Speaker 1: You were listening to the Miami Dolphins Podcast Network. This
Speaker 1: is Drivetime with Travis Whingefield. Back to throw to a
Speaker 1: looking what thea wine open touchdop cleric call unbelievable. Just
Speaker 1: flew by it for a second time doing to where
Speaker 1: he was going right away That the man I want
Speaker 1: to help you soon up on his way and wattle
Speaker 1: waddle to a shotgun back to throw, looking stuffs up
Speaker 1: fires touchtop again it's waddle, It's six touchdown pass this day.
Speaker 1: Drive Time with Travis Wingfield begins. Now let me check
Speaker 1: your pulse if not far of what is up? Dolphins?
Speaker 1: And welcome to the Drive Time podcast, part of the
Speaker 1: Miami Dolphins podcast Network, covering your team, your Miami Dolphins.
Speaker 1: How's it going everybody? I am your host, Travis Wingfield.
Speaker 1: And on today's show, we continue our easy review with
Speaker 1: the inside linebackers position off ball linebackers. We'll talk a
Speaker 1: little bit about the pros and cons of the off
Speaker 1: season as a football fan, and we'll welcome in Kyle
Speaker 1: Crabs of the Draft Network to get his observations from
Speaker 1: mobile at the Senior Bowl from the Baptist Health Studios
Speaker 1: inside the Baptist Health training complex. This is the Drivetime podcast.
Speaker 1: Most smissed the queue there. We uh will get to
Speaker 1: the vic Fangio podcast when it's announced that should have
Speaker 1: happened after the Super Bowl, so that is coming. The
Speaker 1: dragons are coming. We also got news Dolphins moved on
Speaker 1: from offensive line coach Matt applebaumb per the story from
Speaker 1: Armando sal Garrel on the website I will not reference
Speaker 1: here on my podcast. He said that Frank Smith spent
Speaker 1: too much time in the offensive line room and wants
Speaker 1: to get back to be more offensive focused in general,
Speaker 1: and the Dolphins will look to find an O line
Speaker 1: coach who can basically take on the roles that Frank
Speaker 1: Smith ran last year edition to all the offensive line
Speaker 1: roles required at that position. But you guys know the
Speaker 1: drill by now, ten coaches and nine years at that position,
Speaker 1: would not be surprised to see another big addition here.
Speaker 1: People like working for coach McDaniel. Getting vic Fangio is
Speaker 1: a massive, massive poll and a great nod of you know,
Speaker 1: not having your ego bigger than your desire to to
Speaker 1: win football games and to be great down here. O.
Speaker 1: J McDuffie, you guys know him, said that the offensive
Speaker 1: lines is the toughest position to coach, and I've seen
Speaker 1: this stated multiple times from people I respect quite a
Speaker 1: bit in the industry that sometimes or not sometimes, but
Speaker 1: the offensive line can really make coaching as important as
Speaker 1: the personnel that you have. And I think that's evident
Speaker 1: when you look at the New England Patriots over the years,
Speaker 1: because when they had Dante Scarneckia, they had great offensive lines,
Speaker 1: and when they didn't, they did not. And there was
Speaker 1: a lot of similar personnel in the years that Scarneckia
Speaker 1: would come and leave and go back and leave again.
Speaker 1: So I think there's validity to that. And with all
Speaker 1: that said, this is the last week of two NFL season,
Speaker 1: with the Super Bowl coming up just six days away
Speaker 1: from the time you hear this podcast, maybe five days
Speaker 1: if you here it on Tuesday. I always take a
Speaker 1: little bit of time to kind of reflect on the
Speaker 1: fact that we don't get Dolphins football for another seven months.
Speaker 1: I then enjoy the remaining playoff games as much as
Speaker 1: I possibly can. I've talked about that here in the podcast.
Speaker 1: Then you get a little bit of the blues realizing
Speaker 1: there's no football at all for that same length of time.
Speaker 1: And I do quickly realize, you know, nothing from a
Speaker 1: hobby perspective brings me more joy than the football season,
Speaker 1: especially you know now, like Monday night football is always
Speaker 1: and must watch after the games on Sunday, and for me,
Speaker 1: Sunday Monday's longest work days of the week. Then you
Speaker 1: get two days with no football and you're right back
Speaker 1: in the saddle again on Thursday night for the weekend.
Speaker 1: That's the part of the off season I loathe the most,
Speaker 1: not having a game every two or three days that
Speaker 1: I'm looking forward to watching. And then obviously college ball
Speaker 1: on Saturdays as well, and frankly I'm all the way
Speaker 1: in on the Eastern time zone starts time as we
Speaker 1: venture here very deep into the weeds. But those eight
Speaker 1: eight twenty kickoffs, I don't know when the hell they
Speaker 1: kick off anymore. Those always fall in line with the
Speaker 1: conclusion of bedtime, so it's always a perfect way to
Speaker 1: end the day, like that's my personal time without you know,
Speaker 1: having to rustle and run around and chase kids and
Speaker 1: get dinner ready and get dishes and all that stuff
Speaker 1: taken care of. Once the day is done. Monday night football,
Speaker 1: Thursday night football kicks off. I look forward to those
Speaker 1: nights throughout the week. But now we get the off season,
Speaker 1: which I also find to be a blast, even when
Speaker 1: it doesn't involve our team, Like the quarterback carousel is
Speaker 1: always fun to project, like a fun aside here. I
Speaker 1: used to be a regular call in guest on the
Speaker 1: Brock and Sock Show. It was the ESPN affiliate of
Speaker 1: Seattle Morning Talk radio from nine to noon up in
Speaker 1: the Seattle area. Brock Heward and Mike Salk. One time,
Speaker 1: Salk asked the listeners to call in and talk him
Speaker 1: off the ledge heading into the off season. I know
Speaker 1: you all remember that year. It was the year of
Speaker 1: the quarterback carousel that really got this thing going. The
Speaker 1: first time that I can recall Peyton Manning changing teams.
Speaker 1: Matt Flynn was coming off that monster performance. Everyone backups
Speaker 1: could like parlay one big game into like getting traded
Speaker 1: for a second round pick and a massive contract. It
Speaker 1: doesn't really happen anymore. But that was also the luck
Speaker 1: r G three Tannehill, Weed and Falls Wilson draft here,
Speaker 1: and I remember telling Sock on the air, who was
Speaker 1: convinced they were going to miss out the Seahawks on
Speaker 1: top of the draft and Matt Flynn, who was, you know,
Speaker 1: besides Peyton Man the big get that year because of
Speaker 1: Joe Philbin's relation to Matt Flynn in Green Bay and
Speaker 1: getting the job in Miami. And I called in and
Speaker 1: told him, no, the Dolphins are gonna be all in
Speaker 1: on Ryan Tannehill and bring back Matt Moore. And this
Speaker 1: is when I was writing as a hobby, not getting
Speaker 1: paid and just analyzing the game as a huge fan
Speaker 1: of it. And I was right. In fact the website,
Speaker 1: my buddy ran that I was the football writer for
Speaker 1: the Bleacher Beat. Back in those days. I used to
Speaker 1: write um handicapping, Lione handicapping stories on football and projecting records,
Speaker 1: all that fun stuff. But he posted a story up
Speaker 1: there where I predicted all the quarterbacks destinations that year,
Speaker 1: and I did pretty good, outside of a few misses
Speaker 1: I think I have with the Dolphins. Tannehill call was
Speaker 1: the crux of all the success and that exercise. So
Speaker 1: what I'm saying is I'm excited. I think this will
Speaker 1: be a big year for the quarterback carousel. We've gotten
Speaker 1: two dominoes really already, one official. The Ravens came out
Speaker 1: and said they would tag Lamar Jackson if they don't
Speaker 1: get a long term deal done, and of course you
Speaker 1: can trade tagged players. But watching the Ravens end up
Speaker 1: season press conference, and a point I like to make
Speaker 1: when people ask me about it, they built that entire
Speaker 1: offense around Lamar Jackson skill set, and you don't just
Speaker 1: strip that down and start over with the same personnel
Speaker 1: and get high level production in the post Lamar Jackson era.
Speaker 1: Moving on from him would require a total shift and
Speaker 1: philosophy and personnel. And that's a playoff team who might
Speaker 1: have been a healthy quarterback away from competing for the
Speaker 1: a f C crown this year. Then of course you
Speaker 1: get Tom Brady's retirement, and that leaves the potential trades
Speaker 1: right like Aaron Rodgers, Derek Carr the four most among
Speaker 1: that group. Jimmy G's also a free agent. I would
Speaker 1: assume he gets some offers to go be somebody's QB
Speaker 1: one by at least one organization. The Raiders make sense.
Speaker 1: They're if not Rogers, And if you know, if it's
Speaker 1: not Rogers in Green Bay, what kind of market does
Speaker 1: Jordan love have who frankly, I would rather have over
Speaker 1: one or two years of weirdo Rogers It's always fun, man.
Speaker 1: The Stafford trade was that before the Super Bowl? Right
Speaker 1: after it? I can't remember. I do remember. The Alex
Speaker 1: Smith trade was exactly you know this time whenever that happened,
Speaker 1: like right between the conference championship and Super Bowl. Plus
Speaker 1: we get March Madness the start of the baseball season,
Speaker 1: and I haven't been this fired up for a Mariners
Speaker 1: season and literally twenty five years. So we got that heat,
Speaker 1: playoffs and a great South Florida golfing weather time on
Speaker 1: the calendar, on top of more time with the family.
Speaker 1: So what I'm saying is the off season, it ain't
Speaker 1: all bad. Speaking of the off season, let's go ahead
Speaker 1: and get to our year end review and go back
Speaker 1: to the defensive side of the ball here with our
Speaker 1: inside linebackers, and is a rough year for that position
Speaker 1: and group. I will say the fourth rank in rushing
Speaker 1: yards per game and tied for fourth in yards per
Speaker 1: kerry does lend itself a little bit to this position.
Speaker 1: I tend to put more on the defensive line for
Speaker 1: that for their part in that stat and that ranking
Speaker 1: two hundred and fifty six total tackles here among the
Speaker 1: four players, run stops twenty one tackles for loss. Pass
Speaker 1: rush production was pretty good thirty six pressures, fourteen hits,
Speaker 1: and nine and a half sacks. Of course, that's a
Speaker 1: lot of blitzing reps though, but the ball production was
Speaker 1: not good. No picks. It's just six passes defense to
Speaker 1: one force fumble and no recoveries. Um. As far as
Speaker 1: the individuals go, again, there was only a few guys here.
Speaker 1: Channing Tendal number forty one in order of jersey number
Speaker 1: played just nine snaps on defense total three tackles that
Speaker 1: include special teams. Didn't have any other statistics. Number forty
Speaker 1: five Duke Riley is set to be an unrestricted free agent.
Speaker 1: Forty five tackles, three for loss. He had twelve run stops,
Speaker 1: nine pressures, one hit and one sack on the quarterback.
Speaker 1: He had two passes defense was his only ball production.
Speaker 1: Uh Sam go Von number forty nine had four tackles
Speaker 1: and two of those were run stops. He's also a
Speaker 1: free agent, so was e Landon Roberts number fifty two,
Speaker 1: who had a hundred and seven tackles, ten for loss,
Speaker 1: forty run stops. He had thirteen pressures, six hits and
Speaker 1: four and a half sacks. No ball production and the
Speaker 1: number fifty five Jerome Baker a hundred tackles, six for loss,
Speaker 1: forty five run stops is a good number. Four team pressures,
Speaker 1: seven QB hits and four sacks. He got four passes
Speaker 1: defense and one force fumble. So again, ball production way
Speaker 1: down past rush production pretty good from a defense that
Speaker 1: calls on their linepackers to blitz really more than almost
Speaker 1: any other club in the NFL. And this previous defensive iteration,
Speaker 1: but just the group as a whole, Like I start
Speaker 1: with Channing Tindall, who was the Dolphins first draft pick
Speaker 1: back in two as a player that we talked about
Speaker 1: on the Friday podcast as a potential key to unlocking
Speaker 1: not having to spend resources at a need if he
Speaker 1: steps up and becomes that guy awesome. But we talked
Speaker 1: about how little football he played in college, getting that
Speaker 1: one year starting experience, and it was tough for him
Speaker 1: to get on the field because there's just a lot
Speaker 1: to learn with responsibilities, with rules, you know what certain
Speaker 1: checks do and what that means, and uh, you know,
Speaker 1: we saw him make some brief cameos this past season.
Speaker 1: I can think of that good spy rep he had
Speaker 1: on Justin fields to usher him out of bounce shy
Speaker 1: of the sticks on their opening drive. I think it
Speaker 1: was to force a field goal and post of scoring
Speaker 1: seven and a touchdown. I think when you envision what
Speaker 1: Channing can develop into, you know, that's it. Your modern
Speaker 1: day linebacker with speed to burn, capable of playing all
Speaker 1: three direct directions, going downhill, falling back into coverage, or
Speaker 1: playing silent the sideline against those stretches own concepts, and
Speaker 1: then the rest of the room on the other side
Speaker 1: of that coin. Really is Jerome Baker a player who
Speaker 1: you know, he's showing that skill set as a pro.
Speaker 1: Had that great pass rush season back in one, but
Speaker 1: it hasn't really been the same since then. I do
Speaker 1: commend him for the ability to play stack off ball
Speaker 1: on the edge, you know, Sam and Will. He can
Speaker 1: play really any position, and he makes a lot of
Speaker 1: checks and calls as the kind of the signal caller
Speaker 1: on the defense are in the middle, but the like
Speaker 1: where's the calling are the pass rush? No, it's just
Speaker 1: free runs on the quarterback coverage not really. Does he
Speaker 1: destroy blocks in the running game, not really. That's what
Speaker 1: a Landon Roberts does best. But that's a very small
Speaker 1: piece of the puzzle at the position group here in
Speaker 1: the modern day NFL. And I thought it was his
Speaker 1: best year as a pro last year. I thought he
Speaker 1: was decisive and brought the lumber as best he can.
Speaker 1: But you can still see the shortcomings when certain teams
Speaker 1: put him in positions to attack those shortcomings. The Bills
Speaker 1: that fourth down possession on the opening possession, I should
Speaker 1: say the fourth down touchdown throw was a coverage bust
Speaker 1: by Landon Roberts, and that that first game back in
Speaker 1: Miami in Week three, if you're gonna put him on
Speaker 1: the field and your base, teams will attack the play
Speaker 1: action game and go after him in the passing game.
Speaker 1: So the ideally you want to avoid that type of
Speaker 1: player on the field. So if the Dolphins want to
Speaker 1: maximize the defense, you get a player who doesn't have
Speaker 1: to be subbed out in certain roles to fulfill that spot.
Speaker 1: And I think their entire linebacking room currently as it stands,
Speaker 1: is that way. Channing Tindall being the one guy I
Speaker 1: think can be a versatile, multiple three down type of
Speaker 1: player that you don't have to worry about removing in
Speaker 1: those situations. And then of course Sam edg Van has
Speaker 1: been a glue part of the special teams since he
Speaker 1: arrived back in twenty nineteen. So you can see some
Speaker 1: upside in the room, but probably needing to make some
Speaker 1: some moves to improve. And if that's Channing Tindall improving,
Speaker 1: that would be great. If not free agency and the draft,
Speaker 1: here's what's out there. We need more ball production. Man.
Speaker 1: I would say pass rush production because of how we
Speaker 1: played in the past, but with a new defense, to me,
Speaker 1: it's more about the football. We will not blitz nearly
Speaker 1: as much. There will be some fire zones thrown in there,
Speaker 1: which is zone coverage with a fifth rusher coming, where
Speaker 1: you pull back a defensive tackle defensive edge and replace
Speaker 1: their past rush with a linebacker who or maybe even
Speaker 1: a defensive back who you didn't expect. That's pretty big
Speaker 1: in the Fangio system. Maybe there's a chance to get
Speaker 1: Jerome Baker on free runs there, but I prefer a
Speaker 1: rusher who has a counter move to just opposed to
Speaker 1: just running free, who can beat it back with their blitz.
Speaker 1: But man, like, if you all you need to do
Speaker 1: that is speed, then I've again, I've got another line
Speaker 1: acker who's faster and plays that literally ten percent of
Speaker 1: that cost. So we'll see what happens there. But for comparison,
Speaker 1: you know, talking about ball production from this group, we
Speaker 1: had one force fumble, no picks, and six passes defense. Right,
Speaker 1: we're talking about close to two thousand snaps. What are
Speaker 1: the best linebacker corps in the NFL do in San Francisco?
Speaker 1: Seventeen passes a defense that's eleven more. Two picks that's
Speaker 1: two more. Three force fumbles that's two more, and three
Speaker 1: fumble recoveries that's three more. That's honestly good to me
Speaker 1: for one or two wins that those are game changing plays.
Speaker 1: And you replace that production and literally any of our losses,
Speaker 1: most of them probably become wins. The Vikings game I
Speaker 1: think would have maybe even the Bengals game for sure,
Speaker 1: the Niners and Chargers games, and the Buffalo games they're
Speaker 1: late at the Green Bay game, any of those games.
Speaker 1: You give me that linebacker production, I think you win
Speaker 1: those games. So what's out there in a really impressive
Speaker 1: free agent class. And we'll go more into depth in
Speaker 1: the contracts where we expect, you know, from a resource
Speaker 1: allocation commitment, more in depth down the line. But the
Speaker 1: Pro Football focus top one d list is out and
Speaker 1: they usually do a pretty good job of gauging the
Speaker 1: market in terms of what players would or could get.
Speaker 1: Funny money season man, it always is, and with that
Speaker 1: one of the trick of your positions to gauge in
Speaker 1: terms of impact and resource allocation all of that. There
Speaker 1: are some clear fits here. I think now we will
Speaker 1: also do an analogs podcast in the future looking at
Speaker 1: Fangio defenses and what it looks like in terms of
Speaker 1: body type and prototype and makeup and all that stuff.
Speaker 1: But in terms of responsibilities you have to cover. You
Speaker 1: have to be able to beat blocks with physicality typically
Speaker 1: and those are one and to pass rush to me
Speaker 1: is a bonus. But again there's not tons of blitzing,
Speaker 1: so instincts like Zach Thomas type of instincts would be awesome.
Speaker 1: Get yourself in a position before you have to react. Alignment, reaction, flow, anticipation,
Speaker 1: all that stuff are key traits at this position, and
Speaker 1: there's nobody better at that in this class of free
Speaker 1: agents to me than David long Lavonte. David from Tampa
Speaker 1: Bay could be, but he's a little bit longer in
Speaker 1: the tooth and was gonna get a big contract. I
Speaker 1: tend to want to pay the bigger contracts to younger players,
Speaker 1: but this defense will often call upon five one looks
Speaker 1: you know from our four two or three three personnel.
Speaker 1: Whether that's you know, it doesn't matter who the grouping
Speaker 1: you have out there, You're gonna have five down and
Speaker 1: one off ball linebacker a lot of the times. So
Speaker 1: think Phillips and chubbed down off the edge, Steeler and
Speaker 1: Wilkins as your five or four eye techniques, or even
Speaker 1: you know you're two head up over the guard and
Speaker 1: ray Kwon Davis on the nose. The biggest need this
Speaker 1: defense has, in my opinion, right up there with cornerback
Speaker 1: depending on what happens in the house of that position,
Speaker 1: is a player that can fit multiple gaps, keep himself
Speaker 1: clean of second level climbers, and cover the hooks and
Speaker 1: curl flat zones. That's a lot to ask for, I
Speaker 1: understand that, but man, if I'm spending big money, it's
Speaker 1: David Long fintanency Titans. He is super, super instinctive who
Speaker 1: understands landmarks and concepts and just doesn't cover grass. He
Speaker 1: finds a body to cover in your man match and
Speaker 1: your zone match coverage concepts, spot Rack has him at
Speaker 1: just five million, which is crazy, and that's why I'm
Speaker 1: not going to use spot Rack anymore from market value
Speaker 1: because PFF has him at four years fifty five million,
Speaker 1: just under fourteen per year. You know that's more in
Speaker 1: line with his value. The next top of them are
Speaker 1: get options Tremaine Edmonds, and I don't like that value
Speaker 1: nearly as much. T J. Edwards is my next preferred
Speaker 1: top of the market choice breakout year, great against the
Speaker 1: run and in coverage and the size and makeup to
Speaker 1: you know, to man that role here now if you
Speaker 1: want to go more affordable, gosh a zz Alsha here
Speaker 1: makes a lot of sense. No fall steps in his game, length,
Speaker 1: pass rush and and and pass lane disruption. I also
Speaker 1: really like Laton vander Esh's game weird career, but man,
Speaker 1: he has that Brian Urlocker type of frame and athletic
Speaker 1: ability where I think you can get down the pipe
Speaker 1: and cover and also play forward. Uh call upon him
Speaker 1: to play that tough role in the middle. I don't
Speaker 1: think Okaraka is a fit. I'm also intrigued by Jermaine
Speaker 1: pat from the Bengals. He's fantastic and coverage. PFF had
Speaker 1: him with just two miss tackles playing in coverage, no
Speaker 1: mistackles against the run, and only allowed four explosive plays
Speaker 1: in the passing game all year long. And the Bengals
Speaker 1: needing to load up for Burrow, Chase and Higgins and
Speaker 1: all those guys. Maybe he does skate free. Probably my
Speaker 1: third option among the top of the market guys. They
Speaker 1: are David Long. I didn't even talk about t J.
Speaker 1: Edwards had a breakout year this year. Uh great against
Speaker 1: the run and coverage and the size makeup to man
Speaker 1: that role here and then Jermaine Pratt in the mid
Speaker 1: tier option, Aziz Alsha here, Lton vander Esh I also
Speaker 1: put Drew Tranquil in there, and my bargain players. It
Speaker 1: might be Duke Riley, It might be a land In Roberts.
Speaker 1: I don't think you're going to upgrade the position going
Speaker 1: this route, but if you want to go catch lightning
Speaker 1: at the bottle somehow the way the Packers and a
Speaker 1: few years ago with theve Andre Campbell. Maybe it's Alex Anzeloni.
Speaker 1: Maybe it's Dakota Allen who played for Fangio previously in Denver.
Speaker 1: Maybe it's Quincy Williams. I don't really think so. I
Speaker 1: think this is an area you can absolutely justify going
Speaker 1: and spending a decent chunk of change on. There's still
Speaker 1: nineteen million dollars in cash owe to Baker, but you
Speaker 1: can get out of that deal for eight point seven
Speaker 1: million dead money. Uh this year. He's been paid the
Speaker 1: guarantees in the contract already, but making eight point seven
Speaker 1: this eleven point one next year. So you can supplement
Speaker 1: the position with the idea of maybe getting out of
Speaker 1: that deal next year, or maybe you stay the course
Speaker 1: and go this route towards the draft. Not a great
Speaker 1: off ball linebacker class, but we aren't in the market
Speaker 1: for a first rounder anyway, so maybe it's a good thing.
Speaker 1: I don't think Clemson's Trent and Simpson is an option.
Speaker 1: He would be a fantastic option if he makes it
Speaker 1: to pick fifty two. I don't think he does two
Speaker 1: forty pounds. Physical, best athlete at the position in the draft.
Speaker 1: He accession especially excels and coverage. Drew Sanders I think
Speaker 1: it's probably next from Arkansas, but he's kind of a
Speaker 1: hybrid edge rusher. Then you get jack Jack Campbell from Iowa,
Speaker 1: something of a draft Twitter favorite. He's been fun to
Speaker 1: watch on tape. He's a true mike backer who is
Speaker 1: thought to have the best floor of the class. Six
Speaker 1: ft five, two fifty pounds played that mike position his
Speaker 1: entire life and it shows, and the way he takes
Speaker 1: on blocks and reads angles. You might have to use
Speaker 1: fifty two on this player. Maybe you can move back
Speaker 1: or up into the late end of of round two,
Speaker 1: early round three. We'll see. But he's the best fit
Speaker 1: in the draft in terms of a true Pierre Mic linebacker.
Speaker 1: And then I've talked about day On Henley a lot
Speaker 1: from Washington State. He's a Day two pick. He might
Speaker 1: be more in that Drew Sanders category than Jack Campbell
Speaker 1: for edge hybrid. Frankly, I draft him and figured out
Speaker 1: where he goes after the fact former quarterback played wide
Speaker 1: receiver too. You see the athletic ability, his change of direction, skills,
Speaker 1: twelve tackles for lost, four sacks, one interception, three four
Speaker 1: Almost this year we talked about Needy more ball production.
Speaker 1: He can do that. So, Frankly, I think your solution
Speaker 1: is in this crop that I've mentioned here today. I
Speaker 1: would prioritize David Long, t J. Edwards, a zz alsha Here,
Speaker 1: Layton vander esh, Jack Campbell, and Dayon Henley. I think
Speaker 1: one of those guys can help you maximize this Fangio defense.
Speaker 1: There's some Day three options, but they all come with,
Speaker 1: you know, baggage. Noah Sewell the organ linebacker, not the
Speaker 1: coverage savant, but he's a nice cheap Landed Roberts type
Speaker 1: of player, thumper, better pass rusher than Roberts, not a
Speaker 1: space player. But after that it's all sub package and
Speaker 1: you know special teams guys like Sewell, Cam Jones Indiana,
Speaker 1: Dorian Williams from tou Lane, Nick Herbig from Wisconsin. Not
Speaker 1: a bad crop to choose from your fit to fit
Speaker 1: your needs. So plenty of options there. Speaking of options,
Speaker 1: that go ahead and take our first break here long
Speaker 1: podcast to day and come back on the other side.
Speaker 1: We'll talk all things Senior Bowl with Kyle Crabs in
Speaker 1: the Draft Network. That's next Drift Time podcast. Your host
Speaker 1: Travis Wingfield, brought to you by Auto Nation, joining me
Speaker 1: now on the Drive Time podcast is the head Haunt Show,
Speaker 1: the big dog, the boss at the Draft Network. He's
Speaker 1: also the host of Locked on Dolphins. You know him,
Speaker 1: He's Kyle Crabs. Kyle, did I get the t d
Speaker 1: N title. Right, I'm pretty close. I think, um yeah,
Speaker 1: let's let's sit with the big dog. I think that's
Speaker 1: the one that resonated with me the most out of
Speaker 1: everything that she threw out here. So yeah, the big
Speaker 1: dogs here. We're ready to talk a little bit of Dolphins,
Speaker 1: a little bit of draft. Excited to be chat with
Speaker 1: my good buddy Travis Wingfield and give Dolphins fans a treat.
Speaker 1: It's one of my go to Nick Dames for anybody. Man,
Speaker 1: woman's size, shape doesn't matter. You're a big dog either way.
Speaker 1: But you are the big dog at the Draft Network
Speaker 1: and because of that, you're down in Mobile for the
Speaker 1: Senior Bowl. How is it treating you? Man? I saw
Speaker 1: you guys are doing some some live stuff around dinner time.
Speaker 1: I know you're busy during the day watching practices and
Speaker 1: grinding the tape as the handle would suggest. Doesn't look
Speaker 1: like you guys got one of those annual miserable weather
Speaker 1: days this time around either. Uh, we did, but it
Speaker 1: it's actually just more it was more like a mild
Speaker 1: day for South Florida residents because it was hot. The
Speaker 1: first day we got we got torched. I talked with
Speaker 1: the executive director Jim Naggy said, Dude, I can't remember
Speaker 1: a day of practice that was that hot in like
Speaker 1: twenty years of the Senior Bowl. So it was felt
Speaker 1: like training camp weather, and uh we we paid the
Speaker 1: price with our with our sunburn. But that's uh as
Speaker 1: the risk you takedown in mobile and the practices have
Speaker 1: been great, the event has been great, the players have
Speaker 1: been great. Had a lot of chance to meet a
Speaker 1: lot of really compelling young men who are getting remate
Speaker 1: to jump to the NFL and the excited for them
Speaker 1: for the opportunity that they have in front of them,
Speaker 1: and to talk about some of the ones that might
Speaker 1: be fits for the Dolphins. Let's go ahead and start
Speaker 1: right there then, Kyle, because that's what you're on the
Speaker 1: podcast for Dolphins and Draft Expert kind of meets the
Speaker 1: center section for us at a perfect time every draft season,
Speaker 1: and we haven't had you on since the last draft
Speaker 1: cycle before we get into the Senior Bowl, though, I
Speaker 1: just wanted to check in on the bigger picture of
Speaker 1: the main reason we're having the podcast here talking Miami
Speaker 1: Dolphins football. Just want to kind of gauge how you're
Speaker 1: feeling about the team coming off the season that had
Speaker 1: so many highs, so many low was a playoff birth,
Speaker 1: near victory there, near surprise victory in the wild card round,
Speaker 1: some aggressive roster decisions. I think last time you and
Speaker 1: I spoke was probably after the Tyreek Hill trade and
Speaker 1: talking about using those late ones to get premiere players.
Speaker 1: Dolphins turned around to that again, a reported move for
Speaker 1: a big name defensive coordinator. A lot has happened in
Speaker 1: three hundred sixty five days. How are you feeling about
Speaker 1: the Dolphins right now heading into the offseason. Well, I
Speaker 1: was just having this this conversation down here in Mobile
Speaker 1: with somebody on a personnel staff and talking about process
Speaker 1: versus results, and I know that that's something that that
Speaker 1: is listeners to any any shows that I do would
Speaker 1: not be surprised to hear me invoke that that phrase.
Speaker 1: But I really do think the process for Miami has
Speaker 1: been good and for as much as you know, the
Speaker 1: discussion for Dolphins fans may or not may not be
Speaker 1: focused about postseason success. Let's put it in the perspective
Speaker 1: of there's twelve teams in the NFL um that have
Speaker 1: twenty eight or more wins over the last three seasons.
Speaker 1: The Dolphins are one of those twelve, and they're only
Speaker 1: one of four teams to have three consecutive winnings these
Speaker 1: across that stretch. So I mean, you think about the
Speaker 1: results for Miami, they haven't had the big breakthrough that
Speaker 1: so many Dolphins fans have been waiting for for so long,
Speaker 1: but the process is bearing fruit in a way from
Speaker 1: Miami that the fans should be really excited about the
Speaker 1: direction of the team. And we're coming into an off
Speaker 1: season where Miami has has doubled down on a young
Speaker 1: quarterback that showed growth this year, and obviously the the
Speaker 1: offensive production versus what I have been in previous season
Speaker 1: season speaks for itself. And now you already have have
Speaker 1: indicated that you're going to be making some changes in
Speaker 1: other key spots to help facilitate this team continuing to
Speaker 1: evolve and take the next step. So I think it's
Speaker 1: a very exciting time to be a Dolphins fan in general.
Speaker 1: Not to mention, like we talked about the mid season
Speaker 1: moves that kind of almost ushered in that new wave
Speaker 1: at least on one side of the football with Bradley Chubb,
Speaker 1: and we just haven't had this team. Are seeing this
Speaker 1: team rather invest so heavily at that edge rush position.
Speaker 1: Now they have a couple of guys and even guys
Speaker 1: that are up for contracts this offseason that really got
Speaker 1: after it, and so I'm excited to see what can
Speaker 1: be done out side of the football year two going
Speaker 1: into or I should say going into year two of
Speaker 1: Mike McDaniel's offense. I mean, you're hitting a lot of
Speaker 1: the notes we talked about here on Draft Time, especially
Speaker 1: process over results. Uh in that in that vein and
Speaker 1: speaking of this offseason and some more resources used to
Speaker 1: put into this football team to improve it in three Um,
Speaker 1: the biggest way to do that, or one of them
Speaker 1: is the draft, right and I think the draft starts
Speaker 1: in Mobile. I'll go ahead and throw Jim that, uh
Speaker 1: that complimentary tagline here on the podcast. Years are burning
Speaker 1: right now. He did the show a couple of years ago,
Speaker 1: so I think he'd be happy to hear that. Uh.
Speaker 1: We we've support the Senior Bowl very big time here
Speaker 1: on the on the Draft Time podcast, very bigly. I
Speaker 1: guess I should have said, but let's go ahead and
Speaker 1: start here, and how you like this year's crop just
Speaker 1: in general, like, what's who's the carved up hand with
Speaker 1: a class, how you like in this Senior Bowl crop
Speaker 1: and and what's sticking out to you so far? Man,
Speaker 1: So this Senior Bowl class for me, maybe lacks some
Speaker 1: of the top end of the first round talent that
Speaker 1: you've become accustomed to attending here at the Senior Bowl.
Speaker 1: And I think that's more of a testament of this
Speaker 1: draft class in general. You know, when when when we
Speaker 1: are are stacking these play and doing in rankings. I'm
Speaker 1: gonna be honest, you get the first six names down
Speaker 1: on the board and you're like, well, whoever is gonna
Speaker 1: be number seven really feels like they should be seventeen.
Speaker 1: It's that there is this little bit of a vacuum
Speaker 1: and in that vein, it's a great embodiment of the
Speaker 1: value that I think the Dolphins got with the draft
Speaker 1: selection that they chose to invest with that number twenty
Speaker 1: one over I'll pick which started with San Francisco, and
Speaker 1: then it was in Miami, and then it went to Denver,
Speaker 1: and now it's in New Orleans. So I mean it
Speaker 1: might change hance another four times by the time the
Speaker 1: draft actually rolls around. But um, I think Miami is
Speaker 1: is really well positioned to have a number of UM
Speaker 1: players that are stars down here in the strike zone
Speaker 1: for the Dolphins where their three Day two selections. And
Speaker 1: you ask me who shines, the first name that comes
Speaker 1: to mind for me is Kansas State cornerback Julius Prentz.
Speaker 1: Who's long, he's physical, he can play zone, he can
Speaker 1: play man. He had an awesome Big Twelve championship game
Speaker 1: against Quinton Johnston, who a lot of people associate with
Speaker 1: being a top twin, top twenty five selection in this
Speaker 1: draft class. Friends, has has been an absolute stalwart and standout.
Speaker 1: And I think another name that is of a position
Speaker 1: for need for the Dolphins is Luke Musgrave, the tight
Speaker 1: end from Oregon State. When we played in two games
Speaker 1: this season, dealt with injury. He said it was the
Speaker 1: first time he missed time since pee wee football. Um.
Speaker 1: But from a heightweight, speed perspective, like you, you'd heard
Speaker 1: that the rumblings of the league being high on Luke Musgrave,
Speaker 1: and seeing him in person down here, it's very apparent
Speaker 1: why that's the case. The question is whether or not
Speaker 1: these guys have boosted themselves into a stratosphere in which
Speaker 1: if Miami fell in love with one of them down
Speaker 1: here and continues throughout their process. Um, if they're going
Speaker 1: to be in the strikes, owner, if you'd have to
Speaker 1: be aggressive to go get one of those guys to
Speaker 1: potentially help fill a need for your roster. Yeah, you're
Speaker 1: hitting the right notes, man, because it seems like every
Speaker 1: single year that kind of I guess Day two picks
Speaker 1: In general, it seems like there's always a handful of
Speaker 1: guys that went through the process, played well in the
Speaker 1: Senior Bowl, uh, tested well in Indianapolis, wind up being
Speaker 1: like you know that, I guess fifty two pick seventy
Speaker 1: five range, and that wind up being like an All
Speaker 1: Pro in a couple of years. I'm thinking like Terry McLaurin,
Speaker 1: Deebo Samuel a couple of examples, and those are both receivers. But, um,
Speaker 1: you know, every year it seems like we get that,
Speaker 1: especially on the offensive line to the offensive line, seems
Speaker 1: like it's a small school guy every year. I'm sure
Speaker 1: you'll mention Cody Mock at some point, but let's go
Speaker 1: ahead and get back there acause you mentioned cornerbacks, you
Speaker 1: mentioned tight end. Think offensive lines always an area you
Speaker 1: focus on for every team every single year, and we've
Speaker 1: seen some good buzz from that group, And let's kind
Speaker 1: of go ahead and whittle it down here because we've
Speaker 1: heard coach McDaniel go in depth on this a few times,
Speaker 1: UM retraining the way these guys play the game, the
Speaker 1: way they fire off the football, uh, compared to maybe
Speaker 1: how they played it in different schemes. I thought we
Speaker 1: saw Rob Hunt have his best year in this system.
Speaker 1: I thought we saw Connor Williams transition to a new
Speaker 1: position to become one of the five best, maybe three
Speaker 1: or two best centers in the NFL. That's a discussion
Speaker 1: for another day. We saw to Ron Armstead do what
Speaker 1: to Ron Armstead does and dominate. With all that knowledge
Speaker 1: in the back of your mind, which players in this
Speaker 1: game or this week of practice fit that mold for
Speaker 1: the Dolphins, like on the offensive line, Well, I think
Speaker 1: you in voked the right name first off the bat
Speaker 1: with Cody match Now. He he wasn't uh dominating throughout
Speaker 1: the course of the week. He he he was tested
Speaker 1: at times with the first step, quickness and twitch. And
Speaker 1: it's important to remember, well he was a tackle in
Speaker 1: North Dakota State, UM, but he played tackle, guard, and
Speaker 1: center on both sides of the ball this week in practice.
Speaker 1: So if there was ever, Hey, let me get a
Speaker 1: new left guard. Let me get a new right tackle.
Speaker 1: You know who stood up Cody Match and he went
Speaker 1: and got in line and he got up there and
Speaker 1: he got as many reps as he could. So you
Speaker 1: love that competitiveness for him as something that really pops.
Speaker 1: I think John Michael Schmidt's the center from Minnesota is
Speaker 1: a big center, but but he is very fluid. Minnesota
Speaker 1: ran a lot of zone concepts and their rushing offense,
Speaker 1: and then they built r pos off of that. And
Speaker 1: if that sounds familiar for Dolphins fans, well it probably
Speaker 1: should because zone concepts and r pos off of that
Speaker 1: is there's some overlap between what Miami has showcased as
Speaker 1: maybe being staples of their offense as they continue to
Speaker 1: grow and involving tool defensive personnel and what Minnesota did
Speaker 1: when John Michael Schmitz, who was there for six years,
Speaker 1: did and was a staple in the center of that
Speaker 1: that unit. The nice thing about John is he has
Speaker 1: guard center flexibility. So you might hear, oh, well, he's
Speaker 1: a center, we got Connor. Well yeah, but this is
Speaker 1: a three pound offensive lineman who has guard versatility too.
Speaker 1: So if he were a player for the Dolphins that
Speaker 1: ended up being on the board in an area where
Speaker 1: they felt he was the appropriate kind of fit. I
Speaker 1: don't think he they'd be restricted by personnel decision making
Speaker 1: to to have to choose one guy or the other
Speaker 1: to be on the field. The third name that I
Speaker 1: would mentioned Matthew bergeron tackle from Syracuse. Long fluid movement
Speaker 1: skills are good. He actually showcased a better anchor here
Speaker 1: in mobile than I thought he showcased on tape at times.
Speaker 1: And that's really promising when you consider that Syracuse offense
Speaker 1: was either Ronde Gaston Jr. For another name that Dolphins
Speaker 1: fans will recognize, Shawn Tucker the running back, or bust
Speaker 1: Off pensively, So they were very limited in what they
Speaker 1: could do, and I think that that put the offensive
Speaker 1: line in some disadvantageous situations throughout the course of the
Speaker 1: season for Syracuse. Well, you isolate the variable of Matthew
Speaker 1: bergeron and what he was able to do down here,
Speaker 1: and he moves like his own tackle, I can tell
Speaker 1: you that. And he's built like a tackle. And now
Speaker 1: all of a sudden, he's dropped an anchor in one
Speaker 1: on ones where you have a lot of grass to
Speaker 1: I decide to you that you have to cover, so
Speaker 1: you have to be a really good reactive natural athlete. Um.
Speaker 1: But then he was getting moving in the run game too,
Speaker 1: So I think those are the probably the three names
Speaker 1: if I were to invoke with center guardment tackle that
Speaker 1: that popped to me for the kind of movement skills
Speaker 1: and aggressiveness and competitive nature that we're probably affiliating with
Speaker 1: what the Dolphins would like to add if they are
Speaker 1: retooling that offensive line in any number of spots. I
Speaker 1: get a chance to see Rondo gats And every Sunday
Speaker 1: at the radio station for he does pregame, we do
Speaker 1: post games, so we see him down there and it's
Speaker 1: good talking to Rondo. He's very, very proud of his
Speaker 1: son over there at Syracuse. That was a cool shot out.
Speaker 1: He should be because he's an salute baller. Man. All dude,
Speaker 1: all the guys that we grew up watching, all their
Speaker 1: kids are gonna be better than even they were, Like
Speaker 1: Marvin Harrison's kid. Man. It's it's it's something to watch.
Speaker 1: It's it blows my mind. Hey, quick follow before we
Speaker 1: take a break, care real quick. You mentioned John Michael
Speaker 1: Schmidt and say it again in the name John Michael
Speaker 1: Schmidt's Schmidt's Okay, that's what I thought, Um, And you
Speaker 1: mentioned six, you know, six years in college something I've seen,
Speaker 1: you know, around draft communities or whether it's just Twitter
Speaker 1: or whatever, I don't know, but people talking about like
Speaker 1: breakout age and you know, being too old of a
Speaker 1: prospect is a downside for like quarterbacks or receivers, But
Speaker 1: is that a benefit for the offensive line? Like does
Speaker 1: the league kind of like a year old offensive lineman
Speaker 1: they can draft and they know he's gonna come in mature,
Speaker 1: kind of as ready for pro football as you can be. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I I certainly think you see this trend with offensive
Speaker 1: lineman in general, where they come into the league and
Speaker 1: you kind of have this culture shock of the difference
Speaker 1: between the college game and the pro game. But Michael
Speaker 1: schm it's playing in the Big Ten for as long
Speaker 1: as he did and facing a lot of NFL talent
Speaker 1: and then being exposed all the different kinds of defenses.
Speaker 1: I certainly think there's a little bit less of a
Speaker 1: concern with the physical maturation of the player and what
Speaker 1: that strike zone looks like versus the mental maturation of
Speaker 1: the player. In the strike zone that they have to
Speaker 1: kind of overlap as many peak years as possible, and
Speaker 1: for offensive lineman uh to to be a higher floor player,
Speaker 1: I certainly think helps build a resume for you to
Speaker 1: be coveted more because everybody needs like seven good offensive
Speaker 1: lineman and we know that's not the way the NFL works.
Speaker 1: There's very few teams that have five or six, let
Speaker 1: alone seven to have the appropriate depth that they need.
Speaker 1: So yeah, if you can alleviate some of those concerns
Speaker 1: and be a high floor player, I certainly think it
Speaker 1: helps boost your stock at that group, just because of
Speaker 1: how many you need to roster to feel good about
Speaker 1: the entire unit. Not to mention the position flexibility to
Speaker 1: which has always been a kind of a mainstay down
Speaker 1: here with Dolphins offensive lines. Good stuff, Kyle, Let's go
Speaker 1: ahead and take a break here real quick. We'll come
Speaker 1: back on the other side, talk about skill players, defensive
Speaker 1: backs and the rest of the crop. Here at the
Speaker 1: Senior Bowl and Mobile. Kyle crabs the Draft Network and
Speaker 1: locked on Dolphins. Coming back next here Drivetime Podcast, your
Speaker 1: host Travis Wingfield, brought to you by Auto Nation, talking
Speaker 1: all things Senior Bowl down in Mobile, Kyle Crabs locked
Speaker 1: on Dolphins podcast and the Resident Big Dog was his title.
Speaker 1: I believe that the draft newer he came up with.
Speaker 1: He's given us all all things Miami Dolphins related draft
Speaker 1: prospects here. Dolphins got a couple of picks on Day
Speaker 1: three three to be exact, and then I think it
Speaker 1: was three two more on Day three, round six and
Speaker 1: seven for the Dolphins. So not a lot of meat
Speaker 1: on the bone for this draft class, but plenty of
Speaker 1: premium picks there in the top or so. And Kyle,
Speaker 1: I want to talk about the skill spots here because
Speaker 1: you know, Miami had their best offense and twenty five
Speaker 1: something years. I forget the exact number. We know we've
Speaker 1: got playmakers all over the field, but focusing on the
Speaker 1: running backs and receiver positions, so we moved tight end
Speaker 1: here for a moment. Who's caught your attention as potential
Speaker 1: draft picks among receivers and running backs and what Miami
Speaker 1: likes to do in this offensive system. Yeah. I think
Speaker 1: there's a number of backs who have really really popped,
Speaker 1: one of them being TAIJ. Spears from Tulane. He's probably
Speaker 1: been the most consistent back from start to finish. Throughout
Speaker 1: the week of practices. Um came in a little bit
Speaker 1: bigger than expected. He's got really violent cuts, he can
Speaker 1: run between the tackles, He's got some explosiveness to hit
Speaker 1: some big plays. He did that in practice this week.
Speaker 1: So UM, I think that's probably the big winner. I
Speaker 1: know Illinois running back Chase Brown didn't have a great
Speaker 1: consistent week from a a practice to practice performance perspective,
Speaker 1: But I still have a hard time for getting the
Speaker 1: tape with Chase Brown. And he had a phenomenal year
Speaker 1: this year and came in at five nine and a
Speaker 1: half two fifteen pounds a little bigger as well than expected.
Speaker 1: And and he's definitely got explosiveness to the edge. So
Speaker 1: those are the two backs that when I look at
Speaker 1: Miami and if they choose to go in a different
Speaker 1: direction than either a Jeff Wilson Uri Raheem, most those
Speaker 1: guys are probably going to be middle round type selections
Speaker 1: at the running back position when you factor in the
Speaker 1: positional value of running backs wide receiver. There's been a
Speaker 1: lot of really really interesting guys there. You want on speed,
Speaker 1: you got Nathaniel tank Dell from Houston, who was uncoverable
Speaker 1: through the first two days of practice you want size. Uh,
Speaker 1: you have a couple of Standford kids out here, um,
Speaker 1: who have surprised with how fluid they are for their
Speaker 1: stature as well. Um, you've got Xavier Hutchinson from Iowa
Speaker 1: State who has been a pretty consistent performer and contested
Speaker 1: situations as well. Um, there's all different kinds of flavors.
Speaker 1: And I guess the question for Miami is what role
Speaker 1: do they envision for Eric Azukama middle round selection from
Speaker 1: them from last year who we finally got to see
Speaker 1: a little action late in the season, get a handful
Speaker 1: of reps, but it was largely quiet transitional year for him,
Speaker 1: and whether or not that he's ready to take over
Speaker 1: for Trend Shurfield. Do you bring her field back? Do
Speaker 1: you feel you need to go get another player to
Speaker 1: play the Trend Shurtfield role. There's some potential flux in
Speaker 1: the depth of that Dolphins receiver room, and I think
Speaker 1: you consider all the options that they have on the
Speaker 1: table that there's all kinds out here, and they're all
Speaker 1: kinds that are really going to be available in the
Speaker 1: rounds in which the Dolphins have picked. So it's a
Speaker 1: it's a fun group to look at and kind of say, hey,
Speaker 1: there's there's nobody here at receiver that we should consider
Speaker 1: to be off the menu as it pertains to the Dolphins. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that sounds good. And I mean that's probably the one
Speaker 1: position where if I looked at and you said one
Speaker 1: position you have to bring back the exact same room,
Speaker 1: what would it be. It might be the wide receiver's room.
Speaker 1: So they're in good shape there. But it's always good
Speaker 1: to hear that, and it seems to be the case
Speaker 1: every year. There's always so many receivers available that can
Speaker 1: fit what your specific team needs are. And you mentioned
Speaker 1: Trent shut and we know how important he is the
Speaker 1: blocking game here in the running game, and kind of
Speaker 1: speaking of that and condensing things inside, I wanted to
Speaker 1: isolate the tight end position on its own because you know, one,
Speaker 1: how good of this draft class looks to be at
Speaker 1: the position for age and see it looks to be similar,
Speaker 1: you know, as far as what's available right now. That
Speaker 1: will change when teams start, you know, applying franchise tags
Speaker 1: and long term contracts. But Kyle, first, are any of
Speaker 1: the top five tight ends in this year's class down
Speaker 1: in a mobile and then from there just give us
Speaker 1: the rundown on the players you liked that could be
Speaker 1: fits in this system with McDaniel and Frank Smith and
Speaker 1: John Embrey and the Miami Dolphins offense. Yeah, Luke Musgrave
Speaker 1: is definitely a top two tight end in this class
Speaker 1: in general, and I would not be surprised if he
Speaker 1: ends up getting up into that first und stratosphere when
Speaker 1: it's all said and done. I mean, you saw him
Speaker 1: in person who said, Holy cow, this dude looks like
Speaker 1: he's built in a lab. And then he practices and
Speaker 1: he says, yeah, I felt it was great to be
Speaker 1: back out there, had and played a game in like
Speaker 1: five months. Uh, but I felt slow, like my legs
Speaker 1: felt heavy. Took me till about the end of the
Speaker 1: practice on Tuesday before I kind of got my legs
Speaker 1: up underneath me. And then sure enough, he was the
Speaker 1: fastest GPS tracked time tight end on Tuesday's practices at
Speaker 1: eighteen and a half miles power when he said he
Speaker 1: felt slow, so we kind of got a chuckle out
Speaker 1: of that. And then the Wednesday GPS numbers come out
Speaker 1: and he's the first Senior Bowl tight end in the
Speaker 1: last five years with Zebra tracking technology to crack twenty
Speaker 1: miles per hour on the GPS, so the big boy run.
Speaker 1: He's got strong hands, he can block. He talked about
Speaker 1: the enthusiasm that he has for blocking, and I think
Speaker 1: that's the thing for Miami. When you consider the receiving
Speaker 1: skill set that the Dolphins have had with Mike Gasecki,
Speaker 1: you foil that with um the blocking skill set of
Speaker 1: some of the other players at the position, and then
Speaker 1: you consider is there an opportunity to get all of
Speaker 1: that in one player and the challenges that it could
Speaker 1: pose two opposing defenses in addition to trying to accommodate
Speaker 1: for all the speed that the Dolphins have on the
Speaker 1: outside in the backfield. I think that's really an exciting
Speaker 1: opportunity for Miami if it proposes itself to the team. Now,
Speaker 1: the challenges is Musgrave has performed at a very high level.
Speaker 1: Dalton Ki Kate from Utah was scheduled to be here.
Speaker 1: He unfortunately as an injury and was not able to
Speaker 1: come down in part participate, but he was one of
Speaker 1: the top five as well. For sure, I'd like to
Speaker 1: acknowledge at least one day three name who had a
Speaker 1: really nice practice on Thursday. A number of big time
Speaker 1: catches and it's pain uh Durham from Perdue. This was
Speaker 1: a guy who's a little bit more of a renowned blocker.
Speaker 1: But they went to the high red zone and he
Speaker 1: caught a high point of the ball against two defenders
Speaker 1: to go up and catch the football in the corner
Speaker 1: of the end zone. And then they did two minute
Speaker 1: offense to close the practice and he makes the scene
Speaker 1: catch that gets some twenty seven yards and gets in
Speaker 1: the field goal range. So the Purdue tight end certainly
Speaker 1: helped himself throughout the course of this week. Finished his
Speaker 1: practice week with an exclamation pointing and it kind of
Speaker 1: showcase the skill set that gives him some nice versatilities
Speaker 1: potentially a Day three target. I love when you perk
Speaker 1: up about players at positions that could potentially be need
Speaker 1: to the Miami Dolphins. It sounds like a good time
Speaker 1: to to have a need of some of these spots
Speaker 1: you're talking about here. Let's go ahead and flip it
Speaker 1: over to the other side of the football and talk
Speaker 1: front seven as a whole before doing defensive backs. Now
Speaker 1: you aready mentioned, Julius brans is a name that really
Speaker 1: stands out to you off the top. You and I
Speaker 1: have had so many conversations about this that the past
Speaker 1: rush was really good. This year, Kyle, the front was good.
Speaker 1: We needed a better marriage of Russian coverage all year
Speaker 1: to kind of, you know, bring it all together, and
Speaker 1: it happened at times. But a lot of that front
Speaker 1: is back this year, man, and I'm pumped up about it.
Speaker 1: So let me go ahead and phrase the question this
Speaker 1: way to you, where are you looking on the front
Speaker 1: seven in this defense? And then who fits those interests
Speaker 1: that you might have this week in mobile? I think
Speaker 1: that the Dolphins, in the same way that we talked
Speaker 1: about having more diverse skill sets and single players at
Speaker 1: the tight MP position, I think that's relevant in the
Speaker 1: linebacker group. And do you think about Jerome Baker and
Speaker 1: he's a kind of a de facto three down player,
Speaker 1: but that other spot is either Elaine and Roberts as
Speaker 1: a guy who's frequently playing downhill and when he's on
Speaker 1: the field and passing situations, a lot of the times
Speaker 1: he's adding on as a pressure player. And then you
Speaker 1: foiled out with Duke Riley, who I thought has been
Speaker 1: a pretty sturdy player for the Dolphins, but he is
Speaker 1: a little bit more of a space linebacker, can you
Speaker 1: find a player that can do both? And of course
Speaker 1: the team drafted Channing tin Dall and he had a
Speaker 1: transitional year in the same way that Eric Azukama did,
Speaker 1: and and the team's faith in him and his ability
Speaker 1: to do that may dictate just how urgent the Dolphins
Speaker 1: feel adding another linebacker that's physically capable of doing all
Speaker 1: of the above is for the team this offseason. But
Speaker 1: there were there were a couple of guys um Kim
Speaker 1: Jones from Indiana who missed the last eight games of
Speaker 1: the season with a foot injury. Diane Henley from Washington State.
Speaker 1: I know that's gonna perk you up up bogs Um,
Speaker 1: former wide receiver who transitioned to safety at Nevada and
Speaker 1: then he transitioned the linebacker in Nevada and then he
Speaker 1: transferred to Washington State. He's been really good in the
Speaker 1: past rush stuff. Um. I think there's some really range
Speaker 1: e guys here at linebacker here that if, especially when
Speaker 1: you consider the expiring contracts that the Dolphins are facing
Speaker 1: at that position, you don't know for sure who's going
Speaker 1: to be back. Um, there's no shortage of athletic linebackers,
Speaker 1: and I think that's probably the top spot when I
Speaker 1: think about the front seven, that Miami is going to
Speaker 1: have to negotiate who they want to bring back, who
Speaker 1: financially it makes sense to bring back who's played themselves
Speaker 1: into a different stratosphere than Miami has budget for. Those
Speaker 1: are all questions the team is going to have to
Speaker 1: ask themselves. But there there's a good group of linebackers
Speaker 1: down here. Absolutely. I get the sense that, you know,
Speaker 1: kind of going through my own offseason, uh, you know
Speaker 1: what's what's protected to be free agency and draft and
Speaker 1: our own incumbents, our own free agency up it looks
Speaker 1: like Miami is gonna have options, which they tend to
Speaker 1: put themselves in that position every single year. With the
Speaker 1: flexibility of how they do things with you know, player negotiation,
Speaker 1: all that fun stuff, and and the flexibility of the
Speaker 1: players they get, it just kind of trickles down all
Speaker 1: the way to ultimately having options in the end. And
Speaker 1: let's go ahead and finish up here with the penultimate
Speaker 1: question before I get to my kind of fun game
Speaker 1: I have for you at the very end that puts
Speaker 1: you on the spot. Big dog of Draft Network, Kyle
Speaker 1: Crabs the defensive backs we saw Miami deal with a
Speaker 1: third level of attrition here. Defensive scheme shift likely coming here. Obviously,
Speaker 1: I want to talk both corner and safety. What are
Speaker 1: we looking at those two positions here as far as
Speaker 1: potential fits down on mobile for the Senior Bowl. So
Speaker 1: I mentioned Julius Prince. I'd like to again mentioned Julius Prince.
Speaker 1: I'm a big fan of this guy. Talked to him
Speaker 1: after practice on Tuesday, and he's just wired the right
Speaker 1: way to be a really successful player. And he checks
Speaker 1: a lot of boxes for his instincts and his physicality
Speaker 1: and his length. I think if you go go beyond that,
Speaker 1: Darius Rush corner from South Carolina was another guy who
Speaker 1: timed really well as like a six ft two corner.
Speaker 1: Regen Right from from Oregon State into the packed twelve guy,
Speaker 1: another big corner long and you think about you know,
Speaker 1: regardless of whether or not the Dolphins are calling zone
Speaker 1: or man type defenses, to have length, it is important
Speaker 1: to be able to do uh. And those guys I
Speaker 1: think have all showcase movement and skills in addition to
Speaker 1: length of gives you some feasibility that they could be
Speaker 1: versatile coverage players on the back end of your defense
Speaker 1: at safety. Jamie Robinson from Florida State is a name
Speaker 1: that pops to me, and the other one is Sydney
Speaker 1: Brown from Illinois. It's the brother of Chase Brown, and Sydney,
Speaker 1: for my money, was the best practice player across all
Speaker 1: three days for either team. I think he's made himself
Speaker 1: a lot of money with the attention that he has
Speaker 1: drawn to himself. And this is a player when you
Speaker 1: think about versatility in the secondary. He's covered tight ends.
Speaker 1: At Illinois, they were very man heavy with their defense,
Speaker 1: obviously with Devin Witherspoon, who's rumored to be a top
Speaker 1: twenty type selection. The other corner, Kwon Martin, played in
Speaker 1: the slot in the nickel and and took wide receivers,
Speaker 1: but he's played outside corner before Sydney Brown in this
Speaker 1: in that safety room. And then the other safety, Kendall Smith,
Speaker 1: is a true free safety I think is a draftable
Speaker 1: guy as well. So they had a lot of NFL
Speaker 1: on in that secondary and Sydney Brown being kind of
Speaker 1: the chess piece that moved around, and I think this
Speaker 1: week got him a chance to showcase himself matching up
Speaker 1: against some of the players that maybe Quon Martin in
Speaker 1: that Illinois defense was usually covering, and instead he got
Speaker 1: a chance to cover the receivers instead of the tight ends.
Speaker 1: And the instincts and confidence and foot quickness there are
Speaker 1: the things that really pop. And he was the guy
Speaker 1: who when he was out on the field, the coaches
Speaker 1: were running everything through Sydney Brown. So you know, the
Speaker 1: football i Q and the ability to pick stuff up
Speaker 1: quickly is there. I really really liked his game. I
Speaker 1: thought he had an excellent week this week, and I
Speaker 1: think he was the star from the safeties. There's never
Speaker 1: been a coach that didn't like that. Trained by the
Speaker 1: player to get things right the first couple of times,
Speaker 1: to get a communicated to the rest of the defense.
Speaker 1: Great stuff, Kyle, And we always do this with you
Speaker 1: here on the podcast because a draft expert typically means
Speaker 1: we ask about mock drafts and things like that. It's
Speaker 1: way too early to do this, we're gonna do it anyways,
Speaker 1: because these rosters across the National Football League will change
Speaker 1: dramatically from now until draft time. But the Dolphins do
Speaker 1: have a pick in the second round, two in the
Speaker 1: third round, and so the game I want to ask
Speaker 1: you to play is going just from Senior Bowl talent,
Speaker 1: a pick that you believe will be there at fifty
Speaker 1: two or wherever it is in the second round, and
Speaker 1: then two more third round picks that you think will
Speaker 1: be available at those spots. Three names you would slot
Speaker 1: in on the Dolphins roster from Mobile today February six
Speaker 1: to give us those three names. So, unfortunately, I've kind
Speaker 1: of beat the dead horse on Julius Brents, but I
Speaker 1: will mention him as that second round type of selection.
Speaker 1: I think Jamie Robinson from Florida State could be a
Speaker 1: player that's very realistically there in the third round. He
Speaker 1: profiled similarly to to Sydney Brown. H Jamie Robinson from
Speaker 1: Florida State. As far as the third name, I could
Speaker 1: go Kenny Macintosh, running back from from Georgia, who I
Speaker 1: think had a pretty good week this week as well.
Speaker 1: I can also mention Roshan Johnson, who was down here
Speaker 1: at the running back position. He's a little bit more
Speaker 1: like Jeff Wilson and Raheem Mostart, but he's a former quarterback. Uh.
Speaker 1: He's big, he's physically play super hard. The league expects
Speaker 1: him to be a top one pick. I don't think
Speaker 1: he really shines as far as a runner, He's gonna
Speaker 1: get what's block form and fall forward and get some
Speaker 1: tough yards, but maybe not hit explosive home runs. UM,
Speaker 1: but he showcased he was about the only back that
Speaker 1: showcased himself really well with UH past protection in the
Speaker 1: passing downs, some of the back struggle with catching the
Speaker 1: ball out of the backfield. I think he's a player
Speaker 1: who still has Top one hundred on the menu for
Speaker 1: him if the Dolphins end up needing another bigger back,
Speaker 1: and I would also invoke Taj Spears as another potential
Speaker 1: candidate UH to potentially be there. I know he's had
Speaker 1: some knee issues in the past, so at the running
Speaker 1: back position, which is traditionally devalued by teams. To acknowledge
Speaker 1: that he's had some medical stuff that teams are gonna
Speaker 1: have to sort out and not every team might give
Speaker 1: him a passing grade with flying colors as far as
Speaker 1: his medicals, I think there's enough there that Taj Spears
Speaker 1: would be another end of Day two candidate for the
Speaker 1: Dolphins as well with the running back spot. It's funny
Speaker 1: you mentioned Brent's in the fifty range because when you
Speaker 1: mentioned his temperament and the way he plays. It kind
Speaker 1: of reminded me of Cam Taylor Britt last year, the
Speaker 1: rookie from the Bengals who had a really good post
Speaker 1: season run there for Cincinnati. Um sounds like kind of
Speaker 1: similarly wired there in terms of their physicality in the
Speaker 1: way they play the game. So good stuff, man, That's
Speaker 1: that's that's what we're going for here on the podcast,
Speaker 1: Kyle Crabs grinding the tape on Twitter, Locked on Dolphins.
Speaker 1: No title listed on the bio for the TDM, but
Speaker 1: we already come up with it. Um big Dog, the
Speaker 1: big Dog of t d N and scouting CBO chief Boff.
Speaker 1: Damn it, I messed it up. That would been a
Speaker 1: great chief Boss officer. I'm not gonna cut it out.
Speaker 1: That's my next one for you, Kyle. We'll see an indie. Man,
Speaker 1: thanks a lot for coming on the podcast today. My
Speaker 1: friend Dravits is always good catching up with you. Man,
Speaker 1: Appreciate it and thanks for having me on. And there
Speaker 1: he goes. Kyle Crabs went very long here, but that's okay.
Speaker 1: We planned on that because we cannot get enough draft
Speaker 1: information here on the podcast, Boots on the Ground down
Speaker 1: a mobile from Kyle Crabs Big thanks to him. Check
Speaker 1: out his podcast, Locked on Dolphins. Check out the Draft Network.
Speaker 1: They're doing big, big stuff over there at t d N.
Speaker 1: In the meantime, it's gonna be my time. You all.
Speaker 1: Please be sure to subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcast.
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Speaker 1: and Dolphins Today and some more offseason content, and finally,
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Speaker 1: and Cameron Daddy Plea's coming home.