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From the Baptist Health Studios inside the Baptist Health Training Complex. This is Drivetime with Travis Wingfield. He's my avands in the playoffs. What is up Dolphins? And welcome to the Drive Time Podcast. I am your host, Travis Wingfield. And on today's show, we began the interviews with your Miami Dolphins free agentc We kick it off with tight end John Newsmith. We'll talk to John who we'll talk about
his game on the field. We'll also talk to Justin Felder who covered him in Atlanta to get to know the person a little bit more. From the Baptist Health Studios inside the Baptist Health Training Complex. This is the Drive Time Podcast us new Dolphins tight end John new Smith joining us now new Dolphins tight end John new Smith, Johnny, welcome in. How is Miami treating you so far?
Man? Awesome?
This is uh, this is home and I'm getting that that home field kind of love you know everywhere.
Man.
So I'm excited to be here, excited to be a Dolphin. Can't wait to get the work.
You're back right. You grew up in Okala, went to FIU I'm always curious because, like I'm kind of new to the area as well. People always say, like you live in Florida. It's like, I live in South Florida. So can you help us describe the difference between Central Florida and South Florida.
Big difference those two different states, and need to split those states, man, Like from the culture to the food, to the you know, the way it looks everything. It is literally two different states, man. You know Central Florida and South Florida. Central Florida, it could you know, it could look like the middle of Alabama, you know what I mean, or you know, Texas or something like that.
You know, South Florida you kind of getting more city fields, you know what I mean with Miami and you know Boca and you know you kind of get you know, more of that vibe man. And uh, you know, so, guy's gotta you know, God, when gods get here, man, they got to learn quick that.
You know, those are those are two.
Different places, a little more glitting glamor down here.
Yeah, man, it's like a who's who?
That's right, go to a heat game and see all the stars in the sidelines down there. Let's go ahead and get some football here and talk about the offense you're joining here. Because this offense, this coach has had a lot of success with tight ends in the past. Everyone knows about Kittle and san Franz Derm Smith had career highs across the board last year. How do you think your skills fit into this Dolphins offense?
I think it's a match made man. It's uh.
You know, first off, let me beyond excited to be an offense. You know that was number one leave through the entire season, that shuit. So to be able to bring a little bit more versatility to that side of the ball, a little bit more explosiveness, and just being the dynamic player that I am. You know, I'm excited about the light and the limits that we could reach, man, because honestly, I think the sky's the limit, you know
what I mean. So to be able to come in here and be another explosive addition to this offense, you know, I think we're going to reach you know a lot of a lot of great places.
You mentioned versatility, So I've I've heard people compare like receiver lineups or eligibles to basketball teams. You got your speedy guard, your shooters. You're big man in the middle, right, do you view receivers in that same vein and kind of a fall up to that? Do you think that your play style really compliments what Tyreek and will do on the outside.
Yeah?
Man, you know, I consider myself a speed guy. I mean, I mean, you got to, man, you know, putting up twenty one miles an hour, you know at two hundred you know, forty five fifty pounds, you know what I mean. You know, that's that's that's no easy, no easy tax for a big god that is considered a big guy.
Man.
But you know, obviously, you know, with speed all over the field, not even not only those guys, but guys coming out of the backfield, you know what I mean. And you know that's that's going to give defenses problems.
Man.
So we got to continue to put all our heads together, be selfless, you know what I mean, you know, going out there playing for one another, and we'll get to where we want to go.
Good six guys, last, you're in the top ten of next Gen's fastest ball carriers the NFL. You can get on that list to sure, you think, I mean.
I got to the pressure on you know, I'm in a room.
You know, you you run fast with fast guys, man, so you know that's uh, you know, those guys will be pushing me out there in practice every day, and uh, you know, I'm it's funny now because I'll be considered one of the slow ones out of those out of this group.
Man. So I'm gonna be uh working my butt off every day. Man.
You know, make sure that we're in the best position go win ourselves, you know, championship.
I think you'll be all right with the size difference kind of helps you out in that regard. A little bit to the size speed combinations is pretty good, so you'll be all right right there. So one of the things that stands out speaking of size and speed is you run after the catch ability. Your stats jump off the page, jumps off the film. What makes that part of your game so successful in this offense that really prides itself on run after the catch.
Yeah, it's just something that you know, I've kind of hung I had on my whole career in football. A lot of guys, you know, coming out of high school, you know, I was considered undersize and kind of smaller than you know, what typical you know, college scouts were looking forward, you know what I mean. So you know I always said, okay, well I'm gonna give you an element of the game that you know, you can't turn down. And obviously everybody didn't take a chance on me coming out of high school.
But it was only one fyu and.
Uh, you know, I got so much love and respect for that, for that uh, for that school man, that that that university, because of just what it did for me, not only as a football player but as a man, you know, taking a chance on me and allow me to realize, like, yo, it doesn't matter, you know, where the opportunity is you as long as you get that opportunity,
take advantage of it. And I kind of always just had a trip on my shoulder, man, So my run after the catch ability is a lot of it's a lot of things few behind that, you know what I mean.
And you know.
That's just kind of what I hung my head on, like I said, my whole career and being able to make guys missing space, being able to you know, bring some momentum, you know, you know when you make plays man, and you catch a ball, you know, two three yards in the flat and able to make two three guys miss and go get a first down.
Man.
That brings a lot of energy in juice to the sideline and I guess the other guys rolling.
You know this This game is the game of momentum. I'm a big believer in that.
You know, I've been around for going on eight years now, so I've seen a lot of football, man, and to be able to bring that momentum to this offense, it's exciting.
Think you might get some of those chances off the wide zone play action they run here and south for it kind of fits you pretty well right there. Speaking of that, head coach Mike McDaniel designs this offense and Moe ranked offense in the NFL with his coaching staff. Obviously, you mentioned hard Knocks kind of being a bit of a selling point to you on your media availability. But I'm curious about actually meeting coach because that's you know,
TV and you see the edited version of it. I love hearing first impression stories of head coach Mike McDaniel. What was your first impression when you.
Met coach Listen Man?
When I when I first saw him, you know, I didn't know if he was a professor a college professor, you know what I mean, something alone that sort. But when I heard him speak, I was like, yo, just do those stuff, you know what I mean. I heard him talk and I saw him coach and seeing him, you know, get along with his players, and I'm like.
I'm special about this dude. Man, you know what I mean.
You know, you may you know, catch you at first, go out of his appearance, man, But he loves the game. He knows the game, and you know, he's a guy that takes care of his players. And I got so much respect for coaches that understand, like, you know, at the end of the day, you know, your your career, so to say, in some way, shape or form, is in the palms of their hands, you know what I mean. And for him to understand that and recognize that and want the best for the players, man, you can't. It's
ready to find that. So I'm happy to be here, man, and it's extremely excited the coach, Mike McDaniel, wouldn't want to be anywhere else and just ready to get to it.
New head coach, new quarterback. You've talked about a little bit already your media availability, but I want to hear your perspective on what you've seen from watching two a tongue of level from Afar. I know you haven't had a chance to meet with him yet, but just watching him on tape, watching him play, what have you seen from the Dolphins quarterback?
I alluded to this earlier.
Man, I've been watching tour a benefit of his game since his Alabama days. I'm seeing him, you know, make plays in big time games, you know what I mean, And you know, coming in and stepping in, you know when you know things wasn't going right for his team, and you know, just you know, just having that poison since a young kid, man so had a lot of respect for his game. I think he's one of the most accurate, if not the most accurate quarterback in the NFL.
You know, I've saw it on film. I think this guy can make any throw in the field. You know, I think, uh, you know, obviously me coming into this offense will you know, even make things easier for him.
And you know, I'm excited to play with them. Man, a guy like that catching.
Passes from him, you know, it's you know, it's also gonna make my job a lot easier.
So in doing some research on your background, Johnny saw that you have four children, three boys, one girl, and you know, father of two myself, and so I always say that, you know, being a father has made me a vastly better human being. So I'm curious to ask you that question. What have your children done to make you a better father and a better person?
Just told me patience, man, I think that's the number one thing that h You know, my my, my babies, man, have provided me with life. You know, God has blessed me with four amazing babies. Thankful each and every one of them, you know. And I would say that, you know, just patience and appreciation, you know what I mean, the things that you know we may get stressed out about at times. You look at them and you know, you walk through those doors and his daddy, Daddy, daddy, and you're like.
You know, my problems, ain't that big man? You know what I mean?
Like I get to come home and enjoy this and you know they're just grateful with you know, seeing it, Dad, you know what I mean.
So you know those kids many, man, you.
Know, so special beyond you know, special for me in a place where you know it's a lot going on in my NFL career and a lot going on, and you know the career that I have, but you know, to be able to come home with those kids and you know.
They don't even care about that. Man, you know what I mean, it means the world to me.
When you're losing the field, you win every time you get home. It's always a win when you walk through those doors. Johnny Smith brand New Dolphins tied to appreciate your time today. Man, can't wait to watch you spike the ball means on across the street.
Over there and maybe do a backflip. You know what I mean. We'll see you think. Yeah, we gotta put it.
To the test, put it to the Thanks. I appreciate it.
I appreciate you.
One down, several more to go on the player interviews. One thing to those about these guys really across the board so far and meeting them is like soft spoken but a certain level of confidence and football intelligence that comes across when you talk to these guys. I think that's going to be a theme you kind of pick up throughout the course of this free agent class. So
great stuff there. Let's go ahead and take our first break, come back on the other side and talk a little bit about John news Smith's game, what he can bring to the Dolphins that and we'll also talk to Justin Felder to get to know John new Smith even more. That's all next Draft Time podcast, your host Travis Wingfield,
brought to you by Auto Nation. We talked about John Newsmith's game on the podcast last week a little bit, but I want to go a little more in depth here, having a chance to go back and watch through some of his tape with not just the Falcons, but also
the Titans and even the Patriots. I got that backwards the Falcons, the Patriots, and even a little bit of the Titans where his game really materialized to begin his career as he was kind of paired there with Delaney Walker, if you guys might remember that name the Tantasey Titans.
He was kind of the second tight end and their two tight end packages and they ran lots of that, and I think that John who was one of those guys when you watch that tape, when you watch the Patriots tape as well, because they signed Hunter Henry that year and almost kind of wanted to recreate their you know, their Gronkowski and Hernandez package pre everything that happened with Aaron Hernandez, but they were electric through a personnel package that wasn't all that common or at all common in
the National Football League back in those days, and they brought in both of those players. And I think that when you look at how the Titans used him and how the Patriots maybe envisioned using him, but it didn't work out that way because the Patriots offense since Brady left has been absolutely atrocious, right, But I think the vision for that was one one like souped up receiver type of tight end, and then a guy that is also that but gives you a little bit in terms
of his inline game. And I don't think John Who's gonna line up at the why frequently and go knock you know, defensive ends off the football. That's not his game. But he does give you the flexibility in the sense that he can hit those split flow blocks. He can you know, set an edge and hold the edge and wall that thing off or your sea gap runs in this outside zone system. He can help and chip in
pass protection. But typically in the passing game, you're gonna want him out in your routes because of his ability to exploit matchups because of his ability to just understand and have feel for soft spots, Like I don't think you envision John Who as a tight end per se. I think he's kind of just an eligible and that's a seamless transition between receiver tight end and multiple things that he can do. I think something else that he does is you can put him out in the screen game.
You know your trips, package, your stacks, and your bunches, and you can either throw him the ball from those looks.
But also now, because we know the Dolphins receivers as try hard and as much effort and will as they have as blockers, they're small guys, right, And so if I have a one hundred and ninety pound receiver at the point of my stay compared to a two hundred and fifty pound tight end at the point in my stack, who do you think has a better chance to execute a block on a two hundred pound cornerback, someone who's giving up weight to that guy, or somebody that has
fifty pounds on that guy. And it works because you can stand up and throw him the football and he can be the one that makes guys miss, whether it's with power or speed, A stiff arm or a cutback. Like he's elusive and strong, and that's really the genesis of his entire game is the combination of speed and strength with physicality, and it shows up in short yardage situations whether you're throwing him the football or asking him to do some blocking. Again, it's not it's not gonna
be who can I think of here? It was Anthony Fossano a good example. I mean, Julian Hill is a guy that pretty much just blocked last year. Right, It's not that it's not gonna be that, But I think that he gives you enough to where you can show those looks and create certain looks as a counter because of what he offers in that realm, if that makes sense. But man, when I watch him run his routes, that that's really where I get the most I guess glee out of this signing because he really has a knack
for attacking leverage. And you'll see all the time, like teams will cover players like this with different types of looks and structures, and you know principles for their defense. Like sometimes you'll see an Eric Rowe type come down and try to stab him with his arm right the jab stam and get that stab in there to reroute and try to force the timing of the route to get impacted. But he doesn't let that happen. Man, He's
got the strong armswipe. He has the quick feet to kind of make that target a moving target, so to speak, and to get off those presses and reroutes and then from there, Like this team almost never ran mesh last year, and like Kyle Krabs and I are like, hey, run more mesh. Mesh is simply when you have two crossing routes from either side of the field to go over the middle of the football field and it naturally rubs and picks linebackers, and you can do that against man
coverage and spring some leaks. I think that John hu Smith gives you a really good option for a guy that can do that because you can sell run game action. But also, no, I'm not going to the second level to pick off a linebacker in a run block. I'm going up there to run a route and probably rub him with you know, waddle or Tyreek coming back the other direction on that mesh. Look, we'll go ahead and throw a spot throw in there and try to get
a big run after the catch. Because of what Johnny Smith offered from his pre snap alignment, his pre snap look, his physicality at the release, his physicality and ability to understand, you know, how to attack the certain zones and looks of defenses because he understands, Oh, they're in zone, there's my you know, there's my hook defender. I know his landmark drop. I'm gonna run my route to that spot to set that pick. Oh that's a man coverage.
Look.
I know how to you know, basically rub this run this rub that doesn't trip up my receiver, doesn't get me flag, it's a legal play. He just has those veteran, nuanced, savvy types of things about him to his game. And again, the functional strength that you see in the rerouting, the ability to run this the you know, those different types of spot routes and get off press. It shows up very, very frequently in his ability to run with the football
after the catch. He's so strong and so thick around the ways that he's tough to bring down and you see guys just bounce off of him. So I think that he can show the quarterback his numbers. I think he gives you a he makes your checkdown options more attractive for a quarterback that maybe last year didn't throw a checkdown enough, because now you can say, hey to like, it's not going to be a four yard gain. It might be a couple times, but a few times he'll
break it for a big gainer. So I think that that kind of security blanket almost the versatility of his game. I believe that you kind of have, you know, John who's kind of the receiving guy of the two tight ends. When you think about him and Durham smyth, it opens up some twelve personnel packages for more flexibility. But I just love, I love, love, love what it does for the screen game, not just for the blocking aspect, but for what he can do catching the football and making
plays with it in his hands. So I think that this is a really good fit. I think that John Embry kind of as his man here. I think that is the same case for Mike McDaniel. I go back to the Greg Olsen comments on the Dallas Cowboys game, when he called that game with Kevin Burkhart back on Christmas even how impressed he said that he was by Mike McDaniel and meeting him and those coaches production meetings, and when he introduced himself to McDaniel saying, I love
your offense, but man, where's the tight end at? And Mike said that's coming in year three? I think that John Who's that guy?
Man?
He was a guy that I highlighted when he got released from the Falcons, A guy that I've always been a fan of, going back to the Titans and Patriots days. I just really think highly of him and think that it's going to be a good fit here. And he's a bit of a curveball compared to what you have with Reek and Waddle, and it's going to help you in your perimeter blocking game. I mean, this guy, can you know? We have so many running players that go
outside wide. It's been basically you know, three hundred and ten pound offensive lineman out there or one hundred and ninety pound wide receivers. Now we have a guy that can get out in space and do some of that stuff at two fifty with you know, agility and power in the blocking game for not just the screen game, but for the wide running game as well. So A big fan of this acquisition. If I had to stack the stack the free agents in order of how impactful I think they will be I would put John Who
right there at the top him. Him and Jordan Brooks are probably my top two so far. Those guys in Aaron Brewer I think will be your three most productives, but I would say John Who has a case as
number one. And my whole thing here is that I think that this Dolphins offense should focus on just being the top offense in the NFL and whatever happens defensively, like makes the difference between how deep you can go in the playoffs, for sure, But I think that if you have the top offense in the NFL, you're a playoff team. You're gonna get int the plaoffs. Go back and look at top ten offenses from the last ten years. All those teams typically make the playoffs. You do it
defensively not the case. So I've always been a proponent of putting your eggs in the offensive basket, and I think John Us Smith be the first guy that Dolphins acquired and not hurting them in the camp formula. All of those things comprehensively made this a great decision, a great fit, and I think that he's gonna have a big impact in his first year for the mmy Dolphins. So John h.
Smith.
We've heard from him, we've analyzed his game. Let's go ahead and take our last break right there. Come back on the other side, and I'm going to talk to a person that covered John hus Smith in Atlanta. That's all next Draft Time Podcast to your host, Travis Wingfield, brought to you by Auto Nation. We are joined now by a sports reporter for Fox five Sports in Atlanta, Justin Felder. Justin, Welcome into the Draft Time Podcast.
Travis.
Appreciate you having me.
Very happy to have you on here and appreciate you taking some time today for us and to help us get to know our new tight end a little bit better here in John hus Smith. And I'll start with this. I'm curious about his locker room presence, you know, the weight that his voice carries with teammates, because for a guy to go into his eighth season pretty rare for the average careers about three three and a half years. So year number eight for John Hue Smith, I have
to imagine he's learned a few things about leadership. But I'm curious how you would describe his locker room presence and the weight that his voice carried among his teammates.
You know, it's kind of interesting, Travis.
I remember one of our first sit downs with John Ou and it probably happened in every interview he did after signing with the Falcons, people said leadership and talked about a lot of young guys in the room and how's he going to lead? And I remember him saying several versions of you know, I just got here, guys. But he really did seem to slide into that leadership role right away.
I mean, he was a veteran, you know, having played in Tennessee, which was specifically of interest to a.
Lot of folks because he played for Arthur Smith when he was an assistant there, the former Falcons coach, then of course going on to the Patriots as well, but having so much experience on a relatively young roster you remember, of course, young quarterback, young running back, young tight end, wide receiver, the whole nine yards. He really was one of the more established guys, especially when the skill position players day one. So I think his voice definitely, you know, carried from the start.
He was a guy that that you know, you didn't.
Really see any guy's faces things like that on the sideline. When you look through our video that we got during games, but definitely somebody when you to his teammates would say that his leadership stood out, somebody that they could look to and would speak up when.
He Yeah, you touched on the young offense that Falcons had last year with you mentioned the quarterback, the tight end, the running back, the whole gauntlet. Really was a pretty young group there, and I kind of want to zero in on two spots there because obviously in that tight end room he had Kyle Pitts, who, you know, tight ends don't get drafted that high. Tight Ends don't run that way. Tight Ends don't look like Kyle Pitts do.
He's supposed to be, you know, one of those generational types of players, and maybe the stats haven't gone that way for him early on his career. I'm curious what you think the impact that John who had on Kyle Pits. And then also, you know for a young quarterback who they always say it's tight ends kind of security blanket for Desert Ritter, who didn't really work out for Desmond
in Atlanta. He's now with the Cardinals, But just curious about his impact on those two young players at his position, and then of course the most important position in the quarterback.
Yeah, well start with Kyle Pitts, and both of them talked Johndrew Smith and Kyle Pitts spoke very highly of each other from the start, and the reason was they both kind of have a little bit of a shit background, being from Philadelphia or the Philadelphia area, and it's funny you talk to either of them separately about the other guy, and they both would kind of joke about, well, I'm from the real Philadelphia, he is from a different part.
That just said that. They kind of went back and forth.
So they had a really strong relationship from the start, giving each other a hard time, but both of them said that they really hit it off from day one with a shared background, you know, coming up from history, which I guess part of that was given each other a hard time.
And having fun with it.
So it seemed like, you know, he had a really good impact on Kyle Pitts from everything we heard from Kyle, the way he spoke of him. And yeah, it was a tough season for Kyle Pitts, you know, having to deal with a bunch, so you can only having that calming presence in the tight end room could only be.
A benefit there.
And then as far as Desmond Ridder goes again, you know, Johonnay Smith put up career numbers really working with Desmond Ritter. It was an offense that you know, I think a lot of Falcons fans would say or if you watch this team didn't click on a lot of different levels. But I mean he had his most receiving yards of his career, did John U. Smith his most receptions in his career as targets. So one it spoke to take chempistry with Desert Ritter, but also the trust that Arthur had at so.
He was able to do a lot of different things.
Definitely seem to have a tempistry from day one with Desbon really produced in a way that I think a lot of folks outside of the Falcons building maybe weren't expecting And probably it's a big reason why that you know, the Dolphins took interest in him and he was able to further his career there.
Yeah, I think you talk about the production you had this year. I look at what he does like in the screen game for instance, like breaking off screenplays for
sixty yard touchdowns. Don't know many tit ends that can do that, and he looks like one of those guys that can is he did last year and you know, just not a chance to chat with John oh here recently for the podcast and he was on just before you came on the show here with us, and man, what an enlightening calming presence like that was the first thing that was just how kind of calm he was, which I think again from seven years experience of doing this right, the whole media car wash, the whole new
building now eventually in the no new teammates. But I'm curious if you guys in Atlanta, albeit for just one season, had a chance to notice that in the media availabilities and if not, what did you pick up from his mediavailabilities?
Yeah, calming, professional, and I would say honest.
Honest would be one of the words that would come to mind.
Again, you know, falcons high expectations last year didn't exactly go as planned.
And Johnny was one of those guys that.
Would really shoot you straight, you know, when things were not going well.
He was honest about it. He was the one that would say, you know, things need to change, we need to do this, this and this, this is what I'm not seeing.
He was one of those guys that we knew we could go to and hear what was really going on, not just we're going to go back to practice, go back to the drawing board, ticket one game at a time, which wow, true is not as insightful as we would hope to bring to Falcons fans. So he was a guy that I personally really appreciated just the honesty that he would bring. And the other thing you just talking to him. He is a calm guy, super nice. I'm sure you guys had an awesome conversation as well, but also.
Just kind of has that footballs.
You just talk to him and just hit his demeanor can be especially having those those tough, honest conversations after losses where you'd hear.
From him, just the toughness comes through that.
That shows you one why I'm sure teammates take him real seriously, and two I play for this long in the league just having that as well, that that seriousness, that toughness that you know, will we'll get his hands dirty, not just catching passes scoring touchdowns, but we'll do the dirty work.
So those were those were the things that kind of came across.
But he was he was certainly a guy that I know I'm not the only one in the media, but I'll speak for personally enjoyed talking to him because of the insight and the honesty he would give us something to team.
Yeah, we have a media Good Guy Award that we hand out here every year and it's given to the person that displays the best professionalism and colop operation with the media, and last year I believe was the most. We had the most players received votes of any year since they've been doing that, and it was tough to choose a winner. It sounds like John who might kind
of make that decision tough again this year. And it kind of jies with how the Dolphins build their locker room with guys that are you know, of that like minded mindset. There so really good stuff. Justin Felder Fox five Sports in Atlanta, you're the man, Justin, thank you again for your time. I really appreciate it.
Man, Hey, thanks for having me. Travis appreciate it.
And there he goes, and you know, like I do a lot of those interviews, and it's funny because, like, not all beat writers are bubbly, happy, go lucky people. In fact, I would say often it's the opposite. But every once in a while, you get a couple of guys, or I should say a guy like like a Justin Felder who is just top notch, elite, good dude, that's what he was there for us, so appreciate his time.
I want to go ahead and finish up here on the show by talking about some additional news that has come down over the last couple of hours here on this Thursday afternoon, and I'm probably gonna do the podcasters curse and record this ahead of the noon release on Friday for this podcast when I assume we're going to sign twelve more players, because hey, we signed three more guys reportedly on Thursday afternoon and you know ten free agents cap Opealypse right right, all that was a thing
right good call there. So Kendall Fuller is reportedly going to be joining the Miami Dolphins. And you talk about a top notch cover corner, a top notch veteran presence, a top notch versatile, positionless type of defender that can move about the formation, play inside, play outside. He was
a nickel defender in Kansas City. His entire career goes to Washington and the Alex Smith trade, believe or not, and They turned him into a perimeter cornerback who can kick inside, who can blitz, who can fit the run. And you probably saw a tweet out there the Dolphins signed Jordan Fuller, who allowed nine touchdowns last Yeah, it's Kyle Fuller. It's not Jordan Fuller. Like, my god, man,
what are we doing? What are we doing? Cap opolips right, got Kendall Fuller is a feisty playmaker who understands man and zone coverage, how to play leverage. You're gonna get a defense this year, guys, And I'm so excited about the makeup of what I'm seeing in the back end right now. The back seven. You swap out Jordan Brooks for Jerome Baker, a player who was all Ford all the time. Right, Jerome didn't really play backwards that often.
Jordan brook can play backwards and he can play a second or third tier back beyond what most linebackers are capable of, and creates so much range for that one position on the interior part of the football field to span that part. Then you have matchup guys all over the back end. It's kind of like the Ravens last year.
Big surprise, right, Anthony Weaver has a Baltimorevens type of defense where he can match up with Javon Holland, with Jayaln Ramsey, with Kendall Fuller, and then now we just have luxuries in what camp Smith and Cater Koho and Nick Edom and Ethan Bonner can do because you pretty much have enough guys as it is right now at your top line that you're basically fighting for depth and for you know, a third or fourth role within the defensive backfield and playing time. So I love I talked
about the Jordan Brooks move. I talked about this John news Smith move, Kendall Fuller, Aaron Brewer as well. I thig if you have a lot of these moves, this one goes right to the top. I think this guy can flat out play. He's been a baller for a long long time, and he just changes the complexion of your defense. I think that you're gonna look at these moves in an individual you know scope, and say like, good player, bad player, whatever you might think of the player,
this one's good. But also have the vision for the grand or the more macro view of like this defense is being built to play a certain way, and that's what you have here. I think so far with the moves we've seen getting better in that back end. We also added another person upfront, which I think still requires a little bit more. We know about Neville Gallimore from the Cowboys was added reportedly on Wednesday, and then on Thursday we heard reports about but you know Jones coming
back to the myn Dolphins. He got some reps for the Lions and played some good foot all up there at that nose tackle position, and that's really a spot that Dolphins haven't had for a couple of years now. Like Raekwon Davis was the nose tackle here, but he so frequently played so high and because of his height that he would often invite blockers into his chest plate
and get knocked off the football. And that, to me is why there was such minimal playmaking from that player and from that position in the last couple of years here was because of the height. And so Bando Jones is a little bit more of a squatty body who can get under guys and kind of control reps that way.
And he really developed and grew his game when he was up in Detroy, so a better player than what we saw him leave Miami as and I recorded this podcast and had it ready to go on Thursday night for a Friday at noon publishing, and of course, as that's the curse that you get here, the Dolphins announced
per Reports another acquisition. And in that podcast I had said, I think we need one more guy with Gallimore, with Jones to kind of replace the work of what Christian Wilkins did last year in so many roles, in so
many positions. And they go out and get Jonathan Harris from Denver, so between Jones at the nose tackle, and then Harris from Denver who can play kind of some backside one but mostly three technique and variations of two or two I and four and four I all those positions, and then with Benito Jones in the nose tackle spot and Neville Gallimore who played nose tackle for the Cowboys at three hundred and two pounds, the exact same thing they did to Mazzi Smith this year, their first round
pick who did not perform well because well, that's not his position. Same exact thing with Gallimore, who was a stud coming out a first round draft pick four years ago of those Dallas Cowboys. So he joins the fold as a rotational type of guy with Benito Jones alongside Zach Seeler. So you're getting better, You're getting more quality in that area. I think maybe one more guy might do the trick in that position. Maybe it's a high draft pick as well, so you have some options to
fill that role out there. And then also a tight end. Joey Forston was a guy that missed the entire twenty twenty three season to a shoulder injury with the Chiefs, but he has mega upside, probably a guy competing for a job alongside like Julian Hill in the back end of that tight end room. But man, there is upside dripping off this guy. He has elite athletic ability in
that position group. And I feel like I'm forgetting one Benito Fuller and forced to know know them all there, So busy, busy offseason, cap Op lips right, good call there. Let's go ahead and ge out here for the podcast. We're gonna be doing these podcasts just like this for the next couple of weeks. Here a couple of guys in the pod, talk to them, talk to beatwires who covered them, break down their their games and analyze their games,
how they fit in the team. It's gonna be a lot of fun here in the podcast, taking us really into April on the free agency contest. So keep it locked right here with us on the Draft Time podcast. You all please be sure to subscribe. I think Monday is gonna be Jordan Brooks and Anthony Walker, I believe is the plan there. And then Jordan Brooks I have a Seahawks Beatwirish, Michael Sean Dugger, and then for Walker,
I'm not sure quite yet. We'll figure that out, and then we'll do Poyer and Neil together brew like we're gonna do all of them, we do all them. That's coming up. Subscribe, rate review, follow me on social at Winkle NFL, the team at Mimy Dolphins. Check out the
fish Tank podcast with my guy Seth and Jews. Check out the YouTube channel for the video version of all these interviews we cut them with have be Role made a really pretty video out of that thanks to the content guys on the other side of the wall from the that got that YouTube channel, and last but not least, Miami Dolphins dot com. The five Things piece on each of these guys, written by Gil Boy Staying busy. All coming up on Mimi Dolphins dot Com until next time. Fitza caroon on Cameron Daddy