LISTEN | Jets Opponent Series - Miami Dolphins (6/17)

I looked at the first half of the season, saw Dolphins on it and done that Week nine match up at home against the New England Patriots, and then finally you have your first Miami game in week ten. So automatically thought, hey, maybe the Jets are actually gonna close with the Dolphins again this year. But no, they're coming right back after a bye after facing them at Matt Life in week ten. They'll face each other again in

week twelve. Easier for the coaches to prepare because all that film work, uh don prior to Week ten will already be in the books per se, and then they'll have to see how those teams match up against each other um in at Mattlife. But yeah, this is interesting and it could play to the advantage of one of these squads, because hey, say, if the Jets win at home, hold serve and maybe they win convincingly. Who knows, uh, maybe they go into that situation feeling awfully confident facing

the Miami Dolphins. But what I think, Greens is that is a critical part of the Jets two thousand twenties schedule. Week nine, Monday Night against the Patriots, Week ten against the Dolphins, Week twelve against the Dolphins, because that is half of your division games in a matter of three games in four weeks. And not only that, but two weeks prior to the Jets and Patriots on Monday Night Football is Week seven. That's the second Jets Bills matchup

of the season. So it goes Bills, Chiefs, Patriots, Dolphins, Dolphins. That's a that's a meaty part of the schedule there for the Jets, and I agree it's gonna be very important that the Jets find success in that span. And I'm just kind of curious here overall, take on the Dolphins before we hear from Dolphins analyst John Conjemmy, because I feel like the Dolphins are a team that has so much turnover from the end of last season to

present as we're recording this in June. And this is also a team that has the same head coach and general manager. But this is a team that, maybe more so than anyone, would have benefited from a Spring O t A and mini camp in person, and obviously that's not the case. I just wonder, even though I think they're an improved team, I wonder how quickly they'll be able to show that on the field because of the time away from the facility. I like to hid coach

a lot like Brian Flores. He came over, of course from the New England Patriots, and last year a lot of people thought the Dolphins were tanking for TUA. Ironically, they finished five and eleven overall, most notably that Week seventeen victory over the New England Patriots in Tom Brady is Ryan Fitzpatrick works some bits magic there at Jolette Stadium.

Of course, the Patriots going on to play on Wild Card weekend and the Chiefs getting the bye, and I think that really helpful Kansas City to the Super Bowl title. So if ititz Patrick had a hand in that. Yeah, last year, everybody left Miami out for dead, but they finished five and eleven overall. Uh. Their first victory ironically last season, of course, came against the New York jetson But to your point, Ethan, I do believe this Dolphins

team improved their talent immensely in the offseason. But how is that going to look and translate early in the season because they're gonna be working in so many new starters on both sides of the football. And one of the key storylines for training camp in South Florida is where is too at physically? And if he is at dent when training camp commences, can he push Ryan Fitzpatrick for that week's one starting job or are we i in two up for the second half of the season.

And that means those matchups with the Jets. All right, Well, let's hear from John King Jemmy who's a Dolphins analyst, and learn what he thinks about the Jets Dolphins match up. I feel like the Dolphins, despite being five and eleven, where a popular team, especially when you look at the future for this group. So entering two thousand and twenty, what's your overall take on the Dolphins? Well, I think you have to start with the depth of the roster

number one. I think the Dolphins put themselves in a position of strength after free agency and then the two thousand and twenty NFL Draft. I think this roster right now, as it's composed on paper, is much stronger, much more well rounded it at each position than it was going

into the two thousand and nineteen season. And I think you add what Brian Flores does as a head coach and the way he motivates guys on a daily basis, the way he challenges guys on a daily basis, I think this is a competitive group that he's assembled from the coaching staff down through the quarterback and down through each position on offense, defense, and special teams. It should

be a much improved team in two thousand. Hopefully it has some of the grit that the two thousand and nineteen team had, because when you really take a look at that roster, it didn't have any business winning five, six, seven games. But that's where the Dolphins would have and should have been, had they come through against Washington and

overtime and a couple of other games. The New York game actually up in New York was a perfect example of one of those games that could have went either way can you make the argument, John, that the Dolphins improved the roster more than anybody in the National Football League this offseason. And with that being said, will this team had as many as ten, the twelve, the thirteen new starters in two thousand twenty. There's a chance there's

a chance there could be that many news starters. I mean, just take a look if you go back, and I know you guys don't follow this as closely as the Jets that quite naturally, But the first game of the regular season against the Ravens, the Dolphins had three offensive linemen. I didn't know their names going into pregame warm up. I was like, who's that guy? And they actually played

and started in the game, and it showed in the score. Uh, you know, not only in that game, but the New England game the week after, where the Dolphins were blown out in back to back weeks at home. So when you take a look now at this roster, you draft to a tongue of ioloa. Now, will he start, if he's good enough, he will, if he challenges Fitzpatrick and he's able to start, there's one of those guys that

quite possibly could start. Now, personally, I think Fitzpatrick is going to be the quarterback, and they're gonna allow to it to compete, and if he's good enough, he's gonna play. If not, he'll sit and watch until his time is ready. But at running back, at linebacker, at safety, at cornerback, at defensive end especially, you could have upwards of ten to twelve guys just at those positions in rotation, not

only starting but playing significant snaps. I even't even started on the offensive line, where you may have four out of five new names on that offensive line start opening day. So you're right, ten to twelve is probably a good number quarterback excluded, John, What do you feel like is the most improved position on this Dolphins team after free agency? In the draft? You know, I'd have to say, if you're going to pick a position, it might be that

defensive end linebacker. And I say that in tandem, because whether you run a four three or three four, you're gonna have guys at different positions. And I think Josh Bowyer, the new defensive coordinator, is gonna want to keep opposing offenses guessing. I would say, you know, the addition of Kyle van Noy and you have Agba coming in and you have a guy like Shack Lawson, uh from the Bills that come in. Now, their numbers aren't going to, you know, make you go wow and jump out off

the paper. But where the Dolphins were at those positions, it screams improvement for this team in South Florida, and and it needs to because they were lasting, creating pressure, lasting sacks, lasting, giving up yards on the ground. You have to improve on the defensive front seven, and I think the Dolphins have done that. You know, you have the second year with Christian Wilkins, you have gotcha who's coming along your draft Rae Kwon Davis out of Alabama,

Who's gonna help. And I think that linebacker group Bruge A Hill is gonna help. Landon Roberts coming over for New England is going to help in some capacity. So I think that front seven and probably could be the most improved part. And a close second might be the offensive line because you drafted three guys that have a

chance to play right away. You get Eric Flowers and free agency and he had some down years early with the Giants, improved with the Redskins, and you're hoping that his best days are going to start with the Miami Dolphins for years in New England, Bill Belichick built from the back in What can you say about Brian Flores and what he's doing there because you just mentioned the front seven, but on paper, this quarterback unit is getting

to be pretty load it. You talked about Xavien Howard, of course, but the Dolphins side Byron Jones in free agency, the former Dallas cowboy, of course, and then they addressed quarter again in the first round. Yes, with Abian Agany from from Auburn. You get a guy that can play possibly that Nicol slot. He might be able to play corner, he could probably play safety. He was a converted wide receiver in high school, goes to Auburn, turns into a defensive back and he's a guy that loves to come

up and hit. So I think you have some versatility, and that's a big word I think for the Miami Dolphins, especially on the defensive side, the more you can do it at each position. Byron Jones is a is a lockdown guy. Zavian Howard likes to play on an island. Nick Needen was a much improved guy as the season went along for the Miami Dolphins. But you had Eric Rowe, who started as a corner, who's more traditionally in this defense might be a safety close to the line of scrimmage,

can't play center field, but gives you that flexibility. And you had him with Bobby McCain, who was a true nickel corner, played some corner and last year played some safety before injuring his shoulders. So you have that position flexibility that the Miami Dolphins have been stressing last year out of need because you're looking for bodies to play

at a high level this year. You put in some names that have had some experience in the National Football League, some youth as well, but you get guys with position flexibility. And I think that holds true from the linebacker defensive end that we talked about just a few minutes ago. It holds true from safety to corner to nickel corner on this defense. And I think it's gonna keep opposing

offensive coordinators up going. What is this guy is He's a tweener at at safety corner, but he's he's at the nickel corner now and uh and he can also rush the passer. So you get a guy like that in the secondary. You have a guy like Kyle van Noy at linebacker that plays a little bit all over the place, and I think it adds to your defensive philosophy on the offensive side of the all. In the Jets and Dolphins first met last season in South Florida,

Preston Williams had a great game. So I'm just curious what you thought of his rookie year and now what kind of jump do you expect heading into his second year, and what do you make of the overall skilled players on the Dolphins offense right now? Quite honestly, Preston Williams was a surprise. This is a guy from Colorado State,

wasn't drafted, had some off field issues. You saw him in training camp and he kept making those kind of wild catches or you know, coming up with the football on a throw, you know, in the corner of the end zone or around the fifty yard line, taking it away from defensive backs, and you kind of felt like, you hope you crossed your fingers that he wasn't gonna be one of those training camp flashes that kind of

fade away. After Game three of the preseason, well it had that that feeling after a Tampa Bay preseason game, but he bounced right back in practice, bounced right back in the regular season, and until the injury, you could make the argument he was the most impressive offensive weapon the Miami Dolphins had. You know, I know that DeVante Parker had a stellar ear he at career highs and

in touchdowns and yards and catches. But when you take what William springs on the other side, on the other side of the of the wide receiving corps, you have a presence, you have signs, you have speed, and you have guys that will go up and take the football away from defensive backs. And that's what you like. Uh And I think that Ryan Fitzpatrick probably brought that out in both of those guys. He gave those guys opportunity to go up and win, gave those guys chances to

make plays with their athletic frames. So I would say, if he comes back healthy from an A c L, you have two wide receivers that you're crossing your fingers. If they stay healthy, they could they could impose their will on opposing corners that don't have the size and don't have that compete level going up in the air and battling to get the football all right, let's jump right into Jets Dolphins matchup in two thousand and twenty match ups, because this is one of the oddest schedulely

quirks I've ever seen. I agree week ten that Yets hosts the Miami Dolphins. Then both teams will have a bye and then the meet up in week twelve in South Florida. What do you think about that and where it falls on the schedule for both teams. The Jets will have a Monday night home game in week night against the New England Patriots, short week to prepare for the Dolphins, and I believe Miami is out west against Arizona before they come to New York. Yeah, I agree

with you guys. It's quite odd that the NFL schedule when when I looked at him when we had our schedule release a couple of about a month and a half ago. Now you scratch your head, going, why are the Jets sandwiched into a bye week? And I looked, you know, the Jets around Monday nights, the Dolphins traveling from the West coast, kind of quasi with Arizona, and then you have that bye week so late in the season.

I guess for the coaching staff. They're probably not as uh upset or or worried about it or distracted by it as maybe a casual fan would be. You'd like to see the Jets early, and then you'd like to see the Jets late. I know that the a f C East the way it is, it seems like we either finished at Buffalo, at New England or at the Jets all the time in cold weather, and we will

do so again this year at Buffalo. But that that bye week sandwiched into the two Jets games, it will make it easy for preparation, But I think it's not as exciting maybe for the fans to get uh, such a great rivalry in a week ten setting, have a bye week and then come right back in South Florida and play. I guess for the Jets, it's good that the game comes later in South Florida. Everybody talks about humidity and things early in Buffalo. Will find that out

in week two. But I guess for for the casual fanom for us at covering the team, you'd like to see those two games spread out a little bit more. Ryan fitz Patrick had a hell of a year last season, and he's such a competitive soul, so he'll want to still have the ball at that point in the season. What do you think though, realistically the chances are that Jets Nation sees two up play and either one of those games, you know, it probably sets up well for

two or to play in one of those games. I would have to feel like for Brian Flores, yes, did he win the job? Is he ready to play by that time? You know, you should check both of those boxes off. But Ryan Fitzpatrick is competitive. You guys probably know it, probably a little bit more than I do, just only covering for one year and seeing him up close for one year. This kind of goes out every

day and he feels like it's his job. There's only one there's only thirty two thirty two of these jobs around the National Football League, and he wants one of them, and he wants it full time. And I think that's the way he'll prepare. I think he made the two thousand nineteen team five wins better than they would have with anybody he else playing quarterback. The way he anticipated

pressure in the pocket. I think that Josh Rosen, for all the gifts that he has with his right arm, didn't have that knowledge of wisdom and savvy and anticipation of hey, it's time to get out of here and make a play on my own, or leave the pocket a little bit quicker than anticipated because it's not safe right now. So I think Ryan Fitzpatrick brought those intangibles to the quarterback position. I think it's probably fifty fifty that you may see twa in one of those games.

But if the Dolphins have gotten through the tough part of their schedule, which is the early at late September early October, and they get to that middle of the season with Fitzpatrick playing well, there could be a chance that T is still watching John. I'm curious from a Dolphins perspective what to match up that either you feel like or you think Dolphins fans think is to their

advantage when they play the Jets. You know, last year, I probably would have you know, there was a chink in the offensive line on both sides, so I felt like both defenses probably had the upper hand. There wasn't

a whole lot of firepower you could count on. I thought personally the Jets would find a way to use Lady on Bell and I'm probably I don't know what am I a hundred thousands in line that you know might have said that in terms of gosh, you've got a Pro Bowl guy, You've got a guy that can do a little bit of everything, and it just seemed like the Jets never really got going. Now, maybe that was a byproduct of what was in front of him and maybe how to get the foot find different ways

to get the football to him. But uh, I would say, if you can see improvement on both offensive lines, it'll make the game that much more competitive and take a little bit more of the confidence away of both front seven's uh defensively. So final question here from me. A lot of people are saying that the AC East is wide open. Do you agree and if soul should the Dolphins be take in into consideration here in the division

as well? If I don't know if it's wide open, Eric, I think the Buffalo Bills have the best team on paper. I think they may have the most confidence in the a f C. Now that being said, New England's been on such a run for the last twenty years, I wouldn't see why they wouldn't feel confident. But when you look at quarterback and and some other positions that they've lost you've got some missing pieces. There's some big names

that are lost on that roster. So I think it gives an opportunity for teams like the New York Jets and the Miami Dolphins to get on a little bit of a role, to gain some momentum internally, first in in training camp, in the preseason, and look forward to that matchup against the Buffalo Bills, look forward to going up to Foxboro and playing New England. Without Tom Brady, You're not already ten points down going into New England on the road, and when you get him at home,

you feel like, hey, this is an even game. If we execute, we should, we should be able to take care of business at home. And usually a split with New England has been a good thing over the last twenty years. This year, I think it's more of a reality that Buffalo the Jets in Miami should be trying to get into and oh, but at least get five hundred against the Patriots. He In terms of specific matchups in the Jets Dolphins games, I think that all eyes

have to be on the Dolphins secondary. That includes Xavian Howard, who the Jets did not see last season because he was on injured reserve and then they signed Byron Jones, they draft no Egg Bonogaeny out of Auburn. It just feels like this is the strength of that Dolphins team, especially the Dolphins defense. And you know, we know Brian Flores is a Bill Belichick disciple, and it seems like

he's building the defense in a similar way. Yeah, and like john Ka, Johnny mentioned they improved on the outside with their edge rushers, at the cornerback position. Yeah, their secondary on paper very solid, one of the better units maybe in the National Football League, especially at the cornerback position. What's gonna happen with Howard and Jones and where is

where are people gonna attack this Dolphins defense. I would just go back to what we talked about with jonk and Jemmy is that I think you gotta challenge the Dolphins up front. Can you run it against them? And that's gonna set everything up. But uh yeah, as far as what they have in the secondary, he mentioned Nick need Um as well, They've got a lot of players

back there, There's no doubt about that. And the Patriots for years now they've had that very good to elite secondary and you're seeing Miami trying to take a page of that themselves under Brian Flores. Okay, and then really quickly, what about the Dolphins offense? Where do you think that the point of attack is for the Jets? I personally would assume that it would come with the defensive line trying to manhandle their offensive line. That could feature, similar

to the Jets, a handful of new faces. Yeah, it's definitely gonna feature a new faces and you know Ted Harriss probably lining up at center. They signed Eric Flowers in the offseason. Maybe Austin Jackson and Jesse Davis are the starters at tackle. But yeah, offensively, Ryan Fitzpatrick. The great thing about fits is that from a past game perspective is that he can work behind basically on the

offensive line because that ball is coming out really quick. Now, what is too are gonna look like in week ten or week twelve if he has the ball by then, Because Greg Williams is a defense defensive mastermind, and he could confuse veteran quarterbacks with the way he applies pressure. I think that would be a big time challenge for to UH starting on the road against this Jets defense, because while they did make improvements in that offensive backfield,

most notably signing Jordan Howard in free agency. Will they be able to get traction on the ground. I think on paper the Dolphins kind of stood pat at the receiver position, and they have some intriguing guys out there who we saw firsthand can do some damage with their height, uh DeVante Parker, Preston Williams. Um they got Alan Hearns, Albert Wilson, But are they set there going into the season,

because that's what it looks like on paper. But I don't know if the Dolphins are going to be able to establish the run against the New York Jets, So that means their quarterback is gonna have a lot of pressure on it again. Weeks ten and weeks twelve, in between those two games, both teams have a buy one of the weirdest scheduling quirks that I've seen, and that e a scene and we'll see how it all plays

out in the season. And that was another edition of the Official Jets podcast powered by Amazon Web Services, the Opponent Preview series, rolling on taking a stop and talking about the Las Vegas Raiders who come to that life standing In Week thirteen,