Drive Time: Malik Washington Interview and AFC West Preview

Baptist Health Studios inside the Baptist Health Training Complex. This is the Draft Time Podcast. We'll go around the NFL over the course of the next eight episodes, which takes us to the week before training camp, where we will then preview the Dolphins roster ahead of this year's camp. And we start our divisional previews out west in the AFC.

And we kick it off here with the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs, who went eleven to six last year, won the West once again, ran through a four to zero playoff record that included three wins on the road, one of those being a neutral site game in the championship obviously, but the World champs for the third time

in five years. I think it's instructive how dynasties find ways to win in reinvented ways, because the Patriots went from this ball control, a quarterback who barely ever put the ball in harm's way and would help them win games with late drive success, a defensive team who then went on to be a record breaking offense, and eventually then at the end of all that came back once again in Brady's final season to be the best defense

in the entire National Football League. The Chiefs ran everybody out of the building for five years offensively, then last year they have large stretches where the offense was just it was bad. Did you guys watch that Raider game on Christmas? Just flat out awful, And it made me think the Dolphins had a chance going into that playoff game, But a little did I know we had our own offensive woes and zero pass rushers at our own disposal

as well. And yet the Chiefs hoist yet another Lombardi Trophy because they drafted beautifully on defense, hired and maintained the greatest current defensive architect in Steve Spagnolo, and then you have a quarterback that rises to the occasion in the biggest moments on top of already being the best

quarterback in the world. Right, what reason do we have to think the Chiefs are not going to be this team again in twenty twenty four and beyond, because I think they are a lot better than they were last year. They're big moves this offseason. Hollywood Brown, the receiver coming over from the Cardinals, is the big addition. They also go out and get Irv Smith, a tight end from the Bengals. Carson Wentz is the new backup behind Mahomes.

I also loved a couple of draft picks. Xavier Worthy, My god, what a fit he's going to be in that offense. And then Jaden Hicks, the safety out of WSU I think is a good replacement for Mike Edwards, who they lost to the Buffalo Bills. They also lost Willie Gabe to the Saints and Marcus Valdez Scantling also to the Bills, but the biggest loss was trading Lugerius Snead, they're all pro shut down perimeter cornerback to the Titans this offseason, who was going to be on the franchise tag.

They wind up getting basically a third round pick with some additional compensation on the back end. I think of the seventh round pick they went back to the Chiefs in that deal, So they lose probably their second best defender behind Chris Jones for a mid round draft pick. But we'll get to more to that here in just second. What do they do well well? I think that even when the defense has the right call, they can still win and create offscript because of their heroic quarterback. They

have this telepathic connection between Mahomes and Kelsey. Their pass protection and ability to generate push inside in the running game because of the offensive line. Investment in Creed Humphrey, Joe Toney, and Trey Smith is a hallmark of this team and basically where they allocated their resources last year opposed to going after the skill positions, and they found a way to win that way as well. They get simulated pressures and create protection issues for the offensive line

with Steve Spagnolo. They have waves of rushers that can win one on ones both inside and outside, whether it's Chris Jones and Derek Nandi inside or George car Loftis, Leo Chanel, Mike Dana and Charles Amena who outside, and they all kind of feature different skill sets. Their rush pairs with exceptional range at the second level and Drew

Trankwell and Nick Bolton. And also they have tremendous corner play with the best slot in the entire league in Trent McDuffie, who opens up Spag's playbook to blitz and to pull guys off in coverage and just do so many different things that they do so well in Kansas City. What's the concern or fatal flaw with this team? And ross Well, the last point requires replacing their best corner on the perimeter in Snead. His ability to press and disrupt the game's top wide receivers sort of drove that

style of defense. The choices for replacing Sneed are internal, and the first crack looks to be former seventh round Washington State Cougar or Jalen Watson, who's been a nice depth piece, but as far as a starter. That's a pretty big drop offense overall skill. The other concern would be your skill group improvement, right, but I think it's almost impossible to believe they won the whole thing with the production they did get on the perimeter last season.

But I feel like they've completely erased that with the additions of Marquise Brown and Xavier Worthy. Now Rashi Rice having a massive suspension coming up is gonna throw a little bit of a fly into that ointment because I think that with all three of those guys, they'd be with Kelsey, they'd be as good as anybody, But without Rice, I think it makes the rest of the group a lot worse. So the truth is, neither of those concerns

are close to fatal. I think the only fatal flaw this roster has is the same one every single contender has. If their quarterback gets hurt, then they probably aren't gonna raise the Lombardi again. Short of that, you have to believe the road goes through Kansas City once again. Some interesting things about this team or biggest storylines is the

dynasty pursuit. Yeah they're already there, but four in six years would be the first time that's happened since the Steelers won Super Bowls nine, ten, thirteen, and fourteen, and the Niners also won four over the course of nine seasons back in the eighties and nineties. How does losing

Lugerious Sneed impact their defense stylistically? I'm concerned to see how that works because so much of their filling and replacing of all the McDuffie blitzer of the linebacker blitzz that Spagnolo draws up, even the safety blitzes depended on lu Jerious Sneed's ability to basically lock down guys like Tyreek Hill. If the weaponry returns to pre twenty twenty three form for the next storyline here, we could be talking about a contender not just to win the whole thing,

but do they lose a game? Like if it's if the defense is what it was last year and the offense is what it was in twenty twenty two, does this team lose a game? I think that's a legit question. If you get both of those answers that are yes. Final roster thoughts. I love the quarterback obviously, love the remade skill spots again, even with the rice suspension coming down the pipe. Here the lead back matches the makeup of the offensive line with brute physicality in Isaiah Pacheco.

The tackle spot is probably the question mark. Janya Morris is pretty unproven a second year player from Oklahoma, and Juwan Taylor led the NFL on penalties last year and I don't think he was that good either, So those are some concerns. The front on defense is deep, it's spearheaded by superstars Jones and kar loftis is gonna get you know. I think Carls is gonna get there this year. Jones already is there. I love the rangy linebackers, even

with the loss of Willie Gay. I think the perimeter cornerback spot is the one area you can raise questions with, especially when we see so many units absorbing attrition at that spot. Right now, their top perimeter cornerbacks are It's Jalen Watson like It's like a third or fourth cornerback. In my opinion, What can they inform us about the Miami Dolphins. I think this is instructive for every team, But I think the Chiefs have really mastered the idea

of sustained success. And yes, that's an obvious statement, and no, I don't think it pertains strictly to having the best quarterback in the NFL. They've shown fantastic foresight on when they can maximize the value of a star and utilize the assets they get for said star to rebuild certain areas of the football team and what makes their program tick. For US, perimeter's skill and speed, right positionless versatile pieces

on defense. For them, it was fortifying the interior offensive lineman and letting their creator quarterback mask some of the weapon issues. Although I believe those issues are now behind them. I just admire their ability to get on in front of potential issues and maintain a pipeline that affords them that opportunity. And I think the Dolphins do a great

job of this as well. For what it's worth, I know nobody wanted to see Christian Wilkins or Rob Hunt go, but then you think about the things that make this team go right. Perimeter skills, a precision quarterback, pieces like Ramsey Fuller, Jordan Brooks on deft Waddle got the extension. We know that Phillips is probably gonna get his soon. Tuoa's gonna get his soon. Tyreek has mentioned in press conferences his desire to be here for a long long time.

You have to keep him paid and happy. So I think that's kind of the foresight to say, we can say goodbye to Christian Wilkins and it's gonna hurt, But because we know we're gonna pay Waddle and Tua and Phillips and all these great players, then I think that you can have this idea of refilling the pipeline and allows you to do something only a handful of teams

have done with four consecutive winning seasons. Let's go ahead and move on here to the Las Vegas Raiders, who finished twenty twenty three to eight to nine and second in the AFC West. And what a weird year it was for those Raiders, who were among my most surprising teams, especially when you consider the wreckage they pulled themselves out of with an interim coach at the head coaching position.

In fact, it was such an impressionable job by Antonio Pierce that he had the interim label removed and he is now the man. And and they do this while starting a quarterback who wasn't that good. He's not some highly tattered first round pick. It was a fourth rounder, Little old Aidan O'Connell, who took over for the big money starter who was injured six games in in Jimmy Garoppolo. The defense made massive strides. They had nowhere to go but up. But they were way better than they weren't

twenty twenty two. In fact, they were one of the teams that gave us our biggest issue here at home, scoring just twenty points were usually scored forty points at hard Rock Stadium. I think it was one of the more commendable coaching jobs in the NFL last season. But now is where the real challenge kicks in. In year two for Antonio Pierce, they're big moves man. They were active. They didn't lose a whole lot because they just when you lop off Jimmy Garoppolo's contract, you don't have a

lot of bills to come do. But they lost Jimmy Garoppolo, Josh Jacobs, Germaine Iluminor, and Balald Nichols. And while Nichols goes out and gets a big contract elsewhere, they bring in Christian Wilkins to the biggest defensive tackle contract in the history of the National Football Like. They also got Gardner Minshew, who for my money as the starting quarterback.

We'll find out come camp. Alexander Madison, Michael Gallup, Jalen Geiton, Cody Whitehair Andres Pete brock Bauers and Jackson Powers Johnson, like you know, tip of the cap. That's a pretty impressive haul of players, especially some of those you know, skilled depth guys to go along with DeVante Adams and Jacoby Myers and obviously Christian Wilkins changes the entire dynamic

of your defensive line. So it's I thought that was a pretty impressive offseason for the Las Vegas Raiders outside of you know, completely skipping out in the quarterback What do they do well? Well, you can really you can see they really just added to what they had. But therein lies one of the potential concerns. They were one of the few teams that were kind of left, you know, without a chair in the musical chair quarterback game in

terms of the big ticket guys. But as what they do do well do do or maybe their preferred identity will be with a defensive minded, old school mentality coach, they'll want to run the football right though you suspect it'll be more by committee. With Zamir White, Amir Abdullah and Alexander Madison compared to the last year with Josh Jacobs, who was a first down, second down run the football,

Let's find out what happens on third down. But they do have a larger offensive line in terms of size that runs manning gap scheme, and they did it for just three point seven yards per carry last year. I think it's sound to call this their identity, but I'm curious what it looks like because of all the skill guys they have on the outside, because that identity would

run counter to what their personnel offers. And that was kind of a thing A theme I know as here with some of these teams that I'm covering on this episode, is like there's conflicting ideals with personnel and scheme. I love their weapons last year, and it was the same issue, Who's going to throw the football to those guys? Davante Adams one of the game's best obviously. Jacoby Myers is maybe my favorite number two receiver in the National Football League.

I don't call him a waddle is, but Wattle to me is the number one receiver. I think Jalen Geiitten is the ideal like third or fourth target slash vertical stretch guy. They also brought in Michael Gallup, who had a rough couple of years off injury for the Cowboys, but I think he's got all the ability in the world. And they also go with Michael Mayer and Brock Bauers at tight end, Like that's about as good as it gets as far as like your top five or six

pass catchers right only like Miami and San Francisco. Maybe a couple others can be right up there with that group. But their identity on defense is what I'm really curious about, because they want to play coverage and get home with four and that's built around Max Crosby, probably the best

edge in the game right now. And that's why I think Patrick Graham is only here for one year because Flora has wanted to blitz blitz, blitz, blitz blitz, and Graham's like, now, let's just chill and play more coverage. But they add to that with Crosby, with Christian Wilkins, they're going to try to convert Tyree Wilson to a defensive tackle after taking him at defensive end number four overall last year. I really don't get that because I

don't think he can do it. I think he was one of the most explosive edge rushers in that class. Like what are we doing? Malcolm Koons might be the reason for that because he came on as a legit number two pass rusher, and they've got some good depth there. They got some length up in that group as well, and some really good coverage backers and Robert Spalane and Devine Diablo who give the back end some freedom. But that's some issues on that defensive backfield as well, some concerns.

That's one of them. The defensive backfield. You know, Brandon face On, Nate Hobbs, Jack Jones to Cory and Bennett are the cornerbacks there. With Trayvon Merrick and Marcus Epps at safety, that's pretty that's pretty underwhelming offensively. Hey, what Luke Getze, I mean, did you watch the Bears offense last year? There was no rhyme or reason half the time to that Bears offense. I just I don't get it,

and no need to harp on this too much. But like Gardner Minshew is my guy, right, but he's like the twenty fifth best quarterback in the NFL, and that that was the I just I can't really imagine going into a season with that because you're so limited in terms of your ceiling, and you have like no real excitement about what the future development of a quarterback could be. Like a no common probably develops into a good backup quarterback in this league. But that's what Gardner Minshew is too,

so I don't really get it. Some interesting things about them slash biggest storylines. This getsy and peerce dynamic fascinates me. I think there's a lot of conflicting aspects of this team, but if you're collaborative, you can make that work. But do they know each other enough to be collaborative? I don't know. I do love the staff that Pierce has built on defense with Pat Graham and Joel Alexander in some familiar names here from the Dolphins of the past.

I think Pierce is a good job of being the leader and empowering his assistance. He's kind of a hands off like leader, not necessarily a scheme coach. Now, sometimes interim coaches ride this wave, right, So how does Pierce attack a season from the start? Which is to me worth watching? And you can say that without last year's

awful start, they were a playoff team. But it's a fun juxtaposition because I think it's gonna be way more difficult for Pierce to kind of get the raw ross stuff going in his second year, kind of like Dan Campbell who in Miami. You know, it didn't work out after the first couple of games and the Jews kind of dropped little bit. You can you can ride that way for so long, but will it continued this year? Dan Campbell figured it out Detroit, can Pierce do it

in Las Vegas? I have my questions about that, And they obviously built this roster for a quarterback drop in next year. Just kind of puts you in some limbo for this season, though. And can they keep all those mouthse on offense fed? I don't know. It's a lot my final roster thoughts here. I love the skills spots. I think they're running back and offensive line position on

paper regressed. I think they added to the strength of the defensive front, and I think they'll need to scour the way we wire for defensive back depth at the conclusion of camp, and again the quarterback right, what can we learn from the Dolphins or about the Dolphins from the Raiders team I'm not sure there's a lot here. They do, however, have a similar blueprint in terms of loading up the skill possessions, which has been something of an NFL pivot the last five or so years across

the league. Teams want as many weapons as they can get. Even a team without approven quarterback and a coach that played linebacker in the league for a decade want to go after those skill guys on the perimeter. So there you go, two teams down, two more to go. But next, let's go ahead and hear from Dolphins rookie wide receiver Meleak Washington. That's next on the Draft Time Podcast, your host Travis Wingfield, brought to you by Auto Nation Well

of Dolphins Draft Time Podcast. Here, your host Travis Wingfield. My guest today is Dolphins rookie wide receiver Malik Washington. Maleik, how you doing man?

go ahead and start there. First of all. First of all, I know that's your guy, but I'm just curious, was that your guy from childhood? Watching him play ball? Like, how did you get that relationship with Steve Smith?

wanted to emulate. I wanted to be kind of like that, And now that I've made it to the NFL, I want to continue that path, to continue trying to earn my stripes that way.

that I'm right there with him. And so I think going to school, getting two degrees, trying to graduate the highest GA GBA I could, trying to bring football to life for myself, and it's just accomplishing my goals. So whether or not he wants to play football or do sports or something like that, he just knows what it looks like to have a goal and really work relentlessly at it and make all his dreams come true.

So I think trying to take advantage of each moment I can to sit down with a coach, or sit down on my iPad and watch the film and you know, really capture the game for myself, really take it and try to slow it down so that when I'm on the field it feels good.

really important. I think that's what this summer is going to be used to do, is make sure we're all on one page.

high school. Okay, So it was kind of wild. And I just remember, you know, being a kid and trying to I could catch everything, and that was what I remember my coach saying, he doesn't know how to run, but he can catch everything. And I took that to heart, and I kind of grew up with that whole mindset, like I'm going to show him that I know how to run the ball as well. So, uh, carrying that with me throughout my life and showing that on college tape.

Now I got an unbelievable chance to show it on the NFL do as well.

Auto Nation. We've done the Chiefs and the Raiders. Let's go ahead and go out to the Rocky Mountains to take a look at this Denver Broncos team who finished eight to nine and in third place in the AFC West a season to goo. Somehow, they were alive going into the final game of the season after a crazy topsy turvy season. I know Russell Wilson's numbers were good, but that offense was mostly unwatchable most weeks. Three and outs, negative plays, a couple of you know, a run for

one yard, a sack or an incompletion. All of a sudden, we're trying to get nine yards on third down. We have no hope of doing that, so we throw a check down or a scramble and he winds up being like fourth and three and the quarterback stats survive, but you wind up having like eight consecutive punts in a row. That is not winning football. It was, however, a resilient group that bounced back from a one to five start to get to six and five and doing it with defense,

which really got it corrected. After that seventy point drumming of the Miami Dolphins. They gave him and they held the Packers, Chiefs and Bills to seventeen, nine and twenty two points over a three game streak of wins over playoff teams. And it was Sean Payton's first year and made it clear pretty early on there that they had an exit strategy from Russell Wilson. And now he has his own first round quarterback in bow Knicks the big moves here. Josh Reynolds is the big receiver edition. Matt

part was the big offensive line edition. Cody Barton was the big linebacker Edition. Levi Wallace at corner, Brandon Jones at safety, and bow Knicks at quarterback. Ugh going out, Russell Wilson and Justin Simmons. Justin Simmons is a hell of player. Russell Wilson not so much anymore. What do they do well, Well, Bob, it's what do you do here? Exactly?

An efficient quarterback friendly offense that spreads the football around, that maximizes every eligible and gives a quarterback clear indicators and he'll need that. And I think it will benefit a quarterback that I thought saw the field better than all of his rookie contemporaries las year. You're in college football, and you better because he's a twenty four year old man playing against nineteen year old kids. Right. The defense is match zone, fire zone type of stimulate pressure and

get rushers from different spots of the field. I think the second year and that system will be helpful to those guys. But I do think that system has inherent flaws. As Dolphins fans learned with regards to how they defend the run and fit those gaps without the best front seven you can possibly have, which we've seen that work with teams that have athletic freaks. This team doesn't have that. What's the concern or the fatal flaw here? A rookie

quarterback is always going to be a dubious endeavor. But I can't imagine they're willing to let any of those valuable reps this year for Knicks go to anybody else. I don't it's going to be a transition year. I would not let a twenty four year old quarterback become a twenty five year old quarterback who has three hundred reps. Like, give him a thousand reps this year if you can, I'm not sure. Actually check that they haven't surrounded him with a helpful skill group. Jerry Judy was gone. He's

probably the best guy they had. They bring in Josh Reynolds. That's a nice piece, a third or fourth piece door set. I didn't know he was even still playing. Drafted Troy Franklin the third round, who was, for my money, the most overrated receiver prospect in the entire draft class. Courtland Sutton, who was great, but he's not been healthy for a long time. I like Marvin Mims's game a lot. He's kind of a fun one to pump return and do some jet motion stuff. But there's just so much unknown there.

And they've they're a good gap controlled defense that can craft pressure with advantageous down on distances, but they have to stop the run to get to those, and they don't do that enough. And I don't think there's a whole lot of one on one pass rush winners in this group either. I do love Baron Browning. He is very good at what I just talked about, but as far as more than that, it's not. There's not much

in the cupboard. So interesting things about this team are biggest story lines iss Sean Payton working his magic on a young quarterback. You know, bo Nicks has really improved his processing over the course of a twelve year college career. Was that because he was an older quarterback in college or was it real growth? I don't know that yet. Big money to the tackles last year, and the pass

pro was awful. You know, Mike McGlinchey was a massive bust, and I always talked about Kyle Crabs a great project about how offensive lineman who signed big contracts on the open market typically does your return on your dollars like thirty cents on the dollar. And mcglinchy's a great example that did not work out at all. And Garrett Bowles took a big step back last year after some breakout years and a big contract. They have to bounce back.

Were they more reflective of the team that went one in five or the team that finished seven and four? I think the former, but we shall find out. My final roster thoughts here, I like some of the parts on the offense, not really like Quinn Minors is nice. I mentioned McGlinchey. He and Ben Powers were massive offseason signings last year that did not pan out in year one. Sometimes it gets better in year two, though I'd love to see Javonte Williams finally healthy, but it doesn't seem

like he has been that for a long time. On defense, you have to managine Pats or Tam one of the best in the entire game. I thought Zach Allen was one of the best under the radar signings last year. He should be even better in year two. I just think every aspect of the roster, even the ones I like, which aren't very many. There's some depth concerns there, and that's just the price you pay when you go big and with like they did on the move to get

Russell Wilson. What can they tell all about the Dolphins, It's like the Raiders to me, not much. I think they're a good example for everybody the risk you take when you give up capital and money for an aging quarterback who was showing signs of regression before arrival, Aaron Rodgers. The draft capitol wasn't terrible there. We sometimes think, oh, a new scenery is going to be good for a player, he'll recapture what he was three years ago. But most

times it's like, no, he just wasn't good anymore. And good for them. They moved on as quickly as they did, but man, that move set them back for years, right. I guess the message here is be careful what you wish for the Chargers bringing up the rear with everyone's favorite quarterback who played like crap last year, five and twelve last season, fourth in the AFC West. It feels like the Chargers have been a popular Super Bowl pick

for a while now. And that included last year. I remember very well Greg Rosenthal run in the NFL podcast hanging I'm on charger of them on the Super Bowl this year, meet the Dolphins in Week one and got off to a great start. How'd that work out? Five and twelve? And I think the cop out is pointing to injuries because they had games to win early in the year. Well, guess what, herbo just came up short every time had the ball with a chance to beat

US four and out. Same thing against the Titans next week twice overtime and regulation four and out or three and out and four and out, and they get two wins in a row. They have another chance for a game tying field goal and can't get a first down against Dallas. Then they lose the KC beat a horrible Bears team with what was that guy's name, Tyson Bagent and the Jets, which was like the hardest game to

watch the entire NFL calendar this year. Then they lose to Detroit and Green Bay once again cannot get down the field at the end of the game against the Packers and the Ravens, and then they beat the Patriots six to nothing. Yeah, you know, just saying Miami scored twenty four and thirty one against the Patriots last year. Herbert then gets hurt and they score seven twenty one, twenty two, nine and twelve points. It was a last season. After that Packers and Ravens loss, it was completely lost

after Herbert got hurt. They relieve Staley with three games to go, and man, if they just get one more stop in that freaking Saturday night Buffalo game with Easton Sicket quarterback, we win the division. But I digress. They're big moves.

Corey Linsley. That is an all star team from twenty nineteen, man, isn't it? What do they do well? I think they'll run the football? Well, they better what else the hell's hardball there for? But when you go Joe alt over Maleak Neighbors and Roma Dunza in twenty twenty four, yikes, dude, yikes, you better run the ball well. They signed multiple backs.

They bring in Bradley Boseman, who's a good player. And in college football landscape, where the whole concept is spread the ball out and throw it all over the lot, Michigan ran the ball and ran out some more. But that's like going up against eighteen year olds. Can you do in the NFL? I don't think you can. But you've also got a quarterback paid like a top five player who plays like a top fifteen player, And how

do you balance that? And when you put the ball in his hands late in a Dave Wance at offense that wants to keep the game class from the fourth quarter, like is he gonna deliver? Because he never has? He just doesn't do it. Like I see all these stats like, oh, Justin Herbert has this record about throwing Like yeah, okay, but watch the tape because they're in those games every week and they lose games more than they win them. Right, what's happening on those dropbacks? I just this is obviously

a sensive subject to me. But they'll be under center, they'll run power, and the thing I do think they do well is their quarterback can threat in the entire field, which is a nice thing to have, but it's not the most important thing, which is why this team is not very good year in an year out. What's the concern or fatal flaw doesn't have to be label a concern. I just have no idea what to expect from the coordinators.

Jesse Minter gets his first NFL job outside of three years in Baltimore, where he was an assistant to the assistant regional manager. Greg Roman. Is back in the league after falling out of favor with the Ravens, and his most successful stops were coaching Kaepernick and San Francisco and Lamar in Baltimore. That ain't Herbert's game. I'm curious to what those adjustments look like. Will he benefit the quarterback or will be all about running the football? Like I

don't know, man, it's weird. They also made major major changes on offense, the entire pillar of which this franchise is built upon the last decade and a half. Allen and Mike Williams and Austin Eckler gained a lot of yards and scored a lot of touchdowns. They're all gone and they were declining for sure. But Chark, McConkie, and Palmer is your top three options. I mean, every other team in the league that has a top quarterback supports

that quarterback. That's not what's happening here. So I don't get it. I just don't get it. They have a bunch of blocking tight ends. I'm really curious which part of the team rises at the surface with regards to their identity, because if it's what the coach wants, then why you paying your quarterback quarter billion dollars. I just don't get it. Some interesting things about this team and their storylines this year, Harbaugh coming back to the league.

I think that when you ban music from practice, you're already off to a horrible start like their own four. Because they don't allow music in practice, it's not going to work. In twenty twenty four, bro Herbert and the offense with the game on the line, can they finally

win those games? Because they haven't in the past, What can they get out of the last ride style of defense here from Joey Bosa and Khalil Mack because both those guys are on bloated contracts that were picked up towards the back end here and they didn't move on from them, So it's kind of kick the candy on the road situation. I'm curious how that works out for those guys. I'm just not sure what the plan of

the process or the vision is here. If those guys get hurt again, which they have really every year for the last couple of years, where's the pass rush? There is none? And there is some talent on defense, I just think structurally last year was an absolute mess like we saw in the game against US, where it's just like that was never going to work from a coverage standpoint.

But Christian Fulton, Derwin, James Sante, Samuel Junior who's been disappointing so far, but he's got talent, Tony Jefferson, a Lowhi Gilman, there is some skill there, But I don't know, it's just it's like you compare that to other good teams, it's just not there's not a lot there. What can they tell us with the Dolphin. Dolphins. I just think you have to really appreciate Miami's synchronized vision going over this whole division, because we talked about it on the

on the Klayst Campbell podcast. All the moves on defense makes so much sense. The offensive vision is so clear, there's alignment across the staff, and the Chargers could well be that. But just outside looking in, there's so many conflicting aspects of philosophy and personnel. Same thing with the Raiders, right. I'm not pointing fingers at a particular teams, but this is why I urge the upset Dolphins fan out there just go look around the league and see what other

teams do. You do that and you'll realize how the Dolphins have been and are one of the best run teams in the National Foota League. And you can't argue that the facts are the facts. Like you haven't got the playoff success and that sucks. I get it, I'm with you, guys, but they've been better than most than all but like five or six teams last four years. Like that's that's the aim. And then from there you hope to get better in the playoffs. But we'll see

what happens this year. I just think it's a good exercise to do. My predictions are recapped for this division. Remember these are subject to change come August in September. This is probably the chalkiest division in the league. To me, I will never pick against the Chiefs if that quarterback

is playing. I mean, even with the worst offense of the Mahomes tenure, they won the damn Super Bowl, and that's in large part because of building an excellent young defense around whiz of a defensive coordinator who has identified and maximized what he wants from the personnel. I think they fix their issues on the perimeter, though again, losing Rice for a huge chunk will be tough. I don't know what the Chargers I think, you know, the whole old school mentality. I don't think it works anymore. I

think the errors from the quarterback position get overlooked. I think their roster is not very good, and I mean we let him up last year with Blitz and key spots, and the decision making just gets worse and worse and worse. You'd take away separators that he had and Williams and Allen. Is that going to work without those guys? I mean, McConkie just gets doubled, and then what they had a ton of injuries and are clearly zigging when the rest of the league zags by going trench play. Maybe it works,

but I don't think it does at all. And then Denver in Vegas have two of the quarterback situations that I trust the least going into the end of the year. As much as that pains me to say, I think Gardner Minshew's a great spot starter, probably between twenty two and twenty five in terms of the quarterback hierarchy. But if he's playing seventeen games, you'll probably pick high enough

the following year to replace him. And I know he won a lot of games for the Colts, but that entire division was inflated by playing the schedule they played last year. And then with Denver, I just wasn't into bow Knicks in the draft process, and that's a team that I think is going to have to dig out of it for a year or two, which is just the reality of missing big on a quarterback. At least when it's just the draft you can get out of when you put capital and cash into it, It's gonna

take years to pull out of that nose dive. I see one playoff team, one fringe team, and two that are picking the top ten next year. Chiefs twelve plus wins. I think the Chargers get six or seven wins. I think the Raiders and Broncos are around four and five wins a piece. The best quarterback in the division it's Patrick Mahomes. The best non quarterback in the division on offense is Devonte Adams. For my money, that was kind of a tough choice after a rough year last year,

but I'm going Adam still. The best defensive player is Max Crosby. Chris Jones might say what's up on that, but I'm gonna go Crosby. The best coach is Andy Reid, clearly favorite rookie. This is gonna be like trendy, like a hipster pick, but I'm going Jackson Powers Johnson for the Maybe I like the Rais more than I think I do. The best player you don't hear enough about is Trey Smith, the right guard for the Chiefs. I've loved that guy since I watched his tape at Tennessee.

He was a great pick for them. He's been a great pro for them, and my fantasy sleeper is lad Maconkey because they have literally nobody else to throw the football to in Los Angeles. That is my time. You all. Please be sure to subscribe to the podcast, leave us a rating the ust A review, follow me on social

at Wingfold NFL Ball the team at Miami Dolphins. You got the Fish teen podcast of Seth and Juice, the YouTube channel for media availabilities, Dolphins a day drive time content including my chat with the big Man cooeas Campbell, and last but not least, Miami Dolphins dot Com Until next time wins up and I can't rain Daddy, Dingh