Buckle up for some breakdowns. What is up, Dolph fans, and welcome to the Draft Time Podcast. I am your host, Travis Wingfield. On today's show, yesterday's schedule breakdown was kind of the appetizer to the main course, which is today. This is basically a Thursday in season game preview show seventeen times over condensed into one episode from the Baptist Health Studios inside the Baptist Health Training Complex.
This is the Draft Time Podcast.
First, please start off by pulling out the world's tiniest violin while I'll tell you that I had half the schedule done with before my word doc just up and vanished like the podcast Tara Grinstead style.
So I hope the rehearsal run.
Just means my show is going to be even better because I had to rewrite about half of my copy notes and facts and observations and x's and oh's breakdowns for this episode for you guys. So two times is a charm apparently, And I'm not going to read off the schedule again. It is Thursday morning. You've heard the schedule by now go check it out if you have not seen it. We're gonna get into the entire schedule
and break it down starting right now. And the Colts one of the teams that I was hoping to catch early on for a few reasons, number one being the lack of defensive continuity they come into the season with. But this is also one of the few teams on the schedule who we don't really know who the opening
day quarterback is going to be. And I'm a Colts fan and they start this season with Daniel Jones, I'd be kind of irate because I just don't get drafting Anthony Richardson at that position and then giving him the runway you gave him and settling for a quarterback that just proved for what six years, he wasn't the answer in New York. I wouldn't understand that if that happens. I still think Richardson should have gotten more reps last year to close out the season or to not get benched,
I should say during the season. But I think that the best way you can rectify that is to get him a full season's worth of work this time around, provided he can stay healthy. And those two quarterbacks I mean talk about being diametrically opposed. Richardson has really struggled with his processing and accuracy, but still has some pretty
crazy flashes of brilliance. And he's had games when he puts it all together, especially when he can, you know, get down to the red zone and use the added threat of the running game with his legs and what he offers in that aspect of it. Whether it's him or Jones, you know, Shane Steichen's going to construct a
solid plan of attack that challenges your rules. And they've built a pretty interesting group of eligibles between Downs and Alec Pierce and Michael Pittman and Ashton Doolan and a Donnie Mitchell and Tyler Warren did I get that name wrong? And they're all different players, and while there's probably not a clear cut number one among that group, they're pretty deep and diverse. And that's after a pretty strong running game with one of the best running backs in the league,
or at least it won. They've got to now replace stalwarts Ryan Kelly and Will Fries. But and that's another part that I like about this is they're going to have a brand new battery combination a new guard as well to deal with Zach Steeler and Kenneth Grant, who, by the way, early returns on KG. We like what we see so far, but there is a likely competition to find out who's going to be that center and right guard, and that's a pretty sizable shift from their core.
You know, if you can stifle their run game with a quarterback who doesn't see the fill particularly well and eats a lot of sacks, you know, either quarterback for that matter, that could be a good combo for the Dolphins in this opening game. I really like their front with with Layatu Latu, DeForest Buckner, Grover Stewart, Quitty, pay sandsim Ebu, kom Taekwon Lewis, the rookie j T. Tomolalu got that wrong. It's a deep group with Zayire Franklin,
a Pro Bowl linebacker behind them. But cornerback depth has kind of been the bugaboo for them for a while, and a lot of teams have that as a potential hole on their roster right now. If cornerback's a tough position to fill out, and especially with all the you know, all the big time athletes go to receiver in college these days, so cornerbacks are tougher to find. But they did bring in Travarius Ward, the former Niners cornerback who's on the wrong side of thirty, so they're gonna have
to find the fountain of youth there. But with Juju, Brents Blossoming, and Kenny Moore, there's a pretty good one through three. But that's one newcomer. They're gonna have a new safety alongside new safety Cameron bind him as well, so I think that that's gonna be a tough adjustment for them to get those guys ready to rock and roll from day one with a new DC. No less, I think one of the biggest additions that any team made this offseason. We talked about this on the Wednesday
podcast was lou Anarumo, their defensive coordinator. But I think that he'll get that back seven coordinated and have plenty of rush options at some point. Will it happen in Week one? I ventured a guest no, but could be wrong on that. I think it's they'll have all their rush options that he can feature with a pretty an improved back seven, assuming they can get you know, up to speed in time. So not the biggest test in Week one on the schedule, but not the game either,
so kind of a good spot to land there. Week number two against the Patriots the one o'clock kickoff. The Patriots went through a dip. There's almost like a necessity after the run they had right for twenty years of just brilliance and championships and banners, and the season starts on Divisional round weekend. But they appear to be on the correct side of climbing out of that. And Mike Rabel was a great hire for them, if nothing else then employing a defensive system that has provided some issues
for the Dolphins when he was with the Titans. Of course, twenty twenty one game that was against an offense that lacked imagination, so I don't put too much stock into that, but they clamped us pretty good in that game. But more recently and more applicable, the twenty twenty three game, the Monday Night game that was really kind of the downturn of things that season, but they kind of got
the most of the Dolphins in that game. But also last year's Monday Night game with Tyler Huntley at quarterback completely stomped us out in that one. So I think Rabel does a good job of making offenses play left handed and kind of spam the middle of the field. Find out where the back side of your reads going to be and maybe make that week side corner or weak side linebacker kind of fit into the run game more, maybe abandon his post as a pass player a pass
game player. And it's going to be important for the Dolphins and Tua McDaniel to be to identify that stuff and get themselves a win. And what I think is a pretty big early season test for Miami and the Patriots, both teams. If either team comes out of this game with a win, they're going to feel good about their
season going into week number three. So I think we have to find a way to attack that approach defensively, because they want to let you have that completion if you're willing to take it and then rally up and tackle. And if they give that to John hus Smith, or if they give that to Devon a Chan, or they give that to even Pharaoh Brown, like, okay, we'll bet, We'll try to see if you guys can tackle them.
We've previously picked apart the Patriots defense, and there's a reason Tua is unbeaten against them because he just had the answers to that test. He would identify stuff motion pickoff man coverage, anticipate and put the ball on the money throughout the course of those games and put some gaudy stats up. But there's been a philosophic shift for this defense. Where previously it was like light boxes, invite
the run. We'll be happy to have you guys run for two hundred yards if you just don't throw the ball against us. But Rabels Titans teams and this is kind of an old school thing for him, was like, you will not run the ball at all. And that's why we drafted Demandre Sweat to play inside last year,
even though Rabel's gone. But this will be yet another example of running out a bit of newly focused offense with bigger bodies versus you know, inside versus a team that has paired Milton Williams with Christian Barmore and paired July Tavia with Robert Splaine. And this is not the inside, but getting Carlton Davis to go with Christian Gonzalez, with Marcus Epps teaming up with Kyle Dugger on the back end, they got a lot better than the teeth of their defense.
And I imagine that Rabel's going to have a kind of run first mentality there. But the big question for the Patriots in terms of their defense, it looks vastly improved from a personnel standpoint, is where is the pass rush going to come from? Because they did sign Harold Landry off of an injury, and he was struggling before he got hurt, So I don't know if that's the
kind of jewel that you're looking for there. But man, I think this defense is poised to be pretty damn good, and most of that comes from the structure and the coaching of it and present some new challenges to the Miami Dolphins. And this is a good early season test to see how far we've come in our ability to adapt and adjust our scheme to what the league has
done to kind of take things away from us. And I'm happy this game is in Week two because I think you can kind of introduce some potential breakdowns or miscommunications with how they want to be interchangeable from those safeties which I think they're going for with you know what the Bills had for Poyer and Hide for so long, but that and the matchup of Wreak and Waddle on gunzale Sin and Davis is about as good as the Sauce and Reid battles over the year against the Jets.
So there's a bunch of good on good in this game.
But the big question will be for the Patriots on offense the second year growth of Drake May, who folks have kind of already like planted the flag that he's a franchise quarterback.
I see it.
I can see where they're going with that, but I tend to want to give those guys more time. I think the second year of rookie quarterback, of a newly highly drafted quarterback, people tend to think like that's going to be some revelation year.
It doesn't always go that way, but he did.
Far exceed expectations last year, especially to me with how he saw the field.
I think he looks really good.
I love how they've built it around him, even if it's not ready to mature just yet, maybe a year or two away. With Kyle Williams and Trevion Henderson will Campbell, I think he's gonna be just fine.
Tackle.
I thought that if Henderson, if it wasn't for Ashton Genty, that Henderson would would have been running back one this year and most years for me. But with Stefan Diggs and some good tight ends. Beyond that, it's still very thin. Like if they lose one of those guys to injuries, all of a sudden, you're talking about playing Javon Baker or Jalen Polk who had really rough rookie years, or Matt Collins, like that was the big acquisition outside of
Stefon Diggs. And since our secondary is kind of the question mark, I think you can win that matchup that matters here and get them where you're stronger elsewhere. They've made some progress on an offensive line that has been really bad the last couple of years. Morgan Moses provides some stability if he can stay healthy, because if he just he's been healthy, but he's aging, and that allows him to keep Michael on Win who inside. I liked
the Garrett Bradbury signing. They were kind of kind of weak at center for years because David Andrews had so many injuries and health issues but nothing he can control there. But Garrett Bradbury brings some stability if they want to play him at center or play a cold strange at guard or center who also has his own injury history. Josh McDaniels is back, and that's perhaps the most fascinating point to me. I thought we did a terrific job in both matchups last year, but the game down here
because it was Drake May. You know, we're jumping hot routes and getting after their banged up offensive line, but then May would have some creative play type of reps off structure, but outside of that, we really suffocated that offense.
So this year, he'll have more answers and a more experienced play caller, So I think this will be a tough matchup provided we can generate some of those same pressures, get his head swimming a little bit, and hopefully keep their point total down because I think that this will be probably one of those, you know, twenty four to seventeen type of games like they tend to be against these Patriots, at least the Patriots of old before we kind of stomped him out the last couple of years.
And then Week three on the road Buffalo Thursday Night Football, my obligatory divisional matchup commentary that is often about execution when it comes down to this level of familiarity. We are now on year four of Mike McDaniel versus Well mc Sean McDermott. I had mcdee versus mcdee second straight year, if weaver versus Joe Brady, But it starts with McDermott
and that defense against our offense. Right we've seen this offense have a ton of success in the run game against Buffalo, and when we run the ball versus when we don't is usually the difference between the game staying close and coming down to the wire versus it getting away from us, where we have to kind of go for these fourth downs and turn it over on downs and give Josh Allen short fields and before you know it,
it's a twenty one point difference. But when we run the ball and control the clock and keep Allen off the field, it gives us this offensive balance for efficiency. That Week nine game last year was the second highest EPA per play allowed by a Bill's defense since McDermott arrived back in twenty seventeen. So you almost couldn't have played it better offensively. Of course, we lose a damn game on a sixty yard field goal after egregious fifteen
yard penalty on Jordan Poyer. Not an ingregious call, it was a great call, but an egregious penalty, and that game up there in twenty twenty two came down to the end as well. We went over two hundred yards on the ground on that one. The game we won that season here in Miami was not as good on the ground, but we had the run game going the twenty twenty three finale, we were rolling on the ground in the first half of the game before kind of
getting away from it. So they're going to play that nickel base defense led by Tarren Johnson, the best slot cornerback in football. And we've been over this, right, but I'm so fascinated to see what our offense looks like in general, but mostly against Buffalo because to me, this is a defense that you have to have your ability to pivot and adapt against that we haven't seen for
the last couple of years. If my inclination is right, and we see more power football, more under center, more balance, more of a true bell cow back option, then I think Buffalo is the team that we stand to upgrade our most the most against with that change in approach.
They're built to beat us as previously constructed. So do we have a change up to the fastball now and McDermott is so damn good at coaching up a secondary to play to its rules and spam the middle of the field and create defensive vulnerabilities that are tough areas to attack and to access. And we have to find
a way to access those areas. But they want to squeeze us and limit our big play offense and try to you know, compeun mistakes which in front of that crowd can happen with false starts and holding calls and whatnot. Now offensively for them, yeah, it starts with Josh Allen, right, I mean, the guy has been a pain against US forever. You know, you can get a series or a quarter sometimes even in an entire half where he's not feeling it, but it's pretty rare that you hold him down for sixty minutes.
So you need to score to beat them.
But I really felt that Anthony Weaver's playing against them last year with bracket rushing, the sim pressures, look the occasional bits that does come and hopefully get home. I think it did well enough to limit him enough last season. In fact, Allen had the lowest season cumulative passer rating in the two games against US since his rookie year back in twenty eighteen. He also had a lower cumulative passer rating against US last year than he did the
other fifteen opponents. So I think it's the Anthony Weaver effect that you effectively got the worst Josh Allen performance against you in his entire career, even though it's still pretty good. I think this defense, our defense has better athletes this year to contend with Josh Allen as a runner. And then the part that made Buffalo really tough last year their emphasis in the running game because of not just the defensive tackle additions, but the type of defensive
tackle additions. I think we're better equipped to defend the run from those lighter boxes because of a player like Kenneth Grant. I almost haid Kevin Grant and the linebacker overhaul, and their question remains at the receiver position right, and ours is the defensive backfield. So it's kind of an interesting offset there. They keep adding the same type of guys, you know, Elijah Moore. I like Curtis Samuel, but he hasn't produced in a long time. Keon Coleman, I thought
the way they draft has been interesting to me. I wasn't a fan of key On Coleman's game. I don't care for Landon Jackson or Dion Walker's game, who at three hundred and forty pounds got pushed around a whole bunch in the SEC. And they're gonna have to have Maxwell Harriston hit otherwise they're gonna be playing like Dane Jackson and I don't even know who's beyond that in depth, some younger rookies too, because they're gonna have to find
you know, Maxwell Harrison as a starter. Otherwise is gonna be going deep into an area that's not very deep. They had such good health on the offensive line. Their lowest offensive line snaptaker last year was nine hundred and fifty one freaking snaps over eighty five percent, and that's coming off a season where they had all five guys not miss a snap on the offensive line. Those guys
Cook and Allen, that's the calling card. With a more balanced run game nature and then well coached defense, hopefully we can find a game plan that works. You get a sharp two of performance, you run the football, maybe Josh Allen's a couple of mistakes wind up in your hands, and you get a defensive a big defensive takeaway and you score would be a massive, massive early season to win. Always a tough matchup against these dudes. It's gonna be
a long podcast. We're gonna keep rolling here before we get to the breakers too. One more game they will take our first break week four against the Jets. It's nice to get some new blood in the division, just because I feel like I've kind of done the same preview show the last few years here on the Jets and Bills and sort of the Patriots. Even with the coaching change last year, it was still a Belichick protege,
so it's similar. And I say this in the Jets matchup portion because even though it's new, I'm not sure how different it'll be. I'm talking about style core philosophy. Aaron Glenn oversaw the most aggressive defense in the NFL, and they earned that honor in spite of having the most injuries on defense in the entire league. But they weren't going up there with a sacrifice bunt mentality. They were trying to hit the ball over the fence and put up a crooked number on you and force the issue.
The most man coverage in the league, second highest blitz ray and of course it's a Dan Campbell philosophy. But Dan Campbell sought out Aaron Glenn because he didn't share those philosophies. No, of course Aaron Glenn felt the same way and he thrived in that environment. Aaron Glenn did and with Sauce and Michael Carter. No more DJ Reid who went to You guessed it the Lions that was built over the course of four years to play one gap, hair on fire, get downhill defense. I would be pretty
shocked if that changes. What did change was the aforementioned personnel. With DJ Reid gone, it'll likely be Brandon Stevens, who had a really really rough twenty twenty four year at the Ravens or rookie Isaiah Thomas, who is a third round draft pick out of Florida State who didn't run very well at the combine. It's pretty similar in the front though. The Williams Bros. With Quinn and Quincy, Jamie and Sherwood replaced CJ. Moseley last year very effectively. He
steps into the starting role with a new contract. They need young players to step up to provide them with a pass rush off the edge because I think, like I think, this matchup is Taylor made for us to really get after them, And it would be nice to be at least two and one coming into this game and then get like a lopsided victory over your rival on Monday night to kind of dispell the you know,
the whole the nationally televised game idea. And I think this matchup sets up well for you to do that, because if you want a Blitz to always be my guest, I think that's where he's best. And I think our pass protection is vastly to what they offer as a
pass rush on paper right now. And then if you want to play press man without a quality four man pass rush, which they just don't have the guns for that right now, on us on me, Tobias Harris over me, Sorry for a Jimmy Butler dropped there, but you want to play one gap downhill against an outside zone team. To me, this scheme is where we go back to
our old ways and we face Buffalo. You see the pivot vision, but this game, I think you can attack them with what you already have built in and you can you can put some points up on these guys. The bigger changes for them are on the outside, you know, on the other side of the ball. I should say Justin Fields bring some of the best legs in the league at the quarterback position, and Glenn brought Tanner Engstrand from Detroit with him. He was the pass game coordinator there.
I think you're asking for a pretty you know, pretty challenging start or year for the offense with a quarterback that doesn't see the field. It's been a knock on him for his whole career, a first time play caller whose experience is very limited, and a skill group that beyond Garrett Wilson to me, is pretty below average. The offensive line, though, is where the investment is on the
side of the ball, and it's it's very good. I think it's the best offensive line they've had since the AFC Title Game teams with the brickishaff Ferguson and Nick Mangold. I think Josh Myers is their first reserve off the bench and he starter quality. So to have Fashanu who is awesome and Membu at tackle, I think both those guys are going to be studs. With Simpson who was excellent last year, Vera Tucker who's very good when he plays. He's been injured a lot and then Joel Tipman a
very good center. There's not a weak link in there. I imagine they'll hope to recreate what the Lions had with Montgomery and Gibbs, with Bresee Hall and Braylan Allen, but you're kind of lacking in the skill department there, and try to utilize some of the zone read stuff and get Fields as a dangerous runner to go with a good defense. I imagine that's the vision that Aaron Glenn has. Well, it happened this year. We'll see, but Fields, he's the only runner that concerns me. I think that
Breeze Hall's pretty much a replacement level. But then Garrett Wilson's also the only skill player that I think can truly hurt you. But I think Weaver can kind of take those two aspects and handle them and put the rest of the offense in a locker. To me, this is the the on paper, the easy matchup of the year so far. To me, it was Brown Saints and Jets twice, not because the Jets are necessarily gonna be really bad, but I think the way we match up
against them really really benefits the Miami Dolphins. All Right, we are what twenty minutes in first break in the podcast right there, come back on the other side and get some more opponent breakdowns. Draft Time Podcasts brought to you.
By Auto Nation.
I only just now realized after doing schedule stuff the entire week that our first four games are against.
The old AFC East.
Like I knew the Bills, Jets, Patriots obviously, but week one against the Colts, We're all playing old AFC East teams to kick it off, and then in week five we go across the conference of the Carolina Panthers, and they're gonna have a lot of positive buzz and expectations going into this year, which is a lot more than you thought. After they benched Brice Young last year, it kind of fe like they're gonna have to go through another like quick.
Hard reset, especially at the quarterback position.
But he responded nicely and finished out the year with a competitive team, a nice change from early when they were just getting destroyed every week and had an offense that couldn't really compete. With Bryce on that rookie deal, They've been aggressive the last two years and they've reshaped his confidence with an aggressive mindset that utilizes vertical concepts that requires elite communication and challenges in your deep and
intermediate seams with that great Dave Canalis system. But a big reason why I want to see the Fins attack the back seven with players like ify, like Willie Gay, guys that can impact multiple levels of the defense, was to take on this new age offensive concepts that want to stretch you vertically and replace you in the intermediate with the football. And that's what Canalis has done with
Baker Mayfield two years ago. And now I'm getting text from somebody, and now with friggin Bryce friggin Young.
You know.
But see, here's the thing with resources is you have to spend them correctly. And here we are going into the third year of Bryce Young and it's Chuba Hubbard, Rico Daddle in the backfield, Ted McMillan, Adam Thielen, Xavier like Get and Tommy Tremble and Jade Sanders. I mean, is that any better than like the twenty eighth best group of eligibles? You know, they went hard after the offensive line a year ago and Rob Hunt and Damian Lewis, which a little fighted in the middle of the offensive line,
Cade Myers at center. They clearly wanted to go big across the interior and kind of protect a five foot nine quarterback. But we also have the gun to compete with that with Zach Seeler and now Kenneth Grant, who I think can give anybody issues with what I've seen from him against this quarterback. I just overload the a gaps and pressure and interior with with Brooks and Gay and Doddson running off Stealer and KG and just folding him or making him flee out the pocket and make
poor decisions out there. I really like their defense from a structure and personnel standpoint. It's a Fangio offshoot with zero everro plenty of variations of cover two and four and six where they can get to those looks with pre snap presentations and disguises. J C.
Horn is the star of the show.
Back there got a big time contract and we'll see if the former Koug Go Koog's Shaw Smith Wade can capture one of the other two jobs up for grabs.
But that's kind of where they're thin. Bigs.
Cornerbacks and secondaries are a bit thin these days. But the safety is they got I like quite a bit. Trayvon merrig Nick Scott will compete with lath and Ransom, I imagine for the other starting job, but I think the rookie will win that position. That's a really smart to good group back there on the back end. Now, even with stability on the coaching staff, that's a whole bunch of change, and I think our refocused approach could help
us kind of set them up to tenancy break. Maybe you come out of the gates a little bit early and they're like expecting one thing and you hit them with something else and before you look, it's fourteen to nothing, And just be deeper into our menu and we can win the game early with our weapons versus a pretty new secondary struggle to find their footing, and with our guns as a pass rush up front to reck shop
against a five foot nine quarterback. In week six, we'll face the Chargers, and so much has changed since we saw them in that twenty twenty three opener. Down to the total philosophical shift from Staley to Harbaugh. No one popularized going for it on fourth down more than Staley as a rookie, right while Harbaugh subscribes to the notion that any drive that ends in a kick is a good one. Hey Seth and OJ eat your heart out,
but I hate that philosophy. Ball control early two thousands, keep it close to the fourth quarter, try to win
the game there Dave Wanstead's style. I imagine this game will come down to that again, and I'd much rather our guy than their guy in that spot, who constantly takes game clinching sacks, who throws picks to close out games, or just flat out fails four downs and out, much like when Tua went down the field and put a game winning touchdown on the board and then Herbert took two sacks on his encore opportunity and the game came
to an end. And while that was their m last year to keep the game close, and quite frankly with how the league has changed quick aside, like I forget who set up, but I fully subscribe to the idea that more games are lost than one in the NFL, and in this new era where the bridge like middling quarterback has kind of viewed as taboo and teams rather trot out like a Spencer Ratler than a Derek Carr, for instance, as long as you can play mistake free, there's a lot of wins to be had out there.
Where you I don't have to be spectacular, just don't make mistakes like the Chargers and Falcons game last was a great example of that, you know, watching for our playoff hopes, and the Falcons had chances to win that game five freaking times, and they turned it over five times and the Chargers still won by four points. In that game, the Chargers just kept going three and out and keeping the Falcons in the game, but the Falcons
lost it rather than the Chargers winning it. So if you do that, you can win eleven games and then get embarrassed in the playoffs by a quality team. But back to the point, they are even more that style of that team. Now, Nage Harris was the start, and you guys heard me in the Freesing podcast, I didn't see the vision for that player there. But then they draft Omary and Hampton, and I like Hampton, He's fine.
Harris's I think, is already long in the tooth, and to me, going Hampton over Matthew Golden, that kind of solidified who they want to be, right, especially coming back with Trey Harris. In the next round, they brought back Mike Williams, and this is probably a Herbert thing because it's always been that way pre dating Harbaugh. They get these tall, contested catch guys opposed to Lad McConkey. Who, Hey, look, you got a quick twitch guy and he's a freaking
already one of the best players in the game. So all of that tell me this that you need size across the board, really, but especially in the secondary. And haven't we been talking about that in the podcast as a theme now even the udfas they targeted and BJ Adams right, they are big, long, lanky press corners. We heard about Rasul Douglas as a possible fit here and getting Iffy and Ardie Burns and BJ Adams like length man coverage. The vision it's you can handle guys like
this when you have that style of football player. This is another good example of how you need a multifaceted team in this league. You probably stay in a base defense in this game because they're going to be a lot of two back and two tight end sets and run the ball and second down to nine. They're going to try to win the one on one contested options
on the outside and the vertical routes. This is one of those quarterbacks that we talked about Stafford perty Stroud, Gino Smith, you know when when there's mobility, but you can collapse a pocket on him and fool him with presentation and get sacks that way and game changing plays that way. That's all the makings of a fun matchup. To me, I really can't wait for this game, and I want to. I really want to beat them by quite a lot, and that defense, to me, is still
kind of a work in progress. I love dayon Henley Go Koog's, but there's no real edge rush presence outside of Tapolut. I can't say his name. It's the Polynesian dude that had a great year last year. He's a good player. Khalil Mack, I think is on the back end of things. But the secondary is the same as the receivers. They're longer and slower players. I think that's a terrible matchup against Tyreek and Gilen Waddle and League
Washington and all the guys we have done here. I think we can compete with their physicality on defense and then hopefully shred them offensively and get things we want done that way. Week seven at the Cleveland Browns, one of the few teams on our schedule where I truly have no idea who the hell of quarterback's going to be. I guess Flacco, but they traded a fifth for Pickett, spent a third on Gabriel, a fifth on Sanders, and Watson still there despite retelling his achilles probably not playing
this year. I don't think we have to do a lot beyond this. If there's any of those guys starting, you have to dominate this game. The theme across all these quarterbacks is there really isn't a fleet of foot player in their group, and the way that we can create game plans that force those quarterbacks deep into their progression, changing the launching point with all the rushes and the
sim pressure looks. I mean, even again, Stafford Stroud, Gino Purdy to some degree, some of the best quarterbacks in the league who are elite, who are not elite runners. We kind of got after those guys, and I would say Rogers was the one quarterback of that protype that really gave us fits last year, but he's also so
known for his processing. The offensive line is healthy for the first time in a while for the Browns, but I think you could say that we're close to the end of the line on that group, right it's been together for like five plus years now, and I say that because they're all beyond thirty, and they fought a lot of injuries lately with Ethan Posik, Wyatt Teller, Joel Botonio, and Jack Conklin. Only Buttonio last year didn't miss multiple games.
Everybody else has missed multiple games each of the last three seasons. And that's without talking about the young guys in Jedrick Wills and Dewan Jones, who both have been on IR the last two years also, So it's a tough group to project. I'm really curious to see what it looks like schemat because Stefanski is off the same tree as McDaniel, right, but he adjusted his entire system for Watson and now it's back to Flacco, who had that great run at the end of twenty twenty three
in this offense. So I'm curious to see what that looks like. But defensively, they're pretty loaded. I mean, I love, you know, Mason Graham and Carson Schweeshinger are good fits there. They did already announce that j Oka Jeremiah Wusu Koramoa is going to miss the entire season. I just hate injuries. Turn them off Madden Game please. But Sweeshinger, as you all know, is a plug and play guy for me. Garrett,
Denzel Ward, they have some nice parts there. For that Jim Schwartz defense who blitz at the tenth highest rate last year, I imagine he wants to reduce that a little bit. So we have to be on our p's and ques. With the timing rhythm nature of the passing offense against a drop seven, they can create pressure upfront with Mason Graham, with Miles Garrett and company upfront. They passed on the second pick of the draft and I'm glad we don't have to face Travis Hunter now this
year and really loaded up on future capital. So it's possible that this team is a threat a year or two down the road. But if they come into this game zero to five or one and six, whatever it might be, my math is off there, Like you could see a team that's already like on to twenty twenty six. What time to get to this game? We gate the Falcons the match up here. I'm really excited to see what Michael Pennix looks like this year, and I'd feel pretty pretty good about it. If I'm a Falcons fan,
he kind of has to be right. They traded next year's one to get back up the twenty six for James Pierce. So for that trade to have good value, you have to the Falcons basically have to go to the what divisional round of the playoffs to pick later than twenty six and even then, Like it's not exactly how it works, but man, you could that could be like a top fifteen pick. They gave it to get
James Pierce. Kind of weird for a team that's young but needs to win now with a GM head coach combination that hasn't really had the success they need to keep things going there. They've been looking for a pass rush for what seems like two decades now, and they do double dip. It'll be up to Raheem Morris and Jeff Olbrick to create a scheme around the athletic rush ability of Jalen Walker and James Pierce. But the first
mission is to find where Walker fits exactly. I mean, I'm sure they know and have a plan for that, but that was part of the pre draft conversation. Where does he play and how fast can he get up to speed? I think that we have the guns and the tackles to handle guys that are trying to figure things out, because I think that Austin Jackson is a technical monster, and I think Patrick Paul's going to be just fine, as you guys have heard on the podcast
many many times. And I think this was a good landing spot because this whole defense for those two players, I should say, because this whole defense is built on speed, lean muscle mass, and quick twitch movement to contend with today's speed. I mean those guys, you know, Leonard Floyd also is an edge Troy Anderson, Caden Ellis. It kind of reminds me of those Colts defenses of the Tony Dungee years with Gary Brackett and Dwight Freeney and Robert Morris.
Like finesse is the wrong word, but it's more sacrificing size for speed. And that's where some added beef and a deeper run game menu comes into play for the Miami Dolphins. Right. I feel like we're at this critical intersection of NFL football where some teams are still in the speed range mode and other teams have begun to pivot more towards bigger, physical at the cost of speed.
So if you can find kind of the happy medium there and be both, like we've talked about with the Jonah Saba Naya edition the James Daniel addition, then you're equipped to deal with the changes of opponents on a week by week basis, maybe you can get the best of both worlds. But back to their offense, Man, you have to impact this offense by limiting the run game
and getting after the quarterback. Penex is not a big time mover and he can sometimes get a little bit bogged down in the middle of the field, and b John Robinson could be the best damn back in the game for my money in football.
So easier head than done.
But man, with London and Pitts and Mooney and Bijehon and Tyler Algier, Penex is a pretty good cast around him. It's the second year under offensive cording to Zach Robinson, who comes from that Rams tree, so identifying matchups, being on the same page from jump picking up motions and shifts and bumps and maintaining gap control. I think what we've done up front and the verstail linebacker room we've had we've built here gives us our best chance to match up with these dudes and go get a big
w All right, should we take a break? Greade there, Let's do one more team here, So the Ravens in Week number nine. Since missing at least one game for the first five years of his career four in twenty twenty one, four and twenty twenty two, Laura Jackson has played every game each of the last two years, except for resting in Week eighteen when they had nothing to play for back in twenty twenty three. I lead off
with this because well, that's where it starts, right. They added Derek Henry and that was just a perfect, perfect compliment to one another. And I think if you could ask for more of the Rayvens offense, it would be in the passing game. But Lamar has has become so advanced in both his decision making and the way he processes from a running standpoint, and the way his legs are. At this stage of his career, you can't really stop him.
You can contain him a little bit, I guess, because he can tear you apart on schedule, but also reduce the mistakes that he might make because he's not seeing it, because he knows that he has a legs to get himself out of the trouble. He just presents so many challenges.
He's an MVP candidate every single year. And with Henry you kind of have to pick one or the other, especially after this offense line, which underwent an overhaul last year, really gelled about mid season and with Todd Monkin marrying all of that together into this perfect scheme that can stretch you, that can dominate the point of attack, that
can play explosive or grind it out. This isn't like a top offense, and I think you try to limit Lamar Jackson first and just deal with the repercussions of that. Maybe try to take care of the run game through your own offense having success. But for sure a game you have to have probably thirty points to win, right, especially with them getting brent Zay Flowers back, who missed the playoffs last year and was a big reason why that they lost the Buffalo game. On the other side, well, hey,
we practice against this scheme every single day, right. Zach Orr is in year two of that DC roll up there just as Weave is here for us. But where I think the Ravens can carry over their end of seasons success compared to early in the year. When they really struggled last year was by drafting Malachi Starks. They leaned on Kyle Hamilton when he replaced Marcus Williams as the free safety back there, but it really reduced his ability to be the kind of problem solver across the defense.
He had to play more in the post to make sure things were tidy up top. I think Starks allows Hamilton to move back into that role, and I wrote our Darius Washington is a huge, big nickel safety, but he just tore his achilles, so they have a huge gap there at safety, which imagine they're going to go after someone on the market now that Washington's down. But they also got another cornerback in chidoh Woose who I think is good enough to give them some life there.
And Marlon Humphrey and Jalen armor Davis who really elevated his game last year. They did lose Michael Pierce to retirement. And if you recall that twenty twenty three game, we ran the ball really well, including early in the game with the screen game as well. That's a good way to remove, you know, Nom Deimatawik from things so to me, you have to get the ball on the edge and get him. Travis Jones, Broderick Washington, all these big bodies.
You gotta wear those guys down. They have waves of rushers. It's all tied together by roquand Smith. I think it's the toughest game we have all year, even at home on a short week. But this is to me, this is probably the Super Bowl team I'll pick again I did last year. I'll probably pick him again. I just think the Ravens are a very very good team. All right, let's go ahead and take our last break right there. We have three more repeat games. We'll skip over those
and get to you guys, the Commander's breakdown. The Saints, the Steelers, the Bengals, the Bucks. That's all next Draft Time podcast, your host Travis Wingfield, brought to you by Auto Nation, and we're off to Spain for a Commander's breakdown. Here. I am so so fascinated to see what the Commanders look like this season. A terrific run to the NFC Championship game a year ago. A rookie quarterback who was better than Stroud in twenty twenty two, better than Herbert
in twenty twenty. I mean he has a chance to be something really, really special, and that was evident last year after one period of joint practices down here. Like any team in that spot, they went aggressive this offseason
and one offseason after. It was sort of an afterthought in terms of guys like Eckler and Bobby Wagner and Dorence Armstrong, like it wasn't sexy, but those guys were all critical parts of a title team, right, a title game team, I should say, I love them getting Tunzel and Josh Connery to solidify the outside with a pretty good interior already in place. They add Michael Gallup and Deebo Samuel to Terry McLaurin zach Ertz still there right.
What a loaded group that is.
And the way Daniels can spread the ball around and see it and get it out quickly. This is an offense you kind of have to take your lumps against because the horizontal spacing paired with how Daniel sees it and can get it wide like on the perimeter with easy gas, but can also hurt you with the run. He can just really stress so many areas of your defense.
It's a lot. We've said this about a few of the teams on here, but you have to pick your poison with these quarterbacks that have both the running feature and the big time processing on defense dan Quinn structure of the zone heavy defense. They want to confuse your protection with alignment and rush games and this uber athletic front. It's imperative for us and by week eleven, you hope you're at this level for us to be super well communicated and for Tua to be able to get to
the lane scrimmage and really decipher what he's seeing. Frankie Luvu go Koogs is a big for them, kind of their their chest piece in the middle, but he's like the wild card that changes the way they can get to their pressure looks and back out. And when you do all of that, the run game is where you can find success and get them out of their all
their window dressing. And that's where I think you have to attack this game with the Dolphins heavy heavy inside run game and try to force those guys to bring players down into the box and not play from light boxes and not allow them to get into their their deep pass rush menu. So look at this one, perhaps loading up a heavy inside run game to limit Daniel's possession and effectively reduce what makes their scheme go best of both worlds by week in week twelve and then
the Saints in week thirteen. The Derek Carr news broke last weekend, and now it's Tyler Shook, Jake Hayner and Spencer Rattler. They were zero and six last year under Ratler. Kellen Moore takes over now with Doug nust Meyer, who's the father of Garrett nuss Meyer Lsu who could be a first round pick next year. That's the OC think rhythm, quick, set up, ball out, and man, they have some weapons a lave. I wish Love could stay healthy because he
is so damn good. Hid Shaheed's fun. I love Brandon Cooks, Foster Moreau, Taysom Hill, Jawan Johnson, and then with Alvin Kamara and the offensive line that on paper has the parts. I mean, they've had to kind of reinvest in a position group they missed on. They missed on Trevor Penning, he has not worked out. Ryan Ramcheck is probably going to call it a career. He's going to be out for the year already. And Kelvin Banks their first round pick slots in there so you've kind of had to
replace mistakes with high draft capital. It's a good way to lose, you know, areas of your football team. They took t Lasi Fuaga last year in the first round, so like to three tackles in four years with a solid interior and Caesar Luiz and Eric McCoy and competition for the other spot. I think this figures to be a run heavy attack with a young, inexperienced quarterback. I don't know, guys, I'm trying my best here. This is the worst quarterback room a team has gone to a
season with in a very long time. Brand Stalely's back is the DC. I think that he could go back to shining with what he does best at creating pre snapped diskuise that finds a way to generate pressure through fire zones paired with sim pressures and the same defense
presentation that rotates differently. And he's got some pretty good parts for it with with Chase Young, Cameron, Jordan, Carl Granderson, a nice one through three on the outside, and then with Kaylen Sander, Kaylen Saunders, Devon Godshaw, Nathan Sheppard and some more guys inside, it's a very deep defensive line to Mario Davis still there at middle linebacker. It's a
pretty good secondary. I think though, this is a defense it's going to like play well for a couple of games, and then when the offense just continues to put him out there, they're gonna wear down quickly. And I think this could be a nice little soft landing spot for the Dolphins coming off of that bye week after the Madrid trip. We already covered the Jets the Week fourteen game. Let's go ahead and jump ahead to the Pittsburgh Steelers
in Week fifteen. Here eight to fifteen kickoff one night football. This is by far the toughest one to ride out because will Aaron Rodgers be there or will he not? I mean that drastically flips the entire equation right, and I'm not even sure the best way to cover it, Like, I think I'll assume that he will be there, because if not, it's Will Howard and a Scalar Thompson and
Mason Rudolph. Cannot imagine they're going to go into the season with that, and the Rogers of it all is so friggid impossible, because on one hand, he was outstanding, marvelous, in the games against US, but he also had other games where he was like looked like it was over for him. And we also mentioned the many problems that he created for the Jets and kind of left the mess there. And I would believe that he'd be humbled by the experience, but I also have a hard time
that he would be so those things exist. I do think Rogers in Pittsburgh has a better chance of success than it did with the Jets, where this is a veteran team with one of the most established coaches in the entire modern era.
And if you swap.
Metcalf or Pickings, you know, Metcalf is a perfect Rogers receiver. A loaded tight end group with Dartnell, Washington and Pat Fryermuth some smart receivers behind a really good offensive line. It seems like it has some potential, especially with Arthur Smith. You know, call on the offense there. It makes me think back to what Smith and Tannehill had in Tennessee it when he was under center there, you know, twelve personnel,
play action game. Try to get some of that the deep drops and throw the football deep down the field to aj Brown. I think you could incorporate that here. With an even better quarterback, and that Tannehill had like a one to ten pass ray in that year, So to say that better than that is pretty impressive. But I think Rogers could be that in the system. Defensively, they've aged, but they still play to the name power.
Watt and Hayward upfront are awesome, but they've been injured a heck of a lot, and typically when you played older team like this, that's usually beneficial to get them later on. So Week fifteen, maybe some of those guys will be down for the game. But you know, I think Minka Fitzpatrick has has kind of fallen off last
couple of years. Patrick Queen was not the same without Rokuwan Smith in Baltimore High Smith, Keanu Benton, Nate Herbig, Malie Harrison, Brandon Eckles, Beanie Bishop had a breakout year last year. Joey Porter Junior is a really good cornerback. There's a lot to like on that side of the ball, and I think their continuity, veteran experience and the direction of Terrell Austin will have them playing on their best
preparation standpoint. So it'll be a tough matchup, especially again in that Monday night environment, But how can they flood zones behind a pass rush that can really give you fits without bringing extra guys is kind of the key in this game. Interesting matchup in that I want it early for the weather aspect, but I wanted it later for the attrition and potential blow up factor of Rogers there. So we'll see what happens. Who knows who the Steelers
are going to be this year by week fifteen. Week sixteen, the Bengals change on defense. Offense is running it back after a down year on the whole where they missed the playoffs despite some historic offense. I think you look at the slight downturn in the middle of Burrows prime as a result of some misses in the draft. They never really replaced Jesse Bates and Von Bell from a couple of years ago. They tried it with Dax Hill
and Nick Scott. They're both gone and that was a or no. Well, Dax Hill's still there, but he's changed positions, and that was a defense that was highly complex and best operated by veteran communications. You know, I think you lost lou An Arumo, a brilliant mind because of the
misgivings of your personnel decisions. It's like when an umpire makes a bad call and then rings the player for arguing doubling down on a bad decision, and then you look at Trey Hendricksim a fifteen sets per year guy not getting his come up, and you got, you know, Shamar Stewart holding up there. Interesting year for the Bengals. What might happen with some of those guys? Does does Hendrickson play? Did he come back at the stage just
missing camp cause a soft tissue injury? Like these are all questions you have to answer before Christmas when this game happens. It's one of the more interestingly constructed football teams there is. The offense is ready to roll. They're gonna score thirty points per game. It's gonna be a tough matchup for our defense. Burrows process his short area burst, the way he anticipates not just coverage downfield but the rush simultaneously, for how he can exploit it as a runner.
It's what makes him so special, especially when you have freaking Jamar Chase and t Higgins where you pretty much have to rule out man coverage. You can't really take one of those guys man up. It's like us to pick your poison attack. If you ask a Bengals fan, the investment on the offensive line is where they should go next, and they have recently with Amarius BIMs, who looks the part as a rookie. They signed Orlando Brown, who's really struggled for a couple of years now. Always
be aware of the tackle that hits the market. Usually there's a reas for that, and they also drafted Dylan Fairchild on day two. Ted Carriss has been the anchor inside for a while. Cody Ford's kind of like a swing starter guy, but he'll probably start for them this year. And the biggest thing is that Burrow can cover up so much on that front for them.
But you have to score to beat this team, you know.
Al Golden as introduction press conference talked about an expense expansive menu, putting a lot on his players, and I was hoping we'd see them early because of that. But also this has the makings of like we had to simplify the defense, and maybe that'll happen down the stretch. But they did bring over Gino Stone to help communicate that defense as the glue piece in the back end. If the physical skills are still there for him. They lost Mike Hilton, who was a big experience piece for them.
Cam Taylor Britt is kind of the only solidified corner. It's going to be rookies otherwise probably there. So I expect the Bengals are going to be much improved a year ago, and they match up offensively well with us in that quarterback matches up well with anybody, and I would say that the same as true for our offense. First, the Bengals defense could be a shootout here in South Florida in Week sixteen. Our last team to preview here Week seventeen, home for the Buccaneers, one of the most
dangerous offenses in the NFL got even more explosive. I love their idea of adding strength to strength. Ika Agbuka is going to be a stud and they got Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, and Jayalen McMillan from a year ago. It's pretty nasty. Bucky Irvin's really good, Kate Auten koe Keief paym Durham is a nice tight end room, and the offensive line might be the best part of their entire offense. Tristan Wurfs is the best left tackle in football. I
like Cody Mack and Graham Barton. Ben Brettison's kind of the next guy in line to start on the interior. Luke Adecki's a good right tackle. I was always a big Baker Mayfield fan. And while there are the occasional lapses and judgment and reads and kind of some mistake prone football, I just think he's wired like a winner, and he finds a way to make plays, and the more reps and experience he gets, he just gets better.
He's too alike in that way, And there's a reason I was so high on both those guys coming out. Exceptional footwork, hardwired to the eyes to rip through progressions and take it all in. The information that's not even
presented in front of you. Just kind of like, Okay, the front side of the puzzle is that, that means the backside of the puzzle is that if you have one one question about the offense, it's replacing Dave Canalis who went to the Panthers a year ago, right, But then Liam Cohen who went to the Jaguars this year. Familiar face, Josh Grizzard, What up, coach, It's great to see your name on here. He gets the call to
the OC position. He was our old quality control, then receivers coach, and then left to Tampa Bay when Flora's left. I was hoping we draw drew them early because of that. But they get here as late as possible so they can score. But with all those resources on offense, and the only real change on that side of the ball was a pair of Day two cornerbacks in Benjamin Morrison and Brent Jacob Parrish. And you guys know, I love Parish. I didn't think Morrison was as good as a prospect,
but they've got to replace Carlton Davis. Where I think is where Morrison probably figures in, but they wind up starting him and Perish. Possibly that could be two rookies in your secondary in a league that's dominated by wide receivers. You know, Zion McCollum, I suppose could kind of factor into that. I think the safety position could help them stabilize some stuff there with Antoine Winfield in the back end. But every team has areas of strength and areas where you have some unknown for them.
It's right here too.
They feel like this is the fourth or fiftheen we talked about where cornerback is not very deep. They added to the pass rush banking on a bounce back from Hassan Reddick. We'll see what happens there, but it's mostly an inside presence with Vida Veya, who just destroys run games for his entire life. Elijah Cantie greg games their deep at defensive tackle. With Veya, you just have to avoid him. Try to run the ball wide your outside zone game, but he can wreck shop in that as well.
They'll offset some of the outside game with their blitzes and try to overload the edges. Bowls loves to bring a pass rush, so it's fun to chess match with Tua and Antoine Winfield versus Levante David. I just like them to have more of a freak type, like a Derwin James type, to make that defense tie together. I think they're super complex in their scheme, but if you blitz too much too, it can get after you. So
I'm curious to see how that plays out. What is it five months down the road from the seven months down the road from now very high and the Buccaneers think this is a tough matchup. They should be a good team this year, and then the Patriots finish it up and that's it. So you're probably wondering, Travis, what do you think it's gonna be. So, if I had to go through it and pick individual games right now, I'll go win the first two over the Colston Patriots.
I think we match up good in both of those games. Catch the Patriots early enough here at home home opener. The teams from the Northeast don't usually travel down here in September very well. Two and the start of the year. I can't pick us to win in Buffalo until it happens. I think we'll beat the Jets on Monday for a three and one start, go to the Panthers, win that game, have the Chargers here and win that game. So you're off to a five and one start here for Travis.
And hey, you said the same thing last year. Well, two of got hurt. If two gets hurt, I'll change it again. I think they'll beat the Browns. I'll go ahead and pick a loss at the Falcons, just to kind of throw one off there. I think that Penex will be really good. That'll be a fun offense, tough to stop. Maybe it's like a late game, like a last second field goal. So we go to six and two. There, I will say we drop one to the Ravens, drop one to the Bills at home to fall to six
and four. Also, we bounce back in Madrid, get a big win before the bye to go to seven and four. Come back off the bye, beat the Saints, get to eight and four, win at the Jets on the road once again, get to nine and four, go into Pittsburgh. People thinking like the this is where the collapse begins, and you say, nope, no, sir, win that one.
Ten and four.
Lose to the Bengals in primetime, with another fun game back and forth, make it ten and five, and then I'll say we beat the Buccaneers to get to eleven and five and then drop the finale at the Patriots to make it eleven and six. That's my season prediction for the Miami Dolphins. We'll see what it holds up to when we get here in training camp, but that's what we're going right now. Eleven and six, and I'll say I won't do playoffs just yet, but there you go.
That's the record prediction. In the meantime, you will please be sure. We're gonna have a podcast on Monday, which is more of a mixed bag of just random things here and there, so check back for that. We'll have OTA recaps for you guys when those practices begin. We're gonna have some of the players from media Day on the show. We'll preview the entire league this summer. Plenty of content coming away, but in the meantime, you all please be sure subscribe, rate, review, follow me on social
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Until next time, fins up, cal On and Cameron Daddy Come no