Speaker 1: Drive Time with Travis Wingfield begins. Now, let me check
Speaker 1: your pulse if you're not form 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 to everybody? I am your host, Travis Wingfield,
Speaker 1: And on today's show, it is the Week nine variety show.
Speaker 1: I'll be joined by the co founder of the German
Speaker 1: Dolphins fan Club, Marcus Martin. We have an extended chat
Speaker 1: with the great Kyle Krabs for five on Finch Draft
Speaker 1: and a conversation about Dolphins developmental programs on the offensive
Speaker 1: line that has gotten those guys playing at a high level. Plus,
Speaker 1: we'll give you the latest on injuries and play the
Speaker 1: sounds of the week with regards to traveling overseas and
Speaker 1: taking in the German culture. From somewhere in South Florida,
Speaker 1: this is the Drive Time Podcast Maye Gaffe. We start
Speaker 1: here with games, statuses and injury reports. Here for the
Speaker 1: game on Sunday, the biggest game of the season for
Speaker 1: the Miami Dolphins to date and in my opinion, the
Speaker 1: biggest game on the entire NFL calendar to date. And
Speaker 1: we got some good news regardings a lot of players
Speaker 1: that it looks like are going to come back. First
Speaker 1: no Robert Hunt and no Brandon Jones on Sunday, But
Speaker 1: it does appear as though Miami, despite some questionable distinctions
Speaker 1: on the game status report, will get to Ron Armstead,
Speaker 1: Connor Williams, Exavien Howard, and Javon Holland back. Think about that,
Speaker 1: that's four guys that, in my opinion, belong on Pro
Speaker 1: Bowl teams within the last couple of years. Now X
Speaker 1: did make it last year, he would argue that he
Speaker 1: probably didn't deserve that one. I think Connor Williams would
Speaker 1: have deserved one, but he didn't get it. So the
Speaker 1: whole idea of this team's getting better at the trade
Speaker 1: deadline concept, Miami's doing that with their own returning guys
Speaker 1: that already know your playbook, that already know your system.
Speaker 1: So I don't think anybody going to benefit from roster
Speaker 1: changes this time of season from the Miami Dolphins. I
Speaker 1: like the Chase Young Traine a lot for the forty
Speaker 1: nine ers. I think he's the perfect candidate to come
Speaker 1: in there with Chris Kuseric and have a bit of
Speaker 1: a career renaissance there in San Francisco and go out
Speaker 1: and get himself a big contract in the offseason as
Speaker 1: a result. But people wanted to see DeVante Adams traded, right.
Speaker 1: People wanted to see all these big time moves for
Speaker 1: you know, marquee players around the league and to come
Speaker 1: in mid season, pick up an offense, pick up a defense,
Speaker 1: and have an impact. We've seen the Dolphins defense with
Speaker 1: Vic Fangio take eight or so games to get clicking
Speaker 1: in Unison, right, and it still hasn't even there yet.
Speaker 1: To his point, Jalen Ramsey's not all the way back yet.
Speaker 1: When he does get back, when they get all these
Speaker 1: pieces back, then maybe you start to see the fruits
Speaker 1: of their labor. Which how good does that work out
Speaker 1: for Miami that by the time you get to that
Speaker 1: three game stretch in December into January against Dallas, Baltimore
Speaker 1: and Buffalo, you probably have the similar level of continuity
Speaker 1: on the defensive side in terms of how comfortable you
Speaker 1: are within your systems, within your rules as you have
Speaker 1: with this Dolphins offense that came out from Game one
Speaker 1: just humming with four hundred and sixty six yards through
Speaker 1: the year for two a tongue of my lowest, So
Speaker 1: that's a separate point. In general, I just think the
Speaker 1: Dolphins are going to have their best team on Sunday.
Speaker 1: They've shown this season. I think they're going to perform
Speaker 1: in their best game, their best performance that we've seen
Speaker 1: all year long. And if the Chiefs don't do the
Speaker 1: same and don't match it, the Dolphins are gonna win
Speaker 1: this football game. If the Chiefs do match it, the
Speaker 1: Dolphins still have a chance to win this football game.
Speaker 1: So I can't wait. I am just geeked, I am nervous,
Speaker 1: I am excited. I am fraught with anticipation thinking the
Speaker 1: Dolphins are going to do something special and give themselves
Speaker 1: With the results that we get on Sunday, I think
Speaker 1: Miami wins this game. I think Buffalo loses on Sunday
Speaker 1: Night Football. I think you could put yourself ahead of
Speaker 1: the Chiefs in the AFC standings. I think you could
Speaker 1: create a two game cushion over the Buffalo Bills with
Speaker 1: the results of Sunday Night Football going the way I
Speaker 1: anticipate they will go. Though I've been wrong before. Did
Speaker 1: Neil that Thursday night pick? Though, by the way, when
Speaker 1: no one else was taking the Steelers, even though they
Speaker 1: are a terrible football team, they find a way to
Speaker 1: win those games. But I digress. So I just think
Speaker 1: that the Dolphins have a chance, with the results of
Speaker 1: this week's games to put themselves in position on the
Speaker 1: bye week to make you, as the fan, feel better
Speaker 1: than you have in I would say better than you
Speaker 1: have since coming off that win in Denver to get
Speaker 1: to five and one back in two thousand and two
Speaker 1: before you found out about Jay Fiedler's broken thumb. You
Speaker 1: might tell me the Jets finale in two thousand and eight,
Speaker 1: that was pretty great, But did we really believe that
Speaker 1: team could even go and beat Baltimore in the first
Speaker 1: round at home when you threw four picks, you know,
Speaker 1: Chad Pennington to Ed Reid in that game. Did you
Speaker 1: think that the twenty sixteen win in Buffalo as great
Speaker 1: as that was? And I went and got messed up
Speaker 1: at my father in law's house celebrating what was about
Speaker 1: to be our first trip back to the postseason in
Speaker 1: eight years, did you think that team with Bakari Rambo
Speaker 1: and guys like oh Man who the line background forgetting
Speaker 1: the guy that called me out Spencer Pasinger on Twitter
Speaker 1: when I said that, like, as great as the twenty
Speaker 1: sixteen season was, the Dolphins roster was not so great,
Speaker 1: and he was like, hey, Dolphins fan should appreciate this team.
Speaker 1: I'm like, hey, I appreciate this Dolphins team more than
Speaker 1: anybody else. I'm just telling you you had Bacari ramble
Speaker 1: off the streets starting in the playoff game because isa
Speaker 1: Abdul Caduz got hurt and Rashaw Jones was out, and
Speaker 1: I think your third safety, I forget who it was,
Speaker 1: was also down. So I was just trying to be
Speaker 1: relative to that point. We are so far into the weeds.
Speaker 1: My point here is that I think a Dolphins fan
Speaker 1: come one o'clock Sunday afternoon in the East ten o'clock
Speaker 1: in the West, could potentially feel the best they have
Speaker 1: about their team in twenty two years. And then Sunday night,
Speaker 1: with a Bills result, hopefully going in the right direction,
Speaker 1: potentially feeling better than that, and then Baltimore plays Seattle,
Speaker 1: maybe the Seahawks get a big road win. I'm not
Speaker 1: picking it, but this week could be monument until either way.
Speaker 1: If the Dolphins win, regardless of what happens in the
Speaker 1: other games, If the Dolphins went on Sunday. They'll be
Speaker 1: first place in the AFC heading into the bye week
Speaker 1: and again a potential two game advantage with the first
Speaker 1: half of the season in the books over Buffalo, with
Speaker 1: their schedule getting increasingly harder in Miami, Having for all
Speaker 1: intents and purposes, five cupcakes. After that, let's go ahead
Speaker 1: and get you some commentary from the players this week.
Speaker 1: This is one of the challenges of not traveling with
Speaker 1: the team, as I haven't been around for press conferences
Speaker 1: to watch practice and give you guys those updates. But
Speaker 1: we do have the sound I want to play four
Speaker 1: sound bites here from guys talking about their experiences of
Speaker 1: going to Germany, how it can galvanize his football team,
Speaker 1: taking in the culture, and much much more. We start
Speaker 1: here with Dolphins outside linebacker Bradley Chubb.
Speaker 2: Anytime you get a chance to expand the game that
Speaker 2: I've been playing since I was six years old, game
Speaker 2: that I love, game that I put my heart into.
Speaker 2: Anytime you got a chance to share that with a
Speaker 2: different group of people, different culture, no matter where it is,
Speaker 2: it's a blessing. It's a huge opportunity. And last year
Speaker 2: Atlanda was fun had a good time. But this year
Speaker 2: in Germany, Man, I'm with a special group of guys
Speaker 2: and we got an opportunity to do something real special,
Speaker 2: so it makes the experience that much better, that much leader.
Speaker 1: He also talked a little bit about how last year's
Speaker 1: team kind of took the trip out to California as
Speaker 1: more of a vacation and it informed them to not
Speaker 1: do that because he thought they didn't play as well
Speaker 1: in the game. And going back, I always thought the
Speaker 1: Chargers they had a good game plan, but it wasn't
Speaker 1: about the game plan. It was more that Miami just
Speaker 1: didn't play well in that game. So hopefully you learn
Speaker 1: from that lesson, you apply it here and get a
Speaker 1: better performance in Germany. Let's go ahead and hear from
Speaker 1: Christian Wilkins, who is a man who knows how to
Speaker 1: immerse himself in foreign culture.
Speaker 3: It's been so far, so good. I love being here.
Speaker 3: It's been a lot of fun, just time spent with
Speaker 3: my teammates, enjoying their company and getting closer with those guys,
Speaker 3: but also just you know, it's special to be in
Speaker 3: another country. You know, growing up in Springfield, Massachusetts, like
Speaker 3: one thing I always wanted to do is be able
Speaker 3: to travel. I didn't think football would you know, take
Speaker 3: me out of the country to play a game. And
Speaker 3: so this is special time for me, just you know,
Speaker 3: kind of thinking how far I've come and just being
Speaker 3: here and have an opporutility to play a game.
Speaker 1: How about a certain Dolphins running back with heritage ties
Speaker 1: back to the country of Germany.
Speaker 4: You know, I would love to tap into my roots
Speaker 4: a little bit more, you know, just just being who
Speaker 4: I am as a person as an individual. I love
Speaker 4: learning about, you know, my ancestry and history behind the
Speaker 4: reason why I am who I am. But also you know,
Speaker 4: what my family was like, you know, back in the day,
Speaker 4: so it's fairly important. I love the fact that, you know,
Speaker 4: the NFL is definitely taking that initiative to you know,
Speaker 4: go abroad and having these opportunities for players to get
Speaker 4: outside the norm, you know, being outside the US. I
Speaker 4: think that that's very important to see different cultures and
Speaker 4: to pick up a few things. I know when I
Speaker 4: when we first arrived here, jaylen Watta was talking about
Speaker 4: all these different things, talking about currency and and you
Speaker 4: know he went to exchange right before, right before we departed,
Speaker 4: and he was fully invested in learning the culture and
Speaker 4: history behind you know, Germany and stuff like that, which
Speaker 4: I thought was fairly neat the.
Speaker 1: First time I ever went to Hawaii was with my
Speaker 1: current wife, my wife, that was our first trip together,
Speaker 1: like on an airplane and everything. And when I got back,
Speaker 1: I kept saying mahaalow to everybody, even though it didn't
Speaker 1: track with what they were saying to me. And it
Speaker 1: reminded me of this clip of Alec Ingold when he
Speaker 1: was asked how he's enjoying Germany so far, and he said, donke,
Speaker 1: which I guess is thank you. So how is Germany
Speaker 1: so far? Alec? Thank you? I thought that was a
Speaker 1: fantastic moment. Here's Alec talking about going out with a
Speaker 1: team that night and again how this entire trip has
Speaker 1: been galvanizing for the entire roster.
Speaker 5: Yeah, we went to downtown Frankfurt a handful of guys,
Speaker 5: and no, I felt right at home, ordered some beer
Speaker 5: and some brats and had a great time. So no,
Speaker 5: it was really cool to get around town sightsee with
Speaker 5: the guys on that Tuesday. Coach obviously got us down
Speaker 5: here early just to experience a right and just get
Speaker 5: into that new uncomfortable situations with your teammates. I think
Speaker 5: that kind of brings everyone a little closer together. You
Speaker 5: get to learn together, and I think that's this is
Speaker 5: gonna be a week that I think all of us
Speaker 5: are gonna remember for a long time. So doing our
Speaker 5: best to make it special.
Speaker 1: I mean, I wanted to close with that one on purpose, because,
Speaker 1: like you said, a week we could all remember for
Speaker 1: a long time. And I get he's saying in terms
Speaker 1: of the bonding nature of this team. But perhaps you
Speaker 1: win this game and you come back and you, you know,
Speaker 1: maybe you have your America's game at the end of
Speaker 1: the season and people talk about the Germany trip as
Speaker 1: the one that brought this team together, provided a chance
Speaker 1: to win a big football game to prove to them
Speaker 1: they can beat one of the teams, one of the
Speaker 1: elite teams in the National Football League and maybe springboards
Speaker 1: them into a very special second half of the season
Speaker 1: under the watchful eye of Hard Knocks. Ooh boy, we
Speaker 1: have an exciting two months ahead and it starts on
Speaker 1: Sunday from Frankfurt, Germany. Let's go ahead and take our
Speaker 1: first break right here. I had Kyle Krabs go on
Speaker 1: the podcast. We had a couple of the people you'll
Speaker 1: see in the booth on Sunday's game lined up, but
Speaker 1: it did not work out to come on the podcast
Speaker 1: here for the variety show, So no Rich Eyes and
Speaker 1: no Dan Orlowski. I do apologize for that, but again,
Speaker 1: I have some mega guests coming up your way on
Speaker 1: the bye week, but that's a couple weeks or I
Speaker 1: should say a week or so down the line from now.
Speaker 1: Let's go ahead and take our first break and have
Speaker 1: this extended chat with Kyle Krabs on the other side.
Speaker 1: You guys are not gonna want to miss this talking
Speaker 1: about the Dolphins offensive line and how they've gotten these
Speaker 1: parts to finally click and work out here in South Florida.
Speaker 1: That's all next Draft Time Podcast, your host Travis Wingfield,
Speaker 1: brought to you by Autnation. A little bit different flow
Speaker 1: on this Friday edition of the Draft Time Podcast. I'm
Speaker 1: gonna go ahead and plug in my interview right now
Speaker 1: with Kyle Krabs. I just enjoyed this chat all around
Speaker 1: talking college football with a lot of Dolphins talking here
Speaker 1: as well. Let's go ahead and get to my friend
Speaker 1: Kyle Crabs joining us as he does every single Friday
Speaker 1: here for five minutes on Finn's Draft is the Great
Speaker 1: Kyle Krabs locked on NFL scouting, locked on Dolphins at
Speaker 1: grinding the tape on social Kyle, how we feel, man,
Speaker 1: I'm feeling good. Uh.
Speaker 6: You know, We're We're at the halfway point of the
Speaker 6: NFL season, which is pretty crazy to think. We're at
Speaker 6: the three quarter mark of the college football season before
Speaker 6: the postseason, and I'm just gently weeping at night thinking
Speaker 6: that we're getting close to the back half of football
Speaker 6: and potentially not having football for another stretch of time.
Speaker 1: And I'm just enjoying the ride. I had a I
Speaker 1: left to voicemailt today which I guess speaks to the
Speaker 1: fact that I'm thirty six years old, and I talked
Speaker 1: about how there's only two months left in the football season,
Speaker 1: and I kind of got the similar vibes that you
Speaker 1: did right there. And you know, it reminds me of
Speaker 1: like all these you know, TNF and Sunday night football
Speaker 1: games that and granted, like there are some tough ones,
Speaker 1: but the thing that I never get, like tonight, we're
Speaker 1: recording this on a Thursday tonight, for instance, Titans and Steelers,
Speaker 1: Like there's intrigue there on both those sides to me.
Speaker 1: But for people to be like, I'm not watching this,
Speaker 1: it's like you wait, you wait eight months for this,
Speaker 1: and then you'll be just punted on it.
Speaker 6: Leading you'll be pleading for in three months, you'll be
Speaker 6: pleading for a UNSP Taculer Thursday night football matchup guarantee, Kyle.
Speaker 1: I used to watch Arizona hot Shots versus the Saint
Speaker 1: Louis BattleHawks whatever the AAF. I forget, like I was
Speaker 1: into that that year because I didn't have a kid
Speaker 1: yet and I had nothing but time. But I digress. Enjoy
Speaker 1: the football. That's the larger takeaway here. Speaking of big football,
Speaker 1: like you mentioned college football that goes by so fast
Speaker 1: every year, quicker than a quarter if you were on
Speaker 1: the quarter system back into school, in high school or college.
Speaker 1: Give me the big game of the week you're looking
Speaker 1: forward to, the scouting the top prospects that you expect
Speaker 1: come out of that game. Some matchups you like what
Speaker 1: you're looking for this weekend.
Speaker 6: Yeah, it's tempting because you have a couple of different
Speaker 6: options between LSU Alabama, which is always a fun showcase
Speaker 6: of talent with the history those programs have. As of
Speaker 6: late of putting big time talent into the National Football League.
Speaker 6: But I would look at Washington at USC. I know
Speaker 6: USC's defense has not played particularly well as of the
Speaker 6: last couple of weeks, and USC has kind of struggled
Speaker 6: versus the standard and next dictation, they've fall into twentieth
Speaker 6: in the polls. But you got two big time quarterback prospects,
Speaker 6: and Penix and Caleb Williams, who obviously can sling the
Speaker 6: ball all over the field. There's some gifted wide receivers
Speaker 6: in each one of those groups, and there are a
Speaker 6: number of defenders. Washington's got a couple of pass rushers.
Speaker 6: USC has safety Kylen Bullock out there, who I think
Speaker 6: is a really rangy, intriguing, probably Day two guy at safety.
Speaker 1: So I just think you.
Speaker 6: Can look at Washington, USC and whichever team has the ball,
Speaker 6: you're probably looking at a half dozen NFL guys that
Speaker 6: are on the field at any given point in time.
Speaker 1: Now you're talking my language. Funny story for you. It
Speaker 1: must have been exactly four weeks ago when the Kogs
Speaker 1: were four and oh, I stopped by Austin Jackson's locker
Speaker 1: and said, Austin, I think it's going to be USC
Speaker 1: WSU in the Pac twelve Championship. What are your thoughts?
Speaker 1: And he thought, I meant Washington because that's what everyone
Speaker 1: thinks when I talk about football in the Pacific Northwest.
Speaker 1: And I think since that time, Washington's zer and to four,
Speaker 1: Washington State rather zero four, and USC I believe is
Speaker 1: two and two. Both teams kind of training in the
Speaker 1: wrong direction. So yeah, the Pac two he no longer
Speaker 1: looking as strong as it once did with Washington State
Speaker 1: and Organ State. And let's go ahead and stay there
Speaker 1: on that game in the Pac twelve. Because there's a
Speaker 1: player on the UDUB offensive line that I keep seeing
Speaker 1: clips of him, and I watched that Organ game and
Speaker 1: he was the prospect that I came away I thought
Speaker 1: most impressed by to the left tackle of you Dub
Speaker 1: Troy Fatanu. I thought that his tape was really, really fantastic.
Speaker 1: But I've seen some folks talk about him as a
Speaker 1: potential guard. What say you there with his pro position?
Speaker 6: Yeah, I've kind of heard the same speculation. But at
Speaker 6: the end of the day, this guy is six foot four,
Speaker 6: three hundred and fifteen plus pounds, good on the edge
Speaker 6: in pass protection. I think he's earned the right to
Speaker 6: get a chance to play outside.
Speaker 7: First.
Speaker 6: I think he frames blocks really well. He's really aggressive
Speaker 6: with his hands. He's not a heavyweight puncher, but he's
Speaker 6: really active with his hands once he kind of gets
Speaker 6: you cut off with that initial angle, and he works
Speaker 6: pretty hard with his hands to try try and force
Speaker 6: you to lose leverage or give up your chest or
Speaker 6: have your hands drop down because he's countering you. And
Speaker 6: I think he showcased a pretty high level of football
Speaker 6: IQ on the edge. So anytime you have a player
Speaker 6: like that, maybe it's not prototypical length, but at the
Speaker 6: end of the day, if he's got the foot speed
Speaker 6: in athleticism to do it, which I think he does,
Speaker 6: I would rather give him a chance to play a
Speaker 6: tackle and then if it doesn't work out, then that
Speaker 6: career evolution can happen. And you've seen that happen plenty
Speaker 6: of times with guys come into the league and sometimes
Speaker 6: it works once they move inside. Sometimes it doesn't. But
Speaker 6: if you want to give a guy every opportunity to
Speaker 6: be successful, I think that's the pathway I would take
Speaker 6: with foot Tim.
Speaker 1: So you probably explained this on your podcast during the offseason,
Speaker 1: I imagine, and sorry, Kyle, have to admit to you,
Speaker 1: I haven't listened to every single Lockdown Dolphins episode. I
Speaker 1: listened to a lot of them, not all of them,
Speaker 1: But I haven't heard this from you before. I think
Speaker 1: it's a good chance for you to potentially give some
Speaker 1: football one on one education here, because you know, like
Speaker 1: a player is a good tackle in college and proe
Speaker 1: scouts think he should kick inside to guard. What do
Speaker 1: you think typically call is that conversation to begin? Because
Speaker 1: I'm looking at you know you talk about him, and
Speaker 1: if it's not just a good tackle versus a great guard,
Speaker 1: for instance, like look at Robert Hunt, Like I thought
Speaker 1: he was pretty good at right tackle, but he looks
Speaker 1: to me to be one of the best right guards
Speaker 1: in the National Football League. And then you get from
Speaker 1: Austin Jackson, who was a career left tackle at USC
Speaker 1: has now found a home with the right tackle position.
Speaker 1: Connor Williams was a tackle in college, played guard in Dallas,
Speaker 1: and now is a center here. Like this offensive line
Speaker 1: has guys all over the place that have swap positions.
Speaker 1: What do you think it is about this system that
Speaker 1: kind of I guess changes guys from what they have
Speaker 1: been donating in the past and are so successful in
Speaker 1: their new role here. Well, I think what Miami.
Speaker 6: I think what Miami has done a nice job of
Speaker 6: is kind of forecasting the traits. You know, when you
Speaker 6: first signed Connor Williams, and the work kind of starts
Speaker 6: to get out that they may try him at center.
Speaker 6: Everybody's like, oh, that's that's surprising, But look at how
Speaker 6: they use the center and just how athletic Connor Williams
Speaker 6: is and how he's charged with getting up into space
Speaker 6: and in the screen game and cutting off linebackers, and
Speaker 6: so many of Miami's explosive runs this season have come
Speaker 6: courtesy of a backside offensive lineman working up and cutting
Speaker 6: off a linebacker that he doesn't have leverage on at
Speaker 6: the start of the play, but thanks to the shift
Speaker 6: of the motion and then bumping the formation, you give
Speaker 6: him a half a step and then they're athletic enough
Speaker 6: to get up there and do that. And I think
Speaker 6: that's really helped. And as far as Austin Jackson goes,
Speaker 6: that's a prototypical offensive tackle build, right, That's how he
Speaker 6: gets drafted where he gets drafted, and teams do it
Speaker 6: every year. But if you don't have a plan for
Speaker 6: the player, you do the player a disservice, and I
Speaker 6: think Austin getting into this system, his strengths finally align
Speaker 6: with the foundations of what you're trying to do offensively.
Speaker 6: Where it is play action pass heavy, it is you're
Speaker 6: taking advantage of his athleticism and his length and his
Speaker 6: power in the run game, it shows up. And then
Speaker 6: when you play action pass off of that, you're negating
Speaker 6: so many of the strengths that defensive ends and pass
Speaker 6: rushers bring to the table where they're team off on
Speaker 6: you because you're still dictating terms even on the passing plays.
Speaker 6: So I think just how in all pieces together and
Speaker 6: the athleticism of Miami's offensive line has kind of provided
Speaker 6: them with an opportunity to showcase if you could properly
Speaker 6: identify traits and then you sew that together with what
Speaker 6: your core concepts are and how you run your offense.
Speaker 6: That's where you can get cohesion on your offensive line
Speaker 6: even if they're not playing at the spots they played
Speaker 6: in college.
Speaker 1: That might be my favorite part of watching the Dolphins
Speaker 1: taper week is what you just talked about with kind
Speaker 1: of the hesitation and almost puts on the defensive line
Speaker 1: like they fire off the ball in a passing down,
Speaker 1: you see the defensive lines first step is kind of
Speaker 1: like to pop up and it raises their pad level
Speaker 1: and just kind of takes them out of the play
Speaker 1: a lot of the time. So it's it's working very well.
Speaker 1: And then also this conversation kind of reminds me of
Speaker 1: something that Mike McDaniel had said back when he was
Speaker 1: with the forty nine ers when he was asked in
Speaker 1: a press conference, so it must have been his last
Speaker 1: year when he was the OC that he was asked
Speaker 1: about the forty nine ers propensity for like late round
Speaker 1: draft picks that hit on the offensive line, and his
Speaker 1: first comment was, well, ideally, you know, you take the
Speaker 1: guys you get. You would if you could engineer it,
Speaker 1: you would have every guy be seven foot tall, four
Speaker 1: hundred pounds, and those guys tend to go in the
Speaker 1: first round. I wonder how much he looked at this
Speaker 1: line coming over here and was like, I had a
Speaker 1: line full of first round picks. I went out and
Speaker 1: signed to Ron armser it as an all pro and
Speaker 1: out and signed Connor Williams, who clearly has traits that
Speaker 1: we believe can be a top center, which is translated
Speaker 1: into a top five center in the National Football League,
Speaker 1: Like it's It kind of blows your mind on it,
Speaker 1: doesn't it.
Speaker 6: Yeah, especially because there there had been this some of
Speaker 6: the individuals versus the sum of the entire product. And
Speaker 6: then you get you get a system like the one
Speaker 6: that the Dolphins have in here now, and these early
Speaker 6: draft picks look like early draft picks, you know. And
Speaker 6: Robert Hunt's taking his game to another level was a
Speaker 6: guy who was playing well with the previous regime that
Speaker 6: was here too. And I certainly think there is a
Speaker 6: lot of case studies to be had about the offensive
Speaker 6: line unit in general, and I for one cannot wait
Speaker 6: to see how it continues to evolve, To continue to
Speaker 6: see these individual talents and then this group in its entirety,
Speaker 6: how they continue to progress from here.
Speaker 1: Going a little bit longer today with Kyle Krabs locked
Speaker 1: on Dolphins, locked on NFL scouting talking some offensive line
Speaker 1: and could be a position that Dolphins look heavily into.
Speaker 1: It could be one that they wind up having no
Speaker 1: needs with regards to contract extensions. You never know what
Speaker 1: could happen. But left guard, center, right guard, right tackle
Speaker 1: all schedule for free agency at the end of this year.
Speaker 1: If they're playing fantastic, it's a good class as well
Speaker 1: in college football. So a fun conversation to have there.
Speaker 1: Let's go back to our typical chat here, Kyle, and
Speaker 1: give me a game off the radar in college football
Speaker 1: this Saturday or maybe even tonight that you're looking at
Speaker 1: that has some prospects you're intrigued by.
Speaker 6: I will unfortunately turn down the Washington State game on
Speaker 6: the Pac twelve network because I don't have Pack twelve network.
Speaker 6: But UCLA at Arizona at ten thirty on Fox Sports
Speaker 6: One if you're on the Eastern time zone, some sneaky
Speaker 6: talent in that game. Arizona. You know, they're five and three.
Speaker 6: They've had some success. They knocked off Oregon State I
Speaker 6: believe it was last weekend, or Washington State they beat.
Speaker 6: They got Jordan Morgan at left tackle. They got wide
Speaker 6: receiver Jacob Cowing in the slot for them. They have
Speaker 6: some players, and obviously UCLA has is barking on the
Speaker 6: door of a ten win season this year, and they've
Speaker 6: got a lot too at defensive end, who some people
Speaker 6: think could potentially be a top ten, top fifteen draft
Speaker 6: selection when it's all said and done. So that's a
Speaker 6: game for me that keeping it again on. Ironically, in
Speaker 6: the PAC twelve, there's a lot of talent that's going
Speaker 6: to be on the field there. I mean you're probably
Speaker 6: talking another half dozen to double digit NFL players that
Speaker 6: are on the field for that game. And it's the
Speaker 6: last game on the schedule for the FBS list this week.
Speaker 1: It's the latest kick.
Speaker 6: But it's worth it if you've got the sleep and
Speaker 6: energy to stay up and watch it.
Speaker 1: Well, you're posing a strong challenge here because we're going
Speaker 1: to finish on this conversation with Dolphins and Chiefs from Frankfurt, Germany,
Speaker 1: which kicks off at nine thirty Eastern. So, Kyle, you're
Speaker 1: asking the fans to stay up until about one thirty
Speaker 1: in the morning and then to have a turnaround for
Speaker 1: a nine thirty kickoff. How do you feel about that?
Speaker 6: Just sleap the rest of the day on Sunday, I guess,
Speaker 6: just pull the all nighter and get ready for a
Speaker 6: big game on Sunday morning.
Speaker 1: I was almost was certain you were going to stay
Speaker 1: a sleep when you're dead, and I was gonna laugh
Speaker 1: my ass off when you said that, But you didn't,
Speaker 1: so I won't. But I will finish up with this
Speaker 1: conversation because I we do it every week, but I
Speaker 1: would hate to miss it this week. Big game, man,
Speaker 1: big fun game. I don't know how you feel about
Speaker 1: getting ready for it in terms of your coverage and
Speaker 1: content over the next couple of days, right, I should
Speaker 1: say the last few days, as we've you know, put
Speaker 1: together our preview content and all that fun stuff. It
Speaker 1: was fun for me because it kind of it had
Speaker 1: the feel of like an important playoff game, all honesty,
Speaker 1: thinking about the potential of how I'll feel if we win,
Speaker 1: about some of the big plays you might sell a
Speaker 1: great and just in general trying to find every single
Speaker 1: little nook and cranny you can that gives the Dolphins
Speaker 1: a potential opportunity to exploit and go get themselves a
Speaker 1: dub in a big game. So what do you think, man?
Speaker 1: Have you felt the same way this week? How do
Speaker 1: you feel out the matchup? What some big keys do
Speaker 1: you think might decide this one?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 6: I think I'm a little less jittery than I have
Speaker 6: been for the last couple big games this season. Obviously,
Speaker 6: you know, Miamis was just on Sunday Night football against
Speaker 6: Philadelphia and dropped a tough one that was a one
Speaker 6: score game until very late in the game after a turnover,
Speaker 6: and I know after the game, Might McDaniel talked about
Speaker 6: that environment being really helpful for this team as they
Speaker 6: continue to try to develop and progress to where they
Speaker 6: want to go. And then you consider Jalen Ramsey being back.
Speaker 6: I've seen you a few times tweet about thermometers or
Speaker 6: temperature changers. Yes, players to damage on my term, and
Speaker 6: that's Jalen Ramsey right, So to have him ready for
Speaker 6: this game that if Tyreek Hill ready for this game,
Speaker 6: it is going to be a great opportunity for Miami.
Speaker 6: It feels like they're gonna get some reinforcements from within
Speaker 6: for guys that are going to be ready to play
Speaker 6: in this game and really excited to see how it
Speaker 6: all shakes out.
Speaker 1: Yeah, man, I'm glad it's Donne out of the way early.
Speaker 1: I did a spot earlier in the week and somebody
Speaker 1: asked me about having that early kickoff, and my thought
Speaker 1: was that every time you you like it, yes I do.
Speaker 6: I would not want to wait, Like if you told
Speaker 6: me that game was Sunday Night Football, I'd lose my
Speaker 6: mind all day.
Speaker 1: That's true. Well, my argument was that when the Dolphins win,
Speaker 1: it just makes like, my favorite part about Dolphins win
Speaker 1: is the rest of the games and then the content
Speaker 1: that comes as a follow up, you know, the highlight shows,
Speaker 1: the talk shows, the podcast that I'm into, all that
Speaker 1: stuff is just so much more fun when the Dolphins win,
Speaker 1: and a big Dolphins win, that's gonna lead every show
Speaker 1: on Monday if they so looking forward to it. Hey man,
Speaker 1: great chat. I appreciate you kind of stretching here for
Speaker 1: us on the show on this week nine variety show
Speaker 1: at Grinding the Tape on Social, locked on NFL Scouting,
Speaker 1: Locked on Dolphins, Kyle, appreciate you man.
Speaker 7: Thanks Frans.
Speaker 1: How come those interviews recorded I always sound way more
Speaker 1: muffled than otherwise. I'll have to figure that out on
Speaker 1: my own time. Let's go ahead and take our last
Speaker 1: break right there. Come back on the other side and
Speaker 1: hear from the co founder of the German Dolphins fan Club,
Speaker 1: Marcus Merton. That's next Draft Time podcast to your host,
Speaker 1: Travis Wingfield. Brought to you by Auto Nation, and I'm
Speaker 1: very excited about my guest today because we only get
Speaker 1: these opportunities every few years with the international series and
Speaker 1: the first time ever the Dolphins playing a regular season
Speaker 1: game on German soil. I'm very thrilled to be joined
Speaker 1: today by the co founder of the German Dolphins Fan Club.
Speaker 1: He is Marcus Martin. Marcus, thank you so much for
Speaker 1: your time.
Speaker 7: Today, Alech Trevis, thank you so much. Pleasure being with you.
Speaker 7: Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1: So, I have so many questions because it fascinates me
Speaker 1: as someone that tries to invest in you know, as
Speaker 1: we call it soccer, Marcus, and I apologize, I know
Speaker 1: it's football over where you're from as well, but investing
Speaker 1: in a sport where the games happen in the middle
Speaker 1: of the night, to me is fascinating and so I
Speaker 1: wanted to get your perspective to start here. Just give
Speaker 1: us what it's like on a game day to be
Speaker 1: a Dolphins fan in Germany and when you watch these games,
Speaker 1: particularly the ones you know, I know you have, like
Speaker 1: I think the normal kickoff time is like ten o'clock
Speaker 1: over there, but it shifts throughout the you know, early
Speaker 1: into the early morning hours. Just tell us about your
Speaker 1: experience of game day as a Dolphins fan in Germany.
Speaker 7: Yeah, with pleasure. So fortunately, is it is not that problematic.
Speaker 7: So usually the early games they start at seven pm
Speaker 7: in Germany when you watch them, so it's the the
Speaker 7: late games that start around ten or eleven o'clock in
Speaker 7: the ear but you know, we are looking all of
Speaker 7: these games, so we're watching from usually a double header
Speaker 7: from six to seven until one two o'clock into the night.
Speaker 7: You know, we're fans, we love football. Football is growing
Speaker 7: in Germany very much, so there's a lot of excitement.
Speaker 7: We do have these older fans like me, you know,
Speaker 7: starting watching the games in the eighties, but over the
Speaker 7: last years there's kind of i would call it a
Speaker 7: little hype on American football. How we call it here.
Speaker 7: It is because there was a start of free TV broadcasting,
Speaker 7: so the games are available, not always a Dolphins, so
Speaker 7: it's a kind of mixture, but you can watch every
Speaker 7: evening two games, the early game and the late game
Speaker 7: on free TV. So in the meantime, football in Germany
Speaker 7: is the number two TV sports, so it is above
Speaker 7: Formula one or rugby or whatever. It's just behind soccer
Speaker 7: and it's amazing.
Speaker 1: It's like, yeah, it's amazing to watch me with the
Speaker 1: NFL has grown that way, it's it's you know, making
Speaker 1: its way overseas England now obviously Germany as well. And
Speaker 1: you mentioned the eighties, I have to follow up, so
Speaker 1: I assume that has something to do with a certain
Speaker 1: quarterback that played here in the eighties.
Speaker 7: Yeah, pretty much full full hit the target. Yeah. So
Speaker 7: I grew up in Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany, and you know,
Speaker 7: there was a huge presence of US Army Air base,
Speaker 7: so everybody knew. Some guys had some friends and Sunday evening,
Speaker 7: you know, you started watching games with them, and over
Speaker 7: time it was kind of it was it was the Dolphins.
Speaker 7: It was you know, it was the name, it was
Speaker 7: the Colors, and it was the way they played. You know,
Speaker 7: in the eighties it was a very run heavy league.
Speaker 7: And then we had this team with Dan Marino and
Speaker 7: the marks brought and they were throwing, they were going
Speaker 7: through the air. It was like like a dolphin jumping.
Speaker 7: So and you know, and there were dolphins, an animal
Speaker 7: that I always associate with intelligence, with speed, with elegence,
Speaker 7: and that was the way they were playing. So I
Speaker 7: was very quickly addicted to the Dolphins there.
Speaker 1: It definitely hit me at a young age as well.
Speaker 1: It was a different era for me in the late nineties,
Speaker 1: I kind of caught onto it, but that same quarterback
Speaker 1: we'll still there at that time, and now we have
Speaker 1: a quarterback that hopefully can inspire some young generations as
Speaker 1: well in terms of getting plenty of Dolphins fans, not
Speaker 1: just here in South Wara, but across the globe and
Speaker 1: starting on Sunday in Frankfurt with the big game against
Speaker 1: the Chiefs. And you know you mentioned watching the early
Speaker 1: game of seven o'clock, in the late game ten o'clock.
Speaker 1: That's you know, our primetime games. The evening game, the
Speaker 1: late late one for us starts at like eight fifteen,
Speaker 1: so that one's in the early morning hours. But I'm wondering,
Speaker 1: what is the game day set up like for you?
Speaker 1: Do you you know we have tailgates over here, people
Speaker 1: have friends over they drink a lot of beer. What
Speaker 1: is the game that look like for the German Dolphin.
Speaker 7: Then it depends a little bit. So sometimes from from
Speaker 7: our club we are organizing watch parties where some people
Speaker 7: just sit together, meet and watch the game together. And
Speaker 7: then from a from a club perspective, we also support
Speaker 7: this with a little bit of financial support in terms
Speaker 7: of buy you some beer or some some ribs or
Speaker 7: whatever you need and then enjoy the game together. We
Speaker 7: always open in our Facebook group or a game day
Speaker 7: post to share our emotions and our cheering, and every
Speaker 7: Sunday before the first game starts, we are doing an
Speaker 7: insta live talk. So just a little bit of preparation
Speaker 7: and hyping into the game, you know, recapitulating the most
Speaker 7: important fact who is injured. And usually it gives you
Speaker 7: the right the right feeling and the right motivation to
Speaker 7: start into the game and to feel like I'm prepared,
Speaker 7: I know what to expect. And then then the game
Speaker 7: starts and it surprises you because it's always the same.
Speaker 7: You think about the yards and EPA and all these
Speaker 7: tactical things, and then something totally different happens.
Speaker 1: It's a unique experience, a unique sport. And obviously you
Speaker 1: know you're part a co founder of this big fan
Speaker 1: club over there in Germany. I'm curious the origins of that.
Speaker 1: How long have you guys been together, What's how did
Speaker 1: that kind of come together? And just kind of give
Speaker 1: us the details on the German fan club.
Speaker 7: Yeah, so it all started in twenty sixteen when some
Speaker 7: some guys were looking around if and we're worried they
Speaker 7: might be the only old fans and in hold Germany.
Speaker 7: And they started a Facebook group and tried to collect
Speaker 7: people from all over the social media. And this group
Speaker 7: has grown in to a one thy four hundred member
Speaker 7: group in the meantime with pretty active members, I have
Speaker 7: to say, and over time it became big and bigger.
Speaker 7: So some guys were starting doing a podcast, maybe inspired
Speaker 7: by your name because it's a Dolphins Drive. Then we
Speaker 7: now play on Twitter, on Instagram, we have this insta
Speaker 7: live talk. We have a fan club homepage where we
Speaker 7: put on all the events that we are doing and
Speaker 7: especially the previews before the games. So when it comes
Speaker 7: to statistics and players and people, I would say they
Speaker 7: enjoy football within our club on totally different levels. And
Speaker 7: that's the nice thing. On football. You simply can cheer
Speaker 7: for a team. You can enjoy watching a game with
Speaker 7: some friends, or you can dig into tactical things or
Speaker 7: game plan or even one step ahead and think we
Speaker 7: look into into the advanced analytics and check the EPA
Speaker 7: composite score of the quarterbacks, and so there are so
Speaker 7: many different levels and there is no right or wrong,
Speaker 7: so you can enjoy it on so much ways and
Speaker 7: you find your personal access to the game. So that's
Speaker 7: what I love so much.
Speaker 1: And I'm just smiling. Yeah, I'm smiling because you're talking
Speaker 1: my language. I mean, this is the stuff I cover
Speaker 1: on the podcast every single day. So it's it's really
Speaker 1: cool to hear that. And you know it's I view, like,
Speaker 1: I'm a big fan of multiple sports. I love the
Speaker 1: Miami Heat. I love my Seattle Marris is a baseball
Speaker 1: team back from my home state. I love my Washington
Speaker 1: State Cougar is also back home. But like the Dolphins,
Speaker 1: the one team that I really dive into every single
Speaker 1: detail and I'm almost like, you know, obsessive about it.
Speaker 1: Other sports is more casual, laid back and just kind
Speaker 1: of enjoy the show and once it's over, it's over.
Speaker 1: I don't really you know, a sweat about it. But
Speaker 1: this team really kind of good or bad, can get
Speaker 1: me thinking about the team for a couple of days
Speaker 1: after the fact. And speaking of a couple of days after,
Speaker 1: we are just a few days short of the game
Speaker 1: kicking off over there in Frankfurt. What's the buzz around
Speaker 1: town been a like in anticipation of this game. I
Speaker 1: have to imagine you guys that are into the sport
Speaker 1: and of this team are fired up to watch the
Speaker 1: Dolphins on home soil.
Speaker 7: Yeah, so I would say there's a lot of buzz already,
Speaker 7: even though the NFL starts the main hype train at
Speaker 7: the weekend and then continues over the week into the
Speaker 7: next weekend, because then the Patriots and the Colts will
Speaker 7: also be in Frankfurt and playing their game there. But
Speaker 7: you can already see banners in the whole town. I
Speaker 7: think the pub that we will take over together with
Speaker 7: the Dolphins is already uh kind of decorated, so you
Speaker 7: have the the Aqua signs on on the windows, and
Speaker 7: you would easily detect this pub to being the Dolphins pub.
Speaker 7: And people are talking a lot of a lot about
Speaker 7: this game. So it's it's on the radio. So when
Speaker 7: I when I when I went to work, and the
Speaker 7: people there, they are not interested in football, but they
Speaker 7: know that I'm a Dolphins fan. And then it comes hey,
Speaker 7: I've heard in the radio that Dolphins in town. Are
Speaker 7: you going to the game. So even people that are not, however,
Speaker 7: influenced by American football, they they got a sense that
Speaker 7: there is something going on and something coming up for
Speaker 7: the for the weekend now, So it's pretty cool to
Speaker 7: see this.
Speaker 1: Well, I mean, if there's ever going to be a
Speaker 1: game to convert non football fans into football, might be
Speaker 1: this one, because you guys might be getting arguably two
Speaker 1: of the best teams in the NFL heading over that
Speaker 1: way to play a big game, and it's it's for
Speaker 1: a lot of you know, playoff implications down the line,
Speaker 1: hopefully for both clubs here in terms of who wins
Speaker 1: this game. So I'll go ahead and finish up with
Speaker 1: this question for you, Marcus, what are you most excited
Speaker 1: about seeing with this Dolphins team in person? Is this
Speaker 1: your first time seeing the fans live and in person,
Speaker 1: and what are you most excited about seeing so?
Speaker 7: Unfortunately or fortunately not so, I've seen this Dolphins several
Speaker 7: times in the States, So for me, this game day
Speaker 7: means more like having a lot of fun interacting with
Speaker 7: the fans from other countries. So we will have a
Speaker 7: lot of friends from the US, from the UK, from France,
Speaker 7: and you know, these people beat these people because you
Speaker 7: are interconnected between the fan clubs, so you're chatting with them,
Speaker 7: you're writing text messages. And now it's the first time
Speaker 7: that we have all these guys together, you can meet
Speaker 7: them in person in a pub, fully in a Dolphins setting.
Speaker 7: So this will be a lot of fun. But what
Speaker 7: you mentioned, it will be a big thing for a
Speaker 7: lot of us because a lot of German guys cannot
Speaker 7: afford just you know, flying over the pond and watch
Speaker 7: the Dolphins in Miami or wherever. Some can do it,
Speaker 7: combining it with the holidays or whatever. But for a
Speaker 7: lot of them, it will be the opportunity to see
Speaker 7: their dolphins.
Speaker 1: Life and outstanding.
Speaker 7: Yeah, and even if you did not get tickets, I
Speaker 7: think you will still enjoy all the atmosphere and Frankfurt
Speaker 7: and being around with other Dolphins and they have this exchange.
Speaker 7: But for a lot of them it will be their
Speaker 7: chance in a lifetime to see the Dolphins playing live.
Speaker 1: You mentioned atmosphere. Do you think that the game day
Speaker 1: atmosphere is going to be just on that same level
Speaker 1: as a typical you know, soccer match or football match
Speaker 1: would be over there, Like you guys expect to be
Speaker 1: pretty lowed the entire game.
Speaker 7: It will be totally different, totally different because when you
Speaker 7: watch a soccer game like lack one watching a football
Speaker 7: game in the States you have fans from one team
Speaker 7: and fans from the other team, and usually they try
Speaker 7: to dominate them by making noise or having their chance
Speaker 7: or something like that. And this in Germany, it will
Speaker 7: more be kind of a party. So I expect ninety
Speaker 7: percent of the fans in the stadium neither being Chiefs
Speaker 7: nor Dolphins fans, so they will be just football fans
Speaker 7: or maybe NFL fans or just event fans. So they
Speaker 7: want to to take this atmosphere and they want to
Speaker 7: to just be part of this big, big day and
Speaker 7: this huge event. So we will have several hundred Dolphins
Speaker 7: fans in the stadium for sure, and we will try
Speaker 7: to show up all in aqua. That how our players
Speaker 7: can spot us, you know when you're standing on the field,
Speaker 7: and they should feel supported by spotting some aqua between
Speaker 7: all the thirty two NFL jerseys that they will be
Speaker 7: in the stands.
Speaker 1: So either way, I think it's an advantage for the
Speaker 1: Dolphins because this game would have been an arrowhead stadium
Speaker 1: with you know, raucus ninety five percent Chiefs fans making
Speaker 1: noise when the Dolphins have the football, then being quiet
Speaker 1: when Mahomes has it. But it sounds like it would
Speaker 1: be loud for both teams. You're possibly quiet for both teams,
Speaker 1: so that's good for us, that's good for the podcast here. Marcus,
Speaker 1: we appreciate your time today. Marcus Martin, the co founder
Speaker 1: of the German Dolphins Fan Club, thank you so much
Speaker 1: for your time today and soak it in, enjoy the week,
Speaker 1: and I'm so happy for you and all the German
Speaker 1: Dolphins fans out there.
Speaker 7: Thank you. Finzip who says.
Speaker 1: This isn't a cultured podcast, we had all kinds of
Speaker 1: fun content there from Bavaria, from deutsch Ln and looking
Speaker 1: forward to seeing that crowd fired up for two of
Speaker 1: the best teams in the NFL, hopefully going home with a big,
Speaker 1: big Dolphins win. I can't stretch it enough. I have
Speaker 1: been This feels like an AFC Championship game to me,
Speaker 1: man like, just in terms of how I imagine that feels,
Speaker 1: because I don't know how that feels, because it's been
Speaker 1: since nineteen ninety friggin two that we've experienced that. I
Speaker 1: was five years old. I think most of you probably
Speaker 1: weren't you alive then, but it feels like that. I
Speaker 1: think this might be how it feels in terms of
Speaker 1: the anticipation of a massive game, the anticipation of every
Speaker 1: single play coming down to you know, the game coming
Speaker 1: down to every single snap. It feels like in the moment,
Speaker 1: I can't wait. Let's go ahead and call a podcast though,
Speaker 1: because we've been with you guys here for about forty
Speaker 1: five minutes. That's way too long on a Friday show.
Speaker 1: You all please be sure to subscribe, rate, review all
Speaker 1: that stuff, follow on social, check out the fish Tank
Speaker 1: podcast and our post game show on radio with me,
Speaker 1: Seth and OJ. Go ahead and check out the YouTube
Speaker 1: channel for all these media availabilities that you heard a
Speaker 1: little bit of content from on this podcast, as well
Speaker 1: as Miami Dolphins dot com. Until next time, Fins Up,
Speaker 1: Come on, Cameron, Daddy, come home.
Speaker 7: M HM.