Damien Woody of ESPN Gives His Thoughts on the Miami Dolphins

Damien Woody of ESPN Gives His Thoughts on the Miami Dolphins

[Music] This episode of the dolphins.com podcast is sponsored by Caneswear. Caneswear.com is the spot where Miami fans shop. That’s canwear.com. kaneswear.com. The best and most affordable gear for the Miami Dolphins, the Miami Marlins, the Miami Heat, the Stanley Cup champion, Florida Panthers, all of the professional and college sports teams in South Florida. Caneswear.com has you covered. If you are in South Florida, you can visit the storefront at 2655 South University Drive in Davey. They ship internationally as well. So, caneswear.com, make it the place. It’s the best and most affordable Miami Dolphins gear. That’s canwear.com. caneswear.com. And don’t forget about Dolphins Talk Extra. Go to patreon.com/dolphins talk for additional Miami Dolphins content. You get extra e extra access to our private Discord server. You get bonus podcasts covering the Miami Dolphins. You get off-topic content as well. We have live watchalongs. We have retro rewatches where we watch old games and talk about them. We do off-topic shows. We have prizes, contests, all kinds of exclusive access only for Dolphins Talk Extra subscribers. So join us. patreon.com/dolphins talk. You can join the fun for as little as $3 a month. Head on over to dolphins extra at patreon.com/dolphinsalk. And now on with the show. You’re listening to the dolphins.com podcast. The most listened to daily Miami Dolphin podcast on the internet. [Music] Miami. Come on fans. We’re in the air. We’re on the ground. We’re always in control. That way you say Miami. You’re talking to our Miami Dolphins. Miami Dolphins. Miami Dolphins number one. Miami Dolphins. Miami Dolphins. Miami Dolphins number one. [Music] Hello Dolphin fans and welcome to another episode of Dolphins Talk. My name is Marissa Marino and today I am joined by a very talented and special guest. He really needs no introduction, but I’m gonna give him one heck of one anyways. I am joined by Damian Woody, 12-year NFL vet, 2002 Pro Bowler, and twotime Super Bowl champion. You can catch him on ESPN on Get Up, First Take, NFL Live, and all ESPN platforms. Mr. Damen Woody, how are you today? I am well. I am well. Happy to be on the show. I We are happy to have you. That’s a lot of accolades. That was that that took a little bit out of me there. Yeah, listen, it it took a lot of blood, sweat, and tears, but uh I’m I’m happy the way my career worked out in the International Football League. Absolutely. I wish I wish you were we could say that it was part of the Dolphins, but it’s okay. Happy that it went for you the way it did and you’re here now. So, everyone who’s watching, make sure you follow along. Damian provides great commentary and insight on his Twitter page. You can follow him at Damian Woody. So, Mr. Woody, if you’re ready, we’ll get right into it. Let’s get it. All right. So, I’m going to I’m going to not start easy. I’m going to start with the hard one. So, recently on ESPN Get Up, you said that the Dolphins offense is empty calories. What did you mean by that? And do you feel that it is a coaching philosophy issue or the players are not executing when it matters issue? Yeah, listen when I said that the the Dolphins offense was empty calories is basically, you know, the Dolphins offense under Mike McDaniel, you know, he runs a very innovative offense. A lot of what I call eye candy, a lot of things to kind of distract you from a defensive perspective and awfully to, you know, what essentially is try to gain some type of leverage and put his players in the best position. Uh, but ultimately, you know, I candy can only go so far. at some point have to you have to capture the line of scrimmage. You have to impose your will on the on the the player across from you. And to me that’s what the Dolphins had lacked last year in particularly in the running game. Now I know you know Tua missed some time and and the run game was was inefficient. Meaning that you know there were times when Tua was in there the the amount of run plays were down as opposed when Tua missed time the the run plays were up. Um but what you saw from the Dolphins that um not prior well last year but um before previous years they weren’t able to be efficient running the football. That’s a core principle of Mike McDaniel is Mike McDaniel his background as a run obviously a run coordinator with the San Francisco 49ers. He was known as an innovative run coordinator and really putting his players in position to be successful. We saw in prior years him him being able to do that with the run game, but last year took a took a little bit of a dip um from rushing rushing carries dipped. Um the efficiency of the of the run game dip. And to me that is a staple of the Miami Dolphins offense because when the run game is going, guess what happens? Two is much better. Everyone is much better when they’re able to run the football. And that wasn’t the case last year, particularly towards the end of the year where it really collapsed. uh you know for the Miami Dolphins. So when I again when I say empty calories for me it’s more of capturing the line of scrimmage imposing your will and the I cam they will only enhance that aspect of the Dolphins offense. Totally understandable and you know we did lose Raheem Moert Jeff Wilson Jr. that running back core now is going to be led by Devon Aan and we just so happened to have Jaylen Wright secondyear rookie was on the podcast with us yesterday. Jaylen’s hungry. You can tell. I mean, he’s ready. He didn’t get as many snaps as he wanted to last year. What do you think of I mean, they added Alexander Madison, Ali Gordon the second. What are your thoughts now of this running back room and their possible potential? Yeah, listen, the one thing that jumps out, they’re a little younger. Okay, they’re they’re younger. They have they have speed to meet the moment. That’s one thing that Mike McDaniel really um really prioritizes is speed. I think the biggest thing when I talk about the Miami Dolphins and and their offense, I look at the I look at the offensive line. Can the offensive line really impose their will on people because they got the backs are talented. There’s no question about it. They got talented backs. They got backs that that can literally take it the distance, but they got to be able to catch the line of scrimmage. And so for me, I look at can this Dolphins offensive uh offensive line really meet the moment in that aspect, not only in the running game, but also protecting Tua because we know Tua is a guy that’s you know, listen, he’s missed some time with injury. So it’s it’s it’s the utmost importance to protect the quarterback as well. Absolutely. And you you know, you do talk about that physicality. I mean, the Dolphins did make a shift this off season and try to get a little bit more physical. They signed Jame James Daniels from Pittsburgh. Now, we know he is coming off of an injury, but they drafted three defensive linemen, including one in the first round, and then they traded up to select an offensive guard in round two. Did that give you some hope that maybe they are changing their approach and style of play to be a little bit more physical? Yeah, I mean, listen, you know, to me, Chris, the GM, Chris Greer, you know, that’s what all the moves point to. You also got to remember when I always tell people the easiest road to to the playoffs is winning your division. Well, guess what? You have Buffalo in your division. One thing that Buffalo does well, they run the football. They run the football really well. So, if you’re the Miami Dolphins and you want to try to conquer the king in the division, you have to you have to have a phys a physicality uh you got to make a physicality statement within the division. You got to be able to stop Buffalo’s run game and you got to be able to run the football. And so to me, those are the moves that GM Chris Greer is making and trying to gear up and and bring more physicality both, you know, on the offense and the defensive line for the Miami Dolphins. Okay. So, going into that, do you feel Mike McDaniel and general manager Chris Greer can survive another eight or nine win season where they miss the playoffs or don’t get a playoff win? Or do you believe both are on the hot seat this upcoming season where if they fall short, both will be gone? this whole saying that the Miami Dolphin situation is the one that bears most bears watching the most this off seasonason you know for for a couple reasons one since Mike McDaniel has been there with with two tongue of Valor they haven’t won the playoff game I mean think about they’ve put up numbers offensively there’s no question about that but you have yet to win a playoff game is can the quarterback win you know that’s the question ask if you’re a Miami Dolphins fan do you think that to a ton can bring you a championship. Right now, the answer is no. And you know, looking at this, the way it’s presently constructed, we don’t know if this team is built the right way to contend for a championship. Do they have pieces? Yes. They got they got guys that that can go out there and get it done, but they haven’t done it yet. And until until you’re able to a contend with Buffalo, b win playoff games, I think you’re you’re deserving enough having these questions asked about whether you’re the right man for the job. Yeah, I think that’s I think that’s 100% fair. And you know, it’s a it’s a lot. I mean, it’s a Dolphin fan. 25 years, Mr. Woody, that’s a long time to be be waiting for something to come through. So, um, you know, uh, we’ll see what happens. But let’s talk about some more of this with the team, too. I mean, when you see, as a player, when you see players like Jaylen Ramsay wanting out of Miami, Tyreek Hill walks off the field in the middle of week 18 game last season, when you hear Mike McDaniel saying he’s finded players last year and it didn’t seem to work. As a former player, do you think that he’s lost the locker room? And if he has, do you think a coach can get it back? Well, I always say that, you know, if you’re hearing snippets of snippets of that um from the outside, it’s much worse because usually a locker room kind of keep things contained. Um so I I believe that, you know, there’s a lot going on behind the scenes. Again, I point to what I said earlier. Four of the captains from last year are no longer on the Miami Dolphins roster. Think about that. Four captains from the prior year are no longer on the roster. That is a tale in my opinion about the locker room culture in Miami. The fact that you’ve had, you know, a guy like Jaylen Ramsay who you’ve clashed with and doesn’t want to be on the roster and, you know, all these other whispers about, you know, players, you know, being disgruntled in the locker room. That to me is how are you building your culture? Personnel matters. And so you got to look at Chris Greer and how they’ve constructed this roster and and you got to think to yourself, okay, is this guy the right guy for the job? Because you can’t have that type of thing going on. And obviously players police the locker room, but when you have a lot of disgruntled players, there’s something brewing in Miami that’s not a good thing. I know the fans don’t love to hear this, but you know, Mr. Woody, we’ve got to give it to him straight because it’s great to have that hopeium, but you know, I mean, there’s real things happening in Miami right now. And when the good is good, but when it’s not so good, we got to talk about it. So, absolutely. Um, okay. So, Tua, another polarizing topic of conversation going into year six. We know he must stay healthy and be available. When he plays, we often hear and see quarterback rankings. Where do you rank Tua? What is Tua, you know, in your top 15 quarterbacks right now? Where where do you kind of have him? I have two of my top 15 quarterbacks. Listen, here’s here’s what I see with Tu. When things are when things are going great, he’s one of the top quarterbacks in the league because he does things that a lot of quarterbacks aren’t able to do. when he plays in timing and rhythm, he’s fantastic. There’s not many quarterbacks that play in timing and rhythm better than to tongue of Valor. But the problem is when when when the timing and rhythm isn’t there, when it’s not there on that first or second read, that’s what the the aspect of his game is that it’s lacking. the playing above the X and O’s, the impro, you know, improv, you know, plays that we see some of these other elite quarterbacks. That’s what Tua doesn’t bring to the table. And I think I think for me that will always separate Tu from, you know, being a a good high-end quarterback to being an elite quarterback. The elite quarterbacks are able to make plays out of nothing. When things break down, they’re able to still make plays. And that’s to me is an aspect to a game that is missing. Now, I I agree with that, but I do have to ask you this. I mean, we know that Miami’s offense is one of the like most complex playbooks that what they have out there right now. We also know the O line that Tua has had to deal with has been, I mean, you mentioned it, not good. You take Tua, you put him in a less complicated offense and a decent O line. I mean, do you think we’d be speaking about it differently? Because I’d be hardressed to think of a ton of quarterbacks that can jump right into the role he’s playing right now and run that style of offense. Yeah, listen, that that Mike McDaniel offense is a very complex offense. They have a they have a lot of shifts, motions, things of that nature, and not a lot of guys will be able to handle all all of that. I think the question, the biggest question for Tua is availability. you know, if you’re not available, there’s no way I can put you at, you know, the upper, you know, the elite of the elite because, you know, elite quarterbacks are available. And so, two, that’s one, that’s been his, you know, his bugaboo throughout his career, even going back to Alabama, is being available. And so, for me, the number one thing he has to do, he he has to stay on the field. He say he has to stay available. Number two, here’s the thing with Tua. He’s very accurate. He’s one of the more accurate quarterbacks that we have in our game and he’s a quarterback that plays in in tremendous timing and rhythm in our game. But if Tua can somehow somehow just add another dimension that the the when things break down and not put himself in harm’s way, I think that’s the biggest thing cuz sometimes he does do that where he, you know, tries to make a play outside of structure and he ends up getting himself hurt. But if he can add that dimension without putting himself in harm’s way, that’ll only add to what Tu already has available at, you know, at his disposal. I completely agree. We’ve been preaching self-preservation and 100%. So, speaking of that quarterback room, what are your thoughts on Miami bringing in Zack Wilson as their backup quarterback this year? Do you like that move or do you think they should have brought in someone with more experience who has had a little bit more success in the NFL? Well, you know, obviously, you know, I follow the Jets very closely being that I played with the Jets and I’ve seen Zach Wilson, you know, obviously he’s a very talented individual. You know, drafted number two overall. Um, but he hasn’t had a lot of success in this league. We know that he didn’t necessarily have the the the proper infrastructure around him in in New York and then obviously he moved on to to Denver and was a backup there out there with Shawn Peyton and hopefully learn some things out there. But if I’m the Miami Dolphins and in this critical year that you have where you’re trying to v for a playoff spot and you have a quarterback that’s had a in two a tongue about Lord that’s had problems staying healthy is Zach Wilson what you want to rely upon um to to you know try to get you over the hump or try to win games if Tua is not available? I I don’t I don’t know if I would feel um very optimistic if if I’m a Miami Dolphins fan that if to a tongue of our Lord gets hurt that Zach Wilson has to come in and and help us win football games. Yeah. I mean fair. I mean I guess it is an upgrade. I mean we you have to think I mean went went through like Snoop Huntley I mean we had I mean like four different quarterbacks that went through last year but very valid. Um, okay. So, you were a first round pick who came into the league and you started as a rookie. The Dolphins selected guard Jonah Savonia in round two and he’s going to be in a similar role of being asked to start day one. Actually, Dolphins just put a picture of him signing his four-year rookie contract today. What advice would you give someone like him and making that jump from college to being asked to start day one in the NFL? And on top of that, what do you think is going to be the biggest challenge he’s going to face? Yeah, listen, um, you know, I know for me, I remember coming in as a first round pick, I thought I was I thought I was the the top dog and then I got humbled real quickly in training camp. And so my thing is is like you gota every day just try to get 1% better. Just try to get 1% better. You’re you’re not you’re you know, you’re at the bottom of the totem pole, you know, you know, when you come in as a rookie. Um, this is a grown man’s league. Everyone is the elite of the elite. Um, but the most important thing is just learning each and every day, learning from your mistakes. Um, and I’m sure the guys in that locker room, guys in that room will help the young man along and try to help him, you know, become an established starter on that offense line because they’re going to need him. They’re going to need him. That’s part of Chris Greer’s thing is is beefing up and bringing that level of physicality on both sides of the ball. So, they’re going to need him. They’re going to need him to start and play at a high level. And so if you know if I’m talking to the young man, I’m telling him, look, each day just try to get 1% better. Just 1% better. Bring that physicality. You’re going to make mistakes, but just learn from it and just improve. 100%. Well, shifting to defense real quickly. On defense, Miami gets Jaylen Phillips and Bradley Chub back to go along with Zack Caler and Chop Robinson, as well as they picked up first round Kenneth Grant. And now Minka Fitzpatrick has come to us from the Steelers in our secondary. What are your thoughts on the Dolphins defense heading into this season? There’s been a lot of questions from from people in the media and fans about this cornerback room, but the front seven seems to be pretty solid. I think, you know, when we talk about defense and you talk about, you know, getting after the quarterback, we always say the pass, rush, and coverage go together. That’s how you’re able to get pressure and ultimately sack the quarterback. You got to have the coordination between the pass rush and the and and the and the pass coverage. And so when you look at the Miami Dolphins, the one glaring weakness is is the quarterback position. I it’s you know, you could make a case that it might be the worst in the league. It could be one of the worst position groups in the National Football League. Obviously, you traded for and bring back Maker Fitzpatrick, you know, a guy who started his career with Miami. And the one thing you will hope for is would make Fitzpatrick, he’s a veteran. He’s always been a ball hawk, you know, safety, that he will help cover some deficiencies on the back end. But when you look at this Miami Dolphins front seven, they got guys that can get after the quarterback. Obviously, you’re going to need, you know, Chub and Jaylen Phillips to come back healthy. Obviously, Shock Robinson, a guy who was a former first round pick from last last season, explosive guy. You need all those guys to get out to get after theo opposing quarterback because when you can apply that pressure then that will help alleviate uh some of the inexperience and and some of the things going on with that Miami Dolphins quarterback room. 100%. Something that we’ll be looking to and see with trade deadlines and all that stuff what’s what’s to happen. I mean they’re going to have to pick up a veteran I would think another something somewhere. So curious to see how that all pans out. Um, final question before we get into our speed round here. We are all Dolphin fans. Cam Wakeake has our heart and I heard a previous interview you did years ago where you said that former Dolphin pass rusher Cameron Wake was one of the toughest pass rushers you had to block. What made Wake so difficult to go against? Yeah, his speed to power was elite. like he could, you know, his get off on the line of scrimmage and his combination of just power and and counter moves. It was, you know, some of the best that I had ever gone against. So, every time I went against Cam W, it was always a battle. I was always just like, you got to make sure you bring your lunch pay because Cam Wake was he was relentless. It wasn’t a play that he took off. He brought it every single play. And imagine playing down in Miami in that heat and you got a guy just I mean just exploding off the line of scrimmage. So I have the utmost respect for Cam Wait. Yeah, we I mean goodness, we do too. That don’t make many like him. That’s for sure. Um all right, so what we’re going to move into real quickly, this is a new thing we’ve been doing, a new segment. It’s the Dolphins Talk speed round. And this is going to be five questions with Damen Woody. These are like lightning style questions and as quick as you can answer them off the top of your head, we’d love to see your answers. So, you ready to rock and roll, Mr. Woody? Let’s do it. All right. Question one. What team comes in second place in the AFC East this season? New England Patriots. Number two, is Mike McDaniel the head coach at the end of this season? In part two to that, is Tua the starting quarterback for Miami a year from now? I’m going to answer both of those. Yes. Wonderful. Number three. More fun to debate again, Stephen A or Mad Dog. Oh, Stephen A. I love Mad Dog with Stephen A. Number four, will Kansas City get back to the Super Bowl this year or will another team in the AFC knock them off? You hate to bet against Kansas City. I’m going to go with the Baltimore Ravens. All right. I like it. Well, I mean, I wish you said the dolphins, obviously, but sounds good. And final question, we always like to throw a food one in there. What is your favorite sandwich and why? My favorite sandwich. Uh, I’m old. A fried bologna sandwich. I’m I’m old school. Like that, you know, that’s still that’s still I still love that. I loved that from my childhood. So, little bit of mustard on there or you just go Yeah. Okay. Okay. I’m gonna need to get one of those. Well, that was all of them. I appreciate you uh you doing that. You did. You did a great job. And uh we just appreciate you joining joining the show and taking your time. We know season is about to ramp up for you and you are about to be getting after it. Um, have you been is there anything you’ve been doing just to any vacations you’ve taken before the season starts? Yeah, I’ve done the vacations I done, you know, the family vacation the family the vacation with the wife. Now I’m just starting to hone in on on season training camps already opened up. I’ve just gone back and kind of looked at my notes, looking at looking at tape again. And so I’m just ready for football season to start. Well, we are ready to. So again everybody, 12-year NFL vet, twotime Super Bowl champion, Mr. Damian Woody. Make sure you watch him on ESPN. Whether it’s Get Up, First Take NFL Live, make sure you check him out on Twitter, Damian Woody. Damen, any parting words for the Dolphins fans out there that are listening? Yeah, listen, I I it’s a it’s this going to be a a interesting year for the Miami Dolphins. I think the biggest thing is let’s see what Mike McDaniel has. I think Mike McDaniel is still one of one of the better coaches that we have in our league and let’s see what he can do with this team that he has around this year. Should be a fun ride. I 100% agree. Well, if you’re watching on YouTube, make sure you hit that subscribe button and you hit the like on the video. Leave us a comment. And for everyone out there in Dolphins Talk Nation, we hope you have a restive a great rest of your day and fins up. Hey everyone, Mike here from dolphins.com and thank you for watching this video. Please be sure to take a second to smash the like button here on this video and also to ensure you are subscribed to our YouTube channel. We thank you so much for listening and we know there are a lot of podcast options out there these days regarding the Miami Dolphins and with non Miami Dolphins podcast. So, we do appreciate you giving us a few minutes each and every day to tune in and listen to all of our shows. everyone here on staff. Thank you so much. And if you enjoy these shows, also please be sure to sign up for Dolphins Talk Extra, our Patreon service at patreon.com/dolphins talk where we have bonus podcasts about the dolphins and some shows not about the Miami Dolphins. We have a private message board. We also have a ton of contests where we give away really cool prizes and it’s all for the low cost of three bucks a month. Again, that’s patreon.com/dolphins. And also please be sure to follow the written content we have up on our website. So check out the website dolphinsalk.com each and every day. Once again, thank you again for listening. Take care and we’ll talk to you again real soon. [Music]

Today, on the DolphinsTalk.com Podcast, Marisa Marino is joined by Damien Woody of ESPN to discuss the Miami Dolphins upcoming season. Damien shares his thoughts on Tua, Mike McDaniel, the Dolphins defense, and why Cam Wake was the most difficult defender he had to block. Plus, Damien explains why in his opinion the Dolphins offense is “empty calories.” This episode of the DolphinsTalk.com Podcast includes all this and more. Remember to like, comment, and subscribe for more updates and insights on the latest Miami Dolphins and NFL news!

Follow Us
Visit www.DolphinsTalk.com
DolphinsTalk Xtra: www.patreon.com/dolphinstalk
Twitter: https://x.com/DolphinsTalk
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dolphinstalk/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@dolphinstalk
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/
Threads: https://www.threads.net/

This video is about the Miami Dolphins and our thoughts on the latest Dolphins News. Subscribe to our channel if you are a Miami Dolphins fan. Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for the latest Miami Dolphins news, and Hit the notification bell to stay updated with our latest sports analysis and discussions!

#MiamiDolphins #Dolphins #MiamiDolphinsFootball #MiamiDolphinsNews #MiamiDolphinsRumors #NFL #MiamiDolphinsPodcast