Speaker 1: To us buyers touch style by waddle stuck into the
Speaker 1: end zone of Miami Boy, tight froll, tight window. They
Speaker 1: had to get that touchdown on that play. They get it.
Speaker 1: What ends up? Dolphans And Welcome to the Drivetime Podcast,
Speaker 1: part of the Miami Dolphins podcast network, covering Door, Team Door,
Speaker 1: Miami Dolphins. How's it going everybody? I am your host
Speaker 1: of Travis Ringfield and on today's show, it is a
Speaker 1: free agency special. Cedric Wilson is the topic today. Will
Speaker 1: break down his game and get him on the podcast
Speaker 1: here to talk some football, his decision to join the
Speaker 1: Miami Dolphins, and a whole heck of a lot more
Speaker 1: from the Baptist Health Studios inside the Baptist Health Training Complex.
Speaker 1: This is the Drive Time Podcast. So Dolphins land a
Speaker 1: talented receiver in the free agency period here, adding some
Speaker 1: weapons to the Mike mcdi annual offense here. And I
Speaker 1: think with Cedric Wilson, the guy that I was a
Speaker 1: huge fan of his game back at Boise State and
Speaker 1: watching him just tear up the Mountain West back in
Speaker 1: those days for a couple of seasons. When he got
Speaker 1: on campus, he just produced immediately and he also earned
Speaker 1: some playing time this last season and a loaded Cowboys
Speaker 1: offense where they had options on top of options on
Speaker 1: top of options. But he'll be a twenty six year
Speaker 1: old receiver who had a career year last year, making
Speaker 1: the most of his opportunities, catching forty five passes for
Speaker 1: six hundred and two yards one and six touchdown passes.
Speaker 1: But as the efficiency that really jumps off the page.
Speaker 1: He finished ninth in the NFL in slot receiving yards.
Speaker 1: Five hundred and seventy four of those yards came from
Speaker 1: the slot. He played at a ten percent split from
Speaker 1: the slot last year for the Cowboys, and he also
Speaker 1: tied for fourth in touchdowns from the slot with all
Speaker 1: six of them. That's of courtesy of Pro Football Focus.
Speaker 1: He also caught seventy three point eight percent of the
Speaker 1: targets thrown in his direction, was ninth best in the
Speaker 1: National Football League among receivers, and he continued the trend
Speaker 1: of ranking nine with his nine point nine yards per
Speaker 1: target that was inside the top ten as well with
Speaker 1: some names like Deebo, Samuel Jamar, Chase, Cooper Cup and others.
Speaker 1: And though he caught six of thirteen possible contested catch opportunities,
Speaker 1: it's forty six point two percent. That's it's a very
Speaker 1: very good rate. His game is separation. His average distance
Speaker 1: created on a route or per route ram basis with
Speaker 1: the nearest defender being three point five yards away last season,
Speaker 1: that was tied for thirteen best among all receivers. You
Speaker 1: have some comparisons. Cooper Cup and Tyreek Hill both finished
Speaker 1: at three point six yards average separation per route run.
Speaker 1: Wilson is a sure handed receiver as well, just five
Speaker 1: career drops six point five percent drop rate, and that
Speaker 1: helped him achieve a pass a rating win targeted last
Speaker 1: season of one sixteen point two. The numbers keep getting better.
Speaker 1: You talk about the separation, it wasn't just because he
Speaker 1: was running quick greens where the off cornerback is five
Speaker 1: yards away and he picks up five yards of separation.
Speaker 1: They piled up primarily on two occasions for Cedric Wilson Jr.
Speaker 1: After the catch and running to the intermediate and deep
Speaker 1: portions of the field, he averaged six point two yards
Speaker 1: after the catch last year. That was tied for tenth
Speaker 1: among all NFL receivers. His plus one point two yards
Speaker 1: after the catch over expected go back to uh We
Speaker 1: talked about this in the Chase Edmonds podcast about the
Speaker 1: rushing production over expected same idea, how many yards are
Speaker 1: you expected based upon historical data to get after the catch?
Speaker 1: He Wilson was one point two yards over the expected,
Speaker 1: which was eighteenth best among his contemporaries, and the separation
Speaker 1: metrics help soda slipping four tackles on forty five catches,
Speaker 1: one every eleven point two catches he makes someone miss.
Speaker 1: He also finished fifth in the NFL among qualifying receivers
Speaker 1: with eight team point four yards per target on passes
Speaker 1: thrown twenty or more yards down the field. That's the
Speaker 1: deep ball right. Only Cooper Cup, Tyler Lockett, Deebo Samuel,
Speaker 1: and j Sean Jackson had better averages in the deep
Speaker 1: passing game. Those will numbers for Wilson seven catches on
Speaker 1: fourteen targets, so fifty down the field for two hundred
Speaker 1: and fifty eight yards and two touchdown passes. And he
Speaker 1: was even better in the intermediate. He caught twelve of
Speaker 1: his eight teen passes in that ten to nineteen yard
Speaker 1: air yard range I should say for a buck seventies
Speaker 1: six and three touchdowns. In fact, he had a plus
Speaker 1: eight team point six catch rate over expected. Again, these
Speaker 1: are next gen stats that take collective, comprehensive data and
Speaker 1: give you what's expected and how the player performs against
Speaker 1: the expected. He was plus eight teen point six on
Speaker 1: catch rate over expected on targets of ten plus yards.
Speaker 1: That was third best in the National Football League in
Speaker 1: that area. So the run after the catch and the
Speaker 1: nuance in the way he runs routes deep and that
Speaker 1: was what I saw on tape back in college and
Speaker 1: through the pro. This guy just knows how to get
Speaker 1: vertical on guys from the slot position from the outside.
Speaker 1: It's just a natural talent that he possesses and one
Speaker 1: that he works very hard on as well. And as
Speaker 1: Pro day and combine numbers work at workout numbers showed
Speaker 1: exactly what we saw on tape the last four years
Speaker 1: as a pro. He leaped thirty seven inches and one
Speaker 1: inches in the vertical and broad jumps, respectively. He plays
Speaker 1: a six eight nine three cone time to display that
Speaker 1: lower body explosion, quickness, change of direction skill set, and
Speaker 1: he pairs those traits with some real nuance and understanding
Speaker 1: for how to attack leverage and coverage to create that separation.
Speaker 1: Every route he runs looks the same. He can alter
Speaker 1: his speeds and explode out of breaks to put defensive
Speaker 1: backs in quite a bit of peril. And again primarily
Speaker 1: a slot receiver, he does have the ability to go
Speaker 1: outside thanks in part to his six ft two frame
Speaker 1: and playing at six ft two inside slot fades kind
Speaker 1: of those body up post up shots over the middle.
Speaker 1: It's a great trait to have for a slot receiver
Speaker 1: who's crafty, nifty, and nimble, all those great traits you
Speaker 1: have to have, but you add sized of that frame
Speaker 1: as well, and where he really stands out I think
Speaker 1: is the deep ball tracking on the tape. Like I
Speaker 1: keep talking about this, but it's sensational that in college
Speaker 1: of his one thirty nine catches, let me go ahead
Speaker 1: and do the math on that real quick of a
Speaker 1: hundred thirty nine catches go for twenty five plus yards.
Speaker 1: That's thirty six catches of over twenty five yards in
Speaker 1: a two year career with Boise State. He builds up
Speaker 1: speed and has that extra gear when the football is
Speaker 1: in the in the air. And we talked about the
Speaker 1: loaded Cowboys offense right last year Michael Gallup, who just
Speaker 1: got a nice extension there with the Cowboys. He missed
Speaker 1: eight games one, which gave Wilson a chance to play
Speaker 1: forty one point four snaps per game in those eight contests,
Speaker 1: and he came up big twenty one grabs, three and
Speaker 1: four touchdowns in those games. And his ability to step
Speaker 1: up for Dallas, including their loan playoff game with five
Speaker 1: catches for sixty two yards last season really caught the
Speaker 1: attention of this Cowboys teammates. Quote, the biggest reason why
Speaker 1: this team is good is because of the depth we
Speaker 1: have and said as an example of that, said receiver
Speaker 1: a Marii Cooper. Of course, now with the Cleveland Browns quote,
Speaker 1: somebody goes down said can just step in and get
Speaker 1: the job done and quote, and that helped him earn
Speaker 1: the respect of the Cowboys team, even the guy that
Speaker 1: he replaced in those games that Gallop miss Here's what
Speaker 1: Gallup said, quote watching him play his game and letting
Speaker 1: him get his shine. He deserves it. He worked so
Speaker 1: hard for it. So that was definitely a player that
Speaker 1: I enjoy watching. End quote, and an affinity from his
Speaker 1: teammates is not new for Wilson. Here's what an a
Speaker 1: f C team area scout told NFL dot COM's Lance
Speaker 1: zer Line in team when Wilson was in the pre
Speaker 1: draft process. Quote they like him inside his building. That's
Speaker 1: talking about Boise State. He's a worker and he doesn't
Speaker 1: take anything for granted because he had to work his
Speaker 1: way into this position. He self made. I go to
Speaker 1: bat for those guys because they never let you down
Speaker 1: due to football character and quote pretty high praise for
Speaker 1: the way this guy works. And going back to his
Speaker 1: college production, the only thing that matched that college career
Speaker 1: on the field was his work in the classroom. He
Speaker 1: was named to the Academic All Mountain West team back
Speaker 1: in twos sixteen, his first year on campus there in
Speaker 1: Boise and before earning All American honors in junior college,
Speaker 1: Wilson was the quarterback of a six A high school
Speaker 1: team that made to the Tennessee State semifinals during his
Speaker 1: senior season, where he was the QB, racking up big
Speaker 1: yardage there for his high school team. That information makes
Speaker 1: it no surprise that Wilson has completed all five of
Speaker 1: his professional passing attempts. He's five for five as a
Speaker 1: pro with a hundred and eleven passing yards, a touchdown
Speaker 1: pass and a perfect one fifty eight point three passer rating.
Speaker 1: As he shows you a little bit of jack of
Speaker 1: all trades in his skill sets. There. Let's go ahead
Speaker 1: and take our first break and come back. And here
Speaker 1: from Cedric Wilson Jr. On the Drivetime Podcast with Travis Wingfield,
Speaker 1: brought to you by Auto Nation. What's up Dolphins? Travis
Speaker 1: Winfield here, the host of the Drivetime podcast on the
Speaker 1: Miami Dolphins podcast network, and I'm freeled to be joined
Speaker 1: today by new Dolphins receiver Cedric Wilson Junior. Cedric, thanks
Speaker 1: for jumping in man, thanks for having me, and grateful
Speaker 1: to be here. So you know here, new to the building,
Speaker 1: new to the city, just got in today. I understand.
Speaker 1: How's it all feels? It all hitting you yet? I
Speaker 1: mean yeah, I mean I've been to Miami a couple
Speaker 1: of times, but I've never been in the Dolphin Dolphin
Speaker 1: side of things, and uh, definitely amazing first time seeing it. Uh,
Speaker 1: definitely a lot of wild spots here, so you'll see
Speaker 1: plenty more. You can kind of tour of the area.
Speaker 1: We had Carnor Williams in her earlier and he was
Speaker 1: talking about the building and I was like, you came
Speaker 1: from Frisco where it's pretty nice too, but not bad
Speaker 1: here either, right. Oh no, I mean it's like the
Speaker 1: same exact building. Both great, but no we get to
Speaker 1: see palm trees and got the hard rock. That's exactly
Speaker 1: what he said. So before before Dallas, you were up
Speaker 1: in Boise for a couple of years, and you know,
Speaker 1: I told you before you came on technically the Pacific Northwest?
Speaker 1: Do you guys call it that? I don't know. I
Speaker 1: don't really know what they call it. I went to
Speaker 1: play football from the south. Well, it is my stomping grounds.
Speaker 1: But I asked you, you know, coming from Memphis to Boise,
Speaker 1: how much of a culture shock was that for you?
Speaker 1: In college? Huge? I mean kind of definitely helped me,
Speaker 1: Like traveling around when my dad played in the league
Speaker 1: definitely helped me at just to it easier. But yeah,
Speaker 1: like I definitely remember calling my mom multiple times my
Speaker 1: first semester out there, like I don't know, I just
Speaker 1: gonna work out, but she told me to stick through it,
Speaker 1: and shoot, I mean look where I am today. It's right,
Speaker 1: that's exactly right. But you also have to stopping coffee
Speaker 1: villeas that, Like that was pretty easy. Me and my
Speaker 1: best friend we left and went up there together and
Speaker 1: I mean, we were always together in high school, so
Speaker 1: it was pretty much out the house by your by ourselves,
Speaker 1: all football all the time. It's right, that's you know.
Speaker 1: One thing I read about, kind of doing some background
Speaker 1: on before the interview here was I read a scouting
Speaker 1: report that talked about anonymous. A f C scout said
Speaker 1: that Cedric Wilson's a self made man and I'll always
Speaker 1: go to bat for ag like that because he's not
Speaker 1: gonna let you down with the character and the way
Speaker 1: he works. How does an assessment like that, how much
Speaker 1: pride do you take in that man? I definitely take
Speaker 1: pride in what, um, well, not really what others think about,
Speaker 1: but I think of myself pretty much. Um. I wouldn't
Speaker 1: necessarily say self made. I mean I got two great parents,
Speaker 1: I got a great family, kids and everything, so not
Speaker 1: really self made, but just every day going out there
Speaker 1: that I'm not only putting my name him on the line,
Speaker 1: I just got a whole family behind me as well.
Speaker 1: That makes total sense. Yeah, I guess maybe the wrong
Speaker 1: phrase for that. But in terms of the way you
Speaker 1: work is oh yeah, the way I work all yeah,
Speaker 1: my works off from me exactly, so you know, being
Speaker 1: a sixth round pick and you go to an offense
Speaker 1: that has you know, Ceedee Lamb, Mamori Cooper, Dalton Schultz,
Speaker 1: Michael Gallups, Ezekiel Elliott, Tony Pollard. You're one of many
Speaker 1: many weapons pieces there in the weaponry and yet you
Speaker 1: still find a way to get on the field and produce.
Speaker 1: And that's something your Cowboys teammates really praised you for.
Speaker 1: How did you learn that resilience and how did that
Speaker 1: kind of shape who you are as a player? In
Speaker 1: a person I would probably have to say just self talk.
Speaker 1: I'm a big believer in everyone is going to have
Speaker 1: their opportunity is what you do with it. So I
Speaker 1: mean I just grinded and every opportunity I was given,
Speaker 1: I took full advantage of it. Rather it worked out
Speaker 1: or it didn't work out. I just put my front
Speaker 1: full forward and big on preparation because a lot of
Speaker 1: people get in the jam because they don't prepare and
Speaker 1: then when their moment comes, they're not ready for it.
Speaker 1: That's exactly right. That's how we do The podcast is
Speaker 1: the key. So you're here with the Dolphins. Now, what
Speaker 1: was it that attracted you to coming down here to
Speaker 1: Miami to play for the Dolphins started off first was
Speaker 1: obviously coach with Welcome. I mean we we definitely talked
Speaker 1: along bit before I was drafted and didn't get to
Speaker 1: work with him in Houston. So then he got me
Speaker 1: out here and it was a no brainer. I mean
Speaker 1: he was he played here, so I'm really trying to
Speaker 1: do some great things here like he did. Did you
Speaker 1: grow up watching him here with Miami and New England
Speaker 1: after that? I didn't. I didn't definitily watch him. This
Speaker 1: is my dad's favorite team though, so he mean he
Speaker 1: probably had it on TV when I was younger, but
Speaker 1: now I was I was big into just being outside,
Speaker 1: never really much in which football or TV. Your dad
Speaker 1: was a Dolphins face? My dad's a Dolphins fame his
Speaker 1: favorite team. So awkwin Orange all over the house or
Speaker 1: how's that work? Oh No, We're not not that big.
Speaker 1: Just just support, just support. So so you mentioned, you know,
Speaker 1: having that relationship with Wes Welker, I mean, what else
Speaker 1: can you tell about tell us about him in terms
Speaker 1: of your guys relationship and and just kind of how
Speaker 1: that became a thing and what you've experienced here with
Speaker 1: him now so far in Miami. I mean it's actually,
Speaker 1: I feel like he's scratching the surface. I feel like
Speaker 1: we're both for I mean, obviously, looking at his career,
Speaker 1: he's he was a hard working guy that most people
Speaker 1: probably counted out, And I mean, I feel like that
Speaker 1: was the same way with me. And I feel like
Speaker 1: over the time that we're here, we're gonna definitely get
Speaker 1: closer and definitely get to pick each other's brain of
Speaker 1: what we want to know. One of the toughest guys
Speaker 1: to ever do it right, I mean, just an absolute warrior.
Speaker 1: And you know, watching your tape, have you ever gone
Speaker 1: out of bounce on a catch? I don't think I've
Speaker 1: seen it. I don't know everything. Every time I catched
Speaker 1: the ball. I'm trying to get an orange file. That's
Speaker 1: all that's visions. Well, and you also had some rushing
Speaker 1: yards back in your high school days as a former
Speaker 1: high school quarterback. How did playing quarterback in high school
Speaker 1: prepare you for a receiver in the National Football League?
Speaker 1: The ball was always in my hands, so everyone's looking
Speaker 1: at me, so now it's pretty easy. They don't know
Speaker 1: where I'm at until it's in my hands. So I'm
Speaker 1: not going to read these to you, but one of
Speaker 1: the most or the stats that I found on you,
Speaker 1: one of the most efficient deep receivers, according some advanced
Speaker 1: metrics you know across the boltiple websites that do that stuff.
Speaker 1: What is the key to being a good deep receiver?
Speaker 1: I think it was mean. I just I feel like
Speaker 1: I was just not really blessed with you. But I
Speaker 1: played baseball first, so just a natural ball skill came
Speaker 1: pretty easy. And I mean football is way bigger than
Speaker 1: the baseball, and I could to use both of my
Speaker 1: hands to catch it. So I feel like that's that's
Speaker 1: that background of baseball is pretty much where the track
Speaker 1: and of the deep ball came. And then speed, just run.
Speaker 1: That always told me, you run faster, get faster. It
Speaker 1: makes sense. I'm gonna guess center field. Uh no, I
Speaker 1: actually play shortstop. Was good. I had an arm, had
Speaker 1: an arm, so some some range going back onto the
Speaker 1: outfield and rest too there as well. So same story
Speaker 1: with your your yacht numbers. You're running after catch, what's
Speaker 1: the key to that? What's the key to running after
Speaker 1: the catch? Don't get tackled, that's simple. Yeah, I didn't
Speaker 1: feel good to get so yeah, I try to stay
Speaker 1: away from getting hit. Okay, So I want to go
Speaker 1: back to your father. You mentioned, you know, a Dolphins
Speaker 1: fan now, but playing the National Football League? What was
Speaker 1: that like as your experience as a kid, you know,
Speaker 1: being around someone that was in the league and kind
Speaker 1: of seeing how he did it. I mean here now
Speaker 1: looking back onto I mean, it felt pretty normal. It
Speaker 1: was just like Pop's going to work and he playing football,
Speaker 1: just like when he get off work, I'm going to practice.
Speaker 1: So we're both pretty much doing the same thing. Um.
Speaker 1: But now looking back on it, I definitely wish I
Speaker 1: would have understood what was going on. I'm gonna pay
Speaker 1: more attention to a few tips here. Yeah. But I'm
Speaker 1: sure he's helped you along the way, you know, once
Speaker 1: you got a little bit more into the football life, right,
Speaker 1: I mean he was probably a big in your corner.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, for sure. I mean that he wants me
Speaker 1: to play quarterback, chasing the dream and he had. Do
Speaker 1: you have do you have one memory of you know,
Speaker 1: going to a game or a practice the locker room
Speaker 1: with your dad? Do you remember more than anything else
Speaker 1: as far as his experience, because a player goes, yeah,
Speaker 1: let me see, Uh, probably my biggest memories probably think
Speaker 1: they were now I didn't really understand what they were
Speaker 1: doing then, but now I think it was the O
Speaker 1: T A phase and they were in the locker room
Speaker 1: clowning around. Um, and I think I was like in
Speaker 1: the back, like scrubbing the football is getting ready for practice.
Speaker 1: And then I don't think I did it right. And
Speaker 1: I mean they were joking, but they let me have
Speaker 1: you go. You got you got a piece of the
Speaker 1: NFL right away early in your life. So you're here
Speaker 1: in Miami. Now, is there one thing? And it could
Speaker 1: be football, It can be the culture down here. You
Speaker 1: mentioned kind of being here a little bit you visited before.
Speaker 1: The food is great down here. Dealer's choice. What is
Speaker 1: one thing that you're most excited about with your opportunity
Speaker 1: here with the Dolphins or in Miami in general? Um,
Speaker 1: I mean that's two different things. With the Dolphins win games. Um.
Speaker 1: As of being in Miami, I mean, stay at the
Speaker 1: beach and I'm trying to find the best wings in town.
Speaker 1: We're gonna have to ask someone out that they can
Speaker 1: find you some wings. I don't know my personal last round,
Speaker 1: but very good man. That's all I got for you.
Speaker 1: Cedric Wilson, appreciate your time to there he goes Cedric
Speaker 1: Wilson Jr. New Dolphins wide receiver. I'm telling you, guys,
Speaker 1: these interviews they're all very very good, fun energetic guys,
Speaker 1: fun to talk to, a lot of good football in
Speaker 1: there as well. It's go ahead and take our last
Speaker 1: break and come back and put a bow on this
Speaker 1: edition of the Drivetime Podcast, your host, Travis Wingfield, brought
Speaker 1: to you by Auto Nation. The Cedric Wilson episode of
Speaker 1: the Drive Time Podcast, Welcome to Miami said, we appreciate
Speaker 1: him coming on doing this with us. In the meantime,
Speaker 1: that is gonna be my time. You all. Please be
Speaker 1: sure to subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcast. Leave
Speaker 1: us a rating, leave us a review. You can follow
Speaker 1: me on Twitter at Wingfield NFL. Follow the Miami Dolphins
Speaker 1: across all social platforms. At Miami Dolphins, check out the
Speaker 1: Fish Tank Podcast with Seth and o J, my co
Speaker 1: host on the Twitter space, the show on the postgame show,
Speaker 1: our YouTube channel for media availabilities, Dolphins Today, and my
Speaker 1: interviews with these free agents, and of course Miami Dolphins
Speaker 1: dot com. Until next time finds up, Caroline, Daddy is
Speaker 1: coming home.