Speaker 1: To on the move, Glan Deep Speedwys Peace do Hell
Speaker 1: from the Baptist Health Studios inside the Baptist Health Training Complex.
Speaker 1: This is Drivetime with Travis Wingfield. He's got my advands
Speaker 1: in the playoffs. What is up Dolphins? And welcome to
Speaker 1: the Draft Time Podcast. I am your host, Travis Wingfield.
Speaker 1: And on today's showed, the preview series continues on into
Speaker 1: the NFC North, a very fascinating group of teams. Here
Speaker 1: we'll go through the Lions, Packers, Bears, and Vikings, run
Speaker 1: it all through the Dolphins lens and chat with one
Speaker 1: of the I think most under the radar signings the
Speaker 1: Dolphins made this offseason, in linebacker Cam Brown. From the
Speaker 1: Baptist Health Studios inside the Baptist Health Training Complex.
Speaker 2: This is.
Speaker 1: The Drive Time Podcast. Dash off the top. As you
Speaker 1: can tell, I think maybe some great news. I feel
Speaker 1: so much better, And I waited until Monday morning to
Speaker 1: record this podcast because Saturday wasn't a lot better, Sunday
Speaker 1: wasn't a lot better. But finally on Monday, starting to
Speaker 1: feel a little bit better. And as the entire office
Speaker 1: took the week off, I'm back working because I was
Speaker 1: so sick last week that I fell behind my schedule.
Speaker 1: So with that, we jump into a division that I
Speaker 1: think features some teams that we can learn from, and
Speaker 1: we'll go ahead and try to do that right now
Speaker 1: with the team that I think every Dolphins fan kind
Speaker 1: of wants to follow the same timeline in terms of
Speaker 1: the Dan Campbell build and where he got in year
Speaker 1: three compared to where Mike McDaniel wants to get the
Speaker 1: Miami Dolphins in year three. The Detroit Lions, and they
Speaker 1: finished last year twelve and five. They won their division.
Speaker 1: They lost in the conference championship after opening a twenty
Speaker 1: point lead in the first half of that game. Just brutal.
Speaker 1: Get at me on Twitter. Tell me if the Dolphins
Speaker 1: did that this year, if they made the AFC Championship
Speaker 1: game and had a three score lead and ended up
Speaker 1: losing the game, how do you react to that as
Speaker 1: a Dolphins fan. I don't think I can handle it.
Speaker 1: I think the teams that haven't been there, the fan
Speaker 1: bases that haven't been there, I don't think we can
Speaker 1: handle that. I guess Lions fans probably couldn't handle that.
Speaker 1: Maybe they didn't, maybe they maybe they don't exist anymore anyway.
Speaker 1: And just like that it is a different tune with
Speaker 1: the Detroit Lions, is it not. I mean, I think
Speaker 1: one of the more commendable builds in modern NFL history,
Speaker 1: because in modern history teams don't stay as patient for
Speaker 1: as long as that team did. They developed an identity,
Speaker 1: they kept grinding away at it. They built their team
Speaker 1: inside out, which was a little bit scoffed at, especially
Speaker 1: last year in the draft they took on a quarterback
Speaker 1: that was completely given up on. I have never liked
Speaker 1: Jared goss game, even when he was balling with the Rams.
Speaker 1: I still thought there was deficiencies to his game. But
Speaker 1: he has really taken the next step as a quarterback
Speaker 1: and playing the position of quarterback there and rehabilitated his
Speaker 1: career and turned him into one of the top twelve
Speaker 1: quarterbacks in the National Football League, which I kind of
Speaker 1: think in and of itself is instructive in a league
Speaker 1: that is lacking patience in so many ways, in so
Speaker 1: many ways at so many key spots right and for
Speaker 1: this team, they had key elements of the rebuild all
Speaker 1: over last year's success. Pine Seuwel was kind of the
Speaker 1: guy that jumped started the whole thing when they took
Speaker 1: him very high in the twenty twenty one draft. He
Speaker 1: anchors one of the best offensive lines in the game. Actually,
Speaker 1: it is the best offensive line in the game. They
Speaker 1: added weapons all over in the draft with Jamir Gibbs,
Speaker 1: which again was laughed at, but I thought it was
Speaker 1: I loved Jamiir to me. Last year there was two
Speaker 1: backs that were different than everybody else named Jamiir Gibbs
Speaker 1: and von A chien cofigure I'm and Ross Saint Brown clearly,
Speaker 1: also with Jamison Williams Sam Laporta, and then that defense
Speaker 1: made big strides too, though as we'll see in the concerns,
Speaker 1: it's not done just yet. And you might call the
Speaker 1: Dolphins last time they played the lines, it was up
Speaker 1: and down the field for two a Tyreek Waddell and
Speaker 1: the A couple of losses to a then five hundred
Speaker 1: Packers team and a bad Bears team after an eight
Speaker 1: and two start, had some of those same old Lions
Speaker 1: conversations percolating. But then they win three of the last four.
Speaker 1: They win two playoff games, they which, by the way,
Speaker 1: real quick. Sometimes winning playoff games is as favorable as
Speaker 1: your draw, right, And granted, you know, good for the
Speaker 1: Lions they won their division, and that Rams team was
Speaker 1: no easy out, even though I picked against them all year.
Speaker 1: That was a good Rams football team they beat. But
Speaker 1: then they get the Bucks in the divisional round. Can
Speaker 1: we have that? Can we get the Steelers at home
Speaker 1: in the divisional round this year? That would be a
Speaker 1: guaranteed trip to the conference championship game. They build that
Speaker 1: huge lead in their conference championship game, and now they
Speaker 1: have the challenging task of finding out how to surpass
Speaker 1: those final thirty minutes of football to get into the
Speaker 1: biggest game in all of sports and then try to
Speaker 1: win a sixty minute contest against the other best team
Speaker 1: in the NFL. And frankly, I thought their offseason was
Speaker 1: fantastic and they're gonna have to try to find, you know,
Speaker 1: find out how to become to take that next step,
Speaker 1: really because there's so many steps along the way. But
Speaker 1: I feel like when you get to that level of accomplishment,
Speaker 1: you win your division, you win some playoff games, you
Speaker 1: get that close in a big game against a great
Speaker 1: team the Niners, I don't feel like you have to
Speaker 1: kind of like recreate some magic. Maybe that's just who
Speaker 1: you are at that point. The players, they brought in.
Speaker 1: I mean, this is a fantastic offseason. DJ Reider is
Speaker 1: one of the best run stuffing and just space eating
Speaker 1: nose tackles and has some pass rush in his game
Speaker 1: in the NFL. On the outside, they go out and
Speaker 1: get Marcus Davenport, who I think is kind of a
Speaker 1: nice third, you know, a third pitch in your bag
Speaker 1: to Aiden Hutchinson along with John Kaminski and even Josh
Speaker 1: Pascal had some nice reps last year. Carlton Davis and
Speaker 1: a Meek Robertson is a good, you know, move in
Speaker 1: the right direction at cornerback, especially when you pair that
Speaker 1: with first round pick Terry and Arnold, who I thought
Speaker 1: was maybe the best corner in the draft. Quiny and
Speaker 1: Mitchell probably was for me, but Arnold was right there
Speaker 1: neck and neck with with Mitchell and then Kevin Zeidler
Speaker 1: on the offensive line, which just fits their mold. And
Speaker 1: I hate the loss of Chauncey Gardner Johnson, although he
Speaker 1: rarely played last year, being injured most of the season,
Speaker 1: Josh Rends was a nice number three receiver for them.
Speaker 1: Jonah Jackson goes to the Rams. That's probably the biggest loss,
Speaker 1: and that's a big downgrade gold Zeitler, or from Jackson
Speaker 1: to Zeitler. They lose Benito Jones here and zach Ertz
Speaker 1: to the Washington Commanders. What do they do well? I
Speaker 1: think you know by now, and the whole biding kneecaps
Speaker 1: thing is actually kind of legit. They win in the trenches,
Speaker 1: they run the football, they stop the run. They built
Speaker 1: it from the inside out, and they buy into this
Speaker 1: grit mentality, right, they embrace it. And it's that's one
Speaker 1: of those things where it's like so many guys have
Speaker 1: come and said that. I think back to Joe Judge,
Speaker 1: like what was he doing, Like having guys like dive
Speaker 1: on loose footballs and there was some gimmicky thing he
Speaker 1: did with the Giants, and it was like, oh, yeah,
Speaker 1: that's a gimmick. But Dan Campbell lives it. He breathes it.
Speaker 1: He drinks two venti Starbucks coffees every single day and
Speaker 1: he can't help but let those coffee beans course through
Speaker 1: his veins and come out the other side as grit.
Speaker 1: They established a culture and funnel all of their decisions
Speaker 1: through that lens. I think all the best teams do that,
Speaker 1: and the Dolphins do that as well, which by the way,
Speaker 1: is develop skilled players, get an accurate, on time smart
Speaker 1: quarterback who can take advantage of that and build your
Speaker 1: team on the perimeter inside. So it's a different philosophy,
Speaker 1: different approach, and that's how these two teams are built.
Speaker 1: They create spacing in the passing game. Ben Johnson like,
Speaker 1: my goodness, how fortunate can you be that you have
Speaker 1: a superstar coordinator who like doesn't have all that much
Speaker 1: interest in leaving for a head coaching job. They're just
Speaker 1: doesn't happen. That does not happen. But the Lions have that.
Speaker 1: They attack all levels of the field from different groupings
Speaker 1: and looks. They can get you know, Sam laporta vertical
Speaker 1: from twelve personnel. They can spread it out and get
Speaker 1: Jamis and Williams down the three down the scene from
Speaker 1: the three position. They're just really impressed from how they
Speaker 1: can create their different looks and generate spacing because of
Speaker 1: Ben Johnson, who just doesn't want to leave, it seems like.
Speaker 1: And they also develop their players, which all great teams
Speaker 1: do that. Like I know, for fans, if a rookie
Speaker 1: comes out and has his first game and it's not good,
Speaker 1: you're gonna say he can't play or maybe for a
Speaker 1: full season. Hey, he doesn't doesn't have it For an
Speaker 1: Austin Jackson who struggled for multiple years, he can't do
Speaker 1: it well. The best programs develop their players, and players
Speaker 1: get better every year in those programs. And look, I
Speaker 1: thought they should have gone to Jamiir Gibbs much earlier
Speaker 1: than they did. Maybe they still regret that. I doubt
Speaker 1: it because they were eight and two when he kind
Speaker 1: of got his workload going. But they clearly have plans
Speaker 1: for players and they stick to that usage and stick
Speaker 1: to their guns. And he really broke out towards the
Speaker 1: end of the year. Again he and h hm, maybe
Speaker 1: my two ferret backs in all of the game. What's
Speaker 1: the concern or fatal flaw here? Can they slow down
Speaker 1: the best offenses in the NFL? Because down the stretch
Speaker 1: last year it was kind of just like Hope and
Speaker 1: pray defensively, and granted we talked about three big cornerback
Speaker 1: moves they made to address those those glaring holes in
Speaker 1: the defense, but it's been the Achilles Hill, you know,
Speaker 1: down the stretch the last two years. Their depth was
Speaker 1: exposed late. They are deeper now, but they're counting on
Speaker 1: a lot of imports to solidify things, and sometimes that
Speaker 1: doesn't always click right away or at all, but they've
Speaker 1: also had a tremendous amount of success doing that with
Speaker 1: young players. Also in the pass rush. Is there enough?
Speaker 1: I know I talked about Marcus Davenport, but is there
Speaker 1: enough beyond Aiden Hutchinson, Because John Kaminski and Josh Pascal
Speaker 1: had really good years last year, but they have to
Speaker 1: keep building on those years and all those defensive tackles
Speaker 1: are greatest stuff in the run. You know, reader on
Speaker 1: Woozy on WUSA, Rique like I loved his game out
Speaker 1: of udub Levi on Musa Rik and Ali McNeil loved
Speaker 1: his game from NC State too, But Marcus Davenport is
Speaker 1: kind of the next guy in line at the edge.
Speaker 1: Rusher loved his game in college, didn't really work out
Speaker 1: for the Saints, went to the Vikings for a year,
Speaker 1: had a decent year. Is it enough? That's just I
Speaker 1: guess if you're picking, you know, if you're picking at
Speaker 1: this team, that's the question you have.
Speaker 2: There.
Speaker 1: Some interesting things about this team are biggest story lines.
Speaker 1: They're the hunted now right right Like last year they
Speaker 1: were coming off that impressive finish and it was like, well,
Speaker 1: they were a darling eight and nine team, and maybe
Speaker 1: they were nine and eight, I can't remember. But now
Speaker 1: they're a twelve win Division champion, Conference championship game participant.
Speaker 1: You know, Ham the Banner teams are coming after him now,
Speaker 1: and the Packers got better and the Bears got better,
Speaker 1: and well, you know they have to play from that position,
Speaker 1: from that perch. And they had two games against the
Speaker 1: Bears last year they should have lost, playing in kind
Speaker 1: of like that spoiler versus a big dog rule that's
Speaker 1: gonna be your entire year. This year they went won
Speaker 1: in one of those Bears games, should have lost both
Speaker 1: of them. But you have to learn how to win
Speaker 1: games when teams give you their best shot every single week.
Speaker 1: Goff post extension, I just felt like that's always worth watching.
Speaker 1: I felt like he was playing with house money because
Speaker 1: it was like, what else do I have to lose?
Speaker 1: But now there are Super Bowl or bust expectations. And
Speaker 1: once previously in his career, a team decided like, if
Speaker 1: we're gonna get over the hump, we have to move
Speaker 1: on from this guy. Can he not let history rewrite
Speaker 1: itself there? And then also have they groomed a Ben
Speaker 1: Johnson replacement. He's eventually going to leave, I would think, right,
Speaker 1: But all of these issues, like our potential issues, are
Speaker 1: like great things to have go against you, so I
Speaker 1: don't think it's that big of a deal. My final
Speaker 1: roster thoughts. There's so much to like, but I just
Speaker 1: want to highlight the games that didn't come up here.
Speaker 1: Frank Ragnow one of the best centers in the NFL.
Speaker 1: Taylor Decker's been a pillar a tackle for them. Jack Campbell,
Speaker 1: I thought had a up and down rookie year, but
Speaker 1: I love his physical profile, his athletic complex. He just
Speaker 1: is a good looking linebacker. Alex angzelone, He's been making
Speaker 1: plays for years. One of the first guys I scouted
Speaker 1: at Locktown Dolphins actually Brian Branch, who had a fantastic
Speaker 1: rookie season as kind of that slot and safety position
Speaker 1: from Alabama. Kirby Joseph another guy that man the Lions
Speaker 1: built Travis Wingfield's team. Kirby Joseph from Illinois has had
Speaker 1: a fantastic start to his career, and I did mention
Speaker 1: Jamison Williams. He's on the list. I think he's in
Speaker 1: the breakout Star Watch list for me, what can we
Speaker 1: learn from the Lions. Well, if there's a better trust
Speaker 1: the process team in the NFL, show me, because there
Speaker 1: there isn't. I'll admit I was quick to question what
Speaker 1: they were doing, but they were might. They remained vigilant
Speaker 1: in their approach. And I think we can learn from
Speaker 1: how Dan Campbell grew and developed as a leader, and
Speaker 1: he was transparent about that. And McDaniel has things that
Speaker 1: he can grow and get better at, too, right, and
Speaker 1: I think he will because he doesn't have the ego
Speaker 1: that bogs him down. And I think he and Campbell
Speaker 1: are similar in that mindset of like, I'm in this
Speaker 1: position that look at all the resources I have, I
Speaker 1: want to use those. It better not to bang my
Speaker 1: head into a wall and be like I got here
Speaker 1: because I'm the freaking man. No, I'm want to use
Speaker 1: my resources. So I think that McDaniel can learn from that.
Speaker 1: From Campbell, I think that he has that same mindset.
Speaker 1: So I'm excited about that. Been a quarterback, like I
Speaker 1: don't know, man, Maybe players can change the mind of
Speaker 1: the masses. The same people that sent Goff out to
Speaker 1: pasture now praise him effusively. I'm one of those people
Speaker 1: I thought he was. I thought he was awful as
Speaker 1: a ram early on in his career. I thought that
Speaker 1: he reverted back to that later on in his Rams career.
Speaker 1: I thought his cow tape was bogus. I thought his
Speaker 1: Hard Knocks appearance was was like, oh, you don't know
Speaker 1: where the sun rises? Like, I was not a Jared
Speaker 1: Goff fan, but now I can see that he's a
Speaker 1: very good quarterback. Most of all, which, by the way,
Speaker 1: like putting him like sixth and two of like fourteenth
Speaker 1: is freaking hilarious. Most of all, I just like how
Speaker 1: they've just kept adding and developing and helped turn over
Speaker 1: one of the best rosters in the sport. It's it's
Speaker 1: Dolphins light. It looks like the Dolphins of this offseason
Speaker 1: as well. So what do you know? The Dolphins looking
Speaker 1: to be the Lions this year. Next team on our
Speaker 1: list here the Green Bay Packers. Seeing that I am
Speaker 1: personally struggling to figure out where they're going to land
Speaker 1: the most of the teams I've done so far. Last year,
Speaker 1: they go nine to eight, They finished second in the
Speaker 1: division after a really brutal start to the season. They
Speaker 1: lose in the divisional round of San Francisco after playing
Speaker 1: pretty much a perfect game against the Cowboys in the
Speaker 1: wild card round. And for those keeping score at home,
Speaker 1: all those people that think the Packers are this juggernaut
Speaker 1: all of a sudden, who couldn't lose last year that
Speaker 1: would not have been enough to get in in the AFC.
Speaker 1: I just think it's important to recall context when we
Speaker 1: start making these grand extrapolations of the final game or
Speaker 1: two of the season. Yes, they blew the doors off
Speaker 1: the hopeless Cowboys in that playoff game, and that was impressive. Yes,
Speaker 1: their young quarterback got much better as the year went
Speaker 1: along and took massive strides towards becoming one of the
Speaker 1: best quarterbacks in the entire National Football League. But I
Speaker 1: don't think that means you completely discredit or throw away
Speaker 1: a Week two loss to Atlanta, or a Week five
Speaker 1: loss to Vegas, or a Week seven loss to Denver
Speaker 1: or the Sunday Night to Minnesota. Because early in the
Speaker 1: year that offense was unwatchable, and then they weren't. It
Speaker 1: began really on Thanksgiving when Jordan Love went off and
Speaker 1: took it to the lines and beat them in their
Speaker 1: own house. Then they beat the Chiefs on Monday Night Football.
Speaker 1: Then they lose the Giants and then the Bucks, and
Speaker 1: then secure a playoff spot with a three point win
Speaker 1: over Carolina. They blow out the Vikings with a third
Speaker 1: stream quarterback, and then they get an eight point win
Speaker 1: and only score seventeen points in the Chicago Bears at home.
Speaker 1: I think we're gonna see the Packers picked to be
Speaker 1: that team this year. I'm just looking at the results
Speaker 1: of that coming from the playoff game fair enough, impressive,
Speaker 1: and then the two games that were nationally televised, one
Speaker 1: being one of the games, it's the most watched every
Speaker 1: year on Turkey Day. All three of those games get
Speaker 1: insane ratings. So I guess I'm asking, will the real
Speaker 1: Green Bay Packers please stand up? And by the way,
Speaker 1: that took me like fourth times they get that correct?
Speaker 1: Can you see that five times fast? Will the real
Speaker 1: green Bay Packers? And you lifelongs know how I felt
Speaker 1: about Jordan Love as a prospect, Oh buddy, if you
Speaker 1: can figure out Twitter search these days and the elon era,
Speaker 1: which is just a horrendous website all of a sudden,
Speaker 1: if you can figure out how to search on Twitter
Speaker 1: at Wingfold NFL, Jordan Love, go ahead and do that
Speaker 1: because I loved his game and I still feel that way.
Speaker 1: I just think we should look at the entire book,
Speaker 1: not just our favorite chapters. Some big moves for the
Speaker 1: Packers this offseason. They brought in Josh Jacobs, Xavier McKinney,
Speaker 1: and Jordan Morgan was their first round pick out of Arizona.
Speaker 1: Out is josh Niezman, guard John Runyon. They lost Darnell Savage,
Speaker 1: David Bachtiari retired. I believe Aaron Jones is out, Devondre
Speaker 1: Campbell is out, and so is Jonathan Owen. So lots
Speaker 1: of turnover there in Green Bay. In terms of departures.
Speaker 1: What do they do well, stop me if you heard
Speaker 1: this before. On this offense, they marry the run in
Speaker 1: the pass. They utilize rare quarterback traits to expand the field.
Speaker 1: But how will that change going from Aaron Jones, one
Speaker 1: of the best peer zone runners to Jacobs, who was
Speaker 1: a little more behind the pads. Will they go more
Speaker 1: man gaffed with the Niners and Rams have in recent years.
Speaker 1: I think that's kind of what that tells us. They
Speaker 1: have evolving top targets in the passing game. They built
Speaker 1: this thing with all these young pieces developed together, and
Speaker 1: like the Steelers and Packers are so in the way
Speaker 1: the draft receivers so well for so long. I mean,
Speaker 1: who has developed better star talent on the perimeter than
Speaker 1: the Packers last twenty years. And now they get Jaden Reed,
Speaker 1: Romeo Dobbs, Dontavian Wix who looks like an absolute baller,
Speaker 1: and Christian Watson was kind of the guy that was.
Speaker 1: He was taken before any of those dudes, and he
Speaker 1: might be the number four right now with Jordan Love
Speaker 1: too in the same kind of capsule of drafts two
Speaker 1: or three years there for the foreseeable future, they have
Speaker 1: all these guys on rookie contracts and that's gonna make them,
Speaker 1: you know, able to build up other parts of the roster.
Speaker 1: And not to mention the last two tight ends in
Speaker 1: the draft they took where Tucker Kraft and Luke Musgrave,
Speaker 1: who both can play as well. Now I'm not sure
Speaker 1: what they'll do on defense with Luke Hafley coming from
Speaker 1: the college game, but they previously were so good at
Speaker 1: gap control, winning one on ones, and that's done through prototype.
Speaker 1: They have these big, big edges and true two gappers
Speaker 1: inside with both Rashaun Gary and Lucas van Ness and
Speaker 1: Preston Smith on the outside, and then on the on
Speaker 1: the inside with Kenny Clark and Devonte Wyatt and Carl Brooks.
Speaker 1: They have those guys that can eat space inside too.
Speaker 1: It's the concern or flaw on this roster. It has
Speaker 1: to be the offensive line, which is strange because they
Speaker 1: have like no money tied up in their quarterback and
Speaker 1: receivers right now. They've had to bounce Elton Jenkins all
Speaker 1: over the place, and this guy is a freaking all
Speaker 1: pro wherever he lines up, and he's filled in for
Speaker 1: injuries the last couple of years. Bakhtiars Tiyari has finally gone.
Speaker 1: Him and his unreliable play and dubious politics. They're gone.
Speaker 1: But they'll look to first rounder Jordan Morgan to fill
Speaker 1: that void, to get Jenkins and Zach tom back to
Speaker 1: their original positions. And then they went out and got
Speaker 1: Andre Dillard, which go Koog's but like, dude can't play
Speaker 1: front seven depth. We saw it really really take a
Speaker 1: hit with just one loss in Rashaun Garry. Last year.
Speaker 1: They did draft Eddrian Cooper just two years after kway Walker.
Speaker 1: I was a big fan of his game, as well
Speaker 1: in college, and that's kind of a sign that, hey,
Speaker 1: it ain't clicking, Bubba. I think it's it's a big
Speaker 1: year for the corners, Alexander and Stokes in particular. Jai
Speaker 1: Year is a strange dude, and he's had some strange plays.
Speaker 1: They're one injury and we are into players with completely unknown,
Speaker 1: unproven resumes. Some interesting things about them and biggest storylines
Speaker 1: love and year two of a team friendly deal. Does
Speaker 1: he push for the mega deal to get done after
Speaker 1: breaking out down the stretch? Does an impact you know,
Speaker 1: into the season. I doubt it, but we'll see not
Speaker 1: a fantasy guy, but who emerges from the pack as
Speaker 1: the guy. Like there's so many guys that are ballers
Speaker 1: in this skill group and I want to say Dontavian Wicks,
Speaker 1: but I sort of like them all. Michael Bolton finally
Speaker 1: the ones hunting the Lions. Like that rivalry fascinates me
Speaker 1: and just got even better. I wish it was the
Speaker 1: Thanksgiving game again. Calling up a head coach to coach
Speaker 1: your defense and from college is it is interesting. It's
Speaker 1: a fascinating new trend that you know coaches want the
Speaker 1: hell out of college because college football sucks now, But yeah,
Speaker 1: that's what that's what coach Hafley's gonna do. Some final
Speaker 1: roster thoughts here. I just noticed as I go through
Speaker 1: these how many teams are pretty thin in the defensive
Speaker 1: backfield just in terms of proven players. Maybe that's for
Speaker 1: the next section, though we're already we've already kind of
Speaker 1: covered this roster pretty well. What can we learn from
Speaker 1: the dolph from the Packers about the Dolphins the importance
Speaker 1: of depth? As I mentioned this, I do think they
Speaker 1: draft well and typically do it at the more expensive positions,
Speaker 1: which is the best way to sustain success, right and
Speaker 1: why I think Miami has and we'll continue to do
Speaker 1: so with quarterback and Tua receiver and Waddle, offensive line
Speaker 1: with Jackson and Hunt, the comp pit coming back for
Speaker 1: Hunt and your edge and Phillips. They've done a good
Speaker 1: job drafting in those spots. The Packers have done that
Speaker 1: really really well in the last few years. So there
Speaker 1: you go. Let's go ahead and take our first break
Speaker 1: right there. Come back on the other side and talk
Speaker 1: to linebacker Cam Brown. I had a fun chat with him.
Speaker 1: That's next Draft Time podcast to your host, Travis Wingfield.
Speaker 1: Brought to you by Auto Nation.
Speaker 2: What's up?
Speaker 1: Dolphins? Travis Wingfield here with you guys on the Draft
Speaker 1: Time podcast. My guest today is Dolphins linebacker Cam Brown. Cam,
Speaker 1: welcome in and how you doing today?
Speaker 2: Man? I appreciate you having me man doing well? Doing well?
Speaker 2: Complain about anything.
Speaker 1: I gotta well. I do have to apologize for that
Speaker 1: up here. I didn't realize we were gonna have a
Speaker 1: bunch of six five guys joining me, which I should
Speaker 1: have because it's a football players. But I appreciate you
Speaker 1: making do with with my setup I gout here work.
Speaker 1: That's kind of the name of the game, right, That's
Speaker 1: how That's how this entire league is. You have to
Speaker 1: find what you can, what you can make work and
Speaker 1: do your best with it. Right adjustments exactly exactly so
Speaker 1: for you as a draft pick back in twenty twenty,
Speaker 1: right out of the out of the pandemic year, was
Speaker 1: that a pretty crazy year to go into the draft
Speaker 1: where everything's held online zoom and all that stuff.
Speaker 2: Yes, yes, it was.
Speaker 3: Actually my pro day got canceled two days right before
Speaker 3: that was I went to the combine and didn't put
Speaker 3: up the numbers I wanted, and then pro day got canceled.
Speaker 3: It was kind of heartbreaking. But you know, like you said, adjustments.
Speaker 1: So teams have teams have like no info on you then, right,
Speaker 1: because it's it's your tape, I guess.
Speaker 3: Yeah, no, it was. It was definitely a weird process.
Speaker 3: And then you're sitting at home. Gyms are closed for
Speaker 3: three four months, right, and then we get into August.
Speaker 3: You're like camp supposed to start and you're still sitting
Speaker 3: at home.
Speaker 2: It was, it was. It was an interesting experience, to
Speaker 2: say the least.
Speaker 1: What did you do to stay in shape?
Speaker 2: Honestly, just jogging?
Speaker 3: Really, I ran got into the gym every once a
Speaker 3: week probably like I was. It was very slim, but uh,
Speaker 3: they actually ended up sending us some weight, so you know,
Speaker 3: the stack of the dumbbells or your chance of weights. Yeah,
Speaker 3: we got on those bench the little squat variations with
Speaker 3: it as much as you could.
Speaker 2: But honestly, it was a lot in home stuff. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 1: So my first year in the NFL was also twenty twenty,
Speaker 1: and so it was an adjustment for me because there
Speaker 1: are certain you know, just everything was so restricted in
Speaker 1: terms of where you could go. You don't want to
Speaker 1: be in the players because I want to get players
Speaker 1: sick if I'm sick, and so it was a unique
Speaker 1: way to come into the league. But since then I've
Speaker 1: learned that it's pretty damn cool to work in the NFL.
Speaker 1: It's not like that all the time. Was it the
Speaker 1: same for you as a player? Yeah?
Speaker 3: Yeah, the adjustment is definitely different. Matter said the same
Speaker 3: as Yeah, same experience. That the fact that it's better
Speaker 3: because when you're playing football and there's no fans that
Speaker 3: you like a scrimmage out there and you can hear
Speaker 3: all the coaches yelling, you hear all the adjustments. It's
Speaker 3: just not the same experience as having sixty thousand fans
Speaker 3: out there screaming their heads off.
Speaker 1: You know, it probably felt like that you didn't get
Speaker 1: like your NFL debut in a lot of ways because
Speaker 1: like it's not the same experience, like you said, right,
Speaker 1: was it? I don't want to say it was it
Speaker 1: tough to get up for because I know you got
Speaker 1: up for an NFL game, Like the guy across from
Speaker 1: you doesn't care if there's no fans in the stands, right,
Speaker 1: But it's just I'm so fascinated by that unique experience,
Speaker 1: Like did you was twenty twenty one almost like feel
Speaker 1: more like your debut because it was back to normal.
Speaker 3: Honestly, for family, I would say, so if you're having
Speaker 3: the family for that, for that experience, but now at
Speaker 3: the end of the day, you're still playing football, so
Speaker 3: that twenty twenty year. I mean, once you got hit
Speaker 3: in your face by three hundred, yeah, I know, I'll
Speaker 3: wake you up. You'll feel like a debut for sure.
Speaker 3: Absolutely fun. So you make your debut with the Giants.
Speaker 3: You play some linebacker, but a lot of work on
Speaker 3: special teams. And I always love asking guys this, how
Speaker 3: does you know I guess not the key to special teams,
Speaker 3: but how does your skill set skill set translate to
Speaker 3: being a good special teamer? Honestly, I mean I'm long, tall,
Speaker 3: fast like that. It's hard to block that in open space.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 3: It's I'm used to going against a lineman, so when
Speaker 3: I'm lined up against somebody that's my weight even less,
Speaker 3: it's a lot easier to get off of block. So, honestly,
Speaker 3: I think the skill set's very fitting because undersized outside linebacker,
Speaker 3: oversized inside linebacker, so you get a mixture both and
Speaker 3: I mean, honestly, especially about how much you want it
Speaker 3: and how hard you want to play. Anybody could do it.
Speaker 3: It's about how much you would do. It's about the will, right, Yeah,
Speaker 3: it's about the willpower. So I mean, for me, it's
Speaker 3: been it's always easy because I love playing football. Running hit,
Speaker 3: running hit is what I always say, Like that's what
Speaker 3: I was born on. And it was just like watching
Speaker 3: guys like earl Acker, Ray Lewis and things like that,
Speaker 3: like all you want to do is hit somebody, And
Speaker 3: when you're my size, it makes it a little bit easier,
Speaker 3: you know.
Speaker 1: Yeah, no, no question about that. I mean, and you know,
Speaker 1: this is a pretty good linebacker group we have here
Speaker 1: in Miami. So between the inside outside stuff, have you
Speaker 1: kind of have you? It sounds like you have a
Speaker 1: lot on your plate in terms of the combination of those,
Speaker 1: but also special teams. How do you balance a workload
Speaker 1: of getting ready for you know, what what might come
Speaker 1: outside linebacker, what might come on inside linebacker, But also
Speaker 1: I got to get ready for special teams too.
Speaker 3: Honestly, I think just my career has put me in
Speaker 3: the position because even from childhood I play it outside
Speaker 3: d N and then high school more middle inside. I
Speaker 3: think back in college I was back back and forth,
Speaker 3: doing a little bit of both. And then my first
Speaker 3: years in New York were too. The first two years
Speaker 3: were outside, last two years were inside. So it's like
Speaker 3: I've been prepared for this, Like I like it. It
Speaker 3: makes me. I'm comfortable in both spots. So honestly, it's
Speaker 3: no real stress. It's just it's kind of just how
Speaker 3: what I do at this point just football, right.
Speaker 1: I know back in the day, it was like if
Speaker 1: you had a defensive end, he played defensive end for
Speaker 1: sixty five snaps and that was all he did and
Speaker 1: no one else came into that spot for him. But
Speaker 1: now it's like, you know, guys shift, guys move or
Speaker 1: sub packages. It's just a different game than it used
Speaker 1: to be twenty years ago. So a guy like you,
Speaker 1: that makes sense that you you've kind of found your footing.
Speaker 1: So you leave the Giants, you come here to South Florida.
Speaker 1: First time was like a free agent, right, Like you
Speaker 1: have a chance to pick and that's the first time
Speaker 1: since college that you had a chance to do that.
Speaker 1: What was that process like for you?
Speaker 3: Uh, Honestly, when Miami, when I got the interest from
Speaker 3: you guys, it was pretty easy. You know, when you
Speaker 3: when you come from a state that's tax heavily when
Speaker 3: you when you have so much family that's down here,
Speaker 3: and that's probably where I should have started. I do
Speaker 3: love my family, got a lot of family down here,
Speaker 3: spent a lot of childhoods down here, so I got
Speaker 3: a lot of ties to the South Florida area. And honestly,
Speaker 3: I mean, it's the great opportunity. It's good weather, like
Speaker 3: I said, good people, coaching. Mc daniel's young coach Brian.
Speaker 3: Guys win a lot of games last year. I'm just
Speaker 3: happy to be a part of the process, you know,
Speaker 3: just want to be a part of the growing of
Speaker 3: Miami Dolphins.
Speaker 1: I love asking that question because I always get the
Speaker 1: same reaction with guys. It's a big smile, like you
Speaker 1: like you gave him right there, and then it's the weather,
Speaker 1: and then you know, you talk about the other great
Speaker 1: stuff too, But it's it's it's not a bad place
Speaker 1: to be. It's not bad at all. You mentioned coach McDaniel,
Speaker 1: So that's that's something that you know typically comes up
Speaker 1: in these in these chats, is something that attracted you
Speaker 1: to the Dolphins. And he's obviously you know one of one, right,
Speaker 1: He's he's so unique. Tell me about that, tell me
Speaker 1: about experience of getting the no coach and just have fun.
Speaker 1: That's been so far.
Speaker 3: Honestly, I mean he's lighthearted, he's you can tell he's
Speaker 3: very analytically smart about what he goes through the process
Speaker 3: that he goes through. But at the same time, he's
Speaker 3: he's a young guy, so he's very relatable to us.
Speaker 3: He's cracks, jokes, he thinks he's funny.
Speaker 1: Is he funny?
Speaker 2: But he's a.
Speaker 1: Shooter, He's a volume shooter.
Speaker 2: But yeah, I can't complain about him. And he's a
Speaker 2: good dude.
Speaker 3: He's good, young, brings energy to the team, gets the
Speaker 3: guys going. So everything positive to say about him.
Speaker 1: How about coach Weave and know it's his first year here,
Speaker 1: you guys kind of get here around the same time.
Speaker 1: What's it been like working with him?
Speaker 2: Honestly, it's been great.
Speaker 3: It's been great because former player, you know, he can
Speaker 3: relate to a lot of things are going through. He
Speaker 3: also understands the process and on a deeper level, so
Speaker 3: it's easy for us to follow his lead, you know,
Speaker 3: And I feel like he's got a good plan. He's
Speaker 3: ran a similar defense that I'm used to from in
Speaker 3: New York. So honestly, for me, it's been a good transition,
Speaker 3: been smooth.
Speaker 1: Yeah, how's it been getting to know that the roads
Speaker 1: is down here in South Florida. I always ask guys,
Speaker 1: how do you how you handling the other turnpike?
Speaker 3: And and honestly, I compared to New York, I love it, true,
Speaker 3: twenty five minutes to get everywhere down here, I'm not
Speaker 3: mad at it.
Speaker 2: So I've been enjoying it well.
Speaker 1: And then we're happy to have you Cam Brown appreciate
Speaker 1: its time to the man.
Speaker 2: Thank you appreciation.
Speaker 1: Yeah, there he goes. And when you watch Cam Brown's tape,
Speaker 1: whether it's special teams or defense, really really insane length.
Speaker 1: And he kind of popped during OTA's you know, back
Speaker 1: in the spring, earlier the spring. So I think that
Speaker 1: he's a guy that could could make an impact maybe
Speaker 1: early in the year if you need it. With you know,
Speaker 1: Chubb and Phillips kind of working their way back in
Speaker 1: the lineup, but for sure going to be an ace
Speaker 1: on special teams. Let's go ahead and take our last
Speaker 1: break right there, come back on the other side and
Speaker 1: pick it back up. In the NFC North with the
Speaker 1: Minnesota Vikings, that's next Draft Time Podcast, your host Travis Wingfield,
Speaker 1: brought to you by Auto Nation. NFC North Divisional preview
Speaker 1: here on a July the first episode of the Draft
Speaker 1: Time Podcast, we pick it up with the Minnesota Vikings,
Speaker 1: who finished seven and ten and third in the NFC
Speaker 1: North last season. Quarterback injuries sure do stink, don't they?
Speaker 1: Even before Kirk Cousins was injured, though they were one
Speaker 1: and four start the year, three and four after he
Speaker 1: was lost, they caught a little bit of lightning in
Speaker 1: a bottle with Josh Dobbs, the alopecia astronaut, and then
Speaker 1: they fell into the abyss of the unwatchable who remembers
Speaker 1: that three to zero win over the Raiders. I do,
Speaker 1: I just can't with these, Like I'm a Mariors fan.
Speaker 1: As of this taping, the Minors are three and a
Speaker 1: half games up in their division. They were ten games
Speaker 1: up in the division like a week and a half ago.
Speaker 1: But they can't score runs. They averaged three point nine
Speaker 1: runs per game and if if a team scores four,
Speaker 1: they're just not gonna win those games. And I'm like
Speaker 1: telling my buddies, like, enjoy this the lead while you
Speaker 1: have it now because this will not be sustainable. I
Speaker 1: don't trust anybody that can't score in any sport that
Speaker 1: you have to score to win. So the Vikings were
Speaker 1: that last year. Can they become not that?
Speaker 3: So?
Speaker 1: After a five game winning streak, which was a miracle
Speaker 1: to me, they dropped six of the final seven to
Speaker 1: finish with the worst win percentage this organization has had
Speaker 1: since twenty thirteen. They got their due in large part
Speaker 1: to a defensive structure overhaul, going from an offshoot of
Speaker 1: the Fangio system with Ed Dontell that did not work
Speaker 1: at all, that couldn't stop a nosebleed to the Brian
Speaker 1: Flores blitz, blitz, blitz and blitz again. Oh when you're
Speaker 1: in doubt, go ahead and blitz once more. Type of approach.
Speaker 1: Interesting team this year. I want to go ahead and
Speaker 1: get into this with the changes, big moves coming in.
Speaker 1: Aaron Jones leaves the Packers and comes over to the Vikings.
Speaker 1: Blake Cashman was a Packer once, He's now a Viking.
Speaker 1: Jonathan Grenard and Andrew Van Ginkel are the big additions off
Speaker 1: the edge. Shaq Griffin a big cornerback edition there. They
Speaker 1: also get Robert Tanya and Sam Darnold as the quarterback
Speaker 1: who they signed from a veteran contract, and then JJ
Speaker 1: McCarthy was the guy they drafted in the first round.
Speaker 1: They also picked up Dallas Turner in the first round
Speaker 1: of this year's draft. Departures Kirk Cousins the biggest one
Speaker 1: there running back Alexander Madison. They lost Hakeema Denji, Marcus Davenport,
Speaker 1: dj Wanham, and Daneil Hunter. Three edges that played the
Speaker 1: most for them last year. They're all gone. They also
Speaker 1: lost linebacker Jordan Hicks. What do they do well, Well,
Speaker 1: it's another version of the Shanahan offense. They present different looks,
Speaker 1: I'm sorry. Rather, they create space and to marry the
Speaker 1: run and pass game. My first note here is on defense.
Speaker 1: They present different looks and pressure from any one of
Speaker 1: the eleven players on the field at any given time.
Speaker 1: They utilize positionless players like a Josh Mattellis, who had
Speaker 1: a career a breakout last year under coach Flores. Kind
Speaker 1: of think of like Brandon Jones' skill set, which you know,
Speaker 1: if you can get that to play like an all pro,
Speaker 1: then you're doing something right. And they are just willing
Speaker 1: to go down swinging and they kind of did towards
Speaker 1: the end of the year. Stop me if you've heard
Speaker 1: this before. They marry the run in the past with
Speaker 1: an aggressive mindset to stretch the field vertically and horizontally.
Speaker 1: They have the only receiver that I'll listen to in
Speaker 1: an argument with regards to the best in the league
Speaker 1: over Tyreek Hill in Justin Jefferson, although I'll still take
Speaker 1: the speed of Tyreek Hill. And this also allows them
Speaker 1: to stretch the field along with Jordan Addison, who was
Speaker 1: an absolute stud and I think him and Jefferson can
Speaker 1: become that next great duo. I would have loved to
Speaker 1: see them retain kJ Osborne. What are the concerns or
Speaker 1: the potential fatal flaws on this Vikings roster. That's a
Speaker 1: ton of pass rush to lose man. Just pass rush,
Speaker 1: but big bodies with length who can queue up some
Speaker 1: of those blitzer from the back end. I mean that
Speaker 1: really helps when you run all those stunts and games
Speaker 1: and picks that Floras likes to run Hunter Davenport and
Speaker 1: won them. We're all such space and block eaters. And
Speaker 1: I love Andrew Van Ginkle more than anybody else in
Speaker 1: the NFL really, especially as a person. But that's just
Speaker 1: not his game. And Dallas Turner looks the part, but
Speaker 1: he's a rookie, so we'll see. Also, there's a rookie quarterback,
Speaker 1: and can you ever really trust that? For me, I
Speaker 1: wasn't high on McCarthy coming out. I thought his tape
Speaker 1: was full of NFL bread and butter throws that he
Speaker 1: just consistently missed at me each Again, interesting things about
Speaker 1: them are big storylines. If the defense plays above board
Speaker 1: like that, again, does Flora's get a head coaching Look,
Speaker 1: I mean, it would take a lot of trust to
Speaker 1: let him out of the Keuston organization again, developing a quarterback,
Speaker 1: you know, it's great to have to hang on to
Speaker 1: your star receiver to do that. But I'm still just
Speaker 1: I don't know about McCarthy, man, I don't know if
Speaker 1: he's got it. But also I'm also still bitter about
Speaker 1: Brandon Marshall being traded ahead of the twenty twelve season, Like, hey,
Speaker 1: let's go ahead and trade Brandon Marshall, and then Johnson
Speaker 1: can be a ding donk get himself cut and then
Speaker 1: all of a sudden we're throwing to Robert Moore as
Speaker 1: Brian Tannehill's second top target behind Brian Hartlin. Then also
Speaker 1: the year after the regression to the mean. I will
Speaker 1: explain that here in the final segment or the next segment,
Speaker 1: I should say my final roster thoughts here. I think
Speaker 1: the roster is fine, but could be a lot better
Speaker 1: with better process. They've done some interesting draft day trading
Speaker 1: that has put them on the wrong side of the
Speaker 1: Jimmy Johnson Trade value chart the last two years. I
Speaker 1: never understood allowing your division rival to come up and
Speaker 1: get a game changer in Jamison Williams and just wait
Speaker 1: on him, he'll break out. I don't get sending what
Speaker 1: equated to two first round picks to open get Dallas Turner,
Speaker 1: who I liked a lot. It's just been a strange
Speaker 1: process in terms of utilizing draft capital to overspend for
Speaker 1: certain pieces. Now all of that said, I'm obviously incredibly
Speaker 1: dubious in the quarterback position, which I think will sink
Speaker 1: this team. I wonder how much Aaron Jones has left.
Speaker 1: I love the top two receivers and tight end and TJ. Hawkinson,
Speaker 1: but beyond that it's pretty thin. I think their tackle
Speaker 1: duo is one of the best in the entire game,
Speaker 1: with Christian Darisa as one of the best tackles that
Speaker 1: no one seems to talk about, and then Brian O'Neil
Speaker 1: also is in that category. They also have an awesome
Speaker 1: center and Garrett Bradbury, but questions at guard. But we've
Speaker 1: also seen this system that's kind of the area where
Speaker 1: it's like, okay, we're okay not investing in the guard
Speaker 1: position on this offense. On defense, Harrison Phillips has become
Speaker 1: that dude post Buffalo career never leaves the field. But
Speaker 1: I really don't like the reimagined edge group going from
Speaker 1: what you had, Like Gink is really the only proven
Speaker 1: guy there, and Johnathan Grenard is very solid tode, don't
Speaker 1: get me wrong. And man, every time it feels like
Speaker 1: I'm saying this, but there's not a lot of depth
Speaker 1: in the secondary. They have to get more from recent
Speaker 1: high picks and Lewis Seene and Andrew Booth who have
Speaker 1: not played at all. And then Harrison Smith remains with
Speaker 1: my top players on any team, especially for this Vikings team. Well,
Speaker 1: can they tell us about the Miami Dolphins. I think
Speaker 1: that this exercise is beneficial for any Dolphins fan because
Speaker 1: I say this all the time. I feel like we're
Speaker 1: not measuring ourselves to the rest of the league, but
Speaker 1: rather against perfection. Like obviously I'm obsessed with the NFL
Speaker 1: and grind tape on all three to two teams, but
Speaker 1: like again with baseball or Hoop for that matter, I
Speaker 1: watch the Mariners or the Heat. Those are my teams
Speaker 1: pretty much every night they play, but literally won't turn
Speaker 1: on another game until the playoffs because I don't want to,
Speaker 1: and that cost me perspective and I accept the fact
Speaker 1: that it makes me kind of a casual. But the
Speaker 1: Vikings the last few years have reminded me of the
Speaker 1: Dolphins teams I grew up on. Every two presidential terms.
Speaker 1: We'd sneak into the Cinderella or into the tournament as
Speaker 1: a Cinderella. But from the opening snap you can see
Speaker 1: that we weren't on the same level as the twenty
Speaker 1: sixteen Steelers, of the twenty eight, two thousand and eight Ravens,
Speaker 1: or even before that, when we had teams with actual
Speaker 1: identities in the defense and running game of the early
Speaker 1: two thousands, as those teams lost to the Raiders and
Speaker 1: Ravens in the postseason quite convincingly both those years. The
Speaker 1: twenty twenty two Vikings were a magic carpet ride right,
Speaker 1: thirteen wins. Then you lose the Giants, the freaking Daniel
Speaker 1: Jones Giants in the wildcard round. Well, that defines a
Speaker 1: team that was using buzzer beater field goals and saying
Speaker 1: fourth quarter in overtime luck. Remember the Bills fumbled the
Speaker 1: football at the one yard line to lose that game.
Speaker 1: I remember that well because I remember saying we're out
Speaker 1: of Buffalo, we have the AFC eas lead in the
Speaker 1: on the postgame radio show, or when they beat the
Speaker 1: two A list Doll team by a touchdown that year,
Speaker 1: or needed the greatest comeback in NFL history to be
Speaker 1: a Colts team that won five games that year. My
Speaker 1: point is I feel this they had Jeff Saturday coaching
Speaker 1: and they were down by thirty points. I feel this
Speaker 1: iteration of the Dolphins are impervious to that. That's why
Speaker 1: I'm getting out here. Yes, we have our struggles on
Speaker 1: the road against playoff teams, but aside from the Titans game,
Speaker 1: which ah, that damn Titans game, we handle our business
Speaker 1: against the teams we were supposed to beat. And that's
Speaker 1: to me a mark you should strive for. The Vikings
Speaker 1: were not that, and one year after going thirteen and four,
Speaker 1: they win six fewer football games, and with that wholesale
Speaker 1: changes and building a whole new program. Kevin O'Connell's still
Speaker 1: there in a really good football coach. But now they
Speaker 1: break in a rookie quarterback who I don't think can
Speaker 1: play with a defense. It's probably closer to win now mode.
Speaker 1: My point is continuity and being dominant in your wins
Speaker 1: is a much clearer indication of a contender than a
Speaker 1: team who scrapes by each and every single week. Case
Speaker 1: in point twenty sixteen Miami Dolphins. We finish up here
Speaker 1: with the Chicago Bears, who also won seven games last year.
Speaker 1: When where when did they win seven games which was
Speaker 1: good for fourth in the division. I would have said
Speaker 1: five wins tops. They began the year zero to four
Speaker 1: looking like the Bears, and they extended a franchise long
Speaker 1: losing streak to fourteen games. I must say, I'm thrilled
Speaker 1: to the seat. They seem to be on the comeback
Speaker 1: here and have some exciting rookies, because we know one
Speaker 1: thing for sure, they're going to dominate the primetime slots.
Speaker 1: How many times have you watched bad Giants or Bears
Speaker 1: teams on primetime because of their markets like five times
Speaker 1: a year. Trading the first pick in twenty twenty three
Speaker 1: to the Panthers looks like one of the most lopsided
Speaker 1: trades in league history right now, because Bryce Young can't
Speaker 1: play and it results in another number one pick overall,
Speaker 1: which of course goes to one of the more intriguing
Speaker 1: quarterback prospects of recent memory. Now I will not follow
Speaker 1: suit and call him generational more on that moment, but
Speaker 1: Caleb Williams is there now and he's already the thurning quarterback. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Going back over their schedule, it's easy to see why
Speaker 1: they did win seven. Actually, they've got their their biggest
Speaker 1: win over the Lines in Week fourteen, and then that
Speaker 1: came after riveting twelve to ten victory over the Vikings.
Speaker 1: And was that Jaron Hall they beat? And then wins
Speaker 1: over the Cardinals and Falcons who were also playing out
Speaker 1: the string, and they damn near beat the Packers in
Speaker 1: Week eighteen in a game that would have knocked the
Speaker 1: Packers out of the playoffs. There's also sixteen thirteen over
Speaker 1: the Panthers in there. Like man the middle class, the
Speaker 1: NFL is kind of done, huh. Like teams don't really
Speaker 1: want to be middle. They want to be either good
Speaker 1: or really bad. Like we mentioned that in the positional
Speaker 1: battle or quarterback battle in the AFC North, Like, teams
Speaker 1: don't really want to, you know, go with a Joe Flacco.
Speaker 1: They rather go with a Tyson Bagen or a Jaron
Speaker 1: Hall and try to strike lightning rather than just get by.
Speaker 1: And if they win four games, good, they'll draft the
Speaker 1: quarterback next year. Just it's a weird dynamic right now
Speaker 1: in the NFL. And the Bears kind of you know,
Speaker 1: I guess the Bears in the bike has kind of
Speaker 1: fit that mold too. The receiver, the big moves in
Speaker 1: receiver Keenan Allen was a huge get for them, DeAndre Swift,
Speaker 1: Gerald Everett. They got in Ryan Bates from the Buffalo Bills.
Speaker 1: They brought in two safeties and Kevin Byrd and Jonathan Owens.
Speaker 1: And then of course in the first of the top
Speaker 1: ten of the draft, I should say, Caleb Williams and
Speaker 1: rome A Doonsay going out, Deontay foreman, Darnell Mooney. They
Speaker 1: cut Cody white Hair and they lost Robert and Justin
Speaker 1: Jackson was a big loss in the defensive line. Eddie
Speaker 1: Jackson and Justin Fields were two big cuts they made. Also,
Speaker 1: are they they trade Justin Fields? I forget it's so
Speaker 1: what they do well, it's all so new. But Shane
Speaker 1: Waldron is a stud man. Most people think Caleb Williams
Speaker 1: will at least be solid this year, and I think
Speaker 1: Odoonsay is going to be the rookie of the year
Speaker 1: quite frankly, but Keenan Allen's Keenan Allen DJ Moore is
Speaker 1: the best receiver in the team. I like Swift and
Speaker 1: Everett too. They get you know, they get vertical, they
Speaker 1: get a lot of four verts. They've run a lot
Speaker 1: of misdirection and exploitation of man coverage of deep over routes.
Speaker 1: I think they'll do a good job of creating space
Speaker 1: and utilizing the run game and the screen game to
Speaker 1: get easy yards that sets up those shots those playmakers. Now,
Speaker 1: I still question whether or not Williams has the ability
Speaker 1: to grow and develop as an on schedule passer, because
Speaker 1: there wasn't a ton of that on tape at USC
Speaker 1: And the last time I saw a quarterback that ran
Speaker 1: towards his own goal line that often, it was Zach Wilson,
Speaker 1: but he's also one of the best creators we've seen
Speaker 1: in terms of just making plays off script. I just
Speaker 1: have more questions than most folks about his game. On defense,
Speaker 1: they play match and pressure with four. That's a ebra
Speaker 1: Flu's former Viking or not making Colts strategy they ran
Speaker 1: when he was up there, and they do that pretty effectively,
Speaker 1: even though the personnel has been really bad the last
Speaker 1: few years. The concern of fatal flaw obligatory. Ricky Quarterback
Speaker 1: mentioned the front seven depth. They stripped it to the
Speaker 1: studs two years ago. Remember that game before or before
Speaker 1: they played us, they traded away, Like, shoot, who was
Speaker 1: it they traded away? Now I'm drawing a blank. They
Speaker 1: traded away their Leonard Floyd Baby, No, I can't remember
Speaker 1: it was. They got rid of their entire defensive front.
Speaker 1: Was it Roquan Smith might have been.
Speaker 2: I don't know.
Speaker 1: They stripped it to the studs and have begun to
Speaker 1: rebuild it since then with Montese Sweat, with DeMarcus Walker,
Speaker 1: Jacob Martin, Andrew Billings, Gervon Dexter. I just don't know
Speaker 1: much about beyond that. Even that list is like, it's okay,
Speaker 1: and Roquan Smith's absence has been felt since he left.
Speaker 1: Neither Tremaine Edmunds or t J. Edwards really panned out
Speaker 1: in year one. Some interesting things about them are biggest storylines.
Speaker 1: Can they make it a quick turnaround, because I think
Speaker 1: that seven wins was good last year for them, but
Speaker 1: it wasn't really indicative who they were. If they can
Speaker 1: win nine games this year, that'd be a massive overhaul
Speaker 1: for the Bears. I think they made the moves and
Speaker 1: are on the correct conference to that a massive year
Speaker 1: for Matt Eberflus if he doesn't. If it doesn't work
Speaker 1: out for him this year, he's gone right. And then
Speaker 1: also Kaylee Williams coined the next chosen one? Does it
Speaker 1: pan out in year one and be honx. We've seen
Speaker 1: a quarterback like Justin Herbert be really good at first
Speaker 1: two years and pretty bad is his his third and
Speaker 1: fourth year, So you never know how it's gonna work
Speaker 1: out all the way through final roster thoughts Odoonsay, Allen
Speaker 1: and DJ Moore probably right there for one of the
Speaker 1: best groups in the NFL. It's impressive really remade the receiver.
Speaker 1: The offensive line has been the Achilles Hill for a while,
Speaker 1: but they nailed the Darnell Right draft pick, and Tevin
Speaker 1: Jenkins is a hit inside, which buy myself on the
Speaker 1: back two guys I like quite a lot in the
Speaker 1: recent draft classes. I like the defensive backfield, but we've
Speaker 1: seen how defense is with one strength and one you
Speaker 1: know not as a strong part of the unit can
Speaker 1: rebook the effectiveness of a good rush or secondary like
Speaker 1: if one's not good, the other one probably can't be
Speaker 1: good either. And keeping Jalen Johnson was a home run
Speaker 1: to me. I do want to see what Kyler Gordon
Speaker 1: looks like in year two. He had a rough rookie
Speaker 1: season after I thought he was gonna have an impressive
Speaker 1: NFL career. What can we learn about the Bears from
Speaker 1: the Dolphins perspective? Nothing? I mean, honestly, they're different ends
Speaker 1: of the spectrum. Now, we are a championship roster with
Speaker 1: the abilities to sustain that for you for years, whereas
Speaker 1: the Bears are in the part of their cycle where
Speaker 1: they hope they can utilize cap face and patch up
Speaker 1: issues and build the roster up to a point that
Speaker 1: it can contend. Of course, THEO with a rookie quarterback,
Speaker 1: they can't do that for a while. It all comes
Speaker 1: back to how good Caleb is, right, and you'd hope
Speaker 1: he's good right away because if he's not, again, ebra
Speaker 1: Flus won't be back, and then you hate the same
Speaker 1: issue that many young quarterbacks have, lack of continuity. Then also,
Speaker 1: if they're good, Shane Waldgon probably gets a head coaching job.
Speaker 1: So it's just it's tough to sustain continuity in this league.
Speaker 1: I guess to me, that's to take away more about
Speaker 1: twenty twenty five than it is this year prediction time,
Speaker 1: So these can change, remember that they will change. I'm
Speaker 1: going Lions eleven to twelve wins once again, right back
Speaker 1: at the top, Packers nine to ten wins, the Bears
Speaker 1: seven to eight wins, and the Vikings four to eight wins,
Speaker 1: so really like or four to five wins. So really
Speaker 1: it's the exact same as last year with the Vikings.
Speaker 1: Just go back a little bit more for me and
Speaker 1: the Bears win the same number of games, but I
Speaker 1: think that they're a better football team. Best quarterback in
Speaker 1: the division for me is Jordan Love. The best non
Speaker 1: quarterback on offense. I just think Pina Swool is so
Speaker 1: so good. The best defensive player is very tough, I Rashaun, Gary,
Speaker 1: Aiden Hutchinson, DJ reader, Jalen Johnson. I think I'm taking
Speaker 1: Jalen Johnson.
Speaker 2: There.
Speaker 1: The best coach to me is Matt Lafleur. My favorite
Speaker 1: rookie in the entire draft was Roma Doonsay, so I'll
Speaker 1: take him. And then my fantasy sleeper, Cole Comet. I
Speaker 1: think is a chance to make some plays in that
Speaker 1: twelve personnel, you know, tight end heavy offense that Shane
Speaker 1: Waldron wants to run to get vertical with those guys.
Speaker 1: And can you call Jamison Williams a sleeper? Probably not,
Speaker 1: but he'd be my pick if you can. So there
Speaker 1: you go. That's the NFC North. Let's go ahead and
Speaker 1: get out of here. We're gonna move the podcast from
Speaker 1: Thursday up to Wednesday so you guys can all enjoy
Speaker 1: your Fourth of July holiday without hearing me in your ears.
Speaker 1: We will preview the AFC South and talk about C. J.
Speaker 1: Stroud and the Houston Texans and those fun teams. But
Speaker 1: for now that's gonna be my time. You all. Please
Speaker 1: be sure to subscribe to the podcast on Apple Spotify,
Speaker 1: where you get your podcasts from. Go ahead and leave
Speaker 1: us a rating. And leave us a review. You can
Speaker 1: follow me on social at Winkle NFL. The team at
Speaker 1: Miami Dolphins. So I got the Fish Tank podcast with
Speaker 1: Seth and Jus. Check out the YouTube channel for media availabilities,
Speaker 1: Dolphins to Day and so much more, and last, but
Speaker 1: not least, to Miami Dolphins dot Com. Until next time.
Speaker 1: Finn's up, Carolyn and Cameron. Daddy, He's coming home.
Speaker 2: M