.
Speaker 1: I think he's a Day two pick. Quinn Shawn Judkins
Speaker 1: from Ohio State has a name from Key and Peel.
Speaker 1: He just brings the boom man. He is the thunder
Speaker 1: violent physical player, doesn't really allow tacklers into his frame,
Speaker 1: even in tight quarters, because he'll find a way to
Speaker 1: get behind his pads and initiate that contact, or use
Speaker 1: a strong punch and stiff arm to free himself of pursuit.
Speaker 1: This translates in pass protection and quite frankly, if you
Speaker 1: watch the way Ohio State uses him ahead of Henderson,
Speaker 1: it's not unlike the things we do with Julian Hill
Speaker 1: or our wide receiver sometimes with blocks out on the edge,
Speaker 1: and he's a heat seeking missile out there. He doesn't
Speaker 1: have the sweetest feet, the easiest glide, nor is he
Speaker 1: a home run hitter, but he's a tone setter with
Speaker 1: enough wiggle behind a line of scrimmage in point of
Speaker 1: attack to make his strength his weapon to make people miss.
Speaker 1: Good decision maker as a runner, he's a Day two
Speaker 1: pick for me Omari and Hampton from North Carolina. Another
Speaker 1: well built back that seems to be all over this draft.
Speaker 1: Over six foot two hundred and twenty pounds, good burst
Speaker 1: and long speed, physical, angry player that finishes his runs.
Speaker 1: He's got start stop quickness. His restarts pairs well with
Speaker 1: a powerful stiff arm. He can kind of throw guys
Speaker 1: off of his body. Plays with good ball security while
Speaker 1: delivering a strike inside the tackles, plays behind his pads,
Speaker 1: presses runs to the desired gaps with the intention of
Speaker 1: exploiting overplay with his cutback ability. He's not incredibly fluid
Speaker 1: as a route runner. He wins on angle swings and
Speaker 1: screens typical running back stuff, but it's the design over
Speaker 1: the route running that's getting him the ball. I do
Speaker 1: trust him in pass protection. I have him as a
Speaker 1: late Day two early Day three Pick number six is
Speaker 1: Ali Gordon, the second from Oklahoma State super high cut runner,
Speaker 1: which is weird to watch. Two hundred and twenty five
Speaker 1: pounds with a highlight reel of higher hurling defenders, which
Speaker 1: is kind of a cool combination. Again, upright runner with
Speaker 1: a long stride, long legs, not a lot of wiggle
Speaker 1: or juice, but seeks out contact and punishment. He has
Speaker 1: this vertical lean that can push back defenders or run
Speaker 1: through tackles with plus contact balance. He has the ability
Speaker 1: to read the flow and find the bend back lane
Speaker 1: even if the turnback. If the turnback that direction takes
Speaker 1: a bit of time for him to get back back
Speaker 1: because he kind of moved like a Cadillac in a way,
Speaker 1: but he builds to speed. He's not quick in short spaces.
Speaker 1: He's a vicious pass protector limited to screen game as
Speaker 1: a pass receiver. Oklahoma State. To me, he is an
Speaker 1: early day three pick. And I wrote this down just
Speaker 1: to get it out there. I know everybody loves camp
Speaker 1: scattabow Arizona State, but he is to me a late
Speaker 1: day date, late day three pick or priority UDFA. I
Speaker 1: just don't see it the way some of y'all do.
Speaker 1: All right, that's the podcast on Friday. I want to
Speaker 1: get down the quarterback list. We'll preview the championship games.
Speaker 1: I have some thoughts about the doom and gloom that
Speaker 1: you're probably gonna hear about a lot, and just kind
Speaker 1: of refute that a little bit, which I know is homer,
Speaker 1: But I have some thoughts on all that, the coaching carousel,
Speaker 1: and then I might have Kyle Krabs on the show
Speaker 1: to preview the Senior Bowl at some point. I don't know.
Speaker 1: We have a lot to get to here in the
Speaker 1: coming days and weeks. We will be doing full Senior
Speaker 1: Bowl coverage next week for you guys, So keep it
Speaker 1: locked right here. With a Dolphins interest in terms of
Speaker 1: watching those prospects not just gonna be, you know, glossing
Speaker 1: over prospects in general, but Dolphins guys that I want
Speaker 1: on the team in specific and specificity specificity easy for
Speaker 1: me to say. Until then, We'll see you guys on Friday.
Speaker 1: Please be sure to subscribe, rate, review the show, all
Speaker 1: that fun stuff. Follow me on social at Wingfold NFL.
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Speaker 1: next time, fins up Carolin and Cameron. Daddy, He's coming home.