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August 10, 2025 • 35 mins
Dolphins football is back! Travis is taking you through the entire game - the big moment breakdowns, individual assessments, big picture takeaways and so much more.

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Episode Transcript

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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is Drivetime with Travis Wingfield. What is up, Dolphins,
and welcome to the Draft Time Podcast.

Speaker 2 (00:18):
I am your host.

Speaker 1 (00:19):
Travis wingfielded on today's show, Ooh, it feels good to
talk about a Miami Dolphins football game, even if it
was a draw twenty four all in the opener, but
I like when I saw. We'll talk about the things
I wanted to see and whether or not we did
see them, the overall thoughts, the standout players, the players
that we're looking forward for a bounce back next week,
and five takeaways. A different postgame pod format this year.

(00:41):
Let's go ahead and get to it from the inside
of my house. This is the Draft Time Podcast. Yea,
I have so many things I want to get to
about the outcome of this game, but I want to
first start with a little bit of a checklist that
I had going into the game and things I wanted
to see and if they did or did not accomplish
those things and number one after a sloppy practice on Friday.

(01:03):
Well there's more too than just this, but the first
thing was the offensive operation and like you guys probably
were very frustrated to see the first play of the
game get called back on a positive run from devon
a chan and put him in first and fifteen behind
the chains. But they overcame that and they got a
first down on that drive, and they had a sixteen
play drive that got him down to the goal line.

(01:23):
We'll talk about the result that happened there in just
one second, but they overcame that initial penalty, and then the.

Speaker 2 (01:28):
Pre snap operation stuff was pretty good for the rest
of the game.

Speaker 1 (01:31):
There was some defensive holding calls, a unnecessary roughness call
on Eugenis Sante that I strongly disagreed with. There was
some holding calls on offense and defense and pass interference
that I disagree with very strongly on a Jack Jones interception.
But the pre snap operation was pretty good. Not too
many formational legal shifts, things like that fall starts so
off to a decent start in that regard, better than

(01:53):
what it was on Friday. The other thing I really
wanted to see coming off a tough joint practice where
I mean, we'd cover this on a Friday man like,
and I got called out for on social by the
usual suspects. But I was there and you weren't there
if you had this thought, because the Bears didn't abide
by the you know, agreed upon terms of the practice.
And you can say that's football. You have to deal

(02:13):
with that. It's physical. And ultimately I come away from
the entire thing and Tront Arms had backed this up,
so I feel pretty good about it. But ultimately I
think it was a good thing for the Miami Dolphins.
It wasn't good for our social media perception, which who
gives a dan what that is right now? And you know,
there was complaints today that I saw all throughout the day,
But it doesn't matter like that, that's not relevant. What

(02:34):
matters is did the Dolphins take these experiences, take this
opportunity to get better and grow and become a better
football team. For Week one against the Colts in Indianapolis,
and we heard the the uh Tront arms head story
about Jermeu Droe, Baker, Jordan Brooks and Tyrrel Dodson kind
of sorting out some some differences in the sideline and
what that discussion was about. Isn't that exactly what you

(02:56):
wanted to hear? They were mad about tagging off or
putting a lick on the guy. Well, I thought that
the mindset and the tone that was set by the Dolphins'
entire operation today, especially defense and special teams, was a
veer from what you've come to know. And I saw
the takes. You know, Mina Chimes fight off a tweet
about how the Dolphins haven't changed anything in their short

(03:18):
yardge game because of three plays they ran in exhibition
game number one, which I strongly strongly disagree with that
take too, But the mindset and the mentality and the
way they hit. How fitting was that first drive to
end on a third and long after you kicked their
butt and backed them up behind the chains. For Terrell
Dotson to have a close from depth on a check

(03:39):
down throw well short of the sticks opportunity and to
not tag it off because we're live, baby, but to
go put a lick on the ball carrier, square them
up and put them on the ground. I thought that
was awesome. I thought Jordan Brooks's mindset going into the
entire game was awesome. I thought the way Kenneth Grant
got after guys and retray screens was awesome. We hit,
we drove guys off the football both sides of the football.
We were three for four in goal line situations running

(04:01):
the ball for touchdowns. Three rushing touchdowns by three different
backs today. I was very impressed by this team's changed mindset,
the young culture coming to the surface and bubbling up
and showing you who they were in this game. In
so many ways, they were set in the tone they
were hitting. The downhill running game was in effect. We
heard from Mike McDaniel after the game and he basically
talked about that was an opportunity to get reps in

(04:22):
a situation that you don't really replicate in the preseason,
or rather in training camp practices because teams don't go
live anymore. It's not live tackling to the ground. You
want to protect guys and you're not going to get
those situations in practice. So let's go ahead and try
it behind Patrick Paul and jonasavit Naya and Aaron Brewer,
and on the right side it was Larry Boram and
James Daniels and they would later change to Larry Borum

(04:44):
with Keon Smith and Daniel Brunskill. We had Patrick Paul
and Jonas ofvite Naya out there for a couple of drives,
but what a good opportunity to get that downhill running
game and this kind of change up as far as
the scheme goes to see what it looks like. And
it wasn't great in the first series, but they came
back and found a way to punch you three more times.
And I think just the mindset of calling those plays,

(05:04):
putting it on tape in the regular season, two can
pull the ball out of the belly of the back
and throw a play action to uncovered receivers in the
back of the end zone and and score touchdowns in
the passing game too. And he's a guy that threw
twenty nine touchdown passes two years ago. We had twenty
five rushing touchdowns that year, whatever it was, thirty rushing touchdowns, Like,
that's kind of what you want to have, that balance
and back and forth. And I think this offense in

(05:24):
this game showed you who they want to be this year,
and they executed it three out of four times. Whether
it's against the Bears, backups, threes or fours, it was
our twos and threes and fours. None of that mattered
to me. What married to me was the mindset, the approach,
the tone, And I thought all of that was a
massive check for the Dolphins in their first preseason run
through the backup quarterback doesn't look good for Zach Wilson.
It was feast or famine. Some big plays, some really

(05:46):
impressive shots that ripped to Nick Westbrook. A kine down
the field was a really nice play, but there was
also some muddy pockets where he couldn't get the feet
out of quicksand couldn't get moved, couldn't couldn't move, held
the football for too long. Quinn Eewers had that as well,
and we'll see him grow and progress here. But I
thought for the backup quarterbacks, pretty challenging day today, which
I think is to be expected. We can kind of,
you know, manage the situation and practice in terms of

(06:08):
the scenarios and the situations and the environment. He can't
do that in these games, and I think Zach and
Quinn kind of sunk a little bit at times. I
thought Zach did swim it a few times, but for
Quinn it was pretty clear was his first NFL game
for a guy that struggled on Texas tape to really
see it and rip it cleanly, and that was who
Zach Wilson was. Going back to his New York days
right and BYU as well, is like doesn't always see

(06:28):
it that great.

Speaker 2 (06:29):
He also had two misses.

Speaker 1 (06:31):
Where guys were open, and the one to Tanner Connor
was really strange. I don't know how he didn't get
enough gas on that football for a guy that has
a pretty big arm. He had the one miss to
Julian Hill that I don't fault him for because the
platform and the way he was, you know, fading back
from the throw made that a tough throw. But the
Tanner Connor won that should have been made. And the
near pick six, like step into that throw and drive

(06:51):
it buddy like that was way too late. It didn't
get out there fast enough. And that's another reason why
I always tell you guys like it's not just about
raw arm strength to put the ball in good locations
like you can do it with other ways. And Zach Wilson,
who has one of the biggest arms in the entire league,
couldn't put enough on an out route to prevent a
pick six. Had the player just caught the football, he
dropped it. So that was something I wanted to see.
That was an X to me. Did not cross that

(07:13):
one off the list like we did the first two.
I also wanted to see who's it out among the
backup offensive lineman. I'm putting an X on that one
as well, because I thought Daniel Brunskill had a really
good game, which to me is instructive because I think
he hasn't had a great camp with his new team
here in the Miami Dolphins. But when you strap it
up for a game and he plays well, it's like, Okay, well,
now I have game tape that's good and I have

(07:34):
previous regular season game tape that's good enough to play
in this system. I think he kind of showed you
and carved out, you know, his spot as the front
runner right now for interior, the swing interior spot. He
plays center, he can play both guard spots. To me,
he showed well for himself. Other than that, I thought
it was it was kind of tough to watch it times.
Keon Smith I thought had a really tough day. The
tackles was rough, Jermaina Fetti was rough. Larry borm did

(07:56):
not have a good day. So lots to work on
in the backup offensive line, but Daniel Brunskill will one
that put his best foot forward. The non reek and
waddle wide receivers, we had no tyreek in this game.
No Jalen Waddle put a check mark next to that
with about sixteen extra stickers. We have a sticker chart
from my son and daughter for when they behave well,
when they don't behave well, I would give them like
five stickers for this. Like they'd clean up, they did

(08:17):
their chores, they cleaned the after themselves, they picked up
their bedrooms like it was really good stuff. Today, Nick
Westbrook aaquine made the big play and he continues to
show you just kind of a different body and a
different look at that position in that room. I was
impressed by his work, that explosive play. They went after
the catch. Gosh, he has some of that in his bag.
I didn't really know he had that much went after
the catch in the bag, but he showed that in
this game today. Well, Leak Washington, I mean, young o

(08:39):
J McDuffie, how long have I been saying that? For
three conversions on third and fourth down? Like the man,
the absolute man. And the best part about that, when
you have Reek and Waddle out on that field, those
two way goes against man coverage, you're not gonna be
able to cover that guy because he can set you
up and break that route off at the right time
and to throwing those balls to the perimeter. Perfect location
on those balls. Far Hash rose to the out who

(09:01):
now thought he couldn't do that, and then Taj Washington,
my name is Jeff, Taj was the man. Did guys
see that social media post, by the way, because otherwise
you don't understand that drop there? But uh, Taj was
asked who the Bears mascot? What's the Bears mascot name?
He says, his name is Jeff. Like I already love Toaj,
Now I love him even more, and I love him
even more after the way he played football on Sunday,

(09:22):
A tough catch off the frame, really extending himself and
getting off You know that that not great throw by
Toua to pull that one in. He had another couple
of plays where he caught the ball and made moves
after the fact. That was impressive. And I just think
that he he looks the part. And then d Es
Gridge on special teams making plays as a wide receiver
as well, tough catch in traffic today, like looked pretty
good the rookies. I want to see how these guys
showed out. I thought Jonas and I Naya got better

(09:44):
as the game went along. It wasn't good early. He
had a big whiff on that initial second down and
goal run. I think it was maybe it was third
and goal where he totally whipped his guy and it
caused a pile up in the backfield, I thought. But
he got better as the game went along. I thought
Kenneth Grant was the tall. Think very highly of this man.
I think that there's going to be a lot in
store for this guy when he gets the coaching of
Austin Clark under his belt and gets all of his

(10:06):
technique and fundamentals down pat He's going to be dexter Lawrence.
I'm very confident in that he is a unique ball
of clay who kicked the crap out of the Chicago
Bears today.

Speaker 2 (10:16):
That rhymes.

Speaker 1 (10:17):
Jordan Phillips was showing exactly what I've seen all camp long.
Not a lot of pass, rush, wiggle and burst. But
they're playing him on the nose, which I can tell
you that now he's been lying up there a lot
in camp. But his ability to lock guys out with
the grip strength and then bully them with his pure strength,
and that just those massive shoulders and chest that he has,
he throws guys around. We saw that today. He was

(10:37):
really giving them fits from the nose in the run defense.
Like what a good backup for Benito Jones right away
and a guy that can push him down the road too.
Zeke Biggers was kind of like Zach Wilson, Feast or
Famin there for me, like some really good reps, some
reps where it's like, what the hell are you doing?
But when you have a seventh round rookie draft pick,
you grave the flashes in these preseason games, right and
he flashed to me in a big way. The player

(11:00):
that I've been talking about a lot, and I still
think there's something there, but I'm a little bit kind
of pulled back on that right now is Grayson Murphy.
And the reason for that is the arm length. I
thought it showed up a lot in today's game. And
by that, like he had the free run sack that
was great, but like you can scheme that up. His
get off is sensational, and you can tell how much
he relies upon that get off because he tries to

(11:22):
time up the snap pretty much every single play and
it cost him big five yards down the red zone
after they got the bars push back after a couple
negative plays, he goes over the line before the snap
and cost them five yards because he has to win
around the edge with speed because he doesn't have the
length to be able to kind of redirect and use
a secondary move excuse me, a secondary move to get
around that tackle and find his way to the quarterback.

(11:43):
So there's a lot of limitations that you have to
work with. I think you take the energy and the
burst and you can try to find a way to
use that as depth. But I think in terms of
like the long term prospects of being an elite rusher,
he's going to have to really develop some some different
types of power and things to overcome the lack of length.
There Ethan Bonner and Kendall Sheffield, two guys I wanted
to watch. With Kendall Sheffield, like, it's been a nice

(12:04):
story and everything, but I just haven't quite seen it
click for me just yet the way I think it
has for you know, some of the coaches and the staff.
But you know, that's why I do this, That's why
they do what they do, I guess, but I just
didn't really see it click today. He got trucked on
one running play and I thought the coverage wasn't great either,
But Ethan Bonner to me as a quick riser that
I would expect to continue to get more reps. He
worked with the ones throughout the joint practices against the

(12:26):
Bears a little bit last week, and then we saw
him today. I thought, have the best play of the cornerbacks,
or the entire secondary for that matter. I broke this
down on Twitter and talked about in the postgame show.
But that play that Patrick mc morris scored the pick
on was Ethan Bonner doing a drill that is exactly
how they drill it in training camp practices or practices
in general the every day in Indy's the cornerbacks do
this drill where they they backpedal out of their stands,

(12:48):
they drive downhill and they have either a bag or
a live coach a person there that they're supposed to
take their outside arm and basically throw it across the
face of the receiver to put your hand between their
hands and separate the catch point and disrupt their vision
their timing of the catch point. And that's what he did,
and the ball deflected off of his arm and went
straight up in the air and got picked off. If
you can do what your coaches teach you to do

(13:09):
on every single play, you're gonna find a way to
make big plays. Something else I wanted to see was
the safety depth and Patrick McMorris and Dante Trader and
Elijah Campbell. There was no Trader in the game today
because he's been fighting an injury, but Elijah Campbell was
in there and he got injured, and that we'll see
what happens with his long term prospects. But that was
I hated seeing that because Elija is a great dude
and has earned a right to compete for playing time

(13:30):
in the defense, but he gets banged up. And Patrick McMorris,
I didn't think it was a good game for him,
but he was Johnny on the spot for that pick.
So those are the things I wanted to see. We
can check off. I would say four or five of
the seven I have here. The other ones were came
up short. But it's a pretty good first start. Let's
go ahead and pause right here for our first break.
Come back on the other side and take another look

(13:50):
at the overall thoughts and storylines and the big moment
discussion here we'll talk about that who stood out and
who needs a chance to redeem themselves next week. All
of that more next Drift Time Podcast, brought to you
by Autoation. Oh Miami has the Dolphins. I'm just so
pumped to watch football.

Speaker 2 (14:08):
Man.

Speaker 1 (14:08):
It's been so long since we got to watch freaking football, brother,
and we got to see something today and it was
fun at the early start. The domination of the Bears
in the first quarter. Yeah, boy got off a nice
little tweet after all the shenanigans of Friday's practice and
the back and forth and the Bears reporters and the
Dolphins reporters and hey, you know, if you have a
new football practice before and you don't understand what thought

(14:29):
up means, that's fine, That's totally fine.

Speaker 2 (14:31):
But that's what it was.

Speaker 1 (14:32):
And I thought the Dolphins, you know, took the opportunity
to bounce back from that and show their worth and
show their metal.

Speaker 2 (14:37):
And I was.

Speaker 1 (14:37):
I was proud of what we saw today. My overall
thoughts and storylines and big moment discussion topic here for
segment two. The defense was dominant and I know that
they scored twenty four points and got some plays late
and you know, quinn Ewers had really bad ball security
on a sack fumble that put them in position for
an easy seven.

Speaker 2 (14:53):
So that changed the equation.

Speaker 1 (14:55):
The field goal at the end of the first half,
like there was triple zeros in the clock and home
he was in bound. So why does that happen? Don't know,
but it did. So if you take those ten points
off the board, to me, the defense allowed four ten,
fourteen points. No, not a math guy, but I think
that's right. So I thought the defense with that flying around,
that was the most important part. I don't really care
what the results in the yards and the score as

(15:15):
much they were flying around. They were playing with a
certain energy. Talked about Kenneth Grant retracing screens, guys getting
knocked back, you know, getting to the football with gang
tackles and putting their shoulders into guys and making tackles
in open space like Isaiah Johnson on that last drive
before his pass breakup. Like really really encouraging stuff from
a team that has this label of being soft and
not being you know, ready for the bright lights and

(15:36):
all that stuff like preseason game number one, But they
tackled really well in this game. They flew around the
field and showed what they were about under coach Weaver,
and I'm really excited about what he can offer in
that regard. They had big punt returns, big kick returns,
good coverage on either side as well, like the special
teams was awesome.

Speaker 2 (15:51):
Now, I do think.

Speaker 1 (15:52):
The short yardage run game situation was what you're gonna
read about, you know, headlines and topics and all alike
from national, local and fans and everything that you see
out there. I can see that that being the headline there,
and I would just excuse me, I would just caution
to you know, try to take away and extrapolate too
much from that. I think the concept that they were
able to go out there and repeat it and get

(16:15):
those reps and effectively, you know, get success after that
first drive did not work with the Bears kind of
crash the edges and cut the backs down by the
ankles by you know, dent in the line of scrimmage,
not a lot of surge inside, but coming off that
edge and really finding a lack of connectivity off the
edge to allow those guys to scrape in there and
cut down ankles and get you know, body shots and

(16:35):
the running backs. To me, that's kind of where it happened.
But One of the things I really wanted to point out,
you know, from that entire situation with the short yardage,
you know, failures in the first quarter versus the execution
of it later in the game. One thing I saw
from a copy that was sent to me that's not
the broadcast copy, film copy, is that like every time

(16:56):
they would do that, they would run the ball down there.
Everybody was going crazy in the sideline and that was
the case for special teams, tackles and the defense making stops.
Like guys were celebrating each other in a big, big
way and they were so engaged. And me and Jus
were talking about this throughout the course of the broadcast,
Like Tua was on the sideline the entire game, and
he wasn't like talking to guys and goofing around. He
was locked in with what they were doing. And that

(17:17):
was like, we know it's Tua, but that was the
entire team. And the way they responded to those successful
runs after the first drive did not work out was
almost like, hey, coaches, got our back, Like he believes
in us in the situation we can be able to
overcome earlier failure in the game and get another chance
at it. And execute this time. And I thought that
was really cool to see with how they responded to

(17:39):
that and how, you know, coach put him in a
position to go execute that again. Because again that first
few series of plays, the first three run plays, the
Bears got penetration off the edge and we were able
to cut down the running backs in the backfield and
kind of get them short of the goal line, which
we have to find a way to overcome that. But
you did it within the same game and again twos
and threes and fours and all that stuff. It's preseason,

(17:59):
but the culture of your football team and the way
you build upon like no, let's go line it up
and do it again. I thought that was really really
impressive to see. And I'm excited to see how the
team responds in Detroit and how this entire trip can
galvanize them for multiple reasons. The Friday practice, the short
yard stuff, all of this stuff I think plays in
the benefit of the Miami Dolphins. And then something else
that was a pretty big topic to me was that

(18:21):
was I guess passed with flying colors for the first test.
We saw the reports of Jeremy Fowler ESPN reporters saying
the teams are checking on Tyreek Hill, and I don't
have anything to add to that report or any speculation
to that. But if that were the case, I mean,
how about the way your young receivers played today. I
would you know, first of all, I would tell you

(18:42):
if they moved Tyreek before the season start started, it
was scared of them, of Jesus out of me, to
take away what he does, to lift coverage, to take
away his explosiveness. I do tend to think Tyreek is
back to like twenty twenty two motivation, which if that's
the case, I kind of want to see that play out.
But you saw a lot today from the guys behind

(19:03):
Walla Like Malik Washington can beat one on one coverage
in the slot. D S.

Speaker 2 (19:07):
Gridge can be a reliable, you know, role player if.

Speaker 1 (19:10):
You're trying to replicate what Tyreek Hill does, like it's
not the same player, but Taj Washington can give you
fifteen steps a game where he's pretty explosive. It's not
gonna be the sixty snaps of game of the two hundredard games.
But if I need a guy to lift coverage and
you know, catch tough balls on corner, routes and down
the post like it looks like Toage can do that,
and he mighte some moves in open space with the
football in his hands.

Speaker 2 (19:28):
That made me think about that too.

Speaker 1 (19:29):
I just think that there's a pretty interesting timing element
here to that report and the way these guys played
after a good camp from Eskridge, from the league, from Taj,
from Nick Westbrook, Akine and so on and so forth,
would Tyreek Hill for a cornerback one make this a
better football team. I kind of think it would, especially
with how this team can run the football and the

(19:50):
way you can reduce the need for the reps from
Tyreek Hill through how you run the ball and the
Dolphins today, I mean, look at two his reps. I
mean all of his throwers were in short yardage. The
entire first drive was in third and four, third and three,
Like that's if you're there all date, You're not gonna
stop too. He's too quick with the processing and the
way he can get the ball out quickly, like there's
no true you know, drop back passing those situations. That's

(20:11):
why the running game is so important. If you can
marry that with Tua's game, good good luck, good luck,
stopping that, and so I can see this idea behind this,
you know, all of a sudden, this four deep stable
of running backs where like we're a run first team
and our quarterback is kind of like Drew Breed was
for that twenty seventeen Saints team, where it's like we
got him when we need him, but we're gonna run
the ball first, and we need a third down conversion.

(20:32):
We'll go ahead and let two get that done for us.
But if you have that, like you don't need more
than Michael Thomas, and you know, Jaylen Waddles, but I
receiver than Michael Thomas was. But like, I just it's
interesting to me, interesting timing with how those guys played
today in that report coming out. Also something else that's
though out to me. The coverage and returns teams were fantastic.
I mean, here's here's the twelve plays of kicking punt

(20:54):
returns that I have listed. Jason Sanders kickoff stopped at
the twenty five yard line, which the new touchback place
as a thirty five So a ten yard win there, right,
Malak Washington nineteen yard punt return, DS Gridge sixteen yard
punt return, Sanders kickoff stopped at the twenty one yard line.
DS Gridge returned to the forty two yard line. Jason
Sanders kickoff stopped the twenty two yard line. Fifty yard

(21:16):
net punt by Jake Bailey, forty one yard net punt
by Ryan Stonehouse. Eric Azukama kickoff returned to the forty
nine yard line. Jason Sanders illegal kick. That's one loss.
Aj Henning kick return to the forty four yard line.
Eleven and one on twelve special teams plays. When was
the last time you heard that from a Dolphins team?

(21:37):
If this team of the last three years, and I'll
go back pre twenty four, because twenty four stocked in
every way, twenty three and twenty two teams, if they
had that special teams, you win the division in twenty
three and in twenty two you're pretty close to you
know you're gonna win more than nine games. I can
tell you that much, because special teams was a problem
in twenty two and twenty three. If you can get
that going forward, I'm very excited about what Craig Gockerman

(21:58):
offers to this football team. I loved, loved, loved the
commitment to run the football from the two yard line
and in again. Didn't work the first time, but it
did the second and third time. In the fourth time,
hammer that thing in there. Establish who you want to be.
I think it's a great start to put that stuff
on tape and then you can play your play actual
game off that as well, and to continue the special

(22:20):
teams thing which I forgot to put back in here.
Jason was perfect on the day, including a fifty seven
yard field goal tie the game in the fourth quarter.
Steady as she goes, Let's talk about some stats here
before he finished up with the standouts and the looking
forward to next week. Players twenty two first downs for
the Bears, sixteen for the Dolphins, but Miami had six
when the Bears had none, so that's more important to me.
Miami was seven for sixteen on third down, Chicago was

(22:40):
six for fourteen. We were two for five on fourth down.
They were one for four. The Bears did out gain
US two ninety five to two seventy two, which is
two hundred and five passing yards and ninety rushing yards
for the Bears, one seventy one through the air and
one on one on the ground from Miami. We had
two turnovers. They had one We were sacked six times.
They were sacked three times. We had ten penalties for
sixty eight yards. The Bears had seven for forty one yards,

(23:01):
and they had the ball for thirty three minutes and
ten seconds. Some individuals stat lines I think are worth
pointing out here two of five for six twenty seven yards.
Nothing special, but I thought he was on point with
the football. Had the one throat to d s Gridge.
His one miss I thought was open, but he missed
it with good location, could have had.

Speaker 2 (23:16):
A big play there.

Speaker 1 (23:17):
Ollie Gordon was eight for thirty three in a touchdown.
Devon a Chan was three for twenty two, which I thought.
Devon ran the ball really really well. Talk about him
here more. In a second Taj had three for fifty three,
Ollie Gordon had one for thirty nine, Nwi had one
for thirty five and Madison had one for twenty one,
a big conversion in that spot as well, and on
League four for eighteen, but two of those were first down,
so like he did his job as well. And then defensively,

(23:40):
what do we have here? Anybody had big days defensive
LYA kJ Britt had six total tackles, so did Chang Tyndall,
Takwan Jackson had five Storm Duck had four tackles. Of course,
Patrick McMorris had the pick, and then McLendon had a sack.
Grayce and Murphy had a sack, and then Willie Gay
and Benito Jones split the one se I thought that
was Billy Gay sack, but we'll give it to Benino. Well,

(24:00):
so there you go. Let's go ahead and take our
last break. Come back on the other side. We're gonna
do standouts and stand downs. Guys are looking forward to
the game next week. All of that next Draft Time
podcast brought to you by Autoation. The individual standouts from
pre season Week one, twenty four. Twenty four Dolphins tie
the Chicago Bears. I'm going in order of position here
or maybe not. Devon Hchen I thought ran out standing.

(24:23):
I just loved it. His physical running style today was impressive.
He got behind his pads and kind of powered through
some tackles. I also thought the way he was able
to get to like the inflection point and then cut
off the butt of the offensive lineman. He made good
quick decisions and found those small creases and finished his runs.

Speaker 2 (24:39):
Loved it.

Speaker 1 (24:39):
I thought Aaron Brewer was awesome. He was moving bodies,
getting out in space, catching some pieces out beyond the numbers.
What he does best, he's back baby. Tua had the
one miss, but those throws to Malik Washington were so
nice on the outs, on those third and shorts. You know,
in this offense, Tyreek and Waddell, you should get a
lot of those one on one looks to guys, to
other players, and if you're in third manageable, gonna be
tough to stop.

Speaker 2 (24:59):
To that point.

Speaker 1 (25:00):
Malik Washington looking like he did, you know, would unlock
so much in this offense. I just love how he blocks,
how he finishes his runs. That pop pass that he
caught should have been a loss, but he turned it
up the corner and got positive yards out of that
between him Eskridge, I'm a pretty big fan of our
return guys we have too. We have two really good
return men and Azukoma had a big one too. Taj

(25:21):
Washington that stop on a dime stuff after the catch,
that'll play. He also made that tough catch in a
ball that was too wide for him that I think
Tua would have liked to have had back for a
better throw, but Taj made a good catch. And got open.
He played great today, Patrick Paul. He had a crash
down on the front side rather the backside of the
Alexander Madison touchdown run that was really nice, kind of
wiped out that space for him to find space for

(25:41):
the touchdown. And then Daniels and Brewer, they both had
a nice combination block on that first Madison touchdown run
that should have been a touchdown but wasn't, and they
also washed things down on another Devon eight chan run.
Jalen Wright. His touchdown run was that slashing linear speed
that I kind of fell in love with last year
and his college tape that kind of went by the
boards a little bit for a while, but it was
It's nice to see him get his bread and butter

(26:02):
back in space here. Speaking of alex Madison, you know,
going back to him, I think he was in on
that second down run which looked impossible, but the way
he can kind of knife through that traffic in close quarters,
and the way he's running like our inside run game
duo an inside zone otherwise like in other parts of
the field, I think he's on the roster man like
he's been too good. He had a really rough Friday
practice three fumbles in that practice, but other practices and

(26:25):
the way he ran today. Of course, he exits with
an injury and McDaniel said it was a neck and
shoulder soreness situation. So hopefully he'll be okay, whether it's
sooner or later. But the nice thing about this running
back room is that if it's gonna be a couple
of weeks, we have the guys to pick up the
slack there until he gets back. But I think that
he has a fit on this football team. And speaking
of that, Alli Gordon man not just this year, but

(26:49):
like down the road, I think this team has some
tough decisions to make at the running back position. Ali Gordon.
It took one play to see it with him right.
His first run was a twenty one yard rip where
he broke tackles and spun off guys and ran away
from the defense. Then he had that second where he
had options, but he chose to just burrow north and
south and get two yards. It looked like on the
broadcast he had room off the right side of the
formation to like maybe bounce it and look for the

(27:09):
big play, but you could see there was a linebacker
kind of scraping over the top of that outside the
edge that they had sealed, and I think all he
saw that and made a decision like I'm just gonna
go forward and get two yards. And again, if you
put tu in second and eight compared to second and twelve,
it changes the entire equation for him. And that's how
you go from you know, third and seven to third

(27:30):
and four. And what a huge difference that is. That
allows you on that next play to check it down
to Madison for a first down, the fourth down catch
on the final drive from him, like he just is
so unbothered by contact. You know, at any stage of
the play there was two defenders there ready to put
a pop on him. He catches it and takes off
for thirty nine more yards. Whatever it was, Madison caught
the ball well, those short yards runs, the ones backed

(27:51):
up the north south conviction, I think it plays. I
hope he's okay because he was a big part of
that game.

Speaker 2 (27:55):
Today. I'm kind of double dipping on that comment.

Speaker 1 (27:57):
That commentary there, Braden Daniels, go watch all these I
thought there was two where he was the one opening
up the lane and the key block for him. He
was probably the next guy besides Daniel brunskill that I
should have mentioned back in segment one. I thought he
had a pretty good game. And then aj Henning another
big kickoff return, makes a really nice catch on a
ball well above his head from Quinn Ewers, who was
a bit scattershot in this game. Those are the offensive standouts. Defensively,

(28:18):
Kenneth Grant is the real deal. Retrace, knock back, pass rush,
bowling guys over pause up, knocking down footballs. I thought
you saw everything you wanted to see from him. And
just wait until Austin Clark has a few months with
the big fellow joining the Pro tool for six months,
I'll teach you how to put and to make some
real money.

Speaker 2 (28:34):
No, no challenge.

Speaker 1 (28:35):
I gotta make some money now, Like Kenny g is
going to be an absolute problem when Austin Clark has
done with him. Jordan Brooks and Tyrell Dotson. That coverage
rep from Brooks was outstanding and then t dot coming
downhill running through the tackle on third and long and
the checkdown was beautiful, especially after this the scuffle they
had on Friday.

Speaker 2 (28:51):
Love to see it.

Speaker 1 (28:52):
kJ Britt special teams some hits on defense. Thought it
was a good showing from him and his Dolphins debut.
How about Willie gay Man. Let's talk about the way
this defense can after you with the way they pressure quarterbacks. Like,
my goodness, there are so many options. Willy had a
sack from the outside, a pressure from the inside. He
was impact in the running game. He looks like an
absolute fit in this defense. I'm so excited about what
he can do and the different pressures that this defense

(29:14):
can cook out. Because when we wanted to go into
his bag and kind of get after the offense, he
had it. I thought that the bears most success against
our soft coverage came. We called these vanilla defenses that
I don't think you're gonna see very often come September.
Derek McClendon. Oh, by the way, that running back twenty five.
How many times did Willy gay b Dan Dan Bain
to day, Dan Dan Bain to day he threw him

(29:36):
out of the club seventeen times. Derek McClendon can bend
Derek mcblendon. He's got my attention in camp so far,
and now he's got a really, really good game on
the books. He is a riser for me and someone
I'm gonna be keeping a closer eye on this week
in Detroit, Cam Good made a great special teams tackle
after a pump block in practice. And how about Jackie Jones,
Jack Jack Jeck boy, he did it too, man that

(29:56):
play getting off of a block on the screen for
a tackle. I thought the pick was way tiki tak
and they should not have thrown a flag on that,
but it still was on tape and still an indication
of his ball skills and the way he can kind
of disrupt guys you know down the field. Don't try
your fifty fifty balls because Jack Jones, it's ninety ten
when you throw it to him. He also saves seven
points playing the edge against a play action play down

(30:16):
in a low red zone where he has the curl
flat which is like the five to seven yard zone
out in space out beyond the numbers, but also a
downhill against like throws to the flat, which you guys
know what that is. But he took that responsibility. There
was nobody in his zone, so he sunk back into
the end zone and picks up this crossing route from
the backside of the formation and breaks it up for
an incomplete pass on fourth down. It's a seven point play.

(30:37):
That he saves because of really good awareness. Jack Jones,
He's cornerback one. Not even a question in my mind
about it. Even though he's put up the twos and threes.
Today he's gonna rise up and all ras up. Ethan Bonner.
That textbook rep I broke down was awesome. I think
he's also a Hourrahs upper on this depth chart. Matthew
Dickerson was whipping dudes.

Speaker 2 (30:54):
Man.

Speaker 1 (30:54):
That bull rush run stuff in the backfield after the
viewers play was just grown man's strength.

Speaker 2 (30:58):
He showed that all day long.

Speaker 1 (31:00):
I think he's giving you options on the interior defensive line,
just like Jordan Phillips's the stellmate pass rush reps. But
you can see his activity the way he was shocking guys,
the hand usage. Lots to like about that tape. And
then Isaiah Johnson the great tackle in space on that
Bears attempted winning drive and then also a great pass
breakup on the fourth down play to get the defense
off the field there and my go get him next time, guys.

(31:21):
I had Jonah in here, but I thought he improved,
but he had a couple of bad blocks and kind
of got overwhelmed a couple of times. There were some
really good pass pro reps where he just locked guys out, though,
so I thought that there was started bad, finished better
for Jonas of Viat Andaya. I thought Julian Hill and
the edge blocking game that were on the goal line
and general was pretty bad.

Speaker 2 (31:37):
Thought.

Speaker 1 (31:38):
Larry Boram struggled both of his drives, some negative runs
due to his blocks. The second team pass rush didn't
get much going in the second quarter. I thought Grays
and Murphy had a very slow start. Had the free
run sack, but that off sides as a backbreaker, and
he again he has to go with that speed because
the length deficiency there. The second team secondary I thought
wasn't super sharp. Lots of space in the passing game

(31:58):
for the Bears offense in those spots. Zach had those
two short hot throws, bad field vision, bad sacks, almost
threw a pick six. Pretty bad debut here for Zach Wilson.
Chang Tendall made up for some woes earlier in the
game with some late plays, but there was he took
a back door on a play where he had the
outside edge.

Speaker 2 (32:13):
You cannot do that.

Speaker 1 (32:14):
Had some bad coverage snaps, but up and down day
for Chang Tendall. John Saunders had a rough rep mixed
with some good stuff as well. He got ran off
on one play on a big explosive Bears run. Keon
got destroyed on that quinn Ewers fumble. Jermaina Fetti got
beat pretty bad. I thought he and Keon both had
rough days which were tackle was obviously quinn Ewers was
five for eighteen, had a bad ball to start the day.

(32:36):
Put some balls in some good spots and tight traffic,
but there was no separation, but kind of got caught
flat footed a couple times, missed some targets, just wasn't
very sharp in the day. Chris Myrick, you know, he
ruined a really well blocked play in the first half
that would have been explosive had he not you know,
lost his matchup. Let's see and then cover just had
too much space and JOm on the backside. But I
think you kind of saw the haves and the have nots.

(32:56):
Like right now, I feel pretty good about Jack Jones,
Mike Hilton, Ethan Bonner, and Storm Duck. Beyond that, I
think there's some questions. I think probably gonna get some
you know, some movement there down the road. My five
takeaways despite a dominant first quarter, which is what you
want to see. By the way, eight first downs to
no first downs, one hundred and four yards to eight yards.
That's what you always want to see, but you also

(33:17):
know what you need to work on in the short yardage.
But I love they stuck with it and kept running it.
So this team wants to be physical, wants to be mean,
and I thought that was a big takeaway today. Takeaway
number two smothering defense. Different pressure looks good, tackling was
the same on teams early flying around the tone check
was what I thought you needed to see. Between that
and special teams, I think you learned a lot about
this team coming off that Friday practice, even if the

(33:39):
short yardage wasn't ideally what you want to see. Willie
Gay playing multiple alignments, I thought that was awesome. Ethan
Bonner's teach tape. They continue to hit and fly around McClendon,
Jack Jones, the sim pressure on the case Keenum third
down late in the fourth quarter. My biggest thing I
wanted to see today was this team play with some juice,
some urgency, and I felt like they really did. Then
there's the scheme again. The mugged up looks, the sim

(34:00):
pressures that caused pressure on the quarterbacks. Like I think
there was some let's just play with vanilla and let
this let us play out win some matchup stuff.

Speaker 2 (34:07):
When they schemed it.

Speaker 1 (34:07):
Up, it was very effective receiver death depth if you
wanted to facilitate a trade for Tyreek Hill, if that's
what you're looking at doing, I don't know, but if
you do, I think you've learned about this group. Taj
nw I, Malik, d S Gridge all had big games.
Number four. The running back room was freaking nice.

Speaker 2 (34:23):
Dude.

Speaker 1 (34:23):
All four of them had good games with flashes. All
showed what makes them special. Madison's injury is a bummer,
but I think he's shown you a lot over the
last month. And the number five, I just wanted to
shout out all the young guys who I thought would
would you know who I think will play big roles
this year and played well today. Jonah up and down,
but by and large the ending was nice to see.
Patrick Paul I thought played well. Kenny g was awesome,

(34:44):
Zeke Biggers up and down as well, but some really
good flashes there. Jalen Wright TOAJ Washington, Malik Washington, Jordan
Phillips all showed out today.

Speaker 2 (34:51):
So there you go. That's the podcast.

Speaker 1 (34:53):
We have another road trip up to Detroit Monday tomorrow.
We're gonna have the omissions and tape review podcasts as
well as what to watch for in Detroit. Opening that
to you probably on Monday evening, maybe Tuesday morning, we'll see.

Speaker 2 (35:03):
Tuesday we're off.

Speaker 1 (35:04):
It's a walk through practice and then we'll have joint
practice coverage on Wednesday and Thursday. Off again Friday, and
then back on Saturday for a game recap in Detroit.
Until then, you all please be sure subscribe, rate, review
the show, follow me on social at weak Play NFL.

Speaker 2 (35:16):
The team at Miami Dolphins.

Speaker 1 (35:18):
Check out the YouTube channel for Dolphins HQ, Draft time content,
media availabilities, and so much more. And last butt not
least Miami Dolphins Dot car Until next time, PUDs Up,
Caroline Caroen and Willow Daddy.

Speaker 2 (35:27):
He's already helped
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