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Patriots Draft Prospect Review: Linebackers · Patriots Unfiltered

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  Speaker 1: This is the Draft Prospect Review Podcast on Patriots dot
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  Speaker 1: Com Radio. Welcome to the NFL Draft. The Draft Prospect
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  Speaker 1: Review Podcast is your source for all the latest news
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  Speaker 1: and information on the NFL Draft. The new England Patriots
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  Speaker 1: flag now here to preview the linebackers the writers of
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  Speaker 1: Patriots dot Com Time once again for another draft podcast preview.
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  Speaker 1: We're working our way through the defense guys. We're gonna
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  Speaker 1: talk about some linebackers today, and much like we talked
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  Speaker 1: about with the defensive line, there are different kinds of linebackers.
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  Speaker 1: There are those traditional inside guys that you want to
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  Speaker 1: line up and stop the run with, and then there's
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  Speaker 1: some inside guys that aren't as traditional that maybe a
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  Speaker 1: little bit smaller, more speed based. And of course you
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  Speaker 1: have some outside guys as well. But I am really
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  Speaker 1: fascinated by the inside guys and whether or not Bill
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  Speaker 1: Belichick is looking to sort of change his philosophy a
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  Speaker 1: little bit. And we all have heard the names of
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  Speaker 1: the top of that list, Na Kobe Dean, Devin Lloyd.
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  Speaker 1: You know, guys like that Christian Harris, some guys that
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  Speaker 1: are a little bit smaller than you know, that Ted
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  Speaker 1: Johnson type that has lined up traditionally, you know, Brandon
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  Speaker 1: Spikes more recently on the inside with the Belichick defense,
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  Speaker 1: and I'm curious your thoughts. Do you think that maybe
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  Speaker 1: you're starting to see some signs that Bill is going
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  Speaker 1: to go in a different direction there. I don't know,
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  Speaker 1: And that's a good it's a great question, Paul. And
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  Speaker 1: I'm glad I asked. I'm glad. Yeah, I hope so,
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  Speaker 1: I hope. So you know a couple of things going
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  Speaker 1: on though. You know, they're having some turnover at linebacker.
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  Speaker 1: And when you think I think of the Patriots defense,
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  Speaker 1: Bill Belichick's defense, you think about linebackers and you know,
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  Speaker 1: the guys that that run around and make the plays.
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  Speaker 1: And it seems like they have a lot of guys
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  Speaker 1: on the roster at linebacker right now, you know, taking
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  Speaker 1: Cameron mcgron last year, signing Mac Wilson, Ray Kual McMillin
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  Speaker 1: got hurt in camp. You know those guys are back.
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  Speaker 1: How do they feel about them? Do they feel like
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  Speaker 1: those guys have potential or do they feel like one
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  Speaker 1: of these guys at the top could could change things.
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  Speaker 1: And I think that's what we're seeing with the mock drafts,
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  Speaker 1: where you'll see plenty of Devin Lloyd and plenty of
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  Speaker 1: Kobe Dean, and you know, I love both of them.
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  Speaker 1: I think they both have you know, some some question marks,
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  Speaker 1: but overall, I think you talk about speed, about guys
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  Speaker 1: that can get to the football and make plays. Um,
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  Speaker 1: those two guys are both fantastic, and Lloyd Tease is
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  Speaker 1: a little bit bigger and Dean is probably faster. So
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  Speaker 1: which preference would you have? I like Lloyd and I
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  Speaker 1: still think he's pretty fast. Honest, I didn't run well,
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  Speaker 1: but play he didn't have a great I mean we
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  Speaker 1: had talked about that. Somebody brought up on the show
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  Speaker 1: that he ran like a four to six six and
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  Speaker 1: there were fifteen guys. Fifteen of the linebackers ran a
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  Speaker 1: faster the inside linebackers ran a faster forty time. But
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  Speaker 1: I agree with Mike, I think he plays faster than
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  Speaker 1: that time. Yeah, and I was on the I'd probably
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  Speaker 1: lean Dean Um just because I think he is a
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  Speaker 1: pure football player in the sense of just understanding things,
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  Speaker 1: seeing it fast, reacting getting to it and and and
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  Speaker 1: it's a you know, a very slight difference between the
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  Speaker 1: two for me. I think the versatility of Um, you know,
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  Speaker 1: of Lloyd to be able to play a little bit
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  Speaker 1: off the edge. He did that as well, so that
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  Speaker 1: is appealing. But I think when I just I watched Dean,
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  Speaker 1: he just looks like a pure football player to me. Again,
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  Speaker 1: you know previous podcast I said, I'm looking at things
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  Speaker 1: a lot through the lens of Miami's offense and Buffalo's offense,
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  Speaker 1: and I think Nakobe Dean is the kind of player
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  Speaker 1: that is a weapon against those those offenses and one
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  Speaker 1: that I think would make a difference for this team.
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  Speaker 1: His ability to decipher what's going on with the RPOs
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  Speaker 1: and that kind of stuff. He just seems to have
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  Speaker 1: a knack for it. I really liked him teas why Lloyd.
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  Speaker 1: I think he's just a future leader. He's going to
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  Speaker 1: rock the Green Dot in a couple of years, rock
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  Speaker 1: the Green Dot. That's why we bring newcomers into can't
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  Speaker 1: get that kind of lingo just anywhere. No, But I
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  Speaker 1: was watching tape and he just he covers so much space, um,
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  Speaker 1: and you know, he's everywhere. Another guy who was a
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  Speaker 1: knack for the ball. You know, it just seems to
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  Speaker 1: get there and see things. But yeah, they're both dynamic
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  Speaker 1: and I think they they they'll it's in that range. Yeah,
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  Speaker 1: I was were saying they both have a chance to
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  Speaker 1: be available at twenty one. I think this position is
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  Speaker 1: on the table. I think it's a possibility. I don't
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  Speaker 1: think it's probably likely, but I do think it's a possibility.
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  Speaker 1: And I'm with Mike. I like both of these guys,
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  Speaker 1: but I'm with Mike on Dean. I just think that
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  Speaker 1: he's one of those guys that just oozes football. And uh,
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  Speaker 1: and his mama liked Belichick. She loves Bill Belichick apparently, so,
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  Speaker 1: I guess. So so it makes sense, you know Bill
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  Speaker 1: that counts for something. Yeah, he likes me, she likes me.
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  Speaker 1: So moving on, if they don't go twenty one, let's
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  Speaker 1: get into the second third round. Uh, let's get the
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  Speaker 1: Friday night picks. Uh some of these guys, that's say
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  Speaker 1: in a few not surprisingly a couple more Georgia guys
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  Speaker 1: as we work our way down this list. Yeah, and
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  Speaker 1: an Alabama guy. Why don't we go Quay Walker and
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  Speaker 1: Christian Harris? You know, I mean I don't think Christian
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  Speaker 1: Harris is uh is what you might expect if you're
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  Speaker 1: thinking Dante high Tower in terms of linebackers, But I
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  Speaker 1: do think he runs pretty well. Um, definitely that next
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  Speaker 1: Tierra guy though, so I like him. I didn't love him, um,
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  Speaker 1: you know, I instincts maybe little bit kind of questionable.
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  Speaker 1: But I think he's tough and he can run, so
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  Speaker 1: that that's appealing. I say, I like kway Walker. You know,
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  Speaker 1: he's able to get in the backfield, makes some noise,
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  Speaker 1: a very good chase down speed like all his highlights.
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  Speaker 1: You know, he's just on the running back so quickly.
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  Speaker 1: So yeah, it's amazing when you think of that Georgia defense.
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  Speaker 1: That's why they won the title. They had a pretty
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  Speaker 1: pedestrian offense. But Dean was kind of the guy. We're
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  Speaker 1: talking about four guys up front that we talked about
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  Speaker 1: in our last podcast. You're talking about, you know, another
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  Speaker 1: couple of guys here with kway Walker, Nikobe Dean and
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  Speaker 1: even Channing Tindall. Like this defense is just silly. We
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  Speaker 1: haven't even gotten the defensive back yet. We'll get to
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  Speaker 1: that and too with my boyfriend Everett Louis seen. But
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  Speaker 1: this is there are some impressive athletes and I think
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  Speaker 1: that's where I'd like to see the Patriots go. Now,
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  Speaker 1: maybe you're not you know you don't have to rip
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  Speaker 1: the band aid completely off and go one and eighty
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  Speaker 1: degrees the other way and say, Okay, not only I'm
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  Speaker 1: ready to go with a smaller guy, but I'm going
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  Speaker 1: to pick my first round pick and bank on it. Hey,
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  Speaker 1: I get it. Maybe you want to work your way
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  Speaker 1: into that. I would rather see a little bit less
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  Speaker 1: of the safeties playing linebacker roles and linebackers that understand
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  Speaker 1: the nuances of the position playing the linebacker spot, and
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  Speaker 1: you know, they're used to fighting through guards to find
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  Speaker 1: the football at you know, smaller sizes, whereas maybe some
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  Speaker 1: of those safeties aren't quite as used to that. Dan,
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  Speaker 1: I think the point you bring up to it's, you know,
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  Speaker 1: Jordan Davis upfront, how much did he help Nakobe Dean?
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  Speaker 1: So that's something to consider, Um. But you know, I
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  Speaker 1: think as we get into into these later picks, I
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  Speaker 1: got to talk about Leo chanal Um. He was just
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  Speaker 1: one of my favorites to watch. He's probably not going
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  Speaker 1: to be the kind of three down versatile linebacker that
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  Speaker 1: that you're looking for, but just a dog, as they say,
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  Speaker 1: a little bit more into the traditional Belichick to a
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  Speaker 1: bigger guy. Yeah, bigger guy. I mean I was watching
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  Speaker 1: and just you know, one play that comes to mine
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  Speaker 1: was was um Iowa on their own goal line and
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  Speaker 1: he just is defeating blocks so like a madman. Uh So,
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  Speaker 1: I just really enjoyed watching him play. I see him
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  Speaker 1: kind of similar to Chad Muma, who's another one who uh,
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  Speaker 1: you know, more of a traditional middle linebacker inside kind
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  Speaker 1: of thumper guy. What's he like sideline to sideline? Now,
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  Speaker 1: these guys all ran great, um so if you look
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  Speaker 1: at their numbers, that might make you think that they
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  Speaker 1: can that they can do a little bit more than
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  Speaker 1: you know, just be that kind of downhill mic guy.
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  Speaker 1: Uh And one more guy just in this kind of
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  Speaker 1: range to mention that Troy Anderson, small school guy tested
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  Speaker 1: through the roof former quarterback, has all the size. I
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  Speaker 1: really liked him too. He's a small school guy that's
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  Speaker 1: super athletic but kind of fits maybe that potential to
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  Speaker 1: play inside outside. I think that's what you're kind of
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  Speaker 1: looking for. Guys like Collins and high Tower and van
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  Speaker 1: Noy were able to, you know, do both. I think
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  Speaker 1: these guys in the mid round, are they, you know,
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  Speaker 1: talented enough to do that. Maybe they have the size
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  Speaker 1: in the length, but but I like those guys too.
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  Speaker 1: I think that they all kind of look like the
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  Speaker 1: proverbial football player. I think Muma is the one who
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  Speaker 1: stands out to me. If there was a crazy play
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  Speaker 1: there in the Senior Bowls, Malik Willis had like a
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  Speaker 1: sixty yard run or something, and it's low key him
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  Speaker 1: a high light because he chased them down forty yards
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  Speaker 1: yet to tackle the goal line. So yeah, I love that.
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  Speaker 1: I like how Teas is very uh influenced by individual
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  Speaker 1: plays when he's in this film, he writes, but as
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  Speaker 1: he got beat on every other player, that's okay, him
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  Speaker 1: and Cash Matt Louisa, they were great at Wyoming at
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  Speaker 1: one time. And you know, one more one more guy
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  Speaker 1: just too that I want to make sure I mentioned
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  Speaker 1: is Darian Beavers, who I think he looks like the
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  Speaker 1: prototypical patriot kind of guy in terms of size and versatility.
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  Speaker 1: But again, another small school guys start off at yukon
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  Speaker 1: Um kind of kind of flopped around a little bit.
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  Speaker 1: But I just like when you look at the pure numbers, Oh,
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  Speaker 1: that looks like a guy you know that could potentially
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  Speaker 1: be They're they're kind of fit, but more in the
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  Speaker 1: terms of a developmental um player. So I just I
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  Speaker 1: think how they go in the draft with this position
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  Speaker 1: will tell you a lot about what what what way
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  Speaker 1: they're headed. Are they going to give all these you know,
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  Speaker 1: edge and off the ball guys that they've drafted and
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  Speaker 1: signed over the last couple of years haven't played. They
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  Speaker 1: gonna give them a chance to kind of step in
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  Speaker 1: or do they feel like we really needed an infusion
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  Speaker 1: of talent. Let's go grab a guy like Nikobe Dean
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  Speaker 1: who can step right in and play maybe on the
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  Speaker 1: week side. I know we talked about sort of edge
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  Speaker 1: players in our previous podcast, and some of those guys
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  Speaker 1: won't necessarily be defensive end. Some of those guys will
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  Speaker 1: be stand up outside linebackers. But in terms of like
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  Speaker 1: four to three outside guys, maybe some weak side guys
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  Speaker 1: to anybody that stood out to you and this and
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  Speaker 1: by the way, another Georgia guy appears on the list.
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  Speaker 1: You know that I'm looking at Adam Anderson. It's just
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  Speaker 1: amazing the amount of talent that one defense could have.
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  Speaker 1: It seems like all eleven guys are sort of in
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  Speaker 1: the mix to be mid round picks. Are better. Yeah,
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  Speaker 1: And it's I mean, it's I certainly think. You know,
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  Speaker 1: Devin Lloyd is that type up at the top, you know,
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  Speaker 1: n Nakobe Dean maybe a little bit less so. But
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  Speaker 1: I mean Harris Chanal Anderson, those guys that I that
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  Speaker 1: I all talked about, I think they all kind of
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  Speaker 1: eat Kay Walker. I mean, I think all those guys
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  Speaker 1: maybe have the size to potentially play up on the edge.
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  Speaker 1: And like I said, if you could maybe check both
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  Speaker 1: boxes off, you could get somebody who's mobile off the ball,
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  Speaker 1: but it is also a tough edge setter. All the better.
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  Speaker 1: I think that will be, uh, you know, a fantastic
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  Speaker 1: addition to what the defense really needs the most. Right now,
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  Speaker 1: anything there teasts to you. You got all your guys
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  Speaker 1: that you you studied, got them all like no one
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  Speaker 1: no one else had a good play now that you
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  Speaker 1: can talk about. I'll throw one more guy into, Malcolm Rodriguez,
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  Speaker 1: who's probably like a late round Nakobe Deane. You know,
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  Speaker 1: a guy who's like five to eleven, two thirty, um,
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  Speaker 1: but just a football nerd. And that's a lot of
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  Speaker 1: times what I'm like called patriot potential prospect of football nerds.
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  Speaker 1: It's the first guy I'm not aware of I'm looking
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  Speaker 1: at my list here, I don't think I have him. Yeah,
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  Speaker 1: he's uh and actually Mike Gardium mentioned him. That's wow,
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  Speaker 1: I'm out. I know he's but another another guy who
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  Speaker 1: just plays football. Maybe doesn't have the size, but but
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  Speaker 1: as a football player, and you know what step in
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: on special teams ball, we know that's important. Oh that's great,
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: that's great, so they get covered kicks anyway, UM, lots
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: to lots of different kinds of categories. I think to
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: put these guys in. I do think it's a it's
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: another position. I know it might sound like we're a
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  Speaker 1: broken record and each if you listen to all of
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: our podcast, we're talking about virtually every one of these
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  Speaker 1: positions being in play at the top of the draft.
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  Speaker 1: I don't think linebackers any different. But we still have
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  Speaker 1: a long way to go because there's a lot of
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  Speaker 1: defensive backs to talk about. So we are not anywhere
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  Speaker 1: close to being done, but we are working our way
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  Speaker 1: through the defense. We'll have defensive backs when we hit
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  Speaker 1: you next on the draft positive. It's easy for me
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: to say the draft prospect. Thank you for downloading this podcast.
• 11:29
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