Drive Time: Pre-Draft Month Roster Reset

towards the draft. Kind of a comprehensive look behind and look ahead on this edition of the podcast from the Baptist Health Studios inside the Baptist Health Training Complex.

shopping the rest of the way. That player, of course, being James Daniels, the very very good guard, and that right there, I think signals something of a change in terms of philosophy because of the past thought that eight million dollars for a guard was just something you would not see in not just this offensive system, but the other offensive systems across the league the share our core philosophies, and I do think they looked at James and said,

this guy is probably closer to a fifteen million dollar player. I mean, he's a better player than Aaron Banks and it's not even close to my opinion. And because of his injury situation last year, we can capitalize and get

him a massive reduction of the cost. Which that's not a shift in organizational philosophy, because that has clearly been the mo of Chris Greer, who has told you in the past, like this league in sport has an injury rate of one hundred percent, and so I don't think they factor that as much as other teams do, for better or worse.

the show. We've discussed major talking points from our talking points rather from major podcast and what was the prevailing thought about this year's class that it was lacking real firepower up at the top. And by the time the new league year even started, reported signings were flooding in and re signings and has essentially wiped out more than half of the nfl dot Com Top one oh one

free agents before the new league year even started. I mean, we saw players who have been relatively middle of the pack among their position in terms of production cash in in the top of the mark deals. And that's that's what has happened in the past. And it used to be like really quality talent that would go towards like the top of the market. Now you're starting to see like adequate starters get cornerstone money. It's it's kind of crazy, you know. James Daniels was the marquee signing right we

went over this last year. Free agency really should be viewed in the same prism of the draft. You're never going to bat a thousand, but the Dolphins hit on the multi year guys, the Jordan Brooks, the John new Smith, the Aaron Brewer. Where you had some one year guys like Jonathan Harris, Neville Gallimore, Jack Driscoll that didn't make the team, and you have to approach it accordingly. And a lot of these contracts the Dolphins signed to one

year deals probably aren't going to work out. But as long as you hit on the ones you invest in, you get your own internally evaluations right, and you draft well, you can afford to spend, you know, or go acquire ten free agent contracts that are one year deals, and if half of them work out, then you can re you know, re up them, and that's great, But that's a departure from my point. My point is that I feel like James Daniel was a really good value get

for the Dolphins. I think he's a perfect scheme fit that perfectly compliments Aaron Brewer and improves the run game and makes your entire protection scheme better because of his intelligence and his skill set. You signed Daniels to be a starter. That's the too long, didn't read version rate there. I think that applies to Willy Gay too. I mean, explosive,

can beat blocks in multiple ways. Plays with this temperament and fire gives you two incredibly athletic modern day linebackers who are capable of playing twenty yards downfield and coverage or rushing the quarterback, and the value that provides in this defense that is built around that that has seen the Baltimore Ravens, which is the kind of offshoot of this defense, right build their linebacker corps around two All pros R two guys and Patrick Queen and Rokwan Smith

that are thought of as top ten players to their position. I think Miami's right in that frame of mind now, although Willie Gay's more of a projection in terms of how he fits in this defense. But well, I feel confident I'll be proven right in that. Outside of that, to me, it was pretty role based, and you could even say Willy Gay was role based too, because you kind of filled the linebacker room out with guys that have specific traits and skills. I think I probably think

higher of Willy Gay than most pundits out there. I just think the athletic ability, explosion, temperament, play style, and modern skill set is really going to click for this defense and really take off in what he's asked to do. But talk about the role based approach, we talked about finding ways to be better off the edge blocking in the running game. Pharaoh Brown and Nick Westbrook Akine are two of the best blockers at their position in the

entire league. I mean it's Farroh. Brown is an extra offensive lineman that can catch the football, and Nick Westbrook Akine is a guy that can really expand what you do in situational football down the red zone, third and short. He can make your personnel groupings flexible because of his ability to attach and block or beat one on one coverage. Not a lot of guys that are number two and three cornerbacks in this league I think can handle westbrook

a Kine all on their own. He's a very crafty route runner and a big body and a good catch radius and good strong hands. We talked about getting more athletic on defense. You know, if he melafon Wu is a modern day chess piece and Ashton Davis has really good range in the back end, will he click here and make an impact.

changed right away on you. And that's the nature of the league, right And with kJ Britt, obviously we'll have you know, camp and plenty of things to track in terms of who plays where and how much. But BRIT's tape tells me that he can definitely be the enforcer in the running game and a bit of a tone setter, a temperature changer. He plays that style and there has been you know, I've talked to all these guys except for if he melafon.

all I'm telling you on that topic. Alexander Madison has been pretty consistent his entire career and brings more of that hammer mentality. And I just like the way he can kind of push piles and keep his feet chopping when it gets clogged up. That's why his conversion rate

is very good. He also provides a third down presence with good pass protection, receiving skills, and that short yard ability, which again on those situational elements, which this Dolphins team can put up four hundred yards pretty much anytime they want to. Right like that, They're a consistently explosive offense. But when they've had issues, it's been in situational football.

And I realize that a lot of these signings are to me signal a cure towards third and short, towards red zone, towards the critical eight or twelve plays over the course of a sixty minute game that decide the winner or decide you know, the massive points swings, and the cumulative result of those moments is what decides the winner in the games. And look, I know it wasn't a great run for Zach Wilson with the Jets, but you can't tell me the quarterback rooms not vastly improved

with him in it. Now. It's a low bar because last year's quarterback, besides Tua, was not a NFL caliber, But Zach Wilson, I think, is a little bit over that that threshold, that line of demarcation. Ryan Stonehouse is a weapon already burns his tape intrigues the hell out of me. But of course that's the injury aspect to that to him as well, which makes you know, for

a low risk, high reward potential. And since you've got some clear fits and starters from this group, you invest a couple of players like that, and if you hit on two or even one of them, then you feel like you've got a pretty good class because you've you've got two like surefire starters, you've got four or five role guys that give you critical important snaps every Sunday. And oh, by the way, we hit on ifimlafon Wu in,

you know, and maybe Zach Wilson like cool. Now we've got like a four or five guys that can play. And we've got those four or five role players. Now we can go into the draft and get some more cornerstones for the future. So I think you can extrapolate the those thoughts and say, here's collectively some takeaways and things the Miami Dolphins got better at in this free

agency class, starting with the running game. And if you guys listen to the film recap pods last year, and I guess just the general sentiment about Devon a Chan, you know, that I don't think that the role that he played last year suits what he does best. I think there's vision issues. I think there's take what's there, you know, the maturity of just taking the yards that

are there. I think there's severe pass protection issues, and all of those things combined to me says that Jalen Wright should get more run and that a Chan should get more antillary snaps on the perimeter as a receiver. But I do think that the plan is for Jay Dubbs to kind of be that physical presence alongside a Chan and that kind of thunder to Devon's lightning, which

you know, and Jalen's got no slouch. He's no slouch in the speed department either, But I think you have to find a good way to kind of, you know, combine those two elements to make the ultimate, you know, one two punch. And you think about j dub as a kind of tones that are a physical back, which

yet I think he is. With bigger body acquisitions like James Daniels three twenty seven, like Larry Boram three thirty five, who only add to your sheer mass while maintaining your athletic ability on the offensive line, shoot you got better than what you were a year ago because Liam and Rob weren't as big as those two guys. And that's assuming that Borham even starts, which I don't think he will. I hope he's not. That's not the plan. But if you have those two guys in for Liam and for

Rob Jones, you're vastly more athletic, and you're bigger. I think that makes you more amenable amenable now to the various run schemes. Aside from just running the ball to the perimeter and trying to outskied scheme teams with some of those outside runs, I think the ability to line up on third and one when everyone knows the dive is coming and you can still grind out two yards,

I would feel better about that. And this is getting really inside baseball and probably shouldn't even say this, but there was a report that Dolphins moved off of their head of analytics, and if you go to his blog and look at some of the core philosophies, it was

that third and one is actually a better shotgun. Is better to be out a shotgun than it is line up under center, which I get the concept of it, but I think you got to change that philosophy and be able to smash mouth and play more downhill football. Not to mention, continuing that point, there were things on Nick westbrook Akine and Faroal Brown's tape that I think really opens up your run game menu but doesn't take away from your ability to threaten with the passing game.

By having them on the field again, especially down the red zone, I think your offensive personnel grouping has become much more expansive and unpredictable, and those two things have been kind of one thing holding you back at various points offensively. When you've got when we got our quarterback out there, we move the ball, we score points. But the short yardage stuff and then the occasional bad red

zone game. If you just improve your proficiency, there a little tiny bit that can be the difference in you know, a game several points a game, wins and losses, and with short yardage. The same story on defense, As you maintain possessions longer and help those guys out, it's just a ripple effect that makes your entire team better. Defensively, I thought it was very important to get faster, more explosive, more athletic, getting JP and Beechub helps that as much

as anybody can, but melafon Wu really exemplifies that. Again, if you can ever stay healthy, which I'm not going to bet on. Artie Burns is a crapshoot, but he also satisfies that with length and athletic ability. I also thought they had to get a lot meaner and tougher, and I think kJ Britt brings that in the same way that Daniels and Brown and Westbrook Akine and Pharaoh Brown do on offense. And that was before Willie Gay arrived, just one of the best pure athletes in the game.

And then there are a lot of options in this draft that do all this too, but we'll save that for later on. But yeah, man, getting getting Gay and Britt and having them in that chair across from me on drive time, like you can feel it. You can feel the impact there. So that's sort of the ten thousand foot view of the class. And I think this

team got better. And then let's go ahead and round it out with what I will call each player's calling card and their flaw, and we'll do that in the next segment here we'll get to more draft stuff where the team got better, where they got worse. We'll take a look at the color coding roster board once again. All of that next here on the Draft Time podcast, your host Travis Wingfield, brought to you by AutoNation.

that's not true. I put a few of them up top, but this kind of it gets wonky after the first three. Just FYI, James Daniels opens up the run game menu, improves your offensive line communication, adds an element of nasty an elite athlete who gives us legit center option in the events of happens to Aaron Brewer, which this team has not had ever under Mike McDaniel's always been Connor

Williams or Aaron Brewer and then bust. Now, the downside coming off a major injury is the only downside for me with James Daniels.

to have a missed assignment that produces a big play. Again, we covered that on his film study podcast last week. Safety i Fatu melifon Wu is a three level defender with elite pass rushing.

games in four years. That's two out of four seasons, hopefully that changes, but to expect anything different is kind of silly, right Laman Larry Borum playing in space, whether it's at guard or tackle, the way he can reach a nine technique as a tackle or a five technique as a guard, that fit seems obviously clear to me. Now the downside is when he's in true pass protection reps at tackle, it's not good, to put it politely,

it's better at guard, but not great. But if you have one of those in your offensive line, if you have one deficiency in your pass pro you can usually cover that with guys around him. And you know, I keep seeing this stuff about like the Dolphins are and search for a left tackle, like, no, they're not. Patrick Paul's a left tackle if t Stead's not back, so go ahead and put a just scratch that off the

list right away. But that with the concept that no scheme and there's some fans that do not want to hear this, but it's the truth. No scheme mitigates that as much as this one does. And so please don't take that as me saying it's completely irrelevant. I'm not saying that you can be me. Travis Wingfield plass blocking and makes the offense okay. But every time we've gone down multiple scores, you see that show up, and that's when those games get really ugly.

pass blocking is entirely irrelevant, which again I'm not. So that's the downside, but there is some hope that with how you can maybe mitigate that downside of his game through what you do best and your quarterback's biggest strength, quarterback Zach Wilson.

wide receiver Nick Westbrook aikine. I think it's the combination of being able to get vertical as a route runner but also run you over if you don't buckle your chin strap in the running game. And that's before we even get to some of the asks of him in the running game. You can copy and paste some of the stuff you did with Julian Hill, which changes your personnel grouping right and who the defense has to match

that with. They have to go cornerback over linebacker because you can't put freakin' Who's a good example, You can't put Terrell Bernard from the Buffalo Bills on Nick Westbrook aa kinne win that matchup. You could if it was Julian Hill and be totally fine with it. And then I also love his attention to detail as a route runner. I'm just a big fan of his game. The downside, he's not insanely explosive or dangerous as a runner with the football, but for three million dollars a year, I

am more than okay with those concessions. Safety Ashton Davis. The ball production and range in the post stands out eight interceptions on one thousand and fifty snaps. I mean that's eight interceptions in a full season of starting football. But he hasn't been able to do that because the rest of his game hasn't been good enough. And that's the downside is the closer he gets to the line of scrimmage in coverage or against the run, the more I feel he gets stuck. And I don't think is

a great tackler either. Linebacker kJ Britt is a B gap to B gap patrol man with attitude, a preparation plan that gives him a leg up on most snaps, and I think can rub off on the players around him in a very positive way. The downside, he's very limited in coverage and as a blitzer, so he is a kind of a one trick type of pony. Running Back Alexander Madison's balanced through contact to generate linear yardge

accumulation layah. That's a mcdanielism for those keeping score at home, And I think his best traits are his ability to turn stalemate blocks into positive yards and then his ability to hammer on short yardage, combined with the pass protection and receiving skill sets to be an option on third downs,

especially third and three or less. Like I think about the possible ability of having him and a Chan in the game on third down, giving the defense a two back set, which impacts how they call their defense, and then a Chan flexes out and who the hell knows if you're going to run a pass play with three sub four to four receivers or a two hundred and twenty pounds back up the a gap, who's going to

be tough to get to the ground. The downside, he's limited athletically and he's not really special in one particular area. He's just kind of a guy, which is why you have him as a third number three back tight end.

best punters in the NFL, that's my takeaway. And then cornerback already burns the length to press up and play any of the three corner positions, impress, but also process from off coverage. That versatility is what drives this defense. So it's a low risk, high reward hopefully. I like the tape, not as much as like Mela Fanoo's tape, but he also hasn't played more than three hundred snap since twenty eighteen, so this is a very very long shot. What still needs to be done on this team. They

have to round out the defensive line rotation. But I think you're seeing kind of the emphasis on the edge group and how that kind of funnels the defense more. And the linebacker position, where the defensive tackle spot you have one player like Zach Seeler, and then the bill last ye was kind of thinking Harris Gallimore, all those guys that didn't make the team. It wound up being

Benito in hand and Kalaeis. I think you try to get Kalayis back is hard as you can, but Nita comes back obviously, but you're probably still looking at the first or second round there to find a defensive tackle in this group. And like Kenneth, Grant just basically makes it all good. Make an offensive line move that bumps everybody down, so a starter. I guess to to sign a left guard would be one of my things. I think Will Hernandez makes a bunch of sense there. Identify

a legit number two cornerback. I don't think that there's anybody here, though I might, you know, that might wind up being the approach, and I you know, hopefully that cam or Storm or Ethan emerges, but I don't like that idea so much, I think you need another safety. I don't think that Davis is a starter, and you

can't count on Iffy. This is a great year to get a contributing safety on day two, maybe early day three, a Billy Bowman, a Lathan Ransom, or even in the first round with you know, Malachai Starks or Nicky Man worry. Hell if you got Iman Worried to go with Iffy Brooks and Willie Gay my gosh.

Even though I don't think it's a good player per se. I think it's a huge upgrade over what you had. More of an indictment on the twenty twenty four room than a positive thing about the twenty twenty five room. But there is something they didn't have last couple of years, and that is upside In the quarterback room and running back, it's worse. I think going from Raheem Moster to Alexander Madison's a downgrade. But also you got to think about that position being more role based now in the event

of an injury. I do wish we did have Heam available as a possible number one to step in there, but I don't think he was going to be content as a guy waiting for an injury to get his reps. So I think we're a little bit worse there. We'll see what happens in the draft. At receiver better, I mean, we need Reagan Waddle to be Reagan Waddle again, because you know that's what makes this off makes this offense work, right. But Nick Westbrook Akine is the best number three we've

had in the Mike McDaniel era. And if you want to say Travish, you were way wrong about OBJ and can't be trusted there.

guard than what we've had the last year. I mean, and also left guard post Isaiah win injury in twenty twenty three. Tron Armstead for Paul is likely to be a regression. But if Paul takes a step in play seventeen games, that could be a wash because seventeen games of good tackle play versus twelve or thirteen games of really good tackle play to me is about the same. I think Larry borum Is as a guard is better than last year's starters as well, by a decent margin.

Two And again I highly doubt we're done there, but the offensive line is better today than it was in December of twenty twenty four. Defensive tackle worse, but if Kalayas Campbell comes back, it's basically a wash. I do think this position will get a high draft pick and possibly a double dip if not bringing back Kalayis as one of the answers there as well. So we're at defensive tackle and running back is worse. Quarterback receiver, tight end,

offensive lines better, the edge is significantly better. It was hard to get worse because last year the injuries deeply did that key spot healthy Jalen Phillips and Bradley Chubb. Chopp is now pro ready and ready to be a freaking monster this year. Grayson Murphy coming back, Mo Kamara may be ready to contribute next year. I think one of those two guys will give you positive play in twenty twenty five. It's just kind of how I feel about the law of averages and two guys whose tapes

I liked. We're talking about adding two starters, quality starters at that point in place of Ogba and Tyas Bowser. I think that you've successfully achieved all those things at linebacker. So much better, Probably the biggest upgrade on the entire roster, maybe the best linebacker room in the league. It was better before wille Gay got here. Now you just added a quality starter on top of that. Tindall bumps back to maybe a fringe roster guy. I mean, you're four

deep here. I love this position group. At cornerback it's worse. You have to find a Kendall Fuller. I imagine we're looking at a pretty high draft pick here. I think Judaea Barron from Texas is an instant starter. I think Savon Revel from ECU is an instant starter. I think Will Johnson would be in that category as well. But I am worried about hoping it's one of the incumbents taking that number two job. I don't trust the idea of like let's just see what happens with Cam Smith,

Storm Duck and Ethan Bonner. It just it has to improve upon that. You can't go into the draft or into the training camp with that philosophy. At safety, it's better now. Not that I think that we're great there or that it's set, but that was the worst say you play in the entire NFL last year. Names aside I think Jordan Poyer was legit one of the worst players in football. I lost track of all the missed assignments and miss tackles by Javon Holland, so you know,

there was one splash play all year long. So I think we're better at safety, even though it's not. It's kind of like the the quarterback room. It's like, yeah, it was more of an indictment on the twenty twenty four, so there's still weren't to be done. What it means for the draft, I think you could be looking at a double dip at defensive tackle, possibly unless Kalais comes back,

which is still very much a possibility. Cornerback I think early makes a ton of sense here, and we'll see it depends if they feel the same way I do about Cam and Duck and Bond of those guys. I think linebacker is off the board entirely now. I think offensive line will be a draft pick somewhere in the first four rounds. What that means for me in my short list for pick number thirteen, I'm down to I

think four guys right now. I really just don't see offensive line providing the value in the first round because of what I think will be on the board, and but I think we'll be on the board otherwise outside of the offensive line. So I've basically got down to four guys right now. You guys know how I feel about Tyler Warren. I think that he is the cream of the crop in the class. I think he's a guy that is a force multiplier that changes all three elements of your offense if you get him, I would

take him there if he's there. Johnny Barron from Texas is a Brian Branch clone, and I think if you READID the draft back in twenty twenty one, Brian Branch would go in the top fifteen much like Kyle Hamilton did. He can play in your slot. I think he's going to play outside. I think he can be part of your two safety packages and split field and be able to rob and do multiple things as a pass rusher. I like his game a heck of a lot. I

think he'll be gone by pick thirteen. Kenneth Grant is a three down Dexter Lawrence clone in my opinion, with great hustle and athletic ability. At three hundred and forty possibly three hundred and fifty pounds. I think that if you just drop him into this defense, you're pretty much

done in the front seven. And then Malachi Starks. I do think there was a bit of draft like fatigue with him where everyone got critical of his game after things, you know, after a junior season that was really good, and then by his senior year or maybe I'm talking about sophomore in junior year, but he just kind of got like draft fatigue by people, and here's this great player who should go off the board, the top fifteen picks that could be there for you.

like CJ. West and Jamari Caldwell. On Day three, I'm going to be doing a whole bunch of these, you know, talking about the defensive tackle position, you know, the position of need and the group of players that are going to be available in the draft, but talking about the sense of a needs based draft, Like right now, it's defensive tackle, cornerback, O line and safety right. And so with your first four picks, you know, here's four options

for you. Kenneth Grant, Savon Ravel the cornerback from ECU, Lathan Ransom, the Ohio State safety, a kind of intimidator, a patrol on defense in the middle of the field, a big hitter, and then Jackson Slater, the Sacramento State guard who fits the offensive system quite well. Option two Johnny Barron from Texas the do it all slot corner safety combination. Alfred Collins the defensive tackle from Texas who I think is a Kalayis Campbell potential fit at the

next level. And then Zach or Miles Frasier I should say, the offensive line from from LSU in the third round. And then Billy Bowman, the safety from Oklahoma who can play some cornerback as well as your fourth round pick. Or you go Malachi Starks to get the safety off the board early. Gray's Abel your flex left guard there who can play all three interior spots. In the second round. He's a Day one starter at left guard in my opinion.

Jacob Perish, the cornerback from Kansas State who can be your slot guy as well, who can play all three spots and then C. J. West the defensive tackle on the back end, or maybe in the first round you go with Will Campbell, the LSU guy that falls to the to the to the pick to pick thirteen, nick Eman Worry, the safety from NC State, maybe he falls to pick forty eight, and then you come back with Darius Alexander, the defend to tackle from Toledo, and Kobe Bryant,

a very good cover corner who doesn't tackle all that well, in the fourth round at cornerback. So that's some possible options there that I like, and that leads me before the draft the free agent recap here with the following color coordination board.

whatever it might be. So Blue, green, orange, purple, pink, red, black, good okay quarterback to a Tungueoai low a cornerstone player for me, Blue quarterback I don't think you're gonna upgrade on him unless you trade for Josh Allen, Patrick mahomes Lamar Jackson, and if those guys are available, great, go do it. I have Zach Wilson as replacement level. I do think there's potential to go higher than that. We haven't seen it so right now, he's a pink player

at running back. I have Devon ah Chan in the Green category plus starter. I have Jaln Wright in the Orange category as a quality starter. I think that's a projection. I think he'll it is a projection. I think he's gonna have a good year and kind of get himself in the good graces. I have Madison as a pink replacement player, and then ingold is depth and special teams because it's kind of what the fullback is right. I still have two cornerstone wide receivers despite what happened last year,

Tyreek Hill Angelen Waddle both are blue players. I have Nick Westbrook, a Knean orange player, as a quality starter. And then I have two quality depth guys I'm a League Washington and d S Gridge. I have a replacement or rather a camp body and Eric Azukama and then Taj Washington and Tarique Black are both in the black category unknown At tight end, I have John hus Smith in the green category as a plus starter my tight end,

Pharaoh Brown is quality depth. In the purple category, Julian Hill is replacement level, and then Tanner O'Connor and Hayden Rouchie are both camp bodies. At tackle, I have Patrick Paul as a quality star. I think he's gonna make that jump this year and be a good player for you. I have Austin Jackson as a plus starter in the green category, and then Keon Smith is black because I don't know, you know where he's gonna wind up with

the injuries. And then I have Braden Daniels, Jackson Carmen and Ryan Hayes in the red camp body category, and then Armstead is just an unknown hanging out there still on defense. On the defensive line, I have Zach Seeler as a blue player, a cornerstone player. I have Benito Jones as quality depth, and then Matthew Dickerson and Neil Ferrell as red camp bodies. Off the edge, I have two plus starters in Jalen Phillips and Chop Robinson. I knocked Bradley Chubb down to the orange category as the

quality starter. We'll see what he looks like coming off the injury. And I have four players that are in the purple category for quality depth, Quentin Bell, Mo Kamara, Cam Good and Grayson Murphy, and then William Bradley King is in the red camp body category. At linebackers green two players Jordan Brooks and Willie Gay Jr. I have Tyrrel Dotson as a quality starter in the orange category. kJ Britt is purple quality depth, and then two red

players and Chang Tyndall and Dakwan Jackson. At cornerback, Ramsey still a cornerstone player for me.

Dolphins dot Com. Until next time, fins Up, Carolina, Cameron Daddy, He's coming home.