Travis' Offseason Plan with John Congemi

John can Jemmy here on the podcast. So we're gonna take a look comprehensively in depth at the off season. I'm gonna pitch a kind of position by position offseason plan idea to John. He's gonna critique it at his thoughts, at his ideas. Gonna be a lot of fun here. All of that and more on this Tuesday mark the

ninth edition of the Drive Time Podcast. And one want to start the podcast here with the news of the day or the most relevant Dolphins topics, but we're gonna go ahead and push that towards the end of the podcast. I do want to get this out there that my wife and I found a potential house we might look into purchasing in the South Florida area. Very exciting news for us as a family as we kind of get ready to make that pilgrimage, make that move down to

South Florida from the Northwest. I'm itching to get down there and get back to the to the nicer weather, the South Florida weather, and and be there with you guys this winter and spring and come to you from South Florida opposed to the Northwest where I'm recording these podcasts right now during the off season. But I don't want to waste any more time on the podcast here. I want to jump right into my guest. You guys

know him. You did the podcast every Sunday night with me here recapping the Dolphins game that we had just watched together, you know, two or three hours prior to that. Let's go ahead and welcome in from Miami Dolphins dot Com the Audible Podcast, John con Jemmy and joining me once again, I think for the first time since we spoke in December after the Buffalo game or the Las Vegas game. What are the games towards end of the season. Is John con gem you the co host of the

Audible podcast, John, How you been man? I'm doing Okay, Travis, I'm braving it down here in South Florida with this tough weather that we've been having. It's about eighty two degrees and um, it's been nice. But everything is going well. Um, kind of getting excited for free agency in the draft

and seeing where the Dolphins are gonna end up. I mean, after a ten win season, it was kind of exciting going into the office season thinking that this team, you know, the next step is the playoffs, and we were we were very close last season. But that's where this mindset needs to be going into the off season, in terms of who you select, how wisely you spend your money, and how how can you make this team a better team? How can you make it eleven or twelve or third

team win football team. So that's kind of what I've been kicking around down and that's what we're gonna do on this edition of the Drive Time Podcast. And you know you mentioned ten wins close to the postseason. I mean there's games the Patriots game to start the season, the Buffalo game in Week two, maybe that Seahawks game in Week four where you know, two or three plays go a different direction all of a sudden. This is an eleven win football team and we're playing that January football. Now.

I know we played a game in January, but January to mean playoff football, and that's what we're gonna try to do here, try to find that eleven twelve win for this team and get him into the postseason. And you know, you talk about the exercise of going through free agency. Like one of my favorite stories I tell about myself, John is a lifelong Dolphins fan. In two thousand three, I went to a Dolphins Eagles game Monday night football. It was Week fifteen. They needed to win

to keep themselves alive, and they lost. And on the plane ride home, I had a little notebook and spent the entire plane ride riding up how I thought they could get better and were these free agency could sign and make a team better. So this is something I've been doing for like seventeen years now from my own, like just for fun. So it's it's cool to do here on a podcast and talk to an expert like yourself. Before we get into that, you mentioned a two degrees.

I have to imagine the handicaps getting better, right, Well, the handicap, it's all depends on what better is Um, there's been one too many balls going in the water or a sandtrap. But I have been from trying hard, that's for sure. Try hards all you can do. I'm looking forward to getting down there to get a chance to get back on the golf course and and get things going year round. But again, that's not what you

guys are here. We're talking football on this edition of the Drive Time Podcast, and we wanted to kind of start here speaking of improving your golf game with areas the Dolphins excelled at. What are some things this Dolphins team can build upon and really feel good about, like this is what we do well and we can trust this going forward. I'll go ahead and start with you, John.

What's an area you thought the Dolphins just absolutely nailed down this year and you feel confident going into one that that's gonna be a staple of this of this franchise going forward. Well, I'm gonna start on the defensive side of the football, because that's where the Dolphins started in free agency last year. They wanted to improve this football team. They needed to get better on defense, and

they did. I thought creating a pass rush and creating turnovers was probably if you looked at UH statistics and you just watched the Dolphins play defense. That's where they improved the most. For me, I thought they created an edge presence. They were able to make quarterbacks feel uncomfortable, and on top of that, they were able to generate turnovers.

They were able to generate sacks and strip sacks and forced fumbles and scoop and score opportunities, and all those things out up to victories for the Miami Dolphins last season. I think the biggest thing they got their hands on the football obviously the eighteen interceptions as a team. I think they were north of thirty on sacks as a team. But the forced fumbles they had. I think they had seventeen forced fumbles. This is a team that generated excitement

and generated points on defense. So for me, Travis, I thought, you know, Emmanuel Ogba was close to ten sacks. I thought Ben Ginkl in his second year was tremendous. I thought Jerome Bigger roam the football field terrifically. I thought guys like Zach Seiler, ray Kwon Davis that you didn't think maybe would have a big role, had a big role on this football team and it just helped it

helped the depth in the secondary. That pass rush and that constant front seven pressure really allowed the defensive back to roam free and make place. So for me on defense, that was probably the biggest place where the Dolphins excelled. Uh that I noticed, Yeah, you touched on the two areas that I really wanted to focus on in this segment.

And I was kind of shaping this defense to what Brian Flores and Josh Bowyer's ideal vision is, right because you go back to, you know, his time in New England and they always had really strong secondaries and they were more willing to part ways with players that maybe priced themselves out of their market in the front seven and put the resources into the secondary. And we saw that this year. We saw Bobby McCain's on on a

veteran contract, Eric Roe got a new contract extension. Xavien Howard when he got paid, was the highest paid quarterback in the National Football League, and then when Byron Jones comes back and gets his contract, he is now that So you put those resources into the secondary, and like you mentioned, I mean that was the crux of why this defense was able to cause that hesitation by opposing quarterbacks able to create situations where the ball was put into harm's way and they found a way to really

really capitalize on it. And then you mentioned like Zach Seeler for instance, and Andrew van Ginkle. These guys that are waiver wire claims the year before, a guy that's a fifth round draft pick the previous year. These guys grew and developed into not just like quality contributors, but guys that you put on the football field and you're like,

I feel great about him being in that role. And so it makes me wonder what happens in year two to Brandon Jones, Ray Kwon Davis to Austin Jackson, Rob Hunt and um shoot Solomon Kinley on the offensive side of the football. So those are the two areas. I'm really excited about the way they shape the defense around Flora's vision and the way they were able to grow and develop young players and what that what that means

you know, going forward for this team. But that also means, you know, we talked about the ten wins, six losses, that there are some areas they can get better, and Chris Career and Brian Floors addressed that in their postseason press conferences. If you had to pick one area, you think that they can really have an opportunity to get over the hump to get the eleven, twelve, thirteen wins.

What do you think that might be. That's on the other side of the football for Meat Travis, and it's creating explosive plays in the running game and in the passing game. They need to be able to stretch the football field and have dynamic players. When they catch a twelve yard curl or a twelve yard crossing route, they're gonna be able to go forty five yards down the sidelines. And that takes eleven players. It doesn't just take that

player catching the football. But I think finding those explosive runs to take some pressure off of the passing game and finding some consistency up front. I think that you know, when you take a look at Andrew Van Ginkle on defense, that jump he made from year one to year two, Christian Wilkins, the jump he made as a rookie going into his second year, I think that needs to happen on the offensive line. You mentioned the guys up front, and we all know, you know, rookies playing offensive line

doesn't always bode well, doesn't always equal ten wins. Uh. But those guys did their part, and I think that

they're going to get better As they get better. I think this offense is going to improve dramatically because I think that's where you get the extra half second or second to throw the football, that extra crease that the running back needs to get to the back end of that hole and get into the secondary where you can make one guy miss and you get that tweet five thirty five yard play that cuts that field and app So for me, on offense, that's where this team needs

to go. They need to focus on getting players, getting more players that can get the explosive play on a just a harmless curl route or harmless now pattern on the outside where you get the ball in space, you make a guy miss, and now you're you're feeling like you don't need those extra three first downs to get

into the red zone or get into scoring position. You gotta play perfect offense, right, and that's so challenging to do in a day and age like today where we talk about the Dolphins defense that's so that's so hyper focused on getting takeaways and putting pressure on the quarterback that if you're gonna have a twelve play drive. The chances are you're gonna make a mistake at some point, So create those big explosive plays to get your offense into the end zone before the defense has a chance

to make They're big play. And I agree completely with your thought there about you know, adding explosive elements to the offense. But I want to kind of put you on the spot here for a second, John, because you mentioned something that I think is a very you know, very important aspect of this team and those those rookie

offensive linemen going into their second year. So when it comes to playing offensive line, I mean, there's a lot of these guys gotta pick up and handle, whether it's the protection calls, dealing with the fact that you have to face pass rushers like you know, the Miles Garret to the nick Boss of the world, opposed to being in college and the pact well where you're facing guys

that are not those guys. What's the what's the big thing that can occur for a second year offensive lineman that can allow him to make that jump is it? Is it more of the mental part of the game, the physical part of the game. What aspects of Solomon Kinley, Robert Hunting, Austin Jackson, can we expect to see growth in here in your number two leverage. I think that's the biggest thing for an offensive lineman in his growth, knowing how to use his power, knowing how to use

his feet, and knowing how to use his leverage. Sometimes I think Solomon Kinley on the inside would get so excited that you know he's he's missing his opportunity to use that big body because he's so excited to try to get off the line of scrimmage where all he has to do is position that that wall of a man in a certain way and then use that leverage and be able to give the running back of crease and not kind of do it all with brute string.

So I think that you know, a guy like Jackson on the edge or Robert hunt why I thought, did a pretty good job at right tackle. He was thrown into a very difficult situation when Jesse Davis was dinged

up there and went in and played really well. So I think having that year under their belt in terms of knowing how to use their feet, knowing how to use their hand placement, and knowing how to use their leverage is gonna take a little bit more pressure off or the question mark that unknown an offensive lineman goes into a game as a rookie, not knowing if that

his strength is gonna be good enough. Well, if he's got good leverage and good feed in and applying that weight and and pressure in the right way, he's gonna probably bypass the first three question marks he had going into that game. So for me, I'd like to see those young guys play with confidence, but play with better leverage to give the other guys, the running back to the quarterback a little bit clearer picture of what they need to do with their job. To me, the most

important word in football is leverage. I love that. And Austin Jackson talked about that all the time and has press availabilities this year too, So smart kid, young kid. We can see him apply that stuff can get better as he goes along, as well as the other rookies

there along that offensive line. I'm gonna go ahead and add one more We'll call an area of opportunity and we talk about that defense like how can this you know, top of the league and takeaways, third down defense, and you know, enter week seventeen the number one scoring defense.

How can they get even better? My first thought was finding a way to get more pressure with your front four, because some of the elite level quarterbacks like a Patrick Mahomes or Russell Wilson, when you you know, you send those blitz is, they can find ways to beat that. So to be able to be more multiple and more flexible with how you create pressure with maybe just your front four is my other area of opportunity to kind of get away from the idea that you talked about

the explosive element of the offense. So just some ideas there from John and myself, and what we want to do now is play a game where I had kind of went through some positions that I think the Dolphins could stand to add some bodies at. And you know, it's most of the positions across the football because you're always looking to improve the entire roster. And then John's gonna tell us where we think we can get, you know, whether he agrees disagrees, and some areas of opportunity in

those spots. So John, are you ready to kick this thing off? Yeah, let's go. Let's do it. Drives all right, perfect, So I just want to go ahead and put this disclaimer out here. A couple of disclaimers. Actually, first, this is our opinion. This does not reflect the opinion of the football team. Just me and John talking some ball here. And number two, this is not a list of the best players at each position in terms of their free

agent grade or draft grade. This is accounting for what the possible resource might be required to acquire that player. You know, you talk about premium resource. Let's say let's say the Dolphins do sign to top tier free agents, like top contract Byron Jones level free agents, and they have four picks in the top fifty, that would be six premium resources. Then you have your tier two and your mid round pick. Guys, you're kind of secondary resources

and so forth and so on. So keep that in mind, and we'll start at the quarterback position, where we know who the starting quarterback is too a tongue of by loa signed seal delivered twenty three years old, heading into a second season, and gives the Dolphins the benefit of that quarterback on the rookie contract. So I was kind of trying to figure out, do we need to find a veteran that can kind of come in and play that Ryan Fitzpatrick role or do you draft and develop

a guy? So I put my two names, one free agent, one draft. The quarterback I chose was Kyle Allen, who was an unrestricted free agent. And the reason I have him in there, John is because he played in the air Raid in college and to me, some of those principles are transferable to the quick game that we want to run under two a tongue of voloa, see it, let it rip, and get the ball into the explosive

playmaker's hands like you mentioned. So that's my free agent option and then my draft options on day three, and maybe he'll go Day two. I don't know, but as Texas A and m as Kellen Mond, just because I think the physical traits are so unique and he can be an added element to your running game as well at that quarterback position. So, Kyle Allen Kellen Mond, what are your thoughts? Well, obviously with with mind, I like

what he brings his skill set. You know, he played in a in an SEC school and and you're always a tough defensive pressure. I would think, you know, no matter what level you're playing at, what team you're playing at. So I like the way he plays the position. I like his arm strength, I like his elusiveness, I like

his decisiveness. Um, I'm not so sure how we're gonna go free agency, And I'm gonna throw this out there because I was thinking about, you know, coming up with a name, and I kept coming back to Ryan Fitzpatrick. And the only reason I say that is because if you're if you're Brian Flores, and you your main job in the off season is to try to make how can I how can I make a situation? How can I create an environment that I can get the best

football out of two a tongue of violoa? How do I make him improve so that we're not looking for he's not looking over his shoulder Number one. He's got to be the guy and he's got to go play. But you need to have somebody. You still need to win football games, and you still need to turn to someone that you have confidence in. If I'm if I'm Ryan Fitzpatrick, I don't know if the gry this is always greener going out and trying to be the starter

somewhere else. Now, granted the dollars would be great, and I'm sure he's looking for that opportunity, but his the way, he's the way he's progressed through his long veteran career. Is not the way Tom Brady or Aaron Rodgers or any of the elite quarterbacks have. This guy's gotten beaten up. This guy's run a lot more than maybe some of those elite quarterbacks. So I think there's a little bit

more tread on the tires. If you're looking at another team taking a peek at Fitzpatrick as a starter, I think the ideal situation is his coming in as a backup, as a guy that can go in and play. So if I'm Brian Flores, I need to find a guy that I have extreme confidence in that if I need to turn to him, he's gonna come in and win a football game or two. At least I believe he's going to. And I'm not going to uh put two a tongue of violoa in a shell uh for two

or three weeks until he gets his next opportunity. So I'm still not I'm still not a seller when it comes to Ryan Fitzpatrick, only because this team needs to have somebody that can win and win in multiple weeks, and he's the guy for me that I just wouldn't he raced right away Yeah. To me, he was the

the best luxury this team had this season. When I say a luxury, I mean most teams don't have a quarterback that if your starter goes down, you feel like you like exactly like you mentioned, you feel confident he can come off the bench and win that game, and maybe even start the next week and win that game as well, just as Fits did against the Jets this year at the Jets. But the thing that I point back to John is and Fits has talked about this so much, and I agree with you because he's such

a great guy. If he's not back, I'm gonna miss running into him in the kitchen and having to him, you know, rip on me, you know, kind of have some fun with me at my expense. It was a great time. He's such a great guy to be around. But the thing that I always point to is he talks so much about how much he loves to play the game. He's not He's not here to be that mentor to be that coach. Like I see the assumption on Twitter all the time, like just have him come

in and be the quarterbacks coach. Are you sure that's what he wants to do. I think he loves to play the game. So it makes me wonder if he, like you mentioned Michael Chase, the opportunity somewhere else to start. Yeah, I just I just don't know if there's a you know, there's thirty two jobs out there, and when he was signed with the Miami Dolphins, he was happy because one of those were his. You know, that was his job,

you know, as the quarterback of the Miami Dolphins. And now when you go out in last year's draft and and to a plays and he plays pretty well for the most part. You know, I just I'd like to see, I know, in the room right now, uh in in Davy. The biggest concern for this coaching staff and the biggest concern going into the free agency and for the draft, how do we make this team better. How do we make to a tongue of Ioloa better and more comfortable to be able to be our leader on offense and

and for him not to look over his shoulder. That's the biggest concern I think going in to the two thousand and twenty one season, and it makes that backup quarterback position so intriguing as we get closer to the free agency period, and one of the old adages. John, Maybe it's not as true as it used to be. Maybe it is. Maybe you can tell me you agree or disagree to get your young quarterback to a higher level of confidence and to get more production is to

help him in the backfield. And you know, this running back crop, both in free agency and the draft is so load to the top that there are so many options you can pursue if you choose to do so. And I want to go ahead and pitch this point to you first before I talk about names as we

continue this discussion here. You know, the talk about an Aaron Jones, for instance, from Green Bay, the free agent or the free agent to beat running back who's produced big time numbers, great yards per carry, average, great third down back, whatever you want from Aaron Jones, He's been that in Green Bay. And I see the idea, don't pay a running back a second contract, don't overpay the

running back position. But my thought process is kind of well, premium money at running back is cheap at almost every other position. Like, if you're gonna give premium running back money ten million dollars, that's a cheap receiver. That's a very cheap pass rusher. That's a criminally cheap quarterback. Do

you agree with that? Like as far as how you approach the running back position, is there a limit on what you're wanting to spend and how you kind of approach that the addressing the running back position here for the Dolphins, I agree with you, Travis to the point of, depending on where each team is in their cap space, if they have that luxury that you know, eight million, seven million, six million on a running back tent, whatever that is, you're right about the position because you don't

have to really overspend uh and even in the second contract, you're still gonna be around those numbers. So I agree with you at that point. I think the Miami Dolphins, in in this draft or in free agency, I'd rather see it in the draft, to be quite honest with you, because that number drastically UH gets smaller and and the

quality might get better, it might be even. I wouldn't say better, I would say even, because if you're going to rate guys coming out of out of college, and you know, we're talking about uh Nija Harry, so we're talking about Travis at ten. Those are the two guys for me. The Dolphins, you know, should we have a big circle around that eighteenth draft choice. If they stay there, that number eighteen has got to be a running back because last year, remember at when they traded out to

get iig Manogeny. I believe at thirty one or thirty or thirty two wherever it ended up being, that was a running back spot for me. And I don't think the Dolphins are gonna make that mistake again. I think they can add to what they have on this roster because I think they're they're pretty good shape, uh, in this roster, on this roster at running back, the top two guys that really did a really good job last year of catching the football, you know, yards after contact.

I like everything that uh you know, those guys did. But I still think you need you need someone that's gonna carry the load. You need someone that's gonna be the number one. And I think that's in the draft this year. I don't I don't see the Dolphins going in free agency there, but they could because because of your point, the number isn't exaggerated it comes to running backs. Yeah, you mentioned the carry the load running back. You look at the history of Brian Flores here in Miami and

the way they've utilized running backs. If a guy is starting the game, he probably plays percent of the snap, So that seems to be kind of, you know, the same frame of mine as far as the coaching staff has. And you said two names, Naji Harris and Travis E. T N. And I'm gonna go ahead and add Javonte Williams from North Carolina because this guy two hundred twenty pounds. His feet don't look like that of a two twenty

pound guy. And John, I did some research because I was curious to find out what kind of running backs has Eric Studisville had in his tenure as the Buffalo Bills running backs coach, the Denver Broncos running backs coach. And I went back and looked, and it was Willis mcgahey, it was Marshawn Lynch, It was no Sean Marino. It

was all these two plus pound guys. And that's not Travis et N. That's Naji Harris, that's Javonte Williams, two guys that can contribute the passing game, that are big loads, tough to bring down. But then I also look at the list of you know, I think it was rap Sheet had tweeted out about the possible offensive coordinator candidate, and Tony Elliott from Clemson was on that list, and Travis E. T N. That kind of wide zone speech or that can hit home runs from you know, any play,

any spot on the field has me interested too. So you talked about that eighteenth pick. I put all three of those guys right there, and that's my resource I'm allocating towards the running back position. Eighteenth pick, Nause E t and Javonte Williams. I think they're all great. Yeah, And to your point, Travis, you know, with aukmed and and the way gasking, what they give you, it's enough.

But if you really want to improve the quarterback, if you really want to get those explosive plays, if you really want to keep everybody fresh, it's going into the drafting and selecting somebody at that spot at eighteen that fits the mold. Whether that's Williams, whether that's Harris, or whether that's E. T N. It's got to be somebody, uh that that changes the dynamic of that room, that changes the dynamic of those explosive plays, and that can

play all three downs. And I think all three of those guys that we talked about absolutely can do that, and we move into another skill position. Here are talking about ways we can improve this Miami Dolphins roster and using the draft picks and free agent capital to make that happen. And I think the position that everyone's kind of talking about right now is the wide receiver spot. You look at that third pick in the draft, there are there are three guys that I've seen mocked to

the Dolphins in that position. There's a tight end I've seen mocked in that position to the Dolphins. But I want to go ahead and make this a point because we talked about a little bit off air. It's not

just the Dolphins needed receiver. It's that you need guys to fill certain jobs, right because for instance, you know, I put the Z and the slot right here, which I think are two potential needs for this team that they could use a more of a burner type flanker guy, a guy that can play inside and do multiple things. But we look at what the offense was last year, and like a guy like Lynn Bowden, for instance, who gets carries out of the backfield, who goes on jet

sweep and and takes the end around that way. And a guy that can kick outside and play out wide even though he is a slot receiver. And so I start there in the slot, and my guy for that position is Curtis Samuel from the Panthers, because he's a sub four four guy, and last year he showed you the expansive, you know, nature of his ability to do

everything on the offense. He carried the ball when Christian McCaffrey was down, he took those jet sweeps, He ran past the defense vertically, he creates separation on simple five yard curl routes. So he was my primary slot option there and free agency, and then in the draft I went with a guy that in my opinion is has cloned and Rondale Moore at Perdue because of the exact same things we just talked about. He is explosive as

all hell as all get out. He can get vertical, he can catch the football, he can run the football. So those are my two options for guys that play inside, but not necessarily to say that they're constricted to that slot position. Well, I like Samuel. I like the thought of him in a Dolphin uniform because he's so dynamic, as you mentioned it, And it's all about matchups, right, It's all about how you can create uh a disadvantage for the defense and a favorable matchup on offense. And

I think both of those guys do that. Rondale Moore is a guy that can do just a little bit of everything. He can go back in the return game, he can he can be dynamic there. He can play in the slot, he can play outside. You motion him, and it's tough for defensive back to to have leverage or keep his leverage because he's so quick and he's really good with his hands in the football in space,

he usually makes the first guy missed. So when you take a look at at that type of player, you have to wonder, Okay, if you if you get either one of those guys, you're in good shape because you've improved the slot position, you've improved your offensive explosiveness, that potential on offense. And you have to wonder, well, does Alan Hearns come back? Does Albert Wilson come back? Um?

Those all play into the situation that the Miami Dolphins, I'm sure meeting and when they have all these names on the board, they're trying to find out, how can we make this how can we make our quarterback better by getting more explosive players. How can we make our our our receiving corps better getting the football in space and making somebody miss. Those guys can do those. They have those trades, and that's exactly why they're on my list. And those guys par well with my other guys at

that Z distinction. And again there, I think any player in this football team. Putting them in one position is really disingenuous, so we'll give him that classification. But really the ideas they can play multiple spots. And it goes back to my idea of you know, how do you accentuate two of strengths. He's super accurate, He has one of the quickest releases in the game. He gets to his spot quickly because his footwork and his mechanics are sharp in that regard. So how can you accentuate that

quick game accuracy. It's creating separation early, getting that release and getting that separation immediately off the line. And that's where you go to that third pick in the draft here, John, and there are so many interesting routes they can go with. Whether it's stay there and take a player, whether it's trade back and target someone. Maybe you go after a tight end we talked about Kyle Pitts, and we'll bring him up here in just one second. But I listed

right here, we'll stay in the receiver classman. Now, maybe you can expand upon this. I put Davonte Smith and Jalen Waddle because to me, you know, we talked about getting separation. That's what these two guys do best. They

are so sudden. They get to that position of the release where it's like go time, right, It's time to make a decision whether we're gonna cross face, whether we're gonna attack outside leverage, and the defensive back has to make a decision whether he's gonna flip his hips a certain direction, whether he's gonna throw the inside or outside hand jam. And at that moment of decision, these two guys, to me, are so deadly and they can create that

immediate separation. The balls right on the numbers on that RPO slam or whatever it might be, and we're off to the races. So I have those two guys significantly ahead of the rest of the class at the receiver spot. Well, I'm glad you're thinking receiver at three, Travis, because if we pick an offensive tackle, I might bloom all my hair out, and I don't want to do that because

I think we invested in the line last year. Now that doesn't mean we're not going to get a center down the road, or another guard or a guy that can play multiple positions up front. But I'd sure like to invest our draft UH war chest, if you will. On the offensive side of the football, and at receiver, you get a guy like Smith from Alabama that that is just exceptional. I mean he's a burner, he can play inside and play outside. He can do everything you want.

He accelerates with the football, he runs away from defenders, and Jayalen Wattle might even be faster, I mean quicker in the box for sure. UH can get over the top of you. Maybe not as as linear UH as a receiver some of the other receivers that are in this draft, but his tape is exceptional. So I'm not so sure how the Dolphins are gonna treat the third pick just because they're going they need they need firepower on offense, you have to get a wide receiver or two.

I see it going any other no other way, but at receiver, and you know Jamaar Chase's his name has been mentioned. We talked a little bit before we started this about Kyle Pitts. I wouldn't rule that out because you're talking about getting matchups, favorable matchups. Who's gonna cover Cassiki on one side and Pits on the other when you have two uh tall guys on the outside and Williams and Parker, So it gives you so much, so

much flexibility. It gives the Dolphins so much flexibility in this draft because they can go in a number of different ways and still satisfy their needs and what they're looking for to improve the quarterback position by acquiring talent around him. Yeah. I'm so glad you brought that up because I just finished my study on Kyle Pitts, and oh my goodness, he is ridiculous. I watched the South Carolina game and they put a couple of defensive backs

one on one against him. He just did what he does against them in the second half, and they put J. C. Horne, who's probably gonna be a top twenty pick this year, and he can't handle him. And we're talking about not just physicality, but a whip route where he's getting out of that break in a second. So I see a guy that's six ft six pounds, and to me, that's where the Jamar, like you know, Davante Smith, Jalen Waddle

kind of in that same category. And by the way, Jalen Waddle taught twenty one out of twenty six passes that we're targeted over twenty yards of this season. Like what that's read? I know, that's that's his career. That's ridiculous. I don't. I can't even fathom that. So he did that. But back to the you know, putting the Jamar Chase and Kyle Pitts kind of in in that same category. To me, it's like, well, both these guys win with physicality. They

do have the separation skill set. But if we're gonna compare these two guys, one guy is six ft sixty six, one guy's five ft eleven, So like, it's not even a comparison to me. And you talk about the matchup aspect of getting Kyle Pitts, I'm sitting here thinking about how does a defensive coordinator change what they do when they have to face pits and get sicky because technically we're in twelve personnel, right, Well, you gotta get you,

you gotta get defensive backs onto the field. Well, can't we run the ball from twelve personnel when you have nickel or dime defense on the field, doesn't that make that a lot easier? And what if we do have Naji Harris who also conflects out and go empty out of twelve personnel and you've got five matchups you'd like like that seems like a big problem for opposing defense is to have to deal with Well, I think that

And to your two. The biggest question mark for the for the co on for some coordinators as they're drawing up this offense and what the Miami Dolphins are gonna look like in two thousand and twenty one, they're trying to create space. And that's how you do it with matchups. You create space by you know, putting stress on a defensive coordinator. Am I gonna throw a linebacker out there? Am I gonna throw a nickel back out there? Am

I gonna put another corner in the game? And if you do have a guy like Harris in the backfield, that just gives him more space and and it takes some pressure off of the guys that are going from year one to year two on your offensive line because all they have to do is is use their leverage and create create a lane because you get to the back end of it quicker because there's not that traffic

and that massive humanity in between the hashes. So to your point, when you have when you have matchups that are to your advantage as an offense, and you can create space just by formation in motion, it helps your running game out. Exactually, let's say you've got to two safeties too high structure off the off the line, and you've got Nag Harris out there at pound back and you've got a Curtis Samuel who can run four four.

I mean, that seems like a really advantageous spot for your running back to to make some hey in the running game. But the best way to do that is to improve your offensive line. And I put center on the list here. Ted Carriss is scheduled to be a free agent, and frankly, John, you can tell me if I'm right or wrong on this. I thought Ted Carriss was the best offensive lineman from Week one to Week seventeen, the most consistent player up front for the Dolphins this year.

But he scheduled for free agency, and there are some opportunities out there, and I listed a premium resource by here as well, with the Packers Corey Lensley, who just opens up the playbook because of what he can do from a stretch runs aspect his athletic ability to get on space and just open up those wide zone runs

for you. And then I put landon Dickerson, who even though he tore an a c L in the was it the second the semi final playoff game, he tore an a c L. But this guy is like as far as the mental makeup and the character and the pedigree has Miami Dolphin written all over him. So I put him on there, and I also put the option

to resign. Had Carross so center a big focus for me here, well, I think that Aaron Rodgers would be mad at you if you heard this, if if Lindsay's going somewhere else, because that's a guy that you know, he's the glue of that offensive line. I know, they have really good tackles, they you know, a really good you know, talent up front, but he's the guy that makes everything happen in the middle and and and to

Carress's uh attributes. You know, sometimes if you can line up and play an availability on every snap for the Miami Dolphins last year. That that's a trait that you want to have. And I think that he's only going to get better as that youth around him grows. I thought Eric Flowers didn't do a bad job beside him on the left side. He missed a couple of games in the middle of the season, but I thought he

did a pretty adequate job. You know, coming in in free agency last year, so you're trying to bolster, You're trying to get better, and what's what's one way to do that is consistency, getting guys that line up at the same spot. And I if I was the Dolphins, I would be looking to resign Ted Carriss if they can't improve even free agency. If they feel like this guy he can do the job for us up front,

then I would go ahead. Because you're you're starting to dip into how much do we need in the draft for for money available, how much are we gonna use a resource and maybe a wide receiver in free agency or another linebacker now that Kyle van Noyd is rumored to be going, you know, other places, so that you have to kind of plan ahead. And I think Harris kind of fits the bill up front for the Dolphins.

It's a great example of how you have to choose where you're gonna allocate those resources, because as we go through this exercise here, I've pretty much already spent them all. I don't know if you guys are keeping tracked, but I spent all my premium resources. And so we move along here. And you know, John, this is something I took from Daniel Jeremiah a couple of years ago. He says,

you should always be drafting and developing offensive lineman. So I put a couple of guys in here that might be in the second to fourth round range, and I picked two guys that I think have traits that match with the Dolphins due on the offensive line. It's Dylan Raddin's out of North Dakota State because he's plays literally every position, and Spencer Brown out of Northern Iowa because he is a monster. And we've seen this team acquire large offensive tackles and hope to kind of develop them

that way. So Dylan Raddon's out of North Dakota State and Spencer Brown out of Northern Iowa. Your thoughts there, and some other names that you might like along the offensive line and that maybe you know, late first to Day three type of options. You know. I like both of those guys. And watching Dylan at the Senior Bowl, I thought he was tremendous. I thought he got an opportunity to showcase not only an individual one on ones, but when in the game, I thought he was really good.

And Spencer Brown it's, you know, tough for me. It just maybe under six foot to look around a guy and then try to look again because he's that big. But he fits the mold of what the Dolphins did last year in the draft. You know, you get big offensive lineman that you feel like you can grow with, and they can. That learning curve isn't gonna be that long, and it wasn't last year for the three guys that

were drafted. And I don't think for either one of these guys, even though coming from smaller schools, I don't think the learning curve is gonna be that drastic for him. And I think, is it Humphreys from Oklahoma. I don't know where he's gonna go, but but a guy that can play multiple positions, you gotta find that guy. I think Jesse Davis, that's one of his assets. If he's on, if he's not starting at right tackle, if he's not starting a guard, he can also kick in and play

center and a pinch. So you have to have another guy, another young guy come along that can play multiple positions along that offensive line, because you start getting into those numbers and you start getting into how many guys can dress, who's up, who's down. You gotta have a guy that can kind of bounce around that offensive line. So I like your thought process of getting a young guy that can do that, that can not only be a starter potentially,

but can play multiple positions. Yeah, that flexibilities everything, right, But we've seen it across the league before where teams run out of capable bodies on the offensive line. We see when that turns into it didn't happen to my any last year. I think at one point Michael Deere played a few snaps in the game and he played well. And so that's a position where if you can just have competent guys across the line, regardless of what happens

with injuries, that's a great position to beat. Let's go ahead and pick this up and get to the other side of the football. Here at John Conjemmy on the Drivetime podcast your host Travis Wingfield. On the defensive side again, I went light over here. I've got three positions, defensive end, defensive tackle, and linebacker. I left the secondary alone, although of course the Dolphins, you know Brian Flores and Josh Boyer, they will bring in defensive backs and turn that thing

over and continue to look for gems back there. But back up to the defensive line. At the edge position, I went with Dietrich Wise, who played with Brian Flores and and you know some of those coaching staff in New England. I just think his inside outside versatility, his his past rush ability from a three technique is really special.

And then I also put Carlos Basham on here, who might be an early second round I happen to think he's gonna go in the first round because you just don't put two pound defensive ends with that type of explosiveness onto the planet and not expect them to have a great NFL career. I think he has Dolphin written all over him as well, So d Rick Wise, Carlos Basham defensive end. Do we need a bolsh that spot behind Shack Laws and Emmanuel Ogba and how would you

do it? Well? I like wise only because I think that Davon Godcha is not going to be retained by the Dolphins. I think he's a terrific player. I just think that you need a different type of player uh that's going to play beside Davis and Seiler and Wilkins. I think that you've got the same type of physical makeup and size makeup and speed makeup with those guys. And I think Wise, as you said, can kind of

bounce around, which is good. So you're looking for a guy like that to come in and maybe in free agency, to come in and fill that bill. And it's not going to break the bank while you're doing it, and you're gonna get total production. You're gonna get the type of production and the type of play that Bowyer likes

and that coach Flores likes. Bash UM's an interesting guy from me because when you're playing at Wake Forest, you're on TV all the time, no matter where you're playing, but you you notice that that guy flashed all the time. That guy was at any time you watched a Wake Force game. This guy was a guy that you had to focus in on because who's going to protect him. But where's he lining up? And are they chipping to his side? Are they you know what? Where is he

lining up now? Because the guy's explosive off the edge. And you're right, I don't know where he's gonna get drafted, but I think his stock us over the last month, month and a half, even though he had a terrific season. I think just those those focused days of practice in Mobile uh really elevated his draft status. And I think that you may be onto something there. I don't know if it gets depressed because of there's so many offensive skill set guys that may go in the first round,

quarterbacks going in the first round. But somebody's gonna get a player that's gonna that's gonna flash right away. In the National Football League. At one point he had consecutive games the tackle for loss and the second closest in the nation on that streak was ten games. So he made plays every single week his his career down there at Wake Forest, And you mentioned, you know, Zack Seeler,

Ray Kuan Davis, Christian Wilkins. That's a trio that I've been really talking about a lot this offseason because just how valuable they are that the club control and the production versus cost, and the youth of that position. I feel great about that spot. But you talked about Devon god Shaw maybe being a little bit miscast for his role in the defense. If that, it's had not to move on from him, and so that's why I put

a couple of monsters on the interior defensive line here. First, Tyler Shelvin out of l s U is like three and sixty pounds. I mean, that's all. That's my argument. He's a He's a huge guy that can too gap and hold up the point there for you and create chances for your Jerome Baker's behind him. And then a Key McNeil is lieder than that. I think he's about three twenty, but man, he is explosive and he showed plenty of work in two gapping defenses in college. So

interior defensive line, do you need a body? What do you think here, John Well? I think you do. I think they're just as I think it's the same approach Travis as the offensive line. You don't necessarily need to go out in the first and second round down and draft a guy there, But I think down the road you're going to have to do that, and you have to get lucky in free agency potentially there too, as

well as undrafted free agents. I think that's some something where you're gonna have to find a guy or you're gonna have to find a Zach Seeler somewhere along the line because you don't have enough. You have a lot of draft firepower to go out and get the guys you need to plug in that are gonna put points on the board, but guys that are gonna be in the trenches Somewhere along the line. You're gonna have to find a bigger body that can, like you said, maybe

take on a couple of blockers. That allows Jerome Baker to make plays. It allows a guy coming down, you know, down from the box at safety to be able to come in and make a tackle for loss. So you need a different body type and you need a different style of play when you need to come in for twelve, fourteen, eighteen plays a game. This isn't a position that you're you know, with Show Shelvan or McNeil. If you happen to get a body type like on that's gonna play

thirty or thirty five plays. This is a specific role on this on this football team because you're in so much nickel and dime and you're moving around guys along that front seven. This is this is a specific role on the team, and I do think the Dolphins will be in the market for a player like that. Yeah, you're not gonna spend a premium resource on snapcount taker. Just that just doesn't add up to, you know, collective

overall a good idea for the football team. So with you on that, I have one more position here, and I'll go ahead and let you if you've got any defensive bats you want to talk about, cause I didn't listen to here, But at the linebacker spot, I'm thinking about replacing, you know, and this was before Kyle the Kyle van Noy rumor what was out there, But I was thinking more about replacing e Land and Roberts who got injured towards the end of the season and that

kind of, you know, downhill thumping type of linebacker. I saw two names on the free agency list. One is a familiar face. First, well, I guess both of more. Denzel Perriman played his college ball here in Miami and he's an elite two down round stuffer. And then I put Ray Kawen McMillan on the list beca because he kind of got beat out last year by Landon Roberts. The organization traded him in that contract year allowed him to go play some more get some more playing time.

So Perriman McMillan my two linebacker choices. What say you? We know what, Travis. I was pounding my fist on on the table because I wanted Perriman in his draft here because I just thought that's what the Dolphins defense needed at the time. And it may still do you know, with the departure of Van Noy, you're not sure about a land and Roberts coming back off the injury that I think that would be a pretty natural fit for the Miami Dolphins. And now with McMillan, I don't know

the reason. You know, maybe he was beat out. Maybe he didn't fit what the Dolphins wanted to do in terms of uh acceleration from the position, in terms of overall coverage. But I don't know if they if they figured that out yet to this day, so he may

be back in the mix. A guy like that. I was thinking along the lines of maybe a Matt Milano from from Buffalo because every time Buffalo plays and they have an extraordinary defense, I know where Milano is because I just look look for the ball and he's there, and he makes so many plays in space. He's good in coverage, he tracks down ball carriers, He's able to be a thumper around and behind the line of scrimmage. So I I put his name up there, and I

don't know if the Dolphins are gonna use. They may use a high resource and free agency. Uh now that you know, linebackers kind of the forefront of the defense, and we're not going to really talk defensive back, so they may use a high resource on our Riddick from Arizona. They may go after uh Lavante David from Tampa Bay. I don't know, and I'm just looking for playmakers. I'm looking for more guys that can make more plays in and behind the line of scrimmage. I like the idea

of pyramid. I like the idea of maybe rolling back. You know the pages on McMillan, But I think they have to find a guy that's proven. They have to find a guy that can meshmel would mesh well with what they want to do on defense, that speed, that's playing multiple positions and that's making plays behind the line of screaming. So that's the characteristics you're looking for, and Matt Malona checks all those boxes as well. I think.

I think one of the reasons the Dolfense offense performed so well in Week two was because Matt Malana was not out there and Mike Kisiki was able to eat on backup linebackers in his absence out there. So and it weakens a division opponent too. So hey, I'll signed me up for that. I'm I'm all for that. I'm on board with that. You're right. So I think we did. I think we fixed the team and we're ready to go in one and compete for a division title. What

say you, John? I sure hope. So you know, it was an exciting time last year to watch the Miami Dolphins play competitive football, and we talked we started the podcast today about you know, where we improved, where we where we thought we improved, where we can still improve. I think one of the biggest things, uh discipline was installed on this team by Brian Flores two years ago, and I think it improved because of the talent on the team improved. I think the expectation on the team improved.

If that can continue that at some point that turns into a victory or two that you shouldn't have. You find ways to win by being a better team physically, mentally, all those characteristics. But the pre snapped penalties, the dumb penalties, they're gone. You haven't seen them in a couple of seasons. And it's only going to get better under this this

coaching staff. So I think that that's where you if you can get the talent, if you can improve the way the roster went from year one of Brian Floors to year two, and it gets that much better in year three, and you instill that discipline and that continues to grow this team. His team is on the right path. Absolutely. I love that way. To close the podcast. You're talking about the discipline, the lack of penalties in the league that we talked about already. Two or three players a

game sometimes decide the victor and the loser. So those add up so much. And I'll go ahead and close with this thought that this team found multiple ways to win football games last year. You continue to add to that tool belt. Maybe we add the explosive element to the offense where when we need to go score thirty five points and hit vertical passing plays. We can do that. If we have to win on defense, we can do that. If we have to run for two yards against the

Patriots last year, we can do that too. So finding multiple ways to win the game. I think we said it all here, John, that's gonna do it for me. You got anything else here for me? That's it man. I I just now that I know you play golf. When you come back down, we gotta go. Let's do it. Let's let's book that. I should be down sometime in the spring. We'll find out more. I mentioned before you came on the podcast. Here, My my wife and I are house shopping right now, so hopefully we'll get that

taken care off. We get down there and have some free time before the craziness starts in August with training camp. John Well, I look forward to being with you again, you know after free agency and as we have the run up to the draft. Always enjoy uh sharing our football thoughts. That's that's great. Absolutely look forward to working with you more here and getting some some film breakdown, some football talk, and more stuff like that with your Miami Dolphins. John can Jemmy, the co host of the

Audible podcast. John, thanks as always, my friend, you got it Dvis, and away he goes. How much fun was that podcast? Breaking down some of the off season activity we can expect here in the coming weeks and the coming months over the draft and free agency. It should be a lot of fun. As for my time on this double dip edition of the Drive Time podcast, that is going to be my time you all. Please be sure to subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcast, Leave us a rating, leave us a review, give me a

follow on Twitter. It's at Wingfield, NFL. You can follow the team at Miami Dolphins. Check out the Fish Tank and the Audible podcast, and of course Miami Dolphins dot com. And until next time, fins up.