Drive Time - 2020 Camp Battles to Watch

daily dose of Miami Dolphins football. And on today's show, with training camp just about three weeks away, we'll look ahead at some of the most intriguing camp battles to come. I try to understand a graph on force and acceleration.

I'll tell you why camping is the worst. And we're talking all things fireworks, both on and off the football field, all of that more on this Monday, July the sixth edition of the Drive Time Podcasts, and training camp is merely three weeks away, give or take depending on the report date of the particular team. We'll find out more about the Miami Dolphins here in the coming days and weeks on training camp. But every year we see the countdown to the regular season opener as kind of this

grand number we're all looking forward to. But I always view the first day of camp as the start of the season, especially now in this role, being on hand there in Davy and after last year getting down to training camp on my own accord with the Lockdown podcast network, that was to me like a kid in a candy

store scenario. Everywhere you look, pretty much in your entire periphery with two football fields from goal line to goal one, You've got drills, position groups, coaches, star players out there. When you're a real fan of the game, I just don't think you can get any better than that, and you certainly can't replicate it. Of course, on Sundays, we all live for Sundays in the National Football League. But those training camp practices, man, there are a lot of

fun to get out there and go see. So the best time of year for me is nearly upon us camp and we'll talk about my favorite camp battles that are set to take place on the battlefield out there in Davy. But first let me just really walk back. I guess this take that I put out there on Twitter, and I think I sent it out on the fourth of July itself, which is kind of sacrilege here, I think,

especially in Washington State. But I want to put context on it because I didn't actually go camping over the weekend. I said that camping is objectively the worst, and the word objectively is important there because I would argue that it's actually an an arguable fact. There were plenty of replies in there, some agreeing, some disagreeing. I saw a few mentions of glamping, which I had to look up

what that is. But I agree with those folks because therein lies the exact reason why camping is, to me, well, the worst. Now, out here in the Pacific Northwest, you're really never more than a hundred miles or so away from the mountains, so it gets cool outside fast. It was an hour drive for us to get from eighty five degrees all the way up to sixty five degrees up in the mountains, and you just can't beat that scenery.

This is not a knock on nature. I happen to love nature, love getting out there and going for long walks or hikes, and that's why this trip actually was not bad at all. I really enjoyed myself out in the wild. My wife's family are the very outdoorsy types. They are to the tea people that want to get out there and go camping, and that's just not who I am. Different strokes for different folks. That's totally fine.

And the beautiful part of having a child, as you moms and dads out there would know, is the built an excuse to get out of literally anything you want. So my wife proposes the idea that we go out there and meet up with her family who are camped up in the mountains for the entire weekend, and that we go for a few hours. And I figure, you know what, I don't want to go. Obviously, it's not

my favorite thing to do. But if she's willing to move across the country with me, the very least I can do is spend a few hours in the mountains. And because she knows I loathe camping so much, I just made it a point to not complain about the whole thing at all. But this was entirely fine because I had a few beers played some parlor games. Have you guys ever heard of the game called can jam.

It's basically what amounts to a small short garbage can with the frisbee, and you have two on two and your teammate stands on the other side and you throw a frisbee at him and you try to hit this can and he can like alley you put into the can, or if you make it in on your own, you get certain points assigned to you accordingly. So we drove up, had a nice podcast, had the little one was sleeping the entire way up there and the entire way back. Got up there, played a couple of games, had a

couple of drinks. Then we got out of there, so a nice little reset, get away from the phones, and then boom, you get right back to your bed, your air conditioning, your internet, all the amenities that really, quite frankly take over your life. Won't you become inundated with them? So I can understand the need or the the desire for that reset. But that was about a three hour deal up there, actually camping quote unquote, not counting the drive. That's the maximum amount of time that I find it

to be fun for me. And the comment that I saw that I thought was really dead on was I don't work all week just to go strip away all the things I work for on the weekend, And that exactly right. It there is my point, because you can't tell me that sitting around in a circle with nothing to look at other than each other. Nowhere to go, not great food to eat is better than having door dash and streaming services, air conditioning, a chase lounge with my cozy pellow and blanket. It's just it's a no

for me, man. Camping is a no for me. Now. Training camp, when it comes to football, that is for me. And this is something we haven't dove dived divin doven into it. We haven't dived into training camp previews or camp battles since I took the reins on this podcast. Let's go ahead and talk about some training camp battles. We gotta preface this with every single job is up

for grabs. That's the basis of the program. You will compete and you will not have anything handed to you as a Miami Dolphin, that's most teams around the league, right, but it's especially true for Brian Flores and this Miami

Dolphins team. And I think we learned that abundantly clear last season, Flor's first in Miami and shoot, even being out there last year, there were a few surprises in the lineups through the course of the first couple of weeks of camp veterans that were considered maybe written in Penn into the starting lineup by some of the fan base, and those guys are running with the two's. It's where I first reported that Nick Needham was getting some time

with the ones before eventually starting that preseason opener. And of course that experience would serve him well, as he would play a lot more later on in the season. And speaking of cornerbacks, and we're gonna do a whole thing on defensive backs to close this podcast. But I know it was my first camp, but I would venture a guest that Xavien Howard last year was the best camp performer a lot of these long time reporters in South Florida have seen on this team. He was so

damn dominant. Stuff like that is what really makes camp fun to me. To see a guy grab a pick, then get a pass breakup, and then they gather up for eleven on eleven and he snatches another one. It was constant. It was fun to watch a star player perfect his craft in practice like x did last summer. So training camp is important for many reasons, but of course sorting out these battles is one of the go to things you look for at training camp. And let's

go ahead and start here at the quarterback position. That's where you always start in this league, right, That's the obvious part. And I don't think it's hyperbole to say that this is the most talent that Dolphins have had in the quarterback room and quite some time. From top

to bottom. You've got a guy who's thrown for thirty three thousand yards and two ten touchdowns in his NFL career, and whose best two years of his career came at age thirty six and age thirty seven, and for good measure, the third best year of his career for my money, at age thirty three. Back in with Fitzpatrick and the Jets, and you know what Fits is going to look like in camp. He's gonna be on time with the ball,

with his reads, He's usually gonna be on target. He's gonna have the offense operating in an efficient and correct manner, getting the plays called in and out of the huddle, getting guys to the right spot. You just don't really have to worry about Ryan Fitzpatrick. He has seen it all. You've also got a top ten pick just two years ago in Josh Rosen, who made some big time splash throws down the field. Last year in camp, particularly going

deep to Preston Williams. And I thought Josh's best moments in camp last year came during the live periods, in the critical situations, the red zone, two minute drill, that sort of thing. I'm excited to watch him in year two in Miami and see the growth he's made the Florence reference. Throughout the season last year, whether it was practice or on the game day field, whatever it was, Flores talked a lot about his growth, both mentally and physically.

I'm excited to see that play out in training camp. And of course, the fifth overall pick in the draft into a tongue of voloa. You don't spend the fifth pick on a quarterback that is not supremely talented, or a player at any position for that matter. The fifth best player in the draft figures to be pretty good, right, and that's who too is the fifth pick in this year's draft. Highest passer efficiency in college football history for

a career. The ball placement, the ability to get through his progressions quickly and replace blitzers with the football, pick up, the coverage rotation, disguise or find dis guy's in the coverage and go to the right spot with the ball. I can't wait to watch him sort through this offense in his rookie year and watch him take those steps we talked about with Rosen. Then you've got Jake Rudoc, who has done a really good job here in Miami of giving the third team of fair Shake a fair

look from the coaching staff. And by that I mean being efficient in his communication, not wasting reps because of knowledge gaps, getting the football out on time. We've all seen plenty of NFL preseason games that just aren't watchable late in the game, and that didn't happen here in Miami last year because Jake Rudoc. He was quite the opposite. Actually some really nice fourth quarter moments last August in those exhibition games. And that was true in Camp two,

and that's true because of Jake Rudoc. I really liked this quarterback room from one to four. I think they all give their teammates a chance to be a better players out on the practice field. So it's Fitzpatrick's jobs to lose, his job to lose, but he's got to bring it every day because these young puffs they're gonna push him. We go back into the backfield and take a look at the jobs up for grabs here in

this backfield. Again, every position up for apps, but I think the running back three position is the one that I'm most intrigued by in this group because I'm a big Miles Gaskin fan. Maybe it's the Pack twelve bias in me, but I also got Patrick Laird from Cal in that group as well. I thought Gaskin looked sharp last year when he got a little bit more chance to carry the football, to catch the football late. Of course,

he suffers that injury in the Bengals game. That was a bummer because I thought he was really picking it up in that game. We talked about Patrick Laird. He shows you what he can do in the passing games, some of his skills there as a multifaceted back. Caitlin Balage coming back for his third season now, also a Pack twelve guy out of Arizona State, Chandler Cox a fullback, but that's kind of an independent position. As far as

the third running back spot. Then you've got Malcolm Perry, who just adds a whole another dynamic to your offense. So I'm really excited to see which of those guys can really push both Jordan Howard and Matt Brita and get onto the football field for some meaningful reps come the season at the tight end position. The tight end too, spot is what I'm looking at. We know what Mike Kasicki is an ultimate seambuster, a big time receiving threat

down the field. Durham Smith, Michael Roberts, Chris Myrick, and Bryce Stirk the undrafted free agent gonna flip over from the defensive side to play tight end. I was a big fan of meyer Rick last year in camp, thought he earned that right to be on the practice squad because of some solid work he did both inside and down the field. And to round out the group the U d f a Bryce Stirk and the signing back in February of Michael Roberts, formerly of the Detroit Lions.

So in that group a good mix of guys that can both be receivers down the football field or stay in line and block and help the running game that way. I want to see how that group battles and competes for playing time at tight end, then out wide at wide receiver. Basically to see how the entire wide receiver corps unfold behind Davanta Parker and for Davanta obviously putting together back to back good seasons, that's the challenge he faces.

But I'm excited to see how Preston Williams looks coming back this year after a really strong first half of the season. Albert Wilson kind of the converse of that. He finishes the season strong, got plenty of opportunities and that Bengals game made some guys missed in the open field. Cast him those little short, flat routes where it's basically putting him in a one on one position to make a move in the open field, and he did well to pretty much leave some jockstraps on the ground doing that.

I want to see how he looks coming back in year two off the hip injury. Jachim Grant had the off season, the videos, all the stuff he showed us, the quick, sudden movement. We talked to him on the podcast last week about his game. I'm excited to see

where he shows up this year. Isaiah Ford finished out the year very strong, earned some praise from the coaching staff for the ability to do that, but also helps some guys get lined up in the right spots in this Miami offense when maybe some guys were missing and they had to elevate some younger guys into the lineup.

And then of course Alan Hearns gets the extension. You go back and watch some of the games last year, the broadcast crew from their production meetings and their meetings with Brian Flores and Ryan Fitzpatrick talks about how dependable on how solid Alan Hearns was so from one to six there as terms of those guys, you feel good, but I'm curious to see how that shakes out with the reps, the positions where they all play, and of course I cannot get enough the one on one drills

with receivers up against cornerbacks, this entire receiver group. I am so pumped to watch them practice and see what they look like. And again where they all play, how many reps they get, that type of thing. You also got some guys that are trying to, you know, make a name for themselves in the league. Mac Hollins, he does some things on special teams, got some run with

the Eagles and the Dolphins last year. Gary Jennings went down the first game he was in Miami, but he was a really good college player Ricardo Lewis trying to get back from the injury last year. A couple of undrafted guys and Kirk Merritt and Matt Cole fund receiver group here in Miami. But I'm just really curious to see how it shakes out behind Parker there at the top of the rotation on the offensive line, I mean,

pretty much every position out there up for grabs. Right We have a bunch of news starters, are new free agents and rookies coming here. Uh to the offensive line. I want to see how Austin Jackson works right away at left tackle, see if he's up for the challenge of playing there. Eric Flowers, his transition to guard last year was a good one. Can't wait to see the physicality he brings there at center. Ted Carriss, the way he communicates is going to be so crucial the right

side of the off pensive line. Who gets the first crack at right guard, right tackle, those spots. I'll tell you this, Jesse Davis. If you're gonna want Jesse Davis's job, you better take it from him, because that guy is a veteran. He's been around the block. He's durable, he's dependable, and he does things the way this coaching staff wants him to earn that extension. Was a really valuable part of the locker room last year, and he finished out

the season very strong at right tackle. Down the stretch when Miami's played kind of got better as a team. I'm just really curious to see where he shakes out at the end of this camp and where they want to get their best five on the field. Where that best five means for Jesse Davis, because you've got so much position flexibility with he, with Robert Hunt, we talked about Ted Carriss and Eric Flower's playing all over the offensive line. I just want to see how they get

the best five out there. Doesn't include Michael Dieter, doesn't include Julian Davenport, some of the guys they brought in last year, like an Adam Panky, Danny Eata, Dora, Keith Keaton, Sutherland, Shot Calhoun, all these guys played. You've got three undrafted free agents. How does this line shake out? How many do they keep and who are the best five and how do they put them on the field from left tackle all the way to right tackle. Plenty of intrigue to watch there down by that T N T wall

at training camp. On the defensive side, to me, things will look a little bit more clear because of how fluid they are. And I know that kind of sounds like a like the ultimate contradiction, but if that makes kind of sense. On offense, you can have a receiver lineup at multiple positions, but in general, there's plenty of overlap there. A quarterback is always a quarterback. A left guard is always going to be a left guard. Those

guys are playing one position. You've got some flexibility at tied end and running back and receiver, of course, but not nearly as much as you get on the defensive side of the ball, especially in a scheme that is not dependent on any one core philosophy outside of just being fundamentally sound on the football field. I mean, we're talking about upwards of a hundred different jobs on the defense. When you consider positions, slant leverage, where you might play

your role on that particular play. There are seemingly countless permutations. And that's why I think this is a little bit more fluid and less intriguing as far as who takes like a starting job, because I think the term starter on defense in this defense is a very loose and probably even outdated term for the defense. So we know Christian Wilkins up front, He's gonna play a lot. Brian Flores has talked about how big of a part of the future he is here in Miami. That is a given.

Davon got Shaw is probably one of the most transparent players on the entire roster. You know what you get monster against the running game, strong powerful led the league last year and run stops via Pro Football Focus, Shack Lawson, Emmanuel Ogba to free agent gets, they're gonna play a lot. Both tremendous scheme fits. But from there, that's when I get really intrigued as far as the rotation battle and how that shakes out. Who finds themselves in line for

more work in which packages on the defensive line. I was super impressed with Zach Seeler late in the year last year. I think he can play multiple spots up front. We know what Ray Kuan Davis is capable of. Greer and Flores traded up to go get Jason Strowbridge, and then you've got a couple of undrafted free agents with

Lima and Jones. That's Ray Lima and Benito Jones, and he also got der Val Netto, so two good u D f ase and then with Netto a guy who was an absolute tank, just a monster of a human that has that jiu jitsu background. He had that year of seasoning coming over last year as the part of the International Pathway program. Curious to see how he looks and your number two after a full year of seasoning on the practice squad off the edge, I mean, how many ways do you cut this thing here? Because we

know Vince Beagle's got nice arsenal of rush moves. We know Andrew van Ginckel, a former Wisconsin Badger, like Beagle himself, is well versed as a blitzer and coverage guy off that edge. Commu Gruge Hill has tons of pop in all phases of the game. Ray Kawa McMillan played some sliding down last year off the edge in a quasi sam backer role. He can do more of that than he did in years prior under previous coaching staffs. Jerome

Baker can play out there. Kyle van Neu, we know, can play anywhere on the defense in the front seven. Trent Harris and Avery Moss both played a lot last year Curtis Weaver had the college sack production. Tyshan render a nice u DF signing. U d F A signing. You've got a couple of thousand snaps to really divvy

up here at the linebacker and edge positions. I'm curious to see how that works out, because with all the packages, all the fronts, all the different skill sets, it's really just basically Brian Flores and Josh Boyer and those guys know what's gonna happen. We don't. I'm excited to see what it looks like on the football field. In the secondary, the battle for the slot is one that I really

want to watch as much as any. On the defense, You've got X and Jones outside row and Bobby McCain as safety, and that's four guys that make up your core defensive backfield. But we know better than to just put four dbs on the field and call that a day, because that's not football. You need a nickel back a

solid seventy of the time. You need a third safety at least half the time, give or take, and probably even more if you're playing that big nickel with two cornerbacks and three safety's on the field, does Adrian Colbert

continue his strong finish to the season. Where does rookie Brandon Jones figure in in the slot position, Nick need Um, Noah igbanag Any, all the safeties in general that can come down and cover, and really among the incumbents, so many guys that had flashes last year at different times of the season. Ryan Lewis had some big plays. Tay Hayes finished out the year very strong. Jamal Perry formerly Jamal Wilts. I loved his tackling and aggressiveness in that

slot position. Stephen Parker had a big pick in the Indie game Cavon Fraser Clayton Federalum. So really, the sub packages, that's where I'm curious to see how Flora's and Boyer and Gerald Alexander want to roll out those sub packages in the defensive backfield. I let's go ahead and stick right there as we try to seamlessly transition into our

next topic. I had a chance to watch a lot more football over the weekend, as we tend to do during COVID nineteen, just watching plenty of football, and in particular I watched Texas and Auburn, with two of our high draft picks in the defensive backfield and Noah IgG Banogeny and watched him up against Alabama and L s U. Again, because I've seen these tapes a few times, but just

watching the way he competes. We've heard the Auburn coaching staff talk about how competitive he is and the mentality of competition that he brought to that roster and how they just couldn't raigh enough about his ability to get guys up around him with that competitive spirit. You watch the way he challenged all those good receivers, whether it was Terrence Marshall, Jamaar Chase, Justin Jefferson, Jalen Waddle, DeVonta Smith,

Jerry Judy, Henry Ruggs. I mean, you're talking about multiple first round draft picks at worst, all of them top first or second round draft picks, and he competes up against all these guys and just brings that competitive spirit. And you see the exact same thing there and Brandon Jones going up against L. S U. Man there were some flashes, as he is wont to do on the tape, he always pops off, but going up against just Justin Jefferson in that L s U game, a first round

draft pick, there of the Minnesota Vikings. He competed and really hung well with number two. That was fun to watch. Also got a chance to watch some Byron Jones over the weekend because the Cowboys are almost always on the replay of NFL Network. The way he communicates and disrupts multiple passing lanes on any him play when he's in zone, or of course when he's in man locking guys up. But I saw this clip, this video thread from John Ledyard on Twitter. I think he's at Ledyard NFL Draft

talking about Lavonte David of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Of course, different position, but same idea. The way he passes off and communicates and gets into multiple different passing lanes. You see that so many times with Brandon Jones. So these three additions I think really give you depth and strength in the secondary for the Miami Dolphins. And it got me thinking about the matchups we're gonna see on the

schedule this year. A quick rundown of the receivers up against the Dolphins defensive backs or the past catchers in general up against Miami's loaded defensive backfield. We start with the Patriots, and first let's go ahead and talk about Cam Newton for a second, and the kind of offense you might see there with him. That's a big addition to that offensive arsenal there. For the Patriots. Going to Cam Newton at the quarterback position, they drafted two tight ends.

They got Matt Lacosse, who's kind of a throwback tight end that can stay in line and block. And the real strength of that offense is the offensive line really strong from left tackle all the way to right tackle and probably the best interior offensive line in the league. They're also good and deep at tail back, and with Cam coming into the fold, you could have way more

quarterback power, quarterback leads some draws. It gives you an extra body in the running game, So you think maybe you build around the strengths that way, and you might see more guys like ray Kwon McMillan and you Land and Roberts in this game compared to the six or seven or eight defensive backpackages you'll see normally from a

Brian Flora's defense. Or it could be the opposite. You just do not know what the New England Patriots, but if it is, I love the way the Dolphins match up with Jones and X and Igbo and need Hum and McCain and Row and Brandon Jones for that matter.

The whole squad back there matches up with Edelman, who's an inside slot guy, and you can probably cap him with the safety if you want to, and then let your true lockdown corners on the outside do their thing on some noon to kill Harry, Jacoby, Myers, Marquis Lee. I like those matchups a lot now Buffalo week to present some challenges. Not that I don't think the Fins wouldn't be up to it, but damn, this is strength on strength, the reason you go to the ballpark to

watch these teams play. Stefon Diggs is the best route runner in football for my money. Cole Beasley is terrific at attacking leverage and showing his numbers to the quarterback in the soft spots of the zone. John Brown has that speed element to really help displace the defense and stretch guys out. Eric Rowe locked up Dawson Knox last year, so I like that matchup, but both those backs can

be a problem in single Tarry and Moss. I'm really excited to see how we go up against a Buffalo team that's just a bit further along in the timeline of their process under Sean McDermott in week three. Jacksonville feels pretty similar here for me as week number one. I think they might want to go a little more smash mouth, but they do have DJ Shark, who is buttery smooth on the outside, a smart route runner who can get in and out of his brakes and really

go to work that way. But you can always double him and take your chances with the rest and Keelan Cole, Chris Conley, Leaviska Chanal and the rest of those boys there. Week four Seattle, I love, love love those top two guys on the depth chart and Tyler Locke in DK Metcalf, But this is where Miami's depth really benefits the home

team in this matchup. In Seattle's receiving corps for numbers three through five in San Francisco, Deebo Samuel is an absolute beast, but we'll see if he's ready to go coming back from that broken foot he had over the summer mark He's goodwin. Emanuel Sanders gone, Kendrick Bourne's nice player, Trent Taylor, Dante Pettis. It will be important for them to get Brandon a UK up to speed quickly, but it's George Kittle and the ground game there, that's where

it starts. That's where you have to match up against the Niners Denver. We talked about this on Friday. Jerry Judy, kJ Hamler, Courtland Sutton, Noah fant as talented as any, although largely unproven outside of Sutton, who had a breakout season last year. That would be a fun one to watch the Chargers from l A week number seven for that game, Keenan Allen is so awesome. I would say he's number two behind Stefon Diggs, if not number one as a route runner. I just double him and be

done with that. Mike Williams a big matchup there for the Dolphins, and you've got Eric Rowe on Hunter Henry another good Premier matchup there in that game. Excuse me, the Los Angeles Rams the next week. This is another team like Buffalo and Denver that can really match up with Miami's depth. Cooper Cup is so tough, Robert Woods is crafty and explosive. I think Van Jefferson is gonna be a really good one. They can go too tight with Gerald Everett and Tyler Higbee and get matchup problems

on you that way. That's a tough challenge there as well for the Miami Dolphins secondary. And then I think the biggest challenge on the entire schedule is the Arizona Cardinals New Hopkins probably the best receiver in all of football. It's either him, Michael Thomas or Julio Jones. From my money, Larry Legend will forever be a problem no matter where he is or how old he is. That guy just gets it done. Christian Kirk, Andy Isabella, even a Kim

Butler and Trent Sherfield on that roster. I am so, so, so very bullish on this Cardinals team, probably the most options to attack you on the schedule so far, maybe the entire schedule. The Jets love this matchup for Miami. Best receiver is an inside guy and Jamison Crowder Denzel Mims a good looking rookie. They signed Brashad Perriman, and then they'll probably have to sort the rest out in

camp there. But the Dolphins match up well the Bengals A J Green and Tyler Boyd is about as good as you can get for an inside outside duo as there is in the NFL. They gotta find the other spot, whether it's t Higgins or John Ross if he can stay healthy. A lot of these receiver corps were running into might be more about future growth, and that bodes well for the Fins this year, as I think this defensive backfield is already pretty well established in the Chiefs.

We all know about this group. Hill and Kelsey basically means you can't double those guys if you play man against Mahomes. Good luck to Marcus Robinson could probably start for some teams, but he's fighting for balls as the fourth receiver and maybe fifth or sixth option behind Kelsey or a guy like Clyde Edwards Hilaire. They got me Cole Hardman, Sammy Watkins, Damian Williams at their disposal, plenty of weapons for Patrick Mahomes and then finally Las Vegas

they added some speed man and Henry Ruggs. Tyrelle Williams was off to a great start last year. Hunter Renfrew was just always open, really technical player that way. They add Nelson Aglare with Darren Waller there as well as one of the better pass catching tight ends that could be a tough matchup as well. So all things told, let's see. We got Chiefs, Cardinals, Bills twice, possibly Denver, Las Vegas, and the Rams. Some teams that can match up their depth with the receivers and tight ends up

against Miami's defensive backs. But for the most part, I like a lot of these matchups for the Dolphins defense in Okay, what else we got here? Some stuff to look at from Twitter over the weekend, a couple of threads I went ahead and shared, or some posts that I talked about on Twitter over the weekend. You can follow me at Wingfield NFL for all my great Twitter takes. And there was a chart that someone posted up on Twitter.

I'll get his handle here in just one second. The title of the chart was forced versus momentum for NFL linebackers on running plays, and I love this analytical data. We've got Jerome Baker right here in the middle of the pack of this group. I'm not really sure how this works, how this is tracked. I have to imagine it's from the NFL next Gen Stats, with all the great advancements we have with tracking this stuff. But there

are two sides of this chart. One is the average momentum, which is mass times velocity and then average horse which is mass times acceleration. Layton vander Esh of the Cowboys is far and away off in the corner of his own category, but whose second there in the average momentum

other than Dolphins linebacker ray Kwon McMillan. We talked about his run fits, his ability to key and diagnose and quickly get his head in there and blow up fullbacks and pulling guards and even ball carriers when they're the first ones to meet him. This is a good example of how ray Kuan is so physical and how he attacks and beats blocks and gets himself in there in the running game. A very valuable asset to your running

game for your Miami Dolphins. Fifty two, ray Kua McMillan was up around three forty in the stat the average momentum. Layton Vanderesh was first at three forty two ish or something right above the three forty mark there on this chart, and as far as the average force which is the mass times acceleration, he was behind vander Esh, Rashaan Evans, Donte high Tower, Hassan Reddick, and Jalen Smith, so he

was six in that category. Again, one of the top run defending linebackers and all of football and the physicality is on display this exact thread. And to follow up on who created this chart, this analytic study of force and acceleration of linebacker play against the run. His name is Pavel Veb. He's at pav all Underscore v A B on Twitter. You can give him a follow for some more analytics and inside charts like this. I love this stuff. It really helps kind of bring context to

the football field. And speaking of context, boy, there was a tweet from CBS Sports I believe it was CBS Sports HQ comparing the four season of Dan Marino to season of Patrick Mahomes. And while I am in the camp that Dan Marino was not just he couldn't be revolutionary because no one could keep up with who he was and how he played in that era. He just completely transformed the position, at least for himself, but nobody else really followed suit. And I think we've seen more

of that as the years go by. I think Michael Vick was in that category. Lamar Jackson really the only next guy to join that category as well, and Patrick Mahomes to me, is in that same realm of this revolutionary possibly transcendent player. Marino was transcendent because he was. The term transcendent just means that you are so far above and advanced of your peers, and that's who Marino was.

Because you look at Mahomes his stats in two thousand and eighteen, they were gaudy, eye popping, but a lot of guys are throwing for five thousand yards. In today's NFL. There have been twelve five thousand yards seasons. That's not a lot by any stretch, but it's a lot more than it was in nineteen eighty four. Eleven of those twelve five thousand yard passing seasons have occurred from two thousand eight up until now, and Drew Brees has a

handful of them. Peyton Manning, Tom Brady the usual suspects, but Dan Marino is the one outlier. As I put in this thread, you look at the guys that have thrown for five thousand yards two thousand, thirteen, twenty eleven, twenty six, twenty nineteen, and then nineteen eighty four, sticks out like a sore thumb. This guy was so far ahead of the game at that time. I to me, I compare it to like Barry Bonds in his home run record breaking season. You just don't see that kind

of production, that type of an outlier. Where a guy, for Barry Bonds was a three outcome player right, a walk, strikeout, home run type of guy, but man, he was impossible to get out that season. Dan Marino was the same in terms of comparison to the rest of his peers. You just he just was different. He was transcended that way, and I think that's important something that maybe gets lost among the younger fan base, how transcendent, how special Dan

Marino truly was. You look at his record breaking season, the five thousand, eighty four passing yards and forty eight touchdowns. The next highest touchdown mark that year was thirty two. You look at the passer ratings that season. If you just take the median passer rating, it was right around seventies seven point eight. Marinos passerway in that year was one oh eight point nine, So he was thirty passer

rating points better than the league median. I didn't have the average because that's a lot of math to do, but the median right there, the fourteen and a half out of quarterbacks that were charted on here, Marino was thirty passer rating points better than that, So just insane production from a quarterback who was way ahead of his time. So while we're on the subject of fireworks, I also think that real life fireworks, like I don't think camping is,

they're just not fun anymore. I love them as a kid, probably just a sign that I'm getting older. I suppose they're fun to watch for a few minutes, like, but once you've seen one firework, you've kind of seen them all. And we live in a city that is literally the only spot in the valley where I live. It's the Yakama Valley, where you've got a bunch of cities scattered throughout. That's the only city where they are illegal. So they really start on the third of July and probably even

the second if we're being honest. And my cats they are mortified. I have one cat that runs away for forty eight hours at a time. He actually just showed back up as I began to record this podcast. The baby kept waking up, So that's not very much fun. Just not a fan essentially. What I mean to say

this entire podcast is to get off my lawn. But the fireworks I do like are the ones here staying with the same theme, that were the top ten most explosive place for your Miami Dolphins last season, And we're talking about explosive plays. Whether it was a guy making a great play on the football, a big chunk gain down the field, a play that maybe really swings the momentum of the game and the Dolphins favor, whatever the case, maybe it was a play that was bringing ultimate fireworks

from the fans, from the players from the sideline. The top ten most explosive plays for the Miami Dolphins Bobby McCain. McCain. So that was a great look at Bobby McCain coming over from a single higher position all the way across the field of the far hash mark to make a

sliding interception on Brian Hoyer and the Indianapolis Colts. The Dolphins had a three point lead with three and a half minutes to play in the first half, and he picks it off and takes it down into the red zone right after the Dolphins had turned the ball over themselves. A great break on the ball, A great range e play from your free safety. Biby McCain number ten with his pick in week number ten at the Indianapolis Colts. Play number nine I for your most explosive plays in

twenty nineteen goes to Preston Williams. It's patch wiping a throw, taking a deep shot down the field, and it is called that is Preston Williams on the outside. Well, Fitzpatrick said, I love the balls, and he's gonna throw him today a gain of thirty four and he goes right after Levi Wallace for a game of thirty four. That of Preston Williams. A perfectly placed ball to the Dolphins rookie receiver for a big gainer to set up a first touchdown drive there for the Dolphins to grab the lead

in that game. Speaking of Ryan Fitzpatrick, how about him checking in for a rushing touchdown here at play number eight touchdown NY one yard scrambled touchdown in Foxboro week seventeen, gave the Dolphins a seven point lead midway through the third quarter. He drooked a couple of guys out en route to the end zone. Another big rushing performance there for Ryan Fitzpatrick. A big time play and you get a rise smile on the sideline from coach Flora's a

very fun moment. As pressure arrived he steps up and around it, makes a move on number fifty one there Jawan Bentley and dives into the end zone as he gets hit by a big defensive lineman. There. Ryan Fitzpatrick checking in with play number eight. And for play number seven, we'll go back one week as Ryan Fitzpatrick again part of this combination as he finds tight end Mike Gasicki for a big touchdowns taking a shot touchdown, third touchdown

off the season. For Mike Gassicki, he was all alone and for Ryan Fitzpatrick that's his third touchdown off the hand. And we're gonna hear from that combination here again in just one second, but for now, play number six in the Dolphins top ten explosive plays in nineteen. Let's go ahead and get to number six here with a player who's gonna check in a lot on this list the

rest of the way. Third down here is Rose and gonna go teep looking for Parker, one handed catch to funte Parker with one hand deep down the field and the penalty flag to boots and it looks like it's on Dallas, so this will count, as you were saying, Charles Davis. So it's a big shot down the field for forty yards. I was a third down and four to get the Dolphins going early in that game, the

first drive of the game. As I said, we're gonna hear plenty more from DeVante Parker as we go back to Parker and back to Week sixteen against the Bengals. Here for another big pass from Ryan Fitzpatrick to Dolphins twelve yard receiver DeVante Parker. Here's Laird, It's a flat flicker. Fitzpatrick takes a shot, airs it out for Parker. Parker, he's got it, He's sad to ten and on that catch, he goes over a rom thousand yards for the season,

a fifty one yard game. That's from the Dolphins offense was really coming onto the scene late in the year, as Parker and Fitzpatrick really found that connection in December and just kept going after it over and over again. You hear them say he goes over a thousand yards on that play. Well, they wound up with yards. So another bunch of yards in that game, another bunch of yards in the week seventeen game, which of course we'll

hear from again on this list. As for play number four, we go back to the tight end Mike A Sicky and we go back to New England. In week seventeen, Don got real quiet, real quick. You hear them mentioned the quiet stadium. I love when the play by play announcer lets the crowd do the announcing for him to let the moment really marinate, as he did right there, twenty four seconds on the clock. The Dolphins strike for

a touchdown to take a lead. They would tack on the p A T and close that game out with victory. In Week seventeen, big time touchdown pass from Ryan Fitzpatrick to Mike Asiki and we go back to DeVante Parker for the third play on our top ten explosive plays from the twenty nineteen Miami Dolphins season with number three. Here another connection from Fitzpatrick to Parker when the Dolphins had to have it on fourth down and four eagles,

Where did the backfield four town? This Casher's call Docker gold, Chuckstown, the dock stock crown of browns. What official check with the other standard browns? And he did stay in bounds and he went over the top to bring that ball in a fifty fifty ball. And Parker, we know better

than that by now. Those balls are seventy at worst, probably closer to when Uncle gets up in the air and plucks those things off of Ronald Darby's head in this instance, for a long touchdown here against the Philadelphia Eagles, forty three yards to pay dirt, Ryan Fitzpatrick to the Andante Parker and speaking of long touchdowns, will go for the longest play of the season for the Dolphins here with play number two, Jakeem Grant play here, he's a

firecrackers still going and it's a fuck race and he will score. O my goodness, I promise I did not know that he said firecracker in that call, So it works even better, maybe even should have been play number one there is Jechem Grant goes one hundred and two yards back to the house on a kick return against the Buffalo Bills. But play number one. You can't dispute this one. Another touchdown, this one coming on the defensive

side of the ball. We go back to week seventeen, picked off don't to the ends ale is Eric roll for the touchdown, And I'm not even sure who that football was for. Was it was between It was in between Julian Edelman and Sony Michelle. The next thing, you know, the other direction. Eric Row is celebrating with this Dolphins teammates down in the end zone, the place where he

used to play his professional ball in New England. A great pick six they're off the Patriots quarterback, Eric Row, your number one most explosive play in nineteen Hit me up on Twitter. Tell me which plays I forgot, which plays I omitted? Which plays belong in this list, Which plays were too high, which plays were too low? I want to hear from you. Hit me up at Winfield, NFL on Twitter, and with that, that is going to

be my time today. You all please be sure to subscribe to the podcast on Apple, podcast, Spotify, tuned in wherever we get your podcast from. Go ahead and leave us a rating, Leave us a review, helps the podcast out. Give me a follow on Twitter again at Wingfield, NFL, fallow the Dolphins. At Miami Dolphins, check out the Audible podcast with Kim and John, and of course the fish Tank podcast with Seth and Juice. They have Ray Lucas up on Tuesday and Miami Dolphins dot Com. Until next time finds up