Speaker 1: Drive Time with Travis Wingfield begins. Now, let me check
Speaker 1: your pulse if you're not far of what is up?
Speaker 1: Dolphins And welcome to the Draft Time Podcast, part of
Speaker 1: the Miami Dolphins podcast network, covering your team, your Miami Dolphins.
Speaker 1: How's it going everybody? I am your host, Travis Wingfield.
Speaker 1: And on today's show, we're gonna welcome in Daniel oya
Speaker 1: Fuzie to get the Ravens perspective. I know he works
Speaker 1: on the Dolphins beat, but he grew up a Ravens fan.
Speaker 1: He knows that team very well. Plus we'll hear from
Speaker 1: the assistant coaches, Vic Fangio, Frank Smith, Eric Studis feeling
Speaker 1: much much more. We'll go ahead and pick the week
Speaker 1: seventeen games. Plus I have a gripe to pick with
Speaker 1: regards to the conversation around talent acquisition and the GM
Speaker 1: of the Miami Dolphins. All of that and more from
Speaker 1: the Baptist Health Studios inside the Baptist Health Training Complex.
Speaker 1: This is the Draft Time Podcast. Maie daff join me
Speaker 1: in welcoming and my guest today from the Miami Herald,
Speaker 1: Daniel oh Yafusie. And since it is Baltimore, Ravens week,
Speaker 1: we had to welcome back to the podcast Daniel O. Yafusie,
Speaker 1: formerly of the DMV, now I beat reporter for the
Speaker 1: Miami Herald. Daniel, Welcome in my man. How was your
Speaker 1: holiday season?
Speaker 2: That was cool? It was cool.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 3: I had to had to stay back home because the
Speaker 3: Dolphins played on Christmas Eve. But obviously I get to
Speaker 3: go back home for a New Year's Eve game in Baltimore.
Speaker 1: Hometown meets a current town for you in week seventeen.
Speaker 1: This has always been an intriguing matchup to me, intriguing
Speaker 1: opportunity to get other perspectives on being a sports fan
Speaker 1: who also works in sports. For me, the team I
Speaker 1: root for is the team that I cover, so it's
Speaker 1: pretty easy. But I was curious, you know, and what
Speaker 1: is journalism one on one other than being impartial and
Speaker 1: not you know, being a fan in the press box.
Speaker 1: So my question is how do you balance fandom and work,
Speaker 1: especially in a game where your two worlds kind of collide? Here?
Speaker 3: Yeah, so quick kind of background context for those who
Speaker 3: may not know, you know, I'm from the Baltimore area.
Speaker 3: You know, it's no surprise obviously I grew up a
Speaker 3: big Ravens fan and then actually got the opportunity which
Speaker 3: to have what was kind of a dream job of
Speaker 3: like you you know, to cover the Ravens from my
Speaker 3: hometown paper at Bottom or so. So I did that
Speaker 3: for two seasons before coming to Miami. And yeah, you know,
Speaker 3: you never really think about it, you know, up until
Speaker 3: the moment. You know, I had an old professor in
Speaker 3: college who asked me like, do you really want to
Speaker 3: cover your favorite team? Do you really want to do that?
Speaker 3: And I never thought about it, And you know, you
Speaker 3: do have to kind of separate it. You do have
Speaker 3: to understand that, you know, there is a line. You know,
Speaker 3: you know, I don't necessarily work for the team in
Speaker 3: that capacity, but I'm there to do a job and
Speaker 3: be a conduit to the fans. But you know, I
Speaker 3: kind of used my institutional knowledge to enhance my reporting,
Speaker 3: and now, you know, I think I've kind of leaned
Speaker 3: into it this week, you know, having so much knowledge
Speaker 3: on both these teams, so you know, you try to
Speaker 3: try to use it to your advantage.
Speaker 1: Honestly, I saw you talk about the ice Tnar gloves,
Speaker 1: not knowing that story from the background. That's one of
Speaker 1: those things that is a benefit of having known the
Speaker 1: team since you were a child, because you remember Dan
Speaker 1: Marino pitching ice Tnar Gloves in South Florida and just
Speaker 1: how funny that moment was in the Hard Knocks episode.
Speaker 1: So do you I have to imagine you go back
Speaker 1: and watch the Ravens games like pulling up game pass
Speaker 1: the next day? Do you do you go that route?
Speaker 3: So Honestly, when I first got to Miami to cover
Speaker 3: the team, you know, I definitely wanted to stay like
Speaker 3: connected to the team and you know, cover you know,
Speaker 3: watch them a little bit. But just the nature of
Speaker 3: the beast with the beat, you know, it's really tough
Speaker 3: to do that.
Speaker 4: You know.
Speaker 3: I have a former colleagues in Baltimore and some riders
Speaker 3: who you know that their their word is like no
Speaker 3: gospel to me. So I trust them and I make
Speaker 3: sure to read them the day after, but not too much.
Speaker 3: You know, if if the Dolphins are playing a night game,
Speaker 3: with the Ravens are playing a night game, maybe I'll
Speaker 3: be able to watch them, but not too much review. Honestly,
Speaker 3: just the nature of the beast with this beat just
Speaker 3: doesn't allow the time.
Speaker 1: That's because you're watching Jalen Ramsey's I'm not trying to
Speaker 1: figure out. Yeah, definitely, let's go ahead and start though
Speaker 1: here with the Ravens and the quarterback position where I
Speaker 1: always do as we get ready for this massive, massive
Speaker 1: game in the AFC. Because for Lamar, just watching his tape, Daniel,
Speaker 1: I think he's the best he's ever been from the
Speaker 1: pocket right now. But I'm curious as someone that has
Speaker 1: watched him from first snap as a rookie up till now,
Speaker 1: what have you seen in terms of the evolution of
Speaker 1: his game this season and my accuracy playing better and
Speaker 1: where do you think he has kind of grown in
Speaker 1: his game.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's really it's really crazy to watch old highlights
Speaker 3: from the twenty eighteen season and to see how he's
Speaker 3: changed physically. He's changed mentally, Like his body is different,
Speaker 3: his throwing style is a little bit different. And you know,
Speaker 3: jump fast forward to now the present day with Todd
Speaker 3: Monkin at the helm taking over for Greg Woman. You're
Speaker 3: seeing them really give him the keys to the car.
Speaker 3: You know, he really has a mastery and ownership of
Speaker 3: the offense. You're seeing him make checks at the line,
Speaker 3: and yeah, I mean with time, you know, I know
Speaker 3: that there were a lot of talks when he first
Speaker 3: entered the NFL about you know, whether he should play
Speaker 3: different positions, and obviously, you know, he stood on his
Speaker 3: grounds and he you know, he was steadfast in his
Speaker 3: belief and as Mike McDaniel alluded to it, you know,
Speaker 3: he has he's had to define to find himself. So
Speaker 3: you've seen him grow and you know, and just the
Speaker 3: mastery of the offense and how defenses want to contain
Speaker 3: him and approach him.
Speaker 1: So we talked about this with I think coach fanju
Speaker 1: on Thursday, with the addition of the weapons they have there.
Speaker 1: We'll come back to that here in a second, but
Speaker 1: I want to talk about the change in offensive corner
Speaker 1: like you mentioned, because you I have to imagine that
Speaker 1: the shift and system has maybe had a bit of
Speaker 1: an impact in terms of how he's evolved. How is
Speaker 1: the offense do you think different under Todd Monkin than
Speaker 1: it was Greg Roman?
Speaker 3: Yeah, Well, start, we have to start off with Greg
Speaker 3: Roman and how we really designed an offense in twenty
Speaker 3: nineteen around Lamar's rushing ability. And you know that scheme
Speaker 3: combined with his ability, was really what led him to
Speaker 3: be a unanimous MVP and to lead the NFL in
Speaker 3: passing touchdowns, but as time went on, defenses adjusted to that,
Speaker 3: they found a ways to kind of limit those design runs.
Speaker 3: And I think that there was such such a craving
Speaker 3: in Baltimore for them to really expand the offense, specifically
Speaker 3: the passing game, bring in some new concepts, some spacing.
Speaker 3: You know, it seemed like Lamar was kind of playing
Speaker 3: in a phone booth in the past couple of years.
Speaker 3: So I think that's one of the main things we've
Speaker 3: seen with the introduction of Todd Monkins schame like he's
Speaker 3: retained a lot of the standard gap power run schemes
Speaker 3: that has made the Raven's offense so successful, but now
Speaker 3: we're seeing more modernized passing concepts. We're seeing some space
Speaker 3: and some kind of like college s spacing in terms
Speaker 3: of the splits, so of the wide receivers and whatnot.
Speaker 3: And obviously they've they've made some changes in personnel, given
Speaker 3: him his kind of best set of receivers since he's
Speaker 3: been in the NFL, and we're seeing that with some
Speaker 3: of the success that he's happened in the passing game.
Speaker 1: I think there's there's some some lessons being learned there
Speaker 1: from the Ravens experience over the last several years because
Speaker 1: you have these great defenses, this great quarterback, these great players,
Speaker 1: but the playoffs results haven't been there. Right one and
Speaker 1: three under Lamar Jackson, they missed the playoffs. One of
Speaker 1: the years that he was in there he was injured
Speaker 1: that year, but one of the years as of being
Speaker 1: a pro for him. But it's almost like a good
Speaker 1: example for something we've learned with the Dolphins team this year,
Speaker 1: where like the Chiefs game, you know, didn't go their way,
Speaker 1: the Eagles game didn't go their way, the Buffalo game,
Speaker 1: and this whole idea of you know, not beating the
Speaker 1: teams of winning records, Like there's something to be said
Speaker 1: about overcoming the hump. And I think I think back
Speaker 1: to like his rookie year right that. I think it
Speaker 1: was the Chargers in the playoffs with Derwin James like
Speaker 1: matched him, like it was this revolutionary system they ran
Speaker 1: like dime defense every rep to handle him. And then
Speaker 1: the loss of the Titans. It feels like the Ravens
Speaker 1: have kind of taken those experiences in the past and
Speaker 1: gotten better from them. Would you agree with that now?
Speaker 2: Almost definitely?
Speaker 3: And it's gradual, you know, it's not a lot of
Speaker 3: cases where you see a team just go from nothing
Speaker 3: to on top of the world. So you know, you
Speaker 3: you learn through a lot of your experience. Mike mc
Speaker 3: daniel has talked about that, like learning from those from
Speaker 3: those losses and having those beteachable moments. I think that
Speaker 3: the Ravens have done that, and that's why we've seen
Speaker 3: the changes in the offensive scheme and we're seeing the
Speaker 3: growth from that unit.
Speaker 1: It's been fun to watch man there. I like, I know,
Speaker 1: I root for the Dolphins, but there are so many
Speaker 1: things that teams do across the league them It's like,
Speaker 1: that's fun to watch. I appreciate that. And the Ravens
Speaker 1: have been one of those teams for a long time now,
Speaker 1: and a big part of that is the other side
Speaker 1: of the football. And I don't even know where you
Speaker 1: start here because they're dominant at all levels. They have
Speaker 1: stars at every position. I was having a conversation with
Speaker 1: some of the guys in the video room and they
Speaker 1: were like, they have star players. I'm like, maybe not
Speaker 1: to the casual fan, but like Justin Mattopwueke is a star,
Speaker 1: Kyle Hamilton's a star, like Marlin Humphrey is a star.
Speaker 1: So I guess we start there with a guy who
Speaker 1: could be a bit of a swing player, guy that
Speaker 1: might not play in the game. What do you think
Speaker 1: the presence or absence of Kyle Hamilton could How could
Speaker 1: that impact this potential game?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 3: Well, I saw a tweet a couple of days ago
Speaker 3: about force multipliers the defensive side of the ball. And
Speaker 3: you know, you have the standard names, the highest whold
Speaker 3: names like Miles Garrett and and TJ.
Speaker 2: Watte.
Speaker 3: But you know, I saw a truth that also mentioned
Speaker 3: Kyle Hamilton, and he's kind of evolved into that type
Speaker 3: of player. I think he's like had an all problem
Speaker 3: to be first team All Pro type season. I just
Speaker 3: want to bring up a stat that I found from
Speaker 3: one of my colleagues, Jonas Schaeffer of the Baltimore Sun.
Speaker 3: Entering the game against the forty nine Ers, which they
Speaker 3: obviously won very handily, the Dolphins, excuse me, the Ravens
Speaker 3: had the top offense or top defense when Kyle Hamilton
Speaker 3: is on the field, you know, first in yards for
Speaker 3: play success rate. When he's off the field, you know
Speaker 3: that drops to thirty second.
Speaker 2: Wow.
Speaker 3: Wow, he has that much of a swing on this defense.
Speaker 3: And as you mentioned, it's because of the versatility and
Speaker 3: his ability to do so much on the field.
Speaker 2: You know, if you look back to that Week two.
Speaker 3: Game against the Ravens against the Dolphins, Kyle Hamilton was
Speaker 3: a rookie, he was kind of coming into his own.
Speaker 3: The Ravens really didn't know what to do with him.
Speaker 3: You know, he played a lot of safety and he
Speaker 3: was actually involved in one of the bone coverages that
Speaker 3: results in that in that late comeback. Since then, they've
Speaker 3: kind of figured out, like, we're not gonna put him
Speaker 3: in a box. We're gonna allow him allow him to
Speaker 3: succeed everywhere. So you see him line up at safety,
Speaker 3: you see him line up at nickel, which really might
Speaker 3: be his best position. You see him line up on
Speaker 3: the edge at linebacker, and he allows them to do
Speaker 3: so much. So like you can kind of run those
Speaker 3: three safety looks, but Cayle Hamilton is more of a
Speaker 3: cornerback in the slot, and then Marlon Humphrey and Brandon
Speaker 3: Stevens can do what they do. So if he's out,
Speaker 3: then you kind of have to rearrange what you're doing
Speaker 3: in the secondary. And that's why you know his knee
Speaker 3: injury is something that we're all monitoring because it really
Speaker 3: could swing with the Dolphins. How the Dolphins could attack
Speaker 3: the Ravens defense.
Speaker 1: Because he has the most snaps in the slot for
Speaker 1: the Ravens defensive backs. Nobody blitzes more than he does
Speaker 1: in that defense. So, like you said, it could change
Speaker 1: the entire structure of that defense. So the first versus
Speaker 1: thirty second ranking? Is it because he missed high with injury.
Speaker 1: He was off the field because he's a guy you
Speaker 1: probably wouldn't want to take off the field.
Speaker 3: Ever, right, Yeah, it's more so just whenever he's off
Speaker 3: the field. You know, you know, this knee injury is
Speaker 3: really the only thing that he's really dealt with. But
Speaker 3: it's just like when he's off the field, you know,
Speaker 3: you know, if he's out, you know, maybe they have
Speaker 3: to put Arthur Maller, who's you know, in the serviceable
Speaker 3: slot cornerback.
Speaker 2: But it really just changes.
Speaker 3: I mean, like Kyle Hamilton, like you said, he's gonna blitz,
Speaker 3: he's gonna cover, He's like really impactful and run support.
Speaker 3: So obviously with those those edge runs, those perimeter runs
Speaker 3: that the Dolphins like to run, he's gonna be very
Speaker 3: impactful with that if he's able to play. If not,
Speaker 3: you know, it really does change the complexion of their
Speaker 3: defense despite a lot of really good players.
Speaker 1: It kind of sounds like Jalen Ramsey in a lot
Speaker 1: of ways, how he kind of frees up the rest
Speaker 1: of the defense to do what it does, or maybe
Speaker 1: even Jevon Holland. I know there's lots of examples of
Speaker 1: that here from Miami as well, So good stuff there.
Speaker 1: But either way, with or without Kyle Hamilton, they still
Speaker 1: have that front on that defense, and like, how do
Speaker 1: the Dolphins contain that rush? Maybe a better question is
Speaker 1: how do the Dolphins stop the Ravens defense from turning
Speaker 1: this game on its head? With the splash plays we
Speaker 1: saw against a very good nine Ers offense that I
Speaker 1: think most folks were picking to just roll their way
Speaker 1: all the way to the Super Bowl over their last
Speaker 1: three games and a couple of playoff games NFC, but
Speaker 1: they ran to the Baltimore Ravens and that was not
Speaker 1: the case. There fifty four sacks, twenty six takeaways. How
Speaker 1: does Miami prevent Baltimore's defense from basically making this a
Speaker 1: non contest?
Speaker 3: Well, say, the thing that I think could work in
Speaker 3: the Dolphins favor is that they have a lot of
Speaker 3: tape that they can really reference.
Speaker 2: It's kind of a template, you know.
Speaker 3: And in recent weeks, the Ravens have played not only
Speaker 3: the forty nine Ers, but the Los Angeles Rams, who obviously,
Speaker 3: you know, they all come from the same same Shanahan styletree.
Speaker 3: You know, both those teams I think had various varying
Speaker 3: levels of success against the Ravens defense. You know, the
Speaker 3: thirty three to nineteen you know win over the forty
Speaker 3: nine Ers, I think it kind of glosses over, you know,
Speaker 3: the fact that early on in that game, the forty
Speaker 3: nunders did have success, you know, targeting in the middle
Speaker 3: of the field.
Speaker 2: They got some explosive runs with.
Speaker 3: Christian McCaffrey, and I think that that's definitely some things
Speaker 3: that Mike McDaniel and staff are going to try to
Speaker 3: key on. But when you look at some of the
Speaker 3: turnovers that they were able to force, you know, some
Speaker 3: of them were kind of unforced errors.
Speaker 2: Sometimes it was.
Speaker 3: A matter of the you know, the picture getting muddied
Speaker 3: and forcing rock Period to hold onto the ball a lot.
Speaker 3: And you know, you talk about, you know, style of quarterbacks,
Speaker 3: I guess you would say two and Rock Prairie are
Speaker 3: kind of very similar in terms of you know, anticipation
Speaker 3: and timing and whatnot. You know, so in terms of
Speaker 3: muddying the picture, sure, you know, if you know, they
Speaker 3: can find a way to you know, read post snap
Speaker 3: pre snap kind of get a clearer picture and exploit
Speaker 3: some you know, some holes in the coverage, especially the
Speaker 3: middle of the field. I think that there are yards
Speaker 3: to be gained against the Ravens defense. But it's a
Speaker 3: matter of know, when you turn over the ball, you
Speaker 3: can drive all the way down the field, but if
Speaker 3: you turn over the ball in the red zone, or
Speaker 3: if you're turning the ball over after a couple of
Speaker 3: successful uh snaps, you know, it's all or not.
Speaker 1: Why do you think this is going a little bit
Speaker 1: off script on your here? Why do you think that
Speaker 1: the Rams were able to have so much success compared
Speaker 1: to the Niners for the entirety of that game Because
Speaker 1: I went back and looked, and you know, PFF tracks
Speaker 1: gap runs versus zone runs, and the Niners are you know,
Speaker 1: the most prominent out zones outside zone team in the NFL,
Speaker 1: along with Miami. But they they didn't they didn't shift
Speaker 1: their model to more man gap, whereas the Rams were
Speaker 1: dead split fourteen apiece, fifty gap fifteen percent zone. Why
Speaker 1: do you think that the man gap scheme runs had
Speaker 1: more success against Baltimore?
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, obviously, you know, we talked about the evolution
Speaker 3: of the Shanahan style, you know, offense and you know
Speaker 3: the various you know, offshoot kind of putting their own
Speaker 3: their own print on it.
Speaker 2: So and it goes back to personnel as well.
Speaker 3: So it's like if you look at a lot of
Speaker 3: those successful runs at the fourty nine ers had, I
Speaker 3: mean they're running right behind Big Trent Williams at left tackle.
Speaker 2: It's a difference. Yeah, it definitely makes a difference.
Speaker 3: And obviously the Rams have kind of a vault over
Speaker 3: the years and the Sean McVay as well, where we've
Speaker 3: seen more inside kind of duo type runs as well.
Speaker 3: So I think it goes down to kind of personnel,
Speaker 3: but also keeping in mind what the defense does as
Speaker 3: well and doesn't do well, and trying to exploit that.
Speaker 1: Going back to a separate question I asked you earlier,
Speaker 1: this is another good example of how the NFL season
Speaker 1: is full of highs and lows, and you lose a game,
Speaker 1: and everyone thinks you stink and you can't make a
Speaker 1: possible run of the championship. With the Baltimore evens as
Speaker 1: good as they've been all year long. They're twelve and three,
Speaker 1: thanks in large part to a great quarterback in great defense.
Speaker 1: But the losses are so curious because they're teams that
Speaker 1: you would assume Baltimore would beat. But that's not how
Speaker 1: the NFL works, right, The Colts, the Steelers, and Browns.
Speaker 1: I believe at least one of those games was a
Speaker 1: backup quarterback and the Steelers game might have been as well,
Speaker 1: but I can't remember. But they wipe out the Lions,
Speaker 1: a good team, they wipe out the Seahawks, they destroy
Speaker 1: the forty nine ers. What do you think happened in
Speaker 1: those losses? Why do they lose games teams that they
Speaker 1: are clearly better than?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I feel like that's what like been the one
Speaker 3: knock on the Ravens and maybe like the past year
Speaker 3: or two. You know, there's talented as any team in
Speaker 3: the NFL, but you know they get these big leads
Speaker 3: and then all of a sudden they evaporated. You know
Speaker 3: they're there, I mean you saw it firsthand week to
Speaker 3: last year. I think that in terms of the offense,
Speaker 3: you know, they do go through some lows. They are
Speaker 3: so predicated on Lamar creating. You know, obviously they have
Speaker 3: a really good run offense, but that is kind of
Speaker 3: starts with Lamar in terms of holding linebackers and the
Speaker 3: defensive front, and then him creating with design runs the
Speaker 3: passing game. For the strides that they've made in the
Speaker 3: passing game, there are times where it is a bit
Speaker 3: disjointed and we see, you know, the it's not really
Speaker 3: the the on script plays, but the off script's kind
Speaker 3: of second plays when Lamar is running around and kind
Speaker 3: of and you'll see you'll kind of notice, if you know,
Speaker 3: I know you've watched the tape this year, Lamar is
Speaker 3: not scrambling or kind of getting out the pocket to run.
Speaker 3: He's getting out the pockets kind of reset himself and
Speaker 3: and throw the ball. But sometimes the passing offense isn't
Speaker 3: as as cohesive as you maybe like it to be
Speaker 3: you're a Ravens fan. So they do go through some
Speaker 3: lulls and then sometimes you know, the Ravens have a
Speaker 3: have a really good pass rush. But I think it's
Speaker 3: also you know, we talk so much with Miami about
Speaker 3: how rush and coverage you know, go hand in hand.
Speaker 3: So I don't think that the Ravens have a singular,
Speaker 3: like dominant presence.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 3: I know Matty Beka is having a career year, you know,
Speaker 3: eleven double digit sacks, But I don't know if they
Speaker 3: have like a singular, dominant deep pass rusher that can
Speaker 3: take over a game. So, you know, if you don't
Speaker 3: have that in key moments again kind of go back
Speaker 3: to week two, we've seen that if you don't have
Speaker 3: a guy that can kind of take over that game
Speaker 3: on the defensive front, you can be succeptible to, you know,
Speaker 3: giving up some plays, especially late in games.
Speaker 1: That's a good way to put that, because like they
Speaker 1: have so many guys that can win their matchups. But like, man,
Speaker 1: watching Micah Parsons was different last week, dude, just the
Speaker 1: way he was able to just reset the line of scrimmage.
Speaker 1: And he's so fast and so quick and so agile.
Speaker 1: But that's a good point. Even as good as yours, clown,
Speaker 1: he's having O way and Mattybiki, like you mentioned cal
Speaker 1: Van NOI I love that Calvin Noise game still due
Speaker 1: to this day, I always finished these podcasts with this question,
Speaker 1: and the past I haven't asked how the Dolphins win
Speaker 1: the game because a lot of these games have been
Speaker 1: a lopside of the fairs. But I will ask, because
Speaker 1: this is probably the biggest game of the NFL for
Speaker 1: anybody this season. The Ravens can win this game if
Speaker 1: you fill in the blank, and the Dolphins can win
Speaker 1: this game if and also fill in that blank.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'll say the Ravens can win this game if
Speaker 3: they limit explosives and hold on in the red zone.
Speaker 3: You know, again, I think that there are yards to
Speaker 3: be gained for the Dolphins offense, but you know, they
Speaker 3: have been bogged down the red zone a bit. I
Speaker 3: do think that they're gonna need to score a little
Speaker 3: bit more than than twenty two points this week, and
Speaker 3: I do think that they're gonna have to reach the
Speaker 3: end zone a couple of times. So you know, if
Speaker 3: the Ravens do force some turnovers or hold them in
Speaker 3: the red zone, you know.
Speaker 2: It can get a little bit dicey.
Speaker 3: On the other hand, I'll say the Dolphins win if
Speaker 3: their defensive front can control the line of scrimmage, and
Speaker 3: I mean in the run game.
Speaker 2: In the past, game.
Speaker 3: This defensi front has been so good against the run,
Speaker 3: and you know that's how they get into those opportunities,
Speaker 3: opportunistic third downs where you can kind of let your
Speaker 3: guys go. But this is a little more of an
Speaker 3: unconventional run game with Lamar added so on the run game.
Speaker 3: And then you know, in the past game, you know
Speaker 3: there's gonna be a lot of offscript like that's just
Speaker 3: kind of the nature of the Ravens passing offense. But
Speaker 3: you know, we just talked to Ryan Slowick about you know,
Speaker 3: rushing and trusting your guys and rusting up rushing a
Speaker 3: particular way. If they can do that and kind of
Speaker 3: limit some of those oscript plays. You know, I think
Speaker 3: that the Dolphins can get a real season defining when
Speaker 3: you know, we talked about the Dallas game being a
Speaker 3: narrative busting win, but this would be like a real
Speaker 3: defining win, you know, uh, going into the last week
Speaker 3: of the regular.
Speaker 1: Season division championship on the line here as well. Do
Speaker 1: you have a score prediction you're willing to put on
Speaker 1: the air.
Speaker 2: You don't have to. I will.
Speaker 3: I will at the results at the at the cost
Speaker 3: of you know, getting hounded on social media, and it's
Speaker 3: it's tough because I think that we talked about it.
Speaker 3: I think that the Wattle and Kyle Hamilton injuries and
Speaker 3: even Javon Holland, who's you know, been back at practice.
Speaker 2: I think that those can.
Speaker 3: Swing the game, and in just a completely different way,
Speaker 3: depending on who's available right now, just kind of the
Speaker 3: way I think the injury situation is going to shake out.
Speaker 3: I think that the Dolphins just come up just a
Speaker 3: little bit short. I'm saying Ravens twenty seven to twenty four.
Speaker 3: But I think this is a game that the Dolphins
Speaker 3: can definitely win. I think that there's a lot of
Speaker 3: matchups that Miami fans should be, you know, very optimistic about.
Speaker 1: All the content I've heard in that same range. Is
Speaker 1: going to be a close game with three points, three
Speaker 1: or four points. Whoever wins it. It's going to come
Speaker 1: down to the fine details. Daniel oya Fuzi The Miami
Speaker 1: Herald at Daniel Oyafusi on social, thank you for your
Speaker 1: time as always, and tell the people what you're working
Speaker 1: on right now.
Speaker 2: Man.
Speaker 3: Yeah, got a ton of content this weekend, how the
Speaker 3: Dolphins could stop Lamar Jackson, what this game means for
Speaker 3: the rest of the season, various updates. You know, Barry
Speaker 3: Jackson always has his nuggets as well, so definitely stay
Speaker 3: loud to the Miami Herald.
Speaker 1: Good stuff. Man, appreciate you, all right, So there he goes.
Speaker 1: Fun chat as always with Daniel. Let's go ahead and
Speaker 1: take our first break right there. Come back on the
Speaker 1: other side, and here from the assistant coaches. That's next
Speaker 1: Draft Time podcast, your host Travis Wingfield, brought to you
Speaker 1: by Auto Nation, segment number two on a Thursday. Here,
Speaker 1: let's go ahead and play some sound from Vic Fangio,
Speaker 1: who spoke a little bit about Lamar jacks in the
Speaker 1: pass rush. How do you deal with that guy? I've
Speaker 1: got three consecutive Q and a's here with Vic Fangio
Speaker 1: talking about the biggest question this week. How do you
Speaker 1: slow down Lamar Jackson?
Speaker 5: Fair share of mobile quarterbacks? Yes, then there's Lamar Jackson.
Speaker 5: You know, he's unlike anybody else. The only other player
Speaker 5: that's been like him in the last fifty years is
Speaker 5: Michael Vick, and he's a tremendous player. You know, kudos
Speaker 5: to Ozzie and Eric for picking him. You know, thirty
Speaker 5: one other teams that passed him by you know, are
Speaker 5: kicking themselves. He's really improved over the years. It's dynamic
Speaker 5: with the ball, good passer, you know, he makes their
Speaker 5: offense go the pure definition of a great quarterback.
Speaker 2: There's no one.
Speaker 5: Way to play him, you know, because if there was,
Speaker 5: everybody would do it. So you just have to mix
Speaker 5: up what you're doing and you know, and along the way.
Speaker 5: They have a hell of a run game and both
Speaker 5: from their players' ability to online tight ends and runners.
Speaker 5: But the scheme of it with Lamar at the helm
Speaker 5: makes it a difficult task. So there's a lot to
Speaker 5: prepare for, a lot to defend in this offense.
Speaker 1: I will say the jtos Holman video of Lamar Jackson's
Speaker 1: game point not a few holes I think this Dolphins
Speaker 1: defense can't exploit. So we if we get the you know,
Speaker 1: off version of Lamar and the Dolphins complicate things with
Speaker 1: him and change the picture and change what he's seeing,
Speaker 1: there's a chance you could have a slow game and
Speaker 1: if that happens, Mini can muddy things up and get
Speaker 1: themselves a victory. Let's go to the other side of
Speaker 1: the football here and talk about this Ravens defense and
Speaker 1: coach Frank Smith who was asked about the Ravens defensive
Speaker 1: evolvement from last year in the Week two game to
Speaker 1: now Here's Frank Smith.
Speaker 6: I mean, there's just like new coordinator. We were a
Speaker 6: new on, you know, new last year as well. So
Speaker 6: I think like as they've grown in their system as
Speaker 6: we have, and see guys that are really playing well together,
Speaker 6: communicating intent, like they are a very good understanding, you know,
Speaker 6: of what schematically they're trying to do, and they play
Speaker 6: very well together and their opportunistic defense and you know,
Speaker 6: obviously they've had some success in recent weeks. So for us,
Speaker 6: it's a great challenge. I mean, it's you couldn't ask
Speaker 6: for this time of year to you know, for these
Speaker 6: great games, because you know, as a competitor, you always
Speaker 6: want to face the best and be at your best.
Speaker 6: So we're really looking forward to it and be a
Speaker 6: great challenge because they have a good defense.
Speaker 1: Made a lot of content this week around adult rather
Speaker 1: Raven's safety. Kyle Hamilton had to ask the offensive coordinator
Speaker 1: what does he do to make this defense so flexible
Speaker 1: and adaptive? And we'll find out if he plays in
Speaker 1: the game on Sunday. But here's Frank Smith on what
Speaker 1: he does and why his presence is so important for.
Speaker 6: Baltimore range understanding of the system. I mean, you can
Speaker 6: tell he's he's on his details, like you can see
Speaker 6: him and the guys in back and communicate well together
Speaker 6: are really the whole defense overall. You can tell they
Speaker 6: have a very good understanding. They all know where their
Speaker 6: role is and inside of it. And I mean it's
Speaker 6: credit to their you know, coaching staff and their their program.
Speaker 6: They're a well coached team with very good players who
Speaker 6: know where they need to be when they need to
Speaker 6: be there. And you know, I just think it's you know,
Speaker 6: a challenge when you play a program like the Ravens,
Speaker 6: because you know they've been able to do it for
Speaker 6: a long time and now they have another guy who's
Speaker 6: stepping into a role and playing well. So it would
Speaker 6: be a good challenge for us to on Sunday too,
Speaker 6: you know, for us to execute what we want to do.
Speaker 1: Let's go ahead and keep this thing churning and stay
Speaker 1: on the topic of the Baltimore Evens had to ask
Speaker 1: Dolphins running backs coach Eric Studisville about those two linebackers,
Speaker 1: Patrick Queen and Rokwan Smith.
Speaker 4: I mean, they're two talented backers. You see them on tape.
Speaker 4: They run, they hit, and I think you know they're
Speaker 4: just they're really good players. But the challenge, as always is,
Speaker 4: is what we're gonna do with I mean, we know
Speaker 4: that they're gonna line up in certain spots and they're
Speaker 4: gonna be there, and it's a challenge for the front
Speaker 4: now you know, the guys up front to block them,
Speaker 4: and it's a challenge for us to find the right
Speaker 4: spot to put the ball in and to hit it
Speaker 4: downhill where we can, and to be aggressive and decisive
Speaker 4: in how we're attacking the line of screwmans.
Speaker 1: So that is the assistant coach recap here for the
Speaker 1: seventeenth time this season. We'll talk to those guys one
Speaker 1: more time next week and then again in the postseason
Speaker 1: before we get to the third and final segment and
Speaker 1: pick the week seventeen games and our last Thursday night
Speaker 1: football game of the season. Monday Night Football already come
Speaker 1: and gone. I want to talk about this because I've
Speaker 1: been thinking about this and once again, Travis scanning the
Speaker 1: social something I probably shouldn't do, but damn it, if
Speaker 1: there's anything better than watching the game for three hours,
Speaker 1: doing two hours of postgame radio with two of my
Speaker 1: best friends, coming back to the facility and drafting up
Speaker 1: a rundown, cutting audio, and recording a recap pod that
Speaker 1: takes about two more hours. If there isn't anything better
Speaker 1: after all of that than getting home, putting the kids
Speaker 1: to sleep, going out onto my porch, and enjoying some
Speaker 1: adult activities while scanning Twitter for the first time in
Speaker 1: four hours and seeing all the freezing cold takes you
Speaker 1: guys bring back up and all the brazen Dolphins fans
Speaker 1: say we told you so. National media, you know, suck it.
Speaker 1: For lack of a better term, it's my favorite part
Speaker 1: of Sunday that in the drive home with music as
Speaker 1: low as it coul possibly go. But I digress. Winning
Speaker 1: is freaking cool. But also inside of those Twitter rabbit
Speaker 1: holes I come across those accounts, You know those accounts.
Speaker 1: Tua didn't throw that deep shot to wadle flat footed
Speaker 1: on a pro day shot Justin Herbert did that and
Speaker 1: shorts and a headband that was cool, Like he's a
Speaker 1: better player obviously, or Chris career is still unproven. You
Speaker 1: have to win a playoff game to justify all of
Speaker 1: his work. You know those accounts and It made me think,
Speaker 1: and I boiled it down to just this take that
Speaker 1: as far as an executive or GM goes, their draft
Speaker 1: record should not be thought of the lens of that
Speaker 1: player good, that player bad, because there's more to a
Speaker 1: GM than drafting. And the disagreement on Chris Career's draft record,
Speaker 1: I don't understand the dichotomy there. It's pretty clear he's
Speaker 1: one of the best drafters in the National Football League.
Speaker 1: But outside of that, what determines a good draft? Like
Speaker 1: everything everything in this league, right, context needs to be applied,
Speaker 1: the context and study to understand well enough through the
Speaker 1: ebbs and flows of football that we don't flip our
Speaker 1: entire process on its head after a couple of games. Right,
Speaker 1: it's the exact same thing here. We've done the draft
Speaker 1: hit exercise. We've talked about the veteran talent acquisition, the
Speaker 1: UDFA pool. This team has conjured up over the last
Speaker 1: decade to get starters from that group. Like, I cannot
Speaker 1: fathom this idea that the offensive line was neglected. They
Speaker 1: literally signed the biggest left tackle on the market two
Speaker 1: years ago, the best interior offensive lineman on the market,
Speaker 1: and Connor Williams to Ron Armstead the first and there's
Speaker 1: a line. They joined a line full of first and
Speaker 1: second round draft picks, and they also signed Isaiah Win
Speaker 1: to a not super cheap veteran contract. They brought in
Speaker 1: Kendall Lamb, and those guys gave you basically half of
Speaker 1: a season of good tackle and guard play. They also
Speaker 1: gave Rob Jones a few years ago and one hundred
Speaker 1: thousand dollars guarantee UDFA contract. That's not neglecting the offensive line.
Speaker 1: There's probably not a position group on the entire team
Speaker 1: that has seen more investment in this team. That's kind
Speaker 1: of away from my overall point that I want to
Speaker 1: make here, and that point is this, what Chris Greer
Speaker 1: has done is he has been the GM of this
Speaker 1: team over three coaching tenures, and all he's done for
Speaker 1: those coaches, which is what I think is the ultimate
Speaker 1: test of a good GM is draft and acquire players
Speaker 1: for the coach's flavor. Now, if that coach wasn't good,
Speaker 1: then the GM can't possibly be good either, right, Because
Speaker 1: Chris Greer went from giving Adam Gase unimaginative slot wide
Speaker 1: receivers who knew his awesome scheme and valued the offensive
Speaker 1: line less than you know, less than I value. Colin
Speaker 1: Cowherd's takes, like remember that, like the offensive guard position,
Speaker 1: Oh we can just roll out Jermon bush Rod and
Speaker 1: Ted Larson be okay, Like he literally talked about that.
Speaker 1: Oh so Danny Amandola Frank Gore, those are my difference makers.
Speaker 1: Chris Greer went and got those. It was a doomed
Speaker 1: plan because Adam Gase was doomed. But you get the point, right.
Speaker 1: How about Brian Flores. He wanted size up front, a
Speaker 1: blitz happy defense man corners. So you go out and
Speaker 1: you sign Byron Jones. You go out in your draft,
Speaker 1: Brandon Jones, You go out in your draft Rake one day,
Speaker 1: but you go out in your draft Solomon Kinley, remember him?
Speaker 1: How about getting Adam Butler? Was there ever a better
Speaker 1: nose tackle for the Brian Flores defense than Adam Butler.
Speaker 1: Chris Greer just gets what his head coach wants. Now
Speaker 1: you get Mike mc daniel, who's a great head coach
Speaker 1: who values game changers, novel concept right, who wants superstars
Speaker 1: in their team.
Speaker 3: Not me.
Speaker 1: Mike McDaniel does, So Chris Greer goes out and gets
Speaker 1: him a roster full of superstars. He's got to be
Speaker 1: in the running for Executive of the Year. Deshaun Elliott,
Speaker 1: David Long, Vic Fangio, Jelen Ramsey. Are you kidding me?
Speaker 1: This defense couldn't stop a nosebleed last year and now
Speaker 1: it's fourth in the National Football League because of what
Speaker 1: we talked about all year last year. Right, the pass
Speaker 1: rush is really good, but they can't get home because
Speaker 1: the cornerback play is just not good enough because you're
Speaker 1: relying upon guys who didn't sign here to play cornerback.
Speaker 1: Key on crossing justin Bethel. I love those guys. There's
Speaker 1: a reason they haven't played corner almost ever in their
Speaker 1: career except for last year. So what do you do
Speaker 1: but go out and get Gilan Ramsey, go out and
Speaker 1: get Eli Apple, go out and draft Cam Smith who
Speaker 1: hasn't played. But you invested in that spot because you
Speaker 1: knew that if you got that position better, your pass
Speaker 1: rush would get better, because it's a damn good pass rush.
Speaker 1: So Chris Greer goes out and gets this roster full
Speaker 1: of superstars and he be in the running for Executive
Speaker 1: of the Year. And if we get the one seed,
Speaker 1: this is where I'm going to lose some of you,
Speaker 1: but we'll go with it. If you get the one seed,
Speaker 1: and let's say you lose a thirty five to thirty
Speaker 1: three game in the divisional round because a forty five
Speaker 1: yard field goal banks off the upright, Does that change
Speaker 1: the job that Chris Greer did because we missed one
Speaker 1: field goal. That's my whole point here. Having these baseline
Speaker 1: results void of context. That's how you ensure poor decision making,
Speaker 1: because if you're making choices based off of results based
Speaker 1: emotional thinking, it's not informed thinking. And you might get lucky,
Speaker 1: you might luck into a good decision, But what is
Speaker 1: the job other than getting all the information, applying context,
Speaker 1: applying knowledge and logic, and making the best decision from that.
Speaker 1: That's what this team does. That's what has produced an
Speaker 1: eleven to four football team. And if one kick goes
Speaker 1: wide in the playoffs, it doesn't change any of that.
Speaker 1: So the whole idea behind. You know, what makes a
Speaker 1: good GM, what makes a good draft, what makes a
Speaker 1: good drafter is a guy that goes out and gets
Speaker 1: what his coaches asked for. And that's exactly what Chris
Speaker 1: Greer has done. And now we have a head coach
Speaker 1: who asked for the right groceries. Chris Greer went and
Speaker 1: bought them, and now we have a coaching staff cooking
Speaker 1: up the right recipe for a delicious feast, which is
Speaker 1: Dolphins eleven and four playing for the top seed in
Speaker 1: the AFC in Week number seventeen. There you go. Let's
Speaker 1: go ahead and finish up this podcast on the other
Speaker 1: side with the Week seventeen picks. That's all Next Draft
Speaker 1: Time podcast, your host, Travis Wingfield, brought to you by
Speaker 1: Auto Nation, segment number three on a Thursday, the final
Speaker 1: TNF game of the entire football season. Before we get
Speaker 1: to that, though, I wanted to put this thought in
Speaker 1: the universe because I thought about it. Had been putting
Speaker 1: more thoughts in the podcast lately. That's what a podcast is.
Speaker 1: You like the host, you like their thoughts. They give
Speaker 1: you those thoughts, you like them, right. My thought is this,
Speaker 1: how about the MVP race? And before we do those
Speaker 1: game seventeen Week seventeen picks, how about the last couple
Speaker 1: of weeks toua. You know, we can't win a game
Speaker 1: without Tyreek Hill. Cute little espianation article that called him
Speaker 1: Rootolph the Red Nose Reindeer because nobody has ever gotten
Speaker 1: more credit for being carried by other people than Tua
Speaker 1: Tongue Bai Loa, get the out of here. I'm so
Speaker 1: sick of this because how about the fact that even
Speaker 1: though that article got written, Tua went out and diced
Speaker 1: up the number two passing defense in the NFL without
Speaker 1: Tyreek Hill, the guy that makes him right? And then
Speaker 1: how about engineering a game winning drive against the number
Speaker 1: five total defense in the NFL without Jalen Waddell and
Speaker 1: four backup offensive linemen. He's moved to number three in
Speaker 1: the MVP vote. His numbers are basically with Brock Purdy
Speaker 1: as best for any quarterback in the National Football League.
Speaker 1: And if he beats Dallas and then Baltimore here and
Speaker 1: back to back weeks, I think he has to head
Speaker 1: into Week eighteen as the favorite for the award. I'm
Speaker 1: just saying. I'm just saying. This guy was questioned, questioned
Speaker 1: by people to have eyeballs if he could be a
Speaker 1: starter in the league. Ridiculous. Week seventeen is here, and
Speaker 1: it's gonna start with the Jets and Browns. Gross. Actually,
Speaker 1: you know what, go Jets, because I wouldn't mind the
Speaker 1: opportunity for the Browns to fall back a little bit
Speaker 1: in the seeding. I wouldn't mind if things go worst
Speaker 1: case scenario and the Dolphins have to get in the
Speaker 1: wild card. I would love that five seed to go
Speaker 1: play against the Jacksonville Jaguar. So I'm rooting for the
Speaker 1: Browns in this one. Let's go ahead and cueue up
Speaker 1: the music. A horrible week last week, nine to seven.
Speaker 1: It takes us to one sixty eight to seventy two
Speaker 1: on the year, which is seventy percent on the nose.
Speaker 1: We have to get better. Hopefully it starts with a
Speaker 1: Jets upset over the Browns. I'm probably crazy for picking that,
Speaker 1: but I just think that the Jets offensive or defensive line,
Speaker 1: rather against a banged up Browns offensive line and a
Speaker 1: quarterback who doesn't really escape that well and as prone
Speaker 1: to the sack fubble, could provide some big plays with
Speaker 1: the Jets defense. Now, everything I just said applies to
Speaker 1: the Browns front against the Jets offensive line, but I
Speaker 1: got the Jets winning an ugly football game here because
Speaker 1: I think at some point Cleveland has to lose a game,
Speaker 1: as they have played five consecutive backup quarterbacks. Now in
Speaker 1: Tremor send me in with mid latest one year against
Speaker 1: the Jets. Give me the Jets over the Browns on
Speaker 1: Thursday night. On Saturday, I like the Cowboys to bounce
Speaker 1: back over the Lions, who just had their big emotional win.
Speaker 1: Cowboys and emotional loss. Typically, that's an easy pick for me.
Speaker 1: Give me Dallas in that one. Houston over Tennessee. The
Speaker 1: Texans have a chance to hang into the wild card
Speaker 1: playoffs picture here for another week and they get CJ.
Speaker 1: Stroud back. Give me Houston to win that game big.
Speaker 1: I like Chicago over Atlanta. I just don't like Atlanta
Speaker 1: at all. Who really the Colts last week? Chicago I
Speaker 1: think is probably one of the teams is gonna have
Speaker 1: that good second half and have a lot of optimism
Speaker 1: and hope heading into the offseason. Give me Chicago to
Speaker 1: win again at home against a warm weather team indoor
Speaker 1: team rather give me the If Kyle Hamilton plays, I'm
Speaker 1: picking Baltimore. If he doesn't play, I'm picking Miami. I'm
Speaker 1: just gonna put it that way for you guys. Give
Speaker 1: me New Orleans over Tampa in the who Cares game?
Speaker 1: Give me Buffalo over the Patriots. Although go Pats Philly
Speaker 1: over Arizona. I'll take Jacksonville over Carolina. Gosh, she's anybody
Speaker 1: falling in harder than the Jacksonville Jaguars the last five
Speaker 1: weeks in the season. My goodness, they were the one
Speaker 1: seed four weeks ago and I lost four games in
Speaker 1: the row. Indeed, over Las Vegas, that's actually a big one.
Speaker 1: And now that the Broncos benched Russell Wilson Vegas, if
Speaker 1: they win this game, they get Denver next week. If
Speaker 1: Vegas wins both of those games, they have a sixty
Speaker 1: eight percent chance at the seven seed. And if we
Speaker 1: win one of our final two games, we get the
Speaker 1: two seeds. So go Raiders. I would love to see
Speaker 1: Aidan O'Connell back in this building on Wildcard weekend. That's
Speaker 1: a pretty good option right there. We'll give me the
Speaker 1: Raiders to win that game over Actually, yeah, I think,
Speaker 1: of course, let's go with the Raiders. Let's flip that.
Speaker 1: I'm picking the Raiders. Niners over Commanders, that's an easy one.
Speaker 1: Seahawks over Pittsburgh. We'll see if Mason Rudolph can continue
Speaker 1: his run here. But I don't I'm not picking for it.
Speaker 1: Chiefs over the Bengals to bounce back after a tough,
Speaker 1: tough loss in the Raiders last week. I'll take the
Speaker 1: Broncos over the Chargers and another Who Cares Bowl, and
Speaker 1: then I'll take the Packers on Sunday Night over the
Speaker 1: Vikings to keep their season alive. So those are the picks.
Speaker 1: That's the podcast, that's my time Tomorrow. The Great Charles
Speaker 1: Davis will be on the call for CBS on Sunday,
Speaker 1: will join me to break down this matchup. He's always
Speaker 1: fun to talk to. We also will have the Sunday coverage. Man,
Speaker 1: I'm nervous, I'm excited, I'm everything for this game. We'll
Speaker 1: go ahead and take you through it win or lose
Speaker 1: though with the Drive Time podcast, with the postgame show,
Speaker 1: with all that stuff. So in the meantime, you all
Speaker 1: please be sure to subscribe, rate, review the show, Go
Speaker 1: ahead and follow me on social at Wingfold NFL. Follow
Speaker 1: the team at Miami Dolphins. Check out the fish Tank
Speaker 1: podcast with my guys Seth and Juice. Check out the
Speaker 1: YouTube channel for media availabilities, Dolphins Today, and so much more,
Speaker 1: and last but not least, Miami Dolphins dot Com. Until
Speaker 1: next time, Finns Up, Caroline and Cameron Daddy's coming home,
Speaker 1: but you're on town, so I won't see you for
Speaker 1: a couple of days.