2022 Review: Inside Linebackers

your pulse if not far of what is up? Dolphins? And welcome to the Drive Time podcast, part of the Miami Dolphins podcast Network, covering your team, your Miami Dolphins. How's it going everybody? I am your host, Travis Wingfield. And on today's show, we continue our easy review with

the inside linebackers position off ball linebackers. We'll talk a little bit about the pros and cons of the off season as a football fan, and we'll welcome in Kyle Crabs of the Draft Network to get his observations from mobile at the Senior Bowl from the Baptist Health Studios inside the Baptist Health training complex. This is the Drivetime podcast. Most smissed the queue there. We uh will get to the vic Fangio podcast when it's announced that should have

happened after the Super Bowl, so that is coming. The dragons are coming. We also got news Dolphins moved on from offensive line coach Matt applebaumb per the story from Armando sal Garrel on the website I will not reference

here on my podcast. He said that Frank Smith spent too much time in the offensive line room and wants to get back to be more offensive focused in general, and the Dolphins will look to find an O line coach who can basically take on the roles that Frank Smith ran last year edition to all the offensive line roles required at that position. But you guys know the drill by now, ten coaches and nine years at that position, would not be surprised to see another big addition here.

People like working for coach McDaniel. Getting vic Fangio is a massive, massive poll and a great nod of you know, not having your ego bigger than your desire to to win football games and to be great down here. O. J McDuffie, you guys know him, said that the offensive lines is the toughest position to coach, and I've seen this stated multiple times from people I respect quite a bit in the industry that sometimes or not sometimes, but the offensive line can really make coaching as important as

the personnel that you have. And I think that's evident when you look at the New England Patriots over the years, because when they had Dante Scarneckia, they had great offensive lines, and when they didn't, they did not. And there was a lot of similar personnel in the years that Scarneckia would come and leave and go back and leave again.

So I think there's validity to that. And with all that said, this is the last week of two NFL season, with the Super Bowl coming up just six days away from the time you hear this podcast, maybe five days if you here it on Tuesday. I always take a little bit of time to kind of reflect on the fact that we don't get Dolphins football for another seven months. I then enjoy the remaining playoff games as much as I possibly can. I've talked about that here in the podcast.

Then you get a little bit of the blues realizing there's no football at all for that same length of time. And I do quickly realize, you know, nothing from a hobby perspective brings me more joy than the football season, especially you know now, like Monday night football is always and must watch after the games on Sunday, and for me, Sunday Monday's longest work days of the week. Then you get two days with no football and you're right back in the saddle again on Thursday night for the weekend.

That's the part of the off season I loathe the most, not having a game every two or three days that I'm looking forward to watching. And then obviously college ball on Saturdays as well, and frankly I'm all the way in on the Eastern time zone starts time as we venture here very deep into the weeds. But those eight eight twenty kickoffs, I don't know when the hell they

kick off anymore. Those always fall in line with the conclusion of bedtime, so it's always a perfect way to end the day, like that's my personal time without you know, having to rustle and run around and chase kids and get dinner ready and get dishes and all that stuff taken care of. Once the day is done. Monday night football, Thursday night football kicks off. I look forward to those

nights throughout the week. But now we get the off season, which I also find to be a blast, even when it doesn't involve our team, Like the quarterback carousel is always fun to project, like a fun aside here. I used to be a regular call in guest on the Brock and Sock Show. It was the ESPN affiliate of Seattle Morning Talk radio from nine to noon up in the Seattle area. Brock Heward and Mike Salk. One time, Salk asked the listeners to call in and talk him

off the ledge heading into the off season. I know you all remember that year. It was the year of the quarterback carousel that really got this thing going. The first time that I can recall Peyton Manning changing teams. Matt Flynn was coming off that monster performance. Everyone backups could like parlay one big game into like getting traded for a second round pick and a massive contract. It

doesn't really happen anymore. But that was also the luck r G three Tannehill, Weed and Falls Wilson draft here, and I remember telling Sock on the air, who was convinced they were going to miss out the Seahawks on top of the draft and Matt Flynn, who was, you know, besides Peyton Man the big get that year because of Joe Philbin's relation to Matt Flynn in Green Bay and getting the job in Miami. And I called in and told him, no, the Dolphins are gonna be all in

on Ryan Tannehill and bring back Matt Moore. And this is when I was writing as a hobby, not getting paid and just analyzing the game as a huge fan of it. And I was right. In fact the website, my buddy ran that I was the football writer for the Bleacher Beat. Back in those days. I used to write um handicapping, Lione handicapping stories on football and projecting records,

all that fun stuff. But he posted a story up there where I predicted all the quarterbacks destinations that year, and I did pretty good, outside of a few misses I think I have with the Dolphins. Tannehill call was the crux of all the success and that exercise. So what I'm saying is I'm excited. I think this will be a big year for the quarterback carousel. We've gotten

two dominoes really already, one official. The Ravens came out and said they would tag Lamar Jackson if they don't get a long term deal done, and of course you can trade tagged players. But watching the Ravens end up season press conference, and a point I like to make when people ask me about it, they built that entire offense around Lamar Jackson skill set, and you don't just strip that down and start over with the same personnel and get high level production in the post Lamar Jackson era.

Moving on from him would require a total shift and philosophy and personnel. And that's a playoff team who might have been a healthy quarterback away from competing for the a f C crown this year. Then of course you get Tom Brady's retirement, and that leaves the potential trades right like Aaron Rodgers, Derek Carr the four most among that group. Jimmy G's also a free agent. I would assume he gets some offers to go be somebody's QB one by at least one organization. The Raiders make sense.

They're if not Rogers, And if you know, if it's not Rogers in Green Bay, what kind of market does Jordan love have who frankly, I would rather have over one or two years of weirdo Rogers It's always fun, man. The Stafford trade was that before the Super Bowl? Right after it? I can't remember. I do remember. The Alex Smith trade was exactly you know this time whenever that happened,

like right between the conference championship and Super Bowl. Plus we get March Madness the start of the baseball season, and I haven't been this fired up for a Mariners season and literally twenty five years. So we got that heat, playoffs and a great South Florida golfing weather time on the calendar, on top of more time with the family. So what I'm saying is the off season, it ain't

all bad. Speaking of the off season, let's go ahead and get to our year end review and go back to the defensive side of the ball here with our inside linebackers, and is a rough year for that position and group. I will say the fourth rank in rushing yards per game and tied for fourth in yards per kerry does lend itself a little bit to this position.

I tend to put more on the defensive line for that for their part in that stat and that ranking two hundred and fifty six total tackles here among the four players, run stops twenty one tackles for loss. Pass rush production was pretty good thirty six pressures, fourteen hits, and nine and a half sacks. Of course, that's a lot of blitzing reps though, but the ball production was not good. No picks. It's just six passes defense to

one force fumble and no recoveries. Um. As far as the individuals go, again, there was only a few guys here. Channing Tendal number forty one in order of jersey number played just nine snaps on defense total three tackles that include special teams. Didn't have any other statistics. Number forty five Duke Riley is set to be an unrestricted free agent. Forty five tackles, three for loss. He had twelve run stops, nine pressures, one hit and one sack on the quarterback.

He had two passes defense was his only ball production. Uh Sam go Von number forty nine had four tackles and two of those were run stops. He's also a free agent, so was e Landon Roberts number fifty two, who had a hundred and seven tackles, ten for loss, forty run stops. He had thirteen pressures, six hits and four and a half sacks. No ball production and the number fifty five Jerome Baker a hundred tackles, six for loss, forty five run stops is a good number. Four team pressures,

seven QB hits and four sacks. He got four passes defense and one force fumble. So again, ball production way down past rush production pretty good from a defense that calls on their linepackers to blitz really more than almost

any other club in the NFL. And this previous defensive iteration, but just the group as a whole, Like I start with Channing Tindall, who was the Dolphins first draft pick back in two as a player that we talked about on the Friday podcast as a potential key to unlocking not having to spend resources at a need if he

steps up and becomes that guy awesome. But we talked about how little football he played in college, getting that one year starting experience, and it was tough for him to get on the field because there's just a lot to learn with responsibilities, with rules, you know what certain checks do and what that means, and uh, you know, we saw him make some brief cameos this past season. I can think of that good spy rep he had on Justin fields to usher him out of bounce shy

of the sticks on their opening drive. I think it was to force a field goal and post of scoring seven and a touchdown. I think when you envision what Channing can develop into, you know, that's it. Your modern day linebacker with speed to burn, capable of playing all three direct directions, going downhill, falling back into coverage, or playing silent the sideline against those stretches own concepts, and then the rest of the room on the other side

of that coin. Really is Jerome Baker a player who you know, he's showing that skill set as a pro. Had that great pass rush season back in one, but it hasn't really been the same since then. I do commend him for the ability to play stack off ball on the edge, you know, Sam and Will. He can play really any position, and he makes a lot of checks and calls as the kind of the signal caller on the defense are in the middle, but the like where's the calling are the pass rush? No, it's just

free runs on the quarterback coverage not really. Does he destroy blocks in the running game, not really. That's what a Landon Roberts does best. But that's a very small piece of the puzzle at the position group here in the modern day NFL. And I thought it was his best year as a pro last year. I thought he was decisive and brought the lumber as best he can. But you can still see the shortcomings when certain teams

put him in positions to attack those shortcomings. The Bills that fourth down possession on the opening possession, I should say the fourth down touchdown throw was a coverage bust by Landon Roberts, and that that first game back in Miami in Week three, if you're gonna put him on the field and your base, teams will attack the play action game and go after him in the passing game. So the ideally you want to avoid that type of

player on the field. So if the Dolphins want to maximize the defense, you get a player who doesn't have to be subbed out in certain roles to fulfill that spot. And I think their entire linebacking room currently as it stands, is that way. Channing Tindall being the one guy I think can be a versatile, multiple three down type of player that you don't have to worry about removing in those situations. And then of course Sam edg Van has been a glue part of the special teams since he

arrived back in twenty nineteen. So you can see some upside in the room, but probably needing to make some some moves to improve. And if that's Channing Tindall improving, that would be great. If not free agency and the draft, here's what's out there. We need more ball production. Man. I would say pass rush production because of how we played in the past, but with a new defense, to me, it's more about the football. We will not blitz nearly

as much. There will be some fire zones thrown in there, which is zone coverage with a fifth rusher coming, where you pull back a defensive tackle defensive edge and replace their past rush with a linebacker who or maybe even a defensive back who you didn't expect. That's pretty big in the Fangio system. Maybe there's a chance to get Jerome Baker on free runs there, but I prefer a rusher who has a counter move to just opposed to just running free, who can beat it back with their blitz.

But man, like, if you all you need to do that is speed, then I've again, I've got another line acker who's faster and plays that literally ten percent of that cost. So we'll see what happens there. But for comparison, you know, talking about ball production from this group, we had one force fumble, no picks, and six passes defense. Right, we're talking about close to two thousand snaps. What are the best linebacker corps in the NFL do in San Francisco?

Seventeen passes a defense that's eleven more. Two picks that's two more. Three force fumbles that's two more, and three fumble recoveries that's three more. That's honestly good to me for one or two wins that those are game changing plays. And you replace that production and literally any of our losses,

most of them probably become wins. The Vikings game I think would have maybe even the Bengals game for sure, the Niners and Chargers games, and the Buffalo games they're late at the Green Bay game, any of those games. You give me that linebacker production, I think you win those games. So what's out there in a really impressive free agent class. And we'll go more into depth in the contracts where we expect, you know, from a resource

allocation commitment, more in depth down the line. But the Pro Football focus top one d list is out and they usually do a pretty good job of gauging the market in terms of what players would or could get. Funny money season man, it always is, and with that one of the trick of your positions to gauge in terms of impact and resource allocation all of that. There

are some clear fits here. I think now we will also do an analogs podcast in the future looking at Fangio defenses and what it looks like in terms of body type and prototype and makeup and all that stuff. But in terms of responsibilities you have to cover. You have to be able to beat blocks with physicality typically and those are one and to pass rush to me is a bonus. But again there's not tons of blitzing, so instincts like Zach Thomas type of instincts would be awesome.

Get yourself in a position before you have to react. Alignment, reaction, flow, anticipation, all that stuff are key traits at this position, and there's nobody better at that in this class of free agents to me than David long Lavonte. David from Tampa Bay could be, but he's a little bit longer in

the tooth and was gonna get a big contract. I tend to want to pay the bigger contracts to younger players, but this defense will often call upon five one looks you know from our four two or three three personnel. Whether that's you know, it doesn't matter who the grouping you have out there, You're gonna have five down and

one off ball linebacker a lot of the times. So think Phillips and chubbed down off the edge, Steeler and Wilkins as your five or four eye techniques, or even you know you're two head up over the guard and ray Kwon Davis on the nose. The biggest need this defense has, in my opinion, right up there with cornerback depending on what happens in the house of that position, is a player that can fit multiple gaps, keep himself clean of second level climbers, and cover the hooks and

curl flat zones. That's a lot to ask for, I understand that, but man, if I'm spending big money, it's David Long fintanency Titans. He is super, super instinctive who understands landmarks and concepts and just doesn't cover grass. He finds a body to cover in your man match and your zone match coverage concepts, spot Rack has him at just five million, which is crazy, and that's why I'm not going to use spot Rack anymore from market value because PFF has him at four years fifty five million,

just under fourteen per year. You know that's more in line with his value. The next top of them are get options Tremaine Edmonds, and I don't like that value nearly as much. T J. Edwards is my next preferred top of the market choice breakout year, great against the run and in coverage and the size and makeup to you know, to man that role here now if you want to go more affordable, gosh a zz Alsha here makes a lot of sense. No fall steps in his game, length,

pass rush and and and pass lane disruption. I also really like Laton vander Esh's game weird career, but man, he has that Brian Urlocker type of frame and athletic ability where I think you can get down the pipe and cover and also play forward. Uh call upon him to play that tough role in the middle. I don't think Okaraka is a fit. I'm also intrigued by Jermaine

pat from the Bengals. He's fantastic and coverage. PFF had him with just two miss tackles playing in coverage, no mistackles against the run, and only allowed four explosive plays in the passing game all year long. And the Bengals needing to load up for Burrow, Chase and Higgins and all those guys. Maybe he does skate free. Probably my third option among the top of the market guys. They are David Long. I didn't even talk about t J.

Edwards had a breakout year this year. Uh great against the run and coverage and the size makeup to man that role here and then Jermaine Pratt in the mid tier option, Aziz Alsha here, Lton vander Esh I also put Drew Tranquil in there, and my bargain players. It might be Duke Riley, It might be a land In Roberts. I don't think you're going to upgrade the position going this route, but if you want to go catch lightning at the bottle somehow the way the Packers and a

few years ago with theve Andre Campbell. Maybe it's Alex Anzeloni. Maybe it's Dakota Allen who played for Fangio previously in Denver. Maybe it's Quincy Williams. I don't really think so. I think this is an area you can absolutely justify going and spending a decent chunk of change on. There's still nineteen million dollars in cash owe to Baker, but you can get out of that deal for eight point seven

million dead money. Uh this year. He's been paid the guarantees in the contract already, but making eight point seven this eleven point one next year. So you can supplement the position with the idea of maybe getting out of that deal next year, or maybe you stay the course and go this route towards the draft. Not a great off ball linebacker class, but we aren't in the market for a first rounder anyway, so maybe it's a good thing. I don't think Clemson's Trent and Simpson is an option.

He would be a fantastic option if he makes it to pick fifty two. I don't think he does two forty pounds. Physical, best athlete at the position in the draft. He accession especially excels and coverage. Drew Sanders I think it's probably next from Arkansas, but he's kind of a hybrid edge rusher. Then you get jack Jack Campbell from Iowa, something of a draft Twitter favorite. He's been fun to watch on tape. He's a true mike backer who is

thought to have the best floor of the class. Six ft five, two fifty pounds played that mike position his entire life and it shows, and the way he takes on blocks and reads angles. You might have to use fifty two on this player. Maybe you can move back or up into the late end of of round two, early round three. We'll see. But he's the best fit in the draft in terms of a true Pierre Mic linebacker. And then I've talked about day On Henley a lot

from Washington State. He's a Day two pick. He might be more in that Drew Sanders category than Jack Campbell for edge hybrid. Frankly, I draft him and figured out where he goes after the fact former quarterback played wide receiver too. You see the athletic ability, his change of direction, skills, twelve tackles for lost, four sacks, one interception, three four Almost this year we talked about Needy more ball production. He can do that. So, Frankly, I think your solution

is in this crop that I've mentioned here today. I would prioritize David Long, t J. Edwards, a zz alsha Here, Layton vander esh, Jack Campbell, and Dayon Henley. I think one of those guys can help you maximize this Fangio defense. There's some Day three options, but they all come with, you know, baggage. Noah Sewell the organ linebacker, not the coverage savant, but he's a nice cheap Landed Roberts type of player, thumper, better pass rusher than Roberts, not a

space player. But after that it's all sub package and you know special teams guys like Sewell, Cam Jones Indiana, Dorian Williams from tou Lane, Nick Herbig from Wisconsin. Not a bad crop to choose from your fit to fit your needs. So plenty of options there. Speaking of options, that go ahead and take our first break here long podcast to day and come back on the other side. We'll talk all things Senior Bowl with Kyle Crabs in

the Draft Network. That's next Drift Time podcast. Your host Travis Wingfield, brought to you by Auto Nation, joining me now on the Drive Time podcast is the head Haunt Show, the big dog, the boss at the Draft Network. He's also the host of Locked on Dolphins. You know him, He's Kyle Crabs. Kyle, did I get the t d N title. Right, I'm pretty close. I think, um yeah, let's let's sit with the big dog. I think that's the one that resonated with me the most out of

everything that she threw out here. So yeah, the big dogs here. We're ready to talk a little bit of Dolphins, a little bit of draft. Excited to be chat with my good buddy Travis Wingfield and give Dolphins fans a treat. It's one of my go to Nick Dames for anybody. Man, woman's size, shape doesn't matter. You're a big dog either way. But you are the big dog at the Draft Network and because of that, you're down in Mobile for the

Senior Bowl. How is it treating you? Man? I saw you guys are doing some some live stuff around dinner time. I know you're busy during the day watching practices and grinding the tape as the handle would suggest. Doesn't look like you guys got one of those annual miserable weather days this time around either. Uh, we did, but it it's actually just more it was more like a mild day for South Florida residents because it was hot. The

first day we got we got torched. I talked with the executive director Jim Naggy said, Dude, I can't remember a day of practice that was that hot in like twenty years of the Senior Bowl. So it was felt like training camp weather, and uh we we paid the price with our with our sunburn. But that's uh as the risk you takedown in mobile and the practices have been great, the event has been great, the players have

been great. Had a lot of chance to meet a lot of really compelling young men who are getting remate to jump to the NFL and the excited for them for the opportunity that they have in front of them, and to talk about some of the ones that might

be fits for the Dolphins. Let's go ahead and start right there then, Kyle, because that's what you're on the podcast for Dolphins and Draft Expert kind of meets the center section for us at a perfect time every draft season, and we haven't had you on since the last draft cycle before we get into the Senior Bowl, though, I just wanted to check in on the bigger picture of the main reason we're having the podcast here talking Miami

Dolphins football. Just want to kind of gauge how you're feeling about the team coming off the season that had so many highs, so many low was a playoff birth, near victory there, near surprise victory in the wild card round, some aggressive roster decisions. I think last time you and I spoke was probably after the Tyreek Hill trade and talking about using those late ones to get premiere players. Dolphins turned around to that again, a reported move for

a big name defensive coordinator. A lot has happened in three hundred sixty five days. How are you feeling about the Dolphins right now heading into the offseason. Well, I was just having this this conversation down here in Mobile with somebody on a personnel staff and talking about process versus results, and I know that that's something that that is listeners to any any shows that I do would not be surprised to hear me invoke that that phrase.

But I really do think the process for Miami has been good and for as much as you know, the discussion for Dolphins fans may or not may not be focused about postseason success. Let's put it in the perspective of there's twelve teams in the NFL um that have twenty eight or more wins over the last three seasons. The Dolphins are one of those twelve, and they're only one of four teams to have three consecutive winnings these

across that stretch. So I mean, you think about the results for Miami, they haven't had the big breakthrough that so many Dolphins fans have been waiting for for so long, but the process is bearing fruit in a way from Miami that the fans should be really excited about the

direction of the team. And we're coming into an off season where Miami has has doubled down on a young quarterback that showed growth this year, and obviously the the offensive production versus what I have been in previous season season speaks for itself. And now you already have have indicated that you're going to be making some changes in other key spots to help facilitate this team continuing to

evolve and take the next step. So I think it's a very exciting time to be a Dolphins fan in general. Not to mention, like we talked about the mid season moves that kind of almost ushered in that new wave at least on one side of the football with Bradley Chubb, and we just haven't had this team. Are seeing this team rather invest so heavily at that edge rush position.

Now they have a couple of guys and even guys that are up for contracts this offseason that really got after it, and so I'm excited to see what can be done out side of the football year two going into or I should say going into year two of Mike McDaniel's offense. I mean, you're hitting a lot of the notes we talked about here on Draft Time, especially

process over results. Uh in that in that vein and speaking of this offseason and some more resources used to put into this football team to improve it in three Um, the biggest way to do that, or one of them is the draft, right and I think the draft starts in Mobile. I'll go ahead and throw Jim that, uh that complimentary tagline here on the podcast. Years are burning right now. He did the show a couple of years ago,

so I think he'd be happy to hear that. Uh. We we've support the Senior Bowl very big time here on the on the Draft Time podcast, very bigly. I guess I should have said, but let's go ahead and start here, and how you like this year's crop just in general, like, what's who's the carved up hand with a class, how you like in this Senior Bowl crop

and and what's sticking out to you so far? Man, So this Senior Bowl class for me, maybe lacks some of the top end of the first round talent that you've become accustomed to attending here at the Senior Bowl. And I think that's more of a testament of this draft class in general. You know, when when when we

are are stacking these play and doing in rankings. I'm gonna be honest, you get the first six names down on the board and you're like, well, whoever is gonna be number seven really feels like they should be seventeen.

It's that there is this little bit of a vacuum and in that vein, it's a great embodiment of the value that I think the Dolphins got with the draft selection that they chose to invest with that number twenty one over I'll pick which started with San Francisco, and then it was in Miami, and then it went to Denver, and now it's in New Orleans. So I mean it might change hance another four times by the time the

draft actually rolls around. But um, I think Miami is is really well positioned to have a number of UM players that are stars down here in the strike zone for the Dolphins where their three Day two selections. And you ask me who shines, the first name that comes to mind for me is Kansas State cornerback Julius Prentz. Who's long, he's physical, he can play zone, he can

play man. He had an awesome Big Twelve championship game against Quinton Johnston, who a lot of people associate with being a top twin, top twenty five selection in this draft class. Friends, has has been an absolute stalwart and standout. And I think another name that is of a position for need for the Dolphins is Luke Musgrave, the tight end from Oregon State. When we played in two games this season, dealt with injury. He said it was the

first time he missed time since pee wee football. Um. But from a heightweight, speed perspective, like you, you'd heard that the rumblings of the league being high on Luke Musgrave, and seeing him in person down here, it's very apparent why that's the case. The question is whether or not these guys have boosted themselves into a stratosphere in which if Miami fell in love with one of them down

here and continues throughout their process. Um, if they're going to be in the strikes, owner, if you'd have to be aggressive to go get one of those guys to

potentially help fill a need for your roster. Yeah, you're hitting the right notes, man, because it seems like every single year that kind of I guess Day two picks In general, it seems like there's always a handful of guys that went through the process, played well in the Senior Bowl, uh, tested well in Indianapolis, wind up being like you know that, I guess fifty two pick seventy five range, and that wind up being like an All Pro in a couple of years. I'm thinking like Terry McLaurin,

Deebo Samuel a couple of examples, and those are both receivers. But, um, you know, every year it seems like we get that, especially on the offensive line to the offensive line, seems like it's a small school guy every year. I'm sure you'll mention Cody Mock at some point, but let's go ahead and get back there acause you mentioned cornerbacks, you

mentioned tight end. Think offensive lines always an area you focus on for every team every single year, and we've seen some good buzz from that group, And let's kind of go ahead and whittle it down here because we've heard coach McDaniel go in depth on this a few times, UM retraining the way these guys play the game, the way they fire off the football, uh, compared to maybe how they played it in different schemes. I thought we saw Rob Hunt have his best year in this system.

I thought we saw Connor Williams transition to a new position to become one of the five best, maybe three or two best centers in the NFL. That's a discussion for another day. We saw to Ron Armstead do what to Ron Armstead does and dominate. With all that knowledge in the back of your mind, which players in this game or this week of practice fit that mold for the Dolphins, like on the offensive line, Well, I think you in voked the right name first off the bat

with Cody match Now. He he wasn't uh dominating throughout the course of the week. He he he was tested at times with the first step, quickness and twitch. And it's important to remember, well he was a tackle in North Dakota State, UM, but he played tackle, guard, and center on both sides of the ball this week in practice. So if there was ever, Hey, let me get a new left guard. Let me get a new right tackle. You know who stood up Cody Match and he went and got in line and he got up there and

he got as many reps as he could. So you love that competitiveness for him as something that really pops. I think John Michael Schmidt's the center from Minnesota is a big center, but but he is very fluid. Minnesota ran a lot of zone concepts and their rushing offense,

and then they built r pos off of that. And if that sounds familiar for Dolphins fans, well it probably should because zone concepts and r pos off of that is there's some overlap between what Miami has showcased as maybe being staples of their offense as they continue to grow and involving tool defensive personnel and what Minnesota did when John Michael Schmitz, who was there for six years, did and was a staple in the center of that that unit. The nice thing about John is he has

guard center flexibility. So you might hear, oh, well, he's a center, we got Connor. Well yeah, but this is a three pound offensive lineman who has guard versatility too. So if he were a player for the Dolphins that ended up being on the board in an area where they felt he was the appropriate kind of fit. I don't think he they'd be restricted by personnel decision making to to have to choose one guy or the other to be on the field. The third name that I

would mentioned Matthew bergeron tackle from Syracuse. Long fluid movement skills are good. He actually showcased a better anchor here in mobile than I thought he showcased on tape at times.

And that's really promising when you consider that Syracuse offense was either Ronde Gaston Jr. For another name that Dolphins fans will recognize, Shawn Tucker the running back, or bust Off pensively, So they were very limited in what they could do, and I think that that put the offensive line in some disadvantageous situations throughout the course of the

season for Syracuse. Well, you isolate the variable of Matthew bergeron and what he was able to do down here, and he moves like his own tackle, I can tell you that. And he's built like a tackle. And now all of a sudden, he's dropped an anchor in one on ones where you have a lot of grass to I decide to you that you have to cover, so

you have to be a really good reactive natural athlete. Um. But then he was getting moving in the run game too, So I think those are the probably the three names if I were to invoke with center guardment tackle that that popped to me for the kind of movement skills and aggressiveness and competitive nature that we're probably affiliating with what the Dolphins would like to add if they are

retooling that offensive line in any number of spots. I get a chance to see Rondo gats And every Sunday at the radio station for he does pregame, we do post games, so we see him down there and it's good talking to Rondo. He's very, very proud of his son over there at Syracuse. That was a cool shot out. He should be because he's an salute baller. Man. All dude, all the guys that we grew up watching, all their kids are gonna be better than even they were, Like

Marvin Harrison's kid. Man. It's it's it's something to watch. It's it blows my mind. Hey, quick follow before we

take a break, care real quick. You mentioned John Michael Schmidt and say it again in the name John Michael Schmidt's Schmidt's Okay, that's what I thought, Um, And you mentioned six, you know, six years in college something I've seen, you know, around draft communities or whether it's just Twitter or whatever, I don't know, but people talking about like breakout age and you know, being too old of a prospect is a downside for like quarterbacks or receivers, But

is that a benefit for the offensive line? Like does the league kind of like a year old offensive lineman they can draft and they know he's gonna come in mature, kind of as ready for pro football as you can be. Yeah, I I certainly think you see this trend with offensive lineman in general, where they come into the league and you kind of have this culture shock of the difference

between the college game and the pro game. But Michael schm it's playing in the Big Ten for as long as he did and facing a lot of NFL talent and then being exposed all the different kinds of defenses. I certainly think there's a little bit less of a concern with the physical maturation of the player and what that strike zone looks like versus the mental maturation of

the player. In the strike zone that they have to kind of overlap as many peak years as possible, and for offensive lineman uh to to be a higher floor player, I certainly think helps build a resume for you to be coveted more because everybody needs like seven good offensive lineman and we know that's not the way the NFL works. There's very few teams that have five or six, let alone seven to have the appropriate depth that they need.

So yeah, if you can alleviate some of those concerns and be a high floor player, I certainly think it helps boost your stock at that group, just because of how many you need to roster to feel good about the entire unit. Not to mention the position flexibility to which has always been a kind of a mainstay down here with Dolphins offensive lines. Good stuff, Kyle, Let's go ahead and take a break here real quick. We'll come back on the other side, talk about skill players, defensive

backs and the rest of the crop. Here at the Senior Bowl and Mobile. Kyle crabs the Draft Network and locked on Dolphins. Coming back next here Drivetime Podcast, your host Travis Wingfield, brought to you by Auto Nation, talking all things Senior Bowl down in Mobile, Kyle Crabs locked on Dolphins podcast and the Resident Big Dog was his title. I believe that the draft newer he came up with. He's given us all all things Miami Dolphins related draft

prospects here. Dolphins got a couple of picks on Day three three to be exact, and then I think it was three two more on Day three, round six and seven for the Dolphins. So not a lot of meat on the bone for this draft class, but plenty of premium picks there in the top or so. And Kyle, I want to talk about the skill spots here because you know, Miami had their best offense and twenty five

something years. I forget the exact number. We know we've got playmakers all over the field, but focusing on the running backs and receiver positions, so we moved tight end here for a moment. Who's caught your attention as potential draft picks among receivers and running backs and what Miami likes to do in this offensive system. Yeah. I think there's a number of backs who have really really popped, one of them being TAIJ. Spears from Tulane. He's probably

been the most consistent back from start to finish. Throughout the week of practices. Um came in a little bit bigger than expected. He's got really violent cuts, he can run between the tackles, He's got some explosiveness to hit some big plays. He did that in practice this week.

So UM, I think that's probably the big winner. I know Illinois running back Chase Brown didn't have a great consistent week from a a practice to practice performance perspective, But I still have a hard time for getting the tape with Chase Brown. And he had a phenomenal year this year and came in at five nine and a half two fifteen pounds a little bigger as well than expected.

And and he's definitely got explosiveness to the edge. So those are the two backs that when I look at Miami and if they choose to go in a different direction than either a Jeff Wilson Uri Raheem, most those guys are probably going to be middle round type selections at the running back position when you factor in the positional value of running backs wide receiver. There's been a

lot of really really interesting guys there. You want on speed, you got Nathaniel tank Dell from Houston, who was uncoverable through the first two days of practice you want size. Uh, you have a couple of Standford kids out here, um, who have surprised with how fluid they are for their stature as well. Um, you've got Xavier Hutchinson from Iowa State who has been a pretty consistent performer and contested situations as well. Um, there's all different kinds of flavors.

And I guess the question for Miami is what role do they envision for Eric Azukama middle round selection from them from last year who we finally got to see a little action late in the season, get a handful of reps, but it was largely quiet transitional year for him, and whether or not that he's ready to take over for Trend Shurfield. Do you bring her field back? Do you feel you need to go get another player to

play the Trend Shurtfield role. There's some potential flux in the depth of that Dolphins receiver room, and I think you consider all the options that they have on the table that there's all kinds out here, and they're all kinds that are really going to be available in the rounds in which the Dolphins have picked. So it's a it's a fun group to look at and kind of say, hey, there's there's nobody here at receiver that we should consider to be off the menu as it pertains to the Dolphins. Yeah,

that sounds good. And I mean that's probably the one position where if I looked at and you said one position you have to bring back the exact same room, what would it be. It might be the wide receiver's room. So they're in good shape there. But it's always good to hear that, and it seems to be the case every year. There's always so many receivers available that can

fit what your specific team needs are. And you mentioned Trent shut and we know how important he is the blocking game here in the running game, and kind of speaking of that and condensing things inside, I wanted to isolate the tight end position on its own because you know, one, how good of this draft class looks to be at the position for age and see it looks to be similar, you know, as far as what's available right now. That will change when teams start, you know, applying franchise tags

and long term contracts. But Kyle, first, are any of the top five tight ends in this year's class down in a mobile and then from there just give us the rundown on the players you liked that could be fits in this system with McDaniel and Frank Smith and John Embrey and the Miami Dolphins offense. Yeah, Luke Musgrave is definitely a top two tight end in this class in general, and I would not be surprised if he ends up getting up into that first und stratosphere when

it's all said and done. I mean, you saw him in person who said, Holy cow, this dude looks like he's built in a lab. And then he practices and he says, yeah, I felt it was great to be back out there, had and played a game in like five months. Uh, but I felt slow, like my legs felt heavy. Took me till about the end of the practice on Tuesday before I kind of got my legs

up underneath me. And then sure enough, he was the fastest GPS tracked time tight end on Tuesday's practices at eighteen and a half miles power when he said he felt slow, so we kind of got a chuckle out of that. And then the Wednesday GPS numbers come out and he's the first Senior Bowl tight end in the last five years with Zebra tracking technology to crack twenty miles per hour on the GPS, so the big boy run.

He's got strong hands, he can block. He talked about the enthusiasm that he has for blocking, and I think

that's the thing for Miami. When you consider the receiving skill set that the Dolphins have had with Mike Gasecki, you foil that with um the blocking skill set of some of the other players at the position, and then you consider is there an opportunity to get all of that in one player and the challenges that it could pose two opposing defenses in addition to trying to accommodate for all the speed that the Dolphins have on the outside in the backfield. I think that's really an exciting

opportunity for Miami if it proposes itself to the team. Now, the challenges is Musgrave has performed at a very high level. Dalton Ki Kate from Utah was scheduled to be here. He unfortunately as an injury and was not able to come down in part participate, but he was one of the top five as well. For sure, I'd like to acknowledge at least one day three name who had a really nice practice on Thursday. A number of big time

catches and it's pain uh Durham from Perdue. This was a guy who's a little bit more of a renowned blocker. But they went to the high red zone and he caught a high point of the ball against two defenders to go up and catch the football in the corner of the end zone. And then they did two minute offense to close the practice and he makes the scene catch that gets some twenty seven yards and gets in the field goal range. So the Purdue tight end certainly

helped himself throughout the course of this week. Finished his practice week with an exclamation pointing and it kind of showcase the skill set that gives him some nice versatilities potentially a Day three target. I love when you perk up about players at positions that could potentially be need to the Miami Dolphins. It sounds like a good time to to have a need of some of these spots you're talking about here. Let's go ahead and flip it over to the other side of the football and talk

front seven as a whole before doing defensive backs. Now you aready mentioned, Julius brans is a name that really stands out to you off the top. You and I have had so many conversations about this that the past rush was really good. This year, Kyle, the front was good. We needed a better marriage of Russian coverage all year to kind of, you know, bring it all together, and it happened at times. But a lot of that front is back this year, man, and I'm pumped up about it.

So let me go ahead and phrase the question this way to you, where are you looking on the front seven in this defense? And then who fits those interests that you might have this week in mobile? I think that the Dolphins, in the same way that we talked about having more diverse skill sets and single players at the tight MP position, I think that's relevant in the

linebacker group. And do you think about Jerome Baker and he's a kind of a de facto three down player, but that other spot is either Elaine and Roberts as a guy who's frequently playing downhill and when he's on the field and passing situations, a lot of the times he's adding on as a pressure player. And then you foiled out with Duke Riley, who I thought has been a pretty sturdy player for the Dolphins, but he is a little bit more of a space linebacker, can you

find a player that can do both? And of course the team drafted Channing tin Dall and he had a transitional year in the same way that Eric Azukama did, and and the team's faith in him and his ability to do that may dictate just how urgent the Dolphins feel adding another linebacker that's physically capable of doing all of the above is for the team this offseason. But there were there were a couple of guys um Kim Jones from Indiana who missed the last eight games of

the season with a foot injury. Diane Henley from Washington State. I know that's gonna perk you up up bogs Um, former wide receiver who transitioned to safety at Nevada and then he transitioned the linebacker in Nevada and then he transferred to Washington State. He's been really good in the

past rush stuff. Um. I think there's some really range e guys here at linebacker here that if, especially when you consider the expiring contracts that the Dolphins are facing at that position, you don't know for sure who's going

to be back. Um, there's no shortage of athletic linebackers, and I think that's probably the top spot when I think about the front seven, that Miami is going to have to negotiate who they want to bring back, who financially it makes sense to bring back who's played themselves into a different stratosphere than Miami has budget for. Those are all questions the team is going to have to ask themselves. But there there's a good group of linebackers

down here. Absolutely. I get the sense that, you know, kind of going through my own offseason, uh, you know what's what's protected to be free agency and draft and our own incumbents, our own free agency up it looks like Miami is gonna have options, which they tend to put themselves in that position every single year. With the flexibility of how they do things with you know, player negotiation, all that fun stuff, and and the flexibility of the players they get, it just kind of trickles down all

the way to ultimately having options in the end. And let's go ahead and finish up here with the penultimate question before I get to my kind of fun game I have for you at the very end that puts you on the spot. Big dog of Draft Network, Kyle Crabs the defensive backs we saw Miami deal with a third level of attrition here. Defensive scheme shift likely coming here. Obviously, I want to talk both corner and safety. What are we looking at those two positions here as far as

potential fits down on mobile for the Senior Bowl. So I mentioned Julius Prince. I'd like to again mentioned Julius Prince. I'm a big fan of this guy. Talked to him after practice on Tuesday, and he's just wired the right way to be a really successful player. And he checks a lot of boxes for his instincts and his physicality and his length. I think if you go go beyond that, Darius Rush corner from South Carolina was another guy who timed really well as like a six ft two corner.

Regen Right from from Oregon State into the packed twelve guy, another big corner long and you think about you know, regardless of whether or not the Dolphins are calling zone or man type defenses, to have length, it is important to be able to do uh. And those guys I think have all showcase movement and skills in addition to length of gives you some feasibility that they could be versatile coverage players on the back end of your defense

at safety. Jamie Robinson from Florida State is a name that pops to me, and the other one is Sydney Brown from Illinois. It's the brother of Chase Brown, and Sydney, for my money, was the best practice player across all three days for either team. I think he's made himself a lot of money with the attention that he has drawn to himself. And this is a player when you think about versatility in the secondary. He's covered tight ends.

At Illinois, they were very man heavy with their defense, obviously with Devin Witherspoon, who's rumored to be a top twenty type selection. The other corner, Kwon Martin, played in the slot in the nickel and and took wide receivers, but he's played outside corner before Sydney Brown in this in that safety room. And then the other safety, Kendall Smith, is a true free safety I think is a draftable

guy as well. So they had a lot of NFL on in that secondary and Sydney Brown being kind of the chess piece that moved around, and I think this week got him a chance to showcase himself matching up against some of the players that maybe Quon Martin in that Illinois defense was usually covering, and instead he got a chance to cover the receivers instead of the tight ends.

And the instincts and confidence and foot quickness there are the things that really pop. And he was the guy who when he was out on the field, the coaches were running everything through Sydney Brown. So you know, the football i Q and the ability to pick stuff up quickly is there. I really really liked his game. I thought he had an excellent week this week, and I think he was the star from the safeties. There's never

been a coach that didn't like that. Trained by the player to get things right the first couple of times, to get a communicated to the rest of the defense. Great stuff, Kyle, And we always do this with you here on the podcast because a draft expert typically means we ask about mock drafts and things like that. It's way too early to do this, we're gonna do it anyways, because these rosters across the National Football League will change

dramatically from now until draft time. But the Dolphins do have a pick in the second round, two in the third round, and so the game I want to ask you to play is going just from Senior Bowl talent, a pick that you believe will be there at fifty two or wherever it is in the second round, and then two more third round picks that you think will be available at those spots. Three names you would slot in on the Dolphins roster from Mobile today February six

to give us those three names. So, unfortunately, I've kind of beat the dead horse on Julius Brents, but I will mention him as that second round type of selection. I think Jamie Robinson from Florida State could be a player that's very realistically there in the third round. He profiled similarly to to Sydney Brown. H Jamie Robinson from Florida State. As far as the third name, I could go Kenny Macintosh, running back from from Georgia, who I think had a pretty good week this week as well.

I can also mention Roshan Johnson, who was down here at the running back position. He's a little bit more like Jeff Wilson and Raheem Mostart, but he's a former quarterback. Uh. He's big, he's physically play super hard. The league expects him to be a top one pick. I don't think he really shines as far as a runner, He's gonna get what's block form and fall forward and get some

tough yards, but maybe not hit explosive home runs. UM, but he showcased he was about the only back that showcased himself really well with UH past protection in the passing downs, some of the back struggle with catching the ball out of the backfield. I think he's a player who still has Top one hundred on the menu for him if the Dolphins end up needing another bigger back, and I would also invoke Taj Spears as another potential

candidate UH to potentially be there. I know he's had some knee issues in the past, so at the running back position, which is traditionally devalued by teams. To acknowledge that he's had some medical stuff that teams are gonna have to sort out and not every team might give him a passing grade with flying colors as far as his medicals, I think there's enough there that Taj Spears would be another end of Day two candidate for the

Dolphins as well with the running back spot. It's funny you mentioned Brent's in the fifty range because when you mentioned his temperament and the way he plays. It kind of reminded me of Cam Taylor Britt last year, the rookie from the Bengals who had a really good post season run there for Cincinnati. Um sounds like kind of similarly wired there in terms of their physicality in the

way they play the game. So good stuff, man, That's that's that's what we're going for here on the podcast, Kyle Crabs grinding the tape on Twitter, Locked on Dolphins. No title listed on the bio for the TDM, but we already come up with it. Um big Dog, the big Dog of t d N and scouting CBO chief Boff. Damn it, I messed it up. That would been a great chief Boss officer. I'm not gonna cut it out. That's my next one for you, Kyle. We'll see an indie. Man,

thanks a lot for coming on the podcast today. My friend Dravits is always good catching up with you. Man, Appreciate it and thanks for having me on. And there he goes. Kyle Crabs went very long here, but that's okay. We planned on that because we cannot get enough draft information here on the podcast, Boots on the Ground down a mobile from Kyle Crabs Big thanks to him. Check out his podcast, Locked on Dolphins. Check out the Draft Network. They're doing big, big stuff over there at t d N.

In the meantime, it's gonna be my time. 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. Follow the team at Miami Dolphins. Check out the fish Tank podcast with Seth and Juice, the team YouTube channel for media availabilities and Dolphins Today and some more offseason content, and finally, Miami Dolphins dot Com. Until next time finds up Caroline and Cameron Daddy Plea's coming home.