Speaker 1: Fractors, Rolphins Factor throwing into the air. What a win
Speaker 1: for this Miami Dolphin team. Wow? What is up? Dolphins?
Speaker 1: And welcome to the Drive Time Podcast, part of the
Speaker 1: Miami Dolphins official podcast network covering your Miami Dolphins. I
Speaker 1: am your host, Travis Wingfield, and as always, I am
Speaker 1: here to bring you your daily dose of Miami Dolphins football.
Speaker 1: And on today's show, part two of our deep dive
Speaker 1: into the All twenty two of Miami's free agents. We
Speaker 1: covered the players outside of the front seven of defense yesterday,
Speaker 1: and today we're jumping into the revamped front seven of
Speaker 1: this Dolphins defense. The versatility players that complement one another,
Speaker 1: and a whole bunch of pass rushing and run defending
Speaker 1: prowess added here over the last couple of weeks to
Speaker 1: your Dolphins football team. All of that and more on
Speaker 1: this Tuesday marks the thirty one edition of the Drivetime
Speaker 1: Podcast Dolphins. And just before I came to record this
Speaker 1: podcast today, I was watching some games on the NFL
Speaker 1: network and they had some Cowboys games on the channel
Speaker 1: and I watched all of Byron Jones is All twenty two,
Speaker 1: but you watch him on the television broadcast version and
Speaker 1: the guy just gets neglected by the opposing quarterbacks so
Speaker 1: often that you can't even see him playing because the
Speaker 1: route down field gets ignored and thirty one gets out
Speaker 1: of the screen almost every single time. You gotta watch
Speaker 1: the All twenty two on that guy to appreciate his
Speaker 1: game and his greatness, or you can just go back
Speaker 1: to yesterday's podcast here on the Drive Time and get
Speaker 1: the full breakdown. We have some fun stuff coming up
Speaker 1: this week as well, including a special guest from the
Speaker 1: Dolphins alumni to help us with Throwback Thursday, and then
Speaker 1: another guest on Friday show who spent an entire day
Speaker 1: with quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick. You will not want to miss that.
Speaker 1: Neil Reynolds of Sky Sports will join the program. But
Speaker 1: let's now go ahead and get into the All twenty
Speaker 1: two and first off before we break down these players individually.
Speaker 1: I know this has been a theme we've harped on
Speaker 1: this podcast and really in my Dolphense coverage over the
Speaker 1: years several times, but my goodness, the versatility the Dolphins
Speaker 1: have added to the roster in this free agency period,
Speaker 1: especially along the front seven, in terms of guys that
Speaker 1: can play multiple positions, whether it's lining up out wide
Speaker 1: outside the tight end, condensing down over the inside guard,
Speaker 1: or over the tackle. A lot of these guys play
Speaker 1: multiple positions. They can rush from multiple positions. They can
Speaker 1: hold the point against the run from those multiple positions.
Speaker 1: And that's true of the linebacker group. Two of guys
Speaker 1: who can play on the ball, off the ball, they
Speaker 1: can stack, they can do multiple things. The theme of
Speaker 1: this offseason was that versatility, and I think Brian Flores,
Speaker 1: Chris Career and company really hit it out of the
Speaker 1: park in that regard. And you also have players who
Speaker 1: really complement one another very well. We're gonna talk about
Speaker 1: the ability to run games up front, whether it's slanting, stunting,
Speaker 1: or twisting or rushing from those multiple spots, blitzing different gaps.
Speaker 1: Just plenty of guys that can really work off of
Speaker 1: each other's skill sets in terms of the physical power
Speaker 1: they offer, the lateral agility they offer, as well as
Speaker 1: some of the nuance and their past rush capabilities and
Speaker 1: their past rush arsenal and secondary moves once the first
Speaker 1: move is kind of shut down by the opposing offensive line.
Speaker 1: So plenty of versatility, complimentary style guys that can condense
Speaker 1: inside play out wide, play multiple spots at linebacker, and
Speaker 1: let's go ahead and start here on the individuals with
Speaker 1: a player who I think is an absolute steel of
Speaker 1: assigning for the Miami Dolphins. Every time I plugged his
Speaker 1: tape in, he was giving the man across from him
Speaker 1: absolute fits and all they could handle all day long.
Speaker 1: And I want to reiterate this point here on the podcast.
Speaker 1: Good tape is not just about getting sacks or pressures
Speaker 1: or run stops. You can have a good rep that
Speaker 1: doesn't go down in the box score. And Emmanuel Ogba
Speaker 1: has so many reps where that's the case over and
Speaker 1: over again, where he's just overwhelming the guy that's lined
Speaker 1: up right across from him. And I have to imagine
Speaker 1: playing against Bob is just a miserable day for most
Speaker 1: Go back to the Lions game from last season, and
Speaker 1: he gave the right tackle in that game all he
Speaker 1: could hand Doll constantly putting him on his back side,
Speaker 1: getting him off balance and taking him down to the ground.
Speaker 1: And the thing I like most about his tape is
Speaker 1: the initial shock when he sends his hands across the
Speaker 1: bow of the guy in front of him. And in
Speaker 1: this game, you see that shock just get absorbed, and
Speaker 1: it completely resets the pass set, it resets the point
Speaker 1: of attack against the run. Very good tape there for
Speaker 1: Agba going up against the Detroit Lions last year, and
Speaker 1: we'll jump back into those tapes and those particular plays
Speaker 1: here in just one second. But first, on Aga, the
Speaker 1: guy has twenty passes batted down in a four year career,
Speaker 1: averaging five per season, and the length that he displays
Speaker 1: is so clearly obvious on a down by down basis.
Speaker 1: His alignments don't impact his effectiveness. Like I talked about earlier,
Speaker 1: he can condense inside or he can rush outside. And
Speaker 1: just real quick, in terms of technique positions, you can
Speaker 1: google this and find it for yourself. Let's go ahead
Speaker 1: and go over just real quick. The person that lines
Speaker 1: up across from the center, right up over the nose,
Speaker 1: that's the zero technique. You line up across from the
Speaker 1: guard that's a two technique. Line up over the tackle
Speaker 1: that is the four technique. And then based upon what
Speaker 1: shoulder you line up inside or outside of those players,
Speaker 1: you get your ones, your threes, your fives. And then
Speaker 1: when you line up out wide with the tight end,
Speaker 1: depending on where you align on his outsider, inside, shoulder
Speaker 1: or head up. That's your six, seven, and nine techniques.
Speaker 1: But with aug Bah, he can play so many multiple spots,
Speaker 1: can densing down into that two eye technique. And there's
Speaker 1: an instance in that Lions game when he is in
Speaker 1: a two eye technique. It's a third down in seven
Speaker 1: and he draws a double team. But he's not just
Speaker 1: drawing the double team. It's holding them up long enough
Speaker 1: to allow Chris Jones to cross face inside and get
Speaker 1: a sack in the second quarter of that Lions game.
Speaker 1: And if they're taking a double team on you when
Speaker 1: Chris Jones is inside, what does that tell you about
Speaker 1: that player's strength and how much the offense fears what
Speaker 1: he can do. And I talked about it earlier again,
Speaker 1: he is just so significant with his hands, whether he's
Speaker 1: working upfield or trying to prolong the rep by shocking
Speaker 1: with the initial punch and then kind of stepping back
Speaker 1: and reading and reacting to play allows him to shock,
Speaker 1: stack and shed and hold that point of attack and
Speaker 1: use his eyes to read the play to take him
Speaker 1: to the football. He can fight off cut blocks because
Speaker 1: he has enough athletic ability to do that. And you're
Speaker 1: gonna have a really tough time leaving him unblocked if
Speaker 1: you want to run that naked boot, because he can
Speaker 1: close ground in a hurry and really disrupts those passing
Speaker 1: lanes again with his length, and he can win off
Speaker 1: the edge, he can work back underneath, doesn't really get
Speaker 1: himself beyond the quarterback too often, which is a great
Speaker 1: trait to have in an outside pass rusher. So go
Speaker 1: check out that Lions game and get a look at
Speaker 1: that Chris Jones sack and you'll see Ogba drawing the double.
Speaker 1: Team talked about him putting Rick Wagner, the Lions right tackle,
Speaker 1: on his back a few times. That was in the
Speaker 1: third quarter of that Lions game with seven twelve to go,
Speaker 1: just completely overwhelms him and puts him on his back side.
Speaker 1: Then you go to the Tennessee game in week number ten,
Speaker 1: quarter number three, fourteen fifty two, in that third quarters
Speaker 1: with the first playoff that second half and the first
Speaker 1: intent play on the minus twelve yard line, and what
Speaker 1: do the Titans do best all season long? They run
Speaker 1: the football Derrick Henry and they do it behind that
Speaker 1: offensive line with Taylor Lawan, Jack Conklin. They use John
Speaker 1: wu Smith the tight end in the running game, and
Speaker 1: on this particular play, Ogballs lineup on the outside shoulder
Speaker 1: of the right tackle, Jack Conklin, and Smith motions across
Speaker 1: the formation. They run it outside to Derrick Henry, and
Speaker 1: Ogba not only stacks and resets lion scrimmage, putting Conklin
Speaker 1: backwards a couple of yards into the backfield, he carries
Speaker 1: him all the way outside and stretches that play all
Speaker 1: the way to the perimeter and makes the tackle on
Speaker 1: the ball carrier. Very impressive work, the way he controls
Speaker 1: the rep and controls the point of attack. Another impressive
Speaker 1: running down rep. You go back two weeks prior to that,
Speaker 1: in the fourth quarter against the Packers, there's four fifty
Speaker 1: one on the clock. It's the second and four on
Speaker 1: their own eight yard line, and this time og Ball
Speaker 1: lines up head up over the right tackle and just
Speaker 1: the pure power that he plays with overwhelms the tackle
Speaker 1: and moves him two gaps to the left. And you
Speaker 1: watch the way he strikes. Initially he displaces the tackle
Speaker 1: and takes him right into the ball carrier and then
Speaker 1: eventually sheds that block and makes the tackle. Very impressive
Speaker 1: stuff using those arms in those length that length rather
Speaker 1: and using his strength to stack up, shed and make
Speaker 1: tackles against the running game. You go to a Houston
Speaker 1: game earlier in the season, core number three, five minutes
Speaker 1: to go in that quarter, second and four on the
Speaker 1: forty six yard line, and this is one of the
Speaker 1: plays I most like about both Agba and Shaq Lawson,
Speaker 1: who will talk about here in just one second. But
Speaker 1: it's playing the backside unblocked role on the defensive line.
Speaker 1: When it's running zone read or any kind of shotgun
Speaker 1: handoff inside, you basically leave that backside guy on blocks
Speaker 1: and try to make the formation or the mesh point
Speaker 1: the handoff fool him into taking himself out of the play.
Speaker 1: But on this particular instance, the Texans try to bring
Speaker 1: a player across the formation to cut a manual a bob,
Speaker 1: but that length and the athletic ability allows him to
Speaker 1: shed off that cut block and get himself into the
Speaker 1: gap and make a play on the running down here
Speaker 1: against the Houston Texans. Very good job beating blocks and
Speaker 1: getting to the ball carriers and making the tackles. And again,
Speaker 1: if you want to see his sacks, his sack real
Speaker 1: is very impressive as well, had five and a half
Speaker 1: sacks on the season last year in his ten game
Speaker 1: We talked about each of those plays in the Emmanuel
Speaker 1: Ogba interview podcast on the Drivetime podcast a couple of
Speaker 1: weeks back. You can go back and check those out,
Speaker 1: or go to game pass and just pull up his
Speaker 1: sack reel and to just further unload the notebook here
Speaker 1: on Emmanual Ogba, there was a play against the Denver
Speaker 1: Broncos where he lines up across from the center and
Speaker 1: just completely sniffs out a running play, holding the point
Speaker 1: of attack on the interior of that defensive line. So
Speaker 1: we're talking about a guy that can rush from the
Speaker 1: wide position and then line up over the center and
Speaker 1: the nose position and stuff the run as well. And
Speaker 1: when you see him out on the edge, teams are
Speaker 1: constantly trying to find a way to create extra gaps,
Speaker 1: both pre and post nap by motioning a man out
Speaker 1: there or just changing the look of the formation by
Speaker 1: going heavy with six offensive lineman. He impacts the game
Speaker 1: that way, and I love the way that he and
Speaker 1: lost and complement each other so well. With that length
Speaker 1: and ability to really dent the edge and reset the edge,
Speaker 1: the tackles have to give a lot of ground, and
Speaker 1: that really opens up the B gaps inside, which is
Speaker 1: the gap between the tackle and the guard. And then
Speaker 1: that does what it allows is the blitzers to fire
Speaker 1: through those A and B gaps because of the space
Speaker 1: created by those tackles having to set so deep in
Speaker 1: their initial pass sets. And don't get this twisted, because
Speaker 1: Chris Jones is an absolute hell of a player there
Speaker 1: for the Chiefs. There's a reason they gave him the
Speaker 1: franchise tag. But oddball really helped him in so many ways.
Speaker 1: There's a play where the Titans double team Jones and
Speaker 1: bring the h back across the formation and try to
Speaker 1: dig out Ogbah, but he's reading the flow of the
Speaker 1: play instead of waiting for the block. Ogba uses those
Speaker 1: hands to strike one of the double team blocks and
Speaker 1: creates justin left leverage for Jones to reposition and hold
Speaker 1: the point and make the play on the football, so
Speaker 1: helping his teammates out that way. And he might have
Speaker 1: only played four hundred and eleven snaps last year. Ogba did,
Speaker 1: but that wasn't just ten games. He had games with
Speaker 1: sixty five, sixty four, forty one, forty and thirty seven reps.
Speaker 1: And seven of those ten guys, he's consistently on the field.
Speaker 1: He's durable and reliable that way, and he really impacts
Speaker 1: both phases of the game, both the pass and the
Speaker 1: run game. And then we go over to the other
Speaker 1: side of the defensive line and see another big signing
Speaker 1: Miami made this offseason, and really putting them on either
Speaker 1: particular side of the line is an injustice because they
Speaker 1: really are agnostic in terms of which side they can
Speaker 1: play from, which side they can rush from. And I'm talking,
Speaker 1: of course about Shaq Lawson, and you see that same
Speaker 1: power from Shack that you see in Ogba. And while
Speaker 1: Lawson is not as long, he has a little more
Speaker 1: wiggle and athleticism going side to side, He's not gonna
Speaker 1: condense as far inside as Ogba does. You'll see Ogba
Speaker 1: go all the way over the nose, whereas laws And
Speaker 1: usually goes as far as the guard inside. But playing
Speaker 1: on the opposite side of each other most of the
Speaker 1: time really helps out, I think, because you can really
Speaker 1: set either edge with both these guys in the game.
Speaker 1: He has the hands and the punch to really split
Speaker 1: double teams and impact the past protection. We talked about
Speaker 1: the complimentary parts these two guys offer in terms of
Speaker 1: resetting those tackles, creating big gaps in the B gaps
Speaker 1: between the guard and tackle because of that pure power.
Speaker 1: And you also see the lateral agility in the rave
Speaker 1: game with all the zone read they run in that
Speaker 1: offense with Lamar Jackson mark Ingram and the like. And
Speaker 1: the core component of the zone read game is that
Speaker 1: you try to give yourself the numbers advantage by leaving
Speaker 1: a player unblocked. And that player is the quarterback's responsibility,
Speaker 1: as he can take care of him with his decision
Speaker 1: to give the football away or keep it himself and
Speaker 1: run the ball himself. And Lawson does really well to
Speaker 1: work that mesh point, recognize what's going to happen, handoff
Speaker 1: or keep it for the quarterback, square up, and then
Speaker 1: pull the trigger just as soon as the decision is
Speaker 1: made by the quarterback. He's got a really explosive first step.
Speaker 1: Whichever direction he decides to go upfield or slanting inside,
Speaker 1: he has an ability to cross face and tuck that
Speaker 1: inside shoulder underneath the punch and stay on balance to
Speaker 1: get into that B gap and pretty much change the
Speaker 1: protection plan of the offensive line. A good example of
Speaker 1: his run game prowess is the Week sixteen game in
Speaker 1: New England against the Patriots. The fourth quarter, first play
Speaker 1: of the fourth quarter, it's a first and tent on
Speaker 1: the plus fifteen yard line, super super rest of play
Speaker 1: from Shack Lawson. He's off the outside shoulder of the
Speaker 1: left tackle, so playing the five technique position. But the
Speaker 1: Pats have what's referred to as a nasty split or
Speaker 1: a tight split, where the receiver is just one gap
Speaker 1: over from the tackle, so essentially where there could be
Speaker 1: a tight end in that gap, it's the tight ends
Speaker 1: not there, so it's vacated, but the receiver is in
Speaker 1: tight to the formation, and the Patriots dial up a
Speaker 1: toss play to the outside and want to crack back
Speaker 1: on Lawson with the receiver, but because he's worked upfield
Speaker 1: immediately and initiates the contact on the left tackle, the
Speaker 1: receiver is essentially left there to just block air. So
Speaker 1: Lawson beats the guy that's supposed to block him the receiver,
Speaker 1: and the tackle, who just wants to chip and climb
Speaker 1: out wide to lead the toss play to the second level,
Speaker 1: is far too late to get out because Shack set
Speaker 1: him back so far on the initial punch and Lawson
Speaker 1: eventually blows the play up for a six yard loss
Speaker 1: behind the line of scrimmage. You go back to Thanksgiving
Speaker 1: against the Dallas Cowboys, second quarter beginning of the game,
Speaker 1: the opening drive thirteen already three first and ten on
Speaker 1: the minus forty one. And you remember what I said
Speaker 1: about teams trying to create an extra gap off a
Speaker 1: ball side. The same thing is true here with Lawson.
Speaker 1: The motion went and over to his side, and there's
Speaker 1: a fullback in the formation. In the offset I to
Speaker 1: the same side of the formation again. It's a toss play,
Speaker 1: this time strong side, and Dallas is thinking, we've got
Speaker 1: an all pro Tyronn Smith at left tackle here to
Speaker 1: hit this block. Gonna be a piece of cake, right,
Speaker 1: That's wrong. Lawson is again in that five tech off
Speaker 1: the outside shoulder, and this is not an easy block
Speaker 1: for Tyron Smith. Anytime you have to reach outside like that,
Speaker 1: it's a challenge even for the best players in the game.
Speaker 1: And Smith learns this quickly. On this rep you see
Speaker 1: Lawson strike and Smith, who plays super low, pops right
Speaker 1: up get stood up in his stance. That's never a
Speaker 1: good sign for alignment. This then allows Shack to rework
Speaker 1: his hands and get outside Smith's pads and make another TfL.
Speaker 1: Just super, super impressive work against an all pro there
Speaker 1: and Tyron Smith. How about a game closer to home,
Speaker 1: we could of him against the Dolphins, second quarter, two,
Speaker 1: first and ten on our own ten yard line. And
Speaker 1: I love this one because it's such a smart play
Speaker 1: that shows you shacks preparation during the week and getting
Speaker 1: ready for what he might see in the game and
Speaker 1: then applying it in the game situation. Laws in again
Speaker 1: the five technique and he immediately shoots the B gap
Speaker 1: off the snap like quickly gets in there. You see
Speaker 1: his right foot moving first, then crossover with the second
Speaker 1: step with the left foot. Then he dips that left
Speaker 1: shoulder under the block of the right tackle and it
Speaker 1: gets him into the backfield immediately where he then meets
Speaker 1: the back behind the line for another TfL. Remember he
Speaker 1: was second in football among all defensive ends and tackles
Speaker 1: for loss. Go back to Week eight against the Philadelphia Eagles,
Speaker 1: first quarter, eight thirteen to play first and ten on
Speaker 1: the minus seven. This one's a sack and I found
Speaker 1: it particularly interesting because of the sheer power on display
Speaker 1: on this play. This time, he widens his alignment with
Speaker 1: an inline tight end in the formation. The tight end
Speaker 1: gets into his route immediately, and the left tackle slides
Speaker 1: into a pass set and tries to deal with a
Speaker 1: bull rush and narrator here he did not deal well
Speaker 1: with the bull rush, So the ball is snapped on
Speaker 1: the left hash mark. Lawson's lined up on the right
Speaker 1: hash mark, and the left tackle is right in between
Speaker 1: the two, almost down the middle, but a little bit
Speaker 1: closer to the hash mark where Shack is so a
Speaker 1: solid five or six yards away from where the quarterback
Speaker 1: winds up, and that's where Shack makes contact. You see
Speaker 1: the helmet of the lineman once again snap back as
Speaker 1: he starts to give ground and tries to anchor again.
Speaker 1: Let's go ahead and hear from our narrator he never anchors.
Speaker 1: Lawson walks the tackle into Carson Wentz and literally reaches
Speaker 1: around either side of the tackle and uses the body
Speaker 1: and his own arms to get went to the ground
Speaker 1: for a sack. And the two things I think you
Speaker 1: really noticed the most about Shack is that when they're
Speaker 1: in the running game, teams often run away from him
Speaker 1: and use him as that unblocked backside edge. Because that
Speaker 1: basically takes him out of the play without having to
Speaker 1: worry about blocking him at the point, and the defense
Speaker 1: kind of falls off in the run game when he's
Speaker 1: not in there. So his impact is certainly felt. And
Speaker 1: I'm a really really big fan of the way he
Speaker 1: takes on backside pulling action from the offensive line from
Speaker 1: a tight end, from an h back. Basically, anytime he
Speaker 1: kind of has to square up and find that backside
Speaker 1: pull coming his direction, he just brings the heat and
Speaker 1: brings the heavy punch. When that blocker comes across the formation,
Speaker 1: he attacks them and does not let them dictate the
Speaker 1: point of attack. He controls the p o A and
Speaker 1: makes the play effectively because of that. So a lot
Speaker 1: of fun between those two guys to watch. I think
Speaker 1: those guys working in tandem is going to be a
Speaker 1: tough pair for teams to deal with running the football
Speaker 1: off either edge when they're in the game, and speaking
Speaker 1: of playing off the edge or pretty much anywhere, because
Speaker 1: this guy can do it all. Kyle van Noy, he
Speaker 1: wins in a variety of ways. We've talked about it
Speaker 1: on the podcast, he's talked about it himself. He's been
Speaker 1: used in multiple different aspects of the defense in recent years.
Speaker 1: Played much more exclusively last year as an on ball rusher,
Speaker 1: played plenty of off ball backer the year before, so
Speaker 1: Flores has options with that either way. He's a nuanced
Speaker 1: pass rusher with tremendous feel and a well rounds a game.
Speaker 1: He can dent the edge as a run defender, and
Speaker 1: he creates gaps and avenues for his teammates. And you
Speaker 1: heard him talk about that on the Drive Time podcast
Speaker 1: when we interviewed him. And even when he is engaged,
Speaker 1: he can work himself clean with a spin, a chop,
Speaker 1: you name it, He's got it in the arsenal. He
Speaker 1: has the lateral agility to execute games to work up field,
Speaker 1: then cross face as the looper inside and turn that
Speaker 1: corner en route to the quarterback. And he also does
Speaker 1: that well from the edge. A lot of his game
Speaker 1: is one pre snap as well. You heard Channing Crowder
Speaker 1: on the podcast a couple of weeks back talk about
Speaker 1: how the plays are one pre snap and you can
Speaker 1: see that a lot in Kyle Van Noy's game. A
Speaker 1: product and a testament to the preparation of Van Noy,
Speaker 1: he can often get himself into advantageous positions based on
Speaker 1: what he saw on the film, and you really see
Speaker 1: that a lot. As an edge run defender, he'll work
Speaker 1: up field, overset the tackle, and then use his length
Speaker 1: and the heavy hands and his eyes as well to
Speaker 1: work back underneath and close off that B or C gap,
Speaker 1: depending on where the tight ends aligned on that lay.
Speaker 1: It's one thing to set the edge, it's another thing
Speaker 1: to serve as the inside gap run defender after that
Speaker 1: edge has been set. And this guy can do both
Speaker 1: those things. He does a good job gaining depth and
Speaker 1: with in coverage. He's a sure tackler. He plays the
Speaker 1: game physically, he plays the game smart, and he plays
Speaker 1: the game selflessly. And the first rap I have here
Speaker 1: is against the Titans and the playoffs. One of his
Speaker 1: sacks last year third quarters six fifty six to go
Speaker 1: second down and six on the plus thirty eight. He's
Speaker 1: in a two point stance and a two four front,
Speaker 1: and he's off the outside shoulder of the right tackle,
Speaker 1: so a five technique widened out a little bit there.
Speaker 1: He slants inside and completely dense the entire side of
Speaker 1: that line, sending Jack Conklin into his right guard. Tannehill
Speaker 1: comes off play action with his eyes to the other
Speaker 1: side of the formation, so van Ney has time to
Speaker 1: spin off that initial bull rush corner and get to
Speaker 1: the quarterback. And not only that, he gets the football out.
Speaker 1: This guy's sacks come in a variety of ways, very nuanced.
Speaker 1: And Greg Rosenthal of the Around the NFL podcast, a
Speaker 1: big Patriots fan, has said for years on that podcast
Speaker 1: that Van Noy had been the best pure pass rusher
Speaker 1: the Patriots had as the driving force of that Patriots
Speaker 1: pass rush scheme the last several years. And another example
Speaker 1: of Kyle van Noy getting home in a different position
Speaker 1: as a pass rusher this time is the first game
Speaker 1: last year against the Jets and the fourth quarter, nine
Speaker 1: thirty two play. It's third and fifteen on the minus
Speaker 1: sixteen yard line, and this is a formation you have
Speaker 1: certainly seen before. I've heard it called the Radar package.
Speaker 1: I've heard it called the Amba package. Different football coaches
Speaker 1: have different names for their different calls, but essentially what
Speaker 1: it is is a bunch of stand up rushers that
Speaker 1: are bluffing at a variety of gaps pre snap, and
Speaker 1: they eventually settle into a spot and rush from that position.
Speaker 1: And Vanoy on this play settles in line to over
Speaker 1: the left tackle, takes two steps upfield into the B gap,
Speaker 1: then sticks his foot in the ground, changes directions, and
Speaker 1: something to understand here is the quality of angles that
Speaker 1: he takes. You have to have the timing of this
Speaker 1: down path. And Vanoy does it so well to get
Speaker 1: the blocker to commit and then changes the launch point
Speaker 1: and gets them out over their skis. He loops inside,
Speaker 1: I get skinny between a pair of blocks and finishes
Speaker 1: the sack. Accordingly, more good work from the Dolphins linebacker.
Speaker 1: Week five last year in d C against Washington, the
Speaker 1: fourth quarter, four twenty to play third down in ten
Speaker 1: on the minus thirty five yard line, and in the
Speaker 1: box score, this is a harmless, incomplete pass. Well, mind you,
Speaker 1: it's a third down pass, so they have to pump
Speaker 1: the football. But van Noy makes it happen with his rush.
Speaker 1: He starts up field, then throws a little bluff back
Speaker 1: inside and that slight hesitation forces one false step from
Speaker 1: the right tackle. And if you watch football, you know
Speaker 1: one false step is all it takes to get beat.
Speaker 1: And van Noy is so sturdy in his base and
Speaker 1: keeping his feet under his padge, he's able to plant
Speaker 1: and explode up field. So if you think this guy
Speaker 1: is just a linebacker that wins by blitzing, cut the
Speaker 1: tape on again, because he can win with an arsenal
Speaker 1: of moves. He can corner and there is just such smooth,
Speaker 1: fluid movement to his game, and that also comes with
Speaker 1: a very nice first step off the snap. And then
Speaker 1: finally that defensive struggle against the cow Boys back in November,
Speaker 1: first quarter three to play first and ten on the
Speaker 1: minus thirty two yard line, Van Noiah has lined up
Speaker 1: outside the tight end who is Jason Witten here, and
Speaker 1: the back tries to take the b gap, but that
Speaker 1: gets filled up quickly, so he looks to bounce outside
Speaker 1: and vanoia has completely stopped any leg drive from Witton
Speaker 1: on the play and is just holding him up at
Speaker 1: the point the back bounces it outside and Vanoi from
Speaker 1: there is able to shed the block and make the
Speaker 1: tackle three yards behind the line of scrimmage. This guy
Speaker 1: is gonna come in here, be the leader of the
Speaker 1: defense and have a huge impact on all the guys
Speaker 1: around him, guys like Calmu grug A Hill and on
Speaker 1: the topic of complimentary players, I really like the way
Speaker 1: he scrapes in the run game, and what this means
Speaker 1: is essentially working off the hip of the lineman who's
Speaker 1: taking on a block in front of him, So he
Speaker 1: stacks and the linebacker scrapes, and the closer he can
Speaker 1: stand in tight to that stack, the harder he's gonna
Speaker 1: be to block for somebody else. And you go to
Speaker 1: the Seattle game last year for a good example of that.
Speaker 1: It's in the second quarter to play first and ten
Speaker 1: on the minus six team yard line, and Seattle is
Speaker 1: in the gun and runs a little zone read with
Speaker 1: Russell Wilson and Chris Carson, and Carson takes the handoff
Speaker 1: and looks to bounce it backside where kg H is
Speaker 1: staying stacked behind the block. He then scrapes it, finds
Speaker 1: the football and makes the play. There's another example of
Speaker 1: that against the Jets last year, quarter number two to
Speaker 1: play first and ten on the minus nine. This time
Speaker 1: he stacked behind the five technique the defensive end and
Speaker 1: he lets that d ND take on the block and
Speaker 1: k H stays in tight on his back. But there's
Speaker 1: a problem here. The Jets have big old number seventy
Speaker 1: eight aligned in an eye formation as a fullback. That's
Speaker 1: an offensive lineman and he tries to lead the play
Speaker 1: and kg H engages the block, works the upfield shoulder,
Speaker 1: disengages and makes the stop for a TfL. How about
Speaker 1: his coverage skill set. You heard him on Drive Time
Speaker 1: talk about how he really thinks that he can take
Speaker 1: his coverage game to the next level. And you go
Speaker 1: to the first play of the game in Miami last year.
Speaker 1: The Dolphins win, but the first player of the game
Speaker 1: was a win for the Eagles defense, and a lot
Speaker 1: of that had to happen because of Cammu grug A Hill.
Speaker 1: He's in an off ball linebacker position to the boundary,
Speaker 1: which is the short side of the field. You're gonna
Speaker 1: hear me talk about boundary and field on this podcast
Speaker 1: a lot, and I want to go ahead and make
Speaker 1: it very clear what that means. The boundary is the
Speaker 1: short side in terms of if the balls in the
Speaker 1: left hash mark, the left side of the field is
Speaker 1: the boundary and the wide side of the field, where
Speaker 1: there's more space is the field. So short side, boundary,
Speaker 1: wide side is the field. COMMU right here in this
Speaker 1: play is lined up to the boundary with the two
Speaker 1: man route combination. The receiver and the running back over
Speaker 1: there with Parker and the tailback, and you see a
Speaker 1: lot of variations of slant flat from this alignment. The
Speaker 1: receiver runs a slant route, the running back goes to
Speaker 1: the flat. It puts that linebacker in some peril, and
Speaker 1: in this instance, the running back makes a chip and
Speaker 1: then gets out into the swing route of the pattern,
Speaker 1: and Gruge Hill does a great job getting depth into
Speaker 1: the hooks own the area where you're gonna run curls
Speaker 1: and hook routes over the middle of the field, but
Speaker 1: also eyes the back who then chips and releases. K
Speaker 1: g H gets right into the lane and actually clips
Speaker 1: Davonte Parker on this play and the past gets picked off.
Speaker 1: It's not defensive pass interferings because he has his eyes
Speaker 1: in the quarterback and you see the instincts there to
Speaker 1: get the depth to get to the right landmark and
Speaker 1: be in the right position to really impact the passing lane.
Speaker 1: You go back to a play in the Patriots game
Speaker 1: last year and you get another look at his instincts.
Speaker 1: Second quarter five oh one to play first and tent
Speaker 1: on the plus twenty one yard line. It's a screen pass,
Speaker 1: and what's most impressive about this play is nobody else
Speaker 1: on the field guards a specific man. They all fall
Speaker 1: into a spot, so you gotta think of the zone coverage.
Speaker 1: And it's not like Gruge Hill is keen the back
Speaker 1: and man coverage. Here, he just reads the flow of
Speaker 1: the play and pulls his trigger with anticipation, knife's in
Speaker 1: under a block and makes the stop. Again, these guys
Speaker 1: win with preparation. And then obviously you've got the special
Speaker 1: teams work and Gruge Hill he's no different than everybody
Speaker 1: else Miami signed this year in free agency, and that
Speaker 1: they all play one miles per hour at all times,
Speaker 1: covering punts, covering kicks, on the return teams. It's all
Speaker 1: will and he wins with that will. And then my
Speaker 1: last here is another linebacker, another player drafted in the
Speaker 1: same class with Brian Flores on the staff, and he
Speaker 1: landed Roberts. And if you heard the interview a couple
Speaker 1: of weeks back here on the Drivetime podcast part of
Speaker 1: the Miami Dolphins podcast network, you heard me ask a
Speaker 1: Landon about some of his college tape at Houston and
Speaker 1: how he was everywhere playing both the run and the past.
Speaker 1: And he made it a point to talk about how
Speaker 1: Flores was there with him at his pro day, and
Speaker 1: of course his position coach, thevery new England clearly a
Speaker 1: lot of love between those two guys, so you immediately
Speaker 1: feel good about the role that Flores might have in
Speaker 1: mind for his new linebacker. And that's true of Gruge
Speaker 1: Hill as well. And those Patriots linebacker rooms over the
Speaker 1: years have always been well stocked, and Roberts has been
Speaker 1: an integral part of those good linebacker groups. And since
Speaker 1: Flow talks so much about the three core pillars of
Speaker 1: the game, blocking, beating blocks, and tackling, it takes all
Speaker 1: of one play to see why coach loves this guy. Physical, physical, physical,
Speaker 1: He knows nothing else. The first Rep I pull up
Speaker 1: is pure power from the Titans offense. It looked like
Speaker 1: my pee wee days. Everybody line up in line, will
Speaker 1: put one receiver out there just for the hell of it.
Speaker 1: Two tight ends of the strong side, one tight end
Speaker 1: of the week side, and Roberts has lined up just
Speaker 1: off the outside shoulder of the right guard on the
Speaker 1: strong side of the play, and he's uncovered no defensive
Speaker 1: lineman in front of him, and that guard tries to
Speaker 1: work to the second level for a down block, but
Speaker 1: Robert dishes out the hit, sticks a foot in the ground,
Speaker 1: uses the off hand to throw the guy off of him,
Speaker 1: shakes off the block, and squares up for Derrick Henry
Speaker 1: and makes the tackle. So you have that video evidence
Speaker 1: of him filling that stacked linebacker position nicely as he
Speaker 1: doesn't get caught up with false steps. He's got a
Speaker 1: really quick trigger and the instincts to know where the
Speaker 1: play is going before the ball is snapped. And I
Speaker 1: love the complimentary part. Once again, we heard Floress talk
Speaker 1: last year about how every week is a new game
Speaker 1: plan and you might ask guys to play a different
Speaker 1: role than the week prior. Well, if you run into
Speaker 1: a team like let's just go ahead and use last
Speaker 1: year's best rushing attack in football in the Baltimore Ravens,
Speaker 1: you play a team that wants to play smash noal
Speaker 1: football for sixty minutes. Roberts is a terrific equalizer to
Speaker 1: that style of ball. But he'll do it when he's
Speaker 1: not stacked as well, like this play against the Bengals,
Speaker 1: first quarter, eight minutes to play first and ten on
Speaker 1: the plus fifteen yard line. He comes down on the
Speaker 1: football and lines up head up over the guard and
Speaker 1: outstanding work to get everything aligned before he shoots his
Speaker 1: shot at the guard, so to speak, before he throws
Speaker 1: that punch. And I remember Flow talking about this at
Speaker 1: camp last year. He said, the basics of football from
Speaker 1: peewee to high school to college to the pros. They
Speaker 1: never change feet, under your hips, hips under your shoulders,
Speaker 1: shoulders under your eyes, everything all aligned, going in the
Speaker 1: same direction. And this rep is teaching tape example of
Speaker 1: just that. The guard tries to lean into the block
Speaker 1: and Robert says, not so fast, my friend, and just
Speaker 1: wax him, stands him straight up, tosses him aside, and
Speaker 1: makes the tackle right there at the line of scrimmage.
Speaker 1: This guy is gonna make Pad's pop at training camp
Speaker 1: this year. I can't wait to see it. And I
Speaker 1: tweeted this three part photo of a pass rush from
Speaker 1: Roberts in the Eagles game, second quarter eight fourteen second
Speaker 1: down and six on the minus twenty six yard line.
Speaker 1: Roberts and Jamie Collins are lined up in either a gap.
Speaker 1: They're on the outside shoulders of the center, and they
Speaker 1: run what's called a cross dog blitz from there, where
Speaker 1: they basically just crossed over the center and blitz the
Speaker 1: quarterback and they switch their a gaps With that blitz,
Speaker 1: Collins cross his face, which creates a lane for Roberts
Speaker 1: to run through as the second cross dog blitzer, and
Speaker 1: he comes screaming down the pipe with only miles standers
Speaker 1: between he and the quarterback. Roberts lowers the boom and
Speaker 1: just steam rolls him and gets once to the ground
Speaker 1: for the sack. And for good measure, let's go ahead
Speaker 1: and get a pass coverage wrapping here as well. Fourth
Speaker 1: quarter in Washington, it's first and ten on the minus
Speaker 1: thirty five yard line. He's in coverage against tight end
Speaker 1: Jeremy sprinkle Man up on a speed out route, a
Speaker 1: five yard out route. He gets in the hip pocket,
Speaker 1: reaches the outside hand around and breaks up the football
Speaker 1: right at the catchpoint so he can do it all
Speaker 1: as well. All these guys are multifaceted players. The great
Speaker 1: part about these additions you can see exactly where they
Speaker 1: align with what Flores has been preaching for over a
Speaker 1: year now, and that of course is smart, tough discipline,
Speaker 1: players who are willing to make the sacrifices necessary to
Speaker 1: become great, guys who really care about the game and
Speaker 1: how they approach it, but also in their physical skill sets.
Speaker 1: Guys that can contribute in all aspects of the game
Speaker 1: offensively or defensively. Guys that can play on special teams,
Speaker 1: and a pinch guys that allow Flores to be multiple man.
Speaker 1: I cannot wait to get out there on that practice
Speaker 1: field and watch this team come together. It's gonna be
Speaker 1: a fun one and that will do it for us.
Speaker 1: On this edition of the Drive Time podcast, we're gonna
Speaker 1: take Wednesday off on the show and come back Thursday
Speaker 1: with Throwback Thursday. We're gonna talk to a member of
Speaker 1: the Dolphins Ring of Honor on that podcast. You don't
Speaker 1: want to miss that. We've got plenty of content coming
Speaker 1: for you guys the rest of the week as well,
Speaker 1: and then next week we turn the page and get
Speaker 1: heavy into the draft content. You don't want to miss
Speaker 1: any of that. Go back and catch up on all
Speaker 1: the old episodes of Drivetime you may have missed. Subscribe
Speaker 1: to the podcast on Apple, podcast, Spotify, wherever you get
Speaker 1: your podcast from. Leave us a rating, leave us a review,
Speaker 1: give me a follow on Twitter. It's at Wingfield, NFL.
Speaker 1: Follow the Dolphins at Miami Dolphins. Check out the fish
Speaker 1: tank and the audible podcast, and of course Miami Dolphins
Speaker 1: dot com. Until next time, fins Up