Speaker 1: To on the move, going deep, speedless, peace, do hell.
Speaker 1: From the Baptist Health Studios inside the Baptist Health Training Complex,
Speaker 1: This is Drivetime with Travis Wingfield.
Speaker 2: He's got my hands in the playoffs.
Speaker 1: What is up Dolphins? And welcome to the Drive Time Podcast.
Speaker 1: I am your host, Travis Wingfield. And on today's show,
Speaker 1: we got to watch the Miami Dolphins play football. Yeah
Speaker 1: it's May. Yeah it's in shorts. Yeah, the quarterback and
Speaker 1: a handful of other guys like Tyreek and Waddell and
Speaker 1: Ramsey and Tron and Big Zach Seeler and lots of
Speaker 1: other guys weren't out there. But it is football in
Speaker 1: the month of May, So what more can you ask for?
Speaker 1: We'll break all the training camp style podcasts down here
Speaker 1: for you guys. Talk about how Jody Fortson popped, how
Speaker 1: Jordan Brooks adds a demeanor to this team that it much,
Speaker 1: very much needed, How Patrick Paul looked fantastic, how Malik
Speaker 1: Washington was as advertised, how Ethan Bonner to me seems
Speaker 1: like yet another diamond in the rough at dB and
Speaker 1: so much more. From the Baptist Health Studios inside the
Speaker 1: Baptist Health Training Complex. This is the Drive Time podcast.
Speaker 1: I think as time has gone on with these camp, training,
Speaker 1: camp or OTA podcasts, I've better developed my craft of
Speaker 1: telling you guys the story from the day. I felt
Speaker 1: like last year was the real jump for me, and
Speaker 1: coming back today, I kind of feel like we're on
Speaker 1: another level, almost like the Dolphins planning to be on
Speaker 1: another level, and you're number three of Mike McDaniel. Don't
Speaker 1: get me wrong. The heart of these episodes is to
Speaker 1: tell you exactly what happened out there on the grass.
Speaker 1: And I will put my own ability to observe and
Speaker 1: report on a live football practice up against anybody, especially
Speaker 1: anybody out here until Kyle gets here, that I have
Speaker 1: some competition, But I think the real skill is getting
Speaker 1: questions to those that know on those same topics so
Speaker 1: you can have some real weight to your words. Right,
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna pound my chest and tell you guys
Speaker 1: I'm the end all be all. I want to give
Speaker 1: my thoughts and then confirm from the PhDs we talked
Speaker 1: to every single day. Right, That sound good. I did
Speaker 1: tweet some notes after practice. You'll hear a lot of
Speaker 1: those with additional context. But the reason I put this
Speaker 1: disclaimer out there is that I noticed most of the
Speaker 1: comments or feedback I got on the Twitter thread was
Speaker 1: asking about players that I failed to mention. So while
Speaker 1: I feel my skills to evaluate a practice live without
Speaker 1: replay or tape are as good as anybody out here,
Speaker 1: or as good as they can be, the truth is
Speaker 1: you cannot see everything, and so if you don't hear
Speaker 1: a player reported on, I either didn't solely focus on
Speaker 1: them because you have to make choices when there's ninety
Speaker 1: players out there. It's easier in season than it is
Speaker 1: in training camp, or they just didn't make a play
Speaker 1: that jumped out to me. More likely the former, with
Speaker 1: a little bit of the latter's trinkled in. But you're
Speaker 1: not going to watch ninety guys in a ninety minute session.
Speaker 1: That's just how it goes. Now. With all that said,
Speaker 1: I will also say this, when one isn't out there,
Speaker 1: the quarterback, I kind of like how undistracted I am
Speaker 1: by that, And by that I mean I always have
Speaker 1: these intentions to be totally comprehensive. I think I am,
Speaker 1: but I like to see what QB one does because
Speaker 1: he kind of drives this whole damn bus, doesn't he?
Speaker 1: Without him? We ain't going nowhere, baby, So I tend
Speaker 1: to have my eyes wander a little bit back towards
Speaker 1: the quarterback and the offense and just see how they
Speaker 1: really control the practice under his command. So today, for
Speaker 1: really the first time, I mean there was, you know,
Speaker 1: the Jacoby Brissett end season practice days that I would
Speaker 1: choose to forget if I can. But going back to
Speaker 1: my first training camp here in twenty nineteen, that was
Speaker 1: when I thought some of my best work happened because
Speaker 1: I was focused on Monentrey Hartage, the undrafted rookie safety
Speaker 1: at Northwestern a post, trying to watch what Ryan Fitzpatrick
Speaker 1: did on every single drop back. And so I do
Speaker 1: have some stuff on the quarterbacks here today, but I
Speaker 1: spread the love a lot more than I think usual
Speaker 1: with the starter of being not out there so full transparency.
Speaker 1: And so that's where we usually start here on the
Speaker 1: podcast with how the quarterbacks performed into a tongua bai loa.
Speaker 1: But I'm going to start today's position, or today's podcast
Speaker 1: rather with the position widely considered the quarterback of the defense.
Speaker 1: And I'm talking, of course about linebackers and Jordan Brooks.
Speaker 1: Very proud of myself for beginning on defense, and as
Speaker 1: I am well aware, I have a bias towards the
Speaker 1: offensive side of the football. Fun fact about myself, I
Speaker 1: used to be a high draft pick and pick up
Speaker 1: football games back in the day. And the big part
Speaker 1: of that was, you know, plus athleticism for a skinny
Speaker 1: white kid, but also I would get picked highly because
Speaker 1: they wanted me on their team to design offensive plays,
Speaker 1: because that's kind of what I did so good times.
Speaker 1: I think everyone favors one side of the football, and
Speaker 1: I'm a big fan of offensive football. So the first
Speaker 1: thing I noticed was during individual drills. And I usually
Speaker 1: watch these a little bit closer and OTAs in the
Speaker 1: first couple camp before I get a little bit fatigue
Speaker 1: by training camp. But I'm watching individual drills and I'm
Speaker 1: watching Jordan Brooks, who was built like a house. Like,
Speaker 1: first of all, he's number twenty, which I kind of
Speaker 1: forgot about, which just kind of just kind of hit
Speaker 1: me like, like, who the hell, who's that safety? But no,
Speaker 1: it's Jordan Brooks, the middle linebacker, and the things that
Speaker 1: he hits feel the build of a house when they
Speaker 1: get hit by that house. He's compactly explosive. And also
Speaker 1: this isn't football, but he also is basically a replica
Speaker 1: of how I built my players' accessories and create a
Speaker 1: player mode and Madden like drip, I think is what
Speaker 1: they call it. Don't quote me on that, but how
Speaker 1: about his football? And they did this this drill, this
Speaker 1: play action running chase thrill where you had to get
Speaker 1: downhill and get to a certain spot and touch one
Speaker 1: of the trash cans that replicates the offensive lineman. There's
Speaker 1: a joke there, but we're not going to use it.
Speaker 1: And then would have to play the run, recognize the
Speaker 1: pass game, flip the hips, and get depth back into
Speaker 1: the hook zone where they'd roll this workout ball across
Speaker 1: the field and they had to locate it and go
Speaker 1: cut that thing off. Often he would cut it off
Speaker 1: so quickly and the change of direction jumped off the
Speaker 1: practice field so consistently that I was just like, who
Speaker 1: the hell is number twenty? Who is that guy? It's
Speaker 1: Jordan Brooks. It was nice too, because for a little while,
Speaker 1: I just I didn't know who that was, and I
Speaker 1: thought it's gonna be this is gonna be one of
Speaker 1: the rookies that I haven't had a chance to watch yet.
Speaker 1: But then of course turns out same guy that I've
Speaker 1: been raving about on tape the entire summers or this
Speaker 1: entire spring. So it's it's nice to get your priors confirmed, right,
Speaker 1: even if it's by yourself. I asked him about that
Speaker 1: drill after practice and how this offense and the direction
Speaker 1: of offenses in twenty twenty four forces linebackers to have
Speaker 1: that flexibility and to be able to get to that
Speaker 1: part of the field to be valuable. Here's Jordan Brooks
Speaker 1: on the importance of being able to defend the hook zone.
Speaker 3: And you know, they do a bunch of you know,
Speaker 3: play action. We got to play the boot routes, you know,
Speaker 3: the special routes and all that, and so that's why
Speaker 3: you're seems drilling isn't here.
Speaker 1: And to do that you have to play together as
Speaker 1: a linebacker corps. Right. So here's what Jordan Brooks said
Speaker 1: about coming out to these voluntary ota and why it
Speaker 1: was so important to him.
Speaker 3: For me, it's like I got to get to know
Speaker 3: the guys that I'm playing with, get to know the system,
Speaker 3: and let them get to know me, and so it
Speaker 3: was important that I'd be here. It was mandatory for me.
Speaker 3: So I'm glad I came. I'm enjoying it.
Speaker 1: You just get the sense that there is a room
Speaker 1: full of leaders here. And we'll hear from McDaniel on
Speaker 1: David Long in a bit. Let's go ahead and hear
Speaker 1: about building that chemistry together from Jordan, because I thought
Speaker 1: that chemistry showed up early, you know, on a one
Speaker 1: to one day a day one type of play where
Speaker 1: you have to defend this in the league, the slat
Speaker 1: the slant flat combo, where Brooks and Long are working
Speaker 1: together on this slant flat and Brooks is head up
Speaker 1: over the receiver. He re routes the receiver then falls
Speaker 1: into the flat and if you guys aren't familiar with
Speaker 1: that is slant flat essentially basically takes a wide receiver
Speaker 1: who slants inside to the formation inside of the defense,
Speaker 1: and then the flat route is just a route that
Speaker 1: runs basically parallel to the ladt scrimmage, either a yard
Speaker 1: or two behind it or yard and two in front
Speaker 1: of it. Slant flat, it's one of the first plays
Speaker 1: you install and you have to find out how to
Speaker 1: communicate it, to pass it off, to properly defend it.
Speaker 1: And so these guys did that with Jordan Brooks head
Speaker 1: up over the receiver, which I think was a tight
Speaker 1: end this case, because Brooks covered tight ends all day
Speaker 1: and was fantastic at it. And David Long falls into
Speaker 1: the flat coverage or no, rather Long picked up the
Speaker 1: slant and Brooks fell into the flat and they were
Speaker 1: just to beat off. They weren't quite together on that,
Speaker 1: and they got together after the play. They quickly discussed it.
Speaker 1: I couldn't hear the conversation from the stands, but you
Speaker 1: could see them discussing it. And it happened again later
Speaker 1: and they locked it down. I mean, that is football practice,
Speaker 1: one on one. You learn, you apply, you get better.
Speaker 1: I cannot wait to watch these guys chemistry grow. In fact,
Speaker 1: Jordan Brooks talked about how important it is to have
Speaker 1: the linebackers playing on a string together. Here's Brooks on
Speaker 1: the importance of chemistry with David Long and the rest
Speaker 1: of the linebacker corps.
Speaker 3: That's important. I mean, any linebacker that you played where
Speaker 3: you got to be on a string with each other,
Speaker 3: and this is the time to get that chemistry going
Speaker 3: between David and I and so that when the season
Speaker 3: comes we can't to.
Speaker 1: Gore and running some more linebacker notes from practice, he
Speaker 1: would on a delayed blitz and he sees this lane
Speaker 1: and runs down it, and it's it's what you've seen
Speaker 1: from the Seattle tape, I mean, And if it's not
Speaker 1: what I talked about on the upcoming Friday edition of
Speaker 1: Draft Time with the great Ted Win breaking down the
Speaker 1: Anthony Weaver defense here in Miami, it's the exact glove
Speaker 1: like fit with regards to running the a gaps, the
Speaker 1: gap between the guard and the center and basically utilizing
Speaker 1: pick stunts from a guy like a Zack Steeler for instance,
Speaker 1: to create runs at the quarterback, and he hits them
Speaker 1: so explosively. He was also, like I mentioned earlier, matching
Speaker 1: tight ends and seven on seven and they could not
Speaker 1: cover it didn't matter who it was. Even the impressive
Speaker 1: Jody Fortson couldn't get off of him. But where Fortson
Speaker 1: did have the opportunity was his height and the ability
Speaker 1: to elevate and get the football off the top shelf
Speaker 1: as it were. But what that throw requires is absolute
Speaker 1: precision with massive risk if you are not precise with it.
Speaker 1: So that's a play that I think you can live
Speaker 1: with if the Bills want to try to ripshots to
Speaker 1: Dalton king k down the scene with Brooks right underneath,
Speaker 1: and if Josh Allen, who can be can be a
Speaker 1: rid a bit risky there. If the ball's six inches
Speaker 1: off where it's supposed to be, it can get tipped.
Speaker 1: And that's how you get turnovers, kind of like in
Speaker 1: the wild Card game a couple of years ago, and
Speaker 1: we turned them over several times to keep us in
Speaker 1: the game when our offense couldn't do jack stuff. So
Speaker 1: that was my probably most impressive player of the day
Speaker 1: for the combination of how he played on the field
Speaker 1: and just kind of the demeanor he established their post practice.
Speaker 1: I want to go ahead and get to the offense here.
Speaker 1: Let's go ahead first though, and take a real quick
Speaker 1: break and come back and do that. We're going to
Speaker 1: tie this together the linebacker position. I promise you don't
Speaker 1: want to miss this next segment of the Draft Time
Speaker 1: Podcast OTA number one practice recap right here on the
Speaker 1: Draft Time Podcast, your host Travis Wingfield, brought to you
Speaker 1: by Autnation. So let's go ahead and get to the
Speaker 1: offense here. And the big takeaway for me today was
Speaker 1: something I have been harping on all off season, and
Speaker 1: go figure. And I'm not going to sit here and
Speaker 1: point to one of my five thousand tweets about the
Speaker 1: team and cherry pick one or two of them approve
Speaker 1: how I'm the smartest man alive. You know, I tweeted
Speaker 1: it back in two thousand and four. The Dolphin they
Speaker 1: did to prepare for the bracket cover on Wild Tigeking
Speaker 1: twenty twenty four by adding more path catchers, I wold
Speaker 1: write once again, I'm not gonna do that. And the
Speaker 1: nice part about this is what do I always say?
Speaker 1: The most satisfying thing in this job that happens to
Speaker 1: me personally is when I try to convey something to
Speaker 1: y'all and then the coach or player goes on record,
Speaker 1: essentially confirming that you don't have to do it yourself.
Speaker 1: If you're good enough at at others will do it
Speaker 1: for you. Take note of that, right. I can think
Speaker 1: back to the combine, you know, talking to the draft
Speaker 1: experts about the wide receiver class and telling some of
Speaker 1: them like, I think it's a big need for the Dolphins.
Speaker 1: They were like, what are you talking about, dude. I'm like,
Speaker 1: you know, Reak and Waller great, but got to have
Speaker 1: more than two, baby, and talking about, you know, the
Speaker 1: same thing when Odell Beckham when he visited the Dolphins
Speaker 1: and talking about him when he signed here to the Dolphins,
Speaker 1: breaking all down for you guys after the fact, and
Speaker 1: having him on the podcast talking about it to you
Speaker 1: guys straight from his mouth, on top of John Smith,
Speaker 1: on top of Jayleen Wright and his ability to play
Speaker 1: all over the formation or expand what Devon a Chan
Speaker 1: can do as a route runner or drafting Malik and TODJ.
Speaker 1: Washington on day three. I want to go to this
Speaker 1: answer here from Coach when he was asked about the
Speaker 1: Odell Beckham addition, because didn't even practice on Tuesday, but
Speaker 1: it does give us a lot of confirmation on those
Speaker 1: thoughts about his ability to take advantage of the space
Speaker 1: that is created by Tyreek and Waddle. But he didn't
Speaker 1: stop there. He essentially explained the thinking of continuing to
Speaker 1: load up at the skill spots in twenty twenty four.
Speaker 4: You start a program with an offense, and you have
Speaker 4: certain skill sets, and in this particular circumstance with the
Speaker 4: Miami Dolphins, you know, we it wasn't like I had
Speaker 4: previously coached a pairing like we have it wide out
Speaker 4: and and kind of how defenses would would respond to that.
Speaker 4: You learn over time different different ways that defenses will
Speaker 4: really try to attack you and where they could be vulnerable.
Speaker 4: And I think, you know, having as many players in
Speaker 4: the past game participate and distribute the ball, you know,
Speaker 4: takes to another level of offense. And you know, I
Speaker 4: see him as part of that.
Speaker 1: And so there's that with the newcomers. And again, tomorrow's
Speaker 1: podcast was written and recorded on Monday, but damn it
Speaker 1: if this stuff does not bleed over into today, and
Speaker 1: I just think it's perfect, but wanted to be upfront
Speaker 1: in case there's a little bit of redundancy from today's
Speaker 1: show and tomorrow. But there was a question about the
Speaker 1: schedule this year, and Coach's answer sort of turned my
Speaker 1: attention right back to that, let's go ahead and play
Speaker 1: this audio. And he was asked about your schedule release takeaways.
Speaker 1: I don't think I've heard a coach ask that before,
Speaker 1: but I'm glad he was because it gave us this
Speaker 1: great SoundBite. The last couple of sentences here where was
Speaker 1: where I really wanted to focus.
Speaker 4: Well, if you're wanting to change the narrative, you're going
Speaker 4: to have an opportunity. I think I don't really worry
Speaker 4: too much about things that you know, it's pretending like
Speaker 4: I have any idea what's good or bad. I know,
Speaker 4: if you're if you're playing the right competitive football, you'll
Speaker 4: always have unique challenges to your to your schedule. If
Speaker 4: you're playing the right type of football, you'll have primetime games,
Speaker 4: which kind of you know, uh, you can have short
Speaker 4: or long weeks, all of those things, you know. I
Speaker 4: think we've found a way to develop our team, you know,
Speaker 4: both years, and I'm firmly expecting that same thing again
Speaker 4: this year. I think that the opportunities down the stretch
Speaker 4: of the season are are one ones that this team
Speaker 4: at that point in time will be thirsting for.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 4: That's that's that's something that you know. When when I
Speaker 4: saw the schedule, it was pretty excited.
Speaker 1: Just to make it clear, we've found a way to
Speaker 1: develop our team both years, and I firmly expect the
Speaker 1: same thing this year. The opportunities down the stretch are
Speaker 1: ones that I think this team will be thirsting for.
Speaker 1: I keep thinking about that because on the show tomorrow,
Speaker 1: I'm going to talk about year three trends from McDaniel's
Speaker 1: previous stops, the incumbent growth of certain players, and McDaniel
Speaker 1: really drove that point point home there at the end
Speaker 1: to me. And it's not just skills like further honing
Speaker 1: in on coaching points like running to daylight or getting
Speaker 1: upfield and not trying to go sideways against zone coverage
Speaker 1: on defense that you know provides tangible improvement on the field,
Speaker 1: but rather the mental fortitude required to compete in tough
Speaker 1: environments and in big games when the chips are against you,
Speaker 1: like I don't know, twenty five degrees below temperature, with
Speaker 1: your starting defense half of them being on the sideline
Speaker 1: and half of the offense getting back together for the
Speaker 1: first time for a practice in over a month one
Speaker 1: time before that game, in those conditions, and man, I
Speaker 1: just think that there's a certain mindset, a certain mentality
Speaker 1: that's gonna come with some of the additions. Like a
Speaker 1: guy like Jordan Brooks who just has and this is
Speaker 1: a seth levitism some ish to him, right, family friendly podcast.
Speaker 1: Otherwise that's a different ism there for you. But I
Speaker 1: noticed that when I met Jordan for the podcast here.
Speaker 1: I notice that when I say hi to m in
Speaker 1: the hallways around the building, I noticed that today and
Speaker 1: talking to him at his media availability and how he
Speaker 1: kind of reminds me a little bit of Jalen Ramsey
Speaker 1: in the sense that nothing is going to divert his mind,
Speaker 1: and not even a media availability or a what's up
Speaker 1: in the hallway from his singular focus, and that focus
Speaker 1: is the game of football, building camarader with his teammates
Speaker 1: and doing everything he can to make the Dolphins into
Speaker 1: a winner. I like to be very, very very careful
Speaker 1: with player comparisons, and I want to make it clear
Speaker 1: that I'm not comparing their games here, but it reminds
Speaker 1: me so much as you go back to Baltimore and
Speaker 1: try to find, you know, crossover and analogs.
Speaker 3: To win.
Speaker 1: Coach Weaver in Baltimore was able to inject or I guess,
Speaker 1: the entire defense. He was a D line coach. But
Speaker 1: when that defense was able to inject Roquan Smith into
Speaker 1: the defense, and it changed everything for them. A one
Speaker 1: point eighty from a defense that struggled earlier that year
Speaker 1: and got you know, four hundred and seventy yards post
Speaker 1: on them from a certain lest handed quarterback to players
Speaker 1: for the Miami Dolphins. And then he gets there and
Speaker 1: they suddenly can't get that no one can score on them.
Speaker 1: I just get the sense there's some of that here
Speaker 1: with Jordan Brooks, and it's it's not just him. Anthony
Speaker 1: Walker had himself a pick in pre where he peeled
Speaker 1: off into the hook zone, elevated and got his hands
Speaker 1: on a throw from Mike White, tips it straight into
Speaker 1: the air and pulls it down for the pick. And
Speaker 1: if you know anything about Anthony Walker, he too is
Speaker 1: all business. And then there's the incumbent, one of my
Speaker 1: favorite damn players in the whole league in David Long.
Speaker 1: And I've been saying this since even before we signed
Speaker 1: him as a player that I liked in the twenty
Speaker 1: twenty three free agency class. I feel pretty damn vindicated
Speaker 1: for that affinity, for what he did on the field
Speaker 1: last year. And then we come out and see that
Speaker 1: he was in the orange jersey for the first time
Speaker 1: or in the first practice on Monday, and then McDaniel
Speaker 1: was asked about that player and why he earned the
Speaker 1: orange on day number one.
Speaker 4: I thought this phase two he embodied kind of the
Speaker 4: way to go about your day to day operation to go,
Speaker 4: you know, kind of if you want something, go, go,
Speaker 4: get it. And you know, David felt after last season
Speaker 4: he had more to offer to the Miami Dolphins team,
Speaker 4: and instead of just talking about it, he lived that
Speaker 4: every single day. I think all this teammates feed off him.
Speaker 4: He's a leader for us, and you know, I was
Speaker 4: just happy that his playlist didn't suck.
Speaker 1: Like I said this in March, I'll say it again.
Speaker 1: On paper, this is the best linebacker linebacking corps the
Speaker 1: Dolphins have had in a long long time. And Brooks
Speaker 1: and Long to me are a perfect balance of speed, blitz, position, interchangeability,
Speaker 1: downhill skills with a change of directions to get vertical
Speaker 1: block defeaterers, and most of all, just perfect scheme fits
Speaker 1: for what we think Anthony Weaver wants to do. And
Speaker 1: then you've got Walker who brings the juice between the tackles,
Speaker 1: some quality hook zone presence that understands playing on that
Speaker 1: string with Brooks that he talked about earlier in the show.
Speaker 1: And that's all before you get to a couple of
Speaker 1: guys that have made plays on you know, on special teams,
Speaker 1: and Duke Riley and hopefully some channing tendall in there
Speaker 1: as well. This room has everything, and I'm fired up
Speaker 1: for I think it's a really impressive top to bottom
Speaker 1: group of guys that can provide depth, that can do
Speaker 1: different things, and most of all, really accentuate with it
Speaker 1: scheme does best and creates pressure from different looks and
Speaker 1: has multiple guys that can do multiple things. Back to
Speaker 1: the offense, I want to get to a sound bye
Speaker 1: from Eric Azukama, but first I want to go back
Speaker 1: to the idea of complexity and multiplacity on offense, because
Speaker 1: for so long this offense has driven through Tyreek Hill
Speaker 1: and Jaln Waddle, and then last year we saw more
Speaker 1: of the run game pick that up, and I think
Speaker 1: in year three it's going to be a combination of
Speaker 1: all those things with more playmakers out wide. And one
Speaker 1: of those playmakers out wide to me, is going to
Speaker 1: be Devon ah Chien, who caught several balls in this
Speaker 1: practice from several different positions on several different routes. He
Speaker 1: got deep in the Turkey hole for a shot from
Speaker 1: Mike White for a long play off the sideline like
Speaker 1: a vertical shot, and then he caught a Texas route
Speaker 1: where he left Duke Riley in the dust and makes
Speaker 1: basically juked him out before the ball even got there.
Speaker 1: He also ran a little out route from a flexed
Speaker 1: out position that was impressive. I just think that he
Speaker 1: looks like he could be like kind of another answer
Speaker 1: at the receiver spot in addition to what he does
Speaker 1: at running back. And of course with Raheem and Jalen
Speaker 1: right here, you have the flexibility to make that happen.
Speaker 1: So I am very impressed with that entire concept of
Speaker 1: spreading the football around, like we heard they're from coach
Speaker 1: from maximizing the space that is created from the top
Speaker 1: two receivers you have, who are two of the best
Speaker 1: in the entire NFL, and just the opportunity you have
Speaker 1: to go out and get more playmakers and make your
Speaker 1: offense even more explosive and make the defense have to
Speaker 1: defend more. Because that's what McDaniel talked about in that
Speaker 1: sound clip that SoundBite, right, Probably my favorite thing that
Speaker 1: he said was, you know, we have never known, because
Speaker 1: we haven't had it before, how to attack what the
Speaker 1: defense leaves vulnerable when you have playmakers like Tyreek and Waddle,
Speaker 1: and now we are realizing that, oh, there are opportunities
Speaker 1: for you know, different ways to either lift that coverage
Speaker 1: off those guys or if they want to keep it
Speaker 1: that way, just go ahead and pound it over and
Speaker 1: over again and continue to beat you with devon a
Speaker 1: chant with Maleague Washington, with Beckham Junior, with Eric Azukama,
Speaker 1: who I got one SoundBite from on practice on Tuesday,
Speaker 1: who I thought really showed some of the flashes we've
Speaker 1: seen from him the last couple of years, including a
Speaker 1: really fun run after the catch. I thought there was,
Speaker 1: you know, some issues and the timing and the pacing
Speaker 1: of the routes, Like there was this one catch where
Speaker 1: he kind of got choppy into the zone. It looked
Speaker 1: a little more difficult than it had to be, and
Speaker 1: it certainly looked more difficult that Malik Washington made it
Speaker 1: look more on that in just a second. But he
Speaker 1: caught the ball, and we're trying to find game applicable
Speaker 1: stuff here. So good rep, bad rep. I don't know,
Speaker 1: but I just think that there's some kind of positive
Speaker 1: and negative there to take with that. Let's go ahead
Speaker 1: and hear from Azukama on the importance of understanding pacing
Speaker 1: within your routes, because if this is the kind of
Speaker 1: stuff that he can get down, he's got all the
Speaker 1: physical ability in the world and I'm pretty fire up
Speaker 1: to see what he can do with the opportunity. Here's
Speaker 1: Eric Azukama.
Speaker 5: It's all pace all it's all timing, so you know,
Speaker 5: it's consistent reps every day and knowing you know where
Speaker 5: the quarterback is going to put the ball depending on
Speaker 5: the defense and how you need to run the route
Speaker 5: based on the coverage and out the leverage of the TV.
Speaker 1: Speaking of Malik Washington, this guy is my guy man.
Speaker 1: There is a rep where he found a soft spot,
Speaker 1: accelerates himself into the zone, then throttles it down to
Speaker 1: really maximize the space there because two wasn't out there,
Speaker 1: so the quarterbacks weren't putting the ball where he needs
Speaker 1: to be on time like he typically does. He makes
Speaker 1: this tough catch off of his frame. It was the
Speaker 1: same rep I saw it for Genya all last season.
Speaker 1: He checks in a few plays later and runs an
Speaker 1: out and the ball is too high, but the full
Speaker 1: extension to leap up above his head, pull it down,
Speaker 1: make the catch, get the feed in. Really impressive work
Speaker 1: there from Lake Washington. He looks in one practice as advertised,
Speaker 1: I think River Craycraft had the route of the day
Speaker 1: where he sold a vertical then came back to the
Speaker 1: football and Mike White right on time, right on target.
Speaker 1: Pretty connection there between those two. I think you can
Speaker 1: pretty much set your watch to River Craycraft Go Kougs.
Speaker 1: The pass catcher who might have caught my eye the
Speaker 1: most the entire day was Jody Fordson Fortein caught this
Speaker 1: pass running across the field where he outruns Nick Need
Speaker 1: him on an over route, which you know, about the
Speaker 1: fastest corner of the world ld of states in the world.
Speaker 1: But he's not slow either, and the ball is not
Speaker 1: too far in front of him, but it's a little
Speaker 1: bit out there, so he has to go, go gadget,
Speaker 1: arm it and pluck it. And he does that and
Speaker 1: just the size jumps off the field and when you're
Speaker 1: next to him too, down in the caffeterier, he's a
Speaker 1: big man. It's impressive. Then they take a shot on
Speaker 1: a broken play and he just goes up and elevates
Speaker 1: for this football and it kind of reminded me of
Speaker 1: when like your brother who was three years older than you,
Speaker 1: was playing with you and your friends in the backyard
Speaker 1: and just like goes ahead and sides to moss you
Speaker 1: because he can. It's like this fifty to fifty ball
Speaker 1: is really a ninety ten ball. I think he offers
Speaker 1: something on the roster that nobody else really does. And
Speaker 1: the only real issue he had in Kansas City was
Speaker 1: the injury bugs. So let's if he can stay healthy.
Speaker 1: I think there's a really, really big time contributor here
Speaker 1: in Jody Fortson. Let's go ahead and take our last
Speaker 1: break right there, come back on the other side and
Speaker 1: get back to the storytelling and go by the safety's room.
Speaker 1: And the first thing I noticed when I came out
Speaker 1: to practice was Javon Holland and Jordan Poy are working
Speaker 1: together individuals. That's next Draft Time podcast, your host Travis Wingfield,
Speaker 1: brought to you by Auto Nation. Final segment for first
Speaker 1: day of OTA's on the field, and I want to
Speaker 1: go ahead and stop by the safety's room here and
Speaker 1: just here. First off, Javon Holland talking about how excited
Speaker 1: he is to play with Jordan Poyer and just how
Speaker 1: much can rub off on the youngster from the experience fed.
Speaker 3: Oh, it's great, it's great. He's you know, he's a
Speaker 3: hell of a knowledge and he's you know, he's got
Speaker 3: he's a helld football mind.
Speaker 5: It's got a bunch of stuff I'm trying to learn
Speaker 5: from cool dude great at golf.
Speaker 1: So we got a chance to watch these guys drilling
Speaker 1: some stuff pre practice and the individuals and just watching
Speaker 1: them kind of operate from different types of looks and
Speaker 1: you know, with one guy being the robber on a
Speaker 1: crossing route with the other guy willing out and deep
Speaker 1: into coverage, and watching them work with coach Slowik and
Speaker 1: just knowing these guys background and understanding of the game,
Speaker 1: I just know it's going to be a well oiled
Speaker 1: machine back there. And maybe you don't want to mess
Speaker 1: with the chemistry being built there because I think a
Speaker 1: lot of folks would say that safety is still a
Speaker 1: big need for this team, and I agree you need
Speaker 1: to get some more depth there. But maybe that's something
Speaker 1: you would have addressed earlier if you planned on it,
Speaker 1: because just watching these guys practice together, I think the
Speaker 1: more time they played again, the better it's going to
Speaker 1: be on that back end. And we saw it play
Speaker 1: out during a team period and every snap there was communication,
Speaker 1: you know, and to be a fly on that helmet
Speaker 1: there as it were. But we don't get that type
Speaker 1: of you know, that coverage, but they typically had the
Speaker 1: deep stuff like bracketed off or matching with the corner
Speaker 1: to find the vertical stuff and take care of it.
Speaker 1: It's may, but I love what we have here, and
Speaker 1: that consistency would only serve to let you be even
Speaker 1: more aggressive with your fronts and simulated pressure looks that
Speaker 1: you want to operate with. Javon also was a pretty
Speaker 1: candidate and how he felt about Vic Fangio, which I've
Speaker 1: communicated I feel the same way here several times. So
Speaker 1: good stuff there from those guys, and it's cool to
Speaker 1: hear that they're all excited about playing For Anthony Weaver,
Speaker 1: we have one more player to hear from hearing. He's
Speaker 1: another guy that I was so happy to see pop
Speaker 1: in this practice. I kept fixing my eyes in his
Speaker 1: direction because he kept making plays. And it's cornerback Ethan Bonner,
Speaker 1: and it started with how he covered a short completion
Speaker 1: where he basically flipped his technique multiple times throughout the
Speaker 1: play and just showed you a really heady approach to
Speaker 1: the game that allows him to re route to fall
Speaker 1: off to go play the flat. I just think that
Speaker 1: he's the type of player who can really understand what
Speaker 1: is being presented to him offensively, how his defense is
Speaker 1: designed to defend that, and how he can take chances
Speaker 1: or move around the formation and make those plays. And
Speaker 1: then he has the physical ability that he has. I
Speaker 1: think this dude can play, and I think he's going
Speaker 1: to be an uncovered gem here from this coaching staff
Speaker 1: and the scouting staff. Once again, I asked him about
Speaker 1: the ability to play with different looks and changing techniques
Speaker 1: and a given play within the play. Here is Ethan
Speaker 1: Bonner of talking about his approach to practice.
Speaker 2: I'm trying to kind of experiment a little bit myself
Speaker 2: out there, try new things. To be honest, that was
Speaker 2: kind of just something I had done. I mean, we're
Speaker 2: trying to do a good job of disguising, but you know,
Speaker 2: I'm trying to just play with that, maybe put my
Speaker 2: own little flavor on it.
Speaker 1: And the reason I wanted to show that to you
Speaker 1: guys was the SoundBite was to just basically illustrate the
Speaker 1: mentality of a player like an Ethan Bonner and how
Speaker 1: it allows him to excel. When you know how to practice,
Speaker 1: you know how to get better. And I get the
Speaker 1: sense that McDaniel really values that because of I guess
Speaker 1: how abstract he can be when thinking about the game
Speaker 1: of football, and wouldn't you know what earlier in the day,
Speaker 1: McDaniel talked about this in his morning press conference.
Speaker 4: Well, you want to see you know, it's like parts
Speaker 4: of whole any orchestration of team defense, team offense, teams,
Speaker 4: special teams is you're trying to introduce and apply consistent
Speaker 4: techniques so that players can can know where their help is,
Speaker 4: know what to depend on, know how they communicate, and
Speaker 4: so everyone's on the same page. Because the bottom line
Speaker 4: is that a lot of times it doesn't matter what
Speaker 4: you're playing as long as everyone's playing with conviction and
Speaker 4: complimentary technique. So I'm trying to see consistency and ownership
Speaker 4: of technique when we're trying different things from from bump
Speaker 4: and from off at the corner position. I want to
Speaker 4: see the different tools that we give the players committed
Speaker 4: to and orchestrated and how does that relate to the safety,
Speaker 4: How does that relate to the to the nickel or
Speaker 4: the backer. Those things are very important when you're trying
Speaker 4: to play consistent, convicted defense. So I'm trying to see
Speaker 4: that uniformity of technique and implementation. So we have consistency
Speaker 4: in all three phases and specifically with what you're asking
Speaker 4: about in the corner position.
Speaker 1: I want to play two more sound bites here from
Speaker 1: Ethan Bonner. He was asked about the defense first off
Speaker 1: the top. That's the first sound bite and the second
Speaker 1: one I asked him about how do you use how
Speaker 1: do you balance the use of game tape from last
Speaker 1: year in a different defense versus watching yourself in camp
Speaker 1: at practice this year on new defense. Two sound bites
Speaker 1: back to back from Ethan Bonner.
Speaker 2: Mixon to matchine a lot more. I'm still playing a
Speaker 2: lot of too high. That's some one high cover threason
Speaker 2: there too. But you know, I think we're gona be
Speaker 2: a little more aggresive this year too. As far as
Speaker 2: pressure and pressure on the quarterback. Yeah, I mean techniques
Speaker 2: will still cross, so were in quarters, his quarters anywhere.
Speaker 2: So there's still some pieces I can look at and
Speaker 2: that would you know, fit in those techniques that would
Speaker 2: use in the system too. But it's just knowing, you
Speaker 2: know what film from last year would translate into the
Speaker 2: defense this year.
Speaker 1: But yeah, some final extra notes here from practice. I
Speaker 1: thought Quentin Bell was impressive in individuals as he got
Speaker 1: lots of words of affirmation for the way he attacks
Speaker 1: the blocking bags, the deconstruction Jeez, I can't talk right now.
Speaker 1: The block deconstruction bags over at the side of the field.
Speaker 1: In practice, he popped the bags louder than anybody else
Speaker 1: and just looked strong as hell to me. I put
Speaker 1: that Jack Driscoll. Jack Driscoll had some great reach blocks
Speaker 1: and seals and finishes and was putting guys in the
Speaker 1: ground moving them off the football. Granted lots of backups
Speaker 1: he was going up against, but the get off and
Speaker 1: power combination showed up for Jack Driscoll time and time again.
Speaker 1: I thought Grayson and Murphy had one of the most
Speaker 1: impressive pass rush wins. He and Shaq Barrett both got
Speaker 1: blindside sacks on Mike White and Skottar Thompson. Accordingly, Murphy's
Speaker 1: was on key On Smith and Barrett's was on Ryan Hayes.
Speaker 1: But just impressive get off in power there from both
Speaker 1: those guys in a nice cross chop move. Liam and Lester,
Speaker 1: I'd just say more of the same from last year
Speaker 1: in terms of the film reviews. And then I had
Speaker 1: Channing Tendall getting downhill in a disjointed toss play and
Speaker 1: it took him into develop and he was there to
Speaker 1: run that thing down and cut down for a loss.
Speaker 1: And then I also mentioned earlier that we had eight
Speaker 1: chan making some linebackers look silly and coverage, including Duke
Speaker 1: Riley on one particular play. But where I kind of
Speaker 1: came away the most impressed from was Patrick Paul because
Speaker 1: everything seemed really hardwired together for him, which wasn't always
Speaker 1: the case at Houston.
Speaker 5: Right.
Speaker 1: The college tape was bad, and Chris and Mike basically
Speaker 1: admitted as much. But it's funny that they told us
Speaker 1: about his desire to get better and just one practice
Speaker 1: from what we saw in tap Houston to today, he
Speaker 1: looks to me like a different player, like completely different player.
Speaker 1: And if he's going to show that kind of progress
Speaker 1: with the sheer physical ability, I mean, let's not get
Speaker 1: too hyperbolic here and call it the steal of the draft.
Speaker 1: But if he becomes a great player and he's your
Speaker 1: left tackle in the second round the fifty fifth pick,
Speaker 1: pretty good, right, great start for him. Three more notes,
Speaker 1: let's see two more notes. One more note. I lied
Speaker 1: Jalen Wright was my final note here, and I thought
Speaker 1: he just had one run that popped to me again.
Speaker 1: This all takes in the training camp practice for running
Speaker 1: back to me one run where you pop and look great,
Speaker 1: and he had one of those where he got press
Speaker 1: front side overflow from the defense, bend it back to
Speaker 1: the backside. That jump cut shows up once again. He
Speaker 1: looked impressive out there on that particular run. So there
Speaker 1: you go. We'll do it again next Tuesday tomorrow. On
Speaker 1: the podcast, I'm very excited for a research project I
Speaker 1: did taking a look at year three improvements within n
Speaker 1: A Mike McDaniel, Kyle Shanahan offense talking about Jalen Waddle's
Speaker 1: yak ability, tua's decision making and athletic ability, and finally
Speaker 1: the coverage of Ramsey and Fuller and what that can
Speaker 1: do to the defense. You don't want to miss that
Speaker 1: podcast tomorrow Wednesday. I believe at five o'clock it'll drop,
Speaker 1: So keep it locked on that and let's go ahead
Speaker 1: and get you out of here. You all please be
Speaker 1: sure to subscribe to the podcast on Apple, Spotify, wherever
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