To on the move, galling deep, speedless, peace, Peace.
From the Baptist Health Studios inside the Baptist Health Training Complex.
This is Drivetime with Travis Wingfield. He's got my hands in the playoffs.
What is up, Dolphans And welcome to the Draft Time Podcast. I am your host, Travis Wingfield. And on today's show, cut down day is tomorrow. We're gonna run through the roster and make our fifty three man predictions on this episode. But first before that, we're gonna cover the game from Friday night, talk about some tape standouts, some positional group standouts that I thought we learned from both the preseason,
the game itself, and commentary from coach McDaniel. And we're gonna break down the decision to go with Skyler Thompson as quarterback two over Mike White. I have a theory behind it, I have an idea behind it and why I think it could prove beneficial for this team heading into this season. And beyond all of that, and a heck of a lot more. From the Baptist Health Studios inside the Baptist Health Training Complex.
This is the Drive Time Podcast.
You've seen the reports by now Mike White has been released by the Miami Dolphins, and barring some major trade that I would not expect to happen, Skyler Thompson will serve as your backup quarterback this season. And this has been one of the tougher things for me to come to a conclusion on all camp long. I thought both guys really struggled in the month of August, especially in
the preseason games. I thought the first game was really tough to watch on either side, and that includes a second half where I thought Mike White didn't have much of an opportunity because of the surrounding situation, which is often the case in that first preseason game. I thought Mike played better in the second game and kind of
put his foot ahead of Skylar's in the race. But then the third game happened, and I went back and forth on this so much with what I was going to do for today's podcast, and then of course Sunday
we get the actual news that came through. That made this podcast a lot easier to do because in that third game, Skyler kind of turned it on its head for me from my perspective, and I think it made all the difference, and it brought me to this conclusion because I remember back when Gardner Minshew was coming out, and I swear I'm not just using him here because of his school. For sure, Gokog's Go Koog's, but he's
just a perfect example for this. But the Move the Sticks podcast with Daniel Jeremiah and Bucky Brooks had a Jim Nagyon, the Senior Bowl director, and he was talking about Minshew and his prospects coming out of Washington State Go Koog's back in twenty nineteen, and they were talking about him being the perfect backup quarterback and comparing him to Ryan Fitzpatrick, who, for my money, is the greatest backup quarterback in the history of the sport when you
consider his longevity, his growth, and eventual end of the road where he became a quality starter for a couple of teams, the Bucks Us and would have been for the Commanders had he not been injured, in my opinion. But the backup needs to come off the bench and inject life into a huddle. And I'm talking about Jacoby Brissett's energy in the building. I'm talking about a guy that has loved in the locker room, a guy that you get excited when he enters a room like, ah, there, Skyler, what's up man?
You want to talk to that guy. You want to be around that guy.
And I felt that kind of energy with Skyler in the game on Friday night. You could see it on the sideline, you can see it in the locker room, you could see it.
In the huddle.
Now, I think Skyler has plenty of developing still to go, like a long way to go with how he sees the field, and you hope and never see him out there right because you want to to play every single snap like he did last year, outside of the four or five games where we blasted teams and got Mike White some mop up duty. But if he can get another year of development, and it's going slower than I wanted it to, but I'm open to the idea that
it can still get better. I think with Tua playing here for hopefully the next fifteen years, you would want his backup quarterback to be someone that has experienced in this program at all times, someone that can step in and keep your full menu of plays available. And I think three years in the offense should do that. It's a tough offense to know. It's a tough offense to execute.
I'm all for continuing throwing irons in the fire and trying to get your Joe Milton, your tradity quarterback who can be coached up and maybe become something down the road. But I think ultimately the ability to come in off the bench and win a game is what we're looking for here. And I thought Skyler among the options. Now this wasn't a whole league wide thing. You had two guys to decide between. I thought Skyler demonstrated the best
ability to do that this preseason. And additionally, I feel like his traits are a little bit more game plan friendly for the coaching staff in terms of Okay, if Tua does go down for a long period of time, just about every team in the modern game outside of Foles and Philly back in twenty seventeen, that team is cooked.
Right, your season's over.
I think a backup quarterbacks perspective needs to be if this guy comes in, can we go one and one and two games? Can we go two and two and four games? Just keep the boat afloat. If your quarterback misses a game or two, now two and two, four games, that's a long period of time to rely on that guy, and you can't really game playing your way through a whole month.
I think you can do it for a game or two.
And with Skyler, who I don't think sees the field well enough to execute this offense on a week by week basis, cut the field in half, get him on the move, execute what should be another top tier running game like you had a season to go, and utilize the play action game with his you know, getting outside the pocket, and hopefully that gets more accurate as he gets on the move as well. Do all of that stuff.
Run the football well, hopefully you play good defense. And if you play a team you know that doesn't have an elite quarterback on the other side, I think you can find a way to win games like that. And so so many times when an injured quarterback gets injured, it's about who you played in the game's absences and if we get the right guy in that instance that it does that happens. I think that Skyler and this offense and this coaching staff can formulate a game plan
that can score enough points to win those games. That's a lot of AB and C you have to cover, but with the backup quarterback, that's kind of what you have to put together.
So that is kind of how I view this thing.
And I think back to the Vikings game in twenty twenty two when it was like, you know, double wise twelve personnel, play action game, get him on the move, lots of screen passes. Maybe he can create a player two here or there and we can score some points and move the ball.
That was the best game I thought Skyler played. I think you can build.
That with him in twenty twenty four in one or two games if you need it.
Elsewhere.
In the preseason game, I thought Jalen Wright looks like a running back one in the very near future.
Will that happen here right away? Probably not.
He has two elite running backs in front of him, but he looks like he is right on pace with those guys.
He looks really, really, really good.
Well. League Washington was very good as well. I thought he was the best return man all month long. I think he's made the team through that avenue. He has obviously obvious blocking capabilities and has the same running ability in the screen and end a round game. But those are the manufactured touches that kind of limit your offense, right and he does have some limitations, not a lot of separation as a single, you know, one on one
coverage beater. He might be a bit of a specialist in an offense that I don't think has a lot of interest in that concept. He is comfortably on the roster, but I would just kind of hold back a little bit before you predict, you know, a massive statistical production or a contribution I should say from the league Washington this year, because to put him on the field kind of pigeonholes your flexibility and I don't think it's going to happen too frequently.
Now. If he has to go beat a you know.
Sub subpar slot cornerback in a one on one situation, maybe we get some of those looks, maybe you get some carries from him, maybe you get some red zone blocking. But I think that maybe more of the River Craycraft role might be his route this year in terms of certain situations he sees the field. What a night for Hayden roucie Roo. I think he has a future in
this league. Just want to put that down there. And then I thought Lester Cotton was really good in this game, and I didn't expect to think that coming out of the game or the preseason, where I thought he had a pretty good run of games throughout the entire exhibition season.
The way that he found work.
Go get yourself a rack of ribs, young man, when someone else this is, you know, getting a one on one situation, you don't have work. Go find that guy. Go put a helmet into his ribs. Make him feel you.
He did that all night long.
I thought he passed off really good and had good footwork and had good open hips to drop step and get depth and find where those pass rushers were coming from. And secondary efforts on loopers and games and being patient with his punch that matched his footwork to put him in good positions in those pass protection spots. I still want to see far more connection on second level blocks from him. I think it cost us many many yards last season and even in this preseason.
But I heard, or rather we all heard.
Coach McDaniel discuss the technical development and the depth in a couple of spots with regards to the interior lines on either side of the football, And I'm going to talk about that depth here in the second segment right to talk about who I think makes the team on the offensive line and the technical development to me, matched what I saw on tape for Lester Cotton.
So maybe you know he.
Played the playoff game in twenty twenty two, had a lot of playing time last year. Maybe for him, a third year in the system can really help him get above that line, that cutoff line that we heard from Chris Furster back in the summer when he was discussing we don't necessarily view this group as like we have to have all pros. We have to have several guys above this line so we can plug and play when you get to the inevitable injuries that happen on the
offensive line every single year, something to ponder. We're gonna talk more about that as we go ahead, and I'm gonna be on the Dive Bar podcast here coming up as well, and I have some fire I'm ready to spit for those guys on that show. So keep that tuned in, keep that in your minds, because Tuesday, I think seven o'clock we're going to do that. That's really my individual takeaways. It jumped off the tape to me.
I think it's worth mentioning a couple of things here. Yes, I thought the opening part of the game went heavily in favor of the Bucks.
And the scoreboard told you that, your eyes told you that.
And I'm going to do an NFL preview podcast later this week here on Drive Time, looking forward to that one, and I'm going to rave about the offensive line and the defensive tackles of the Buccaneers because to me, Vitave as a Hall of Fame player, and then Elijah Canti's quick with Greg Gaines's pure physicality and low pad shelf, that is like a perfect trio of defensive tackles, a
tough ask of any offensive line. And I thought the viral shot of vite Vea taking Jack Driscoll down seventy five south of Sarasota was not a good overall indication of Jack's night. It's literally his first year like he still has less than fifty reps at center as a professional football player, playing against the best defensive tackle in the NFL, and he played against a guy that has dog walked all pros, so I expect that to happen.
I thought Rob Jones had a really tough night, especially against Nancy who just kind of dispatched him time and time again. So that's a development worth keeping eye on. We'll see what the actual opening day lineup looks like. But I did love how many snaps Patrick Paul got all preseason, and man, he looks so good in the
ways that you want him to look good. Now, the technique is not there yet, doesn't need to be there yet, But if you can continue to develop him and refine that craft, I have a feeling that this time next year we're talking about this guy as the ten year solution at left tackle beyond Tron Armstead. What he has is just not teachable in the way he gets on the perimeter and executes these blocks on the move, and he was working those bucks edges really all night long.
Then on the other side, their offensive line got vertical displacement time and time again.
That whole first drive, they took us off the football.
It was washed down city, it was It was rough to watch, But again I think it's a top ten offensive line against the twos on a defensive line that the twos aren't gonna play a whole lot because Seler and Campbell can play so many Dan snaps. But Luke Dicky Gadecki was a really good tape, A valuable tape for Chop Robinson the Sea because he got his butt kicked, but he bounced back after that and had a really good game after that first drive. I thought he and
Mo Kamara were real standouts on that defense. In terms of guys that I expect to play a lot of snaps this year, those two guys, to me, showed the most of anybody on that defense. And beyond that, we're probably talking mostly about and back of roster practice squad guys.
So there you go.
I don't want to spend too much time on that. I want to go ahead and pivot now to the thing you have been waiting for. Fifty three man roster predictions. That's next Draft Time podcast, your host Travis Wingfield, brought to you by Autnation, segment two here on a Monday, August the twenty six and I want to go through the roster and give my final thoughts ahead of cut
down day. How these rooms stack up. Why I think it's gonna go this way because we spend all off season breaking this stuff down, trying to figure out where the strengths, the weaknesses, the trap doors, the surprise opportunities where they all exist.
Then we get to.
Camp and some of the stuff that you think you know can get turned on its head in an instant. So this is going to be my prediction for what I would do, and then I'll go ahead through it at the end and tell you what I think will happen if that sounds good to you all. And my predictions are based on a few criteria, past film camp, preseason performances, and fit for what I think this team will prefer.
And off the top, I already know.
I'm going to be wrong with a certain wide receiver, but I don't care. We're gonna spell it out that way anyway, because I think this podcast is more beneficial when you have my opinions on top of the facts and what actually happens. So at quarterback, we're keeping two
to a tongo by Lowe and Skyler Thompson. And that whole pause for a dramatic effect kind of lacked climax, didn't it, because we already found out earlier on Sunday the Dolphins had made their choice on the backup quarterback by releasing veteran quarterback Mike White, which cleared up about three and a half million dollars in cap space. It carries about a one point seven million dollar dead cap into this year. Which is nothing to drop in the bucket.
That happens for every team every single year that cut free agents they signed for a couple million bucks. It is inevitable in this league. I had rewritten and recorded this thing twice. I actually originally had Mike White as the quarterback too. Went back and watched the tape and switched that back to scholar Thompson and wrote a whole thing about how I still don't love the vision to see the field and how imperative I believe that is in this offense.
But I came up with this thought as I've been.
Going over this in my head for really like four forty eight hours since the conclusion of the Bucks game, And to me, it's like this, if one goes down for more than a few games, it's over.
The year's over.
And that's the case. If it was Skyler, if it was Mike White, if it was CJ. Bethard, who might get cut by the Jaguars. If it's a trade for case Keenum, anybody you can think of that would be a possible quarterback acquisition, which I am not interested in, by the way, because I don't think using draft capital on a player that I don't think is going to provide you any value in terms of how your season
could end up. Is smart business. And when the year is not over, is if to a has a broken thumb or something that prevents him from playing one or two games. And I think I think that with Skyler Thompson, you stand a better chance to craft a game plan around what he does, which would reduce, you know, what kind of makes this offense tick in terms of the timing you know over the middle throws that two is so precise with I think you try to reduce that from his game and you get him on the move.
You married up with a strong running game that I expect us to have this year with basically the Vikings plan back in twenty twenty two. It was a lot of play action and Skyler out on the outside of the pocket, kind of cut in the field in half, make the throw the reads easier, give him a chance to use his creativity a little bit of running ability there as well. I think you can game plan for a game or two around that to get your offense
over the finish line with a victory. Whereas with Mike White and what he offered, it was none of that and a reduction off the timing and rhythm, which kind of got worse as the whole thing went along here in training camp, especially game that final game where he was late on a lot of throws and put some guys in some tough spots. So that's kind of how I see it. It shook out that way with Skyler Thompson. I don't know exactly how they see it, but that's
my thinking. With Skyler Thompson as quarterback too, I think you can get a couple of wins with him if you need it, or you go one to one over two games if you need it, which can keep your season alive, can keep your division race hopes alive, all that stuff. So Tua and Skyler quarterbacks one and two. Official running back I have five Raheem Moster, Devon a Chan, Jalen Wright. Those are the obvious ones, and Alec Ingle
the fullback as well. And I kept Chris Brooks and he was a bubble guy that I was not willing to lose. I'm so thrilled that he didn't have a longer term injury from last week's preseason game. And Jalen Wright, obviously that's something I've talked about in the podcast all Summer long is that he can really expand what you do with Devon a Chan, which also allows me, in
my opinion, to keep spoiler five wide receivers. And why I keep Brooks because I think the eight Chan is a quasi receiver who moonlights in that role with his full time job as a running back. I just love the depth of this room. I think it's the best running back room of the National Football League. I don't think we get into a situation this year where we can get thin unless you get insane attrition, which has happened to this team. So never say never and quit asking for bad karma.
Travis. I really wanted to keep Hefe. I think he's a good player.
I really wanted to keep Savaughn before he got cut, but he was allowed to go explore options because it wasn't gonna happen here. So good on the Dolphins for giving him a week and a half advance to go find a different job. And maybe you can get a late round pick for Jeff in a trade. Maybe you can spin him for someone's eighth offensive lineman that has
the same issue on the O line. But he's an NFL back I just think that stylistically, you can consider it redundant to Chris Brooks, which there's a few of those situations on the roster, and I typically chose cheaper talent with more upside in those instances, and I think Brooks gives you that on top of the fact that I think he gives you more special teams value.
So we have seven players so far.
I also kept five receivers plus one to injury reserve with a designation to return. You can do this with two players on cutdown day and then have them designated to return. It used to be you have to keep them on the active roster for a full twenty four hours. Then you put them on IR and you sign back the guy that you cut in his place. The NFL has wised up and changed this rule, and really the NFL's done a good job of adapting these rules as
time goes on. The COVID year kind of provided them with like a platform of like or a baseline of like we can kind of team with rules here and there and just make things better.
I think that this was a great option.
I think the practice squad, you know, expansion, along with the three call ups for every player was a great idea. It essentially gave you your minor league team, which you just cannot have in any other capacity in the NFL. So I love the rule changes and the NFL's willingness.
To be flexible.
In a league that used to be steadfast on the way it was, they have kind of changed their ways in that way. At wide receiver, I'm keeping Tyreek Hill on Jalen Waddell an he surprises there, I don't think so. I think Odell Beckham Junior plays Week one. I think that any concern otherwise is miscast there, and I won't go into detail on that, but just I guess kind
of trust me. Malike Washington makes this team, and so does Erica Azukama, and Braxon Barrios is the guy I was talking about off the top of the show.
I think he makes the team.
But I'm not putting him in mind, as I'm sure you've can kind of concluded here. Like I said, A Chan gives me a little bit more flexibility on keeping just five plus. With Crevey Craft coming back, I'll need that spot down the road. I'm not going to lop off any of these receiver, so I think we'll probably pull from the offensive line to do that when it
comes time for Craig Craft to come back. But you know about Hill and Waddle and what Obj does and what River Craivecraft does, and what I think Eric Aszookama can do is unlock them to play all over the formation. And it's imperative in this offense that everybody knows every role, so you can motion, so you can shift, so you can go hurry up. And I think Malik Washington is getting kind of a baptism by fire with regards to
his introduction to the offense. They don't want to make him just the slot guy that I think he actually exclusively is going to be. And that's why I couldn't justify keeping Barrios, who I thought was beat out as a return man by Malik as well. Then you factor in that I think that Malik is a second best run blocker in that room, actually first, with Craig Craft down. And this was honestly a super easy decision for me. But I do think that Braxton will make the team.
And maybe I'm naive and thinking that five is enough given all the injuries here, but I just want I think there's three criteria you kind of have to fit here at least one of them. Vertical stretch ability, tackle breaking, and immediate separation skills. You know, the top two guys feature all of those. Beckham features two of those. I
think Maleague has one of those. I think Craig crap has a little bit of all of those things, just dependable, and I don't think that Barrios offers any of those traits. Where Azukama has the vertical stretch possibilities as well as his tackle breaking ability. So that's where I go at receiver. I'm keeping three tight ends, John new Smith, Julian Hill, and Durham Smyth. I think John U is going to go down as one of the biggest additions to any team this offseason.
I've been saying that since he was signed back in March.
Hookup, you know, I can trust where he's gonna be to what has a quick outlet that didn't have last year. He's trustable, dependable, those are the same two words. Good enough as a blocker to help hide our hand with personnel disguise. He's a deem with the football after the catch, which I've talked at length about his ability to kind of stretch the defense. And expand overplay that you get
from Hill and Waddle. Julian Hill, to me had one of the best camps of anybody out there, and his growth I think is going to be a massive addition for this offense. His ability to kind of wrap the edge and play off those motions and come out of the backfield. I think he unseated Durham Smyth as tight
end two. And I think what Hayden Roucie showed if I can get him on the practice squad, that he makes the future of this room John U, Julian and Hayden, which gives you cheaper production, which if you can find guys like that for your tight end three. You know, Durham Smyth for this year, he's there, but in the future, if he's tight end three, that salary becomes, you know, expendable, right for a guy that's making league minimum and Hayden Rouccie.
So I think you could see even this year and next year for sure, but this year some twelve personnel, even some thirteen personnel and obvious running situations, we've been a twenty one heavy team. That's largely due to alec Ingold is one of the best full backs in the league.
But I think we see lots of twelve.
I think we see tons of twenty two, and some of that being the fast twenty two, which is two running backs not your full back, and a tight end and that or two tight ends and from that package, man you could have Reek and h Ham as your wide receivers and you've drawn their base defense onto the field. You can throw against that with reekan e Chan going up against single coverage and only you know the structure of two high safeties which allows you to run the
ball without you know, the box being filled up. And if they stay a nickel, well good luck there. Like the Buffalo Bills do. I'm gonna run the ball every single time with Raheem Moster behind a seven man line and eight gaps to work with, opposed to the six when you have four wide receivers or seven when you have one tight end. Tanner Connor had consideration here, but I think that his health allows him to survive the practice squad, So I'm going that route, and he made
call ups all year last year. I think that happens again for him this year. On the offensive line, I kept nine I kept four tackles and five interior guys. Obviously, those are the names Tron Armstead, Austin Jackson, Kendall Lamb, and Patrick Paul. I think that's as clear cut as there is on this roster. And then Aaron Brewer, Rob Jones, Jack Driscoll, with Leam Eikenberg and Lester Cotton on my interior. And the obvious one here is that I cut Isaiah Win.
And this is a little bit of deviation from the disclaimer off the top, but I think McDaniel's words and presser about Isaiah were just different than he normally talks about injured players. I think there's a bit of fatigue developing there with him not being dependable. I think he's a really good player, but you can't count on him. He's ever finished a season in his NFL career, and what's going on right now. There's kind of some mystery there. But he's not been there. I haven't even seen on
the practice field once. So let's not be let down in November. Let's cut the lost here in August, and maybe if he is healthy, you can bring him back when you get banged up inevitably down the stretch.
I love the tackles.
I even think I dressed Patrick Paul's a sixth offensive lineman and heavy personnel groupings. I don't think driscoll will start. I would do that, but I think that Liam gets that nod for whatever reason. But I think i'd like him as my swing interior guy that can play any of the three spots inside. I'd even go with jacket center over Liam. I think Liam is just a better guard than he's a center by a long shot. But
again I don't think that happens. And then number nine on the offensive line list is Lester Cotton, who he was kind of like key On Smith in some ways for me, in the sense that I kind of put him in the not going to even give it much time bucket, which is something I need to do better about. But there are certain players that come in here and
I just don't think it's gonna happen for him. And he was one of those guys coming back this season where you know, the first depth chart, he was the third Garden there, and I thought that reflected his play a season to go. But if you go back over the preseason games, he's been pleasantly surprising, especially in this
last one. And McDaniel mentioned the technical improvement in his postgame press conference on Friday night about some of the guys on the interior offensive line, and I thought that kind of coincided with what I saw on tape from Lester Cotton that you guys heard me talk about in the open with regards to his ability to kind of
see things and process them from a game standpoint. I still would love to see better attachment at the second level and make some more critical blocks that can help really be the last thing that springs a runner into open space. So I want to see some more of that. I thought Sean Harlow through the first part of camp before he got hurt, was playing better football, and I
thought the same of Keon Smith last spot. But of course they both are out, and this is the impact you get deep into that ninth spot on the offensive line. But I think Miami has a feeling here with these guys that they've got eight or nine guys that are all above that level, above that line of less than Tomato can. Right.
That's the process behind this offensive line.
And I'll not going to the debate on that whole thing again, but I think Lester Cotton, with his improvement, puts himself in that position, and we'll see who starts the games when this all shakes out. But I think that that's kind of their thinking here with the depth of this group on the interior, especially because they prioritize tackle.
Toron arps Had's a big money player, Patrick Paul's a second round draft pick, Austin Jackson has a twelve million dollars per year contract, and Kendall Lamb is not a cheap swing tackle. It's the interior where there's less investment, and you kind of see it through depth and through the idea that these guys are going to get hurt. There's no position in the NFL that misses more games due to injury than the guards and the centers of
the National Football League. So let's get deeper there. Maybe not as top heavy because last year you lost Robert Hunh and Connor Williams, and you were in the exact same boat last year as you were this year, but you're paying more money to the interior guys that got hurt, and now you can't round out your weapons and you have issues out there too, when Tyreek is doubled or Waddle is doubled, or one of.
Them is hurt. That's the thinking behind the whole thing here, and that's my prediction. On the offensive line.
I wanted to keep Andrew Meyer, but his lack of position of flexibility lands him on the practice squad. I'd love to just have him be Aaron Brewer's backup, but I don't think we can get away with that given our tackle position, having a guy that offers zero position of flexibility in your second round pick in Patrick Paul. And another thing, I keep seeing these tweets about you know, Liam is not a player that I think has put good tape out there. He's on the ground all the
damn time. It's dangerous, it's bad. It's not good football, and trust me, I know it's not good. I'd really want to emphasize that's not a good thing. But I keep seeing this whole like you can't mask that with the scheme. The drive you're talking about was literally an eleven play touchdown drive that didn't feature Reek Wattle artistad. So yes, you can, but again, acknowledge it's a week's on the roster. It's almost a twenty five to twenty
five split every single time. But man, I just have more bubble guys in the defense that I want to keep, so going to go ahead and roll with twenty four on offense, but that will probably change as guys come off and go on injured list. That's my offense, right though. Let's go ahead and take a break, come back on the other side and do the defense. Next Draft Time podcast, your host Travis Wingfield, brought.
To you by Auto Nation.
We have done the offense, it's time to do the defense. And twenty six players on this side of the ball, including five down defensive lineman. I have Zach Seeler, I have Kalaeis Campbell, I have Benito Jones, Neville Gallimore, and Jonathan Harris. And I thought Benito might begin the year on IR but it sounds like McDaniel says he'll be back and ready to go, So those five guys are kept. That means no Brandon Peeley, who does stick around on
practice squad for Peelee with call up options. And always remember, the roster is basically sixty nine, now seventy if you include the international Pathway player with Bayor and Bayern Matos. But we are not going to see a game this year, so it'll be sixty nine nice and I'm willing to risk peely more than I am any of the dbs. So Seeler's gonna play eight hundred snaps for me. Kalaus is gonna play six hundred plus, so I can give him more if injuries and.
Necessitate that I do that.
But we've always seen that Ravens defense, and Weaver mentioned this. They want to be a rotation at that spot. So I've got two hundred to three hundred snaps for guys like Bonito when he gets back, Neville Gallamore, Jonathan Harris, all orbiting around these two monsters we have with Campbell and Steeler. Peeli and Mack were two guys that got consideration, and Peele's probably one of the first guys on because of if Benito's not available, you don't really have a
true nose tackle. And I just love how hard as am Mac plays. And again, maybe my biggest l this entire offseason was Tier Tart. I thought he was going to be d T three. I was wrong. You the happy Gilmore sound drop. Now we'll just keep going here. Off the edge, I have five players plus two players on PUP. They are Bradley Chubb and Cameron Good. I'm keeping Jalen Phillips, Chop Robinson, Emmanuel Agba, Mohammed Kamara.
And Quintin Bell.
And I could go a tad light here for two reasons. I know I have a star and a roster player coming back when they are healthy with Good and with Chubb, but also Kalaeis and Zach can play all the way out to the five technique and both even an odd fronts, which frees me up a little bit to go lighter here. I do wish we had Shaq Barrett, but it is what it is. I think we have enough here with while two and fifty three get back and fifteen works his way into a full workload, you can probably do that.
To see a lot of Zach and Kalais on the perimeter in both those different fronts and alignments, I think it means we get a ton of ogball early on. And how fortunate we are that he waded to sign for this opportunity so we could have him, because without him, this room looks a lot more bleak. I mean, that's
really it here. It's whyatt Ray is the only cut that I made between Cam Brown and Grayson Murphy, two guys that I thought had really good shots to make this football team, Like my god, Man, this position has been absolutely murdered with injuries going back to Black Friday last year.
So five edge guys.
I have five off ball linebackers, Jordan Brooks, David Long, Junior, Anthony Walker junior, Duke Riley, and Channing Tyndall. Tyndall stays on as my fifth and part of that is his ability to be a sub rusher with an edge group that is tad thin to start things off this season. I just think there are too many things that he can do within this scheme to risk floating him on the practice squad. He's got too much skill and athletic measurements to not get snatched up, so I want to
keep him. There are splash plays, there are plenty of gafs, but man, he's been a prominent fixture on teams as well, which is usually telling.
And I think that those gafs.
Can be reduced when you reduce his role that just says like, hey go pick the center, Hey go rush the edge because might need that from this the way the edge group looks right now, and kind of reduce the level of thinking he does to get him to play fast.
Right.
Maybe it's just go get the quarterback, especially when that's Josh Allen. On your seven snaps that you get on top of special team's work, the top four are obvious, probably not a more clear crop of four players on the entire team outside of the offensive tackles. And Curtis Bolton has done everything that he could have to make the team. To me, he's a priority practice squad guy. This is where I get a little bit crazy. You
gonna go a little bit insane here. Seven cornerbacks Jalen Ramsey, Kendall Fuller, cater coho Ethan Bonner, cam Smith, and Saran Neil. That kind of feels like those are all obvious, and I refuse to.
Cut storm Duck.
Seven cornerbacks, Travis, you've lost your damn mind. Maybe, but haven't I approven that already? Isn't that what Kevin Costner says in the Worst Film Ever made?
On draft Day. Don't tell me it's a good film. Don't ever tell me it's a good film.
We've seen how important depth can be here, and I think all of those guys can play. Ramsey and Fuller don't leave the field. And then between co who's slot ability? What Bonner has shown I think you can get very, very very creative with your game planning and matchups. I don't think this room is at all a here's our top three. They always play, and injuries are the only
way we're gonna change that end quote. We have a good blend of flavors, and quite frankly, I think you have six guys and I would feel comfortable putting in a game tomorrow and maybe even seven with Storm. I'm not risking lou him though he's been too good and I know they love him insane numbers, but I'm okay with that. He's one that I'm not going to put out there. And we usually make a bigger deal out of this every single September or August in this case,
like maybe one or two guys get snatched up. But I think he's one of them. When you look at the cornerback rooms around the league, and again watch how frequently he's out there with the first team special teams unit.
Usually that's a sign.
I don't want to expose Matri or Johnson either both, but we don't have a choice here. You can't keep eight or nine cornerbacks. And then saran Neil's ability to play safety also gives me a flexibility to do this as well. But we have a couple of guys here that are special teams aces on both the safety and cornerbacks rooms, so it makes sense.
I also Nick Needham.
Is the biggest name here to go off the probably the entire team so far at safety, Javon holl And, Jordan Poyer, Marcus Maine, Elijah Campbell. I kept four hate cutting Patrick mc morris, but I also think he might be down for a little bit here, and he's an easy special team or a special teams call out from the practice squad, and my first signing when someone inevitably gets hurt in the secondary cornerback or safety, I think May has really given you some fun flexibility with your
big nickel package. With how he plays the game like he's hitting everything, it's fun to watch. I also feel comfortable playing Elijah on defense, but we are fortunate enough in the spot where he's the four and can begin the season as just an absolute mens on special teams. My specialist are obvious Blake, Jake, and Jason. So I'm at twenty four on offense, twenty six on defense, three on specialists. I had these following players that I wanted
to keep but couldn't make room for him. Jeff Wilson, Tanner Connor, Andrew Meyer, Isaiah Mack, Curtis Bolton, Isaiah Johnson, Jason Matrie, and Patrick McMorris. That's sixty one players I think are good enough to play on this roster, and I think we can get each of those guys in the practice squad, which looks like this, and this is in the order of how I would stack it. Isaiah Johnson's my top priority. I love his game, Jeff Wilson's
number two. Braxton Barrows is number three because of his knowledge in the offense and he can get call ups as the injuries kind of sort themselves out. Patrick McMorris is a great special teams call up as well. Andrew Meyer is five. The first injury I have on the offensive line, he goes in and kind of becomes your backup center. Jason Matrius six, Tanner Connor, and Curtis Bolton, Isaiah Mack and Hayden Roochie round out the top ten.
Rouchie's blocking is really really good. And then DeShawn hand number eleven, a guy that easily could be on this roster and might be when you hear this get announced on Tuesday, and I kind of went back and forth on this one, but I just thought the rotation guys that earned spots over him makes him cuttable and puts him in this position where you can have him in house on the practice squads, a call up, just like Brandon Peelely on the nose tackle position in case you
lose a Jonathan Harris for hand or a Nebelle Gallimore for hand, or if Benita goes down, you can bring Pelle up and have him play that nose tackle position. My third emergency quarterback is, of course, Mike White.
Bring him back.
I think it makes more sense to have a quarterback that was already in the system just come back and be ready to go. And you know, Mike White has two years of experience here for that third quarterback job. I think coming in and trying to learn this system would be very tricky for somebody who has not previously been in it. And I'm not interested in giving up draft capital because if that person plays, I don't feel
good about it anyway. Number fourteen Jordan Colbert. Number fifteen Wyatt Ray did enough off the edge to get a practice squad spot after his in camp call up or acquisition, I should say, and number sixteen is Brayln Sanders, and then my seventeenth practice squad player, of course an international Pathway Program player exemption from a position on the sixteen man practice squad tackle bide on Mattos again, I've got
Nick Neadon finding work somewhere else. I think he gets claimed, and I just think with the youngsters, the more upside. May Tree, Johnson, Duck McMorris made this all a possibility. What I think happens, I'm not really sure.
At quarterback, I want to say it's.
Going to be white, but I think it could be Skylar in that backup role. I think you can flip a coin to see what they're going to do there. With regards to that, I think you could easily swap out Jeff Wilson for Chris Brooks if you go in that direction. And I do think Braxon Barrios will make this team, despite my claims otherwise here on the podcast. I think the offensive line looks about how they'll they'll see it as well. I think on the defensive line
I could be missing as Brandon Peelee. So that's an option for the Dolphins to go different from what I did here. I think the edge and the linebackers look pretty good. And then at core maybe Storm Duck is the one that doesn't see the game, and you keep Brandon Peeley or somebody else for him. So I don't think there's many deviations off what it will be. But that's what my prediction is for this roster. We'll come back tomorrow and break this roster down and full when
it comes when it becomes complete. But that is another podcast for the other time. Tell me your thoughts here on Twitter, on social and the like. Hopefully I didn't go too friendly there for the folks that by the way, if you tell me that I only call every player hall of famers on Twitter, I'm gonna block you because that's just not the case.
That's not true.
You're spreading false information and don't I don't fly with that. So yeah, go ahead and kick rocks if you think so. In the meantime, you all please be sure to subscribe to the podcast on Apple, Spotify, revere your podcast from Go ahead and leave me at rating, leave me a review. You can follow me on social at winkeld NFL, across Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, even I think that's pretty much. You can also follow the team at Miami Dolphins. I got the fish Tank
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