Drive Time: Darren Waller Trade, Jordan Phillips Interview, NFC South Preview

Travis is back for another jam-packed episode as we have our second July trade in as many days! Travis assessed the Darren Waller move, chats with rookie DT Jordan Phillips and previews the NFC South.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is Drivetime with Travis Wingfield. What is up Dolphins?
And welcome to the Draft Time Podcast. I am your host,
Travis Wingfield. And on today's show, we keep it rolling
here with summer School. We have another Dolphins interview. Jordan

(00:22):
Phillips joins me for a conversation that I tried to
get him to talk about anything but football a couple
of times, but that's not where his brain wants to go.
All ball with Jordan Phillips. Plus, we're gonna preview the
NFC South on today's podcast, a division the Dolphins will
face this year against the Panthers, Falcons, Saints, and Buccaneers
from the Baptist Hell Studios inside the Baptist Health Training Complex.

Speaker 2 (00:45):
This is the Draft Time Podcast, Aye Daffe.

Speaker 1 (00:50):
And for the second straight episode here this week, we
are recutting the podcast and adding an additional segment here because
the Dolphins have made yet another June July trade. Since
when is this time of year involve this much roster movement.
It's the first time I can recall it, I think ever,
I mean I don't recall a trade or multiple trades

(01:11):
possibly bigger than this one. Per reports from Tom PELLISERL
We're still in that world right now. Hasn't become totally
official yet, but the rumors are, or the reports are,
it'll be a late round conditional pickswap to get new
Dolphins tight end Darren Waller. What I'm seeing today as
I re record, this is a conditional sixth round from Miami,
a seventh round pick from the Giants coming back and

(01:31):
Darren Waller. So very low risk and just like that
my discussion on the Tuesday podcast. But potential landscape shift
in the offense maybe goes belly up, maybe not.

Speaker 2 (01:41):
We'll see.

Speaker 1 (01:42):
It's a late round conditional pick swap with a minimal
financial investment. So I'm not going to rever stamp the
idea that my comments were totally off base, and in fact,
if because of that, you could almost say it's merely
an insurance policy of sorts for the Tanner Connor Jalen
Conyers potential idea of having them hit the ground running
this year and being your reduced f role that you

(02:05):
had from John new Smith last year. I still contend
that the offense, when playing the way it wants to,
will not involve the tight end the way it did
a season ago. And I really don't think this is
an offense. It's conducive to a big slot for a
big chunk of offensive work, which is kind of what
Darren Waller is now. If that's a role player and
you're reduced it down to maybe even less than what

(02:26):
Gasiki was for the Bengals last year, A forty six
percent snap taker, maybe you call it thirty three percent.
You know he plays fifteen twenty snaps a game. Then
I think I could see that, and I think between Waller,
Connor and Conyers, you should be able to find that
if that's what you're going for. I could be wrong,
because I was wrong about this literally twenty four hours ago.

(02:47):
So another move here during my paternity to leave. Let's
go ahead and watch a little bit of tape, and
first off, what a story Waller is right, and certainly
not all stun china rainbows. I think a lot of
you will ask why did he retire? Why is he back?

Speaker 2 (02:59):
All of that stuff?

Speaker 1 (03:00):
And I wrote down that I didn't want to speculate
on the reasons for retiring, But I did find a
clip where he talks about this on John Gruden's podcast
of All Places, where the moment he decided to retire
was a game in Buffalo back in twenty twenty three
where he was doing a lot of blocking and thought,
what the hell am I doing playing fullback out here?
So I decided I'm going to finish out the year
strong and then I'm done.

Speaker 2 (03:21):
And he was right.

Speaker 1 (03:22):
He was done, So probably don't really need to get
heavily into the blocking reel. But he did say on
that same podcast the only two coaches he would come
back and play for were John Gruden and Frank Smith,
the two guys that he played with in Oakland slash
Las Vegas. But we will get further answers on all
of that when Darren does his first media at Dolphins camp.

(03:43):
But I'm sure most of you were aware of his story.
Struggled with addiction, found recovery, had twenty three hundred and
fifty yards and twelve touchdowns over two seasons with the Raiders.
Frank Smith there, so there's a relationship with him. Then
he gets hurt in twenty one again in twenty two
and dips down to six hundred and sixty five and
then three hundred and thirty eight yards in those two seasons,
moves on to the Giants five hundred and fifty two

(04:05):
yards playing twelve games. It's not bad, and then retires
ahead of the twenty four season. So I'm like, do
I watch twenty three Giants tape or twenty twenty Raiders tape?
I guess, do a little bit of both. But then
I pull it up and guess what. You can't isolate
Darren Waller on NFL Pro because they wipe out retired players.
So I had to cobble this thing together, and here's
what I got. And granted this might all be irrelevant

(04:28):
because this is old hat.

Speaker 2 (04:29):
He hasn't played football.

Speaker 1 (04:30):
In over a year, but at his peak, incredibly nimble,
super light on his feet, and you see that in
his various releases offline a scrimmage from various alignments. They
would condense him inside to a nasty split where you're
not quite attached but you're right close to the tackle
there or even being attached as a true classic wide
tied end. And the way he could widen a backer

(04:51):
to set up an inside release, or just run the
shoot route to the perimeter, or run right past them
down the seam, stack them, make a move at the
top of the route and go catch the foot ball.
It's easy to see why he was legit one of
the toughest matchups in the NFL, tied under otherwise for
a couple of years, because you sneak a cornerback down there,
you're playing in a deficit. You try using a backer
or safety and you're giving up the vertical matchability and

(05:14):
his skill set to high point the football and corral
throws above the rim was really second to none. Like
I think about that Kasiki touchdown in Baltimore in the
comeback in the back of the end zone, like he
can do that. He also did work as the backside
X receiver And if you run him out there, if
it's vintage Waller with Reagan waddle to the field as
the two receivers to the wide side, where do you

(05:35):
think the safety help is going to go? So then
you give two of this one on one backside matchup
with a guy that's going to play above the rim
six foot five and probably never let the ball get
picked off because of his size and his ability to
kind of shield the defender off the ball, but also
come down with some of those fifty to fifty balls
better than literally anybody too has had since like the
DeVante Parker Era and Waller is or was a better

(05:58):
athlete than DVP was. Shouldn't be a surprise, but he
rolls when he gets the football in his hands. He
caught screen passes like Jonah Smith and got trucking on those.
If he has that athletic ability in him still, and
he truly did rediscover his passion for the game, then
the upside's fun to consider. I think you can run
your speed stuff off him with snags and seams and
pivots where you just put him in the hook zone.

(06:19):
Stuff you would ask him League Washington to do, but
you get, you know, eight more inches pause to do
and possibly pull a robber middle of the field defender
down and open up the middle of the field in
the vertical passing game, a layer that thing over the
top to Tyreek Kill or Jalen Waddle again at his peak,
the way he could sink his hips and come back
to the football. He just moves better than DB's and

(06:40):
really all the tight ends in the league at the time.
It was fun to watch back then, but again that
was like four years ago. But I do think that
ability that's where Jonas Smith ate hook up. Get your
head back to the quarterback and that fast turn prevents
the dB from triggering and reading that and making a
play on the football and then turn into a running
back and pick up yards. After the catch, he gets
back to the foot ball and shields the defender. So

(07:01):
damn well, and then there's a blocking side of things. Honestly,
I watched one game and it was a game where
he talked about why he retired. But he came away.
I came away more impressed than what I thought I
would be. But I still think this is really a
receiver acquisition who plays in the slot and plays the exposition,
kind of like a backup to Nick Westbrook, a Kine
if you will. But the tape he's talking about here

(07:24):
where he decided to retire, he just blocks Taron Johnson,
the Buffalo nickel that we talk about all the time
in the podcast. Right, they never leave the nickel package.
They play from light boxes because Taron Johnson's good enough
to do it as a kind of quasi linebacker. But
he beat up Taron Johnson the way alec Ingol did
back in twenty twenty two, and they came up in
Buffalo over and over again. That's a matchup he should win.
And he did in that game. Like he's not going

(07:44):
to kick out a backside end like Max Crosby. He's
not going to like lead the sea gap up and
take out Jordan Brooks on outside zone, but he can
seal he can get in the way and do enough.
He's a much better version of the willingness of Mike
Gasicki in that role. He can get down on a
nickelbacker and take out a light box defender out of
the way. So that's all I've got for now. We'll
see what happens keeping on him for training camp, But

(08:05):
for now, back to your regular schedule programming, Darren Waller.
The newest Miami Dolphin joining us today on the Draft
Time podcast is new Dolphins defensive lineman Jordan Phillips.

Speaker 2 (08:14):
Jordan, welcome in, man. How you doing.

Speaker 3 (08:16):
I'm doing great. How are you?

Speaker 2 (08:17):
I'm great. It's good to see you.

Speaker 1 (08:18):
We've we've done a couple of these interviews, whether it
was through zoom or in person, out in the in
the yard, out there about the practice field, but having
a chances down with you one on one talk is
good to get to know you guys. So welcome in
and uh I guess first let's just kind of go
with how how have you been, you know, getting the
lay of the land here in South Florida, whether it's football, Uh,
finding your way to the facility. How are you How

(08:40):
are you fitting in here in South Florida so far?

Speaker 3 (08:42):
Yeah, it's great.

Speaker 4 (08:42):
I mean, honestly, I've just been leaning on the Vets
and learning from them and learning from the coaches and
really just acting like a sponge and soaking in all
information that I can get.

Speaker 1 (08:53):
I heard that you guys ask a lot of questions
in that room. The Brookies do as well. We just
had Zeke and here I've talked to coach Clark. Why
is that so important for players to ask so many
questions of their coaches?

Speaker 4 (09:02):
Well, because you want to pick up as much information
as possible. And the coaches are very smart. They have
a lot of knowledge, and you know, you want to
be able to pick up some of that knowledge, so
you got to ask questions. And the Vets are really
smart too, and that's why we always lean on the
coaches and the Vets for information, you know, anything, honestly,
whether it's football or life in general. We always ask

(09:24):
questions and just try to pick up as much information
as possible.

Speaker 1 (09:27):
Yeah, it seems like there's a certain theme among the
rookies here in terms of how you guys approach your business,
and it's really cool to see. And something that fascinates
me about you, Jordan and really all defensive tackles is
that wrestling background. I feel like when you hear about
a guy that gets drafted pretty highly and has a
wrestling background, they usually work out because there's just something
about like the grip, strength and the leverage. Like, just

(09:47):
take us through what wrestling has taught you on the
football field.

Speaker 4 (09:50):
Yeah, I mean, wrestling has taught me grit, you know,
how to bounce back from adversity quickly, leverage, Wrestling has
taught me angles and a so pad level. You know,
you got to be low in wrestling, you can't be high.
And same thing goes for playing defensive linemen or playing
in trenches in general in football, you got to have
low pad level and you got to have leverage.

Speaker 1 (10:11):
You must have a crazy story from like high school
wrestling conditioning because I used to play basketball and we
would do suicides and we would do three hour scrimmages
and it was like, you know, we're tired and we
see the wrestlers running out into the gym and back
out of the gym and into the gym and back
like all night, all night, they are just running and
like usually wearing sweatsuits and like big garbage bags. What

(10:33):
was the worst, like the most physically strenuous conditioning you
can remember from wrestling, because it has to be the
crazy thing you've ever done.

Speaker 4 (10:38):
Yeah, absolutely, so my freshman year of high schools when
I started wrestling, and I could recall it, like the school,
the school that I went to in Orlando. Originally I
went to Olympia, then I transferred Old Kobe. But when
I was at Olympia, you know, all the freshmen had
to take Hope, which is just a gym class, and
on Wednesday, we would have to run a mile, and

(11:00):
but we have to run it under ten minutes in
the gym class or because if you don't run them
out in under ten minutes, then you failed, like you
fail the assignment. And so after that, you know, of
course we have wrestling practice because you know, gym was
seventh period and then.

Speaker 3 (11:16):
Wrestling practice is right after school.

Speaker 4 (11:18):
So before every practice will start off running one mile.
And so I just ran a mile. So now I'm
coming to wrestling practice. I got to run another mile
on the track, and then we'll have this warm up
inside the wrestling room where we run around the wrestling
room and you know, we're doing sprawling drills and you
know we're also doing just grappling drills and stuff like that.

Speaker 3 (11:39):
And basically, you know, like it was tough. I'm not
gonna lie to you.

Speaker 4 (11:45):
And then that doesn't even include the condition that we
have after practice. We'll run, We'll run gassers in the
wrestling room and it was just it was crazy, but
it definitely did get me in shaping. It kept me
in shape for football. So that's one thing I do
appreciate about the sport. I mean, you have to be
tough to be a wrestler, and you have to be

(12:05):
a tough to be a defensive lineman. So those are
things that go hand in hand, and those are things
that I continue to take with me to this day.

Speaker 1 (12:12):
Help you play sixty seventy snaps a game, right when
it comes down to know those tough fourth quard, especially
across the street here in this September weather down here.
And then you also were a big time powerlifter, right,
I mean so Jordan without like you know, pause and everything,
but just seeing the way you carry the weight that
you do, Like it doesn't it's not natural is not
the right word, but like it's not common for guys

(12:34):
to be as cut as you are at that size.
That's got to be part of the powerlifting background, right.

Speaker 3 (12:38):
Yeah, it is.

Speaker 4 (12:39):
I mean, honestly, I'm just real knowledgeable about what I
put into my body. And you know, when I work out,
I work out with purpose and intent. And you know
when I on my non workout days, I recover with
purpose and intent. And those are things that just allow
me to carry my excuse me, those are things that
allow me to carry my weight pretty good. And those
are things that continue to help me become a better

(12:59):
football player and a better athlete.

Speaker 1 (13:01):
Okay, let's talk more about some football now, because that
stuff is great, and I just I think it's going
to really serve you well at this level. But you
also at Maryland played all across the defensive line. And
I asked cag this question back on draft night. What
is what is playing multiple spots?

Speaker 2 (13:13):
Like how does it.

Speaker 1 (13:14):
Changed the way you read blocks or the way you
read tendancies and keys? Like is it different from different positions,
Like what's the approach there?

Speaker 4 (13:20):
Yeah, playing different block I mean well, playing different positions
across the whole defensive line. It really increases your football
IQ and it makes you more knowledgeable about the game.
And you know, I think you know my position, coach
Brian Williams at Maryland, and you know Coach Locksley for
putting me in that position, because it just increased my
football like you, and helped me get ready for the

(13:40):
next level. And obviously, the more positions you play, the
more value you have about yourself and the more you
can help contribute to an organization. And at the end
of the day, that's all you want to do as
a as a football player in this league.

Speaker 1 (13:52):
So I'm glad you mentioned coach Locksley because he did
the podcast. I think last week he talked about you
and Dante here on the Draft Time podcast and he
mentioned one of the things that he always could count
on was getting to the facility and you would be
blurring the music in the weight room first thing in
the morning. Why why turn up? Were you trying to
make your presence known? Like what was the idea behind

(14:13):
those early morning weight room sessions?

Speaker 4 (14:14):
Well, I definitely wasn't trying to make my presence known.
I mean, that's called a facade. And you know, everything
with me is what you get. You know, I'm authentic,
So my will to want to get better is influenced
by my work ethic and how hard I working with
the purpose and the intent that I work with. You know,
I always want to get better so I can add

(14:35):
value to whatever organization I'm a part of, and I
also want to, you know, get others around me better.
And that's where the you know, early mornings and the
late night mentality came from. I mean, at the end
of the day, I just always want to get better,
and I always want to get others around me better.
Also because if we're all getting better, we all can
add value to the organization that we're a part of

(14:57):
and that we're representing.

Speaker 3 (14:58):
I love.

Speaker 1 (14:59):
A great answer is Equest talking about how a lot
of the rookies coming around weekends, you know, working out together.
You've been enjoying those sessions.

Speaker 4 (15:04):
Absolutely, And I enjoy working out with those guys. You know,
guys like Zeke Bigger's, Kenneth Grant, Alex Hunley. You know,
those guys are working individuals and even guys in other rooms,
you know, like my old team college teammate, current teammate,
Dante Trader. You know Jonah, He's a guy who puts his.

Speaker 3 (15:20):
Head down, works on the offensive line.

Speaker 4 (15:23):
We have a lot of talented rookies in the building,
and we have a lot of guys who come in
and work and they work with purpose to get better
so they can add value to the organization. And at
the end of the day, that's what we're trying to accomplish.
We're trying to accomplish getting better every day and adding
value to the organization as much as we can.

Speaker 1 (15:38):
That's really good stuff. Man. I'll conclude with this forgive
my stumbling on that word. So you talk about music
in the weight room. Let's say you get your first
orange jersey out here at practice. Put you on the spot.
What's the first song you want to put on that
playlist to get the guys fired up, to get the
guys juiced up and ready for a football practice.

Speaker 3 (15:55):
Yeah, I mean, you know, I love music.

Speaker 4 (15:57):
Music, Ke's me focused Like I watch music and watching
I mean I listened to music when watching film.

Speaker 3 (16:02):
I listen to music when working out.

Speaker 4 (16:04):
So if I had to choose one song that'd be hard,
but we would I had to choose.

Speaker 1 (16:09):
Well, luckily you have the whole playlist, so we're maybe
don't it's just the first one, right, you're kind of
setting the tempo here, sending the tone of practice.

Speaker 4 (16:17):
I'll say fcg heme finally, Rich, Yeah, I listened to
Fcgeme a lot, maybe like some Little Dirt something like
that along those lines. But yeah, I mean, honestly, during
during practice, I can't, like, I can't name one song
that we played here during practice, just for the simple
fact that during practice, like I'm I'm more so locked

(16:40):
in on the intent of what's going on and what
we're being asked to do at that point of time
in practice. So I mean, honestly, I would take the
orange jersey and then I'll just be like, you know what,
the music, Let's just play whatever music you know the
guys are feeling, because I'm not really like I'm not,
I don't focus on the music during practice because I'm

(17:02):
just locked into whatever's being asked of me to do
at that moment.

Speaker 1 (17:05):
I would expect nothing else. Jordan Phillips, new Dolphins defensive lineman,
appreciate your time, day man.

Speaker 2 (17:09):
That was great.

Speaker 3 (17:09):
Thank you, yes, sir, thank you so much.

Speaker 2 (17:11):
I like him. I like that guy. I like this guy.

Speaker 1 (17:15):
Yeah, I really like this guy.

Speaker 3 (17:21):
I like my whole team. Actually, I love that team.

Speaker 1 (17:26):
First break right there, come back on the other side,
talk about the Bucks, Falcons, Panthers, and Saints, how they
match up with your Miami Dolphins. All that Next Draft
Time podcast, brought to you by Autnation, felt like an

(17:48):
appropriate time for prime time music as we kick off
another division preview here the NFC South, the division that
has not really produced championship caliber teams to the postseason
really since the retirement of Tom Brady, but the team
that has continued that winning formula post Tom Brady, and
a big thanks to a quarterback that was cast off

(18:09):
by a few teams prior to his arrival in Tampa Bay,
in Baker Mayfield. And I think that when you go
back to on this podcast, I think I had the
Bucks at one in sixteen, the year after Brady left,
because there was videos of Baker and Kyle Trask throwing
balls on air that were nowhere near their intended targets.
And as a big Baker believer, I was like, I
don't think he's got it. Anymore, and I was concerned

(18:31):
about that position, and I said in that podcast, this
roster is actually pretty damn good still, but I just
can't put this team with this quarterback play into a
tier like that. But he's proven that wrong. And so
I'm all the way back in on Baker Mayfield. I'm
all the way in on this Bucks team, who I
think is just loaded actually when you look at their roster.

Speaker 2 (18:51):
Let's go ahead and go over the changes here.

Speaker 1 (18:53):
So this is the fourth division we've done, and I
think there is a massive, massive, Marianna Seish trench, Marianna
Trench sized gap, I should say, between the top team
and the division and the rest. And I say that
kind of liking the Falcons more than most, because I
think the Bucks are pretty damn good. And when you

(19:13):
were concerned about Baker coming off the Panthers and Rams year,
now he's kind of the freaking man and he's playing
in a loaded offense.

Speaker 2 (19:20):
The defense is pretty damn good.

Speaker 1 (19:21):
And sorry, that's not the changes, but I felt that
introduction was needed here because we want to be transparent
in our you know, changing evolving opinions of teams as
we get more new information. So the biggest change does
come at a very critical position. And hey, Baker the
freaking head coach maker, right, because the last two OC's
Dave Canalis and Liam Cohen have gone on to get

(19:42):
head coaching jobs, and they had the turnover last year,
and it was like, can can Liam Cohen do what
Dave Canalis did? He goes to Carolina and you know,
Bryce Young goes from a quarterback that literally can't like
play the guitar as it were, to a guy that
produced down the stretch. And then Liam Cohen makes the
jump to try to do the same thing with Trevor
Lawrence after some the worst year of his career and

(20:02):
now post Or remayer, I should say, but now in Tampa,
they're gonna try it again, right. And one of my
first ever coworkers to tell me they listen to the
podcast was in fact and he said his kids would
come up to and say, Daddy, what is up Dolphins.
I'm talking about Josh Grizzard, who was a quality control
coach here, then receivers coach, then an assistant receivers coach here.

(20:24):
I don't really know what we'll get from him from
a design standpoint of the offense. I imagine he wants
to keep things similar to what Kanalis and Cohen built
there with Baker, because I just can't imagine he's bringing
anything with his Dolphins experience to this offense because that
was an offense that didn't do much. Because he's a
smart dude, he's a Yale guy. I'm very excited for him,
and I'm rooting for him in the Bucks except for

(20:45):
the Week seventeen game down here in Miami. Outside of that,
there's plenty of continuity. George Edwards runs the defense with
Todd Bowles in In terms of newcomers, this offense was
already too talented. So the only big free agent signing
was a swing tackle and Charlie Heck I thought he's
a pretty good player in terms of being a swing tackle.
They add Hassan Reddick on defense, which is you know,
he had sort of a wash of a year last

(21:07):
year with the Jets. They signed Anthony Walker. We know him,
and that's basically it. They went corner corner with Benjamin Morrison,
then one of my favorite players in the entire class
of Jacob Perish out of Kansas State, who is kind
of Trent McDuffie light on tape. In my opinion, they
retained a ton of their own that were due up
for contracts with Ben Bredeson, Lavonte David keeps on coming

(21:27):
back on one year mercenary deals. Greg Gaines is a
guy that we talked about as a possible fit here
as a defensive tackle free agent signing. I would have
taken Chris Godwin at any point of his career as
a free agent for any amount of money, because I think
he's freaking awesome. Sua Opetta, Sterling Shepherd among the resignings
on the way out, kJ Britt, he's now with us
down here, Mike Edwards, the safety is a big loss

(21:48):
for them, Robert Hainsey inside the lot to replace his
production on the interior, and then Joy Joe Tryon, Shoyinka
and tavierre Thomas are out as far as the film
their calling card. Not entirely sure what to expect, but
I think you brush up on the concepts all over
your tape from the last two years, which is one
of the best screen games in the league, one of
the best run game variants off of play action. The

(22:09):
thing I'm most curious to see with grizz is how
he operates that run game though, because he's been a
pass game coordinator and the Bucks are just another team
that we can learn from in terms of how the
running game helps the quarterback in the passing game, and
that offensive line certainly helps, but they're in amnable group
to gap or zone. They have one of the best
power games in football, and from that they can run

(22:30):
trap and then having these big, athletic, smart offensive linemen
with Graham Barton, Cody Mock, Ben Brettisoner all that and
that's before you get to literally the best tackle tandem
in the national football Like I see the debate right
now about Piney School or Lane Johnson, I would insert
Tristan Wurfs into that conversation for the top three without
question about it. And you can run influence, which is

(22:52):
basically decoys. It's a trap with a decoy poller, and
they still have the athletic ability to get on the
outside shoulders and get leverage in those runs that you
can get to all the split zone stuff we talked
about with the Colts on a podcast last week I
think it was on the AFC South podcast, And all
of this gives the quarterback simple indicators. Look, I love
Baker Mayfield I think he's a great player, a really

(23:13):
really good quarterback. But when you can really give the
quarterback certain things in the offense, like indicators from the
running game, it makes it a lot easier for them
to make decisions and make reads.

Speaker 2 (23:25):
And we'll talk about how the.

Speaker 1 (23:27):
Dolphins can can kind of do that on the AFC's
East podcast coming up here in a couple of weeks.
But if you sprint after the run, the run action
in the run game, and then he goes play pass,
he's going to be able to throw off your overplay
with ease at this level, and he's smart enough and
accurate enough to do that. I mentioned the offensive line.
Bucky Irving was awesome as a rookie last year, a
great decision maker who pressed angles and made yards through

(23:50):
the scheme. And then, oh, by the way, they might
have had the best wide receiver corp in football before
they drafted the best receiver in the draft from my
money in a mecca at Buka. And I say this
when last year without Edwins, without Edwin's without godwinning Evans
for a couple of games, Baker's posting like three hundred
and fifty yard games, when Cad Aughton is his top receiver.

(24:11):
And the last time Mike Evans didn't have a thousand
yards excuse me, was when Barack Obama was in office,
back when we had a normal political landscape.

Speaker 2 (24:19):
That's how long ago it was.

Speaker 1 (24:21):
His streak actually goes back through college because he is
thirteen years two at Texas A and M has he
ever had a season in his life without one hundred
one thousand yards receiving. It has to be high school,
maybe Pop Warner. And oh, by the way, Jalen McMillan,
a third round draft pick last year out of not
Washington State out of the University of Washington, caught eight touchdowns.
No Biggie Kate, Aughton, Payton Durham co Keef can all

(24:42):
catch and block. I think Baker is a top twelve quarterback.
But if you're removing the quarterback, this is easily the
best offense in football, like probably by a wide margin
for me. Defensively, Todd Bowles blitzes. We know this, and
perhaps the best part of his scheme is the run
blitzes and creative ways he can get hats to every
single gap. They are these old school coaches man like.

(25:03):
This is why I think it's such a renaissance for
defense these days. You have these really complex coverage schemes
that keep the top on the defense and force offenses
to matriculate the ball in the field.

Speaker 3 (25:11):
Right.

Speaker 1 (25:12):
But when you can do that and you compare it
with a good run game, it is tough to pick
windows on second and twelve when you're getting negative plays
in the running game. And it doesn't hurt that you
have a defensive tackle who's maybe the hardest player to
run against ever. I mean, who's in the mix there,
like the Williams Wall from the Vikings days of old
Tony Saragusa, Like going back that far. Last year, we
were in Tampa for joint practices and I found myself

(25:34):
near coaching the coaching staff for a dinner, and I
said something that was supposed to be a joke, and
the reply I got from an offensive coach was, is
the funny part that we have to find a way
to block Vita Vea tomorrow. Like the league knows who
he is, Like he is completely disruptive, and there was
a couple of years ago where you just didn't run
the ball on the bucks because of Fdave. He's a
Hall of Fame player. For my money all day, every day.

(25:54):
Then he's got two studs that rotate around him in
Elijah Cantsi and Greg Gaines. I think of this roster
has a question though it's off the edge, which can
be kind of a trapdoor scenario you insert Hassan Reddick.
I tend to think that when you miss that much
time and aren't productive for that long, it's tough to
get back into it. Logan Hall is a good player,
Lavonte David also, for my money, a Hall of Fame linebacker.

(26:15):
Antoine Winfield and Tyreek Smith are nice players. In the
back end, Jamil Dean Zion McCollum are a good duo
of cornerbacks, and I think Jacob Parrish will unsee Christian
is in in the slot as the starter for that
defense as well. But all that continuity they have down
the middle right Veya Gains can't see David Winfield, it
allows them to be so multiple in their looks. They'll
go amba front, they'll play over under, they can do

(26:38):
it all. The question mark for this team if you're
reliant on always scheming up your rush against the top quarterbacks,
that's how you get in those shootouts we saw last
year for the Buccaneers and a quarterback like to it, right,
if you blitz to a all game long, you gonna
get burned, honey. And we saw the last year a
few times with the Bucks. I think that they're thin
in the back seven as well. But man, when you
have an offense like this, you're a shoe in for

(26:59):
the playoff, especially in this division. And then the health, execution,
and growth of the defense is really what determines how
far you can go once you get there, and you
do find that eventual roadblock because you're not going to
be a thirty point per game fixture every game in
the postseason. You're gonna have to win a game with
a complete team game at some point. And then, of course,
the synergy and continuity on offense, even with a new

(27:21):
coordinator like I think that is fair to question, even
if I just flat out believe in it. Some miscellaneous
factors here. We I really kind of thought they were
cooked when they were four and six and lost both
Evans and Godwin. Can you guys hear that I'm wrestling
my cat right now, trying to sit in my lap.
ConA has been starved for attention with the addition of

(27:41):
a new baby but they lost Edwins and god Edwind.
Why do I keep saying Edwins, Evans and Godwin for
almost two months and god Wins out for the entire
year and they ripped off six of the last seven games. Now,
the quarterbacks in those games, and this is where you
can kind of push back where Tommy Cutlet's Bryce Young.

Speaker 2 (27:57):
Aidan O'Connell, justin Herbert.

Speaker 1 (28:00):
He's the outlier there. But you know how I feel
about that, Bryce Young again and Spencer Ratler. The loss
was a Cooper rush. Now, they did beat Philly, Washington
and Detroit early on, but I think losing those two receivers,
Godwin coming off of major injury, Evans and year twelve,
I think you see why they continued to add to
that receiver room. But that's a little more volatility the
top than most teams have. Right they get the AFC

(28:21):
East and the NFC West on top of the Eagles
and Lions for a first play schedule, it's pretty tough
outside of their own division games. But I think playing
those division games is going to put them right back
into January next season. The trapdoor scenario here, you're aging receivers,
new offensive coordinator first time play caller Vita Vea goes down,
it changes that defensive scheme entirely. Or if they get

(28:42):
injuries in the back seven, that opens up what you
saw last year with more shootouts and removes the value
of that running game and the deception they run off
of that. But that's a lot of ifs. I think
they're gonna be fine. The conclusion, if you can't tell
I am super super bullish on this Bucks team, I
think they are just a step below what has been
the class of the NFC in the Eagles and Lions

(29:03):
last couple of years, but right there with the Rams
and Niners, with similar questions to those teams that I have.
If I had to rank my confidence in the eight
division winner picks, the Bucks are probably up there with
Kansas City, Buffalo, Philly, and Detroit.

Speaker 2 (29:15):
For my money.

Speaker 3 (29:16):
By way, dish blow.

Speaker 1 (29:19):
The Atlanta Falcons are up next, a team that I'm
a little bit more bullish on, I think than most
the changes here for them personnel wise. I just keep
thinking back to the discourse over the Cousins in Pennix
package last year, and I think where we are now
like makes perfect sense.

Speaker 2 (29:34):
Why you did it that way?

Speaker 1 (29:35):
Perhaps The argument is that you shouldn't have gone after
Kirk Cousins for what was essentially like eleven good you know,
eleven games before the he kind of turned pumpkin and
was just like unplayable down the stretch. I've talked about
that Chargers game on this podcast freaking twelve times because
I watched it in its entirety, and the four picks
in positive territory in a game you lost by four
points was tough to watch, and I just kept saying,
he put the rookie in, you would have handled the

(29:57):
Chargers a big l there for the Dolphins playoff hopes.
It didn't matter in the end, but at the time
it was really annoying. But I'm excited about this team
for the first time in a while because it's not
a banged up Kirk Cousins at age thirty eight. It's
not Desmond freaking Ritter, who they tried to make a
thing for a couple of years there, and they really
went for in twenty twenty five, which I'm a little
bit dubious on that approach, but that was another point

(30:19):
of discussion. They moved off a twenty twenty six first,
and look, I think it was bad practice because I
just didn't think that the player they gave up their
future first round pick, and James Pierce presented the value
for what could be a possibly top twenty pick next year.
And what happens if Pennix plays poorly right, well, then
he works and comes back for twenty twenty six his

(30:39):
third year cheap as hell, and he gets better. I
don't understand the argument that you have to like reveal
who Michael Pennix is in these next seventeen games. He's
got a lot of football ahead of him. He's going
to be like Tua in the sense that he gets
better as he gets older. So I don't understand that argument.
But I just didn't like the player. But you have
to have conviction in your own moves. And it's why

(30:59):
I don't understand or never understood the reason for the
argument of drafting a tackle in.

Speaker 2 (31:04):
The first round for the Dolphins.

Speaker 1 (31:05):
Like Patrick, Paul played three hundred snaps last year, and
there wasn't anything in those snaps that would have told
you he can't do it. In fact, it was probably
more encouraging than you expected. If you replaced him, you
basically waste a second round pick for no reason, with
no patience, So they use those two first rounders to
try to jump up and start their pass rush with
or to jump start their pass rusher, I should say,

(31:25):
with Jalen Walker and James Pierce Junior, which I mean
the debate there is, like neither of those guys were
Paulish pass rushers, and you know that's what you hire
coaches for. But it's a lot of capital, man for
two guys that like are probably fifty to fifty props
at best. They also added Leonard Floyd and Morgan Fox.
Remember we said about teams telling you what they need, Well,

(31:46):
four premium resources sunk into the edge rush here, so
it's got to be better. They also added Devon Devine
Diablo and Jordan Fuller to the defense. Offensively, twenty of
their top twenty two players on their depth chart are incumbents.
You know, I love continuity that way. They added Jamal
Agnew and rookie Jack Nelson. They did move on from
Jimmy Lake, who is a guy that up in the

(32:06):
Pacific Northwest, is not loved by either Washington or Washington
State fans, and it hasn't really had the resume, so
I think it's a good thing for the Falcons here,
also hiring Jeff Olbrick, who I believe is a very
good DC who got caught in a really, really tough
and just flat out dumb situation last year with the Jets,
like he never should have been in that position to
begin with.

Speaker 2 (32:26):
But I digress.

Speaker 1 (32:27):
Zach Robinson returns, and I think Michael Pennix, with all
those skill pieces a Shanahan Shre approach could make this
offense pretty damn good. On the way out, Matthew Judon,
Justin Simmons, Drew Domin's a big loss for them. Grady
Jarrett was a staple for a decade there, Eddie Goldman,
Lorenzo Carter, and Richie Grant all out that door calling Carr.
It's not that far off from the Niners in terms

(32:49):
of the offense and defensive styles, but I like the
multiple influences here first and foremost, both the head coach
and defensive coordinator have been around the most in vogue
offensive structure in the league. I think there's plenty in
the tank there in terms of how to stop that
spot drops pattern match. They play super aggressive upfront with
one gap approaches and a lot of rerouting intertwined with

(33:10):
green dog calls to delay your blitzes and you know,
if he stays in, go ahead and rush. If he
goes out, you got him in coverage, other variations of
disguising their blitzes. When I think about jeff oldbricks influence
all the Cover three and Cover one they ran with
the Jets, and how much Morris's defenses have been in
the past three Cover three in the past, I imagine
that's the thinking here with Jesse Bates covering big swatches

(33:32):
of patches of grass in the middle of the field
and deep coverage. They draft Xavier Watts, who is a
high floor, middle of the field run fit piece for
my money, and in fact, I think he'll win that
job over Jordan Fuller.

Speaker 3 (33:43):
Shoot.

Speaker 1 (33:43):
They also drafted one of my favorites and Billy Bowman
after taking Clark Phillips last year. And they've got a
true number one in aj Terrell, with two really solid
corners and Mike Hughes and d Alford that's a really
nice secondary back there. They move Rouke o Row row
Row that's literally his name to the nose tip position.
They've got Contravious Street, Centavious Street and Brandon Dorless as

(34:05):
a big body space eater with Fox and David Anyamada,
with those newcomers off the edge, if they hit on
two of those four editions on the edge, this defense
is going to be sick. I'm very confident in Pennix.
I think the knock on him was the way he
processed the middle of the field at you dub and
sort of had basic concepts baked into a great protection
offensive line and great receiver corps with a lot of

(34:26):
vertical routes on the perimeter, minimal reads.

Speaker 2 (34:29):
Don't even worry with the safety.

Speaker 1 (34:30):
They're going to play double coverage here because we can
see it based upon how they line up with our
spread offense. Then you just take advantage of one on
one situations down the field to roam with Doonsa and
Jalen McMillan and all those receivers he had there. I
think the way he gets the ball out though we
saw it in the preseason game, we saw it in
training camp, we saw it down the stretch and that
really good game against Washington late in the season. Ball
comes out quick with timing and zip. I think he's

(34:51):
going to do just fine. And here we have another
young quarterback with an exceptional run game. I think the
way they can create windows in the passing game with
the threat of their outside zone game with b John Robinson,
who's a top three rider in the league. For my money,
it's kind of a pick your poison offense. I do
question where a player like Kyle Pitts fits into an
offense that needs the tight end to work in the
running game. I'd almost just convert him to an exclusively

(35:13):
big slot player like Mike Gasicki. But with Drake Lundon,
Darnell Mooney and Raray McLeod, that's a good trio, not
a great trio. I like Kadarrell Hodge and Jamal Agnew
a sub package pieces the front with Lynch, Drum, Matthews
and McGarry.

Speaker 2 (35:27):
They've been there forever.

Speaker 1 (35:28):
They will work in a new center and Ryan Noozel
that's kind of a big question mark for me there.
I mentioned that news centers as a question. We know
how critical that is with this roster, and with a
young quarterback who doesn't have the full autonomy the line
of scrimmage of a six year vet the way TUA does.
With all the moving parts on offense, it could take
some time to nail things down. I think there's some
questions on the line, and even with all the moves,

(35:49):
the pass rush as well the miscellaneous factors here, there
is This is something a lot of teams deal with.
So I don't want to sound like I'm singling the
Falcons out here, but this is a big year really
for all the decision making. Fifth year for Terry Fontineau,
and I mean the decisions at quarterback have been rough
until now, just the second year for Raheem Morris. But
Arthur Blank talked about playoff mandates and sometimes when you're

(36:10):
up against that, you make decisions like trading off future
first round picks for guys that you're hoping can hit,
and it can have you know, this preservation concept, and
it's a slippery slope, especially with this start.

Speaker 2 (36:22):
I mean, have mercy.

Speaker 1 (36:23):
They go Bucks, Vikings, Panthers, Commanders, By Bills, Niners, Dolphins.
They lose three games off that bye week to three
good football teams. There's a decent chance that they're underdogs
in six of their first seven games, and if they're
two to five like Saya Nara most likely right the
trap door scenario, that slow start, a trip to Germany,
those edge changes don't find their footing early on. Maybe

(36:44):
some of the offensive line questions percolate a little bit more.
You lose one of the three stalwarts that changes things.
Maybe Pennex is getting hit more than he should. The
outside zone game doesn't click right away. As much as
there is to like about them, there are questions, and
I don't I think any of these things could present
the dreaded t Adoor situation. My conclusion here, I'm stuck
between being extremely bullish and wanting to fade them, which

(37:06):
tells me I'm sort of down the middle. I think
they can score. I've made no secret about that. To
me is always number one. You gotta be able to score.
I like the back seven. You're putting a lot of
faith though in the unknown. As of past rushers, I
think they're clearly the second best team in the division,
but also well behind the Bucks. Last break right there,
come back into the Panthers and the Saints on the
other side. Draft Time podcast brought to you by Autounation.

(37:31):
I recently watched the new movie with Paul Rudd and
Tim Robinson, Friendship, and the latest review on the podcast
on Apple podcast is from an account named Oceanview Dining
and I didn't get that at first, and now I
do and it's hilarious. So thank you Oceanview Dining for
the review. I'll come back to that maybe on a
later episode and talk about your hit a trade idea

(37:52):
in that review. I'm not gonna go on to it
right now because this podcast is already long. But speaking
of that, let's go ahead and dive back into the
NFC South and the Carolina Panthers t that I think
people are gonna be. It's gonna be that same thing
you see every year, right, the team that finished strong
after a rough intro to the season, a rough roster,
and it's gonna cause a lot of optimism. But as

(38:12):
we have learned in this league, progress is not always linear.
And the twenty twenty five Panthers really, they really are
unrecognizable from the twenty twenty three team. It's been you
have two off seasons of major overhaul. But the biggest
thing they had to do in twenty twenty four they
did their coach with a pinch as a quarterback Whisperer

(38:32):
turned the benching of Bryce Young into a redemption arc.
And just imagine where this team is if The last
we saw from Bryce was that Week two game that
led to the benching. He couldn't he like he was
like standing on his tippy toes and couldn't complete balls.
It was one of the craziest things I've ever seen
in a football field. But that gave them their direction
for better or worse. I tend to think the ladder

(38:57):
this offseason, you know, was to press four and build
it as if they had the guy. But that remains
to be seen in a big way. But decision or
direction rather is better than the alternative and floundering around
a to and done. Number one overall draftic that he
trained up for. The only major move on offense was
the eighth pick Ted McMillan one year after paying the
most money for two guards the NFL has ever seen,

(39:21):
and both Damian Lewis and Rob Hunt were excellent for them.
Last year, they did sign ric o'dowdell. Otherwise, the offense
is the exact same, including the offensive coordinator and ben
Is Dick. Teams tell you what they want to get
better at right well, they added Bobby Brown, Patrick Jones,
Tershaun Wharton to their front, all projected new stars in
the defensive line. They draft Nick s Gorton and the
second round prince lye Uman. Yella, that's not how you

(39:43):
say it, but I'm not going to look it up.
In the third round Lathan Ransom. In the fourth round.
They signed Trayvon Merrick to a huge deal. You guys
know I loved him and linebacker Christian rose Boom in
the front from the Rams last year. So last year
was offense. This year was defense for ezuro Ever defensive
coordinator on the way out. Stalwart Shaq Thompson is gone,
Miles Sanders has bounced, and Dane Jackson won and done

(40:06):
in Carolina. Back to Buffalo the film The Calling Card.
Dave Kanal has talked in Tampa about scheming everything around
Mike Evans, and I have to imagine that's the thought
with Teed McMillan at some point. I also think they
build the build of the receiver corps. There's not a
burner among them. It lends itself to their desire to
be a run first attack. With Hubbard and Dowdell. Then
I think you get a lot of top down reads

(40:27):
where they will run stuff, where they will run stuff
from stacks and bunches. Time up their routes and displace
the top of the route and then use their size
to sort of, you know, hold lines and block out.
And given the offensive line they have, I imagine the starting
point is gap and power, but you do have the
ability to get to zone stuff because even though it's
a big group. You know, Robin, Damian Lewis, Kyle Krabs

(40:50):
thought Damian Lewis is a good fit here.

Speaker 2 (40:51):
Last year. We know that Rob Hunt played well on
this offense.

Speaker 1 (40:54):
Ikea Kwonko is a great left tackle, Taylor Molten a
great right tackle, Austin Corbett's a good set and they
can all move too. They really needed to jump from
Bryce Young they needed this year too. They'll go as
far as he can go, and he began to get
more comfortable down the stretch. Frankly, to be honest with
you guys, I still don't see it. I think there's
just inherent errors and flaws in his game that will

(41:16):
not translate to long term success. And I think all
of this is going to be for not because you
moved up in the first round to get him, And
I would actually start Andy Dalton. That's what I would do.
Maybe I'm crazy, That's what I would do. I do
think that power run scheme to set up play action
where they can sort of wash things down, pull the
ball back out and get Bryce on the move to
mitigate the problems that come with his size and the

(41:38):
lack of vision that comes with that, and the big
bodies and the perimeter to get some easy throws in
the quick game and manufacture deep stuff from there. Like
you reduce your ability to read the whole field, but
you got to make up for it somehow.

Speaker 2 (41:49):
But I see the vision there.

Speaker 1 (41:51):
McMillan, Lexavier Leaguet, Adam Thielen, Tommy Trumble, those are the
top targets. Like I guess if you liked McMillan, I
can see how you like this group. I had him
at receiver eight in this year's draft class. Wasn't into
the film. And Thielan is I think is well past
his prime, and Lagette is a nice player, but it's
just it's not inspiring to me. They forced just seventeen

(42:11):
takeaways last year, and getting Merig to run their complex
coverage scheme under Avro is nice, and rookie Lathan Ransom
is going to be a starter right away. I think
he's going to be a really good player in this league.
It's a fun combination and they kind of play off
each other for now and for the future. With all
the quarters cover six two man they want to play
in that defense.

Speaker 3 (42:29):
J C.

Speaker 2 (42:30):
Horn is maybe.

Speaker 1 (42:31):
Their best player, the alpha that allows them to get
to all their hybrid coverages. And then they really need
Shaw Smith Wade Go Koogs to take a big jump
this year as a starter at corner. The nickel spot
is up for grabs this offseason, and they need one
of those two rookie edges to really blossom early on here.
They missed Derek Brown in a big way when he
went down last year. But you can see the idea

(42:51):
of playing the run from light boxes with those big bodies,
with Brown, with Wharton, with Jones, all those guys are
bigger than the average player at their position. And the
question mark I have here high Caroline, how are you going?

Speaker 2 (43:04):
Okay? Go putty?

Speaker 1 (43:05):
The big question here is can Bryce Young build on
last year? It all comes down to that, right do
they have enough at those skill spots. Canna rookie come
in and produce right away. They need McMillan to be that.
He has to be the number one because they don't
have one. Otherwise, they had almost no attrition on the
offensive line. Four of their five guys played eighty five
percent of the snaps for more. That's probably not gonna
happen again. I like going big on defense, but you

(43:27):
need plus athletes in this league, as the Dolphins learned
the last couple of years. I think you could worry
about specific matchups for teams like US, for instance, and
then that's a lot of new parts you're asking to
come in and play pretty complex run schemes like we
can do it because we have Zach Seeler and Jordan Brooks.
Can Derek Brown and Josie Jewell be that for them?
I think dB can. But the linebacker laying down so much, Uh,

(43:49):
miscellaneous factors. They've got to start I wrote fast, but
it says FATS. They've got to start FATS here, Jags, Cards, Falcons, Patriots, US, Cowboys, Jets.
I mean, we're the only team in there that I
think are gonna stomp them, quite frankly.

Speaker 2 (44:03):
Then it goes.

Speaker 1 (44:04):
Bills, Packers, Saints, Falcons, Niners, and Rams. They also parted
ways with their longest nice toilet flush with their longest
tenured player and leader in Shaq Thompson. Sometimes that can
be tough to a tough adjustment. Also, a lot of
their best players have or lengthy injury histories. With JC
Horn and Derek Brown, if they lost both of them again,

(44:25):
that defense gets incredibly thin. I think I just spelled
out the trapdoor scenarios and no need to repeat that
the conclusion. I think there's a lot of reason for optimism,
but as is the case with any team that undergoes
a bunch of change, those changes usually have some questions
attached to them. I think maybe still a year away,
but they showed last year they're no longer a team
that you just automatically circle as a w and as

(44:47):
they were for a good run out of time there,
but full transparency. I'm not buying it. I'm not a believer.
I think it's still one of the worst skill groups
and one of the worst quarterbacks of the defense. That's
several pieces away. I think they're far more likely to
pick in the top ten and they are to make
a playoff push this season. And we conclude here by
way dish blow and we'll go brief. It's the New

(45:08):
Orleans Saints. The changes one of the stranger teams in
the NFL this offseason. They announced after the free agent period,
just before the draft that their quarterback had a serious injury,
and then he just retires post draft, and then it
just sort of ends. Fighting crime penetration, fighting crime penetration
just sort of ends. Now the most experienced quarterback is
zero to six as a starter with a thirty four

(45:28):
percent success rate and more interceptions and touchdowns and a
seventy point four passer rate. Not Spencer Ratler, thumbs up, dude,
He'll try to stave off the newcomer Tyler Shook, who
the team drafted in the second round. Kellen Moore is
in from a town twenty eight minutes from my hometown, Prosser, Washington,
and it's all an all new staff, like all new.
Doug nuss Meyer is the offensive coordinator there, and if

(45:49):
they lose a bunch of games, they can just draft
his son, who I think is going to be a
stud in, Garrett nus Meyer from LSU. Brandon Stateley is
back in a coordiator role for the first time since
he left the Chargers in as Tyler Shook and Kelvin
Banks their first round pick. Brandon cooks his back Dylan
Raidens is there, Will Clapped, Von Godshaw, the LSU zone,
Vernon Broughton, the rookie out of Texas, Jonash Sanker, and

(46:11):
Danny Stutsman the linebacker from Oklahoma, Quincy Riley, Justin Reid,
Isaac Yadam on the way out, Paulson Adeboat, Willie Gay Lucas,
Patrick Payton Turner like they lost more than they brought
in for a team that wasn't very good to begin with.
The film their calling card, It's hard to know what
Kellen Moore prefers from a concept standpoint. He's been on
a lot of staffs with another prominent name, so we're

(46:33):
gonna really see for the first time in a while
what his calling cards are. Like most coaches, it's a
lot of pre snap motion, shifting movement before the snap.
He wants to get his quarterback maximum information. He's a
quarterback that basically grew up drawing plays in the sand
in terms of where the pressure points are, how the
coverage bumps and slides, and he'll need that from a
young quarterback in this young quarterback room. I should say,

(46:55):
you have to imagine that he'll lean on Alvin Kamara
with the focus on getting him the football in space,
especially with Talisi Fuaga and Kelvin Banks on either side,
with Juwan Johnson off the edge, and what he offers
healthy Chris Alave, Rashid Shaheed and Brandon Cooks is fun,
but there's a buttload of miss games in that mix.
I like the tackles. I like Caesaruiz and Eric McCoy

(47:16):
even more. And if Trevor Penning kicks inside to garden
works there. They have a really damn good offensive line.
This team just looks primed to drop a quarterback into
the mix next year, but sometimes teams that have that
look have it go better than expected. I just think
it's a tough spot. Let's say Tyler Shook plays well
but they go four and thirteen. Do you pass in
the quarterback in the top three of the draft next year.

(47:37):
I don't think you do. I don't think they'll play
well enough to get you there anyways. It's it's you know,
you can't win without that position in this league, and
they don't have it right now. On defense, Staley now
works under more. Those roles were flipped in twenty twenty
three back in Los Angeles. I think Staley is a
really good coordinator, but man teaching that system is tough.
And they've got a lot of changes in personnel back
there too. Chase Young coming back was huge, Jordan Cameron

(48:00):
still a good player. Carl Granderson's awesome. So they have
those three cornerstones up front. I like the two backers,
and to Mario Davis, who's been awesome for the last
like eight years. Pete Warner is a good player, but
they've got to replace paulse and Thedebo and do with
Isaac Yadam kool Aid. Mcinry was a good rookie last year.
Alante Taylor I like his game a lot too, and
they've got some vets who've seen it all at safety.

(48:20):
And between that and to Mario Davis, a nice trio
down the middle to communicate these complex coverage shells and
pattern matching rules. With Justin Reid and Tyron Matthew, it
could work there. But the question here is you don't
have to labor the point. No matter who wins the
quarterback job, there's going to be massive questions there. I
don't think you can roll with Ratler again. I think
it has to be Tyler shook because I don't think
Jake Hayner is any better than Ratler, so we'll see

(48:43):
the miscellaneous factors here. I think change was long overdue
and perhaps some more medicine taking is coming in the
line here to kind of reset the books that you've
really doubled down on for like ten straight years. They've
been at the forefront of the group of teams that
consistently occupy future resource is to keep resetting the decks.
Perhaps a bottom out would finally help lead to the

(49:04):
end of that because they sort of spent big again.
Like I'm not sure where Brandon Cooks and Devon got
Shaw and Justin Reid factor into a football team. It's
gonna roll out a second round quarterback to start the
season most likely. Trapdoor scenario does not apply. The conclusion
here a transition year could be wrong, but it has
the makings of that. If they slidify the offensive line
a love can avoid injury, and Staley gets that defense

(49:25):
stitch together, then they could be a big riser by
twenty twenty six with a new quarterback. And we'll see
what looks like for Tyler Shook. But I doubt they
win enough games to pass off a quarterback next offseason.
The Division superlatives. The winner here is the Bucks by
a long shot. The best quarterback is Baker by a
long shot. The best non offensive player is Tristan Wurth
by a long shot. And the best defensive player it's
probably Vitavea, but I put Jesse Bates in there as well.

(49:47):
I think the best coach is Todd Bowles. So if
we're going with Fidavea, we have Bucks, Bucks, Bucks, Bucks, Bucks.
The best rookie is a Mecca Agbuka, so it's Bucks again.
My best under the radar stad Lots of options here.
Cody Mack and Luka Decky. Are they uder the radar
still or are they just really good offensive linemen that
no one talks about. Zion McCollum is that category. Carl
Granderson to Mario Davis might be the best player in

(50:07):
the league at his position, or one of them, I
should say, but no one really talks about him. Cayden
Ellis is in there, Bobby Brown for the Panthers. Let's
just go all Bucks and keep it. Cody Mock, I
feel like he's still a tiny bit under the radar,
and I just think the Bucks being the bells of
the ball, it's fitting they sweep the dam the whole
damn category here. All right, long podcast, let's go ahead
and get out of here. Next will be the eighth

(50:29):
of July the AFC West with Jalen Wright and if
E Mela Famu on the podcast. You don't want to
miss that. In the meantime, gonna be my time you all.
Please be sure subscribe, rate, review the podcast. Follow me
on social at weekfold NFL. The team at Miami Dolphins,
my boys the fish Tank no longer on the network here,
but they're cranking out really fun contents. We'll check out
their podcast still, I'm sure you guys are all still

(50:49):
doing that. And last but not least, Miami Dolphins dot
Com until next time, Caroline and Cameron and Willow Daddy
is already home and oh yeah, fins up too, by
the way,