Local Hour: They Have A Plan!

Summary

The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz

Local Hour: "They Have A Plan!"

March 10, 2026 | Summary

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Episode Overview

Broadcasting from the Elser Hotel in Downtown Miami, this “Local Hour” finds Dan Le Batard, Stugotz, and their ensemble diving into the latest sports news with a primary focus on the Miami Dolphins' acquisition of quarterback Malik Willis and the franchise's ongoing struggle to break out of mediocrity. The panelists analyze the hope surrounding Willis, the realities of NFL contracts and dead cap money, comparisons to other local and national teams, and touch on NBA happenings involving the Miami Heat and league actions – all delivered with the trademark blend of sharp opinion, humor, and meta self-reflection.

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Key Discussion Points

1. Malik Willis to the Dolphins: Can Hope and "Having a Plan" Be Enough?

(Starts ~03:47)

• Initial Reactions:

  • Dan shares exasperation with extreme takes about Malik Willis—some are wildly positive, some deeply skeptical.
  • “I really don’t know how you can have a very strong opinion on Malik Willis, but I am seeing a great deal of very strong opinion on both sides…” (Dan, 03:47)

• Conflicting Analyst Opinions:

  • Pro-Willis: Chase Daniel says Willis is “worth it all for the Dolphins.” Mina Kimes highlights his “canon” arm and “incredible dual-threat” qualities.
  • Dominique Foxworth: “This isn’t the best option out there, but of the available options, it seems like he’s going to have a legitimate chance to prove himself… This team is obviously in a rebuild and hampered by big dead money…” (Described by Roy, quoted at 05:05)

• Front Office Strategy and Handcuffs:

  • Dolphins pay nearly $90M at QB next season between Tua’s dead money and Malik’s contract—more than what the Chiefs pay Mahomes.
  • Dan: “You’re not. You’re paying at quarterback more than the Chiefs are paying Mahomes by a good amount because you’ve got two quarterbacks that you’re paying a lot next year.” (07:30)

• Hope vs. Reality:

  • Zaslow: “I think they went from super boring and definitely going to be terrible next year to very interesting… Dolphin fan now every single week has something to watch, hoping that this guy is going to be their franchise quarterback…” (06:12)
  • Jeremy remains skeptical, noting poor tape in Tennessee and a tiny sample size of success in Green Bay. “He was awesome at Liberty… got opportunities with a bad Tennessee team… They did not trust him to throw the ball…” (08:56)

• Sample Size Warnings:

  • Dolphins beat writers and national analytics produce dazzling stats if extrapolated from limited Green Bay action—but Dan urges caution: “I just don’t know how you can have very strong opinions for a first time starter in year five who’s taken all of 302 snaps in five years.” (08:44)

• Value of “Developing a Player”:

  • Stugotz wonders if Miami is tricking itself into thinking it can “find a gem” as Heat do with reclamation basketball projects.
  • “Are the Dolphins falling into a trap… where they’re like, ‘We’re going to develop this guy’... but when you get to your team… he’s not going to be that good?” (10:03)

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2. Waddle, Supporting Cast, and the Limits of Possibility

(Approx. 13:19)

• Downfield Threat Questioned:

  • Dan doubts whether offense, without Tyreek Hill, can support Malik Willis’s skillset: “I just don’t think the Dolphins could get downfield without Tyreek Hill. Do you? Has Waddle proven to you that he’s a deep threat without Tyreek Hill?” (13:19)
  • Jeremy: “He is, yeah. And he has… That’s his game. The thing with Waddle is, can his frame hold up?” (13:19)
  • Zaslow: “Wide receiver core is bad right now.” (13:30)

• Durability and Injury Concerns:

  • Jeremy: “I haven’t watched a Dolphin game where I haven’t seen Jalen Waddle limping to the sidelines…” (13:32)

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3. Tua Tagovailoa: The “Bust” Debate and Legacy

(Starting at 21:00)*

• Recognition vs. Criticism:

  • Miami’s weak “thank you” graphic for Tua is mocked (“four-time team captain. Damn. One-time Pro Bowler. How about we just put Pro Bowler?” - Zas, 21:41).
  • Dan points out Tua’s top league stats: “He led the NFL in yards per attempt and QB rating in 2022… passing in 2023… completion percentage in 2024.” (21:29)

• Health as Defining Factor:

  • Panel debates if “bust” label is fair when injuries, especially brain injuries, change or end a career.
  • Dan: “But in there his brain gets totally scrambled… So what do you do with that?” (22:28)
  • “You rarely see a quarterback like… Carson Wentz or RG3—they had physical injuries we can point to… This guy was still out there and was mentally broken…” (24:48)

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4. Dolphins’ Long-Term Outlook: Are They Stuck in the Middle?

(Approx. 31:00 - 35:26)

• Mike, Jeremy, and Dan discuss whether the franchise is doomed to eternal mediocrity or the “middle”—never bad enough to get a top draft pick, never good enough to contend.
  • Mike: “That’s what the Dolphins have been for about 30 years. The thing you could look at with Willis is like high upside…” (31:04)
  • Dan: “I don’t think the Dolphins have been in the middle. The Heat have been in the middle. The Dolphins have not…” (33:49)
  • Mike: “Over the last decade, they average eight wins a season. That’s quite literally the middle.” (35:05)

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5. “Trust the Process”: Front Office Grace vs. Fan Frustration

(36:40)

• Dan questions why Dolphins brass gets “grace” for Willis while the Heat brass is scrutinized for constant “wait until the playoffs” messaging.

  • “Why are we not extending that same grace to the Miami Heat?” (35:26)
  • Zas and Jeremy: The “we’ll be fine” refrain is getting old; regular seasons show reality no matter what Heat say. (36:53/37:09)

• Bill Simmons’ annual “being afraid of the Heat” gets mentioned comedically as a fandom milestone. (38:14)

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6. NBA and League Conduct: The Terry Rozier / Hornets Controversy

(38:56 - 41:29)

• Zaslow rails against NBA Commissioner Adam Silver’s non-action on the Heat’s lost draft pick due to Rozier’s legal troubles.
  • “Adam Silver is what, Tony? …he’s a nothing.” (39:09)
  • “If you didn’t do anything wrong, why would you give the Heat anything?” (39:16)
  • Debate over whether the second-round pick returned is an admission of wrongdoing or a routine settlement.

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7. Lighter Moments, Quotes, and Show Dynamics

• The panel laughs over Stugotz’s and Jeremy’s recall of half-baked or premature sports predictions.
• Dan lightly roasts Stugotz and Jeremy for inconsistent “takes” on various teams (“You said a second ago that they were a good team. …I’m listening to what you say. You’re not listening to what it is that you say.” - Dan, 02:31)
• Banter over who really pays attention vs. just waiting for their turn to talk—a meta analysis of sports radio itself. (28:16+)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Dan on Overreacting to Small Sample Sizes:

  • “People have run the analytics and say if you take the sample from him in Green Bay and put it out over the entirety of a season, it’s the best quarterback in the league… But I just don’t know how you can have very strong opinions for a first time starter in year five who’s taken all of 302 snaps in five years.” (07:56-08:44)

• Zaslow on Tua’s Farewell Graphic:

  • “Have you ever seen a more pathetic graphic? I mean, four-time team captain. Damn. One-time Pro Bowler. How about we just put Pro Bowler? One time Pro Bowler. And why are we thanking him? Thanking him for what?” (21:41)

• Dan on Tua’s Tragic Decline:

  • “…His brain gets totally scrambled. So what do you do with that? … We don’t have the expertise… but what we saw indicates, oh, that quarterback’s not in any way physically right…” (22:28)

• Stugotz on the Dangers of “Developing a Project”:

  • “Are the Dolphins falling into a trap… Like, are we worried that Green Bay’s development system… Like, is that happening with Malik Willis? We’re gonna get here, he has none of the skill players around him, like, oh, who is this guy?” (10:03)

• Mike on Dolphins’ Perpetual Mediocrity:

  • “Over the last decade, they average eight wins a season. That’s quite literally the middle.” (35:05)

• Jeremy on Fan Trust:

  • “But you can hold out hope and say like this year it’s going to be different. But you’re chasing like this is fact-based. They are a play-in team… And they’ve been saying the same thing time and time again.” (37:56)

• Zaslow on NBA Punishment:

  • “Adam Silver is what, Tony? …he’s a nothing.” (39:09)
  • “If you didn’t do anything wrong, why would you give the Heat anything?” (39:16)

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Timestamps of Key Segments

• 01:00 — The crew reacts to Tony standing next to MLB player Oneil Cruz and launches into “where have these guys been?” sports banter.
• 03:47 — Malik Willis and Miami Dolphins debate begins.
• 05:05 — Dominique Foxworth’s contrarian take; the panel breaks down Miami’s cap and options.
• 07:30 — Dan details Miami’s paralyzing QB dead money.
• 08:56 — Jeremy and Zaslong dissect Malik Willis’s college/NFL development.
• 13:19 — Can Waddle be a true deep threat? Do the Dolphins have enough around Willis?
• 21:00 — Tua’s legacy and the "bust" debate.
• 31:00-35:26 — Have the Dolphins just been stuck in the middle for three decades?
• 36:40 — Trusting front office process (Miami Dolphins and Heat compared).
• 38:56 — Hornets, Rozier, and NBA settlement controversy.

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Tone and Takeaways

• The show strikes a balance between exasperated fandom, analytical skepticism, and knowing self-mockery.
• The crew pushes back on media hot takes, reminding listeners that hope in sports is often based on tiny samples and wishful optimism.
• Ultimately, the Dolphins are applauded for finally “having a plan,” even if no one is convinced it will end the franchise’s generational malaise.

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Final Word

The Dolphins finally have a roadmap, but as Dan repeatedly warns, that alone isn’t enough to guarantee success—or even clarity, given the profound uncertainties around quarterback development, salary cap realities, and Miami’s supporting cast. The panel’s banter underscores a deeper sports truth: Between hope and disappointment lies a whole lot of “the middle.”

Transcript

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[Dan LeBatard]

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[Dan LeBatard]

Tony got to stand next to a Major League baseball player yesterday and was startled by how large o' Neal Cruz is.

[Stugotz]

Where you guys been hiding this guy? I mean, Dan standing next to him, I'm looking at him, I'm like, this dude could play power forward in the league. That's how big he is. He's massive. They have him at 248. He's not 248, by the way. He's like 260, 265 easy. But everybody in the Dominican team looking, I'm like, damn, Sandy's huge. Holy. Albert Pujols is huge in a different way.

[Roy]

Well, the reason he's been hiding is

[Dan LeBatard]

because he's in Pittsburgh.

[Stugotz]

That's he's a Pirate sneaky good team this year.

[Dan LeBatard]

Put it on the Pole at LeBatard show. That's not true in any way. Jeremy. The Pittsburgh could make a wild card run.

[Mike]

Pittsburgh really good pitching.

[Dan LeBatard]

Pirates are never any good.

[Mike]

Okay, all right, let's, let's come back to this in game 162 and see if they're sniffing around that wild card race.

[Jeremy]

Put that next to the Washington Wizards playoff run of next year. File that one away.

[Dan LeBatard]

Yeah. These predictions that you guys make that no one's going to remember because I

[Stugotz]

didn't say they were going to make the playoffs.

[Dan LeBatard]

I said they were a good team.

[Stugotz]

They were on the right direction.

[Jeremy]

And go through that file. And please throw away any of the Orlando Magic takes that I had from a few months ago.

[Mike]

Dave Danishek will hold me to it, I'll tell you that. He's been talking to me about the Pittsburgh Pirates since January.

[Jeremy]

I wasn't alone with those Magic takes, but I'll take the fall.

[Dan LeBatard]

You weren't alone, but, Tony, you just corrected yourself on what you alleged to have said about the Wizards by saying the Wizards are a good team. They're not a good team.

[Stugotz]

I said they were heading in a good team direction.

[Jeremy]

Just said, he's early. He's not wrong. He's early.

[Stugotz]

Thank you.

[Dan LeBatard]

You said a second ago that they were a good team. It just. It just came out of your mouth. It wasn't not there. It wasn't a good direction. It was. I'm listening to what you say. You're not listening to what it is that you say. You said.

[Stugotz]

That might be fair.

[Dan LeBatard]

I don't think anybody else was listening to you either, from what I can tell. But I don't want to talk about the Wizards. I don't think. Jeremy. I want to talk about the Pirates either. Is o' Neill Cruz named after Paul o' Neill because his father was a major leaguer? Roy is nodding his head vigorously. Yes. I didn't realize that you were watching Pirates baseball this way, but Roy. Roy seems to know that this is absolutely. So I was asking the question. I'm not sure.

[Roy]

So I believe I heard that on mlb, the show, last year's edition of the video game.

[Jeremy]

Said it as, like a tidbit. Thank you.

[Dan LeBatard]

You just retained it. It just. It just stayed there in your head somewhere.

[Roy]

Yeah, that was interesting.

[Dan LeBatard]

And so Tony comes in and is like, where have they been hiding this guy? Meanwhile, you know his entire family history.

[Don LeBatard]

This is the Dan Levatar show with the Stugats podcast.

[Dan LeBatard]

Over the years, as the audience has heard my increasing exasperation with how strong and instant takes have gotten. Okay. And I really don't know how you can have a very strong opinion on Malik Willis, but I am seeing a great deal of very strong opinion on both sides on the Dolphins getting Malik Willis. It's hope that's part of it. It's also encouraging that they actually have a plan. Yesterday, 24 hours ago on this show, when I was saying I thought that Malik Willis was where it is, that this was headed after Tua, you had mentioned that people were talking about Arizona as his favorite destination. They have the better skill players. Tua ends up in Atlanta. Now they have the better skill players. But the opinions on Malik Willis range from Chase Daniels saying quote malik Willis is worth it all for the Dolphins.

[Zas]

He was on his tip.

[Dan LeBatard]

The film is so much better than you think. Timing, timing, touch and anticipation. Mina Kimes says he's got a canon incredible dual threat quarterback. Incredible is very strong. But here's Dominique Foxworth on the other side of this.

[Roy]

This isn't the best option out there, but of the available options, it seems like he's going to have a legitimate like chance to prove himself. Like the problem is this team feels to be obviously in a rebuild and they're hampered by like the, the big dead money on the tour contract and his he's going to be limited. Like this team is going to be limited. The expectations are going to be a little low for this team. And the he enjoyed in Green Bay when he had those few successful games over the past couple years, like that's not going to be there. We're not sure that Bobby Slowik is a good offensive coordinator. We haven't seen waddle carry this offense alone. Hn we know is an explosive big play running back. The offensive line has issues, the defense has issues. And like we started with the offensive coordinator. You have a first time head coach. The offensive coordinator is unproven. I the more I examine this situation, it might be the best that you're going to get if you only have a small sample size like Malik Willis.

[Dan LeBatard]

Zaz, what is your opinion here?

[Zas]

I think they went from super boring and definitely going to be terrible next year to very interesting like the Dolphin fan now every single week has something to watch. Hoping, hoping that this guy is going to be their franchise quarterback and that they found a gem at a very good price. I mean the Dolphin fan has never like Tannehill was able to run a little bit, but not like this. Like the Dolphin fan has never witnessed a dual threat quarterback. They've never had the guy who can run and make the fun, explosive plays.

[Stugotz]

He had Snoop Huntley for a little bit.

[Zas]

Okay, what are you doing there?

[Jeremy]

But the other Fiedler was sneaky.

[Mike]

Pat White would like a word.

[Zas]

But the other, the other side of it for me is man, like I, I thought this front office was going to be a little bit patient with this rebuild. This is not patient at all. This very impatient.

[Dan LeBatard]

No, no, I don't, I don't think this is impatient because they're in handcuffs, right? You can say it's a good contract because it's essentially two years, $45 million you can get out from under it if it's a mistake. But you're paying for the quarterback position next year about $90 million because you've got so much dead cap money in Tua and because of that dead cap money you have to align it so that if this is a mistake two years from now you're okay.

[Zas]

Good point.

[Dan LeBatard]

You have cheap because you're paying a lot. You're not. You're paying at quarterback more than the Chiefs are paying Mahomes by a good amount because you've got two quarterbacks that you're paying a lot next year. And in a salary cap sport, while he represents only like 7, Malik Willis represents only like 7% of your salary cap, which is where you'd love to have a great quarterback at value. The amount you're paying to a makes it so that this front office is in handcuffs and this is the best of the available options. I would have preferred Kyler Murray, but a guy coming into a system with people that he knows is something that does create that hope you're talking about. A couple of things that I want to point out though. He couldn't beat out Will Levis in his first two years at Tennessee. He only had 92 drop backs in Tennessee and was terrible in Tennessee. Couldn't beat out Levis. Now people are excited about Green Bay, but that's a conservative offense, okay, That's a run heavy offense and they had a good offensive line in Green Bay. So he was very good down the field in terms of explosive plays. People have run the analytics and say if you take the sample from him in Green Bay and put it out over the entirety of a season, it's the best quarterback in the league because of how he throws the ball downfield, throws the ball downfield accurately. But I just don't know how you can have very strong opinions for a first time starter in year five who's taken all of 302 snaps in five years.

[Jeremy]

Loads of bad tape at Tennessee and I was a huge Malik Willis guy when he was at Liberty. Touchdown connection with C.J. daniels. Like he was awesome at Liberty and I thought he was going to be one of the best pro prospects and he went in to the league, got opportunities with a bad Tennessee team admittedly and he straight up could not throw the ball. They did not trust him to throw the ball. Forget downfield, they didn't trust him to throw the ball four yards and he was available for Green Bay on the cheap for a reason and it took Him a while.

[Zas]

I think they traded a seventh for him. Right.

[Jeremy]

It took him a minute in Green Bay and he started because Jordan Love has been in and out a little bit. But they last year was really encouraging and a testament to that being a development position. Him learning the NFL a little bit and those numbers downfield are really impressive in terms of hope and the Dolphin fan perspective. You're really excited that they had a plan. They executed it quickly. You thought that this year would be a wasted year. No. You actually got one of the top two quarterbacks available. You have hope in the front office because they executed a plan and made Miami somehow desirable for a top two quarterback. And you have a big variable in Malik Willis that could go either way. Like the ceiling's really high with him.

[Stugotz]

Are the Dolphins falling into a trap that Miami Heat does to other teams where they're like, we're going to develop this guy who's going to be really good for us, but then when you get to your team over there and you pay him a ton of money, he's not going to be that good? Right. Like, are we worried that Green Bay's development system and obviously they don't do free agents, they don't do trades. Like they draft and they develop like that's their M.O. and it's like, is that happening with Malik Willis? We're going to get here. He has none of the skill plays around him. Like, oh, who is this guy?

[Zas]

I really like the point you made about Dan, about the timeline with essentially it's two year contract. It matches up with the two years that the Dolphins is really limiting the

[Dan LeBatard]

position that this management team is in as janitorial workers trying to clean up this particular thing.

[Zas]

But it lines up with the two years that they're at a major cap deficit because of tua. And then you can kind of either that then you have multiple options. Like right now the only option would have been, hey, hopefully next year we get a good draft pick. Now you have two options. Either you like Malik Willis or you'll decide to eventually go into the draft. I. There's not a lot of precedent for a quarterback who for four years has been a backup. Extremely small. It's not like he got six, eight games.

[Dan LeBatard]

Recent, recent, recent precedent. Because this used to be how quarterbacks looked all the time at the beginning. It'd be the most normal thing in the world for a quarterback to have to wait five years. That's a lot to learn the position. But the way that he looked in Tennessee is how my experience with young quarterb before the last seven years has always been and I also think something that's interesting here is and another bad position that this management team inherits. The single greatest advantage that you can have in that sport since Russell Wilson was winning the championship in Seattle is you get a good quarterback cheap so that you could build the rest of your team. This is the opposite of that. Not because of Malik Willis, but because of their quarterback situation. They've got a ton of dead money tied in not being able to know whether they still have a quarterback or not. That's usually something that will shackle the entirety of your franchise. You kind of need him to be great and there's nothing to suggest that he's got the help needed on offense to be great. I want to read you some of these numbers because I want to get your opinions on whether or not you guys pay attention to some of the advanced metrics. This is from both ESPN and Next Gen Stats. ESPN is saying his numbers Malik Willis, his numbers outrageous in Green Bay is what they're calling them. An 86.3 QBR, 9.2 yards per drop back, a plus 7% completion percentage over what is expected. Those stats would rank all of them first over the past two seasons among QBR qualifiers. If he did it over a larger sample and he generated 0.38 EPA per drop pack across 24 and 25 with the packers, that's the most in the NFL. He throws the ball downfield, but I don't think the Dolphins could get downfield without Tyree Kill. Do you? Do you think the Dolphins can get downfield without Tyree Kill? Has Waddle proven to you that he's a deep threat without Tyree Kill?

[Jeremy]

He is, yeah. And he has. He did play on this team some without Tyree Kill alongside him. That's his game. I mean the thing with Waddle is can his frame hold up?

[Zas]

Wide receiver core is bad right now.

[Jeremy]

I mean I haven't watched a Dolphin game where I haven't seen Jalen Waddle limping to the sidelines and being worked on. I don't know if his body's built for this.

[Dan LeBatard]

One more stat from Doug Claussen what Malik Willis did in his only start last season. First quarterback all time with an 85% completion percentage, 13 plus yards per attempt and 60 plus rushing yards in a game. First quarterback since Michael Vick in 2002 with 100 past attempts. Pass, touchdown, rushing, touchdown and zero incompletions in a first half. That's what people are getting excited about. They're getting excited about new Michael Vick. 11 start is what they're getting excited about. Was it against the Ravens? Was it against the was that start again? Was the one start against that terrible Ravens defense? That was good. Most are terrible most of the season good the many seasons before that and only good when Ky Hamilton is in in their defensive secondary. Because these these hopes are clinging to something that is a very small sample, right?

[Zas]

Not a lot. That's so that's what I'm talking about, right where there's not a lot of recent precedent for what we've seen or haven't seen from Malik Willis and him becoming the guy they hope he's going to be. But at the same time, I I like siding with the people who have the information that I definitely don't have have. I'm sitting on my couch watching games and talking here, you know, like a dope and guys like John Eric Sullivan, it's I I oh, what's he ever shown you before? He's never been a gentlemen, I get it. But like his livelihood depends on the information he has on this guy and being right. And I usually like to side with those people who have that kind of information.

[Stugotz]

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[Jeremy]

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[Don LeBatard]

Don LeBatard, all these high paid analysts. I don't want to mention names. Tnt, espn, you know. Oh yeah, they are dead. They cannot, they're not going to make it. You know, even if they win in, if they lose in Miami.

[Dan LeBatard]

I need to calm you down.

[Don LeBatard]

That's right. They lose in Miami, they don't get a chance in Boston or they are going to have their ass. You know what, in Boston, you know, Stugats. They were wrong. Are they going to lose their job? No. Are they going to get a cutting page?

[Dan LeBatard]

No.

[Don LeBatard]

What are they going to do?

[Zas]

Keep predicting.

[Don LeBatard]

What is the obvious? They are going to say, oh, the Nuggets are going to win. Oh, Denver, the altitude. And you know what? They're going to win at all. This is the Dan Levatar show with the Stugats.

[Dan LeBatard]

This is a win for the Dolphins because they have a plan at quarterback. I just don't know how much stronger of an opinion you can have than that. Because when you say guy can be good elsewhere, but not necessarily here, it takes a great deal to make the quarterback good. I don't love the packers receivers. Do you guys love the Packers?

[Jeremy]

I love the packers receivers. The problem is they can never say healthy all at once, but they are so deep that one guy goes out. You have a revolving door. No, I'm. I'm big on the packers wide receivers, dude.

[Dan LeBatard]

How about the rest of you? Because I, I love Jordan. Love. I do. I think he is great. But you love Watson. That's somebody that you love.

[Jeremy]

Yeah, yeah. When he, when he's healthy and Dobbs has been good. Jaden Reed is. I love Jaden Reed.

[Zas]

Are there players that sometimes you love even when they're not healthy? Like, man, that guy is hurting. I said he's still really good.

[Jeremy]

Yeah. Jaden Reed, he spent most of the year out because he made a diving attempt and broke his collarbone. But Jayden Reed, like whenever you need a play. Jaden Reed is there. No, their wide receivers are really good. They just can't stay healthy. But they're deep so they can survive it.

[Stugotz]

There's a lot of Bs, right? There's no A guy in the packers organization. Like that's the way they do it. They do wide receiver by committee.

[Jeremy]

I mean Watson could probably be that if he were just healthy enough consistently.

[Stugotz]

Sure, maybe. But like Dubs is. Dubs is their best.

[Jeremy]

And they also. Who's a young wide receiver that they spent draft capital on?

[Mike]

Matthew Golden.

[Jeremy]

Like he get that guy sucks. Yeah. But his separation metrics were incredible.

[Stugotz]

Well, you catch the ball metrics. How about touchdown metrics? How about yards metrics?

[Jeremy]

You didn't get any. How about that?

[Dan LeBatard]

In that one game against. Well, they had two games against Chicago where they collapsed at the end, but golden had his first touchdown of the season in that game and they ended up losing it anyway. Again, though, again, we used to have patience about this stuff. A number a first round draft pick at wide receiver didn't have to be great right off the bat. Randy Moss was, but he didn't even know how to run any routes. He was just running straight down the field. I believe he had. Did Randy Moss have 17 touchdowns his first season and it was all nine rounds. Like he didn't know how to run any. Any other patterns. I think I've got that number wrong. That number can't be that high. Is it that high? A rookie wide rece. What is the number?

[Mike]

He did have 17 touchdowns as a rookie.

[Jeremy]

Okay, I love a recall there, Dan.

[Dan LeBatard]

Yeah, well that's. I mean, because it doesn't happen.

[Stugotz]

It was nine routes.

[Jeremy]

Yeah, it was nine routes and it was Randy Moss.

[Dan LeBatard]

He didn't know how to run any other routes. And again, I still smelled the nachos on Jimmy Johnson's breath telling me that John Avery was the better draft pick when he passed on Randy Moss, I

[Jeremy]

think with Malik Willis in terms of. I know that this was a wide receiver conversation, but Malik Willis, he. He had a lot of promise and he was just straight up bad. And he was noticeably bad because the team straight up did not trust him to throw the ball. And even when he comes in in injury relief, while his numbers are very efficient, he's not a volume thrower. The offense straight up does not trust him to throw the football.

[Dan LeBatard]

But LaFleur runs a lot in general. Even with Jordan Love, it's a conservative. He runs a lot. And their offensive line is good. Zaz, what did you make here on social media? The Dolphins may have indeed forgotten the bir birthday of Tua, but they did thank him on his way out. Four time team captain, you have called him the greatest bust in franchise history. I think that's wrong of you to say.

[Zas]

Why? Because it's too soon?

[Dan LeBatard]

No, because he led the NFL in yards per attempt and QB rating in 2022. He led the league in passing in 2023. And he led the NFL in completion percentage in 2024.

[Stugotz]

Right.

[Zas]

They've never had to rebuild though because another player wasn't any good on their team. They're because this one wasn't good. Guys lost their jobs because this one isn't good. They had the largest cap hit in the history of the NFL because this guy wasn't good. And let me tell you something that Dan, take a look at this thank you note that they put out there, okay? This graphic, have you ever seen a more pathetic graphic? I mean, four time team captain. Damn. One time Pro Bowler. How about we just put Pro Bowler? One time Pro Bowler. And why are we thanking him? Thanking him for what? They drafted him number five overall. They tried to build the franchise around him. They got zero playoff wins. What are we thanking him for? Why is everything a participation trophy?

[Dan LeBatard]

You're being a little strong in all of your opinions on tua and the part that I don't think is fair about it because I know he was important. I understand what it is that you're saying. Leads the NFL in yards per attempt and QB rating in 2020. Led the NFL in passing yards in 2023. And then his brain gets totally scrambled. And last year, 2024, he leads the NFL in completion percentage. But in there his brain gets totally scrambled. So what do you do with that? Mike says. Mike says, I love a guy when he's healthy. Don't love a guy when he's not healthy. Tool was playing and all indications are from watching what happened to him, short circuit it that wasn't a healthy quarterback trying to play last year, throwing bubble screens and everything behind the line of scrimmage. And so you're calling him a bust. And I'm like, how fair is that? When you're talking about brain scrambling?

[Zas]

I mean. Well, okay, is it only not fair because the injury is brain or would it been any injury?

[Dan LeBatard]

Well, but I don't think you say bust of like Mike said yesterday when we're talking about the all time dolphin bust. He said you teal green, but that doesn't count because he was injured, he never played. He was gone the whole time. He never showed you anything. And Mike saying, well, that doesn't count because he's injured. In this particular case, a guy is out there and obviously we don't have the expertise as doctors with the diagnosis to know enough about concussions, but what we saw indicates, oh, that quarterback's not in any way physically right from the way that he's playing, but it's not an injury that you can quantify or, or that you can see or that keeps him out like an ankle keeps him out temporarily. But when he comes back, you don't know what level of fuzzy he is. You don't know how honest he's being with doctors. You don't know how desperately he wants to get out on the field and is passing tests with, you know, hiding the fact that he is not, you know, sleeping well at night or has headaches or whatever. It's just, you don't know what's physically going on in his head. But you're watching the games and you know something's clearly not right because you rarely see a quarterback like Mike's mentioned RG3 and Carson went, they had physical injuries that we can point to. Like they physically broke. This guy was still out there and was mentally broken.

[Jeremy]

I think you, you can point to it just the same. And he's also had the hip injuries and other injuries on top of that. But Kyler Murray, I mean Tua's not even the biggest mystery in this free agent class. I think Kyler Murray is the biggest, you know, mystery because like Tua, we saw him come out the gates. Well, Tua sputtered a little bit, in fact was pulled by Ryan with Ryan Fitzpatrick, but he led the league in passing. Kyler Murray felt like a slam dunk. He was an electric football player. And what, what happened there. Call of Duty I think a lot

[Zas]

of the commentary from Tua this past year also bothers me. Like I think a lot of the things that he said, I think a lot of the behavior, throwing the teammates under the bus several times, the stuff even with Tyreek Hill at the beginning of the season in Show Me the Money, of course, which was. And that was before he started to be a bad quarterback but even then it was like terribly off putting I and. And the whispers of stuff you're hearing beside behind the scenes with him and Mike McDaniel who by the way, like to a tongue of Iloa but like, I don't know where that relationship went wrong, but you would have thought that Tua would like, be be thankful every day of his life for Mike McDaniel. No matter what you think of Mike McDaniel as a head coach, Tua should be calling up Mike McDaniel every single day and thanking him for how he helped him in his career.

[Dan LeBatard]

But I think what happened at the end, okay, is a whole bunch of people who didn't know how to be leaders got swallowed by the things that don't swallow great leaders. And when I say they don't know how to be leaders, they'd never been put in the position where they had to be before. And then at the end, as everything was, as I say, the ship be sinking, everybody was trying to blame everyone else for why it is was sinking. And so that's where it broke apart, I'm sure, with McDaniel and Tua. McDaniel said when he got here, you guys remember a couple of breathless interviews we did with McDaniel and Tua? McDaniel says I've never seen a more accurate quarterback when he inherits Tua before he's thrown a pass in a professional game for McDaniel. McDaniel says that. And then Tua seemed like a fine leader to us when Chris Cody was next to him, fiddling with his strings on his shorts as he was just gazing lovingly into the eyes of Tua because he was saying all the bold quarterbacking leadership things that you'd like. Fine. If it was still leading the league in passing, it wouldn't feel. Show me the money would feel far, far less offensive to you if it had been something that was still leading the league in passing.

[Zas]

Oh, but I. I didn't like it when he said it. I mean, and. And when he signed that contract, he was still what most of us certainly myself believed was still a good quarterback. Like, I thought it was off putting the moment that he said it, it was strange. And by the way, money changes dude sometimes. Like, didn't he make some changes in his personal life too? You know, like. Like, didn't he get rid of the trainer, the guy who was with him for years?

[Stugotz]

I don't know.

[Dan LeBatard]

It's possible.

[Zas]

Money changes you.

[Dan LeBatard]

Yes, we did say Fortley. No, nobody noticed. We're gonna be okay. I. I think that I deserve to.

[Zas]

Minor penalty.

[Dan LeBatard]

Two minutes, sport.

[Zas]

Came out of your mouth. Wow.

[Stugotz]

He did say Fartley. He was on a point, though, so I didn't want to say anything.

[Zas]

Didn' coming.

[Stugotz]

Yeah.

[Zas]

Wow.

[Stugotz]

Did you hear it? Did you hear Fartley?

[Zas]

No, I didn't. I was too involved with trying to make my point. Sometimes when I try and make my point, I'm really focused on the thing that I'm trying to. To get at. And I don't really pay attention to other people. Anyone else experience that sometimes?

[Stugotz]

Yeah.

[Mike]

You just wait and you just think like, oh, man, it's my turn to talk.

[Zas]

Right. Wait for my turn, you know, And. And that's good because. Because I feel a little bit attacked. You know, talk.

[Mike]

But in your head, there's nothing else happening.

[Zas]

So I'm wait. Yeah, I'm waiting for my turn to get in. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. That's really.

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[Don LeBatard]

Don Lebatard. And then Matt Stafford threw him 25 and 2. Oh, there's a brand new kid in town out of BYU Stugats. They call him Puka. His quarterback is not named Tua. Yeah, he is. Puka. Puka Nakua. This is the Dan Levatar with the Stugach.

[Jeremy]

How jacked up is this substation to see Mike Evans rolling around? Just fresh meat for the electrical substation in San Francisco.

[Zas]

You like that move?

[Stugotz]

They're moving it though.

[Jeremy]

They better. They better. I mean, Mike Evans has been struggling with injury, so where does he go? Let me go to San Francisco. Their physios seem to know what they're doing.

[Zas]

Can I be honest with you? Like, obviously, Mike Evans is a huge name. All right? And there are some other big names that moved around yesterday. Kenneth Walker III for sure. But like, am I the only one that's supposed to pretend that I know who all of these names are? And the guys who are getting paid yesterday, like, there's a lot of guys who are getting a lot of money. It's like, I don't really know what that is.

[Jeremy]

Yeah, there's a bidding war for a guard right now. Yeah, this one's really stretching the knowledge, but. But there are some big impactful names there. But we're going to put you to the test later on in the show. Oh, okay. Yeah, Maybe we'll run some of these moves by you.

[Zas]

Oh, oh, that sounds a little bit like maybe Big move or not a big move.

[Stugotz]

Exactly. Right.

[Jeremy]

Exactly.

[Zas]

Okay. That's what I'm talking about there. All right. I was surprised though, with the Malik Willis movie yesterday from the Dolphins because I felt that this is a team. Like, I don't love the idea of paying a quarterback when your team is going to be bad. Like, Dolphins are still gonna be bad. Okay. And I don't love the idea of paying a quarterback when your team is bad. I mean, I just said yesterday, I, I believe the only two ways that you could win with your quarterback is either being a Hall of Fame caliber quarterback or he has to be on a good value. And the Dolphins have a guy who's like kind of in the middle now and not a good team around him.

[Mike]

My concern is what I've been hearing, and not to make it about a certain other franchise, but what I've been hearing around here for weeks is like, you don't want to be in the middle. And that's what the Dolphins have been for about 30 years. And the thing you could look at with Willis is like high upside. Right. Even though he's a few years into the league, you can, you can convince yourself on a project. This isn't signing maybe Kyler Murray or another kind of middling quarterback where you're going to win games and there's no hope if you win a bunch of games with Malik Willis.

[Dan LeBatard]

Cool.

[Mike]

But I would have thought this is like the perfect time for one year to tank. Right? Isn't that what everyone is saying is what a good franchise would be?

[Jeremy]

But the quarterback class isn't assumed to be a really good one in a year from now. Well, yeah, next year, I guess it's a little bit better. Supposed to be really good, but I'm talking. Yeah, okay, I get you. I think that maybe this is a good year to try to take your shot with a high ceiling quarterback.

[Mike]

That's why I'm good with the high ceiling part of it, I guess.

[Jeremy]

I mean, this guy was. I mean, those are pretty impressive stats. I think some of that is funny. If you watch these games, he doesn't exactly blow you away. He's not winning these games and often, like, he's efficient, but he's also not being trusted, which scares you. But I think they did about as well. Especially when you, you have to be

[Dan LeBatard]

good with it because of what you're saying there, Mike. Yeah. This is the best of the options. It's either him or Kyler Murray. And Kyler Murray is older and they're in cap hell.

[Jeremy]

Immediate decisiveness from a front office that you want to believe in. And I think they, right off the bat gave you a reason to be optimistic about them.

[Stugotz]

To be honest, I think you probably could have gotten Kyler Murray at a cheaper number, right, because he's already washed goods and it's just like, well, they're

[Zas]

eating money and there's offset language. So Kyler Murray's going to sign for the minimum somewhere.

[Stugotz]

That's, that's what I'm saying. Like, you would have gotten him for less money and you could, could have had an escape hatch of like, all right, this isn't working. We can go figure something out next year. The problem is when you bring in a Malik Willis to kind of be a piece that, that surrounds your team and gets you to the next level, like, you need the pieces that are surrounding the quarterback. Like, the Dolphins don't have that. They don't have the offensive line, the defense is in shambles. Like, they don't have anything. So how do you, how do you look at this guy and, and scout him perfectly to be like, all right, he's the quarterback of the future when we don't know what we have around?

[Mike]

The problem would have been though, if they signed Kyler Murray and you win enough games to be out of the Arch Manning race, you'd be infuriated, at least theoretically with Malik Willis. If you do that, it's because you're getting flashes of a high ceiling quarterback. But I will say, like, if you go 6 and 10 because Malik Willis is just okay, and you've committed this money to this guy and you play yourself out of the ability to get that top tier quarterback in the draft next year, it feels like a strange decision to me.

[Zas]

They should play that 17th game, though.

[Dan LeBatard]

That was a good joke too. The middle that Jeremy speaks of there, I don't think the Dolphins have been in the middle. The Heat have been in the middle. The Dolphins have not been in the middle. It's not just not winning a playoff game. They haven't made the playoffs that often. Like, I think they've been a below average team for 30 years. Even as I understand what you're saying, that 7 and 10 last year feels like it's in the middle, but they haven't in those 30 years. It's not just that they haven't won a playoff game. They haven't gotten to the playoffs a whole bunch and then lost. Like, they, they rarely get to the playoffs. And I, I actually think that when you're saying they've Been in the middle. I think of the Steelers more like that. The middle where Mike Tomlin's always having a winning season, but they get to the playoffs and they can't get any better because they're just stuck there. And it's what Jimmie Johnson said. What is it? The enemy of great is good.

[Stugotz]

I think what Jeremy means is in the middle of the draft, right. The Dolphins seem to find their way being back had in the. In the early part of the season and then just being good enough in the middle to end part of the season to destroy any draft capital that they would have going into the future. So I think that's what he means, is the middles, like, they're always drafting 14 to 16 and getting the third

[Mike]

best guard over the last decade. They average eight wins a season. That's quite literally the middle. They're just a tick under.500. They draft in the middle of the first round every single time. And while they don't have enough success to make the postseason, that's difficult. That's more difficult in the NFL than it would be in the NBA. There are only the. The six now seven teams that make the postseason, and they've been averaging eight wins a year.

[Dan LeBatard]

Yeah. For the last 10 years. And that is what is the result of 15 years before that. Because it's 15 years before the 10 years that you're talking about 15 of them. So it's 25 years of not winning a playoff game. But Zaslow said something about this brain trust. He said that they have info I don't have on Malik. What? Willis, why are we not extending that same grace to the Miami Heat, as all of them seem to say, Our team isn't what the record indicates now that Tyler Herro is back. And whenever Norman Powell comes back, he's probably going to be coming off the bench, I guess, because the way the ball is moving now, this is your core, and Norman Powell is here to help that core. I think they need a player that's better than Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo. But what this team has been with Norman Powell as its best player isn't what it's been the last few games with Tyler Herro playing that way, getting, you know, Eastern Conference player of the week, and Bam Adebayo playing the way they've played over the last 10 games.

[Jeremy]

I'm sorry, Zaz. I think they've been extended plenty of grace because this is the same stuff that they've said for the last two seasons, three seasons. Maybe this year they can. They can be right. But it ultimately will end with a team that doesn't get out of the first round.

[Zas]

That's what it is for me too. It's. It's three straight years they're saying the same thing. Like, like I'm, I'm trying to extend some grace to the new Dolphins brass because they have more info than me. But if Malik Willis for a third consecutive year is not any good, I'm not going to extend them that grace anymore.

[Mike]

The previous two years they had Jimmy Butler. Like the year, the first year you're talking about they were coming off.

[Zas]

But they were wrong still.

[Mike]

They were coming off of a finals appearance and then Jimmy got hurt in the play in game. Then the following season he sabotaged the season and now they have a completely new system with a completely new roster. Roster. And that team is trending in the right direction. A team that's sitting what, two games, one game out of fifth place.

[Zas]

And you know what, Like I get what you're saying and obviously I trust the Heat implicitly but man, like let's, let's also include the 23 season where they went to the finals. We're talking then four straight regular seasons that they're a play in caliber team and like what history in the league is there of that? A team that every year year is a seven or an eight seed. But man, they're really better than their records.

[Jeremy]

You can hold out hope and say like this year it's going to be different. But you're chasing like this is fact based. They are a play in team. They have yeah. For an Olympiad. That's who they are. And they've been saying the same thing time and time again. Maybe they can do the thing that they did a couple of years ago. Get hot and shock the world.

[Dan LeBatard]

Bill Simmons says he's horrified.

[Jeremy]

He's got ptsd.

[Zas]

My God.

[Jeremy]

That's like. That's energy. That's Godzilla type energy for Jeremy. Is Bill Simmons being nervous about the Miami Heat?

[Stugotz]

Nervous about who?

[Mike]

It's my favorite day of the year. My favorite day of the year is the day in the regular season where Bill Simmons is officially afraid of the Miami Heaters. It happens every year.

[Dan LeBatard]

What do you think of. And we're going to get to some sound here in about five minutes that I've never heard come out of a baseball player's mouth about a teammate. We're going to do this in five minutes. But what did you think of what the NBA decided with Terry Rozier yesterday?

[Zas]

Well, I don't think the NBA decided anything. That's my main problem. The NBA, predictably, Adam Silver, predictably did nothing. You know why? Because Adam Silver is what? Tony?

[Stugotz]

Nothing.

[Zas]

He's a nothing. All right, the Charlotte Hornets decided. We're going to give you a second round pick.

[Dan LeBatard]

Pick.

[Zas]

And let's consider this case closed. Like, hold on a second. Why are the Hornets giving the Heat anything? The only reason they would give the Heat something is because they must have done something wrong. If you didn't do anything wrong, why would you give the Heat anything?

[Jeremy]

Oh, hey, hold on. Sometimes you can settle and be completely innocent.

[Zas]

Okay? This is not a court of law and no one's being sued. The Hornets are just giving the Heat a second round pick. So if something wrong happened, why isn't the NBA stepping in and giving the Heat their pick back?

[Jeremy]

You don't think that they were a guiding hand throughout this? I assume three parties, the Heat, the NBA and the Hornets were all collaborating on a solution.

[Mike]

That is how Barry Jackson put it in his tweets.

[Zas]

Why does there need to be a solution if there wasn't something wrong that happened? Did something wrong happen? Because if something wrong happened, happened, they each have their pick back. Guilty.

[Jeremy]

It's murky. There is a victim here.

[Zas]

It's really not.

[Jeremy]

There is a victim, but was there intent? I think all that stuff matters.

[Stugotz]

The intent is don't figure out that he was throwing games. Yeah, let's try to trade him before everything comes out.

[Zas]

The intent is, if you're aware that the FBI is looking into a player, you let the Heat know that's the intent. Did they do that? No, it's a cover up.

[Stugotz]

It's literally a cover up. They're covering up what happened.

[Zas]

No, it's a. Nothing is what it is. You have a commissioner here who is on nothing. He's on nothing.

[Dan LeBatard]

Is it over?

[Jeremy]

Like, is there going settlements work?

[Zas]

It's over.

[Dan LeBatard]

So Zez says that it's not the NBA doing that, but you think the NBA was just totally hands off with this. Like you think Charlotte just decided, you know what, I feel bad about this. Many, many months later, I'm going to just send this second round pick. You know, I'm. Look, our general manager, brother Teresa, he's just, he's just, it's. He's feeling guilt and he wants to just send you a second round pick because it was unfair what happened to you. You think the NBA didn't have anything to do with that?

[Zas]

Was it unfair? Well, if it was unfair, he should get the first round pick back.

[Dan LeBatard]

Why?

[Zas]

Is it unfair? Guilty. It's. It's not. We're going to give you a first round pick. Unless he's being investigated by the FBI. And then you give us back a second.

[Dan LeBatard]

No. No one agrees that you look better today.