John Congemi, NFL Picks, College Scouting Guide and Your Twitter Questions

Raiders preview ahead of week three in Las Vegas. Plus will answer your mail bad questions, give you the weekend scouting guide in college football, and make our picks coming off a twelve and four week You've gotta love it. You love to see it from the Baptist Health Studios inside the Baptist Health Training Complex, This says the Drive

Time Podcast. Let's get right into this podcast with my guest, as we do every Friday, John con Jenny Well, John, we did get our chance to talk some ball at hard Rock Stadium, although not over the key line Pie I was hoping to have with the other and certainly not the outcome we were looking for. On the field either. But regardless, it was good to be back in that building and back in that seat next to you, my friend.

You know what. It was great to be back in hard Rock Stadium, good to see you and and watch the game from our perch. And and it was not what we wanted in terms of the outcome, but you know, gosh, it wasn't as bad as the outcome either at thirty five to nothing, because you felt like, if the Dolphins make one play when they have positive field position, it's the one touchdown game going a halftime, and you never

know what can happen in the second half. So there were some things obviously that need to get corrected and get corrected fast, and you lose your quarterback uh in the meantime. But when you look at overall, thirty five nothing doesn't really tell the whole story. But it's not where the Dolphins wanted to be in Week two, absolutely not.

And I was so appreciative of your approach throughout that game, because I mean, there were so many moments where you could like kind of bury your head and say, ah, this game is not going our way, but you kept on, you kept on keeping me and a John By saying, hey, we're you know, this is a key possession, We're gonna stop here, and and that was the case for a lot of that game and just it never got that way for the offense where they could cut into that lead.

So hopefully this week we have some better results, and I want to go ahead and turn the page, you know, as fast as we can out that game and start here. Because you've played a lot of football in your life,

You've watched probably even more football. I was hoping you could take us inside the player's perspective for turning the page after a game like that, And it was kind of a theme I had throughout the week talking to coaches and players because I also got a lot of you know this answer back about how it's the same for a big win, like talk about the importance of managing emotions and coming back off a tough loss. What's the approach for the player to get over that, move

on and get onto the next Sunday. You know, it's tough sometimes and it all depends on how the game goes and where it is in the season for a player. I can remember there was some losses that linger, uh, they they really sting, and there were some that you got over a lot quicker because you were never really in the football game. You felt like, wow, that was

a throwaway. I don't know what happened, but we got just you know, bowled over, and let's just let's rinse and get that one out and let's move on to the next one. And sometimes wins linger too long. You know, sometimes you're feeling so good after you play that you're talking about it. It's Thursday, and you're really not focused on the next one. So sometimes, um, you know, the better and the quicker that you turn the page to

the next opponent. It's probably better for the football team from from top to bottom, no matter if you're on the coaching staff or your you know, fifty three on the roster. But I think that one was kind of in between Travis for me, because although you were one score away from being in the game, Buffalo didn't do a whole lot to separate and yet when you looked,

it was thirty five nothing. I thought it was way too easy for a good team like the Buffalo Bills to come in on the road early in the season and kind of not have your a game. But they were good enough to beat a team that couldn't find its way that that day, that Sunday. So this one might be a little bit easier to flush as a player because you did all you remember, it's thirty five nothing. As a fan or as a an analyst, you're going back and look, well, it could have been this, could

have been that. But as a player, you're just going, let's get onto the Raiders. There two and oh, they'd be two really good teams, and we have to find a way to play our best to be able to win it. Winning cures everything. And you said two things that that really kind of piqued my interest. Number one, the the victories that linger a little bit. I talked about this on a either earlier podcast to record in

the podcast before you came on. I forgot but about the Miami miracle game back in the Dolphins would lose the next three and those games weren't even closed. So I think that's a good example of how sometimes the emotions can go the other way on you. And then also you referenced the point in the season in which you know certain events occur, and I've been thinking about

this last couple of days. How I don't ever look back at like a week, two moments in a season and say that was a pivotal turning point, Like people aren't gonna remember this good or bad this part of the season at the end of the year, right, Like all the wins and losses count, but at the end of the year, it's about how you're playing, you know, post Halloween, post Thanksgiving and that, you know, and that type of thing, Like there's been years where the Dolphins

started off three and oh and it didn't end well, or it's been years play started off one and three and it ended well. So I think that perspective is important, and it seems to get lost sometimes. I'm really glad you mentioned that. Now. The key on the podcast that I referenced in the Thursday preview episode was to get the ball to the backs in the run game and through the air, because I think that running at those two star pass rushers they have with Max Crosby and

Yannick and got Way and they're both two pound guys. John, So trying to get Miles and Savon matchup on those linebackers and also going at those d n s in the running game, would you agree that's a good way to kind of handle this ferocious pass rush of the Raiders. Yeah,

that's that's definitely one way to do it, Travis. And in that scenario, you also make it easier for Jacoby Bursett to get completions, to move the chains, to get some flow in the offense, and stay on the field because both Gascon and ACMED they make people miss in the open field and that's a good thing. And the more touches that those guys can get early, I think maybe opens up the Raider defense where you might have

a chance to run the football. Remember, I don't think you're gonna see a whole lot of RPO this week. I don't know if you're gonna rely on that that ball, fake quick slant. You may get one or two, but I think it's gonna be more shotgun drop back. It's not there. Check it down, get the tight end, get Kasicki and Smithe involved early, and Shaheen involved. Get those guys the football over the middle, you know, easy throws, and then that gets that motion with waddle going, you know,

from one side of the formation to the other. You don't like it, you check it down, and that's the easiest way for Jacobe to get completions to get some rhythm in the offense. You know, you'd like to see that happen because you know for a fact that defensive coordinator for the Raiders, Gus Bradley, I'm sure he's gonna build on some of the schemes that he saw Leslie Fraser, the Bill's defensive coordinator, run last week, because it caused

identification problems. It caused issues, and you're gonna want to try to use some of that within your scheme to rattle a guy that's making a started quarterback. You know, even though he played a long time in the game last week, this is a different animal. He's got all week to prepare. He's you know, he's trying to do everything perfect. Now all of a sudden, he sees something he's not sure of what's he doing with the football? Does he panic? Does he throw it away? Does he

take a sack? Or is he able to check it down and make a turn a negative into a positive play. So those things early can really pick up an offense. I really loved it. At the coaches presser on Wednesday, somebody asked me if the offense will change, and I admire the question because you want to ask it, but you're not gonna get an answer out of any coach on that particular question. So coach just said no, and we'll see what the actual result is on Sunday in

terms of how they attack this Raider's defense. Because we talked about all the time John very versatile system, very versatile scheme, and roster that can adapt to that week's opponent. I want to go back to your comments there about Jacobe Pricett and just ask you this follow up question, what are your expectations and his first stars in Miami Dolphin.

They're high. They're high for me. I watched watched them, you know, all off season and in training camp, and he's definitely got the tools to be a starting quarterback. I like his mobility, I like his accuracy. I like his his moxie, you know, pushing the ball down the field. Um, he gets everybody going. And he doesn't let a whole lot of stuff linger. You know, if it's a bad play, if it's an interception, if it's a you know, just a pre snap penalty, Hey, get back in the huddle,

let's go, let's get back on it. I think he has those leadership skills that guys want to follow him, you know. And and Kobe said that multiple times this week about he always prepares as the starter, and you have to have that mindset. I've played in that role.

I've been the starter. I've been the backup. Doesn't matter, you're one play away all the time if you're not the guy to be the guy, and you have to be able to accept that responsibility and may make its seamless for everybody else around you so that they have the confidence level that, hey, this guy we can win with him. So my expectations for Jacoby are very high. He's gonna have a full week of preparation. My advice, you know, he doesn't need mind but I'm sure he's

thinking of this. Be yourself, don't try to do too much, and make the plays that you make on a daily basis. So I think he's gonna be able to do that. Um, you know, obviously he's gonna need some help upfront. He's gonna need some help on the other side of the football keeping the Raiders out of the end zone because I think their number one in in uh or number seven I think in points scored close to thirty points per game. So you don't want to get into a

shooting match. But if you do, you know you've got a guy that's been there and done that, and you hope he can do it on Sunday. Yeah, it's number seven and scoring, number one in total offense, number one in passing offense. And I'm glad you mentioned that because the Dolphins are gonna need a three phase victory if they're going to get a victory in this game. And talking about playing a complimentary style of football, that's what Jacobe is at his best in my opinion, when he

compliments the other elements of the team. And if this defense, I mean last year there was a couple of drives early against the Raiders, and then obviously late in that game some things got crazy, but for the most part, they had a pretty good plan and they hemmed in Derek Carr and kept that offense relatively stagnant through the first three orders of that game. So hopefully you get that same look. And that's kind of where we go back to the defensive side with the rest of these

questions here, John two more for you. You know, looking at Miami's defensive approach and defending Josh Allen, I found it interesting they were in man coverage eighty five percent of the time and blitzed percent of the time. Both of those were somewhat departures from the norm in terms of their season average over the last couple of years. But they held him under two hundred yards and not only happened three times a year ago. So what do you think of that approach and will it be similar

or will they adapt this week in Las Vegas? Well, you know, I think, you know, people think you're crazy thirty nothing and go Yeahti was really good, right, So overall, I don't think his numbers were that impressive and I agree with you there, but he made some big plays both with his arm and his legs. Again, you know,

we we mentioned this last week. This is a guy that's you know, averaged against the Dolphins close to sixty yards on the ground every time he's faced them, And on Sunday last Sunday he had forty yards on the ground. But some were you know, designed, They were a quarterback sweep for fifteen. I think they tacked on a fifteen yard penalty, So basically it was a thirty yard game

for the Bills. You know, you cut the field almost in half there, Um he made some big plays down the field, especially in the third quarter coming right out. You know, you get twenty two yard to Beasley, a thirteen yard to Sanders, then you get another one to Singletary. You know, it's just, uh, it's it's something that those big plays happened at the wrong time and it spiraled on the Dolphins. You get, you know, you get a rush for you know, what is it forty six yards

of second play of the game. But that's not on Josh Allen. But it was the big plays. You know, he finds the way to to mask some deficiencies when the Buffalo offense isn't going well, use his legs to kind of spark those big plays down the field. You know, and I disregard you know that last one. I think it was forty plush yards two digs because the game was in hand there. But I thought the Dolphin defense did enough. But it was the big plays really, uh

that hurt him, especially in that third quarter. So you're hoping that it's a four quarter game on the other side of the football, trying to keeping a raider offense that lives with those plays to Waller into rugs. Uh, you know, you get those checkdowns the Kenyan Drake, so you've gotta be aware of Hunter Renfro. There's some guys

that can make some big plays on that offense. So those are the things I would look for to try to carry over the good stuff from the Buffalo game, but eliminate that explosive play that you're giving up on a on a more regular basis. Yeah, something that defense was really good at last year was limiting the big plays. And you know, coach Jerrell Alexander talks all the time about how big plays come to the secondary and that's

one of the strongest units on this football team. So hopefully a bounce back day for everybody involved and a victory, because again, winning will cure a lot of issues around here as far as how people are a little bit upset this week on social media and the like, and I'll blame them. It's been a tough week here in Dolphins Land. Last question before the mailback here John, the Dolphins win this game, if go ahead, I think they

need to stay ahead of the chains. I think you know you get a quarterback now it's making his first start, hasn't played a full game in a while, although he played a lot last week against Buffalo. I think you need to win on first and second down. Stay out of that second and third and long because that's when you start losing field position. And we saw this last week. The Dolphins had excellent field position in that game, got

zero points out of it after an X interception. And and and you take over at the forty two, you get chances in the end zone, you can get chances inside the tent, and you comp the football up. So I think you gotta win early downs because that's gonna lead to field position advantage over the long run of four quarters. It's going to make it easier on Jacoby, I think. I think secondly, much like the Dolphin defense did against New England, you have to the Raiders kick

field goals. Although they have an excellent field goal kicker, I'd rather see them attempt field goals than letting car find Waller for an explosive play or target rugs uh and an explosive play in the red zone or remfro or you know, like I said, you know, Kenyan's caught a lot of balls over two weeks out of the backfield, So make them kick field goals. Be stingy, you know, in between the twenties. Let them have their you know

whatever they're gonna earn. But when you get backed up, make them kick field goals because that's how you're gonna stay and potentially win the game. And lastly, it's the line of scrimmage. Control it. You don't have to win it this week, but you need to be better than last week because we can see how the dominoes fall when you don't win up front on both sides of the football. You let an early run go on defense for forty six yards on the two play drive and

you're down seven nothing. You didn't win. You didn't win at the point of attack, and you didn't win at the second level. So on offense, you cut guys looser in that game, you lose your quarterback on the second series. You don't you misidentify something up front. So you have to win the line the scrimmage in the National Football League, but you gotta You don't have to win it all the time, you know, necessarily, but you need to control it. You can't lose it the way they did against Buffalo.

He is John Conjemmy here on the Drive Time podcast. John, can you stick around for a couple of male bad questions for us. Sure, all right, let's get into that. I think we got four here for you. I want to dive into. Let's go to this one first from Gavin Stevens. He's at gav Gavy, the gunner, A great name, that is. This kind of goes back to what you just said about the trench play. Was the Buffalo defensive

line that much superior to the New England line? And I'm sure he's referring to the fact that in New England there wasn't as many pressures in sacks, but like you mentioned, against Buffalo, there were, So he wants to just know about the difference between the Buffalo defensive line and the Patriots d line. Maybe it's more schematic, right, John Well. I think it had a lot more to do with the Miami Dolphins than it did New England

or Buffalo in both of those games. Now, not taking anything away from those defenses, because they can get after you on the edge, but I think it got out of hand quickly and it looked like, you know, a little bit of confusion. I think it was an identification problem with quarterback and offensive line and running back. I think at times all three guys or all three segments of your offense missed and it made it look worse than it should have been. Uh, you lit a free

blitzer go. Now, is that the quarterback's fault? Is that the running back going inside instead of to the edge of the of the tackle or is that just an identification uh mishap where you let a guy go and you thought you had him blocked. So I think there was a lot of dominoes that led to UH sacks and quarterback hits and negative runs and let cutting guys free at the line of scrimmage in the Buffalo game.

And I'm sure that Brian flores is in the coaching staff on the offensive side are gonna take care of that moving from we two to Week three, because it was more about the Miami Dolphins, I believe um having some some lapses in judgment, having some misidentification problems, and having just some physical airs uh than it was the

Buffalo Bills. That's a great prelude into question number two here, because you know two games into the season, obviously every single week in the NFL is going to have UM, I don't want to say knee jerk reactions, but just every every game comes with a lot of you know, scrutiny. That's how it is in today's league. And uh, I want to preach patients, but I want to hear your take on this. A question from Ken Are he's at Krickster on Twitter. He says, game one seventeen points, Game two,

no points. Is this two headed offensive coordinator gig working for Miami? Well, I don't, I don't know. I would put it on the coordinators. I think you know, they've put in game plans and it's more about execution. It's more about the guys on the field. And I don't think right now you can point the finger at the co coordinators, because those guys are preparing, uh, these guys to go out and play, and it's up to the

players to go out and execute. And I haven't seen, um, I haven't seen this offense really execute to the level that I believe they can get to. Let's let's put it that way. So I think, you know, as much as we were talking about earlier in the podcast about you know, a week too bad loss or a week too great win, how it kind of gets lost in the shuffle, I'd like to see a little bit more proof of what this offense can do, or a little

bit more opportunity for what this offense can do. Say after a quarter of the season is done, now we can evaluate, say, you know what, we're not getting the ball to X enough, We're not getting the ball to this guy enough, We're not doing these things that other teams I see do with regularity. I think we can make those judgments a little bit further into the season than we are now. Yeah, certainly a small sample size.

I keep going back to the line Peyton broadcast when Peyton Manning said that for him in a new system, it wasn't until year or two that he felt completely comfortable to be able to get to his backside reads

on reads two, three, and four in his progressions. So, I mean that might be a little bit too long of a timeline, but I think give it more than just two games before you really start to make your final conclusions here, especially in a brand new system with a brand new skill set and a quarterback and his really still kind of one B type rookie season here like a two A tuggle by LOOA next question from Paul McGuire, You mentioned getting guys more involved at Paul

con McGuire asks, how can the Dolphins get Mike go Sicky more involved in the passing game. I think it's easy. I think you have to dial up some stuff from Mike. We saw in the second half of that game against Buffalo the middle of the field wide open, and why not take advantage of your big tight end. You know, I would try to get the football to him. I'd want to target him at least five or six times a game because what he can do is control the

middle of the field. You can move them around, obviously, you like the one on one Matt chops in the red zone on the outside or that inside Faith that's great, But in the in the middle of the field, when you complete a couple of passes there, it brings the safeties in. And what does that do. It's gonna open up DeVante Parker. It's gonna give you know, Waddle a little bit more room on the outside. It's gonna give Williams a little bit more room. Fuller comes into the offense.

What does that do. Maybe he's the guy that, in conjunction with Kasuki, that controls that middle of the field. So I think you've got to find the tight ends a little bit more. In the offense. The easiest throw for a quarterback is right down the shoot, and when you have a target like that going down, you just need to get it close. I mean, Darren Waller is a great example of the way that the offense doesn't float.

I guess you know through him, but you have to know where he is on every staff and I think that I don't think the Dolphins are at that point with the tight end position, but I certainly would like to error in that direction. I'd like to see more of a percentage go through the tight end than it is right now. Yeah, like to usaid after the Atlanta preseason game, he was asked about Mike A Sick and he said, he gets open. That's what he does. Mike

Sick gets open a lot. Very good player. One more question here, and I'm glad we have you for these mail bad questions. The fans put some great questions out there to us, and I'm glad to have your expertise here. John Finns fan josh at J C. Thomas fifty nine wants to know does this regime put too much emphasis on positional versatility? He asks, what is the value to

playing four positions? Average compared to playing one position very well. Um, I think the more you can do is always better, not only for the player but for the team because you never know when an injury is gonna come up.

You never know when you know a guy's gonna have to miss two series in a game and you're in a pinch and you're on a roll, and you don't want to really make three or four position changes when you can make one, uh and have a guy, you know kind of like kick outside to a defensive end if he's playing defensive tackle, or a linebacker or a nickel going to corner. I I just think it really helps you out on defense on offense when a guy can play inside and outside as a receiver on the

offensive line. We're gonna see this week there might be some you know, obviously everybody's talking about change. There might be some big changes there. Who knows, But whatever happens, you've gotta have guys that can play multiple positions. Because this is in college football. You know, you don't have ninety guys that are dressed and guys coming in and out.

So you've got to be able to play guard, tackle, you've gotta be able to play right side, left side, if you're an offensive lineman on the flip side, you have to be able to play maybe a three technique and maybe kick outside to a five or or an inside or an outside linebacker. Same thing in secondary. We've seen our guys kick from nickel to corner when you had an injury for a series or two or a

week or two. So I think that's an advantage. And I think that Miami's coaching staff looks for that skill set because they coached to that and they prepare for that, and I think that's that's a bonus. When you have a team that not only you can play your core position, but you have the flexibility to play other positions. It just limits your roster turnover and it limits, uh, it expands what you can do as a team when you sign you know that onto that final fifty three, very

very well said. John. Couldn't have said I better myself, and you have said it all on this podcast. Once again, John con Jemmy, we appreciate your time. Once again, Sarah. We'll see you next week for the Don Shula game or whatever we're gonna call that the Don Shulas celebration against the Colts. And I can't wait to get back out there and see you back at Hard Rocks. Any of my friend, thank you again for your time, John,

appreciate it, you got it. Looking forward to it. Travis, let's go ahead and get to some more male bad questions. These for just me individually, and this one comes from Patrick Perkins at Patty Perk on Twitter. Travis, we've seen teams in the past win games when losing their starting quarterback. What about this team gives you hope that they can

also find success well? Thinking about the backup quarterback situation and how teams have games in those situations in the past, I'm always reminded of the ewing theory, which I think it was a Bill Simmons thing awhile Bill Simmons thing awhile ago, where he would say that when you were down your your top player or one of the most important players on your team, that the absence of that player rose the ability of the rest of the roster.

And I'm not saying that's the case here, but I think Miami has the mental makeup to say, Hey, if we're down to oh, we're gonna have to make more plays in this area or you know, we can elevate our game this way, or just maybe you get that extra block or that extra run or that extra fingertip

catch that you wouldn't have seen otherwise. But also, and that's kind of, you know, just being speculative, but I think where you can really hone in on actual tangible things is the way the Dolphins have won games since Brian Flores got here, and that's with the attention to detail in so many small areas of the game that

just that add up to victories and winning. Coaches do these things over and over and over again, and I think it's still continues to be lost on the casual observer, whether it's adjusting your game plan for a specific opponent, like you know, not just saying this is what we do. Try to beat it, try to beat us at our best, and that's what we're gonna do. Like you adjust to the to the opponent you're facing and you attack their vulnerabilities.

We saw some of that last week with the Bills and Sean McDermott, and also penalty yardage the kicking game, you know, like if you get a penalty on the kickoff or the the the ensuing kickoff after a touchdown, where they have a penalty, you chip it up at the goal line and try to pin them into the fifteen yard line. Things like that that this Dolphins team has done so well for the past two plus years.

I think that's what gives Miami and advantage in most games they play, and you especially want to see that when you're down a key starter like a two A tugo by loa. Next question from Dixon Tam at Dixon Tam on Twitter. Would you rather eat a Cuban sandwich or clam chowder and a bowl made of sour dough? Bread Man? Those are both really good choices, But what kind of South lawidium would I be if I didn't

choose the Cuban sandwich. I've only had a couple of human sandwiches, but they've all been really, really good, So giving the Cuban quick old story for you guys. One of the first times I was down here was back in when I was with Locked on Dolphins and I was covering the Bills and Patriots back to back home games here, the Patriots game, of course, being the Miami Miracle, and I went to what I thought was what I found as an authentic Cuban restaurant and me and Jason

Harina formally of locked on Dolphins as well. I go to order or whatever I ordered, and it it just, I don't know. I was unsure about it. And then I saw the person next to me get something that looked really good, and I was like, hey, can I actually cancel my order? And this is like one minute after I placed the original order. Can I cancel that and get what he's got? And they brought out both dishes and I was like, no, no no, no, I just wanted the one, and they were like, shrug, tough, you know,

tough s, so to speak. And so I wound up paying for both and eight the other one later. But a fun Cuban sandwich experience there in that restaurant. I can't remember the name of it, but it was very, very delicious. So a long winded way of saying, give me the Cuban sandwich. Next question here from Andy Lawson at sir Andy Lawson on Twitter. He says to us, injuries are piling up, and you can't say it's the offensive lines fault. It's football. He's going to get hit.

Ryan Tannehill took a lot of hits and almost always got back up. At what point do you look for a plan B? And what is plan B? Well, the reason I want to address this question is you mentioned Ryan Tannehill, and I think that's a great comparison right there, because in football, guys are like durable and healthy and

reliable until they're not. And that's what Tannehill was for a long time, right He would, you know, take that punishment, take that abuse, and get hit and get back up, and then one kind of wonky play winds up wiping out a year plus of his career here with Miami. Then he gets the shoulder injury where he gets hit awkwardly and that takes him out of what was it five or six ball games back, he had an ankle injury that took him out of the Miami Miracle game.

He had to come back from that, but he was really slow and hobbled by that. So, like you go from not missing a game in five years to three injuries in a twelve months span, does that mean your injury prone or does it mean that you were hit

in a certain way that was relatively flukey. Like we're not talking about soft tissue issues here, We're talking about a two hundred and sixty five pound defensive end, unobated to the quarterback pile, driving two into the ground, landing on his ribs and breaking his ribs, like that's gonna happen.

I just I don't see it that way. I think that players are injuries happen, and you know, flukey things happen, and this instance happened to be one of those things where it's not flukey because like you said, you're gonna get hit. But to have that happened, I don't know too many human bodies that could withstand being driven into the turf with a two dred and sixty five pound guys.

So my plan B is two a tongue by Lower to support him, to continue to build around him, and to uh continue to develop him because he's only is it, eleven games into his NFL career right now. I want to develop that and see what we have into a tongue by Low because I think that when you do get to that ultimate developmental stage or the final stages of that development from what you think he could be, I think you have a damn good prospect here. You're

in your hands. What else do we have? I'm seeing a lot of draft questions, And you know, that was fun for me and twenty nine team. We started this whole thing, and it was kind of fun to look ahead to the draft because it was going to be a big thing for us that year with all the picks and everything. But man, we're two games into a season where this team has a lot of good players, a lot of talent, and a lot of good coaches. I'd rather see the season through first before you really

get to that. So let's just go ahead and pass on the draft questions. We'll come back to that in December and January and so forth and so on. Next question here from Simon at Simon w O two. Hi, Travis, I'd like your thoughts on the positive negatives regarding dual offensive coordinators and truth be told, Simon, I really don't think you can evaluate that without having a real intimate knowledge of responsibilities and decisions and and all that stuff, And so for any of us to really come in

with an opinions kind of speculative guesswork. Now, what I will say is that there's a wealth of experience and knowledge and different backgrounds with on the coach, within this coaching staff, and that allows for what Brian Flores wants to execute in a collaboration, to get as many good ideas out there and to be comfortable to suggest those ideas and to be able to comfortably reject those ideas as you see fit. So I just I don't really

think that there's like a distinct downside to it. I just think it's all about trusting and delegating your staff and put these guys in position to do their job and trust them to do their jobs. That's the positive to me. And again the downside, like, I'm just not of the mind that it's like a bad thing because it's unique to the NFL, Like there's a bunch of college teams that have dual coordinators and it's happened in

the pros before as well. I've always been of the mind that the more good minds you have on a project, the better off you're going to be. So if that's if that's two guys, if it's three guys, if it's four guys, if it's the entire offensive staff collaborating, I'm good with that. So I hope that answers your question well enough, there, Simon. Next one here from Octavio Mendez

l at Octo eighty four on Twitter. Could you explain in the r p O when you hand off I understand that when the linebacker commits, you go for the past behind, but what if the past behind is covered by the safety like with Buffalo last week, you have to wait for a second window or should you have handed it off. Yeah, that's kind of the the difficulty with the RPO and why you probably don't make it your like base offense that you go to over and

over again. It's more of a good complementary skill set to what you do, and it also can feature plenty of motion and jet sweeps, and you can build a lot of stuff off the r p O games. So when that happens, honestly, your best your best idea is just to throw the football away because, like you mentioned, if the first reads taken away and the running reads

taken away. There are instances in this league, and it happens all the time where you have to acknowledge that the other side of the football gets paid as well, and they can win plays as well, and sometimes you have to tip your cap and say defense won that play. Let's go ahead and put this thing in the dirt and come back and try to get him on the

next play, and sometimes it's the next series. Like patience is definitely a thing in this league, and sometimes your play caller gets beat and that's you know, that happens for us too as far as our offense beating the defenses play calls. So it it's not a perfect situation in any type of offense. But like you talked about, there after the initial read is gone and after the of of the handoff, the zone read run for the quarterback the keeper, and then the first passing lanes gone.

If you don't have a quick snap second read like probably the same side of the field, like a slant flat and we've had that before. If you don't have that available, your best option, more often than not, is going to be to go ahead and ground that thing or throw it away and get the hell out of there. So great question, OCTV. I hope that answers your question. Well, let's go to Adam Ethridge here at Cold Ghetto on Twitter. What's the best non sports documentary film or series you've

ever seen? I'm saying The Jinks, the Life and Deaths of Robert Durst. If you haven't seen it, don't read

about it first. I have seen that it's fantastic, and you know, this is one of those questions on the spot where I wish I had a little bit of time to go look at it, and I guess I could, but off the top of my head, there was a documentary on I think it was Netflix a few years back called The impost and there was a kid that had gone missing in the state of Texas and his family was looking for him for like years and didn't find him, obviously, and then a couple years after the fact,

there was this this guy who was wasn't even a kid, he was like an adult from Europe and I don't remember what country, but he came over and he like said, I'm your missing son, I'm your child, and they took him in and he lived with them for like years. It was a crazy documentary. Check it out with The impostor. I believe it was on Netflix. I'm not sure if it's still on there, but that's one of my favorites

of all time. Also loved Exit Through the Gift Shop was a documentary on Banksie around that same time, as well, also on Netflix. Check that out. HBO has got tons of them to like the recent uh Into the storm or the Q documentary was really informative and interesting as well. You mentioned non sports, but I have to put this one in there because I watched it recently. But the untold crime and penalties, the about the uh, the was it?

The dearborn trash ers, the hockey team, I forget the name of the city, but the trashing hockey, the trasher's hockey team where the seventeen year old kid was the GM. That's like one of the most amazing stories of all time. So go check that out if you have not seen it. Let's go ahead and finish up here with Hassan Patel. He asks, let's get your handle. I'm trying to load your page page here, Hassan. We're gonna find it one second. And wouldn't you know what he's at Hassan Patel on Twitter.

I love when you guys do that. Top five Curb your Enthusiasm episodes. That's impossible, sir Um. I've rewatched a lot of the recent seasons, way more than the older ones, like because they came back after a long, a long layoff. I loved Palestini. The Palestine Chicken wasn't called. That episode was fantastic, but more recently speaking, Um, the car pool one was great back in the day as well, but more recently speaking, the Jets Killed Carl episode is the

very best one. Like the reference to him waking up in the middle of night screaming Watson, or the freak out when he sees that Levy on Bell was injured on his phone at lunch like that episode and they say, hey, it's just a game. It's just a game. Says it's not just a game. Football is not just a game, like I felt that in Carl obviously for the Dolphins off the Jets. But that's my top episode. That's only three, but I think it's good enough. Let's go ahead and

close up. The mailbag will come back and get some more answers, some more football related question answers on the Miami Dolphins dot com mailbag piece coming out on either Friday or Saturday. I'll check back on that and let you guys know on Twitter. Oh real quick, almost forgot. We have some reviews on Apple podcast. As I told you guys, a five star rating will get you your question. Read here on the Apple reviews. This one from JP Mane.

I love your show. You have a great balance of mix and fandom and analytics when discussing the Fins, I've learned a lot just from listening. Thank you very much, AP. That's exactly what we're going for. My question to you is this, the Dolphins have built this team with one of the main player attributes being flexibility. I think initially fans and even those in the media didn't understand the

concept of two offensive coordinators. I think this to OC concept gives the Dolphins the same flexibility when it comes to game planning for all the different style teams they will face. Example, how the game plan against and player usage will differ against New England and then the Buffalo

based on obvious to this is between them, would you agree? Yeah, that was kind of the earlier question I answered with regards to the collaboration like that just gives you more knowledge and more background, Like we covered this in the podcast over the offseason. You know Charlie Fries a good example. He was with the Central Michigan Chippewas a year ago and they ran a run heavy type of RPO offense.

And you see some of that action here coming into the NFL, not just in Miami but across the league. Or George Godse's time and these heavy two tight end packages or some of the concepts they run with him in his past stops in Houston and New England, or you know Eric Studisville and his contributions in the run game and some of the stuff he brought initially back in ten his first year and now developing that further into So a hundred percent agree. Jp. It's a great point,

and I talked about it on the podcast. Between the Buffalo and New England game, how different those teams were and how different the Dolphins approached that prime example of just that. Oh we got a one star one here. This is from Dolphin Ray. What's up? Ray? Good to see it right and back again here man, you've a He's written a few of these one star reviews. So I'm glad that we're still having you on the podcast.

Hope you're enjoying it. Travis Mailbag. They gave up thirty five, he says, But the defense played well, Okay dude, Um, Well yeah, I didn't say they played well. I said that I thought there were some moments where they really showed the ability to to contain Josh Allen more than they have in the past. He had less than two hundred passing yards that only happened three times all of last season, and thirty five points on four team possessions.

I mean, it's not good, but it's not terrible. It's that's a little over what I guess two and a half points per possession. You want to be lower than two points per possession. So it obviously wasn't good, but it wasn't, you know, horrendous that it was more. I think the offense is an ability to convert and keep the defense off the field. That was uh detrimental to the scoreboard, as well as the turnovers there in that game.

So appreciate you, right and Ray, we'll see your next update when it comes in here on the one star rating on Apple Podcast. That's it far, Apple Podcast Updates. Let's go ahead and finish this thing up here with our NFL picks. But first the college three pack. You guys know how it goes. I'm washed up these days, so we can't do a six pack, just three a pack of games here for you. Number twelve Notre Dame

goes to number eight teen Wisconsin on Saturday. I'm taking Notre Dame and I want to talk about my second favorite player in this class among those I have seen so far. Cavon Thibodeaux at Organ is number one, and number two is safety Kyle Hamilton's from Notre Dame. One of my favorite things when you spat a talent and you find out he's a freshman in college, then three years later he's a top prospect. Now with Hamilton's, that's hardly a feather in the cap because he was so

good from day one. Everybody knew about Kyle Hamilton's. But he's probably the most instinctive safety I've seen. And this is gonna be a recency bias and over the top idea from as as you hear, I'm sure, but since Ed Reid like no cap. He's legit side to side, downhill, playing the deep post. Did you see his Week one pick at Stanford? It was an unreal play. He's on the strong side of the formation and the back releases into his wheel route on the week side and the

week backer goes to pick it up. But even still, Hamilton's breaks to that route like at the snap and just flies over there like King Grifie Jr. Racing down a ball in the Rice center field gap with the Kingdom back in and he just knew that's where the ball was going and got on his horse, got to that spot, gets across the entire field, steps in front and makes a diving catch with his arms extended and catching the back end of the football and tucking it

him and tapping the toes before he goes out of bounds like I'm not kidding. It's one of the greatest defensive plays I've seen in my entire life. He is so, so, so good. And with the Irish, you normally start on the offensive line, but that's how good Hamilton's is. Still, They've got another couple of dudes up front, Jared Patterson, a potential first round center or slash guard. He could

play both, I think. But he has that Frank rag now Elton Jenkins plug and play makeup at center, pass game, run, game leadership communication. He really has it all. Let's keep it brief. This wee can go with just three guys. I'll give you Isaiah Folksy the defensive end six ft five to fifty seven, similar makeup to the ends the Dolphins have on the roster here, like an Emmanuel Ogba, for instance, he stout against the run, had ten sacks a year ago, but that length and Ben Combo Chef's kiss.

Wisconsin has some dudes to defensive tackle. Keanu Benton is nasty. He can line up over the nose and completely disregard good big centers. He had a rep in the Big Ten Championship game against Josh Myers, who was a day to pick last year, where he just deploys the snatch slash arm over move and goes right around him for a sack on Justin Fields. What a monster. Best interior rush prospect going into the season for my money, tight end Jake Ferguson has a chance to be the top

tight end off the board. A good mix of passing game and blocking game, good movement skills and technique as well at the point of attack. And then back on the offensive line, Logan Bruss came back for his senior season, has the look of that next Wisconsin offensive lineman. I mean, what a game for trench scouting. Notre Dame Wisconsin can't get much better than that. When he can play garden tackle,

some will probably project him inside. What he kind of reminds me of Dalton rise In a couple of years ago from Kansas State everybody wanted to kick him inside, but he's just a damn good right tackle. He can get out in space, and he's an asty finisher. Also

like Dalton Reisner. The other game on my on my list here Texas A and M at Arkansas number seven verses number sixteen give me Arkansas on the upset at home for the biggest win of their program, probably since the Darren McFadden Felix Jones days, like like fifteen years ago. But speaking of running backs, we're gonna get to the other side here with Isaiah Spiller from Texas A and M. He's my top back in the country. Strong runner, smooth strider,

and perhaps even more dynamic in the passing game. Six pounds sticks that foot in the ground with an effortless change of direction without losing acceleration. He had thirty two runs last year of fifteen plush yards running back one for sure. I just love his game. He makes tough catches like you see from a receiver to like did you guys see the Colorado game a few weeks ago. He makes a clutch third down reception to keep the offense on the field, then comes back and catches a

wheel at the pile on to win the game. Jordan Reed of the Draft Network has a great breakdown of his game and he says, the thing that stands out is his ability to consistently make defenders miss in that third level. And what do I always say about running backs. I want to be able to hit home runs, and Spiller as a home run hitter. He's also led by

left guard Kenyan Green, the best I think the best. Well, he's playing tackle this year, so maybe he's not an interior prospect, but he can play every position on the offensive line, powerful athletic, and they moved him from left guard to left tackle this season. So just keep an eye on fifty five for a and m one of the top offensive line prospects in the entire country. And then on the defensive line to Marvin Leal pound two gapper, intelligence to read and react and get off blocks, strength

to hold the point. But he can also win with speed moves as well, a dynamic defensive lineman. There for the Aggies for Arkansas, are they finally back? If you guys, to keep an eye on safety. Jalen Catalan has a chance to be safety too. Behind Hamilton's range, closing speed, instincts that popped, but man, he's a hit or two. He comes down and lays the lays the wood. Very versatile safety there for the Razorbacks. I also like center

Ricky Stromberg, control, balanced, lunch pale type of player. I'll be curious to see when they kick Leal inside to take him on. Then we go out to Lincoln, Nebraska for another Big Ten match up here in Michigan State at the corn Huskers, and we only have two ranked games this week. I wanted to get a good look at running back Kenneth Walker. What a load he is from Michigan State, the tailback the Hurricane fans are very familiar with right now. He can press the hole and

put defenders in conflict. Great feel and agility and acceleration off that jump cut, but also the power to explode through arm tackles. Then they have a try hard, long defensive end and Drew Beasley. He's a tremendous edge center in the running game. I also like center Matt Allen. He's one of those guys that's played a million games. First party, great anchor, rare length for a center, and the level of toughness you love at that position and

for the Huskers. Cornerback Cam Taylor Brick can play a little bit of everything. He's an inside star position and safety, cornerback, special teams return guy, competitive as hell for the corn Huskers. And then a couple more names I'm not really familiar with but I want to watch in that game, Linebacker Joe Joe Dolman and tight end Austin Allen. Let's finish up here with the NFL picks this week, we were

twelve and fourteen a week could go. Let's go baby one and eleven on the season, and we missed it on the Thursday podcast. And if you have my word here, this was recorded on Thursday afternoon. It's actually twelve forty nine out here in the East when I recorded this

podcast before the kickoff of Thursday Night Football. And I'm kind of glad this is the week I forgot to do it, because this game, as far as picks go, from the general consensus, is pretty much a consensus, which of course is always in the NFL zags right when everybody zigs NFL zaggs. But recording this on a Thursday afternoon, publishing Friday morning, I'm sure Davis Mills probably through for five yards and six touchdown passes and this will have

age poorly. But give me Carolina take it off to the three and no start this year and you're number two under Matt rule. Titans and Colts. Uncertainty at the quarterback position for the Colts and what is usually a close game, So that to me tips the scales to the Titans for Tannehill and Henry and those boys. Give me the Tennessee Titans in that game. Falcons and Giants.

Falcons get their first win and do it on the road against the Giants, who are both these teams oh and too got to get a dub on both sides. I'll take the Falcons. Chargers at Chiefs, remember the rule, always take the Chiefs. Play and simple. Cincinnati and Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh at home, revenge game for that game last year and Ryan Finley got them on Monday Night football. Gave me the Steelers, Chicago and Cleveland. Justin Fields makes his

first start. But give me the Browns. I think they're about to get cranking here with that loaded roster, good coaching staff, and even with the banged up Baker Mayfield. I'm stoked to see Fields get his first start. But I think it's gonna take some time for him to really hit his stride and blossom into all that talent we see that he has at that quarterback position. Baltimore and Detroit needs a lot for me to go against Lamar. That's not gonna happen this week. Give me the Ravens,

New Orleans and New England. Give me Winston and the Saints for a bounce back victory after a tough game last week. I like the New Orleans defense and put the clamps on the Patriots and when a tight game similar to the one we saw with the Dolphins and Patriots a couple of weeks ago, Arizona and Jacksonville. Kyler is going to contend for the m v P this year. One of the funnest players to watch in the league.

Give me the Cardinals, Washington and Buffalo. I really wanted to see Fitzpatrick this year do his thing, but he's obviously still down. Give me John Allen and the Bills at home. Jets at Broncos. Broncos get off to a three and oh start. Give me the the home side there Miami and Las Vegas. Give me the Dolphins, Seahawks and Vikings. Seahawks. I like him to bounce back off a tough loss here. I guess the same could be said about the Vikings, who are in inspiration boat also

at O and two. But in a tight game, I'm taking Russ and the Seahawks, and we go back out west for Tampa in Los Angeles, the game of the week. I'll take the Rams over the defending Super Bowl champions. I think this is an NFC Championship game preview, and I'll take the home team. And then Sunday Night football Green Bays in San Francisco. I got Aaron Rodgers staying hot. Give me the Pack on the road. And then Philly is at Dallas for Monday Night football. I will take

Dak Prescott. He's playing unconscious right now. Give me the Cowboys big and that one. All right, that's gonna be my time. Go back and check out the Thursday Preview podcast if you have not done so already, the most in depth preview podcast you'll find on the Miami Dolphins each each each and every week here on the Drivetime podcast. In the meantime, that's gonna be my time, you all, Please be sure to subscribe to the podcast on Apple

Podcast leave us a rating, leave us a review. The five star ones will get read and some of the one star ones will get read as well. If I have to kind of debate you guys on those ones, give me a follow on Twitter. It's at winkld NFL. You can follow the team at Miami Dolphins. Check out the fish Tank podcast, but set the No j Our YouTube channel has every media availability up there on that channel. Also, Miami Dolphins dot com. Check us out from written content

on the dot com. Until next time, fins up.