What is up Dolphins? And welcome to the Draft Time Podcast. I am your host, Travis Wingfield. And on today's show, the great Daniel oh Yufuzie, who used to join me to talk about this Dolphins team. He's now on the Browns beat. He's gonna help us break down this Dolphins in Brown's matchup from the Cleveland Perspective.
We'll hear from Kyle Krabs.
We'll pick the week eighteen games from the Baptist Health Studios inside the Baptist Health Training Complex. This is the Draft Time Podcast. Maybe Daffy, it is Brown's week, and that means we get to welcome in longtime friend of the show, Miami Harold Alum, who was granted the opportunity to return closer to his home turf. In the DMV, he covers the Browns for ESPN. Daniel oh Yufusie. Daniel, welcome back in man, tell me everything. How is life in the land beIN?
Yeah, you know, it's a these skies eighty degrees.
I'm this kidding now, We've got some snow flurries out here. But it's been fun.
You know, it's been about eight months since I left South Florida. Come to Cleveland for this great opportunity, and I've really been enjoying it, you know, as well as we'll kind of get into it, Sceal. It's been kind of disappointing in terms of the onfield product relative to expectations.
But you know, it's like I said's my six year coming in the NFL.
Every year is you know, it takes a life on his own, and I've really been enjoying it.
They're going to have indoor or is the plan to have an indoor stadium or is that just in talks right now?
Yeah, I mean the haslms are are are really pushing forward with this. Obviously there's been you know, there's the kind of legal process, political products with the city and whatnot, but they are you know, they've they've unleashed renderings for that that Dome stadium in brook Park, which is suburb you know, suburban area about fifteen minutes from downtown. You know, They've put out renderings of kind of the area around
that they want to really spruce up. So the hope is for them that you know, in the next couple of years they can really you know, put this together and you.
Know, unveil it well the Cavs are one of the best teams in the NBA. You are in the hometown of a team that played in the ALCS this year. But the Browns, well, maybe you'll have an indoor stadium here coming up that you don't have to go outside and cover cold football games in December. So everything looking
up for Cleveland from Daniel Oyafuzi's perspective. But let's go ahead and start here with a two fold question, because we do this every single time I have a guest on talk about the quarterback position first, but the Browns, you know, they make the biggest change the team can
make in season by making the quarterback switch. And before we get into the impact of that, I want to start off with your scouting report on Dorian Thompson and Robinson because I think most people probably remember him most from college and he's kind of bounced around here a little bit in the league. What's kind of the scouting report for dtr heading into this game.
Yeah, I mean he's a little bit of an you know, unknown and kind of unproven player right now. Fifth round pick of the Browns last year, you know, made three starts and he was kind of thrown into some kind of unfortunate, unexpected situations, Like I think his first start
came against the Ravens. In about three hours before the game, he was notified that Deshaun Watson wasn't gonna be able to go, he was gonna have to start, So he kind of was thrown to the Wolves in a sense with no first team reps, and the performance was kind of one that you would expect from a backup quarterback
that didn't get any first team reps. You know, he did lead them to a you know, impressive win, a low scoring game, kind of mucked up game against the Steelers, but most of his starts, of his kind of playing action has kind of been just kind of like thrown into you know, backup duty year as we saw you know recently, you know.
Come in for Jameis Winston after he was benched.
And I think that the one thing from year one to year two that a lot of players and coach Kevin Stefansky has talked about it's kind of his overall grasp and uh, you know knowledge of the offense, you know, just having a feel.
For where to go with the ball and where everyone should be and whatnot.
Obviously he has he has a strong arm, pushed the ball downfield. He's a little frenetic. You know, he has some mobility to him, but he is a little frenetic. And I think that one thing that they're trying to get him to do is to just be a little more calm and in everything from you know, the strop back to his reading of the field to when he does decide to use his legs.
So you know, again he's he's very raw, but he's an athletic guy.
He's going to run around, make some plays, a kind of basic exciting over you know, this last couple of weeks of the season as we're kind of transitioning into the offseason.
Right, Yeah, and he'll need those legs against the Anthon Weaver defense that does a good job of cooking up pressures with Chob Robinson, with Zack Steeler and of course Jordan Brooks is a blitzer and all the same pressures they can offer. I'm realizing now that I just misspoke and I conflated his career with somebody else.
That was, uh where did dtr go to u c l A? Also?
And he did go to UCLA.
Okay, So I was thinking Brett Hamley that was he did not bounce. He's been with the Browns the entire time. So my bat on that correction there, and just separately Daniel, because again, like this, just outside of like the football and what we love it for, just the quarterback position alone kind of fascinates me and people's journeys into that position in the quarterback rooms, and you know, the teams that get their starter for the whole year is great.
Most teams don't have that luxury. And for the Browns, it's been a while since they've had a quarterback play sixteen or seventeen games. And I'm just curious about the quarterback room in general this year because I have to imagine that it's taxing on a team and forget you know, off field stuff and everything that goes into that, but just in terms of high price starter who didn't play very well, he gets hurt, and I think people probably
were ready for the backup at that point. He gets his chance, but then he plays exactly like you'd expect a guy who once had a thirty touchdown, thirty pick, five thousand yard season to play. And now they go to the youngster who has you know, maybe's not that young either, he's like mid twenties, who has you know, a very minimal starting experience. Just take us through the impact of the quarterback room on the entire operation in Cleveland this year.
Yeah, I mean it's been it's been a roller coaster from you know, Deshaun Watson, you know, having you know, kind of maybe the single worst half season we've seen in recent memory.
You know, I think there was a lot obviously, a lot of frustration, you know, internally externally because they entered the season with a lot of expectations, highest spectations. Obviously, you know, Watson was coming off of a sort shoulder surgery. But the last time we saw him on the field in twenty twenty three was maybe his brightest moment as
a Cleveland Brown. You know, I'm completing all of his passes in the second half of a comeback road win against the Ravens, and then a couple days later day and outstetics out for the year.
So, you know, they bring in Ken Dorsey from the.
Bills offensive coordinator, they kind of spruce up the offense and kind of retool the offense to do this spread out, shotgun RPO based system that he had success with in Houston. And there's a lot of expectation and hope that he can kind of get back to that pro bow level that we saw when he was with the Texans, and that just never came.
That just never came. In fruition, he looked very uncomfortable. You know, there was a lot of moving parts.
Around him in terms of you know, injuries on the offensive line, struggles blocking, you know, struggles implementing a new scheme that was vastly different from what they've done normally under Chemi Stefanski for the first four years of his tenure there, and then it all culminated in that injury.
So obviously you go to Jamis.
Winston and you know he's he's you know, the embodiment of a variants. You know, he first starts, he throws three touchdowns, you know, a couple of games he's throwing three interceptions.
That's just kind of who he is. So yeah, I mean I think that you know, he had.
A strong start kind of lifting that offense, kind of breathing some life into that offense. But then you know, you did see him kind of you know, it's kind of the law of averages. You know, he some of those drop picks and missed opportunities came back to bite him. And now we're with Dorian Thompson Robinson Robinson, and you know, he he has spoken about wanting to show that he can be the QB one.
For this franchise.
And obviously it's a you know, it's gonna be a tough tat ass, you know, for a fifth round pick if you have to love the confidence and the you know, the aspirations. So yeah, I mean, I believe that Drian Thompson Robinson is the fortieth starting quarterback to start for the Browns since they were turning to Cleveland in nineteen
ninety nine. And I you know, it's tough for any team, any organizations to have no continuity when you're starting that many players of the course of a year, over the course of several years.
And we just have to have stability with that position.
And it looks like they're going to be on the lookout to, you know, stabilize that position again this offseason.
Did you say forty Yeah, I believe so.
Last time I checked it was I believe it was thirty eight after Kashawn got hurt, So James would have been thirty nine. And I guess this makes forty if my math is right, it's definitely define don't.
I'm sorry that is just jarring to me because I've seen the jerseys, you know, the people that have the jersey where they put the what is it, Tim Cowich is the first name, and then they have the ensuing twenty five plus and now it sounds like forty names off the side of that jersey.
Yeah, it's that's you know, some teams have that to deal with.
Some teams have the Packers luck and they get three consecutive like all pro level quarterbacks. It's just isn't fair sometimes the way this league works out. And Daniel, you talk about the quarterbacks, they're all throwing two and this goes back to like your point about expectations, like, man,
this roster, it's it's pretty dang good. And you look at the skill players, like obviously, you know Nick Chubb's been down for the majority of the year and he'll he'll miss the rest of the year again here with the foot injury, and you know, prayers up for him that he can get back and sort of sort of for a next year because he's one of the best players and one of the best dudes in the league.
But I look at an offense that has Jerry Judy and David Najoku, is you know, Judy's having a kind of renaissance here in the NFL and n Joku's one of the best tight ends in the NFL. So what kind of challenges do those guys present? Maybe is there a couple of guys in that skill group of Dolphins fans should know about that maybe they don't know about.
Yeah, I mean, I think you definitely have to start with Jerry Judy, just because he's having a breakout year.
You know, we talked so much about like Alabama, Jerry Judy, like the one that we saw years back and put put up those big numbers and we finally have gotten it.
You know.
It's interesting because he left the situation where you know, there was a lot of turnover into quarterback, head coach, offensive coordinator. He wanted, you know, to get opportunities when you know the first half of the season it looked like he looked like it did a lot in Denver with you know, just inconsistency at the quarterback position. But I will say one thing about Jameis Winston being inserted into the lineup is that you know, he really brought the best out of Jerry Judy as a guy who
can you know, run, run, you know, strong rouse. We've always known that at all levels of the field and when given the opportunities, make plays, you know, you know, over the the last I guess since week eight when Jameis Winston took over, like Jerry Judy is you know, top three, top five, uh in in receiving yards and we've really seen those big plays. So he's definitely you know, the top you know, offensive playmaker, uh for the Browns.
I will say with Nick Chubb bing out, another guy who I expect to get a lot of touches is the running back Jerome Ford.
You know, you know, out of.
Cincinnati and you know started his career at Alabama.
He's a he's a speed guy, you know, at twenty miles per hour, twenty one per hour on his sixty two yard run a couple of weeks back against the Chiefs. He's a guy they like to they like in the passing game as well, with dump offs and stuff like that out of the backfield. So yeah, of course, obviously you've got David and Jok, who he's been dealing with some injuries here and there.
Over of course that you're dealing with a hamstring injury.
Right now, You've got Elijah Moore, of another South Florida guy who you know can really work over.
The middle of the field.
But definitely it's gonna kind of start and end with Jerry Judy, especially if you've got a young quarterback who's gonna be looking for him early and often.
In DTR That's a team that next year, if they do get that quarterback position figured out, and with Kevin Stefanski a big believer in him as well, I think it's gonna be a team that can bounce back and have one of those turnarounds here pretty quickly if they get that position figured out. And speaking of how quickly things can change, man, like, it seemed like I go back to you know, Baker's last year when he played through all those injuries and kind of, I guess wore
out his welcome in Cleveland, I thought, unfittingly. So you know, he's kind of gone to prove that that that was probably the wrong move with the Buccaneers now, but you go back to those Browns teams and it was like, man, Nick Chubb, Jedrick Wills, Jack Conklin. You know, this this interior offensive line that's one of the best in the NFL, and that was kind of the Packers or the Packers the Browns.
Why am I on the Packers today?
That was one of the Like, the Brown's identity was that offensive line and kind of burying teams with the running game. But it hasn't been that way the last couple of years because of a lot of injuries but also maybe some fall off and performance. Can you just take us through the offensive line what it looks like from an injury standpoint performance standpoint, Like, just what are we dealing with upfront here for the Cleveland Browns.
Yeah, I mean they've used about a half dozen or more starting lineups this year just off of injury. So you got to go back to twenty twenty three when Jack Conklin, you know, suffered a really bad knee injury. You know, there was a lot of talk about how
bad Nick Chubb's injury was there. You know, it was kind of a multi ligament deal and you know, multiple areas of concern with Jack Conklin and Week one and then you have Dwan Jones, you know, a mid round pick from last year's stepping very well, but.
Then he goes down as well. Late in the year.
You got Jajik Wills on the left side at left tackle, have an MCL injury that was really was expected to keep him out for too long, and all of a sudden he's out out for the year.
Uh.
And and even you know, Joel Botonio missing some time I believe last year as well. So we have all these guys coming back from injury, you know, Wills and Conklin didn't start the didn't start the season, and one they were still kind of rehaving those injuries. Jed Wills just never really got back I think when we started three or four games, and eventually they just kind of shut him down. Jaed Conkin has kind of settled that
spot on the right side again. But unfortunately Dwan Jones you know, uh, suffered a fractured fibula, uh, you know, in his legs, so he's out for the year again. Hawaiatt Teller's missed some time, Ethan Poitics, the centers missed some time. So the first half of the year, you know, again Deshaun Watson was not playing well, but there there was a lot around him that wasn't you know, falling in line as well, And I'd say that the offensive line played a big role in terms of injuries.
And then the change in incorporating a new scheme.
Again, this was a you know, kind of Shanahan style West Coast offense with a lot of with a lot of you know, wide zone, outside zone with Nick Chubb, find the cutback lanes and then they did a lot of you know, pulling guards and stuff like that. And then when they went to the more spread out approach, they kind of shifted to more inside zone. So in addition to kind of new in additions to putting a focus on different types of rue plays, you know, you're you're bringing in, you have a new.
Offensive line coach.
You know, Bill Callahan, you know is who is you know, one of the most respected offensive line coaches in the in the NFL.
You know, he goes to join his son in Tennessee to be the coach there.
So you have a new offensive line coach with new principals, and it was a lot of turnover, and you know, sometimes it is tough to incorporate a new scheme, especially when it's completely different what you've done before.
I think they have definitely settled down, you know, the second half of the year.
They streamlined some stuff in terms of their protections, and I think that, you know, some of the older guys on that offensive line, particularly Taylor and Potonio, start to play, you know, like we're accustomed to see them.
But yeah, there there has been a bit of drop off, especially in the one game.
Yeah, I think that you know, this system in particular, like you talk about the system change, this is a system as steeped in continuity.
My listeners know.
I've talked about that all year long, with how important it is to have kind of you know, if they're gonna bump or slide their second level of the defense, the offensive line has to adjust in real time to be able to you know, communicate those assignment changes in the blocking game. And so I can only imagine how tough it is to go through all those injuries, go through a scheme change, go through quarterback changes. It is tough if you don't have continuity in this league, especially
in this system. So really good Stufflet's go ahead and take a quick break rate there. Come back on the other side and talk to Daniel about the Browns defense and head of Dolphins and Browns a four or five kickoff on Sunday from Cleveland. That's next Draft Time podcast, your host Travis Wingfield, brought to you by Auto Nation. We have covered the Browns offense here ahead of Dolphins
and Browns on Sunday from Cleveland. Let's go ahead and get a few questions here about this defense, because well, one, they have a player who has made no secret about his desires to win the individual award this year in Defensive Player of the Year. Is Miles Garrett On to capture a DePoy and just tell us about his impact on that Browns defense.
Yeah, yeah, obviously he's the Randing Defensive Player of the Year and he's put up a very very strong case to win that award again. I think it's gonna be a little tough this year around. You know, I think last year he was definitely bolstered. That case was definitely bolstered by, you know, the elite defense that he was playing on. You know, they finished one number one in
several metrics. There has been some regression and I think he expected you know, you know, defense can be a little volatile from year to year, and I think that posting offenses have kind of had a better grasp of that Jim Schwartz led defense.
So it's gonna be tough. You know, he's top three, top five in sacks.
Right now, you know, approaching you know, right around one hundred sacks first career, but just the level the play of the defense and the team success, I think it's gonna make it hard for him to for him to repeat. But you know, he's you know, seeing him up close, He's definitely on the short list of best players that I've seen.
I mean, you know, I've covered up close. You know, I think about when I was my.
First watch Tyree the first plays and I saw when I just saw him like a blur over the middle of the field in the way that he kind of you know, you know, cut the difference on the angles and you know, separated from the defense, and I'm like, oh, this guy is different. You know, watching Miles Garrett at training camp just completely wreck the offenses plan every single place at the point where I'm like, why is he even practicing?
Like this is completely counterproductive? You know.
So he's definitely on the short list greatest players I've covered up with, you know, Tyree, Lamar Jackson, and others.
I'm glad you said that because when you were talking about him in his greatness and you know the fact that he's in the running for back to back d poys here, it reminds me of the draft discourse when he came out, when it was like he was so dang good and everybody knew about it that it kind of you get that draft fatigue where you start getting those takes, like in the march in early April, where it's like, well, actually, Miles Garrett didn't have enough sacks
against SDC, and it's just like, all right, calm down, He's he's the best, and you can, like to your point, like you can just see it with with how he looks, so he's he's kind of the focal point there. I wanted to ask you one more question here and you can sprinkle in some names. Do you think are big impact players in that defense? But I'm really most concerned about how Jim Schwartz might attack Tua and the Dolphins offense, because we know Jim loves to be aggressive. He can
throw those fire zones at you. We saw Demiko. Ryan's really kind of you know, confused to the best anybody has all year a couple of weeks ago. What do you think Jim Schwartz is cooking up for Tua and who's gonna help him get that game plan to victory against these Dolphins.
Yeah, I'm really interested in this matchup because, you know, during my time covering the Dolphins, you know, the previous three seasons, especially like when Mike McDaniel, you know, came in, we saw a lot of teams be very deliberate in the way that they wanted to defend. You know, this this kind of track tax speat offense, and I was,
you know, played too high cover two shelves. You know in some cases, you know press Man or kind of press Tyreek and Jill Nwado at the line of screamage, but don't let anything over top, and I make sure you have an extra guy over top and kind of drop into deep, deep zones. And you know, that's not really the m of Jim Swartz. He's a guy that likes to play a lot of cover one single high coverage. He has a lot of faith in in this cornerback
room and Cleveland. They invested a lot in terms of draft picks and money and whatnot with you know, Denzel Ward who I think is having an all pro Pro Bowl level season.
Martin Emerson, who struggled this year.
But it's a really you know, big long cornerback and we're going to lose Somes out for the year right now with the Hampshire injury. But you know, in the slot, you know, they rely on those guys a lot, and you know, typically teams haven't fared well when you're just gonna you know, kind of line up play man and
play single high. I think that one thing, especially this year is that they've really tried to add rinkles and kind of disguise a lot more pre snap and rotate, so like maybe show too high and then rotate to single high, uh, with you know some abody dropping down and kind of like a robber position as well.
So I would expect to see that as well.
I think that you know, Jim schwartz is I asked him about, you know, playing too high and stuff like that earlier in the year and he's he's like, hey, like, you got to play to the strengths of your of your defense, and this is a defense that likes to
be aggressive and attack. So I wouldn't I'd expect more of the same, but maybe, you know, like you said, with Demico, like all Demika Ryans and other teams that have had success, you know, show a lot pre snap and the rotating into what you really want to get into in hopes of kind of you know, confusing to and some some of those mistakes. And I think that obviously, with the kind of the precarious tackle position and just overall offensive line position, I think that they're they're gonna
they're gonna, you know, have faith in that matchup. You know, obviously, uh, they're gonna move Miles Garrett around a lot, but you know, if you know, tackles are injured, you know they're gonna let him stay on kind of pick a side that he wants to kind of kind of work on it and work that matchup as well. But you know, the the Browns have a have a you know, pretty experienced defensive line. They have some playing some young guys just because of the nature of the season and trading and
partner with some veterans. But that's a defensive mind that's pretty played pretty well this year.
So it's going to be a big matchup on Sunday.
It sounds like it could be a lot of quick game versus pressure looks and throwing into you know, basically trying to re route some of those those quick game routes with their zone coverage and even some man as well.
So that's interesting.
And the reason I mentioned that the Texans game was because Man Daniel, the way they ran that inverted to look with Derek Stingley who can somehow cover the deep third and then also the curl flat all on the same route, which gives you twelve defensive players in the field, makes it pretty.
Buns love doing that. Dudes loved doing that.
They've done that inverted to a lot, So I definitely would expect to see that and some in some moments, and you know, the Browns had been burnt on it, you.
Know they were.
There was an eighty nine yard touchdown I believe that Monday night game against Denver which came from the inverted to look.
So there are some opportunities, you know.
When it when it works, it works great if we confuse the quarterback, but if you have a quarterback that can really you know, diagnose it, you know, posting that pretty quickly, there are some opportunities as well. So there's going to be a really fun chess match in terms of you know, premium posting skies.
Yeah, that's really good stuff. That's what we'd like talking about here on the show.
And I feel like even just maybe five years ago, like inverted two is almost a bad word, like you run in vert two, what do you know what you're doing? But now it's like, I mean, some of these best dcs are cooking it up and it's working. To your point, it has its downsides as well, and I would assume the Dolphins are a team with their speed on the perimeter, it could actually exploit that pretty well. And we'll see about Waddle and you know, Tyreek going into this game.
But I digress. Let's go ahead and finish here on the very last question I have for you, Dane, if you want to just wrap it up for us just quickly, The Browns win this game in Cleveland against the Dolphins if and then you're you're the floor is yours.
The Browns win this game if their defense takes over. Now, this is a defense that again has progressed from last year. But they've been putting some bad spots, you know, the first half.
Of the year.
You know they've you know, they've played so many, so many more minutes compared to like the average defense, because you know, there's been so many three and hours turnovers and what so like.
They usually start very well and.
Then they kind of wear out as the as the game goes on because you know, they're putting so many bad spots and that forced to play so many extra minutes. But I will say one thing that has not carried over from the previous year is takeaways and turnovers, and I think that they need that to support in offense. It's probably gonna be led by a young quarterback. It might not be as explosive as it was with Jameis Winston under center. So again, they're going to be at home.
It's going to be you know, four pm kickoff. You know, maybe quarter temperature than usual. We all know about the you know, the the issues in the cold. However, you want to really want to believe in the narrative or not for the Dolphins, you know this is you know, they they have to take control of this game and really make too in this offense uncomfortable and put their offense set their offense of for success.
He's a Cleveland Browns reporter for ESPN. His name is his at on social at Daniel OYAFUSI. Daniel, you're I tell you all the time. You're the perfect drive time guest. You give us the perfect balance of insight to the team boots on the ground, but also the ex's and those we love talking about here on the show.
It's great to hear from you again.
Man.
I'm glad you're doing really well up there. And uh, we'll see you in well.
We're the sausage gets made recording this podcast ahead of time because the holiday, the holiday breaks, so we'll see you boy a week, my friend.
Most definitely, I'll be already talking with you and.
Away, he goes. I love talking football with Daniel. We've had a bunch of good guests in the show this year in terms of beat riders that know their stuff. It's kind of our aim on the show. I guess that makes sense. Let's go ahead and wrap up the segment real quick with the Week seventeen picks. We are fresh off a ten and six week. Did not follow up the fifteen to one week and Week fifteen that well, but ten and six puts us at seventy two point
five percent right now. Luckily we cashed wins on Wednesday. I have the Seahawks over the Bears on Thursday. We'll see how that plays out. Go ahead and cue the music, and we're gonna start on Saturday morning or I guess one o'clock games. I'm still like five years in saying the ten am games like Saturday morning, like I'm still not there yet.
I'll take the Patriots over the Chargers.
I think that traveling to the East Coast for a cold weather game for a Dome team that doesn't separate that well against a team that plays little man coverage, I think the Patriots get a win here and to spoil their draft pick and spoil the Chargers celebration for the playoffs for one more week at least. And already with that game result, you know that your game against the Browns will matter because you'll be alive in Week eighteen.
But it gets even better because the Bengals, I think, are going to wipe the floor quite frankly with the Denver Broncos, and then you're gonna have all kinds of opening pass to finding your way into the playoffs. The Rams over the Cardinals to close out the triple header on Saturday, I'll take the Bucks over the Panthers. I'll take the Bills over the Jets, even without anything to
play for. I think the Bills still play their guys in this game and kind of rest them for Week eighteen against the Patriots next week.
I'll take the Colts over the Giants.
I really hope it's the Giants, but I cannot pick that team to win a football game. Packers over the Vikings, which goes back to the opening of yesterday show where I said that I think the Packers and Lions results will make it a Week eighteens. Game between the Lions and Vikings does not matter, and so therefore, I think all these AFC games will be the ones that get flex into primetime spots. I'm taking the Saints over the Raiders, the Titans over the Jags, the Dolphins over the Browns.
You knew that We'll take the Eagles over the Cowboys, the Commanders over the Falcons on Sunday Night Football, and the Lions over the Niners on Monday Night Football. Let's go ahead and take our last break right there, come back and finish up with Kyle Krabs. Draft Time podcast your host Travis Wingfield, brought to you by Auto Nation.
For the first time this year with our.
Weekly guest, Kyle Krabs, We're going to go ahead and look ahead a little bit as the college football playoff takes a weekend off, but we'll see the boys back on the field four games, beginning on New Year's Eve with Penn State, Boise State, and then New Year's Day a tripleheader Texas, Arizona State, Ohio State, Oregon, and Notre Dame Georgia. Kyle, first off, how was the holiday season? And how great is this time of year? Man football every day?
And as as drivetime listeners are listening to this, we had games on on Wednesday, we had game on Thursday, we have standlow games on Friday, we have games on Saturday.
It's the best Sunday.
It's an awesome stretch of football. So Holidays, we're good. Hope you guys had a great holiday as well, and just enjoying this last final gasp of all the football that you could possibly consume.
That's why we turned to him for the expertise on all these things. And I believe you have a piece coming up here shortly on the thirty third team.
What are you working on?
Yeah, it's looking at offensive line prospects for the twenty twenty five NFL Draft and whether they're what their big question is as far as that agile question of is he a garter?
Is he a tackle?
So looking at I got fifteen offensive lineman lined up from this year's class and looking at each one of them individually with what their question is, and then how this offseason cycle can help them decipher whether or not they're going to be a garter or tackle the next level.
Well, I know Dolphins fans love talking about the discourse on the offensive lines. I go check it out Kyle Krabs's latest taking a look at the offensive line prospects.
Is there a guy or two in there that you like for Miami scheme?
Kyle, there's a bunch of guys that in particularly you like for the scheme when you understand the entire objective of the Shanahan Tree of offensive coaching, regardless of what flavor of it it is in Miami or Green Bay or San Francisco or LA with the Rams or Houston.
You want to reduce the time on tat or time under tension for your offensive lineman as much as possible, and you achieve that by selling run action even when you're passing the football, and there's a lot of guys who I think the art of true drop back past sets and setting for seven step drops from under center to have deep shot plays that like, those kinds of players at the college level are a little bit of dying breed with what the rules are in college right now.
So there's a lot of guys who are really good at being athletic and firing off the ball and using their athleticism and can create that picture that you then if you have grip strength and length and foot speed to be able to mirror once you're attached to guys, it can really parlay into a likable profile for an offensive lineman for an offense like the one Miami runs.
That's why I love asking you because, as coach McDaniel said, we play offensive line different than pretty much anybody else in terms of this system. And you see that play out with how it looks on tape. So good stuff all around. Let's go ahead and rip through these games real real quick. And my goodness, man, you're Alma mater.
I mean, the sixth seed might be the best seed you can have because they go from a game against SMU, who had a great year, But I mean, I don't think they were ever going to compete with these top dogs at this level. And now they get Boise State and you know, Ashton gen he's my favorite player in the entire country. He could be anybody by himself. But it's going to be a tall order for the Broncos come New Year's Eve. Here, what's your scouting angle on this game, Penn State Boise State?
I just think penns State's got too much athleticism for Boise State to you know, kind of like what you saw with SMU where that matchup was. Generally, the college game is a little bit less quarterback driven than the pro game is at times. But if you have a quarterback that has players around him, I think you saw this in the Notre Dame Indiana game. I thought you saw this in the Penn State SMU game in the
first round of playoff. If the defensive speed is just at a certain level and you don't have enough answers. And I know Ashton Genty had a productive day when they played the Oregon Ducks. Maybe he can put the Superman cape on and remind everybody why he had such a strong case for the Heisman, But it's going to require that kind of showing because if Penn State is able to get up on top, and with a guy like Adel Carter, I think he's going to be really
difficult for boys to account for. And because you can move him around as a weapon, I think there's more opportunity for you to put him in the path of Ashton Genty. I think that's gonna be too much to handle. So I think Penn State wins, and probably wins by a couple of scores.
Looking forward to that one, man, I mean it's been that way so far early on these playoffs, and the next game doesn't really feature I mean the points spreads even larger in this one for Texas Arizona State. So what are you looking at from a scouting angle? And let's see this is the Chick fil a peach bawl.
Yeah, I am really excited for Cam Scattabo, the running back from Arizona State, who is two hundred and twenty five pounds of the modern day incarnation of what Mike all Scott was as a runner. Right, He's not that big, He's got some Larry Zanga jeans in him. For the analogy that Dolphins fans can appreciate his dude runs angry, he runs physical. It is hilarious watching him pinball off
of contact and going against Texas. Texas definitely has some dudes on the defensive side of the ball who are going to make life difficult for them, but he's a player who plays through contact. Arizona State, I love what coach Dillingham is doing there with that program, that they really have a great energy about them. But I just think Texas is a little bit too much blue blood as far as the talent, the NFL talent versus going against a program that's still in their youth and infancy
of really being on this stage. So I think Texas is going to win this game. I would look as the trenches as being the reason why. But Cam Scatibo is the running back from Arizona State, might be my favorite storyline of the game.
To see how he plays against Texas.
It's comical sometimes.
His tape because you'd like you mentioned the pinballing phrases is perfectly described the way he runs the football and yeah, man, looking at the schedule again, like i've we should re rank and recede at the stage of the tournament because Ohio State Oregon, which is going to be the roles Ball five o'clock kickoff, which is the best game aesthetic in the world of football, like from the Pasadena standpoint, the way the sun sets around the third or fourth quarter,
you get you know, it's always it's always been a Pac twelve Big ten team, like it is here again, or I guess they're both Big ten teams. But I mean, this is the shortest spread of the weekend and it's you know, Oregon's the best team in the country.
I feel like they kind of got job there. What say you on that? And then also give us the game preview if you can't go.
Yeah, I think the aesthetics of this game are going to be right out there at the top. I don't know what uniforms like Miami and Cleveland are wearing this Sunday, but the aesthetics of that game I think are not good. Orange.
I actually thought Miami Sir Francisco, Yeah, beautiful, had a great that had a great aesthetic to it as far as the uniforms, and obviously the hard Rock Stadium is such a beautiful venue in general, but Ohio State Oregon as far as the game goes once you get outside of the pageantry of a rematch of a one point game last time, that came right down to Ohio State being on the fringe of an opportunity to kick a field goal to win the game and they ran out of time. This is a really hard won the poll
for me. I imagine Oregon won the first matchup in Ohio State's lost forty percent of the starting offensive line since that game. The Ducks have talent on defense. Will Howard's playing pretty darn good at quarterback for Ohio State though, and they obviously have the ability with Jeremiah Smith and
Ameca Buca. Smith's not draft eligible, but Abuka has been around for a long time, and I think people take for granted how good is he's a player, just because he's been on the scene nationally for three four years now. I'll pick Oregon to win the game, But if you told me that Ohio State came in with the needed edge because of the way the last game ended last time,
it would not surprise me. But they will miss Josh Simmons, the tackle who went down in the first half of that game, and you could tell it kind of really threw him for a loop offensively, and they just don't have the solution opportunities I think on their roster right now. So I think that'll be another problem for them against Oregon the second time around.
Looking forward to that one as well as this next game too, but I think I think Tes Johnson could be due for yet another big, big, explosive game here, like he showed you the Big Ten Championship Game, shades of Jackson Smith and Jig Buffy years back, with C. J. Stroud throwing him the ball all over the lot. Notre Dame at Georgia All State Sugar Bowl. It's an eight forty five kickoff. We're gonna be up to one o'clock watching that one on New Year's Day? Kyle, what you're leaning there?
I hope it gives us reason to stay up and watch it that late, because that means we got ourselves a good football game. This is two great defenses going against each other. It being so close to Georgia in New Orleans, I'd expect there's gonna be a pretty heavy red lean in the fans in the stands for this game.
Georgian not having Carson Beck is an interesting subplot to this game, But I do think that they're going to have the running game at their disposal, and I think enough physicality on the offensive line to win a low scoring contest. I would not trust Riley Leonard, the quarterback for Notre Dame, to go out and play winning football for sixty minutes against George's defense, which is just loaded
with NFL talent. So I think George's defense versus Notre Dames offense with Riley Leonard is the matchup that excuse me towards Georgia regardless.
Looking forward to that one as well. Like I said, Orange Bowl is going to be here the week after that. I'm looking forward to hopefully Penn State Georgia for that one and go check out a big time college football game here in my own backyard.
Kyle.
The thing I want to end with here with you is, you know the episode of Rick and Morty when Jerry states that Pluto is in fact a planet and then winds up getting picked up and taken to Pluto to help, you know, propagate his thoughts so they can continue to mine the planet for plutonium. And it's evil, right, It's
a corporation type of politics they're talking about there. My question to you I want you to be my Jerry Smith here and tell me that you think the Dolphins, if they take care of business, might have a chance to sneak in Here in the back end, I know you're talking about a potentially fruitful day tomorrow on Saturday. Do you think the Dolphins could get the help they need across the NFL?
Travis, you know what, I'm going to tell you that I hope the Dolphin can go one to zero on Sunday against the Browns and see what happens. We have this running joke between the two of us about you'll want to know versus a big picture. But I Cincinnati's red hot man and Joe Burrow's playing quarterback as well as anybody in the league right now. And when you're Denver and you have a rookie quarterback, and I know
Cincinnati's defense has their issues. If there's pressure to go blow for blow and score, yeah, I would take I would take Joe Burrow and that instance. And Cincinnati's at home and Cincinnati's playing and they have the same issue Miami has, but they need more help because they need Miami to lose a game. But they are still mathematically alive for the playoffs, so you know they're going to give their best effort and they flip the switch defensively
to create more turnovers. So I think that is a matchup where I would pick the Bengals to win that game. And then you know, I know that the Charters got a little extra rest coming off the Thursday game last week against the Broncos, but I would not be surprised to see the Patriots give them a little bit the Chargers a little bit of fits on Saturday either, because this is a West Coast team that's coming east to
play in the cold. The Chargers, I know they put up big time rushing numbers on the Broncos last week, but the month before that, they'd really struggled to run the ball and they don't really have separators against the defense like New Englands, where it's not what it was as its peak, but it's it's still a pretty impactful unit. So if you told me that the AFC West teams playing on Saturday went oh for two, I would not
be all surprised if that were to happen. And then if that's the case, then you're you're going in to your game. If you're Miami against the Browns totally alive and take care business, and then we'll reshuffle the deck again for next week.
Planet.
That's exactly how I picked it on the Picks, right before Kyle came on the show here. So I do believe Miami will have life going into week eighteen. Those though, I mean it's not for their own doing, but the schedule they play makes me a little bit worried about what might happen down the stretch there, because I also think there's a good chance the Broncos, even with you Carson Wentz starting, could could you know, give way to the Chiefs in week eighteen?
You can't rest everybody.
Everyone talks about like they're gonna rest starters, like you can only rest so many guys because you only have such a deep roster. So we'll see how it plays out again, Kyle, thank you for your time. As always, let's go ahead and get those credentials on social He is at Kyle Krabs, the host of Lockdown Dolphins podcast, locked on NFL Scouting, author of Touchdown Miami, Substack, and of course NFL Draft Leave for the thirty third team.
Check out his recent post on the offensive line there. Kyle, you're the best. Thank you man.
We'll talk to you on next week. All right, brother, sounds good and away he goes.
Always fun talking to Kyle. We'll have that a couple more times in the regular or I should say the football season in general for college, and then we'll have Kyle on for some more draft content in the off season. But until Sunday, we'll talk to you guys. Then I'm gonna go ahead and take the rest of the weekend off you all. Please be sure to subscribe to the podcast. Lead us a rating, leave us a review, follow me on social at Winfield, NFL. The team at Miami Dolphins.
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