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00:00we wrap up not only the afc east but the afc in terms of our team by team previews across the
00:25nfl get you ready for the 2025 season welcome back it's in game live game day here on sports grid
00:30and to help us talk through a very interesting team i think at least in camp the miami dolphins
00:36david ferronis joins us from the sun sentinel he is on twitter at david ferronis with an underscore
00:42we'll fill people in just quickly on some of the numbers they should know and some of what you're
00:46looking at here an over under of seven and a half wins that is even money to the over minus 120 to the
00:53under the dolphins sit at 750 plus 750 to win this division i think you know a lot of people don't
01:00expect that to happen but not looking at them in quite as favorable a way as maybe in the last couple
01:06of years 41 to 1 to win the conference 95 to 1 to win the super bowl plus 225 to make the playoffs
01:14minus 290 to miss now we had our jets guest earlier and he was saying this team's kind of boring it's
01:21not a lot going on with this squad dolphins not the same way david you got a coach who's probably
01:27fighting for his job you got a quarterback certainly fighting for his you have a wide receiver who
01:32is fighting for the love of his teammates all over again i suppose after seemingly wanting out at the
01:39end of last season how's the drama here early in camp for you oh there's never any shortage of it
01:45in miami i learned that my first year on the beat 2021 and and and following the team up before then
01:51in miami it just um mike mcdaniel as head coach general manager chris greer obviously it's a hot
01:59seat season for them uh stephen ross the owner uh essentially made it so just hours after last year's
02:05finale when he put out a statement that although he was bringing both of them back that he felt the
02:11status quo was unacceptable that essentially puts everyone on notice that this is a season where
02:17things must change in order for uh people to keep their jobs and you mentioned tyreek hill boy that same
02:23day that finale uh in new york he had the locker room blow up after he uh took himself out of that
02:29game as the dolphins were uh fighting for a playoff spot needing some help from uh the kansas city
02:35chiefs against the broncos and as neither result was going their way tyreek hill took himself out of that
02:40game blew up in the locker room saying that he wanted out from the organization and ever since
02:45then uh he's now this training camp trying to rebuild that relationship as quarterback to attend
02:51the vailoa told us early in camp uh and it's something that's not just forgotten and forgiven
02:56over it doesn't happen overnight it doesn't happen over one off season it's something that he'll have to
03:01uh to build on through camp and going into this season david for me looking at the mike mcdaniel era
03:08there in miami uh leaves me you know asking questions and i remember when he first came in
03:14you had tyreek hill and you had jalen waddle and tua and you know they had some explosive performances
03:20then you had the 11 win season but the fact is it's it's been very mediocre the average amount
03:26the average number of wins under mcdaniel has been nine um you know the season win total this year is
03:32eight and a half they're expecting more of the same and and then and i don't know what the identity is
03:38you know it was that electric offense for a minute then they had the pass rush that seems like it's
03:43still pretty good now they've lost a lot of players on the offensive line you know hard knocks we got to
03:49kind of get inside the locker room with this team and learn about them but i just don't feel like this
03:54team has an identity i don't know what direction they're headed what do you see in camp where are they
04:00going what are they trying to establish i guess i'll go offense and defense with the offense yes
04:06you want to get back to getting the ball down the field to tyreek hill and jalen waddle and
04:11opponents know that so they're gonna play the two high shells try to take that speedy wide receiver
04:17duo out of the game and the dolphins last year they didn't have the same run game efficiency to make
04:23opposing defenses respect them in the run game so that's one way they can work their way out of those
04:29coverages is uh if you earn it on the ground then make defenses respect the ground game that could
04:35probably open up some things for tyree kill and jalen waddle again and defensively well the secondary
04:40is a huge question mark after they had to trade jalen ramsey uh released kendall fuller those were the
04:45two starting corners last year now cater co who was the nickel he is now out for season because he
04:51injured his knee early in training camp so uh they did get minka fitzpatrick at safety back of course
04:58they had him as the 2018 first rounder uh traded him to pittsburgh in 2019 under brian flores then
05:04and then now he's back in that movement that sent jalen ramsey and johnny smith the tight end to
05:10pittsburgh so uh you're gonna need him on the back end to mask some of those deficiencies at cornerback
05:16uh as you have a young group uh and some newcomers and jack jones and mike hilton that are trying to find
05:20their way uh within a month's time before the season and you're gonna need that pass rush that you talked
05:25about uh they do have a strong front seven but if you get the trio of chop robinson going into year
05:30two jalen phillips and bradley chubb coming back from their season ending injury deals that they've
05:35had with with their knee issues then if you get that pass rush going uh that can maybe help the the
05:42coverage on the back end yeah what makes this team david a little tough to have any confidence in
05:49really you know brady alluded to obviously mcdaniel and and things kind of going backwards he comes in
05:54is this like boy wonder offensive guru genius all of this stuff and you know we see one ten win
06:00season oh and two in the playoffs coming off the first losing season eight and nine year and i think
06:06the thing that you know i talked about it so much throughout last year just screams is if he doesn't
06:12have tua who by the way i don't even think is an elite quarterback when he doesn't have tua things go to
06:17hell real fast snoop huntley is not good he's not there anymore skylar johnson same or thompson same
06:24deal like they couldn't do anything with those guys but behind two and now you've got zach wilson
06:29and quinn yours so again doesn't expire a whole lot of confidence if tua gets hurt and this is not a guy
06:36you can count on to be healthy you can't count on jalen waddle to stay healthy you you know tyree
06:42kills he gonna have another blow up you mentioned john who smith is gone he was the only guy who was
06:46a reliable contributor last year so what does mcdaniel do if he runs into another offensive setback
06:54boy yeah well two of his six games last year 2023 he had his first healthy season so you finally just
06:59felt like okay maybe he said that behind him but uh injury bug bites him again concussion protocol
07:05last year sets him out for four games another two at the end of the season for a hip ailment
07:10uh so he's back from from that now and uh the backup quarterback decision was one that was had
07:17everyone's attention it was the big focus on on the dolphins off season because if you have another
07:22slip up for a team that's trying to contend into his health then you need that reliable backup and it's
07:28one that they chose jack wilson that was their targeted choice and it'll be a decision that is
07:34heavily criticized in the event that uh uh that's very bad and uh that's not going to be
07:44david ferron is hanging with us from the sun sentinel we're looking ahead to the 2025
07:48miami dolphin season i know we lost some of what you were saying there just before we had to hit the
07:53break but for anyone joining us now what i had asked you about was you know the in brief because
07:58i ramble a little bit was you know this backup quarterback situation and can this dolphins team
08:03afford another two injury essentially and and mcdaniel not being able to scheme anything up when he
08:11doesn't have to a tungo vailoa at his disposal and so they've turned things over zach wilson's there
08:17when yours obviously has come aboard as well and you were talking about how this was a decision that was
08:23really under the microscope in the off season so now that wilson is there what's the confidence level
08:29in him yeah if the dolphins are in the position where tua goes down again and it's wilson who has
08:36to come in then they leave themselves exposed to potential heavy heavy criticism because he was their
08:43direct calculated target as a free agent backup quarterback uh for a a signing that uh was like you
08:50said under a microscope everyone knew the dolphins had to really nail this backup quarterback signing
08:55because tua let's face it he has this injury history he's been injury plagued throughout his
09:00career uh not reliable to play a full season he's only done that once in his career thus far so a lot of
09:07people expected a more proven veteran backup and uh you know made like a jimmy garoppolo uh joe flacco
09:13someone along those lines uh so it kind of stunned a lot of people when zach wilson was a choice
09:18who's still more of a project obviously mike mcdaniel sees some tools in his raw uh whether it's his arm
09:24talent mobility those those kind of things but uh still not proven in this league and i think the
09:31dolphins they they could have done better with a more proven veteran backup they went still with a guy
09:35who's a project and uh and quinn ewers uh they grabbed him in the in the seventh round of the draft so
09:41he's shown some flashes in camp still that's against third team defenders and this and that so
09:46uh zach wilson is their number two uh uh quarterback uh but uh quinn ewers also trying
09:51to bring him along as well david you mentioned that a lot rides on this running game and if the
09:58running game is successful that'll open up a lot of things for this offense getting back on track and
10:03doing some of the things that we've seen them be very good at in the past the running game took a big
10:08step back last season now they're they no longer have uh roheem mostert uh jeff wilson is no longer
10:15there the offensive line was not very good last year they've had some turnover can this running game
10:21be great and i believe a lot of it has to do with the offensive line is the offensive line going to be
10:26good enough to help make it happen yeah and it was a huge point of emphasis this offseason the biggest
10:32free agent contract that the dolphins did dish out in uh an offseason where they were pretty frugal and
10:38didn't go out doing any big spending it was two with james daniels former pittsburgh steelers guard
10:44coming off an achilles tear uh but he's been back at training camp and ramping up his uh practice
10:49participation uh as he's gotten back into the swing of things and then they traded up in the second round
10:54for a rookie guard out of arizona that they really liked jonah savaii naya so uh trying to upgrade at
11:00both guard spots where last year they had leah mikenberg and robert jones so you you expect that
11:07that's going to be a a big upgrade there aaron brewers back at center he was one of the more reliable
11:12offensive linemen teron armstead of course the left tackle did retire uh so now they're bringing along
11:17patrick paul a 2024 second round pick who they really like and who has stood out very well uh at camp
11:23always had the raw tools with his size and athleticism now looking more polished as uh as a second year
11:29pro and of course austin jackson at right tackle who has been there since uh 2020 so it's going to
11:34be the offensive line and physicality in the run game as well where they've brought in a bigger back
11:39in alexander madison who didn't have a strong yards per carry uh average last year but uh has also
11:45flashed in camp uh with his physicality along with a late round draft pick they picked up in ollie gordon
11:50and jalen wright if they can all complement the the speed of devon a chan a little bit then that
11:55could uh give them more about both power and speed in the in the run game uh as they do look
12:01to bring that component back in an effort to eventually free up uh tyreek and jalen on the
12:06outside well like you said the offensive line was a point of emphasis in the offseason but it's also
12:12kind of a mess right or at least a giant unknown in that there are only two guys i was reading this
12:17only two guys that their careers have played north of a thousand career snaps and so it's there are all
12:22these puzzle pieces that you want to try and figure out including it's not just the run game
12:25it's it's keeping to a safe this there's an extensive concussion history here that has people
12:31wanting him to retire quickly before the break i mean how much of a concern is that just keeping to
12:36upright yeah well yeah your most veteran of the group who has been with the dolphins along as
12:42austin jackson is protecting his blind side right tackle for the left-handed throwing quarterback
12:46uh but yeah it's a question mark at left tackle very raw left side of the line really with both
12:52the rookie jonas of i9 and uh patrick paul left tackle so uh that's something to key in on is the
12:57left time just a little bit more with david ferronas when we come on back explore some of this
13:03tyreek hill drama what we can expect in the new season we have david ferronas with us from the sun
13:09sentinels we look ahead to the upcoming dolphin season and just to circle back to something we
13:13alluded to a little bit off the top that is the tyreek hill drama and i you know when when
13:19tuatango bailoa spoke with the media at the beginning of camp as you brought up david about
13:24how hill is you know working to rebuild his relationships with everyone in that locker
13:29room after asking out the blow up and quitting on the team at the end of last season having to
13:33rebuild those relationships and on and on and on i just think i honestly maybe not miami but nationally
13:41i think this is something that has gone a little underplayed i think that when when you have a
13:45quarterback come out and make such strong statements about a superstar wide receiver like tyree kill
13:53i just i i don't see how that ends well for anybody and i don't fault to pardon me for for
14:00saying it i just think that it speaks to how bad it is probably behind closed doors that he even has to
14:08air that out in in the media at all so i i don't know does does hill even make it through the season
14:15with miami or does this thing come to a head maybe by the trade deadline yeah well everyone thought
14:21early in the off season as soon as he was asking out well you got to trade him and this and that and
14:25his contract was really untradeable especially coming off of this past season where he did not
14:31even have a thousand receiving yards this is a guy who in years past would always have 2k as his
14:37goal and he didn't even hit half of that um as a an aging receiver who is reliant on speed then uh
14:45that's something as you get to the wrong side of 30 then teams aren't going to be uh looking to invest
14:50in especially not uh big money so uh for tua i thought that was really a grown man move from him i don't
14:57think we would have ever seen that in years past i mean could you imagine the first year when tyree kill was
15:02a superstar pro bowl all pro every year coming from the chiefs and tua was going into his third season
15:11tua would have never uh countered tyreek in that way or called him out for anything so i think that
15:17really spoke to leadership that we're starting to see from tua and tyreek so far to his credit in camp
15:23he's taken it on the chin when he came back and spoke to reporters the first time afterward uh he took
15:28to his words he said it he needed to hear it so um i think he's trying to uh reverse course on how
15:36he behaves in the locker room uh but it's got to be the actions that come and not just uh empty words
15:43which uh even then in the same press conference then you still had him uh calling out mike mcdaniel
15:49for last year running devon hn out there on so many goal line or short yardage situations so
15:54there was a different way he definitely could have gone about that instead of uh seeming very
15:58critical of his head coach and some of his play calling and personnel decisions although that is
16:03something that everyone who watches dolphins football has been clamoring for is put a more
16:07physical back in on short yardage and not your your small speedster um on those in those situations
16:14david i think you've done a great job with us painting a picture about what's going on here in
16:18dolphins camp and what this team is trying to do what they've been through you know the losses of
16:23personnel in the secondary and you know the shortcomings in this area and that area and
16:27where they can be strong and what direction they want to try and head ultimately if you're a betting
16:33man can this team get to nine wins or are you going to go under eight and a half for their season win
16:38total which which is your gut feeling on how the outcome is going to be in 2025 for the miami dolphins
16:45okay my season prediction i would actually have them going nine and eight i think they're going to get
16:51to week 18 probably needing some help to get in and it's going to be one of those scenarios and uh
16:58i would think just out of the playoffs uh or if things fall their way with whatever help they end
17:04up needing then uh maybe they they do get in so uh that's what i got i'm saying nine and eight it's
17:09going to look a lot like last season um injuries always pop up so yeah on paper if everyone's healthy
17:16and if tua plays a full season then there's potential that they do better but you always
17:20got to factor in that uh that tua will miss some time and probably a lot of other key players and
17:27all in all that's kind of i see them just right back to where they were at the end of last season
17:33david as a patriots fan i found it shocking what i saw last year out of john new smith i didn't know
17:40that was still possible quite frankly but he was awesome he was terrific for the miami dolphins
17:46again really the most reliable at least pass catcher you know i don't know maybe not pass
17:51catcher maybe that's not fair to some of the production they got out of the backfield but
17:54certainly more reliable than any of the wide receivers thing is he's gone now he's a stealer and so
18:01it's it's darren waller who's out of retirement mike mcdaniel said he's in great shape he's not in
18:06football shape certainly his best years are behind him so how much is this team maybe two
18:11specifically or mcdaniel's scheme or just this offense going to miss john new smith and what are
18:16reasonable expectations out of darren waller now well i think the dolphins were making a statement
18:21when they decided not to pay him uh and let him go pursue a new deal with another team and and trade
18:29him where they were saying you had that production because of defensive attention going to tyreek hill
18:36and jalen waddle and that's why things were open for you um so that's kind of the statement they
18:41made and not paying him uh credit to chris greer for the the contract that he did get john smith on
18:46after he was released so getting him on the cheap and then finding that you can incorporate a pass
18:51catching tight end something the dolphins uh hadn't really done well uh in the mike mcdaniel era uh
18:56couldn't maximize mike kasicki's time that uh where he was intertwined with with mike mcdaniel so uh
19:03that didn't work so well john smith similarly not a big blogging tight end but a guy who can catch
19:07passes from the position so they did figure out how to work the tight end into that offense uh but
19:14ultimately they they said okay you got that because defenses are honing in on on tyreek hill and jalen
19:21waddle uh we don't think we need to pay you big bucks and uh the steers were willing to triple his
19:27his previous salary and good for john smith who um now uh hitting 30 and uh at the stage in his
19:33career finally having a pro bowl season uh now it gets a duly compensated uh where he needed to get
19:40his money too so uh you understand it from both sides david ferronis again does a great job as you
19:46can tell covering the dolphins for the sun sentinel he is on twitter at david ferronis with an underscore
19:51david we thank you so much for hopping on with us i'm sure we'll bug you as we get into the season
19:55hopefully not too much more drama here in camp no it's always drama in miami so don't count
20:05all right david thanks a lot we'll let you go here we'll continue the conversation brady and i
20:09and uh well obviously a lot of great information there brady from david about expectations for this
20:15team and some of the giant question marks quite frankly they have and and that's the thing that i
20:20can't get past we were talking about the new york jets earlier and do i think the jets are going
20:25to be a good team i don't but i feel like at least we know what we're getting this dolphins team i feel
20:30like is littered with questions going into the year i don't think i want to bet them at all in any way
20:35shape or form yeah i i would agree with you i think both teams are are very vague to me as far as what kind
20:43of feeling i have about them and i kind of expressed that to david you know uh mcdaniel
20:49came in with a lot of fanfare they kind of had one great run and you know went into kansas city in
20:54the frigid cold and lost that playoff game and and to his health is so such a huge part of this team's
21:02success or lack thereof and and it's kind of it's kind of unfortunate because i i like the kid i think when
21:08we saw him you know and kind of got to look inside behind the curtain when they were on hard knocks i
21:14think a lot of people realize this is a really good guy and if you like i said earlier if you just look
21:19at his win loss record when he's healthy he's done very very well for this team but you know he just
21:25hasn't played a whole lot and uh so i hope he's healthy that i i think their season you know rides on
21:31that um but i'm with you i i don't know which way this team is going to go i do feel a little bit
21:37more confident about the jets at least kind of knowing where they are and i'd probably be inclined
21:42to bet over their season win total with miami it seems to all depend on to his health yeah it's funny
21:50i mean in in past years like if even if this were last year i would have worked in a question there
21:56about okay is this team you know live to maybe take the division if buffalo slips that sort of thing
22:03and to me they are just so firmly in in third or even if you don't respect the patriots as much as
22:10i do they're just nowhere near the bills they're just not remotely in the conversation as far as being
22:16able to really make some noise in this division or even to me in the conference as far as being
22:22a wild card playoff team we'll come on back continue to explore some more on the dolphins brady and i
22:27will return by the way billy's still leave one nothing
22:46you
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