Latest / Patriots Unfiltered / Patriots Draft Countdown 2/25: At the NFL Combine with Head Coach Mike Vrabel

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Patriots Draft Countdown 2/25: At the NFL Combine with Head Coach Mike Vrabel · Patriots Unfiltered

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Welcome everybody.
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  Speaker 2: We're coming to you from the twenty twenty five NFL
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  Speaker 2: Scouting Combine in Indianapolis. This is Patriots Draft count Town,
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  Speaker 2: presented by bud Light but like Easy to Drink, Easy
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  Speaker 2: to Enjoy, the official beer sponsor of the New England Patriots.
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  Speaker 2: And Evan, we're back in India. It feels like we
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  Speaker 2: never left, right back in the mix of it. It's Tuesday.
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  Speaker 2: We're hearing from some of the coaches and gms today.
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  Speaker 2: We did have a chance to sit down and talk
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  Speaker 2: to Mike Rabel, but ev let's start things off with
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  Speaker 2: just a general scene center here.
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  Speaker 1: You love the combine.
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  Speaker 3: I love the combine.
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  Speaker 2: A lot of big questions, different position groups standing out
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  Speaker 2: a little bit. We heard Coach Rabel talk about the
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  Speaker 2: defensive line, the edge, the linebackers, our favorite, the front
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  Speaker 2: seven deep class this year.
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  Speaker 3: But what are you most excited for this week here
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  Speaker 3: in Indy.
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  Speaker 4: Well, this is the start of it all, and I
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  Speaker 4: feel like, just listening to a lot of the head
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  Speaker 4: coaches and general managers this morning, including Mike Rabel, the
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  Speaker 4: board is pretty you know, it's pretty early like in
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  Speaker 4: the entire process, and I feel like at this point
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  Speaker 4: we all just want to jump out scenarios and talk
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  Speaker 4: about Abdul Carter and Travis Hunter and Will Campbell and
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  Speaker 4: this that the other thing. And right now it's we're
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  Speaker 4: kind of like still on the front nine of the
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  Speaker 4: draft process for a lot of these teams. So I'm
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  Speaker 4: really looking forward to obviously the drills at the end
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  Speaker 4: of the week, but I think a lot of the
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  Speaker 4: personnel people will talk about the interviews and the medicals
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  Speaker 4: and that sort of stuff. We aren't privy to that necessarily,
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  Speaker 4: but that's where a lot of this can can really
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  Speaker 4: make or break a draft prospect. Stock is you know,
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  Speaker 4: what you think about these guys, and just talking to
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  Speaker 4: Rabel just about you know, getting in the room with
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  Speaker 4: these guys, seeing how they're wired, seeing how they react
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  Speaker 4: to certain things that he might say to them or
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  Speaker 4: ask them certain questions, and even go out on the
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  Speaker 4: pro day circuit and put the pad on like he does,
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  Speaker 4: and you know, work these guys out, you know, up close.
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  Speaker 4: And I think that that's where we're at right now,
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  Speaker 4: and this process is trying to really narrow down the
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  Speaker 4: guys that are going to be patriots, you know, not
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  Speaker 4: just necessarily the entire group.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, hard to suss it all out, but certainly, like
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  Speaker 2: I said, the front seven position grew really intriguing to me,
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  Speaker 2: seems like the Patriots need to do some work on
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  Speaker 2: that side of the ball. We did talk to Mike
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  Speaker 2: Rabel about that a little bit, which will play that
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  Speaker 2: interview here in a minute. But I'm excited to get
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  Speaker 2: things started with that group because I feel like there
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  Speaker 2: are a lot of different types of guys. You know,
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  Speaker 2: whether you're whatever your fancy is on the defensive line.
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  Speaker 2: Do you want to hand down defensive end. Do you
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  Speaker 2: want a big, fat nose tackle in the middle. Do
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  Speaker 2: you want an athletic off the ball kind of will linebacker.
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  Speaker 3: Those kind of players exist.
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  Speaker 2: It seems like, you know, look not up and down
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  Speaker 2: the draft, but certainly top one hundred picks.
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  Speaker 5: There's a lot of.
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  Speaker 2: Really good players in that in that in those position groups,
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  Speaker 2: and I think the hard thing is figuring out which
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  Speaker 2: ones fit what the Patriots and Mike Rabel are going
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  Speaker 2: to do on.
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  Speaker 1: Defense one hundred percent.
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  Speaker 4: And we used to have such a long history of
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  Speaker 4: this is a Belichick type of player, and you could
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  Speaker 4: just look back, you know, twenty years of data of
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  Speaker 4: like these are the types of guys that they want,
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  Speaker 4: and they gravitate towards And we talked to Vrabel a
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  Speaker 4: little bit about the scheme and on defense, and he
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  Speaker 4: mentioned Terrell Williams, you know, aggressive defensive coordinators the way
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  Speaker 4: that he put it and said that they want to
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  Speaker 4: play on the other side to the line of scrimmage.
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  Speaker 4: And it didn't sound like we're gonna have so much
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  Speaker 4: let's build the wall to gap. But you wouldn't commit
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  Speaker 4: one way or another right now, but it does sound
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  Speaker 4: like they want to be a little bit more aggressive,
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  Speaker 4: a little bit more four man down, you know, rush
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  Speaker 4: the quarterback and with four guys and get home with
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  Speaker 4: four guys. And I think that he just knows schematically
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  Speaker 4: how helpful that is for the back seven. When you
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  Speaker 4: don't have to blitz guys and you don't have to
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  Speaker 4: take guys out of coverage to get pressure on the quarterback.
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  Speaker 4: This is certainly the draft for that if you want
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  Speaker 4: that type of player. I think one of the things
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  Speaker 4: that we're seeing a lot in the draft nowadays is
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  Speaker 4: that those what we used to call undersized pass rushers
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  Speaker 4: off the edge, particularly the guys that are forty five
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  Speaker 4: that's not undersized anymore. That is the norm these athletic
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  Speaker 4: you know, freakish athletes that can rush off the edge,
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  Speaker 4: that might play a little bit lighter than Mike Rabel,
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  Speaker 4: right Like, you know, Mike Rabel was probably a little
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  Speaker 4: bit bigger back in the day than what these guys
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  Speaker 4: are now. But you have plenty of that in this draft.
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  Speaker 4: From really i'd say pick one to pick one fifty,
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  Speaker 4: you could find guys that have starter level grades that
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  Speaker 4: can get after the quarterback. It's about rounding out their
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  Speaker 4: games maybe a little bit. That I think is an
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  Speaker 4: interesting conversation for the Patriots.
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  Speaker 2: All right, well, let's roll that Mike Frabel interview right now.
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  Speaker 2: Is a good time, a lot of information and he's
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  Speaker 2: open at the podium. He sat down with us. He
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  Speaker 2: also sat down with the Beat reporters from Abound Boston.
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  Speaker 2: So this was our interview with Mike Rabel. All right,
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  Speaker 2: we're excited to be doing join now with coach Mike
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  Speaker 2: Rabel here and coach I gotta start with one take
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  Speaker 2: us back.
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  Speaker 3: What was it like when you were a player here
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  Speaker 3: at the combine?
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  Speaker 5: Well, Orlando Pace was my roommate, and I tell this
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  Speaker 5: story every year I come to the combine when they say, oh,
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  Speaker 5: you know, players there are at the MRI or they
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  Speaker 5: have to go to the hospital for some.
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  Speaker 6: More tests or be tugged on.
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  Speaker 5: And Orlando Pace they must have said that he had
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  Speaker 5: to go get an MRI and he was like, nah,
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  Speaker 5: I'm going back to Columbus and he just got either
• 4:52
  Speaker 5: he flew back or he drove back or whatever, and
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  Speaker 5: so teams would be calling or people would be calling
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  Speaker 5: like hey, is it or later there, I said, no,
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  Speaker 5: I don't think he here and I don't know what
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  Speaker 5: he's going to be back, and they said, well, he
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  Speaker 5: needs to come get an MRI, and I said, I
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  Speaker 5: don't think he's headed for that MRI. And he still
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  Speaker 5: got picked with the number one overall draft picks. So
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  Speaker 5: that that was a funny story that, uh he just said,
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  Speaker 5: I'm out of here. I'm not getting an MRI.
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  Speaker 6: But uh no, it was good.
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  Speaker 5: I mean I remember meeting with teams. I remember meeting
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  Speaker 5: with with Belichick when I was here and he was
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  Speaker 5: still coaching and whoever he was with at the time.
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  Speaker 6: In ninety seven, so you know it was good.
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  Speaker 5: I mean, Jason Taylor was was near me in a group.
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  Speaker 5: You know what, I'm saying like T and V and
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  Speaker 5: he obviously had an amazing career and we kind of
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  Speaker 5: went in the same part of the end of the
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  Speaker 5: third round and we'll always remember that.
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  Speaker 6: And but you know, that's just was just one step
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  Speaker 6: of a process.
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  Speaker 2: So you're back now, back up there at the podium
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  Speaker 2: a minute ago. How does it feel just to be
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  Speaker 2: representing the Patriots here and back in the head coach?
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  Speaker 5: So I think that that's a that's a great way
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  Speaker 5: to look at it. It's it's a great honor. It's
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  Speaker 5: something that I'm very grateful to be able to do,
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  Speaker 5: and it's it's a it's a privilege I believe to
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  Speaker 5: be a part of this league and trying to build
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  Speaker 5: something and bring together a group of people and have
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  Speaker 5: some energy with it and you know, just just provide
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  Speaker 5: a great vision and help people wherever I can.
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  Speaker 4: You mentioned the Super Bowl when you're talking up there
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  Speaker 4: and building through the trenches and just for the Orlando
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  Speaker 4: pace coming up to just how important is it for
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  Speaker 4: you guys this offseason to build up the offensive and
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  Speaker 4: defensive lines.
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  Speaker 1: Well, it is.
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  Speaker 5: I mean, I think that it is something that we
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  Speaker 5: need to be able to do. We need to identify
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  Speaker 5: the men that we feel like exhibit those qualities and
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  Speaker 5: characteristics up front, and then the ones that we feel
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  Speaker 5: like we need to add and to bring on that
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  Speaker 5: will help us continue to do that. So that's where
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  Speaker 5: this game is one you know consistently. I mean there's
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  Speaker 5: times where the skill can can win, but I think
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  Speaker 5: down in and down out, and weekend and week out,
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  Speaker 5: through the rigors of a season, you certainly want to.
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  Speaker 6: Have a great lines of scrimmage.
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  Speaker 2: You mentioned you talked with some of the defensive linemen,
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  Speaker 2: the edges, the linebackers, the first position group we'll hear
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  Speaker 2: from tomorrow. You had a chance to meet with some
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  Speaker 2: of those guys this year. It seems like a really deep class,
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  Speaker 2: a lot of different types. Yeah, do you still gravitate
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  Speaker 2: gravitate towards those positions well you play?
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  Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean I think that I do, But I
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  Speaker 5: also have to be careful, you know, early on, I
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  Speaker 5: think just making sure that when I was, you know,
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  Speaker 5: being a head coach for the first time, that you
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  Speaker 5: didn't spend all your time with the outside linebacker, or
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  Speaker 5: you just didn't spend all your time with the defense
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  Speaker 5: ends or whatever it may be, but that you're where
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  Speaker 5: you are where the head coach is is what's important,
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  Speaker 5: and so I need to be in special teams. I
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  Speaker 5: need to be and I do think that that's the
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  Speaker 5: strength of mine. I think that I can provide some
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  Speaker 5: sort of coaching point tip fundamental to every position on
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  Speaker 5: our on our team, and I don't think that that's
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  Speaker 5: some positions there may be greater detailed than others, but
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  Speaker 5: I do think that that is a connection that I
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  Speaker 5: have and the ability to do that.
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  Speaker 4: You mentioned aggressiveness with with coach Williams on the defensive
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  Speaker 4: side of the ball, and one of the things we've
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  Speaker 4: been kicking around is in Tennessee, seem like you guys
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  Speaker 4: maybe play a little bit more four man front than
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  Speaker 4: what we've seen around here.
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  Speaker 1: With Coach Belichick in the past.
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  Speaker 4: Just what do you look at with that defensive scheme
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  Speaker 4: and could you see you guys being a little bit
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  Speaker 4: more for down.
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  Speaker 5: Well, I mean, I think that we probably have that ability.
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  Speaker 5: I'm not going to commit to anything right now. You know,
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  Speaker 5: we want to play on their side of a lot
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  Speaker 5: of scrimmage. You know, we don't want to sit and
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  Speaker 5: you know, there's different techniques, there's different things that we'll
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  Speaker 5: be able to do whether we play a three down front,
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  Speaker 5: five down front, four down front pressure. You know, we
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  Speaker 5: want to be able to you know, have a lot
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  Speaker 5: of different things at our disposal, uh to again to
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  Speaker 5: teach the players, and it may be some new teaching
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  Speaker 5: and that's okay, but I think that the fundamentals that
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  Speaker 5: they've played with here in the past is something that
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  Speaker 5: we'll want to continue. Style may be a little different
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  Speaker 5: or the call or the front, but confident that those
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  Speaker 5: techniques will get taught and be able to come out term.
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  Speaker 2: We here a lot just to piggyback on that is
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  Speaker 2: game plan defense for a lot a lot over the
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  Speaker 2: years here. Would you consider yourself a game plan defense
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  Speaker 2: kind of quo?
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  Speaker 5: I'm going to think that there's a certain elements that
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  Speaker 5: that you always want to be able to take away
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  Speaker 5: what they do best, but at what.
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  Speaker 6: Cost to your football team.
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  Speaker 5: And we've done it different ways over the course of
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  Speaker 5: you know, six years. Sometimes it's hey, we're just gonna
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  Speaker 5: do what we do and we're going to stay somewhat basic,
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  Speaker 5: but we're going to play hard. We know what the
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  Speaker 5: issues are because that's what was best for our players.
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  Speaker 5: We're always going to do what's bet we think is
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  Speaker 5: best for our players and their performance. Their understanding will
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  Speaker 5: will help us get to that point. And if you
• 9:42
  Speaker 5: know we're there's confusion, if indecisive, we don't want to
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  Speaker 5: do any of those types of things that cause somewhat
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  Speaker 5: of the players to be unsure about anything that we're
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  Speaker 5: asking them to do.
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  Speaker 4: When you look at Drake and the offense with Josh
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  Speaker 4: and everything, you know what we talk a lot about
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  Speaker 4: those like innovations and things that has done over the
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  Speaker 4: last year or so, you know, can you shed any
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  Speaker 4: light on what some of those things might No.
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  Speaker 5: I think you'll see a lot of that come out,
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  Speaker 5: but I think that there's certain things that will keep.
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  Speaker 5: There will be some things that we add that I
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  Speaker 5: like or other coaches have had some experience with. And yeah,
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  Speaker 5: we're going to do what we think is best for
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  Speaker 5: our players, and we're going to make sure that they
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  Speaker 5: understand it. There's a lot of different scheme. There's things
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  Speaker 5: that we think are great, but in the end, it's
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  Speaker 5: what our players can believe and what we can get taught.
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  Speaker 4: One of the talking points last year with Drake was
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  Speaker 4: you know, his mobility and his athleticism, but also keeping
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  Speaker 4: him healthy, like where do you kind of stand on
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  Speaker 4: running quarterbacks and him using his legs at a high volume.
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  Speaker 5: Well, I think his ability to extend plays that begin
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  Speaker 5: in the pocket is the first place that you look
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  Speaker 5: and looking for ways to exit the pocket, not going
• 10:52
  Speaker 5: out the back of the pocket. I don't think anything
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  Speaker 5: good comes of that. Being able to step up and
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  Speaker 5: slide and protect the football, be shown with the football,
• 11:00
  Speaker 5: to extend plays, to remain a passer throughout the down
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  Speaker 5: or when he untill he crosses the line of scrimmage
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  Speaker 5: is something that we're going to talk a lot about
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  Speaker 5: because I know how much stress that puts on the defense.
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  Speaker 5: They'll be designed runs, they'll be designed move the pocket passes,
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  Speaker 5: but I think we want to be careful on how
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  Speaker 5: many times that we're you know, asking him to you know,
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  Speaker 5: potentially be the prime ball carrier or the main ball carrier.
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  Speaker 5: But he we have to be able to do those
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  Speaker 5: things because of what he does and what he can do.
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  Speaker 5: But being smart where he's at on the football field,
• 11:34
  Speaker 5: and being able to protect himself with something that he's
• 11:36
  Speaker 5: going to have to prove us that he can do too.
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: Just as a head coach, what do you want to accomplish
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: this week at the combine. What's of most value to
• 11:42
  Speaker 2: you here in India?
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  Speaker 5: Well, the meetings, you know, I mean the meetings that
• 11:45
  Speaker 5: we have, the interactions that we have with the players
• 11:47
  Speaker 5: and getting to know them, you know, being int intentional
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  Speaker 5: with with what we're asking them and how we're trying
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  Speaker 5: to you know, this is just one small.
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  Speaker 6: Part of the process.
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  Speaker 5: And then we'll go from this to see who the
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  Speaker 5: other players that we need to bring in, and who
• 12:01
  Speaker 5: do we need to have on campus and had a
• 12:03
  Speaker 5: greater length or where we may want to send coaches,
• 12:06
  Speaker 5: and what exposure that we want to have at pro
• 12:07
  Speaker 5: days and interviews and zoom schedules. So this is just
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  Speaker 5: the first process, uh, to set the set up a
• 12:15
  Speaker 5: plan for the rest of the spring until we get
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  Speaker 5: to April.
• 12:18
  Speaker 4: And April I was gonna ask you about the proda's
• 12:20
  Speaker 4: we're gonna see you with the pad on maybe.
• 12:22
  Speaker 5: Maybe we'll see Yeah, no guarantees, but that that may happen.
• 12:25
  Speaker 5: I don't know, what what do you get we ordered
• 12:27
  Speaker 5: a bunch of those those are in stock.
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: What do you get out of that? Like, let's just
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: say hypothetically, there's a pass rusher you go in.
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  Speaker 5: I think you can always just feel like the play
• 12:36
  Speaker 5: strength of the player, and you know what his hands
• 12:39
  Speaker 5: feel like, and his shock and and just the power
• 12:41
  Speaker 5: that they play with and the size and you know,
• 12:44
  Speaker 5: I think haven't been around a lot of players over
• 12:46
  Speaker 5: my career, I can kind of you know, feel and
• 12:49
  Speaker 5: see what one looks like and just by shaking their
• 12:53
  Speaker 5: hands or grabbing them or whatever.
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  Speaker 6: That may be.
• 12:55
  Speaker 5: Like, some of these guys have a certain feel to
• 12:58
  Speaker 5: them that you just know that they're going to find a.
• 13:00
  Speaker 6: Way to make it.
• 13:01
  Speaker 5: You think they're not going to be moved around easily,
• 13:03
  Speaker 5: or they could probably move people easily.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, is that with the offensive line where you're
• 13:07
  Speaker 2: used to taking those guys on, you get a feel
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  Speaker 2: for them instantly going up again?
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  Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean I think that there's just a you know,
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  Speaker 5: a strength a body, you know, a core strength that
• 13:16
  Speaker 5: you can feel in some of these guys and you
• 13:19
  Speaker 5: know if they can you know, again, the tape ultimately
• 13:22
  Speaker 5: means a lot and our ability to evaluate the tape,
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  Speaker 5: But I certainly like to get involved, Like, you know,
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  Speaker 5: you go a long way. Why would you just stand
• 13:30
  Speaker 5: there and watch? You might as well get involved in
• 13:32
  Speaker 5: in drills or something.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, there's a couple of small moves you guys have
• 13:36
  Speaker 4: made here, you know, Jeremiah Farm's contract extension, things like that.
• 13:40
  Speaker 4: Just how has that process been evaluating the roster that
• 13:43
  Speaker 4: was left over from last season with Elliott?
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  Speaker 5: And it's been very good, you know what I mean,
• 13:47
  Speaker 5: It's been great for us to be able to sit
• 13:49
  Speaker 5: there and you know, look at somebody, these players that
• 13:51
  Speaker 5: we feel like, you know, if we know what you know,
• 13:54
  Speaker 5: what they may provide for us going into next year,
• 13:58
  Speaker 5: then you know, let's take care of some of the
• 14:00
  Speaker 5: bookkeeping and some of these whether they're restricted free agent,
• 14:05
  Speaker 5: having conversations with some of our unrestricted free agents that
• 14:08
  Speaker 5: could potentially be back, and then you know, deciding if
• 14:11
  Speaker 5: you know, we should give a player another opportunity to
• 14:13
  Speaker 5: pursue you know, another team.
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: Does that? Do you do?
• 14:18
  Speaker 4: You watch the film back and like, how do you
• 14:19
  Speaker 4: because you know, obviously you weren't in the building last year,
• 14:22
  Speaker 4: So how do you sort of go about evaluating those
• 14:24
  Speaker 4: players for yourself?
• 14:25
  Speaker 5: You know, well, I watch I talked to Elliott, I
• 14:27
  Speaker 5: talked to to Matt, talk to Alonzo. You know, these
• 14:30
  Speaker 5: are conversations that we have daily on what we feel
• 14:33
  Speaker 5: like each position wants to look like and you know
• 14:36
  Speaker 5: who we you know, feel like uh is going to
• 14:39
  Speaker 5: be one of those ninety that go into camp and
• 14:41
  Speaker 5: try to create competition at each position.
• 14:44
  Speaker 3: Great coach, thanks so much, Thank you guys. On the
• 14:46
  Speaker 3: next thing, yes, thank you, appreciate it all right.
• 14:49
  Speaker 2: So great stuff, really great to you know, sit down
• 14:51
  Speaker 2: with coach Rabel and talk with him a little bit.
• 14:53
  Speaker 2: I feel like we're getting a little bit of insight
• 14:54
  Speaker 2: Evan and combining all three of his different appearances that
• 14:57
  Speaker 2: we've heard him talk today, it does sound in maybe
• 15:00
  Speaker 2: is ultimately common sense, but it's not so much about
• 15:03
  Speaker 2: what his scheme is and what he wants to do.
• 15:05
  Speaker 2: He just he wants to find players that he can
• 15:07
  Speaker 2: rely on, that he can trust, and that seems like what's.
• 15:10
  Speaker 3: Put in the forefront.
• 15:12
  Speaker 2: It's not so much how do we fill out I
• 15:14
  Speaker 2: need this player for this scheme that you know, and
• 15:16
  Speaker 2: it makes sense to approach it that way.
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: Right, Yeah.
• 15:19
  Speaker 4: Absolutely, I think every great coach and I think you'd
• 15:21
  Speaker 4: be the first one to tell you this adapts to
• 15:24
  Speaker 4: the skill set of the players that they have. He
• 15:26
  Speaker 4: did mention and the scrum that he did after he
• 15:30
  Speaker 4: spoke with us that if they're going to pay a
• 15:32
  Speaker 4: premium for a player, they probably want everything to align
• 15:36
  Speaker 4: where it's a scheme fit and it's a culture fit
• 15:38
  Speaker 4: and all those different types of things. But eventually, at
• 15:41
  Speaker 4: some point in our interviews talking about Drake May, you know,
• 15:45
  Speaker 4: moving the pocket, design, quarterback runs, you know, he said
• 15:48
  Speaker 4: that those things are all going to be in the
• 15:50
  Speaker 4: offense because they have to be, like, that's what his
• 15:51
  Speaker 4: skill set is, that's what he's great at. And if
• 15:54
  Speaker 4: you really make them play without all those things, and
• 15:57
  Speaker 4: he's almost playing left handed or with one hand tie
• 15:59
  Speaker 4: behind his back. So I do think that they're open
• 16:01
  Speaker 4: to all avenues for Drake May to impact the game.
• 16:05
  Speaker 4: I liked how he said, don't go out the back
• 16:07
  Speaker 4: of the pocket though, you know, we want to go
• 16:09
  Speaker 4: through the middle of the pocket and scramble that way.
• 16:11
  Speaker 4: But I think the biggest thing when you hear him
• 16:13
  Speaker 4: speak about it is that he has that ability or
• 16:16
  Speaker 4: wants to have that ability to morph, you know, and
• 16:18
  Speaker 4: to kind of change every single direction they can go in.
• 16:21
  Speaker 2: Yeah, we've heard a couple of times too from coach
• 16:23
  Speaker 2: rabel Is that he really wants to get to know
• 16:25
  Speaker 2: these guys.
• 16:25
  Speaker 3: It seems that's you know.
• 16:27
  Speaker 2: I mean, he said in the interview, this is what's
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: most valuable to him is getting a chance to sit
• 16:30
  Speaker 2: down with these guys and really get to know him.
• 16:32
  Speaker 2: It's part of why I like coming here, because you know,
• 16:35
  Speaker 2: you you grind the film, you're putting out all kinds
• 16:37
  Speaker 2: of different video.
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: You know.
• 16:38
  Speaker 2: Sometimes I've found in my process it's like, I really
• 16:41
  Speaker 2: like this guy.
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: But what's he like?
• 16:42
  Speaker 2: What's an interview like with him? You know, to hear
• 16:44
  Speaker 2: what the what person is like. And I mean it's
• 16:46
  Speaker 2: changed over the years. Like you said, back when Bill
• 16:49
  Speaker 2: Belichick was here, you kind of had a feel for
• 16:51
  Speaker 2: like Alabama guys. He's really serious football dude. This guy
• 16:54
  Speaker 2: seems like he'd be that kind of fit. I think
• 16:56
  Speaker 2: Rabel is a little bit more willing for some push
• 16:58
  Speaker 2: and pull a little bit. We see Taylor Lawan has
• 17:00
  Speaker 2: a good relationship with him. But that's one part for
• 17:03
  Speaker 2: me that I'm looking forward to over these next few
• 17:04
  Speaker 2: days is you know, some of the guys that I
• 17:06
  Speaker 2: haven't really watched yet, getting a sense of their personality
• 17:08
  Speaker 2: and then is kind of what Rabel said, Then you
• 17:11
  Speaker 2: get sparked onto that guy. Hey, I like this guy.
• 17:13
  Speaker 2: This guy seems like he's he's got something going. Let's
• 17:16
  Speaker 2: go look at his tape and see how he might fit.
• 17:18
  Speaker 4: As he can attest you know from the teams that
• 17:20
  Speaker 4: he played in in the early two thousands. You have
• 17:22
  Speaker 4: to have some of those rally the troops kind of guys.
• 17:25
  Speaker 4: And we've been joking about them being brave heart guys,
• 17:27
  Speaker 4: right like he's going to be the guy at the
• 17:29
  Speaker 4: front of the line making the speech to get their
• 17:31
  Speaker 4: troops all fired up. And that as much as we
• 17:34
  Speaker 4: want to talk about talent and skill and all that stuff,
• 17:37
  Speaker 4: is really important where the Patriots are right now, they
• 17:40
  Speaker 4: also need some leaders, like they need some guys that
• 17:43
  Speaker 4: are going to build a culture here and and be
• 17:45
  Speaker 4: about that, be about building a culture. And I do
• 17:47
  Speaker 4: think there are quite a few of those types of
• 17:50
  Speaker 4: guys at the top of the draft this year, and
• 17:52
  Speaker 4: maybe even on Day two, like a guy like Jack Sawyer,
• 17:55
  Speaker 4: who you see at Ohio States, you know, Bowl games,
• 17:57
  Speaker 4: just right in the middle of a huddle, just trying
• 17:59
  Speaker 4: to brave hearted up.
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: So you have a lot of that going on.
• 18:03
  Speaker 4: I know that sometimes fans hear that, and people that
• 18:05
  Speaker 4: listen to do ues hear that, and They're like, all right,
• 18:07
  Speaker 4: can we not like get can we get some talent?
• 18:09
  Speaker 4: Like let's like forget about yeah, forget about the ra
• 18:12
  Speaker 4: ra stuff like can we get some football players that
• 18:14
  Speaker 4: have a lot of talent? And that's part of it,
• 18:16
  Speaker 4: But when you're a back to back four win football team,
• 18:19
  Speaker 4: there's a culture aspect of it too, and I think
• 18:21
  Speaker 4: it's important to them.
• 18:22
  Speaker 2: One more interesting piece for me that they actually said
• 18:24
  Speaker 2: over on the podium is that Terrell Williams, the new
• 18:26
  Speaker 2: defensive coordinator, will call plays. There have been some speculation
• 18:29
  Speaker 2: will Mike rab will be the guy to do that.
• 18:31
  Speaker 2: He said explicitly, it will be Terrell Williams. So there
• 18:33
  Speaker 2: might be some growing paints there. I know you wrote
• 18:36
  Speaker 2: a good deep dive on Terrell Williams' defense what they
• 18:39
  Speaker 2: were kind of running in Tennessee. Mike mentioned also aggressiveness,
• 18:43
  Speaker 2: and I think some of us might have interpreted that
• 18:44
  Speaker 2: as less two gap maybe more one one.
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: I would have to interpreted that.
• 18:49
  Speaker 2: Maybe maybe we're wishful thinking, but yeah, but what what's
• 18:52
  Speaker 2: kind of your expectation with Terrell Williams? And you know,
• 18:55
  Speaker 2: do you think that there will be some growing paints
• 18:57
  Speaker 2: with this defense where adjusting the scheme of the personnel
• 19:01
  Speaker 2: a new play caller. We've seen that last couple of
• 19:03
  Speaker 2: years where there's been new play callers, they can probably
• 19:05
  Speaker 2: expect there to be some growing pains.
• 19:07
  Speaker 3: But what are your kind of expectations and feel for that.
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: Yeah, there's a couple of things that stand out.
• 19:11
  Speaker 4: I think the number one thing when you look at
• 19:13
  Speaker 4: Trell Williams's background, this is a defensive line coach. Is
• 19:16
  Speaker 4: the guy that's worked a lot in the front seven.
• 19:18
  Speaker 4: So how does he marry pass rush with coverage? Like,
• 19:21
  Speaker 4: how does he understand the back end? What is his
• 19:24
  Speaker 4: knowledge of the back end? I think a guy like
• 19:26
  Speaker 4: Scott Booker is here in a lot of ways to
• 19:28
  Speaker 4: help him with that. Marriage two guys that were in
• 19:31
  Speaker 4: the same scheme in Tennessee for a long time, so
• 19:32
  Speaker 4: they have that familiarity. Is Scott Booker going to help
• 19:35
  Speaker 4: him kind of quarterback the back end so that he
• 19:37
  Speaker 4: can focus on getting pressure and stopping to run and
• 19:40
  Speaker 4: things like that. Whenever you elevated defensive line coach, that's
• 19:44
  Speaker 4: my initial instinct is, Okay, well, what does he know
• 19:47
  Speaker 4: about coverage and rotation and you know cover three, cover four,
• 19:51
  Speaker 4: man to man like whatever the case may be. You know,
• 19:53
  Speaker 4: how do you go about coaching that and marrying that
• 19:56
  Speaker 4: and game planning for that with the opponent. And I
• 19:58
  Speaker 4: did think it was interesting that Rabel mentioned Ben McAdoo
• 20:01
  Speaker 4: and having Ben mcado basically reverse engineer, you know, if
• 20:05
  Speaker 4: we're going to go up against our defense and I
• 20:07
  Speaker 4: was the offensive coach and I was the OC on
• 20:09
  Speaker 4: the other side. That's basically what Rabel did in Cleveland
• 20:12
  Speaker 4: for the past year own. He was there with the
• 20:15
  Speaker 4: Browns as an advisor, so you have that voice as
• 20:17
  Speaker 4: well that can be helpful in those types of things.
• 20:20
  Speaker 4: I think the last thing though, is again, are they
• 20:23
  Speaker 4: going to be more four down? Are they going to
• 20:26
  Speaker 4: be more aggressive? Are they going to try to shoot
• 20:29
  Speaker 4: gaps and get up the field, because I believe that
• 20:34
  Speaker 4: early down pass rush suffers when you're predominantly two gaping defense.
• 20:38
  Speaker 4: I think we both see that. Twenty ninth in pressure,
• 20:41
  Speaker 4: eight last year last in sacks in the league. I'm
• 20:43
  Speaker 4: not saying it was all because of that. Talent's a
• 20:45
  Speaker 4: big part of that, but when you're asking guys to
• 20:48
  Speaker 4: like two gap and then they have to transition to
• 20:50
  Speaker 4: a pass rush move when it's a play action or
• 20:52
  Speaker 4: it's a throw on early downs that that can be
• 20:55
  Speaker 4: a little bit of a hesitation there and that pause.
• 20:57
  Speaker 4: So I think we all want to see some more aggressiveness.
• 21:00
  Speaker 4: But in general, I'm interested to see though, how Terrell
• 21:03
  Speaker 4: Williams handles the responsibilities a calling plays because he is
• 21:07
  Speaker 4: a front seven defensive line background.
• 21:09
  Speaker 2: Yeah, one more area just to touch on that stood
• 21:12
  Speaker 2: out to me. Just free agencies coming up here in
• 21:14
  Speaker 2: a couple weeks. I mean, we're right, we'll get back
• 21:15
  Speaker 2: from the combine. It's boom free agency time, and you
• 21:18
  Speaker 2: spend so much time figuring out who the draft picks
• 21:20
  Speaker 2: are before free agency. There's a lot of things in
• 21:23
  Speaker 2: motion right now, and I just I liked hearing from
• 21:25
  Speaker 2: Vrabel they're going to be aggressive. I think they understand
• 21:28
  Speaker 2: where they're at, what kind of team they are, what
• 21:30
  Speaker 2: kind of draw they are right now. But it's encouraging
• 21:33
  Speaker 2: because it feels like the word aggressive again, and that's
• 21:35
  Speaker 2: what I think all fans really want to see this
• 21:37
  Speaker 2: spring is you got some money to spend, You've got
• 21:39
  Speaker 2: the draft capital, You've got enough of those elements to
• 21:42
  Speaker 2: make some noise this year. And it sounds like they're
• 21:44
  Speaker 2: going to do their best to try to, you know,
• 21:45
  Speaker 2: really improve this roster. I mean, he said it explicitly,
• 21:47
  Speaker 2: and I'm not sure what this roster is going to
• 21:49
  Speaker 2: look like. You know, by the time we get to September,
• 21:52
  Speaker 2: a lot of moves to be made. But I'm excited
• 21:54
  Speaker 2: by the hint that they're going to be aggressive.
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: Yeah, they have to be aggressive.
• 21:57
  Speaker 4: They have all the cap space in the world and
• 21:58
  Speaker 4: you got to spend it that money somewhere. And I
• 22:01
  Speaker 4: think the biggest thing though, is when you look at
• 22:04
  Speaker 4: where they can spend it, how do they attract those
• 22:07
  Speaker 4: top of the market free agents. Last year, Let's face it,
• 22:10
  Speaker 4: you know, Calvin Ridley said no, Brandon and I you
• 22:12
  Speaker 4: said no like that, that's just the bottom line. They
• 22:15
  Speaker 4: offered the Brinks truck to both those guys and neither
• 22:17
  Speaker 4: one of them wanted to take the money. So I
• 22:20
  Speaker 4: asked Rabel about that when we had him in the scrum,
• 22:22
  Speaker 4: just you know, how do you go about being an
• 22:24
  Speaker 4: attractive destination? And I thought he had an interesting word
• 22:27
  Speaker 4: he use. He said, testimonials, which like you think about
• 22:30
  Speaker 4: that like as like a review for somebody's business or
• 22:32
  Speaker 4: something like that, right, like, oh, you know this dog
• 22:34
  Speaker 4: breeder what the test like it does everybody have a
• 22:37
  Speaker 4: great dog out of this person, right, But he was saying,
• 22:40
  Speaker 4: you know, let's talk about our program, and let's talk
• 22:42
  Speaker 4: about how we're going to use you and how you
• 22:44
  Speaker 4: fit in here, and all those different types of things,
• 22:47
  Speaker 4: and that sort of can make or break it to
• 22:50
  Speaker 4: an extent, right, Like everybody's offering top of the money,
• 22:53
  Speaker 4: you know, market value, Like if t Higgins is an
• 22:56
  Speaker 4: unrestricted free agent, everybody's gonna offer him thirty five million
• 22:59
  Speaker 4: dollars a year that wants him. So what's gonna separate
• 23:02
  Speaker 4: you is all that other stuff. And I'm interested to
• 23:05
  Speaker 4: see how Mike Rabel is as a recruiter, like can
• 23:09
  Speaker 4: he go out there and recruit players to want to
• 23:11
  Speaker 4: come to New England. But he mentioned in the draft
• 23:15
  Speaker 4: when it comes to wide receivers specifically, you got to
• 23:18
  Speaker 4: draft those guys like you most of the time, in
• 23:20
  Speaker 4: order to get one of those you got to draft them.
• 23:22
  Speaker 4: He knows all about that with Aj Brown. So you
• 23:24
  Speaker 4: have to go out there and actually make that happen
• 23:26
  Speaker 4: in the draft most of the time. But that's a
• 23:29
  Speaker 4: fascinating part about this to me, is can they get
• 23:32
  Speaker 4: Mike Rabel in a room with a you know, a
• 23:35
  Speaker 4: Trey Smith or a Ronnie Stanley or t Higgins, and
• 23:38
  Speaker 4: all of a sudden, that guy has just swayed like
• 23:40
  Speaker 4: I'm gonna play for this guy.
• 23:41
  Speaker 2: Yeah, maybe Ronnie Stanley wants to put that We get
• 23:44
  Speaker 2: that breastplate on Brabell, you know, yeah, go ahead, go
• 23:46
  Speaker 2: ahead to have one a little bit. All right, Well,
• 23:48
  Speaker 2: we're just getting started here obviously on Patriots Draft Countdown.
• 23:50
  Speaker 2: This is our first episode and we're gonna be here
• 23:52
  Speaker 2: all week. We're expecting to talk to Elliott Wolf tomorrow,
• 23:55
  Speaker 2: WHI should be exciting to pick his brain a little
• 23:56
  Speaker 2: bit about this draft class. And we're gonna kick things
• 23:59
  Speaker 2: off tomorrow. I have with the prospects the front seven.
• 24:01
  Speaker 2: You know, we love it working our way.
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: Up right and early with the Abdul Carter at eight am. Right, Yeah,
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: he brings the energy. We're gonna bring the energy too.
• 24:07
  Speaker 2: So we hope you'll stick with us here all week,
• 24:09
  Speaker 2: and then we'll be right back after we get back
• 24:11
  Speaker 2: from the Combine with more episodes of Patriots Draft Contown.
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: So stick with us.
• 24:15
  Speaker 3: We'll be here all week