Chris Grier Pre-Draft Presser and the Twitter Mailbag

And on today's show, we heard from the man himself, the Dolphins General manager, Chris Greer in his annual April pressor, talking all things draft, some notes on the quarterbacks, injury analytics, and how the Dolphins free agency played into their draft plans. Plus your mail, bad questions. All of that and more on this Thursday, April sixteenth edition of the Drift Time Podcasts. And we're going to start off the top first thing here with Chris Greer's media availability, which was on third

Thursday afternoon at one o'clock. We're coming to you right after that press conference with notes. You can check out the article up on Miami Dolphins dot com to get a written look a transcribed look at what Chris Greer said at his football media availability for this year's draft. Next Thursday, the Dolphins have four team picks in that draft, obviously,

starting with the fifth pick in the draft. And we start with the quote from the Dolphin general manager that I think was the most noteworthy in terms of what they do in this process. With all the things that you can possibly use to evaluate players, it's all important, obviously, but Chris Greer said there was one thing that stood out above the rest when it comes to player evaluation, and to combine all your stuff with uh, you know, maybe it gives you a little big, clearer picture at

the end of the day. It's what the guys, as the old adage says, the film never lies, the tape never lies, the eye in the sky never lies. However you want to phrase it, the film is the most important. The next question I thought was really good for Chris Greer was about the Dolphins analytics department and how they can basically try to predict future injuries for players with their medical concerns, and how it's been kind of different

this time around with the COVID nineteen situation. Obviously, the Dolphins personnel and staff can't be together physically. They are communicating through zoom and digital technology that way, but not being around each other and Greer did talk about the Dolphins analytics department and what they do with their injury prediction models. Yes, we do have analytics department that injury predictions and again it's footballs off Island sport. We do

the best we can. You know, been in this for a long time, have been around good players that were never heard, you know, like Jake Long for instance back in the day, and the players that was in New England. We drafted Curtis Martin. Curtis Martin's always heard, basically never missed a game into England. So um, I think, uh, you know, in terms of where are guys, guys are not going to get into that. But yes, we do

a lot of students on that cale. Johnston and our doctors stabled a lot of work on every player and don't fantastic job. Just see his normal and it kind of tailed off there towards the end, but you might have heard him say they are going to proceed as normal, and that was kind of the theme of this entire press conference, was his insistence that things are going to proceed as normal even though they're not going to be

physically around each other. Different technologies of communication and that word communication was the key, not just in this situation, but how this entire program functions based upon the strong communication they believe they have, whether it's Flores and Greer, or Greer with Marvin Allen, or Greer with his scouting staff in his area scouts, it's an entire collaboration and the communication has to be on point. It's the key,

says Chris Greer. Now, another issue that was brought up, or a question I should say that was brought up to Chris Greer, was about some of the learning experiences is from previous moves, especially in the quarterback room, and that gave Greer a good chance to talk about Ryan Fitzpatrick, Like we've talked about, you know, what he's done to the locker room, president's type of person, use um, you know, and the impact has had in the locker room, the

younger players and veterans. That galvanizing force is impactful not just for the rookies but also for the veterans in that locker room as they gravitate towards Brian Fitzpatrick in the huddle, in the locker room, on the football field, he was the right guy for the job and the type of player the Dolphins want in this locker room,

whether it's quarterback or another position. And to go back to the previous point about the key of communication, I had a chance to ask Chris Career about how they've been able to find so many gems, whether it was undrafted or on the third day of the draft, with all those fifth round draft picks successes they have had under Chris Career. Here is that question and answer. Yeah, Hey, Chris,

how's it going. I wanted to talk to you about the success you've had on Day three finding both can tributors and starters on the fourth, fifth, six, and seventh rounds and even last year specifically with some undrafted free agents. What has been the key to kind of uncovering some of those late round gems and has the process for doing so changed at all given the current state of things with the virus and the shutdown. Yeah, no, we're

gonna go our same processes. If we've done things, I think our scouts have done a great job as well as coaching staff. And again, you always talking about the communication that's really key because we get those guys in the back end. It's the coaches and scouts on the same page and everyone's you know, on the phone calls talking to players and identifying the players that can help us or see something that has upside for us to develop.

So for us, it's the process is the things always Again, it's a communication and coaching and scouts have done a great job here for us. They've worked extremely hard and communication and and so that's always the key. And then it's relationships you have with agents as well, but always helps.

And uh, and I think our track record as you said, terms to playing the young players, and Brian is committed to giving people an opportunity and people are earning their shot here, and I think that's an exciting thing for free agents from the coming and you're gonna have a chance to make a roster play. And those last few words were the chance to make a roster front undrafted

free agents and attractive idea. And Brian Flores is willing to give anybody a chance as long as they're willing to work for it and willing to earn that spot. So a great answer there from Chris Career. Now, as far as what the Dolphins might want to do with the fifth pick in the draft, how many players are they comfortable with taking in that spot. Chris Weer talked about that as well. Every year, you know, the joke is around the scouting world it's, you know, if you're

picking twelve, there's always ten that you like. You know, so it's, uh, you know where five. But there's we feel really good about, probably eight or nine players that every feel really good about. So we'll get a good players. So eight or nine players they feel comfortable with in that spot at the fifth pick in the draft. As far as who that might be, I'll leave up to you guys, the fans to debate. That. Really a lot of good stuff at this press conference. I have one

more sound clip for you guys. I'll play that here in just one second. But he talks about the quarterback position. The film doesn't lie. It's a big part of the process, bigger than the combine the rest of the stuff, the injuries and analytic department they're gonna have in place to make decisions on players with medical concerns. How it hasn't been much different for him in terms of physical location,

the communication with he and his staff. He did make a hilarious point at one point of the presser where somebody asked him what he's going to do with the fifth pick, and he mentions that his family and people at the grocery store, even his pest control guy, have been asking him who are we picking at number five? So he had some fun in that way, But of course, obviously only he and Brian Flores know the answer to

that question. He did acknowledge the passionate fan base of the Miami Dolphins, and you love to hear that because from my perspective, my vanch point on Twitter, seeing all the responses we get, this fan base does care and they do love this team, and I do believe that is a big aspect, a big portion of making a successful team. You've got to have the people there that love the team and support the team, and that's why

they put this thing on for all of us. So he acknowledges that that's great to hear, and I'm sure many of you are curious to hear about two a tongue of Byloa, Justin Herbert, and the other top quarterbacks. He was asked about them. But he also makes it a point that he's not gonna give you all of his draft intel, but he didn't say that Toa and

Justin are both good people. They're good players. They've both won a lot of games, and he mentions the Dolphins has spent a lot of time on all the top players in this year's draft, regardless of the position, and we talk all the time about collaboration on this stuff.

He did point to several people on his staff about how the Area scouts are the ones they get to go to school three or four times a year at least, and they're gonna be around these players more where they're national guys are executive guys like a national scout like Marvin Allen. Marvin Allen or Adam Ingraff or Matt Winston or Ron Brockington. Guys like Chris Greer himself only go to a school once for a day. They work there, and the Area scouts are there three, four or five

six times throughout the course of the year. Those guys putting in the countless hours on the road. So we are definitely grateful and thankful for the Area Scouts of the Miami Dolphins and the hard work they really do.

And the last sound clip I do want to play for you guys is about the free agency period and how that works in tandem with the draft and how the Dolphins had a holistic vision to kind of put this thing together where you can attack certain spots and free agency where maybe you think the draft might be a little bit weaker than in other years or other positions offer you. I love that mode of thinking. Here's Chris Greer on that thought with the draft and free

agency and how they play together. Yeah, I think you know what us specifically, again, we talked about finding the right types of players for uh, you know again even one of the older players and a lot of guys that were, uh, the younger guys have been winners guys and great locker room guys mentors, and we're not such a young team. So yeah, we're a little more active we have been past. We wanted volume of guys, but

especially not knowing where we're gonna be here in the future. Um, we need guys that can help these young guys transition and learned and get on boards past and came in terms of learning the defense preparing. So having guys had some muliarity with Brian and stuff was really important. So and when you do crease, you always have an eye

looking at the strengths and weaknesses of the draft. So, you know, we even try to address some places that we thought could help us in terms of freeancy with the roster, and then what reduced the draft to help

help continue roster. We appreciate your patients on these podcasts because these are being conducted over zoom and so Chris kind of fades out towards the end of those answers a little bit at times, but basically what he said there was that the importance of free agency and draft in the draft working together was how you can build your roster in tandem, using both of those avenues to

help build the football team. So free agency is step one, and then you have spots in the draft you can go back and attack later that maybe you feel like you need to bolster your roster that way too. So it's a holistic vision, a holistic approach to get the best fifty three guys on the field. Whether it's free agents, whether it's trades, whether it's the draft, whether it's undrafted guys. There are many ways to build a football team, and

Chris Career subscribe to that idea as well. So really fun press conference, really enlightening on some areas of this football team, the way they build this how they're going to be consistent in their communication how they're gonna draft this and get guys that fit the program, the guys they want in the building. And on top of all of that, I know football is kind of the thing that gets us distracted right now during this time of year.

But Creates did a great job of addressing the COVID nineteen situation and thanking all the first responders, those that are on the front lines of handling this crisis and working so very hard to get things back to the way they were in terms of things being up and running and getting people healthy, healthy and safe, and that's the most important thing. He talked about that on behalf of the tire Miami Dolphins organization. So good on your

Chris Good press conference. Plenty of good content again, go check out the article up on Miami Dolphins dot com covering that press or with Chris Career. We have plenty of draft preview content for you guys up on the website as well, taking a look at each position by position, breaking it down ahead of next week's NFL Draft on Thursday, and our own virtual draft with the Miami Dolphins social media's And let's go ahead and transition now into a segment that we kind of buried a while back and

haven't gotten into. But with the draft just one week away, I think this is a great spot to go ahead and get back into the mail bag, get your questions on this draft on this Miami Dolphins football team. And I had pre recorded these mail bad questions, and for some reason I lost the audio clip on where I had the person to ask us first question. But I'm just gonna go ahead and run back through what the

question was here real quick before I answered. The question was basically about which positions have better value or carry more way on the roster over other positions on the roster, specifically on the offensive side of the football, And this was my answer. I think you obviously always start with the quarterback position because they touched the ball every single play, They get the communication into the huddle, they lead the offense, they are the quote unquote leader of the football team

in general. So you obviously always start with the quarterback. But you're not gonna put other the other twenty one positions on the field. You're not gonna dock them because of that. Every person on the roster has to be able to contribute, has to be able to find a way to make an impact on the football team in the way they prepare, in the way they work, in the way they contribute on game day. So I wouldn't expect any specific value to be placed on specific positions

over others in this draft class. Now, some general manager, some teams, some executives have positions they believe do serve as more of a core pillar. But I think that every position really is going to matter to help execute the vision of this team, to help build the team

of sustained success that Steven Ross wants. Because you look at the defensive side of the football of the free agency we talk about this on the film study recaps of those players on defense, and there were so many guys that worked well in tandem together with Shack Lawson and Emmanuel Ogba using the length and power off the edge to create rush opportunities for guys like Kyle van Noy or Commu Gruge Hill, or creating space on the inside with the run defense with Christian Wilkins, Divon god

Shaw and all the dudes up front for guys like Ellen and Roberts to come downhill and make tackles as a run defender. So it's all complementary of one another, and there really isn't one position more important than the next. You've got to build a fifty three man roster because, as they say, and I'm not usually a fan of cliches and tropes, but I do believe in this one, you're as strong as your weakest linked. Your fifty three man on the roster better be able to contribute in

some form or fashion. Next question here comes in from Pat He's at Patty Perk on Twitter. Who is the funniest person that works for the Dolphins? No players are no coaches? Well, you say no coaches, I would say Coach Alexander's Twitter timeline is the best you're gonna find out there. He always has hilarious videos and he's breaking him down like a football coach, because of course why

wouldn't he. But in terms of players or non players and non coaches, I should say I'm gonna go with Surf Melendez only because he has this idea, did I somehow have some kind of velvety radio voice? Every time we have a phone call or a team meeting, he always says, is that the velvety voice of Travis Wingfield? And I'll take that compliment all day, but I don't think I necessarily have the classic ideal radio voice, so

he always cracks me up. He's always full of energy and life and enthusiasm, and those are the kind of people you want to be around, So I love hearing that from the serf. He's hilarious. And you also got to go check out Eric Totorof's TikTok account. He's always breaking out some kind of new dance move something that I have no idea what he's doing, but apparently that's all the rage these days, So check out totor Rof's TikTok.

He's pretty good on there as well. Next question from Chris Murray at Murray C eight nine, what are the chances of Miami using pick number five on the best player available instead of the of the needed quarterback too, then trade up from six to eighteen with a package

of the Chargers knowing they also need a quarterback. Well, the second half of that question would just be pere speculation, because nobody really knows how many trades or what's gonna happen come draft day with regards to how the board stacks up. But as far as your first question goes and the likelihood of Miami taking the best player on their board. I think that's what they'll do because that has been the mode, the m O of Brian Flora's and Chris Greer so far here in the year and

a half they've worked together in Miami. They want to build this roster out the best way they can, each and every single day trademark, whether it's on the draft, free agency, in season waiver wire claims, they're always gonna be scouring what's out there, what's available, and if they can make an upgrade to the fifty three man roster, they're gonna do it. So the best value you have at pick number five, a portion of the draft that typically is reserved for the blue chip players coming into

the league. I think it would be foolish to do anything besides take your best player on your board, because you do that enough over time. This goes back to Miami's approached the entire last season. If you make enough moves that give you plus value as far as market value, then you do that enough times over the course of a year, two year, five years, you're gonna wind up having a very strong roster that can breed consistency and breed success based upon its own program, and that's what

Brian Flores wants to install. We got another b p A question here from Steve. He's at one, Steve Hallett. I've met Steve at hard Rock Stadium, so I wanted to go ahead and give you a shout out, Steve, but you kind of ask the same question as Chris. So Yes, I do believe b p A is very much in play, regardless of what side of the ball

the Dolphins do you want to draft? Next question from Dolphins Argentina at fins up arch as an a r G. Do you see Miami sending some of those six and seventh round picks to get into the mid rounds and which would be great value players from Miami in those rounds.

Great to have your mailbags back. Well, I appreciate that, Sir Argentina of Dolphins represent us down there in South America, but the thing about those late round draft picks is they don't really carry a whole lot of value if you're going off the traditional Jimmy Johnson trade value chart. I know it's outdated, but it's really all we have to go off of as fans and people that are not plugged into the actual inner workings of an NFL

front office and trades and all that stuff. So the value of those later picks, it's gonna be tough to get really any much higher than the six or seventh round with those with those draft picks. Now, I don't think that rules out the chance of Miami making some

moves up and down this draft board. That was the whole idea, right to be flexible with filling out needs and free agency, getting as many draft picks and making it so when it comes to draft day, you can work up the board or you can work back down the board. Now, we've had several guests, several draft experts on this podcast who insist that you can get up into the top one, maybe even one and fifty spots of this draft and still find good value and good

talent in those spots. So I think it's definitely worth exploring if you want to round out some maybe more rotational players, role players like a guy that ends up over the nose tackle and gives you those two hundred three hundred reps as the nose the zero technique, Or if you want to get a guy who can play some backup linebacker and special teams ace and of course

I'm just spitballing about random options. You really can do that with any position, any group at that stage of the draft, and that's how you hit those picks, is to make guys or to get guys rather that can contribute in some form or fashion. So I think there's definitely a chance the Dolphins could get back into that range because of like you mentioned, the glut of those

draft picks. But you also have to keep in mind the successes last year of finding guys in the sixth and seventh round, finding undrafted free agents like Nick Needham, like Preston Williams, like the end season waiver wire claims of a guy like Zach Seeler, of a guy like Tay Hayes down the stretch. Finding guys that can contribute is not just a specific portion of the draft or

a specific portion of the offseason. It's a three hundred sixty five day per year job, and Brian Flores and Chris Career to date have done a very good job of making that happen. Next question comes from the commission

at Kyle. The commission top four tackles are gone, and let's just say offensive tackle is the pick at eighteen who is the best fit for the Miami Dolphins between Ezra Cleveland, Austin Jackson, Josh Jones, and Prince Tega one agu Well, First of all, the first four tackles you're talking about, I would assume are Andrew Thomas, McKay, Beckton, Tristan Wharfs, and Jedrick Wills from Alabama, and most mock drafts do have those four guys coming off the board

pretty quickly. But as far as the next group of guys you have there, I think the upside here is that there is a good second tier of offensive tackles or perceived second tier of offensive tackles with regards to how NFL dot Com or ESPN and the Draft Network, whoever you look at out there, how they might stack

this class. And the thing I like about that group is there are so many guys that are big athletic players that really have a lot of upside at the next level, whether it's Austin Jackson who didn't have much of an off season last year because of the blood or the bone marrow transfusion with his sister. Rather, Ezra Cleveland has great athletic ability out of Boise State, Josh Jones had that really good Senior Bowl left tackle. He looks to have a lot of upside as a pass

protector there at left tackle. So I can't speak to what position the Dolphins might go after at that spot, but I do think the ultimate takeaway is that you have a good glut of players there that you can choose from. Whether it's eighteen thirty nine, you're gonna get a crack with some good football players at all three of those spots. Next question here from Stephen f at SPF Underscore Rip. Will you be doing any video breakdown

of the team's picks after the draft? Well, I do have plenty of video content loaded up on my timeline from before my time with the Miami Dolphins, So we do have tons of content on my Twitter timeline. We do have John Congemi's video breakdowns. I know that a lot of folks are missing the video breakdowns that I do. The problem is that I'm not there in Miami yet, haven't moved across the country to make that happen, so I don't have the access to the video team to

make things happen right away. But we are going to get some of that going once I get to Miami with regards to this year's draft class, where you're gonna have this thing covered wall to wall. It's gonna be a whole lot like free agency, where we have the written piece giving you the breakdowns of the players skill set, the quotes about players and coaches that have been around these guys, the numbers, the raw data on them, the

scouting notes. Were also gonna have them on the podcast to interview them and talk about their excitement for joining the Miami Dolphins, what they bring to the Miami Dolphins. We're gonna have tons of great content here on Miami Dolphins dot Com, on the Drivetime podcast, the Audible podcast, the social media is. We're gonna have it covered for you guys, wall to wall. Next question here from Pedro Dade at Highway Legend on Twitter. How involved is chan

Gaily in the draft process? Well, there are many layers to the answer to that question, because you go back to Brian Flores his introduction press conference with the Miami Dolphins, and his quote was something to the effect of, look, I didn't have to take any job. I was already in a good position where I was, so it was important for me to be able to go to a situation where I thought everybody was aligned in their vision, because if they're not aligned in that vision, it's just

not gonna work. So with that in mind, it's gonna be a collaborative process for the Miami Dolphins. Whether it's executives, whether it's the director of college scouting, the director of pro personnel, whether it's the scouts, the area scouts, the coaching staff, Chris Career, Brian Flores, everybody has a hand in the process. And so Gaily, he's gonna have a specific offense he wants to run. Now what kind of offense is that, To be perfectly frank with you, I

don't know. Because last year we had some good bread crumbs to go off of with Brian Flores defense, even though it was super multiple and super complex and very versatile and could basically change week to week, we had an idea what kind of schemes he wanted to run with chan Gaily. Now, this guy has been in football since the beginning of time, but he's ran every system under the sun. So I think they're gonna find a way to best fit the personnel or best fit the

offensive system rather to the personnel they get. So perhaps that gives them a bit of an advantage in the draft where they can just pick the guy they think is the best player at that position, and then more of the scheme around that player, so he'll be involved. To what degree no clue, But I think everybody in the organization from a football standpoint, is involved in the entire draft process. Next question here from Steve donal Heiro Jr.

At donof Underscore Junior on Twitter. Antonio Gibson, running back Memphis. His tape is unreal? How is he so overlooked? Well, the question with a player like Gibson, and this really is true of many players that come into the draft, and it's not so much anymore as it was in

the past, but it still is a thing. Guys that don't have a true home position, guys that play multiple spots, It can sometimes dampen their draft stock heading into the draft, even though maybe it's not always justified, like for instance, Derwin James goes pick seventeen to the Chargers a few years back. That guy was one of the top ten players in that draft class in my opinion, But because maybe not every defensive coordinator in the NFL had the plan for how to get the most out of Derwin James.

He falls number seventeen, and with Antonio Gibson. This guy can run, he can catch, you can do a little bit of everything. So he's a part of both phases of the offense. But some scouts, maybe some personnel people might view that as a master of none issue and dock him for that, So that could be why he falls, But I agree with you. His tape is a lot of fun, very explosive player and gives you a lot

as a pass catcher there as well. Next question here from Anthony Field at ant Field eighty nine on Twitter. If we draft a left handed quarterback, does right tackle become more important than left tackle? I don't necessarily subscribe to that anymore. I think both positions tend to be a little bit agnostic in terms of how important one is over the other. You just look at this year's draft class. Jedrick Wills played right tackle Alabama. Tristan Worst

played right tackle last year for Iowa. You have McKay Beckton to play left tackle, but he also plays a right tackle at Louisville. All these guys can play multiple spots, and it used to be the left tackles protected the quarterback's blindside, and that's where all the best pass rushers went.

But that's a very antiquated approach to the game as well, to be because at one point you had Cameron Wake lining up over the right tackle every single snap, you had Julius Peppers over there, and so the more pass rushers became prevalent on either side of the formation, you had to be able to block those guys up anyway. So I don't think the blind side is necessarily as big of a deal as it used to be. I think either way, you're gonna want good tackles for your

young quarterback as he comes into the league. All right, that's a good spot to button this thing up. We're just one week away from the NFL Draft. Don't forget to check out tomorrow's episode of the Drivetime podcast Chad Pennington on the two thousand eight Wildcat game. It was a great interview, kind of a cool experience for me to talk to him growing up watching the Dolphins and that game and that team in that two thousand and

eight season. Do not forget to check out the Virtual Dolphins Draft sign up on Facebook today, all the content on YouTube on our social media channels and go ahead and subscribe to the Drivetime podcast on Apple, podcast, Spotify, wherever you get your podcast from. Go ahead and leave us a rating, leave us a five star review if you like the show. It helps me out big time.

Really appreciate that of me. A follow on Twitter at Wingfield NFL, follow the Dolphins at Miami Dolphins, and of course check out the Fish Tank and the Onable podcast and Miami Dolphins dot com. Until next time finds up