Drive Time: Previewing the Defensive Backs, Walk and Talk with Kader Kohou

just two days away. Plus we'll hear from Dolphins standout rookie in twenty twenty two, entering his sophomore year, cater Co Who all of that more from the Baptist Health Training Complex or the Baptist Health Studios inside the Baptist Health Training Complex. This is the Drive Time podcast.

number two. Have you had a chance to kind of like look back and reflect on where you've been this last year?

and the specialists. And we're gonna go ahead and conclude the back end of the defense here with the defensive backs. And we start with the guy we just talked to you, number four, Cater Koho. You guys know what I think of Cater Cooho's game. And now he's wearing the number that I wore my entire childhood all the way up through college, between baseball and basketball twenty five combined seasons,

number four, which makes me like it even more. He was the sixth best tackler against the screen among corners when it comes to volume, twenty eight runs twenty eight plays that were defensive wins against. I guess it's not just runs, it's against total stops. But you get the idea.

He was six among all corners in that category. And it wasn't just how he got ball carriers to the ground, which is great, but he always found a way to just read out those screens like it showed to me his film study and preparation for understanding what pre snap alignments and what formations and what motions most often lent themselves to screenplays because he was always playing faster than the guy's reacting in front of him, and that helps him to go blow up a block and create the

chance for somebody else to have a free run at the ballcarrier. So if he's not making the play himself, he's usually helping somebody else make the play on the perimeter. He showed exceptional man coverage skills, change of direction, The way he played that underneath trail technique was so impressive all year. It did kind of, you know, spurn some penalties, which is one area of his game he can clean up.

He talked about that in the interview. But aside from that, I don't know what you look at in this guy's game that doesn't have you pumped up, because he kind of reminds me of Zach Seeler. You know now that Zach is kind of getting that shine that he deserved for a couple of years in that I'm not so sure how many folks around the league are familiar with just how good he was as a rookie. He was really really good last year coming into camp, you know,

a udfa just trying to make the team. But how would that banged up cornerback room have looked last year if we didn't have Coohu playing at the level he played at seven hundred and eighteen yards allowed on six hundred and thirty coverage snaps, playing all over the formation, going from Texas A and M Commerce to you know, Stefan Diggs like it's a major jump in competition. He did not back down from it at all. You'll hear this in the Walk and talker. You did hear it

in the Walk and talk. The penalties is the one area that he can help clean up. Besides that, have to just be thrilled about where he is in his game right now. I think he's going to be a staple in the secondary for a long time. Speaking of Staples, number five, Jalen Ramsey the only cornerback in the NFL for PFF to get a top ten grade each the last three seasons, and frankly, I think calling him a

cornerback is short changing his impact. He's played star, he's played the post, He's played down on the last scrimmage, buck, linebacker, slot perimeter, you name him. He can do anything on a football field. He's one of the smartest players you'll ever see. We had Jordan Rodrigan when we acquired Jalen. She talked about how it's important to challenge him and to make him feel engaged and have him be a part of the defensive install I think that's what Vic

Fangio is going to do to a tea here. I think having him Javon Holland and Xavier and Howard, who understand passing attacks and route concepts and quarterback process and kind of the things they're looking for, as well as any defensive back not just on the team but in the game, makes this a dangerous as hell secondary to try to throw against. I cannot wait to see how they deploy Ramsey week to week. This is the best possible new shiny toy for coach Fangio and the one

that he could have gotten. The numbers are absurd. It's across the board. Like we've talked about corners and tackling in this defense, and Coho's twenty eight run stops well, Ramsey had twenty seven. Last year he had twenty six and twenty twenty one. He also has eight picks in that time span two years combined, he's got seventy two

career pass breakups with twenty picks. He never really blitzed until he got to Los Angeles, but over those three years, fifty seven rush attempts and seventeen pressures with a couple of sacks in there as well. We know he's one of the premier shutdown corners or dbs and can match up on Travis Kelce or you know, Christian McAffrey if he has to. I talked about being around one yard

per coverage snap allowed as being good. Well, when you factor in his entire career, which usually rookies have a bit of a learning curve or you know whatever, a new team, maybe forty six hundred career coverage snap for Jayalen Ramsey. He's allowed forty seven hundred yards, like, barely over one yard per snap, fifty eight percent receptions allowed, nearly as many picks as touchdowns twenty six to twenty. Just crazy to get Tyreek one year and then Jalen

the next. Sure is fun, isn't it. Number six Trill Williams. Back to my point about the depth of the roster offering so much upside. Trill was having an awesome camp last year before his injury. Long physical player. He's got really good man coverage skill sets where he would just get on top of the receiver at Syracuse and smother them and work back down the stem too. He's got to be itching to get back out there on the football field because he was again having a great camp

before he got hurt. High upside player and I really hope he comes back healthy and gets that chance to make an impact this year. We are just what five players in or four players in, and you already have like three guys that have been awesome at this level. Number eight Javon Holland. People around the league buzz about

this guy, and it's so easy to see why. I think the best thing you can say about a safety is that he can hold down his rules on a given snap but then also create outside of structure to go find the ball. And to me, that's Holland's calling card.

We praise Christian Wilkins, and we'll do it on tomorrow's episode for doing just that but for a safety, you know, for Christian that results in more TFLs and more stuff at the last scrimmage for Javon Holland to peel off of his man in coverage or floating outside of his zone because he recognizes what's going on in the backside of the formation. You go back to Oregon, his tape was littered with plays like that where he comes off his respect onsibility and makes a play on the football

and it changes the game that way. Hit a pick six against the Cougars in a game against Washington State a few years back that basically won the game for them, and I still haven't forgiven him for that. One of the more cerebrally sound, instinctive players I've seen since I got here, really since I've been watching this game in league for you know, so intently for the last twenty five years. He can play in the post, he can have around the line of scrimmage, he can match up inside.

He's kind of like Ramsey in that way. He splits one hundred and two times in his career twenty five pressures. I think twenty five percent is pretty damn good. Twenty eight run stops even from that post position so frequently last year. Remember that spy rep he had in Buffalo bringing Josh Allen down to the ground an open space on third down, backed up in their own zone or their own end. I should say big plays just happened when Number eight's involved. He also picked them off in

the playoffs. Pro Football Focus has him with the same number of touchdowns allowed as picks in his career five apiece. Frankly, I don't think the numbers do is tape justice. I think he's one of the best players in the game today. Number nine, Noah igbinoghany. I feel like Noah has really been on the cut for a while here where he's

showing flashes, just hasn't quite put it all together. I think that the awareness and instincts and understanding when you know your rules are this, but the play went differently, So go, you know, match that guy and don't just cover grass. That's kind of the next step for him. But I mean, he clinched a win for the Dolphins last year with that pick against Pittsburgh. Maybe we don't

make the postseason without that play. Has the physical tools, just kind of has to put together from the mental side of things and he's still just twenty three years old. I'm excited to get a chance to watch him here in camp with a clean slate. Let's go ahead and take our last break right there and come back on the other side and do the rest of the room. That's next Draft Time Podcast, your host, Travis Wingfield, brought to you by Bouto Nation, Continuing here on the Defensive

Back Preview edition of the training camp preview series. Here in twenty twenty three on the Draft Time Podcast, and we start in the twenties here with number twenty, Justin Bethel, who just kept making plays last year when called upon with all those defensive back injuries. Then he'd turn around and go, you know, cover a punt and down it at the four yard line. I having Justin Bethel here is just, like I'd say, a comforting feeling. You know

you're getting special teams production from him. He's proven that he's a quality depth piece in the defensive backfield as well. One hundred and two coverage snaps were his most since twenty seventeen with the Cardinals, and teams were just twelve of twenty with one hundred and seven yards and touchdown and a pick. Targeting him. It's a seventy point two passer rating. Every time he came off the bench and stepped into the game, he made plays like it was.

It was fun to watch. Number twenty one Deshaun Elliott. I'm sure you've all seen the walk and talk by now. An absolute character for the locker room. Witty as hell, funny as all get out. He's got jokes on top of jokes, but once the whistle sounds, it becomes all business. He plays the game the way you want to see it. I was a Reds fan. My buddy Kevin Dermill appreciate this. I was a Reds fan when Griffy got traded there

and they had a player named Ryan Friel. He was like a utility player that got a lot of playing time because injuries happened, and he just kind of plugged into every spot. And he would like do the Derek Jeter full on sprint into the wall and jump into the stands and make a diving catch. It's kind of how sewn Elliott plays the game. Pedal to the floor at all times. Have you seen his force fumble when

he was went with Baltimore on Derrick Henry. Yeah, the two hundred and fifty pound Derek Henry who got decleted by a two hundred and ten pound Deshaun Elliott. It tells you about the force and the conviction he plays

the game with. What's best is I think he's kind of a blend in terms of play style between both Javon and Brandon Jones and gives you tons of flexibility within those big nickel packages three safety looks on defense, and I love the idea of going into super heavy dB packages, you know, dime, half dollar dollar six, seven eight defensive backs and putting guys like Javon and Deshaun and then you know, Jalen Ramsey and Cater Coohu at the sticks and saying, all right, it's third and nineteen.

We're gonna unleash, fill up some chubb and ogbad Wilkins at you. And then if you can complete a past, you know, ten yards down the field, now you have to break the tackle of four of the best tackling defensive backs of the National Football League. Just put up a wall and don't let him get past it there and get off the field. On third long. He made twenty run stops last year on three hundred and twenty one run defensive plays, playing them majority of his snaps

in the post. It was pretty evenly split, but majority means the most three sixty four versus two seventy nine post in box. Teams have a passer rating of eighty nine point three been targeting him in his career and he's got twenty one pressures on one hundred and three pass rush rips. Like Deshaun Elliott's game a lot number twenty two. Elijah Campbell another good tackler with special team's

pelts on the wall. Got some action last year in the back half of the year with all the injuries and had some ups and downs, but there's some good defensive tape there, the way he plays screens and kind of impacts passing lanth windows in the short passing game. It's a tough secondary to crack. But I do think that Elijah Campbell is gonna have a job somewhere, whether

it's here or somewhere else. Like it's such a deep room, but I don't think he'd have trouble finding work if he was like the last man out of the room, because there's a physical skill set where teams need guys like him with a length and explosiveness he has down there, a thumper with good change of direction, which I think shows up the most on his special teams tape. PFF had him with three hundred and ten special team snaps last year. It's a core guy for you, twenty four

Camp Smith. I feel I feel as though it's getting ridiculous at this point in terms of the talent in this room. Cam Smith is a natural for the position. It fluid, easy glider with length that jumps off the practice field. When you watch him, like, you can just see like that guy looks different down there. I remember seeing him defend a hitchback in Ots against Jalen Waddle and it was just textbook inside hand. Jam got depth, stay on top of the route, recognized that you know

Waddle throttling down and drove on the play. Hits that back foot and makes a play on the football against one of the best receivers in the NFL. Last year, teams tried Smith thirty eight times and combined for just eighteen completions for a two hundred and eleven yards. We always say like seven and a half yards per attempt for a quarterback is pretty good. Eight is really good.

Seven needs to be better, So seven point five makes sense, right quarterbacks against camp Smith last year in college where there's even more space and you know, opportunity to get beat just five point five five five five five point five to five yards per attempt. Last year against cam Smith, he plays, you know, mix plays in the football, seven one of them compared to two touchdowns allowed. He had

six career picks in college. Plays with confidence and a bravado that Shane Biemer name drop told me comes from his preparation and work ethic heading into the game on Saturdays and now eventually Sundays, Number twenty five, Xavian Howard To do all this raving about the roster and before you even get to X seems a little bit crazy, but you guys know the deal. The longest tenured Dolphin All Pros, Pro Bowls, premier guys as he came into

the league in terms of taking the football away. He played through a couple of groin injuries last year that proved I thought his toughness and dedication to the team. Did you guys hear his episode of the Fish Tank. I just would love to see X get that postseason dub or maybe two or three or four. This year. He deserves it. Thirty career picks when you include the postseason, he is an all time Miami Dolphin number twenty seven. Key on crossing pressed into some duty last year on defense.

It wasn't always good, but I thought the special team's prowess was definitely his feather in the capre or four hundred and thirty five snaps on defense last year where a career high. He did at the second lowest passer rating aloud of his career, but I think a few too many penalties. That was ninety eight point one on special teams, two hundred and twenty nine snaps and eight combined tackles is pretty damn good. Number twenty nine Brandon Jones, I think his loss had a bigger impact than was

assumed by the general football cognacenti last year. His ability to disrupt the timing and the passing game as a rusher and hook zone dropper, and the flexibility he created for the defense I thought was sorely missed. Like he and Javon playing interchangeable roles really gave offense his fits. You know, Brandon produced a force fumble that led to our first touchdown of the year in that Patriots game.

Then in Week three, he didn't make the play, but I thought he had an impact on it because you know, he showed blitz against Buffalo backed up in their own end and they motioned to go pick him up, and that converts Jevon Holland to a one on one free rush off the end and he gets that force fumble that Miami converts into a touchdown a couple of plays players, So three games in he was a big part of two touchdowns scored. On defense. He's the most productive blitzing

safety and the NFL wings out there. Twenty eight career pressures in three seasons. That's one hundred and seventy nine pass rush reps. He did not surrender a touchdown las via PFF, and he had three pass breakups and a passer rating allowed just eighty nine point three. Makes a ton of run stops forty seven over his first three years. Number thirty two. Veron McKinley the third, just a football player.

Man like the athletic testing, is not going to jump off the page a U. But he found a way to find the football at Oregon, saw that playing time as a rookie last year and got that pick against

Houston as well. One of the best ballhawks in college football, though prior to that rookie season was in on thirteen tackles on two hundred and fifty two snaps, had two QB pressures, including a hit, and on teams were just one for three going after him in coverage because he played that post safety role when Javon wasn't back there, so almost all of his snaps in the deep post number thirty four ten o Ellis. He hasn't made his NFL debut yet. He came in undrafted with the Saints

back in twenty twenty. Before landing here, he went to the USFL with the Michigan Panthers and then returned with US at the start of last camp. He was a standout in Maryland, where he allowed just fifty three percent completion on one hundred and twenty career targets. Number thirty five at Williams, another organ duck in the secondary, he played seventeen one hundred and seventy two snaps in a five year career, first two with Illinois before going up

to Oregon last year. He had a monster year with twenty four run stops, two picks, and seventy two combined tackles. Number thirty six Kedrin Smith. I'm sure you've seen the pick the clip of him with a pick six against the number four pick in this year's draft, Anthony Richardson.

Back to the house for that fun Wildcats defense. Emery Hunt I think also mentioned him as a UDFA who he likes with a chance to crack the fifty three man roster six foot two, two hundred and one pounds, and there is a theme here man with physical good tacklers under coach Fangio PFF had him with the lowest missed tackle rate among corners in the SEC last year, just seven point two percent on top of seven career

picks and fifty five run stops. That was his first year in Kentucky, first four years in college at Old Miss, but twenty twenty two by far his best season. Number thirty eight Ethan Bonner might be the dark horse pick here if the team had a roster wide foot race four to four, which was ninety seven percentile among safeties in that metric, although he played cornerback and college or safety in college, going to play cornerback here scored a nine to two four a total rast that's ninety second

percentile of combined workouts. Again, Listen as a cornerback but played free safety at Stanford fits the position flexibility theme and the number forty Nick Needham. I cannot wait to see Nick get back on the field. I thought we really missed him last year, especially with all the injuries at that position. All Nick has done since coming up in twenty nineteen is exceed expectations. Really, his entire football career right outside is a rook check hey, move inside

to the slot, no problem. Just goes out there and matches up against the likes of Keenan Allen and Cooper Cup and Tyler Boyd that year and put some great numbers up doing that. In twenty twenty saw his rollo expand to more various roles, including a game at free safety that year in twenty twenty one when Javon Holland was on covid IR for a week. Just does a little bit of everything. He's good in zone, good and man, sound tackler, and can play on teams. And the number

forty two. Bryce Thompson, former Seattle Seed Dragon, after going undrafted to the Saints in twenty twenty one, made his NFL day against us. That you're that Monday night football game in New Orleans. Left the XFL back and made a sign here. I think it was the last day of practice at OTA's snagging a pick to close out spring works. That's your defensive back room. We have one more preview to go. Plus we might have some media vels on tomorrow's podcast. I'll keep you all posted on that,

but in the meantime, that's gonna be my time. You all please be sure to subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, leave us a rating and leave us a review. You can follow me on Twitter at linkol NFL. Follow the team at Miami Dolphins. Check out the fish Tank podcast with Seth and Juice. Check out our YouTube channel for media availabilities and Dolphins Today, and last but not least, Miami Dolphins dot Com.