March 21, 2025 • 44 mins
Travis is back for yet another free agency edition Drive Time Pod. We’ll talk to new Dolphns TE Pharaoh Brown and LB K.J. Britt, and break down the tape and fits of Willie Gay Jr. and Artie Burns.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
What is up Dolphins, And welcome to the Draft Time Podcast.
I am your host, Travis Wingfield. On today's show, we
continue rolling on with the free agent interviews.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
We're going to talk to Pharaoh Brown and k J. Britt.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
You want to talk about attitude, tenacity, and toughness coming
to your Miami Dolphins, look no further than those two acquisitions.
Plus we have some analysis on new linebacker Willie Gay,
new cornerback Already Burns. I am so fired up for
what Willy Gay brings to this defense. I'm also going
to talk about just a couple of random things off
the top of the show. Here from the Baptist Health
Studios inside the Baptist Health Training Complex.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
This is the Draft Time Podcast, Maggie Daffe.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
So we haven't really covered a lot of news on
the show lately because we've been so bogged down, not
bogged down, just innundated with free agent interviews and analysis,
which is right up your boys, alley. So I'm not
complaining by any stretch, but I just want to give
you guys a couple of updates. So Benito Jones is back,
the Dolphins nose tackle from a year ago that kind
of thirty forty percent snaptaker on the interior, who has
(01:08):
always been a good block eater on the inside, but
flashed his best pass rush season as a pro last year,
especially in the second half of the year when things
kind of clicked for the defense. We've talked a lot
about this defensive line requiring one Zach Seeler. Hopefully you
get Kalaias Campbell back. I think there's mutual interest there
still among the Dolphins and Kalais and then you kind
(01:29):
of round it out with a whole bunch of guys
that can play various roles and be twenty thirty, forty
percent snaptakers two hundred, three hundred, four hundred snaps. And
that was the vision last year with the glut of
signings like Neville Gallimore, Jonathan Harris, who else am I
missing up front? They had a tr Tart was also
released before the season, and it didn't work.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
Out for those guys.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
But that's kind of the area you're shopping in right now.
I think you do need one more true guy upfront,
whether it's Kalaeis Campbell, whether it's a high draft pick.
I tend to think that Kenneth Grant is in play
at pick thirteen to be that guy, and he can
give you nose tackle reps as well. I think Alfred
Collins at pick forty eight would be an instant starter
in this defense as well. And then you've got a
(02:09):
bunch of guys after that. Jamari Caldwell, Derek Harmon is
probably a first round pick.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
CJ. West.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
You've got so many guys that can fill out that
potential position or those particular roles in this year's draft class.
And so I wanted to talk about that and how
the Dolphins free agency will get more in depth on
this on a future episode, but how it's kind of
rounding into form what the draft might look like, because
right now you need bodies at defensive tackle, and of
(02:35):
course that can change over the course of the next month.
You need probably a left guard, right I mean, I
think James Daniels probably slots in a right guard.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
I think Larry Borham gets a crack at left guard.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
But I think ideally you got a Will Hernandez or
maybe a Brandon Sheriff. Maybe it's a second round, third
round draft pick of Miles Frasier, a Jackson Slater, somebody
like that to come in and start at the left
guard position and bump everybody back one spot. Liam back
once spot, Larry borehim back one spot. Hopefully Isaiah Win
gets brought in and he can go back one slot
(03:05):
to that sixth INTI your offensive line. So I think
the draft is taking shape in that way. I also
saw that Chavon Revel is Savon Revel. Sorry, the h
is silent. The Eastern East Carolina cornerback is up to
twenty one miles per hour running on treadmills, which I
knew he was going to be a four to three guy,
And I keep thinking about his versatility, his length, his
physicality as a six foot three cornerback with like thirty
(03:28):
four inch arms and four to three speed and a
really good tackle reel as a potential option at pick
forty eight. So I think that you're looking at him
like a Jacob Parish from Kansas State to fill out
that second cornerback position. Maybe it is in the first
round with Will Johnson. Maybe it is Jade barn from Texas,
who I think is going to be gone by pick thirteen,
but man, what a fit he would be.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
I think that's kind of what you're looking at here.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
Cornerback defensive tackle, and then I think an outside possibility
of O line and Round one, but probably more so
on Day two.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
I think we'll see what happens.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
You know, free agency's not done yet, but I think
probably O line sometime on Day two. I think Tyler
Warren is still in that mix. Obviously Mason Taylor at
pick forty eight for that position as well. But I
think you're kind of getting a vision here of what
this might look like come Draft night for the Miami Dolphins.
One last thing on the draft, and I have an
Austin Jackson update for you guys. It feels like folks
are finally catching up on cam Ward and thank god,
(04:18):
because I don't know what the consternation has been about,
like people saying there's not a first round quarterback in
this class. You'll find out, you guys, will find out.
He's going to be an elite quarterback in this league.
I just hope he goes to the NFC. I think
he'll be the Titans, but we'll see where he winds up.
He's going to be an elite quarterback. The Dolphins new
is Austin Jackson agreed to a contract restructure, I should say,
And all they did was ad void years on the
(04:39):
back of the contract, which basically pushes out ten million
dollars in cap space over the course of void years
on the back end, which I think makes him a
possible extension candidate next year should he play the entire
season and continue the progression that I think he will
because Austin just keeps getting better.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
He's a very smart, analytical player.
Speaker 1 (04:56):
I think that bodes well for his future because he's
only twenty five years old.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
Think they'll just keep getting better.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
So Dolphins finding some space that way, locking themselves I
think further into Austin Jackson, which is a good move.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
He's a great fit here in this offense.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
So just a few bits of news there to kick
off this podcast. Let's go ahead and get back to
the interviews here and start with one of my favorite
chats I've had so far, tight end Farrell.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
Brown's in the building. Let's go ahead and talk to him.
What's up, y'all.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
Welcome back into the Draft Time podcast here on the
Dolphins YouTube channel. My guest today is new Dolphins free
agent tight end Pharaoh Brown.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
Farrell. Welcome in, man, how.
Speaker 3 (05:26):
You doing I'm doing great, Thanks for having me in today.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
We're very happy to have you out here. How you
fit in so far? We saw you had some lunch
in the cafeteria. Food food, pretty good.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
Food, pretty good sun and shine, and I fitted very
well to the when the sun is.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
Out South Florida environment. It's not too bad, is it.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
So I want to start with something that I saw
actually on your Instagram page. I didn't know that you
actually got nominated for it. You didn't win the Angry
Run Award, but you probably should have. Right that angry
run you had last year against the Cardinals. Did they
tell you were going to be nominated for the Angry
Runs Award or how does that work?
Speaker 3 (05:54):
I never noticed until somebody in the build has say
something to me about it. And then it was like,
have you seen the Kyle Brandon is super animated like
and it's talking in this thing. It was like, so
I went in Washington. I was like, I end up
watching I seen him like describing me, and then I
like went in Washington. It was a it's a pretty uh,
(06:15):
it's a great little take that he does.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
Yeah, it's a good segment.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
The reason I wanted to start with it was because
watching your game, like it's all about toughness and physicality,
and I just want to kind of ask you, like,
what is that mindset or the way you play in
the mindset that it brings. What does it bring to
a football team when you can go out there and
kind of assert your will for sixteen minutes on a
guy like that.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
I think it's just for me. Everybody fees off of that.
So when you see when you're making big plays or
when anybody see somebody getting ran over, just getting dominated,
you know, it just brings the juice. And you know,
for me, the game is all about juice, having juice,
and the team with the most juice wins at the
end of the day. So those sparks, you know, it
(06:53):
is kind of like a snowball effect when you see
the moment, like it's just a momentum, right, people getting
juiced up, you making it plays, and the momentum bills
and you know then you just becoming this unstoppable before. So, uh,
whenever I can get a little ten yard run and
juice up the team, it's always great.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
Have you met Coach Embria, our tight ends coach.
Speaker 3 (07:14):
I haven't met Coach Embri. Today's first time. It was great.
He's Uh, you can tell that he loves football. He
loves Uh he was a tight end and uh, he
loves the game. And that's all you can ask for.
The reason got great, great, great, great energy.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
Yeah, that's why I asked, because like I think John
who had like a long catch and run against the
Rams last year, and when you're watching the film, like
if you pan out, you can see him on the
sidelines like just going crazy, and so I'm thinking, like,
you match his style. I imagine there was some of
that conversation when you guys met about how your play
style and matches what he likes in a player.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
Yeah. I think the uh, the fire is a little
low right now because we're not out there on Sundays yet,
so it's like a building up. You know, we all
kind of like tang right now. But you can tell
that he loved a game and uh, that he has
great energy. And I think that you know, the room
would be able to relate, I would be able to
fit in and relate to that.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
I think he might have had a bad round on
the golf course last week and maybe that's why he
wasn't so far up for you, right. No, he's a
big golfer. So no, But going back to your tape,
did you play tackle at any point.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
In your life?
Speaker 3 (08:13):
Tackle defensive tackle line at all? Never?
Speaker 1 (08:16):
Because again again the pass rush reel, the pass protection reel.
Like again I'm talking Jalen Phillips, Hassan Reddick, I think
Aziz a Lari, some of the best pass rushers in
the game.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
You get called upon to block them one on one.
Am I right in assessment?
Speaker 1 (08:29):
Like you've gotten assignment plenty of times and you win
those assignments. I'm curious, like where does that come from?
Because most tight ends are chipping or helping and releasing, like,
but you're getting those guys one on one.
Speaker 3 (08:39):
Uh, it just come from a lot of prey. And honestly,
you're on the island with these premier guys and we
don't get a lot of time as a tight end
where I've been like actually pass rushing and collecting that. So, honestly,
Bill Belichick and my coach O'Brien and Will Lana is like,
(09:00):
just play basketball. So I was a hooper, So when
I'm out there, it's a little bit of praying and
it's just like all right, I'm just about to hoop
and you know, stay in front of him. Man, That's
kind of what I do. But by no means that
my an expert at it. I just play basketball. And
that's something that you just mentioned. Coach. Every day we
(09:20):
talked about like, you know, just working. My goal this
year is to be the best white tight end in
the league, highest rated block and tight end, highest rated
past block and tight end. If I catch zero balls,
I'll be happy.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
Well, that's what I'm saying, is like the praying is
working because the tape is really good. Man, like the
Seahawks the Patriots tape. You're out there moving the line
of scrimmage. You're catching guys, you know, combination blocks, like
it's so much fun to watch for someone that likes
the actual blocking aspect of the game. But it sounds
like you've already had that conversation about being a really
dominant force off the edge. How do you think that
can impact a team that runs as much outside zone
and relies upon the tight ends the running game as
(09:52):
much as the Dolphins do.
Speaker 3 (09:53):
I think it's great. I mean outside zone is perfect
for me. I've been in a lot of situa words
more downhill and requires more physicality. I feel that in
my experience outside zone is less physical and more technique.
But I mean I bring physicality to all my blocks,
(10:15):
and I mean I'm just excited to be here. I
don't really I play football, man, Like the scheme, it
doesn't really matter to me. If it's football, I know
that I can get in there and make it happen.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
Just go beat somebody up on one, right, that ust
to take care of itself.
Speaker 3 (10:27):
Let's just make the game simple. Wish me.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
Speaking of you, know your career so far, You've been
around the block a little bit, been for a few teams,
been in the league for a while. Now, what do
you think all that experience and different teams and environments
and schemes and organizations. What can that help you bring
the Dolphins in terms of your leadership and just your
overall experience as a player.
Speaker 3 (10:44):
Uh man, just that right there, experience seeing different a
lot of different things, being able to relate to a
lot of people. We all come from different situations. I mean,
just helping the resiliency. I mean, that's kind of what
it's made for me. It's not necessarily something that is like, oh,
(11:07):
this is what you bring as far as like in
the locker room. But you know, if you see somebody
that's down and you can relate to them and you
can share a story with them right to help them,
you know, whether it be going through something at home,
going through something with their wife, kids, you know, whatever
it is, it's like, okay, I can I can relate
and I can offer some words of a courage. Man,
there's some affirmations and you know, to pick them up.
(11:30):
So I mean, I'm not necessary. I'm I feel like
everybody is leaders, right and whenever I can help, I
just help where I can. I don't. I don't come
into somewhere and like, oh I got a lead and
I'm the guy that leader. It's like, nah, I'm you know,
just helping. Just helping other people is kind of like
(11:50):
my big thing and what.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
I like to do.
Speaker 2 (11:52):
Yeah, it makes a lot of sense.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
And so you actually spent your college days and your
last year as a pro where I'm from the Pacific Northwest,
from Oregon to the sea. How now down here. I
know you've only been here for a little bit now,
but have you been in South Florida before?
Speaker 2 (12:04):
I'm guessing you have. Most players I haven't.
Speaker 3 (12:07):
I haven't. It was too expensive for me, yes, Seattle.
I was in a couple of expensive markets. Boston was expensive,
Seattle was expensive. So I mean when I get my
free time, I like to go to Mexico.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
Okay, very nice.
Speaker 1 (12:20):
Well that's I guess a relatively similar climate to what
South Florida is. But just with your experience of getting here,
would you arrive today? I'm guessing so you've been here
for a little bit, what's the biggest I guess culture
shot going from the northwest down to South Florida.
Speaker 3 (12:31):
The sun is shining, people is more happy. We're all
not vitamin D deficient. You know, some rough, some rough
stuff in uh in Seattle. But uh yeah, I'm excited
to see the city I have. I have family that's
from here. My grandmother lived here, so she'd moved. But
(12:54):
uh yeah, man, I'm just excited to see. Palm trees
is my favorite. So whenever it's in palm trees is
you know, Yeah, you can.
Speaker 1 (13:02):
Walk about ten yards out that way and find some
palm trees and you're trying to look at them. Last
question here for you. Love to close these questions about
the players foundations. Tell us about the Farol Brown Foundation.
Speaker 3 (13:10):
If you can Pharrel Brown Foundation is just me me
giving back and really just doing stuff on my heart
helping kids. A lot of stuff is helping single mothers,
helping kids that come from unfortunate situations and trying to
have mentorship programs and different things and just offering a
(13:32):
spark into their lives and just helping. So we like
to put on different camps. We like to do stuff
during the season. Last year, raise money and just getting
kids and help out kids that's less fortunate, partnering with
you know, I've done it all from women, victims of
(13:54):
women trafficking and kids and hospitals and out of age
Fosterton Care. You know, I think that really what people
need is to be motivated. People need to help, people
need to feel like somebody cares. So that's just my
biggest That's just my biggest thing is getting out and
I love to see like I don't even want to
(14:17):
say my age, but you know, I've been out and
seeing like some of these kids. Yeah, some of these kids,
you know, something that you help when they were younger
and they playing college football now and they are you know,
dreams is coming true. They're in the NFL now. Like
I remember I want to talk to these kids in
high school, right and not in the league. So it's
(14:38):
like and they remember that moment, you know what I mean.
So where I was from, I didn't have a lot
of people come talk to me. So I always wanted
to be at the change that for the next kid
because I think it could have helped me not bump
my head a couple of times.
Speaker 1 (14:56):
Having that helping hand. Sounds like you're gonna do that
for the Dolphins locker room as well as the community here.
We have a great communit the outreach program, so you
can get it started right away here. New Dolphins tied
end Faraoh Brown Farel. Appreciate your times, man, thank you
good stuff. Let's pause for a quick break. Come back
on the other side and meet new Dolphins linebacker kJ Britt.
Draft Time Podcast your host Travis Wingfield, brought to you
by AutoNation.
Speaker 2 (15:17):
What's up, y'all?
Speaker 1 (15:17):
Welcome back into this episode of the Draft Time Podcast
here on the Dolphins YouTube channel, joined by new Dolphins
linebacker kJ Britt. kJ Welcome in, Man, the whole family's
here seeing the building. How you guys fit in so far?
Speaker 3 (15:27):
Man?
Speaker 4 (15:28):
We love it here. Man, it's a really nice facility.
All the people here are really nice.
Speaker 3 (15:32):
Man.
Speaker 4 (15:32):
I'm happy to be here.
Speaker 3 (15:33):
It's a blessed.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
So your daughter almost came in and took my chair.
She's pretty pumped up to be here too.
Speaker 4 (15:37):
Yes, yeah, she loves She loved to be around football. Yeah,
that's all she's been around her life.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
So she just her helement like father, like daughter right there.
That's great stuff. So you come down from Tampa. Obviously,
what's the biggest difference. I always ask folks this because
I'm kind of new to the to the Florida area,
Florida in general, what's the biggest difference between Central Florida
and South Florida.
Speaker 4 (15:58):
I can't really answer it because I ain't been in
too a south or too long, but I just know
Central for it, you know, it gets a stayed humid,
you know, year round humidity is you know, that's that
what drives the heat in Temple because I guess being
on the Bay, it's consistently it's always hot, you know,
on days you know, like man, dang, it's but it
stays hot. So you know, I'm used to it, and
now I've been there. I was there for four years,
(16:19):
you know, God bless me to be there for four years,
so just I can't wait to see what the what
the weather is down here.
Speaker 1 (16:25):
It's I can tell you that right now, it's just
as hot, if not hotter. We had that joint practice
last year and that was one of the hottest days
of all of the camp. I thought we were up there.
What do you remember from playing against the Dolphins, because
I think I think we played against you guys twice
in joint practices in the preseason.
Speaker 2 (16:37):
What do you remember from the Dolphins From those two.
Speaker 4 (16:39):
Joint I remember the offense had a lot of Min's direction.
Gotta be good with your eyes. You know, it was fun.
You know, it was real competitive out there, you know,
both both practices, but we had you know, we got
better and it was good fun, you know, to go
against guys and compete. And then now I'm signing here.
You know, it's surreal. So it's it's a blessing. So
(17:00):
I'm just glad that you know, the Dolphins they see
me practice and you know, see me play, So it's
just all, you know, I'm happy, yea.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
You happy to be here.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
You mentioned the misdirection of the offense and kind of
like your eye discipline. Right when I watch you on tape,
man like, you don't take any false steps. You're always
reading your keys the right way. It's it's fun to
watch a player that really seems to excel in the
preparation aspect of the game. Is that kind of where
you you kind of make your bread, as it were,
in the preparation.
Speaker 2 (17:23):
It seems like that's kind of a big part of her.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (17:25):
Yeah, if I could figure out what's going on before
the play, you know, it really helps if somebody's back deep,
how they are aligned off the line of scrimmage, you know,
especially if everything's fastest way and I see one guy
go back this way, I know that you know how
to play patient, be fast. They closer on the line
of scrimmage tight ends a little closer. I know that
(17:45):
there's probably gonna stay that way. So it just I disciplined,
just and then just being in the game for a while,
you know, Like I said, playing with some great linebackers
at Tampa, we all shared knowledge with each other, and
it all it all helps, and it all helps each other, correlates,
you know, with everybody game. So just whatever, lookle Key,
I can get I know, Mike Singletary said, every place
(18:08):
somebody's talking to you just got to figure out who
it is.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
So there was a rep in the week one game
against the Commanders when they put Jayden Daniels as like
the offset back and they faked a toss to him
and you were like, nope, I got my key from
the guard pulling backside and you were all over it.
So like, that's that part of your game is really
fun to watch for me.
Speaker 4 (18:23):
Yeah, It's it's always something u And you know, guards
and fullbacks or tight ends, they always you know, they
always give it away.
Speaker 1 (18:31):
The information is there somewhere to be found. So speaking
of that, you played alongside Lavonte David for four years
there in Tampa and you guys have both shared some
some kind words about each other. What was that experience
like and how much you he read off on you?
Speaker 4 (18:42):
He was great. You know, he really showed every day
you know, how to play, you know, different different stuff.
You know in this league, you know you're not always
one hundred miles per hour some some some players, or
you gotta play a little slower some players. You got
to be a little bit more patient. So, uh, he
(19:03):
really showed how to play for me. You know, because
I always thought it was you got to be one
hundred miles fours fast as fast and uh, he showed
how to play. You know, he helped me with patients
in my game and because that's that's how he is,
that's how he like a lot of plays, He's patient,
he trusts his ability and then we just play well.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
It sounds like you really kind of built your career
to be what it is through hard work. And for
a player that was drafted on Day three, you go
through you're a special teamer right away. You get the
starting opportunity last year and kind of take that and
run with it. Now who you are in Miami with
a chance to you know, go even further. That's like
my favorite career path for a guy, someone that grinds
their way up the depth chart like that. What did
you learn from that experience and what do you think
it brings to the Dolphins here now in year five?
Speaker 4 (19:44):
In my experience, you know, it's my story and you know,
I'm grateful for it. And you know, I had four
great years in Tempa and they molded me. And you know,
being drafted and playing special team, he's all just football.
I've been playing footballer since I was five. So I
as long as I'm playing ball, as long as I'm
around great guys in the great locker room. Man, this
(20:05):
is what I'm what. That's what I'm used to. That's
what I'm coming to. But I can't wait, you know it,
just I can't. I'm already I can't wait to play.
Speaker 1 (20:13):
I can tell because like again, watching your tape, like
your love for the game jumps off the tape. That's
pretty apparent that you love football.
Speaker 4 (20:18):
Yeah. I do love football since I was a little kid.
You know, my dad's here. You know, we've been watching
football together. You know, we he been training me for
to be a football player, like I said, ever since
I was five, you know, and growing up I didn't
play football every year. And I got a younger brother
now who's on the same path.
Speaker 3 (20:39):
You know.
Speaker 4 (20:39):
He committed to South Carolina, and uh, this is just
this is what my family do, and we we love
to play ball.
Speaker 1 (20:46):
Blood there and a ball and the blood there. So
were you always a linebacker? Yeah? I always play linebacker
and like running yeah, I live.
Speaker 4 (20:53):
To running back. Yeah, but but we played it. I
played a big I played a big high school, so
we didn't I didn't have to play both for as,
so I just yeah we played six I played six
a ball Alabama, So.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
Two ways, Okay, I gotcha. That's that's interesting.
Speaker 1 (21:04):
Yeah, my high school was like twelve kids and you
had to play both ways. Yeah, same deal. Have you
had a chance to meet coach Jill Berry yet? Our
linebackers coach here.
Speaker 4 (21:10):
I talked to him earlier on the phone, but I
haven't been a man meet this yet.
Speaker 3 (21:14):
I know I'm gonna meet him though. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (21:15):
He's a real salt of the Earth's a really great person.
Looking forward to having you have a chance to meet him.
So yeah, last thing I want to finish with you
here was your football camp that you run every single year.
It's in Oxford, Alabama? Right, Can you tell us about that?
Speaker 4 (21:26):
Yeah? Uh, every year, you know, I try to make
sure I have a camp, and last year we had
we did it two different days because it was so
many kids that come out. You know, everybody comes out
from the area all over Alabama. So I just go
out there, man, just try to put knowledge. If I
can get to one one or two kids, you know,
that's all that's all you can ask for because there's
(21:47):
so many kids that come from so many different backgrounds,
and you just never know how how much you know
a presence or you just said, and helping helping somebody
just being there with their presence and just playing, playing
with them and getting to know them. And I look
forward to it every year. It helps me because I
know I was once that kid, you know that I
wanted to you know, be around, you know, and play
(22:10):
football with people who ho'dn't done it on all three levels,
and so I just if I can give back, you know,
each year, I'm gonna do it.
Speaker 2 (22:17):
Yeah, they remember.
Speaker 1 (22:18):
I remember when I was a kid, we had like
a baseball player from the Seattle marriage come to our classroom.
I'll never forget that. Like it's a big deal for
the kids. So really cool stuff. New Dolphins linebacker kJ
but appreciate your time to the man. That was really great.
Speaker 2 (22:27):
Thank you. Let's go ahead and take one more break.
Comeback on the other side.
Speaker 1 (22:30):
We have two players to analyze here, new linebacker Willie
Gay I am fired up for that one, and cornerback
Already Burns, who's tape really jumped off the screen to
me as well. We'll do that next year. Draft Time Podcast,
your host Travis Wingfield brought to.
Speaker 2 (22:42):
You by automation. I gotta tell you, I feel like
I should.
Speaker 1 (22:48):
Probably overlay my Willie Gay analysis with some primetime music,
because this dude is a freaking weapon. Second round pick
in twenty twenty, number sixty eight overall out of Mississippi State.
Spent four years with the Chiefs, last year with the Saints.
He's six foot one, two hundred and forty five pounds.
He's missed only two games the last three years, twelve
games over a five year career. He's had some shoulder, hand,
(23:10):
lower back issues, but it's never been anything more than
a couple of weeks. Two hundred and sixty one career tackles,
nineteen for a loss, ten quarterback hits, seven sacks, four picks,
one for a touchdown, twenty two passes defense, three forced fumbles,
six recoveries.
Speaker 2 (23:26):
Dudes a playmaker.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
Seventy two games played, fifty five starts over twenty five
hundred career snaps on defense. Only played two to seventy
seven last year, which you know, second year in the
NFL as a non starter his rookie season two. I'm
not sure what the hell the Saints were doing because
he had been a between six hundred and seven hundred
snap guy otherwise, and that coincide with an uptick in
special teams reps eighty six last year compared to just
(23:49):
fifteen over the previous two seasons. He did play two
hundred and thirty seven of them as a rookie. He
had seventy seven and seventy one pass rush reps in
twenty three and two twenty two with Kansas City and
produced fourteen and twelve pressures a cumulative pressure rate of
seventeen point six. Pretty good for that position. Not great
in terms of the pressure rate, but the tape will
(24:10):
tell a different story. His athletic testing, he might be
the most athletic linebacker in the league. Thirty nine and
a half inch verticals a ninety eighth percent tile jump.
Eleven zero four broad is a ninety ninth percent tile jump.
His four four six forty ninety nine percent tile. He
was also in the ninety eighth percent tile in both
twenty split and ten split, and you see it all
over his tape. His shuttle and three cones were both
(24:31):
in the seventieth percent tile and his weight is in
the eightieth percent tile. So he's big explosive and faster
than every linebacker in the world. Sound good, Cool, No
contract info just yet, I'm not getting those aren't coming
across the wire as fast as they did the first
couple of days of free agency. So I'll update you
guys on that when I have it and what it means.
Let's go ahead and get to the verdict. It's going
to be a very kind one for Willy game. And
(24:57):
what I knew about Willy Gay Junior was that he's
a supreme athlete who can immediately be one of your
most effective blitzers with good enough chops to play in coverage,
change of direction, and explosion jumps off the tape. I
thought he was a little bit miscast in New Orleans,
but when he was used as a sim pressure, a
game runner, a stunts and twist with hook zone drops
under Steve's bagnola with the Chiefs, he was a monster.
(25:18):
And he beats blocks a lot like Jordan Brooks does,
where he can win with quickness but doesn't usually get
overpowered or walled off by the much bigger offensive lineman.
I actually had to tweak that a little bit in
my rewatch because I was kind of wrong about that assumption.
More on that in a second. He plays with so
much fire and intensity, comes off piles, slapping his head,
runs back to the sideline to get celebrating with his
(25:39):
coaches and his teammates after big plays, hyping guys up,
and I think you can always use that on your
football team. I think this team needed an injection of
that in twenty twenty five. Again that four four six
forty inch vertical eleven foot six broad jump at six
foot one two forty five. Guy's a monster.
Speaker 3 (25:54):
Now.
Speaker 2 (25:54):
I also knew he was a bit of a gambler,
and the.
Speaker 1 (25:56):
Big plays that he makes sometimes pair with some big
plays allowed from miss assignments. I don't need to do
the whole you know what. I knew what I wanted
to know portion because I've studied this guy's game in depth.
I did go back and take a look at his
twenty twenty three work against the Buffalo Bills in particular,
and a few Saints games because I wanted to see
how that was different. And basically my takeaway was that
(26:18):
the Saints tape you can throw it away because they
didn't know what they were doing with him. This is
right up there with James Daniels in terms of my
most excited signings this offseason. Even the Saints tape was
better than I anticipated, and that's with the knowledge they
just miscast him as much as any player I've ever studied, Like, legitimately,
this is the most athletic linebacker in football, and you've
got him stacking the edge as an early down SAM linebacker, Like, bro,
(26:41):
what what are we doing? I think the first thing
fans will ask about for him is his ability as
a spy, and if you get into his pressure reel,
there's a handful of snaps where he's unblocked off the
edge has a run at the quarterback. I saw one
against Bryce Young, a very quick quarterback, and he can
break down, change direction with explosion, and those guys can't
get away from him. I think you can get more
sacks and finishes as a true rusher, but you can
(27:03):
also hide him behind the formation as a spy and
just let him go hunt the quarterback run, especially with
how damn good we are with JP and Chubb off
the edge and their rush contained roles. Imagine you get
Chubb and JP fanned out is three techniques where they
condense inside to play off the guard and they fan
their rush out to kind of set the edge to
the quarterback and a cage contain. And then you move
(27:26):
Chop Robinson as a nosebacker, and you bring Jordan Brooks
and Willie Gay and walk them up in the A
gaps and you've got two or three of the quickest
rushers in the NFL matchup on guards and centers while
you've closed off his escape patches with a cage rush technique.
The options are getting exciting for Anthony Weaver and what
he can do with all these pieces. The way you
can walk him up in that A gap, run those games, run,
(27:47):
those sim pressures him and Jordan Brooks, Chop Robinson, JP.
I mean, you're putting so much stress on the offensive
lines protection calls with speed to attack a team's worst
pass protectors, right because the tackle is usually the better
pass detects. And I just keep thinking about how the
best quarterbacks beat us with play extension and how the
rush contained with all this heat and athleticism inside is
(28:08):
the best possible approach to stop them. We talked about
it in the Playoff Recap podcast, like we have to
find guys that can do this stuff, and Miami felt
the same way. He's got that Parsons and Donald burst
and wiggle like it's really rare. When you watch how
he moves, you can get to your pick stunts. You
can make the pass pro declare immediately their intentions. And
this is before we mentioned Zach Seler having talked about
(28:29):
the best player in the entire group as the cog
that it all operates around. You bring back Kalaeis Campbell,
you draft Kenneth Grant or Alfred Collins, like bro I
don't know, man, this defense was pretty good last year
with some not so great personnel after injuries, and now
they're adding to it. The way he feels and goes
in certain spaces, like there's this clip where he mugs
up the A gap shows blitz backs into coverage, finds
(28:50):
the backside crosser who's not even close to him, and
then gets underneath him and sprints vertical into the passing lane.
Then he sees a curl flat defender who's gonna pick
him up and just vacates it. And that receiver gets
picked up and goes straight downhill to the quarterback and
sacks Baker Mayfield. He closes angles as fast as anybody
I've seen in the.
Speaker 2 (29:08):
League, the whole league. He can run the arc.
Speaker 1 (29:10):
He can green dog blitz, where you call for a
coverage rep on a running back or a tight end
and a face stand protection you go rush the quarterback.
He declares your protection, then explodes down the gap for
a rush. He's outstanding as a spy. He can sink
into the line of scrimmage and then open up and
chase down pretty much any quarterback not name Lamar Jackson.
He brings his feet through tackles and makes tone setting hits.
(29:31):
He can squat on tight ends and backs and coverage.
He is just everything a modern linebacker needs to be.
We've got two of those guys. Now, now all this glazing.
There's some deficiencies in the run game. He can get
washed out by really good blocking tight ends, but that's
really all I've got. I think you can scheme around that,
especially with all the options you have between he and
Dotson and britt And you have three totally different style
(29:53):
players that can play alongside Jordan Brooks. And then I
think his eyes can sometimes get out of place as well.
Like man, if you gave me brit Processor and Gay's body,
that would be pretty spectacular. But You can see the
miss assignments from time to time, and I think at
times that frustrated Steve Spagnolo so much. They went with
Nick Bolton over him for an extension. But I think
that was a mistake. I think that Willy Gay is
a better player even with those faults. I think this
(30:15):
is a very, very good and productive player. His recovery
speed makes a lot of those reps.
Speaker 2 (30:19):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (30:20):
I also went back and watched the twenty twenty three
Bills game and here's a few plays that he made.
He re routes Dalton King Kaid, extends his hook, drop,
undercuts it and forces a throw away, claps his hands
and then chirps Dalton King Kid loves seeing that. He
spies Josh Allen beats him to the outside lane. Josh
pulls up. He does too. Josh then throws it away
because he knows he can't beat Willy Gay to the sideline.
He did have two bad busts. He turned Dalvin Cook
(30:42):
free on a wheel route for an explosive play and
a little over ran a whip route from a tid
end that went for like fifteen yards over the middle.
You're not going to take that off His plate because
it takes away from the overall value of this defense.
But I think you can reduce those types of looks.
He came back and plastered King Kid on a red
zone rep that got off script. Those plays where Josh
Allen always finds a way to pull a rabbit out
(31:02):
of his ass and find a touchdown and he's stuck
to him like glue. He then carries King Kate on
a vertical seam twenty yards down the field, perfectly in phase.
Speaker 2 (31:10):
I don't know about you, guys, I like it. My
linebacker can cover.
Speaker 1 (31:13):
My two hundred and forty five pound linebacker can run
twenty yards down the field and cover. All Right, I've
seen enough after this last Brett because he spies Josh Allen,
Josh breaks the contain, he gets wide, gay beat into
the spot, cuts him off.
Speaker 2 (31:25):
Josh pulls up.
Speaker 1 (31:26):
And shoots the jay, shoot it and throws a Room
Service pick right to the dB. This dude is perfect
for us where he helps insanely valuable piece to our
rush package position flexibility to be an edge slash off
ball combo guy that maximizes our ability to disguise where
the rush is coming from. That sim rush package was
a weapon last year, and it's already so much better
with e fatumlafon Wu JPM beachub back in the fold,
(31:48):
with Tyroll Dodson, with kJ Britt, with Willie Gay have mercy.
Why was he available? The Saints just had no freaking
idea how to use him. Watch his Chiefs tape. The
guy was trending towards Pro Bowls. The flashes were still
there with the Saints, but where they lost, they were
lost in how to use him. And please don't tell
me you want Darren Rizzy as a head coach ever again. Okay, guys,
sound good, cool?
Speaker 4 (32:08):
All right?
Speaker 1 (32:09):
Classification he is a plus starter. Let's go ahead and
pivot now to Arti Burns, cornerback. Ardy Burns his career
resume first round draft pick by the Pittsburgh Steelers back
in twenty sixteen, twenty fifth overall that year. He spent
the first four years of his career with those Steelers.
Signed to the Chicago Bears in twenty twenty, but got
injured in training camp that year and missed the entirety
(32:30):
of the season. Was back in twenty twenty one, before
departing to Seattle in twenty twenty two. Where he has
spent the last three years of his career there. He's
a six foot tall corner one hundred and ninety seven pounds,
and watching the tape, I thought he looked bigger and
longer than that, more imposing than that. So I looked,
and sure enough, thirty three and a quarter inch arms.
(32:50):
That's more than a full inch longer than the average
at cornerback in twenty twenty five permockdraftable dot com. Thirty
two inch arms is the average for a cornerback in
the NFL. His injury history is extensive. He's missed six
games in twenty nineteen, then he tore his ACL in
camp of twenty twenty missed the entire season. He missed
six games in twenty twenty one with a foot injury,
(33:11):
and Covid injured a growing in camp with the Seahawks,
where he was slated to start in twenty twenty two,
but he missed the first three games and only played
three games the entire year with various injuries. He re
signed back to Seattle in twenty twenty three, where he
played fourteen games, but then in twenty four he was
both hurt as well as a healthy scratch to the
tune of just four games played. You guys, get what
(33:33):
we're getting at here, right, This is another player available
because he has an extensive injury history. His statistical profile,
he's appeared in ninety games, started thirty nine of those games,
four picks, thirty eight passes, defense to one forced fumble,
two recoveries, one hundred and ninety nine combined tackles, eight
of those for loss. He was a full time starter
for two full seasons and he's only been that one
(33:56):
time since twenty seventeen, and he had a pretty productive
year that season. He's been mostly a special teams piece
of late. He's played almost a thousand snaps on special teams.
Two years ago and he was healthy, he had about
two hundred special team snaps. He's played almost three thousand
total snaps on defense, but again, two thousand of those
were in his first two years. So it's been a
(34:16):
long time for Ardy Burns. If he's going to bounce
back and make a have a great season, it would
be kind of unprecedented, to be honest with you guys.
The athletic testing profile four to four to six. That
was a seventy seven percent TILE at the time. I
have no idea what he runs now. That was you know,
ten years ago. But similar case with the broad jump
ten to oh four. But everything else was between like
(34:38):
fifty five and seventy percent tiles in terms of the
three co and the shuttle vertical jump, all that stuff.
Contract details still unknown most of these guys were talking
about here. I mean, I haven't given you guys details
on Pharaoh Brown, on Arty Burns, on Alexander Madison.
Speaker 2 (34:52):
These are going to be very very cheap players, just FYI.
Speaker 1 (34:55):
So don't think of it as like they're giving out
massive contracts to these players. I haven't played a lot
of football because of injuries. Let's go ahead and get
to the verdict. Sometimes I feel like bits kind of
run their course. Maybe that one has its course here.
(35:15):
But what I knew about Artie Burns was that he
was a former first round pick who clicked right away
in Pittsburgh. Then injuries just kind of took their toll
and he never saw more than three hundred snaps after
his third year as a pro. Now, two connections I
find to be interesting. He signed with the Bears when
Champ Kelly, who has recently been hired here as kind
of a grand puba of scouting, and some folks think
(35:38):
that he might have a future as a GM in
this league. He was the one that signed him in
Chicago or on staff, I should say in Chicago when
he signed there. He played with the Seahawks last year
under Mike McDonald, who we all know was the DC
on staff when Anthony Weaver was in Baltimore. And between
that and playing a lot in the slot in Pete
Carroll's defense, I think there's some similarities there. I mean,
(35:58):
Pete was famously adapted with the Seahawks peak was a
healthy blend of Cover three and Cover one, two coverages
that we ran the most of last season, and two
coverages that lend themselves to a lot of man coverage,
which the Dolphins are going to play more of this season.
And that slot change was intriguing to me. In fact,
in twenty twenty three, when he played the fourth most
snaps of his career, in the most since his first
(36:20):
three seasons, he had two hundred and two snaps in
the slot compared to just four on the perimeter when Pittsburgh.
With Pittsburgh, it was nine hundred to sixteen and nine
to twenty to twelve In terms of playing wide first,
the insides, we're talking about eighteen hundred snaps versus thirty
snaps in the slot, which leads me to what I
(36:40):
wanted to see with him. What does the tape look
like inside? Because I only knew him an outside cornerback.
How is he in run support and as a blitzer?
Didn't do any of that before Seattle either. Can he
be like Ramsey and Cater and that he can play
inside and out because having three of those guys completely
changes the landscape of this defense or any defense for
that matter. But I think it's kind of a non negotiable.
(37:01):
If you can't play all three spots, you probably aren't
for this Dolphins defense.
Speaker 2 (37:05):
Here's what I learned watching his tape.
Speaker 1 (37:07):
And before I even get into those questions, the thing
that jumped off to me. I'm laughing because I watched
the tape and I was like, just pretty good, you know,
And I understand there's gonna be like, no, no Homer
all that stuff, but the tape was pretty good. And
I'll tell you why, the good and the bad and
everything in between here. So before I get into those questions,
(37:28):
I asked myself the thing that really jumped off for
me was his physicality.
Speaker 2 (37:32):
I mentioned the length.
Speaker 1 (37:33):
At six foot almost two hundred pounds, that's a pretty
big cornerback. When you kick him inside, give him well
above average arm length, it pops. He got some reps
in the Niners game that was on a Thursday at
night last year, and he's out there man matching from
the slot, squatting on route concepts and really kind of
imposing his will and just constantly being in good position
(37:53):
with great eyes back to the quarterback. He had back
to back red zone coverage reps where he just straight
up out physical Deebo. Samuel One goes without a target
and the next is a pass breakup for him. This
is why I love watching them tape for myself, because
I'm watching him in this Niners game and he's beaten
their bare bottom butts. Dude, He's pressing up in the slot,
and that's where I think his fit is with the Dolphins.
(38:14):
You let Cater stay flexible, maybe play more on the
perimeter this year. I've talked about that a little bit
on the show, and get Burns as a press slot
guy in man coverage who can play in more of
an off role as well, physically imposing the jam is
incredibly effective. He really worked Debo in that Niners game.
Two targets both go nowhere, being close to complete. He
winds up getting Deebo on the ground on both of
(38:36):
those too, so like he kind of he punked him.
Speaker 2 (38:38):
That's all it is.
Speaker 1 (38:39):
And again they're gonna play more man coverage this year,
and I see that fit in a big way for him.
He's got a pretty good feel for playing off in
zone against bunches and stacks.
Speaker 2 (38:48):
What are bunches and stacks.
Speaker 1 (38:49):
It's when you have multiple receivers in close to each
other to try to cause confusion with how they release
off the lad scrimmage because if they have zone coverage
and one guy's inside, one guy's outside and they switch release,
that can cause your confusion in your zone coverage.
Speaker 2 (39:02):
Easier to do that from stacks and bunches.
Speaker 1 (39:04):
I think that his trigger out of a back pedal
looks pretty clean, not like a guy to me that's
been injured for a ten year career. Basically, again the physicality.
The Seahawks did something with him. The Bears and Steelers
never did. They brought him on blitzes and we know
how much Weave likes to dial up cornerback blitz, especially
from that slot position, and already can play inside and outside,
which does what keeps that protection guessing until the snap
(39:26):
of the football. And therein lies where I think the
interest came from experience in this defense three position flexibility.
He's a factor against the run, and he can reroute
the line of scrimmage and play from depth. I really
like his internal clock watching him with the Seahawks last year.
Often zone coverage pars through the trash that does all
the bunches that the Niners do run. They love to
condense things and then try to confuse your zone coverage
(39:49):
in the backside. He gets on top of the route
and once you're there and you successfully parsed out who's
gonna inbreak, who's gonna outbreak, who's gonna crow back to
the quarterback, then you get eyes in the quarterback and
try to cut, get under the receiver, get into the
passing lane. It looked really uniform across the board watching that.
I think he's a willing hitter in the running game,
and at his size that's all you need, and some
(40:09):
good technique doesn't hurt. He plays hard, like if I
saw him get blocked a couple times out of the
play and the ball goes past him and he runs
it down like he doesn't just give up on the play.
I think he's got those really good eyes. He stays
consistent with his landmarks, does not let an off script
play like dangle this cheese in front of him, like, oh,
the quarterback is running, I can go get a big
hit on the quarterback.
Speaker 3 (40:29):
Like.
Speaker 1 (40:29):
He stays back in his landmark and coverage and stays
there until he knows he can vacate it. And you
constantly see him like passing off like very animated hand
signals like all right, go go go with him that way,
like it's it looks like a player that knows what
the hell he's doing. It would not surprise me in
the slightest if it's August twelfth and he's one of
the guys that we're talking about all camplong, you know,
(40:51):
Omar and Joe Shad and Fronos are saying like man
already burns. Look at the real deal. It would not
surprise me at all if you heard that. Now, let's
go ahead, after all of that praise and pour some
water over the coals, some cold water on the flames. Right,
because I don't want to get this twisted. These are
notes off of really two game tapes last year, and
I watched a little bit in twenty twenty three as well,
because we need to be transparent about who.
Speaker 2 (41:13):
This guy is.
Speaker 1 (41:14):
That's why he comes to the Drift Time podcast right,
full transparon. So it's more than just the tape, Like
I can be guilty of that. In fact, one of
my best friends, Seth Levitt has told me that, hey,
sometimes it's more than just a tape. You have to
kind of, you know, talk about the fit and the
player in the person. Because he's a thirty year old
cornerback who hasn't played more than two hundred and fifty
(41:35):
snaps since twenty eighteen. I think he's a better player
than the glut you have of guys right now. But
that's kind of where you add him to that mix
of Camsmith, Ethan Bonner, Storm Duck that log jam, along
with some younger guys like Jason Maytree and Isaiah Johnson,
who I thought had good camps last year. But I
don't think you can count on him as anything more
than that because he hasn't proven it for like six
(41:55):
or seven years now where he helps, I mean three
position flexibility with length, ability to play more or man coverage,
some physicality.
Speaker 2 (42:01):
I like all that.
Speaker 1 (42:02):
Why was he available because he's thirty and he has
not exceeded twenty percent of his team snap since twenty eighteen.
He played just one hundred and six snaps last year,
and fifty of those were on special teams. So now
he's on his fourth team and his playing time has
just dwindles the years have gone on. I don't think
this changes the equation at cornerback much at all. If
it does, then I question your process because that means
(42:22):
you're counting on a guy that has not been counted
on since like the first Trump administration. I see the
vision in terms of what the fit is, but you're
going to have to catch lightning in a bottle here
to get something out of this guy. I put him
as quality depth slash special teams with a massive massive
asterisk next to that, and that is, of course the
injury history. So that's already burns Man a better Tathon
(42:45):
I thought going in. But there are so many questions
that you have to ask those questions before you line
up your cornerback room and expect this guy to be
someone that you count on game in and game out.
All right, there we go another long edition of the
podcast here, but that's going to be my time. On Monday,
we'll have kJ Britt, we'll have Willie Gay on the
podcast and Ryan Stonehouse to bring us home for this
(43:06):
round of free agency. The players we'll talk to the
media next week as well. We'll have some soundbites from that,
and we're gonna do a comprehensive overall look at the
team and reassess where they are after this. You know,
ten eleven players we sign now, I forget what it is,
maybe sixteen seventeen with all the guys brought back as well.
So we'll recap the whole free agency and the team
going forward into the draft. Get you guys caught up
(43:26):
in all the latest. Until then, that's gonna be my time.
You all, please be sure subscribe, rate, review the show,
follow me on social at winkfod NFL, follow the team
at Miami Dolphins, Seth and Juice. The Fish Tank podcast
is always so great. The Scottstone episode was fantastic. Check
out the YouTube channel for Dolphins HQ, Draft Time, free.
Speaker 2 (43:44):
Agent interviews, and so much more.
Speaker 1 (43:46):
Last but not least Miami Dolphins dot Com until next time.
Fins up caron Catman Daddy
What is up Dolphins, And welcome to the Draft Time Podcast.
I am your host, Travis Wingfield. On today's show, we
continue rolling on with the free agent interviews.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
We're going to talk to Pharaoh Brown and k J. Britt.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
You want to talk about attitude, tenacity, and toughness coming
to your Miami Dolphins, look no further than those two acquisitions.
Plus we have some analysis on new linebacker Willie Gay,
new cornerback Already Burns. I am so fired up for
what Willy Gay brings to this defense. I'm also going
to talk about just a couple of random things off
the top of the show. Here from the Baptist Health
Studios inside the Baptist Health Training Complex.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
This is the Draft Time Podcast, Maggie Daffe.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
So we haven't really covered a lot of news on
the show lately because we've been so bogged down, not
bogged down, just innundated with free agent interviews and analysis,
which is right up your boys, alley. So I'm not
complaining by any stretch, but I just want to give
you guys a couple of updates. So Benito Jones is back,
the Dolphins nose tackle from a year ago that kind
of thirty forty percent snaptaker on the interior, who has
(01:08):
always been a good block eater on the inside, but
flashed his best pass rush season as a pro last year,
especially in the second half of the year when things
kind of clicked for the defense. We've talked a lot
about this defensive line requiring one Zach Seeler. Hopefully you
get Kalaias Campbell back. I think there's mutual interest there
still among the Dolphins and Kalais and then you kind
(01:29):
of round it out with a whole bunch of guys
that can play various roles and be twenty thirty, forty
percent snaptakers two hundred, three hundred, four hundred snaps. And
that was the vision last year with the glut of
signings like Neville Gallimore, Jonathan Harris, who else am I
missing up front? They had a tr Tart was also
released before the season, and it didn't work.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
Out for those guys.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
But that's kind of the area you're shopping in right now.
I think you do need one more true guy upfront,
whether it's Kalaeis Campbell, whether it's a high draft pick.
I tend to think that Kenneth Grant is in play
at pick thirteen to be that guy, and he can
give you nose tackle reps as well. I think Alfred
Collins at pick forty eight would be an instant starter
in this defense as well. And then you've got a
(02:09):
bunch of guys after that. Jamari Caldwell, Derek Harmon is
probably a first round pick.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
CJ. West.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
You've got so many guys that can fill out that
potential position or those particular roles in this year's draft class.
And so I wanted to talk about that and how
the Dolphins free agency will get more in depth on
this on a future episode, but how it's kind of
rounding into form what the draft might look like, because
right now you need bodies at defensive tackle, and of
(02:35):
course that can change over the course of the next month.
You need probably a left guard, right I mean, I
think James Daniels probably slots in a right guard.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
I think Larry Borham gets a crack at left guard.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
But I think ideally you got a Will Hernandez or
maybe a Brandon Sheriff. Maybe it's a second round, third
round draft pick of Miles Frasier, a Jackson Slater, somebody
like that to come in and start at the left
guard position and bump everybody back one spot. Liam back
once spot, Larry borehim back one spot. Hopefully Isaiah Win
gets brought in and he can go back one slot
(03:05):
to that sixth INTI your offensive line. So I think
the draft is taking shape in that way. I also
saw that Chavon Revel is Savon Revel. Sorry, the h
is silent. The Eastern East Carolina cornerback is up to
twenty one miles per hour running on treadmills, which I
knew he was going to be a four to three guy,
And I keep thinking about his versatility, his length, his
physicality as a six foot three cornerback with like thirty
(03:28):
four inch arms and four to three speed and a
really good tackle reel as a potential option at pick
forty eight. So I think that you're looking at him
like a Jacob Parish from Kansas State to fill out
that second cornerback position. Maybe it is in the first
round with Will Johnson. Maybe it is Jade barn from Texas,
who I think is going to be gone by pick thirteen,
but man, what a fit he would be.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
I think that's kind of what you're looking at here.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
Cornerback defensive tackle, and then I think an outside possibility
of O line and Round one, but probably more so
on Day two.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
I think we'll see what happens.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
You know, free agency's not done yet, but I think
probably O line sometime on Day two. I think Tyler
Warren is still in that mix. Obviously Mason Taylor at
pick forty eight for that position as well. But I
think you're kind of getting a vision here of what
this might look like come Draft night for the Miami Dolphins.
One last thing on the draft, and I have an
Austin Jackson update for you guys. It feels like folks
are finally catching up on cam Ward and thank god,
(04:18):
because I don't know what the consternation has been about,
like people saying there's not a first round quarterback in
this class. You'll find out, you guys, will find out.
He's going to be an elite quarterback in this league.
I just hope he goes to the NFC. I think
he'll be the Titans, but we'll see where he winds up.
He's going to be an elite quarterback. The Dolphins new
is Austin Jackson agreed to a contract restructure, I should say,
And all they did was ad void years on the
(04:39):
back of the contract, which basically pushes out ten million
dollars in cap space over the course of void years
on the back end, which I think makes him a
possible extension candidate next year should he play the entire
season and continue the progression that I think he will
because Austin just keeps getting better.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
He's a very smart, analytical player.
Speaker 1 (04:56):
I think that bodes well for his future because he's
only twenty five years old.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
Think they'll just keep getting better.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
So Dolphins finding some space that way, locking themselves I
think further into Austin Jackson, which is a good move.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
He's a great fit here in this offense.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
So just a few bits of news there to kick
off this podcast. Let's go ahead and get back to
the interviews here and start with one of my favorite
chats I've had so far, tight end Farrell.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
Brown's in the building. Let's go ahead and talk to him.
What's up, y'all.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
Welcome back into the Draft Time podcast here on the
Dolphins YouTube channel. My guest today is new Dolphins free
agent tight end Pharaoh Brown.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
Farrell. Welcome in, man, how.
Speaker 3 (05:26):
You doing I'm doing great, Thanks for having me in today.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
We're very happy to have you out here. How you
fit in so far? We saw you had some lunch
in the cafeteria. Food food, pretty good.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
Food, pretty good sun and shine, and I fitted very
well to the when the sun is.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
Out South Florida environment. It's not too bad, is it.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
So I want to start with something that I saw
actually on your Instagram page. I didn't know that you
actually got nominated for it. You didn't win the Angry
Run Award, but you probably should have. Right that angry
run you had last year against the Cardinals. Did they
tell you were going to be nominated for the Angry
Runs Award or how does that work?
Speaker 3 (05:54):
I never noticed until somebody in the build has say
something to me about it. And then it was like,
have you seen the Kyle Brandon is super animated like
and it's talking in this thing. It was like, so
I went in Washington. I was like, I end up
watching I seen him like describing me, and then I
like went in Washington. It was a it's a pretty uh,
(06:15):
it's a great little take that he does.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
Yeah, it's a good segment.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
The reason I wanted to start with it was because
watching your game, like it's all about toughness and physicality,
and I just want to kind of ask you, like,
what is that mindset or the way you play in
the mindset that it brings. What does it bring to
a football team when you can go out there and
kind of assert your will for sixteen minutes on a
guy like that.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
I think it's just for me. Everybody fees off of that.
So when you see when you're making big plays or
when anybody see somebody getting ran over, just getting dominated,
you know, it just brings the juice. And you know,
for me, the game is all about juice, having juice,
and the team with the most juice wins at the
end of the day. So those sparks, you know, it
(06:53):
is kind of like a snowball effect when you see
the moment, like it's just a momentum, right, people getting
juiced up, you making it plays, and the momentum bills
and you know then you just becoming this unstoppable before. So, uh,
whenever I can get a little ten yard run and
juice up the team, it's always great.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
Have you met Coach Embria, our tight ends coach.
Speaker 3 (07:14):
I haven't met Coach Embri. Today's first time. It was great.
He's Uh, you can tell that he loves football. He
loves Uh he was a tight end and uh, he
loves the game. And that's all you can ask for.
The reason got great, great, great, great energy.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
Yeah, that's why I asked, because like I think John
who had like a long catch and run against the
Rams last year, and when you're watching the film, like
if you pan out, you can see him on the
sidelines like just going crazy, and so I'm thinking, like,
you match his style. I imagine there was some of
that conversation when you guys met about how your play
style and matches what he likes in a player.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
Yeah. I think the uh, the fire is a little
low right now because we're not out there on Sundays yet,
so it's like a building up. You know, we all
kind of like tang right now. But you can tell
that he loved a game and uh, that he has
great energy. And I think that you know, the room
would be able to relate, I would be able to
fit in and relate to that.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
I think he might have had a bad round on
the golf course last week and maybe that's why he
wasn't so far up for you, right. No, he's a
big golfer. So no, But going back to your tape,
did you play tackle at any point.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
In your life?
Speaker 3 (08:13):
Tackle defensive tackle line at all? Never?
Speaker 1 (08:16):
Because again again the pass rush reel, the pass protection reel.
Like again I'm talking Jalen Phillips, Hassan Reddick, I think
Aziz a Lari, some of the best pass rushers in
the game.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
You get called upon to block them one on one.
Am I right in assessment?
Speaker 1 (08:29):
Like you've gotten assignment plenty of times and you win
those assignments. I'm curious, like where does that come from?
Because most tight ends are chipping or helping and releasing, like,
but you're getting those guys one on one.
Speaker 3 (08:39):
Uh, it just come from a lot of prey. And honestly,
you're on the island with these premier guys and we
don't get a lot of time as a tight end
where I've been like actually pass rushing and collecting that. So, honestly,
Bill Belichick and my coach O'Brien and Will Lana is like,
(09:00):
just play basketball. So I was a hooper, So when
I'm out there, it's a little bit of praying and
it's just like all right, I'm just about to hoop
and you know, stay in front of him. Man, That's
kind of what I do. But by no means that
my an expert at it. I just play basketball. And
that's something that you just mentioned. Coach. Every day we
(09:20):
talked about like, you know, just working. My goal this
year is to be the best white tight end in
the league, highest rated block and tight end, highest rated
past block and tight end. If I catch zero balls,
I'll be happy.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
Well, that's what I'm saying, is like the praying is
working because the tape is really good. Man, like the
Seahawks the Patriots tape. You're out there moving the line
of scrimmage. You're catching guys, you know, combination blocks, like
it's so much fun to watch for someone that likes
the actual blocking aspect of the game. But it sounds
like you've already had that conversation about being a really
dominant force off the edge. How do you think that
can impact a team that runs as much outside zone
and relies upon the tight ends the running game as
(09:52):
much as the Dolphins do.
Speaker 3 (09:53):
I think it's great. I mean outside zone is perfect
for me. I've been in a lot of situa words
more downhill and requires more physicality. I feel that in
my experience outside zone is less physical and more technique.
But I mean I bring physicality to all my blocks,
(10:15):
and I mean I'm just excited to be here. I
don't really I play football, man, Like the scheme, it
doesn't really matter to me. If it's football, I know
that I can get in there and make it happen.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
Just go beat somebody up on one, right, that ust
to take care of itself.
Speaker 3 (10:27):
Let's just make the game simple. Wish me.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
Speaking of you, know your career so far, You've been
around the block a little bit, been for a few teams,
been in the league for a while. Now, what do
you think all that experience and different teams and environments
and schemes and organizations. What can that help you bring
the Dolphins in terms of your leadership and just your
overall experience as a player.
Speaker 3 (10:44):
Uh man, just that right there, experience seeing different a
lot of different things, being able to relate to a
lot of people. We all come from different situations. I mean,
just helping the resiliency. I mean, that's kind of what
it's made for me. It's not necessarily something that is like, oh,
(11:07):
this is what you bring as far as like in
the locker room. But you know, if you see somebody
that's down and you can relate to them and you
can share a story with them right to help them,
you know, whether it be going through something at home,
going through something with their wife, kids, you know, whatever
it is, it's like, okay, I can I can relate
and I can offer some words of a courage. Man,
there's some affirmations and you know, to pick them up.
(11:30):
So I mean, I'm not necessary. I'm I feel like
everybody is leaders, right and whenever I can help, I
just help where I can. I don't. I don't come
into somewhere and like, oh I got a lead and
I'm the guy that leader. It's like, nah, I'm you know,
just helping. Just helping other people is kind of like
(11:50):
my big thing and what.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
I like to do.
Speaker 2 (11:52):
Yeah, it makes a lot of sense.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
And so you actually spent your college days and your
last year as a pro where I'm from the Pacific Northwest,
from Oregon to the sea. How now down here. I
know you've only been here for a little bit now,
but have you been in South Florida before?
Speaker 2 (12:04):
I'm guessing you have. Most players I haven't.
Speaker 3 (12:07):
I haven't. It was too expensive for me, yes, Seattle.
I was in a couple of expensive markets. Boston was expensive,
Seattle was expensive. So I mean when I get my
free time, I like to go to Mexico.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
Okay, very nice.
Speaker 1 (12:20):
Well that's I guess a relatively similar climate to what
South Florida is. But just with your experience of getting here,
would you arrive today? I'm guessing so you've been here
for a little bit, what's the biggest I guess culture
shot going from the northwest down to South Florida.
Speaker 3 (12:31):
The sun is shining, people is more happy. We're all
not vitamin D deficient. You know, some rough, some rough
stuff in uh in Seattle. But uh yeah, I'm excited
to see the city I have. I have family that's
from here. My grandmother lived here, so she'd moved. But
(12:54):
uh yeah, man, I'm just excited to see. Palm trees
is my favorite. So whenever it's in palm trees is
you know, Yeah, you can.
Speaker 1 (13:02):
Walk about ten yards out that way and find some
palm trees and you're trying to look at them. Last
question here for you. Love to close these questions about
the players foundations. Tell us about the Farol Brown Foundation.
Speaker 3 (13:10):
If you can Pharrel Brown Foundation is just me me
giving back and really just doing stuff on my heart
helping kids. A lot of stuff is helping single mothers,
helping kids that come from unfortunate situations and trying to
have mentorship programs and different things and just offering a
(13:32):
spark into their lives and just helping. So we like
to put on different camps. We like to do stuff
during the season. Last year, raise money and just getting
kids and help out kids that's less fortunate, partnering with
you know, I've done it all from women, victims of
(13:54):
women trafficking and kids and hospitals and out of age
Fosterton Care. You know, I think that really what people
need is to be motivated. People need to help, people
need to feel like somebody cares. So that's just my
biggest That's just my biggest thing is getting out and
I love to see like I don't even want to
(14:17):
say my age, but you know, I've been out and
seeing like some of these kids. Yeah, some of these kids,
you know, something that you help when they were younger
and they playing college football now and they are you know,
dreams is coming true. They're in the NFL now. Like
I remember I want to talk to these kids in
high school, right and not in the league. So it's
(14:38):
like and they remember that moment, you know what I mean.
So where I was from, I didn't have a lot
of people come talk to me. So I always wanted
to be at the change that for the next kid
because I think it could have helped me not bump
my head a couple of times.
Speaker 1 (14:56):
Having that helping hand. Sounds like you're gonna do that
for the Dolphins locker room as well as the community here.
We have a great communit the outreach program, so you
can get it started right away here. New Dolphins tied
end Faraoh Brown Farel. Appreciate your times, man, thank you
good stuff. Let's pause for a quick break. Come back
on the other side and meet new Dolphins linebacker kJ Britt.
Draft Time Podcast your host Travis Wingfield, brought to you
by AutoNation.
Speaker 2 (15:17):
What's up, y'all?
Speaker 1 (15:17):
Welcome back into this episode of the Draft Time Podcast
here on the Dolphins YouTube channel, joined by new Dolphins
linebacker kJ Britt. kJ Welcome in, Man, the whole family's
here seeing the building. How you guys fit in so far?
Speaker 3 (15:27):
Man?
Speaker 4 (15:28):
We love it here. Man, it's a really nice facility.
All the people here are really nice.
Speaker 3 (15:32):
Man.
Speaker 4 (15:32):
I'm happy to be here.
Speaker 3 (15:33):
It's a blessed.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
So your daughter almost came in and took my chair.
She's pretty pumped up to be here too.
Speaker 4 (15:37):
Yes, yeah, she loves She loved to be around football. Yeah,
that's all she's been around her life.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
So she just her helement like father, like daughter right there.
That's great stuff. So you come down from Tampa. Obviously,
what's the biggest difference. I always ask folks this because
I'm kind of new to the to the Florida area,
Florida in general, what's the biggest difference between Central Florida
and South Florida.
Speaker 4 (15:58):
I can't really answer it because I ain't been in
too a south or too long, but I just know
Central for it, you know, it gets a stayed humid,
you know, year round humidity is you know, that's that
what drives the heat in Temple because I guess being
on the Bay, it's consistently it's always hot, you know,
on days you know, like man, dang, it's but it
stays hot. So you know, I'm used to it, and
now I've been there. I was there for four years,
(16:19):
you know, God bless me to be there for four years,
so just I can't wait to see what the what
the weather is down here.
Speaker 1 (16:25):
It's I can tell you that right now, it's just
as hot, if not hotter. We had that joint practice
last year and that was one of the hottest days
of all of the camp. I thought we were up there.
What do you remember from playing against the Dolphins, because
I think I think we played against you guys twice
in joint practices in the preseason.
Speaker 2 (16:37):
What do you remember from the Dolphins From those two.
Speaker 4 (16:39):
Joint I remember the offense had a lot of Min's direction.
Gotta be good with your eyes. You know, it was fun.
You know, it was real competitive out there, you know,
both both practices, but we had you know, we got
better and it was good fun, you know, to go
against guys and compete. And then now I'm signing here.
You know, it's surreal. So it's it's a blessing. So
(17:00):
I'm just glad that you know, the Dolphins they see
me practice and you know, see me play, So it's
just all, you know, I'm happy, yea.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
You happy to be here.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
You mentioned the misdirection of the offense and kind of
like your eye discipline. Right when I watch you on tape,
man like, you don't take any false steps. You're always
reading your keys the right way. It's it's fun to
watch a player that really seems to excel in the
preparation aspect of the game. Is that kind of where
you you kind of make your bread, as it were,
in the preparation.
Speaker 2 (17:23):
It seems like that's kind of a big part of her.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (17:25):
Yeah, if I could figure out what's going on before
the play, you know, it really helps if somebody's back deep,
how they are aligned off the line of scrimmage, you know,
especially if everything's fastest way and I see one guy
go back this way, I know that you know how
to play patient, be fast. They closer on the line
of scrimmage tight ends a little closer. I know that
(17:45):
there's probably gonna stay that way. So it just I disciplined,
just and then just being in the game for a while,
you know, Like I said, playing with some great linebackers
at Tampa, we all shared knowledge with each other, and
it all it all helps, and it all helps each other, correlates,
you know, with everybody game. So just whatever, lookle Key,
I can get I know, Mike Singletary said, every place
(18:08):
somebody's talking to you just got to figure out who
it is.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
So there was a rep in the week one game
against the Commanders when they put Jayden Daniels as like
the offset back and they faked a toss to him
and you were like, nope, I got my key from
the guard pulling backside and you were all over it.
So like, that's that part of your game is really
fun to watch for me.
Speaker 4 (18:23):
Yeah, It's it's always something u And you know, guards
and fullbacks or tight ends, they always you know, they
always give it away.
Speaker 1 (18:31):
The information is there somewhere to be found. So speaking
of that, you played alongside Lavonte David for four years
there in Tampa and you guys have both shared some
some kind words about each other. What was that experience
like and how much you he read off on you?
Speaker 4 (18:42):
He was great. You know, he really showed every day
you know, how to play, you know, different different stuff.
You know in this league, you know you're not always
one hundred miles per hour some some some players, or
you gotta play a little slower some players. You got
to be a little bit more patient. So, uh, he
(19:03):
really showed how to play for me. You know, because
I always thought it was you got to be one
hundred miles fours fast as fast and uh, he showed
how to play. You know, he helped me with patients
in my game and because that's that's how he is,
that's how he like a lot of plays, He's patient,
he trusts his ability and then we just play well.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
It sounds like you really kind of built your career
to be what it is through hard work. And for
a player that was drafted on Day three, you go
through you're a special teamer right away. You get the
starting opportunity last year and kind of take that and
run with it. Now who you are in Miami with
a chance to you know, go even further. That's like
my favorite career path for a guy, someone that grinds
their way up the depth chart like that. What did
you learn from that experience and what do you think
it brings to the Dolphins here now in year five?
Speaker 4 (19:44):
In my experience, you know, it's my story and you know,
I'm grateful for it. And you know, I had four
great years in Tempa and they molded me. And you know,
being drafted and playing special team, he's all just football.
I've been playing footballer since I was five. So I
as long as I'm playing ball, as long as I'm
around great guys in the great locker room. Man, this
(20:05):
is what I'm what. That's what I'm used to. That's
what I'm coming to. But I can't wait, you know it,
just I can't. I'm already I can't wait to play.
Speaker 1 (20:13):
I can tell because like again, watching your tape, like
your love for the game jumps off the tape. That's
pretty apparent that you love football.
Speaker 4 (20:18):
Yeah. I do love football since I was a little kid.
You know, my dad's here. You know, we've been watching
football together. You know, we he been training me for
to be a football player, like I said, ever since
I was five, you know, and growing up I didn't
play football every year. And I got a younger brother
now who's on the same path.
Speaker 3 (20:39):
You know.
Speaker 4 (20:39):
He committed to South Carolina, and uh, this is just
this is what my family do, and we we love
to play ball.
Speaker 1 (20:46):
Blood there and a ball and the blood there. So
were you always a linebacker? Yeah? I always play linebacker
and like running yeah, I live.
Speaker 4 (20:53):
To running back. Yeah, but but we played it. I
played a big I played a big high school, so
we didn't I didn't have to play both for as,
so I just yeah we played six I played six
a ball Alabama, So.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
Two ways, Okay, I gotcha. That's that's interesting.
Speaker 1 (21:04):
Yeah, my high school was like twelve kids and you
had to play both ways. Yeah, same deal. Have you
had a chance to meet coach Jill Berry yet? Our
linebackers coach here.
Speaker 4 (21:10):
I talked to him earlier on the phone, but I
haven't been a man meet this yet.
Speaker 3 (21:14):
I know I'm gonna meet him though. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (21:15):
He's a real salt of the Earth's a really great person.
Looking forward to having you have a chance to meet him.
So yeah, last thing I want to finish with you
here was your football camp that you run every single year.
It's in Oxford, Alabama? Right, Can you tell us about that?
Speaker 4 (21:26):
Yeah? Uh, every year, you know, I try to make
sure I have a camp, and last year we had
we did it two different days because it was so
many kids that come out. You know, everybody comes out
from the area all over Alabama. So I just go
out there, man, just try to put knowledge. If I
can get to one one or two kids, you know,
that's all that's all you can ask for because there's
(21:47):
so many kids that come from so many different backgrounds,
and you just never know how how much you know
a presence or you just said, and helping helping somebody
just being there with their presence and just playing, playing
with them and getting to know them. And I look
forward to it every year. It helps me because I
know I was once that kid, you know that I
wanted to you know, be around, you know, and play
(22:10):
football with people who ho'dn't done it on all three levels,
and so I just if I can give back, you know,
each year, I'm gonna do it.
Speaker 2 (22:17):
Yeah, they remember.
Speaker 1 (22:18):
I remember when I was a kid, we had like
a baseball player from the Seattle marriage come to our classroom.
I'll never forget that. Like it's a big deal for
the kids. So really cool stuff. New Dolphins linebacker kJ
but appreciate your time to the man. That was really great.
Speaker 2 (22:27):
Thank you. Let's go ahead and take one more break.
Comeback on the other side.
Speaker 1 (22:30):
We have two players to analyze here, new linebacker Willie
Gay I am fired up for that one, and cornerback
Already Burns, who's tape really jumped off the screen to
me as well. We'll do that next year. Draft Time Podcast,
your host Travis Wingfield brought to.
Speaker 2 (22:42):
You by automation. I gotta tell you, I feel like
I should.
Speaker 1 (22:48):
Probably overlay my Willie Gay analysis with some primetime music,
because this dude is a freaking weapon. Second round pick
in twenty twenty, number sixty eight overall out of Mississippi State.
Spent four years with the Chiefs, last year with the Saints.
He's six foot one, two hundred and forty five pounds.
He's missed only two games the last three years, twelve
games over a five year career. He's had some shoulder, hand,
(23:10):
lower back issues, but it's never been anything more than
a couple of weeks. Two hundred and sixty one career tackles,
nineteen for a loss, ten quarterback hits, seven sacks, four picks,
one for a touchdown, twenty two passes defense, three forced fumbles,
six recoveries.
Speaker 2 (23:26):
Dudes a playmaker.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
Seventy two games played, fifty five starts over twenty five
hundred career snaps on defense. Only played two to seventy
seven last year, which you know, second year in the
NFL as a non starter his rookie season two. I'm
not sure what the hell the Saints were doing because
he had been a between six hundred and seven hundred
snap guy otherwise, and that coincide with an uptick in
special teams reps eighty six last year compared to just
(23:49):
fifteen over the previous two seasons. He did play two
hundred and thirty seven of them as a rookie. He
had seventy seven and seventy one pass rush reps in
twenty three and two twenty two with Kansas City and
produced fourteen and twelve pressures a cumulative pressure rate of
seventeen point six. Pretty good for that position. Not great
in terms of the pressure rate, but the tape will
(24:10):
tell a different story. His athletic testing, he might be
the most athletic linebacker in the league. Thirty nine and
a half inch verticals a ninety eighth percent tile jump.
Eleven zero four broad is a ninety ninth percent tile jump.
His four four six forty ninety nine percent tile. He
was also in the ninety eighth percent tile in both
twenty split and ten split, and you see it all
over his tape. His shuttle and three cones were both
(24:31):
in the seventieth percent tile and his weight is in
the eightieth percent tile. So he's big explosive and faster
than every linebacker in the world. Sound good, Cool, No
contract info just yet, I'm not getting those aren't coming
across the wire as fast as they did the first
couple of days of free agency. So I'll update you
guys on that when I have it and what it means.
Let's go ahead and get to the verdict. It's going
to be a very kind one for Willy game. And
(24:57):
what I knew about Willy Gay Junior was that he's
a supreme athlete who can immediately be one of your
most effective blitzers with good enough chops to play in coverage,
change of direction, and explosion jumps off the tape. I
thought he was a little bit miscast in New Orleans,
but when he was used as a sim pressure, a
game runner, a stunts and twist with hook zone drops
under Steve's bagnola with the Chiefs, he was a monster.
(25:18):
And he beats blocks a lot like Jordan Brooks does,
where he can win with quickness but doesn't usually get
overpowered or walled off by the much bigger offensive lineman.
I actually had to tweak that a little bit in
my rewatch because I was kind of wrong about that assumption.
More on that in a second. He plays with so
much fire and intensity, comes off piles, slapping his head,
runs back to the sideline to get celebrating with his
(25:39):
coaches and his teammates after big plays, hyping guys up,
and I think you can always use that on your
football team. I think this team needed an injection of
that in twenty twenty five. Again that four four six
forty inch vertical eleven foot six broad jump at six
foot one two forty five. Guy's a monster.
Speaker 3 (25:54):
Now.
Speaker 2 (25:54):
I also knew he was a bit of a gambler,
and the.
Speaker 1 (25:56):
Big plays that he makes sometimes pair with some big
plays allowed from miss assignments. I don't need to do
the whole you know what. I knew what I wanted
to know portion because I've studied this guy's game in depth.
I did go back and take a look at his
twenty twenty three work against the Buffalo Bills in particular,
and a few Saints games because I wanted to see
how that was different. And basically my takeaway was that
(26:18):
the Saints tape you can throw it away because they
didn't know what they were doing with him. This is
right up there with James Daniels in terms of my
most excited signings this offseason. Even the Saints tape was
better than I anticipated, and that's with the knowledge they
just miscast him as much as any player I've ever studied, Like, legitimately,
this is the most athletic linebacker in football, and you've
got him stacking the edge as an early down SAM linebacker, Like, bro,
(26:41):
what what are we doing? I think the first thing
fans will ask about for him is his ability as
a spy, and if you get into his pressure reel,
there's a handful of snaps where he's unblocked off the
edge has a run at the quarterback. I saw one
against Bryce Young, a very quick quarterback, and he can
break down, change direction with explosion, and those guys can't
get away from him. I think you can get more
sacks and finishes as a true rusher, but you can
(27:03):
also hide him behind the formation as a spy and
just let him go hunt the quarterback run, especially with
how damn good we are with JP and Chubb off
the edge and their rush contained roles. Imagine you get
Chubb and JP fanned out is three techniques where they
condense inside to play off the guard and they fan
their rush out to kind of set the edge to
the quarterback and a cage contain. And then you move
(27:26):
Chop Robinson as a nosebacker, and you bring Jordan Brooks
and Willie Gay and walk them up in the A
gaps and you've got two or three of the quickest
rushers in the NFL matchup on guards and centers while
you've closed off his escape patches with a cage rush technique.
The options are getting exciting for Anthony Weaver and what
he can do with all these pieces. The way you
can walk him up in that A gap, run those games, run,
(27:47):
those sim pressures him and Jordan Brooks, Chop Robinson, JP.
I mean, you're putting so much stress on the offensive
lines protection calls with speed to attack a team's worst
pass protectors, right because the tackle is usually the better
pass detects. And I just keep thinking about how the
best quarterbacks beat us with play extension and how the
rush contained with all this heat and athleticism inside is
(28:08):
the best possible approach to stop them. We talked about
it in the Playoff Recap podcast, like we have to
find guys that can do this stuff, and Miami felt
the same way. He's got that Parsons and Donald burst
and wiggle like it's really rare. When you watch how
he moves, you can get to your pick stunts. You
can make the pass pro declare immediately their intentions. And
this is before we mentioned Zach Seler having talked about
(28:29):
the best player in the entire group as the cog
that it all operates around. You bring back Kalaeis Campbell,
you draft Kenneth Grant or Alfred Collins, like bro I
don't know, man, this defense was pretty good last year
with some not so great personnel after injuries, and now
they're adding to it. The way he feels and goes
in certain spaces, like there's this clip where he mugs
up the A gap shows blitz backs into coverage, finds
(28:50):
the backside crosser who's not even close to him, and
then gets underneath him and sprints vertical into the passing lane.
Then he sees a curl flat defender who's gonna pick
him up and just vacates it. And that receiver gets
picked up and goes straight downhill to the quarterback and
sacks Baker Mayfield. He closes angles as fast as anybody
I've seen in the.
Speaker 2 (29:08):
League, the whole league. He can run the arc.
Speaker 1 (29:10):
He can green dog blitz, where you call for a
coverage rep on a running back or a tight end
and a face stand protection you go rush the quarterback.
He declares your protection, then explodes down the gap for
a rush. He's outstanding as a spy. He can sink
into the line of scrimmage and then open up and
chase down pretty much any quarterback not name Lamar Jackson.
He brings his feet through tackles and makes tone setting hits.
(29:31):
He can squat on tight ends and backs and coverage.
He is just everything a modern linebacker needs to be.
We've got two of those guys. Now, now all this glazing.
There's some deficiencies in the run game. He can get
washed out by really good blocking tight ends, but that's
really all I've got. I think you can scheme around that,
especially with all the options you have between he and
Dotson and britt And you have three totally different style
(29:53):
players that can play alongside Jordan Brooks. And then I
think his eyes can sometimes get out of place as well.
Like man, if you gave me brit Processor and Gay's body,
that would be pretty spectacular. But You can see the
miss assignments from time to time, and I think at
times that frustrated Steve Spagnolo so much. They went with
Nick Bolton over him for an extension. But I think
that was a mistake. I think that Willy Gay is
a better player even with those faults. I think this
(30:15):
is a very, very good and productive player. His recovery
speed makes a lot of those reps.
Speaker 2 (30:19):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (30:20):
I also went back and watched the twenty twenty three
Bills game and here's a few plays that he made.
He re routes Dalton King Kaid, extends his hook, drop,
undercuts it and forces a throw away, claps his hands
and then chirps Dalton King Kid loves seeing that. He
spies Josh Allen beats him to the outside lane. Josh
pulls up. He does too. Josh then throws it away
because he knows he can't beat Willy Gay to the sideline.
He did have two bad busts. He turned Dalvin Cook
(30:42):
free on a wheel route for an explosive play and
a little over ran a whip route from a tid
end that went for like fifteen yards over the middle.
You're not going to take that off His plate because
it takes away from the overall value of this defense.
But I think you can reduce those types of looks.
He came back and plastered King Kid on a red
zone rep that got off script. Those plays where Josh
Allen always finds a way to pull a rabbit out
(31:02):
of his ass and find a touchdown and he's stuck
to him like glue. He then carries King Kate on
a vertical seam twenty yards down the field, perfectly in phase.
Speaker 2 (31:10):
I don't know about you, guys, I like it. My
linebacker can cover.
Speaker 1 (31:13):
My two hundred and forty five pound linebacker can run
twenty yards down the field and cover. All Right, I've
seen enough after this last Brett because he spies Josh Allen,
Josh breaks the contain, he gets wide, gay beat into
the spot, cuts him off.
Speaker 2 (31:25):
Josh pulls up.
Speaker 1 (31:26):
And shoots the jay, shoot it and throws a Room
Service pick right to the dB. This dude is perfect
for us where he helps insanely valuable piece to our
rush package position flexibility to be an edge slash off
ball combo guy that maximizes our ability to disguise where
the rush is coming from. That sim rush package was
a weapon last year, and it's already so much better
with e fatumlafon Wu JPM beachub back in the fold,
(31:48):
with Tyroll Dodson, with kJ Britt, with Willie Gay have mercy.
Why was he available? The Saints just had no freaking
idea how to use him. Watch his Chiefs tape. The
guy was trending towards Pro Bowls. The flashes were still
there with the Saints, but where they lost, they were
lost in how to use him. And please don't tell
me you want Darren Rizzy as a head coach ever again. Okay, guys,
sound good, cool?
Speaker 4 (32:08):
All right?
Speaker 1 (32:09):
Classification he is a plus starter. Let's go ahead and
pivot now to Arti Burns, cornerback. Ardy Burns his career
resume first round draft pick by the Pittsburgh Steelers back
in twenty sixteen, twenty fifth overall that year. He spent
the first four years of his career with those Steelers.
Signed to the Chicago Bears in twenty twenty, but got
injured in training camp that year and missed the entirety
(32:30):
of the season. Was back in twenty twenty one, before
departing to Seattle in twenty twenty two. Where he has
spent the last three years of his career there. He's
a six foot tall corner one hundred and ninety seven pounds,
and watching the tape, I thought he looked bigger and
longer than that, more imposing than that. So I looked,
and sure enough, thirty three and a quarter inch arms.
(32:50):
That's more than a full inch longer than the average
at cornerback in twenty twenty five permockdraftable dot com. Thirty
two inch arms is the average for a cornerback in
the NFL. His injury history is extensive. He's missed six
games in twenty nineteen, then he tore his ACL in
camp of twenty twenty missed the entire season. He missed
six games in twenty twenty one with a foot injury,
(33:11):
and Covid injured a growing in camp with the Seahawks,
where he was slated to start in twenty twenty two,
but he missed the first three games and only played
three games the entire year with various injuries. He re
signed back to Seattle in twenty twenty three, where he
played fourteen games, but then in twenty four he was
both hurt as well as a healthy scratch to the
tune of just four games played. You guys, get what
(33:33):
we're getting at here, right, This is another player available
because he has an extensive injury history. His statistical profile,
he's appeared in ninety games, started thirty nine of those games,
four picks, thirty eight passes, defense to one forced fumble,
two recoveries, one hundred and ninety nine combined tackles, eight
of those for loss. He was a full time starter
for two full seasons and he's only been that one
(33:56):
time since twenty seventeen, and he had a pretty productive
year that season. He's been mostly a special teams piece
of late. He's played almost a thousand snaps on special teams.
Two years ago and he was healthy, he had about
two hundred special team snaps. He's played almost three thousand
total snaps on defense, but again, two thousand of those
were in his first two years. So it's been a
(34:16):
long time for Ardy Burns. If he's going to bounce
back and make a have a great season, it would
be kind of unprecedented, to be honest with you guys.
The athletic testing profile four to four to six. That
was a seventy seven percent TILE at the time. I
have no idea what he runs now. That was you know,
ten years ago. But similar case with the broad jump
ten to oh four. But everything else was between like
(34:38):
fifty five and seventy percent tiles in terms of the
three co and the shuttle vertical jump, all that stuff.
Contract details still unknown most of these guys were talking
about here. I mean, I haven't given you guys details
on Pharaoh Brown, on Arty Burns, on Alexander Madison.
Speaker 2 (34:52):
These are going to be very very cheap players, just FYI.
Speaker 1 (34:55):
So don't think of it as like they're giving out
massive contracts to these players. I haven't played a lot
of football because of injuries. Let's go ahead and get
to the verdict. Sometimes I feel like bits kind of
run their course. Maybe that one has its course here.
(35:15):
But what I knew about Artie Burns was that he
was a former first round pick who clicked right away
in Pittsburgh. Then injuries just kind of took their toll
and he never saw more than three hundred snaps after
his third year as a pro. Now, two connections I
find to be interesting. He signed with the Bears when
Champ Kelly, who has recently been hired here as kind
of a grand puba of scouting, and some folks think
(35:38):
that he might have a future as a GM in
this league. He was the one that signed him in
Chicago or on staff, I should say in Chicago when
he signed there. He played with the Seahawks last year
under Mike McDonald, who we all know was the DC
on staff when Anthony Weaver was in Baltimore. And between
that and playing a lot in the slot in Pete
Carroll's defense, I think there's some similarities there. I mean,
(35:58):
Pete was famously adapted with the Seahawks peak was a
healthy blend of Cover three and Cover one, two coverages
that we ran the most of last season, and two
coverages that lend themselves to a lot of man coverage,
which the Dolphins are going to play more of this season.
And that slot change was intriguing to me. In fact,
in twenty twenty three, when he played the fourth most
snaps of his career, in the most since his first
(36:20):
three seasons, he had two hundred and two snaps in
the slot compared to just four on the perimeter when Pittsburgh.
With Pittsburgh, it was nine hundred to sixteen and nine
to twenty to twelve In terms of playing wide first,
the insides, we're talking about eighteen hundred snaps versus thirty
snaps in the slot, which leads me to what I
(36:40):
wanted to see with him. What does the tape look
like inside? Because I only knew him an outside cornerback.
How is he in run support and as a blitzer?
Didn't do any of that before Seattle either. Can he
be like Ramsey and Cater and that he can play
inside and out because having three of those guys completely
changes the landscape of this defense or any defense for
that matter. But I think it's kind of a non negotiable.
(37:01):
If you can't play all three spots, you probably aren't
for this Dolphins defense.
Speaker 2 (37:05):
Here's what I learned watching his tape.
Speaker 1 (37:07):
And before I even get into those questions, the thing
that jumped off to me. I'm laughing because I watched
the tape and I was like, just pretty good, you know,
And I understand there's gonna be like, no, no Homer
all that stuff, but the tape was pretty good. And
I'll tell you why, the good and the bad and
everything in between here. So before I get into those questions,
(37:28):
I asked myself the thing that really jumped off for
me was his physicality.
Speaker 2 (37:32):
I mentioned the length.
Speaker 1 (37:33):
At six foot almost two hundred pounds, that's a pretty
big cornerback. When you kick him inside, give him well
above average arm length, it pops. He got some reps
in the Niners game that was on a Thursday at
night last year, and he's out there man matching from
the slot, squatting on route concepts and really kind of
imposing his will and just constantly being in good position
(37:53):
with great eyes back to the quarterback. He had back
to back red zone coverage reps where he just straight
up out physical Deebo. Samuel One goes without a target
and the next is a pass breakup for him. This
is why I love watching them tape for myself, because
I'm watching him in this Niners game and he's beaten
their bare bottom butts. Dude, He's pressing up in the slot,
and that's where I think his fit is with the Dolphins.
(38:14):
You let Cater stay flexible, maybe play more on the
perimeter this year. I've talked about that a little bit
on the show, and get Burns as a press slot
guy in man coverage who can play in more of
an off role as well, physically imposing the jam is
incredibly effective. He really worked Debo in that Niners game.
Two targets both go nowhere, being close to complete. He
winds up getting Deebo on the ground on both of
(38:36):
those too, so like he kind of he punked him.
Speaker 2 (38:38):
That's all it is.
Speaker 1 (38:39):
And again they're gonna play more man coverage this year,
and I see that fit in a big way for him.
He's got a pretty good feel for playing off in
zone against bunches and stacks.
Speaker 2 (38:48):
What are bunches and stacks.
Speaker 1 (38:49):
It's when you have multiple receivers in close to each
other to try to cause confusion with how they release
off the lad scrimmage because if they have zone coverage
and one guy's inside, one guy's outside and they switch release,
that can cause your confusion in your zone coverage.
Speaker 2 (39:02):
Easier to do that from stacks and bunches.
Speaker 1 (39:04):
I think that his trigger out of a back pedal
looks pretty clean, not like a guy to me that's
been injured for a ten year career. Basically, again the physicality.
The Seahawks did something with him. The Bears and Steelers
never did. They brought him on blitzes and we know
how much Weave likes to dial up cornerback blitz, especially
from that slot position, and already can play inside and outside,
which does what keeps that protection guessing until the snap
(39:26):
of the football. And therein lies where I think the
interest came from experience in this defense three position flexibility.
He's a factor against the run, and he can reroute
the line of scrimmage and play from depth. I really
like his internal clock watching him with the Seahawks last year.
Often zone coverage pars through the trash that does all
the bunches that the Niners do run. They love to
condense things and then try to confuse your zone coverage
(39:49):
in the backside. He gets on top of the route
and once you're there and you successfully parsed out who's
gonna inbreak, who's gonna outbreak, who's gonna crow back to
the quarterback, then you get eyes in the quarterback and
try to cut, get under the receiver, get into the
passing lane. It looked really uniform across the board watching that.
I think he's a willing hitter in the running game,
and at his size that's all you need, and some
(40:09):
good technique doesn't hurt. He plays hard, like if I
saw him get blocked a couple times out of the
play and the ball goes past him and he runs
it down like he doesn't just give up on the play.
I think he's got those really good eyes. He stays
consistent with his landmarks, does not let an off script
play like dangle this cheese in front of him, like, oh,
the quarterback is running, I can go get a big
hit on the quarterback.
Speaker 3 (40:29):
Like.
Speaker 1 (40:29):
He stays back in his landmark and coverage and stays
there until he knows he can vacate it. And you
constantly see him like passing off like very animated hand
signals like all right, go go go with him that way,
like it's it looks like a player that knows what
the hell he's doing. It would not surprise me in
the slightest if it's August twelfth and he's one of
the guys that we're talking about all camplong, you know,
(40:51):
Omar and Joe Shad and Fronos are saying like man
already burns. Look at the real deal. It would not
surprise me at all if you heard that. Now, let's
go ahead, after all of that praise and pour some
water over the coals, some cold water on the flames. Right,
because I don't want to get this twisted. These are
notes off of really two game tapes last year, and
I watched a little bit in twenty twenty three as well,
because we need to be transparent about who.
Speaker 2 (41:13):
This guy is.
Speaker 1 (41:14):
That's why he comes to the Drift Time podcast right,
full transparon. So it's more than just the tape, Like
I can be guilty of that. In fact, one of
my best friends, Seth Levitt has told me that, hey,
sometimes it's more than just a tape. You have to
kind of, you know, talk about the fit and the
player in the person. Because he's a thirty year old
cornerback who hasn't played more than two hundred and fifty
(41:35):
snaps since twenty eighteen. I think he's a better player
than the glut you have of guys right now. But
that's kind of where you add him to that mix
of Camsmith, Ethan Bonner, Storm Duck that log jam, along
with some younger guys like Jason Maytree and Isaiah Johnson,
who I thought had good camps last year. But I
don't think you can count on him as anything more
than that because he hasn't proven it for like six
(41:55):
or seven years now where he helps, I mean three
position flexibility with length, ability to play more or man coverage,
some physicality.
Speaker 2 (42:01):
I like all that.
Speaker 1 (42:02):
Why was he available because he's thirty and he has
not exceeded twenty percent of his team snap since twenty eighteen.
He played just one hundred and six snaps last year,
and fifty of those were on special teams. So now
he's on his fourth team and his playing time has
just dwindles the years have gone on. I don't think
this changes the equation at cornerback much at all. If
it does, then I question your process because that means
(42:22):
you're counting on a guy that has not been counted
on since like the first Trump administration. I see the
vision in terms of what the fit is, but you're
going to have to catch lightning in a bottle here
to get something out of this guy. I put him
as quality depth slash special teams with a massive massive
asterisk next to that, and that is, of course the
injury history. So that's already burns Man a better Tathon
(42:45):
I thought going in. But there are so many questions
that you have to ask those questions before you line
up your cornerback room and expect this guy to be
someone that you count on game in and game out.
All right, there we go another long edition of the
podcast here, but that's going to be my time. On Monday,
we'll have kJ Britt, we'll have Willie Gay on the
podcast and Ryan Stonehouse to bring us home for this
(43:06):
round of free agency. The players we'll talk to the
media next week as well. We'll have some soundbites from that,
and we're gonna do a comprehensive overall look at the
team and reassess where they are after this. You know,
ten eleven players we sign now, I forget what it is,
maybe sixteen seventeen with all the guys brought back as well.
So we'll recap the whole free agency and the team
going forward into the draft. Get you guys caught up
(43:26):
in all the latest. Until then, that's gonna be my time.
You all, please be sure subscribe, rate, review the show,
follow me on social at winkfod NFL, follow the team
at Miami Dolphins, Seth and Juice. The Fish Tank podcast
is always so great. The Scottstone episode was fantastic. Check
out the YouTube channel for Dolphins HQ, Draft Time, free.
Speaker 2 (43:44):
Agent interviews, and so much more.
Speaker 1 (43:46):
Last but not least Miami Dolphins dot Com until next time.
Fins up caron Catman Daddy
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