Speaker 1: Do I remove Golan Deep speedways peasts from the Baptist
Speaker 1: Health Studios inside the Baptist Health Training Complex.
Speaker 2: This is Drive Time with Travis Wingfield.
Speaker 1: He's got my havn's in the playoffs. What is up Dolphins?
Speaker 1: And welcome to the Draft Time Podcast. I am your host,
Speaker 1: Travis Wingfield. And on today's show, we have some fun
Speaker 1: stuff coming your way. Chris Greer his annual pre draft
Speaker 1: press conference to break down everything going on with your
Speaker 1: Miami Dolphins ahead of next week's draft. Plus the great
Speaker 1: John Ledyard joins me to break down this year's crop
Speaker 1: of cornerbacks, talk about the Dolphins secondary, and a whole
Speaker 1: heck of a lot more from the Baptist Health Studios
Speaker 1: inside the Baptist Health Training Complex.
Speaker 2: This is the Draft Time Podcast.
Speaker 1: We're gonna kick this thing off today with Chris Grear's
Speaker 1: Tuesday pre draft press conference and truth be Told. I
Speaker 1: really thought this was a very productive press conference in
Speaker 1: a number of ways. Number one, I thought Chris was great.
Speaker 1: Number two, I thought he got great questions not always
Speaker 1: the case right. And number three, we just learned a
Speaker 1: lot about draft strategy and focus and positional battles and
Speaker 1: just how you kind of stack things from a GM's perspective,
Speaker 1: but also some information on the Dolphins' current roster, like,
Speaker 1: for instance, the defensive tackle group. And Barry Jackson, who
Speaker 1: always asks the most thorough and best questions to get
Speaker 1: you good detailed answers back in return, asked about the
Speaker 1: thinking behind the defensive tackle position, adding that many players,
Speaker 1: what was the focus with that many players? Are you
Speaker 1: trying to get a defensive tackle with your first pick
Speaker 1: in the draft? All kinds of questions, and Chris Greer
Speaker 1: had a really good answer that kind of covered what
Speaker 1: Anthony Weaver and Austin Clark are looking at. And I'll
Speaker 1: give you some more feedback on it after the answer,
Speaker 1: but let's go ahead and roll the audio here from
Speaker 1: Chris Greer on basically, do you need a starting defensive
Speaker 1: tackle alongside Zach Seeler.
Speaker 3: The exciting thing is working with Anthony Weavers his vision
Speaker 3: and obviously his work and what he's done in the
Speaker 3: league and as a player and coach, and Austin Clark
Speaker 3: as well. So very excited about that group, you know,
Speaker 3: having Zach back. Of course, after Zach coming off a
Speaker 3: you know, historic year for a Dolphin d tackle as well,
Speaker 3: very excited. But the group we have, we're targeted players
Speaker 3: really like their potential and what they can be. So
Speaker 3: we feel good about the group these guys, if we
Speaker 3: were talking about them today, they've been in working hard
Speaker 3: already and it's a really good group and trying to
Speaker 3: starting to see that bond come together with that group,
Speaker 3: and they're all competing hard, and so any of the roster,
Speaker 3: it's it's not a priority, but it's obviously any player
Speaker 3: that we can add that helps our roster is a
Speaker 3: good impact player will take it doesn't matter what position.
Speaker 1: So there was a few things there that I thought
Speaker 1: todout number one, he talked about the potential of those guys,
Speaker 1: and that's kind of what you're looking at with some
Speaker 1: of these signings Jonathan Harris, for instance, Nobel Gallimore. Guys
Speaker 1: that have talent have played at a high level at
Speaker 1: various points of their football careers, but it hasn't all
Speaker 1: come together yet. And I think about Neville Gallimore, you
Speaker 1: heard him talk about the potential of the guys, but
Speaker 1: also how they all wanted to play for coach Weaver
Speaker 1: and coach Clark. Now Gallimore and Clark go way back,
Speaker 1: and so That's one of those things where if coach
Speaker 1: Clark rubber stamps it and signs off like I'm all
Speaker 1: the way good. That guy has gotten production out of Zach,
Speaker 1: out of Christian, out of Rake One, out of DeShawn Hand.
Speaker 1: He just gets production out of all the guys that
Speaker 1: he coaches.
Speaker 2: Up front.
Speaker 1: I thought it was a very interesting comment that Chris
Speaker 1: mentioned a historic year for Zach Seeler at defensive tackle.
Speaker 1: I think the loss of Wilkins is in the forefront
Speaker 1: of many Dolphins fans minds. But Zach Steeler might have
Speaker 1: been a better player last year. If not, it was close,
Speaker 1: and you still have that guy, so he's still here
Speaker 1: and he makes a lot of plays happen for other
Speaker 1: guys as well, So keep that in mind when you
Speaker 1: assess the defensive tackle position. Let's go ahead and move
Speaker 1: now to a question I posted to Chris Greer about
Speaker 1: the versatility you have on the roster with guys that
Speaker 1: can play inside, outside, post or box and the like.
Speaker 1: Does that help your draft strategy come draft night.
Speaker 3: Here's Chris Grear on just that talking about players. Obviously
Speaker 3: you've seen here the last couple of years with some
Speaker 3: of the injuries we've had late in the season. The
Speaker 3: versatility of players is key, So guys that can play
Speaker 3: all along the offensive line and the secondary move around.
Speaker 3: That's really important for depth and building teams. So it helps,
Speaker 3: you know, we're always looking for those players that can
Speaker 3: and do more things because I think it just helps
Speaker 3: your roster. So for us, it's you know, we'll always
Speaker 3: keep looking for players that can do more.
Speaker 1: And we're going to cover this on the podcast with
Speaker 1: John today, with timon Clancy tomorrow, and even going deeper
Speaker 1: into other position groups here on the Draft Time Draft Previews.
Speaker 2: But I just love the Dolphins off season.
Speaker 1: For a number of reasons. Number One, that flexibility you
Speaker 1: have in those position groups allows you to be flexible
Speaker 1: and how you draft, because guys can be flexible and
Speaker 1: move positions and you can just take the best football
Speaker 1: players and try to match up your lineup with the
Speaker 1: twenty two best guys you have available to use. I
Speaker 1: think that approach is very sound and very smart, and
Speaker 1: it goes back to something we've been harping on on
Speaker 1: the podcast all off season. Miami's issue the last two
Speaker 1: years was health, an attrition at key spots, and not
Speaker 1: being going to sustain a really NFL level roster at
Speaker 1: some key spots. I mean two years ago, look nothing personal.
Speaker 1: There was some like CFL level defensive backfields that started
Speaker 1: on game days, right and last year you're outside pass rushers.
Speaker 2: Malik Campbell. Is that a guy that we're talking about.
Speaker 2: It might as well have been.
Speaker 1: You might not know their name, but Justin Houston and
Speaker 1: Jason Pierre Paul and Bruce Irving, like these are guys
Speaker 1: that were playing starting reps for you in a playoff game.
Speaker 1: Not Malie Campbell, he doesn't exist. But that whole concept
Speaker 1: of let's go ahead and we'll lose a couple of
Speaker 1: key contributors from Wilkins and Robert Hunt and Andrew Van Ginkel,
Speaker 1: but we got like twelve more guys that can help
Speaker 1: us sustain the attrition of an NFL season. So I
Speaker 1: just love the approach there. I think it makes you
Speaker 1: more flexible on Draft night, and as Chris Career said,
Speaker 1: it's a big focus for this team going forward. I'm
Speaker 1: not going to play the audio on this for you guys,
Speaker 1: but I thought it was worth telling you. He was
Speaker 1: asked straight up, will you take a look at a
Speaker 1: quarterback in the first round, and he pretty much just
Speaker 1: said no, we will not say that you never close
Speaker 1: the door on possibilities. But this is like one that
Speaker 1: you can because we like to one where he's at
Speaker 1: more onto a in just a second. Next question here
Speaker 1: for Chris Greer. He was asked about the approach of
Speaker 1: best player available, about filling team needs. When do you
Speaker 1: fill team needs? This is a two part question and
Speaker 1: answer from Chris Perkins, who actually had a great question
Speaker 1: here for Chris Chris Greer. Chris Perkins, so you'll hear
Speaker 1: his voice in the middle, but talking about when do
Speaker 1: you prioritize your team needs versus getting the best player? Well,
Speaker 1: never fill out team needs in the first couple rounds
Speaker 1: of the draft, right should should be one on one,
Speaker 1: But here's Chris Greer setting the record strait on that one.
Speaker 3: You always stack your board and you work hard. So
Speaker 3: but your board, obviously early in the draft will always
Speaker 3: look kind of how you said it in terms of
Speaker 3: the best player. But when you get into the day threes,
Speaker 3: you know the boards, it's being picked apart fine all
Speaker 3: over the place. So it's one of those and I
Speaker 3: think sometimes when you get late in the draft, you
Speaker 3: end up looking for depth or to filling holes in
Speaker 3: your roster. But for the most part, I think most
Speaker 3: teams would be early in the draft are always going
Speaker 3: to take the best player available for the first couple
Speaker 3: of rounds because that's where you probably have the most
Speaker 3: control of how your board looks in terms of how
Speaker 3: you've spent all the off season, ranking, in terms of
Speaker 3: all your time with the coaching staff and scouts to build.
Speaker 4: It feeling needs.
Speaker 2: So that's mostly free agency.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's it's part of it. But it still goes
Speaker 3: post draft too, you know, and there's still good players
Speaker 3: that are available that are veterans that are on the
Speaker 3: streets post draft too, So but yeah, you'll always get
Speaker 3: into that end of the draft where people like, hey,
Speaker 3: if there's a position where there maybe not a few players,
Speaker 3: there's a light at that position, and you don't want
Speaker 3: to compete, you go, we'll draft that. If we have,
Speaker 3: you know, like the traits in that player, we'll draft
Speaker 3: them and add them to that to the roster then.
Speaker 3: But it is it's always interesting the end of the
Speaker 3: draft process when you get to it because you're looking
Speaker 3: at your boards and it's usually picked apart and no
Speaker 3: one as players left, and then it's really just looking
Speaker 3: at the depth there of where it is and where
Speaker 3: you need to fill, and then you make your decisions there.
Speaker 1: I just thought that was very informative in terms of
Speaker 1: how the off season process plays out, where you kind
Speaker 1: of attack free agency with good football players, you make
Speaker 1: your bargain buys there, you go ahead and bring in
Speaker 1: veterans for visits and see what might be available to you.
Speaker 1: After the draft, you have your draft, you have the
Speaker 1: same approach where you get the best football players. You're
Speaker 1: kind of carving this thing where you're just adding clay
Speaker 1: to the mix, and that clay is hopefully good clay.
Speaker 1: That you're just getting the best fifty three possible pieces
Speaker 1: of clay, if you will, and then you work on
Speaker 1: kind of truing that thing down and shaping it to
Speaker 1: the actual sculpture that you want as your final fifty
Speaker 1: three man roster. And when you have an Odell Beckham
Speaker 1: or a Carl Lawson and for a pre draft visit,
Speaker 1: that puts them on the radar, It puts their medicals
Speaker 1: in your system, puts their agent in touch with you.
Speaker 1: So after the draft completes, you can say, hey, we
Speaker 1: didn't get the receiver we were hoping to get. We
Speaker 1: need Odell Beckham. Ou let's go ahead and get those
Speaker 1: negotiations back open again. So I love the process of
Speaker 1: kind of thinking two or three steps ahead and making
Speaker 1: sure that come September tenth, whatever, the first game is,
Speaker 1: you have the best possible roster. And you did it
Speaker 1: because you were very meticulous about each stone you turned
Speaker 1: over in both the draft and freegency. Next question here
Speaker 1: for Chris Career, are you more inclined to move back
Speaker 1: in the draft without a third and fourth round draft pick?
Speaker 1: Here is Chris Career on the Dolphins draft strategy, which
Speaker 1: he's not going to tell you, but interesting answer.
Speaker 3: Nonetheless, Yeah, I think we're open everything. But also that
Speaker 3: also you don't want to pass on a good player
Speaker 3: that if there's someone there that you know, we all
Speaker 3: feel very strongly about that you know, can really impact
Speaker 3: our roster, it's like how far can you drop down
Speaker 3: and still possibly get them? So so you always weigh
Speaker 3: those factors of you know, yeah, it's great to pick
Speaker 3: up an extra third, but if that second round player
Speaker 3: someone we really believe in, and it's you know, like
Speaker 3: a Javon Holland or Jarvis Landry in the second round,
Speaker 3: then you know you'll take the player.
Speaker 1: I feel like every year it's like trade down, trade down,
Speaker 1: get more picks, more picks, more players, And I like
Speaker 1: that process. I even remember the story I wrote back
Speaker 1: in twenty nineteen for Lockdown Dolphins where I said, like,
Speaker 1: the Dolphins have put themselves in position where they cannot
Speaker 1: fail this draft because they have so many picks, and
Speaker 1: if they just back thirty percent or three hundred, you
Speaker 1: would have you know, four or five effective players out
Speaker 1: of that draft, and that's a good draft class. But
Speaker 1: when you look at it this way, it reminds me
Speaker 1: of twenty twelve when you traded back and wind up
Speaker 1: getting Jared Odrick and COAMSI, when you could have had
Speaker 1: Earl Thomas, Like which one would you rather have? Sometimes
Speaker 1: it's better to stick and pick if the best player
Speaker 1: is there. And with that in mind, he did talk
Speaker 1: about the twenty first pick, and I thought this answer
Speaker 1: was very very interesting. Do you feel that you'll stay
Speaker 1: at pick twenty one? Are there guys that you like?
Speaker 1: How many players do you like at that spot? Here
Speaker 1: is Chris Career on the idea of picking at twenty
Speaker 1: one or possibly going back in a trade down situation.
Speaker 3: We definitely feel there will be one or two players
Speaker 3: that we really like there is where we are right now.
Speaker 3: We feel that we can get an impact player there
Speaker 3: that will help our team and roster, and we'd be
Speaker 3: very excited to add. So we've we've gone through it
Speaker 3: a few times. We'll keep going through it here, you know.
Speaker 3: But we feel good about who would be there at
Speaker 3: twenty one if if we were to pick there.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I feel like there's some gamesmanship going on there.
Speaker 1: If we were to pick there, there's one or two plays.
Speaker 1: Is like, if you're gonna trade up, you better give
Speaker 1: us a nice offer because there's guys we want to
Speaker 1: take right here. It's just kind of it's it's the
Speaker 1: poker face of GMS this time of the year, right.
Speaker 1: But I thought it was a very interesting answer there,
Speaker 1: And I think based upon the mock draft scenarios I've
Speaker 1: gone down and just kind of taking a look at
Speaker 1: what's what the general consensus is out there, which is
Speaker 1: never one hundred percent accurate, It does feel like the
Speaker 1: premium spots that you would be interested in taking at
Speaker 1: that spot could have a name or two trickle down
Speaker 1: to you. So I thought there was some gamesmanship and
Speaker 1: some truth there, just some good, some good answers there
Speaker 1: from Chris career. He talked talked about Javon Holland and
Speaker 1: the interest in a extension for him, A big piece
Speaker 1: of what we do here, he said, a big important
Speaker 1: player in the Miami Dolphins defense, and without the fifth
Speaker 1: year option, he is due for an extension next offseason.
Speaker 1: He did say they'll be talking about that down the
Speaker 1: road in the future. He also said the Dolphins will
Speaker 1: will exercise the fifth year options on both the twenty
Speaker 1: twenty one first round draft picks.
Speaker 2: Man, it's been that long already.
Speaker 1: Jalen Waddle, Angel and Phillips look at their fifth year
Speaker 1: options picked up, and then I'm sure we'll start talking
Speaker 1: about extensions here in their future for both of those
Speaker 1: guys as well. He also talked about the tackle class.
Speaker 1: He was asked about how many of the guys do
Speaker 1: you like? Is it pick your flavor in terms of
Speaker 1: the seven or eight guys that could go in the
Speaker 1: first round, and he was very very upfront about, you
Speaker 1: guys know what we like.
Speaker 2: You see how we play. McDaniels talked about this himself.
Speaker 1: Fire off the football, play fast, great athletic ability, and
Speaker 1: that can basically right there trim down what you're looking
Speaker 1: for at the twenty first pick at tackle, Like if
Speaker 1: you're not a fleet foot mover, you're probably not in
Speaker 1: our crosshairs. Also said nothing eminent on Odell Beckham. They've
Speaker 1: had discussions back and forth that to me feels like
Speaker 1: a post draft revisitation there.
Speaker 2: He was also asked about Tua.
Speaker 1: Hiring a private quarterback coach, and we're gonna go ahead
Speaker 1: and have a two A segment here. Let's go ahead
Speaker 1: and hear from Chris Career first on him attacking the offseason.
Speaker 3: No, you got to give him all the credit. He
Speaker 3: is just like last offseason when he attacked him, you know,
Speaker 3: to stay healthy and doing the jiu jitsu or Judeau,
Speaker 3: which I want to know, but he's just watching him
Speaker 3: work and how he wants to be great and doing so.
Speaker 3: He took all this stuff on his own and told
Speaker 3: us what he was going to do, So you got
Speaker 3: to give him all the credit on that.
Speaker 1: I can sort of provide some extra analysis here for
Speaker 1: you guys, and I can tell you that two has
Speaker 1: been working on his straight line and linear speed, agility
Speaker 1: and play extension. So there are a couple of things,
Speaker 1: and I'm sure he brought to the Dolphins in terms
Speaker 1: of things he wants to improve upon, not really breaking
Speaker 1: news right, things that he struggled with a year ago
Speaker 1: playing about fifteen pounds over what he's at right now
Speaker 1: in terms of trying to add weight to make himself
Speaker 1: more durable for the season, and in doing so, the
Speaker 1: Dolphins or too, I should say, kind of realized that
Speaker 1: the extra weight wasn't keeping him healthy. It was the
Speaker 1: jiu jitsu in the falling the correct way, so down
Speaker 1: weight faster with the injury protection. That's the kind of
Speaker 1: ceiling I think you hope for in terms of twos game.
Speaker 1: In fact, we're going to hear from Chris Career on
Speaker 1: this next answer about during down the weight and getting
Speaker 1: to a certain weight they want him to be at,
Speaker 1: and he talked about how there's still more room for
Speaker 1: two or to grow and that line should just make
Speaker 1: you so excited about the future, because if two can
Speaker 1: get better than what he already is, we're talking about
Speaker 1: a top five quarterback in the National Football League.
Speaker 3: No, I think this again is credit like he's trying
Speaker 3: to do everything he can to do what he can
Speaker 3: to be great. And that's been from day one, when
Speaker 3: you know Mike and him connected here and working through
Speaker 3: the first season and then making the changes offseason, working
Speaker 3: through last year, stand healthy, lead in the league in passing,
Speaker 3: and now this is his next evolution. As Mike has
Speaker 3: told you guys, we feel like there is a whole
Speaker 3: nother step that he can take, and so we're excited
Speaker 3: about his future.
Speaker 1: We will finish up here on the defensive side of
Speaker 1: the football. And I wanted to play this answer for
Speaker 1: you guys, because we are going to have John Ledyard
Speaker 1: here in just a second talking about the cornerback class tomorrow.
Speaker 1: Simon Clancy had a really good podcast interview with me
Speaker 1: talking about the safety position and the Dolphins off season
Speaker 1: in general and just kind of what you look for
Speaker 1: in Anthony Weaver's defense. And I want to play this
Speaker 1: audio because Chris Wereer talks about we were being so
Speaker 1: prepared with the visuals that he wants to display to
Speaker 1: the coaching staff in the front office, as in, here's
Speaker 1: what I'm looking for at these certain spots, and I
Speaker 1: think that that's going to parlay nicely with the podcast
Speaker 1: we have for you here in a second, and tomorrow
Speaker 1: the discuss is what exactly that might look like under
Speaker 1: Anthony Weaver, using Baltimore Raven's defenses as kind of the
Speaker 1: jumping off point, and how he could tailor from there
Speaker 1: to his own personal defensive structure. Here's Chris Career on
Speaker 1: the value of having Anthony Weaver in the building.
Speaker 3: This offseason challenging at times, but again it's part of
Speaker 3: the job in the business. I mean, well, you know,
Speaker 3: I think the most important thing is getting trying to
Speaker 3: get everyone on the same page as soon as possible
Speaker 3: so you can adjust through that offseason, for the free
Speaker 3: agency and through the draft. And I think having clear
Speaker 3: communication and having some idea of what they've done in
Speaker 3: the past helps. But I think a lot of it
Speaker 3: goes to the coach, Like Anthony deserves a lot of
Speaker 3: credit for coming in here, being so prepared and having
Speaker 3: everything ready with visuals and everything for us to go through,
Speaker 3: so that he made that transition a lot easier for everyone.
Speaker 2: All Right, there we go, really fun stuff.
Speaker 1: Let's go ahead and take our first break rate there,
Speaker 1: come back on the other side. This podcast up with
Speaker 1: a two segment interview with John Ledyard talking about the
Speaker 1: cornerbacks and the twenty twenty four NFL Draft and the
Speaker 1: Dolphins defensive backfield.
Speaker 2: All of that.
Speaker 1: Next Draft Time Podcast your host Travis Winfield, brought to
Speaker 1: you by autt Nation. We roll on previewing this year's
Speaker 1: NFL twenty twenty four draft class with a friend of mine,
Speaker 1: a great draft analyst. And I always tell you this, John,
Speaker 1: and I don't know how you feel about it, but
Speaker 1: I'm gonna go ahead.
Speaker 2: And say it again. One of the harsher graders I've
Speaker 2: come across.
Speaker 1: And I always find that to be very beneficial to
Speaker 1: the industry because a lot of times it's about here's
Speaker 1: the twenty five thousand players I love. I don't have
Speaker 1: any players I'm curious about in terms of their skill set.
Speaker 1: But John, you thread that needle very effectively. John, what's
Speaker 1: going on man? John Ledyard my guest here on the
Speaker 1: podcast today.
Speaker 4: Well, it's awesome to be back recording with you and
Speaker 4: to be with somebody who appreciates the harshness of migrating style,
Speaker 4: because a lot of people don't. And it's just honestly,
Speaker 4: Travis to be It's like, most of these players don't
Speaker 4: work in the NFL, and I think pretending like they
Speaker 4: do just deceives us like that's just like it's not
Speaker 4: as helpful as we think it is. I think people
Speaker 4: fall so in love with the draft process that they
Speaker 4: forget that there is actual work to this, you know
Speaker 4: what I mean, Like you have to be able to
Speaker 4: be critical enough to figure out what players don't work,
Speaker 4: otherwise you end up draft you end up missing on
Speaker 4: the few that do. And so figuring out what's valuable
Speaker 4: enough at each position to be able to prioritize it
Speaker 4: is really essential. And I think the league has actually
Speaker 4: moved in a better direction overall in this, Like I
Speaker 4: think more players find roles on teams than they used
Speaker 4: to before. It was like, if you're not exactly what
Speaker 4: our expectations, where there's no usage for you, we run
Speaker 4: out of options for you. And teams have become more
Speaker 4: adaptable to players' skill sets and shortcomings and so on
Speaker 4: and so forth. But I still think there are just
Speaker 4: very few players. I mean to come into a draft
Speaker 4: and say, oh, we have thirty some first round grades,
Speaker 4: to come into a draft and say that, and then
Speaker 4: look at how many players each year, draft after draft
Speaker 4: after draft fit that criteria and the likelihood that you're
Speaker 4: going to do that with the thirty some you've named
Speaker 4: is just very very unlikely. So I think you're much
Speaker 4: better off being more critical than less critical during a
Speaker 4: process that sees as few positive results as the NFL Draft.
Speaker 1: Not to mention in year one of the impact players
Speaker 1: having that rookie season, because I mean, we saw Austin
Speaker 1: Jackson have a breakout in his fourth year last year.
Speaker 1: Like it, progress is not lineary, These guys have different
Speaker 1: maturity and breakout years and in terms of when they
Speaker 1: hit their peak as players. And it's fascinating, man, And
Speaker 1: talking about you know, the idea of I guess flexibility
Speaker 1: or having options to move guys around this position group
Speaker 1: we're going to talk about today is one of the
Speaker 1: better ones for that.
Speaker 2: And yeah, man, like I.
Speaker 1: Really find myself like there's times where the Dolphins have
Speaker 1: had draft classes or free agent classes where I'm like,
Speaker 1: I kind of like all those players, but I have
Speaker 1: to temper my expectations because like, at best, it's probably
Speaker 1: gonna be fifty to fifty, like at very best, right,
Speaker 1: So it's it's funny how it works out. Every team
Speaker 1: has the exact same struggle. I guess if you will
Speaker 1: to go through, but I want to get into this
Speaker 1: now and talk about the cornerback class here, because we'll see.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's one of those groups where you go
Speaker 1: into the draft saying like, Miami's probably not going to
Speaker 1: go in that route. But I always say, if you
Speaker 1: make assumptions in this time of year, in this in
Speaker 1: this for the draft, you're probably gonna be wrong. So
Speaker 1: I do want to start with a question more so
Speaker 1: to kind of link the Dolphins to this class on
Speaker 1: the back end defensively. I know you say the entire
Speaker 1: NFL and have some of a two part question here
Speaker 1: for you. Number one is, I'm not sure if there
Speaker 1: are more versatile cornerbacks in the game than Jalen Ramsey
Speaker 1: and Kendall Fuller, and they're both here in Javon Holland
Speaker 1: you can say the same thing about his game at
Speaker 1: safety in terms of post and box and slot and
Speaker 1: all that stuff that he does. I'm curious to first
Speaker 1: how that's beneficial to a secondary and then second with
Speaker 1: how you've watched the Ravens evolve over the years. And
Speaker 1: Anthony and we were coming from Baltimore with Kyle Hamilton,
Speaker 1: Gino Stone, Marcus Williams, Brandon Stevens, Arthur Mallette, Marlin Humphrey,
Speaker 1: The list goes on and on. Am I accurate in
Speaker 1: saying I see some similarities in the makeup of that
Speaker 1: Baltimore secondary as you have here in Miami now.
Speaker 4: I think that is accurate for sure. Interchangeability was definitely
Speaker 4: a big part of especially with certain players, I would say,
Speaker 4: but it was a big part of what they were
Speaker 4: doing in Baltimore and McDonald when he was in Baltimore.
Speaker 4: I think it helps for a number of reasons. One,
Speaker 4: I think if you were going to be a team
Speaker 4: that is more and it'll be fast. I'm not saying
Speaker 4: Weaver will do this because he has a very different
Speaker 4: group than what they had in Baltimore. He has actual
Speaker 4: and we'll see what the health of these guys are.
Speaker 4: But if they're healthy, when Miami's healthy, at least he's
Speaker 4: got like some legit one v one pass rushers. And
Speaker 4: so perhaps it's not setting up to be as scheme
Speaker 4: oriented as a pressure package plan as what you saw
Speaker 4: in Baltimore when they would move people around and they
Speaker 4: would you know, everybody's a lot of scrimmage, who's coming,
Speaker 4: who's going. It's all simulated pressures and things of that nature,
Speaker 4: and then you're bailing guys and some guys getting a
Speaker 4: free run. And that's kind of what you're relying on
Speaker 4: defensively in order to have success more than just these
Speaker 4: forty nine ers style defenses. Even Philly and the four
Speaker 4: down and go, we've got better rushers than you do.
Speaker 4: We're gonna beat you one v one when it matters.
Speaker 4: Our games are too tough for you to handle because
Speaker 4: we've got four athletes on the front line and you
Speaker 4: can't block us consistently throughout the game. And the money
Speaker 4: downs and so on and so forth. So just different philosophies.
Speaker 4: They're both have been pretty successful, and so it'll be
Speaker 4: very curious to see which one or if it different.
Speaker 4: You know, hybrid of those schemes kind of is what
Speaker 4: Anthony Weaver ends up coming with up with in Miami.
Speaker 4: But I think, yeah, just secondary wise, the versatility of
Speaker 4: players is important. I think because you have different ways
Speaker 4: to match up. That's probably the number one thing. Different
Speaker 4: ways to match up throughout the game you can call.
Speaker 4: You can be more multiple in your coverage schemes than
Speaker 4: ask players to do certain more certain things. If you've
Speaker 4: played a lot in the slot before, as Kenda Fuller
Speaker 4: has Javon Holland obviously did in college a good bit.
Speaker 4: Obviously cater Co who is is going to be the
Speaker 4: slot heading into the year, You'd assume Kaylan Ramsey's played
Speaker 4: in the slot before. You can follow number ones to
Speaker 4: the slot, which lots of teams are trying to do that.
Speaker 4: You can follow number one in the slot depending on
Speaker 4: body type, with a lot of different players. If there's
Speaker 4: two number ones and Ramsey matches up better with an
Speaker 4: outside guy, you could trust that you have a bunch
Speaker 4: of different guys to play in the slot against another
Speaker 4: really quality receiver if you need to. So that versatility.
Speaker 4: Offenses rely on it to be able to implement their
Speaker 4: game plans, and the amount of different routes that you
Speaker 4: can get to from the slot and defense is now
Speaker 4: spe Specifically, Miami's will be able to also CounterPunch by
Speaker 4: being able to match up with those with a lot
Speaker 4: of their personnel. So I think already they're set up
Speaker 4: honestly pretty well in the secondary. The additions of Fuller,
Speaker 4: I think it's just been an underrated solid player for
Speaker 4: a long time now. I don't know what Poyer has
Speaker 4: left in the tank, but if he's got anything left
Speaker 4: in the tank. He is definitely a good helpful player.
Speaker 4: With Holland, I don't think you'll need quite as much
Speaker 4: from him. Of course, we don't know exactly what Anthony
Speaker 4: Weaver is going to do, but Holland's ability to play
Speaker 4: single high free safety and do with a lot of
Speaker 4: the hard stuff as needed is certainly a part of
Speaker 4: this factor and how Poyer is going to be used
Speaker 4: to and it may be time for him to transition
Speaker 4: more to a down low roll and replace someone where
Speaker 4: Brandon Jones did for Miami. So I'm fascinated to see
Speaker 4: how it goes. I'm very excited to see Anthony Weaver
Speaker 4: as a defensive coordinator calling you shots, doing his own thing,
Speaker 4: and I'm excited to see if we see an evolution
Speaker 4: and a continued move of more Mike McDonald's style defenses
Speaker 4: coming across the or if he comes up with something
Speaker 4: new entirely Allah, you know, an old Miami name, and
Speaker 4: Brian Flores is doing his own complete thing. You know
Speaker 4: that's outside the norm of everybody else and not the
Speaker 4: first time he's done that. So it'll be fascinating to
Speaker 4: watch Weaver this season.
Speaker 1: Yea, that's why I wanted to ask you that, because
Speaker 1: usually when I ask a question like that, I have
Speaker 1: follow ups and things I say on the back end.
Speaker 1: But John, you kind of hit the nail on the
Speaker 1: head across to all of them there, So I don't
Speaker 1: really have anything to ask further than that, but I
Speaker 1: will we will have this. This episode will be paired
Speaker 1: with the safety class as well as Simon Clancy from
Speaker 1: the Three Arts per Carry podcast here on drive time,
Speaker 1: so I'll talk to him a little bit about the
Speaker 1: idea of potentially you know that because you mentioned a
Speaker 1: bunch of guys that can play that slot position, but
Speaker 1: so many safety is like a big nickel role, right Like,
Speaker 1: I'm thinking about the Miami's potential to maybe go and
Speaker 1: add a safety in this year's class that might complete
Speaker 1: that entire backside of that room. So we'll talk about
Speaker 1: that with Simon here in just one second. But I
Speaker 1: want to go back to the cornerback group here, because
Speaker 1: I mean, you nailed John, like Jalen Ramsey is Jalen Ramsey.
Speaker 1: I'm such a huge fan of Kendall Fuller's tape after
Speaker 1: watching him this offseason. You mentioned Katerkohu, but we also
Speaker 1: have you know Cam Smith is a second round draft pick.
Speaker 1: Lasher did you so, I'm sure you have an evaluation
Speaker 1: on camps with why don't we go ahead and start there? Actually,
Speaker 1: what was your tape great on Camp Smith last year
Speaker 1: and kind of your thoughts about a player that didn't
Speaker 1: really get any playing time in year one and how
Speaker 1: he could maybe make some more of his time here
Speaker 1: in his second season with Miami.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I didn't actually see him. I know he didn't
Speaker 4: play a ton this past season, but I didn't really
Speaker 4: get to see him this past season, which I kind
Speaker 4: of wish. I'd probably tried to take a peek at
Speaker 4: him before the season and see what I saw in
Speaker 4: his game. But I thought in the year before so
Speaker 4: it would have been twenty twenty the twenty twenty one
Speaker 4: season it would have been. I guess he was really
Speaker 4: good and there was a little more explosiveness on his tape.
Speaker 4: In the twenty twenty two I didn't see him play
Speaker 4: with the same level anticipation from off coverage that he
Speaker 4: once did. I did think he was a pretty good
Speaker 4: tackler overall. I had high marks on him for his
Speaker 4: ball skills as well. Thought there was a chance for
Speaker 4: him to be like, even if he was going to
Speaker 4: give up some plays, to be like a playmaker type
Speaker 4: when they put him in press, which was not very
Speaker 4: often that felt last year at South Carolina. I thought
Speaker 4: there were some real tools there to work with, that
Speaker 4: he had the right tenacity and mindset there, but he
Speaker 4: seemed like a player who didn't have quite the measurables
Speaker 4: to be like an unbelievable elite player that I know.
Speaker 4: Some people talked about him as, Oh, he's first round
Speaker 4: caliber corner you're gonna get later in the draft. I
Speaker 4: never saw him quite that way, but I didn't see
Speaker 4: him as some I thought. I think he's somebody who
Speaker 4: could be a contributor to your secondary. Obviously their their
Speaker 4: position to be able to not need to rely on him,
Speaker 4: I think right now. But if he blossomed, it would
Speaker 4: be huge for that secondary, adding another piece in there,
Speaker 4: especially because you consider how often if Weaver's gonna follow
Speaker 4: the McDonald role, they like to play lots of defensive
Speaker 4: backs on the field, and one of the keys is
Speaker 4: going to be how well do they play the run?
Speaker 4: How well do they tackle? And I thought he was
Speaker 4: definitely solid in both of those regards when he was
Speaker 4: at South Carolina. So his development just in terms of
Speaker 4: giving them depth in another playable option, even if he's not.
Speaker 4: He doesn't have to be a lead shutdown guy, right.
Speaker 4: He just just to look at Kansas City, right, they're
Speaker 4: four or five deep a corner every year and making
Speaker 4: these runs and they don't need They've had certainly some
Speaker 4: really good corners, but they don't need like every single
Speaker 4: guy on their team to be like a star, especially
Speaker 4: when you have a Ramsey. He needs to be able
Speaker 4: to play like a Joshua Williams role jats, like those
Speaker 4: guys with the Chiefs, and I think if he can
Speaker 4: do that, they can give them that this season. They'll
Speaker 4: feel great. If they trust that, they may not even
Speaker 4: take a corner in those drafts if they trust that.
Speaker 4: It's just I'm not sure how much they're going to
Speaker 4: trust that given out Small's role as last year.
Speaker 1: Exactly what I was kind of getting at there was
Speaker 1: the idea of if cam Smith is a guy that
Speaker 1: they really believe in and think that he has the
Speaker 1: future here, then I tend to think cornerback might be
Speaker 1: off the board at least early on in the draft
Speaker 1: here for Miami.
Speaker 2: But we'll find out that.
Speaker 1: The best thing that could happen though, is kind of
Speaker 1: what you mentioned there, is we don't see camp Smith
Speaker 1: this year because we've had so much attrition in the
Speaker 1: cornerback room the last couple of years. I mean two
Speaker 1: years ago exaving Howard missed a big chunk of games
Speaker 1: and without Byron Jones being available that year, and they
Speaker 1: sign a cornerback in camp and he gets hurt the
Speaker 1: first day. They were running out guys that were signed
Speaker 1: to be a special teamers here that first year. Then
Speaker 1: last season, Ramsey misses half the year, Howard misses some games.
Speaker 1: It was just a lot, and so you need to
Speaker 1: depth at that cornerback room, like you mentioned there.
Speaker 2: And kind of going back to.
Speaker 1: That first question I had for you, John, that great
Speaker 1: answer you gave us there, I'm curious kind of turning
Speaker 1: over the draft now at the twenty first pick, is
Speaker 1: there a defensive beat corner or safety for you more
Speaker 1: probably suited for the corner position, but a guy that
Speaker 1: suits that idea best of versatility And you know, not
Speaker 1: to spoil a potential answer here, but I look at
Speaker 1: a potent a guy like you know, Cooper j. Jehan
Speaker 1: for instance in Gush that guy screams to me like
Speaker 1: long term perimeter option. But he can also play some
Speaker 1: big nickel early on in his career, I believe.
Speaker 4: Yeah. I mean there there are honestly a lot of
Speaker 4: guys that could fit because Miami doesn't have like a
Speaker 4: crying need for like a top guy or anything like that,
Speaker 4: so the fit part is actually probably pretty easy. Weaver
Speaker 4: is I mean, he probably wants players who I think
Speaker 4: are going to be physical, are going to be able
Speaker 4: to play son and man. That certainly fits most of
Speaker 4: the top guys in this draft. So yeah, I mean,
Speaker 4: Dejean is definitely one of those guys that think that
Speaker 4: could play in that role. There's also that possibility of
Speaker 4: like him potentially being a safety, which could be something
Speaker 4: that Miami ends up needing depending on what Poyter has
Speaker 4: left in the tank or eventually needing anyway, if player's
Speaker 4: kind of getting near the end here and so that
Speaker 4: could be an option. Mitchell played QUINYA. Mitchell from Toledo
Speaker 4: played mostly in his own scheme in college, but showed
Speaker 4: at the Senior Bowl that he can match up in man.
Speaker 4: I think he's going to love a player like that.
Speaker 4: I don't know that they're going to take a corner
Speaker 4: in the first round, But I just I think in
Speaker 4: terms of just the appeal to what Miami's trying to
Speaker 4: be defensively, he certainly fits a lot of those criteria.
Speaker 4: And I don't know that he'll be there because it
Speaker 4: seems like the rumors are he'll be the first corner
Speaker 4: off the board. But Terry and Arnold from Alabama played
Speaker 4: inside and outside there definitely a little bit of a
Speaker 4: late bloomer, but really came on this past year. I
Speaker 4: think he has wonderful press man skills. His off coverage
Speaker 4: stuff is fine in terms of his ability to close
Speaker 4: on the ball and all of that, he will get
Speaker 4: turned around and off coverage he's a little aggressive, and
Speaker 4: sometimes that can work against him, and that he gets
Speaker 4: caught on double moves and guys get behind him. And
Speaker 4: he does not have that great makeup speed. So his
Speaker 4: high end plays have distracted people a little bit from
Speaker 4: what I think are some weaknesses he probably won't be
Speaker 4: able to get away from in the NFL. But his
Speaker 4: high end stuff is so good, like his ball skills,
Speaker 4: his ability to close on things in front of him.
Speaker 4: I missed the tackling the run defense. He's going to
Speaker 4: emphatically check all those boxes. So I still think he
Speaker 4: could be the best corner in this draft. I haven't
Speaker 4: quite finished all my emails by the end of this week.
Speaker 4: I hope to a corner, but he's definitely gonna be
Speaker 4: very high for me. I just think you have to
Speaker 4: be careful if you take him because there is some
Speaker 4: stuff in off coverage that it's fixable. But I think
Speaker 4: that if he doesn't fix it, he does not have
Speaker 4: that elite level speed because I think he's a four
Speaker 4: to five guy, which is fine if as long as
Speaker 4: he's able to keep things in front of him and
Speaker 4: not be too aggressive, because he's not going to be
Speaker 4: able to save himself the way hed in college. At
Speaker 4: times in the NFL, everybody's speed is just going to
Speaker 4: be too great, and quarterbacks can make those throws regularly.
Speaker 4: So there may be some bumps in the road early on,
Speaker 4: more than people anticipate, but I think his high end
Speaker 4: plays will eventually make up for it.
Speaker 1: How about at that fifty fifth pick, is there some
Speaker 1: names that you think might make it to that spot
Speaker 1: in the second round where the Dolphins could be interested
Speaker 1: in kind of poking their heads into.
Speaker 4: I think so yeah. I mean Nnis Rakestraw junior from
Speaker 4: Missouri is one that played a lot of z own
Speaker 4: coverage in college and probably doesn't have that elite level athleticism,
Speaker 4: but makes a lot of players in the ball has size.
Speaker 4: Definitely would be a name that I could see on
Speaker 4: their list. Kamari Lassiter from Georgia. I think he's gonna
Speaker 4: probably end up going later than this just because he
Speaker 4: ran a four to six and those corners don't typically
Speaker 4: get drafted high. I don't know that. I think that
Speaker 4: could be his undoing in the NFL, to be honest
Speaker 4: with you, But in terms of fit, I definitely think
Speaker 4: there's a lot of there with him. His physicality as well.
Speaker 4: He's somebody who will come downhill and absolutely hammer people.
Speaker 4: So that part of his game I think will really
Speaker 4: appeal to a lot of teams. But we just haven't
Speaker 4: seen many corners that ran that slow workout in the NFL,
Speaker 4: and so that will be a big question mark. He
Speaker 4: does play fast moving forward, but when he has to
Speaker 4: turn and run, I think there are some issues that
Speaker 4: could be his undoing. And then I mean there's a
Speaker 4: lot honestly, this draft. Once you get past the first wave,
Speaker 4: the depth at corner is pretty remarkable in terms of
Speaker 4: guys who just like had pretty good college tape and
Speaker 4: their athleticism seems to check the box that they can
Speaker 4: at least play in the league. Now fit and coach,
Speaker 4: abillity and character, all that mentality that's probably going to
Speaker 4: decide who out of like the Nax melt and Andrew Phillips,
Speaker 4: Ronardo Green, Jerry Jones, Jarvis Brown. The people love Kayln
Speaker 4: Carson's picking up steam, Connor Rodgers my boy. He loves
Speaker 4: Kamal Hayden, who I think from Tennessee who is probably
Speaker 4: going to go later in the draft. There's some people
Speaker 4: that love DJ James from Auburn. Like, there's just so
Speaker 4: many corners that are probably going to go in the
Speaker 4: second to fourth round range that can actually play. Ronardo Green,
Speaker 4: I think is probably one of the most interesting from
Speaker 4: Florida State, just because when you're taking a corner later
Speaker 4: in the draft, you want to know that they compete
Speaker 4: and you want them to and you'd love to know
Speaker 4: that they have the upside to maybe make a lot
Speaker 4: of plays in the ball. He forced sixteen incompletions last year,
Speaker 4: tied for sixth most in the country. He is not
Speaker 4: the biggest in terms of just his overall like. He's
Speaker 4: fine height wise. I think he hit six foot, but
Speaker 4: he's not like the thickest corner like. Strength could be
Speaker 4: an issue you could see at times, but just a
Speaker 4: guy that can has the instincts and the ball skills
Speaker 4: to be I would have forced that many incompletions to
Speaker 4: play as well as he played in man coverage this
Speaker 4: past season when he was in man coverage, sixty targets
Speaker 4: a lot of just thirty one catches throughout his college career.
Speaker 4: Has been a great competitor and all that time, I
Speaker 4: think he could be probably underdrafted because he may not
Speaker 4: be like, oh, it's unbelievable measurables testing guy or anything
Speaker 4: like that. But when you look at the tape, there's
Speaker 4: not been many corners in this class that have played
Speaker 4: better than him and gotten better for every single year
Speaker 4: they've been in college too. So it's if the Dolphins
Speaker 4: do want to draft a corner, there's absolutely no onus
Speaker 4: to do that in the first round. This is a
Speaker 4: very very deep cornerback draft. I think that's getting lost
Speaker 4: on which we talk about wide receiver and tackle, the
Speaker 4: cornerbacks buzz. But the corner draft and the interior defensive
Speaker 4: line after two position gerps are just like as I
Speaker 4: watch them, there are just so many guys who can play.
Speaker 4: I don't know if they're all going to be stars
Speaker 4: or anything, but there's just so many guys who can play.
Speaker 4: And when you're Miami and you're probably looking for a
Speaker 4: corner that can play more than you are, like, we
Speaker 4: need a top flight number one. We're rebuilding the whole thing.
Speaker 4: We want a cornerstone piece to build around. They're probably
Speaker 4: more in the camp of mid rounds. We're looking for
Speaker 4: another guy and can play if we don't, you know,
Speaker 4: trust camp Smith or you know, there's questions about some
Speaker 4: of the other guys in the roster with Fuller getting
Speaker 4: up there at age two, Like, if that's the route
Speaker 4: they're going, I think there's gonna be tons of options.
Speaker 4: They don't have to spend a high end resource to
Speaker 4: do that.
Speaker 1: You really picked my interest in the cornerback stuff. You've
Speaker 1: even more so gotten my attention with the interior defensive
Speaker 1: lineman because I think it's a good spot the Dolphins
Speaker 1: could go with this year as well. My guest today,
Speaker 1: John Ledyard on the draft Time podcast, your host Travis Wingfield,
Speaker 1: brought to you by Auto Nation. Picking it back up
Speaker 1: here with my guest today, John Ledyard, talking about this
Speaker 1: year's cornerback class. Going back to the depth of this
Speaker 1: class that you mentioned in the previous segment talking about
Speaker 1: rounds two and four and like, yeah, Miami has a
Speaker 1: pick at fifty five, but they don't pick again until
Speaker 1: pick one fifty eight in that fifth round, and so
Speaker 1: it kind of seems like when you mentioned that, the
Speaker 1: first thing that comes to my mind is, well, typically
Speaker 1: when you have a glut like that and a bunch
Speaker 1: of guys that can play, somebody's gonna fall out the
Speaker 1: back end and wind up late in day three. So
Speaker 1: my question for you is, who are some guys you
Speaker 1: think could make it to pick one fifty eight. It
Speaker 1: would be of interest to the Dolphins at the cornerback spot.
Speaker 4: Also, just I don't know that I'd be too Like
Speaker 4: if you want to move down from twenty one and
Speaker 4: pick up another pick like this is just the Miami's
Speaker 4: in a position to do that. You know they don't
Speaker 4: have like these massive, massive knees. I don't think there
Speaker 4: are certainly position groups they could address after they move down.
Speaker 4: They're in a year definitely where you know there's a
Speaker 4: great player there and you feel like somebody fits at
Speaker 4: a position that they feel like they need to address,
Speaker 4: then then go for it, you know. I mean. Tackles
Speaker 4: just an interesting discussion for them in general, just because
Speaker 4: Armstead's health last couple of years and I know he's
Speaker 4: bringing it back for another year, but you got to
Speaker 4: think they're getting to the point where they may want
Speaker 4: to consider a future there and moving down from where
Speaker 4: they are in the first round, if you can go
Speaker 4: down from twenty one a couple of spots, there still
Speaker 4: should be probably tackles on the board that you could
Speaker 4: potentially develop there. So anyway you can pick up an
Speaker 4: extra pick, I do think in this draft you're going
Speaker 4: to be able to do that. So that's just something
Speaker 4: to keep in mind. I'm sure you guys have talked
Speaker 4: about that a lot on shows as well. But I say,
Speaker 4: in the fifth round, it's always really difficult to tell
Speaker 4: who's gonna be on the board at that point in time,
Speaker 4: I think, just because it does fluctuate, so the player
Speaker 4: I might be highest on like the league, ends up
Speaker 4: being super highed and they end up taking them high
Speaker 4: but I think Kalen Carson has been one of the
Speaker 4: more interesting players in this year's class, like because there
Speaker 4: there's been like basically no buzz about him. But he's
Speaker 4: played outside corner and he played a little bit in
Speaker 4: the slot this past season. I felt like, I mean,
Speaker 4: although there are plays where he does get beat, and
Speaker 4: we're talking about remember fifth round, so we're just talking
Speaker 4: about who can we find that might be available there
Speaker 4: that can actually play. He's a guy that will play
Speaker 4: the run defense. Absolutely, he will come downhill, he will
Speaker 4: make tackles. He isn't gonna get his hands on a
Speaker 4: ton of balls, but in general, you can play him.
Speaker 4: I think he's pretty scheme versatile. He's not gonna kill you.
Speaker 4: In terms of his size, there's measurable So you're looking
Speaker 4: at a guy who I think like he's not going
Speaker 4: to be the fastest. He's probably gonna have to play
Speaker 4: in more of his zone system to a degree. But
Speaker 4: he's done a good bit of stuff his career, and
Speaker 4: he's played over two thousand snaps too, so he's a
Speaker 4: little more ready, and he's physical and at the very least,
Speaker 4: right if you're getting nothing else out of him, you're
Speaker 4: getting a special teams player, and I think that that's
Speaker 4: really really important. So a lot of the things of
Speaker 4: Miami values I think will value in their corners corner
Speaker 4: room he brings to the table. I don't know whether
Speaker 4: we'll ever bring any of that stuff at a high
Speaker 4: enough level, just because nothing is elite about his game
Speaker 4: early other than his physicality. But I think even if
Speaker 4: he doesn't bring it a high enough level to be
Speaker 4: a starter in the NFL, somebody that could become a
Speaker 4: competent backup and could be a great special team or
Speaker 4: because of his physicality, I think that he would be
Speaker 4: worth an investment somewhere in that range of the draft
Speaker 4: if he's still there in the fifth round.
Speaker 1: I love those traits that translate to special teams because
Speaker 1: I think they get slept on way too much. Man,
Speaker 1: if you get a Day three pick, it's a good
Speaker 1: special teamer for four years. That's a good value because
Speaker 1: those guys cost two three four million bucks on the
Speaker 1: open market. Like you're getting that in a fraction of
Speaker 1: the cost when you hit on a rookie, who can
Speaker 1: give you that for the first four years of that
Speaker 1: rookie contract. So I would not sleep on that out
Speaker 1: of wake Forest. By the way, they're Kaylyn Carson, I'm
Speaker 1: trying to do a better job.
Speaker 2: John.
Speaker 1: I know that you probably have this problem as well,
Speaker 1: Like I always gloss over players' names and don't mention
Speaker 1: the school. I'm trying to do better about giving all
Speaker 1: the schools out there because people listen to the podcast
Speaker 1: don't know who the hell we're talking about. Make sure
Speaker 1: we give them the school as well there. So I'm
Speaker 1: just gonna throw it out there, Kayln Carson, wake Forest.
Speaker 1: My last question for you here, John, Slot cornerbacks, man,
Speaker 1: I love this year's class. There's a guy from Washington
Speaker 1: State who'm been a big fan of there, but I
Speaker 1: won't mention his name unless you want to. Who are
Speaker 1: your favorite slot cornerbacks in this year's class? Loot get
Speaker 1: you out of here.
Speaker 4: There's a lot of guys actually that played outside that
Speaker 4: I think might be able to play in the slot
Speaker 4: at the next level. Ernardo Green's one of them. If
Speaker 4: they wanted to go that route with him, I think
Speaker 4: that could be interesting. Earlier in the draft. Saint Rest
Speaker 4: from Michigan. I might be messing up how you say
Speaker 4: his last name, but he he's somebody that I think
Speaker 4: I mean, he's not big at all, and that could
Speaker 4: ultimately be his undoing. How his body holds up with
Speaker 4: how physical he plays is going to be a real
Speaker 4: question mark because in the NFL, like he will just
Speaker 4: absolutely hammer people. I mean he did it several times
Speaker 4: last year, and I just don't know, like how his
Speaker 4: body type is gonna hold up, because I think he's
Speaker 4: he's very l liked. I don't know what his weight.
Speaker 4: He tried to bulk up I think a little bit,
Speaker 4: but his weight I think could be an issue for
Speaker 4: him at the next level. But yeah, he's definitely one
Speaker 4: that I think could play inside in the NFL and
Speaker 4: played there in Michigan. I'm trying to think of others
Speaker 4: that might be able to play at that spot. I
Speaker 4: haven't seen Smith Wade, who was probably who you're an
Speaker 4: alert a little. I have not seen him yet, so
Speaker 4: he is on my list to watch. He's an inside
Speaker 4: guy that he can play there.
Speaker 1: You think you can play a little bit of bath
Speaker 1: if Yeah, he did at the Senior Bowl a little
Speaker 1: bit and had that that big near pick six. I
Speaker 1: think he was cut down like the one yard line.
Speaker 1: But yeah, he's he fitsed the correct year. You're talking
Speaker 1: about in terms of like feistiness and like just wants
Speaker 1: to go stick his face in the fan.
Speaker 2: That's that's like how I describe his game. He's fun
Speaker 2: to watch.
Speaker 4: Well, that's the thing. So many of these guys didn't
Speaker 4: play in the slot in college, Like he barely played this,
Speaker 4: but he will probably, but he could play there in
Speaker 4: the nfls or you're telling me, So that's a lot
Speaker 4: of these guys may end up switching and moving. But
Speaker 4: I don't think it's going to be because, I mean
Speaker 4: we saw the testing like this corner grow tested pretty athletic,
Speaker 4: and the size across the board is pretty good with
Speaker 4: the group as well. So I mean Jerry and Jones
Speaker 4: was a slot in college from Florida State, and so
Speaker 4: perhaps he's another one that will play there in the
Speaker 4: NFL that you can get in the middle rounds. Probably
Speaker 4: isn't on the board in the fifth and maybe two
Speaker 4: early in the seconds, so he'd be one if you
Speaker 4: pick up another pick, perhaps he's going to be the guy,
Speaker 4: but you have good run defender. When they asked him
Speaker 4: to play in man even as a slot guy, which
Speaker 4: means I think he I mean, he didn't play outside
Speaker 4: in twenty twenty two and twenty twenty one. He's been
Speaker 4: a good man coverage corner as well, but this past
Speaker 4: year playing in the slot, he kind of went from
Speaker 4: being off the radar a little bit to being very
Speaker 4: on the radar for NFL teams. And so he'd be
Speaker 4: another one that I think could be like the physical
Speaker 4: and mental traits to play slot because slots of communication
Speaker 4: position right, like, you have to be able to tackle,
Speaker 4: you have to be able to play lots of different
Speaker 4: types of coverage. You don't have to be as great
Speaker 4: in man coverage, you don't necessarily have to be as
Speaker 4: great at press or things like that. You don't have
Speaker 4: to be as fast, probably because you're not going to
Speaker 4: take his ready routes vertical from that position most of
Speaker 4: the time. But you have to be able to tackle,
Speaker 4: to be able to recognize things very quickly, to be
Speaker 4: able to play a lot of different coverages, to be
Speaker 4: able to communicate to the rest of the defense, to
Speaker 4: be able to set the edge of times in the
Speaker 4: run game, things like that, and I think he can
Speaker 4: do all of those things. So Jarring Jones is probably
Speaker 4: another name to be able to keep in.
Speaker 2: Mind at ledyard NFL Draft.
Speaker 1: He does all twenty two breakdowns for the Chiefs and
Speaker 1: Lions on Espanation Yin's No Ball of Steelers podcast. John,
Speaker 1: you do it all, Man, You made us all smarter
Speaker 1: today and got us more education on this year's crop
Speaker 1: of cornerbacks. Thank you so much for your time. Be
Speaker 1: well and we'll talk to you soon.
Speaker 4: Man always oblaged to talk to you, Dravis and really
Speaker 4: appreciate it.
Speaker 1: And there he goes, and there we go for another
Speaker 1: edition of the Draft Time podcast. We're going to have
Speaker 1: another episode for you guys tomorrow with the great Simon Clancy.
Speaker 1: You do not want to miss that. We're kind of
Speaker 1: ramping up here these next couple of weeks. We'll have
Speaker 1: four podcasts for you guys this week. I think we're
Speaker 1: going to have five or six next week. So keep
Speaker 1: it tuned right here for the best Dolphense coverage in
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Speaker 2: Fin's up, Carolina and Cameron, Daddy, He's coming home.