WEBVTT - 2021 NFL Draft Pass Catchers Preview 0:00:00.720 --> 0:00:14.720 Actually you're looking pail touchdown, Miami drawn. What is up, 0:00:14.800 --> 0:00:19.000 Dolph fans and welcome to the Drive Time Podcast, part 0:00:19.040 --> 0:00:22.840 of the Miami Dolphins podcast network, covering your team, your 0:00:23.320 --> 0:00:27.360 Miami Dolphins. How's it going, everybody? I am your host, 0:00:27.640 --> 0:00:32.000 Travis Wingfield, And on today's show, we're gonna continue previewing 0:00:32.040 --> 0:00:36.159 the NFL Draft now just a week and a half 0:00:36.200 --> 0:00:39.760 away at hard Rock Stadium are live Draft party and 0:00:39.840 --> 0:00:42.479 YouTube show. Go ahead and makes you r s v 0:00:42.600 --> 0:00:44.920 P to that or check us out on the YouTube channel. 0:00:45.080 --> 0:00:48.519 But on today's podcast we have Matt Harmon of Yahoo 0:00:48.640 --> 0:00:53.280 Sports and the Reception Perception Project talking all things wide receivers. 0:00:53.520 --> 0:00:56.520 A busy, busy edition of the Drivetime Podcast today, Let's 0:00:56.560 --> 0:01:01.280 go ahead and jump right in Miami time and real 0:01:01.360 --> 0:01:03.640 quick before we get to Matt Harmon, I've talked about 0:01:03.640 --> 0:01:05.960 this on the podcast just a little bit, that I'm 0:01:05.959 --> 0:01:08.320 back in South Florida for the first time since the 0:01:08.440 --> 0:01:11.000 end of the season and doing the podcast from here, 0:01:11.240 --> 0:01:13.319 and I got to go to the offices at the 0:01:13.400 --> 0:01:16.440 stadium for the first time. I had worked previously at 0:01:16.440 --> 0:01:20.640 the offices and Davy at the current old training facility 0:01:20.800 --> 0:01:23.600 will be in the new facility sometime this summer hopefully, 0:01:23.640 --> 0:01:25.720 but I was in the stadium for the first time, 0:01:25.720 --> 0:01:28.760 and man, the views from hard Rock Stadium, the seeing 0:01:28.800 --> 0:01:31.440 the field, you know, just going to work and seeing 0:01:31.600 --> 0:01:34.399 the actual field at hard Rock Stadium and and being 0:01:34.440 --> 0:01:37.000 part of South Florida. It's it really is a dream 0:01:37.040 --> 0:01:38.480 come true. And it kind of was a moment that 0:01:38.560 --> 0:01:40.959 I took to myself today to to just kind of 0:01:40.959 --> 0:01:43.120 step back and look at everything and be like this, 0:01:43.120 --> 0:01:44.640 this is where it's all at. This is where I 0:01:44.680 --> 0:01:47.480 want to be. So I'm very grateful and happy to 0:01:47.560 --> 0:01:50.600 be bringing you guys this coverage of Miami Dolphins football 0:01:50.600 --> 0:01:53.320 here on the Drift Time podcast. And I've also been 0:01:53.320 --> 0:01:57.680 talking a lot about F one Formula one racing because 0:01:57.680 --> 0:02:00.240 of the Netflix show, and I'm gonna start watching the 0:02:00.240 --> 0:02:03.080 the weekly races. Just finished up the Sunday episode or 0:02:03.120 --> 0:02:06.280 Sunday Race, I should say, uh this this past weekend, 0:02:06.640 --> 0:02:09.400 and you know, I talked about the driving in South 0:02:09.440 --> 0:02:13.680 Florida and how it's a little bit enticing to drive 0:02:13.760 --> 0:02:16.239 like an F one Razor because everyone else out there 0:02:16.320 --> 0:02:19.080 does well. I did go to the rental company to 0:02:19.240 --> 0:02:21.440 replace my car, which is in the body shop because 0:02:21.440 --> 0:02:24.200 I was in that accident back in October. Somebody regretted 0:02:24.200 --> 0:02:27.400 me getting that fixed, and all they had available for 0:02:27.480 --> 0:02:31.480 me was Chrysler pacifica minivan, which don't don't knock it 0:02:31.520 --> 0:02:34.240 because it's a great vehicle. But you know, thirty three 0:02:34.320 --> 0:02:36.160 year old guy who doesn't have his wife and kid 0:02:36.160 --> 0:02:38.959 here in South Florida driving around minivan, maybe I feel 0:02:38.960 --> 0:02:41.240 a little bit less cool. I don't know. You tell me, 0:02:41.320 --> 0:02:43.480 is can you make a minivan any cool? I do 0:02:43.600 --> 0:02:45.400 have the F one Emmy. They'll kind of buzzing that 0:02:45.440 --> 0:02:48.080 thing around down here in South Florida. And the reason 0:02:48.120 --> 0:02:50.360 I bring this all together was because I have a 0:02:50.400 --> 0:02:52.679 great story about driving in South Florida I wanted to 0:02:52.680 --> 0:02:54.840 share before we get to Matt Harmon on the podcast. 0:02:55.200 --> 0:02:58.880 There was I was on Miramara Parkway at a busy 0:02:58.880 --> 0:03:01.800 intersection I think was Palm Avenue. It might have been 0:03:01.800 --> 0:03:03.960 a busier street than that, but there's a shopping center 0:03:04.040 --> 0:03:06.560 right by there, and somebody was pulling out of that 0:03:06.680 --> 0:03:08.880 shoppings now are trying to get across to the left 0:03:08.919 --> 0:03:11.640 turn lane. So I created a gap between me and 0:03:11.680 --> 0:03:13.840 the car ahead of me, so those cars had an 0:03:13.840 --> 0:03:16.480 avenue to pull through and get through traffic and not 0:03:16.560 --> 0:03:18.840 have to wait for another go round of a lengthy 0:03:18.880 --> 0:03:22.880 traffic signal. And the person behind me, not even kidding, 0:03:23.080 --> 0:03:25.560 pulls into the right hand turn lane, jumps in front 0:03:25.560 --> 0:03:27.880 of me and takes that vacant spot that I left 0:03:28.240 --> 0:03:31.080 nicely for people to use and cut off that entire 0:03:31.120 --> 0:03:34.360 way of traffic. So welcome to South Florida, baby, I 0:03:34.360 --> 0:03:36.560 guess that's how we do it down here. That's enough 0:03:36.560 --> 0:03:39.120 of my driving stories. We're gonna go ahead and welcome 0:03:39.120 --> 0:03:42.720 into the show right now, the author of Reception Perception, 0:03:42.760 --> 0:03:45.160 one of the best receiver minds in the entire game, 0:03:45.440 --> 0:03:47.840 Matt Harmon from y'all Who Sports. Let's go ahead and 0:03:47.880 --> 0:03:51.400 roll this interview. And we've been talking past catchers on 0:03:51.440 --> 0:03:54.720 this podcast weekly, if not daily, for months now, and 0:03:54.760 --> 0:03:57.600 we're bringing it home with one of the heaviest hitters 0:03:57.640 --> 0:04:00.480 in that world, in that realm. He's a wider for 0:04:00.760 --> 0:04:04.880 writer and analysts for Yahoo. He's the creator of Reception Perception, 0:04:04.960 --> 0:04:08.400 a great website, great content. They're talking all things pass catchers. 0:04:08.640 --> 0:04:11.600 He is Matt Harmon, and Matt, I love the last 0:04:11.680 --> 0:04:14.400 line of your Twitter bio. I did it my way. 0:04:14.440 --> 0:04:17.960 I love that. Welcome to the Drivetime Podcast. Hey, thanks 0:04:17.960 --> 0:04:19.839 so much for having me, Travis. I really appreciate it. 0:04:19.880 --> 0:04:22.240 And yeah, that is a an ode to a Frank 0:04:22.279 --> 0:04:26.520 Sinatra lyric from the song My Way. Um it's it's 0:04:26.560 --> 0:04:29.719 actually like a very personal sort of story about my 0:04:29.720 --> 0:04:32.320 my grandmom who was very close with when she passed away. 0:04:32.320 --> 0:04:34.680 I remember like that song. Is it just it's you know, 0:04:34.880 --> 0:04:36.360 it seems like a person at the end of their 0:04:36.400 --> 0:04:38.920 life they're going on to the next journey, and they 0:04:38.960 --> 0:04:41.120 did it their way. And I always kind of took 0:04:41.279 --> 0:04:43.919 after after that happened, and you know, pursuing a career 0:04:43.920 --> 0:04:46.200 in football and everything like that, I was just sort 0:04:46.200 --> 0:04:47.920 of looked at it as a you know, I want 0:04:47.920 --> 0:04:50.560 to do things my way. If I do uh, if 0:04:50.600 --> 0:04:52.640 I do this thing, if I actually make it happen 0:04:52.680 --> 0:04:55.160 and you know, spoiler alert, it happened, you worked out, 0:04:56.520 --> 0:04:58.159 I want to do it my way. I want to 0:04:58.200 --> 0:05:00.640 do it in a fashion that you know, I can 0:05:00.839 --> 0:05:02.400 you know, as a man, I can live with and 0:05:02.440 --> 0:05:04.320 I can look back on and be be proud of, 0:05:04.400 --> 0:05:06.320 and and uh, you know I think that I like 0:05:06.400 --> 0:05:08.360 to think I did a pretty decent job at it. Yeah, 0:05:08.360 --> 0:05:10.240 I wanted to follow up on that, because you know, 0:05:10.320 --> 0:05:13.080 I have a very unconventional path to this position myself, 0:05:13.360 --> 0:05:15.360 and I'm always curious to hear about people in this 0:05:15.440 --> 0:05:18.200 industry's path because not everyone in this day and age 0:05:18.480 --> 0:05:20.960 did the journalists journalism school route and then you do 0:05:21.040 --> 0:05:23.320 the high school paper and then you move up to college, 0:05:23.360 --> 0:05:25.760 like not everyone does that these days. And so, you know, 0:05:25.839 --> 0:05:29.480 my own path was your Your path obviously steeped heavily 0:05:29.480 --> 0:05:31.720 and charting, which I just love that work, and that's 0:05:31.760 --> 0:05:33.839 that's how I came across your work. I did some 0:05:33.880 --> 0:05:36.120 of my own charting for a website that I created 0:05:36.160 --> 0:05:38.599 called third and ten five or six years ago, and 0:05:38.600 --> 0:05:40.680 it taught me so much about the game because I 0:05:40.720 --> 0:05:43.719 just was so you know, intimate with every single detail 0:05:43.720 --> 0:05:45.839 of every single play. So I wanted to ask you, 0:05:45.880 --> 0:05:48.080 how did you get into charting and how did that 0:05:48.120 --> 0:05:53.240 eventually evolved into reception perception? Yeah, it is interesting, like 0:05:53.320 --> 0:05:55.880 this is back, you know, way in the origin story 0:05:55.960 --> 0:05:59.560 of kind of pursuing this as a career. My original 0:05:59.600 --> 0:06:01.920 life and was to go back to school, uh and 0:06:01.960 --> 0:06:05.680 continue my degree and in studying social theory, uh, in 0:06:05.720 --> 0:06:07.960 like sociology, and eventually get a PhD and like become 0:06:07.960 --> 0:06:11.240 an academic. Clearly, I'm sitting here in my backwards hat 0:06:11.279 --> 0:06:13.559 and looking at football players, like I did not become 0:06:13.600 --> 0:06:17.520 an academic, right Basically, I just decided, like I loved football. 0:06:17.640 --> 0:06:20.279 I was in just a pretty tough place in life. 0:06:20.279 --> 0:06:23.240 You know, life throws you curveballs and um needing to 0:06:23.279 --> 0:06:25.880 respond to it in a way. I just found something 0:06:25.920 --> 0:06:28.360 that I got a lot of joy from, which was 0:06:28.720 --> 0:06:31.120 analyzing the game. You know, I was obsessed with football, 0:06:31.200 --> 0:06:34.280 was obsessed with fantasy. I knew like, you know, every 0:06:34.320 --> 0:06:38.440 Madden roster back to front in like the two thousand thirteen, 0:06:38.760 --> 0:06:41.200 two thousand and fourteen eras. So I started a website. 0:06:41.200 --> 0:06:44.279 All my friends had really pushed me to go that direction. 0:06:44.360 --> 0:06:47.600 But you know, because I was literally a nobody, you know, 0:06:47.680 --> 0:06:50.760 like just some guy in a one bedroom apartment in Lynchburg, Virginia, 0:06:51.160 --> 0:06:53.760 just trying to figure out the game, just like you. 0:06:53.800 --> 0:06:57.680 I wanted to understand the intricacies of football from every situation. 0:06:57.720 --> 0:06:59.720 So that's when I just started charting games, a lot 0:06:59.720 --> 0:07:01.000 of differ and stuff. You know, I did some work 0:07:01.040 --> 0:07:04.840 with quarterbacks to decided I hated it, and you know, 0:07:05.080 --> 0:07:08.360 offensive line, defensive line, just trying out different things, and 0:07:08.440 --> 0:07:10.360 I think that's something probably people don't don't really know 0:07:10.400 --> 0:07:12.040 about that, you know. Like I said, I was charting 0:07:12.080 --> 0:07:14.400 all these different positions and the one that just stuck 0:07:14.400 --> 0:07:16.920 to me really was wide receivers. Because I always tell 0:07:16.920 --> 0:07:19.920 people if they're trying to start out in this space 0:07:20.040 --> 0:07:21.840 or kind of trying to find their own way, My 0:07:22.360 --> 0:07:24.760 my thing that I encourage everybody to do is try 0:07:24.800 --> 0:07:27.840 to be the person that answers the question, the biggest 0:07:27.920 --> 0:07:30.520 question that you have about football. For me, it was 0:07:30.960 --> 0:07:33.080 you know, what are wide receivers doing when they run 0:07:33.120 --> 0:07:35.360 off the screen on Sundays? Because we know this anybody 0:07:35.440 --> 0:07:38.000 that follows football or anybody that plays fantasy football, like, 0:07:38.680 --> 0:07:42.320 there's so much that goes into it. From a production standpoint. 0:07:42.320 --> 0:07:44.840 Someone has to go right for a wide receiver just 0:07:44.880 --> 0:07:46.840 to get a target, a catch, a yard, like be 0:07:46.880 --> 0:07:50.280 able to put those points up on the board. They're 0:07:50.280 --> 0:07:53.720 not if their own individual performances is very separate from 0:07:53.760 --> 0:07:56.960 all that. So and if you just even any basic 0:07:57.000 --> 0:07:59.520 staff but even more advanced that's like catch rate, yards 0:07:59.520 --> 0:08:03.320 per target, it you're inherently welcoming in the variable of 0:08:03.440 --> 0:08:06.320 the quarterback at the bare minimum. But you're also the 0:08:06.400 --> 0:08:08.480 offensive line's got to be blocking for them, right, They 0:08:08.520 --> 0:08:10.960 gotta be put into a good position by the head coach. 0:08:11.000 --> 0:08:15.000 So that's really the where the idea of reception perception 0:08:15.040 --> 0:08:17.640 came about. Was I wanted to try to isolate wide 0:08:17.640 --> 0:08:22.160 receiver performance as much as possible from those outside variables 0:08:22.160 --> 0:08:25.920 and really study and try to quantify the qualitative reality 0:08:25.920 --> 0:08:28.880 of route running because to me, it was look the 0:08:28.920 --> 0:08:31.640 one thing that the wide receiver can control, like stats 0:08:31.680 --> 0:08:33.959 and just throw that out. They can't really control that 0:08:34.520 --> 0:08:36.520 too much on their own. The one thing that they 0:08:36.520 --> 0:08:38.760 can control is do they run good routes? Do they 0:08:38.800 --> 0:08:41.360 get open uh? And do they present that good target 0:08:41.440 --> 0:08:43.480 for the quarterback to earn a target? And then obviously 0:08:43.559 --> 0:08:44.959 do they catch the ball and do good things with 0:08:45.000 --> 0:08:47.480 it after that? So perception perceptions and such you trying 0:08:47.520 --> 0:08:49.880 to tell you all of that anything you want to 0:08:49.880 --> 0:08:51.840 know about a wide receiver, and that all came out 0:08:51.880 --> 0:08:55.080 of basically charting games and finding that one thing I 0:08:55.120 --> 0:08:57.600 really wanted to figure out. I watched games at hard 0:08:57.679 --> 0:08:59.600 Rock Stadium now, so it's different from me, but back 0:08:59.640 --> 0:09:03.920 when I is you know, uh, you know, fixed on 0:09:03.960 --> 0:09:06.960 the television set I would have the same complaint every Sunday. 0:09:07.000 --> 0:09:08.800 Give me a view where I can see the receivers 0:09:08.800 --> 0:09:11.560 in downfield. Give me that that you mentioned Madden the 0:09:11.679 --> 0:09:14.200 behind the formation, but pull it back a little bit 0:09:14.240 --> 0:09:16.040 so I can see the entire box count and the 0:09:16.080 --> 0:09:19.200 receivers out wide. That's my lifelong dream right there. And 0:09:19.240 --> 0:09:21.800 you also mentioned memorizing Madden rosters. I'll tell you my 0:09:21.840 --> 0:09:24.400 little funny story here. I used to get the Pro 0:09:24.480 --> 0:09:27.040 Football Weekly season previews and I would read all the 0:09:27.440 --> 0:09:30.320 content and memorize the rosters and then recite them when 0:09:30.320 --> 0:09:32.800 I would go for jogs outside. So that's like my nerd, 0:09:33.200 --> 0:09:35.800 my very nerd football thing. But we've got you on 0:09:35.880 --> 0:09:39.240 here to talk about both Dolphins receivers and the college 0:09:39.240 --> 0:09:41.240 receivers in this draft coming up in just a couple 0:09:41.280 --> 0:09:43.480 of weeks here, and I have to start off before 0:09:43.480 --> 0:09:45.679 we get to the receiver class in the draft talking 0:09:45.720 --> 0:09:48.920 about Will Fuller because a through my own tape study, 0:09:49.000 --> 0:09:52.120 I think he is an elite, elite level wide receiver 0:09:52.559 --> 0:09:55.520 and be the data you shared with regards to his 0:09:55.600 --> 0:09:58.439 win rate by route run is that of an elite, 0:09:58.559 --> 0:10:03.440 elite wide receiver. So Matt, how good is Will Fuller. Yeah, 0:10:03.480 --> 0:10:06.719 I think the version of Will Fuller was incredible. I've 0:10:06.720 --> 0:10:08.920 always been a big fan of his because one thing 0:10:08.960 --> 0:10:12.880 that you come to realize when you study wide receivers, 0:10:12.920 --> 0:10:15.040 you know, on a route by route basis and watch 0:10:15.040 --> 0:10:18.000 off and they're getting separation, you start to not care 0:10:18.040 --> 0:10:20.960 about things like drops, and like people forget about this. 0:10:21.000 --> 0:10:23.600 But Will Fuller was slammed coming into the league as 0:10:23.640 --> 0:10:25.920 a guy that couldn't catch the ball, which is crazy 0:10:25.920 --> 0:10:28.079 because he he's had you know, like he had one 0:10:28.160 --> 0:10:30.120 big drop. I can remember when he was playing with 0:10:30.160 --> 0:10:33.000 the Texans against the Patriots in a playoff game and 0:10:33.080 --> 0:10:35.319 he has brock Oswhiler throwing the ball for God's sake, 0:10:35.440 --> 0:10:37.920 So like maybe that's the one drop. Is not the 0:10:37.920 --> 0:10:40.360 biggest problem that the team might have had. But you know, 0:10:40.400 --> 0:10:42.720 this is a guy that never really developed those drop issues. 0:10:42.760 --> 0:10:45.280 And I think when you look at him, even on 0:10:45.520 --> 0:10:47.640 a year by year basis, he had always been a 0:10:47.640 --> 0:10:50.480 really strong separator and reception perception. You know, I break 0:10:50.520 --> 0:10:53.000 things down not only by success rate versus man's own 0:10:53.040 --> 0:10:55.959 press coverage, but also by individual routes. You know, he'd 0:10:55.960 --> 0:10:57.520 always had a really good and if people go to 0:10:57.520 --> 0:10:59.760 reception perception dot Com and they sign up for the site, 0:11:00.200 --> 0:11:03.480 they can see not only uh Will Fuller's twenty season, 0:11:03.480 --> 0:11:06.400 but go compare it to his twenty nineteen season as well, 0:11:06.880 --> 0:11:09.120 which I think is really useful because it shows you 0:11:09.840 --> 0:11:12.200 even if you don't get the version of the player, 0:11:12.440 --> 0:11:16.000 you're looking at excellent success rate on deep routes, of 0:11:16.000 --> 0:11:18.040 course we know that's part of it, but also routes 0:11:18.080 --> 0:11:20.120 like the flat, the curl, you know, some of those 0:11:20.120 --> 0:11:23.120 more shorter lay up patterns that are gonna be important 0:11:23.160 --> 0:11:26.079 for moving an offense down the field. And what I 0:11:26.120 --> 0:11:28.760 always liked about Fuller two playing with the Texans before 0:11:30.040 --> 0:11:32.320 was he just put defenses in such a bind. This 0:11:32.400 --> 0:11:34.559 is why I think a player like Jalen Waddle is 0:11:34.600 --> 0:11:36.600 really going to be appealing for folks in the drafted. 0:11:36.960 --> 0:11:39.640 Fuller was never that number one receiver because the Texans 0:11:39.640 --> 0:11:44.160 had DeAndre Hopkins, and it's like, Okay, we want to, uh, 0:11:44.520 --> 0:11:48.160 just put some extra defensive attention to stopping DeAndre Hopkins, 0:11:48.160 --> 0:11:50.480 But then you're gonna leave Will Fuller on your number 0:11:50.480 --> 0:11:53.079 two corner exposed there on the other side of the 0:11:53.120 --> 0:11:55.720 field with no help. You're gonna get destroyed. And those 0:11:55.800 --> 0:11:58.680 those games where it was Watson, Hopkins and Will Fuller. 0:11:58.960 --> 0:12:01.360 Those guys fired off to w It was real magic. 0:12:01.440 --> 0:12:05.160 But going back to the season, which I think is really, 0:12:05.160 --> 0:12:07.439 of course the important part here, this is a player 0:12:07.480 --> 0:12:11.320 that jumped up huge in terms of success rate versus press. 0:12:11.400 --> 0:12:14.920 Like the Texans used him as an alpha wide receiver 0:12:15.040 --> 0:12:17.960 out there as the ISO X guy, basically just put 0:12:18.040 --> 0:12:20.800 him in DeAndre hopkins old spot, and he had the 0:12:20.840 --> 0:12:22.640 best season of his career. And you can look at that, 0:12:22.840 --> 0:12:24.880 you know, look at that down the route tree as well. 0:12:25.200 --> 0:12:28.320 Only one route did he fall below the NFL average 0:12:28.320 --> 0:12:30.320 in terms of success, right, and that was the out route. 0:12:30.360 --> 0:12:33.760 Everything else, Like, the Dolphins are getting a complete player 0:12:34.360 --> 0:12:36.640 in the peak version of Will Fuller, and uh, you know, 0:12:36.679 --> 0:12:39.160 it's it is sort of interesting just talk about like 0:12:39.200 --> 0:12:42.360 where did this season come from? Um, But I think 0:12:42.360 --> 0:12:44.560 he had this ability in him all along and it 0:12:44.640 --> 0:12:48.320 was just taking that next step of development. So even again, 0:12:48.320 --> 0:12:50.839 at bare minimum you get the nineteen version of Fuller, 0:12:50.920 --> 0:12:53.840 you're getting a really strong number two receiver that wins 0:12:53.880 --> 0:12:56.640 in the most important areas, wins vertically right, and in 0:12:56.679 --> 0:12:59.240 the contested games, who has always been an underrated contested 0:12:59.280 --> 0:13:02.079 catch receiver, so you're bare minimum getting that player, but 0:13:02.120 --> 0:13:04.920 the version does show he has true number one receiver 0:13:05.000 --> 0:13:07.040 upside in them as well. I'm glad you mentioned the 0:13:07.040 --> 0:13:09.160 impact that he and those receivers in Houston have on 0:13:09.200 --> 0:13:11.160 the offense in general, because I went back and watch 0:13:11.240 --> 0:13:13.600 this tape this last year and teams played too high 0:13:13.600 --> 0:13:15.280 safety because you got him and Kenny Stills on the 0:13:15.360 --> 0:13:17.240 other side, you know, taking the top off the defense. 0:13:17.520 --> 0:13:19.360 That can have such a big benefit, not just for 0:13:19.400 --> 0:13:21.480 the run game, but for Mike is Sicky and Devonte 0:13:21.480 --> 0:13:24.120 Parker over the middle, and all the possession receivers Dolphins 0:13:24.120 --> 0:13:26.480 have in that regard. So yeah, I I couldn't be 0:13:26.559 --> 0:13:28.640 more excited about it. I'm glad you mentioned his old 0:13:28.679 --> 0:13:30.600 tape because I went back and watched him his rookie 0:13:30.640 --> 0:13:34.840 year compared to twenty, and he was running like you mentioned, curls, screens, flats. 0:13:34.840 --> 0:13:36.240 It wasn't doing a whole lot in the route tree. 0:13:36.280 --> 0:13:38.360 But now he ran the whole damn thing and look 0:13:38.440 --> 0:13:40.800 good doing it. So that's great to hear. Let's go 0:13:40.840 --> 0:13:43.600 ahead and transition now into this college class, another one 0:13:43.640 --> 0:13:45.920 that is coming in a build, possibly one of the 0:13:45.920 --> 0:13:48.200 best receiver classes of all time again for back to 0:13:48.240 --> 0:13:50.760 back years, and I want to stay on that frame 0:13:50.800 --> 0:13:53.319 of mind of the prototype. And one thing I've been 0:13:53.520 --> 0:13:56.120 on about this offseason, Matt is the type of receiver 0:13:56.200 --> 0:13:58.800 this offense could use. And I don't have a prototype 0:13:58.800 --> 0:14:01.199 per se if what Miami might want, but to consider 0:14:01.280 --> 0:14:04.240 Parker Williams, Hollands, even a tight end Mike Sicky. These 0:14:04.280 --> 0:14:07.480 guys are contested catch this type of dude. So separators, 0:14:07.600 --> 0:14:10.040 yak that sort of thing. So before we break into 0:14:10.040 --> 0:14:11.880 this thing into tears, as far as who's in your 0:14:11.920 --> 0:14:14.080 first tier, second tier, and so forth, I want to 0:14:14.120 --> 0:14:16.480 get your best in class by category. Does that work 0:14:16.559 --> 0:14:19.200 for you? I love that idea and I think it's 0:14:19.200 --> 0:14:21.800 perfect for the Dolphins too, because of, like you said, 0:14:21.800 --> 0:14:23.920 what they need. They had a lot of guys that 0:14:23.960 --> 0:14:26.320 were redundant with each other last year. I think they 0:14:26.360 --> 0:14:28.040 have a good start with Fuller, but there's a lot 0:14:28.080 --> 0:14:30.000 of room they can have in this draft class as well. 0:14:30.080 --> 0:14:32.280 That's a word I've used a lot, redundancy. So let's 0:14:32.280 --> 0:14:34.680 go ahead and get into it. Then, Who's who's the 0:14:34.720 --> 0:14:37.840 best separator in this class? Yeah? I think the best 0:14:37.840 --> 0:14:41.680 separator It's easy. It's DeVante Smith, because when you break 0:14:41.720 --> 0:14:44.080 it down by look, I actually I think folks if 0:14:44.120 --> 0:14:46.520 they do go to Reception Perception and they subscribe and 0:14:46.520 --> 0:14:49.000 they see the rookie data that's going to be hitting 0:14:49.000 --> 0:14:52.680 the site on Monday morning, uh, it's it's they're gonna 0:14:52.680 --> 0:14:55.000 look at it and they're gonna see. Look, Jalen Waddle 0:14:55.080 --> 0:14:57.440 is really high in terms of success rate verse man coverage. 0:14:57.440 --> 0:14:59.480 He's right up there. But when you look at success 0:14:59.560 --> 0:15:03.520 rate a lost the route tree across a press coverage 0:15:03.560 --> 0:15:06.320 and man coverage, you're looking at DeVante Smith is a 0:15:06.360 --> 0:15:09.760 guy that just knows how to get open. And I 0:15:10.240 --> 0:15:13.120 we can talk more about Smith and and the you know, 0:15:13.160 --> 0:15:16.560 the weight concerns, the b M I concerns and all 0:15:16.600 --> 0:15:19.280 that and and sort of how you reconcile that when 0:15:19.240 --> 0:15:20.880 you're talking about him as a prospect. But I think 0:15:20.920 --> 0:15:23.240 in terms of just best separator, there's a lot of 0:15:23.240 --> 0:15:25.400 really good separators that I really like in this class, 0:15:25.520 --> 0:15:28.040 but I think Smith does take the cake there. Yeah, 0:15:28.080 --> 0:15:30.280 I'm glad you mentioned that. We I was expecting a 0:15:30.280 --> 0:15:32.320 different direction, you know, the guy that everyone builds as 0:15:32.360 --> 0:15:34.560 a top receiver. But I'm with you on Davante Smith. 0:15:34.760 --> 0:15:36.080 I'm sure, we'll get to that guy here in just 0:15:36.120 --> 0:15:38.280 a second. But who is the best yards after catch? 0:15:38.520 --> 0:15:42.600 Is it possibly Smith's teammate there at Alabama? This is interesting, 0:15:42.680 --> 0:15:44.560 right because this is another again, this is a class 0:15:44.600 --> 0:15:46.560 where I not only do I like a lot of 0:15:46.560 --> 0:15:48.920 these guys as separators, I also think there's some really 0:15:48.920 --> 0:15:51.800 good yards after catch threat players. Um you know, I 0:15:51.840 --> 0:15:54.160 think of a player like Elijah Moore from Old Miss. 0:15:54.200 --> 0:15:57.520 He's he's there as well. Uh you mentioned Jalen Waddles 0:15:57.560 --> 0:16:01.040 A good a good a good bet there too. Maybe 0:16:01.080 --> 0:16:04.960 not from the physicality standpoint where and it's kind of like, 0:16:05.000 --> 0:16:07.280 do you want to talk about yards after catch from 0:16:07.280 --> 0:16:10.560 from just a literally piling up yards after the catch? 0:16:10.600 --> 0:16:13.400 Because Wattle can do that in bunches. But if you're 0:16:13.440 --> 0:16:16.720 talking about like physical guys that break tackles, and this 0:16:16.800 --> 0:16:20.200 is just a personal um like a personal bias, those 0:16:20.240 --> 0:16:22.360 are the players. Because I do chart like how often 0:16:22.680 --> 0:16:24.960 do you break one tackle, two tackles, get down on 0:16:25.040 --> 0:16:27.640 first contact, everything like that. I do chart that as 0:16:27.640 --> 0:16:29.840 well interception perceptions. So I end up I feel like 0:16:29.920 --> 0:16:34.600 preferring those guys that break tackles with physicality and Jamaar Chase, 0:16:34.640 --> 0:16:37.440 who is, you know, the consensus top receiver. He's really 0:16:37.520 --> 0:16:40.040 underrated in that yards after catch away that he That's 0:16:40.080 --> 0:16:41.880 sort of why he's a tough player to find a 0:16:41.880 --> 0:16:44.840 comparison for. I know, I've seen Davantae Adams, I've seen 0:16:45.280 --> 0:16:47.480 um like a faster an Kin Bolden from my buddy 0:16:47.560 --> 0:16:49.840 Daniel Jeremiah from the NFL Network. But the one I 0:16:49.880 --> 0:16:51.920 kind of landed on with him his early career Larry 0:16:51.920 --> 0:16:55.360 Fitzgerald because Fitzgerald was so good, Um we think of 0:16:55.440 --> 0:16:57.600 him now is this big slot receiver, almost like a 0:16:57.600 --> 0:17:00.200 tight end type of player. But Jamar Chase, I think 0:17:00.240 --> 0:17:02.600 fits into that early career fits when he was absolutely 0:17:02.680 --> 0:17:04.800 dominant in some of those Kurt Warner offenses for the 0:17:04.800 --> 0:17:08.400 Arizona Cardinals. But I said all that, Uh, the guy 0:17:08.400 --> 0:17:10.040 I'm gonna give it to though the best yards after 0:17:10.040 --> 0:17:12.560 catching to the breaking tackles, for physicality, and people don't 0:17:12.560 --> 0:17:13.760 think of this guy in this way, but it's for 0:17:13.840 --> 0:17:17.119 Shod Bateman from Minnesota. I love him as a separator. 0:17:17.160 --> 0:17:19.240 I love him as a contestant catch receiver. I think 0:17:19.280 --> 0:17:21.040 his twenty nineteen film, which is the film that I 0:17:21.160 --> 0:17:24.320 decided to go back and chart because I think people 0:17:24.320 --> 0:17:26.520 don't really know this, but he was dealing. He actually 0:17:26.600 --> 0:17:28.840 had COVID and had a rough battle with it and 0:17:28.880 --> 0:17:30.879 like lost a bunch of weight and just wasn't himself. 0:17:30.880 --> 0:17:33.000 And he's playing in the slot after being an outside 0:17:33.160 --> 0:17:35.879 X receiver in twenty nine. His twenty nineteen film, I 0:17:35.880 --> 0:17:39.800 think is up there with Jamaar Chase, is up there 0:17:39.880 --> 0:17:43.000 with Davonte Smith in terms of the best in the class. 0:17:43.000 --> 0:17:45.320 So I'm gonna give it to Bateman because I think 0:17:45.359 --> 0:17:49.080 he is really underrated and how good he is after 0:17:49.119 --> 0:17:51.919 the catch. My good my good friend Matt Walman, who 0:17:51.920 --> 0:17:55.520 writes the Rookie Scouting Portfolio, compared him to like pre 0:17:55.760 --> 0:17:58.359 route that this is my same comparison for Bateman is 0:17:58.440 --> 0:18:00.800 Keenan Allen, like Justin Jeffers and that type of player. 0:18:00.840 --> 0:18:04.159 But post catch, he's almost like Cordero Patterson, which like, 0:18:04.200 --> 0:18:06.320 you don't want to be Cordero Patterson runner rounds right, 0:18:06.320 --> 0:18:08.720 because he's he's like a running back up at this point, 0:18:08.720 --> 0:18:11.400 but he's an He's not even awesome after catcher, which 0:18:11.400 --> 0:18:13.800 why one of the best kick returners in NFL history. 0:18:13.960 --> 0:18:16.800 Now you mentioned Jamar Chase. The physicality of the Yak 0:18:16.880 --> 0:18:18.640 and you see that in the way he gets off 0:18:18.680 --> 0:18:20.320 of the release, off the line, the way he's just 0:18:20.359 --> 0:18:23.760 so physical, so that that checks out Rashaan Bateman's twenty 0:18:23.880 --> 0:18:26.159 nineteen tape. I'm glad you mentioned that because I always 0:18:26.160 --> 0:18:28.720 got confused watching him when number thirteen that switched the 0:18:28.760 --> 0:18:30.879 number zero. That always threw me off for some reason. 0:18:30.920 --> 0:18:33.520