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What is up? Dolphins? And welcome to the Draft Time podcast, part of the Miami Dolphins podcast Network, covering your team, your Miami Dolphins. How's it going everybody? I am your host, Travis Wingfield. And on today's episode, we have another big time guest, NFL dot COM's own Lance Zerline is going to join us a talk NFL draft, including Miami's four draft picks, and just really give us some Dolphins topics
in general. He was so great about expanding upon some of the answers and my follow up questions talking about Tua and Mike McDaniel and the defense and the running game, and multi sport athletes and so many different team building philosophy ideas. This is a guy whose work I used to really credit and use, as you know, my own proof of concept back in the day with a lot of these draft prospects. So really kind of a cool moment to get a chance to talk to Lance Zerlin.
We'll do that and talk about my favorite offseason move of each team in the NFL this year, all of that in a heck of a lot more from the Baptist Health Studios inside the Baptist Health Training Complex. This is the Drivetime podcast.
Jie gaff.
Long introduction there, let's go ahead and kick this off with my interview with Lance Zerline and joining us today is one of the best analysts in the entire NFL Draft game for NFL dot Com and all over the internet.
These lances are lined Lance, welcome in, my friend.
Well, it's great to be here. I appreciate you.
Having Yeah, it's no problem.
So I know you're a Houston guy. Originally we're going to talk draft here in just one second. I'm a Pacific Northwest guy, so I'm wondering what year, do you project the Seattle Mariners to finally supplant the Houston Nastros and the al west end. I've been waiting for a long time. It's been a long time since they've been better than Houston.
Yeah, when might that happen?
Well, it could happen this year.
I mean Houston's face and a lot of injuries. I guess Seattle have to get better played from their stars. But you know that's it's a little upside down right now in the division. But you build, you know, that's what I love about the NFL Draft. You build sustainable teams. You know, you build sustainable success. And the way to do that is by understanding what the buildout looks like,
what the velocity philosophy should look like. And you know, when you look at the Astros and I always take what personally, I like to look at other sports because I think you can take a lot of if you're well versed in a lot of sports, you can take different things going on in different sports and relate it to the NFL, for example. And the way the Texans for me, need to build is the way the Astros have built, which is young core. You don't go too far into
free agency. You draft and grow your own and Seattle's done that in baseball. And you look at Miami and what the Dolphins have done. You know, they have been smart and putting around a playmaker around Tua. They drafted another playmaker, and they've basically done what I think is a very good job of trying to find the right piece is between Tua and the new offensive coordinator, play caller,
head coach, and Mike McDaniel. So it's building a sustainable product really starts with evaluations in the draft.
Frankly, I mean, that's how you build it. If you try to spin your way into relevancy, it's very very difficult in any sport to sustain it. But if you draft it well, you can have long term success.
You know, That's what the Ashros have done in baseball, and I know that's what Seattle has the opportunity to do.
Yeah, I love that you brought it back to football there because Chris Career, you know, his brother is a GM for the San Jose Sharks. He loves going to Miami Heat games and getting out for all the sports here in South Florida. So I think that GM community does kind of operate well in those circles in terms of you know, not just focusing on their one sport.
And you mentioned the draft. I mean, the Dolphins loaded up in twenty twenty and twenty twenty one and they got a whole bunch of good young players on their rookie deal. Still here is kind of the nucleus they went aggressively into pursuing you know, Tyreek Hill and to Ron Armstead and Bradley Chubb and on and on and on in Jealen Ramsey this year. So it's cool to see that team cycle kind of grow and build and
get to the point where they are right now. But I do want to go back and revert back to this year's draft class, which again was depleted from a pick standpoint because of those veteran acquisitions, to go get Bradley Chubb, to go get you in Ramsey, And I want to start here in the second round of the
draft with South Carolina cornerback Cam Smith. You had mentioned in your right up on him the anticipatory skill set that he plays with and how kind of you know, he gets he gets moving before the play actually happens. I'm curious how you think that jives with thick Fangio system on defense.
Well, I think it. I think it always works with any system. Honestly, I don't think it really matters about system. I think being able to anticipate certainly it works better when you're able to play off coverages because you get to play with ice forward and and depending on how Vic wants him to play.
You know, Javon Holland was a lot like that coming out of college.
He was great anticipatory talent from a defensive standpoint, played with really good instincts and is a playmaker.
Was a playmaker in college. It's kind of carried over to the pros.
I think once you had that, it's a it's a skill, it's something that it's a skill. But I also think a lot of times it's an eight for a lot of players. And so with CAM when you're able to anticipate, that's that's also a sign of instincts and route recognition. Many times, and sometimes it can work against you, you know,
you're a little bit too aggressive. But in terms of allowing him to play maybe an off you know, off from the slot or play in some more varied coverages, that gives you a chance not just to play full press. But to say, hey, let's take our guy who reads routes and.
Plays with good anticipation.
Let's keep his eyes forward as opposed to being crowded right up against the target at the line of scrimmage every single time. That gives you a chance to really, I think, be more difficult to project when offenses are trying to create game plans against you. If you do the same thing all the time, hey, if you're the best at it, if you've got better talent, then you're gonna win. But it's always best to mix things up.
So the quarterbacks are constantly having their head swim, and I think Smith, along with the other two corners, really gives you that an opportunity.
Yeah, not to mention, I mean the safety position as well. You talked about Javon Hollat. He can certainly some of that.
Brandon Jones also played some slot in college as well, So there's a lot of versatility here on this defensive backfield, and there really is in the offensive backfield as well. Looking at the running back position as we move forward here to Devon a Chain, who we know about. The speed obviously has Olympic level track style speed.
I love the that you made in your ride up that.
He's simply too talented and explosive as a runner to be confined to gadget duty because traditionally the body type hasn't really you know, panned out that way.
But you mentioned the rare traits he has.
How do you think that Mike McDaniel can devise a role for him that takes advantage of that speed, explosiveness in general talent you mentioned, Well, I.
Think it's gonna be fun to watch because I think Mike McDaniel thinks out way outside the box, and so does Kyle Shanahan.
But I think one of the things you do is, you know, you get him.
It allows you to to maybe introduce some outside zone, but with some more pitch plays, he can run plenty of outside zone in stretch plays where you can really take it wide.
He's got speed to create wide flow.
And get around the corner, which which gets linebackers moving in, which opens up the cutback lanes. I think because he's a good pass catcher catcher, it also gives you a chance to look like you're in a standard set and then go empty and now you've got to make a decision defensively if you're in man demand and you know what kind of coverage you're going to have, because one on one against a Chang is gonna be a real problem for any linebacker that's out there.
It's not a favorable look.
So when you you know are going to eleven personnel, you got to tight end three wide receivers on the running back. All of a sudden, a Chang goes out of the backfield. You're now four wides and a tight end. You can use that tight end to kind of give you additional protection. And now you've got to have four guys who can match up with what the Dolphins are gonna offer you.
And that's the fastest.
It's probably gonna be the fastest foursome that we've ever seen in football history. I mean, you're talking Jalen to Shaun a change, Tyreek Kill. These are all track guys. They're all legitimate track guys who are also legitimate football players.
So a change.
What he gives you is I think he's an explosive option as a runner and as a pass catcher. He's not afraid to run inside. It's just that his body type is he's not going to break many tackles. And he is going to have to hold up and prove that he's durable. But he is another guy who in space can create explosive plays and you can deploy him a differentferent areas of the field. So what what he allows you to do is create matchups.
Depending on the personnel you're playing.
So if you're playing a team that has some issues, you know from a speed standpoint, and either linebacker or safety, you know that you can get a Chain involved in that game. Get him, you know, get him out of the backfield as a single setback and before you know it, he's out as a wide receiver. Somebody's going to have to step out there on him, and if they don't, you know, he's in. You know, you know, the defense is playing zone. That's just easy pitch and catch stuff
for tuas. So uh, I like the fact that he allows you to exploit slower teams, but he also gives Mike McDaniel a chance to really find creative ways to get the ball in his hands or use him as a decoy to create other opportunities. I mean, with with Tyreek Hill and with Devon a Chain, you have two very unique types of decoys that can be used as well to really take the to create opportunities for other players.
And Jalen Watable can be a declads, it's almost unfair the amount of speed that Miami has, and so you basically just want to use a chain to maximize that speed threat to make other teams put players on the field that they don't want on the field simply because they're faster players.
Just because you're faster doesn't mean you're a better player.
And if you can run at those teams that have to go smaller and faster, you force them into personnel grouping changes and then you go hammer them and go run the ball effectively.
That's a big advantage too.
I keep getting stuck on the fact that you said faster we've ever seen before. I'm certainly looking forward to that. And you mentioned, you know, Waddle and Hill. It's it's not just about speed. Those guys, right, They have really good route technicians and in their bag and they can certainly create separation through multiple facets.
And wells all too. I mean they're ball winners too, absolutely, yea.
Their competitive as hell. They're so fun to watch out here at practice. And you know, you mentioned the idea of you know, putting. You know, I guess lighter players and faster players in the field. We kind of saw that in the second game against Buffalo last year when they stay in that primary nickel package where it's like ninety five percent of the time they're light in the box and the Dolphins ran the ball over and over again behind alec Ingles. You get that two back set,
you have the best of both worlds there. Perhaps we can see more variety there with Mike McDaniel's system this season. And it brings me to the seventh round draft pick jumping, you know, four rounds down the rung. Here to Elijah Higgins, a guy that was a receiver at Stanford, but now we'll convert to a potential F tight end. I'm pretty excited about him. He's he looks big, he looks strong, He's a pretty smooth mover. I'm curious what you think makes him a good candidate to move into that F
role and potentially play tight end here for the mim Dolphins. Yeah.
Yeah, Elijah actually was sixth round pick, twentieth pick, so he's actually went around earlier than a packer.
We'll get to a second. But the reason I want to mention that is because.
I think it's I think it's substantial because to me, this pick is one of my favorite picks of that round.
I think a sixth round pick, he's maybe my favorite pick of the sixth round.
And the reason simple For everything I just talked to you about about devon Ah Chain, Higgins is another matchup guy.
He's a wide receiver at Stanford.
I talked to David Shaw at the draft or at NFL Network the day of the draft. I was asking about Higgins and Higgins had a hard time staying under two thirty. I mean, he just his body type is a two thirty plus type body type, and I know he plans on playing around two forty five with the Dolphins.
I don't think he's gonna have any problem with that.
He's a big wide receiver who can play big slot as If you know anything about Stanford wide receivers, they're asked to block, so he can block a little bit for you as well.
So what you have now is another matchup guy.
And this goes in line with what Shanahan likes to do in San Francisco, and I think what Mike McDaniel wants to really be able to do in Miami is be able to put personnel groupings out there to create challenging matchups depending on who you have on the other side. So I just told you about the speed matchup right with devon a chain and having a chain out there.
Well, now what if we go Higgins and what if the slot?
Now what if you're dealing with smaller corners and and you you know you, we've got a two hundred and forty five pound Mike mcgamis says, we got a two hundred and forty five pounds big slot that we can run at. You a legitimate wide receiver. Now he's he's going to be faster than most tight ends are going to be. He's going to be able to get out there in space. So you can't just throw a regular
old linebacker on him. That's not going to work. But if you try to go smaller on him, he's got a chance to work against safeties and get some blocks. And so now you're running out of eleven personnel and you're able to run towards Elijah Higgins's side.
So I think if he does what I think he's going to be.
Capable of doing, which is creating mismatches, from a side standpoint, allowing you to run out of eleven personnel if he's the big slot receiver, and then mismatching teams that want to try to stay in. You know, more base looks against you. If you're really running the ball well and keep their safeties back on your two speed burners. Then if your safety is going to play back, then Mike
mcgainer is going to want to run. And what better match up than to getting than getting a two hundred forty five two hundred and forty pounds big receiver really in the slot, giving you some blocking that you can run at that guy a little bit and have some success because he can lock up and neutralize in the slot. So it's really just another chess. It's more chess match for Mike McDaniel. Let's get a speedy guy who can catch the battle of the backfield. Let's get a hybrid.
It's hybrid. Everything you see over here is you know, he's adding hybrid pieces.
Now Deebo is a hybrid, Brandon Ayuk is kind of a hybrid piece. Now you see a couple hybrid.
And I keep going to San Francisco because I think Mike McDaniel recognizes that's what works. So now he's got a hybrid running back slash pass catcher, and he takes a hybrid wide receiver who can play you know, big slot is what I call it.
We can call it tight en if you want, but it's really more big plot.
And so when you talk about that, it makes me think about the idea of those matchups that has to make it easier for a pre snap to identify what he's looking at, right, because now all of a sudden you're dictating terms on the offense because of the personnel you have. Does it make life easier on the quarterback when he has that?
And I learned that lesson watching Gary Kubiak work here with the Houston Texans.
I'll never forget.
He had a three tight end set and it looked like a big heavy, a big heavy set, and then what he ended up doing was was moving or actually it was a two running back, two tight end set. It looked like a big heavy set. But then before you know it, and this is just a preseason game at San Francisco for the Texans in interestingly enough, and then he had his tight ends. He took one of them, James Casey, his third tight end, was using him as a pullback, put him in a slot. Arion Foster went
out wide. They had Andre Johnson out there wide. And this is a preseason game where starters used to actually you know, play a little bit. And he just showed a look where he was in a two tight twenty two set, which you don't see very often, two running backs, two tight ends, and he turned it into an empty set, which caused like a lot of problems for San Francisco to you know, to match up with.
Now why he showed that in a preseason I have no.
Idea, and I remember that my the light going on, just saying, wow, look at he went from one of the heaviest packages you can get into that seems limiting and really made it an unlimited package. And so it really opened my eyes to the fact that it really does allow your quarterback to take a look.
Okay, how are they matching up?
You can create matchups by showing them a type of personnel, but then it looks like a you know, a two running back set or a two tight end set. But before you know it, especially if you can get and I think they will do this, get Higgins playing. You know, as long as he makes the team and progresses get him playing on a kind of a wing back spot where he can play around the.
Line of scrimmage.
Because once you get that and establish that that's a viable option, then you have hybrid opportunities to either use him around the line of scrimmage or flex him out and sometimes you may flex him all the way out wide and say, Okay, if you're gonna put a linebacker on him, we're going to take you way out wide and let twa take a one on one shot at him down the field. So I love the fact that
this really it does. It makes to his job easier again, and I think that Miami's done a good job of trying to maximize to him by making it his life and his job as easy as possible. And one of the ways to do that is being able to dictate terms with personnel groupings and then have a personnel grouping that you can do multiple things with.
And that's I.
Think that's what Miami tried to build with the way that they drafted here. Even right, Yeah, I think even a stick rounder has value, especially because of who he is and what he is and Elijah Higgins, Yeah.
It's an all the concept building on your quarterback like that. I see that I sometimes gets refuted on Twitter as a knock on the quarterback, but it's like, I think all teams want to support their quarterback in that way.
You know, I'm the point where I don't care like it's on Twitter or trying to win arguments.
Dude, We're trying to win a football game.
So if Miami's way, Miami's not trying to win some kind of Twitter poll where two is the top five, or where does he ranking NFL's top one hundred, or what is ESPN saying about him?
Just win, Just just put them in position to win games. Ultimately, my dad was an NFL coach. Those guys only care about.
Finding ways to win on Sunday, sometime Monday, occasionally on a Thursday, maybe on a Black Friday game the way it is now. But ultimately, those guys grind all week long to try to create game.
Plans that are gonna win. It's hard to win in the NFL, and all they really.
Care about is winning, and the best way to win is having a quarterback play well. And to me, the best way to have to a play well is to put good players around him.
And put him in a favorable offense. But who's not trying to do that, right? I mean, who doesn't want to do that? You're not doing yourself team and a head coach. If you're not doing that.
One hundred percent, it's it's exactly right, Lance, And I'm getting more than I'm bargained for with you here. I wanted to have y'all because I love the x's and no's on's coming we do on the podcast here. But you made a comment earlier that I have to kind of follow up on talking about your conversation with David Shaw, because get to know Elijah just a little bit. We learned he was a military kid. Obviously going to Stanford is pretty impressive in terms of the intelligence and the
way you work. I'm just curious if you have some more background on the way his work habits are, the way his work ethic is, and kind of how that might pertain to, you know, being making him capable to make that tradition from the receiver position to the tight end spot.
Oh no, he's considered a worker.
That's one of the things I asked David about, and typically that is going to be the case.
But he wanted to to keep his weight down.
But I know he's leaning into tight end now because that's his best opportunity. You know they have Michael Wilson out there too, But David Wilson said, one of the best one of the the best things you can do to find out what a guy's all about is go
watch him block. If you want to find out if a guy because he's off the ball, you can find out attitude, You can find out willingness, you can find out toughness, and a lot of times those things all kind of manifest themselves in work ethic and in football character.
Football character is personal character.
Character, you know, is is who you are off the field, who you are in your private life, who you are you know as a person, right, But football character is how much do you love the game? How hard are you going to work on in the offseason? How how important are Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursday?
For you? Is it just Sundays or is it is it always important?
How competitive you are you and to me, you find a wide receiver that can block. You find a wide receiver that will play special teams and play it effectively. You find a wide receiver that's willing to gain weight and do what the coach says. These are all things that show me that he's he's the type of guy who should transition well into from a work ethics standpoint into.
The position he's going to have to move into. And I think he's tough enough to do it too.
We've seen that kind of be a theme here and the coaches the players have talked about getting the right kind of guys and how star players kind of you know, you never know how they might integrate into a locker room. But they've they've done a good job of getting the right kind of star players down here. I mean the way to Ron Armstead works, the way Tyreek Hill works. Yeah, it's infectious and impacts your entire football team.
And you mentioned that was a sixth round pick.
I flubbed that, so I appreciate you correct me there. Let's advanced out to the seventh round with Michigan offensive lineman here.
The only reason I did that because he's my favorite as far as far as as far as he's his concerned.
He is a guy who's playing on a back to back Joe More Award winning offensive line at Michigan, which means they're the top offensive line in college football.
I'm part of the selection committee on that, so I've seen Michigan play quite a bit. To me, he is a guy who's well coached. He understands what he needs to do. My big concern with Ryan is what I saw at the You know, there's a lot of duo blocks.
Which are the double teams, and you work up it's kind of three.
Yards to cloud of dust is kind of the And I don't say that in a negative way. I'm just they're looking to grind you out Michigan Sharon Moore, the offensive line coach and now play caller.
In that running game, they're looking to pound on you. And I like that physicality.
I like that mindset, that dirt dog mindset that he's going to bring to the table. I think my concern in the NFL though, is that, and you can see some of the senior balls he struggles a little bit when it comes to speed to power rushers and being able to move him off his anchor and back into the pocket.
I think he really needs to work on.
Bending effective, creating a little bit better leverage from the hips and the knees, the ankles, getting the type of bend being good with his hands and not just you know, not just not just being active, but being well timed with his punches and getting stronger adding to that core.
If if he can, I think if he has.
A chance to get stronger and improve technique and in terms of really sitting down on the bull rushers and keeping them from from creating momentum into the pocket, they he's got a chance to be a good swing tackle on the league.
What does that look like for a guy when you when you come into the league and you have that as kind of I guess the reason you might have gone to.
The seventh round?
How does how does that first season or the first off season in an NFL program translate to getting better in that area?
You know, it's tough.
My dad was an NFL online coach and I talked to him about about anchor, and he said, you know, some guys just are never going to have enough core strength to anchor down now. I and some times, you know, height can work against you because it creates a higher center of gravity.
I think that he can get stronger. I think he can get better.
Some of that is also just being able to bend properly, get your feets out I mean there's still technique stuff you can do as well. So I think you know, as we seen with Austin Jackson, it's been inconsistent. He was inconsistent coming out of And this is me saying it's not too working for the team website. It's me saying that, but it's something I saw. Frankly, I saw inconsistencies from a technique standpoint that led me to believe that it could be a slow process for him and
that it might take a little time. But he has certain athletic capabilities that Ryan doesn't have. So now it has to be all about technique. I know the toughness is there, I know the experience is there against good pass rushers. Now needs to be perfecting technique and really hitting that weight program as hard as possible. They got a great weight a great weight program at Michigan, though their strength coach is.
Phenomenal, so he's been part of it and he'll work. He's a worker.
So my guess is you can get a little strong if you want, but a lot of it's just going to have to really be about technique and really fine tuning the bend and the techniques that he can be as leveraged and as strong as possible when the speed to power rushers challenge him in the pros.
It was such a bummer to see you mentioned Austin Jackson to get injured in Game one, then come back in like week eleven and get injured again, and really the entire year was a wash for him after what I thought was his best off season program so far as a Miami Dolphin. And now the Dolphins have gone out and added two betteran tackles this week in the free agency that you talk about Ryan Hayes, and I think it's a great way to end the show here the same we started the show here at Lance talking
about multi sport athletes. And you know, I saw that Ryan Hayes was an All conference hooper in high school and a picture of the year on the diamond. I'm curious your experience. Do teams care about that multi sport.
They do a lot, you know, for safeties and cornerbacks.
They love outfielders because they've got ball tracking backgrounds. For offensive line coaches, they love basketball because the footwork aspect. And you know, everyone loves a wrestlers, and defensive line and offensive line because they usually have very strong cores and they have a better feel for you know, leverage from the lower body and from from hip torque. But yeah, I think I talked to the Colt general manager, Chris Ballard, and he's real big into you know, his kids playing
every sport that they can. And I know a lot of gms are kind of old school in that regard because there's something you can take from from learning to master or learning to improve in this craft and then you move.
On to the next one and you improve in that one.
It shows the ability to get not only just get better, but that you have the ability to work at multiple sports and improve in those areas. There's different athleticism that goes in hand eye coordination into in the major sports. Of course, some summer skiers and lacrosse players like Luke Musgrave who was in this draft. So being a multi sport athlete is always looked at in a positive.
Sometimes it's very specific to the position, but a lot of times it's just about the mindset and being competitive throughout the year and then gaining some feel for either hand eye, foot eye, or some other skill leverage that a sport may give you that that maybe what you did in football didn't provide as much for you.
Yeah, I muscle memory, right, different different types of quick twitch fibers. And you see Patrick Mahomes like, you can tell he's a shortstop in high school.
What do you know?
Yeah, you can just tell with those guys. So it's cool to see that. Lancederline NFL dot Com. He writes five hundred draft reports every year. Lance. Is your vacation Are you on the other side of it or is it coming up here soon?
No, I'm coming up. I'm taking my vacation starting this Friday. So this this Friday, I'll start my vacation and I'm all done with all my draft stuff for this year. So the wife and I she doesn't see me a whole lot for about five or six months, so she'll gonna She'll gonna see me for about eight straight days.
We'll see what she thinks in.
Yeah, I'm always advocating for you guys to get out to some beach somewhere at this time of year and enjoy your time off. So we appreciate your time to day. Lance, thanks a lot, man, Okay, appreciate it. Thanks really good stuff right there. To me, That's what a podcast should be. You should always just kind of have conversations that develop and evolve from the original question, and Lance does that
as well as anybody. I mean, a question about the American League West and Major League Baseball translates to Miami Dolphins team building. It's perfect. It's why I love having multi sport guys in the podcast, because it all is relative. It all comes back. Let's go ahead and take our last break right here and come back on the other side and do my favorite offseason move from each team this offseason. That's next Drag Time Podcast, your host, Travis Wingfield,
brought to you by Auto Nation. I always love these summer months of the football calendar for the opportunity to go back and watch other NFL teams. It's funny to be because you watch the Dolphins all year, you watch as much tape as you can on other teams in preparation for the games. You spend four or five months watching tape of college players. But then some folks just kind of put away the NFL tape and don't watch other NFL teams. This is the time of year to
do that, and I love doing it. It's gonna be pretty cool for the next week or so. Until we get to OTA's and for a month it kicks up, and then it really slows way down in the month
of June and July before training camp kicks off. But I love having an opportunity to kind of go around the league and look at other teams tape and and just kind of get a feel of what's going on in the NFL, because I think it's important to have that perspective to measure the Dolphins against because we can say here talk about Dolphins all day long, but if you don't have context for other teams, then how is
that doing any good? So my favorite move from each team this offseason, starting with the Miami Dolphins Jalen Ramsey obviously a matchup dictator who keeps the defense fluid in terms of the role so that so many guys can play on this defense. You just it creates an opportunity for you to match personnel packaging without having the substitute in so many situations where you can't do it. So it's Ramsey is just a really really good get there.
And also the way that kind of sets a standard in terms of you know, this is how we're gonna practice, is how we're gonna play kind of like Tyreek Hill did last year for the offense. I think he can do the same thing for the defense, not that they don't know how to practice, but it's you that standard getting raised is always a good thing for the Buffalo Bills. To me, it's a tie between bringing back Jordan Poyer. This is what I'm talking about with team's not improving
a whole lot. Bringing bat guys is like your way, your best move. It's there's not really improvement there, right, But drafting Osirius Torrance in the second round that is improvement. Poyer opens up so much of their playbook because of his interchangeability with Micah Hyde. If the Bills had a weak spot last year, it was the offensive line, So Torrance. I think Slot's riding as a starter as I thought he was a surefire top twenty five pick for the Jets.
It's got to be Aaron Rodgers, right. The Jets were on the doorstep a year ago with some of the worst production at the quarterback position, especially when it wasn't Mike White in the game. Going from Wilson to Rodgers is a big upgrade. Even though I don't think Rogers is a top quarterback anymore played out last year in a Green bayle like watch the tape Man, Watch the freaking tape please, But still a massive upgrade for them
at that position. The Patriots Christian Gonzalez. Every single year, Bill Belichick takes a defense that doesn't look good on paper and gets it to produce. That happened last year, especially in the secondary. Just so many guys that you I mean, there was like three rookies that played significant time in the secondary last year and they still were really good. And for Christian Gonzalez, he's a perfect fit there, the football acumen, the way he operates. I hate that
they got him for the Steelers. Broderick Jones, I thought he was OT one. I just love that they leave frog the Jets into that spot, by the way, and sniped their guy. I think the Steelers getting back to a dominant offensive line with Naje Harris is a good way for them to zig and a conference that zagging, especially in that division, so to speak. And I just think it protects a quarterback that I just don't think very highly of Cincinnati Orlando Brown junior, the left tackle.
Even with the heavy investment on the offensive line last year, it was still an issue for the Bengals. That AFC title game representative for two years in a row. The Cincinnati Bengals needed help in that area. They get it here with Orlando Brown, a surefire star at a key spot to protect their franchise quarterback. And by the way, our receivers are the best in the league. Just want
to go ahead, put that out there. Cleveland defensive tackle Dollan Tomlinson has been one of the most underrated players in the league since he entered He controls two gaps in the way Christian Wilkins does for us to here, and the Browns desperately need to run defense help he gives it to him. Baltimore is signing Lamar Jackson. Just get rid of all the drama and the intrigue and the back and forth and the you know, making the relationship irreparable. It seemed like it was going in that way,
but now obviously it's not. I just feel good for that fan base to get to put all that stuff to rest, because I know how freaking annoying it is as a fan of a team to just hear everybody who doesn't have a clue talk about where your quarterback is going to go and which your new quarterback is going to be. For the Ravens fans, that's over for them. For the Chiefs, Juwan Taylor, I've always loved his game
since the Florida days. They needed to make a move after losing both Brown and Andrew Wiley bull starring tackles. They went to work on the offensive line. Really after paying Mahomes. It was like Trey Smith Creed Humphrey, Let's go get Joe Tooney and say goodbye to the weapons and build up the offensive line. It's a philosophy that runs counter to what the Dolphins do do here with go get skill players and we'll replace you know, o
line production. By getting the ball out fast, they create bigger and longer pockets because Mahomes can create so much magic after the fact to make up for lackluster receivers. It's an interesting tychotomy there in the way the two teams approach it. I kind of like ours, but when you have Patrick Mahomes, you can do whatever the hell you want because the guy is phenomenal. The Chargers, it's a tie between two linebackers. For me, I've always loved
Eric Kendricks. You guys know that, and of course I love dayon Henley go Koog's. I think this gets them into a position to really stay flexible at the position and match personnel with teams who can go positionless on offense. Wasn't that way for them last year. They struggled big time in the front seven. Two big gets there with
Kendricks and Henley for Las Vegas. Jacoby Myers, I think he's super underrated, made a bunch of big plays for the Patriots and a really bad receiver Corps had the one big play in the opener last year that kind of kept the offense in the game, at least for temporarily. That receiver corps man DeVante Adams, is the top five guy. I'll take Renfro over most slot receivers, and I think Jacoby Myers is one of the better number twos in
the league. Really good receiver cord there for Jimmy Garoppolo to work with in Denver, the guard Ben Powers, they went to work on the offensive line. They got Mike McGlinchey as well. I just think interior protections better for Russell Wilson's game that is on the off the edge because of his ability to move around the pocket and create, but if you get interior pressure, it takes away all
of that. So Ben Powers in the NFC Philadelphia, the talent they were able to retain just didn't look like they're gonna be able to keep Fletcher Cox, James Bradberry, Brandon Graham, Darius Slay, but they did. They did lose Chauncey Gardner Johnson, which was their best player on defense to me last year. But man, they were looking at a much pretty much their entire defense and a chunk of their offensive line going by the boards and free agency,
and they got a lot of it back. They did lose Isaac Samalu up front as well, but they've got guys who replace him. Slay is the name I'll go with here, because there was even an announcement that he was going to be moving on He's gonna be cut, and then you insert the call the ambulance but not for me, meme, and he comes right back. Dallas Brandon Cooks. I have been such a fan of Cooks for the
longest time. I think his ability to separate against single coverage with the attention that Ceedee Lamb commands will open up things in a big way for the Cowboys. For the Giants, linebacker Bobby o'kaa kay right, it's not okaik anymore. He changed pronunciation. But I also like Deontay Banks. I also like John Michael Schmidz the Giants making moves I like. I've long talked about how much I didn't like the way they did things for their offseason, but really good
moves here. I'll stay with Okuiki because I know what he can do at this level and it's something every defense needs. A run, hit and cover linebacker. For Washington Warternerton great retaining Deron Payn, one of the league's best defensive tackles in a booming business for defensive tackles, keeping him on the dominant defensive line is critical to what they want to be in Washington. They get their guy in Green Bay. I'm going to their first round draft pick,
the edge Lucas van Ness. I love their entire draft class. They almost got you know, they also gout should say like most likely a future one if Aaron Rodgers stays healthy all year for next season, on top of adding two of my favorite tight ends in the class. But van Ness just looks like a packer man. And they were best when they got pressure from the two Smiths, Zadarius and Preston. Maybe van Ness can replace some of the pressure left behind from a couple of years ago
from Zadarius's departure up there in Green Bay. Speaking of Zidarius in the Minnesota Vikings, I like the edge they brought in in Marcus Davenport. They pull over the Saints pass rusher for a one year deal, and I think what I like about it the most is the fact that he gets what is essentially a one year deal here, a prove it deal, and I think he's going to explode with that. They were pretty good rushing the quarterback last year but had major secondary issues. I think it's
a good piece for Brian Flores to work with. I've said before I like strengthen and strength, and Davenport's a really good player for the Vikings up there Detroit. I like Jamiir Gibbs so much. Ignoring all the noise about drafting and running back, the truth is they got an impact player who I think is going to be very special. The offense was on one last year, and getting a weapon like Gibbs behind a line that opens up big lanes with regularity. I cannot wait to watch him in
Ben Johnson's offense for the Bears. DJ Moore just a crafty route runner with the Jets to make you pay when you misplay it. An angle destroyer. I think his ability to extend his routes on broken plays pairs really well with Justin Fields' ability to extend plays. I'm guessing a breakout year here for more. I absolutely love Darnell right to their first round pick with the Saints defensive
tackle Colin Sanders. I thought he was a big part of that Chief's front with the flexibility to play multiple positions and can control the point up front, stop the run, rush the passer, all of that. In Atlanta, I love Jesse Bates so much. I think he changes the way you call your defense. Lou and Arumu was one of the best defensive coordinators up there in Cincinnati in the NFL. He got his start coaching DBS and the way he talks about baits excuse me, tells you all you have
to know about the player. In Carolina, tight end Hayden Hurst. I just love his game too. Really valuable receiving option who can attach and block in line. I really wanted him to hear in Miami. That's going to really help their Brookie quarterback. Also Von Belly very close second and Tampa Bay Cody Mock. He reminds me so much of Ryan Jensen. They look alike to and it's fitting Hill now play next to him on the offensive line. There. They also found Oli mar Pet from a small school
in the Senior Bowl. That's the kind of ability I think that Mack has here in San Francisco. Javon Hargrave, Man, what an embarrassment of riches for them. Upfront. They were great even after losing to Forest Buckner, and now I think they maybe even improve that spot by getting Javon Hargrave. You go with Bosa Armstead, kin Law, have Mercer Seattle
Smith and Jigba the rookie receiver from Ohio State. The space that he should have to show off, the suddenness and route running with Lockett Metcalf creating space should be so much fun. The Seahawks went from a team that many thought could be picking in the top five last year to one of the better rosters in the league. And that's pretty impressive now, like I think maybe even top twelve roster that the NFL is all about man turning it around quickly. That offense is going to be
fun for the Rams. Steve Avila, I mentioned in the podcast, thought he was a first round pick all day winds up going thirty six of the Rams. They were decimated last year on the line by injuries, so a Villa to me steps in day number one and solidifies a spot on their interior offensive line in Arizona. Acquiring future draft capital was the move for me. The Texans, I think are much improved, but Arizona could conceivably wind up with two very high draft picks for the Texans that
go get Will Anderson. I think that was really good job by the new regime there in Arizona. I think my biggest takeaway from this exercise so that a lot of teams in the AFC he just kind of stayed stagnant. The Dolphins attacked their weakness is hard, right, And you might say, well, what about tackle and guard and tight end? And I once again say it's the same as it was last year for the most part. You added some pieces and that offense finished sixth in the NFL with
two of missing five games. Like think about that, Think about what the panic is really about McDaniel literally identified the best way to make this system and this quarterback function at a top six level was to go out and get playmakers. And they added another and they added more outlet relief. So while we all agree that it needs to be better at right tackle and left guard and tight end than it was a year ago, it's clearly
not the engine that makes this offense go right. You're worried about a fender when you've got a Ferrari engine. It go fast. Big engine, big car, go fast. Room room. The Improvement Index a PFF measure from Kevin Cole. Miami is eighth overall on that list. They're one of two playoff teams in the top thirteen in terms of snaps gained and war added to your football team. Teams fourteen and fifteen are the Giants and Chargers. They were playoff teams.
But once you across the midway point threshold where teams went backwards and did not improve, that's where you see not just the playoff teams, the teams that advanced into the second round into the conference championship round. Jacksonville, Dallas, Buffalo, San Francisco all check in between seventeen and twenty two. Then you get Cincinnati, KC, Minnesota, and Baltimore in the twenty five to twenty eight range. It's just so clear to me how much better Miami are. And this is
on paper, so we'll see. But man, how are you just not championing at the bit for this season to get started. It feels like we say this light here, but man, this could be the one, This could be the year. I think that's a great way to start the week with this episode talking about how excited we are for the upcoming season. And Hey, Dolphins, Finn's Weekend
is back and better than ever. This June second through the third, join your favorite Miami Dolphins coaches, players, alumni, and cheerleaders at the twenty fourth annual Finns Weekend, featuring a phishing tournament, exclusive parties, and more, with all proceeds benefiting the Baptist Health Foundation. Tickets are limited and available
for purchase at Finnsweekend dot Com. Long episode of the podcast today, but we're gonna go ahead and get the heck out of here and be back with you guys tomorrow for a practice recap episode breaking down everything I see from Dolphins OTAs. That's coming up your way tomorrow. In the meantime, you all, please be sure to subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcast. Leave us a rating, leave us a review. You can follow me on Twitter at Wingfold NFL. Follow the team at Miami Dolphins. Check
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