August 17, 2025 • 36 mins
Travis is back in the film room to review Dolphins-Lions preseason Week 2 action. General points from the offense and defense, the individual standouts, top five tapes and much more!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is Drivetime with Travis Wingfield.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Who what is up?
Speaker 1 (00:13):
Dolphins? And Welcome to the Draft Time Podcast. I am
your host, Travis Wingfield. And on today's show, it's another
film review podcast. Are Penultimate one of the preseason lots
of player evaluations to get to top five tapes, Who shined,
Who did not? All of that and more from the
Baptist Hill Studios inside the Baptist Hill Training Complex. This
is the Draft Time Podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Preseason week number two.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
Dolphins at Lines, general points on offense, let go. I
talked about this on the Sunday Recap podcast, but there
was more in this game from a design and variation
standpoint that really has me, quite frankly, a little bit
guindy about what we're gonna see come September seventh up
in Indianapolis. Like the first play of the game is
a variation of one of our core contents over the
(01:00):
last three years, the slide flat, where you have the
little motion guy that comes across and runs parallel to
the line of scrimmage and the quarterback can either flip
it to him you saw a Durhams mike that a
whole bunch of times, or you have the glance route
or you have like a rail up the sideline and yeah,
the slide goes to the flat, I should say, and
you have the glance in the rail and it basically
is a three way spacing concept to one side of
(01:24):
the field. And they ran a play that went against
the grain of that flat where the flat goes to
the one side of the formation, but they dummy the
screen to the backside of the formation and the glance
comes off that backside fake screen with ds Gridge running
the little seam glance which is basically just stutter step
out of the blocks and then get in behind that
hook linebacker and show the quarterback your numbers. Now, Zach
(01:46):
didn't throw it to a would have because Tua sees
it in different way than the other quarterbacks do. But
it was cool to see that, and it gets me
thinking about you know McDaniel in that athletic article talking
about being refreshed and feeling the best he has in
a long time. Let the scientists cook a little bit, man,
because when they came out in twenty twenty three with
that exit motion, nobody figured it out for the first
(02:07):
six weeks. And if the Dolphins do that this year,
they're gonna win a lot of football games early and
being a good spot going into the second half of
the season. We had their linebackers fall stepping all game
long on play pass. That was great to see Grant
Stewart eat your heart out. We'll come back to him
in just one second. That first third and one might
have only gained a single yard, but it converted and
it was a beautifully executed blocking across the board for
(02:28):
how you need to move people and pick up that
one yard in short yardage. You get the left tackle
left guard comboing the three technique and it leaves the
inside post of the tight end, which this was one
of my gripes with John new Smith last year was
how vulnerable he was to allowing that edge to crash
in and cross face and basically blow up the play
(02:48):
because he wasn't quick enough to dig that defender out
and that five technique makes the inside post of the
tight end very vulnerable. But Pharaoh Brown was able to
cut it off and create just enough space to create
a one on one in the gap for Jalen Wright,
who didn't win the matchup against the linebacker, but because
the rest of the blocking was so well executed. They
(03:09):
got the yard on blocking alone, and we'll talk about
right here in one second and where he went wrong
on that play. But the deep shot to d s
Gridge was a good example of how our run game
sets up shots in the pass game. There was no
penetration because guess what, when we don't get in these
third longs and don't have these true dropbacks, our quarterbacks
stay unaffected. And when you can run the ball, you
(03:29):
can do that for sixteen minutes in a game, regardless
of who's out there, whether it's the Lions twos or
Max Crosby and the Raiders front. And we ran off
the football and sole run action. And we'll talk about
Zach missing that throw here in just a little bit
as well. But the third down before the one sack
of the game on Zach Wilson, the turnover on downs
down in gold to go situation, we short motioned Eric
(03:51):
Azookama to indicate their coverage. Right, you do a motion,
come back and reset, and you kind of see who
goes with him, or if nobody goes with him, it's
it's probably his own. If someone does go with him
as man, and it does tip man coverage to that side,
of the field. But during the play on the boundary
that the short side of the field, opposite of where
that motion happened, Zach did a good job of reading
that field side crosser because he knew that the leverage
(04:14):
of the cornerback to that backside was playing in zone
and he didn't fall off into the back of the
end zone, so he knew what he had based upon
front side reading information or front side information and reading
out the play from there.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
He just flat out missed the throw. But cool design.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
That should have been a touchdown had we executed from
the quarterback position. And again, Grant Steward really enjoyed watching
him look like the guy or the kid, I should
say from that famous viral football video the blind Kid
that played and it was what the is going on
as he's running around not knowing where he's going, like
not poking fun. But that's what Grant Stewart looked like
in this game because they went after him in the
(04:50):
play action game and he was false stepping like a madman.
So the quarterback we always start for the quarterback position
here know to what today obviously, but Zach Wilson frustrating
on that first play that bread and butter the variation
we talked about on the glance, and every indicator gave
him the opportunity to throw the glance to de Es Gridge.
And I talked to Kyle Crabs about this and he disagreed.
He said that he felt that I was wrong, but
(05:11):
I disagree with Kyle. So take that, Kyle, but he's
looking right at it and just does not throw the football.
But I told Kyle, like, maybe my standard is what
you know for Tua that he throws that Tua.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
Tua does put.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
That ball on the right spot, and so my standard
for the other quarterbacks is maybe higher than it should be.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
But I don't know. I want to play it to
a QB one's level.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
There are some misses where I think it's just simply
a mechanical thing for Zach, like not getting his lower
half into the throw and driving it the way that
he could if he, you know, stepped into the throw.
He's got such a talented arm, but he leaves a
lot on the table by not being mechanically aligned. And
there's some throws to the perimeter that haven't gotten there,
and he's had some throws falling off his back foot
that I think he could stick his foot in the
(05:54):
ground and put it on his guy. But there's some
plays where the feet are just kind of stuck and
he's not moving a lot. Drops the arm angles down
and tries to flip it out there, and it's like,
but if you just step into this thing, you've got
a seventy million hour fastball to the corner.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
Let's throw it out there.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
That little floater that Tanner Connor caught for a nice
little catch and run annoyed me also because again, get
it to him quick, and you've got d. S. Gridge,
who would have had an opportunity to make a block
out in space if Connor had the ball earlier, but
it cost him like at least ten more yards because
he had to wait for the ball to get there,
and then by the time he did, the blocker or
the defender had beat the block of Eskridge. Next throw
(06:30):
same thing. Set your feet, bro, Like it's that simple.
Because I do think he played well outside of a
couple of those plays, and better than I thought on
the broadcast. In fact, the tape kind of changed my
opinion of both quarterbacks games based upon what I thought
on the broadcast. He had some really nice throws from
unsettled platforms like I get mad about the back foot throws.
Sometimes they're necessary, but sometimes when he does throw in
(06:53):
the necessary and puts him on good spots, I like it.
I don't like it when it's not necessary. But the
big played a Faroh Brown that got erase by a pound.
He was a really nice rep doing just that. The
shot he had the Tanner Connor down the scene that
was dropped was a really really nice rep where he
saw it and ripped it with anticipation, put it on
a rope opposite Hash twenty five yard air yards down
the field. I have no idea what he saw on
(07:14):
the next throw that should have been a pick six.
He threw an out late with a trail cornerback all
over to d s Gridge. D broke it up for him.
I would like to see him stick that throw on
Tage on the play that Taj almost got blown up
on and really could have gotten blown up on, because
he layered it where it was more of a put
it on him now type of throw, and the layering
of the football allowed the defender to come off his
(07:35):
own coverage and square up Tage for a big hit.
I wish we could see the universe where he tries
the deep ball off the first hitch because it was
wide open to d.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
S Gridge, and he.
Speaker 1 (07:43):
Climbed up and did a second hitch, and by that
time d was like seventy five yards away, and that's
why it was so drastically underthrown. And there was a
handful of catch rock throw reps where like it looks
innocuous in the same way that Tua gets denigrated by
grading sites because he knows what the defense is going
to rotate and just beat you based upon his pre
snap read. And for some reason we don't like that
(08:04):
as a football gogdas empty. But Zach Wilson had a
couple of those throws where on the broadcast it's like, Okay,
a simple catch and throw. But he's doing it because
he's reading out the play pre snap and doing a
good job with it. So I think that there's a
lot of growth that's happened here. There's still a lot
of room for more growth, and he's got time to
make that happen. I mentioned the miss touchdown in the
general talking points. I don't really care about him missing
(08:25):
the location with the physical tools because that's gonna happen
for him, probably more so than TA, definitely more so
than to A. But he read it out and he
read that cloud corner sinking into that coverage spot. He
knew what he had coming in behind him with the
front side crosser and played it on time. That's a
great sign for him going forward, whether or not he
makes the throw or not, because next time, I bet
you he does make that throw. Quinn Ewers got off
(08:46):
to a slow start back to back reps where he
made a poor read and then a really bad ball
on an out that was maybe a little bit dangerous.
The first touchdown throw, though, to THEO Weese was a
really nice job reading and anticipating a three way man
or a three man combination that would materialize out of
a bunch and it looked like a six man car crash,
like there was six human beings within like a six
(09:08):
yard square foot radius in short proximity. But he rips
the thing with anticipation, knowing that Weez is going to
get that spot based upon the leverage of the defensive
back that was covering him, and he put the ball
in a great spot from a kind of awkward arm
angle there. The second touchdown was a nice throw to
That third down shot to Henging in the hole was
really nice. The second down, the second touchdown play was dead.
(09:28):
It was a dead play, but both he and the
oisee made something happen on that play. So pretty nice
game from Quinn. But it's a nice game to me
in the sense of a developmental quarterback playing in the
fourth quarter of a preseason game where the starters never played.
So you're talking about fourth and fifth stream like it's
a good tape. Don't get me wrong, it's a good
sign of growth and it's better than the alternative of
not playing well like last week. But I think he
(09:50):
has a very very long way to go, way longer
than Zach does. For instance, like that out that he
threw that should have been a pick six. He had
the oise for an easy pitching catch for thirty yards.
If Weese makes one guy miss and outruns everybody's an
eighty five yard touchdown. He was naked, he was all alone,
and he made a bad throw on that play that
should have been a pick six on a pretty simple read.
(10:11):
I have no idea what he saw there, but I
take back the comment I made in the podcast on
Saturday saying that I think that gap has shrunk, and
I once again will say I want to see Zach
Wilson get all the reps beyond Tua on Saturday, because
I don't think Quinn's close to being ready for game
time yet, and I think every rep that Zach can
get from now until the time that he might have
to play hopefully never, will be valuable and beneficial to
(10:33):
him and the team. Individual standouts here d Scridge. I
talked about this in the recap podcast, but it was
even better on tape. He has such a good feel,
like you can just tell he knows the offense really
well and his feel for pace within the route, how
to time off his steps. It's really good. And that's
how you get trust with Tua because Tua is so
what's the word meticulous about his footwork and the timing
(10:54):
of the play. With the footwork he was open on
that glance in the first play, and the way he
delays his release and route to time up with the
quarterback and his drop like they run a similar variation
on the second play of the game, and he slow
plays an outside release and gets the corner leaning that way.
Then he slaps the hand down the jam hand and
cross his face and gets open again that screen catch
and run that touchdown. Like go watch his Western Michigan
(11:16):
tape from years ago, and Travis was a big fan
of his coming out of college. Got that one wrong,
but he was one of the top rack guys in
that class, and you saw it all over this tape.
Taj Washington, I don't think he's just made this team
per Travis's own evaluation. I think he's earned touches and
a role within the offense the specific packages. His speed element,
alongside both Waddle and Reek is something we haven't had
(11:39):
as a third option from eleven personnel. I mean, Odell
Beckham was supposed to be that guy, but even him,
like Beckham, wasn't shifty as a runner at the stage
of his career. And Tadj's ability is a jet sweep,
like threaten the edge and make sure that they're going
to play that backside contained because if you do that,
you're taking away a person over the top or in
the intermediate passing game, and it works for the screen
(12:00):
game as well, like it's going to force a defender
to have to have more backside discipline, which just takes
away coverage deep down the field, keeping the roof over
both Reek and Wattle.
Speaker 2 (12:09):
So I'm intrigued by that.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
I didn't think he had a great game by any stretch,
but you can see the possible impact and how this
receiver core can stack up. It's not to me, it's
not like three four, five, six, It's like Reek and
Wattle are going to play a bunch and then and
then what like whatever the particular role for a game
or a series or a rep or a portion of
the field. Like that's how you round out who gets
(12:32):
the reps with Malik Westbrook, Akine, Taje and Eskridge, who
to me are the six receivers right now? They would
be on my football team real quick. I want to
make this comment. I saw this on my sideline tweet
that got some pretty good traction there talking about the
Dolphins engagement. I think it was kind of a cheap
shot to go after Tyreek for sitting down next to
Tarek Black, because Treek Black had a really tough game.
He did not play well, and they showed on the
(12:54):
broadcast and I wasn't there, so I can't tell you
for the entirety of the game, but the broadcast showed
Tyreek standing up on the sideline no less than ten
times he was up. He was engaged, and I think
he was probably comforting a young receiver having a tough
game when he was on the bench with Tabik Black.
Speaker 2 (13:08):
I could be wrong. Maybe you guys saw it better
than I did.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
The were at the game, but that's why I saw
on the broadcast, and I think that he probably was
pretty engaged. But again I could be wrong. Daniel Brunskill
played his ass off in this game. There was a
hit on Zach Wilson that I chalked up to originally
on the podcast last night, I said, Zach's got to
know when he's got more guys coming than he has
in protection, that's on him. But that wasn't the case.
And we're going to make a couple of corrections in
this podcast. That's why you go back and watch the tape.
(13:31):
You can make corrections as a film reviewer as well,
because Jalen Wright was in pass protection and he did
a really bad job.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
We'll talk about that in one second.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
But Daniel Brunskill on that play recognized that the A
gap runner was coming free and he laid out trying
to get a piece of him. He didn't do it,
but he tried. I love the effort. He did do
a good job of getting to the second level in
the running game. He cut off the three technique and
the one shade on multiple run plays and was able
to seal them and turn them back inside. I think
after a tough start to camp, he has really settled
(13:59):
in and to me, he's the top interior guy right
now off the bench, and like, it's not close. When
Liam and Andrew Meyer get back, that might change that.
But between those three guys and the starting three, like,
I think you've got six possible like serviceable interior offensive lineman.
I think Meyer and Brunskill can both play, and Liam,
I for as much crap as everyone gives him, myself included,
(14:21):
is a good eighth lineman. You can do a lot
worse than Liam in that role. And as long as
Larry Boram is serviceable depth off the outside, then your
depth is really good and Larry has been Anyone saying
otherwise is just confirming priors for how Larry has been
playing in the last couple of weeks here in camp.
In the preseason, speaking of Larry, coach McDaniel talked about
the value in these reps for him, and I think
it's showing he's been good.
Speaker 2 (14:42):
He's been good.
Speaker 1 (14:43):
The work in space on the DS gridge screen is
why you lift him from the power scheme in Chicago
and bring him to a more prevalent outside zone scheme here.
He was good in his pass sets. He got good
surge at the point of attack. And again, some people
are going to tell you the backup offensive tackle position
is a problem right now. And when you're talking about
Keon Smith, we'll talk about him too. I agree to
that sentiment, but you're just not evaluating Larry's Dolphins tape.
(15:07):
You're talking about his Bears tape because it shows like
it's Larry's been good for the Dolphins in these two games,
and it's been that way in camp. And Aiden Hutchinson
probably took him to the shed a little bit there.
But who does Aiden Hutchinson not take to the shed?
I would expect you to help on Hutchinson when your
third tackle is in the lineup in a game, Let's
go ahead and past for a break rate there, come
back and finish up the rest of the offensive standouts.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
We'll do the offensive misses as well.
Speaker 1 (15:30):
Talk about the defense all of that More Draft Time
podcast brought to you by Auto Nation. I love Alli
Gordon just how can you not? I mean, the way
this guy's playing right now. Picking it back up here
with the offensive standouts from the Lions and Dolphins preseason
Week two contest twenty four to seventeen.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
You're Miami Dolphins with the win. Who cares?
Speaker 1 (15:51):
Right?
Speaker 2 (15:52):
It's cool, but who cares? Alli Gordon? Man?
Speaker 1 (15:54):
His feel for the backside flow, his ability to get
his shoulders square to the line of scrimmage. There's a
lot to like here, man, and that describes how you
convert short yards right there. I would love to replace
Jalen Wright on the third down conversion on the first
or second series of the game. Was it? I forget
with Ollie Gordon and see how he would have run
that ball, because I have some breakdowns on Jalen Wright
(16:18):
that it's not been great that we'll talk about here
in one second. But I want to see him in
that situation and then what he showed as a pass
receiver on that third and one to catch and run
it Like you've converted a short yardage, You've in the
run game and the passing game. For me, the next
step for him is to solidify that pass protection the
way a vet would, the way Alex Madison did, and
you can be a three phase back in those critical
(16:39):
situations and you can be a big part of winning
football games for the Miami Dolphins this year, Allie, as
long as the pass protection's there, and I don't think
it's been bad, but it's gonna take some time to
get his feel for it. Then, just with the early
down runs, the feel for the outside zone gets on
and stays on a good track. He presses the point
and then can peel off that track and reset the
angles for the offensive lineman. I know they'll appreciate his
(16:59):
work more so than other running backs in the roster.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
Shoot.
Speaker 1 (17:02):
Then his next carry is an inside zone and he
hits this hesitation step and cuts to widen the right
back to get downhill and we open this huge hole
and he finishes the run with power runs through a safety.
I just love the way he takes what he can
get to. There's a rep where the o Weese gets
beat inside from a nasty split. Nasty splits are when
the receiver condenses in close, almost like a wide tight end,
(17:23):
right to the tackle. Alli Gordon sees it and just
runs through the defender like he's a defensive back so
he can do it rather than getting cute and trying
to dance and make him miss. No, we lost the
blocking rep. Just run him over, run through him and
get extra yards. And he's met behind the last scrimmage
two yards deep and winds up gaining two yards. It's
a four yard swing like it might not seem like
a lot, but ask any play caller about second and
(17:45):
eight versus second and twelve. But it's a really good
tape here for Ali Gordon. I think I think right
now he's a running back too. Brandon Daniels has got
really good feet like typewriter action, and by that I
mean they keep on clicking along with the hands and
the way he moves. You can see the former tackle
skill set. He keeps bringing his feet through the punch
and the hand fight. That really helps me in pass protection,
especially the way we fly off the football. And I
(18:07):
thought he just had a natural pad level advantage because
of his height. I didn't think he was very tall,
but I was like, well, how's he played tackle if
he's not so tall? But he's six foot four. He
just plays so low that he looks shorter than he
is Hayden Ruchie Rooje. This is why I go back
and watch the film because I was dead wrong about
his performance, and I apologize to the entire Roochie family
for the evaluation on the Saturday podcast. I think it
(18:28):
was the best tape we've seen from a why tight
end this preseason, and that shows you how bad I
was evaluating him. In the game on Saturday, He's in control.
His steps into his punch to create displacement were perfect.
It was matched up on a wire together. I like
the way he scrapes on split flow and the kickouts
where he's got this moving landmark and that's a tough block.
And me and Kyle were talking about this how it
(18:49):
almost seems like sometimes the blocking assignments come with the
expectation you've got freaking prime George Kittle out there, like
they're tough assignments. And I thought Ruchie did a really
good job playing connected and not letting defenders split gaps
by staying in tight to the man next to him,
and the very next rep he motions down as an
upback as an insert lead blocker into that be gap
and he kicks out the forced defender. Very next rep,
(19:10):
the edge tries to cross face and he clubs him
to the ground. Next drive, more of the same, drives
the Sam linebacker all the way out of the play.
He whooped the lines in that fourth quarter, And granted,
those are gonna be guys working for State Farm next year,
but what a tape it was for Hayden Ruccie putting
all that stuff together. Theoi's great job catching the football.
I thought that the hands away from his body to
kind of shield the defender off of him in close proximity.
(19:32):
And that's gonna be his game because he is not
a separator, which Travis like separators.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
We know this by now.
Speaker 1 (19:37):
But when you can shield the defender from the ball
by doing that, that's gonna make you at least have
a chance to make some plays in this league. But
a really nice off script feel on that second touchdown too.
Quin You were talked about getting reps with him all
summer and they're on the same page there.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
That play was like dead until they've made that play.
Speaker 1 (19:55):
He also made a really tough catch on that last
field goal drive where he was open and the ball
was down around it his knees. It's a tough ball
to go get, especially for a big guy like him
Aj Henning. I just love that he responded after the
muff punt, sudden in his movement, quiet hands made some
big plays. And then Mike Boone and Aaron Shampklin super
limited action, but you can just see the fits and
how they are a zone runners. When Mike picks up
(20:15):
a running back, like sometimes it's worth noting like what
do they do? Well, it's probably what Mike likes because
that's his bread and butter, and I thought you could
see that with both those players on very limited action.
Speaker 2 (20:26):
Now the misses.
Speaker 1 (20:26):
I put Erica zukomm in here, and this might sound harsh,
but to me, nothing else mattered. After the play where
he lined up on the wrong damn side of the
field got corrected by the quarterback, Zach says, hey, you're
over there, eighty four, and then he lines up illegally
and wipes had a positive play. And it sucks because
this guy's so damn talented and he makes plays in
the ball in his hands. The first screen of the game,
he makes a man miss that had him dead to rights.
(20:47):
But it's year four, like let's go, you know, like
let's freaking go and then Jalen Wright. It's only year two,
but I don't know, Man, that was a rough tape,
and the Madison injury starts to feel bigger with each
bad tape we get from five the first pass pro rep,
he's got the Mike linebackers screaming down the A gap.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
And if you've ever been in part of.
Speaker 1 (21:04):
Football, played it, coached it, studied it at all, you
know that the most important man to pick up and
blitze blitz pick up protection is the immediate threat to
the quarterback A gap, first, B gap, next C gap,
final is the final option. And they blitz the A
gap and right behind that comes a guy in the
B gap and like he took the B gap blitzer
and the mic blows up Zach Wilson for almost a
(21:26):
battered ball and pick like most immediate pressure first right
blitz pick up one on one and you can see
Brunskill lose. And I said it was more than that
they had, you know, more to block, or more rushers
than we had blockers.
Speaker 2 (21:38):
But it wasn't.
Speaker 1 (21:38):
It was six on six and right picked the wrong
one and whifted and I think Zach could have handled
the secondary blitzer with the extra fraction of second that
he had there, had right, got the right guy. The
third and one was well blocked, but he didn't bring
his feet and gets whacked and gets knocked down backwards.
Luckily again we reset the line scrimmage of the blocking
on that play. But he has to get through that
and get forward lean. He's making these cuts where he's
(21:59):
kind of leaning side. NFL linebackers are going to clean
your clock every time. If you don't bring every bit
of that two hundred and twenty five pounds, big dog,
you got to bring it there. Then we open a
big lane on the next touch and he gains three yards.
He's not running. I talked about Rouchie blocking by scraping
and staying in close to the man next to him.
That's how you have to run.
Speaker 2 (22:16):
Like.
Speaker 1 (22:16):
These gaps are so quick and so they disappear so fast.
You have to press them and stay in tight. You
cannot be like, oh, there's a big window, hit the
middle of it, like, you can't do that. You have
to find a way to condense the defense as much
as you can. To me, it looks like the outside
outside zone menu is just not on the table for
him because he's not seeing it and not hitting it
well right now, I mean, we've got a paragraph on
him before we get to the fumble, which watch that
(22:38):
it was a routine punch out and you can see
space between his elbow and his ribcage and the ball's
sticking up like my freaking six year old nephew.
Speaker 2 (22:45):
Run the football like it's one on one stuff.
Speaker 1 (22:47):
Here, and the way he widens and then cuts, there's
just no force working towards the line of scrimmage. I
think he's guessing on the vision like it's got me worried.
And this was a guy that was very high on
my one saving grace And maybe you just work the
outside zones stuff so you can have him get some
more feel for it once you come the season, because
he is an inside zone back at this point and
he can do that. Maybe some more powers in his
(23:08):
game as well. But if you can't do the outside
zone stuff, you can't be a prominent fixture of the
offense because that's the how the entire offense starts. That's
the jumping off point for this offense. Keon Smith. If
you don't keep your feet with your punch in this league,
you can't play tackle in this league, the hands go
up and the feet stop.
Speaker 2 (23:25):
That's a bad combination. My friend.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
That fourth down sack. You have to hold that block,
bro Bo. He's had a tough preseason. I thought Jonah
was bad, and I thought he was better on the
film review last week. But this week I don't think
it was very good. I don't think it's very good.
And he gets his chest exposed and pass protection. Sometimes
he's a little bit upright, but even still, and then
here's the upshot before you start panicking, is that he
(23:50):
can settle an anchor and still win the rep when
he gets his chest exposed. It's why I have almost
no worries about him. Maybe a little bit of panic
here early on, but no long term more because he
can win those reps while he gets the seasoning he needs.
He's twenty one, He's got butcher Berry. When he gets
it all down, watch out for him. But right now,
the feat stopping on the punch. They're not hardwired together.
(24:10):
We gotta get going here a bit. Jonah season starts
here in three weeks. Man gotta get going. Farroh Bran
Farroll Brown had a couple of nice plays but had
some inside post losses. A false start. He looked, he
didn't look very fast as a route runner. Tanner Connor,
you have to catch that ball down the field. That's
my only knock because I thought he played well otherwise.
But you got a free release down the scene against
cover one, Zach Rips. It got to make that play.
(24:31):
And then there's just a clear line to me on
the offensive line of the haves and have nots, and
to me on the other side the wrong side of
that is Jackson, Carmen, Ryan Hayes, Mackenzie, the tackle, Josh
preeb Addison West, and I would say Keon Smith right
now too, and then Chris Myrick, I don't see it
out there either. Let's go ahead and flip real quick
to the defense and do some general points before we
go ahead and take our last break and get to
(24:52):
the individual standouts and misses on that side of the football.
They went from Ethan and Duck on the first drive
to Kendall Sheffield and Jack Jones in the second drive.
Armstrong went for both those series in the slot, but
they did alternate it by a drive by drive basis,
So I think you can safely say right now it's
stacked Storm Duck Kendall Sheffield and Mike Hilton as the
top three, with Jack Jones, Ethan Bonner and Cornell Armstrong.
(25:16):
To me, I would just bump Sheffield below Bonner on
that and have it be Duck and Jones with Mike Hilton,
and then Bonner is my four, and quite frankly, I
think Jason marsh might be slot number two, which is
probably a problem right now. That's kind of where it's trending.
I just think that I still think the outside help
is needed here, but I do likewise sow from Jack Jones,
(25:37):
I can see it with Storm Duck. There's some stuff
to like from Ethan Bonner as well Mike Hilton, but
one more would make me feel pretty good about that.
But yeah, I think you can see how they stacked
that off the top there, and it kind of seems
like if he is working more in the post at
the safety position than he would have if Ashton Davis
were still up. Just kind of interesting to see how
they split those reps and Dante Trader got just six
(25:59):
reps despite start the game at safety alongside if he
melafon Wu, which kind of tells me that they like
Dante Trader because you wouldn't run him out there for
a few snaps and be like, ah, get him out
of there, like you know, everyone else got their work
their work. I think Trader, who got mentioned by name
by both Craig Ackerman and Anthony Weaver at the last
press conferences, I think he might be a guy they
like quite a bit. I've got one more here, and
I want to make it perfectly clear. This is not
(26:20):
a concrete analysis, and I don't like to speculate on
things like this, but I think is worth discussing what
happened on that first lines touchdown because if you watch
the other side of the field, Jack Jones and Pat McMorris,
banjo at banjo means it's a zone concept and we're
going to just go ahead and match up. But the
first the inside guy takes the first route that breaks.
Inside outside guy takes the first outbreaking route, and that's
(26:41):
what they do on the backside of the formation with
the play side. It looks like that's what Colbert wants
to do, and storm Duck winds up going with the
man inside despite having an outside position for banjo. And
you can count the number of coverage busts this preseason
in camp on one hand, like legitimately they've been playing
really well in terms of their connection together. Sometimes it happens,
but that needs to be the calling card of the secondary.
(27:02):
They're at a talent efficiency at that position. The best
way they can maximize the rush upfront is to have
top tier communication. And that play was scared me because
you can't do that. But Duck has mostly played with
Minka Fitzpatrick back there and Elijah Campbell, two veterans that
are going to be in the right spot most of
the time and probably have a better communication feel for that.
So perhaps that's just a second year player two second
(27:24):
year players being on different pages. But there's a lot
to unpack there, and it's a little bit concerning about,
you know, blowing a coverage when your hallmark has to
be your connectivity. Last break right there, come back and
do the individual standouts and misses on defense. Top five
tapes Drive Time Podcast brought to you by AutoNation. Defensive
standouts from the Dolphins twenty four to seventeen win in Detroit?
(27:46):
Is it Detroit or Detroit? How do you pronounce it?
Speaker 2 (27:49):
D two?
Speaker 1 (27:49):
Right? Right? He is so fast, Willie Gay He makes
fast people look not fast. I mean, you see it
all the time on blitzes, but the way he cut
off that little boot flat throw on the first drive,
that's a huge game. If he doesn't win the foot
race of the sideline. The play on the screen that
he blew up, like your understanding and processing can take
you play, take you like to plays, and when you
(28:10):
pair it with the speed that he has, that's how
you get the production you've seen all summer long here
from Willy Gay. That play was dead from the jump
from jump because he read it. He knew that he
had the running back who he had in man coverage,
wasn't running vertical or making a cutback up on a
Texas or Arrow route. He just knew it the whole
way and blew it up. Had that play on the
stick earlier in coverage. I just think Willy Gay is
(28:30):
freaking awesome.
Speaker 2 (28:30):
Man. Kenneth Grant is too.
Speaker 1 (28:32):
I think the growth in terms of the little things
like technique and pad level, the things that come with
the daily deposits of repetition that he's put in. I
feel like he's come so far from day one of
camp to now. And when you get that growth in
a rare, rare physical makeup well, you get these dominant performances.
Nobody got into his chest. He was a damn puppet master.
The way he was controlling guys in the point all
(28:52):
game long. He beat the crap on the Tan Moody
who was getting like highlight clips on from NFL freaking
Twitter account. The strength, the movement he can play through
or split gaps, the retrace and effort that screen that
Willie shut down. The guard tries to club him and
a knocks hunting to the ground almost but he puts
a hand on the ground to keep himself up, and
then the same foot pivots back to the outside. He
(29:14):
sprints down and retraces it for a tackle at three
hundred and thirty pounds. And then Kyle krabsweed out to
play where he runs forty yards down the field like
he did against Michigan on that play that was ran
all throughout the draft night in his highlight reel.
Speaker 2 (29:27):
Just rare, rare skill set.
Speaker 1 (29:28):
I am in love with his game, and I cannot
wait to see what Weave cooks up for him alongside
Sealer all year long.
Speaker 2 (29:33):
They're gonna have a fun there.
Speaker 1 (29:34):
Derek McClendon, I don't have a note here, just outside
of the fact that he was in the first group
over Grays and Murphy. I think that's informative. Matthew Butler.
I liked his Raiders tape quite a lot, and I
think he's gonna make the football team. He has exceeded
my expectations constantly, reseets a line of scrimmage. He can
widen guys when they want to stand him up. A
lot of plays that make life easier on the stackbacker
(29:55):
behind him. Go watch kJ Bridge plays in this game.
A lot of those are stacked behind Matthew but and
he's creating run through opportunities for him. Dante Trader is
just a ballplayer man, that little week side see gap fit.
The way he tightens into the line of scrimmage and
you know, gets thin there, the coverage work he had
in practices.
Speaker 2 (30:12):
He just gets to where he needs to be and
reacts quickly.
Speaker 1 (30:14):
I think, like McClendon for him to open the game
with the starters, which was he and melafan Wu tells
you where he's at in the pecking order. I kind
of feel like he's safety four and a special team's
ace on this team right now. From day one, Jack Jones.
He was in good shape. A lot tough to evaluate
cornerbacks on the TV copy. I think corners in safeties
are the position that I get the least value from
watching TV when they're not targeted, because you just don't
(30:35):
see what happens. He did get up that one catch
to Isaac Taslaw Tuslaw, but he straight up bullied him
on the route. He just lost sight of him, like
he took him out of bounds almost, and then the
scrambled drill by Hendon Hooker got the best of Jack,
which you know, keep your head. But his ability to
play up re route and then fall into his own
with eyes in the quarterback, to me, is the best
skill set any of these cornerbacks has an individual. He's
(30:57):
really good in that area and with how we can
create pressure up front. I think that's a complimentary skills.
I think he plays in this defense. I think people
are down Jack Jones right now for some reason, but
I feel like I'm missing something here because time and
time again, he looks like the best cornerback on the
team to me, not a high bar, but like I
think he can play. He could play for the Patriots,
He could play for the Raiders, and he's played so
far in camp for us, his feel, his communication. Now,
(31:19):
we saw the worst come to a head in Detroit,
and it makes me wonder like, are they putting him
like through a ringer? Are they testing him a little bit,
trying to get him ready for the season because they
know his talent and his skill set, but also why
he's available because his background. Right, it's head between the
ears for him. And maybe you make him use the
entire camp before you elevate him, like, make him earn
it every single day as the underdog. Maybe you put
(31:40):
him on Aman Ross Saint Brown without help all practice
long and let the lines bark at him and see
how he responds. I didn't think he responded well that day,
but the next practice of the next game, I thought
responded well. I think he's the best player in the room.
I don't think it's close with cater Coohu being down.
Ethan Bonner also had a couple of good reps before
the one where he got injured. He did get beat
on that play and then the hamstring tightened up on him,
which McDaniel said, there's no update. We'll get one for
(32:02):
you guys, probably on Monday. Mike's Monday press conference, Jordan
Phillips the first rep. He stacks a block, absorbs, absorbs
the double off of his hip, which is impressive as hell,
and it.
Speaker 2 (32:13):
Moves him a little bit.
Speaker 1 (32:15):
But when he decides he's gonna drop the anger, it
drops and you do not get any more movement. I
think you could argue the best player on the field
for the lines was that guard and Attaine Moody, but
Jordan put him on skates a few times. He is
a hell of a football player and a fine In
the fifth round, Quentin Bell beat the crap out of
the tight ends trying to attack him in the run game,
which should be expected but was still fun to watch.
Patrick McMorris. I like the way he fits the run
(32:35):
from depth, but the coverage like last week, is still
way up in the air. Eugenis Sante I just love
the way he plays fast, physical and violent. He reads
his keys too, because they're snaps where he's the first
one moving off the football before anybody else has gotten
their start yet. Zeke Biggers the way he can load
up that length and get the most out of it
when he has the pad level right and plays into
the extension there's some flat out dominant reps. Give coach
(32:58):
Clark more time with this guy to get that pad level,
playing low every single step and watch him be another
freaking fit on this defensive line. On this year's draft class,
Jason Marshall Junior did some stuff that would indicate to
me some inside ability.
Speaker 2 (33:09):
I mean, he played in the slot.
Speaker 1 (33:10):
It's not breaking news here, but I'm talking purely about
what you want Mike Hilton to do, which is basically
be another run defender in there in a blitzer his
physicality against the run. He took one wide angle where
I thought he needed to get tight to the line
scrimmage and kind of play more parallel on a play
action pass. But he's not afraid to go in there
and hit a tight end and play the run. I
like the way he beats those blocks against those nasty
(33:31):
splits in tight to the formation. I always felt like
he needed a lot more seasoning in zone coverage as
a cornerback coming out, and I think you saw that
in this tape. He kind of doesn't have the feel
for it just yet. But there are some traits that
make him an attractive developmental piece. With the physical man
coverage and the run defense and trying him inside. That
really intrigues me. I'm curious to see what that looks
like going forward. Grayson Murphy not a lot of breakdown
(33:52):
to do. I did it on the Saturday podcast, but
that inside Rushman was complimentary. Did it again to beat
a run play earlier? I thought he did want to
shock the tight end and the kickout blocks in the
run game. Big game for Grayson Murphy, So was that
the case. That's not an offentense for Cam Good. I
like the way he attacked blocks. He had a sacked
ducking around the split flow tight end that they kept
throwing at him.
Speaker 2 (34:12):
He beat that all game long.
Speaker 1 (34:13):
He's also a special team stud and Cam Smith makes
the notes for the first time in his three year career.
That pass breakup rep was excellent where he pedals to depth,
gets good peripheral on the play, drives out of the
back pedal, undercuts and disrupts the catchpoint. Really nice textbook
rep there, and some of the movement that I've raved
about in the past was there on that play. It
feels like there was a resuscitation this week for Cam.
(34:34):
Now can he take this new pulse and this nude
life and run with it. Gonna be watching that very closely.
I'm not gonna go crazy just yet, but it was
good tape for the first time. Then he makes that
play on Hooker with that tackle with excellent recognition and
speed and form tackling, and to me, it always felt
like it was more of a does this guy give
a damn? Than anything else, And you can ask why
didn't he before? But on this tape he's reacting like
(34:57):
he gives a damn, And I think that goes a
long way a man. If Cam Smith could look like
a second round cornerback in his third year, which I'm
not betting on by any stretch, but no pressure, Cam,
but that could change the makeup of this entire football team.
Ethan Robinson just a hell of a play. Just want
to put that out there. I didn't have a ton
of misses on defense. I thought Cornell Armstrong showed you
what you've known about him. Not a good tape. Storm
(35:20):
Duck had that bust, didn't have anything else crazy, but
I thought there was some coverage reps where he was
not quick to react to certain things. Chang Tyndall makes
some splash plays, but he's just not assignment sound. He
has to see it before he goes. I think Eugenis
Sante has had a better camp and beat him out
for that fifth spot, even if it's just a practice
squad role. And I thought Matthew Dickerson kind of struggled
this week after a good game last week. Top five tapes,
(35:41):
it's impossible I have nine names here, so at top
nine tapes, I guess Jordan Phillips was just the most
physical man out there all game long.
Speaker 2 (35:49):
D S.
Speaker 1 (35:49):
Gridge did a phenomenal job all game long. Kenneth Grant
did everything you want to see from him, and he
beat up backups like he should. Grays and Murphy number four,
and then I have a four way tie for fifth
with Daniel Brunskill, Hayden Rouccie, Ollie Gordon, and Larry Borham.
That's your podcast Long one Today. We're gonna come back
on Tuesday for a practice recap pot. We're gonna have
practice recap pods Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday off again, Friday, game
(36:11):
on Saturday, and then we have a different schedule coming
out next week for you guys. We'll keep you in
tune on that. In the meantime, you all please be
sure subscribe, rate review of the podcast. Follow me on
social at Wink with NFL the team at Miami Dolphins.
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 Com.
Speaker 2 (36:31):
Until next time. Fins up. Caroline Cameron WILLO Daddy, He's
coming home.
This is Drivetime with Travis Wingfield.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Who what is up?
Speaker 1 (00:13):
Dolphins? And Welcome to the Draft Time Podcast. I am
your host, Travis Wingfield. And on today's show, it's another
film review podcast. Are Penultimate one of the preseason lots
of player evaluations to get to top five tapes, Who shined,
Who did not? All of that and more from the
Baptist Hill Studios inside the Baptist Hill Training Complex. This
is the Draft Time Podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Preseason week number two.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
Dolphins at Lines, general points on offense, let go. I
talked about this on the Sunday Recap podcast, but there
was more in this game from a design and variation
standpoint that really has me, quite frankly, a little bit
guindy about what we're gonna see come September seventh up
in Indianapolis. Like the first play of the game is
a variation of one of our core contents over the
(01:00):
last three years, the slide flat, where you have the
little motion guy that comes across and runs parallel to
the line of scrimmage and the quarterback can either flip
it to him you saw a Durhams mike that a
whole bunch of times, or you have the glance route
or you have like a rail up the sideline and yeah,
the slide goes to the flat, I should say, and
you have the glance in the rail and it basically
is a three way spacing concept to one side of
(01:24):
the field. And they ran a play that went against
the grain of that flat where the flat goes to
the one side of the formation, but they dummy the
screen to the backside of the formation and the glance
comes off that backside fake screen with ds Gridge running
the little seam glance which is basically just stutter step
out of the blocks and then get in behind that
hook linebacker and show the quarterback your numbers. Now, Zach
(01:46):
didn't throw it to a would have because Tua sees
it in different way than the other quarterbacks do. But
it was cool to see that, and it gets me
thinking about you know McDaniel in that athletic article talking
about being refreshed and feeling the best he has in
a long time. Let the scientists cook a little bit, man,
because when they came out in twenty twenty three with
that exit motion, nobody figured it out for the first
(02:07):
six weeks. And if the Dolphins do that this year,
they're gonna win a lot of football games early and
being a good spot going into the second half of
the season. We had their linebackers fall stepping all game
long on play pass. That was great to see Grant
Stewart eat your heart out. We'll come back to him
in just one second. That first third and one might
have only gained a single yard, but it converted and
it was a beautifully executed blocking across the board for
(02:28):
how you need to move people and pick up that
one yard in short yardage. You get the left tackle
left guard comboing the three technique and it leaves the
inside post of the tight end, which this was one
of my gripes with John new Smith last year was
how vulnerable he was to allowing that edge to crash
in and cross face and basically blow up the play
(02:48):
because he wasn't quick enough to dig that defender out
and that five technique makes the inside post of the
tight end very vulnerable. But Pharaoh Brown was able to
cut it off and create just enough space to create
a one on one in the gap for Jalen Wright,
who didn't win the matchup against the linebacker, but because
the rest of the blocking was so well executed. They
(03:09):
got the yard on blocking alone, and we'll talk about
right here in one second and where he went wrong
on that play. But the deep shot to d s
Gridge was a good example of how our run game
sets up shots in the pass game. There was no
penetration because guess what, when we don't get in these
third longs and don't have these true dropbacks, our quarterbacks
stay unaffected. And when you can run the ball, you
(03:29):
can do that for sixteen minutes in a game, regardless
of who's out there, whether it's the Lions twos or
Max Crosby and the Raiders front. And we ran off
the football and sole run action. And we'll talk about
Zach missing that throw here in just a little bit
as well. But the third down before the one sack
of the game on Zach Wilson, the turnover on downs
down in gold to go situation, we short motioned Eric
(03:51):
Azookama to indicate their coverage. Right, you do a motion,
come back and reset, and you kind of see who
goes with him, or if nobody goes with him, it's
it's probably his own. If someone does go with him
as man, and it does tip man coverage to that side,
of the field. But during the play on the boundary
that the short side of the field, opposite of where
that motion happened, Zach did a good job of reading
that field side crosser because he knew that the leverage
(04:14):
of the cornerback to that backside was playing in zone
and he didn't fall off into the back of the
end zone, so he knew what he had based upon
front side reading information or front side information and reading
out the play from there.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
He just flat out missed the throw. But cool design.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
That should have been a touchdown had we executed from
the quarterback position. And again, Grant Steward really enjoyed watching
him look like the guy or the kid, I should
say from that famous viral football video the blind Kid
that played and it was what the is going on
as he's running around not knowing where he's going, like
not poking fun. But that's what Grant Stewart looked like
in this game because they went after him in the
(04:50):
play action game and he was false stepping like a madman.
So the quarterback we always start for the quarterback position
here know to what today obviously, but Zach Wilson frustrating
on that first play that bread and butter the variation
we talked about on the glance, and every indicator gave
him the opportunity to throw the glance to de Es Gridge.
And I talked to Kyle Crabs about this and he disagreed.
He said that he felt that I was wrong, but
(05:11):
I disagree with Kyle. So take that, Kyle, but he's
looking right at it and just does not throw the football.
But I told Kyle, like, maybe my standard is what
you know for Tua that he throws that Tua.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
Tua does put.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
That ball on the right spot, and so my standard
for the other quarterbacks is maybe higher than it should be.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
But I don't know. I want to play it to
a QB one's level.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
There are some misses where I think it's just simply
a mechanical thing for Zach, like not getting his lower
half into the throw and driving it the way that
he could if he, you know, stepped into the throw.
He's got such a talented arm, but he leaves a
lot on the table by not being mechanically aligned. And
there's some throws to the perimeter that haven't gotten there,
and he's had some throws falling off his back foot
that I think he could stick his foot in the
(05:54):
ground and put it on his guy. But there's some
plays where the feet are just kind of stuck and
he's not moving a lot. Drops the arm angles down
and tries to flip it out there, and it's like,
but if you just step into this thing, you've got
a seventy million hour fastball to the corner.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
Let's throw it out there.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
That little floater that Tanner Connor caught for a nice
little catch and run annoyed me also because again, get
it to him quick, and you've got d. S. Gridge,
who would have had an opportunity to make a block
out in space if Connor had the ball earlier, but
it cost him like at least ten more yards because
he had to wait for the ball to get there,
and then by the time he did, the blocker or
the defender had beat the block of Eskridge. Next throw
(06:30):
same thing. Set your feet, bro, Like it's that simple.
Because I do think he played well outside of a
couple of those plays, and better than I thought on
the broadcast. In fact, the tape kind of changed my
opinion of both quarterbacks games based upon what I thought
on the broadcast. He had some really nice throws from
unsettled platforms like I get mad about the back foot throws.
Sometimes they're necessary, but sometimes when he does throw in
(06:53):
the necessary and puts him on good spots, I like it.
I don't like it when it's not necessary. But the
big played a Faroh Brown that got erase by a pound.
He was a really nice rep doing just that. The
shot he had the Tanner Connor down the scene that
was dropped was a really really nice rep where he
saw it and ripped it with anticipation, put it on
a rope opposite Hash twenty five yard air yards down
the field. I have no idea what he saw on
(07:14):
the next throw that should have been a pick six.
He threw an out late with a trail cornerback all
over to d s Gridge. D broke it up for him.
I would like to see him stick that throw on
Tage on the play that Taj almost got blown up
on and really could have gotten blown up on, because
he layered it where it was more of a put
it on him now type of throw, and the layering
of the football allowed the defender to come off his
(07:35):
own coverage and square up Tage for a big hit.
I wish we could see the universe where he tries
the deep ball off the first hitch because it was
wide open to d.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
S Gridge, and he.
Speaker 1 (07:43):
Climbed up and did a second hitch, and by that
time d was like seventy five yards away, and that's
why it was so drastically underthrown. And there was a
handful of catch rock throw reps where like it looks
innocuous in the same way that Tua gets denigrated by
grading sites because he knows what the defense is going
to rotate and just beat you based upon his pre
snap read. And for some reason we don't like that
(08:04):
as a football gogdas empty. But Zach Wilson had a
couple of those throws where on the broadcast it's like, Okay,
a simple catch and throw. But he's doing it because
he's reading out the play pre snap and doing a
good job with it. So I think that there's a
lot of growth that's happened here. There's still a lot
of room for more growth, and he's got time to
make that happen. I mentioned the miss touchdown in the
general talking points. I don't really care about him missing
(08:25):
the location with the physical tools because that's gonna happen
for him, probably more so than TA, definitely more so
than to A. But he read it out and he
read that cloud corner sinking into that coverage spot. He
knew what he had coming in behind him with the
front side crosser and played it on time. That's a
great sign for him going forward, whether or not he
makes the throw or not, because next time, I bet
you he does make that throw. Quinn Ewers got off
(08:46):
to a slow start back to back reps where he
made a poor read and then a really bad ball
on an out that was maybe a little bit dangerous.
The first touchdown throw, though, to THEO Weese was a
really nice job reading and anticipating a three way man
or a three man combination that would materialize out of
a bunch and it looked like a six man car crash,
like there was six human beings within like a six
(09:08):
yard square foot radius in short proximity. But he rips
the thing with anticipation, knowing that Weez is going to
get that spot based upon the leverage of the defensive
back that was covering him, and he put the ball
in a great spot from a kind of awkward arm
angle there. The second touchdown was a nice throw to
That third down shot to Henging in the hole was
really nice. The second down, the second touchdown play was dead.
(09:28):
It was a dead play, but both he and the
oisee made something happen on that play. So pretty nice
game from Quinn. But it's a nice game to me
in the sense of a developmental quarterback playing in the
fourth quarter of a preseason game where the starters never played.
So you're talking about fourth and fifth stream like it's
a good tape. Don't get me wrong, it's a good
sign of growth and it's better than the alternative of
not playing well like last week. But I think he
(09:50):
has a very very long way to go, way longer
than Zach does. For instance, like that out that he
threw that should have been a pick six. He had
the oise for an easy pitching catch for thirty yards.
If Weese makes one guy miss and outruns everybody's an
eighty five yard touchdown. He was naked, he was all alone,
and he made a bad throw on that play that
should have been a pick six on a pretty simple read.
(10:11):
I have no idea what he saw there, but I
take back the comment I made in the podcast on
Saturday saying that I think that gap has shrunk, and
I once again will say I want to see Zach
Wilson get all the reps beyond Tua on Saturday, because
I don't think Quinn's close to being ready for game
time yet, and I think every rep that Zach can
get from now until the time that he might have
to play hopefully never, will be valuable and beneficial to
(10:33):
him and the team. Individual standouts here d Scridge. I
talked about this in the recap podcast, but it was
even better on tape. He has such a good feel,
like you can just tell he knows the offense really
well and his feel for pace within the route, how
to time off his steps. It's really good. And that's
how you get trust with Tua because Tua is so
what's the word meticulous about his footwork and the timing
(10:54):
of the play. With the footwork he was open on
that glance in the first play, and the way he
delays his release and route to time up with the
quarterback and his drop like they run a similar variation
on the second play of the game, and he slow
plays an outside release and gets the corner leaning that way.
Then he slaps the hand down the jam hand and
cross his face and gets open again that screen catch
and run that touchdown. Like go watch his Western Michigan
(11:16):
tape from years ago, and Travis was a big fan
of his coming out of college. Got that one wrong,
but he was one of the top rack guys in
that class, and you saw it all over this tape.
Taj Washington, I don't think he's just made this team
per Travis's own evaluation. I think he's earned touches and
a role within the offense the specific packages. His speed element,
alongside both Waddle and Reek is something we haven't had
(11:39):
as a third option from eleven personnel. I mean, Odell
Beckham was supposed to be that guy, but even him,
like Beckham, wasn't shifty as a runner at the stage
of his career. And Tadj's ability is a jet sweep,
like threaten the edge and make sure that they're going
to play that backside contained because if you do that,
you're taking away a person over the top or in
the intermediate passing game, and it works for the screen
(12:00):
game as well, like it's going to force a defender
to have to have more backside discipline, which just takes
away coverage deep down the field, keeping the roof over
both Reek and Wattle.
Speaker 2 (12:09):
So I'm intrigued by that.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
I didn't think he had a great game by any stretch,
but you can see the possible impact and how this
receiver core can stack up. It's not to me, it's
not like three four, five, six, It's like Reek and
Wattle are going to play a bunch and then and
then what like whatever the particular role for a game
or a series or a rep or a portion of
the field. Like that's how you round out who gets
(12:32):
the reps with Malik Westbrook, Akine, Taje and Eskridge, who
to me are the six receivers right now? They would
be on my football team real quick. I want to
make this comment. I saw this on my sideline tweet
that got some pretty good traction there talking about the
Dolphins engagement. I think it was kind of a cheap
shot to go after Tyreek for sitting down next to
Tarek Black, because Treek Black had a really tough game.
He did not play well, and they showed on the
(12:54):
broadcast and I wasn't there, so I can't tell you
for the entirety of the game, but the broadcast showed
Tyreek standing up on the sideline no less than ten
times he was up. He was engaged, and I think
he was probably comforting a young receiver having a tough
game when he was on the bench with Tabik Black.
Speaker 2 (13:08):
I could be wrong. Maybe you guys saw it better
than I did.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
The were at the game, but that's why I saw
on the broadcast, and I think that he probably was
pretty engaged. But again I could be wrong. Daniel Brunskill
played his ass off in this game. There was a
hit on Zach Wilson that I chalked up to originally
on the podcast last night, I said, Zach's got to
know when he's got more guys coming than he has
in protection, that's on him. But that wasn't the case.
And we're going to make a couple of corrections in
this podcast. That's why you go back and watch the tape.
(13:31):
You can make corrections as a film reviewer as well,
because Jalen Wright was in pass protection and he did
a really bad job.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
We'll talk about that in one second.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
But Daniel Brunskill on that play recognized that the A
gap runner was coming free and he laid out trying
to get a piece of him. He didn't do it,
but he tried. I love the effort. He did do
a good job of getting to the second level in
the running game. He cut off the three technique and
the one shade on multiple run plays and was able
to seal them and turn them back inside. I think
after a tough start to camp, he has really settled
(13:59):
in and to me, he's the top interior guy right
now off the bench, and like, it's not close. When
Liam and Andrew Meyer get back, that might change that.
But between those three guys and the starting three, like,
I think you've got six possible like serviceable interior offensive lineman.
I think Meyer and Brunskill can both play, and Liam,
I for as much crap as everyone gives him, myself included,
(14:21):
is a good eighth lineman. You can do a lot
worse than Liam in that role. And as long as
Larry Boram is serviceable depth off the outside, then your
depth is really good and Larry has been Anyone saying
otherwise is just confirming priors for how Larry has been
playing in the last couple of weeks here in camp.
In the preseason, speaking of Larry, coach McDaniel talked about
the value in these reps for him, and I think
it's showing he's been good.
Speaker 2 (14:42):
He's been good.
Speaker 1 (14:43):
The work in space on the DS gridge screen is
why you lift him from the power scheme in Chicago
and bring him to a more prevalent outside zone scheme here.
He was good in his pass sets. He got good
surge at the point of attack. And again, some people
are going to tell you the backup offensive tackle position
is a problem right now. And when you're talking about
Keon Smith, we'll talk about him too. I agree to
that sentiment, but you're just not evaluating Larry's Dolphins tape.
(15:07):
You're talking about his Bears tape because it shows like
it's Larry's been good for the Dolphins in these two games,
and it's been that way in camp. And Aiden Hutchinson
probably took him to the shed a little bit there.
But who does Aiden Hutchinson not take to the shed?
I would expect you to help on Hutchinson when your
third tackle is in the lineup in a game, Let's
go ahead and past for a break rate there, come
back and finish up the rest of the offensive standouts.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
We'll do the offensive misses as well.
Speaker 1 (15:30):
Talk about the defense all of that More Draft Time
podcast brought to you by Auto Nation. I love Alli
Gordon just how can you not? I mean, the way
this guy's playing right now. Picking it back up here
with the offensive standouts from the Lions and Dolphins preseason
Week two contest twenty four to seventeen.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
You're Miami Dolphins with the win. Who cares?
Speaker 1 (15:51):
Right?
Speaker 2 (15:52):
It's cool, but who cares? Alli Gordon? Man?
Speaker 1 (15:54):
His feel for the backside flow, his ability to get
his shoulders square to the line of scrimmage. There's a
lot to like here, man, and that describes how you
convert short yards right there. I would love to replace
Jalen Wright on the third down conversion on the first
or second series of the game. Was it? I forget
with Ollie Gordon and see how he would have run
that ball, because I have some breakdowns on Jalen Wright
(16:18):
that it's not been great that we'll talk about here
in one second. But I want to see him in
that situation and then what he showed as a pass
receiver on that third and one to catch and run
it Like you've converted a short yardage, You've in the
run game and the passing game. For me, the next
step for him is to solidify that pass protection the
way a vet would, the way Alex Madison did, and
you can be a three phase back in those critical
(16:39):
situations and you can be a big part of winning
football games for the Miami Dolphins this year, Allie, as
long as the pass protection's there, and I don't think
it's been bad, but it's gonna take some time to
get his feel for it. Then, just with the early
down runs, the feel for the outside zone gets on
and stays on a good track. He presses the point
and then can peel off that track and reset the
angles for the offensive lineman. I know they'll appreciate his
(16:59):
work more so than other running backs in the roster.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
Shoot.
Speaker 1 (17:02):
Then his next carry is an inside zone and he
hits this hesitation step and cuts to widen the right
back to get downhill and we open this huge hole
and he finishes the run with power runs through a safety.
I just love the way he takes what he can
get to. There's a rep where the o Weese gets
beat inside from a nasty split. Nasty splits are when
the receiver condenses in close, almost like a wide tight end,
(17:23):
right to the tackle. Alli Gordon sees it and just
runs through the defender like he's a defensive back so
he can do it rather than getting cute and trying
to dance and make him miss. No, we lost the
blocking rep. Just run him over, run through him and
get extra yards. And he's met behind the last scrimmage
two yards deep and winds up gaining two yards. It's
a four yard swing like it might not seem like
a lot, but ask any play caller about second and
(17:45):
eight versus second and twelve. But it's a really good
tape here for Ali Gordon. I think I think right
now he's a running back too. Brandon Daniels has got
really good feet like typewriter action, and by that I
mean they keep on clicking along with the hands and
the way he moves. You can see the former tackle
skill set. He keeps bringing his feet through the punch
and the hand fight. That really helps me in pass protection,
especially the way we fly off the football. And I
(18:07):
thought he just had a natural pad level advantage because
of his height. I didn't think he was very tall,
but I was like, well, how's he played tackle if
he's not so tall? But he's six foot four. He
just plays so low that he looks shorter than he
is Hayden Ruchie Rooje. This is why I go back
and watch the film because I was dead wrong about
his performance, and I apologize to the entire Roochie family
for the evaluation on the Saturday podcast. I think it
(18:28):
was the best tape we've seen from a why tight
end this preseason, and that shows you how bad I
was evaluating him. In the game on Saturday, He's in control.
His steps into his punch to create displacement were perfect.
It was matched up on a wire together. I like
the way he scrapes on split flow and the kickouts
where he's got this moving landmark and that's a tough block.
And me and Kyle were talking about this how it
(18:49):
almost seems like sometimes the blocking assignments come with the
expectation you've got freaking prime George Kittle out there, like
they're tough assignments. And I thought Ruchie did a really
good job playing connected and not letting defenders split gaps
by staying in tight to the man next to him,
and the very next rep he motions down as an
upback as an insert lead blocker into that be gap
and he kicks out the forced defender. Very next rep,
(19:10):
the edge tries to cross face and he clubs him
to the ground. Next drive, more of the same, drives
the Sam linebacker all the way out of the play.
He whooped the lines in that fourth quarter, And granted,
those are gonna be guys working for State Farm next year,
but what a tape it was for Hayden Ruccie putting
all that stuff together. Theoi's great job catching the football.
I thought that the hands away from his body to
kind of shield the defender off of him in close proximity.
(19:32):
And that's gonna be his game because he is not
a separator, which Travis like separators.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
We know this by now.
Speaker 1 (19:37):
But when you can shield the defender from the ball
by doing that, that's gonna make you at least have
a chance to make some plays in this league. But
a really nice off script feel on that second touchdown too.
Quin You were talked about getting reps with him all
summer and they're on the same page there.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
That play was like dead until they've made that play.
Speaker 1 (19:55):
He also made a really tough catch on that last
field goal drive where he was open and the ball
was down around it his knees. It's a tough ball
to go get, especially for a big guy like him
Aj Henning. I just love that he responded after the
muff punt, sudden in his movement, quiet hands made some
big plays. And then Mike Boone and Aaron Shampklin super
limited action, but you can just see the fits and
how they are a zone runners. When Mike picks up
(20:15):
a running back, like sometimes it's worth noting like what
do they do? Well, it's probably what Mike likes because
that's his bread and butter, and I thought you could
see that with both those players on very limited action.
Speaker 2 (20:26):
Now the misses.
Speaker 1 (20:26):
I put Erica zukomm in here, and this might sound harsh,
but to me, nothing else mattered. After the play where
he lined up on the wrong damn side of the
field got corrected by the quarterback, Zach says, hey, you're
over there, eighty four, and then he lines up illegally
and wipes had a positive play. And it sucks because
this guy's so damn talented and he makes plays in
the ball in his hands. The first screen of the game,
he makes a man miss that had him dead to rights.
(20:47):
But it's year four, like let's go, you know, like
let's freaking go and then Jalen Wright. It's only year two,
but I don't know, Man, that was a rough tape,
and the Madison injury starts to feel bigger with each
bad tape we get from five the first pass pro rep,
he's got the Mike linebackers screaming down the A gap.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
And if you've ever been in part of.
Speaker 1 (21:04):
Football, played it, coached it, studied it at all, you
know that the most important man to pick up and
blitze blitz pick up protection is the immediate threat to
the quarterback A gap, first, B gap, next C gap,
final is the final option. And they blitz the A
gap and right behind that comes a guy in the
B gap and like he took the B gap blitzer
and the mic blows up Zach Wilson for almost a
(21:26):
battered ball and pick like most immediate pressure first right
blitz pick up one on one and you can see
Brunskill lose. And I said it was more than that
they had, you know, more to block, or more rushers
than we had blockers.
Speaker 2 (21:38):
But it wasn't.
Speaker 1 (21:38):
It was six on six and right picked the wrong
one and whifted and I think Zach could have handled
the secondary blitzer with the extra fraction of second that
he had there, had right, got the right guy. The
third and one was well blocked, but he didn't bring
his feet and gets whacked and gets knocked down backwards.
Luckily again we reset the line scrimmage of the blocking
on that play. But he has to get through that
and get forward lean. He's making these cuts where he's
(21:59):
kind of leaning side. NFL linebackers are going to clean
your clock every time. If you don't bring every bit
of that two hundred and twenty five pounds, big dog,
you got to bring it there. Then we open a
big lane on the next touch and he gains three yards.
He's not running. I talked about Rouchie blocking by scraping
and staying in close to the man next to him.
That's how you have to run.
Speaker 2 (22:16):
Like.
Speaker 1 (22:16):
These gaps are so quick and so they disappear so fast.
You have to press them and stay in tight. You
cannot be like, oh, there's a big window, hit the
middle of it, like, you can't do that. You have
to find a way to condense the defense as much
as you can. To me, it looks like the outside
outside zone menu is just not on the table for
him because he's not seeing it and not hitting it
well right now, I mean, we've got a paragraph on
him before we get to the fumble, which watch that
(22:38):
it was a routine punch out and you can see
space between his elbow and his ribcage and the ball's
sticking up like my freaking six year old nephew.
Speaker 2 (22:45):
Run the football like it's one on one stuff.
Speaker 1 (22:47):
Here, and the way he widens and then cuts, there's
just no force working towards the line of scrimmage. I
think he's guessing on the vision like it's got me worried.
And this was a guy that was very high on
my one saving grace And maybe you just work the
outside zones stuff so you can have him get some
more feel for it once you come the season, because
he is an inside zone back at this point and
he can do that. Maybe some more powers in his
(23:08):
game as well. But if you can't do the outside
zone stuff, you can't be a prominent fixture of the
offense because that's the how the entire offense starts. That's
the jumping off point for this offense. Keon Smith. If
you don't keep your feet with your punch in this league,
you can't play tackle in this league, the hands go
up and the feet stop.
Speaker 2 (23:25):
That's a bad combination. My friend.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
That fourth down sack. You have to hold that block,
bro Bo. He's had a tough preseason. I thought Jonah
was bad, and I thought he was better on the
film review last week. But this week I don't think
it was very good. I don't think it's very good.
And he gets his chest exposed and pass protection. Sometimes
he's a little bit upright, but even still, and then
here's the upshot before you start panicking, is that he
(23:50):
can settle an anchor and still win the rep when
he gets his chest exposed. It's why I have almost
no worries about him. Maybe a little bit of panic
here early on, but no long term more because he
can win those reps while he gets the seasoning he needs.
He's twenty one, He's got butcher Berry. When he gets
it all down, watch out for him. But right now,
the feat stopping on the punch. They're not hardwired together.
(24:10):
We gotta get going here a bit. Jonah season starts
here in three weeks. Man gotta get going. Farroh Bran
Farroll Brown had a couple of nice plays but had
some inside post losses. A false start. He looked, he
didn't look very fast as a route runner. Tanner Connor,
you have to catch that ball down the field. That's
my only knock because I thought he played well otherwise.
But you got a free release down the scene against
cover one, Zach Rips. It got to make that play.
(24:31):
And then there's just a clear line to me on
the offensive line of the haves and have nots, and
to me on the other side the wrong side of
that is Jackson, Carmen, Ryan Hayes, Mackenzie, the tackle, Josh
preeb Addison West, and I would say Keon Smith right
now too, and then Chris Myrick, I don't see it
out there either. Let's go ahead and flip real quick
to the defense and do some general points before we
go ahead and take our last break and get to
(24:52):
the individual standouts and misses on that side of the football.
They went from Ethan and Duck on the first drive
to Kendall Sheffield and Jack Jones in the second drive.
Armstrong went for both those series in the slot, but
they did alternate it by a drive by drive basis,
So I think you can safely say right now it's
stacked Storm Duck Kendall Sheffield and Mike Hilton as the
top three, with Jack Jones, Ethan Bonner and Cornell Armstrong.
(25:16):
To me, I would just bump Sheffield below Bonner on
that and have it be Duck and Jones with Mike Hilton,
and then Bonner is my four, and quite frankly, I
think Jason marsh might be slot number two, which is
probably a problem right now. That's kind of where it's trending.
I just think that I still think the outside help
is needed here, but I do likewise sow from Jack Jones,
(25:37):
I can see it with Storm Duck. There's some stuff
to like from Ethan Bonner as well Mike Hilton, but
one more would make me feel pretty good about that.
But yeah, I think you can see how they stacked
that off the top there, and it kind of seems
like if he is working more in the post at
the safety position than he would have if Ashton Davis
were still up. Just kind of interesting to see how
they split those reps and Dante Trader got just six
(25:59):
reps despite start the game at safety alongside if he
melafon Wu, which kind of tells me that they like
Dante Trader because you wouldn't run him out there for
a few snaps and be like, ah, get him out
of there, like you know, everyone else got their work
their work. I think Trader, who got mentioned by name
by both Craig Ackerman and Anthony Weaver at the last
press conferences, I think he might be a guy they
like quite a bit. I've got one more here, and
I want to make it perfectly clear. This is not
(26:20):
a concrete analysis, and I don't like to speculate on
things like this, but I think is worth discussing what
happened on that first lines touchdown because if you watch
the other side of the field, Jack Jones and Pat McMorris,
banjo at banjo means it's a zone concept and we're
going to just go ahead and match up. But the
first the inside guy takes the first route that breaks.
Inside outside guy takes the first outbreaking route, and that's
(26:41):
what they do on the backside of the formation with
the play side. It looks like that's what Colbert wants
to do, and storm Duck winds up going with the
man inside despite having an outside position for banjo. And
you can count the number of coverage busts this preseason
in camp on one hand, like legitimately they've been playing
really well in terms of their connection together. Sometimes it happens,
but that needs to be the calling card of the secondary.
(27:02):
They're at a talent efficiency at that position. The best
way they can maximize the rush upfront is to have
top tier communication. And that play was scared me because
you can't do that. But Duck has mostly played with
Minka Fitzpatrick back there and Elijah Campbell, two veterans that
are going to be in the right spot most of
the time and probably have a better communication feel for that.
So perhaps that's just a second year player two second
(27:24):
year players being on different pages. But there's a lot
to unpack there, and it's a little bit concerning about,
you know, blowing a coverage when your hallmark has to
be your connectivity. Last break right there, come back and
do the individual standouts and misses on defense. Top five
tapes Drive Time Podcast brought to you by AutoNation. Defensive
standouts from the Dolphins twenty four to seventeen win in Detroit?
(27:46):
Is it Detroit or Detroit? How do you pronounce it?
Speaker 2 (27:49):
D two?
Speaker 1 (27:49):
Right? Right? He is so fast, Willie Gay He makes
fast people look not fast. I mean, you see it
all the time on blitzes, but the way he cut
off that little boot flat throw on the first drive,
that's a huge game. If he doesn't win the foot
race of the sideline. The play on the screen that
he blew up, like your understanding and processing can take
you play, take you like to plays, and when you
(28:10):
pair it with the speed that he has, that's how
you get the production you've seen all summer long here
from Willy Gay. That play was dead from the jump
from jump because he read it. He knew that he
had the running back who he had in man coverage,
wasn't running vertical or making a cutback up on a
Texas or Arrow route. He just knew it the whole
way and blew it up. Had that play on the
stick earlier in coverage. I just think Willy Gay is
(28:30):
freaking awesome.
Speaker 2 (28:30):
Man. Kenneth Grant is too.
Speaker 1 (28:32):
I think the growth in terms of the little things
like technique and pad level, the things that come with
the daily deposits of repetition that he's put in. I
feel like he's come so far from day one of
camp to now. And when you get that growth in
a rare, rare physical makeup well, you get these dominant performances.
Nobody got into his chest. He was a damn puppet master.
The way he was controlling guys in the point all
(28:52):
game long. He beat the crap on the Tan Moody
who was getting like highlight clips on from NFL freaking
Twitter account. The strength, the movement he can play through
or split gaps, the retrace and effort that screen that
Willie shut down. The guard tries to club him and
a knocks hunting to the ground almost but he puts
a hand on the ground to keep himself up, and
then the same foot pivots back to the outside. He
(29:14):
sprints down and retraces it for a tackle at three
hundred and thirty pounds. And then Kyle krabsweed out to
play where he runs forty yards down the field like
he did against Michigan on that play that was ran
all throughout the draft night in his highlight reel.
Speaker 2 (29:27):
Just rare, rare skill set.
Speaker 1 (29:28):
I am in love with his game, and I cannot
wait to see what Weave cooks up for him alongside
Sealer all year long.
Speaker 2 (29:33):
They're gonna have a fun there.
Speaker 1 (29:34):
Derek McClendon, I don't have a note here, just outside
of the fact that he was in the first group
over Grays and Murphy. I think that's informative. Matthew Butler.
I liked his Raiders tape quite a lot, and I
think he's gonna make the football team. He has exceeded
my expectations constantly, reseets a line of scrimmage. He can
widen guys when they want to stand him up. A
lot of plays that make life easier on the stackbacker
(29:55):
behind him. Go watch kJ Bridge plays in this game.
A lot of those are stacked behind Matthew but and
he's creating run through opportunities for him. Dante Trader is
just a ballplayer man, that little week side see gap fit.
The way he tightens into the line of scrimmage and
you know, gets thin there, the coverage work he had
in practices.
Speaker 2 (30:12):
He just gets to where he needs to be and
reacts quickly.
Speaker 1 (30:14):
I think, like McClendon for him to open the game
with the starters, which was he and melafan Wu tells
you where he's at in the pecking order. I kind
of feel like he's safety four and a special team's
ace on this team right now. From day one, Jack Jones.
He was in good shape. A lot tough to evaluate
cornerbacks on the TV copy. I think corners in safeties
are the position that I get the least value from
watching TV when they're not targeted, because you just don't
(30:35):
see what happens. He did get up that one catch
to Isaac Taslaw Tuslaw, but he straight up bullied him
on the route. He just lost sight of him, like
he took him out of bounds almost, and then the
scrambled drill by Hendon Hooker got the best of Jack,
which you know, keep your head. But his ability to
play up re route and then fall into his own
with eyes in the quarterback, to me, is the best
skill set any of these cornerbacks has an individual. He's
(30:57):
really good in that area and with how we can
create pressure up front. I think that's a complimentary skills.
I think he plays in this defense. I think people
are down Jack Jones right now for some reason, but
I feel like I'm missing something here because time and
time again, he looks like the best cornerback on the
team to me, not a high bar, but like I
think he can play. He could play for the Patriots,
He could play for the Raiders, and he's played so
far in camp for us, his feel, his communication. Now,
(31:19):
we saw the worst come to a head in Detroit,
and it makes me wonder like, are they putting him
like through a ringer? Are they testing him a little bit,
trying to get him ready for the season because they
know his talent and his skill set, but also why
he's available because his background. Right, it's head between the
ears for him. And maybe you make him use the
entire camp before you elevate him, like, make him earn
it every single day as the underdog. Maybe you put
(31:40):
him on Aman Ross Saint Brown without help all practice
long and let the lines bark at him and see
how he responds. I didn't think he responded well that day,
but the next practice of the next game, I thought
responded well. I think he's the best player in the room.
I don't think it's close with cater Coohu being down.
Ethan Bonner also had a couple of good reps before
the one where he got injured. He did get beat
on that play and then the hamstring tightened up on him,
which McDaniel said, there's no update. We'll get one for
(32:02):
you guys, probably on Monday. Mike's Monday press conference, Jordan
Phillips the first rep. He stacks a block, absorbs, absorbs
the double off of his hip, which is impressive as hell,
and it.
Speaker 2 (32:13):
Moves him a little bit.
Speaker 1 (32:15):
But when he decides he's gonna drop the anger, it
drops and you do not get any more movement. I
think you could argue the best player on the field
for the lines was that guard and Attaine Moody, but
Jordan put him on skates a few times. He is
a hell of a football player and a fine In
the fifth round, Quentin Bell beat the crap out of
the tight ends trying to attack him in the run game,
which should be expected but was still fun to watch.
Patrick McMorris. I like the way he fits the run
(32:35):
from depth, but the coverage like last week, is still
way up in the air. Eugenis Sante I just love
the way he plays fast, physical and violent. He reads
his keys too, because they're snaps where he's the first
one moving off the football before anybody else has gotten
their start yet. Zeke Biggers the way he can load
up that length and get the most out of it
when he has the pad level right and plays into
the extension there's some flat out dominant reps. Give coach
(32:58):
Clark more time with this guy to get that pad level,
playing low every single step and watch him be another
freaking fit on this defensive line. On this year's draft class,
Jason Marshall Junior did some stuff that would indicate to
me some inside ability.
Speaker 2 (33:09):
I mean, he played in the slot.
Speaker 1 (33:10):
It's not breaking news here, but I'm talking purely about
what you want Mike Hilton to do, which is basically
be another run defender in there in a blitzer his
physicality against the run. He took one wide angle where
I thought he needed to get tight to the line
scrimmage and kind of play more parallel on a play
action pass. But he's not afraid to go in there
and hit a tight end and play the run. I
like the way he beats those blocks against those nasty
(33:31):
splits in tight to the formation. I always felt like
he needed a lot more seasoning in zone coverage as
a cornerback coming out, and I think you saw that
in this tape. He kind of doesn't have the feel
for it just yet. But there are some traits that
make him an attractive developmental piece. With the physical man
coverage and the run defense and trying him inside. That
really intrigues me. I'm curious to see what that looks
like going forward. Grayson Murphy not a lot of breakdown
(33:52):
to do. I did it on the Saturday podcast, but
that inside Rushman was complimentary. Did it again to beat
a run play earlier? I thought he did want to
shock the tight end and the kickout blocks in the
run game. Big game for Grayson Murphy, So was that
the case. That's not an offentense for Cam Good. I
like the way he attacked blocks. He had a sacked
ducking around the split flow tight end that they kept
throwing at him.
Speaker 2 (34:12):
He beat that all game long.
Speaker 1 (34:13):
He's also a special team stud and Cam Smith makes
the notes for the first time in his three year career.
That pass breakup rep was excellent where he pedals to depth,
gets good peripheral on the play, drives out of the
back pedal, undercuts and disrupts the catchpoint. Really nice textbook
rep there, and some of the movement that I've raved
about in the past was there on that play. It
feels like there was a resuscitation this week for Cam.
(34:34):
Now can he take this new pulse and this nude
life and run with it. Gonna be watching that very closely.
I'm not gonna go crazy just yet, but it was
good tape for the first time. Then he makes that
play on Hooker with that tackle with excellent recognition and
speed and form tackling, and to me, it always felt
like it was more of a does this guy give
a damn? Than anything else, And you can ask why
didn't he before? But on this tape he's reacting like
(34:57):
he gives a damn, And I think that goes a
long way a man. If Cam Smith could look like
a second round cornerback in his third year, which I'm
not betting on by any stretch, but no pressure, Cam,
but that could change the makeup of this entire football team.
Ethan Robinson just a hell of a play. Just want
to put that out there. I didn't have a ton
of misses on defense. I thought Cornell Armstrong showed you
what you've known about him. Not a good tape. Storm
(35:20):
Duck had that bust, didn't have anything else crazy, but
I thought there was some coverage reps where he was
not quick to react to certain things. Chang Tyndall makes
some splash plays, but he's just not assignment sound. He
has to see it before he goes. I think Eugenis
Sante has had a better camp and beat him out
for that fifth spot, even if it's just a practice
squad role. And I thought Matthew Dickerson kind of struggled
this week after a good game last week. Top five tapes,
(35:41):
it's impossible I have nine names here, so at top
nine tapes, I guess Jordan Phillips was just the most
physical man out there all game long.
Speaker 2 (35:49):
D S.
Speaker 1 (35:49):
Gridge did a phenomenal job all game long. Kenneth Grant
did everything you want to see from him, and he
beat up backups like he should. Grays and Murphy number four,
and then I have a four way tie for fifth
with Daniel Brunskill, Hayden Rouccie, Ollie Gordon, and Larry Borham.
That's your podcast Long one Today. We're gonna come back
on Tuesday for a practice recap pot. We're gonna have
practice recap pods Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday off again, Friday, game
(36:11):
on Saturday, and then we have a different schedule coming
out next week for you guys. We'll keep you in
tune on that. In the meantime, you all please be
sure subscribe, rate review of the podcast. Follow me on
social at Wink with NFL the team at Miami Dolphins.
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 Com.
Speaker 2 (36:31):
Until next time. Fins up. Caroline Cameron WILLO Daddy, He's
coming home.
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