Drive Time: 2023 NFL Draft Preview, Offensive Line with Joe Marino

Drivetime with Travis Winfield begins. Now let speck your pulse if you're not part of what is up? Dolphins and welcome to the Drivetime Podcast, part of the Miami Dolphins podcast network, covering your team, your Miami Dolphins. How's it going everybody? I am your host, Travis Winfield. And on

today's show, the Positional Previews role on. We are going to take a look at the trenches, the boys up front on the offensive line, and as we do annually, the Great Joe Marino on to talk about this position group from the Baptist Health Studios inside the Baptist Health Training Complex. This is the Drivetime Podcast. May Gaffe Fish We're gonna jump right in today with my interview with the great Joe Marino joining me now is a man

who needs no introduction here in these parts. He does root for the wrong team, but he has the right last name, My friend Joe Marino. Back again, Joe, How are we doing, man, Travis. We've had enough conversation to this point where I'm surprised you hadn't hit me with that amazing introduction to this point. I mean, that was that was well put together. I'm doing well, glad to be on with you, and of course thank you for

having me well. The guy that I work close closest with in the podcast here always tells me, you know, if you're not getting better, you're getting worse. I guess maybe the better introduction is a good a good example of progress here on the Drivetime podcast. But um, you know, the master's wrapped last weekend and the trition like no other.

I always have to ask you here dad life. We both have kids at the same age and probably going through some of the same things at these phases of fatherhood, so I had to ask you, how's how's getting the kid going in the mornings and just dad life in general. How you how you feeling in dad? Life is still amazing. I can only imagine what things are like on your end. Um, we're you know we we we uh, we're into our three our age three season, you know what I mean

of being a human. So so that comes with some unique challenges. UM definitely very interested in what she wears every day. So there's you know, a little bit of a struggle sometimes in the morning, but we keep her busy. Man. She's involved in uh swim, in gymnastics and dance and loves her preschool, so we keep her going. Um and it's fun. She's got a lot of functionality. I think there's probably at least five times a day where I look at her and for completely different reasons, I say

to myself, I can't believe you're real. I can't believe that you're real. But she's She's the joy of our life. We're loving being parents over here, and I hope the same is true for you. It absolutely is. I love to hear those updates are the best. To me, that's

the best. We're doing the podcast here all day. But the dress thing is funny because my little one always wants to wear what she calls let It Go dresses just because Elsa always has, you know, her nice dresses on and Frozen and she she's obsessed with Frozen as as most kids are. So yeah, man, and then like also watching what we say, she's starting to pick up on things that we say. Now it's it's getting out

of control, man. You know, it hit me this past month or so, is you know, we're obviously all the way into the weeds with Frozen. This movie came out in twenty thirteen. Nobody, nobody told my daughter that it was popular amongst the little girls her age. But it just happens. I mean, for whatever reason that Disney has built an absolute empire with that that movie, and it's a big part of just about everything that happens here

in our house. Yeah, and there's so many movies that they've put out recently that, you know, nothing measures up to Frozen. I like to think a little bit of Josh gadd has something to do with that big time Dolphins fan here so they can shout out on the podcast I All Off Cracks Meet Up. Even so, I'm happy to watch that one over some of the other options out there in the Disney Pixar universe. But that's

that's the update there. You know, a couple of dads talking football here, and what better position groups talk about with you than the offensive line. I think we made a tradition now of three or four years in a row here on the Draft Time podcast. Joe does great work both with Lockdown NFL Scouting and the Lockdown Bills podcast. And you know, I think the Bills obviously looking for some offensive line help. They went aggressively in free agency this year and got a couple of guys in McGovern

in Kestonberry. So but I think they'd probably still be in the in the mix for for drafting that position group up front, and I think the Dolphins probably are too, and most teams usually are. Right, it's a position group that tends to I guess just have needs every single year for five five positions up front on your team. And I want to go ahead and start here because I've looked at a few mocks and you know, done my own work, and everyone has their opinions. Dolphins first

pick in this year's draft is number fifty one. If you had to p what's your best guestiment on it? How many players would you say? Four? Sure? A lot across the offensive line, tackle, guard, center, doesn't matter. Would you say, are first, You're going to be gone by the time the Dolphins pick at fifty one. Yeah, I think that's a great way for us to start the conversation.

And like you mentioned, you know, offensive line needs are pretty prevalent across the entire league, and it's really the only position group where you have five starters, right like everything else is you have a tight end or a riding back. You got five of these offensive linemen, and it's tough to get five good ones. And so I think a lot of teams are in the market for these players, and I think the good news for these teams in need of offensive line help is that there's

help available in this draft. And so when I consider who's definitely not going to be there at fifty one, some of the names that come to mind for me Paris Johnson, the tackle from Ohio State, Roderick Jones, the tackle from Georgia, Darnel Right, the tackle from Tennessee, Peter Scronsky out of Northwestern. I'd see those are definitely out of the picture, those four guys, and then several guys that are kind of fringe where you would not be surprised if they were taken, but you'd also not be

surprised if they were available. But if I was a Dolphins fan, I wouldn't be thinking about Paris Johnson, Broderick Jones, Darnell Right or Peter Skanski. One of the things I love that you and Kyle do so much is not just a draft aspect of the game, but really what I think the draft, you know breeds itself too, is

the team building aspect. And so with that you kind of take a look at the draft from more nuanced perspectives and not just like player A as good at X, therefore you know player or team why should draft him? Like you understand how draft boards work in how position gluts and those types of things can just cause surprises

on draft night. So I was curious because you mentioned those four names, and I was looking back at I think it was the Bruce Felman mock, which I think is one of the best ones out there every year where he gets really good intel from scouts and coaches across the league and in college football, and he was talking about only having four offensive linemen the guys you just mentioned in that group, and you know, thinking about a handful of names that probably hear their name called

early on Day two or at the least at the earliest or elist I should say, end of round two. Does that tend to because there are so many guys in that potential slot. Do you think you could see a situation where teams are kind of coming up to go get those tackles early in that Day two where it seems like every year we have one position group where teams trade up and knock it out really quickly. Could you see that being the offensive line this year?

I certainly could. Like we've already established the need out there is prevalent, and what's more important than protecting your franchise quarterback? Right, And there's so many good young quarterbacks across the NFL that teams probably feel a lot of urgency to go out and get them the right mix

of players in front of them. And so if there's a reduced list, and there is for every team, right, we talk about all these players at large, but in reality, every team's going to have their different appetites for players and scheme fits and personality fits, and so you know, you might look at it and say, well, if you get one of these fifteen players as you get a starting offensive lineman, but probably for most teams that that's

probably cut in half, if not even further. And so as you kind of foil all those dynamics together, you can realize that the need, the urgency, the player pool that's going to potentially lead to some some movement. And I can see teams definitely wanting to make that choice to move up the board to make sure that they get a guy that they absolutely like that they feel

I can be an answer for them up front. I'd be curiously what the Dolphins approaches come draft night because only having the four draft picks, and you know, no one's crying about spending a third round draft pick on Jalen Ramsey. But you know, we spoke a little bit off the air about the draft this year, and you know, when we only have four picks, like that's that's less work I got to do in the draft class getting ready for because we don't we don't look at the top.

You know, twenty five or so players that you almost can put a lock next to the names first round picks. But in doing so, m you wonder do the Dolphins target a move up? Do they decide to go back

and try to acquire more picks. I think it's a a kind of a unique situation where they're at right now, and with that mind and the potential to add competition to the offensive line, which you know, Chris Greer has mentioned doing this offseason to give some help to not just to run Armstead Corner Williams and Robert Hunt, but you know, Austin Jackson, Leah Eichenberg, a couple of high draft picks in the last a couple of recent years here and thinking about how this Dolphins system is is

prevalent across the league, you know, from the Shanahan tree and obviously McVay and Lafleur, and there's so many influences that come from this coaching tree. I'm curious who you might have as potential fits that could be on the board at pick fifty one in the essence of, you know, firing off the football, playing a lot of that wide zone, but also having the gap schemes they incorporate as well. It's pretty diverse. But as far as offensive line fits that could be there at pick fifty one, who do

you like for Miami? I think there's three names that really pop for me that I think would be terrific picks for the Miami Dolphins. The first one is Matthew Bergh Run out of Syracuse six five eighteen pou thirty three and three quarter inch arms. Very productive player at Syracuse, and what I really like about him is how he got better every single season and I love that ascending nature of the caliber of play that he's delivered. And I thought he was the best offensive lineman at the

Senior Bowl. And so you talk about kind of putting an exclamation point on your film resume, I think burs Roun's really done that. And what I love about him as a player is just the body control and just how good he is at staying square and playing within himself and not getting over extended and really playing with good bend and leverage. And there's just a very natural understanding of that that you can see in the way

that Matthew burs Around plays. And you know, he was tasked with so many good pass rushers at the Senior Bowl and he clamped them all down. And I think that just as a testament to how much he trusts his technique, how technically refined he is. The body control, the ability to frame and stay square. I think he's just such a solid and if he was there at fifty one, I would have no reservations about him being

my pick if I were the Miami Dolphins. Another offensive tackle that I really like is to Want Jones out of Ohio State. Now, he's a mountain of a man, six eight, three hundred and seventy four pounds, unbelievable length. I've never seen length like this. We're talking about a wingspan of eighty seven and seven eighth inches, thirty six and three eighth inch arms. The guy's got eleven and five eighth inch hands. I mean, this guy is an

absolute monster. And maybe you're wondering to yourself, well, does that really work with a wide zone rushing offense. I think it does, and I think the reason it does is because of the length and how that really makes up for anything that he's lacking athletically. And look for a three hundred and seventy five pound dude that's six to eight. He got good movement skills, right, So that's

that's definitely prevalent in his game. He's just obviously not going to be super fleet of foot just because of the mass and body composition. That he has, but what he really does to maximize his length is special to me in terms of being very deliberate with getting his hands on guys, and his grip strength and his latch strength is really really good, and that enables him to

sustain blocks. And obviously he's a powerful guy. And you talk about widening those rush lanes and you know, given giving those backs some room to work with, he's going to be able to create that for you. And again in pass protection, obviously a lot of quick setting in the Dolphins offense, and you're not gonna you're not gonna

touch getting by Dwan Jones quick sets. But I think even if you ask him to vert vertical set, which of course with two in the play action game, and how proficient he is with that and throwing the ball down the field. You know, having guy like Dwan Jones who is just so much to get around, I mean, you want to elongate pats if you're an offensive lineman. You want to make those paths to the quarterback longer for pass rushers, and my goodness, can d Wand Jones

do that? And certainly in that Ohio State offense, he was given the opportunity to really have to sustain in pass protection quite a bit given the choice routes that exist in that offense. And you know, certainly c J. Straub was working the ball down the field as well, And so I think that he's a really good fit, especially because I feel like if the Dolphins can really get that run game going, it can mean a ton for their offense and how it evolves this coming season.

And I'll give you a player here on the interior that I like. There's probably several that I like, but a guy that really pops for me is Cody mock out of North Dakota State. Played left tackle for North Dakota State. I think he came there as a tight end move to tackle, really good movement skills. I love his range. So if you want to get a guy out in space, working in longer polls, climbing to the

second level, he's very proficient at that. Obviously as a former tackle, you like that projection inside as a pass blocker, but I think the range in athleticism for him that you see on tape would be a major asset to what the Miami Dolphins want to accomplish on offense. So I have follows for each of those guys, because you've kind of got my intrigue on all three of them there.

And I want to go back to Dwan Jones because you kind of touched on what my original follow up was going to be on him with that idea that like, just by nature of existing on the football field, he makes it more difficult for pass rushers to get to your quarterback because he's larger, Like it makes sense, bigger space, Like you're occupying a bigger space, a bigger space. But you mentioned, you know, the potential sacrifice and athletic ability,

which you know, I've we've heard that he does. You know, he can come off the ball and play that way in a certain sense. But you kind of have that sacrifice like, is that is the idea of protecting a potential blind side for two of who you know, only quarterback in the league. You have to do that for your right tackle protecting the blind side? Does that sacrifice

in the athleticism kind of? I guess intrigue coaches, because hey, we can pretty much set forgetting pass pro like you talk about with I don't know sixty percent of our playbook that we have these quick sets in. Well, I think his reach really mitigates some of your concerns. Obviously, you wish that he had a little bit more explosiveness and a little bit more foot fire to his game. But that length is insane. I mean, it's rare. Eighty seven in seven. I mean, what who else is even

close to that. I've been scouting players for a long time. I've never seen anything like that, And there's enough movement skills to compliment it for me to feel good about whatever variety of pass sets I want him to execute or whatever run concepts I want him to execute. In terms of working laterally, I think that his ability to get hands on opponents really eases any concern that I have about his movement skills. So you also mentioned Matthew

bergeron which I think we talked last. Last time we talked to you had kind of brought his name us a guy that you were really intrigued by. It sounds

like he's really proving himself throughout the process here. But you talked about his body control and it kind of, you know, piqued in my mind something that coach McDaniel refers to a lot about sort of relearning and retraining playing offensive line in this system compared to what other systems ask of offensive lineman or maybe it's more reactive and in this system you fire off the football and you know, just getting off the ball first is the

most important thing with a guy like Burgeron or really any of these rookies who maybe don't have this the experience in this exact system. I'm not going to sit here and tell you, I know with Syracuse and what North Dakota State are running on a given week, But is how do you kind of view that learning curve for a rookie coming into this offensive system where they coach him up a certain way. It Is it doable?

Is it tough? Like what do you think about that transition? Well, it's obviously tough for any player and whether it's what you're asked to do, but also who you're asked to do it against. Right, I mean, rolling your hips into contact and creating displacement in the run game in the ACC is a whole lot different than in the AFC, Right,

So that's always going to be a challenge. But I think for a player like Bergeron and you just kind of leaning back into the talking point about just a body control, I think that's going to serve him very well, because I think he's plenty powerful to create that initial

surge and create some movement. But how he can fight that pressure with pressure and absorb and still remain in control of a rep I think is going to serve him very very well when we're talking about him getting on the field and making an impact for whatever team actually drafts him. And then just real quick before our

first break here on Cody Mock. You mentioned the movement skills, which obviously you know at peaks of a flag for Dolphins fans in terms of like how they play on this offensive line, But you talked about playing the interior position after kind of playing some tackle in college as well. Is he a guy that you think could kick out to the tackle position as a pro. I think he's

get you out of a game type tackle. Where one thing I loved about him at the Senior Bowl is after being a college left tackle, he played all five spots. He even snapped. He played right tackle, center, both guard spots, and left tackle, And obviously versatility is huge. The more you can do obviously matters a lot in the NFL. But for a guy like Cody Mock, I think he's

gonna find his best success at left guard. But hey, look, if you're in a situation where your tackle goes down and you need to get out of a game, I think he can absolutely hold his own and do that for you. Well, either way, it sounds like Miami's gonna have a pretty good group of players to choose from at that spot should they choose to go in that direction.

And of course, doing these positional previews for every group, we're going to talk about this as if the Dolphins we're going to make that move at that position at that spot, but I want to do it for every spot in the draft. And the next pick for the Miami Dolphins comes up in the third round, number eighty one. Before we get to that, let's go ahead and take our first break right here. I've got Joe Marino on the podcast here breaking down offensive lineman Drift Time Podcast,

your host Travis Wingfield, brought to you by Autoonation. Back here on a draft preview edition of the Drivetime podcast, the Great Joe Marino here helping us break down this offensive line class and heading into the draft. I think Dolphins fans, or at least on social media, which I don't know, Joe, it's like six percent of the actual

community or the country that actually is on Twitter. So who knows if it's accurate representation of what fans actually think, But based upon Twitter and social fans are are pretty excited about the potential of adding a new offensive lineman. And so if not at pick fifty one, then going back to pick where did I say eighty one? I think it's eighty four. I probably got that number wrong. But anyway, in the middle of the third round, looking at players that you like in that position group, you

gave us three. You can give me one, two, three, four, however many you think, Joe, some guys that you think might be there in the third round that would fit this Dolphins offensive line group. A guy I like a ton is Brandon Daniels out of Utah six five, three eleven. He's actually played a lot of tackle and guard at Utah, and so I think whatever path you want to take with him, it makes sense. Thirty three in Charms, I look at him more as a guard, but again can

play some tackle. I think he has a better chance of being a good tackle than Cody Mock. But Brandon Daniels coming out of that Utah system, I think is really tailored well towards being able to translate to the next level where those offensive linemen do fire off the ball. Right there is that roll your hips into contact, create

running lanes and really embracing running the foot ball. But how they build things off of that and a lot of misdirection and play action and using tight ends in the passing game, you know, I think that's very translatable to what's going to happen at the next level. And so I got, like Braydon Daniels, I think in a lot of ways, there's things that I mentioned about Matthew burs Run I would apply here, maybe a little more athletic than Berserun in terms of being an interior player

and having a lot of range. He's a guy that I think has really slept on that I think third fourth round could provide a team with an actual starter. So he's a guy that I like. Another player that I think is is really underdiscussed is Jordan McFadden out of Clemson, another college left tackle that I think in play tackle in the NFL. He certainly got requisite length to do so, but I think even as a guard he might even have a more bright future. Where I

played a lot of football at Clemson. I thought he showed good year over year growth, pretty powerful. That's one thing that I like about him, to go with a good athletic profile. And so when you're thinking about that third round, that fourth round, guys that could be starters and maybe aren't discussed enough. Those are two guys that really pop for me when it comes to that conversation. That's the third round pick for the Miami Dolphins, number eighty one, A couple of guys that Joe likes in

that position. And then you kind of get into the area of the draft where you start thinking about, you know, it's it's not very often teams pluck a player on Day three and put them in the starting lineup and and it works right away. You typically have to kind of bring those guys along, and it's especially at a position group where it's just hard to find starters. Man Like,

the entire league goes through this. So if you had to kind of look into that third round, which again this is why the old line is so unique, right because if I take a linebacker and he's not ready to play on defense, I can put him on special teams and get some snaps out of him. But offensive line. I mean you can you can do field goal block or field goal team. That's about it, but there's not

much room for you know, supplementary snaps there. But looking at day three kind of what's your approach to evaluating offensive lineman as far as guys that you think could potentially one day you know, have an packed on team, and who are some guys that you'd like to potentially

do that in this year's class. Yeah, when I'm thinking day three offensive lineman, I understand that I'm getting a guy that's more project that there's some flaws with them, but you want enough traits that make you believe they have starter appeal to invest in them. And so I'm looking for foot quickness, I'm looking for a length, looking for power, looking for something that I can cling to and realize that I have this and I can really focus in on building up the other components of their game.

A guy that I like a lot as Carter Warren out of pit six five three eleven thirty five and three eighth inch arms. I think he's very good with his footwork and his handwork in terms of being able to frame, use his length, use his punch to get his hands on and really keep defenders at the edge of his reach. Had a really good career at Pittsburgh, had had an injury there that I think kind of took him off the radar, but he should be ready

to go. And a player that I like, I've seem Richards out of North Carolina really my eye at the Senior Bowl, and then went back to the tape with him and really enjoyed what I saw. I think a player that can play guard or tackle, good good just tenacity the way that he plays the game. He's certainly a player that you feel comfortable with his ability to create some displacement in the run game, provide multi position ability, and actually has some good length to go with him

over thirty four inch arms as well. There. So you know, I think I think there's some really intriguing players to consider later on. It's just a matter of making sure you develop them, making sure that you have a plan and really try to maximize what they do well while

building up those other components of their game. So, Joe, the theme of this entire interview you've kind of taken here brings me to a question that's going off script a little bit because and I'm curious if this is like a chicken before the egg situation where the NFL or the pro game. In the NFL, you do have to have, you know, between having seven guys dress for

a game to maybe eight on some teams. On the offensive line, you obviously have to have guys that can play in multiple spots, and we see it across the entire league. But I feel like every guy you gave me at all three stages here you mentioned position flexibility, guys that played one spot in college or multiple spots in college but project to play even more as a pro,

or you know, move around as a pro. And it has me thinking about our offensive line here in Miami because I'm wondering, like if you get to a certain pick in the draft and it's like, well, we love this guard, but we have guards. You know, we have Robert Hunt, who we think is a potentially pro Bowl level right guard. But what if we draft this guy and boot Rob out to right tackle where he's played

and played well in the past. I'm curious from a team building perspective, this is not like Dolphins, you know, centric because we don't know what they think in the draft room. But I'm curious would teams consider, you know, a guy like Rob Hunt, a guy like Connor Williams who was a guard his whole career and then turned in one of his best years as a pro last year at center. Would you consider moving someone who was successful at the spot you had them at to potentially

improve two spots? Does that a concern that teams maybe have if I move this guy maybe a week in bowl spots? Like, how does that conversation go? Do you think? Well? I think it starts with trying to get your five best players on the field. Right, That's one thing that you absolutely have to do. But one thing that I'm pretty cautious about when it comes to that type of conversation is I don't want to take a great player at one position and make them a good player at

another position. Right. You want everyone to have a chance to be their best version of themselves, being their most natural spot. That way they can help your team the most. And so if you think player X is your best fit at right guard and that's going to be the best path for that player, I think you can do them a disservice by moving them around so much. And I saw this with Cody Ford out of Oklahoma with the Bills, where you know, play garden tackle in college.

I think he was always better suited to play guard in the NFL the Bills playing them at tackle kind of rotated a little bit as a rookie. Then he moves to guard, moves back to tackle, and there's so much nuance that go into each individual spot, and there's so much muscle memory that goes into each individual spot that while the versatility is great when you're talking about starters, to me, if he's your right guard, he's your right guard.

If he's your right tackle, he's your right tackle. And so I think you have to marry all of those ideologies together in terms of getting your best five on the field, but also getting the best five players in the best possible spots for them to be successful, which not only helps them as individuals, but in turn helps your football team. I think it's a fascinating question and a fascinating answer. I'm sure most teams have that conversation

at some point, especially in this position group. So really good stuff there. I appreciate that Joe and Cody four is a guy that I was so sure was going to be a great player at this level and We'll see if you know, a greener pastors provides that for him, but I guess maybe a good for Dolphins fans and it didn't work out for him in Buffalo there, but he was a guy that I was pretty high on going in into his pro career. I have one more question for you, Joe. I'm gonna go to my last

break here and come back on the other side. It's not offensive line, it's not draft centric, it's Dolphins and Bills related. That's next Drivetime podcast, your host, Travis Wingfield, my guests today, Joe Marino, brought to you by Auto Nation. So I teased it on the other side of the break here talking about Dolphins and Bills, which you know, Joe, the Jets and Aaron Rodgers. We'll see when it actually happens, it's going to be, you know, a big upgrade from

at the quarterback position. But I still contend that this division is one two Dolphins and Bills, and however, whatever

or do you want to put that in. And I'm just kind of curious to get your perspective as a fan of the Bills, who you know, for a long time, the Dolphins just weren't competitive against Buffalo and so many of those games, and then last year they get a victory down here in South Florida and play the Bills tight both up in Buffalo in the regular season and in the postseason, and to me kind of like reinvigorated the rivalry in a big way. Three really fun games

to watch. So I'm curious, as you know, someone that is really anticipate in the chase of the Buffalo Bills at the top of the AFC East this year, how does the Bills fan view the Dolphins and what they've done the last couple of years and especially this year heading in the twenty twenty three Well, I don't think you can look at it any other way than acknowledge that based on the games that were played last year, and like you mentioned, we got three of them, they

were far more competitive than anything that we saw on the previous several seasons. And so with that in mind, I think it's fair to say that the gap has absolutely closed now. The Bills won the division by I think four games, still, right, And so there's that piece of it as well. And I certainly look at Miami as the biggest threat to the Bills in their quest for a fourth consecutive AFC East title. But I think if this Dolphins team can be healthy, that's going to

be huge. And I think last year, I mean, if they didn't have so many injuries in the secondary and even at times the offensive line of course to a missing time as well, I mean, maybe that's not a four game win in the division, right. I think that that changes things, And so I think the big thing for Miami is staying healthy. You certainly look at this team from a town perspective and realize that it's one of the better rosters in the NFL in terms of

just overall talent. You have to love the coaching edition of Vic Fangio to run the defense, I think, you know, he's clearly one of the best in the game at that and certainly has a lot of exciting talent to work with, whether it's on that front right with the D line and the D tackles, and you know, obviously David Long to go at Jerome Baker on the second level, the corner tandem of Ramsey and Howard is really special, with of course cater Kuo who's emerged in the slot

as a nice player. And you know, obviously I think the world of Javon Holland at safety, and you know Brandon Jones working back from injury. Side to see him back, and I think that that that being handed over to Vic Fangio, He's got to be really excited for what he can get done, especially with those young defensive lineman who you know, just I think very highly of Zach Seeler and Christian Wilcoms and Jalen Phillips and Brad Chubb

and of course Immanuel Agba coming back off injury. It's just seems like they're so deep and so off Mike McDaniel what he was able to show last year, and those receivers. Nobody wants to play against Waddle and Hill. I mean, that's that's a nightmare. And so you know, you look at that, you feel like this offensive line can take some strides to a year or two with Mike McDaniel, there's some evolution there, I'm sure, And so you feel like things are absolutely on the up for

the Miami Dolphins. And now it's about meeting expectations right. And the Dolphins are at that point now where people expect things of them right, and so they're not sneaking up on anybody. Everybody knows what they have in terms of talent and where this team can go, and so big year for them, obviously with this window that that's been created very quickly, and certainly a lot of urgency to maximize this opportunity with all this talent that they

have assembled. I think staying healthy is going to be the name of the game for the Dolphins there in this coming season. And you know, we'll play it out and see what happens. But the gap was absolutely closed last year. I think the Dolphins have continued to make strides this offseason and now we'll go play the games and see what happens. Keep going, Joe, keep bringing that price.

We want to hear more about it. And if you need to chase her, if you need to go, take a shot of scope to wash your mouth after all that Dolphins praise, I wouldn't blame in my friend, Listen, I I I love the competition, you know. I think sometimes we get caught up in these rivalries and there's a lot of like just bad blood between it and I get it right, everybody wants the same thing and only one team gets to get it. But I love

the competition. I really do and and I've appreciated watching both teams build themselves up with some mindfulness towards each other, you know, and seeing what that looks like. And so you know, it's it's not personal, not to me. I don't play for the Bills, so I certainly want them to win and take care of their business. But I certainly can respect and appreciate the competition and what everyone's trying to accomplish. And I think the Dolphins have really

went about this in a unique way. Nobody can deny the talent on this roster, and uh, it's it's fun to watch, and um, you know, maybe maybe if it's if it goes a certain way, I might I might have a different tone for you at the end of

next year. But I could certainly come into this conversation with a lot of respect for what they're trying to build and what I think they can accomplish this year obviously a big opportunity building off of a playoff appearance in Mike McDaniel's first season, with some really different difficult adversity that they had to face along the way. That's why we love having you as a guest, Joe. We just appreciate that you know, there's there's no animossia there

and you can definitely tell. And the respect level it's mutual. I mean, if I go through my preview podcast for the two games every year, I don't know how many times I've mentioned how impressed I am by the fact that they got Jordan Poyer, Micah Hyden, Tredevious White all in the same offseason and just built that secondary pretty much from scratch and turn it into one of the

best in the NFL. And I think, you know, fellow nineties kid here on the podcast Dolphins and Bills, man, like you talk about building up to this point, like for a long time it was one team in this division and one team only. So I was seeing these two teams, you know, reignite that nineties rivalry you talk about, you know, Christian Wilkins and Josh Allen's banter back and forth. It's fun to me. I love that stuff. So looking forward to it. Man, get the schedule here in about

a month. We'll see when those two games are. Hopefully we can see you down here. Maybe I don't know if you and Crabs are gonna come down for a Dolphins and Bills game one of these days. We'd love to see you guys down here. Man, Hey, I enjoyed I went to the Ravens. Was it a Thursday night game? A few told me about it. Yeah, that was a great time. I enjoyed my hard rock stadium experience. I don't know if I would like it as much if

the Bills were playing. I like it. I like to go to South Florida when the Dolphins are playing somebody else, you know, so exactly right, and the night games too, like we do night games definitely, Man, South Florida at night? Is it just a different beast? So? Hey s thinking, Travis, what do you say when the Bills play in Miami next year with that's a night game? I think that'd be a great, a great opportunity as opposed to maybe that one o'clock time, I say you would say that, Yeah,

I think let's make that prime time. You know, even if it's in September, we'll play that thing at eight thirty pm. Hey, give me the give me the trip to Orchard Park in September Octeller, we'll call it, we'll call it to wash and the will just be good. There's that sound good? All good? Guy? Joe Marino Locked On NFL Scouting and Locked on Bills. You can find him at Twitter at the Joe Marino Joe, what do you work on? Man? What can I help you promote here? Oh?

You got it man. The two podcasts, that's what we do. Lockdown Bills, Lockdown NFL Scouting with Kyle Crabs, who I know is is the name many know amongst the Dolphins fans there. So we talk team building and get into a lot of these topics all the time, so appreciate the opportunity to share that. Yeah. I told Kyle he's coming on the podcast the week of the draft to be the closer for our draft previews, and he likes

the idea quite a lot. It's the tradition we do here every year on draft time, like we have Joe every year. So Joe, thank you so much, my man. We'll talk to you probably in September whenever did the Dolphins bill's first play for that game previous sound good? Man? All right, sounds good, Travis, Thanks for having me, and away he goes. Always a fun interview with Joe. We talk about Dolphins and Bills every single year. We talk about the offensive line every year in the draft, as well,

and looking forward to those podcasts come September October. Whenever those couple of Dolphins and Bills games occur, I tend to think they'll be later in the year. I think they've been early every single season so last couple of years here, I think the NFL might push those back a little bit just to get some primetime pop Dolphins and Bills. You heard Joe asking for the night game down here in South Florida. I'll take the same thing

as well up there in Buffalo. If it's early in the year, it let's play some primetime games against this team and compete for a division title hopefully. So there you go. Good stuff with Joe. We're gonna come back on Friday. I'm looking at my schedule here. I believe it's Damien Parson to talk about linebacker. So keep it locked right here and we'll keep doing positional previews for the next couple of weeks here on the podcast, as well as includes some other stuff for you guys as well.

I know not everyone is all draft all the time, but it is April, so you have to kind of hang with us Noah on the draft prospects. So let's go ahead and g out of here. That's gonna be my time you all. Please be sure to subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcast. Leave us a rating, leave us a review. You can follow me on Twitter at Wingfield the NFL. Follow the team at Miami Dolphins. Check out the fish Tank Podcast with Seth and Juice. Check

out the team YouTube channel. We have media availabilities, Dolphins Today and so much more up there, and last but not least, Miami Dolphins dot Com. Until next time, fends up Caroline Camera and Daddy. He's coming old