Drive Time: 2024 Miami Dolphins Training Camp Preview Part 1 Offense - podcast episode cover

Drive Time: 2024 Miami Dolphins Training Camp Preview Part 1 Offense

Jul 18, 202436 min
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Episode description

We are less than a week away from the start of training camp practices. Two episodes left in the summer, both previewing camp. Today, Travis talks about every position group on the offense - what the team added, how they performed in OTAs, and the outlook heading into the brand new campaign.

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Transcript

Speaker 1

To on the move, Going Deep, Speedless, Peace do Hell. From the Baptist Health Studio. This inside the Baptist Health Training Complex. This is Drivetime with Travis Wingfield. He's got my advands in the playoffs.

Speaker 2

What is up Dolphins? And welcome to the Draft Time Podcast. I am your host, Travis Wingfield. And on today's show, we have two episodes left before our first training camp entire day recap here at the Baptist Health Training Complex in Miami Gardens. We're gonna talk about the Dolphins offense today. I tell you what my expectations are for each player and position group on this team as we embark on this journey to break the roster from ninety down to

fifty three. We'll go quarterbacks, running backs, wideouts, tight ends, offensive line. From the Baptist Hell Studios in side the Baptist Health Training Complex. This is the Drive Time podcast. We've done roster resets. I think I don't know three or four times. There's always applicable times to do that,

and this episode is not exactly that. It's kind of that, but it's taking the collection of the entire offseason, all the moves, the direction, the vision, the work we saw in spring ball, back in OTAs and trying to forecast what we might see in training camp, some intriguing battles we could run into it, certain position groups and just kind of forecast what each player in each room looks like here. And we start this thing off with the

quarterback position. And we start this thing off with the player that everybody is most intrigued by on any roster, especially on the Dolphins roster, and it's quarterback. To a tongue of I loa the entire room. Let's go ahead and ride a little mom off real quick, TUA. You guys know the players here to a tongue of iloa, Mike White, Skyler Thompson, and Gavin Hardes. And is my

depth chart going into this thing. Darryl Bebbles the quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator, and don't forget the name Chandler Henley, assistant quarterbacks coach. He is going to be a fast riser in this league in terms of assistant coaches and finding positional work. I'm sure he'll have his own room here before you know it in the coming years. This room you can probably go by the quickest. But let's just go ahead and go buy each player here

and talk about this. So I think Tua is about to have his best year as a pro. I think he's about to have his best camp as a pro. And I think that stems back to the work I saw in OTAs where I didn't see picks, I didn't see balls hitting the ground. I saw more velocity. I saw more easy gas. I saw further better high arching throws down the field. I saw more escapability and elusiveness and choppier feet opposed to maybe heavier ankles. I just think everything in his game physically is going to be,

you know, one or two percent better. And then on top of that, McDaniel addressed this this offseason that the mental aptitude, because of the continuity, because of the third year in the system, because of just even more familiarity and comfortability with his coaches and his players, that that's gonna be where the bigger stride happens. And that's the

most important part of the game. As you know, if you listen to this podcast, if you take my word for it, I don't think that physical traits win, like playing the quarterback position wins in this league. And I think Tua is already one of the best in the NFL in that regard, and I think he's going to take a significant step in that direction this year as well. So he's the starting quarterback. If you get him for seventeen games, you're gonna win a whole bunch of games.

And that's the hope. The next part of the position group here is where it gets I guess a little bit intriguing for me. It's a clear cut back up and a clear cut number three, and in fact a clear cut number four as well as Gavin Hardison takes the role of James Blackman last year kind of trying to find his way or I guess reed set a few years ago who did kind of make it work out for him in terms of getting you know, some

NFL work. But Hardson takes on the unenviable role of camp arm trying to find reps and trying to just you know, put tape together that shows that he can play at this level, whether it's practice or exhibition games. And we know he'll play in the preseason, but you don't often see I don't remember seeing James Blackman playing a whole lot of reps or getting a whole lot of reps in camp last year, So it comes down

to Mike White and Skylar Thompson. I think Mike White as a pretty clear winner in that race, especially going into camp right now. There was some kind of back and forth last year, but just in the way he sees the field, the way he processes the way that he can kind of, I guess I think he's the best one in this room to continue what this offense is if there is an absence of the starter into a tongue of bailoa, and he's got enough pop in his arm, he's got enough wibble to make some plays

happen here. He's not the most fleet of foot, the most athletic, or the biggest arm, but he does process the game really well and see the field really well and throws a very good catchable football. So I think that Mike White is a pretty good backup. He's the best part about the backup, especially if you get what you desire in seventeen games from you're starting quarterback, is you're going to get really good support for your starting quarterback.

Mike White is a great teammate, a great dude, and he will support Tua with you know, hey, I need a third down reel from you know, even front pass rush with they over like whatever it might be, He's gonna go find two was highlight clips and help him put those things together and help him get ready for the games on Sunday while getting himself ready for Skyler.

I really think that this is kind of s or get off the p if you know what I mean, off the pot type of season for him, because we saw him play that rookie year and there was flashes and camp in preseason was very impressive. But that's like, you know, judging spring training in baseball. And I'll go back to the Mariners here once more. The Mariners are pacing right now to be one of the worst offenses in the history of the National football in Major League Baseball.

This is like a week early, so I could be jumping the gun here. In fact, they scored seven runs last night in the game they play, so maybe maybe they're turning it around. But they are literally bottom of the league in batting average OPS and they strike out more than any team in the history of Major League Baseball. And if you go back and look at those guys ops is in spring training they were all over one

thousand and now those guys are like DFA candidates. Guys they basically get cut midseason because they can't hit the baseball. That's how I view preseason football statistics. It just flat out does not matter, because once you get live bullets, and you get game plans, and you get more disguised and deception and actual defensive calls, that's when the game starts to happen. And that's where Skuyler struggled the most for the first two years of his career.

Speaker 1

In camp.

Speaker 2

Last year I thought was pretty pretty tough to watch in that regard too, So I think that this year, in his third season, needs to show a major leap in progression in terms of the mental side of the game, how he sees the field, how quick the ball comes out, because those are imperative parts of this offense, and when you didn't have that, this offense is broken and cannot move the football. So a big year for him to

show progress in that regard. I expect it because I think he's the kind of worker that can develop that type of success in progress.

Speaker 1

But it has to happen for him, you know.

Speaker 2

I think this year before the Dolphins would ultimately if it doesn't progress, I would assume you have to kind of go back into the draft thinking we've got to find the next backup quarterback here in the late rounds of this year's draft. So it's a friendly, you know system for the quarterback. Tua really accentuates that and puts the ball and in the best spots possible. And this whole thing's built around him. So a little bit more toolsy for him and a little bit more experience, I

think is ultimately a good thing. And I just love the overall continuity in this room. It's the same two coaches, it's the same top three guys. We swap out the fourth, you know, kind of trying to get some reps guy, the camp arm, if you will. That continuity in the quarterback room will not be lost on this football team and running back my projected depth chart heading into this thing, I have a really tough time at the top because I think that Devon ah Chan is like Chris Johnson good.

But I refuse, I absolutely refuse to overlook what Raheem Moster means to this football team, what his skill set is. And in fact, if you're on Twitter and you're the one that I had this discussion with, I think it was two tweets back and forth. I couldn't disagree more with the fact that most stats are not a reflection of his game. I think that he is a fantastic running back who, like so many Dolphins, gets overlooked for whatever reason. He has breakaway speed, which to me is

the most important thing. The vision to hit that breakaway speed and hit long touchdowns. Because in an NFL where I can throw the ball, if I have two on my offense, I can throw the ball for eight point three yards per attempt. Why the hell am I going to line up and run the ball for four yards. I'm literally accepting a positive outcome as half of the average of my passing outcome. When it's positive, why the hell would I do that. I want to hit big

runs in the running game. I want to get good first down runs and running spots where they're not expected.

Speaker 1

Of course, I want to convert short yardage.

Speaker 2

I think that's a big area where this football team has to improve, and I think they have addressed that a little bit here. We'll talk about that in a second.

But where he moster a big play waiting to happen, he can definitely get to the perimeter and exemplify what this offense wants to be in terms of how you better defend the entire field sideline to sideline, and then off of that, we can attack your overplay and hit windows in the passing game behind you, hit bend back runs, and Raheem expands that entire option of your playbook with

his speed, with his decision making. But most importantly, and this gets so overlooked, and I tweeted about the stats and why ESPN's Insider GM whatever that thing was listed twenty names before Raheem moster got brought up.

Speaker 1

Watch him run.

Speaker 2

He runs through guys, and he's top five and broken tackles and yards after contact or top six or seven whatever it was, like, he's one of the best running backs in the NFL. So I'm conflicted at top at the top because Devon Hcham, I think, is gonna be a top five NFL back. So I guess I'm not that conflicted because I think the EIGHTHCHM is a premier player and Raheem is like on the cusp of an

elite running back. He's maybe not maybe not that level, but hey, what a good problem to have, right, So I guess I just solved my own argument here, and I'll go with e Chan up top because I think that his expansion in the passing game is going to really be next level and take this offense to essentially having a reek and a waddle. I think you have one more of those guys now in Devon H.

Speaker 1

Chan. I really really do.

Speaker 2

On top of Odell Beckham being a substantial upgrade to the rest of the room, on top of John Smith being a substantial upgrade to the tight end position, I just think you have so many weapons.

Speaker 1

I think Devon A.

Speaker 2

Chan is a lynchpin of that freakish ability, freakish vision and lateral quickness to hit holes that don't seem like they're there. We talked about him Jake Mendel from the he does the podcast with Josh Hout's great nickname for him, Flat Stanley last year. I think that's a perfect name because he seems to hit these creases that just are not there and he accelerates through them and he averaged

over eight yards per carry. So, like I talk about the whole running game and passing game, like, what's a good outcome for both, it's half the yards. Not with this guy, it's not eight yards per rush. I guess I'm gonna go eight chan then Moster are, but I think maybe start the game or start this with Moster as a nod to a record holder in your franchise for touchdowns and a couple of thousand yard seasons, like what a special year he had. Number three is where

it gets interesting. I'm gonna go with the rookie Galen right. I just think he's a perfect fit for the offense and how he can find those cutback lanes, how he can maximize these light box opportunities you get where arm tackles will not bring him down. And once he gets in the second level, Gosh, he has moves. Gosh, he has speed to burn. Gosh, he has the wherewithal and the vision to run to daylight and maximize those runs. You go side to side in this league, you're gonna

sacrifice yards. He doesn't do that. He gets downhill and does it with speed and conviction. And I think that he is a special talent that is going to make this running back room the best in the National Football League. When you think about those top three guys, like I think you could look back at the end of the year and be like yeah, the Dolphins had three top fifteen backs in the NFL. They also had two top

ten receivers. They also had a top five cours Like, yeah, man, it's about to get scary for opposing defenses on this offense. So those are my top three guys going into it. I'll go ahead and start here with Alec because what a valuable addition he is to the offense. And really only three or four teams have a guy like this, And you know Kyle Yuschek and Patrick Ricard who was differently built in different style for the Ravens in that

full back room. But it creates such a different dynamic to your offense when you can go twenty one personnel and essentially get to your vertical play action passing game out of those looks and buy yourself one less deep

defender because of Ingole's presence. And if they don't respect that, if they don't honor it, if you get a game against the Buffalo Bills where they stay in that nickel package all game long and maybe you commit to maybe a little bit more running, you can roll up two hundred plus rushing yards against a team like that because Ingold on a slot cornerback is a mismatch for the ages.

I think that his ability to catch the football is unique in the full black landscape, and his leadership and his character and what he brings to the locker room invaluable piece. Team captain got an extension last year. I mean, what more do you want on this football team? We're two position groups, one and a half position groups in this and we're talking about all these freaking all stars.

After that is where I think it gets the most interesting, because you basically have Savon Ahmed, Chris Brooks, and Jeff Wilson battling for that for the next hierarchy in touches. I think Chris Brooks has a lot of ability. I think he offers something that nobody else in the room does. Probably I'll probably put him here just because of my own experience with watching him in camp and in the preseason and a couple of regular season reps as well. He's kind of my surprise pick here in the running

back room to jump over Savon and Jeff Wilson. And look, I love Jeff's game too. I think he offers some physicality and an edge to him, but it just seems kind of like if there's an odd man out. It might be him, but he's gonna go somewhere else and get significant touches if that's the case, and be a productive back as well.

Speaker 1

So you'd have a really good problem here.

Speaker 2

In fact, I don't know if anyone's training for running backs these days, but maybe maybe you have some trade capital here to go out and recoup a draft pick. And then Savon Akhmed he kind of falls in that Jeff Wilson category for me, even though he's probably the best special teamer of the group. So what does it surprise me to have him be the fourth back who is kind of an ace on special teams?

Speaker 1

Not at all.

Speaker 2

He has some good pass game ability, had a couple of nice big players early in the season last year, and had a couple of touchdown runs. Just I mean, from top to bottom, this entire room is really really special, And of course the coach of the room is also associate head coach Eric Studisville. Let's go ahead and take a break right there. Come back on the other side. We'll do receivers and tight ends next, and then finish up on the offensive line. The third segment, that's next

Draft Time Podcast. Your host Travis Wingfield, brought to you by Auto Nation segment two, talking about probably the best room on the entire football team, and that says a lot. After the praise we just heaped on both the quarterback and running back room for your Miami Dolphins, we look at the wide receiver and the projected depth chart of

this group. You guys know who's up top. We'll go ahead and talk about them together, Tyreek Hill and Jalen Waddle, who is hands down by far no question about the best one to two punch in the National Football League. In effect, when when Tyreek's playing days are no more and Waddle the twenty five year old megastar, He's gonna step right into that role and be your Tyreek kill

when he's gone. So we basically have two of those guys, two guys that can score if money were on the field, Two guys that take absolute, absolute control over their entire career by the work they put in, by the offseason sweat equity they build up, by the way they practice and by the way they prepare, and by the way they essentially rally their teammates to be better players. I just look at, you know, improvements, incremental improvements in terms

of footwork and timing and pacing and rhythm. And we saw it last year with the vertical passing game, as you know, in twenty twenty two two as deep balls to Hill might have been on the back shoulder and twenty twenty three they were out in front. He ran

under those and had even more explosive long touchdowns. Like I expect that same incremental progress to occur in twenty twenty three, especially for Waddle who was just banged up all year and couldn't really seem to you know, he'd come back for a game and look explosive for a couple of plays, and then he would get nicked up

and like it would slow him down. And then we got him back in that playoff game, but he wasn't all the way right, and that in fact you saw him in practice, it was like, yeah, he's about seventy five percent, and we know that he's he's not going to miss games, you know, and this is a league where guys do miss games sometimes when they can go. If he can go, he's gonna tape it up and he's going to go. And I think you have to really respect that about his makeup and his mentality. He

is just that type of dude. I think that they create conflict in terms of how you defend this team in different personnel packages. You can run off of their threats. You can run comebacks, you can run routes that nobody else can run because of this threat, like the twenty five yard comeback that Tyreek Hill runs, like nobody else

runs that in the National Football League. And Tua can just layer that thing out there and let him essentially, you know, time up when that intersection of football and come back on the route down the stem occurs, and it always looks so perfectly orchestrated. And I always say, like, man, professional football, so cool the way these guys are so sharp and so in tune. And that's like what I'm

talking about. It's just such a fine, fine level of professional expertise these guys feature and Reak and wattle Man, I can't you can't say enough about those two guys. They are two of the best in the National Football League. The number three to me is also clearcut. It's Odell

Beckham Junior. Talked about his tape a whole heck of a lot this offseason with regards to how he might factor in here and go back over the tape last year man the games when the third down offense wasn't very good, the games where critical drives stalled out on.

Just like narrow misses, you're gonna watch a receiver play inside and get blanket on a two way go or a three way go, the vertical inside and outside options to them without safety help because they've kicked it over to Reagan Waddle and we can't generate any separation at any point of the route and it's just a non like the quarterback sees that coverage and it's like non negotiable. I can't throw the ball into that window because he's not open. That happened all the time with Odell. It's

just not gonna happen. You can't cover him that way. He's too good. I know he's not what he used to be in terms of the explosive, game breaking umber number one receiver, but that's not what he cost either, And in fact, he costs quite a bargain compared to what he was last year seventeen million dollars a year ago. He can score in the red zone, he can score from deep, he can go vertical, he can stack receiver defenders, and he just is a professional route runner, man Like.

That's going to be the thing that I think most people have lost here is you look at the numbers or the production and whatever you want to look at for Odell back in the last few years and some situations that maybe weren't ideal for him. But when you go back to a precision quarterback who wins with anticipation, what did Kurt Warner say on Twitter? He said that the best anticipation quarterbacks he put Matt Stafford and to a tongue of by low in that grouping is Lamar Jackson.

That no chance, Lamar Jackson's an elite quarterback, but that's not the strength of his game.

Speaker 1

And go back to Cleveland. Was that Baker's game? No, it wasn't.

Speaker 2

You go back to the Giants, Eli Manning, that was his game. Surprise, surprise. So Odell Beckham's about to have his best year in a while. He's about to a lot of opportunities in one on one situations, and the only reason he might not is because there's just so many damn mouths to feed in this offense. But there was a clear line from one to two those guys are obvious, and then there's a clear drop off, and then there's a clear drop off after number three, and

then that's where the battles get interesting. I'm gonna start with Eric Azukama in that number four role as a guy that I think has a chance to potentially be, you know how like Ben Skearonic was like a blocking receiver slash tight end for the Rams. I think Aszukama can be sort of like a Brad Smith like for the Jets field like ten fifteen years ago. That's probably gonna age a lot of you guys out of the conversation here, but he was like a wildcat trigger quarterback

who would take jet sweeps and run the football. I think Aszukama can do that. I think he has a vertical skill set. I think he has really good high pointing and contested catchability. Just got to stay on the field, you know, third year in he should know all the positions by now, that should no longer be a concern. Last year he was coming along strong in that regard and just got injured and it took away the rest of his season. So I think he has a great chance.

But actually I will go with Malik Washington as my number four. I'll start with Azukama just for the fact that he's a rookie in Maleague, Washington, and I'll put him number five to go into camp, and I expect that that's flip here pretty quickly into camp. I think that this is going to be your golden retriever, your China route, your whip route, your create separation quickly in

a one on one situation. I talked about Beckham winning those You're not going to cover this guy in a pham booth and then from there he can catch it and he can run you over, he can run past you, has incredible contact balance, and every football is his. He snatches him up and he showed that in training camp

as well. So I expect him to kind of assert himself as the next option as we get into the season with Azukama having a specialty rule, and then after that going into camp, I'm gonna go with Craycraft as kind of the reliable. He's gonna be where he needs to be. Every single rep he takes. He's gonna catch everything that you throw his way up. He's gonna help in the blocking game, just steady as he goes. We

are creak craft at number six heading into camp. After that, I think I'm gonna go Taj Washington for the vertical dynamic skills that that he features, and he could have caught a billion balls because he separated quickly at USC as well. But Caleb Williams's whole game was scramble and hero ball and he was phenomenal at that. And I think that robbed Taj of some catches, whereas here in a rhythm based passing offense, it might not not happen his rookie year, but it's a good fit for him.

I'll go Braxon Barrios next. I think that I think Barrios's game at this point of his career as return man, I just thought that, you know, talking about those situations I covered in the third downs and the critical drives like that, that's kind of an indictment of Barrios and Cedric Wilson in terms of their inability to get open on those critical third downs. It's on all of the tape. You don't mean, you can't miss it if you watch it.

So he'll go number seven. I'll go Sanders, Brayln Sanders, who kind of had a red shirt, you know, sophomore year last year, as you will number eighty six after having some appearances as a rookie. I'll take Anthony Schwartz next on that list, and then we'll finish up here with Jakwan Burton, the undrafted rookie who's got some skills in his own right as well.

Speaker 1

So a pretty fun battle there.

Speaker 2

I think that four or five spot is kind of where you start to think about the big competition. But this room is is really well set up under coach Wes Welker, who's also a past game specialist here in Miami as well. For what it's worth, at the tight end position, another spot where the Dolphins got better. I think all the skill groups this year, the Dolphins got better.

I think maybe a little bit of regression on the offensive line, but we know that this offense prioritizes skill players, and it starts with John Hwus Smith, who the bass in his voice alone kind of like asserts his presence in the room like he is. He is a captain type of player. He is gonna, you know, follow my lead. I'll show you how it's done in this league. I can play in line, I can play nasty splits, I can flex into the slot, I can you know, flex

out wide. He's not like a punishing blocker by any stretch of the imagination, but he does open up your offense. And that was the Patriots plan with him back when they signed him and Hunter Henry was to have this twelve personnel grouping, you know, not all all Gronk and Aaron Hernandez, but like a knockoff version of that in terms of we can be you know, personnel diverse in terms of how we run things with these two very

flexible tight ends. It's not his game to go knock a you know, a nine technique into the ether, but he can certainly do it. He's willing to do it, and he's one of the best spot up pass receivers in the league. Some of those play action boots where we have a naked league with a tight end and the quarterback all alone into the flat, like he's gonna take that eight yard gain and make it an eighteen

yard gain. So it's just I think it's a massive upgrade in the passing game in terms of how you can be flexible with your offensive personnel decisions as well. So I can't speak highly enough of Jhona Smith who last year had fantastic tape. He and Kaleis Campbell for the Falcons were very very good players last year. Durham Smyth is back, steady as he goes. You guys know about him. He's going to provide some of that you know, quasi fullback role, inline h back type of stuff as well.

He can catch the football here and there. As my good friend Seth Levit always says, the game starts when Durham Smyth gets his first reception.

Speaker 1

Although Seth, I think given the state.

Speaker 2

Of the offense this year with Reeke and Waddell and Beckham and Washington and Azukama and johnays Smith and Moster and h and Jalen Wright, I don't know where Smice factors into the hierarchy there on receptions, but I could see him just having another productive you know, maybe maybe a little bit of a reduction in snaps, maybe he plays five hundred snaps, but I can see him, you know, being a very productive player for the Dolphins once again.

Speaker 1

I'll go one two there.

Speaker 2

Although Jody fortsen Man since we signed him, intrigues the hell out of me. He has leaping ability, he's massive, he's kind of that spot up target in the red zone. You go back to his Chiefs tape, and he can really kind of out leverage guys and out and box him out and make plays that way. He also has

enough speed to run away from linebackers and safeties. Don't call him like a speedy receiver, because he did test as a receiver coming out of college and he is like a three point six ris guy, So he's not a superb athlete that way, but the tight end position, he's pretty athletic and he can run away from guys a seambuster, a guy that can you know, if you're gonna roll your safeties to the perimeter and open up the middle of the field, Two is gonna be more

than happy to throw you know, ladder balls where he can climb up there and just basically moss a linebacker who just can't get that vertical on him because Two was so precise he can do that. And Fortson has the body control and the contortion to in the hands to make those types of plays and then land on his feet and come down and continue to get yards

after the catch. So I think Fortson could have a big role in this passing off and not a big role, but like a situational role that could be super valuable. He's been number three going in. I'll go with Julian Hill at number four as a superb blocking tight end. The receptions, uh, the passing game was not there for him last year. A couple of drops had a fumble, like maybe it was like nerves. Maybe it was like I got my rep finally, and I don't want to make the I want to make the most of it.

And you can kind of, you know, maybe overthink those situations at times. But I think that he has a role in this offense as a blocker. If they want to go that way, as a special teams guy, maybe you trade somebody, Like there's there's so many there's so much depth of some man of these spots that you can probably say, like we have too many guys, maybe we can try to get some draft capital back for them.

Speaker 1

So he's the number four going in. I'll go Tanner Connor is the five.

Speaker 2

I had some high hopes for Connor coming into last year or I guess his career because he flashed so much in that camp in preseason, and not just like his playmaking ability, but like running down on special teams and eclipsing twenty miles prior was pretty impressive to me. He still has all those athletic features and he's been

a guy that you know, they've liked. So if he can maybe stay healthy, maybe he gets a crack at you know, if forts and can't if someone can't stay healthy, but he can be the guy that steps in and takes that role. And then Hayden Rucchie, who I didn't think the table was great at Wisconsin. Maybe there's more to it in this offense than what they saw at Wisconsin. But he would be the guy bringing up the rear

at the tight end position. All right, last break right there, come back on the other side and talk about a group that has a lot of names, the offensive line. That's next Draft Time podcast, your host Travis Wingfield, brought to you by autotation, saving the position group that you all want to talk about the most for very last. Quite frankly, to me, I think it's kind of an order of importance in the program where it belongs right here.

Although you can definitely make a case that late in the season, end of the postseason, the Dolphins have to get better in this regard. They have to be healthier in this department, and I would agree with all of that. Let's go ahead and break this thing down in terms of how I view it going in a training camp. Let's go ahead and talk about this. We'll lay it out for you, and then we'll get into the individual.

So for me, my projected lineup going into training camps to Ron Armstead, although we're probably not gonna see him out of bubble wrap until September, maybe maybe I will shoot. Last year, he got into practice against Houston and I think the first rep of team he went down, he got rolled up on and it was like damn it, you know, and then we had to go through the whole thing at him tweeting out like pictures of his ankle or a crutch and be like I'm okay, y'all.

And we had that whole scare, and I remember people were like saying, the season's already over, Like what a time that was, right, But hopefully he can make it to week one this year and in play as many games as possible because he is an in elite left tackle when he is out there, My left guard is Isaiah Whim. I think there's no question about that. And if he's healthy because he was very very good last year.

He fits this offense and he was so good in one on one situations and pass protection last year that you really need a player like him, I think, to hopefully go the distance, but he also has not done that in his career, so dubious prospects with regards to availability. Aaron Brewer is the center at the athletic skill set, the ability to get out on the edge. He is even more athletic than Connor Williams was, but also the same issue there in terms of anchoring against power. So

we'll see how that impacts the offense this year. The right guards the position that I think is open for competition.

Speaker 1

I'm going to go with.

Speaker 2

I'm gonna go with Jack Duriscoll there to kick things off to start it. I think he had some really good moments in OTA's that showed sort of flash his ability to kick inside and do that. I didn't like to Philly Tape there at either guard or tackle, but it's a different offense and I think that there's a vision here for how he can play in this offense. And that was kind of more what he was at Auburn as a potential guard convert who can play this athletic off the ball kind of in your face at

the second level ability. I'll go with him to kick off camp in that position. And then Austin Jackson, who I think the world as a person and as a player at the right tackle spot. I think he's you know, turned his career around. He showed you what you know tenacity and perseverance can do for you, and just brings an edge to tenacity to this offense that otherwise, you know, I don't think anybody else matches that on the offense. And he kind of gets under guy's skin with the

way he plays with the echo of the whistle. He's a guy that you want to go into a dark alley with, which is so funny because he's so soft spoken, in such a nice and intelligent and thoughtful human being that he flips that switch and he gets out there and kicks guy's butts on either side. So I didn't mention this. I just want to be through in doing this. The tight ends coach is also an assistant head coach, and John Embry let's go ahead and close off the

offensive line, Butch Berry is the offensive line coach. As you guys, know, and the assistant O line coach is Lemuel John Pierre didn't want to. I want to be comprehensive here and get all that stuff taking care of.

So that's my starting line going into it. Armstead, Win Brewer, Driscoll, and Jackson, and then I think the battle at right guard is probably kind of how you decipher the sixth man, which right now appears to be Liam Mikeenberg, who I thought that was a position that he kind of settled in at last year at times, and he'd moved to center, and it just that the whole center project I didn't.

I didn't never thought that really worked. I think I like Driscoll's opportunity to kick inside at center more than I do Leam Miichenbergs because off balance on the ground trying to get in space, running back to yelling at him for not hitting the right block. If he can make an Austin Jackson leap, that'd be fantastic, But that's kind of where it has to go for it to work out for him. I think long term here, I think i'd go with Robert Jones as kind of the next guy in there, and if you put him in,

he's not going to play center. He can play tackle, but I like him best at either the guard positions. A kind of a adaption to adapting to more of a man gap power scheme with him in the games, it's more his game than what he than what this system is. And you know, he does the most what he has physically in terms of that athletic ability, but I think his game is more downhill and so I like how they kind of adapted to that in the Dallas game last year when he had a great drive

to cap things off there. I think Patrick Paul is the guy I would put in next, and I think that he might have a crack a chance to play at some point this year.

Speaker 1

Man, I just think he's gonna be I think he's gonna work out.

Speaker 2

I think that the technique and the skills have come a long way from Ota' from what they were on the college tape. Like it wasn't a playable at Houston. It got better at the Senior Bowl, and then as he kind of had an off He's gonna go through and work technique. He came back in OTA's and he looked pretty damn sharp. I kind of forgot Kendall Lamb there. He's also in that company, and you know he's gonna

play at some point this year. Just a technician, a real pro, can handle one on one opportunities and seems to have really taken to the system there. So you have to me, I think those guys and I would put key on Smith probably in this group as well.

I think you have ten guys there that are above that Chris Furster line that he talks about where it's like we don't need, like, you know, a Tyreek Hill of the offensive line, which you kind of have that an elite player in toront Armstead, right, but his availability is not the same as Tyreek Kills.

Speaker 1

But I digress.

Speaker 2

The whole idea is, do we have enough guys that can play above this line that allows our offense to remain functionable on the line, to create the opportunities that we need for all the guys on the perimeter that can be game breakers with the football in their hands. That's how this entire thing is designed. That's how the entire thing is built. And I think that they do have those ten guys. I'll take Armstead, Win Brewer, Driscoll, Jackson I think are obviously well above the lines.

Speaker 1

My five starters.

Speaker 2

I think Kendall Lamb, Patrick Paul Leam, Eikenberg, Robert Jones, and Keon Smith are five more that can play above that line. As far as what we've seen so far. The rest of the guys are kind of unknowns, and in fact, you know, I'll kind of just lump them together here because I don't really know much about those guys.

I will say, if you heard the All twenty two podcast last year in the film reviews, I thought it was a really tough year for Lester Cotton, and I would put him in this group of these guys because of that. With Chase and Hines, who's trying to kind of carve out a spot in the NFL. Ryan Hayes, the draft pick from two years ago that left and now has come back and trying to get his, you know,

his NFL career on track. There, Matthew Jones Andrew Meyer were undrafted guys, Ireland Brown in that category, and then Bidron Metos, the guy that we had in the Podcast of the Day. He's developmental long term, has a long way to go, but man, there are some physical traits

there to work with with that guy. I can see where you're concerned on this on this group are it's not the name power we have and the entire rest of the roster, which you know, defensive tackle got taken care of, Receiver death got taken care of, safety got taken care of. All these spots were addressed, and you might say the offensive line didn't get addressed. Well, trust me, there's a reason for that. They have belief in certain guys, certain a number of guys that can play above that line.

I don't know if it's the ones that I mentioned. That's my own personal view. How they view it, what we'll find out, but I think there's enough there right now to at least get you back to what you were last year. What I like to see someone like Greg Van Routin, Of course I would, yes, one hundred percent. I would like to see that. We'll see what happens,

you know. I think Kyle Krabs put an episode out last week or something where he talked about potential trade candidates, like just don't don't think that they're going to be done and sit on this thing. Like if they if it doesn't work out the way they want to en camp, they'll be aggressive and local get the guy they need to you know, make this group that one player better. So just be patient. We'll see what happens. Let camp play out. Let every practice play out, left, the games

play out. Let the roster, you know, acquisition portion of early September play out before we start panicking this year.

Speaker 1

Can we agree on that?

Speaker 2

All right?

Speaker 1

Sounds good.

Speaker 2

That's the offensive preview. Come out to the training camp. Tickets are available now at Miami Dolphins dot com. I believe it's slash training backslash training camp, So come check it out.

Speaker 1

Come say hi to me if you come out to camp.

Speaker 2

We'll go ahead and do one more of these podcasts on Monday, reviewing the defense and the depth chart that way, and then it's on. Man, it's on for training camp in the twenty twenty four season is here. My golf

career is put back on hold. I'm recording this before my family goes on vacation or they're going back home to the Pacific Northwest, and I am going to be the ruler of the roost by myself for like thirteen days, and I can't wait to just like watch baseball, watch the Mayors games until twelve thirty in the morning, sleep in and go play golf every single day.

Speaker 1

Maybe go to the pool by myself. I usually have kids with me.

Speaker 2

That means I don't get a relax and just kind of float around on the water like I like to do. So I am going to be off the grid for a little bit there, but once once this podcast comes out on Thursday.

Speaker 1

The what is it the eighteenth?

Speaker 2

Uh yeah, Monday will be the last podcast before camp. Then it's it's full go. But just now I'm playing golf right now and hear this podcast, So that's my time today. You all please be sure to subscribe to the podcast on Apple Spotify, where you get your podcasts from. Go ahead and leave us a rating and leave us a review. You can follow me on social at wingfold NFL.

The team at Miami Dolphins. Check out the fish Tank podcast with Seth and Juice, the YouTube channel for media availabilities, Dolphins Today, and so much more, and last but not least, Miami Dolphins dot Com. Until next time, Finn's up, Coln and Cameron Daddy, He's coming home.

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