Speaker 1: Field cutsdown Miami Run. What is up? Dolphans And welcome
Speaker 1: to the Drivetime Podcast, part of the Miami Dolphins official
Speaker 1: podcast network, covering your team, your Miami Dolphins. How's it going? Everybody?
Speaker 1: It is Tuesday. I am your host, Travis Wingfield, and
Speaker 1: on today's show, we're gonna do something a little bit
Speaker 1: different here on Drive Time. I'm gonna welcome in my colleague,
Speaker 1: my friend, my Sunday Night recap co host on Drivetime,
Speaker 1: John can Jemmy here on the podcast. So we're gonna
Speaker 1: take a look comprehensively in depth at the off season.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna pitch a kind of position by position offseason
Speaker 1: plan idea to John. He's gonna critique it at his thoughts,
Speaker 1: at his ideas. Gonna be a lot of fun here.
Speaker 1: All of that and more on this Tuesday mark the
Speaker 1: ninth edition of the Drive Time Podcast. And one want
Speaker 1: to start the podcast here with the news of the
Speaker 1: day or the most relevant Dolphins topics, but we're gonna
Speaker 1: go ahead and push that towards the end of the podcast.
Speaker 1: I do want to get this out there that my
Speaker 1: wife and I found a potential house we might look
Speaker 1: into purchasing in the South Florida area. Very exciting news
Speaker 1: for us as a family as we kind of get
Speaker 1: ready to make that pilgrimage, make that move down to
Speaker 1: South Florida from the Northwest. I'm itching to get down
Speaker 1: there and get back to the to the nicer weather,
Speaker 1: the South Florida weather, and and be there with you
Speaker 1: guys this winter and spring and come to you from
Speaker 1: South Florida opposed to the Northwest where I'm recording these
Speaker 1: podcasts right now during the off season. But I don't
Speaker 1: want to waste any more time on the podcast here.
Speaker 1: I want to jump right into my guest. You guys
Speaker 1: know him. You did the podcast every Sunday night with
Speaker 1: me here recapping the Dolphins game that we had just
Speaker 1: watched together, you know, two or three hours prior to that.
Speaker 1: Let's go ahead and welcome in from Miami Dolphins dot
Speaker 1: Com the Audible Podcast, John con Jemmy and joining me
Speaker 1: once again, I think for the first time since we
Speaker 1: spoke in December after the Buffalo game or the Las
Speaker 1: Vegas game. What are the games towards end of the season.
Speaker 1: Is John con gem you the co host of the
Speaker 1: Audible podcast, John, How you been man? I'm doing Okay, Travis,
Speaker 1: I'm braving it down here in South Florida with this
Speaker 1: tough weather that we've been having. It's about eighty two
Speaker 1: degrees and um, it's been nice. But everything is going well. Um,
Speaker 1: kind of getting excited for free agency in the draft
Speaker 1: and seeing where the Dolphins are gonna end up. I mean,
Speaker 1: after a ten win season, it was kind of exciting
Speaker 1: going into the office season thinking that this team, you know,
Speaker 1: the next step is the playoffs, and we were we
Speaker 1: were very close last season. But that's where this mindset
Speaker 1: needs to be going into the off season, in terms
Speaker 1: of who you select, how wisely you spend your money,
Speaker 1: and how how can you make this team a better team?
Speaker 1: How can you make it eleven or twelve or third
Speaker 1: team win football team. So that's kind of what I've
Speaker 1: been kicking around down and that's what we're gonna do
Speaker 1: on this edition of the Drive Time Podcast. And you
Speaker 1: know you mentioned ten wins close to the postseason. I
Speaker 1: mean there's games the Patriots game to start the season,
Speaker 1: the Buffalo game in Week two, maybe that Seahawks game
Speaker 1: in Week four where you know, two or three plays
Speaker 1: go a different direction all of a sudden. This is
Speaker 1: an eleven win football team and we're playing that January football. Now.
Speaker 1: I know we played a game in January, but January
Speaker 1: to mean playoff football, and that's what we're gonna try
Speaker 1: to do here, try to find that eleven twelve win
Speaker 1: for this team and get him into the postseason. And
Speaker 1: you know, you talk about the exercise of going through
Speaker 1: free agency. Like one of my favorite stories I tell
Speaker 1: about myself, John is a lifelong Dolphins fan. In two
Speaker 1: thousand three, I went to a Dolphins Eagles game Monday
Speaker 1: night football. It was Week fifteen. They needed to win
Speaker 1: to keep themselves alive, and they lost. And on the
Speaker 1: plane ride home, I had a little notebook and spent
Speaker 1: the entire plane ride riding up how I thought they
Speaker 1: could get better and were these free agency could sign
Speaker 1: and make a team better. So this is something I've
Speaker 1: been doing for like seventeen years now from my own,
Speaker 1: like just for fun. So it's it's cool to do
Speaker 1: here on a podcast and talk to an expert like yourself.
Speaker 1: Before we get into that, you mentioned a two degrees.
Speaker 1: I have to imagine the handicaps getting better, right, Well,
Speaker 1: the handicap, it's all depends on what better is Um,
Speaker 1: there's been one too many balls going in the water
Speaker 1: or a sandtrap. But I have been from trying hard,
Speaker 1: that's for sure. Try hards all you can do. I'm
Speaker 1: looking forward to getting down there to get a chance
Speaker 1: to get back on the golf course and and get
Speaker 1: things going year round. But again, that's not what you
Speaker 1: guys are here. We're talking football on this edition of
Speaker 1: the Drive Time Podcast, and we wanted to kind of
Speaker 1: start here speaking of improving your golf game with areas
Speaker 1: the Dolphins excelled at. What are some things this Dolphins
Speaker 1: team can build upon and really feel good about, like
Speaker 1: this is what we do well and we can trust
Speaker 1: this going forward. I'll go ahead and start with you, John.
Speaker 1: What's an area you thought the Dolphins just absolutely nailed
Speaker 1: down this year and you feel confident going into one
Speaker 1: that that's gonna be a staple of this of this
Speaker 1: franchise going forward. Well, I'm gonna start on the defensive
Speaker 1: side of the football, because that's where the Dolphins started
Speaker 1: in free agency last year. They wanted to improve this
Speaker 1: football team. They needed to get better on defense, and
Speaker 1: they did. I thought creating a pass rush and creating
Speaker 1: turnovers was probably if you looked at UH statistics and
Speaker 1: you just watched the Dolphins play defense. That's where they
Speaker 1: improved the most. For me, I thought they created an
Speaker 1: edge presence. They were able to make quarterbacks feel uncomfortable,
Speaker 1: and on top of that, they were able to generate turnovers.
Speaker 1: They were able to generate sacks and strip sacks and
Speaker 1: forced fumbles and scoop and score opportunities, and all those
Speaker 1: things out up to victories for the Miami Dolphins last season.
Speaker 1: I think the biggest thing they got their hands on
Speaker 1: the football obviously the eighteen interceptions as a team. I
Speaker 1: think they were north of thirty on sacks as a team.
Speaker 1: But the forced fumbles they had. I think they had
Speaker 1: seventeen forced fumbles. This is a team that generated excitement
Speaker 1: and generated points on defense. So for me, Travis, I thought,
Speaker 1: you know, Emmanuel Ogba was close to ten sacks. I
Speaker 1: thought Ben Ginkl in his second year was tremendous. I
Speaker 1: thought Jerome Bigger roam the football field terrifically. I thought
Speaker 1: guys like Zach Seiler, ray Kwon Davis that you didn't
Speaker 1: think maybe would have a big role, had a big
Speaker 1: role on this football team and it just helped it
Speaker 1: helped the depth in the secondary. That pass rush and
Speaker 1: that constant front seven pressure really allowed the defensive back
Speaker 1: to roam free and make place. So for me on defense,
Speaker 1: that was probably the biggest place where the Dolphins excelled.
Speaker 1: Uh that I noticed, Yeah, you touched on the two
Speaker 1: areas that I really wanted to focus on in this segment.
Speaker 1: And I was kind of shaping this defense to what
Speaker 1: Brian Flores and Josh Bowyer's ideal vision is, right because
Speaker 1: you go back to, you know, his time in New
Speaker 1: England and they always had really strong secondaries and they
Speaker 1: were more willing to part ways with players that maybe
Speaker 1: priced themselves out of their market in the front seven
Speaker 1: and put the resources into the secondary. And we saw
Speaker 1: that this year. We saw Bobby McCain's on on a
Speaker 1: veteran contract, Eric Roe got a new contract extension. Xavien
Speaker 1: Howard when he got paid, was the highest paid quarterback
Speaker 1: in the National Football League, and then when Byron Jones
Speaker 1: comes back and gets his contract, he is now that
Speaker 1: So you put those resources into the secondary, and like
Speaker 1: you mentioned, I mean that was the crux of why
Speaker 1: this defense was able to cause that hesitation by opposing
Speaker 1: quarterbacks able to create situations where the ball was put
Speaker 1: into harm's way and they found a way to really
Speaker 1: really capitalize on it. And then you mentioned like Zach
Speaker 1: Seeler for instance, and Andrew van Ginkle. These guys that
Speaker 1: are waiver wire claims the year before, a guy that's
Speaker 1: a fifth round draft pick the previous year. These guys
Speaker 1: grew and developed into not just like quality contributors, but
Speaker 1: guys that you put on the football field and you're like,
Speaker 1: I feel great about him being in that role. And
Speaker 1: so it makes me wonder what happens in year two
Speaker 1: to Brandon Jones, Ray Kwon Davis to Austin Jackson, Rob
Speaker 1: Hunt and um shoot Solomon Kinley on the offensive side
Speaker 1: of the football. So those are the two areas. I'm
Speaker 1: really excited about the way they shape the defense around
Speaker 1: Flora's vision and the way they were able to grow
Speaker 1: and develop young players and what that what that means
Speaker 1: you know, going forward for this team. But that also means,
Speaker 1: you know, we talked about the ten wins, six losses,
Speaker 1: that there are some areas they can get better, and
Speaker 1: Chris Career and Brian Floors addressed that in their postseason
Speaker 1: press conferences. If you had to pick one area, you
Speaker 1: think that they can really have an opportunity to get
Speaker 1: over the hump to get the eleven, twelve, thirteen wins.
Speaker 1: What do you think that might be. That's on the
Speaker 1: other side of the football for Meat Travis, and it's
Speaker 1: creating explosive plays in the running game and in the
Speaker 1: passing game. They need to be able to stretch the
Speaker 1: football field and have dynamic players. When they catch a
Speaker 1: twelve yard curl or a twelve yard crossing route, they're
Speaker 1: gonna be able to go forty five yards down the sidelines.
Speaker 1: And that takes eleven players. It doesn't just take that
Speaker 1: player catching the football. But I think finding those explosive
Speaker 1: runs to take some pressure off of the passing game
Speaker 1: and finding some consistency up front. I think that you know,
Speaker 1: when you take a look at Andrew Van Ginkle on defense,
Speaker 1: that jump he made from year one to year two,
Speaker 1: Christian Wilkins, the jump he made as a rookie going
Speaker 1: into his second year, I think that needs to happen
Speaker 1: on the offensive line. You mentioned the guys up front,
Speaker 1: and we all know, you know, rookies playing offensive line
Speaker 1: doesn't always bode well, doesn't always equal ten wins. Uh.
Speaker 1: But those guys did their part, and I think that
Speaker 1: they're going to get better As they get better. I
Speaker 1: think this offense is going to improve dramatically because I
Speaker 1: think that's where you get the extra half second or
Speaker 1: second to throw the football, that extra crease that the
Speaker 1: running back needs to get to the back end of
Speaker 1: that hole and get into the secondary where you can
Speaker 1: make one guy miss and you get that tweet five
Speaker 1: thirty five yard play that cuts that field and app
Speaker 1: So for me, on offense, that's where this team needs
Speaker 1: to go. They need to focus on getting players, getting
Speaker 1: more players that can get the explosive play on a
Speaker 1: just a harmless curl route or harmless now pattern on
Speaker 1: the outside where you get the ball in space, you
Speaker 1: make a guy miss, and now you're you're feeling like
Speaker 1: you don't need those extra three first downs to get
Speaker 1: into the red zone or get into scoring position. You
Speaker 1: gotta play perfect offense, right, and that's so challenging to
Speaker 1: do in a day and age like today where we
Speaker 1: talk about the Dolphins defense that's so that's so hyper
Speaker 1: focused on getting takeaways and putting pressure on the quarterback
Speaker 1: that if you're gonna have a twelve play drive. The
Speaker 1: chances are you're gonna make a mistake at some point,
Speaker 1: So create those big explosive plays to get your offense
Speaker 1: into the end zone before the defense has a chance
Speaker 1: to make They're big play. And I agree completely with
Speaker 1: your thought there about you know, adding explosive elements to
Speaker 1: the offense. But I want to kind of put you
Speaker 1: on the spot here for a second, John, because you
Speaker 1: mentioned something that I think is a very you know,
Speaker 1: very important aspect of this team and those those rookie
Speaker 1: offensive linemen going into their second year. So when it
Speaker 1: comes to playing offensive line, I mean, there's a lot
Speaker 1: of these guys gotta pick up and handle, whether it's
Speaker 1: the protection calls, dealing with the fact that you have
Speaker 1: to face pass rushers like you know, the Miles Garret
Speaker 1: to the nick Boss of the world, opposed to being
Speaker 1: in college and the pact well where you're facing guys
Speaker 1: that are not those guys. What's the what's the big
Speaker 1: thing that can occur for a second year offensive lineman
Speaker 1: that can allow him to make that jump is it?
Speaker 1: Is it more of the mental part of the game,
Speaker 1: the physical part of the game. What aspects of Solomon Kinley,
Speaker 1: Robert Hunting, Austin Jackson, can we expect to see growth
Speaker 1: in here in your number two leverage. I think that's
Speaker 1: the biggest thing for an offensive lineman in his growth,
Speaker 1: knowing how to use his power, knowing how to use
Speaker 1: his feet, and knowing how to use his leverage. Sometimes
Speaker 1: I think Solomon Kinley on the inside would get so
Speaker 1: excited that you know he's he's missing his opportunity to
Speaker 1: use that big body because he's so excited to try
Speaker 1: to get off the line of scrimmage where all he
Speaker 1: has to do is position that that wall of a
Speaker 1: man in a certain way and then use that leverage
Speaker 1: and be able to give the running back of crease
Speaker 1: and not kind of do it all with brute string.
Speaker 1: So I think that you know, a guy like Jackson
Speaker 1: on the edge or Robert hunt why I thought, did
Speaker 1: a pretty good job at right tackle. He was thrown
Speaker 1: into a very difficult situation when Jesse Davis was dinged
Speaker 1: up there and went in and played really well. So
Speaker 1: I think having that year under their belt in terms
Speaker 1: of knowing how to use their feet, knowing how to
Speaker 1: use their hand placement, and knowing how to use their
Speaker 1: leverage is gonna take a little bit more pressure off
Speaker 1: or the question mark that unknown an offensive lineman goes
Speaker 1: into a game as a rookie, not knowing if that
Speaker 1: his strength is gonna be good enough. Well, if he's
Speaker 1: got good leverage and good feed in and applying that
Speaker 1: weight and and pressure in the right way, he's gonna
Speaker 1: probably bypass the first three question marks he had going
Speaker 1: into that game. So for me, I'd like to see
Speaker 1: those young guys play with confidence, but play with better
Speaker 1: leverage to give the other guys, the running back to
Speaker 1: the quarterback a little bit clearer picture of what they
Speaker 1: need to do with their job. To me, the most
Speaker 1: important word in football is leverage. I love that. And
Speaker 1: Austin Jackson talked about that all the time and has
Speaker 1: press availabilities this year too, So smart kid, young kid.
Speaker 1: We can see him apply that stuff can get better
Speaker 1: as he goes along, as well as the other rookies
Speaker 1: there along that offensive line. I'm gonna go ahead and
Speaker 1: add one more We'll call an area of opportunity and
Speaker 1: we talk about that defense like how can this you know,
Speaker 1: top of the league and takeaways, third down defense, and
Speaker 1: you know, enter week seventeen the number one scoring defense.
Speaker 1: How can they get even better? My first thought was
Speaker 1: finding a way to get more pressure with your front four,
Speaker 1: because some of the elite level quarterbacks like a Patrick
Speaker 1: Mahomes or Russell Wilson, when you you know, you send
Speaker 1: those blitz is, they can find ways to beat that.
Speaker 1: So to be able to be more multiple and more
Speaker 1: flexible with how you create pressure with maybe just your
Speaker 1: front four is my other area of opportunity to kind
Speaker 1: of get away from the idea that you talked about
Speaker 1: the explosive element of the offense. So just some ideas
Speaker 1: there from John and myself, and what we want to
Speaker 1: do now is play a game where I had kind
Speaker 1: of went through some positions that I think the Dolphins
Speaker 1: could stand to add some bodies at. And you know,
Speaker 1: it's most of the positions across the football because you're
Speaker 1: always looking to improve the entire roster. And then John's
Speaker 1: gonna tell us where we think we can get, you know,
Speaker 1: whether he agrees disagrees, and some areas of opportunity in
Speaker 1: those spots. So John, are you ready to kick this
Speaker 1: thing off? Yeah, let's go. Let's do it. Drives all right, perfect,
Speaker 1: So I just want to go ahead and put this
Speaker 1: disclaimer out here. A couple of disclaimers. Actually, first, this
Speaker 1: is our opinion. This does not reflect the opinion of
Speaker 1: the football team. Just me and John talking some ball here.
Speaker 1: And number two, this is not a list of the
Speaker 1: best players at each position in terms of their free
Speaker 1: agent grade or draft grade. This is accounting for what
Speaker 1: the possible resource might be required to acquire that player.
Speaker 1: You know, you talk about premium resource. Let's say let's
Speaker 1: say the Dolphins do sign to top tier free agents,
Speaker 1: like top contract Byron Jones level free agents, and they
Speaker 1: have four picks in the top fifty, that would be
Speaker 1: six premium resources. Then you have your tier two and
Speaker 1: your mid round pick. Guys, you're kind of secondary resources
Speaker 1: and so forth and so on. So keep that in mind,
Speaker 1: and we'll start at the quarterback position, where we know
Speaker 1: who the starting quarterback is too a tongue of by
Speaker 1: loa signed seal delivered twenty three years old, heading into
Speaker 1: a second season, and gives the Dolphins the benefit of
Speaker 1: that quarterback on the rookie contract. So I was kind
Speaker 1: of trying to figure out, do we need to find
Speaker 1: a veteran that can kind of come in and play
Speaker 1: that Ryan Fitzpatrick role or do you draft and develop
Speaker 1: a guy? So I put my two names, one free agent,
Speaker 1: one draft. The quarterback I chose was Kyle Allen, who
Speaker 1: was an unrestricted free agent. And the reason I have
Speaker 1: him in there, John is because he played in the
Speaker 1: air Raid in college and to me, some of those
Speaker 1: principles are transferable to the quick game that we want
Speaker 1: to run under two a tongue of voloa, see it,
Speaker 1: let it rip, and get the ball into the explosive
Speaker 1: playmaker's hands like you mentioned. So that's my free agent
Speaker 1: option and then my draft options on day three, and
Speaker 1: maybe he'll go Day two. I don't know, but as
Speaker 1: Texas A and m as Kellen Mond, just because I
Speaker 1: think the physical traits are so unique and he can
Speaker 1: be an added element to your running game as well
Speaker 1: at that quarterback position. So, Kyle Allen Kellen Mond, what
Speaker 1: are your thoughts? Well, obviously with with mind, I like
Speaker 1: what he brings his skill set. You know, he played
Speaker 1: in a in an SEC school and and you're always
Speaker 1: a tough defensive pressure. I would think, you know, no
Speaker 1: matter what level you're playing at, what team you're playing at.
Speaker 1: So I like the way he plays the position. I
Speaker 1: like his arm strength, I like his elusiveness, I like
Speaker 1: his decisiveness. Um, I'm not so sure how we're gonna
Speaker 1: go free agency, And I'm gonna throw this out there
Speaker 1: because I was thinking about, you know, coming up with
Speaker 1: a name, and I kept coming back to Ryan Fitzpatrick.
Speaker 1: And the only reason I say that is because if
Speaker 1: you're if you're Brian Flores, and you your main job
Speaker 1: in the off season is to try to make how
Speaker 1: can I how can I make a situation? How can
Speaker 1: I create an environment that I can get the best
Speaker 1: football out of two a tongue of violoa? How do
Speaker 1: I make him improve so that we're not looking for
Speaker 1: he's not looking over his shoulder Number one. He's got
Speaker 1: to be the guy and he's got to go play.
Speaker 1: But you need to have somebody. You still need to
Speaker 1: win football games, and you still need to turn to
Speaker 1: someone that you have confidence in. If I'm if I'm
Speaker 1: Ryan Fitzpatrick, I don't know if the gry this is
Speaker 1: always greener going out and trying to be the starter
Speaker 1: somewhere else. Now, granted the dollars would be great, and
Speaker 1: I'm sure he's looking for that opportunity, but his the way,
Speaker 1: he's the way he's progressed through his long veteran career.
Speaker 1: Is not the way Tom Brady or Aaron Rodgers or
Speaker 1: any of the elite quarterbacks have. This guy's gotten beaten up.
Speaker 1: This guy's run a lot more than maybe some of
Speaker 1: those elite quarterbacks. So I think there's a little bit
Speaker 1: more tread on the tires. If you're looking at another
Speaker 1: team taking a peek at Fitzpatrick as a starter, I
Speaker 1: think the ideal situation is his coming in as a backup,
Speaker 1: as a guy that can go in and play. So
Speaker 1: if I'm Brian Flores, I need to find a guy
Speaker 1: that I have extreme confidence in that if I need
Speaker 1: to turn to him, he's gonna come in and win
Speaker 1: a football game or two. At least I believe he's
Speaker 1: going to. And I'm not going to uh put two
Speaker 1: a tongue of violoa in a shell uh for two
Speaker 1: or three weeks until he gets his next opportunity. So
Speaker 1: I'm still not I'm still not a seller when it
Speaker 1: comes to Ryan Fitzpatrick, only because this team needs to
Speaker 1: have somebody that can win and win in multiple weeks,
Speaker 1: and he's the guy for me that I just wouldn't
Speaker 1: he raced right away Yeah. To me, he was the
Speaker 1: the best luxury this team had this season. When I
Speaker 1: say a luxury, I mean most teams don't have a
Speaker 1: quarterback that if your starter goes down, you feel like
Speaker 1: you like exactly like you mentioned, you feel confident he
Speaker 1: can come off the bench and win that game, and
Speaker 1: maybe even start the next week and win that game
Speaker 1: as well, just as Fits did against the Jets this
Speaker 1: year at the Jets. But the thing that I point
Speaker 1: back to John is and Fits has talked about this
Speaker 1: so much, and I agree with you because he's such
Speaker 1: a great guy. If he's not back, I'm gonna miss
Speaker 1: running into him in the kitchen and having to him,
Speaker 1: you know, rip on me, you know, kind of have
Speaker 1: some fun with me at my expense. It was a
Speaker 1: great time. He's such a great guy to be around.
Speaker 1: But the thing that I always point to is he
Speaker 1: talks so much about how much he loves to play
Speaker 1: the game. He's not He's not here to be that
Speaker 1: mentor to be that coach. Like I see the assumption
Speaker 1: on Twitter all the time, like just have him come
Speaker 1: in and be the quarterbacks coach. Are you sure that's
Speaker 1: what he wants to do. I think he loves to
Speaker 1: play the game. So it makes me wonder if he,
Speaker 1: like you mentioned Michael Chase, the opportunity somewhere else to start. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I just I just don't know if there's a you know,
Speaker 1: there's thirty two jobs out there, and when he was
Speaker 1: signed with the Miami Dolphins, he was happy because one
Speaker 1: of those were his. You know, that was his job,
Speaker 1: you know, as the quarterback of the Miami Dolphins. And
Speaker 1: now when you go out in last year's draft and
Speaker 1: and to a plays and he plays pretty well for
Speaker 1: the most part. You know, I just I'd like to see,
Speaker 1: I know, in the room right now, uh in in Davy.
Speaker 1: The biggest concern for this coaching staff and the biggest
Speaker 1: concern going into the free agency and for the draft,
Speaker 1: how do we make this team better. How do we
Speaker 1: make to a tongue of Ioloa better and more comfortable
Speaker 1: to be able to be our leader on offense and
Speaker 1: and for him not to look over his shoulder. That's
Speaker 1: the biggest concern I think going in to the two
Speaker 1: thousand and twenty one season, and it makes that backup
Speaker 1: quarterback position so intriguing as we get closer to the
Speaker 1: free agency period, and one of the old adages. John,
Speaker 1: Maybe it's not as true as it used to be.
Speaker 1: Maybe it is. Maybe you can tell me you agree
Speaker 1: or disagree to get your young quarterback to a higher
Speaker 1: level of confidence and to get more production is to
Speaker 1: help him in the backfield. And you know, this running
Speaker 1: back crop, both in free agency and the draft is
Speaker 1: so load to the top that there are so many
Speaker 1: options you can pursue if you choose to do so.
Speaker 1: And I want to go ahead and pitch this point
Speaker 1: to you first before I talk about names as we
Speaker 1: continue this discussion here. You know, the talk about an
Speaker 1: Aaron Jones, for instance, from Green Bay, the free agent
Speaker 1: or the free agent to beat running back who's produced
Speaker 1: big time numbers, great yards per carry, average, great third
Speaker 1: down back, whatever you want from Aaron Jones, He's been
Speaker 1: that in Green Bay. And I see the idea, don't
Speaker 1: pay a running back a second contract, don't overpay the
Speaker 1: running back position. But my thought process is kind of well,
Speaker 1: premium money at running back is cheap at almost every
Speaker 1: other position. Like, if you're gonna give premium running back
Speaker 1: money ten million dollars, that's a cheap receiver. That's a
Speaker 1: very cheap pass rusher. That's a criminally cheap quarterback. Do
Speaker 1: you agree with that? Like as far as how you
Speaker 1: approach the running back position, is there a limit on
Speaker 1: what you're wanting to spend and how you kind of
Speaker 1: approach that the addressing the running back position here for
Speaker 1: the Dolphins, I agree with you, Travis to the point of,
Speaker 1: depending on where each team is in their cap space,
Speaker 1: if they have that luxury that you know, eight million,
Speaker 1: seven million, six million on a running back tent, whatever
Speaker 1: that is, you're right about the position because you don't
Speaker 1: have to really overspend uh and even in the second contract,
Speaker 1: you're still gonna be around those numbers. So I agree
Speaker 1: with you at that point. I think the Miami Dolphins,
Speaker 1: in in this draft or in free agency, I'd rather
Speaker 1: see it in the draft, to be quite honest with you,
Speaker 1: because that number drastically UH gets smaller and and the
Speaker 1: quality might get better, it might be even. I wouldn't
Speaker 1: say better, I would say even, because if you're going
Speaker 1: to rate guys coming out of out of college, and
Speaker 1: you know, we're talking about uh Nija Harry, so we're
Speaker 1: talking about Travis at ten. Those are the two guys
Speaker 1: for me. The Dolphins, you know, should we have a
Speaker 1: big circle around that eighteenth draft choice. If they stay there,
Speaker 1: that number eighteen has got to be a running back
Speaker 1: because last year, remember at when they traded out to
Speaker 1: get iig Manogeny. I believe at thirty one or thirty
Speaker 1: or thirty two wherever it ended up being, that was
Speaker 1: a running back spot for me. And I don't think
Speaker 1: the Dolphins are gonna make that mistake again. I think
Speaker 1: they can add to what they have on this roster
Speaker 1: because I think they're they're pretty good shape, uh, in
Speaker 1: this roster, on this roster at running back, the top
Speaker 1: two guys that really did a really good job last
Speaker 1: year of catching the football, you know, yards after contact.
Speaker 1: I like everything that uh you know, those guys did.
Speaker 1: But I still think you need you need someone that's
Speaker 1: gonna carry the load. You need someone that's gonna be
Speaker 1: the number one. And I think that's in the draft
Speaker 1: this year. I don't I don't see the Dolphins going
Speaker 1: in free agency there, but they could because because of
Speaker 1: your point, the number isn't exaggerated it comes to running backs. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you mentioned the carry the load running back. You look
Speaker 1: at the history of Brian Flores here in Miami and
Speaker 1: the way they've utilized running backs. If a guy is
Speaker 1: starting the game, he probably plays percent of the snap,
Speaker 1: So that seems to be kind of, you know, the
Speaker 1: same frame of mine as far as the coaching staff has.
Speaker 1: And you said two names, Naji Harris and Travis E.
Speaker 1: T N. And I'm gonna go ahead and add Javonte
Speaker 1: Williams from North Carolina because this guy two hundred twenty pounds.
Speaker 1: His feet don't look like that of a two twenty
Speaker 1: pound guy. And John, I did some research because I
Speaker 1: was curious to find out what kind of running backs
Speaker 1: has Eric Studisville had in his tenure as the Buffalo
Speaker 1: Bills running backs coach, the Denver Broncos running backs coach.
Speaker 1: And I went back and looked, and it was Willis mcgahey,
Speaker 1: it was Marshawn Lynch, It was no Sean Marino. It
Speaker 1: was all these two plus pound guys. And that's not
Speaker 1: Travis et N. That's Naji Harris, that's Javonte Williams, two
Speaker 1: guys that can contribute the passing game, that are big loads,
Speaker 1: tough to bring down. But then I also look at
Speaker 1: the list of you know, I think it was rap
Speaker 1: Sheet had tweeted out about the possible offensive coordinator candidate,
Speaker 1: and Tony Elliott from Clemson was on that list, and
Speaker 1: Travis E. T N. That kind of wide zone speech
Speaker 1: or that can hit home runs from you know, any play,
Speaker 1: any spot on the field has me interested too. So
Speaker 1: you talked about that eighteenth pick. I put all three
Speaker 1: of those guys right there, and that's my resource I'm
Speaker 1: allocating towards the running back position. Eighteenth pick, Nause E
Speaker 1: t and Javonte Williams. I think they're all great. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And to your point, Travis, you know, with aukmed and
Speaker 1: and the way gasking, what they give you, it's enough.
Speaker 1: But if you really want to improve the quarterback, if
Speaker 1: you really want to get those explosive plays, if you
Speaker 1: really want to keep everybody fresh, it's going into the
Speaker 1: drafting and selecting somebody at that spot at eighteen that
Speaker 1: fits the mold. Whether that's Williams, whether that's Harris, or
Speaker 1: whether that's E. T N. It's got to be somebody,
Speaker 1: uh that that changes the dynamic of that room, that
Speaker 1: changes the dynamic of those explosive plays, and that can
Speaker 1: play all three downs. And I think all three of
Speaker 1: those guys that we talked about absolutely can do that,
Speaker 1: and we move into another skill position. Here are talking
Speaker 1: about ways we can improve this Miami Dolphins roster and
Speaker 1: using the draft picks and free agent capital to make
Speaker 1: that happen. And I think the position that everyone's kind
Speaker 1: of talking about right now is the wide receiver spot.
Speaker 1: You look at that third pick in the draft, there
Speaker 1: are there are three guys that I've seen mocked to
Speaker 1: the Dolphins in that position. There's a tight end I've
Speaker 1: seen mocked in that position to the Dolphins. But I
Speaker 1: want to go ahead and make this a point because
Speaker 1: we talked about a little bit off air. It's not
Speaker 1: just the Dolphins needed receiver. It's that you need guys
Speaker 1: to fill certain jobs, right because for instance, you know,
Speaker 1: I put the Z and the slot right here, which
Speaker 1: I think are two potential needs for this team that
Speaker 1: they could use a more of a burner type flanker guy,
Speaker 1: a guy that can play inside and do multiple things.
Speaker 1: But we look at what the offense was last year,
Speaker 1: and like a guy like Lynn Bowden, for instance, who
Speaker 1: gets carries out of the backfield, who goes on jet
Speaker 1: sweep and and takes the end around that way. And
Speaker 1: a guy that can kick outside and play out wide
Speaker 1: even though he is a slot receiver. And so I
Speaker 1: start there in the slot, and my guy for that
Speaker 1: position is Curtis Samuel from the Panthers, because he's a
Speaker 1: sub four four guy, and last year he showed you
Speaker 1: the expansive, you know, nature of his ability to do
Speaker 1: everything on the offense. He carried the ball when Christian
Speaker 1: McCaffrey was down, he took those jet sweeps, He ran
Speaker 1: past the defense vertically, he creates separation on simple five
Speaker 1: yard curl routes. So he was my primary slot option
Speaker 1: there and free agency, and then in the draft I
Speaker 1: went with a guy that in my opinion is has
Speaker 1: cloned and Rondale Moore at Perdue because of the exact
Speaker 1: same things we just talked about. He is explosive as
Speaker 1: all hell as all get out. He can get vertical,
Speaker 1: he can catch the football, he can run the football.
Speaker 1: So those are my two options for guys that play inside,
Speaker 1: but not necessarily to say that they're constricted to that
Speaker 1: slot position. Well, I like Samuel. I like the thought
Speaker 1: of him in a Dolphin uniform because he's so dynamic,
Speaker 1: as you mentioned it, And it's all about matchups, right,
Speaker 1: It's all about how you can create uh a disadvantage
Speaker 1: for the defense and a favorable matchup on offense. And
Speaker 1: I think both of those guys do that. Rondale Moore
Speaker 1: is a guy that can do just a little bit
Speaker 1: of everything. He can go back in the return game,
Speaker 1: he can he can be dynamic there. He can play
Speaker 1: in the slot, he can play outside. You motion him,
Speaker 1: and it's tough for defensive back to to have leverage
Speaker 1: or keep his leverage because he's so quick and he's
Speaker 1: really good with his hands in the football in space,
Speaker 1: he usually makes the first guy missed. So when you
Speaker 1: take a look at at that type of player, you
Speaker 1: have to wonder, Okay, if you if you get either
Speaker 1: one of those guys, you're in good shape because you've
Speaker 1: improved the slot position, you've improved your offensive explosiveness, that
Speaker 1: potential on offense. And you have to wonder, well, does
Speaker 1: Alan Hearns come back? Does Albert Wilson come back? Um?
Speaker 1: Those all play into the situation that the Miami Dolphins,
Speaker 1: I'm sure meeting and when they have all these names
Speaker 1: on the board, they're trying to find out, how can
Speaker 1: we make this how can we make our quarterback better
Speaker 1: by getting more explosive players. How can we make our
Speaker 1: our our receiving corps better getting the football in space
Speaker 1: and making somebody miss. Those guys can do those. They
Speaker 1: have those trades, and that's exactly why they're on my list.
Speaker 1: And those guys par well with my other guys at
Speaker 1: that Z distinction. And again there, I think any player
Speaker 1: in this football team. Putting them in one position is
Speaker 1: really disingenuous, so we'll give him that classification. But really
Speaker 1: the ideas they can play multiple spots. And it goes
Speaker 1: back to my idea of you know, how do you
Speaker 1: accentuate two of strengths. He's super accurate, He has one
Speaker 1: of the quickest releases in the game. He gets to
Speaker 1: his spot quickly because his footwork and his mechanics are
Speaker 1: sharp in that regard. So how can you accentuate that
Speaker 1: quick game accuracy. It's creating separation early, getting that release
Speaker 1: and getting that separation immediately off the line. And that's
Speaker 1: where you go to that third pick in the draft here, John,
Speaker 1: and there are so many interesting routes they can go with.
Speaker 1: Whether it's stay there and take a player, whether it's
Speaker 1: trade back and target someone. Maybe you go after a
Speaker 1: tight end we talked about Kyle Pitts, and we'll bring
Speaker 1: him up here in just one second. But I listed
Speaker 1: right here, we'll stay in the receiver classman. Now, maybe
Speaker 1: you can expand upon this. I put Davonte Smith and
Speaker 1: Jalen Waddle because to me, you know, we talked about
Speaker 1: getting separation. That's what these two guys do best. They
Speaker 1: are so sudden. They get to that position of the
Speaker 1: release where it's like go time, right, It's time to
Speaker 1: make a decision whether we're gonna cross face, whether we're
Speaker 1: gonna attack outside leverage, and the defensive back has to
Speaker 1: make a decision whether he's gonna flip his hips a
Speaker 1: certain direction, whether he's gonna throw the inside or outside
Speaker 1: hand jam. And at that moment of decision, these two guys,
Speaker 1: to me, are so deadly and they can create that
Speaker 1: immediate separation. The balls right on the numbers on that
Speaker 1: RPO slam or whatever it might be, and we're off
Speaker 1: to the races. So I have those two guys significantly
Speaker 1: ahead of the rest of the class at the receiver spot. Well,
Speaker 1: I'm glad you're thinking receiver at three, Travis, because if
Speaker 1: we pick an offensive tackle, I might bloom all my
Speaker 1: hair out, and I don't want to do that because
Speaker 1: I think we invested in the line last year. Now
Speaker 1: that doesn't mean we're not going to get a center
Speaker 1: down the road, or another guard or a guy that
Speaker 1: can play multiple positions up front. But I'd sure like
Speaker 1: to invest our draft UH war chest, if you will.
Speaker 1: On the offensive side of the football, and at receiver,
Speaker 1: you get a guy like Smith from Alabama that that
Speaker 1: is just exceptional. I mean he's a burner, he can
Speaker 1: play inside and play outside. He can do everything you want.
Speaker 1: He accelerates with the football, he runs away from defenders,
Speaker 1: and Jayalen Wattle might even be faster, I mean quicker
Speaker 1: in the box for sure. UH can get over the
Speaker 1: top of you. Maybe not as as linear UH as
Speaker 1: a receiver some of the other receivers that are in
Speaker 1: this draft, but his tape is exceptional. So I'm not
Speaker 1: so sure how the Dolphins are gonna treat the third
Speaker 1: pick just because they're going they need they need firepower
Speaker 1: on offense, you have to get a wide receiver or two.
Speaker 1: I see it going any other no other way, but
Speaker 1: at receiver, and you know Jamaar Chase's his name has
Speaker 1: been mentioned. We talked a little bit before we started
Speaker 1: this about Kyle Pitts. I wouldn't rule that out because
Speaker 1: you're talking about getting matchups, favorable matchups. Who's gonna cover
Speaker 1: Cassiki on one side and Pits on the other when
Speaker 1: you have two uh tall guys on the outside and
Speaker 1: Williams and Parker, So it gives you so much, so
Speaker 1: much flexibility. It gives the Dolphins so much flexibility in
Speaker 1: this draft because they can go in a number of
Speaker 1: different ways and still satisfy their needs and what they're
Speaker 1: looking for to improve the quarterback position by acquiring talent
Speaker 1: around him. Yeah. I'm so glad you brought that up
Speaker 1: because I just finished my study on Kyle Pitts, and
Speaker 1: oh my goodness, he is ridiculous. I watched the South
Speaker 1: Carolina game and they put a couple of defensive backs
Speaker 1: one on one against him. He just did what he
Speaker 1: does against them in the second half, and they put J. C. Horne,
Speaker 1: who's probably gonna be a top twenty pick this year,
Speaker 1: and he can't handle him. And we're talking about not
Speaker 1: just physicality, but a whip route where he's getting out
Speaker 1: of that break in a second. So I see a
Speaker 1: guy that's six ft six pounds, and to me, that's
Speaker 1: where the Jamar, like you know, Davante Smith, Jalen Waddle
Speaker 1: kind of in that same category. And by the way,
Speaker 1: Jalen Waddle taught twenty one out of twenty six passes
Speaker 1: that we're targeted over twenty yards of this season. Like
Speaker 1: what that's read? I know, that's that's his career. That's ridiculous.
Speaker 1: I don't. I can't even fathom that. So he did that.
Speaker 1: But back to the you know, putting the Jamar Chase
Speaker 1: and Kyle Pitts kind of in in that same category. To me,
Speaker 1: it's like, well, both these guys win with physicality. They
Speaker 1: do have the separation skill set. But if we're gonna
Speaker 1: compare these two guys, one guy is six ft sixty six,
Speaker 1: one guy's five ft eleven, So like, it's not even
Speaker 1: a comparison to me. And you talk about the matchup
Speaker 1: aspect of getting Kyle Pitts, I'm sitting here thinking about
Speaker 1: how does a defensive coordinator change what they do when
Speaker 1: they have to face pits and get sicky because technically
Speaker 1: we're in twelve personnel, right, Well, you gotta get you,
Speaker 1: you gotta get defensive backs onto the field. Well, can't
Speaker 1: we run the ball from twelve personnel when you have
Speaker 1: nickel or dime defense on the field, doesn't that make
Speaker 1: that a lot easier? And what if we do have
Speaker 1: Naji Harris who also conflects out and go empty out
Speaker 1: of twelve personnel and you've got five matchups you'd like
Speaker 1: like that seems like a big problem for opposing defense
Speaker 1: is to have to deal with Well, I think that
Speaker 1: And to your two. The biggest question mark for the
Speaker 1: for the co on for some coordinators as they're drawing
Speaker 1: up this offense and what the Miami Dolphins are gonna
Speaker 1: look like in two thousand and twenty one, they're trying
Speaker 1: to create space. And that's how you do it with matchups.
Speaker 1: You create space by you know, putting stress on a
Speaker 1: defensive coordinator. Am I gonna throw a linebacker out there?
Speaker 1: Am I gonna throw a nickel back out there? Am
Speaker 1: I gonna put another corner in the game? And if
Speaker 1: you do have a guy like Harris in the backfield,
Speaker 1: that just gives him more space and and it takes
Speaker 1: some pressure off of the guys that are going from
Speaker 1: year one to year two on your offensive line because
Speaker 1: all they have to do is is use their leverage
Speaker 1: and create create a lane because you get to the
Speaker 1: back end of it quicker because there's not that traffic
Speaker 1: and that massive humanity in between the hashes. So to
Speaker 1: your point, when you have when you have matchups that
Speaker 1: are to your advantage as an offense, and you can
Speaker 1: create space just by formation in motion, it helps your
Speaker 1: running game out. Exactually, let's say you've got to two
Speaker 1: safeties too high structure off the off the line, and
Speaker 1: you've got Nag Harris out there at pound back and
Speaker 1: you've got a Curtis Samuel who can run four four.
Speaker 1: I mean, that seems like a really advantageous spot for
Speaker 1: your running back to to make some hey in the
Speaker 1: running game. But the best way to do that is
Speaker 1: to improve your offensive line. And I put center on
Speaker 1: the list here. Ted Carriss is scheduled to be a
Speaker 1: free agent, and frankly, John, you can tell me if
Speaker 1: I'm right or wrong on this. I thought Ted Carriss
Speaker 1: was the best offensive lineman from Week one to Week seventeen,
Speaker 1: the most consistent player up front for the Dolphins this year.
Speaker 1: But he scheduled for free agency, and there are some
Speaker 1: opportunities out there, and I listed a premium resource by
Speaker 1: here as well, with the Packers Corey Lensley, who just
Speaker 1: opens up the playbook because of what he can do
Speaker 1: from a stretch runs aspect his athletic ability to get
Speaker 1: on space and just open up those wide zone runs
Speaker 1: for you. And then I put landon Dickerson, who even
Speaker 1: though he tore an a c L in the was
Speaker 1: it the second the semi final playoff game, he tore
Speaker 1: an a c L. But this guy is like as
Speaker 1: far as the mental makeup and the character and the
Speaker 1: pedigree has Miami Dolphin written all over him. So I
Speaker 1: put him on there, and I also put the option
Speaker 1: to resign. Had Carross so center a big focus for
Speaker 1: me here, well, I think that Aaron Rodgers would be
Speaker 1: mad at you if you heard this, if if Lindsay's
Speaker 1: going somewhere else, because that's a guy that you know,
Speaker 1: he's the glue of that offensive line. I know, they
Speaker 1: have really good tackles, they you know, a really good
Speaker 1: you know, talent up front, but he's the guy that
Speaker 1: makes everything happen in the middle and and and to
Speaker 1: Carress's uh attributes. You know, sometimes if you can line
Speaker 1: up and play an availability on every snap for the
Speaker 1: Miami Dolphins last year. That that's a trait that you
Speaker 1: want to have. And I think that he's only going
Speaker 1: to get better as that youth around him grows. I
Speaker 1: thought Eric Flowers didn't do a bad job beside him
Speaker 1: on the left side. He missed a couple of games
Speaker 1: in the middle of the season, but I thought he
Speaker 1: did a pretty adequate job. You know, coming in in
Speaker 1: free agency last year, so you're trying to bolster, You're
Speaker 1: trying to get better, and what's what's one way to
Speaker 1: do that is consistency, getting guys that line up at
Speaker 1: the same spot. And I if I was the Dolphins,
Speaker 1: I would be looking to resign Ted Carriss if they
Speaker 1: can't improve even free agency. If they feel like this
Speaker 1: guy he can do the job for us up front,
Speaker 1: then I would go ahead. Because you're you're starting to
Speaker 1: dip into how much do we need in the draft
Speaker 1: for for money available, how much are we gonna use
Speaker 1: a resource and maybe a wide receiver in free agency
Speaker 1: or another linebacker now that Kyle van Noyd is rumored
Speaker 1: to be going, you know, other places, so that you
Speaker 1: have to kind of plan ahead. And I think Harris
Speaker 1: kind of fits the bill up front for the Dolphins.
Speaker 1: It's a great example of how you have to choose
Speaker 1: where you're gonna allocate those resources, because as we go
Speaker 1: through this exercise here, I've pretty much already spent them all.
Speaker 1: I don't know if you guys are keeping tracked, but
Speaker 1: I spent all my premium resources. And so we move
Speaker 1: along here. And you know, John, this is something I
Speaker 1: took from Daniel Jeremiah a couple of years ago. He says,
Speaker 1: you should always be drafting and developing offensive lineman. So
Speaker 1: I put a couple of guys in here that might
Speaker 1: be in the second to fourth round range, and I
Speaker 1: picked two guys that I think have traits that match
Speaker 1: with the Dolphins due on the offensive line. It's Dylan
Speaker 1: Raddin's out of North Dakota State because he's plays literally
Speaker 1: every position, and Spencer Brown out of Northern Iowa because
Speaker 1: he is a monster. And we've seen this team acquire
Speaker 1: large offensive tackles and hope to kind of develop them
Speaker 1: that way. So Dylan Raddon's out of North Dakota State
Speaker 1: and Spencer Brown out of Northern Iowa. Your thoughts there,
Speaker 1: and some other names that you might like along the
Speaker 1: offensive line and that maybe you know, late first to
Speaker 1: Day three type of options. You know. I like both
Speaker 1: of those guys. And watching Dylan at the Senior Bowl,
Speaker 1: I thought he was tremendous. I thought he got an
Speaker 1: opportunity to showcase not only an individual one on ones,
Speaker 1: but when in the game, I thought he was really good.
Speaker 1: And Spencer Brown it's, you know, tough for me. It
Speaker 1: just maybe under six foot to look around a guy
Speaker 1: and then try to look again because he's that big.
Speaker 1: But he fits the mold of what the Dolphins did
Speaker 1: last year in the draft. You know, you get big
Speaker 1: offensive lineman that you feel like you can grow with,
Speaker 1: and they can. That learning curve isn't gonna be that long,
Speaker 1: and it wasn't last year for the three guys that
Speaker 1: were drafted. And I don't think for either one of
Speaker 1: these guys, even though coming from smaller schools, I don't
Speaker 1: think the learning curve is gonna be that drastic for him.
Speaker 1: And I think, is it Humphreys from Oklahoma. I don't
Speaker 1: know where he's gonna go, but but a guy that
Speaker 1: can play multiple positions, you gotta find that guy. I
Speaker 1: think Jesse Davis, that's one of his assets. If he's on,
Speaker 1: if he's not starting at right tackle, if he's not
Speaker 1: starting a guard, he can also kick in and play
Speaker 1: center and a pinch. So you have to have another guy,
Speaker 1: another young guy come along that can play multiple positions
Speaker 1: along that offensive line, because you start getting into those
Speaker 1: numbers and you start getting into how many guys can dress,
Speaker 1: who's up, who's down. You gotta have a guy that
Speaker 1: can kind of bounce around that offensive line. So I
Speaker 1: like your thought process of getting a young guy that
Speaker 1: can do that, that can not only be a starter potentially,
Speaker 1: but can play multiple positions. Yeah, that flexibilities everything, right,
Speaker 1: But we've seen it across the league before where teams
Speaker 1: run out of capable bodies on the offensive line. We
Speaker 1: see when that turns into it didn't happen to my
Speaker 1: any last year. I think at one point Michael Deere
Speaker 1: played a few snaps in the game and he played well.
Speaker 1: And so that's a position where if you can just
Speaker 1: have competent guys across the line, regardless of what happens
Speaker 1: with injuries, that's a great position to beat. Let's go
Speaker 1: ahead and pick this up and get to the other
Speaker 1: side of the football. Here at John Conjemmy on the
Speaker 1: Drivetime podcast your host Travis Wingfield. On the defensive side again,
Speaker 1: I went light over here. I've got three positions, defensive end,
Speaker 1: defensive tackle, and linebacker. I left the secondary alone, although
Speaker 1: of course the Dolphins, you know Brian Flores and Josh Boyer,
Speaker 1: they will bring in defensive backs and turn that thing
Speaker 1: over and continue to look for gems back there. But
Speaker 1: back up to the defensive line. At the edge position,
Speaker 1: I went with Dietrich Wise, who played with Brian Flores
Speaker 1: and and you know some of those coaching staff in
Speaker 1: New England. I just think his inside outside versatility, his
Speaker 1: his past rush ability from a three technique is really special.
Speaker 1: And then I also put Carlos Basham on here, who
Speaker 1: might be an early second round I happen to think
Speaker 1: he's gonna go in the first round because you just
Speaker 1: don't put two pound defensive ends with that type of
Speaker 1: explosiveness onto the planet and not expect them to have
Speaker 1: a great NFL career. I think he has Dolphin written
Speaker 1: all over him as well, So d Rick Wise, Carlos
Speaker 1: Basham defensive end. Do we need a bolsh that spot
Speaker 1: behind Shack Laws and Emmanuel Ogba and how would you
Speaker 1: do it? Well? I like wise only because I think
Speaker 1: that Davon Godcha is not going to be retained by
Speaker 1: the Dolphins. I think he's a terrific player. I just
Speaker 1: think that you need a different type of player uh
Speaker 1: that's going to play beside Davis and Seiler and Wilkins.
Speaker 1: I think that you've got the same type of physical
Speaker 1: makeup and size makeup and speed makeup with those guys.
Speaker 1: And I think Wise, as you said, can kind of
Speaker 1: bounce around, which is good. So you're looking for a
Speaker 1: guy like that to come in and maybe in free agency,
Speaker 1: to come in and fill that bill. And it's not
Speaker 1: going to break the bank while you're doing it, and
Speaker 1: you're gonna get total production. You're gonna get the type
Speaker 1: of production and the type of play that Bowyer likes
Speaker 1: and that coach Flores likes. Bash UM's an interesting guy
Speaker 1: from me because when you're playing at Wake Forest, you're
Speaker 1: on TV all the time, no matter where you're playing,
Speaker 1: but you you notice that that guy flashed all the time.
Speaker 1: That guy was at any time you watched a Wake
Speaker 1: Force game. This guy was a guy that you had
Speaker 1: to focus in on because who's going to protect him.
Speaker 1: But where's he lining up? And are they chipping to
Speaker 1: his side? Are they you know what? Where is he
Speaker 1: lining up now? Because the guy's explosive off the edge.
Speaker 1: And you're right, I don't know where he's gonna get drafted,
Speaker 1: but I think his stock us over the last month,
Speaker 1: month and a half, even though he had a terrific season.
Speaker 1: I think just those those focused days of practice in
Speaker 1: Mobile uh really elevated his draft status. And I think
Speaker 1: that you may be onto something there. I don't know
Speaker 1: if it gets depressed because of there's so many offensive
Speaker 1: skill set guys that may go in the first round,
Speaker 1: quarterbacks going in the first round. But somebody's gonna get
Speaker 1: a player that's gonna that's gonna flash right away. In
Speaker 1: the National Football League. At one point he had consecutive
Speaker 1: games the tackle for loss and the second closest in
Speaker 1: the nation on that streak was ten games. So he
Speaker 1: made plays every single week his his career down there
Speaker 1: at Wake Forest, And you mentioned, you know, Zack Seeler,
Speaker 1: Ray Kuan Davis, Christian Wilkins. That's a trio that I've
Speaker 1: been really talking about a lot this offseason because just
Speaker 1: how valuable they are that the club control and the
Speaker 1: production versus cost, and the youth of that position. I
Speaker 1: feel great about that spot. But you talked about Devon
Speaker 1: god Shaw maybe being a little bit miscast for his
Speaker 1: role in the defense. If that, it's had not to
Speaker 1: move on from him, and so that's why I put
Speaker 1: a couple of monsters on the interior defensive line here. First,
Speaker 1: Tyler Shelvin out of l s U is like three
Speaker 1: and sixty pounds. I mean, that's all. That's my argument.
Speaker 1: He's a He's a huge guy that can too gap
Speaker 1: and hold up the point there for you and create
Speaker 1: chances for your Jerome Baker's behind him. And then a
Speaker 1: Key McNeil is lieder than that. I think he's about
Speaker 1: three twenty, but man, he is explosive and he showed
Speaker 1: plenty of work in two gapping defenses in college. So
Speaker 1: interior defensive line, do you need a body? What do
Speaker 1: you think here, John Well? I think you do. I
Speaker 1: think they're just as I think it's the same approach
Speaker 1: Travis as the offensive line. You don't necessarily need to
Speaker 1: go out in the first and second round down and
Speaker 1: draft a guy there, But I think down the road
Speaker 1: you're going to have to do that, and you have
Speaker 1: to get lucky in free agency potentially there too, as
Speaker 1: well as undrafted free agents. I think that's some something
Speaker 1: where you're gonna have to find a guy or you're
Speaker 1: gonna have to find a Zach Seeler somewhere along the
Speaker 1: line because you don't have enough. You have a lot
Speaker 1: of draft firepower to go out and get the guys
Speaker 1: you need to plug in that are gonna put points
Speaker 1: on the board, but guys that are gonna be in
Speaker 1: the trenches Somewhere along the line. You're gonna have to
Speaker 1: find a bigger body that can, like you said, maybe
Speaker 1: take on a couple of blockers. That allows Jerome Baker
Speaker 1: to make plays. It allows a guy coming down, you know,
Speaker 1: down from the box at safety to be able to
Speaker 1: come in and make a tackle for loss. So you
Speaker 1: need a different body type and you need a different
Speaker 1: style of play when you need to come in for twelve, fourteen,
Speaker 1: eighteen plays a game. This isn't a position that you're
Speaker 1: you know, with Show Shelvan or McNeil. If you happen
Speaker 1: to get a body type like on that's gonna play
Speaker 1: thirty or thirty five plays. This is a specific role
Speaker 1: on this on this football team because you're in so
Speaker 1: much nickel and dime and you're moving around guys along
Speaker 1: that front seven. This is this is a specific role
Speaker 1: on the team, and I do think the Dolphins will
Speaker 1: be in the market for a player like that. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you're not gonna spend a premium resource on snapcount taker.
Speaker 1: Just that just doesn't add up to, you know, collective
Speaker 1: overall a good idea for the football team. So with
Speaker 1: you on that, I have one more position here, and
Speaker 1: I'll go ahead and let you if you've got any
Speaker 1: defensive bats you want to talk about, cause I didn't
Speaker 1: listen to here, But at the linebacker spot, I'm thinking
Speaker 1: about replacing, you know, and this was before Kyle the
Speaker 1: Kyle van Noy rumor what was out there, But I
Speaker 1: was thinking more about replacing e Land and Roberts who
Speaker 1: got injured towards the end of the season and that
Speaker 1: kind of, you know, downhill thumping type of linebacker. I
Speaker 1: saw two names on the free agency list. One is
Speaker 1: a familiar face. First, well, I guess both of more.
Speaker 1: Denzel Perriman played his college ball here in Miami and
Speaker 1: he's an elite two down round stuffer. And then I
Speaker 1: put Ray Kawen McMillan on the list beca because he
Speaker 1: kind of got beat out last year by Landon Roberts.
Speaker 1: The organization traded him in that contract year allowed him
Speaker 1: to go play some more get some more playing time.
Speaker 1: So Perriman McMillan my two linebacker choices. What say you?
Speaker 1: We know what, Travis. I was pounding my fist on
Speaker 1: on the table because I wanted Perriman in his draft
Speaker 1: here because I just thought that's what the Dolphins defense
Speaker 1: needed at the time. And it may still do you know,
Speaker 1: with the departure of Van Noy, you're not sure about
Speaker 1: a land and Roberts coming back off the injury that
Speaker 1: I think that would be a pretty natural fit for
Speaker 1: the Miami Dolphins. And now with McMillan, I don't know
Speaker 1: the reason. You know, maybe he was beat out. Maybe
Speaker 1: he didn't fit what the Dolphins wanted to do in
Speaker 1: terms of uh acceleration from the position, in terms of
Speaker 1: overall coverage. But I don't know if they if they
Speaker 1: figured that out yet to this day, so he may
Speaker 1: be back in the mix. A guy like that. I
Speaker 1: was thinking along the lines of maybe a Matt Milano
Speaker 1: from from Buffalo because every time Buffalo plays and they
Speaker 1: have an extraordinary defense, I know where Milano is because
Speaker 1: I just look look for the ball and he's there,
Speaker 1: and he makes so many plays in space. He's good
Speaker 1: in coverage, he tracks down ball carriers, He's able to
Speaker 1: be a thumper around and behind the line of scrimmage.
Speaker 1: So I I put his name up there, and I
Speaker 1: don't know if the Dolphins are gonna use. They may
Speaker 1: use a high resource and free agency. Uh now that
Speaker 1: you know, linebackers kind of the forefront of the defense,
Speaker 1: and we're not going to really talk defensive back, so
Speaker 1: they may use a high resource on our Riddick from Arizona.
Speaker 1: They may go after uh Lavante David from Tampa Bay.
Speaker 1: I don't know, and I'm just looking for playmakers. I'm
Speaker 1: looking for more guys that can make more plays in
Speaker 1: and behind the line of scrimmage. I like the idea
Speaker 1: of pyramid. I like the idea of maybe rolling back.
Speaker 1: You know the pages on McMillan, But I think they
Speaker 1: have to find a guy that's proven. They have to
Speaker 1: find a guy that can meshmel would mesh well with
Speaker 1: what they want to do on defense, that speed, that's
Speaker 1: playing multiple positions and that's making plays behind the line
Speaker 1: of screaming. So that's the characteristics you're looking for, and
Speaker 1: Matt Malona checks all those boxes as well. I think.
Speaker 1: I think one of the reasons the Dolfense offense performed
Speaker 1: so well in Week two was because Matt Malana was
Speaker 1: not out there and Mike Kisiki was able to eat
Speaker 1: on backup linebackers in his absence out there. So and
Speaker 1: it weakens a division opponent too. So hey, I'll signed
Speaker 1: me up for that. I'm I'm all for that. I'm
Speaker 1: on board with that. You're right. So I think we did.
Speaker 1: I think we fixed the team and we're ready to
Speaker 1: go in one and compete for a division title. What
Speaker 1: say you, John? I sure hope. So you know, it
Speaker 1: was an exciting time last year to watch the Miami
Speaker 1: Dolphins play competitive football, and we talked we started the
Speaker 1: podcast today about you know, where we improved, where we
Speaker 1: where we thought we improved, where we can still improve.
Speaker 1: I think one of the biggest things, uh discipline was
Speaker 1: installed on this team by Brian Flores two years ago,
Speaker 1: and I think it improved because of the talent on
Speaker 1: the team improved. I think the expectation on the team improved.
Speaker 1: If that can continue that at some point that turns
Speaker 1: into a victory or two that you shouldn't have. You
Speaker 1: find ways to win by being a better team physically, mentally,
Speaker 1: all those characteristics. But the pre snapped penalties, the dumb penalties,
Speaker 1: they're gone. You haven't seen them in a couple of seasons.
Speaker 1: And it's only going to get better under this this
Speaker 1: coaching staff. So I think that that's where you if
Speaker 1: you can get the talent, if you can improve the
Speaker 1: way the roster went from year one of Brian Floors
Speaker 1: to year two, and it gets that much better in
Speaker 1: year three, and you instill that discipline and that continues
Speaker 1: to grow this team. His team is on the right path. Absolutely.
Speaker 1: I love that way. To close the podcast. You're talking
Speaker 1: about the discipline, the lack of penalties in the league
Speaker 1: that we talked about already. Two or three players a
Speaker 1: game sometimes decide the victor and the loser. So those
Speaker 1: add up so much. And I'll go ahead and close
Speaker 1: with this thought that this team found multiple ways to
Speaker 1: win football games last year. You continue to add to
Speaker 1: that tool belt. Maybe we add the explosive element to
Speaker 1: the offense where when we need to go score thirty
Speaker 1: five points and hit vertical passing plays. We can do that.
Speaker 1: If we have to win on defense, we can do that.
Speaker 1: If we have to run for two yards against the
Speaker 1: Patriots last year, we can do that too. So finding
Speaker 1: multiple ways to win the game. I think we said
Speaker 1: it all here, John, that's gonna do it for me.
Speaker 1: You got anything else here for me? That's it man.
Speaker 1: I I just now that I know you play golf.
Speaker 1: When you come back down, we gotta go. Let's do it.
Speaker 1: Let's let's book that. I should be down sometime in
Speaker 1: the spring. We'll find out more. I mentioned before you
Speaker 1: came on the podcast. Here, My my wife and I
Speaker 1: are house shopping right now, so hopefully we'll get that
Speaker 1: taken care off. We get down there and have some
Speaker 1: free time before the craziness starts in August with training camp.
Speaker 1: John Well, I look forward to being with you again,
Speaker 1: you know after free agency and as we have the
Speaker 1: run up to the draft. Always enjoy uh sharing our
Speaker 1: football thoughts. That's that's great. Absolutely look forward to working
Speaker 1: with you more here and getting some some film breakdown,
Speaker 1: some football talk, and more stuff like that with your
Speaker 1: Miami Dolphins. John can Jemmy, the co host of the
Speaker 1: Audible podcast. John, thanks as always, my friend, you got
Speaker 1: it Dvis, and away he goes. How much fun was
Speaker 1: that podcast? Breaking down some of the off season activity
Speaker 1: we can expect here in the coming weeks and the
Speaker 1: coming months over the draft and free agency. It should
Speaker 1: be a lot of fun. As for my time on
Speaker 1: this double dip edition of the Drive Time podcast, that
Speaker 1: is going to be my time you all. Please be
Speaker 1: sure to subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcast, Leave
Speaker 1: us a rating, leave us a review, give me a
Speaker 1: follow on Twitter. It's at Wingfield, NFL. You can follow
Speaker 1: the team at Miami Dolphins. Check out the Fish Tank
Speaker 1: and the Audible podcast, and of course Miami Dolphins dot com.
Speaker 1: And until next time, fins up.