Two on the move, Galling Deep, Speedless, peace.
Dot hell Peas from the Baptist Health Studio.
This inside the Baptist Health Training Complex. This is Drivetime with Travis Wingfield. He's goy my avands in the playoffs?
What is up Dolphins? And welcome to the Draft Time Podcast. I am your host, Travis Wingfield. And on today's show, we're on part two of the eight part summer divisional preview series. Staying out West in the NFC Seahawks, Rams, Niners, Cardinals. Up today with some predictions, division superlatives and how it
all ties back to your Miami Dolphins. Plus we'll break it all up with a halftime interview with Dolphins rookie running back Jalen Wright from the Baptist Health Studios inside the Baptist Health Training Complex.
This is.
The Drive Time Podcast. We kick off the NFC West for twenty twenty four with the defending twenty twenty three champions, the San Francisco forty nine Ers, who went twelve and five last year, captured another division title, captured a conference championship, and came up just short in overtime of the Big Game with a twenty five to twenty two loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. I'm not sure personally, because I
haven't experienced it in any sport. How a fan base accepts being one play away from a championship gutted right. You have to be third and five, two minutes to play, Kansas City has two timeouts in their pocket. You convert that third and five, you kick the go ahead field goal with a minute to play and no Chiefs timeouts, or you simply gain yet another first down and then you kick the field goal as the clock expires, and your world champions instead.
Not so much.
No rings to go with this current iteration of the forty nine ers peer pain regardless, one of the model franchises in the National Football League for the last half decade. They're loaded on both sides of the ball. They're brilliantly coached, they're in the conversation every single year, and they've had a few bumps along the way, but they're kind of ticketed for the big game really every single year, or
at least up until the NFC championship game. But they put forth their best performance in those final thirty minutes against the Lions this past season, as both Purdy and Shanahan sort of bucked some narratives about their inability to come from behind. And it happens just like that, right if you don't bring it back to the Miami Dolphins, they can quickly erase some narratives about themselves in this
upcoming season. It takes one time before people stop talking about it and they'll be right back here again that I as will be. Let's go ahead and get into it, because first, how does the team internalize that ending get even better for twenty twenty four. You know, Shanahan believes that Purdy having a full offseason, for instance, will be a big benefit for him, talking about how it's the first year really in the Niners program where he is
the guy the entire spring and summer program. They also made a lot of moves this offseason, bringing in Leonard Floyd as well as yetier gross models to rush the quarterback off the edge. I love Floyd's game a whole heck of a lot. They also bulked up inside with Jordan Elliott. They brought in Rokya sin in the defensive backfield, and Devondre Campbell comes over from the Packers to play linebacker, and they also swapped out sam Donold for Josh Dobbs
as the backup quarterback. In the first round, they took Florida wide receiver Ricky Piersaw to be yet another weapon in this offense. They also brought back Juwan Jennings. So you're looking at a roster that has Brandon Ayuk, that has Deebo Samuel, that has Juwan Jennings and Ricky pearsall with George Kittle and Christian McCaffrey.
When does it end.
It doesn't on the way out, however, Eric Armstead a big, big loss for them. Randy Gregory is kind of the guy that he used to replace or replaced him with Floyd, and I think it's a big upgrade for them. Chase Young wasn't a good player last year, hasn't been a player for a long time. And for a matter of fact, they finally get rid of Javon Kinlaw, who was supposed to be really the placement for DeForest Buckner and that
never worked out. They do also lose Sebastian Joseph Day, so there are some concerns on the interior defensive line in terms of what it can be versus it was in the past. Now Javon Hargrave is still there, so they have a good number one piece in place. And I mentioned it earlier that Sam Donald also exited a stage left.
What does this team do well?
Because we're doing these categories for these teams up and down these divisional previews, well everything, they do everything well. They incorporate the run game with the play action game. They attack opponent's weaknesses with one of the best skill groups in football that can basically play multiple positions in any given snap, regardless of his running back, tight end, receiver.
They stay on the cutting edge of offensive innovation. They coach up their offensive line to play nine or football, even though every single year going into the season that's an offensive line that on paper looks to be an achilles heel, and they get to the Final four every
single year. On defense, they pressure with four as well as anybody in the National Football League and think they can do that because of their ability to extend the hook zone with the rangiest off ball linebackers in the entire National Football League and for my money, the best linebacker in the NFL. They play man, they can play two man. They can flood their two high concepts with these well timed blitzes and fire zones and simulated of pressures.
They just play upfield with their hair on fire and one gap the crap out of teams under Chris Kasrik, who just has been one of the best offensive line coaches in the National Football League for a long time. Now, what is a concern of this team. What is their potential fatal flaw? Do they have one? I don't think they do. If it is, it's offensive line depth in
the event that injuries accumulate. But even then, I think the system and the skill guys they have can still mask a lot of those issues that you could potentially see per Cup. They lost some pretty good pass rushes the last couple of years, but Leonard Floyd steps in, and let me tell you about him. I am thrilled that he's no longer a Buffalo Bill because he's an absolute baller. But they still have Nick bo So they
still have the linebackers, They still have Javon Hargrave. They still have waves of guys that can apply pressure on the posing quarterback and play the run, which they don't have to do very frequently because they are often ahead in football games. Some interesting things about this team or big storylines.
I don't is this still a thing.
I put it down because I think it gets talked about, but is the Super Bowl hangover still a thing? I mean, the Eagles were ten to one last year before they fell apart after losing the Super Bowl the previous year. The Bengals went right back to the AFC Championship Game one year after losing the Super Bowl. But I do think it is tough to have to go back to
square one following playing into February the previous year. You're behind on so many things because of that, you know, compared to the other teams, in terms of your free agent planning and your your preparation for the college All Star games, Like you still have a game after the Senior Bowl, so that makes it tough to get out there,
although scouts will take care of that for you. It's just hard to be entirely sympatico when you have one faction of the football team preparing for a game and the other part preparing for the off seat, which is obviously comes after the game. So I just think it's worth watching. We've seen teams kind of creater after a Super Bowl loss. I don't expect it to happen with this team though, But this is a fun storyline to follow. Also,
Perty's continued development. You know, how that roster does change when his contract comes up in one and a half years, because they're gonna go from paying him, you know, seven hundred thousand dollars a year to well I was gonna say it seven million, but it's gonna be a lot
more than that. It's gonna be like fifty millions. So how they are able to build that roster when that comes up, it's not in play this year, but I think it's a big year for him, or every year is a big year for him, because you just look at that roster and like, if you're gonna say a one thing that potentially prevents that team from going all the way, you have to point to the quarterback, right because the defense is elite. The skill group is probably
the best we've ever seen. I mean, I like the Dolphins skill group a lot, but I mean McCaffrey and Kittle, we just you know, I think a Chan can be a pretty damn good player, but I just don't, I don't know, they might be the best in terms of like their one through five we've ever seen from a skill group position, and then they're finally just a healthy team after years of injury plagued seasons that kind of depressed those early Shannahan years, which was you know, bracketed
by a trip to the Super Bowl and another ten point lead in a Super Bowl. I mean, they'd either be a deep run team or a team that won five to six games because they had to play Nick Mullins and shoot, who is the other one I can't think of now, CJ.
Bether.
They would play these backup quarterbacks that didn't belong in the NFL, but they were being productive because they played under Kyle Shanahan. But in the long run, they would only win a few games they weren't supposed to and they'd wind up finishing you know, six and ten or
six and eleven and bow out early on. So I think that now they've kind of gotten over this, you know, injury plagued seasons that they've had back to back for a couple of years there out of a few, and they come out the other side of that going you know to NFC Championship Game, NFC Championship Game and in
the Super Bowl the last three years. More on that, just one second my final roster thoughts, I think you can through the Niners because I just told you they're probably the best team on paper in the league with their brilliant coaching staff. So what do you want to nickpick at here? The potential? Maybe they don't have a great fourth pass rusher. Maybe their quarterback is just middle of the pack in the NFL, like fifteenth best, and that might be a reason you scoff at them, but
I wouldn't do that. They're the best team in the NFC in my opinion, and probably the best team in the NFL as well. What can they tell us about the Miami Dolphins. Well, that last point on the storylines. Look, sometimes you just get unlucky in this sport. I remember seeing you know, Fire Shanahan tweets is he the right guy for the job? And while yes, those are the fanatics that it doesn't mean anything. It was also a legit topic of discussion on podcasts and sports shows, which
again is not reality. It's just you know, fodder that doesn't exist since had an NFL building, I'm just saying it was to the point when they were three and four in twenty twenty two, after a championship game, appearance in twenty twenty one, but a six and ten season in twenty twenty There was a lack of patience, and that is kind of real, I think in terms of
just how the outside perception is. But now you look at them on the other side of that, they gets to build you the quarterback position where they're not having to go Jimmy G gets hurt every year we have find out who's gonna be the back up behind Jimmy G. They continue from there to build their core beliefs and they're going into their third consecutive season probably penciled in for most folks for yet another Final four run. I think that's instructive when it comes to your Miami Dolphins.
How about the Los Angeles Rams, who I am awfully bullish on this year. They finish up twenty twenty three second place in the NFC West at ten and seven, and they bow out in the wild card round with probably the one of the best.
Games of the playoffs.
It was, if not the best, one of the best two or three of this year's playoff or this year's bracket with that close loss to the Detroit Lions. One of the teams I've been most wrong on to be totally frank with you, the last two seasons. I had them making another run in twenty twenty two after the Lombardi but Stafford wasn't healthy, So I don't consider that much of a miss, because if the quarterback goes down, well, all bets are off. But I was way off last year.
I thought they would struggle with a completely rebuilt defense that was dependent on several rookies having critical roles and a banged up quarterback that we didn't know about his elbow behind an offensive line that we also didn't know about, and we didn't know about Puka Nakua and Kyrine Williams. Like, there's a lot of unknown going into this last offseason. But I think their team building efforts are instructive. And I'll go ahead and save that point until our final
bullet point on them. They're big moves this offseason. They brought in Trey White from Buffalo. We'll see what he has left in the tank. They brought in Jimmy g He's flipping back to the NFC West here with the a little more southern detour in the state of California. They did bring back Darius Williams who had a stint there with Jacksonville. After leaving the Rams a couple of years back, Cameron Curl comes down from Washington. Jonah Jackson
probably the biggest get for them. He leaves the Lions to come over to the Rams. Colby Parkinson is the tight end addition, and then Jared Versus was their first round pick on the way out.
Not a lot.
I mean, this is the benefit I guess of a big time contract retiring as well as you know, kind of having so many rookie producers the last couple of years. Aaron Dahna leaves, Jordan Fuller leaves, and Brian Allen leaves, and that's pretty much it from a big name standpoint.
What does this team do well? A lot.
They adjust to attack the weaknesses of their opponents. They find running backs who fit what they do, which is now more duo and inside zone and power than it was in the past. And they developed that running back relationship and chemistry with their offensive line in a way that just really really jives together. And they pair that with a quarterback who probably is the best in the NFL, if not number two behind Tua at seeing the field and anticipating, you know, his throats and what the defense
is going to do to move. Also, they separate against one on one coverage as well as anybody because they have Cooper Cup and Puka Nakua with enough speed to threaten vertically with two to two at will in that mix as well, and they generate push in the running game. Notice I didn't make any comments about what they do well on defense because I'm just not really sure what they do right now.
And in fact, if you go to the concerns.
Or potential fatal flaws, that's probably the side of the football that you look at for where the season could get off the rails for them, Whereas in the past it was the offense that could no longer block for Stafford or had no quarterback behind Matt Stafford. Right that Baker Mayfield year, I probably won't find a team with more of an imbalance in terms of how they're viewed
on paper on offense and defense. Still a very young group that played above board last year, and they bring in Darius Williams and they bring in Shrey White, who are a lot better on paper than what they've had the past year or two. But both of those players' best seasons are a handful of years in the rear view, so can they find that resurgence? Otherwise that secondary depth is awfully thin. Plus Trey White's coming off. Was it an achilles or an acli forgot last October?
So we'll see.
Is there enough pass rush up front? I don't think there is. Those first two picks are going to be projected starters in Jared Vers and Braden Fisk. What if it takes them to months to get going or a full year or two full years. They don't have anybody else to really kind of count on beyond two rookies. That is a little bit of a dubious position to be in. Some interesting things about them are the biggest
storylines facing the Rams this year. Stafford's career trajectory is interesting to me because I remember a lot of folks pegging him last year and like constantly to the Jets after the Aaron Rodgers injury as a potential trade candidate to leave Los Angeles, And now he's back in the good graces of the folks as a top five quarterback, or at least for my money, he is. I just think it's fascinating how quickly thinks changed this league. Maybe they didn't change at all. We just kind of jumped
the gun on some things, probably the ladder there. Speaking of that, remember all the talk about Sean McVay potentially retiring, He too seems reinvigorated, and I think that he and Stafford's next moves are kind of the most fascinating thing about this team storylines, even with the likelihood that those next moves are again simply not changing at all.
But it's just it's funny to.
Me that they were two years ago or a year ago at this time, like what's going to happen to Stafford McVeigh And now it's like the Rams are good for a long time because they have Stafford McVeigh.
Who are they this year?
This team has adapted so much, adjusted so much, and changed as much as anybody in the last three years. What will they present to us this year? And how much is the loss of Raheem Morris going to be felt because that defense playing above board, getting all this development from that much youth you brought in, that's a big part about what him got him the job, What got him the job in Atlanta? Right, So, how does Chris Shula, Chrish Shudra Slott in the next defensive coordinator.
He's been in that program since twenty seventeen. You know the name, it's the grandson of the great Don Shula. But how does he fit in with a defense that has been really really playing above its You know it's on paper projections with Raheem Morris last year my final roster thoughts here.
I love the backs.
I mentioned Karen Williams, but Blake Korum, the rookie from Michigan, looks likely just a clone of him. I also love Boston Scott, a third down back, and I love how it pairs with their offensive line for power duo inside zone. And Steve Avila. Guys remember to be talking about him from TCU two years ago. He was a stud as
a rookie. What do you know, Joe Noteboom and Jono Jackson That interior three is so big and so massive and gets so much push and they have a swing guy in there with Kevin Dotson who can play as well. If there is an area maybe you look at as a concern, it probably it probably has to be the tackle position. But they're still okay there, and I think it's a position that doesn't get emphasized by this. You know it gets picked up, I should say, by other
parts of their offense. I mentioned the youth in the front, the age in the back. I just want to get Ernest Jones' name in here because he's a great player. I also want to mention Kobe Durant. We didn't mention Cup, but you guys know about him. But how about two two at Will's breakout season, that third year explosion. I think it's instructive. What can the Rams tell us about
the Dolphins? I alluded to this in the first topic bar We get all these reactions from how teams opt to build their rosters right, when to be aggressive, when to reel it back, and it's created this illusion of teams being all in when that's just not the case. And you can see it with the Rams. I mean they they were all in for years, right, every year they trade their first round pick. Didn't have a first
round pick for a long time. They didn't, And that's probably hurt them in some ways because it's not entirely wrong. It's just not the death blow that so many folks think that it is. Like, yes, the Rams did take some medicine in twenty twenty three, or rather twenty twenty two, but that was barred by a major injury to the quarterback.
Anybody's gonna struggle with that.
Yes, they lacked draft picks for those long periods of those several years in aggressive pursuit of veteran talent. But guess what two years later and they suddenly replenished the youth on that roster. They have a healthy competent of draft picks, and they were successful at finding rookies early rounds, mid rounds, and udfas, And it began by signing a zillion udfa's last year. They had like forty rookies on
their training camp roster last year. And the math tells you you're gonna hit on one or two of those guys. And then if you hit some late round draft picks, I mean, it's hard to hit better late round draft picks than Pooka Nakua, an already top ten receivers, a fifth round pick. And I would also argue the outside of Nakua, Kobe Turner might have been the best non top seventy five pick in the entire draft last year. With that quarterback, with that coach, with that GM, you
formulate a culture, you have your program in place. Guys come in and they say, the three head honchos are all in place, and they're all great at their jobs.
I better fit in and get in.
They they develop a play style and you funnel decisions through all of that. The Rams have done that and they appear poised to make yet another run. And what I mean, you know, by constructing the same visions. They had this idea of how they're going to pair Jared Verse and Braden Fitts together because it would create instant
chemistry because they played together in college. They also pivot into a more man gap run approach with bigger bodies inside, just further showing the ability to be adaptable and flexible. And I think all of that applies to McDaniel and the Dolphins. All right, two teams down, two more to go. First break right here, We're going to come back on the other side and play the audio from my interview
with Dolphins rookie running back Jalen Wright. That's next Draft Time Podcast, your host Travis Wingfield, brought to you by Auto Nation. Well, guys, Travis Wingfold here Draft Time Podcast. Another guest today on the show, Dolphins rookie running back Jalen. Right, Jalen, what's up man?
How you doing?
It's good man, I'm good man. You know, just living the life in Miami, you know, just trying to get used to the heat and you know, get acclimated to this this offense.
So a little bit warmer than Rocky Top. Oh yeah, for sure.
Yeah. How you're acclimating so far, not in terms of the heat and stuff, but just life in South Florida. Whether it's you're finding your way around, like I know, the highways are confusing, or are you finding wey around the building, Like, just tell me about your rookie.
Season so far.
I mean it's going good. Uh, you know, you know, finding my way around the building. You know, I'm starting to know like where everything is, you know, just you know, in Miami in general. I mean it's nice here in great weather, you know, great scenery. You know, I'm blessed to be in this position to be here. You know, I'm just I'm enjoying it and it's a process and I'm taking it day by day.
I know it's hot now, but just wait until December one is seventy five degrees in sunny every day. You're gonna love it. Way, way more than anywhere else in the world. So we have that going for us. I want to ask you about your fit in this offense and your skill set. I know that coach McDaniel is really excited about your skills and the entire coaching staff for that matter. But man, I think your first day
here might have been like Rocky Minnie Camp. You had a run where you press play side and you kind of disappear into the trash and then I'm just watching like where did you go? And now you come out the backside and you shoot out the backside gap for like a long touchdown run.
That jump cut? Man, where'd you learn that?
It's just something I always had? You know? Jump cut is, uh, you know, something that I've always been good at. There's been times where, you know, when I first got in college, I always wanted to do a jump cut and you know that that wasn't like how we how we ran the offense, and you know, uh so, I mean it's just something I had. But you know, I've learned to control it and you know, be like more controlled when I'm making a movement.
So it's a very beneficial move for his own running skin system, right Like the way you can get out of those those play side and get to the backside. That's a that's a there's a lot of big runs available there right right, Yeah, yeah, that makes perfect sense. So what about when you get into open space, man, because one of the one of the things to watch about your game was just putting the putting the gas
pedal down and showing the defense your tail lights. What's your mindset when you get into the open field trying to find.
That that end zone.
My mindset when I'm in the open field is to score. If I'm not trying to score, I'm trying to make a big play, you know what I'm saying. You know, if there's a lot of people around me, I'm trying to have to where like make it to where it's three people trying to bring me down. So, you know, open space. I feel like I'm very electric, very elusive in open space, and I'm trying I'm trying to go put put pump points on the board.
Absolutely, And one of the best ways to do that and get on the field is to pass protect. Right, being a solid, reliable, dependent blocker in the backfield. What's the key to great pass protection? Because I watch your tap again Tennessee. Man, Like you're knocking some linebackers on their butt.
Dude, Yeah, I feel like pass protection. It's just some mindset, just knowing, knowing who you got, knowing who's coming, you know, seeing rotation, seeing how the defense is like to disguise coverages, you know, seeing you know, demeanors, you know, the way linebackers try to blit. So I mean, I just like as a mindset, and then not only a mindset, you got to know know who's coming, to know who you got.
There's got to be a certain sense of pride to and keeping your quarterback up right. Like let's say there's a free rusher and to us, got Tyreek and you're the one that makes the key block.
You gotta take a lot of pride in.
The Yeah, yeah, you got to you know, to us, you know, we all know somebody who's getting ready to get paid a lot of money. So you know you got to keep him up, keep him healthy.
So when you watch him play, what stands out the most about to his game?
Uh, you know he's he's very accurate, you know what I'm saying, Uh, just the way he is ball placement, you know what I'm seeing seeing him on film, just seeing like the crazy throws he made, I'm just like, wow, you know that's a's an NFL NFL throw, you know, and just he's a great, great player. Uh, you know, he can make any throw in the field. You know, it's the offense. You know, the offense runs the rim.
So you know, it's great pay to be around. And I'm very excited to be beside him, plan playing with him.
So yeah, man, we're spoiled.
It wasn't always like that, watching practice of the balls, just on guys numbers and face mess the entire day, but it is like that now and we're definitely spoiled for it.
So you mentioned this. I want to say it was in your.
Media availability when you first got drafted here, but it could be from time. Not important, but you mentioned playing with Jalen Hyatt and you know the other receivers there at Tennessee that were you guys were so electric that you're do you play I think you played in.
The Orange Bowl, right Clemson?
Yeah, that game you guys, you guys, it was a good game. Yeah, that was That was a fun game. But you talked about how their ability to create space kind of taught you the value of space for an offense.
I was wanting just to hear more of your perspective on that.
Uh, you know, it's just just that season. You know that that whole season, You know what I'm saying, we had a lot of distractions on the outside. We had Jalen Hide, Sagie Tillman. Uh, you know, we had other role role player receivers on the team, you know, just
Jalen Hide and Sagiy Tillman. I mean those are people that, you know what I'm saying, you gonna have a lot of odds on and I relate that to the situation I mean now with Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle and then not only not only that, we got a new addition Odell Beckham. I mean you gotta respect them, you know
what I'm saying. So you know that's a that's a great way, you know, to create space for the running backs, you know, to get defenses to not try to load the box, you know, to drop and dropping the coverage just cover war cover two and you know, all of a sudden, it's a gash down the field. So love I love it.
Nothing better than a light box. Right, Yeah, you eat those things up.
So talking about that running back room, you know, two of my favorite people in the world, not just in the building, in the world or Rahemos are alec Ingele. They are such good dudes, the whole room for that matter. Jeff Wilson just saw him early here is that he was like, what's up, my guy? Like I love Jeff Wilson. Savon's a great guy. Private Devon h All.
These guys are good dudes.
What's it been like so far early on in that running back room in terms of camaraderie and how they've kind of helped the rook.
Come along, It's been great. You know, those guys like you just named alec Ingol, Raheem, you know, even Devine, Jeff Wilson, all those guys, you know, they've been mentors to me. You know, Divine he knows what I'm going through. He was just a rookie last year, so he was just in my position. You know, he knows what I'm going through. You know, they all they all with me on the field, and they all corrected me when when they see something wrong and they all you know, giving
me my props and they see something good. So I mean, it's just a good, good, healthy room. I mean, I know how it gets when it's a lot of talented running backs in one room, but it's not like that, you know what I'm saying. I feel the next year, I feel the family, and I feel everybody wants everybody to do great.
So yeah, so that's that seems commonplace across this organization. It's really cool to hear you guys talk about that.
Let's end on a fun one.
What's something that you've done already in South Florida that was a lot of fun that you didn't really know about previously, or something you're looking forward to getting out and doing, like going to the Everglades, going to the beach. Like, I don't know what's something you've done for fun down.
Here or want to do.
I haven't really did anything. I've just been straight grinding, you know, locked in this football stuff. But eventually, you know, I want to go to the beach, you know, like you mentioned the Everglades, I would like to, you know, experience a lot of that stuff. You know, South Florida,
it's a lot of things to do. Not only that you got behind us probably like forty five minutes forty five minute flight, so you know, I'm just ready to you know what I'm saying, experience you know more, and have fun out here.
So all right, man, well you enjoy it, and thanks so much for you time today. Dolphins running back dealing right.
Appreciate you man, Thanks, I appreciate you. And away he goes.
Another fun chat with the Dolphins rookie that I expect to have a big impact on this football team in twenty twenty four. Next we'll come back on the other side and finish the rest of the NFC West Seahawks and Cardinals still to go. Two teams the Dolphins play next year, actually all four of these teams. That's next Draft Time podcast year host Travis Wingfield, brought to you by Auto Nation. The Seattle Seahawks are your Week three
opponent for the Miami Dolphins. Let's go ahead and review last year and talk about what this team might offer in twenty twenty four. They were nine and eight last year, which was good for third place in the NFC West,
but not good enough for a playoff. Berth And it's a great example of nothing being promised in the National Footballleague because the offensive line and the defense in twenty twenty two really powered them behind Gino Smith's breakout season and what was it like a year nine for him to a surprise playoff berth And then you sort of assume you have those pieces going forward, right, Well, it didn't work out that way because Charles Cross and Abe Lucas were injured and or not as effective for most
of the year last year as they were as rookies in twenty twenty two, and the entire offensive line takes a major step back. Rieke Wollen, who had a billion pick, says rookie season, has a big sophomore slump and all of a sudden can't really play football anymore. The Bobby Wagner union doesn't work out very well, and they just can't get stops on anybody down the stretch at all, which was spearheaded by an injury to their best pass
rusher in Yuchenannuosu. So that's that, you know, produces certain exits, it produces a certain coaching change, It just produces change in general. I am excited, however, to see how a new staff can reshape this football team that I think had become antiquated, stuck in its ways, especially schematically on defense. Now they do go to a system that is sort of the Shanahan McVeigh Laflora McDaniel version of a defensive system, and how it spreads all over the National Football League.
I just think it's refreshing to get, you know, a new voice in a place where things had become kind of had become kind of stale.
The big moves to the Seahawks.
I haven't mentioned the coaching changes a lot so far through the first we'll we on our seventh team here of the first two divisions going along, But I just think that Mike McDonald's a very, very big deal. I'm going to have this team playing good foot ball quickly. Sam Howe was the new quarterback. Addition, they also brought in Lake and Thomlinson to play on the offensive line and on defense. Jonathan Hankins is new Jerome Baker. You
guys know about him very well. Kavon Wallace Byron Murphy was their first round draft pick, and then Christian Haynes third round pick that gets in the notes here because I like his game so much. On the way out mentioned Jerome Baker. He is replacing Jordan Brooks. I think it's a very good swap for Themamy Dolphins in terms of ability there. They also lose Drew Locke, that's the
Sam House swap out. They lose Will Disley Damian Lewis, like Robert Hunt, signs a massive deal to go play for the Panthers and lose a bunch of football games. They also lose Mario Edwards, Bobby Wagner, and Quandre Diggs. As of this taping, remains unsigned. I don't think he's going back to Seattle. What do they do well?
Well?
Ryan Grubb ran the most aggressive vertical attack offense in college football, and I can't wait to see how Young corks a group that includes DK Metcalf, Tyler Lockett, and Jackson Smith and Jigba. How many different ways can this team get to four verts? And how can they further unlocked Geno Smith's ability to see the middle of the field and throw those anticipation strikes off the backs of helmets of linebackers. He is really good in that regard,
and he can fly out pump the football in that way. Now, in the past, they've ground football games away with leads down the stretch. Will they have that same identity with a different, entirely different philosophy than we saw in the Pete Carroll era. But Kenneth Walker Zach Sharperney is a fun, powerful combo. I think that's a good place to start for in terms of getting your balance and your mix
On offense. They also play from multiple defensive packages that the skuise and utilize one elite cover guy in Devon Witherspoon to force offenses into throwing at their best guy or into double covered. And I can see the MAXs using Witherspoon, not like in a Kyle Hamilton role per se, but I could see him getting lots of rush reps and playing, you know, fitting into the run game like they're gonna find a way to maximize Witherspoon's skill set,
which is very, very diverse. They also streamlined their rush plans for a very deep group up front. I think adding Byron Murphy is kind of like dropping in their version of Justin Mattabueke. I think he's an absolute monster. He's going to be productive right away for them. What's
the concerns or fatal flaw? Offensive depth is really bad and Gino Smith has missed some time and gone through some slumps in his two years in Seattle and I don't think they'll be able to turn it over to Sam Howe and have the same results for very long. Sometimes you get that, you know, lightning in a bottle for a game or two, but I probably like Sam Hall more than most. I just don't think it's gonna
be a smooth transition to Seattle right away. And if they lose any of those weapons, it is not a deep group beyond that, it is one, two, three, and then out. Not that many teams do have law depth beyond that. We saw the Dolphins go aggressively after getting fifth and six options this offseason, so maybe there are some teams that have that. They also lost Damian Lewis, and it appears the plans to replace him with a third round draft pick, even though I love him. Christian Haynes.
That's always an unknown, and they also incorporate multiple coverages with a young, somewhat unproven group on the back end. It's great if you can funnel everything through Witherspoon, but that other spot was a big concern last year. I don't think they have a slot position as a defined starter. In that role, it's tough to get to all your Buttz packages and exolic subpackages where you can't do those fundamentals.
I'm not saying they won't.
I could just see some growing pains there with the defensive backfield that I'm not really that crazy about. Some interesting things about them are the biggest storylines is just the the eraror change man going from Pete Carroll to Mike McDonald And as I'm singing McDonald's praises in the podcast, here one thing I don't love. And a lot of teams and coaches will do this, but they like stripped out all of the signage and the wallpaper of all like the past success, and.
They're building like, don't do that. I don't know.
I really think that's a not a great look because that last era accomplished a lot, and I get you're trying to change the page, but like also tip a cap to your history, you know, but one defensive whiz of an entire decade and generation in Pete Carroll to another one who's trying to become the same thing. I think is especially a better version of that for what twenty twenty four has to offer. They also have talked up Sam Howe a lot, and Gino's contract hasn't out at the end of the season.
Always.
I just love seeing how teams handle their quarterback situations. It's a big storyline every year for every team because it's so important, right, especially when it's not ironclad. Now, now, don't get that twisted. Gino is playing if he's available, he's their best option. But what if he doesn't play very good this year?
Do they move on? Do they elevate Howe in twenty twenty five?
Just curious to watch that. And then of course a brutal, brutal NFC West, which is tough for rookie head coach to compete in division. I think has two teams that could make championship runs in the Rams and Niners. My final roster thoughts, just some guys I didn't mention that. I love Jeron reed, Leo Williams and Draymont Jones.
Man.
You add in Byron Murphy with Boye Mafe and you Chennonewosu. That's a really good front and deep and a good group for McDonald to get his system implemented into. And gosh, I look at the back end and have questions, but those two have to be married together. But I just think that that front can really help carry them, and I should mention I do, like Julian, love the safety on the back end quite a lot as well. What
can we learn about the Dolphins from the Seahawks. I think the only parallel here really is how do Mike McDonald and Anthony Weaver shaped their respective defenses to their visions with their shared history coming back from the Ravens. Last team in the NFC West, another team the Dolphins will see this year in week number eight at home here at hard Rocks Ay and one day before my birthday,
OCTOVID twenty seventh, is the Arizona Cardinals. In twenty twenty three, they went four and thirteen, finishing last in the NFC West. The Cardinals embraced, in my opinion last season, the least enviable position in all of sports, entering a season without their starting quarterback. We embarked on that in twenty seventeen, one of my least favorite seasons as a Finns fan. But while all of that was happening on a roster that had been stripped to the studs, in particular on defense,
the Cardinals kind of messed around and were competitive. They were everyone's pick to be the number one overall pick last year, and they were number four in the draft this year, and they didn't just win games, they were competitive with some other big dogs in games they came up short, and especially when Kyler Murray did come back and played for him again last year. So in that process they identified that perhaps they did make some good decisions with the biggest ones you can make. Right on
the coaching staff. I thought Jonathan Ganna did a hell of a job last year, as I thought that he and Nick rayalist the defensive coordinator as much as they could with the hand they were dealt, which was even worse than that Rams defense on paper. Then Drew Petzing the offensive coordinator, kind of seems like one of these next young coordinators to make that meteoric ascension pace or that rise that you could see from him.
They're armed with.
More this year and look to make one of the toughest jumps, you know, I'll say the second toughest jump you can make as a football team, going from that competitive darling who is maybe wins a game or two as like a touchdown plus underdog, and you're like, oh, they could be good next year, wins six or seven games, like that's the goal of these teams that pick in the top five of the draft right become a seven
or eight win football team. It's a that's a tough jump to make, but of course the biggest challenge is going from that to your third year or the next step in the process to becoming a true contender, kind of like the Lions did from twenty twenty two to
twenty twenty three. It usually doesn't go that way, right, Like the Texans this year, they are a team that one expects to make a big run after a kind of a mediocre nine win season in the Division Championship that gets spoken about in certain praise because they thumped a Joe Flacco led Browns team at home, like the Dolphins were them that too, So like, I just it bothers me, right, But I just I think you look at the Texans this year and we're not on the
AC South yet as a team that everyone's gonna pick to make a championship run, It's like, are you sure?
Are you sure they can make that stuff? Because it's a big step to.
Go from you know, media darling underdog to all right, now you're a contender, go win games against top teams in the National Football League, So for the Cardinals, they're trying to accomplish step two. Here is how I think they hope to get there. They made some big moves on defense, especially on the defensive line, bringing in Balal Nichols and Justin Jones to fortified defensive line that just
had no defensive tackles last year. I like adding Mac Wilson to the linebacker room, and then in the defensive backfield, Sean Murphy Bunting was a player that I was interested in coming here before the Jordan Fuller sorry, rather the Kendall Fuller signing had happened. But the Cardinals get themselves a good one there. They also added in Jonah Williams, Zay Jones, the receiver who I could take or leave
desen Riders the backup quarterback now. And then, of course in the draft two first round picks Marvin Harrison Junior, who I expect to be a monster from the word go. And I also love Darius Robinson from Missouri who was a player that I was interested in for the.
Miami Dolphins as well.
On the way out, I have three receivers DeAndre Hopkins, Hollywood Brown, and Ron del Moore.
That is a lot to replace man. That's a lot to replace.
What do they do well? They run from heavy personnel. The Cardinals were a second and rush EPA from week ten on which we use that landmark because it coincides
with Kyler Murray. Coming back to the offense, they use heavy personnel groupings with Kyler Murray under center, which is not what he did in the past under Cliff Kingsbury and that horrible offense with power running game behind James Connor and spacing because of Murray's ability to extend and keep the ball on bootlegs and do all the stuff that he does with his feet. Also the oscrip passing game. I mean, who's a better elusive quarterback than Kyler Murray
besides maybe Lamar Jackson. I think this will be even more proficient with the remade skill group that features an absolute baller and Trey mcbridett tight end, a rookie who's going to be a star in my opinion in Marvin Harrison Junior, and really nice niche players like Michael Wilson, Greg derch Elijah Higgins. I wish we had him still, but a pretty nice compliment of players there. For the Cardinals, I think the line is a certified strength. They have been loading up there Paris Johnson.
A year ago.
They signed Jonah Williams, who I don't know about him, but he gets big money to basically take over for Kelvin Beacham. Does he convert to guard because he can still play as well. Plus they hit on Halte Froholt. I know, I butchered that name, the former Patriot who had a very serviceable first year. And then they've got Service Bowl players and Evan Brown, will Hernandez, Dennis Daily and Tristan Cologne on the offensive line as well. I don't think there's a calling card on defense just yet.
They've made a clear effort to fortify the middle with Nichols and Jones, something that Jonathan Gannon had in Philadelphia, and I love, love, love the safety combo of Buddha Baker and Nglen Thompson go Kougs. But there's still a ways to go here. What's the concern or fatal flaws pass rush and run defense? The personnel upfront is just full of unproven names, coupled by the fact that the
draft resources on defense haven't worked out. With Isaiah Simmons, Theyven Collins, who both haven't been good players, and Simmons is long gone now. I do love the Robinson pick. Reminds me a lot of the guys they had in Philly with Jonathan Gannon. The corner and pass rush depth also not great. They're ability to impact the opposing passing game, which is kind of the most important thing you do
around here. And then are there enough explosive plays on offense because the run game looks to be the calling card there with that team. But you won't win a ton of games without a dynamic passing game, especially when you have a defense. It's probably still a work in progress. And Kyler threw touchdowns on just three point seven percent of his passes last year. That's ten and eight games,
had a success rate of just forty three percent. That's not good, and just six point seven yards per attempt off of a year through for six point one yards per attempt. That's a tough way to make a living on offense. But I suspect he'll be better a full year, a move from injury and second year in the system. I just worry about the vertical element because you're not gonna go twelve play drives, which is kind of how this team operated last year. If you don't, you got
ah explosive plays and you gotta hit long touchdown. That's how That's how you can you know, rack up points in
this league and win games and blowout fashion. Some interesting things about this team and the big storylines just Kyler's future in his performance, you know, two years into a big extension, a major injury in there as well, a scheme change, a team still in the middle of a transition and rebuild, like if he doesn't play at a high level and they're thinking about maybe kicking the can down the road on how they could extend this rebuild
further out. He seems like a guy you might dangle on a massive trade package if you get yourself a top pick next year. I think that he'll play well and he'll be there for a while. But this happens all the time in the league, right this is probably one of the situations worth monitoring for that potential move, kind of like Stafford was last year. Now in hindsight, it's not gonna happen, but maybe this is the next guy that is on that kind of radar. What else
we got here? Progress from the sort of free pass first year that some coaches and rebuilt situations are given. You have real pressure. Now you have to kind of start counting your wins this year and losses in a tough division. That's a big storyline for this team and how they respond to having you know, the games mattered last year, but everyone knew they weren't gonna win a lot of games. So now that they have to kind of win games, what does look like?
It's harder that way.
It's like making putts in the on the practice green versus making a putt on the twelfth green, Right, it actually matters in one of those situations. Jonathan Gann has a defensive background and the personnel just hasn't gotten the attention of the offense has and if they don't play well, then that's when questions about, like, well, if he's the head coach and he's a defensive mind and the offense is good, then what's the point of having the head
coach here that's not a defensive coach? Like that's a storyline to watch as well. Some final roster thoughts. I mentioned those safeties. Just want to go ahead and mention them again that Thompson and Baker are studs. I also like bj Ojalari off the edge. He's got some real burst into his game. Ben Stilly is there, former Dolphin, and then Marcus Bailey, guy that I like quite a lot.
What can they tell us about the Dolphins? Probably not very much.
I like the October match up here with them because it's a game before the Bills, which gives us a chance to look at a mobile quarterback ahead of seeing Josh Allen and then totally different portions of live cycles than us. Compare them to us in like twenty twenty. But even then there's tons of differences there. Division recap. Remember these can change from now until September. I really like this division, and when you know it, it's the
one that we play. I think those Rams and Niners games late in the year with US could serve as potential Super Bowl previews. That's how highly I think of those teams. But the Niners are the clear, clear head of class here. I think Seattle has the offense to make a postseason push, especially if they get some answers in the back seven to complement what they do with their good pass rush and run defense up front. And then I might like the Arizona quarterback as much as
any player in the division. I'd like Marvin Harrison Junior, and I think they've done well to fortify their offensive line. I just think they're a year behind everybody else in terms of our team cycle. Well, Seattle probably multiple years behind both LA and San Francisco. So my prediction right now on June twentieth, I'm recording this Niners thirteen plus wins, Rams ten to eleven wins, Seahawks seven to eight wins, and Cardinals six to seven wins. The best quarterback in
the division is Matthew Stafford. The best bet non quarterback in the division on offense is Christian McCaffrey. The best player on defense is Fred Warner. To me, the best coach is still Kyle Shanahan. My favorite rookie, it's too easy, it's Marvin Harrison Junior. But for a bonus, I'll go Jared versus the Rams. And my fantasy sleeper is Jackson
Smith and Jigba from the Seahawks. Think it's gonna be a number two receiver for the Seahawks this year and get a lot of big vertical down the field hits from Gino Smith.
So there you go.
NFC West in the books, we'll be back on Thursday with the AFC South. We'll also have more Dolphins players interviews. I have a bunch of those in the can ready to go. So that's what's coming up here on draft time. In the meantime, you all please be sure to subscribe to the podcast on Apple Spotify, where you get your podcasts from. Go ahead and leave us a rating, leave us a review. You can follow me on social at linkol NFL a team at Miami Dolphins. Check out the
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Until next time, Fin's up on Amuran Daddy.
He's going home. H