Speaker 1: You were listening to the Miami Dolphins podcast Network. This
Speaker 1: is Drivetime with Travis Winfield. Back to throw to a
Speaker 1: looking slips at Falca water dolpn touchdown ton Rick Hill, unbelievable.
Speaker 1: Just blue fire for a second time to know where
Speaker 1: he was going right away ahead of that run, man,
Speaker 1: I want to help you soon up on his band
Speaker 1: away wattle, waddle to a shotgut back to throw looking
Speaker 1: stumps up fires touchdop again it's waddle, It's six touchdown
Speaker 1: padout of the tea. Drivetime with Travis Winfield begins. Now
Speaker 1: let me check your pulse. If not further of what
Speaker 1: is up? Dolphans and welcome to the Drivetime podcast, part
Speaker 1: of the Miami Dolphins podcast network, covering your team, your
Speaker 1: Miami Dolphins. How's it going everybody? I am your host,
Speaker 1: Travis Winfield, and on today's show, three podcast and three
Speaker 1: days plus. I think we did three at the end
Speaker 1: of last week as well. We are cooking right along here.
Speaker 1: We have media availabilities. We met with seven of the
Speaker 1: newest members of the Miami Dolphins. You're gonna hear from
Speaker 1: Braxon Barrios, Eric Sobert, Dan Feeney, Mike White, Malik Read,
Speaker 1: David Long Junior, and Jake Bailey lots to get to
Speaker 1: their plus we'll answer your questions via the Twitter mailbag.
Speaker 1: All of that in a heck of a lot more
Speaker 1: from the Baptist Health Studios inside the Baptist Health Training Complex.
Speaker 1: This is the Drivetime podt Magic Fish Caroline gets us
Speaker 1: to reset the chains and pick it up here on
Speaker 1: first down, let's go ahead and start with our media availabilities.
Speaker 1: And let's go ahead and do that with Dolphins linebacker
Speaker 1: David Long. He was great to talk to. We talked
Speaker 1: to him about the fit and Vic Fangio's system. Also
Speaker 1: talk to him a little bit about how anticipation leads
Speaker 1: to place for him in his past career so far
Speaker 1: as a linebacker. But let's go ahead and start here
Speaker 1: first with what he liked about the opportunity of coming
Speaker 1: to Miami. Miami was just the best fit I felt,
Speaker 1: you know, for me, um, you know, in my future.
Speaker 1: And then as far as like the players, UM, I
Speaker 1: know a lot of them, you know, we all we
Speaker 1: a lot of us have the same agent. UM. So
Speaker 1: I know a lot of those guys for a few
Speaker 1: years now, UM. And then just the history, UM, of
Speaker 1: the you know the DC. Um. You know, he he's
Speaker 1: had one of the top defenses for a while. Um.
Speaker 1: So UM, it just felt like a great fit. Um.
Speaker 1: And then when I got down there, you know, it
Speaker 1: felt like even better for it. UM. Well as far
Speaker 1: as bro you know, I really having this clause, I'm
Speaker 1: just ready to get to work, you know, and just
Speaker 1: fit in how every way I can. Um. But um,
Speaker 1: as far as the defenses, you know, I feel like
Speaker 1: he played that same style. UM that I like, you
Speaker 1: know that that fast and aggressive um. You know, as
Speaker 1: far as having a linebacker on the field, you know,
Speaker 1: all three downs, um. You know, so it felt like
Speaker 1: a good fit. I like you as as the time go,
Speaker 1: we would learn more about his way and you know,
Speaker 1: the way he see fits. So we talked about David
Speaker 1: Long a lot on the podcast, introducing his game to
Speaker 1: to all you out there Dolphins fans, and I wanted
Speaker 1: to ask him, how do you put yourself in position
Speaker 1: to play the way you do? Fast, aggressive, with such
Speaker 1: anticipation and kind of keying plays before they happen. Here's
Speaker 1: the new Miami linebacker on how he plays with anticipatory
Speaker 1: football and speed. Well, a lot a lot comes from
Speaker 1: I've been playing football for so long man, so it's
Speaker 1: really like this that natural field. Um. And then you know,
Speaker 1: also you know as far as pre stnot reads, you know,
Speaker 1: I spent a lot of time in the film room.
Speaker 1: I like to study my players a lot, so you know,
Speaker 1: any indication and know that I can find to help
Speaker 1: me be way faster, you know than an opponent. Um.
Speaker 1: You know, I look forward, you know, um, whether it's
Speaker 1: no the hand in the dirt, lighting the dirt, or
Speaker 1: just the tidy and peeking or going back, just the
Speaker 1: little things that you know help you help you be
Speaker 1: just one step faster. You know. That's that's the thing
Speaker 1: I'm the ain't know just the mentality as well, know
Speaker 1: just that that dog mentality, just you know, just that
Speaker 1: that that played major roles as well. And of course
Speaker 1: playing in Tennessee Jeffrey Simmons, Deco Autry, so many good
Speaker 1: defensive lineman he's played behind there over the years. How
Speaker 1: about coming to Miami and playing behind Seeler and Wilkins, Um,
Speaker 1: I mean any linebacker would be lying that they said,
Speaker 1: you know that that that front forward doesn't play a
Speaker 1: major role. And the success we have spire holding well
Speaker 1: you know in Tennessee. Um, a lot of two gaps
Speaker 1: that will hold up up there, you know, the double
Speaker 1: teams you know, and our job as linebackers just to
Speaker 1: get down Who is fast to get those double teams out?
Speaker 1: You know? So they helped me. I helped them me. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, we all work as you know, the team.
Speaker 1: The better we work together, you know, the better defenses.
Speaker 1: Let's go ahead and keep this moving here. You're gonna
Speaker 1: hear this question from me a lot with the three
Speaker 1: Jets players coming over from Mike Laflora's offense and in
Speaker 1: New York, how does that translate to help you pick
Speaker 1: up the scheme faster in Miami. We go to quarterback
Speaker 1: Mike White for his answer on that question. Yeah, that
Speaker 1: was one of the uses of coming to Miami was
Speaker 1: it's the same system. Now, I'm sure there's different burbage
Speaker 1: and things like that, but down to its courts, it's
Speaker 1: from the same same system. So it'll be definitely easier
Speaker 1: than learning a brand new offense. When we had Antoine's
Speaker 1: Daley on from the New York Daily News talking about
Speaker 1: Mike White, he alluded to several times how good of
Speaker 1: a teammate Mike White was and how the players in
Speaker 1: that locker room responded to him, and I guess just
Speaker 1: galvanized around his entrance into the lineup over Zach Wilson,
Speaker 1: and so Joe Chadd asked him about the Mike F
Speaker 1: and White T shirts they made and about how great
Speaker 1: of a teammate he is. And you're gonna hear Mike
Speaker 1: White talk about being the right type of player, right
Speaker 1: type of person for a locker room, and that's a
Speaker 1: theme you're going to hear a lot throughout these media availabilities.
Speaker 1: Let's go to the new Dolphins back of quarter. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I think I've said it in countless interviews before in
Speaker 1: New York, and it's just that's my favorite. My favorite
Speaker 1: part about playing football is the locker room team aspect,
Speaker 1: the camaraderie, whatever you want to call it. It's it's
Speaker 1: we're very blessed to do what we do and the
Speaker 1: fact that we get to go in and play football
Speaker 1: for a living every day and we get to show
Speaker 1: up to work and if you want to get in
Speaker 1: the sauna before work starts, you get the sauna. If
Speaker 1: you want to get in the hot tub, Like it's
Speaker 1: just we're really lucky, and I think if you go
Speaker 1: in with the right mindset of enjoying everybody there and
Speaker 1: getting to know different people from different walks of life,
Speaker 1: and just enjoying your teammates and enjoying the time you
Speaker 1: spend together, because we do spend a lot of time together,
Speaker 1: whether it's practice, training, camp, meetings, travel away, gaining all
Speaker 1: that all that good stuff. You get to know a
Speaker 1: lot of guys and you enjoy it. So that's that's
Speaker 1: been my approach about it is whatever my role is,
Speaker 1: take take on that role and then help whoever you can,
Speaker 1: and whether it's in the quarterback room, whether it's off
Speaker 1: on the field or what if you're running with the threes,
Speaker 1: you help your guys, you're running with the twos, you
Speaker 1: help your guys, And whenever it's your time to run
Speaker 1: with the ones, you hope that you have built a
Speaker 1: bond and that you can kind of build on that
Speaker 1: to develop trust with them. So that that's kind of
Speaker 1: how I approach it, and I think it's it's had
Speaker 1: success for him. Finishing up here with Mike White wanted
Speaker 1: to ask him about playing under coach Darryl Bevill, who
Speaker 1: obviously too mentioned the impact he had on his career.
Speaker 1: What does Mike White thinking about joining a quarterback room
Speaker 1: with someone like Darryl Bevill who's coached so many great players,
Speaker 1: so many good teams, and just seeing this league for
Speaker 1: the last twenty twenty five years. Yeah, I got a
Speaker 1: chance to meet coach Bebble when I signed on a Thursday,
Speaker 1: and and and I can see why too would say
Speaker 1: that he's just off of just initial meeting him, and
Speaker 1: he seems like a very intelligent guy. So you're you know,
Speaker 1: you're going to learn a lot about the quarterback position.
Speaker 1: And he's he's also been around a lot of talented
Speaker 1: players and good offenses, so he has a tons of
Speaker 1: ton of experience that that I'm sure he draws upon
Speaker 1: and when he's when he's coaching the guys and listened
Speaker 1: to it to it had an unbelievable season year, and
Speaker 1: I'm sure there's there's no coincidence that coach coach Bebble
Speaker 1: was involved and the entire the entire offensive staff in general.
Speaker 1: So I'm really excited and just learning from someone new
Speaker 1: that has so many, so many different stops and so
Speaker 1: much experience, So I'm really excited to get to work
Speaker 1: with him. Let's go next here to new Dolphins wide
Speaker 1: receiver Braxton Barrios, who was asked about his role as
Speaker 1: a return man and how much pride you take in
Speaker 1: being a true return man in an era of football
Speaker 1: where maybe it's kind of gone by the boards a
Speaker 1: little bit. I guess it's take a lot of pride
Speaker 1: in it. Um, you're you're right, it's it's absolutely not
Speaker 1: for everybody, and if you do do it, you have
Speaker 1: to be fully committed to doing it. And you know,
Speaker 1: I think that you know, I've been one of the
Speaker 1: best in the league at it, and you know, obviously
Speaker 1: want to get back to that, to that top spot
Speaker 1: across the board at it. Um, But you know, I
Speaker 1: think you might have to have uh, maybe a screw
Speaker 1: loose or two to do it and to really enjoy
Speaker 1: it anything like it. And uh, like I said, I
Speaker 1: take a lot of pride in it because it truly
Speaker 1: is a third of the game and it they can
Speaker 1: swing a game just like any other you know, interception, touchdown,
Speaker 1: what have you. So, yeah, there's a there's a huge
Speaker 1: sense of pride in it, and I think, um, you
Speaker 1: know I have after talking to the coaching staff as well,
Speaker 1: especial team's coordinator. There's there's gonna be a lot of
Speaker 1: pride in it this year, and I'm really excited to
Speaker 1: help that. Next, he was asked about how he compliments
Speaker 1: Tyreek Hill and Jillen Waddle thought thus the answer was
Speaker 1: too good to leave on the cutting room floor. Here's
Speaker 1: Braxton Barrios. Yeah. I mean, they they they're incredible across
Speaker 1: the board. Obviously, there's there's no uh, there's no pigeonhole
Speaker 1: for either one of those guys. I mean, they're truly,
Speaker 1: you know, one of the best wide receiver duo in
Speaker 1: the league. And I can't wait to get in that
Speaker 1: room and you know, just just watch them and learn
Speaker 1: from them, UM and hear how they see the game
Speaker 1: or how they see the route against this coverage and
Speaker 1: you know all the variations. So you know, obviously I'm
Speaker 1: down to do whatever whenever, and I've always been that way.
Speaker 1: And you know, maybe you know, if they take the
Speaker 1: top off, I'll work across the middle and um or
Speaker 1: I'll work outside. I'll really do whatever it takes to
Speaker 1: uh to win. Anytime you get a new receiver, you
Speaker 1: have to ask him about his new quarterback. Here's Braxton
Speaker 1: Berry was talking about what he observed from Afar from
Speaker 1: Dolphins QB to a tongue of VLOA. Honestly, I've been
Speaker 1: very impressed. Um. You know, obviously he's he's dealt with
Speaker 1: a lot of adversity and he uh seems that he
Speaker 1: steps up to the plate every single time. Um, and
Speaker 1: you know, he seems like an absolute warrior. Um. You know,
Speaker 1: kind of just like we got my guy Mike White
Speaker 1: here recently. So I'm I'm really excited to get with
Speaker 1: him and you know, start learning how he sees the game,
Speaker 1: you know, from his mouth and not just from from film,
Speaker 1: and just get on the same page as him. But
Speaker 1: I really I'm excited to play for him. Let's go
Speaker 1: ahead and finish up here with Dan Feeney. Before our
Speaker 1: first break, I asked Dan about playing in that same system,
Speaker 1: or at least a similar scheme with Mike Laflour. Here's
Speaker 1: a new Dolphins interior offensive line guard center can play
Speaker 1: tackle to Dan Foenie on easy transition from one system
Speaker 1: to the next. Yeah, I think it's huge. Honestly, one
Speaker 1: of the first times Mike and I talked on the phone,
Speaker 1: it was pretty much exces and oh so just having
Speaker 1: a very similar language is definitely huge. It's easy to
Speaker 1: kind of just get into the system and kind of
Speaker 1: fit in right away. So I think that'll be good
Speaker 1: for me just that will always be different languages about
Speaker 1: some sort of things, but kind of having that same
Speaker 1: offensive mindset and scheme, I think it'll be an easier
Speaker 1: transition for me. If you do go back and watch these,
Speaker 1: you'll recognize that Poenie is pretty quickly becoming a favorite
Speaker 1: among the media just for kind of his lightheartedness and easygoingness.
Speaker 1: Obviously you've seen the videos I'm sure on Twitter of
Speaker 1: him chugging beers at hockey games. He's a really fun,
Speaker 1: love and type of guy. So he was asked, how
Speaker 1: does that translate to football. I love this answer, and
Speaker 1: it goes back to the theme of adding the right
Speaker 1: kind of people into your locker room. Here in Miami,
Speaker 1: here's Dan Foenie. Yeah. I think it's contagious just being
Speaker 1: around guys that love having a good time making work fun.
Speaker 1: It just makes the locker room better. It makes the
Speaker 1: vibe around the whole entire team better in my eyes,
Speaker 1: because it's it's like if guys love hanging out with
Speaker 1: the guys outside of the facility. We're gonna bring that
Speaker 1: same natural energy and camaraderie into the locker room, and
Speaker 1: I think that will translate onto the field, because once
Speaker 1: you know your teammates, you want to hang out with
Speaker 1: them outside of the locker room. It's just becomes contagious,
Speaker 1: and it's more and more guys get on board with it,
Speaker 1: and it just becomes a nice, nice atmosphere. Let's go
Speaker 1: ahead and pause for our first break right there. We'll
Speaker 1: come back on the other side and we'll do your questions.
Speaker 1: Almost forgot what to say. They're on the Twitter mail bag.
Speaker 1: That's next Drivetime podcast. Your host, Travis Wingfield, brought to
Speaker 1: you by Auto Nation, segment number two here on a Wednesday,
Speaker 1: potentially Thursday, depending on when you get to this podcast.
Speaker 1: Wanted to go ahead and break up the media availabilities
Speaker 1: with some of your questions and just put my voice
Speaker 1: in the middle of my podcast. I suppose I do
Speaker 1: appreciate getting other voices on here. Let's go ahead and
Speaker 1: break this up though, and hear from you guys with
Speaker 1: a Twitter mailbag. We have more of these to come
Speaker 1: on the other side. But I just wanted to go
Speaker 1: ahead and break it up. Like I mentioned so first
Speaker 1: here from at Mason Prince TV. I know they're not
Speaker 1: the same player, but do you see Braxton Barrios as
Speaker 1: Trent Sherfield's replacement for that wide receiver three spot? Or
Speaker 1: perhaps somebody who was previously on the roster steps up
Speaker 1: as Zukama Wilson Craycraft maybe? And then we had a
Speaker 1: pretty similar question here, so I'm gonna read this one
Speaker 1: as well. Then we'll answer the entire gamut together. At
Speaker 1: Russell Grace, I want to give you guys your shout
Speaker 1: out because I appreciate you all taking the time to
Speaker 1: put these questions in there. But Russell Grace asks, I
Speaker 1: hated to see Trent Sherfield leave to the Bills, especially,
Speaker 1: but this is a sign we can expect or is
Speaker 1: this a sign rather that we can expect to see
Speaker 1: as Zukama getting a bigger role and the chance to
Speaker 1: be wide receiver three first. Isn't that just in itself
Speaker 1: a great question to have to ask, because I've been
Speaker 1: watching this team for long enough to know there was
Speaker 1: plenty of years over the last couple of decades and
Speaker 1: as recently as twenty twenty one. No. Twenty twenty where
Speaker 1: the question was, hey, who is wide receiver one on
Speaker 1: this team? And when there was a couple of instances
Speaker 1: when you had Chris Chambers or Brandon Marshall or Jarvis Landry,
Speaker 1: I guess, to a lesser extent, who the heck is
Speaker 1: receiver two. We know we're in good hands there at
Speaker 1: a position that has become one of the premium positions
Speaker 1: in the NFL, and it's my personal second most important
Speaker 1: position in the NFL because I think that the quarterback
Speaker 1: play is dependent upon how good your receivers are, and
Speaker 1: that's the most important things the passing game, so to me,
Speaker 1: quarterback and pass catchers. So it's pretty nice to know
Speaker 1: that you've got somewhere in the ballpark of three hundred
Speaker 1: targets accounted for by two of the most electrifying playmakers
Speaker 1: in the NFL. And you heard Mike White talk about
Speaker 1: how the offense is often predetermined for the quarterback, like
Speaker 1: we know the ball is going to Tyreek or Jalen
Speaker 1: on let's play. It's nice to know that of your
Speaker 1: five hundred or six hundred pass attempts, you've got three
Speaker 1: hundred accounted for with two top five receivers in the
Speaker 1: NFL now the way it sets up today, and this
Speaker 1: is March twenty fourth, it's not September. First, just remember
Speaker 1: that with all your questions about the current roster, it's
Speaker 1: March twenty fourth. I think you go into camp with
Speaker 1: a really good competition coming to the pike here at
Speaker 1: the receiver position. Like I've talked about the value of
Speaker 1: coming back in the second year of the offense, right,
Speaker 1: we heard Mike White talk about it earlier, even to
Speaker 1: the point that I asked people much smarter than I
Speaker 1: at the combine and they all had different answers, but
Speaker 1: the same points, like it's a big deal. So now
Speaker 1: that you have Cedric Wilson and Eric Azukama and their
Speaker 1: second year of the offense, I think their ability to
Speaker 1: be seamlessly plugged in any position increases with that knowledge
Speaker 1: and experience, especially knowing how those guys work. Remember last summer,
Speaker 1: Wes Welker praised the way that Eric Azukama worked through
Speaker 1: the flash cards with other with fellow rookie Brylan Standers,
Speaker 1: as they do together as rookies under Wes Welker. But
Speaker 1: Wes also mentioned the complexity of this system and the
Speaker 1: ability to be you know receiver four or five. On
Speaker 1: game day, you need to be able to step in
Speaker 1: to any of the three positions at receiver because you
Speaker 1: only have depth for you know to do so, like
Speaker 1: you better know all the spots, otherwise you cannot be
Speaker 1: active on game day. And so it's better to have
Speaker 1: someone more steeped in the knowledge or its second nature
Speaker 1: for them in the offense in that role than it
Speaker 1: is to be like a great playmaker, because you're probably
Speaker 1: only gonna get a couple opportunities. But just go out
Speaker 1: there and run the routes in the way that keeps
Speaker 1: the concept on track, keeps the offense on time and
Speaker 1: on rhythm. And I think with Eric Azukama in year two,
Speaker 1: that will get better. Just the way the kid is wired,
Speaker 1: the way he works. I just think that's a natural progression.
Speaker 1: And then I think you can see the talent shine through,
Speaker 1: because this is a guy who you know speaking of
Speaker 1: of Azukama. The run after the catch, the way he
Speaker 1: tacklers bounce off this guy, way he high points the football.
Speaker 1: We saw this in college, we saw this in the preseason,
Speaker 1: we saw it in training camp down here. I was
Speaker 1: as surprised as anyone to see how limited his role
Speaker 1: was a year ago, but I would be very surprised
Speaker 1: if it's noted exponentially this season. Now you talk about
Speaker 1: Braxton Barrios and he was in that MICHAELA Flour offense
Speaker 1: the last two years, and we referenced that on the
Speaker 1: was it the Tuesday Podcast? I don't know. So I
Speaker 1: think every single person coming back with knowledge in the offense,
Speaker 1: their own tape to study, and quite frankly, the talent
Speaker 1: that we have in that room. I think it all
Speaker 1: sorts itself out and it's really one of the top
Speaker 1: battles I'm curious to watch in training camp. I'm also
Speaker 1: curious to see who else they might add. Could it
Speaker 1: be a free agent, a draft pick, a UDFA. We
Speaker 1: have coaches here that are well, they're all experts at
Speaker 1: the receiver position, but coach McDaniel, like, just go back
Speaker 1: and listen to Andrew Hawkins from the Browns talk about
Speaker 1: coach McDaniel, like he's one of the best receivers coaches
Speaker 1: of the last of this century, I think, and then
Speaker 1: Wes Welker isn't that same category pretty knowledgeable strength in
Speaker 1: this organization that receiver position. They were smart enough to
Speaker 1: know how dangerous Tyreek and Jalen could be. I trust
Speaker 1: them to run out the rest of the receiving corps
Speaker 1: as they see fit. And I'm just again really curious
Speaker 1: to see Zukama so good last summer, and I think
Speaker 1: that his talent fits exactly not just the strengths of
Speaker 1: this offense, but a really good compliment to ten and seventeen.
Speaker 1: Our next one here, we have two questions that were
Speaker 1: similar and actually, if a lot of you guys ask
Speaker 1: these questions like these are the obvious pressing questions around
Speaker 1: the Miami Dolphins right now, so I understand why there
Speaker 1: are so many regarding you know, this topic. At the
Speaker 1: Finn's realtor asks, I need to know the best tight
Speaker 1: end fit for the Dolphins in the draft. Do we
Speaker 1: go Laporta Craft Musgrave? Do we wait it out for
Speaker 1: a Shoonmaker I don't know, I'm not sure who that
Speaker 1: is or Durham. Do we restructure and get Foster Moreau,
Speaker 1: Austin Hooper? And free agency? Is tight end a priority?
Speaker 1: And again we had a similar question here. Let's go
Speaker 1: ahead and read that to get Kyle his shout out. Here,
Speaker 1: Curran at Jeep Vader, Travis are what are the plans
Speaker 1: at tight end? We have Smith and Sober, but are
Speaker 1: they going to bring in a playmaker from the draft.
Speaker 1: Is there anyone you know they're targeting? Well, I don't.
Speaker 1: I'm not privy to that kind of information. I know
Speaker 1: it might seem like I am, but I'm definitely not.
Speaker 1: But right now we're at three tight ends on the roster.
Speaker 1: We're down too and I've added one. So the math
Speaker 1: says there would be another one coming. And if you
Speaker 1: just look at the roster, to me, it's pretty obvious
Speaker 1: that one would be coming. I think you look at
Speaker 1: how this offense can get better, and to me, that
Speaker 1: would come through improved run game, because the passing game
Speaker 1: was already really really good. How do you make that happen?
Speaker 1: I do think there's natural progression that can occur from
Speaker 1: that year or two growth. You guys know that because
Speaker 1: you've heard me talk about it every damn day here
Speaker 1: on the show. The same backfield's back, the offensive line's
Speaker 1: pretty similar, but I think the depth has improved by
Speaker 1: adding Feeny and bringing back Jeron Christian. And again it's
Speaker 1: March twenty, fourth roster's not finalized. Please remember that. I
Speaker 1: think a really quality two way tight end would be
Speaker 1: the fastest way, the fastest track to seeing this offense
Speaker 1: take yet another step towards improving and becoming what we
Speaker 1: all want to be. And while it's a bit difficult
Speaker 1: to forecast how a rookie will impact the team, you
Speaker 1: just never know. But this class has a lot of
Speaker 1: guys that check that box. How many times have I
Speaker 1: mentioned Darnell Washington from Georgia. Watching him in college, I
Speaker 1: knew that he was a perfect fit for this offense.
Speaker 1: He's essentially a sixth offensive lineman in the run game,
Speaker 1: but also has some of the best athletic measurables and
Speaker 1: proven tape as a pass catcher in college football. Luke
Speaker 1: Musgrave same category, super athletic, also a very willing competitive blocker,
Speaker 1: and a few others that make up this really good
Speaker 1: tight end class. But I think you could look that
Speaker 1: way through the draft. One of the questions I saw
Speaker 1: in here was also asking about Irv Smith of the
Speaker 1: Vikings or formerly of the Vikings. I loved his game
Speaker 1: out of college, didn't really have the impact as a
Speaker 1: pro that I thought he would, but hit a similar
Speaker 1: offense the Dolphins play last year with the Vikings under
Speaker 1: Kevin O'Connell. I'm really curious about his prospects. Mercedes Lewis
Speaker 1: is probably a top five all time blocking tight end.
Speaker 1: He was still awesome last year at thirty seven. Dan
Speaker 1: Arnold as another guy that I think of that can
Speaker 1: play in both phases, Like you don't have to tip
Speaker 1: your hand in terms of tendencies when you put him
Speaker 1: on the game. So if they're going to add another one,
Speaker 1: I think there's options both in free agency in the draft.
Speaker 1: My preference is Darnell Washington Gosh. I hope they can
Speaker 1: find a way to get that guy. Next question at
Speaker 1: x Geist at work, do we feel Chris Greer thinks
Speaker 1: a strong blocking tight end minimizes the need for a
Speaker 1: starter on the offensive line, and he tells me it's
Speaker 1: pronounced x geist at work. I can't begin to tell
Speaker 1: you how much I appreciate you spelling out the phonics
Speaker 1: for me, even though I think I probably still didn't
Speaker 1: pronounce it right. But yeah, I kind of follow up
Speaker 1: on the previous Q and A. I do think that
Speaker 1: tight end can be that it can kind of conceal
Speaker 1: tendencies and add an effective gap to the running game,
Speaker 1: especially when you factor and alec Ingold and what he
Speaker 1: brings to the table and that kind of quasi tight
Speaker 1: end role, which is what a fullback almost is these
Speaker 1: days in some sense. But also remember that any eligible
Speaker 1: staying in for pass bro just takes away an option
Speaker 1: in the passing game. And I've heard coaches say, why
Speaker 1: the hell would I take away one of my eligibles? Like,
Speaker 1: I got five routes I can run, I want to
Speaker 1: use them all. So there's no real replacement for a
Speaker 1: great offensive line, but yeah, you can make it up
Speaker 1: in the margins there. And that's why I think Darnell
Speaker 1: Washington a guy like his skill set. Now he's not
Speaker 1: gonna it's not guarantee that he hits, but I look
Speaker 1: at his skill set and think, that's a guy that
Speaker 1: I can plug in an eleven personnel and I can
Speaker 1: put him in tight to the formation as my true
Speaker 1: in line. Why and that the defense doesn't know what
Speaker 1: he's gonna do from there, I can flex him out
Speaker 1: and they don't know he's gonna do from there. That's
Speaker 1: the kind of player I'm looking at at this position
Speaker 1: because I think that's the biggest key to unlocking the
Speaker 1: next step for this Dolphins offense. I got a quote
Speaker 1: retweet question from the great Omar Kelly, formerly of The
Speaker 1: Sun Sentinel now the Iamathlete podcast, but quote retweeting for this,
Speaker 1: I don't know. He asked, do you think the Dolphins
Speaker 1: can survive the season with Austin Jackson protecting two a
Speaker 1: tongue of Bylow's blindside? I get what we're doing with
Speaker 1: this tweet, but yeah, I mean Austin Jackson's working is
Speaker 1: bought off to get back right now. I know we've
Speaker 1: we've seen some depth out of the position, but also
Speaker 1: the tackle market kind of been wiped clean so far
Speaker 1: in free agency. We'll talk about some draft options at
Speaker 1: that position here in just a second, But you know,
Speaker 1: the whole blindside thing. This is kind of similar to
Speaker 1: when I would hear our friend here talk about four
Speaker 1: three and three four, like it's the base defense. And
Speaker 1: we've we've gone all this conversation many many times for
Speaker 1: the last fifteen years, Like those are not base packages anymore.
Speaker 1: Nickel defense is the base package, but we still insist
Speaker 1: on talking about whether or not a guy's a fit
Speaker 1: for a three four or a four to three. I
Speaker 1: wanted to tell a great story here because remember last
Speaker 1: remember the Week two game in twenty twenty one when
Speaker 1: when two of got hit and the rib injury occurred
Speaker 1: against the Buffalo Bills, and that was the famous put
Speaker 1: some respect on Jesse Davis's name tweet that got picked
Speaker 1: up by Freezing Cold Takes that day. I just wanted
Speaker 1: to let you guys know that was my doing. I
Speaker 1: was asking about in the pregame warmups who's at right tackle?
Speaker 1: And Omar's like, what do you mean at Jesse Davis. Now,
Speaker 1: I was like, oh, it is like he was like,
Speaker 1: why would that even be a question. I'm like, because
Speaker 1: I think you can probably get better production at that position.
Speaker 1: And that's when he was trying to yell about how
Speaker 1: great Jesse Davis was. Then he took to Twitter to
Speaker 1: say that and then it got picked up by Freezing
Speaker 1: Cold take. So you're welcome for that. But yeah, that
Speaker 1: the question about Austin Jackson there. I continue to think
Speaker 1: that too as big a strength as making players around
Speaker 1: him better, and we've seen that he gets rid of
Speaker 1: the football as fast as anybody, and so I think
Speaker 1: that he mitigates a lot of potential issues you could
Speaker 1: have on the offensive line. We saw it last year
Speaker 1: with the attrition and guys, you know, backups coming into
Speaker 1: the game and how they performed with Tua compared to
Speaker 1: when a different quarterback was in there. So Tua is
Speaker 1: the key there to elevating an offensive line. But ultimately, yeah, like,
Speaker 1: obviously you want to have the best performance from that
Speaker 1: position as you possibly can, and at spots last year
Speaker 1: it wasn't good enough. It has to be better this year,
Speaker 1: whether that's incumbent improvement, whether it's importing free agents or
Speaker 1: draft picks, whatever they have to do to get it better.
Speaker 1: It has to get better. But still I think that
Speaker 1: it's a little bit overblown because this quarterback has been
Speaker 1: so good at making sure that he can mask pass
Speaker 1: protection breakdowns when they happen. It's all over his tape,
Speaker 1: go back and watch it. But um, yeah, the whole
Speaker 1: blindside thing, Like that's like a three four four three question.
Speaker 1: Bro at Miguel Bahamas, do you have a group of
Speaker 1: draft prospects you are enamored with who realistically may be
Speaker 1: there with our second round draft pick. I'm glad you asked.
Speaker 1: I do want to start pivoting towards more draft coverage
Speaker 1: here soon. And this is kind of where I wanted
Speaker 1: to go since we know how a lot of larger
Speaker 1: amount the larger amount of the puzzle has been figured out.
Speaker 1: Remember before Ramsey I talked about it a lot, a
Speaker 1: lot of punnis we had in the podcast, talked about,
Speaker 1: you know, cornerback as a big need, and I do
Speaker 1: think all positions are always open, like draft good players
Speaker 1: and you'll be fine. But now you know that if
Speaker 1: you have a game tomorrow, you don't, but if you did,
Speaker 1: you could line up and feel good about your cornerback
Speaker 1: position with good, good good Jalen Cater and X is
Speaker 1: very good to me, probably the best threesome at that
Speaker 1: position in the NFL. And then you get Nick Needham
Speaker 1: back who can literally play all those positions. What a
Speaker 1: great number four he is, like, honestly the perfect number
Speaker 1: four for this defense. On top of Trull Williams return,
Speaker 1: who I think was tracking to. I think he would
Speaker 1: have played a lot last year if he was healthy,
Speaker 1: given all the injuries. And you have to feel a
Speaker 1: lot better there right now than you did last December
Speaker 1: when you're down what was it, five guys and you're
Speaker 1: trying to get work out of, you know, guys that
Speaker 1: were maybe signed to play more special teams. All of
Speaker 1: a sudden, they're playing more cornerback. So that's a big,
Speaker 1: big change right there. So that's kind of a preamble
Speaker 1: to the cornerback position being less of a quote unquote need.
Speaker 1: Running back has certainly changed since we last did this.
Speaker 1: The whole band is back together there. Your off ball
Speaker 1: linebacker spot is pretty well taken care of with you know,
Speaker 1: long in house now Duke Riley resigned. Your edge depth
Speaker 1: is remarkable. I mean, there just aren't a lot of
Speaker 1: holes that you look at and say they must add
Speaker 1: a body there. So that said, I do think tight
Speaker 1: end is one of those spots. I think offensive lines
Speaker 1: one of those spots, and I think it always is
Speaker 1: for every team, but it is for this team, especially
Speaker 1: right now. And then it's like depth, right Maybe another
Speaker 1: running back, someone that can plat tune with ray Kwon
Speaker 1: Davis so that demanding nose tackle job. Maybe some more
Speaker 1: secondary and wide receiver depth. As for the two positions
Speaker 1: I listed tight end again, Washington and Grave are the
Speaker 1: two that I personally really really like. And if you
Speaker 1: look at the tight end market this year in free agency,
Speaker 1: it's been different than years past. Now you see a
Speaker 1: lot of one year deals happening, Like you know Giesicki
Speaker 1: and Schultzcott, what was it like one year five mill,
Speaker 1: but like incentives like that's a pretty low compared to
Speaker 1: what they both got in the franchise tag last year
Speaker 1: Robert Tonyan and Eric Sobert both got one year, And
Speaker 1: really the activity in the tight end market was a
Speaker 1: little bit slow to get going. I think a big
Speaker 1: part of that is because the quality of the depth
Speaker 1: in this draft class. And the reason I mentioned that
Speaker 1: is that it could be a reason that we see
Speaker 1: the position go a little bit later than conventional wisdom
Speaker 1: would would suggest. It's no guarantee, but it's possible. I
Speaker 1: think that Washington belongs in the first round, but you
Speaker 1: genuinely never know. But my two favorites there are Washington
Speaker 1: and Musgrave. On the offensive line, Matthew burge Around from
Speaker 1: Syracuse is a guy that comes to mind, really smooth
Speaker 1: moving tackle who operates well in space with power at
Speaker 1: the point in pass pro as well. Dewan Jones from
Speaker 1: Ohio's State a three hundred and seventy pound wall that
Speaker 1: can really boost your pass protection off the edge and
Speaker 1: I think develop into a better run blocker. Than what
Speaker 1: he was in college. Darnell Right from Tennessee excuse me,
Speaker 1: has some excellent tape against some of the top college programs.
Speaker 1: Will Anderson, he'd like, shut down Will Anderson. I think
Speaker 1: you'll see one of those guys make it to your pick,
Speaker 1: and if they do, I'd be hard pressed not turn
Speaker 1: that card in right away for that top level tackle
Speaker 1: if you want to go interior. Cody Match from North
Speaker 1: Dakota State one I really like. I think he'll be there.
Speaker 1: Steve a Vila from TCU was a guy that damn
Speaker 1: near every draft expert in Indie that I interviewed talked
Speaker 1: about as a good Day two offensive line option as well.
Speaker 1: So Bergeron, Darnell Wright, Dwan Jones, Cody Match, and Steve
Speaker 1: a Villa are some guys there. At running back. I
Speaker 1: am a sucker for speed, and this year's class has
Speaker 1: that in spades. I really liked Taija Spears from Tulane.
Speaker 1: He's fast as hell and runs with tons of power.
Speaker 1: Really good pass catcher as well. Devon A. Chain was
Speaker 1: thought to have a chance to break the Combine forty record.
Speaker 1: He did not, but he is a track star and
Speaker 1: a home run waiting to happ him. Deuce Vaughn, You're
Speaker 1: gonna see him compare to Darren Sprowls, a lot smaller
Speaker 1: but explosive back. Who is the best pass receiving back
Speaker 1: I think in college football last year besides Jamir Gibbs
Speaker 1: if you want to power back. Roshan Johnson from Texas
Speaker 1: is a guy that I like, is a big chain mover.
Speaker 1: I love Tank Biggsby's game from out from Auburn. I
Speaker 1: think that he might have a potential to be a
Speaker 1: better running back because a pro than he was in college.
Speaker 1: The only two guys I think we're going to be
Speaker 1: gone for sure when Miami picks are b John Robbins
Speaker 1: from Texas and the aforementioned Jamir Gibbs from Alabama. Then
Speaker 1: at nose tackle, probably a good spot to look beyond
Speaker 1: round two, and i'd probably even beyond round three. It's
Speaker 1: tough because we don't have a pick until like late
Speaker 1: and day three. But if you can get four hundred
Speaker 1: snaps from this position, your backup nose tackle, like that's perfect.
Speaker 1: KeAndre Coburn from Texas is the guy that stands out
Speaker 1: to me. A three hundred and thirty pound nose tackle
Speaker 1: with good movement skills for his size. It's a tough
Speaker 1: one to find. Just not a lot of pure nose
Speaker 1: tackles left in college football these days. But what is that?
Speaker 1: Twelve names I feel good about, Probably gonna wiffin all
Speaker 1: those coming draft day. But why not take a shot
Speaker 1: right here in late March. Let's go ahead and take
Speaker 1: our second break and come back with the rest of
Speaker 1: the media availabilities. That's next to Draft Time podcast, your
Speaker 1: host Travis Wingfield, brought to you by Auto Nation. Let's
Speaker 1: go back to the media availabilities from Wednesday. We had
Speaker 1: eight of them to get to, so busy day here.
Speaker 1: Let's pick it back up with the Sean Elliott who
Speaker 1: talked about playing in a defense coached by Vic Fangio.
Speaker 1: Great stuff here from the new Dolphins safety to Sean Elliott,
Speaker 1: I talked big, and I talked to a couple of
Speaker 1: guys and I talked I was talking to V. It
Speaker 1: was more of like this, this is a safety. This
Speaker 1: is a safety, safety driven defense. UM safeties and defense
Speaker 1: to make a lot of players. And I think this
Speaker 1: is all so very so much. It's just just left
Speaker 1: from and um I think I was signed. Getting my
Speaker 1: feet back up part of me, back upon of me
Speaker 1: while I was in destroyed. So I think I just
Speaker 1: bet on that and knowing that this system, with this
Speaker 1: thing is the same, I can even be better. Um.
Speaker 1: I have a lot of talent that I haven't got
Speaker 1: the show yet because of my injuries that I've had
Speaker 1: over the years. But I think I'm only getting better.
Speaker 1: And how about the converse where the Dolphins getting into
Speaker 1: Shaun Elliott so first and foremost a great man, I
Speaker 1: I to be able to say I do a great
Speaker 1: job in the locker room. Um, I love on the
Speaker 1: guys because like once I once, if I'm part of
Speaker 1: a family, I love hard. So I think that I'm
Speaker 1: a leader in some way in my opinion. I've been
Speaker 1: told actually guys can actually follow me. And then when
Speaker 1: it comes on the field, Shoot, I'm gonna be that
Speaker 1: dog they know every day you're gonna hear me. I'm
Speaker 1: gonna do my best. I can to be a physical,
Speaker 1: physical presidence a ball player and make and make hello
Speaker 1: plays in the defense. And I think down the line, boy,
Speaker 1: well it's something to get serious. Let's stay on the
Speaker 1: defensive side and pick it up here with Malik Reid,
Speaker 1: who was asked first about reuniting with Vic Fangio and
Speaker 1: Bradley Chubb on the defense. Here's Malik Reed. I mean,
Speaker 1: it's gonna be awesome to be to come into league,
Speaker 1: you know, in being in coach Fanjel system. I feel
Speaker 1: like it was huge for me personally as a player.
Speaker 1: I learned someone about the game a lot about you know,
Speaker 1: the outside linebacker position, whether that's uh, you know, sitting
Speaker 1: there on being on the edge, sitting the edge, or
Speaker 1: encourage as well. So I'm excited to get back to
Speaker 1: work with him. And you know, my my brother child, man,
Speaker 1: we had a lot of a lot of great times
Speaker 1: he was in Denver and uh, yeah, that's a guy
Speaker 1: that is really close to me, and I'm excited to
Speaker 1: be able to play with him again. And what is
Speaker 1: it about coach Fangil's defense that allows a player like
Speaker 1: Malik Reid to thrive from him? Oh? And man, uh,
Speaker 1: I just feel like he you know, that's been around
Speaker 1: a game so long. I've been around you know, so
Speaker 1: many great players. Uh. Like you said, he's a great
Speaker 1: defensive coordinator. Uh So, I think he helps get us
Speaker 1: in the right positions to be successful and he allows
Speaker 1: us to go out there and UH do what we do.
Speaker 1: I feel like in you know, make plays uh and
Speaker 1: UH be playmakers essentially, you know what I'm saying. You know,
Speaker 1: we out there or reason into you know, I have
Speaker 1: an impact on the game. And I feel like he
Speaker 1: I say, he does a great job with his scheme
Speaker 1: and you know how he coaches that position just you know,
Speaker 1: doing a good job of putting this in a right
Speaker 1: spot at the right times and so where we can go,
Speaker 1: you know, do what we do. Bas Let's go back
Speaker 1: to the offense and talk to tight end Eric Saubert,
Speaker 1: who talked about his previous relationship with Dolphins offensive coordinator
Speaker 1: Frank Smith. Yeah, for sure, I mean, great question. Um,
Speaker 1: Frank is awesome. I love working with him and in Oakland.
Speaker 1: I think he's a he's a big proponent or I
Speaker 1: guess component of my development um as a tight end
Speaker 1: as a person. Um. So, so getting to reunite with him,
Speaker 1: you know, we've kind of stayed in touch throughout the years.
Speaker 1: I'll get getting to reunite with him as exciting for me.
Speaker 1: I love working with him and I'm looking forward to that.
Speaker 1: Next how about watching all the tight ends in this
Speaker 1: system previously that I've had big years in terms of
Speaker 1: blocking and pass catching. Saubert said that in college he
Speaker 1: was known as a receiver. Now he's known as a
Speaker 1: blocking tight end. Just kind of depends on what you
Speaker 1: ask of him. Here he is talking about playing in
Speaker 1: this system and what he wants to do with his
Speaker 1: new role here in Miami. Yeah, for sure, I've been
Speaker 1: in this this system before. There's a lot of familiarity there. Um. Obviously,
Speaker 1: you see guys um, you know, like George Kittle on
Speaker 1: the Niners that can do it all, could do both right, um,
Speaker 1: and and how that works, how that mirrors with you,
Speaker 1: you know, like the play action, playing off the run,
Speaker 1: rpo UM. There's a there's a lot of opportunity in
Speaker 1: this offense for for the tight end. And like I said,
Speaker 1: you know, the roles we discuss, Um. My role, whatever
Speaker 1: they ask me to do is what I'm going to do.
Speaker 1: So whether they need me to, you know, go break
Speaker 1: off a guy on third down, I'll do that. Whether
Speaker 1: they need me to you know, you know, push the
Speaker 1: pile on I'm third and short, you know, I'm gonna
Speaker 1: do it. So that's what I'm here for. One more
Speaker 1: here finishing up with Dolphins punter Jake Bailey. Why did
Speaker 1: you choose the Dolphins, Jake, Well, the same thing kind
Speaker 1: of fits too. Danny Craftsman is a guy I've always
Speaker 1: admired from across the sideline, played against him many times,
Speaker 1: and just really nice dude. I also know Jason and
Speaker 1: Blayke really well, and they're really nice guys and excited
Speaker 1: to kind of just start up with them and see
Speaker 1: how it goes. All right, So I believe you can
Speaker 1: find these in their entirety up on our YouTube Channel'll
Speaker 1: get over there and check those out. Really fun day
Speaker 1: talking to eight new Miami Dolphins. And the meantime, it's
Speaker 1: going to be my time going on leave for the
Speaker 1: next couple of weeks, but I will have podcasts for
Speaker 1: you three times in each of the next two weeks.
Speaker 1: On Monday, we're going to do a roster review, kind
Speaker 1: of a reset after the free agency frenzy has calmed down,
Speaker 1: and get a look at where this team is headed,
Speaker 1: where they need in the draft, stuff like that, So
Speaker 1: do not miss that podcast. I have a podcast coming
Speaker 1: out with Seth and Oja talking about future or I
Speaker 1: should say current Dolphins Hall of Fame linebacker Zach Thomas
Speaker 1: will do that. A whole bunch more coming your way
Speaker 1: here on drivetime and the meantime, It's gonna be my
Speaker 1: time you all. Please be sure to subscribe to the
Speaker 1: podcast on Apple Podcasts. Leave us a rating, leave us
Speaker 1: a review. You can follow me on Twitter at winkld NFL,
Speaker 1: follow the team at Miami Dolphins. Check out the fish
Speaker 1: Tank podcast with my guy Seth and Juice, the team
Speaker 1: YouTube channel for Dolphins Today, those mediavailabilities, and much much more,
Speaker 1: and last but not least, Miami Dolphins dot Com until
Speaker 1: next time, fends up Caroline Cameron Daddy's Coming Hold