Drive Time: Post Draft Roster Reset Part 2, Defense

Friday was the offense, today the defense, and we did the open on the offense and shift a little bit. Let's go ahead and do the same thing here with Anthony Weaver and the defense. And I lead off with his name for a reason, I think one of the most slept on aspects of any team right now in the National Football League. And maybe I'm just not listening to the right circles, but national media, social media, local media, I don't read a lot. That's not fair to the

local media. Those guys have been really good to Anthony Weaver. But besides that, I don't read a lot about Anthony Weaver. And maybe that's because of the enigmatic head coach that he works under. Perhaps I don't know, but I want you to consider what he did last year and consider what transpired across his roster in terms of the attrition

and depletion on that side of the football. I think you start with the pressure rate, well, maybe not the pressure rate, but the disruption rate, perhaps because the pressure rate wasn't great. Twenty point six percent was twenty third in the National Football leag They were twenty seventh in sacks, but you know what they were seventh and third down defense, which helped them finish fourth in total defense. And I

think those numbers can be fugezi a little bit. But when you look at how the Dolphins arrived at their production, a lot of it came through scheme, understanding of the personnel on how to best get the how to get the most out of that personnel, I should say, and

here's how all of that happens. So the TLDR, the too long didn't read on the scheme is you get multiple players in the front, really all of them capable of pre snap alignments at multiple positions, which allows us to introduce a simplistic blitz signal system that allows us to incorporate a plethora of rush games that every player understands from every position.

I can say lamp, there's a lamp in this room right here, or pillow, and you know on pillow that the linebacker mugs up in the a gap that off ball backer position, that the stack mic backer he mugs up, and my defensive tackle drops out on the hook zone. Everyone knows what every call means from every position. You got that, okay? And then in the secondary it's well stitched together zone coverages with very believable disguises, timely man calls and rotation to the hot receiver, paired with a

league average blitz rate. But that league average blitz rate is really propped up by a very good sim pressure package, which we'll talk about here more in one second. But I think you could say, in addition to Chop Robinson, Zach Seeler and Kalais Campbell, all capitalizing on one on one situations when they got him. The thing that most directly led to a solid defense for me was Weavers defenses giving the opposing quarterback enough unique presentations to cause hesitation,

which typically gets punished. You know the Rams game, the Niners game, the Texas game, Texas Texans game, and various other games against teams who didn't have quarterbacks at that level. I use those teams because Stafford Purty and CJ. Stroud are some of the best quarterbacks in the league and other quarterbacks the aide o'connells of the world when you played Jacoby Brissette in New England for example, right, But those high level teams, the quarterbacks that struggled were confused

by what they saw from the Dolphins defensive presentation. Now, like any defense in modern football, there were some not so great games against Buffalo, against Green Bay, the Jets at the end of the season, and on balance, I think you could look to a few things that would suggest that pressure rate increases, which will always directly correlate to fewer points allowed.

the front seven that you encountered. I really hate going back to this f I've mentioned his name twelve times over the last you know, nine months, Robert Paulson Shaq Barrett retiring four days before camp certainly didn't help your edge position, and he was supposed to be that Andrew Van Ginkle role. There was a split decision there, or rather a decision about how they should allocate that resource, and they went after Shaq Barrett and Andrew Van Ginkle

walked him Minnesota. And if Shaq Barrett had said I'm retiring, that's probably Van Ginkle probably would still be here now.

I think one of the things that drove that communication and the well tethered coverage was the presence on the back end from three very good versatile cornerbacks, which I you know, Miami had that in Ramsey and Fuller and Cohu Fuller is gone, although I do think Kendall's December really tailed off and that knee injury with that age, like you can see where the riding was on the

wall there. The Ramsey situation remains up in the air, but when you got a one away player, it's tough to I guess Miles Garrett did do that same thing couple couple months ago and came back, So I don't know, but Caterkohu is coming off of, from my money, his best season. And then you've got a bunch of questions like does Cam Smith, Storm Duck, Ethan Bonner, Isaiah Johnson, Jason Matriech, Can those guys make a step? Can Jason Marshall Junior be a hit as a rookie? Is their

help on the way coming? We'll talk about that on the Wednesday podcast. I believe that will be decided in time, and I can't sit here and lie to you and tell you that I'm confident that it will look better than what it was a year ago on paper. But I do tend to lean the way of trusting Anthony Weaver's vision for that side of the football, and as you get to safety. That's a group that's been totally

remade too right, and an absolute needed one. In my opinion, I felt the often safety position last year was not just the worst safety group in the NFL, one of the worst safety position or one of the worst positions of any group across the entire football field in the

entire league. And I felt there were context clues that forecasted a little bit of what Weavers looking for in terms of building it to match his scheme, to more reflect what his influences have taught him, you know, going back to oh my gosh, what just Romeo Crenell totally blaked on Crnell's name, or with Mike McDonald and Baltimore, And one of those things was the attachment to a number of freaky trait safeties, right and the ultimate signing of if emlafon Wu, who checks that box in a

big way. So I think there's more to unferral from coach Weaver in terms of the menu of his playbook. You know, our first time, our first year with the same DC and back to back season since Josh Boyer, the first time under Mike McDaniel, he's had that a chance to start further ahead, and that's something coach talked about being very excited about on the Draft Time podcast not that long ago.

I'm very excited because I think it's the perfect storm of really really liking schematically where we're at, and then guys being able to build upon something, which which is a huge That's what the off season is about.

tackle position, Zach Seeler, Kenneth Grant, Benito Jones. Although I am if I'm stacking the depth chart for my purposes, I'm going with Jordan Phillips as the third defensive tackle in Benito Jones next, then Zeke bigger Is, Matthew Dickerson, Neil Ferrell, and u DFA Alex Huntley. The way we really overcame the attrition off the edge last year was expanding the workload of a few of his best, most versatile players, which speaks positively about what he can do

not just in twenty twenty five, but beyond. And this meant a probably bigger than planned workload for Kalais Campbell at six hundred steps. Zach Seeler continuing to access Goblin mode for the sixth straight year and doing it at an eighty percent workload. Aside from having an orbital bone broken that cost him the first two miss games of his career and that's all he missed, and that put

more impetus on to Sean Hand and Benito Jones. So Kalayas has gone DeShawn also has gone and in their place is arguably the best defensive tackle in the draft.

I think he was the best player in the draft of the position, a fifth round defensive tackle who I felt could have easily been a late Day two pick, and then another pick in the seventh round in Zeke Bigger's And let's actually discuss Zach Stealer here, because he is the straw that stirs the drink right miss two games in his career again, broken freaking Eyeball plays every position out of the five technique all the way inside, can beat NFL tackles around the edge and destroy guards

in the center with premiere length, inside determination, and brute strength. He's a pivotal part of those rush games we mentioned up top. And he's a straw because he's the one that you can slot in at any of the ten plus positions across the front five tech in both ways. He also allows you to get creative in your front rotation because he can be part of any of them,

and he can play sixty snaps a game. He's our justin Mattabuke, only more productive most sacks among any defensive tackle in the NFL over the last two years, elite, elite, elite player. He might be the best defensive tackle in football, and he still can't make a damn Pro Bowl.

three hundred and fifteen pounds. And speaking of the rush prowess inside, we talked about Jalen Carter, Elijah Cansei who was the third name. It was another big time monster inside. There was three guys over the last five years that had better interior Byron Murphy, better interior pass rush win rates than Kenneth Grant, and those guys were all like

three hundred and fifteen, three hundred and twenty pounds. He's three forty gives you elite run defense and he's am a dominant interior pass rusher and he's got more room to grow too.

that strong and you really see that wrestler background there. Man, he can hit a quarkscrew technique, which is basically where you turn your shoulder into a gap against a double team, so the attached player has a smaller target point to launch at you and can't get a clean piece of you. And as you do that, you hold the point of a against the other faction of the double team, you can drop the knee and cause the pile up. He just has a really good kinetic feel for his body

and his own pliability. That position went from a big question mark in my opinion, to you know, as and we didn't know who the hell was gonna play snaps alongside Zach Steeler to one that I feel pretty good about all of a sudden, Let's go ahead and pause for our first break. Come back and do edges and linebackers. We'll finish up with the defensive backfield. All of that next Draftime podcast, your host Travis Wingfield, brought to you by It.

about how you want to stack it. Quentin Bell, cam Good, Moe Kamara, Grayson Murphy, William Bradley King, and Derek MC. I think you could argue that you could use one more name in there. You're kind of fourth guy, your Shaq Barrett, if you will, because we saw Chubb and Phillips, although we didn't count on Chubb right away last year with a first round pick and Robinson with that free agent contract with Barrett, you don't really have that fourth

guy right now. But we'll see what it looks like come September.

all throughout camp. The emphasis they would put on an individual drills, and it carried over into team and they would get this great test every single day against the best outside zone team in the league that year, and they would hold their own and they would do it against Ron Armstead and Austin Jackson and any other guys that came in their way, Kendall Lamb and from there you can consider what their return does to Seler being

inside more to keeping him in there. But also we just didn't have a player like even with Kalais, we did not have a player of Kenny g's ilk.

Dexter Lawrence is probably the best example of that. Devandre Sweat last year a good example of that, and he was flat out dominant in Tennessee. Both those defenses run the same defense, don't we run? And yeah again, Kalais was awesome, But biggest player on the field is going to be Kenneth Grant every single Sunday. He's a better athlete than eighty percent, if not your entire offensive line.

And what that can do for a defense that played in their nickel base package better than seventy five percent of the time. That's defending the run light boxes right, Well, that's why you go get a big body nose tackle again, just like the Ravens with Michael Pierce for years, three hundred and sixty pounds inside, like the Titans getting to Andre Sweat last year in another Ravens Tree defense, three

hundred and sixty pounds to Andre Sweat. Extra credit. If you remember the Defensive Tackle snapload Breakdown podcast and you remember the Seahawks not having the big nose tackle on their roster, well what do they do to rectify that? They claimed Brandon Peeley, who I didn't think could play at this level, but he's a big body, and they signed Quentin Bohanna, a three hundred and thirty five pound

nose tackle, So you get it. It's a universally seen as imperative role within this defense, and that's for a reason. It compensates for the loss of size you get from taking a linebacker off the field and bringing a defensive back onto the field and playing in two high structures without that extra run defender in the fit, because Kenneth Grant can basically clog two gaps and play one of your gaps as a fit.

think that's the question you have here. But knowing JP personally and how he goes about his business, I would be stunned if he does not refine the form that he played at previously. It's just going to be about keeping the body healthy. And again, these players are forgotten about from a national perspective, Right, I'm guilty of this, Like I forgotten about TODJ. Washington last year, Right. And that's when you haven't made a play in the league,

becase you're a rookie. But when you get hurt, it's easy to be forgotten about.

way towards elevating the team. You can't count on it, but you can you can see it's a possibility. And we haven't even gotten to Chop Robinson yet, who I think has rare traits and makes players. You know, that's the traits that make players great. He's got them. Like the getoff, the way he developed his bend ability around the edge, his technique, his hands, giving himself outs to strike guys, you know, to not strike his chest and keep himself clean so he can rip around that corner.

And we barely began to scratch the surface on bringing him over the football and the a gaps the way Penn State did as a nosebacker. We started to see it late in the year. But that's the strength of Jordan Brooks, of Willie Gay. If you Fatum LaFond again, interchangeable rush games for this defense upfront. I think that Chop is poised to make a huge jump. I think him and JP are both gonna have ten sacks this year. Is that crazy? If they both play seventeen games, both

Chop and JP, you are gonna have ten sacks. Then you have an interesting battle for the depth spots. And this is where I kind of have an issue, or not an issue, but a hard time sorting how it might look. Quentin Bell, Mo Kamara, Cam Good and then my favorite dark horse on the entire roster, And right now I'm gonna slot him as the fourth come like week number five.

be a base down guy. Maybe Murphy's more of your rush in those situations, but Quinton does offer occasional rush. He's got very good special teams ability, He's positioned diverse, and hopefully he's pushed by all the other young guys trying to make their first impact on this roster. And I think that's a big theme on this year's team. We talked about it before. There wasn't a ton of unknown going into camp last year, and that's got its upside.

It's nice to know you've got you know ballers at every spot, but I think having open competitions at some spots and across a decent amount of your roster. Foster is better football, and it also fosters an environment that can prepare you for high leverage situations. As far as the off ball linebackers go insidelnebackers, Jordan Brooks, Tyrrel Dotson, Willie Gay kJ Britt. That's how I'd stack the top four Channing Tendall, Da Kwan Jackson and Udfa Eugene Assante.

I am fired up about this group. Man our front seven I think is really good. The questions are on the back end and to bring it back to the Mike McDonald tree, what have those teams traditionally? Remember the Ravens really took off in twenty twenty three after a slowish start and they capture the number one seed. Go figure is when they acquired Roquwand Smith. I think Jordan Brooks is our Roquan Smith, and you sorted to see

the national media catch on last year. There were some folks talking about him as a dark horse all Pro and I think you'll see that momentum carry into this year. The leadership. You heard him talk about it last year. Just sitting down with a guy for lunch and getting to know your teammates, so you can anticipate how he'll react in the heat of battle. Did I mention he's an elite football player. He can mug up the a gaps, He can camp in a traditional stack position and defend

the run in the past that way. I like him as an overhang player where he kind of hangs off the side of the formation, not stacked in the position, and can either reroute, can cover the nickel, can go to the curl flat and play the hook. It just expands his ability to have multiple options, because if you're playing the mic position, you're probably not gonna go get the curl flat over there. You're probably not gonna cover

man coverage in the slot receiver. Like, there's multiple things you can do from that position when you play that overhang. I think the pieces we added really frees him up to do more of that where he doesn't have to take on blocks as much, which he can do, but when he can roam free, he's a dangerous, dangerous player where he can unlock that speed, He's terrific against the run.

He has exceptional range and coverage and the blitzing this guy offers is perfect for this defense, and I feel like the rest of the room compliments his skill sets so well. Tyrel Dotson took on a leadership role down the stretch last year, and he's been a big communicator in the building the entire offseason. I think you saw the way they prioritized him this offseason, and they sniffed around Drake Greenlaw and that would be a big upgrade. But Drake Greenlaw has injury issues and has an age.

You know, I think there are an age he's older. I should say, of course he has an age. But there was a certain price point. I don't think they're willing to budge on, and you can see why because he's already got an injury in Denver. But you saw them pivot immediately after that price tag got too expensive to Dotson and pay him a nice little chunk of money, which to me tells you he's gonna play a lot

of football this year. And he has the playmaking chops too, right, three picks last year tied for the team league, and he has some big time play speed.

I think he's a great football player. And then with kJ Britt, the way he processes the game, the physicality he plays with he is the one who I think allows you to move Brooks around in your base looks because he can be your stack mike linebacker. You know, I think first down three linebackers in the field Anthony Walker role, he's in the middle, you get Gay or Dodson with Brooks on the outside of that. I think Brooks or Britt rather is better suited for that interior position.

Doesn't take false steps. He's really well studied and one of the many, many, many parts that you can see Miami making a concerted effort to get tougher, bigger, more physical, smarter. We don't need to rehash every move, but he's the closest player you have to a Landon Roberts since he left for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

so he is a top the list. Cater Kohu, Cam Smith, Lardi Burns, Storm Duck, Jason Marshall Junior, Ethan Bonner, Isaiah Johnson, Jason Matrie, Bump Cooper Junior, and then two udfa's Brandon Adams and Ethan Robinson. I think you have to operate under the assumption that Ramsey won't be here again. We've seen situations like this resolve themselves across the league, as recently as Miles Garrett in Cleveland, but will operate under the assumption that he's going to be traded, and that

leaves some questions going into camp at the position. I thought one of the real calling cards of this defense last year was having those three interchangeable cornerbacks who can move around and excel from all three positions, thus giving you the disguise of the pre snap presentation and the ultimate mystery you provide your the opposing quarterback and your own defense with that disguise and presentation. I thought cater Co, who's played down the back half of twenty twenty four,

garnered a promotion in terms of his playing time. I think he's equipped to play on the perimeter at this point of his career and a good study on how cornerbacks can evolve, because early in the year I thought he really struggled in phase to expand his zones and to play fast in those spots and anticipate, but all of that got better. I think he's a very good man cornerback that can match up all over the formation and one of the tackling corners in the entire game.

If you want to throw a screen to Cato Coo, who's get prepared for a loss of yardage and then you get into the unproven. You know, Greer has talked a lot about the need for cam Smith to step forward.

hundred snaps since twenty eighteen, so big, big if. But the tape is good when he's been out there, especially last year, and a Mike McDonald defense, maybe he gives you, you know, a few games worth a good of good reps. At the cornerback, I think Isaiah Johnson and if they want to play more man this year, that's his calling card. He's a big, long cornerback who didn't run very well, probably why he didn't get drafted, but he is physical as hell. And then Matre will play NFL snaps at

some point. I think both these guys will play NFL snaps. Matree was fantas Hassick in camp last year. I thought he had a chance to break the break camp with the team, but I think there's a chance he could do it this year. He could break camp and be your slot cornerback. Don't sleep on him, Okay, Jason Matri

remember that name. I also think about Johnson randomly on the back to back reps he had last year into practice in the indoor facility when he completely clamped down two end zone shots of Tyreek Hill with his length and physicality now six' four or rather six' two versus. Five, nine yeah it's a bit of, a mismatch but you get that across the. LEAGUE sometimes i don't know a Lot about cooper or the. Two udfas we'll go ahead and keep an eye on those guys. In, OTAs ultimately

i hope we find a veteran. OUT there i thought the older cornerback crop was something to stay away from, early on but now with the potential Loss of ramsey. To Me rasul douglas makes a bunch OF sense I Like. Mike hilton i'm still intrigued By A. Sante samuel we can talk about those guys more on a. Future episode let's go ahead and conclude the defense here with the, safety group and he Fought To, Melafon Wu, Ashton davis, Patrick McMorris, Patrick McMorris we're gonna talk about him a.

that was a non negotiable fine for them. This, offseason again the Report's connecting Miami To, jeremy Chin To Nicky man WORRY To. Jj roberts all three of these guys they brought in for visits or that were they were interested in a, free agency who were guys that have temperature changing athletic ability and multiplicity to play across the entire formation and blitz. The quarterback AND then i think

there's different play styles and competition all across. THIS room i think you can say there's not really a true safety one or maybe even two true. Safety twos you've got some threes. In There But ashton davis's, best TAPE and i would say he's a safety three is playing the post or half field and quarter responsibilities where he can camp back and just go find the football make

a play. On it eight picks over one thousand and fifty defensive snaps in his career is a kind of a. Crazy stat that's a full seasons worth of snaps and eight picks in one year would be. Pretty remarkable if he, found it he finds. The football if you want more of a, Hitter Tackler, ROBERT rusher i Could see patrick McMorris playing that route and this guy or, THAT role i, should say and this guy keep an Eye on patrick.

will see more about them. As Well but trader true student of, the game and those guys can kind of find their way onto the, field early especially in the favor of a coaching staff that, prioritizes THAT which i think this Year the Dolphins and intelligence are.

the team. Right Now So ryan Stonehouse And Jake Bailey jason sanders you're unheralded, kicking star And Then bleake ferguson has competition this Year IN New Dfa, Kneeland hibbert stonehouse, Booms them sanders was, dialed in And then blake last year missed most of the season on the. Inactive list defense as, A whole i think we're a couple of pieces away in. The secondary we'll talk about that more, later ON though i think their front seven has taken

a massive step in the. Right direction we'll see what the secondary looks like on opening day compared. To NOW but i, think you on balance have more Of a weaver influenced defense than you had a. Year ago we kind of broke this down in the, open already but to put a bow on the roster resets what do?

WHAT remains i think it's safe to say they checked off two of the biggest needs on the roster and really leaves one area where there's. Some. UNKNOWN right i get the, term holes and, YOU know i think it can be applied incorrectly at times because holes or, you know sometimes what you just have when you don't know the, guy's, Names right like a Fan in nebraska who Doesn't watch dolphins football is not gonna Know who patrick. McMorris is what if he breaks out. This year it's why there's

always surprises in. This league, SO unproven i guess is the best way to. Put IT and i would push back at the safety POSITION because i do think That if Emela fan wu is a starter if, he's healthy but that's a, big IF and i Could Say, ashton davis, you know maximized his Opportunities in patrick mc morris showed you the potential to be a starter in this league

with his limited work. Last year and that's not to mention that this again free agent safety class has a ton of big names left And guys i'm very much interested in looking at for. Next, year again We Signed marcus may. Last year Was it june or Was? IT july, i forget but there. You go that's the. Roster reset we're gonna come Back. On wednesday i'll do the color

coordination board for. You guys we'll talk about some of the udfas that popped, off tape and maybe take a look AT the nfl dot com remaining free, agent list just to get you guys ready and prime. For OTAs we Have rookie minnie camps this weekend, as well so we'll get our first look at some of these guys on. The field but, until then you all please be, sure, subscribe rate review, The show follow me on Social AT.

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