00:00Mike Cuno's on the Toyota of Hollywood Hotline, sports anchor, locally on CBS4.
00:06You see him nationally on CBS Sports HQ, and it's almost that time of year where you're
00:11going to see him prowling the sidelines during Dolphins preseason games on CBS Miami.
00:16So, rookies reported today, Cuno, for the Dolphins, what's your excitement level?
00:22And I couch it with this.
00:23I started the show at 2 o'clock by saying, while I'm excited, I love football season,
00:28and I like the new Dolphins regime, and I love the fact that they gave a new contract to
00:33Jordan Brooks, and the three guys that they gave big contracts to in the offseason were
00:37all in agreement, earned it.
00:39I don't have much excitement for the actual football we're going to see on the field this
00:43coming season, because they're not going to be very good.
00:47Yeah, I heard your bright and positive outlook.
00:49You made me feel a warm and pleasant as we gear up for six months of football.
00:54But listen, maybe I'm just too positive.
00:58I'm excited about the season, because I'm looking forward to what they're going to build.
01:02But I disagree with you that wins and losses don't matter here.
01:07I completely disagree with that, because if you're winning more games than you expected...
01:17But they're not going to.
01:20Hold on a second.
01:22All right.
01:23I'm just kidding.
01:26Look, look at the deals they gave out, right?
01:29H.N., Brewer, Brooks.
01:31Obviously, they had to clear the books a little bit here and start, you know, and start cleaning
01:37up that salary cap mess.
01:39But the fact that they're looking ahead to the future with players now tells me that they
01:44at least feel in some sort of way that they've turned the corner and can start building.
01:47So in the midst of a teardown, they have also accomplished the fact that now they can let
01:52their players know and their roster know, we are already building towards the future
01:57with these three guys in mind as pillars of our organization.
02:02So to me, that's a positive thing that you're telling your organization and even a step further,
02:08the fan base.
02:09The wins and losses matter because if you exceed those expectations, then you know you've also
02:14got something with your head coach because it's the first time NFL head coach, first
02:18time NFL GM.
02:19You want to make sure you're going in the positive direction.
02:22And I think back to the time when Brian Flores was here and everyone wanted the, you know,
02:27the tank for two of stuff and flow wasn't about that really.
02:31He wanted to win as many games as possible and set that cultural foundation.
02:35That's what you're looking for, I think, in this.
02:38So you are hoping that they exceed expectations and you do want to be in every game and win every
02:42game that you think you can.
02:44And if it doesn't work out, then you're also looking for towards the draft and where you
02:49slot there in terms of what should be a very loaded draft class this year, you know, in
02:552027.
02:56So I like, I don't know, to me, that's the way I look at it.
03:00And I can find, I can find value in, in the schedule and going for those wins this year.
03:06And I'm going to be optimistic, Mike, but everybody's putting on Malik Willis.
03:11I don't think Malik Willis can be an all pro this season.
03:15I haven't seen enough.
03:16He started six games, but the old line is something that I say, like, they put a lot
03:21of draft equity into it.
03:23They put a lot of money into it.
03:25Like that old line could extremely overachieve.
03:28Do you agree?
03:29And what other positions do you think can?
03:32The offensive line is probably the thing I'm really looking forward to, or maybe even have
03:37the highest hopes for, because you think you're, what you have there is you're hoping you're
03:43set at every position.
03:45Jonas Savai and I are moving back to the right side.
03:47You hope he's more comfortable there.
03:50Caden Proctor, all we've seen is how big he is and how athletic he is at practice.
03:55So you're hoping that pans out on that left side next to Patrick Paul, who you know is
03:59your left tackle of the future.
04:01You know you have your center of the future.
04:03And then when healthy, when healthy, your right guard has played well.
04:10You just need him.
04:12Obviously, your right tackle, Austin Jackson, you just need him to be healthy and be there.
04:17And so if those five guys are there, yeah, there's going to be some bumps and bruises with
04:20the young guys, but I like, I like the three kind of anchor points, anchor points there
04:25on that line.
04:27And I think they like it too, considering they're still, they're still investing in A-chan and
04:34that's why he's still here.
04:35And I think that's going to, you know, at the very least, at least the run game should
04:40be your strength.
04:41Who's the most important rookie going into this season?
04:45Cause you can make the argument, Caden Proctor, he took them 12th overall.
04:48That was the first draft selection for the Miami Dolphins.
04:51But Cunho, I feel like a lot of people are expecting big things out of Jacob Rodriguez,
04:55not just because of the Zach Thomas comparisons, but because of his position and the need for
05:01a player in that position.
05:02And then you had another first round pick and Chris Johnson, like who's the guy you're
05:05looking at that has to make the biggest impact year one?
05:09That's the one.
05:10It's Chris Johnson to me, because the secondary is the area where at safety, you know, you've
05:16got Dante Trader, who's going into his second year, but in secondary, you didn't bring back
05:19Russell Douglas.
05:20You didn't, you know, there, there's no Xavier Howard anymore.
05:24There's no Jalen Rams.
05:25Like they're all gone.
05:25It's going to be young guys.
05:28It's going to be some guys, some veterans with experience.
05:30You know, there, there are some guys back there that they brought in this off season,
05:33but you're hoping that Chris Johnson is, is one of those future cornerstones because
05:38you drafted him in the first round.
05:40His athleticism is off the charts.
05:43You hope that that's a, that's a pick that hits now, just like every position and rookie
05:48in the corner is probably the toughest.
05:50There's going to be those bumps and bruises, but you have to like, you have to be able to
05:54identify that to me, that position and Chris Johnson as someone going forward that now I
06:01can pair him with someone else.
06:02So next year, maybe in that first round, you, if you're not looking for a quarterback again,
06:07maybe you're looking for another first round corner to solidify the back end of, of the
06:12defense.
06:13So to me, it's Chris Johnson.
06:15I know there's a, there's a, and for rightfully so listen, Jacob Rodriguez was an excellent
06:20college football player last year.
06:23It does feel like the Dolphins got a steal there in the second round with him.
06:26There's going to be excitement there and no doubt, but I think because you have some linebacker
06:32depth and experience there, he doesn't need to be the guy right away.
06:36I think Chris Johnson is going to have to be kind of the guy right away in the, in the
06:40secondary.
06:42And are we, are we still on the chop, chop Robinson lookout because we've been looking
06:46out for a couple of years now, Mike, I just, I don't want to give up on a young man,
06:50but
06:50he hasn't showed me much.
06:53The chop thing.
06:54That's one of those interesting things because when chop was drafted, he will, you know,
06:59you had Jalen Phillips and you had Bradley Chubb.
07:01So you weren't, you were just like hoping, okay, this is a part of a wave, like with Andrew
07:05Ben Ginkle there and everything.
07:07So I'm just hoping that now that he's gone through, this will be second or third defensive
07:15coordinator.
07:16Now they've, it's also, they know how they put him in positions to succeed because I think
07:23that's part of it too.
07:24He's a young player, I think at Penn state was probably, I don't know if, um, what Manny
07:32Diaz was doing, maybe it was the same as what, as what they want here from him to do with
07:37the dolphins.
07:37So I think he's gone through a lot of changes.
07:39I think he's had to learn to play in the NFL a little bit.
07:42So this is, I think you're right.
07:44Kind of make or break year for him, uh, with the dolphins.
07:48It just, it just, you need it because they're that's defensive end edge.
07:53That is another position that was kind of thinned out this year.
07:56And they're looking at, I think they're going to have to look at him as someone who can,
08:00who can be a leader who can step up and actually play a major role, bigger role than he's played
08:05the last two years.
08:06Cuno, we're going to be running out of time here, but what are your spidey senses telling
08:10you about where LeBron ends up?
08:14Oh man, I, I still, I, I think he's going to end up here in, in Miami and I don't
08:23think
08:23he's going to go anymore to Philly or golden state because I think if he does that now there
08:32is this feeling of, Oh, he brought championship everywhere else.
08:36And as much as I love that storyline and we've talked about this, I wanted him to go to Philly
08:40because I wanted to see if he can do it there too. I don't think he owes those. He, there
08:44would be some feeling of having to owe them what he did at Cleveland and Miami and in LA.
08:50He can, I think he can go to Miami. I think he can go to Cleveland and just kind of
08:55just
08:55ride out the end of his career. Now there'll be expectations. Obviously these teams want
08:59to win, but I don't think that magnifying glass will be as sharply honed in on him.
09:03And the whole schedule thing, by the way, cause I did hear you guys talk about that earlier.
09:07I don't like that the schedule is being held up by that. If I'm Adam Silver saying that
09:11publicly, cause then you're kind of saying my, Oh, is my league devoid of stars to carry
09:15like a primetime schedule? Like you need LeBron at some point, LeBron's not going to be in
09:19the NBA. I, so to say that the schedule is being held up by him, I really did not like
09:24the commissioner
09:26saying that no matter if it's true or not. Um, but I do feel like LeBron is, is probably heading
09:31to Miami. Cuno happy national junk food day. Is it, is it back? It's already, it's already been
09:37a year. Yeah. It's national junk food day. Sorry for yelling at you at the beginning of
09:42I interrupted you. I absolutely. No, I'm, um, I'm now I'm riddled with guilt.
09:47No, I know I'm riddled with guilt. I should not have interrupted you. That was on me.
09:52I'm sorry. I'm going to side text you. I'm sorry. Later. Don't tell me you're sorry.
09:55Because I'm sorry. You put me in my place and I deserved it. No, I, I didn't like that.
10:00No, I will not accept that. You're not liking it. I want you to be firm in your putting me
10:06in my place. I love you. Take me back. Okay. Bye. Bye. You hang up. You hang up first.
10:15Yeah, that's silly. Do you now pronounce us Chuck and Larry?
10:23That was cute. We'll see you Cuno. Bye guys.
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