Training Camp Preview 2021 Safeties

you your daily dose of Miami Dolphins football. And on today's show, we are onto the final part of the eleven part preview series, finishing up here with the back end of the defense, the safeties, the importance of instincts and range, the newcomers, how Miami works to limit big plays, and a recap of the coaches and players in this group.

Plus we finish up another series of ours with an NFL preview, wrapping up with the eighth and final division, your division of your Miami Dolphins, the a f C East. All of that and more on this edition of the Drive Time Podcast Drive Thome's brought to you by Auto Nation. And later this week we have Dolphins practice. We're gonna cover that for you guys every single day here on the podcast, so subscribe, rate, review, and get us onto

your feed. We're gonna have coach Flora's and some players on Tuesday, I believe, speaking to the media, and then Wednesday it's full go coach in the morning, practice in the morning as well players in the afternoon. I can't wait for all that. But before we get to that, we have one more offseason podcast here to get to

and we're talking about the safety position. If you guys have not been following along so far on Miami Dolphins dot com as well as here on the Drivetime podcast, go ahead and check out the previous episodes every day Monday through Friday, covering quarterbacks, running backs, receivers, tight ends, offensive line, d line, linebackers, and the defensive secondary, as well as the specialist plus up on Miami Dolphins dot Com. You can find those written pieces as well. And we

conclude here today with the safeties. And you know a lot of the stuff we covered on the Cornerback podcast in terms of the philosophy of the defense, the strong play on the perimeter to go ahead and press and disrupt timing for a defense that generates pressure and under three seconds a lot of the time, how all that kind of marries up together. And I think you look at this position as kind of the signal caller or

the what's the word I'm looking for here. The last line of defense definitely kind of stirs the drink, I think in terms of what this defense brings and the importance of vision and instincts and seeing the football in front of these players and the ability to counter the spacing the opposition tries to create based upon how these safeties not just move themselves, but the way they move their teammates, because they are kind of the proverbial eye

in the sky, you know, when the coaching staff can't be on the field to communicate that stuff, the safety who can kind of see all that in front of him and get a feel for what the offense is doing in their priest napp alignment how to combat that. On defense, the safety is responsible for a lot of that, and we heard coach Flores' talk about that in the addition of Javon Holland with his communication and his leadership ability and how he might be able to kind of

take on some of that role as a rookie. But once again, of course, the role that Javon Holland and all these players inevitably find themselves in will be what they make of it and how they put themselves in position to take on those roles and one of the players that you know, to kind of toot my own horn here a little bit, the safety position has been one of my better ones in terms of evaluating I mean, big Buddha Baker fan, big Chauncey Gardner, Johnson fan. I

was a huge, huge proponent of Derwin James. Of course, the injuries kind of, you know, have lessened his career at this point, but when he's on the field, he's been a very productive player. Just something about this position that I enjoy watching, especially when you get the All twenty two angle and you can actually see them on

the field. One of the guys I was huge on was Jesse Bates out of Wake Force now with the Cincinnati Bengals, and what I loved about him was you could see the fact that he was a baseball player, a center fielder in college as well, because of the way he kind of could flip the hips and clothe and click and clothes and drive out of his back pedal and anticipate things in the way a center fielder

has to off the bat. You know, you see a slider on the outside corner to a right handed hitter, you kind of have to cheat over to the right in our field gap, because if a player pulls that ball, they're probably gonna roll over it and hit a ground ball to the shortstops. So you anticipate if they drive the ball, it'll be into that right center field gap. And it's kind of the same thing as playing safety. I think there's lots of comparisons to safety and playing

outfield in baseball. And the instincts to know the same thing as the slider on the outside corner, to know, Okay, these these two guys on this side of the formation, they look like, based upon my film study, they're gonna run a scissors concept or a switch concept or a slant flat or a slugo or not slog I'm sorry, a smash concept with a corner route and the and the hitch route like whatever it is. You anticipate what routes you might see, and that allows you to shorten windows,

not just with your range, but with those instincts. And when you shorten windows and you bait quarterbacks into throws into those short windows, which he did in college, that's why I loved him so much. And he's brought that right over to the NFL. I thought he had an all pro level season last year with the Bengals, because he's doing the exact same things. When you do that, it can generate big plays in terms of interceptions, tip balls, and all that stuff we focus on here in camp

with Gerald Alexander in this offensive backfield. And so you might be asking yourself, Travis, why in the hell are you talking about the Cincinnati Bengals and their safety because when I watched Javon Holland on tape, I noted a lot of the same things that made me attracted to Jesse Bates is game. And I go to the great Brett Coleman of the NFL Film Room, who we referenced

here on the podcast. He's been on the podcast, really good friend of line, and he had a great video clip of Javon Holland in the PAC twelveth Championship game

a couple of years ago. And Brett pulls this clip against the Stanford Cardinal where Holland comes down and plays about eight or nine yards off the slot receiver and he's playing the low shoulder, which means the shoulder closest to the offensive line of scrimmage, knowing he has the safety help up over the top in the post and so on this play, he basically engages contact with the receiver at the five yard mark, peeks at the quarterback,

and because they're running a mesh concept where two receivers are going to cross in the middle of the field, Javan peels off of his man and gets a pass break up on the other side of the field. The other side of the formation, a player who had created a ton of separation on his man, and Javan not only locks up his guy, comes off of him and breaks up a pass to somebody else from the X

receiver coming from the opposite side of the formation. Javan playing the field the wide side of the field, he goes over to the short side of the field, the boundary, and makes a play on the football. Brett writes in his tweet, I'm no dB coach, but I bet they don't teach that. Some guys just do it. And that's the kind of instincts that I came to know and

love when watching Javon Holland on tape. I don't want to put words in coach his mouth, but he did say this is one of his fair players to watch on tape, and I have to imagine those instincts and like, okay, this is why I know ball and ball takes me

to this particular spot on the field. I have to imagine that was an influence for coach and this Dolphin staff in the front office when they watch this kid play, because he can do that stuff and it's very innate and it's very rare to have those level of instincts. So the first safety off the board comes to Miami at the top of the second round. There then you've got Eric Rowe who just has so many roles that

he fulfills. Run fitting, you know, the assignment to get an extra gap in the run game with your safety, to come down and really get in the muck and get in the box and really show the physical side of the game. I think we look personally at rushing statistics in the National Football League and football in general

all wrong. Average yards per carry is one thing, and it's it's great for fantasy and for the stats and all that stuff, But I want to know how many run wins and run down losses you had, because if a team rushes the ball for let's say, fifteen yards on first down from their own twenty five yard line, gets it out to the minus forty. Yeah, it's field possesion you want back. But that's a fifteen yard run. Let's say their next two runs go for two yards each.

That's three runs for nineteen yards. So you're talking about I don't know a mathematician, but over six yards per carry. But you got yourself into a third and six, so you get that stop. That means you had to run wins and one run loss in the fifteen yard run. I want that. I'll take the defensive side of the

equation when it comes to those three running plays. And so I thought the Dolphins last year and Eric Rose, a big part of this, did so well to get run wins on those rundowns, to put themselves in position to queue up second down and long or even better, a third and long that creates a passing situation, a

must pass spot. And I thought Eric rose work in the run game not just got better from twenty nineteen when he made that transition from playing on the outside and corner to safety and then event into the box and really getting up in the face of tight ends who are attached to the line of scrimmage. I thought that the improvement there was a big, big, deal from Miami, and I thought it only got better as the year

went along. So kind of the projection there from Eric rose trajectory at this position that's somewhat new to him. It really points up to me in terms of a guy that can just continue to get better because of the way he works and because of the willingness to do That's a tough ask for safeties down that area to play, and Eric rohad does it without any questions asked.

We talked about the communication as a whole on this defense and how Gerald Alexander really harped on the big place coming from the back end and how mistakes in that area of the field lead to the big explosive plays that essentially can decide football games most of the time. And you know, we talked about this off the top, but coach Flora has also mentioned that signal callers are the ones kind of down the middle of the field, the linebackers, the safety is your center and your quarterback.

How they help align the defense, how they are a big part of defending the deep portion of the field, and how again as much as that is range and like you'll see the you know ed Reid's of the world they don't grow on trees. Obviously, the greatest safety of all time. For my money, the range was great, but the instincts is what took him to another level.

And you pair the athletic ability that Javon Holland and Brandon Jones and Eric Row and the guys that can play this position have with the knowledge and the instincts to go over the top of routes to cap routes, and maybe you come down and you double a certain portion on the inside of the field, like if you got Tyreek Hill or Travis Kelsey inside and you want to double that guy while your two cornerbacks play sticky man coverage on the outside. You have that flexibility, You

have those options. You have guys that can come down and match up in the slot outside man coverage against bacts and tight ends because a lot of these guys have cornerback experience or slot experience in addition to their prowess and their exploits aft the safety position. So I am very excited about the veterans and Eric Row and Jason mccordy, but also the young guys with Javon and Brandon, plus the two special teams missiles in Nate Holly, and

Clayton Fedulin. And speaking of these six guys, let's go ahead and get to the piece up on Miami Dolphins dot com. The personnel changes. You got. Jason McQuary and Javon Holland are the income or newcomers, I should say, incoming talent, and Bobby McCain and Cavon Frazier are off to Washington and Cincinnati, respectively. As for the coaching staff, we covered g A a little bit on the Cornerbacks podcast, talking more about Charles Burke's who is the cornerbacks coach?

But g A is the defensive backs coach, And he interned at Dolphins camp in twenty nineteen where and he was coaching at Cal and one year later, sure enough, he takes over as the DBS coach here in Miami once Josh Boyer was promoted to the defensive coordinator position,

and he just produced immediate dividends. G A did in terms of getting this secondary communicating I thought so much better last year and and playing at a such a higher level, and getting all the talent that defensive secondary had with all the substitutions you see on that back end of the defense. He got it all coordinated in a way that got Miami to really help lead the

league in takeaways with twenty nine last year. Do in large part to his emphasis on the football and training camp, but also, of course, the talent on the field and the big plays allowed were significantly decreased upon Alexander's arrival in I mean, this is a team that it seemed like some of the backbone of this team for the

past couple of decades was always the big play. Like you go back to the twenty eighteen Thursday night football game against the Houston Texans where that game was close, and then Deshaun Watson would find Will Fuller or DeAndre Hopkins or one of the big play receivers they had there in Houston for a long touchdown and that's how

that game kind of got away from Miami. It seemed like there was always one or two plays a game back in those days that just got away and it forced, you know, a one or two score game to to get away from Miami. But last year that was not the case, and the Dolphins stayed in football games and they won those close football games. So you decrease those big plays that really puts you in position to compete late in the fourth quarter. And here's what coach g A has to say about how you limit big plays

and how communication is the key quote. Communication is a must in our defense. All guys have to be on the same page, especially at that safety position. We have the depth of the defense and we're responsible to really get everybody in line. So it's very important that whether you're young or an older vet, that the communication is on point. We know that big plays always run through the secondary, whether it be in the past game or

the run game. The easiest way to give up an explosive play in the back end is lack of communication. What I tell those guys is lack of communication leads to disaster. And quote, what a great way to kind of put a bow on that great quote there from g A. And you listen to any of his media. He's always a great quote machine, is g A? When talking to the media. This group at a glance again, I mean versatility. What do you want to know about that?

That ad here that term here in Miami, it's the adage the more you can do, and the safety position in Miami typically comes with what I call a side hustle, so to speak. Because Eric Rowe. You know, he made that switch from cornerback mid season in twenty nineteen and really enjoyed the success in that new role. But he also comes down and covers tight ends and defends the run and just plays multiple roles. And he can even flex out wide and play cornerback in a pinch because

well he's done it before. But since he made that switch to safety, he's allowed just sixty nine point eight passer rating against in his coverage area. We talked about rookie Javon Holland and the fact that he and second year pro Brandon Jones, who earned considerable playing time as

a rookie. Both these guys had a kind of combination role of slot and safety in college, with snaps coming basically in every pre snap alignment you could want, man coverage, zone coverage off the football, second level, up on the line, special teams, returning kicks. They did it all and both are just instinctive sponges who soak up all the knowledge this Dolphin secondary has to offer. I told you guys back in O. T A S there was two guys that ran extra laps or extra sprints at the end

of practice. It was Javon Holland and Brandon Jones out there in that downpour getting the extra work in and again just soaking up all the knowledge of the players and coaches in this particular portion of the team have to offer. And a significant portion of that knowledge comes from new arrival Jason mccordy. If you have not seen it or heard it or read it, check out the YouTube the Miami Dolphins YouTube channel the media availability of

Jason mccordy. Uh in the second to last O t A. I think it was early in June man the way he spoke and the way he communicated about service and leadership. I mean, even as a football fan or a non football fan, it grabbed me. It was gravitating. And he's the most experienced player on this roster. Again, He's played perimeter corner, played in the slot, played some safety over

the course of a twelve year career. And then Clayton Fedgerland was a special teams captain his first year here in Miami and including some spot duty on defense, just a handful of snaps on defense. And then Nate Holly from the Canadian Football League who came to Miami for training camp, was released. And then signed back to the practice squad and got his call up late in the season, playing largely on special team. So, just to kind of go over this cast again real quick, six seasons as

a pro. Number twenty one, Eric Rowe coming out of Utah didn't change Jersey numbers. You know who he is now twenty eight years old opening day and expanding from the numbers we talked about. His coverage numbers really rival any safety in the NFL over his last twenty eight games play. That goes back to when he made the switch in nineteen to safety, the first four games at cornerback, the final twelve at safety, and then sixteen games played last year, which, by the way, he's played thirty two

games with the Miambi Dolphins. That was kind of the reason that he bounced around a little bit was because he had trouble staying healthy. He's found that, uh, that proper plan and nutrition and diet and regimen that's gotten him healthy thirty two games played. I'm very happy for him that happened, because it couldn't have happened to a

better guy. But since that midseason switched twenty nineteen to safety, he's allowed fifty nine point seven percent of passes and tended for his man to be completed for an average of six point one eight yards per target. At seventy one completions on one nineteen passes for seven hundred and thirty five yards. He was charged with one touchdown, allowed, three interceptions, and a passer rating again of sixty nine

point eight. The completion percentage, yards per argut, and passer rating are all top ten among NFL safeties according to Pro Football Focus. And this is a guy and he talked about it last year in training camp because it was a big, big topic for him to cover, the switch of positions. How he did play safety in college at Utah, but it was mostly the deep middle of the field guy, the free safety way away from the

line of scrimmage. And he emphasized his work in the running game the last two seasons, and I thought that helped him get better and improven. Again, that trajectory pointing upwards, as you see forty eight combined run stops tackles within two yards of the line to the line of scrimmage. He comes up there and makes plays around the l os. He also set career highs with seven quarterback pressures as well. As nine pass breakups last season. What a great year

for Eric Rowe. Javon Holland number twenty two, the rookie out of Oregon. He'll be twenty one years old opening day and one of these young Dolphins players. And again you watch his tape and you wonder, there's like he is he living in a dimension where he's three seconds ahead of everybody else because he seems to see things before they happen with his instincts, and man, he hacksa

when the lights go on. He's a gamer. He hit a pick six against W s U a couple of years ago and that was a difference in the ball game. And I still think about that late at nights sometimes. But his instincts, ball skills and leadership and communication skills are what attracted Coach Flora's and Chris Career to this very smart, instinctual good player out of the University of Oregon. Chris Greer said, he's a very smart, instinctive player that

has been a very productive player. It was his football intelligence and getting to know the kid that stood out as well. And then Coach said, this Javon was one of honestly my favorite players to watch, very versatile, played inside, played safety, punt return a lot of ball production, so we're excited to get him and work with him. And you hear coach talking about those ball skills that produced nine interceptions over the nineteen seasons combined, that was tied

for the fourth most in all of college football. He registered twenty four run stops in that final college season and also posted a career passer rating allowed of just sixty one point one. The production is all over the place there in terms of good, good, all over the place for Javon Holland. Brandon Jones number twenty nine last year was his first as a pro out of Texas,

twenty three years old. We did a great deep dive on Brandon Jones last summer where I interviewed his mother and some coaches of Texas there, Tom Herman, as well as Brandon, and they had some fun stories to tell about Brandon growing up with his brothers and the competition of playing football in the backyard and basketball and everything in between. I highly highly recommend that podcast from I think it was the middle of last summer during the

dead period. But back to Brandon Jones, I mean, he made the headlines at the combine and when he revealed that he asked every team for their defensive film and their defensive playbook, and he made his way through four games of each of the thirty two defenses. And I thought that preparation showed up as a rookie to the tune of sixty two tackles three for a loss, of sack,

of pass breakup, as well as a forced fumble. And there was a play against the Jaguars where he kind of played almost a Rashad Jones type of role where he was buzz in the middle of the field or robbing the middle of the field on that call and lavisca channel comes free over the middle in the curl zone and he jumps it and almost gets a pick, just kind of misses it. It went to a Donald's reception.

But I thought that instinct and that understanding of where to find the landmarks in terms of your coverage, but also the man you're looking for. I thought we saw that at times from Brandon Jones. I expected to get even better here in your number two, Pro Football Focus chartered Jones with three hundred and sixty one snapped in the box, four in the slot, eight out wide, and nine two is a deep safety. In addition to two d and thirty eight snaps on special teams, he made

fifteen run stops and recorded six quarterback pressure. So he really did everything for this team last year, and I expect that role to continue to expand and to kind of follow up on, you know, the makeup of the safety position, like I think they're even more suited this year to be able to rotate between two high and single high. Safety. Last year was a lot of single high, but I think you can get a multitude of combinations of these guys to play too high if you want

to pull back and go three high as well. Plenty of options there, and especially when you think about the possible big nickel packages where you have a third safety on the field side of your third cornerback, there are just options galore, and players like Brandon Jones and their

versatility really make that a possibility. Jason mccordy number thirty twelve years NFL experience, thirty four years old, opening day out of Rutgers, and I think he's really here to not only give the Dolphins a solid option in the secondary when it comes to playing, but also help accelerate the growth of the youth in the room, and he talked about the the wealth of experience that he has developed in all the football minds he's been around to

develop this leadership and the mindset of service to his teammates and his coaches in the defensive backfield. He said this back in that media availability. I think a part of leadership is listening and serving, and you can't know how to do that until you get to know the

guys around you. This is a really good time for myself to be down here, this is back in the summer, to get to know the guys in the locker room and get to know not only them, but the support staff, the people in the cafeteria, just everybody in the building and quote and like that. That's like one of my how I live my life, like my pillars of life. How do you treat people that? And I hate this term, but are perceived as less important than you, like the

French of the support staff. I hate they put it that way, but the perception is that they are you know, you can you're you're more important to anybody is BS But I can see where that perception comes from. How do you treat those folks? And that's really where your character shines through the most, I think, and I really pride myself on that. And Jason mccordy knocks it out of the ballpark with that quote. But in his twelve year career, he posted a passer rating allowed of under

ninety in a single season six times. He's pulled down eighteen career picks and made one run stops. So again, a little bit of everything from the guys in this position group. Jason McCory listed as a safety on the Dolphins roster. Nate Holly thirty six one year experience out of Kent State, twenty six years old. He comes over from the CFL. He actually was released from his contract from the CFL to pursue NFL options and the Dolphins

came calling. He got the call up from the ACT from the practice squad to the active roster in December and contribute with forty four reps on and three special teams tackles, all on special team. He was the CFL's most Outstanding rookie in twenty nineteen. He made a hundred tackles, twenty two of those on special teams. And that feels like a square, so it's even harder to make tackles on special teams. He also had a sack and a

pick on defense that one year in the CFL. And we finish up our roster review here with Clayton Fedgerlove, number forty two in the defensive backfield. Five years of professional experience out of Illinois. He'll be twenty eight years old come opening day. He signed with Miami last March and earned the honor of the Captain patch on the Dolphins number six overall ranked special teams unit. That's according to Football Outsiders. He played three nineteen total snaps, but

three oh five of those were on special teams. In addition to the six tackles he made, he played a crucial role as the PP, the personal protector on the punt team, and you saw him carry the football twice for a pair of first downs and twenty three total yards, including a big run in that Las Vegas game to helps up a scoring drive for your Miami Dolphins. And as we finish up one series here on the podcast, check out all the written work up on Miami Dolphins

dot com. If you're going to camp, bring it along with you. Get your phone out. You can go ahead and scroll through and find these stats and facts and which number of guys are wearing. Plenty of stuff for you in these pieces. Let's go ahead and finish up another series we started a couple of months ago here on the podcast NFL Preview, and we finish up with the best for last, our own division, the a f

C East. Will make some predictions later on on the podcast closer to the season, but I want to finish up the comprehensive review just talking about every team, giving you an idea of what teams did this offseason, a reminder for you about how the off season played out across the national football landscape. Should we do Miami? I mean you've you know the Dolphins by now if you listen to this podcast. Let's go ahead and do Miami. Because I am a completist. Let's get to the Dolphins.

Jacoby Brissette and Malcolm Brown and Jared Oakes with the additions in the backfield this offseason will Fuller, Jalen Waddle, Hunter Long, Liam Eichenberg, Matt Scura, d J. Fluker, and

Jermaine Illuminois round out your notable offensive acquisitions. Adam Butler and Jalen Phillips with Bernardrick McKinney, Brandan Scarlett, Justin Coleman, Jason mccordy, and Javon halland some of your offseason Hall there for your Miami Dolphins and the storylines for this team, as we have done on the podcast for every other team. You know, year two for two a tongue of voloa. You you always anticipated nice jump there from your second

year quarterback. Two years we moved from the hip surgery and the flashes we saw last year with the ability to move the defense with body positioning in his eyes and and some of the ball fakes and the ability to get off the spot with the quick twitch we saw those flashes. Can he put it all together and be more consistent and play at a higher level for longer this season? He talked about kind of being hard

on himself last year at some point. I'm sure there are certain games he'd like to go back and and correct some things in. But for the most part, I thought most of his games you saw the flashes that made him look like the number five overall picking the draft and one of the top college quarterbacks. Really to ever spin it, and the other kind of sub story of of TWA is the pieces the Dolphins went out and acquired to really help complement his skill set. We've

talked about on the podcast at length. Will Fuller and Jalen Waddle, I think are both just really quintessential to a tongue of by lower level players to help further strengthen that receiver corps with Vante Parker, Preston Williams, Albert Wilson, Lynn Bowe, and Jachem Grant, Robert Foster, on and on and on and on with that loaded group of receivers. Also,

how does the offensive line shakeout? I mean, the veteran acquisitions are a bit of a uh, not a departure, but a pivot from last season where it was mostly youth upfront. But you go out and you add some reliable either depth or starters, and guys like Matt Skura, DJ Fluker, Jermaine Iluminoire. You go out and you find a very polished, technically sound Liam Eichenberg, and he cracked

the starting lineup. Much of the young guys takes the next step between Austin Jackson, Robert Hunt, Solomon Kinley and Leam Eichenberg for instance, how do those guys develop and

continue to grow here in years one and two. And then on defense, how much more pressure can you generate with Adam Butler, with Bernardick McKinney, with Jalen Phillips to go along with the pieces you have in Emmanuel Ogba, Jerome Baker and Zach Seeler and Christian Wilkins and ray Kwon Davis and Andrew Van Gink, going on and on and on. I'm curious see how that works out and how those new pieces are incorporated. And then can Miami repeat two things that are tough to repeat in this league?

Number one, the kicking performance thirty six of thirty nine field goals last year is sensational by Jason Sanders, one of the best kickers in the game. And then twenty nine takeaways? Can they repeat that again? Going back to nine team with twenty two straight games with a takeaway? Those are big elements of what this Dolphins team can do on defense and to make big plays to set the offense up for points. The Buffalo Bills are up next. We go to the reigning division champions. Here it's finally

someone new. It's not New England, it is Buffalo. Their off season was Mitch Drabinsky at quarterback at backup to kind of help with Jake from there. Behind Josh Allen, Matt Brida goes from Miami to Buffalo. Emmanuel Sanders one of my favorite players in the NFL over the last decade. I think one of the most underrated receivers in all the National Football League. Spencer Brown was a guy I had my eye on at the Senior Bowl out of Northern Iowa and this year's draft run up, he comes

to Buffalo. Gregory Risso was their first round draft pick, Carlos Basham in the second around f a Obada formerly the Carolina Panthers there signs a free agent contract and they wind up with the mar Hamlin, the safety from pit in the back end of the draft as well. So some storylines here for Buffalo that when a quarterback has that breakthrough season, how do they follow up the following year? Because Josh Allen was damn near perfect, can

he do it again? And does the mix or the swap out from John Brown to Emmanuel Sanders doesn't make doesn't make a difference because John Brown was pure speed and can just fly. Also was a good route runner, but his speed was the main element of his game. Emmanuel Sanders is not. He's way more technically sound and crafty and a great route runner, and he can't take the top off the defense, but not the way John Brown did. Does that make a difference. I'll be curious

to see that how that plays out. Can they defend the run a little bit better, because that was one area of their defense or their team that just wasn't on par with the other really explosive elements of the team. And can they get more pass rush upfront. I think that's where you start to think about Carlos basham and and Greg Russo and f a Obada. I loved Boogie Bashum at Wake four, so I'm not thrilled about him going there, one of my favorite players in those draft classes.

But getting these final pieces to go along with a secondary that is absolutely loaded and was essentially built in one offseason there with Jordan Poyter, Micah Hyde, Trey White

all coming over in the same offseason. The second second cornerback position is where you start to wonder if that's where you go to attack, because there's a competition there between Levi Wallace and Anthony Aver and some guys they joined or they added to the position there to compete alongside Trey White with te Ron Johnson and that slot. That's gonna be a key area of focus for this Bill's team. Who is that number two quarterback on the outside.

But you've also got Tremaine Edmunds, one of the best young linebackers in the NFL, Matt Mlana one of the most underrated linebackers in the NFL. There just really aren't any holes on this team, so you have to just try to beat them at their own game, like you have to compete with this team. They're very, very, very

good football team. I think the big storyline here with regards to the Dolphins is A, how do they stop Josh Allen and b how do they replicate the success they had against them last year outside of quarters to through four and weeks sevent team because those were bad. But the first quarter of that game and then in the Week two game, there were a lot of moments in favor of the Dolphins defense. We talked about it

on the podcast. I think at the linebacker spot, Miami had two or three drops picks in that game that could have swung that contest in the other direction and made a big difference in the standings in the playoff race ultimately, But how do they find a way to do that? Can they replicate those moments of success and build upon what they didn't do in the moments where Buffalo got up and down the field on this defense, Buffalo is one of the most talented teams in the NFL,

one of the best coach teams in the league. This is a tough tough out to have in your division. Speaking of tough outs, the Patriots are back, in my opinion, after a bit of a down year for them. You know, they still won seven games, but they were not the same Patriots we have known the last twenty years in terms of the win lost total. But Bill Belichick went out and made made a bunch of changes this offseason

to make sure that wouldn't happen again. Mac Jones is drafted in the first round, Ramandre Stevens in the backfield as well a fourth round draft pick out of Oklahoma. They go out and they get Nelson Aguilar and Kendrick Born in free agency as school as Hunter Henry and John who Smith talk about remaking your skill possessions. My goodness, the options Cam Newton and mac Jones now have They're compared to last year. Ted Carriss comes back. Love Ted's game,

loved Ted as a person. Best of luck to him there. And then Devon godshat another guy formerly the Miami Dolphins. Again, best of luck to Devon up in New England. Just on the two times here you play us. Christian Barmore the draft pick from Alabama. They add Henry Anderson and free agency and Ronnie Perkins out of Oklahoma. Love that draft pick to Matt Judon is a great, great fit there.

They get Kyle van noyback, Dante high Towers back after opting out Cameron Mcgroner's are late roun draft pick Jalen Mills and Adrian Colbert are new auditions in the secondary as well. And I gotta be honest, just going over this list, they got so much better at way better than I even remembered, you know, back in the draft and back in March when free agency was going crazy, I had kind of forgotten about bar Moore and Perkins

up front. That's a great couple of additions there. On your defensive line, you get the two tight ends that really help you go against the grain of the modern day league potential deadly twelve personnel packages to run the football with Cam Newton in that deep backfield they have, maybe that package never leaves the field and becomes their base. We'll see if they can get Johnny Smith and Hunter Henry acclimated that quickly. But to me, there are two

real storylines with this club. The quarterback. It just wasn't good enough last year. I still I'm a big believer in what Cam Newton can do, but his game was just a little bit off last year. You saw that. I think in the statistics more interceptions than touchdowns throwing. That's kind of rare and stays NFL. But I just don't think it all kind of came together and click for that Patriots team the way it could after a

full offseason for Cam Newton. There this guy has been one of the best quarterbacks in the league for a long time, like in my opinion of top all time quarterback, and frankly, I think that those people that are hard on Cam Newton are akin to those that are hard on Lamar Jackson, and that they kind of discount the running ability like it all counts the same yards or yards, and both those guys are two of the very best to do it of all time, and it was the

reason the Dolphins and Patriots split last year. I mean, they just leaned on us in that Week one game game, and the levy eventually broken the fourth quarter. Now, Jerome Baker's force fumble on the goal line kept that game a lot closer than it was because it was fourteen to three. The Patriots are going in about one three, We get the strips stack and get a touchback. The Dolphins go down to score the next drive and make

it fourteen to eleven. But then New England came right back down and ran the ball again down their throats, and we're able to get a touchdown on that drive and put that game again back out of reach. So, I mean it's Cam Newton's running threat is definitely something you have to account for. As far as the other quarterback, you know, I wasn't a huge Mac Jones fan coming out of college. So the competition, I think Bear is watching because the Patriots said they're going to have an

open competition in training camp. We'll see how it shakes out. I wonder if maybe we see Cam Week one Mac Jones Week eight team. That's typically how it goes with the first round quarterbacks. Usually takes them about four or five games to get onto the field. But that said, that's usually teams that are picking at the top of the draft, And are you know, starting off oh and three or one and four and they go to the rookie quarterback. This is a good teams they might not

have to go to the rookie early on. Then you ask how how all these new acquisitions fit in. How quickly does it click, and how quickly do they acclimate because even during the height of the Patriots two decade run, if there was ever a time to catch them, it was typically early in the season before they became their unstoppable force that they became every year, right around Halloween

or so. And so I wonder if maybe this is a good time to catch them, the best time to catch them before they get accoliated with all those new pieces. But then, of course you see him in Week eight team where you're gonna get that well oiled version of the Patriots. Last year they were well oiled machine out of the gates in Week one, So maybe this is irrelevant. I'm just kind of thinking out loud here. With the Patriots, I think are gonna be an even tougher out this

season than they were last year. And then the New York Jets, the final team here in the division, another team that went after the offseason with a lot of moves, and it starts with the really peak of the off season and they rebuild here for the Jets with Zach Wilson out of b y U. They add Corey Davis and Elijah Moore and Keelan Cole love Corey Davis and

I love Elijah more. Pretty bummed out about more going there because I liked his aim and now I don't get roof form because the New York Jet Tyler Croft. The tight end signs there are Morgan Moses and Elijah Vera Tucker. With Dan Feeney on the offensive line, Sheldon Rankins on the interior d line. That's a great combination there with Quinn Quinnin Williams, the former number two overall pick out Alabama. Karl Lawson is a great pass rusher. They got a good deal getting him over there to

the Jets. Vinny Curry, Jared Davis from the Lions, and LaMarcus Joiner. A couple more free agent acquisitions, and the big thing I look at here is the investment in the offensive line, because yeah, I think you know, Beckton looks like possibly one of the best tackles in the league already when he's healthy and playing. He was dominant when he was on the field. Last year. You got out and get Eli Ja, Vera Tucker and Morgan Moses. All of a sudden, you are starting to have a

good piece of the offensive line. But the knock I saw during the draft process was he traded a couple of third round picks to go up and get Vera Tucker, who could be the best guard in the class. But you had more a lot more holes to fill on the offensive line. So with still having some kind of uncertainty at certain spots on the offensive line that could you have six of a great offensive line. Those two week spots can still denigrate your performance overall, because if

those guys are getting beat, the other stuff doesn't matter. Now, I'm not saying that's gonna happen, but can they get players to fulfill those roles. That's my question mark here with the storyline for the Jets heading into the season, and then of course Zach Wilson, this is a tough division for rookies to come into. With Flores and Belichick and and McDermott. And for Wilson last year, the one ranked team they played in that Coastal Carolina game was

his was his worst tape of the season. And he really came onto the scene in after not really being in the draft discussion before that. And if I had a concern, it would be that he had the one big year in a year where there were no fans and a strange, strange season. He's got all the armed talent in the world. The kid can spin it from anywhere on the field is impressive. But is he going

to be wired right? That's something you're gonna find out quickly in New York and that's gonna make or break him. Will keep a close eye on that here as Dolphins fans. Also Robert Sala and the schemes they bring over from the fort because he's obviously from that defensive system with the one gap, quick penetration, get upfield and put pressure on the quarterback. Coach Chris Kusaick, formerly the Miami Dolphins, was there coaching the defensive line there and he believes

in playing with your hair on fire. And then also on the offensive side of the football with Mike Lafleur and that kind of run heavy offense. Who are the backs and the offensive line is going to create that same system that the Niners have that made them so successful. On the defensive side. We talked about the d line. They had plenty of waves of pass rushers there with Nick Bosa and Deforce Buckner previously, and they go out and get Javon Kin, lot of replace Buckner in the middle.

They had so many weapons on that front. Can they replicate that with Quentin Williams, Carl Lawson and Sheldon Rankins. Do they need more? I'll be keep an eye on that. And then the defensive backfield was an area that probably gonna have to be heavily invested in next offseason. They got some nice pieces there, but the depth will We'll see how it shakes off for them of the course of the season. But I think if they have one big question mark, it might be in that defensive backfield.

I think they're probably a year away from that vision kind of coming together for them with the Jets and Joe Douglas. But speaking of Joe Douglas, he has made some absolute banger moves for the New York Jets. The best player in the division right now. It's got to go to Josh Allen because of what he did last year. I think offensively, the best non quarterback would be Stefon Diggs, defender Xavien Howard and the running for the deepoyt last year,

so he gets that nod. My favorite rookie, well, it's gonna be a Jalen Waddle. While the best coach I'm gonna give a I'm gonna give it to Bill Belichick here because of the hardware he has. I think Florzim McDermott are coming. And then intriguing team, it's gonna be us the Dolphins. What do we look like this year too? And year two? I'm very excited for all that, but also the Paths and Jets are very intriguing. I kind of feel like I know who the Bills are. There

just a damn good football team and the champion. We're gonna go with Buffalo because you gotta beat them before we can start saying we will do it. Miami has to beat Buffalo and has to get to that part before we can predict that. And that's going to conclude our preview are training camp preview series and the next time we talk to you, it'll be recapping a Miami Dolphins one practice at training camp. I cannot wait for that. In the meantime, it'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 Winkfold NFL. You can follow the team at Miami Dolphins, check out the Fish Tank with Seth and o J, and of course Miami Dolphins dot com. Until next time, fins Up.