What is up Dolphins and welcome to the Draft Time Podcast. I am your host, Travis Wingfield, and on today's show, one last show before the conference championship games, we'll go ahead and preview those. I have a list of my quarterbacks one through thirty two I want to get through. We'll talk about the coaching carousel across the NFL, and
we'll finally get to some Dolphins information. On this podcast, Kyle Krabs joins me to talk about the Senior Bowl and the Shrine Bowl, as well as the Dolphins Rookie Clash from twenty twenty four. All of that and more from the Baptist Health Studios inside the Baptist Health Training Complex.
This is.
The Draft Time Podcast. Big Weekend Ahead. Juice Crew in search of back to back Wiffle Blast championships will be three out of four years if we can get that done. And we did combine with the Dolphins team, which probably should have been a part of for the last few years, but hey, you know, Jews paid the nil deal was hirer for you boy, so went to Jews Crew. We combined the teams this year because both teams lost like half of our roster. So we're combining forces and hopefully
winning another championship here for Jews crew. So before we get into anything today, I wanted to spend some time going around the league and talking about coaching changes and quarterbacks and start with the former there as there were seven openings heading into this hiring cycle, and I'm recording this maybe a little bit too early on a Wednesday afternoon could come back and bite me in the butt to have to retape this. But as of this moment, we have four of the seven no No, No one two,
three of the seven vacancies field. It feels like it usually happens earlier this time of year, doesn't it. And it's funny watching the Bears and Lines discourse heat up, and I'm so excited to watch that rivalry next year with Ben Johnson taking the trip over to Chicago, like the day after they lost a divisional round football game that they were supposed to win by double digits or
close to it. And you know, the Bears argument is like, oh, the Lions have never had a coordinator worth plucking and now they don't understand how this works, and the Lions just saying this dude was putting together Dennis Allen on his staff before, like he already had him agreed to the staff by Monday, so that clearly happened before the game on Saturday. It's tricky, man. This is why another reason why it is so so so tough to win
in this league and to win championships. And you know, Dan Campbell had the comment last year and they lost the Niners in the NFC championship game.
We might never make it back to that game.
And it seemed like that was ridiculous on the heels of going into a home divisional round playoff game as nine and a half point favorites. But I don't know, man, Jared Goff kind of flamed out. You're gonna lose both your coordinators. Can Campbell recruit two more coordinat like? Interesting stuff? He Maybe he's right. I tend to think that his culture and that roster alone will be good to get them back into contention in that NFC North again.
But hey, that might be their best chance. You never know.
Tricky, tricky league, man. And speaking of this, we saw two coaches in the AFC East change as the Patriots made the move to Mike rabel I talked about it a little bit on the Wednesday Show. I think I think Rabel's a good higher I think this idea that pairing Rable with Drake May is an automatic ten wins in two years is a little bit much for my taste. That roster has a long.
Long way to go. Remember last year when who was it? Shoot?
Who was the guy that was rumored to be that was gonna be moved? Oh Man bad podcasting just sitting on the air. Who the hell was that he was gonna go to the ste Brandon Ayuk? Remember Brandon Ayuk was rumored to be on the trade market and he was like, I ain't going to the Patriots. I feared that could happen for the Patriots this upcoming season as well as watch I'll probably signed t Higgins and he'll
go play with Drake May and be excited. I just think it's gonna be multiple off seasons before I Veryabel could even have the roster in place to compete. I do fear that he kind of has a beat on Tua's game and how to take away some of the stuff that Tua does well. So that's something to keep
an eye on. And then Aaron Glenn like, I don't think Tyree Hill's going to be here next year, but I think the Dolphins can still really destroy man coverage, and if he wants to implement this, you know, with Sauce and DJ Reid and Michael Carter, I imagine that aggressive style won't change. So press man coverage makes me think that the Dolphins will have answers because Tua tends to chew apart man coverage with the skill set that
he has here. So those two guys interesting hires, both defensive coaches coming off defensive coaches who replace defensive coaches in a league where pretty much everyone's going on the offensive route, the Jaguars are down to the possibility of Liam Cohen and Robert Salah and maybe some other names. To me, Cohen's the best option there. But either way, you're keeping a GM that has has a track record of being terrible, like what Dolphins fans think that Chris
Career is. And you know he's got his flaws, obviously, but he's also done a lot of good for this roster. That's what Trent Balky has been for years, going back to the Niners. Is I don't get it. I think it's destined to fail because of that. So best of luck to whoever takes that job, and if Anthony Weaver goes to the Saints, I hope that Salah doesn't get that job so he can come down here and hopefully be our DC as kind of my top option to fill the potential vacancy that has been left there by
Anthony Weaver. And I left that part in the show because I recorded it on Wednesday, and literally two hours later, the news came down that the Jaguars fired Trent Balky and so Liam Cohen had told the Jags that he was not going to take the head coaching job, removed himself from contention for that job to stay on as the OC for the Buccaneers.
Like what are you doing?
Man? Like this guy cost you a chance to get Ben Johnson. He cost you a chance to get Liam Cohen and now you're going to fire him in late January? Like this is why I always tell Dolphins fans like it could be a lot worse.
I trust me.
I know I want to be playing this weekend, but at least we're not what we used to be, and this is what we used to be. Right, Also, jump the gun on recording the Saints portion of the show, I said, Anthony Weaver and Mike Kofka were the two finals, but they also have Mike McCarthy in there, Joe Brady, and Kellen Moore, so there are options there. And again,
I really, really really hope we can keep Weave. I think he's one of the best in the game, and if we keep him this time around, he'll be gone next year.
So one war year. I hope we get it.
Even though I want you to be a head coach, but you know a little bit selfishly hope you stay here as well for just one more year.
Give us one more year.
Saints, I think are a tough job right now because of the cap situation. You don't have a quarterback, you're not picking super high in the draft. Like tough tough spot there. For the Raiders. Ben Johnson was kind of the hell Mary they were trying to go after.
Didn't work out that way.
Difficult ownership, difficult place to play, you play road games seventeen times a year, no quarterback, no option to get a quarterback with the eighth pick in the draft.
Really, that's the toughest job in the league right now.
Next maybe the Cowboys who are going to maybe court Dion Sanders, who I think makes the most sense because it's a roster that's not poor of talent. They have their quarterback, they have a star receiver, they have studs on defense. But man, your your GM is like, you know, who's the who's the old brother in succession. I wasn't a huge succession fan that the old guy that runs for office. Like that's basically who's running the Cowboys right now.
The Bears get Ben Johnson, He's gonna bring DNAs Allen with him. I like that coaching staff. I will say, I'm always a little bit dubious of these hot shot coordinators taking on their you know, the role as the culture cetter. I mean, we've seen that the struggles here with that a little bit not always being the best in this last year kind of kind of reverting back to old ways for the Dolphins. And Ben Johnson, there's just something maybe a little bit off about him.
I don't know if I can place it, but we'll see.
I think that Caleb Williams has a long, long, long way to go, and Ben Johnson's obviously the best option for that, so good for them. I think that that will be a good fit. And then uh yeah, that's that's basically where we are. I also love the hiring of lou An Arumo in Indianapolis. I think he was
inappropriately scapegoaded in Cincinnati. It's a big loss for them because their personnel stunk in the Bengals man gonna be interesting to watch the Bengals over the next ten years because I think it's an organization that just gets in its own way and doesn't really invest in the football operation. With one of the best quarterbacks in the league. And speaking of that, I have my thirty two Power ranked quarterbacks right in front of me.
We're gonna go through this tier by tier.
Here, I'll tell you where I cut off, where I think kind of that next group of players is so number thirty two we'll go bomb to top is will Levis, Aid o'connells thirty one, Drew Locke is thirty, Jamis Winston's twenty nine, Caleb Williams is twenty eight, Derek Carr and Russell Wilson twenty seven and twenty six, respectively.
That's where I have a cutoff, and those are the guys that I just don't see it.
I think that all but one of those guys will not be a starter next year, and that'll be Caleb Williams. I was dubious about Caleb's college tape. I think that when you run backwards away from pressure, it's gonna be tough for you. I think that the cool highlight plays that get fourteen year olds excited are not what wins in the National Football League. We'll see if he can piece that together. But everybody else in that list, to me,
is not worth talking about. And the first guy my next tier is someone that broke out of that list and I think has a bit of a chance. I won't put a lot of stake into it. I think he'll be a middle of the world quarterback at best. But Bryce Young at number twenty five. Dave Canalis did a great job there with him, and I think that he showed you some patience and poise and accuracy down
the field. But I still think there's enough flaws in his game vision wise, timing, wise, strength and si all the stuff that goes into that I think will be a challenge for Bryce Young. The next guy is like, you're gonna have to find a way to coach this guy into being a better football player. He's gonna go do the Tom House stuff that Josh Allen did, but
Anthony richardson twenty four. I've got bo Nicks at twenty three, Drake May at twenty two, Trevor Lawrence at twenty one, and then Sam Donald at twenty rounds out the next tier there. I don't think Sam's gonna be long for like a premier starter in this league. I think he caught fire with the right system and the right program there and kind of, you know, turned into a pumpkin in the two biggest games of the year. I think that's more indicative of who he is compared to the
other big games he had. Trevor Lawrence I just think is too robotic. I don't think it matters enough to him. I think he'll consistently be in this range between like fourteen and twenty. Drake May huge fan of the upside. I think he played really well this year, but they have a long way to go, and I think that he has to see it better and hit layups more, which he probably will, and he'll probably move with this list more than just about anybody else. Bo Nix I
still reserve some reservations about this guy. Had some fun plays and some big moments. But in terms of playing on time, within you know, within the offense, and the ability to really run a high, high level offense, it's not super quarterback friendly. I like the creativity he featured at times last year, but I think that he's probably
at his ceiling. I don't think he'll really improve much as we go along, which it's, you know, is a good baseline level to get to the early round playoff games, but going beyond that, I don't know if that's in his bag. The next year starts with Geno Smith, and then I have Michael Pennix at eighteen, which is probably gonna be the biggest pushback I get on this list. I'm a huge believer in my penex and what he
can do. I think the accuracy and poise and drive in the football, the way he can whip that thing is going to really really help him thread some tight windows. Aaron Rodgers is next. I think that he fell off, but man, some of those games he played against US, there is still that high level competitor, that kind of just high level processing. He really wins the game between the ears, and there's still enough there physically to be in this position. Brock Purdy is the cutoff of the
tier right there at number sixteen. I think you saw what happened when he lost his weapons. It was not like Tua, who still threw for you know, three hundred yards and scored thirty points against the Jets about Tyreek two years ago. Purdy, I think, is a little bit more chaotic and unpredictable, and that has him right in the middle of the pack. And then and then I'll go like Penex is gonna blow by him this year, and then with the next tier, Jalen Hurts kicks it off.
The fact that the Eagles don't have a competent passing game makes me worried about Jalen Hurts. It's the best roster in the NFL. They run the ball better than anybody else. They get the ball back to him, and they give him short fields. The special teams is always really good. They are loaded. And Hurts is a dynamic
runner and tough and a good leader. But man, the same passing issues that I saw on his tape back at Oklahoma are still there in Philadelphia, and he's not getting the ball out to those guys accurately or on time. It takes way too many big sacks Kyler Murray is next, and this is the guy that I probably could drop further, but the elite playmaking is all just so tantalizing with his player. I'm curious if he's one of those guys that gets moved this offseason, but he falls into the spot.
Jared Goff took a pretty big stumble after some of the big games he played this year, which is the same knock. Obviously you'll hear on Tua, but I just think that he's gonna regress and losing Ben Johnson. I think we'll reveal more about this player than we actually than we currently know. Justin Herbert is next. Everything you want physically just doesn't play on time, doesn't see it,
takes big sacks and melts in the big moments. The way I talked about how everyone thinks that you know, what everyone thinks of Chris career is what Trent balk is, what everyone thinks of two is actually what Justin Herbert is in a lot of ways. Eleven Baker Mayfield career year. Just love everything he's about. I wish we could kind of insert that dog into all of our players. Dak Prescott's number ten miss most of the year with injury,
but still high processing, arm strength, escapability. He was one of the best scramblers in the league last year. They covered that in Hard Knocks. He is still an elite player. I have CJ. Stroud at number nine. I thought he played really well in the playoffs. He got dogged for the points at scored against the Chiefs, but there were some high level anticipation throws, getting the ball out hot against pressure. Played in a really bad situation this year.
The offense didn't really evolve, the offensive line was bad, he lost several of his weapons.
I like c J.
Stroud number eight, where I put to He's got to perform better in bigger moments, obviously, but I think that some of the that is overblown. I think he has played well in some of the big games, not all of them, because hey, guess what, nobody plays great in all the big games, because that's why they're big games and they're tough. That's why Josh Allen goes nine for thirty against the Houston Texans. So I have two in this spot. I think that's probably about his capped out ceiling.
He could jump the next couple of guys in this list and be, you know, a top five or six quarterback, but I like him in this spot.
I have Jordan Love at number seven.
That's going to come with some pushback over to of fans and probably people that don't think that highly of Jordan Love. But I think that his physical skill set and his toughness and his ability to kind of grind things out played through a lot of injuries this year. I really like Jordan Love's game. Matthew Stafford checks it at number six. I just think that the old CAG veteran plays his best when the moment is the biggest and he's got all the arm angles and athletic ability
and big time processing. We'll see if he stays up here at this age because he's kind of loan. The odd man out in terms of his age in this group. Number five is Jaden Daniels. He is not a rookie on tape. Like Pik Fangio said, this guy's electric elite runner, elite processor, which is the most important thing. You pair those two things together, it's unstoppable football. Joe Burrow number four, Lamar Jackson number three, and then my two and one.
I feel like this.
Is gonna be what you do with Tom Brady years ago, where you'd look back and be like, well, Brady was always number one, even though you try to move him off that spot all the time. I'm going Mahomes number two, and I think Josh Allen right now is the best quarterback in the league. I just think that the physical skill set, the running ability of the design runs on third down they go to with him frequently. He can game manage and they're happy to do that and win
football games. But when you need to need to play like, that's the guy, right he He's the freaking guy. Josh Allen number one quarterback for me in the league right now. Let's go ahead and preview Josh Allen number one versus number two, Patrick Mahomes here next on the Draft Time Podcast, take a look at the division, or rather the championship games. Eagles and Commanders will do Chiefs and Bills, and we'll try to get Kyle Crabs on the podcast here after
all of that. That's coming up next Draft Time Podcast, your host Travis Wingfield, brought to you by I don't know shit. It is once again championship weekend in the NFL. Commanders and Eagles. Your three o'clock kickoff Bills and Chiefs your six thirty kickoff and not gonna be pins.
And needles for that one. Before I get.
Into this Commander's and Eagles game to kick off the day, I want to shout out somebody on X who I think made the post of the year. Quite frankly, even though it's only January twenty second, I do not believe that post will be topped. He is at Fincane his title name or whatever you call that is, I ain't him, and he has the anonymous mask on his profile with
the Dolphins hat. I thought he did a masterful job of nipping to me the most annoying bit of social media decorum in the bud though, I will say the whole euro approach and the Dolphins lost another player who made a play in a playoff, Okay, like that is right up there too, but or probably worse. But for the sake of my lead into this game, we'll say this is the worst the people that tie everything back to one player. And it's obviously too, but it would
be true for anybody else. A good example when we had a bad offensive line game, it's always like Garle, you might merv, but you know, do you actually know, because football is a very esoteric game, it's okay to not get at all, and especially when you just watched the broadcast once with twelve bruskis by your side. Like
film watchers know this. You get a sense from the game post game how you felt about it, But then you watch the tape in your opinion can change quite a lot, at least if you are looking for the right things. But I don't want to get into that when I want to discuss was this that Finn Caine made about the Bills and Chiefs debate this week? Which, well, what's that you haven't heard? Oh brother, get a load
of this. There are Dolphins fans out there open about the fact that they want Buffalo to win this weekend because they hate the Chiefs.
What what?
Actually, it's actually not having that tough to understand, because you know, check to see if they have.
You can see where you're going with this.
All you have to do is go to someone's timeline to see why they think the way they think. Right, if there's lots of like retweets of libs of TikTok, for instance, you can track it back to that. I saw one guy saying that he's rooting for Buffalo because of Taylor Swift, Like, okay, dude.
Cool friggin cool.
So Finn Caan has this post of Brian Cox and if you don't know who that is, get with it, describing his hatred for the Buffalo Bills. Then another account who I won't even acknowledge the name of on this show replies and makes it about Tua some frigginhow right. I don't know how you do it, but sometime you
do it. I don't want to read the entire tweet because it's lengthy, But Finn Kane said, the person that you've described in this post where you're coming at me, this fan, one that only cares about Tua and not the dolphins. That is so terrible because their whole You know, the VBS guy, for instance, who only tweets about Tua and denigrates Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen, which makes him look like a fool quite frankly. But everyone that thinks that if you do that, you're so content with mediocrity.
That person, to a Stan as it were, only exists because of the other side of the coin, and vice versa. If we're being honest, it reminds me of a great lyric the all time best guitar player slash lyricists slash vocalist Claudio Sanchez, frontman for Cohed and Gambria wrote when he wrote the Arkham City title track for that video game, who will be your pretty little enemy? When I'm gone? Your world will prove empty. This whole debate dies on the vine without the other side. You need each other
for this to exist. And like, yeah, I'm probably more publicly verbose about my support of Tua because of the negative, incorrect backlash that he gets. And that was the case with Ryan Tannehill too. I don't think I ever went above like the twelfth best quarterback in the NFL for Tannehill, but I was dubbed a stand because I said, like, you guys that think that he can't play, he's not great,
but he can play. On this show, I just told you about seven quarterbacks I have that I think are better than Tua, And quite frankly, there's three or four guys behind him that I could certainly be like, yeah, I get that, I get the case for that, but my Twitter account probably doesn't always convey that I don't know.
And this is all a preamble to saying I just want to enjoy watching Jade and Daniels play football because I saw the tweets and I've done a good job of insulating myself and no, your echo chamber, Like, no, I just don't like, I don't want to spend my free time reading nonsense. That's if you want to call that an echo chamber, that's fine. But I have done a good job of insulating my Twitter account to where it's X right, Twitter's dead and they killed Twitter. This
is now X my ex account is. I don't see these posts, but if I look for him, I can find him. And I saw one about Jaden Daniels and how he's already accomplished so much, and it's just like, dude, just shut up, man, Like okay, so does that denegrate Lamar Jackson the same way?
You know whatever.
But with all of this in the past, I always worried about the perception, you know, about these conversations, how it took from my joy from watching the sport, and that's on me.
That's something I have to look inward on.
I cannot let this fraction of a fraction of a fan base take that from me. So what I'm trying to say, is I am so locked down what happens here, and I just want to enjoy what promise is to be a really good football game and a really big spot, which is.
What we yearn for.
Like I remember, you know, before twenty twenty, it was always like, oh, we'll find out next year, but let's go enjoy the playoffs because this is what real football looks like. And then we put ourselves in the conversation. Then we got into the playoffs and became one of those teams and we it was hard to enjoy the playoffs because you were there and you had a chance
to crash the party. But I remember I used to really enjoy the playoffs when we weren't part of them all the time because it was like free football almost, and you know, not Dolphins football, but extra football, and there wasn't all these narratives I was concerned about, or who's going to be proven to be the better player than player?
You know, I just I didn't care. And I'm getting back to that.
And this matchup is so much fun because Jayden Daniels is awesome. Who doesn't like watching that guy play football? And when you have to, you know, reserve it in this guise of like, well, is he better than my guard? Will I have to defend the fact that he isn't.
So I'm gonna pretend to, you know, get on him for these two missthrows that he had, Like I just want to watch him play football, and he's really the only quarterback that went up and down the field on the Eagles since like October, this best defense in the NFL, and I think Vic Fangio's defense is designed to really take away some of their bread and butter and probably find a way to through their coverage, you know, bracket Terry McLaurin, even though they won't travel, but they'll find
a way to bracket him. And then obviously they have the guns up front to really change the pace of the game and make Jayden, you know, uncomfortable. I don't think the way he's playing right now that I think that when you're playing at that level, you kind of dictate the terms because a perfect offense is indefensible, and right now they're kind of a perfect offense in a lot of ways. And the Commanders have paired a balanced passing game with a quarterback who has electric play making
ability and elite processing speed. I love the way their offense didn't just overwhelm him early on and then remove things from the offense as it went, but rather slowly added to his plate. And now you have this empowered, confident quarterback ready to shred you at any moment's notice. They've got the weapons, They've got the quarterback, but do they have the defense. That's where I say no. And what's more, man, we get all these takes right, and
who's more guilty of it than I am? I've done what we've learned from this weekend and playoff football on the show since we started the show five years ago. But these games are pretty simple. The Lions made more mistakes through three turnovers. The Ravens turned it over three
times and dropped the game tying two points conversion. The Rams lost two fumbles and lost by six, and the Texans had a critical turnover run downs, missed three kicks and had two special teams penalties and a big kickoff return and a pick by C. J. Stroud is who messes up more? That's what it comes down to. And I think the Eagles ability to have multiple ways to win, even if the passing game hasn't been one of them
for a few months now. I think they are just a team that's going to play a cleaner game, win the physical element of the game. And maybe it's like seventeen all in half, but I think Barkley wears these dudes down and the Eagles get back into the big game for the second time in three years. By the way, both my playoff picks for the Super Bowl are out in Baltimore and Detroit. That's who I picked a couple weeks ago. My regular season pick was Chiefs and Niners.
Down to just one of those teams, obviously, and I just went two and two on divisional weekend to bring us a seven and three on the playoffs, though I am hoping to go one and one this weekend because well, I'm taking the Bills in Chiefs and Bills. I don't want to. I need a Chiefs win like I need air. But I just think they are primed to go get
this one. You know it'll be a close game. The Chiefs are allergic to playing anything, but and I believe they've won, like looking it up, sixteen consecutive one score games. And if there's a team, a style, a quarterback that I think can buck that trend. It's these Buffalo Bills. You've probably seen some commentary about Josh Allen's stat line and the little he had to do with to beat the Ravens, and man, I just wish we could get beyond that type of discourse and just use our eyes.
You know, you saw the impact. You see it all the time. You see what they call in critical third downs and how this dude always makes the damn play. What are that tweet a while back? I'm sick of playing this damn guy because you know it too well. Where he gets pressure on a fourth down in the fourth quarter, on a fourth and goal situation, the Dolphins
have a two point leave. He scrambles and peels back and runs into two defenders and throws the ball while he's being sandwiched and still finds paydirt somehow.
He's just absurd.
The best quarterback in the league right now for my money, and in a game that I think will come down to the ability to be balanced to support the quarterback to win the game late. I think the Bills run game, their rock solid offensive line and that quarterback. I think this is the year they get it done. And to think the Eagles might be the last ones to save us from a Bills title. And look, I love Jayden, but would rather I would rather have the Eagles there
to do that than the Commanders. As fun as they've been to see this get this far, give me the Eagles. If we have to watch the Bill's Super Bowls, I'm taking Philly and Buffalo. Bill's in the Super Bowl. Man, I was six or seven years old last time that happened.
And how crazy is that they were in this position the year after they were supposed to regress, right, Not tooting my own horn here, but I was never of the belief they would regress coming into this year, and in fact, I think you can learn something from their team building approach this past offseason. So yeah, Bill's Eagles again. I hope I'm one and one or even zero and two.
I don't care. I just want the Bills to lose the game.
But I'm not picking it against them, all right, So go ahead and welcome in my guest, Kyle Krabs on the other side to talk about these games. We'll talk about my quarterback list, the Dolphins rookie class, and so much more. Draft Time Podcast, your host Travis Wingfield brought to you by Autodation.
Always good to see my buddy here.
On the podcast, Kyle Krabs joins us for a little rookie class review and a look ahead to the Senior Bowl and Shrine Bowl. He's gonna have boots on the ground both in Mobile and over at the Star in Frisco, Texas. Kyle, what's up man? Good to see you again.
I feel obligated to go buy boots now.
You said boots on the ground, and I can't tell you last time I owned a pair of boots, but I am gonna go get new shoes because inevitably it's gonna rain one day and I don't want to wear a nice sneakers out and I think I'm gonna buy boots now so I can literally have boots.
On the ground here because of this interact, So thank you.
I don't know what happened to it, but I don't have my north face anymore that I used to have from back when I lived in weather that was like we have today here, and I feel like I'm gonna regret that. I mean, we have Whiffle Blast tomorrow and it's gonna be like forty degrees out there, and I this is like the most clothes I own in terms of like this is like a long sleeve Dolphins shirt.
That's all I have have.
So Chop Robinson was named to the Pro Football Riders of America All Rookie Team. He's also one of five finalists for the Defensive Rookie of the Year. Obviously a great pick for the Dolphins and a cornerstone piece going forward.
I kind of want to just get your your bird's eye view.
Perspective on Chop, how he developed, what you think his long term projection is, and just kind of give us the traits and what has you excited about. What has this guy, you know, a top five rookie defender in his rookie season.
Yeah, I think where he really showed the growth.
You go back to what he was at Penn State, and the disruption has always been there, but it was the ability to finish a lot of plays and play through contact at diminished angles enough whereas you're turning the corner and turning the arc, you're not just kind of running by a guy and force him to be uncomfortable, but you're able to get enough of that player to finish the play.
And I thought that's.
Where you really saw him get better throughout the course of this season was through contact at the top of the arc. There were instant there were instances where we had free runs, but a lot of these were not free runs against no contact and schemed pressures up and
intier gap untouched to go to the quarterback. So I think that's what's really exciting about Chop and he's going to continue to develop in that regard, and I think as he gets more snap opportunities because he's a more well rounded player to play the run, and I thought that was something that from training camp through the end of the season, his placement on his fits as an
outside player in the run game. I think there's there's a lot to build upon there, and the development and the trajector is obviously an arrow that's pointing up for this team. So I think he will be a lot better as he continues to diversify his pass rush arsenal. But at the same time, he's going to earn more opportunities because he's going to be more well rounded player and some of that production is just going to come as an extension of that.
I'm glad you mentioned the growth and improvement because I think that also speaks to not just CHOP's acumen and his desire, because you have to have those things to show that type of growth. And man, there were moments where he would take like that Patriots game down here. He took that game over there for points at a time.
And I think it speaks to the presence of Jealan Phillips, who we know what he's all about from a work standpoint, Bradley Chubb, who was the exact same way, and Ryan Crow who's getting you know, some mentions here as possible DC jobs. I think think for the Patriots as a possible interview there. So it's a good position group coming back. I'm excited to see what it looks like next year, and Chop is kind of at the forefront of that.
And man, we saw him run that nosebacker rep. I think it wasn't the Jets game was the first time we saw him do it as a rookie, and that was something he was really good at Penn State with. So put more on that guy's play. I think he can take off in your number two, who was the next most impressive rookie, Kyle, because the Chop was the obvious pick, your first round pick, he balled out.
He was a great player.
Who do you think was next in a group of there's a couple of guys here that might satisfy this category.
Yeah, I'd probably give it the League Washington for he brought some life to the special teams unit as far as the return game and making some big things happen in that regard. Not a obviously not a big guy, but I think some of the ancillary elements of playing wide receiver that is what earns you opportunities in playing time. He was effective at and it looks like he's got good chemistry with Tua as far as like the route that he ran against San Francisco down.
In the red zone.
No, you're talking about where he he bubbled it outside just enough. He's got outside leverage and he pushes his leverage into the body of the defender before he breaks off on the glance and the balls right on his body. But the nuance of that route, and that was kind of the first time you saw down the field nuanced route with big time timing that was right on the money.
And obviously the the intelligence that it takes to be somebody who is a member of the Virginia program and it's it's known for its academics right that I think shows up on film, and this is a nuanced offense for better and for worse. And I think having gotten the reps this year, I think that's that's only going to allow him to take on a bigger role moving forward. But I would say he's the one that everybody liked mo League Washington coming out, is a tough player.
He's gonna have a bigger.
Role as well, just based off of the experience that he cultivated this year.
I kept telling Oj, this guy reminds me of you, man, your play style. The toughness is the gridth that he offers, and you know that the tough hands and the maybe the stature as well all kind of remind me of Oj McDuffie.
Good company there.
And you mentioned that route that that throw, which, by the way, that's that's what makes two a special man. You saw the way he vacated that Mike linebacker with the kind of pump and the footwork to show that throw to the one side of the field. That comes back to different topic, but I saw that tweet of the day and I was I was excited about that throw and also the way you mentioned that route, man, Like I know we talk a lot about Tyler Warren,
the Penn State tight end. Here he had that crossing route in the Orange Bowl against against Penn State, or rather against sorry Notre Dame, right, yes, yeah, struggling here against Notre Dame where he had like leaned into the defender and was able to get that separation based upon the head nod and the shift before the actual break on the route. So those little nuances go a long way. Man, this next question, I think I know where you're where
you'll go. I think there are two options. But biggest jump for a rookie in the second year and why, I think.
It's Patrick Paul where you saw opportunities on both sides of the line.
I think you saw some.
Of the natural left tackle stuff for him, but.
He it never looked too big for him.
And he had a a baptism by fire as far as his first start against Tennis and that front, and he got into the meat of the season and I really felt like he handled his opportunities very well. And you know it's it's a position room where toront Armstead needs to make a decision on what his future looks like. And then the team will obviously have a decision as
they managed some big contracts. But this selection was kind of made with the intent of, you know, this is somebody who could be a left tackle of the future type player for us. And while I would want more competition for like the swing tackle spot, assuming Ken the Lamb does end up retiring like he talked about the beginning of the season, I think you'll need competition in
that room. But if you told me that Patrick Paul is the starting left tackle Week one in twenty twenty five, based off the reps he showed at left tackle this year, I think he's he's gonna knock that opportunity out of the part. And that's not necessarily where I thought I would be with Patrick Paul based off his tape at Euston playing for an air raid college spread type offense, and I think he deserves all the credit in the world for that.
Another instance of a guy that just did things the right way and put the work in and showed that growth and like you mentioned, the technique came a long way, the punch that the kickslide, everything that he did looked more coordinated than you. Like you mentioned the college tape, So that's good to hear. And my pick for that would be jillen Wright. I think fans here know how big of a believe r I am and jillen Right
skill set. How about this last one here, Kyle a dark horse pick of sorts, a guy that you believe in based on the college tape but didn't get a lot of chances as a rookie, maybe no chances at all.
Maybe a practice squad guy could even be that.
Who's a guy that you think that didn't really contribute in twenty twenty four that could come back in year two and have an impact.
And if Patrick McMorris plays anything like what did preseason tape look like, that's a player who And again we talked about Malik Washington and I didn't give him Aleak enough credit because he was at Virginia before that, he spent four years at Northwestern.
You talk about smart.
Guys, right, north Western in Virginia is your academic background.
Patrick morris was cal.
That's another place where, like last, smart guys go play a Cal and he's got toughness. We saw some special teams with stuff with him once they activated him and
put him on the active roster. I think that's a player that just based off of you could tell there was a lot of conviction with the folks in the football operations department when they made that pick, because it kind of flew in the face of a lot of the traits that this organization is usually coveted in draft selections, as far as the athletic profiles and smart, tough football player who got on the field and showed you why
people were really excited about what he looks like. And there's gonna be a lot of opportunity in that room, you would assume, because Devon Holland, Jordan Poyer, and Elijah
Kim are all expiring contracts. So I think that's the one where I think of the right intersection of what you anticipate is going to be oppor tunity with the player who flashed enough with limited opportunities this past year and obviously had to kind of sit for a lot of this year as he recovered from from an injury that I think that's that's a breakout candidate for this team.
Yeah, you mentioned something there that reminds me of a comment that Chris Greer made. It must have been three or four years ago. At this point where he talked about like the two year kind of snapshot, how this team doesn't just you know, prepare for what's ahead, but they have the long term, you know, the long term outlook to kind of prepare for things. And like this year's class is that tenfold right? Your future left tackle when you knew that you probably well not probably, but
maybe your left tackle could be retiring. Kendall Lamb certainly came out and was more clear about his intentions. You talk about the safety group that the expiring contracts, you talk about you know, the running back position with Raheem and Jeff being a year older, Like they were very aggressive in their approach to make sure they were prepared for future years. And like the growth of that group in addition to this year with they projected ten picks.
I kind of think that's the story of the Dolphins right now, is what happens with these young players and trying to get more contributions from guys on those wiki contracts. And with that in mind, Kyle, we have you on today because, like I said, you were going to be a both the All Star Games, and I like how they on that real quick. No, please don't want Yeah.
But I think people are going to hear this kind of conversation and they're they're gonna hear about young players that were brought in with a two year or three year snapshot in mind, and we're going to talk a lot about the draft picks and kind of the transition of a lot of this roster. And transition I think is an appropriate word to invoke when when we talk about where this team is at right now versus what the last couple of years of the nucleus of the
team look like. But teams can compete throughout a transition, and I think that like, it's not a guarantee that it happens, but you can transition. Look at the Rams, right Like the Rams had the Super Bowl and then they had the regression year, and they for forever were not draft capital oriented at all. They were trading all their premium assets for players with second contracts. And you saw the Dolphins lean into that a little bit with
Bradley Chubb and Tyreek Hill and the on. What happened was the Rams embraced this dramatic youth movement where they had it might have been close to fifty percent of their roster was rookies and undrafted free agents, and they
made the playoffs. And then they followed that up again with the draft class that had Jared Verst and Braden Fizz in addition to a bunch of other contributors, and they're one of the younger teams in the league, and they made the playoffs again, and they won a playoff game, and they took the Eagles to the wire in.
The Divisional round thirteen yards away.
So I think that that's what I would point to, is that is a program that underwent a transition very similar to like probably what a lot of Dolphins fans are expecting from a magnitude of change with the roster that the Dolphins are going to undertake, and you hope they find the right players to bring into be a piece of that, because that being in transition doesn't have to mean you throw your hands up and say, ah, well forget it.
The games don't mean anything right now.
And I think that's what makes like this conversation we're about to have about the All Star events and all the prospects that are there all that much more exciting because it's it's who are the right ingredients to put into a transition to help make the transition set up a really bright.
Future window for the team.
That I mean, Kyle, that's why you're a regular guest on the show because you know, we had this conversation on a text previously about playing it as it lies and talking about the team from a perspective of what's happened, what could happen, and like, you know, to take it further than the Rams. Look at the Vikings and the Lions, Like the Lions obviously have been on this trajectory that
most teams don't really get to enjoy. Usually it's like you finish a year strong, you get the hype, you kind of regress, maybe in year three you break out.
The Lions have been that that studay trajectory team. But if you look at their draft class from two years ago, like they were maligned across the board because they took a running back, a linebacker, a tight end, and I think it was a safety and Brian Branch and you know, Sam Laporta and Jamior Gibbs and Jack Campbell are all like studs now and just pick.
Good football players.
And like the Vikings and I can I will still like back this idea that they had bad process and some things with some of the trade capital they gave up to go get guys like uh like JJ McCarthy and Dallas Dallas Turner and like that all happened, and that that quarterback got hurt and then Sam Donald takes
them to a fourteen win season. So like you can have these things that maybe you don't think look great on paper, you don't agree with, you think it could be like a bad process, but like the football games still have to get played. That's why I love what you said there, because you're gonna go into this offseason and you're gonna hear a bunch of doom and gloom about cap and loss of players and trajectory and it getting like they're only gonna win.
Like maybe that'll be the prediction.
Maybe you won't get enjoy a whole summer of content that's kind of hyping you up.
But who cares. Who cares?
It doesn't matter come September eighth, whatever it is. I just think it's a really good perspective, Kyle. So I appreciate you for cutting me off right th that that was very good and something we had to cover here.
Kyle.
You said it all Man hosting the Lockdown Dolphins podcast, host of Lockdown NFL Scouting, author of Touchdown Miami and the NFL Draft lead for the thirty third team at Kyle crabs on Social, Kyle, appreciate it, man, I know you're up against the deadline. Go ahead and write that story. Get the heck out of here. Thank you again, my friend.
Thanks Travis.
All right, there he goes. We're gonna have Kyle back on for the Monday show. He and I talked about the Senior Bowl. I'll go ahead and put that out there on Monday, along with the safety capsule.
I think is where I'm gonna go next.
Trying to get the lighter positions done first and get myself ahead for receiver, offensive line, the positions that take more and more time to do.
So there you go.
Kyle back on Monday, as well as the Championship game recap as well as Whiffle Blast recap. Until then, you all please be sure to subscribe, rate review the show. Follow me on social at Wingfold NFL. The team at Miami Dolphins. Check out the fish Tank podcast with Seth and Juice. Check out the YouTube channel for Dolphins, HQ Media availabilities and so much more, and last, but not least, Miami Dolphins dot Com Until next time.
Finns Up, Carolin and Cameron Daddy Governor