Melvin Ingram and Sony Michel Join Drive Time

Travis Wingfield. And on today's show, we welcome in not one but two new Miami Dolphins, two household names in this league, to proven free agent veteran additions to keep improving and bolstering this roster edge. Melvin Ingram is going to join us. He's new to the Miami Dolphins. Will also break down his game and talk to the newest

edge defender on this Dolphins defense. Plus we already broke down his game on a prior podcast, but now we're gonna talk to the man himself, new Dolphins running back, so Michelle from the Baptist Health Studios inside the Baptist Health Training Complex. This is the Drive Time Podcast. Every single time I think there might be a little bit of content lull, some information we don't have to talk about here on the podcast, which I always appreciate because I can then get into my bag of ideas and

bag up tricks. But then we get blessed with some new content material here. And what a great gift this is on this Friday to be able to talk to two very proven, very good veteran players in this league now new Miami Dolphins, and we start with edge defender, you know, outside linebacker defensive, then kind of a little bit of both of those two positions. Melvin Ingram a decorated free agent on this year's list, and this is a free agent crop that kind of continues to have

an impressive list of available players. One thing I saw Greg Rosenthal of Around the NFL Network talk about Around the NFL podcast on the NFL Network talk about is how you know we'd spend so much time talking about the draft, but this year, for whatever reason, there's this unique circumstance where there are a lot of really good players available in free agency, and Rosenthal said, you know, I think that we're gonna wind up talking about the

guys that signed post draft. A lot more are guys that should have a bigger impact than your second, third, fourth rounders in the NFL draft. On balance, you can have a lot more impact from guys that are signed in the post draft process compared to guys that were actually drafted, as those rookies take time to come along and develop. And he might be right there with Miami. Melvin Ingram and Sony Michelle certainly could have a nice

impact on this Dolphins roster. And you know, looking at the five Things piece up on Miami Dolphins dot com, I frequently joke about tropes. Right, you can never have enough this, and I feel like that's every position now in the National Football League. You can never have enough corners, you can never have enough pass rushers, you can never have enough weapons, you can never have enough running back. Your offensive line can never be deep enough. Right, Well,

it's true because deep rosters are good rosters. Attrition occurs in the NFL, and having guys that can do multiple things, and you can be deep with guys who can do multiple things, three four or five six deep at that position, well, it's gonna benefit you. So the Dolphins signed Pro three time Pro bowler Melvin Ingram to a defense that retained every single member of the front seven from a year ago.

You know that ranked five in the National Football League with forty eight sacks, and the addition of Ingram gives Miami a fourth edge defender, that outside linebacker defensive end who finished inside the top forty in QB pressures last year. We'll get to Ingram's number here in just one second, but ogbab with his fifty seven, Andrew van Ginkl with

his thirty four, and Jalen Phillips with his forty. Let's go ahead now and get into the five things to know about this newest member of this Dolphins defense, Melvin Ingram, who just gives Miami another weapon off the edge in the front seven, as a rusher, as a run defender. Whatever you want him to do, Melvin has done it in his professional football career. And that's where we start here. With a decade of dominance, and there are no signs of slowing down, at least not that he's showing right

now against the run, pass, or un coverage. He has impacted a ton of football games throughout the course of his storied NFL career over ten years in the league, fifty one sacks, seventy four tackles for loss, and fifteen force fumbles. He's played a hundred and twenty eight career games for a career that began with some injuries early on, but since he missed a few games early in his career, he's played in one hundred of a possible one hundred

and twelve games. Since the start of the season. He's logged a hundred nineteen QB hits, three eight five total tackles, intercepted three passes, defended twenty nine more, and recovered seven fumbles in his pro career. And he also showed off his explosiveness way back in twelve at the NFL Scouting Combine, ranking in the ninety percentile or better among edge defenders all time in his ten yards split, his twenty yards split,

short shuttle, and three cone drills. He also checked in in the eighty percentile or better in both the forty yard dash and the vertical jump. What does that all mean. It means explosiveness, and you see it in his game on the tape. I'm gonna be tweeting out some links of some reps of his just getting after people with the spin move, with the long arm, with the chop, with every move that he possibly has in features he's

he's really excels in that regard. But age thirty three, just no signs of slowing down upon his November arrival to the Chiefs. Last year at the trade deadline, he logged twenty four quarterback pressures in his first eight games with a team, three pressures per game, and during that stretch he never had fewer than two pressures in a game and recorded four pressures in four different games. He added nine more pressures and two sacks in three playoff games.

So playing, you know, beyond seventeen games at thirty three, still getting the job done into January, you know, at age thirty three. Impressive stuff. And since he is eighth among edge rushers with four dred and eighteen total QB pressures and nineteenth and sacks with forty nine of them. And you want to talk about consistency in every facet of his game, I put up on Twitter a little thread saying you're going to read a lot about his pass rush production, his ability to come into sub packages

and help Miami get that third down rush package. Oh contrary, my friend, there was much more to his game than just rushing the pass or The volume of his career is very impressive, but the consistency, to me is rather jaw dropping. For his career. Here are his quarterback pressure rates, which have never dipped below ten point seven percent. I was back in one eleven point one percent. Anything over

eight percent is really good. Eleven point one percent, eleven point nine percent, twenty nineteen, twelve point five, eleven point two, seventeen, fourteen point five, twenty sixteen fifteen percent than twelve point nine percent, eleven point nine percent, ten point seven, and eleven point seven his rookie year. Always double digit percentage in career pressure rate. For context, Emmanuel Ogba, who finished seventeenth last year in total QB pressures, he had an

eleven point six pressure rates. That gives you an idea about what a good pressure rate is. Og Ball is very good at eleven point six. Ingram's in that category that territory or better his entire career. His run stop rate, it's in similar territory from a volume standpoint. He was top twenty five in the league from through nineteen, never having fewer than thirty two run stops. What's a run stop, Travis, It's a Pro Football Focus metric that measures running down

tackles within two yards of the line of scrimmage. So you stopped the play with your tackle on a running game. Every year he was in that range, giving him the sixth most run stops two d and thirty three among

all edge defenders since. From an efficiency standpoint, again, consistency is the way career run stop rates nine point five percent went down to five percent, but twelve point seven or cent nine point nine, nine point four, nine point one, eight point five, eight point one, it dipped to five point seven and team and there was eleven point one his rookie season. It's just rushing the passer, defending the run.

How about the coverage grade? Well, in his career, quarterbacks have a passer rating of eighty two point four when going against Melvin Ingram and coverage it's he does all three phases. And how that translates to Miami. Well, in the five Things piece, I put a clip or some clips up on there of Ingram's game. I'll go ahead and tweet those out as well, both as a rusher

and a run defender. Again, even with a new team mid season, in a new scheme, he flashed the ability to transition midplay from penetrating run defender to ferocious quarterback hunter against play action and in this clip, I put up there you can see the patented spin move that he has on display, which he pairs with that quickness, sheer strength, heavy hands, and a very devastating long arm move which is used to kind of keep offensive lineman at bay and help you control the rep and it

prevents them from getting your hands off their chest plate. And that ability that he has to kind of shock pass protectors in a variety of situations makes him an ideal fit for most of the game packages you want to run as a defense, stunts and twists and slants loop guys around. He can do it with the strength, the speed, the quickness, the lateral agility. It's all on display, and his run tape is equally impressive. There's there's a beauty of the signing and the multitude of roles that

he could conceivably occupy. Last season, Van Ginko played eight hundred and one snaps, Ogba played seven five and Philip six oh three. Ingram played seven thirty one and showed that he could be a valuable sub package rusher or a true three down player either way you want him to fill. Whatever role here, he could help the Dolphins front stay fresh weekend and week out. He himself could stay fresh with a limited role in pass rushing. He

can do whatever you want him to. He's that good of a football player, and he also with ten years experience, can really have an impact in his leadership role. Here's what he had to say about his leadership roll back with the Steelers when he was briefly there for a little bit. My leadership I display it by my work ethic what I do on the field. I don't try to be super vocal because I feel anybody can do that.

You can pick anybody off the streets to be vocal, but it takes a special leader to do it by work ethic, going out there and leading by example. And he talked about how young players will perceive what he does and take that and put into their own game. He said, they're definitely going to be looking at you. I know when I was a younger guy, I definitely looked at every older player just to try to steal something away from them that they did on a daily

basis or how they went about their work. That's why I try to go about mine the right way. And Travis Kelsey talked about what his inclusion into that chief's locker room did for them last year. Quote the swag chat Man. You bring a guy in with that much juice and that much swagger about himself, a perennial All star throughout his entire career, that makes everybody play better. You saw it immediately how much the guys were having fun with it. End quote. So production, the leadership, what

he can do in all facets of the game. The last thing here on the Five Things piece is his rap game. I'm not gonna detail here at all because I want to hear from Melvin. We'll do that net here on the Drivetime Podcast. You can find the five Things piece up on Miami Dolphins dot com, as well as all the free agent acquisitions five Things on Miami Dolphins dot com, as well as my sit down video chats with all these new players up on the team

YouTube channel. But next we'll hear from Melvin Ingram. After that, we'll have Sonny Michelle on here on the Drivetime Podcast, your host, Travis Wingfield brought to you by Auto Nation. What's Up Dolphins? Travis Wingfield here the host of the Drivetime Podcast on the Miami Dolphins podcast network, and today I am joined by new Dolphins linebacker Melvin Ingram, what's up, mel? I'm doing great good. It's good to see you. Good to have you in here. Welcome to Miami. How's it

filled to be a Dolphin? Man? I feel great. Man. If you're like something that's meant to be. Man, it's a blessing to be here and had its opportunity, he said, it's like it's meant to be. So you're as a free agent, you had your pick of where to go. Why Miami and why now? Just because me and Miami got so much history. So it's a great young team that's that's on a rise and and and and got a chance to do something special. So it's just it's just that I wanted to be a part of. So

you like the roster coming in here. Obviously, had a chance to meet with coach McDaniel Yett. First impressions the coming man and I love him. Man, high energy guy, and I love it man. He brings. He bring the energy and that's what creates the atmosphere and every single thing he does, media with the players, everything he does it so much up temple, high energy stuff. It's fun to be around. How about the defensive staff, Coach Boyer,

you had chance to meet him and his staff. Yes, sir, yes, sir, And I feel like they got a great staff they got they got a bunch of great coaches who know exactly what they're talking about and components in the right duration. So we know about the past rush production through your career. A story ten your career so far. Also a hell

of a rundefender. I think kind of gets lost in the the sauce little bit there, But I was curious, what mentality is it required to play strong in the running games, had a hard edge off the outside on defense. It's just a football mentality, really, man. I think in this game you have to be a complete player and and sometimes people get lost in the past rush, but it also goes with stopping the run. So the complete ones and the great ones they do both. And I

try to pat it myself after that. That's why I wanted to bring it up. So I think it's a big part of your game and aviously what you bring here obviously also a new face on this team bringing ten years of experience to this club. How do you approach your role as kind of this veteran leader here on this team while getting to know this locker room and building those relationships as you go along. Here. I

just come in and work, man. That's been That's been my emo since the first day I stepped in this league, and I'm always do that. Just come in and working and try to lead by example. I ain't really gonna do all the talking, because I feel like anybody can just talk. To be a leader, you got to go out and put the work in it. And people see you putting the work in, they see how long you've been doing it, they naturally gonna follow you for example, right, So that's way to do it. So, speaking of that

position group, you've got guys that are productive. The last several years in the NFL, Manual aug bought great pressure rates Jalen Phillips, a young guy coming up, Andrew Van Ginkle as well. What do you think about those guys and what they bring to your position group? Man, I think they're great players, man, and I'm I'm I'm excited to work with my thing. I think that the future is bright and I think the way they work in the in the potentition, their head is only gonna get better.

Did you know anybody on the team before you signed here? Yeah? I know a couple of people and getting here. It's been dope to be here with him. That's a lot of fun. It's not a bad area too, you know that. Going to the Heat games and now you said, we're gonna make fans very happy about that. Hopefully here a peppos early in the fourth quarter. But being in the Link for ten years, you've accomplished a lot. What do you hope to accomplish next in this next phase of

your career? Of course, your your goal is always the one to ring and and and first you gotta you gotta get there. You gotta get to the playoffs. You gotta win those games and make it to that big dance. But those of my goal is the one ring absolutely hopefully can make that happen for you here in Miami. Had a chance to prouse your Instagram a little bit. Saw some really cool posts with you and your boys. I have a two year old daughter, is the very

best thing in the world. What's something you can't wait to do with your family down here now that you're in South Florida. I don't know. It's probably just me and the kids and the fam just just going to the beach man, getting on the beach. My kids and my family loved to beaching. We get out there with the kids on the beach and just have fun. The smile said, Is there a particular beach you like down here? No,

not a particular any beach. My kids don't. They don't care as long as the beach as long as you're standing water, right, I recommend Dania. It's right by the airport down there, but it's a little bit low key. Not a lot of people go there, so I like the fact that it's not so hustle and you've got something. Yeah. Something else I saw was was your involvement in the sneaker game. I know some folks around here'll be pretty excited about a potential pop up sneaker shop. We're gonna

have any of those? Yeah, we we We definitely, me and my staff, we're definitely working on it because I own a mobile sneaker store right now where we just we just pull up places and and and let people come on and buy shoes and and and see the trump So it's definitely it's definitely a potential. You might have some business to do here, I mean employers and the employees doing here into the shoe game. I wouldn't be to let you out of here without asking you

about the Rap Game. Any new albums in the work, any collaborations, and yeah, no, no, no, we're working on I'm working on finishing the album right now. We uh, we're probably about eight finish and we're working on it. It's it's a dope project though, very cool. I asked Tony Michell earlier. He said he's retired from the rap games. Yeah, I'm still in it all right, And I also mentioned toront Arms said you know about his Yes, definitely, I definitely heard his music and me and him talk from

day one about doing some stuff together. So we definitely gonna get in and do some stuff. Go. Let's go ahead. Leave on that right there, and there he goes New Dolphins linebacker Melvin Ingram fund chat with him. Let's go ahead and take our last break and come back on the other side and catch up with new Dolphins running

back Sony Michelle. What's up Dolphins? Travis Wingfield here the host of the Drive Time podcast on the Miami Dolphins podcast Network, and I'm joined today by new Dolphins running back Sony Michelle. Sony, welcome in, man, appreciate it. Thanks for having me. We're happy to have you down here. So has it hit you yet the fact that you're back homeward all began? Um? I think it's kind of setting in now, you know. I mean week two, UM,

getting activated with everything, Um, getting into a routine. So it's going good so far. So I saw you were in the number thirty four. I grew up a diehard Dolphins fan. My favorite player of all time as Ricky Williams. Is that a coincidence or did you pick that number for a reason? Um? I didn't pick that number. Um, I'll say it was one of the numbers. I mean I initially picked it, but and there was only like

four number is available for me. So knowing the history behind the number, I picked it, you know, to kind of set the bar high. I think it's a good looking I said, like thirty four and running back, what's better than that? There's so many legendary backs that were thirty four. So aside from the homecoming here, you know, obviously coming back a form American heritage products. What attracted you to come to the Miami Dolphins and play your

ball here? I'm seeing the foundation that they're trying to build the players they had coming in, the players that was here already, seeing these guys work, playing against them, Um, knowing what they're about, and you know, coming here to try to be a part of it, to try to do something special, you know, was something I had in mind. Was part of that. The coaching staff and coach McDaniel

getting to those guys a little bit. Oh yeah, definitely knowing him, knowing a little bit about his background, the schemes he run, the you know, the way his players talk about him. So knowing a little bit. I like that he brought you Raheem and Chase up here from the NFC West guess, guys that were close in his backyard there, right, Yeah, he knows what he's got there. So Also, running backs coach Eric Studisville has been in this business for a long time, been here for a

long time. I'm how excited you to work with him and kind of absorb some of that wisdom that he can offer you. Oh man, I'm excited. Um, knowing a little bit about his background, knowing you know, some of the backs that he's coached, some of the wisdom that he can shed on the room on me. Um. You know, I like to you know, pick his brain a little bit so I can add to my game. So he's been pretty cool so far. He's coached a bunch of really good backs. And you know, we talked about you

coming here to Miami. What would you say the Dolphins are getting in Sony Michelle as a player, Oh man, they're getting you know, I would say me being me, a high character guy, the guy that's gonna come in, you know, put the team first and just work hard. I touched on your your teammates here in the backfield a little bit. We also, I gotta add Miles Gascon,

savan ak Met, Jared Dukes and the whole crew. What do you think the Dolphins have here in the stable with those guys, adding you and Raheem as well as Chase Um. That was one of the reasons why I came, you know, knowing that they had an elite group of backs. Um. All these guys are starters, you know, potential starters, and coming here, I knew that at iron sharpens iron, If I want to be the best version of myself, I gotta compete against the best. So that kind of helped

made the decision. I've heard that phrase a lot on this team this year. I'm looking forward to that. In your opinion, what makes you know what what what creates a really quality not running back by committee, but you mentioned having so many guys that are capable. What's the key to having that all kind of click together and working together? Um, you know, ultimately you're on the same team.

You know, number one, you want to compete, and then you know being being being the biggest fans for you know, rooting for the guys that's in the same room, you know, wanting them to succeed, wanting the best for themselves. UM, And ultimately, you know, building a bond and once that bond is created, it kind of it kind of set the bar high and everybody kind of understands the standard and that will that's what carries us through the season. That's a great answer. You talk about those guys being

in that room together. You've been here for two weeks now. You mentioned has there been some competition, some good camaraderie building in that room? UM, I would say right now, just more bonding and I'm getting to know each other, getting around the guys and and and doing you know a little stuff. You talked about Coach mc daniel little

bit earlier. What about the system that his staff and him have been installing here, A, you're pretty excited about what's to come here with the running game in Miami, definitely. You know, they're big on explosive plays. We have explosive guys on the outside, um, and they're committed to running the football. Can ask more than that, right, That's exactly right.

So you've been I talked to you a little bit about the my favorite college football playoff game of all time that you played in a Georgia that against Oklahoma and the Rolls Bowl a few years back. You've been on two super bowl teams, the College Football Playoffs, the National Championship Game. What have you learned throughout the course of your career to kind of, I guess what can those experiences in those big time games kind of teach you about being a pro and how you can kind

of impart that wisdom on the rest of the guys here. Um, it's all about stick into the process, um, you know, and part of the processes. You know, all the different phases. I miss phase one. I came towards the end of phase two, and now I'm an O T A S. And you know, creating those habits so we can you know, go into the season with with good habits, hopefully you know, putting my head down working and me being leader, one of the leaders in the group that you know, guys

can can watch and hopefully they can follow. I can follow, I can learn from them. We can pick each other's brains. And I think that's the most important part is um, you know, sticking to the process, learning from it and kind of building that core foundation so we can carry through the season. You talk a little bit about work ethic and just you know, putting in the work that's

required this time a year to be productive. Come September and going back to your college days, I read some some testimonials from a pair of your former college and then Patriots teammates, and David Andrews and Isaiah Win and they both really praised the way you work in the way you go about things. Where does that come from? Like, where does that the way you learn how to be such a pro? Where did that come from? For you? Um? I would say, you know the foundation that my parents built,

you know, it started inside the house. UM, you know, working hard for whatever you want, you know, understanding where my parents come from They came from Haiti, you know, they they were immigrants that came over dropped everything and they had to start from scratch. They had to work

for everything that they wanted. UM. And me seeing a little bit of that because I was so young, Um, you know, I kind of I feel like I grasped some of that energy, some of that you know, information that was going on around me and kind of applied it to you know, the different levels that I played on with whether it's little league, high school to college and now in the pros of you know, trust in the process and not really trying to cheat it, learned

pretty quickly how to how to work under your your parents grown up a little bit. I mean, that's that's that's the stuff I read about was just how even in high school you were a big time you know, prospect of American heritage there, legendary school here, but I said, they always went back to the way you work. So just the way you kind of came up was what started all that. I guess it makes most sense. So also did some research on your Instagram and I saw

you just celebrated was it your daughter's third birthday? Birthday? Okay, so I've got a little princess back at home myself. Her second birthday is on Saturday. And I'm gonna tell you right now, the tantrum stage has hit us. And I was just curious if you had any advice for how to deal with these meltdowns that come up every

couple of hours. That seems like for me, no advice because I'm learning it as it go, so I can't like, I know, Um, I just try to just try to be there for h just try to, you know, make them as comfortable as possible, hopefully, you know, teach a little bit the little that I know, try to tea and then, um, you know, just watch him grow. That's all you can do. Yeah, that's the best, man, It's it's the hardest thing but also the best at the same time. It's funny how that works. A couple more

questions for you here. We got Melvin Ingram coming next to the podcast here. I know he's pretty musically inclined. I was told you are a little bit as well. What you got in the hop in the hopper for music coming up here. Um, I retired, okay, the X rapper, I retired. I kind of put the mutes aside. More of you know, diving deep into some of some of my favorite artists, um and kind of just using that to you know, keep me in the right headspace. So

no collaborations with you and Melvin and toront Arms. That also wraps a little bit too, No collapse. Those boys are good man. I don't know if as good as those guys, No, no problem. Last question for you here, Sony, what do you look looking forward to most about your return here to South Florida, whether it's football away from the field, what are you most excited about here about coming back home. I'm excited, you know, to one, you know, getting the opportunity to compete and try to make the

team and winning some football games. I can't take more than that, Sony Michelle, new Dolphins running back, appreciate your time today, Thank you, thank you, and away he goes.

The free agent addition interviews keep rolling on. You guys can find those video elements up on YouTube on the team YouTube channel, as well as all the veterans sitdowns we've done and rookie sit downs as well with the four draft picks up on the Miami Dolphins YouTube channel coming your way on Monday, we have one of my favorite podcasts every year that we do the comprehensive oster review following the what should I say, the primary portion

of the off season. I know, we just got Melvin and Sony in here, which is a great get in the month of May, but typically after the draft it winds down a little bits. We cover the roster in its entirety. It's a lengthier edition of the Drivetime podcast coming your way on Monday. 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. You can follow me on Twitter

at Wingfield NFL. You can follow the team at Miami Dolphins. Check out the fish Tank podcast with Seth and o J. To h Jalen Phillips, Nick need Him their last three guests go back and knock out all of those, and also check out our Twitter spaces show every single Wednesday at eight pm Eastern. I believe we get o J. Mcduffee back this week. He was down this past week.

We get him back now though again. The YouTube channel for the interviews as well as the fish Tank Interviews for Media Availabilities and Dolphins Today and last but not least Miami Dolphins dot com. Until next time finds up Caroline, daddy's coming home and happy second birthday, sweetheart. I Love you, HM