2021 Schedule Release and Season Preview

breakdown each opponent when the game occurs. All of that and much much more, plus how the Dolphins vision set forth back in twenty nineteen is coming into focus here in one. I think you all are going to love our opening segment on the podcast, and without let's go ahead and get to it on this edition of the Drivetime Podcast. And we do have the Miami Dolphins schedule in my hand right here looking at it to go ahead and get to. By now you know the order

of the games. Hopefully you're already planning your trips to hard Rock Stadium and around the NFL to represent your Miami Dolphins on the road this year. So we're gonna get to the schedule breakdown for you on the pod with the research that goes beyond just listening to games, will cover the short week slash long week, element by weeks, possible track game scenarios, matchups, all of those angles. But first,

there's something I've been wanting to touch on. As the offseason kind of tails off here with a few moves here and there, the compensatory formula is no longer in effect. But these signings we get this time of year are not usually Markie. They're typically stuff like we saw with Eric Fisher earlier in the week, for instance, coming off a significant injury signing with a club like Indianapolis who had a huge need at the tackle position. I want to say t J McDonald was a summer signing as well.

I could be wrong on that, but you get the idea. It's a player who, whether coming off injury or has a suspension, what have you, it's usually a player with some baggage. So I thought this part of the calendar

was a good time to discuss this. And the point I want to get to is the cumulative process that has led us to where we are today with the Miami Dolphins, a point where frankly, for my money, we're looking at the most talented Dolphins roster this team has had since two thousand two, and I know that club whatnot and seven they lost their quarterback for a few games, but defensively, running game and skill players and offense line, offensive line all the way across the board, that team

was pretty loaded, even though the record didn't reflect it. But I truly believe this year's roster is the best the Dolphins I've had since that team was that nineteen years ago. And of course I see some of the comments, reviews or what have you about Travis drinking the kool aid fanboy podcast with no negativity. That's all fine, Well

I don't I don't mind those types of responses. But those of you that have been with me from the Star, you know, back the lock Dawn days in nineteen, this is reaching the culmination of what I thought this team was building back in twenty nineteen. Remember my tweet after my first day watching a Brian Flores practice in training camp twenty nineteen. I still have the tweet and it basically says here that the Dolphins have not had a coach extend into his fifth year at the position since

Don Shula. I believe what I saw today is the next head coach that will take that mantle. Then, as the team came together in twenty nineteen and won five games despite being underdogs in every single game, and winning three of those games as double digit underdogs, no team has ever done that before, by the way, won three games in one single season in which they were double digit underdogs. Do the moves in to jump again to ten wins with chances to win four more games for

one score games or one score losses. I should say to now this what you have right now to what they've done this offseason. And that's where I really want to get into this because I see so many comments and concerns around the same stuff, and I don't want to come off as defensive here, but rather I'd like to just explain my perspective and why my optimism around this operation only continues to grow. And for what it's worth.

They told me when I first started in this whole game, David locked back at Locked on Sports, please follow me again, Dave. They told me to establish your credentials and your credibility because every episode is a potential new listener who needs to gain your trust first. So you know, I mean, I've predicted this team's record each of the last two years, and that's recorded on podcast. To go back and look at I've predicted five four of the six first round

draft picks made under a career in Flores. I have the pre rights and tweets to prove that. Unfortunately, with the pre rights twenty nineteen, I said, if you put a gun to my head right now, I'd say Christian Wilkins is the pick He's had to fight as the criteria of versatility, character, a work ethic, and love of

the game the Dolphins. Covett also mentioned the Marrion hobby connection there with him, how do you think we had a three thousand word piece ready to roll on two a toung of VLOA at the time the pick was announced. Same story on Austin Jackson a pick number eighteen. Now I missed on Noah Ignogamy, completely whipped on that one, but you come back in one. And I mentioned it on the Kyle Crabts podcast and had the written profile on Jalen Waddle before he was drafted that it was

gonna be Jillan Waddle in my opinion. Admittedly, that took a long time before I became comfortable with that prediction, as I was so back and forth on he and Devonte Smith. But luckily we learned from the Peter King article that it seems like it was always Waddle. More on that in just a moment, I also missed on Jalan Phillips. I thought offensive line might be the play there. So I think I should have known better on that pick because he fits so well. But four for six

in those first round draft picks. So there's my credibility. I've urged to you all. So when I read that I'm only being a Homer, it just it doesn't like offend me. It just kind of bothers me because I put a lot of time and effort, blood, sweat and tears into this and I feel like, I mean, I think I've established that line of credibility and honesty and transparency on the podcast. And so we are almost here to my final point. But real quick, I'm putting this

monologue together. I stumbled upon another tweet from November when I listed out the starting lineup from the game that day and how each player that started that game was acquired. Let's go ahead and visit that tweet for a second now, because it's a perfect segue into my greater roster building point. And we turned this to this tweet now that I posted on Monday afternoon. As I mentioned, I dug up some old tweets for the purpose of this research monologue.

And here's what I came across. One day after we beat the Jets in nineteen for win number one under Brian Flores. The twenty two starters in that game, had they combined four premium resource players in the lineup, that's picks in rounds one through three, or a free agent signing or trade acquisition that brought back a player who's compensation was top tier or mid tier in regards to the free agent market and their compensation they made with

the Dolphins. Now, granted there were two loopholes in their exhabing. Howard was hurt and Mike Kasicki didn't start the game even though he played plenty and produced big time in it. So let's go ahead and call it six. But now, of the two spots nineteen nineteen such players and the ones that aren't from that category in my projected lineup, Eric Rowe, Miles Gaskin, and Matt Skura. And you know how I feel about Eric Rowe who won fourteen of

a sixteen tight end matchups last year. Miles Gaskin who finished tenth among running backs in yards from scrimmage and Matt Scura yards from scrimmage average per game, I should say, and Matt Scura who was a top ten center on tape in twenty nineteen and playing well last year before some issues with the snap. So that's the rub. This roster is full of talented players. We've established this coaching staff can develop and get results above the some of

their parts. Right, That's what twenty nineteen was, and to a lesser extent as well, three double digit wins as underdogs in twenty nineteen, beating to division winners and winning five total games as dogs outright, then in I think I'm the only person on earth who predicted ten wins with this club, and now one man, I am excited.

I've told you about the fit of the pieces, how Jalen waddles horizontal stretching on those drag routes that we just missed big play after big play opportunity last year, paired with Will Fuller's vertical stretch ability, the space being created in the running game because of that speed the openings and the easier leverage inside for players like Parker and Gasicki and Williams and all they have to work with the different types of packages you can deploy because

suddenly you're diverse as an offense from a skill set standpoint. The ability to match up with literally any person in your secondary, more playmaking with Javon Holland, the opportunity to create space for blitzers with big bodies like a Bernardic

McKinney or a quickness of an Adam Butler. And the capability to rush for and play coverage because you now have two guys that have the look of being able to win one on one pass rush situations in any situation in Emmanuel Ogba and Jalen Phillips, removing all the ways that I think this roster was built towards one singular vision. How about this, It's not just the twenty two guys on the field that paint a promising, exciting future.

It's in how the Dolphins cultivated depth and created competition at their most vulnerable spots. You have some concerns about the offensive line in front of to no problem. We're now competing for the seventh eight and ninth job on the offensive line with the same crop of guys or same level of crop of guys that were solidified starters back in and even into not enough skill guys at

the young quarterback's disposal, No big deal. We'll go out and add not one, but two absolutely dynamic, game changing talents that jive perfectly with the strengths of your young quarterback. And the mention of the depth Wattle and Fuller could be interchangeable in that speed role. Let's say if one happens to go down for a game or two and you only can live with one of those guys in a couple of games, a lot of what DeVante Parker does well. Preston Williams is versed in those same areas.

Albert Wilson and Lynn Bowden Jr. Have similar games. This is the case almost across the entire roster. The next man up mentality is going to be a lot easier to execute when you have capable players at every position, with two or three or four players deep at all

those spots. And if you haven't read the Peter Keen column from earlier this week, The Football Morning in America On Monday Morning, slash Sunday Night, Brian Flores and Chris Career both talked about the mind towards the present of a coach, but the mind towards the future of a personnel executive, and how Flores is versed in both areas as someone who came up on the personnel side and Chris and he collaborates to make sure they're satisfying both avenues,

both the now and the future. It's how you win ten games last year and now you can put yourself in position to how all this young talent you can produce and elevate and developed for next season. I keep seeing the complaint in the comments on our socials about adding more tight ends. The former basketball player, I cannot fathom getting upset over a tryout for a kid who has some physical potential with literally no downside. What's the

downside to that move the whole tight end room? For instance, it was a valuable portion of the roster last year with all the two tight end sets percent of the time, ranked sixth most in the NFL for twelve personnel. So how can you make that better more by at the apple to get more athletic, more versatile, and more deadly and more depth, same deal on the defensive secondary, you can cut costs with the Bobby McCain move while swapping him out for a combination of Javon Holland and Jason

mccordy and for half the cost. So you're getting more talented, you're getting deeper, you're controlling costs better. Bang bang bang three for three and the depth at tight end. We talked about Gasicki Smith and Shaheen entering contract years. What if Hunter Long is an immediate hit and Jibbrey Blunt maybe shows you some of that translation that the great

basketball players to tight end converts have shown. Maybe that makes it easier to say no on a massive contract extension, allowing you to get cheaper without losing a lot by way of talent irons in the fire to create flexibility both with the roster from a talent standpoint and financial flexibility in the future. On top of all of that, the Dolphins drafted this year in a way that will create an opportunity to spend like we're building a possible

championship contender next offseason. Miami already has the fourth most cap based next year, right around sixty million available, and that's without decisions on some veteran players across the board. Grant Davis Wilson Alan hearns a lot of players in there that have to make decisions because this roster is so deep, and like I mentioned, maybe even some of the guys that have produced big but are due for

big contracts. That's a lot of contracts you can conceivably knock off the books this year, like, for instance, Waddle taking over as a rookie contract in the receiver's room, Javon Holland for Bobby McCain. We already saw that Hunter Long the tight end for one of those vets at that position, Liam Eichenberg at the tackle position. That type of thing. Not saying it happens, but those are the options you have available for you now with competition, youth

and cost control. And Flora's touched on this and the Peter King article, how the approach in twenty nineteen is different than it is for one, how then it might have been more about acquiring picks, where this year they were more comfortable to go back from twelve to six to secure the player they wanted. Priorities change the closer you get to really competing for January success. So give yourself an opportunity to make expensive player is replaceable fortified depths.

You don't lose a ton when you have to go to backups weekend and week out and maximize every resource you have for building the roster. More talented, deeper, cheaper. That's the name of the game. And so I've referenced the Peter King article a few times. We'll go ahead and list a few highlights here before we get to the schedule breakdown. Let's just go chronologically real quick. Steve Ross was very excited for the trade. He likes trades. That was a quote from Chris. We are talking about

Steve Ross. I just love the zeal And fandom. How I can picture Ross like me, Oh we got a trade, baby, let's go. I love that from the owner. Twenty eight trades and twenty eight months on the job is full control GM For Chris Greer, Erica Costa in Baltimore is known for his trading. He's made fourteen in that same span. Chris career is aggressive. He goes after what he wants. Brian Flores helped push the idea, says King, of trading

back into the top ten over the goal line. As King writes, to ensure to get a top weapon, talk about those twelve played drives last year, how the Dolphins defense welcomed it offensively. They did the same thing, so maybe this year they want to get more explosive. So coach sees what wattle can do to a defense that he coaches and wants that for himself. Chris Greer collaborates with other gms from other teams and other leagues to really sharpen his skills as a GM. There's no downtime.

Never waste an opportunity to make your roster better. King then lists four traits of a modern GM that you have to have know how to use leverage I on today, other eye on tomorrow. You cannot be afraid, and you need to work with a coach who knows how to play for today, but also stock up for tomorrow. King then writes Greer is four for four and Flora said this in the article quote you mentioned that philosophically, coaches are about today and not about the future. I guess

I'm more in tune with the future. When I get into my coaching short term thought process. Chris pulls me out of that. We listen to one another and have good collaboration on everything, especially the roster. We have a similar vision for what we want the team to look like.

End quote. And King writes that Miami, like they told us, felt good about getting back to six and getting one of the guys they ultimately would have liked for three plus the additional first round draft pick Kyle Pitts on the table, but if he was, and they were thrilled with Wattle, in fact, beyond thrilled. They also note that the original Niners offer was for two first round picks.

Career insisted on getting that compensatory third round draft pick from the Niners, which they of course obliged, and Miami of course later used that third round draft pick their own third round draft pick, I should say to move up for Liam Eichenberg. So in a way, that negotiation helped pull a potential stalwart on the offensive line for

literally no lost draft capital. When viewing it all as a cumulative sample, the Dolphins will to work their intel to predict how the board might go QB, QB, QB, and then at fourth Atlanta QB or pits then Chase, and it sounds to me like it was Waddle all along. In fact, Peter King says they were always all in on Waddle, though they never actually told him that. That

was his thought and takeaway. Flora said if they go to twelve, they have to get back into the top ten and said one player we knew, we felt very strongly about, would be there at six. And of course John Lynch in San Francisco pulled the trigger on that trade and had this to say about Chris Career from the article I love dealing with Chris. He not emotional about it, and his word is everything. Chris is a

rock and that quote he has sent out. Chris Career has seven first and second round draft picks since nineteen. In exchange for twelve, he damned near doubled his premium resource capital, which is how you wind up with that figure I showed earlier with nineteen premium resources occupying twenty

two of your starting spots. Awesome, awesome stuff. And this is the three year culmination of why I've been so bullish on this pairing of Brian Flores and Chris Career and why I cannot, absolutely cannot wait for football and for training camp this summer. We gotta win games on Sundays in the fall. But I'm confident in this entire thing, and man, it feels good. All right, And here we go schedule release time. We're gonna go through each game

here on the Miami Dolphins schedule. Tell you what's unique about the scheduling of it. Preview the game, tell you about the opponent's offseason, the matchups, all that fun stuff. So first, let's go ahead and list off the schedule. I'm sure you've heard it by now. Let's go ahead and get it for you off the top. In the same place last year we opened up Week number one, September twelve, kickoff in New England. Week two home for the Buffalo Bills. Same schedule for the first two weeks

this year as we had last year. One o'clock kickoff, Week three at the Las Vegas Raiders, a four oh five kickoff. Week four back home for the Colts, a one pm kickoff. Two road games follow that, although one of them is a neutral site game. Week five at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and defending world champions in Tom Brady. Week six, we're in London for the Jaguars, a nine thirty am Eastern kickoff. That is the Jacksonville home game.

So Miami. Nine home games this year, seven road games and one neutral site game, although I know Dolphins fans in the UK will represent for that one back home for the Falcons in Week seven. No bye week after the London game October one o'clock kickoff, Halloween Week eight in Buffalo, the crazy people going through tables up there on Halloween, October thirty one, one o'clock kickoff. Two home games Texans Week nine, Ravens Week ten. The Texans game

one o'clock kickoff on Sunday. The Ravens are first prime time matchup of the season. That's a Thursday night football, A short turnaround there from Miami. The long week after that, we're in the in the Meadowlands for the Jets week number eleven, one o'clock kickoff there. Then three straight home games with a bye week sandwich in their Week twelve home for the Panthers, Week thirteen home for the Giants,

both of those one o'clock kickoffs. The bye week comes in Week fourteen, which has to be one of the latest bye weeks this franchise has ever had, and then Week fifteen a possible flex game like we had last year with the Raiders with the Jets at home either Saturday or Sunday tb D on kickoff Week sixteen, Monday Night football in New Orleans and the Big Easy the Saints eight fifteen kickoff Week seventeen are really one cold weather game on the schedule in Nashville as we take

on Ryan Tannehill and the Titans on January second, one o'clock kickoff, and we finished the season at home against the Patriots with a one pm kickoff, So just covering some of the quirks here real quick of the schedule. There are some things you just can't know until the season gets here, like for instance, last year playing the forty nine and their whole secondary was out for that game and they had the practice squad cornerback Brian Allen.

I felt bad for him in that game, with Devonte Parker and Preston Williams going back and forth taking their turns and Ryan Fitzpatrick just picking them out too. Did the same thing later on against the Cardinals later in the season. So those are factors. We'll cover those in season. You always look for potential trap spots, but those are also live occurrences. For instance, last year the Seahawks played the Cowboys before the game down here. In Week four,

they were playing the Cowboys at home. In Week three it went to overtime. The defense was on the field for like ninety two snaps, and they were sluggish starting the game out here against the Dolphins coming out east. Stuff like that. So, without further ado, let's break down some football matchups week number one. At the Patriots kickoff, Mac Jones or Cam Newton. Who's it gonna be at quarterback for that team. That's gonna be a different style

of offense, depending on which quarterback that is. Of course, last season the brute running game the Patriots unveiled in that opener. If it's Mac Jones, much more traditional pocket passing and kind of stand back there and let all those new weapons do the work down the field. At running back, they still have their committee. The big edition there was Mndre Stevens, the Oklahoma rookie who's a big two d and thirty five pound back that can slam

the ball between the tackles. Maybe they're Legarrett Blunt. I think that's probably what they're hoping for out there in New England. Of course, the big upgrades at the skill spots, Kendrick Borne Nelson, Aghilar, Hunter Henry, and John hu Smith.

I think you're gonna see plenty of twelve personnel, which becomes difficult to defend because this Dolphin's team is so deep in the secondary that forces you to play more guys in the front seven and take defensive backs off the field to both defend the run and match up

with those tight ends. I saw a great theory from Evan Lazar, who covers the Patriots for CLSN Sports in Boston up there, and he talked about how the Patriots have a hole and they're scouting with receivers because the complex system they run require receivers to have a certain mental fortitude or experience, and it's tough for young guys. So recognizing that whole in their scouting process, they go out and acquire smart veteran receivers like born In Aguilar

that can help out with that think. I think it makes a lot of sense. They lose Joe Tuney up front, but Michael Owennu was a Rookie of the Year candidate last year. In my opinion, not realistically because offensive linemen don't win that award, but he was great. They get back both David Andrews and Teddy Carriss goes back up there. That is the strength of their club, which I think pairs well with the running style quarterback and Cam Newton.

Dante high Tower the biggest boost they're gonna get. He's back this year. He's great. I think he's similar to what Bernardrick McKinney could be here in Miami. Inside, outside, blitzing coverage, run defense, does it all. I was hoping

we'd steal Lawrence guy from them. He's back, Christian Barmore, Divon god Sha, Ronnie Perkins, a much improved defensive front for them, and I think High Tower coming back will have a nice ripple effect for those guys like Chase Winovich, Josh you Ja not to mention Kyle van Noy returning, and oh yeah, they also added Matt judean Man. This

team loaded up in the offseason. Stefan Gilmour and j C. Jackson arguably the best tandem in the NFL at cornerback, and I think Kyle Dougger is gonna have a big second year back there at safety, along with the ever reliable Devon mccordy. So last year, it was difficult to plan for the Patriots. In that opener, we didn't know what the Cam Newton offense looks like. Hopefully we have a better idea this time around. I'd personally rather see Mac Jones right away in game number one. We'll see

what happens. I think, even at this stage of his career, can't present some challenges for opposing defenses. I just don't like playing Belichick when he's got four months to prep A tough ask for Coach Floras and his staff and this club in Week one, But they're gonna be up for the challenge. Should be another tightly contested game, but they are working in a ton of new parts, just like Miami was last year, So maybe the script gets

flipped there a little bit. The Patriots traditionally have been slower starters and progressed up towards the end of the season throughout the course of that two decade run, kind of like Miami the last two seasons. This is a tough out. The Patriots are far deeper, more talented, and have more ways they can beat you compared to last year year, with both the passing game and the defense

to go along with that strong running game. That said, I think the Biggot Badge hairs at the quarterback position. To me, Cam Newton is a top twenty five all time quarterback, but I think those days are behind him. Eight touchdowns in fifteen games last year, and I think if they turn to the rookie, to me, that bow is even better for Miami and Brian Flores and Josh

Boyer with a rookie quarterback. The bad match up here for the Dolphins twelve personnel again takes our defensive backs kind of off the field, and the strength of this team. You can kind of reduce that by the way you call the game offensively. For New England, the good matchup is continue to run the football at this Patriots team. Over two hundred yards against the Patriots last year in that week fifteen win. They invite it. They want you to run the ball because the passing games more explosive

and more dangerous. But if you can commit to it and get that consistent five six seven yard clip per run, you're gonna be in great shape. You limit explosive plays in the back end, and you hit one yourself, you're gonna find yourself in good position against this Patriots team. I think both of these games will be close this year again Week two against the Buffalo Bills, the home opener September nineteen, one o'clock kickoff. You just have to find a way to stop Josh Allen, and maybe it's

more four man rushes. Maybe you force him to throw into coverage and go vertical more often where that's a lower percentage throw for this offense. Look at the opening portions of that Week seventeen game last year. Miami gets a pick and it forces a punt in their first two drives. Because of that style of defense, you have to capitalize on turnover opportunities. Josh Allen threw a couple of dropped picks in that week to game last year. You have to catch those because otherwise this offense is

going to make you pay for those failed mistakes. Are not capitalizing on those mistakes. Gosh, this quarterback is good at running back. Matt Brita is there. He adds speed to a backfield that has some with Devin Singletary to go along with the physicality of Zack Moss. That's a good trio back there. Stefon Digs is the best route runner in football. Perhaps four man rushes me and you can double him and take him out of the game.

I think no, John Brown's a significant loss for stretching the field vertically for Buffalo by Isaiah Mackenzie likely slides into that role, although he does plenty of jet sweep actions, so maybe he can't do both of those at the same time. They replaced John Brown with the Emmanuel Sanders, still a very super super crafty veteran, but I like our ability to match up with him and really anyone

across the league for that matter. And they address their biggest weakness with their first two picks in this year's draft with Greg Russo and Carlos Basham. We'll see how quickly they acclimate. But they also have Tremaine Edmonds and Matt Mulano at the second level of that defense coming back, which just creates so many blitzing opportunities. Miami will have to both run the ball and work the quit game into those vacid holes by the linebackers and all the

movement this defense calls for. Sean McDermott moves things around kind of like Coach Flora's and they are pretty deep upfront to a J. E. Panessa startul Is back after opting out last year, Vernon Butler, Mario Addison, Jerry Hughes. No shortage of names for the Buffalo Bills defense. On the back end, Trey White is elite, but this is where they kind of have a bit of a hole in their roster. They've had some trouble at that cornerback to spot for a couple of years now. Last year

they tried Josh Norman that didn't work out. This year looks like there's a good ballot between Levi Wallace to Ron Johnson and Dane Jackson, though Johnson is a quality slot cornerback. This is where I think Miami's best matchup comes from. More on that in just one moment. They also, for my money, have the best safety tandem and football and Micah Hyde and Jordan Poyer do not overthrow footballs because these guys will capitalize and pick them off. As

we saw it last year. You get them when it's hot and human here in Miami, which is obviously a great thing, and you don't have to trade it off for a December game. I shall come to find out here in just a moment, I think that helped keep Miami in the game last season. Hopefully we don't lose Byron Jones on the third snap of the game. This year, they get the Steelers Week one, Buffalo does, so I

don't think there's any hangover material there for them. A great debut spot as well for Will Fuller after his one game suspension. This is the best team in Miami schedule. To me. The matchup that is really intriguing in this one is the The Bills run more ten personnel that's four receiver sets than anybody in the NFL against what is,

for my money, the best secondary in the NFL. The bad matchup for Miami is the man coverage against those long routes, the crossing routes, the drags, the deep overs, which pairs with Alan's ability to extend plays. You've either got to hem him in and stop that like the first two series last week, or find a way to just play more zone coverage, I guess, because he will burn you on that. The good matchup is the Dolphins new wide receiver depth against their kind of limited depth

in their own secondary. Week number three, we go back on the road to the Raiders September twenty four, oh five kickoff. What a weird offseason for the Raiders. Traded their three of their four best offensive lineman away from mid round picks, which worked out well in front of Josh Jacobs last year in that bruising style, only to come back and use the seventeenth pick on a player to replace the lost talent and a guy in Alex Leatherwood who was in the sixties and seventies on Draft

Networks big board and Daniel Jeremiah's big board. Then they use premium money on another back in Kenyan Drake, which is a damn good backfield. But if you're building the backfield and lopping off lineman, that's an interesting strategy to me. One Derek Carr, He's fine. The fans of the Around the NFL podcast, no, the Andy Dalton line. To me, it's the Derek car line. If you have a quarterback worse than Derek Carr, you need a new one. If

you have Derek Carr or above, you're probably okay. But he's on that fringe in the middle of the pack. Darren Waller, Henry Ruggs, Hunter, Renfrow. The addition of John Brown I love they have a good match of athletic ability, quick separation and vertical stretching ability on the defensive side. Max Crosby and Cleveland Farrell. You know, Crosby was a fifth round pick who had better production than the fourth

overall pick in Cleveland Farrell. That's kind of something they do in Oakland or in Las Vegas now, rather over drafting players to fit their culture and such. Janik and gock Way, Carled Nassib and they really added more pieces to that upfront pressure and they got plenty of pressure in that Week six team game last year, So that would be a challenge for Miami. Their linebacker overhaul was a disaster with Nick Kwitdakowski and Corety Littleton. Maybe year

two is better for those guys on the back end. Again, this defense just has kind of some some depth issues. Tray Von Mullen, Damon Arnett. That's some young, inexperienced corners on the outside. Casey Hayward's a big improvement in the slot for them, and then Trayvon Marriage, Jonathan abe Him and Tyree gillispe some young safeties on the back end there for my or for the Raiders, this long trip out west is tough, especially after a hot, humid game

with a difficult Buffalo. Bill's team could be a tall order in Week three. The bad match up here for Miami. We saw it last year, Darren Waller. If it's good coverage, it's still not good coverage because the way he impacts the defensive lineup now with Henry Ruggs and John Smokey Brown, that's a lot of speed and matchup problems, especially when you factor in Josh Jacob's power and Kenyan Drake's dynamic

ability in the backfield. The good matchup here, broken record, seems like so far this the thin secondary the Dolphins will face in this game. Second level defenders that Miami can really work on the R P O game and just have better effort. Go back to the Miles Gaskin long catch and run last year. The Dolphins played harder on that play than the Raiders did. We're coming back home in Week four for the Colts October the third, one o'clock. Carson Wentz's mechanics have been a problem for

a while now. It's a big gamble for a Super Bowl ready roster here. Could they have made a play for Justin Fields. I'm not sure if they out was something they thought about pre draft. Once they went in on Carson Wentz, that was out the window. Be curious to see how he rebounds in a new city. At running back, Jonathan Taylor was awesome last year. Nihem Hines is a great player. Marlon Macks damn good too. Behind that really strong offensive line, It's a little bit of

everything behind the best offensive line in the game. Pass catching, physical running, outside runs, and Quentin Nelson, Ryan Kelly and Chris Reid by the way a win for me on Chris Read loved that signing back in twenty nineteen. He's playing good ball and Brandon Smith very Dolphins like in the way they did this offensive line put a lot of resources into it. Eric Fisher is the big question. He's not going to be ready for this game. I

wouldn't imagine we'll find out comes training camp. I think the one weakness this team could have as a receiver, t Y Hilton is good, but he's long in the tooth. Michael Pittman Jr. Had a great playoff game last year against Buffalo. Will see how much he jumps in the year two and then Paris Campbell hasn't quite live up to the hype of the Senior Bowl and pre draft process. That's about where it ends. Twelve personnel was popular in

Philadelphia for Wentz with Goddart and Urts. They might have the same thing here with Jack Doyle and mo Alei Cox, which again twelve personnel to me is not my favorite against this Dolphins defense. DeForest Buckner was a huge, huge acquisition on their own defense last year. An awesome player. Grover Stewart is like and Dominican suit of me. I love watching him play. He is one of my favorites in the league. And then Quitty pay their first round

draft pick. I think he could produce right away. I also think highly of Ben Bonagu out of TCU a couple of years back. They've got some crazy linked and explosiveness up front that could create some one on one matchups that are difficult to defend against. And then Darius Leonard isn't as good as they come at linebacker and Bobby Oka Rickie, that's a lot of speed there to match the speed Miami now has on offense, and again the broken record thin in the secondary. Kenny Moore and

Rocky sin have some nice upside. They're good players. Xavier Rhodes had an awesome bounce back last year with his new team, and Julian Blackman out of Utah had a great rookie season. I loved his game in college and the pros. Some scheduling quirks. Here a good time to get this cold team, I think again, Eric Fisher likely starts the year on pup, so Sam Tevy at left tackle to matchup you like they're plus getting Carson Wentz mechanically repaired. If that's possible, you probably think it takes

more than four weeks. The matchup I don't love here is the power run game and versatility of that backfield to exploit Miami's Amba package, plus possibly more twelve personnel to get the defensive backs off the field. The matchup I like is the ability to possibly overpower their undersized defense because Leonard and Oka Riki are both sub to twenty, to create one on one matchups on the back end, and also the pass rush against that left tackle. Tough out.

Though this is a good football team. Week five, back on the road at the Bucks, October the tenth at one o'clock. Last we saw Tom we beat him in week seventeen nineteen. This is the style of quarterback Miami has feasted on over the years, and so you kind of get a couple of stationary quarterbacks here back to back. I'd much rather get them early than late. They have the best offensive line in the league in my opinion,

and it's not just because of Tom. It is legit, legit, no cracks in that line with the starting five, and these guys brought everybody back. Leonard for Nett in the backfield, physical presence that could be tough in the humidity of Florida if they get out to the lead with him, and then Geo Bernard a great addition to the backfield as well. I quite like his game. I wonder if they might make Ronald Jones available via a trade because

that's three deep at the running back spot. Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Antonio Brown, Rob Gronkowski, Cameron bray O, j Howard, Scotty Miller. Yeah, the hits keep coming, and they keep coming on defense too. On the interior and Don mckin, Sue and Vita Vella. Veya is one of the best players up front in this league and as good of a DT pairing as there is. Steve McClendon and Nunez roaches provide good depth Shack Barrett and elite pass rusher Jason Pierre Paul still getting the job done, and they

add Joe try On with the thirty second pick. It gets better. At linebacker, Lavante David is a Hall of Famer, Devin White might be even better than that. And then in the secondary, I love me some Carlton David's big physical press corner. Sean Murphy Bunting had a breakout yere with a bunch of takeaways last year in the postseason, Jamal Dean similar in terms of the physical press corner. And then Antoine Winfield Junior. You guys know how I

feel about his game. He is a stud. This can be You know, these game can be track games before you head off to London because the travel is a lot. You go back to hard knocks. When the Rams were going over to London, players had to go up to coaches and say, hey, I gotta get they're not hard knocks. I'm sorry, uh all or nothing. The players were going up to coaches saying, hey, can I get tickets for this? Can I can I schedule this? Can I pack this bad?

Whatever it might be, it's a lot to coordinate during the weeks. That's something to think about. The bad matchup here is the weapons paired with elite protection for one of the game's best quarterbacks of all time. And I don't care how many rings he has, Marino is still little better quarterback. The good matchup here, the guns to match up, and then if you spring a leak, Brady

can't get out. So if you can confuse and pressure him and force bad decisions, just like in twenty nineteen, only you do it with a far more talented defense, you can pick this team off. I think this is the second toughest team on the schedule, behind the Buffalo Bills. Week six in London at the Jacksonville Jaguars, a nine thirty a m. Eastern kickoff on October seventeenth. Trevor Lawrence, how quickly will he acclimate to the NFL? He's gonna play a week one right away? Is he ready to

play early? Does it take some time at you get some tape and also have a few weeks of looking at his game. I love Travis E. T n and James Robinson. That's a tough backfield, is very dual, versatile and multiple. Their thinn at receiver DJ Chark is the engine. Laviska Chanel can be what Albert Wilson was in those two games three years ago. They signed Marvin Jones, but that's a very thin group there. I like the way

Miami matches up on the back end. They're very thin at tight end, as evidence of the Tim Tebow signing. On the offensive line, Brandon Lindore at center still awesome, Cam Robinson, Jowan Taylor a good tackle Combo not great, and their guard situation is a little shakier with a j Can and Andrew Norra. That's where you can really exploit this offensive line. I think on defense, Josh Allen and Calevan Chase on both explosive first step upfield rushers.

You have to be athletic to run them around the quarterback and give space for two A tongue of byaloa pretty thin inside as well. Devon Hamilton' Taven Brian a couple of names you can run the ball hopefully, because Miles Jack and Joe Schober are more coverage rush linebackers that want to kind of move around and fly around and not take on blocks. Good player as though, very good players, and the secondary they're very young and that's never a good thing. I like Tyson Campbell and Andre Cisco,

but shoot, we saw what happened last year. Even with c. J. Henderson second cornerback off the board, Jeff Okudo was first, and he was even worse. All young cornerbacks struggle. It'll be feasting time for a finally tuned passing game, I hope, which I think Miami has. They landed Shaquille Griffin in the offseason. He's a damn good player, but everything beyond him remains unproven. That slot position is dicey, especially if

you want to ask Tyson Campbell to go there. He's never played slot in college, so playing there as a pro six weeks in could be a struggle for him. Schedule quirks no buy post London game. We have nine home games now, seven true road games and this one a neutral side game with a huge Dolphins contingency in England on the road the week before, but the shortest trip on the schedule to Tampa Bay, so it's a little bit easier, eases a little bit of that stress.

The good matchup here, interior your size and lean on their undersized, thin middle defense, takeaway playmaking opportunities for the linebacker, and then it's waddle on Tyson Campbell all day long. I love that matchup. I just hate the idea of moving Campbell to a new position where corners almost never have good rookie seasons. The bad matchup is the versatility in the backfield and a strong, possible power running game

with James Robinson. We saw it for glimpses last year, but the scoreboard took away the Jaguars running game in that Week three win from Miami. I am happy to get them earlier, but regardless, this Dolphins team is just simply further along with a deeper, better roster against a rookie head coach, and again Flores and Boyer against a rookie quarterback. Week seven home for the Falcons, October twenty one,

one o'clock kickoff. I always think Matt Ryan's a threat, but against stylistically, he's the quarterback that Miami has had success with here in recent years, and that new system with Arthur Smith could be interesting. Maybe some more twelve personnel again, but Julio Jones, Calvin Ridley, Kyle Pitts. That's a tough, tough matchup. They might have the shortest backfield in the NFL. I guess Mike Davis is the starter. They added a rookie tackle in Jalen Mayfield to book

in with Jake Matthews. I wonder what that means for Kayleb McGarry, who's had a rough go his first couple of years in the pros. I like Chris Lyndstrom inside, but they have some question marks at center and the other guarden position as well. And on defense, the story is as old as time, the Falcon struggle with their pass rush. Grady Jarrett is exceptional inside, but there's a lack of outside presence. I expect more from Marlon Davidson

than year two. It should be noted they signed Dante Fowler, but it takes more than one guy to tangle for a pass rush. Dion Jones is the marquee name a linebacker, and it's pretty thin after that, and you think that's then the secondary man. They're asking a bunch of guys to have breakout type seasons like Isaiah Oliver, A j Terrell. Richie Grant is a rookie safety a lot of people liked out of UCF. They also added veteran Dron Harmon

for good presence on the back end. Coming back from overseas after this or to face this game, that's kind of tough asked. Thankfully it's at home, though, and it starts a nice stretch of home games from Miami plus Atlanta. Outdoors is always a different team, even if it's perfect weather in Miami this time of year, going from their dome to outdoor humidity and sweat on the football could be a lot different of a story. The bad match up here we saw it last year Darren Waller and

Travis Kelsey. The top level tight ends are unguardable. Eric Rose shut down fourteen tight ends last year, but both those guys had huge days because they had huge days on everybody. I think Pitts is in that year one category. The good matchup here explosive players on our offense against a bad, thin secondary with no pass rush which could create deep drop opportunities and double moves for vertical explosion from Will Fuller and Jalen Waddle. Week number eight the

Buffalo Bills again our first repeat opponent. Halloween October thirty one, one o'clock kickoff. Thank god, it's not December in Buffalo again. I'm so sick of those games. The last time we damn near won a game in Buffalo was when the game was in late October and twenty nineteen had them down in the fourth quarter with the ball on the doorstep, turned it over and the game went south from there.

But getting Buffalo twice before November, I think is a great opportunity to get at least one of those games. I want that week to game bad Man, Buffalo and Halloween. Where would you rather be than that? I'm sure we'll see some crazy stuff that our eyes can't believe was we head into the parking lot into the building. Week number nine, we come back to South Florida kickoff November November the seven at one o'clock Eastern probably run through

this one quickly. Tough to imagine a worse off season four a team, and they signed so many marginal level starters to one year deals just to kind of round out the roster. This wasn't a club that was so top heavy for so many years, and eventually, without a solid foundation, the House of Cards did topple. Just a

really weird offseason, unprecedented, I might say. And that's aside from the legal trouble with their quarterback on the heels of a holdout in trade request and in a modern era where teams are willing to step back and take the medicine and really rebuild. Listen to the free agent signings the Texans made, Tyrod Taylor, Philip Lindsay, Mark Ingram, Andre Roberts, Alex Ericsson, Dante Moncrief, Chris Calmley, and this list is like twenty five names long, all players that

It's just it's really weird to me. Then they spend their first pick of the draft on what the eighth quarterback in the draft taken in Davis Mills, who was beat out by kJ Costello at Stanford. I don't know, man, this is a weird one. This is a game where you have a short week coming up afterwards. That's always kind of tricky. But luckily it's this team at home

for Miami. The good matchup here. I mean, this is a roster that's it's really thin at every position, so I think, you know, the Dolphins have one of the deeper rosters in the NFL Week ten primetime versus the Baltimore Ravens November the eleventh Veterans Day kickoff on Thursday Night football. This is a big sign of this team's growth. Early season Thursday Night football games they are only carried by NFL Network is usually where teams that are expected

to be at the bottom of the league play. Miami was there last year with the Jacksonville game, but this spot is nationally televised on both NFL Network and Fox and they save big draws for those games. So big respect to the league given given Miami some big respect, I should say I am excited for this litmus test. Man Lamar was Game one back in the Brian Flores era. It didn't go well. I'm excited to see how far

this team has come. This is a great measuring stick for it struggled against running quarterbacks in the past and Lamar Jackson is a frigging chore and the running game really functions because of Lamar. But JK. Dobbins gave him another gear last year. Justice Hill is a nice speed merchant and Gus Edwards is fine too. Rashad Bateman could possibly be receiver number one there. Hollywood Brown had a nice late season surge last year. They signed Sammy Watkins,

also drafted Thyland Wallace to go with Devin DuVernay. They've got Mark Andrews Nick Boyle at tight end. This offense has some nice pieces to it. Orlando Brown has gone, so was Matt Skura and d J. Fluker, who of course are both here now. They added Andrew Villa Nueva and Kevin Zeisler, who I think maybe are getting close to the you know that over thirty gang. With Ronnie Stanley coming back at left tackle, should be interesting to see how that line adapts to all those changes up front.

On defense, the same old story Calais Campbell, Derek Wolfe, Brandon Williams, Justin Mattabuki story as oldest time with the big, imposing, tough defensive line and linebacker looks way different. They've lost some guys recently. Taias Bowser and Partnell McFee are the most accomplished rushers and they do it with power. They also added Adolf Away at the end of round one, and Patrick Queen is the traffic cop and very fast

in the middle of that defense. This is a team that challenges Miami's depth in the defensive backfield with Marlon Humphrey, Marcus Peters, Uh, Jimmy Smith, Tavon Young. But safety is the question mark Gino Smith and Chuck Clark and DeShawn Elliott. We'll see how deep that runs. Playing this team at night and I talked about playing the one o'clock kickoffs

from Miami. I think playing this team at night is the one possible team you can have an advantage against because they run the ball like a two thousand one football team sixty run and that can wear a defense down, especially in the heat and the humidity. That is a to me and a bonus from Miami, even though we have the acclamation to the weather they're running game against this defense at nighttime is better than a one o'clock kick in my opinion. The bad match up here for

Miami the run game with Lamar and Dobbins. It's just so tough and you have to be so disciplined and also just fast to chase him down. The good matchup here I think deep shots without the presence of a true pass rusher or efties with elite range on the back end, and if they want to play man across the board, I think that also bodes well for mesh and drive concepts where you can displace guys with different things up front with the type of throws that constructs

the defense horizontally as well as vertically. Tough test here litmus test for the Dolphins weeka Levin at the Jets, A long week here November the twenty one one o'clock kickoff. Zach Wilson's first game against the Dolphins will be at home in the meadow Lands. I think it's gonna be a struggle for him early on, and they've got no backup plan at the quarterback there. He is the guy all the way through. We'll see how his first year finishes, but I don't think it's gonna be as dazzling as

you would like for your rookie quarterback. Michael Carter is their best running back. He was a fourth round draft pick, possibly the best left side of the offensive line in the NFL as early as this year. But Daniel Jeremiah said the idea that your worst offensive lineman is better than your best offensive lineman. And they really only addressed one or two spots on the old line because George Phanton Chuma Adoga are both kind of battling for the

right tackle job. And remember Emmanuel ad against this team last year, four team pressures, two sacks, four quarterback hits, and his two best pass rush grades of the season on Pro Football Focus, and those came against Umadoga and George Fant respectively. Better receiver in my opinion in Corey Davis, but he had the one big contract year. I really like Denzel Mims game, and Elijah Moore is going to be a good pro. But really, two or three deep is about as soon as it gets in the National

Football League, especially against a deep Dolphin secondary. They're deeper upfront on defense. The one markete name as Quentinnin Williams. He broke his foot recently but should be back for the season, and he was a big problem last year in the middle in those games against Miami, especially game number two. They also add Sheldon Rankins and he compliments Williams well. And they also get way better off the edge with Carl Lawson, who I think is only scratching

the surface on his NFL career. It's the back seven where things get really dicey. C. J. Mosley is back and Jared Davis is there. Our top cornerback is Blessed Austin, so you know how that goes. And then Marcus may is a damn good player at safety for them as well. So the Dolphins come off a long rest here following the short week and the Thursday night game so that bodes well. Would have loved to have gotten the rookie earlier,

but this just means more tape on him. I think this is the worst defense on paper you'll see on the schedule, and any rookie quarterback against Josh Boyer and Brian Flores, to me, is a bad proposition. And I'm just not that into Zach Wilson's game we're gonna see. I don't think he's cut from the same cloth at the real dogs at the position are. We're gonna find out soon enough. The best matchup here at Dolphins speed

versus Jets back seven slow players all over the field. Again, Waddle and Fuller, I think have a nice matchup a nice day. The worst matchup is the interior defensive line of this Jets young ideal against the shuffled interior offensive line of Miami with guys playing new spots. Hopefully we've jailed by that point. Week twelve, Verse the Carolina Panthers, November one o'clock kickoff. Sam Donald's career against the Dolphins four touchdowns, ten picks, one win, four losses. I like

that matchup. The problem with this team is Christian McCaffrey. He's banged up a lot, but when he's healthy, he is all over the field. He's catching passes, He's a possibly twenty yards from screaming guy if he can stay healthy. They lose Curtis Samuel, who I just love his game, but they add Terrence Marshall to go with Robbie Anderson and d J Moore. That's a decent receiver corps. But again, this is, for my money, the best secondary in the NFL,

and we've got the speed to match. Byron Jones on DJ Moore, Noah Agnology on Robbie Anderson, Xaving Howard on Terrence Marshall. That sounds good to me. We'll see what Flow wants to do. Taylor Molten is the one good tackle they have. I think the other one is a cast off, possible tryout competitions and camp. The Phillips and og Bob matchup Jalen Phillips and the Manuel a bad. This game should be good. They're solid across the middle,

but no real depth in there. It depends on when the game is because they have like five guys that can trust right now. If someone goes down, that's when the Dominoes can start to fall. Defensively, Brian Burns. You have to get him blocked. He is a very very good speed rusher, and Derek Brown is powerful and should be better inside in year two. This year, they've got a nice deep rotation there at linebacker. They add Denzel

Perriman to help that run defense. Also, Hassan Reddick and Shack Thompson very athletic linebackers, so they have the speed there as well. I love that remade group in the secondary once again, same story, kind of thin back there a J Boyer, Rashawn Melvin. They're both new, but I'm not sure how much is left in the tank on those guys. J C. Horne was one of my favorite five players in this draft, but again rookie cornerbacks, and

then Jeremy Chen he was fantastic last year. Kind of isaais sim Simmons light but played better than Simmons And you're number one, you have to I d him on every single play as you're getting Donald's old team and new team in back to back weeks in an interesting middle portion of this Dolphins schedule. The bad matchup McCaffrey just in general, he's a great player. The good matchup again,

speed versus the aging corners on the outside. They're faster in the middle, but on the outside they're older, and I think the Dolphins can exploit that. Jeremy Chen might be a good matchup to you race our tight end, So really relying on that early separation to mitigate pressure

from Brown and Burns upfront, that would be beneficial. An opportunity here to heat Sam Donald up with some pressure and focus on McCaffrey, match up with the safety help and get good quick game of its those older aging cornerbacks. Week thirteen, we're home again for the Giants on December the fifth at one o'clock. Daniel Jones at quarterback. I think Miami matches up very well with that position. Sake Kwon Barkley's back, that's your focus. Good backs and back

to back weeks here. You gotta tackle him, you gotta match up, You've gotta keep your eyes on him in the screen, game, swing game, flare game, handoffs, whatever it might be. Focus on stake Kwon Barkley. Ideally they get your peek and then they can slip one over the top to Kenny Golladay, who's like a three route guy, but one of those routes as vertical or try to get that slot fade going to Kadarius Tony Sterling. Shepard's probably their best receiver overall, and Evan Ingram requires attention

on the interior as well. They addressed the weapons big time, questionably. I just I wasn't a fan of the Kenny Golladay price tag, but they kind of neglected one of the league's worst offensive lines. They took Andrew Thomas last year over Tristan Worfs, McKay Beckton, and Jedrick Wills, who were basically all three Pro Bowl tackles. Matt Pert was not good as a rookie either. Those of their starting offensive tackles again, Emmanuel Ogba, Jalen Phillips mount up defensively, there's

issues abound. The line is stout, running will be tough, Dexter Lawrence is a monster, and Danny Shelton does not move easily. But you know what this means, yep, this is a pretty slow defense. So crossers mesh shallow stuff. Screen game could be a simple game plan to just relies on all the speed you have. I did like zz Ojulari in the second round, great pick there. The defensive backfields kind of a mess Logan Ryan is a hell of a player, but they spent big on a

Dory Jackson who did not farewell in Tennessee. There are just so many names in here that never developed. Sam Bill, Julian Love, Xavian McKinney's only in year two, so will give me a pass. Jabrill Peppers. Those are all favorable matchups for Miami. With the bye week coming, you have a chance to kind of unload the clip here and get all your bullets out and and be a tendency breaking game for you and the bad matchup in this game,

I'm not sure there's when I don't like. Barkley is tough, and Caldarius Tony could be a challenge if the slot position doesn't kind of sort itself out through the competition. I personally think that it will, but it's a bit untested as we stand here today. In May. The good matchup their tackles versus our pass rush. Daniel Jones is the most turnover prone quarterback since entering the NFL. Against

the top takeaway defense of the Miami Dolphins. Week fourteen is the bye week, one of the latest in the history of the franchise. This gives the guys, what will be a surely much needed day off for a week

off of rest heading into those final four games. Plus, if the game against the Jets coming up is flexed to Saturday, you get the extra day of prep without losing a day in the previous week prep since you're already off on the bye week, so that takes us into week fifteen versus the Jets could be December eighteen or nineteen with a time TBD. Second repeat opponent. We already broke down their game. This is the fifth home

game in a six game stretch. It's important to take care of business there and get on a run for the stretch run with three good teams coming because fresh off the bye week them coming here for the heat. Week sixteen, the Dolphins are on the road at the Saints December two on Monday Night football Bump bump bump, uh eight fift kickoff. One of the more interesting unknown teams on the schedule for my money, they won games without breeze over the years, but sound defense and a

running game. But the offense is so reliant on two players in Kamara and Michael Thomas. But Jamis Winston thirty I n T s the last time he played a full season. Pressure and complex looks. Who does that sound like that creates bad decisions? Alvin Kamara, That's what I wrote down. For running back, He's, in my opinion, this first or second best player at the position in the league. Michael Thomas is still as coming back this year from

an injury plague season. They lost Emmanuel Sanders and their number two receivers Trey Kwan Smith and their top tight ends Adam Troutman, so depth issues there. The line is exceptional. Ryan Ramcheck is an all Pro to ron Omstead. Armstead has been recently as well Eric McCoy, Caesar Re's Andrew's Pete. That line might be better than Tampa's as the best in the league. They lost Trey Hendrickson, but Cameron Jordan

is still there. That would be a baptism by fire type of situation towards the end of the season for whoever's at right tackle, especially if it's rookie Leam Eichenberg, Marcus Davenport, Carl Granderson, Tanno Paso. They're loaded up front. They add Peyton Turner, who could be a great situational pass rusher from day one, especially this late the season to Mario Davis is an intelligent Mike linebacker that gets

them lined up. Zack Bond and nice player off the edge and in the secondary, I love love c J. Gardner Johnson and Malcolm Jenkins. Marshawn Lattimore is a monster, Marcus Williams is tremendous, and they've got some decent depth there too with Patrick Robinson and p J. Williams. Possibly an extra day to prepare for this game with a possible Saturday kick with the Jets the week before. The bad matchup is just camera and that offensive line. They are dangerous, as we saw all year and all his

career so far. The good matchup here thirty picks from the quarterback against a complex defense that can force bad decisions from opposing quarterbacks. So the takeaway battle from me decides that game. Tough matchup everywhere except the very most important position on the field. Week seventeen at the Titans

January the first one o'clock. Ryan Tannehill ascended into a top ten quarterback and frankly he's been top five in production the last two seasons, but I still think he falls in that eight to nine range, kind of like I always thought he was. Derrick Henry is an absolute beat and is the train and the engine of that offense. This team lost a lot of offense of talent with

both Corey Davis and John hu Smith. I love me some a j. Brown, He's fantastic, but Josh Reynolds is the number two receiver there and Des Fitzpatrick, a fourth round rookies also in the mix. Their top tight ends Anthony Ferkster, so some real depth issues there. The line is still a beast led by Taylor Lawan, who's a great left tackle. I'll be curious to see where Dylan Radon slides in. Replacing Jack Conkin. Was a struggle for that team last year with then as Kelly he is

now gone, but they're gonna try with Radans. I would assume they had the second most pressures on the team coming from that right tackle spot, so it's a big question mark. But Roger Staffold and Ben Jones inside they can move people off the football. Tough physical matchup. Defensively, I like the additions of Caleb Farley and Monty Rice, but Farley's medical is a bit of a worry. Maybe he'll be back for this game. In week's seventeen, Malcolm Butler is gone, so even if he plays, remember our

rookie cornerback rule comes up again. Up front. Jeffrey Simmons is an absolute problem, so explosive forty four pressures last year, major disruptor. You have to game plan around him. D Nico Autrey is a nice player. I love me some Rushaun Evans as an absolute car crash player at the second level, and then getting bud Dupree. I was kind of hoping this game would be earlier because bud Dupree will coming off a serious injury, might not be back early on, but he should be back for this one.

He should be a major major boon for a team that needs more pass rush help, and Harold Landry on the other side, he benefits from a big time Maybe they finally solve their pass rush because those guys can both play. Jayon Brown's basically Jerome Baker light and in the second area that's where it gets a little bit dicey g Norris Jenkins was signed there. I think he's beyond his prime. Then Rookie Farley and Christian Fulton, who

had some struggle last year at his rookie season. Kevin Byrd's in All Pro safety, but behind him with Kenny Vaccaro gone, they're a little bit thin. This is really the only possible cold weather game on the schedule, which is crazy to me. The bad matchup here, I'm curious to see how they alter the offense with the loss of John H. Smith and if they really go out with which which package they deploy most on offense A

loving personnel twelve personnel. Tannehill plays better with more tight ends on the field, but we know they want to run the ball, so just getting Derrick Henry to the ground and tackling that's the part they always worry about. And do you commit bodies to free up their deadly deep game with Tannehill and A. J. Brown, It's a tough ask. This offense is good the good matchup. Fortunately,

the matchups are favorable across the board. On the other side, getting the ball out quick can mitigate the passable past rush prowess off the edge with Dupree and Landry, and I think you can scheme around that and really capitalize once again with your depth against their lack of we finish up in Week eighteen. How weird is that to hear with a one o'clock kick off against the Patriots,

our final repeat opponent. Somebody in this game will be playing for something here, whether it's seating, a playoff spot, division, maybe something is going to be on the line here home against the Patriots in Week eight, team you cannot beat that. And also if they're out of it, you probably see Mac Jones. If Cam Newton struggles at all

this year, you probably see Mac Jones regardless. So I think there's a good chance you're gonna see the rookie quarterback in this one, facing his former college teammate into a tongue by Loa. The themes of the schedule, possible five rookie quarterbacks on the schedule, a lot of thin secondaries, some good twelve personnel teams, a late bye week, and fourteen. You've got some good short week luck here with the Apostle Bowl nine days for the Saints, as well as

the long week to prepare for the game. After the Thursday game, you get a great stretch of teams with lower records right in the middle to get heated up. You've got great early season divisional tests. The only cold weather games in Nashville and January, which probably is like thirty degrees at worst. Typically, all Sunday games in Miami kickoff at one, and I love that the only late start is the one I think that benefits the home team. With the Ravens and that power run game, I kind

of wish it started a little bit softer. Not having Will Fuller for the Patriots sucks in Week one, But that tough December January stretch is beneficial because this team plays its best ball as the year goes along. They've improved each month in nineteen then again up until December. But if they beat the Chiefs in that close game last year, that would have been the case again with

a four and one market back to back months. So if we're gonna win twelve games, which I think is not just doable, it's my personal expectation, we have to establish the we can run the football better, that our arsenal of weapons is much deeper and more explosive, and we need to sustain the things that made us shine on defense last year. I think that with the increased experience of those rookies who accounted for four thousand snaps last year. Man again, get me to August. All right,

that's my time on the podcast. Today. We have Rashad Butler coming up on Friday and a Dolphins player coming up on the Monday Podcast. Subscribe, rate Review, follow me on Twitter, Fish Tank, and the Ottawo Podcast, and of course Miami Dolphins dot com for your entire Miami Dolphins schedule. Until next time, fins Up.