Dolphins Roster Review Part 1 | Defense

get caught up on the news from last week. We'll get into a free agent analysis on Cavon Frasier, focus on the key, small but not unimportant details of the Dolphins offseason, and begin to dissect this roster from the top to the bottom, starting with the defense on this Monday May the eleventh edition of the Drivetime Podcasts. And later onto this episode, we're gonna get into the nitty

gritty details behind the makeup of this Dolphins defense. But first, a couple of players that just didn't jive with what this front strives to be on this Dolphins defense. The Dolphins were able to recoup a seventh round draft choice from Atlanta for Charles Harris Obviously that pick didn't work out the way we had hoped it would. Also going to talk about ideal body types and athletic profiles, and the next player on our list of players departing the

roster fit that type of build man. But Taco Charlton, he too was inactive late in the season. Coming out of Michigan. He had the look of a guy that could rush at the edge condensed inside. But according to Pro Football Focus, the Dolphins allowed more than five yards per carry off either edge last season. And I think we're seeing how this staff thinks they can mitigate that issue.

Of course, with Shack Lawson, Emmanuel Ogball, Curtis Weaver, Jason Strowbridge, all big, big dudes off that edge that were added this offseason. Again, more on that in just one moment. So Charlton, he has cut, but he does catch on with the Chiefs, and I said, spect, you'll see that a little bit more, not just from the Dolphins roster this year, but going forward, Guys that are cut and catch on pretty quickly elsewhere across the league. So best of luck to Charles Harris and best of luck to

Taco Charlton in Atlanta and k C. Respectively. The trade of Harris brings back an additional seventh round draft pick. We did acquire that sixth round pick from the Seahawks in this year's draft, but didn't have the original six because of the Minca Fitzpatrick trade last year and all those mid late round picks swaps the Dolphins did in

that trade. So this gives Miami the two first rounders and two second rounders, a third, a fourth, a fifth, a sixth, and two seventh round draft picks next year. We will not be getting any compensatory picks, as that formula is based on money spent and players lost, and the Dolphins salary and coming in certainly outweighs the compensation

going out for players lost. So barring any trades, which I wouldn't discount, Flores and Greer, they are going to work to add assets and future resources to this roster well in perpetuity. But as it stands right now, ten draft picks, with four of those scheduled to come in the top sixty four at least and another one five total picks in the top one hundred at least, So not a bad place to be for future roster building purposes,

all right, that's the parts going out. One part coming in that we never got around too was the versatile acquisition over draft weekend. Not Matt Brita we covered him on a previous podcast, but Cavon Fraser previously of the Dallas Cowboys. Now, I want to be sensitive here and both apologize for not covering that trade, but also take another tip of the cap to Don Shula. That was

a tough week last week for Dolphins Nation. And since I'm always one for putting positivity to things, the outpour we saw for coach from the alumni from us here in the creative and social departments here and the like from the Miami Dolphins and also the fan base. Man, this is a special group, a special organization, and now we work to honor Don Shula as best we can. So R I P. Coach, you were the greatest of

all time. Rest and peace, sir. And a player that Don would have loved because he loves to play downhill and smack people in the mouth is Cavon Frazier. And can we first just talk about this real quick. When was the last time you recall this much emphasis on a Dolphins special teams unit. I know Flores is a known stickler for details, and I couldn't be more thankful

for that as a Dolphins fan. I think we saw the impact in that last year in getting more than the sum of the parts, but also drastically improving and penalty rankings across the board in terms of league rank from the three years prior to that. But we add a former special teams captain here and Clayton Federlum of the Bengals, another one from Philadelphia and Commu Gruge Hill and now Cavon Frazier on top of a crop of rookies that nearly all played special teams at some point

in their college careers. And since this has been a podcast full of tangents already, I watched a lot of football this weekend in a mobile. Nine months pregnant wife that just wants to lounge and read her book left me to my own vices over the weekend, so I thought, Hey, let's go ahead and watch some football. Why not? What

else am I gonna do? And one of those many games I watched was the Dolphins victory over the Indianapolis Colts from last season, and the punt returner in that game was Marcus Sheryl's who was signed mid season, and it made me write this threat on Twitter that I want to cover now. We talk all the time about four down players. It's a sub genre of versatility. The more a guy can do, the more roster flexibility increases

for you. So in this Week ten game, the Dolphins have returned specialist Marcus Sheryl's and he was signed after injuries to Jachim Grant and Preston Williams put the Dolphins up against it for the return man. He plays fifty six snaps in the season, all of those on special teams. So that's a roster spot for your return man, and the Dolphins acquired six players with return backgrounds this offseason alone. Brandon Jones had fourteen punts and three kick returns in college.

Malcolm Perry returned twenty kickoffs. Noah Manogamy had forty four kickoff returns, two of those for touchdowns. Matt Brita has five to his name and his career. Both of the U d f A wide receivers did some returning in college. Matt Cole with twenty three kickoffs and eight punts just last year, and he too scored one of each of those and Kirk Merritt out of Arkansas had eleven kick returns.

Williams and Ford return kicks last year for the Dolphins, and we know about Albert Wilson has a big history of returns as well. No detail too small. None of these additions arrived as return exclusive players, nor are the incumbents. But the depth that hardly seems like an accident in terms of roster construction. So depth is kind of the name of the game here on special teams. But you've also got depth across the roster on the offensive line. You didn't have that last year. Now you've got much

more depth. You've got much more depth at running back. The quarterback room was deeper, wide receiver was already pretty deep. And you've got depth at all three levels. On defense and special teams of course has depth as well. I mean, Jason Sanders in his rookie year goes from a kicker down to a seventy seven percent kicker in year two. So we spend a draft pick on the unanimous number one long snapper and all of college football, because if that snap takes the holder's hand up or down one inch,

that can negatively impact the kicking game. So it's all about these details, details, details, details. If there's an area that needs fixing, Flora's and Greer are going to roll up the sleeves and get in there and try to make it better. And I want to roll this thing back and maintain perspective here because you are what you are in the NFL and we're coming off of five win season and Flora said it himself, games are not one in March and April and a lot of work

has to be done. Hell, he even referenced as much with each rookie and how they've all got work to do in his post draft presser. But you've gotta like the trajectory here, the consistency, and again we'll get some more of that here in just one moment. Let's Dove tell this thing now back into Cavon Frasier. Before we talked about the consistency of the roster editions so far, and you can find a written piece on Cavon up on Miami Dolphins dot com. And we start simply with

the makeup of Frasier on the football field. He's a four year pro who played forty four games in Dallas and started two of those games on defense. During season. In his career, he has sixty seven total tackles, a sack, forced to fumble, and made four tackles for a loss on four hundred and sixty one defensive reps in his career. He is prototypically built to play safety down in the

box and otherwise. He made a mark on the Cowboys special teams unit at six ft tall two hundred and twenty five pounds coming out of Central Michigan University, nfl dot Com and lan Zerline praised the muscular build of the dolphins new defensive back, saying this quote has the physical build of a grown NFL man with broad shoulders and muscular frame, classic heightweight speed prospect comes downhill looking for work and run support, explodes through his targets as

a hitter, and looks to make statements. Has experienced high and low as a safety, good stop start foot quickness for a big safety. Special teams demon with fourteen tackles and punt and kick coverage over the last two year in college. His college coach was a longtime NFL special teams coordinator who praises Frasier's special teams potential. Should test well at the combine and he did test well at the Combine, and his prowess on special teams continued into

the professional ranks. We talked about four hundred sixty one reps on defense, he played six hundred thirty eight special teams reps over his four years in Dallas, and his participation in that third phase of the game is widespread. One hundred and fifty six on kick return to twenty nine on kickoff coverage, one forty on punt return, one on punt coverage, and sixteen reps on field goal block. To round out his resume, he made seven team tackles

as a Cowboys special teams ACE. Over those four years, he had a career high two hundred and twenty six snaps on defense and on seventy five rundown snaps, Frasier made eleven run stops the tackles within two yards of the line of scrimmage according to Pro Football Focus, so a high percentage of run stops on his rundown plays and another staple of fitting the criteria of being a Miami Dolphin extends not just on the football field, but

beyond it as well. As Brian Flores always talks about wanting to make guys better people better, husband's better, father's just a better man in general, and Cavon Frasier. He is known for giving back to his community and did

so in Dallas. There's a story up on seven sports dot com and the Dallas Cowboys section of their website there where it talks about Frasier providing one hundred and twenty laptops to Dallas area schools last summer, the latest in a long line of charitable contributions from Frasier, who gave a quote last Christmas season about giving out gift cards, saying this quote, It's my favorite time of year because I really get a show it to show an impact

on these kids lives and give back. We gave fifty kids a one hundred and fifty dollar gift card to get whatever they want, if they want to get themselves something, if they want to get their families something. For Christmas. We are giving back to what God has blessed us with. Yeah, it's my favorite time of year and quote. And he is beloved by the community down there in Dallas, by

his teammates but also his coaching staff. His Special Teams coordinator Keith O'Quinn made his thoughts known about the key traits that Fraser brought to work every day is saying this quote. First of all, he's brought a physical presence to our unit. This from the Dallas News dot com. The way he works is off the charts. He brings physicality, he's got size, he can run, and those are traits you look for initially in terms of core guys for

your special teams unit. But the praise could have ended there, and it didn't because O'Quinn wanted to praise Frasier for his versatility and desire to get on the field and any fashion quote his ability to punt at flyer. Those flyers affect the punt game greatly Without great flyers, and you can call those guys gunners as well. Without great flyers, it's hard to have a presence downfield. On coverage, he

does a good job on kickoffs. Two, he's a four phase player who was a physical rusher on cat, which is our punt return. It's really the physical traits and toughness he has, which is what we're all about. End quote. Physicality, toughness, a four down player. To me, Cavon Fraser could not sound more like a Miami Dolphin under Brian flores so strength in numbers, depth, guys that can play multiple spots

on your football team, creating roster versatility. And with that, I want to jump now into the kind of headliner of today's podcast. This Monday, May the eleventh edition of the Drivetime Podcast, part of the Miami Dolphins Official podcast network, and tomorrow we're gonna do offense. But I wanted to do this review last week, and because things changed, we're

doing it now. And I want to get a look at the types of players Miami have acquired on the defensive side, something I've typically done in the past, taking a look at the players Dolphins acquired, how their rosters shapes up, and what it says about the kind of football team they want to be. And I wrote that post draft article about the consistency of the message for tough, smart players that fit a certain criteria on the field.

It's nice to see an acquisition and know exactly why that player was added and the thinking behind that signing or draft pick. We aren't the only team that does this, not by a long shot. But not every team does this. There are still some square pegs in the roundhole additions that are made out there every single year. But with this team, with this roster construction, you see a clear plan, a clear vision to make this team the way they want to in terms of on field makeup and their

on field athletic profiles. So we start here upfront on the defensive line. Let's just go ahead and read through it.

I'm spreading these guys out to unique categories because I think it's not genuine to pigeonhole most of these guys, a lot of them can do multiple things for you on offense and on defense, but for the sake of continuity, I went with down defensive lineman, edge players who are kind of end slash linebacker types off the outside, off ball linebackers which are linebackers that typically line up off the football, and defensive backs all dbs, and this Defensei've

got to cover. So really, if you're a safety, you're also a corner. So per the Miami Dolphins dot Com official website and their roster and NFL dot Com measurements via the NFL Scout and Combine, we start with those

down linemen. Christian Wilkins goes three fifteen, Davon god Shaw goes three eleven, and Zack Seeler goes to ninety the additions made to the defensive line, Emmanuel Ogba to seventy five, Shack laws in two sixty seven, and then ray Kwon Davis another player that kind of fits that, Wilkins god Shaw more beef your guy. He's split between those two three thirteen literally two pounds heavier than god Shaw, two pounds lighter than Wilkins, and he really does have the

frame to add more. But that's where he's at right now. Coming out of Alabama. We'll see what the coaching staff wants him to do in terms of his weight. Jason Strowbridge to seventy three, again right in the middle of Lawson and Ogba. I mean, you couldn't script this more perfectly. They're finding guys that split the difference between the people they have in house in terms of their weight on

that defensive line. And how about the athletic profiles Wilkins a one oh seven broad jump, five point oh four forty yard dash, thirty two and a half inch arms, all of those in the seventieth percentile or better across interior defensive lineman at that year's combine. We do not have workout numbers from Duvan Goad Shaw up front, but the arm length there is similar to Wilkins at thirty two and three eighth inches with the arm length Zack Seeler.

Again no measurements for him out of fair estate, but literally the first note on lance Zerline scouting notebook is quote good combination of length, power and size, and that theme you'll see with the long arms and explosive testing metrics. Another note is that he plays with heavy, violent hands, comes out of his stance low, with plenty of aggression. And he also clocked a four eight three forty and thirty one bench reps at his pro day. A strong, strong,

explosive player thirty one bench reps. With his length and his size, that's pretty impressive the additions made up front and Emmanuel Augba, I mean, come on, thirty five and a half inch arms, do you want to talk about length? Wows A one one inches on the broad have mercy thirty five and a half inch vertical. We're talking about ninety percent talent or better in those key areas. He checks all those boxes. Shack Lawson talked about Miami having to get better off the edge, and boy did they

with these two signings. Lost and goes one twenty on the broad, thirty three on the vert both top eighty percentile and just a smidge side of thirty three inch arms. But I think I would argue that he plays even longer than that when you watch him on tape. Ray Kwon Davis at three thirteen has a broad of one eleven.

Come on, that's not even real. The arm length just a smidge under thirty four at thirty three and seven eighth inch arms and eighty one inches on the wingspand the guys are terra dactyl out there on your defensive line. Jason Strowbridge thirty one in vertical one third team broad sneaks in just under four nine with a four point eight nine in his forty yard dash and a sub seven five three cone. His arms are again a smidge under thirty three inches at thirty two and three eight.

So these guys all fit that profile. Guys that can move laterally, guys that can lock out, play at the point, play with power. You've got Derval Netto, Ray Lima and Banito Jones who round out this group. And I don't have workout numbers on those guys, but there's a lot of beef in their to, Lima and Jones are both three sixteen and netto he's the outlier here as he

is quite literally a human giant. He goes three hundred and thirty pounds and he did some cross training last year on the offensive line, and that fits the theme that will cover on tomorrow show as well, talking about the size of the offensive lineman. Now at edge, let's go ahead to start with the wait. Kyle van Noy to fifty, Vince Beagle tot s Andrew Van Ginkle tot Trent Harris to five. Curtis Weaver goes to sixty five, and you could argue that maybe he goes with that

down front group. In terms of down lineman, I think he might be more of a guy that can play both roles. But we'll find out in training camp and beyond. So his two sixty five maybe not fitting in the typical mold of this group, but he can do multiple things, so that's where he goes. Then you've got Avery Moss at two sixty six. I think the same is true with him as it is with Curtis Weaver. I do not want to pigeonhole these guys, so please keep that

in mind. And then Tayshawn Render goes to forty eight. As far as the athletic measurements, Kyle van Noy one twelve broad seven to two three cone man, he can really corner an angle but also play with the power in their upper upper body strength that allows him to drop that pad level and take on contact to hold the point. Allows him to blitz from multiple spots, as we have seen continuously from him up in New England.

Vince Beagle one eight teen broad a six nine two in his three cone time Man, he can corner, he can run games, whether he's twisting, slanting, stunting, and he's got a little bit more length than Kyle van Noy at thirty two and three eighth inch arms there for Vince Bagel Andrew Van Ginkle the Gangster thirty eight inches on the vert. That's nine percent tile on twenty three on the broad also better than nine percentile six three

cone time. That guy is an athletic marvel as well, and he can show you that in last year's tape when he got back onto the field, had a very strong finish to the season. Trent Harris check out the season finale for him and Foxborough. He'll show you some of the goods. He did not participate in the combine. He was on an invite there out of the University of Miami. Curtis Weaver two and a half inch vertical, one sixteen inch broad, a seven flat three cone, and

thirty two and three eight inch arms. Again fits the prototype there. Avery Moss thirty four and a half inch arms, thirty two and a half inch vert one four team broad. It's like clockwork, man. All these guys kind of come in similar packaging, a consistent vision for what you want to be on defense. Tyshan Render did not work out, but he is in similar territory with his size and

athletic profile. Big strong, heavy handed guys that can play multiple spots, Guys that can corner well, control the point, and have the athletic ability to remain fluid across multiple different positions and different responsibilities in the week by week changing of the Miami Dolphins scheme. How about off ball guys. We made two offseason additions here plus one undrafted free agent, and I think this one is a little bit different as far as prototype goes, because there's a bit more

range here. Since these guys are going to be asked to kind of have more of a wider scope of roles in terms of one guy doing one thing and another guy doing other things in the defense. Jerome Baker to ray Kwa McMillan to forty two, Commu gruge Hill to thirty, Landon Roberts to thirty eight, Sam Aguavin to thirty six, Crawford goes to thirty nine, Calvin Munson goes to forty five, and kyl And Johnson goes to thirty.

Jerome Baker jumped out of the gym at his combined workout thirty six and a half inch vert one on the broad jump. A classic modern day linebacker that can run, hit and cover. Ray Kwon McMillan. We know ray Kuan will smack fullbacks, pulling guards and ball carriers in the mouth, but how about a thirty three inch vert and a one twenty one inch broad to go along with that. That's unicorn stuff for a guy that plays so physical.

Commu Gruge Hill talked to an Eagles fan about this guy, and you'll see exactly what they thought of him, not just on special teams, but also on defense. Recall back to the pre draft episode I had Ben Fennel on the podcast, and he mentioned that when Gruge Hill got hurt at practice last training camp, it was like someone died. Nobody wanted to see him go down because he was such an integral part of that defense. No combine, but

just pro day was absurd percentile. And the vertical jump at thirty eight and a half and a four four five forty yard dash that also checks him in the percentile for linebackers e Land and Roberts just more plane absurdity here for six forty thirty six inch vert one and twenty inch broad. We are a team full of

physical athletes. Man Sam maguav and one on the broad seven one five three cone and a thirty eight and a half inch vertical from his pro day and you can see that on his CFL tape and last year in his NFL tape with the Miami Dolphins. I could not find numbers on James Crawford, Calvin Munson, or Kylan Johnson as they round out the group. There of my off ball linebackers and finally the defensive backs, there are

seventeen total on this list. We're not gonna worry about weight on this particular position group because I think the athletic traits are the point we really want to kind of drive home here in terms of what Dolphins are trying to do at the position, and just on those athletic traits, because frankly, you have to be elite at them to be a Miami Dolphins defensive back. Corners gotta run, they gotta tackle, they gotta find the football. I remember

when Flores was first hired. I have a buddy who works on the Patriots beat and he did my last podcast here on Locked on Dolphins before Drive time was the thing, and he talked about world class athletes in the secondary. Well, here's some proof of that. Byron Jones ran a four three six literally has a world record for broad jumping and a forty four and a half inch vertical all of those in the or better percentile. Yeah,

that's completely ridiculous. Xavian Howard eightieth percentile on his forty and on his vertical jump alike, and seventy five percentile in the broad jump at one plus. You've seen Xavian Howard on the field first hand here with the Miami Dolphins and what he does on game day as a shutdown cornerback. Eric Rowe, a safety cornerback combination. Played safety from week six on last year. He ran a four four five, a thirty nine inch vertical, a one inch broad.

All of those check in very well in terms of the athletics scorecard. Bobby McCain also a cornerback safety combo. Hell, most of these guys can play both A hundred and thirty inches on the broad. That's ninety percentile, a ridiculous three point eight to short shuttle that's percent tile. Tells you about his change of direction ability. Noah A Bnogamy a first round draft pick this year, and much like Byron Jones, is Nick swards him playing dance Dance Revolution

in the movie Grandma's Boy. Did I Break It? Yes? You did break it with your forty vertical, one inch broad and a four four seven forty yard dash. Brandon Jones out of Texas. We didn't get workout numbers on him because he had the shoulder injury he was recovering from. But go to YouTube watch his tape and you'll see how well he moves and his explosiveness as well. So

Brandon Jones fits the profile. Nick need him. At his twenty nineteen you TEP Pro day clocked a sub four four long speed anybody, He's got plenty of that to burn. Adrian Colbert just got a one year extension after signing in season last year to help the Dolphins secondary. Now there's a story on niners nation dot com that says he clocked a four to five is Pro Day, but he also has a handheld timer time of four four nine,

so it's probably somewhere in the middle there. But he was also the Texas state champion in high school in the four hundred meters, so yeah, he can scoot as well. Clayton federal Um located Pro Day numbers on the new Dolphins defensive back there in Federalum, he had an absurd forty and a half inch vertical and a one hundred and twenty one inch broad jump. Just more crazy numbers

from this Dolphins defense. Cavon Fraser, we talked about him in the open forty and a half inch vertical, one inch broad checking the boxes for ninety plus percentile there and Cordrea tankers Lee. He's an incumbent before the Dolphins current regime got here, but he two clocked a four four forty and had a one hundred twenty one inch

broad jump. At his combined workout. I couldn't locate Tay Hayes or Jamal Perry or Ryan Lewis or Stephen Parker or Ken Webster or n Brooks in the defensive backfield, but all seventeen of those guys in Gerald Alexander's defensive backfield room look to really have the athletic profile and make up that both Brian Flores and Josh Boyer want

there at the position. So shall we recap up front, strong, powerful, long, tough to move able to hold the point and create penetration through lower half explosiveness and disengage with length and heavy hands and the ability to key the quarterback key, the running back key, the mesh point in zone read game and really disengage that way and be smart football players.

You've got Christian Wilkins, Shack Lawson, Emmanuel Ogba, Divon, Gotcha, Ray Kwon Davis, Zack Seeler, Jason Strowbridge, der Vall, Netto, Ray Lima and Benito Jones on those down linemen in the middle portion of the defense at your edge, Kyle van Noy, Vince Beagle, Andrew van Ginkle, Trent Harris, Curtis Weaver, Avery Moss and Tyshon Render off ball linebackers Jerome Baker, Ray Kawa, McMillan, Commu gruge A Hill, Landon Roberts, Sam Aguavin,

James Croft, Calvin Munson and kyl and Johnson. What do they all have? Versatility, which of course is true of every spot on this defense on this football team. Good ability to corner, fluid hips that can move in all directions, going in coverage, rushing the quarterback, playing the run, stacking up, and that size to stack up and play the run as well. On the back end. Track athletes, Guys that

can run with those deers on the outside. We get receivers every single year that can run four three four four coming out of college football, so you have to have the speed on the outside to match them. Good leaping numbers and lower half explosiveness. Let's just call them what they are, their world class athletes. And Byron Jones, Xaviing Howard, Eric Rowe and Bobby McCain the incumbent there, Noah Ignogamy, Brandon Jones, and Nick Needham in that defensive

back room. Adrian Colbert, Clayton Federalum Tay Heyes, Jamal Perry, Ryan Lewis, Stephen Parker, Cavan Frasier, Ken Webster, Quadrea Tankers, Lee and Nate Brooks. The vision it is very consistent and they're trying to execute that this year. We'll see what happened when they get on the football field, hopefully in time for training camp. To watch all these guys work out, I cannot watch to see all the multiplicity, how they put together these packages, their base, their sub

what they do. It's gonna be very exciting to watch that and have it covered on training camp. But ask for today's show, that is gonna be my time. We'll come back tomorrow and do the offensive side as well as get to know the undrafted free agent class. But as for now, you all please be sure to subscribe to the podcast on Apple, podcast, on Spotify, wherever you get your podcast from out there, Go ahead and leave

us a rating, leave us a review. Follow me on Twitter at Wingfield NFL, follow the Dolphins at Miami Dolphins, check out the Fish Tank and the Audible podcast. New episodes up for each of those shows last week, and of course Miami Dolphins dot com until next time. Fins up