Speaker 1: To us touch style waddle stuck into the end zone
Speaker 1: of Miami tight window. They had to get that touchdown
Speaker 1: on that play. They get it. 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, another draft pick joins us here
Speaker 1: on Drivetime. We'll hear from Dolphins fourth round pick number
Speaker 1: one overall wide receiver out of Texas Tech, Eric Easookama.
Speaker 1: He'll talk to us about learning under a Texas Tech
Speaker 1: legend and Wes Welker the private workout the two had
Speaker 1: prior to the draft with the Dolphins wide receiver coach,
Speaker 1: how he improved throughout his time at Texas Tech, and
Speaker 1: much more. Plus will break down his tape and get
Speaker 1: some reaction from the national media landscape on new Dolphins
Speaker 1: wide receiver Eric I zoo Kama from the Baptist Health
Speaker 1: Studios inside the Baptist Health Training Complex. This is the
Speaker 1: Drivetime Podcast. Let's go ahead and kick off this edition.
Speaker 1: This special draft pick interview edition of the Drivetime Podcast.
Speaker 1: My sit down with new Dolphins wide receiver Eric Zukama.
Speaker 1: What's up, Dolphins? Travis Springfield here, the host of the
Speaker 1: Drivetime podcast on the Miami Dolphins podcast network, and I'm
Speaker 1: happy to be joined today by new Dolphins wide receiver
Speaker 1: Eric Izokama. I get that right, Azukama, apologize about that. Eric.
Speaker 1: Welcome in, man, Thanks thanks for joining us. Thank you
Speaker 1: for having me so first off, welcome to Miami. You
Speaker 1: get the call come down here today. How you feeling
Speaker 1: this it? I'll hit you yet, man. I'm just taking in,
Speaker 1: you know, step by step and just letting it all
Speaker 1: sink in and and it's it's very overwhelming. But you know,
Speaker 1: I feel like once I get some time really just
Speaker 1: let it all and take it all in. It it's
Speaker 1: it'll happen eventually. I mean, I'm sure it's It's been
Speaker 1: a whirlwind weekend for you here. But I wanted to
Speaker 1: go back to your draft day set up. I wanted
Speaker 1: to know about how the layout was for you guys.
Speaker 1: Were you watching TV? Did you have something to kind
Speaker 1: of keep your distracticus. I know it can be a
Speaker 1: little bit nerve wracking. Did you have your family friends
Speaker 1: that wanted to look like for you guys? Family friends
Speaker 1: just hanging out. Uh. Woke up day three and kind
Speaker 1: of just sat on the couch for a little bit,
Speaker 1: and my friend was like, hey, you know, let's go
Speaker 1: throw the football outside. And we and I go outside
Speaker 1: and we're throwing the ball around and we have also
Speaker 1: have a TV outside. So I'm kind of looking looking
Speaker 1: at the TV, but I'm not looking at the picks
Speaker 1: at the time. And you know, I get a call
Speaker 1: from for a lot of day and I looked down
Speaker 1: on my phone and I didn't think it was real.
Speaker 1: And I look I answered the phone and and coaches like, yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, we want you in Miami. And I look
Speaker 1: at the picks on the TV and Miami head is
Speaker 1: the next, you know, two picks away. So until I
Speaker 1: saw my name, I didn't, you know, believe it really,
Speaker 1: but it all it all settled in there and happy.
Speaker 1: You don't have to wait very long, I'm sure pretty
Speaker 1: quickly on on that Saturday morning you got the call
Speaker 1: or Saturday afternoon should say, you got that call. So,
Speaker 1: but you had your phone and I was smart to
Speaker 1: keep the phone on you outside. You gotta have that.
Speaker 1: But so I want to hear kind of the moment
Speaker 1: you got the call like the emotions going through your head.
Speaker 1: You can take us for the moment you got that
Speaker 1: exact call. And I know you said that didn't feel
Speaker 1: real yet, but like, how did you feel in that moment?
Speaker 1: It was, you know, everything I've ever dreamed of as
Speaker 1: a kid, you know, and you wait your whole life
Speaker 1: to be in this opportunity and and to get the
Speaker 1: call it was. It was just a surreal moment. And
Speaker 1: I had you know, family and friends around me scramming
Speaker 1: in the background, you know, excited for me. And I'm
Speaker 1: running around the pool like four times, and and I'm
Speaker 1: trying to you know, keep my composer as I'm talking
Speaker 1: to like pr team and and and the GM and
Speaker 1: you know, and just thanking them for you know, taking it,
Speaker 1: taking a chance on me and giving me the opportunity.
Speaker 1: It's really good to hear. So you talk about talking
Speaker 1: to coach McDaniel a little bit and that draft call.
Speaker 1: What was your impression or having a chance to meet
Speaker 1: Coach McDaniel. What's your early impression of him? Man, great guy? Uh,
Speaker 1: you know, hoping you know, get to know him some
Speaker 1: more as I'm here as a as a dolphin and
Speaker 1: very excited for the opportunity, but offensive cornator Frank Smith.
Speaker 1: Having met him yet, I have not um but looking
Speaker 1: forward to meeting the whole staff and and letting them
Speaker 1: pouring to me and and give me all the knowledge
Speaker 1: I need to be great here. So I know one
Speaker 1: guy you did meet and know about really well is
Speaker 1: a wide receiver coach here, former Texas tech red Raider.
Speaker 1: You got to be so far I have to learn
Speaker 1: under West Welker, right man. Uh, yeah, he's a tech legend.
Speaker 1: You know, I've I've looked at his his pictures all
Speaker 1: around the facility since I've been there for the last
Speaker 1: four years. And and to be in the same place
Speaker 1: as him and learn from him, it's gonna be great.
Speaker 1: So you had a private workout with him prior to
Speaker 1: the draft. What was that like? He came out, you know,
Speaker 1: he had you know, fans taking pictures and tech legend
Speaker 1: and executive and then we got to the workout and
Speaker 1: he's just giving me some gim you know, give me
Speaker 1: good technique tips and and coaching me up. And and
Speaker 1: I'm really excited to to work with him and get
Speaker 1: this opportunity. Is he a pretty high energy coach? Was
Speaker 1: he was a yelling screaming a little bit, or was
Speaker 1: he pretty pretty relaxed? Relaxed, you know, And that's that's
Speaker 1: really you know, the respects factor you get, you know
Speaker 1: when you know your coaches relaxed and but he knows
Speaker 1: exactly what he's talking about, and you know, you gotta
Speaker 1: listen when he's talking, and you know, I'm just really excited.
Speaker 1: It's I can tell on your face it's he's I mean,
Speaker 1: he's a guy that kind of read defined the slot
Speaker 1: position a little bit. So it's a great guy to
Speaker 1: learn from. And he'll have a room where you joined
Speaker 1: some talents like Tyreek Hill, Chitlin Waddle, Cedric Wilson, Trent Sherfield,
Speaker 1: Preston Williams, Lynn Bowden, River Craycraft, and the list just
Speaker 1: goes on and on. Man, how familiar are you with
Speaker 1: the players in that room? And what excites you most
Speaker 1: about playing with those receivers? Man, I just want to learn.
Speaker 1: I feel like I'm I'm gonna come in and the
Speaker 1: veterans on this squad and a lot of great elite
Speaker 1: talent in the room, and I'm gonna sit there and
Speaker 1: I'm gonna learn. I'm at a lot of questions and
Speaker 1: you know, I'm gonna watch how West coaches them and
Speaker 1: and ask the right questions and that as many questions
Speaker 1: as possible, just so I can gain as much knowledge
Speaker 1: as I can, uh, you know, during training camp and
Speaker 1: O T A S and all that, and I'm just excited,
Speaker 1: you know, to see all the guys and and get
Speaker 1: to know everybody. A lot of those guys really excelled
Speaker 1: with the ball in their hands after the catch. I
Speaker 1: saw you average right around eight yards after the catch
Speaker 1: last season, one of the tops and all of college football.
Speaker 1: I don't know if you knew that, but that's the
Speaker 1: staff that I found on you. And you talked about
Speaker 1: your run after the catchability in your in your in
Speaker 1: your media availability of the day. That's one of the
Speaker 1: buzzwords around this building this offseason. What makes a receiver
Speaker 1: good with the ball in his hands and chewing up
Speaker 1: yards after the catch? Man, it helps out with everything
Speaker 1: you know, down in distance, if you need you know
Speaker 1: that extra two yards, You know that guy is not
Speaker 1: just gonna get hit and go down. He's gonna try to,
Speaker 1: you know, gain the extra a couple of yards. And
Speaker 1: it helps out with the quarterback as well. And you know,
Speaker 1: making quarterback look good, you know, throwing throwing a little
Speaker 1: slam and being able to break it for another thirty
Speaker 1: forty yards. So uh, and it's it's gonna just you know,
Speaker 1: revamp the whole offense and and help out this team
Speaker 1: win those pot past jet sweeps you take for sixty yards.
Speaker 1: I don't help the quarterback stat line a little bit
Speaker 1: and didn't have to do a whole lot, just pop
Speaker 1: the ball out there. You also talked about a tougher
Speaker 1: catch right, making the contested catches down the field. You
Speaker 1: talked about growing in that area. How did we able
Speaker 1: to kind of come along in that that part of
Speaker 1: your game at Texas Tech? Just buying into the to
Speaker 1: the weight room, just learning. You know, my body is
Speaker 1: bigger than most people. You know, so when the ball
Speaker 1: is in the air and I jump up for you know,
Speaker 1: a lot of guys won't be able to just move
Speaker 1: me out of the way while I'm attacking the balls. So,
Speaker 1: you know, buying in some way room and eating right
Speaker 1: and getting in nutrition and you know, playing big to
Speaker 1: your size is definitely what helped me. Uh. You know,
Speaker 1: develop with contested catches probably helps you a little bit
Speaker 1: in the downfield runblocking game too, right, a big part
Speaker 1: of that as well. So going back to kind of
Speaker 1: your your background here a little bit back and fort Worth.
Speaker 1: You grew up with six siblings, which which child in
Speaker 1: the pecking order are you? I'm number three, number three,
Speaker 1: so you've got the experience of older and younger. So
Speaker 1: you took how was that kind of growing up in that?
Speaker 1: And it with with six brothers and sisters? Man, Uh
Speaker 1: so six brothers and sisters. My mom and my dad
Speaker 1: were divorced, and uh, you know, just growing up a
Speaker 1: lot faster than you know, a regular kid would. And
Speaker 1: you know, with that, you know, it's it's a curse
Speaker 1: and I'm blessing at the same time because you have
Speaker 1: all these siblings and you know, uh, you know, you
Speaker 1: have a lot of people to talk to you Hank,
Speaker 1: spend time with, play video games and play sports with,
Speaker 1: you know, on your downtime. But also like they can
Speaker 1: you know, be you know, a little little brother can
Speaker 1: be annoying or you know, tell on you or anything
Speaker 1: like that. But you know, I love all of them,
Speaker 1: and we're all like a lot older now, so you know,
Speaker 1: we're just appreciating each other's company at this point and
Speaker 1: you know, love each other, keeping each other and check.
Speaker 1: I'm sure as kids. You mentioned playing some sports, some
Speaker 1: three on three football games, full time quarterback. That's kind
Speaker 1: of how you guys laid it out. Yeah, teaching my
Speaker 1: little brother how to catch football, you know, make the
Speaker 1: cutback juke, you know, on the sideline and being able
Speaker 1: to you know, have family football out there on Thanksgiving. Oh,
Speaker 1: that's perfect. What a great turkey bowl that is. And
Speaker 1: then of course you mentioned your mother, the clue that
Speaker 1: kind of held everything together for you guys there, and
Speaker 1: you talked a little bit about how important she was
Speaker 1: and how you taught how she taught you how to
Speaker 1: grind the seven to seven, seven and seven pm shift.
Speaker 1: You talked about at what age did you realize, man,
Speaker 1: my mom is basically a superwoman. At a really young age.
Speaker 1: She used to go to work and then I have
Speaker 1: a game in the morning, and she picked me up
Speaker 1: and take me to the game, and then be at
Speaker 1: the game and while I'm running a touchdown, she's running
Speaker 1: down the sideline with me and screaming my name, and
Speaker 1: then right back to work that day. And it's and
Speaker 1: I watched her grind every day and it was just
Speaker 1: like Man, I have no excuse not to, you know,
Speaker 1: get up and grind, you know, just watching that growing
Speaker 1: up and being as old as I am now and
Speaker 1: still watching her do the same thing I was doing
Speaker 1: when I was when I was a kid. So how
Speaker 1: was that moment with her in the draft yesterday when
Speaker 1: you when you guys kind of embraced for the first
Speaker 1: time and realized, like, mama made the NFL. It was like,
Speaker 1: man's we've we've talked about it since I was a kid.
Speaker 1: My mom was always you know, preached it preached it
Speaker 1: to me that you know, you have NFL talent and
Speaker 1: you're going to go to the NFL. And and I've
Speaker 1: you know, I've always wanted to make it, so I could,
Speaker 1: you know, prove her right, you know, so basically to
Speaker 1: be able to actually, you know, say I'm in the
Speaker 1: NFL and hug her. And we've hugged probably twenty times
Speaker 1: in the last twelve hours. So um, you know, it's
Speaker 1: it's it's been a great feeling. That's what it's all about. Man.
Speaker 1: I got two more questions for you I get you
Speaker 1: out of here. What are you most looking forward to
Speaker 1: about your opportunity here in Miami I'm just I'm looking
Speaker 1: for the opportunity to win as a team, you know,
Speaker 1: to learn from great people and you know, leave a
Speaker 1: legacy for the next guys that come. Uh you know,
Speaker 1: coming from Texas Tech, you know, I did everything I
Speaker 1: could to leave something there for the younger guys behind me.
Speaker 1: And now I'm in that role to you know, learn
Speaker 1: and then grow and then leave a legacy behind me
Speaker 1: again here. So I'm just excited for the opportunity to
Speaker 1: be able to uh just help this team win. The
Speaker 1: last question for you, what kind of person and player
Speaker 1: are the Dolphins getting in you? They're getting a dog.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna say that every time anybody's ever asked me that,
Speaker 1: because that's just what I That's who I am, and
Speaker 1: I'm gonna go every play and I'm gonna play hard
Speaker 1: every player. I love to block. Like I said, my rackability.
Speaker 1: I love when the balls in my hand, I'm looking
Speaker 1: to score. I don't look to round, a bounce, a
Speaker 1: get tackled or by one person or anybody. You're just
Speaker 1: gonna get a hard working guy that has a high
Speaker 1: motor and and that's gonna bring people with them. I
Speaker 1: love that. Go find that pilot right, get getting that
Speaker 1: end zone as a Comma appreciate time. And there he
Speaker 1: goes a fun chat with new Dolphins wide receiver Eric Azukama.
Speaker 1: We're gonna come back on the other side of this
Speaker 1: break and talk a little bit about more of his background,
Speaker 1: his film, all the fun stuff we talked about here
Speaker 1: on the Drivetime podcast Coming your way next, brought to
Speaker 1: you by Auto Nation. Back here on this draft special,
Speaker 1: the wide receiver Eric Azukama edition of the Drivetime Podcast.
Speaker 1: Here we're taking a look at his background a little bit.
Speaker 1: We'll get into the tape and segment number three, but
Speaker 1: I want to go ahead and start off here by
Speaker 1: just kind of looking around his profile, where he came from,
Speaker 1: how he got to college and eventually to the Miami Dolphins.
Speaker 1: And you know, he came from Texas. One of I
Speaker 1: would say three states between Texas California, and we'll give
Speaker 1: it to Ohio that can compete with Florida in terms
Speaker 1: of high school football talent. Right Like, that's that's about
Speaker 1: the four states that are in play towards the top,
Speaker 1: although we all know the really reality is that Florida
Speaker 1: kind of reigned supreme in that regard. Now the numbers
Speaker 1: as far as NFL players goes is tilted towards Florida.
Speaker 1: But those that play ball in Texas will tell you
Speaker 1: it's just different out there, right, small town Texas high
Speaker 1: school football as sure as a lifestyle. But kind of
Speaker 1: a cool story here about zu Kama is that he
Speaker 1: played at Timber Creek High School, a school that opened
Speaker 1: up as recently as two thousand nine, and now he's
Speaker 1: the first player from that school from Timber Creek High
Speaker 1: School to be drafted into the National Football League. He
Speaker 1: was All State his junior season with nearly fiftred receiving
Speaker 1: yards and twenty touchdowns, twenty of them through the air. Boy,
Speaker 1: times have changed since my high school days. We used
Speaker 1: to run the football fourty times a game and throw
Speaker 1: at five or six. That was only fifteen years ago.
Speaker 1: But before those high school years, Azukama was a kid
Speaker 1: growing up with six siblings. As you heard him discuss,
Speaker 1: being raised by his mother, Laurette, a frontline nurse who
Speaker 1: taught Eric how to work, and the mentality she instilled
Speaker 1: in him was the primary reason why he's here today
Speaker 1: a member of your Miami Dolphins. And his own words
Speaker 1: and he penned and awesome in my own words piece
Speaker 1: that you can find on Texas Tech, dot Exposure, dot co.
Speaker 1: In it, he writes about his mother working long hours
Speaker 1: and still finding ways to get to his games, and
Speaker 1: how he seemed to play some of his best games
Speaker 1: when she was there in attendance. He talks about the
Speaker 1: support system of his family and also the environment at
Speaker 1: Texas Tech fostering their players and caring about them as people,
Speaker 1: and his dream of being drafted, which was really his
Speaker 1: goal since he was seven years old. In the story,
Speaker 1: really cool piece, highly encourage you check it out. Next,
Speaker 1: Let's go ahead and here from the NFL Draft media
Speaker 1: on what Zukama scouting reports are and what the Dolphins
Speaker 1: are getting in this new receiver from Texas Tech and
Speaker 1: NFL dot COM's Lance Zerline, who we reference here on
Speaker 1: the podcast Quieter Bit. He has a lot of skin
Speaker 1: in the draft game. He's been doing it for a
Speaker 1: long long time now, but he had this to say
Speaker 1: of Azukama. He has enough speed to get down the
Speaker 1: field and challenge coverage while displaying in a Nate sense
Speaker 1: for protecting and finishing contested catches underneath. We'll talk a
Speaker 1: lot more about that here in just a moment, and
Speaker 1: the Draft Network lists their favorite traits of his game
Speaker 1: as his big playability, competitive toughness and balls els and
Speaker 1: the expanded notes and their laud his willingness to block
Speaker 1: and Azokama gives effort to block the defender he's responsible for.
Speaker 1: They write, and we'll also hustle down the field for
Speaker 1: a key block for a teammate, or to throw a
Speaker 1: key block, I should say, for a teammate down the
Speaker 1: football field. I just keep going back to what Mike
Speaker 1: McDaniel talked about saying, this is a football player playing
Speaker 1: the wide receiver position. I just love that descriptor to
Speaker 1: this from the Draft Network. A big receiver who can
Speaker 1: line up in the slot and work the middle of
Speaker 1: the field and serve as a red zone target with
Speaker 1: a big catch radius. They love his hands, the big
Speaker 1: strong myths that can snatch it off frame. Again, all
Speaker 1: this will cover in my own tape review here in
Speaker 1: third segment of this podcast. Let's go ahead and roll
Speaker 1: the tape here of the moment the draft pick was
Speaker 1: announced on NFL Network and what a cool moment it was.
Speaker 1: From Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, as
Speaker 1: our draft pick was announced overseas by one of our
Speaker 1: new marketing territories with the National Football League. Let's go
Speaker 1: ahead and go to the scouts on the breakdowns. Receiver
Speaker 1: and as outstanding ends. He has some of the most
Speaker 1: incredible catches of anybody in this draft class. You can
Speaker 1: watch him against Florida International on the sideline, just a
Speaker 1: ridiculous catch, fantastic hands, gonna get down the field and
Speaker 1: went on jump balls CD. That's what he does best. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and it's not just all you know, everybody wonders about
Speaker 1: Texas Tech and the old days of the gimmick offense,
Speaker 1: scheming guys, op, what have you. This is a tough
Speaker 1: receiver who works inside the scenes, also can work out
Speaker 1: to the perimeter. And we had good look at this.
Speaker 1: You know what people say, throw short, run long, he can.
Speaker 1: He can do that for you as well. I really
Speaker 1: liked his tape going through. I've been able to sit
Speaker 1: with bid Fedel for a long time. Three days worth.
Speaker 1: He liked this guy, turned him out and turned him
Speaker 1: onto me. I was with him totally on that one.
Speaker 1: This kid could play. So Charles Davis there of NFL Network,
Speaker 1: Daniel Jeremiah, their lead draft analysts. They're really good breakdowns
Speaker 1: there of his game from two of the best in
Speaker 1: the game. Let's go ahead and take our last break
Speaker 1: on this edition of the Drivetime Podcast. Your host Travis Winkfield,
Speaker 1: brought to you by Auto Nation, will come back on
Speaker 1: the other side and do my favorite thing we do
Speaker 1: here on the Drivetime Podcast. Take a look at the
Speaker 1: tape next Drivetime. Alright back here on this Eric Azukama
Speaker 1: edition of the Drivetime Podcast, the one of the NFL Draft,
Speaker 1: the second selection for your Miami Dolphins in this year's draft.
Speaker 1: Let's go ahead and get right into the tape. Two
Speaker 1: games I think really portray his skill set, and I watched,
Speaker 1: you know, I got a little bit greeding. Went to
Speaker 1: the highlight tapes, I mean receivers. It's a little bit
Speaker 1: easier to watch highlight reels of them and kind of
Speaker 1: get a feel for how they compete on the balls
Speaker 1: that are targeted for them. You can also watch the
Speaker 1: full game reels on YouTube, but as far as watching
Speaker 1: the tape, went through two full games and then gotten
Speaker 1: to YouTube as well. So going back to you know,
Speaker 1: I want to go back as well, because I just
Speaker 1: think that the full complement of what he did. Their
Speaker 1: Texas Tech can give you a better snapshot of what
Speaker 1: his game is because we talked about this right like,
Speaker 1: there was a lot of tumultuous circumstances around the quarterback
Speaker 1: situation during his career there, and he still managed to
Speaker 1: produce some of the most high yardage or the best
Speaker 1: yardage totals in the Big twelve year and a year out.
Speaker 1: So let's go ahead and kick it off with an
Speaker 1: Oklahoma game I watched, and he starts in the very
Speaker 1: first play of the game, and this was a theme
Speaker 1: that I picked up throughout this watch that he really
Speaker 1: has an innate ability to chew up off coverage by
Speaker 1: getting out of his stance and onto the defensive backs
Speaker 1: toes right away, and that helps him snap the route
Speaker 1: off after getting the defensive back to commit by flipping
Speaker 1: their hips. And typically you watch them, they kind of
Speaker 1: fear when he gets to the outside upfield shoulder quickest
Speaker 1: because they know that that is a position where he
Speaker 1: can high point the football and also come back and
Speaker 1: play the back shoulder ball. Now, on this particular play,
Speaker 1: he's got a six yard cushion with inside leverage, and
Speaker 1: you guys know by now the inside leverage means we're
Speaker 1: gonna lamp on the inside shoulder closer to the quarterback
Speaker 1: of the wide receiver and try to cut off those
Speaker 1: inside releases. So he pushes up attacking that inside shoulder
Speaker 1: because regardless of where the leverage is, we know where
Speaker 1: we have to get. We have to take that inside release.
Speaker 1: We have to stack him to have a chance to
Speaker 1: catch the football. And that's exactly what he does. He
Speaker 1: gets the defensive back, he gets his outside shoulder on
Speaker 1: the DBS inside shoulder cuts that thing back across the middle.
Speaker 1: That puts the defensive back on his back. That's called
Speaker 1: stacking him. And then from there, the ball location on
Speaker 1: this throw is really really good. It's it's a little
Speaker 1: bit high up off frame, but kind of throwing away
Speaker 1: from where the coverage is because again it's it's tight
Speaker 1: contested type of coverage because he had to get to
Speaker 1: a spot that was really kind of already you know,
Speaker 1: spoken for as far as the defense goes. But he
Speaker 1: goes up there and reels it in like a punt returns.
Speaker 1: What I mean by that is the hands are turned
Speaker 1: over with the palms facing towards the heaven heavens, and
Speaker 1: the both hands up above the helmet, which if you've
Speaker 1: ever tried to run under a ball like that and
Speaker 1: catch it in that way, it's it's not easy. It's
Speaker 1: these guys make plays look so much easier than they
Speaker 1: actually are. But I'm telling you, get yourself a buddy,
Speaker 1: go out in the backyard and have him throw footballs
Speaker 1: at you, running as fast as you can up over
Speaker 1: your head and turn your hands that direction and make
Speaker 1: the catch, because the hand eye coordination is really put
Speaker 1: to the test on balls like this, where your visions
Speaker 1: bouncing as you're running along, because you know you're eyes
Speaker 1: don't just stay in one spot when you run. It's
Speaker 1: the test of soft hands to really slow down that
Speaker 1: fast ball from a college level quarterback, which who can
Speaker 1: throw a lot harder than your buddy can without juggling
Speaker 1: the ball and then putting it at cause for risk
Speaker 1: for getting tipped up into the air and eventually picked off.
Speaker 1: Like the details of this stuff really matters in eleven
Speaker 1: on eleven football and these tight quarters when the game
Speaker 1: is moving so fast. The very next dry another first
Speaker 1: and ten with ten to play in the first quarter,
Speaker 1: so moving along fast here, it's the same look. He's
Speaker 1: the z receiver, the one to the field, the wide
Speaker 1: side of the field, the furthest out receiver, and the
Speaker 1: corner is off with again inside leverage and as Zukama
Speaker 1: wants to get inside and he does again, it reminds
Speaker 1: me a lot of the quick slant thrower as we
Speaker 1: saw over the last couple of years. And how to
Speaker 1: you know, put it in the belly of the back,
Speaker 1: pull that thing out right it and kind of read
Speaker 1: the conflict defender and then popping in right behind their head.
Speaker 1: We talk about this, you know, low, low margin for
Speaker 1: air type of passing game because of the tight quarters,
Speaker 1: because of the speed of the game these days. But
Speaker 1: that's why NFL quarterbacks or NFL quarterbacks, because they can operate,
Speaker 1: you know, in those keyhole type of situations. And we
Speaker 1: saw two of that time and time again. And you
Speaker 1: can only do that as a quarterback if you trust
Speaker 1: your pass catcher to one hang on to the football,
Speaker 1: but two most importantly, keep defensive backs from driving through
Speaker 1: and getting a hand out of themselves, because that thing
Speaker 1: goes up into the air in those instances, it's more
Speaker 1: than likely going to come down in the hands of
Speaker 1: the defense. And so we saw him doing that whether
Speaker 1: it was your Davante Parker on in breaking routes, whether
Speaker 1: it was Mike gat Sicky on those routes, Preston Williams,
Speaker 1: even Isaiah Ford mac hollands, like the entire company of
Speaker 1: the roster as far as the taller receivers went, we're
Speaker 1: guys that you had to trust to throw those routes too.
Speaker 1: And I think that when I look at a Zookamas
Speaker 1: game that he can kind of take over some of
Speaker 1: those types of roles and refs as kind of that
Speaker 1: guy that can win quickly inside and shield the defensive
Speaker 1: back from getting through. And you saw the Texas Tech
Speaker 1: quarterback trusted him to do that to keep the dB
Speaker 1: from coming over the top and getting his hands on
Speaker 1: the football. Literally before Azokamma makes his next catch in
Speaker 1: the game, I'm talking about two similar routes there before
Speaker 1: he gets his third catch of the game, beginning of
Speaker 1: the second quarter, Tech has two balls picked off in
Speaker 1: that span on quick slants working off r P O.
Speaker 1: Because the defender drove through, the receiver got through, batter
Speaker 1: of the football up into the air and right into
Speaker 1: a crowded area and falling into fellows Sumers. Defender's arms,
Speaker 1: so point in case right there, or case and point
Speaker 1: whatever that I'm talking about. So eleven seventy in the
Speaker 1: second quarter, first and ten. This is the third catch
Speaker 1: of the game. That dial up a shot and he
Speaker 1: gets a clean release to the outside. But it's the
Speaker 1: work up the stem that made me note it. Because
Speaker 1: corners want to get into phase, they take the outside release,
Speaker 1: you know, based upon the release. There's always only so
Speaker 1: many routes you can run based upon the timing of
Speaker 1: you know, certain route concepts, and just how long it
Speaker 1: takes to get into those those routes, those routes from
Speaker 1: certain looks and certain releases. But when you go outside release,
Speaker 1: the cornerback wants to get into phase where he can
Speaker 1: then kind of get within arm's length and fuel the
Speaker 1: receiver while turning to locate the football because ideally you're
Speaker 1: on the receiver and have your eyes in the football.
Speaker 1: But what Azokama does here and he doesn't often is
Speaker 1: combat the armbar by doing the old you know rex
Speaker 1: to take Kwon do break the wrist and walk away
Speaker 1: from Napoleon dynamite. Not only does he do this and
Speaker 1: allow him to maintain the speed by fighting off that armbar,
Speaker 1: of the defensive back. It gets him on top of
Speaker 1: the dB because the way he rolls the wrist and
Speaker 1: gets over the top of him, it kind of propels
Speaker 1: him forward, and that puts him on top of the
Speaker 1: defensive backs three or four yards beyond him, stacks him up.
Speaker 1: The ball sales just long and goes incomplete. But it
Speaker 1: was a big win on that rent from Azukama to
Speaker 1: get open vertically and the quarterback just missed him. Let's
Speaker 1: go to the Houston game and it was a big
Speaker 1: one seven for one seventy nine. We start in fourteen
Speaker 1: o nine to play in the second quarter. It's a
Speaker 1: second and fourteen. They bring him the two from the
Speaker 1: boundary in motion behind the quarterback and the gun. So
Speaker 1: what that means is he's not the furthest out receiver.
Speaker 1: He's the second closest in receiver from the perimeter, and
Speaker 1: they're gonna motion him in around the quarterback who's in
Speaker 1: the shotgun with the running back. So he's the furthest
Speaker 1: man back in the formation, and they leave that place
Speaker 1: side where he's motioning to that defensive end unblocked, and
Speaker 1: it creates this situation where we talked about time right
Speaker 1: conflict We're not gonna block the guy. We're gonna put
Speaker 1: him in conflict with our quarterbacks read and eye ability
Speaker 1: or I discipline, I should say. And if he bites
Speaker 1: this way, we go that way. If he bites that way,
Speaker 1: we go this way. And there's two windows here first
Speaker 1: and then after he crosses over and just the football
Speaker 1: i Q. I thought was kind of on the same
Speaker 1: page as the quarterback and on display here because they
Speaker 1: both saw the route for the second window. He doesn't hesitate,
Speaker 1: doesn't get surprised by the football, just hits it and
Speaker 1: goes and you know, talking about football, i Q. Kyle
Speaker 1: Crabs in the Lockdown Dolphins podcast does a great job there.
Speaker 1: Sent me a clip of him against Texas Christian TCU
Speaker 1: almost a Texas tech where he is the only receiver
Speaker 1: to the boundary on a fourth and short play, so
Speaker 1: short side of the formation. He's the receiver that split
Speaker 1: out wide to that side, and there's two receivers over
Speaker 1: to the field, you know, three wide set, two to
Speaker 1: the wide side, one to the short side, and you
Speaker 1: see him jumping up and down, waving his arms and
Speaker 1: like emphatically motioning at the receiver on the other side
Speaker 1: of the field, the one to the field, so we
Speaker 1: talked about field dimensions on Monday. I couldn't figure out
Speaker 1: my off, but fifty three and a third yard, you know,
Speaker 1: this guy's a solid fifty yards away from him, and
Speaker 1: he's saying, get lined up right because he is covering
Speaker 1: up the tight end who's covering up the tackle, which
Speaker 1: means too many men on the line of scrimmage. He
Speaker 1: sees it, the guy steps back and they get the playoff.
Speaker 1: They convert the first down. So the high football, like
Speaker 1: you know, everybody's position, everybody's job was on display there.
Speaker 1: But back to this play, as Zukama catches it right
Speaker 1: in front of a block on this little swing route,
Speaker 1: side steps it and gets up the sideline, goes for
Speaker 1: the pylon and is ruled out right at the one
Speaker 1: yard line. But big run after the catch. I think
Speaker 1: Josh Hoots posted a clip of it on his timeline
Speaker 1: if you guys know who he is. Third quarter, second
Speaker 1: and ten nine seventeen to play. They throw him a
Speaker 1: tunnel screen and it's stacked up. There was nowhere to go,
Speaker 1: and I posted a picture of the still shot of
Speaker 1: this where there's five Houston Cougar defenders lying on the ground.
Speaker 1: After he gets done with it, he spins around a
Speaker 1: block and right into the potential tackle of two defensive
Speaker 1: lineman who have retraced back into the tunnel to get
Speaker 1: him down to the ground. He just tucks the football,
Speaker 1: stays on balance, and keeps his feet chopping, and not
Speaker 1: only do they bounce off of him, they propel him
Speaker 1: forward and he leaves all five defenders on the turf
Speaker 1: on the ground right there and takes what looks like
Speaker 1: a tackle behind the line for a loss into a
Speaker 1: thirty three yard gain. Once he gets the steam going,
Speaker 1: he's he's a tough guy to bring down. It's it's
Speaker 1: a lot of fun to watch. Okay, last one here,
Speaker 1: I think, yeah, third quarter, four fifty to play second
Speaker 1: down and seven. It's the very next drive. And you
Speaker 1: see the counter to the skill set I mentioned earlier
Speaker 1: with his ability to get on top of the defensive
Speaker 1: back by denying the arm bar, by rolling over the
Speaker 1: top and stacking and winning that hand fight on that
Speaker 1: vertical stem. You can convert those into automatic back shoulder
Speaker 1: throws like there's you know, hitch go ball back shoulder
Speaker 1: the three route conversion. When you get one on one
Speaker 1: opportunities to your ex That's a lot of what Davante
Speaker 1: Parker did for a long time, and especially that big
Speaker 1: year back in twenty nineteen. We saw two hit a
Speaker 1: bunch of these last year. Once the defensive back has
Speaker 1: you know, has to access their recovery speed, they have
Speaker 1: to get on their horse and start getting towards the
Speaker 1: the goal line. The quarterback can lay that thing right
Speaker 1: on the back shoulder and then from there, now the
Speaker 1: defensive back has to react to the receiver. It's a tough,
Speaker 1: tough adjustment for them, but an easier adjustment for the receiver,
Speaker 1: and Azokama can high point it and keep the ball,
Speaker 1: you know, up away from the defensive backs. That puts
Speaker 1: even more urgency for them to get back underneath. And
Speaker 1: when he does this, he just snatches that thing, puts
Speaker 1: it up and they can't break the hands. So just
Speaker 1: a really good looking execution of back shoulder balls consistently
Speaker 1: from Azokama. In total. I like the urgency that he
Speaker 1: creates and defensive backs they threw him a lot of
Speaker 1: hitches against that off coverage and man, you would see
Speaker 1: that curel flat defender bust his ass to get out
Speaker 1: there and help the corner with the tackle because you
Speaker 1: don't want your guys one on one outside on him.
Speaker 1: He would roll through tackles. I also love when he
Speaker 1: would align in the slot and they throw him swing
Speaker 1: routes or rather throw swing lefts in his direction and
Speaker 1: he'd carry his block, you know, ten yards down to
Speaker 1: the sticks on first and ten. So high effort, high energy,
Speaker 1: high smarts, and a lot of just big bullyball. This
Speaker 1: guy plays on tape. Coming up on the Drivetime Podcast Friday,
Speaker 1: Cameron Good and Skyler Thompson rounding out our draft class.
Speaker 1: On Monday, will break down the undrafted free agent class.
Speaker 1: I have a lot of tape to get to on
Speaker 1: those guys. We're gonna welcome and Emery Hunt from CBS
Speaker 1: Sports HQ to help us do that, and we'll keep
Speaker 1: rolling here three days a week on the Drivetime Podcast
Speaker 1: plenty to come your way. We're also going to take
Speaker 1: a comprehensive look at the entire roster coming up sometime
Speaker 1: next week. Also in the meantime, that is gonna be
Speaker 1: my time you all, please be sure to subscribe to
Speaker 1: the podcast on Apple Podcast, Leave us a rating, leave
Speaker 1: us a review. You can follow me on Twitter at Wingfield, NFL.
Speaker 1: Follow the team at Miami Dolphins across all social channels.
Speaker 1: Check out the Fish Tank podcast as well as our
Speaker 1: Twitter Spaces show with me, Seth and o J every
Speaker 1: Wednesday night at eight o'clock. Also check the YouTube channel
Speaker 1: from my sit downs with each of these draft picks
Speaker 1: for the media availabilities and Dolphins Today, and last but
Speaker 1: not least, Miami Dolphins dot com until next time finds
Speaker 1: up Caroline and Daddy Just coming home.