April 29, 2025 • 34 mins
The last of the player profile deep dives from the draft is here is Travis takes you through the tape of the seventh round picks - QB Quinn Ewers from Texas and Zeek Biggers, the DT from Georgia Tech. Plus, a soundbite roundup from the entire class to close the show.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
What is up Dolphins And welcome to the Draft Time Podcast.
I am your host, Travis Wingfield. And on today's show,
we have our last two draft pick profiles, Quinn Ewers,
the quarterback from Texas and Zeke Biggers, the defensive tackle
from Georgia Tech. Plus we'll play the best soundbites from
the media availabilities from the draft class from the Baptist
Health Studios inside the Baptist healths Training Complex. This is
(00:31):
the Draft Time Podcast. Two more draft picks, both in
the seventh round. To get to here, we've done every
single player in depth, background, stats, measurables, film fit everything
you want to know about your entire twenty twenty five
Miami Dolphins draft class. You can find it on previous
episodes of Draft Time. And I know I covered some
(00:53):
of the themes on the last show and I want
to do just do a quick update on that because
we talked about getting bigger and having the ability on
the offensive line to be powerful, but also keep your
outside zone menu available and a couple of more things
sort of I guess materialized for me in my research
on all these players. The Dolphins took a lot of
(01:14):
really young guys twenty and twenty one year olds, which
is a really good way to offset, you know what,
had become one of the older rosters in the NFL
the last year. And I'll have to get an update
for you guys on this, but the Dolphins went into
the draft with the seventh youngest roster in the NFL
and they go out and they draft eight players, a
bunch of them at age twenty twenty one. So that
was a cool theme to see develop. And I think
(01:35):
that as you have heard these breakdowns will get to
Zeke bigger today. You're going to learn that a lot
of these guys probably have their best football ahead of
them because they're so young and so much more untapped
potential that Miami's hoping to kind of, you know, hit
yachts on. There's that the size that we talked about,
the scheme fits, we talked about, leadership and team captains,
all that stuff really tracks with me in terms of
(01:59):
being consistent themes throughout the entire course of the draft.
So let's go ahead, though, and pivot into our film breakdown.
Here our deep dive on each of the two seventh
round draft picks, and start with quarterback Quinn.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
You were from Texas.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
When you take a quarterback in the seventh round, you
hope it's Rock Purdy, right, that's the ideal thing, or
sixth round Tom Brady. But really any day three quarterback,
you're focusing on a trait or two that you hope
can be the calling card of that player, and then
you hope to develop another one or two things that
can make a player into a quality contributor, ideally a
(02:32):
good backup quarterback. And if you can find that cheap
in the seventh round, then you save yourself, you know,
basically another starting position player, be it a linebacker or
a guard or a safety, because of the savings you
have on that contract, ie going and getting a Zach
Wilson for six million bucks a year. And in the
case of Quinn yours, the one trait that stood out
(02:52):
to me when I jumped into the film originally or
before I really did a deep dive on his game,
you know, prior to the draft, was the and we're
starting to get into the portion of the timeline where
I where now I am remembering, you know, watching these
prospects from the time they were like twelve years old
at throwing camps on social media because that stuff is everywhere.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
And now here.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
They are all grown up, and I'll never forget the
hype on yours.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
Going into college.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
He had that raggedy mullet that he possessed back in
his high school days and throwing the football all over
the practice field like Omar Vskill, who was an eleven
time Gold Glove winning shortstop. For the non baseball fans
out there, then he gets to Texas and he has
immediate success, so much so that he winds up on
the cover of the video game, the NCAA Football Game.
(03:37):
So easy gas ability to drop the arm to all
different angles and get it to the spot from various angles, platforms,
and mechanics through his lower half. I don't really have
anything to complain about with regards to the mechanical nature
of his game. I think he's pretty polished actually that way.
In fact, since you guys know that, I think arm
velocity is one of the more overrated trace people talk
(03:58):
about on quarterbacks. And you know, Lewis Riddick mentioned this
on the ESPN broadcast, like, we get obsessed with how
hard guys throw the football, but it's not how hard
do you throw, it's how do you.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
Pass the football?
Speaker 1 (04:08):
And then passing is different than throwing the football, not
that it's not valuable, that would be absurd to say,
but it's only valuable if you've got the other stuff
in line to make that you know, to capitalize on
the arm strength. But I might say the calling card
for Quinn outside of the arm after I got a
little bit more familiar with his game is the feat
and how they move with his eyes, which is a
very important trait for a quarterback, because if you go
(04:30):
back to the twenty twenty three Alabama game, that'll be
the one that the big fans of his point too
and be like, this is the upside for Quinn. You
were sorry, I'm really fighting something today. And it was
a great tape and I just came away from it
thinking he has the footwork down in a way that
I think that could accelerate his growth as a pro,
especially in this system. I thought that's where the quarterbacks
(04:53):
behind Tua over the years. You know Mike White Skyler
for instance. You know James Blackman. Oh gosh, who was
the guy we had in camp last year now I
can't remember his name. And this offense is, you know,
so predicated on the timing that if your feet are
not good, you can really struggle and you can get
yourself off rhythm and you can miss, you know, open reads.
(05:15):
There was a play, I think it was the Seahawks
game last year with Skuyler, there was a guy that
flashed wide open and it was like right in the
progression and he just he just didn't go there. And
I think you can look at like his feet weren't
right and by the time he got him right, the
timing was now not available to him. So that to
me has to be what the Dolphins saw and said,
that's a good baseline to work with.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
We can build from here. We have a foundation we
can build upon.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Because the way he can hitch up off the spot,
reset and then get to easy gas on the football
without his feet connected to the turf, that's the best
part of his game to me. And the Bama tape
had some really good placement throws on some tough shots too,
like if it was deep post for a long touchdown
and he just drops it in the bucket over the
top of the defensive back. Really good job of kind
of throwing it out there to give the receiver chance
(06:00):
to reel it in. He threw another should have been
touchdown that got dropped on an out to the field,
which is the far hash. You'll see that that term
used a lot where he was off balance and put
it on the money on a throw on that outside shoulder,
which is kind of the smallest target, you know, far
the far field out throw with the receiver angling towards
that sideline because the throw that the angle of that
(06:20):
throw is weird and the way you can get your
hands is your catch radius kind of gets reduced because
of that angle. I think that when you consider traits
and developmental quarterbacks, Quinn has really the best traits of
anyone that came in here behind Tua over the last
five years. You know, like Fitz was a you know
was here before to us. I wouldn't say he was
behind him, but Fitz was like a thirty eight year
(06:41):
old veteran at that point who had never there was
nothing left that football could show him that was new.
So he was pretty advanced in that way now. And
this is part of the game that every single rookie
quarterback must develop at a pretty rapid rate to carve
out a career in this league, right And this was
true for Tua as well, who was one of the
best processors out of college, you know, in the last
decade or so, But we didn't really see to a
(07:03):
grasp it, you know, full to a grass, full to
of superpowers until twenty twenty two, right, And for yours,
it's all about play speed, seeing the field, getting through
his progressions viewers played under Steve Sarkisian and an offense
that was much more closely related to what we do.
(07:24):
He's not a big time creator, fleet of foot quarterback.
He's a traditional drop back passer that wants to point
and shoot with plenty of velocity behind it, but can
slide around within the pocket and doesn't need to have
his cleats attached to turn and rip it. But also
watching the film, it's it was one of those things
where it's like, okay, now, now, now go go and
(07:45):
you you have to have that to play at this level.
We'll see if he can develop it. It's the most
important skill. It has a long way to go, but
I think that everything else gives him a chance to
develop in that regard, And I kind of view it
like arm strength a lot of the times, like either
you have it or you don't. So it's definitely not
an easy task. But that's the task that quinn Ewers
(08:05):
has faced with here as he looks to carve out
a role in this Dolphins quarterback room. The fit to
define the Texans off the Texas offense. Rather, the core
concept is spread ourpo attack that uses various formations, shifts
and motions to create horizontal stretch through creating conflict in
terms of you know, putting two defender or two eligibles
(08:26):
within a zone defender's landmark and an attempt to capitalize
on mismatches that occur through failure to communicate all the
moving pieces of motions and pre snap shifts. So again
that's what the NFL is, right, You're going to get
through your pre snap checks and the lads scrimmage and
parsing through everything to identify, you know, where a whole
might spring and you can spot that with you know,
(08:47):
pre snap leverage. Maybe there's a tael with a front
they call, with how they bump their certain alignments against motion,
with the rotation post snap. There's a million indicators that
allows a quarterback to predict, right what you're doing. You're
predicting what might come of the play call against the
coverage and how that's dictated, but it allows a quarterback
(09:07):
to predict what happens before it does. And that's where
Tua is better than anybody else in the sport. I mean,
Joe burrows up there like that's the category that he's
in the company, that he's in for yours. I don't
think that's there yet, but I'm happy that he comes
from an offense where he'll be fully prepared to get
to the line scrimmage quickly and have those same indicators
(09:28):
to search for. As he knows he has a lengthy
checklist to achieve before he snaps the football.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
He'll be ready for that aspect of it.
Speaker 1 (09:35):
I believe as far as the roster construction, you have
your starter, you feel like Zach is pretty comfortably the
backup at the moment. I mean, hey, Quinn, if you
can beat him out, that's great, but he's he's paid
to be the backup here. So Quinn kind of falls
into that developmental spot where if he really pushes and impresses,
maybe he is the backup. But I think it's a
good spot for him to just come in and learn
the offense. And you know, I've me and Kyle talked
(09:57):
about Quinn ewers a lot on the back in fall,
and like we were like, there's some tough tapes out there,
but in you know, with the retrospect, like of all
the quarterbacks that have been here behind Tua, he's by
far the toolsiest. So we'll see what the rest of
it looks like and if they can get him going
and playing at a high level from the processing standpoint,
maybe maybe you struck Golder in the seventh round.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
If you can do that.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
Some statistics and advanced metrics. The counting stats over his career,
sixty five percent completion, just over ninety one hundred passing
yards over three years as a starter, a's eight yards
per attempt, sixty eight touchdowns, twenty four picks. Half of
those twenty four picks came this season, and we knew
that he played with an injury this season. As Chris
Greer spoke about in his Friday or Saturday press conference,
(10:40):
he's not a runner. The college count college counts, you know,
sacks as rush attempts for the quarterback. So one hundred
and forty attempts career with negative fifty nine rushing yards.
That was fifty three scrambles, seventy sacks and then what's
the remainder there? Seventeen design runs on twelve hundred and
seventy four dropbacks. Here's the stat that trends to Miami
(11:00):
two point five four time to throw the ball comes
out quick. He had a pressure to sack rate of
twenty one point eight percent, which that's in college compared
to the two of NFL rate at eighteen percent, So
gonna have to work on that a little bit. But
he had forty one turnover worthy plays per Pro Football Focus,
and that's also something else you have to work on
with the decision making and being late kind of you know,
(11:22):
you can you can quantify it statistically by you know,
doing this. That's a four percent TWP rate. Turnover worthy
play rate again for reference to in the NFL is
two point six, which two was TWP at two point six,
and his pick rate being like two point four, it
just tells you he doesn't really get lucky with drop
picks and stuff like that. He had sixty four completions
(11:44):
of twenty plus yards last year, that was fourth most
in college football. He did not measure besides his height
and weight. He was six foot two to two fourteen
at the combine and his background former number one quarterback
recruiting twenty twenty one across the entire country. He started
throwing footballs at age three with his pops, and he
had a quarterback coach by the time that he was
in the fourth grade. He was a big name by
the time he got into middle school football. He led
(12:06):
his seven on seven team to multiple championships, including a
state title in twenty sixteen. He played basketball, baseball, golf.
Heyo hunted and fished as well as a youth. He
was one of six players to receive a perfect one
thousand recruiting rating. Is what I read on Dame Brudler
as the beast, Jadavian Clowney Rashaun Gary, Vince Young, Robert Kim,
d J Kim d J Kim d J Kim DJA
(12:28):
around the NFL fans, and then Ernie Simms out there
also with a perfect recruiting score.
Speaker 2 (12:33):
So there you go.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
One more pick to get to here on the draft
profile reviews.
Speaker 2 (12:38):
Here he is Zeke Biggers.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
Will do him next on the other side from Georgia
Tech on the Draft Time podcast brought to you by
Auto Nation. And then there was one prospect to talk about,
Zeke Biggers the defensive tackle from Georgia Tech, our seventh
round draft pick. He is a big body, two gapper
who eats double teams for breakfast. Defensive tackle is such
(13:01):
an interesting position because we always want with at that
position right, big bodies, but the height is kind of
a wild card, like Kalais and Zach were behemoths.
Speaker 2 (13:13):
Right.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
And by the way, I'm sure you guys have seen
the one hundred man versus gorilla argument. First of all, no,
it could be ten thousand men. It wouldn't matter. But
if we were going to I think Zach Steeler is
probably the first guy call up to be on that team,
but not for the Mine Dolphin's sake, because we got
to keep Zach alive for NFL Sundays. But then, Benito
(13:35):
Jones is six foot one, a completely different body type.
And I always use that term that I stole from
probably Mike Mayock back in the day, squatty body, oily
hips all the stuff he talks about. Remember that, But
that's Benito Jones right, Like he's a squatty body, but
Zeke is not. That he is six foot five, and
one thing that can get defensive tackles at that height
(13:55):
is they can come out of their stands too high,
and to me that directly correlated with Zeke's lost reps.
He's just too high at times because when he fires
out as a low man, nobody really has a chance,
at least in the college level to stop him. He
generates plenty of surge, almost said sugar knock back, and
you see the head of the offensive lineman kind of
snap back and the feet, you know, like a duck
(14:17):
frantically under the pond, just trying to find their base
and anchor as they search through their frantic panicking. He's
pure power with the ability to really plant the roots
and just eat up a block and a double team.
Where I think he could get better is in the
way he finishes, and you'll see that in our product.
In the production PFF had him with a sixteen percent
mistackle rate twenty miss tackles over four years. I really
(14:39):
like the way he uses his length to try to
pry open the elevator. And I learned that scouting technique
from who was it Matt Bowen, maybe the ESPN great analyst.
That's when you're in a gap and you take on
a double team. No, I think it was Brandon Thorne,
the offensive line expert doesn't matter. But that's when you're
in a gap and you take on double team and
(15:00):
you basically like just plant your flags, your feet in
the ground and then do exactly what the description says.
Either player on either side of you is one side
of the elevator door and you're trying to, you know,
tear that thing open. My kid, my son, every time
we go to daycare, we take the elevator down. He
tries to open the door before he opens up, and
I'm buddy, you're gonna get your fingers pinched.
Speaker 2 (15:19):
You're not.
Speaker 1 (15:20):
Zeke Bigger's out there trying to pry the elevator doors open.
So I think that he can do that. Like he's
so strong and the wing spam are going to talk
about here allows him to really. I think that's that's
why his strength is taking on double teams because he's
just his pad shehelf is so big, like it kind
of takes two guys to block him. He's pretty good
working the hands and keeping the feet moving as he
(15:41):
rides the wave down down the line against outside zone.
He tries to read out the keys and root to
the ball carrier. The effort is always there. He goes
one hundred miles an hour. His conditioning is too, which
was a big thing with both Kenny g and Jordan Phillips.
All these big guys are athletic and do a great
job staying in shape to give you thirty forty a
game at a pretty grueling position. What's crazy is I
(16:04):
don't think he's even close to a finished product in
terms of how he uses his gifts. You know, his
size and that get off, and I think that he
could find more consistency in his strike point and that
could lead to more lateral displacement on the line of scrimmage.
Through more seasoning and playing, I think there's more bursts
to access off the football, and then there's just more
(16:26):
experience reading keys. But the thing, you know, think about
this with regards to working with coach Clark, and by
the way, make no mistake about this, Like Austin Clark
has earned the right to three very very impressive athletes
and balls of clay in his room to shape and
mold and grant Phillips and Biggers. He's proven that he
can take guys like this and get them rolling. Not
to mention Anthony Weaver and his expertise up front on
(16:47):
the defensive line, but one of my favorite parts about
his game from Biggers was the special team's work.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
He's a big time kick blocker. Guys.
Speaker 1 (16:54):
Remember was it what was his name? Vincent Taylor, the
Oklahoma defensive tackle.
Speaker 2 (17:01):
Like eight years ago.
Speaker 1 (17:01):
That was already eight years ago, one of the first
guys I covered on the Lockdown Dolphins podcast. My goodness,
time flies, I have moved across the country. I have
had I'm gonna have a third kid on the way.
I got two kids already, Time flies, man, I was
thirty years old back then. Now I'm freaking thirty seven,
thirty eight. But anyway, with that tangent. Aside four blocked
(17:22):
kicks in his career, he also served as a personal
protector on the G Tech punt team, which I've only
really ever seen safeties or fullbacks or tight ends do that.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
Definitely not defensive tackles. His fit here.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
I've made this comment throughout the off season process. I'm
not sure the top of the roster is better than
last year. In fact, I don't think it is, but
I think it's a much deeper football team than the
one we've had the last couple of years. And when
I say that, it's a reference to the ability to
plug and play guys now in case of an injury.
But it's also about long term developmental strategy because when
(17:57):
I look at Bigger's.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
Film, I see flashes.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
And what did Charles Davis teach us about a month
ago on the podcast to grade the flashes on the film?
Speaker 2 (18:05):
Right?
Speaker 1 (18:06):
Man, You've got Butito Jones on a one year contract
behind Zach who, for my money, could play until he's
Kalais Campbell's age, because he's that good and that effect
of every single thing that he does. But beyond that,
it's rookies, right, and we have, you know, high hopes
for Kenny g like Grant kind of needs to be
a dude for for you know, this build to work
that's you put a lot of every year you do
(18:27):
every eggs in the first round basket. And then for
Jordan Phillips, I think you have high expectations for him
as well. And even if even if Zeke doesn't see
the field in twenty twenty five and he gets to
be you know, depth and practice squad and develop his
game that way, perhaps his development peaks to the point
that you feel like, hey, we got enough from Biggers
last year that we can you know, we don't have
to resign, but itto and we can go cheap at
(18:49):
that position and be in a better, you know, position
to attack the rest of the roster. Not that it's
like some cost prohibitive move to Happennito Jones.
Speaker 2 (18:56):
I'm just saying you have to.
Speaker 1 (18:57):
That's how you have to think when you roster build, Like,
you know, we have this right now, but we need
to prepare for the future in case he doesn't come
back or doesn't play as well as he did last year.
Like you have to be on top of that stuff.
But that's not to say that he can't play this year.
Is Eke Biggers because I think he could be a
fixture on your special teams units. I think he could
be your answer to some teams that want to try
the push push with him and Zach and KG up front.
(19:17):
I think he's a great fit for odd fronts, essentially
the head up cover the center as a zero technique,
as a nose tackle, and he can really absorb double teams.
Go watch Georgia Tech the Georgia Tech tape versus Georgia Geez.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
That's a sentence.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
And while he didn't really flash like dominance. You saw
him park the bus, so to speak, against a really talented,
strong offensive line and hold his ground. So if you
want to like kind of measure, you know a lot
of times you get college tape and it's like, man,
he was dominant, and it's like, okay, well, now he's
taking a jump up in competition. How does he flash
against these guys that are all better athletes than he is.
Like that's that was a good barometer, a good you know,
(19:53):
testing measuring stick for him against a really talented front
of Georgia. So I think there's definitely avenues a playing
time this year. But based on the tape, I think
he gives you an option down the road provided his
game matures over the first year in the league, which
that's kind of up to him, you know, work your
butt off and get yourself into a position to make
an impact down the road, hopefully, if not sooner than later.
Statistics in advanced metrics he played every game in the
(20:14):
last three years, including twenty six starts, so he's durable.
At his freshman season into that and you get forty
seven college games, he made one hundred and four tackles,
nine for loss. He had two sacks and seven batted
passes over his career. He had twenty three pressures over
three years and forty five stops, playing thirteen hundred and
sixty one total snaps, about evenly split across the run
(20:35):
and pass game. He was more of an early down player,
and I think that's probably his calling card right away.
I think you know goal line packages third and short,
first and ten, when you got your big front out
there against the twelve personnel twenty two personnel, that's where
I kind of see him fitting in. Right off the
top his measurables, he was six zero five to four.
That's six five and a half, which was ninety eighth
(20:56):
percentile for defensive tackles. Three hundred and twenty one pounds
is ninetieth percent tile. I imagine he plays bigger than that,
because he's always been bigger than that. His thirty four
and a half inch vertical thirty four and a half
inch vertical three hundred and twenty one pounds was ninety
seventh percent tile among defensive tackles, and that's at the
ninety eighth percent tile height and ninetieth percentile weight, So
(21:18):
very explosive for that size nine to ozh three broad
jump was eighty fifth percent tile. He's got thirty five
inch arms and an eighty five inch wingspan. The eighty
five inch wing span was the biggest in the entire draft.
I found this detail. He was born eleven pounds. Yes,
that is a big, big baby man. We got a
lot bigger than draft, didn't We That wingspan biggest of
(21:39):
the combine. The runs were above average, but when your
ninetieth percent tile in size, above average runs become really
good runs. So five to one four forty was fifty
fifth percent tile, so over the midway point there. But
his one seven to four to ten split was seventy
six percent tile, So good initial burst which is a
calling card here. We've talked without that for a couple
(22:00):
of years now, which also matches those jumping metrics in
the explosiveness. His shuttle and three cone were not his
calling cards. Four point seventy five and seven point nine
to one were forty eight and thirty fourth percentile. So
again in factor in the size is pretty much average. Right,
his background, we can go. We continue to go young. Right.
I talked about a kg and Jonah both going to
be twenty and twenty one all the way through the
(22:21):
rookie seasons. Jordan Phillips is the same Biggers played his
first college game at seventeen years old. His given names
is Andre Bigger, so it's not originally Zeke. He's a
massive kid. He had to play up a grade throughout
youth football because he was just too big. And he
was more than a big body. He was an athlete.
He was dunking basketballs in the sixth grade. He played
offensive line and defensive line for his high school football
(22:43):
team and started on the hoops team, earning all county
honors with eight points per game in eight boards per game.
He also lettered in track and was named Homecoming king
as a senior. He graduated with a degree in Logistics,
Materials and supply chain Management. And he played in the
East West Shrine. And that is a rap on our
film watches for the entire class. We'll do the udfas
(23:05):
down the road. Let's go ahead and pause right now
for one more break in this program and come back
and hear from the rookies. A SoundBite round up from
the weekend. That's next Draft Time podcast, your host Travis Wingfield,
brought to you by automation.
Speaker 2 (23:20):
I think it's.
Speaker 1 (23:21):
Time for a sound by round up, and apologies for
all the parents out there that now have to turn
off the podcast and put on incanto songs because your
kid just heard that. Let's go ahead and do a
SoundBite round up, and here here first from New Dolphins
defensive tackle Kenneth Grant. He was asked about aspirations of
winning a championship, but also his desire to one day
(23:42):
be the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year.
Speaker 3 (23:44):
No reason why I want to be a Man of
a year. One of my favorite players Cam Jordan Dean
on the Saints. You know, he's just a great person,
you know, in general, helping the community, helping people that
need you know, he's a great football player. So I mean,
who does want to be a great person and a
great football player and only boost you. But I mean,
from my standpoint, I just want to be a good
(24:06):
role model in my community from where I grew up from,
you know, show those guys that it's a way out
and you can make it. And I'm living proof. But
from from a super Bowl standpoint, you know, I think
I'm a culture changer for sure, you know, being from Maryllville.
We didn't. We were before I went to Maryllville, we
were one to nine, you know. Then right after that
we went four straight semi states. Then Michigan, you know,
(24:30):
going to Michigan, never being Ohio state before then. You know,
a year before I got there, we won it, and
then when I got there, we carried on that legacy.
So you know, I think I'm I'm a culture changer
for a winning culture for sure.
Speaker 1 (24:42):
Up next, guard offensive lineman Jonah Savoya and Naya was
asked about have you met Tua? Do you have any
idea of the connection of blocking for him? Have you
met him before? Here's Jonah on Tua and other Polynesian quarterback.
Speaker 4 (24:55):
I met him before Polynesian Bowl back in twenty two.
As soon as I've seen a floor a number, I really, uh,
you know, thought two of you know, that's who I'm
going to block hopefully hopefully in the future. And shoot,
I'm just excited, man. Have It's funny because I blocked
for for like only apoly Music quarterbacks on my career
(25:16):
and just going into the league into being a party quarterback,
so that never makes makes mistakes. You know, he wants
me to block for my people. So I'm there.
Speaker 2 (25:26):
I mean, that's what it's all about. That's really really cool.
Speaker 1 (25:30):
Next question here, we're gonna ask me about past blocking
and then run blocking first, the past blocking aspect at all.
Speaker 4 (25:35):
I'm pretty firm, you know, I said, I'm pretty light
on my feet, my hands are good, good, you know,
recover if I over said a little bit too much.
And then if they try to take excite, you know,
I can recover fast. So and just you know, that's
what I'm bringing, you know, and just that mentality, you know,
just because it's past block, you know, it's it's not passive.
(25:57):
You know, we're always playing aggressive even if it's past blocks. Uh,
that's that's the mentality of my person. Yeah, I'm excited,
you know to get into you know, this game because
of me and coach blitch Berry sat down together and
we watched how you know they kind of sell outside
zone even if they're not not running outside zone. So
that's good for me. You know, I love I love running.
(26:17):
I love just getting off the bar and brun so
just to you know, use my speed and in space
and just hearing that they run a lot of outside zone.
It's just that's just me you know, I love I
love running outside.
Speaker 1 (26:28):
Up next, Jordan Phillips was asked about the character and
leadership that he displayed at Maryland. There's a great article
with Mike Loxley and some teammates really really kind of
hyping up the leadership and bringing guys along with him
and the mentality of Jordan Phillips. Also, he won the
Pat Tillman Award the Shrine Bowl. Asked him about that.
Here's Jordan Phillips talking about the importance of leadership and
(26:49):
character in a football team.
Speaker 5 (26:50):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (26:50):
Absolutely, So, you know, I've always been a team first guy,
just wanted to put the team before me and just
really the drive to want to see the team succeed
and I play. I do definitely plan on bringing that
with me to the Dolphins. It's been in me since,
like I started football, honestly, just the consistency and the
will and drive to you know, get getting my team
(27:14):
to the championship.
Speaker 4 (27:15):
I mean, that's just that's just who I am.
Speaker 1 (27:17):
He also brought it off some of his favorite defensive
tackles of all time went as far back as John Randall,
So I love a historian who's wise beyond his years.
He was also asked about weightlifting and wrestling, two things
that he was a stud at in high school. Let's
go ahead and ask Jordan what does that do for
playing football in terms of the skills translating.
Speaker 6 (27:35):
Yeah, just having great you know, and the willingness to
understand body control, certain joints moved the body, like the elbow,
you know what I'm saying, and just really the tryteth
that move like grabbing those areas of help move the body,
and just understanding how to take control and have proper
leverage over somebody and all those things are what you
(27:56):
need in order to be a great defensive line and
so those things have definitely contributed to my game.
Speaker 1 (28:01):
Up next, Dante Trader Junior is a player that Mike
Loxley has spoken very high about, the Maryland product and
the Maryland head coach obviously, and he was asked about
multiple roles within a defense. And we've talked, you know,
at length about how this Anthony Weaver defense really really
exemplifies guys that can do multiple things. And Trader there
at Maryland was kind of the de facto signal caller
(28:23):
on the back end, and you can kind of see
why he's a guy that can absorb a lot and
get guys in the right places. Here's Dante Trader Junior
on the idea of versatility and how he's kind of
seen everything from every position in the game of football
at this point.
Speaker 2 (28:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (28:36):
I played almost every position on the field that dbs
can play, even some outside corners when I had to
fix mistakes of corners and things like that.
Speaker 2 (28:43):
I played in the box.
Speaker 7 (28:44):
I played in two high and one high, covered a
lot of tight ends, covered some slots. You know, I'm
very versatile with jack of all trades. Even I showed
my versatility at the Senior Bowl covering slots and blanket
and slots, I mean blanket and tight ends, which I
covered at Senia Bowl. But anyway the coach needs me
to play, I'm able to play. I've had multiple years
of playing in many systems against many types of personnels,
(29:07):
from full spread teams to you know, grind and pound
thirteen T personnels in Iowa and Nebraska.
Speaker 2 (29:13):
So I've done it all.
Speaker 7 (29:14):
I've seen it all.
Speaker 1 (29:15):
I like to that point about you know thirteen personnel
run game offenses and the idea of teams that spread
it out and throw all over the yard too. So
good stuff there from Dante Treil. Let's go ahead and
move to the sixth round. Ollie Gordon the second. He
was asked about the pre draft visit with the Miami Dolphins.
This guy loves Miami, man.
Speaker 8 (29:31):
You know, I feel like it went great. I met
with the staff. You know, when I talked to the staff,
I told him, you know, I was fine with playing
special teams, doing all that, you know, doing what's best
for the team, even if that's not seeing the feel
that running back at first. You know, I felt like
that helped, you know, and the staff was just real
with me. You know, they kept it one hundreding me,
and you know, I feel like I work with them,
we can make something great.
Speaker 1 (29:52):
Happy God, that was fun. Let's go ahead and move
to the seventh round now. Quinn Ewers was asked about
the meeting at the pro day two years ago when
the Dolphins were in attendance for the A. D.
Speaker 2 (30:02):
Mitchell and H.
Speaker 1 (30:03):
Xavier Worthy Texas Pro Day, as well as other prospects too.
Byron Murphy was there also, But we saw quinn ew
Weers throwing to those wide receivers and Mike McDaniel and
Dolphins of brass On hand here is quinn ewers about
that meeting with McDaniel and Brass and Co.
Speaker 2 (30:18):
Two years ago, one night, one year ago.
Speaker 9 (30:20):
I mean, yeah, like you said, I met him when
I threw to Xavier and A D and J T
and J whitting those guys, and then twenty twenty three
for their pro day. And I'm super glad I was
able to do that because you know, I got to
I got to meet Mike and kind of talk to
him about about that stuff, and you know, I really
enjoyed talking to him after that. You know, he's just
like a high energy guy who's like always you know,
(30:41):
if he's always like bouncing around. I just it's it's
awesome to be around people like that because you know,
you end up acting the same way and just have
always having an energy. And you know, we we run
a lot of stuff that that Miami does. We get
we get stuff from that Miami does, and we we
installed at Texas when I was playing at Texas. So
I'm excited to go into you know, the this facility,
(31:02):
this franchise and learn kind of how they do it
because I know we see it on film, right and
we like, okay, you know, it looks like this is
the first read, but I I want to go see
to an extent, to the to the furthest extent kind
of what you know, how they teach that certain stuff,
if that makes sense.
Speaker 1 (31:17):
And we earlier broke down the offense at Texas being
somewhat akin to the offense in Miami, So I asked
Quinn about does he watch tape of Tua and this
offense and what's his take on the quarterback and how
he excels and how Tua can help his game and
how this offense can help Quinn get acclimate the NFL quickly.
Speaker 9 (31:34):
Yeah, I think that he knows the offense so well
and his ability to anticipate the rows is fun to watch.
You know, he's throwing guys before they even enter the window.
You know they're three yards behind a linebacker. But he
knows exactly where these guys are gonna come and where
these guys are going to go. It's gonna be cool
to to, I guess, talk to him about that. I mean,
(31:55):
we're both you know, he knows Sark and I know Sarks,
So it's gonna be cool to get to meet them
and you know, talk about both of our times with him.
And then, obviously with what I.
Speaker 1 (32:04):
Just said, let's finish up with Zeke Biggers here, who
was asked about how his length and his size how
he uses that to his advantage. Here is the Dolphins
seventh round draft pick out of Georgia Tech.
Speaker 5 (32:14):
Definitely, I feel like just getting a stension on the block,
keeping a guy off of my chest is a way
I use it a lot. That's a big thing. And
then another big thing would be battling down passes. It
kind of laying out reaching for road tackles and stuff,
and when I'm running to the bars, kind of just
give me some person to add on.
Speaker 6 (32:34):
And as far as guys who are bigger than you,
how often do you go up against somebody who's bigger
than you?
Speaker 5 (32:41):
Honestly not to not too many times. Definitely in the agency,
a couple bigger guys at the SEC, but acc I
didn't go against too many guys my size. Maybe when
we played Georgia or something that's the only time.
Speaker 1 (32:54):
So there you go. We have a lot more to
get to. One more show this week. I am still
undecided what I want to do exactly. For that, I'm
kind of leading towards you DFA film but we shall
see when those announcements get made official. So we got
to get a roster reset and hear asap two so
it'll be one of those I think on the Thursday show,
We're gonna move move shows up this week to get
(33:15):
you guys more content sooner, because I know that we're
all itching to hear about these draft picks and the
Dolphins roster following the draft, heading into the month of May,
heading into OTA's that short summer break and then training camps.
Here guys, it's gonna be here before you know it,
but let's go ahead and enjoy it before that comes
and arrives and our lives get totally bogged down with football.
Until then, you all please be sure subscribe, rate, review
(33:37):
the show, follow me on social at Wingfold NFL, and
the team at Miami Dolphins. Check out the fish Tank
podcast with Seth and Juice, the YouTube channel for Dolphins HQ,
Media Availabilities, and so much more. Last, but not least,
Miami Dolphins dot Com until next time.
Speaker 2 (33:51):
Fins up. Carolin on Cameron Daddy is coming home.
Speaker 1 (34:00):
No
What is up Dolphins And welcome to the Draft Time Podcast.
I am your host, Travis Wingfield. And on today's show,
we have our last two draft pick profiles, Quinn Ewers,
the quarterback from Texas and Zeke Biggers, the defensive tackle
from Georgia Tech. Plus we'll play the best soundbites from
the media availabilities from the draft class from the Baptist
Health Studios inside the Baptist healths Training Complex. This is
(00:31):
the Draft Time Podcast. Two more draft picks, both in
the seventh round. To get to here, we've done every
single player in depth, background, stats, measurables, film fit everything
you want to know about your entire twenty twenty five
Miami Dolphins draft class. You can find it on previous
episodes of Draft Time. And I know I covered some
(00:53):
of the themes on the last show and I want
to do just do a quick update on that because
we talked about getting bigger and having the ability on
the offensive line to be powerful, but also keep your
outside zone menu available and a couple of more things
sort of I guess materialized for me in my research
on all these players. The Dolphins took a lot of
(01:14):
really young guys twenty and twenty one year olds, which
is a really good way to offset, you know what,
had become one of the older rosters in the NFL
the last year. And I'll have to get an update
for you guys on this, but the Dolphins went into
the draft with the seventh youngest roster in the NFL
and they go out and they draft eight players, a
bunch of them at age twenty twenty one. So that
was a cool theme to see develop. And I think
(01:35):
that as you have heard these breakdowns will get to
Zeke bigger today. You're going to learn that a lot
of these guys probably have their best football ahead of
them because they're so young and so much more untapped
potential that Miami's hoping to kind of, you know, hit
yachts on. There's that the size that we talked about,
the scheme fits, we talked about, leadership and team captains,
all that stuff really tracks with me in terms of
(01:59):
being consistent themes throughout the entire course of the draft.
So let's go ahead, though, and pivot into our film breakdown.
Here our deep dive on each of the two seventh
round draft picks, and start with quarterback Quinn.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
You were from Texas.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
When you take a quarterback in the seventh round, you
hope it's Rock Purdy, right, that's the ideal thing, or
sixth round Tom Brady. But really any day three quarterback,
you're focusing on a trait or two that you hope
can be the calling card of that player, and then
you hope to develop another one or two things that
can make a player into a quality contributor, ideally a
(02:32):
good backup quarterback. And if you can find that cheap
in the seventh round, then you save yourself, you know,
basically another starting position player, be it a linebacker or
a guard or a safety, because of the savings you
have on that contract, ie going and getting a Zach
Wilson for six million bucks a year. And in the
case of Quinn yours, the one trait that stood out
(02:52):
to me when I jumped into the film originally or
before I really did a deep dive on his game,
you know, prior to the draft, was the and we're
starting to get into the portion of the timeline where
I where now I am remembering, you know, watching these
prospects from the time they were like twelve years old
at throwing camps on social media because that stuff is everywhere.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
And now here.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
They are all grown up, and I'll never forget the
hype on yours.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
Going into college.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
He had that raggedy mullet that he possessed back in
his high school days and throwing the football all over
the practice field like Omar Vskill, who was an eleven
time Gold Glove winning shortstop. For the non baseball fans
out there, then he gets to Texas and he has
immediate success, so much so that he winds up on
the cover of the video game, the NCAA Football Game.
(03:37):
So easy gas ability to drop the arm to all
different angles and get it to the spot from various angles, platforms,
and mechanics through his lower half. I don't really have
anything to complain about with regards to the mechanical nature
of his game. I think he's pretty polished actually that way.
In fact, since you guys know that, I think arm
velocity is one of the more overrated trace people talk
(03:58):
about on quarterbacks. And you know, Lewis Riddick mentioned this
on the ESPN broadcast, like, we get obsessed with how
hard guys throw the football, but it's not how hard
do you throw, it's how do you.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
Pass the football?
Speaker 1 (04:08):
And then passing is different than throwing the football, not
that it's not valuable, that would be absurd to say,
but it's only valuable if you've got the other stuff
in line to make that you know, to capitalize on
the arm strength. But I might say the calling card
for Quinn outside of the arm after I got a
little bit more familiar with his game is the feat
and how they move with his eyes, which is a
very important trait for a quarterback, because if you go
(04:30):
back to the twenty twenty three Alabama game, that'll be
the one that the big fans of his point too
and be like, this is the upside for Quinn. You
were sorry, I'm really fighting something today. And it was
a great tape and I just came away from it
thinking he has the footwork down in a way that
I think that could accelerate his growth as a pro,
especially in this system. I thought that's where the quarterbacks
(04:53):
behind Tua over the years. You know Mike White Skyler
for instance. You know James Blackman. Oh gosh, who was
the guy we had in camp last year now I
can't remember his name. And this offense is, you know,
so predicated on the timing that if your feet are
not good, you can really struggle and you can get
yourself off rhythm and you can miss, you know, open reads.
(05:15):
There was a play, I think it was the Seahawks
game last year with Skuyler, there was a guy that
flashed wide open and it was like right in the
progression and he just he just didn't go there. And
I think you can look at like his feet weren't
right and by the time he got him right, the
timing was now not available to him. So that to
me has to be what the Dolphins saw and said,
that's a good baseline to work with.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
We can build from here. We have a foundation we
can build upon.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Because the way he can hitch up off the spot,
reset and then get to easy gas on the football
without his feet connected to the turf, that's the best
part of his game to me. And the Bama tape
had some really good placement throws on some tough shots too,
like if it was deep post for a long touchdown
and he just drops it in the bucket over the
top of the defensive back. Really good job of kind
of throwing it out there to give the receiver chance
(06:00):
to reel it in. He threw another should have been
touchdown that got dropped on an out to the field,
which is the far hash. You'll see that that term
used a lot where he was off balance and put
it on the money on a throw on that outside shoulder,
which is kind of the smallest target, you know, far
the far field out throw with the receiver angling towards
that sideline because the throw that the angle of that
(06:20):
throw is weird and the way you can get your
hands is your catch radius kind of gets reduced because
of that angle. I think that when you consider traits
and developmental quarterbacks, Quinn has really the best traits of
anyone that came in here behind Tua over the last
five years. You know, like Fitz was a you know
was here before to us. I wouldn't say he was
behind him, but Fitz was like a thirty eight year
(06:41):
old veteran at that point who had never there was
nothing left that football could show him that was new.
So he was pretty advanced in that way now. And
this is part of the game that every single rookie
quarterback must develop at a pretty rapid rate to carve
out a career in this league, right And this was
true for Tua as well, who was one of the
best processors out of college, you know, in the last
decade or so, But we didn't really see to a
(07:03):
grasp it, you know, full to a grass, full to
of superpowers until twenty twenty two, right, And for yours,
it's all about play speed, seeing the field, getting through
his progressions viewers played under Steve Sarkisian and an offense
that was much more closely related to what we do.
(07:24):
He's not a big time creator, fleet of foot quarterback.
He's a traditional drop back passer that wants to point
and shoot with plenty of velocity behind it, but can
slide around within the pocket and doesn't need to have
his cleats attached to turn and rip it. But also
watching the film, it's it was one of those things
where it's like, okay, now, now, now go go and
(07:45):
you you have to have that to play at this level.
We'll see if he can develop it. It's the most
important skill. It has a long way to go, but
I think that everything else gives him a chance to
develop in that regard, And I kind of view it
like arm strength a lot of the times, like either
you have it or you don't. So it's definitely not
an easy task. But that's the task that quinn Ewers
(08:05):
has faced with here as he looks to carve out
a role in this Dolphins quarterback room. The fit to
define the Texans off the Texas offense. Rather, the core
concept is spread ourpo attack that uses various formations, shifts
and motions to create horizontal stretch through creating conflict in
terms of you know, putting two defender or two eligibles
(08:26):
within a zone defender's landmark and an attempt to capitalize
on mismatches that occur through failure to communicate all the
moving pieces of motions and pre snap shifts. So again
that's what the NFL is, right, You're going to get
through your pre snap checks and the lads scrimmage and
parsing through everything to identify, you know, where a whole
might spring and you can spot that with you know,
(08:47):
pre snap leverage. Maybe there's a tael with a front
they call, with how they bump their certain alignments against motion,
with the rotation post snap. There's a million indicators that
allows a quarterback to predict, right what you're doing. You're
predicting what might come of the play call against the
coverage and how that's dictated, but it allows a quarterback
(09:07):
to predict what happens before it does. And that's where
Tua is better than anybody else in the sport. I mean,
Joe burrows up there like that's the category that he's
in the company, that he's in for yours. I don't
think that's there yet, but I'm happy that he comes
from an offense where he'll be fully prepared to get
to the line scrimmage quickly and have those same indicators
(09:28):
to search for. As he knows he has a lengthy
checklist to achieve before he snaps the football.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
He'll be ready for that aspect of it.
Speaker 1 (09:35):
I believe as far as the roster construction, you have
your starter, you feel like Zach is pretty comfortably the
backup at the moment. I mean, hey, Quinn, if you
can beat him out, that's great, but he's he's paid
to be the backup here. So Quinn kind of falls
into that developmental spot where if he really pushes and impresses,
maybe he is the backup. But I think it's a
good spot for him to just come in and learn
the offense. And you know, I've me and Kyle talked
(09:57):
about Quinn ewers a lot on the back in fall,
and like we were like, there's some tough tapes out there,
but in you know, with the retrospect, like of all
the quarterbacks that have been here behind Tua, he's by
far the toolsiest. So we'll see what the rest of
it looks like and if they can get him going
and playing at a high level from the processing standpoint,
maybe maybe you struck Golder in the seventh round.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
If you can do that.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
Some statistics and advanced metrics. The counting stats over his career,
sixty five percent completion, just over ninety one hundred passing
yards over three years as a starter, a's eight yards
per attempt, sixty eight touchdowns, twenty four picks. Half of
those twenty four picks came this season, and we knew
that he played with an injury this season. As Chris
Greer spoke about in his Friday or Saturday press conference,
(10:40):
he's not a runner. The college count college counts, you know,
sacks as rush attempts for the quarterback. So one hundred
and forty attempts career with negative fifty nine rushing yards.
That was fifty three scrambles, seventy sacks and then what's
the remainder there? Seventeen design runs on twelve hundred and
seventy four dropbacks. Here's the stat that trends to Miami
(11:00):
two point five four time to throw the ball comes
out quick. He had a pressure to sack rate of
twenty one point eight percent, which that's in college compared
to the two of NFL rate at eighteen percent, So
gonna have to work on that a little bit. But
he had forty one turnover worthy plays per Pro Football Focus,
and that's also something else you have to work on
with the decision making and being late kind of you know,
(11:22):
you can you can quantify it statistically by you know,
doing this. That's a four percent TWP rate. Turnover worthy
play rate again for reference to in the NFL is
two point six, which two was TWP at two point six,
and his pick rate being like two point four, it
just tells you he doesn't really get lucky with drop
picks and stuff like that. He had sixty four completions
(11:44):
of twenty plus yards last year, that was fourth most
in college football. He did not measure besides his height
and weight. He was six foot two to two fourteen
at the combine and his background former number one quarterback
recruiting twenty twenty one across the entire country. He started
throwing footballs at age three with his pops, and he
had a quarterback coach by the time that he was
in the fourth grade. He was a big name by
the time he got into middle school football. He led
(12:06):
his seven on seven team to multiple championships, including a
state title in twenty sixteen. He played basketball, baseball, golf.
Heyo hunted and fished as well as a youth. He
was one of six players to receive a perfect one
thousand recruiting rating. Is what I read on Dame Brudler
as the beast, Jadavian Clowney Rashaun Gary, Vince Young, Robert Kim,
d J Kim d J Kim d J Kim DJA
(12:28):
around the NFL fans, and then Ernie Simms out there
also with a perfect recruiting score.
Speaker 2 (12:33):
So there you go.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
One more pick to get to here on the draft
profile reviews.
Speaker 2 (12:38):
Here he is Zeke Biggers.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
Will do him next on the other side from Georgia
Tech on the Draft Time podcast brought to you by
Auto Nation. And then there was one prospect to talk about,
Zeke Biggers the defensive tackle from Georgia Tech, our seventh
round draft pick. He is a big body, two gapper
who eats double teams for breakfast. Defensive tackle is such
(13:01):
an interesting position because we always want with at that
position right, big bodies, but the height is kind of
a wild card, like Kalais and Zach were behemoths.
Speaker 2 (13:13):
Right.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
And by the way, I'm sure you guys have seen
the one hundred man versus gorilla argument. First of all, no,
it could be ten thousand men. It wouldn't matter. But
if we were going to I think Zach Steeler is
probably the first guy call up to be on that team,
but not for the Mine Dolphin's sake, because we got
to keep Zach alive for NFL Sundays. But then, Benito
(13:35):
Jones is six foot one, a completely different body type.
And I always use that term that I stole from
probably Mike Mayock back in the day, squatty body, oily
hips all the stuff he talks about. Remember that, But
that's Benito Jones right, Like he's a squatty body, but
Zeke is not. That he is six foot five, and
one thing that can get defensive tackles at that height
(13:55):
is they can come out of their stands too high,
and to me that directly correlated with Zeke's lost reps.
He's just too high at times because when he fires
out as a low man, nobody really has a chance,
at least in the college level to stop him. He
generates plenty of surge, almost said sugar knock back, and
you see the head of the offensive lineman kind of
snap back and the feet, you know, like a duck
(14:17):
frantically under the pond, just trying to find their base
and anchor as they search through their frantic panicking. He's
pure power with the ability to really plant the roots
and just eat up a block and a double team.
Where I think he could get better is in the
way he finishes, and you'll see that in our product.
In the production PFF had him with a sixteen percent
mistackle rate twenty miss tackles over four years. I really
(14:39):
like the way he uses his length to try to
pry open the elevator. And I learned that scouting technique
from who was it Matt Bowen, maybe the ESPN great analyst.
That's when you're in a gap and you take on
a double team. No, I think it was Brandon Thorne,
the offensive line expert doesn't matter. But that's when you're
in a gap and you take on double team and
(15:00):
you basically like just plant your flags, your feet in
the ground and then do exactly what the description says.
Either player on either side of you is one side
of the elevator door and you're trying to, you know,
tear that thing open. My kid, my son, every time
we go to daycare, we take the elevator down. He
tries to open the door before he opens up, and
I'm buddy, you're gonna get your fingers pinched.
Speaker 2 (15:19):
You're not.
Speaker 1 (15:20):
Zeke Bigger's out there trying to pry the elevator doors open.
So I think that he can do that. Like he's
so strong and the wing spam are going to talk
about here allows him to really. I think that's that's
why his strength is taking on double teams because he's
just his pad shehelf is so big, like it kind
of takes two guys to block him. He's pretty good
working the hands and keeping the feet moving as he
(15:41):
rides the wave down down the line against outside zone.
He tries to read out the keys and root to
the ball carrier. The effort is always there. He goes
one hundred miles an hour. His conditioning is too, which
was a big thing with both Kenny g and Jordan Phillips.
All these big guys are athletic and do a great
job staying in shape to give you thirty forty a
game at a pretty grueling position. What's crazy is I
(16:04):
don't think he's even close to a finished product in
terms of how he uses his gifts. You know, his
size and that get off, and I think that he
could find more consistency in his strike point and that
could lead to more lateral displacement on the line of scrimmage.
Through more seasoning and playing, I think there's more bursts
to access off the football, and then there's just more
(16:26):
experience reading keys. But the thing, you know, think about
this with regards to working with coach Clark, and by
the way, make no mistake about this, Like Austin Clark
has earned the right to three very very impressive athletes
and balls of clay in his room to shape and
mold and grant Phillips and Biggers. He's proven that he
can take guys like this and get them rolling. Not
to mention Anthony Weaver and his expertise up front on
(16:47):
the defensive line, but one of my favorite parts about
his game from Biggers was the special team's work.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
He's a big time kick blocker. Guys.
Speaker 1 (16:54):
Remember was it what was his name? Vincent Taylor, the
Oklahoma defensive tackle.
Speaker 2 (17:01):
Like eight years ago.
Speaker 1 (17:01):
That was already eight years ago, one of the first
guys I covered on the Lockdown Dolphins podcast. My goodness,
time flies, I have moved across the country. I have
had I'm gonna have a third kid on the way.
I got two kids already, Time flies, man, I was
thirty years old back then. Now I'm freaking thirty seven,
thirty eight. But anyway, with that tangent. Aside four blocked
(17:22):
kicks in his career, he also served as a personal
protector on the G Tech punt team, which I've only
really ever seen safeties or fullbacks or tight ends do that.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
Definitely not defensive tackles. His fit here.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
I've made this comment throughout the off season process. I'm
not sure the top of the roster is better than
last year. In fact, I don't think it is, but
I think it's a much deeper football team than the
one we've had the last couple of years. And when
I say that, it's a reference to the ability to
plug and play guys now in case of an injury.
But it's also about long term developmental strategy because when
(17:57):
I look at Bigger's.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
Film, I see flashes.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
And what did Charles Davis teach us about a month
ago on the podcast to grade the flashes on the film?
Speaker 2 (18:05):
Right?
Speaker 1 (18:06):
Man, You've got Butito Jones on a one year contract
behind Zach who, for my money, could play until he's
Kalais Campbell's age, because he's that good and that effect
of every single thing that he does. But beyond that,
it's rookies, right, and we have, you know, high hopes
for Kenny g like Grant kind of needs to be
a dude for for you know, this build to work
that's you put a lot of every year you do
(18:27):
every eggs in the first round basket. And then for
Jordan Phillips, I think you have high expectations for him
as well. And even if even if Zeke doesn't see
the field in twenty twenty five and he gets to
be you know, depth and practice squad and develop his
game that way, perhaps his development peaks to the point
that you feel like, hey, we got enough from Biggers
last year that we can you know, we don't have
to resign, but itto and we can go cheap at
(18:49):
that position and be in a better, you know, position
to attack the rest of the roster. Not that it's
like some cost prohibitive move to Happennito Jones.
Speaker 2 (18:56):
I'm just saying you have to.
Speaker 1 (18:57):
That's how you have to think when you roster build, Like,
you know, we have this right now, but we need
to prepare for the future in case he doesn't come
back or doesn't play as well as he did last year.
Like you have to be on top of that stuff.
But that's not to say that he can't play this year.
Is Eke Biggers because I think he could be a
fixture on your special teams units. I think he could
be your answer to some teams that want to try
the push push with him and Zach and KG up front.
(19:17):
I think he's a great fit for odd fronts, essentially
the head up cover the center as a zero technique,
as a nose tackle, and he can really absorb double teams.
Go watch Georgia Tech the Georgia Tech tape versus Georgia Geez.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
That's a sentence.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
And while he didn't really flash like dominance. You saw
him park the bus, so to speak, against a really talented,
strong offensive line and hold his ground. So if you
want to like kind of measure, you know a lot
of times you get college tape and it's like, man,
he was dominant, and it's like, okay, well, now he's
taking a jump up in competition. How does he flash
against these guys that are all better athletes than he is.
Like that's that was a good barometer, a good you know,
(19:53):
testing measuring stick for him against a really talented front
of Georgia. So I think there's definitely avenues a playing
time this year. But based on the tape, I think
he gives you an option down the road provided his
game matures over the first year in the league, which
that's kind of up to him, you know, work your
butt off and get yourself into a position to make
an impact down the road, hopefully, if not sooner than later.
Statistics in advanced metrics he played every game in the
(20:14):
last three years, including twenty six starts, so he's durable.
At his freshman season into that and you get forty
seven college games, he made one hundred and four tackles,
nine for loss. He had two sacks and seven batted
passes over his career. He had twenty three pressures over
three years and forty five stops, playing thirteen hundred and
sixty one total snaps, about evenly split across the run
(20:35):
and pass game. He was more of an early down player,
and I think that's probably his calling card right away.
I think you know goal line packages third and short,
first and ten, when you got your big front out
there against the twelve personnel twenty two personnel, that's where
I kind of see him fitting in. Right off the
top his measurables, he was six zero five to four.
That's six five and a half, which was ninety eighth
(20:56):
percentile for defensive tackles. Three hundred and twenty one pounds
is ninetieth percent tile. I imagine he plays bigger than that,
because he's always been bigger than that. His thirty four
and a half inch vertical thirty four and a half
inch vertical three hundred and twenty one pounds was ninety
seventh percent tile among defensive tackles, and that's at the
ninety eighth percent tile height and ninetieth percentile weight, So
(21:18):
very explosive for that size nine to ozh three broad
jump was eighty fifth percent tile. He's got thirty five
inch arms and an eighty five inch wingspan. The eighty
five inch wing span was the biggest in the entire draft.
I found this detail. He was born eleven pounds. Yes,
that is a big, big baby man. We got a
lot bigger than draft, didn't We That wingspan biggest of
(21:39):
the combine. The runs were above average, but when your
ninetieth percent tile in size, above average runs become really
good runs. So five to one four forty was fifty
fifth percent tile, so over the midway point there. But
his one seven to four to ten split was seventy
six percent tile, So good initial burst which is a
calling card here. We've talked without that for a couple
(22:00):
of years now, which also matches those jumping metrics in
the explosiveness. His shuttle and three cone were not his
calling cards. Four point seventy five and seven point nine
to one were forty eight and thirty fourth percentile. So
again in factor in the size is pretty much average. Right,
his background, we can go. We continue to go young. Right.
I talked about a kg and Jonah both going to
be twenty and twenty one all the way through the
(22:21):
rookie seasons. Jordan Phillips is the same Biggers played his
first college game at seventeen years old. His given names
is Andre Bigger, so it's not originally Zeke. He's a
massive kid. He had to play up a grade throughout
youth football because he was just too big. And he
was more than a big body. He was an athlete.
He was dunking basketballs in the sixth grade. He played
offensive line and defensive line for his high school football
(22:43):
team and started on the hoops team, earning all county
honors with eight points per game in eight boards per game.
He also lettered in track and was named Homecoming king
as a senior. He graduated with a degree in Logistics,
Materials and supply chain Management. And he played in the
East West Shrine. And that is a rap on our
film watches for the entire class. We'll do the udfas
(23:05):
down the road. Let's go ahead and pause right now
for one more break in this program and come back
and hear from the rookies. A SoundBite round up from
the weekend. That's next Draft Time podcast, your host Travis Wingfield,
brought to you by automation.
Speaker 2 (23:20):
I think it's.
Speaker 1 (23:21):
Time for a sound by round up, and apologies for
all the parents out there that now have to turn
off the podcast and put on incanto songs because your
kid just heard that. Let's go ahead and do a
SoundBite round up, and here here first from New Dolphins
defensive tackle Kenneth Grant. He was asked about aspirations of
winning a championship, but also his desire to one day
(23:42):
be the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year.
Speaker 3 (23:44):
No reason why I want to be a Man of
a year. One of my favorite players Cam Jordan Dean
on the Saints. You know, he's just a great person,
you know, in general, helping the community, helping people that
need you know, he's a great football player. So I mean,
who does want to be a great person and a
great football player and only boost you. But I mean,
from my standpoint, I just want to be a good
(24:06):
role model in my community from where I grew up from,
you know, show those guys that it's a way out
and you can make it. And I'm living proof. But
from from a super Bowl standpoint, you know, I think
I'm a culture changer for sure, you know, being from Maryllville.
We didn't. We were before I went to Maryllville, we
were one to nine, you know. Then right after that
we went four straight semi states. Then Michigan, you know,
(24:30):
going to Michigan, never being Ohio state before then. You know,
a year before I got there, we won it, and
then when I got there, we carried on that legacy.
So you know, I think I'm I'm a culture changer
for a winning culture for sure.
Speaker 1 (24:42):
Up next, guard offensive lineman Jonah Savoya and Naya was
asked about have you met Tua? Do you have any
idea of the connection of blocking for him? Have you
met him before? Here's Jonah on Tua and other Polynesian quarterback.
Speaker 4 (24:55):
I met him before Polynesian Bowl back in twenty two.
As soon as I've seen a floor a number, I really, uh,
you know, thought two of you know, that's who I'm
going to block hopefully hopefully in the future. And shoot,
I'm just excited, man. Have It's funny because I blocked
for for like only apoly Music quarterbacks on my career
(25:16):
and just going into the league into being a party quarterback,
so that never makes makes mistakes. You know, he wants
me to block for my people. So I'm there.
Speaker 2 (25:26):
I mean, that's what it's all about. That's really really cool.
Speaker 1 (25:30):
Next question here, we're gonna ask me about past blocking
and then run blocking first, the past blocking aspect at all.
Speaker 4 (25:35):
I'm pretty firm, you know, I said, I'm pretty light
on my feet, my hands are good, good, you know,
recover if I over said a little bit too much.
And then if they try to take excite, you know,
I can recover fast. So and just you know, that's
what I'm bringing, you know, and just that mentality, you know,
just because it's past block, you know, it's it's not passive.
(25:57):
You know, we're always playing aggressive even if it's past blocks. Uh,
that's that's the mentality of my person. Yeah, I'm excited,
you know to get into you know, this game because
of me and coach blitch Berry sat down together and
we watched how you know they kind of sell outside
zone even if they're not not running outside zone. So
that's good for me. You know, I love I love running.
(26:17):
I love just getting off the bar and brun so
just to you know, use my speed and in space
and just hearing that they run a lot of outside zone.
It's just that's just me you know, I love I
love running outside.
Speaker 1 (26:28):
Up next, Jordan Phillips was asked about the character and
leadership that he displayed at Maryland. There's a great article
with Mike Loxley and some teammates really really kind of
hyping up the leadership and bringing guys along with him
and the mentality of Jordan Phillips. Also, he won the
Pat Tillman Award the Shrine Bowl. Asked him about that.
Here's Jordan Phillips talking about the importance of leadership and
(26:49):
character in a football team.
Speaker 5 (26:50):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (26:50):
Absolutely, So, you know, I've always been a team first guy,
just wanted to put the team before me and just
really the drive to want to see the team succeed
and I play. I do definitely plan on bringing that
with me to the Dolphins. It's been in me since,
like I started football, honestly, just the consistency and the
will and drive to you know, get getting my team
(27:14):
to the championship.
Speaker 4 (27:15):
I mean, that's just that's just who I am.
Speaker 1 (27:17):
He also brought it off some of his favorite defensive
tackles of all time went as far back as John Randall,
So I love a historian who's wise beyond his years.
He was also asked about weightlifting and wrestling, two things
that he was a stud at in high school. Let's
go ahead and ask Jordan what does that do for
playing football in terms of the skills translating.
Speaker 6 (27:35):
Yeah, just having great you know, and the willingness to
understand body control, certain joints moved the body, like the elbow,
you know what I'm saying, and just really the tryteth
that move like grabbing those areas of help move the body,
and just understanding how to take control and have proper
leverage over somebody and all those things are what you
(27:56):
need in order to be a great defensive line and
so those things have definitely contributed to my game.
Speaker 1 (28:01):
Up next, Dante Trader Junior is a player that Mike
Loxley has spoken very high about, the Maryland product and
the Maryland head coach obviously, and he was asked about
multiple roles within a defense. And we've talked, you know,
at length about how this Anthony Weaver defense really really
exemplifies guys that can do multiple things. And Trader there
at Maryland was kind of the de facto signal caller
(28:23):
on the back end, and you can kind of see
why he's a guy that can absorb a lot and
get guys in the right places. Here's Dante Trader Junior
on the idea of versatility and how he's kind of
seen everything from every position in the game of football
at this point.
Speaker 2 (28:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (28:36):
I played almost every position on the field that dbs
can play, even some outside corners when I had to
fix mistakes of corners and things like that.
Speaker 2 (28:43):
I played in the box.
Speaker 7 (28:44):
I played in two high and one high, covered a
lot of tight ends, covered some slots. You know, I'm
very versatile with jack of all trades. Even I showed
my versatility at the Senior Bowl covering slots and blanket
and slots, I mean blanket and tight ends, which I
covered at Senia Bowl. But anyway the coach needs me
to play, I'm able to play. I've had multiple years
of playing in many systems against many types of personnels,
(29:07):
from full spread teams to you know, grind and pound
thirteen T personnels in Iowa and Nebraska.
Speaker 2 (29:13):
So I've done it all.
Speaker 7 (29:14):
I've seen it all.
Speaker 1 (29:15):
I like to that point about you know thirteen personnel
run game offenses and the idea of teams that spread
it out and throw all over the yard too. So
good stuff there from Dante Treil. Let's go ahead and
move to the sixth round. Ollie Gordon the second. He
was asked about the pre draft visit with the Miami Dolphins.
This guy loves Miami, man.
Speaker 8 (29:31):
You know, I feel like it went great. I met
with the staff. You know, when I talked to the staff,
I told him, you know, I was fine with playing
special teams, doing all that, you know, doing what's best
for the team, even if that's not seeing the feel
that running back at first. You know, I felt like
that helped, you know, and the staff was just real
with me. You know, they kept it one hundreding me,
and you know, I feel like I work with them,
we can make something great.
Speaker 1 (29:52):
Happy God, that was fun. Let's go ahead and move
to the seventh round now. Quinn Ewers was asked about
the meeting at the pro day two years ago when
the Dolphins were in attendance for the A. D.
Speaker 2 (30:02):
Mitchell and H.
Speaker 1 (30:03):
Xavier Worthy Texas Pro Day, as well as other prospects too.
Byron Murphy was there also, But we saw quinn ew
Weers throwing to those wide receivers and Mike McDaniel and
Dolphins of brass On hand here is quinn ewers about
that meeting with McDaniel and Brass and Co.
Speaker 2 (30:18):
Two years ago, one night, one year ago.
Speaker 9 (30:20):
I mean, yeah, like you said, I met him when
I threw to Xavier and A D and J T
and J whitting those guys, and then twenty twenty three
for their pro day. And I'm super glad I was
able to do that because you know, I got to
I got to meet Mike and kind of talk to
him about about that stuff, and you know, I really
enjoyed talking to him after that. You know, he's just
like a high energy guy who's like always you know,
(30:41):
if he's always like bouncing around. I just it's it's
awesome to be around people like that because you know,
you end up acting the same way and just have
always having an energy. And you know, we we run
a lot of stuff that that Miami does. We get
we get stuff from that Miami does, and we we
installed at Texas when I was playing at Texas. So
I'm excited to go into you know, the this facility,
(31:02):
this franchise and learn kind of how they do it
because I know we see it on film, right and
we like, okay, you know, it looks like this is
the first read, but I I want to go see
to an extent, to the to the furthest extent kind
of what you know, how they teach that certain stuff,
if that makes sense.
Speaker 1 (31:17):
And we earlier broke down the offense at Texas being
somewhat akin to the offense in Miami, So I asked
Quinn about does he watch tape of Tua and this
offense and what's his take on the quarterback and how
he excels and how Tua can help his game and
how this offense can help Quinn get acclimate the NFL quickly.
Speaker 9 (31:34):
Yeah, I think that he knows the offense so well
and his ability to anticipate the rows is fun to watch.
You know, he's throwing guys before they even enter the window.
You know they're three yards behind a linebacker. But he
knows exactly where these guys are gonna come and where
these guys are going to go. It's gonna be cool
to to, I guess, talk to him about that. I mean,
(31:55):
we're both you know, he knows Sark and I know Sarks,
So it's gonna be cool to get to meet them
and you know, talk about both of our times with him.
And then, obviously with what I.
Speaker 1 (32:04):
Just said, let's finish up with Zeke Biggers here, who
was asked about how his length and his size how
he uses that to his advantage. Here is the Dolphins
seventh round draft pick out of Georgia Tech.
Speaker 5 (32:14):
Definitely, I feel like just getting a stension on the block,
keeping a guy off of my chest is a way
I use it a lot. That's a big thing. And
then another big thing would be battling down passes. It
kind of laying out reaching for road tackles and stuff,
and when I'm running to the bars, kind of just
give me some person to add on.
Speaker 6 (32:34):
And as far as guys who are bigger than you,
how often do you go up against somebody who's bigger
than you?
Speaker 5 (32:41):
Honestly not to not too many times. Definitely in the agency,
a couple bigger guys at the SEC, but acc I
didn't go against too many guys my size. Maybe when
we played Georgia or something that's the only time.
Speaker 1 (32:54):
So there you go. We have a lot more to
get to. One more show this week. I am still
undecided what I want to do exactly. For that, I'm
kind of leading towards you DFA film but we shall
see when those announcements get made official. So we got
to get a roster reset and hear asap two so
it'll be one of those I think on the Thursday show,
We're gonna move move shows up this week to get
(33:15):
you guys more content sooner, because I know that we're
all itching to hear about these draft picks and the
Dolphins roster following the draft, heading into the month of May,
heading into OTA's that short summer break and then training camps.
Here guys, it's gonna be here before you know it,
but let's go ahead and enjoy it before that comes
and arrives and our lives get totally bogged down with football.
Until then, you all please be sure subscribe, rate, review
(33:37):
the show, follow me on social at Wingfold NFL, and
the team at Miami Dolphins. Check out the fish Tank
podcast with Seth and Juice, the YouTube channel for Dolphins HQ,
Media Availabilities, and so much more. Last, but not least,
Miami Dolphins dot Com until next time.
Speaker 2 (33:51):
Fins up. Carolin on Cameron Daddy is coming home.
Speaker 1 (34:00):
No
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!