Miami Dolphins Pre-Season Roundtable + Record Predictions!
On this episode of Fside the NFL, it is the preseason panel and we’ve got a good one for you. It’s myself, Richmond Webb, Neil Driscoll, Mr. Ballgame, Bobby from the dive bar, your friend Ryder. I know y’all love him in the chat, and of course my boy Alf from three yards per carry. We’re going to get into it. We’re going to get into it deep. We’re going to give predictions. We’re going to give some bold takes and a whole lot more. I’m all worked up from the conversation we had backstage. So, without further ado, let’s go ahead and let’s get into this. [Music] [Applause] [Music] You have got to be kidding me. Heat. Heat. [Applause] Beautiful day to be a dolphin dance. Let’s go. [Music] What is good Finn Nation? What’s good? It’s your boy Reason. We’re back here for another one. And tonight I I’m joined by an all-star cast. I think Cameron Sparks basically said we assembled the Avengers for tonight’s show. So, we’re going to get into it. But before I do, few point of emphasis is here. Number one, Dougley Dur Wrong is not here because there is an issue because I’ve seen people in the chat be like, “Yo, where’s your where’s your guys’ podcast? What’s going on?” Well, the starting lineup will be live tomorrow at 6:00 p.m. So, we’ll be back tomorrow. He just has a prior commitment. That’s why he’s not here. Kevin Durn is not here cuz he’s currently on an airplane somewhere. So, good and safe travels to him. But um and then Martin honestly I just I’ll be honest I forgot. So other than that we’re good. Um Richmond ball game Bobby Alf Neil and Ryder welcome gentlemen. Um we are going to get into it today. We’re going to go over record predictions. And shout out to my graphic guy because he did some spoiler alert. One of the people up here has a pretty low prediction. one of the people you wouldn’t think has a really high prediction and wait till you see what my guy did to the graphics. It’s absolutely hilarious. So, we’ll get into that in a little bit, but first things first, any one of you take it away. How are you doing, gentlemen, on this fine Tuesday evening as we are on the cusp of the 2025 NFL season starting. Well, not everybody speak out loud. Take it Richmond. Take it, Richmond. I was going to I was going to pass it to Neil. I was going to let him start it off, but uh hey, just glad to be on the panel again. Uh I I made the roster. You know, a couple people, like you say, were traveling and uh um you know, some he just forgot about. But when you got a heavy rotation like that, you know, to make this roster and be on here with these great guys that you know, I I I’m always gleaning from their knowledge because they really, you know, they study, they break it down and this and that. I love listening to all of them, but uh just glad to be here. Uh watched a bunch of college football, so I’m glad that’s back. I think everybody’s happy football is back and looking forward to this first first um regular season weekend this weekend. Uh so that’s it. Uh Neil, go ahead. I’ll just point call somebody out. I think this is my sixth panel that I’ve done and the good news is whatever I predict up here, I’ve never been right. So whatever I say doesn’t really matter. I’ll be wrong. So, don’t keep the pitchforks at home if I’m the guy with the low title, but the low win total. But, yeah, the good news is I’m wrong more than I’m right when it comes to this Dolphins team. And, you know, hey, we got football back. We have a Dolphins game on Sunday. Uh, 4-0 would it be if McDaniel gets the win against a Colts team that doesn’t do week well week one. A lot of the money and Las Vegas seems to be really favoring the Miami Dolphins. So, it’d be nice to go out there and start with a bang versus the uh cardiac arrest that we had against Jacksonville last year. That’s for sure. Yeah. You had to throw the word arrest in there, right? Eh, right before the Jackson. No pun intended, right? Yeah. Yeah. Uh Bobby, what’s going on, man? Yeah. Glad to be here, boys. Uh I’ve interacted with all of you at some form or fashion on the Twitter or YouTube or whatever it is. I was in the chat with Ryder the other day watching his show. So, uh, glad to be here. If, uh, nothing else, there’s plenty of ball knowledge here. If nothing else, I’ll bring some, uh, much needed comedic relief. So, I’m here. What you got, Al? Well, I’m also glad to be here. Uh, after my my yearly vacation and getting back into football and after doing my own podcast today and doing our own NFL prediction, this should liven up my day a little bit as my podcast was an absolute gloomfest today. So, we’ll get into it. The good news is that I have predicted the Dolphins win total under their win total three of the last seven years. The bad news is I’ve gone over three of the seven years and I hit the prediction once. So, in other words, whatever I predict today absolutely means nothing. Perfect way to get them to tune out, Al. But keep listening and telling your friends to join us. So, in other words, I could be right, I could be wrong, or I might nail it once out of every seven years. There you go. So, I think ball game. Let them know. Let them know how positive you are today. Well, I think for me, man, um I went with a different approach this time. Although I don’t I don’t I don’t you know, I don’t think it’s a secret. I don’t care for the roster. I think u Gri could have done a better job of getting some more quality depth. I think uh the front line guys if they can stay healthy and show up the way we hope they can um I think they going to they can have a successful season. The the the schedule is kind of a layup if you go and you look at what the teams that they’re playing. Most of them have previously done the last couple seasons even you know it’s you know most important one is last season. So um there’s really only three juggernauts on the entire you know on the entire schedule. But you know that really doesn’t mean anything week in and week out. people seem to always want to get up and give us their best game. So, we just got to be able to match that and um you know in return that type of energy otherwise it could be one of these predictions a lot of the other guys had. But you know I was optimistic in a perfect scenario. I gave a perfect um prediction for what what I think they could do if they stay healthy and they execute. So, we’ll see how it all plays out. You know, this is first time I’ve ever really done this. That’s interesting that that ball game talks about schedules because I do this every year. I weigh the schedule and remember there’s uh there’s two things because I talk about this all the time and I talked about it on the podcast. I talk about it on Twitter. There are two things. There are the Vegas win totals which Miami has beaten five out of the last six years. And then they are the expectations. The expectations are once the games start playing the moneyline favorite every single week. Miami has actually not met those expectations five out of the last six years. So in other words, Vegas puts out an expectation for Miami, then they watch the games and they say, “Man, this team is good. This team should do this and then that team does not do that.” So, uh, yeah, I completely agree. Everything with everything ball game said, I love parts of this roster. I think this front seven is awesome. It’s the best one in the Chris Greer era. So, best in the Flores uh McDaniel era, but the secondary, it was almost like they built it. You remember you guys, I haven’t played Madden in a while, but you remember back in the day when you’re like, “Man, this team sucks.” And you just go in free agency and he just pick up every rated player. Exactly. That’s what they did with the secondary. And hey, maybe it works out. You know, I’m a big fan of Russell Douglas. He wasn’t good last year, but hey, maybe he’s good. I am a fan of Jack Jones, you know, but he’s, you know, he’s a guy who’s not reliable. He could easily have a season this year where he gets paid by somebody big next year. But, you know, other than that, I hate the tight ends. I don’t like the offensive line depth, but there’s a lot to like about this roster. I love the top 22. I just do. I think this is a really good roster. If again, you could turn off injuries and you just can’t. There’s a few guys that just have to stay healthy to keep this boat afloat. Patrick Paul is one of them. Tua, of course, and to cover. Yeah. Yeah. Austin Jackson to cover and to cover for those quarterbacks. People think, “Oh, those safeties have to be healthy.” No, the guys have to be healthy are those linebackers. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So, you’re going to need Brooks and Dodson to be healthy. And the good thing is they have a lot of depth there. And Willie Gay and KJ Brit. Brit looked decent, too. Yeah. Brit’s going to be a good f guy and Gay can play both fill and scrape. So yeah, I like what they have at linebacker. They just got to have some luck, man. Uh and and people that that that keep talking about make your own luck. Tell that to the Bills who’ve had a healthy offensive line two years running, you know. Yeah, I we were talking about that on me and Richmond and ballgame show. I believe we’re talking about the offensive line and how healthy the Bills have been able what do they have the most games started by their starters over the last two to three years right yeah most snaps by their starting five in NFL history two seasons running and like Tua need and I said this Tua needs that more than Josh Allen does. Josh Allen can create out of structure and make things happen when it breaks down. You know we all know where Tu is at. he can create out of structure, but he needs that protection. Allah the hip injury against the 49ers. But Ryder, what do you think about the secondary? Uh yeah, first just excited to be here. You know, first panel got called up from the practice squad. But yeah, getting into the secondary, we can bring you up three more times then we got to cut you. Uh but yeah, the secondary I mean I’ve been kind of the whole off season just pushing rolling with the young guy agenda especially after the initial wave you know ignoring in free agency and the draft I was like you just got to go with some of these young guys and I think that’s the direction they mainly win except you know adding Rul Douglas. Uh but yeah I mean it’s I think the entire defense is going to come down to that front seven. There will be games where the secondary gets exposed when they’re going against teams that are more run first, built off play action, can create extra time in the pocket. That’s where I see the defense having more troubles. But I think against a lot of other teams, the the front seven should be able to put in a lot of the work. So So listen, I I don’t I don’t necessarily think that um having those guys be as young as they are is a is a is a downfall. I just think that, you know, because I’ve seen teams run young secondaries, but their front seven, you know what I’m saying? And maybe one of the leaders in that back on that back end held down that back end group, you know what I’m saying? Solidify them to the tea. I’m hoping Mink can do that for us and then the young guys just play to what their assignments are. real true dieh hard nothing but alignment and assignment on try to be heroes and then let the front seven you know what I’m saying get out to the quarterback stop the run put them in long distances and then everybody can come up and just play the sticks type of defense and you can be successful with that as long as those guys understand what the matchups are and they really really without a shout out don’t try to play hero ball if you need help let the help be there you know what I’m saying if you need a guy under you know what I’m saying underneath your underneath the route or underneath the number one, it’s okay. You know what I’m saying? But don’t play hero ball and we’ll be fine. But that front seven has to stay healthy. They have to generate the pressure. And on the back end, those guys can just play loose and then let Minka just guide that back end, the back end crew. And you know, and I think we’ll be okay. But it’s a it’s a tough call, especially now, you know, when you think about it. We’re in a passing era still. A lot of teams are shifting back to trying to run the ball more, but you know, they still going to spread you out and they gonna look for them weak. They gonna look for the weak links across the board, you know, and without Kater being there, you know what I’m saying? You got Jason Marshall inside who’s a rookie, that’s going to be one hell of a struggle because that is by far in any defense that you run. I don’t care what anybody say. The boundary guys is one issue all in itself. But playing in the slot is by far the toughest assignment for any Nickelback in the NFL because most teams on the third and longs or third and shorts, they’re going to put their guys inside and you got to match up against that monster inside of there and then try to isolate and put them in a phone booth and deal with them one-on-one. And a lot of times, unfortunately, they going to go away from the linebackers and they going to be taking you out to spaces inside of the defense that you just ain’t going to really have a lot of help. So, you know, if they’ve been baptizing him against a, you know, in a box against Tyreek, that’ll help cuz they we do have two of the best space guys, you know what I’m saying, for him to be able to match up against. But, you know, I just want to see what he looks like when he’s really got to go up against like, you know, a bigger body that can actually get in and those short, you know, get in out of those spaces real fast. And then, you know, you got to play, you got to play basketball. You got a 6-1 guy against a 511 guy, you know what I’m saying? And he’s going up for the rebound. you know, how you gonna play that type of deal, you know, because you know what I’ll say? I I think for me what’s frustrating with this team in the Mike McDaniel era is we have seen peaks where this team was fighting in week 15 for the number one seed in the AFC. We’ve seen them be one of the best teams in football. Unfortunately, and like Alf pointed out, a lot of times it’s the injuries I think that has hurt them to key players. you know, you’re down both your starting pass rushers one year. Your quarterbacks missed a lot of time. Your receivers, I don’t, you know, maybe they’re on the field sometimes when they’re not healthy, right? Like, it’s one of those things. But we’ve seen this Dolphins team at a at its peak probably in 2023 be as good as any team in football. And obviously, we know how that kind of the the it came tumbling down at the end of the season. I I want to see this team be consistent. I want to see them, you know, and health is is it’s it’s part of football, right? But if your quarterback’s missing six games in the course of a season, I don’t care who you are, it’s hard to go out there and make the playoffs. And you know, them being 89 despite two of missing six and a half games last year, like I I like when people say that this team can win 11 games. Yeah. I I think if they play at their they’re healthy and they play to their potential, they can do that. I think the frustrating part is is that it seems like it’s a week-toeek thing with which version of the Miami Dolphins show up, right? And I said this the reason before we got on the air, like the way some of these games, man, I just want to see this offense take that fast start, right? Like I I saw a bunch of dumb stuff on Twitter today that Tua is the 28th best quarterback in football. The Dolphins are the 29th best team in football. And and I think a lot of that is crazy. And I actually think it’s even crazier. Like I like I feel good about the defensive front, right? But I see a lot of people saying like the Dolphins offense sucks. Da da da. The two times Mike McDaniel has had this offense, and I’m not a Mike McDaniel guy, but the two times that he’s had this offense at at its full health, they’re the number one ranked offense in the league and the number six ranked offense in this league. If they can be a top 10 offense in this league with that defensive front, they’re going to be a competitive football team. And that that’s what we want to see, right? We want to see this team week in week out. It doesn’t matter really where they go. They’ll have bad weeks like any other team in football. We’ve all seen that. But like I just want to see them be that cons be more consistent. Not the peaks and valleys don’t have to be as high and low as they are. But doesn’t that come back to health? Like it does, you know, because matters too. Well, and I agree with that. But like look at the run game in 2023. I mean it basically fell off the face of the earth because of Isaiah Win and Connor Williams, right? You look at the run game in 2024. We’re relying on um what’s his face? Robert Jones and and Liam Mikeberg because of issues on on our interior in terms of injuries and then Austin Jackson constantly in like our screen game. You know why they love running a screen game? because they see what the potential of it is when Austin Jackson is healthy, you know, in camp and at practice and stuff, but then the guy can’t stay healthy when when the season starts, so he might as well throw those installs out the window. Like that that’s the issue. They see the potential of it and we just can’t stay healthy and then we haven’t even got into the quarterback can’t stay healthy, right? Like let’s go back to defense, though. I wanted to ask you guys this. Okay, so we all basically agree about how dominant this front seven can be and then the leaks are in the secondary specifically on on the boundaries or whatever. But, you know, I I want to ask you guys, what are your expectations for this defense that’s coming off of, you know, it was what, fourth in total defense? It was ninth against the run, ninth against the pass, 10th scoring defense last year. um where basically it’s changed where now they’re building instead of from the back to the front, more from the front to the back. So, what are your expectations this year under Anthony Weaver? And I got a bonus question for you. What do you think about times when, you know, we’re all worried about that secondary? What about Yeah, we all think this front seven is going to be healthy, but what about those snaps where they’re just not going to be able to get home? Doesn’t that scare you? I think that this defense can be really good. Uh I there was a stat that I saw where this team was limiting the the yardage before contact better than any team in the NFL, but after contact they were giving up the most yardage in the NFL. So they were number one in one respect and last in the other respect. And that gave them the number ninth ranked run defense. So think about it. You’re the best team at the line of scrimmage against the run, but you still only managed to fe to finish ninth against the run. So, if you clean up those issues, if you tackle better, and I think they’re going to tackle better because I think they have better players up front now. And they have their edge players. Remember last year, their second ed best edge player was Emanuel Agba, and their best edge player was a rookie that was just finding his way around the league, and he only really came on toward the end of the the year. So, they got a a completely healthy edge group right now. They’re better up front. They got better linebackers. They even got better support safeties. Okay. Massive at massive inside, too. Yeah. So, they’re going to be a team that’s going to tackle well at the line of scrimmage and beyond the line of scrimmage. So, they’re going to they’re going to limit those yards after contact. So, they could be a top run defense. And I don’t think that that’s that’s going to be too hard to do. So then it’s just going to come down to limiting teams on those early downs and playing football on third and long. And if you can play football on third and long and let’s say you could get somewhere around 68 to 75 pressures, like let’s say in the first 10 weeks, that’s going to put you right on pace with what you did in 2023 when you had the second best pass rush in football. Man, if you could do that, you should have a top 10 defense because where this defense is going to fail and you can almost see it coming is going to be against against quarterbacks that are able to read and breathe better than others. Okay? And you’re t but you’re talking about a handful of guys. You’re talking about Josh Allen. You’re talking about Lamar, you know, uh, Burrow toward the end of the year, but that defense is so bad that maybe we could, you know, beat them in a shootout. So, we’re talking about very, very few, very few quarterbacks in the league are going to be able to, you know, stay patient enough to pick on your corners on the boundary uh, all game to keep taking chunks of eight over and over and over again because this look, the the Hurricanes just showed you the way, okay? They beat Notre Dame behind a very simple philosophy. They kept everything in front of them. They tackled well and they got home with four. That’s going to be it. That’s going to be that’s their ethos this season. Well, we’ve seen how the get home with four can be detrimental to us because it happens to us on the other side so often right now in terms of what we see from other defenses getting home on our offensive line. Yeah. I mean, even better if you can get home with three a little bit. So, and that front is going to be very very strong. Um, what do you think, Neil? Um, yeah. I look, man, what are your expectations for the defense? I think that the front seven is really strong and I think Minka was a really good get back in the Ramsay trade. Sure, I have questions against the quarterback, but you know, they’re doing the old philosophy, let’s utilize our strength to hide some of our weakness, right? And I I like Chop in the second half of last season was among the league’s best pass rushers. And I think he’ll be that guy to start the season. You have Chub, you have Phillips back. I I think Matt Judon, especially when it comes to fit in the run, was a very underrated signing uh for them to bring him in. I know he’s not listed number one on the depth chart, but Kenny Grant is going to have a big impact, I think, on that defensive front. And another guy that I think is going to play some meaningful snaps for this team is Jordan Phillips. So, I I think they’re deep up front. And, you know, look, Storm Duck and uh who who did they name the other starter today? I know it wasn’t Douglas. I think Jack Jones, Jack Jones, I think Douglas is going to find his way on the field a, you know, after he gets acclimated here. You know, that that’s not going to confuse you with Certain or Madison. But, you know, that front seven, if they do what they’re supposed to do, that the corner won’t be as exposed. Like Alf said, Jaden Daniels, Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, those are the quarterbacks that can hurt you because they can make plays with their legs. They can create in chaos. But I think a lot of these other guys that we have on our ro on our schedule quarterback wise, you know, our front seven’s going to cause some hell for them. And you know, you know, I’m an Anthony Weaver guy. I love the concepts that he brings here. I love the discipline that he, you know, he has on the front front of this defense. I I think the Dolphins defense is going to be really good. I don’t think they’re going to surpass the offense as the strength of the team though. I still think with Tyreek and Waddle healthy and Achain that the Dolphins offense can be as explosive as ever. So I I like the defense. I really love what they’ve done two the last two drafts in a row though. As we’ve discussed at Nauseium, I think they’ve actually hit a lot of home runs in building this roster, not just in the first round, but like the Jordan Phillips when you get a guy in the fifth round like Jordan Phillips who’s almost playing as well as your first round pick, right? Like that is a good problem to have. What do you think, Bobby, of this defense and what are your expectations? Yeah. No, I I like the front seven. I think another thing that’s not talked about enough is how much improved in the run stopping ability will be the linebacker room, especially with those dogs up front and at nose tackle with Kenneth Grant, Jordan Phillips, Zeke Biggers, even a bunch of young driven out of the play so Jordan Brooks can pursue and uh make plays and uh you know, Tyrell Dodson, they’re going to be able to make a lot of plays and not have to fight as much, you know, not have to get in stuck in the mud so much with those big boys up front and I think you know if the the pass rush is as good as we think it will be it’ll help the secondary a lot but like Alf said I mean Jack Jones is a um a gamble so he will have he’ll intercept pick six a screen and then he’ll get beat for 80 yard touchdown it’s just kind of Jack Jones living in Jack Jones life um and then has lost a step sure so I like him around the line of scrimmage a little bit I like him his physicality but I don’t know what he is in coverage anymore uh but it’s going to be a lot of gambling I think Minka will have them boys lined up right the communication has been an emphasis this offseason. So, I think those guys will start, you know, that’s a good step, being lined up proper in the first place. I think they lacked a little bit of that last year. Um, and then it’s going to be about getting home and trying to cause chaos for the front seven and helping those guys out, but you know, they’re definitely going to have times where we’re scratching our head and punching the screen, I believe. Yeah. Like that’s why I didn’t like the depth chart came out today. I don’t even put any stock in the 43 that they came out showing. Um, I don’t even put any stock with how they what they told us the secondary depth is right now because how many you everyone’s like, “Oh, Ashen Davis ahead of Melanu.” Well, news flash, Minka, Melanu, and Ashton Davis are going to be on the field a lot more. You know what I mean? Together. I mean, people keep they want to highlight it all off seasonason, but no one wants to talk about it now that they seen a depth chart about how much we are going to be using a three safety look, you know? And then you got Melano, a guy who can, you know, he can play corner a little bit too. So, he allows you to rotate. I don’t know, man. Like, I’m not as I They’ve clearly got a plan. Like, they knew about this Jaylen Ramsay issue since before free agency opened and we haven’t seen the urgency. All of us would have panicked and had, you know, I know I wouldn’t be the only one who probably would have traded a pick from next year and tried to move back up into the 70s and hitting that cornerback run in the draft this year. You know, I think a bunch of you guys probably would have, but they got a plan, man. And I don’t think Weaver has given us any reason to not trust him yet. Um, Ryder, what are your expectations for the defense? Yeah, I mean, I I definitely like the defense. Think it’s going to be pretty good. One thing I wanted to point out that I think is where the defense should be heading is looking at the Rams game from last year. I think that’s the blueprint. They stopped the run early. I think stopping the run is the key to allow your pass rushers to get in good situations. Third and longs. And even in that game like Stafford was processing at a very high level and they just constantly were forcing him to check down getting pressure with four with a bunch of different looks. And the thing that excites me most about the defense is in those obvious passing situations, we get to see Weaver kind of get into his bag up front and in the secondary. Like I don’t know what the like stats are on it, but I would bet Weaver is doing a lot of coverage rotation near the top of the league like uh like variations of Tampa 2 with the nickel dropping into deep path. Uh he did a lot in that game. It just forced a lot of things underneath and that’s the game they tackled well in and they I think held the Rams to like five field goals probably was their best game versus like a good offense. Uh and that’s sort of what I look to to think that’s what the defense needs to do against like good offenses. and hopefully that can kind of continue next season. Richmond, what are your expectations? Yeah, I I really like uh Weaver. I think we talked was last Tuesday or whatever we were on the show. Um I I think the the defense is the of course the the secondary is a little bit concerned, but I’m hoping um Minka Fitzpatrick is the glue that can kind of communicate and kind of hold those guys together. But the front seven I think is solid. I think uh um you stop the run, you kind of force and with the outside pass rushes we got with the rotation, we shouldn’t have an issue of staying fresh long as everybody stays healthy. So um I’d like to see the the offense get a little bit more consistent just based off what I saw in uh preeason, but I feel a little bit better about the defense right now u than I do the offense. It’s just uh the secondary is a is a question mark, but but like uh Ryder just said, I think um Weaver has some some stuff in his bag and you normally don’t show your hand in preeason and and probably with the offense as well. So, you can’t just say or just etch it in stone and saying what we saw in preseason, what we gonna get during the regular season. So that’s why I’m kind of excited to to get the season started because I think we’re going to see some things and and it’s going to hopefully everybody feels a whole lot better and say okay this is what we were expecting ball game trial by fire and I think across the um you know conceptually when you got a young group on the back end like that that’s the really the only way you can get them this only you can get them up that’s the only way you can get them up to throw them out there and, you know, let them sink for a bit. Some of them learn how to swim and the ones that don’t, you know what I’m saying? You just cycle them in and you keep going until you find a guy that’s solid. Um, we didn’t do ourselves a favor early on in the last couple of years of going into the draft and grabbing quality guys that we could have been already had in place, but at this point now, you don’t have a choice. You got to throw them out there and see what you really got. And I do believe that, you know, scheme wise, we were smart enough and savvy enough to be able to cover up some of their, you know, some some of the things that they don’t do well, you know, and but a lot of it’s going to be predicated off of pressure and the front seven has to be, you know, spot on and that and I believe we have the bodies to do it and then we have the depth up front to be able to pull that off. It’s just, you know, there are going to be those times where guys are going to get outside of the contains and freelance out on the edges. Can those guys hold up is the question. But over the course of time, you’re talking 17 games. To be a pro, you got to be able to adapt and overcome, you know, and this is what we’re going to really learn the most about these guys other than Minka that are back there on the back end. So, um, it’s not like, man, it’s not like I haven’t seen this before. Other teams have done it. Hell, Philly played two two rookies last year with Slay as the guy to come in and solidify those guys and teach them. So maybe Russul was brought in to, you know, kind of um be that be what Jaylen was supposed to be for them. You know what I’m saying? In terms of expertise at the corner spots and then Minka can deal with the safety group, you know, and together collaboratively they can, you know, they can figure it all out because I do believe that, you know, that’s what’s going to be necessary. a lot of expertise from your veterans to shower on these young cats and then just make sure that these guys are okay. You know what I’m saying? With forgetting about the last play. If you give up something, don’t don’t dwell on it. Move on. Cuz as long as you linger on it, now your now your back pedal is slow. Now your processing is even slower and you going to continue to get whooped on. You got to let it go. Next play. Got to have the next play mentality as a quarterback. Otherwise, Well, you got to bring up bad memories for me, man. You know how badly I wanted Cooper Deene and all the push back I got on X over him and me having to pull out videos and defend this guy and then he turns out into that stud and my god if we had a player like that on this defense. O um and that secondary with what we have right now. Oh man. Mitchell was good. Mitchell was a dog too. Yeah. But honestly, because what you mentioned, what you all have mentioned with the Minka stuff, that’s kind of why I’m like at ease with that secondary. And I kind of bought into the fact too of like what Ryder was saying, it’s time to let the young boys roll a little bit, you know. And what’s crazy is think of how much more relieved we’d be if Kater Koh was healthy. And yet 6 months ago, if I would have told you Kater Kohu was going to be your cornerback one, y’all probably would have laughed in my face. And it’s it’s kind of crazy that we’ve gotten to this point where we’re just now okay with cuz like you know I’ll give you my first bold take of the show. I think Cam Smith is going to make some impactful plays for this team this year. I was seeing stuff at the end of the I’m like yo are they going to hit on this guy cuz I me and Neil were super high on him. We both had first round grades. The talent has always been there. It’s just been, you know, you like to puff the magic dragon and you know, the work ethic wasn’t really there, right? And so, and you know, they fallen asleep in meetings and we all know why. And it’s just, you know, like now, but if he’s focused, if he’s locked in, you know, Neil, man, me and you have talked to Nauseium about how high we were on Cam Smith coming out. Me and you both had him going in the first round of our mock drafts because of how high we were on on that kid. And I mean, we haven’t had a chance to really talk, Neil, because, you know, I’ve been away and stuff like that and this is our first time together. What did you think as two guys who were calming the fan base down off the ledge of Cam Smith and haven’t looked so hot in the last couple years? What were you thinking of those uh uh you know, of a couple of the plays he’s making in the preseason there? Well, look, I I think ball game said it perfectly. You got to let them sink or swim. You’re not going to know what you have until you throw them into the action. I like, you know, look, I’m not saying practice doesn’t matter. This is an Allen Iverson take or anything like that, but like let me see what a guy can do in a game because some players are gamers, right? Some And look, there’s no doubt about it. The guy thinks highly of himself. He has swagger. He’s not afraid to get up there and mix it up. He’s not a shy guy, right? Like I’d like to see him get the opportunity to play. Uh and I, you know, I think you you need a definite answer at the end of the season. Is he part of the solution or is he part of the problem? And the only way you’re going to get to see that is if you throw him out there in a mean im meaningful. I I remember a young Xavier Howard on a Thursday Night Football where we wore those ugly orange uniforms and AJ Green got the best of him, but damn, Xavier Howard fought that whole game. Like that whole game. I And I was like, you know, he didn’t. Yeah, he got whooped. He might have lost that battle, but he came back and eventually won that war, right? And and I think when you’re a young player, those are good learning environments to go out there and play somebody who’s better than you and get a chance. I know this. If he’s on this non-foot injury list and they keep him on there for a large portion of the season and he doesn’t play snaps, to me that’s malpractice. And it’s no disrespect to any of the other corners on this roster. But it’s not like we have a, you know, a Mel Blunt or Charles Woodson or Deion Sanders that, you know, that he should not he should find some time. And you know, look, it’s just a preseason, but he did make a couple nice plays, but you know, maybe maybe he’s more focused knowing that like he’s given up all his get out of jail freed cards at this point, right? Like maybe it’s kind of like my back’s against the wall. Pressure either makes diamonds first pipes kind of thing. So, we’ll we’ll see. Yeah. Yeah. I’m pretty much I’m pretty much out on the the Cam Smith bill. Don’t say it. Come on. And I’ll tell you and I’ll tell you why. Okay. Uh, I’ve watched I watched him through an entire camp thinking to myself, you know what, there’s something here and all of a sudden he finds a mysterious injury and he’s out for two, three weeks. This year he had two backto-back practices where I’m thinking this guy’s going to move up the depth chart pretty soon. He’s going to be CB1 and then he just disappears for two weeks and nobody knows why. Uh that’s a guy who is not reliable and uh I think those type of guys what you don’t want what you don’t want is just handing a spot to that guy and then it’s week nine and he disappears again and now you you know now he leaves you alert. So I think that’s a few impactful plays. I didn’t say he’d be CB1, you know. I think I think it’s it’s time to just cut bait with him and just they’re not going to cuz they’re so cuz they’re so thin though right now. Yeah. I’ll be honest. I’m surprised they didn’t cut bait. Like for me because of the flashes Al was talking about. It’s because you’re seeing flashes and they’re like, “Oh, oh, oh.” And dude, if Greer hasn’t cut bait with Liamberg, you think he’s going to cut bait with Cam Smith who’s shown flashes where Weaver’s even probably raised his eyebrows a little bit? I think you just I think you just nailed it though. I think that’s the problem. This Greer has second round picks on both of those guys and he’s going to give it every chance that possible to work out for him and it hasn’t so far. I was high on Cam Smith, too. It just Yeah, I was high on Liam. Yeah. I mean, I thought he was solid prospect. I didn’t Dante Colinelli was so high on him when we drafted him. I think he had a high ceiling, but I thought Liam had a damn good floor and he just, you know, and he ended up having a 10 year career game and all, you know. Yeah. never had a sack giving up. He’ll end up having a 10-year career cuz he gets six years. No, he shouldn’t have gotten Miami, bro. That’s why. Either way, hey, I’m not I’m not saying he’s good. This is not what I’m doing here. This is not what See, my thing with Cam Smith, though, is Greer, no one had more intel on this guy than you, okay? Like, your son went to that school. No one had the connection to that South Carolina staff like you did through your son. Brother, come on. had like was everyone lying to you including your son like that that’s where I’m not like you know there was a we all remember remember he was the last rookie to sign his rookie deal right remember that cycle and we all know why because you know the Dolphins didn’t want to give him a bunch of money and have him run out on the town so it’s kind of crazy that you if you knew that why did you let why did you take him so high when he was clearly dropping just the talent, the first round talent that me and Neil alluded to. Like, you know, it’s kind of like Greer, it’s you’re damned if you do, damned if you don’t on this one. All right, we got to switch gears here to the offense, though. So, we were talking backstage about it. You know, I don’t think anyone’s as much doubt as people might have about our secondary, they probably have even more about our tight end room right now. Um, they probably have more about our depth right now. I mean, people are trying to sell me, hey, we just got Kendall Lamb come down off the ledge when, you know, a year ago, this guy basically had a foot out of football and was ready to retire and, you know, maybe his body already has two feet out of the game and is ready to retire before his mind is. I don’t know. But I’m not sleeping any better at night. And I’m not saying that I’m losing sleep over it. I’m just saying it didn’t make, you know, it didn’t make my restless nights more restful. So, um, what are your guys expectations with the offense? Um, we’ll start with you, Richmond. What are your expectations with the offense, with to his health, with the offensive line, with the wide receiver room? Yeah, I I think for me the offense is pretty simple. Just getting the timing and that’s with, you know, tour with Tyreek and Wadd and those guys getting on the same page getting and I think they I think they’ll fix that. That that’s not a big issue for me for Tyreek. He’s had some off the- field stuff that he’s recently going through. Now, I’m not going to go into all that, but just making sure you can focus on football and not, you know, cuz that’s a lot to deal with right before the season start this and that. So, I’m hoping he can focus on what he needs to focus on and, you know, let the other people take care of that that situation for him. So, long as he does that offensive line, the starters across the board, I feel good about. I guess the question, not really a question is u the depth and just can those guys stay healthy? Um yeah, I’ve said it before, you know, Austin Jackson when he’s healthy two years ago. I thought he had a Pro Bowl type year. Uh I love Patrick Paul. Um I love Brewer. I I think the front five I think we’re we’re we’re good. is just can those guys continually week in week out stay healthy and be there and then just you know tour I know he’s a competitor this and that but just making smart decisions don’t put yourself at risk because now we’ve seen a couple of years when you’re not in there it’s a huge drop off and if we’re gonna at least have an opportunity or a chance to try to make the playoffs we got to have him and have him healthy Ryder the offensive line what Richmond was talking about I mean I know you’ve done a bunch of um film work on it and film studies on it over on your channel this off season and preeason so far when you look at it hey listen if you think two is going to get hurt then you’re probably damn well sure that Austin Jackson’s going to get hurt because he hurt more than Tua and then I think that’s when the issues start I mean we saw Larry Borum it was very peaks and valleys you know what I mean um Daniel Brunskll I think we all expected to be better to see better from him than what we saw in the preseason and I’m sure Alf can attest to what you saw at camp as well. Um, what are your what are your expectations with the offense? And once again, do you think this is a season where this offense goes as far as the offensive line takes them? Yeah, I mean, I think we can all agree that the offense, it really just comes down to the health of the QB and the health of the O line. I think the the first five, I agree, can get the job done, especially in this system, I think they’ll fit really well. Uh the run game is huge. I think Jackson being out there is very helpful. The left side of the line can get the job done there. But then once you get to to the depth, that’s where I have some issues. Like we talked about Kendall Lamb a little bit earlier, even if he’s like technically your best tackle, I don’t think he brings exactly what the offense needs to succeed. Not the best run blocker. Mhm. Uh but but I do think like it kind of lives and dies with that O line because you saw the difference just in 2023 to 2024 the fall off of the offense. And people talk about all the screens they ran like Yeah. They ran a bunch of screens because they could not gain anything running the ball. Yeah. And didn’t very frustrating to watch. And then Yeah. The protection gets better if the run game’s better. Like Yep. the play action game starts clicking. Those shots down the field that you didn’t have last year and those, you know, the the the 15 to 20 yard range, hitting those timing throws that were just way le because they could not run the ball, find any sort of consistency. So, I think that’s what just that’s why like the defense I feel better about from a consistency level. Like I think I there will be some tough games there, but I think overall feel pretty good about them from a consistent level. offense I think could be really up and down just depending on the health of the O line and obviously D. Yeah. Um I mean you really put an emphasis on the run game and you know I I think you look at Jonas Sana we’re clearly going to go through some rookie struggles in pass pro as he learns to basically lead with you know a whole new side of his body right now. But the best way it looks like to hide and mitigate those issues he’s having right now is by running the football. And if Austin’s Jackson’s healthy like boys, I think we’ve got a top 10 offensive line when it comes to running the ball because I mean, you look at Austin Jackson and James Daniels on the right, Austin Jackson get out in space. You look at the left side with Paul and Savia and just the mauling and the ga gaps they can open up on that left side. I I think that run game if they stay healthy. I think elf I mean we remember how good the run game was in 2023 how explosive a guy like Devon Aan was and you know and even Raheem Moser before we started you know Raheem Mozer didn’t have a hundred yard game after Isaiah Win went down and now with I think I think running the football Alf might might be the strength of this offensive line right now and um just tell everyone watching do you expect to see more inside zone and power gap mixed in like McVey has kind of become and such Yeah, I expect them to run inside much more than they have in in the past. And look, this has been intentional. The way that they’ve built this offensive line is intentional. They could have easily, like a lot of us projected, moved uh James Daniels to to left guard to kind of protect and and and hold Patrick Paul’s hand, but they didn’t do that. They decided to keep the size on the left side of the offensive line. And that tells me that they want to lean on that line to run inside, especially to the left side. I think if they can run the football, this offense can be prolific again. And prolific in their in its efficiency. You guys remember when Ryan Tanhill left here and he went to Tennessee? Yeah. And everybody was thinking, well, you know, Tennessee has a nice team. Remember those teams were pretty damn good. And they were thinking, well, all he has to do is just be a game manager. Well, he wasn’t a game manager. He was an MVP candidate one of those seasons and go look up the numbers that Ryan Tanahill put up. Why did he put up those numbers? Because that running game was allowing him to get to his play action game. And I’ve always I’ve always felt I’ve always felt this way. I think Tua can be the best play action quarterback in all of football. Okay. Uh I predicted a couple of times that he would have the highest passer rating out of play action. This is before everybody decided that they didn’t care about passer rating because Tua led the league in it, you know, three times or whatever, you know. But I feel that if you could get Tua to that game, you could have Tua have one of those ridiculous efficient seasons like, you know, 30 touchdowns with a handful of picks, six, seven picks, something like that. And and yeah, you’re not going to get the 4,600 yards passing, but you might get 4,000 yards passing. You might get 3,900 yards passing, but that offense is going to be prolific if you can run the football. And it just has to it’s going to take a philosophy change. And I think they’re leaning that way to to make that philosophy change. And if you want numbers, man, if they can hit that 2,300 yard mark, that’d be great. But how about 2400 with more more more attempts? Because if they do that, that’s going to make them top four in the league in running. And I don’t care what the hell he has on the outside. You give Tua a top four run game, his efficiency is going to be through the roof as a quarterback. And he’ll be a he’ll be an MVP candidate and he might not even deserve it. Okay? Like Tua might be a top five in vote getter as MVP because his numbers are going to look ridiculous. He’ll be back to 2023 Tua. You’ll see him grow off. His numbers are going to be I think even more efficient than that cuz I think he Well, he was in the MVP conversation until we lost to the Baltimore Ravens, right? Yeah. But I think he’ll throw less less interceptions if he has a the running game going. Yeah. And I think he’ll throw I think he’ll break if we have a great running game, he’s going to break 30 touchdowns if he stays healthy. Yeah. And if you do that, then Miami is back in the conversation for everything. Okay. Uh unfortunately, and we’re going to get to that later on in the show, I don’t see them in the conversation with uh for the division because even though Miami has a very favorable schedule, Buffalo’s schedule seems almost like it was rigged. Okay. Uh there is a scenario where I could have the Dolphins 9 and4 and they’ll be three games back in the division at that point ball game. What are your expectations for the offense? So I’m par what most everybody else been saying because I think that it all starts with the run game, right? I mean the health of the old line and we all know that you know that’s the key to most offensive success. If you can’t block anyone, you can’t protect your quarterback then it all goes downhill from there. So those guys got to stay healthy. I think a lot of it just comes down to mental fortitude and you know what I’m saying and um a lot of mental toughness of them you know saying deciding that there’s a big difference between being hurt and being injured and sometimes deciding to push through some things just for the sake of you know what I’m saying knowing that you can get to that next plateau mentally is is is necessary. So if they can do that they can stay healthy up front. I can see us, you know what I’m saying? I can see us really thriving and getting back to an ability for tour not to have to go out there and throw the ball. I don’t like seeing him throwing the ball 40 42 times a game. I think that’s just absurd when you put him into those type of positions because then you give guys opportunities to tee off on him and that’s when the injuries and his body starts to break down. So, if we can just go through this process of kind of turn it around and handing it off to the backs 20, 22, 23, 24 times a game, that works for me because then the looks can be the leaks can be extremely um basic, but the concepts off of play action can be extremely exotic as you want. And then teams don’t know what to do because, you know, they want to walk up into the box and get guys flush to the line of scrimmage to stop the run. Meanwhile, you got two cheaters out there on the outside, right? you know, Waller is just as fast as Tyreek in my opinion and is elusive to get loose, you know, and then um if Waller can do anything for us in the tight end game like Jono did last year, that’s going to be a problem to deal with. But we just don’t know. There’s a question mark around him in regards to who he’s going to be and what he can offer. But right now, you got two of the top best rece you got two of the top receivers. Um you got the most accurate in my opinion quarterback in the game right now. and you got an old line with tons of offensive potential. I mean, but they just got to go out and prove it, you know? So, so I um I said on paper, this team this team looks on paper that top 22 looks unbeatable. Like, like I st you could stack them up against anyone and it be you’d be hardressed to find, you know what I’m saying? Anyone that’s going to give you a D or C plus, C minus, you know what I’m saying? Everything’s B minus C rated across the board that top 22, but it’s everything after that. If one of those guys go down, straight to show, flat, mix flat ain’t going to help it, bro. Like you on the side of the road, you know, is Yeah. Yeah. The old line depth is not good and I just not the guy. So, uh, Bobby, what are your thoughts and expectations for the offense this season? Yeah, I’ll try to make it a little quicker. Uh, I think Alf nut a lot about the um playing playing off the run game and play action. Keeping it simple for Tua. Don’t ask don’t ask him to throw 40 times. I’d love to see a more complimentary attack this year. Really lean into the run game. I think also y’all nailed the um they put um Jonah on the left side. I think they just decided we’re going to go with the lumps and the learning curve and we’re going to be able to maul people and push people on the left side and we’ll we’ll live with that. We’ll live in that world and that’s be what we do. I really am looking forward too to seeing Waddle be more involved this year. I really hope that theory is correct. I really hope that they’re trying to get that going again. I think Wadd is someone who is better when he’s getting eight targets a game. I really think he needs to eat. Like his rookie year, I love that Wadd. Yeah. Eight to 10. Yeah. Get Wadd get the ball in his hands. Like he’s he runs off momentum. You get him going, he gets feisty. He starts shaking that shoulder, throwing the ball down. Like I love that Waddle. I need that back. So I really hope that theory is true. and Wadd’s going to be a big part of this offense. Um, love Olly Gordon, love Achan. Would love to see Jaylen Wright uh shake the mud off his boots and uh find a hole every once in a while, but we’ll see if that happens. Um, and then like uh Mr. Ballgame said, if Waller can be anything, and I don’t expect him to do what John do. That’s the best season the Dolphins have ever seen at tight end. But if Waller can just be something they have to think about, that’s a huge benefit to the offense. I think he can move the chains a few times for us. and he’s 66. I mean, you can’t teach that. So, baby, I mean, that’s a great thing to have and especially when you’re like, Achan’s coming in motion, Tyreek’s here, Waddle’s over there, and then Waller’s dragging across the middle. I mean, that’s just a lot to think about. If nothing else, it’s something to think about. So, hopefully he gets on the field and he stays healthy. I think that can be uh beneficial for us. Yeah, if Waller could be a short yardage and goal line threat for this team, it’s going to make them so much better. And that’s all we need. And that’s all we need. Yeah, that guy’s fast. And and and by the way on on waddle I challenge I challenge anybody to find find the bad nine target waddle waddle game because it does not exist. It doesn’t exist. No it doesn’t. He needs to be fed. He gets he gets nine targets. He’s going to put up big numbers and Dolphins are usually going to win behind those big numbers. That’s what kind of pisses me off sometimes too when Waddle gets a bad rap with the drops. It’s like dude these guys play off momentum. If you’re a receiver who messes you the ball for 47 minutes and they decide to hit you with a freaking bullet on a drag route, like yeah, you might try, you’re not prepared. You got to keep these guys in momentum, man. He has the 14th most receiving yards out of all receivers over the last three years. But when you put up what he’s getting in terms of target shared compared to all these guys ahead of him and then on top of that, who he’s sharing targets with in terms of Tyreek, which no one ahead of him has to battle with. I mean, Jamar Chase has T. Higgins and Tyreek’s fut, you know, let’s be honest, we’re much more dynamic in terms of what he has to deal with, right? So, like I, you know, I I think Wadd’s vastly disrespected and people forget what he looked like in that 2022 season and they’ve forgotten real too quickly when he had over what do you have like 14 like 32 yards, something like that. And you know, the only thing he needs to do for me is he needs to find the end zone more. when you put him up against the guys in the top 14 who he’s competing with, there’s they find the end zone more than him. You know what I mean? Like, and then what is he? I think he’s got the third highest yards per reception over the last three years. It’s 15.2 yards per reception, which is the third highest in the NFL. So, yeah. Contrary to popular belief, because a lot of people on Twitter, they just like, you know, repeating things that they heard once even though it’s it’s not true. His numbers go through the roof with Tyreek off the field. Yeah. Yeah. Especially when you say So, so the people that are saying, “Oh, he’s he’s picking up all the leftovers in coverage that Tyreek is giving him.” No, that’s not the truth. The truth is is that with Tyreek off the field, two guys actually elevate their numbers drastically. One is Tua because his numbers are through the roof efficient with Tyreek off the field. And the other one is Jaylen Wadd. And I did the numbers on that. his his yards per target with Tyreek off the field are something like 10.7 which would make him only second or third in the league behind AJ Brown and Jamar Chase. And I I always say that that’s all you really need to know. An overlooked thing about Wadd too is how professional he’s been through all this. Like the biggest loser of the Tyreek trade has been Waddle. You come here his rookie year. He’s the man. He’s setting records, breaking records, and then they bring Tyreek in and like what? Waddles chop liver now. Like honestly, if anybody’s you growing him into being Batman and you turn him into Robin against his will, you feel me? Yeah. Yeah. And he’s caught nothing but strays ever since, man. People forget that boy was bad his rookie year. Yeah. And how bad was the offensive coaching and game planning for him that year? He was like everything was within five yards of the line of scrimmage for that guy. Quick screen. Quick screen. somehow made it work. Um, Neil, what are your expectations on the offense this year? Yeah, it’s I won’t have I don’t have too much three things that matter to me. If Patrick Paul is the player that we saw during uh training camp and in the preseason, that accelerates a lot of things for us, right? To to lose a guy like Terron Armstead despite him missing games. If Patrick Paul steps in, you know, we can talk about the second round miss that Cam Smith was, that would be a big time hit for Chris Greer, right? Agreed. Waddle, this offense has to be more Waddles ccentric. There’s no doubt about it. They took the captain from Tyreek Hill. They should take the number one receiver role for him and feed more of this offense through Wadd as well. That might create some more fire in his belly to get him there. It’s up to the coach and this offensive line. And I don’t think you can overstate James Daniels and Jonah Savana as an upgrade to Robert Jones and Lee Mikeberg. But this coach has to stay committed to running the football. And if if it’s if if it’s achain who’s going to get a lot of this burn and then you’re bringing in Olly Gordon, whatever that looks like, you got to stay you got to stay committed to it through the mud of it too, right? That that’s one of the things I want to see. I want to see that it’ll be a little bit pass less pass happy. Tuma doesn’t need to throw 40 attempts, 45 attempts a game. Let the run set up the pass. We got two speedy guys on the out outside. You can’t stack the box when you have a hill and waddle on the outside, right? I will say that like I I I’m a little nervous about the tight end position and that’s where like jumping ahead. The Dolphins got a pretty favorable first half of the league schedule, right? Let’s see what they look like going up to this trade deadline, but they have an extra third. They’re going to have an extra fourth round pick, right? There’s going to be tight ends. Mark Andrews here where I live in Baltimore that might be available at that trade deadline. Like I I think there is a world where if the Dolphins are a team like and I’m not as high on the Dolphins I typically am, but you go through that first nine games of the season, it’s hard not to have them have five or six wins. Like it it’s hard to not get there. So is Ali Gordon going to be the running back that we saw in, you know, the preseason? That remains to be seen. It might be going and finding another veteran. I don’t I you know Jeff Wilson on the practice squad that doesn’t really excite me but I think they need to have a running back that can do some of that dirty work and if it’s Olli Gordon more power to him but I want to see them remain committed to the run. I I think McDaniel sometimes in those situations gets a little too clever and I think sometimes it’s just meat and potatoes. That is what the Dolphins need to focus on. Yeah. All right. Let’s get into um our predictions. Before we do though, I do got to shout out the sponsor of today’s video, and that is Sleeper. Go over to Sleeper right now, use code Finside, and get a $100 deposit match. And um man, shout out to Sleeper for being the new sponsor. The NFL season is here, which means you could have a chance to 1,000 times your cash on daily fantasy football. Football has never been more exciting than it is now with players like CJ Strad, Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, and Justin Jefferson. Pick on stats for these stars like touchdowns, passing yards, receiving yards, fantasy points, and more for up to a,000 times payout on Sleeper. Get your picks right and you could win big. Use promo code Finsside and you’ll get a up to a $100 match on your first deposit. Terms and conditions apply. See Sleepers terms of use for details. Shout out to Sleeper for sponsoring this episode. All right, let’s get into this. Um, we got this is I hope I have more glass here where I am. All right. You do where you live. You do. They going to be shooting at me, man. So, shout out to my graphic guy for putting Neil’s record in hell with literal steps leading down to hell. That’s why you can see the fire and the brimstone at the bottom right there. He has us going 8 and nine with losses. Two losses to the Bills, losing in Spain, man. He has us on a four-ame losing Well, no, scratch that. He has us losing the last five games of the season with a by-week in between. So, as long as he’s not going to Listen, yeah, last six. You’re right. As long as he’s not about to tell me Scott Thompson’s about to come in and beat us. Um, Zach Wilson. No, I think I’m reading it wrong. No, cuz remember it’s it’s going up and down. So, he has us losing the last four games of the season, right? And look, he does. Yeah, correct. You’re right. Yeah. Yeah. looking. So, so he has us at one point eight and five and man, I think they fire everybody if that happens. That’s what I That’s what I would predict would happen. I look Yeah, has us losing the last four, right? Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Tampa, New England, right? And a majority of those losses, you know what I typically, you know, I usually favored in the side of the Dolphins, right? Perfect world scenario. They’re healthy. You know, D. This year, I kind of took it differently. I did it. And when I see, you know, you’ll see one common theme with a lot of those losses outside of probably Zack Taylor, that coach is better than Mike McDaniel in my opinion. So, I need to see Mike McDaniel go against a coach that’s not a first year coach. McDermott, one of the Harballs, Tomlin, Dan Quinn, right? Like you see the list here. Mike Vrabel’s in our division. Now, I need to see him go be able to go toe-to-toe with one of those guys. Now, I said this like I’m wrong, so this is probably going to be wrong. I’m wrong more than I’m right. But I also see a world where if this team is healthy, they could win 11 games. They have to prove it to me for for six years on this panel. I give them the benefit of the doubt every year. I have to see it. In that world, Alf, if this is how it went down, I would totally I it for me that would be the end of the Mike McDaniel era here in Miami. And it’d be disappointing, but I you know, I don’t think they’re a four- win team. You have a starting six and two and then the wheels just fall off. You have us going two and seven the in the back nine. I will say I will say this. Tua has only lost twice to two quarterbacks. Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen. Okay, in this schedule you have him losing his second game to Herbert, his second game to Lamar, and his second game to Burrow and his second game to Aaron Rogers. So, they’re going to beating us. Yeah. So, that’s going to break four times against Tua. Look, a late season clap collapse is nothing that we’re allergic to here in Miami, right? We had a division. We were up by 13 with less than four minutes left in the game to win a division. And then we let Mike Vrabel Tennessee team with Will Levvice, right, beat us. So, you know, it’s one of those things that, yeah, a four win loss, I mean, four loss end to the season when you have Joe Burrow. I I think the Buccaneers are the second best team in the NFC. So, maybe I’m drinking Kool-Aid there. Um, the Steelers one is the one that I had the hardest time putting as a loss, full disclosure, because I have no faith that Aaron Rodgers is going to be there, is going to be healthy behind that line. Yeah. Um, you know, again, like eight and nine, I was really close to nine and eight. I think that’s where they end up to be honest, unfortunately. Um, and you know, for me that wouldn’t be good enough. But a common theme, and we’ll see, Neil, is I’m pretty sure I don’t know if any of us picked them to win a game against Buffalo cuz I mean, let’s be honest here, you just copied and pasted the last couple Deceers and Januaries we’ve lived through and put it on your schedule. And I mean, no one can sit here and really argue you right now. So, all right. Well, look, look, Joe Burrow to me is going to be the I I predicted him to be the league MVP, and he’s the one quarterback that might not have the Lamar Allen traits that I think could tear our secondary up, even behind that offensive line. Well, Ryder has a lot of similarities. He has us losing to the Chargers, to the Buffalo to Buffalo twice, that game to the Ravens. But shame on you. He has us winning three out of the final four, but he does have us losing somehow someway to Justin Fields and the New York Jets. So, um, no one’s perfect, Ryder. I get it. Uh, what are your thoughts on your schedule here? Oh, man. I mean, I was like, usually two of misses one Jets game. I was just assuming, okay, that that was going to be the one, but I it’s so hard to predict because this far in advance all the variables that will change, but I I just felt like this was pretty reasonable if things go decently well for them. Yeah. All right. So, he’s got 10 and seven a little bit more. Now, we’ve gone to the black background. There’s no hope right now, right? So, Richmond also has us 10 and seven. Um, he too has this he has us beating Buffalo once. That’s why he didn’t speak up when I made that comment. Um, he has us beating Buffalo once. The consistent theme so far is you’ve all had us losing to Cincinnati. You’ve all had us losing to Baltimore. Um, Los Angeles, the Chargers, and that first Buffalo game. Um, and oh, the Atlanta loss, too. Okay. So, what are your thoughts on behind your 10-7 record, Richmond? I know you’re not overly high on this team like you have been in past years. Well, I I am, but but normally I’m like at least 12 wins and I’m kind of using a little me and Neil were talking about it before the show. a little reverse psychology and I think it’s possible but um I’m just taking in into consideration that you know typically we have some injuries that have cost us some games and I’m I’m hoping that’s not the case but then it’s not as such big let down. I think if we go uh 10 and seven 11 and six we can still get in the playoffs and I think that that should be the goal and that will be a huge stepping stone. So, that’s what I’m really shooting for. But, I just went a little bit more conservative this time. But, you know me, if if I could go 17 and0, I I’d pick all of them for the Dolphins win. So, um, normally I I pick with my heart and not with my head. So, um, that’s just kind of my thinking. So, I try to be a little bit more optimistic when I pick this list. Okay. So, continuing on now, um, next one is Alf. He has us at 10 and seven. He has them beating the Chargers. Um he also has them finishing not that strong, but I’m going to guess it’s because you think they have their playoff position locked up. That’s my guess at least. Um you also have us losing to Baltimore. You also have us losing in week three. And you also are entrusting the do the Dolphins against Pittsburgh. Uh what are your thoughts behind this schedule, Alf? Yeah, I have them collapsing just like Neil does, but they’re going to be in a better position than what Neil’s prediction was going to be at. So, I got them losing three of the last four. Uh, I got them losing the Pittsburgh. The weather’s just going to be unruly there. Uh, I don’t think they’re going to need the New England game. I think that they’re going to be I think they’re they’re going to be nine and four, but they’ll be completely out of the division race by the Pittsburgh game. And I think they’ll they’ll just toss the New England game. I think the last game that they’ll play uh all their players will be against Tampa Bay and they’ll lose that game. I have them doing the dumbest thing ever and losing to Atlanta. So, I do have them doing that. I don’t have Tua losing to Justin Herbert at home. That’s just not going to happen. I don’t have them losing to Aaron Rodgers. I I do have him losing to Aaron Rogers, but I don’t have him losing to Justin Fields. I have him losing to Jayen Daniels. And that Cincinnati game is key for me because I think that that’s the entire season right there. They win that game, I think they’ll be in the playoffs. If they lose that game, they won’t be. They win that game, I think that that’s like their Dallas game. And I got them beating the Bengals on Sunday Night Football. And I’ll tell you why. Joe Burrow, for whatever reason, he’s great. Uh I have him as an elite quarterback. I think he’s one of four in the NFL. Yeah, I agree. And and I don’t think he’s four. I think he’s like three. Okay. Yeah. Behind Lamar and Josh Allen. I will say this about Joe Burrow. Joe Burrow. I don’t know if it’s a fetish or whatever it is, but he likes getting hit a lot. And I think that that’s a bad idea against Miami’s front seven. And there’ll be points in that game, but I think Miami will have just enough with the home crowd. That’ll put them over the top. So, you know, I do got them I got them getting a win against Buffalo at home because it’s in the daytime. It’s the first time they’ll play Buffalo at home in the daytime in like 4,000 years after Buffalo complained that one time. Uh, and I think that they’ll be competitive week three, but the rest, those are just games that they’re going to be favored in. I have them winning, out of the 10 wins, I have them winning eight games that they’re going to be favored in. I have them winning two games that they’re going to be underdogs in. And I have them losing basically all seven that they will be underdogs in except one. They’re going to be favorites against Atlanta in week six. I have them losing that game because I had to find one game that they’re going to do something stupid. So, that was the game that I found that I said, “You know what? They’ll be dumb that week.” So, I gave them the loss against Atlanta. Um, all right. And now, Bobby, you have us going 11 and six. You two have them losing to Baltimore in that week three game to Buffalo. You have them losing both times to Buffalo. None of y’all think we’re going to beat the comm. I don’t think all of y’all, no one’s picked the Commanders game as a win yet, either. You also think they’re not going to be good against Pittsburgh. And your sneaky loss is Tampa, but you like Alf have Miami beating Cincinnati in prime time, which spoiler alert, that might be the game that I go down to this year. Um, what are your thoughts on the schedule? Yeah. So, Buffalo, it’s simple for me. Um, they’re Debo. They’re coming down their street with the bicycle. We’re all tucked in our chains. Like, they just are that to until they’re not, I’m never predicting us to beat Buffalo. I’m I’m not doing this to myself anymore. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry Joe Robbie in the chat. We’re not doing this [ __ ] anymore. I’m fed up. Uh and then dude, the gauntlet in the middle. I just feel like that’s a gauntlet, honestly. Like we the first 10 weeks, honestly, there’s two teams that should respectfully beat us. I mean, obviously it’s any given Sunday in the league, but there’s two teams respectfully that should beat us the first 10 weeks or the Yeah, I agree. First 10 weeks. Yeah, I agree. Buffalo and Baltimore. That’s it. Yeah. And then the Commanders, that’ll be a weird game cuz it’s going to be on foreign territory. Like I feel like we never show up for those games, but you never know. Um and then Pit, I just feel like it’s going to be cold. It’s going to be nasty. You got some revenge on their side with John and Ramsay. There’s just there’s a lot going their way there. So, I gave it to Pit. And uh Tampa just a good well coached team. And we’re not going to win on three. We’re not going to end on three wins. We never do that. So, you had I had to throw it in there. Did you notice the little light that’s starting in the top right corner of this graphic? Because we’re starting to see the light a little bit here. Um I see and it gets brighter right now. A little bit, huh? And so now I have us going 12 and five. Like, okay, I tried to look like what Alf said. Alf said, you know, the dumb loss. And again, it just stuck into my head of if this team is healthy, they shouldn’t because the two games I was looking at were the Chargers and Atlanta. And I said to myself, he’s not going to lose to Herbert again. And then Atlanta, do I really see Pennix out dueling to a tongue of Aloa right now? Now, could Raheem Morris’s defense give us a little bit of an issue? Sure. But I, like all of you, did not have us winning in Washington. I like all of you had both losses to Buffalo because I think Bobby articulated it perfectly with his Debo analogy, but I did have the loss in the middle of Cincinnati because guys, we should beat if this roster is healthy, we should beat the Saints. Come on, Spencer Rler or Tyler Chuck, please. We should we should sweep both the Patriots and the Jets. The Jets look like they’re going to be a disaster. Even if Aaron Glenn, someone has a grip on that defense, the offense looks like it’s going to be a disaster. And I’ve said this and I’ll stay consistent. Did the New England Patriots have a great off seasonason? Yes. Am I a big Drake May guy? Yes. But I still think they’re two solid off seasons away from what they just had to even catching up to what our roster is right now. Like in terms of starters. All right. I don’t believe in sauce hold them all gardener. you know, like uh you know, they want to trade Bree Hall and lean on Brilan Allen, you know, um and we should be Tampa. Now, I had us losing to Cincinnati. And the reason why I went with that was because how do we look in prime time and Joey loves prime time. So, um but we should be Pittsburgh, too. Like, I truly believe that. So, ball game. Yes, sir. The light gets brighter. We get to ball games here. Yeah. Yeah. And we’re officially in heaven. Look at this. You said you hated the roster. 10 year extension for Mr. Chris Greer. So, I love I love the top 22. And I’m I’m I’m going to say to myself that they went out and they spent great amounts of money and brought in people in addition to those trainers that we have on the staff to ensure that they stay as healthy as possible throughout the year so the injury bug stays completely away from us. I don’t think right now when I look at who we’re playing against, there’s only three teams on this entire thing that I think uh really and truthfully on any given Sunday we might have a lot of issues with. And those teams, well, four of them, you know, Cincinnati, Baltimore, Buffalo, which I think we need and have to beat them at least once just to have some level of um pride about ourselves come back into this picture. You know what I’m saying? And we we we got to get we we have to get one. We have to get one from them at some point. Otherwise, there’s no point even worrying about any of this stuff cuz playing second fiddle, nobody ever remembers that. Nobody ever cares that you come in second fielder. So, you got to punch them in the face at least. So, they at least respect the fact that you willing to fight back. You know what I mean? Stop laying down for him. So, I I split that between us in regards to I believe they’ll just be a little bit more ready in the first game, but we’ll make some adjustments and catch them in the second time around. Now Lamar, that’s a different monster because the boy just special. You see what I’m saying? So I don’t think by week nine, we’ll have all of the pieces ready to be able to deal with what they’re going to bring in that power run game of theirs with him playing the read option and being able to, you know what I’m saying, block seven, release likely, and then push the zones back deep and then drag the [ __ ] out of us. It’s an old concept, but it works for them because nobody wants to actually let Lamar kill you. So you play, you know, you play safe football and then they just capitalize on it. But I don’t I don’t think the Jets have enough to beat us. I think Pittsburgh’s going to be in disarray. I don’t think Rogers going to even be a factor that time of the year. Um I do agree that Burrow loves prime time games and he’s going to be a little bit too much for us because they’ll be fighting for their lives, too. But um everything else I think everybody else I think we can beat. So yeah, I don’t Yeah. Yeah. You know what’s you know what’s funny about Yeah. We stay healthy. You know what’s funny about about this prediction right here? Uh you see that he has a a loss against Baltimore, right? If Buffalo beats Baltimore to open the season, the Dolphins are in that prediction at 13-4 will be the fifth wild card. They’ll be the the fifth seed and a wild card team because Buffalo would win the division by beating a common opponent. But Al, that would be actually probably not so bad because I think we can beat the Houston Texans. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But you know what it is that like like what happened with Minnesota and that’s something that they should they should have changed. I don’t know why the owners didn’t change it. Minnesota last year won 14 games and had to go on the road in the playoffs. Yeah, it’s crazy. That’s not right. It’s just not right. So, you know, they should have changed that. Like, yeah, look, you win your division, you’re in the playoffs. Like, nobody’s telling you you can’t be in the playoffs. So if you win your division at, you know, seven and 10, good, good for you. You’re in the playoffs. But it’s not fair if you’re hosting a 14 and3 team, you know. Yeah, I agree with that. So let I got to we got to ask this final question here, boys, before we get out of here. And we’ll start with ball game with his Mike McDaniel and Chris Greer extension prediction. Gold statue. Gold trophy to a tongue of a MVP. Let’s go. Um, do we win a playoff game? Yeah. Oh, yeah. 13 and four. But that question makes your eyes go wide. Okay. All right. My grandma said, “Yeah.” Okay. All right. Okay. Uh Richmond, do we win a playoff game? Uh yeah, I think we have a capabilities, especially if um if we’re wild card and we’re at home, I fully expect us to win that game. So, yeah. Yeah. I think if we get a home playoff game, we all pretty much think we’re going to win a playoff game. Bobby, do we win a playoff game? Yeah, that’s the million-dollar question, right? Waiting on the answer for 20 years now. Uh, man, that look, if my prediction is right, we hopefully have a home field uh, you know, advantage first round, we get a win. But I do think regardless, that’s how the whole team should be judged. Uh, I don’t care 11 and six. I don’t care about none of that. If we don’t win a playoff game, people should still be fired in my opinion. Facts. I don’t care what goes right, what goes wrong. If we make it and fumble the bag again, it’s you might as well want eight games. To me, there’s no different to me. Yeah. Regular seed and for seeding anyway. So, Ryder, do we win a playoff game? Um, it depends if we play the Bills with Skyler Thompson or play the Chiefs in the coldest game of all time. Uh, I’ll say yes. Say writers are being positive because he’s afraid. Probably not. Probably not. I mean, if we’re going based off history, no. Yeah. They got to change that, though. You know what I’m saying? Oh, well, I think we know Neil’s answer. Oh, no. No, you’re going to try. Okay. But we win a playoff game. All right. Let’s do this one. I like I like Christmas cards more than I like death threats. I don’t want, you know. So, no, I I I if the Dolphins make the playoffs, and I mean this, and that means everything went right, right? They stayed pretty healthy. I here’s a hot take. I think the Ravens are getting the number one seed. I think the Chiefs are going to get the second seed. If the Dolphins going at the seven seed, I think they go to Kansas City and beat the Chiefs in the playoffs. How about that? All right. I’m down for a hot take. Jeez. All right. in Travis Kelce’s NFL career and he goes crying home with Taylor Swift. Taylor Swift maybe. Oh, okay. That’s my prediction. Alf, what do you think? Love it. Well, in in my prediction, I have the Bills getting the number one seed and then experiencing maximum pain as they lose the AFC Championship game at home to Lamar. Yeah. And on my podcast today, I predicted uh the Ravens would beat the Packers in the Super Bowl and Lamar gets his first Super Bowl. Yeah, but in this uh in my prediction and this scenario, I have Miami going to Baltimore in round one. Yeah. So, that’s enough. Which means no, they don’t win a playoff game. But there’s a world where 10 and seven gets you the six seed and maybe they go to Kansas City and if they go to Kansas City, they have a shot. Or maybe this is the year that Kansas City falls off a little bit and they go to Houston or something like that. Look, they’re going to need luck. They’re gonna need luck. Uh we I I’ve listener who did the numbers on this and I’ve seen the numbers myself. Teams from the South do not win up north in the playoffs and it this is not a Dolphin thing. This is a NFL football thing. And in fact, I think the only team from below Kansas City who has multiple wins in under 32 degree weather is a Tampa Bay Bucks. Okay, which is weird, but they’ve done it. and they’ve actually reached two Super Bowls winning cold cold weather games on the road. So, if Miami can somehow get lucky and go to Houston, they could they could win a playoff game there. But in my scenario, no. In my scenario, they got them they’re going to Baltimore and they lose. Well, hey, Lamar’s three and five in the playoffs, so you never know. Yeah, you never know. Maybe he throws us the ball. Maybe he throws us the ball a bunch of times in that game. You know, Al, I’m with you, though, man. I I I I have Ravens Eagles, but I I I just feel like this is the year the Ravens are actually gonna get over the hump. They I mean, I went out there a couple times. They look good. I If you’re in deep fantasy leagues, Katon Mitchell looks freaking explosive out there, man. Like I I I I think they’re they’re they’re a good squad. They’re just always been that tough matchup for us for whatever reason. You know, they’re built well in the trenches. They have good weather, man. Tell you, man. Well, they’ve always had a dedicated run game. Whether they had Go back to Trent Dofur. They’ve always drafted and focused on drafting well in the trenches on both sides of the ball. And go back to Trent Dofur. Go. They’ve always had a good run game. It didn’t matter whether they had a statue like Flaco back there, an under, you know, an underachiever who became an overachiever like Trent Dofur or an uber athletic guy like Lamar Jackson. They’ve always had a good run game. Remember Gus Edwards? They used to rely and and win games leaning on Gus Edwards cuz they’ve always again it comes back to the trenches. Yeah, that that offense is loaded. The defense is good. That that entire roster is extremely good. Uh in my scenario, I just have I have the Bills losing in the in the worst way possible. Uh I hope that they don’t lose by a blowout. I hope they lose like by by a 78 yard field goal or something like that. Or or Tyler Bass misses a gamewinner wide left. Or Hail Mary or Or how about this? a Lamar Jackson 80 yard touchdown run with as time expires. There you go. Do you know what’s kind of crazy about the conversation we’re having with, you know, Neil saying his prediction is the Ravens and the Eagles and your prediction being what you say, the Packers and the Ravens. Yes. And then, you know, you got the Bills and the champion. We’re discounting the guy and the team that these guys have never beat in Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs. Well, like we do every year, you know, because everyone expects him to fall off this year. everyone because Mahomes didn’t look as dominant as he had looked in the past last year. But you know what? I don’t even think we’d be having this conversation. To Ryder’s point earlier, if Tua played against the Bills in that game with the Tua we saw in 2022 in that offense, we would have beat the Bills and this whole monkey of the playoff monkey would have already been off our back two years ago, but the quarterback couldn’t stay healthy. Yeah. Yeah. Don’t Don’t ever don’t ever turn on the all 22 of that game and watch the offense cuz you you’d be pretty pissed off at what you see. Too late. I broke him down on my channel after it happened. It wasn’t There were there were people open for touchdowns, man. Including on that last drive. But Skyler’s the best quarterback we had on on the roster at that time. I still every once in a while I wake up in the middle of night seeing that Tyreek drag route uncovered against Tampa, too. Yeah. where where I I think they they rolled one corner up and Tyreek got right behind him. Tua has thrown that route a thousand times. Okay. In fact, he threw it for a touchdown against Buffalo to Waddle in that snow game in 2022 and he threw one against the the Jaguars. Same drag route. That thing was wide open. Skyler just stared at it. Didn’t do anything with it. That I thought we had it after that Sealer touchdown. I I thought we the quarterback play in that game was AIDS for the eyes. That’s what that’s the best way to describe that. It was some of the worst I’ve ever seen. And people still try to say that. Oh, Skyler played good in that game. Oh my god, it’s wild what people agendas will push. But anyways, gentlemen, we went a little over time, but I appreciate all of you for coming through. Over 400 of you in the chat. Smash that like button. Subscribe if you are new. Always a good time, gentlemen. Appreciate all of you taking some of your night out and we will catch each and every one of you on the next one. Until then, you don’t know what time it is. Finn’s up all day, every day. We’ll see you guys later.
On this episode of Phinside The NFL, Reason hosts a Miami Dolphins Pre-Season Roundtable!
Joining him will be Richmond Webb, Mr. Ballgame, Neal Driscoll, Alf Arteaga of 3YPC, Ryder McConville & Bobby Shouse of the Dive Bar!
They’ll give record predictions, bold takes on the upcoming season and much more!
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9 comments
The correct answer is 9-8
We go to Buffalo beat the Bills on Sept 18th and coast into the playoffs. Dawgphins up!
I got hopium running through my veins.. 10-11 wins and a playoff win this year! Let’s go 🐬🐬🐬
If we don't have too many injuries, we will be 12-5 or 11-6….This team is now built from the trenches..This is how you win on the road, in the cold, against tough competitors…..
PHINZ UP
Man this was a great episode!
great show and nice seeing everyone!
So a coach makes the playoffs 3 out of his 4 years here and we are going to fire him?? He will be the most successful coach in this millennium and you want him fired?? Make it make sense??
LFG THIS IS HOW YOU BUILD A REAL KNOWLEDGEABLE ROUNDTABLE! (not like the other one with the 2 bozos!!!!)