Speaker 1: Do on the move, going deep speedways, Peas do Peas
Speaker 1: From the Baptist Health Studios inside the Baptist Health Training Complex.
Speaker 2: This is Drivetime with Travis Wingfield.
Speaker 1: He's my hands in the playoffs.
Speaker 3: What is up, Dolph fans, and welcome to the Draft
Speaker 3: Time Podcast. I am your host, Travis wing Photo. On
Speaker 3: today's episode, the last of the positional previews for the
Speaker 3: twenty twenty four NFL Draft, Ryan Roberts and Ryan Fowler
Speaker 3: to Ryan's two positions, joining us to take us through
Speaker 3: the tight ends and linebackers. Here for our final edition
Speaker 3: of Draft positional Previews from the Baptist Health Studios inside
Speaker 3: the Baptist Health Training Complex.
Speaker 4: This is.
Speaker 2: The Draft Time Podcast.
Speaker 1: Bye daff Is.
Speaker 2: First, let's get.
Speaker 3: To my first guest today, Ryan Roberts. Joined today by
Speaker 3: a man who wears many many hats, but I feel
Speaker 3: like the best way to introduce you to him is
Speaker 3: by his Twitter handle at Rise and Draft From Rise
Speaker 3: and Draft Scouting and the NFL Prospects Podcast, Ryan Roberts, Ryan,
Speaker 3: what is up?
Speaker 4: Man?
Speaker 5: I now much draft? It's not much man, We're I mean,
Speaker 5: what do we nine days away from the draft or
Speaker 5: something like that. When we're recording, so it's a fun
Speaker 5: time of the year, man, all the rumor mail and
Speaker 5: everyone freaking out, and just kind of get to sit
Speaker 5: back and kind of decipher the landscape a little bit.
Speaker 3: Yeah again, and see how the sausage just made behind
Speaker 3: the scenes a little bit. We record this podcast well
Speaker 3: ahead of when it comes out. The draft is actually
Speaker 3: this week when you hear the podcast. But today Peter
Speaker 3: Schrager's mock draft came out.
Speaker 2: That's bat host.
Speaker 3: You know, I should have told you that ahead of
Speaker 3: the podcast, but not a big deal the fans know.
Speaker 3: But Peter Schrager's podcast mock Draft drop today and that
Speaker 3: was pretty interesting to get a look at that because
Speaker 3: he is usually pretty accurate with that stuff because he
Speaker 3: doesn't really he goes off what he hears, not what
Speaker 3: he thinks.
Speaker 2: Right, So good stuff there.
Speaker 3: But we have Ryan on today to talk about this
Speaker 3: linebacker class, and before you do that, we have to
Speaker 3: get to the kind of the snapshot of the room
Speaker 3: as it is in Miami right now, and it's it's
Speaker 3: kind of undergone a remake. Here gone is longtime veteran
Speaker 3: Jerome Baker, I mean, twenty eighteen, doesn't something like that
Speaker 3: long ago, but it's a long time in football years.
Speaker 3: That's when he got drafted and now he's in Seattle.
Speaker 3: And in from Seattle is Jordan Brooks, who I just
Speaker 3: his tape has been some of my favorite to watch
Speaker 3: the entire offseason. You also get Anthony Walker junior to
Speaker 3: a room that already had David Long and Duke Riley.
Speaker 2: And Duke played a.
Speaker 3: Lot on defense last year but mostly has been a
Speaker 3: special team's ace in his career. So before we assess
Speaker 3: the class, let's assess the room here. What do you
Speaker 3: think of this Dolphins really over two years entirely remade
Speaker 3: linebacker room.
Speaker 5: Ryan, I mean, it's been a I mean, it feels
Speaker 5: like forever ago now that we had to watch the
Speaker 5: Landon Roberts and those types of kind of work in
Speaker 5: the middle right, and it was obviously a very hit
Speaker 5: or miss group, you know, a couple of years ago specifically,
Speaker 5: but I really liked the pulse of the room honestly,
Speaker 5: you know, I mean it's getting at Jordan Brooks because
Speaker 5: I mean I was just thinking back to Jordan Brooks
Speaker 5: when he came out of Texas Tech, and he.
Speaker 2: Was such a such a.
Speaker 5: Weird prospect at the time, right because Texas Tech held
Speaker 5: kind of used kind of him in a very niche role,
Speaker 5: and then he comes to Seattle and they utilize kind
Speaker 5: of the diverse skill set that he has. You know,
Speaker 5: he has ranged from the middle. He's a guy that
Speaker 5: can be an attack style downhill player. He kind of
Speaker 5: has that body type where he can play, you know,
Speaker 5: true inside linebacker. He can play, you know, coming up
Speaker 5: on the edge at times if you need him to,
Speaker 5: and like some underfronts, like he's very versatile weapon. I think,
Speaker 5: going along with a guy that's a bit undersized and
Speaker 5: David Long obviously, but then you also have Anthony Walker
Speaker 5: and you mentioned Duke Riley that are you know, that
Speaker 5: depth of this linebacker room I think is the biggest
Speaker 5: difference that we saw from a couple of years ago
Speaker 5: in quality depth more than anything. Right, Like, this room
Speaker 5: I think is really you said it yourself, it's been
Speaker 5: remade the last couple of years and under Anthony Weaver.
Speaker 5: I'm really interested to see how the middle of this
Speaker 5: defense really functions because it's it's a position that definitely
Speaker 5: needed an upgrade the last couple of years.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's been a common theme in these these draft
Speaker 3: preview podcasts have done where it's like, let's talk about
Speaker 3: Anthonyvers defense, but we don't really know what to expect.
Speaker 3: There's there's ideas and more souls of like little evidence
Speaker 3: you have along the way, but you don't truly know
Speaker 3: what it's going to look like until he gets a
Speaker 3: year or two under his belt. Call on the Defense,
Speaker 3: and you mentioned something there about the undersized nature of
Speaker 3: the rum.
Speaker 2: I've been wanting to ask.
Speaker 3: I like to ask all my guests, you know, kind
Speaker 3: of their process behind scouting, how things have changed, just
Speaker 3: the landscape of the industry. And that's one of the
Speaker 3: biggest ones to me is this changing of the guard.
Speaker 3: You mentioned the land the Roberts a two hundred and
Speaker 3: fifty five pound thumper, right, you know, Vontes Burfick. Those
Speaker 3: days are gone, man. Now it's two hundred and thirty pounds.
Speaker 3: Is kind of your average linebacker. And I remember those
Speaker 3: two hundred and sixty pound guys, even Donta high towers
Speaker 3: a big dude in the middle there. I'm curious what
Speaker 3: you think of the value of the small backer.
Speaker 2: This changing of the guard.
Speaker 3: But also it makes me wonder the follow up question
Speaker 3: to that, is there like a reckoning coming in the
Speaker 3: NFL where someone's going to just load up a thirteen
Speaker 3: personnel offense, maybe twenty three personnel offense and just say, Okay,
Speaker 3: put your two hundred and thirty.
Speaker 2: Pound guys out there. That's cute.
Speaker 3: We're gonna go ahead and play bully ballock. Do you
Speaker 3: do you see that happening, and just kind of tell
Speaker 3: me about the evolution of this position and what it could.
Speaker 2: Mean for the future of the NFL.
Speaker 5: I mean, I'm sure that's the change up that's coming
Speaker 5: a little bit soon, right, I mean, there's it. I
Speaker 5: feel like it's a very cyclical game, right. You know,
Speaker 5: we went from a very run heavy approach some years
Speaker 5: ago and it's turned into obviously a passing league, and
Speaker 5: I feel like we're seeing a little bit of a
Speaker 5: researcher to the run game, specifically last year.
Speaker 4: Right.
Speaker 5: So I'm sure that they were going to come to
Speaker 5: the situation where we are going to see a little
Speaker 5: bit more of the heavy personnel offensively to take advantage
Speaker 5: of the size that the size, the size, you know,
Speaker 5: the the advantage that you have pertinence to the size
Speaker 5: on the second level that teams are putting out there now.
Speaker 5: So I'm sure that it's going to change a little
Speaker 5: bit at time, you know, within the next few years,
Speaker 5: within some time. I would say that for me, I
Speaker 5: used to be a big stickler when I first started
Speaker 5: scouting of the body types at different positions, right, So
Speaker 5: you would always think about Mike, Will Sam, you know,
Speaker 5: what did their body types look like? You know, Sam,
Speaker 5: obviously you want a little bit more size guys that
Speaker 5: can come up on the line of scrimmage set an
Speaker 5: edge middle linebacker. You're talking about those two hundred and
Speaker 5: fifty five pound thumpers, which used to be the additional
Speaker 5: sense and then it used to be more of the sleek,
Speaker 5: lightly built backers that would work in pursuit a ton,
Speaker 5: you know, as the will linebacker. Well, it's kind of changed,
Speaker 5: you know, over the last couple of years. The archetype
Speaker 5: is now fast expel sideline, the sideline on the inside
Speaker 5: at both Mike and Will. So I think there's still
Speaker 5: a requisite amount of you need to be able to
Speaker 5: fill an inside gap, and you need to be able
Speaker 5: to have gap integrity, and you need to be smart,
Speaker 5: and you need to be able to decide quickly. But
Speaker 5: I think there's still a requisite amount especially the mic position,
Speaker 5: but overall it's definitely changed. I was because I'm a
Speaker 5: purist when it comes to film. You know, I'm not
Speaker 5: a huge analytics guy. I use analytics mostly to just
Speaker 5: kind of verify what my I see. But I had
Speaker 5: talked to an analytics heavy guy like two years ago,
Speaker 5: and he had kind of showed me the changing of
Speaker 5: the linebacker position over the last couple of years. And
Speaker 5: it was a comparison of like Pro Bowls or All Pros.
Speaker 5: I forget what it was, but it had showed that
Speaker 5: the linebacker position is getting smaller. I mean, and I
Speaker 5: think you knew it by watching the game over the
Speaker 5: last few years, but just kind of seeing the data
Speaker 5: in front of you a little bit, it is it
Speaker 5: is pretty eye opening, you know what I mean, It
Speaker 5: really is. So I think for now it has changed
Speaker 5: as far as I think that the inside linebacker position
Speaker 5: has become a little bit more interchangeable. You need mics
Speaker 5: now that when you're gonna get out leverage, when there's
Speaker 5: gonna be a trade or a mote, you need guys
Speaker 5: that can work in pursuit. They're just not a b
Speaker 5: gap to be gap players anymore. They get the gap
Speaker 5: you know, see gap the sea up. They are guys
Speaker 5: that you need to play off the tackle then you
Speaker 5: do need to range the sideline. So I think more
Speaker 5: than anything, the I think the line between Mike linebacker
Speaker 5: will linebacker has gotten blurred a whole lot more, and
Speaker 5: the same linebacker is kind of gone obsolete thing. Yeah,
Speaker 5: I mean like that we're seeing now, you know, teams
Speaker 5: play so much heavy in the sub package. It's like
Speaker 5: the same linebercker doesn't really have a big pertinence in
Speaker 5: NFL defenses anymore. You know, it's a very part time
Speaker 5: player at this point. So I think it's just a
Speaker 5: line that's been blurred a little bit and the position
Speaker 5: has obviously gotten smaller last few years.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it kind of seems like that new line of demarcation,
Speaker 3: if you will, is like between edge and linebacker, Like
Speaker 3: you're either edge or your linebacker that plays Bowl spots there.
Speaker 3: And when you mentioned like the days of all the
Speaker 3: Sam will Mike like it brings you back to like
Speaker 3: my early Madden days to age myself a little bit,
Speaker 3: and like my first thought for a Dolphins fan out
Speaker 3: there was like CoA Mesi, the former second round pick
Speaker 3: out of Utah who was like a two hundred and
Speaker 3: sixty five pounds banger off that sam backer spot versus
Speaker 3: like what we had Jerome Baker Isbrookie year. He was
Speaker 3: a Will linebacker who was like forty pounds ler than that.
Speaker 3: So that's a kind of I guess, a way to
Speaker 3: put all of that into a Dolphins lens for you
Speaker 3: fans out there. And with that in mind, let's go
Speaker 3: ahead and pivot now to this year's draft class, because
Speaker 3: and Ryan, some of these groups required me to phrase
Speaker 3: these questions this way. I've done it with the safety class.
Speaker 3: I believe that the tight end class might fall the
Speaker 3: same way. Maybe the interior offensive line. I don't think
Speaker 3: we'll see a linebacker go off the board before twenty one.
Speaker 3: I imagine you feel the same way if you do. Though,
Speaker 3: who do you have as the top off ball linebacker
Speaker 3: and where do you think his range begins in that
Speaker 3: kind of first round second round window?
Speaker 5: Yeah, I don't think it's a first round window on
Speaker 5: the second level today, because I really think that this
Speaker 5: twenty twenty four class is one that has some high
Speaker 5: upside players, right, Like, there's a lot of athletic traits
Speaker 5: that gets super excited about between like seven to eight
Speaker 5: of these guys, I would even say, but it's just
Speaker 5: that the floor you know that these guys are bringing
Speaker 5: to the table. Each one of them has something that
Speaker 5: kind of makes you have pause for a second. Know
Speaker 5: whether it is a Peyton Wilson with the injury background
Speaker 5: or a couple guys that haven't played a ton of football,
Speaker 5: or the eye discipline on the second level, you know
Speaker 5: the impact that they have in traditional coverage and on
Speaker 5: those reps. So I think that there was a little
Speaker 5: bit of just kind of some things that are just
Speaker 5: kind of holding some guys back as far as being
Speaker 5: premiere Day one players. But for me right now, like
Speaker 5: I have Junior Colson as my top guy out of Michigan,
Speaker 5: I'm in love with the guy's film. I really am.
Speaker 5: I mean quietly was the leading tackler for a Michigan
Speaker 5: defense that was stellar the last two years. Obviously won
Speaker 5: a national championship this year, but he is that guy
Speaker 5: Travis for me, Like you want to about blurring lines.
Speaker 5: This kid, if we were still playing the traditional four
Speaker 5: to three base all the time, he could play Mike,
Speaker 5: he can play Will, he could play Sam. He's got
Speaker 5: enough length to play Sam, enough physicality, he's got the
Speaker 5: MIC traits, and then he's got the pursuit speed as well.
Speaker 5: I know he ended up not testing at the Combine,
Speaker 5: but he was a guy that coming out of high
Speaker 5: school was a verified like four or five something in
Speaker 5: the forties. So, like, this is a really athletic kid,
Speaker 5: very explosive, been tight areas. I think for me, his
Speaker 5: range starts probably early second rounds, Like, I wouldn't be
Speaker 5: shocked if he goes thirty three. It wouldn't be shocked
Speaker 5: to be. I think he ends up being a top
Speaker 5: forty five player in this class though, because I think
Speaker 5: that he really brings those traits where when we're talking
Speaker 5: about lines getting blurred on the second level doesn't really
Speaker 5: it doesn't really matter how you label this kid, right Like,
Speaker 5: you can call him a Mic, you can call him
Speaker 5: a William, you can call him a Sam even if
Speaker 5: you want at times, but either way, this kid is
Speaker 5: a dynamic SICCT level defender. I think that athleticism, that physicality,
Speaker 5: and the experience playing at a place like Michigan that
Speaker 5: has had a lot of great defensive minds controlling that
Speaker 5: defense last couple of years. I think all those things
Speaker 5: lead to Junior Colson being a pretty good plus starter
Speaker 5: pretty early on in his career.
Speaker 3: He's the kind of guy that I agree with you.
Speaker 3: I love his tape, I love his game. I just
Speaker 3: don't think he's in the Dolphins cards.
Speaker 4: Well.
Speaker 3: I mean, I've been saying this every podcast, Like the
Speaker 3: minute you say something for sure, you're going to be
Speaker 3: wrong about it. That's how the draft goes. So I
Speaker 3: will never ever one percent rubber stamp something. But given
Speaker 3: David Long's production a year ago, and if they think
Speaker 3: of him in the building, given Jordan Brooks in a
Speaker 3: multi year contract, Anthony Walker, I just don't see it
Speaker 3: happening in that first forty picks. And it sounds like
Speaker 3: that's where you think Junior Colson goes. So I imagine
Speaker 3: that's not in the cards. I almost felt like it
Speaker 3: picked fifty five, it's almost not in the cards as well.
Speaker 3: But again, never say for certain. So whether it's at
Speaker 3: that fifty fifth pick, tell me about a couple of
Speaker 3: guys that you think could be in play there. But
Speaker 3: also if you can, just for the sake of the
Speaker 3: fact that, like like I'm talking about, I just don't
Speaker 3: think it happens. But we'll see beyond that, if the
Speaker 3: Dolphins were a trade back because they don't have a
Speaker 3: pick between fifty five and one fifty eight, if they
Speaker 3: move back and get an extra pick, give me some
Speaker 3: guys in that kind of third fourth round range like
Speaker 3: there in addition to who could be there at fifty
Speaker 3: five if you don't.
Speaker 5: Mind, Yeah, absolutely, I think for fifty five there's a
Speaker 5: couple names that I think will at least be in
Speaker 5: play for a team, you know, if they were linebacker centric,
Speaker 5: good team that would need that position. One's Peyton Wilson
Speaker 5: out of Vanci State, who full transparency. He is probably
Speaker 5: my favorite linebacker in this class, just strictly what he
Speaker 5: puts on the fields. He's got a very unique body type. Tall,
Speaker 5: little bit lanky right now, but he's continue to put
Speaker 5: on good weight, but he's got a little bit of
Speaker 5: shorter arm length, which is kind of an interesting body.
Speaker 5: Just overall. He reminds me a lot of like for
Speaker 5: a just player comp though, he reminds me of Kiko Alonso,
Speaker 5: And I say, like the good Kiko Alonso, right though,
Speaker 5: because I think we remember the bad Kiko the last
Speaker 5: couple of years of his career. But like early Kiko
Speaker 5: before the injuries started taking its toll. He was a
Speaker 5: good player man, and he again had that length and
Speaker 5: that ability in the passing game that made him a
Speaker 5: really valuable commodity. I mean, this kid's an even more
Speaker 5: gift to that athlete than what Kiko was coming out
Speaker 5: of Oregon. I mean, Peyton ran four four to three
Speaker 5: at the combine at six foot four plus at two
Speaker 5: hundred and thirty seven pounds. He is a very impressive
Speaker 5: athlete on the second level. Could play sideline, the sideline,
Speaker 5: He has a really good range on the second level
Speaker 5: if we're talking about a guy that's just gonna work inside
Speaker 5: out to the sideline, like he can track some guys
Speaker 5: down working to the edge. I really like Peyton a lot.
Speaker 5: The biggest question about Peyton and why even fifty five
Speaker 5: might be a little bit early for him, is the
Speaker 5: injuries that we have to kind of get through, right.
Speaker 5: I mean, he's had multiple ACL tears in the past.
Speaker 5: He's had multiple season ending shoulder injuries in the past
Speaker 5: as well. A linebacker would badge is a pretty scary
Speaker 5: thing even in the modern day, you know, if how
Speaker 5: teams play defense. So but I really like him a lot.
Speaker 5: I think that his film is tremendous. I think that
Speaker 5: he has upside. It's just going to be about the medicals.
Speaker 5: What's the shelf life of him?
Speaker 4: Right?
Speaker 5: Can he potentially get to a second contract? Those questions
Speaker 5: I don't have the answer to because we don't have
Speaker 5: the full medical breakdown of just what his shoulders look like,
Speaker 5: you know, what the lower body looks like. But on film,
Speaker 5: fantastic player and the other guy that I think the
Speaker 5: NFL is a little bit higher on than a lot
Speaker 5: of the media and even myself, to be honest, right,
Speaker 5: this is a little bit more predictive nature. Cedric Gray
Speaker 5: from North Carolina is a guy that I know a
Speaker 5: lot of people in around the league, like a lot.
Speaker 5: He kind of fit's a modern mold that I was
Speaker 5: talking about, right, Like, he's a pretty densely built kid,
Speaker 5: but he's athletic, really good film in coverage. On the
Speaker 5: second level, I think his eyes are pretty dang inconsistent,
Speaker 5: right Like, I don't think he consistently sees the game
Speaker 5: at a high level and just at a high speed.
Speaker 5: But if we're just on about physical traits and athleticism,
Speaker 5: Cedric Gray has a lot to bring to the table.
Speaker 5: A couple of later round guys that I really like
Speaker 5: a lot, and there's actually three guys. I don't know
Speaker 5: if I can ramble through these as quick as I can,
Speaker 5: but just to give you guys as many names as possible.
Speaker 5: My favorite watch, probably other than Peyton Wilson, A guy
Speaker 5: that I was not expecting to be a guy that
Speaker 5: I love was Tyrese Knight out of U Tip, who
Speaker 5: I think third to fifth round range is kind of
Speaker 5: what I'm hearing right now. I think he can go
Speaker 5: as early as late day two, probably more of an
Speaker 5: early day three football player. This kid is the modern
Speaker 5: linebacker that you were talking about. He saw it off
Speaker 5: just a hair over six foot. He's about two hundred
Speaker 5: two hundred thirty two undred thirty five pounds. But the
Speaker 5: kid can run very explosive short area, and I think
Speaker 5: that is he's a little bit of a guesser on
Speaker 5: the second level at times, which gives you pause. But
Speaker 5: I do think he sees the game well. I just
Speaker 5: think it's about just being consistently with his landmarks and
Speaker 5: his eyes in the run game. So Tyree Knight's a
Speaker 5: really interesting player. The U Tip that was at the
Speaker 5: Senior Bowl, Jordan McGee out of Temple. This is like
Speaker 5: a day three dart throw man. I don't like this
Speaker 5: kid's vision all the time at all. I think he's
Speaker 5: guesses a whole lot on the second level, but length
Speaker 5: athleticism can run for days at worst. Getting a special
Speaker 5: teamer here, right, like a guy that I think could
Speaker 5: be a core teamer, which has value. And then the
Speaker 5: last guy that I have covered very closely the last
Speaker 5: couple of years but is the most maddening player probably
Speaker 5: in this draft is Marris Loi Foul out of Notre Dame.
Speaker 5: Now he is talking about the blurred line again. Six
Speaker 5: foot two and a half, two hundred and thirty seven
Speaker 5: pounds two hundred and thirty nine pounds. He's been kind
Speaker 5: of fluctuated through the draft process, thirty four inch arms
Speaker 5: Notre Dame. They asked him to play on the edge
Speaker 5: a lot, and he was a subpackaged rusher, so inconsistent
Speaker 5: with what he's seeing. But the athleticism and the highs
Speaker 5: or about as high as anybody in this class. So
Speaker 5: I think if you get him in around five, round six,
Speaker 5: somewhere in that ballpark, you kind of stash him on
Speaker 5: the end of the roster. Year two, year three, you
Speaker 5: might start to get a little something out of him.
Speaker 5: Year four, he could be a starting level type of player.
Speaker 5: But I think at worse again, if we're talking about
Speaker 5: six to two plus or a little UNDERD two forty
Speaker 5: with thirty four in charms that can run, that guy's
Speaker 5: gonna at least be a special team R and at
Speaker 5: dep piece for.
Speaker 3: You, I'm glad you mentioned That's my last question for
Speaker 3: you here is about the special teams. But first, I
Speaker 3: think it's funny you mentioned that because you know, we
Speaker 3: talked a little bit off the air about athleticism versus instincts,
Speaker 3: and I just it's almost like quarterback play a lot
Speaker 3: of the time, where like, yeah, he might not move
Speaker 3: the best or have the biggest arm, but when a
Speaker 3: guy can see it and play it and feel it
Speaker 3: and just go like, I love a player like that
Speaker 3: because I feel like it just expands not just his role,
Speaker 3: but what his teammates around him can do because of
Speaker 3: that ability to see the game that quickly. So that's
Speaker 3: kind of where you get into the idea of like, well,
Speaker 3: let's take an athlete here on day three who maybe
Speaker 3: he doesn't have the reps or doesn't have the reps
Speaker 3: we like to see in terms of how he anticipates
Speaker 3: and feels things, So you kind of have that delicate balance.
Speaker 2: But you touched on.
Speaker 3: Something there and that answer that I think is perfect
Speaker 3: for My final question for you here is as a scout,
Speaker 3: when you plug on defensive tape because sometimes these guys
Speaker 3: in college, they don't play special teams, right, and that's
Speaker 3: going to be their lifeblood in the NFL for at
Speaker 3: least a couple of years, especially if they're a Day
Speaker 3: three pick when you watch, because you know, linebacker play
Speaker 3: seems to always translate to special teams, like your backup
Speaker 3: linebackers better be core teamers for the most part. When
Speaker 3: you watch them on defense and you see that tape,
Speaker 3: is it just speed like what translates from defensive tape
Speaker 3: to I think he could be pretty on special teams
Speaker 3: even though I haven't really seen him do it yet.
Speaker 5: It's a great question. I think it's gonna change a
Speaker 5: little bit now with the kickoff role change and right
Speaker 5: like more in a fitted position then just run down
Speaker 5: and run through someone's face. At this point, right Like,
Speaker 5: it's a little bit of a different layer. But I
Speaker 5: think there's three things that you look at if you're
Speaker 5: projecting the guy on special teams that hasn't played a ton.
Speaker 5: One is length, right Like, length is a big thing,
Speaker 5: and that's arm length. Obviously it improves range, you know,
Speaker 5: the tackle radiance that a guy has. Number two is
Speaker 5: just pure athleticism, the speed, the acceleration like those things
Speaker 5: I think project very favorably. And the last one is
Speaker 5: quite simple, Well, the guy is the guy physical, right Like,
Speaker 5: will he hits you know at the end of the day.
Speaker 5: Because there's a lot of guys that looked apart. They
Speaker 5: can run down on the kickoff, they can get off
Speaker 5: a block with the length they have, but then they
Speaker 5: miss tackles. They're just not a physical guy at that
Speaker 5: point of contact. So again I think, like at Maris
Speaker 5: Woifel that I just mentioned out a Notre Dame, that
Speaker 5: kid has bad vision on the second level at times
Speaker 5: and he's very inconsistent, but the one thing he'll do
Speaker 5: is he'll run and hit at the end of the day.
Speaker 4: Right.
Speaker 5: So I think physicality, ability to hit, I think length,
Speaker 5: and I think explosiveness and athleticism. Those things translate to
Speaker 5: being a good special teamer on the next level.
Speaker 3: It's a little bit of psychopath in there as well.
Speaker 3: I want to see for my special teamers, guys just
Speaker 3: run down with.
Speaker 2: Their hair on fire.
Speaker 3: Like we signed Sir Ran Neil and I'm watching his
Speaker 3: Special Teams tap. He is just a monster getting down
Speaker 3: there like he runs with reckless abandon for his own
Speaker 3: on well being. That's what you want to see on
Speaker 3: Special teams Rise and Draft Scouting, Our MP Data, College
Speaker 3: Great Arn Showcase Scout, NFL Draft Prospects Pod, and Irish
Speaker 3: Breakdown dot Com. I told you guys, you wore as
Speaker 3: many many hats, Ryan Roberts, Ryan, really appreciate your time today, man,
Speaker 3: And what are some things you're working on here? What
Speaker 3: can some folks expect from you this week? Is the
Speaker 3: draft is just a few days away now.
Speaker 5: Yeah, No, I really appreciate it, Travis. It's been great
Speaker 5: to be on. I would say for me at College
Speaker 5: Sports Wire on USA today, I'll have the last mock
Speaker 5: draft that I'm putting out, probably just a two round
Speaker 5: or just to get you guys you know a couple
Speaker 5: more names that just might sneak on too early. Day
Speaker 5: two type of conversation that'll have trades included. I've been
Speaker 5: doing team specific mocks last couple of weeks, i'one try
Speaker 5: to get to L teams, you know, kind of down
Speaker 5: the stretch of just some guys that in a full
Speaker 5: seven round mock draft perspective should be on your radar.
Speaker 5: And then at first team NFL Draft of the College Football
Speaker 5: podcast on Believe podcast Network, we'll be doing a bunch
Speaker 5: of instant breakdowns and analysis on the YouTube channel obviously
Speaker 5: on the podcast platform, so make sure you're subscribed over there,
Speaker 5: and then you'll have some inst analysis on draft day
Speaker 5: when it's finally here.
Speaker 3: Great stuff, man, I see your girl dad as well
Speaker 3: and during the draft season getting no sleep at all,
Speaker 3: so go get some sleep, man, and I appreciate your
Speaker 3: time today, man, Thank you, Thanks Travis, and away he goes.
Speaker 3: One more group to go. One more guest, Ryan Fowler
Speaker 3: on the tight Ends. That's next Draft Time podcast, your
Speaker 3: host Travis Wingfield, brought to you by Auto Nation. Bringing
Speaker 3: us home here on the twenty twenty four draft positional
Speaker 3: preview pods is Ryan Fowler talking about tight Ends today.
Speaker 3: And Ryan, first of all, thanks for joining us and
Speaker 3: how you doing man.
Speaker 4: Absolutely thanks having me on, Travis. It's a busy time
Speaker 4: of year, but ready get this thing rolling, me.
Speaker 3: Too, man, And I keep looking at all these different
Speaker 3: Dolphins acquisitions this offseason and trying to inform myself on
Speaker 3: what that might mean for the draft.
Speaker 2: And quite frankly, the.
Speaker 3: Dolphins have done a good job of kind of filling
Speaker 3: out the needs on the roster and put themselves in
Speaker 3: position to kind of just take what the best player
Speaker 3: available to.
Speaker 2: Them is at that point in the draft.
Speaker 3: And so I want to go ahead and start at
Speaker 3: this tight end group here and talk about John hu
Speaker 3: Smith because I felt that last year Miami really needed
Speaker 3: a third receiving option. And when you have a guy
Speaker 3: that can do that but also be a plus block
Speaker 3: or four you part of the screen game. I feel
Speaker 3: like it's a big acquisition for the Dolphins offense. What
Speaker 3: say you about how John new Smith changes the way
Speaker 3: the Dolphins tight end room kind of shapes up this year?
Speaker 4: Yeah, I'm right there with you. I think when you
Speaker 4: look at this Dolphins offense as far as what Mike
Speaker 4: mcganna wants to do as far as expanding team's pre
Speaker 4: snap right east west, and you see a lot of
Speaker 4: cheat of motion pre snap motion, getting three releases and
Speaker 4: mismatches at the end of the day is what you've
Speaker 4: seen from this Kyle Shanahan tree enforcing matchups, and I
Speaker 4: think that's what JOHNU. Smith is going to do extremely
Speaker 4: well for this offense, to where not only going to
Speaker 4: be able to be a friendly face right for two
Speaker 4: on those early downs or a third and five, third
Speaker 4: and six, and be able to create after the catch
Speaker 4: as well as a big bodied edition, but also be
Speaker 4: able to stretch the scene a little bit so where
Speaker 4: you're also taking eyes off of potentially you know, Tyreek
Speaker 4: Hill and Jaleen Waddle on the outside. So I really
Speaker 4: like the addition as well as you know Durham smythe
Speaker 4: is still there as that veteran understands the offense type
Speaker 4: of addition. So if you want to deploy twelve personnel
Speaker 4: and offer some unique looks in the run game as well,
Speaker 4: but also use John who potentially into the screen game
Speaker 4: or further extension of the run game. His presence is
Speaker 4: going to expand the playbook. And if you're Mike McDaniel
Speaker 4: with already the weapons that you have, you couldn't go
Speaker 4: wrong in the audition. Like John HU Smith as an
Speaker 4: experienced veteran athletic piece of the.
Speaker 5: Tight end position.
Speaker 3: You guys, see what we got Ryan on the podcast here,
Speaker 3: you just got a lot smarter about Dolphins football and
Speaker 3: the tight end position in joint. If that was some
Speaker 3: good stuff from Ryan, I want to go ahead and
Speaker 3: pivot now to the draft portion of the podcast. And yeah,
Speaker 3: you mentioned Durham Smith real quick, by the way. I
Speaker 3: just want to go ahead and mention that I wasn't
Speaker 3: trying to say, like, oh, now we have John who,
Speaker 3: like Durham, was a very productive receiver for last year
Speaker 3: and does a lot of stuff in the blocking game
Speaker 3: as well. So a big fan of what he brings
Speaker 3: to the offense. And now, like you talk about that
Speaker 3: twelve personnel package a little bit more experienced, a little
Speaker 3: bit more veteran presence there with John, Hu and Durham together.
Speaker 3: But we start in the draft class with the Georgia kid, right,
Speaker 3: where the heck else do you go? I'm so curious
Speaker 3: to hear a real Draftnicks take on him because I
Speaker 3: keep seeing, you know, social media, my own perception of
Speaker 3: what he is and the fact that he didn't work
Speaker 3: out is causing all this ruckus this last couple of
Speaker 3: weeks here heading up to the draft, which man the
Speaker 3: last week before the draft can be pretty brutal. Ryan,
Speaker 3: But my first question is where do you think he
Speaker 3: winds up? And I'm just really curious, I guess what
Speaker 3: do you make of his draft cycle season, Like, hasn't
Speaker 3: done the official testing. I'm curious how you think that
Speaker 3: could impact his market and just overall the discourse around
Speaker 3: Brock Bauers right now as we tap this podcast one
Speaker 3: week ahead of the draft.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think there's absolutely some prospect fatigue going on
Speaker 4: with Brock Powers. I raised them as well with with
Speaker 4: Joell of course from ered Aime, and even there's some
Speaker 4: with Drake May in my opinion from North Carolina. But
Speaker 4: I think when you look at Brock Bauers and microscope
Speaker 4: his skill set as far as what he's going to
Speaker 4: immediately offer for an offense. Now, for me, he's the
Speaker 4: top ten player in this class. I really don't have
Speaker 4: any prospect fatigue on him as far as what he
Speaker 4: is going to be as a flex weapon in today's
Speaker 4: day and age at the tight end position to where
Speaker 4: teams prioritize it. You look at Kyle Pitts and we're
Speaker 4: still waiting for Kyle Pitts to break out in Atlanta.
Speaker 4: Maybe he does it this year and had Zach Robinson
Speaker 4: offense there in Atlanta with Kirk Cousins slinging the ball.
Speaker 4: But what Brock Bauers is going to do is he's
Speaker 4: not going to be that atypical y tight end that
Speaker 4: we saw with Darnell Washington coming out to where he's
Speaker 4: going to blow people off the ball as a blocker,
Speaker 4: but he is going to force teams to live consistently
Speaker 4: and sub and live lighter in the box, which is
Speaker 4: ultimately going to help you run game out as well.
Speaker 4: And then he's going to be able to outrun smaller linebackers,
Speaker 4: slower linebackers and outrun safeties as well and just force
Speaker 4: attention elsewhere. And I just think his ability, his hands,
Speaker 4: the athletic profile, I think he's a sensational player. And
Speaker 4: again maybe this was ten to fifteen years ago. He's
Speaker 4: a guy that maybe goes in the second round, third round.
Speaker 4: But the way in which offenses Travis continue to evolve,
Speaker 4: you need a player like Brock to continue to expand
Speaker 4: that playbook, both as a multi phase contributor, as a
Speaker 4: blocker in the run game and in space. And if
Speaker 4: you watch that Auburn tape. I don't know if you've
Speaker 4: seen that, Travis or anybody out there has seen that tape.
Speaker 4: I'm not sure there's a prospect in this class that
Speaker 4: has better tape in one game than I saw from
Speaker 4: brock Bauers against Auburn. He was dominant in all phases.
Speaker 2: I mean, you got my attention with that, for sure.
Speaker 3: I do wonder though, I kind of get the sense
Speaker 3: he's not going to be there at twenty one.
Speaker 2: Would you agree with that?
Speaker 4: I completely agree with that, Yes, yes, pretty.
Speaker 3: I mean ten seems kind of like the breaking point
Speaker 3: there for brock Bauer. So maybe maybe getting out of
Speaker 3: your mind Dolphins fans, who the heck knows. But it
Speaker 3: is really interesting because I think the one position in
Speaker 3: this offense hasn't really seen kind of evolve into that.
Speaker 3: You know, George Kittle portion of what the Niners were
Speaker 3: there with Mike McDaniel when he was previously with Kyle
Speaker 3: Shanahan or even the last year at the Packers and
Speaker 3: a couple of times I took in the draft last
Speaker 3: year and seeing them kind of evolve in the matt
Speaker 3: lafora offense, we haven't really seen the Dolphins tight end
Speaker 3: position take off, and I would my first argument against
Speaker 3: that would be like, why would.
Speaker 2: You when you have Tyreek and Jalen? But I digress
Speaker 2: on that.
Speaker 3: So if we can add to that, if we can't
Speaker 3: have our cake and eat it too with the receivers
Speaker 3: and the tight end, I'm curious about who's next. Who
Speaker 3: do you think is that next tight end? Maybe a
Speaker 3: group of guys where do you think that run begins?
Speaker 3: And I'm just going to go ahead and put my
Speaker 3: own flavor on this. The Kansas State kid?
Speaker 2: Is it him? Because I quite like his tape a lot.
Speaker 4: I did two Travis. I'm right there with you, man.
Speaker 4: And this tight end two where they're going to come
Speaker 4: off the board?
Speaker 2: Is it JT.
Speaker 5: Sanders?
Speaker 4: Right? Jadavian Sanders from Texas? Is it Ben Senate from
Speaker 4: Kansas State? Is Eric All from Iowa? Is it Theo
Speaker 4: Johnson from Penn State? I think those names Travis in
Speaker 4: that second tier, I think is a good bet if
Speaker 4: you want to bet on the tight end two. For me,
Speaker 4: tight end two in this class is going to be
Speaker 4: Ben Sennet, the sixth sport athlete out of high school.
Speaker 4: Now you see some guys six sports, right, we played football,
Speaker 4: and basketball and football, baseball. But this guy's playing hockey,
Speaker 4: he's doing tennis, he did everything in high school. And
Speaker 4: that shows me the versatility to be a guy that
Speaker 4: can compete not only along the line of scrimmage. Is
Speaker 4: his hand in the dirt flexed out in space. Also
Speaker 4: that Kyle uscheck role that we've seen in San Francisco
Speaker 4: over the years, or what we've seen even in Miami
Speaker 4: with a guy like alec Ingold over this last few years.
Speaker 4: So I think Benson is somebody that is going to.
Speaker 5: Go high in this draft.
Speaker 4: He is not the sexiest most athletic prospect in this class.
Speaker 4: He's not, but what he does well, he does the
Speaker 4: little things well. And also I think he's just scratching
Speaker 4: the surface as a pass catcher in space to threaten
Speaker 4: the scene and create after the catch where he really
Speaker 4: turns into a two hundred and thirty pound running back
Speaker 4: in space to be able to run through guys, around guys,
Speaker 4: and go over guys if he has to.
Speaker 2: So I'm with you.
Speaker 4: I like Benson a ton, but it's really going to
Speaker 4: be interesting to where the beauty is going to be
Speaker 4: in the eye of the beholder for this tight end class.
Speaker 4: To where do you want that bigger, more physical traits
Speaker 4: type of body with THEO Johnson or Eric All or
Speaker 4: do you want that throwback type of why with a
Speaker 4: tip ryeman from Illinois at two hundred and seventy pounds
Speaker 4: that tested really well. So it's gonna be really interesting, Travis,
Speaker 4: to see where these teams go, how they value the
Speaker 4: tight end spot to where there's not a lot of
Speaker 4: guys in this class. You could say that is gonna
Speaker 4: be my tight end one. I'm maybe looking for a
Speaker 4: tight end two in this class. I think a lot
Speaker 4: of people are gonna find a lot of value here,
Speaker 4: specifically in that third round early fourth round bucket.
Speaker 3: I mean that's the Dolphins are gonna have to find
Speaker 3: a draft pick going back to to accumulate more picks,
Speaker 3: I should say, by a trade back to get into
Speaker 3: that range, because they currently don't pick between fifty five.
Speaker 2: And one fifty eight.
Speaker 3: But Man, that the Ben Sennett stuff you talked about
Speaker 3: there really intrigues me because I watched with the Senior
Speaker 3: Bowl and I thought his ability to ten and stack
Speaker 3: was pretty good. And then just the way the ball
Speaker 3: kind of like vacuums into his hands. He has those
Speaker 3: big old mits that just puts around the football and
Speaker 3: it gets it gets put away and secured in tight
Speaker 3: contested areas, which I think is a big thing for
Speaker 3: those guys to be able to control the middle of
Speaker 3: the football field from that position and additionally, you know,
Speaker 3: be the inline blockers you want them to be. But
Speaker 3: I am I'm curious to ask you a Dolphins specific
Speaker 3: question because you know you talk about durham smythe I
Speaker 3: think kind of checks the box in terms of a
Speaker 3: guy that can play a little bit of both receiver
Speaker 3: and in the running game and pass protection as well.
Speaker 3: I'm just curious if you, if you have had a
Speaker 3: chance to in your draft process studying, identify a tight
Speaker 3: end who kind of fits.
Speaker 2: That mold as far as the Dolphins want to be.
Speaker 3: A guy that can get out in space and know
Speaker 3: escort de von a Chian around the corner, and a
Speaker 3: guy that can also maybe stretch that scene a little
Speaker 3: bit and makes some big plays in the passing game.
Speaker 3: Is there one guy that you would come out of
Speaker 3: this draft and it can't be a brock Bowers, sorry
Speaker 3: to burscher bubble, you would say that guy looks like
Speaker 3: a Miami dolphin and would be a good pick for
Speaker 3: them round two, three, four, whatever it might be.
Speaker 4: I'll say this, I've fallen in love in the process
Speaker 4: with jahem Bell out of Florida State.
Speaker 2: Could come love we have.
Speaker 4: I think he's someone that at six two forty five
Speaker 4: is what he'll play at. He's a strong, physical kid.
Speaker 4: I really enjoyed watching him at the Senior Bowl as well.
Speaker 4: I mean his one on ones against the safeties down there,
Speaker 4: specifically with cam Kinchins, who did have a rough session
Speaker 4: there and Mobile unfortunately for him. I loved what I
Speaker 4: saw from Jaheem just the short area equipments, his ability
Speaker 4: along eat that's tried run past secondary defenders. I mean
Speaker 4: the acc there's talent everywhere that you're facing, and he's
Speaker 4: facing talent every single day at practice down there at
Speaker 4: Florida State and as he did as well in the
Speaker 4: SEC before he transferred. I really like Jaheen Bell in
Speaker 4: this class and I think he's versatile and I think
Speaker 4: what I when I look at Mike McDaniel's offense and
Speaker 4: the versatility he wants in the explode this fundamentally at
Speaker 4: the position to where yes, John Husmith is there, yes
Speaker 4: Terurham Smith is there, those guys are going to play.
Speaker 4: But if you need another weapon in the offense to
Speaker 4: potentially a line in the backfield, do some really unique
Speaker 4: things for you and take I specifically at the second
Speaker 4: level and move them on a guy like to him,
Speaker 4: Jeem Bell again Florida state six two two forty, a
Speaker 4: really athletic kid, really good pre draft process. I would
Speaker 4: really like in Miami. Potentially adds him in the middle rounds. Absolutely.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Going back to mobile man, I thought he really popped
Speaker 3: there as well, that he ran like a wheel route
Speaker 3: from an offset ie formation, which those don't exist anymore
Speaker 3: except for in Miami and San Francisco and Green Bay
Speaker 3: they do. But he ran that route and I was like, okay, yeah,
Speaker 3: you've got my attention now, mister Bell. So a great
Speaker 3: call there, a great minds thinking alike. I always like
Speaker 3: to end the podcast that's way on these previews, I'm
Speaker 3: telling the scout and that's you, Ryan. You can make
Speaker 3: your money here on day three or UDFA priorities, because
Speaker 3: that's where the area of scouts really shy man. They
Speaker 3: bring their suggestions to the GM, to the scouting department
Speaker 3: and try to get those guys across the goal line
Speaker 3: for their team to bring them in. Who is a
Speaker 3: late round sleeper, UDFA priority guy you're a rubber stamping
Speaker 3: and bringing to the table saying we got to sign
Speaker 3: this guy.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I'll go with one that really pops out Travis,
Speaker 4: and that's Elijah Jones, the corner from Boston College. He
Speaker 4: was also down at the Senior Bowl and he wasn't
Speaker 4: supposed to be there, and he got an invite late
Speaker 4: from Jim Naggy and his staff and he showed up
Speaker 4: and he was excellent in my opinion, and I think
Speaker 4: he's someone that's got a lot of buzz. I'm not
Speaker 4: sure he's even gonna be there in the fifth, sixth,
Speaker 4: seventh round, but I think he's someone that has risen
Speaker 4: in this process that I've just really enjoyed watching him play.
Speaker 4: But also a guy that's gotten a ton of buzz
Speaker 4: from NFL circles here these last two weeks. That's Omar Brown,
Speaker 4: nickel safety corner hybrid from Nebraska. Nebraska hasn't had a
Speaker 4: ton of attention with the NFL prospects in this preseason
Speaker 4: or excuse me, this pre draft process. And Omar's a guy, big, strong,
Speaker 4: fast kid, being a multi phase contributor playing special teams
Speaker 4: as well, and the athletic traits you know as you
Speaker 4: work towards the sixth seventh round UDFA bucket teams want
Speaker 4: to pull guys with that are projectable but have some traits,
Speaker 4: and you're taking flyers on guys as your boards begin
Speaker 4: to find so Omar Brown from Nebraska along with Elijah
Speaker 4: Jones Corner from Boston College or my two guys in.
Speaker 3: A lot of portions of this that I really like
Speaker 3: at Underscore, Ryan Fowler, Underscore, Commanding the Huddle Podcast, Pleach Report,
Speaker 3: and the Draft Network. Ryan, appreciate your time today, man,
Speaker 3: you really helped us get to know this tight end
Speaker 3: class at bit better. Happy Draft Week, man, enjoy the
Speaker 3: week of festivities and thank you again for your time, sir.
Speaker 4: Absolutely, thanks so much. Drevs And we did it.
Speaker 2: We made it.
Speaker 3: It is the end of Draft Positional Preview podcast. We'll
Speaker 3: get a Dolphin selection at some point this week, hopefully
Speaker 3: on Thursday night, maybe not, maybe the trade down and
Speaker 3: it's not until Friday night, but either way, the rest
Speaker 3: of the week it's going to be Kyle Krabs back
Speaker 3: to back episodes Tomorrow morning and Wednesday morning, Tuesday and Wednesday,
Speaker 3: two part episode reviewing the entire offseason so far, taking
Speaker 3: a look at the Dolphins Draft from our own lens
Speaker 3: obviously with the great Kyle Krabs. And then Draft Night
Speaker 3: April twenty fifth, eight o'clock at the Bayside Market on
Speaker 3: bisc Game Boulevard. Peer five myself with Seth and Juice
Speaker 3: be doing our postgame show Draft edition from that spot.
Speaker 3: We'll also have me and OJ on the panel for
Speaker 3: the Dolphins Draft party hosted by Mike Kuno, Gil and
Speaker 3: Phillips is gonna be there. We're gonna have some more
Speaker 3: Dolphins alumnis, Juice and I help them break down your
Speaker 3: twenty twenty four Miami Dolphins drafts.
Speaker 2: Don't miss any of that coming out if you are
Speaker 2: a South Florida local.
Speaker 3: In the meantime, though, that's gonna be my time you all,
Speaker 3: please be sure subscribe, rate review, follow on social at
Speaker 3: Winkle NFL. The team at Miami Dolphins. Check out the
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Speaker 3: next time.
Speaker 2: Fin's Up.
Speaker 3: Caroline and Cameron Daddy's coming home.