October 16, 2025 • 32 mins
A new week in the NFL brings the Dolphins to Cleveland for a matchup of 1-5 teams. Travis takes you through everything you need to know for this game from the personnel to the schematics.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is Drivetime with Travis Wingfield. He's my hands in
the playoffs.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
What is up Dolphins? And welcome to the Draft Time Podcast.
I am your host, Travis Wingfield. And on today's show,
it is preview day. We take a look at the weeks,
have a matchup in Cleveland from the Baptist Hill Studios
inside the Baptist Health Training Complex.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
This is the Draft Time Podcast. Maybe gaffe.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Cleveland Brown's Week number seven. We did the show, we
did the pick for the Thursday night game on the
Wednesday show. We took the Steelers on Thursday Night Football.
And that's the team that we just saw our week's
have an opponent lose to last week, the Cleveland Browns.
My first note here is this game, right, I mean
it's yeah, let's do the intro here for the Cleveland Browns.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
It's been a rough, rough go for them.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
And you know, I really dislike when the Dolphins get
lumped into the Browns and Jets and like raiders of
it all, because yeah, I know we're frustrated. It's been tough,
but it's not been that bad, right because Cleveland, what
have they had to go back on? You might say
they had a playoff win in twenty twenty.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
Who cares? Who cares?
Speaker 2 (01:18):
One playoff win does not undo years of three and
four and five wins. Right, They did pop up for
a couple of years, but it really shakes down to
pre and post Baker Mayfield in terms of their success.
And quite frankly, this is instructive in terms of quarterbacks
and the scouting process. And if you're gonna bring a
quarterback into your building, no matter how talented he is,
(01:39):
you better have the structure and the functionality to be
able to foster his development because if you don't, he's
gonna wind up going somewhere else and making some other
franchise very very happy. Because the Browns, well, they've been
a factory of sadness since they returned to the NFL
as an expansion team following the move to Baltimore in
the late nineties. Baker Mayfield arrives instant. Juice Right, I
(02:00):
will never forget his first game. Your boy was a
huge Baker Mayfield fan. In fact, that twenty eighteen draft
class remains my Coop de graus to this day. Right
said that Allen and Lamar and Baker were franchise quarterbacks
and didn't feel that way about Donald and Rosen I
was wrong about Donald, ultimately right for a long time,
but maybe a little bit too early on him.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
Anyway.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
His first game Week three, Thursday Night Football against Sam
Donald's Jets, and I loved love watching those Donald led
Jets teams lose games like I still do, but those
ones were particularly fun because everyone thought the Jets had
their guy at that point. But the Jets come out
and they score two touchdowns, take a big lead, and
they make the switch Tyrod Taylor right to Baker Mayfield
(02:42):
and he brings them back for the win. And they
win seven games that year despite being not a great
football team, and that was more than double the total
they had the previous three years combined three wins, one
win and zero wins. So they have expectations going in
the twenty nineteen. They don't meet them at six and ten,
but then they do right eleven and five and twenty
(03:03):
twenty first playoff win since the turn of the century
pushed the eventual conference champion Chiefs to the brink, although
Chada Heney played late in that game, but lose in
the divisional round. Then they get Odell Beckham Junior and
everyone thinks this team's going to the super Bowl, but
they again revert back and go eight to nine as
Baker Mayfield has a shoulder injury and they trade him
because his performance wasn't as good playing through a throwing
(03:25):
shoulder injury. In twenty twenty two, after agreeing to a
mega contract with Deshaun Watson, whoops, And I'm not a
religious man, but if I were to believe in a
higher power, it would have been this, like you know,
that would have made me think, like, you know, they're
kind of a fun, frisky team during the eleven game
Watson suspension in twenty two, then he takes over and
(03:48):
they stink. Then he stinks again in twenty thirteen, gets hurt,
and then they get good again, right with Joe Flacco
that year. Then they try out Deshaun Watson again twenty fourteen,
and he stinks. Sometimes sometimes karma does get things right.
They win seven eleven and then three games during that run.
And here they are with a rookie third round draft
(04:09):
pick and Dylan Gabriel backed up by fifth round rookie
Shader Sanders, and the core of this team is not bad.
The offensive line's aging, but it's the same characters you
know there David and Joku is there. They've got this
dynamic rookie runner in quin Shawn Judkins. Jerry Judy became
the number one receiver last year but hasn't really played
that way this year, and that position will probably be
their top priority outside the quarterback position this coming off season.
(04:32):
But that defense man it's been playing it's butt off.
Led by former top five picks Miles Garrett and Denzel Ward.
They look to have hit on Mason Graham and Carson Swashinger.
If they figure out that quarterback position here in the
near future, there are some happy times to look forward
to in Cleveland. But again, structurally, organizationally, how can you
support and develop and just be fundamentally sound for a quarterback.
(04:55):
That's the entire ethos of this entire business and game,
and part of that evalue of Dylan Gabriel. Part of
that is the evaluation I should say of Dylan Gabriel
here for Kevin Stefanski and staff, as far as their
depth chart goes at quarterback, we mentioned Gabriel and Sanders.
I mean, outside of New Orleans, it's tough to find
a less experience, less productive quarterback room than this. At
(05:16):
running back, I think Quinn Shawn Judkins is a future
stud in this league, if not already. Jerome Ford a
pretty good back as well. Dylan Samson the number three.
They've got some options there. At receiver, Jerry Judy, Isaiah Bond,
remember him, that's the number two receiver right now. And
then Corley the number three.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
I have that right yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
And then at tight end, Najoku is the top guy.
Harold Fannon, he starts with them as well. They have
they they're starting packages as twelve personnel, one back, two
tight ends. The left tackle is the one position on
the offensive line where it's not really like solved, I
suppose or do you don't know the answer to who
that player should be. It's Kt Levenston, and I don't
really know much about his game. We'll talk about they
(05:54):
hear in one second. The right tackle is Jack Conklin.
He's been around for a million years. They do have
Cam Robinson as a swing tackle, but he's been the
backup here lately.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
And then on the.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
Interior Joel Buttonio, Ethan Posseck and right guard Wyatt Teller.
Those three guys have been in the league for a while.
Possick was a free agent of this from the Seahawks
who came over a couple of years ago. But they've
been very good down the middle for a long time
there in Cleveland, went healthy and right now they're all healthy.
Maliite Collins is the number two defensive tackle along with
Mason Graham. Shelby Harris is there still getting it done,
(06:24):
Miles Garrett, Isaiah McGuire and Cam Thomas. So if you're gonna,
you know, face this Brown's pass rush, it's really that
the two defensive tackles and Miles Garrett and then you're
gonna have to win the one on one somewhere else.
Which makes me think Larry Boram might have himself a
pretty big matchup this week. So imagine it's going to
be a lot of Larry Boram versus Isaiah McGuire or
Cam Thomas. Not like Larry in that matchup because Larry Boram,
(06:45):
despite folks trying to confirm priors on that guy, has
played well this year. Linebacker Carson Swashinger, Devin Bush, and
Jerome Baker's number three there, Denzel Ward, the cornerback is
the man that stirs the drink there. Tyson Campbell and
the nickelback is Miles hard That's kind of the sombrero.
That's where you want to go after. This defense is
that nickel position. Grant del Pitt and Ronnie Hickman of
(07:06):
the safeties, with Rayshawn Jenkins, the old veteran the number
three who also comes onto the field as a big
nickel safety at times. So the injuries, they have Deshaun
Watson and Jeremiah Owusu Koramoa, which was looking like the
next studded linebacker in this league.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
Both on IR.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
Slash Pup but he's got a serious neck injury that
he hasn't played football in quite a while from that injury,
so hopefully he gets well here soon. You heard Daniel
ol youa Fusi talk about Dewan Jones back on IR.
He's got his third injury in three seasons. Cedric Tillman
and DeAndre Carter. Tilman was a starter for the team
at receiver, but he's out and then Martin Emerson's also
down with injury. They're a little bit light at offensive
(07:43):
tackle and at receiver with those injuries. Again, Carter was
the number three. They are a two tight end team
and Jones was a left tackle sore and Tilman was
a starting receiver. So they're listening to some key spots
that are on the offense and that sort of informs
us on where to start with the Browns personnel. This
is a team that has built through the line. There
was a time where they were the best offensive line
in football year in and year out during the Baker
(08:05):
Mayfield era, and a lot of those names are still around,
but we are nearing the end of the line for
the mainstays Joel Buttonio Wyatt Teller, Jack Conklin, all thirty
one years of age or older, and injuries have cost
this group a lot of football games. But right now
they're healthy, and they have a pretty dynamic looking rookie
in the backfield there in Quinn Shawn Judkins. Then you
think about David Nijoku, who for me is a top
(08:26):
three tight end. Jerry Judy has number one chops, but
I don't think that he is meticulous enough in his
approach to sustain that consistently. But they're banged up across
the rest of the skills spots. And we'll talk about
the defense here in just one moment. Let's go ahead
and talk about the matchups when it comes to the
Browns offense. So this Brown's offense is averaging just over
(08:46):
fourteen points per game right now. They have not exceeded
eighteen points in a game this season. And we'll talk
about the quarterback here in one second, But look like,
you can't let this offense beat you. Cannot do it,
Cannot coach them, cannot play with them, cannot win with them.
Mike Singletary, I can remember that one. They're just not connected.
(09:09):
They lack weapons outside of a running back and a
tight end who are pretty good, and a decent receiver
in Jerry Jodi. They have a rookie quarterback who's just
to me, he's just not cut out for this level.
We talked to Aya Fuzi about it on the Wednesday show,
and he was talking about some of the pre draft
process and the way he really wowed the Browns with
the mental and the leadership capacity and just the overall presence.
(09:30):
But man, there's a baseline of traits in I think
our quarterback kind of pushes up against that right in
terms of the arm and.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
The movement ability.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
But if you're gonna be like that, you better be
the best in the league. Elsewhere, and that's where two
it was for two years the best in the league. Anticipation,
in accuracy and placement, all that stuff. For Dylan Gabriel,
we're not there yet. We're not close to being there yet.
And it really comes down to this for me, we
just haven't seen the Dolphins provide any resistance against any
of the interior offense linemen that we faced. And look,
(10:01):
the first four teams we played were really good in
that area. The Panthers and Chargers were both banged up
and they still got it going downhill on us. I mean,
I'm sure you guys saw the Brian Baldinger video by
now going around with the Dolphins run fits, and we
covered that on the Tuesday podcast. But when I watch
a combination of Joel Buttonio, Ethan Posik, and Wyatt Teller,
(10:21):
that's three seasoned, fundamentally sound veterans, and when I watch
them on tape, there's a natural nonverbal mode of communication
in terms of assignments and landmarks, paired with three guys
whose feet never stop moving. They take the proper footwork
approach in their blocks, and they play with a good
pad level. That's a long winded way of saying, unless
we drastically change who we are from these first six games,
(10:45):
how can I expect anything besides getting punched in the
mouth at the point of attack on defense? It's happened
to every game Kamani VII. Doll Man, that thirty eight
yard run that he had was more than he had
in a single game in the rest of his career.
Like I know, Rigo Dabdell made me the most freezing
cold take in the history of freezing cold takes after
how I covered that Panthers game. But like, he can't
(11:06):
keep doing this, man, there's not really a lot to
break down ken Zach Steeler, Can Kenneth Grant? Can Benito Jones?
Can Jordan Phillips? Can they fight fire with fire? Can
they dictate the terms? Can they get into their run
fits and create runs for the linebackers and the safeties
who quite frankly, you know, watching the tape on Tuesday,
like Ashton Davis, man, like there was some really really
(11:28):
questionable fits in that game. If they can do this
in this game, they'll win, because the Browns don't threaten
you in the passing game in any semblance. If you
can stop this running game, you'll win the game. Can
they I have to see it first. I think it's
that simple, and I think one way you can do that.
And he starts the games, but then he plays about
twenty two steps, don't I don't understand. I would like
(11:51):
to see more of Jordan Phillips. Travis Wingfield would like
to see more of Jordan Phillips because I think he's
been the best defensive tackle you've had this year. And
that might be an indictment on the rest of the room,
but Phillips consistently gets knocked back more than anybody else.
And yeah, he doesn't see the double teams as Zach
Seeler does, but in terms of the impact and how
we knock guys off the lads scrimmage, Jordan Phillips has
been the best one. It was actually quite a treat
(12:12):
to watch their offensive line on tape.
Speaker 1 (12:14):
The four I'm.
Speaker 2 (12:14):
Familiar with and uh played with good good feet, good
connection on doubles, good reads and win to detach. And
even the left tackle Katie Levenston, again not very familiar
with his game, but he showed good leg driving pad level.
So like off Bradley Chubb's edge buckle, the chin strap
man because if you're not ready for this guy, he'll
pop you in your mouth and you better bring your
(12:34):
pads when you tackle Quinn Shawn Judkins. If we go
in there Pattykking against him like we did Rico Daddle,
it's gonna turn ten yard runs into forty yard plays.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
All right, all right, I'm gonna no, I'm gonna tell
you so. Quit asking reason why I say. I reminds
Bandick Savan.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
He is a downhill force that runs with attitude, and
you'll need Jordan Brooks to be at his best. And
watching Jordan Brooks on tape right now, he just he's
trying to do so much because he has to. I mean,
I've seen this man have three way gos.
Speaker 1 (13:04):
Do I bang? Do I try to bang and get
off of this block?
Speaker 2 (13:06):
Do I try to run around the outside and kind
of scoop back in off of the kickout block? Or
do I try to go inside and try to back
door of this thing? And if I don't do it perfectly,
I'm gonna get be out of the fit Altogether. He's
really got not a lot he can do. But Judkins
smart physical runner, and it's a bad matchup for Tyreel Dotson.
(13:27):
But I do. I'm curious to see as Dotson's out
of the concussion protocol if we do see a Wally
Pip situation, because I thought kJ Britt played pretty good
in the game on Sunday. Now, their inability to find
the passing game has limited what they can do, and
that impacts your running game. The run game does allow
them to shorten games and try to beat you on defense.
It worked in the Packers game thanks to Packers' mistakes,
(13:47):
but it got a little bit better in the last
two weeks. But you cannot let this side of things
get going here. For the Browns offense, if they run
the ball like the other teams have, they're going to
beat you.
Speaker 1 (13:55):
It's that simple. Jerry Judy is not having the same
year he had last year. I think that's more of
a core thing.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
But your target share goes Judy thirty five, Dadjoku thirty
fan in twenty eight, Bond twenty one, not that bond.
They want to get it in those tight to the
tight ends and take matchups shots to Jerry Judy. That's
kind of how they view things. Offensively, I think both
are starting perimeter corners can match up well with him.
I think Jack Jones can get in his face and
frustrate him a little bit because they're both pretty high
(14:21):
strung players. That could be a fun matchup to watch.
And then Russell Douglass has been good, like he's just been.
This is a good show. Everybody loves Raymond. How did
that get in here? That's just a good show. Forty
year old virgin deep cut reference, remember that scene. But
I think he can reroute Jerry Judy and get him
off the stem. And then you've got to win your
one on ones against the other receivers. That's like the
(14:41):
same thing to stop in the run game. You cannot
let these other guys beat you, whether it's Bond or
James Bond or you know, gold Bond, whatever. But Najoku
is big, strong, good detail on his routes and rumbles
after the catch, which again, buckle your chin straps, boys,
buckle it up, buckaroos. He's the one I imagine you
want to get plenty of chips in on, but that
(15:01):
can also impact your ability to pass rush with Jalen
Phillips and Bradley Chubb and Chop Robinson. JP has been
progressing this season, and I think this matchup with Jack
Conklin is where they have to find their wins and
when they condense him inside to that three technique position,
because right now Chubb's pass rush and Chops pass rush
it's not been very effective.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
Man.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
I know that Chop Chubb has the sacks, but on
a down end, down out basis, Phillips has been pretty
pretty clearly the best one up front, and right now
he's trending in the best direction of all three by
a long shot. If Emla fan Wu or Ashton Davis,
I don't, I don't know who the hell's going to be.
Dante Trader, I guess walked up as a big nickel
on a Joku. I kind of feel like that's Mika
Fitzpatrick's role in this game, because he's I think he's
(15:39):
the only one that can do it and try to
cover in joku with man coverage. But that's probably where
you actually press in funnel trail technique into help and
just try to take away into Joku because if you
can do that, but also the player that presses up
can fit the run as well, then you might have
a chance to kind of throw this this offense out
of its rhythm. I'm not sure, but it seems he
seems to have the best physical pro file to match
(16:00):
up with him.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
If you Mela Fon with that, it is.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
But I think Mika is the best player to make
that matchup because if you played two snaps in the
last game, let's go ahead and pause for our first break.
Come back into the Browns defense on the other side.
That's next Drive Time podcast brought to you by Autnation.
I wanted to really go in hard there on the
brought to you by AutoNation for a friend of mine,
Leslie likes the way that we do that here on
(16:23):
the show, So shout out to Leslie. As for the
personnel on the Browns defense, I am very excited to
measure Patrick Paul's growth against Myles Garrett. We did a
full breakdown on that matchup for Dolphins HQ, and I
think it's a potential introduction to the world for Patrick Paul.
Although maybe you know, a platform of two to one
in five teams on a week seven game on the
(16:44):
shores of Lake Erie maybe not the best place for
that to happen. But if he performs well, you'll see
like Brandon Thorn and other O line gurus talking about him,
and I think he can do it. But I think
that's where this matchup starts, and maybe he even ends.
Because the left side of the Dolphins line is often
on an island. Pat and Jonah have pretty much been
put in one on one situations really all year long,
(17:06):
with two way goes against some very good rushers, and
I think that ultimately this year is going to be
a good baptism by fire for Jonah and Patrick. Paul's
hitting the ground running in that regard. But this week
they're going to get another dose of that with Miles
Garrett and the combination of Mason Graham and Elite Collins.
But Mason Graham's pass rush wiggle, it's the same as
it was at Michigan. It's carried over here to the Browns.
As a pro I think those elements are what will
(17:27):
dictate how the Dolphins offense goes in this game. And
Pat has excelled all year right. I can't really recall
more than a couple of snaps where he got beat
in a way that led to direct negative passing plays.
And he's got some you know, he's had some good
battles against some good players. Though nobody will challenge him
the way Miles Garrett will it's a fun stylistic battle
(17:48):
because they both have such insane raw ability and talent,
the sheer size and the movement skills.
Speaker 1 (17:54):
It's all unreal.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
And I think last year's matchup is a good example
where Pat needed to grow with some of the technique
and fundamentals, particularly in his hand placement and the punch.
If you're not intentional with your punch and you're not
meticulous in how you vary the way you throw it
and give Miles Garrett different looks, he's gonna swipe, he's
gonna swat, he's gonna redirect you, and he's gonna destroy you.
(18:15):
He's gonna end your world. Like this guy gets fourteen
sacks every year. Like if your eyes start on the
left tackle right end position in this matchup every single play,
that's probably how you should watch this game. Quite frankly,
I think pack and hold up. I really do think
he's got it in him to win this matchup on
Miles Garrett. I do think that Mason Graham's skill set
can challenge where Jonas ofvit Naya has struggled this year.
(18:37):
When he gets a little bit too much weight on
that outside post that left foot, that left knee gets
bending a little bit over the top and then a quick,
polished defensive tackle can dart across his face and he
can't recover in time to get back to the inside post.
I do think Jonah can take him for some rides
in the running game. That's been a strength of Jonahs
at times when he gets it right. And I think
Mason Graham is susceptible to that because of the size
(18:57):
discrepancy among those two players. But it'll be in narrative
to stay out of third lungs. It is every week, right,
but against this team it's really imperative because they love
to just play man coverage, re route and get home
with four and they can do it pretty well.
Speaker 1 (19:10):
Now.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
Coach did say Mike McDaniel on Wednesday, it's never one
person's responsibility to contain a guy like Miles Garrett. But
to his point, there will be reps where Pat is
tasked with that job. So fun to watch all around
how they game plan it and also how Pat just
matches up and you get your Jimmies and Joe's against
the Ex's and O's right, that's kind of how this
matchup goes. The Brown's got pieces up front, because if
(19:31):
it's not Graham, they'll get you with elite Collins, you know,
rushing over the other guard position with Cole Strange. Strange,
Brew and Bruke can only do so much to help
because the guard play. That's I think that's the biggest
challenge here is going to be finding your variety, finding
your ways to help with additional hats. That sort of
breeds into the twenty two personnel packages we talked about
throughout the course of the week here or twelve or
(19:52):
twenty one. Just multiple back and tight end sets, a
package that Dolphins have leaned into successfully last couple of weeks,
and the Browns they haven't. I've seen that grouping much
this year. Just nine plays against them in twenty two
personnel packages, which is almost half as the number of
times the Dolphins ran it just last week alone. So
if you want to add gaps, you want to give
Garrett more traffic to parse through, that's a good way
(20:12):
to do it. Just add pieces up front, add players there,
ad bodies. That's a departure from matchups, though more of
a scheme section. Conversation will come back to that here
in just a little bit but talking about the Browns
back seven here Denzel Ward. Danzel Ward is one of
the premier corners in the entire game, but as you
heard from Oyafusi, they do not travel him. They play
a lot of man coverage, and quite frankly, I think
(20:34):
Jalen is one of the best man cover beaters in
the National Football League. So I think he will get
some chances, particularly with how you can dictate matchups against
the defense that doesn't travel their corners. And for the record,
most teams don't travel their corners, and if they're going
to stay in that man coverage idea, you can get
Waller on crossers, or a chan or Waddle on digs
and daggers. You can get a chan wide. In the
(20:55):
screen game, we've seen them hit mess this year. We've
seen them hit the rail slide combo, you know, the
route up the sideline with the flat route across the
formation off of motion. I think the brown strength being
man coverage, is with the Dolphins offense is best equipped
to beat, so that'll be interesting. But Ward is in
that category of guys you probably try to ignore him.
(21:15):
I think if Miami can avoid turnovers in this game,
they'll win despite the defensive breakdown I talked about, and
there's there's no greater opportunity for takeaways than targeting wards.
So do you avoid him do you let him take
possibly Waddle out of plays.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (21:31):
It's gonna be an interesting dichotomy in terms of how
they approach that. But they did trade for Tyson Campbell,
who's a damn good player in his own right. But
I think the concept of playing man protects him a
lot to any potential communication bus because he's only been
there for a week right now, so that won't be easy.
But Waddle did get after Campbell a little bit in
past matchups against him with Jacksonville. One of the biggest
(21:52):
wild cards to watch in this game, Carson Swashinger, his
range and film study and beautiful flowing blonde hair. Just
kidd his presence in the middle of their coverages, whether
that's Tampa two drops playing the hook and cover three.
I think his ability to expand the defensive range in
the middle of the field where the Dolphins, I mean
(22:12):
we talked about on the show yesterday or was it
Tuesday podcast? Was they have gone away from the well
of throwing the football over the middle of the field.
In the intermediate portions of the field, that ten to
nineteen yard range between the numbers is where this offense lived,
and right now it's been not so productive. But he
could impact those throws in a way where that could be,
you know, force a high throw. We've seen that this
(22:34):
year with Tua trying to throw over the back or
under the safety and he saiales that thing. So if
that happens, you give Grant Delpit a room service pick
back there.
Speaker 1 (22:43):
You could lose this football game. Man.
Speaker 2 (22:45):
Now, when they go man, can he match with the
nuance of Darren Waller's route running?
Speaker 1 (22:49):
I don't think so.
Speaker 2 (22:49):
So again, I think trying to identify when they're in and
the man coverage looks and attacking that coverage accordingly is
kind of the way to go after this. But games
like this are funny, man, because one side of the
football is, like, there's really good football. The Dolphins offense
does a lot of things really well. The Browns defense
is really good. But on the other side, well, you
might set the sport back a couple of years scheme
calling cards Dolphins offense versus Browns defense. I got into
(23:11):
this a little bit, but honestly, we can go brief
here because it's actually pretty damn simple, and that's not
in disparaging tone whatsoever.
Speaker 1 (23:19):
Like you know, simple as one of two things in
this league.
Speaker 2 (23:22):
Either you're not very good and you had to simplest
pill it back simplistically to I guess make yourself less
not good less bad. I don't know either way, or
you're really good and you can just win that way
with again, Jimmy's and Joe's versus actually the nose, but
for the Browns it's the latter. They're they're really good.
You've got the best pass rusher in the game. Michael
(23:44):
Parsons is the only person I will hear an argument
for against Miles Garrett, and quite frankly, I probably take
Parsons whether it's Micah Parsons or Mockel Parson, and I
think he's the best pass rusher, but Miles Garrett is
either better or right there and one of the best
cover So play man, don't blitz and just win your matchups.
Speaker 1 (24:02):
It's basically it.
Speaker 2 (24:03):
And Jim Schwartz like he's aggressive, he's blitz in the past,
but he knows what he has. He's a smart fella.
They play the most man free, which is single high safety.
He's man across the board with everybody else as anybody.
And of course the most common wrinkle off of that,
or the look off of that, is cover three with
three deep third defenders usually a post safety off that
cover one look and then your two corners get depth
(24:24):
and co you know, played the deep third coverage responsibility
there with zone underneath, and they can combo those into hybrids.
But by and large, this is the opposite of last week,
where Tua needs to be sharp with his processing after
the snap right, and I thought he did a good
job with that against the Chargers, despite you know, three picks,
and really one of them was his fault and that
one was just a bad throw and he was late
in my opinion. But to me, this week, what you
(24:45):
see is what you get. They're going to show you
the look and they're going to stay in that look.
But I'm intrigued by how he plays because sometimes when
you get that approach, you have to throw guys open,
and I don't think it's something to a cannot do,
but it's not what he usually does do rhythm timing
thrower right, which I think is far a far more
impressive skill quite frankly, and with zone coverage being like
(25:06):
eighty percent of the league nowadays, you want to be
better in that regard. But sometimes you just need to
rip a back shoulder throw with ultimate trust and tight coverage,
and we'll see if that can happen this week. As
far as the Dolphins defense against the Browns offense, let's
actually go ahead and pause for our last break, come
back and do that the quarterback matchup, what's at stake,
three keys, and the prediction here. That's all next Draft
(25:27):
Time Podcast, brought to you by Donation.
Speaker 1 (25:34):
Right, we're back.
Speaker 2 (25:35):
We left off talking about the scheme calling cards for
the Browns defense versus the Dolphins offense. Let's go ahead
and flip that script here and talk about this Cleveland
Browns offense. It's the same principle here with the outside
zone scheme, but they do have a nice change up
with their inside zone game with Quinn Shawn Judkins and
some more power stuff. They'll run some counter and work
the screen game off of that as well. They love
to get you with their misdirections. So for Miami I discipline,
(25:59):
you know, on top of where the run fits are
right now is to me gonna be a big area
of concern to get that stuff buttoned up, and then
from there they'll try to get to a lot of
their play pass game, and they love to incorporate the
RPO off of Dylan Gabriel's skill set and try to
make some designed easy reads and throws for him. If
you can shut down the early runs, it forced them
to play left handed and go more true drop back game,
(26:21):
and their comfort level doing that versus the run game
play pass stuff is vastly, vastly different. Which I know
that that's kind of like a John Madden football but
one on one type of like breakdown, But it's the truth.
If you can force this quarterback into difficult situations where
he has to read things out and trust his protection
and keep his eyes downfield, you're going to destroy him.
Speaker 1 (26:40):
But can you get to that? I don't know. Now,
don't get it twisted.
Speaker 2 (26:44):
They do have those power packages to fall back on,
and the zone stuff is not working novel concept, I know,
but it's a nice change up to be able to
adapt your stuff mid game when you can't get connected
on the outside zone game, to just line up and
play football and run it down someone's throat and they
have the personnel to do it. They run eleven personnel
only thirty seven percent of the time, one of the
lowest rates in the National Football League. Their twelve personnel
(27:04):
packaging is a ran fifty one percent of the time.
That's one of the highest rates for that grouping. And
they run five percent thirteen personnel. That's the only one
that has more than one percent usage across the rest
of their team. So it's twelve personnel change up seven
eleven personnel for this offense. They want to play heavy.
Najoku and Fannin start the game, and they sprinkle in
(27:25):
a third tight end for heavy usage and in this
case filling in for the injury. His name is Blake Whiteheart,
a player that I had not heard of before this
podcast and watched a few of his reps on film.
All right, I guess. And they love to put the
ball in the air. From those run centric formations, Harold
Fannin gets open a lot off of play action, and
then Nadjoku is their matchup maker.
Speaker 1 (27:45):
Fannon might be.
Speaker 2 (27:46):
Another guy that I missed on draft wise. I didn't
see it, but he is balling right now, so you know,
good for him. Tough rack at this draft stuff. Their
best player on that side of the ball, in my opinion,
is Najoku. But they'll get you into your base package,
run it at you, on it wide, and then start
pulling it back and throwing short crossers, which again, if
you can't stop the run, they're gonna make it look silly.
(28:06):
My Dylan Gabriel scouting report was not great. I thought
he was lacking any traits that would wow you, with
limited upside for growth due to a college football career
longer than that of Van Wilder's, where his greatest success
was being twenty four years old playing against you know,
eighteen year olds. He's a third round rookie making his
(28:27):
third career start. His strength lies in the amount of
football he saw there at Oregon and in college he
had the organ playbook down to a PhD level because
twenty four years old, like, you better do that. But
he would distribute the ball to a bunch of elite
athletes in college and that hasn't translated yet to the NFL,
and he got walloped versus the Steelers because hey, NFL
coverages are tough, and you are outmatched with your skill
players at this level when you play for a team
(28:48):
that has the receiving core they do, and he kept
having to be helped off the ground. I mean, he's
probably gonna be filling it all week long. I think
that was that's going to be the progression of him
trying to get comfortable and then offense and playing on
time and in rhythm, and I don't think it's gonna
happen for him this year. Quite frankly, I think the
defense could find some similar things here in the passing
game with how they how they attack this guy from
(29:11):
last week, because it's your opportunity is there to get
after him our quarterback if you can. If we can
protect to a well, I think he can have a
big game here. But we need to run the football
to create those situations, and more of those heavy groupings
with max protection can also accomplish that too. I think
the key here for two of this week is going
to be those man cover reps where they've covered us
up and the pocket starts.
Speaker 1 (29:31):
To close in. What is he doing those moments?
Speaker 2 (29:33):
Are we taking sacks and kind of getting heavy footed
and clicking the heels together and just kind of turtling
against the pressure. Are we forcing it down the field
and taking chances if those things happen, it would be
a long day, obviously, But if he can create the
way he did in the Buffalo game or the Jets
game and got out of the pocket and made plays
that way, that I think he could really rip it
up this game. But we'll see which one we get
special teams and miscellaneous. I don't get anything for you, guys.
(29:55):
The kicker and the punter have been solid. I know
Patis have missed a fifty seven yard field goal on Sunday,
but whatever. But they do have top five field position
on kickoffs and kick return so that's hey, hey, Stu,
that is cool.
Speaker 1 (30:07):
What's at stake? Nothing keys to victory.
Speaker 2 (30:09):
Number one fit the run down in and down out
like it's gotta be better. Doesn't matter who you're playing.
This isn't even a Browns thing at this point. Just
fit the freaking run better. Number two beat man coverage
on the outside. They're gonna call it. Your only way
to get him out of it is to beat him
with it. And Jalen Wattle, who's been ballin' I think
can do the same thing in this game. And number
three creating outside of the offensive structure because I just
think with the way they're gonna play coverage and zone
(30:31):
drop against this offensive attack, I think two was gonna
have to find a way against four man rushes to
extend and beat you, which, for you know, that might
not be the best way forward, but in this game,
I think it is my prediction. I don't know, man,
I don't know. The Dolphins are the better team by
a lot in my opinion, especially at the quarterback position,
which usually is the decider. But this fundamental flaw the
(30:51):
Dolphins have right now is a total non starter. The
inability to win the point of attack on defense and
properly fit the run like you can't I total a
videographer here. It's like you can have the best video
editor who's a great shooter, and you can put them
out on the field Sunday, but if you don't give
them a damn camera, nothing's going to matter. And that's
where we're at right now. Let's run defense. They need
to have their camera and against this group in this
powerful back and the tackling on the back end outside
(31:13):
of Minka Fitzpatrick, I think there's no reason to expect
them to run for less than two hundred yards and
then it'll make the offense have to make a late
drive in the game and true driveback situations, and we
see how that goes too many times this year. So
I'm gonna go Cleveland twenty Miami sixteen. You all please
be sure subscribe to the podcast, Leave us a rating,
leave us a review. You can follow me on social
at Minklin NFL, the team at Miami Dolphins. Check out
(31:35):
the YouTube channel for Dolphins HQ, Media availabilities and so
much more, and last but not least, Miami Dolphins dot Com.
Until next time, Caroline Cameron and Willow Daddy just coming
out
This is Drivetime with Travis Wingfield. He's my hands in
the playoffs.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
What is up Dolphins? And welcome to the Draft Time Podcast.
I am your host, Travis Wingfield. And on today's show,
it is preview day. We take a look at the weeks,
have a matchup in Cleveland from the Baptist Hill Studios
inside the Baptist Health Training Complex.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
This is the Draft Time Podcast. Maybe gaffe.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Cleveland Brown's Week number seven. We did the show, we
did the pick for the Thursday night game on the
Wednesday show. We took the Steelers on Thursday Night Football.
And that's the team that we just saw our week's
have an opponent lose to last week, the Cleveland Browns.
My first note here is this game, right, I mean
it's yeah, let's do the intro here for the Cleveland Browns.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
It's been a rough, rough go for them.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
And you know, I really dislike when the Dolphins get
lumped into the Browns and Jets and like raiders of
it all, because yeah, I know we're frustrated. It's been tough,
but it's not been that bad, right because Cleveland, what
have they had to go back on? You might say
they had a playoff win in twenty twenty.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
Who cares? Who cares?
Speaker 2 (01:18):
One playoff win does not undo years of three and
four and five wins. Right, They did pop up for
a couple of years, but it really shakes down to
pre and post Baker Mayfield in terms of their success.
And quite frankly, this is instructive in terms of quarterbacks
and the scouting process. And if you're gonna bring a
quarterback into your building, no matter how talented he is,
(01:39):
you better have the structure and the functionality to be
able to foster his development because if you don't, he's
gonna wind up going somewhere else and making some other
franchise very very happy. Because the Browns, well, they've been
a factory of sadness since they returned to the NFL
as an expansion team following the move to Baltimore in
the late nineties. Baker Mayfield arrives instant. Juice Right, I
(02:00):
will never forget his first game. Your boy was a
huge Baker Mayfield fan. In fact, that twenty eighteen draft
class remains my Coop de graus to this day. Right
said that Allen and Lamar and Baker were franchise quarterbacks
and didn't feel that way about Donald and Rosen I
was wrong about Donald, ultimately right for a long time,
but maybe a little bit too early on him.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
Anyway.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
His first game Week three, Thursday Night Football against Sam
Donald's Jets, and I loved love watching those Donald led
Jets teams lose games like I still do, but those
ones were particularly fun because everyone thought the Jets had
their guy at that point. But the Jets come out
and they score two touchdowns, take a big lead, and
they make the switch Tyrod Taylor right to Baker Mayfield
(02:42):
and he brings them back for the win. And they
win seven games that year despite being not a great
football team, and that was more than double the total
they had the previous three years combined three wins, one
win and zero wins. So they have expectations going in
the twenty nineteen. They don't meet them at six and ten,
but then they do right eleven and five and twenty
(03:03):
twenty first playoff win since the turn of the century
pushed the eventual conference champion Chiefs to the brink, although
Chada Heney played late in that game, but lose in
the divisional round. Then they get Odell Beckham Junior and
everyone thinks this team's going to the super Bowl, but
they again revert back and go eight to nine as
Baker Mayfield has a shoulder injury and they trade him
because his performance wasn't as good playing through a throwing
(03:25):
shoulder injury. In twenty twenty two, after agreeing to a
mega contract with Deshaun Watson, whoops, And I'm not a
religious man, but if I were to believe in a
higher power, it would have been this, like you know,
that would have made me think, like, you know, they're
kind of a fun, frisky team during the eleven game
Watson suspension in twenty two, then he takes over and
(03:48):
they stink. Then he stinks again in twenty thirteen, gets hurt,
and then they get good again, right with Joe Flacco
that year. Then they try out Deshaun Watson again twenty fourteen,
and he stinks. Sometimes sometimes karma does get things right.
They win seven eleven and then three games during that run.
And here they are with a rookie third round draft
(04:09):
pick and Dylan Gabriel backed up by fifth round rookie
Shader Sanders, and the core of this team is not bad.
The offensive line's aging, but it's the same characters you
know there David and Joku is there. They've got this
dynamic rookie runner in quin Shawn Judkins. Jerry Judy became
the number one receiver last year but hasn't really played
that way this year, and that position will probably be
their top priority outside the quarterback position this coming off season.
(04:32):
But that defense man it's been playing it's butt off.
Led by former top five picks Miles Garrett and Denzel Ward.
They look to have hit on Mason Graham and Carson Swashinger.
If they figure out that quarterback position here in the
near future, there are some happy times to look forward
to in Cleveland. But again, structurally, organizationally, how can you
support and develop and just be fundamentally sound for a quarterback.
(04:55):
That's the entire ethos of this entire business and game,
and part of that evalue of Dylan Gabriel. Part of
that is the evaluation I should say of Dylan Gabriel
here for Kevin Stefanski and staff, as far as their
depth chart goes at quarterback, we mentioned Gabriel and Sanders.
I mean, outside of New Orleans, it's tough to find
a less experience, less productive quarterback room than this. At
(05:16):
running back, I think Quinn Shawn Judkins is a future
stud in this league, if not already. Jerome Ford a
pretty good back as well. Dylan Samson the number three.
They've got some options there. At receiver, Jerry Judy, Isaiah Bond,
remember him, that's the number two receiver right now. And
then Corley the number three.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
I have that right yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
And then at tight end, Najoku is the top guy.
Harold Fannon, he starts with them as well. They have
they they're starting packages as twelve personnel, one back, two
tight ends. The left tackle is the one position on
the offensive line where it's not really like solved, I
suppose or do you don't know the answer to who
that player should be. It's Kt Levenston, and I don't
really know much about his game. We'll talk about they
(05:54):
hear in one second. The right tackle is Jack Conklin.
He's been around for a million years. They do have
Cam Robinson as a swing tackle, but he's been the
backup here lately.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
And then on the.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
Interior Joel Buttonio, Ethan Posseck and right guard Wyatt Teller.
Those three guys have been in the league for a while.
Possick was a free agent of this from the Seahawks
who came over a couple of years ago. But they've
been very good down the middle for a long time
there in Cleveland, went healthy and right now they're all healthy.
Maliite Collins is the number two defensive tackle along with
Mason Graham. Shelby Harris is there still getting it done,
(06:24):
Miles Garrett, Isaiah McGuire and Cam Thomas. So if you're gonna,
you know, face this Brown's pass rush, it's really that
the two defensive tackles and Miles Garrett and then you're
gonna have to win the one on one somewhere else.
Which makes me think Larry Boram might have himself a
pretty big matchup this week. So imagine it's going to
be a lot of Larry Boram versus Isaiah McGuire or
Cam Thomas. Not like Larry in that matchup because Larry Boram,
(06:45):
despite folks trying to confirm priors on that guy, has
played well this year. Linebacker Carson Swashinger, Devin Bush, and
Jerome Baker's number three there, Denzel Ward, the cornerback is
the man that stirs the drink there. Tyson Campbell and
the nickelback is Miles hard That's kind of the sombrero.
That's where you want to go after. This defense is
that nickel position. Grant del Pitt and Ronnie Hickman of
(07:06):
the safeties, with Rayshawn Jenkins, the old veteran the number
three who also comes onto the field as a big
nickel safety at times. So the injuries, they have Deshaun
Watson and Jeremiah Owusu Koramoa, which was looking like the
next studded linebacker in this league.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
Both on IR.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
Slash Pup but he's got a serious neck injury that
he hasn't played football in quite a while from that injury,
so hopefully he gets well here soon. You heard Daniel
ol youa Fusi talk about Dewan Jones back on IR.
He's got his third injury in three seasons. Cedric Tillman
and DeAndre Carter. Tilman was a starter for the team
at receiver, but he's out and then Martin Emerson's also
down with injury. They're a little bit light at offensive
(07:43):
tackle and at receiver with those injuries. Again, Carter was
the number three. They are a two tight end team
and Jones was a left tackle sore and Tilman was
a starting receiver. So they're listening to some key spots
that are on the offense and that sort of informs
us on where to start with the Browns personnel. This
is a team that has built through the line. There
was a time where they were the best offensive line
in football year in and year out during the Baker
(08:05):
Mayfield era, and a lot of those names are still around,
but we are nearing the end of the line for
the mainstays Joel Buttonio Wyatt Teller, Jack Conklin, all thirty
one years of age or older, and injuries have cost
this group a lot of football games. But right now
they're healthy, and they have a pretty dynamic looking rookie
in the backfield there in Quinn Shawn Judkins. Then you
think about David Nijoku, who for me is a top
(08:26):
three tight end. Jerry Judy has number one chops, but
I don't think that he is meticulous enough in his
approach to sustain that consistently. But they're banged up across
the rest of the skills spots. And we'll talk about
the defense here in just one moment. Let's go ahead
and talk about the matchups when it comes to the
Browns offense. So this Brown's offense is averaging just over
(08:46):
fourteen points per game right now. They have not exceeded
eighteen points in a game this season. And we'll talk
about the quarterback here in one second, But look like,
you can't let this offense beat you. Cannot do it,
Cannot coach them, cannot play with them, cannot win with them.
Mike Singletary, I can remember that one. They're just not connected.
(09:09):
They lack weapons outside of a running back and a
tight end who are pretty good, and a decent receiver
in Jerry Jodi. They have a rookie quarterback who's just
to me, he's just not cut out for this level.
We talked to Aya Fuzi about it on the Wednesday show,
and he was talking about some of the pre draft
process and the way he really wowed the Browns with
the mental and the leadership capacity and just the overall presence.
(09:30):
But man, there's a baseline of traits in I think
our quarterback kind of pushes up against that right in
terms of the arm and.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
The movement ability.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
But if you're gonna be like that, you better be
the best in the league. Elsewhere, and that's where two
it was for two years the best in the league. Anticipation,
in accuracy and placement, all that stuff. For Dylan Gabriel,
we're not there yet. We're not close to being there yet.
And it really comes down to this for me, we
just haven't seen the Dolphins provide any resistance against any
of the interior offense linemen that we faced. And look,
(10:01):
the first four teams we played were really good in
that area. The Panthers and Chargers were both banged up
and they still got it going downhill on us. I mean,
I'm sure you guys saw the Brian Baldinger video by
now going around with the Dolphins run fits, and we
covered that on the Tuesday podcast. But when I watch
a combination of Joel Buttonio, Ethan Posik, and Wyatt Teller,
(10:21):
that's three seasoned, fundamentally sound veterans, and when I watch
them on tape, there's a natural nonverbal mode of communication
in terms of assignments and landmarks, paired with three guys
whose feet never stop moving. They take the proper footwork
approach in their blocks, and they play with a good
pad level. That's a long winded way of saying, unless
we drastically change who we are from these first six games,
(10:45):
how can I expect anything besides getting punched in the
mouth at the point of attack on defense? It's happened
to every game Kamani VII. Doll Man, that thirty eight
yard run that he had was more than he had
in a single game in the rest of his career.
Like I know, Rigo Dabdell made me the most freezing
cold take in the history of freezing cold takes after
how I covered that Panthers game. But like, he can't
(11:06):
keep doing this, man, there's not really a lot to
break down ken Zach Steeler, Can Kenneth Grant? Can Benito Jones?
Can Jordan Phillips? Can they fight fire with fire? Can
they dictate the terms? Can they get into their run
fits and create runs for the linebackers and the safeties
who quite frankly, you know, watching the tape on Tuesday,
like Ashton Davis, man, like there was some really really
(11:28):
questionable fits in that game. If they can do this
in this game, they'll win, because the Browns don't threaten
you in the passing game in any semblance. If you
can stop this running game, you'll win the game. Can
they I have to see it first. I think it's
that simple, and I think one way you can do that.
And he starts the games, but then he plays about
twenty two steps, don't I don't understand. I would like
(11:51):
to see more of Jordan Phillips. Travis Wingfield would like
to see more of Jordan Phillips because I think he's
been the best defensive tackle you've had this year. And
that might be an indictment on the rest of the room,
but Phillips consistently gets knocked back more than anybody else.
And yeah, he doesn't see the double teams as Zach
Seeler does, but in terms of the impact and how
we knock guys off the lads scrimmage, Jordan Phillips has
been the best one. It was actually quite a treat
(12:12):
to watch their offensive line on tape.
Speaker 1 (12:14):
The four I'm.
Speaker 2 (12:14):
Familiar with and uh played with good good feet, good
connection on doubles, good reads and win to detach. And
even the left tackle Katie Levenston, again not very familiar
with his game, but he showed good leg driving pad level.
So like off Bradley Chubb's edge buckle, the chin strap
man because if you're not ready for this guy, he'll
pop you in your mouth and you better bring your
(12:34):
pads when you tackle Quinn Shawn Judkins. If we go
in there Pattykking against him like we did Rico Daddle,
it's gonna turn ten yard runs into forty yard plays.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
All right, all right, I'm gonna no, I'm gonna tell
you so. Quit asking reason why I say. I reminds
Bandick Savan.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
He is a downhill force that runs with attitude, and
you'll need Jordan Brooks to be at his best. And
watching Jordan Brooks on tape right now, he just he's
trying to do so much because he has to. I mean,
I've seen this man have three way gos.
Speaker 1 (13:04):
Do I bang? Do I try to bang and get
off of this block?
Speaker 2 (13:06):
Do I try to run around the outside and kind
of scoop back in off of the kickout block? Or
do I try to go inside and try to back
door of this thing? And if I don't do it perfectly,
I'm gonna get be out of the fit Altogether. He's
really got not a lot he can do. But Judkins
smart physical runner, and it's a bad matchup for Tyreel Dotson.
(13:27):
But I do. I'm curious to see as Dotson's out
of the concussion protocol if we do see a Wally
Pip situation, because I thought kJ Britt played pretty good
in the game on Sunday. Now, their inability to find
the passing game has limited what they can do, and
that impacts your running game. The run game does allow
them to shorten games and try to beat you on defense.
It worked in the Packers game thanks to Packers' mistakes,
(13:47):
but it got a little bit better in the last
two weeks. But you cannot let this side of things
get going here. For the Browns offense, if they run
the ball like the other teams have, they're going to
beat you.
Speaker 1 (13:55):
It's that simple. Jerry Judy is not having the same
year he had last year. I think that's more of
a core thing.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
But your target share goes Judy thirty five, Dadjoku thirty
fan in twenty eight, Bond twenty one, not that bond.
They want to get it in those tight to the
tight ends and take matchups shots to Jerry Judy. That's
kind of how they view things. Offensively, I think both
are starting perimeter corners can match up well with him.
I think Jack Jones can get in his face and
frustrate him a little bit because they're both pretty high
(14:21):
strung players. That could be a fun matchup to watch.
And then Russell Douglass has been good, like he's just been.
This is a good show. Everybody loves Raymond. How did
that get in here? That's just a good show. Forty
year old virgin deep cut reference, remember that scene. But
I think he can reroute Jerry Judy and get him
off the stem. And then you've got to win your
one on ones against the other receivers. That's like the
(14:41):
same thing to stop in the run game. You cannot
let these other guys beat you, whether it's Bond or
James Bond or you know, gold Bond, whatever. But Najoku
is big, strong, good detail on his routes and rumbles
after the catch, which again, buckle your chin straps, boys,
buckle it up, buckaroos. He's the one I imagine you
want to get plenty of chips in on, but that
(15:01):
can also impact your ability to pass rush with Jalen
Phillips and Bradley Chubb and Chop Robinson. JP has been
progressing this season, and I think this matchup with Jack
Conklin is where they have to find their wins and
when they condense him inside to that three technique position,
because right now Chubb's pass rush and Chops pass rush
it's not been very effective.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
Man.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
I know that Chop Chubb has the sacks, but on
a down end, down out basis, Phillips has been pretty
pretty clearly the best one up front, and right now
he's trending in the best direction of all three by
a long shot. If Emla fan Wu or Ashton Davis,
I don't, I don't know who the hell's going to be.
Dante Trader, I guess walked up as a big nickel
on a Joku. I kind of feel like that's Mika
Fitzpatrick's role in this game, because he's I think he's
(15:39):
the only one that can do it and try to
cover in joku with man coverage. But that's probably where
you actually press in funnel trail technique into help and
just try to take away into Joku because if you
can do that, but also the player that presses up
can fit the run as well, then you might have
a chance to kind of throw this this offense out
of its rhythm. I'm not sure, but it seems he
seems to have the best physical pro file to match
(16:00):
up with him.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
If you Mela Fon with that, it is.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
But I think Mika is the best player to make
that matchup because if you played two snaps in the
last game, let's go ahead and pause for our first break.
Come back into the Browns defense on the other side.
That's next Drive Time podcast brought to you by Autnation.
I wanted to really go in hard there on the
brought to you by AutoNation for a friend of mine,
Leslie likes the way that we do that here on
(16:23):
the show, So shout out to Leslie. As for the
personnel on the Browns defense, I am very excited to
measure Patrick Paul's growth against Myles Garrett. We did a
full breakdown on that matchup for Dolphins HQ, and I
think it's a potential introduction to the world for Patrick Paul.
Although maybe you know, a platform of two to one
in five teams on a week seven game on the
(16:44):
shores of Lake Erie maybe not the best place for
that to happen. But if he performs well, you'll see
like Brandon Thorn and other O line gurus talking about him,
and I think he can do it. But I think
that's where this matchup starts, and maybe he even ends.
Because the left side of the Dolphins line is often
on an island. Pat and Jonah have pretty much been
put in one on one situations really all year long,
(17:06):
with two way goes against some very good rushers, and
I think that ultimately this year is going to be
a good baptism by fire for Jonah and Patrick. Paul's
hitting the ground running in that regard. But this week
they're going to get another dose of that with Miles
Garrett and the combination of Mason Graham and Elite Collins.
But Mason Graham's pass rush wiggle, it's the same as
it was at Michigan. It's carried over here to the Browns.
As a pro I think those elements are what will
(17:27):
dictate how the Dolphins offense goes in this game. And
Pat has excelled all year right. I can't really recall
more than a couple of snaps where he got beat
in a way that led to direct negative passing plays.
And he's got some you know, he's had some good
battles against some good players. Though nobody will challenge him
the way Miles Garrett will it's a fun stylistic battle
(17:48):
because they both have such insane raw ability and talent,
the sheer size and the movement skills.
Speaker 1 (17:54):
It's all unreal.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
And I think last year's matchup is a good example
where Pat needed to grow with some of the technique
and fundamentals, particularly in his hand placement and the punch.
If you're not intentional with your punch and you're not
meticulous in how you vary the way you throw it
and give Miles Garrett different looks, he's gonna swipe, he's
gonna swat, he's gonna redirect you, and he's gonna destroy you.
(18:15):
He's gonna end your world. Like this guy gets fourteen
sacks every year. Like if your eyes start on the
left tackle right end position in this matchup every single play,
that's probably how you should watch this game. Quite frankly,
I think pack and hold up. I really do think
he's got it in him to win this matchup on
Miles Garrett. I do think that Mason Graham's skill set
can challenge where Jonas ofvit Naya has struggled this year.
(18:37):
When he gets a little bit too much weight on
that outside post that left foot, that left knee gets
bending a little bit over the top and then a quick,
polished defensive tackle can dart across his face and he
can't recover in time to get back to the inside post.
I do think Jonah can take him for some rides
in the running game. That's been a strength of Jonahs
at times when he gets it right. And I think
Mason Graham is susceptible to that because of the size
(18:57):
discrepancy among those two players. But it'll be in narrative
to stay out of third lungs. It is every week, right,
but against this team it's really imperative because they love
to just play man coverage, re route and get home
with four and they can do it pretty well.
Speaker 1 (19:10):
Now.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
Coach did say Mike McDaniel on Wednesday, it's never one
person's responsibility to contain a guy like Miles Garrett. But
to his point, there will be reps where Pat is
tasked with that job. So fun to watch all around
how they game plan it and also how Pat just
matches up and you get your Jimmies and Joe's against
the Ex's and O's right, that's kind of how this
matchup goes. The Brown's got pieces up front, because if
(19:31):
it's not Graham, they'll get you with elite Collins, you know,
rushing over the other guard position with Cole Strange. Strange,
Brew and Bruke can only do so much to help
because the guard play. That's I think that's the biggest
challenge here is going to be finding your variety, finding
your ways to help with additional hats. That sort of
breeds into the twenty two personnel packages we talked about
throughout the course of the week here or twelve or
(19:52):
twenty one. Just multiple back and tight end sets, a
package that Dolphins have leaned into successfully last couple of weeks,
and the Browns they haven't. I've seen that grouping much
this year. Just nine plays against them in twenty two
personnel packages, which is almost half as the number of
times the Dolphins ran it just last week alone. So
if you want to add gaps, you want to give
Garrett more traffic to parse through, that's a good way
(20:12):
to do it. Just add pieces up front, add players there,
ad bodies. That's a departure from matchups, though more of
a scheme section. Conversation will come back to that here
in just a little bit but talking about the Browns
back seven here Denzel Ward. Danzel Ward is one of
the premier corners in the entire game, but as you
heard from Oyafusi, they do not travel him. They play
a lot of man coverage, and quite frankly, I think
(20:34):
Jalen is one of the best man cover beaters in
the National Football League. So I think he will get
some chances, particularly with how you can dictate matchups against
the defense that doesn't travel their corners. And for the record,
most teams don't travel their corners, and if they're going
to stay in that man coverage idea, you can get
Waller on crossers, or a chan or Waddle on digs
and daggers. You can get a chan wide. In the
(20:55):
screen game, we've seen them hit mess this year. We've
seen them hit the rail slide combo, you know, the
route up the sideline with the flat route across the
formation off of motion. I think the brown strength being
man coverage, is with the Dolphins offense is best equipped
to beat, so that'll be interesting. But Ward is in
that category of guys you probably try to ignore him.
(21:15):
I think if Miami can avoid turnovers in this game,
they'll win despite the defensive breakdown I talked about, and
there's there's no greater opportunity for takeaways than targeting wards.
So do you avoid him do you let him take
possibly Waddle out of plays.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (21:31):
It's gonna be an interesting dichotomy in terms of how
they approach that. But they did trade for Tyson Campbell,
who's a damn good player in his own right. But
I think the concept of playing man protects him a
lot to any potential communication bus because he's only been
there for a week right now, so that won't be easy.
But Waddle did get after Campbell a little bit in
past matchups against him with Jacksonville. One of the biggest
(21:52):
wild cards to watch in this game, Carson Swashinger, his
range and film study and beautiful flowing blonde hair. Just
kidd his presence in the middle of their coverages, whether
that's Tampa two drops playing the hook and cover three.
I think his ability to expand the defensive range in
the middle of the field where the Dolphins, I mean
(22:12):
we talked about on the show yesterday or was it
Tuesday podcast? Was they have gone away from the well
of throwing the football over the middle of the field.
In the intermediate portions of the field, that ten to
nineteen yard range between the numbers is where this offense lived,
and right now it's been not so productive. But he
could impact those throws in a way where that could be,
you know, force a high throw. We've seen that this
(22:34):
year with Tua trying to throw over the back or
under the safety and he saiales that thing. So if
that happens, you give Grant Delpit a room service pick
back there.
Speaker 1 (22:43):
You could lose this football game. Man.
Speaker 2 (22:45):
Now, when they go man, can he match with the
nuance of Darren Waller's route running?
Speaker 1 (22:49):
I don't think so.
Speaker 2 (22:49):
So again, I think trying to identify when they're in and
the man coverage looks and attacking that coverage accordingly is
kind of the way to go after this. But games
like this are funny, man, because one side of the
football is, like, there's really good football. The Dolphins offense
does a lot of things really well. The Browns defense
is really good. But on the other side, well, you
might set the sport back a couple of years scheme
calling cards Dolphins offense versus Browns defense. I got into
(23:11):
this a little bit, but honestly, we can go brief
here because it's actually pretty damn simple, and that's not
in disparaging tone whatsoever.
Speaker 1 (23:19):
Like you know, simple as one of two things in
this league.
Speaker 2 (23:22):
Either you're not very good and you had to simplest
pill it back simplistically to I guess make yourself less
not good less bad. I don't know either way, or
you're really good and you can just win that way
with again, Jimmy's and Joe's versus actually the nose, but
for the Browns it's the latter. They're they're really good.
You've got the best pass rusher in the game. Michael
(23:44):
Parsons is the only person I will hear an argument
for against Miles Garrett, and quite frankly, I probably take
Parsons whether it's Micah Parsons or Mockel Parson, and I
think he's the best pass rusher, but Miles Garrett is
either better or right there and one of the best
cover So play man, don't blitz and just win your matchups.
Speaker 1 (24:02):
It's basically it.
Speaker 2 (24:03):
And Jim Schwartz like he's aggressive, he's blitz in the past,
but he knows what he has. He's a smart fella.
They play the most man free, which is single high safety.
He's man across the board with everybody else as anybody.
And of course the most common wrinkle off of that,
or the look off of that, is cover three with
three deep third defenders usually a post safety off that
cover one look and then your two corners get depth
(24:24):
and co you know, played the deep third coverage responsibility
there with zone underneath, and they can combo those into hybrids.
But by and large, this is the opposite of last week,
where Tua needs to be sharp with his processing after
the snap right, and I thought he did a good
job with that against the Chargers, despite you know, three picks,
and really one of them was his fault and that
one was just a bad throw and he was late
in my opinion. But to me, this week, what you
(24:45):
see is what you get. They're going to show you
the look and they're going to stay in that look.
But I'm intrigued by how he plays because sometimes when
you get that approach, you have to throw guys open,
and I don't think it's something to a cannot do,
but it's not what he usually does do rhythm timing
thrower right, which I think is far a far more
impressive skill quite frankly, and with zone coverage being like
(25:06):
eighty percent of the league nowadays, you want to be
better in that regard. But sometimes you just need to
rip a back shoulder throw with ultimate trust and tight coverage,
and we'll see if that can happen this week. As
far as the Dolphins defense against the Browns offense, let's
actually go ahead and pause for our last break, come
back and do that the quarterback matchup, what's at stake,
three keys, and the prediction here. That's all next Draft
(25:27):
Time Podcast, brought to you by Donation.
Speaker 1 (25:34):
Right, we're back.
Speaker 2 (25:35):
We left off talking about the scheme calling cards for
the Browns defense versus the Dolphins offense. Let's go ahead
and flip that script here and talk about this Cleveland
Browns offense. It's the same principle here with the outside
zone scheme, but they do have a nice change up
with their inside zone game with Quinn Shawn Judkins and
some more power stuff. They'll run some counter and work
the screen game off of that as well. They love
to get you with their misdirections. So for Miami I discipline,
(25:59):
you know, on top of where the run fits are
right now is to me gonna be a big area
of concern to get that stuff buttoned up, and then
from there they'll try to get to a lot of
their play pass game, and they love to incorporate the
RPO off of Dylan Gabriel's skill set and try to
make some designed easy reads and throws for him. If
you can shut down the early runs, it forced them
to play left handed and go more true drop back game,
(26:21):
and their comfort level doing that versus the run game
play pass stuff is vastly, vastly different. Which I know
that that's kind of like a John Madden football but
one on one type of like breakdown, But it's the truth.
If you can force this quarterback into difficult situations where
he has to read things out and trust his protection
and keep his eyes downfield, you're going to destroy him.
Speaker 1 (26:40):
But can you get to that? I don't know. Now,
don't get it twisted.
Speaker 2 (26:44):
They do have those power packages to fall back on,
and the zone stuff is not working novel concept, I know,
but it's a nice change up to be able to
adapt your stuff mid game when you can't get connected
on the outside zone game, to just line up and
play football and run it down someone's throat and they
have the personnel to do it. They run eleven personnel
only thirty seven percent of the time, one of the
lowest rates in the National Football League. Their twelve personnel
(27:04):
packaging is a ran fifty one percent of the time.
That's one of the highest rates for that grouping. And
they run five percent thirteen personnel. That's the only one
that has more than one percent usage across the rest
of their team. So it's twelve personnel change up seven
eleven personnel for this offense. They want to play heavy.
Najoku and Fannin start the game, and they sprinkle in
(27:25):
a third tight end for heavy usage and in this
case filling in for the injury. His name is Blake Whiteheart,
a player that I had not heard of before this
podcast and watched a few of his reps on film.
All right, I guess. And they love to put the
ball in the air. From those run centric formations, Harold
Fannin gets open a lot off of play action, and
then Nadjoku is their matchup maker.
Speaker 1 (27:45):
Fannon might be.
Speaker 2 (27:46):
Another guy that I missed on draft wise. I didn't
see it, but he is balling right now, so you know,
good for him. Tough rack at this draft stuff. Their
best player on that side of the ball, in my opinion,
is Najoku. But they'll get you into your base package,
run it at you, on it wide, and then start
pulling it back and throwing short crossers, which again, if
you can't stop the run, they're gonna make it look silly.
(28:06):
My Dylan Gabriel scouting report was not great. I thought
he was lacking any traits that would wow you, with
limited upside for growth due to a college football career
longer than that of Van Wilder's, where his greatest success
was being twenty four years old playing against you know,
eighteen year olds. He's a third round rookie making his
(28:27):
third career start. His strength lies in the amount of
football he saw there at Oregon and in college he
had the organ playbook down to a PhD level because
twenty four years old, like, you better do that. But
he would distribute the ball to a bunch of elite
athletes in college and that hasn't translated yet to the NFL,
and he got walloped versus the Steelers because hey, NFL
coverages are tough, and you are outmatched with your skill
players at this level when you play for a team
(28:48):
that has the receiving core they do, and he kept
having to be helped off the ground. I mean, he's
probably gonna be filling it all week long. I think
that was that's going to be the progression of him
trying to get comfortable and then offense and playing on
time and in rhythm, and I don't think it's gonna
happen for him this year. Quite frankly, I think the
defense could find some similar things here in the passing
game with how they how they attack this guy from
(29:11):
last week, because it's your opportunity is there to get
after him our quarterback if you can. If we can
protect to a well, I think he can have a
big game here. But we need to run the football
to create those situations, and more of those heavy groupings
with max protection can also accomplish that too. I think
the key here for two of this week is going
to be those man cover reps where they've covered us
up and the pocket starts.
Speaker 1 (29:31):
To close in. What is he doing those moments?
Speaker 2 (29:33):
Are we taking sacks and kind of getting heavy footed
and clicking the heels together and just kind of turtling
against the pressure. Are we forcing it down the field
and taking chances if those things happen, it would be
a long day, obviously, But if he can create the
way he did in the Buffalo game or the Jets
game and got out of the pocket and made plays
that way, that I think he could really rip it
up this game. But we'll see which one we get
special teams and miscellaneous. I don't get anything for you, guys.
(29:55):
The kicker and the punter have been solid. I know
Patis have missed a fifty seven yard field goal on Sunday,
but whatever. But they do have top five field position
on kickoffs and kick return so that's hey, hey, Stu,
that is cool.
Speaker 1 (30:07):
What's at stake? Nothing keys to victory.
Speaker 2 (30:09):
Number one fit the run down in and down out
like it's gotta be better. Doesn't matter who you're playing.
This isn't even a Browns thing at this point. Just
fit the freaking run better. Number two beat man coverage
on the outside. They're gonna call it. Your only way
to get him out of it is to beat him
with it. And Jalen Wattle, who's been ballin' I think
can do the same thing in this game. And number
three creating outside of the offensive structure because I just
think with the way they're gonna play coverage and zone
(30:31):
drop against this offensive attack, I think two was gonna
have to find a way against four man rushes to
extend and beat you, which, for you know, that might
not be the best way forward, but in this game,
I think it is my prediction. I don't know, man,
I don't know. The Dolphins are the better team by
a lot in my opinion, especially at the quarterback position,
which usually is the decider. But this fundamental flaw the
(30:51):
Dolphins have right now is a total non starter. The
inability to win the point of attack on defense and
properly fit the run like you can't I total a
videographer here. It's like you can have the best video
editor who's a great shooter, and you can put them
out on the field Sunday, but if you don't give
them a damn camera, nothing's going to matter. And that's
where we're at right now. Let's run defense. They need
to have their camera and against this group in this
powerful back and the tackling on the back end outside
(31:13):
of Minka Fitzpatrick, I think there's no reason to expect
them to run for less than two hundred yards and
then it'll make the offense have to make a late
drive in the game and true driveback situations, and we
see how that goes too many times this year. So
I'm gonna go Cleveland twenty Miami sixteen. You all please
be sure subscribe to the podcast, Leave us a rating,
leave us a review. You can follow me on social
at Minklin NFL, the team at Miami Dolphins. Check out
(31:35):
the YouTube channel for Dolphins HQ, Media availabilities and so
much more, and last but not least, Miami Dolphins dot Com.
Until next time, Caroline Cameron and Willow Daddy just coming
out
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