October 15, 2025 • 34 mins
It’s turn the page Wednesday as Travis welcomes in ESPN Browns reporter Daniel Oyefusi to talk about this week’s matchup in Cleveland. Plus, Travis peels back the onion on Miami’s new offensive identity and how Jaylen Waddle and Patrick Paul have contributed to it.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is Drivetime with Travis wing Feed. What is up
Dolphins and welcome to the Draft Time Podcast. I am
your host, Travis Wingfield. And on today's show, the great
Daniel Oyafusi, former Dolphins beat right right now on the
(00:20):
Browns Beat, joins us to give us the opponent Spotlight
ahead of Dolphins and Browns on Sunday Plus. We will
crack into a couple of segments or a couple ideas.
For a segment, I was curious to kick around talking
about Jalen Waddles usage and his game. We'll talk about
the Dolphins offensive evolution, continuing, some Patrick Paul talk and
some building blocks talk. All of that in a heck
of a lot more from the Baptist Hell Studios inside
(00:42):
the Baptist Health Training Complex. This is the Draft Time
Podcast for this week's Opponent Spotlight, brought to you by GOVI.
We welcome in longtime friend of the show, former member
of the Dolphins Beat. He is Daniel oya Fusie, Browns
reporter for ESPN and Daniel, you took your talents from
South Beach to Cleveland. Reverse Lebron James. How is life
treating out by the lake Man?
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Yeah? It's been.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
It's been really fun. You know, coming on a year
two in Cleveland. You know, I always say every year
kind of takes on a life of its own. Last
year it took on a life of its zone that
I've never really experienced, and this year is no different.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
So I'm really enjoying it and I'm having fun.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
Do you think kind of covering multiple teams across the
league helps alter your perspective in a positive way because
you've been with the Dolphins, the Browns, and previously the Ravens.
How is covering multiple teams and just short span kind
of alter your perspective in this job?
Speaker 3 (01:28):
Yeah, it is profound a perspective because I think that
I always say, like covering every team is the same
in a sense because the schedules are the same.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
You know, it's going to be seventeen games.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
You know you're gonna have to buy a week and
the week to week is very is very similar. But obviously,
you know, the players are different, the coaches are different,
different offices different, the schemes are different, and the personality
of the organization and the franchises are different. So it's
been really cool to kind of compare and contrast all
of them and use the past experiences that I've had
to kind of inform future experiences.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
Well, it's been cool to watch your career blossom to
this point, and we always having you on the show.
I remember having you on a couple of years ago
ahead of the Big Ravens game back in week seventeen,
and you always provided some good perspective and scheme and
just in terms of how other teams operate. So that's
where I want to start with you, Daniel. It's a
perfect fit for our show here because we get pretty
deep into the weeds. And where I want to start
is the evolution of the offensive scheme under Kevin Stefanski,
(02:19):
because obviously you have you know, Baker Mayfield at first,
who has you know, gone on to do, you know,
great things in his career. But that Deshaun Watson shift
was where the offense really changed. You know, I think
it's core fundamentals of what it was. But then you
get the miracle Joe Flakko run on twenty three and
that kind of felt like more of the Stefanski offense,
and he comes back this year, which kind of confirms
that thought a little bit. I was just hoping you
(02:40):
could kind of walk us through the evolution of the
Kevin Stefanski offense and where it is today.
Speaker 3 (02:46):
You know, well, when Stefanski first came in twenty twenty,
you know, he had come from the Vikings where he
had you know, really I don't want to say he
majored in this, but he had a lot of experience
in kind of like the West Coast principles and and whatnot.
Is when we talk about the zone running scheme and
then some of those those gap concepts, and we saw
him have a lot of success with that early on
(03:07):
with Nick Chubb and that really veteran offensive line that
I'm sure we're going to talk about about soon. But
when you bring in a player like Deshaun Watson, his
skills set in the schemes that he's had success in
or that he had success in in Houston and then
obviously in Clemson, what was a lot different. So I
think that they tried to shift the scheme a bit
and really major in what Deshaun felt most comfortable with
(03:29):
and had the most success with. So you saw, you know,
less two and three tight end sets and more more
eleven personnel, more spread concepts, more of RPOs and whatnot,
and really this past year was when they really tried to,
you know, make make.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
It the best of both worlds.
Speaker 3 (03:46):
You know, someone kind of described it to me as,
you know, those those spread formations and concepts but married
with Stefanski's running game, and we all know how that went.
You know, they really struggling on offense. Deshaun gets hurt,
Jameson goes in there and then he has a little
bit more success. But you know, they fired Kendrisy's the
offensive coordinator, they promoted timy Reson's height ends coach to
(04:07):
to offensive coordinator. Stefanski still calling in the plays, but
really they've been trying to kind of go back in
a sense. You know, Fantay said, it's not my offense
to Cleveland Browns offense, but in terms of the philosophy,
you do see them getting back to those that twelve,
that thirteenth personnel, the six offensive lineman formations and trying
to run the ball well and then play action off
(04:27):
of that. Obviously it hasn't gone very well, but that
was kind of the hope that you know, the continuity
that a lot of the offensive linemen also vouched for,
you know, going back to that Stefanski's game. They hope
is that that continuity would lead to better execution on offense.
But they really have struggled out the gate, you know,
not scoring seventeen points in eleven straight game, which is
a franchise record right now, the bad type of franchise.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
Record right now.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
Yeah, you don't want to go in that direction. That
goes back to I think it was Joel Buttonio. I'm
pretty sure it was either him or Wyatteller. I'm pretty
sure was Potonio talking about why he came back this year,
right He said, because we're going back to the two
twenty one offense. And then Kevin Stefanski had the great
line said, no, it's because he put a golf Simon, Yeah,
that was that, Butotonio, that was yes, Yeah, that's that's
(05:10):
a great line and a fun fun moement there on
the offseason. But I was curious to ask you about
those guys, because man, it feels like, you know, when
you watch football for X amount of years, like you
get these these like cogs of certain teams that have
been there forever. For the Browns on the offensive line, Potonio, Teyler, Conklin,
they brought in Possek this past a couple of seasons ago,
(05:30):
and one of those old dogs up front. I'm curious
how that's worked for those guys and how they're performing
at this stage of their career because these guys are
you know, thirty one, thirty two years old.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (05:39):
Well again, you know, the hope was that even at
in they're kind of better in the ages. And again,
this is not you know, a couple of years back
in twenty twenty, when a lot of these guys are
you know, mid late twenties, are right in the physical
palme of their careers, they're a little bit older, and
I think that on film you you are saying a
little a little bit of that age. First of all,
I'll say I actually was saying this, you know, a
couple of days ago after the Steelers game, Like I
(06:02):
feel like, you know, a lot of people think this
is gonna be Joe Batorios last season in the NFL.
The way he's looking at me, I think he could
play you know, another two maybe three years. I thought
he's looked that impressive. But as a whole it has
been a struggle.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
You know.
Speaker 3 (06:14):
Wyatt Teller right guard is dealt with some dealt some
injuries over the years. You know, his past block win rate,
run block win rates, you know, toward the bottom of
the league amongst qualifying guards. But I think really the
struggles that we've seen with this offensive line have come
at the tackle position, where they've used five different players
because of injuries. Dwan Jones, they were really hoping to
(06:35):
lock down that left tackle spot. He suffered a season
ending leg injury in Week three. That's the third season
ending injury in as many years from him. Jack Conklin
has been in and out the lineup with an elbow injury,
and then he you know back in the concussion protocol.
They traded for Cam Robinson a couple of weeks back,
but he struggled at left tackle and then he's out again.
So you really had not had a lot of continuity
(06:56):
really at the tackle spot, which is obviously you know
you talk about the blind spot for Dylan Gabriel now
with you know, him being lefty, Like, they just haven't
had a lot of continuity there. You know, the play
hasn't been up to part and it's really impacted you know,
this entire passing game that really just can't really stretch
the field, you know, vertically, because they're just not getting
enough time now. None of the quarterbacks, whether it was
(07:17):
Flacko or now Dylan Gabriel, none of them are getting
enough time to to to really you know, get into
their drops. But I will say is they have really
found a bit of an identity on the ground, you know,
their fourteenth and run the block winner rate. They are
moving people sometimes when they when they get into some
of those duo schemes and those gap schemes and whatnot.
We're seeing quinchat Jackkins really take advantage of that with
his you know, his strength, his contact balances, ability to
(07:39):
trying to push the pile.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
So really that's what they're gonna have to hang their
head on, you know, the rest of the season.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
If they want to you know, get out of this
hole that they're in and get this offense going, it's
gonna have to start with the run game. And then
you know, we always talk about marrying the run game
with the passing game. You know, they they haven't really
done that in the passing game aspect yet.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
Yeah, you know, I think fans of the show that
watch and listen to every single week are probably wondering,
I haven't asked you with the quarterback position yet because
I always start there and I want to get to Gabriel.
You heard Daniel talk about Dylan Gabriel there for a second,
But I thought that the where this matchup starts is
up front. And we saw the Dolphins face a Chargers
team on Sunday that was similarly banged up at the
tackle position and they had kind of their interior guys there.
(08:17):
So it's almost a similar setup against the Browns where
it's like maybe the tackle positions where you can attack,
and we saw the Dolphins edge kind of get after
them a little bit, but the Chargers did still wind
up running for one hundred and thirty forty yards in
that game. And you kind of talked about him there briefly,
But I'm just curious about how you think quinn Shawn
Judkins and his physical style and the interior run game
for this Browns offense, like how that might match up
(08:37):
against the Dolphins run defense that so far this year
has struggled.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
Well, I'll say when they first drafted quin Shawn Judkins,
there was a lot of talks still about, you know,
whether they will potentially bring Nick Chubb back and he's
beloved in this franchise. I mean, you know, obviously they
made a move to go a little bit younger at
that position. But I remember their assistant GM, Catherine Hickman,
didn't want to evoke, you know, Nick Chubb's name, but
she said his running style really gives you, you know,
(09:05):
kind of images of Nick Chubb. And you see a
guy who, like, you know, he he dealt with the
legal situation, wasn't there through training camp, missed the first
game of the year, and you just saw the difference
where he's a guy that like he he can turn
you know, a negative three play into you know, get
back to the line of scrimmage and you know, make
sure you're not like too bad off track. Or he
can turn a two yard game into a five yard game.
(09:27):
And then you see, you've seen the past couple of
weeks where you know, when the when the blocking lines up,
he can he can get into the open field. And
I wouldn't say he's a burner perhaps, but you know
he can he can you know, break some tackles, he
can get into the open field. So you know, I know,
like that that interior defensive line has been you know,
a spot of concern for the Dolphins this year, you know,
with you know, obviously Kenneth Grant trying to get up
(09:49):
to speed, and obviously you still have Zack Steerer, who's
a really good player. But yeah, I mean that's something
where I think that they are going to try to
I mean, I would say the strength of this offensive
line right now is in the in the interior, and
I'd say it's kind of really going off the left
side with Joe Beatonio.
Speaker 2 (10:03):
I think that that's what we're gonna see.
Speaker 3 (10:05):
I think the zone running hasn't been as strong as
as the gap and the power schemes, and I think that,
you know, definitely try to lean into that.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
On Sunday, I kind of felt like that was Judkins'
game coming out, was the power element of his out
of Ohio state with how he just ran, you know,
that Complmary style to Trevion Henderson there with the Buckeyes,
and I saw that Vikings game and he had like
a seventy yard touchdown run called back that would have
really helped those numbers go way up for the rookie there.
But speaking of rookies, the quarterback in Cleveland right now
is Dylan Gabriel, and I'll be curious to get your
(10:34):
take on you know, maybe I don't want to say
the word leash, but what the thought is there in
terms of Gabriel and then possibly should dur standards getting
his first action at some point down the road if
it's close at all. I'd love to get your take
on that. But before we do that, tell us about
Dylan Gabriel because you've had the chance to watch him
throughout OTAs you know, throughout the draft process, throughout training camp,
all the stuff. Tell us about his progress and what
(10:54):
got him into a position to be the number two
quarterback this year behind Flacco and ultimately the starter here,
you know, one throw of the way into the season.
Speaker 3 (11:01):
Yeah, Well, to do that, I'll start back in the
pre draft process, when you know, there was a lot
of talk about whether the Browns would take Shador Sanders
with a second overall pick or where he might land.
And you know, very I don't want to say secretly,
but it was it wasn't very hyped, but they traveled
to Eugene to work out Dylan Gabriel. You know, I
believe it was the day before they they had dinner
(11:23):
and you know, talk to not only should there standers,
but but Travis Hunter, and you know, I was told that,
you know, there were some concerns about his arm strength,
but they really he really impressed the Browns through the
pre draft process with his race, call of concepts, his processing.
They believed that as a guy who had played six
years and been in three different programs and been in
(11:44):
a lot of different schemes, they believe that there was
a lot of carryover into what the Browns were gonna
ask him to do in the NFL.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
Anybody put him through this.
Speaker 3 (11:51):
Workout really and it was described to me as like
like the opposite of the cursory workout that they put
through Cam Wore, because they had no questions about his
arm tile so they they really put Dylan through a
really extensive workout to see, you know, what his arm
was like, and they really really taste it. So when
they drafted him in the third round, it was maybe
(12:11):
like a bit of a reach to some people, but
they viewed him as a player who was ready to
play sooner rather than later. And we saw that in
OTAs in training camp, where he was getting a good
or a decent amount of first team reps and lot
of people are like, wi, wow, why is he getting it?
Why is your door not getting it? Well, the thing
is they just viewed him as as a player who
was you know, more more along and more prepared coming
(12:32):
into the NFL as opposed to your door. And you know,
he he struggled a bit at times in training camp.
You know, he's going up against that first team defense,
and you know that kind of lent it up to
some struggles, but he didn't press them. In the preseason.
He had some nice two minute drills and that really
kind of led them to trading Kenny Pickett in a
sense because they were like, hey, like, we got a
guy who was ready for that two spot and maybe
(12:53):
closer to being ready to play than we imagine. And
obviously they trade Flacco. They benched Flacco and then they
trade him last week. But you know, they believe that
he's done the right things, you know, like in the
week to be ready for that backup spot, to prepare
to play, and how they think that he's ready to
be a starter. It's been a little bit of a
tough go because again, you know, the fancy said himself
(13:13):
that these issues on offense aren't just because of the quarterback.
We've seen that in these past two starts, so it
has been a little bit of a rough. You know,
he's normally known as a very pinpoint accurate passers. Sometimes
he has like one of the highest off target rates
right now.
Speaker 2 (13:26):
I think it's just a matter.
Speaker 3 (13:28):
I think it's a byproduct as much of everything that's
been around him as himself. But they really do like
the way they processes, the way that he sorts through
the defense, and they think that he can operate this
offense at a pretty good level, at a pretty baseline level.
Speaker 2 (13:42):
We're just not seeing it just yet.
Speaker 1 (13:47):
Our guest today is ESPM reporter for the Cleveland Browns,
Daniel OYOFUS, and we've talked Dolphins defense versus Browns offen.
Let's go ahead and flip it over to those side
of the football here and within the same episode, Daniel,
we're breaking down Patrick Ball versus Miles Garrett and the
tape in terms of how he can match up on
one of the best pass rushers of the generation. Right
he's a guy that can that can beat blocks by himself.
But I'm really curious to get your take on how
(14:08):
the defense sort of orbits around Miles Garrett. He's the
kind of player where everything kind of, you know, funnels
into what can we do to help Miles get the
most out of Miles Garrett? Right, So I'm curious to
get your take on that and how they scheme it
up to get Garrett more opportunities to go after the quarterback.
Speaker 3 (14:22):
Yeah, well, you know, I'm sure you know, Miles gartt
usually lines up, you know, opposite the left tackle, the
right side of the of the defense.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
They'll move him around at.
Speaker 3 (14:30):
Times, though, they'll stunt him inside and whatnot, but a
lot of times they are they are content. And they
really built this defense or kind of rebuilt this defense
this past offseason to take advantage of the extra attention
that Miles Garrett gets. He has one of the highest
double team rates in the NFL. A lot of times
he's gonna see he's gonna see his height end ship
or engage with him, or he's gonna get the left
(14:50):
you can get the left guard to slide over whatever
may be. So that opens a lot of opportunities on
the interior off of.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
The defensive line and the offsive line, you know, you know.
Speaker 3 (15:01):
Comparatively, So they really wanted to get guys who could
take advantage of the one on one opportunities on the
interior the defensive line. That's why we saw them sign
Eliite Collins, who's had a really really great season through
six games. That's why they drafted uh Mason Brahm with
the fifth over broad pick because they saw him as
a guy that was they said a tailor made or
a perfect fit for this defense with his ability.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
To to to.
Speaker 3 (15:25):
Cut through the defensive line and really be in a
penetrating defense. And also they thought that he had a
real potential as a as a as a pass rusher.
So they want guys who can take advantage of those
shifts and those one on one opportunities.
Speaker 2 (15:35):
So they'll they'll move Miles around.
Speaker 3 (15:37):
A little bit though, they'll stunt him, uh to you know,
to kind of take advantage of those of those slides
and those shifts. But yeah, you know, Miles is gonna
get his he's gonna get his pressures and whatnot. But
they also saw a lot really confident in their interior
defensive line and the guys opposite Miles Carrett, whether it's
Alex Ryder or Isaiah McGuire, they're gonna shuffle a lot
of guys on the defensive line.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
They have confidence that those guys.
Speaker 3 (15:58):
Can take advantage of the one on one opportunities that
opened up because of Miles Garrett's gravity.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
Yeah, he's fun to watch. I'm excited to watch Patrick
Paul get a second crack at him after facing him
in his rookie season last year filling in for Toron
Armstead when he got hurt in that game. And I
talked about Quinn, Shawn Judkins earlier, Daniel this this Browns
rookie class. I'm a fan of a lot of these players.
And one of the guys that I was a huge
fan of coming out of the draft this year was
Carson Squashinger Brown's linebacker and I keep seeing him make
splash highlights. But between you and I, I've watched a
(16:26):
little bit of tape, but haven't really dug into every
Browns game yet. Has that been a consistent down in
and down out thing for him? And if it has,
how has it helped change this Browns defense.
Speaker 3 (16:34):
I think the best thing I can say about him
is that he is just so fundamentally sound like there's
very few times where I look and I watched the
film and I say, like he's in the wrong he's
in the wrong spot, his eyes are in the wrong place.
He's one of the best tacklers in college football when
he entered the draft, and that has shown up on
the tape. He rarely, ever, ever misses this tackles. You know,
(16:55):
a lot of times, like you see a linebackers look
maybe a step too late and then you can't can't
bring the runner down. Instead of a five yard game,
it's a ten yard gain and twelve yard game. But like,
he is just so fundamentally sound. I think that's the
best thing I can say about him. And I think
that when you're fundamentally sound, when you're in the right spot,
that leads you to being able to make those splash plays.
(17:16):
And I think also one of the best things you
could say about him that really reflects on the type
of player he is is the fact that from day
one of training camp he was given the green dot.
You know they lost Jeremiah, Well, we should cornmore last year,
he thought this year Jordan Hicks retired day one, he
was giving the green dot to communicate in the middle
of the defense.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
I think that says a lot about him.
Speaker 1 (17:36):
That's impressive for a guy that was a one year starter,
right I watching that UCLA tap, I was like, this
guy is he is an animal, He is something else
and that's why he goes in the top of the
second round. There good stuff all around. One more question
here for you, Daniel finishing up talking about the back
end of the defense and the coverage structure, and you know,
I thought the Chargers ability to present multiple looks might
be something the Dolphins would have some issues with, but
(17:57):
they attacked it pretty well in that game, including two
fourth core touchdown to take a lead late in that game.
But the Dolphins have made this nice little pivot offensively
in the post Tyreek Hill world and they've been productive.
But the Browns have something that both the Jets and
the Panthers had with Sauce and j C. Horn is
a lockdown corner. So akin to questions about Miles Garrett,
tell us about how this coverage could attack the Dolphins
(18:18):
passing game and specifically how Denzel Award impacts that.
Speaker 3 (18:21):
Well, I was really interested interested in this matchup last year,
and obviously too it didn't play that game, and you
know it's a little bit different now too is back,
but Tyree's not there, so it little, it changed the
complexion of it. But this is a Jim Schwartz defense
that is very, very confident in their ability to play
a very simplistic manner. And Miles Garrett even kind of
alluded to a couple of weeks ago before they played
(18:42):
the Lions, he said, you'd like to man up to
man up on the outside, put our guys on an
island and and and let them rock. And I was
really interested in that matchup last year because you know,
we know the history of the way teams have played
the Dolphins and not wanting to play uh, you know,
one high and playing a lot to shell coverage and whatnot.
Speaker 2 (19:01):
But like the Browns don't do that.
Speaker 3 (19:03):
They play some of the highest rates of Cover one,
of man coverage, of Cover three. They don't rotate, they
don't shadow wide receivers a lot.
Speaker 2 (19:11):
Denzil Warld will stay on the left side of the field.
Speaker 3 (19:14):
Tyson Campbell, the new cornerback that they just traded for
last week, he used to plays on the right side,
and that's what they did against the Steelers. But they
really feel confident in their ability to just play man
coverage and they know rush for let their guys went
up front and then let their guys went on the
back end as well.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
So I think that's a really interesting chess match.
Speaker 3 (19:31):
This uh, this defense has been one that's really struggled
against the quick game, against misdirection. I think that that's
some of the staples of of this Dolphins defense, especially
the evolution of it as we've seen the a Doc
kind of drop, We've seen them use Davana A Chans
as a receiver more. I'm really interested in that matchup,
like is this swssenger? Is it Devin Bush, who I
think is more of a run stuffer than the pass
(19:52):
coverage guy. It's a really interesting matchup because I think
that on its face, the Dolphin or the Browns defense
does things that opposing defense don't usually do to to
the Dolphins, and they do things that the Dolphins offenses,
you know, over the year, has been equipped to take
advantage of.
Speaker 2 (20:11):
So how much do they shift it?
Speaker 3 (20:12):
They don't think they shifted it much in the in
the last matchup, but obviously to a tungueb low wasn't
in the lineup, so did they change it. I tend
to believe that James Swartz is gonna, you know, play
play to his strengths and you know, let those guys
man up and one on the outside like they run
accustomed to.
Speaker 1 (20:28):
Yeah, one of the advantages you get from, you know,
losing a player like that is the kind of pivot
you have to make and change it to your offense.
And I think the Dolphins with those heavy personnel packages.
We saw a twenty two personnel last week and twelve
personnel and they're getting it done in those groupings. So
it's kind of a new thing for defenses to approach
here with regards to how to defend Miami's offense under
Mike McDaniel. And to a tongue of I looa. He
is Daniel Oyafusi on Twitter at Daniel o'fusi, I should say,
(20:50):
Cleveland Browns reporter for ESPN. Daniel. It was great to
see you, man, and again so good to see you
succeeding up there. Keep killing it. We'll talk to you
soon man.
Speaker 2 (20:57):
Likewise, man, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (20:59):
The way he goes and you can typically tell when
Travis gets his preferred guest on the show because they
sound a lot like the way I cover the game,
and Daniel does such a great job doing x's and
o's and breaking down all the things that make up
smarter football fans up there for the Cleveland Brown Let's
go ahead and take our last break right here, come
back on the other side. Finish up with a couple
of random miscellaneous topics I wanted to dive into today,
(21:20):
including Jalen Wattles game, Patrick Paul's game, and some building blocks.
That's next Draft Time podcast, brought to you by Auto Nation.
Before we crack into my final segment here Thursday Night
Football Pick. We got to go ahead and make this thing.
The Steelers just going to coast through the easiest schedule
of all time? Is that how this is going to go?
(21:42):
We did go ten and five this weekend. That freaking
Bears Commander's game threw off what was going to be
a good record ten and five looking like eleven and four.
Primetime game has been killed me man, the Eagles and
Giants got that one wrong. I got Buffalo Atlanta wrong,
Washington Chicago got that one wrong. I lost the uh
wait one two? No, we are eleven and four? What
am I talking about? Lost four games this week Buffalo, Washington, Dallas,
(22:07):
and Philadelphia. We did pick the Chargers to win that game. Yeah, sweet.
So we do go eleven and four on the day,
which brings us to sixty six and twenty six on
the season, doing some live corrections to my numbers right here.
But on Thursday Night Football, we're taking the Steelers. I
(22:28):
just don't see, even with Flacco, a way forward here
for the Cincinnati Bengals, it just, man, that defense is
the same as it was last year, and now you
don't have Joe Burrow, a possible MVP candidate, bringing you along.
It's gonna be a long year for those Bengals. Give
me the Steelers to go to five and one. Who
could have seen that coming. I talked about them a
(22:49):
lot in the summer preview series, like I was trying
to buy in on the Steelers, but there was like
also a voice in the back of my head being like, nah,
not this year, man. But it always felt like a
nine and eight possible team. But now with the Ravens,
you know, and Lamar Jackson being down with on top
of their struggles, and the Bengals losing their quarterback and
the entire thing that keeps that thing afloat there in
Week two, Steelers probably going to cruise to a division
(23:12):
title here The Ravens could maybe get back into it
if they can win nine or ten games, but they're
gonna have to start winning games right now. Anyway. The
whole point is I'm taking the Steelers on Thursday Night
Football to beat the Bengals and to land this plane.
A couple of things I wanted to get into to
close the show here today. First, some data on one
of my go to topics the last couple of weeks.
(23:33):
You know, what do the Dolphins do to combat the
loss of a receiver that scored twenty six touchdowns and
gained over forty five hundred yards across his first three
seasons for the Miami Dolphins. Well, they found their answer.
If you go off points per possession, My favorite offensive
measurement EPA is pretty great too. Starting with the five
possessions in the Jets game that produced seventeen points, and
(23:57):
then nine drives versus Carolina for twenty four points and
ten drives that produced twenty seven points against the Chargers,
that is twenty five possessions since Tyreek Hill got hurt,
and the Dolphins on those twenty four possessions have scored
sixty eight points. That's two point eight three points per drive.
That's third in the National Football League since Week number four,
(24:21):
and right now there's only one team in the NFL
across the entire season that has a number higher than that.
The Coults are over three points per drive. Buffalo second
right now in points per drive in the National Football
League at two point eight one. So the Dolphins are
getting it done in a post Tyreek Hill world. And yes,
it would be nice to get the offense a couple
(24:41):
more drives per game, which is doable if you stop
getting gashed in the run game. Perhaps down the road
we will do a deeper dive here on the run
defense and why it's not working. That's the common complaint
I get when I post videos of what does work,
which is how I've always covered this team. If you're
new here, so we can get into that at some point.
(25:03):
I will make sure to mention the critiques and the
critical nature of why this team's one to five, But
you can get that anywhere, right That's what most of
the shows are talking about right now. So I try
to find things that you can point to and put
your hat on, and something to get excited about, because
as I've learned, and I'm gonna keep going back to
the baseball thing here, as I've learned with the Seattle
(25:24):
manners this year, you know, it's it's fine. I understand
when you're a perennial, you know, missing out type of team,
as the Dolphins and Marriage both have kind of been
for a long time now, to experience the highs of
the wins, like the optimist like the thrill of chasing that,
the optimistic nature of that is what keeps me going
(25:44):
as a as a sports fan, and it's why like
it's all being paid off for me right now, as
my baseball team looks like an absolute juggernaut here two
games into the American League Championship Series, and which, by
the way, there's that pretty nicely to come back home
to Seattle with both George Kirby and Luis Castillo and
then Brian wou for Game five if they need it
all right, I'm done. So the first goal is always
(26:05):
to win the game, right every game the rest of
the way. I hope they go twelve and five. But
if the one in five hole is too deep of
a hole to dig out of, which historically it is,
then you're looking for things you can build upon towards
next season. Right, that's how I covered I did this
(26:26):
in twenty nineteen. Guys, that wasn't with the Dolphins, but
that's how I covered that team that year. Like talking
about Davon Godshaw's a pretty good player, right, Who else
did we find that year? It wasn't much, but there
were some pieces you found that year. And the goal
is to win, but if you're looking at things you
can build upon for next season. The Dolphins are uncovering
(26:47):
a pretty massive shift in the way they perceive their
own offensive identity. And it was a slow build against
the Panthers, originally debuted against the Jets, but it was
unfurled in the biggest manner against the Chargers on Sunday.
On balance, Miami has run twenty eight plays from their
twenty two personnel groupings. That's two backs and two tight ends,
(27:09):
and with Alec ingold, you have options to make that
a thirteen package, which is one back in three tight
ends because Alec does play attached to the line of
scrimmage sometimes. But twenty eight plays have produced six touchdowns.
That alone is awesome, but it's also produced five additional
plays that have gained ten plus yards, So thirty nine
percent of the time that they call a play from
this grouping, they either score the football or they hit
(27:32):
a chunk of yards. And the reason I think it's
so effective is because it allows you to go match
up hunting. I allude to the thirteen flex with alec Ingold. Well,
Darren Waller can function as a receiver, so can Devon
a Chan. So you have a tight end and a
running back that can give you ultimate flex in that position,
and a fullback that can do two things as well.
You've got Malik Washington, who if you take Waddle off
(27:53):
the field, which I don't suggest because you only get
one receiver in twenty two personnel, but if it is
Malik Washington, he can function as a running back. Ollie
Gordon gives you a power element to that grouping. Sometimes
he's in there instead of Ingold, sometimes he's in for
eight Chan. But I mean, we could possibly see a
thirty one personnel grouping three backs and one tight end
(28:13):
with eight Chan as a receiver. In that grouping, with
Wattle and Ingold and Ollie Gordon in the game, the
possibilities are endless. But they ran this grouping four times
this year prior to Tyreek Hill's injury. But they ran
it fourteen times against the Chargers, a big jump from
the sixth they ran last week against the Panthers, and
(28:34):
off that grouping they got a forty nine yard touchdown,
a four yard touchdown, and a nineteen yard Wattle completion,
and they cooked up eight yards per play from that grouping.
If you're hitting around five yards per play in this league,
you're one of the best offenses in football, by the way.
So it's a nice adjustment to losing your best player
and one that might be able to inform the Dolphins
about who they are now, but also who they can
(28:55):
be down the road. Also on the negative side of
that thing, a reminder of maybe who they could have
been from Game one had they granted Tyreek Hill his
wish after Week eighteen last year. And quite frankly, the
Week one game was why I went off the deep end, right.
I was so frustrated because it looked the exact same
as it did last year and it had the operational
issues which carried over to the Patriots game, and why
(29:17):
I was so freaking mad after those first two games
and pretty much turned off, like my excitement level. But
they finally have made the adjustment that I was hoping
we'd see and they're doing plenty on offense. They can't
get a stop on defense to win a game for themselves,
but offensively they're doing more than enough to win football games.
And secondly, here we have a breakdown coming up on
the matchup between Patrick Paul and Miles Garrett this Sunday
(29:38):
on Dolphins HQ, and I think it's a good representation
of everything Patrick Paul has accomplished in his first full
year as the Dolphins left tackle. Here, even if we're
only six games in and for the breakdown, your boy
was going back and looking at some old Patrick Paul film.
I even came across a clip from the Senior Bowl,
and I think the way I want to approach this
from the podcast segment is this, It is rare rare
(30:02):
in this league that trajectory follows a linear pattern.
Speaker 2 (30:06):
Right.
Speaker 1 (30:06):
It is rare rare that something goes exactly how it's
supposed to or how you perceive it will go. But
six games into his second year, Patrick Paul is on
the exact trajectory trajectory. Anybody watch Blaze in the Monster
Machines that you had hoped he would be, Because when
I watch back these Senior bullclips. Chris Greer's Draft Knight
(30:27):
comments about how he's so physically imposing that even when
his technique is not right, he's still winning most of
his reps because he's just better than you. And at
the NFL, you have to perfect the technique because then
you can get beat by anybody, because they're all good
at this level. Kenneth Graant case in point. And that's
what I saw at the Senior Bowl. I thought he
had a lot of work to do with his punch,
(30:48):
and of course all players need work everywhere always, that's
how this league works. But there was an area where
it's like, if he can get this, he can become special.
And if you know anything about Patrick Paul, this guy
showed up this year. He remade his entire body composition.
I'll never forget crabs his first day here at camp,
and he goes, is that Patrick Paul? Then did that
(31:09):
evil laugh that Kyle does. You guys know what I'm
talking about if you watch his content when he likes
something like he just got better in every aspect, his technique,
his body composition, the film study. He was in the
lab putting in the work this summer. I think he's
the microcosm of how you want a young player to
show up, this big ball of clay, undeniable trade. Scouts
love him, coaches want to work with him. But also
(31:30):
an insatiable work ethic and the confidence and the mindset
to go do it all and to know that he's
going to get there. That's to me, that's Patrick Paul.
And in this breakdown, I show you a play where
he clamps Garrett in the game last year. And look,
it was a difficult game for Pat last year. He
kind of got his lunch eaten in that game, but
it was a good experience for him. It usually is
that way when you face Miles Garrett, whether you're a
(31:51):
rookie or an all pro, he usually wins. But Pat
got some wins in that matchup against Miles Garrett. And
then he came back and just got better across the board.
And I am fascinated to watch how to watch him
throw his jump sets where he gets out there and
cuts off the runway, but very into vertical sets and
how he dispositions Miles Garrett in the running game. My
(32:11):
eyes are going to be on that matchup the entire
game on Sunday, Changing Gears. Last week I did my
breakdown on Jalen Waddle and just to make the point again,
three games for Waddle since we traded for Tyreek Hill
when Riek was not up, and across those three games,
the Jets game in twenty three and these last two weeks,
Wattle has twenty catches for three hundred and forty two
yards and two touchdowns. Youll pro rate that for seventeen games.
(32:33):
That's one hundred and thirteen catches for nineteen hundred and
thirty eight yards and eleven touchdowns. That's not really a ferrextrapolation,
but the numbers are the numbers. But he's also top
five the last two weeks in wide receiver EPA per
target at point seven to five. Speaking of that stat,
Wattle is third in the NFL in EPA per target
since the start of twenty twenty two. This is why
(32:54):
I want to throw in the ball a lot more.
He's productive, he's always open, He's a great player. We
talked about it on the podcast Every damn Day here
is that are ahead of him in that category are
Puka Nakua and Amanara Saint Brown, and they're only ahead
of him by a thousandth of a point a fraction
a fraction of a fraction. They're all tied at point
five to one epa per target, with Nikua and Saint
Brown edging him out by a tiebreaker by a fraction
(33:14):
of a fraction. Also on this list, by the way,
Devonte Smith, Brandon Auk, Justin Jefferson, Tyreek Hill, Nico Collins,
you get it. It's the best in the game, So
look one in five not ideal. It sucks. It's the
opposite of what I thought what happened this year. Quite frankly,
they were close, but no cigar. They found ways to
lose football games. There are still eleven games left, and
the information you get from the eleven games will change
(33:36):
your perspective on every single team across the National Football League.
That's the nature of this beast. But one thing I
know for sure, the Dolphins have building blocks on their
offensive line and at receiver. The should be Dolphins for
years to come, and two of the very best at
their position. Quite frankly, I thought this would be a
good prelude into the building blocks segment. I wanted to
(33:56):
talk about bore up against the time here, so we
can punt this back because we have a lot of
midweek shows to get to this season where probably not
talking about playoffs standings and things of that nature, but
Waddle and Paul are two really, really, really nice pieces
that you can develop your identity around in the future.
Not to mention, arguably the two best players on the
offense aren't even those two guys in Aaron Brewer and
(34:16):
Devon Ahchan. All right, that's my time tomorrow preview episode Tonight,
Mariners a chance to go up three games to none
in the American League Championship Series. To say I'm floating
would be an understatement. Until next time. That's gonna be
my time. You all, please be sure subscribe, rate, review
the show, follow me on social at Winklin NFL, the
team at Miami Dolphins, check out the YouTube channel for
Dolphins HQ, Media availabilities, and so much more. Last but
(34:40):
not least, Miami Dolphins dot com. Until next time for
Caroline Cameron and Willow Daddy's Coming Home.
This is Drivetime with Travis wing Feed. What is up
Dolphins and welcome to the Draft Time Podcast. I am
your host, Travis Wingfield. And on today's show, the great
Daniel Oyafusi, former Dolphins beat right right now on the
(00:20):
Browns Beat, joins us to give us the opponent Spotlight
ahead of Dolphins and Browns on Sunday Plus. We will
crack into a couple of segments or a couple ideas.
For a segment, I was curious to kick around talking
about Jalen Waddles usage and his game. We'll talk about
the Dolphins offensive evolution, continuing, some Patrick Paul talk and
some building blocks talk. All of that in a heck
of a lot more from the Baptist Hell Studios inside
(00:42):
the Baptist Health Training Complex. This is the Draft Time
Podcast for this week's Opponent Spotlight, brought to you by GOVI.
We welcome in longtime friend of the show, former member
of the Dolphins Beat. He is Daniel oya Fusie, Browns
reporter for ESPN and Daniel, you took your talents from
South Beach to Cleveland. Reverse Lebron James. How is life
treating out by the lake Man?
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Yeah? It's been.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
It's been really fun. You know, coming on a year
two in Cleveland. You know, I always say every year
kind of takes on a life of its own. Last
year it took on a life of its zone that
I've never really experienced, and this year is no different.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
So I'm really enjoying it and I'm having fun.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
Do you think kind of covering multiple teams across the
league helps alter your perspective in a positive way because
you've been with the Dolphins, the Browns, and previously the Ravens.
How is covering multiple teams and just short span kind
of alter your perspective in this job?
Speaker 3 (01:28):
Yeah, it is profound a perspective because I think that
I always say, like covering every team is the same
in a sense because the schedules are the same.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
You know, it's going to be seventeen games.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
You know you're gonna have to buy a week and
the week to week is very is very similar. But obviously,
you know, the players are different, the coaches are different,
different offices different, the schemes are different, and the personality
of the organization and the franchises are different. So it's
been really cool to kind of compare and contrast all
of them and use the past experiences that I've had
to kind of inform future experiences.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
Well, it's been cool to watch your career blossom to
this point, and we always having you on the show.
I remember having you on a couple of years ago
ahead of the Big Ravens game back in week seventeen,
and you always provided some good perspective and scheme and
just in terms of how other teams operate. So that's
where I want to start with you, Daniel. It's a
perfect fit for our show here because we get pretty
deep into the weeds. And where I want to start
is the evolution of the offensive scheme under Kevin Stefanski,
(02:19):
because obviously you have you know, Baker Mayfield at first,
who has you know, gone on to do, you know,
great things in his career. But that Deshaun Watson shift
was where the offense really changed. You know, I think
it's core fundamentals of what it was. But then you
get the miracle Joe Flakko run on twenty three and
that kind of felt like more of the Stefanski offense,
and he comes back this year, which kind of confirms
that thought a little bit. I was just hoping you
(02:40):
could kind of walk us through the evolution of the
Kevin Stefanski offense and where it is today.
Speaker 3 (02:46):
You know, well, when Stefanski first came in twenty twenty,
you know, he had come from the Vikings where he
had you know, really I don't want to say he
majored in this, but he had a lot of experience
in kind of like the West Coast principles and and whatnot.
Is when we talk about the zone running scheme and
then some of those those gap concepts, and we saw
him have a lot of success with that early on
(03:07):
with Nick Chubb and that really veteran offensive line that
I'm sure we're going to talk about about soon. But
when you bring in a player like Deshaun Watson, his
skills set in the schemes that he's had success in
or that he had success in in Houston and then
obviously in Clemson, what was a lot different. So I
think that they tried to shift the scheme a bit
and really major in what Deshaun felt most comfortable with
(03:29):
and had the most success with. So you saw, you know,
less two and three tight end sets and more more
eleven personnel, more spread concepts, more of RPOs and whatnot,
and really this past year was when they really tried to,
you know, make make.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
It the best of both worlds.
Speaker 3 (03:46):
You know, someone kind of described it to me as,
you know, those those spread formations and concepts but married
with Stefanski's running game, and we all know how that went.
You know, they really struggling on offense. Deshaun gets hurt,
Jameson goes in there and then he has a little
bit more success. But you know, they fired Kendrisy's the
offensive coordinator, they promoted timy Reson's height ends coach to
(04:07):
to offensive coordinator. Stefanski still calling in the plays, but
really they've been trying to kind of go back in
a sense. You know, Fantay said, it's not my offense
to Cleveland Browns offense, but in terms of the philosophy,
you do see them getting back to those that twelve,
that thirteenth personnel, the six offensive lineman formations and trying
to run the ball well and then play action off
(04:27):
of that. Obviously it hasn't gone very well, but that
was kind of the hope that you know, the continuity
that a lot of the offensive linemen also vouched for,
you know, going back to that Stefanski's game. They hope
is that that continuity would lead to better execution on offense.
But they really have struggled out the gate, you know,
not scoring seventeen points in eleven straight game, which is
a franchise record right now, the bad type of franchise.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
Record right now.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
Yeah, you don't want to go in that direction. That
goes back to I think it was Joel Buttonio. I'm
pretty sure it was either him or Wyatteller. I'm pretty
sure was Potonio talking about why he came back this year,
right He said, because we're going back to the two
twenty one offense. And then Kevin Stefanski had the great
line said, no, it's because he put a golf Simon, Yeah,
that was that, Butotonio, that was yes, Yeah, that's that's
(05:10):
a great line and a fun fun moement there on
the offseason. But I was curious to ask you about
those guys, because man, it feels like, you know, when
you watch football for X amount of years, like you
get these these like cogs of certain teams that have
been there forever. For the Browns on the offensive line, Potonio, Teyler, Conklin,
they brought in Possek this past a couple of seasons ago,
(05:30):
and one of those old dogs up front. I'm curious
how that's worked for those guys and how they're performing
at this stage of their career because these guys are
you know, thirty one, thirty two years old.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (05:39):
Well again, you know, the hope was that even at
in they're kind of better in the ages. And again,
this is not you know, a couple of years back
in twenty twenty, when a lot of these guys are
you know, mid late twenties, are right in the physical
palme of their careers, they're a little bit older, and
I think that on film you you are saying a
little a little bit of that age. First of all,
I'll say I actually was saying this, you know, a
couple of days ago after the Steelers game, Like I
(06:02):
feel like, you know, a lot of people think this
is gonna be Joe Batorios last season in the NFL.
The way he's looking at me, I think he could
play you know, another two maybe three years. I thought
he's looked that impressive. But as a whole it has
been a struggle.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
You know.
Speaker 3 (06:14):
Wyatt Teller right guard is dealt with some dealt some
injuries over the years. You know, his past block win rate,
run block win rates, you know, toward the bottom of
the league amongst qualifying guards. But I think really the
struggles that we've seen with this offensive line have come
at the tackle position, where they've used five different players
because of injuries. Dwan Jones, they were really hoping to
(06:35):
lock down that left tackle spot. He suffered a season
ending leg injury in Week three. That's the third season
ending injury in as many years from him. Jack Conklin
has been in and out the lineup with an elbow injury,
and then he you know back in the concussion protocol.
They traded for Cam Robinson a couple of weeks back,
but he struggled at left tackle and then he's out again.
So you really had not had a lot of continuity
(06:56):
really at the tackle spot, which is obviously you know
you talk about the blind spot for Dylan Gabriel now
with you know, him being lefty, Like, they just haven't
had a lot of continuity there. You know, the play
hasn't been up to part and it's really impacted you know,
this entire passing game that really just can't really stretch
the field, you know, vertically, because they're just not getting
enough time now. None of the quarterbacks, whether it was
(07:17):
Flacko or now Dylan Gabriel, none of them are getting
enough time to to to really you know, get into
their drops. But I will say is they have really
found a bit of an identity on the ground, you know,
their fourteenth and run the block winner rate. They are
moving people sometimes when they when they get into some
of those duo schemes and those gap schemes and whatnot.
We're seeing quinchat Jackkins really take advantage of that with
his you know, his strength, his contact balances, ability to
(07:39):
trying to push the pile.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
So really that's what they're gonna have to hang their
head on, you know, the rest of the season.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
If they want to you know, get out of this
hole that they're in and get this offense going, it's
gonna have to start with the run game. And then
you know, we always talk about marrying the run game
with the passing game. You know, they they haven't really
done that in the passing game aspect yet.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
Yeah, you know, I think fans of the show that
watch and listen to every single week are probably wondering,
I haven't asked you with the quarterback position yet because
I always start there and I want to get to Gabriel.
You heard Daniel talk about Dylan Gabriel there for a second,
But I thought that the where this matchup starts is
up front. And we saw the Dolphins face a Chargers
team on Sunday that was similarly banged up at the
tackle position and they had kind of their interior guys there.
(08:17):
So it's almost a similar setup against the Browns where
it's like maybe the tackle positions where you can attack,
and we saw the Dolphins edge kind of get after
them a little bit, but the Chargers did still wind
up running for one hundred and thirty forty yards in
that game. And you kind of talked about him there briefly,
But I'm just curious about how you think quinn Shawn
Judkins and his physical style and the interior run game
for this Browns offense, like how that might match up
(08:37):
against the Dolphins run defense that so far this year
has struggled.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
Well, I'll say when they first drafted quin Shawn Judkins,
there was a lot of talks still about, you know,
whether they will potentially bring Nick Chubb back and he's
beloved in this franchise. I mean, you know, obviously they
made a move to go a little bit younger at
that position. But I remember their assistant GM, Catherine Hickman,
didn't want to evoke, you know, Nick Chubb's name, but
she said his running style really gives you, you know,
(09:05):
kind of images of Nick Chubb. And you see a
guy who, like, you know, he he dealt with the
legal situation, wasn't there through training camp, missed the first
game of the year, and you just saw the difference
where he's a guy that like he he can turn
you know, a negative three play into you know, get
back to the line of scrimmage and you know, make
sure you're not like too bad off track. Or he
can turn a two yard game into a five yard game.
(09:27):
And then you see, you've seen the past couple of
weeks where you know, when the when the blocking lines up,
he can he can get into the open field. And
I wouldn't say he's a burner perhaps, but you know
he can he can you know, break some tackles, he
can get into the open field. So you know, I know,
like that that interior defensive line has been you know,
a spot of concern for the Dolphins this year, you know,
with you know, obviously Kenneth Grant trying to get up
(09:49):
to speed, and obviously you still have Zack Steerer, who's
a really good player. But yeah, I mean that's something
where I think that they are going to try to
I mean, I would say the strength of this offensive
line right now is in the in the interior, and
I'd say it's kind of really going off the left
side with Joe Beatonio.
Speaker 2 (10:03):
I think that that's what we're gonna see.
Speaker 3 (10:05):
I think the zone running hasn't been as strong as
as the gap and the power schemes, and I think that,
you know, definitely try to lean into that.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
On Sunday, I kind of felt like that was Judkins'
game coming out, was the power element of his out
of Ohio state with how he just ran, you know,
that Complmary style to Trevion Henderson there with the Buckeyes,
and I saw that Vikings game and he had like
a seventy yard touchdown run called back that would have
really helped those numbers go way up for the rookie there.
But speaking of rookies, the quarterback in Cleveland right now
is Dylan Gabriel, and I'll be curious to get your
(10:34):
take on you know, maybe I don't want to say
the word leash, but what the thought is there in
terms of Gabriel and then possibly should dur standards getting
his first action at some point down the road if
it's close at all. I'd love to get your take
on that. But before we do that, tell us about
Dylan Gabriel because you've had the chance to watch him
throughout OTAs you know, throughout the draft process, throughout training camp,
all the stuff. Tell us about his progress and what
(10:54):
got him into a position to be the number two
quarterback this year behind Flacco and ultimately the starter here,
you know, one throw of the way into the season.
Speaker 3 (11:01):
Yeah, Well, to do that, I'll start back in the
pre draft process, when you know, there was a lot
of talk about whether the Browns would take Shador Sanders
with a second overall pick or where he might land.
And you know, very I don't want to say secretly,
but it was it wasn't very hyped, but they traveled
to Eugene to work out Dylan Gabriel. You know, I
believe it was the day before they they had dinner
(11:23):
and you know, talk to not only should there standers,
but but Travis Hunter, and you know, I was told that,
you know, there were some concerns about his arm strength,
but they really he really impressed the Browns through the
pre draft process with his race, call of concepts, his processing.
They believed that as a guy who had played six
years and been in three different programs and been in
(11:44):
a lot of different schemes, they believe that there was
a lot of carryover into what the Browns were gonna
ask him to do in the NFL.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
Anybody put him through this.
Speaker 3 (11:51):
Workout really and it was described to me as like
like the opposite of the cursory workout that they put
through Cam Wore, because they had no questions about his
arm tile so they they really put Dylan through a
really extensive workout to see, you know, what his arm
was like, and they really really taste it. So when
they drafted him in the third round, it was maybe
(12:11):
like a bit of a reach to some people, but
they viewed him as a player who was ready to
play sooner rather than later. And we saw that in
OTAs in training camp, where he was getting a good
or a decent amount of first team reps and lot
of people are like, wi, wow, why is he getting it?
Why is your door not getting it? Well, the thing
is they just viewed him as as a player who
was you know, more more along and more prepared coming
(12:32):
into the NFL as opposed to your door. And you know,
he he struggled a bit at times in training camp.
You know, he's going up against that first team defense,
and you know that kind of lent it up to
some struggles, but he didn't press them. In the preseason.
He had some nice two minute drills and that really
kind of led them to trading Kenny Pickett in a
sense because they were like, hey, like, we got a
guy who was ready for that two spot and maybe
(12:53):
closer to being ready to play than we imagine. And
obviously they trade Flacco. They benched Flacco and then they
trade him last week. But you know, they believe that
he's done the right things, you know, like in the
week to be ready for that backup spot, to prepare
to play, and how they think that he's ready to
be a starter. It's been a little bit of a
tough go because again, you know, the fancy said himself
(13:13):
that these issues on offense aren't just because of the quarterback.
We've seen that in these past two starts, so it
has been a little bit of a rough. You know,
he's normally known as a very pinpoint accurate passers. Sometimes
he has like one of the highest off target rates
right now.
Speaker 2 (13:26):
I think it's just a matter.
Speaker 3 (13:28):
I think it's a byproduct as much of everything that's
been around him as himself. But they really do like
the way they processes, the way that he sorts through
the defense, and they think that he can operate this
offense at a pretty good level, at a pretty baseline level.
Speaker 2 (13:42):
We're just not seeing it just yet.
Speaker 1 (13:47):
Our guest today is ESPM reporter for the Cleveland Browns,
Daniel OYOFUS, and we've talked Dolphins defense versus Browns offen.
Let's go ahead and flip it over to those side
of the football here and within the same episode, Daniel,
we're breaking down Patrick Ball versus Miles Garrett and the
tape in terms of how he can match up on
one of the best pass rushers of the generation. Right
he's a guy that can that can beat blocks by himself.
But I'm really curious to get your take on how
(14:08):
the defense sort of orbits around Miles Garrett. He's the
kind of player where everything kind of, you know, funnels
into what can we do to help Miles get the
most out of Miles Garrett? Right, So I'm curious to
get your take on that and how they scheme it
up to get Garrett more opportunities to go after the quarterback.
Speaker 3 (14:22):
Yeah, well, you know, I'm sure you know, Miles gartt
usually lines up, you know, opposite the left tackle, the
right side of the of the defense.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
They'll move him around at.
Speaker 3 (14:30):
Times, though, they'll stunt him inside and whatnot, but a
lot of times they are they are content. And they
really built this defense or kind of rebuilt this defense
this past offseason to take advantage of the extra attention
that Miles Garrett gets. He has one of the highest
double team rates in the NFL. A lot of times
he's gonna see he's gonna see his height end ship
or engage with him, or he's gonna get the left
(14:50):
you can get the left guard to slide over whatever
may be. So that opens a lot of opportunities on
the interior off of.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
The defensive line and the offsive line, you know, you know.
Speaker 3 (15:01):
Comparatively, So they really wanted to get guys who could
take advantage of the one on one opportunities on the
interior the defensive line. That's why we saw them sign
Eliite Collins, who's had a really really great season through
six games. That's why they drafted uh Mason Brahm with
the fifth over broad pick because they saw him as
a guy that was they said a tailor made or
a perfect fit for this defense with his ability.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
To to to.
Speaker 3 (15:25):
Cut through the defensive line and really be in a
penetrating defense. And also they thought that he had a
real potential as a as a as a pass rusher.
So they want guys who can take advantage of those
shifts and those one on one opportunities.
Speaker 2 (15:35):
So they'll they'll move Miles around.
Speaker 3 (15:37):
A little bit though, they'll stunt him, uh to you know,
to kind of take advantage of those of those slides
and those shifts. But yeah, you know, Miles is gonna
get his he's gonna get his pressures and whatnot. But
they also saw a lot really confident in their interior
defensive line and the guys opposite Miles Carrett, whether it's
Alex Ryder or Isaiah McGuire, they're gonna shuffle a lot
of guys on the defensive line.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
They have confidence that those guys.
Speaker 3 (15:58):
Can take advantage of the one on one opportunities that
opened up because of Miles Garrett's gravity.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
Yeah, he's fun to watch. I'm excited to watch Patrick
Paul get a second crack at him after facing him
in his rookie season last year filling in for Toron
Armstead when he got hurt in that game. And I
talked about Quinn, Shawn Judkins earlier, Daniel this this Browns
rookie class. I'm a fan of a lot of these players.
And one of the guys that I was a huge
fan of coming out of the draft this year was
Carson Squashinger Brown's linebacker and I keep seeing him make
splash highlights. But between you and I, I've watched a
(16:26):
little bit of tape, but haven't really dug into every
Browns game yet. Has that been a consistent down in
and down out thing for him? And if it has,
how has it helped change this Browns defense.
Speaker 3 (16:34):
I think the best thing I can say about him
is that he is just so fundamentally sound like there's
very few times where I look and I watched the
film and I say, like he's in the wrong he's
in the wrong spot, his eyes are in the wrong place.
He's one of the best tacklers in college football when
he entered the draft, and that has shown up on
the tape. He rarely, ever, ever misses this tackles. You know,
(16:55):
a lot of times, like you see a linebackers look
maybe a step too late and then you can't can't
bring the runner down. Instead of a five yard game,
it's a ten yard gain and twelve yard game. But like,
he is just so fundamentally sound. I think that's the
best thing I can say about him. And I think
that when you're fundamentally sound, when you're in the right spot,
that leads you to being able to make those splash plays.
(17:16):
And I think also one of the best things you
could say about him that really reflects on the type
of player he is is the fact that from day
one of training camp he was given the green dot.
You know they lost Jeremiah, Well, we should cornmore last year,
he thought this year Jordan Hicks retired day one, he
was giving the green dot to communicate in the middle
of the defense.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
I think that says a lot about him.
Speaker 1 (17:36):
That's impressive for a guy that was a one year starter,
right I watching that UCLA tap, I was like, this
guy is he is an animal, He is something else
and that's why he goes in the top of the
second round. There good stuff all around. One more question
here for you, Daniel finishing up talking about the back
end of the defense and the coverage structure, and you know,
I thought the Chargers ability to present multiple looks might
be something the Dolphins would have some issues with, but
(17:57):
they attacked it pretty well in that game, including two
fourth core touchdown to take a lead late in that game.
But the Dolphins have made this nice little pivot offensively
in the post Tyreek Hill world and they've been productive.
But the Browns have something that both the Jets and
the Panthers had with Sauce and j C. Horn is
a lockdown corner. So akin to questions about Miles Garrett,
tell us about how this coverage could attack the Dolphins
(18:18):
passing game and specifically how Denzel Award impacts that.
Speaker 3 (18:21):
Well, I was really interested interested in this matchup last year,
and obviously too it didn't play that game, and you
know it's a little bit different now too is back,
but Tyree's not there, so it little, it changed the
complexion of it. But this is a Jim Schwartz defense
that is very, very confident in their ability to play
a very simplistic manner. And Miles Garrett even kind of
alluded to a couple of weeks ago before they played
(18:42):
the Lions, he said, you'd like to man up to
man up on the outside, put our guys on an
island and and and let them rock. And I was
really interested in that matchup last year because you know,
we know the history of the way teams have played
the Dolphins and not wanting to play uh, you know,
one high and playing a lot to shell coverage and whatnot.
Speaker 2 (19:01):
But like the Browns don't do that.
Speaker 3 (19:03):
They play some of the highest rates of Cover one,
of man coverage, of Cover three. They don't rotate, they
don't shadow wide receivers a lot.
Speaker 2 (19:11):
Denzil Warld will stay on the left side of the field.
Speaker 3 (19:14):
Tyson Campbell, the new cornerback that they just traded for
last week, he used to plays on the right side,
and that's what they did against the Steelers. But they
really feel confident in their ability to just play man
coverage and they know rush for let their guys went
up front and then let their guys went on the
back end as well.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
So I think that's a really interesting chess match.
Speaker 3 (19:31):
This uh, this defense has been one that's really struggled
against the quick game, against misdirection. I think that that's
some of the staples of of this Dolphins defense, especially
the evolution of it as we've seen the a Doc
kind of drop, We've seen them use Davana A Chans
as a receiver more. I'm really interested in that matchup,
like is this swssenger? Is it Devin Bush, who I
think is more of a run stuffer than the pass
(19:52):
coverage guy. It's a really interesting matchup because I think
that on its face, the Dolphin or the Browns defense
does things that opposing defense don't usually do to to
the Dolphins, and they do things that the Dolphins offenses,
you know, over the year, has been equipped to take
advantage of.
Speaker 2 (20:11):
So how much do they shift it?
Speaker 3 (20:12):
They don't think they shifted it much in the in
the last matchup, but obviously to a tungueb low wasn't
in the lineup, so did they change it. I tend
to believe that James Swartz is gonna, you know, play
play to his strengths and you know, let those guys
man up and one on the outside like they run
accustomed to.
Speaker 1 (20:28):
Yeah, one of the advantages you get from, you know,
losing a player like that is the kind of pivot
you have to make and change it to your offense.
And I think the Dolphins with those heavy personnel packages.
We saw a twenty two personnel last week and twelve
personnel and they're getting it done in those groupings. So
it's kind of a new thing for defenses to approach
here with regards to how to defend Miami's offense under
Mike McDaniel. And to a tongue of I looa. He
is Daniel Oyafusi on Twitter at Daniel o'fusi, I should say,
(20:50):
Cleveland Browns reporter for ESPN. Daniel. It was great to
see you, man, and again so good to see you
succeeding up there. Keep killing it. We'll talk to you
soon man.
Speaker 2 (20:57):
Likewise, man, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (20:59):
The way he goes and you can typically tell when
Travis gets his preferred guest on the show because they
sound a lot like the way I cover the game,
and Daniel does such a great job doing x's and
o's and breaking down all the things that make up
smarter football fans up there for the Cleveland Brown Let's
go ahead and take our last break right here, come
back on the other side. Finish up with a couple
of random miscellaneous topics I wanted to dive into today,
(21:20):
including Jalen Wattles game, Patrick Paul's game, and some building blocks.
That's next Draft Time podcast, brought to you by Auto Nation.
Before we crack into my final segment here Thursday Night
Football Pick. We got to go ahead and make this thing.
The Steelers just going to coast through the easiest schedule
of all time? Is that how this is going to go?
(21:42):
We did go ten and five this weekend. That freaking
Bears Commander's game threw off what was going to be
a good record ten and five looking like eleven and four.
Primetime game has been killed me man, the Eagles and
Giants got that one wrong. I got Buffalo Atlanta wrong,
Washington Chicago got that one wrong. I lost the uh
wait one two? No, we are eleven and four? What
am I talking about? Lost four games this week Buffalo, Washington, Dallas,
(22:07):
and Philadelphia. We did pick the Chargers to win that game. Yeah, sweet.
So we do go eleven and four on the day,
which brings us to sixty six and twenty six on
the season, doing some live corrections to my numbers right here.
But on Thursday Night Football, we're taking the Steelers. I
(22:28):
just don't see, even with Flacco, a way forward here
for the Cincinnati Bengals, it just, man, that defense is
the same as it was last year, and now you
don't have Joe Burrow, a possible MVP candidate, bringing you along.
It's gonna be a long year for those Bengals. Give
me the Steelers to go to five and one. Who
could have seen that coming. I talked about them a
(22:49):
lot in the summer preview series, like I was trying
to buy in on the Steelers, but there was like
also a voice in the back of my head being like, nah,
not this year, man. But it always felt like a
nine and eight possible team. But now with the Ravens,
you know, and Lamar Jackson being down with on top
of their struggles, and the Bengals losing their quarterback and
the entire thing that keeps that thing afloat there in
Week two, Steelers probably going to cruise to a division
(23:12):
title here The Ravens could maybe get back into it
if they can win nine or ten games, but they're
gonna have to start winning games right now. Anyway. The
whole point is I'm taking the Steelers on Thursday Night
Football to beat the Bengals and to land this plane.
A couple of things I wanted to get into to
close the show here today. First, some data on one
of my go to topics the last couple of weeks.
(23:33):
You know, what do the Dolphins do to combat the
loss of a receiver that scored twenty six touchdowns and
gained over forty five hundred yards across his first three
seasons for the Miami Dolphins. Well, they found their answer.
If you go off points per possession, My favorite offensive
measurement EPA is pretty great too. Starting with the five
possessions in the Jets game that produced seventeen points, and
(23:57):
then nine drives versus Carolina for twenty four points and
ten drives that produced twenty seven points against the Chargers,
that is twenty five possessions since Tyreek Hill got hurt,
and the Dolphins on those twenty four possessions have scored
sixty eight points. That's two point eight three points per drive.
That's third in the National Football League since Week number four,
(24:21):
and right now there's only one team in the NFL
across the entire season that has a number higher than that.
The Coults are over three points per drive. Buffalo second
right now in points per drive in the National Football
League at two point eight one. So the Dolphins are
getting it done in a post Tyreek Hill world. And yes,
it would be nice to get the offense a couple
(24:41):
more drives per game, which is doable if you stop
getting gashed in the run game. Perhaps down the road
we will do a deeper dive here on the run
defense and why it's not working. That's the common complaint
I get when I post videos of what does work,
which is how I've always covered this team. If you're
new here, so we can get into that at some point.
(25:03):
I will make sure to mention the critiques and the
critical nature of why this team's one to five, But
you can get that anywhere, right That's what most of
the shows are talking about right now. So I try
to find things that you can point to and put
your hat on, and something to get excited about, because
as I've learned, and I'm gonna keep going back to
the baseball thing here, as I've learned with the Seattle
(25:24):
manners this year, you know, it's it's fine. I understand
when you're a perennial, you know, missing out type of team,
as the Dolphins and Marriage both have kind of been
for a long time now, to experience the highs of
the wins, like the optimist like the thrill of chasing that,
the optimistic nature of that is what keeps me going
(25:44):
as a as a sports fan, and it's why like
it's all being paid off for me right now, as
my baseball team looks like an absolute juggernaut here two
games into the American League Championship Series, and which, by
the way, there's that pretty nicely to come back home
to Seattle with both George Kirby and Luis Castillo and
then Brian wou for Game five if they need it
all right, I'm done. So the first goal is always
(26:05):
to win the game, right every game the rest of
the way. I hope they go twelve and five. But
if the one in five hole is too deep of
a hole to dig out of, which historically it is,
then you're looking for things you can build upon towards
next season. Right, that's how I covered I did this
(26:26):
in twenty nineteen. Guys, that wasn't with the Dolphins, but
that's how I covered that team that year. Like talking
about Davon Godshaw's a pretty good player, right, Who else
did we find that year? It wasn't much, but there
were some pieces you found that year. And the goal
is to win, but if you're looking at things you
can build upon for next season. The Dolphins are uncovering
(26:47):
a pretty massive shift in the way they perceive their
own offensive identity. And it was a slow build against
the Panthers, originally debuted against the Jets, but it was
unfurled in the biggest manner against the Chargers on Sunday.
On balance, Miami has run twenty eight plays from their
twenty two personnel groupings. That's two backs and two tight ends,
(27:09):
and with Alec ingold, you have options to make that
a thirteen package, which is one back in three tight
ends because Alec does play attached to the line of
scrimmage sometimes. But twenty eight plays have produced six touchdowns.
That alone is awesome, but it's also produced five additional
plays that have gained ten plus yards, So thirty nine
percent of the time that they call a play from
this grouping, they either score the football or they hit
(27:32):
a chunk of yards. And the reason I think it's
so effective is because it allows you to go match
up hunting. I allude to the thirteen flex with alec Ingold. Well,
Darren Waller can function as a receiver, so can Devon
a Chan. So you have a tight end and a
running back that can give you ultimate flex in that position,
and a fullback that can do two things as well.
You've got Malik Washington, who if you take Waddle off
(27:53):
the field, which I don't suggest because you only get
one receiver in twenty two personnel, but if it is
Malik Washington, he can function as a running back. Ollie
Gordon gives you a power element to that grouping. Sometimes
he's in there instead of Ingold, sometimes he's in for
eight Chan. But I mean, we could possibly see a
thirty one personnel grouping three backs and one tight end
(28:13):
with eight Chan as a receiver. In that grouping, with
Wattle and Ingold and Ollie Gordon in the game, the
possibilities are endless. But they ran this grouping four times
this year prior to Tyreek Hill's injury. But they ran
it fourteen times against the Chargers, a big jump from
the sixth they ran last week against the Panthers, and
(28:34):
off that grouping they got a forty nine yard touchdown,
a four yard touchdown, and a nineteen yard Wattle completion,
and they cooked up eight yards per play from that grouping.
If you're hitting around five yards per play in this league,
you're one of the best offenses in football, by the way.
So it's a nice adjustment to losing your best player
and one that might be able to inform the Dolphins
about who they are now, but also who they can
(28:55):
be down the road. Also on the negative side of
that thing, a reminder of maybe who they could have
been from Game one had they granted Tyreek Hill his
wish after Week eighteen last year. And quite frankly, the
Week one game was why I went off the deep end, right.
I was so frustrated because it looked the exact same
as it did last year and it had the operational
issues which carried over to the Patriots game, and why
(29:17):
I was so freaking mad after those first two games
and pretty much turned off, like my excitement level. But
they finally have made the adjustment that I was hoping
we'd see and they're doing plenty on offense. They can't
get a stop on defense to win a game for themselves,
but offensively they're doing more than enough to win football games.
And secondly, here we have a breakdown coming up on
the matchup between Patrick Paul and Miles Garrett this Sunday
(29:38):
on Dolphins HQ, and I think it's a good representation
of everything Patrick Paul has accomplished in his first full
year as the Dolphins left tackle. Here, even if we're
only six games in and for the breakdown, your boy
was going back and looking at some old Patrick Paul film.
I even came across a clip from the Senior Bowl,
and I think the way I want to approach this
from the podcast segment is this, It is rare rare
(30:02):
in this league that trajectory follows a linear pattern.
Speaker 2 (30:06):
Right.
Speaker 1 (30:06):
It is rare rare that something goes exactly how it's
supposed to or how you perceive it will go. But
six games into his second year, Patrick Paul is on
the exact trajectory trajectory. Anybody watch Blaze in the Monster
Machines that you had hoped he would be, Because when
I watch back these Senior bullclips. Chris Greer's Draft Knight
(30:27):
comments about how he's so physically imposing that even when
his technique is not right, he's still winning most of
his reps because he's just better than you. And at
the NFL, you have to perfect the technique because then
you can get beat by anybody, because they're all good
at this level. Kenneth Graant case in point. And that's
what I saw at the Senior Bowl. I thought he
had a lot of work to do with his punch,
(30:48):
and of course all players need work everywhere always, that's
how this league works. But there was an area where
it's like, if he can get this, he can become special.
And if you know anything about Patrick Paul, this guy
showed up this year. He remade his entire body composition.
I'll never forget crabs his first day here at camp,
and he goes, is that Patrick Paul? Then did that
(31:09):
evil laugh that Kyle does. You guys know what I'm
talking about if you watch his content when he likes
something like he just got better in every aspect, his technique,
his body composition, the film study. He was in the
lab putting in the work this summer. I think he's
the microcosm of how you want a young player to
show up, this big ball of clay, undeniable trade. Scouts
love him, coaches want to work with him. But also
(31:30):
an insatiable work ethic and the confidence and the mindset
to go do it all and to know that he's
going to get there. That's to me, that's Patrick Paul.
And in this breakdown, I show you a play where
he clamps Garrett in the game last year. And look,
it was a difficult game for Pat last year. He
kind of got his lunch eaten in that game, but
it was a good experience for him. It usually is
that way when you face Miles Garrett, whether you're a
(31:51):
rookie or an all pro, he usually wins. But Pat
got some wins in that matchup against Miles Garrett. And
then he came back and just got better across the board.
And I am fascinated to watch how to watch him
throw his jump sets where he gets out there and
cuts off the runway, but very into vertical sets and
how he dispositions Miles Garrett in the running game. My
(32:11):
eyes are going to be on that matchup the entire
game on Sunday, Changing Gears. Last week I did my
breakdown on Jalen Waddle and just to make the point again,
three games for Waddle since we traded for Tyreek Hill
when Riek was not up, and across those three games,
the Jets game in twenty three and these last two weeks,
Wattle has twenty catches for three hundred and forty two
yards and two touchdowns. Youll pro rate that for seventeen games.
(32:33):
That's one hundred and thirteen catches for nineteen hundred and
thirty eight yards and eleven touchdowns. That's not really a ferrextrapolation,
but the numbers are the numbers. But he's also top
five the last two weeks in wide receiver EPA per
target at point seven to five. Speaking of that stat,
Wattle is third in the NFL in EPA per target
since the start of twenty twenty two. This is why
(32:54):
I want to throw in the ball a lot more.
He's productive, he's always open, He's a great player. We
talked about it on the podcast Every damn Day here
is that are ahead of him in that category are
Puka Nakua and Amanara Saint Brown, and they're only ahead
of him by a thousandth of a point a fraction
a fraction of a fraction. They're all tied at point
five to one epa per target, with Nikua and Saint
Brown edging him out by a tiebreaker by a fraction
(33:14):
of a fraction. Also on this list, by the way,
Devonte Smith, Brandon Auk, Justin Jefferson, Tyreek Hill, Nico Collins,
you get it. It's the best in the game, So
look one in five not ideal. It sucks. It's the
opposite of what I thought what happened this year. Quite frankly,
they were close, but no cigar. They found ways to
lose football games. There are still eleven games left, and
the information you get from the eleven games will change
(33:36):
your perspective on every single team across the National Football League.
That's the nature of this beast. But one thing I
know for sure, the Dolphins have building blocks on their
offensive line and at receiver. The should be Dolphins for
years to come, and two of the very best at
their position. Quite frankly, I thought this would be a
good prelude into the building blocks segment. I wanted to
(33:56):
talk about bore up against the time here, so we
can punt this back because we have a lot of
midweek shows to get to this season where probably not
talking about playoffs standings and things of that nature, but
Waddle and Paul are two really, really, really nice pieces
that you can develop your identity around in the future.
Not to mention, arguably the two best players on the
offense aren't even those two guys in Aaron Brewer and
(34:16):
Devon Ahchan. All right, that's my time tomorrow preview episode Tonight,
Mariners a chance to go up three games to none
in the American League Championship Series. To say I'm floating
would be an understatement. Until next time. That's gonna be
my time. You all, please be sure subscribe, rate, review
the show, follow me on social at Winklin NFL, the
team at Miami Dolphins, check out the YouTube channel for
Dolphins HQ, Media availabilities, and so much more. Last but
(34:40):
not least, Miami Dolphins dot com. Until next time for
Caroline Cameron and Willow Daddy's Coming Home.
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If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist
It’s 1996 in rural North Carolina, and an oddball crew makes history when they pull off America’s third largest cash heist. But it’s all downhill from there. Join host Johnny Knoxville as he unspools a wild and woolly tale about a group of regular ‘ol folks who risked it all for a chance at a better life. CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist answers the question: what would you do with 17.3 million dollars? The answer includes diamond rings, mansions, velvet Elvis paintings, plus a run for the border, murder-for-hire-plots, and FBI busts.