Patriots Unfiltered the world's original podcast. Patriots Unfiltered brings you inside Jillette Stadium for rousing conversations on everything New England, Patriots, and NFL. Join host Fred Kersh alongside Patriots dot COM's Paul Parillo, Mike Desso, Evan Lazar, Tamara Brown, and Alex Francisco as they bring you in depth coverage of the team.
He's a red shirt rookie at that point, so it's really that's his rookie season essentially too. So now we're really not talking about them, really knowing.
Search for Patriots Unfiltered anywhere you get your podcasts. This is the Patriots Catch twenty two podcasts with Evan Lazar and Alex Barth.
And Lazarre. Hello, everybody nailed it. He joined as always by our Bark.
Here is Evan Lazar and Alex bars Let's flip over to the demons.
Do you have ups and downs? You told me you did do that?
Why you usually do them on Tuesday?
And I just have I mean I can do one thought. Yeah, it's unprepared usual marines like God, one time? Could you prepare one time? Are you prepared today? No, you're not prepared. What do you mean. Yeah, yeah, it's Thursday, so that your your schedule isn't thrown off, so you're prepared today. Yes, there you go, all right, Evan Lazar, Alex bar Patriots Catch twenty two with you for the next couple of hours here on a bye week Thursday. But this is a big show for us. This is a big, big show.
I have actually done some homework. I've actually watched a year prepared. I am so prepared to do this show. But before we get into the draft talk, I just want to put this one thing out there. With the draft talk, don't I'm gonna tell you the players that I watched, and don't ask me if I watched this guy or that I didn't. I didn't. I watched like seven guys. And that's the list we're going off of for right now.
Good thing, the drafts only seven players.
Okay, but don't I know you and you'll sit there and you'll say, yeah, but you gotta you gotta watchers too, and you gotta watch watch. Yeah, I wasted my time, Thank you for that away. Never wait, I could have done a little bit more homework on the top of the draft, but I didn't I'm watch honestly, the players are going to talk about.
I think you're probably aware enough of burden that you didn't need to watch them.
There's maybe one guy.
I'll mention that you didn't watch.
I just know I think there's only one guy, this guy. So don't don't ask me if I think there's only one guy.
I'm telling you I will revisit. I think there's only gonna be one guy.
Okay, all right, So we'll get to that in a little bit. I promise we'll get to the draft talk. I feel like people come to this show and they want to talk draft, and I'm all.
The YouTube comments are right now are a draft draft draw.
I've never I have not been prepared yet. I took the bye week to prepare for you all, and now I feel like I have my takes like for the next six months, like I'm good. I'm good until we start getting some more information, whether it's college football playoff combine, Senior Bowl, whatever.
I do have a college football playoff take as it relates to the draft. I want to get in.
So yesterday a little behind the curtain too, before we get into the current day Patriots, which I do want to talk about here for a little bit. So I got off a playbook with our friend John Rook, and I walked up to No Socks Matt Smith in the office, and what did we start talking about. We started talking about a trip to Mobile, Alabama for the Senior Bowl.
So we're we're rolling, We're excited that it's not that well, That's why I went up to him because I wanted to, you know, start to put out some preliminary feelers of what we would like to do, what I would like to do, and all that kind of stuff. When it comes to the Senior Bowl and it's a little more freed around the corner.
We have a little more freedom this year when it comes to the draft. Look, obviously, last year with the quarterbacks is very important and a ton of people tune in and I appreciate that and I appreciate that, but last year it almost felt limiting, and that because the quarterback is such a big position, we didn't maybe go as deep as we do other years or as widespread as we do other years. And this year it's almost the opposite, where it feels like every position is on
the table. We have years it was like, okay, we're mainly doing wide receivers and tackles this year, wide receiver, tackle, corner. Feels like everything's on the table this year. So we go from what was a very narrow scope, and I think we did a good job with quarterbacks. I was actually going back and reading through some of my quarterback stuff the last couple of days, just kind of curious to revisit. I thought we did a good job with the quarterbacks. But I'm looking forward to this year where.
We get to go. I mean, it's everybody.
You bring up, any name, and it's pretty much that guy is pretty much in play for the Patriots. Any name, Evan, any name is in play for the Patriots.
Look how excited he is. He's giddy. He's giddy over there. He can't wait. Hey Patriots fans, if you want to see Toyota's best offers, including those not seen on TV, go to buy at toyota dot com. It's Toyota's official deal official website for deals from the official vehicle of the New England Patriots. Toyota. Let's go places, And I am definitely gonna have one of these tonight because it's
officially the bye week for me. Once this show is over, So I'm gonna be excited to crack open and easy to drink, easy to enjoy bud like the official beer sponsor of the New England Patriots. So I I didn't want to start with draft talk. I wanted to end with draft talk. So we're gonna put that on the back burner for a second because I do want to talk some current day Patriots before we get in to the
offseason talk. And the biggest takeaway that I had from this game on Sunday is some sense of frustration for me personally. I'm just talking about myself. Yeah, I'm getting a little bit frustrated about certain things that are happening with this team right now. For the most part this season, I've been of the state of mind of Okay, it's a rebuilding year. I'm not expecting much in terms of wins and losses, that sort of mindset, right, and it
hasn't really phased me all that much. The record hasn't phased me all that much. I picked them to win five games. I'm probably gonna be a little bit short there, but so we all kind of had them in this three to let's call it three to six win range. If you really were optimistic at six, so no one
really expected much more than what's going on. The part that has frustrated me, and as a guy, as a big Drake May guy, as everybody knows, is it feels to me that Drake May at this point is ready to win football games in this league, especially against teams like the Indianapolis Colts. Right, Like, he played well enough in that game on Sunday to beat the Colts here
at home. It wasn't perfect, and we can get to some of the red zone stuff and all that kind of stuff that went wrong for the Patriots offense, but this was a good offensive performance. Four hundred yards of total offense plus four hundred yards two hundred each on
the ground and through the air. And just as a whole, Drake May now ranks fourteenth among thirty two quarterbacks in QBR, So he is a above average NFL quarterback already right as a rookie, as a rookie with the worst offensive line in football and one of the worst receiving groups skill position groups in the NFL as well, that's great, Like,
that's optimistic about Drake. But the question then to me that Bear is asking is how is a quarterback that's playing above average ball with a let's face it, frankly and not good supporting cast. Ye, he's already playing a budget above average ball and just I know you hate the win probability, but I'm gonna give it to you anyways. Yeah, so QBO, No.
This is a great example of why it doesn't work.
Right, Yeah, it is. So QBR doubles as a win probability in metric, right, it's a way to rank quarterbacks, and it's also a way to rank win probability.
Like if the quarterback plays this way, you'll win this percent.
Right.
So Drake May's QBR right now is fifty eight point zero, fourteenth among thirty.
Two, So we should be winning fifty eight percent.
They should be winning fifty eight percent of his games. They're one and six in full games that he's played in, So there's some of that tiny little bit I would say on Drake for the turnovers, right, and they it happened again on Sunday, not necessarily his fault, per se.
I'll say it was the first start, like the first full game he's had where PFF did not have him with the turnover work.
Yeah, I downgraded him on the throw for the interception personally, but it was unlucky that it was intercepted. It shouldn't be.
It should have been an interception. In fact, the intent behind the throw was to me, to me, was to protect the ball and to protect Hunter Henry. Yeah, but and then you just had kind of a flu Well he threw it off the wrong hit.
But that doesn't right, it doesn't the idea we're just throwing it low, like you throw it up all low to prevent a turnover. Yeah, that's right. That's not why they lost this game. That's what I'm getting at. So fifty eight point zero means that they should be winning, even if we just ballpark it. They should be winning half their games. With Drake Mayott quarterback. They're one in six in his starts that he finished, you know, not
taking the Jets game out of this. And the question to me that with this team now as we move forward, is why, Because the why speaks to the offseason, right, like, what are they What are the biggest reasons why they are one and six? And one of the big reasons and the frustration for me with this is because you know, I hate talking about this stuff. It is the one thing that I cannot stand talking about, and that is in game management, like time management, timeouts. Should he or
shouldn't he have challenged? Like should he have gone for hail Mary or kicked a sixty eight yard field goal? You know, this type of stuff drives me up an absolute wall.
But it's almost like it's it's important or something. It's you also would have mattered. How about when you have three fourth downs on a twenty play drive you get a stop that would have we wouldn't have been talking
about the timeouts al any of that if it didn't matter. Okay, Anyways, with that being said, when you lose a coin flip game, when you lose a game like one point at with twelve seconds left to go in the fourth quarter, those types of things that you and on the other show, it's Paul that that talks about this all the time, and you guys do a great job of talking about it. These types of things matter, These types of in game
coaching decisions matter. I'm glad it took you four years to figure that out.
I don't want them to matter. I don't want to talk about it, not even it matters. But it's not that I don't want to matter. It's not that I don't want to talk about it either. I don't want people because I know how people will get. Yeah, it has nothing to do with deflecting blame from girod Mao. I don't want to talk about it because I feel like there are things that are bigger than this, that are more important.
You just find it boring.
I find it painstakingly.
Boring, even though it matters and it's important and it's part of the game.
So all that being, I find the math boring. There's there's a couple of things you know, obviously that I think contributed to this loss. That has to be said. Is one of them. One of them is the fact that once again they come away with no points before halftime.
Now it's not his fault that they missed a twenty five yard field goal, Okay, but they come away with no points or less points than they should have if you want to handicap the field goal there before the half in another way that I thought they mishanded that situation.
And then at the end of the game, I understand, and I had no problem with him invoking Malcolm Butler there, I actually thought live I turned to Douce and Paul in the press box and said, well, maybe the argument is is Malcolm Butler, So I get that point of it. But my whole point with the timeout usage at the end of the game is that you have a quarterback
that they have not stopped. Outside of one drive after the Gonzales pick, which we'll get to, which was run run pass, they have not stopped Drake May all day. All he needs is a field goal. So you don't even have to worry about can you execute in the red zone because you don't even need to. You don't need a touchdown, right, you only need a field goal. If you gave Drake May fifty seconds instead of twelve seconds, then I really believe that the Patriots would have drove
down the field and won that game. Now, maybe he throws a pick like he did in you know, against the Rams, or he did against Tennessee or whatever it's possible. I'll allow for it. But that to me was a big part of this game, which it irks and grinds my gears. But I know that's your side of the street, so I'll let you go.
Yeah, the key sequence is the end of the game, and the play calling is part of this so that's where we kind of bridge the gap there because they go run, run, pass. Like when they get down inside the eleven, Drake was doing a great job. They converted a set was his second and nineteen and a second and fifteen or second and fourteen on that two minute drive.
Yeah, get down there.
They get to the eleven, they call time out with forty one seconds to go, and it's like all right, like everything to that point, yeah, you got it. And forty one seconds two timeouts in the eleven yard line. You have almost everything at your disposal, almost everything. The one thing that you want to avoid is going run run without a score because now on third down you have to throw. You become one dimensional. You tip your hand. Yeah, and they come out and they go run run, So
that was my bigger issue there. Yeah, with the field goal, I think that was an operational issue. I mean, you got to hit a twenty five yard field. I'm not excusing anybody, but that's on the that's an execution thing. The drive after Gonzale the same thing that was their only three and out of the game, which you want to look at it and be able to say they had I think it was nine drives they had nine drives, they only had one three and out. That's great progress
for this offense. Yeah, it happened to come at one of the most crucial points in the game. You get the turnover. They actually had another. It wasn't a three and out off their other turnover three place field goal because they had the field positions. So I guess technically they had two, but they both came off turnovers, which is bad complimentary football. And then, yeah, the timeout usage didn't bug me as much as it bugged some people.
It was more the idea that if you're gonna play for a field goal, don't play for and I don't hate playing for a field goal. Can you make that a sixty four to sixty five yard field goal instead of sixty eight? In at what depth are you running those routes going up the field? And I know they kicked it with a second ago, could they've run the
routes any deeper? Well, if you can mix in something on the side of nine, or you don't botch the first one or something like that, Like we saw sly hit was at sixty two sixty three in San Francisco, so we can do that, But sixty eight that's two yards longer than the longest field goal in the NFL history period. It's four yards longer than the longest outdoor field goal in NFL history. It's five yards longer than the longest field goal in NFL history outdoor field goal
in NFL history outside of Denver altitude. Right, So, if you run those routes a yard or two deeper and this is a lot harder than it sounds, but not impossible, if you draw that up a yard or too deeper than where it actually happened, do you maybe win the game with the sixty three, sixty four to sixty five yard field goal instead of sixty eight because.
He was close.
Credit to Joey Slide, he was close, but that I'm not saying the timeout usage wasn't an issue. Again, I see the defense of it. It's did they draw it up for sixty eight or did they draw it up for sixty five?
Get to sixty eight and.
Say, well, we have no choice now, we got to kick it cause it's sixty eight. I might almost go for the hill Mary there, but I don't hate the idea of kicking the long field goal with the kicker like Joey slye. But they need to execute a little further down the field to make that work.
Yeah. I just feel like if you maximize time there on defense by taking your timeouts on defense, yeah, then they made they might have one more play so on offense to get into Joey's slide field.
General consensus or the cliche is timeouts are more valuable on offense than defense. Yeah, because you don't have to go hurry up. You know, you're not minute right, you're not limited to the sideline. So if you're falling back on that belief, okay, yeah, like I now they're maybe you look at it and say, well, if that's what you're doing, do you let them score?
Right?
And that's I never, I very rarely should you let the opponents score like rare situations.
Yeah, I wouldn't.
There you could have an argument, but like to me, it's a case of timeouts and more available, more valuable on offense the defense. And I wonder if they thought they'd.
Have more time.
I also wonder if they were surprised by the Colts one for two and if they kind of figured, well they shouldn't have been your okay, fair enough, but to your like I didn't think the Colts were gonna do it because they were kind of struggling at times and it was this long drive. I kind of thought the Colts are gonna kick it, and I had the thought where you were where it was like they've been able to stop drinking may all day. All Right, this goes to overtime.
Yeah, you know, just win coin to us.
But yeah, I wonder if if the belief was basically the timeouts are better served on offense.
Yeah, so the end of the game, it didn't. I didn't love it, and I hear that cliche and I can hear that argument as well. And then I before halftime, like this has just happened way too many times this year, like they've really.
Yeah, halftime one is it's it's time and time and time again.
They've literally executed before halftime. I'm taking the Texans bomb to Kishon booty out because that's just a bomb. That's just a great play and a great throw and catch by two guys. Like that's not executing a sitch a right, that's just making a great pot. I'll even give them that.
And there's they've still hit on like two out of eight. Yeah, if you're being generous whatever you want to call that. Jets one where at least they didn't punt the ball back, they killed the block. They still hit on two out.
Of eight to give them that. It's still not good enough. The only great situational football you've seen all year from this team is in Chicago. Like that was that was a well executed Uh looked great, Like that was a great moment for this team in that in this vein. But the biggest thing that I look at before halftime is the decision of course to go run run pass uh there in that spot, and then coinciding with that decision to take time outs in between the run plays.
If you're gonna go, in my mind, going run run on first and second down in those situations, is to make sure that that is the last possession of the half. Right, it's to milt clock. So if you're gonna if that's the idea is to make that the last possession of the half, then make it. They'll like, make sure it's the last possession of the half. Don't keep stopping the clock for him, right, like, don't keep calling timeouts for him.
I just thought that that was a little bit weird that it feels like you're trying to milk clock, but then you're also stopping the clock simultaneously, like that sort of not here nor there. And then to your point about third down being an obvious passing down, now they got bailed out that there was a penalty. So my biggest thing after the second down play was third down cannot be a sack. You absolutely cannot take a sack on third down, and he took a sack. It was
probably worst play the game. Yeah, it was one of his worst plays of the game. And he gets bailed out for the fact that they get called for a penalty on the play which stops the clock. So they really should have came away with not even a field goal attempt with the way that they handled the situation, let alone a missed field goal. So that was that was a bad sequence in this game because you score
a touchdown there. I'm not saying it's a game over, but with Anthony Richardson, like in his like limited limitations throwing the football, it's it's you're in a really good spot. You're in a really good spot up two scores going in.
I thought the management at the end of the first half is more costly than the management at the end of the second half. Obviously, in the second half game online like you have to be better and that wasn't good, but pound for pound, the end of the first half was a bigger missed opportunity.
The other element of this that I feel like come follows a little bit on the coaching side of things, too, is the regression of the defense, which we've been talking about on this show for the entire season, but now it's it really seems like it's coming to ahead because we're getting to the end of the year and there's got to be decisions made about, you know what, what's gonna be what this coaching staff is gonna look like in year two for Girodmeo. Is it gonna look exactly
the same? Is it not gonna look exactly the same. I know that there's been a lot of conversations about DeMarcus Covington. I understand all of those things. I mean, look, right now, since Drake may took over as the starter, they have the worst defense in football by DVOA. They're the thirty second ranked defense in the league. They should not be the thirty second ranked defense in the league. They have enough talent on that side of the ball
to at least be middling on defense. They are things that I am seeing defensively with them, though are I don't want to call him self inflicted because I don't want to give zero credit to the opponent, But in a lot of ways, they just are not tied together as a defense. It doesn't feel like it's eleven guys on a string. It feels like it's individuals out there on islands, like trying to make individual plays to keep
this defense afloat. You know, whether it's run fits, whether it's assignment's in the red zone, you know, they whether it's you know that fourth and three play after the catch that everybody wanted Girodmeo to challenge. That fourth and three play, the receiver is just wide open, like it's another coverage bust, Like it's just a wide open coverage
bust on a critical game deciding type of play. They can't get off the field there because they don't have good zone distribution and there's nobody to cover the tight end there when Anthony Richardson kind of breaks contain and then there's just nobody there and not to you know, look get Sjabrill Peppers's first game back. But the whole break container element of it too just speaks to the undisciplined nature of this defense right now, the run fits again,
and the run defense again was a problem. So I do think defensively, we're getting to the point now where there need to be some changes on that side of the football in the offseason, not just personnel wise, but maybe coaching staff wise as well, because of just really what's going on fundamentally with the defense run defense assignments. You know, how many times are we going to watch them blow coverages in the red zone before something has
to give there? So and just in general, I think that that is a big, big question mark and problem that they need to answer. And it's a tough one because everybody really is very high on DeMarcus Covington, myself included in terms of the future for him as a coach in this league. But right now it feels to me a little bit like they've regressed too hard on that side of the ball.
I mean, how many times did we talk about in the spring of the summer that the point of the season was are you better at the end than you are at the beginning? And you use the word regression.
That's what it is.
You're looking for growth and it's just not there defensively right now?
Yeah, yeah, the last one red zone obviously go two for six in the red zone for.
Six defensively three for four. The opponent goes three for four. Three weeks in a row, they've done three for four defensively in the red zone. So you have to be better in that area. Yeah, and Drake May should be a weapon. And this goes to you look how the Colts used Anthony Richardson down there, and Alex Van Pelt
changed his tone going into that game. He had said that they weren't going to do design quarterback runs for Drake May, and I mean they still haven't, but that week he said, you know, we might mix them in. You might have had a shot to mix one in there. So you saw what a difference maker Richardson could be in that scenario when you lose that space and you have more defenders down in the box and now you
have more guys you have to block. When you have the quarterback as an extra number in that count, the running backs now blocking that can give you an advantage. So I offensively, I wonder if that's key. Defensively, they're just they're getting beat every which way.
In the red zone.
So there's not one thing I think you look at and you say, if you adjust this or if you try that. It's a lot more more complex than that. But offensively, I wonder if i'd get they don't want to run Drake may A ton and I agree with that.
I would rather underrun him than overrun him. Yeah, but I.
Don't think the answer is zero either, And if there is a time to do it, I think the red zone's it.
What's happening for offensively in the red zone other than one drive that completely got killed by penalties. They get called for holds on back to back plays and first and goal from the two becomes first and twenty two from outside the red zone. They there, they go from the two line to outside the red zone because of penalties. So that was one of the drives that got killed.
The other drive that got killed was obviously the pick right like that happens in the pick, And then the other two drives were situations where they got into third bat third down dropback situations. When you are in third and obvious pass down in the red zone, that's a difficult play to execute, like it's a difficult way to
score it really is. The main reason why it is obviously because the space is condensed, so there's no vertical element to the field, so you really only are working with the horizontal stretch of the field, which is why on the first one they called mesh because that's a horizontally stretching of the field type of play. But the problem is that if you're spacing is off like it was on that play, there's just not a whole lot of answers for the quarterback at that point on mesh
against zone. So I didn't love that call from a play call in perspective, because there's really when you get zone coverage against mesh, which is the crossing routes in the middle of the field with a little sit or an over the ball route by the tight end behind it, and then usually you have like a flare or rail out in the flats. It's a really good answer against
man to man coverage in the red zone. Most teams call that mesh traffic where they're just trying to get some picks or some traffic in the middle of the field and leak the running back out and a lot of the time if you can get that player in the box to have to go through a bunch of trash on his way out to the flat to the running back, the running backs just wide open in the flat right and he can just run the foot race
and it's a touchdown. But the problem is is that with Mesha in terms of getting zone coverage, which is what they got on the play, really the only answer to mesh against zone is the over the ball route right, and so you have to stretch out the underneath zones and create that passing lane to Hunter Henry Hunter, Henry I thought probably could have cut off his route a little bit sooner and been a little bit more to
the hash instead of the middle of the field. And Kendrick Bourne owned it after the game that he ran the wrong route around his route poorly. It didn't keep you know, running and continuing across the field. So you get into an obvious pass situation. Not only is it's
in the tight quarters to throw the football. Not only do you have to have the right play call against the coverage that you get and line it up that way, you're also asking a young quarterback to now read progressions in the red zone where things happen a lot faster. So the one thing that I would put on Drake a little bit in the red zone is when they get into those situations, he's got to be quicker. He's
got to be faster through the reads. Like on one of the plays, it was a second down play, he had Gibson on the angle on the Texas route coming out of the backfield. Gibson slipped a little bit, and I think that's why Drake came off of it. But that's one where you just put it on your running back James White style and he burrows his way into the end zone and you don't have to get into a third down. You know. Those are the types of
things I thought he had Remandre. They kind of had Remandre wheel or seam frond of seam out of the backfield and make it three strong on that side, and he kind of runs the seam. I thought he had Remandre on the seam. He would have had to rip it like it would have had to have been a tight window. But that's what happens in the red zone in the league. The windows shrink, the timing is faster,
So those things are tough for young quarterbacks. And the one way, you know, like as you were talking about, to combat the fact that asking quarterbacks to go through progressions in the red zone can be dicey that when they're in their rookie seasons and their young quarterbacks in this league is to run option plays, read options, you know, play actions like things like that where it's really simplifying
the game for the quarterback. Right, so you're not getting back into the gun, dropping back and going one, two, three, four, five, right, You're just it's an RPO. You're either handing it off or you're running it yourself, you're throwing a slant, whatever the case may be. I think that those are the things that they have to get to a little bit more moving forward in the red zone from an offensive perspective.
Last thing on the offense in the red zone or in the offense in general, the Gonzo drive, you know, the Gonzo picks it off. Yeah, really probably should have sealed the game right there, the first down run. I'm fine with running the ball on first and ten there, that's okay. I there is a chance that he might
have checked into the second run. I'm not one hundred percent sure, but it looked like he did have some communication pre snaps, so maybe that was a can or you know, a check into a run on second down. But then again, you get yourself into obvious pass on third down, and these are the situations you run yourself into.
I thought he had a chance on third down to make a throw to Kendrick Bourne on that play, But what it looked like to me was he was told if you don't love anything, you can't turn it over here, like we can't have a turnover. So he kind of turtles in the pocket. And I'm not saying that he's like afraid to get hit, don't take it the wrong way, but it looks to me like he felt some pressure from behind him and didn't want to get strip sacked again, and so he just went down.
Which like good, like that that's growth.
I just I don't know.
I kind of would have liked them to take a shot there. Yeah, on the first or second down, and maybe that's what he checked out of, but I thought that was a good time to take a shot.
Yeah. I can't disagree with you there, but just in general, I think that those are the the ways that you get a really good performance from your rookie quarterback who continues to stack games. Obviously the Miami game wasn't was bad for everybody, but rams game, this game, stacking good games against these teams, and you just can't win. You can't,
they can't, they can't come away with wins. And I feel like game management, defensive regression, red zone offense for the three reasons you could check all three of those boxes. All right, let's do three up, three down, and then we're gonna get into the draft. So do you want to start? It was gonna brut up and everyone up with Strake May. Yeah.
I thought, maybe not the flashiest game he's played as a pro outside of the forty one yard run. Doesn't have and I mean to minimize that, but like didn't have those like real highlight deep ball kind of throws. But what a complete game he played. I just thought his he did a good job reading the defense. The intermediate accuracy was excellent. I thought his decisions went to run when to not run made sense. He protected himself and running the football didn't put the ball on harm's way.
That's what you're looking for. That's the game we're we're looking for. And when we've talked about where there's room for growth with Drake May kind of balancing that, Okay, where does he need to be better and where will it just naturally improve when the talent around him is better. And this was the first game where I feel like definitively you looked at it and you said, I'm not
sure how much more he could have done. There was some but like he plays at that level with an improved roster to your for Cock to QBR stat like, they're gonna wait probably more than fifty eight percent of the games with him playing that way.
Cock, that's the best way to measure quarterbacks.
But when when well, he was more than fifty percent, when he plays the way he played on Sunday, they're gonna be more.
Oh no, yeah, his QBR on Sunday was like seventy five.
Okay, that I would say is probably more like it. So now he needs to stack him When we talk about the growth down the stretch, right, it can't just be being intermittent.
But if you get all you can give him one.
If you get like three more of those games in the last four from Drake May, I'd feel I'm gonna feel really good heading into year two, Like that's the kind of game I've been waiting for him to play.
Yeah, No, he was really good in this game. And I think, what you know, just I had him with a twelve plus plays five and a half minus plays in this game, so it really was half really good ratio. I would have to go look at my notes and see you half plays I do have for sometimes I do have for like ball placement issues where it's still a completion, but like the ball placement wasn't great. Interception No, yes,
the interception was a full downgrade to me. But there was a ball to Hooper along the sideline where he wrong shouldered Hooper and Hooper had to fight through some contact to make the catch, made a really nice catch on the ball, and I put that as a half match down. No, okay, no, that was great. The wrong No, it was a different It was a different one anyways.
But number one up was Drake May. I think what continues to impress me so much is how well he's doing at the first two levels of the defense and the short in the intermediate passing game. I don't think there was a lot of people that were anti Drake May in the draft that anticipated that he would be this good instructure. This early on, we a lot of people kind of knew that he had the deep ball,
had the mobility, had the off script stuff. But the ability to just kind of dice up zone coverage like he did on Sunday was something that I was told a million times he couldn't do right, Like all draft season, I was told that was not in his game, that that wasn't who he is, like all those kinds of stuff. It's hard when you play Augus Bradley's style defense, a Seattle three style defense, to just take profits underneath the defense and be patient and take the chunks and take
the easy layups. When you're a quarterback that wants to be back there and wants to make plays, it's hard. It's hard to not take the bait and throw deep. You know, a couple of times, and a lot of young quarterbacks, you know, my boy, Josh Allen, you know a lot of young quarterbacks make mistakes doing that. Right. They'll they'll take the cheese and they'll throw deep and all and then it's a pick right like they do. It was really impressive to watch how patient he was
marching the ball down the field in this game. And I continue to be really impressed too with some of his anticipatory throws. I thought those were his best throws on Sunday. You know, Hunter Henry on a out on third down, just a great ball, you know, just right out of the break. It's right on Hunter Henry. He had to throw a couple over the middle to Kendrick
Bourne on those incuts on the bow concept. That's just like tight window layering the ball in there against zone like Bourne is like on the other side of the linebacker and he's throwing them open on the you know, one side to the other side of the linebackers. Like, those anticipatory throws are really impressive, next level type of throws. And then again, you play man coverage against this guy, you better account for the quarterback because otherwise he's gonna
run for forty one yards. So when you put it all together, you know, I think he only had what like two hundred and something passing yards in this game. It was I have it right here, it was two thirty eight. But then you add the forty one yard run in there too, and you know, really fifty what nine yards on the ground I think he had in this game. You're up over three hundred yards of total offense from your quarterback almost so he was very very good in this game.
Yeah, number two Christian Zalez. Yeah, just another excellent game from him. That interception should have sealed. It had a couple other pass breakups. I think I said this last week, right, at what point do we just retire Christian Zalz isn't up and just acknowledge it's every week domit.
Yeah, I'll say this about Christian Goanzalz to all you Patriots fans out there. I'm gonna look into the camera on the ISO shot right now and say to all those Patriots fans out there, go vote for Christian Goanzales in the Pro Bowl. Yeah, go smash the vote button and go vote for this guy in the Pro Bowl. I know the team right now, I know. I know the team is struggling. I know that they don't have a great record. I know all of that. But he is playing at a Pro Bowl level. He deserves to
be in the Pro Bowl. He deserves your support. So go out there and vote for Christian Gonzales for the Pro Bowl because he's playing lights out football right now. He sometimes has games like this where it just looks so effortless and so easy for him. And I don't mean to disrespect Alec Pierce or Michael Pittman, who are both NFL receivers and are capable guys. It was it was light work for Christian Zalez in this game to
cover those two guys. It was it was a stroll in the park and the interception was just a fantastic play of route recognition and just driving on the football and jumping the pass over the middle of the field. He's just been outrageous. He's been great almost every single week. He's still only giving up one deep past the entire year, that won in London to Brian Thomas Jr. Is the
only deep ball he's allowed all season long. Into his coverage, he's been excellent, and he does it every single week, playing almost fifty percent of his downs in man coverage and shadowing the other team's best outside receiver every single week. Like he's getting you know, Michael Pittman, he's getting Tyreek Hill, he's getting Garrett Wilson, he's getting you know, whoever they play, he's getting the number one guy, and he's going toe
to toe with that guy every single week. So you can go and take like your zone corners, right, like, go let those guys in the Pro Bowl too. I guess the guy that shadows him slowers all the way across. That's the guy that I'm taking. Well, and I've seen this take.
People have been like, yeah, but he's being targeted a lot, and he's six in the league in targets with seventy two, he's fifteenth and catches a lad with forty one. Like the opposing opposing completion percentage is I think it's it's fifty six.
It's very low. So I don't know, like.
Why do teams Why are teams throwing in him as much as they are, couldn't tell you.
I don't really care.
It's awesome as long as he keeps making the plays which he's making, like go ahead, waste those back whatever.
They're throwing a lot at him because he's covering the number one receiver, so like.
These well, but I think people used to like, you know, to go back to Gilmour even revis where like teams didn't even throw to that receiver, they just left the corner alone. Yeah, and I think people are expecting that the target number to me is not totally irrelevant. But like again, if the passes aren't being completed, then let them waste the down.
I don't really care. I just feel like the target number to me is indicative of you're gonna go into these games and teams are gonna trying to feed their guys. Like even if you're you have a really good corner, like if you're going up against Tyree Hill and Jalen Waddle, if you're going up against uh, you know, Stefan Diggs, if you're going up against whoever, like Calvin Ridley, like
that's the guy on the other team. They're not gonna go the entire game without targeting their number one receiver. And when you're playing as much man to man coverage as the Patriots are playing, Uh, then I feel like that's another you know, thing to to point to that those guys are on an island a lot. So it's not like there's like doubles or safety help. That is also deterring quarterbacks. When quarterbacks see their number one receiver one on one with the guy, they're gonna throw them
the ball. You know, that's the way it goes, all right? Third up, Ben Brown, nice, I just Ben Brown shout there.
You got to Forest Buckner, who's been a Patriots killer, and Buckner at a good game, but not against Brown. He had Laydon Robinson next to him playing a new position. Like remember last time they changed the interior the line. He had a really bad game. Yep, so you had more movement against a good player he would solid.
He was solid. Again.
I don't know what you're sending the tape to Canton, but like, I didn't have any real issues with him. He didn't stand out to me. It's like, what's Ben Brown doing?
Role?
Ben Brown got beat there, like he held his own and he had tough matchups, so good.
I thought it was solid performance from him. I also have a fourth half up. Okay, yeah, no, I thought Ben Brown was good in this game, too, wrote I wrote about it, and after further review, I thought, you know, look, we keep going here with this offensive line and who's gonna play and who's not gonna play, and I understand
that this is not a fairness business. Yeah, and Cole Strange is a former first round pick that the coaching staff seems kind of high on playing center, and maybe Ben Brown ends up being a casualty because of that. But I would just say that Ben Brown does not deserve to get.
Ben No, it would be a shame. And look, they need a center down the road, and I'm not saying Ben Brown is that player. Is he a good backup center? Absolutely? Yeah, and maybe deserves a shot to at least compete for the future starting job behind David Andrews. Maybe you draft somebody on like Day three, but that's a competition. Uh, they got to keep this guy in Fuld. He's he's an NFL caliber player and they don't necessarily have a ton of NFL caliber linemens.
So all right, So I had my last up. I had a few not like honorable mentions. Yeah, I have like an honorable mention because I thought it was a good game for several guys on the offensive side of the ball. So just quickly on the honorable mentions. Yeah, even though he was, you know, in on that interception, I thought both tight ends were really good in this game and the run and pass game. I just want to know a little shout out to Austin Hooper. I think Austin Hooper has been great.
He leads the team in touchdown catches. Yeah, and I think he's broke the tie with I don't know Jalen Polk. Okay, their leaders are Hooper with three, Polk with two, and then a bunch of guys have won.
I thought that he is he's been really, really solid, and I think he's been a really reliable veteran guy for some of the younger players in that room as well, especially Drake May. I think Drake May gets a lot of help from both tight ends Hunter Henry and Austin Hooper. I thought Hooper was really good. If you watch the Ramandre Stevenson's thirty two yard run early in this game on the opening drive, Hooper takes out two guys with his block. He gets two guys on that play and
then he obviously had the touchdown. But the up that I ended up going with was Antonio Gibson, who I just thought was outstanding for rushes over ten yards in this game. Continues to be a darling of the analytics, you know, yards after contact, that type of stuff. He's third in the league right now in yards after contact per rush. He should get more touches. He should get more touches in this offense. Yeah, he needs to play more,
he needs to get the ball more. It's it's funny, not any no disrespect to Antonio Gibson, but you look at the yards per contact leaders and it's like Saquon Barkley, Derrick Henry, and Antonio Gibson, and it's just like, why is this guy the one that's not touching the ball in this offense? Right? You know, he's making a lot of yards. And I would also say that he's a really good fit for the outside zone scheme, probably better than the other guy, which we'll get to here in
a little bit. So Antonio Gibson.
So I had one honorable mention of sex from the defense, I believe it or not. I was so ready to take a massive victory lap and then he had the PI late, which is kind of ticky tack. And that's Alex Austin. Alex Austin finally got to play defense, and he was good. He looked like the guy we saw down the stretch last year that you would hope about. He belongs, He belongs in this league, and he gives
you an option on the boundary. He gives you some size and physicality on the boundary that you need watching him at the catch point. Marcus Jones isn't giving you that. Jonathan Jones isn't giving you that, and against some of these teams with bigger receivers, you need it. So again he had the PI late that was costly, but overall, Alex Austin was good and should continue to play a role on this defense.
Agreed. Yeah, I was really impressed with him. He had a couple of really great zone drops in this game. One he kind of fell off his man because his man went under and cover three and he picked up the crosser from the backside of the formation, or actually might have been in the strength, but regardless, he picked up the crosser from the other side of the formation.
That's hard to do. Like, that's really good discipline. That's really good eye discipline and having your eyes in the right places, you know, once your guy drops off and you and you kind of pass him off to the other underneath zones. I thought he was really good in this game. And the p I is you know, a ticky, tacky jostling for position type PI. I don't hold out
against him. A great coverage rep on the quarters call to knock the post away like that could have been a touchdown without safety help in the middle of the field. I agree. I thought he was great. Should play more? Yeah, agreed, all right, him and Gibson play more. Go to the downs, all right, number one down. We already did this just game management. Yeah, just as a whole weird We already we did twenty minutes on that. Yeah, but yeah, yep, I let you do twenty minutes on that.
You should be thinking it was important. What are you talking about the story? Let me do twenty minutes the story of the game. That was the story of the game, Evan.
I know.
That's why I had to talk about it. You know, has to do his job. You know, it really irked me to talk about it, you know, the story, but act like it was some like detour that we know that was the story of the game. That was the story of the game. The story of the game was my number one down. And not that he is fully
to blame. I don't mean to put it all on him, but the story of the game was not gonna being able to stop the Colts on a twenty play drive and that ended with a touchdown that was into Kyle Dugger's coverage. And I didn't think this game was as egregiously bad for Kyle Dugger as the Miami game when I watched it live and I watched the film back, and I was like, there's still a lot of Kyle Dugger issues on this tape. I just I don't know where his head's at, you know, I don't know what's
going on with Kyle Dugger. I don't think this is physical. I think this is mental. And he's a much better football player than he showed the last couple of weeks since he came back from the injury, and they got to get him back on the program, like they got to get him back mentally locked in. I thought he was late on the crossing route on the touchdown, tried
to recover, couldn't. I thought he had some other minus situations, like they ran that crack taw, that crack sweep quarterback sweet play and it was a fourth down play, one of those fourth and shorts where they went for it and the whole stadium knew what play they were gonna run. And he gets walloped on the crack block like this doesn't even see it coming. That to me, is not
a player that's like physically impaired. That's a player that's not mentally thinking through the game, right, Like this has got to be the call right, so I need to get over the top of this block, and instead Michael Pittman just clocks him and absolutely takes him out. Same thing happened to Jaylen Hawkins, to be fair, So I could probably put all the safeties on this list, or
at least those two guys. So I had Dugger as the number one down mainly because they just need to get him right, Like, whatever it takes, they just need to get.
I had him on my list as well. You say it's mental, I wonder if it's if it's a little bit of both, or like to me, he feels like when he's on, when Kyle Tucker's on, he's so instinctive and his ability to recognize something and then the physical explosiveness to plant and react to it, and with a bad ankle, I wonder if he just doubts his ability to do that, and so he's trying to he's overthinking things because he's worried about his ability to just go
and cut off of it. Yeah, but yeah, I had him as a down to for a lot of the reasons. He said he just he was at the point of attack in on too many plays that the Patriots got beat on and he's supposed to be that's supposed to be a strength to his So he's got to get right.
Yep. My number two down is another guy that they just need to figure out. They need to get this guy right. They paid him. He's a guy that's gonna be here. He's not going anywhere. Ramondre Stevenson. I had him in this game responsible for I've run stuffs on his own, just running into piles, you know, tunnel vision, not seeing cutback lanes, not seeing you know, really feeling these zone runs like you know, the zone run game
is a rhythmic play. It's not a downhill play. It's a rhythmic play where everything's kind of being concert and then the running back is supposed to flow with the blocking right and black and cut accordingly. I thought there were multiple runs in this game where there was more yards to be had that Remandre just wasn't seeing the cut, the cutback lanes and the right reads, and Antonio Gibson was, which is why he had the big game that he
had in this game. So whether it's a scheme fit issue, whether it's a ball security like that's in his head, I don't know. I can't speak to the second one. I still I said it when they made this coaching higher and they gave her Mare the contract, that this is what I was worried about. I'm still worried about it. I don't know if he's a great fit for this scheme.
Let me ask you this, do you think it's possible in the way we talk about quarterbacks getting sped up when they're facing a lot of pressure. Yeah, do you think it's possible for a running back to get sped up in the sense that it just hasn't been blocked for him all year, so now when there are openings, he just doesn't know where to look for him because he's so used to just having to evade that defender immediately in the backfield.
It's a really fair point, and I would say that that's definitely on the list of reasons why I think that maybe he's at this point he's seeing.
Go like it's impossible that as a running back he's seeing ghosts.
It's just very odd to me, especially with Fermandre, because I do feel like he has been a good process cerc like he does read well.
That's the thing that's why I ask you this. It's not characteristic of him. Yeah, So I wonder if just the we talked about the start of the season how egregious the run blocking was, and how he was still making so much out of it that he really shouldn't have been. Is it possible that that's all just just gotten to him at this point.
Absolutely possible. You know, there's just instances that, you know, with this zone run game where it's just really key want you know, to make quick decisions, you know, decisive decisions, and to really see those cutback lanes forming, Like when there's you know, you're reading usually like the defensive end, the defensive tackle to the linebacker on the play side of the field in that order, and when those guys are flowing outside the numbers and they're trying to set
the edge of the defense, you gotta cut it up, like you got to cut it up through the middle of the field. And there's just instances where those cutback lanes are just right there for him. I'm not saying that he's gonna go sixty yards to the house if he cuts it back, but instead of going for one yards, he might get eight or nine yards if he cuts it up the field, Like those are big differences when you know you're a team that wants to run the football. So I just feel like it's a little bit in
his head all of it. Probably that a little bit in terms of seeing ghosts. I think the fumbling which he put the ball on the ground again in this game as his sixth fumble of the year, So that goes into the grade too, right like that that's a downgrade situation as well. So I like Ramandre. I think he's a good football player. I think that he's better than he's shown as well in the similar boat as Kyle Duggar. But it's a guy you paid in the off season. So he's gonna be here next year. There's
really unless they trade him. There's no way out of the contract. Right, Like, he's gonna be here, And I'm not saying they should cut him either, but like, you know, this is your guy, this is your bell cow. You got to figure it out.
Yeah, number three Bearinger, Bryce Bearinger and Joey sly combined. Yeah, not even taking the last feel little out of it. He's not expected to take that.
Yeah.
On the myths, So Joey Slye talked about there being a communication error on the twenty five yard miss and you see him like immediately after he misses the kick, turn around and look at at Bryce. Yeah, and kickers use different holds for different kicks depending on the hash mark on the distance.
It can even be like the weather, the wind.
It might be you know, you're tilting the ball a little bit to left, a little bit to the right, little background whatever. So clearly something got messed up there where the whole wasn't right and that's on both of them. Yeah, and to miss it by that much like is bad. And you al said Bryce Behinger had a chance to really pin the Colts before that going into that nineteen play drive instead just hits a thirty eight yard punt down to the seventeen that allowed for return as well.
Didn't even get nine to twenty on that. So I thought those two guys there were some issues.
Yeah, Bryce Berenger, you're the punter guy, so I'll let you answer this. But kind of feels like he's had a bad year. Is that. I don't want to go here. But it's not quite as bad as Jake Bailey.
No, but he had the one in Jacksonville where he hits the crap out of the ball, Yeah, and overkicked out cases covered and the Jacks return it.
Yeah.
And it feels like since then he's been like almost taking something off to make sure he doesn't out kick his coverage. And it's now he's maybe taking a little too much off, right, So he might he might need a little bit of a reset there.
I mean that.
Look, I'm not expecting even to pin them inside the three with that kick, especially in those conditions, but to the seventeen from where they were, he could do a little better than that.
Yeah, all right, last one, Laden Robinson. I didn't think he was terrible, but I just didn't think it was. It was quite good enough. Still, I would say I had him with four pressures allowed in this game. He obviously got called for both holds. Two of the pressures again come on like line stunts, like postline movement one.
He he he went to the linebacker coming from the second level when he had Remandre and Blitz pick up like usually you talk, you think back on backer, right, like the running back has has the linebacker and then you block the big guys up front. So I thought
that was on him. And you just keep going through some of these pressures like some of the ones against you gave up a pressure against Buckner, Like I'm not gonna kill him for it against the player like that, But some of these line movements and things like that, Uh, this is why Michael Jordan got benched just because he couldn't pick up stunts. So if the next guy can't pick up a stunt either, then I start to think about, II,
what are we coaching these guys on these things? Right? Like, how are we preparing these guys for line movement and picks and games and things like that, the defensive lines, like the play up front. So I did see some of the physicality, like I can see where girod Mayo is coming from that that he's a physical guy and he moves people on the line of scrimmage. But the pass pro has still got a long way to go. So yeah, I had him as number three on the downs.
All right. So there's there's the Colts. I hope you enjoyed it. Fun game. It was a fun game. It was a game. It was a fun I enjoyed that game. Yeah, I agree, let's take these calls and then we'll get right into the draft, and get right into the draft. I know I keep teasing it, but before we take the calls, I gotta do do some homework here. Bridgestone, the official tire of the Newland Patriots, is proud upon partner with Sullivan Tyre, New England's head quarters for quality
Bridgestone tires. Visit slivantire dot com to find a location near you and my favorite one. Massachusetts is made for everyone. Leaf peepers, corn maze strollers, regatta lovers, pumpkin pickers, and anyone else you can think of. Come to where there's something for everyone in this fall, Massachusetts, where everything is made possible. Plan your trip at VISITMA dot com. All right, Patty is an agoam. What's up, Patty?
What is going on? Gentlemen?
Hey? What's up?
Not too much so, of course the bye week. I'm glad you guys just talking draft. I wanted to throw a quick draft question out there for you guys, more specifically to Alex, because I know like you've been paying attention a little bit more heaven. I know you're getting caught up and stuff. But I brought up this name before and I just wanted to get your opinion on this,
both of you guys. But Josh Simmons, How would you guys feel, specifically Alex, that you two haven't How would you feel if if we did take take a left tackle early, like Will Campbell or Kelvin Banks junior, and we took him like if he falls to like the fourth round and he's he's just there and he's too intriguing to pass up, I mean, would.
He doubled it?
Because, like like we've seen this year, we not only need talent, we need depth too. And I mean, if you take two guys that are got to have good high upside, you got to figure that at least one of them is going to work out. And I have the dream scenario too. Here's a dream scenario. We trade with Oakland and now we finished like either top two or top three Oakland does or I'm sorry, Vegas, Vegas.
The Raiders do what the Raiders do, and they trade us their twenty twenty sixth first round pick, plus they're pick in the second round and their first round pick bought first round picks with them. They we take a left tackle and Alex, we take one of those second round picks. That swap it for day Let's go.
Yeah, that's that.
That's that's a perfect scenario and thanks for the call, Patty. That is the perfect scenario for me. So Josh simm is a really interesting player.
It's because this this crawls up your backside a little bit, which I like.
So for people who don't know, Simmons is a tackle from Ohio State. Uh, he just declared for the draft, so he's he's officially coming out left tackle.
There.
Good player, and he had a really good start to the season. Was viewed as like a top one hundred prospect coming in and started moving into that first round range. He then tore his ACL. I think was in late September. Yeah, so, oh no, it's later in that. It was whenever he was October. He didn't play against Penn State, I know that, which was so yeah, yeah, okay, So he tore his ACL. It was like mid October then, and so there's that
element of it. So I think a lot of Patriots fans see that and see the trajectory he was on and see the injury and say, well, okay, we need a first round tackle. Here's a first round tackle in the second round. So I can still get my shiny new toy. I can still get ted McMillan. I can still get Travis Hunter, but why is he going in
the second round? Sure, right, he's coming off of torn ACL And could he end up being a good player still, yes, of course, but there's significant unknown that comes with that.
Is it gonna be a good player, He's gonna be ready to start the season. Yeah?
If not, then okay, now you still need to get you either run it back to the Darien Lowe or you still need to get a starting caliber tackle. And you know, we've been down this road with guys like Dominique Easley where you're not necessarily gonna get the same guy coming off of torn ACL. So for where Simmons is projected to go, even after the injury, which is top fifty, he's unless you're gonna go tackle tackle, he's probably the first tackle you're gonna take. And I just
it's kicking the can again, Evan. It's another half measure. And how many times have we talked about like this not they can't keep doing that if they still at Trent Brown, Right, if it was like two years ago and it's sorry, you got one more year Trent Brown, then yeah, it makes perfect sense. But I just think
for where they are right now. No, now, if he falls to the fourth, like Patty said, if you can get him down there, absolutely, because he's certainly worth that flyer, especially if he's your second tackle.
I don't think he's gonna fall that far.
And the reality is, if he does, it probably means there were some red flags in the medical check, and now we're talking about maybe a Malcolm Mitchell type situation. But so I don't hate the player. I think he makes sense in a certain situation. I just don't think he makes sense for the situation Patriots are in because they need a guy that can step in and play, and Josh Simmons, for what his upside is, isn't guaranteed to be a guy who can step in and play starting caliber tackle for you.
So I agree with everything you said. I think the one thing that you know you mentioned that is the potential play here, just as play Devil's Advocate, if they sign a Garrett Bowles, if they sign a Cam rob and sure, then you go ahead and you and you throw the dart at Josh Simmons, who A lot of people that I trust think that he might be the best pure left tackle of the draft. Like the player, like not not necessarily the best blocker, right, like you
know they don't. They don't think he's a better prospect than Will Campbell. But because of Will Campbell's concerns with arm length and if he's gonna play tackle, you know, just the guy that is the best, you know, cut from the cloth type of guy to play tackle, it would be Josh Simmons. So in my mind, I don't hate the plan because this kind of gets to what I my sort of big picture thought on the on this draft, the top of the draft class. I don't hate the plan, but the plan has to come with
a immediate stop gap and not Venerian Low. It has to be somebody better, like a Garrett Bowles, like a cam rob.
Now that's a guy you're giving a premium contract at. So yes, are you gonna use? Can they afford? So you're not signing Garrett Bowles as a bridge guy in the sense that, all right, well, Simms is gonna be ready in October, so we're gonna.
Start here starting no. And my guess, in my mind, this team afford to use what's going to be a top forty pick if you want to take Simmons, I think can this team afford to use a top forty pick on a guy that's not gonna play as a rookie. What what if he plays right tackle?
I would rather bowls move that like, no, because now you're if he's gonna play left tackle, you gotta develop him left tackle. You gotta let him learn to play there. Gain, we're crossing wires and we're trying to find ways to make a convenient No, just invest in the position.
It's left tackle.
It's one of the most important positions on the we're going to do you do you disagree?
Though?
I don't like can I don't we stop with the half measures and getting cute at left tackle?
Well?
Yes, but but I'm not getting cute. I'm signing Garrett Bulls, who's a franchise.
Okay, but then if you're drafting Josh Simmons, let him work at left tackle.
I agree, I would let him work at left tackle. My only thing is is, like, if he's healthy and gets healthy his rookie season and you want to put him on the field, then you can always get his feet wet in the NFL by playing him at in the right side. I guess I just I they've done it. In the past, like and look what I don't mean, like this pass, like the bad pass. Now it was a different past. It was Tom Brady was your quarterback
and Bill Belichick was your head coach. But Nate Solder did this right where Matt Light was still here and they had Nate Solder waiting in the wings. He played a little six to zero line. He played a little right tackle right like they just to get him involved as.
A road So all right, again, can this team afford to use the top forty pick on a guy that is just involved and not a full time starter? And this also is predicated on the idea, So how how long you signing gear Boles for?
Right that you would get Garrett Bowles on like a two year deal.
I think he's probably gonna get three years.
Yeah, Well, so I just said it to play Devil's out. That's fair enough, good player. I just it.
They can't afford to use that pick on a guy that's not gonna play.
Fair enough, fair enough? All right? Mark is in Connecticut? What's up? Mark?
Steppy? Bye week?
Guys, stay New Year. If I don't talk to you, Uh.
Just had a couple of quick things for you, guys. I'm just not happy. Here's the first thing. I'm not happy with Girod Mayo with his just non aggressiveness with a lot of you know, end of game decisions. And I know you guys talked about it earlier, but I think you guys were kind of alluded to it that he just needs to be more aggressive because what does he have to lose with this team this year. I'd rather be more aggressive on those type of end of
game decisions, and I'm just not seeing that. The other thing is any possibility of Mike Vrabel coming back here and maybe having Girod Mayo take a step down and be at d C because I think he needs a little more grooming in that area as well. And DeMarcus Cummington. I like the guy, but I don't think that he's a d C right now. So I don't know why Gerard isn't getting more of his hand on that defense right now. And then the other thing for the draft, Alex,
tell me what you think. I know everybody likes Trevor, Trevor Hunt, Travis Hunter. I love the Mike Evans replica t Mac. What do you think about t Mac in that? Uh, you know, top five pick that we would have. What's your thought on that, Alex?
Thanks for the call. Mark. We're gonna get the team where. We'll get to that in a second. Yeah, unvariable. Look, Girodmeo is not getting demoted, right, that doesn't happen. Nobody's getting I've seen that. Well. Can you demote Alex van Pelt to quarterbacks coach? Like it?
Actually, when I say it never happens, it sort of happened with Matt grow but that was incredibly rare.
No, and now his front office. You don't take a head coach and demote him to defensive coordinator.
Right.
You might take play calling duties from a coordinator, which I guess is sort of a demotion, but you don't do that at the.
Head No, you don't. It's even super Who is it as back where he is it?
Raheem Morris? Yeah?
Is back where he coached as the DC now the head coach?
Yeah? Uh no, he's the head coach there? Who am I thinking of? Were he Morris is in Atlanta? Yeah? But isn't a head coach? Yeah?
No, there's somebody in the league. Is the DC somewhere where they had been ahead coach and gotten fired?
Oh? I, oh, yeah, who are you talking about? This is gonna bug me.
I saw it the other day and I was like, oh, that's interesting. Yeah, yeah, uh it is oh Vance, Joseph Vance, Joseph in denvery. Yeah, because he was he was there having the time of his life, and then he wasn't.
And now he's back and having the time of his life. Giving up five hundred yards to Jamis Winston is having a respect Jameis Winston. Yes, he did have waited.
The Lord is going to deliver him from pick six to either he said.
James hasn't been throwing pick six as his old NFL career. I don't think the Lord's helping him.
Thirty thirty man, thirty thirty club to the the Rabel point. And this is something we talked about a lot last offseason. Yes, it wouldn't be moving Mayo down. It would be would Mike Vrabel take a kind of head of football opera rations?
Right?
I just think that he's so do I we love this idea. I love this. It's so dicey now because of all the fire that's on girod Mayo. If Rabel's here like held, you know, hanging over him all like all the fans are just gonna want able to be the head coach. You gotta do it best for the team.
Of having somebody in that roles, what's best for the team, you gotta be willing to take.
I just think it's tough to uh to to put Girod in that situation. What if it's not Rabel, Like, I still think hiring somebody in that role. I remember it's for for Wolf and grow too. Yeah, Like, I still think there'd be value in adding that role. Yeah, I'm not gonna lie. You know, when I was watching
Monday night football, it was a good game. It was Monday Night, right, yeahs Browns and uh, they panned to the to the brown sideline and Rabel was just standing there on the sideline and I did do a double take of like, in an alternate universe like this, this could have been different. Uh, but I you know, look at it isn't. So that's where we're at. But no, I I don't think they I don't like the idea of bringing Rabel in now because of how year one has gone for Girad MAO. I think that would be
that would be tough. You know, I was talking to somebody off the air yesterday about this, uh, you know, just about defensive coordinator and names and things, and you know, obviously like Brian Flores, right, Like, I don't know if you'd make a lateral move, but I'm just saying, you know, Brian Flores is an example. That's another one where can
you really bring Brian Flores in here? Because then if it's still not going well, everybody's just gonna want him to be the head coach of the team, right, Josh McDaniels on offense, same thing. It's just gonna be you know, I don't.
Know if people a gonna be claaring for Josh McDaniel's head coach.
I think if it goes bad again, I think they're gonna be clearing for anybody else. All Right, Reggie is in Peabody.
What's up, Reggie, Hey, guys, big fan of the show. Got a quick one for you, guys, is speaking of an alternate universe seven If Jamar Chase and Pense Pool we're both in this draft, So are you guys taken?
It's a good question. That's a good question, Reggie. It's a good way to segue us as I keep trying to get us to the draft. I would take Penne Sewel as well. But this is the meme, right and this is like part partially the conversation we're gonna have this offseason, is the wide receiver or the tackle like it's it's kind of similar. I wouldn't put any of these players in the Penne Sewel Jamar Chase level. I think that one worked out. I mean, the Bengals sort
of worked out on to a Super Bowl. I suppose it worked out.
Joe Burrow still getting hurt every here.
That one sort of worked out for both sides because they were both elite players, right, Like, you really didn't have a wrong answer between those two guys. My biggest takeaway as we get into it here with my initial draft thoughts, big Day, my big picture thought after watching the top of this draft class, and that is Travis Hunter both ways, Campbell, Kelvin Banks, Ted McMillan, Abdull Carter Uh and I threw in a couple games of those Georgia guys too and watched them both at the same time.
Michael Williams, Will Johnson, and I've already seen Will Johnson and Mason Graham a little bit from Michigan's. I've already got a pretty decent feel for those two guys what they bring to the table. So I've got a pretty to the Georgia guys. I'm impressed. Yeah, I got to the Georgia guys just a couple of games. I didn't do it. I didn't do all my notes on those guys yet, but I just wanted to see him move
and see how they play. Uh. My biggest takeaway from watching all these guys was I feel really strongly about the Patriots cannot draft based off of need in this class because I don't feel like I am pounding the table for guys at positions that I know the whole world wants them to draft, mainly wide receiver. But all these guys, as we go through this process, all of them have some wartz. I don't love the top of this draft class. On offense. I don't think that there's
a great class on that side of the football. You have guys that are tackles that might be guards, both of them frankly for different reasons, but both of them. And you have a player in Ted McMillan who I just don't see as being on the same level as like a surefire top ten pick, like a Marvin Harrison junior, a Molak neighbors. Maybe he's a little bit more in the same category for me, as like a Roma Dunze
or a Brian Thomas junior was last year. But I would probably have Ted McMillan as wide receiver four at best in the class last year. And to me, that matters. When you're picking this high. You cannot draft a player fourth overall where they stand right now, that is really the fifteenth best player in the draft. You just can't do it. That's how bad teams stay bad is they reach on positions of need. They reach on positions that are sexier than other positions just to sell fans and
to sell their regime on people. That is how bad teams stay bad. And I'll give you one example. It's not a perfect example because there was another receiver that went a couple of picks after that wouldn't would have made all this go away. When I watched Ted McMillan, the player that I see with him is Drake London in Atlanta. Drake London got drafted eighth overall by the Atlanta Falcons three years ago in twenty twenty two. I want to say it was that was not a good pick.
I understand that Drake London's an NFL player. I understand that Drake Lonnon is a solid NFL player. He was not worthy of the eighth overall pick in the draft. He's yet to have in a thousand yard season in the NFL. I worry that in this draft, if you reach based off of need, that you're gonna get an okay, but not great. And the Patriots right now need to use their top pick on a great player. They can't afford okay with the fourth overall pick. It's got to
be a stud. And whether that stud plays offense, if plays defense, he's a corner, he's an edge rusher, wherever he might play on the field. I'm in the school of thought that they just need talent, man, Like, I don't think it matters. I really don't think it matters. You have the thirty second ranked defense, you have the thirty first ranked offense in DVOA Like. You need help
on both sides of the football. So if it's an edge rusher this year, even though wide receiver might be a bigger need to some people, I think this is the year that you have to go where the talent is. So I don't necessarily disagree with that.
I just hate the idea of like not supporting Drake May with this premium ass set.
And I'm leaning more toward because.
Like you said, they need help on offense, they need help on defense, they need help everywhere. Yeah, I'm opening up more and more to the idea, and the quarterbacks aren't helping them. But I'm opening up more and more to the idea of like trade down, like wherever they are that picks probably not going to be worth the player you're getting with that pick is not going to
be worth the haull you can get in return. And a lot of these guys we've talked about, the guys that you know you might take there just off of best player available. There's other really good players at those positions not that far behind. This draft is very There aren't a lot of good positions. The positions that are good are very good, but there's not a lot of good positions. So like, for instance, the one I've been big on with this is Mason Graham. Mason Graham's a
really good player. This is a pretty good defensive tackle class. And if you're telling me I can have Mason Graham, or I can have two first round picks next year in a much better class, and maybe another top fifty pick this year and a guy like Dean Walker from Kentucky. That's a no brainer to me. I'm taking the Hall, So I think that that it becomes I haven't been We'll see where Will Campbell's arms are at.
If he's over thirty three.
Inches, stretch those freaking If he's over thirty three inches, I'm pounding the table for Wial Campbell. I think to take Will Campbell, and because at that point, everybody knows his arms that long, and he's gonna be that high of a pick, right, And I don't think there's many other issues with him beyond the armline. The penalty is the one thing that make me nervous. But like Ted McMillan,
I'm almost better off with the Hall. So I'm at the point where, yeah, there's some very good players top of the board, and you're not moving down that far. I'm not saying move down there at four as we sit here today, I think right four or five. I'm not saying move down from four to twenty, right, But if you move down to like four or eight to eight or nine, and you add a future first Abdull Carter still might be in play at that point, so
the burden James Pearce might still be in play. Mason Graham might still be in play at that point because he doesn't play premium position.
Yeah, this is this is a trade down draft.
Yeah.
So the issue though, is that everybody knows it's a trade down draft. So you're really gonna have to get a team that falls in love with one of these quarterbacks. And I do think there's a chance that Shador, Sanders and cam Ward are one of those guys. I do
you know, I was watching Travis Hunter yesterday. I tweeted it out like I was really impressed with what I saw from Shador and the tape that I was watching of Colorado's offense, Like he's got the traits that teams look for now that we talked a lot about with Drake, like arm talent, pocket poison, mobility, off script ability, just general playmaking style that teams covet right now in the league.
And his processing is a little bit raw. He I think the arm talent is probably B plus and not a but like all the things are there for him to be a really pro.
I'm gonna give you this is where I said earlier, I had a college football playoff take I wanted to give. This is where this comes into play, and I'll have something up. Oh no, I wrote this today on ninety eight five Sports of dot Com. So those are the two quarterbacks right now. Should Sanders cam Ward. I don't know how much Camward you've watched. You're gonna need to watch them because you're gonna need to watch Xavier Restreppo. Yeah, he's absolutely gonna be Patriots target. Big fan of is
wide receiver from Miami. But those are the two guys right now. I'm not saying these other quarterbacks have had great years because frankly, they haven't. Jalen Milroe has not had a good year. Quinn Ewers has been fined, but he's been hurt. Carson Beck, I mean, geez, talk about
a falloff. But there is this new element to the draft this year that is the college football Playoff Because there are now chances and this applies beyond quarterback, but just using it at quarterback, there are now chances for players to impact their stocks significantly because when we do this, we talk about the games that you have to watch.
Travis Hunter vers Tech McMillan, we talked about that as a matchup, and you're gonna watch that game differently than you watch Tech McMillan versus New Mexico, even though we put up three hundred four yards three hundred four yards four touchdowns. Yeah, but you're gonna watch right, So you're gonna watch that game differently. Now, all of a sudden, we're gonna have elite players against elite players, two three, four more games than we'd usually have. And I go
back to Michael Pennox last year. Where do you think Michael Pennix gets draft? And I know he had the fall off against Michigan. Where does Michael Pennix get drafted? If you take out the game against Texas.
Yeah, we talked about this a little bit yesterday. You know that's I think a big thing with college football playoff in general.
Right, So, so you have Jalen Milroe, quinn Ewers.
I'm on it.
Can I write off Carson Beck as I make this take.
Car I kind of write off quinn Ewers too. I think Quins fine.
Jalen Milroe absolutely if he goes out and lights up because Alabama, for whatever reason, is going to make the playoff. Yeah, if he goes out and lights up Oregon, I know why.
But yeah, if he goes out, he lights it up out there, right, Dylan Gabriel, does he have a little bow nick'sish sort.
Of rise during the playoff? And Will Howard all right off? The one other name I'll give you, and this nobody has talked about him at all. I heard last year when people wanted the Patriots, Oh you can pass on Drake, May you pass on the quarterback? You gotta get you all. You gotta get Marvin Harrison. There were two names that came up a ton besides Shedder during that time. One Jackson Dart No, oh my god, no Jackson. One was Carson Beck He's obviously fallen off. The other one was
Curtis Rourke from Indiana. Everybody was all hot and bothered about Curtis work last year, and I never really got a straight answer as to why Curtis Rourke had a very under the radar solid season in Indiana. Obviously they're going to the playoff, But but now nobody's everybody want to talk about him. Last year, nobody's talking about him. If Curtis Rourke goes out and leads Indiana to a playoff winner, two, he's gonna start getting first round buzz.
So the college football playoff.
Remember I said this at the beginning of the year, the Patriots aren't taking a quarterback, but we're not done doing quarterbacks.
Gonna be done, No, we're not because time to watch all these guys. You just have to watch him the playoff.
Just because to Jalen Milroe or Dylan Gabriel or Curtis Rourke. You want to throw in Will Howard, Carson Beck, Quinn Eewers. Does one of these guys have a rise where maybe a team goes yeah, take him the top five a quarterback. I take him in the top five.
Yeah. I just really feel I'd be pretty surprised if Shador isn't already there as a as a top ten guy, and.
Cam Ward, I think, are there. It's do one of these other guys in college football players join them?
So you could have that You could have that trade down scenario come into play with with those two guys I think already. I mean Dan Bruger put out his first mock draft and had both those guys in the top five. So I definitely feel like I could see that happening. But the problem is, you know, like Dane mentioned, I believe in the piece, the Jaguars took Travis Hunter number one overall, and then he had two quarterbacks at two and three, and he just said, look, it's not
a trade up for a quarterback. That these guys are so good that we're giving up hauls to trade up. So the Jaguars still got stuck picking a non quarterback number one.
The quarterbacks are are going to be dictated by like, that's dictated by where the teams are, and Dane didn't do trades, right, But who do you have two and three Raiders and Giants?
I think so?
Yeah, the order is now so well, those are those.
Are quarterback teams. What happens if the Panthers end up there? What happens if the Patriots there? Like that changes Shouldar Sanders and cam Ward are gonna go high. But you know, it's not a trade up scenario of teams two and three are quarterback teams. If suddenly one of those teams isn't a quarterback team, that changes everything, all right.
So here's what I did down that we've got the big picture out of the way, which I want to reiterate my stance on this. Do not pick a player in the top five who's not worthy of a top five pick. That's the worst thing that you can do, right like that, that's just you are open to trading down, Yeah, exactly, like if you want to trade down. And that's exactly how I set this up, right, is I have two guys that I watch that I feel like are worth the top five pick in this draft is going to be.
And then I have a bunch of you know, a handful of guys that if they were to trade down, I'd be cool with taking nine. Yeah, exactly, taking in that next wave.
I wouldn't trade out of top ten because somebody, oh, you want to trade down, you don't want me at town.
No. I wouldn't trade past top ten. No, neither would I. So my two guys that are I haven't let's call it s t here right at that top of this draft. Uh, the best player in the draft, bar none. I think it's not particularly close that Travis Hunter is the best player in the draft. He is I thought was outstanding
on both sides of the football. I really did as a receiver, the twitch and the athleticism just jumps off the film at you what I was most impressed with him as a receiver, where his ball skills and his feel for.
Zone coverage almost like he plays corner.
Really advanced for what I thought I was getting in. I thought I was getting into a situation where they're just like, he's the best athlete on the field, so we're just gonna have him dabble at wide receiver. He is starting to kind of learn wide receiver right, Like you can see he has a great feel going over the middle of the field and he's not afraid to go over the middle of the field. He's got great hands and ball skills at the catch point. He's made
some really tough catches at the catch point. And he's got a real inate ability. I know he's played with him forever, Yeah, but he's got a real inateability of working off script with Shador And like, if you get that with Drake May then that's really good, right, Like
that you can have that sort of connection there. The one thing that I had against him at wide receiver that I just didn't feel that he was like a prototypical boundary x receiver, right, Yeah, Like I don't see him that way a wide receiver, just because of the size and like some of the rawness with his releases and things like that. I don't necessarily look at him as like a true X, but I think he's outstanding.
Where's he better? Well, I'll get to my corner. But I told you, I tell you when we were recording her, before we started. I think it is before we started. I told you how I did this. I did pros and I did cons and I did a bottom line. Yeah, so let me give you corner first. Okay. At corner, I feel like he has the opposite problem is what he has at receiver. At corner, he is an elite boundary corner, not a great slot corner, right, So you're
gonna play him on the boundary. I think he can mirror and match with the best of them in Manta man coverage. His feet are exceptionally quick. He's very twitchy and smooth through his transitions. He can go out there and you can cover top receivers with that cornerback tape
that he put in coloro. And he's a very good flat or like cloud cover two corner, and he'll read the quarterback size and he'll jump plays awesome ball hawk like, great ball instincts and the ability to you know, click and close and really close on the football in a hurry. That is it pops off the film, like when he has a ball come in his direction and he's got to close on something to make a play on the football. He is shot out of a canon, unbelievable trade for him.
He to me, looks like a top five pick in an NFL draft should look like both positions. Really is how I felt. But at corner I thought he got a little bit loose in the slot and then was really good on the boundary and receiver. I thought he has some issues on the boundary, but is really good playing off the liner in the slot. So you gotta figure him out, and I know that's your big thing. Yeah, my bottom line with him, I have no notes. The
guy's a stud. The question with him you got to figure him out, right, like where is he playing in all that kind of thing.
This is my big take on Travis Hunter. I've heard a lot of people say, well, you just draft him and then you figure it out, which is really easy to say on the outside. You can't that can't be the answer. And what is my big draft take among all else, the one draft take I always go back on. It's nature verse nurture. Drafting the right players only half the battle. You have to properly develop him. There's been a lot of very talented players that have gone to
bad situations with bad development plans and bottomed out. And Travis Hunter is the ultimate example of this. If he's there, you take him because he's that talented. Let me be clear, this is not me saying don't draft draft Travis Hunter.
As much as you want that to be my fast You're going on the fence like I'm not going on the fence.
You can't draft him and then say all right, we'll take him, then we'll feed You gotta have a plan.
Yeah.
Are you gonna try playing them both ways one hundred percent time? I don't think that's realistic. Are you gonna try playing them one hundred percent of the ways of all time? If not, where's he playing?
Who makes that decision? Is it him? Is it you? Right?
How is he gonna split up his practice time? What are you gonna do about himhysically? Because he does need to be bigger, that's that's the one knock that like, he has had a little bit of trouble with durability. Now he plays their injuries. He's a tough guy, but he gets hurt. And at the NFL, the players only getting bigger, the hits are only getting more physical, So he's not gonna hold up playing both ways. He's just not. So do you PLAYM at corner where I think he's
a better corner. I think he's a very good receiver. Yeah, he's a better corner. Do you play M at corner where I think he's gonna be a dominant player for ten, twelve, fifteen years. Do you playhim at receiver where maybe he has more of an impact but now the injury thing, the durability comes more to play, and I just I don't think he's quite the like ninety nine overall corner ninety overall receivers kind of where I'm at with him.
So I think that's fair.
It comes down to how much do you trust the coaching staff to have the right plan. I think there might be more than one plan. If you want to tell me we're gonna draft him and play him at corner and then kind of Marcus Jones him on offense. Yeah, Okay, that's a good plan if you're gonna draft him and say, we know he's a better corner, but we want to
do something for Drake May. We're gonna play him at res receiver and maybe against certain receivers and certain matchups will put him on defense, right, Like, oh, we have to you know we're facing this great receiver this week. We want to get him give him a chance. Okay, fine, Like that's a good plan too. If the planet's just we're gonna get to camp and throw him out on the field and see what it looks like.
No, No, I am out on that. So no, my biggest thing with him. Uh And again, if they draft, if we get to April and it's and Travis Hunter is the pick, I'm ecstatic. I think I think is an absolutely terrific football player. So I'm on board. I think I agree with you.
I also think he is going to be one of the hardest development projects we've seen in the NFL, especially outside the quarterback position.
But I know in the reward is so but but there's not much work. There's not much football development that needs to be done. It's all about managing it, right, like where is he gonna put it goes along the same thing, Like I know, but there's not like he's not raw as a pro, but even just the day to day of it, like to be to be elite in college and to be elite and a pros are
two different things. Yeah, you can go out and just line it up, and I mean there's some work that goes into it, obviously, but think about all the hours and hours and hours of film a guy like Steph Gilmour watched.
Yeah, right to every nuance of his opponent's game every week. Yeah, Can you do that and also spend enough time in the offensive meeting room where you're still on the same page as your quarterback? Can you what happens when you do ones versus ones on one first ones in practice?
So, like you need to.
Figure that out because that is where you go. You go back and forth between getting a good player and getting a great player. That is gonna be the difference with Travis Hunter. It's gonna be how the coaching staff utilizes him and what they ask him to do. That's what the pick comes down to. I still take him.
I still take a good plan. Here's what I would do, Yeah, so assuming that he doesn't do any of the college All Star games, and I think is a safe assumption. Now I'll go I think he's going to the shrine, but to like do interviews. I know shador Is, I didn't. I don't know if Travis oh I might be thinking of Yeah. Uh so let's just say first point of contact the combine. Yeah, all right, that's the biggest question in the room is what position do you want to play?
And if the answer is both, then you have to be real with them, like you're what you just said, right, you can't. We don't feel as an organization. And I'm I'm speaking on behalf of the organization, right, I'm just is just my scenario. If I'm in the room, I'm gonna say to him, we don't really feel like it's feasible for you to play both ways. Well, I don't want to put words in your mouth. Do you feel
that way? I don't feel that way. No, you think he can play both ways one hundred percent, not one hundred percent, but I think that yours. There's a path for him to play both ways in some capacity. But I say the difference to me between him and Marcus Jones is Marcus Jones is a great ball carrier. Travis Hunter is good after the catch, but he's not this like gadget player goes putting him on offense to play actual wide, but it.
Goes back to putting in the time to have chemistry with the quarterback.
Yeah A, that that's right. That that's my point too, is that like this isn't like we're gonna just throw him out there to throw a screen to him, right, Like this is like he's gonna run routes.
But that's all the more reason that he needs to spend significant.
Time with you. Yeah, yeah, I'm agreeing with so.
But he can't do that and spend significant time with the.
Yeah, I agree with you. So I look at it and I say to Travis Hunter, first of all, you need to as an organization, you need to pick a side with him, Like what side do you think he's the best player at?
Where would you if you're having him focus on one where you're putting him.
I think I agree with you that he's a better corner. I think it's more valuable for him to be a better receiver. So that's what makes it tough. I'd probably draft him as a receiver. Yeah, because if you draft him as a receiver and it hits the way I think it will, then you have a you have Jamar Chase, Like you have an elite wide but he's not that X outside. No, But I just mean like it, you have a top ten receiver. You have the coverage dictating receiver.
Yeah, you have your Tuesday, And.
I feel like that's more valuable than having another shutdown corner opposite. I'm with you. So I look at it and say I'd play him at receiver. The I was really, like I said, I was really surprised, and uh in a good way. How instinctual he is already at wide receiver. Uh that I was. Again, I just made a big leap from last year to this year. I thought he was just gonna be mossing guys because he was a
great athlete. I didn't realize that he was going to be going out there and like understanding where to settle in zone, yeah, and all that kind of stuff. So I developed him at wide receiver. I'd send him down at these at these meet and greets, and I'd say, we see you as a wide receiver. If you come to us, you're playing wide receiver right point blank.
And then you know what, I think there's room four, especially when you get later in the year. Hey, we have you know, all right, we're facing the Dolphins this week, right, they have Tua and or they have Hill and Waddle. Yeah, we're gonna put you out there like fifty percent of the time on defense this week.
And then he has.
Third down, right or third down and maybe maybe you you decrease this role offensively that week a little bit.
Right.
I think it's I would do it as a week to week thing, but I would have him like in camp, you're playing receiver.
Yeah, So the last thing I want to say on Travishun and then we should move. Uh. The other thing that I would assume, and this is just an assumption, is that he's going to want to play wide receiver. I think so because the money is that wide receiver. So he's gonna know I can be a thirty million dollar wide receiver or I can be a fifteen million dollar corner. And knowing his background and knowing the dion's in his ear and all that kind of stuff. So I think this is gonna work itself out.
Is I guess we're out going that'd be like, if I'm advising him for whatever this is worth, I would say, you could be a thirty million dollar wide receiver on one big contract, or you can play corner for fifteen years and get like four to twenty million dollar contract.
Right.
But my one other thing is it's not gonna matter because he's going first overall, and I don't think they're getting over I.
Don't know if it's not gonna matter. They could lose that.
They still have I know, but they have what three four teams ahead of them.
They have three teams ahead of them. They're all one loss ahead of them, and that and those teams have some head to heads against each other. So it's a Giants still, it's possible. Anyways, the Giants still play. They play the Ravens, the Falcons, the Colts, and the Eagles. That's pretty tough, yep. And then again that's a quarterback team.
So so uh long, long way to it, you know, long way to Grahama's house here on Travis Hunter uh Studd No notes yep, great football player, no notes, nope, none, film notes no none, none on either side. Like he's gonna be good. Like there's things that I can nitpick about both things, Like I don't think he's great on the outside receiver. I don't think that he's great on the inside of a corner. I don't really care. I
think he's awesome. That's it all right, Next guy, this one comes with his asterisk, but just off talent alone and watching it on the film. Will Campbell is a top five pick in an NFL draft. Okay, he just is. Okay, he What I think is the best part about Will Campbell to me is he's got that package of foot speed, body control power at the point of attack right, like he's got it, Like you just watch him move and
he's explosive out of his stance. He can mirror pass rushers on the edge, like some of the clips that I posted, what game was that against South Carolina where he's just mirroring those guys is just absurd, Like it's just crazy how well he can mirror guys on an
island in pass protection. And he also has a really great anchor and like you really don't go through him too often either, Like he's he really is very stout and like you can just see it right like from in his lower half, how stout he is just technically sound, athletic, all of it.
Like he is.
He's a blue chip offensive line prospect. Of course, the astra is the arm light. But I find this whole thing to be insufferable frankly about this conversation with Will Campbell, because it's almost like knocking the player right for the fact that he was not born with longer arms. And also I just find it insufferable because I think it's
way overthinking it with him. And that's why I was glad to see that Brugler just gave him to the Patriots at fourth overall and didn't overthink that's that freaking pick. He to me, Will Campbell is a stud I told you earlier that I would have it was a little recency biased. I kind of digested a little bit more.
I probably would still have Joe Alds ahead of him, just because of the measurables, Like joeald was cut from freaking chiseled yeah, to play tackle right, like six eight three thirty thirty four inch arms like just check check, check, check check. Will Campbell doesn't do that. But I think he would be right there for me. He does besides the arms six six three thirty Yeah, he'd be right there for me in terms of you know, Alt Campbell for Shanu, I think for sure.
So let's say they end up with a second pick. Yeah, Travis Hunter's gone. Yeah, thirty three inch arms he taken Will Campbell.
I can't trade out you. Well, that's an option, but you can.
If you trade out, your probably not getting Will campb If he his thirty three inch arms, I'm probably taking him, all right, thirty two and seven eighths?
Is he good? Set the meter? I'm taking him. If it's thirty two and seven eights, we're talking about an eighth of an inch, And if that's what you're caught up on, then your looney tunes. Okay, So I'm taking him at an eighth of an inch. But I I sigh and I pause because I know that it's gonna be insufferable, Like it's gonna be a pain in the ass, Right it was. I told you the other day. I wasn't explaining this.
I was giving a take the cutoff. The benchmark was thirty four inches until Rashaun Slater showed up and was a very good tackle with thirty three inch arms. Will Campbell, to me, is the kind of guy that could maybe reset the benchmark again. I think he's that talented. Doesn't mean every guy with thirty two and seven eighth inch arms can play tackle. I think Will Campbell probably could if it's like thirty two and a half right now,
we're talking Peter Skronski territory. Okay, But I have some flexibility with Will Campbell.
I think he's that good.
Really.
The only thing that worries me with him because he's got the leadership quotient he plays.
I didn't even mention that.
I did.
You got all excited about the seven. So this this thing, this is super cool. You usually hate this. No, I'm so surprised you're into not because not when it comes to offensive lineman, because offense. Playing offensive line is a mentality, like you have to have a mindset to play that position. And the one of the reasons why I'm swimming over Will Campbell is because he he has that like he has that intangible quality.
Well he might be he's probably a nice, kidding person. He's a mean, nasty guy.
He's nasty. He wants to kill you. He wants to kill your family. He wants to take your your kids out behind the woodshed along with you, Like this guy is nasty as tough as nails. And the seventh thing is so cool to me because LSU explain the seven. So at LSU, the seven is the best playmaker on the.
Rocket is awarded by the coaching staff. You cannot choose number seven, the coaches say at the beginning of every year. Yeah, the best playmaker on the offense gets seven.
Khan had that. I think it's best playmaker on the eighteen on defense. I thought Patrick Peterson wore seven.
Oh there's an eighteen too.
I forget what that is. Maybe it's best on the team. Hang on all Yeah, fine, so I thought it because I know Patrick Peterson wore it and Leonard Fournette wore it, I think. And to have a program like LSU that is just a factory of skill player. You're right, eighteen is best leader. Seven is best playmaker either side.
Yeah.
So to have a program like LSU, that's just a factory of great NFL players.
As you explained, I give you some sevens Pat Peterson, Tyron Matthew, Leonard Fournette, DJ Shark, Jonathan Giles, Grant Delpin.
Yeah. So not all of them have panned out to be fair, but to have LSU give a offensive lineman the seven, first time it's ever happened. Best playmaker gets the seven from the offensive line, and then he's not eligible to wear seven in the game because he's an offensive lineman, so he wears it as a patch on his jersey.
That is freaking awesome. That is That is the kind of thing you usually roll your eyes in.
Because not because that's what that's what you want to hear when you're drafting an offensive lineman and he's a playmaker. Yeah, he's a playmaker that changes your line.
That's a Pennay soul kind of thing, right, So yeah, outside of the arm length, like and I'm willing to be flexible there, like I to me, he's the guy. The only thing that gave me any semblance of pause this year's penalties.
Yes, that was it. He gets opened up a little bit in his past sets, but it's fixable in my mind, Like it's it's just a technique thing. I don't think it's anything too serious.
He played three years in the SEC, started as a true freshman, started three full seasons. He allowed a sack in his first game, He allowed a sack in his last game. He allowed one sack the entire time in between.
Yeah, two years without a sack base, basically two.
Years in that sack in the SEC. The guy's freaking special man.
Yeah, and I was thirty two and seven ages.
Like you said, if you're gonna take a guy in the top five, he needs to have top five talent. Will Campbell his top five talent.
Yeah, So last thing on Will Campbell, then we'll move again. I just look at it to a little bit, and I look at Drake and even Christian Gonzales. I am all aboard the early declare train. At this point in the draft, true junior is coming out. That means that you're a stud.
Well, this class is all true juniors. It's like an insane number of.
Yeah, that means you're the real deal. It didn't take you six years in college to get to this point. You did it in three and you're already a top ten prospect in the NFL.
There's so many true juniors in this class. It's an insane night.
And I know you love this. It's a little bit like Drake too, where like his his sophomore season was maybe even better than his junior season. You know, I thought Will Campbell last year was like, Okay, this guy's going to be a top five pick in the draft last year if he was able to come out and he was eligible. Now this year, he just did what he needed to do.
I say, Garrett nuss Meyer's a much harder quarterback.
To block franchise Terris.
Garrett nuss Meyer has no concept of the pocket.
It's atrocious. Yeah. Okay, So that's Will Campbell. Yeah, bottom line, high level blocker, elite foot speed, body control, but just might not be long enough for tackle. That's that's it, right, It's just that butt. It's just that butt.
So the combine technically begins on the twenty seventh. Yeah, so that would put offensive line measurements I think March March second.
Yeah, big day circle it. Okay, So here is my next wave here, and this is like if the Patriots were to trade down, I feel comfortable with drafting one of these three players, and I put him in order because you know I like this.
So wait, I know you said you didn't watch him, but from what you're familiar with, where do you put Will Johnson?
Uh?
Probably in this list? Okay. I think the big thing that I see with Will Johnson is long speed I know that's been something that's come up with people. If you're gonna play on the boundary in the NFL, you have to be able to run, like you have to be Christian Gonzales, like, you have to be able to carry everything. Travis Hunter can carry everything. I don't know if Will Johnson's like it's not terrible, Like, yeah, but it's not. I mean, he was projected as the top
pick in this draft. Yeah, that's why I ask. Okay, so I put I put these guys in order, Uh, my next guy on my wish list here, and this is the trade down category. Right, So we're going from FORDA to eight or nine or ten, and we're drafting this guy. I'm not drafting this guy at four. Abdul Carter from Penn State. I h I was really impressed. My one caveat with it for him is really more about them, right Like, are you gonna draft as the Patriots?
Like?
Are the Patriots now into up the field rushers? Right? Like? Is that now a thing that they're subscribing to? Because when I watch when I watched Abdul Carter, his style of play is not is not a Belichick style of play. He is a up the field, downhill, hair on fire, coming around the edge. That's how he plays. If you need want a guy to like post up on the edge and set the edge of the defense ends and
hold the point of it like an Anthony Jennings. Right, he's not that, But this guy is Matthew jud replaced. This guy has twitched up as hell, Like this guy is shot out of a cannon. Excellent bend around the corner as well, closing bursts to the quarterback. Like he's got that ability to corner and just close on the quarterback and get him on the ground. Like some of the tape that you watch against him, you know, against
your boy Ursery just kind of ate his lunch. Ohio States tackles ate their lunch third Maryland last week was absurd, right, like, you know, just every single week, this guy's putting up numbers. But like I said, awesome, awesome pass rusher, screamer twitched up off the edge, But he's not He's not an eddsetter. He's a pass rusher. He's an up the field player. Are the Patriots into that sort of thing? And now is that a is that a new turning a new lead?
Well it kind of worked with judea On, so you'd have to. But like jud On was a veteran, proven player in this league, are you going to have a rookie that kind of freedom?
That's a fair question. The other thing with me, and by the way, this is a theme for a lot of guys in this draft. Yeah, it's consistency. Like he had a pretty pedestrian start to the season and then the last month and a half just went on an absolute heater even though Maryland sucks in Ohio again, was like using their third string right guard as a left tackle. But no, he can he can play, he can get
after the quarterback. He's a modern rusher, something that teams are gonna have to decide when they look at the edge guys. We talked about this with James Pierce, who was the top pass rusher coming into this class and had a rough year. It's more extreme with James Piers. James Pierce is a pass rush specialist. James Pearce is not a three down player. Now, he's damn good to getting to the quarterback. But are you going to use a top fifteen pick on a guy that is a situational player?
Now? Carter projects more as a run defender. Yeah, he's not gonna give you much that he wins, but he wins in the run game with quickness. Right, he's gonna slip blocks and he's gonna jump gaps and things like that.
He is the opportunity to become a three down player, but he's probably not right away.
So that's the other thing.
And it goes to your point about play style, like that's gonna come with an adjustment. You just have to ask yourself how he projects as a three down player, and your your say, whatever team drafts him, whatever team's evaluating him, you have to project either how he fits the three down player in your defense or do you go to the James Pierce extreme and just say, maybe he's just a situational rusher, but he's so good, we'll use the pick where.
We use the pick. Had some just unreal moments of speed and bend around the edge where like Cackles can't even get there, no tier athlete, like just eliting. And you can see it too, like you know, not to go all weird, but like you can see it with the body type, like the lower half, like you can just see the explosiveness that he has in his legs off the ball. Just a really fun player to watch it.
And another guy we talked about this, you know, another college football playoff guy, right, like you know you can see him have have even more good games against good competition. They're gonna be the college football playoff, right, pen State Penn State? Yeah yeah there so he'll I've and I mean there's a chance we get Penn State Texas. Yeah. So Kelvin Banks Abdual Carter Right, that's again like that game is going to mean so much for both players
stocks yep, all right. Next on the list, Yeah, TEP McMillan. So I like Tech macmillan, I don't love TEP McMillan. I don't feel the same way about TEP McMillan as I did. Marvin Harrison Junior and Melik Neighbors last year
not the same caliber. Like you know, look, Marvin Harrison Junior wasn't like a burner either, but like when better comparison to me, you know you look at in terms of body type than Melik Neighbors obviously, but like when you would watch you know, Neighbors at LSU, like that guy just moves different, right, you can just see it. That's what I want to see when I watch a first round pick in the top ten at a wide receiver.
I want to see a guy that is just a tier athlete and moves different than everybody else on the field. And I just didn't necessarily see that with Ted. And I think the biggest thing to me is that you have to understand what you're drafting when you draft Ted
mc millan. And my concern with it is is that you're adding another guy to this offense who's not fast, like and they already have guys that are are not fast, that are just like good possession, like body receivers right like contested catch guys and back shoulders and I'm gonna run across the middle of the field into zones and
like catch balls over the middle of the field. And like I do like the fact that he can, you know, go inside a little bit, Like you can use him in the slots some to stretch the seam and to run routes from the slot, which I guess can be useful. And like the catch radius in the body control is excellent, Like he's got that ability back shoulder, high point fade work the sidelines, got great feet and you know awareness of the sideline canto, those types of things. So I
see a lot of Drake London. I see a little bit of T Higgins in his game. As a way, I think Mike Evans is on a different stratosphere. I don't think that's a fair comp to anybody. Frankly, it's the it's the apex of that sort of player. But that's him like truly maxing out. So the question that I would just have, and we all know those players in the NFL, would you draft T Higgins fourth overall in the draft?
So, I mean the Patriots, given their history at wide receiver, you can get that guy.
I think you would. Now do you do that when you can just sign to Higgins? Right? Becomes another conversation. Definitely not both.
I know some people want to see them so too a receiver. If you're gonna do that and T Higgins is the guy, well, now we're talking about Travis Hunter or even maybe Luther Burden.
I think you're under selling McMillan's speed a little bit.
He's not a burner. He's not gonna run the four twos. He could be a low four to four guy because he doesn't he doesn't look that fast because his legs are so long. He's got that stride that it looks effortless and the most underrated part about his game to me, And maybe this doesn't go to straight line speed. He's quick, he can get away from defenders with the ball in his hands. He's a plus player after the catch. Usually don't see that from guys that are six to five.
And he brings that. I agree, Like he's not slow. He's not slow.
And to the point about they need to add speed, Yes, I would like to see them add speed, But I don't look at McMillan and say, all right, there's another guy that's just gonna trudge around the field. Now he has quickness, he can create after the catch. It's not This isn't a case of you know a guy like Jalen Polk, who you worry about his ability to separate and he has to win those fifty to fifty balls.
Ted McMillan can create separation, but he's not gonna be somebody again that you're just gonna have running goal balls and expect him to beat the defender every time.
Yeah, I think that's a fair point. Like I know you're right, Like I'm not trying to say he's a snail out there. But I just think that when I watch him, I don't see a whole lot of three level, you know, third level separating what do you see?
But but and I know people roll their eyes at this because here we go again. He's not the kind of guy that needs to do that because he can win at the catch point. Yeah, but they have a quarterback now that can do more to take advantage of a guy like that.
What do you see?
Where do you see his forty time ranging? Like, when you watch him, what do you four or five see? I think he can get to the mid four force.
If he does that, then I like I'd be impressed. I think he's a four or five guy. I think the best part about Ted McMillan to me is that he's a really really smooth athlete for six foot five. And when I watch you know guys in the past that I haven't like loved at the position, Yeah, Quinton Johnston for example, Keon Coleman. So so let me ask this.
Some people have brought up Quentin Johnston, and you were very quick two years ago to say this guy is not he thinks he is. How do you see McMillan compared to Johnston.
Much better compared to them, And the reason being is that one he doesn't have frying pan hands, which helps actually very good. Yeah, and number two is just his smoothness. Like the big thing that I was worried about when I studied Quinton Johnston and when I studied Keon Coleman last year is that they're very robotic in their movements.
They're stiff, right, And one of the things that I learned from Nikhil Harry is when you see guys that are like stiff like that and are like they don't have a difficult time like sinking and cutting and things like that, then you can't add branches to the route tree. All it is is jump balls, right, There is no other branches. So with Quentin Johnson, like we're seeing that in Los Angeles right now, Ted McMillan is not not anywhere like that. Like he's a very smooth athlete. He's
very smooth in and out of his brakes. He has some flashes of route release and you know, ability to get off the line of scrimmage. He's just not a top end, like he's not a game breaker like in terms of like that torpetability type of ability with speed. But you mentioned the yards after catch. I do agree with you there. I think he's faster with the ball in his hands, which is interesting, which I do like. But to me, he's gonna win. It's gonna be you know, slants, digs, comebacks,
back shoulders, high points, like that's gonna be his route tree. Well, they have a quarterback that's pretty good with that route tree. Yeah, but it's not gonna be. I'm gonna just run through the defense, right, I will say this.
So here's how you know it's really drafts. And again we're doing the rumored high school forty times. Remember we did this to Johnny Wilson last year. I was like, oh, he ran a four or three in high school and whatever. So Tech McMillan's rumored high school forty time, yeah, is four or five flat. Yeah, So okay, But if you figured that's high school is also rumored that's high school. If he's built on that, can he shave half a second off that three.
Years into college? Yeah? The other weird thing.
The other weird thing with Tech McMillan. And I'm curious to see how people react to this. You kind of talked about it with Travis Hunter, but Travis Hunter just a different kind of player. So Tech McMillan's quarterback at Arizona, And I'm curious, now that you've watched, how you win this. Tech McMillan's quarterback in arizona' a guy named Noah Fafida. Noah Flafita is a solid college quarterback. This is another thing real quick. The rest of that Arizona team terrible. Yeah,
just Notita's fine. And so consistency is the thing with McMillan you're gonna look at with him, but some of it is teams would just like triple cover him.
So yeah, in the quarterback kind of stinks like he had one route. I remember that I cut where he separates on the comeback and the quarterback throws at ten yards over it.
So but here, So one thing you gotta look at Ted mcmillinerson. He was getting all the attention defensively and that's why you had these fifty percent of his receiving yards came in three games.
Yeah.
But the other thing is so Fafita has been his quarterback since high school. Yeah, so there's an advanced chemistry there. And I'm wondering if some people are gonna look at that and say, well, yeah, he looks like such a great body control fifty to fifty ball receiver because him and Fefida are on the same page. Is he gonna have that with the next guy?
Yeah, they'll definitely see that too, working over the middle of the field, like the anticipatory throws that the quarterback just knows he's gonna be there and he just can fit it into windows like that. Look, I don't hate the player, I know it kind of sounds like I'm down on him. I just I'm not in love where I would be pounding the table at fourth overall to draft him, I definitely.
But if it's him at eight in a future first round pick, sure, Okay.
Yeah, I wouldn't kill him for it. I wouldn't kill him a right. We gotta hurry, We got we gotta wrap here on drafts. Yeah, so I got two more guys or Kelvin Banks, Mason Graham. Yeah, one more guy, one more guy, Kelvin Banks. Ok. Yeah, So look I like Kelvin Banks. I think you can really move the line of scrimmage. I think it's a strong dude. You can see that I do think he's got good footwork for a guy that size, pretty good in terms of
technically sound footwork as well. I think the two issues that I saw with him on film is that he falls off blocks sometimes he has a trouble sustaining blocks, and maybe that speaks to some body control issues and some hand placement issues, which I guess you could probably work through. And then also just watching him against high level pass rushers, and this is probably the biggest one.
He's right on the line of giving up the edge a lot of the time, right Like it's getting all out to that landmark to get the guy past the quarterback at ten yards. It can be a struggle for him. Sometimes he's flirting with it, right Like sometimes you see throughout the course of the game, it'll be like ten ten, nine, eight, eight and a half, you know what I mean, we're
trying to go down. Uh. And that is why I think a lot of people have projected him to move inside, because he's kind of this like blocky build, really good power, good initial footwork that he's gonna be able to handle interior guys. I don't know if he's like a dancing bear to play on an Island, Like, I don't know if I'm kicking him outside in the NFL. I kind of have more concerns about him at tackle honestly than I do with Will Campbell.
So he's the guy to me that if like you're playing for Josh Simmons, which is, yeah, we draft him, and because I think he's a right tackle in the NFL, yeah, certainly.
Yeah, I would move to the right.
Tackle before I move to guard. And he's one where like I draft him, play him at left. Maybe you don't sign Garrett Bowles, but you sign like a capable bridge guy. Worst case scenario, you kick him over the right side where I think he would be good, and then you go back in and do left tackle next year. Now, I know I said no half measures, so I'm not saying I'm like endorsing that plan. But yeah, like he he might be a good right tackle. I'll say that
the big game for him, We'll see what happens. But so well, Texas is gonna play Georgia in the SC Championship this week. So Michael Williams, who you said you watched a little bit, Yeah, you want to get ten seconds on Michael Wims, I wasn't crazy about it.
But also at the same time, like that Georgia's scheme is really weird for defensive ends. It's it's very bellichicking.
Nobody gets a lot of sacks because everybody gets.
A yeah, and they don't really let guys get up the field, and they play a lot of five techniques, so he's straight up over the tackle instead of outside the tackle, which is a disadvantageous rush angle and all like. There's also we did this with Trayvon Locker a couple of years ago. It's all the same stuff. So I didn't really see it with mikel Williams that I watched two games and really, did.
You watch the Texas game? Uh? No, Okay, so that was the game that kind of sunk everybody on Calvin Banks. That was Michael Williams's best game of the year. Yeah, So rematch Saturday Texas Georgia. Big game for both guys. And then as we get further in this thing pass rushers up and down. Penn State has Abdul Carter, Georgia has Michael Williams Tennessee as James Pearce. I am blanking on the name of the guy from Indiana, but like he's not at the top of the draft because he's undersize.
He's like six foot two sixty, But he led the Big ten and pressures this year and I wish I could remember his name. Obviously, Alabama has guys if they get there. Yeah, Kelvin Banks may be in the best position of any of the guys we've talked about because he's gonna have so many chances to prove what he can do against high level NFL caliber players. However long the Texas run lasts, I think it's gonna last. I don't know they're gonna win the national championship.
I like Oregon.
I still think Ohio State in spite of Ryan Day, as a chance because the Ohio State's another one. Jack Sawyer my guy, another team with two great edge guys. But Kelvin Bank's in a great position because he's gonna have so many chances here over the next month and a half to show up against other guys that are gonna go in the top ten to fifteen to twenty picks in this draft.
Yeah, they're right tackle shots a good one. Like I look at him and I just worry a little bit about him protecting his edge, like against real twitched up edge rushers that are he's gonna see in the NFL every single week, you know, like looking just in division, like if he has to face Chop Robinson right like with Miami, you know, Chop Robinson, his first step is gonna eat him up a little bit. I think I guess what.
I'm saying to you, though, on my point is like, don't don't be done evaluating Kelvin Banks.
No, I'm not. We got some breaking news here. This is interesting Patriots breaking news. Yesh okay Uh.
North Carolina is interviewing Bill Belichick for its head coaching opening.
According to On three Sports, Oh so, uh, your boy Tony maz had had that scoop yesterday. Yeah, I think Maz had that.
I didn't see Bill going to college, not thean l R didn't see it.
That's sad. It's sad. I find it sad.
This has to be some sort of leverage play by somebody.
I find it. I find it legitimately sad that Bill Belichick, the greatest head coach of all time, is gonna not only sink himself from going to college, but to you n C like, no disrespect. Drake May but like you, and he's gonna say, like, after all you talked to Drake May, maybe Drake Drake May is the is literally the only good thing that's Taylor. It's like, Lauren, there he goes Drake Baylor. That's why I bet he's doing Lawrence Taylor and Lawrence Taylor are solid. We just solid there.
Oh man, jeez, jeez, How the Mighty have fallen? Huh? All right, well, speaking of how the Mighty have fallen, it's December fifth, and we just did an hour on the draft already, so that's how the mighty have fallen? Here and now Bill Belichick's interviewing for a college coaching job, so we're what world are we living in right now? It's like this is an upside down world. But that's a That's my my initial take on the draft. I hope you enjoyed it. I did. It was good stuff again.
I I'm gonna keep pounding the table for the next six months, so I'm gonna be a broken record. Don't waste this pick on a player that's not worth the pick. If you're picking fourth overall, you gotta pick a guy that's worth the fourth overall pick every year, not just this year. You don't want to be that team that gets stuck, you know. I always bring up Jacksonville and they might be in the same position again this year.
Trayvon Walker like solid player for the Jaguars. He was not a number one overall pick in a draft, right like that, that was the position they were in in twenty two. I don't want the Patriots to be in that position again in twenty four. I guess we'll see what happens in the last four weeks of the season and if they can, you know where they finished in terms of the draft order. But that's it real quick. The Georgia like linebacker, hybrid guy, Like, what do you think about him?
I'm not familiar enough with him. It's Jalen Walker.
Yeah, weird player I really like.
So the next two guys project, Like, there's so many linebackers in this draft now, like Giod Campbell, Harold Perkins, Danny Stutsman, Barrett Carter. I can't get a read on Walker yet. But he's another guy where it's like I'll be watching him very closely.
Yeah, so I watched him a little bit too, as well as MIKEL Williams, and I have to admit, you know who the guy that I kind of saw in his game was who trod Mayo for Michael Williams. No oh for okay, off the line, on the line, off the line, insideline. Yeah, a little bit of that, A little bit, so that would be an interesting one, all right. Before we wrap it up here, attention Patriots fans, is
the most nail biting action film of the season. Carry On, starring tarn Edgerton, Sophia Carson, and Jason Bateman, touches down on Netflix on December thirteenth, just in time for the holidays. Only liquids allowed, Blood sweat and tears. Catch carry On December thirteenth on Netflix. I thought they were gonna go with a clear eyes, full heart, can't lose there for a second, but blood sweat and tears is what we got.
And one last time, easy to drink, easy to enjoy bud Light, the official beer sponsor of the New England Patriots. I apologize to the people waiting on hold call us back next week, but we already went long, so we got to wrap this thing up. Get like lead it leave it to us to go long on the bye week like we can't even Hey, we can't even do
a short show on the bye week. We'll be back next Thursday, same time, same place, and you guys can follow up on all this good draft stuff and we'll talk about the Arizona Cardinals and the trip out to the desert. So we'll see you guys then. Thanks for watching, Thank you for downloading this podcast.
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