April 23, 2025 • 52 mins
We analysed 50 online mock drafts from various sources to see which players could be drafted by the Dolphins at pick 13. We chat in detail about eight strong candidates before finally making our own pick predictions.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
What's up, Dolphins.
Speaker 2 (00:00):
This is Travis Winfield and you're listening to the Dolphin
UK podcast. Speed over well, Hello, welcome to the Dolphin
(00:39):
UK podcast. It's been a while, but we are back
and that sound can mean only one thing. It is
the week of the NFL Draft. As usual, I'm joined
by my co host Simon Simon. How are you doing?
Speaker 1 (00:52):
Yeah, very well. Thank you had a nice Easter break though.
It's good to come back together again and record our
draft preview. One of the most anticipated periods of the year,
isn't it.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Absolutely? I love this time of year. I think it's
really exciting. It's like that feels kind of unique, maybe
because we don't have this sort of thing in UK sports.
I know, if you follow other US sports, this is
you know, the draft is a thing. But I think
if you're a follower of UK sports, this is kind
of out of the norm and kind of interesting. And
I've got to be honest, by the time we get
(01:24):
to this time of year, I enjoy staying up to
watch the draft and take it in as kind of
an alternative to being able to actually watch games live.
So yeah, I find this time of you very exciting.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
It's funny every year and the season ends and I think,
you know, I'll just take a break for a little while,
don't even think about the draft, and you know it
can't be bothered with the draft this year, And then
every time every year it gets near and nearer, you
start seeing all the marks, You get more familiar with
all of the names that are being banded about, and
actually your interest starts to peak again does in every
(01:57):
single year. So I'm like you, looking forward to seeing
how Round one turns out. Obviously, on Thursday night Friday
morning in our time, won't be staying up live to
watch it because me and Danny want to see who
the Dolphins pick at thirteen together, so we're going to
try and catch that before he goes to school on
Friday morning.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
That's a great idea, and I must say I'm one
of those people that ends up watching the entire back
end of the draft as well, even though the live
feed will be way behind the picks. But I enjoy
watching it it come in anyway and trying to watch
as much of it as possible. But we do also
have some news that we should probably cover first, and
(02:38):
I think we should start off by wishing Toron Armstead
a happy retirement.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
Yeah, I mean it's been on the cards for a while,
hasn't it, certainly since the end of the last season.
We wish him all the best. Of course, he's been
a great servant to the Dolphins and of course the
Saints prior to that. We'll miss him on that O line.
We'll miss him and he stand out play, of course,
and it's now Patrick Paul time.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
Absolutely, And like you say, I think he's one of
those players that you can be proud to have seen
in the Dolphins uniform. Always acts the right way, has
been great for the younger guys in that room, bringing
them on, even though ultimately one of them will be
his replacement. And then when his play on the field
has always been top class, isn't it. You know, you
(03:25):
say there's big games missed, but when he's been in there,
you know, the left tackle is taken care of. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
I mean, he's been not only a leader on the field,
but he's been a leader off the field as well.
And they'll miss his mentorships of the younger players, as
he's saying, they'll miss his locker room presence, and they'll
miss his play so plenty. To plenty big shoes to
fill from Patrick Paul. But he's big enough, isn't he
some I'm sure he can fill them.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
He absolutely is big enough. He is one large human being.
They listed next to him in the locker room and
I felt like a chart.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
No, I know what you mean. I was explaining to
Danny the other day. I've I've actually met Richmond Webb
and he is the biggest human being I've ever seen.
He is absolutely huge. So I can understand where you're
coming from.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
It's almost hard to comprehend, isn't it standing next to
someone you know that big? And that's just Yeah, the
ar size of NFL players will always be amazing to me.
But we also had a pre draft press conference with
Chris Greer, So did you have any thoughts on that
we got I think we've got a few little nuggets
from that.
Speaker 1 (04:33):
Yeah, a little couple of standout things, weren't there. One
is the confirmation that they're looking to trade Jalen Ramsey,
which got reported in the media slightly before Chris Greer's presser.
So I actually thought it was refreshing of him to
come out and confirm the story because with draft season approaching,
(04:55):
gms and coaches and scouts are very much a closed unit,
aren't they. They don't tend to let a lot of
information leak from the building with regards to their preparations.
And I know it's not directly related to the draft necessarily,
but it is a significant roster move that they were
quite open and honest about, and I found that quite refreshing.
It seems as though it's an amicable parting of the
(05:17):
ways if and when it does actually happen. So we
wish Jalen Ramsey the best, and we hope Chris Greer
and Coke can make use of whatever assets come their
way in return. So interesting development, a bit of an
unexpected one, I have to admit, But I don't know
what your thoughts were lean when that news broke.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
Yeah, it seems a little out of left field, but
again an interesting one, and I think it needed the
context of Chris Greer talking about it in that press
conference to kind of point out that it wasn't Joan
Ramsey asking to leave necessarily. It wasn't you know, It
was just a mutual meeting of the minds that this
(05:57):
is the direction they were going to go in. And
then it was based not on off kind of any
one incident or conversation that had been over a period
of time, and that you know, both sides have decided
that was best for both sides. I got a better
way to word that, but you know, that's the way
the NFI goes. Is a business, and players are going
(06:18):
to move, and it'd be interesting to see what happens
if he gets traded or if he's still on the
team come next season.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
And of course, the other piece of information that came
out from his press was Chris Greer confirmed that at
this stage they are not looking to trade Tyreek Hill, which,
looking at it from a fan perspective and consider taking
into account his on field performances only, I think this
is obviously a sensible play from the Dolphins. You want
to retain your best players if possible. And Chris Greer said,
(06:47):
unless they get a crazy offer of something like two
first round picks, wasn't itly they're not going to even
entertain trade offers at that time. So again, it was
kind of refreshing to know where the Dolphins stand with
regards to any potential move for Tyrek Kill as well.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
Yeah, there's a lot of rumors and headlines that get
put up at this time of year, and we know
that most of them are nonsense, but I think as
a fan sometimes it's also nice to hear from the
gym to kind of confirm what you hope is true
as well, you know, because Tyrek Hill on the field
for the Dolphins is obviously a tremendous asset and it
has been a great, great player to watch over the
(07:25):
last was it three seasons now? So, like I say,
it's that kind of limbo that you sit in when
you've see news reports or people on social media kind
of putting two and two together and coming up with
coming up with six that you know, it gets cleared up.
(07:46):
And I thought thought Chris Greer did a really great
job as well of taking control of that press conference
right from the start and starting off with making the
statement about Joy and Ramsey before the local got a
chance to submit their questions, because you could see they
were raring to go and were desperate, and I think
he knew it was He knew what was coming as well,
(08:08):
so he was able to kind of head that off
and kind of make his statement first, and I think
that cleared a lot of things up.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
It's controlling the narrative, isn't it, And that he puts
the statement out first, and it, like you say, it
answers a lot of the media questions that were already
that you know that are going to be asked anyway,
and it sets the storyline there and he can control
the tempo of that particular topic that way.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
Kennie. Yeah, and I imagine it must be an annoyance
when those sort of things get out of the building beforehand,
do you know what I mean? And where he has
to come and answer it, because it's been widely reported.
You know, when it came to trading for Jay and Ramsey,
there wasn't a lot of talk beforehand. That was all
very quiet, and then the trade was announced because it
was done. The same with Tyreek Hill. You know, it
(08:54):
happened over a very short period of time. Tyrek kills about, oh,
there's these couple of teams that are interested been traded.
That was a number of hours, not this kind of
like long drawn out process. So you know, we know
that he's said often in the past they like to
keep their business internal rather than discuss plans with the media,
(09:16):
and that makes perfect sense. But yeah, it just felt
like this time it was he had to kind of
address it as it had hit the media before before
maybe he'd hoped. But with that being said, should we
move on to some fun stuff. Let's move into fantasy
land and start talking about draft picks and all the
(09:37):
draft picks that we can pick in the first round,
because it's a it's a real minefield, isn't it. You
mentioned earlier that you can hit this lot at the
end of the season where you're like, oh, not really
too bothered about the draft. And for us in the UK,
it's really difficult because we don't have access to college
football the way that you might in the States. There
isn't a game pass for it. We do get some
(09:58):
games on Sky. You can see some games on the
internet if you know how. Not saying that that's a
good thing to do, but I do the same thing,
but you know what I mean, it's difficult to take
in all that content as well, And there's a lot
of there's a lot of college football, and a lot
of it happens at a time that's very difficult to
(10:19):
watch it here in the UK as well. But there's
a lot of West Coast games, there's a lot of
prime time and you know, it's different. Getting up to
watch the Dolphins is fine. Getting up to watch a
college team play on the Saturday before a Dolphins game.
It's just not feasible for me personally, and I imagine
the same is probably true for a lot of people.
But I do like to put on an early game
and watch college footballhen possible bumps. Because of that, we
(10:42):
don't necessarily have great insight into all the players in
the draft. So from a you know, sorry, from the
end of the season, we start to pick up the names.
You decide kind of what you think is possible and
what the positions of need in our opinion might be,
and then you go off and start trying to find
the players to evaluate it from there. But with that
(11:04):
being said, so how did you go about selecting the
players that we're going to talk about today.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
So we did this last year. It was a really
good way of getting engaging market opinion, if you like.
So I analyzed fifty mock drafts. The timescale ranged from
quite early on in the draft season, two more recently
this week, and just to gauge opinion as to who
the Dolphins will draft. And so we did fifty different
(11:32):
mock drafts, and we did it from the likes of
NFL dot Com, the Athletics, some of the local beat writers, CBS, PFF, ESPN,
Sports Illustrated, you know, the like. There's some of the
bigger outlets who may not have unless they local a
direct finger on the pulse in terms of state of
play with the Dolphins, So it was interesting to see
(11:52):
what they thought the directions the Dolphins would go. And
of the fifty players drafted, we're going to talk about
the eight most popular selections out of those fifty, which
the names will obviously come into shortly, But the types
of positions were as you would have expectedly. You had
a lot of picks for players in the secondary and
(12:16):
on the offensive line. I think it's fair to say
probably the majority of the people we're going to talk
about will be in that bracket. But you also had
a couple of other names out there who you wouldn't
have expected, like Tyler Warren the tight end got one pick,
for example, Jalen Walker, a linebacker, got another pick, just
(12:38):
one selection. Kenneth Grant, defensive tackle, got one pick. All
names who you kind of get to be familiar with
in when you see all of the draft names.
Speaker 2 (12:48):
But it's.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
Looking at these fifty, it seems as though a lot
of these media folks have drafted based on need, not
necessarily best player available. And we're going to look at
four on offense, four on defense, aren't we split two each?
And these are actually the eight most popular picks out
of those fifty that we looked at.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
Absolutely, So I will kick off first, and I have
cornerback Will Johnson from the University of Michigan. He's played
three years in college, plays cornerback, and I've watched it
quite a bit of Will Johnson over the last few
months because he's one of the names that kind of
(13:30):
cropped up early because there was an obvious that it
was obviously it was a possible position of need. I
suppose it's the best way of putting it. And then
once a Jalen Ramsey thing came out, it kind of
solidified that corner really is a position that is worth
(13:50):
worth looking at. He's got good size, athleticism, he plays
well in coverage as well as in zone as well
as man I thought, he trusts his eyes a lot,
he breaks on the ball incredibly well, and I would
imagine he's a great film watcher based on the way
that he plays, because he played with extreme confidence but
(14:13):
without having to kind of watch, without being the kind
of guy that seemed to be fooled by the quarterback
too often. Do you know what I mean? He knew
what the quarterback was doing, as opposed to try and
watch and then guess what he was doing. He's received
multiple All American honors as well, and was a key
part of Michigan's twenty twenty three national championship. Roun So,
(14:37):
I think it is a very interesting pick. The one
thing I'd like to add to all of this that
is completely outside of football, but I think it's worth
taken into account is that we know Stephen Rousseilson Michigan man,
and I think you know things like that can play
into this whole process. There is when we talk about
all the players that are going to enter the draft,
(14:57):
there's going to be some picks that come down to
absolutely personal preference where you've got them ranked by all
the metrics very very similarly, and it might be something
like that is a tiebreaker that is a difference. But
did you have any thoughts on Bill Johnson or did
you want to pick up with your first.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
I'll go with mine in a second lee, but it's important.
I just wanted to mention Will Johnson picked up eleven
out of the fifty votes twenty two percent, and most
of those were in the last week or two. So
he wasn't a name that was really on anybody's radar
as a Dolphins pick early on in the work that
(15:37):
we did. But over the last week or two he's
probably the most popular pick out of everybody, of all
the players that have all gone for Will Johnson more
often than not. So I just thought that was kind
of fascinating that his name has come up on this
radar only in recent week or.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
Two, gained some momentum. And I think the other things
probably we've had in is there was a report from
Albert Brewer. I believe that over the last couple of
days that you know, there were some teams that were
worried about Will Johnson and the knee injury. And it's funny,
isn't it's this time of year that you start to
hear those sort of things. Wasn't wasn't mentioned around the
combine or Pro days, but then it comes out two
(16:16):
weeks before the draft, so you know, there's all sorts
of information and disinformation at this time of year. Something
that I didn't tell Simon that I was doing, but
I'm going to bring up as he mentioned it is
I also ran all of the AIS that I use
here at work and ask them to just basically go
(16:39):
out roam the internet and tell me what the most
likely pick is at thirteen And the first one, the
first one I did was Gemini, and it came back
with Will Johnson. Okay, interesting, so and I'll give you
the rest as we go along that based on who
the players are. But I just just thought it was interesting.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
That kind of makes sense if a lot of the
mock drafts more recently are selecting Will Johnson, then using
an AI engine to find that information makes perfect sense,
doesn't it.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
I mean it mentions that it's addressing a need that
it would fit with the philosophy of drafting kind of
cornerstone pieces early as and those higher paid players that
in free agency earlier, where you're trying to draft and
bring them along in your system as opposed to going
(17:31):
out of paying big money in free agency. So yeah,
I mean, kind of feet all the things. It was
just an interesting exercise to run alongside some of the
other stuff.
Speaker 1 (17:42):
Yeah, I'm going to go on to my first prospect
and that is another cornerback and jar Day Barron from Texas,
and he kept his career Texas career off by bringing
home the Jim Thorpe Award for the nation's top defensive
back in twenty twenty four. And the thing that struck
me when doing a little bit of research Lee was
that he's really versatile, and he showed that versatility by
(18:06):
excelling at multiple positions in the secondary. His breakout twenty
twenty four campaign included five picks, and he announced his
arrival as an elite playmaker with a two pit performance
against Georgia. As I mentioned, he's quite versatile and he
plays both outside corner and in the slot. But what's
(18:28):
even more impressive is how he elevated his game in
the biggest moments. I mentioned that two pick performance against Georgia,
but he earned defensive VP honors in Texas Peach Bowl
victory and made game changing plans throughout their SEC Championship run.
As an actual player, he's an elite processor who diagnoses
(18:49):
root combinations in real time. He brings controlled violence as
a tackler. Despite his size. He's got exceptional plant and
drive ability that shows up repeatedly on field, routinely beats
receivers to the spot underneath roots and disrupts timing with
these precise breaks. He's got patient feet and strong hands,
allowing him to redirect receivers within the five yard window. However,
(19:14):
he has got a few areas of his game that
he does need to work on. He's got to respect
vertical threats a little bit more, which can leave him
vulnerable to double moves. His frame limitations show up against
bigger receivers and can potentially struggle to disengage from physical
blocking when transitioning. And also he can get grabby at
(19:34):
the top of roots in man coverage, so he needs
to be able to trust his technique more instead of
trying to over compensate with physicality. But overall, a really
good potential choice at thirteen if he's still available, and
he got five out of the fifty votes, which was
ten percent ly obviously, so certainly another name to keep
an eye on.
Speaker 2 (19:55):
Absolutely, it's interesting that you said one of the things
he needs to improve on is his respect for the speed. Well,
he definitely gets some practice at that. If he was
drafted by the Miami Dolphins. And maybe that's the best
way for the hit. You know, maybe that's a thing
you see as an asset where you say, hey, we've
got the perfect the perfect thing to help bring you
on at somewhere where you need some help. So I
(20:17):
think it's also important to say a lot of the
players are going to have areas to improve. That's the
beauty of them coming out that you know, players coming
out to draft, you know, the very few that are
completely AFLM polished. The NFL is a different game to college.
It's a different you become a professional, do you know,
(20:37):
rather than a college athlete. And I think it's important
and it's a huge step to take. So yeah, very interesting,
go forward, interesting and other defensive back and you mentioned
they're his play against Georgia. That brings me nicely on
to my next player, which is Georgia safety Malachi Starks,
who played three years at safety for Georgia, recorded one
(21:01):
hundred and ninety seven tackles, six interceptions, seventeen passes defense
he won. He was a consensus All American in twenty
twenty three, first team All American in twenty twenty four,
and a two time first team All SEC player in
twenty twenty three and twenty twenty four. He's got great apoliticism,
(21:24):
he's impactful. He kind of established himself in his freshman
year and became an integral part of that defense. From
watching the film, the first thing that I picked up
was he just navigates traffic incredibly well. He never seems
to really get caught in the wash. He's not the
(21:46):
guy that's kind of falling over other people's legs. He
just seems to have this way of moving between players,
almost with great peripheral vision. That's the way to put it.
I've also noted here that I think he's patient but decisive.
He's waiting to see it happen, but then he's very
(22:08):
decided once it happens. He's quick to make that decision.
And I think that snap is really great. And they
always had great time in when the ball arrives, so
it didn't seem scared to make a tackle, which is great.
And I mean that sounds really stupid because you're talking
about first round prospects here. It's not always the case.
So yeah, I saw some great tackling from him as well.
Speaker 1 (22:28):
He got seven out of the fifty votes lead fourteen percent.
Speaker 2 (22:33):
So quite closer.
Speaker 1 (22:34):
Yeah, yeah, certainly one of the more popular picks, especially
early on in the mock draft process that I was
looking at. Okay, that leads me on to my next pick,
and I'm going to go for a defensive tackle arguably
a position of need, and that is Walter Nolan, who
only received three out of the fifty votes, which was
six percent, but he was still one of the most
(22:57):
popular defensive picks. You can see when this is going really,
can't you in terms of a position positional need. But
Nolan exploded onto the scene as a key cog in
the nation's top rush defense and that I am, of
course talking about the defense of Texas a and m
earning consensus All American honors while racking up fourteen tackles
(23:17):
for a loss in six and a half sacks. He's
consistent disruption in the backfield and it was highlighted by
multiple three TfL performances which showed his ability to take
over games strength wise. He's got an explosive first step
off the snap, allowing him to consistently beat o' lineman
(23:38):
into their set and dictate that initial engagement. And he
shows up repeatedly, both against the run and the pass.
He displays impressive lateral agility and change of direction skills,
which is great for a three hundred and five pounder,
making him a nightmare on stunts and twists where we
can utilize that quickness. He's masterful at using his compact
(24:00):
frame and natural leverage to get underneath taller guards, driving
them backward while maintaining his balance and power through contact.
Again that there are areas of his games of his
game that he does need to work on. As you
would have expected, he needs to develop more consistent hand usage.
In past us too often relies on pure athleticism rather
(24:23):
than any refined technique to win his battles. He's got
below average arm length thirty three inches, which shows up
when trying to disengage from blocks, and he can get
stuck on blocks longer than ideal when that initial move
doesn't win, and he does show some inconsistency maintaining gap
discipline against power run screen schemes. So again, areas of
(24:45):
his game to work on, But in terms of defensive tackles,
he seems to be the most popular choice within the
fifty mock drafts that we looked at leak.
Speaker 2 (24:57):
Interesting. Like you say, it feels like to tackle what
is going to be a position that is worth talking
about here based on the Dolphins defensive tackle room right now,
definitely makes sense that it's cropping up as a as
a position to look at. With that being said, should
we move on to halftime and a quiz question?
Speaker 1 (25:17):
Absolutely, So we're going to continue our series of quiz
is going to do it slightly different this week in
that I'm going to ask you a question, Lee, and
we shall I'll leave you the rest of the show
to try and see if you can guess the answer,
(25:39):
and we'll reveal the answer right at the end of
the show. So my question for you, Lee is a
draft related question, and it is who is the only
player that the Dolphins have ever picked at number forty eight?
And of course they pick out they pick at forty
eight in round two in this upcoming draft. So who
is the only player the Dolphins have ever picked at
(25:59):
number fourty eight? And will reveal the answer at the
end of the show and allow you a little bit
of timely to give it some thought.
Speaker 2 (26:08):
I need some time to have them think because I
saw this in the show notes. I didn't know this
was on on the board for us to talk about.
And I have no idea about the answers. I definitely
need some time to give us a thought. I'm sure
there are people currently shouting at us ordfubly shouting at
me telling me what the answer is. But yeah, we'll
(26:31):
get back to that in a minute or will be revealed.
Speaker 1 (26:34):
So on to the second half of the show, Lee,
and we're going to talk about some offensive draft prospects now,
and you're going to kick us off with one, aren't you.
Speaker 2 (26:42):
Yes, And I'm going to start with Will Campbell, a
tackle from LSU, played and started thirty eight games in
twenty twenty four. He allowed two sacks on five hundred
and fifty seven pass blocking reps. He was named First
team All American in twenty twenty four and two time
First team All SEC twenty twenty three and twenty twenty four.
(27:11):
Similar to what you were just mentioning, there's been some
questions about arm length here, but he does play with
a lot of power. All the film that I've seen
and everything that I've read is all about him playing
left tackle, which is incredibly interesting. As you mentioned, it's
Patrick Paul time earlier. Is it if you drafted Will Campbell.
(27:33):
I don't know. It's an interesting position because I know
we spoke about a couple of weeks ago with Travis
and I said, you know, how easy is it to
move offensive lineman coming out of college and going into
the pros. We've heard players say that they don't necessarily
like to do it. Travis mentioned that he thinks that it's,
(27:55):
you know, the way that it should be, that you
should be able to convert from one to the other,
and that's the general thinking. I thought that he had
some really good reps on tape, especially against some bigger
guys as well, which I thought was interesting because sometimes
size can be a problem. And I've seen a lot
(28:15):
of reports linking him to the New England Patriots as
high as four in the draft as well, which again
thought was interesting. Tells you how highly regarded he is
and his likelihood or not of being there In a
Dolphin select at thirteen, he.
Speaker 1 (28:31):
Got four out of the fifty pix leegue eight percent
and was the second most popular offensive lineman in all
of these marks. The person that was the most popular
was Calvin Banks, who received seven out of fifty fourteen percent,
and he's somebody I'm going to talk about now. He's
another player that we can look at from Texas as Wellly,
(28:53):
he anchored their offensive line during the historic transition into
the SEC, where he continued to dominate this spite facing
elite competition. He's got plenty of strengths that I've been
looking at. He's got exceptional quickness out of his stance
with smooth footwork. He's a masterful technician and combination blocks.
He demonstrates elite spatial awareness when working in space, showing
(29:17):
patience and trust to connect on blocks out wide. And
he also employs sophisticated hand techniques, including an effective bait
move and high load carriage that consistently disrupts disrupts edge
rusher timing. He's a fluid athlete in space, with impressive
burst when pulling or leading on screens, which I thought
(29:39):
was interesting given the offense the Dolphins play, delivering jarring
impact on smaller defenders. He shows advanced understanding of leverage
and angles in past protection. He's got exceptional mental processing
as well, which is important for an O lineman. Yet again,
we're going to go on to some areas of his
(29:59):
game where perhaps he needs a bit of work. He
lacks ideal tackle high at six foot four, so clearly
not as high as the aforementioned Patrick Paul and Richmond Webb,
and has below average arm length. He can struggle a
bit with foot speed and recovery situations, sometimes allowing defenders
to gain the edge before he can reset. He's got
(30:22):
the occasional tendency to bend at the waist rather than
the knees, leaning to balance issues against savvy pass rushers.
But overall a really good prospect and remains to be
seen where in fact he does get drafted. But if
the Dolphins do want to go line at thirteen, he's
certainly going to be under consideration.
Speaker 2 (30:41):
He would have thought, absolutely. And that brings me on
to another offensive tackle, and that is Arman Membu from
the University of Missouri. Played three years in college play,
thirty five games, started, thirty all of them at right tackle. Again,
(31:08):
it's an interesting position, isn't it, Because reading some of
the combined notes and some of the experts, they see
him as potentially transitioning to a left tackle. Now that's interesting,
But also if you were to have a left handed quarterback,
you might want someone who's good enough to play left
tackle at right tackle. And that's not an Endamond or
(31:28):
any comment on Austin Jackson, but he's also missed games
and having someone that can step in and play that
position on tours blindside might be an intriguing pick. Again.
Versatility is something that we've I've heard you mentioned, we
know that coaching staff love it. That has to be
taken into consideration. He's shown a lot of growth throughout
(31:50):
his his career. He was named second team or less.
He's see in twenty twenty four, oh I missed out
his status he gave up in twenty twenty four season.
He gave up zero sacks, four and only four penalties.
When I was watching the film, one thing the thing
I noticed about him that really stood out to me
and would probably have him higher up my board because
(32:14):
I really enjoyed watching this was the way he finished plays.
Every play was finished to the whistle. He was always
looking for work in the run game if he was
able to get off his block and move on. He
was always looking for more work up field, and I
can imagine that, along with his athleticism, would really play
into Mike McDaniel's hands and I think he could see
(32:36):
a lot of ways in which he would help improve
the O line.
Speaker 1 (32:41):
He had three of the fifty votesly at six percent,
and he was the third most popular offensive lineman of
all the selections. Somebody who was fourth with two votes
four percent was Tyler Booker, who was a guard. I
just thought there's a pattern here in terms of you're
looking from an offensive point of view. There was one
(33:03):
outlier in Tyler Warren, who was can't remember who it
was that chose him, Try to know Travis is a
lover of Tyler Warren. But all the other offensive picks
in this fifty man draft were at olim. So I'm
going to go talk about Tyler Booker. What jumped off
the tape about him is how his game evolved under
(33:25):
two different offensive schemes. While conventional wisdom might peg him
as a pure power run blocker, the numbers told a
different story. In his past, protection consistently outshone his run blocking.
He's got an elite arm length for an interior player
that he weaponizes effectively. He uses every inch of his
(33:46):
thirty four inch arms to control defenders before they can
get into his chest. He shows exceptional awareness on stunts
and twists, rare ability to process movement while maintaining his
base and leveraging his power. He's an elite past protector,
as I said, without standing anchor, and shows exceptional ability
to reset his base, helping explain his superior past blocking grades.
(34:11):
He's got excellent grip strength to sustained blocks and once
he locks on, defenders rarely disengaged before the whistle. And
he's a true tone setter who brings that an alpha mentality.
I mean you talk about bringing some physical toughness to
the team. He's certainly one like member in that he
plays through the whistle and looks to finish with authority
(34:32):
on every single snap. So you certainly know what you're
going to get with Tyler Booker weaknesses. There is some
inconsistency in run blocking. Despite his power, he does sometimes
struggle to sustain blocks and create consistent movement against skilled defenders.
Often he relies too heavily on initial power surge in
(34:53):
the run game. His footwork perhaps needs a bit of
work as well in the run game, needing a bit
of refinement, and sometimes he takes poor angles and struggles
to adjust in space. And so again, as you would
expect with whether rookie or rookie to be if you like,
there are areas of his game that he certainly needs
to work on there and that's that's Tyler Booker.
Speaker 2 (35:16):
That brings us to the end of the the eight
potentral draft picks that we picked up from the fifty.
I'll just cap this off right here before we move
on and give you the other ais and what they
predicted the Dolphins to do. So chat ept went with
(35:39):
Water and Nolan, who Simon talked about earlier, and co
pilot was indecisive, was indecisive and gave me options. Talked
about Malachi Starks said that possibly going corner after the
(36:01):
Jalen Ramsey news, and then said from the drafts, the
mock draft that it was looking at that jar Day
Baron from Texas maybe the selection. So yeah, just don't
know if that's interesting, don't know if that's useful. But
it's funny how you know, three separate entities and go
(36:23):
out into the Internet and find the information to come
back with wildly different answers.
Speaker 1 (36:28):
What you're saying, really, Lee, is that one day AI
will make the selections on behalf of all the teams to.
Speaker 2 (36:35):
Be fair compared to some general managers we've seen in
the past, and I'm not talking from the Dolphins, I
just meet in general. Some things might prefer that you.
Speaker 1 (36:44):
Can actually use AI to create your own thirty two
first round mock and go for one of those million
dollar prizes, can't you that they sometimes dishout if you
manage to pick every single, every single one of the
first round correctly. AI is going to be the way
to go there, I think is.
Speaker 2 (37:00):
It probably is. Maybe we'll do that after the show
and we'll tell you how close we get next week.
But other than that, should we move on to an
interesting little exercise and do a mock drafty? And I
think what we'll do is we'll do We'll bring up
the mock draft simulator. We'll let it pick the twelve
(37:21):
picks before the Dolphins. We'll let you know who is
still available to us and who we would pick based
on who is available, and then we'll give you who
we would like to pick if everybody was still available,
or who we think is the most likely pick. Is
probably the better way because we're not gonna get crazy.
We're not talking about players that are going and they
(37:43):
are obviously going at the very top of the draft,
and we're not being silly, but we are going to
have some fun. So I've brought up the PFF simulator.
I'm going to select the Dolphins, We're going to enter
the draft, and then we are going to allow trade offers.
(38:03):
I think trade offers are on.
Speaker 1 (38:07):
Interesting concept. There isn't it would you be looking to
trade down given the right offer, or well, what would
your preferred option be, pick best player available at thirteen
or trade It's.
Speaker 2 (38:17):
Funny, isn't it. Very much depends on when the trade
offer comes in, and the trade offer comes in, as
they do with mock simulators. When it's your pick, you're
able to assess the board and say, hey, are the
guys there that I really value or am I interested
in moving back based on your offer. Obviously, we know
in the past that this happens the day before, on
the day of the draft, before players are selected, so
(38:39):
there's a little bit more of a calculated risk. I
think if you have a lot of holes on your roster,
I think you have to take the guys that you
have highest rated on the board, because as you're just
limiting the chances that you get a guy you truly
like by moving back. Un let's you know you've got
(39:01):
enough of them. Let's say you're moving back in the
first round. As long as you've got thirty two guys
you feel absolutely happy with, it's difficult to move back.
But you know, I suppose once you start eliminating players,
you might say, hey, I'm not really interested in the
first round running back or a first round quarterback, or
(39:24):
you know, add whichever ones you want, and that limits
the numbers plus the number of picks. You know, educated, yes,
I think i'd be again. I don't know what to say.
I think it's it's just so so much depends on
what the offer is. Do you have a preferred method?
Speaker 1 (39:42):
Well, interestingly, I did one of these mocks on this
exact site, same site the other day, and I was
offered the Chargers pick at twenty two and an extra
second round pick in twenty twenty five and an extra
third in twenty twenty six. And I accepted it because
I was curious to know if I did drop down
to twenty two, who would still be available, And Manachi
(40:02):
Starks was still available at twenty two, and he's somebody
that maybe is under consideration at thirteen as we've already
talked about. So I thought, you know, well, for that
kind of scenario, to still pick up a player that's
on your radar and getting those extra picks was a
win absolutely.
Speaker 2 (40:17):
And you know I mentioned earlier Albert Breer mentioned some
teams have concerns with Will Johnson and the knee injury,
where you think he's going to slide a little bit,
then maybe there is the opportunity to drop back and
still get the guy you might want. But we'll see
what happens. I'm going to hit go. Let's see where
we end up. Right, the Dolphins are on the clock.
(40:41):
The Dolphins are on the clock. But I'll give you
a quick let's go through the first few picks. Tennessee
takes cam Ward at number one. The Browns tape tro
Is Hunter at number two. The Giants pick Mason Graham
from Michigan. At pick three, Ashton gen He is the
pick for the Patriots. Four McMillan is the pick the
(41:06):
wide receiver from Arizona for the Jacks. At five, Abdoll
Carter goes to the Raiders. At six, our mad member
goes to the Jets. Seven, Will Campbell goes to the
Panthers at eight. Another one of ours, Jenen Walker goes
linebacker from Georgia, goes to the Saints at nine, Michael
(41:29):
Williams ed rush from Georgia goes to the Bears at ten,
and jar Da Barron goes to the forty nine Ers
at eleven, and Kelvin Banks, junior tackle from Texas, goes
to the Dallas Cowboys at twelve. So we are on
the clock. Walter Nolan is available, Manich Starks is available,
(41:51):
Tyler Warren is available, Johnson is available. Where do you
want to start? Do you want to go with someone
that was how would you assess it based on what
has gone ahead? Now we haven't been offered a trade, so.
Speaker 1 (42:06):
Well, what you do what is going to be clear
is that you are going to get a significant, impactful
player at thirteen. I think that there is no doubt
arguably is there a best player available that every team's
going to have that. Of course, because they're going to
have their own draft board, it does give them some
flexibility to do that. But also there are good players
(42:26):
that positions of need as well. So we've already talked about.
According to this the best player available is Walter Nolan
the defensive tackle. But for me, arguably Lee, if I
was a Dolphins general manager, I would be looking at
that secondary and thinking, Malachi Starks is ranked a overall
and he's the next best player in the secondary that
(42:49):
is available. So on that basis, Lee, I'm going to
select Malachi Starks safety Georgia.
Speaker 2 (42:56):
It's interesting the way that you've read this and the
way that I'm reading it. So the way I'm reading
it is that PFF have Maliche Starks ranked eighth on
their board, making him the highest player available, but ADP
puts Will Johnson as a higher ranked player at fifteen
(43:16):
point one as an average draft position as opposed to
manicha of Starks twenty point one. So interesting that there is,
you know, there's so like you said, there's so many
ways to look at it. Everyone you know, and we've
said it before. You like to talk about best player
available versus need. I think when you're picking this high,
(43:38):
there is also the potential to really marry those two
things together. Where does the X mark the spot on
this graph? You know, And that's what we're going to do.
I agree with you. I'm going to go in the
back defensive backfield as well. And I'm going to snick
Will Johnson as my pick.
Speaker 1 (44:02):
So we're going to do our preferred selections now, aren't we, Lee?
So we've done the hypothetical based on a mock draft
that sat right in front of our eyes. So throwing
all the players back in the pool. Now, Lee, who
with your preferred selection be? Is it Will Johnson or
is it going to be somebody different?
Speaker 2 (44:20):
No, I'd like Will Johnson. Started watching pretty I said earlier,
pretty early in the in the process. I've enjoyed watching
a lot of his films. I think that Stephen Ross
would love to have a Michigan guy in the first round.
So and that's not saying that I think any of
the others are bad picks. It's just that's just my
(44:42):
preferred selection. And then I think added with the news
of a potential Jalen Ramsey trade that I think cornerback
makes a lot of sense. And if you end up
keeping Jamen Ramsey, I don't think you're in a worse
position either. So yeah, I think I used Hi you
decent flexibility.
Speaker 1 (45:03):
I'm like you, Lee, I am also going for a cornerback,
but I am going for the other one. I am
going for a jar Day Baron as my ideal selection
at thirteen. He brings the kind of battle tested experience
NFL teams cover. His versatility shows up in the snap counts,
splitting time almost evenly between boundary corner and nickel while
(45:25):
also logging significant snaps in the box, and really, when
you look at it at the end of the day,
his snap to snap consistency and special teams background me
and he'll contribute from day one, but his ceiling is
even higher. This is a defensive back who could be
making all proteins by year three in a system that
(45:48):
leverages his football IQ and allows him to be aggressive
in underneath the zones. So, given all of that information
at my fingertips, Lee J Day Baron is my ideal
choice at pick thirteen. And incidentally, I didn't hear much
about him, to be honest, until Danny brought him up
when he was doing his mock drafts and his analysis.
(46:08):
And he's a big fan of Baron as well and
wants to see the Dolphins select him at thirteen.
Speaker 2 (46:14):
Also, it's such an interesting process, isn't it, Because I think,
you know, we could go with a bunch of different
selections here, and I think you'd, like you said earlier,
you'd come away very happy if you picked up Nolan
here Starts, Warren Johnson. You know, there's so many and
that's just based on this singular mock draft.
Speaker 1 (46:36):
Yeah, and I was curious to know there is a
wide range of potential selections at thirteen. I was curious
to know. We've obviously offered our opinions, and I'd put
a poll out on our WhatsApp group lee around what
were other people's thoughts, What is the fan opinion, the
general fan opinion of who they should go pick at
(46:57):
thirteen and I'll share the results with you now. Baron
was the top selections. Others were Will Johnson got a
couple of votes, Malachi Starks was popular, Calvin Banks, Will Campbell,
Gray's Abel got some love as well, a guard who
we haven't talked about, but generally you and there were
(47:17):
no other suggestions outside of those names, So you can
see where the preference is in terms of what positions
on the teams that you think the Dolphins or the
fans think that Dolphins should select. So I just thought
was interesting that Baron was the most popular one. From
looking at a more wider fang group perspective.
Speaker 2 (47:40):
Now, want you look back at the last few picks
as well. I went back over the last ten picks,
or at least've put them up here on screen, and
I just think you can see a bit of a
trend here in regards to position. And I'm going to
(48:02):
ask you a question at the end of this because
I think it's an interesting one. But the last ten
picks for the Miami Dolphins in the first round were tackle,
defensive end, safety, defensive tackle, offensive tackle, cornerback, wide receiver,
defensive end, and defensive end. They do seem to be
(48:22):
players at premier positions. I think that is a trend.
And that's not all Chris career. That's obviously going back
a little bit further, but I think you can see
the general thinking and they're in the first round. Interestingly,
in the last three years, the Dolphins have only made
one first round pick. My question to you is, do
(48:43):
you think Mike McDaniel would love an offensive piece with
its first pick. He's not had one as a head
coach yet.
Speaker 1 (48:50):
I'm sure he would. I'm sure he'd love Ashton Genty
if he was available at thirteen. And who wouldn't, to
be honest, but at the end of the day, he's
got to put his head coach his hat on rather
than his offensive coordinator's hat and look at the bigger picture.
There are quite a few needs on that team. And
when you say offensive player, lea, do you mean the
skill position or do you mean a tackle?
Speaker 2 (49:11):
I mean, I believe Mike Mandaniel would be as excited
about a guard or tackle as because it opens up
everything in the runo pass game, and I think he
sees the cohesion of every person playing their part. So yeah,
I just mean on offense in general, Yeah, I.
Speaker 1 (49:29):
Mean, there's plenty of options there, as we've already talked about.
I don't think anybody would be too disappointed if a
tackle was the pick at thirteen. Equally the same on defense.
People recognize the positions and the areas of needs, so
as long as they get fulfilled and they address them,
I think people will be happy.
Speaker 2 (49:47):
Absolutely. But with that being said, I think that kind
of brings us to them. Is there anything else you'd
like to talk about in regards to the draft?
Speaker 1 (49:55):
No, just looking forward to seeing what happens on Day one.
Of course, it's always a fascinating time. Not only looking
to see the Dolphins have picked. But we certainly had
our moments over the years, haven't we with two are
being picked and jan and Waddle and the year that
they picked one, and of course they made all those trains,
the date trades of the day before going up and
down the draft board. So we'll see if they've got
(50:16):
the courage to do that again. But we'll just it's
beyond our control, isn't it. Just enjoy the moment and
enjoy the drama that comes with the first round.
Speaker 2 (50:26):
Absolutely, I think you know it's great. We're going to
sit back and enjoy it watching the other team's fan
bases melt down as well as the picks come in.
But it'd be great by this time next week that
there'll be a brand new crop at Miami Dolphins players
for us to get to know and to watch their
film and kind of get excited about them heading into
(50:49):
rookie OTAs and mini camps and training camp and then
the NFL season.
Speaker 1 (50:57):
Before we go lishall, I reveal the quiz answer. Please
do so the quiz just to read quickly. The question
was who is the only player the Dolphins have ever
drafted at number forty eight overall? And I wouldn't have
known this either. It's a really hard one, but I
thought it was an interesting considering who the player was.
It was in nineteen eighty and the player drafted was
(51:19):
center Dwight Stevenson.
Speaker 2 (51:24):
I must say I cheated and looked that up whilst
you were talking a little bit earlier because it was
really really buggy.
Speaker 1 (51:30):
Be I need so your turn next weekly you get
to turn the tables and think of a question and
test me out. Next week.
Speaker 2 (51:39):
Maybe maybe I see if I can find a draft
related question post draft. Yes, yes, but I think that
wraps us up for this week. Don't forget to check
out Travis and the Drive Time podcast seth OJ and
the Fish Tank podcasts, who are pumping out some incredible
content right now. Really enjoying listening to their shows during
(52:00):
the off season. Follow us on all the social platforms
where everywhere you'll be able to find us. Leave us
a review if you would be so kind. Check out
the Dolphins social media channels and YouTube because over the
next few days we will start seeing interviews of new
Miami Dolphins players. And until next time, enjoy interrupt
What's up, Dolphins.
Speaker 2 (00:00):
This is Travis Winfield and you're listening to the Dolphin
UK podcast. Speed over well, Hello, welcome to the Dolphin
(00:39):
UK podcast. It's been a while, but we are back
and that sound can mean only one thing. It is
the week of the NFL Draft. As usual, I'm joined
by my co host Simon Simon. How are you doing?
Speaker 1 (00:52):
Yeah, very well. Thank you had a nice Easter break though.
It's good to come back together again and record our
draft preview. One of the most anticipated periods of the year,
isn't it.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Absolutely? I love this time of year. I think it's
really exciting. It's like that feels kind of unique, maybe
because we don't have this sort of thing in UK sports.
I know, if you follow other US sports, this is
you know, the draft is a thing. But I think
if you're a follower of UK sports, this is kind
of out of the norm and kind of interesting. And
I've got to be honest, by the time we get
(01:24):
to this time of year, I enjoy staying up to
watch the draft and take it in as kind of
an alternative to being able to actually watch games live.
So yeah, I find this time of you very exciting.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
It's funny every year and the season ends and I think,
you know, I'll just take a break for a little while,
don't even think about the draft, and you know it
can't be bothered with the draft this year, And then
every time every year it gets near and nearer, you
start seeing all the marks, You get more familiar with
all of the names that are being banded about, and
actually your interest starts to peak again does in every
(01:57):
single year. So I'm like you, looking forward to seeing
how Round one turns out. Obviously, on Thursday night Friday
morning in our time, won't be staying up live to
watch it because me and Danny want to see who
the Dolphins pick at thirteen together, so we're going to
try and catch that before he goes to school on
Friday morning.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
That's a great idea, and I must say I'm one
of those people that ends up watching the entire back
end of the draft as well, even though the live
feed will be way behind the picks. But I enjoy
watching it it come in anyway and trying to watch
as much of it as possible. But we do also
have some news that we should probably cover first, and
(02:38):
I think we should start off by wishing Toron Armstead
a happy retirement.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
Yeah, I mean it's been on the cards for a while,
hasn't it, certainly since the end of the last season.
We wish him all the best. Of course, he's been
a great servant to the Dolphins and of course the
Saints prior to that. We'll miss him on that O line.
We'll miss him and he stand out play, of course,
and it's now Patrick Paul time.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
Absolutely, And like you say, I think he's one of
those players that you can be proud to have seen
in the Dolphins uniform. Always acts the right way, has
been great for the younger guys in that room, bringing
them on, even though ultimately one of them will be
his replacement. And then when his play on the field
has always been top class, isn't it. You know, you
(03:25):
say there's big games missed, but when he's been in there,
you know, the left tackle is taken care of. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
I mean, he's been not only a leader on the field,
but he's been a leader off the field as well.
And they'll miss his mentorships of the younger players, as
he's saying, they'll miss his locker room presence, and they'll
miss his play so plenty. To plenty big shoes to
fill from Patrick Paul. But he's big enough, isn't he
some I'm sure he can fill them.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
He absolutely is big enough. He is one large human being.
They listed next to him in the locker room and
I felt like a chart.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
No, I know what you mean. I was explaining to
Danny the other day. I've I've actually met Richmond Webb
and he is the biggest human being I've ever seen.
He is absolutely huge. So I can understand where you're
coming from.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
It's almost hard to comprehend, isn't it standing next to
someone you know that big? And that's just Yeah, the
ar size of NFL players will always be amazing to me.
But we also had a pre draft press conference with
Chris Greer, So did you have any thoughts on that
we got I think we've got a few little nuggets
from that.
Speaker 1 (04:33):
Yeah, a little couple of standout things, weren't there. One
is the confirmation that they're looking to trade Jalen Ramsey,
which got reported in the media slightly before Chris Greer's presser.
So I actually thought it was refreshing of him to
come out and confirm the story because with draft season approaching,
(04:55):
gms and coaches and scouts are very much a closed unit,
aren't they. They don't tend to let a lot of
information leak from the building with regards to their preparations.
And I know it's not directly related to the draft necessarily,
but it is a significant roster move that they were
quite open and honest about, and I found that quite refreshing.
It seems as though it's an amicable parting of the
(05:17):
ways if and when it does actually happen. So we
wish Jalen Ramsey the best, and we hope Chris Greer
and Coke can make use of whatever assets come their
way in return. So interesting development, a bit of an
unexpected one, I have to admit, But I don't know
what your thoughts were lean when that news broke.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
Yeah, it seems a little out of left field, but
again an interesting one, and I think it needed the
context of Chris Greer talking about it in that press
conference to kind of point out that it wasn't Joan
Ramsey asking to leave necessarily. It wasn't you know, It
was just a mutual meeting of the minds that this
(05:57):
is the direction they were going to go in. And
then it was based not on off kind of any
one incident or conversation that had been over a period
of time, and that you know, both sides have decided
that was best for both sides. I got a better
way to word that, but you know, that's the way
the NFI goes. Is a business, and players are going
(06:18):
to move, and it'd be interesting to see what happens
if he gets traded or if he's still on the
team come next season.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
And of course, the other piece of information that came
out from his press was Chris Greer confirmed that at
this stage they are not looking to trade Tyreek Hill, which,
looking at it from a fan perspective and consider taking
into account his on field performances only, I think this
is obviously a sensible play from the Dolphins. You want
to retain your best players if possible. And Chris Greer said,
(06:47):
unless they get a crazy offer of something like two
first round picks, wasn't itly they're not going to even
entertain trade offers at that time. So again, it was
kind of refreshing to know where the Dolphins stand with
regards to any potential move for Tyrek Kill as well.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
Yeah, there's a lot of rumors and headlines that get
put up at this time of year, and we know
that most of them are nonsense, but I think as
a fan sometimes it's also nice to hear from the
gym to kind of confirm what you hope is true
as well, you know, because Tyrek Hill on the field
for the Dolphins is obviously a tremendous asset and it
has been a great, great player to watch over the
(07:25):
last was it three seasons now? So, like I say,
it's that kind of limbo that you sit in when
you've see news reports or people on social media kind
of putting two and two together and coming up with
coming up with six that you know, it gets cleared up.
(07:46):
And I thought thought Chris Greer did a really great
job as well of taking control of that press conference
right from the start and starting off with making the
statement about Joy and Ramsey before the local got a
chance to submit their questions, because you could see they
were raring to go and were desperate, and I think
he knew it was He knew what was coming as well,
(08:08):
so he was able to kind of head that off
and kind of make his statement first, and I think
that cleared a lot of things up.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
It's controlling the narrative, isn't it, And that he puts
the statement out first, and it, like you say, it
answers a lot of the media questions that were already
that you know that are going to be asked anyway,
and it sets the storyline there and he can control
the tempo of that particular topic that way.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
Kennie. Yeah, and I imagine it must be an annoyance
when those sort of things get out of the building beforehand,
do you know what I mean? And where he has
to come and answer it, because it's been widely reported.
You know, when it came to trading for Jay and Ramsey,
there wasn't a lot of talk beforehand. That was all
very quiet, and then the trade was announced because it
was done. The same with Tyreek Hill. You know, it
(08:54):
happened over a very short period of time. Tyrek kills about, oh,
there's these couple of teams that are interested been traded.
That was a number of hours, not this kind of
like long drawn out process. So you know, we know
that he's said often in the past they like to
keep their business internal rather than discuss plans with the media,
(09:16):
and that makes perfect sense. But yeah, it just felt
like this time it was he had to kind of
address it as it had hit the media before before
maybe he'd hoped. But with that being said, should we
move on to some fun stuff. Let's move into fantasy
land and start talking about draft picks and all the
(09:37):
draft picks that we can pick in the first round,
because it's a it's a real minefield, isn't it. You
mentioned earlier that you can hit this lot at the
end of the season where you're like, oh, not really
too bothered about the draft. And for us in the UK,
it's really difficult because we don't have access to college
football the way that you might in the States. There
isn't a game pass for it. We do get some
(09:58):
games on Sky. You can see some games on the
internet if you know how. Not saying that that's a
good thing to do, but I do the same thing,
but you know what I mean, it's difficult to take
in all that content as well, And there's a lot
of there's a lot of college football, and a lot
of it happens at a time that's very difficult to
(10:19):
watch it here in the UK as well. But there's
a lot of West Coast games, there's a lot of
prime time and you know, it's different. Getting up to
watch the Dolphins is fine. Getting up to watch a
college team play on the Saturday before a Dolphins game.
It's just not feasible for me personally, and I imagine
the same is probably true for a lot of people.
But I do like to put on an early game
and watch college footballhen possible bumps. Because of that, we
(10:42):
don't necessarily have great insight into all the players in
the draft. So from a you know, sorry, from the
end of the season, we start to pick up the names.
You decide kind of what you think is possible and
what the positions of need in our opinion might be,
and then you go off and start trying to find
the players to evaluate it from there. But with that
(11:04):
being said, so how did you go about selecting the
players that we're going to talk about today.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
So we did this last year. It was a really
good way of getting engaging market opinion, if you like.
So I analyzed fifty mock drafts. The timescale ranged from
quite early on in the draft season, two more recently
this week, and just to gauge opinion as to who
the Dolphins will draft. And so we did fifty different
(11:32):
mock drafts, and we did it from the likes of
NFL dot Com, the Athletics, some of the local beat writers, CBS, PFF, ESPN,
Sports Illustrated, you know, the like. There's some of the
bigger outlets who may not have unless they local a
direct finger on the pulse in terms of state of
play with the Dolphins, So it was interesting to see
(11:52):
what they thought the directions the Dolphins would go. And
of the fifty players drafted, we're going to talk about
the eight most popular selections out of those fifty, which
the names will obviously come into shortly, But the types
of positions were as you would have expectedly. You had
a lot of picks for players in the secondary and
(12:16):
on the offensive line. I think it's fair to say
probably the majority of the people we're going to talk
about will be in that bracket. But you also had
a couple of other names out there who you wouldn't
have expected, like Tyler Warren the tight end got one pick,
for example, Jalen Walker, a linebacker, got another pick, just
(12:38):
one selection. Kenneth Grant, defensive tackle, got one pick. All
names who you kind of get to be familiar with
in when you see all of the draft names.
Speaker 2 (12:48):
But it's.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
Looking at these fifty, it seems as though a lot
of these media folks have drafted based on need, not
necessarily best player available. And we're going to look at
four on offense, four on defense, aren't we split two each?
And these are actually the eight most popular picks out
of those fifty that we looked at.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
Absolutely, So I will kick off first, and I have
cornerback Will Johnson from the University of Michigan. He's played
three years in college, plays cornerback, and I've watched it
quite a bit of Will Johnson over the last few
months because he's one of the names that kind of
(13:30):
cropped up early because there was an obvious that it
was obviously it was a possible position of need. I
suppose it's the best way of putting it. And then
once a Jalen Ramsey thing came out, it kind of
solidified that corner really is a position that is worth
(13:50):
worth looking at. He's got good size, athleticism, he plays
well in coverage as well as in zone as well
as man I thought, he trusts his eyes a lot,
he breaks on the ball incredibly well, and I would
imagine he's a great film watcher based on the way
that he plays, because he played with extreme confidence but
(14:13):
without having to kind of watch, without being the kind
of guy that seemed to be fooled by the quarterback
too often. Do you know what I mean? He knew
what the quarterback was doing, as opposed to try and
watch and then guess what he was doing. He's received
multiple All American honors as well, and was a key
part of Michigan's twenty twenty three national championship. Roun So,
(14:37):
I think it is a very interesting pick. The one
thing I'd like to add to all of this that
is completely outside of football, but I think it's worth
taken into account is that we know Stephen Rousseilson Michigan man,
and I think you know things like that can play
into this whole process. There is when we talk about
all the players that are going to enter the draft,
(14:57):
there's going to be some picks that come down to
absolutely personal preference where you've got them ranked by all
the metrics very very similarly, and it might be something
like that is a tiebreaker that is a difference. But
did you have any thoughts on Bill Johnson or did
you want to pick up with your first.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
I'll go with mine in a second lee, but it's important.
I just wanted to mention Will Johnson picked up eleven
out of the fifty votes twenty two percent, and most
of those were in the last week or two. So
he wasn't a name that was really on anybody's radar
as a Dolphins pick early on in the work that
(15:37):
we did. But over the last week or two he's
probably the most popular pick out of everybody, of all
the players that have all gone for Will Johnson more
often than not. So I just thought that was kind
of fascinating that his name has come up on this
radar only in recent week or.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
Two, gained some momentum. And I think the other things
probably we've had in is there was a report from
Albert Brewer. I believe that over the last couple of
days that you know, there were some teams that were
worried about Will Johnson and the knee injury. And it's funny,
isn't it's this time of year that you start to
hear those sort of things. Wasn't wasn't mentioned around the
combine or Pro days, but then it comes out two
(16:16):
weeks before the draft, so you know, there's all sorts
of information and disinformation at this time of year. Something
that I didn't tell Simon that I was doing, but
I'm going to bring up as he mentioned it is
I also ran all of the AIS that I use
here at work and ask them to just basically go
(16:39):
out roam the internet and tell me what the most
likely pick is at thirteen And the first one, the
first one I did was Gemini, and it came back
with Will Johnson. Okay, interesting, so and I'll give you
the rest as we go along that based on who
the players are. But I just just thought it was interesting.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
That kind of makes sense if a lot of the
mock drafts more recently are selecting Will Johnson, then using
an AI engine to find that information makes perfect sense,
doesn't it.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
I mean it mentions that it's addressing a need that
it would fit with the philosophy of drafting kind of
cornerstone pieces early as and those higher paid players that
in free agency earlier, where you're trying to draft and
bring them along in your system as opposed to going
(17:31):
out of paying big money in free agency. So yeah,
I mean, kind of feet all the things. It was
just an interesting exercise to run alongside some of the
other stuff.
Speaker 1 (17:42):
Yeah, I'm going to go on to my first prospect
and that is another cornerback and jar Day Barron from Texas,
and he kept his career Texas career off by bringing
home the Jim Thorpe Award for the nation's top defensive
back in twenty twenty four. And the thing that struck
me when doing a little bit of research Lee was
that he's really versatile, and he showed that versatility by
(18:06):
excelling at multiple positions in the secondary. His breakout twenty
twenty four campaign included five picks, and he announced his
arrival as an elite playmaker with a two pit performance
against Georgia. As I mentioned, he's quite versatile and he
plays both outside corner and in the slot. But what's
(18:28):
even more impressive is how he elevated his game in
the biggest moments. I mentioned that two pick performance against Georgia,
but he earned defensive VP honors in Texas Peach Bowl
victory and made game changing plans throughout their SEC Championship run.
As an actual player, he's an elite processor who diagnoses
(18:49):
root combinations in real time. He brings controlled violence as
a tackler. Despite his size. He's got exceptional plant and
drive ability that shows up repeatedly on field, routinely beats
receivers to the spot underneath roots and disrupts timing with
these precise breaks. He's got patient feet and strong hands,
allowing him to redirect receivers within the five yard window. However,
(19:14):
he has got a few areas of his game that
he does need to work on. He's got to respect
vertical threats a little bit more, which can leave him
vulnerable to double moves. His frame limitations show up against
bigger receivers and can potentially struggle to disengage from physical
blocking when transitioning. And also he can get grabby at
(19:34):
the top of roots in man coverage, so he needs
to be able to trust his technique more instead of
trying to over compensate with physicality. But overall, a really
good potential choice at thirteen if he's still available, and
he got five out of the fifty votes, which was
ten percent ly obviously, so certainly another name to keep
an eye on.
Speaker 2 (19:55):
Absolutely, it's interesting that you said one of the things
he needs to improve on is his respect for the speed. Well,
he definitely gets some practice at that. If he was
drafted by the Miami Dolphins. And maybe that's the best
way for the hit. You know, maybe that's a thing
you see as an asset where you say, hey, we've
got the perfect the perfect thing to help bring you
on at somewhere where you need some help. So I
(20:17):
think it's also important to say a lot of the
players are going to have areas to improve. That's the
beauty of them coming out that you know, players coming
out to draft, you know, the very few that are
completely AFLM polished. The NFL is a different game to college.
It's a different you become a professional, do you know,
(20:37):
rather than a college athlete. And I think it's important
and it's a huge step to take. So yeah, very interesting,
go forward, interesting and other defensive back and you mentioned
they're his play against Georgia. That brings me nicely on
to my next player, which is Georgia safety Malachi Starks,
who played three years at safety for Georgia, recorded one
(21:01):
hundred and ninety seven tackles, six interceptions, seventeen passes defense
he won. He was a consensus All American in twenty
twenty three, first team All American in twenty twenty four,
and a two time first team All SEC player in
twenty twenty three and twenty twenty four. He's got great apoliticism,
(21:24):
he's impactful. He kind of established himself in his freshman
year and became an integral part of that defense. From
watching the film, the first thing that I picked up
was he just navigates traffic incredibly well. He never seems
to really get caught in the wash. He's not the
(21:46):
guy that's kind of falling over other people's legs. He
just seems to have this way of moving between players,
almost with great peripheral vision. That's the way to put it.
I've also noted here that I think he's patient but decisive.
He's waiting to see it happen, but then he's very
(22:08):
decided once it happens. He's quick to make that decision.
And I think that snap is really great. And they
always had great time in when the ball arrives, so
it didn't seem scared to make a tackle, which is great.
And I mean that sounds really stupid because you're talking
about first round prospects here. It's not always the case.
So yeah, I saw some great tackling from him as well.
Speaker 1 (22:28):
He got seven out of the fifty votes lead fourteen percent.
Speaker 2 (22:33):
So quite closer.
Speaker 1 (22:34):
Yeah, yeah, certainly one of the more popular picks, especially
early on in the mock draft process that I was
looking at. Okay, that leads me on to my next pick,
and I'm going to go for a defensive tackle arguably
a position of need, and that is Walter Nolan, who
only received three out of the fifty votes, which was
six percent, but he was still one of the most
(22:57):
popular defensive picks. You can see when this is going really,
can't you in terms of a position positional need. But
Nolan exploded onto the scene as a key cog in
the nation's top rush defense and that I am, of
course talking about the defense of Texas a and m
earning consensus All American honors while racking up fourteen tackles
(23:17):
for a loss in six and a half sacks. He's
consistent disruption in the backfield and it was highlighted by
multiple three TfL performances which showed his ability to take
over games strength wise. He's got an explosive first step
off the snap, allowing him to consistently beat o' lineman
(23:38):
into their set and dictate that initial engagement. And he
shows up repeatedly, both against the run and the pass.
He displays impressive lateral agility and change of direction skills,
which is great for a three hundred and five pounder,
making him a nightmare on stunts and twists where we
can utilize that quickness. He's masterful at using his compact
(24:00):
frame and natural leverage to get underneath taller guards, driving
them backward while maintaining his balance and power through contact.
Again that there are areas of his games of his
game that he does need to work on. As you
would have expected, he needs to develop more consistent hand usage.
In past us too often relies on pure athleticism rather
(24:23):
than any refined technique to win his battles. He's got
below average arm length thirty three inches, which shows up
when trying to disengage from blocks, and he can get
stuck on blocks longer than ideal when that initial move
doesn't win, and he does show some inconsistency maintaining gap
discipline against power run screen schemes. So again, areas of
(24:45):
his game to work on, But in terms of defensive tackles,
he seems to be the most popular choice within the
fifty mock drafts that we looked at leak.
Speaker 2 (24:57):
Interesting. Like you say, it feels like to tackle what
is going to be a position that is worth talking
about here based on the Dolphins defensive tackle room right now,
definitely makes sense that it's cropping up as a as
a position to look at. With that being said, should
we move on to halftime and a quiz question?
Speaker 1 (25:17):
Absolutely, So we're going to continue our series of quiz
is going to do it slightly different this week in
that I'm going to ask you a question, Lee, and
we shall I'll leave you the rest of the show
to try and see if you can guess the answer,
(25:39):
and we'll reveal the answer right at the end of
the show. So my question for you, Lee is a
draft related question, and it is who is the only
player that the Dolphins have ever picked at number forty eight?
And of course they pick out they pick at forty
eight in round two in this upcoming draft. So who
is the only player the Dolphins have ever picked at
(25:59):
number fourty eight? And will reveal the answer at the
end of the show and allow you a little bit
of timely to give it some thought.
Speaker 2 (26:08):
I need some time to have them think because I
saw this in the show notes. I didn't know this
was on on the board for us to talk about.
And I have no idea about the answers. I definitely
need some time to give us a thought. I'm sure
there are people currently shouting at us ordfubly shouting at
me telling me what the answer is. But yeah, we'll
(26:31):
get back to that in a minute or will be revealed.
Speaker 1 (26:34):
So on to the second half of the show, Lee,
and we're going to talk about some offensive draft prospects now,
and you're going to kick us off with one, aren't you.
Speaker 2 (26:42):
Yes, And I'm going to start with Will Campbell, a
tackle from LSU, played and started thirty eight games in
twenty twenty four. He allowed two sacks on five hundred
and fifty seven pass blocking reps. He was named First
team All American in twenty twenty four and two time
First team All SEC twenty twenty three and twenty twenty four.
(27:11):
Similar to what you were just mentioning, there's been some
questions about arm length here, but he does play with
a lot of power. All the film that I've seen
and everything that I've read is all about him playing
left tackle, which is incredibly interesting. As you mentioned, it's
Patrick Paul time earlier. Is it if you drafted Will Campbell.
(27:33):
I don't know. It's an interesting position because I know
we spoke about a couple of weeks ago with Travis
and I said, you know, how easy is it to
move offensive lineman coming out of college and going into
the pros. We've heard players say that they don't necessarily
like to do it. Travis mentioned that he thinks that it's,
(27:55):
you know, the way that it should be, that you
should be able to convert from one to the other,
and that's the general thinking. I thought that he had
some really good reps on tape, especially against some bigger
guys as well, which I thought was interesting because sometimes
size can be a problem. And I've seen a lot
(28:15):
of reports linking him to the New England Patriots as
high as four in the draft as well, which again
thought was interesting. Tells you how highly regarded he is
and his likelihood or not of being there In a
Dolphin select at thirteen, he.
Speaker 1 (28:31):
Got four out of the fifty pix leegue eight percent
and was the second most popular offensive lineman in all
of these marks. The person that was the most popular
was Calvin Banks, who received seven out of fifty fourteen percent,
and he's somebody I'm going to talk about now. He's
another player that we can look at from Texas as Wellly,
(28:53):
he anchored their offensive line during the historic transition into
the SEC, where he continued to dominate this spite facing
elite competition. He's got plenty of strengths that I've been
looking at. He's got exceptional quickness out of his stance
with smooth footwork. He's a masterful technician and combination blocks.
He demonstrates elite spatial awareness when working in space, showing
(29:17):
patience and trust to connect on blocks out wide. And
he also employs sophisticated hand techniques, including an effective bait
move and high load carriage that consistently disrupts disrupts edge
rusher timing. He's a fluid athlete in space, with impressive
burst when pulling or leading on screens, which I thought
(29:39):
was interesting given the offense the Dolphins play, delivering jarring
impact on smaller defenders. He shows advanced understanding of leverage
and angles in past protection. He's got exceptional mental processing
as well, which is important for an O lineman. Yet again,
we're going to go on to some areas of his
(29:59):
game where perhaps he needs a bit of work. He
lacks ideal tackle high at six foot four, so clearly
not as high as the aforementioned Patrick Paul and Richmond Webb,
and has below average arm length. He can struggle a
bit with foot speed and recovery situations, sometimes allowing defenders
to gain the edge before he can reset. He's got
(30:22):
the occasional tendency to bend at the waist rather than
the knees, leaning to balance issues against savvy pass rushers.
But overall a really good prospect and remains to be
seen where in fact he does get drafted. But if
the Dolphins do want to go line at thirteen, he's
certainly going to be under consideration.
Speaker 2 (30:41):
He would have thought, absolutely. And that brings me on
to another offensive tackle, and that is Arman Membu from
the University of Missouri. Played three years in college play,
thirty five games, started, thirty all of them at right tackle. Again,
(31:08):
it's an interesting position, isn't it, Because reading some of
the combined notes and some of the experts, they see
him as potentially transitioning to a left tackle. Now that's interesting,
But also if you were to have a left handed quarterback,
you might want someone who's good enough to play left
tackle at right tackle. And that's not an Endamond or
(31:28):
any comment on Austin Jackson, but he's also missed games
and having someone that can step in and play that
position on tours blindside might be an intriguing pick. Again.
Versatility is something that we've I've heard you mentioned, we
know that coaching staff love it. That has to be
taken into consideration. He's shown a lot of growth throughout
(31:50):
his his career. He was named second team or less.
He's see in twenty twenty four, oh I missed out
his status he gave up in twenty twenty four season.
He gave up zero sacks, four and only four penalties.
When I was watching the film, one thing the thing
I noticed about him that really stood out to me
and would probably have him higher up my board because
(32:14):
I really enjoyed watching this was the way he finished plays.
Every play was finished to the whistle. He was always
looking for work in the run game if he was
able to get off his block and move on. He
was always looking for more work up field, and I
can imagine that, along with his athleticism, would really play
into Mike McDaniel's hands and I think he could see
(32:36):
a lot of ways in which he would help improve
the O line.
Speaker 1 (32:41):
He had three of the fifty votesly at six percent,
and he was the third most popular offensive lineman of
all the selections. Somebody who was fourth with two votes
four percent was Tyler Booker, who was a guard. I
just thought there's a pattern here in terms of you're
looking from an offensive point of view. There was one
(33:03):
outlier in Tyler Warren, who was can't remember who it
was that chose him, Try to know Travis is a
lover of Tyler Warren. But all the other offensive picks
in this fifty man draft were at olim. So I'm
going to go talk about Tyler Booker. What jumped off
the tape about him is how his game evolved under
(33:25):
two different offensive schemes. While conventional wisdom might peg him
as a pure power run blocker, the numbers told a
different story. In his past, protection consistently outshone his run blocking.
He's got an elite arm length for an interior player
that he weaponizes effectively. He uses every inch of his
(33:46):
thirty four inch arms to control defenders before they can
get into his chest. He shows exceptional awareness on stunts
and twists, rare ability to process movement while maintaining his
base and leveraging his power. He's an elite past protector,
as I said, without standing anchor, and shows exceptional ability
to reset his base, helping explain his superior past blocking grades.
(34:11):
He's got excellent grip strength to sustained blocks and once
he locks on, defenders rarely disengaged before the whistle. And
he's a true tone setter who brings that an alpha mentality.
I mean you talk about bringing some physical toughness to
the team. He's certainly one like member in that he
plays through the whistle and looks to finish with authority
(34:32):
on every single snap. So you certainly know what you're
going to get with Tyler Booker weaknesses. There is some
inconsistency in run blocking. Despite his power, he does sometimes
struggle to sustain blocks and create consistent movement against skilled defenders.
Often he relies too heavily on initial power surge in
(34:53):
the run game. His footwork perhaps needs a bit of
work as well in the run game, needing a bit
of refinement, and sometimes he takes poor angles and struggles
to adjust in space. And so again, as you would
expect with whether rookie or rookie to be if you like,
there are areas of his game that he certainly needs
to work on there and that's that's Tyler Booker.
Speaker 2 (35:16):
That brings us to the end of the the eight
potentral draft picks that we picked up from the fifty.
I'll just cap this off right here before we move
on and give you the other ais and what they
predicted the Dolphins to do. So chat ept went with
(35:39):
Water and Nolan, who Simon talked about earlier, and co
pilot was indecisive, was indecisive and gave me options. Talked
about Malachi Starks said that possibly going corner after the
(36:01):
Jalen Ramsey news, and then said from the drafts, the
mock draft that it was looking at that jar Day
Baron from Texas maybe the selection. So yeah, just don't
know if that's interesting, don't know if that's useful. But
it's funny how you know, three separate entities and go
(36:23):
out into the Internet and find the information to come
back with wildly different answers.
Speaker 1 (36:28):
What you're saying, really, Lee, is that one day AI
will make the selections on behalf of all the teams to.
Speaker 2 (36:35):
Be fair compared to some general managers we've seen in
the past, and I'm not talking from the Dolphins, I
just meet in general. Some things might prefer that you.
Speaker 1 (36:44):
Can actually use AI to create your own thirty two
first round mock and go for one of those million
dollar prizes, can't you that they sometimes dishout if you
manage to pick every single, every single one of the
first round correctly. AI is going to be the way
to go there, I think is.
Speaker 2 (37:00):
It probably is. Maybe we'll do that after the show
and we'll tell you how close we get next week.
But other than that, should we move on to an
interesting little exercise and do a mock drafty? And I
think what we'll do is we'll do We'll bring up
the mock draft simulator. We'll let it pick the twelve
(37:21):
picks before the Dolphins. We'll let you know who is
still available to us and who we would pick based
on who is available, and then we'll give you who
we would like to pick if everybody was still available,
or who we think is the most likely pick. Is
probably the better way because we're not gonna get crazy.
We're not talking about players that are going and they
(37:43):
are obviously going at the very top of the draft,
and we're not being silly, but we are going to
have some fun. So I've brought up the PFF simulator.
I'm going to select the Dolphins, We're going to enter
the draft, and then we are going to allow trade offers.
(38:03):
I think trade offers are on.
Speaker 1 (38:07):
Interesting concept. There isn't it would you be looking to
trade down given the right offer, or well, what would
your preferred option be, pick best player available at thirteen
or trade It's.
Speaker 2 (38:17):
Funny, isn't it. Very much depends on when the trade
offer comes in, and the trade offer comes in, as
they do with mock simulators. When it's your pick, you're
able to assess the board and say, hey, are the
guys there that I really value or am I interested
in moving back based on your offer. Obviously, we know
in the past that this happens the day before, on
the day of the draft, before players are selected, so
(38:39):
there's a little bit more of a calculated risk. I
think if you have a lot of holes on your roster,
I think you have to take the guys that you
have highest rated on the board, because as you're just
limiting the chances that you get a guy you truly
like by moving back. Un let's you know you've got
(39:01):
enough of them. Let's say you're moving back in the
first round. As long as you've got thirty two guys
you feel absolutely happy with, it's difficult to move back.
But you know, I suppose once you start eliminating players,
you might say, hey, I'm not really interested in the
first round running back or a first round quarterback, or
(39:24):
you know, add whichever ones you want, and that limits
the numbers plus the number of picks. You know, educated, yes,
I think i'd be again. I don't know what to say.
I think it's it's just so so much depends on
what the offer is. Do you have a preferred method?
Speaker 1 (39:42):
Well, interestingly, I did one of these mocks on this
exact site, same site the other day, and I was
offered the Chargers pick at twenty two and an extra
second round pick in twenty twenty five and an extra
third in twenty twenty six. And I accepted it because
I was curious to know if I did drop down
to twenty two, who would still be available, And Manachi
(40:02):
Starks was still available at twenty two, and he's somebody
that maybe is under consideration at thirteen as we've already
talked about. So I thought, you know, well, for that
kind of scenario, to still pick up a player that's
on your radar and getting those extra picks was a
win absolutely.
Speaker 2 (40:17):
And you know I mentioned earlier Albert Breer mentioned some
teams have concerns with Will Johnson and the knee injury,
where you think he's going to slide a little bit,
then maybe there is the opportunity to drop back and
still get the guy you might want. But we'll see
what happens. I'm going to hit go. Let's see where
we end up. Right, the Dolphins are on the clock.
(40:41):
The Dolphins are on the clock. But I'll give you
a quick let's go through the first few picks. Tennessee
takes cam Ward at number one. The Browns tape tro
Is Hunter at number two. The Giants pick Mason Graham
from Michigan. At pick three, Ashton gen He is the
pick for the Patriots. Four McMillan is the pick the
(41:06):
wide receiver from Arizona for the Jacks. At five, Abdoll
Carter goes to the Raiders. At six, our mad member
goes to the Jets. Seven, Will Campbell goes to the
Panthers at eight. Another one of ours, Jenen Walker goes
linebacker from Georgia, goes to the Saints at nine, Michael
(41:29):
Williams ed rush from Georgia goes to the Bears at ten,
and jar Da Barron goes to the forty nine Ers
at eleven, and Kelvin Banks, junior tackle from Texas, goes
to the Dallas Cowboys at twelve. So we are on
the clock. Walter Nolan is available, Manich Starks is available,
(41:51):
Tyler Warren is available, Johnson is available. Where do you
want to start? Do you want to go with someone
that was how would you assess it based on what
has gone ahead? Now we haven't been offered a trade, so.
Speaker 1 (42:06):
Well, what you do what is going to be clear
is that you are going to get a significant, impactful
player at thirteen. I think that there is no doubt
arguably is there a best player available that every team's
going to have that. Of course, because they're going to
have their own draft board, it does give them some
flexibility to do that. But also there are good players
(42:26):
that positions of need as well. So we've already talked about.
According to this the best player available is Walter Nolan
the defensive tackle. But for me, arguably Lee, if I
was a Dolphins general manager, I would be looking at
that secondary and thinking, Malachi Starks is ranked a overall
and he's the next best player in the secondary that
(42:49):
is available. So on that basis, Lee, I'm going to
select Malachi Starks safety Georgia.
Speaker 2 (42:56):
It's interesting the way that you've read this and the
way that I'm reading it. So the way I'm reading
it is that PFF have Maliche Starks ranked eighth on
their board, making him the highest player available, but ADP
puts Will Johnson as a higher ranked player at fifteen
(43:16):
point one as an average draft position as opposed to
manicha of Starks twenty point one. So interesting that there is,
you know, there's so like you said, there's so many
ways to look at it. Everyone you know, and we've
said it before. You like to talk about best player
available versus need. I think when you're picking this high,
(43:38):
there is also the potential to really marry those two
things together. Where does the X mark the spot on
this graph? You know, And that's what we're going to do.
I agree with you. I'm going to go in the
back defensive backfield as well. And I'm going to snick
Will Johnson as my pick.
Speaker 1 (44:02):
So we're going to do our preferred selections now, aren't we, Lee?
So we've done the hypothetical based on a mock draft
that sat right in front of our eyes. So throwing
all the players back in the pool. Now, Lee, who
with your preferred selection be? Is it Will Johnson or
is it going to be somebody different?
Speaker 2 (44:20):
No, I'd like Will Johnson. Started watching pretty I said earlier,
pretty early in the in the process. I've enjoyed watching
a lot of his films. I think that Stephen Ross
would love to have a Michigan guy in the first round.
So and that's not saying that I think any of
the others are bad picks. It's just that's just my
(44:42):
preferred selection. And then I think added with the news
of a potential Jalen Ramsey trade that I think cornerback
makes a lot of sense. And if you end up
keeping Jamen Ramsey, I don't think you're in a worse
position either. So yeah, I think I used Hi you
decent flexibility.
Speaker 1 (45:03):
I'm like you, Lee, I am also going for a cornerback,
but I am going for the other one. I am
going for a jar Day Baron as my ideal selection
at thirteen. He brings the kind of battle tested experience
NFL teams cover. His versatility shows up in the snap counts,
splitting time almost evenly between boundary corner and nickel while
(45:25):
also logging significant snaps in the box, and really, when
you look at it at the end of the day,
his snap to snap consistency and special teams background me
and he'll contribute from day one, but his ceiling is
even higher. This is a defensive back who could be
making all proteins by year three in a system that
(45:48):
leverages his football IQ and allows him to be aggressive
in underneath the zones. So, given all of that information
at my fingertips, Lee J Day Baron is my ideal
choice at pick thirteen. And incidentally, I didn't hear much
about him, to be honest, until Danny brought him up
when he was doing his mock drafts and his analysis.
(46:08):
And he's a big fan of Baron as well and
wants to see the Dolphins select him at thirteen.
Speaker 2 (46:14):
Also, it's such an interesting process, isn't it, Because I think,
you know, we could go with a bunch of different
selections here, and I think you'd, like you said earlier,
you'd come away very happy if you picked up Nolan
here Starts, Warren Johnson. You know, there's so many and
that's just based on this singular mock draft.
Speaker 1 (46:36):
Yeah, and I was curious to know there is a
wide range of potential selections at thirteen. I was curious
to know. We've obviously offered our opinions, and I'd put
a poll out on our WhatsApp group lee around what
were other people's thoughts, What is the fan opinion, the
general fan opinion of who they should go pick at
(46:57):
thirteen and I'll share the results with you now. Baron
was the top selections. Others were Will Johnson got a
couple of votes, Malachi Starks was popular, Calvin Banks, Will Campbell,
Gray's Abel got some love as well, a guard who
we haven't talked about, but generally you and there were
(47:17):
no other suggestions outside of those names, So you can
see where the preference is in terms of what positions
on the teams that you think the Dolphins or the
fans think that Dolphins should select. So I just thought
was interesting that Baron was the most popular one. From
looking at a more wider fang group perspective.
Speaker 2 (47:40):
Now, want you look back at the last few picks
as well. I went back over the last ten picks,
or at least've put them up here on screen, and
I just think you can see a bit of a
trend here in regards to position. And I'm going to
(48:02):
ask you a question at the end of this because
I think it's an interesting one. But the last ten
picks for the Miami Dolphins in the first round were tackle,
defensive end, safety, defensive tackle, offensive tackle, cornerback, wide receiver,
defensive end, and defensive end. They do seem to be
(48:22):
players at premier positions. I think that is a trend.
And that's not all Chris career. That's obviously going back
a little bit further, but I think you can see
the general thinking and they're in the first round. Interestingly,
in the last three years, the Dolphins have only made
one first round pick. My question to you is, do
(48:43):
you think Mike McDaniel would love an offensive piece with
its first pick. He's not had one as a head
coach yet.
Speaker 1 (48:50):
I'm sure he would. I'm sure he'd love Ashton Genty
if he was available at thirteen. And who wouldn't, to
be honest, but at the end of the day, he's
got to put his head coach his hat on rather
than his offensive coordinator's hat and look at the bigger picture.
There are quite a few needs on that team. And
when you say offensive player, lea, do you mean the
skill position or do you mean a tackle?
Speaker 2 (49:11):
I mean, I believe Mike Mandaniel would be as excited
about a guard or tackle as because it opens up
everything in the runo pass game, and I think he
sees the cohesion of every person playing their part. So yeah,
I just mean on offense in general, Yeah, I.
Speaker 1 (49:29):
Mean, there's plenty of options there, as we've already talked about.
I don't think anybody would be too disappointed if a
tackle was the pick at thirteen. Equally the same on defense.
People recognize the positions and the areas of needs, so
as long as they get fulfilled and they address them,
I think people will be happy.
Speaker 2 (49:47):
Absolutely. But with that being said, I think that kind
of brings us to them. Is there anything else you'd
like to talk about in regards to the draft?
Speaker 1 (49:55):
No, just looking forward to seeing what happens on Day one.
Of course, it's always a fascinating time. Not only looking
to see the Dolphins have picked. But we certainly had
our moments over the years, haven't we with two are
being picked and jan and Waddle and the year that
they picked one, and of course they made all those trains,
the date trades of the day before going up and
down the draft board. So we'll see if they've got
(50:16):
the courage to do that again. But we'll just it's
beyond our control, isn't it. Just enjoy the moment and
enjoy the drama that comes with the first round.
Speaker 2 (50:26):
Absolutely, I think you know it's great. We're going to
sit back and enjoy it watching the other team's fan
bases melt down as well as the picks come in.
But it'd be great by this time next week that
there'll be a brand new crop at Miami Dolphins players
for us to get to know and to watch their
film and kind of get excited about them heading into
(50:49):
rookie OTAs and mini camps and training camp and then
the NFL season.
Speaker 1 (50:57):
Before we go lishall, I reveal the quiz answer. Please
do so the quiz just to read quickly. The question
was who is the only player the Dolphins have ever
drafted at number forty eight overall? And I wouldn't have
known this either. It's a really hard one, but I
thought it was an interesting considering who the player was.
It was in nineteen eighty and the player drafted was
(51:19):
center Dwight Stevenson.
Speaker 2 (51:24):
I must say I cheated and looked that up whilst
you were talking a little bit earlier because it was
really really buggy.
Speaker 1 (51:30):
Be I need so your turn next weekly you get
to turn the tables and think of a question and
test me out. Next week.
Speaker 2 (51:39):
Maybe maybe I see if I can find a draft
related question post draft. Yes, yes, but I think that
wraps us up for this week. Don't forget to check
out Travis and the Drive Time podcast seth OJ and
the Fish Tank podcasts, who are pumping out some incredible
content right now. Really enjoying listening to their shows during
(52:00):
the off season. Follow us on all the social platforms
where everywhere you'll be able to find us. Leave us
a review if you would be so kind. Check out
the Dolphins social media channels and YouTube because over the
next few days we will start seeing interviews of new
Miami Dolphins players. And until next time, enjoy interrupt
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