2021 NFL Draft Off Ball Linebackers Preview

with Trevor. Plus, we're gonna break down the latest Dolphins signing in veteran offensive lineman. He's played tackle, he's played guard in d J Fluker. Will break down DJ's game from the tape, from the stats, the PF data, pressure is allowed, where he's played, how many games he's played, what he means to the off pensive line, how he fits in, how things could shuffle on the old line. All of that and a whole bunch more on this

edition of the Drive Time Podcast. And we do have some veteran beef joining the offensive line of Dolphins announced the signing of tackle slash guard d J Fluker on Tuesday morning, giving the team another plus three hundred forty pound offensive lineman. DJ was listed at three hundred forty

two pounds last season. Solomon Kinley checks in just below three forty at three thirty nine, with Eric Flower still maintaining the title of heaviest offensive lineman heaviest player on the team at three hundred forty three pounds, So that gives you three players that weigh right in that three hundred forty pound range. No other offensive line in the NFL can say that. And DJ does have some positional flexibility.

He was the Ravens right tackle from Week eight onward last season after Ronnie Stanley went down and they flipped Orlando Brown over to left tackle, and he played well

there in a pinch. It took him a couple of games to get his feet under him after not playing a whole lot in the early portions of the season, coming off a strange off season, especially for a big fellow like DJ, and after a rough night in that Week ten Baltimore game with six pressures allowed and that was the game with the snap issues for Matt Skura and all that trrential downpour, so a really strange game. But after that he never allowed more than three pressures

in a single game. He never allowed another sack and allowed just one hit the rest of the way. That's no sacks, one hit and seven team pressures on one hundred and seventy five pass blocking snaps over nine games, and if you include the two playoff games where he allowed four hurries and nothing else for the Ravens. But and this is why I mentioned the guards. DJ played

guard for the Seahawks and twenty nineteen. He started twenty three games over a two year span there at the position for the Seahawks, allowing just thirty pressures on nine eighteen pass blocking snaps. That's a pressure every thirty point six snaps and less than one per game, as he averaged just a smidge under forty pass blocking snaps per game. And I say that meaning like thirty nine point nine

four snaps are up snaps per game for Fluker. He made the same change with the Chargers after being the eleventh pick in draft. He started thirty one games in two years at right tackle, then started twenty eight games the next two seasons at right guard for the Chargers. Then he spent a year with the Giants, playing a

little bit of both. So he fits the mold, big body position, versatile, and I happen to think you kind of mask some of the wards that had him bounce around a little bit, not just from team to team, but from position to position. I think those are kind of masked on tape. When he's inside. He's a big, big dude, so he can get out over his skis at times, but you anchor him inside and don't worry about speed rushers or possible devastating counter moves of those

world class edge rushers off the outside. And he's pretty damn good inside. I think he's serviceable outside and can excel inside. Another massive, massive human being inside to help protect the interior and that pocket inside for ta. He gets tremendous push in the running game as well, a big boon to your running game. Just go look at his name on Twitter and click the video links. There are pancake scalore, there are choke slams. One rep. I want to say it was against Khalil Mack back with

the Raiders, when flu grows with the Chargers. I need to put Jerry Lawler's voice over that clip. He just he just choke slams the guy to the ground after a good pass block rep. He chips guys who were engaged and sends them to the moon. And best of all, I put this in my Twitter threat on Tuesday morning. There's a video of him reach blocking and Dominicans sue against the Rams and that's hard enough to do. As

a reach block. You have to get outside of a player who has you out aligned pre snap, but to completely turn him inside out and then bury him. That is a fun watch. He fits the mold from his size, sheer, density standpoint, power and versatility standpoint. He is, however, the first offensive player on the roster over the age of thirty. He joins John Jenkins as the loan thirty Club. I'll be sure to find my way to their lockers for

the first time. We got access to the locker room this year, so I can joined the old Man's Club, the thirty and overcrew with those guys. He's played six thousand, seven hundred thirty seven career snaps, three thousand, nine hundred of those at right guard, two thousand, five hundred twenty seven at right tackle, three hundred and six at left tackle, and three as the extra offensive linemans. He's never played left guard, never played center. He's played a hundred eight

games and started ninety six of them. To me, this gives you so much flexibility. It's the perfect supplement to the young offensive line we've got. You see Piney Sewell, Rashawn Slater, maybe even some of the guys eighteen or thirty six on the draft board as possible old line options for Miami. But I think this takes away any potential need you might have considered. It gives you more flexibility.

Of course, you can still draft offensive lineman, but you don't really need it as badly as you did before the Fluker signing. This gives you a backup plan that literally all three spots the rookies played right Jackson left tackle, Hunt right tackle, Kinley right guard. If any of them struggles in year two, you've got the experienced Flucker waiting

in the wings to pick up the performance. Or maybe you decide they're all progressed sing well, and you flipped Kinley over to left guard, where he played in college and even a little bit there last year as well, when Flowers was banged up, and I think some of his best hate for Kinley was at left guard. Maybe that's the route Fluker and Hunter on the same side of the offensive line. This in this you know potential scenario,

and that's just a hair under seven hundred pounds. That's one trip to the public's bakery away from seven hundred pounds and two absolute steam rollers in the run blocking game. This gives Miami three Alabama ployers, that's the most in the NFL, and it gives them a joker in the highest form a cl We got a deal. That was a great video where he and Tyler Lockett of the Seahawks made fun of the Russell Wilson extension video when he was in bed and said, Seattle, We've got a deal. Funny,

funny stuff. They're a funny guy. So there you have it. An acquisition in the final ten days of draft countdown. We needed it. I needed some pro tape to look at. Love the way Fluker Titans gaps throws those head the hands, love the way he walls off as a seal blocker on the backside, and the constant push he gets in the ground game. And you don't get signed by the Baltimore Ravens where he spent last season and not have skills in the running game. So d J. Fluker, your

newest Miami Dolphin. Let's get to my interview with the Draft Networks Trevor Sikima and break down this rookie class that Flucker could be blocking next season at off ball linebacker and joining us now on the Drivetime podcast as senior NFL writer for the Draft Network. He's the co host of the hilarious and informative Locked on NFL Draft podcast with Benjamin Solak. He is Trevor Sikima and Trey.

You know, I brought you on the podcast here, and I had a joke for my intro about how I'm wearing the hat because I can't compete with the quaff, but you're wearing the hat to man, what's going on here? Man? It's it's we are in the thick of it right now in draft season. And look, I barely got enough time to brush my teeth and your breakfast in the morning, so I don't have time to do my hair up every day because it's getting a little long now. So it's a little it's turned in a little bit of work.

But I appreciate. I appreciate the shout out there. Nonetheless, my joke was gonna be that I I almost always say I'm wearing a hat for the same reason you just did. I don't have time to run a comb through it through the old mop. But the truth was, I just didn't want to compete today because it's the afternoon. We're rolling here late in the afternoon. But that's neither

here nor there. You know. I do want to catch up with it here because I saw a great tweet from Alyssa talking about you going out to a track recently, and I recently promoted the hell out of the F one Show on the podcast here in my recommendation station portion of the podcast. I can't get enough of it. And now all I want to do is go out there and try to act like I know how to drive.

That had to have been a blast, man. Yeah. So my wonderful girlfriend, Melissa, she got me for my birthday, my thirtieth birthday, a five minute session in a NASCAR stock car at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. And I had no idea what it was gonna be. I didn't know if, like I was, there was gonna be somebody else in the car with me, like you know, if there was

gonna be like a two steering wheel thing. Because I'm thinking to my head, like there's no way that they just send me out there in a stock car and you know, there's governors on the engine and everything, so you can't go the full speed. But they were letting me get up to like hundred. I think my top speed was actually only thirty or something like that, but uh, dude, it was. It was a blast. I mean, once you get into gear, you were ripping it around the track

and it was cool. It's it was called the Richard Petty driving Experience. If anybody's near Charlotte, or if anybody has anything like that by attract it's near them, I guarantee it will be a once in a lifetime thing and you'll absolutely love it. So that was a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to the Grand Prix, the Miami Grand Prix coming our way soon, to the Formula

one Cup series. Should be amazing. And I was curious as you were doing that, Like you know, in this business, all we think about football, we think about how to promote our own our own work, and to talk about certain or create segments and everything we do in everyday life, right, So I was wondering did you come up with anything on that drive, like who might be the best race car driver in this class or maybe this car corners or transitions like player X, were you going through any

of that? I don't know. Jalen Wattle might be the only guy who already has a good acclamation that those kinds of speeds him, and maybe Eric Stokes. I don't know. So maybe it's less of a learning curve for those guys because they're in high speeds when they're on foot, and it won't be too different when they put some

wheels underneath them. Well, we're gonna talk about a position today on the podcast that would evolve more with the car crash element, the part that you and I probably would be involved in if we were to get on the track against actual racers and talk about some off ball linebackers. And I think the Dolphins are a a great team to go position by position with because there's so much there's so much that ven diagram in the middle right where there's so much crossover because everybody on

this damn defense cross trains employs multiple spots. But in your job at the Draft Network, where you guys are the thirty third team, right, when you look at an off ball linebacker, what are the modern day traits you look for that not team specific, but just in general that you want in those players. Well, I think that the number one it's coverage. It's coverage ability. When you talked about the linebackers that you would want to select in the top fifty, they have to have some sort

of a coverage profile. Too many defenses nowadays are playing in sub package the majority of the defense. And I wouldn't go as far to say, is hey, like Nicola is the new base. No, I mean it's called base for a reason. That's still you know, you've got to be able to execute up fronts with with more bodies in the box, and so like you, you've got to

be able to stop things from a base perspective. But as we're seeing teams get more and more comfortable spreading their offenses out early, you've got to be able to have linebackers on the field who can cover because you're

gonna be in those situations a lot. So if you don't have a coverage profile, that automatically really takes you out of first round consideration, given top fifty consideration, but just because there's gonna be a chance that some guys are are in there, of course, what goes into coverage is intelligence, anticipation, and athleticism. Those are probably the best traits, because you know, I think that we're getting a little overboard when we say, oh, linebackers are the running backs

of defense. You know, you you get there are a dime a dozen, you can get one every single year. I don't totally agree with that, but I understand what people are saying from like a tackling perspective or like a run stuffing perspective, because if you grow up playing linebacker, that's just what you do. You should be able to

do that. It's not like you can't have a linebacker at this point in time, and you're talking about especially for the NFL draft that you go like, oh, he struggles with tackling, Well, if he struggles with tackling, then that it's a major issue if you're playing your position that the main thing is tackling is So that's already a baseline. You should already be able to have that for a linebacker. And there's a couple of other traits as well, but I would tell you the ones that

make the difference. Intelligence, anticipation, and athleticism. Those are the things that give you the coverage profile to be able to plan all three downs in the NFL. Yeah, I've got a few questions for you based upon that response, which was great, by the way. And you know you mentioned that the linebackers of the modern day running backs, but I wrote down my notes here not here. They're not because you know, the the defensive secondary definitely drives

this Dolphins defense. We utilize UH six defensive backs are more at the seventh highest rate in the National Upball League. Lots of dime, plenty of nickel, like you mentioned, but you know they also operate with so many different linebacker looks because there are so many two three, two four three three looks in this defense that that fluctuates guys in and out based on down a distance. And I'm curious. You know, you mentioned that there is still a based defense,

but the Dolphins. I've had a hard time explaining this to fans. There really isn't that based defense because of how play by play and how week by week this defense can be. But when you consider that Miami went out and got a Bernardrick McKinney, they've got Jerome Baker who does check that that coverage box you mentioned. But

also as a hell of a blitzer. How much can having just elite level blitzing to your game kind of offset that coverage ability you're talking about there, No sure, And I guess you can also get into a mold where if you want to continue to put them on the same trajectory or outlook is running backs. Running Backs are often by committee now and that's normally because they have a specialization to them, right. I mean, like, you'll get a guy who's just got some great soft hands,

who really knows how to run his routes. He's great on third down. He's a benefit to the ascent game. You also have your running backs to their mar bulked up. They're great in short yard and situations. They can convert for you on third or fourth down as well as in the red zone. And then you have some guys that you love to get in open space if you're

running more outside zone stuff. Get them out towards the line, uh, towards the sideline, excuse me, and they might be able to break something open for you, maybe a home run of of forty fifty sixty yards whatever it is. And so you have those specializations and I think that that brings you value. Now, of course, there's normally only one running back on the field, and even if they don't get the ball on a certain play, it's not like

a big detriment to the offense. Whereas linebacker it's a little bit different because they're in the center of the defense, right, and if you don't do your job on a certain play, that's, you know, a big detriment to what the defense is doing overall. But going back to your point of like how advantageous it is to have a great blitzer, Yeah,

I think that's important. And I think that when you look at a team like the Dolphins that continues to throw different bodies out there to try to truly just take strengths and make those strengths whatever they're doing out there on the football field when their number is called, I suppose that there are certain alleys or lanes or roles and responsibilities that you could have for a variety

of different guys. So there's no doubt about it. I mean, there's certainly a knack to being able to blitz, whether it's off the edge or through the middle. I think the navigating chaos is such an underrated trait for a lot of running backs being able to stay clean in areas where there's a lot of bodies flying around you. For example. Like I know we'll get into the prospects here in a second, but like Nick Bolton, I feel like,

does that really really well? You know, he's just a slasher type of linebacker, comes from the middle, and it just seems like he's going through the A or the B gap whenever the offensive lines movement left or right, and he really knows how to anticipate and squeeze through those offensive line holes to get into the backfield. And it's like that definitely that like that has a place. Nick Bolton is not the best coverage linebacker to to

kind of like bring it full circle. And that's why I'm not so sure that he's going to get drafted in the first round, even though he's a really fun prospect. But there's a role to what he can do for you, and I think that to your point, that kind of emphasizes and what you can do when you're attacking the line of scrimmage. To me, you just describe bogect Kenney's game. I mean, he was the second round draft pick a few years ago, number forty one overall. I think it was,

and watching him on tape, Yeah, he's anticipating. You know, he's getting his keys, whether it's a pulling guard or a fullback coming across the formation or splits on, whatever it might be. And he sees that thing and he pulls that trigger and he combines that with you know, two hundred and sixty pound physicality he brings. I think that makes a lot of sense, and it just speaks

to the different roles this Dolphins linebacker group fills. I mean, a landed Roberts came back and to me, maybe that means McKinney can get more edge snaps because Roberts is one of the better B gap to B gap bangers in the National Football League when it comes at early rundowns. And then you know Andrew van Ginkel, what what can he do? Multiple things? In Jerome Baker and Vince Beagel played some some four down even fronts, but also plays

off ball linebackers. So now that we've kind of established that base here and talking about what this Dolphins team has at the position group, and you got into Nick Bolton there a little bit. I want to go through your tears of off ball linebackers and start obviously with the first one. Are there any first round linebackers in this group? And where does that kind of that kind of uh drop off come in terms of these are the top guys and then there's a little bit of

a gap between the next tier of guys. Yeah, so I have one guy in tier one. There is clearly one linebacker who is head and shoulders above the rest, and I would tell you that that's Michael Parsons from Penn State. I mean what he brings from an athletic profile and edge rushing background, how comfortable he is rushing off the edge, also certainly blitz in between the A and the B gaps as well. What impressed me the most about Michael Parsons isn't just his athleticism. It was

watching the progressions of his game. I watched his early tape and I would encourage everybody who whether you're just getting into watching tape or you've been watching it for a couple of cycles in the draft, I would always tell you, if you can watch tape of them in the early parts of this season, watch them in the middle parts of this season, and then watch them at the end. And watched them in order because I think that allows you to really see how much a player progressed.

And I think that was exactly the case with Michael Parsons. This is a guy who came to Penn State as an edge rusher transitions over to a lit time backer spot, and they didn't exactly know where to play, and they were kind of playing him as an outside linebacker for a while as he was dealing with that hybrid role, but then they felt very comfortable playing him in the middle of that defense, and that's where he played this year.

He was new to it, you know. And so when you watch his tape and if you're bouncing around different places, like if you watch the the the end of season games and then you pop back over to the early season stuff, you're gonna be like, oh, you know, well, now I'm kind of mixed on him because I've seen, you know, mixed results from what he's going for. But if you watch them in order, you'll see them instead. This seems like a player who just continued to progress

as the year one. On the more snaps he got a middle linebacker, the better he was. I mean, if you go watch that that Cotton Bowl that Penn State played against Memphis, in two in twenty nineteen. That is one of the most takeover, dominant performances that I've seen of any player in this draft class. That is one of the single game tapes that I've seen of any linebacker. So he is in Tier one, he's kind of by

himself there as the top guy to get. And before you go on to the next two here, I do want to ask you about Parsons and go more in depth in this because you know, Trevor, I think that one of the things that happens, and you probably agree to see this all the time with any position group, is that a player is a certain caliber once the season comes to a close. And Parsons didn't even play this year, so he's not even part of, you know, the production. And then one draft season that kind of

where he goes through the ringer. But is it one of these instances where this guy has just been so good for so long we haven't had negative things to say about him, that we get to the draft process and all of a sudden he has to be like torn down because to me, he was a if not second or third best prospect in the entire draft class, like a top five pick solidified at the end of

the season, but now here we get here. Maybe the position plays a part of that, but I've also seen there's reports about the character and stuff like that that just suggest that maybe he doesn't go top ten, Like, what do you think the reason is for Michael Parson Stock to not be in that top five or maybe

it was four or five months ago. Yeah, And you know, I think the biggest thing with it is you start hearing these whispered, anonymous reports about character, how how committed he is or work at the and look, I can't speak to that. I've never sat down with him myself. I've never met him. I don't have the the the ability, the resources to go through these extensive background checks. And so I really do think that that's just why that you've seen him fall, because he's a top ten player

for me in terms of talent. I have him top ten in this draft class because I think that he is that good. Now, him being a linebacker, I think that gives people an excuse to go, Okay, we've heard whispers off the field, and also he's a linebacker. So I'm just gonna drop him on mock drafts that I do or we're just gonna put him a little bit lower. But at the end of the day, Yeah, he's one of the best defensive football players in this class. And I think that, uh, once he gets out on the field,

I think everybody's going to realize that once again. So you mentioned you've got one player in the first round there, Micah Parsons, I completely agree. Like I said, top ten pick all day for me, but one of the players that and you know last year, Daniel Jeremias the exact same thing about Austin Jackson said that the outsiders might not have this perspective, but the league thinks he's a top fIF team pick. He winds up going eighteen to Miami.

And I saw the exact same thing with Jamon Davis how to Kentucky And I've watched this kids you know tape a little bit seeing Brett Coleman did a great job breaking down his game and kind of got me turned onto him at first. And man, he can find out flat out play, he can fly around and he used to use how the workout numbers. Obviously does he kick off your second tier? And where do you think that second linebacker comes off the board. Yeah, I'm not

exactly sure who's going to be the second linebacker. I mean I would tell you that if you are classifying Notre Dames here in my USA Koramo as a linebacker, he would be the next guy that we talked about here. I think the NFL is really gonna love him. I mean, he's got that hybrid mold of a big nickel type safety type linebacker type. I mean, you don't want him in between the tackles at all times. But it was

kind of the same thing with Jeremy Chin, right. I mean a lot of people who might be familiar with how successful Jeremy Chin was in his rookie year. He played more deep safety than I think Woskamo would play,

but he also some of his most impactful plays. Probably honestly, most of his impactful plays came when he was around the linebacker level, whether it was him kind of creeping down or playing as a slot guy, or just playing at the next shack Thompson in the middle of that Carolina defense, he played more as a pseudo kind of a linebacker player, and I see that similar role with Waramoa. He's just more of a linebacker type with it. He's

just bigger, and I think a little bit stronger. So what he doesn't give you as well on the back end with Jeremy cham with that experience, I think that he could give you a little bit more experience playing in the box. So I would tell you that he would be that second linebacker that would bring up. But Jimmie Davis from Kentucky. He's a marvel, right. I mean, like you look at his athleticism and they just don't they don't make him like Jimmie Davis. I mean four

point three seven forty yard dash. I believe he had like a forty two forty three inch for like he was crazy, and then eleven foot broad jump. He's a pure athlete and I think you really see that when you watch it on tape. And unfortunately, I think you see a lot of it in recovery because there are certain times where he's going back in coverage and he didn't have a ton of experience, and I think that

you see that green nature to his play. He'll get beat by a tight end, or he'll flow a little bit too far to the left or right and he'll go, oh, who I'm actually supposed to be over here? Or oh, this is this is the guy that I should be covering. And you see him put his foot in the ground, and man, he can recover. He can recover, and he can flip his hips and he can start getting deep down the field. I mean, he can cover tight ends

very very well. When we talk about potential linebackers who could be tight end neutralizers, and we see this in the NFL. Now, the tight end is an absolute offensive chess piece. If you have a really athletic tight end that you can move around, play him in line, play him in the slot, play him in an h back roll behind the line of scrimmage, blame is a fullback, whatever it is. A lot of times defenses just don't

have the horses to keep up with these guys. Jimmie Davis can be a player that you go, hey, see Travis Kelsey, you just need to guard him, or George Kettle or like whoever it's gonna be. And those are the cream of the crop, of course, and I think that Davis needs a little bit of work till he

gets there. But he gives you that profile, that's why he's so alluring it so he still needs a little bit of work from true linebacker responsibilities, you know, those tackle these those between the tack responsibilities when it comes to, you know, scraping off offensive linemen and making sure you're getting free and making an impact on the ball carrier

at the line of scrimmage. He still needs work in that guard, but that's all stuff that you could teach, that stuff that reps and experience that can really get the gig going. And so he's absolutely somebody who I would think could be in a second tier, third tier. Looks like the NFL really loves him his second tier, so he could be a guy who hears his name

pretty early. One of those things where the same thing with Jeremy chen right, the whole idea that maybe we don't know where to play him makes him slide, and the Panthers were certainly the beneficiary of that getting Jeremy Chin in the second round. Now you talked about Oloosa Coramoa. That's easy for me to say about him being a guy that maybe his his secondary position is going backwards.

And this might be a question from my Edge podcast where I have one with another one of these great traffic experts here coming up about Zaven Collins, and I'm wondering you know, because he fits them all of a two way type in terms of kind of that Kyle van Noyd role. Guy that can play edge, guy that can play off ball, because Van Noy did both of those things and in very from year to year based upon those Patriots defenses than here in Miami he was more of an edge. Is he the best kind of

two way convert player? And who else kind of rounds out that group of guys that can play both on the edge with you know, two a point stands or maybe even three point stands, but also come off the football and be a stack linebacker. Yeah, I mean I think that he would outside of Parsons that this is the guy that I would think could probably fill that

role that you're looking for there. But man, listen, six to sixty you look at his mesurables and you say, Okay, this guy is you know you can you can make him in an odd front linebacker almost outside linebacker type or probably be just like a Sam linebacker in the NFL, a guy who plays much towards the line of scrimmage in a four three defense. This dude's gotta feel for coverage. Man, He moves super well for six four to sixty. You you don't have to put him on the line of scrimmage,

you really don't. You can leave him back and his field for coverage is really nice. I talked about intelligence and anticipation. I feel like I saw that quite a bit when I was watching his tools to tape. And so this is a player who I'm not really worried about whether it's you know, like, oh, you know, look at his size, You've got to get him on the line of scrimmage. I really don't think that's the case.

If you wanted to even put him at mike linebacker, like if you wanted to put him in an inside line acker spot, I think that he could grow into that role really really well for you. So in my tier two, if you will, I've got Davin Collins along with the Woosuo Coamoa Whosa. Cornill was probably gonna go a little higher, just because I think the NFL really

likes him. But you know, if you threw in John and Davis his name, there another player who This is a little outside of the question that you originally asked, but Baron Browning is the guy that I really like. Our staff is really high on him over at the Draft Network, and it just seemed like he was another player who he's a former safety hybrid, so he's got a lot of speed that he's bringing to that linebacker

spot and get the NFL. If if you could leave him as a will, if you can keep him in space, I think he's gonna do a lot of really great things for you as the year went on. If you watch the early games, progressed through the season, and then get to the end of the year, I felt like the light was really coming on for him, especially in coverage and recognition. He was able to call out things in the pre snap, he could adjust during the play while it was going on and move from one zone

or one assignment to the other. I was very encouraged by Baron Brownie. He brings great length, great athleticism as well, so that would probably be in encapsulation of those Tier two guys that I could see go decently high in the second round. We're gonna wrap up this Draft series preview with a a mega episode with Kyle Krabs at the Draft Network because Trevor, we gotta do a Dolphins I mean, it makes the most sense, right, So of course he's gonna join us for an extravaganza podcast that

fans are gonna be excited to hear about. But I know that he loves him some Baron Browning and I kind of started to really fall in love with him with a Senior Bowl when he was working with our linebackers coach, Coach Camp and Nelly working on stack and sched drills and he was just getting after it and Coach was yelling at him and he was responding. It was fun to watch, even on television. So definitely one

of those guys that fits the mold um. I think I've asked you this kind of already, but can you give me a blitzing linebacker we haven't talked about. Who's someone that really does well to kind of mug up in those a gaps and and threatened pressure, but also has the ability to kind of bell out and cover. Do we already cover this guy? Have you not talked about him yet? Who might be that player? I'll give a shout out to Cameron mcgroan, the inside linebacker from Michigan.

I was super high on mcgrowan coming into this season in summer scouting. He was one of my favorite defensive players that I watched because I was watching his tape of just a true sophomore, and I said, man, if we get this as a baseline, is true sophomore and he takes another step up, We've been talking about a top fifty linebacker here. He didn't necessarily take a big step forward this past season. But it's not like it was a negative. You could just tell that he was

still growing. He is somebody who you watch the active feed. The second the ball is being snapped, his feed are active. He's going left or right. But sometimes that fails. Sometimes it's actually to his detriment because a polling guard will go one way. He'll fly and flow towards that guard, and then the play ends up going the different way, or he goes too far out of what would be his run fit. But man, outside of those negatives, the potentially you're getting from him as an inside linebacker is

a downhill mic type of linebacker. I like what I saw. He's got size, he's got speed, he's got all that stuff. The recognition and anticipation just isn't quite there yet. And so he's a player that I would tell you your two year three projection has a better outlook to it

than year one might be. He might take his lumps and year one an the NFL, but he's a young linebacker prospect and I really believe that the mold that he is, and I think the mentality that he brings towards playing Mike in the middle and kind of like you said, going towards the Lion scrimmage, being in control of those A gaps and B gaps. I like his potential, I really do. I don't know where he's going to

get drafted. I don't know how high the NFL is on him, but when he comes to those tears three guys, he's gonna be up near the top for me, especially if you need a guy in the middle. I have a filling. Kyle is going to talk about him on

the podcast as well. He came down last year for two of us first start and wound up staying at my apartment for the entire Saturday, and we watched a bunch of college football and just I have I've never really watched that much ball with someone that also knows ball very well in terms of one of my buddies in the industry, So that was a lot of fun. And he was going on and on about McGrath about provinces. Last name, yeah grown, you know you got it? Okay, perfect,

thank you, thank you. So that was a lot of fun. And like I said, we're gonna have Kyle on a future podcast here talking all things Dolphins Draft. But he is Trevor Sekama. You said it all, Trevor, NFL writer for the Draft Network, co host of Law on NFL Draft Podcast. And I wanted to ask you, man, I know you're up in Charlotte these days, but your team won the Super Bowl? Man, how's it feel surreal? It really does? Is somebody who grew up just south of Tampa.

I mean we heard the old two team was just legends to me, and I mean I mean I was so young when the Bucks won their one Super Bowl, and honestly, if you talk to Bucks fans, it's almost as if they talked like that was the only super Bowl they were ever gonna get. Then all of a sudden, you know, they signed Tom Brady, they get all these other guys to come down, and I think it was the manifestation of a lot of the moves at Jason Life. The general manager has also been able to do over

the last couple of years. They clearly got the right head coach in in in place, and so it feels surreal and sometimes it really doesn't even feel real. But it was really awesome to see some incredible media members who worked their butts off in Tampa and often and have not had a great audience to to to read their work. They got some national attention and then I've gotten to know a lot of Bucks fans over the years, so it was very fun to see them be very

joyous on the Super Bowl Sunday. One day, it's gonna happened for me. And I don't know how that press box reaction is going to happen, because there's rules in the press box, right I'm gonna break them all, Like, there's no way I can do it. There's no way I can handle myself in that situation. Again, Trevor Sikama, what are you working on right now? Man? Where can the folks find you? Man? Just working every day grind and trying to get as much content out as we

possibly can for you guys before draft weekend. We've got all sorts of you know, prospect right ups, live mock drafts that we're doing. We're giving you day to day analysis on what we think is going to happen not just in round one, but round two and round three. If you guys haven't been over to the Draft network dot com, man, if you hear a name that you don't quite recognize that you go, Okay, this guy might

be good for our team. You can check out a full trade by trade breakdown of them on our prospect rankings. And then if you love doing mock drafts or if you've ever read a mock draft, heck, have you ever even read one of my mock drafts and you go, I could mock better than that guy, head over to our mock draft machine do it yourself. We we always love seeing brand new mock drafts. It's a fun way for draft fans to really experience and getting to do

the season with their team's focus. And so that's what we got going on RAPE for draft weekend. I'm very excited for it. Man, It's the best draft content out there. My favorite thing is doing those mock drafts. It gives you an idea of where the pockets of talent kind of fall and allows you to kind of make your if this then that tree as I call it in the draft. So once again, Trevor thanks for doing this man.

I appreciate your time today. And it's always three sides minimum, right, it is always three Sidesmenium, appreciate you having me on, and away he goes, and that's gonna be our time on this edition of the Drive Time Podcast. Plenty of good stuff for you today on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball. In the meantime, you all please be sure to subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcast. Leave us a rating, leave us a review. You can follow me on Twitter at Wingfield NFL. You can follow

the team at Miami Dolphins. Check out the fish Tank and the Audible podcast, and of course Miami Dolphins dot com. Until next time, fins up.