Raekwon's Pass Rush, Parker's Routes, McCourty's Leadership, Rowe's Coverage and an Energetic Coaching Staff

Jones coming in conference now to Tennessee. I want to talk about media from last week with Brian Flores, Eric Rowe, Ray Kwon Davis, we had Jason mccordy, and much much more plenty to come. On this edition of the podcast. We are going to pump in some stats and some film evaluation around those media availabilities, as well as get to the all twenty two breakdown of Jason mc quarties. Game plenty coming your way on this edition of the

Drive Time Podcast. So the Big Trade on Sunday afternoon on the East Coast Sunday morning out here on the West Coast where I currently am, and by the way, I'll be back in South Florida for mandatory minicamp in a week. So you're gonna have some updates and podcast live from South Florida from your boy. I do apologize for not being down there for the last couple of weeks in o t a s. My wife and I as well as my daughter, as many of you know by now, are making the move to South Florida full

time permanently. I'm gonna be there. They're gonna be there. I cannot wait. We've been making all the goodbye rounds so far. We had a barbecue at her parents house the other night. We went and met with her aunt for dinner. Earlier last week, we had a thing at my friend's house this weekend. The tour continues here up in Washington State, but I'm getting in some podcasts and some film and some analytics and all that fun stuff

done for you guys here on the pod. I just can't wait to get down there and be there full time if the family have the house, all the stuff that we have there, which by the way, we did close on a house, so that is a very exciting development for us here. As the Wingfields make the pilgrimage to South Florida on Sunday, What a sports day, what a sports weekend? Maybe just a sports time right now

on the calendar. And man, maybe the NBA should push back their schedule so they get this playoff run into June and July, because I'm really really enjoying these NBA playoffs. A great game on Sunday with the Hawks in the seventies sixers that went to the underseat in that game. I was happy to see Kawai Leonard turn it up

on Sunday as the Clippers close out the MAVs. And how about that F one race for you racing fans out there, man Lewis Hamilton's losing it on the restart, going from second place down to out of the race altogether. Max verstaff and goes out of the race. Just a crazy, crazy weekend of sports. And yet the NFL finds a way to reign supreme once again. Because for my money, top ten all time receiver, I mean, he's kind of in that Randy Moss category. Worry from me, Larry Fitzgerald,

I think is in that category. Jerry Rice as well, Julio Jones, the best player in the franchise history of the Atlanta Falcons is going up north, I suppose a little bit and making a transition to the a f C as he has been traded for a second round draft pick, and the two clubs swapped fourth and sixth round picks in to get Julio Jones to the Titans, and the Falcons now have a little bit more cap relief for themselves in that NFC South And that's kind of one of the I guess the things I wanted

to talk about here on the podcast was the fact that I've seen this from people I respect in the industry, good really good football writers who have made good points about the salary cap and this whole You know, I'm using air quotes in my fingers right now the downside of podcast. You can't see me, but the air quotes of the salary cap is a myth. The salary cap

is fake, definitely is not. Because this trade right here, I don't think you said goodbye to a franchise legend unless you're in a situation where you have to clear space and and clear cap space to get yourself in a position to be able to pay your rookie class and get those contracts taking care of. And now we'll see what that team looks like with Kyle Pitts kind of running the middle of the field and maybe being one of the main target the guys that gets the

most targets on that offense, along with Calvin Ridley. But the big part of this news that I wanted to cover was Julio Jones coming to the a f C South. Of course, the Titans are on the Dolphins schedule this year, and that's one of two reasons why I think this is pretty relevant here on a Miami Dolphins podcast on the Drift Time podcast, because the Dolphins played them in Week sevent team which could be that could have big

time implications in the a f C playoff race. And also the fact that Julio Jones is he makes Titans better football teams. Now they're gonna have a better I guess, a better surge, a better chance of upping their playoff likelihood, their wild card likelihood in that a f C South Division. Now that's the division that has kind of taken on some some heat, some water this offseason for some of

the moves and changes those clubs have endured. The Jaguar seemed to be on the come up, the Texans maybe taking a step back from previous years to paying what happens at the quarterback position for them. The Colts make another change in the quarterback spot, and now here are

the Titans. After some big losses in that division. They go out and get one of the best weapons in the NFL and still is for my money, despite the fact that he's missed a couple of games like this injury pro and thought with Julio Jones, it's a little bit overblown because he's only missed more than two games once since like two thousand thirteen, and check my facts on that. It's something in that neighborhood. He's not missed that much time. He's just had some some nix and

bruises along the way. But I think the main thing to look at here is the way teams are trying to create space offensively in the National Football League. And we've heard Brian Flores, who we're gonna hear from here in just one second his media last week about how teams are trying to find ways to create spacing and not just that, but build around the quarterbacks and the strengths and the things they do well. We talked about

it all off season. Long speed, precision guys that can win their routes early create that separation early in the route that will drive well with the things that to a tungnel by Loa does well. I think the Titans went out and got the pretty much premier type of receiver for Ryan Tannehill. So he goes to Tennessee and now I think this team ran as much twelve personnel play act and deep vertical shots, the intermediate shots, those

over routes, those deep digs, those crossers. Man, he really sets them well up there with a J. Brown, who's one of the best young receivers in the National Football League. And now I think this takes Tennessee from I thought they were kind of a minor step back, so kind of you know, that was the team the Miamiho's competing with last year down the stretch, So maybe this gives

him a couple of extra wins. So that ten eleven twelve wind range, I think is about where the Titans fall, and that to me is certainly certainly relevant to the Miami Dolphins as they try to get themselves back into the playoffs for the first time since two thousand sixteen. So Julio Jones sending shock waves throughout the National Football League landscape on Sunday has been traded to the Tennessee Titans, and we're gonna start here with head coach Brian Flores.

Will play one audio clip for you as he was asked about quarterback to a tongue of by Loa and his comments about processing the playbook and all that fun stuff from his rookie season. Here's coach addressing to us answer the prior week in media kinda go back to what we talked about last week. It's gonna be more comfortable, um, and just having better command and the huddle right now. And you know, honestly, I just think he's comparing last year to write and where he is right now. Uh So,

And I get it. You know, I understand that I remember being a first year position coach and you know, coming out of that year, going into the spring, going into the next season saying, you know, I could have been better last year. I should have been better and better now. So I think, you know, from a contextually, I don't. I'm not sure if I have a pretty good I think we all understand where he's coming from.

Giving uh you know, at least the conversation I had with you guys last week, UM, I think that's that's if that makes sense. But I think he's thinking about where he is right now versus there you know that time a year ago, just reflecting, and that's good. All this time is about reflection, um and you know where you are now versus where you were six months ago. And I think he's worked hard to improve in a lot of areas, and I think he hasn't um. I

think he's no kind of communicated that out. And Coach would continue on a question later regarding quarterback to a tongue of by Low as he talked about putting it himself in a process in terms of how he studies,

how he eats, how he trains everything. So Coach said that he would he would say he's seen that out of to a getting that process and that schedule, in that routine, in that system down that he's gotten place that he thinks will get him better at X y Z, whether it's trainings, whether it's meetings, whether it's fundamental throwing mechanics. I've seen that for sure, Coach Flores says their end quote.

And just to kind of put my own perspective, my own flavor on that, and you know, you go back to your own experiences to try to relate to what people say what regardless of what field it is, right, And I always go back to my sports days and high school, in the junior college and that fun stuff where aim to an end for me because well I am a one hundred and sixty pound kids, so it

didn't go very far from me. But when I played hoop, you know, I I came up to the varsity pretty early in my career in high school, and I remember getting on the court my first time from j V up to varsity and the speed of the game, like I just was catch, get the ball out of my hands, get to my next spot, and get the hell out of the game. And don't cause any turnovers or any

lapses or breakdowns in the in the playbook. Just make sure you know what you're doing and get the ball out of your hands and go to the next spot. So I can certainly understand that from my perspective. And then in this job, which is you know, I'm thirty three years old now, so it was that fifteen years later, like my my rookie season on this job, it wasn't as good as it is now. I talked about some of the writing I've done in the past. I go

back to things I wrote five six years ago. I pulled up some of the um the files I had from third and ten dot com that I've referenced several times in this podcast, and how reading those was like, oh gosh, your your understanding of grammatics or grammatical structure in the sentence ructure, And I say grammatics, but you get it, Like I improved so much from from where I am now to where I was five years ago. Even year to year, I think you should continue to

get better. And so for a first year player, I think it makes all the sense in the world. You just feel more comfortable. Like again, training Camp twenty nine team, my first day going to the Dolphins facility, didn't know where to go, didn't know I had to park around the back, and it was stressful. It was created anxiety. Now I roll into that place exactly where everything is, what my pin code is to get into the building, all that fun stuff like it makes a big difference.

And I think that I like the way coach referenced his own experience as far as a position coach and what he didn't know versus what he knows now, and all those experiences add up for a a catalog and kind of goes back to like what Brian Fitzpatrick would say last year, like a catalog of plays that he has in his mind that helped him get to the position where he knows this means that and that means this, and I can make this decision based upon what I'm

seeing right here. It's just gonna take some time for these young guys to get ahold of that. And it goes beyond the quarterback. It goes into the all these second year players and all the rookies this year that we have in this exciting rookie class. I just I

like the way he covered that. I like the way he explained his own experiences there, and I just continue to not have like any hang ups about the comments or even what we're seeing on the field right now at O T A S because it's a walk through and Shorts, advisors and coach also touched on how rookies focus right now. It's not about carving out a specific role or there's a timetable where we have to have

this player in this position right now. Because Coach was asked about Javon Holland, for instance, who you know you put the two and two together, he's drafted, Bobby McCain

has released, Jason mccordy signs here. But the the the I think two plus two math there is that Javon Holland and coach talked about it, and Joe Alexander talked about him playing some free safety, is that he may be plugs into that spot, and coaches also mentioned how the signal caller positions right, free safety, middle, linebacker, center, quarterback.

These guys are the ones that signal the defense of the rest or the the play call to the rest of the defense, or the offense or the rest of the protection call for the offensive line, or the quarterback for the routes and the running back YadA YadA ya.

And they were asking about Javon Holland's timeline as far as getting onto the field and having that role in that responsibility and that kind of communication leadership aspect, And I love the way coach talked about how right now it's about building and gaining perspective and gaining confidence and having answers to questions because you just cannot come into this league right away and say when we're in too high and they want to throw, you know, a mesh

concept underneath, and we're gonna have you know, the rat and the hole is gonna drive on this particular route, I have to fade back and get over the top to the X receiver. Like that's a lot that has to kind of be experiential. You have to see the

reps on the field. And so I like the way coach focuses right now on these fundamentals, installing the playbook, installing these things so they can become second nature in the future, so that when the the study and the aptitude for the game matches the talent level, that's when you hopefully ideally get the best version of these players. And we've talked at length about this Dolphin's draft class and what they've done in the past few years bringing

in athletes with high aptitude for the game. Those two things together with a solid coaching staff that can develop that's the ideal picture of how you get just consistently good football players up and down the roster and guys that can make the difference for you between wins and losses. And I like the timetable comment the coach said there as well, because that's something Chris Career mentioned a while back.

How they don't put a timetable on things. And that's how you, again, I think you get yourself into trouble in this business, in this league by saying, at this pick and this draft and this particular spot of our organizational operation, we have to select position X. When you do that, you put yourself in a box. And that is just not a productive way of achieving anything in

football or otherwise. Coach was also asked about the players that haven't shown up to voluntary O t A s right now, but he's talking about what he has gotten out of it with the players that are there. Communication fundamentals, techniques, learned the playbook, understanding the playbook, having an understanding of concepts offensively, defensively in the kicking game, and building rapport

with teammates. Coach said he talked about working on individual techniques and fundamentals, but communication, cadence, shifts, motions, adjust in two shifts and motions, and again this is why for these younger players it's so important to get out there and get those mental reps and have their eyes see the colors flash and see the way things moving this league.

And Coach talked about that. I just I think I'm covering it here, but also kind of trying to give you my perspective that I couldn't agree more with the idea of what you can achieve out of these O T A s. And I'm not gonna worry about a punt hitting the turf, or a guy dropping a football or a throw that goes awry or whatever it might be. That's just not really something I'm concerned about this time

of the calendar. And so I think that when you look at what the process of this is, all of this is a positive net game compared to what last year was when there was no O T A s. It was all mental and there was no opportunity to go out onto the field and joke with guys and have a good time. And you see coach out there laughing with the guys, and they can go out and apply the lessons they learned in the classroom on the field.

I think that would go a long way, especially for a young Dolphins team like they have here and like they've been able to generate some of these veteran presence with guys they brought in like a Jason mccordy to help accelerate that process. We'll talk more about Jason here and just one second, we're gonna finish up. Coach flores this with his comment about Jason mccordy, who said, from a leadership standpoint, experience standpoint, he's also a good player.

To don't forget that aspect of this McCarty signing. The guy can play football. He wouldn't be here if he couldn't. Coach Floor's always makes a point to make that the number one element of being a Miami Dolphin. You gotta

play football, man, I asked. I asked coach that question last year about Brandon Jones, and I said, when he you know, when you heard about Brandon Jones getting all these defensive playbooks and going through and watching four games of each defense so he can have an idea of what the defense does and their structure and their calls. I asked him about that and how that elevated his draft stock, and Coach said, look, you gotta be able to play football first. That's what we care about here first.

So Jason mccordy checked that box as well. But he also talked about guys that fit the team well from that on field, but also the character and the makeup aspect of this entire business as well. So coach ended the presser there with some really good comments like I recommend going back and checking this one out. He was very forthright and very transparent, as he has been all

off season. He also talked a lot about his coach staff that he's put together here and the energy those guys have and the way he sees that energy kind of produced passion on the field, and that's that reverberates man. We talked about the players and the coaches and all these guys that care about football so much, like you can see it, and the way these guys speak to

the media. I love talking to g A coach Charles Burkes is one of the guys he mentioned here as well, Coach Lemil, John Pierre, coach Students Field coach Grizz Coach god See, coach Clark. I'm probably leaving some guys out here, but you watch the way these guys coach on the field and they are just so passionate and fired up. And Coach Campanelli two is one of the ones that is most fired up most of the time. It's so much fun to watch when people love what they do.

And I had someone comment on the Colleen Wolf podcast last week and say like, it's so much fun to watch two people that love what they do do their job. And they mentioned that about myself and Colleen, and I said, yeah, that's what a podcast I thought was so good because we're both so passionate and high energy. Same story and football, man, those guys were out there having a great time and coaching guys up and it really shows on the field

and hopefully and the results too. We later heard from Dolphins second year to fensive tackle ray Kwon Davis, who was candid in his own assessment of his rookie season, saying he didn't think it was that good, thought it could have been a lot better for himself. Before we get to his comments about where he thinks he can get better, he also talked about Jalen Waddle said he's a fast guy who gets open, he gets loose, he

gets the ball and there's no catching him. He's explosive and he can control the ball however he wants to. So that was cool to hear him talk about his former teammate at Alabama. He talked a little bit about his offseason training regiment and his trainer named Sean, who has this thing he calls monster making, where he makes monsters, and ray Kwon Davis is an absolute monster. He talked about the wings band, the size and the height and

the versatility. He definitely qualifies in that monster category. But he talked about how much fun it is to get those workouts in, how it gets him juiced up and gets him prepared for the season. So he talked about pass rushing and saying that that was an area of his game he felt he could be better in this season. And we know ray Kuan kind of came on the

second half of the season. He really began to have that emergence as a productive player in that Rams victory and then continued it through the rest of the season. Really really productive stuff from Rey Juan Davis. We're gonna talk about his film and and some numbers here in just one second. He talked a little bit about coach

Clark because I wanted to ask him. You know, coach Clark was an outside edge rusher or outside linebackers coach and worked a lot with the edge rushers last season and now he's back up coaching the defensive line where he's been before and prior stops and he talked about getting some work on technique and pass rushing with coach Clark, And you might recall last season Andrew Van Ginkl spoke a lot about the element of his game that he added through the work with coach Clark in that pass

rushing stuff. So the fact that Clark is getting his hands on these guys in front, like an Adam Butler who already has so much refinement in that area, but also the young ray Kwon Davis, a young Christian Wilkins, even Zack Seiler as well, who plays with so much power and flexibility and the ability to get into the backfield. I think it can have just a net gain on

this defensive line. Now, as far as ray Kwon Davis and that pass rush, I wanted to take a deeper look at that because I thought he was productive and impactful that way. I'm never gonna go against the guy's own personal worry, but I want to talk about his pass rush here and where I think he excelled and where he can get better and from pro football focus.

He finished the season with ten of his fourteen to total quarterback pressures in the final seven games of the season, and the run stops began to pile up in that Rams game that we mentioned earlier, but you also saw a nice increase in pass rush work in terms of reps, and it began with twenty four reps as a pass rusher against the Rams, which also coincided with his best pass rush grade from Pro Football Focus at eight one point seven. That's well into the green category, which is

well above league average. He then go on to post four more scores the rest of the way, so basically every other game in that green category at Denver, at the Jets, home for the Patriots, and at the Buffalo Bills. And when I went back this weekend is a bit of a project and kind of watched some of those

reps on tape. I really think he's just scratching the surface on what he can do from both that zero tech and that one technique position as a pass rusher, because one he's damn near impossible to reach just based on the wingspan alone, the one I mentioned earlier than the length of his arms and the length he is that six ft six span or a frame that he has. A reach block is when the center has to get across the face outside of a guy, So a tackles lapped to my left. I have to get on that

left shoulder. It's a difficult block. He's very difficult to reach block because of that length and because of some first step quickness that he has. He's difficult to control because of that length and power. So he can really hold the point as kind of a guy that just eats up space and bodies when you rush head up

over the center. Now, when you have that head up rushing, it's difficult for the defensive lineman because you then have to go kind of through the guy opposed to rushing half the man off of a shade er on the outside shoulder, where you can rush half the body and then you can work that one side of the body and kind of work on the offensive linman's momentum because

of that alignment. But when you shade him off the center like that and he does rush that half a man, the center has to get over to cut him off because of that size and because of the explosiveness, which creates more space in the opposite a gaps. So he's

a bit of a problem in that area. But then he'll also slide out to the two technique, which is head up over the offensive guard and operate some games, some stunts, some slants, some twists, and all that is is trying to set picks and create rush opportunities for other guys where you kind of like a pick and roll almost in basketball. Might be the best way I can explain the stunts and the games up front, but he does a lot of that and he creates opportunities

from the other side of the formation. And we talked about coach Vass's YouTube content a couple of shows ago and all the different stunts and games and calls that are made. Well, that goes back to the segment we covered earlier on this podcast about comfort level and knowing the checks and being able to play fast and loose without having to think about really anything as you go along.

And I think that's where you could really see ray Kwon takeoff this year, just play less, thinking that's the case for every rookie and every first year player in any industry, much less football, and just let those physical skill sets overwhelmed people the way they did in college. Because remember, now, this is a guy Alabama that wrecked and I mean act games as a freshman for the Crimson Tide. Hell, he wrecked the National Championship Game and then to put the pieces back together to win that

thing at the buzzer. But that's the takeaway. He does come with some explosive first step, an explosive first step out of that stance, and it's pretty rare paired with that size that he packs in that punch as well. I cannot wait to see what he looks like the season.

Let's go back in the defensive secondary and continue on with some media from last week and hear from a veteran of the secondary, Eric Rowe, who had this to say about the benefits and advantages of being at camp and at O t a s and working with other people opposed to going out in your backyard and trying to execute things like run fits all by yourself last year. You can't. You can't learn on run fits when you

buy yourself. Uh So, I mean like even though we're not doing full speed reps, it's it's still you know a lot of the mental game, uh you know, doing shifts kind of seeing like you know, shifts and adjustments and missiles and kind of the cause that you know, at least at the backings that we have to give. I mean that you know it provides a lot of value rather than just sitting at home kind of going

over to zoom calls, going over the playbook. You know, that's that's always different than when you actually got people

running at you, things moving fast. So you know that that's kind of value that at least you know this year is providing, like because you know, we got a couple of we got a couple of new calls, and you know if if you know, the first day I kind of struggled like like okay, like shifts and adjustment and getting your mind thinking again rather than just sitting on the computer, you know, looking at the screen, looking at the film. So, uh, it does provide a lot

of value that we're actually here and doing walkthros. And so when you consider the way this Dolphins defense is able to heat up quarterbacks last year through so much of the scheme and have the versatility to have guys in the right position at the right time, and guys of course went out and make place, it makes you wonder if having like Eric mentioned there, you know, there was a couple of ships. I had to kind of take a couple of reps to get down. Then once

I did, I was good and we're full go. Makes you wonder if maybe that can have a bit of an impact in terms of how the Dolphins start the season this year, because if he got out to a fashion than one and three start, perhaps you can make a strong push down that back end. Eric continued on his press conference, one of the best media guys there is on this team. I just love talking to him. Talked about the blonde streak he has in his hair

and how that's kind of become his thing. He's got longer hair now that flows as he's out there on the football field. Talked a lot about Javon halland calling him athletic and smart and instinctive, and that he's really being a sponge and kind of absorbing all the stuff the veterans have to provide out there. Veterans like Jason mccordy, who he mentioned has so many different little tricks of the trade and things he can do with the game in terms of his knowledge and wisdom of the game.

Eric said he still asks mccordy football related stuff, but also he brings leadership and talks to him about just being you know, friends and brothers and guys that are in this thing together. Talking about the leadership on the back end and the wisdom of the game, where two things he really really reiterated. And we'll go ahead and finish up with Eric here before we get to some fun stats and film notes that I have on this

player from last season going in now to one. And he was asked about, you were a player that was a cornerback in twenty nineteen and you made that transition to the safety position mid season. It was Week six against Washington that year, and you recall he really finished out the year strong that season and continued that into a good season. And he was asked a great question here in my opinion, about what would you tell a player that is in the midst of making that transition

from going from one spot to another. He talked about how it takes time and patience, and here was the rest of his answer. Obviously, you know, obviously you need to learn the defense, but then kind of within that, kind of just know your role, kind of who you are as a player. I always tell people if you're a DV you can always get better a man and man coverage. You know, even if you're a free safety

that you played a post. You know, maybe nine percent of time but if you know the coaches know that you can cover man a man, there's always value in that. So I always sound like, no matter what, just always work on your man and man skills. And so we talked about that on this podcast, right, Brandon Jones, Eric Roe, even Be mccayn's earlier days. These were guys that played either perimeter or slot cornerback and Javon Holland played a

lot of that as well at Oregon. So this defense, you're gonna have to come down and be able to match up and when they want to go that five ooh front and send pressure in various gaps and get the quarterback uncomfortable and play that tight, sticky man coverage with Xavien Howard and Byron Jones and Eric Rowe and Javon Holland and Brandon Jones and Nick need Him and the names keep coming and they don't stop coming, or they don't stop coming, And so I wanted to go

back and look at some of rose numbers as far as a man coverage standpoint goes. And we know we talked about the Chiefs and Raiders game from last season and Travis Kelsey and Darren Waller, they put up numbers on pretty much every single team they face, and Rowe has talked about how those are two games that he thinks about. He can't wait to get back to that Las Vegas rematch and get a chance to go up

against Darren Waller once again. So looking at some of his numbers and his film, and when you watch him in coverage, I think you see some of the nuance of that experience that he has as a cornerback. He's really good at keeping the offensive players hands in check and really working to get himself in position and always

hand fighting and jockeying for that position. I think he can do that while sacrificing some of the movement or speed because of the physical engagement, because typically he is a better athlete than the guys he goes up against a former cornerback against the tight end. Not exactly rocket science, right, but that's where I think his true value to this team on the field is in that man coverage area. He's physical and pressed. He's more than comfortable down in

the muck as a run defender. So when you jam him down the box, head up over a tight end, you're taking on the point in trips or attacking a bunch or a stack. It's not weird for the offense to see him and locate him there because it's common within his role. And I love the way he plays the back hip to undercut routes and get his hands on football's when you take away the threat of true top end speed like you have on the perimeter, He's really able to use that size and physicality and toughness

in those areas. And that's how he wound up with these numbers in the fourteen games sans k C in Las Vegas, thirty four for fifty eight. That's fifty eight point six percent completion percentage, three D and seventy seven

yards against him. That's six point five yards per target. Remember, we want to be at eight or above as a pass catcher, so good numbers there for row, one touchdown allowed and two interceptions per Pro Football Focus, and that was coming off a twenty nineteen season where his numbers were even better. So I'm excited for him to get another crack against Waller this year. We do not see the Chiefs in Kansas City, but I think he's going to compete his ass off in that rematch and in

the other sixteen games, like he does. Eric Rowe a true pros pro and so much fun to watch and even better to talk to as a guy. We also had a chance to talk to Davanta Parker, Dolphins seventh theory receiver. Now, isn't that hard to believe? Make you feel kind of a little bit older. Devanta Parker has been in the the league for seven years now and I wanted to go back and check on some numbers, and unfortunately they don't have the reception perception data available for

him yet. With Matt Harmon, who of course did our great receiver's preview on the Draft Preview podcast here on Drive Time. But I went back and saw some of the numbers that he provided from previous seasons with Vanta Parker,

and I hadn't seen these before, so it jives. I'm happy is he had drives well with my scouting reports on Devonte Parker, which is that he really gets the job done on in breaking routes, posts, digs, curls, and slants, and he really gets on top of guys that way because of one, he's so strong at the point and can get that inside release with one quick step to the outside and then he crosses over and once he gets on the inside of the cornerback, you just can't

climb over the top of that guy because he's so long and so strong that way, and he really plucks the ball with strong hands away from his frame, on his frame, whatever it has to be, he can go

out and get that ball. And how well does that coincide with the fact that we talked a little bit about Jalen Waddle and Will Fuller and the space they can create inside with their vertical stretch speed, their corner routes, their post routes to take that post safety off the middle of the formation, creates some of these opportunities on these curls and these digs in the middle part of that field, right behind that second level of defenders on

the opposing defense. And that's where Parker really shines in terms of his reception perception success by route, his wins by route ran and what I saw on tape with that inside release move to stat guys to the inside and create that space and create that sort of window between he and the defender on his back. And I asked Davante, what's something you can get better at this offseason, because last year I asked that question and He talked about comeback routes, and of course one of his big

goals was just playing sixteen games and staying healthy. And we know Davante fought through some stuff last year as he was really doing a good job of getting himself back onto the football field after some dings here and there. But he talked about every single route this year, and I think that's something we can see him really excel

with this new Dolphins offensive structure. Is those inbreaking routes, those slants, those curls, those digs, everything where he can get to that space in the middle of the field that hopefully is created by the vertical stretching speed the

Dolphins now have on the outside. We also heard from Durham Smith, who had a great comment about coach Godzi among multiple Mike Gasicky stories, talking about the fact that their roommates right now and Durham staying with Mike and he's getting a little bit sick of him at times, but it's more of that fun, like friendly answer they

have back and forth. He dogged Mike for his lack of knowledge and pop culture as well as his inability to cook anything he said, but he also had some more serious talks about what coach Gods means or what he provides as an offensive play caller. And I love this quote from Durham talking about Coach God's his ability to not just explain something from one position's perspective, but rather the whole point of view with eleven positions in mind. Yeah, I mean with George, you know, he's he's just a

very smart guy. Um, he's an encyclopedia in terms of really offensive knowledge in general, which I think has really helped me and Mike kind of developed the last couple of years. Um, understanding offenses, just not from the tight end position, but kind of from an overall perspective. Um. And it wasn't surprising to see him get promot. You know, he's been in a situation where he's no see before. Um, that's I think that's where he he's gonna thrive because

he knows so much about it. Really, both the guys that are there, Um, George, Andy, I mean, they're doing a great job. I've been with him the last three years. They've they've done a great for the last three years. So I think it was very deserving to the both of them. Um. And you know, I think the Ovens is still coming together at this point. Um, it's it's

it's so early. We're kind of working on you know, techniques and such and you know, just kind of getting out there and running football players, which you know, football plays a football play. So I think we're still developing that. But I have I have a ton of faith in those two guys. You heard him talk about coach Gods being in the Cyclopedia of Knowledge, one of my favorite coaches to talk to in terms of just talking to

x As and Nose. I mean, I'll bring up third team personnel to Coach God see and he'll go on a diet tribe talking about football next as a nose for as long as he wants to know. It's it's a great time every time we get him here on the podcast and on media as well to talk to coach Gods. And so was drham Smithe such a fun

guy to talk to. We talked a little bit about how Travis Kelsey named Mike Kasicki among his top five tight ends, and that of course let into more questions about them becoming friends and the friendship of Smith and Kasicki and just real quick on Derham Smiths game, like I think one of the underappreciated aspects of his game, in addition to the fact that he's doing so much work on special teams, is when he comes around off of those little kickout blocks where he has to come

across the formation, and when you run zone, you're gonna see an offensive line move in the same direction. Right, everyone's first step is the same first step, and they all move in the same direction. And when you run split zone, you bring a strong side player from that side of the formation to come to the back side of the formation and clear out there or seal off

the backside of that formation. I love watching him hit those blocks as well as act as a lead blocker in the running game, and he added some more past production as well last season in his third year. A good chance to get a look at these guys in their fourth season. We finish up this podcast before we get to the Jason mccordy All twenty two as well as his media and just real quick, did you guys see the photo of Jalen Phillips on social media on Miami Dolphins dot Com from O T A S over

the weekend. I posted it to my timeline, so go check it out there. If you haven't seen it, but you want to talk about rocked up. And I tweeted out that he's thirty six and a half inch vertical ten ft five broad four or five six forty yard dash two hundred and sixty pounds. His four arms are just thick, and he's got so much rip strength in those hands. You can see it in that photo from how he plays in terms of the overall just thickness of his build and the power with which he plays.

But then you pair that with the workout metrics. I just wanted to talk about that because I think he has some of the rare traits and rare abilities. And I went back and looked at some tweets from previous from from last month during the draft and and some of the experts who talked about Jalen Phillips and saying, this guy has a chance now to be one of the best pure pass rushers in this draft class if he can put everything together, and of course with those

medical things are behind him. So some cool, some cool hype out there regarding Dolphins rookie defensive end slash outside linebacker Jalen Phillips, and that photo was just really cool to see because man, he looks the part of a true, true defensive lineman. Let's go ahead and finish out this podcast with media from the last player we spoke to last week, which is Jason mccordy. I'm not gonna play any audio because it's lengthy and I want to get

you guys out of here in a reasonable time. But again, go check out the YouTube page and you can check

out all of our media availabilities up there. But he talked a lot about leadership and a lot about service, and I went back and found this story about when coach Flores was elected into the legend status at the y m c A up locally in the northeast up there, and Devin mccordy was one of the presenters, but Jason mccordy was involved as well, and that was something Coach Flora's talked about leadership and service and he still talks

about that to this day with his players. And that's what Jason McCary talked about with his new position and how it's important for him to not just play good football, but to be out on the field and asking the guys, what are you up to this weekend? What do you how are you feeling right now, What do you think about this morning's meeting, What do you think about breakfast this morning? How do you have any questions for me?

And just having that sounding board on the field, a guy in the locker room who is not in that position of authority like a coach would be in terms of that relationship, you have that conduit on the field, it can only be a benefit for these players and obviously a guy that coach Flora's and coach boy or trust and Jason mccuary talked a little bit in his presser about what coach Flow has meant to him and what Chosh Bowyer has meant to him as a coach

in that defense, learning this defensive, him talking about how he's not really focused right now on learning safety or cornerback, but just learned the whole defense so he can communicate it and can be versatile and if the Dolphins need him in a pinch at a spot, he can go out and fulfill that role. So he's been This was the first time we talked to him, but he just said a lot of really really cool stuff talking about the defense, about leadership, about maybe he wants to be

a coach in the future. That was a question asked to him, So go check it out on YouTube. He was a great great watching a great great listen. But I want to finish up this podcast here with a quick note on his tape because I had a chance to go over the weekend and look at some of his tape last season up in New England, and from a pure numbers perspective, this is the first thing he noticed on tape with mccordy's he doesn't really miss tackles.

He had one of the lowest miss tackle rates in all the National Football League last year, and that's been his game since the beginning. And he can run to so appair the physicality with his athletic ability, and you just watch the way he raps. He truly truly shoots at the hips and wraps and coils and brings guys to the ground and get some of these electric, electric playmakers to the round. Pro Football Focused tagged him with just one mistackle last year in a game against the

Baltimore Ravens. Wanted to go check it out on tape, and of course it was Lamar Jackson in the open field. So what are you gonna do with that guy who makes everybody miss at one point or another, but Jason mccordy had some good numbers last year as well. In terms of his production in coverage, he was kind of a you know, I don't want to say backup, but he was a guy that didn't play as many reps as some of the other guys. He did get over six hundred reps on defense for the Patriots last season,

but he wasn't one of the primary corners. But he gets his hands on footballs. He gets picks, he breaks passes up, he plays through guys without really interfering them

and turning them. He's so physical and so sharp with his hands that allows him to really get in front of guys and and operate and execute a multitude of different jams at the line, whether it's the inside hand jam, the outside handjam, the double handjam, which can gets you in trouble against speed guys, but he can do it effectively. When he goes to that move, it's got great feet, loose hips. They really get himself out of that back pedal and transition going forward or backwards and getting up

field and again. The thing, the thing that I really know is most when watching his tape is just the recognition of concepts and routes and being in position to drive on certain plays in zone or to stay in the hip pocket and man to funnel to bracket. You

just you look at Jason mccordy. He's the kind of guy that when you have a secondary that has Xavian Howard and Byron Jones, and we've talked about this list a million times that if one of those guys goes down and you have to bring someone off the bench into the game accord, he can step right into that role in xaviing Howard's role and you're not gonna have to worry about him missing an assignment or having a mental breakdown or having a lapse, which in the second

dary lapses lead to touchdowns on the back end. As coach g A has mentioned so many times, I just watch him on tape and you just see a smart, smart player that can help communicate this defense. And I think that value on the field, plus what he brings to this young locker room, to me, is invaluable. I love this signing because Jason mccordy is a great player and a better dude. One more thing here on this podcast before we get out of here. There is a

review on iTunes. I want to go ahead and address because we are doing better, I hope on this podcast of hearing from you guys and responding to you guys here on the podcast. One question was posed to me a one star rating negatively not a fan of this intro we have. It's from Dolphin Ray Travis slash Mailbag changed the intro in all caps with an exclamation mark. Who threw that touchdown pass? DeVante Parker? I wonder why so nondescript It's not nondescriptive? Was Bryan Fitzpatrick in a

game in twenty nineteen. We took that clip out because Cephalo says in that clip, what a drive by the Miami Dolphins. That was my request to the audio team to get a comment where Cephalo says what a drive. That's a hell of a drive or something to that effect by the Miami Dolphins. We clipped and edited it that way because you have to edit these things sometimes to make them sound good, So that's what we did.

There's no underlining thing at play there. It's just the audio we have for the podcast for our intro, So again, nothing to look into their Dolphin Ray, I wanted to go ahead and a dress that because you put the rating up on iTunes And if you guys have not done so so far, you know we don't do ads in this podcast. We don't ask you for anything. The one thing you can do to help the podcast out is to leave us a rating and a review. The more five star reviews we have it helps the podcast.

The one star reviews heard us. So if you have a question for me, I'm happy to answer it for you here on the podcast, But go check out the podcast on Apple podcast or Spotify, Google Play, or wherever you get your podcast from. Go ahead and follow me on Twitter at Wingfold NFL. Follow the team at Miami Dolphins, check out the fish Tank and the Audible podcast, and of course Miami Dolphins dot com. Until next time, fins up,