WEBVTT - Field Yates on Dolphins' Direction and Team Building 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:07.040 Practice, Patrick throwing h Parker touchtown. What a win for 0:00:07.080 --> 0:00:12.719 this Miami Dolphin team. Wow? What is up? Dolphins? And 0:00:12.800 --> 0:00:16.600 welcome to the Drivetime Podcast, part of the Miami Dolphins 0:00:16.600 --> 0:00:21.400 Official podcasts network covering your Miami Dolphins. I am your host, 0:00:21.440 --> 0:00:24.800 Travis Wingfield, and as always, I am here to bring 0:00:24.880 --> 0:00:28.240 you your daily dose of Miami Dolphins football. And on 0:00:28.320 --> 0:00:32.560 today's show, I'm joined by espn NFL insider Field Yates. 0:00:32.680 --> 0:00:36.040 We're gonna break down Miami's free agency from the talent added, 0:00:36.200 --> 0:00:39.520 the contract value, and how Brian Flora's and Chris Career 0:00:39.560 --> 0:00:42.480 are doing on the team building side of things. All 0:00:42.520 --> 0:00:46.199 of that and more on this Wednesday, March edition of 0:00:46.240 --> 0:00:52.600 the Drivetime Podcast Mimi Dolphins. Let's not waste any time 0:00:52.640 --> 0:00:54.360 off the top of the show here and get right 0:00:54.400 --> 0:00:58.280 to my interview with ESPN's Field Yates and joining the 0:00:58.360 --> 0:01:02.920 Drivetime Podcast now is espn NFL insider Field Yates. Field. 0:01:02.960 --> 0:01:06.399 Thanks for joining me today, man, I appreciate you, Travis, 0:01:06.400 --> 0:01:09.120 and I don't know if I'm the first welcome, but 0:01:09.160 --> 0:01:12.240 allow me to be amongst the initial wave of welcome 0:01:12.319 --> 0:01:14.960 with you and the new gig. Looking forward to following 0:01:14.959 --> 0:01:17.480 along as I'm sure you do great coverage covering the 0:01:17.480 --> 0:01:20.080 team this upcoming year. It's greatly appreciated. Field, And we 0:01:20.160 --> 0:01:22.399 talked a little bit off air about my Washington phone 0:01:22.480 --> 0:01:25.120 number not quite down to South Florida yet because I 0:01:25.319 --> 0:01:27.760 can't relocate right now because of all the stuff going on. 0:01:27.959 --> 0:01:29.920 So I wanted to ask you a similar question. How 0:01:29.920 --> 0:01:31.840 you're holding up right now? Man, Like this is a 0:01:31.880 --> 0:01:34.080 time of year where your job does not allow you 0:01:34.120 --> 0:01:37.640 to hunker down. How are you and yours doing? Yeah, well, 0:01:37.640 --> 0:01:40.000 I appreciate you saying that. Maybe the better person to 0:01:40.040 --> 0:01:42.840 ask me. My wife, we're sitting here in a small 0:01:43.560 --> 0:01:47.400 apartments uh probably built for more like one and a 0:01:47.480 --> 0:01:50.800 quarter people, enough people, enough room for us to uh 0:01:51.040 --> 0:01:55.240 share time, um normally after work. But you know, we're 0:01:55.480 --> 0:01:59.360 getting in utilization of every square inch of our podcast, 0:01:59.400 --> 0:02:01.720 of our of our apartment now this week, whether it's 0:02:01.720 --> 0:02:06.360 doing podcasts or her doing her work from her mobile 0:02:06.400 --> 0:02:08.760 set up, you name it. We're figuring out ways to 0:02:08.800 --> 0:02:11.080 get through. But obviously keep in mind all the people 0:02:11.320 --> 0:02:14.680 more adversely affected by what's taking place with this global 0:02:14.680 --> 0:02:17.400 pandemic right now, and discovering new areas of your home 0:02:17.480 --> 0:02:20.000 probably the way we all are right now being stuck inside, 0:02:20.160 --> 0:02:22.920 and it's obviously impact of the way you've conducted your business. 0:02:22.960 --> 0:02:25.840 But what about teams in the National Football League right now? 0:02:25.840 --> 0:02:28.320 With these restrictions and free agents not being able to 0:02:28.320 --> 0:02:30.919 come down and meet their new teammates. How are teams 0:02:30.919 --> 0:02:33.000 getting all this crucial work that has to be done 0:02:33.040 --> 0:02:37.600 this time of year without the normal amenities they normally have. Yeah, well, 0:02:37.639 --> 0:02:40.320 let's trace back to when the NFL made a decision 0:02:40.840 --> 0:02:44.560 to power through with free agency at the normal time. 0:02:45.240 --> 0:02:49.440 The NFL thinking was sort of two fold. One was 0:02:49.520 --> 0:02:53.080 that this is largely an event that takes place remotely 0:02:53.200 --> 0:02:55.720 as it is now, not that it's the same this year, 0:02:55.760 --> 0:02:57.799 but a lot of times as general managers and head 0:02:57.800 --> 0:03:02.840 coaches communicating from their own facilities to agents of perspective, 0:03:02.919 --> 0:03:06.200 free agents and sometimes the players as well. So that 0:03:06.320 --> 0:03:07.919 was part of it. And the second part of it 0:03:08.000 --> 0:03:11.360 was that you know this right at the time that 0:03:11.400 --> 0:03:14.360 the NFL made a decision, You know, we knew a 0:03:14.360 --> 0:03:17.720 little bit about how this pandemic was going to impact us. 0:03:17.760 --> 0:03:20.880 But who's to say that a week from now, which 0:03:20.960 --> 0:03:24.120 would actually still not be the Yes, just about a 0:03:24.120 --> 0:03:27.040 week in the two weeks in the free agency. Who 0:03:27.080 --> 0:03:29.480 knows where we will be. It could be that we're 0:03:29.520 --> 0:03:32.320 pushing our timeline back further and further and further, and 0:03:32.440 --> 0:03:35.560 we shall see. So I would just say that teams 0:03:36.040 --> 0:03:39.480 were largely prepared for free agency until about a week 0:03:39.560 --> 0:03:43.040 before free agency. It does impact their ability to conduct 0:03:43.240 --> 0:03:46.920 medical evaluations and certainly impacts the ability to have players 0:03:47.000 --> 0:03:49.920 in for visits, and we can get sort of specific 0:03:50.000 --> 0:03:52.600 on some of the players that I believe it has impacted. 0:03:52.760 --> 0:03:54.600 But for the most part, we've seen if you were 0:03:54.600 --> 0:03:57.920 to go to anybody's top one free agents list that 0:03:58.320 --> 0:04:00.600 you know, somewhere between eighty and eighty five of them 0:04:00.640 --> 0:04:03.200 have come off the board. So things have largely gone 0:04:03.200 --> 0:04:06.960 on as expected. And nobody was more active in free 0:04:06.960 --> 0:04:08.880 agency than the Miami Dolphins. And we'll get to that 0:04:08.960 --> 0:04:10.840 here in just a second field. But first I want 0:04:10.840 --> 0:04:13.160 to go back to your time with the Patriots organization 0:04:13.200 --> 0:04:16.000 because there was some overlap there with new Dolphins head 0:04:16.000 --> 0:04:18.800 coach Brian Flores. And from that, Lens, what can you 0:04:18.839 --> 0:04:23.120 tell us about Miami's second year head coach. Yeah, well, 0:04:23.160 --> 0:04:25.880 it's crazy, it's crazy to think this, but my first 0:04:26.080 --> 0:04:30.039 summer spending some time with the Patriots was actually right 0:04:30.080 --> 0:04:34.880 when Brian b Flow had gotten hired into the Patriots 0:04:34.880 --> 0:04:37.920 personnel departments. And I'm sure Dolphins fans are well aware 0:04:37.960 --> 0:04:41.240 of the fact that he hasn't just coached on defense, 0:04:41.279 --> 0:04:44.440 He's also coached on offense, has contributed on special teams, 0:04:44.480 --> 0:04:48.800 He's works on the scouting department. So really the beginning 0:04:49.040 --> 0:04:52.680 of checking off all the boxes that make him really 0:04:52.680 --> 0:04:57.640 well equipped to becoming an NFL head coach. And Brian 0:04:57.720 --> 0:05:02.080 had played obviously collegiately at Boston College and that happens 0:05:02.120 --> 0:05:04.440 to be the area where I am from, so I 0:05:04.440 --> 0:05:06.719 have a little bit of a background on him as 0:05:06.760 --> 0:05:10.000 a player. Um, And you know what immediately stands out 0:05:10.360 --> 0:05:15.520 about the Flow is, certainly he's determined. Certainly he is humble. UM. 0:05:15.560 --> 0:05:17.960 I think anytime you are new, and I was the 0:05:18.000 --> 0:05:21.080 same way myself. Somewhere you have, you know, a somewhat 0:05:21.120 --> 0:05:23.600 of a you know, you might have a more reserved 0:05:23.720 --> 0:05:26.360 quality about you. But it doesn't take long for someone 0:05:26.440 --> 0:05:29.600 to clearly understand that Flow was the kind of person 0:05:29.720 --> 0:05:33.840 that's not only did others gravitate towards, but you could 0:05:33.880 --> 0:05:36.920 see real leadership qualities in him. And there are a 0:05:36.960 --> 0:05:39.640 lot of different forms of leadership and some of that 0:05:39.760 --> 0:05:41.880 is how you work. And I think it was apparently 0:05:42.279 --> 0:05:45.120 it was apparent right away that, um, it was gonna 0:05:45.160 --> 0:05:47.120 be hard to outwork him, it was going to be 0:05:47.279 --> 0:05:51.120 hard to outstudy him and sort of see things in 0:05:51.160 --> 0:05:53.200 the way that he did because he had such a 0:05:53.279 --> 0:05:56.359 unique background of having played the game at a high level, 0:05:56.839 --> 0:05:59.240 uh and you know, nearly having an NFL career on 0:05:59.480 --> 0:06:02.279 his own and then coming into the scouting world and 0:06:02.360 --> 0:06:05.679 quickly becoming uh, you know, pretty adept in that regard 0:06:05.800 --> 0:06:09.719 before he eventually became an assistant coach on the Patriots staff, 0:06:09.760 --> 0:06:13.760 which led to his rather meteoric rise. And we've we've 0:06:13.800 --> 0:06:16.240 talked a lot about Brian Floores on this podcast, especially 0:06:16.279 --> 0:06:18.040 with all the new free agents and doing interviews with 0:06:18.080 --> 0:06:20.119 those guys. A lot of them to a man pointed 0:06:20.160 --> 0:06:22.080 to the fact that Brian Flores and what he did 0:06:22.160 --> 0:06:24.760 last year with his Dolphins team was a big selling 0:06:24.800 --> 0:06:28.080 point on them coming to Miami. But Chris Greer, though 0:06:28.120 --> 0:06:30.560 he himself, was always going to call this more of 0:06:30.600 --> 0:06:33.479 a collaborative effort and not accept the praise but rather 0:06:33.600 --> 0:06:36.159 deflect the praise to his staff that he has around 0:06:36.160 --> 0:06:38.040 them throughout the front office, but at the end of 0:06:38.080 --> 0:06:40.120 the day, he is the GM. So what do you 0:06:40.200 --> 0:06:43.680 field make of Greer's ability to acquire all this capital 0:06:43.839 --> 0:06:46.120 and then ultimately spend it as the Dolphins have so 0:06:46.160 --> 0:06:49.920 far through one week of free agency. Yeah, and I'll 0:06:49.920 --> 0:06:51.400 get to Chris Greer in a second, but just to 0:06:51.440 --> 0:06:54.479 close the circle on on Brian Flores, I just think 0:06:54.480 --> 0:06:57.760 he'd be hard pressed to find a person with higher 0:06:57.839 --> 0:07:01.400 character than him UH coach the NFL ranks right now, 0:07:01.520 --> 0:07:05.280 and having seen him somewhat recently, I think what's what's 0:07:05.320 --> 0:07:08.200 really neat and a parent is that the same person 0:07:08.279 --> 0:07:12.960 that was humble and hungry as an entry level UH 0:07:13.160 --> 0:07:15.840 member of the Patriot Scouting Department is the same person 0:07:15.840 --> 0:07:18.440 that you see now who's one of thirty two head 0:07:18.440 --> 0:07:22.880 coaches and quickly emerging is someone that people realize is 0:07:22.920 --> 0:07:25.200 going to be a star in this league, a family man, 0:07:26.000 --> 0:07:29.520 a true friend, and somebody that I think Dolphins fans 0:07:29.560 --> 0:07:33.160 already appreciate, but they'll even appreciate more and more going forward. 0:07:33.200 --> 0:07:35.000 So they're in great hands there. And I think I 0:07:35.080 --> 0:07:38.160 feel the same way about Chris career. And one thing 0:07:38.200 --> 0:07:41.160 that I and I don't have a personal relationship with 0:07:41.280 --> 0:07:43.200 Chris in the way that I did spend time with 0:07:44.040 --> 0:07:47.320 Brian Flores. But I think what's the parents is that 0:07:47.880 --> 0:07:51.440 in the NFL, and it's not always obvious, but I 0:07:51.480 --> 0:07:53.360 would say that one of the roles that I have 0:07:53.520 --> 0:07:56.080 in my job is to try to do my best 0:07:56.160 --> 0:08:00.200 job of assessing plans and what teams intend to do 0:08:00.760 --> 0:08:02.880 now now that they owe it to us to explain 0:08:02.960 --> 0:08:07.360 every single decision. But it became clear quickly last year 0:08:07.600 --> 0:08:10.640 what the Dolphins plan was going to be, and it 0:08:10.720 --> 0:08:12.760 was going to be about program fits. It was going 0:08:12.800 --> 0:08:15.840 to be about collecting future capital. It was going to 0:08:15.920 --> 0:08:20.360 be about taking a bunch of swings on either low 0:08:20.440 --> 0:08:24.080 cost or low risk players last year and hoping that 0:08:24.120 --> 0:08:27.760 some of those players could become foundation pieces for the 0:08:27.840 --> 0:08:31.720 roster going forward. And I think Chris Career was really 0:08:31.760 --> 0:08:35.200 shrewd and smart last year in acquiring a ton of 0:08:35.200 --> 0:08:38.800 players not just through the waiver system, but also players 0:08:39.120 --> 0:08:42.200 through practice squads of other teams, and you know, practice 0:08:42.240 --> 0:08:45.200 squad players although they are not on the active roster, 0:08:45.280 --> 0:08:47.560 and a lot of cases they're guys that just get 0:08:47.559 --> 0:08:50.520 buried for one reason or another, whether it's a logjam 0:08:50.600 --> 0:08:53.680 at the position, whether it's just a simple numbers game, 0:08:53.720 --> 0:08:55.959 whether it's an injury and training camp that sets them 0:08:55.960 --> 0:08:57.760 back a little bit. There are a lot of reasons, 0:08:57.760 --> 0:09:00.240 and I thought it was really impressive to see a 0:09:00.280 --> 0:09:04.360 bunch of players that were acquired that either made meaningful 0:09:04.440 --> 0:09:08.440 contributions last year or you can tell will eventually make 0:09:08.559 --> 0:09:12.720 meaningful contributions for the Dolphins, and now to spend things 0:09:12.760 --> 0:09:15.920 forward to free agencies that you know, this is sort 0:09:15.920 --> 0:09:19.000 of wave two. If last year was waved one, wave 0:09:19.080 --> 0:09:22.040 two is all right, we've cleared the decks, We've basically 0:09:22.040 --> 0:09:25.880 read ourselves of every onerous contract on the books. We 0:09:26.040 --> 0:09:29.000 enter free agency with as much cap space as we 0:09:29.040 --> 0:09:33.920 could need, some clear and obvious um positions of need, 0:09:34.320 --> 0:09:35.840 and then you just sort of look at how they 0:09:35.840 --> 0:09:39.920 attacked those. You know, they certainly spent big on Byron Jones, 0:09:39.960 --> 0:09:42.680 who's a player who fits I mean really every roster, 0:09:42.840 --> 0:09:46.360 but certainly fits their roster um and and need in 0:09:46.400 --> 0:09:50.360 a major, major way. Um. But besides that, all the deals, now, 0:09:50.400 --> 0:09:52.559 certainly there were a lot of money spent, but three 0:09:52.640 --> 0:09:54.680 to four years in length for a lot of them. 0:09:54.840 --> 0:09:57.320 And I thought that there was a common thread of 0:09:57.440 --> 0:10:01.240 players with excellent leadership production. I thought character was an 0:10:01.280 --> 0:10:05.480 obvious priority for the Dolphins, and guys that you know, um, 0:10:05.600 --> 0:10:09.040 I think they still have prime football years ahead of them. 0:10:09.080 --> 0:10:11.640 I think a lot of these guys are ascending young player. 0:10:11.760 --> 0:10:14.200 Shack Lawson could be a guy it could become an 0:10:14.200 --> 0:10:18.079 even better player. Eric Flowers had a renaissance season last year. 0:10:18.200 --> 0:10:20.760 Kyle van Noy will know the defense as well as 0:10:20.800 --> 0:10:23.640 anybody right away. So a lot of players that I 0:10:23.679 --> 0:10:27.599 think are borderline seamless fits for the Dolphins, which is 0:10:27.640 --> 0:10:31.600 important during what figures to be a I mean, it 0:10:31.600 --> 0:10:34.640 already is an unprecedented off season calendar. We've got filled 0:10:34.679 --> 0:10:38.079 Yates here of ESPN on the Drivetime Podcast with Travis Wingfield, 0:10:38.080 --> 0:10:41.360 part of the Miami Dolphins official podcast network, and Field 0:10:41.480 --> 0:10:44.920 we talk about the free agency lore the Dolphins have 0:10:45.040 --> 0:10:47.640 here with Brian Flores and the success they had last season, 0:10:47.880 --> 0:10:50.960 and certainly Chris Greer was able to kind of create 0:10:51.000 --> 0:10:53.560 the space to make that happen in free agency, and 0:10:53.600 --> 0:10:55.720 then in Florence was the one that attracted the players. 0:10:55.880 --> 0:10:58.320 But then Greer is the one that helped acquire this 0:10:58.400 --> 0:11:01.400 draft capital. You talk about market opportunities, you know, getting 0:11:01.440 --> 0:11:03.400 two first round picks in the Tunzel trade and a 0:11:03.480 --> 0:11:05.920 second round draft pick. I mean, that's what quarterbacks go 0:11:06.000 --> 0:11:07.760 for on the league most of the time. You get 0:11:07.760 --> 0:11:10.360 a pick from the Pittsburgh Steelers from Innca fitzpatrick. At 0:11:10.400 --> 0:11:13.559 the time, they were oh and three without their starting quarterback, 0:11:13.640 --> 0:11:15.080 so that looked like maybe it could have been a 0:11:15.120 --> 0:11:17.200 top ten pick. So you have to give him credit 0:11:17.240 --> 0:11:21.000 for the idea of taking advantage of market opportunities. And 0:11:21.040 --> 0:11:23.040 that's kind of the approach of the Dolphins off season. 0:11:23.240 --> 0:11:25.160 But I want to get kind of a holistic view 0:11:25.440 --> 0:11:28.400 of this team right now because you mentioned the contract structures. 0:11:28.520 --> 0:11:31.920 The Byron Jones is the primary big deal the Dolphins have, 0:11:32.200 --> 0:11:34.520 but we also have all these players that are twenty 0:11:34.600 --> 0:11:37.240 nine and younger. Eight of the ten signings that Dolphins 0:11:37.240 --> 0:11:40.760 made this offseason, we're twenty seven years and younger. So 0:11:40.800 --> 0:11:42.800 what do you say about the idea that these second 0:11:42.840 --> 0:11:46.400 year of the second contracts rather for players where sometimes 0:11:46.440 --> 0:11:48.240 maybe free agency can be can be a bit of 0:11:48.240 --> 0:11:50.120 a fool's gold. What do you make of the Dolphins 0:11:50.200 --> 0:11:53.280 approach and being so aggressive and attacking that young nucleus 0:11:53.280 --> 0:11:58.040 in free agency? Yeah, I mean certainly, um, you know 0:11:58.480 --> 0:12:01.200 let's be honest, their school's goals. Free agency every year 0:12:01.320 --> 0:12:03.320 and sometimes for every team. So I don't want to 0:12:03.360 --> 0:12:07.080 say that every move that I like this offseason is 0:12:07.080 --> 0:12:10.679 going to wind out wind up working exactly as it 0:12:10.840 --> 0:12:14.160 was intended to at least or how I thought it would. 0:12:14.280 --> 0:12:17.880 But I would just say that I'm a very much 0:12:18.240 --> 0:12:23.439 process driven person um in our evaluation and to your points, 0:12:23.600 --> 0:12:26.920 all of these contracts are guys that you know. There's 0:12:26.920 --> 0:12:29.559 a golden rule of scouting that applies to free agency 0:12:29.600 --> 0:12:36.679 as well is you cannot pay players for prior performance. 0:12:37.200 --> 0:12:42.040 You have to pay them for future production. UM. And yes, 0:12:42.120 --> 0:12:46.280 prior performance helps us establish a market for these players, 0:12:46.280 --> 0:12:50.080 but this can't be, you know, basically a reward system. 0:12:50.120 --> 0:12:52.640 It can't be a ribbon that these players where Hey, 0:12:52.640 --> 0:12:55.360 four years and a reported fifty one million dollars for 0:12:55.440 --> 0:12:58.080 Kyle van no no It's all right going forward. Do 0:12:58.120 --> 0:12:59.920 you believe that Kyle van Noi is gonna be a 0:13:00.040 --> 0:13:02.280 guy in the course of a game. It's going to 0:13:02.360 --> 0:13:05.280 be able to rush the pastor set the edges are run, 0:13:05.320 --> 0:13:09.600 defender dropped in coverage, be a stand up linebacker. He's 0:13:09.600 --> 0:13:11.640 gonna be able to communicate, he could be a captain 0:13:11.679 --> 0:13:13.959 of your team. He could play on special teams if 0:13:14.000 --> 0:13:15.959 you need him to. Is he gonna be good with 0:13:16.080 --> 0:13:18.040 the ball in his hands at the other scoops and 0:13:18.480 --> 0:13:20.720 scoops up a fumble, picks off the past. All of 0:13:20.720 --> 0:13:24.560 those things are clear and apparent. So um, I think 0:13:24.559 --> 0:13:29.120 the Dolphins were wise in the investment strategy and guys 0:13:29.200 --> 0:13:32.559 that I think they will age well, and the contracts 0:13:32.640 --> 0:13:35.200 accordingly will age well, especially as we know that the 0:13:35.600 --> 0:13:37.360 you know, the the CALP is going to go up 0:13:37.480 --> 0:13:40.320 year over year. And when you look across the league field, 0:13:40.360 --> 0:13:43.000 you can kind of notice that certain teams put a 0:13:43.080 --> 0:13:45.240 certain amount of resources. Like I've always heard from the 0:13:45.280 --> 0:13:47.280 Move the Sticks podcast, for instance, a team is going 0:13:47.320 --> 0:13:49.920 to tell you what's important to them based upon where 0:13:49.920 --> 0:13:52.920 they allocate their resources. And the Dolphins now have the 0:13:53.040 --> 0:13:56.320 richest defensive back room in the entire National Football League. 0:13:56.360 --> 0:13:57.920 And you look at like the Chiefs, for instance, the 0:13:57.960 --> 0:14:00.800 highest paid wide receiver corps there to supplement their m 0:14:00.880 --> 0:14:03.319 v P quarterback. We saw the Raiders last year make 0:14:03.360 --> 0:14:05.480 big improvements on the offensive side of the ball and 0:14:05.520 --> 0:14:08.800 the running game and past protection by solidifying the offensive 0:14:08.840 --> 0:14:11.480 line with the highest paid line in football, and you 0:14:11.520 --> 0:14:13.600 mentioned Byron Jones. I want to kind of circle back 0:14:13.600 --> 0:14:16.200 to that. The highest paid defensive back room in football, 0:14:16.400 --> 0:14:19.560 Byron Jones xaviing Howard eric Road got a contract extension 0:14:19.640 --> 0:14:21.800 last year. What do you make of the Dolphins practice 0:14:21.840 --> 0:14:24.280 there and the fact that they play more man coverage 0:14:24.360 --> 0:14:26.600 than just about any team in the league fourth last 0:14:26.640 --> 0:14:30.480 year in the NFL. Yeah, so certainly you gotta have 0:14:31.040 --> 0:14:33.880 cover cornerbacks that you can trever, you can charge trust 0:14:33.960 --> 0:14:37.160 excuse me, in the man demand coverage. And Byron Jones 0:14:37.240 --> 0:14:39.680 was one of the most sought after players in free agency. 0:14:39.720 --> 0:14:42.360 Doesn't surprise me that he got the money that he got. 0:14:42.440 --> 0:14:44.720 So let's just establish a couple of things from Byron 0:14:44.800 --> 0:14:46.840 Jones and I think are important for fans that may 0:14:46.840 --> 0:14:49.440 not be as familiar with his career. He's got two 0:14:49.480 --> 0:14:54.520 interceptions in five seasons, and you know matter, I get it. 0:14:54.680 --> 0:14:57.280 It's not Yes, there are other players that have had 0:14:57.280 --> 0:15:00.800 plenty more UH interceptions, but started out contexts are not 0:15:00.920 --> 0:15:04.800 useful stats whatsoever. If you go back and look at 0:15:04.840 --> 0:15:09.000 some seasons, there were seasons where Darrell Rivas, who for 0:15:09.120 --> 0:15:11.840 my money, was as dominant a player as you've probably 0:15:11.880 --> 0:15:14.000 seen in a lot of years. There was a season 0:15:14.040 --> 0:15:17.040 where he went without his single interception. I mean he 0:15:17.160 --> 0:15:20.200 was a single interception in a Pro Bowl level years. 0:15:20.240 --> 0:15:22.600 So you gotta look at whether teams are daring to 0:15:22.800 --> 0:15:26.040 test a player at the cornerback spot. So I think 0:15:26.080 --> 0:15:28.240 the Byron Jones checks a lot of the right boxes 0:15:28.280 --> 0:15:31.040 for man to man coverage ability, a guy that's certainly 0:15:31.520 --> 0:15:35.360 um is um you know again, high character, a player 0:15:35.400 --> 0:15:38.560 that's incredibly athletic. We all remember his combined performance for 0:15:39.200 --> 0:15:42.560 how to yukon uh five or so years ago. He 0:15:42.640 --> 0:15:44.800 was terrific at the time and it may still stand 0:15:44.880 --> 0:15:47.360 the he said the prod the broad jump records. So 0:15:48.000 --> 0:15:49.600 the Dolphins have invested a lot of money in the 0:15:49.680 --> 0:15:52.120 cornerback spots. And you know, the best way to help 0:15:52.120 --> 0:15:54.520 your pass rushes to have a great secondary. The best 0:15:54.520 --> 0:15:57.040 way to help your secondary is to have a great 0:15:57.040 --> 0:15:59.920 pass rush. So I think the Dolphins have sort of 0:16:00.040 --> 0:16:03.200 worked in tandem this offseason. If your best pass rushers 0:16:03.240 --> 0:16:07.000 now look more like potentially Kyle van Noy and also 0:16:07.760 --> 0:16:11.160 Shack Lawson with Byron Jones and Xavian Howard in the 0:16:11.200 --> 0:16:13.400 back end, I think that both units have a chance 0:16:13.480 --> 0:16:15.640 to be improved relative to where they were last season. 0:16:15.880 --> 0:16:18.560 And how do you kind of how do you compartmentalize 0:16:18.560 --> 0:16:20.760 what the Dolphins did in that front seven in terms 0:16:20.920 --> 0:16:23.000 of the players they got in the scheme fits they 0:16:23.000 --> 0:16:25.640 have for those players, because we look at Shack Laws 0:16:25.640 --> 0:16:28.640 and Emmanuel ogg Ball seven of the Dolphins ten offseason 0:16:28.640 --> 0:16:32.080 acquisitions so far, we're in the trenches up front, and 0:16:32.160 --> 0:16:34.720 of those seven, five on the defensive side of the football. 0:16:34.880 --> 0:16:37.040 But I want to get your opinion because Brian Flora 0:16:37.120 --> 0:16:40.000 is what he calls his positionless defense. Like we had 0:16:40.200 --> 0:16:42.760 Patrick Graham here last year mentioned that he stopped using 0:16:43.080 --> 0:16:45.800 uh position distinctions when he drew up plays in the 0:16:45.800 --> 0:16:48.040 white board and just went with X and ohs because 0:16:48.040 --> 0:16:51.360 guys don't have nailed down positions. So with that in mind, 0:16:51.560 --> 0:16:53.520 and how they want to create this pass rush through 0:16:53.560 --> 0:16:55.920 you know, the radar look or various looks up front 0:16:55.960 --> 0:16:58.920 with even fronts and odd fronts, multiple looks, how do 0:16:59.160 --> 0:17:01.760 Van Noy and loss in an odd and these guys 0:17:01.800 --> 0:17:05.760 fit into a defensive scheme that Brian Flores wants to run. Yeah, 0:17:05.920 --> 0:17:08.040 certainly in a lot of ways. I think what you 0:17:08.040 --> 0:17:10.560 said is pretty much right on the money, because if 0:17:10.560 --> 0:17:13.800 you look at the way that the NFL changes year 0:17:13.840 --> 0:17:17.119 over year, I mean, this past season, during the regular season, 0:17:17.160 --> 0:17:20.480 the most unstoppable offense was led by a quarterback in 0:17:20.560 --> 0:17:23.480 Lamar Jackson became the first ever to throw for a 0:17:23.600 --> 0:17:27.359 thousand yards and also, excuse me, throw for three thousand 0:17:27.480 --> 0:17:31.760 yards and run for one thousand plus yards, uh in 0:17:31.800 --> 0:17:35.360 the same season. And if you've got guys who are 0:17:35.520 --> 0:17:39.320 two down linebackers and um, you know, guys that are 0:17:39.359 --> 0:17:42.200 more along as you know, players that are more thumpers, 0:17:42.400 --> 0:17:44.080 you know, it's it's gonna be hard to keep up 0:17:44.119 --> 0:17:47.040 with these leite electric athletes. You need guys that can 0:17:47.119 --> 0:17:49.200 kind of be a little bit of everything. So I 0:17:49.200 --> 0:17:51.800 think it's a smart way of distinguishing things is that 0:17:52.200 --> 0:17:54.960 you know, ultimately, secondary players are gonna have to coverage, 0:17:55.000 --> 0:17:56.800 are gonna have to cover excuse me, They're also gonna 0:17:56.800 --> 0:17:59.239 have to be willing tacklers are gonna have to be uh, 0:17:59.320 --> 0:18:02.800 you know, able and and and and smart enough to 0:18:02.960 --> 0:18:07.760 make coverage adjustments, whether it's switching, whether it's concepts high low, 0:18:08.160 --> 0:18:11.800 inside outside, there's a lot of intelligence required. So um, 0:18:11.840 --> 0:18:13.600 I think it's fair. I mean, listen, I don't think 0:18:13.600 --> 0:18:15.439 you can totally do do away with position in the 0:18:15.480 --> 0:18:17.320 sense that you know, it's not like Byron Jones is 0:18:17.320 --> 0:18:19.800 gonna bean a three points stand much next year. Never. 0:18:20.240 --> 0:18:23.440 But uh, certainly it's important that you have versatile players 0:18:23.600 --> 0:18:26.600 that kind of get um that you know, we're regardless 0:18:26.680 --> 0:18:30.520 of what their position is on the roster, the official 0:18:30.520 --> 0:18:33.159 team website roster. If they can't be counted on to 0:18:33.240 --> 0:18:35.480 do a little bit of everything a weekend and week out, 0:18:35.600 --> 0:18:38.919 it's kind of not really what the coaches staff can 0:18:38.960 --> 0:18:41.320 count on weekend and week out, or can can count 0:18:41.359 --> 0:18:44.080 on on a play by play basis. Phil Yates here 0:18:44.080 --> 0:18:46.879 on the Drivetime podcast from ESPN. He also co hosts 0:18:46.880 --> 0:18:49.520 the Fantasy Focus Football podcast. You guys can find that 0:18:49.560 --> 0:18:51.920 where we get your podcast from and on that vein 0:18:52.000 --> 0:18:54.440 talking about fantasy football, I would be remiss if we 0:18:54.480 --> 0:18:56.840 didn't talk about some running back action here because the 0:18:56.840 --> 0:19:00.679 Dolphins also acquired former Eagles and Bears running back Orton Howard, 0:19:00.800 --> 0:19:03.000 and I watched this guy run field behind a zone 0:19:03.000 --> 0:19:06.119 blocking scheme for the most part, and that symbiotic relationship 0:19:06.160 --> 0:19:08.679 that he has with his offensive line and the smarts 0:19:08.720 --> 0:19:11.159 and the intelligence to know when to ben bang or 0:19:11.160 --> 0:19:13.439 bounce it. I'm curious to get your thought for his 0:19:13.560 --> 0:19:15.840 fit and what Chan Gaily what might want to do 0:19:15.880 --> 0:19:20.159 on offense this year for the Dolphins. Yeah, you know, 0:19:20.240 --> 0:19:22.480 I would just say that it's hard to actually just 0:19:22.520 --> 0:19:24.639 spend some time with Chan in Kansas City. It was 0:19:24.680 --> 0:19:27.440 a very brief time um together. But you know, got 0:19:27.440 --> 0:19:31.479 the no Chan and such a nice, thoughtful person. Didn't 0:19:31.720 --> 0:19:33.159 have any time with him. He was he was just 0:19:33.200 --> 0:19:35.159 there during the off season when I was there. But 0:19:35.600 --> 0:19:38.240 a guy that certainly has accomplished a lot in this league, 0:19:38.240 --> 0:19:40.960 been around for a long time, both as a head 0:19:40.960 --> 0:19:44.480 coach and a coordinator as well. So I'll speak more 0:19:44.560 --> 0:19:47.040 to what I think Jordan's value is as opposed to 0:19:47.920 --> 0:19:51.960 how I know specifically will all come together with this scheme. 0:19:52.000 --> 0:19:53.880 I mean, there's still a lot of moving parts here 0:19:54.160 --> 0:19:56.960 is you know, last year, as I'm sure as well 0:19:56.960 --> 0:20:00.040 documented or well known by your listeners, you know, to 0:20:00.119 --> 0:20:02.679 see led the team in rushing and that's rare for 0:20:02.720 --> 0:20:05.199 a quarterback to lead a team in rushing, and that 0:20:05.240 --> 0:20:07.800 was the case, and it was only two forty three yards. 0:20:07.840 --> 0:20:10.480 You bring in somebody like Jordan Howard and not that 0:20:10.520 --> 0:20:13.520 the team can't keep adding more players. I figure they 0:20:13.560 --> 0:20:17.000 will um at the running back spot, but certainly feels 0:20:17.000 --> 0:20:19.960 like Jordan Howard is in a prime spot to make 0:20:20.040 --> 0:20:24.040 a huge leap this year for the Dolphins, just because 0:20:24.200 --> 0:20:26.440 of the workshare, right, I mean, as of right now, 0:20:26.600 --> 0:20:29.119 he looks like he's in line for close to twenty 0:20:29.240 --> 0:20:32.199