Speaker 1: Buckle up for some breakdowns. What is up, Dolph fans,
Speaker 1: and welcome to the Draft Time Podcast. I am your host,
Speaker 1: Travis Wingfield. On today's show, yesterday's schedule breakdown was kind
Speaker 1: of the appetizer to the main course, which is today.
Speaker 1: This is basically a Thursday in season game preview show
Speaker 1: seventeen times over condensed into one episode from the Baptist
Speaker 1: Health Studios inside the Baptist Health Training Complex.
Speaker 2: This is the Draft Time Podcast.
Speaker 1: First, please start off by pulling out the world's tiniest
Speaker 1: violin while I'll tell you that I had half the
Speaker 1: schedule done with before my word doc just up and
Speaker 1: vanished like the podcast Tara Grinstead style.
Speaker 2: So I hope the rehearsal run.
Speaker 1: Just means my show is going to be even better
Speaker 1: because I had to rewrite about half of my copy
Speaker 1: notes and facts and observations and x's and oh's breakdowns
Speaker 1: for this episode for you guys. So two times is
Speaker 1: a charm apparently, And I'm not going to read off
Speaker 1: the schedule again. It is Thursday morning. You've heard the
Speaker 1: schedule by now go check it out if you have
Speaker 1: not seen it. We're gonna get into the entire schedule
Speaker 1: and break it down starting right now. And the Colts
Speaker 1: one of the teams that I was hoping to catch
Speaker 1: early on for a few reasons, number one being the
Speaker 1: lack of defensive continuity they come into the season with.
Speaker 1: But this is also one of the few teams on
Speaker 1: the schedule who we don't really know who the opening
Speaker 1: day quarterback is going to be. And I'm a Colts
Speaker 1: fan and they start this season with Daniel Jones, I'd
Speaker 1: be kind of irate because I just don't get drafting
Speaker 1: Anthony Richardson at that position and then giving him the
Speaker 1: runway you gave him and settling for a quarterback that
Speaker 1: just proved for what six years, he wasn't the answer
Speaker 1: in New York. I wouldn't understand that if that happens.
Speaker 1: I still think Richardson should have gotten more reps last
Speaker 1: year to close out the season or to not get benched,
Speaker 1: I should say during the season. But I think that
Speaker 1: the best way you can rectify that is to get
Speaker 1: him a full season's worth of work this time around,
Speaker 1: provided he can stay healthy. And those two quarterbacks I
Speaker 1: mean talk about being diametrically opposed. Richardson has really struggled
Speaker 1: with his processing and accuracy, but still has some pretty
Speaker 1: crazy flashes of brilliance. And he's had games when he
Speaker 1: puts it all together, especially when he can, you know,
Speaker 1: get down to the red zone and use the added
Speaker 1: threat of the running game with his legs and what
Speaker 1: he offers in that aspect of it. Whether it's him
Speaker 1: or Jones, you know, Shane Steichen's going to construct a
Speaker 1: solid plan of attack that challenges your rules. And they've
Speaker 1: built a pretty interesting group of eligibles between Downs and
Speaker 1: Alec Pierce and Michael Pittman and Ashton Doolan and a
Speaker 1: Donnie Mitchell and Tyler Warren did I get that name wrong?
Speaker 1: And they're all different players, and while there's probably not
Speaker 1: a clear cut number one among that group, they're pretty
Speaker 1: deep and diverse. And that's after a pretty strong running
Speaker 1: game with one of the best running backs in the league,
Speaker 1: or at least it won. They've got to now replace
Speaker 1: stalwarts Ryan Kelly and Will Fries. But and that's another
Speaker 1: part that I like about this is they're going to
Speaker 1: have a brand new battery combination a new guard as
Speaker 1: well to deal with Zach Steeler and Kenneth Grant, who,
Speaker 1: by the way, early returns on KG. We like what
Speaker 1: we see so far, but there is a likely competition
Speaker 1: to find out who's going to be that center and
Speaker 1: right guard, and that's a pretty sizable shift from their core.
Speaker 1: You know, if you can stifle their run game with
Speaker 1: a quarterback who doesn't see the fill particularly well and
Speaker 1: eats a lot of sacks, you know, either quarterback for
Speaker 1: that matter, that could be a good combo for the
Speaker 1: Dolphins in this opening game. I really like their front
Speaker 1: with with Layatu Latu, DeForest Buckner, Grover Stewart, Quitty, pay
Speaker 1: sandsim Ebu, kom Taekwon Lewis, the rookie j T. Tomolalu
Speaker 1: got that wrong. It's a deep group with Zayire Franklin,
Speaker 1: a Pro Bowl linebacker behind them. But cornerback depth has
Speaker 1: kind of been the bugaboo for them for a while,
Speaker 1: and a lot of teams have that as a potential
Speaker 1: hole on their roster right now. If cornerback's a tough
Speaker 1: position to fill out, and especially with all the you know,
Speaker 1: all the big time athletes go to receiver in college
Speaker 1: these days, so cornerbacks are tougher to find. But they
Speaker 1: did bring in Travarius Ward, the former Niners cornerback who's
Speaker 1: on the wrong side of thirty, so they're gonna have
Speaker 1: to find the fountain of youth there. But with Juju,
Speaker 1: Brents Blossoming, and Kenny Moore, there's a pretty good one
Speaker 1: through three. But that's one newcomer. They're gonna have a
Speaker 1: new safety alongside new safety Cameron bind him as well,
Speaker 1: so I think that that's gonna be a tough adjustment
Speaker 1: for them to get those guys ready to rock and
Speaker 1: roll from day one with a new DC. No less,
Speaker 1: I think one of the biggest additions that any team
Speaker 1: made this offseason. We talked about this on the Wednesday
Speaker 1: podcast was lou Anarumo, their defensive coordinator. But I think
Speaker 1: that he'll get that back seven coordinated and have plenty
Speaker 1: of rush options at some point. Will it happen in
Speaker 1: Week one? I ventured a guest no, but could be
Speaker 1: wrong on that. I think it's they'll have all their
Speaker 1: rush options that he can feature with a pretty an
Speaker 1: improved back seven, assuming they can get you know, up
Speaker 1: to speed in time. So not the biggest test in
Speaker 1: Week one on the schedule, but not the game either,
Speaker 1: so kind of a good spot to land there. Week
Speaker 1: number two against the Patriots the one o'clock kickoff. The
Speaker 1: Patriots went through a dip. There's almost like a necessity
Speaker 1: after the run they had right for twenty years of
Speaker 1: just brilliance and championships and banners, and the season starts
Speaker 1: on Divisional round weekend. But they appear to be on
Speaker 1: the correct side of climbing out of that. And Mike
Speaker 1: Rabel was a great hire for them, if nothing else
Speaker 1: then employing a defensive system that has provided some issues
Speaker 1: for the Dolphins when he was with the Titans. Of course,
Speaker 1: twenty twenty one game that was against an offense that
Speaker 1: lacked imagination, so I don't put too much stock into that,
Speaker 1: but they clamped us pretty good in that game. But
Speaker 1: more recently and more applicable, the twenty twenty three game,
Speaker 1: the Monday Night game that was really kind of the
Speaker 1: downturn of things that season, but they kind of got
Speaker 1: the most of the Dolphins in that game. But also
Speaker 1: last year's Monday Night game with Tyler Huntley at quarterback
Speaker 1: completely stomped us out in that one. So I think
Speaker 1: Rabel does a good job of making offenses play left
Speaker 1: handed and kind of spam the middle of the field.
Speaker 1: Find out where the back side of your reads going
Speaker 1: to be and maybe make that week side corner or
Speaker 1: weak side linebacker kind of fit into the run game more,
Speaker 1: maybe abandon his post as a pass player a pass
Speaker 1: game player. And it's going to be important for the
Speaker 1: Dolphins and Tua McDaniel to be to identify that stuff
Speaker 1: and get themselves a win. And what I think is
Speaker 1: a pretty big early season test for Miami and the Patriots,
Speaker 1: both teams. If either team comes out of this game
Speaker 1: with a win, they're going to feel good about their
Speaker 1: season going into week number three. So I think we
Speaker 1: have to find a way to attack that approach defensively,
Speaker 1: because they want to let you have that completion if
Speaker 1: you're willing to take it and then rally up and tackle.
Speaker 1: And if they give that to John hus Smith, or
Speaker 1: if they give that to Devon a Chan, or they
Speaker 1: give that to even Pharaoh Brown, like, okay, we'll bet,
Speaker 1: We'll try to see if you guys can tackle them.
Speaker 1: We've previously picked apart the Patriots defense, and there's a
Speaker 1: reason Tua is unbeaten against them because he just had
Speaker 1: the answers to that test. He would identify stuff motion
Speaker 1: pickoff man coverage, anticipate and put the ball on the
Speaker 1: money throughout the course of those games and put some
Speaker 1: gaudy stats up. But there's been a philosophic shift for
Speaker 1: this defense. Where previously it was like light boxes, invite
Speaker 1: the run. We'll be happy to have you guys run
Speaker 1: for two hundred yards if you just don't throw the
Speaker 1: ball against us. But Rabels Titans teams and this is
Speaker 1: kind of an old school thing for him, was like,
Speaker 1: you will not run the ball at all. And that's
Speaker 1: why we drafted Demandre Sweat to play inside last year,
Speaker 1: even though Rabel's gone. But this will be yet another
Speaker 1: example of running out a bit of newly focused offense
Speaker 1: with bigger bodies versus you know, inside versus a team
Speaker 1: that has paired Milton Williams with Christian Barmore and paired
Speaker 1: July Tavia with Robert Splaine. And this is not the inside,
Speaker 1: but getting Carlton Davis to go with Christian Gonzalez, with
Speaker 1: Marcus Epps teaming up with Kyle Dugger on the back end,
Speaker 1: they got a lot better than the teeth of their defense.
Speaker 1: And I imagine that Rabel's going to have a kind
Speaker 1: of run first mentality there. But the big question for
Speaker 1: the Patriots in terms of their defense, it looks vastly
Speaker 1: improved from a personnel standpoint, is where is the pass
Speaker 1: rush going to come from? Because they did sign Harold
Speaker 1: Landry off of an injury, and he was struggling before
Speaker 1: he got hurt, So I don't know if that's the
Speaker 1: kind of jewel that you're looking for there. But man,
Speaker 1: I think this defense is poised to be pretty damn good,
Speaker 1: and most of that comes from the structure and the
Speaker 1: coaching of it and present some new challenges to the
Speaker 1: Miami Dolphins. And this is a good early season test
Speaker 1: to see how far we've come in our ability to
Speaker 1: adapt and adjust our scheme to what the league has
Speaker 1: done to kind of take things away from us. And
Speaker 1: I'm happy this game is in Week two because I
Speaker 1: think you can kind of introduce some potential breakdowns or
Speaker 1: miscommunications with how they want to be interchangeable from those
Speaker 1: safeties which I think they're going for with you know
Speaker 1: what the Bills had for Poyer and Hide for so long,
Speaker 1: but that and the matchup of Wreak and Waddle on
Speaker 1: gunzale Sin and Davis is about as good as the
Speaker 1: Sauce and Reid battles over the year against the Jets.
Speaker 2: So there's a bunch of good on good in this game.
Speaker 1: But the big question will be for the Patriots on
Speaker 1: offense the second year growth of Drake May, who folks
Speaker 1: have kind of already like planted the flag that he's
Speaker 1: a franchise quarterback.
Speaker 2: I see it.
Speaker 1: I can see where they're going with that, but I
Speaker 1: tend to want to give those guys more time. I
Speaker 1: think the second year of rookie quarterback, of a newly
Speaker 1: highly drafted quarterback, people tend to think like that's going
Speaker 1: to be some revelation year.
Speaker 2: It doesn't always go that way, but he did.
Speaker 1: Far exceed expectations last year, especially to me with how
Speaker 1: he saw the field.
Speaker 2: I think he looks really good.
Speaker 1: I love how they've built it around him, even if
Speaker 1: it's not ready to mature just yet, maybe a year
Speaker 1: or two away. With Kyle Williams and Trevion Henderson will Campbell,
Speaker 1: I think he's gonna be just fine.
Speaker 2: Tackle.
Speaker 1: I thought that if Henderson, if it wasn't for Ashton Genty,
Speaker 1: that Henderson would would have been running back one this
Speaker 1: year and most years for me. But with Stefan Diggs
Speaker 1: and some good tight ends. Beyond that, it's still very thin.
Speaker 1: Like if they lose one of those guys to injuries,
Speaker 1: all of a sudden, you're talking about playing Javon Baker
Speaker 1: or Jalen Polk who had really rough rookie years, or
Speaker 1: Matt Collins, like that was the big acquisition outside of
Speaker 1: Stefon Diggs. And since our secondary is kind of the
Speaker 1: question mark, I think you can win that matchup that
Speaker 1: matters here and get them where you're stronger elsewhere. They've
Speaker 1: made some progress on an offensive line that has been
Speaker 1: really bad the last couple of years. Morgan Moses provides
Speaker 1: some stability if he can stay healthy, because if he
Speaker 1: just he's been healthy, but he's aging, and that allows
Speaker 1: him to keep Michael on Win who inside. I liked
Speaker 1: the Garrett Bradbury signing. They were kind of kind of
Speaker 1: weak at center for years because David Andrews had so
Speaker 1: many injuries and health issues but nothing he can control there.
Speaker 1: But Garrett Bradbury brings some stability if they want to
Speaker 1: play him at center or play a cold strange at
Speaker 1: guard or center who also has his own injury history.
Speaker 1: Josh McDaniels is back, and that's perhaps the most fascinating
Speaker 1: point to me. I thought we did a terrific job
Speaker 1: in both matchups last year, but the game down here
Speaker 1: because it was Drake May. You know, we're jumping hot
Speaker 1: routes and getting after their banged up offensive line, but
Speaker 1: then May would have some creative play type of reps
Speaker 1: off structure, but outside of that, we really suffocated that offense.
Speaker 1: So this year, he'll have more answers and a more
Speaker 1: experienced play caller, So I think this will be a
Speaker 1: tough matchup provided we can generate some of those same pressures,
Speaker 1: get his head swimming a little bit, and hopefully keep
Speaker 1: their point total down because I think that this will
Speaker 1: be probably one of those, you know, twenty four to
Speaker 1: seventeen type of games like they tend to be against
Speaker 1: these Patriots, at least the Patriots of old before we
Speaker 1: kind of stomped him out the last couple of years.
Speaker 1: And then Week three on the road Buffalo Thursday Night Football,
Speaker 1: my obligatory divisional matchup commentary that is often about execution
Speaker 1: when it comes down to this level of familiarity. We
Speaker 1: are now on year four of Mike McDaniel versus Well
Speaker 1: mc Sean McDermott. I had mcdee versus mcdee second straight year,
Speaker 1: if weaver versus Joe Brady, But it starts with McDermott
Speaker 1: and that defense against our offense. Right we've seen this
Speaker 1: offense have a ton of success in the run game
Speaker 1: against Buffalo, and when we run the ball versus when
Speaker 1: we don't is usually the difference between the game staying
Speaker 1: close and coming down to the wire versus it getting
Speaker 1: away from us, where we have to kind of go
Speaker 1: for these fourth downs and turn it over on downs
Speaker 1: and give Josh Allen short fields and before you know it,
Speaker 1: it's a twenty one point difference. But when we run
Speaker 1: the ball and control the clock and keep Allen off
Speaker 1: the field, it gives us this offensive balance for efficiency.
Speaker 1: That Week nine game last year was the second highest
Speaker 1: EPA per play allowed by a Bill's defense since McDermott
Speaker 1: arrived back in twenty seventeen. So you almost couldn't have
Speaker 1: played it better offensively. Of course, we lose a damn
Speaker 1: game on a sixty yard field goal after egregious fifteen
Speaker 1: yard penalty on Jordan Poyer. Not an ingregious call, it
Speaker 1: was a great call, but an egregious penalty, and that
Speaker 1: game up there in twenty twenty two came down to
Speaker 1: the end as well. We went over two hundred yards
Speaker 1: on the ground on that one. The game we won
Speaker 1: that season here in Miami was not as good on
Speaker 1: the ground, but we had the run game going the
Speaker 1: twenty twenty three finale, we were rolling on the ground
Speaker 1: in the first half of the game before kind of
Speaker 1: getting away from it. So they're going to play that
Speaker 1: nickel base defense led by Tarren Johnson, the best slot
Speaker 1: cornerback in football. And we've been over this, right, but
Speaker 1: I'm so fascinated to see what our offense looks like
Speaker 1: in general, but mostly against Buffalo because to me, this
Speaker 1: is a defense that you have to have your ability
Speaker 1: to pivot and adapt against that we haven't seen for
Speaker 1: the last couple of years. If my inclination is right,
Speaker 1: and we see more power football, more under center, more balance,
Speaker 1: more of a true bell cow back option, then I
Speaker 1: think Buffalo is the team that we stand to upgrade
Speaker 1: our most the most against with that change in approach.
Speaker 1: They're built to beat us as previously constructed. So do
Speaker 1: we have a change up to the fastball now and
Speaker 1: McDermott is so damn good at coaching up a secondary
Speaker 1: to play to its rules and spam the middle of
Speaker 1: the field and create defensive vulnerabilities that are tough areas
Speaker 1: to attack and to access. And we have to find
Speaker 1: a way to access those areas. But they want to
Speaker 1: squeeze us and limit our big play offense and try
Speaker 1: to you know, compeun mistakes which in front of that
Speaker 1: crowd can happen with false starts and holding calls and whatnot.
Speaker 1: Now offensively for them, yeah, it starts with Josh Allen, right,
Speaker 1: I mean, the guy has been a pain against US forever.
Speaker 1: You know, you can get a series or a quarter
Speaker 1: sometimes even in an entire half where he's not feeling it,
Speaker 1: but it's pretty rare that you hold him down for
Speaker 1: sixty minutes.
Speaker 2: So you need to score to beat them.
Speaker 1: But I really felt that Anthony Weaver's playing against them
Speaker 1: last year with bracket rushing, the sim pressures, look the
Speaker 1: occasional bits that does come and hopefully get home. I
Speaker 1: think it did well enough to limit him enough last season.
Speaker 1: In fact, Allen had the lowest season cumulative passer rating
Speaker 1: in the two games against US since his rookie year
Speaker 1: back in twenty eighteen. He also had a lower cumulative
Speaker 1: passer rating against US last year than he did the
Speaker 1: other fifteen opponents. So I think it's the Anthony Weaver
Speaker 1: effect that you effectively got the worst Josh Allen performance
Speaker 1: against you in his entire career, even though it's still
Speaker 1: pretty good. I think this defense, our defense has better
Speaker 1: athletes this year to contend with Josh Allen as a runner.
Speaker 1: And then the part that made Buffalo really tough last
Speaker 1: year their emphasis in the running game because of not
Speaker 1: just the defensive tackle additions, but the type of defensive
Speaker 1: tackle additions. I think we're better equipped to defend the
Speaker 1: run from those lighter boxes because of a player like
Speaker 1: Kenneth Grant. I almost haid Kevin Grant and the linebacker overhaul,
Speaker 1: and their question remains at the receiver position right, and
Speaker 1: ours is the defensive backfield. So it's kind of an
Speaker 1: interesting offset there. They keep adding the same type of guys,
Speaker 1: you know, Elijah Moore. I like Curtis Samuel, but he
Speaker 1: hasn't produced in a long time. Keon Coleman, I thought
Speaker 1: the way they draft has been interesting to me. I
Speaker 1: wasn't a fan of key On Coleman's game. I don't
Speaker 1: care for Landon Jackson or Dion Walker's game, who at
Speaker 1: three hundred and forty pounds got pushed around a whole
Speaker 1: bunch in the SEC. And they're gonna have to have
Speaker 1: Maxwell Harriston hit otherwise they're gonna be playing like Dane
Speaker 1: Jackson and I don't even know who's beyond that in depth,
Speaker 1: some younger rookies too, because they're gonna have to find
Speaker 1: you know, Maxwell Harrison as a starter. Otherwise is gonna
Speaker 1: be going deep into an area that's not very deep.
Speaker 1: They had such good health on the offensive line. Their
Speaker 1: lowest offensive line snaptaker last year was nine hundred and
Speaker 1: fifty one freaking snaps over eighty five percent, and that's
Speaker 1: coming off a season where they had all five guys
Speaker 1: not miss a snap on the offensive line. Those guys
Speaker 1: Cook and Allen, that's the calling card. With a more
Speaker 1: balanced run game nature and then well coached defense, hopefully
Speaker 1: we can find a game plan that works. You get
Speaker 1: a sharp two of performance, you run the football, maybe
Speaker 1: Josh Allen's a couple of mistakes wind up in your hands,
Speaker 1: and you get a defensive a big defensive takeaway and
Speaker 1: you score would be a massive, massive early season to win.
Speaker 1: Always a tough matchup against these dudes. It's gonna be
Speaker 1: a long podcast. We're gonna keep rolling here before we
Speaker 1: get to the breakers too. One more game they will
Speaker 1: take our first break week four against the Jets. It's
Speaker 1: nice to get some new blood in the division, just
Speaker 1: because I feel like I've kind of done the same
Speaker 1: preview show the last few years here on the Jets
Speaker 1: and Bills and sort of the Patriots. Even with the
Speaker 1: coaching change last year, it was still a Belichick protege,
Speaker 1: so it's similar. And I say this in the Jets
Speaker 1: matchup portion because even though it's new, I'm not sure
Speaker 1: how different it'll be. I'm talking about style core philosophy.
Speaker 1: Aaron Glenn oversaw the most aggressive defense in the NFL,
Speaker 1: and they earned that honor in spite of having the
Speaker 1: most injuries on defense in the entire league. But they
Speaker 1: weren't going up there with a sacrifice bunt mentality. They
Speaker 1: were trying to hit the ball over the fence and
Speaker 1: put up a crooked number on you and force the issue.
Speaker 1: The most man coverage in the league, second highest blitz
Speaker 1: ray and of course it's a Dan Campbell philosophy. But
Speaker 1: Dan Campbell sought out Aaron Glenn because he didn't share
Speaker 1: those philosophies. No, of course Aaron Glenn felt the same
Speaker 1: way and he thrived in that environment. Aaron Glenn did
Speaker 1: and with Sauce and Michael Carter. No more DJ Reid
Speaker 1: who went to You guessed it the Lions that was
Speaker 1: built over the course of four years to play one gap,
Speaker 1: hair on fire, get downhill defense. I would be pretty
Speaker 1: shocked if that changes. What did change was the aforementioned personnel.
Speaker 1: With DJ Reid gone, it'll likely be Brandon Stevens, who
Speaker 1: had a really really rough twenty twenty four year at
Speaker 1: the Ravens or rookie Isaiah Thomas, who is a third
Speaker 1: round draft pick out of Florida State who didn't run
Speaker 1: very well at the combine. It's pretty similar in the
Speaker 1: front though. The Williams Bros. With Quinn and Quincy, Jamie
Speaker 1: and Sherwood replaced CJ. Moseley last year very effectively. He
Speaker 1: steps into the starting role with a new contract. They
Speaker 1: need young players to step up to provide them with
Speaker 1: a pass rush off the edge because I think, like
Speaker 1: I think, this matchup is Taylor made for us to
Speaker 1: really get after them, And it would be nice to
Speaker 1: be at least two and one coming into this game
Speaker 1: and then get like a lopsided victory over your rival
Speaker 1: on Monday night to kind of dispell the you know,
Speaker 1: the whole the nationally televised game idea. And I think
Speaker 1: this matchup sets up well for you to do that,
Speaker 1: because if you want a Blitz to always be my guest,
Speaker 1: I think that's where he's best. And I think our
Speaker 1: pass protection is vastly to what they offer as a
Speaker 1: pass rush on paper right now. And then if you
Speaker 1: want to play press man without a quality four man
Speaker 1: pass rush, which they just don't have the guns for
Speaker 1: that right now, on us on me, Tobias Harris over me,
Speaker 1: Sorry for a Jimmy Butler dropped there, but you want
Speaker 1: to play one gap downhill against an outside zone team.
Speaker 1: To me, this scheme is where we go back to
Speaker 1: our old ways and we face Buffalo. You see the
Speaker 1: pivot vision, but this game, I think you can attack
Speaker 1: them with what you already have built in and you
Speaker 1: can you can put some points up on these guys.
Speaker 1: The bigger changes for them are on the outside, you know,
Speaker 1: on the other side of the ball. I should say
Speaker 1: Justin Fields bring some of the best legs in the
Speaker 1: league at the quarterback position, and Glenn brought Tanner Engstrand
Speaker 1: from Detroit with him. He was the pass game coordinator there.
Speaker 1: I think you're asking for a pretty you know, pretty
Speaker 1: challenging start or year for the offense with a quarterback
Speaker 1: that doesn't see the field. It's been a knock on
Speaker 1: him for his whole career, a first time play caller
Speaker 1: whose experience is very limited, and a skill group that
Speaker 1: beyond Garrett Wilson to me, is pretty below average. The
Speaker 1: offensive line, though, is where the investment is on the
Speaker 1: side of the ball, and it's it's very good. I
Speaker 1: think it's the best offensive line they've had since the
Speaker 1: AFC Title Game teams with the brickishaff Ferguson and Nick Mangold.
Speaker 1: I think Josh Myers is their first reserve off the
Speaker 1: bench and he starter quality. So to have Fashanu who
Speaker 1: is awesome and Membu at tackle, I think both those
Speaker 1: guys are going to be studs. With Simpson who was
Speaker 1: excellent last year, Vera Tucker who's very good when he plays.
Speaker 1: He's been injured a lot and then Joel Tipman a
Speaker 1: very good center. There's not a weak link in there.
Speaker 1: I imagine they'll hope to recreate what the Lions had
Speaker 1: with Montgomery and Gibbs, with Bresee Hall and Braylan Allen,
Speaker 1: but you're kind of lacking in the skill department there,
Speaker 1: and try to utilize some of the zone read stuff
Speaker 1: and get Fields as a dangerous runner to go with
Speaker 1: a good defense. I imagine that's the vision that Aaron
Speaker 1: Glenn has. Well, it happened this year. We'll see, but Fields,
Speaker 1: he's the only runner that concerns me. I think that
Speaker 1: Breeze Hall's pretty much a replacement level. But then Garrett
Speaker 1: Wilson's also the only skill player that I think can
Speaker 1: truly hurt you. But I think Weaver can kind of
Speaker 1: take those two aspects and handle them and put the
Speaker 1: rest of the offense in a locker. To me, this
Speaker 1: is the the on paper, the easy matchup of the
Speaker 1: year so far. To me, it was Brown Saints and
Speaker 1: Jets twice, not because the Jets are necessarily gonna be
Speaker 1: really bad, but I think the way we match up
Speaker 1: against them really really benefits the Miami Dolphins. All Right,
Speaker 1: we are what twenty minutes in first break in the
Speaker 1: podcast right there, come back on the other side and
Speaker 1: get some more opponent breakdowns. Draft Time Podcasts brought to you.
Speaker 2: By Auto Nation.
Speaker 1: I only just now realized after doing schedule stuff the
Speaker 1: entire week that our first four games are against.
Speaker 2: The old AFC East.
Speaker 1: Like I knew the Bills, Jets, Patriots obviously, but week
Speaker 1: one against the Colts, We're all playing old AFC East
Speaker 1: teams to kick it off, and then in week five
Speaker 1: we go across the conference of the Carolina Panthers, and
Speaker 1: they're gonna have a lot of positive buzz and expectations
Speaker 1: going into this year, which is a lot more than
Speaker 1: you thought. After they benched Brice Young last year, it
Speaker 1: kind of fe like they're gonna have to go through
Speaker 1: another like quick.
Speaker 2: Hard reset, especially at the quarterback position.
Speaker 1: But he responded nicely and finished out the year with
Speaker 1: a competitive team, a nice change from early when they
Speaker 1: were just getting destroyed every week and had an offense
Speaker 1: that couldn't really compete. With Bryce on that rookie deal,
Speaker 1: They've been aggressive the last two years and they've reshaped
Speaker 1: his confidence with an aggressive mindset that utilizes vertical concepts
Speaker 1: that requires elite communication and challenges in your deep and
Speaker 1: intermediate seams with that great Dave Canalis system. But a
Speaker 1: big reason why I want to see the Fins attack
Speaker 1: the back seven with players like ify, like Willie Gay,
Speaker 1: guys that can impact multiple levels of the defense, was
Speaker 1: to take on this new age offensive concepts that want
Speaker 1: to stretch you vertically and replace you in the intermediate
Speaker 1: with the football. And that's what Canalis has done with
Speaker 1: Baker Mayfield two years ago. And now I'm getting text
Speaker 1: from somebody, and now with friggin Bryce friggin Young.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 1: But see, here's the thing with resources is you have
Speaker 1: to spend them correctly. And here we are going into
Speaker 1: the third year of Bryce Young and it's Chuba Hubbard,
Speaker 1: Rico Daddle in the backfield, Ted McMillan, Adam Thielen, Xavier
Speaker 1: like Get and Tommy Tremble and Jade Sanders. I mean,
Speaker 1: is that any better than like the twenty eighth best
Speaker 1: group of eligibles? You know, they went hard after the
Speaker 1: offensive line a year ago and Rob Hunt and Damian Lewis,
Speaker 1: which a little fighted in the middle of the offensive line,
Speaker 1: Cade Myers at center. They clearly wanted to go big
Speaker 1: across the interior and kind of protect a five foot
Speaker 1: nine quarterback. But we also have the gun to compete
Speaker 1: with that with Zach Seeler and now Kenneth Grant, who
Speaker 1: I think can give anybody issues with what I've seen
Speaker 1: from him against this quarterback. I just overload the a
Speaker 1: gaps and pressure and interior with with Brooks and Gay
Speaker 1: and Doddson running off Stealer and KG and just folding
Speaker 1: him or making him flee out the pocket and make
Speaker 1: poor decisions out there. I really like their defense from
Speaker 1: a structure and personnel standpoint. It's a Fangio offshoot with
Speaker 1: zero everro plenty of variations of cover two and four
Speaker 1: and six where they can get to those looks with
Speaker 1: pre snap presentations and disguises. J C.
Speaker 2: Horn is the star of the show.
Speaker 1: Back there got a big time contract and we'll see
Speaker 1: if the former Koug Go Koog's Shaw Smith Wade can
Speaker 1: capture one of the other two jobs up for grabs.
Speaker 2: But that's kind of where they're thin. Bigs.
Speaker 1: Cornerbacks and secondaries are a bit thin these days. But
Speaker 1: the safety is they got I like quite a bit.
Speaker 1: Trayvon merrig Nick Scott will compete with lath and Ransom,
Speaker 1: I imagine for the other starting job, but I think the
Speaker 1: rookie will win that position. That's a really smart to
Speaker 1: good group back there on the back end. Now, even
Speaker 1: with stability on the coaching staff, that's a whole bunch
Speaker 1: of change, and I think our refocused approach could help
Speaker 1: us kind of set them up to tenancy break. Maybe
Speaker 1: you come out of the gates a little bit early
Speaker 1: and they're like expecting one thing and you hit them
Speaker 1: with something else and before you look, it's fourteen to nothing,
Speaker 1: And just be deeper into our menu and we can
Speaker 1: win the game early with our weapons versus a pretty
Speaker 1: new secondary struggle to find their footing, and with our
Speaker 1: guns as a pass rush up front to reck shop
Speaker 1: against a five foot nine quarterback. In week six, we'll
Speaker 1: face the Chargers, and so much has changed since we
Speaker 1: saw them in that twenty twenty three opener. Down to
Speaker 1: the total philosophical shift from Staley to Harbaugh. No one
Speaker 1: popularized going for it on fourth down more than Staley
Speaker 1: as a rookie, right while Harbaugh subscribes to the notion
Speaker 1: that any drive that ends in a kick is a
Speaker 1: good one. Hey Seth and OJ eat your heart out,
Speaker 1: but I hate that philosophy. Ball control early two thousands,
Speaker 1: keep it close to the fourth quarter, try to win
Speaker 1: the game there Dave Wanstead's style. I imagine this game
Speaker 1: will come down to that again, and I'd much rather
Speaker 1: our guy than their guy in that spot, who constantly
Speaker 1: takes game clinching sacks, who throws picks to close out games,
Speaker 1: or just flat out fails four downs and out, much
Speaker 1: like when Tua went down the field and put a
Speaker 1: game winning touchdown on the board and then Herbert took
Speaker 1: two sacks on his encore opportunity and the game came
Speaker 1: to an end. And while that was their m last
Speaker 1: year to keep the game close, and quite frankly with
Speaker 1: how the league has changed quick aside, like I forget
Speaker 1: who set up, but I fully subscribe to the idea
Speaker 1: that more games are lost than one in the NFL,
Speaker 1: and in this new era where the bridge like middling
Speaker 1: quarterback has kind of viewed as taboo and teams rather
Speaker 1: trot out like a Spencer Ratler than a Derek Carr,
Speaker 1: for instance, as long as you can play mistake free,
Speaker 1: there's a lot of wins to be had out there.
Speaker 1: Where you I don't have to be spectacular, just don't
Speaker 1: make mistakes like the Chargers and Falcons game last was
Speaker 1: a great example of that, you know, watching for our
Speaker 1: playoff hopes, and the Falcons had chances to win that
Speaker 1: game five freaking times, and they turned it over five
Speaker 1: times and the Chargers still won by four points. In
Speaker 1: that game, the Chargers just kept going three and out
Speaker 1: and keeping the Falcons in the game, but the Falcons
Speaker 1: lost it rather than the Chargers winning it. So if
Speaker 1: you do that, you can win eleven games and then
Speaker 1: get embarrassed in the playoffs by a quality team. But
Speaker 1: back to the point, they are even more that style
Speaker 1: of that team. Now, Nage Harris was the start, and
Speaker 1: you guys heard me in the Freesing podcast, I didn't
Speaker 1: see the vision for that player there. But then they
Speaker 1: draft Omary and Hampton, and I like Hampton, He's fine.
Speaker 1: Harris's I think, is already long in the tooth, and
Speaker 1: to me, going Hampton over Matthew Golden, that kind of
Speaker 1: solidified who they want to be, right, especially coming back
Speaker 1: with Trey Harris. In the next round, they brought back
Speaker 1: Mike Williams, and this is probably a Herbert thing because
Speaker 1: it's always been that way pre dating Harbaugh. They get
Speaker 1: these tall, contested catch guys opposed to Lad McConkey. Who, Hey, look,
Speaker 1: you got a quick twitch guy and he's a freaking
Speaker 1: already one of the best players in the game. So
Speaker 1: all of that tell me this that you need size
Speaker 1: across the board, really, but especially in the secondary. And
Speaker 1: haven't we been talking about that in the podcast as
Speaker 1: a theme now even the udfas they targeted and BJ
Speaker 1: Adams right, they are big, long, lanky press corners. We
Speaker 1: heard about Rasul Douglas as a possible fit here and
Speaker 1: getting Iffy and Ardie Burns and BJ Adams like length
Speaker 1: man coverage. The vision it's you can handle guys like
Speaker 1: this when you have that style of football player. This
Speaker 1: is another good example of how you need a multifaceted
Speaker 1: team in this league. You probably stay in a base
Speaker 1: defense in this game because they're going to be a
Speaker 1: lot of two back and two tight end sets and
Speaker 1: run the ball and second down to nine. They're going
Speaker 1: to try to win the one on one contested options
Speaker 1: on the outside and the vertical routes. This is one
Speaker 1: of those quarterbacks that we talked about Stafford perty Stroud,
Speaker 1: Gino Smith, you know when when there's mobility, but you
Speaker 1: can collapse a pocket on him and fool him with
Speaker 1: presentation and get sacks that way and game changing plays
Speaker 1: that way. That's all the makings of a fun matchup.
Speaker 1: To me, I really can't wait for this game, and
Speaker 1: I want to. I really want to beat them by
Speaker 1: quite a lot, and that defense, to me, is still
Speaker 1: kind of a work in progress. I love dayon Henley
Speaker 1: Go Koog's, but there's no real edge rush presence outside
Speaker 1: of Tapolut. I can't say his name. It's the Polynesian
Speaker 1: dude that had a great year last year. He's a
Speaker 1: good player. Khalil Mack, I think is on the back
Speaker 1: end of things. But the secondary is the same as
Speaker 1: the receivers. They're longer and slower players. I think that's
Speaker 1: a terrible matchup against Tyreek and Gilen Waddle and League
Speaker 1: Washington and all the guys we have done here. I
Speaker 1: think we can compete with their physicality on defense and
Speaker 1: then hopefully shred them offensively and get things we want
Speaker 1: done that way. Week seven at the Cleveland Browns, one
Speaker 1: of the few teams on our schedule where I truly
Speaker 1: have no idea who the hell of quarterback's going to be.
Speaker 1: I guess Flacco, but they traded a fifth for Pickett,
Speaker 1: spent a third on Gabriel, a fifth on Sanders, and
Speaker 1: Watson still there despite retelling his achilles probably not playing
Speaker 1: this year. I don't think we have to do a
Speaker 1: lot beyond this. If there's any of those guys starting,
Speaker 1: you have to dominate this game. The theme across all
Speaker 1: these quarterbacks is there really isn't a fleet of foot
Speaker 1: player in their group, and the way that we can
Speaker 1: create game plans that force those quarterbacks deep into their progression,
Speaker 1: changing the launching point with all the rushes and the
Speaker 1: sim pressure looks. I mean, even again, Stafford Stroud, Gino
Speaker 1: Purdy to some degree, some of the best quarterbacks in
Speaker 1: the league who are elite, who are not elite runners.
Speaker 1: We kind of got after those guys, and I would
Speaker 1: say Rogers was the one quarterback of that protype that
Speaker 1: really gave us fits last year, but he's also so
Speaker 1: known for his processing. The offensive line is healthy for
Speaker 1: the first time in a while for the Browns, but
Speaker 1: I think you could say that we're close to the
Speaker 1: end of the line on that group, right it's been
Speaker 1: together for like five plus years now, and I say
Speaker 1: that because they're all beyond thirty, and they fought a
Speaker 1: lot of injuries lately with Ethan Posik, Wyatt Teller, Joel Botonio,
Speaker 1: and Jack Conklin. Only Buttonio last year didn't miss multiple games.
Speaker 1: Everybody else has missed multiple games each of the last
Speaker 1: three seasons. And that's without talking about the young guys
Speaker 1: in Jedrick Wills and Dewan Jones, who both have been
Speaker 1: on IR the last two years also, So it's a
Speaker 1: tough group to project. I'm really curious to see what
Speaker 1: it looks like schemat because Stefanski is off the same
Speaker 1: tree as McDaniel, right, but he adjusted his entire system
Speaker 1: for Watson and now it's back to Flacco, who had
Speaker 1: that great run at the end of twenty twenty three
Speaker 1: in this offense. So I'm curious to see what that
Speaker 1: looks like. But defensively, they're pretty loaded. I mean, I love,
Speaker 1: you know, Mason Graham and Carson Schweeshinger are good fits there.
Speaker 1: They did already announce that j Oka Jeremiah Wusu Koramoa
Speaker 1: is going to miss the entire season. I just hate injuries.
Speaker 1: Turn them off Madden Game please. But Sweeshinger, as you
Speaker 1: all know, is a plug and play guy for me. Garrett,
Speaker 1: Denzel Ward, they have some nice parts there. For that
Speaker 1: Jim Schwartz defense who blitz at the tenth highest rate
Speaker 1: last year, I imagine he wants to reduce that a
Speaker 1: little bit. So we have to be on our p's
Speaker 1: and ques. With the timing rhythm nature of the passing
Speaker 1: offense against a drop seven, they can create pressure upfront
Speaker 1: with Mason Graham, with Miles Garrett and company upfront. They
Speaker 1: passed on the second pick of the draft and I'm
Speaker 1: glad we don't have to face Travis Hunter now this
Speaker 1: year and really loaded up on future capital. So it's
Speaker 1: possible that this team is a threat a year or
Speaker 1: two down the road. But if they come into this
Speaker 1: game zero to five or one and six, whatever it
Speaker 1: might be, my math is off there, Like you could
Speaker 1: see a team that's already like on to twenty twenty six.
Speaker 1: What time to get to this game? We gate the
Speaker 1: Falcons the match up here. I'm really excited to see
Speaker 1: what Michael Pennix looks like this year, and I'd feel
Speaker 1: pretty pretty good about it. If I'm a Falcons fan,
Speaker 1: he kind of has to be right. They traded next
Speaker 1: year's one to get back up the twenty six for
Speaker 1: James Pierce. So for that trade to have good value,
Speaker 1: you have to the Falcons basically have to go to
Speaker 1: the what divisional round of the playoffs to pick later
Speaker 1: than twenty six and even then, Like it's not exactly
Speaker 1: how it works, but man, you could that could be
Speaker 1: like a top fifteen pick. They gave it to get
Speaker 1: James Pierce. Kind of weird for a team that's young
Speaker 1: but needs to win now with a GM head coach
Speaker 1: combination that hasn't really had the success they need to
Speaker 1: keep things going there. They've been looking for a pass
Speaker 1: rush for what seems like two decades now, and they
Speaker 1: do double dip. It'll be up to Raheem Morris and
Speaker 1: Jeff Olbrick to create a scheme around the athletic rush
Speaker 1: ability of Jalen Walker and James Pierce. But the first
Speaker 1: mission is to find where Walker fits exactly. I mean,
Speaker 1: I'm sure they know and have a plan for that,
Speaker 1: but that was part of the pre draft conversation. Where
Speaker 1: does he play and how fast can he get up
Speaker 1: to speed? I think that we have the guns and
Speaker 1: the tackles to handle guys that are trying to figure
Speaker 1: things out, because I think that Austin Jackson is a
Speaker 1: technical monster, and I think Patrick Paul's going to be
Speaker 1: just fine, as you guys have heard on the podcast
Speaker 1: many many times. And I think this was a good
Speaker 1: landing spot because this whole defense for those two players,
Speaker 1: I should say, because this whole defense is built on speed,
Speaker 1: lean muscle mass, and quick twitch movement to contend with
Speaker 1: today's speed. I mean those guys, you know, Leonard Floyd
Speaker 1: also is an edge Troy Anderson, Caden Ellis. It kind
Speaker 1: of reminds me of those Colts defenses of the Tony
Speaker 1: Dungee years with Gary Brackett and Dwight Freeney and Robert Morris.
Speaker 1: Like finesse is the wrong word, but it's more sacrificing
Speaker 1: size for speed. And that's where some added beef and
Speaker 1: a deeper run game menu comes into play for the
Speaker 1: Miami Dolphins. Right. I feel like we're at this critical
Speaker 1: intersection of NFL football where some teams are still in
Speaker 1: the speed range mode and other teams have begun to
Speaker 1: pivot more towards bigger, physical at the cost of speed.
Speaker 1: So if you can find kind of the happy medium
Speaker 1: there and be both, like we've talked about with the
Speaker 1: Jonah Saba Naya edition the James Daniel addition, then you're
Speaker 1: equipped to deal with the changes of opponents on a
Speaker 1: week by week basis, maybe you can get the best
Speaker 1: of both worlds. But back to their offense, Man, you
Speaker 1: have to impact this offense by limiting the run game
Speaker 1: and getting after the quarterback. Penex is not a big
Speaker 1: time mover and he can sometimes get a little bit
Speaker 1: bogged down in the middle of the field, and b
Speaker 1: John Robinson could be the best damn back in the
Speaker 1: game for my money in football.
Speaker 2: So easier head than done.
Speaker 1: But man, with London and Pitts and Mooney and Bijehon
Speaker 1: and Tyler Algier, Penex is a pretty good cast around him.
Speaker 1: It's the second year under offensive cording to Zach Robinson,
Speaker 1: who comes from that Rams tree, so identifying matchups, being
Speaker 1: on the same page from jump picking up motions and
Speaker 1: shifts and bumps and maintaining gap control. I think what
Speaker 1: we've done up front and the verstail linebacker room we've
Speaker 1: had we've built here gives us our best chance to
Speaker 1: match up with these dudes and go get a big
Speaker 1: w All right, should we take a break? Greade there,
Speaker 1: Let's do one more team here, So the Ravens in
Speaker 1: Week number nine. Since missing at least one game for
Speaker 1: the first five years of his career four in twenty
Speaker 1: twenty one, four and twenty twenty two, Laura Jackson has
Speaker 1: played every game each of the last two years, except
Speaker 1: for resting in Week eighteen when they had nothing to
Speaker 1: play for back in twenty twenty three. I lead off
Speaker 1: with this because well, that's where it starts, right. They
Speaker 1: added Derek Henry and that was just a perfect, perfect
Speaker 1: compliment to one another. And I think if you could
Speaker 1: ask for more of the Rayvens offense, it would be
Speaker 1: in the passing game. But Lamar has has become so
Speaker 1: advanced in both his decision making and the way he
Speaker 1: processes from a running standpoint, and the way his legs are.
Speaker 1: At this stage of his career, you can't really stop him.
Speaker 1: You can contain him a little bit, I guess, because
Speaker 1: he can tear you apart on schedule, but also reduce
Speaker 1: the mistakes that he might make because he's not seeing it,
Speaker 1: because he knows that he has a legs to get
Speaker 1: himself out of the trouble. He just presents so many challenges.
Speaker 1: He's an MVP candidate every single year. And with Henry
Speaker 1: you kind of have to pick one or the other,
Speaker 1: especially after this offense line, which underwent an overhaul last year,
Speaker 1: really gelled about mid season and with Todd Monkin marrying
Speaker 1: all of that together into this perfect scheme that can
Speaker 1: stretch you, that can dominate the point of attack, that
Speaker 1: can play explosive or grind it out. This isn't like
Speaker 1: a top offense, and I think you try to limit
Speaker 1: Lamar Jackson first and just deal with the repercussions of that.
Speaker 1: Maybe try to take care of the run game through
Speaker 1: your own offense having success. But for sure a game
Speaker 1: you have to have probably thirty points to win, right,
Speaker 1: especially with them getting brent Zay Flowers back, who missed
Speaker 1: the playoffs last year and was a big reason why
Speaker 1: that they lost the Buffalo game. On the other side, well, hey,
Speaker 1: we practice against this scheme every single day, right. Zach
Speaker 1: Orr is in year two of that DC roll up
Speaker 1: there just as Weave is here for us. But where
Speaker 1: I think the Ravens can carry over their end of
Speaker 1: seasons success compared to early in the year. When they
Speaker 1: really struggled last year was by drafting Malachi Starks. They
Speaker 1: leaned on Kyle Hamilton when he replaced Marcus Williams as
Speaker 1: the free safety back there, but it really reduced his
Speaker 1: ability to be the kind of problem solver across the defense.
Speaker 1: He had to play more in the post to make
Speaker 1: sure things were tidy up top. I think Starks allows
Speaker 1: Hamilton to move back into that role, and I wrote
Speaker 1: our Darius Washington is a huge, big nickel safety, but
Speaker 1: he just tore his achilles, so they have a huge
Speaker 1: gap there at safety, which imagine they're going to go
Speaker 1: after someone on the market now that Washington's down. But
Speaker 1: they also got another cornerback in chidoh Woose who I
Speaker 1: think is good enough to give them some life there.
Speaker 1: And Marlon Humphrey and Jalen armor Davis who really elevated
Speaker 1: his game last year. They did lose Michael Pierce to retirement.
Speaker 1: And if you recall that twenty twenty three game, we
Speaker 1: ran the ball really well, including early in the game
Speaker 1: with the screen game as well. That's a good way
Speaker 1: to remove, you know, Nom Deimatawik from things so to me,
Speaker 1: you have to get the ball on the edge and
Speaker 1: get him. Travis Jones, Broderick Washington, all these big bodies.
Speaker 1: You gotta wear those guys down. They have waves of rushers.
Speaker 1: It's all tied together by roquand Smith. I think it's
Speaker 1: the toughest game we have all year, even at home
Speaker 1: on a short week. But this is to me, this
Speaker 1: is probably the Super Bowl team I'll pick again I
Speaker 1: did last year. I'll probably pick him again. I just
Speaker 1: think the Ravens are a very very good team. All right,
Speaker 1: let's go ahead and take our last break right there.
Speaker 1: We have three more repeat games. We'll skip over those
Speaker 1: and get to you guys, the Commander's breakdown. The Saints,
Speaker 1: the Steelers, the Bengals, the Bucks. That's all next Draft
Speaker 1: Time podcast, your host Travis Wingfield, brought to you by
Speaker 1: Auto Nation, and we're off to Spain for a Commander's breakdown. Here.
Speaker 1: I am so so fascinated to see what the Commanders
Speaker 1: look like this season. A terrific run to the NFC
Speaker 1: Championship game a year ago. A rookie quarterback who was
Speaker 1: better than Stroud in twenty twenty two, better than Herbert
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty. I mean he has a chance to
Speaker 1: be something really, really special, and that was evident last
Speaker 1: year after one period of joint practices down here. Like
Speaker 1: any team in that spot, they went aggressive this offseason
Speaker 1: and one offseason after. It was sort of an afterthought
Speaker 1: in terms of guys like Eckler and Bobby Wagner and
Speaker 1: Dorence Armstrong, like it wasn't sexy, but those guys were
Speaker 1: all critical parts of a title team, right, a title
Speaker 1: game team, I should say, I love them getting Tunzel
Speaker 1: and Josh Connery to solidify the outside with a pretty
Speaker 1: good interior already in place. They add Michael Gallup and
Speaker 1: Deebo Samuel to Terry McLaurin zach Ertz still there right.
Speaker 2: What a loaded group that is.
Speaker 1: And the way Daniels can spread the ball around and
Speaker 1: see it and get it out quickly. This is an
Speaker 1: offense you kind of have to take your lumps against
Speaker 1: because the horizontal spacing paired with how Daniel sees it
Speaker 1: and can get it wide like on the perimeter with
Speaker 1: easy gas, but can also hurt you with the run.
Speaker 1: He can just really stress so many areas of your defense.
Speaker 1: It's a lot. We've said this about a few of
Speaker 1: the teams on here, but you have to pick your
Speaker 1: poison with these quarterbacks that have both the running feature
Speaker 1: and the big time processing on defense dan Quinn structure
Speaker 1: of the zone heavy defense. They want to confuse your
Speaker 1: protection with alignment and rush games and this uber athletic front.
Speaker 1: It's imperative for us and by week eleven, you hope
Speaker 1: you're at this level for us to be super well
Speaker 1: communicated and for Tua to be able to get to
Speaker 1: the lane scrimmage and really decipher what he's seeing. Frankie
Speaker 1: Luvu go Koogs is a big for them, kind of
Speaker 1: their their chest piece in the middle, but he's like
Speaker 1: the wild card that changes the way they can get
Speaker 1: to their pressure looks and back out. And when you
Speaker 1: do all of that, the run game is where you
Speaker 1: can find success and get them out of their all
Speaker 1: their window dressing. And that's where I think you have
Speaker 1: to attack this game with the Dolphins heavy heavy inside
Speaker 1: run game and try to force those guys to bring
Speaker 1: players down into the box and not play from light
Speaker 1: boxes and not allow them to get into their their
Speaker 1: deep pass rush menu. So look at this one, perhaps
Speaker 1: loading up a heavy inside run game to limit Daniel's
Speaker 1: possession and effectively reduce what makes their scheme go best
Speaker 1: of both worlds by week in week twelve and then
Speaker 1: the Saints in week thirteen. The Derek Carr news broke
Speaker 1: last weekend, and now it's Tyler Shook, Jake Hayner and
Speaker 1: Spencer Rattler. They were zero and six last year under Ratler.
Speaker 1: Kellen Moore takes over now with Doug nust Meyer, who's
Speaker 1: the father of Garrett nuss Meyer Lsu who could be
Speaker 1: a first round pick next year. That's the OC think rhythm, quick,
Speaker 1: set up, ball out, and man, they have some weapons
Speaker 1: a lave. I wish Love could stay healthy because he
Speaker 1: is so damn good. Hid Shaheed's fun. I love Brandon Cooks,
Speaker 1: Foster Moreau, Taysom Hill, Jawan Johnson, and then with Alvin
Speaker 1: Kamara and the offensive line that on paper has the parts.
Speaker 1: I mean, they've had to kind of reinvest in a
Speaker 1: position group they missed on. They missed on Trevor Penning,
Speaker 1: he has not worked out. Ryan Ramcheck is probably going
Speaker 1: to call it a career. He's going to be out
Speaker 1: for the year already. And Kelvin Banks their first round
Speaker 1: pick slots in there so you've kind of had to
Speaker 1: replace mistakes with high draft capital. It's a good way
Speaker 1: to lose, you know, areas of your football team. They
Speaker 1: took t Lasi Fuaga last year in the first round,
Speaker 1: so like to three tackles in four years with a
Speaker 1: solid interior and Caesar Luiz and Eric McCoy and competition
Speaker 1: for the other spot. I think this figures to be
Speaker 1: a run heavy attack with a young, inexperienced quarterback. I
Speaker 1: don't know, guys, I'm trying my best here. This is
Speaker 1: the worst quarterback room a team has gone to a
Speaker 1: season with in a very long time. Brand Stalely's back
Speaker 1: is the DC. I think that he could go back
Speaker 1: to shining with what he does best at creating pre
Speaker 1: snapped diskuise that finds a way to generate pressure through
Speaker 1: fire zones paired with sim pressures and the same defense
Speaker 1: presentation that rotates differently. And he's got some pretty good
Speaker 1: parts for it with with Chase Young, Cameron, Jordan, Carl Granderson,
Speaker 1: a nice one through three on the outside, and then
Speaker 1: with Kaylen Sander, Kaylen Saunders, Devon Godshaw, Nathan Sheppard and
Speaker 1: some more guys inside, it's a very deep defensive line
Speaker 1: to Mario Davis still there at middle linebacker. It's a
Speaker 1: pretty good secondary. I think though, this is a defense
Speaker 1: it's going to like play well for a couple of games,
Speaker 1: and then when the offense just continues to put him
Speaker 1: out there, they're gonna wear down quickly. And I think
Speaker 1: this could be a nice little soft landing spot for
Speaker 1: the Dolphins coming off of that bye week after the
Speaker 1: Madrid trip. We already covered the Jets the Week fourteen game.
Speaker 1: Let's go ahead and jump ahead to the Pittsburgh Steelers
Speaker 1: in Week fifteen. Here eight to fifteen kickoff one night football.
Speaker 1: This is by far the toughest one to ride out
Speaker 1: because will Aaron Rodgers be there or will he not?
Speaker 1: I mean that drastically flips the entire equation right, and
Speaker 1: I'm not even sure the best way to cover it, Like,
Speaker 1: I think I'll assume that he will be there, because
Speaker 1: if not, it's Will Howard and a Scalar Thompson and
Speaker 1: Mason Rudolph. Cannot imagine they're going to go into the
Speaker 1: season with that, and the Rogers of it all is
Speaker 1: so friggid impossible, because on one hand, he was outstanding, marvelous,
Speaker 1: in the games against US, but he also had other
Speaker 1: games where he was like looked like it was over
Speaker 1: for him. And we also mentioned the many problems that
Speaker 1: he created for the Jets and kind of left the
Speaker 1: mess there. And I would believe that he'd be humbled
Speaker 1: by the experience, but I also have a hard time
Speaker 1: that he would be so those things exist. I do
Speaker 1: think Rogers in Pittsburgh has a better chance of success
Speaker 1: than it did with the Jets, where this is a
Speaker 1: veteran team with one of the most established coaches in
Speaker 1: the entire modern era.
Speaker 2: And if you swap.
Speaker 1: Metcalf or Pickings, you know, Metcalf is a perfect Rogers receiver.
Speaker 1: A loaded tight end group with Dartnell, Washington and Pat
Speaker 1: Fryermuth some smart receivers behind a really good offensive line.
Speaker 1: It seems like it has some potential, especially with Arthur Smith.
Speaker 1: You know, call on the offense there. It makes me
Speaker 1: think back to what Smith and Tannehill had in Tennessee
Speaker 1: it when he was under center there, you know, twelve personnel,
Speaker 1: play action game. Try to get some of that the
Speaker 1: deep drops and throw the football deep down the field
Speaker 1: to aj Brown. I think you could incorporate that here.
Speaker 1: With an even better quarterback, and that Tannehill had like
Speaker 1: a one to ten pass ray in that year, So
Speaker 1: to say that better than that is pretty impressive. But
Speaker 1: I think Rogers could be that in the system. Defensively,
Speaker 1: they've aged, but they still play to the name power.
Speaker 1: Watt and Hayward upfront are awesome, but they've been injured
Speaker 1: a heck of a lot, and typically when you played
Speaker 1: older team like this, that's usually beneficial to get them
Speaker 1: later on. So Week fifteen, maybe some of those guys
Speaker 1: will be down for the game. But you know, I
Speaker 1: think Minka Fitzpatrick has has kind of fallen off last
Speaker 1: couple of years. Patrick Queen was not the same without
Speaker 1: Rokuwan Smith in Baltimore High Smith, Keanu Benton, Nate Herbig,
Speaker 1: Malie Harrison, Brandon Eckles, Beanie Bishop had a breakout year
Speaker 1: last year. Joey Porter Junior is a really good cornerback.
Speaker 1: There's a lot to like on that side of the ball,
Speaker 1: and I think their continuity, veteran experience and the direction
Speaker 1: of Terrell Austin will have them playing on their best
Speaker 1: preparation standpoint. So it'll be a tough matchup, especially again
Speaker 1: in that Monday night environment, But how can they flood
Speaker 1: zones behind a pass rush that can really give you
Speaker 1: fits without bringing extra guys is kind of the key
Speaker 1: in this game. Interesting matchup in that I want it
Speaker 1: early for the weather aspect, but I wanted it later
Speaker 1: for the attrition and potential blow up factor of Rogers there.
Speaker 1: So we'll see what happens. Who knows who the Steelers
Speaker 1: are going to be this year by week fifteen. Week sixteen,
Speaker 1: the Bengals change on defense. Offense is running it back
Speaker 1: after a down year on the whole where they missed
Speaker 1: the playoffs despite some historic offense. I think you look
Speaker 1: at the slight downturn in the middle of Burrows prime
Speaker 1: as a result of some misses in the draft. They
Speaker 1: never really replaced Jesse Bates and Von Bell from a
Speaker 1: couple of years ago. They tried it with Dax Hill
Speaker 1: and Nick Scott. They're both gone and that was a
Speaker 1: or no. Well, Dax Hill's still there, but he's changed positions,
Speaker 1: and that was a defense that was highly complex and
Speaker 1: best operated by veteran communications. You know, I think you
Speaker 1: lost lou An Arumo, a brilliant mind because of the
Speaker 1: misgivings of your personnel decisions. It's like when an umpire
Speaker 1: makes a bad call and then rings the player for
Speaker 1: arguing doubling down on a bad decision, and then you
Speaker 1: look at Trey Hendricksim a fifteen sets per year guy
Speaker 1: not getting his come up, and you got, you know,
Speaker 1: Shamar Stewart holding up there. Interesting year for the Bengals.
Speaker 1: What might happen with some of those guys? Does does
Speaker 1: Hendrickson play? Did he come back at the stage just
Speaker 1: missing camp cause a soft tissue injury? Like these are
Speaker 1: all questions you have to answer before Christmas when this
Speaker 1: game happens. It's one of the more interestingly constructed football
Speaker 1: teams there is. The offense is ready to roll. They're
Speaker 1: gonna score thirty points per game. It's gonna be a
Speaker 1: tough matchup for our defense. Burrows process his short area burst,
Speaker 1: the way he anticipates not just coverage downfield but the
Speaker 1: rush simultaneously, for how he can exploit it as a runner.
Speaker 1: It's what makes him so special, especially when you have
Speaker 1: freaking Jamar Chase and t Higgins where you pretty much
Speaker 1: have to rule out man coverage. You can't really take
Speaker 1: one of those guys man up. It's like us to
Speaker 1: pick your poison attack. If you ask a Bengals fan,
Speaker 1: the investment on the offensive line is where they should
Speaker 1: go next, and they have recently with Amarius BIMs, who
Speaker 1: looks the part as a rookie. They signed Orlando Brown,
Speaker 1: who's really struggled for a couple of years now. Always
Speaker 1: be aware of the tackle that hits the market. Usually
Speaker 1: there's a reas for that, and they also drafted Dylan
Speaker 1: Fairchild on day two. Ted Carriss has been the anchor
Speaker 1: inside for a while. Cody Ford's kind of like a
Speaker 1: swing starter guy, but he'll probably start for them this year.
Speaker 1: And the biggest thing is that Burrow can cover up
Speaker 1: so much on that front for them.
Speaker 2: But you have to score to beat this team, you know.
Speaker 1: Al Golden as introduction press conference talked about an expense
Speaker 1: expansive menu, putting a lot on his players, and I
Speaker 1: was hoping we'd see them early because of that. But
Speaker 1: also this has the makings of like we had to
Speaker 1: simplify the defense, and maybe that'll happen down the stretch.
Speaker 1: But they did bring over Gino Stone to help communicate
Speaker 1: that defense as the glue piece in the back end.
Speaker 1: If the physical skills are still there for him. They
Speaker 1: lost Mike Hilton, who was a big experience piece for them.
Speaker 1: Cam Taylor Britt is kind of the only solidified corner.
Speaker 1: It's going to be rookies otherwise probably there. So I
Speaker 1: expect the Bengals are going to be much improved a
Speaker 1: year ago, and they match up offensively well with us
Speaker 1: in that quarterback matches up well with anybody, and I
Speaker 1: would say that the same as true for our offense. First,
Speaker 1: the Bengals defense could be a shootout here in South
Speaker 1: Florida in Week sixteen. Our last team to preview here
Speaker 1: Week seventeen, home for the Buccaneers, one of the most
Speaker 1: dangerous offenses in the NFL got even more explosive. I
Speaker 1: love their idea of adding strength to strength. Ika Agbuka
Speaker 1: is going to be a stud and they got Mike Evans,
Speaker 1: Chris Godwin, and Jayalen McMillan from a year ago. It's
Speaker 1: pretty nasty. Bucky Irvin's really good, Kate Auten koe Keief
Speaker 1: paym Durham is a nice tight end room, and the
Speaker 1: offensive line might be the best part of their entire offense.
Speaker 1: Tristan Wurfs is the best left tackle in football. I
Speaker 1: like Cody Mack and Graham Barton. Ben Brettison's kind of
Speaker 1: the next guy in line to start on the interior.
Speaker 1: Luke Adecki's a good right tackle. I was always a
Speaker 1: big Baker Mayfield fan. And while there are the occasional
Speaker 1: lapses and judgment and reads and kind of some mistake
Speaker 1: prone football, I just think he's wired like a winner,
Speaker 1: and he finds a way to make plays, and the
Speaker 1: more reps and experience he gets, he just gets better.
Speaker 1: He's too alike in that way, And there's a reason
Speaker 1: I was so high on both those guys coming out.
Speaker 1: Exceptional footwork, hardwired to the eyes to rip through progressions
Speaker 1: and take it all in. The information that's not even
Speaker 1: presented in front of you. Just kind of like, Okay,
Speaker 1: the front side of the puzzle is that, that means
Speaker 1: the backside of the puzzle is that if you have
Speaker 1: one one question about the offense, it's replacing Dave Canalis
Speaker 1: who went to the Panthers a year ago, right, But
Speaker 1: then Liam Cohen who went to the Jaguars this year.
Speaker 1: Familiar face, Josh Grizzard, What up, coach, It's great to
Speaker 1: see your name on here. He gets the call to
Speaker 1: the OC position. He was our old quality control, then
Speaker 1: receivers coach, and then left to Tampa Bay when Flora's left.
Speaker 1: I was hoping we draw drew them early because of that.
Speaker 1: But they get here as late as possible so they
Speaker 1: can score. But with all those resources on offense, and
Speaker 1: the only real change on that side of the ball
Speaker 1: was a pair of Day two cornerbacks in Benjamin Morrison
Speaker 1: and Brent Jacob Parrish. And you guys know, I love Parish.
Speaker 1: I didn't think Morrison was as good as a prospect,
Speaker 1: but they've got to replace Carlton Davis. Where I think
Speaker 1: is where Morrison probably figures in, but they wind up
Speaker 1: starting him and Perish. Possibly that could be two rookies
Speaker 1: in your secondary in a league that's dominated by wide receivers.
Speaker 1: You know, Zion McCollum, I suppose could kind of factor
Speaker 1: into that. I think the safety position could help them
Speaker 1: stabilize some stuff there with Antoine Winfield in the back end.
Speaker 1: But every team has areas of strength and areas where
Speaker 1: you have some unknown for them.
Speaker 2: It's right here too.
Speaker 1: They feel like this is the fourth or fiftheen we
Speaker 1: talked about where cornerback is not very deep. They added
Speaker 1: to the pass rush banking on a bounce back from
Speaker 1: Hassan Reddick. We'll see what happens there, but it's mostly
Speaker 1: an inside presence with Vida Veya, who just destroys run
Speaker 1: games for his entire life. Elijah Cantie greg games their
Speaker 1: deep at defensive tackle. With Veya, you just have to
Speaker 1: avoid him. Try to run the ball wide your outside
Speaker 1: zone game, but he can wreck shop in that as well.
Speaker 1: They'll offset some of the outside game with their blitzes
Speaker 1: and try to overload the edges. Bowls loves to bring
Speaker 1: a pass rush, so it's fun to chess match with
Speaker 1: Tua and Antoine Winfield versus Levante David. I just like
Speaker 1: them to have more of a freak type, like a
Speaker 1: Derwin James type, to make that defense tie together. I
Speaker 1: think they're super complex in their scheme, but if you
Speaker 1: blitz too much too, it can get after you. So
Speaker 1: I'm curious to see how that plays out. What is
Speaker 1: it five months down the road from the seven months
Speaker 1: down the road from now very high and the Buccaneers
Speaker 1: think this is a tough matchup. They should be a
Speaker 1: good team this year, and then the Patriots finish it
Speaker 1: up and that's it. So you're probably wondering, Travis, what
Speaker 1: do you think it's gonna be. So, if I had
Speaker 1: to go through it and pick individual games right now,
Speaker 1: I'll go win the first two over the Colston Patriots.
Speaker 1: I think we match up good in both of those games.
Speaker 1: Catch the Patriots early enough here at home home opener.
Speaker 1: The teams from the Northeast don't usually travel down here
Speaker 1: in September very well. Two and the start of the year.
Speaker 1: I can't pick us to win in Buffalo until it happens.
Speaker 1: I think we'll beat the Jets on Monday for a
Speaker 1: three and one start, go to the Panthers, win that game,
Speaker 1: have the Chargers here and win that game. So you're
Speaker 1: off to a five and one start here for Travis.
Speaker 1: And hey, you said the same thing last year. Well,
Speaker 1: two of got hurt. If two gets hurt, I'll change
Speaker 1: it again. I think they'll beat the Browns. I'll go
Speaker 1: ahead and pick a loss at the Falcons, just to
Speaker 1: kind of throw one off there. I think that Penex
Speaker 1: will be really good. That'll be a fun offense, tough
Speaker 1: to stop. Maybe it's like a late game, like a
Speaker 1: last second field goal. So we go to six and two. There,
Speaker 1: I will say we drop one to the Ravens, drop
Speaker 1: one to the Bills at home to fall to six
Speaker 1: and four. Also, we bounce back in Madrid, get a
Speaker 1: big win before the bye to go to seven and four.
Speaker 1: Come back off the bye, beat the Saints, get to
Speaker 1: eight and four, win at the Jets on the road
Speaker 1: once again, get to nine and four, go into Pittsburgh.
Speaker 1: People thinking like the this is where the collapse begins,
Speaker 1: and you say, nope, no, sir, win that one.
Speaker 2: Ten and four.
Speaker 1: Lose to the Bengals in primetime, with another fun game
Speaker 1: back and forth, make it ten and five, and then
Speaker 1: I'll say we beat the Buccaneers to get to eleven
Speaker 1: and five and then drop the finale at the Patriots
Speaker 1: to make it eleven and six. That's my season prediction
Speaker 1: for the Miami Dolphins. We'll see what it holds up
Speaker 1: to when we get here in training camp, but that's
Speaker 1: what we're going right now. Eleven and six, and I'll
Speaker 1: say I won't do playoffs just yet, but there you go.
Speaker 1: That's the record prediction. In the meantime, you will please
Speaker 1: be sure. We're gonna have a podcast on Monday, which
Speaker 1: is more of a mixed bag of just random things
Speaker 1: here and there, so check back for that. We'll have
Speaker 1: OTA recaps for you guys when those practices begin. We're
Speaker 1: gonna have some of the players from media Day on
Speaker 1: the show. We'll preview the entire league this summer. Plenty
Speaker 1: of content coming away, but in the meantime, you all
Speaker 1: please be sure subscribe, rate, review, follow me on social
Speaker 1: at Winklin NFL, the team at Miami Dolphins. Check out
Speaker 1: the fish Tank podcast with Seth and Juice, the YouTube
Speaker 1: channel for Dolphins HQ, media availabilities, and so much more,
Speaker 1: and last, butt not least, Miami Dolphins dot com.
Speaker 2: Until next time, fins up, cal On and Cameron Daddy
Speaker 2: Come no