July 22, 2025 • 30 mins
Tomorrow, the Dolphins are back on the field to kick off the 2025 campaign. Today, we heard from WR Tyreek Hill, OLB Bradley Chubb, FB Alec Ingold and new TE Darren Waller on expectations, culture change and much more. Plus, Travis takes a look at the things he’s most excited to watch at camp.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is Drivetime with Travis Wingfield.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
What is up Dolphins and welcome to the Draft Time Podcast.
I am your host, Travis Wingfield. And on today's show,
a bonus bonus bonus bonus bonus episode is We're gonna
go ahead and hear from a handful of Dolphins veterans.
Alec Ingle, Darren Waller, Tyreek Hill, and Bradley Chubb spoke
to the local media here in South Florida as football
is officially back training camp tomorrow, plus a few things
(00:33):
I'm looking forward to keeping an eye on here as
training camp kicks off tomorrow at the Baptist Health Training Complex.
From the off four mentioned Baptist Health Training Complex, This
is the Draft Time Podcast.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
My daffe, so I tweeted about.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Minka's media being pushed to a different day and all
the conspiracy theorists are coming out and I didn't want
to reply on there. I did reply to one person saying,
you're looking too far into this and like, just chill,
He's just doing football stuff. And there were still more
replies questioning that, and I just want to go ahead
and squash it right away. I don't know why we're
searching for things to get crazy about, but just go
(01:09):
ahead and put it out right on the podcast that
Minka's fine, Minka's here, Minka's not mad at anybody. Chill out,
maybe think about touching some grass. And let's go ahead
and come back tomorrow where I'm sure we'll hear from
Minca tomorrow after his first practice with the Miami Dolphins.
So I want to go ahead and play the audio.
Was going to kick it off with Darren and Minka here.
(01:30):
We'll go ahead and bump Tyreek into the slot and
finish up with Bradley and Alec at the end. We'll
do a middle segment here taking a look at some
things to look forward to in training camp. Let's go
ahead and start with the first newcomer and Darren Waller
and man impressive impressive presence for a press conference, and
I thought it was really introspective the way he was
(01:51):
able to kind of dispel maybe some notions or things
that have been said about him. Obviously when he first
got here, you know, all those clips of him doing
different podcasts and things went out and got viral, and
he didn't have a chance to get in front of
those things. And one of the reasons for that is
because he like lives off the grid. He was saying
he has a certain type of phone I forget what
(02:11):
it was, but essentially one that doesn't have, you know,
your your current phone your pocket right now, that has
access to every piece of information you could ever want.
He's going back to the old you know when my
first cell phone only had like you had to pay
twenty five cents to send a text and I couldn't
get online, like he's going back to those days. And
my ring tone was freaking headstrong by trapped. Sorry, I'm
(02:32):
kind of sick. Not a smoker's cough there, but yeah,
that's that's how Darren Waller lives his life. So I
thought he was very impressive. Let's go ahead and get
to his media availability here and kick it off with
him discussing essentially how this entire thing came to be
and the timing of it was actually perfect because he
says that he called his agent after Drew Rosenhaus after
the John new Smith trade, and here's what he said
(02:54):
about how that all transpired.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
You know, I'm reaching this point in just my life
journey where I feel like it'd be something that I
want to do to come back to football and this
is a place where, you know, I'd want to do it.
I was content in my retirement, but I also felt
like this was opportunity for me to, you know, if
this is my last chapter playing football, to close it
in a way that's different than I did before and
one that allows me to tap into the joy of
(03:18):
why I started doing it in the first place. So,
uh yeah, Drew helped orchestrate that he's the best in
the business and grateful beer.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
He was also asked about the relationship with Frank Smith,
Dolphins offensive coordinator, and how critical that was and the
decision to come down to Miami and resume his football career.
Speaker 3 (03:34):
Frank is my guy man. So when I got claimed
off the Ravens practice squad in twenty eighteen, I got
to the Raiders and he was my tight end coach.
You know, met me at the door, and one of
the first things he was interested in was what do
I need as a man, like in you know, my
newfound sobriety, like whatever I need to just be solid
as a human being. And then that struck me a lot.
(03:55):
And then just his knowledge of the game, the culture
that he created not only in our room, but just
with how he interacted with players I thought was rare
and coaches I had seen to that point, and you know,
some of the best years of my career were with
him in the room and just some of my best
football memories overall. So to be able to reconnect with
him is amazing.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
And of course a player coming back from retirement will
be asked a lot about his desire and passion for
the game and finding that love for the game and
the spark once again. And he was asked about, you know,
was there points of the season last year where you
found that spark.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
Kind of reigniting? And he spoke about it.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
Here a little bit more good stuff here from New
Dolphins tied end Darren Waller.
Speaker 3 (04:29):
Like times where I watched the game. I didn't watch
a ton of games last year, but when I would watch,
it was just like just watching the game be played
and just like being with like friends and stuff, and
like they're asking me questions about what's going on in
the game, and like kind of like kind of giving
them some generic answers, and it's just realizing, like, okay,
like there's been a lot of times where I've wrestled
and that joy has kind of been elusive, but it's
(04:50):
I've always found moments where it came back and it's
something I have been able to experience, and I feel
like that's possible this time around. And I'm already having
a lot of fun just being here, being amongst these coaches,
amongst the players, amongst the staff. It's already been a
lot of fun.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
You kind of start there with the person a little bit,
you get into the football aspect of it. And so
Darren was asked next about what he brings to the offense.
What can he bring to the Miami Dolphins in twenty
twenty five.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
I expect to bring playmaking ability. There's a lot of
guys on this team that can do amazing things with
the ball. I'm excited to just be a part of
that group. I feel I can bring just some wisdom
and experience to not only my position room, but to
the team. You know, I feel like everything you probably
experience except probably winning the Super Bowl is something that
(05:33):
I've gone through. Where there's been drafted, late course, special teams,
guys suspended from the league.
Speaker 4 (05:38):
Practice squad.
Speaker 3 (05:39):
Starter pro Bowler traded a couple of times like there
are guys that are going through situations and going through
things that may need somebody to lean on and talk to.
I feel like I could be that as well, but
most importantly just somebody that does their job at a
high level.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
Up next, why Miami, Darren.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
Yeah, just answering the question about coach Frank Smith was
a big deal of why I wanted to be here,
and just seeing the way that you know, they do
things like the way Mike is so like innovative and
the weapons that are on offense, and I got guys
like alec Ingold is a friend of mine from playing
with him before, and how highly he speaks of just
being here not only for the team, in the community.
(06:14):
So it was somewhere I definitely wanted to be.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
You know, I keep thinking about that innovative comment he
made about coach McDaniel, and I think about what John
h Smith was in the offense, and Darren Waller and
John hick Smith are very different players. I want to
make that very clear off the top, and like, we
haven't had a player like Darren Waller. If he's you know,
at his athletic prowess, his peak, all that stuff, if
he is anywhere close to the player he was in
(06:38):
Las Vegas, then like, we haven't had a guy like
that who could provide that size and athletic combo at
the ex position and an inline why position? Really like
GASICKI wasn't the athlete or the you know, high pointer
or the route runner that Darren Waller is.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
John H.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
Smith was is a better run after catch guy. We
didn't have the vertical prowess that Darren Waller does. And
so I think about what McDaniel can cook up for
him in kind of a different type of role which
we have. You know, Nick Westbrook Akine I would say,
is the closest player to Darren Waller in terms of
the physical skill set, and I'm just really curious to
see what that looks like. In fact, I'm gonna give
you guys a few things to look out for in
(07:14):
training camp here in the second segment, and one of
those might be the inclusion of these bigger body athletes
that can play on the perimeter. Because Waller can play
on the perimeter. We know obviously Nwi can, he's a
wide receiver. But the juxtaposition of those two versus Tyreek
and Waddle, I'm maybe I'm doing the Travis Dolphin's Homer
thing where I'm starting to kind of buy into my own,
(07:35):
you know, theories and ideas about the positive most upside type.
I think that could happen with this team. But dude, like,
if Waller is anywhere close to the guy that he was,
it's just a different look and feel that you have,
And I think that changes the way you have to
cover this team because it opens up different avenues and
the short game, the intermediate game, on top of what
you're doing in the deep game with Freak and Wattle.
I don't know, man, Like I maybe again, maybe a
(07:57):
little bit of kool aid drinking going on here, but
I'm very very intrigued by what that might look like.
And as I record this podcast, I'm less than twenty
four hours away from finding out a little bit about it.
Maybe not all on day one, but I can't freaking wait. Man,
I'm very very jacked up for that. Next, he was
asked about his approach to blocking, and this is where
I just love some of the introspection that he offers.
He's a very smart and introspective guy.
Speaker 3 (08:19):
I still like blocking is something you gotta get in
the mix, got to get in there and get dirty,
you know what I'm saying I was made aware of
the clip that went went viral with the guy that
did the interview with with the Bills, and I understand
how people could probably take that a certain way of
me not wanting to block. But I'm somebody that fully
understands that there's dirty work that needs to be done
(08:39):
in football, especially with all the guys that we have
making plays like you gotta get in the mix and
do things you don't want to do. I've done that
numerous times in my career. So that is who I am.
That's therefor I'm going to bring into blocking. It may
not be just the whole game running power right behind me,
but there are definitely a lot of creative ways in
which I have no problem getting my hands dirty.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
Yeah, man, I'm excited. You know, maybe it's not some
groundbreaking acquisition. Maybe it doesn't work out. I don't know,
we'll find out. That's the beauty of football. But you know,
on this podcast and the way I choose to approach
covering this team and watching the team as a fan
like I'm I tend to want to think about what
the upside is or what's the vision, what does the
coaching staff view for a player, and when I think
(09:20):
about Darren Waller on tape and who who was in
the past of his career like it's it's very intriguing
for the reasons I mentioned and for the things that
he said here in his media availabilities.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
So really good stuff.
Speaker 3 (09:30):
Though.
Speaker 2 (09:31):
Let's go ahead and pivot to a shorter one. We'll
conclude here with Bradley Chubb. We'll do the second segment
talking about training camp things to look for. We'll come
back and do Tyreek Hill and alec Ingold at the
conclusion of the podcast. Let's go ahead and pick it
up here with a couple of brief ones from Bradley Chubb,
starting here with a question about how hungry are you
to get back on the field this time around? Where
you know last year when he came off the IR
(09:53):
or the activation window was opened, it was like working
towards the idea of possibly making a return. But now
he'll hit the fe knowing that games are ahead. How
hungry are you to get back into action? Here here
is Bradley Chubb.
Speaker 5 (10:05):
Starting starving man, Starving Man, It's been a long time coming,
you know. OTA's is kind of just dipping the foot
in getting around the guys again, feeling that that team,
that camaraderie. But now training camp's going to seasons, you
see it on the horizon. It's just about taking each
and every day. And that's what I missed the most
about this, honestly, Like the training camps is never fun.
Speaker 4 (10:23):
It sucks.
Speaker 5 (10:24):
You know, you're doing it each and every day, but
you're doing it together, and that's what I missed about it.
Speaker 4 (10:27):
That's what it's all about. So I'm just excited to
get back to that.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
Let's go ahead and conclude with this here with Bradley
and one of the things I have harped on on
the podcast all off season long, the value of the
second year here in the same system. Here's Bradley Chubb
on year two under coach. We've run defense.
Speaker 5 (10:42):
Being under coach Weaver scheme for the second year, everybody's
kind of like, you know, mastered the scheme, not just
learning stuff anymore. It's kind of just going reviewing it
and you know, and putting our spind on it and
mastering it the way we know how to instead of
everybody kind of learning it. Like I said last year.
So confidence is hot, man, everybody's out there working for let's.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
Go ahead and take a break.
Speaker 2 (11:01):
We'll put a pause in the media availabilities and hear
from me a little bit and talk about some things
looking forward to in training camp, and then come back
on the third side and conclude with Tyreek Hill and
alec Ingolds.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
All that ahead.
Speaker 2 (11:10):
Draft Time Podcast brought to you by Auto Nation. You're
probably wondering why did you choose six storylines to track
here for training camp? Because it is my sixth season
with the Miami Dolphins, and man, time sure does fly
a lot of you guys know. I just got back
from paternity leave where we welcomed in my third and final,
(11:32):
should be final child, Willow Wingfields is now with US
Carolina and Cameron as well, and I've seen those three
kids come into the world. I've made a move from
eastern Washington State to South Florida, been through a pandemic.
It's just been a lot of life changes and accomplished
a dream goal of mine to be an employee of
the Miami Dolphins. A lot of crazy stuff over six years.
(11:54):
But here we are going into a six football season
where I'm gonna be taking all of it in every
single day, and in honor of six year, I want
to take a look at six of the biggest camp
storylines for your Miami Dolphins. Number one, can Tua play
the brand of football that makes him the most successful
while staying healthy? Everything else is kind of like a
distant second to this, right, the old Billy Bean. There
(12:16):
are the rich teams, there are the poor teams, then
there's fifty feet of crap, and then there's us. Like
that is where this storyline ranks among the other. We
saw him drop the weight and ad athleticism. We saw
him adway and be even more of a restricted pocket passer,
and look, without to us creativity last year, we probably
don't beat the Rams. Right, he made a couple of plays,
(12:36):
you know, off script in that game that extended it
and made it, you know, a victory for your Miami Dolphins.
But if we lose one game because Tua takes a sack,
like I think about the Titans game back in twenty
twenty three where he wasn't really able to get off
the spot in that game and that final drive, is
that better than the possibility of him running around and
losing him for four games with another injury? Of course
(12:57):
it is, But is there a happy meat where he
can do both, I say yes, and that's the biggest
thing I'm watching for, because the other big one is
one I already know he's going to graduate to a
new level at that's the ownership of the position, you know,
seeing the defense better and just being even more connected
to what this offense is designed to do and get
the ball to the playmakers quickly. I would say a
(13:19):
happy medium looks like maybe five ten added pounds, but
also the ability to still make plays outside of the pocket,
especially as a passer more so than a runner. Number two,
What the hell does the cornerback position look like on
opening Day? Early in my fandom, I always thought that
having a bunch of unproven, perhaps middling players, Like think
about the twenty twelve receiving Corps. I think that was
(13:41):
the year right where it was like Roberto Wallace and
no more was more first name. It was like a
bunch of jeff Is Alensin. I got a bunch of threes,
fours and fives. I don't have any ones and two.
It's like, oh, that'll work out, but that's not how
it works out. It just doesn't work that way. Like
you want that challenge of competition to produce like a
(14:02):
solid starter doesn't always go down that way. And I
say that having some excitement for the potential of Isaiah Johnson,
Storm Duck bj Adams, but to expect one of them
to be just as good as Ramsey or even Fuller
is not good business, right. So who do they sign?
There are some really good ones out there. Jack Jones
the best option in my opinion, but his history makes
(14:23):
that tough because the Raiders needed him and they cut him.
It wasn't tell you about where he's at. Razeul Douglas
a Sante Samuel both good options. I think adding one
to the room would ease my belief even further that
we can uncover one gem. You've got cater the new signing.
You can get three FOGA players that way. The Bills
did this in the year they drafted a cornerback in
the first round. There was questions about that secondary and
(14:46):
it wasn't the cornerback they took in the first round
that provided that hit for them. It was the one
they took in the sixth round. I'm talking, of course
about Kyrie Elam versus Christian Benford and now Christian Benfort
is one of the best cornerbacks in football. Storyline number three,
just what are we getting out of two and fifteen
Bradley Chubb and Jalen Phillips and the edge group as
a whole. If you want to offset a corner room
that has questions, this is the best way to do it, right.
(15:08):
I've been over the additions of the off ball linebacker position,
the ability to blitz, play the run, do all the
things that eases stress on a questionable secondary, and don't
let people gaslight you into thinking a pass rush is
all that matters. Like that would be kind of state
media from me if I were to do that. It helps,
But we saw in twenty twenty two, and I talked
about it on this podcast extensively how the great pass
(15:30):
rush win times of Phillips and Chubb were often negated
by the attrition at cornerback that led to really bad coverage.
It would be awfully political of me, especially in the
current landscape, to bark about how it's going to be
okay when just three years ago I told you it
was the problem. All that said, this scheme does count
on specific positions before others, and the collection of additions
(15:53):
at inside linebacker is a big part of that. But
getting Chubb and Phillips back to their twenty twenty three
formastically reduce what we need at two, especially when I
think one to a being healthy all year would make
this offense a thirty point per game operation. That makes
a lot of opposing offenses one dimensional, especially in the
second halfs of football games. Storyline number four that I'm
(16:16):
tracking here. Can we get ten and seventeen back to
their three thousand yard twenty touchdown cumulation of production. That's
when this team is ad its best right. And for Tyreek,
it's as simple as just being locked in. Like I mean,
his best year was when he didn't even know the offense.
He was just kind of freelancing out there in twenty
twenty two, got even better in twenty three, but then
tailed off towards the end last year. Ta gets hurt
(16:37):
kind of you know, F's off a little bit, and
then Waddle just kind of strangely not productive enough. I
think there's a lot that goes into that, but I
think he's one of the best receivers in the damn game.
You get reeked back on the straight and narrow, and
it all comes back together for Waddle everything else. With two,
A healthy obviously becomes secondary because when those three guys
are rolling, you're gonna score and beat most teams in
this league because a lot of teams in this league
(16:58):
don't have quarterbacks that can put the put that much
points on the board. You can beat half your schedule
if just to a Reek and Waddle are playing like
all pros, that's all it takes. Sometimes number five offensive
line depth, it feels like we aren't done adding to
that area either.
Speaker 1 (17:13):
I could be wrong.
Speaker 2 (17:14):
And by the way, Miami has multiple lever pools they
could execute to free up space. So please don't get
too far down the rabbit hole of the common discourse
I see by like the beat on social for instance,
It's not like they're out of money and they have
to blow it up to find money.
Speaker 1 (17:27):
That's not like they're smarter than that.
Speaker 2 (17:29):
It's there's lever poles they can do, whether it's a
stealer extension, a to a restructure of a mink ever, like,
there's all kinds of things you can do. But man,
you drop Will Hernandez to the group on that Isaiah
Win contract. All of a sudden, I feel great about
my starting five already. Now I feel pretty good about
my depth too, with the six, seven, eight nine being
like Hernandez or Boram or Keon Smith or Liam and
(17:50):
Andrew Meyer all in the running for those for that work,
and then six and final is some unproven youth, unproven
unproven youth Taking another step. The twenty twenty four class
was our first full class since twenty twenty one, and
that class is even kind of thin because of trade ups,
But twenty five was the same. But the dearth of
production we got from the twenty two and twenty three
(18:13):
classes magnifies the importance of this group, plus the shift
and approach of getting younger and having them kind of
cite your culture right. They will need a handful of
guys to have the best years of their lives, which
is funny to say for guys that haven't even played
a snap yet as far as rookies are concerned. But
between Jalen Wright, Malik Washington, Jonas and vite Andaya, Kenneth Grant,
(18:33):
Jordan Phillips, Storm Duck, like, I think you're counting on
that group to be guys that contribute to your football team.
And then you probably need a couple, maybe a few
more from the group of Grayson Murphy, Zeke Biggers, Isaiah Johnson,
Patrick McMorris, Jason Marshall, Junior camp Smith. A couple of
those guys are gonna have to make an impact too.
So those are my six storylines to watch starting today tomorrow,
(18:54):
depending on when you hear this podcast on Wednesday. Can
Tua play the brand of football that makes him most
success full while staying staying healthy? What the hell does
the quarterback position look like on opening day? Just what
are we getting out of Chubb and Phillips and the
edge group as a whole. Can we get Waddle and
Tyreek back to major major all pro production, offensive line
depth and unproven youth taking another step? There you go
(19:17):
my six story lines. Let's go ahead and get back
to some media availabilities here, but first a short break
Draft Time podcast brought to you by Auto Nation.
Speaker 4 (19:27):
He's going to be great for us man.
Speaker 6 (19:30):
His presence was felt immediately, like once he stepped into
the locker room, and some of the things he said
about having that wisdom, being able to you know, live through,
you know, some of those experiences what most player players
want to feel as far as like being in an
All Pro, being a pro bowler, being on a winning team.
Speaker 4 (19:47):
You know, he's brought that to our team. So I
think it's great. Man. Obviously, he's a playmaker.
Speaker 6 (19:53):
I think I told him this, I said, you look
better than what you did when you played, because when
he used to play, he used to be fat when
he played with the Raiders, but now he's like a
physical unit. I'm like, bro, like, this is what I'm
talking about. So I think it's great that he's on
our team.
Speaker 3 (20:11):
Man.
Speaker 2 (20:11):
And is of course Tyreek Hill talking about new Dolphins
tight end Darren Waller and the possible explosive nature of
his addition to the offense and what that could look
like for the Miami Dolphins. Let's go ahead and go
now to a comment Tyreek made when he was asked
about the end of the season and how thanks played
out and how he had time to reflect upon that
where he is from his headspace now. I want to
go ahead and jump into his answer right here, because
(20:33):
I think that you know, these are Tyreek's words, and
if his actions can follow suit, then that would be
a really good thing for the football team. Obviously talking
about something that I found interesting because Tyreek Hill is
probably already a Hall of Famer in terms of what
he's done on the football field with his production. I
don't think there's much debate behind that. He actually would
go on later to say that he doesn't think he
(20:54):
is there yet and has to continue to prove more.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
But I think the accolades are the accolades.
Speaker 2 (20:58):
But it's interesting that throughout a career where he's been
this fifteen seventeen hundred yard receiver, ten touchdown maker, first
team All Pro, all that stuff, that he feels he
hasn't fully dedicated himself yet. And so here's what he
talked about with his focus this season coming back in
twenty twenty five for the Dolphins.
Speaker 6 (21:15):
That's why this year, man, I've been this whole entire offseason.
I've been busting my tailor, me and my dad. I
told my dad, I said, I want to see what
it looks like whenever I focus just on football and
I just focus on myself and family. You know what
I'm saying, Because I feel like I really haven't been
given the best version of me of Tyreek my whole
(21:36):
entire career.
Speaker 4 (21:36):
You know what I'm saying. I've always been trying to
be here, be there, but.
Speaker 6 (21:41):
Me being able to slow down a little bit train
and bust my tail for myself and then also for
this community and this team. I feel like it'll be
worth it, you know what I'm saying. So I just
want to see what that version of myself looks like.
Speaker 4 (21:55):
So I'm looking forward to it.
Speaker 6 (21:57):
Today was our conditioning t This at thirty one years old,
I must say I haven't lost a step, so.
Speaker 4 (22:03):
I'm feeling great. I'm feeling great. That's all I'm gonna say.
Speaker 2 (22:06):
Really good follow up question by Marcel Luis Jock from
ESPN who asked, Tyreek you know you're a person that
has so many interests in outside things like streaming and
clothing and all the different things you do. What does
focusing solely on football look like for Tyreek Hill?
Speaker 6 (22:20):
Just be in prison every day on time, like doing
things at extra like catching footballs after practice, you know, conditioning.
Speaker 4 (22:26):
You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 6 (22:27):
Whenever I'm tired being that vocal leader in the locker
room for guys, just being a dude. What you know,
what I'm saying, Miami paid me to be and what
I know I can be, and my family know what
I can be. So that's me in a nutshell, like
I got here through hard work and sometimes like when
(22:47):
you get to like a certain spot in your life
where you want to be, you kind of.
Speaker 4 (22:50):
Like be like, okay, it's cool.
Speaker 6 (22:51):
But now, like like I said, like me being able
to slow down my life a lot, enjoy my kids
a little bit this offseason, I realized that I got
to continue to grind.
Speaker 1 (23:03):
Man, let's conclude with this.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
Tyreek was asked about where you are in terms of
the risk surgery of the wrist injury and coming back,
and where you are for training camp.
Speaker 1 (23:10):
One more here from Tyreek Hill.
Speaker 4 (23:12):
I feel great, man.
Speaker 6 (23:13):
I would train and staff this whole entire offseason. We've
been getting after it.
Speaker 7 (23:16):
Man.
Speaker 6 (23:17):
So I feel great. I feel back to myself. Plain,
no pain, no complaints about anything.
Speaker 1 (23:24):
So and say the best for last right. I like Ingold.
Speaker 2 (23:27):
Every time he speaks to us. It's like a I
don't want to say a sermon, but it's it's almost
like a like a ted talk. Maybe it's just like
so informative and you learn so much about introspective nature
and looking inward and uh, competitiveness and leadership. Just everything
that he embodies it comes out in these press conferences.
(23:47):
And he was asked about what it looks like in
terms of the culture shift. How do you make sure
that's something that happens. Here's the Dolphins full back on
the big focus this offseason.
Speaker 7 (23:55):
Culture is I think it's an abstract concept, right, Like
it's very hard to put your finger on. I did
some study in this offseason. I feel like culture really
comes down to the shared character of when things are
going wrong. What we can do right now during camp
is manufacture that as best we can by competing, by
bringing great energy and truly pushing yourselves to that discomfort
(24:16):
early on. I think if you can self start that
as a team, as a unit, I think that's where
over time you'll get to see what the character of
the team is. That shared continuity. A solid culture is
one that people are them bestselves. Their individual character is
uplifted by that team culture, by the character of the
entire room. So I think we got to go out
(24:36):
and prove it. We've got a fresh start, really excited
to see how it plays out.
Speaker 2 (24:40):
And like man, that kind of encapsulates one of the
things I'm excited to see in training camp here.
Speaker 1 (24:46):
And you know, I've been over this.
Speaker 2 (24:48):
It feels like I've talked about the same things a
lot this off season, maybe because I'm trying to, you know,
really hammer down my points, but I feel like I've
really harped on this concept of the things the Dolphins
have come up short with, not just last year, but
going back over the last few years. And we've talked
about it on the show each off season, like getting
better in short yardage this year, it's like trying to
find that run game balance again. They can create the
(25:08):
balance on offense that generates more explosives in the passing
game to Tyrek and Waddle. And I feel like this
offseason was the best effort at fixing some of the
things that have plagued this team in certain spots over
the last three years. And when I say a plague,
I'm like, you know, they've They've been twice in the playoffs,
once without their quarterback for six games, and missed the
playoffs by one game. Like the things you're trying to
(25:31):
shore up to make you take that next step right,
and part of that is the physicality and being you know,
able to win those games and crucial moments and run
the football in December. All that stuff we've talked about,
and I feel like the Dolphins have done that with
how they've approached this offseason by getting bigger and getting
stronger and maintaining their athletic ability with doing that, getting
guys better blocking off the edge.
Speaker 1 (25:51):
We talked about that all off season.
Speaker 2 (25:53):
And then there's the aspect of like putting it into practice, right,
you know, training camp is the schedule change this year.
They're gonna be on the field earlier, and they're gonna
you know, I don't know what's gonna look like yet,
but I imagine practices will have a little bit of
a shift in terms of how they look. And so
I think with Alec talking about manufacturing situations that create
adversity and create tough times that you push through and
(26:15):
really stretch your comfort level, and that's where growth occurs.
Speaker 1 (26:18):
Right.
Speaker 2 (26:18):
Alex talked about that on this show and all the
stuff that he does in terms of you know, his
his mentorship for younger people in the community and across
the country. And I think that that's really the point
that I want to drive home here, is that if
we can see that in practice and have it play
out in August, it's only gonna make the football team
better in September through December.
Speaker 1 (26:37):
And I'm excited to see it play out.
Speaker 2 (26:39):
And this next question here for Alec was a common
theme across these press conferences, and it's a common question
this time of year, like what does a successful season
look like for you? And I won't go ahead and
go into my entire dietribe about how I don't think
that super Bowls define successful seasons, like only one team
gets to experience that every year. They're tough to win championships.
Obviously it's the goal, but you can have a successful
(26:59):
seat without winning a Super Bowl. I won't bore you
with that argument. But he was asked that question, and
he kicks it off by talking about a Super Bowl.
But the rest of the answer is why I wanted
to play this answer here from Alec Ingold.
Speaker 7 (27:10):
For the team, I think, yeah, super Bowl is that answer.
I think we need to chase excellence on a daily
every day. There's power in every day that we wake up,
we drive into work, we're in meetings every single day,
you're watching film, you're on the practice field every day.
Being excellent and chasing that I think allows for you
to win football games in December and January. I know
I sound like a coach, but that's real stuff.
Speaker 4 (27:33):
We just heard.
Speaker 7 (27:34):
It's cliche for a reason, and everyone is going to
be chasing that Super Bowl, so you know, I don't
think we need to shy away from being excellent every
single day to give us ourselves a chance to make
that run December and January, where we're all clicking, we're
all available, we're doing everything we said we were set
out to go chase.
Speaker 2 (27:51):
I think this is an appropriate place to conclude right here.
We'll ask Alec as everybody was asked this question about
the team's perception of outside perception of the team, whether
it's ESPN, Pro Football Focus, anybody that wants to write
a presumptive article or you know, do predictions in the offseason.
The Dolphins haven't done well in those predictions and does
that matter? No, And Alec was asked about that, and
(28:13):
I thought his answer was again very very forthright and
very informative.
Speaker 4 (28:17):
I don't give you.
Speaker 7 (28:21):
Cash me and training camp Catchi's guys working like they
can say whatever they want to. We are going out
every single day and we're working, and people want to
use that as motivation.
Speaker 4 (28:31):
Great, good for you.
Speaker 7 (28:32):
If you want to have that internal drive, you want
to chase excellence on your own be part of this team.
Speaker 4 (28:36):
Great, whatever we need.
Speaker 7 (28:37):
But no, I think that noise can be great for
some people and terrible for others. I really don't care.
Speaker 2 (28:45):
The next time you hear from me, we'll be talking
about a Miami Dolphins twenty twenty five training camp practice.
We're going to have a recap of Mike McDaniel's press conference.
The players that speak. I think we'll hear from Tuwa
Tonguaailoa on Wednesday, So a busy, busy Wednesday episode. We're
going to do it every single day the Dolphins are
on the grass. Come out with us on Saturday for
the first day of fans being back at training camp
(29:06):
practice here, come hang out and have a good time
watching them Dolphins football. And again we'll have you covered
here on social We'll have a written notebook every single day.
I'm gonna have Dolphins HQ back at the end of
next month. So we're back, Baby, Football's back. Dolphins football
is back in Travis Wingfield, back in your life, five
days a week, whether you like it or not. Actually
six days a week really with how much we're on
the field this time of year. So yeah, check us
(29:28):
out tomorrow and the rest of the month. It's my
Super Bowl Twitter. The tweets will be coming in fast
and furious on Saturday. On the Wednesday Thursday fire practice,
I'll have the recap tweets after practice, so keep an
eye out for that. Again, your comprehensive one stop shop
for all things mimmy Dolphins training camp right here on
the Draft Time podcast and all my content as well
as Dolphins team content which you can find on YouTube,
(29:49):
Mimi Dolphins dot com, social media, all that good stuff,
So you all please be sure subscribe, rate, review the show,
follow me on social at.
Speaker 1 (29:56):
Weekle NFL the team at Miami Dolphins.
Speaker 2 (29:59):
Check out the Tube channel for the media availabilities for
Dolphins HQ for Draft Time content and so much more,
and last but not least, Miami Dolphins dot Com. Until
next time, Booms up, Carolina and Cameron and Willow Daddy.
Speaker 1 (30:10):
He's coming home.
This is Drivetime with Travis Wingfield.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
What is up Dolphins and welcome to the Draft Time Podcast.
I am your host, Travis Wingfield. And on today's show,
a bonus bonus bonus bonus bonus episode is We're gonna
go ahead and hear from a handful of Dolphins veterans.
Alec Ingle, Darren Waller, Tyreek Hill, and Bradley Chubb spoke
to the local media here in South Florida as football
is officially back training camp tomorrow, plus a few things
(00:33):
I'm looking forward to keeping an eye on here as
training camp kicks off tomorrow at the Baptist Health Training Complex.
From the off four mentioned Baptist Health Training Complex, This
is the Draft Time Podcast.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
My daffe, so I tweeted about.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Minka's media being pushed to a different day and all
the conspiracy theorists are coming out and I didn't want
to reply on there. I did reply to one person saying,
you're looking too far into this and like, just chill,
He's just doing football stuff. And there were still more
replies questioning that, and I just want to go ahead
and squash it right away. I don't know why we're
searching for things to get crazy about, but just go
(01:09):
ahead and put it out right on the podcast that
Minka's fine, Minka's here, Minka's not mad at anybody. Chill out,
maybe think about touching some grass. And let's go ahead
and come back tomorrow where I'm sure we'll hear from
Minca tomorrow after his first practice with the Miami Dolphins.
So I want to go ahead and play the audio.
Was going to kick it off with Darren and Minka here.
(01:30):
We'll go ahead and bump Tyreek into the slot and
finish up with Bradley and Alec at the end. We'll
do a middle segment here taking a look at some
things to look forward to in training camp. Let's go
ahead and start with the first newcomer and Darren Waller
and man impressive impressive presence for a press conference, and
I thought it was really introspective the way he was
(01:51):
able to kind of dispel maybe some notions or things
that have been said about him. Obviously when he first
got here, you know, all those clips of him doing
different podcasts and things went out and got viral, and
he didn't have a chance to get in front of
those things. And one of the reasons for that is
because he like lives off the grid. He was saying
he has a certain type of phone I forget what
(02:11):
it was, but essentially one that doesn't have, you know,
your your current phone your pocket right now, that has
access to every piece of information you could ever want.
He's going back to the old you know when my
first cell phone only had like you had to pay
twenty five cents to send a text and I couldn't
get online, like he's going back to those days. And
my ring tone was freaking headstrong by trapped. Sorry, I'm
(02:32):
kind of sick. Not a smoker's cough there, but yeah,
that's that's how Darren Waller lives his life. So I
thought he was very impressive. Let's go ahead and get
to his media availability here and kick it off with
him discussing essentially how this entire thing came to be
and the timing of it was actually perfect because he
says that he called his agent after Drew Rosenhaus after
the John new Smith trade, and here's what he said
(02:54):
about how that all transpired.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
You know, I'm reaching this point in just my life
journey where I feel like it'd be something that I
want to do to come back to football and this
is a place where, you know, I'd want to do it.
I was content in my retirement, but I also felt
like this was opportunity for me to, you know, if
this is my last chapter playing football, to close it
in a way that's different than I did before and
one that allows me to tap into the joy of
(03:18):
why I started doing it in the first place. So,
uh yeah, Drew helped orchestrate that he's the best in
the business and grateful beer.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
He was also asked about the relationship with Frank Smith,
Dolphins offensive coordinator, and how critical that was and the
decision to come down to Miami and resume his football career.
Speaker 3 (03:34):
Frank is my guy man. So when I got claimed
off the Ravens practice squad in twenty eighteen, I got
to the Raiders and he was my tight end coach.
You know, met me at the door, and one of
the first things he was interested in was what do
I need as a man, like in you know, my
newfound sobriety, like whatever I need to just be solid
as a human being. And then that struck me a lot.
(03:55):
And then just his knowledge of the game, the culture
that he created not only in our room, but just
with how he interacted with players I thought was rare
and coaches I had seen to that point, and you know,
some of the best years of my career were with
him in the room and just some of my best
football memories overall. So to be able to reconnect with
him is amazing.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
And of course a player coming back from retirement will
be asked a lot about his desire and passion for
the game and finding that love for the game and
the spark once again. And he was asked about, you know,
was there points of the season last year where you
found that spark.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
Kind of reigniting? And he spoke about it.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
Here a little bit more good stuff here from New
Dolphins tied end Darren Waller.
Speaker 3 (04:29):
Like times where I watched the game. I didn't watch
a ton of games last year, but when I would watch,
it was just like just watching the game be played
and just like being with like friends and stuff, and
like they're asking me questions about what's going on in
the game, and like kind of like kind of giving
them some generic answers, and it's just realizing, like, okay,
like there's been a lot of times where I've wrestled
and that joy has kind of been elusive, but it's
(04:50):
I've always found moments where it came back and it's
something I have been able to experience, and I feel
like that's possible this time around. And I'm already having
a lot of fun just being here, being amongst these coaches,
amongst the players, amongst the staff. It's already been a
lot of fun.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
You kind of start there with the person a little bit,
you get into the football aspect of it. And so
Darren was asked next about what he brings to the offense.
What can he bring to the Miami Dolphins in twenty
twenty five.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
I expect to bring playmaking ability. There's a lot of
guys on this team that can do amazing things with
the ball. I'm excited to just be a part of
that group. I feel I can bring just some wisdom
and experience to not only my position room, but to
the team. You know, I feel like everything you probably
experience except probably winning the Super Bowl is something that
(05:33):
I've gone through. Where there's been drafted, late course, special teams,
guys suspended from the league.
Speaker 4 (05:38):
Practice squad.
Speaker 3 (05:39):
Starter pro Bowler traded a couple of times like there
are guys that are going through situations and going through
things that may need somebody to lean on and talk to.
I feel like I could be that as well, but
most importantly just somebody that does their job at a
high level.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
Up next, why Miami, Darren.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
Yeah, just answering the question about coach Frank Smith was
a big deal of why I wanted to be here,
and just seeing the way that you know, they do
things like the way Mike is so like innovative and
the weapons that are on offense, and I got guys
like alec Ingold is a friend of mine from playing
with him before, and how highly he speaks of just
being here not only for the team, in the community.
(06:14):
So it was somewhere I definitely wanted to be.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
You know, I keep thinking about that innovative comment he
made about coach McDaniel, and I think about what John
h Smith was in the offense, and Darren Waller and
John hick Smith are very different players. I want to
make that very clear off the top, and like, we
haven't had a player like Darren Waller. If he's you know,
at his athletic prowess, his peak, all that stuff, if
he is anywhere close to the player he was in
(06:38):
Las Vegas, then like, we haven't had a guy like
that who could provide that size and athletic combo at
the ex position and an inline why position? Really like
GASICKI wasn't the athlete or the you know, high pointer
or the route runner that Darren Waller is.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
John H.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
Smith was is a better run after catch guy. We
didn't have the vertical prowess that Darren Waller does. And
so I think about what McDaniel can cook up for
him in kind of a different type of role which
we have. You know, Nick Westbrook Akine I would say,
is the closest player to Darren Waller in terms of
the physical skill set, and I'm just really curious to
see what that looks like. In fact, I'm gonna give
you guys a few things to look out for in
(07:14):
training camp here in the second segment, and one of
those might be the inclusion of these bigger body athletes
that can play on the perimeter. Because Waller can play
on the perimeter. We know obviously Nwi can, he's a
wide receiver. But the juxtaposition of those two versus Tyreek
and Waddle, I'm maybe I'm doing the Travis Dolphin's Homer
thing where I'm starting to kind of buy into my own,
(07:35):
you know, theories and ideas about the positive most upside type.
I think that could happen with this team. But dude, like,
if Waller is anywhere close to the guy that he was,
it's just a different look and feel that you have,
And I think that changes the way you have to
cover this team because it opens up different avenues and
the short game, the intermediate game, on top of what
you're doing in the deep game with Freak and Wattle.
I don't know, man, Like I maybe again, maybe a
(07:57):
little bit of kool aid drinking going on here, but
I'm very very intrigued by what that might look like.
And as I record this podcast, I'm less than twenty
four hours away from finding out a little bit about it.
Maybe not all on day one, but I can't freaking wait. Man,
I'm very very jacked up for that. Next, he was
asked about his approach to blocking, and this is where
I just love some of the introspection that he offers.
He's a very smart and introspective guy.
Speaker 3 (08:19):
I still like blocking is something you gotta get in
the mix, got to get in there and get dirty,
you know what I'm saying I was made aware of
the clip that went went viral with the guy that
did the interview with with the Bills, and I understand
how people could probably take that a certain way of
me not wanting to block. But I'm somebody that fully
understands that there's dirty work that needs to be done
(08:39):
in football, especially with all the guys that we have
making plays like you gotta get in the mix and
do things you don't want to do. I've done that
numerous times in my career. So that is who I am.
That's therefor I'm going to bring into blocking. It may
not be just the whole game running power right behind me,
but there are definitely a lot of creative ways in
which I have no problem getting my hands dirty.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
Yeah, man, I'm excited. You know, maybe it's not some
groundbreaking acquisition. Maybe it doesn't work out. I don't know,
we'll find out. That's the beauty of football. But you know,
on this podcast and the way I choose to approach
covering this team and watching the team as a fan
like I'm I tend to want to think about what
the upside is or what's the vision, what does the
coaching staff view for a player, and when I think
(09:20):
about Darren Waller on tape and who who was in
the past of his career like it's it's very intriguing
for the reasons I mentioned and for the things that
he said here in his media availabilities.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
So really good stuff.
Speaker 3 (09:30):
Though.
Speaker 2 (09:31):
Let's go ahead and pivot to a shorter one. We'll
conclude here with Bradley Chubb. We'll do the second segment
talking about training camp things to look for. We'll come
back and do Tyreek Hill and alec Ingold at the
conclusion of the podcast. Let's go ahead and pick it
up here with a couple of brief ones from Bradley Chubb,
starting here with a question about how hungry are you
to get back on the field this time around? Where
you know last year when he came off the IR
(09:53):
or the activation window was opened, it was like working
towards the idea of possibly making a return. But now
he'll hit the fe knowing that games are ahead. How
hungry are you to get back into action? Here here
is Bradley Chubb.
Speaker 5 (10:05):
Starting starving man, Starving Man, It's been a long time coming,
you know. OTA's is kind of just dipping the foot
in getting around the guys again, feeling that that team,
that camaraderie. But now training camp's going to seasons, you
see it on the horizon. It's just about taking each
and every day. And that's what I missed the most
about this, honestly, Like the training camps is never fun.
Speaker 4 (10:23):
It sucks.
Speaker 5 (10:24):
You know, you're doing it each and every day, but
you're doing it together, and that's what I missed about it.
Speaker 4 (10:27):
That's what it's all about. So I'm just excited to
get back to that.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
Let's go ahead and conclude with this here with Bradley
and one of the things I have harped on on
the podcast all off season long, the value of the
second year here in the same system. Here's Bradley Chubb
on year two under coach. We've run defense.
Speaker 5 (10:42):
Being under coach Weaver scheme for the second year, everybody's
kind of like, you know, mastered the scheme, not just
learning stuff anymore. It's kind of just going reviewing it
and you know, and putting our spind on it and
mastering it the way we know how to instead of
everybody kind of learning it. Like I said last year.
So confidence is hot, man, everybody's out there working for let's.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
Go ahead and take a break.
Speaker 2 (11:01):
We'll put a pause in the media availabilities and hear
from me a little bit and talk about some things
looking forward to in training camp, and then come back
on the third side and conclude with Tyreek Hill and
alec Ingolds.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
All that ahead.
Speaker 2 (11:10):
Draft Time Podcast brought to you by Auto Nation. You're
probably wondering why did you choose six storylines to track
here for training camp? Because it is my sixth season
with the Miami Dolphins, and man, time sure does fly
a lot of you guys know. I just got back
from paternity leave where we welcomed in my third and final,
(11:32):
should be final child, Willow Wingfields is now with US
Carolina and Cameron as well, and I've seen those three
kids come into the world. I've made a move from
eastern Washington State to South Florida, been through a pandemic.
It's just been a lot of life changes and accomplished
a dream goal of mine to be an employee of
the Miami Dolphins. A lot of crazy stuff over six years.
(11:54):
But here we are going into a six football season
where I'm gonna be taking all of it in every
single day, and in honor of six year, I want
to take a look at six of the biggest camp
storylines for your Miami Dolphins. Number one, can Tua play
the brand of football that makes him the most successful
while staying healthy? Everything else is kind of like a
distant second to this, right, the old Billy Bean. There
(12:16):
are the rich teams, there are the poor teams, then
there's fifty feet of crap, and then there's us. Like
that is where this storyline ranks among the other. We
saw him drop the weight and ad athleticism. We saw
him adway and be even more of a restricted pocket passer,
and look, without to us creativity last year, we probably
don't beat the Rams. Right, he made a couple of plays,
(12:36):
you know, off script in that game that extended it
and made it, you know, a victory for your Miami Dolphins.
But if we lose one game because Tua takes a sack,
like I think about the Titans game back in twenty
twenty three where he wasn't really able to get off
the spot in that game and that final drive, is
that better than the possibility of him running around and
losing him for four games with another injury? Of course
(12:57):
it is, But is there a happy meat where he
can do both, I say yes, and that's the biggest
thing I'm watching for, because the other big one is
one I already know he's going to graduate to a
new level at that's the ownership of the position, you know,
seeing the defense better and just being even more connected
to what this offense is designed to do and get
the ball to the playmakers quickly. I would say a
(13:19):
happy medium looks like maybe five ten added pounds, but
also the ability to still make plays outside of the pocket,
especially as a passer more so than a runner. Number two,
What the hell does the cornerback position look like on
opening Day? Early in my fandom, I always thought that
having a bunch of unproven, perhaps middling players, Like think
about the twenty twelve receiving Corps. I think that was
(13:41):
the year right where it was like Roberto Wallace and
no more was more first name. It was like a
bunch of jeff Is Alensin. I got a bunch of threes,
fours and fives. I don't have any ones and two.
It's like, oh, that'll work out, but that's not how
it works out. It just doesn't work that way. Like
you want that challenge of competition to produce like a
(14:02):
solid starter doesn't always go down that way. And I
say that having some excitement for the potential of Isaiah Johnson,
Storm Duck bj Adams, but to expect one of them
to be just as good as Ramsey or even Fuller
is not good business, right. So who do they sign?
There are some really good ones out there. Jack Jones
the best option in my opinion, but his history makes
(14:23):
that tough because the Raiders needed him and they cut him.
It wasn't tell you about where he's at. Razeul Douglas
a Sante Samuel both good options. I think adding one
to the room would ease my belief even further that
we can uncover one gem. You've got cater the new signing.
You can get three FOGA players that way. The Bills
did this in the year they drafted a cornerback in
the first round. There was questions about that secondary and
(14:46):
it wasn't the cornerback they took in the first round
that provided that hit for them. It was the one
they took in the sixth round. I'm talking, of course
about Kyrie Elam versus Christian Benford and now Christian Benfort
is one of the best cornerbacks in football. Storyline number three,
just what are we getting out of two and fifteen
Bradley Chubb and Jalen Phillips and the edge group as
a whole. If you want to offset a corner room
that has questions, this is the best way to do it, right.
(15:08):
I've been over the additions of the off ball linebacker position,
the ability to blitz, play the run, do all the
things that eases stress on a questionable secondary, and don't
let people gaslight you into thinking a pass rush is
all that matters. Like that would be kind of state
media from me if I were to do that. It helps,
But we saw in twenty twenty two, and I talked
about it on this podcast extensively how the great pass
(15:30):
rush win times of Phillips and Chubb were often negated
by the attrition at cornerback that led to really bad coverage.
It would be awfully political of me, especially in the
current landscape, to bark about how it's going to be
okay when just three years ago I told you it
was the problem. All that said, this scheme does count
on specific positions before others, and the collection of additions
(15:53):
at inside linebacker is a big part of that. But
getting Chubb and Phillips back to their twenty twenty three
formastically reduce what we need at two, especially when I
think one to a being healthy all year would make
this offense a thirty point per game operation. That makes
a lot of opposing offenses one dimensional, especially in the
second halfs of football games. Storyline number four that I'm
(16:16):
tracking here. Can we get ten and seventeen back to
their three thousand yard twenty touchdown cumulation of production. That's
when this team is ad its best right. And for Tyreek,
it's as simple as just being locked in. Like I mean,
his best year was when he didn't even know the offense.
He was just kind of freelancing out there in twenty
twenty two, got even better in twenty three, but then
tailed off towards the end last year. Ta gets hurt
(16:37):
kind of you know, F's off a little bit, and
then Waddle just kind of strangely not productive enough. I
think there's a lot that goes into that, but I
think he's one of the best receivers in the damn game.
You get reeked back on the straight and narrow, and
it all comes back together for Waddle everything else. With two,
A healthy obviously becomes secondary because when those three guys
are rolling, you're gonna score and beat most teams in
this league because a lot of teams in this league
(16:58):
don't have quarterbacks that can put the put that much
points on the board. You can beat half your schedule
if just to a Reek and Waddle are playing like
all pros, that's all it takes. Sometimes number five offensive
line depth, it feels like we aren't done adding to
that area either.
Speaker 1 (17:13):
I could be wrong.
Speaker 2 (17:14):
And by the way, Miami has multiple lever pools they
could execute to free up space. So please don't get
too far down the rabbit hole of the common discourse
I see by like the beat on social for instance,
It's not like they're out of money and they have
to blow it up to find money.
Speaker 1 (17:27):
That's not like they're smarter than that.
Speaker 2 (17:29):
It's there's lever poles they can do, whether it's a
stealer extension, a to a restructure of a mink ever, like,
there's all kinds of things you can do. But man,
you drop Will Hernandez to the group on that Isaiah
Win contract. All of a sudden, I feel great about
my starting five already. Now I feel pretty good about
my depth too, with the six, seven, eight nine being
like Hernandez or Boram or Keon Smith or Liam and
(17:50):
Andrew Meyer all in the running for those for that work,
and then six and final is some unproven youth, unproven
unproven youth Taking another step. The twenty twenty four class
was our first full class since twenty twenty one, and
that class is even kind of thin because of trade ups,
But twenty five was the same. But the dearth of
production we got from the twenty two and twenty three
(18:13):
classes magnifies the importance of this group, plus the shift
and approach of getting younger and having them kind of
cite your culture right. They will need a handful of
guys to have the best years of their lives, which
is funny to say for guys that haven't even played
a snap yet as far as rookies are concerned. But
between Jalen Wright, Malik Washington, Jonas and vite Andaya, Kenneth Grant,
(18:33):
Jordan Phillips, Storm Duck, like, I think you're counting on
that group to be guys that contribute to your football team.
And then you probably need a couple, maybe a few
more from the group of Grayson Murphy, Zeke Biggers, Isaiah Johnson,
Patrick McMorris, Jason Marshall, Junior camp Smith. A couple of
those guys are gonna have to make an impact too.
So those are my six storylines to watch starting today tomorrow,
(18:54):
depending on when you hear this podcast on Wednesday. Can
Tua play the brand of football that makes him most
success full while staying staying healthy? What the hell does
the quarterback position look like on opening day? Just what
are we getting out of Chubb and Phillips and the
edge group as a whole. Can we get Waddle and
Tyreek back to major major all pro production, offensive line
depth and unproven youth taking another step? There you go
(19:17):
my six story lines. Let's go ahead and get back
to some media availabilities here, but first a short break
Draft Time podcast brought to you by Auto Nation.
Speaker 4 (19:27):
He's going to be great for us man.
Speaker 6 (19:30):
His presence was felt immediately, like once he stepped into
the locker room, and some of the things he said
about having that wisdom, being able to you know, live through,
you know, some of those experiences what most player players
want to feel as far as like being in an
All Pro, being a pro bowler, being on a winning team.
Speaker 4 (19:47):
You know, he's brought that to our team. So I
think it's great. Man. Obviously, he's a playmaker.
Speaker 6 (19:53):
I think I told him this, I said, you look
better than what you did when you played, because when
he used to play, he used to be fat when
he played with the Raiders, but now he's like a
physical unit. I'm like, bro, like, this is what I'm
talking about. So I think it's great that he's on
our team.
Speaker 3 (20:11):
Man.
Speaker 2 (20:11):
And is of course Tyreek Hill talking about new Dolphins
tight end Darren Waller and the possible explosive nature of
his addition to the offense and what that could look
like for the Miami Dolphins. Let's go ahead and go
now to a comment Tyreek made when he was asked
about the end of the season and how thanks played
out and how he had time to reflect upon that
where he is from his headspace now. I want to
go ahead and jump into his answer right here, because
(20:33):
I think that you know, these are Tyreek's words, and
if his actions can follow suit, then that would be
a really good thing for the football team. Obviously talking
about something that I found interesting because Tyreek Hill is
probably already a Hall of Famer in terms of what
he's done on the football field with his production. I
don't think there's much debate behind that. He actually would
go on later to say that he doesn't think he
(20:54):
is there yet and has to continue to prove more.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
But I think the accolades are the accolades.
Speaker 2 (20:58):
But it's interesting that throughout a career where he's been
this fifteen seventeen hundred yard receiver, ten touchdown maker, first
team All Pro, all that stuff, that he feels he
hasn't fully dedicated himself yet. And so here's what he
talked about with his focus this season coming back in
twenty twenty five for the Dolphins.
Speaker 6 (21:15):
That's why this year, man, I've been this whole entire offseason.
I've been busting my tailor, me and my dad. I
told my dad, I said, I want to see what
it looks like whenever I focus just on football and
I just focus on myself and family. You know what
I'm saying, Because I feel like I really haven't been
given the best version of me of Tyreek my whole
(21:36):
entire career.
Speaker 4 (21:36):
You know what I'm saying. I've always been trying to
be here, be there, but.
Speaker 6 (21:41):
Me being able to slow down a little bit train
and bust my tail for myself and then also for
this community and this team. I feel like it'll be
worth it, you know what I'm saying. So I just
want to see what that version of myself looks like.
Speaker 4 (21:55):
So I'm looking forward to it.
Speaker 6 (21:57):
Today was our conditioning t This at thirty one years old,
I must say I haven't lost a step, so.
Speaker 4 (22:03):
I'm feeling great. I'm feeling great. That's all I'm gonna say.
Speaker 2 (22:06):
Really good follow up question by Marcel Luis Jock from
ESPN who asked, Tyreek you know you're a person that
has so many interests in outside things like streaming and
clothing and all the different things you do. What does
focusing solely on football look like for Tyreek Hill?
Speaker 6 (22:20):
Just be in prison every day on time, like doing
things at extra like catching footballs after practice, you know, conditioning.
Speaker 4 (22:26):
You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 6 (22:27):
Whenever I'm tired being that vocal leader in the locker
room for guys, just being a dude. What you know,
what I'm saying, Miami paid me to be and what
I know I can be, and my family know what
I can be. So that's me in a nutshell, like
I got here through hard work and sometimes like when
(22:47):
you get to like a certain spot in your life
where you want to be, you kind of.
Speaker 4 (22:50):
Like be like, okay, it's cool.
Speaker 6 (22:51):
But now, like like I said, like me being able
to slow down my life a lot, enjoy my kids
a little bit this offseason, I realized that I got
to continue to grind.
Speaker 1 (23:03):
Man, let's conclude with this.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
Tyreek was asked about where you are in terms of
the risk surgery of the wrist injury and coming back,
and where you are for training camp.
Speaker 1 (23:10):
One more here from Tyreek Hill.
Speaker 4 (23:12):
I feel great, man.
Speaker 6 (23:13):
I would train and staff this whole entire offseason. We've
been getting after it.
Speaker 7 (23:16):
Man.
Speaker 6 (23:17):
So I feel great. I feel back to myself. Plain,
no pain, no complaints about anything.
Speaker 1 (23:24):
So and say the best for last right. I like Ingold.
Speaker 2 (23:27):
Every time he speaks to us. It's like a I
don't want to say a sermon, but it's it's almost
like a like a ted talk. Maybe it's just like
so informative and you learn so much about introspective nature
and looking inward and uh, competitiveness and leadership. Just everything
that he embodies it comes out in these press conferences.
(23:47):
And he was asked about what it looks like in
terms of the culture shift. How do you make sure
that's something that happens. Here's the Dolphins full back on
the big focus this offseason.
Speaker 7 (23:55):
Culture is I think it's an abstract concept, right, Like
it's very hard to put your finger on. I did
some study in this offseason. I feel like culture really
comes down to the shared character of when things are
going wrong. What we can do right now during camp
is manufacture that as best we can by competing, by
bringing great energy and truly pushing yourselves to that discomfort
(24:16):
early on. I think if you can self start that
as a team, as a unit, I think that's where
over time you'll get to see what the character of
the team is. That shared continuity. A solid culture is
one that people are them bestselves. Their individual character is
uplifted by that team culture, by the character of the
entire room. So I think we got to go out
(24:36):
and prove it. We've got a fresh start, really excited
to see how it plays out.
Speaker 2 (24:40):
And like man, that kind of encapsulates one of the
things I'm excited to see in training camp here.
Speaker 1 (24:46):
And you know, I've been over this.
Speaker 2 (24:48):
It feels like I've talked about the same things a
lot this off season, maybe because I'm trying to, you know,
really hammer down my points, but I feel like I've
really harped on this concept of the things the Dolphins
have come up short with, not just last year, but
going back over the last few years. And we've talked
about it on the show each off season, like getting
better in short yardage this year, it's like trying to
find that run game balance again. They can create the
(25:08):
balance on offense that generates more explosives in the passing
game to Tyrek and Waddle. And I feel like this
offseason was the best effort at fixing some of the
things that have plagued this team in certain spots over
the last three years. And when I say a plague,
I'm like, you know, they've They've been twice in the playoffs,
once without their quarterback for six games, and missed the
playoffs by one game. Like the things you're trying to
(25:31):
shore up to make you take that next step right,
and part of that is the physicality and being you know,
able to win those games and crucial moments and run
the football in December. All that stuff we've talked about,
and I feel like the Dolphins have done that with
how they've approached this offseason by getting bigger and getting
stronger and maintaining their athletic ability with doing that, getting
guys better blocking off the edge.
Speaker 1 (25:51):
We talked about that all off season.
Speaker 2 (25:53):
And then there's the aspect of like putting it into practice, right,
you know, training camp is the schedule change this year.
They're gonna be on the field earlier, and they're gonna
you know, I don't know what's gonna look like yet,
but I imagine practices will have a little bit of
a shift in terms of how they look. And so
I think with Alec talking about manufacturing situations that create
adversity and create tough times that you push through and
(26:15):
really stretch your comfort level, and that's where growth occurs.
Speaker 1 (26:18):
Right.
Speaker 2 (26:18):
Alex talked about that on this show and all the
stuff that he does in terms of you know, his
his mentorship for younger people in the community and across
the country. And I think that that's really the point
that I want to drive home here, is that if
we can see that in practice and have it play
out in August, it's only gonna make the football team
better in September through December.
Speaker 1 (26:37):
And I'm excited to see it play out.
Speaker 2 (26:39):
And this next question here for Alec was a common
theme across these press conferences, and it's a common question
this time of year, like what does a successful season
look like for you? And I won't go ahead and
go into my entire dietribe about how I don't think
that super Bowls define successful seasons, like only one team
gets to experience that every year. They're tough to win championships.
Obviously it's the goal, but you can have a successful
(26:59):
seat without winning a Super Bowl. I won't bore you
with that argument. But he was asked that question, and
he kicks it off by talking about a Super Bowl.
But the rest of the answer is why I wanted
to play this answer here from Alec Ingold.
Speaker 7 (27:10):
For the team, I think, yeah, super Bowl is that answer.
I think we need to chase excellence on a daily
every day. There's power in every day that we wake up,
we drive into work, we're in meetings every single day,
you're watching film, you're on the practice field every day.
Being excellent and chasing that I think allows for you
to win football games in December and January. I know
I sound like a coach, but that's real stuff.
Speaker 4 (27:33):
We just heard.
Speaker 7 (27:34):
It's cliche for a reason, and everyone is going to
be chasing that Super Bowl, so you know, I don't
think we need to shy away from being excellent every
single day to give us ourselves a chance to make
that run December and January, where we're all clicking, we're
all available, we're doing everything we said we were set
out to go chase.
Speaker 2 (27:51):
I think this is an appropriate place to conclude right here.
We'll ask Alec as everybody was asked this question about
the team's perception of outside perception of the team, whether
it's ESPN, Pro Football Focus, anybody that wants to write
a presumptive article or you know, do predictions in the offseason.
The Dolphins haven't done well in those predictions and does
that matter? No, And Alec was asked about that, and
(28:13):
I thought his answer was again very very forthright and
very informative.
Speaker 4 (28:17):
I don't give you.
Speaker 7 (28:21):
Cash me and training camp Catchi's guys working like they
can say whatever they want to. We are going out
every single day and we're working, and people want to
use that as motivation.
Speaker 4 (28:31):
Great, good for you.
Speaker 7 (28:32):
If you want to have that internal drive, you want
to chase excellence on your own be part of this team.
Speaker 4 (28:36):
Great, whatever we need.
Speaker 7 (28:37):
But no, I think that noise can be great for
some people and terrible for others. I really don't care.
Speaker 2 (28:45):
The next time you hear from me, we'll be talking
about a Miami Dolphins twenty twenty five training camp practice.
We're going to have a recap of Mike McDaniel's press conference.
The players that speak. I think we'll hear from Tuwa
Tonguaailoa on Wednesday, So a busy, busy Wednesday episode. We're
going to do it every single day the Dolphins are
on the grass. Come out with us on Saturday for
the first day of fans being back at training camp
(29:06):
practice here, come hang out and have a good time
watching them Dolphins football. And again we'll have you covered
here on social We'll have a written notebook every single day.
I'm gonna have Dolphins HQ back at the end of
next month. So we're back, Baby, Football's back. Dolphins football
is back in Travis Wingfield, back in your life, five
days a week, whether you like it or not. Actually
six days a week really with how much we're on
the field this time of year. So yeah, check us
(29:28):
out tomorrow and the rest of the month. It's my
Super Bowl Twitter. The tweets will be coming in fast
and furious on Saturday. On the Wednesday Thursday fire practice,
I'll have the recap tweets after practice, so keep an
eye out for that. Again, your comprehensive one stop shop
for all things mimmy Dolphins training camp right here on
the Draft Time podcast and all my content as well
as Dolphins team content which you can find on YouTube,
(29:49):
Mimi Dolphins dot com, social media, all that good stuff,
So you all please be sure subscribe, rate, review the show,
follow me on social at.
Speaker 1 (29:56):
Weekle NFL the team at Miami Dolphins.
Speaker 2 (29:59):
Check out the Tube channel for the media availabilities for
Dolphins HQ for Draft Time content and so much more,
and last but not least, Miami Dolphins dot Com. Until
next time, Booms up, Carolina and Cameron and Willow Daddy.
Speaker 1 (30:10):
He's coming home.
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