Dolphins in Depth: Breaking down the top 10 observations made from practices open to the media

welcome to another edition of Dolphins in depth the Miami Herold Miami Dolphins podcast brought to you by the Miami Herold I'm your host Omar Kelly Miami Harold Dolphins columnist and today we're going to go over what my 10 takeaways from the Miami Dolphins mini camp were um not just mini camp but also OTAs uh we we the media had a number of practices I think we're about at eight where we had the chance and the opportunity to see those who were working during the offseason program um see them plays see the new defense uh you know see the offense versus the defense work against one another um and there were some Lasting Impressions that probably will carry over the training camp but I could tell you that this is still a team that's trying to create their identity trying to figure out who they are and while we do have a lot of carryover from the offensive side um there are new pieces like Odell Beckham Janu Smith um that have to continue to gel and figure through out their Lane I think we're probably going to be seeing a transition in terms of how the Back Field Works uh and then defensively this is going to be an entirely new defense as we went over in the last episode of Dolphins in depth um it's sort of a combination of what the Miami Dolphins did in the Brian Flores era in terms of a BL blitzing more aggressive defense and then balance of what they did during the vi fangio era where they were keep everything in front of us uh very vanilla coincidentally they LED franchise franchise set a franchise record for sex um however Mike McDaniel wants to be more aggressive he wants to be more in yourf face he wants to be more multiple so it'll be interesting to see how they marry that um but let's get into my top 10 takeaways that we saw from the offseason program for most of you who were participating in terms of watching paying attention to what the media members were writing the offseason didn't feature a lot of the star players working I didn't see Tyreek Hill take a single snap in in any of the practice the media attended Odell Beckham did not participate in any of the offseason program um you know Jaylen Ramsey showed up for mini camp but that was the only participation that he had in the offseason program and a number of key veterans I have will tell you there was a handful of snaps for guys like Raheem moard um ton Armstead showed up from Min camp and was not participating but this is the norm for Mike McDaniels off season um those established 30-year veterans uh do not go through the grinder um and and really this offseason program is mainly for the young players the players who need a little bit of seasoning and the players who need to adjust to the offense now one guy who was not participating was quarterback Tua Tong of aloa uh Tua is engaged in a long negotiations which basically hopefully doesn't come to an impass in the next six weeks before train to start a training camp this is about him getting a multi-year contract that puts him in the neighborhood of what his peers are making and when I say peers I'm referring to the Justin herberts the Joe Burrows to jayen Herz um that's what Tu is seeking uh if he doesn't get that more than likely he's going to do what he did in the offseason program which was limit his participation to seven on sevens and not any of the teamwork now one of the things that's a big emphasis for two of this off season was uh losing weight and also working with a quarterback coach John Beck who some of you might be familiar with from his Infamous 2007 season with the Miami Dolphins and then being run out of town by Bill Parcels uh during the tenure that I covered which the team which began in 2007 John Beck was one of the worst quarterbacks in franchise history however he is now the quarterback instructor of the of Miami Dolphin starting quarterback Ry uh tuong Vala and it'll be interesting to see what changes he helps to make that helped him become a better quarterback but one of the things that Tua is very adamant about improving is enhancing his Mobility enhancing his ability to extend plays with his feet and really if you understand where his thought process is his thought process is that this is something that I did more at the University of Alabama something I want to get back to and something that sort of differentiates the elite quarterback from the upper echelon because as you know with the elite quarterbacks we're talking about the Lamar Jacksons the Joe burrow the Patrick Mahomes uh their ability to extend plays and convert first downs with their legs is kind of what sets them apart especially in the postseason and it seems as if Tua is trying to get to that level uh right now we've got quarterback coach Darren Beville who's talking a little bit about Tua and the Improvement of mobility and also he addresses what he's seen from the backup quarterbacks this off season where they've taken all of the 1111 work as a as a position coach how do you balance the upside of hey extending plays and all that what we've been through to the last few years there's been some injury concerns yeah I mean the thing is I think um you know one of the things we talk about is protecting the quarterback right and that's not only the offensive line or the running backs or the protection you know it's it's to uh and doing his job as well in protecting the quarterbacks whether it's understanding the protection scheme you know where where the issues might be U when he needs to get the ball out uh when he can hang on to it a little bit longer uh when he needs to go when he goes you know what decisions does he make outside the pocket so I think uh I think all that as a whole um are things that you you know you have to continue to do to to protected for that coach what ways have Skyler and Mike improved from end of last Seas now yeah I I mean I think anytime um you know you you get a inordinate amount of reps you know with both of those guys whove been getting a lot of reps here lately um they've they've been able to improve and you know the funny thing is is like during the season you know how it goes like the backup quarterbacks are mostly doing scout team reps so they don't necessarily get reps within our offense so they've gotten enormous amount of reps um they've got they've continued to work to get better they worked on a little details to get better um and I'm I'm really happy with the competition that we have going there where have you seen the most growth from from Mike and Skyler in this offense um I I think different things you know Mike Mike has been uh fundamental with some of the things that we're asking him to do fundamentally I think this offseason he took a really big step forward with that and then Skyler is more um a little bit the mentally the mental part of it um I think mentally he's done a a good job of you know of grasping the concepts and then being more comfortable when he gets in there to execute now here's the one thing that I would like to point out about the backup quarterbacks Mike White and Skylar Thompson um they are relatively close Mike White has a better understanding of the offense can execute it better Skyler probably has better intangibles better tool better arm however the inconsistency and play that you get from him on a day-to-day basis is really what the issue is Skyler could be high Skyler could be low Mike White is right there in the middle um I think that me personally um if I were going to have to start a batch of games without Ryan without to a tongue of a I don't know why I keep calling him Ryan tanah Hill but without Tu a tongue of a I would have to go with Mike White partly because the consistency that you get from him is what separates him from Skyler Skyler has a little bit of a mat more in him where it's high it's low um but I haven't seen him execute an offense to level of M more where he can blow out an opponent that's just not what he does um it'll be interesting to see where the progression is with both individuals now that they're entering their third in terms of skyar Thompson and second season in in this exact offense uh another another issue that we we picked up was that Ryan uh Tyreek Hill I don't know why I have Ryan tanah Hill on the brain uh Tyreek Hill is advocating pushing for another contract extension and this isn't surprising when you understand and this is something that I pointed out earlier in the offseason Tyreek probably would have been the easiest extension to do to in order to create cap space I believe restructuring tyre's deal giving him two more years probably giving him a bump in salary that would have helped the Miami Dolphins create about 14 million in cap space when they couldn't get that done whether it be because Drew was asking for too much or maybe they want to see the receivers reset the market or maybe Tariq had gotten himself in trouble too much this offseason when they couldn't get that done Mi me went other routes the more challenging routes in terms of um restruct uring jayen Ramsey's contract nothing challenging about that um but it just makes it a little bit more complicated to um redo his contract which is probably going to need to get done next next off season then uh they also restructured Bradley chub giving him more upfront money as opposed to his base salary um I don't necessarily know the complications with that considering um we don't know where the health status is with Bradley chub or what he's going to look like next season but if he doesn't look like a 20 million a year player that could be challenging for the Miami Dolphins but tarq is a player who wants to get paid like Justin Jefferson who is averaging $28.4 million a year um and he wants to be in the neighborhood of the 30 million a year receivers and when I say 30 million I'm referring to what a a wide receiver realistically makes not the fictitious number that a lot of people give out um for instance Tyreek Hill when he signed with the Miami Dolphins on a uh a a a four-year extension for I believe it was A1 hundred million um that there were reports out there that he made $30 million a year Well Tyreek would make 30 million a year and would average 30 million a year if the Dolphins honored his 2026 salary at $45 million a year now there's no way in hell that's going to happen because $45 million a year is what most quarterbacks are making um the NFL is not about to pay a wide receiver especially one who's going to be 32 at that time $45 million a year what Tyreek is looking for is an extension of his guaranteed money the guaranteed money for Tyreek Hill's deal is up at this season um he's going to make $20 million this season when if all of his bonuses are factored in and next season tyreq is going to be on the books for $21.9 million that's exactly what he's going to be making and when you in that J Jaylen Wadd is the 11th highest paid receiver in the NFL and he's going to be averaging 20.5 million a year in the fiveyear 105 million contract he signed you will see that Tariq definitely needs a a boost in terms of his salary and when you restructure a wide receiver's contract ESP any player's contract you basically give them two more years of guaranteed money me personally I think if you guarant two more years of his money and add on four years and put some fake numbers at the end so that Tariq gets his fake average but if you ultimately guarantee him $60 million a year I think you can get the extension that you need that you seek um and not only will tyre's extension give you cap space for future years two's extension would also give you cap space for future years now let's get into the top performer of the offseason program to me in my mind in my eyes based on what I saw Devon H might be that top performer I think that there's a possibility that we could be seeing a changing of the running backs in terms of Devon stepping up to being the lead dog uh and rahee moster being the number two Devon got a ton of work in the offseason program obviously this is a non-padded practice so non-padded practices make it it's basically flag football no pads are on guys are in shirts and shorts um they running around catching the ball if you're playing flag football a running back who runs a 432 um he's definitely going to be a dynamic weapon and that's what Devon Anan was in in in the Dolphins offense primarily in the Red Zone on checkdown plays on Wheel routes I mean he was just chewing up these linebackers and let's hope that's an indication of our talent and safeties because I saw him get behind uh Jordan puyer one good time and it made me question whether or not Jordan puyer still has the speed to be a starting free safety in the NFL or strong safety um but Devon Anan was my top performer in the offseason program I I just thought he really did a phenomenal job uh I do not believe that he is bulked up like a lot of these fans think he has based on one picture taken from an angle facing upward um I think he looks like the same back maybe he's put on five pounds of muscle great um but he is definitely going to be a talented weapon uh I wouldn't be surprised if the workload probably favors Anan early in the season um just so that we can ensure that Rim moer gets preserved for later on in the season another thing that we picked up is Odell Beckham Jr um in terms of his arm man that guy he looks like he's got a cannon uh we did not see Odell Beckham Jr participate in the offseason program because he was injured or we assumed that he was injured but the trainers are holding him out um this could be a 30-year vet situation and I wouldn't be surprised if if it is a 30-year bet situation Odell Beckham is probably being brought along slowly but the one thing we did see him do was participate in a quarterback throwing drill with all the starting quarterbacks and the position coaches they were standing I believe at the 10 yard line and throwing the ball into a coffin corner in the in a net in the corner of the end zone and man not only did Odell Beckham Jr get the ball in the net the first two tries that he made um which was some and he did it twice before Tu aong of aloa who Mr accuracy actually got into the net but he then retreated to the 50 yard line through one pass into the end zone uh and hit the goal post boop boop one throw imagine how hard it is for any quarterback to throw the ball 50 to throw the ball 60 yards cuz you got he was at the 50 he got 10 yards from The End Zone to the goal post and he threw it 60 yards and hit the goal post one try and I was just like wow I've never if I saw any quarterback do that if I saw Dan Marino do that I would have been thoroughly impressed he just did it like it was nothing um so that was one of the lasting takeaways that I took from training camp I've probably never seen that kind of quarterback feat and it was quite interesting to see um the next observation that we're going to take is is that is about the pass rushers jayen Phillips is nursing an Achilles injury badley chub is nursing an ACL injury Cameron good is nursing a Patel attendant injury uh that left the Miami Dolphins with uh Shaquille Barrett uh Quinton Bell Shaquille Barrett Quinton Bell um the two rookies mohamd Kamar and chop Robinson as their Edge players during these OTAs in mini camp now clearly it's hard to determine whether or not you're going to see what you need to see from Edge players especially when they don't have pads on no pads in the trenches it's very hard to evaluate but one thing that you're really looking for from these young Edge players is their ability to set the edge um not only does position coach outside linebacker coach Ryan Crow uh have to address when he's going to get jayen Phillips Bradley chub and Cameron wood Cameron good back from the IR um but he also has to address whether or not these young rookies are going to be able and capable of setting the edge and right now we got Crow addressing that issue position as well probably doesn't yeah and like Jaylen and Bradley very familiar with him being around the the league and uh respect their play excited to be here working with him and um yeah some other great guys in the room and then obviously the addition of the rookies this year so very fired up really uh really like the room really like the direction it's headed in the attitude they bring one one of the things about rookies especially at that position it uh that I've learned is that edge setting is critical and important how do you teach them how to set the edge in an NFL yeah the first thing is it's a mentality it's the number one job it's the first thing that they learn when they get here and uh it's more than just talk they got to go do it every single day and so you know it's something that we never gloss over when we talk about it we mean it and uh it's part of their DNA and they know that every single day what can you do during this what could you do during this offseason with Bradley and Jaylen considering obviously they're not ready to do physical work yeah no they were great I mean first and foremost they attack their rehab just like they attack the football field and that was awesome to see and they continue to to dominate it but they've been around meetings they've been around the players they come out to practice cheer the guys on they they're watching individual to see how we do things and um I have no doubt that when they're ready to go we'll be ready to go now the big question that I have going into training camp which more than likely opens the last week of July is whether or not Phillips Bradley chub and Cameron good are going to begin training camp on the pup now strategically it makes a w it's it's wise for you to begin them on the pup from this standpoint um if you're on the pup you can come off at at any point during training camp be activated to the roster be able to practice with the team but you can't begin training camp off the pup and then go on to the pup the pup is physically unable to perform allows you to stash that player on your on your 53 man roster and carry him probably for I believe it's the first five weeks of the season on your roster without using an IR designation to return spot um they'll even be able to practice at at a at a period of time I believe it's after four weeks they'll be a to practice with the team with without coming off the pup so it'll be interesting to see if the Miami Dolphins take that approach that basically gives them a little bit of cushion to buy themselves until the by week to get jayen Phillips and Bradley chub back now if both of those players show you that they're capable of practicing and participating in practice then maybe the Dolphins begin them on the pup and then take them off quickly maybe a week or two into training camp um it'll be interesting to see exactly what that approach is but I don't think the Dolphins have de decided that or determined that just from the standpoint they they they don't want to put a limit or a cap on what they're capable of doing um another takeaway that we took from the Miami Dolphins offseason program was that the Dolphins have added a significant amount of Dept at receiver and that's going to lead to some tough decisions uh when you look at this wide receiver stable where you have Tyreek Hill Jaylen Wadd clearly they're the top two Staples of this offense then you add Odell Beckham Jr who signed basically an incentive Laden $8 million a year deal um that's that's triggered by how much yards receptions and touchdowns that he scores then they added draf uh Malik and Taj Washington two late round draft picks um both smallish slot receiver types movement type weapons uh I think they're going to be they're going to have to learn the offense but when they do learn the offense I think both have proven that are productive college players who fit well into this offense and that doesn't even include the the reciting of braxon baros and river cracraft and then the development of Eric ukama and brillan Sanders two two young players that have been on the roster from for at least three seasons and they they're young they're grooming they're developing uh at this point I have to project that six wide receivers make this 53 man roster and when you factor in Hill Wadd Beckham uh let's just assume they're going to keep one of those draft picks in terms of Malik oraj on the 53 man roster then you got a spot for two guys on on on your roster not including the practice squad players that's out of braxon bars primary returner River Craycraft Eric ukama brillan Sanders um Matthew seon uh those are all the young players the five receivers that are battling for two spots so it should be a very interesting and competitive Camp B battle um more than likely one of two of those guys are going to end up um getting injured going on IR beginning the season on ir and then and getting activated if you factor in how much wide receivers and cornerbacks run during training camp that's why they suffer the most soft tissue injuries uh it's ultimately inevitable and to be honest with you I'm probably not sure how much I'm working Tyreek Hill and jayen Wadd and Odell Beckham uh during training camp they're probably going to be on a pitch count so and and the exhibition season so you're probably goingon to have to keep your wide receiver stable pretty deep so Miami Dolphins are probably fortunate that it's pretty steep right now the other takeaway that I took from um offseason program for the Miami Dolphins is that Aaron Brewer was a top addition this off season he was a replacement for Conor Williams the St dolphin starting center well he's tiny um did not know this when the Dolphins signed him but he's 6'1 295 lbs and there's no disrespect meant but a 6'1 offensive lineman I think that there are some high school players who have a little bit more bulk in size to them now the calling card for Aaron Brewer is his athleticism his ability to make do damage on the second level his ability in the Run game and I think you you definitely can see that uh even though pads aren't on right now he's athletic he can get to the second level he actually comes from a SE scheme similar to what the Miami Dolphins run um from the University from from Tennessee the Tennessee Titans however I do have some concerns about his size the Dolphins signed him to a three-year deal worth $21 million 13.8 million of that money is guaranteed but man that size has me wondering whether or not he can hold up for all 17 games and then who is his backup if you think about it Conor Williams was sidelined by injuries three times last season um can we afford for Aaron Brewer to be sidelined three times next season and then who's his replacement and when you put Liam in there at Center is it going to water down what you got going on at guard so that that that's one of the major issues I think the Miami Dolphins have on the offensive line I personally believe they're a little bit light on the offensive line um especially when it comes to the insur players now another position where I think the Miami Dolphins are a little bit light happens to be the defensive line for those who followed my work all off season you know I've been a big advocate for the Miami Dolphins to sign and add clus Campbell I'm still standing on that but it doesn't just necessarily have to be CLE as Campbell the Dolphins didn't do enough to replace Christian Wilkins and rayquan Davis I'm not even sure they did enough to replace rayquan Davis um rayquan Davis say what you want about him but he's more accomplished than probably two or three of the defensive lineman they've added Al together um tier tart Bonito Jones uh Brandon peely those are the nose tackles that are competing to replace rayquan Davis and then we've got uh Deshawn Han who was here last season who got resigned Jonathan Harris uh they're competing to replace at Jonathan Harris and then there's another guy uh Neville gallamore they are all competing to replace Christian Wilkins and be Zack seer's partner and man I know we don't have pads on right now so it's hard to evaluate the defensive line play in the trenches and I know that uh Dolphins defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver believes in a in a rotation a unit unit rotating in and out of the game and it's all about staying fresh in the final quarter however I happen to believe that reinforcements are needed H you've basically signed seven individuals for minimum based contracts or $ 1.8 million in at the height of their salary um when you consider that rayquan Davis who was just okay as a starter for the Miami Dolphins got $7 million on the open market you go from $7 million player to $1.8 million player don't be shocked when there's a huge drop off and here's Austin Clark the Dolphins defensive line coach addressing some of the issues that he faces in his in his dline room probably the most as exciting of a time for me personally as a coach because I think there is still some continuity you know it's great to have a guy like Zach sealer uh you know leading the unit um it's great to have a guy like DeShawn Han back who you know had been hurt throughout a lot of points in his career played 15 games for us gave us solid snaps uh you know it's good to have a guy like Bonito Jones back uh so there's some familiarity um but also there's that challenge of helping guys who have been you know had different roles in their careers whether they maybe have been the guy that's a started yet or haven't or have fought to make rosters and to challenge them to work with them uh attendance has been great they've been extremely coachable um as well as have a coordinator that's a dline coach I think it's been great for me too learning from weave and so the players have been great so far uh great thought we had a good day today capping off a good kind of end of mini camp here and fired up for the season with with that unit and I know outside with the exception of Zach everybody is got something to prove or they've been discarded by another team or they've been bouncing around around the league how much do you think that sort of motivates the unit and especially when you've got spots that are St spots that are open yeah I think uh to your point a little bit uh there is some internal motivation from those guys and I definitely feel that but it's kind of using that motivation as well as the team's motivation to getting this team over the hump and and miking weave's vision for how we want to build this defense and blending it together and I think the the thing that helps the most is you don't you don't really know as a coach what makes every player tick but I can tell you but that point you brought up they definitely each have that to their game uh which that's exciting too and you know the guys we've had here in the past have had that and that's why they've gone on to do great things and make money and stuff and we're fired up for those guys too but uh we got a good group we've been working with the defensive side of his coaching staff what's it like having so many new guys around but then also you're the guy who's been around through most his half yeah uh it's been fun for me you know uh I didn't know coach we prior uh and I can tell you that that he's been phenomenal so far for me and and you want to do well for a guy that's a defensive line coach that's coordinating as a defensive line coach uh to me there's something that element there is great for me as well as you know working with new people you know Joe Barry's called plays in this league on a couple different teams uh he's won a Super Bowl you know Brian duer was in the NFC title game last year that's exciting uh Ryan slck was great as obbs Ryan Crow beat us last year you know in Tennessee and I had some familiarity with him so it's been a great group of guys so far uh and I i' I've learned an awful lot and I'm excited so that is Dolphins defensive line coach Aon Clark who is a hold over from the Brian Flores era um he's now on his fourth defensive coordinator um but that that's one of the things that we'll continue to watch in the in the off uh in the season um Miami's transition to this new defense uh and really it'll be interesting to see whether or not his unit Austin Clark's unit they've got enough bodies um certainly the Dolphins have a wave of SES that happened during training camp and right before training camp uh I wouldn't be shocked if you seen some defensive line SES just because I'm not sure they've got enough in terms of the guys that are on that unit um right now we got two more takeaways of things that I observed during off offseason program uh let's be continue with the side linebackers that unit definitely got an upgrade from Jordan Brooks uh Anthony Walker those are two young players that I think that they have some potential to um make your line your interior linebackers a little bit more athletic a little bit more fluid pair them with David long Jr and then Duke Riley you've got a force them that that's pretty much established veteran NFL starters um I probably haven't counted all the games that they've started together but but it's got to be over a 100 maybe 150 um Anthony Walker's been like a seven-year starter Jordan Brooks has been a fiveyear St uh four-year starter with the uh Seattle Seahawks uh David long has been a multi-year starter with both Miami and Tennessee and and Duke Riley was a starter in the NFL before he came here in Miami uh it'll be interesting to see how that unit plays considering they've got a different skill set than what Miami got had with Jerome Baker uh and then the final takeaway that I have from the dolphin OTA practices uh and and mini camp is that the cornerback and safety unit they seem a little bit thin uh both of those units seemed about one player thin from a talent standpoint now there's a possibility that some undrafted rookie steps up and and delivers like a ker kou did uh during the 2011 season or Nick Needum did during the 2012 season no 200 what floors his first year 2019 season but there's also a chance that nobody steps up nobody delivers no and that cam Smith doesn't take that next step and that Ethan Bonner doesn't become that that veteran quarterback that you can rely on or that Nick Needum doesn't rehab from that Achilles injury that sides sidetracked his 2022 season when he began the year on the pup while you've got Jaylen Ramsey and Kendall Fuller who are both established accomplished versatile versatile uh cornerbacks and Boundary cornerbacks who's after that is it you know ker Co who's fine but as we know he struggled last season Nick Needum really has to establish himself as as a player that I I nicknam Superstar um in terms of he hasn't had that many opportunities in the last two years uh and then you know cam Smith cam Smith is a second round pick from the 2022 draft class your your highest drafted player and he sparingly played barely contributed last year are you certain he's going to take that next step forward um also we got Jordan puyer and Javon Holland as your starting safeties um porer is 33 years old I don't know when the last time you looked at a 33 year old NFL player but assuming that he's got the legs to run um like a safety needs to run that's a huge Gamble and then we've got Javon Holland who is trying to get a multi-year contract from the organization um really hasn't had that signature season that makes him an elite SA uh but the talent is there the question is can he put it out there on the field can he put it on film uh and then behind them is who Elijah Campbell converted cornerback um Nick needam who's being cross trained to play safety uh and then Patrick uh MC mcore Patrick um McMorris I had to write the first time Patrick McMorris is a young player from California that the Miami Dolphins drafted in sixth round last year um are we certain that he's ready to step in and contribute not just not as special teams player but what happens if something happens to Jordan porer or Javon Holland are either those individuals ready um we will definitely see that in training camp I would be shocked if they're running Jordan porer into the ground so you're going to get a lot of opportunity for Mr Patrick McMorris to see where he sits uh in in if in in terms of his capabilities and what he's capable of um so those are my 10 takeaways of Miami Dolphins offseason program um and mandatory mini camp as I told you uh training camp is going to begin in Late July uh it's usually like the next to last Thursday uh in July um three weeks before their exhibition game two weeks on their own then they'll do a third week of joint practice against the I believe it's the Atlanta Falcons um they're going to host two of those practices and then they play the exhibition game and from there uh it's on and popping with the Dolphins season so right now Dolphins in depth will be here all offseason helping you get ready for the start of training camp in Late July um hopefully you'll continue to check us out and support the work and as you know I'm Omar Kelly your Miami Herold Dolphins columnist hopefully soon I'll be getting a partner and we will be here giving you all the daily information that you need on your favorite team the Miami Dolphins see you next time

Channel: Miami Herald

Views: 15,595

Keywords: florida, football, long, sports

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Length: 34min 34sec (2074 seconds)

Published: Tue Jun 11 2024