Interview with Dolphins Insider Greg Bedard

  Transcribed 7/12 from Audible Podcast by Sigmund Bloom and Cecil Lammey

Cecil Lammey: Let's start with a guy that we love on this show. We interviewed him just after the Senior Bowl, saw him there, met his cousin, talked about him all the time on the recaps from the Senior Bowl. It's Lorenzo Booker. This kid, a favorite, so intelligent, so smart, so well-spoken. He's very impressive off the field as well as on the field. What do you expect from Lorenzo in that Dolphins offense this year?

Greg Bedard: Well, obviously he benefited from Ricky Williams tripping up again. He's going to get a chance to play a lot. I think he's - I wouldn't say he's come to the perfect offense, Cam Cameron, with what he's able to do, how he likes to utilize his running backs in the passing game - I think that's really going to suit Lorenzo - something that Florida State kind of neglected while he was there. He's going to spell Ronnie a little bit, but mostly he's going to be a change of pace/third down guy, and it's a position that could excel in this offense.

Sigmund Bloom: Greg, you mentioned Ricky Williams. This question probably won't take too long to answer. Is this really the end of the line for Ricky and the Dolphins, or is there still possibly a place for him if everything works out in the future?

GB: I never say never about anybody, especially the Dolphins. We're seeing right now with the Daunte Culpepper situation - anytime the Dolphins have value, or a player that has value elsewhere in the league, they're going to do everything that they can. The Dolphins could have taken the easy way out with Daunte and released him on the Friday morning before the start of minicamp, and just started fresh. Obviously we saw Randy Mueller is going to stick to his guns. He sees a guy in Ricky Williams, maybe not in Miami, maybe not a lot of places, but there's going to be some place in the league that would be interested in taking him. I think for the most part, he's pretty much done in Miami, but you never know.

CL: Let's move on to the quarterback position. Trent Green comes over from the Chiefs. They still have Cleo Lemon. John Beck from BYU is getting a lot of buzz. What do you expect out of Beck as far as the future goes? Obviously, this year it's going to be Trent Green, but Beck in the future, you see good things from this kid?

GB: I think so. He has all the intangibles that you're looking for. He's very smart. He's a great leader. He's got a very good arm. He's very accurate. I haven't seen him very much so far, but I think that's a product of being in the new offense and new receivers. That's the book on him. The Dolphins, passing on Brady Quinn and anointing John Beck as their guy early in the second round. This is their quarterback of the future. They could have Brady Quinn, and they said, no, they wanted John Beck. Obviously, he's their quarterback of the future. I've been told their plan is to not play him this year. There's a chance, I'm sure, if the Dolphins are out of it, maybe sometime at the end of the season, throw him out there for a series or two, get his feet wet. If he handles it well and the Dolphins are out of it, maybe he gets a start, but I don't see anything big out of John Beck this year, but he's obviously going to be their guy for the future.

SB: Greg, one name you didn't mention at the quarterback position, a guy that has been toiling away in obscurity. He does have a past connection to Cam Cameron, so Cam is very familiar with his abilities. A guy that has even shown some potential in the past. Cleo Lemon, he's overlooked now that Trent Green is coming in to start now, John Beck is going to start in the future, is this his last year with the team? Has he been marginalized from the team's plans, or with that past relationship with Cam Cameron, could he play his way back into the team's plans?

GB: I'd say the chances of Cleo playing his way into anything with Dolphins are pretty remote. Like you said, Trent Green's the guy for this year. John Beck could be the guy for next year, maybe two years down the road. Cleo, he's there as an experienced hand. He got a lot of experience last year with the Dolphins. He's there in case Trent Green - he will be 37 years old next month - in case something happens. And you know, quarterbacks go down all over the place in this league. Cleo is there to give the Dolphins at least some experience as a backup this year, so apart from that, I don't know. I think Cleo has some talent; obviously Cam liked him in San Diego. He likes him here, he kept him. You just have to figure with the background that Randy Mueller has, almost taking a quarterback every year in the draft, Trent Green this year, Trent Green, Beck, and possibly a late round pick next year, and they go from there.

CL: You talk about the draft, now the Dolphins certainly had an interesting draft to say the least. A lot of people upset down there in Miami because with the #9 pick they take Ted Ginn, the wide receiver out of Ohio State. What did you think of the pick, first, and how's he looking, what do you expect from him this year?

GB: I was surprised as anyone with the pick because I was told by people in and around the organization that Brady Quinn was their guy, and maybe Dolphins were just trying to deke other teams. They had no problem with what we were writing about their interest in Brady Quinn, and it was apparent to all of us. A lot of us were shocked. I wasn't shocked that they picked Ginn; I was shocked at where they picked him. I thought that #9 was too much of a stretch for a guy that even Cam Cameron said this week that they're going to just start slowly with this guy. He's going to be a kick and punt returner at first and then they're going to get him into the receiving thing. If you're taking a guy with the #9 overall pick, he better do more than return six or seven kicks a game. I don't understand that. Obviously the Dolphins decided that getting Ted Ginn and his speed at #9 and getting John Beck in the second round was better than getting Brady Quinn and any wide receiver, say Dwayne Jarrett, that they could have gotten at the top of the second round. Those are the pairings that we're all going to be comparing from here to eternity as far as their careers. That's where I stand on this draft. It was OK overall. There wasn't a lot of sizzle, but this team needed a lot of players who could play right away, and it seems like they got some guys like that in Samson Satele, Drew Mormino, and the fullback (Reagan Mauia) will probably contribute right away. Abe Wright, the defensive end, is already backing up Jason Taylor. Obviously, they're happy so far with most of their draft class.

SB: Let's talk about another member of that wide receiver corps. At this point, although he's probably their most dependable target, Marty Booker may be precarious at that #2 spot. How much of a run can Derek Hagan, the second year player out of Arizona State, make at Booker this year, and do you see an open competition for that spot?

GB: I do. I've already seen flashes with Derek, and I don't know if it's any change with Terry Robiskie now being the wide receiver coach. Obviously Terry is renowned for his ability with wide receivers. I don't know if it's that, or Cam Cameron has taken a special interest in Derek Hagan, but so far I've seen a change in Derek Hagan and that's good. There's no question that this guy has talent. He's not the fastest guy in the world, but when he was at Arizona State, he was, pretty much right up until that Senior Bowl, Derek Hagan was known as one of the top wide receivers in the league, then all of the sudden he went to the Senior Bowl and got the drops, and he never quite recovered from that. Last year he struggled with that a lot. He could make the difficult catches, but he would drop the easy ones. I see a real change. He's looked very good in minicamps so far. I think he's going to go against Booker for that #2 position. As far as Marty, he's a good player. He's their most dependable receiver. The problem is that a guy at his age and his speed really doesn't fit into this offense, and for that matter, Hagan really doesn't. This offense is predicated on guys who can get down the field and can make plays who are fast. I would say both of those guys are going to be phased out at some point in time. Booker first, and Hagan, since he was a draft pick, a year or two, but I look for Cam to start bringing in his kind of wide receivers as we go on.

CL: My final question for you, we're sticking with the wide receiver corps. It's David Sutton. A lot of Dolphins fans are going to say right now, "Who?" David Sutton has been impressing. What do you think of this kid? He's got great size.

GB: Yeah, I didn't know too much about him, but being at minicamp this weekend, you couldn't help but be impressed by this kid. He just jumps off the page. We're talking about a guy in Sutton, 6'6, 222 pounds, he's from UTEP. He's from Long Beach, California; actually he's a volleyball player. Even Cam Cameron compared him to Antonio Gates, the San Diego tight end who was a college basketball player and didn't play much football. Sutton is in that kind of mode, and like I said, I've got to tell you, very impressed with him. Is he the most polished guy? No, but this is a guy who can go up, make plays in the air, and he reminded me a lot of Oronde Gadsden, who was very successful here for a four or five year stretch. I think he has a little more speed and athleticism than Oronde, but that same type of player. To get that in an undrafted free agent, the Dolphins just have to be tickled pink right now.

SB: Greg, my last question for you is a general question. It has to do with the state of the franchise and what's to come this year. When I look at the Dolphins offense and think where the franchise is right now, I get a feeling of dread. With the quarterback situation, the offensive line, Nick Saban leaving the franchise in the lurch. You mentioned Cam Cameron going to spend the next year or two bringing in his kind of players that fit in his scheme. It feels like maybe a four, five, six win season is coming, what kind of feeling are you getting from the team?

GB: There really isn't much feeling around the team. I can tell you at this point, those guys usually wait to see what happens until it's time to strap on the pads. Then guys like Jason Taylor and Zach Thomas, they can get a better feel for the offensive line is going, how some of the younger guys on defense like Matt Roth, like Fred Evans and Rodrique Wright are playing, but the feeling that I get, and this might be contrary to some of my brethren down here who cover the team. When you look at this team, when you look at the defense they've put together, the way that this defense played last year, it's definitely a departure from the 4-3 press defense, wear down at the end of the season, "kill Zach" defense that was here under Dave Wannstedt and Jimmy Johnson. A defense very much in the Patriots mold, it was good last year. They added Joey Porter. The Dolphins are betting against hamstring problems in the past that he's going to be the Joey Porter of old. This is a defense that should keep the Dolphins in a lot of games. It did that last year without question. Offensively, they have some nice parts. Trent Green was more of a victim of Herman Edwards' conservative approach last year than a falloff in play because of his concussion. Ronnie Brown, I still think is a good back, not a great back, but a good back. David Martin has shown flashes at tight end at times. Chambers, Booker, Hagan, those are nice pieces. You look at those things, and you're like, this team isn't that bad. It's the kind of team that can push for - maybe surprise some people like the Jets team last year. Without question, the biggest question mark on this team is this offensive line, and I don't know what to make of it. That's what's going to determine whether they're a four win team or maybe an eight or nine win team. When you have Vernon Carey moving over to left tackle where he was a disaster as a rookie, you have five players at new positions this year, including possibly two rookies, Samson Satele at center, and Drew Mormino at right guard. You have Chris Liwienski, a veteran retread who hasn't impressed anybody so far. You look at that, you look at that offensive line, and that's what this season is going to come down to. I know that Cam Cameron and Hudson Houck have done this before in 2004 with the Chargers, but this is a different group. I don't know how much talent there is overall right now. If they can get the offensive line together, if they can do that by week 4, I think they have a chance to be dangerous. That's going to be a huge understanding, but they have the parts. If they can do that, then I think they can scare some teams this year.

CL: Dolphins on the right track to be a force in the NFL, and if you want to know everything about the Miami Dolphins, you must read everything that Greg Bedard writes in the Palm Beach Post. Greg, thanks for joining the show, man.

GB: Hey no problem guys, I had a blast, thanks for having me.