Miami Dolphins Training Camp Preview: Defense + Prospect Profiles!

Miami Dolphins Training Camp Preview: Defense + Prospect Profiles!

As Miami Dolphins training camp begins this week, we are wrapping up our preview series and we will preview the Dolphins defense and special teams heading into training camp this week. We’ll go over the depth charts as I see them on both defense and special teams. Plus, I’ll have prospect profiles of Kenneth Grant and Dante Trader. That’ll include some all 22 and a whole lot of information including in-depth scouting reports. So, do me the favor, smash the like button, subscribe if you are new, and let’s get into this one. You have got to be kidding me. Heat. Heat. Touchdown. Beautiful day to be a dolphin dance. Let’s go. What is good fin nation? What’s good? It’s your boy Reason. We are back here for another one. appreciate each and every one of you coming through and taking some time out of your afternoon for this midday matinea as we got to discuss the defense and the special teams heading into training camp tomorrow. Um I’ll be live and I’ll go over my top position battles heading into training camp. So we’ll talk about those in depth tomorrow. All right. Now, in terms of what we got, and speaking of some rookies with training camp around the corner, as we know, Jonah Savanayiah, he just um he just wrapped it up, man. He is now fully guaranteed. And I got some things to talk about it, man. But first of all, shout out to everyone in the chat that’s coming through right now. Appreciate all y’all taking some time out of your day. Um, shout out to Dolphins, Frank, Chef Jew, Sleazy Meta, Aladino Mass, B, Rob, Robert Thomasson 99, uh, the Wayne D experience, the homie Austin, Foxing Around, 1017, Man, um, Michael Lombardo, Dolphins Man, Jared, um, the Mad Greek. Appreciate you, sir. Uh, I got your email, too. I appreciate the image you sent, buddy. Um, Paul Holland, shout out to you. Good Sunday to you, too, sir. Lwood Hodgej and Day One. Appreciate all y’all coming through. Over 70 of you in the room right now as we kick it off. Please do me the favor, smash that like button. These are the videos that get demonetized. Last week, I did this video and it basically did it for free. Uh, because it got demonetized right away. All 22 gets these demonetized, but like I tell you guys every time, not going to sacrifice the quality of what I do and what I can provide for you just for a few bucks. Not going to happen. So, shout out to Dave in the chat as well, Jeffrey Ward, all of y’all coming through. Appreciate each and every one of you. Michael Lombardo. So, yeah. Um, one thing I do want to talk about with Jonasa, I I want to cover his deal a little bit here because I I see people, you know, I see people, oh, the Dolphins gave in. Oh, the Dolphins caved. Oh, it’s a bad decision. They should have let him sit out. Like, there’s always that small minority that want to be contrarians just for the sake of being contrarians. I mean, how can you argue against this? I mean, I listen, when Jaden Higgins and Carson Sweetinger got their fully guaranteed deals, I told you this is exactly where it was heading. Like, I don’t know why anyone’s surprised. Number one. Number two, did anyone see what Tyler Shuck just got? He’s the 40th overall pick. The 40th overall pick got fully guaranteed. So, we’re at right now 33 to 40 is basically fully guaranteed. The only guy who’s not getting a fully guaranteed deal is Quincson Quishon Junkkins and that’s because he’s got a domestic battery charge, but everyone else I mean and and what are you doing? Like I see, oh, he should have let him sit out in training camp and blah blah blah blah blah. Okay. How would the optics look to a to anyone in management if Brandon Shore and Chris Greer who you know Chris Greer who traded up for him? Brandon Shore doesn’t want to open up the pocketbook with Greer. How would that look that you traded up for this guy and you decided to play games with them? That just wouldn’t be a good look. And here’s the thing, too. This wasn’t even just players. This was agencies 33 to 40 were not just all one athletes f were not all just represented by athletes first. We’re talking about like CA athletes first. Every single agency took a stand here. This wasn’t like literally just players saying, “Oh,” in a group text, “Oh, yo, we’re going to do this.” No, agents were taking a stand. And just the optics would have been terrible had they forced him to hold out. I mean, and so, you know, you can’t sit here and say the Dolphins caved because then what are you going to say about every other team from 33 to 40 that gave a guarantee? They all caved. And I’ll be honest too, I am shocked that I’m hearing people now for the players a little bit more because really all they did was guarantee the fourth year. The first three years are pretty much guaranteed. All they really did was guarantee the fourth year. But further than that, okay guys, what are we doing here defending the old boys club, right? Jerry Jones and these old older owners. They’re these older white owners, might I add. You they’re the ones that don’t want to hand out this money. Yeah. And 40 years ago, you can make a case some of them were probably racist, too. So, they’ve changed. But, I mean, like, where are we at here right now? I I just don’t get this. I I don’t get the push back on making sure that your future of the interior is ready to go with training camp and there’s no distractions. I think this is, you know, TCB taking care of business. And I think this is this is good business because here’s the thing. This is the trend. This is the trajectory. There’s no escaping from it. You want to run away from it. You want to run away from the reality, knock yourself out. But how far is that going to get you in life when you run away from the reality? You had to handle this. You had to take care of this. I’m just shocked that I see people pushing back on this. It’s it’s it’s mindboggling because this was a no-brainer. You had to do this. You know, it’s not like again, it’s not like he’s got serious issues off the field like a Quinn Sean Judkins or distractions off the field like Tyreek Hill. You know, we’re talking about a straightforward and you go back to him in Arizona, man. Like, this guy could have transferred out of Arizona, but he wanted to try and bring a division title and a championship, sorry, a conference title. Well, and a division title because they hadn’t won any in since like 94 in Arizona. So, I I just I I don’t understand the push back at all. So, um, you know, this is and this is where it’s heading with all this money that’s coming in over the the cap’s expected to go up 25 to 30 million and this is where it’s at right now 33 to 40 fully guaranteed. Then we get from what I said this 40 to 50 55 you’re going to get in that range you’re going to get 80 to you’re going to get well the higher you are in the 40s you’re going to get 90 to 80% guaranteed and then you’re going to see like 55 to 62 get about 70 to 80% guaranteed this year and then that’s going to change. I I told you guys when Jaden Higgins and Schwestinger sign it, we are going to be living in a world soon enough in a couple years second round picks and third round picks will probably have fully guaranteed deals and you’ll be getting into fourth round picks are probably having 90% of their deal guaranteed, you know, and and listen, I I I I’m pretty I don’t want to say passionate, but I’m pretty adamant about this point. If there are any athletes in professional sports that deserve fully guaranteed contracts, it’s not soccer players, okay, making 400 million euro, okay? It’s not soccer players. Now, the conditioning and the stamina is second to none for soccer players. I’ll give them that. Okay, but it’s not basketball players who are getting fully guaranteed stupid deals. You know, I think the people It’s not baseball players for sure. the the players in professional sports that need guaranteed contracts to me at least are football players and hockey players. These guys are sacrificing the quality of their life basically from their 40s on beyond. Now, there’s going to be baseball players and basketball players who have certain injuries that’s going to affect the quality of life 110%. But the majority, when you look at each league, the majority of guys who are going to be sacrificing their quality of life, and it don’t matter if you’re a starter or a second stringer, are football players and, you know, hockey players. That’s just where we’re at. The the contact and the beating these guys are taking, you know, hockey players got to take it for 82 games. Plus, if you make the playoffs, you know, you sweep every series, that’s a minimum of an extra 16 games. So, these guys playing over 100 hockey games a year if you make the playoffs and you go to the cup. Right now, for football players, they’re increasing the schedule every year, right? They want to add another game now, right? And I I just, you know, look look at the contact these guys take, man. I mean, you know, and another thing is we know NFL owners have also been stingy on medicals. So, and you know, medical care and stuff like that. So, you know, I I just I listen, this is the way it’s trending. You know, get on board or get out of the way is basically the conversation to be had there. And this wasn’t one team caving cuz then what do you say about everyone else in the 30s up to 40? 40 got a guarantee. Tyler Shuck got a guaranteed contract at 40. So this isn’t what you want to say the whole NFL is caving. Okay, knock yourself out. But the problem is this. They had to period. This is where it was trending. So, I mean, look at what why you have a hold out over in um Cincinnati and look at how ugly like you want it getting like as ugly as it’s getting in Cincinnati right now with Shamar Stewart all because you don’t want a guaranteed money. You want to change the language and the contract a little bit, you know, which actually impacts the medical aspect of it. You want to be those guys. You want to you want to be those guys? You know how embarrassing it would be if we were the only one from 33 to 40 that didn’t hand out a guaranteed contract aside from the Browns who aren’t handing out a one because they Judkins has a domestic battery charge. What would the optics be? Oh, Jonas of loyal player, clean player, no issues on field or offfield. Yeah, we don’t want to guarantee him the money while the only other team making the argument in the 30s is the Cleveland Browns. And that’s because they just found out that Quishon Judkins I mean I don’t know if you guys read into it. It’s not good. You know, Quishon Judkins, you know, did what he did to another to to a woman, you know, like you want to put them on the same pedestal? How’s that going to look? Like, you know, all I got to say is thank God all of y’all pushing back on this. All thank God because I see you on YouTube. I see you on X. I see you guys. Small minority. The ones who always got to be the contrarians, right? No matter what the subject is. Thank God you guys aren’t making business decisions. That’s all I got to say. Holy gez, we’d be up the creek with no paddle. But let’s get into my preview. Before we do get into my preview though, I do want to shout out the sponsor of today’s video, and that would be Clean the World. 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Shout out to clean the world. I say it all the time. If there’s one sponsor you’re gonna you’re ever going to support of mine, make sure you sponsor Clean the World. All right. Now, let’s without further ado, let’s get into what we got today. We are going to go over the depth charts first, how I see them, and there’s always a method to my madness, you know that. So, let’s get into it. And let’s start off with the defense. So with the defense for me, um, at left defensive end, we got Zack Cer, Matthew Butler, Zeke Biggers, and Alex Huntley. Now, I’m going to tell you this. If you see someone that knows, if you see someone at left uh defensive end, right defensive end, outside linebacker, wherever, I lined everyone up, whether they’re if they’re a rookie coming out, all right? Whether they’re UFA or drafted, where did you play the most? So, for example, I’ll give you one. BJ Adams, you see that right corner? The majority of his snaps in college came out right corner, right? Or if they were even, like if they were close to being even, I would put the people like let’s say BJ Adam played 147 at left corner and 146 at right corner, but I need another body added to right corner because it’s basically you can play anywhere either side. I’m going to put you where I need the hole filled for the for the aesthetic look. All right. So, Zack Cer, I mean, we’ve talked about this. I mean, you know, arguably best, you know, well, not arguably, he is a top 10 interior defensive lineman. There’s just no doubt about it. All right. Um, now I got Matthew Butler ahead of Zeke Biggers just because of his experience. U, but Zeke Biggers is another guy who can move around a little bit, right? You know, he’s not just going to be pigeonholed to that left side, but he did take a lot of snaps there at the left side. And then Alex Huntley, who I think is going to be a camp body that can maybe eventually um that can maybe eventually get on the practice squad. So that’s how I I see that working out. Um so but yeah, I you know, is Zeke Bigger going to overtake Matthew Butler? I don’t know. Um, that’s going to be, you know, that’s going to be a daunting task to ask of Zeke Biggers. Um, but hey, you never know. You never know. This kid’s impactful. I love his game. I love what he what he offers in his in his ceiling. And, you know, it’s he’s another guy, too, where, like I said, I mean, he can move all around. You know, he can play nose if you need him to, right? Um, again, he can play defensive tackle on the left side or the right side. The he took the most of his on the left side. That’s why I’ve got him here. And again, he can line up as an end if you need him to. Um, so he’s very versatile. Um, now nose tackle. I got Bonito Jones and Jordan Phillips, but again, Zeke Biggers could take reps there. Um, Kenneth Grant could take reps there if you need him to. So, you know, it’s not just It only looks like two guys there, but it’s more. But Bonito Jones and Jordan Phillips. Now, I’m going to have Dante Trader film later. You’ll be You’ll see some Jordan Phillips in those clips. If you actually watch the interior, you’ll see him in those clips, too. But, um, again, this interior, I love the upside. I love the upside of this interior. So, I think Jordan Phillips is another guy where you got to watch the film. If you if you stat box, you know, if you score box watch with him like you did with Chop Robinson, you’re going to end up looking pretty silly potentially. You know, this kid’s got a pretty high ceiling. I like what he offers. Um, and I think I think there’s a path to quite a few reps for Jordan Phillips in year one. I really do. Now, at defensive end on the right side or defensive tackle there, you got Kenneth Grant as well as Ben Stilly and Matt Dickerson. Um, you know, Zeke’s another guy who could again play on this side if you need him to. Um, in terms of Dickerson and Stilly, I don’t really have high expectations. Um, I do think Ben Stilly is the one that will stick out of the two of them. If one does if one of the two does stick, I do I would put my money on Ben Stilly if I were you. Um, but Dickerson to me is just a camp body. Now, outside linebacker, okay, here’s the thing. Like, let’s talk about the left side. All right. I could have labeled this as a Leo. I could have labeled this as a Jack. You know, there’s so many different labels I could have went with that I just stuck with left outside linebacker. I mean, I could have named it rush linebacker. There’s just different things that these guys are asked and there’s different looks we come out in. So, I just wanted to get that out of out of here. Okay. So Jaylen Phillips, I got him taking the starting spot when he returns again. Chop Robinson, he’s second here, but he could very well take over first spot. Not only if Jaylen Phillips gets hurt, but if he has the breakout season some of us are expecting him to have. I mean, he could take Jaylen Phillips’s spot. Let’s be honest here. He can also play on the other side at right on the right side. So, you know, you’re going to see looks where you’re going to have Phillips and um Chop flanking each end. You’re going to have looks where you see Chub and Phillips flanking both ends. You’re going to see looks where you got Chub and of course Chub Robinson flanking both ends. Now, Mo Kamar, again, this is where he took the majority of his snaps last year, off the left, off the left side. And then Derek Mclundon. I think that’s just another camp body. Uh Mike Jordan Brooks, KJ Britt, Channing Tindle, Eugene Asante, uh KJ Britt again, another fit at Mike, but he could go Will if you need him to. Um and then at Will, I got Tyrell Dodson and Willie Gay Jr. and Dcoin Jackson. I think Eugene Asante, I think he’s going to leap Channing Tindle because Eugene Asante is a better athletic profile. I think he can um you know offer you something on special teams, maybe a higher ceiling. And I think just because Channing Tindle kind of like Erica Zakama, the train might have left, you know, the train might have left on that one. So, and I’m going to be I’ll make another bold prediction. Another guy that I think and we’ll talk about in the training camp battles tomorrow. I think Willie Gay Jr. has a chance to leave Tyrell Dodson. I really do. And Willie Gay is a guy where you could flex him out, right? You could flex him out at outside linebacker, right? You want to use him as a rush linebacker, you can use Willie Gay as a rush linebacker if you need to. A Leo, a Rio, whatever, you can use him as that. So that’s uh that’s how I see the line the the interior linebacking course shaping up. And then on the right side, Bradley Chub, Quinton Bell, Grayson Murphy, camera good again, Grayson Murphy. Majority of the stuff he took on UCLA and in the preseason last year was as a right outside linebacker. So I think Grayson Murphy, I think he’s got a chance to jump Quinton Bell. I think if he has a strong strong camp and strong preeason, I would not be overly shocked if you see Grayson Murphy make a leap up this depth chart. That would not overly shock me. But if you notice like what I’m talking about about, you know, Chop could play both sides, you know, um, you know, the the the interchangeability I went over on the interior defensive line as well as the interior linebacking core. A lot of these guys can just move around and you can give a lot of different looks with these guys. So like that at cornerback. Yep. I got him. I got him out of nickel. I had to based on what our depth chart is right now. How you going to put Kater Kohu in that nickel and have Storm Duck and you know Cam Smith or Ethan Bonner? It just doesn’t make sense. So I got Kater Kohu and Storm Duck as based on my depth chart and where they’re most comfortable playing as your starting corners right now. Now, could Cam Smith have a big training camp in Leaptorm Duck? Sure. But on the right side, I got Ethan Bonner, BJ Adams, and Isaiah Johnson. I think that’s a very interesting battle. Is Ethan Bonner going to get more opportunities than he did last year? We know they love BJ Adams who took the majority of his snaps on the right side. Now, in his final year, it was I think he took a couple more snaps on the left side, but if you look at his entirety at UC in college, he was mainly on the right side. Now, Isaiah Johnson’s another one where I got him as a potential breakout player, you know, like if Ethan Bonner isn’t getting the opportunities and he isn’t in great standing with this defensive staff, that could open the door for Isaiah Johnson to move up the depth chart. and BJ really at the other corner spot I got Storm Duck, Cam Smith, Jason Marshall, Ethan Robinson again. What’s Jason Marshall going to be? Now, I didn’t do a prospect profile on him. The issue I got with Jason Marshall is if he doesn’t make an impact off the boundary, he’s not a guy you’re going to be throwing in there on special teams. So, what are we doing here? So Jason Marshall is kind of pigeonholed where you better perform well and you better step up on the boundary because if you don’t that’s where your job is. Like that’s where your only usefulness really comes from right now. He’s not a guy I’m putting in the slot either. Cam Smith, Chris Greer’s called you out. This is basically do or die this camp for Cam Smith. You know, we haven’t heard we haven’t seen Chris Grigg get this frustrated with Liam Iikenberg because Liam Iikenberg has been out there for them. Cam Smith isn’t even giving you that. Then Storm Duck after year one as a UDFA. Is he becoming our next Nick Needam? I don’t know. But when you look at the options, especially on that left side, Storm Duck’s really the only sure thing there. Ethan Robinson out of Minnesota. He’s another young UDFA they brought in. He’s a good player. Maybe he provides something. And then at safety, again, interchangeable guys. At strong safety, I got Ephiatu Melanu, Ashton Davis, Dante Trader, and Jordan Colbert. Now, Dante Trader can play in, you know, he can play on the perch by himself or in split looks. So he or he can play in the box. Same kind of goes for Iata Malfanu. He can play in the box or split looks or he can go up on the the single on the perch by himself. Right. Jordan Colbert, I think he’s just going to continue to be a practice squad guy. I don’t see him breaking through those top three right there. I just don’t. Ashton Davis, another guy. Can you stay healthy? Because if you do, you could be a great fit in that rotation. At free safety, I’ve got Minka Fitzpatrick, Elijah Campbell, Patrick McMorris, and John Sanders Jr., the UDFA out of Old Miss. Now, Patrick McMorris, I think he could leap Elijah Campbell here. I think he could become your number two. Again, a guy who can play all around. Mink Fitzpatrick, again, a guy who can play on the perch and split looks by himself down in the box, you know what I mean? Elijah Campbell. He’s a great special teams contributor. They’re really high on him as a young safety on this team. So, um the secondary is interesting because when you put it to paper, the safety room has, you know, Melofanu, Ashton Davis, Dante Trader, Minka Fitzpatrick, Patrick Morris. I really like those five as a unit and in the rotation. Remember, we’re going to be seeing a lot of three safety looks. Weaver likes to utilize that. They did it big time in Baltimore, and now I think they’ve got more bodies available where if they all stay healthy, they’re going to have an easier job of fielding three legitimate safeties out there on the field. I like John Sanders, too. I really do. I’m not going to lie. He interests me. He intrigues me. A nickel. I got Arty Burns, Kendall Sheffield, and Ryan Cooper Jr. again. Arty Burns, Kendall Sheffield, and Ryan Cooper. This is where they’ve taken the majority of their snaps at nickel. So, that’s why they fit there the best. Arty Burns, I see out of the three of them as being your starting nickel, unless Kendall Sheffield has some kind of revelation at training camp, you know. So, um there is the nickel. If you want my honest opinion, nickel like the weakest right now because you don’t want to take Kater off the boundary. Yeah, I think uh I like the potential. I can see why they’re not handing out a lot of money to veteran corners because you can see the potential, right? Like if Storm Duck builds off of next year, you’re good. If Arty Burns continues to be reliable in the nickel, you’re good. If Kater Kohu continues to improve off the player you saw in the second half of the season last year where the light bulb was going on, you’re good. It’s just kind of like the offensive line. The depth is going to be very questionable. Like, you know, is Ethan Bonner going to recapture the magic that he had under Fangio? Is their love for BJ Adams going to be justified with good play? is, you know, a lot of people are hyping up Isaiah Johnson, including me. Is he going to continue to elevate? Cam Smith, is he finally going to give us a return? Jason Marshall Jr., is he going to look more like the five-star recruit rather than the failed project than with the Gator? You know, just a lot of unknowns there. So, that’s how I see the defensive depth chart playing out. All right. Now for special teams. All right, this is where it gets a little interesting. A little little interesting here. So my special teams dep chart and how I see it playing out. Kicker is obviously going to be Jason Sanders, but punter I got Ryan Stonehouse and had a Jake Bailey. I’m sorry. I just what? Cuz Jake Bailey knows how to hold for Jason Sanders. Sorry. Pass. That does not make you a priority to stay in my opinion. And you save some money against the cap if you get rid of Jake Bailey. Peace out. Kick return and punt return. Obviously, if you want to go the route, Devon Achan would be number one. I think Malik flashed a lot last year. He’d be my number two guy. Destridge is a guy where you can just, you know, you can just depend on him, right? He’s got a pass with it. He’s good at it. He’s done at the NFL level. And then the fourth guy I got on both is AJ Henning, right? The undrafted free agent that they added from Northwestern. I mean, we’re talking about a guy who runs a 44. And he’s already been known as a great special teams player and returner while in college, right? He He’s a He I mean, the guy’s an absolute beast when it comes to returning the football, right? I mean, he’s got return. He had a return with Michigan in 2022 for, you know, 61 yards and a touchdown, a punt return. So, I mean, you go look at him. I mean, his first year in Michigan, he averaged 29.8 8 yards as a kick returner on average and he averaged about 9.4 yards on the punt return average. He’s got longs of 61 32 23 and 27 yards as a punt returner. As a kick returner, 36, 31, and 26 yards. So, he just makes the most sense if you’re going to groom someone or someone’s going to get opportunities that’s probably going to end up landing on the uh practice squad. That’s a guy you’re grooming if you got a call up this year is AJ Henning. So, I see him getting a lot of the reps to see what they got in him in training camp. Long snapper obviously we changed over to Joe Cardona. And then the Gunners. So, I got Arty Burns, Elijah Campbell, Dante Trader Jr., and Kendall Sheffield. Again, Arty Burns at the NFL level, ton of experience as a gunner, right? Just that’s what he can do. That’s what he offers you. And they had to replace it obviously with the loss of Sirin Neil, right? Um, so and then when you look at uh Elijah Campbell, he’s been a reliable gunner for them already. So, you know, that that’s not going to change. That’s not going to change at all, I don’t think, anytime soon, right? Um, then you got a guy like Dante Trader Jr. took Gunner reps in college. He offers you special teams versatility. I think you’re gonna see that for sure. And then Kendall Sheffield. Kendall Sheffield, you go look at his 2024 season last year and he was taking Gunner reps on the left and the right side. So again, all these guys that I have here listed at Gunner, whether it be Kendall Sheffield, Dante Trader Jr., Elijah Campbell, Arty Burns, they’ve got known Gunner reps. I’m not just picking names out of the air. Did my research and they you well didn’t have to do my research on the first two or even the third one, but I looked up Kendall Schifffield just to make sure and sure enough, boom, fit. So, that’s how I see the Gunner jobs working out. This is just basically how I see special teams working out. I mean, sorry Jake Bailey, but I, you know, we’re not holding on to this guy, that’s for sure. So that is how I see everything working out regarding the depth charts with defense and special teams heading into training camp. Again, smash that like button. Subscribe if you are new. We are about to get into some prospect profiles for each and every one of y’all. We got a lot to go over here. And you know who we’re going to start off with. And obviously we’re going to start off with the culture changer in the defensive trenches. That would be Kenneth Grant with the 13th pick of the 2025 NFL draft. The Miami Dolphins selected one of my biggest man crushers of the draft. Someone I’ve been saying for months they are heavily interested in drafting. And Zack Cer’s future running mate, Kenneth Grant, defensive tackle for Michigan. Grant was also DT1 on my 2025 NFL draft defensive tackle big board. Like Jonah Savvian on the offensive side of the trenches, Grant is a physical tone setter on the defensive side of the football. That isn’t just a step, but a leap in the right direction when it comes to the Miami Dolphins trying to shed the soft label. Grant was kind of stuck in Mason Graham’s shadow, only being named to the second team all Big 10 in his final two seasons. But I think the ceiling on him is much higher as a pro player. To put things in perspective, Graham was viewed as a more polished product. Yet, over the last two college seasons, Grant had a half sack more than Graham on 40 less snaps. When you’re discussing athletic freaks, too, that’s also where Grant separates himself from his former Wolverines teammate, as Grant was named as the third biggest athletic freak in college football heading into the 2024 college season by Bruce Feldman’s annual college football freaks list on The Athletic. Grant is 6’3 and 58, 331 pounds, can do Turkish getups with 150 pound dumbbells. Unbelievable. Has been clocked with a 29 in vertical at Michigan and 18.75 miles per hour on the GPS when he was 360 lb. The tales of Kenneth Grant’s unreal athleticism and powerful frame. It shows up all over his film. Whether he’s winning with a bull rush to hunt down the quarterback for a sack or fighting through a double in pursuit of a running back he eventually takes down, there’s some truly impressive things Grant does that make you sit back in your chair and awe. Grant is also a top tier run defender. He can eat up doubles. He maintains good gak integrity, can shed and stack blockers, can win with just pure oxike power. Grant is capable of chasing down running backs 10 plus yards downfield like he did against Penn State back in 2023 when he caught up to and took down Kron Allen. One of the most impressive high motor plays you’ll ever see from an interior defensive lineman. Needless to say, his motor runs redot, making him even more of a handful for a blocker for four quarters until the sound of the very last whistle. Kenneth Grant also boasts a really solid anchor that can make him dan near immovable for a blocker. As a pass rusher, I’ve seen him push pocket back, push pockets back on the bull rush with one hand, then finish off the quarterback like he did against Penn Jr. against Washington the 2023 college football playoff national championship game. Grant can use his power to overwhelm an offensive lineman with his raw power through a bull rush. Uses explosiveness, length, and athleticism to win with a swim over move to instantly penetrate the backfield. Utilizes the rip like Dolphins edge rusher Chop Robinson likes to. And although he I do think he needs to expand his bag of pass rush tricks a little more, the upside as a rusher from the interior is very high. He offers you versatility up and down the defensive front. Has nimble feet, hands that are lightning quick that are consistently well placed and can send a thunderbolt through a blocker to stun them with his punch. One of the things I love most about Grant is that he’ll do whatever it takes to impact a play. Whether it’s opening up lanes by eating a double for teammates, hunting down the quarterback or ball carrier himself, or even batting down balls at the line of scrimmage, as he had 12 over the last two years, he just never takes a down off. As for AR’s improvement in his game, like I said earlier, Grant is going to have to continue to expand his pass rush repertoire. It’s also kind of unknown if he can take on a big workload in 2024 as you know 2024 was his first college season logging over 500 plus defensive snaps. But on film Grant’s pad level can be too high at times can cause him leverage issues and I think he needs to be polished overall with technique and fundamentals mainly due to having a total of 939 reps in three years at Michigan. But if there’s anyone I trust to develop him, it’s Anthony Weaver, especially after what he did with Justin Matabuki, who I think wasn’t nearly the athlete that Grant is and has a lower ceiling as a pro compared to Grant. With the departure of Campbell and Deshawn Hand in free agency, this has created a glaring void as the Dolphins defense defensive line has 1180 defensive snaps need to be replaced, which means there’s going to be plenty of opportunities for Kenneth Grant to not only flash, but potentially break out year one. I don’t expect him to get a lot of attention from offensive coordinators early on until he earns it with good play with the primary focus being on already proven players at the this level like Cer Robinson as well as a returning Phillips and Bradley Chub which should make the transition a lot easier than walking into a defensive line room with Bear Cubards when it comes to talent. and Kenneth Grant. The Miami Dolphins are not only getting a running mate for the future to pair with Zack Cer, but I believe they’re getting a super high ceiling player that screams future all pro pro who can be disruptive as a player like Veta is just more athletic version. The Miami Dolphin fans were in love with Wilkins. Get ready to fall head over heels for Kenneth Grant who I believe has a potential to be a better pro player than Wilkins, especially as a pass rusher. During this past rookie mini camp, Kenneth Grant referred to himself as a culture changer. And listen, he should have the opportunity and the chances in his rookie season to be just that. It’s going to be up to him to live up to a little bit of his own hype. So, he’s going to have the opportunity to back that statement up if he can rise to the occasion when the chances to be a differencemaker for the Dolphins defense present themselves. So, big fan of what Kenneth Grant does and I I love what what we got here at 13. I think that front seven that front seven has the potential to be super super special, man. It really really does. And man, listen, don’t use Kenneth Grant as an excuse to not pay Zack Cer. Use Kenneth Grant as an excuse to pay Zack Caler. What do I mean by that? You could have a formidable duel on that interior for the ne for Kenneth Grant’s remaining rookie deal if you take care of Zack Cer. So, that’s what I would do. Now, let’s get into another guy that, you know, wasn’t high on the pick when we made it, but like Patrick and Morris, I’ve gotten higher and higher on this pick as time has gone on and I’ve revisited the film and such. So, for me, they added a versatile chest piece in Dante Trader Jr. For the second year in a row, Chris Greer and the Miami Dolphins selected a safety on day three of the NFL draft in 2024 is Patrick McMorris from Cal. And this year, it was Dante Trader Jr. out of Maryland. Similarly to how I felt about the McMorris selection last year, I wasn’t too thrilled with the Dante Trader selection, but as you all know, McMorris grew on me quickly throughout training camp. And once I found out Mcorris was a favorite of the scouting department, that made me like the pick even more. As I’ve dove deeper into the film on Dante Trader Jr., I become more of a fan of this pick as well, which also seems like it was once again at the behest of the Dolphin scouting staff to draft him in the fifth round with pick 155. There’s also been very po he’s also what you know what’s also been very positive up until this point is that through rookie minions camp and otaas Dante Trader Jr. has been constantly active around the ball and the play while forcing multiple turnovers at OTAAS something his defense desperately needs after being ranked 27th in the NFL with only 10 interceptions and six fumbles recovered in 2024. His relative athletic score may not blow you away, but it’s hard to deny that Dante Trader Jr. is quite the athlete. While playing high school football, he lined up at quarterback, wide receiver, cornerback, and safety, which led to him being the 49th ranked quarterback in the 2021 recruiting class. Plus, he was a five-star recruit and the number nine ranked lacrosse player in the nation. At Maryland, Trader Jr. made an impact as soon as he was named a starter in the defensive backfield of the Turps. In his first year as a starter, his two interceptions led the team. In his second year, his eight passes defended was the most of any player on the defense. And in 2024, after putting lacrosse to the side to focus on football, he earned honorable mention all big 10 honors after posting 59 tackles, five passes defended, and one interception. In total, Trader Jr. accumulated five interceptions, 19 passes defended, forced one fumble, and had 174 tackles, and 35 starts over the last three seasons. As I previously alluded to, Dante Trater Jr. didn’t post the greatest Raz. He came in at 510 and 78, 196 pounds with an underwhelming 31 inch vertical, 9 foot n inch broad jump, 4.6540 time, 2.67 20 yard split, 158 10 yard split, 432 shuttle, and a 7.093 cone for a 3.62 Raz out of a possible 10, which ranks as a 790th best out of,36 strong safeties tested from 1987 to 2025. I do think he’s a bit better of an athlete than what he tested at at the combine, but he won’t blow you away by any means. He just plays a little quicker when the lights come on from what I saw on film. I think where he really shines is in the mental aspect of the game with his high football IQ, as he’s a very good processor and diagnoser with fantastic instincts, which leads to him putting himself in positions to make a play on the receiver, the running back, or the football. This also allows him to click and close very efficiently without having to rely on pure athleticism which allows him to be dependable in man coverage. Trader Junior is also very versatile as he’s as he spent time on the perch and single eye or split looks. He can come down in the box. He can play off the line of scrimmage or out in the slot. You know, I think at the next level, he’s not an ideal fit as as a nickel. Another thing Trader Jr. offers the Dolphins is the ability to contribute on special teams, which will be key to getting reps as a rookie. What I also like about Trader is there isn’t a ton of wasted movement in his game. Whether it’s not losing a step while flipping his hips to stay in coverage, or taking pursuit angles to make a tackle, which he’s improved at, having missed only three tackles in 2024. A vast improvement from the third 13 he missed in 2023. Trader Jr. also shows a physical side to his game, which really shows up in run support, which I think is one of the more underrated parts of his game. I was very impressed to see how involved and responsible he was in run fits. His sideline to sideline range is much better on tape than what you would think it would be if you only looked at his Raz. I think his biggest issue at the next level, it’s going to be his lack of ideal size, which could lead to tackle attempts being shedded and issues playing through traffic. His recovery speed also, it isn’t great. If he’s be cleanly speed receivers, especially out of the slot, will be a mismatch for him. And I think he needs to clean up his footwork a bit, especially out of his back pedal. Weaver loves to run three safety looks. Plus, as I mentioned, Trader Jr. can contribute on special teams like he did at Maryland. So, I see him getting some opportunities to make plays as a rookie, especially if he carries over his strong rookie mini camp and OTAAS into training camp and preseason games. I also believe the safety room it’s wide open behind Minka Fitzpatrick and Ephiatu Melanu, which works in the favor for the versatile defensive back to get his, you know, to to get his feet wet and get as many reps in as possible as he earns them. But I have a sneaky suspicion that one of or both Dante Trader Jr. and Patrick Morris could climb the death chart with Elijah Campbell being a career backup and special teams player to this point. Malofanu and Ashton Davis injury histories as well got to be taken into consideration in terms of him getting opportunities. Dante Trader is one of those players I’m most excited to monitor through training camp and the preseason. I just hope Dante Trader takes advantage of all the opportunities thrown his way on defense and special teams during training camp, preseason, and the regular season. I really do because if he does take advantage of those opportunities, we might have a draft steel that’s a playmaker on our hands in the Miami secondary, which again they desperately need after being near the bottom of the league in turnovers last year. So really excited to see what Dante Trader has to offer. Um, you know, he’s again for rookies, the key is what the key is you’ve got to be able to contribute on special teams and he fits that bill, man. So again, I’ve talked about this. When I talk about Dante Trader, I see a better version, a better replacement for Siran Neil. That’s what I see in Dante Trader. So I, you know, I I like this kid’s film, man. You know, I at the time of the pick, I was low on it. There was other guys up there I wanted, but I’ve started to see the vision as I’ve, you know, put my Dolphins schematic shades on and dove back into his film. So, yeah, I I think we got something here potentially with Dante Trader Jr. So, guys, smash that like button, subscribe if you are new. I’m going to get out of here, but I’m going to be back tomorrow. All right, and we are going to go over my top position battles for training camp, then the veterans report on Tuesday. So, we got a lot coming your way in terms of content. All right. And I’ve got a special guest lined up for this week that I think you guys are going to absolutely love and it’s going to shake the foundation a little bit. So, it it’s a big name, so we’ll we’ll see how that goes. planning to record Wednesday and I’ll drop it this week after I record it. So, a lot of content coming your way. All right, smash that like button. Subscribe if you are new and you already know what time it is. Fins up all day, every day. Appreciate each and every one of you. Please, if you can donate, go ahead and donate. But if you can’t, just smash the like button. It goes a long way, especially on a video like this that is going to get demonetized. All right. Appreciate y’all. Love y’all. I’ll see you on the next one. Shins up, baby.

On this episode of Phinside The NFL, Reason previews the Miami Dolphins defense and special teams heading into 2025 NFL Training Camp which opens this week plus he’ll have prospect profiles including in depth scouting reports and All-22 of Kenneth Grant and Dante Trader Jr.!

How do the Miami Dolphins defensive and special teams depth charts look heading into Training Camp?

Is Kenneth Grant the culture changer and tone setter on the defensive side of the trenches that the Dolphins have been lacking?

Can Dante Trader Jr. be a versatile chess piece for both the defense and special teams?

Plus we’ll discuss much more!

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