Welcome to Miami | Ted Karras

terrific financial shape going forward. What's up, Dolphins? Travis Wingfield with you here for a special series of the Drive Time Podcast, part of the official podcast network of your Miami Dolphins. We aren't making these shows with specific dates, but we are rolling out a new episode per player signing, and we'll start with the details of the player's career, taking a look at their counting stats, advanced metrics, film study,

character testimonies, and a whole lot more. All of that before we hear from the newest Miami Dolphins and exclusive interviews with the Drivetime Podcast. So, without any further ado, let's get in to the free agency series here on the Drivetime Podcasts, and we're gonna go over the Dolphins cumulative strategy here during free agency and what it means for the cap ramifications, the financial commitments, and what it

says about the Dolphins draft going forward next month. But first we're talking about the individual players signed this week by your Miami Dolphins, and today we're talking about new center Ted Carriss. He signed a one year contract formerly of the New England Patriots. He started fifteen games last year for the Patriots in place of David Andrews, who missed the entire season. Carras goes six ft four three

five pounds. He was a sixth round pick back in two thousand and sixteen out of Illinois, and he played of the Patriots snaps last year. He's played sixty career games and started twenty Over his four year rear with the Patriots, He's played one thousand, two hundred seventy nine snaps at center, two hundred seventy two snaps at right guard, and six snaps at left guard. He was a four year starter in college, with forty three starts, all at

right guard. He didn't participate in the sixteen scouting combine, but he did run a five to eight forty yard dash and bench two hundred and twenty five pounds thirty two times at his pro day and that strength was consistently on display in addition to his demeanor and an incredible football lineage. According to Lanzer Line of nfl dot Com, quote, four year starter at right guard. Uses brute upper body strength to get defenders turned and sealed. Drops a hammer

on down blocks to knock running links open. Effective power in small spaces. Adequate hand placement, but generally keeps them inside. Gritty demeanor on the field, quality pass sets with a heavy handed punch, rare football lineage. As the seventh member of the Carass family to play in the Big Ten, intensity on game day is legend dairy. He was penalized

just twice over the last two seasons. Now you heard Zirlene mentioned the intensity, and that was evident based upon his will to basically make himself into an offensive lineman. Between his freshman and sophomore years in high school, Carriss drank a gallon of milk every day and upped his calorie intank to gain one and ten pounds. The head coach of Carris's high school team also echoed those sentiments. Quote, on the field, he just go into a whole other

level of intensity. I wish you could bottle that up. And give it to the other kids. End quote. And that was Mick Rossler, the head coach there of Carriss's high school team. And you account for his four years with the Patriots and those final two years in college, Carras only committed eight penalties in those seventy five games. Forty five of those were starts, so only one every five or so games he gets hit with the yellow flag.

At twenty seven years old and really earning his first consistent playing time last season, it's entirely reasonable to expect Carris's play to improve as he enters the prime of his career. He replaced Pro Bowl center David Andrews last year, and that was no small task, but according to Bill Belichick, Harris was always up for the challenge. Quote. Ted's been a very dependable player for US for four years. He's

played guard for US. This year, with David's situation, Ted had the opportunity to play more and he stepped in and played consistently like he really always has for US. Ted's a smart player. He's strong, he could anchor the middle of the pocket, and his communication with his teammates on the offensive line, which is critical for the center position to handle blocking schemes and protections and so forth

has been good end quote. And Belichick talked about Carris mid season, but down the stretch was when Carris really came into his own. Over the final six games of last season, he was the number two graded past blocking center in all of the National Football League according to

Pro Football Focus. He checked in with grades at eighty five point three, eighty three point nine, eighty four point nine, eighty point four, eighty four point nine again, and one blip on the radar at sixty three point nine, but consistently very good in past protection down the stretch for the Patriots and for the entire twenty nineteen season, Harris allowed just fourteen quarterback pressures that ranked sixth among all centers who played at least five hundred snaps in past

protection last year. Of those fourteen pressures, only three resulted in hits on the quarterback. Most of them were hurries, giving Harris a sterling point zero zero five percent quarterback hit rate allowed. He also ranked sixteenth among centers with at least two hundred run blocking snaps on PFS grades. You pair this guy with Eric Flowers and you've got a mean, nasty duo on the interior. Both guys love the physical aspect of the position and they play through

the whistle with competitive mean streaks. But that only applies to the football field. As you'll hear now in my interview with new Dolphins center Ted Carriss, and joining me now is the newest member of the Miami Dolphins along the offensive line. Center Ted Carriss, Ted, what's going on, man? Hi doing? Savis? I'm decided to be a Dolphin. That's great to hear. We're excited to have you down here.

I gotta first ask you, you know, new contract, new team, You could have gone pretty much anywhere you wanted to. Why would you choose the Dolphins? You know, it's exciting organization. I really believe in what Cooked Flores is building, and uh, you know I want to want to get on the ground floor and help and help him build it absolutely.

And from what you've heard from maybe around the league, maybe in your own locker room, or from some of the guys you've talked to already, what is kind of that message about Brian Flores and the culture you've heard about here in Miami. Well, you know, I had the opportunity to play three seasons with him here in New England, and I thought, you know, he says a tough attitude, loves the game, um, you know, wants to win and prepares to win. And I think those are all qualities

that that we share. And uh, you know, I I'm very grateful for the opportunity, really excited to get down and get to work. Another new person you're gonna be working with is Dolphins quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick. Coming from New England. You had a chance to play against him twice a year last year, and from an opponent perspective, I know you're not on the field at the same time miss him. But what can you tell us about playing for Ryan Fitzpatrick and the guy that you'll be snapping the ball

to on Sundays. Well, I've been a big fan of him since he's been the league. I think, you know, he's one of the you know, he's an ultimate competitor. Um. You know, had came up in you know the years even and had a big win over over the Patriots, you know, at our expense at that point in my career. So it was you know, I really respect him and really I like the energy brings to the game. I'm really looking forward to meeting him and then working together

to you know, win some ballgames. And now a couple of guys that you did have to deal with in one on one matchups or go up against on the defensive line, Christian Wilkins Devon got Shaw. What can you tell us about a couple of the challenges of preparing for those guys up front? Well, I mean those are big, strong guys, you know. I think they have, you know, uh, a great core of d line guys, and those guys

are tough. You know, they're big, strong guys. You know, know how to play and and you know, playing against Gotcha for the last you know, few seasons and then also, um, you know, Christian Wilkins was this season. But you know, I think it's a it's a great young core and it's gonna be fun to you know, test my medal against them every day. You talk about testing your medal ted last year, you were the number two grade at pass blocking center from Week twelve onward on Pro Football Focus.

Would you agree with that assessment and what do you think it was that contributed to your improvement and dominant played down the stretch last year? Well, you know, you know, grades are what they are. You know, I I like, you know, the only opinions I really care about is you know, our coaches and and and then doing what it takes to help the team win. But obviously that's yeah, pleased with being that, you know, Um, but I think

just you know, working hard, getting settled into a position. Um, you know, it was you know, it's a long year and there's a lot of games, and um, you know, stepping into a new role last year was very fortunate. I'm gratefully the opportunity, and obviously I go out there to win every up in every game, in every situation I'm in, and you know, just steady improvement is what

I'm all about. So I'm gonna try to continue that success here moving forward in the torning torning for both season and you mentioned stepping in full time as a starter last year for Pro bowler David Andrews. What is it about your game that allowed you to kind of come off the bench in that way and step right into the offense and not have the Pat's offense miss

a beat when you were called upon. Well, you know, I've been in the fold for you know, there's my you know, there's my fourth season going into it, and I've had some starts before and you know, kind of in that six man role, and I got an opportunity to play and you know, try to take full advantage of it and had some success. Obviously, the year wasn't quite what we wanted it, but it was. It was a lot of fun and I you know, obviously preparing my heart is every day to go go and help

the team win. And I'm you know, proud that it propelled me to get an opportunity to come down in Miami and then uh and improved myself. Here Ted Carris, new Dolphins Center here on the Drive Time Podcast with Travis Wingfield, the official Miami Dolphins podcast network. You mentioned coming to Miami. You're not the only former Patriot doing so what can you tell us about Kyle van noy and a Land and Roberts and facing those guys every

day in practice? Well, Kyle van Nooi is a special player, Um, just a tremendous person, has a great family and you know he's gonna give it everything he got. Uh. He I have a lot of history with him. In practice. It's gonna be a lot of fun to have a familiar face, you kind of a practice rival down there, and I'm really excited that you know, we're still gonna be on the same team. He's a guy I respect a lot and UM. I have always rooted for UM

as a teammate. Landon Roberts came in together. We were six hour draft picks together, and he's just about the hardest hit and I've ever played again, So I'm excited to have him on our side again. I was, you know, he didn't want to be on the receiving end of a hat if you don't see him coming, because he's a he's a great train. So that's just two great additions.

I'm really glad that they're coming down. And I'm also close with Clayton Federl and me to more Hill, who both have been teammates on the past, whether detollege or rookie train came. I wanted to ask you about clay federal m here in just one second, but I want to go back to something you mentioned there about Roberts and practice. I've I've read about some of the intensity do you bring to the practice field, to the game

day field, and pretty much anywhere in your life. Do you ever get in some dust ups with those guys and practice and get some get a little bit chippy out there on the practice field. Absolutely nothing that's ever come to a fight because that's kind of productive. But yeah, I want you Ben around and you know, we want hit. We look at as ow as we can. And I

think that's the reason. Um. You know that a guy like Lee and a guy like Land and have been able to stick around and make a you know, make a career out of this is how hard we go. And I really respect Um, you know, his practice tempo and his approach to the game, and I've you know, we've met each other many times, uh in the box of these last four years. It'll be a great opportunity for you and those guys to kind of set the example for Brian Flores his practices and what he wants

down here in Miami. So looking forward to that. You mentioned being college teammates with Clay Federlum there at Illinois. What can you tell us about the Dolphins new safety edition back there? Well, I think he you know, Clay is another great person and the guy that I respect wheartedly,

has been a good friend for years. Um. He is, you know, one of the I think he's one of the premier I've never really seen a guy like that being able to He runs around, he's strong, he's he's a total package and a good friend and just got married and it was a big week from just got married and it's coming down to Miami. We're meeting up again after four years. So I'm really excited and happy for him. It's great to hear and Ted, I want

to go even further back now. I read a story about you drinking a gallon of milk every single day in high school. Now my own personal experience with this. I'm not a big guy. I was a pretty good baseball player, but they always told me, Travis, you gotta get bigger. You got a game more weight, And I would eat a couple of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, could do some weightlifting, but I would lose my commitment after like three or four days. I wasn't that committed

to it. But you gained a hundred of pounds in high school between your freshman and sophomore years. How does that happen? Well, I was committed to I did drinking down in a month before school every day. I actually want a lot of money. I don't know if I made fighting ship with that anymore. But the whole gallon challenge thing, that was like what you know, early two thousand, canda, I could do it. I actually made some money in

college doing it as people didn't believe me. So, um, I don't know if I could do it now, but yeah I did. And uh, you know, I just I knew I was gonna be an alignment and was probably my only shot too. Uh do you do have any success at the higher levels? And um, you know, I was really I was really skinny coming in, so I had to do something. So I was that was that was my strength. Pretyman built in jays as well. You said before school you drank it. I would knock it off.

Sometimes I would have to bring a little bit left in the gallant to his first or second period and finish it's there and it was pretty hardcore. Man, looking back, it's probably pretty strange, but I hadn't. It ended up working, So that's why I'll be grateful for that time. But I don't know if I'd ever emulated it. Not to the young athletes, I don't know if that's a great strategy.

Well you're You're blowing my mind because that would just ruin my entire day if I even took on like a quarter of that amount of dairy in the morning. So I'm just I'm blown away. But let's go ahead and stay in your high school days and go back to the mention about intensity. Your former high school coach mentioned in an article that he wishes he could bottle up the intensity that you have and give it to the other kids, and that intensity still exists today. Where

does that come from, Ted? Well, I mean, football is such an intense game, and i one of my favorite parts about it is just one of many. But you know, being on the team and doing something hard that and you win together, so it's being success for me. I'm not crazy athlete, I'm you know, I'm pretty strong, But where it comes from from me is just the will

to get it done, a will to win. And you know, to me, it's football is such a crazy, intense, collision sport that you know, the only way for me to you know, have any success is to bring some passion, energy and enthusiasm and intensity to what is already an intense situation. And part of that will to win certainly helps the Patriots get to a couple of super Bowl championships and you bring those rings with you here to Miami. What does that championship pedigree do for a locker room

when you enter it here in Miami. Well, I'm not gonna be touting it. I want to build something with um, you know, the guys we have there. I think that's another great aspect about the sport. It's very seasonal and you come together for you know, eight nine months and and build your bonds and try to try to win as many games as you can. I'm I'm not looking back at all. I obviously am very grateful and and those are some of my most prized possessions. And I

don't have brothers for life. Um, you know, winning those championship rings. But you know, to look back at that now, would it would kind of be futile to what we're trying to build, uh down in Miami. Right. Absolutely? And when you get to Miami, let's go off the field. Now. You talked about Clay's family bringing your family down. What are you guys most looking forward to about being in Miami when it comes to just being in the South Florida community. Well, I've i haven't had such a great

reception already from the fans. I'm really excited to you know, see a new part of the United States. I've lived in a you know, probably this will be probably my fourteenth uh town, and I've had the privilege to live in. I'm really excited to me to Miami. Hands. Um, it's icy raining on me today here in Massachusetts, so miss that too much. But um, you know, I think that you know, everyone's pretty excited, and I love being a part of the local communities. You know, I'm gonna, you know,

I'm gonna be around. I'm gonna try to get down there as soon as possible and be around and obviously try to try to help out with uh, you know, all the stuff that's going on right now. And um, just you know, I'm just really excited to get down to Miami. You said fourteen cities. Yeah, my dad was a small college football coach growing up, so I've been I've moved around a lot of pretty you know, like I said, it's the seasonal works. So yeah, I've had to football helped. I was a new kid a lot

growing up, but football helped. You know, being good at football always made you some quick friends. And you were the seventh player in the Harrass family to play in the Big Ten in college football. What does that lineage mean to you and how did it quit kind of quickly get you inundated with the game at a young age. Well, yeah, I mean, all all of the men in my family that I knew had played college football. Um, it was never you know, I was. It wasn't like a nightmare

you have to play football scenario. I loved it from the start. I love the history of the game. I loved the sacrifice and the and and the kind of the duty of the sport that you you know, you have you have a Um you're beholden to your teammates to get your job done. And it's very hard. Uh. And I think that's always attracted me to it. I wasn't great and other sports. I was pretty decent at basketball, but I found success early in football. And I loved everything.

I love to putting the equipment on. I loved, you know, getting your jersey and and you know, continue to to love the game to dad, you know. And my favorite show is A Football Life. I love that show so much. I think it's a great show. Oh, it's a great one. The one on Damn Marino is one of my favorite all time television shows that ever made. So with you on that all the way, Ted, you mentioned basketball. It's been kind of a theme on this podcast talking to

some of your new teammates here. We've got a lot of guys that think they're the best player on the team. Do you want to stake that claim too? I do not want to stake that time. I I know I'm not the best player on the team. I would probably be pretty competitive in a take on horse scenario. Coming from Indiana, we grew up playing a lot of that pretty decent jumper. But in no way what I bashed.

I'll be out there going my hardest. But you know, there's probably supreme athletes on our team, and uh, I'm sure there's some pretty pretty pretty good bash Bowl players. So you got you got the jumper down, then I got the john. I got a good ten foot jumper, and you know it's my bread and butter and cake. You try to you know, I don't go for the three. I just kind of keep it simple as long as

you're making and you can't lose. I don't know, I think that the mid range jumper is dying these days, man, the old Hoosiers days. It's kind of a thing in the past. It is. It is. You know, it's sad that basketball is not going on right now. Yeah, it is. It's a bummer. We all missed sports. Hopefully we can get get back to life pretty quickly here and everyone's out there being safe and that includes you and your family. Ted. Well that's all I got for you here today. Ted,

congratulations on the new deal, on the new team. Best of lux you this year, Stay healthy and welcome to Miami. Man, thank you so much. Thanks for having me out. We'll talk to it. Sounds good. I appreciate it. And there he goes. You talk about a likable guy, Ted Carris, the new Dolphins center coming down to Miami, really really nice addition to the middle of the Dolphins offensive line.

You heard him talk about his will and the intensity and just basically having the higher motor than anybody else on the field and wanting it more or and he talked about it with the milk drinking that like I know I talked about it in the interview. That blows my mind still thinking about drinking the entire gallon of milk before you even get to school. But it just proves the commitment that he showed an early age for football.

You hear about the family lineage coming up, being in a football family his whole life, living out there in the Midwest, the Indiana, Illinois area, being a basketball player, and he wouldn't put the claim on it as best player, but I bet that guy can be your power forward, set some good picks, and be a good rebounder and defender down in the low post. So that's Ted Carriss. We're gonna have more of these guys, more of these podcasts coming out for you guys as the week goes

on into the weekend. Talking to every Dolphins new free agent signing. It's exciting times down here in Miami. People are excited to be here, people are excited to talk about this Dolphins football team. And we'll continue to do that. We'll have a future episode sometime next week, kind of having a cumulative approach of the entire free agency period for you guys. But as for today show, that is going to be my time to catch all these podcasts, all these interviews with each of the new members of

the Miami Dolphins. Go ahead and hit subscribe, rate and review the podcast on Apple podcast, Spotify, Google Play, wherever you get your podcast from. Follow me on Twitter at Wingfield NFL. Follow the Dolphins at Miami Dolphins, check out The Fish Tank podcast with Seth and o J, Juice McDuffie and The Audible with Kim and John, and of course, Miami Dolphins dot Com. Until next time, Dolphins Fins Up.