Drive Time: Dolphins Commanders Preseason Week 2 Recap

From the Baptist Health Studios inside the Baptist Health Training Complex.

This is the Draft Time Podcast. This is kind of what you get in the preseason, right, A little bit of fireworks early on, and then three or so quarters of not much, and especially when you get so depleted by the numbers that you wind up using a receiver, a rookie receiver nonetheless, as you're running back throughout most of the second half of that game and being down to one tight end in the game, previous and just being so thin across the board that there's just not

much you can do from an offensive standpoint, and we see teams that aren't that banged up have the same number of struggles. But Jakwan Burton, tip of the cap to you, sir. You got Seth Levitt's game ball on the postgame show for the work you did. We saw him on the sideline getting coached up from Eric Studisville to go play running back up position that he actually since high.

Commanders had seventeen first downs to Miami's twelve. They were five for eighteen on third down, Miami just four for fifteen. The Dolphins did convert two fourth downs, however, both of those on the Tua Tunga Bai Lowa drive to kick off the game. The Commanders were one for two on fourth down. The Commanders did outgain Miami three forty to two eighty eight, and that includes two to twenty nine through the air one eleven on the ground to Miami's two two and eighty six through the air and on

the ground, respectively. Both teams turned the football over twice. Both teams had their quarterbacks sacked four times. The Dolphins had six fouls for fifty five yards and possessed the ball for twenty eight and a half minutes in the game. So not really worth going through all the stats in a game like that, but worth the note of record, I think in any game that you cover here as

a podcaster and someone that covers this team. But more importantly, what these games are for is for the evaluation of what you might get in a month from now, or check that in three weeks, as when you hear this podcast on Sunday morning or sometime on Sunday, you'll be three weeks away from the opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars. And some things that I liked about what I saw in this game, just the design on both sides of

the football. I mentioned on the stadium walk and talk portion, or the second week of doing that walking from my car in the parking lot up to the stadium, that one of the very best things about this team is the ability to scheme things up. And that's offensively and defensively and for the offense. I mean and again like

I love, I love measuring this. It's a little bit of tip of the cap to yourself on your own show, talking to yourself at twelve fifty one am in a building where no one's in here, but you know, confirmation of some of the things we talked about all camp long. Devon a chan being you utilized in more of a receiving role, catching a pass up the perimeter against cover two where he's flexed out and beating cornerbacks and safeties.

Tua on the quick RPO pop that can flicts defenders in so many ways where his eyes are going one way and there's two routes and two positions, and he can hold those defenders and manipulate them with his eyes and his body position. The deadliness of our quick game and John new Smith's incorporation in the quick game with the jet motion pop pass or Julian hill on little bootleg play action under route, or he catches that thing and turns into a runaway truck on the freeway man.

The way we can tilt the field with speed and the counter of power to that. You really see the areas this team went after this offseason, at least one of them to better round out the offense. And truth be told, we haven't really seen the next part of that with Odell Beckham Junior, except for today we kind

of did. When Eric Azukama, who has leaping ability, vertical threat ability, high pointing ability, all the things that not many other guys on this roster feature, he kind of gives you some of what OBJ offers in that vertical threat in the presence of getting downfield on top of having reek and waddle. I think you saw a proof of concept in that with Eric Azukama in the game today, and hopefully he can keep going forward with that performance

and become a real threat on this team. We'll talk about him more in just a second, but outside of that vertical threat, the three receiver I mean eight chan is a pass receiver and why you draft Jalen Wright to give him more opportunities in that role.

postgame show. How I you know, you go back to twenty twenty one when Mike McDaniel, you know, he was a de facto OC slash like Kyle Shanahan's right hand man, but in twenty twenty one became the actual OC and he was the one that was adamant about Deebo Sam going from fourteen carries as a rookie to eight carries as a sophomore to fifty one carries in this third season and his a breakout all Pro fourteen hundred receiving yard, eight billion touchdowns whatever he scored that year in twenty

twenty one for the Niners en route to an NFC Championship Game appearance. I thought that that was just super instructive to what we've seen the John Ruis Smith and how he can impact the game and have the flow of his motion pre snap or his ability to lap in the short screen game and catch balls and break tackles off the backside of the formation when it's tilted

towards Reekan Waddle. It's really impressive. And then where I think River Craycraft is right now with his game, I think it could all be a glimpse of what's to come. Because that look you got from Craycraft there, and McDaniel talked about the great route that he ran on that play, the release he had in the play, I should say you're going to get that look from anybody that plays

that position. When you have Tyreek Hill and Jalen Waddle on the field on the opposite side of the field, they are going to send safety help to the speed side and your backside, your boundary. The short side of the field is going to be a one on one coverage opportunity a lot of the time. And craig Craft sells the inside slant, breaks the outside release and gets that leverage and stack and makes a beautiful catch over the shoulder on a perfect ball from to a tongue

of Iloa. That was something we didn't have in the bag last year, whether it was craig Craft or Barrios or Cedrick Wilson. We weren't making those plays last year, So for Craycraft to get in that position I thought was really cool and a really good testament to his skill. So let's go ahead and hear from Tua Tongue of Iloa, who touched on where River Craycraft is right now the best he's seen of the form Washington State Cougar.

In the other direction. It just looked like our offense in general, though, whether it was two Oz with the ones or Skylar with the ones. With those you know, impactful pre snap plays where the motion and the ball quickness gets out and makes the offensive line completely irrelevant in the play. It's weird how that works. Or the play where they get a two man shot call in the route concept with max protection where they give Scalar Thompson a a whole century's worth of time to throw

from back there. I couldn't find the word it's twelve fifty six am. I just think it looked like you're going to see in the regular season, at least a glimpse of it, and good execution and doing that when you had critical or key parts of the offense actually on the field for the Dolphins. I also thought the defensive system around the two linebackers Jordan Brooks and David Long Junior looked like I thought it was going to.

Was there a play where Brooks did not come downhill on a blitz, I don't remember, except for the second drive, he might have had a couple, but the first drive he was mugged up and he was rushing and he was setting picks and he was basically putting himself into blockers to create runs and chances for other guys. I can't wait to watch it on tape because the way he played the game and how fast he played and how physical and connected. I mean, the way that those

guys speed. It's the pillar, the pillars of this team, the words that are up on the wall in the building. Fast, physical, and elite technique. That's those three players, two players to a t, or those those two players fit those three things to a t. It's twelve fifty seven, Am, and I don't think it's an accident that Joe Barry gets

the call as linebackers coach and run game coordinator. And you see where he's been in the linebackers he's had in Green Bay previously and Tampa going back to you know, the Derek Brooks day, like he wants guys to can play vertical upfield and downfield and siling the sideline in those instances, the cover two, the Tampa two pipe linebacker running vertical down the field to take away seam shots like yeah, that's where he came from and cut his

teeth in that cloth. But he still kind of utilizes players that have similar skill sets because it expands how much space the defense can cover, and those guys' ability both Brooks and Long to impact the game as rushers but also peel off into coverage is exactly what you need. There was a screen where Brooks went and took on

two blockers and freed up d Long. I just am very, very excited about what I think are two of the most instinctive linebackers in the game, two of the fastest linebackers in the game, and two of the most physical linebackers in the game, and what they do for the system. And to that point, I thought we saw plenty of the same pillars that we've long speculated on this podcast of what Anthony Weaver's defense might look like. You know, the Cam Smith pass breakup was a very well timed

slot blitz from I think it was Cater Kohu. I could be wrong on who that was. When you know you're going to get the quarterback hot, it helps the defensive back commit to a specific route. I know they're I'm pressed, they're probably gonna go vertical. I'm off, They're probably gonna throw a short route and I can rally up and tackle. There's not gonna be double moves. That forces you to play with hesitancy. It allows everyone to play fast and smart and see it and go get ball.

And there was another stick check down where Cam was in that off cloud position where he rallied up and made a tackle short of the sticks on third and long. And then yeah, the speed off the edge, like that's obvious, but you saw real glimpses of that tonight with those linebackers and with the edge rushers and Mow and Chop both causing issues. More on those guys in the individuals.

I just think we got more confirmation tonight on things that we've talked about since February and March with the coaching additions and free agent acquisitions into April with a draft, and I'm really excited about what I'm seeing in that regard.

I also was a fan of the short, poochy laser kickoffs, whatever the hell you want to call those things, and the way we covered them, because we had four kickoffs in this game, and their kickoffs or their drives after kick returns began at the twenty, the twenty two, the twenty three, and the twenty three yard line, and last week in the preseason across the National Football League, the average starting field position for all the teams was their own twenty nine yard line, so every single play was

at least six yards behind that, and the average was more like eight yards behind that. A couple of things I didn't think were great. Not a lot of good surge in the running game, with some guys that are going to play some time, and notably you know, Kendall Lamb and Austin Jackson on the offensive line are probably gonna play this year, along with you know, Rob Jones getting some time out there, and Lea Mikenberger center opposed to being at right garb he has been most of camp.

I thought there was just a lack of surge. And you know, I'm gonna complain about the complaints about the offensive line and how much it's going to, you know, make this team not be able to click, even though it's you have two years of proof of concept. That's

not correct. But I will, Bill Cater, I will bend the knee at the idea that where you get your shortcomings from the way this team is built philosophically is going to be in short yardage and when you have true dropback situations on third and longs or in obvious passing situations where you can get exposed on one on

one matchups. But my counterpoint is that you don't see very many of those situations, and when you have John Smith and Odell Beckham and Devon Hian in the passing game, with Jalen Wright in the additions, you have there that can help you get out of those situations by being more effective in the other situations, and it gives you more answers when you are in those situations. I also thought defensively, it was kind of annoying how unable they were to stop Jeff Driscoll from running around.

better look at it. Just two things that I wasn't pleased with the overall surge and the offensive line and the running game and short yardage and really overall all night long, and then the inabilities top throw on the other side of the football against a commander's team and Brian Robinson, let's go ahead and take our first break right there, come back on the other side, talk a why the players it stood out the players that I

thought missed in this one. That's all Next Draft Time podcast, your host Travis Wingfield, brought to you by autotation.

top to start that drive. Also had a little no look action on that first play of the game with the quick best ball handling in the league to River cray Craft, and then finish it off with the touchdown pass to cray Craft on fourth down with a just perfectly perfectly located football there from Twua, who played on time in rhythm, mitigated pressure on a couple of plays as well, just at everything that you've come to expect

from him. And the part of that McDaniel SoundBite that I really thought was interesting was the limited amount of jitters that Tua experienced or displayed early in this game, because that's something that he's kind of talked about and you know, they've you know, bandied about it between Tua and McDaniel and getting two down himself in certain spots.

I just wonder how much of Tua having a full commitment from the organization and the coaching staff and everyone knowing this is his team, how much that might kind of elevate his game, and the pushback on that I might be, well, he shouldn't care about that stuff.

twenty two quarterback led the NFL and passer rating. He just looks like I expected a top seven or eight quarterback in the National Football League. And just a quick note right here, we're gonna play some sound from Tua. I saw this on the on the tweet that I sent out of Tua coming out with the Dolphins lineup out of the tunnel tonight. If Liam's playing center, you

better not play Tua. I just every year, you know, I say that I say, can't we learn from the previous year, And I just generally think it's not happening a lot across like most fan bases, And it looks like that'll be the case again this year because I saw that argument, like if so and so is not playing, you can't play to a.

But even Tua is tired of hearing about how you're doing this when certain guys aren't available.

your keys. If it's one high, this is how I'm going to read it. If it's too high, this how I'm going to read it, regardless of who's in.

That version of what we saw from Mike White was the best version of any quarterback besides to a you've gotten so far because of the command, because of the pocket management. He made a play while he was in the grasp and got out of that a nice see it and rip it throw to Roucie before he cleared the linebacker. Had one just like that later on in the game where he threw it before the linebacker had been cleared by the crossing route and put it on

time and in rhythm for a nice run. After the catch, he had that deep shot to Eric Azukama that was right on the money over the outside shoulder, had another deep shot that should have been caught by Mike Harley who was wide open on the sideline after once again he broke pocket, that broke the contain in the pocket and got on the perimeter and threw a deep ball

and it was dropped. I just think it was the fastest we've seen a quarterback play this year besides Tua, and not that it was super fast, but it was fast enough to win, and that is all I need from him. I thought River Craycraft was fantastic, as he's been all camp long. I'm gonna go ahead and set my watch to him right here as I talk about that a lot. You can do that with this guy

because he's always where he's supposed to be. And again I mentioned it early on, but just how valuable the ability to beat that side one on one coverage, sell the inside slant, get on top of the outside level or on top of the inside leverage with an outside release stack him, make the catch, put the feet in bounds. What a beautiful play by the former Washington State kug Go Koog's go creat craft. I thought Braylen Sanders looked

nice in this game. Had a nice off frame catch on third to down one by one on one back shoulder fade to the boundary. The ball was high and away as it can be from Skyler at times. I quite liked the body control and the ability to make a contested play in a one on one situation. He's done that in practice, I think he's failed to do it in game situations. Nice to see it happen here for him in a game. And that little move on the screen pass that got called back on the Willie

snead hoole. Two defenders, one blocked, one unblocked. He made a miss. That's all you can do. Speaking of Azukama earlier, that reverse field run, I mean, that's what we've seen from this guy at Texas Tech, what we saw in that first preseason in camp, saw it in the first couple of games last year before he got injured. I'm kind of buying back in man after seeing that today, because that was awesome. That double move in the slot to the field was awesome. Again, a vertical stretch element

that he brings. If he can be healthy and be a guy that can impact your offense. Again, if this offense has that with reak and waddle, things get so interesting. And outside of OBJ, I think Azukama is the best on the team at that exact trait.

Lewis Riddick tweeted about this during the game. How big of a fan he was of the addition of John HU Smith And on top of all the stuff we talked about already and what you've seen from John who in the game and the carries and the running guys over like his ability to just know where he's.

really cool stuff with that. You know, I think there's there there's times when your offense is clicking that you know, defenses will really just try to defend space and and really, uh, the field is expanded, so to speak with with where defenders are defending in those situations, Having fast, aggressive playmakers with the ball in their hands, you know, they can take advantage of those types of things. So I think

he's a great addition to to our team. And you know, I think there's a multitude of ways that you can use players, and uh, he's no exception.

it every single time. But he got into space and kind of set that tackler up where he could kind of make a move at the point of attack and then drop the shoulder run him over for a fifty eight yard run. He was impressive. He's done that a couple times now in the preseason and then against the Bronco was last year in Week three. Thought Rob Jones had the key block on that fourth down on the opening drive. I want to go back and watch the offensive line again, but I thought he had some good

plays in there, especially on that particular play. Jack Driscoll had the big seal on the Chris Brooks run. I want to go back and look at more of him. I thought Patrick Paul had a rough night. He was comfortable and passed pro early until he wasn't and even when he wasn't right, sometimes he got some wins. But that overset and then reached back inside was a pretty good referendum on the technique and where his feet are

in his hand. His eyes just needs to kind of, you know, kind of lock it in and get better and develop in that area, and I think that he will. Defensively, I thought Chop and Mo were awesome that sack where Mohammed Kamara crossed face and had the low pad level and ran the tackle right into the quarterback. And if you watch the play on the other side of the formation, Chop is coming off the edge and forces the quarterback

to run away right into Mo. Chop also had the negative four yard play on the TfL where he came flying off line of scrimmage into the backfield. Also greeted the kickoff return man at the fourteen yard line on a kickoff coverage play. His speed, it plays man, It's fun to watch.

Dolphins thirteen to six win over the Washington Commanders. When we go back to the defense here, I mentioned him earlier, but just Brooks and long for Brooks, a tone setter of multiplier, the way he opens things up for others guys, the speed and block beating, getting downhill range side to side. He is a hell of a football player and I cannot wait to watch him come Jacksonville Week one. David Long and how well Long pairs with him, who was so physical, got dinged up, left the tent and came

back to the sidelines. So I think he was okay, but I just love watching him for the first time with Jordan Brooks. I cannot wait to see these guys become in the regular season. Channing Tendall, That sack was like an actual pass rush move, like speed upfield. The bat comes up to greet you, you step under him and bend the ark and get after the quarterback. I think that Tendall's put himself on this football team in addition

to all the work he's done on special teams. His speed is going to play in this defense as a backup rotational guy and a guy that can get downfield on special teams coverage units.

job challenging that reception there by cater Coohu. I thought Cam Smith had a really nice night tonight. He got beat on that Terry McLaurin route where he got shook in some short space and then missed the tackle, but the pass breakup was textbook where he stayed in phase, got his head back to the football and they'll allow contact if you do that, and by doing that he's able to kind of armbar the receiver and ride him into the sideline make a super athletic diving pass breakup.

He also tackled well in space beyond the McLaurin play. Seemed comfortable and if things start to kind of click for him, that could be a big addition to the secondary and that confidence could go a long way as well. Marcus may I thought really had a nice night, coming from depth downhill and making plays or going sideline to the sideline. I just love his range and striking as a tackler. He makes for a nice big nickel option or a dimeback if you want to go that way

as well. I thought Storm Duck had some nice plays. Got on the opening kick off, made a nice pass breakup on a deep shot where he stayed on top of the post and never gave in and eventually broke it up. He's made plays all along the way here in training camp. Elijah Campbell got flagged on that tackle on the punt team, but that was an amazing play, and he was also the first down there a couple of other times. He is going to be probably a special team's ace, if not a captain. Jordan Colbert made

some really nice plays. Had a big tackle in space in that third third quarter, and then made a play on a screen in the fourth quarter. Playing fast is the number one thing I look for in these games, and he checked that box nicely. Then he had to splash play with the force fumble, got off a block, put his hat on the football and winds up ripping it free with an assist from Curtis Bolton on the force fumble, and then you know, we'll do a little bit more on this in the game on Monday of

some emissions and stuff. But I want to look at some other things on the team that I thought stood out, which I don't have yet, but some things that I thought went the other direction. I thought Skylar Thompson had a very rough game where he was bailing on clean pockets, missing open players with inaccurate throws, waiting too long, the timing was off, and we heard from coach after the game talk about this quarterback battle between Mike and Skaler

for the backup job. Let's go ahead and throw it to Mike McDaniel, Like.

not great to like throw people off the sense. It's really a true belief that I have that you just let you don't try to determine how things are going to play out. You let people take control and and it will be a very important week of practice and another game and we'll let those play out. But they I think there's been pros and cons with with everyone's play really. Uh and but I did I did think

that Skylar did some good stuff. He had some opportunities and he was able to do some good stuff, and there's some stuff that he could have done better.

Just can't do that, you know, over set and get your quarterback killed if you want to play right away, and he's not going to soo. He had some time to do that, but it was a rough night for him. I thought Lester Cotton same things as last year. Zero pushing the running game, coming off of blocks way too early, no second level climb, kind of tire of seeing that. DeShawn Han got taken off the ball a heck of a lot tonight, which is a guy that's gonna play a lot of snaps for us, So that was a

little bit of a concern. I thought the same was true of Isaiah Mack and Brandon Peely at times, although Peely had the sack and had a nice bounce back. I thought Duke Riley had some rough run fits and couldn't run down Draft driscoll. Driscoll on that play. Zeke Vandenberg to me, was a little bit slow to get to spots as well and coverage in the running game. And I'll go ahead and acknowledge this, but I better

not see anybody getting mad about it. The fourth quarter interior offensive line play with Matthew Jones, Andrew Meyer and Chase and Hines.

with Seth and Juice. The YouTube channel for media availabilities, Dolphins Today, drive time content, and so much more, and last but not least, Miami Dolphins dot Com. Until next time, finns up on Cameron, Daddy, Come and hope