Miami Dolphins Rookies Kenneth Grant and Ollie Gordon II Impress In Preseason Tie w/ Bears 24-24

Miami Dolphins Rookies Kenneth Grant and Ollie Gordon II Impress In Preseason Tie w/ Bears 24-24

Hey, welcome on in guys. Tobin here with you and thanks for checking out the channel. Preseason game number one is in the books for your Miami Dolphins. And uh it feels like a lot of preseason games do. It feels like that first half flies by pretty quick. We had long drives, things were moving and shaking and then we get to the second half and it is it is a slow crawl to get to the end. But we had a lot of things to dive into, a lot of things to chew on here as we got three quarterbacks. We’re all interested in what they’re they’re going to do, especially the backup battle between the Miami Dolphins, between Zack Wilson and Quinn Eers. Some good, some bad. I think there was a lot of give and take on both sides for these guys. We’ll start off though with probably the most surprising thing of the day, which was that Tua Tong Aloa decided to suit up for this game. Some in the Bears media, I guess, were saying he was really pushing Mike McDaniel to get out there and play. I guess the one thing you could say with this is like look, Tua hasn’t really been hit since his season ended abruptly last year. So maybe there was an element. I’m not doing this listening to the media, so I’m just hopping on here. I’m sure some of you guys may get the answers to this, but I’m assuming that maybe he just wanted to get the feeling of live bullets flying for himself, give themselves a a line. I I mean some of the people who are here, you know, talking about this vaunted Bears joint practice, uh where the Dolphins took some lickings, maybe some dirty hits. I I know all the Bears media was making fun of the Dolphins for this. Um and Dolphins for whatever I I legitimately had people on the pregame show today who were like, “You got to get get some lickings back on the Bears.” I’m like, “You do? For what? They’re the Bears.” And this is August. I didn’t really understand that. Um I I it didn’t make any sense to me, but it is what it is. I I don’t make the decisions. Uh Mike McDaniel does and to a Tongaoa did go out there today. There was no Tyreek Hill. There was no Jaylen Wadd. So that was going to be what we saw. Um, I will say from this standpoint, uh, man, the Dolphins defense, especially that front seven, I thought we got a pretty nice look at that today. I think like everybody, I don’t know if you came out of this thing with many surprises about this uh this Dolphins team because I think a lot of the concerns that you have are legitimate. I think a lot of the things that you are expected to be good, I think showed themselves to be pretty damn good. So, I think a lot of that stuff was uh was very very encouraging. And on the front end of that defense, man, I mean, they they they really really looked great today. I mean, the Bears were not doing a whole hell of a lot against them. Um, Zack Cer, you know, just looks like, you know, he comes in there, sealer it on up, new contract and all. Goes in for a drive, does Zack Caler things, and just absolutely uh demolishes the Bears, puts on his ball cap, not a cowboy hat. He should put a cowboy hat on the sideline. That should be his new thing uh for the times that he’s off. And then it’s just like a sheriff going to work. He should do that, but uh that’s not the case right now. He’s not doing that. So, we get to this first drive. The Dolphins are basically putting their starting line in there. Tua Tong Aloa under center. No Tyreek Hill, no Jaylen Wadd. A lot of Malik Washington, dude. Malik Washington who everybody has said is, you know, vying for that number three spot. Tua liked going to him a couple of times. He uh he needed to go to Malik Washington. Couple sideline passes on fourth down. the Dolphins needed a couple of conversions late and he went to him twice on this drive where the Dolphins needed that conversion once on fourth, once on third down and uh he uh you know shorthanded as he has been did a little uh reverse flip play to him. Uh he did get the ball batted out of him. Luckily, it went out of bounds, so the Dolphins continue to continue the drive. And then the depressing part of the drive, which ended, which was the Dolphins were basically on the doorstep of the Bears. And they just couldn’t stick it in the end zone. And I think everybody comes away with that with the same concern like same old Dolphins. Like that that was a little it was a little depressing. It was a little depressing even for an August game. you’re going to put the starting offense out there or for the most part most of it and you’re knocking on the door. You have this 15 play 10 plus minute drive and nothing to show for it. So that was uh that was rough. And then uh they go three and out on the Bears. The defense just holds serve, does a great job. Then we get the first of what’s just a day. I think probably sneakily one of the more exciting things of today’s game was that the Dolphins special teams was kind of on fire on the return game. Like D Escridge, Eric Ezukama, AJ Henning, all these guys just like lit up. I don’t know if the Bear look maybe the Bear special team stinks, but the Dolphins have themselves a new special teams coordinator. And it was on fire today for this team. It really really was. So that is uh that is one of these like under the radar things that was like pretty sneakily good. So Zach Wilson then comes into QB. He’s wearing number zero. Don’t know how I love that. I I I don’t I don’t I don’t dig it too much. He starts off the game bad throw to Julian Hill, but Julian Hill also uh you know just has lobster claws for hands. So I don’t really know who to blame there, but I’m just going to blame both of them. and uh just put it up to uh you know just real incompetence on both of them. Zach Wilson then probably has one of his nicest throws of the game. He finds Nick Westbrook Aeen for about 36 yards. That looked really really impressive. And then uh he finds Taj Washington. Taj Washington uh really flourished in this game today and I’m really really excited to see what he can do. This is it was it was interesting. I had like Big 10 media day come and slap me in the face today of just all these uh these guys cuz Ruben Hippoly of uh the Chicago Bears. He had a couple of nice plays. He’s a South Florida guy. Played for Maryland and had some nice stops along the way for the Chicago Bears. Remember I got to sit down with him. This is why I didn’t love Big 10 media day because I was like who interviewing the linebacker for Maryland? Sure. but he was a South Florida kid and he’s uh you know protege a little bit of Ray Lewis for his time there in Michigan or Maryland, excuse me. And uh really really good dude. I mean there were some really good South Florida stories in this um in this in this entire game. You had a touchdown pass uh to Maurice Alexander hard time from FIU pause up. So there was some some good representation. But Taj Washington, my big 10 thing there was uh spoke to Lincoln Riley and he was like it wasn’t just like regular coach big on Taj Washington because it wasn’t just like he likes Taj Washington the pro he loves Taj Washington the person he said he was his like one of his favorite players of all time. So when his season ended, I was really really disappointed because I was like, “Oh man, this was this was the guy, the late round pick that everybody loves is Taj Washington, and we didn’t get the chance to see him.” Well, he got the ball out a little bit today and uh looked absolutely absolutely awesome in this game. So that’s pretty exciting. Number seven on the Miami Dolphins looking good. Dolphins once again bring it down to the uh to the doorstep because the Bears going to pass interference. Um, Alexander Madison is then in the back field and he had a really really nice day. I mean, he had up until the point where he got uh looked like his his head dinged. I was like, man, was that head was that sternum head neck area. It was unfortunate because Alexander Madison played really really good. People have been saying that he’s looking pretty spunky this entire camp and uh none of that was not true in this game. He was able to uh run it in for the touchdown to give Miami the early lead in this game, 7 nothing. And that came after of one of Zach Wilson’s I mean rather bad throws when he had to Tanner Connor. I Zach Wilson is uh I mean you you can see all of the things that uh make him intoxicating as a player and then you can see the things that you’re just like you know cuz like he would you know rip off a good throw and then he’d do a spin move right into a sack and you just be like all right well you can see kind of the uh the shortcomings there of of what’s going on. So that was uh yeah that was noticeable. The Bears would answer back with a touchdown drive. I imagined it was to Maurice Alexander, but I will say um you know some some guys really looked impressive on this drive along the way for the Dolphins because I mean Kenneth Grant man he is strong dude. I mean this dude he is a moose. I mean just a pure moose wreaking havoc. And so I thought that was exciting. Zeke Biggers at one point like blew up this poor little running back uh and it led to like a storm duck. Nice stop. But Biggers like ran over this running back. It was like you could just you could probably hear the high-pitched scream from the guy if he was miked up. It was it was something, dude. It was it was really really something to see that go down. So um Bears tied it up 77. Dolphins will get the ball back. uh Zack Wilson, he took a sack on that one uh to start the drive and then um he was dealing with some more pressure. And so on a third and 14, probably one of his more important throws of the day, he connects with Taj Washington for a 36-yd uh play. Gets the Dolphins back going. Jaylen Wright, he starts uh he starts getting going pretty strong. Eric Azukama had a nice catch over the middle and then Jaylen Wright would uh make up for the first drive and he’d find a nice hole cleared out by Jonas Svaya. So a nice show for the rookie there and the Dolphins would go up 14- nothing. Dolphins defense would answer back the next drive. Ethan Bonner inables he’d have the nice tip off Patrick McMorris the rookie who got uh cooked a little bit on the touchdown drive before. he’d make up for that and he would find himself uh in the turnover margin for the Miami Dolphins. So, that was an exciting thing. The Dolphins uh the Dolphins then would come back. Bad drive by uh by Zack Wilson. He nearly threw a pick six. It was dropped. Uh Keon Smith got beat bad, but then there was one where he spun moved into a sack. That was uh pretty I mean like it was it was very noticeable. You’re just like, man, this guy can do some really exciting things. But there is a lot of there’s a lot of work to still be done with old number zero for the Miami Dolphins. The Bears would finish off they got a miracle set. There was some chicainery going on. It was almost like old Chicago mafia had hold of the referees in this game cuz Chicago got some I’m not going to sit here and about calls in the preseason cuz it’s the preeason. But like they got a a second extra second out of nowhere and they got to kick a field goal and you’re like all right well whatever. Mike McDaniel was speaking to Mike Kuno said that it was going to be one more Zack Wilson drive and then we were going to get ourselves some Quinn Uers. That did turn out to be the case. Dolphins uh didn’t really do anything in that last drive. We did get our first punt of the game. The Dolphins have a punter battle going on right now between Jake Bailey and Ryan Stonehouse, which objectively just by name, Stonehouse is a better name for a punter. It’s just a cool name and I like his number better as a punter. But, you know, we’ll see where this goes. If the incumbent keeps it or if Stonehouse, who is Acriman’s guy from Tennessee, if that’s going to be somebody who takes the gig, we’ll see. Um, the Dolphins, they uh they were able to get a drive, a huge stop in the end zone, and uh they what seemed like had an interception by Jack Jones, got overturned for pass interference. Then they had defensive holding by Channing Tindle, who did not have the greatest day in the world. He did make up for it with some plays late, but he did not, you know, it did not start off great for Channing Tindle, who you would think is got to be playing for a roster spot. But, um, you know, Derek McClendon, uh, I would say this was probably his showing out drive for the Dolphins. He also impressed. He’s been getting a lot of buzz around this thing. Um, but we get into this point where it’s a big time back and forth with the Dolphins. A lot of things going back and forth and then, uh, the big next swing play, I would say, because, you know, the Dolphins defense was holding strong. Weaver’s cooking. He’s bringing in corners for blitzes and things like that. He was looking great. Then we have what was really the swing game to make this a game because it did feel very much like the Dolphins were in control. Quinn Us makes his uh Dolphins debut. It was kind of an uneventful uh first drive and then the second one he fumbles it uh and it nearly recovered and goes into the end zone. You’re just like, “All right, that wasn’t great.” Bears would uh would answer and make the Dolphins pay. They’d score a touchdown right away. I really can’t get on the defense for that. Quinn Users put them in a really really really rough spot. The good news of this is is that after this they really leaned on for Quinn Eers. They took the pressure off him and they really started leaning into Ali Gordon II who we had not really seen to this point and then they really started going to him and he looked very impressive. I mean this dude is a absolute behemoth when he gets the uh when he gets the football for the Miami Dolphins. Um and that was really really exciting. like you just saw like he was setting the Dolphins up. He was, you know, putting them in in just positive yards. None of this side to side nonsense, just right up the gut. And I think that was some exciting stuff from Ali Gordon where like his first run, boom, shakes contact, goes for 20 plus yards, moving forward, moving forward, looking absolutely fantastic. Then you have the unfortunate play where uh Uers finds Madison on a third and six over the middle. Madison ends up getting hurt. Hopefully, he’s going to be okay. But, uh, the Dolphins then would just give it to Ali Gordon. Boom. Boom. And then he’d leap into the end zone. Some are saying he’s Dolphins Leroy Horde. People are pe some pe I’m not saying that, but people are people are wondering is he is he Dolphins Leroy Horde. So, just keep an eye on that, dude. Um, the next drive another just I don’t really know what to do with this. Again, it’s preseason, so I’m not going to uh linger on this too much, but I thought another horse bleep call that went for the uh for the Chicago Bears. This uh was it Eugene Asante, number I think he’s 51 on the Dolphins. 51. Yeah. So, this dude gets a great stop on third down, throws his shoulder into Buddy, and they call unnecessary roughness. And I have a real problem with this in football. Okay, first off, the a lot of that stuff’s meant to protect star quarterbacks. These are guys fighting for roster spots. This guy puts his shoulder in as a guy is falling down on a catch. There’s legitimately nothing he can do. If you’re asking him to play football and stop the ball and he leans with his shoulder, the guy’s kind of falling and ducking in with his head. So, he’s initiating the head contact. And they call unnecessary risant. And I’m just I’m like that’s just bull crap. What is he is he supposed to hurdle him? Is like is that what he’s Is he supposed to spin move around him? Is I had a guy on Twitter suggest is he supposed to give him a a Snuggie, a blankie, and a and a pillow to take a nap? What in the hell is a linebacker supposed to do in that spot when he’s trying to keep his team in the game? And so it sets the Bears up. Case Keenum throws a touchdown pass. A really nice touchdown pass. But I was like, that’s Fugazi. So the Bears take their first lead 24-21. And I’m thinking to myself, what what what did I what in the hell did I just watch happen to the Miami Dolphins? Like they I just feel like they just got completely hosed in this game. Um neither here nor there. It’s a it’s a preseason game, but I just was like, what what are we talking about here? So, Dolphins are down 24-21. They’d come back. They get a 56-y field goal from Jason Sanders. You had a nice play from uh Quinn Eers to AJ Henning for a 20 yard gain. A little bit more from Ali Gordon, but then things get uh busted up there. So, it’s 2420 uh 24-24 a piece. Um and then you, you know, neither of these teams wanted to win the game. You’d have Isaiah Johnson with a nice coverage. Dolphins would get the ball up on downs and then uh the Dolphins themselves were rolling good. You had a nice play Quinn Yurs to Oi Gordon for about 19 yards. Then the Dolphins got a false start that completely eroded a thing. Bears come after Quinn Yurs. He fumbles it again and loses the football. It’s a little negligible because you know the Dolphins would have turned it over on downs anyway. Bears they can’t do anything with it. their fourth string quarterback can’t make any passes and then the Dolphins uh get a pass to Chris Merrick and he throws it to Ollie Gordon. For a second you thought Ollie Gordon was going to take this thing to the house, but he uh ends up chucking it. Ends in a tie 24-24. So there you go. Overall, um I think that you know the good of this game, the best part of it probably the return game to be honest with you. I thought that was uh really great. But I thought that uh your rookies really showed out. Savvaya had great moments. Kenneth Grant looks like a man amongst boys. Zeke Biggers looked really really good. Um was it Marshall? He had a good time. Ali Gordon though I thought really was like oh cuz I I feel like it’s been a pretty quiet camp for him. Hasn’t got and a game like this where you’re actually hitting it feels like the physicality kind of showed out. Madison looked really good. You’re hopeful that he’s going to be healthy. You know, Quinn Yurs, is there going to be a Quinn Yur Cinderella story? I wasn’t too impressed thus far, but that’s okay. It’s his first game. I I don’t need Skyler Thompson numbers. We’ve seen Skyler Thompson numbers. He just threw up more Skyler Thompson numbers, and that’s why he’s Skyler Thompson. So, I’m okay. I mean, like, I’m not sitting here saying Quinners has to beat out Zach Wilson. He’s a rookie. Um, Zach Wilson, I I can look, there’s going to be things that Mike McDaniel has to work out of him. If if they get into a pinch where Tua has to play, are the Dolphins going to get a miracle run by Zach Wilson? Man, I don’t know. There seems like there’s still a lot of flaws there. Um, but I think the good thing is, you know, the Dolphins really did try to lean into this run game and while it didn’t go well in the first uh the first drive of the game, um, you can see some potential as the game went on and especially from the back. So, I think that’s an exciting thing. Front seven showed some great stuff. I think you, you know, Anthony Weaver, Bob and Weave defense is in its bag. I think that that looked great. um you know and and so overall yeah there was there was a lot to be uh happy with. There were some dumb penalties at times as well and I and I thought that the Dolphins got hosed in some cases too but it’s preseason so whats dude but the uh the young guys I think a lot of young guys really showed themselves well. Cam Smith didn’t play so what are you supposed to do there? Channing Tindle and up and down like again I think my point was I wouldn’t say that anybody really had a huge surprise performance probably other than Ali Gordon but everybody had said like hey dude the dude is physical all the when he won the do Walker award and after contact back man you saw that he’s an exciting player that the uh that the Dolphins get to add to the fold. So, you’re just hopeful that you get good news on on Madison. Um, and that because he looked very very impressive as well. I think he kind of he felt like he kind of sparked the change of the game for for the Dolphins and the tone of the game and the way he ran and and he’s a veteran so maybe he can know, you know, he that’s that’s contagious to those young guys out there. But all in all, uh, first one’s in the books and uh, you know, we don’t have to do this nonsense about talking about that joint practice. I I don’t think anymore because, you know, no fights. Everybody’s is there going to be a fight? No fights, no no fisticuffs, no chicainery. Just good oldfashioned mediocre preseason

Tobin recaps 24-24 Miami Dolphins preseason tie w/ Bears and which rookies impressed. Tua Tagovailoa
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