Speaker 1: What is up, Dolphans And welcome to the Draft Time Podcast.
Speaker 1: I am your host, Travis Wingfield. And on today's show,
Speaker 1: part two of the post draft roster Reset brings us
Speaker 1: to the defensive side of the football. I'll talk about
Speaker 1: the importance of continuity and how we could see year
Speaker 1: two of Anthony Weaver in this defense evolve and cover
Speaker 1: all the personnel from the Baptist Health studios inside the
Speaker 1: Baptist Health Training Complex. This is the Draft Time Podcast.
Speaker 1: Friday was the offense, today the defense, and we did
Speaker 1: the open on the offense and shift a little bit.
Speaker 1: Let's go ahead and do the same thing here with
Speaker 1: Anthony Weaver and the defense. And I lead off with
Speaker 1: his name for a reason, I think one of the
Speaker 1: most slept on aspects of any team right now in
Speaker 1: the National Football League. And maybe I'm just not listening
Speaker 1: to the right circles, but national media, social media, local media,
Speaker 1: I don't read a lot. That's not fair to the
Speaker 1: local media. Those guys have been really good to Anthony Weaver.
Speaker 1: But besides that, I don't read a lot about Anthony Weaver.
Speaker 1: And maybe that's because of the enigmatic head coach that
Speaker 1: he works under. Perhaps I don't know, but I want
Speaker 1: you to consider what he did last year and consider
Speaker 1: what transpired across his roster in terms of the attrition
Speaker 1: and depletion on that side of the football. I think
Speaker 1: you start with the pressure rate, well, maybe not the
Speaker 1: pressure rate, but the disruption rate, perhaps because the pressure
Speaker 1: rate wasn't great. Twenty point six percent was twenty third
Speaker 1: in the National Football leag They were twenty seventh in sacks,
Speaker 1: but you know what they were seventh and third down defense,
Speaker 1: which helped them finish fourth in total defense. And I
Speaker 1: think those numbers can be fugezi a little bit. But
Speaker 1: when you look at how the Dolphins arrived at their production,
Speaker 1: a lot of it came through scheme, understanding of the
Speaker 1: personnel on how to best get the how to get
Speaker 1: the most out of that personnel, I should say, and
Speaker 1: here's how all of that happens. So the TLDR, the
Speaker 1: too long didn't read on the scheme is you get
Speaker 1: multiple players in the front, really all of them capable
Speaker 1: of pre snap alignments at multiple positions, which allows us
Speaker 1: to introduce a simplistic blitz signal system that allows us
Speaker 1: to incorporate a plethora of rush games that every player
Speaker 1: understands from every position.
Speaker 2: Do you guys with me so far?
Speaker 1: So I can say purple, and I know that as
Speaker 1: a five technique, I am slanting across the tackle's face
Speaker 1: and that the three technique will loop around the outside.
Speaker 1: It's a stunt, basically, right. And that's not a real
Speaker 1: playbook phraseology. That's just a random note that I'm giving you.
Speaker 1: I can say lamp, there's a lamp in this room
Speaker 1: right here, or pillow, and you know on pillow that
Speaker 1: the linebacker mugs up in the a gap that off
Speaker 1: ball backer position, that the stack mic backer he mugs up,
Speaker 1: and my defensive tackle drops out on the hook zone.
Speaker 1: Everyone knows what every call means from every position. You
Speaker 1: got that, okay? And then in the secondary it's well
Speaker 1: stitched together zone coverages with very believable disguises, timely man
Speaker 1: calls and rotation to the hot receiver, paired with a
Speaker 1: league average blitz rate. But that league average blitz rate
Speaker 1: is really propped up by a very good sim pressure package,
Speaker 1: which we'll talk about here more in one second. But
Speaker 1: I think you could say, in addition to Chop Robinson,
Speaker 1: Zach Seeler and Kalais Campbell, all capitalizing on one on
Speaker 1: one situations when they got him. The thing that most
Speaker 1: directly led to a solid defense for me was Weavers
Speaker 1: defenses giving the opposing quarterback enough unique presentations to cause hesitation,
Speaker 1: which typically gets punished. You know the Rams game, the
Speaker 1: Niners game, the Texas game, Texas Texans game, and various
Speaker 1: other games against teams who didn't have quarterbacks at that level.
Speaker 1: I use those teams because Stafford Purty and CJ. Stroud
Speaker 1: are some of the best quarterbacks in the league and
Speaker 1: other quarterbacks the aide o'connells of the world when you
Speaker 1: played Jacoby Brissette in New England for example, right, But
Speaker 1: those high level teams, the quarterbacks that struggled were confused
Speaker 1: by what they saw from the Dolphins defensive presentation. Now,
Speaker 1: like any defense in modern football, there were some not
Speaker 1: so great games against Buffalo, against Green Bay, the Jets
Speaker 1: at the end of the season, and on balance, I
Speaker 1: think you could look to a few things that would
Speaker 1: suggest that pressure rate increases, which will always directly correlate
Speaker 1: to fewer points allowed.
Speaker 2: And what does that mean?
Speaker 1: That means more victories for y'all football team, And that's
Speaker 1: having the difference rather having Bradley Chubb from the jump
Speaker 1: compared to not at all last year. That's getting Jalen
Speaker 1: Phillips for more than three and a half games ideally, right,
Speaker 1: that's Chop Robinson's learning curve being vastly accelerated from where
Speaker 1: it was at this time a year ago. And just
Speaker 1: because it helps explain some of the depth issues in
Speaker 1: the front seven that you encountered. I really hate going
Speaker 1: back to this f I've mentioned his name twelve times
Speaker 1: over the last you know, nine months, Robert Paulson Shaq
Speaker 1: Barrett retiring four days before camp certainly didn't help your
Speaker 1: edge position, and he was supposed to be that Andrew
Speaker 1: Van Ginkle role. There was a split decision there, or
Speaker 1: rather a decision about how they should allocate that resource,
Speaker 1: and they went after Shaq Barrett and Andrew Van Ginkle
Speaker 1: walked him Minnesota. And if Shaq Barrett had said I'm retiring,
Speaker 1: that's probably Van Ginkle probably would still be here now.
Speaker 1: I think one of the things that drove that communication
Speaker 1: and the well tethered coverage was the presence on the
Speaker 1: back end from three very good versatile cornerbacks, which I
Speaker 1: you know, Miami had that in Ramsey and Fuller and
Speaker 1: Cohu Fuller is gone, although I do think Kendall's December
Speaker 1: really tailed off and that knee injury with that age,
Speaker 1: like you can see where the riding was on the
Speaker 1: wall there. The Ramsey situation remains up in the air,
Speaker 1: but when you got a one away player, it's tough
Speaker 1: to I guess Miles Garrett did do that same thing
Speaker 1: couple couple months ago and came back, So I don't know,
Speaker 1: but Caterkohu is coming off of, from my money, his
Speaker 1: best season. And then you've got a bunch of questions
Speaker 1: like does Cam Smith, Storm Duck, Ethan Bonner, Isaiah Johnson,
Speaker 1: Jason Matriech, Can those guys make a step? Can Jason
Speaker 1: Marshall Junior be a hit as a rookie? Is their
Speaker 1: help on the way coming? We'll talk about that on
Speaker 1: the Wednesday podcast. I believe that will be decided in time,
Speaker 1: and I can't sit here and lie to you and
Speaker 1: tell you that I'm confident that it will look better
Speaker 1: than what it was a year ago on paper. But
Speaker 1: I do tend to lean the way of trusting Anthony
Speaker 1: Weaver's vision for that side of the football, and as
Speaker 1: you get to safety. That's a group that's been totally
Speaker 1: remade too right, and an absolute needed one. In my opinion,
Speaker 1: I felt the often safety position last year was not
Speaker 1: just the worst safety group in the NFL, one of
Speaker 1: the worst safety position or one of the worst positions
Speaker 1: of any group across the entire football field in the
Speaker 1: entire league. And I felt there were context clues that
Speaker 1: forecasted a little bit of what Weavers looking for in
Speaker 1: terms of building it to match his scheme, to more
Speaker 1: reflect what his influences have taught him, you know, going
Speaker 1: back to oh my gosh, what just Romeo Crenell totally
Speaker 1: blaked on Crnell's name, or with Mike McDonald and Baltimore,
Speaker 1: And one of those things was the attachment to a
Speaker 1: number of freaky trait safeties, right and the ultimate signing
Speaker 1: of if emlafon Wu, who checks that box in a
Speaker 1: big way. So I think there's more to unferral from
Speaker 1: coach Weaver in terms of the menu of his playbook.
Speaker 1: You know, our first time, our first year with the
Speaker 1: same DC and back to back season since Josh Boyer,
Speaker 1: the first time under Mike McDaniel, he's had that a
Speaker 1: chance to start further ahead, and that's something coach talked
Speaker 1: about being very excited about on the Draft Time podcast
Speaker 1: not that long ago.
Speaker 3: I'm super excited because I felt a tangible shift last
Speaker 3: year during the season on when collectively the whole.
Speaker 2: Group got it.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and I had felt that the year previous, and
Speaker 3: to be able to start in the off season program
Speaker 3: closer to you know what I think it's all about,
Speaker 3: which is, you know, focusing on technique and fundamentals more
Speaker 3: so than anything, it just takes your whole pie of
Speaker 3: time allotment and significantly emphasizes and creates a much larger
Speaker 3: larger piece of the pie that is technique and fundamental development,
Speaker 3: which is ultimately what you want to do that continuity.
Speaker 3: I'm very excited because I think it's the perfect storm
Speaker 3: of really really liking schematically where we're at, and then
Speaker 3: guys being able to build upon something, which which is
Speaker 3: a huge That's what the off season is about.
Speaker 2: Man.
Speaker 1: The way I had to find that clip and to
Speaker 1: get it on the program here, let's just say Travis's
Speaker 1: old editing skills wouldn't have cut the mustard as it were.
Speaker 1: Let's go ahead and get into the roster here and
Speaker 1: start on the interior, where things look much different now
Speaker 1: than they did just two weeks ago. In the defensive
Speaker 1: tackle position, Zach Seeler, Kenneth Grant, Benito Jones. Although I
Speaker 1: am if I'm stacking the depth chart for my purposes,
Speaker 1: I'm going with Jordan Phillips as the third defensive tackle
Speaker 1: in Benito Jones next, then Zeke bigger Is, Matthew Dickerson,
Speaker 1: Neil Ferrell, and u DFA Alex Huntley. The way we
Speaker 1: really overcame the attrition off the edge last year was
Speaker 1: expanding the workload of a few of his best, most
Speaker 1: versatile players, which speaks positively about what he can do
Speaker 1: not just in twenty twenty five, but beyond. And this
Speaker 1: meant a probably bigger than planned workload for Kalais Campbell
Speaker 1: at six hundred steps. Zach Seeler continuing to access Goblin
Speaker 1: mode for the sixth straight year and doing it at
Speaker 1: an eighty percent workload. Aside from having an orbital bone
Speaker 1: broken that cost him the first two miss games of
Speaker 1: his career and that's all he missed, and that put
Speaker 1: more impetus on to Sean Hand and Benito Jones. So
Speaker 1: Kalayas has gone DeShawn also has gone and in their
Speaker 1: place is arguably the best defensive tackle in the draft.
Speaker 1: I think he was the best player in the draft
Speaker 1: of the position, a fifth round defensive tackle who I
Speaker 1: felt could have easily been a late Day two pick,
Speaker 1: and then another pick in the seventh round in Zeke
Speaker 1: Bigger's And let's actually discuss Zach Stealer here, because he
Speaker 1: is the straw that stirs the drink right miss two
Speaker 1: games in his career again, broken freaking Eyeball plays every
Speaker 1: position out of the five technique all the way inside,
Speaker 1: can beat NFL tackles around the edge and destroy guards
Speaker 1: in the center with premiere length, inside determination, and brute strength.
Speaker 1: He's a pivotal part of those rush games we mentioned
Speaker 1: up top. And he's a straw because he's the one
Speaker 1: that you can slot in at any of the ten
Speaker 1: plus positions across the front five tech in both ways.
Speaker 1: He also allows you to get creative in your front
Speaker 1: rotation because he can be part of any of them,
Speaker 1: and he can play sixty snaps a game. He's our
Speaker 1: justin Mattabuke, only more productive most sacks among any defensive
Speaker 1: tackle in the NFL over the last two years, elite, elite,
Speaker 1: elite player. He might be the best defensive tackle in football,
Speaker 1: and he still can't make a damn Pro Bowl.
Speaker 2: Figured that one out.
Speaker 1: Then I look at KG in a different vein as
Speaker 1: the one occupied by Kalayis. Kalais was like Zach Seeler
Speaker 1: in that he's a three technique first, but his next
Speaker 1: most frequent spot is working out towards the end. KG
Speaker 1: is a three technique who first works inside towards the
Speaker 1: zero the nose tackle position, and he is an elite
Speaker 1: interior rusher with size, power, length, heavy and aggressive hands,
Speaker 1: and light feet not just for a three hundred and
Speaker 1: forty pound man, but light feet for somebody who weighed
Speaker 1: three hundred and fifteen pounds. And speaking of the rush
Speaker 1: prowess inside, we talked about Jalen Carter, Elijah Cansei who
Speaker 1: was the third name. It was another big time monster inside.
Speaker 1: There was three guys over the last five years that
Speaker 1: had better interior Byron Murphy, better interior pass rush win
Speaker 1: rates than Kenneth Grant, and those guys were all like
Speaker 1: three hundred and fifteen, three hundred and twenty pounds. He's
Speaker 1: three forty gives you elite run defense and he's am
Speaker 1: a dominant interior pass rusher and he's got more room
Speaker 1: to grow too.
Speaker 2: But that's getting off script.
Speaker 1: I think that can be the lynchpin inside those two
Speaker 1: guys being your you know, your Zach and your Kalayas
Speaker 1: from last year. And then you get Jordan Phillips, you know,
Speaker 1: kind of a platoon player with Benito Jones on the
Speaker 1: nose tackle who can both moonlight in the three two
Speaker 1: two I technique. That's more Jordan Phillips game for my money,
Speaker 1: And make sure to check out a new episode of
Speaker 1: Dolphins HQ this week round breaking down all the rookies
Speaker 1: with one play scouting.
Speaker 2: And I have a clip of Jordan Phillips.
Speaker 1: I am very excited to show you guys about with
Speaker 1: his wrestling background and how he can win in multiple
Speaker 1: ways in the sport. I watched, you know, watching his tape,
Speaker 1: you kind of wonder why he was on the nose
Speaker 1: three hundred and twenty pounds as much as he was,
Speaker 1: But then it's like, oh, yes, because he can play
Speaker 1: that strong and you really see that wrestler background there. Man,
Speaker 1: he can hit a quarkscrew technique, which is basically where
Speaker 1: you turn your shoulder into a gap against a double team,
Speaker 1: so the attached player has a smaller target point to
Speaker 1: launch at you and can't get a clean piece of you.
Speaker 1: And as you do that, you hold the point of
Speaker 1: a against the other faction of the double team, you
Speaker 1: can drop the knee and cause the pile up. He
Speaker 1: just has a really good kinetic feel for his body
Speaker 1: and his own pliability. That position went from a big
Speaker 1: question mark in my opinion, to you know, as and
Speaker 1: we didn't know who the hell was gonna play snaps
Speaker 1: alongside Zach Steeler to one that I feel pretty good
Speaker 1: about all of a sudden, Let's go ahead and pause
Speaker 1: for our first break. Come back and do edges and linebackers.
Speaker 1: We'll finish up with the defensive backfield. All of that
Speaker 1: next Draftime podcast, your host Travis Wingfield, brought to you
Speaker 1: by It.
Speaker 2: I don't nation.
Speaker 1: So the interior of the defensive line is vastly improved.
Speaker 1: How about the outside of it? Chop Robinson, Jalen Phillips,
Speaker 1: Bradley Chubb. How do you want to stack those guys?
Speaker 1: I don't really care how you do it. I think
Speaker 1: Chubb and Phillips can be based down defenders more than
Speaker 1: Chop can. Then Chop is kind of your wild card,
Speaker 1: but he can rush for multiple spots, and I think
Speaker 1: can play the run well enough to be a seventy
Speaker 1: five percent snap taker. From there, it's kind of muddy
Speaker 1: about how you want to stack it. Quentin Bell, cam Good,
Speaker 1: Moe Kamara, Grayson Murphy, William Bradley King, and Derek MC.
Speaker 1: I think you could argue that you could use one
Speaker 1: more name in there. You're kind of fourth guy, your
Speaker 1: Shaq Barrett, if you will, because we saw Chubb and Phillips,
Speaker 1: although we didn't count on Chubb right away last year
Speaker 1: with a first round pick and Robinson with that free
Speaker 1: agent contract with Barrett, you don't really have that fourth
Speaker 1: guy right now. But we'll see what it looks like
Speaker 1: come September.
Speaker 2: What was it October?
Speaker 1: We talked about this group to the top two segments.
Speaker 1: We'll go ahead and pull the defensive tackle group in
Speaker 1: here as well. Having three and a half games total
Speaker 1: of Chubb and Phillips reminded me how much I missed
Speaker 1: what they brought to the table just against the run.
Speaker 1: Back in twenty twenty three. I remember reporting on this
Speaker 1: all throughout camp. The emphasis they would put on an
Speaker 1: individual drills, and it carried over into team and they
Speaker 1: would get this great test every single day against the
Speaker 1: best outside zone team in the league that year, and
Speaker 1: they would hold their own and they would do it
Speaker 1: against Ron Armstead and Austin Jackson and any other guys
Speaker 1: that came in their way, Kendall Lamb and from there
Speaker 1: you can consider what their return does to Seler being
Speaker 1: inside more to keeping him in there. But also we
Speaker 1: just didn't have a player like even with Kalais, we
Speaker 1: did not have a player of Kenny g's ilk.
Speaker 2: We just didn't.
Speaker 1: He's the way he moves at that size. There's not
Speaker 1: many guys in the world that look like that, And
Speaker 1: I have to imagine that that's a reason why you
Speaker 1: pass on Jaday Baron and Tyler Warren and Gray's Abel
Speaker 1: and Josh Simmons and whoever you know, whoever else you
Speaker 1: thought might be a possible pick there at number thirteen,
Speaker 1: Because there's like six of these guys on the planet.
Speaker 1: You know, they're like the rarest breed, the rarest form
Speaker 1: of football player, guys that size that move that well.
Speaker 1: Dexter Lawrence is probably the best example of that. Devandre
Speaker 1: Sweat last year a good example of that, and he
Speaker 1: was flat out dominant in Tennessee. Both those defenses run
Speaker 1: the same defense, don't we run? And yeah again, Kalais
Speaker 1: was awesome, But biggest player on the field is going
Speaker 1: to be Kenneth Grant every single Sunday. He's a better
Speaker 1: athlete than eighty percent, if not your entire offensive line.
Speaker 1: And what that can do for a defense that played
Speaker 1: in their nickel base package better than seventy five percent
Speaker 1: of the time. That's defending the run light boxes right, Well,
Speaker 1: that's why you go get a big body nose tackle again,
Speaker 1: just like the Ravens with Michael Pierce for years, three
Speaker 1: hundred and sixty pounds inside, like the Titans getting to
Speaker 1: Andre Sweat last year in another Ravens Tree defense, three
Speaker 1: hundred and sixty pounds to Andre Sweat. Extra credit. If
Speaker 1: you remember the Defensive Tackle snapload Breakdown podcast and you
Speaker 1: remember the Seahawks not having the big nose tackle on
Speaker 1: their roster, well what do they do to rectify that?
Speaker 1: They claimed Brandon Peeley, who I didn't think could play
Speaker 1: at this level, but he's a big body, and they
Speaker 1: signed Quentin Bohanna, a three hundred and thirty five pound
Speaker 1: nose tackle, So you get it. It's a universally seen
Speaker 1: as imperative role within this defense, and that's for a reason.
Speaker 1: It compensates for the loss of size you get from
Speaker 1: taking a linebacker off the field and bringing a defensive
Speaker 1: back onto the field and playing in two high structures
Speaker 1: without that extra run defender in the fit, because Kenneth
Speaker 1: Grant can basically clog two gaps and play one of
Speaker 1: your gaps as a fit.
Speaker 2: And then there's the pass USh.
Speaker 1: Jalen Phillips showed you even off the Achilles injury that
Speaker 1: he was blossoming just in the same way he was
Speaker 1: right when he got hurt against the Jets back in
Speaker 1: twenty twenty three. The speed rush, the bowl rush, the
Speaker 1: speed to power, ability to rush off the edge or
Speaker 1: from the three technique. Just a dominant player who's seen
Speaker 1: his career essentially put on pause for the last one
Speaker 1: and a half months. Can you count on that? I
Speaker 1: think that's the question you have here. But knowing JP
Speaker 1: personally and how he goes about his business, I would
Speaker 1: be stunned if he does not refine the form that
Speaker 1: he played at previously. It's just going to be about
Speaker 1: keeping the body healthy. And again, these players are forgotten
Speaker 1: about from a national perspective, Right, I'm guilty of this,
Speaker 1: Like I forgotten about TODJ. Washington last year, Right. And
Speaker 1: that's when you haven't made a play in the league,
Speaker 1: becase you're a rookie. But when you get hurt, it's
Speaker 1: easy to be forgotten about.
Speaker 2: Man.
Speaker 1: But that's just what we do. We is in the
Speaker 1: Royal We with injured players. But if JP gets back
Speaker 1: and he becomes that fifteen sack potential player, dude, that
Speaker 1: changes freaking everything. Because when you talk about this defensive
Speaker 1: backfield and the you know, lack of name power within it,
Speaker 1: you're worried about the defense. But it's like if you
Speaker 1: if Jelen Phillips is on the same track that he
Speaker 1: was when he got Hurgans the Jets, it changes the
Speaker 1: entire equation. So I think that would go a long
Speaker 1: way towards elevating the team. You can't count on it,
Speaker 1: but you can you can see it's a possibility. And
Speaker 1: we haven't even gotten to Chop Robinson yet, who I
Speaker 1: think has rare traits and makes players. You know, that's
Speaker 1: the traits that make players great. He's got them. Like
Speaker 1: the getoff, the way he developed his bend ability around
Speaker 1: the edge, his technique, his hands, giving himself outs to
Speaker 1: strike guys, you know, to not strike his chest and
Speaker 1: keep himself clean so he can rip around that corner.
Speaker 1: And we barely began to scratch the surface on bringing
Speaker 1: him over the football and the a gaps the way
Speaker 1: Penn State did as a nosebacker. We started to see
Speaker 1: it late in the year. But that's the strength of
Speaker 1: Jordan Brooks, of Willie Gay. If you Fatum LaFond again,
Speaker 1: interchangeable rush games for this defense upfront. I think that
Speaker 1: Chop is poised to make a huge jump. I think
Speaker 1: him and JP are both gonna have ten sacks this year.
Speaker 1: Is that crazy? If they both play seventeen games, both
Speaker 1: Chop and JP, you are gonna have ten sacks. Then
Speaker 1: you have an interesting battle for the depth spots. And
Speaker 1: this is where I kind of have an issue, or
Speaker 1: not an issue, but a hard time sorting how it
Speaker 1: might look. Quentin Bell, Mo Kamara, Cam Good and then
Speaker 1: my favorite dark horse on the entire roster, And right
Speaker 1: now I'm gonna slot him as the fourth come like
Speaker 1: week number five.
Speaker 2: It might not happen right away. But it's Grayce and Murphy.
Speaker 1: Murphy's gonna be a player in this league, okay, And
Speaker 1: I would stake reputation points on that. He is so
Speaker 1: dang good. He's so dang physical, and he gets hurt
Speaker 1: on the first damn series of the preseason after having
Speaker 1: a really good series in that game. His power, his rush, polish,
Speaker 1: his length, his hand usage, there's a reason he was
Speaker 1: getting pressures in sacks every damn day in camp last year,
Speaker 1: so it seemed. And then I think Quentin Bell's a
Speaker 1: really good fourth option there as well, because he can
Speaker 1: be a base down guy. Maybe Murphy's more of your
Speaker 1: rush in those situations, but Quinton does offer occasional rush.
Speaker 1: He's got very good special teams ability, He's positioned diverse,
Speaker 1: and hopefully he's pushed by all the other young guys
Speaker 1: trying to make their first impact on this roster. And
Speaker 1: I think that's a big theme on this year's team.
Speaker 1: We talked about it before. There wasn't a ton of
Speaker 1: unknown going into camp last year, and that's got its upside.
Speaker 1: It's nice to know you've got you know ballers at
Speaker 1: every spot, but I think having open competitions at some
Speaker 1: spots and across a decent amount of your roster. Foster
Speaker 1: is better football, and it also fosters an environment that
Speaker 1: can prepare you for high leverage situations. As far as
Speaker 1: the off ball linebackers go insidelnebackers, Jordan Brooks, Tyrrel Dotson,
Speaker 1: Willie Gay kJ Britt. That's how I'd stack the top
Speaker 1: four Channing Tendall, Da Kwan Jackson and Udfa Eugene Assante.
Speaker 1: I am fired up about this group. Man our front
Speaker 1: seven I think is really good. The questions are on
Speaker 1: the back end and to bring it back to the
Speaker 1: Mike McDonald tree, what have those teams traditionally? Remember the
Speaker 1: Ravens really took off in twenty twenty three after a
Speaker 1: slowish start and they capture the number one seed. Go
Speaker 1: figure is when they acquired Roquwand Smith. I think Jordan
Speaker 1: Brooks is our Roquan Smith, and you sorted to see
Speaker 1: the national media catch on last year. There were some
Speaker 1: folks talking about him as a dark horse all Pro
Speaker 1: and I think you'll see that momentum carry into this year.
Speaker 1: The leadership. You heard him talk about it last year.
Speaker 1: Just sitting down with a guy for lunch and getting
Speaker 1: to know your teammates, so you can anticipate how he'll
Speaker 1: react in the heat of battle. Did I mention he's
Speaker 1: an elite football player. He can mug up the a gaps,
Speaker 1: He can camp in a traditional stack position and defend
Speaker 1: the run in the past that way. I like him
Speaker 1: as an overhang player where he kind of hangs off
Speaker 1: the side of the formation, not stacked in the position,
Speaker 1: and can either reroute, can cover the nickel, can go
Speaker 1: to the curl flat and play the hook. It just
Speaker 1: expands his ability to have multiple options, because if you're
Speaker 1: playing the mic position, you're probably not gonna go get
Speaker 1: the curl flat over there. You're probably not gonna cover
Speaker 1: man coverage in the slot receiver. Like, there's multiple things
Speaker 1: you can do from that position when you play that overhang.
Speaker 1: I think the pieces we added really frees him up
Speaker 1: to do more of that where he doesn't have to
Speaker 1: take on blocks as much, which he can do, but
Speaker 1: when he can roam free, he's a dangerous, dangerous player
Speaker 1: where he can unlock that speed, He's terrific against the run.
Speaker 1: He has exceptional range and coverage and the blitzing this
Speaker 1: guy offers is perfect for this defense, and I feel
Speaker 1: like the rest of the room compliments his skill sets
Speaker 1: so well. Tyrel Dotson took on a leadership role down
Speaker 1: the stretch last year, and he's been a big communicator
Speaker 1: in the building the entire offseason. I think you saw
Speaker 1: the way they prioritized him this offseason, and they sniffed
Speaker 1: around Drake Greenlaw and that would be a big upgrade.
Speaker 1: But Drake Greenlaw has injury issues and has an age.
Speaker 1: You know, I think there are an age he's older.
Speaker 1: I should say, of course he has an age. But
Speaker 1: there was a certain price point. I don't think they're
Speaker 1: willing to budge on, and you can see why because
Speaker 1: he's already got an injury in Denver. But you saw
Speaker 1: them pivot immediately after that price tag got too expensive
Speaker 1: to Dotson and pay him a nice little chunk of money,
Speaker 1: which to me tells you he's gonna play a lot
Speaker 1: of football this year. And he has the playmaking chops too, right,
Speaker 1: three picks last year tied for the team league, and
Speaker 1: he has some big time play speed.
Speaker 2: Speaking of play speed, you.
Speaker 1: Heard me rave about Willy gay back in the Free
Speaker 1: Agent podcast a couple months ago, two months ago. Already,
Speaker 1: can you believe that I can't imagine a better jack
Speaker 1: of all trades fit at the linebacker position for this
Speaker 1: defense than Willy Gay. I think we've could unlock the
Speaker 1: best year of his football career, and what he signed
Speaker 1: for I don't get it, but I'll take it because
Speaker 1: I think he's a great football player. And then with
Speaker 1: kJ Britt, the way he processes the game, the physicality
Speaker 1: he plays with he is the one who I think
Speaker 1: allows you to move Brooks around in your base looks
Speaker 1: because he can be your stack mike linebacker. You know,
Speaker 1: I think first down three linebackers in the field Anthony
Speaker 1: Walker role, he's in the middle, you get Gay or
Speaker 1: Dodson with Brooks on the outside of that. I think
Speaker 1: Brooks or Britt rather is better suited for that interior position.
Speaker 1: Doesn't take false steps. He's really well studied and one
Speaker 1: of the many, many, many parts that you can see
Speaker 1: Miami making a concerted effort to get tougher, bigger, more physical, smarter.
Speaker 1: We don't need to rehash every move, but he's the
Speaker 1: closest player you have to a Landon Roberts since he
Speaker 1: left for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Speaker 2: Was it Steelers? Yeah?
Speaker 1: This room has traditionally kept four to five players, so
Speaker 1: if Tyndall, Jackson or Asante can impress, they'll usually expand
Speaker 1: the linebacker room to keep to accommodate that many players.
Speaker 1: But it's a fluid situation that could give way to
Speaker 1: a defensive back to an edge rusher.
Speaker 2: We'll see what happens.
Speaker 1: But Tindall is a guy that kind of has to
Speaker 1: kind of bring it up here towards the end to
Speaker 1: get on the roster for the fourth straight year. Let's
Speaker 1: go ahead and pause for our last break, come back
Speaker 1: and do the defensive backfield and break this entire thing down.
Speaker 1: That's Next Draft Time podcast, brought to you by Autnation.
Speaker 1: The cornerback position, Well, the room is a little bit
Speaker 1: uneven up top right now because we don't know what's
Speaker 1: gonna happen once Gilan Ramsey, but he is still here,
Speaker 1: so he is a top the list. Cater Kohu, Cam Smith,
Speaker 1: Lardi Burns, Storm Duck, Jason Marshall Junior, Ethan Bonner, Isaiah Johnson,
Speaker 1: Jason Matrie, Bump Cooper Junior, and then two udfa's Brandon
Speaker 1: Adams and Ethan Robinson. I think you have to operate
Speaker 1: under the assumption that Ramsey won't be here again. We've
Speaker 1: seen situations like this resolve themselves across the league, as
Speaker 1: recently as Miles Garrett in Cleveland, but will operate under
Speaker 1: the assumption that he's going to be traded, and that
Speaker 1: leaves some questions going into camp at the position. I
Speaker 1: thought one of the real calling cards of this defense
Speaker 1: last year was having those three interchangeable cornerbacks who can
Speaker 1: move around and excel from all three positions, thus giving
Speaker 1: you the disguise of the pre snap presentation and the
Speaker 1: ultimate mystery you provide your the opposing quarterback and your
Speaker 1: own defense with that disguise and presentation. I thought cater Co,
Speaker 1: who's played down the back half of twenty twenty four,
Speaker 1: garnered a promotion in terms of his playing time. I
Speaker 1: think he's equipped to play on the perimeter at this
Speaker 1: point of his career and a good study on how
Speaker 1: cornerbacks can evolve, because early in the year I thought
Speaker 1: he really struggled in phase to expand his zones and
Speaker 1: to play fast in those spots and anticipate, but all
Speaker 1: of that got better. I think he's a very good
Speaker 1: man cornerback that can match up all over the formation
Speaker 1: and one of the tackling corners in the entire game.
Speaker 1: If you want to throw a screen to Cato Coo,
Speaker 1: who's get prepared for a loss of yardage and then
Speaker 1: you get into the unproven. You know, Greer has talked
Speaker 1: a lot about the need for cam Smith to step forward.
Speaker 2: This year.
Speaker 1: We saw Storm Duck play as a UDFA, threw some
Speaker 1: ups and downs, and I thought there was some some
Speaker 1: rough tape towards the end of the year. Ethan Bonner
Speaker 1: had a promising rookie season, but we did not see
Speaker 1: him at all last year. And I think there are
Speaker 1: three dark horses in the room. Akin to what I
Speaker 1: said about Grayson Murphy, Lardy Burns will be a hit
Speaker 1: if big, if he's healthy. Hasn't played more than three
Speaker 1: hundred snaps since twenty eighteen, so big, big if. But
Speaker 1: the tape is good when he's been out there, especially
Speaker 1: last year, and a Mike McDonald defense, maybe he gives you,
Speaker 1: you know, a few games worth a good of good reps.
Speaker 1: At the cornerback, I think Isaiah Johnson and if they
Speaker 1: want to play more man this year, that's his calling card.
Speaker 1: He's a big, long cornerback who didn't run very well,
Speaker 1: probably why he didn't get drafted, but he is physical
Speaker 1: as hell. And then Matre will play NFL snaps at
Speaker 1: some point. I think both these guys will play NFL snaps.
Speaker 1: Matree was fantas Hassick in camp last year. I thought
Speaker 1: he had a chance to break the break camp with
Speaker 1: the team, but I think there's a chance he could
Speaker 1: do it this year. He could break camp and be
Speaker 1: your slot cornerback. Don't sleep on him, Okay, Jason Matri
Speaker 1: remember that name. I also think about Johnson randomly on
Speaker 1: the back to back reps he had last year into
Speaker 1: practice in the indoor facility when he completely clamped down
Speaker 1: two end zone shots of Tyreek Hill with his length
Speaker 1: and physicality now six' four or rather six' two versus. Five,
Speaker 1: nine yeah it's a bit of, a mismatch but you
Speaker 1: get that across the. LEAGUE sometimes i don't know a
Speaker 1: Lot about cooper or the. Two udfas we'll go ahead
Speaker 1: and keep an eye on those guys. In, OTAs ultimately
Speaker 1: i hope we find a veteran. OUT there i thought
Speaker 1: the older cornerback crop was something to stay away from,
Speaker 1: early on but now with the potential Loss of ramsey.
Speaker 1: To Me rasul douglas makes a bunch OF sense I Like.
Speaker 1: Mike hilton i'm still intrigued By A. Sante samuel we
Speaker 1: can talk about those guys more on a. Future episode
Speaker 1: let's go ahead and conclude the defense here with the,
Speaker 1: safety group and he Fought To, Melafon Wu, Ashton davis,
Speaker 1: Patrick McMorris, Patrick McMorris we're gonna talk about him a.
Speaker 2: Little Bit, Elijah.
Speaker 1: Campbell Dante, Trader Junior, jordan Colbert And John. Saunders Junior
Speaker 1: ifiamela fanwu is staying healthy away from being, a star
Speaker 1: he is. So electric he has Excellent indicator he's excellent
Speaker 1: at reading indicators and. Good words travis even better athleticism
Speaker 1: to fire from a, back pedal to click and clothes to,
Speaker 1: get downhill and the physicality to come down and take
Speaker 1: on a full back in the. RUNNING game i also
Speaker 1: think about his, play style all the blitzing. He offers
Speaker 1: that was a non negotiable fine for them. This, offseason
Speaker 1: again the Report's connecting Miami To, jeremy Chin To Nicky
Speaker 1: man WORRY To. Jj roberts all three of these guys
Speaker 1: they brought in for visits or that were they were
Speaker 1: interested in a, free agency who were guys that have
Speaker 1: temperature changing athletic ability and multiplicity to play across the
Speaker 1: entire formation and blitz. The quarterback AND then i think
Speaker 1: there's different play styles and competition all across. THIS room
Speaker 1: i think you can say there's not really a true
Speaker 1: safety one or maybe even two true. Safety twos you've
Speaker 1: got some threes. In There But ashton davis's, best TAPE
Speaker 1: and i would say he's a safety three is playing
Speaker 1: the post or half field and quarter responsibilities where he
Speaker 1: can camp back and just go find the football make
Speaker 1: a play. On it eight picks over one thousand and
Speaker 1: fifty defensive snaps in his career is a kind of a.
Speaker 1: Crazy stat that's a full seasons worth of snaps and
Speaker 1: eight picks in one year would be. Pretty remarkable if he,
Speaker 1: found it he finds. The football if you want more
Speaker 1: of a, Hitter Tackler, ROBERT rusher i Could see patrick
Speaker 1: McMorris playing that route and this guy or, THAT role i,
Speaker 1: should say and this guy keep an Eye on patrick.
Speaker 2: McMorris man he was all over the field.
Speaker 1: LAST year i went back and watched that preseason game
Speaker 1: again where he was just making what you have like
Speaker 1: ten tackles in, the game, downhill coverage reps everything as
Speaker 1: college tape shows you some of.
Speaker 2: THAT too i think he was showing that in camp a.
Speaker 1: LITTLE bit i think he has potential to be, at
Speaker 1: worst your big nickel and third safety who plays plenty
Speaker 1: of reps in a variety of roles and still very
Speaker 1: extremely intrigued by what he showed. Last year, and remember
Speaker 1: this is a defense that can go, big nickel where
Speaker 1: maybe your solution to that fifth defensive back spot is not,
Speaker 1: a cornerback it's.
Speaker 2: A safety Maybe it's patrick.
Speaker 1: Mc Morris elijah campbell is a core special teamer who
Speaker 1: can do some of the mc morris stuff. As well
Speaker 1: and then we'll see about The. ROOKIE trader i think
Speaker 1: he's got good instincts and knowledge for, the position if
Speaker 1: not a. Great athlete And then Colbert AND saunders i
Speaker 1: will see more about them. As Well but trader true
Speaker 1: student of, the game and those guys can kind of
Speaker 1: find their way onto the, field early especially in the
Speaker 1: favor of a coaching staff that, prioritizes THAT which i
Speaker 1: think this Year the Dolphins and intelligence are.
Speaker 2: Kind of two p's in.
Speaker 1: A pod it would not surprise me if we saw
Speaker 1: a trader hit the ground running and get some early
Speaker 1: love and camp from all the, GUYS there i would
Speaker 1: feel really good about. This group if you just Dropped
Speaker 1: In marcus Williams Or julian blackman into, the mix that
Speaker 1: would change the entire Dynamic and i'd feel great about.
Speaker 1: The group either way would be a massive upgrade on
Speaker 1: twenty twenty four because it was terrible. Last year and then,
Speaker 1: THE specialist i actually forgot that there's two partners on
Speaker 1: the team. Right Now So ryan Stonehouse And Jake Bailey
Speaker 1: jason sanders you're unheralded, kicking star And Then bleake ferguson
Speaker 1: has competition this Year IN New Dfa, Kneeland hibbert stonehouse,
Speaker 1: Booms them sanders was, dialed in And then blake last
Speaker 1: year missed most of the season on the. Inactive list
Speaker 1: defense as, A whole i think we're a couple of
Speaker 1: pieces away in. The secondary we'll talk about that more,
Speaker 1: later ON though i think their front seven has taken
Speaker 1: a massive step in the. Right direction we'll see what
Speaker 1: the secondary looks like on opening day compared. To NOW
Speaker 1: but i, think you on balance have more Of a
Speaker 1: weaver influenced defense than you had a. Year ago we
Speaker 1: kind of broke this down in the, open already but
Speaker 1: to put a bow on the roster resets what do?
Speaker 2: We do we Got bigger.
Speaker 1: Number one we got guys that, love football who, prioritize
Speaker 1: football and who are smart. Football players that's a big key,
Speaker 1: this offseason especially on. THE offense i know that the
Speaker 1: offensive staff wants guys that can pick it up right
Speaker 1: away and get on the field and make. An impact
Speaker 1: we got deeper. Number three this is a TEAM that
Speaker 1: i think can handle injuries more than they have in.
Speaker 1: The past and, number four we got more balanced. On offense.
Speaker 1: WHAT remains i think it's safe to say they checked
Speaker 1: off two of the biggest needs on the roster and
Speaker 1: really leaves one area where there's. Some. UNKNOWN right i
Speaker 1: get the, term holes and, YOU know i think it
Speaker 1: can be applied incorrectly at times because holes or, you
Speaker 1: know sometimes what you just have when you don't know the, guy's,
Speaker 1: Names right like a Fan in nebraska who Doesn't watch
Speaker 1: dolphins football is not gonna Know who patrick. McMorris is
Speaker 1: what if he breaks out. This year it's why there's
Speaker 1: always surprises in. This league, SO unproven i guess is
Speaker 1: the best way to. Put IT and i would push
Speaker 1: back at the safety POSITION because i do think That
Speaker 1: if Emela fan wu is a starter if, he's healthy
Speaker 1: but that's a, big IF and i Could Say, ashton davis,
Speaker 1: you know maximized his Opportunities in patrick mc morris showed
Speaker 1: you the potential to be a starter in this league
Speaker 1: with his limited work. Last year and that's not to
Speaker 1: mention that this again free agent safety class has a
Speaker 1: ton of big names left And guys i'm very much
Speaker 1: interested in looking at for. Next, year again We Signed
Speaker 1: marcus may. Last year Was it june or Was? IT july,
Speaker 1: i forget but there. You go that's the. Roster reset
Speaker 1: we're gonna come Back. On wednesday i'll do the color
Speaker 1: coordination board for. You guys we'll talk about some of
Speaker 1: the udfas that popped, off tape and maybe take a
Speaker 1: look AT the nfl dot com remaining free, agent list
Speaker 1: just to get you guys ready and prime. For OTAs
Speaker 1: we Have rookie minnie camps this weekend, as well so
Speaker 1: we'll get our first look at some of these guys on.
Speaker 1: The field but, until then you all please be, sure,
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Speaker 2: Dot com until, Next Time, Finns.
Speaker 1: Up, Carolin Cameron Daddy's.
Speaker 2: Coming home