Roster Evaluation Offense Episode 3183

Full Transcript

The transcript is from a Miami Dolphins football podcast discussing potential changes to the team’s offense for next season. Topics include assessing current offensive players and positions, free agent and draft options, scheme changes with a new coordinator, upgrading talent especially at WR and RB, and predictions for conference championship games.
Chapters
Quarterback Options and Backup Plans
The hosts discuss whether Ryan Fitzpatrick will return as a backup QB, agreeing he likely won’t based on how his benching occurred this season. They note Miami will probably seek an experienced backup to help tutor Tua Tagovailoa while also drafting a rookie QB.
Lack of Playmakers at Running Back and Receiver
The hosts highlight how the current Dolphins skill players lack big-play ability, with very little yards after catch production. They agree significant upgrades via free agency and the draft are needed at both RB and WR.
Tight End Talent and Drafting Kyle Pitts
While generally happy with the TE production, the hosts rave over Florida prospect Kyle Pitts as a rare mismatch threat. They debate trading Mike Gesicki if needed to move up and draft Pitts.
Few Safe Jobs Among Current Receivers
The hosts note nearly all the Dolphins WRs are replaceable, though Preston Williams has talent if he can stay healthy. They discuss various free agent WR options, and targeting more dynamic playmakers in the draft.
Complete Running Back Group Overhaul Likely
The hosts expect a full reset at RB, with only Myles Gaskin and Salvon Ahmed likely getting camp invites as incumbent backups. They expect drafting a workhorse RB prospect early as a priority.
Offensive Line Changes Depend on New Scheme
The hosts discuss likely replacing Jesse Davis at RT, while waiting to evaluate other O-Line needs until the new coordinator’s scheme is known. They debate pursuing Saints RT Ryan Ramczyk or top free agent centers.
Action Items
No action items were explicitly mentioned in the transcript.

Speaker 1 00:00
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Welcome to Three Yards Per Caddy, a podcast covering the Miami Dolphins and the NFL. Now here’s your hosts, Chris, Alf, and Simon.

Speaker 1 01:56
And we’re on and welcome to another edition of Three Yards for Carry, an offseason edition, as it were. Season’s going on, but dolphins are not participating. I’m Alfredo Arteaga. Simon Clancy is here.

Speaker 1 02:08
Chris Kaufman is here. And we’re gonna get into the offensive side of the ball on this episode. And we’re gonna talk about the promotion of Lemuel Jean -Pierre, Jean -Pierre, Jean -Pierre, Lemuel. Lemuel, maybe.

Speaker 1 02:24
Lemuel, Lemuel Jean -Pierre.

Speaker 3 02:27
I’d say let’s get his name right before we start.

Speaker 1 02:30
speaking him up. Lemieux Jean -Pierre. At least we can do. Yeah let’s get his name right. Is it Lemieux or Lemieux? I think it’s Lemieux. I can’t find it anywhere where it says how to pronounce his name.

Speaker 3 02:49
I mean, I’d imagine it’s Lemieux Jean -Pierre.

Speaker 2 02:52
Yeah.

Speaker 1 02:57
The Miele Jean -Pierre.

Speaker 4 02:59
Well, Simon’s European, so we’ll go with that.

Speaker 3 03:03
is of Haitian descent so I can’t be healthy there. So kind of last time I checked Haiti wasn’t in Europe. It’s not. Astonishingly no. Really? Yeah.

Speaker 1 03:16
you learn something new. Okay.

Speaker 3 03:18
It’s pronounced Lee -mu -el, Le -mu -el, Jean -Pierre, Le -mu -el, Jean -Pierre.

Speaker 1 03:28
Alright, the promotion of Lemieux, Jean -Pierre. Is that correct, Simon? Yes. Beautiful. We’re going to talk about that and much, much more. But before we do that, Simon, any new adventures with the fine products at Manscaped?

Speaker 3 03:49
Um, I still haven’t had the thing from you. So this is very difficult to talk about, but apparently the aftershave is very good.

Speaker 1 04:00
Thank you.

Speaker 3 04:01
So yeah, if you’re not smelling good, that could help.

Speaker 2 04:07
We don’t get over here.

Speaker 4 04:12
But yeah, after shave the after shave your balls like, I mean, you could do, I guess you could.

Speaker 1 04:20
Yeah.

Speaker 4 04:20
Boy, that.

Speaker 3 04:21
It’s quite, it’s quite a lot to take on board for. It is.

Speaker 4 04:26
I think that’s a lot.

Speaker 3 04:27
Also, don’t get don’t get a paper cut

Speaker 4 04:32
That’s what I’m saying, like you shave your balls, like there could be consequences. Use an aftershave on there. Yeah.

Speaker 3 04:40
Nobody wants that. Nobody wants that.

Speaker 1 04:45
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Speaker 4 04:53
Donor, isn’t that a corn song?

Speaker 3 04:56
Oh, you’d know.

Speaker 1 04:58
That’s a great, that’s a great question, right? And ball toners actually would be a great name for a band.

Speaker 4 05:07
I wouldn’t, I wouldn’t. Oh no, it’s ball tongue, my bad.

Speaker 1 05:10
Oh, yes, you get all their products at manscaped .com. Of course.

Speaker 3 05:16
got another song called Jingle Balls. Do they? Yeah you can combine the two.

Speaker 1 05:22
Use the promo code 5RSN, 20% off your order.

Speaker 4 05:30
Jiggle toner. Jiggle toner. Jiggle toner. I like that.

Speaker 1 05:36
Well, they’ve promoted a man to be offensive line coach.

Speaker 3 05:42
We’re not really going to say his name anymore. He’s just a man.

Speaker 1 05:48
Lemieux Jean -Pierre, how’s that?

Speaker 4 05:49
Random man, random man has just been promoted to be the offensive line coach of the Miami Dolphins.

Speaker 1 05:55
and what does that mean for as far as the offensive coordinator position because it doesn’t seem like they really cared too much to go elsewhere uh has to mean that they already have their guy picked out and it’s probably in house no simon?

Speaker 3 06:11
I mean, I would suspect so, given that all the good candidates have now just completely disappeared and we’re left with, you know, they’re not good candidates, certainly, certainly, which will be Pep Hamilton, which literally nobody wants.

Speaker 3 06:26
So yeah, I would imagine it will be, I mean, it wouldn’t surprise me with Studsville, but I think it’ll be George Godsey. So, you know, the interesting thing about Studsville is that he’s so highly rated, it wouldn’t surprise me if he leaves next year, you know, he might get an OC job next year somewhere else.

Speaker 3 06:44
You know, I can’t suddenly see the Dolphins. I mean, they might, but God, six OCs in six years would be pretty drastic. Five in five is pretty bad, but six in six would be pretty rubbish. You can see him getting, you can see him get lured away next year.

Speaker 4 06:58
think if it’s in -house, I think it’s Studsville, not Godsey. Yeah, I think he’s got the assistant head coach title. It’d be somewhat of a bypass, I think, you know, to have Godsey go above him. After Brian Flores talked him up as being a future coordinator, you know, and I don’t, people can say what they want about this, but it does seem to me like the Dolphins are trying to give a leg up with these hires, with some of these hires to, not a leg up, but I mean, they’re trying to interview and potentially hire people of color.

Speaker 4 07:40
And, you know, I think Godsey is lower on the totem pole than Eric Studsville. And if he gets promoted above him, you know, that might be a bad look. And I just think that Flores has already talked him up so much that if it’s an internal guy, Studsville is probably in line before Godsey.

Speaker 4 08:03
And Godsey is such a good friend of Flores’s anyway, I don’t think you, I don’t know that he would mind that much. But the other thing is, I don’t know, do we know it’s an internal guy just because they promoted, let me, they might know who it is, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s an internal guy.

Speaker 4 08:23
Why haven’t they done it if it’s an internal guy, you know? All the other guys are taken up, right? And we’ve seen them go down one by one. We saw Matt Canada is supposedly being hired, promoted in Pittsburgh.

Speaker 4 08:38
We see Mike McDaniel is being promoted in San Francisco. Tony Elliott has politely declined and decided to stay at Clemson. And, you know, Pep Hamilton is still hanging out out there. But I mean, if they know it’s, if all these guys are getting hired out and are getting promoted and taken off the board, and they’re ready to go with an internal guy, why haven’t they done that yet?

Speaker 4 09:09
You know, it looks to me like they’re waiting for somebody. Like they’re waiting for somebody to get it out of the playoffs.

Speaker 3 09:16
NFL rumors and updates Twitter account with 10 ,000 to 8 ,000 followers has just tweeted that the Dolphins have two finalists per report and I can’t find the report for the OC job running back coach Eric Studsfield and Chargers quarterback coach Pep Hamilton.

Speaker 3 09:32
So let me take that with a grain of salt. Yeah.

Speaker 4 09:36
and that makes sense to me and we’ll see we’ll see where that goes but but I think I think that I’m not excited about I’ve made no secret that I’m not excited about pep Hamilton but but I think that as things stand if they’re not waiting for somebody in the playoffs right now then it’s probably those two guys but I think the liminal of John Pierre thing is is interesting you know for a number of reasons because he was he is he’s a tom cable guy like holy he he played for tom cable for five years he went off to another team for one year and then hung up you know hung up his cleats and decided to go into coaching and immediately went back to tom cable as his assistant then followed tom cable from seattle to to the raiders to be his assistant there and came over to miami you know it’s interesting why did he come over to miami i i think the more we see in this i think that colorado just totally screwed brian flores over by hiring carl durell because um so much orbits around carl durell in terms of the chan gaily hire um and in terms of uh you know who was who was carl durell’s offensive coordinator at ucla tom cable um and and so why is you know why is lemule jean pierre here uh to me i think i think we all knew that chan gaily was sort of a rental right i mean he came out of retirement he’s here for maybe a year maybe two um steve marshall just kind of goes where he goes and you know he’s he’s he’s not young either um it kind of kind of struck me as though to those two being rentals and maybe carl durell was supposed to take over for chan gaily and lemule jean pierre was supposed to take over for uh steve marshall and uh the latter has happened but then um i mean remember that carl durell was promoted to assistant head coach on february 20th when jean pierre was hired and then all of a sudden even people of colorado are like whoa carl durell really um then you know that’s that’s what happened i think that kind of screwed them but um but it’s just more more evidence that they’re heading toward this zone sort of zone style system uh if you look at all the candidates uh that they’re interviewing for oc i mean that’s that’s where this is heading and um and so i think it’s interesting

Speaker 3 12:11
I think they’re trying to build a run game, which is why I think they’ll keep Studsville as the, as the head coach. I think that’s, um, I think that’s what they’re going to look to do because you look at, you know, you look at Mike McDaniel, for example, you know, run game coordinator in the 49ers, a guy that would be touted, you know, it would intimate to me, there were certain candidates who, um, respected the run.

Speaker 3 12:32
Um, and I think that’s just something they wanted to do. And, you know, you look at the, the news tonight, the Najee Harris is going to be on the dolphins, uh, roster at the senior bowl, you know, I’m sure that’s not, uh, I’m sure that’s not an accident accident that Jim Nagy just put, um, you know, put certainly my number one running back in the, in the draft with the, with the dolphins, given the need of running back and, and three picks in the top, what 36 picks, so be very interesting.

Speaker 4 12:58
Yeah, and you know, pep Hamilton for ease those experiences as coaching quarterbacks as an offensive coordinator. He’s very much a run guy, I think, you know, he comes from, he comes from Stanford with, uh, you know, under Jim Harbaugh and with, uh, David Shaw.

Speaker 4 13:15
And, um, you know, I think, I think that he’s, he’s very much a run priority guy. I think Matt Canada is a run priority guy. I think Mike McDaniel is certainly a, you know, fix the run game with the Shanahan style run zone, run game, a guy, Eric Studsville, clearly, uh, a run guy.

Speaker 4 13:37
Um, just the whole set of OCs, OC candidates was, was filled with that. I mean, the themes were run and the themes were zone. I mean, it’s, and that’s, that’s the direction we’re headed. Um, and I think Lemuel Jean -Pierre fits that pretty, pretty well.

Speaker 1 13:55
If we’re going by what happened last year, are we overdue by a week already? Was Chen Gailey already hired by now? I believe he was, right?

Speaker 3 14:05
this time last year, yesterday.

Speaker 1 14:08
Oh, okay. So it’s just a day older. All right. So, so yeah, we’re not overdue. So it should come down any, sometime before the senior role, I would guess.

Speaker 3 14:18
you kind of feel like they’re going to want to take in the UOC to the Senior Bowl, it would be yeah it would be not too

Speaker 1 14:23
Yeah, optimal. All right, let’s get into this roster because the more I watch these teams in the NFL, the more confused I’d become of this roster because I don’t see what these teams have and what they had this past weekend on at least the offensive side of the ball.

Speaker 1 14:43
I think the cupboard is pretty bare, but we’re going to get into it. And let’s start at quarterback. Simon, do you see a scenario where Ryan Fitzpatrick is back here next year or they’re going to go elsewhere?

Speaker 3 14:56
It doesn’t look like it’s trending that way, does it? We’ve not had any comment as to what he’s gonna do. He’s a free agent. I think everybody would like to see him back, but I still think he’s rattled.

Speaker 3 15:06
I still think he’s hurt by what happened and the way he was ousted. And then to come back in and beat the Raiders, I need to go down with COVID and miss the final game, even though Flores had already said that too, he was a guy.

Speaker 3 15:21
So no, I don’t necessarily think he’ll be back. And I think the Dolphins will be in the market for an experienced backup and probably, they’ll probably take a long hard look at a rookie quarterback as well.

Speaker 3 15:34
And I suspect on day three, they’ll certainly take a pass to bring into the mix.

Speaker 1 15:40
I tend to agree with you. Chris, do you see a scenario where Rhymefus Patrick is back or are they just going to go in the garbage bin and try to get a facsimile thereof?

Speaker 4 15:53
It’s tough to say because if, you know, if Ryan Fitzpatrick wants to be back, which I think is the big question, um, cause he’s, he’s quite famous, you know, infamous for saying he, he plays this game to start.

Speaker 4 16:08
Um, you know, he doesn’t play this game to be a backup and, uh, and he came to Miami dolphins in the first place because he had a legit chance of starting. And, um, he will not have that if, uh, if he comes back next year, because they have said that to a ton of ILO is our starter.

Speaker 4 16:28
Um, so he may not want to be back. So it may not be in Miami’s hands at all. The real interesting question to me is what if he does indicate that he wants to be back, um, because, you know, say what you want about, you know, what does it do to two is psyche and stuff like that, always having Ryan Fitzpatrick hanging over his head, like he’s going to bail out the game.

Speaker 4 16:55
Um, if two is the quarterback that we all hoped he would be, then that won’t matter, um, and Ryan Fitzpatrick gets along with these coaches, you know, it’s not just Chan gaily, it’s everybody. I mean, Flores loves him and he loves Flores.

Speaker 4 17:11
Um, so it would be a really interesting question if, if that happened, if, um, if Fitzpatrick indicated that he would come back to Miami as a backup. Uh, otherwise I think that we are, you know, I don’t, I don’t want to say that it’s going to be the draft because I, you know, your intuition tells you that they’re going to want an experience in the room with two, not another rookie.

Speaker 4 17:38
Right. Um, you know, who, who, who is that though? You know, maybe, maybe you’ve got a name or two, uh, I’ll find out, but I don’t know.

Speaker 1 17:51
I heard something really interesting, but you know, I’ll save that for a free agency show. I don’t know if he’s going to shake loose, but you guys can guess. But if we go back a year, just a year, when Ryan Fitzpatrick was brought in, the guy that they also looked at was Josh McCown.

Speaker 1 18:08
He has since retired. I don’t know of any other old guys that are out there that would fit that mold as far as like a, you know, a mentor to of Tonga Bailoa. I think now he’s going to want somebody to bounce ideas off of and not necessarily somebody to actually hold his hand for an entire season.

Speaker 1 18:28
Simon, is there in the back of your mind, do you think that bringing Ryan Fitzpatrick back, let’s say he contacts Brian Flores and says, you know what, I want to be back next year and I want to be back and I’m the backup and it’s Tua’s team.

Speaker 1 18:43
And I understand that. Is there a scenario where you think to yourself, you know what, this is nice, but I don’t want them back because it could start creating some of these narratives again, especially within, within the four walls that well, it’s not going to be Davey anymore.

Speaker 1 18:59
It’s going to be Miramar from now on. So we already saw what that did. Is there a scenario where we say, you know what, that’s nice, but enjoy your life somewhere else, Ryan.

Speaker 3 19:11
Yeah, I mean, it’s a difficult one because the only person that can really combat the narratives is the person that needs to play better, which is the quarterback, which is Tula, you know, but it’s not, it’s going to be uncomfortable knowing that, you know, the people on the team have spoken out against you and in favor of the guy that’s backing you up, people outside the building have spoken up the media, you know, we’ve talked about how to ignore that stuff and I’m sure he does, but you know, some of that will have filtered through I’m sure.

Speaker 3 19:37
So yeah, it’s probably an uncomfortable narrative, but I think it’s one that the dolphins would embrace because he’s a good player, he’s a great person, and I think he probably helps, you know, in a lot of departments around the building, but I do think it would make for an uncomfortable, I mean, I think we’re probably going to have an uncomfortable spring and summer anyway, but I think it would make for an even more uncomfortable one, through no fault of Fitz’s, no fault of his own, you know, it’s not his problem, that’s just the way that the cookie has crumbled.

Speaker 1 20:06
Do you would you do that as well or or is that something you would say you know what, you know Stop being a baby about it compete if it does mean compete and just own the job, you know, instead of You know worrying about what other people think worry about yourself Take the job and don’t let ryan first patrick off the bench for an entire season You know normally I would Do you just normally?

Speaker 4 20:32
Normally, I would just say, you know, step up and, you know, I’m not going to baby you. And if you want to be better to two, I would that’s what I would I would head. But I think Miami is just crazy.

Speaker 4 20:49
It’s just I mean, and I mean, the whole city, the the the fans, the players, the owner, the media, especially are crazy about this quarterback position. I think that it has been such a source of curse that they have been driven completely mad, completely insane.

Speaker 4 21:14
And and so and what it’s doing is it’s leading to bad decisions. And and so you have, you know, back in the day, you had, according to Omar Kelly, you had players on the team. And I very much believe this.

Speaker 4 21:27
I don’t think he’s he’s making this up. Players on the team that are, you know, trying to get Joe Philbin to start Matt more of a Ryan Tannehill. Well, Ryan Tannehill goes somewhere else. What’s happening?

Speaker 4 21:40
He’s he’s performing like a top 10 quarterback in this league, if not top five. You know, and and and I look at what’s happened this off season with the whole, you know, guy speaking out anonymously.

Speaker 4 21:55
I mean, this is not there’s a difference between off the record and on the record, but anonymous. Right. And and these guys knew what the fuck they were doing when they when they when they decided to be on the record, but anonymous.

Speaker 4 22:08
And I think it’s I think it’s really just the whole goddamn town being mad, including the owner, putting pressure on everybody to fix the. Why did we hire Adam Gates? Quarterback position because he happened to be there when Peyton Manning was Peyton Manning.

Speaker 4 22:27
Right. Why did we hire Joe Philbin? Quarterback position because he happened to be because he happened to be there when Aaron Rodgers, Aaron Rodgers.

Speaker 1 22:36
garbage on the locker room floor.

Speaker 4 22:39
the he was the PowerPoint guy, basically. So we do all this, we do all the shit, you know, hiring guys, putting pressure in all the wrong places, in order to get this quarterback position right, because we’re mad about it.

Speaker 4 22:55
And, and we’re cursed because of it, we’re cursed because of that desperation. And so we’re we’re just keep making bad decision after bad decision. You know, first, it’s a bad decision to to draft Ryan Tannehill.

Speaker 4 23:10
And then it’s a bad decision to get rid of him, because now he’s a fucking elite quarterback. I mean, and so now we get to a tongue of Violoa. And, you know, we’re about to, we’re about to keep benching him for Ryan Fitzpatrick.

Speaker 4 23:24
And everybody, and you know, and all the players are like, Yeah, yeah, Ryan Fitzpatrick, you know, and, and it’s like, it’s, we’re just cursed at this position. And I think it comes from this angst, this collective angst that happens in the city, in the fans, in the media, it bleeds into the players, it bleeds into the owner himself, because let’s face it, the owner is a fan.

Speaker 4 23:48
And so but he’s just a fan with more power that signs the checks. So, you know, I want I want to because of that, I don’t trust anybody with a difficult situation. So you know what, fuck you, I’m going to simplify it.

Speaker 2 24:07
Hahaha

Speaker 4 24:08
I’m going to simplify it. I’m going to get Ryan Fitzpatrick out of here because y ‘all can’t be trusted. That’s my take.

Speaker 1 24:18
You know what, I’m kind of with you, but then that’s gonna start another narrative, which is, okay, now they’re babying too about getting rid of his competition. Well, but not really.

Speaker 4 24:29
Cause if he’s, cause if he’s not, if he’s not too good and, and we’re, you know, less than halfway through the season and, and the Deshaun Watson thing is still stretching out, you know, get the fuck on the horn and see what that price is.

Speaker 4 24:42
And I don’t care. I just want the quarterback position fixed, but I don’t, I don’t, I don’t, I don’t trust anybody. I don’t trust anybody to be making good decisions about it. Cause we’re all driven so fucking crazy.

Speaker 1 24:56
Yeah, and I don’t know whatever happened to good old patients and let’s wait for things to play out, you know? Yeah. But you got to figure you got to figure this the Sean Watson thing is not going to get it’s not going to happen soon.

Speaker 1 25:08
It’s gonna I would say it’s going to go into free agency. Even if they hire Eric B enemy because this has happened before, okay, I know it’s happened in other sports. But the last, you know, superstar that caused a stink about his head coach was LeBron James in Cleveland.

Speaker 1 25:26
They hired Byron Scott. Two weeks later, he was in Miami. Okay, so you know, that’s happened all the time. So I think even if they hire Eric B enemy, it’s probably not the end of it. So it’ll stretch into free agency into March right before the draft.

Speaker 1 25:44
I think is the drop dead date because that’s when everybody has to evaluate their assets. And I’m pretty sure if Houston’s gonna trade Watson this year, they’re gonna want a lot of stuff from this year, because they’re gonna have to get a they’re gonna want a head start on rebuilding that team from the ground up.

Speaker 1 26:02
Now talking about rebuilding from the ground up, moving on to the running back position. Simon, I told you the other day that I felt like you know, keep gask and keep Ahmed and then tell everybody else, you know, go away.

Speaker 1 26:18
But Matt Brader is a free agent. He’s obviously never getting another call from this this this coaching staff because they obviously just hate him. So let’s talk about the two free agents. Matt Breda, DeAndre, Washington any interest whatsoever and bringing either of them back.

Speaker 3 26:34
I mean, I like Brady, but it’s clear that the dolphins don’t. So, what’s the point in sticking him, you know, keeping him around? Cause they clearly don’t fancy him very much. You know, he seemed to pick up yards in decent chunks and then all of a sudden you’d never see him again or- Inactive the last two weeks.

Speaker 3 26:51
Yeah, it seemed kind of pointless. So, you know, what’s the point? Just, just let him go, frankly. So yeah, I think, you know, you keep the two satellite backs around. I thought they showed good value.

Speaker 3 27:04
But it’s clear they want the thumb per a guy who can, you know, carry 15, 18, 22 times a game. Catch a few balls at the backfield, can essentially work in all three areas of the game, pass protection as well.

Speaker 3 27:16
And, you know, for me, that’s either Harris or Williams. I actually think ETN, as good as he is, probably fits a bit more like what they already have in terms of size and, you know, traits, obviously better than Ahmed and Gaskin, but, you know, you have to ask whether Travis ETN can carry a full load in the NFL.

Speaker 3 27:38
So it’ll be interesting, but I think, you know, it’ll be one of those two guys, I think early, but if they, you know, if they ignore that and they, you know, they look at backs later on, well, then that opens up a, you know, a whole different thing.

Speaker 3 27:51
But if we’re targeting early around running backs, then, you know, for me, that’s the, they’re the two guys, you know, after that, you’re looking at, you know, a trace server and he’s coming off an injury.

Speaker 3 28:00
Kyle and Hill sat out the year. Kenny Game was 191 pounds. Chuba Hubbard is, you know, 201 pounds, but coming off a big injury. Obviously we all like Brian Robinson, Alabama, if he comes out. You know, you look at Jamal Jefferson, who most people on the East Coast don’t know anything about because West Coast games don’t seem to kick off at about 4 a .m.

Speaker 3 28:21
You know, my, we bring- I like the Marshall kids.

Speaker 4 28:23
Brandon, um, yeah, Brandon, uh, yeah, nox.

Speaker 3 28:27
Elijah Mitchell at Louisiana is a good big back at 218 pounds, you know, so there’s Larry, you know, Larry Roundtree at Missouri is a good player. So they’re coaching Ramondre Stevenson, who’s probably going to be the Georgia King.

Speaker 1 28:38
there’s name is gave me a white. Yeah, yeah, he’s had injuries, but he’s known every time he plays

Speaker 2 28:45
you

Speaker 3 28:46
Yeah, you know, I think they probably ignore the, like I said, the satellite backs, the JV on Hawkins and the Dimitric felons, because I think they’re just too alike to the guys they already have. So that for me would be the play.

Speaker 4 29:02
could see them going. I mean, they they have so think about this, though, the guys they have. I mean, if if you want guys like that, if you want guys that small, don’t you want them fast and dangerous in the past game?

Speaker 4 29:15
You know, and in that. So in that respect, you know, they could be after they could be after that type, they could be after Travis Etienne because of what his speed can do in the passing game. They could be after a Michael Carter, you know, with with North Carolina, because, you know, not only was he an equal load carrier with Jevonta Williams, but you know, he was the pass catching guy too.

Speaker 4 29:43
And, you know, he’s a really good, he’s a really good third down, you know, they’re, they’re going to try and surround to with players that I think can catch the ball and help them. And, and I don’t think they’re done at the running back position with respect that third down back type, just because they have guys that are not so big, and Miles Gaskin and some savant Ahmed.

Speaker 4 30:07
So yeah, I think it’s all types. I think it’s all types.

Speaker 3 30:12
Yeah. And brings in, you know, Hawkins has had what, 19 runs a 20 plus yards in 2019. Certainly. You look at someone like Puka Williams scored every 4 .3 times he touched the ball. You know, elusive, you know, that’s if you’re looking for a Tariq Cohen, Naeem Heinz kind of good runner with good hands out in the backfield.

Speaker 3 30:30
You know, Puka Williams and the fact that he’s got no toes on his right feet. His cousin ran them over with a lawnmower. Imagine that. Yeah, exactly. Hey, the last time that happened.

Speaker 1 30:45
into a dolphin, that was a good thing. Tim Bowens, remember? Bowens only had seven toes. Good knowledge. Yeah. So back to that, I had a stat on on the three YPC account, which I found interesting because of how pathetic it was.

Speaker 1 31:04
The dolphins had 24 touchdown passes, 16 of them were thrown into the end zone, which means that only eight of them had any yak of those eight had a combined yak of 87 yards. 52 of them came on one play.

Speaker 1 31:21
But and that was the game the play by Miles Gaskin against the Raiders. So making making something out of nothing is not something that this group did. So yeah, it’s the cupboards bear there at running back, I would say.

Speaker 1 31:38
Is this the end as well? So yeah, it feels like it

Speaker 3 31:44
Yeah, I’m, I’m curious.

Speaker 4 31:45
is what they would think about just getting into prospects about somebody like a Trey Smith. Remember, he used to play for, um, it was Oklahoma, right? And, uh, and he went off to, uh, oh, oh, trace.

Speaker 4 31:58
I’m thinking of Trey sermon. Uh, okay. Yeah. Yeah. He’s always been, has Trey Smith always been Wyoming? No, he hasn’t always been my own Wyoming because he, because he used to play, he used to play against Bama and, you know, Florida state.

Speaker 4 32:12
And where did he transfer from?

Speaker 3 32:15
sure, but the Oklahoma kid is Trey Sermon.

Speaker 4 32:19
Yeah, the Oklahoma Fitness Tracer.

Speaker 1 32:21
Yeah, I would also think that as far as the running back group, maybe an introduction to the group from maybe Malcolm Perry. Oh, he’s a little out of sense. That’s right. That’s why. Of course, we’re not doing that with Lin Bowden because Lin Bowden famously didn’t like it when he was in Las Vegas and they tried to make him running back.

Speaker 1 32:41
But Malcolm Perry, maybe.

Speaker 3 32:46
Maybe. He did it. He’s a…

Speaker 1 32:49
in training camp. I don’t know why that disappeared all of a sudden.

Speaker 3 32:54
The fact he didn’t do it in the season would make me wonder if they really, you know, because if you’re going to do it, do it when it matters and they didn’t.

Speaker 4 33:03
Now, I would look for, I mean, I would look for a whole reset there personally at that, at that position. I mean, yeah, you, you might keep Miles Gaskin and, and sure you’re gonna, you’re gonna invite both Miles Gaskin and Sabah Nachmed to the, to the training camp because why, why wouldn’t you?

Speaker 4 33:17
Right. But that doesn’t mean their spot’s secure. And, and I would, I would probably look for them, especially if somebody like Studsville is, is getting the call up, you know, they’re gonna ask him, he’s got, he’s got more responsibility now on the offense.

Speaker 4 33:36
They’re gonna ask him to start making some calls on, on prospects and get involved there. And, and I think that they’re, because he was involved with, you know, the, the draft class last year and they just didn’t, they, they struck out.

Speaker 4 33:51
They completely ignored him. Yeah. Yeah. They didn’t get anybody. Right.

Speaker 1 33:54
Yeah, supposedly he pounded the table for JK Dobbins and Jonathan Taylor, which suggests, you know, hey, you know, nice look there, you know, you know what I’m saying? Yeah, but yeah, they completely ignore.

Speaker 4 34:07
So I think that I think, you know, two, two new guys, two new significant guys, at least.

Speaker 1 34:15
Yeah, it was also odd that on the day that they were interviewing guys at the combine, Eric Studsville spoke to JK Dobbins, somebody timed it for two hours, and then JK Dobbins announced he wasn’t gonna work out.

Speaker 1 34:29
So everybody speculated, okay, the Dolphins earmarked the pick for him. And then of course they passed on him twice. So, interesting. Yeah, I completely agree with you. A reset at the running back position.

Speaker 1 34:44
And if they really shit -canned every single one of these guys, you know, it would surprise me, especially on Miles Gaskin, because I think he was productive for what he did this year. But, you know, like really, who cares?

Speaker 1 34:57
This is not, this was not a very, very good group. Okay, they’re really- I don’t think that-

Speaker 4 35:03
They’ll be back for camp but and everything and they’ll probably if they’re if they’re this good. Yeah Then they’ll win You know, they’ll win. They’ll win the roster spots But that doesn’t stop them from getting getting to new guys

Speaker 1 35:17
Yeah, and I don’t understand really back to Matt Breda. I really don’t understand what happened there. He had his moments against the Patriots. He had his best game in the dolphin uniform, 87 yards. They made them inactive the next two weeks.

Speaker 1 35:33
Healthy scratches in the next two weeks. So who knows what’s going on with Matt Breda, but it’s obviously he won’t be on this team next year. Moving on to tight ends, a highly productive group, but we kind of have some ideas.

Speaker 1 35:50
That group had over 1 ,000 yards, 13 touchdowns. Obviously they’re productive. Obviously Mike Gosecki, Durham Smythe, Adam Shaheen, all three capable players, all three guys played well, but do you foresee a significant upgrade?

Speaker 1 36:05
Simon.

Speaker 3 36:07
I think it depends who’s on the market, frankly. I mean- Maybe a guy from Florida. Maybe the kid from Florida, because he’s special. Yeah, we’ve been talking him up on this podcast for a few months for a good reason.

Speaker 3 36:20
Gassicky had a great year, played really well. He’s a good player. The carpets is different. He’s a different category of player altogether. He’s probably one of the top. We were talking about it on WhatsApp earlier on.

Speaker 3 36:33
He was one of the top six or seven players in this entire draft. He’s an elite pass catching tight end, a move tight end, great campaign. I mean, he was a finalist for the Balitnikov Award. He’s a tight end.

Speaker 3 36:44
I mean, that pretty much tells you everything you need to know. He dictates the coverage. Just a great mismatch player, just so quick off the line. Just beats the jam, looks the ball in through contact, makes a tough catch.

Speaker 3 36:56
He’s Darren Waller. He’s a massive red zone threat. The Dolphins a terrible red zone. I think he had nine of his catches. Nine of 13 catches went for touchdowns in the red zone. He’s not going to be a fit for every offense, but he’s just got a great field for space.

Speaker 3 37:13
And he’s a significantly better blocker than he’s given credit for. Chris is dealing some videos of Malik Herring and stuff, you know, six foot six, 280 pound Georgia defensive end. And he’s handling him one on one.

Speaker 3 37:24
People say carpets can’t block. Well, you know, carpets can block. He can run. He can catch. He’s a special player. So, you know, the Dolphins don’t need a tight end. But hell, you know, you don’t pass that up.

Speaker 3 37:37
You don’t pass up a red zone yak monster who can, you know, the game’s all about mismatches. You know, you can you can get carpets in the building. There’s all of a sudden you’ve got a Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez without a serial killer element.

Speaker 3 37:50
You know, and that’s this is a, you know, certain members of the coaching staff were there in New England when when they were drafted together, let alone when they played together. So it just that just opens the door for so many opportunities in a mismatch league.

Speaker 4 38:07
I think he’s Tony Gonzalez. I think he’s going to be an iconic player. The NFL, he’s probably the best tight end I’ve ever taken a look at. Best tight end prospect I’ve ever taken a look at. I don’t say that lightly.

Speaker 4 38:21
You know, it’s not just, listen, we’ve seen a lot of tight ends that have athleticism, right? Mike Gisicki, we’ve seen other ones that go back a ways. You see Kobe Fleener, guys that can run, you know, it’s clear they’ve got the dimensions, right?

Speaker 4 38:38
They’re tall, they’re big, and they can run, you know? And that’s usually enough for the NFL, right? To try and go after the guy. This is a guy that can run and that has that set of sort of athleticism, but he can also shake.

Speaker 4 38:57
And that’s, I mean, that’s what’s really so interesting about him as a receiver. He really moves like a wide receiver and not just, not on a straight line basis because there are some wide receivers that are straight line -ish, you know?

Speaker 4 39:11
He’s not at all that, you know? It’s just, it’s really unique to watch him, how he gets open against DBs, including some of the best cornerbacks in college football. You know, they go out and face him like he’s a wide receiver.

Speaker 4 39:26
And I’ve only seen two guys go up and consistently beat J .C. Horn and they’re Devonta Smith and Kyle Pitts. So, you know, what he can do as a wide receiver is just, is just unique. But what’s so unique, he’s a goddamn unicorn.

Speaker 4 39:42
And as you alluded to, and the blocking tape on him in this year, in 2020, is really, really good. It’s really compelling. He gets in line and he, you know, he keeps his hands inside and this is an effort thing.

Speaker 4 39:56
I mean, I don’t know how many tight ends I’ve seen. They’re just, you know, they’re kind of in there and, you know, they’re trying, but they’re not sticking with the blocks. And, you know, it’s really, you know, they fall off or they’re, they move, they move straight lines.

Speaker 4 40:11
You know, that’s not him. Like he is, he is a hundred percent effort. He is moving his feet. He’s keeping his hands in. He’s using his strength. And that’s how you get him blocking these 280 pounder defense, 280 pound defensive ends singly, you know, as a, as an inline tight end.

Speaker 4 40:31
And he’s doing well with it. You know, he’s doing as well as you see some blocking specialists do.

Speaker 1 40:36
Yeah, another thing that I noticed about Kyle Pitts as I’ve been watching him this week, he understands leverage when he’s blocking, okay? And that’s not something that a lot of tight ends do what a lot of tight ends like to do is get their hands on their guy and just follow him wherever he goes.

Speaker 1 40:50
He seems to understand where his guy wants to go and seems to understand the blocking game. So he’s a complete prospect. And I heard somebody say this and I haven’t verified it because I would have to start digging through drafts.

Speaker 1 41:05
I remember TJ Hockinson was pretty well thought of. But I heard somebody say that he was the best prospect since Jeremy Schalke at tight end. And that’s a hell of a call. Simon, your thoughts on that?

Speaker 1 41:20
Is that crazy or are we in the neighborhood?

Speaker 3 41:24
I think Vernon Davis, that’s another name that springs to mind when you think about what you can do with the ball. I mean, Chris talked about the unicorn. I mean, that’s literally what he’s nicknamed at Florida by his coaches is the unicorn because his talent is so rare.

Speaker 3 41:40
You know, I think, ultimately, you kind of, you know, the blocking is good. What you really want to focus on is what he does best. And that is just defeating press, that’s defeating corners, safeties, tight ends and making catch after catch after catch all over the field.

Speaker 3 41:55
Because I think that’s where he’s going to shine. I think he’s going to be just an elite player very quickly in this league. I think he’d be a real helpful to.

Speaker 1 42:04
All right.

Speaker 4 42:04
And to tell you, I don’t just say this because it’s a cliche, though. I don’t say this because it’s a cliche, but his ability as a blocker is going to make him all the more dangerous as a pass catcher, in my opinion, because of how he can be used and what downs he can be used and stuff like that.

Speaker 4 42:25
I mean, he’s just… And what it does to the personnel game on the defensive side of the ball. That’s what I think is so compelling about him. And I don’t think he’s limited to certain kinds of schemes.

Speaker 4 42:39
In fact, I think if you’re, say, had Mike McDaniels taken the job in Miami from San Francisco, you would think… If that were really the case, if you’re going on a Shanahan -style system, you could argue that Mike Gossicki is not the greatest fit for that, right?

Speaker 4 42:56
And you’d want more of a George Kittle type of player. The reason it’s such a big deal that Kyle Pitts is the unicorn with what he can do in the blocking game, understanding leverage, being a dog, is because he can fit that scheme.

Speaker 4 43:16
And that could make him a consistent 1 ,000 -yard receiver while also helping your offense be just one of the best in the league. And if you get a chance at that at the right price, I’m not above trading Mike Gossicki.

Speaker 4 43:36
I like him. But I’ll just say it.

Speaker 1 43:41
Yeah. And I, I kind of agree with you. All right. I completely agree with you. Like I would trade, like, if I could get a second rate, if I, if I can get myself CalPits now at 18, I don’t know. It’s going to be tough.

Speaker 1 43:55
We’ve already seen TJ Hopkinson, OJ Howard teams tend to figure out, okay, this is a special talent at tight end where there’s so few of them and they’ll overdraft. I don’t think it’s overdrafting to say that CalPits could go in the top 10 because it’s happened before.

Speaker 1 44:12
So I don’t know about 18, but if it costs you Mike Gosecki and 18 to get into the top 10.

Speaker 4 44:20
It won’t happen at 18.

Speaker 1 44:21
You know, would you do it if it costs you Micah Secchi to move up to get him? Would you do it? Well, that’s…

Speaker 4 44:28
No, that’s a, that’s a fair question. That’s a fair question. I think it probably comes more into frame. If the dolphins do decide to trade down from number three, and you know, the Smith is no longer on the board because you traded down quite frankly.

Speaker 4 44:46
I’m not, I struggle to think of a player, I struggled more attractive just as a player than, you know, once Trevor Lawrence and, and Devonta Smith are off the board, I struggled to think of anybody I’d rather have just as a player than Kyle Pitts.

Speaker 1 45:11
Yeah, I tend to agree. Overall, Simon is a good group, right? Like, you don’t mind if they come back intact, or are you looking for an upgrade somewhere in there? No.

Speaker 3 45:23
It’s a solid group that Shaheen and Smythe can block. They’re useful in the past game. They’re good, special team is good guys. So now it’s a decent group.

Speaker 1 45:33
Yeah, I completely agree. Now we’re going to go on to a group that’s not so good and got to give credit where it’s due. Simon said it in, in, in the, well, there was no preseason, but before the season, Simon said, you know, this group might not be as good as we think it’s going to be after the opt outs, I felt like, okay, they take one injury and we, we kind of all agreed on this, they take one injury, one major injury to personal Williams or Devontae Parker, and this group was absolutely horrid.

Speaker 1 46:06
Turned out, Simon was kind of correct. This group was not that good to begin with, even with the opt outs, because, you know, they just didn’t play. Now, Albert Wilson is coming back. Is that something you would entertain?

Speaker 1 46:20
Simon, would you like Albert Wilson back on the team?

Speaker 3 46:23
Yeah, I think the entire position is up for grabs. I don’t think anybody is particularly safe. You know, Parker probably is, but look, you know, Devontae, I mean, I said it a few weeks ago, or even in the preseason, that he wasn’t elite.

Speaker 3 46:37
He was a good receiver. I got loads of shit from it on social media. You know, people going, you don’t know what you’re talking about. Well, the guy isn’t elite. He’s a good player. He’s not an elite wide receiver.

Speaker 3 46:47
And anybody thinks he’s an elite wide receiver, he’s a clown, frankly. He doesn’t know what they’re talking about. He’s a good one.

Speaker 1 46:53
receiver that had one elite year.

Speaker 3 46:55
Yeah, he’s a good receiver. He’s not a great receiver. You know, Preston Williams is nice, but you know, he struggles with separation. He, he struggles with drops and concentration. And he has hurt all the time.

Speaker 3 47:11
He’s played 20 games. And he’s been active. He’s played in 10 games, essentially in two seasons, which doesn’t really say an awful lot about his potential longevity. Yeah, it’s interesting. It’s every

Speaker 1 47:24
Everybody talks about Devante Parker’s availability, Preston Williams has already missed more games in two years than Devante Parker has missed in five.

Speaker 4 47:34
I think, I think Preston, if he’s healthy is better, it could even be better than Devontae Parker though. I mean, the, the thing you mentioned that’s, that’s right on the nose, I think is, is the drops and the lapses and concentration, which he’s got to get out of his game because we’ve seen with other guys, how that can prevent you from, you know, reaching your potential.

Speaker 4 47:54
Um, but he gets open more easily than Devontae Parker does, uh, by, by a good amount.

Speaker 3 48:01
And the rest really are just, you know, Joaquin Grant, just a guy, you know, just is not reliable. I like Limboden. I think Limboden is a keeper. I like Malcolm Perry, but, you know, let’s not beat around the bush, you know, he’s kind of bottom third of the roster kind of guy.

Speaker 3 48:16
He’s probably going to have to show more on special teams to stick around. So I think, you know, a rebuild of the position, it’s not worked for years. So a rebuild of the position needs to happen, you know, whether that comes in free agency, you know, there’s a lot of names out there.

Speaker 3 48:29
And obviously, the big names, the Gollodays, the Chris Godwins are almost certainly going to be re -signed. But, you know, you look at Juju Smith Schuster, you know, Pittsburgh are significantly over the cap, that’s not going to happen.

Speaker 3 48:40
He, you know, he will hit the free agent market. You know, who else is out there? You look at, you know, Nelson Agalor, for example, has had a really good season. You know, a guy obviously has been plagued with drops throughout his career.

Speaker 3 48:50
But you know, a good player has had an excellent year with the with the Raiders. Marvin Jones as a guy, we’ve talked about begging to be here brings Tim Patrick, Denver is a decent receiver, you look at somebody else like Harry Allen Robinson, you asked whether or not he fits, does he fit coming back home to Miami?

Speaker 3 49:07
Is he the same player as Parker and Williams, you know, have a size profile is not overly twitchy, but he moves the he moves the needle, he moves the he moves the chains, Samuel, obviously very intriguing kind of player Isaiah McKenzie killed us in week 17.

Speaker 3 49:22
He’s got skills, these are all free agent guys. So you know, and then the draft I mean, you know, what don’t the dolphins do? The dolphins do not create yak, they do not have yards are consistent yards after the catch.

Speaker 3 49:34
No, no, you know, you look at, you look at Devonta Smith 500 more yards after catch over the last three years, and anybody else in college football, anybody else in college football, I mean, that in itself, Jaylen Waddell is a complete yak guy want to know more, you know, his yak abilities absolutely off the charts.

Speaker 3 49:56
Kaderius Tony, another yak guy, you know, you look at Diami Brown of North Carolina, he’s got dynamic yards after catch ability. This is a guy like Amari Rogers, top five in yards after the catch over the last four years.

Speaker 3 50:10
In college football is a perfect fit for the RPO offense. Elijah Moore, another, you know, another yak guy, you just go through to to Atwell, there’s another one, you just go all the way to Philadelphia, Tamori and Terry, you know, shy Smith of South Carolina, these are yak Dwayne Eskridge, who’s on the dolphins lost at the senior bowl, Marcus Stevenson of Houston.

Speaker 3 50:30
You know, these are all big yak guys. So, you know, that’s what the dolphins need more than anything is people who can create after the catch, because they just don’t have it. So, you know, I think there will be a real rebuild of this unit via free agency and the draft, you know, I could see us coming out of the draft with at least two receivers, maybe more depending on what happens in free agency.

Speaker 3 50:49
But I just don’t think you can go into the season the same guys because it’s just not going to it’s not going to happen.

Speaker 1 50:55
Yeah, and watching Buffalo, it’s interesting how many myths get dispelled as teams win. Everybody said you can’t go out and buy yourself an elite unit. Well, the Jaguars proved that that was nonsense when they bought an entire defense.

Speaker 1 51:11
They used a couple of high draft picks and then they bought the rest of their defense. They have one of the top differences in the NFL. They made the AFC Championship game. The Buffalo Bills.

Speaker 3 51:20
The second best received in football, along with the best, along with the one to Adams, you know.

Speaker 1 51:24
Yeah, it happens, you know, you can do it and the bills, they needed a slot guy that went out and got Cole Beasley, one of the better slot guys in football. They wanted a deep threat. They went in and got John Brown.

Speaker 1 51:34
They traded for Stefan Diggs. That worked out. So it can be done. And all of that was done in relatively one off season. So it can be done.

Speaker 4 51:46
bought and I thought Miami very much bought a defense. Why aren’t we talking about that? Yeah, Baron Jones, Kyle Van Ooy, and Kyle Van Ooy, and both Emmanuel Ogma and Shaq Lawson. If you go back a year, Eric Rowe.

Speaker 4 52:00
They basically bought, I mean, these were key players, awful defense one year ago, right? Last in the league became, you know, they didn’t end the season as the top defense in the league, but, you know, they were for most of the season, the top defense in the league.

Speaker 1 52:17
All right, Simon, to wrap up the wide receivers, Isaiah Ford, Mack Hollins, both are free agents. They both walk. Or does Mack Hollins have some usefulness as a special team or bottom of the roster guy?

Speaker 3 52:29
Special teams captain, but you know, you can probably find better Isaiah Ford is done

Speaker 1 52:33
tend to agree Chris McCollins makes it I mean he might be invited back

Speaker 4 52:39
Um, but not a roster guy, you know, we’ll see, you know, it’s, it’s going to be tough. It’s going to be tough. They asked him to, they asked him to step up. They asked him to step up and he couldn’t catch the ball.

Speaker 1 52:50
No, that’s he could not. Yeah. Bottom line is that if you play wide receiver, you might be asked to catch the ball. That’s, that’s important, right? Right. Our favorite, just to close it out. I know I said we were going to close it out, but you know, we’re a fan of this guy.

Speaker 1 53:09
Did we witness the end of Joaquin Grant this year? I’ll go to Chris first.

Speaker 4 53:15
No, I don’t think so. He’s, he’s signed long -term and he is second team all -pro as a returner. He’s going to be on the team. He’s going to, if you’re on the team and you’re active on game day and you’re a wide receiver, you’re probably going to end up out there.

Speaker 4 53:29
And when you have the speed to, you know, run what to a lovingly called brotherhood routes, then, you know, and depending on who else you have on the roster, I think the really problem is, is that they have nobody other than Grant on the roster who can actually run.

Speaker 4 53:46
Yes. You know, nobody. And, and so, and so that’s the real, that’s the real issue there. So yeah, he’s going to be on the field at times. He’s going to, you know, he’s the return man and he’s one of the league’s best return men.

Speaker 4 54:02
And he signed long -term. He signed through like 2023 or something like that. I mean, it’s, yeah, he’s going to be, he’s going to be here unless they trade him or something.

Speaker 1 54:11
Yeah, Simon, no surprises, right? He makes it. Oh, all right. Well, Jaquemu-

Speaker 3 54:15
the team. Yeah he comes back next year. Yeah he’ll be back but I don’t know if he makes a team. Okay so there is that. There’s doubt for me but then I you know I said this time last year or coming into camp that I thought he you know he might struggle it might be a shock he might be one of the guys that that falls off the edge of the roster I just don’t think he’s done enough he’s not getting any better you know he’s a great return guy but how often I mean how many return touchdowns were there in the NFL this year under 10 I think he had one of them I only had one of them but you know that’s one does that does the one return touchdown account for all the other stuff you know he gets hurt he drops passes you know he’s inconsistent he has great play speed but it doesn’t show you know he’s got speed but it doesn’t show up as play speed you know

Speaker 1 55:02
decent gimmick player I would say those ender rounds are money with him

Speaker 4 55:07
No, I think I totally disagree with the play speed. I think it’s play speed is phenomenal. Um, I think the fact is play speed is phenomenal. He can’t catch the ball. That’s the problem. The ball looks like a beach ball in his hands.

Speaker 4 55:19
I mean, he’s tiny.

Speaker 3 55:21
I just, I mean, if you had the speed that he had, you’d be throwing it deep to him all the time. And, you know, I just don’t even get open. I just don’t think he’s, you know, he looks like Tarzan plays like

Speaker 4 55:33
He gets open all the time on all 22, all 22, he is open all the frigging time. It’s that he’s so small. It’s hard to find him. It really is. I mean, cause you got to, you got to layer the ball in, right?

Speaker 4 55:45
It’s not as easy as just throwing a guy.

Speaker 3 55:50
He’s a tyrant kill then, because he’s pretty small too.

Speaker 4 55:53
Well, first off, you’ve got a guy with an absolute howitzer on his shoulders throwing the ball 60 yards down the field.

Speaker 3 56:01
But surely if you’ve got a house that doesn’t matter if you can find, it’s about finding it.

Speaker 4 56:04
He is, first off, he’s bigger, he is bigger than Joaquin Grant. There is a difference between five foot six and five foot, you know, nine or whatever, whatever. Five foot eight and an eighth. Yeah, five foot eight.

Speaker 4 56:16
I mean, Joaquin Grant is five foot six. I think, I think there’s a difference there. I mean, we would say, we would say there’s a difference between a six foot oh guy and a six foot two guy, wouldn’t we not?

Speaker 4 56:26
Yes. In the body or in a wide receiver, we would say, we would say the one is lengthy and the other is yes. Yeah, I mean, that’s so I think there is a difference. There is a difference there. But he is getting open all the time.

Speaker 4 56:42
He just can’t friggin catch the ball. And you’re just, you’re gonna live with it. And you’re gonna live with like one out of five or something like that times that you go to them. And it’s just, it’s just this, this bad drop, like they look really bad.

Speaker 4 56:57
And again, these small guys, they turn me off now, because, you know, when I’m watching like a Rondale Moore or something like that, he looks like, he looks like one of these small guys where the ball looks big in their hand, it looks like a friggin beach ball.

Speaker 4 57:09
And they and so it like, they have trouble, they really have trouble at the catch point controlling it and hauling it in. And I think Joaquin Grant is there. I think Rondale Moore is there. I think one of the reasons that Tutu Atwell is, is, is unique as a prospect is because he’s smaller, you know, five foot the along that five foot nine ish route, or area.

Speaker 4 57:34
But he’s, but he’s got nice big hands and he has control of the football. He used to be a quarterback. I mean, he’s, he’s, he was a dual threat quarterback in Miami for, for high school. I mean, he has control of the football.

Speaker 4 57:48
I think some of those other tiny guys, that’s where they really fall short. And that’s, and if, if injuries and inability to catch the ball are going to do Joaquin in that, you know, that’s, that’s what’s going to happen.

Speaker 4 58:01
And the fact that he’s so small that it is hard to layer the football into him against a defense when you, you know, it’s not just straight line. It’s, you’re not just shooting lasers, right? It’s, you got people in front of you, you got people at different depths of, of zone.

Speaker 4 58:20
And, and it can be tough to, to get a, get the ball to a, to an especially tiny and he’s, he’s like a Smurf. So it’s, you know, it’s, it’s a shame, but it is what it is, but it’s not, it’s not his play speed, his play speed is phenomenal.

Speaker 4 58:33
And he’s getting open all the time. I mean, you even look at, you even look at the stuff like next gen stats and stuff like that, they show that he get, has the most, some of the most, the most separation of any receiver, you know, on, on the targets that he has and the catches that he has.

Speaker 4 58:51
I mean, he creates separation. It’s just, it’s, it’s just a shame that he’s not bigger. Yeah.

Speaker 3 59:00
He won’t meet the team next year.

Speaker 4 59:04
I don’t I may maybe I mean maybe they make a calculus about his contract is too expensive to be a return specialist but he is you know he’s the second team all pro returner I’d be surprised if if he’s just summarily dismissed you know yeah

Speaker 1 59:22
And you can grant Malcolm Perry limb out and you can make the case that they have three gimmick guys and you don’t need three. Yeah, it’s bad.

Speaker 4 59:32
Yeah. So that was totally unexciting to me. They put the ball in his hands a lot and some of those final weeks. And I thought that if it wasn’t if it wasn’t to making a ridiculous throw like in that Chiefs game that you know, otherwise it was just kind of unexciting.

Speaker 4 59:50
I mean, he’s not worth it. Oh, he’s got great hands. No, he really does. He’s that’s where you got to give him credit. He’s got great. He’s got really good hands. Um, for you know, quarterback convert, but otherwise it was totally unexciting.

Speaker 4 01:00:07
I can see why they’re going to look at Curtis Samuel. You know, I can see why they’re going to look at Tutu Atwell. I can see why they’re going to look at Jaylen Waddle. Yeah, they want a real version of those three guys.

Speaker 4 01:00:18
A real version of Lynn Bowden, not Lynn Bowden.

Speaker 1 01:00:22
Yes. Limbot and if you’re listening to this, you’re probably not a fan and you’re probably leaving us a very, very nasty review on iTunes.

Speaker 4 01:00:31
go go uh go like go like and retweet some more Deshaun Watson stuff.

Speaker 1 01:00:38
Look, I like him as a player too. Maybe he’ll go to the Texans. Maybe he’ll go to the Texans. I like him as a player, but I’ll push Lim Bowden off a cliff for Curtis Samuel. Okay? Yeah. I just would.

Speaker 1 01:00:48
It’s, I don’t need, and I don’t need to see more. Like, I’m pretty certain that Curtis Samuel’s gonna give me everything I want from Lim Bowden. Now, how expensive will Curtis Samuel be? That’s a different calculation.

Speaker 1 01:01:00
And that’s something that you have to weigh, of course, right? But three gimmick players, I think it’s three too many. And two might be too many, to be honest with you, especially if they’re gonna draft the wide receiver and then sign one.

Speaker 1 01:01:13
So moving on to the offensive line, I think that this is the year we finally replaced Jesse Davis. And if they don’t replace Jesse Davis, then they didn’t do much on the offensive line. Is that fair, Simon?

Speaker 1 01:01:27
Yeah.

Speaker 3 01:01:28
I mean, I think Davis and probably take, uh, probably, um, I keep wanting to call him Ted Carus, but that’s not his name, is it? Um, but I think, yeah, who do I keep? I keep mixing him up with the guy that we had before.

Speaker 3 01:01:41
And you’ll still bore.

Speaker 4 01:01:45
And you’ll kill it anyway. Ted Harris is very much an offensive lineman on the day.

Speaker 3 01:01:49
Yeah, no, I know he is. But yeah, just ignore that. Um, but yeah, I think, um, I think Karras would be a great backup at all three interior spots, but you’d like to simply replace. And Jesse Davis, I think, you know, would just be, and whether that’s, you know, you’re drafting a right tackle, Abraham Lucas, that kind of guy, or, um, the big kid over at Oklahoma State, Kevin Jenkins, and you’re kicking Robert Hunt inside, who knows?

Speaker 3 01:02:10
And then, you know, you’re bringing in a Creed Humphrey or a Landon Dickerson or a kid at Ohio State or, you know, depends, you know, if they’re going to move to the zone scheme, then it’s the kid at, it’s the kid at Stanford.

Speaker 3 01:02:21
Um, you know, um, Dorman, but yeah, I think, um, and the questions as well about Eric Flowers, you know, he played, he played. Okay. You know, I don’t think

Speaker 1 01:02:33
He had a good season, but good God those two last those last two games were bad Thank you.

Speaker 4 01:02:39
Post -endry, post -endry, I think it was awful in post -endry. And awful as being kind.

Speaker 3 01:02:45
I don’t think he was healthy though. He wasn’t healthy. Clearly the ankle was an issue.

Speaker 4 01:02:51
But the thing is, I didn’t think he was awesome pre -engineery. So… I think it’s okay. Yeah.

Speaker 3 01:02:57
you know, what’s the deal with Austin Jackson? You know, does he stay at left tackle? Can he, you know, do you move into right tackle if you draft Penny Sewell? You know, are you that interested in the Christian Darrasaw or Rashawn Slater or Liam Eichenberg or, you know, do you want another left tackle?

Speaker 3 01:03:11
I mean, it feels like you don’t give up the 18th pick on a left tackle if you’re then going to draft another one the following year because I thought Jackson played pretty decently for a rookie. I thought Hunt played pretty decently.

Speaker 3 01:03:20
I thought Kindy was a mini -revelation at times, you know, but, you know, is Solomon Kindy the style of guard that they’re looking for if they are going to transition to his own scheme? Because he doesn’t really fit.

Speaker 3 01:03:31
He’s not a zone, you know, he’s a power guy, you know, so then you’re looking at a Lajavira Tucker at USC or those kind of guys. But it’d be interesting and I don’t think we can answer any questions about the offensive line until we know what the scheme is and whether or not it’s going to be, you know, one of those, because if it was Mike McDaniel, the 49ers run game coordinator, then, you know, unless he’s going to make a fairly big transition from something that he’s run for years, which is a zone scheme, one can’t go, to a power system, which is what we run essentially, then it would be, that would be intriguing.

Speaker 3 01:04:05
But I think we, you know, you can’t make any hard and fast decisions on the offensive line until we know who’s the offensive coordinator.

Speaker 1 01:04:13
Yeah, and if you look at the entire group, they’re all under contract except Julian Davenport, but I’m pretty certain none of us want him back. But everybody’s under contract. So those decisions are going to have to be made as far as cutting or trading some of these guys if they’re going to fit in new personnel.

Speaker 4 01:04:32
Simon, I wonder if you’re thinking of Nate Garner, like with Jesse Davis, like were you trying to like compare him to that? Let me in. Cause I confuse him with that all the time. Nate Garner.

Speaker 1 01:04:45
Well, yeah, Jesse Davis is starting next year. They didn’t do much on

Speaker 4 01:04:49
the office. No, it’s it’s time for him to not be a starter anymore. I think he’s under contract. So I keep mistaken. Oh, Ted Larson. Okay. Gotcha. Oh, boy. Yeah, I can see I can see why he confused that.

Speaker 4 01:05:06
But yeah, I don’t think he’s going to be starting anymore. Um, the more interesting question to me is, is not so much about Jeff Davis is about Robert Hunt. And and what did you see in him at right tackle, we knew that he was going to be given the opportunity to win that right tackle job.

Speaker 4 01:05:28
Simon said that, you know, he, before the season started, before anything, you know, was really clear, that he that you heard that he was going to be given the opportunity to win that right tackle job.

Speaker 4 01:05:41
And he was, okay, opportunity was given, did he do it? That’s the question. And I think that with your to a ton of vial, a quarterback, the stakes are kind of high, right? This isn’t, you know, this is this is a higher, this is a higher stakes decision, I think, than normal.

Speaker 4 01:06:02
And it’s not just because of the left handed thing, although that plays into it. So does he move inside to right guard? Does, you know, does he continue on at right tackle? That’s, that’s a really big question.

Speaker 4 01:06:16
I think that there’s going to be opportunity. And this off season, I look at the free agents. And number one, you see Taylor Moten as a free agent as an unrestricted free agent. And that’s one thing, I don’t know if he necessarily fits as, you know, moving toward his own scheme, but he could certainly nail down the right tackle position.

Speaker 4 01:06:36
And have you feeling safer about that. So that’s, that’s something to consider. What I would look at is the New Orleans Saints. You know, they, they went for it all this year, you know, one last go, and they didn’t make it.

Speaker 4 01:06:52
So now they find themselves nearly $100 million over the salary cap. And, and with not very many, you know, easy ways to lop off a lot of that cap room. You know, I hear that situation with Drew Brees his contract and voidable years is actually, is actually worse than it looks on paper or on like, you know, spow track or something like that.

Speaker 4 01:07:16
So they’ve got two guys that are fifth year option guys. They’re right tackle Ryan Ramshak and corner and Marshawn Lattimore. They’re going to be playing for 10 $11 million or 11 and $10 million, respectively, this year on the fifth year option, but it’s an 11 and 10 million that’s clean.

Speaker 4 01:07:37
It’s not, you know, it’s just salary. It’s not there’s no acceleration or anything. So if they were to get rid of those guys, then they just get to wipe, you know, trade those guys away, they get to just wipe $20 million off their books, and they may need to do that.

Speaker 4 01:07:54
And so if you call if you’re the Miami Dolphins, and you call up the New Orleans Saints, you know, your good friend Chris Greer is good friend, Jeff Ireland, and says, you know, hey, hey, I’ll give you this.

Speaker 4 01:08:07
I’ll give you this for Ryan Ramshak. I know, I know you guys are in a bad way. And you guys are going to need to, you know, this isn’t pruning of the salary cap that needs to be done. This is lighting your roster on fire.

Speaker 4 01:08:19
And I’ll take them, give them something decent, you know, worthwhile, and make sure you know, that other teams don’t bid you on it. And I think you can get he’s 28 years old. He is one of clearly one of the best right tackles in the business has been for years.

Speaker 4 01:08:41
And he fits the zone really well. So you would not only feel sleep well at night thinking about to his right, you know, right side, the blind side for him. You would sleep well at night knowing that too is protected.

Speaker 4 01:08:59
You would sleep well at night also, knowing that you got a guy who’s going to help you transition because it does look like they’re going to transition to a zone scheme. It may not be the most religious of zone schemes like Mike McDaniel would have run.

Speaker 4 01:09:11
But it’s, but it’s going to be in some fashion that I think so you got a guy that helps you in two fronts that way you got multiple ways having a better run game is going to help to having a better pass protection is going to help do it.

Speaker 4 01:09:26
I think it would just be a home run to do is getting Ryan Ramchek. But the other thing that they’re going to have to do and you mentioned Ted Karas, if they’re going to convert to the scheme, then they Ted Karras is a free agent, so it’s not like they’d have to make a tough decision cutting him or something like that.

Speaker 4 01:09:48
But they’re going to have to figure that position out. And I know that they headed into the season knowing that that center are hoping that the center position was the one thing that they had left to really get to.

Speaker 4 01:10:00
And so I wonder how big they’re going to go on that position. Are they going to go as big as, you know, can they pursue Corey Lindsley? Simon, you said is the best center in the league right now. Can they go after Creed Humphries, who they’re going to coach at the Senior Bowl?

Speaker 4 01:10:21
Will they go for a Drew Dalman at Stanford, who if they get Pep Hamilton, Pep Hamilton, Stanford guy, David Shaw guy, you know, zone perfect for it. He’s absolutely would absolutely fit it like glove.

Speaker 4 01:10:38
Could Chris Dalman son, by the way, I don’t know if anybody knows Chris Dalman. I don’t know if he was all pro, but he was, he was definitely one of the best offensive linemen in the league for a long time.

Speaker 4 01:10:52
And yeah, could they go after him? How big are they going to go at the center position? I don’t think it’s something we talk about that much. And if not necessarily priority one on offense, it might be a priority two, and it might be like a sneaky priority to do that we didn’t really see coming.

Speaker 1 01:11:11
Yeah, speaking of Ted Larson, do you know where he is, Simon? There’s no nursing. Nope. He didn’t play this season, but he didn’t play a couple of weeks ago for Tampa Bay off the street, stepped in and played 38 snaps in the wildcard game against the Washington football team.

Speaker 1 01:11:33
So Ted Larson came off the street to play in a playoff game, and evidently played well, he did not allow a sack. So, all right, on the way out here, next week, we’re going to get into the defense. I think we covered the offensive side of the ball.

Speaker 1 01:11:49
Like I said, at the top of the show, yes, that a lot of work needs to be done on this side of the ball. And if you watch these teams this weekend, you will notice, yeah, we don’t have that. Not what those teams have on the offensive side of the ball.

Speaker 1 01:12:04
On the way out here, Simon, who plays in the Super Bowl?

Speaker 3 01:12:08
the Buffalo Bills and the Green Bear Packers.

Speaker 1 01:12:11
Oof that I already know one one of us is pretty upset about you picking Buffalo

Speaker 4 01:12:20
Yeah, I wasn’t until this week, right? I was hoping Buffalo would beat the Ravens, because I freaking hate the Ravens. But now that they’re playing the Chiefs, I mean, I get to be 100% AFC East hater on the Buffalo Bills.

Speaker 4 01:12:40
And that’s refreshing. Is it going to happen though? Yeah, I do. Yeah, I think so. Okay. Of course it will. All right. Well, Simon thinks they’re going to beat the Kansas City Chiefs. I don’t say it.

Speaker 1 01:12:56
The bills didn’t look all that great this past week, but all of a sudden their defense came alive.

Speaker 4 01:13:01
And everybody’s waiting for that right with the bills like the Cinderella clock strikes midnight on the on this Uber productive offense. Yeah that Josh Josh Allen has been commanding, you know with with uncanny accuracy that people never thought he had You know, I think everybody’s waiting for the clock to strike midnight on it and I wonder if this poor showing You know on offense in the last week kind of starts Putting doubt in their minds like it starts creeping in

Speaker 1 01:13:38
maybe that’s possible. Although I will say this, the streak continues. No team in NFL history had won seven games in a row by six points or less until the Chiefs did it. Now it’s eight games. So I think the streak reaches nine because I think that game is going to be close.

Speaker 1 01:13:57
And I do have the Chiefs winning. So Chiefs won by a field goal.

Speaker 4 01:14:02
have off though, it reminds me of, do you remember the Peyton Manning Colts? Do you remember like some of those Colts teams that were just like phenomenal, you know, 15 and one. Yeah. Great offense, you know, just Jim Caldwell.

Speaker 4 01:14:19
Yeah. And then, and then summarily, summarily escorted out of the playoffs, right? And it was, it was sort of like they were, they were front runners, they’re really good front runners. Then the next year, the year that they actually won the Super Bowl, they were, they were, they weren’t front runners anymore.

Speaker 4 01:14:41
They, they gutted out tough games and close, close games and did it consistently. And I don’t know if it was, I mean, they might not have gotten to that six, six or seven in a row, but there were a lot of games that they, I mean, so, so you knew that they were good front runners, right?

Speaker 4 01:14:55
You know, guys that could lay on 35 points and just, you know, take advantage if, if it happens that way, but finding, finding out that your team is also good enough that when you get punched in the mouth, like you can respond and, and win the tough games consistently and come out on top.

Speaker 4 01:15:14
I think that says something about the team that, you know, maybe get underrated a little bit and maybe I’m wrong. And the chiefs, you know, fucking suck. But, but I think that, I think that there, I think it actually says something about the dimensions of that team that maybe wasn’t even there a year ago.

Speaker 1 01:15:31
Yeah. And watching Chad Henny running around and making all those passes, like I don’t remember him looking that good in the dolphin uniform for that matter, but you know, it tends to help that you have those weapons, right?

Speaker 1 01:15:44
In Kansas City? Because he looked like a different guy. And it was hilarious how after the game, Andrew, you kept saying that this is going to go down in chief’s lore. We’re going to remember the run, the catch, and the throw by Chad Henny.

Speaker 1 01:15:59
But yeah, I expect Patrick Mahomes to play. It’s all over the internet right now, if you go look at it, that yeah, Patrick Mahomes will play. So yeah, I think the Chiefs eke it out. And we get the Super Bowl we want that everybody wants.

Speaker 1 01:16:16
Well, at least everybody outside of Buffalo and Tampa Bay. But we want Green Bay, Kansas City. And I think next week we’ll talk defense. But till then.

Speaker 2 01:16:29
Thanks for listening to 3 Yards Per Caddy. You can subscribe via iTunes, on Podbean or your usual podcast provider. Thank you.