October 8, 2025 • 36 mins
The Dolphins are onto Week 6 and so is Travis. He welcomes in the voice of the Chargers, Matt Smith, to break down Sunday’s matchup. Plus, the Week 6 picks, and Travis’ Top 5 Tapes through the first five games of the 2025 season.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is Drivetime with Travis Wingfield.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
What is up, Dolphins and welcome to the Draft Time Podcast.
I am your host, Travis Wingfield. And on today's show,
Matt Money Smith, the voice of the Chargers, joins me
to take a look at our opponent spotlight as the
Chargers are in town Sunday for the Week six game.
Here in Myami gardens, we'll also pick the Week six games.
We'll also do the top five cumulative tapes from the
(00:31):
first five games of the season.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
We do it every Tuesday on the Film Review podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
We're going to do the five games collectively for the
Miami Dolphins here on this Wednesday edition of the pod
from the Baptist Hell Studios inside the Baptist Healths Training Complex.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
This is the Draft Time Podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Ye Dafe, My guest today is the voice of the Chargers,
the Prince of rock and roll if I'm gonna call you that,
Matt Money Smith Money, welcome back into the show.
Speaker 3 (00:56):
Man.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
Thanks for doing joining us today.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
I appreciate it.
Speaker 4 (00:58):
Hopefully there's a prince least so I'm attached to this
then fine, I'm a friends. It's great to be here.
It's great to be back. Trevor it's been a little while.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
Yeah, it has been the twenty three opener we had
John that was an explosive game from both sides and
exciting finish, and that went for the Dolphins perspective right now,
the Chargers three and two, Dolphins one and four heading
into this game. Before we get going any further, Matt,
I wanted to ask you because man injuries across the
league right now seem to be kind of the story
of the year in twenty twenty five, and for the Chargers,
I didn't get a chance to watch a lot of
(01:26):
their last game yet because the Dolphins are playing at
the same time, or you know, radio coverage after the
fact was taking me into that game. But I was curious, like,
because I know there was some more injuries that happened,
could you just take us through the early part of
the week snapshot from a medical standpoint for the Chargers.
What are some of the injuries that happened in that
game that you expect maybe have an impact here in
Week six?
Speaker 3 (01:44):
Yeah, a lot of them.
Speaker 4 (01:45):
I mean, you know, a mari and Hampton had just
started really getting going. So he's on ir he's out
for at least four and he had you know that
explosive run last week against the two weeks ago, I
should say against the Giants, fifty four yard touchdown, and
then he was really kind of getting rolling before he
hurt his ankle, got into the tent, tried to get
some leverage on it laterally, and just couldn't do it.
(02:07):
So they wouldn't tell us what it was. They just
said it's an ankle, but I do know he went
in for X rays, so I'm a little worried that
maybe it's it's a little bit of a longer term
thing than then we think. So that he's out, and
you know, Naji of course blew his achilles a couple
of weeks ago, so you're down to essentially Hassan Haskins,
who's really just like a four cores special teams guy,
(02:30):
Kamani Vydell who started the season on the practice squad,
and I know when Nachi got hurt, they were kind
of looking around. I thought Khalil Herbert was going to
be the guy they brought in, but he, of course
has already been signed now, so I'm not sure what
that that is going to look like, but I would
assume it's if it's a Hassan Haskins, and Kamani Vydel.
Kamani actually ran pretty well once he came in for
(02:54):
for a Marion, so I think that's probably what you're
looking at, is that two headed months. And it's certainly
not Najie Harrison and Marion Hampton, so that's a big one.
Trey Pipkins was in and out of the game and
then ended up missing about the last I don't know,
I'd say probably quarter and a half. Jamari Stallier was
playing right tackle, so see what his status is. He's
(03:15):
a tough guy, so he always tries to give it
a go. He's a guy that'll fight through. Makai Beckton
first year with him, so don't quite know if he's
the same sort of guy or not. But he did
leave the game with a finger and was back and
then was not back, So I think kind of the
way it goes without Slater, without all, without Pipkins, you'd
(03:36):
be on your tackle four and tackle five. If it's
not Mackay, you're probably looking at a guard in Foster Serell,
who wasn't even on the roster when the season opened
and was brought back in about week two or three.
The offensive line has been completely decimated, and Will Disley,
their best blocking tight end, has now missed the last
two weeks. So those are the big ones. On offense,
(03:59):
I know this, this is gonna take up the whole interview.
And on defense, the big ones Khalil. They've really had
a tough time replacing him. The pass rush has been
not great, but it's really just they can't find that
guy to set the edge over there. You know, Tully
does such a good job on one side, but they've
been getting gashed in this run game, and so much
of it has just been how good Khalil is as
(04:21):
a run defender. And I think, you know, when Bud's
out there, it's fine with I and Tuley, but when
they try to rotate that third person in, especially with
Caleb Murphy, it's just been really, really tough and you're
starting to see the ground game get after him. Denzel
Paraman's window did open, and that would be a big
boost in the run game. He's a very physical presence
and he's kind of just more that see it and
(04:42):
go and thump it kind of linebacker compared to Troy
Dieh is a little bit more your finesse athletic kind
of chase you down guys. So if Denzel comes back,
that'll be a big boost, I think for the defense.
But other than that, everybody's pretty much back in the secondary.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
Yeah, I wanted to start there because I knew that
the list was vast. I heard about Pipkins exiting and
beck and Mackai Beckton exiting the game, but I wasn't
sure their stats coming back. So I was trying to
start the interview there because I think it's instructive for
how this game might go. And you know, for the
first three games of the season, the Chargers are relatively healthy,
even after losing Rashaun Slater back in training camp, which
was kind of the first domino to follow here for
(05:16):
the offensive line injuries. And in those first three games,
even without you know, Slater and having Joe all kick
over and look like all pro himself of that position,
the Chargers look like the prohibitive favor in the West
and maybe even one of the favorites in the Conference
at that point. But the last two games a bit
of a rough patch here. My question is that what
was the biggest difference between those first three through three
(05:36):
games and the last two games. It kind of sounds
like it's the injuries. Isn't just that the injuries.
Speaker 3 (05:42):
No, it's not.
Speaker 4 (05:43):
It's they have played incredibly sloppy football, which we are
not used to seeing under coach Harbaugh. Prior to the
last two weeks, he had exactly one game of eight
or more penalties, and he has now had a combined
twenty four for one hundred and ninety two yards in
these last two games. You're talking about taking points off
the board, You're talking about putting points on the board
(06:06):
because of penalties. And I think, you know the thing,
it's not just the interceptions, it's the situations that the
penalties are putting the chargers in that lead to those interceptions,
you know.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
And so there's been some and there's also been mistakes,
you know.
Speaker 4 (06:19):
I mean, I think certainly Justin would love to have
that interception on the one yard line or the four
yard line.
Speaker 3 (06:24):
But also it's play calling a little bit.
Speaker 4 (06:25):
You know, they've got first and goal from the one,
and you know there's been some bad luck in there
as well.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
Keenan was clearly held.
Speaker 4 (06:33):
I mean, that's an open touchdown that he's going to
grab on that first and goal from the one to
make it a twenty seventeen game and gets his jersey
tugged and so the ball you know, kind of slips
off his fingertips there because he's a step slow. Because
of that, the flag doesn't get thrown, and then the
next play they get dropped for a three yard loss,
and then the next play is the interception.
Speaker 3 (06:50):
So there's things like that.
Speaker 4 (06:51):
But you know, you took seven points off the board
on a punt return touchdown. You know that was just
a roughing the kicker on you're never going to get
to him. Guys already in a quick operation trying to
you know, with his heels on the back line there,
and an undrafted free agent rookie decides to try to
play hero ball, and you know, it's a roughing the kicker.
So instead of it being seventeen to seven, they get
(07:13):
a fifteen yard penalty, end up getting a field goal
on that drive, and it's ten to ten at the half,
you know, against the Commanders. And then I think, also Travis,
it's just beyond the penalty. And then same thing with
the Giants. I mean, penalties just destroyed him. They should
have won that game. I mean, even for the two
interceptions goal to go inside the five on both of them.
It's still a twenty one to eighteen game before penalties
(07:34):
derailed the offensive drive that would have put him up,
you know, twenty five twenty one, and I think would
have won the game. But and I'm not making excuses.
I'm just kind of laying out, Hey, this is what happened.
And then I think the other problem has just been
lack of focus, you know, drops things like like you know,
Tyler Conklin not having the personnel package right on a
(07:54):
fourth and two and he comes sprinting onto the field
with five seconds left in the play clock, and they
end up snapping it. And by the time he turns
around because he's wide open and they're going to convert it.
You know, Coach Charbas said, Oh, we liked the look
and we didn't want to bang the time out because
we knew we had it. He's still wiping his hands
on the towel because he just doesn't know what he's
supposed to be in the game, and you know, the
ball hits him in the face, and so it's it's
(08:15):
just it's a it's a confluence of issues that I
think and I lay it all out, and I know
I'm being long winded, but I think because they're fixable, right,
It's like, hey, if you guys can just get your
stuff right, you're these these games are winnable games, like
you're You're still in these games and playing well enough
to actually be the better team out there.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
And even with the injuries, the talent is still there,
like you said, to make that happen. And it kind
of feels like, you know, I don't know if it's
if it's the way defenses are structured nowadays, and I'm
excited to talk to you about Jesse mentoring that defense
here in a second. But for whatever reason, games just
are like closer than they ever been before. Like I know,
it's a legal parody, but every game seems to come
down to the wire. When you get that roughing the
punter call. The Dolphins have two of those this year.
(08:54):
It changes the landscape of a game, and especially you know,
when you have other penalties on top of those plays
that kind of compound those mistakes. But something I wanted
to talk to you about here money was to me
that one of the biggest surprises of the early part
of the season so far is happening in Los Angeles
because the Chargers had this offensive structure a year ago
where you know, I kind of call it the every
drive that ends in a kick is a good result mentality, Right,
(09:15):
And then they go and they signed Mackai Beckton, they
drafted Mary and Hampton, they signed Mike Williams, they draft
Trey Harris, and I'm like, yeah, they're going to be
a big body team that run run past every single
series this year. And then they opened the season and
through the first four games they had the highest pass
rate over expected in the entire NFL. And so I
just wanted to ask an expert and get there get
your thought on how that came to be.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
Were you as surprised for that as I am?
Speaker 2 (09:38):
And what are the residuals from you know, I mean,
let's call it what it is, a rug pull in
terms of what I expected for the Chargers offense to
look like.
Speaker 4 (09:45):
Yeah, I was surprised just because, like you said, they
signed excuse me, they signed naj they drafted Amari and
you know, coach Charbo has always you know, kind of
been a you know, a guy that rides himself on
offensive line, and so all that lines up to be
a physical, power running gap scheme football, you know, team,
(10:05):
and it's just not been the case. And I think
I credit him because look through the first three weeks, Herbert's,
you know, one of the two favorites to win the MVP,
and their position was, well, we just want to put
the ball in the hands of our best player, and
Herbert's playing lights out and we can protect him. And
now he's got this trio of receivers that are in
(10:27):
the conversation as the best trio of receivers in the
game in Keenan Ladd and Q the way Q is
come on this year, and so I understood it. But
then we have a game like the Giants where Herbert's
getting his head caved in and he's coming off a
fourteen quarterback hit for SAT game, and now the same
thing's happening. You know, you're not able to slow down
(10:51):
Brian Burns and Caveon Thibodeau and Dexter Lawrence and you
run it twelve times, and it's like, Okay, there's got
to be some like you can't dropped this guy back
forty six times when he's the most pressured quarterback in
the league, the most blitz quarterback in the league, and
the most hit quarterback in the league. That's just not
the guy's not going to be out there after Week ten,
(11:12):
even though he's a horse. So that was just kind
of one of the weird ones. The whole first down thing,
I think. I don't think Greg Roman's listening to the
national media, but I do think you look at last
year and they were just constantly behind the sticks, you know,
and it was so I.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
Think that was a that was the idea.
Speaker 4 (11:31):
I think the idea was, Okay, well, let's use the
pass to open up the run, and let's let's try
to see if you know, that reverse goes, because Herbert's
just so good and accurate, and if he has time
and to throw, he's going to make the throw, and
you're gonna make the catch, you know, because you have
Keenan and Laden, these guys that are very sure handed.
And then I think just the balance kind of got
out of whack.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
It was.
Speaker 4 (11:49):
I thought it was way better, especially before everybody went
down on the offensive line against the Commanders, Like you
look at that first quarter and a half when they're
up ten to nothing and d iving to either go
up thirteen or seventeen nothing before the Q fumble and
it's almost even. It's like twelve runs, twelve passes. The
run is working. You know, they're gashing them for five
(12:09):
six yards per carry. There's a couple that pop for
double digits, and now play actions working and you're getting
these fifteen yard throws the ladd in Q and then
that fumble happened, and even then, you know it's a third.
This team, I'll tell you that, Travis, Like, the one
interesting thing about this team is they just there's like
that you know, for lack of a better term, that
kills shot Like it's just not there. Even if it's
(12:30):
early in the game. It's a you know, it's it's
ten nothing. You're at the twenty five yard line fumble,
right instead of seventeen nothing. You've got no chance. Like
nothing is working for the Commanders. And then even after
the fumble, they get him in a third and sixteen
and it's like, okay, well, let's a three and out,
get it right back and you got two minutes left
in the halp and let's kind of come right back down.
And then no, it's a third and sixteen. That's a
(12:52):
wide open completion. Saint just's just way too much cushion
on lane and it's things like that that have continued
to play team.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
Yeah, and just to be clear, I want to, you know,
credit the Chargers with what they did to open the
season because it was working right. You had heard it
looking like an early MVP candidate. The offense was rolling
lad and to your point, Keenan like Keenan Allen and
Charger blue Man that that just is a right fit
and it always has been. So it's good to see
him doing his thing back there. And one of the
best slot receivers in the history of the National Football League.
For my money, my guest today is Matt Smith voice
(13:24):
and the Chargers becover the offense there, let's go ahead
and pivot to the defensive side of the ball. And
you know, I just love what this Charger defense does
from a structure standpoint, the way they play.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
They play super hard. And you've been on this.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
I told you I'm a big heat the call fan
before it came on the air here and you were
raving about this defense this summer. And when I put
the tape on, I kept incorrectly id in coverages the
snap like I'm not you know, some stavant quarterback. But
that's a sign of great disguise where I'm not sure
what coverage I'm seeing half the time. So if you
could take us inside the structure of this Jesse Mentor
(13:54):
defense and what it is that makes it so tough
on quarterbacks with the skies and post app rotation, and
just how they're able to be so dominant on that
side of the ball.
Speaker 4 (14:02):
Yeah, I think ultimately it's a too high show. I'd
say probably more than anything. They're running at least quarters
or Cover six or some sort of hybrid on that front.
They'll play man on one side, a little bit of
quarters on the other. There's some Cover two in there,
but ultimately it's his zone D with too high is
what you're talking about. I think the special sauce of
(14:25):
it is how athletic Dayon Henley are off the ball
linebacker and Derwin James are and how you can move
those guys around and Dayon might be a spy, he
might be an edge, he might be squatting, you know,
in the middle of the field that you don't realize
he's there because Jesse ran a simulated pressure and Deyon's
got his nose in the B gap and before you
(14:46):
know it, he's dropped out, or there's a ton of
just five six on the line and he's only bringing four.
And this happens a lot on third down. He'll overload
one side and you just don't think. I think it's
up for quarterbacks to figure out who's dropping out, and
that's how you end up getting. You know, just kind
of every layer of the defense is solid and it's
(15:09):
hard to find explosive plays. I think the the key
in what I've noticed for what what coach Minter does
is he quarterbacks in offensive corners. They're just not patient.
They just aren't in the league. Like, none of them
can take what he's willing to give you. And there's
more light boxes than any other team. And we even
(15:30):
saw it with Washington where they're and the Giants for
that matter, they're running the ball and it's effective because
they're giving it to you. It's a light box and
they don't want the four yards, you know, they're just
not interested in it, and they kept going away from it.
And then finally I think what you saw in that
that that Washington game is they were just like, well
the heck with this, We're just gonna keep giving it.
And Krosskey Merritt just started gashing them because the box
(15:53):
was light and so that's the one way you can.
Speaker 3 (15:55):
Get to them.
Speaker 4 (15:57):
At the same time, the they have a thing bt
B Burst of the Ball, and it's in films.
Speaker 3 (16:03):
You know.
Speaker 4 (16:04):
When they do film, they highlight guys that are in
every frame, and so it's a it's a point of
pride for this defense to be in the frame when
a tackle is made. And I think that's one of
the things that they're very good at is having. You'll
notice when someone gets tackled there's three or four, you know,
(16:24):
lightning bolts right there, you know, on the helmet that
are helping to make sure that that player doesn't bust
through a tackle. Now it has gotten away from him
a little bit these last two weeks, and like I said,
I think part of that's Khalil, but there's some blitzing
and I think he's pretty good about getting creative with
where it comes from. It might be Tarjeep Still or
Cam Hart from the corner spot. It could be Elijah
(16:45):
Molden or a Lowie Gilman from the safety spot. Like
I mentioned, Dan Henley's got a couple of sacks this year,
a couple of big ones, But I think ultimately it's
not just jesse Minner. It's Jesse Minner plus Derwin James
and all the things that one can do. You know,
he's a slot corner who's as good as any slot
corner in the league. He's a defensive end at times.
(17:08):
He's a you know that's just a straight get after
the passer and really good at chucking backs or tight
ends when you try to slow him down with them.
He plays dime. He plays high safety rarely. But I
think that's sort of the the mix. I think that
kind of covers that they don't play a lot of
They don't play a lot.
Speaker 3 (17:27):
Of press man.
Speaker 4 (17:28):
I thought they would a little bit more with Saint Juice,
That's what they said they brought him in for, but
I've only seen a handful of snaps of him pressing.
Speaker 3 (17:35):
Tar Heep's their best corner.
Speaker 4 (17:37):
He'll play some man a little bit here, and that'll
be interesting to see how they want to play Wattle,
because they are a little fearful of guys that have,
you know, just elite, you know, Olympian style speed, and.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
That's what Wattle certainly has. I want to come back
to that because first off, I didn't want to cut
you off.
Speaker 1 (17:53):
But this is a thing I do on my podcast.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
Every time someone talks about a former Washington State Cougar,
I say, go koog, So what dyon, Henley, there you go.
I went to Washington State, So there we go. Yeah, baby,
now you're talking my language. We don't get me too
far off track here, but yeah, we.
Speaker 3 (18:07):
Get I used to go college games, so I know
the Colfax trail.
Speaker 2 (18:13):
Yeah, you go twenty one and a twenty that you're
gonna get a speed and ticket exactly.
Speaker 3 (18:16):
Don't we know? It happened once, man happened once. I
love it.
Speaker 2 (18:20):
I never thought I'd talk about the poloose on this podcast,
but here here we go. But yeah, to your point
about the Chargers defense, watching them on tape, you know
those those personnel or that the light boxes you're talking about, Like,
I was curious to to kind of get your opinion
on that because that was something I noticed, and how
the Dolphins have gotten to more their heavy personnel the
last couple of weeks with twenty two personnel with Darren
Waller's return and more Alec than Gold.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
So I'm curious to see how that goes there.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
And my penultimate question was about Derwin James, but you
talked about him at length. I'll go ahead and pass
on that, and I'll make this my penultimate question. Where
can this Dolphins team threaten the Chargers? Like, if you're
you know, if you're putting together a game plan offensively
or defensively, what kind of sticks out to you the
most about the Dolphins team offensively or defensive.
Speaker 4 (19:00):
I think it's just the elite speed of a chan
you know. I think that's kind of what I'd be
looking at, is you know you can It's it's been
an issue. It's been a real issue for them, and
I think you've seen it now three weeks in a
row with JK. Dobbins fifty yard Jakrossky Merritt forty yard
scat Apoo. You know, was really get You look at
(19:21):
the numbers and you see, oh, it was only like
three seven per carryat felt it didn't feel like that
when they had eleven rushing first downs.
Speaker 3 (19:28):
I think the commander's jeez, I could probably pull it up.
Speaker 4 (19:31):
They had twenty one first downs, I think nine of
them on the ground, and so I think that's, you know,
it's not what you really think of. I think with
with Miami because they have you know, everybody knows who
Tua is and obviously with Hi'll being out, it's a
different deal. But with Waddle and how explosive Waller's been
since he got healthy in return, Like to me, it's
the ground game and that's that's where you might be.
(19:55):
And now look, I think Jesse sed Minner is going
to do some adjustment because it's been too long. And
what we've noticed is they do have a heavy package
that's very effective. They brought They've been rotating two tackles,
you know, between Nakwon Jones and Tito a Bonia and
and one's been down and one's been up in the
place and getting those reps. I think Tito's going to
be back down. I think nake Won has been a
lot better than he has this year. So when you
(20:15):
have that front of tier tark Na Kwon Jones to
Sean hand and then they'll put a boy be at
one end and Tulle at the other one. You do
the five man when you're the outfront, like it just
feels like that's that's the better look for this team.
And then you could play Durwin. You'll end up playing
Derwin and Dane as your as your backers, and to me,
(20:38):
that's the most effective way to try to combat that,
just because a boy be's a bigger body and he
sets that edge a little more. But that's probably what
I would do. That's that's probably how I'd want to
attack it. If I were Mike McDaniel, I think I
would trust the running game a lot more because I
(20:58):
just think two of us put it in harm's way
way too much. And I think with the way that
you know, like you said, Jesse Miner disguised as things
and gets you to take shots that you probably shouldn't take.
To me, that's not a good that's that's not a
good recipe for the Dolphins. I think just keep it
on the ground, take what he's given you use you know.
I'll be anxious to see with how good Darren Waller's
(21:19):
been what they do with Drwin and if they try
to use them like they have, you know, to just
limit it. They put them on Bowers, and Bowers wasn't
right in that game, but he just eliminited, he erased
anything he tried to get when Durwin was over there.
So yeah, I think that's probably what I what I'd.
Speaker 3 (21:36):
Be looking at.
Speaker 2 (21:36):
Yeah, I think those matchups make for a fun style
of a fight. Here when it comes to one o'clock
on Sunday here in Miami Gardens, Matt Money Smith Money,
appreciate your time, man, It's always great to see you.
And we'll see you here on Sunday. You got it, Travis,
Thanks man, And there goes Money. And for our second
part of the second segment here, we're going to roll
through the Week six picks. Week five, well, we kind
(21:57):
of stepped in it.
Speaker 3 (21:58):
We went eight and.
Speaker 1 (22:01):
Not a good week.
Speaker 2 (22:02):
Lost both the primetime games, lost the Dolphins game, lost
all three prime time games. What was the last time
that happened? Look up the analygics for that one. We
fall to fifty five and twenty two on the season.
It's time for some live math here on the air.
That is fifty five divided by seventy seven down to
seventy one point four percent under the seventy two percent goal.
That means it's time to pick it up this week
(22:22):
and get back to it. And to do that, I'm
gonna tell you guys right now from jump, we're gonna
go chalk. This is gonna be a Chalky, Chalky Week,
go ahead and cue the music. On Thursday night, Chalk
take the Eagles over the Giants. The Eagles had that
disappointing loss, a two score comeback from the Denver Broncos
in the fourth quarter.
Speaker 1 (22:39):
I cannot imagine that happens again.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
Although the Eagles kind of on my radar right now
because they're a team with all the talent in the world,
but they're passing offense. And this was the case last
year down the stretch and what had some people believe
in they wouldn't have a chance to make a run
come playoff time, and that proved to be a hilarious
venture because they were. They rolled through everybody in the
playoffs besides the Rams in that Divisional round game. But
(23:03):
the passing offense is still kind of trying to find itself.
And when you have DeVante Smith and aj Brown, you
should be able to find your passing offense and they
haven't done that so far. But the New York Giants
will not offer much resistance against any of that. They
had one quarterback hit and zero sex against Spencer Ratler
and the New Orleans Saints in London. We're gonna take
the Broncos over the Jets. I still not buying the
(23:26):
Broncos just quite yet, despite that comeback. But the Jets
there's a lot of issues tackling wise, coverage wise, everything right.
It's a rough only zero to five team in the NFL.
I don't think going to London gets them their first
win of the season. I took the Chargers over the Dolphins.
We'll talked about that more on the podcast tomorrow. Shouldn't
be much of a surprise. I'll take the Colts over
(23:46):
the Cardinals. That was one that I thought about me
picking the upset, but the Cardinals just make too many
elementary mistakes against a Colts team that has been polished
really every single game this season and is making your
boy look stupid because I thought they were a top
five pick team.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
They are going to win that division in my opinion.
Speaker 2 (24:03):
Now, speaking of possible division winners, the Steelers over the Browns.
Can the Steelers hold off the Ravens who are in
a tail spin right now, possibly without their quarterback for
another week and without a bunch of players on defense.
Speaker 1 (24:13):
Can the Steelers find ten wins this season?
Speaker 2 (24:15):
That feels like it should be enough to get the
AFC North title away from Baltimore. Who's going to struggle
for a couple more weeks as Lamar Jackson looks like
he'll be another week away from coming back to playing
in that quarterback there. So Steelers over the Browns. I'm
going to take the Patriots to keep on rolling over
the Saints. That was my one pick on my preseason predictions.
The saints one win of the year was the Giants.
We got that one right. I'm going to go back
(24:37):
to that drawing board and stay with that on track.
And even though the Patriots coming off their biggest win
since what twenty twenty one, they can go ahead and
maybe start a little bit slow, but they have enough
firepower to withstand a possible hangover game. I'm taking them
over the Saints. I'll take the Cowboys over the Panthers.
The Cowboys offense with or without Ceedee Lamb is awesome.
I think the Panthers we kind of saw in that
(24:58):
first quarter what kind of team they were and should
be going forward. I don't think that was a Panthers
thing as much as it was a Dolphins thing in
that game. Cowboys over the Panthers. I'll take the Seahawks
over the Jags. That was a fun game up in
Seattle against the Bucks. I picked the Bucks in that one,
but Seattle made it really close. I think Seattle a
gets their win this time against a team in Florida,
all the way over in Jacksonville, coming off the short
week and their biggest win in a while over the
(25:20):
Kansas City Chiefs. Talked about the Rams over the Ravens.
That's obvious. This one I'm very dubious on. But I'm
taking the Raiders over the Titans. The Titans won a
game that the Cardinals quite simply gave them with dropping
the ball the goal line with that crazy pick turned
fumble six the other way for the Titans defense or
for the Titans offense. Rather give me the Raiders, even
though the offensive line can't do anything, the quarterback's not
(25:42):
playing well, the defense has been bad. This is maybe
to two worst teams right now in the league, or
at least the AFC. I'll take the Raiders over the Titans.
I got the Packers over the Bengals. I'm not going
to pick the Bengals probably until they face you know,
the Titans or the Saints or the Raiders. At this point,
I'll take the Bucks the Niners. Mac Jones fun story
on Thursday. Will he play in this one? I'm not
(26:03):
even sure yet, but either way, I'm taking the Bucks
because Baker Mayfield is the absolute man. I'm taking the
Chiefs over the Lions. This is my least chalky pick
of the day, and I'm taking a team that was
in the Super Bowl season ago, so like, not that
risky to do it, but I do think the Chiefs
are gonna find the rhythm back after that tough loss
on Monday Night. The big Devin Lloyd picked six against them.
(26:24):
That won't happen again in my opinion. Give me the
Chiefs over the Lions and a really good football game
on Sunday Night Football and the Monday night doubleheader. The
Bills over the Falcons. The Bills defense is struggling right now,
but I think they're going to have enough firepower to
put up thirty plus on the Falcons. I'll take the
Commanders over the Bears, who I'm still just not buying
in on right now.
Speaker 1 (26:42):
So there you go. Those are the week six picks.
Speaker 2 (26:44):
Let's go ahead and pause for our second and final
break right there. Come back on the other side and
tell you about the top five tapes on the Dolphins
team through five games. That's next Draft Time Podcast, brought
to you by AutoNation. I was kicking around the idea
for how I wanted to put a close on this
Wednesday episode of the Draft Time Podcast, recording this on
(27:06):
Tuesday before my Seattle Mariners play yet another pivotal game
against the Detroit Tigers in Detroit, Logan Gilbert on the
mound really hoping they can find a way to make
it two to one in that game, because if they
can't get two wins in Detroit, that means they have
to come back to Seattle and face Trek Scuble, the
likely Cy Young winner in the American League this year
(27:26):
for a second time.
Speaker 3 (27:28):
Now.
Speaker 2 (27:28):
The Mariners are three and oh against Scoble this year,
but I might not have to go for four and
oh against him.
Speaker 1 (27:34):
So I know nobody cares about that but me here.
Speaker 2 (27:36):
But that is what is on my mind on this
Tuesday as I tape this podcast. What's also on my
mind is the Jalen Wattle breakdown we did for Dolphins
HQ this week. I want to ask you guys to
check it out because it's I think some of my
best work I think it's kind of a validation of
my Wattle take from the time he was drafted as
(27:58):
not just the speed dem in like a you know,
a burner receiver who's a one trick pony. He's always
been a very detailed and nuanced and technician type of
route runner and receiver, and we're seeing that in games
where there's no Tyreek Hill opposite him, where he can
kind of be the focal point the first read. Maybe
we're gonna push off other first reads quicker and get
the ball back to Waddle. And the way he created
(28:18):
space against Mike Jackson and j. C. Horn in the
game against the Panthers and got vertical and threatened coverage
and created space.
Speaker 1 (28:26):
This dude is an elite player. I don't care what
anybody says.
Speaker 2 (28:29):
And that breakdown inspired me to talk about my top
five players through the tapes this year, through five games
which one in four nobody wanted to be here. The
freezing cold take for me was that I said it
was more likely that we would have a seven to
one start than have like hot seats at this point
of the year. And I don't I don't know about
anybody's seat, but at one of four, like nobody expected that.
(28:50):
And kind of the big downturn of this entire thing
was the Dolphins losing games to teams that they should
be and the Colts. Maybe they weren't that, but I
thought they were the Patriots and two they looked better
than we thought they were at the time as well.
But that was a game you could have won. But
the Panthers game, that's one that you can't let that
game slide away from you. If you're two and three
right now going to the Chargers, you have some hope
(29:10):
and some upside against a Chargers team that is incredibly
banged up. We picked against the Dolphins and the Picks,
but I think there would have been an opportunity there
and gets to Cleveland the following week. It's just you
can't let these games go by the wayside, and it
kind of changes the dynamic of your entire team. And
so I thought, you know, let's talk about some of
the bright spots here and some of the possible core
glue pieces for the rest of this year and beyond,
(29:30):
because this group of players, there's a good core of
players here and some good talent here. So I wanted
to talk about that and put a highlight on my
top five tapes. Through five games, I have four offensive players,
but my one defensive player in the mix here is
the number five. Overall, we're gonna go top, We're gonna
go five to one. It's Jordan Brooks. And when you
watch Jordan Brooks play, I think the thing that kind
(29:52):
of gets him, you know, he leads NFL and tackles.
Right now, that's not a good thing. Like it's the line.
There's always gonna be a linebacker who leads the league tackles,
but it's usually not on one of the best defenses
because they usually out there for more plays. They're usually getting,
you know, more extended drives and more running plays at them.
And for the Dolphins to have two of the top
couple of tackles in the league, that's a really bad
thing ultimately, But it does tell you about the value
(30:15):
of Jordan Brooks and how rarely he missed his tackles.
He only has a few miss tackles on the entire
season so far, with fifty three that he's actually gotten
to the ground. But the way he operates in coverage,
the way he operates as a rusher off the edge,
kind of being part of that you know, five man
pressure package as they can run. He's just such an
adept player at reading keys and playing with physicality and speed.
Speaker 1 (30:35):
A three level player.
Speaker 2 (30:36):
He can run deep in coverage, you can cover the
middle of the field and get downhill on the blitz.
I think he had maybe his worst game of the
year against the Panthers, but there's so much going on
with the defensive tackle position to not allow him to
stay clean to get you know, some of the run
throughs you saw last year, and I think if that
begins to shore up a little bit, you'll see more
of an impact from Jordan Brooks in terms of the
splash plays. But right now, as far as the captain,
(30:57):
the glue in the middle of the defense has kind
of helped hold the things together when it has gone right.
Jordan Brooks has been the best player on defense from
my money, and he gets your top five tape, your
number five tapes so far through the first five games
of the season. Number four is Patrick Paul and I
almost put Paul at three ahead of my number three
player here, but I'm gonna go with Paul at number four.
(31:18):
It's everything just looks easy for him, and whether it's
in pass protection, whether it's getting out in space. We
talked about the complexities of the running game for the
Dolphins offense in terms of the landmarks and the different
changing you know, flashpoints in terms of assignments and how
that can change with motion and bumps and slides. And
Patrick Paul just is so composed and everything he does,
whether it's dropping the anchor and pass pro whether it's
(31:40):
getting out you know, from the far hash to the
numbers to make a big block on a cornerback outside.
There's just so much those asked of the left tackle
in this offense. And to me, there's been no drop
off from Toronto Armstead. Last year in Toronto Armstead when
he played was great. So Patrick Paul Number four on
the tape so far this year. Number three is Jalen Waddell,
and I'm gonna show you guys the breakdown on HQ
(32:00):
against the Panthers that show you just what it is
about his game because as the number one receiver in
the post Tyreek Hill world, like, the coverage just slanted
towards him and they're putting j C.
Speaker 1 (32:12):
Horn and Mike Jackson, but mostly j C.
Speaker 2 (32:14):
Horn their best cornerback on Jalen Waddle with help over
the top, and the way Waddle can influence not just
the man that he's running his route against, but the
umbrella coverage to force them into a certain look, to
force them to flip their hips and get vertical and
run away at the exact moment that he throttles down
and bends that route back to the quarterback or back
down the line of scrimmager, or down the parallel to
(32:35):
the quarterback, I should say it's uncanny man. And then
by doing that so frequently and having all these you know,
routes where he's not the primary guy in the progression,
but he hits it like he is, there's so much
value to that because it eventually will give you an
opportunity where you can lull the defense to sleep. I
don't think that was always the case for Tyreek. I
(32:56):
think there were some routes where it was like, not
part of the progresson, let's just go ahead and get
through this play and get to the next.
Speaker 1 (33:00):
And there's a lot of receivers that do that. But
Wattle's not that guy.
Speaker 2 (33:03):
Pal He will take off, he will pressure, he will
threaten you, pressure toes and play with urgency on every
single snap at the line scrimmage, at the break point,
vertically down the field at the catchpoint as well. Wattle
my top three. Number three overall tape so far this season.
Number two has been Devon ah Chan and I talked
about this with Jordan Brooks. I thought the Panthers game
was his worst of the year, but in total, Devon
(33:24):
ah Chan the vision to see certain gaps, the way
he can get skinny through some of those creases, whether
it's out wide, whether it's inside some explosive runs. He
has just looked the part that way. And then as
a receiver. I mean that catching the game on Sunday,
there's like what two or three backs in the league
that can make a play like that on the football
in the air, and he's one of them. He's been
doing it his entire career. In fact, he's one of
(33:44):
two players. Chuck Foreman. I don't even know who that
is is. Does he have the grills? The Chuck Foreman grills?
Speaker 1 (33:50):
Is that the guy?
Speaker 2 (33:50):
I know it's not, but it's George Foreman, But I mean,
that's the only guy since nineteen seventy with what was it,
fifteen rushing touchdowns and twelve, receiving touchdo in his first
thirty three career games, like he's an elite producer, a
touchdown maker, electric speed. I thought we might pop one
against the Panthers, and there were chances, but we just
missed a couple of key blocks of the point of
(34:11):
attack for him. It'll happen for him at some point,
but the offensive line has to make those extra key
blocks in those critical moments. Speaking of extra blocks and
critical key moments, number one tape with the entire year
so far through five games has been Aaron Brewers at
the center at the pivot, whether it's throwing guys to
the ground with his torque and like shocking the hands
to the chest plate and getting them off balance and
(34:32):
then finishing them to the ground by throwing them down
and jumping on top of them. Whether it's climbing to
a second level defender and attaching yourself when you have
to reach and get out wide and they're outflanking you
and he turns those guys back inside, whether it's helping
the guards, which the guard play has struggled this year,
but Brewer has helped them do a little bit better
than they would otherwise with his protection the way he
kind of communicates things and picks up games and stunts
(34:53):
and just communicates all the stuff to the quarterback and
the rest of the offensive line, the power to the
point of attack. Aaron Brewer to me, I haven't put
all thirty two centers on tape so far, but to me,
the ones I have watched, there's not a better center
in the National Football League in twenty twenty five than
Aaron Brewers. So he gets your top tape right now.
Jordan Brooks, Patrick Paul, Jalen Waddle, Devon Hn Aaron Brewer
five through one and turns my top five Dolphins tapes
(35:15):
for twenty twenty five, five games into the season. Five
to five, five five dollars foot log. That's gonna be it.
That's the podcast. You all please be sure check out
Dolphins HQ on Thursday. We're back tomorrow with the preview
episode of the Drivetime podcast taking a look at the Chargers.
Speaker 1 (35:31):
I have been watching their film all week.
Speaker 2 (35:32):
They're a fun team to dissect defensively when it comes
to their structures. We'll talk about that and more on
the Thursday podcast. You all please be sure subscribe, rate
and review the show. Follow me on social at Winklin, NFL.
The team at Miami Dolphins check out the YouTube Channel four.
The off four mentioned Dolphins HQ, media availabilities and so
much more and last but not least, Miami Dolphins dot com.
(35:52):
Until next time, Good Caroline Cameron and Willow Daddy He's
coming home.
Speaker 1 (35:56):
Go Earners
This is Drivetime with Travis Wingfield.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
What is up, Dolphins and welcome to the Draft Time Podcast.
I am your host, Travis Wingfield. And on today's show,
Matt Money Smith, the voice of the Chargers, joins me
to take a look at our opponent spotlight as the
Chargers are in town Sunday for the Week six game.
Here in Myami gardens, we'll also pick the Week six games.
We'll also do the top five cumulative tapes from the
(00:31):
first five games of the season.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
We do it every Tuesday on the Film Review podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
We're going to do the five games collectively for the
Miami Dolphins here on this Wednesday edition of the pod
from the Baptist Hell Studios inside the Baptist Healths Training Complex.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
This is the Draft Time Podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Ye Dafe, My guest today is the voice of the Chargers,
the Prince of rock and roll if I'm gonna call you that,
Matt Money Smith Money, welcome back into the show.
Speaker 3 (00:56):
Man.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
Thanks for doing joining us today.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
I appreciate it.
Speaker 4 (00:58):
Hopefully there's a prince least so I'm attached to this
then fine, I'm a friends. It's great to be here.
It's great to be back. Trevor it's been a little while.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
Yeah, it has been the twenty three opener we had
John that was an explosive game from both sides and
exciting finish, and that went for the Dolphins perspective right now,
the Chargers three and two, Dolphins one and four heading
into this game. Before we get going any further, Matt,
I wanted to ask you because man injuries across the
league right now seem to be kind of the story
of the year in twenty twenty five, and for the Chargers,
I didn't get a chance to watch a lot of
(01:26):
their last game yet because the Dolphins are playing at
the same time, or you know, radio coverage after the
fact was taking me into that game. But I was curious, like,
because I know there was some more injuries that happened,
could you just take us through the early part of
the week snapshot from a medical standpoint for the Chargers.
What are some of the injuries that happened in that
game that you expect maybe have an impact here in
Week six?
Speaker 3 (01:44):
Yeah, a lot of them.
Speaker 4 (01:45):
I mean, you know, a mari and Hampton had just
started really getting going. So he's on ir he's out
for at least four and he had you know that
explosive run last week against the two weeks ago, I
should say against the Giants, fifty four yard touchdown, and
then he was really kind of getting rolling before he
hurt his ankle, got into the tent, tried to get
some leverage on it laterally, and just couldn't do it.
(02:07):
So they wouldn't tell us what it was. They just
said it's an ankle, but I do know he went
in for X rays, so I'm a little worried that
maybe it's it's a little bit of a longer term
thing than then we think. So that he's out, and
you know, Naji of course blew his achilles a couple
of weeks ago, so you're down to essentially Hassan Haskins,
who's really just like a four cores special teams guy,
(02:30):
Kamani Vydell who started the season on the practice squad,
and I know when Nachi got hurt, they were kind
of looking around. I thought Khalil Herbert was going to
be the guy they brought in, but he, of course
has already been signed now, so I'm not sure what
that that is going to look like, but I would
assume it's if it's a Hassan Haskins, and Kamani Vydel.
Kamani actually ran pretty well once he came in for
(02:54):
for a Marion, so I think that's probably what you're
looking at, is that two headed months. And it's certainly
not Najie Harrison and Marion Hampton, so that's a big one.
Trey Pipkins was in and out of the game and
then ended up missing about the last I don't know,
I'd say probably quarter and a half. Jamari Stallier was
playing right tackle, so see what his status is. He's
(03:15):
a tough guy, so he always tries to give it
a go. He's a guy that'll fight through. Makai Beckton
first year with him, so don't quite know if he's
the same sort of guy or not. But he did
leave the game with a finger and was back and
then was not back, So I think kind of the
way it goes without Slater, without all, without Pipkins, you'd
(03:36):
be on your tackle four and tackle five. If it's
not Mackay, you're probably looking at a guard in Foster Serell,
who wasn't even on the roster when the season opened
and was brought back in about week two or three.
The offensive line has been completely decimated, and Will Disley,
their best blocking tight end, has now missed the last
two weeks. So those are the big ones. On offense,
(03:59):
I know this, this is gonna take up the whole interview.
And on defense, the big ones Khalil. They've really had
a tough time replacing him. The pass rush has been
not great, but it's really just they can't find that
guy to set the edge over there. You know, Tully
does such a good job on one side, but they've
been getting gashed in this run game, and so much
of it has just been how good Khalil is as
(04:21):
a run defender. And I think, you know, when Bud's
out there, it's fine with I and Tuley, but when
they try to rotate that third person in, especially with
Caleb Murphy, it's just been really, really tough and you're
starting to see the ground game get after him. Denzel
Paraman's window did open, and that would be a big
boost in the run game. He's a very physical presence
and he's kind of just more that see it and
(04:42):
go and thump it kind of linebacker compared to Troy
Dieh is a little bit more your finesse athletic kind
of chase you down guys. So if Denzel comes back,
that'll be a big boost, I think for the defense.
But other than that, everybody's pretty much back in the secondary.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
Yeah, I wanted to start there because I knew that
the list was vast. I heard about Pipkins exiting and
beck and Mackai Beckton exiting the game, but I wasn't
sure their stats coming back. So I was trying to
start the interview there because I think it's instructive for
how this game might go. And you know, for the
first three games of the season, the Chargers are relatively healthy,
even after losing Rashaun Slater back in training camp, which
was kind of the first domino to follow here for
(05:16):
the offensive line injuries. And in those first three games,
even without you know, Slater and having Joe all kick
over and look like all pro himself of that position,
the Chargers look like the prohibitive favor in the West
and maybe even one of the favorites in the Conference
at that point. But the last two games a bit
of a rough patch here. My question is that what
was the biggest difference between those first three through three
(05:36):
games and the last two games. It kind of sounds
like it's the injuries. Isn't just that the injuries.
Speaker 3 (05:42):
No, it's not.
Speaker 4 (05:43):
It's they have played incredibly sloppy football, which we are
not used to seeing under coach Harbaugh. Prior to the
last two weeks, he had exactly one game of eight
or more penalties, and he has now had a combined
twenty four for one hundred and ninety two yards in
these last two games. You're talking about taking points off
the board, You're talking about putting points on the board
(06:06):
because of penalties. And I think, you know the thing,
it's not just the interceptions, it's the situations that the
penalties are putting the chargers in that lead to those interceptions,
you know.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
And so there's been some and there's also been mistakes,
you know.
Speaker 4 (06:19):
I mean, I think certainly Justin would love to have
that interception on the one yard line or the four
yard line.
Speaker 3 (06:24):
But also it's play calling a little bit.
Speaker 4 (06:25):
You know, they've got first and goal from the one,
and you know there's been some bad luck in there
as well.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
Keenan was clearly held.
Speaker 4 (06:33):
I mean, that's an open touchdown that he's going to
grab on that first and goal from the one to
make it a twenty seventeen game and gets his jersey
tugged and so the ball you know, kind of slips
off his fingertips there because he's a step slow. Because
of that, the flag doesn't get thrown, and then the
next play they get dropped for a three yard loss,
and then the next play is the interception.
Speaker 3 (06:50):
So there's things like that.
Speaker 4 (06:51):
But you know, you took seven points off the board
on a punt return touchdown. You know that was just
a roughing the kicker on you're never going to get
to him. Guys already in a quick operation trying to
you know, with his heels on the back line there,
and an undrafted free agent rookie decides to try to
play hero ball, and you know, it's a roughing the kicker.
So instead of it being seventeen to seven, they get
(07:13):
a fifteen yard penalty, end up getting a field goal
on that drive, and it's ten to ten at the half,
you know, against the Commanders. And then I think, also Travis,
it's just beyond the penalty. And then same thing with
the Giants. I mean, penalties just destroyed him. They should
have won that game. I mean, even for the two
interceptions goal to go inside the five on both of them.
It's still a twenty one to eighteen game before penalties
(07:34):
derailed the offensive drive that would have put him up,
you know, twenty five twenty one, and I think would
have won the game. But and I'm not making excuses.
I'm just kind of laying out, Hey, this is what happened.
And then I think the other problem has just been
lack of focus, you know, drops things like like you know,
Tyler Conklin not having the personnel package right on a
(07:54):
fourth and two and he comes sprinting onto the field
with five seconds left in the play clock, and they
end up snapping it. And by the time he turns
around because he's wide open and they're going to convert it.
You know, Coach Charbas said, Oh, we liked the look
and we didn't want to bang the time out because
we knew we had it. He's still wiping his hands
on the towel because he just doesn't know what he's
supposed to be in the game, and you know, the
ball hits him in the face, and so it's it's
(08:15):
just it's a it's a confluence of issues that I
think and I lay it all out, and I know
I'm being long winded, but I think because they're fixable, right,
It's like, hey, if you guys can just get your
stuff right, you're these these games are winnable games, like
you're You're still in these games and playing well enough
to actually be the better team out there.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
And even with the injuries, the talent is still there,
like you said, to make that happen. And it kind
of feels like, you know, I don't know if it's
if it's the way defenses are structured nowadays, and I'm
excited to talk to you about Jesse mentoring that defense
here in a second. But for whatever reason, games just
are like closer than they ever been before. Like I know,
it's a legal parody, but every game seems to come
down to the wire. When you get that roughing the
punter call. The Dolphins have two of those this year.
(08:54):
It changes the landscape of a game, and especially you know,
when you have other penalties on top of those plays
that kind of compound those mistakes. But something I wanted
to talk to you about here money was to me
that one of the biggest surprises of the early part
of the season so far is happening in Los Angeles
because the Chargers had this offensive structure a year ago
where you know, I kind of call it the every
drive that ends in a kick is a good result mentality, Right,
(09:15):
And then they go and they signed Mackai Beckton, they
drafted Mary and Hampton, they signed Mike Williams, they draft
Trey Harris, and I'm like, yeah, they're going to be
a big body team that run run past every single
series this year. And then they opened the season and
through the first four games they had the highest pass
rate over expected in the entire NFL. And so I
just wanted to ask an expert and get there get
your thought on how that came to be.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
Were you as surprised for that as I am?
Speaker 2 (09:38):
And what are the residuals from you know, I mean,
let's call it what it is, a rug pull in
terms of what I expected for the Chargers offense to
look like.
Speaker 4 (09:45):
Yeah, I was surprised just because, like you said, they
signed excuse me, they signed naj they drafted Amari and
you know, coach Charbo has always you know, kind of
been a you know, a guy that rides himself on
offensive line, and so all that lines up to be
a physical, power running gap scheme football, you know, team,
(10:05):
and it's just not been the case. And I think
I credit him because look through the first three weeks, Herbert's,
you know, one of the two favorites to win the MVP,
and their position was, well, we just want to put
the ball in the hands of our best player, and
Herbert's playing lights out and we can protect him. And
now he's got this trio of receivers that are in
(10:27):
the conversation as the best trio of receivers in the
game in Keenan Ladd and Q the way Q is
come on this year, and so I understood it. But
then we have a game like the Giants where Herbert's
getting his head caved in and he's coming off a
fourteen quarterback hit for SAT game, and now the same
thing's happening. You know, you're not able to slow down
(10:51):
Brian Burns and Caveon Thibodeau and Dexter Lawrence and you
run it twelve times, and it's like, Okay, there's got
to be some like you can't dropped this guy back
forty six times when he's the most pressured quarterback in
the league, the most blitz quarterback in the league, and
the most hit quarterback in the league. That's just not
the guy's not going to be out there after Week ten,
(11:12):
even though he's a horse. So that was just kind
of one of the weird ones. The whole first down thing,
I think. I don't think Greg Roman's listening to the
national media, but I do think you look at last
year and they were just constantly behind the sticks, you know,
and it was so I.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
Think that was a that was the idea.
Speaker 4 (11:31):
I think the idea was, Okay, well, let's use the
pass to open up the run, and let's let's try
to see if you know, that reverse goes, because Herbert's
just so good and accurate, and if he has time
and to throw, he's going to make the throw, and
you're gonna make the catch, you know, because you have
Keenan and Laden, these guys that are very sure handed.
And then I think just the balance kind of got
out of whack.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
It was.
Speaker 4 (11:49):
I thought it was way better, especially before everybody went
down on the offensive line against the Commanders, Like you
look at that first quarter and a half when they're
up ten to nothing and d iving to either go
up thirteen or seventeen nothing before the Q fumble and
it's almost even. It's like twelve runs, twelve passes. The
run is working. You know, they're gashing them for five
(12:09):
six yards per carry. There's a couple that pop for
double digits, and now play actions working and you're getting
these fifteen yard throws the ladd in Q and then
that fumble happened, and even then, you know it's a third.
This team, I'll tell you that, Travis, Like, the one
interesting thing about this team is they just there's like
that you know, for lack of a better term, that
kills shot Like it's just not there. Even if it's
(12:30):
early in the game. It's a you know, it's it's
ten nothing. You're at the twenty five yard line fumble,
right instead of seventeen nothing. You've got no chance. Like
nothing is working for the Commanders. And then even after
the fumble, they get him in a third and sixteen
and it's like, okay, well, let's a three and out,
get it right back and you got two minutes left
in the halp and let's kind of come right back down.
And then no, it's a third and sixteen. That's a
(12:52):
wide open completion. Saint just's just way too much cushion
on lane and it's things like that that have continued
to play team.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
Yeah, and just to be clear, I want to, you know,
credit the Chargers with what they did to open the
season because it was working right. You had heard it
looking like an early MVP candidate. The offense was rolling
lad and to your point, Keenan like Keenan Allen and
Charger blue Man that that just is a right fit
and it always has been. So it's good to see
him doing his thing back there. And one of the
best slot receivers in the history of the National Football League.
For my money, my guest today is Matt Smith voice
(13:24):
and the Chargers becover the offense there, let's go ahead
and pivot to the defensive side of the ball. And
you know, I just love what this Charger defense does
from a structure standpoint, the way they play.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
They play super hard. And you've been on this.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
I told you I'm a big heat the call fan
before it came on the air here and you were
raving about this defense this summer. And when I put
the tape on, I kept incorrectly id in coverages the
snap like I'm not you know, some stavant quarterback. But
that's a sign of great disguise where I'm not sure
what coverage I'm seeing half the time. So if you
could take us inside the structure of this Jesse Mentor
(13:54):
defense and what it is that makes it so tough
on quarterbacks with the skies and post app rotation, and
just how they're able to be so dominant on that
side of the ball.
Speaker 4 (14:02):
Yeah, I think ultimately it's a too high show. I'd
say probably more than anything. They're running at least quarters
or Cover six or some sort of hybrid on that front.
They'll play man on one side, a little bit of
quarters on the other. There's some Cover two in there,
but ultimately it's his zone D with too high is
what you're talking about. I think the special sauce of
(14:25):
it is how athletic Dayon Henley are off the ball
linebacker and Derwin James are and how you can move
those guys around and Dayon might be a spy, he
might be an edge, he might be squatting, you know,
in the middle of the field that you don't realize
he's there because Jesse ran a simulated pressure and Deyon's
got his nose in the B gap and before you
(14:46):
know it, he's dropped out, or there's a ton of
just five six on the line and he's only bringing four.
And this happens a lot on third down. He'll overload
one side and you just don't think. I think it's
up for quarterbacks to figure out who's dropping out, and
that's how you end up getting. You know, just kind
of every layer of the defense is solid and it's
(15:09):
hard to find explosive plays. I think the the key
in what I've noticed for what what coach Minter does
is he quarterbacks in offensive corners. They're just not patient.
They just aren't in the league. Like, none of them
can take what he's willing to give you. And there's
more light boxes than any other team. And we even
(15:30):
saw it with Washington where they're and the Giants for
that matter, they're running the ball and it's effective because
they're giving it to you. It's a light box and
they don't want the four yards, you know, they're just
not interested in it, and they kept going away from it.
And then finally I think what you saw in that
that that Washington game is they were just like, well
the heck with this, We're just gonna keep giving it.
And Krosskey Merritt just started gashing them because the box
(15:53):
was light and so that's the one way you can.
Speaker 3 (15:55):
Get to them.
Speaker 4 (15:57):
At the same time, the they have a thing bt
B Burst of the Ball, and it's in films.
Speaker 3 (16:03):
You know.
Speaker 4 (16:04):
When they do film, they highlight guys that are in
every frame, and so it's a it's a point of
pride for this defense to be in the frame when
a tackle is made. And I think that's one of
the things that they're very good at is having. You'll
notice when someone gets tackled there's three or four, you know,
(16:24):
lightning bolts right there, you know, on the helmet that
are helping to make sure that that player doesn't bust
through a tackle. Now it has gotten away from him
a little bit these last two weeks, and like I said,
I think part of that's Khalil, but there's some blitzing
and I think he's pretty good about getting creative with
where it comes from. It might be Tarjeep Still or
Cam Hart from the corner spot. It could be Elijah
(16:45):
Molden or a Lowie Gilman from the safety spot. Like
I mentioned, Dan Henley's got a couple of sacks this year,
a couple of big ones, But I think ultimately it's
not just jesse Minner. It's Jesse Minner plus Derwin James
and all the things that one can do. You know,
he's a slot corner who's as good as any slot
corner in the league. He's a defensive end at times.
(17:08):
He's a you know that's just a straight get after
the passer and really good at chucking backs or tight
ends when you try to slow him down with them.
He plays dime. He plays high safety rarely. But I
think that's sort of the the mix. I think that
kind of covers that they don't play a lot of
They don't play a lot.
Speaker 3 (17:27):
Of press man.
Speaker 4 (17:28):
I thought they would a little bit more with Saint Juice,
That's what they said they brought him in for, but
I've only seen a handful of snaps of him pressing.
Speaker 3 (17:35):
Tar Heep's their best corner.
Speaker 4 (17:37):
He'll play some man a little bit here, and that'll
be interesting to see how they want to play Wattle,
because they are a little fearful of guys that have,
you know, just elite, you know, Olympian style speed, and.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
That's what Wattle certainly has. I want to come back
to that because first off, I didn't want to cut
you off.
Speaker 1 (17:53):
But this is a thing I do on my podcast.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
Every time someone talks about a former Washington State Cougar,
I say, go koog, So what dyon, Henley, there you go.
I went to Washington State, So there we go. Yeah, baby,
now you're talking my language. We don't get me too
far off track here, but yeah, we.
Speaker 3 (18:07):
Get I used to go college games, so I know
the Colfax trail.
Speaker 2 (18:13):
Yeah, you go twenty one and a twenty that you're
gonna get a speed and ticket exactly.
Speaker 3 (18:16):
Don't we know? It happened once, man happened once. I
love it.
Speaker 2 (18:20):
I never thought I'd talk about the poloose on this podcast,
but here here we go. But yeah, to your point
about the Chargers defense, watching them on tape, you know
those those personnel or that the light boxes you're talking about, Like,
I was curious to to kind of get your opinion
on that because that was something I noticed, and how
the Dolphins have gotten to more their heavy personnel the
last couple of weeks with twenty two personnel with Darren
Waller's return and more Alec than Gold.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
So I'm curious to see how that goes there.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
And my penultimate question was about Derwin James, but you
talked about him at length. I'll go ahead and pass
on that, and I'll make this my penultimate question. Where
can this Dolphins team threaten the Chargers? Like, if you're
you know, if you're putting together a game plan offensively
or defensively, what kind of sticks out to you the
most about the Dolphins team offensively or defensive.
Speaker 4 (19:00):
I think it's just the elite speed of a chan
you know. I think that's kind of what I'd be
looking at, is you know you can It's it's been
an issue. It's been a real issue for them, and
I think you've seen it now three weeks in a
row with JK. Dobbins fifty yard Jakrossky Merritt forty yard
scat Apoo. You know, was really get You look at
(19:21):
the numbers and you see, oh, it was only like
three seven per carryat felt it didn't feel like that
when they had eleven rushing first downs.
Speaker 3 (19:28):
I think the commander's jeez, I could probably pull it up.
Speaker 4 (19:31):
They had twenty one first downs, I think nine of
them on the ground, and so I think that's, you know,
it's not what you really think of. I think with
with Miami because they have you know, everybody knows who
Tua is and obviously with Hi'll being out, it's a
different deal. But with Waddle and how explosive Waller's been
since he got healthy in return, Like to me, it's
the ground game and that's that's where you might be.
(19:55):
And now look, I think Jesse sed Minner is going
to do some adjustment because it's been too long. And
what we've noticed is they do have a heavy package
that's very effective. They brought They've been rotating two tackles,
you know, between Nakwon Jones and Tito a Bonia and
and one's been down and one's been up in the
place and getting those reps. I think Tito's going to
be back down. I think nake Won has been a
lot better than he has this year. So when you
(20:15):
have that front of tier tark Na Kwon Jones to
Sean hand and then they'll put a boy be at
one end and Tulle at the other one. You do
the five man when you're the outfront, like it just
feels like that's that's the better look for this team.
And then you could play Durwin. You'll end up playing
Derwin and Dane as your as your backers, and to me,
(20:38):
that's the most effective way to try to combat that,
just because a boy be's a bigger body and he
sets that edge a little more. But that's probably what
I would do. That's that's probably how I'd want to
attack it. If I were Mike McDaniel, I think I
would trust the running game a lot more because I
(20:58):
just think two of us put it in harm's way
way too much. And I think with the way that
you know, like you said, Jesse Miner disguised as things
and gets you to take shots that you probably shouldn't take.
To me, that's not a good that's that's not a
good recipe for the Dolphins. I think just keep it
on the ground, take what he's given you use you know.
I'll be anxious to see with how good Darren Waller's
(21:19):
been what they do with Drwin and if they try
to use them like they have, you know, to just
limit it. They put them on Bowers, and Bowers wasn't
right in that game, but he just eliminited, he erased
anything he tried to get when Durwin was over there.
So yeah, I think that's probably what I what I'd.
Speaker 3 (21:36):
Be looking at.
Speaker 2 (21:36):
Yeah, I think those matchups make for a fun style
of a fight. Here when it comes to one o'clock
on Sunday here in Miami Gardens, Matt Money Smith Money,
appreciate your time, man, It's always great to see you.
And we'll see you here on Sunday. You got it, Travis,
Thanks man, And there goes Money. And for our second
part of the second segment here, we're going to roll
through the Week six picks. Week five, well, we kind
(21:57):
of stepped in it.
Speaker 3 (21:58):
We went eight and.
Speaker 1 (22:01):
Not a good week.
Speaker 2 (22:02):
Lost both the primetime games, lost the Dolphins game, lost
all three prime time games. What was the last time
that happened? Look up the analygics for that one. We
fall to fifty five and twenty two on the season.
It's time for some live math here on the air.
That is fifty five divided by seventy seven down to
seventy one point four percent under the seventy two percent goal.
That means it's time to pick it up this week
(22:22):
and get back to it. And to do that, I'm
gonna tell you guys right now from jump, we're gonna
go chalk. This is gonna be a Chalky, Chalky Week,
go ahead and cue the music. On Thursday night, Chalk
take the Eagles over the Giants. The Eagles had that
disappointing loss, a two score comeback from the Denver Broncos
in the fourth quarter.
Speaker 1 (22:39):
I cannot imagine that happens again.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
Although the Eagles kind of on my radar right now
because they're a team with all the talent in the world,
but they're passing offense. And this was the case last
year down the stretch and what had some people believe
in they wouldn't have a chance to make a run
come playoff time, and that proved to be a hilarious
venture because they were. They rolled through everybody in the
playoffs besides the Rams in that Divisional round game. But
(23:03):
the passing offense is still kind of trying to find itself.
And when you have DeVante Smith and aj Brown, you
should be able to find your passing offense and they
haven't done that so far. But the New York Giants
will not offer much resistance against any of that. They
had one quarterback hit and zero sex against Spencer Ratler
and the New Orleans Saints in London. We're gonna take
the Broncos over the Jets. I still not buying the
(23:26):
Broncos just quite yet, despite that comeback. But the Jets
there's a lot of issues tackling wise, coverage wise, everything right.
It's a rough only zero to five team in the NFL.
I don't think going to London gets them their first
win of the season. I took the Chargers over the Dolphins.
We'll talked about that more on the podcast tomorrow. Shouldn't
be much of a surprise. I'll take the Colts over
(23:46):
the Cardinals. That was one that I thought about me
picking the upset, but the Cardinals just make too many
elementary mistakes against a Colts team that has been polished
really every single game this season and is making your
boy look stupid because I thought they were a top
five pick team.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
They are going to win that division in my opinion.
Speaker 2 (24:03):
Now, speaking of possible division winners, the Steelers over the Browns.
Can the Steelers hold off the Ravens who are in
a tail spin right now, possibly without their quarterback for
another week and without a bunch of players on defense.
Speaker 1 (24:13):
Can the Steelers find ten wins this season?
Speaker 2 (24:15):
That feels like it should be enough to get the
AFC North title away from Baltimore. Who's going to struggle
for a couple more weeks as Lamar Jackson looks like
he'll be another week away from coming back to playing
in that quarterback there. So Steelers over the Browns. I'm
going to take the Patriots to keep on rolling over
the Saints. That was my one pick on my preseason predictions.
The saints one win of the year was the Giants.
We got that one right. I'm going to go back
(24:37):
to that drawing board and stay with that on track.
And even though the Patriots coming off their biggest win
since what twenty twenty one, they can go ahead and
maybe start a little bit slow, but they have enough
firepower to withstand a possible hangover game. I'm taking them
over the Saints. I'll take the Cowboys over the Panthers.
The Cowboys offense with or without Ceedee Lamb is awesome.
I think the Panthers we kind of saw in that
(24:58):
first quarter what kind of team they were and should
be going forward. I don't think that was a Panthers
thing as much as it was a Dolphins thing in
that game. Cowboys over the Panthers. I'll take the Seahawks
over the Jags. That was a fun game up in
Seattle against the Bucks. I picked the Bucks in that one,
but Seattle made it really close. I think Seattle a
gets their win this time against a team in Florida,
all the way over in Jacksonville, coming off the short
week and their biggest win in a while over the
(25:20):
Kansas City Chiefs. Talked about the Rams over the Ravens.
That's obvious. This one I'm very dubious on. But I'm
taking the Raiders over the Titans. The Titans won a
game that the Cardinals quite simply gave them with dropping
the ball the goal line with that crazy pick turned
fumble six the other way for the Titans defense or
for the Titans offense. Rather give me the Raiders, even
though the offensive line can't do anything, the quarterback's not
(25:42):
playing well, the defense has been bad. This is maybe
to two worst teams right now in the league, or
at least the AFC. I'll take the Raiders over the Titans.
I got the Packers over the Bengals. I'm not going
to pick the Bengals probably until they face you know,
the Titans or the Saints or the Raiders. At this point,
I'll take the Bucks the Niners. Mac Jones fun story
on Thursday. Will he play in this one? I'm not
(26:03):
even sure yet, but either way, I'm taking the Bucks
because Baker Mayfield is the absolute man. I'm taking the
Chiefs over the Lions. This is my least chalky pick
of the day, and I'm taking a team that was
in the Super Bowl season ago, so like, not that
risky to do it, but I do think the Chiefs
are gonna find the rhythm back after that tough loss
on Monday Night. The big Devin Lloyd picked six against them.
(26:24):
That won't happen again in my opinion. Give me the
Chiefs over the Lions and a really good football game
on Sunday Night Football and the Monday night doubleheader. The
Bills over the Falcons. The Bills defense is struggling right now,
but I think they're going to have enough firepower to
put up thirty plus on the Falcons. I'll take the
Commanders over the Bears, who I'm still just not buying
in on right now.
Speaker 1 (26:42):
So there you go. Those are the week six picks.
Speaker 2 (26:44):
Let's go ahead and pause for our second and final
break right there. Come back on the other side and
tell you about the top five tapes on the Dolphins
team through five games. That's next Draft Time Podcast, brought
to you by AutoNation. I was kicking around the idea
for how I wanted to put a close on this
Wednesday episode of the Draft Time Podcast, recording this on
(27:06):
Tuesday before my Seattle Mariners play yet another pivotal game
against the Detroit Tigers in Detroit, Logan Gilbert on the
mound really hoping they can find a way to make
it two to one in that game, because if they
can't get two wins in Detroit, that means they have
to come back to Seattle and face Trek Scuble, the
likely Cy Young winner in the American League this year
(27:26):
for a second time.
Speaker 3 (27:28):
Now.
Speaker 2 (27:28):
The Mariners are three and oh against Scoble this year,
but I might not have to go for four and
oh against him.
Speaker 1 (27:34):
So I know nobody cares about that but me here.
Speaker 2 (27:36):
But that is what is on my mind on this
Tuesday as I tape this podcast. What's also on my
mind is the Jalen Wattle breakdown we did for Dolphins
HQ this week. I want to ask you guys to
check it out because it's I think some of my
best work I think it's kind of a validation of
my Wattle take from the time he was drafted as
(27:58):
not just the speed dem in like a you know,
a burner receiver who's a one trick pony. He's always
been a very detailed and nuanced and technician type of
route runner and receiver, and we're seeing that in games
where there's no Tyreek Hill opposite him, where he can
kind of be the focal point the first read. Maybe
we're gonna push off other first reads quicker and get
the ball back to Waddle. And the way he created
(28:18):
space against Mike Jackson and j. C. Horn in the
game against the Panthers and got vertical and threatened coverage
and created space.
Speaker 1 (28:26):
This dude is an elite player. I don't care what
anybody says.
Speaker 2 (28:29):
And that breakdown inspired me to talk about my top
five players through the tapes this year, through five games
which one in four nobody wanted to be here. The
freezing cold take for me was that I said it
was more likely that we would have a seven to
one start than have like hot seats at this point
of the year. And I don't I don't know about
anybody's seat, but at one of four, like nobody expected that.
(28:50):
And kind of the big downturn of this entire thing
was the Dolphins losing games to teams that they should
be and the Colts. Maybe they weren't that, but I
thought they were the Patriots and two they looked better
than we thought they were at the time as well.
But that was a game you could have won. But
the Panthers game, that's one that you can't let that
game slide away from you. If you're two and three
right now going to the Chargers, you have some hope
(29:10):
and some upside against a Chargers team that is incredibly
banged up. We picked against the Dolphins and the Picks,
but I think there would have been an opportunity there
and gets to Cleveland the following week. It's just you
can't let these games go by the wayside, and it
kind of changes the dynamic of your entire team. And
so I thought, you know, let's talk about some of
the bright spots here and some of the possible core
glue pieces for the rest of this year and beyond,
(29:30):
because this group of players, there's a good core of
players here and some good talent here. So I wanted
to talk about that and put a highlight on my
top five tapes. Through five games, I have four offensive players,
but my one defensive player in the mix here is
the number five. Overall, we're gonna go top, We're gonna
go five to one. It's Jordan Brooks. And when you
watch Jordan Brooks play, I think the thing that kind
(29:52):
of gets him, you know, he leads NFL and tackles.
Right now, that's not a good thing. Like it's the line.
There's always gonna be a linebacker who leads the league tackles,
but it's usually not on one of the best defenses
because they usually out there for more plays. They're usually getting,
you know, more extended drives and more running plays at them.
And for the Dolphins to have two of the top
couple of tackles in the league, that's a really bad
thing ultimately, But it does tell you about the value
(30:15):
of Jordan Brooks and how rarely he missed his tackles.
He only has a few miss tackles on the entire
season so far, with fifty three that he's actually gotten
to the ground. But the way he operates in coverage,
the way he operates as a rusher off the edge,
kind of being part of that you know, five man
pressure package as they can run. He's just such an
adept player at reading keys and playing with physicality and speed.
Speaker 1 (30:35):
A three level player.
Speaker 2 (30:36):
He can run deep in coverage, you can cover the
middle of the field and get downhill on the blitz.
I think he had maybe his worst game of the
year against the Panthers, but there's so much going on
with the defensive tackle position to not allow him to
stay clean to get you know, some of the run
throughs you saw last year, and I think if that
begins to shore up a little bit, you'll see more
of an impact from Jordan Brooks in terms of the
splash plays. But right now, as far as the captain,
(30:57):
the glue in the middle of the defense has kind
of helped hold the things together when it has gone right.
Jordan Brooks has been the best player on defense from
my money, and he gets your top five tape, your
number five tapes so far through the first five games
of the season. Number four is Patrick Paul and I
almost put Paul at three ahead of my number three
player here, but I'm gonna go with Paul at number four.
(31:18):
It's everything just looks easy for him, and whether it's
in pass protection, whether it's getting out in space. We
talked about the complexities of the running game for the
Dolphins offense in terms of the landmarks and the different
changing you know, flashpoints in terms of assignments and how
that can change with motion and bumps and slides. And
Patrick Paul just is so composed and everything he does,
whether it's dropping the anchor and pass pro whether it's
(31:40):
getting out you know, from the far hash to the
numbers to make a big block on a cornerback outside.
There's just so much those asked of the left tackle
in this offense. And to me, there's been no drop
off from Toronto Armstead. Last year in Toronto Armstead when
he played was great. So Patrick Paul Number four on
the tape so far this year. Number three is Jalen Waddell,
and I'm gonna show you guys the breakdown on HQ
(32:00):
against the Panthers that show you just what it is
about his game because as the number one receiver in
the post Tyreek Hill world, like, the coverage just slanted
towards him and they're putting j C.
Speaker 1 (32:12):
Horn and Mike Jackson, but mostly j C.
Speaker 2 (32:14):
Horn their best cornerback on Jalen Waddle with help over
the top, and the way Waddle can influence not just
the man that he's running his route against, but the
umbrella coverage to force them into a certain look, to
force them to flip their hips and get vertical and
run away at the exact moment that he throttles down
and bends that route back to the quarterback or back
down the line of scrimmager, or down the parallel to
(32:35):
the quarterback, I should say it's uncanny man. And then
by doing that so frequently and having all these you know,
routes where he's not the primary guy in the progression,
but he hits it like he is, there's so much
value to that because it eventually will give you an
opportunity where you can lull the defense to sleep. I
don't think that was always the case for Tyreek. I
(32:56):
think there were some routes where it was like, not
part of the progresson, let's just go ahead and get
through this play and get to the next.
Speaker 1 (33:00):
And there's a lot of receivers that do that. But
Wattle's not that guy.
Speaker 2 (33:03):
Pal He will take off, he will pressure, he will
threaten you, pressure toes and play with urgency on every
single snap at the line scrimmage, at the break point,
vertically down the field at the catchpoint as well. Wattle
my top three. Number three overall tape so far this season.
Number two has been Devon ah Chan and I talked
about this with Jordan Brooks. I thought the Panthers game
was his worst of the year, but in total, Devon
(33:24):
ah Chan the vision to see certain gaps, the way
he can get skinny through some of those creases, whether
it's out wide, whether it's inside some explosive runs. He
has just looked the part that way. And then as
a receiver. I mean that catching the game on Sunday,
there's like what two or three backs in the league
that can make a play like that on the football
in the air, and he's one of them. He's been
doing it his entire career. In fact, he's one of
(33:44):
two players. Chuck Foreman. I don't even know who that
is is. Does he have the grills? The Chuck Foreman grills?
Speaker 1 (33:50):
Is that the guy?
Speaker 2 (33:50):
I know it's not, but it's George Foreman, But I mean,
that's the only guy since nineteen seventy with what was it,
fifteen rushing touchdowns and twelve, receiving touchdo in his first
thirty three career games, like he's an elite producer, a
touchdown maker, electric speed. I thought we might pop one
against the Panthers, and there were chances, but we just
missed a couple of key blocks of the point of
(34:11):
attack for him. It'll happen for him at some point,
but the offensive line has to make those extra key
blocks in those critical moments. Speaking of extra blocks and
critical key moments, number one tape with the entire year
so far through five games has been Aaron Brewers at
the center at the pivot, whether it's throwing guys to
the ground with his torque and like shocking the hands
to the chest plate and getting them off balance and
(34:32):
then finishing them to the ground by throwing them down
and jumping on top of them. Whether it's climbing to
a second level defender and attaching yourself when you have
to reach and get out wide and they're outflanking you
and he turns those guys back inside, whether it's helping
the guards, which the guard play has struggled this year,
but Brewer has helped them do a little bit better
than they would otherwise with his protection the way he
kind of communicates things and picks up games and stunts
(34:53):
and just communicates all the stuff to the quarterback and
the rest of the offensive line, the power to the
point of attack. Aaron Brewer to me, I haven't put
all thirty two centers on tape so far, but to me,
the ones I have watched, there's not a better center
in the National Football League in twenty twenty five than
Aaron Brewers. So he gets your top tape right now.
Jordan Brooks, Patrick Paul, Jalen Waddle, Devon Hn Aaron Brewer
five through one and turns my top five Dolphins tapes
(35:15):
for twenty twenty five, five games into the season. Five
to five, five five dollars foot log. That's gonna be it.
That's the podcast. You all please be sure check out
Dolphins HQ on Thursday. We're back tomorrow with the preview
episode of the Drivetime podcast taking a look at the Chargers.
Speaker 1 (35:31):
I have been watching their film all week.
Speaker 2 (35:32):
They're a fun team to dissect defensively when it comes
to their structures. We'll talk about that and more on
the Thursday podcast. You all please be sure subscribe, rate
and review the show. Follow me on social at Winklin, NFL.
The team at Miami Dolphins check out the YouTube Channel four.
The off four mentioned Dolphins HQ, media availabilities and so
much more and last but not least, Miami Dolphins dot com.
(35:52):
Until next time, Good Caroline Cameron and Willow Daddy He's
coming home.
Speaker 1 (35:56):
Go Earners
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