Speaker 1: Touchdown, Miami drun. What is up? Dolphans And welcome to
Speaker 1: the Drive Time Podcast, part of the Miami Dolphins podcast network,
Speaker 1: covering your team, your Miami Dolphins. How's it going everybody?
Speaker 1: I am your host, Travis Wingfield. And on today's show,
Speaker 1: we are back at the draft preview talking to the
Speaker 1: draft networks Trevor Sikama breaking down all things off ball linebackers.
Speaker 1: We're gonna get to the top of the class, who
Speaker 1: fits the Dolphins, traits and prototypes, and much much more
Speaker 1: with Trevor. Plus, we're gonna break down the latest Dolphins
Speaker 1: signing in veteran offensive lineman. He's played tackle, he's played
Speaker 1: guard in d J Fluker. Will break down DJ's game
Speaker 1: from the tape, from the stats, the PF data, pressure
Speaker 1: is allowed, where he's played, how many games he's played,
Speaker 1: what he means to the off pensive line, how he
Speaker 1: fits in, how things could shuffle on the old line.
Speaker 1: All of that and a whole bunch more on this
Speaker 1: edition of the Drive Time Podcast. And we do have
Speaker 1: some veteran beef joining the offensive line of Dolphins announced
Speaker 1: the signing of tackle slash guard d J Fluker on
Speaker 1: Tuesday morning, giving the team another plus three hundred forty
Speaker 1: pound offensive lineman. DJ was listed at three hundred forty
Speaker 1: two pounds last season. Solomon Kinley checks in just below
Speaker 1: three forty at three thirty nine, with Eric Flower still
Speaker 1: maintaining the title of heaviest offensive lineman heaviest player on
Speaker 1: the team at three hundred forty three pounds, So that
Speaker 1: gives you three players that weigh right in that three
Speaker 1: hundred forty pound range. No other offensive line in the
Speaker 1: NFL can say that. And DJ does have some positional flexibility.
Speaker 1: He was the Ravens right tackle from Week eight onward
Speaker 1: last season after Ronnie Stanley went down and they flipped
Speaker 1: Orlando Brown over to left tackle, and he played well
Speaker 1: there in a pinch. It took him a couple of
Speaker 1: games to get his feet under him after not playing
Speaker 1: a whole lot in the early portions of the season,
Speaker 1: coming off a strange off season, especially for a big
Speaker 1: fellow like DJ, and after a rough night in that
Speaker 1: Week ten Baltimore game with six pressures allowed and that
Speaker 1: was the game with the snap issues for Matt Skura
Speaker 1: and all that trrential downpour, so a really strange game.
Speaker 1: But after that he never allowed more than three pressures
Speaker 1: in a single game. He never allowed another sack and
Speaker 1: allowed just one hit the rest of the way. That's
Speaker 1: no sacks, one hit and seven team pressures on one
Speaker 1: hundred and seventy five pass blocking snaps over nine games,
Speaker 1: and if you include the two playoff games where he
Speaker 1: allowed four hurries and nothing else for the Ravens. But
Speaker 1: and this is why I mentioned the guards. DJ played
Speaker 1: guard for the Seahawks and twenty nineteen. He started twenty
Speaker 1: three games over a two year span there at the
Speaker 1: position for the Seahawks, allowing just thirty pressures on nine
Speaker 1: eighteen pass blocking snaps. That's a pressure every thirty point
Speaker 1: six snaps and less than one per game, as he
Speaker 1: averaged just a smidge under forty pass blocking snaps per game.
Speaker 1: And I say that meaning like thirty nine point nine
Speaker 1: four snaps are up snaps per game for Fluker. He
Speaker 1: made the same change with the Chargers after being the
Speaker 1: eleventh pick in draft. He started thirty one games in
Speaker 1: two years at right tackle, then started twenty eight games
Speaker 1: the next two seasons at right guard for the Chargers.
Speaker 1: Then he spent a year with the Giants, playing a
Speaker 1: little bit of both. So he fits the mold, big
Speaker 1: body position, versatile, and I happen to think you kind
Speaker 1: of mask some of the wards that had him bounce
Speaker 1: around a little bit, not just from team to team,
Speaker 1: but from position to position. I think those are kind
Speaker 1: of masked on tape. When he's inside. He's a big,
Speaker 1: big dude, so he can get out over his skis
Speaker 1: at times, but you anchor him inside and don't worry
Speaker 1: about speed rushers or possible devastating counter moves of those
Speaker 1: world class edge rushers off the outside. And he's pretty
Speaker 1: damn good inside. I think he's serviceable outside and can
Speaker 1: excel inside. Another massive, massive human being inside to help
Speaker 1: protect the interior and that pocket inside for ta. He
Speaker 1: gets tremendous push in the running game as well, a
Speaker 1: big boon to your running game. Just go look at
Speaker 1: his name on Twitter and click the video links. There
Speaker 1: are pancake scalore, there are choke slams. One rep. I
Speaker 1: want to say it was against Khalil Mack back with
Speaker 1: the Raiders, when flu grows with the Chargers. I need
Speaker 1: to put Jerry Lawler's voice over that clip. He just
Speaker 1: he just choke slams the guy to the ground after
Speaker 1: a good pass block rep. He chips guys who were
Speaker 1: engaged and sends them to the moon. And best of all,
Speaker 1: I put this in my Twitter threat on Tuesday morning.
Speaker 1: There's a video of him reach blocking and Dominicans sue
Speaker 1: against the Rams and that's hard enough to do. As
Speaker 1: a reach block. You have to get outside of a
Speaker 1: player who has you out aligned pre snap, but to
Speaker 1: completely turn him inside out and then bury him. That
Speaker 1: is a fun watch. He fits the mold from his size, sheer,
Speaker 1: density standpoint, power and versatility standpoint. He is, however, the
Speaker 1: first offensive player on the roster over the age of thirty.
Speaker 1: He joins John Jenkins as the loan thirty Club. I'll
Speaker 1: be sure to find my way to their lockers for
Speaker 1: the first time. We got access to the locker room
Speaker 1: this year, so I can joined the old Man's Club,
Speaker 1: the thirty and overcrew with those guys. He's played six thousand,
Speaker 1: seven hundred thirty seven career snaps, three thousand, nine hundred
Speaker 1: of those at right guard, two thousand, five hundred twenty
Speaker 1: seven at right tackle, three hundred and six at left tackle,
Speaker 1: and three as the extra offensive linemans. He's never played
Speaker 1: left guard, never played center. He's played a hundred eight
Speaker 1: games and started ninety six of them. To me, this
Speaker 1: gives you so much flexibility. It's the perfect supplement to
Speaker 1: the young offensive line we've got. You see Piney Sewell,
Speaker 1: Rashawn Slater, maybe even some of the guys eighteen or
Speaker 1: thirty six on the draft board as possible old line
Speaker 1: options for Miami. But I think this takes away any
Speaker 1: potential need you might have considered. It gives you more flexibility.
Speaker 1: Of course, you can still draft offensive lineman, but you
Speaker 1: don't really need it as badly as you did before
Speaker 1: the Fluker signing. This gives you a backup plan that
Speaker 1: literally all three spots the rookies played right Jackson left tackle,
Speaker 1: Hunt right tackle, Kinley right guard. If any of them
Speaker 1: struggles in year two, you've got the experienced Flucker waiting
Speaker 1: in the wings to pick up the performance. Or maybe
Speaker 1: you decide they're all progressed sing well, and you flipped
Speaker 1: Kinley over to left guard, where he played in college
Speaker 1: and even a little bit there last year as well,
Speaker 1: when Flowers was banged up, and I think some of
Speaker 1: his best hate for Kinley was at left guard. Maybe
Speaker 1: that's the route Fluker and Hunter on the same side
Speaker 1: of the offensive line. This in this you know potential scenario,
Speaker 1: and that's just a hair under seven hundred pounds. That's
Speaker 1: one trip to the public's bakery away from seven hundred
Speaker 1: pounds and two absolute steam rollers in the run blocking game.
Speaker 1: This gives Miami three Alabama ployers, that's the most in
Speaker 1: the NFL, and it gives them a joker in the
Speaker 1: highest form a cl We got a deal. That was
Speaker 1: a great video where he and Tyler Lockett of the
Speaker 1: Seahawks made fun of the Russell Wilson extension video when
Speaker 1: he was in bed and said, Seattle, We've got a deal. Funny,
Speaker 1: funny stuff. They're a funny guy. So there you have it.
Speaker 1: An acquisition in the final ten days of draft countdown.
Speaker 1: We needed it. I needed some pro tape to look at.
Speaker 1: Love the way Fluker Titans gaps throws those head the hands,
Speaker 1: love the way he walls off as a seal blocker
Speaker 1: on the backside, and the constant push he gets in
Speaker 1: the ground game. And you don't get signed by the
Speaker 1: Baltimore Ravens where he spent last season and not have
Speaker 1: skills in the running game. So d J. Fluker, your
Speaker 1: newest Miami Dolphin. Let's get to my interview with the
Speaker 1: Draft Networks Trevor Sikima and break down this rookie class
Speaker 1: that Flucker could be blocking next season at off ball
Speaker 1: linebacker and joining us now on the Drivetime podcast as
Speaker 1: senior NFL writer for the Draft Network. He's the co
Speaker 1: host of the hilarious and informative Locked on NFL Draft
Speaker 1: podcast with Benjamin Solak. He is Trevor Sikima and Trey.
Speaker 1: You know, I brought you on the podcast here, and
Speaker 1: I had a joke for my intro about how I'm
Speaker 1: wearing the hat because I can't compete with the quaff,
Speaker 1: but you're wearing the hat to man, what's going on here? Man?
Speaker 1: It's it's we are in the thick of it right
Speaker 1: now in draft season. And look, I barely got enough
Speaker 1: time to brush my teeth and your breakfast in the morning,
Speaker 1: so I don't have time to do my hair up
Speaker 1: every day because it's getting a little long now. So
Speaker 1: it's a little it's turned in a little bit of work.
Speaker 1: But I appreciate. I appreciate the shout out there. Nonetheless,
Speaker 1: my joke was gonna be that I I almost always
Speaker 1: say I'm wearing a hat for the same reason you
Speaker 1: just did. I don't have time to run a comb
Speaker 1: through it through the old mop. But the truth was,
Speaker 1: I just didn't want to compete today because it's the afternoon.
Speaker 1: We're rolling here late in the afternoon. But that's neither
Speaker 1: here nor there. You know. I do want to catch
Speaker 1: up with it here because I saw a great tweet
Speaker 1: from Alyssa talking about you going out to a track recently,
Speaker 1: and I recently promoted the hell out of the F
Speaker 1: one Show on the podcast here in my recommendation station
Speaker 1: portion of the podcast. I can't get enough of it.
Speaker 1: And now all I want to do is go out
Speaker 1: there and try to act like I know how to drive.
Speaker 1: That had to have been a blast, man. Yeah. So
Speaker 1: my wonderful girlfriend, Melissa, she got me for my birthday,
Speaker 1: my thirtieth birthday, a five minute session in a NASCAR
Speaker 1: stock car at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. And I had
Speaker 1: no idea what it was gonna be. I didn't know if,
Speaker 1: like I was, there was gonna be somebody else in
Speaker 1: the car with me, like you know, if there was
Speaker 1: gonna be like a two steering wheel thing. Because I'm
Speaker 1: thinking to my head, like there's no way that they
Speaker 1: just send me out there in a stock car and
Speaker 1: you know, there's governors on the engine and everything, so
Speaker 1: you can't go the full speed. But they were letting
Speaker 1: me get up to like hundred. I think my top
Speaker 1: speed was actually only thirty or something like that, but uh, dude,
Speaker 1: it was. It was a blast. I mean, once you
Speaker 1: get into gear, you were ripping it around the track
Speaker 1: and it was cool. It's it was called the Richard
Speaker 1: Petty driving Experience. If anybody's near Charlotte, or if anybody
Speaker 1: has anything like that by attract it's near them, I
Speaker 1: guarantee it will be a once in a lifetime thing
Speaker 1: and you'll absolutely love it. So that was a lot
Speaker 1: of fun. I'm looking forward to the Grand Prix, the
Speaker 1: Miami Grand Prix coming our way soon, to the Formula
Speaker 1: one Cup series. Should be amazing. And I was curious
Speaker 1: as you were doing that, Like you know, in this business,
Speaker 1: all we think about football, we think about how to
Speaker 1: promote our own our own work, and to talk about
Speaker 1: certain or create segments and everything we do in everyday life, right,
Speaker 1: So I was wondering did you come up with anything
Speaker 1: on that drive, like who might be the best race
Speaker 1: car driver in this class or maybe this car corners
Speaker 1: or transitions like player X, were you going through any
Speaker 1: of that? I don't know. Jalen Wattle might be the
Speaker 1: only guy who already has a good acclamation that those
Speaker 1: kinds of speeds him, and maybe Eric Stokes. I don't know.
Speaker 1: So maybe it's less of a learning curve for those
Speaker 1: guys because they're in high speeds when they're on foot,
Speaker 1: and it won't be too different when they put some
Speaker 1: wheels underneath them. Well, we're gonna talk about a position
Speaker 1: today on the podcast that would evolve more with the
Speaker 1: car crash element, the part that you and I probably
Speaker 1: would be involved in if we were to get on
Speaker 1: the track against actual racers and talk about some off
Speaker 1: ball linebackers. And I think the Dolphins are a a
Speaker 1: great team to go position by position with because there's
Speaker 1: so much there's so much that ven diagram in the
Speaker 1: middle right where there's so much crossover because everybody on
Speaker 1: this damn defense cross trains employs multiple spots. But in
Speaker 1: your job at the Draft Network, where you guys are
Speaker 1: the thirty third team, right, when you look at an
Speaker 1: off ball linebacker, what are the modern day traits you
Speaker 1: look for that not team specific, but just in general
Speaker 1: that you want in those players. Well, I think that
Speaker 1: the number one it's coverage. It's coverage ability. When you
Speaker 1: talked about the linebackers that you would want to select
Speaker 1: in the top fifty, they have to have some sort
Speaker 1: of a coverage profile. Too many defenses nowadays are playing
Speaker 1: in sub package the majority of the defense. And I
Speaker 1: wouldn't go as far to say, is hey, like Nicola
Speaker 1: is the new base. No, I mean it's called base
Speaker 1: for a reason. That's still you know, you've got to
Speaker 1: be able to execute up fronts with with more bodies
Speaker 1: in the box, and so like you, you've got to
Speaker 1: be able to stop things from a base perspective. But
Speaker 1: as we're seeing teams get more and more comfortable spreading
Speaker 1: their offenses out early, you've got to be able to
Speaker 1: have linebackers on the field who can cover because you're
Speaker 1: gonna be in those situations a lot. So if you
Speaker 1: don't have a coverage profile, that automatically really takes you
Speaker 1: out of first round consideration, given top fifty consideration, but
Speaker 1: just because there's gonna be a chance that some guys
Speaker 1: are are in there, of course, what goes into coverage
Speaker 1: is intelligence, anticipation, and athleticism. Those are probably the best traits,
Speaker 1: because you know, I think that we're getting a little
Speaker 1: overboard when we say, oh, linebackers are the running backs
Speaker 1: of defense. You know, you you get there are a
Speaker 1: dime a dozen, you can get one every single year.
Speaker 1: I don't totally agree with that, but I understand what
Speaker 1: people are saying from like a tackling perspective or like
Speaker 1: a run stuffing perspective, because if you grow up playing linebacker,
Speaker 1: that's just what you do. You should be able to
Speaker 1: do that. It's not like you can't have a linebacker
Speaker 1: at this point in time, and you're talking about especially
Speaker 1: for the NFL draft that you go like, oh, he
Speaker 1: struggles with tackling, Well, if he struggles with tackling, then
Speaker 1: that it's a major issue if you're playing your position
Speaker 1: that the main thing is tackling is So that's already
Speaker 1: a baseline. You should already be able to have that
Speaker 1: for a linebacker. And there's a couple of other traits
Speaker 1: as well, but I would tell you the ones that
Speaker 1: make the difference. Intelligence, anticipation, and athleticism. Those are the
Speaker 1: things that give you the coverage profile to be able
Speaker 1: to plan all three downs in the NFL. Yeah, I've
Speaker 1: got a few questions for you based upon that response,
Speaker 1: which was great, by the way. And you know you
Speaker 1: mentioned that the linebackers of the modern day running backs,
Speaker 1: but I wrote down my notes here not here. They're
Speaker 1: not because you know, the the defensive secondary definitely drives
Speaker 1: this Dolphins defense. We utilize UH six defensive backs are
Speaker 1: more at the seventh highest rate in the National Upball League.
Speaker 1: Lots of dime, plenty of nickel, like you mentioned, but
Speaker 1: you know they also operate with so many different linebacker
Speaker 1: looks because there are so many two three, two four
Speaker 1: three three looks in this defense that that fluctuates guys
Speaker 1: in and out based on down a distance. And I'm curious.
Speaker 1: You know, you mentioned that there is still a based defense,
Speaker 1: but the Dolphins. I've had a hard time explaining this
Speaker 1: to fans. There really isn't that based defense because of
Speaker 1: how play by play and how week by week this
Speaker 1: defense can be. But when you consider that Miami went
Speaker 1: out and got a Bernardrick McKinney, they've got Jerome Baker
Speaker 1: who does check that that coverage box you mentioned. But
Speaker 1: also as a hell of a blitzer. How much can
Speaker 1: having just elite level blitzing to your game kind of
Speaker 1: offset that coverage ability you're talking about there, No sure,
Speaker 1: And I guess you can also get into a mold
Speaker 1: where if you want to continue to put them on
Speaker 1: the same trajectory or outlook is running backs. Running Backs
Speaker 1: are often by committee now and that's normally because they
Speaker 1: have a specialization to them, right. I mean, like, you'll
Speaker 1: get a guy who's just got some great soft hands,
Speaker 1: who really knows how to run his routes. He's great
Speaker 1: on third down. He's a benefit to the ascent game.
Speaker 1: You also have your running backs to their mar bulked up.
Speaker 1: They're great in short yard and situations. They can convert
Speaker 1: for you on third or fourth down as well as
Speaker 1: in the red zone. And then you have some guys
Speaker 1: that you love to get in open space if you're
Speaker 1: running more outside zone stuff. Get them out towards the line, uh,
Speaker 1: towards the sideline, excuse me, and they might be able
Speaker 1: to break something open for you, maybe a home run
Speaker 1: of of forty fifty sixty yards whatever it is. And
Speaker 1: so you have those specializations and I think that that
Speaker 1: brings you value. Now, of course, there's normally only one
Speaker 1: running back on the field, and even if they don't
Speaker 1: get the ball on a certain play, it's not like
Speaker 1: a big detriment to the offense. Whereas linebacker it's a
Speaker 1: little bit different because they're in the center of the defense, right,
Speaker 1: and if you don't do your job on a certain play, that's,
Speaker 1: you know, a big detriment to what the defense is
Speaker 1: doing overall. But going back to your point of like
Speaker 1: how advantageous it is to have a great blitzer, Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think that's important. And I think that when you
Speaker 1: look at a team like the Dolphins that continues to
Speaker 1: throw different bodies out there to try to truly just
Speaker 1: take strengths and make those strengths whatever they're doing out
Speaker 1: there on the football field when their number is called,
Speaker 1: I suppose that there are certain alleys or lanes or
Speaker 1: roles and responsibilities that you could have for a variety
Speaker 1: of different guys. So there's no doubt about it. I mean,
Speaker 1: there's certainly a knack to being able to blitz, whether
Speaker 1: it's off the edge or through the middle. I think
Speaker 1: the navigating chaos is such an underrated trait for a
Speaker 1: lot of running backs being able to stay clean in
Speaker 1: areas where there's a lot of bodies flying around you.
Speaker 1: For example. Like I know we'll get into the prospects
Speaker 1: here in a second, but like Nick Bolton, I feel like,
Speaker 1: does that really really well? You know, he's just a
Speaker 1: slasher type of linebacker, comes from the middle, and it
Speaker 1: just seems like he's going through the A or the
Speaker 1: B gap whenever the offensive lines movement left or right,
Speaker 1: and he really knows how to anticipate and squeeze through
Speaker 1: those offensive line holes to get into the backfield. And
Speaker 1: it's like that definitely that like that has a place.
Speaker 1: Nick Bolton is not the best coverage linebacker to to
Speaker 1: kind of like bring it full circle. And that's why
Speaker 1: I'm not so sure that he's going to get drafted
Speaker 1: in the first round, even though he's a really fun prospect.
Speaker 1: But there's a role to what he can do for you,
Speaker 1: and I think that to your point, that kind of
Speaker 1: emphasizes and what you can do when you're attacking the
Speaker 1: line of scrimmage. To me, you just describe bogect Kenney's game.
Speaker 1: I mean, he was the second round draft pick a
Speaker 1: few years ago, number forty one overall. I think it was,
Speaker 1: and watching him on tape, Yeah, he's anticipating. You know,
Speaker 1: he's getting his keys, whether it's a pulling guard or
Speaker 1: a fullback coming across the formation or splits on, whatever
Speaker 1: it might be. And he sees that thing and he
Speaker 1: pulls that trigger and he combines that with you know,
Speaker 1: two hundred and sixty pound physicality he brings. I think
Speaker 1: that makes a lot of sense, and it just speaks
Speaker 1: to the different roles this Dolphins linebacker group fills. I mean,
Speaker 1: a landed Roberts came back and to me, maybe that
Speaker 1: means McKinney can get more edge snaps because Roberts is
Speaker 1: one of the better B gap to B gap bangers
Speaker 1: in the National Football League when it comes at early rundowns.
Speaker 1: And then you know Andrew van Ginkel, what what can
Speaker 1: he do? Multiple things? In Jerome Baker and Vince Beagel
Speaker 1: played some some four down even fronts, but also plays
Speaker 1: off ball linebackers. So now that we've kind of established
Speaker 1: that base here and talking about what this Dolphins team
Speaker 1: has at the position group, and you got into Nick
Speaker 1: Bolton there a little bit. I want to go through
Speaker 1: your tears of off ball linebackers and start obviously with
Speaker 1: the first one. Are there any first round linebackers in
Speaker 1: this group? And where does that kind of that kind
Speaker 1: of uh drop off come in terms of these are
Speaker 1: the top guys and then there's a little bit of
Speaker 1: a gap between the next tier of guys. Yeah, so
Speaker 1: I have one guy in tier one. There is clearly
Speaker 1: one linebacker who is head and shoulders above the rest,
Speaker 1: and I would tell you that that's Michael Parsons from
Speaker 1: Penn State. I mean what he brings from an athletic
Speaker 1: profile and edge rushing background, how comfortable he is rushing
Speaker 1: off the edge, also certainly blitz in between the A
Speaker 1: and the B gaps as well. What impressed me the
Speaker 1: most about Michael Parsons isn't just his athleticism. It was
Speaker 1: watching the progressions of his game. I watched his early
Speaker 1: tape and I would encourage everybody who whether you're just
Speaker 1: getting into watching tape or you've been watching it for
Speaker 1: a couple of cycles in the draft, I would always
Speaker 1: tell you, if you can watch tape of them in
Speaker 1: the early parts of this season, watch them in the
Speaker 1: middle parts of this season, and then watch them at
Speaker 1: the end. And watched them in order because I think
Speaker 1: that allows you to really see how much a player progressed.
Speaker 1: And I think that was exactly the case with Michael Parsons.
Speaker 1: This is a guy who came to Penn State as
Speaker 1: an edge rusher transitions over to a lit time backer spot,
Speaker 1: and they didn't exactly know where to play, and they
Speaker 1: were kind of playing him as an outside linebacker for
Speaker 1: a while as he was dealing with that hybrid role,
Speaker 1: but then they felt very comfortable playing him in the
Speaker 1: middle of that defense, and that's where he played this year.
Speaker 1: He was new to it, you know. And so when
Speaker 1: you watch his tape and if you're bouncing around different places,
Speaker 1: like if you watch the the the end of season
Speaker 1: games and then you pop back over to the early
Speaker 1: season stuff, you're gonna be like, oh, you know, well,
Speaker 1: now I'm kind of mixed on him because I've seen,
Speaker 1: you know, mixed results from what he's going for. But
Speaker 1: if you watch them in order, you'll see them instead.
Speaker 1: This seems like a player who just continued to progress
Speaker 1: as the year one. On the more snaps he got
Speaker 1: a middle linebacker, the better he was. I mean, if
Speaker 1: you go watch that that Cotton Bowl that Penn State
Speaker 1: played against Memphis, in two in twenty nineteen. That is
Speaker 1: one of the most takeover, dominant performances that I've seen
Speaker 1: of any player in this draft class. That is one
Speaker 1: of the single game tapes that I've seen of any linebacker.
Speaker 1: So he is in Tier one, he's kind of by
Speaker 1: himself there as the top guy to get. And before
Speaker 1: you go on to the next two here, I do
Speaker 1: want to ask you about Parsons and go more in
Speaker 1: depth in this because you know, Trevor, I think that
Speaker 1: one of the things that happens, and you probably agree
Speaker 1: to see this all the time with any position group,
Speaker 1: is that a player is a certain caliber once the
Speaker 1: season comes to a close. And Parsons didn't even play
Speaker 1: this year, so he's not even part of, you know,
Speaker 1: the production. And then one draft season that kind of
Speaker 1: where he goes through the ringer. But is it one
Speaker 1: of these instances where this guy has just been so
Speaker 1: good for so long we haven't had negative things to
Speaker 1: say about him, that we get to the draft process
Speaker 1: and all of a sudden he has to be like
Speaker 1: torn down because to me, he was a if not
Speaker 1: second or third best prospect in the entire draft class,
Speaker 1: like a top five pick solidified at the end of
Speaker 1: the season, but now here we get here. Maybe the
Speaker 1: position plays a part of that, but I've also seen
Speaker 1: there's reports about the character and stuff like that that
Speaker 1: just suggest that maybe he doesn't go top ten, Like,
Speaker 1: what do you think the reason is for Michael Parson
Speaker 1: Stock to not be in that top five or maybe
Speaker 1: it was four or five months ago. Yeah, And you know,
Speaker 1: I think the biggest thing with it is you start
Speaker 1: hearing these whispered, anonymous reports about character, how how committed
Speaker 1: he is or work at the and look, I can't
Speaker 1: speak to that. I've never sat down with him myself.
Speaker 1: I've never met him. I don't have the the the ability,
Speaker 1: the resources to go through these extensive background checks. And
Speaker 1: so I really do think that that's just why that
Speaker 1: you've seen him fall, because he's a top ten player
Speaker 1: for me in terms of talent. I have him top
Speaker 1: ten in this draft class because I think that he
Speaker 1: is that good. Now, him being a linebacker, I think
Speaker 1: that gives people an excuse to go, Okay, we've heard
Speaker 1: whispers off the field, and also he's a linebacker. So
Speaker 1: I'm just gonna drop him on mock drafts that I
Speaker 1: do or we're just gonna put him a little bit lower.
Speaker 1: But at the end of the day, Yeah, he's one
Speaker 1: of the best defensive football players in this class. And
Speaker 1: I think that, uh, once he gets out on the field,
Speaker 1: I think everybody's going to realize that once again. So
Speaker 1: you mentioned you've got one player in the first round there,
Speaker 1: Micah Parsons, I completely agree. Like I said, top ten
Speaker 1: pick all day for me, but one of the players
Speaker 1: that and you know last year, Daniel Jeremias the exact
Speaker 1: same thing about Austin Jackson said that the outsiders might
Speaker 1: not have this perspective, but the league thinks he's a
Speaker 1: top fIF team pick. He winds up going eighteen to Miami.
Speaker 1: And I saw the exact same thing with Jamon Davis
Speaker 1: how to Kentucky And I've watched this kids you know
Speaker 1: tape a little bit seeing Brett Coleman did a great
Speaker 1: job breaking down his game and kind of got me
Speaker 1: turned onto him at first. And man, he can find
Speaker 1: out flat out play, he can fly around and he
Speaker 1: used to use how the workout numbers. Obviously does he
Speaker 1: kick off your second tier? And where do you think
Speaker 1: that second linebacker comes off the board. Yeah, I'm not
Speaker 1: exactly sure who's going to be the second linebacker. I
Speaker 1: mean I would tell you that if you are classifying
Speaker 1: Notre Dames here in my USA Koramo as a linebacker,
Speaker 1: he would be the next guy that we talked about here.
Speaker 1: I think the NFL is really gonna love him. I mean,
Speaker 1: he's got that hybrid mold of a big nickel type
Speaker 1: safety type linebacker type. I mean, you don't want him
Speaker 1: in between the tackles at all times. But it was
Speaker 1: kind of the same thing with Jeremy Chin, right. I
Speaker 1: mean a lot of people who might be familiar with
Speaker 1: how successful Jeremy Chin was in his rookie year. He
Speaker 1: played more deep safety than I think Woskamo would play,
Speaker 1: but he also some of his most impactful plays. Probably honestly,
Speaker 1: most of his impactful plays came when he was around
Speaker 1: the linebacker level, whether it was him kind of creeping
Speaker 1: down or playing as a slot guy, or just playing
Speaker 1: at the next shack Thompson in the middle of that
Speaker 1: Carolina defense, he played more as a pseudo kind of
Speaker 1: a linebacker player, and I see that similar role with Waramoa.
Speaker 1: He's just more of a linebacker type with it. He's
Speaker 1: just bigger, and I think a little bit stronger. So
Speaker 1: what he doesn't give you as well on the back
Speaker 1: end with Jeremy cham with that experience, I think that
Speaker 1: he could give you a little bit more experience playing
Speaker 1: in the box. So I would tell you that he
Speaker 1: would be that second linebacker that would bring up. But
Speaker 1: Jimmie Davis from Kentucky. He's a marvel, right. I mean,
Speaker 1: like you look at his athleticism and they just don't
Speaker 1: they don't make him like Jimmie Davis. I mean four
Speaker 1: point three seven forty yard dash. I believe he had
Speaker 1: like a forty two forty three inch for like he
Speaker 1: was crazy, and then eleven foot broad jump. He's a
Speaker 1: pure athlete and I think you really see that when
Speaker 1: you watch it on tape. And unfortunately, I think you
Speaker 1: see a lot of it in recovery because there are
Speaker 1: certain times where he's going back in coverage and he
Speaker 1: didn't have a ton of experience, and I think that
Speaker 1: you see that green nature to his play. He'll get
Speaker 1: beat by a tight end, or he'll flow a little
Speaker 1: bit too far to the left or right and he'll go, oh,
Speaker 1: who I'm actually supposed to be over here? Or oh,
Speaker 1: this is this is the guy that I should be covering.
Speaker 1: And you see him put his foot in the ground,
Speaker 1: and man, he can recover. He can recover, and he
Speaker 1: can flip his hips and he can start getting deep
Speaker 1: down the field. I mean, he can cover tight ends
Speaker 1: very very well. When we talk about potential linebackers who
Speaker 1: could be tight end neutralizers, and we see this in
Speaker 1: the NFL. Now, the tight end is an absolute offensive
Speaker 1: chess piece. If you have a really athletic tight end
Speaker 1: that you can move around, play him in line, play
Speaker 1: him in the slot, play him in an h back
Speaker 1: roll behind the line of scrimmage, blame is a fullback,
Speaker 1: whatever it is. A lot of times defenses just don't
Speaker 1: have the horses to keep up with these guys. Jimmie
Speaker 1: Davis can be a player that you go, hey, see
Speaker 1: Travis Kelsey, you just need to guard him, or George
Speaker 1: Kettle or like whoever it's gonna be. And those are
Speaker 1: the cream of the crop, of course, and I think
Speaker 1: that Davis needs a little bit of work till he
Speaker 1: gets there. But he gives you that profile, that's why
Speaker 1: he's so alluring it so he still needs a little
Speaker 1: bit of work from true linebacker responsibilities, you know, those
Speaker 1: tackle these those between the tack responsibilities when it comes to,
Speaker 1: you know, scraping off offensive linemen and making sure you're
Speaker 1: getting free and making an impact on the ball carrier
Speaker 1: at the line of scrimmage. He still needs work in
Speaker 1: that guard, but that's all stuff that you could teach,
Speaker 1: that stuff that reps and experience that can really get
Speaker 1: the gig going. And so he's absolutely somebody who I
Speaker 1: would think could be in a second tier, third tier.
Speaker 1: Looks like the NFL really loves him his second tier,
Speaker 1: so he could be a guy who hears his name
Speaker 1: pretty early. One of those things where the same thing
Speaker 1: with Jeremy chen right, the whole idea that maybe we
Speaker 1: don't know where to play him makes him slide, and
Speaker 1: the Panthers were certainly the beneficiary of that getting Jeremy
Speaker 1: Chin in the second round. Now you talked about Oloosa Coramoa.
Speaker 1: That's easy for me to say about him being a
Speaker 1: guy that maybe his his secondary position is going backwards.
Speaker 1: And this might be a question from my Edge podcast
Speaker 1: where I have one with another one of these great
Speaker 1: traffic experts here coming up about Zaven Collins, and I'm
Speaker 1: wondering you know, because he fits them all of a
Speaker 1: two way type in terms of kind of that Kyle
Speaker 1: van Noyd role. Guy that can play edge, guy that
Speaker 1: can play off ball, because Van Noy did both of
Speaker 1: those things and in very from year to year based
Speaker 1: upon those Patriots defenses than here in Miami he was
Speaker 1: more of an edge. Is he the best kind of
Speaker 1: two way convert player? And who else kind of rounds
Speaker 1: out that group of guys that can play both on
Speaker 1: the edge with you know, two a point stands or
Speaker 1: maybe even three point stands, but also come off the
Speaker 1: football and be a stack linebacker. Yeah, I mean I
Speaker 1: think that he would outside of Parsons that this is
Speaker 1: the guy that I would think could probably fill that
Speaker 1: role that you're looking for there. But man, listen, six
Speaker 1: to sixty you look at his mesurables and you say, Okay,
Speaker 1: this guy is you know you can you can make
Speaker 1: him in an odd front linebacker almost outside linebacker type
Speaker 1: or probably be just like a Sam linebacker in the NFL,
Speaker 1: a guy who plays much towards the line of scrimmage
Speaker 1: in a four three defense. This dude's gotta feel for coverage. Man,
Speaker 1: He moves super well for six four to sixty. You
Speaker 1: you don't have to put him on the line of scrimmage,
Speaker 1: you really don't. You can leave him back and his
Speaker 1: field for coverage is really nice. I talked about intelligence
Speaker 1: and anticipation. I feel like I saw that quite a
Speaker 1: bit when I was watching his tools to tape. And
Speaker 1: so this is a player who I'm not really worried
Speaker 1: about whether it's you know, like, oh, you know, look
Speaker 1: at his size, You've got to get him on the
Speaker 1: line of scrimmage. I really don't think that's the case.
Speaker 1: If you wanted to even put him at mike linebacker,
Speaker 1: like if you wanted to put him in an inside
Speaker 1: line acker spot, I think that he could grow into
Speaker 1: that role really really well for you. So in my
Speaker 1: tier two, if you will, I've got Davin Collins along
Speaker 1: with the Woosuo Coamoa Whosa. Cornill was probably gonna go
Speaker 1: a little higher, just because I think the NFL really
Speaker 1: likes him. But you know, if you threw in John
Speaker 1: and Davis his name, there another player who This is
Speaker 1: a little outside of the question that you originally asked,
Speaker 1: but Baron Browning is the guy that I really like.
Speaker 1: Our staff is really high on him over at the
Speaker 1: Draft Network, and it just seemed like he was another
Speaker 1: player who he's a former safety hybrid, so he's got
Speaker 1: a lot of speed that he's bringing to that linebacker
Speaker 1: spot and get the NFL. If if you could leave
Speaker 1: him as a will, if you can keep him in space,
Speaker 1: I think he's gonna do a lot of really great
Speaker 1: things for you as the year went on. If you
Speaker 1: watch the early games, progressed through the season, and then
Speaker 1: get to the end of the year, I felt like
Speaker 1: the light was really coming on for him, especially in
Speaker 1: coverage and recognition. He was able to call out things
Speaker 1: in the pre snap, he could adjust during the play
Speaker 1: while it was going on and move from one zone
Speaker 1: or one assignment to the other. I was very encouraged
Speaker 1: by Baron Brownie. He brings great length, great athleticism as well,
Speaker 1: so that would probably be in encapsulation of those Tier
Speaker 1: two guys that I could see go decently high in
Speaker 1: the second round. We're gonna wrap up this Draft series
Speaker 1: preview with a a mega episode with Kyle Krabs at
Speaker 1: the Draft Network because Trevor, we gotta do a Dolphins
Speaker 1: I mean, it makes the most sense, right, So of
Speaker 1: course he's gonna join us for an extravaganza podcast that
Speaker 1: fans are gonna be excited to hear about. But I
Speaker 1: know that he loves him some Baron Browning and I
Speaker 1: kind of started to really fall in love with him
Speaker 1: with a Senior Bowl when he was working with our
Speaker 1: linebackers coach, Coach Camp and Nelly working on stack and
Speaker 1: sched drills and he was just getting after it and
Speaker 1: Coach was yelling at him and he was responding. It
Speaker 1: was fun to watch, even on television. So definitely one
Speaker 1: of those guys that fits the mold um. I think
Speaker 1: I've asked you this kind of already, but can you
Speaker 1: give me a blitzing linebacker we haven't talked about. Who's
Speaker 1: someone that really does well to kind of mug up
Speaker 1: in those a gaps and and threatened pressure, but also
Speaker 1: has the ability to kind of bell out and cover.
Speaker 1: Do we already cover this guy? Have you not talked
Speaker 1: about him yet? Who might be that player? I'll give
Speaker 1: a shout out to Cameron mcgroan, the inside linebacker from Michigan.
Speaker 1: I was super high on mcgrowan coming into this season
Speaker 1: in summer scouting. He was one of my favorite defensive
Speaker 1: players that I watched because I was watching his tape
Speaker 1: of just a true sophomore, and I said, man, if
Speaker 1: we get this as a baseline, is true sophomore and
Speaker 1: he takes another step up, We've been talking about a
Speaker 1: top fifty linebacker here. He didn't necessarily take a big
Speaker 1: step forward this past season. But it's not like it
Speaker 1: was a negative. You could just tell that he was
Speaker 1: still growing. He is somebody who you watch the active feed.
Speaker 1: The second the ball is being snapped, his feed are active.
Speaker 1: He's going left or right. But sometimes that fails. Sometimes
Speaker 1: it's actually to his detriment because a polling guard will
Speaker 1: go one way. He'll fly and flow towards that guard,
Speaker 1: and then the play ends up going the different way,
Speaker 1: or he goes too far out of what would be
Speaker 1: his run fit. But man, outside of those negatives, the
Speaker 1: potentially you're getting from him as an inside linebacker is
Speaker 1: a downhill mic type of linebacker. I like what I saw.
Speaker 1: He's got size, he's got speed, he's got all that stuff.
Speaker 1: The recognition and anticipation just isn't quite there yet. And
Speaker 1: so he's a player that I would tell you your
Speaker 1: two year three projection has a better outlook to it
Speaker 1: than year one might be. He might take his lumps
Speaker 1: and year one an the NFL, but he's a young
Speaker 1: linebacker prospect and I really believe that the mold that
Speaker 1: he is, and I think the mentality that he brings
Speaker 1: towards playing Mike in the middle and kind of like
Speaker 1: you said, going towards the Lion scrimmage, being in control
Speaker 1: of those A gaps and B gaps. I like his potential,
Speaker 1: I really do. I don't know where he's going to
Speaker 1: get drafted. I don't know how high the NFL is
Speaker 1: on him, but when he comes to those tears three guys,
Speaker 1: he's gonna be up near the top for me, especially
Speaker 1: if you need a guy in the middle. I have
Speaker 1: a filling. Kyle is going to talk about him on
Speaker 1: the podcast as well. He came down last year for
Speaker 1: two of us first start and wound up staying at
Speaker 1: my apartment for the entire Saturday, and we watched a
Speaker 1: bunch of college football and just I have I've never
Speaker 1: really watched that much ball with someone that also knows
Speaker 1: ball very well in terms of one of my buddies
Speaker 1: in the industry, So that was a lot of fun.
Speaker 1: And he was going on and on about McGrath about provinces.
Speaker 1: Last name, yeah grown, you know you got it? Okay, perfect,
Speaker 1: thank you, thank you. So that was a lot of fun.
Speaker 1: And like I said, we're gonna have Kyle on a
Speaker 1: future podcast here talking all things Dolphins Draft. But he
Speaker 1: is Trevor Sekama. You said it all, Trevor, NFL writer
Speaker 1: for the Draft Network, co host of Law on NFL
Speaker 1: Draft Podcast. And I wanted to ask you, man, I
Speaker 1: know you're up in Charlotte these days, but your team
Speaker 1: won the Super Bowl? Man, how's it feel surreal? It
Speaker 1: really does? Is somebody who grew up just south of Tampa.
Speaker 1: I mean we heard the old two team was just
Speaker 1: legends to me, and I mean I mean I was
Speaker 1: so young when the Bucks won their one Super Bowl,
Speaker 1: and honestly, if you talk to Bucks fans, it's almost
Speaker 1: as if they talked like that was the only super
Speaker 1: Bowl they were ever gonna get. Then all of a sudden,
Speaker 1: you know, they signed Tom Brady, they get all these
Speaker 1: other guys to come down, and I think it was
Speaker 1: the manifestation of a lot of the moves at Jason Life.
Speaker 1: The general manager has also been able to do over
Speaker 1: the last couple of years. They clearly got the right
Speaker 1: head coach in in in place, and so it feels
Speaker 1: surreal and sometimes it really doesn't even feel real. But
Speaker 1: it was really awesome to see some incredible media members
Speaker 1: who worked their butts off in Tampa and often and
Speaker 1: have not had a great audience to to to read
Speaker 1: their work. They got some national attention and then I've
Speaker 1: gotten to know a lot of Bucks fans over the years,
Speaker 1: so it was very fun to see them be very
Speaker 1: joyous on the Super Bowl Sunday. One day, it's gonna
Speaker 1: happened for me. And I don't know how that press
Speaker 1: box reaction is going to happen, because there's rules in
Speaker 1: the press box, right I'm gonna break them all, Like,
Speaker 1: there's no way I can do it. There's no way
Speaker 1: I can handle myself in that situation. Again, Trevor Sikama,
Speaker 1: what are you working on right now? Man? Where can
Speaker 1: the folks find you? Man? Just working every day grind
Speaker 1: and trying to get as much content out as we
Speaker 1: possibly can for you guys before draft weekend. We've got
Speaker 1: all sorts of you know, prospect right ups, live mock
Speaker 1: drafts that we're doing. We're giving you day to day
Speaker 1: analysis on what we think is going to happen not
Speaker 1: just in round one, but round two and round three.
Speaker 1: If you guys haven't been over to the Draft network
Speaker 1: dot com, man, if you hear a name that you
Speaker 1: don't quite recognize that you go, Okay, this guy might
Speaker 1: be good for our team. You can check out a
Speaker 1: full trade by trade breakdown of them on our prospect rankings.
Speaker 1: And then if you love doing mock drafts or if
Speaker 1: you've ever read a mock draft, heck, have you ever
Speaker 1: even read one of my mock drafts and you go,
Speaker 1: I could mock better than that guy, head over to
Speaker 1: our mock draft machine do it yourself. We we always
Speaker 1: love seeing brand new mock drafts. It's a fun way
Speaker 1: for draft fans to really experience and getting to do
Speaker 1: the season with their team's focus. And so that's what
Speaker 1: we got going on RAPE for draft weekend. I'm very
Speaker 1: excited for it. Man, It's the best draft content out there.
Speaker 1: My favorite thing is doing those mock drafts. It gives
Speaker 1: you an idea of where the pockets of talent kind
Speaker 1: of fall and allows you to kind of make your
Speaker 1: if this then that tree as I call it in
Speaker 1: the draft. So once again, Trevor thanks for doing this man.
Speaker 1: I appreciate your time today. And it's always three sides minimum, right,
Speaker 1: it is always three Sidesmenium, appreciate you having me on,
Speaker 1: and away he goes, and that's gonna be our time
Speaker 1: on this edition of the Drive Time Podcast. Plenty of
Speaker 1: good stuff for you today on both the offensive and
Speaker 1: defensive side of the ball. In the meantime, you all
Speaker 1: please be sure to subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcast.
Speaker 1: Leave us a rating, leave us a review. You can
Speaker 1: follow me on Twitter at Wingfield NFL. You can follow
Speaker 1: the team at Miami Dolphins. Check out the fish Tank
Speaker 1: and the Audible podcast, and of course Miami Dolphins dot com.
Speaker 1: Until next time, fins up.