2025 Miami Dolphins Offseason | Finding Culture and Identity | Scouting The Fins | Scouting The Fins

2025 Miami Dolphins Offseason | Finding Culture and Identity | Scouting The Fins | Scouting The Fins

[Music] [Music] [Music] What’s up everybody and welcome to another episode of Scouting the Fins. It’s Fourth of July weekend. And I hope you guys are having a great weekend so far. Fire up the meats on the grill. Have some, you know, laid-back, chill time with the boys and the family. I’m joined by my co-host, Coach. Today, look, funny that you say it should be a laid-back and chill time. Like, you know, last week we were talking about what we’re going to do this week, thinking about it being a slow time of year, trying to find stuff to talk about, and Chris Greer comes through with with some big stuff. And, you know, we got a a real fun guest on here today to talk about some of that stuff. Um, so you want to go and bring him in and
tell us who we got.
Yeah, we’re joined by Ty Dunn of goalongtd.com. Uh Tai has been on the podcast before and he’s written extensively about the Dolphins evolving mindset. He’s done some star player profiles, locker room dynamics of the Miami Dolphins as well. Ty, welcome back to the show.
Great to be here, fellas. Thanks so much for having me. And uh I I pro I feel like that every time we catch up, man, we’re talking about a player I wrote about and then that player ends up like going to another team or his Dolphins career end. So I hope I hope things go well for the Dolphins after this conversation. I promise I’m not the kiss of death.
I feel like the actual real kiss of death and the real Jinx is actually Brett Coleman, not you. Like
all right, Coleman has some stuff where it’s just the complete opposite of what happens. You’re not there. You’re not at that level just yet. All right. That’s good. That’s good to know. That’s good to know. But, uh, no, it’s always great, uh, hearing from you and I appreciate you subscribing, reading. It’s, uh, hey, the pleasure’s all here.
Yeah. Yeah. You, uh, back when you were at Bleacher Report back in 2020, the whole Minka Fitzpatrick drama and Bl Brian Flores. I mean, coach and I were kind of floored that the Dolphins traded Jaylen Ramsey and they got back Minka Fitzpatrick in that trade and then we come to find out, you know, oh yeah, John is going as well. So then initially right after all that, it made sense. But your profile of Fitzpatrick in 2020 captured his upbringing growing up in a flooded home, sleeping in coats to stay warm, and how those hardships shaped his drive for structure. you it you really saw how his tough background translated to leadership, but it seems as if the sour relationship with Brian Flores put off a lot of Dolphins fans initially and now some people think that he’s a quote unquote quiet quitter and is not what the Dolphins should be looking for in terms of culture and leadership. Yeah, boy. Now you’re now you’re bringing me back. That was uh 5 years ago, I guess, when I caught up with Mika Fitzpatrick at length. Um, you know, from what I remember, son of a diesel mechanic. You’re right. I mean, he learned hard work at a really young age from his dad. He went through hell, as you mentioned. And, you know, Nick Sabin, I talked to Nick Sabin for that story. He kind of refers to Ma Fitzpatrick as like one of his own sons. Like, you can tell he loves this kid. um raised him up as a player, as a person, believed that he could go down as one of the greatest safeties in the sport. I I don’t think Nick Sabin is just kind of throwing around praise like that willy-nilly. So, the point being like, yeah, Megan Fitzpatrick, I think, does embrace hard work. And he was excited from what I remember in our conversation way back then, he was excited for Brian Flores. like he saw what Brian Flores was able to do as a defensive coach with New England. Wanted to give this a chance, but could tell very early on that he wasn’t being utilized the right way. He wanted him kind of near the line of scrimmage in the muck was that Patrick Chung was kind of used in that role with the Patriots and Fitzpatrick kind of knew his skill set, his worth, his ability and knew it wasn’t being used correctly. So, uh, yeah, that season ended really poorly for Miami. Uh I’m I’m not telling your fans anything they don’t remember although maybe they blocked out those 40 50 point losses. Didn’t they get smoked by Lamar and the Ravens early that season?
Very first week 50 59 and 10. And he actually spoke about it in your article that after that game, he demanded to be traded because he was communicating with guys who were here 3, four days in, not knowing what to do and he was being used as a hybrid linebacker utilizing, you know, hand fighting drills, this and that, and not being used as coverage. He wasn’t able to use his intellect and his athleticism, and he wasn’t being used properly in his defense. Now, I wrote an article about Minka right after the trade when the Dolphins drafted Javon Holland. Javon Holland was what Minka Fitzpatrick was supposed to be in that Brian Flores defense. However, there was not that drama. Now that Holland has left Miami, there was a lot of behindthescenes drama going on last season. coach. Uh we saw that he was missing communications, missing plays. A lot of fans and even some of our own analysts were turning back the clock on Holland saying, “What is going on? Did he ultimately forget to play safety?” Yeah. I mean, I I think we look back at some of the the coverage lapses we had, some of the you know, what you felt were mistakes from Javon Holland. And you know, I think that as you saw Holland um his arc with the Dolphins, right, started out really well those first two seasons, you really thought that we had a Pro Bowl type safety in Javon Holland. And then, you know, we go through the Vic Fangio stuff and he clearly didn’t like how he was being used by Vic Fangio and it felt like that never really recovered and that the that secondary room as a whole, right? we’ve seen the entire secondary room turn into a an entire unit in an entire new unit in the last two years. Um, and I think that that’s not by accident, right? I think that the the evolution of Javon Holland to, you know, from a player that was really promising to one that the Dolphins let walk for nothing, right? I think that had a lot to do with those changes in coordinators, the way that those those players were asked to be used. So, you know, Ty, let me ask you this. You know, with with Minka Fitzpatrick coming back to Miami, do you think the organization, you know, going from, you know, specifically Brian Flores to Anthony Weaver, do you think they’re better equipped to let Minka be himself and do those things that you talked about as far as, you know, the way ways that he wants to be used, or is there still a risk of history repeating itself?
No, I I think it’s a great fit. you you can probably break down the X’s and O’s a hell of a lot better than me in terms of how he’ll be utilized on a play-to-play basis, but just speaking to the leader uh the person I I was around those Pittsburgh Steeler teams for a handful of stories, Bleach Report days to the golong days and this is somebody you want in your locker room versus a Jaylen Ramsay or it doesn’t sound like Jaylen Ramsey and Mike McDaniel were even speaking, right? Like it got bad fast. I was talking to a general manager just a couple weeks ago who uh I should say former general manager with intimate knowledge when it comes to Jaylen Ramsay and he’s like man clearly nobody wants this guy. Miami is trying to give him away. Nobody wants him. So to get a make a Fitzpatrick I know you had to give up a tight end off of a career season too, right? That’s part of this whole equation. But to get a make of Fitzpatrick who even if he was having a down ear last season, man, he’s 28 years old. He came into the league so young, he’s made a hell of a lot of plays throughout his career. And I just feel like he’ll be a positive locker room influence. I don’t see this as a negative. I think that the Dolphins big picture um clearly need to get tougher in December and need to be able to step into the ring with the heavyweights in the AFC. And if if you’re going to step into the ring, you you need guys with some pelts on the wall. Make Fitzpatrick has those pelts. Like he’s made big plays and big moments. He’s been around hard coaching. He accepts hard coaching. And I think that he’s going to be I I don’t know how he’ll be utilized. We’ll we’ll see how that all plays out with Anthony Weaver. But I I think for the Dolphins, Mike McDaniel, and Chris Greer loved him, right? I mean, it all comes full circle for Chris Greer. He he you know, he loved Mick Fitzpatrick once upon a time. They need more guys like that in in that room. just just football. Eat eat it, sleep it, breathe it, you know, where do just tell me where to jump and how high. They need those players because let’s face it, Jordan Brooks said the quiet part out loud when they got thumped by the Green Bay Packers. It was a soft football team. You won’t hear a more derogatory term uh in in the sport than soft. And for one of your own players to call your team soft, um you’ve got to do something, right? and and they don’t have the money to do a lot of stuff with how much money they have tied up into Tua, Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Wadd. So, you’ve got to draft for the trenches like they have the last two years, and you’ve got to make a bold move like this for Ma Fitzpatrick.
Yeah. From your perspective, is that Minka Fitzpatrick move the most impactful offseason move, or do you think there’s a different mindset change that’s driving the narrative forward? Man, that’s a good question. I because I don’t I can’t put M Fitzpatrick up the pedestal as franchise savior because he look he he wasn’t himself in 2024. He was a lot better in 22 and 23. I do think a lot of that had to do with Pittsburgh’s defense. They just completely fell apart by the end of the season. Uh but but yeah, I I think to me it’s more gradual. It’s not necessarily one player that’s drafted, one player that they traded for, one player that they signed. They’ve only been drafted offensive and defensive lineman in the first two rounds the last two years. And I it’s not an accident. I think they knew they ha they have to be able to toggle between play styles. That’s kind of what the Buffalo Bills did here in Western New York. I mean, I’m thinking back to when they lost to the Cincinnati Bengals in the was it 2022 divisional playoff round. Um, right. The Bills were dying for one of these home playoff games. They get it at home against the Bengals. And what happened? They looked like a dome football team. Um, Isaiah McKenzie, we did a show together at my site for a while. He he kind of said the quiet part out loud himself. He said, “Look, our team was kind of built for a dome, and if we got the Bengals inside of a dome, we would have blew them out of the water.” a a longtime defensive starter on on that that Bills team. He’s like, “Look, we weren’t we weren’t built for the snow and the blizzardy conditions of Western New York, which is crazy. You would think the Bills would do everything in their power to cultivate a roster that just begs for that environment.” And after that game, Brandon Bean specifically realized, okay, we we got to get back to the trenches. We have to value resources on the offensive and defensive lines and try to get a running game going. Sean McDermott fed into that as well. He wanted more balance. And look, there’s still There we go. He’s back.
Can Can you hear me now?
Yeah, he’s back.
Uh, see, I get You were getting too excited, man. Your mic, but like I I promise I’m getting to a point here. In very quickly, two seasons, the Bills built an offense that’s capable of winning in any conditions. They ran the ball about as well as any team in the AFC last season. Uh Allen’s part of that. James Cook, Ray Davis, an offensive line that can push people around. And it it really was a big picture kind of ethos philosophy from up above. And I I think in two years you can flip it. you if you’re the Miami Dolphins, yeah, you’re going to win with speed and they’ve been leaning into that speed. It’s not like you have to all of a sudden turn into the 1970s Bob Greasy handed the ball off to Larry Zaka, Miami Dolphins, but clearly in December, you got to be able to run the ball. You’ve got to be able to win a different type of game. We’ll see if they’re if they’re able to do it, right? Like, we’re not going to know if this all pays off until then. But I I do like the fact that they’ve been drafting players on both lines. Def defensive especially. Um I love Grant. There’s scouts who really believe he was better than Mason Graham even on that Michigan defensive line. It’s it’s not sexy. It’s not fun to talk. What’s fun to talk about is Mike McDaniel just inventing plays on the fly and dropping 70 points on the Denver Broncos. But they they learn very quickly you’ve got to be able to win a different type of football game. I don’t know if they’ll be able to. We’ll see. But they’re definitely trying and I think it is a lot of these incremental kind of changes over the course of two years that can that can get them there. Yeah. And you were um you said about being able to run the ball late in the season and kind of go to a tweet that you had a few days ago in response to Raheem Moert and what he said about the way the Dolphins treat Pro Bowlers. You said, you know, the Dolphins are rolling with Devon Aan while topping tapping the brakes on most and that was an obvious correct decision. And you said Jaylen Wright could also be dynamite, right? What what do you see in Jaylen Wright? Man, I I love Jaylen Wright. Um had a chance to speak to him ahead of that draft and this this is somebody who who went through the grime himself. You’re right. You mentioned the making Fitzpatrick backstory. I mean, Jaylen Wright and his father were basically homeless for a couple years. He’s just sleeping on the floor of a friend’s house. I mean, he he went through it in his personal life, but as a player, I mean, he can run with power. Like, he’s fastest running back in that draft, but he can run with some power and he can fly. So, you can you can just imagine how he he’s utilizing this offense with an increased role. But, yeah, I mean, the the Raheem Oster tweet I it it just cracked me. I was actually driving. I don’t know where where we were going with the kids and it was on ESPN radio. They mentioned the tweet. I almost didn’t believe it at first. Like what? Like Miami did the absolute right thing objectively by every measure where a running back has 1,000 yards and 18 touchdowns but is going to be 33 years old. You sign him to exactly the deal you signed him to. One year, 4 million. Let’s see if you can do it again. He couldn’t in a marginal role. He averaged 3.3 yards a carry. The Miami Dolphins were proven correct to lowball him. So for him to be whining and complaining like I wasn’t surprised necessarily, you know, just from personal experience where this is somebody I knew really well, Raheem Oster, you know, back to his San Francisco 49ers days when he tore up the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship game. Um, we went out to dinner out in San Francisco ahead of the Super Bowl. unbelievable backstory himself. I mean, he accidentally shot himself in the toe. Um, never knew his father. All all kinds of crazy stuff before he even gets cut by six teams and survives. So, he he is an inspirational football story. Uh, but then, you know, I saw him in Miami when I was doing a two-parter on Tua Tonga in 2022. Had a great chat about Tua, this offense that’s taking the NFL by storm. At that time, I think they’re like eight and three. They’re getting ready to play San Francisco. and he just was honest and said, “Yeah, you know, we I asked him about this offense versus the San Francisco one.” He said, “Yeah, way more talent here. We’ve got a quarterback who can actually sling it.” What happened? As you guys may remember, 49er fans lost their minds. Uh they went after Raheem Oster. And this always breaks my heart, uh, guys, when a player is honest in a in an interview on a tape recorder, by the way, and they feel the need to backtrack and say they were taken out of context and say, “Oh, he left out the part about me praising Jimmy Garopppolo.” That never happened. He never praised Jimmy Garopppolo once. So, he blasts me on Twitter. He goes on San Francisco radio and is doing damage control. And I didn’t say a word. I didn’t want to declare war then. Uh, I mean, and the Dolphins have been so good to me. I just told, you know, their PR staff. Look, here’s what here’s what he said. Um, I’m not going to make a big stink about this, but yeah, you can you can believe me or him, but I do have it on a recorder. And by the way, it’s not that salacious. He said his quarterback can actually sling it. Not exactly sharing nuclear codes. But anyways, when I wrote the column this week at Golong, I had to kind of tie uh that tweet to his tweet this week and say, you know what, sometimes Raheem Oster gets a little emotional and doesn’t know what he’s talking about on Twitter.
Yeah, there there was another story something else you wrote about Raheem Moer which kind of caught my eye for a guy who has that veteran locker room presence. um from the things that he’s pointing out, you know, calling out mistakes to other players, in front of other coaches, that can also rub people the wrong way in the locker room to the coaches and even the organization. Kind of like what Jaylen Ramsay was doing. Do you feel like that potentially with the departures of Ramsay of John Smith who is asking for more money and Raheem Monster is addition by subtraction for what the Dolphins want to build. Hey, you you said it exactly as I intended to write it. That that is absolutely addition by subtraction in my opinion. Um, yeah, there’s a a player on that Miami offense who vividly remembers Raheem Oster going out of his way to shout out when one of his running back teammates made a mistake if he noticed their position coach wasn’t watching. I mean, that’s not being a good teammate. And guys, guys, they don’t forget stuff like that, right? Like, it’s a it’s a small thing that can metastasize into a big thing. And I don’t think you want those guys in your locker room. And The Jaylen Ramsay stories are are numerous and I think Jacksonville obviously was willing to put up with it for a while because he was one of the best cornerbacks in football with the Rams. He was still one of the best corners in the league. If you get a guy like I mean, let’s face it too, the quarterback position especially, you’re probably going to have some some stuff to you. Like you’re going to be rugged from a personality standpoint. You better be because you’re out on an island. every rule is against you. If you breathe on the receiver too too much, you’re gonna get flagged. Like, I get it why some of these guys have a few screws loose. But at some point, you know, you only tolerate so much because if that talent starts to slip, if they lose a little bit on on the on their speed, on their ability to change direction, on their ability to lock down, you’re you’re not going to put up with the stuff off the field. So, um it was worth the gamble for Miami. I I I loved it when they acquired Jaylen Ramsey. this was a team going for it clearly. Uh but it was time to move on because I’m sure Chris Greer and Mike McDaniel, they can’t come out and say it, but they they’re in a transition. Like they had they had the quarterback on the rookie deal. They did the right thing. They spent like crazy. They were aggressive. They tried to add pieces to win. Now with that quarterback on a rookie deal, they pay the quarterback and now it’s kind of on Tua Tongabiola to lift up everybody else. I mean, that that’s the bet. It can go either direction with Tua, but yeah, like he’s got to be the one that lifts up everybody else. And we’ll see what happens with Tyreek Hill. I mean, if the right deal came around, I I wouldn’t be shocked if they entertained an offer. Uh, but I think that they are kind of having it both ways. And it’s it’s it’s an okay place to live. Like, they they’re trying to win, and they could win this year. They’ve got they’ve got A-level talent on both sides of the ball, but they also do have to sort of retool, reload, and change up that locker room chemistry in a positive way because uh the these are two players that, you know, it did the juice wasn’t worth the squeeze for either one. Yeah. Um I think you’re spot on as far as the uh you know, the roster um reset, whatever you want to call it there. They’re they’re moving to the next phase of this roster building. Um, I know I run a little bit of short on time with what you have here and I didn’t want to let you leave without talking about tight ends a little bit. You wrote a book back in 2022 in the blood and gut. You also wrote an article back in May of this year about Julian Hill and Julian Hill is a very polarizing topic among Dolphin fans. obviously needs to improve on the field, but I think that anybody that’s really heard his backstory and, you know, read your article, I think would really be rooting for this guy. Um, and like I said, he’s got to get better on the field, but just wanted you to talk about your experience with Julian Hill a little bit and how, you know, whether you feel he’s got what it takes to develop into a starting caliber tight end.
Yeah. You know what, Eric? I I had no idea that he was as polarizing as he is until I wrote that three-part series, and a lot of Dolphin fans were like, “Oh, I don’t want to hear about Julian Hill.” Um, look, this is somebody who has a life that is made for HBO, made for the movies. My jaw was dropping several times over and we sat down to really dig into his past. I mean, he is quite literally out to save lives. He wants to save the lives of kids today down in South Florida who in so many ways are are living the life he did in Fateville, North Carolina when he grew up. People can check out the series uh it’s it’s at golongt.com with Julian Hill. But um he was homeless for his entire childhood and his mother had some very severe drug issues in and out of rehab. Still trying to do what she could for her son. I’m hustling, you know, home to home to home. Just a friend of a friend, somebody who would let them sleep on a floor here, sleep on a floor there, literally sleeping with the cockroaches. Um, one of their trailers they’re in at one point was just shot up. Everybody survived. Thank Thank God. Uh, another story where somebody just went up to their the family’s vehicle and just took a bat to it. Just absolutely knocking out all the windows. And it tomorrow was not promised. And that wasn’t even the worst of it. It it’s it was hard to listen to. I’m sure it’ll be hard for people to read, but he saw some domestic violence up close. I mean, his his mother was was just just brutalized in in some pretty awful ways. Different different friends, different boyfriends, different people they were living with. Gets out of that situation. He’s basically saved by a Paul and Shannon Schaefer there in Fateville. Lives with them. Gets his life back on track. But yeah, you fast forward today to today and we spent some time at uh his house uh the the pro the foundation down there in Miami, a children’s home, and they’re basically taking in kids who have been trafficked uh in in Florida, throughout the country. Some some unbelievably sad stories that they shared. So, I think Julian at the end of last season, you kind of referenced it, he went through his ups and downs as a player. But once he kind of connected with these kids at his house and was able to see what they’ve been through, kind of relate in a way that every guest speaker, every adult that comes through that talked to these kids cannot relate to these kids, he was able to and he’s developed some real friendships. Once once he kind of did that, I think his life in general has kind of been turning around since then. Uh he’s kind of getting back in touch with his his purpose and life in general. He wants to save lives. He’s doing it dayto-day. He’s building real relationships with a lot of these kids who have nobody, right? No, no mom, no dad, uh, no savior of any kind. Many, like I said, many of them trafficked have seen some things you can’t even you don’t even want to say out loud. I I think that’s really helped him in in a huge way. And I it can only help you as a football player, right? Football’s trivial when we’re talking about this all, but he it I think he is in a really good place to contribute. I know I know it’s his goal to be the best blocking tight end in football. Like not many tight ends have that as a goal. Like catching the ball is it would be gravy in this offense. They got a lot of other guys who catch the ball. He wants to be in the trenches and shove people around. That’s what the Miami Dolphins could use in November, December. Yeah, I I read that three-part series and uh that was very heavy on the heart, very heavy on the shoulders. And uh I learned to give him some grace for some, you know, on the- field mistakes that he would made. And you know, Chris Greer and Mike McDaniel talked about that some of the onfield mistakes that he made, they’re correctable. And his mistakes on the field weren’t even the worst of it. And uh last last thing before you go, Tai, you writing these threads, you know, together with these stories of accountability, adver adversity, and agency, you know, from Tua Tinka, from former Dolphins and Raheem Mosard and David Long to now Julian Hill and even Zack Cer. We didn’t even get to mention him yet, but what does this mosaic of players that the Dolphins have collected and even including some of their draft picks like Jaylen Wright, Zeke Biggers, um, and even Quinn Evers who was facing, you know, adversity at Texas last season. Tell us about the culture that Miami is trying to construct and if they can find that identity this season. They got they have to become a mentally tough football team, right? It’s easier said than done. I’ve never sat down with Chris Greer or Mike McDaniel. I would love to, but I always thought that Brandon being here in Buffalo, put it best when he was kind of at a transition point with the Bills and they let a lot of veterans go and they were going to be leaning on some younger players. The metaphor he used is it’s it’s a true chemistry experiment. like you’re gonna need a little bit of this, a little bit of that. Like you don’t want all choir boys. You don’t want all boy scouts. You don’t want everybody with an absolute clean, you know, never swore in their life, uh, you know, absent rap sheet. Like, you do need some dogs. You do need somebody with an edge to them. Yet, you also do need those culture setters who are going to show up at 4 a.m., 4:30 a.m. to work out, to watch film. You hope it’s one of your best players because that’s going to bring along other guys and say, “Oh, look, if if that guy’s doing that, I better do the same thing. It’s got to be a blend, right? It’s got to be a mixture.” And I maybe the Dolphins are getting there, something’s missing. I think it’s lazy to just sit here and say Tua stinks. Tua can’t win in the cold. I’ve seen Tua play well in the cold. Couple years ago it was snowy here in Buffalo. He came and played really well. I mean, and and then this past season, it wasn’t cold when it came to Orchard Park, but the Bills, I mean, they’ve been dominating the division, and it they needed a 61 yard field goal from Tyler Bass to beat Miami. I think TU was 25 of 28 that game. And this is off the latest concussion. Like, he played really well last year for a 7, eight, nine game stretch. Statistically, about as well as any quarterback in the AFC. So, I don’t know. I feel like you can win with Tua. The mistake isn’t paying him. I think there’s a lot of GMs and a lot of teams that would have paid two or 55 million a year that but they have to somehow keep finding the right personalities to fill out the roster. And when they win for it and they were aggressive and they’re going after the Jaylen Ramsay of the world, you’re going to miss. You’re not going to hit on everybody. But may maybe now through some of these drafts, some of these these draft picks that aren’t necessarily going to make great headlines, they’re getting there. I I think they love the fact that nobody’s talking about them really this year nationally. I mean, right. I mean, the last few years it’s expectations have been skyhigh. Um, they’re they’re flying under the radar can be a good thing for the Miami Dolphins in 2025.
Yeah. Ty, you’re reporting layers in the personal grit behind the stats. You know, this is what exactly what moves this beyond just a football podcast. You know, we talk about the X’s and nos’s, but we haven’t really dug deep into culture and the identities of players and even personalities. you know, where can our listeners follow you and your new profiles at?
I I appreciate it so much for having me on. Um, just golongtd.com. Definitely have to tap into these dolphins as as much as possible. Uh, I forgot about the Zack Cer story that you referenced there, man. That was really cool getting to know him. He’s everything that you’d want down these lines, right? Like Ferris State, from what I remember, you know, his the weight room there, it was like a dungeon, right? Just dusty Rocky Balboa-esque. Uh those are the kind of guys the Miami Dolphins need uh to to bring this thing back and I think they’re getting there and I I love the make if it’s Patrick trade. I look to a concussion conversation. We could spend hours getting into all of that. It’s his choice, right? It’s his body. It’s his brain. If he wants to do it and he believes he can thread that needle and and avoid those collisions and those hits to the head, power to him, right? Like that that foot football foot that that’s the power of football, man. It just it it holds on to you. You have to drag these guys off the field. I think we lost my mic. Lost my mic again because I’m moving my arms all over the place.
No, you’re good.
No, you’re good. It’s good. All right. But yeah, I I think M I think Miami can figure it out this year. I think that uh they’ll be in the mix like they always are. And maybe they win in December this time around. Yeah, Ty, we will definitely try to get you on during the season season as well. Maybe you might have a new profile for us to talk about soon. Sounds great, guys. Thanks so much for having me.
Of course.
Thanks. All right, coach. I think that was that was pretty good for us. And as Oh, yeah. Yeah. I I think coach, that was pretty good. Pretty good for us. And I hope that Eric could have made it, but I I guess not. And uh as always, y’all, thank you guys for listening. Oh, he made it. He’s here.
Here we go. We continue.
We continue. He made it. We do. We do. It has been uh quite a journey getting home.
Quite a journey getting home, huh?
Yeah. Oh, yeah. Weather’s awful right now.
It It is. Uh it looks like it’s going to be a stormy weekend for us here in uh Central and South Florida. Eric, not sure if you caught uh glimpses of the conversation, but coach, that was very informative for us to know behind the scenes of what’s going on in the Dolphins organization with these players. Yeah, it’s always fun, you know, when you get outside the X’s and O’s of things. like it’s it I have a great time watching watching film and I spent a good part of the this week watching all of Minka’s 2024 tape and I enjoy that but it’s nice to step away from that and you know get the behind the scenes, get the off the- field stuff, especially with somebody like Tyler who’s been able to sit down with some of these guys and really find out who they are off the field. So that was a really fun conversation. Certainly. I mean I I I’m going to be very honest. I haven’t gotten a chance to really catch much of of what the conversation was prior to. Um, but I do know that there were some very interesting circumstances around uh Minka’s time in in Miami. And I’m sure that that was touched upon quite a bit. I mean, just in act in general, I guess I’ll just start with this. Um, obviously it was a pretty surprising move overall. Um, you know, when you think about it in aggregate to send out Janu and, um, Jaylen Ramsey and to Jonnu’s credit, you know, he doesn’t really hold any ill towards the organization. Um, I would certainly hope not. Um, you know, considering the the the pay raise that he got from Pittsburgh. Um, but I I do think Minka is the is the right kind of player that you would want to bring in to to really lead the secondary and kind of be um, you know, really good example to some of the younger players that you have there. And and I’m really excited to see uh, an Anthony Weaver system that has, you know, a safety who can potentially give you elite production. um and and have that that kind of leadership quality about him in the secondary. Yeah. I uh I listened to Terron Armstead’s podcast when he had Janu and Janu Smith basically said that he wanted to be in Miami Miami and Janu thought that he was an integral piece in Miami and having them win football games. Uh around midseason, the Dolphins offense had to pivot because they weren’t going anywhere with Tyreek and Jaylen and and Devon and and the offensive line wasn’t holding up, especially after Tua’s injuries and concussions. Like right after that Buffalo game, if they won that game, that season would have been a turnaround. But it took a Tyler Bass 61 yard field goal as as as Tyler Dunn put it, um for the Dolphins to lose. like they gave everything they had and they still came up pretty short and pivoting to Janu Smith was more so the fail safe. I don’t think Jonno Smith was the most integral part of that offense is still Tulua, Tyreek, Jaylen, and Devon, but he was the break in in in case of emergency type of ordeal. And you know, he wanted to get paid that money for his production, but the economics of what was happening. And Chris Greer said it himself to Jono, they had a very frank conversation, Jonnie Smith and Chris Greer, that hey, I I can’t do it. like I I really can’t make it happen. Even though we still want you here in Miami and you want to be with us, they couldn’t make it financially happen for John Smith. Uh secondly, coach, and I wanted to ask you this, there’s accountability and then there could be just, you know, hey, what are you doing? Like I feel like not really bullying, but it’s just too much. And I think that’s what Tyler emphasized for Jaylen Ramsay and Raheem Monster. They weren’t necessarily being bullies, but it wasn’t a good type of accountability from those two leaders. Yeah. I think when you talk about leadership, there’s thousands of different ways that that can come across and there are certain rooms that that can work with. Um, you know, I think that if you are, you know, some of the more brash personalities, I think that if you get in a room that has other strong personalities, that can work. Like I think that Javon Holland, for example, probably related pretty well with Jaylen Ramsey because Holland was also a pretty strong personality there. But when you look at everybody around him, I don’t know that everybody really saw that the same way. And as a, you know, a relatively new guy coming in, right, I don’t know that you you earn the right to treat people that way in terms of um, you know, being really direct with them. It’s really tough to do, right? You got a guy like Clay Campbell that can come in and do that, but I don’t think he did it in the same way. And um you know, I think that the moves that they’ve been making are more to get the guys that um are going to gel better, right? Tyler talked about addition by subtraction. We talked about what Mo was doing there, calling other players out, right? That that doesn’t that doesn’t sit well. Like, you know, maybe if you’re a more established team and that’s the culture of the team as you’ve built up to that, you can get away with that. But when you’re a team that’s that’s been struggling to get over the hump and you you know you’re a player that’s no longer performing at the level that you were right then you being that person doing that just uh I guess kind of comes across as as bitter a lot of times you know in in the high school world like we have you know there’s times that upper classmen lose their positions to a younger player right and you can tell the ones that accept that well or receive it well. Not not they receive it well, but they accept it and they’re still going to try to be the best teammate they can be and they’re going to try to find ways on the field versus the ones that I don’t want to say sabotage the players that are out there, but you know, we’ve talked about Mike McDaniel and you know, a Tiger changing his stripes. If that’s not what Mooert was doing when he was the the top dog in that room in terms of the depth chart, if he wasn’t out there calling out these younger guys when the coaches weren’t doing it, when he was the one getting all the carries, but then you know his carries go down and he starts doing that, like that doesn’t go over well with players. Um, and as far as Jonnu, like I I don’t have anything bad to say about Janu. Um, but I do think that the way that he I listened to that podcast with Terron as well and he said multiple times that it wasn’t about the money. He talked about when he left New England wasn’t about the money. Talked about when he came to Miami that um, you know, he could have gone somewhere else and got more money. Him being part of the reason, you know, part of the discussions to get traded to Pittsburgh, it was about the money. And like Tyler was talking about with the Raheem Moer conversation, it’s okay to admit that, right? It’s okay to say that you you wanted to get paid, Miami wouldn’t do it, and that you wanted to go somewhere else. Um, but I don’t agree with sitting there and go through the podcast saying that stuff wasn’t about money when it is, and this is a business. Everybody understands it. And I do think that, you know, because he got his money, he left, he doesn’t have any ill will. Um, but I don’t I agree with the move of not giving him that money because as has been talked about by lots of different people. I think that the while that production was there and we talked about how that evolution came that John had that production. I don’t think that losing that production means that we lose a whole lot from the offense in 2025. I think that between those targets being redistributed back to the wide receivers that were lower in targets last year, I think that the the some of the guys we brought in like Nick Westbrook Aene, the expansion of Malik Washington, I don’t think we’re necessarily going to miss those targets. So, I was okay with, you know, kind of playing hard ball there and, you know, letting Janu go. Yeah, I you brought a good point of, you know, not being too brash or, you know, being a newcomer on the team and acting that way. Dave Hyde pretty much said that Jaylen Ramsay was late to team meeting Tyreek Hill was, but Tyreek Hill was on the team for at least a year and a half, two years, knew how the offense operated and was basically the top dog. Jaylen Ramsay being the top dog as he is, Hall of Famer, no doubt, but being that new to the team, you can’t be late to practice like that, man. You can’t be late to team meetings like that. And not only that, going MIA on your players, going MIA, missing an action, even throughout game week, it it rubs it the wrong way. Granted, fantastic player, personality, not necessarily the best mesh in Miami, and and that’s okay to say that. Um, were the Dolphins able to get good, decent play out of Jaylen Ramsey? Yeah, he played hard on every snap, but then there was the issues of last season wanting more money, you know, faking a potential ankle injury. Jaylen Ramsey is not going to say he didn’t fake it, but along the lines subtly, we kind of knew and the Dolphins kind of rewarded him with that money, saying, you know, he’s a top dog. he’s the best player on our secondary and potential best player on the defense. Well, now you’re reward rewarding that type of behavior, that type of culture, and it lets the younger guys believe that that’s okay when it really isn’t. So, changing changing those Tiger stripes for Mike McDaniel, the Dolphins organization, even some of the players that are left over after those players have left, it’s going to be a hard transition. And I don’t know how you’re going to build that accountability. You know, as a people manager myself, these guys can point to the culture back then and be like, “Now you’re just a complete 180 different.” That’s still going to leave a sour taste in people’s mouth. Uh, Eric, yes. Yes. I’m hoping that um my internet issues have been solved for the time being. Uh, I’ve cleared everything on my browser, so hopefully I don’t get kicked out this time around. I’m pretty sure it’s not my internet. Um, you know, but I, you know, you do make a good point regarding the players that who you have as leaders in your locker room matters and it matters a lot, right? Especially when so teams show their priorities. Let me just rewind here for a second. Teams show their priorities in terms of by who they pay. And that’s the biggest message that can be sent to anyone. Um, and it’s a message that gets sent to your team. When a guy is paid, the guys in the locker room know, okay, this is this is the organization’s guy. Um, and Jaylen Ramsay, as as you mentioned, ankle injury, no ankle injury. We’ll leave that, you know, to what it is between him and the organization. Fact of the matter is he got paid for doing that. Um, and when you reinforce that kind of uh that kind of behavior and that kind of attitude, then you know, it’s it’s an example that gets set for the younger players. You know, you’re kind of sending the the opposite of really what you want to send. You know, it’s it’s well, you know, Jaylen Ramsay, he did all that and he got paid. Now granted, he performed on the field and that’s got a larger that’s got much more to do with it than anything else, but at a certain point, you know, okay, the guy says, “Yeah, well, you know, Jaylen can get away with this. Well, maybe I can get away with 80% of that. Maybe I can get away with 60% of that.” And it’s a problem because you don’t need your third and your fourth corner, you know, being those guys. It’s It’s one thing to have one of those guys in a position. It is not Eric’s day. Um, I mean, going back to what he was saying there, uh, you know, I think that the Dolphins were obviously in a tough spot with Jaylen Ramsay with that contract. And I think that, you know, if we rewind to 12 months ago, like we were looking at a team that we were talking about with Super Bowl aspirations, like that was supposed to be the the team that finally put together, that finally got that playoff win and maybe would make a run. I think that’s what kind of made it difficult for Chris Greer to play hard ball with Jaylen Ramsay, right? Because you, you know, obviously every week matters in the NFL and if Jaylen Ramsey holds out and he’s two, three weeks in the season because he’s trying to get this this race and he’s shown before, you know, back in his Jacksonville days that he’s willing to miss games to do this. um you know so I think that was a risk with going that you know FM picks route that this could happen. Um, so I, you know, we’re entering that that new new part of the roster transition here and moving off of those type of players and I I don’t think that’s a bad thing. Right? You’ve had those players for a few years, right? Now, you you know, even though we may not see it from the outside here, we see Terron Armstead and Kas Campbell leaving and we see the the leadership void that that leaves and it does, right? But at the same time, uh, you know, we’re going into year four of Mike McDaniel and they have seen the stuff inside the locker room and obviously there were issues inside the locker room last year. We can’t can’t go forward doing that again. But they’ve seen those guys that are working the right way, that are doing the right things. I think that we’re seeing a transition into that. Who knows whether that is going to come to fruition this year, whether we’re going to see those um those issues resolved, but I think they’re moving in the right direction with that and getting the right type of players in here, right? Uh you know, for for all the things that, you know, Minka Fitzpatrick did back when he wanted out. Um, I think that, you know, there were some practice field issues, but I think it’s been said that, you know, that was more of an issue with Brian Flores than it was, you know, Minka Fitzpatrick just being a an overall mal content. Um, you know, I think that when you’re bringing back a player like that, I think that before that happened, I know that there’s been some concerns that they haven’t played a video of MA walking into the building and we haven’t heard Minka talk. I’ve got zero concerns with that because especially with this being a player that Miami sent away because of him not being content with the team. I don’t think there’s any way that they they make this trade without Chris Greer, Mike McDaniel, Anthony Weaver talking to Minka, talking about how they intend to use him and getting his buy in that he wants to come back. And you tie that back to the stuff with last year with Jaylen Ramsay, right? You don’t you don’t go and trade for a player without knowing exactly what you’re getting. And how do you you know, you know more about Minka than you do somebody else? If we’d have gone out and and traded or signed some other safety, you’re back in that scenario. We’re kind of hoping that you know the personality that you’re getting. This is a dude that’s been in the building. You you know, you went through the draft process with him. You had him here for over a year. You know the type of player that he is. And um you know I don’t think that bringing that player back I is any concern. I think they’ve been doing a good job in moving in that direction of getting those right guys in place. And obviously you know winning solves everything right? If they come out and it’s a you know a six seven win season then there’s going to be locker room issues right? You’re not going to go six and seven wins and hear stories about how the culturees changed, but but if they do come out, if Tua can stay healthy, right, and you get to 10 11 wins, then the the story is going to be about how the culture changed in the locker room as part of these moves. Yeah, certainly. I think, you know, when you look back at at Minka’s time in Miami, it’s kind of one of those things where just about everyone that you talk to that that you know is is kind of plugged into the organization kind of feels like Minko was a little bit of a casualty uh of a rift between the coaching staff and the front office at the time. Um, and it and it’s a shame that he kind of got caught up in that because by all accounts he is a guy that’s kind of that, you know, exemplary locker room guy.
Um, you know, he would you hear nothing but good things out of Pittsburgh with him. Uh, and you know, one of the ironic things that you heard in Pittsburgh was, you know, he was being praised for his versatility. which when he left town um was something that you know it was whether it was a legitimate reason or it was just a scapegoat thing. It was well you know he doesn’t want to be that in that versatile role where he’s being played all over the field. I don’t know if it’s I mean I’m sure he has a preference on how he’s used within the system but you know and and this is something that I think a guy like Mike Tomlin and I think a guy like Anthony Weaver kind understands you know you get more out of a guy when you just kind of know how to talk to people. Um, you know, that goes a long way towards, hey, listen, we know you really want to do this, but we think it would be extremely helpful to the defense, um, if we were able to use you in a variety of different ways depending on the circumstances rather than just coming in, yeah, this is the way it’s going to be. You don’t like it, too bad. Um, you know, because it’s it’s just like in any job, you know, nobody wants to be talked to like that in any position. And so I think it’s going to be completely fine bringing him in. However Anthony Weaver chooses to use him. I think for, you know, Taminka’s, you know, satisfaction, I think he’s he’s going to be used more in in the way that that he prefers to be used kind of as that as a deeper safety. Um, but I don’t think as far as, you know, any kind of attitude issue or doesn’t want to return to the organ, like I have no worries about that whatsoever that he’s, you know, sour about returning to the organization.
Yep. I I think we’re going to see what happens throughout this entire training camp portion once the Dolphins do go back to live ball activity starting uh towards the end of July. Uh it’s going to be interesting to see what happens throughout this training camp process and preseason some of you know the rules and news and rumors and once the press press conferences start start happening from us from the media when we start pressing the players general manager Chris Gur and even the coaches Mike McDaniel, Frank Smith and others. Uh folks go ahead and enjoy your July 4th weekend. Stick with us here on Scouting the Fins, part of the Three Archer Carry podcast, also part of the Five Reasons Sports Network. As always, y’all, go fins.

Scouting the Fins brings Tyler Dunne of golongtd.com to discuss Tua Tagovailoa, Minkah Fitzpatrick, Jalen Ramsey, Raheem Mostert and the 2025 Dolphins Identity.

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