Humble and Hungry: The Brian Flores Story

And on today's show, some roster news with tendered exclusive free agents, an option declined on a veteran lineman, and some options in free agency and the draft, Pro Day updates from Clemson and Oregon, the top one free agents number twenty one through forty, and Brian Flores Humble and Hungry.

All of that and more on this Friday, March thirte edition of the Drivetime Podcast Miami Dolphins and up first on today's show Thursday, the Miami Dolphins announced exclusive rights free agent tenders on three players that finished the twenty nineteen season very strong. And first, we start with wide receiver Isaiah Ford, who had a career high twenty three catches for two hundred forty four yards and the majority of that production came in December, the final four games

of the year. For Ford. He caught six, three, five, and seven passes for a total of twenty one catches in those four games, and also picked up two hundred and thirty five of his two hundred forty four receiving yards in those games. He was also praised by head coach Brian Flores for his leadership and practice habits at

the end of last season. Zack Seiler, a defensive lineman who was rewarded to the Dolphins off waivers in Week fifteen from the Baltimore Ravens, had a massive close out to the year with plenty of quarterback pressures and hits. In that Cincinnati game alone, Seiler had three pressures, one sack, and two hurries, seven total tackles, five run stops which again are tackles within two yards of the lion of scrimmage,

and two pass breakups. He was utterly dominant on that day, and he does it with length and strength and just overpowering guys like he did in the Patriots game in the season finale, taking offensive lineman and just walking him right back into the lap of the quarterback, who of course was Tom Brady on that day. And speaking of Tom Brady, the third player on our exclusive rights free

agent tender list. Here is Trent Harris, the outside linebacker slash edge player who goes six ft two to five, and he got Tom Brady down for a sack in that season finale. Harris last year played in eleven games, he started three of them, had to force fumble, one and a half sacks and twenty two tackles. And you go back to that sack against Brady. It's a really good dip and rip move which showcases Harris's ability to kind of bend that arc and get underneath the offensive

lineman and work back to the quarterback. He has enough athleticism to do that, enough strength to hold the edge against the run. An exciting arrow up player here for the Miami Dolphins. On the other side of the ledger. The Dolphins declined to pick up the option for veterans center Dan Kilgore's contracts, and he will now hit free agency when the new league year opens on Wednesday. There are some options out there to find a potential replacement

at the center position. First in free agency, the top center on nfl dot COM's Top one hundred free agents list is Ted Carriss, formerly of the New England Patriots. This is a smart, tough, durable player. He filled in for David Andrews very well last year in New England, and you definitely want a smart communicator at that center position.

And an interesting story about Ted Carriss, he was told to not answer every question on the Wonderlick way back coming out of the draft, and he only answered thirty nine questions and he got thirty nine of them right. So pretty smart guy up front. As far as the top centers in the draft class, according to the Draft network dot Com, Caesar Ruise of Michigan is a pure power player and absolute brawler, throw them out of the club type of guy who can just whip guys around.

But he also has the athleticism that makes him scheme diverse across gap in man schemes or zone schemes, a good looking player there. Out of Michigan, he's number thirty eight overall on the Draft Networks big Board. Lloyd Cushionberry out of l s U He's number thirty nine overall and the second center on that board, so obviously they

had a hard time separate and those two guys. He takes terrific angles in the running game, has a great low center of gravity that gives him a very powerful and strong anchor to hold up against past protection plays. With an exceptional pad level as well. Was a big part of the L s U offensive system there in the National Championship season. Number three on t d n's centers list, Matt Hennessy out of Temple an excellent technician and supreme football i Q. He has the mental makeup

you want at the center position. He's number sixty four overall on the Draft Networks Big Board. On the topic of the draft. We had some more pro days on Thursday, including Clemson and Oregon, and we start there in Clemson with Isaiah Simmons. The linebackers slash safety, slash cornerback, slash slot slash, edge rusher, slash flies the team plane. This

guy does everything. He did the bench press at his pro day because he didn't do it in Indianapolis, and that was the only test that he did, and he got twenty reps of two five pounds. But that actually knocked his relative athletics score. If we recall the podcast from last week with Kent Platt going over the r A S scorecards and knocked him from a perfect ten

down to a nine seven. I know, crazy, right. He's the most versatile player in this class probably ever for my money, at least for as long as I've been scouting players for roughly ten years now or so. Tee Higgins, the receiver there, is thought to be a first round pick by some. He's number forty seven on the Draft Networks big board. But he was a highlight reel catching football's there at Clemson, plucking balls off of defender's helmets.

A big play threat down the field, excellent at the catchpoint, really good and contested catches. He ran at his pro day after opting not to run at the combine, and he checked in with a four or five four forty and at one verte inches on the broad and he goes six ft four to sixteen. A big, big body

receiver there at Clemson going in to the NFL. Oregon was on the field for their pro day, and that workout, of course, was spearheaded by the Draft Networks number three overall quarterback and the number thirteen overall player, Justin Herbert. You guys know the racket by now on Herbert, big quarterback, really big arm. He excels in the play action game, turning his back to the defense and coming back and

whipping that football with velocity. He also has the athletic ability to make plays with his legs and did I mention that arm. There's a video of him on the NFL Networks televised event of the Organ Pro Day showing Herbert standing flat footed on his own goal line, his toes facing the opposite goal line on the other end of the field, and he torques his body with no stride or no motion, throwing the football and flat footed, he chucks the thing sixty three yards. Powerful, powerful arm

on the Organ product. And since Herbert did all of this testing at the Combine, he didn't go through any of it at the Pro day and Organ. He just threw on the field drills. And I love the draft as much as anybody. But first we have to get through free agency, and we jump back into Part four of our free agency preview. We'll get back to this on Tuesday with players one through twenty because we have Channing Crowder coming up on Monday's podcast and you won't

want to miss that. But we start here today with part four with player number forty, and we'll get all the way down to twenty one and then again top twenty on Tuesday's podcast. But here number forty from the Patriots edge slash linebacker Kyle van noy Long. He can do everything in the game in terms of dropping into coverage, playing against the run, and getting after the quarterback. Has been the Patriots best pass rusher now in terms of

pressures for a few years running. He had sixty pressures last year, eight sacks, nine quarterback hits, and forty three hurries and he did that on four hundred and sixty four rushes, so a great pass rush percentage in terms of getting home. Number thirty nine on Pro Football Focuses Top one hundred free agents list is running back Melvin Gordon. We saw Austin Ekeler get a contract from the Chargers

most recently, and Gordon now might test the market. And this is a scheme diverse back who can go outside, he can go inside, he can contribute in the passing game. Had a monster, monster career in college at Wisconsin, which of course got him drafted in the first round. Had a breakout season back in and he has a knack for finding short yards. Converge is both down around the goal line and in third or fourth down, and short

when the offense has to stay on the field. Number thirty eight receiver Breshad Perriman found resurrection this past year in Tampa Bay. He's a big body receiver with elite speed. That combination, of course, made him a first round draft pick once upon a time. He dropped just one pass on sixty five targets last year for the Buccaneers and a quarterback rating of ninety four point seven when throwing his direction. Paraman should have an interesting market this coming

off season. Number thirty seven tight end Austin Hooper of the Atlanta Falcons, who recently announced that they would not have a contract offer for him in place before the free agency window opened up on Wednesday. He's a very solid receiving option, as last season was his best as a pro, catching six touchdowns, move the chains forty one times on seventy five catches, also piled up seven hundred and eighty seven yards at an average of ten point

five per clip. He also gives you some flexibility in terms of complimentary football and playing the receiving game and helping out in the running game. He can condense down inside and help you as an inline blocker as well. Number thirty six on pffs Top one hundred free agents. As safety Jimmy Ward of the forty nineteen was his best season. He ranked eighth among safeties with an eighty four point two overall grade there on Pro Football Focus.

He plays some slot play, some outside play, some deep safety. Ward was once a first round draft pick, and you really saw that playmaking ability to show up on tape this year for the Super Bowl runner up San Francisco forty Niners. Number thirty five on this list. The Titans running back Derrick Henry. He was the rushing champ this year.

Absolutely bold teams over late in the season and in the playoffs, has a physical brand of football Downhill can really build the offense around that kind of guy, and he just ran over teams and really helped the Titans get all the way to the a f C Championship Game as he really really got rolling in Week ten. His rushing tolls from week ten on one, one oh three,

eighty six, and two eleven. Then in the playoffs one eight two against the Patriots, one against the Ravens, and then in the Kansas City loss had sixty nine yards as the Titans had passed the ball more in that game, but he ended the regular season with fifteen hundred and forty yards and sixteen rushing touchdowns. In the playoffs in the three games, four hundred forty six yards and two

rushing touchdowns there as well. Number thirty four on the list, defensive interior lineman Leonard Williams, former sixth overall draft pick of the Jets, was recently traded back to the New York Giants. He had fifty five total pressures this last year and a Pro Football Focus grade of eighty one point four. As you really saw the talent that made him the number six pick in the draft. He is long, he is strong, has great athleticism, can cross face and

work in the stunt and twist game. Just does everything in the middle of a defensive line for you, and does it with elite athletic traits on that d line. Staying on the defensive line, Pittsburgh Javon Hargrave comes in at number thirty three right here, and his PF grade has improved every single year of his career, and he's a two fact type of player on the interior line. He can stuff up the run game. He's really virtually immovable as a big body in the middle of that defense.

He can play a multiple food of fronts, whether it's odd even two man fronts, three man fronts, four man fronts. Did it all for the Pittsburgh Steelers last year. Played two hundred more snaps this year than any other year of his career and had forty nine total pressures and was a top ten figure among interior defenders in terms of Pro Football focus is grading on the interior defensive line for the third strade. Player number thirty two, DJ Reader of the Houston Texans. You want to talk about

a true nose tackle three hundred and thirty pounds. You PLoP that guy in the middle of your defense and it's impossible to run between the a gaps because he eats up blocks for breakfast every single day. He also had a career best PF grade of eighty five point five, picked up thirty six pressures on the quarterback, so not just a run defender, and in the running game, made thirty five run stops playing over six hundred snaps for

the Texans defense last year. Number thirty one a safety Tray Boston who's bounced around a little bit but been a very productive player in his career eleven interceptions, six team pass breakups over the last three years. You see the playmaking ability and the ball skills. He tracks it very very well on that back end and definitely fits the role of a single high free safety. Number thirty on Profitball Focus his Top one hundred free agents list. Tight End Eric Ebron had a big, big year back

in eighteen, his first with the Colts. He was once the eleventh pick in the draft of the Detroit Lions. But you go back to eighteen seventy four grabs, eight hundred and twenty seven yards and fourteen touchdown, just massive, massive production from a tight end position. He's still in his prime at twenty seven years old, and he's really an elite seambuster up the middle at the tight end position. Number twenty nine on the list. Safety ha Ha Clinton Dix.

He began his career with the Packers, moved to Washington, and most recently last year was with the Chicago Bears. Former first round draft pick might have had his best year of his career last year with the Bears. Played one thousand and sixty six snaps and had good grades in both run defense and coverage as well as overall in coverage. He allowed just a passer rating of sixty nine point two on balls thrown in his direction. He made fifteen run stops and had sixty five total tackles

on the season. Number twenty eight on this list, defensive interior slash edge plays everywhere on the defensive line from the forty Niners Eric Armstead, And if you watch the Super Bowl this year, you saw how much of a monster this guy was, and he was that way throughout the course of the entire season. He has extreme length at six ft seven two pounds, but his wingspan spans from the Atlantic Ocean all the way to the Gulf

Coast across the entire state of Florida. First round draft pickback, and he picked up seventy three pressures last season, thirteen sacks, ten hits, and fifty hurries on the quarterback also pitched in with forty two run stops, almost doubling his previous high of twenty three. So arrow up on Eric Armstead, the number twenty eight player on this Pro Football Focus list.

Number twenty seven. We stay in the Bay Area with wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders, who gave that forty Niners passing offense a bit of a boost mid season when he got traded from the Denver Broncos. He's one of the best slot receivers in the game. He gives you elite speed from that slot position, fantastic route running. He could even go out wide and play a perimeter spat anywhere on your offense. Veteran that understands route running, understands leverage,

understands coverage. Just a true pro. Emmanuel Sanders number twenty six on this list is edge rusher from the Jaguars, Yannique and Gockway. And you want to talk about pass brush production, few guys do it better than in Gookway has in Jacksonville since he arrived back in sixteen. He had fourty seven pressures that year, eighty two seventeen, sixty

four pressures, eighteen and fifty one pressures last year. He's never gone below seven hundred reps as a pro, and that's due in large part to the fact that he plays both facets of the game, both the run and the pass, and he always does well to get the football out. Fourteen career force fumbles in just four years for Inockway, number twenty six on this list. Check that number twenty five on this list edge Shaquille Barrett of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, staying at the same position, had

a breakout season last year. Was undrafted free agent of the Denver Broncos. He goes six ft two to fifty and he had major production for the Buccaneers last year with eighty two pressures. Twenty of those were sacks, eighteen hits, and forty four quarterback hurries. And what gets lost in his major production last year was that he was a good player throughout the course of his career with Denver since twenty fifteen, getting green grades on his overall defensive

grade each year so far as a professional. Number twenty four on the list is guard Joe Tuney of the New England Patriots, and this guy is a consummate professional that almost never misses a snap. He played eleven hundred forty snaps last year and allowed just one sack, earning an elite pass blocking grade of eighty seven point four, barely topping his twenty eighteen pass blocking grade of eighty five point three. Here's his season stat totals in terms

of snap counts. We talked about thirteen o four last year thirteen seventy one eighteen, thirteen fifty four and twenty seventeen and thirteen fifty four again his rookie year in twenty sixteen. Doesn't miss games, doesn't miss snaps there for the Patriots offense. Number twenty three on this list is Devin mccordy, staying in New England, the safety. He made five interceptions last year that was second among all safeties, and he plays every position on that New England defense,

combining defensive line and box snaps. He played over four hundred in that regard snaps in the slot and four sixties six as your single high deep safety off the football, and we talk about green and blue grades here on Pro Football Focus, you have to go back to eleven for the last time mccordy did not have a green or a blue grade. He also has three individual seasons with grades better than ninety on Pro Football Focus. One of the best safeties in the recent history of the game.

Number twenty two on this list on the offensive line, and that's where will finish atwenty one as well is guard Brandon Schurf from Washington first round draft pick, might hit the market, might get tagged. We'll see what happens. Suf like Joe Toney, allowed just one sack all season,

and he's a consistent run blocker and pass blocker. He really moves guys off the football as a true road grader at that right guard position, a true power player that just has elite traits in both aspects of the game. And we finish up here with number twenty one on Pro football Focus is top one hundred free agents available with at Conklin, the right tackle from the Tennessee Titans.

He finished twelve among tackles last year on his Pro football Focus grade UH seventy eight point three, he was fifth and run blocking, so a true road grader off the edge out there as well. He can really get into space, he can really displace guys off the football, and he's good at getting on the upfield shoulder and angling guys out of the particular gap. According to Pro football Focus, he was number six on zone runs and number fourteen on man gap runs. So scheme diverse really

blows guys off the football. That's twenty one through forty. We've now covered eighty of the players on this list. On Tuesday's podcast will have one through number twenty four.

You guys, because on Monday we have Channing Crowder. But to finish up this edition of the Drivetime Podcast, part of the Miami Dolphins podcast network, I want to talk about the story up on Miami Dolphins dot com as well as the video that you can find on any Dolphins channel, whether it's our YouTube channel, Miami Dolphins dot com, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, wherever you look, go check out Humble and Hungry the

Brian Flores story. And I wrote an article up on Miami Dolphins dot com that tracks Flores and this incredible journey he's taken from Brooklyn, New York, and the neighborhood of Brownsville, and that environment those people that were around Brian Flora's there in Brownsville really helps shake the shape the character and the man that we know today is the head coach of the Miami Dolphins, and he says himself quote, You've got to be tough to grow up here,

referring to Brownsville, New York. And so Floras loaded up with some of the Dolphins social media team and Dolphins personnel to go back to Brownsville and to film a short documentary film. It's about sixteen and a half minute. You guys can find it again anywhere the Miami Dolphins post on social media, on the official site, or on YouTube.

And it wasn't just the environment that Flora's talks about that really helped shape him into who he is about the people that were around him, including his mother, his wife, and his high school football coach who really thinks of Brian Flora's as a son. And I really don't want to spoil too much of it with the quotes from the article and especially from the video, which is just so well done, a fantastic five star video that was

shot on a rainy day there in Brooklyn. But Flores talked about his mother, how she was extremely tough and stern, but he always knew that they that she loved him and his brother. There was never a doubt about that

in his mind. And that's kind of where Flora shaped his personality, his temperament, what makes him a good football coach here with the Miami Dolphins to get tough, smart, discipline players, because that's what he knows and that's who he is and he wants to be the genuine article, which in this video you quickly learned where he came from and how he got developed into the man that he is. But Brian's wife, Jenny talked about the best

coach he ever had, who was Brian's mother. She said, quote, I think he learned to be a coach from her. Brian knew that his mom wanted what was best for him, and I think that's what he's taken with him into his role here in Miami and being a head coach

with his players. And that quote really resonates because you go back to his honoring at the y m C A back up in the Boston area, when Devin mccordy, Matt Slater as well as Rob Nikovich presented the award to Brian Flores for the integration initiative that he was part of there in the New England area and Flora's or Slater rather talks about Flora's an impact on guys and how although he's very, very demanding, all that demand comes from a place of love because he truly does

want what's best for his players, and he knows what's best and he knows how to get those guys to get the very best out of themselves and what they can become. And so Flora's final message on this video I thought was the best part of the entire thing when they asked him, what do you want people to take away from your story? And he kind of hesitated for a little bit because he's not the type of guy to really heap the praise on himself. He's always

going to deflect like a true leader does. But this message should resonate with anybody out there, football or otherwise, because it's so true in life that you can be what you want to be if you're willing to work for it, and Flora's is a walking image of that exact idea quote. It doesn't really matter where you're from or what your situation is. If you do what you're passionate about and you have support, it goes so far. I don't think people really understand how impactful they are.

Keep working, keep striving, keep trying to be the best version of yourself, and then pay it forward. It's only a success story if we help other people have success. End quote. How can you not love that from the head coach of your football team? Just a great football coach and an even better man. So go check out the documentary film on Miami Dolphins dot com or socials wherever you get them. Humble and Hungry, the Brian Flora Story. I promise you're gonna want to run through about sixty

walls after you watch this film. Okay, that's a good stopping point for today's episode, and I think we should go ahead and just throw one quick note in here about the coronavirus. Just want to say everybody out there, please stay safe, Please take the proper precautions to keep yourself safe and those around you as we can all do our part to stay safe during this scary time and this pandemic that has really dominated the headlines for

the last couple of days and a couple of weeks. Now, all right, let's go ahead and close up this edition of the Drivetime Podcast. You all please be sure to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast on Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcast from. Go ahead and follow me on Twitter at Wingfield, NFL fallow the Dolphins at Miami Dolphins, check out the Fish Tank and the Audible podcast, and of course Miami Dolphins dot com and Humble and Hungry

The Brian Flores Story. Monday, Channing Crowder gonna chat with me one on one, a long interview with the Dolphins from our linebacker. Don't miss that until next time fins up, it's up. It's up.