Position By Position Roster Review

you your semi daily dose of Miami Dolphins football. And on today's show, I've been working on this one for a few weeks and it's gonna be lengthy. You probably saw the time on this episode already, but it's gonna be as informative as any Dolphins podcast You're gonna find out there as we keep adding to the roster and keep seeing this team get better, even in the month of May, it's required updating. It's the post draft roster review.

We take a look at the roster position by position, give you an interesting staff about each guy, talk through the tape a little bit, and also cover some interesting storylines and facts about the position group as a whole. We'll go ahead and jump right in from the Baptist Health Studios inside the Baptist Health Training Complex. This is the Drivetime Podcast, alright, so the warning is out there. This is a longer edition of the Drift Time Podcast.

Felt okay about it because we are right in the middle of the off season, coming up on the dregs of the off season. Love an o t a coverage podcast for you guys on Wednesday and then again down the road in a couple of weeks. But why don't we go ahead and just kick this thing off here with the quarterback position, and just real quick before we do that, a quick disclaimer. These are my particular breakdowns,

my film study analysis. And also we are going in order of jersey number, so when you hear a certain player at a certain spot, don't freak out. We're going in order of jersey number because we want to let these guys compete on the field and find their spot on the depth chart. That way, Let's get to the quarterbacks and darting off with number one too, a tungo viola as we go over our nine d man roster.

And you guys know by now the traits that I think make him stand out, the ability to get off the spot, not just in a hurry when he sees it, but with anticipation to feel that rush and to find new avenues, recognizing where the weak spots might be against a particular defensive look a rush package, and how to find that vacant space where he can then get to to operate from. And the numbers bear that out too, and we'll touch on that here in just a second.

And then also obviously the ball placement. Pro Football Focus has a quarterback accuracy measurement where they chart not just completion percentage, but they chart location over actual completions and the completions and two was top twelve and accuracy on balls leading his guys as well as settling them down into soft spots where you come back down the stem where you go between his zone and also back shoulder location.

And we see that in practice too. Talked about it on Wednesday last week on the podcast the Tuesday Practice Recap addition which then earned to the Orange Jersey in practice, and we always talk about what makes a quarterback stands

out to me. It's third down passing, where to a last year was fifth in the National Football League last year among all quarterbacks, and moving the stick conversion rate, moving the sticks conversion rate, the four contemporaries of his on that list who finished higher than him with a better conversion rate Matt Stafford's Super Bowl champion, Patrick Mahomes m VP and Super Bowl MVP Justin Herbert and Joe Burrow, And those third and fourth spots were within one percent

conversion of each other, so you get one more conversion from TWA and he's top three in the National Football League last year, and he was top ten in a lot of important categories like completion percentage over expected which measures ball placement, total QBR, escape rate, and sack rate surrendered.

But the smaller sample size with some games missed made it pretty volatble, and that bad run kind of put him behind the median in a few of these categories, like passer rating nineteenth, average yards or drop back nineteenth. But then completion percentage seventh c p o E sixth,

sack percentage tied for fifth pressures turned to sacks. He was six in that regard, which is a measure of pocket presents, and then big time throws, which is a pro football focused stat for excellent location and timing, generally down the field or into a tighter window. He had six of them, and that was twenty two. But I find it interesting the group right ahead of him was Mayfield, Cousins, and Herbert with seven two is five point one percent.

Big time throw percentage was higher than all those guys. And how about some of the Going back to the third down stat Ray, I want to look at the four guys ahead of two on that list and consider what their running game and pass protection ranks were a

season ago. This is going off Pro Football Focus in terms of how they graded the offensive line and the rushing ranks in terms of total yards rushing last season for Matt Stafford ranked running game, the number one pass protection offensive line in the NFL, Patrick Mahomes sixteenth ranked running game, the sixth ranked pass protection in it last year in the NFL, Justin Herbert twenty first ranked run game, sixteen ranked pass pro, Joe Burrow twenty three ranked run game,

twenty ninth pass protection. Pretty damn impressive to a tongue of Byalo of fifth place, thirty ranked run game, thirty second ranked and pass pro. I think perhaps the craziest stat, not just for Miami but the entire NFL last year was the two was sacked on just four point nine percent of his dropbacks. That was eighth best in the NFL last year. But Travis, isn't that just because the

ball comes out so fast? Well, when Jacoby was the quarterback, it was a seven point eight percent sack right twenty six in the NFL. And like we did with the third down numbers, how about the guys who finished ahead of twa and sack percentage and the total pressures. Tom Brady for the Buccaneers a hundred and fifty six QB pressures last year, Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes one seventy nine,

same number for Justin Herbert one seventy nine. Kirk Cousins was fifth, and sack percentage she had the second highest on this list with two hundred and eleven pressures against him. Dak Prescott one fifty four, Matt Stafford one forty four. The Miami Dolphins last year allowed two thirty five Pro

Football Focus recorded pressures. That was twenty four more than the next highest and thirty seven more than the third highest, And to it was just point one percent behind Cousins, Prescott and Stafford, so one tenth of a percentage point from being the fifth best sack right behind a line that set the record for most pressures allowed in the PFF era. That's your Tishpiel. Teddy bridgewiret number five. Fortunate

to have this kind of depth at the position. I like to note his intelligence and feel for the position. It's akin to tow Ah and the way he can navigate some of those overload blitzes and create with his pocket mobility. I think he's just wired perfectly for this role because he is a He's gonna know the system inside and out and be he understands managing a football game. And I hate that that term can be misconstrued as a negative. It's a quarterback's job to manage situations, calculate risk,

and play accordingly. Think Teddy as as well served in that regard. Is anybody a fund stat on him one hundred twenty point three passer rating last year when blitzed two for one even eight yards, nine touchdowns to just two picks. When teams blitz Teddy Bridgewater other quarterback in the room in a nineteen rookie Skyler Thompson. You heard

him on the podcast. You heard coach McDaniel talk about it to the passion for the sport, the willingness to do whatever role the team needs him to do to win football games, He's got a great room to learn from. I mean, my goodness, coach bev to and Teddy the frequent Dan Marino cameos, and my fun stat here on Skyler was the three nine nine rushing yards on designed runs last year at Kansas State. And how about the

overall room as as a whole. I just like the way these guys can mitigate pressure, get off the spot, and the way they're wired to compete at this level. The storyline here is, I think, can you foster an environment to capitalize on what to of strengths are kind of an emphasis this offseason. Strong running game, hopefully improved offensive line play. We know about the new weapons on offense.

The sky to me is the limit here. You shore up those two things, and I think we're gonna have a ton of fun this season, maybe too much fun. You can't battle here. There isn't one at running back. Nine guys on the roster, and we start with number two, Chase Edmonds, three down player. You can flex him out. He can run routes, has big playability, can get to that second and third level and make fast guys missed and run past fast guys. The fun stat on him,

there's a couple of them. He had the third best rushing e p A. That's expected points added the analytics storks out there, and I'm partially an analytics stork. Love that stat and running backs in the last in the NFL last year, his twenty three point three percent of total runs reaching fifteen plus miles, Prower was first among all running backs with at least a hundred carries, next to second year pro Jared Okes Number twenty three. Love

what he does in pass pro. I thought he showed some medal last year in the preseason in his short yardage work. I'm excited to get a look at this guy in year number two. A fun stat on him his final year in Cincinnati with the Bearcats, no drop passes, catch rate and zero pressures allowed on thirty one pass blocking reps. Also forced miss tackles on one and forty four rush attempts. That's one every five point seven six and it kind of spells out to you a physical

back that can play all three downs. Number twenty six savan Akhmed going back to the speed thought we saw it in the preseason last year, catching that touchdown pass on the wheel route against the Bears. We see in the explosive runs, had that big one twenty two yard game back in his rookie season and a couple of our another hundred yard performance before that as well, and he can sure his heck hit the big run the home run hitter. Speaking of home run hit res number

thirty one, where Hee moster another newcomer here. Speed speed, speed, patient runner who can capitalize on the plays where you blocked it perfect and hit the home runs. Not just a fift twenty yard that's what's blocked, that's what we're getting. We're talking sixty sev yr runs where he makes guys in the second and third level miss and he's by

him for long touchdowns. Fund stat on him recorded the two fastest speeds with the football in his hands back in and they only played one game last year one and had two carries for twenty yards on those runs. Number thirty four. Sony Michelle packs an absolute punch and gets to full speed quickly after making his initial move. Really strong vision to find lanes as they open up. The fun staff for me on Sony Michelle is the way he's been a big part of championship runs last

year six games. They elevate his role with the Rams runs for five hundred and forty yards as they go five and one on their way to an NFC West title, and then back in three playoff games and the Patriots three thirty six rushing yards and six touchdowns for that

championship winning team Number thirty seven. Miles gaskin passing game prowess all the way and the ability to catch the football from any route in any alignment, whether you want to put him condensed in a nasty split, put him back in the backfield, flex him out wide, haven't take a go off run a takeoff route like he did

last year against the Bucks for a touchdown. Then against the Jets he catches that hook up route from two on that game winning drive and that soft spot of the zone took a big shot, but hung on on the third down catch for not just a conversion but

a touchdown to help the Dolphins get that victory. Also, like the way he creates when the quarterback goes off script and tends to find the vacancies created by that scrambling of the quarterback fund stat for him last year he tied for the team lead with seven touchdowns with Jalen Waddle and his twelve touchdown since lead the Dolphins over that span. Finishing up here at the running backs.

Number forty seven is a quadree White. His vision to get from front side press, that front side of the run to the back side of the formation with that fold back run against the grain, against the flow after showing patients to kind of create that over pursuit by what he does. That's impressive. So is the contact balanced to stave off arm tackles, and you see it with the fund stat four point six one yards after contact.

I was impressed by him last week in camp. Excited to look at him tomorrow as well as the rest of O T A s and in the training camp. Full back talk baby number thirty alec ingled smooth hands from that full back position, big plays in college at Wisconsin, and some really good tape there with the Raiders as well, paving the way for Brandon Jacobs, Kenyan Drake and some pretty damn good rushing attacks. Fund stat on him receiving touchdown every year as a pro and seven point oh

two yards per target in his career. That's that's actually top three or top five rather I should say among fullbacks, number forty six, John Lovett, the quarterback tape on him in college is so much fun, a versatile guy, not unlike Ingold, taking some wildcat snaps. But then with the Packers had some real get out of your chair highlight type of blocks played mostly on special teams there. The storyline here is how does the workload get shared. Who's

gonna be the third down option? How will they cycle through third down options? How many snaps does each guy take? Who's the odd man out? Do they keep five or six? Do they keep four? How many is it? How do they keep two fullbacks one fullback? Whatever? It looks like lots of options there for the Dolphins in this running back room, and you have to think that's by design to give them as much options as they need to execute. Mike McDaniel, Frank Smith, all those guys running scheme on

offense and the camp battle. It's really the entire room who gets the carries. But I'm also curious to see, you know, we have an idea about who enters with I should say the most past resume success us and gravitas, who kind of winds out that role at the back end of the roster and special teams as a guy that can come off the bench. Curiously how that works out as well. Wide receivers. There are eleven of them on the roster, and we start here in order of

jersey number with number three Lynn Bowden. Multiple skill skeat. He can catch it, he can run it, he can even throw it. That's why you call a skill sket like I just called it. He's shifty as I'll get out. He can create after the catch. The FUND stat on him back in over the final five weeks twenty eight grabs for two d and twelve yards. Didn't play last

year with the injury number ten, Tyreek Hill. I'll be repeating this for Jalen Waddle in a minute, and since there's two of them, I'm not sure if you can still say it, but this guy just moves differently than those around him. Urgency, suddenness, speed. I saw one practice of the sky already and he's just shaking off defenders with his route running and coming back down the stem. Electric player, electric personality. The FUND stat on him Pro

Bowl all six years of his career. One of the most productive receivers in NFL history through their first six seasons ranks top and explosive touchdowns from forty plus all that fun stuff and touchdown scored from those distances since his arrival back in sixteen. He is gonna be not just creating for himself, but creating chances for other guys. It's gonna be fun to watch Number eleven Cedric Wilson Jr. His ability to stretch the defense paired with his size,

it's such a nice combination. And the versatility to play inside and outside. I think it's gonna help not just open up things for Waddle and Hill, but the space that he gets from Waddle and Hill even more is going to be exponentially greater for this Dolphins uh you know, one to three option attack here this season. He was a major threat on slot fades last year in Dallas. And the ability to get deep from that position at that size, it's kind of this new age thing. You

see it in college slot fades. Get the ball down the field to a guy like last year Arkansas trailing Burkes for instance, is a good example. Put a big, rocked up guy in that slot position and watch him go out physical slot cornerbacks or safeties, whatever they draw. It's a nice Combo Fund staff for him six point two yards after the catch last year from Pro Football Focus that was tied for tenth most among NFL receivers.

He was fifth in the NFL among qualifying receivers with eight team point four yards per target on pass us throwing twenty plus yards, and he also had a plus eight team point six catch rate over expected on targets of ten plus yards that was third best in the NFL. I know, that's a bunch of stats I'm throwing at you. I'm telling you he's really good after the catch. He's really good on deep balls, and he was exceptional on

intermediate passes a season ago. Number seventeen, Jalen Waddle, Well, I mean, you guys know, I talked about this guy as much as anybody. The release package, the concentration at the catchpoint, the blazing speed where he just moves at a different speed than everybody else except for maybe number ten out there. It's every time I see him play, it's just it's pure excitement, pure adrenaline. It's like a

F one race. Those things paired with his understanding of the position, the way he attacks blind spots and then enters the spin cycle once he puts defensive backs in that shoot which way need to go? Position fund stat on him just one game of sixteen is a pro last year with less than three catches, and he had at least fifty receiving yards and all but four games as a rookie. I expect Waddle have a monster monster

here and pop off he is. He's gonna be a He's gonna be a really nice one for the Dolphins team for a long time. Uh, whoop, scot a little bit out of order. Let's go ahead and go back to trent sherefield number fourteen. Here, I put him on the wrong spot behind in front of Wattle. Physical and everything he does at the lion of scrimmage on routes as a blocker on special teams, it translates across all phases. Gonna be tough to outwork this guy. Fun PF stat.

He had run blocking grades of eighty point one, seventy one point one, and eighty one point over the last three seasons. Seventy plus is above average, eighty is like your upper echelon, so he's in that regard. And run blocking he finished in the top fifty each of the last three years, and special teams tackles total on seven forty one snaps. And we'll talk about this with Zoo

Kama as well. The ability to play in some tight areas down on the red zone and factor is a real good blocker off the edge, are condensed and tight and give you an extra hat at the line of scrimmage and the count in the box count. I think those valuables are gonna those traits are gonna be invaluable for these bigger body receivers. Number eight Team Preston Williams like the combo size and speed. He sinks the hips as a route runner, big red zone target, evident by

his touchdown numbers his first two years. Sinking the hips is where you don't have to have wasted movement up top or down below when you get off the top of the route. It's it's how you sink into the route and make everything look the same. Could be a takeoff, could be a stutter, could be a comeback, could be an in brake outbreak. That's what you want to see when you see guys sink their hips into the routes.

Number eighty three Davante Deadman play his college ball at William and Mary and A fun fun part about that was his offensive coordinator. There was Brendan Marion, who was the pit receiver coach last year coached up uh Jordan Addison. I had look that up. I forgot it right there on the spot. Good job, Travis Jordan Addison, last year's bullet in the cough Winner. He's now at Texas coaching

receivers there. But Davante Deadman earned a p f F grade of eighty two point eight, or better than three of his last four years there at William and Mary Number eighty five. River Cracraft go coug's intelligent route runner, understands leverage and sauce Boston how to defeat them. Our Washington State offense was like third team plays in the Napkin, and he was so at dept at adjusting to the

defense and finding ways to win that route regardless. He you know, your route needs to look the same every time, or I should say every route should look the same, but also every route should look different every time, Like you want to find out how to run that route against that defense. Craivecraft is your guy. Eighty six U d f A. Braylon Sanders from Old Miss really talented deep ball route runner there could get on top of guys,

stack them, and stay there. The fund stat here twenty one point one yards per catching his career on sixty eight grabs. Number eighty seven Eric Azoo com a big, tough, physical receiver, excellent contact balance, can snatch the ball with strong hands away from his frame and pull it into himself and protect that thing and help move the chains and defenders bounce off him after the catch average seven point eight yards after the catch in one that was

sixteenth best among all receivers in college football. Number eighty nine Cody core big frame, capable of boxing out defenders, and it shows in our fund stat. Hasn't played since twenty nineteen in a regular season game, when he did those six grabs on eleven contested catch opportunities. Storyline here to me is just how good can Waddle and Tyreek be together? How quick does it kind of jell together in terms of their speed and how it plays off

of each other. I think the sky is an then I think both these guys are gonna have really nice years. The camp battle, I think you look at what you go into the season with. You have the editions of Hill and Cedric Wilson Jr. And what Waddle did this season ago, What's what's after that? A Zukama Sherfield Blend bowed and Preston Williams. The rest of the guys, I think special teams prowess we'll have a big impact for the next pieces on the roster here, but also the

run game too. We talked about that with some of the bigger body guys a big part of this offense. Let's go ahead and take our first break here and continue on this extended edition of the Drivetime Podcast, Drinking through a fire hose on the ninety man roster. Your host Travis Wingfield, coming back here on the other side

of the tight Ends offensive line before the defense. Drivetime Podcast brought to you by Auto Nation back here on the post draft, and we extended it into late May edition, the Comprehensive roster Review edition of the Drift Time Podcast. We'll come back in preview training camp here at the end of July, but this kind of serves as a a roster guide going into the summer months and into O T A S and into the summer break, eventually

picking up here with a tight end position. Six guys on the roster under the tight end tag, and we start with rookie U d f A number forty eight, Tanner Connor. He was a receiver in college who ran a great time, a high hurdle champion in high school as well, super athletic. And that's your fund stat four three seven thirty nine and a half inch vert tight end. Okay, that's like the motorcycle guy, and I think you should

leave the motorcycles with four wheels two. Okay. Number eighty Adam seen one of the more physically get to tight ends in the room, can overpower guys and get on top of the speed and separation thought. We saw that with his touchdown production, and then also our fund stat he makes place when he catches the ball career high twelve point five yards per catching uh and then ten

point two in his career number eighty one. Durham Smith can play so many roles in this Dolphins offense and special teams, but that's where I think that his biggest impact comes in terms of just how good he is

at that particular role. Been doing it on the core special teams since his rookie season, and we don't need advanced metrics for his fund stat career highs and receptions and yards last year thirty four and three fifty seven number eighty two, seeth and Carter similar be a special team's ace his entire career since he came into the league, and a lot about what I said about Durham doing

multiple things, that's what he can do as well. And the fund stat akin to Trent Sherfield, the only time he wasn't top fifty in the league and special teams tackles since he came into the league was eighteen when he missed most of the year due to injury. Number

eighty four. Hunter long dual functionality I think can help keep your offensive personnel disguise with what he can do as an attached why tight end or a detached F piece, a move piece, and that's what he was at the college level, really the best in both of those regards and back to back seasons because you go to Pro Football Focus and we talked about what Boston College did in terms of going from a traditional I back power running offense with a J. Dillon lineup in the I

formation run the ball every time. He was the highest graded run blocking tight end in college football by PFF that year. The next year they transition to a more modern passing, spread it out attack, and he goes to be the highest graded receiving tight end in that class. And I think that we see tight ends make big jumps, and your number two all that time saw it with Mike Gasicky. Hopefully Hunter Long can follow a similar trajectory.

Speaking of Mike GASICKI number eighty eight contested catch mayven and a true matchup problem put a linebacker put a smaller safety on him. Good luck. And it's not just that, but I think the nuance of his creativity and his route running has really shown the last few years and just keeps getting better. Knows how to set his guy up and use that frame and length and just enough wiggle at the top to create that separation, and he

doesn't create separation. He has forty five career contested catches on ninety opportunities. With that much volume, you won't see that very frequently. He's also top ten last year and the year before among tight ends and receiving yards. Storyline, how many do the Dolphins keep? They have capable guys

up and down this position. Here, five veteran guys. Tanner Connor, the rookie there obviously, but with deep backfield and receiving positions, do we see lots of twelve personnel thirteen personnel who gets the next most snaps after Mike? A lot of questions here that there will be unpacked in training camp. Can't wait to watch that and they can't battle tight

end too. I hope hunter long season can be upon us here, but their dolphins are covered if if it takes a little longer than that offensive line fifteen guys, let's go through these guys here quickly. Fifty eight Number fifty eight. Connor Williams tough as hell, just does not miss time. Positional flexibility, mentioned athletic ability and intelligence as kind of key factors on the offensive line throughout the course of the off season. Williams checks both those boxes

big time and a big time get this offseason. His past blocking efficiency was third best among NFL guards last year point five. That means that something how many times he does not allow a pressure. He was also the tenth best run blocking graded guard per Pro Football Focus number sixty one. Cole Banwart one of the newer guys and added to the roster here. PFF had him with just thirteen career pressures allowed over four years and five hundred and seventy two pass blocking snapps at Iowa a

very good number. They're similar pbe to what Connor Williams done has done as a pro, but you get the idea. Spent time last year the Titans, Giants and Vikings. Number sixty three. Michael Dieter. His length for a center really stands out. He can latch onto guys and turn them at the point of attack, get his butt in the gap and wheel him out of there, and he can also get in space to and show some work out

in the open field. Was an iron man in college starts on the offensive line at Wisconsin History at the time. Had a fluke injury, as Chris Career described it last season, but came back and was good after that was good before the injury as well. The fund stat on him ten QB pressures on three five pass blocking snaps top half the league at the center position. Number sixty four.

Kellen Diach play with tremendous fire. He can unlock those hips and get out in space, and he wants to bury guys into the turf, and he did it plenty of times at Arizona State. In fact, he was the highest graded pack twelve offensive lineman comprehensively between one could be a guy that has has some say on the final roster. Here come August. Number sixty five Robert Jones. The way he stays square and plays low and patients with that wide frame, that good stance, the hands and

the feet to mirror together. I thought he was strong in the preseason last year as well as that Week eight teen game, and the fund stat on him two pressures on thirty pass blocking snaps in that season finale one every fifth team. If it's a hurry, you'll take that, and that's what it was. Number sixty six Solomon Kinley. Sheer mass blocks out the cell when he squares guys up some of the funnest blocks you'll see. Uh. When he hits it right, it's it's fun to watch that.

No quarterback hits her sacks and eighties six pass blocking snaps a season ago after starting most of his rookie season. Number sixty eight Robert hunt Love the way he improved both of his first two years, one of the rest the best right tackles in terms of pressure rate and grade. The last six games then the same exact thing happened

last year at right guard. Shut out after shutout in a real aptitude for both speed slash one gap type rushers or two gap guys that want to play physical and and come off the ball and come off their blocks. He can do both of that, but guys that try to hit him with power or speed, he just handles it both and the way he also hits combo blocks and climbs to the second level. He sure is fun to watch. Fund stat on him from weeks twelve through eighteen last year just three QB pressures and it was

all hurries. No QB hits number seventy one. You d f a blaze Andrews from Minnesota. Positional versatility even played multiple positions within the same game at times, and his ability to climb to the second level I thought really stood out on his tape and obviously a knowledge of the game to play all those spots. Allowed just five sacks on one thousand two career pass balking snaps at Minnesota.

It's a very low number. I mean, four year starter and just five sacks number seventy two to Ron Armstead, one of the crown jewels of the off season, one of the best left tackles in the NFL, for my money, the very best left tackle. You can't fool him. Don't try to draw out his punch or run a game to expect, expect to fool him. He's so technically and fundamentally sound. The impact is going to have when the rest of the guys in the offensive line is also

going to be tangible. Typewriter feat Man, we talked about how quickly you can slide and get over and wall off and mirror and cut guys off in their pass rush plan. He can redirect, he can pick up games, and he's also a steam roller in the running game. Fund stat on him three point seven percent pressure rate and point six percent sack rate since are best among all NFL tackles. He's been doing at a high level for a long long time. Number seventy three Austin Jackson.

I love him the way he gives a pressure, because of the way he can articulate, the way he sees the game. Studious player, athletic as hell, he's hungry as hell, as coach McDaniel calls it, and I'm excited to see what year three has in store for him. I think it's best balls ahead of him at his best. He's a punishing athlete that can play multiple spots. Kind of a nasty temperament too, and a fund stat. Upon moving to guard last season, He's appeared in ESPN's top ten

run blocking win rate on three occasions. Big Rob was there almost all season last year. Only eight pressures last year over the final six games. A good improvement for Austin Jackson. Number seventy four. Liam Eichenberg technique kick slide in hands, it was all beautiful and perfect and Notre Dame. Hopefully we can get that continuing going here at the Miami Dolphins and your number two, those were things that really popped off the college tape in the last year.

He played a bunch of positions, has that flexibility in it and the we talked about Austin Jackson's approach. Same thing with Liam too focused, hungry, smart guy fund stat. Just one QB hit allowed the last seven games last season. Number seventy five, great little super athletic. Covers a ton of ground on his kick slide, and hopefully he can put that all together and become an effective player here

for the Miami Dolphins. Same with number seventy six, key On Smith length and at the risk of sounding like a broken record, just another guy with really good athletic ability. Knee bender, wide base and those are good places to start. Number seventy eight Adam Panky played some extra offensive line packages in the last couple of years and gets good push in those roles as well as in the run game as a true tackle. Number seventy nine Larnel Coleman.

I'm curious to see how he looks in your number two. A superb athlete with tremendous length. The storyline here, what do we see from the incumbents and the jumps they can potentially take under a new system. Austin Jackson, Leam Mike and Brig Michael Dieter. Can they take the next step? It would go a long way to the Dolphins offensive line solidifying and taking a big step collectively. The camp battle, same storyline. Who the heck are the starting five? We'll

find out in training camp. Can't wait to see where it is and where they wind up. On the defensive side of the football, Let's go defensive lineman first. We're going off the Dolphins roster here. I recognize that these positions they're almost position lists at times, especially like in your five oh package or whatever the different calls might be. But let's just go ahead and go down the roster. In terms of D lineman, Adam Butler primarily plays inside,

but he can play all over the defensive line. That's why it's hard to identify what truly positions these guys play. They're multiple guys. They don't have a position defensive line though. Adam Butler consistent penetrader over his career. Often the first guy off the football creates immediate urgency on the interior, which can create chances for the Dolphins and a delay, a green dog, a looper coming over on a stunt. It creates opportunities and the fund stat for him. He's

so damn consistent pressure number since seventeen twenty eight. It's a really good number for an interior D lineman who plays kind of a six hundred, seven hundred snaps per season type of role. Number seventy seven. John Jenkins experience, knows the systems. He can deconstruct one on one blocks and make a play. Nine of his sixteen tackles last year where for run stops, those were tackles within two yards of allign scrimmage it's a very high frequency. Number

ninety u d F a Ben Still from Nebraska. Also one of these heavy handed edge guys or end guys I should say, whose position flexible can kick inside as well. He's a consistent penet trader in his college career and twenty three pressure numbers the last four years off the outside edge, but also plays inside to number Manual Augma. The swipe, the cross chop, the speed to power, the ability to get off the edge and angle after leaning into the offensive tackle and kind of breaking them down.

So many moves in his bag in the length and ability to corner just puts tackles in a bind consistently, and he can condense inside and cause problems there too and help create chances. Sets a hard edge in the run game. A complete player fund stat for him. Too many to list here, but how about a hundred twenty seven QB pressures the last two seasons. That's seventh best among PF's edge classification the last two years. Number ninety two Zach Seeler. The sheer strength is on to display

every single snap. Sheer strength single snaps that five times fast. He's so tough to move. He's has very surprising movement ability for a guy that plays at that size, the length is measurable or immeasurable. He's like Christian and the way he controls the point of attack, and he's flexible across the entire line, playing inside to outside. FUND stat on him seventy run stops on two four rundowns last

two years. That has top twenty five in the National Football League among interior d lineman and forty eight pressures on five hundred and fifty two pass rush reps is top thirty. So he's right in that. You know one two guys per team that make the top whatever list if you're in that position. Dolphins have several guys. He's one of the guys that are in that position. Number nine,

Christian Wilkins. The list is long. Here to gap, one gap, double team, stretch, run pursuit, controlling his man at the point in power schemes, setting picks, executing games, the retrace against screens, and busting his butt to get back to the outside. Selfless mindset, leader, infectious attitude. I love this player. One of my favorite players in the National Football League.

FUND stat eighty nine tackles was a franchise record last year by any defensive lineman in Dolphins history, rolling along with number nine Benito Jones, plays low and with power. A squatty body type can move his man and play through his man with that lower half explosion, and he'll have a chance for the third straight year to carve

out a role on this Dolphins defensive line. Number ninety six day Shawn Hall was a big fan of his game at Texas A and m the length, jumps off the tape, thirty five and five eight inch arms, his entire athletics skill set. That's our fund stat four seven six forty at two hundred and sixty six pounds, and he scored in the green category year upper echelon your eighty five percent taller better, including a thirty six in

vertical and nine oh five broad. He was a tester across the board in every metric and r A S number Jordan Williams heavy handed and control the point of attack. He's one of those heavy edge guys that can get condensed inside as well. Had a career high twenty five pressures last year at Virginia Tech. Number Ray Kuan Davis

our last guy here on the d line. Length, power and get off that you wouldn't expect from a man his size, that terra dactyl wingspan that can help occupy blockers, and he just he creates so much chances for other guys, which is a big kind of theme of this defensive line, right, but the flexibility to play all over the line and two gap in one gap. He's a big time player. The fund stat with ray Kuana is without him last year a hundred and thirty six point eight rushing yards

per game with him one oh one point five. The storyline here, how do you divvy up these reps because they're so deep one of the group's deeps on the team and of the league. That's I'm curreys see a playoff this year with guys even getting better Seiler, Wilkins rate ray Kwan, they all just can't keep getting better. You can't battle. I think you're pretty good with the one through four we talk about last year and into

the season, and then after that, what what is? I don't know, you keep more guys in the interior, off the edge. Who are the guys that can kind of give Ogba and our outside backers a break as well? Curiously how that works out? Speaking of linebackers fourteen of the guys, and again these positions, it's it's murky, but that's what they're listed on the roster as his linebackers number fifteen, Jalen Phillips speed to power move is just

chef's kiss. It's so nice. He's affecting opposing passing games even more than his numbers suggest last year, a guy who's garnering double teams and chips before the sack production really took off his length, his rush arsenal coupled with the overall rush plan Mega Mega upside, and of course the FUND stats set the Dolphins rookie record for eight and a half sacks this season ago Number forty one Darius Hodge just six career snaps played, but the evaluation

of him is the FUND stat thirty eight and a half inch vertical ten oh seven broad four six seven for a guy that was two and fifty pounds of his workout. Number forty three Andrew Van Gikle three facet player rush run game coverage finds ways to defeat blocks, whether it's with quickness or physicality. I thought that the ladder of that was something that really came along the

first two or three years of his career. I love the way he recognized backside play action or I should say poll action, whether it was a guard or a tight end coming across the formation and split zone, and how he can find a way to just make their block fail, which is often the key block on the force defender, the furthest outside defender him and he wins that so often. I also thought his quickness took another

step as a rusher this year. The ability to bend the arc and flatten while dipping that inside shoulder and gives the tackle a small target to shoot at. The fund stat forty five pressures thirty eight run stops a year ago. Those are both really good numbers. Number forty five Duke Riley first step quickness as a rusher, had that blocked punt as well, great depth on defense, really good special teamer. And again that that the ability to come off the bench on defense. Seven QB pressures on

thirty five pass rush reps. That's one per five. It's really good even in the sub package role. Nine run stops on seventy four snaps also a good number and just fifty four point five percent completion. Really a nice depth piece, nice special teamer as well. Number forty nine Sam maguav exact same storyline there. I mean his skills have translated to a really nice sub package linebacker so far in his career. We know he can get downhill

and put the heat on opposing quarterbacks. My favorite all time preseason performance with four sacks in a safety last August against the Falcons, core special teams guy and back in team. He's a full time player. He had three QB pressures, was third most among all off ball linebackers that season according to Pro Football Focus, and a nine point eight percent pressure rate that year. This last season sixteen point five in that sub package role. A bit

of a different type of linebacker. Number fifty Calvin Munson. Just love watching him hit. A true lunch pill type of guy. Got in for nine run run down raps last year and made two run stops. That's really hit the strong fooit of his game. I think Number fifty one rookie Chenning tindall range, acceleration, pier speed, collision maker, takes excellent angles of the quarterback and can flatten and can really match up in coverage. I think all that's gonna get better with every rep that he sees in

the National Football League. He was in the nine percentile or better all time among linebackers in they are dash, vertical jump, broad jump, and his hand size. Number fifty two Landon Roberts a tone center, a leader on defense, a signal caller and communicator. Absolute thumber who was a crucial part of Miami's short yarde defense which always seems to make fourth down stops every single year a couple of times a year, and it feels like he's always

the first one on the scene. Him and Zach Seler, I feel like you're always there for fourth down stops. Fund stat on him scored his first career defensive touchdown last year. He did score on offense back in twenty nineteen with the Patriots against the Dolphins. Number fifty three rookie Cameron Good. His tape is full of playing the run on the way to the quarterback. Plays the game

very physically, strong, smart player. He was fourth in QB pressures in the pack twelve since he got there, and all other three guys were draft picks higher than him in recent drafts. Number fifty five Jerome Baker. The angles to the quarterback and the timing of the of the snap count as a rusher and his speed, all that

stuff never sleeps. And there was a play in the finale where he got on his horse down the pipe and interrupted a passing lane twenty yards down the field on a dig route from mac joneson to kill Harry. One play before or after I forget where he put a big hit on the quarterback. So that type of versatility, that type of range is pretty rare at that position. Fund stat for him he led all Pro Football Focus

linebackers and quarterbacks quarterback pressures with thirty one. That's off ball guys, not the you know your edge players can be linebackers too. That's the guys that don't land up on the edge of all the time. Number fifty six DeAndre Johnson, although Baker can do that too. Fifty six DeAndre Johnson had a breakout year last year after transferring from Tennessee and did it a hard rock stadium with

the Miami Hurricanes. Twenty five pressures in eighteen run stops a year ago in college with a seven hundred or so reps. Number fifty seven Brand Scarlett. He goes and gets contact in the run game, he seeks it out physical defender violent striker, good hands, makes his presence fell and a really good special team player as well. Number

and Carney undrafted rookie. Huge final year for him there in Illinois with thirty seven pressures on three thirty five pass rush snaps and we finish up with no number. Melvin Ingram will find out his number soon, I'm sure. And he can rush from anywhere. He can play any package, he can play the run, play the past, and he just blows guys up with his physicality, but also has the lateral agility to win with speed and explosiveness. We broke his game down on the Friday podcast. Go back

and check that out for more detail. But he's a three facet player who's gonna bring invaluable experience and a fun stat on him. His past rush rate never went below ten point seven and ten years of his career, and it was around twelve percent most of those years. Context last year Emmanuel Ogba eleven point nine percent. That's really good numbers for a guy that's been top ten and past rushing the last couple of years. Storyline here, I mean, it's another deep group. How do you figure

out the snaps? I mean, we know guys like Jerome Baker can play multiple spots. Your edge players can play multiple spots. How do those snap counts get divvied up? And I'm curious about beyond Phillips, Van Ginkle, Melvin Ingram, what the snap counts look like for Scarlett or for Cameron good Day, Shawn Hall, Darius Hodge, the U d f as. Can those guys push for playing time? That's

something to keep an eye on training camp. And then the with the more the other group of linebackers, how quickly can changing tend to I'll get up to speed. The earlier he can, the sooner. I think you can get him and Jerown Baker together and deploy them across all sub packages and see this defense really hum they can't battle. I'm curious about their egg Von and Riley similar skill sets, similar packages, and both really valuable. What they do they both on the roster they get does

someone else not make the roster? Curious? See what happens there? Defensive backs, eighteen of them must go through this real quickly.

Here Number eight Javon Holland his instincts and natural football skills, the route recognition, the versatility to play on the lion scrimmage one snap and then in the deep post the next led all NFL safeties and pressures second and sacks and hits third highest coverage grade among all safeties, not just rookies, all of them, and the fourth highest graded Pro Football Focus safety last year, not just rookies, all of them. He's a tremendous, tremendous football player. Number six

Trill Williams. I just realized again I messed up my order, but it is what it is. Talk about long press corners with long speed. Trills got the skills fund stack going back to college six nine career coverage snaps and seven one yards allowed playing primary on the outside. That's tough to do, and it shows in the seventy nine

point one career passer rating allowed by Trill Williams. Number nine. Nonogamy, the way he transitions out of his back pedal and the lateral agility, super super athletic, twitchy at just a pure athlete who can who ran track back in high school as well, and the way he competes for the football. He's got so much damn talent. One of the guys I'm most excited to watch in camp and last year limited playing time, but fifty five coverage snaps in just

sixty four yards against him. That's a good number to be at small sample size. That's where you want to be. Number twenty Sheldrick RedWine good range for a safety and that shows on special teams and his Hurricanes tape. His Brown's tape as well, has some fun examples of him coming from depth and supporting the run game. He had twelve run stops and two years of the Browns on just twenty run down reps. Every other play he's making a run stop from from depth. Number one Eric Rowe.

I love the way he took it upon himself to get better every year at battling down in the box. A former cornerback who moves to safety and takes on blocks like a linebacker at this stage of his career. He also finds the football. Three force fumbles last year, tied end to Racer in his coverage the last couple of years here, and really just top notch at the catchpoint. Knows how to separate the hands and separate the football due to the position. In twenty nineteen, his run stop

totals the last three years and twenty three. And that's a guy that playing cornerback, you get three or four. It was a year and a career low yards per reception last year of eight point seven. So Eric Row kind of slept on, I think a little bit, but don't don't sleep on Eric Row. Good damn good football player. Remember twenty two. Elijah Campbell loved his work on special teams last year and made a handful of plays and just busted his butt in the third phase. What more

can you want? Didn't miss any tackles in two years of special teams play seventy four career snaps on coverage teams Number twenty four Byron Jones. The long speed, the recovery speed, the ability to impact the receiver's release at the line, the intelligence for route concept recognition, his ability to mix things up. You know, Cover three and Cover six can look similar, and he does such a good

job of selling those different coverage packages. He and Exhavian Howard's skill sets drives with this defense can do with that, mixing with the confusing, with marrying Russian coverage. The fund stat for him. He plays such good man coverage that you don't get a lot of the highlight level plays. But his second double digit season with pass break ups was last year he had ten of them, an excellent number,

especially with how little he's targeted. I want to talk about pass breakups and passes defense Number aving Howard, same deal, the mixing coverages, like against the Patriots last year, for instance, when it looks like he's gonna take off and coverage down the field, he comes off that look and that's Javon Holland range over to cover the top of that route and jumps the slot inside for a big pick six and dives into the end zone. Gets the crowd pumped up. He excels in in both man and zone.

He's physical at every phase of the route, especially at the line. Elite elite level ball skills. He can come up and make a tackle, the inside hand jam, the trail technique, the able to debate quarterbacks into throws they shouldn't make, so damn crafty. And talk about press coverage since in press coverage Pro Football Focus thirty nine completion rate and a forty two point to passer rating. What a what a great player? Number twenty seven key on Crossing.

Just love his energy players like lightning the bottle on defense and special teams. Flies all over the field and He's always been into the top sixty four in the league, and special teams tackles lots of players there. He also wants clock twenty four miles run at his pro day back in college. Number twenty RS Davis, a guy that was really good in camp last year. I thought showed his ability to compete through the entire route down the field with some of these Dolphins speed receivers we've seen

the last couple of years. Fund staff for him. Great college numbers fifty seven point six career passer rating allowed at Auburn with nine twenty five yards allowed on eleven and seventy coverage snaps back to safety number twenty nine Brandon Jones. The timing of his blitzes and the ability to play and anticipate with that play speed that comes up with that. It shows up all the damn time.

His preparation puts him in advantageous positions and he has primed to finish those plays to get the quarterback down on sack opportunities and whether it's you know, the sacks, the force defender on the running game, sticking his face in the fan at the point when a hight end or his man in general condenses inside a good look. Employer led all safeties last year in sacks and QB pressures.

Number three two of Verona McKinley, the third makes those plays when you're thinking he had no business being over there around the football, but he came off his route and found the ball. Smart, studious player who's always going to prepare a maximum effort. Eleven career picks from Ackinley at Orgon. Number thirty three Elijah Hamilton, another long physical dB PFF had him with eight teen special teams tackles the last three seasons at both law Tech and Vandy.

Thirty five D'Angelo Ross, sure tackler who's never been tabbed with a miss tackle from Pro Football Focus in his pro career, and that includes sixty eight snaps on defense and seventeen on special teams. Number thirty six Quincy Wilson, a former second round picks super aggressive and physical plays like a six ft pound quarterback. That's what he goes.

He hasn't played a whole lot of the last two years, but his first two years of the Colts eighty eight point five and ninety one point seving passer ratings against Number thirty eight Kater Caho exceptional play speed finds the football. Emery Hunt was a big fan on the U d f A podcast that was two weeks ago. Go back in last Monday, I should say, go back and check

that out. But here in a four or four or five in his pro day Number forty Nick need him sticky coverage and continues to get better every single year. Played safety for the first time in his career when the Dolphins were shorthanded, and this after moving inside in twenty having never played their fantastic example of a guy that just gets his work done and the fund stat with with him down to just eleven point five yards per catch last year in a pass A rating of

eighty one point four. He gets better every year. Number forty two Clayton Federalum. So many guys on the team like him in terms of their valuable special teams contributions. Helps to stay strong in all three phases and his his PFF Special Teams grade has never gone outside the green. That's above league average, top ten special teams grade back in and top fifty last year. Storyline here in the defensive backfield, what does what do your sub packages look like?

We know the X and Byron need hum, Javon holland Brandon Jones probably all gonna play a lot. Eric Rowe, what's after that? Who's the Who's the dime and half dollar and dollars sub package dbs? Who can compete on special teams? Between you know, Noah Trill Coho and young guys stepping up and the battle in camp it's the same situation. Where's that six, seven, eight defensive back? Where they coming from? Who is it? Can't wait to watch

this group? And then four specialists Jason Sanders number seven All Pro, accurate, good mindset kicker. Number four Thomas Morristead, a leader type can have positive impact on the entire special teams. Kicked in every building, every type of weather and kicked well. Also a good holder in that regard.

Number forty four Blake Ferguson, the long snapper. His arrival coincided with Sandersy first team All Pro campaign and he busts but to get down the field and special teams had a fumble recovery last year and we finished with number fifty nine Tommy Heatherly, really cool story about him getting to f i U and be kind of one of the top collegiate punters. After weighing over three pounds at one point in his life. Cool story there for him.

Storyline here is Sanders canna get back to when he missed just three kicks hit the game winners and was money from fifty plus. It's a valuable weapon and I have little doubt we'll get that again. The camp battle, I suppose punter, I guess Miami Heat Baby up two games to one, hopefully can get game number four to nine in Boston. If we do that, I feel pretty good about going to the finals. That's gonna do it.

For my edition here, this edition, I should say, and my time here on the Dragtime podcast, we have camp coverage coming your way, Tuesday Night slash, Wednesday morning schedule stuff on Friday, plus the mail bag, maybe some best of the Twitter spaces show. Still working that out, but 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 Wingfold NFL. You can follow

the team at Miami Dolphins across all social channels. Check out the fish Tank podcast, the latest one with Nick Niedam just came out last week and you can all stalk out the Twitter Spaces show on Wednesdays at eight o'clock. I think we're gonna move it up this week for the Heat Game YouTube channel 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