Drive Time - Jakeem Grant Previews Dolphins WR Room

Grant and Jachem staying healthy, staying active. How you doing, man, I'm doing good, man. I'm just grinding joint and joint family time and you know, planning a lot of calls of duty definitely, uh, but most of our spending most of my time grinding. Plus we'll hear from Jechem Grant and preview the entire room all of that and more on this Thursday, July the thirtieth edition of the Drive

Time Podcast. And we reported earlier this week the addition of three players to the reserve Slash COVID nineteen list, and that has been a source of daily news around the league so far as training camps kicked off this week, as we see some players added throughout the other thirty one franchises to that list as well well. Today, the first player in the NFL came off that list, and he is a Miami Dolphin, Benito Jones, the u d f a from Old Miss. He rejoined the defensive line,

and so does another addition. By way of the way of her wire. We added Javarus Davis, a very impressive athlete to the defensive backfield on Monday and on Wednesday, another great athlete on defense courtesy of the three hundred plus pound defensive tackle and Ray Smith. Smith played his college ball at Boston College Brian Flores, his alma mater. He played in forty games, made one d and thirty eight tackles, and he signed as an undrafted free agent

with the Lions after going undrafted in nineteen. Most recently he was with the forty Niners, but was recently waived and now was added by the Miami Dolphins. Smith had a super impressive Pro Day after college season and before that nineteen draft, measuring in the elite category on several areas of the Relative Athletics scorecard, again produced by Kent Platt of Relative Athletics scorecard dot com. Kent collects a cumulative score based upon the measurement and workout metrics, both

from the combine and pro day numbers alike. He utilizes elite, average and poor classifications for each prospect than averages the metrics into one collective score. And Smith's total score out

of ten was nine point six seven. And you might recall, for comparison's sake, the Dolphins cornerback Byron Jones, who broke the broad jump record, the world record for the broad jump at his combine, he scored a perfect ten with his crazy workout back before he was drafted his rookie year, and so Ray Smith a nine six seven out of ten. Smith did that by clocking a sub five forty time at four point nine three, And so just recall, this score does take into account the comparison of the position.

So a four nine three forty yard dash for a defensive tackle obviously is going to be more impressive than a four nine three would be for a receiver or defensive back, and so forth and so on. A very impressive number for a three hundred and two pound defensive tackle.

His twenty yards split was nearly a perfect ten. He ran it in two point seven six seconds, showing that explosive metric, and his ten yards split was not far behind, a score of nine point five four out of ten with an actual time of one point six eight seconds.

Again getting out of the blocks getting out of the gate showing explosiveness off the line, and again another metric that measures explosiveness both the jumping metrics, the vertical and the broad He jumped thirty five inches vertically and nine ft eleven inches on the broad jump. Those scored out at nine point eight one and nine point nine respectively

out of the hand total score. His shuttle time was four point four nine seconds and a three cone time of seven point to eight seconds, each of those scored in the Green Elite category. He also scored elite in the speed category, explosion category, as well as the agility category. You can find that tweet on my timeline at winkl NFL. I retweeted Kent Platt, who was at math bomb on Twitter. So Ray Smith is in, Benito Jones is back, and the Dolphins did make one more roster move on Wednesday

with the release of cornerback Ryan Lewis. He was waived on Wednesday afternoon, and that's it for Dolphins News. Let's go ahead and talk about the Dolphins wide receiver room in accordance with the article up on Miami Dolphins dot com.

We have done the receivers, the tight ends, and the quarterbacks, and today we're talking about those receivers, and we start with unc himself, Davante Parker, and he spoke last offseason after getting the new contract after his rookie contract had expired, about how he wanted to change his legacy and the perception of him in Miami with the new contract he took, and boy did he take an emphatic first step and doing just that this past season in nineteen, heading into

the season, Parker talked a lot about his nutritional habits and workout habits and getting himself prepared for that twenty nineteen season. And I thought it showed up in training camp from the start, as he just looked slimmer, he looked sleeker. He was making big plays all over the football field and really showing out on the practice field in last year's training camp, and that, of course would

translate into the regular season. He has five accrued seasons, all of them here in Miami as he enters year number six. Where's jersey number eleven from Louisville. He's twenty seven years old on opening day, so entering that real prime age of a player's career, and twenty nineteen again

was the coming out party for Davante Parker. I've been breaking down his tape a lot this summer because I think it's fascinating to watch him really make plays down the football field, high pointing those contested catches and picking up chunks of yardage with a really high yards her reception rate, and of course finding the end zone with regularity.

He earned that four year contract extension prior to the conclusion of the season and his career years saw the former first round pick finished fifth in the NFL and receiving yards with one thousand, two hundred and two yards. He tied for eighth in yards per reception, and he tied for fourth and touchdowns with nine scores on the season. He was unguardable at various points throughout the season, particularly

in a victory against eventual NFC East champion Philadelphia. He caught seven passes in that game for one hundred and fifty nine yards and two scores and really just put on a highlight reel show the entire day, going up and taking footballs off the helmets of defensive backs and

really just making plays for Ryan Fitzpatrick, his quarterback. That was a lot of fun to watch, and it sparked a very very strong December for Davante Parker as he came on like gangbusters both before and after the contract extension had been agreed upon. And those sixty minutes unstoppable

play really showed Parker at his best. The way he can kind of lean into the defensive back and really shield the defensive back with that big frame and the leaping ability, and he does so well to extend his arms.

And I heard this comment on the Move the Sticks podcast, how you can tell about a receiver's trust that he has in himself and his own hands when they run dig routes which are just deep square in, you push upfield, you break inside, and the way a receiver can catch the football and stride without having to kind of gather himself. And you see that from Parker and the real trust

in his hands and his ability to make plays. You also see it on the deep shots down the field because he kind of throws his body into the defensive back and does so well to make that defensive back pretty much have to go through his body, which of course is past interference if he wants to make a play on the football, and that has just generated big play after big play both last year and throughout his career. You go back to the season opener this year in Baltimore,

he had a big play just like that. Go back to the season again against ball to more at home, a touchdown play on a play very similar to that where he elevates over the goal line and high points the football and brings it down. Did the same thing in a game against Cleveland as well. So he's been a known commodity that way, and this year he was just at his best in that department, and I think also in his route running and really every element of

his game. He created separation from some of the game's best this year, producing some eye popping production against a pair of all Pro cornerbacks and division rival Buffalo and

New England. In the last two games against Buffalo and New England the ladder matches of those two series, he combined for two hundred and seventy two yards on fifteen catches in those two games, and his consistent playmaking really earned the trust of first year Dolphins quarterback last season, Ryan Fitzpatrick, who had this to say after that Week seventeen win in New England. For us and for me as a quarterback, I'm always going to rely on my playmakers,

and DeVante has been that guy all year long. There were a couple that maybe I didn't get in there make the throw or Stefan Gilmour did a good job with. But I wasn't going to shy away from a matchup, not because I don't respect the other guy, but because I have that much confidence in our guy. Davante really stepped up big today in that win. And up next on our list here going in order of jersey, number number fifteen, Albert Wilson, who has six accrued seasons in

the NFL. He's entering his third in Miami. He is a Georgia State product. He will be twenty eight years old on opening day. He's a Port St. Port St. Lucy native, and when he's been healthy here in Miami, he's been uber productive. The guy has three trunks for legs. He is just thickly built, has a four four three forty time on his resume, going back to his pro day in college, and that combination of factors makes him one of the game's most difficult tackles once he has

the football in his hands. We certainly saw that in the eighteen game against the Chicago Bears, where he basically took the Dolphins offense down the field a couple of times for big scores in that fourth quarter and through seven games in that season, and he led all qualifying receivers and Pro Football focuses, yards per route run metric,

broken tackles, and yards after initial contact. In fact, you go back to the game against the Lions when he was injured, he and Golden Tate were kind of the Golden Standards pardon the pun for running with the football after the catch, and they were going back and forth in that game, taking the lead from one another, and Wilson wound up having the most after that game, even

though he exited the game with an injury. But after averaging three point nine targets per game for the first thirteen games last season, more recently, Wilson caught seventeen of twenty three targets over the final three games and picked up one hundred and ninety seven yards, really showing some of that similar explosiveness that we saw back in eighteen and as far as his usage goes, last year, three hundred and thirty two of Wilson's four hundred and thirty

nine offensive snaps came inside as a slot receiver. He averaged five and a half yards per route run from the slot in eighteen and last year caught seventy two point nine percent of his targets playing inside, being a playmaker at that slot position. But that's not all he is. He's a jack of all trades. He lined up in the backfield on twenty eight occasions during his two year tenure with Miami. He served as a wildcat trigger man.

He took the football as the jet sweep motion man, and that goes towards receiving statistic, but he also basically has to carry the ball like a running back on those plays. Go back to the teen touchdown, the high five play with Jachem Grant that basically is a running play, but he scored on that passing play on the little

pop pass. He takes handoffs from the shotgun as a ball carrier, and over those two years he has thirteen carries and sixty one yards with the Dolphins, and like Parker, Wilson really earned the admiration of his quarterback last season through his will, attitude, and work ethic. Fitzpatrick had this to say, Wilson's attitude is unbelievable. I don't know that I've played with many guys that I mean. He truly is happy when someone else makes a play. He really is.

He's had to deal with a lot of adversity and things out of his troll in terms of some of the injuries and whatever else. He's worked really hard and is coming on as of late at the end of the season. Really the run after the catch ability and all of that. He's really shown that in the last few games. Up next on our wide Receiver Room preview is Gary Jennings. He has one season in the NFL. This is his second with the Dolphins. He wears number

sixteen out of West Virginia. Gonna be twenty three years old on opening day, and he really tore up the Big twelve in two thousand eighteen, scored thirteen touchdowns and his final college season. Was drafted last year by the Seahawks in the fourth round, but was released mid season, the Dolphins picked him up off waivers, but he got a bad break in that first game with the Dolphins. He was injured on the Jachem Grant one two yard

kickoff return for a touchdown against the Buffalo Bills. So he only played nine snaps in all of nineteen and just one of those snaps on offense, So coming into year two, not a lot of on field experience. But his postseason work the year of his draft year, the Senior Bowl and the Combine that year where he ran a four point four to forty yard dash, really helped elevate his draft stock. They're coming out of West Virginia.

NFL dot COM's Lance Zerline, their draft expert, had glowing praise for Jennings and his pre draft report, saying a possession receiver with impressive combination of size, speed, and contested catch toughness. Jennings was one of the fastest players at the Senior Bowl according to Zebra Technology tracking, and his four four two combine time and huge numbers and explosive testing are to sure to push him up draft boards. End quote there, and of course that pushed him up

into the fourth round that year in the draft. Up next on our list is the uber reliable Alan Hearns. He has six accrued seasons in the NFL. This is his second in Miami. Where's number seventeen. He went to Miami and the U He's twenty eight years old on opening Day and he signed with the Dolphins last year on the first day of training camp and just developed from there into one of Ryan Fitzpatrick's most trusted targets.

That reliability went up the change of the Dolphins brass as Hearns was rewarded with a two year contract extension back in November. Hearns caught sixty eight point one percent of his passes for thirteen yards per catch. He posted the second highest yards per target mark of his career last year at eight point nine. Only DeVante Parker played more snaps at wide receiver for the Dolphins last season then Alan Hearns and Herns versatility is perhaps his greatest asset.

His workload was split almost evenly amongst slat and perimeter receiver. He played two hundred and fifty four snaps inside and two hundred and fifty nine snaps rather outside. Twenty three of his thirty two catches occurred between the numbers and inside guy, toughness over the middle, and two hundred and fifty nine of those four hundred and sixteen receiving yards came from the slot, including both of his touchdown catches.

You might recall that impressive touchdown run he had against the Steelers, breaking tackles going into the end zone on Monday night, and Brian floor has really praised Herns for his toughness, one of the coaches key pillars of the program. As we know he wants to build here in Miami. As he had this to say about Herns after a December game against the Jets. Quote, he's dinged up. He played through some injuries last week. I thought he tough

through it and was an impressive performance by him. This is a tough kid. He wants to play. If he can be out there, he'll be out there. End quote. So some nice words there from Brian Flores. And speaking of nice words, we have some nice words about our next player on this list from both his teammates and

coaches alike. Preston Williams a rookie season last year, entering his second with the Miami Dolphins, number eighteen out of Colorado stake and to be twenty three years old on opening Day, and undrafted rookies always faced the greatest odds to make the roster out of training camp. It's even more difficult to make a significant impact in year one for a player that was passed over through seven rounds

of the draft. But early on for Preston Williams, it was clear the Dolphins found a gem of the twenty nineteen U d f a market. He made play after play in training camp. He'll recall the tweets, all the media people saying how good he was playing in training camp last year. He carried that over into the exhibition season and into the twenty nineteen season, scoring the first touchdown of the year for the Dolphins in that Baltimore game.

Last year, he was lost for the year with an injury in Week nine and that win over the Jets, and at the time of his exit, he led the Dolphins in both receptions and receiving yards. But before he was making plays. On Sunday, teammate Xavien Howard shared with media what it was like to go up against Williams and practice, saying, quote that guy can be special. He's

still learning. He's just a rookie. There was so much room for improvement with him, but he's going to be a number one receiver one day and quote, and he expanded on that comment, mentioning his experience facing the league's best receivers, giving Howard an understanding of what it takes to be a number one receiver as a variety of traits helped contribute to Williams ability to create separation and

make plays down the football field. He's six ft five, but he really has a good ability to both get vertical and sink his hips and come off the stem of the route and get in out of breaks. And that work throughout last offseason earned the praise of some Dolphins coach is, including last year's receivers coach, who of course earned a head coaching job in the college ranks,

in Carl Durrell. He said this about Williams, quote, we were fortunate that after the draft and he wasn't picked, and we said, wow, here's a great opportunity to work with a kid that has tremendous potential. Well he lived up to that. He's a fun kid to coach, a very bubbly personality, a very confident kid. And quote, and

Williams played almost exclusively on the outside. In his rookie season, three hundred eighty six of his four hundred four offensive snaps came in the wide alignment, and he also served as the team's primary punt returner for four games, averaging eleven point five yards per return on the season. Up next, Jechiem Grant has four accrued seasons, all of him in Miami, entering year number five. The sixth round draft pick in sixteen, he wears number nineteen out of Texas Tech. He'll be

twenty seven on opening Day as well. And once a player breaks that proverbial tape, so to speak, on their forty yard dash at the scouting combine, he's never going to run that drill again. And in the sixteen rounds to the draft, Grant reportedly clocked a four point one time has taken on a handheld timer at his Texas Tech Pro day. That would have been the fastest time in the history of the NFL had it been clocked at the scouting combine. Either way, Jachem Grant can flat

out scoot. The receiver who moonlights as a return man is more than just a straight line burner. He's appointment viewing in Dolphins one on one drills at practice with plenty of shake, A few players can create immediate separation off the line like Grant. He brings all the us and ows out of the fans at training camp at practice. During his four year career, Grant has scored eight touchdowns and those house calls they usually come from long distance.

He has touchdowns of one o two, one oh one, seventy four, seventy one, sixty five and fifty two yards in his career. He can provide that instant sparked to the Dolphins both on offense and on special teams, and the team showed its belief in Grant last summer with a contract extension. Flora's spoke to the reasons that he felt it was important to get that media or to get that deal done rather saying quote, you know, I'm

a big proponent of the kicking game. So his value as a kick returner, punt returner, and his ability to make big plays in those areas, I think it's very important. As a receiver, there's obviously a dynamic player here. This guy's fast, this guy's elusive, he's strong for a little guy, and he works hard. Football is very important to him and being part of This team is very important to him, so congratulations to him on that contract. I think it was well deserved and we're happy to have him and

quote up. Next on our list, we jump into the eighties jersey numbers and undrafted rookie Matt Cole out of mckendrey. He wears number eighty two. He'll be twenty three years old on opening Day and every year. A really cool story here Sports illustrateds Kalin Caller chooses a draft eligible sleeper for his prospect x A deep Sleeper, a feature he writes for the magazine for the website, and that

distinction went to mckendred University's Matt Cole. In Coal caught forty three passes for nine hundred and thirty nine yards and twelve touchdowns last year. He also averaged twenty seven point two yards on kick returns and twenty six yards on punt returns, and scored from one hundred on kickoff and seventy four from a punt on special teams. Again, go back to Flora as has mentioned of how important

it is to be successful in the kicking game. Cole is listed at five ft ten one nineties seven pounds. He participated in Northwesterns Pro Day in March, where he clocked a four four eight in the forty yard dash and thirty seven and a half inches on the vertical up next number eighty three. Another of the two Dolphins U d f as added this offseason, Kirk Merritt out of Arkansas State. He's twenty three years old as well.

On the opening day the second of the two U d f A signings, hoping to make the roster here for the Miami Dolphins, and his college career began at Oregon and concluded in the Sun Belt at Arkansas State, but also how to Stop midway through at East Mississippi Community College that, of of course, the school featured on Netflix's Last Chance You. He scored nine team touchdowns in his two years with the Red Wolves at Arkansas State, and he clips the one thousand yard mark with one

thousand five receiving yards. And Nike host an annual football camp, the opening for the best high school football players in the country. Back in merit captured the Spark National Title as the camp's best overall athlete. The events calculated and Spark score include a forty yard dash, a shuttle run, a powerball toss, which is basically a medicine ball throw

and a vertical leap. So At six ft tall two eight pounds, he is athletic and he recorded one hundred and fifty three catches one thousand, eight hundred eleven receiving yards at Arkansas State. Up next incumbent receiver Dolphins Isaiah Ford. He has three accrued seasons with the Dolphins, entering his fourth in Miami. He wears number eighty four out of

Virginia Tech. Gonna be twenty four years old on opening Day, and the Dolphins receiver room is just chalk full of players that have battled adversity and overcome it in their careers, and perhaps none more than Isaiah Ford. He was a seventh round draft pick in two thousand seventeen. Ford's rookie season ended before it started with that injury in the preseason. He played sparingly inen and just three fourths of the way through nineteen before seizing an opportunity down the stretch

last year. Over those final four games, Ford caught twenty one of twenty nine pass targets. That's good for a seventy two percent completion rate for two d and thirty four yards. That's good for eight point one yards per target and fifteen first downs on those twenty one catches. Four of those chain moving plays came on the critical third down. He's a grinder, a player who embodies the

principles coach Flora's preaches. At the conclusion of training camp practices, Ford could be found getting extra work every single day after practice with Ryan Fitzpatrick. He had this to say the quarterback did about Isaiah Ford. I said this the last few weeks about Ford, but he's a special guy, a guy that you can just rely on in any situation.

And Ford earned an opportunity to showcase that hard work when Miami lost a pair of their starting receivers in a Week fourteen game against the Jets, Parker and Wilson in that game, and his knowledge of the Dolphins offense proved valuable for his ability to communicate to his teammates

both alignment and assignment. This from Coach Flores, I thought Isaiah stepped in, played every position from a receiver standpoint, got some guys lined up, made some big catches, and made a nice run after the catch there in the third quarter end quote. And we conclude the receiver room here with Dolphins receiver Mac Hollins, who has three accrued seasons in the NFL, entering number two with the Miami Dolphins.

He wears number eighties six out of North Carolina. He'll be twenty six on opening Day, and Flora's makes no secret about the fact that he keeps a close eye on the transaction wire and scouting players around the league. So when mac Hollins became available on waivers mid season last year, the Dolphins pounced on him. Flora said this quote, I watched everybody, the guys we brought in, I watched

them all, and we feel good about them. Mac Collins, for instance, he's a tough, physical receiver, plays in the kicking game. He's had some production offensively and in the kicking game. We like him and quote. And Hollins played a lot in both phases, both offense and special teams last season, both with Philadelphia and Miami. He totaled five hundred thirty four snaps with more than twenty reps on both coverage and return units on both punt and kickoffs,

so over a hundred snaps there on special teams. He even logged a snap on defense to help fort that final play in New England the lateral play in that win up in New England. Hollins has twenty six catches for three hundred and fifty one yards and one touchdown over his three year NFL career, all of that production coming with the Philadelphia Eagles. All right, let's go ahead and get now to my interview with Dolphins receiver Jakeem Grant. We recorded this interview a while back here on the

Drivetime podcast. Let's go ahead and here from Dolphins receiver Jachem Grant and writing shotgun with me now here on the Drivetime Podcast. Previewing the wide receivers for Dolphins training camp twenty is wide receiver Jachem Grant. Keim, good to see you again, man, Man, I say you too, Man. I appreciate you for having me. It feels like we just did this, doesn't it. Yeah, well, we we are previewing the receivers here on training camp and having number

nineteen himself. He's in the areas on the ground. He is housing punts and kicks and Jachem Grant and Jachem staying healthy, staying active. How you doing, man, I'm doing good, man. I'm just tell you that grinding joint and joint family time, and you know, playing a lot of calls to doom definitely, uh, but most of all, spending most of my time grinding, you know, in in the family town and TV shows. Man, I can't get enough the TV shows. And so now

I'm I'm open to watching some more TV shows. Well, have you seen Breaking Bad? No? Oh? Man, if you're an Ozark fan, that's that's where you go next. Okay, and then you and then you got better call Saul to spin off. Seriously, you've got like eleven seasons worth of like really good TV right there. You can. I mean, there's there's your free time for the next several months right there. Man. I'm you're gonna if you like Ozaka,

you're gonna love that's good stuff. But I'm curious to get your take here because we've we've seen the workout videos. We've seen you putting in the work every single day. You mentioned two days on an earlier podcast. I'm curious to know, like, because I'm always fascinated by football players and and the finally two machines talking to a guy who's got a Mustang behind him here in your zoom photo,

your zoom background. I'm always curious to know, like what the what the regiments like as far as workout and nutrition and things you put in your body, how you get ready, Like what what's a what's a daily meal plan? Like what's the workout schedule like for you right now? Um, I'm typically not I will start off with my meals. I'm typically not a breakfast guy. I probably grab a bar, some water and stuff like that because I'm not a

breakfast guy. I don't like to eat before more in the workouts and stuff like that, because no matter what, it always makes me nausea whenever I work, I'm working out hard whenever I eat like a big meal so um. But after that, you know, um, I always get I

have meal preps um. So I always have my meals like basically sought out for me, and I eat those like I probably like eat like my breakfast meal in the lunch meal for lunch, like right after I finished working out, because I know I lost a lot of calories and I have to put that stuff back in so um. Basically, man, me, I'm I don't have a I'm good at my weight. I can continue. I can

eat as much as I want. Um. I do eat healthy and I eat as much as I want, and probably like I have, I've been blessed to where I don't I don't gain a lot of weight, you know, so I can continue to do that. And a lot of people get jealous, like how can't you just sit there and eat so much food and and and not gain anyway, And I was like, man, I don't know. I've been blessed with a fashion tabolism, so it's just

goes away, man. And so but workouts, when it comes to the workouts, you know, I work up, work up earlier in the morning, Um, get worked on, getting my body worked on before I always get stressed deep tissue. Um, make sure they get all the knocks out and stuff before I get ready to workout. And yeah, I do my always do my lifting first and then next thing,

um working on you know, conditioning. And then after that I'm doing you know footwork stuff, making sure everything is on point, making sure I'm coming in and out of my breaks. Um, well there's no extra steps. Um also working on handout cornation, and just continue to just repeat the cycle the next day, like I'm always doing that, because you know, it's got to continue to getting that routine of doing the same thing over and over again, so that way, whenever you get out on the field,

it's just become second nature. Yeah, stacking up those bricks, right, putting down a foundation every single day. That's part of Brian flooress message. And it's it's fun to watch you guys evolving and and put that foundation together. And one of the players that really took advantage of that message

last year was Davanta Parker. And I want to ask you, you and Devanta are good buddies, and I swear you guys gotta get something together like the Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito is at the Twins movie, like, you guys got to do a remake of that of some sort because it's just too perfect. Since you're such good buddies.

But back to the football field, what what what did you see in Devonte last year that was so different for him to come out and have that major yard nine touchdown season And what can you take away from his breakout year? Um, I would just say that for one, him being healthy and staying on top of and maintaining his body like and just staying on top of it.

I remember seeing him getting worked on before practice earlier in the morning, before even before meetings and after practice, after he gets out of the coach up and how to you know, he's always getting his body worked on. And I would just say, man, his personality, right, his personality just totally changed, like once that one Svante Gotta, I would say, like a shark. Once the shark snow blood in the water. It just he went into attack mode. And I and I always told me, I'm like, man,

you're a dog. Man, I know that you're a dog. Like go out there and take it, go out there and show. As soon as he got that little taste of you know, run this round, get out of rounds. Gods can't stop me. I'm too big, I'm too fast, I'm too strong. And once he knew that, I think his his mentality was just to kill inside it now And so I loved it. I told him I was every game, even like whenever I was, you know, before I even got hurt, you know, I was just I was.

I was admired that I was just like man's. It was about time. It was about time that he came out and showed people. And he could. He could do it back to back every every year. All he got to do is continue to put up that that same effort, take care of his body, um, continue to train like he's training, and go out there and have that same mentality like you can't be stopped. Yeah, I think that he did. He basically he shot the world. He made people,

uh respect DeVante Parker. He showed a lot of guys that he's here to stay and he's not going nowhere, and he's a force to be reckond with. He had one of my favorite quotes that came from Joe Shadd last year from the Palm Beach Post, who said that when he signed that new contract with the Dolphins that he wanted to change his legacy in Miami. And I just found that so respectful for a guy to to really to take it upon himself to make that change

and to get himself into a new light. As far as the way fans perceived him, I think that definitely happened. You look around Twitter or social media, Dolphins fans. Everyone loves Davantae Parker and he's it's rightfully so. He's a nice guy, good guy, and he went out there and just kicked as last year. And I can't imagine what kind of confidence that gives a quarterback when he can go up there and just pluck the ball away on those fifty fifty balls, which really are you know, nine

ten balls at this point with him. But I do want to stay on theme here and and go back to another one of your teammates, because from my money team, we are good at receiver, Like we've got play makers all over the damn place, and one of those guys a second year pro, Preston Williams. What do you like about Preston's game, Preston Man. Uh, Definitely an interesting interesting basically personality is through the roof man. I love Preston Man. He's a he's a young He's the young buck. I

always keep us laughing. Probably the joker the jokes there in our own um man uh man, big guy, bigger and taller than Devonte um. But man, he he has great hands to do up there, a phenomenal route running. I don't think you can if you those fifty fifty balls, I'll say those those are nine balls for him too as well. Like dude can go up there and grab it, he can jump, he can do everything, and so I

think him and DeVante are are definitely similar. Um uh he would have had he was having an extraordinary season before he got hurt. Um. He also does uh partner turn as well, and so I think there's no limitations on what he can do. He's a he's a he's definitely Uh. You've never seen a probably what six six punt returner back there, you know, return to point. So, man, I'm telling Preston has it all in the bag. He's just he's young, and he's going to continue to you know.

I think he's gonna continue to grow and he's gonna be phenomenal in this league. Yeah, I think the quarterback's biggest problem this year is gonna be feeding all those mouths because you've got so many playmakers on that offense. And one of my favorite podcasts, Move the Sticks, they always talk about how you want a basketball line up in your receiving corps, and I just can't think of a more well rounded group than this one we've got.

You mentioned the two trees in Devonte and Preston, you and Burke with the speed and the explosion, the vertical and horizontal ability, Herns and Ford kind of can do it all as well. You've got the young guys rounding out the group. So does this all make you? Are you the point guard? Are you the two guard? Like? Where do you factor into the basketball line up there? Oh? I definitely say that I'm the point guard, uh, because um, I'm I'm more of the outspoken one and the point guard.

You also got to think about it as as the leader of the group. Um. And so I'm I'm the one that's outspoken, you know, telling people telling like like I said, I told, tell them Demante like your dog, you can do this, can't nobody stop you? This and that. And I'm I'm the guy that, like, you know, get everybody up and just tell everybody let's go man. Like today we were killing the defense. We kicked, we winned every one on one, making them look bad out there.

Let's let's do it. And so, um, that's me. I feel like I'm the point guard because I can. I can do it all. Um, no matter what I can play outside inside, Um, I have to be able to like being being able to do that. You have to know every single role. And as as y'all know, I played outside and I played I played inside something. And so that's why I would label myself as the point guard.

And you know, so but with that being said, you know, it's it takes all all of us, you know, because some days where I don't feel like being the point guard, you know, I don't feel like, you know, being talkative, I don't feel like being the leader, and so so somebody else has to be the point guard that day.

And I feel like Albur comes in and fits right in and tell us like, hey man, feltas we gotta go, Let's go, because it's always gonna be that time where you you don't that day is like, um man, I don't feel like talking to day like this is not today. And so that's that's the thing about our group, like we truly care about each other. We hang out with each other outside of the facility, you know, and so um we all want to see each other see and there's a lot of so of course all of us

want the ball, no doubt. Yeah, I mean, good luck putting a single you know, single coverage on you to the boundary there with with you know, a quarter that runs a four or five or something like that. So oh yeah, that's that's good luck defenses. That's that's all we gotta say about that. And uh, you know, I appreciate you talking about the supports as some Jachiem, it's really cool that you guys have that with each other. It's I was a baseball player growing up. It was

always about pick up the guy. You know, someone strikes out, pick him up, go out there and help him out, make the play for him, and and don't make him the one that ruined the game for the team. So it's it's cool to hear that. And uh, I also appreciate you talking about your teammates so much, but I

do want to get back to your game. And I talked to you a little bit about this off air how I kind of fancy myself something of an amateur scout, and I want to give you my book on you, Jakeem, if you don't mind, real quick, my scouting report on you is that you're low center of gravity, paired with the uber suddenness at the line and the on the release makes you damn near impossible to jam. And then when you pair that with the vertical speed, just forget

about it. That's that's my really quick snapshot of your scouting report. And I want to know some inside baseball here on you. First, Do you agree with that scouting report? I definitely, I definitely agree, okay perfectly on the right track. And then my question for you is when you get to the line of scrimmage and you have that release, because we talked about how tough it is to jam you, do you develop a different plan for your release every snap?

And like, how is it done? Is it based on leverage that they show you on the priest snap look? Is it based on the coverage or the play on offense? Like how do you vary your releases at the line of scrimmage? UM off pre snap off, a pre snap. I could tell him if he's gonna press bell, or he's gonna try to jam me, or he's gonna or

if they're playing cover to UM. Usually I always tell about the priest now because we're gonna play covered to the corner plant cover too's gonna play at least uh, Um, he would probably play head up on you, UM, play slightly outside of you. And also or he played like two or three yards off of you. He's trying to get hands on using because you know he has the flats,

things of that nature. Um. But I definitely like like love when they when they try to press me, I'm short, so there's no way they can put their hands on my chest or anything like that. So if they jam me and they're gonna hit me in my helmet which is him me and my face which is a pillow, so you can't do that because we're right by the rep.

And so that's that's that's the avant of that I have that being a shorter receiver and I'm playing outside, is that you can't jam me because if you jam me, you'll hit me in my You're hit me in my face, and which is appenally. So I'm also like when whenever I get in my release, I'm also I'm I'm actually getting shorter than what I usually but then I am so um, I'm making it hard for him, and man

I I and I love it. And I always tell them like I always love when a guy pressed me, because it's like, if you're gonna press me, if you're gonna press me, then you're saying that you can want with me, and that's not what you really want to do. And so I always based everything I've run off the vertical off or go route and and that's it. Man, that that terrified that terrifies DBS and all year last year. All I kept getting was press Belle, Press Bell, press bell.

That they'll show that they're going to press, and they'll bill before the snapp even come. So uh man, I'm telling you, like, it is very it is hard for them press me. Some guys that get up there in life, now I'm gonna press them and I'm impress on them. I'm like, that's what I love. I love when people are so like they have the ability to oppress me that way. Now now balls and mount ball is in my court, and now we're in a dance. When the dance, when the dance bottle we were, we're in the dance

bott them. So I always tell I always tell people. I was like, if we're gonna press me, get ready to dance. I think that that makes a lot of sense watching the workout videos, because I see you working on a lot of little curls and sticks and stuff where you come back to the football and kind of press them up field and bring it right back. I mean, you can put that in your game too. It's it's

gonna be really tough to defend you your team. And you you mentioned earlier that you play a lot more outside a little bit and slot and I think that's kind of one of the misnomers about your game because maybe you're not as tall as some of the other receivers on the outside, but people tend to think you're more of a slot guy. But I watch you like you mentioned on the outside, and that's I think maybe we're the most dangerous. We know you can play x

Z slot backfield, doesn't really matter. Where do you think you're most dangerous from UM eat anywhere on the field, anywhere on the field. Honestly, I've played slot in my whole life. UM slot is probably I would say the probably the easiest for me. But I love a challenge which is outside because outside of the most cover guys and and in limits the field field space that you have, you don't have as much as a range as you

have inside. I know inside right without a doubt, I would light it up because if you have a safety come down to guard me, which are normally aren't cover guys. There are guys that have come downfield and make a tack on this and that, or they break in like the third or fourth corner to come in and play play that nickel position, and and and that's what I did all all day in college, and it was, it was, it was. It was fun. The way you can create separations such a short area of space off the line.

It's it's really impressive and fun to watch. I'm curious to get your take here because you talk about the opportunity last year with coach Carl Durrell in the receiver's room. He's now kind of head coaching job and great for him to hear. I'm curious to get your take on new receivers coach Josh Grizzard. How's that adjustment going from coach Durrell to coach Grizzard. Good? Uh, grizz has been

there since I was a rookie. Been good with grizz also helped me out, help me learn to playbook inside and out where where when out I struggled to my my rookie year and learning the playbook just didn't couldn't get it all together always and always knew one position and in the NFL you have to know every position. And so he helped me, you know, inside and now day and they they they and night, just helping me. And I used to usually call him on the phone

like late at night, probably like ten o'clock. At night, like, Yo, Grizz, I'm studying to playbook. Man, I just don't understand, like on this on this um, on this formation, like what is what? And he tell me what we'll go through it. And that's what I love about Bridge because he's always buy his phone and anything that I need or any questions that I have for him, he would he would just pick up the phone and like, hey, Ja Kim, this is that he had dried out and send it

to me and things of that nature. And that's what I love about Rizz. And I mean, he's smart, he knows, he knows defense, he knows everything that's out now and so um, I think he's he's definitely gonna push this receiver group uh to a new level. That's awesome to hear and definitely can see why he would get that promotion in place of coach Carl Drelle now at the University of Colorado. One more coach question here for you, Jachem.

We have a new offensive coordinator and Chan Gailey as well, and this is a fan question coming in from Kevin Dern at Kevin m D four on Twitter. He wants to know what are some of the components of Chan Gailey's offense. That can help you guys take your game to the next level next year. Um I would say, with the flexibility and the routes, um chan Gailey, our number one rule and the receiver room from him is

to get open. And that's what I love. And with him, with him saying that is telling us that we have a little bit of a flexibility and our routes, uh do we have to do to get open? And and that's what I love. And so and once he told the receivers that we all took that was like, hey, now we can at assists, you know, uh play backyard football.

And so with that, with that, with that going on, we we can be able to you know, take some of those routes that you know we play, uh, take some of those releases or any of those moves that we play in the backyard with our friends and mimic that onto the field. And and so without wasting so much time. And so with that being said, man uh man. Also, I know that he loves speed and so and we're gonna go out there. Man, I'm telling you, I just can't wait. I cannot wait. Dolphins fans can't wait. We

all want football back. We all want life back to normal, and you guys get on the practice field be the first sign of that for me for returning back to normal. C Jachim, we appreciate your time, man. Keep showing us those workout videos. Best of luck this year, stay healthy and get that Mario Kart game tight, because I'm coming for you, dude. I'm gonna get you with I got Yoshi. I don't mess around on Mario kar Man. I'm gonna

get you. Okay, I can't. I can't. Now we can't even play because I always use I figured always he's the speak job. That's my guy. Always use hey, the the old Don Shoela quote. He'll taking his and beat yours and taking yours and beat his. That's that's what we'll do. I'm adaptable, baby, all right. I appreciate your Kim, I appreciate you Chev And there he goes. Dolphins receiver Jachim Grant. Always a fun interview, always a fun guy to talk to. That's gonna conclude today's edition of the

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