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Patriots Unfiltered 3/4: Evaluating the OL Prospects, ESPN's Jordan Reid Interview · Patriots Unfiltered

0:02
Speaker 1: From the twenty twenty three NFL Combine. This is Patriots Unfiltered.
0:09
Speaker 1: All right, it's Saturday here in Indianapolis, and we are
0:11
Speaker 1: putting a final rap on the NFL Scouting Combine. We've
0:14
Speaker 1: been here all week. It's Mike Duso, It's Evans our
0:17
Speaker 1: Patriots dot com. By now you should know that because
0:19
Speaker 1: we've been pumping out podcast videos and written material like
0:21
Speaker 1: you wouldn't believe. It's been awesome. Evan, how are you
0:24
Speaker 1: feeling that? First off, let's just get a wellness check
0:26
Speaker 1: on you. Are you overwhelmed right now or what? This
0:30
Speaker 1: morning I was It was a little tough getting out
0:33
Speaker 1: of bed. You guys were texting me that I was
0:35
Speaker 1: a little late to our to our breakfast pow wow,
0:38
Speaker 1: and I had to meet you at the Starbucks across
0:40
Speaker 1: the street instead. Obviously everything went fine, no, no, no,
0:44
Speaker 1: worse for the wear. But it's been a long week.
0:47
Speaker 1: It's been an awesome week. I'm not trying to look
0:49
Speaker 1: I hate complainings. Hey, we're working here, but we love it. Like, oh,
0:52
Speaker 1: I had to go to the combine per a week.
0:54
Speaker 1: It's terrible, No, of course not, but yeah, it's a grind.
0:57
Speaker 1: It is when we've got so much information coming in
0:59
Speaker 1: and it's it's great because it's as much as we
1:01
Speaker 1: turned out a lot of content this week, we also
1:03
Speaker 1: feel like this is just going to inform everything that
1:05
Speaker 1: we do over the next couple months. And you know, guys,
1:08
Speaker 1: when they are drafted, We've talked to these guys, we've
1:10
Speaker 1: seen them. You know, you don't know, we don't know them,
1:11
Speaker 1: but um, you just have such a much better sense
1:14
Speaker 1: of the prospects and this draft class. And it's been
1:16
Speaker 1: a great week. We're going to start off here at
1:18
Speaker 1: the top, just with the offensive line, in the running
1:20
Speaker 1: backs who went today here on Saturday for the final day,
1:24
Speaker 1: clearly a huge need Evan for the Patriots at at tackle. Um,
1:27
Speaker 1: you know, we don't really know what's going on with
1:28
Speaker 1: Trump Brown. The fact that he's played both left and
1:30
Speaker 1: right in New England kind of leaves some confusion as
1:33
Speaker 1: to well, what exactly do they need? Um, they did,
1:35
Speaker 1: you know, resign Connor McDermott. I think we're all, you know,
1:38
Speaker 1: thinking that's a not a three four depth signing, thank you.
1:43
Speaker 1: But overall, there's a lot of really good guys here,
1:45
Speaker 1: starting with Peter Scronsky, who kind of kick things off today.
1:48
Speaker 1: A lot to like about him. Yeah, I always go
1:51
Speaker 1: back to the three year starter thing with him and
1:54
Speaker 1: the technique, and he's just so technically sound, comes from
1:57
Speaker 1: football lineage with his grandfather playing for the Lombardi Packer,
2:01
Speaker 1: is a three years starter at Northwestern in a power conference,
2:04
Speaker 1: and just his technique, his ability to see moving parts
2:07
Speaker 1: and diagnosed rush schemes, blitz his stunts like things like that.
2:12
Speaker 1: There's just so much polish to his game. It's really
2:15
Speaker 1: hard other than the physical stuff, which I'm sure we'll
2:18
Speaker 1: get to here in a second, but it's really hard
2:20
Speaker 1: to find a flaw. In Peter Skanski's film, he's great
2:24
Speaker 1: out of the stance. He's got great footwork, he's got
2:27
Speaker 1: great hand technique, great awareness and eyes and pass pro like.
2:30
Speaker 1: There's just no flaws to his game. The flaws is
2:34
Speaker 1: something that's trivial and kind of silly, and that's that
2:36
Speaker 1: he's got a little bit shorter arms and look when
2:39
Speaker 1: he was standing up there, he's not one of these hulking,
2:43
Speaker 1: giant left tackle prospects. He's not a we didn't get
2:47
Speaker 1: to see him today, but he's not Dwan Jones. He's
2:49
Speaker 1: not Darnell. Right, he's not Broderick Jones. He was this big,
2:51
Speaker 1: barrel chested guy standing up there. He is a little
2:54
Speaker 1: bit built like a guard. I get it, I get it.
2:57
Speaker 1: But I think that he's going to play in the
2:59
Speaker 1: league for a very very long time. Yeah, whether and
3:01
Speaker 1: if he does have to move into guard. I mean,
3:02
Speaker 1: and that's not what the Patriots want with on when
3:04
Speaker 1: you and strange there, But it's a guy that you
3:06
Speaker 1: know with you, I don't want to say he's a
3:07
Speaker 1: can't miss. Maybe he is as potential miss at tackle,
3:11
Speaker 1: but he's not gonna be able. He's not gonna miss
3:13
Speaker 1: if he moves inside. Yeah, and just one more thing
3:15
Speaker 1: about it too, because this bothers me, bugs me that
3:17
Speaker 1: we talk about this kind of stuff so much. Like
3:18
Speaker 1: but Bryce Young too, right, like, oh god, so see
3:22
Speaker 1: five nine is five ten? Does a really matter? Can
3:24
Speaker 1: play football? Right? And with Peter Scronsky too, I just
3:28
Speaker 1: want to say, this is no offense. But this is
3:30
Speaker 1: not Isaiah winn Okay, this is not a six foot
3:33
Speaker 1: two offensive lineman. This is a guy that's going to
3:35
Speaker 1: measure in at six four three ten with maybe thirty
3:39
Speaker 1: two in an eighth inch arms Instead of thirty three, Like,
3:41
Speaker 1: that's what we're talking about here. We're not talking about
3:44
Speaker 1: a guy like Winn who was severely undersized and for
3:48
Speaker 1: an offensive lineman period, tackle, guard, center didn't matter. He's
3:51
Speaker 1: just undersized that Peter Scronsky is just has a little
3:54
Speaker 1: bit shorter arms that it's yes, and the kid can
3:56
Speaker 1: play football, and you know, the Patriots are probably one
3:58
Speaker 1: of those teams that can appre Hey, this guy's a baller.
4:01
Speaker 1: He doesn't have the longest arm. It's not a big deal,
4:03
Speaker 1: but it's hard not to look at You mentioned Roderick Jones,
4:06
Speaker 1: Paris Johnson got up there today, and those guys do
4:08
Speaker 1: have that look. And they're not as experienced as Kronsky.
4:10
Speaker 1: They only you know, have a year each at left tackle.
4:13
Speaker 1: But when you look at the measurables, that's what they're
4:14
Speaker 1: going to check. So you know, you can see where
4:16
Speaker 1: we're kind of at. Not to mention that there's some
4:18
Speaker 1: later later round guys, you know, and I would say
4:20
Speaker 1: later round, I mean, I'm saying, did you guys big
4:22
Speaker 1: round guys you know that still could potentially come in,
4:25
Speaker 1: and you know, if they leave tramp around at left tackle,
4:27
Speaker 1: maybe you do just draft a right tackle and bring
4:29
Speaker 1: a guy in and then worry about left tackle next year.
4:31
Speaker 1: But just so many guys. I think there's a you know,
4:33
Speaker 1: probably six seven guys that I looked at today that said, Wow,
4:37
Speaker 1: these guys sound right, they look right, and they would
4:39
Speaker 1: be great fits for what the Patriots. Yeah, Paris Johnson,
4:42
Speaker 1: that guy is just like built in a lab to
4:44
Speaker 1: play left tackle. Just has that athletic but still offensive lineman,
4:49
Speaker 1: big type of body type. I think he said that
4:52
Speaker 1: he slimmed down maybe just a little bit so he
4:54
Speaker 1: would run faster in the forty, but in general, he
4:58
Speaker 1: You just look at guys that are just you know,
5:01
Speaker 1: built for it. You know, he printed him out and
5:03
Speaker 1: he's just a left tackle. I just felt like he
5:06
Speaker 1: was the one the most in terms of his body composition,
5:10
Speaker 1: looked a part the most. I'd also want to mention
5:12
Speaker 1: Anton Harrison. I feel like I need to mention him
5:15
Speaker 1: more and more and more because he's getting He's flying
5:18
Speaker 1: a little bit under the radar. I would say compared
5:20
Speaker 1: to that consensus top three Scronsky, Jones, and Johnson, I
5:24
Speaker 1: think Anton Harrison is right there with them as a
5:27
Speaker 1: I would almost call it a big four at this point,
5:30
Speaker 1: maybe even a big five. But Darnell right oh, I
5:32
Speaker 1: think is extremely impressive too. But Anton Harrison is a
5:36
Speaker 1: true pure left tackle. He has excellent feet and athleticism,
5:40
Speaker 1: can get out and block and get out to landmarks
5:42
Speaker 1: and pass protection. He's a pure left tackle as well
5:46
Speaker 1: that the Patriots could be interested in. I'm glad you
5:47
Speaker 1: brought him up. And then, of course Tyler Steen from
5:49
Speaker 1: Alabama was someone that we had. We had Jordan read
5:53
Speaker 1: On from ESPN which you guys can listen to at
5:56
Speaker 1: the end here. Nice fifteen minutes with him, great stuff
5:59
Speaker 1: just to about the overall draft Patriots specific as well.
6:03
Speaker 1: But he was a guy Tyler Steen from Alabama, which
6:05
Speaker 1: I know I think he was in your first mock draft. Yes,
6:08
Speaker 1: um was a guy that we had. As you know,
6:09
Speaker 1: maybe he might have to move inside, but again, seems
6:12
Speaker 1: like a really good fit. Versatility is solid. Although I
6:15
Speaker 1: you know, I found myself at this point with the tackles,
6:16
Speaker 1: it's like we don't need him to be verse style.
6:18
Speaker 1: I just want him to be able to play tackle right,
6:19
Speaker 1: you know. But still he seems like a guy played
6:21
Speaker 1: for Bill O'Brien. You spoke with him today. Yeah, he
6:24
Speaker 1: seemed to really like playing for Bill O'Brien had some
6:26
Speaker 1: really good things to say. I'll write it up and
6:29
Speaker 1: you guys can read the quotes on Patriots dot Com.
6:32
Speaker 1: Nice teas there. That was seamless. I'm gonna teach something
6:34
Speaker 1: else like anyways, uh was Steen. I think what I
6:38
Speaker 1: like about Steen, and this is what I did in
6:39
Speaker 1: my first mock draft, and that was I took Scronsky
6:43
Speaker 1: in the first round and then I double dipped with
6:45
Speaker 1: Steen in the fourth round. I think what you do
6:47
Speaker 1: there is that he has some versatility to play inside
6:50
Speaker 1: or outside. So whether you need him at guard or
6:52
Speaker 1: you need him at tackle, I think he can play
6:55
Speaker 1: as a swing position player that maybe is a four
6:58
Speaker 1: position player for you at the next level. And if
7:00
Speaker 1: you're yeah, you're looking for the starter. They need that
7:03
Speaker 1: at the top of the draft. But in the middle rounds,
7:05
Speaker 1: if they want to grab a guy like Steen who
7:07
Speaker 1: can play guard or tackle and give you that backup versatility,
7:11
Speaker 1: those are such valuable players because somebody's gonna get hurt.
7:14
Speaker 1: I hate that, but somebody's going to get hurt. And
7:16
Speaker 1: if it's a guard guy gets hurt, or it's a
7:18
Speaker 1: tackle that gets hurt, now you have a really solid
7:20
Speaker 1: backup or bowl position. Well, I mean just look at
7:21
Speaker 1: the end of last year. I mean you had you
7:23
Speaker 1: had to go get Connor McDermott off of the Jets
7:25
Speaker 1: practice squad, you know, to play for your right tackle
7:27
Speaker 1: because of injuries. So it's it's certainly a thing to consider.
7:30
Speaker 1: You look at Michael and when you he's going to
7:31
Speaker 1: be a free agent next year, right, do they want
7:33
Speaker 1: to pay Cole Strange and his upcoming you know down
7:36
Speaker 1: the road fifty year option. It's it's just a lot
7:38
Speaker 1: of money to lock up into guards and it's not
7:40
Speaker 1: hard to see them saying love you, Michael when you
7:42
Speaker 1: But maybe you can get a guy this year in
7:43
Speaker 1: the interior. So maybe that's a little bit of a
7:45
Speaker 1: position or idea that's under the radar. Let's talk running backs.
7:49
Speaker 1: Have I know, neither one of us is, you know,
7:51
Speaker 1: too overly high on any of these guys, but we
7:54
Speaker 1: do think like there's always an option. Where's that James
7:56
Speaker 1: White type, Where's that Kevin Falk type. We've been looking
7:59
Speaker 1: for him. You know, you're strong. He doesn't really look
8:01
Speaker 1: like that guy. I mean, I know that he can
8:02
Speaker 1: catch the ball a little bit and you know, maybe
8:04
Speaker 1: there's some expectation that he can come in and be
8:06
Speaker 1: the third down back. Um. But I do think that
8:08
Speaker 1: both of our radars are up on these third downback types.
8:11
Speaker 1: And you know, whether it's ty Jay Spears, who's you know,
8:13
Speaker 1: just super electric, um, you know, Kenny Macintosh from Georgia
8:16
Speaker 1: another one who you know kind of fits that mold.
8:18
Speaker 1: There's a few of these guys in this draft that
8:19
Speaker 1: then maybe could fit Deuce. Deuce Vaughn, oh there he
8:24
Speaker 1: I was like, what what I do? I mess something up?
8:26
Speaker 1: Did I say something wrong? Because of course we've been
8:28
Speaker 1: here about eight day, so I feel like it could
8:29
Speaker 1: have been Vaun from Kansas State. He used two guys
8:33
Speaker 1: that he one guy that he studies on film now
8:36
Speaker 1: because this other guy's retired. But a lot of the
8:39
Speaker 1: comparisons that you get from for Deuce Vaughn from k
8:41
Speaker 1: State is Darren Sproles, and he's got He's not tall.
8:45
Speaker 1: He's gonna be like five six, so he's gonna be smaller.
8:48
Speaker 1: I understand that some people might hear that and think
8:50
Speaker 1: JJ Taylor, but I think it's more electric than J J. Taylor.
8:53
Speaker 1: I think he's quicker or faster or stronger than J. J.
8:55
Speaker 1: Taylor is. And he's got that electric, big playability and
9:00
Speaker 1: change of direction if you want to get sold on him.
9:02
Speaker 1: I know they didn't win the game, but the bowl game,
9:04
Speaker 1: the Sugar Bowl against Alabama, he housed one from like
9:07
Speaker 1: sixty five yards out against Alabama's defense and he's just
9:10
Speaker 1: shot out of an absolute cannon. He's got some returnability.
9:13
Speaker 1: I know that Marcus Jones kind of has that on lock,
9:15
Speaker 1: but just another area that he could maybe contribute. But
9:18
Speaker 1: him and I spoke a little bit about what he
9:21
Speaker 1: said that Kansas State called de Fresno route, which is
9:24
Speaker 1: just a full backfield option route, and he said that
9:27
Speaker 1: he has basically just get open, right, whether it's man
9:30
Speaker 1: or zone, he has basically the entire freedom to just
9:34
Speaker 1: get open. Now, obviously there's rules within those parameters based
9:37
Speaker 1: off a leverage, man coverage, zone, coverage, whatever, But those
9:41
Speaker 1: are the types of routes that you look at from
9:42
Speaker 1: a Patriots perspective, and those are the James Whites, the
9:45
Speaker 1: Shane Vereens, the Danny wood Has, the Kevin folks. Those
9:48
Speaker 1: are their routes, right, that's what they ran out of
9:50
Speaker 1: the backfield or those little angles or options, and I
9:52
Speaker 1: think DU's fond can take it get open at the
9:55
Speaker 1: top of the route, and then I think this guy
9:57
Speaker 1: can go. So you're gonna have a little bit of
9:59
Speaker 1: yackability there as well. I really liked him. I think
10:02
Speaker 1: he's an impressive kid, and I think the Patriots will
10:04
Speaker 1: be interested. I think there's only room for one deuce
10:06
Speaker 1: here Patriot that the Patriots. But we'll see how we've been.
10:09
Speaker 1: We were so tired and been here for so long
10:10
Speaker 1: when I had made the deuce joke. You had no
10:12
Speaker 1: idea though, I thought, I just really I thought I
10:14
Speaker 1: said something wrong, and you were like, that was last
10:16
Speaker 1: year's running back and they're like, well, I'm totally fried.
10:19
Speaker 1: Um all right. So that that's kind of it for
10:21
Speaker 1: the position group. So we're gonna just get into a
10:23
Speaker 1: little bit of a general recap here. And of course
10:25
Speaker 1: we've been here since Monday. We saw all the coaches
10:27
Speaker 1: and gms, and we've been you know, talking to people here.
10:30
Speaker 1: We've had some great podcast guests. Again, as I said
10:33
Speaker 1: at the top, you know, it's just great to put
10:35
Speaker 1: a face to a name, really be in person with
10:36
Speaker 1: these guys and just get a sense of their size,
10:38
Speaker 1: I love that today with the offensive lineman. The big
10:41
Speaker 1: takeaway for me though, is the cornerback class, and I
10:44
Speaker 1: think they stood out with their testing, they stood out
10:47
Speaker 1: at the podiums. It's a big need for the Patriots.
10:49
Speaker 1: And and and let's let's as we do on this podcast,
10:51
Speaker 1: even we like to digress a little bit sometimes and
10:53
Speaker 1: you know, connected to the bigger picture for the Patriots.
10:55
Speaker 1: But bring up a point I brought on one of
10:57
Speaker 1: the podcasts earlier in the week was sixty sacks last
11:00
Speaker 1: year twenty second on third down defense? You know what
11:03
Speaker 1: is it? And I think Evan and I both kind
11:04
Speaker 1: of get down to it's the cornerbacks. They need, you know,
11:07
Speaker 1: better coverage. You need that kind of lockdown guy when
11:09
Speaker 1: you go up against so many of these teams have
11:11
Speaker 1: that number one target. And not to say that, all right, well,
11:13
Speaker 1: you need a guy that you're just going to have
11:14
Speaker 1: him follow him all over the field and take him
11:16
Speaker 1: out of the game. That's unrealistic. But I think you
11:19
Speaker 1: need that alpha dog, which they kind of lacked in.
11:21
Speaker 1: And no disrespect to Jonathan Jones, who I think is
11:23
Speaker 1: an outstanding player and I would love to have back,
11:26
Speaker 1: but I just think you look at the last ten
11:27
Speaker 1: years of the Patriots, when have they been at their best.
11:29
Speaker 1: They've been at their best when they had to keep
11:31
Speaker 1: to leave and Drell Reeves and Stefan Gilmour and Jase
11:34
Speaker 1: Jackson and you know those kind of guys. And I
11:36
Speaker 1: know that there are different ways to get those guys
11:38
Speaker 1: and a large majority of them were free agent picks.
11:42
Speaker 1: But I like what the Patriots do with cornerbacks. I
11:44
Speaker 1: think they have an eye for cornerbacks. I think they
11:46
Speaker 1: can coach cornerbacks. So the theme we've been going and
11:50
Speaker 1: are and Jordan reed are our guests the same thing
11:52
Speaker 1: I did. He's like, let's double dip for the Patriots
11:54
Speaker 1: on the cornerback class. It's outstanding And a lot of
11:57
Speaker 1: guys make great impressions this week, this quarterback class, because
12:00
Speaker 1: on for days like if I'm gonna sit here and
12:02
Speaker 1: listen the amount of corners that I could go on
12:04
Speaker 1: the top one hundred, We're going to be here for
12:05
Speaker 1: a while, so I want bore people with it. Bow
12:07
Speaker 1: does point out a few of the guys that really
12:09
Speaker 1: stood out to me. Look, Christian Gonzalez is ridiculous, Like
12:13
Speaker 1: that guy's going in the top ten. I wish he
12:15
Speaker 1: could go to the Patriots at fourteen, but I don't
12:17
Speaker 1: think he's making it to fourteen. What his athletic testing
12:20
Speaker 1: was superbying four three aid forty inch vertical at six
12:24
Speaker 1: one two hundred pounds. I mean, get out of here.
12:26
Speaker 1: But then you talk about the drills on the field,
12:28
Speaker 1: I mean, so smooth, just so quick at w drills
12:31
Speaker 1: and things like that. It just it was impressive to
12:33
Speaker 1: watch him out there. And I understand that there's maybe
12:36
Speaker 1: a feeling around here that there isn't like a Sauce
12:39
Speaker 1: Gardener or one of these, like you know, lock number
12:42
Speaker 1: one corner types. But I think Christian Gonzalez is pretty
12:45
Speaker 1: darn close. And then I think Joey Porter Junior has
12:47
Speaker 1: the makeup of a number one corner and maybe could
12:50
Speaker 1: get there. It was certain parameters, you know, matchups and
12:53
Speaker 1: things like that being specific to him. He's not going
12:55
Speaker 1: to cover coming to the league and cover Tyreek Hill,
12:58
Speaker 1: but he might come into the league and cover Tea
13:00
Speaker 1: Higgins right or Jamar Chase or something like that. That
13:02
Speaker 1: it's a little bit more of a bigger receiver. So
13:04
Speaker 1: I think that those two guys are going to go quickly.
13:06
Speaker 1: We didn't really see much or here much from Witherspoon
13:08
Speaker 1: this week, unfortunately, but I think that he's somebody that's
13:11
Speaker 1: obviously in that top ten mix as well. But you
13:14
Speaker 1: really start to think about is it the best use
13:17
Speaker 1: of the fourteenth pick? With how deep this cornerback class
13:20
Speaker 1: is and the fact that they are bringing back the Joneses,
13:23
Speaker 1: the rookie Joneses, I should say, probably going to make
13:26
Speaker 1: a pretty run at a good run at Jonathan Jones
13:29
Speaker 1: to bring him back, and then you still have Jalen
13:31
Speaker 1: Mills under contract. I know that some people have floated
13:33
Speaker 1: Mills as a potential cab casualty, but I think in reality,
13:36
Speaker 1: you look at the depth chart, that's four guys that
13:38
Speaker 1: are contributors or maybe even starters for you that you're
13:41
Speaker 1: returning to this team. So what I get caught up
13:44
Speaker 1: in is sort of the next thing. And when I
13:46
Speaker 1: talked to mac Row and the interview I did with
13:48
Speaker 1: him this week, he said, it's important to have balance
13:51
Speaker 1: at a position like that, and it's body types. It's
13:54
Speaker 1: building your basketball team, right. You have a bunch of
13:56
Speaker 1: point guards, you need some centers, right, And I think
13:59
Speaker 1: that that's where I would like to see the Patriots
14:01
Speaker 1: go with it next. It's not necessarily needing to target
14:04
Speaker 1: that pick at the fourteenth overall as a corner, but
14:07
Speaker 1: maybe forty six turns into a corner pick, and maybe
14:10
Speaker 1: you trade up a little bit and do what they
14:12
Speaker 1: did with Christian Barmore to get Deante Banks, A cam
14:15
Speaker 1: Smith and Emmanuel Forbes, somebody like that who's got some size,
14:19
Speaker 1: some length, some outside cornerback ability, but still has that
14:23
Speaker 1: athleticism that maybe they could develop into a number one
14:26
Speaker 1: corner and has that upside because I think this cornerback
14:29
Speaker 1: class is so deep that some of these guys might
14:31
Speaker 1: be end of the first round, early second round, but
14:34
Speaker 1: they're still gonna have insane upside because the athleticism is
14:37
Speaker 1: just off the charts. You know. Julius Brent's another one
14:39
Speaker 1: from Kansas State. I haven't really liked all week. He's
14:42
Speaker 1: somebody that I think has that type of upside too.
14:45
Speaker 1: So it's a really great cornerback class. And the great
14:49
Speaker 1: thing about it for the Patriots is that there are
14:51
Speaker 1: a number of those body types. There are a number
14:54
Speaker 1: of six one six two type corners where you can
14:57
Speaker 1: get some size. Yeah. Camp Smith was another one that
14:59
Speaker 1: then made impression on me. I think he had said
15:01
Speaker 1: a pretty intense interview with the Patriots a couple of
15:03
Speaker 1: couple other things. Just to point out, you mentioned Emmanuel Forbes,
15:05
Speaker 1: who you know ran fast but didn't did really weigh
15:08
Speaker 1: that much, so you know, something to consider. One other
15:11
Speaker 1: thing I wanted to bring up to discuss we haven't
15:13
Speaker 1: even talked about it yet, was just Brian Branch and
15:15
Speaker 1: I mean we were even talking last night about you know,
15:17
Speaker 1: what's he going to run? He's with the cornerback group.
15:19
Speaker 1: I mean, I think all of us have just been
15:21
Speaker 1: talking about him like he's going to be a strong safety,
15:22
Speaker 1: Like there's no question he can play in the box.
15:24
Speaker 1: He was, you know, technically a slot corner, but you
15:26
Speaker 1: know that's kind of the Kyle Dugger thing and that's,
15:28
Speaker 1: you know, the role you kind of see him in.
15:29
Speaker 1: I mean, how surprised were you by the number that
15:32
Speaker 1: he put up? And what do you think that does
15:33
Speaker 1: do his draft status because some people have him still
15:35
Speaker 1: going in the first round and he's one of those guys.
15:37
Speaker 1: As we talk about Scronsky, he's a football player, like
15:40
Speaker 1: he just sees the game. He's physical, he knows how
15:43
Speaker 1: to make plays. So it's it's another one of those
15:45
Speaker 1: things where here's a measurable but the guy can play.
15:48
Speaker 1: He's got top twenty film in the class. He does.
15:50
Speaker 1: But unfortunately, when you come to this whole evaluation process,
15:54
Speaker 1: it's it's not just about the film. It's ninety nine
15:56
Speaker 1: percent about the film. But when you have these types
15:59
Speaker 1: of outlie and you have a guy that ran in
16:02
Speaker 1: the four fives at a at a defensive back position,
16:04
Speaker 1: it's a little bit worrisome. And I would just say
16:06
Speaker 1: this entire safety class was slow. I mean, they didn't
16:09
Speaker 1: run very well in this entire class. And I think
16:11
Speaker 1: a lot of these guys are these bigger box safeties.
16:14
Speaker 1: You know, Jordan Battles and Jay Brown. You want to
16:17
Speaker 1: go get the corner at Antonio Johnson from A and M. Like,
16:20
Speaker 1: these guys are bigger guys. They're not. They're not Devin mccordy's.
16:23
Speaker 1: They're not you know, I don't want to use Edvard,
16:26
Speaker 1: but you know what I'm trying to say, they're not.
16:28
Speaker 1: They're not these free safety types. It is my point.
16:31
Speaker 1: They're not these center fielders, these deep part of the
16:34
Speaker 1: field players. But I think Brian Branch could be that.
16:36
Speaker 1: And with that forty time he's playing safety in the league.
16:40
Speaker 1: You don't play corner. I don't slot outside. I don't
16:43
Speaker 1: care with mid four fives at six feet one ninety like,
16:46
Speaker 1: you just don't. So he's going to play the back end,
16:49
Speaker 1: and I still like him. And so he's a little
16:52
Speaker 1: bit slower than Devin was coming out, but converting from
16:56
Speaker 1: corner in college or slot corner in college to back
16:59
Speaker 1: end to the the field safety, deep in the middle safety,
17:03
Speaker 1: I think that that is something that's in his future
17:05
Speaker 1: that could go well. But honestly, with the athletic disting yesterday,
17:08
Speaker 1: I don't think he's a first round pick anymore. I
17:10
Speaker 1: think he's going to fall into the second round. Maybe
17:13
Speaker 1: be this draft and the Kobe Dean or something like that,
17:15
Speaker 1: or we all had him up really high. Athletic testing
17:18
Speaker 1: knocks him down to the second round. That's what happens
17:20
Speaker 1: here in Indianapolis. When you gotta get up, put the
17:23
Speaker 1: scale on, get the weights going, get the running going.
17:26
Speaker 1: Other position group records. We talked to tackles at the top,
17:29
Speaker 1: we talk cornerbacks, the big three. We've been talking about
17:32
Speaker 1: him all week. The needs wide receivers. We you know,
17:35
Speaker 1: got to see them yesterday, they're going to run today
17:37
Speaker 1: and unfortunately we're recording this before we get those times.
17:39
Speaker 1: But you know, I feel like it's going to be
17:41
Speaker 1: more of who he just ran a four three he's
17:43
Speaker 1: up in the first or who he ran a four
17:44
Speaker 1: three he's you know, there's gonna be a lot of speed.
17:47
Speaker 1: I'm not as impressed with the top the top of
17:49
Speaker 1: the draft guys, and I think we can have, you know,
17:51
Speaker 1: some kind of talk about where does the Flowers land
17:53
Speaker 1: given his size, He's gotten put on some weight, but dynamic.
17:56
Speaker 1: We saw Jordan Edison's weight roll in. He's a little
17:59
Speaker 1: bit light as well. Just not a great wide receiver class.
18:02
Speaker 1: And it's hard because you know, the Patriots want that
18:04
Speaker 1: number one target. However, coming out of the combine this week,
18:07
Speaker 1: it feels like they're gonna have to be very targeted.
18:09
Speaker 1: Maybe day two. I don't want to say day three
18:12
Speaker 1: because it's hard to really take a guy in day
18:14
Speaker 1: three and expect to get something out of immediately. But
18:16
Speaker 1: I think they're gonna have to be really really put
18:19
Speaker 1: these guys under the microscope and try to find a
18:21
Speaker 1: Day two guy that can bring something to them in
18:23
Speaker 1: the middle of the field. Absolutely. I think the main
18:26
Speaker 1: thing with this wide receiver class is that you have
18:28
Speaker 1: some types, right, you have some different types of receivers.
18:30
Speaker 1: Inside receivers are more plentiful, I would say, than the
18:34
Speaker 1: outside guys. But all these guys are really really good
18:38
Speaker 1: at one thing, but they have some flaws in their game,
18:41
Speaker 1: and none of them are true. I don't think any
18:44
Speaker 1: of these guys are going to be true number ones
18:45
Speaker 1: in the league. I don't, but they might be really
18:48
Speaker 1: good one bees or really good two's, right, or really
18:52
Speaker 1: good players in a very specific role in an offense.
18:55
Speaker 1: And that's sort of where I'm going with this. With
18:57
Speaker 1: Aza Flowers, I'll throw at as and in there as
19:00
Speaker 1: a slot guy, but really on day two, guys like
19:03
Speaker 1: Josh Downs, Tank Dell, like some of those guys, Yeah,
19:06
Speaker 1: I think they can play in the slot that have
19:08
Speaker 1: that quick twitch, that jitterbug type of skill set to them,
19:12
Speaker 1: that can get in and out of breaks and create separation.
19:14
Speaker 1: So in some places, you know, those guys are not
19:18
Speaker 1: a thousand yard receivers. But in New England and Bill
19:21
Speaker 1: O'Brien's offense, or the pocket quarterback like Mac Jones is
19:24
Speaker 1: gonna want to get the ball out of his hands quickly.
19:26
Speaker 1: It's Wes Welker, it's Julian Edelman like, I think that
19:29
Speaker 1: those guys can be the Patriots version of that. And
19:32
Speaker 1: I think you couple that with the fact that there's
19:34
Speaker 1: a very good chance that they lose Jacobe Myers in
19:37
Speaker 1: free agency and you're gonna need to replace that inside
19:40
Speaker 1: receiver in your offense with something. So I'm not bullish
19:43
Speaker 1: on this class. I haven't been this whole time, but
19:46
Speaker 1: I will say that I do think that you have
19:49
Speaker 1: some really intriguing inside receivers, slot receivers, Z receivers that
19:54
Speaker 1: can come in and play that role at a high
19:56
Speaker 1: level and be a really good player within the framework
19:59
Speaker 1: of the system. Maybe not a game changer, but somebody
20:02
Speaker 1: that's going to be really good at what they're asked
20:03
Speaker 1: to do well. That feeds into my next position, and
20:05
Speaker 1: that's tight end. And you said playmakers, we're trying to
20:08
Speaker 1: get away from colin things weapons, we're not come playmakers.
20:10
Speaker 1: I like that. I'm gonna say playmakers. It seems like
20:13
Speaker 1: that might be a different way to go. You know,
20:14
Speaker 1: I'm not I'm not saying fourteenth overall, but there certainly
20:17
Speaker 1: are a number of maybe a little bit higher ender,
20:20
Speaker 1: higher enders that a word here, sorry again it's Saturday,
20:22
Speaker 1: but a little bit more high end guys maybe is
20:25
Speaker 1: that f tight end that can move around. I mean,
20:26
Speaker 1: I don't think they're gonna go for you know, a
20:28
Speaker 1: Dalton Kincaid or you know Luke Muskar, someone like that.
20:31
Speaker 1: But I do think that this is an intriguing tight
20:33
Speaker 1: end class if you are looking in the right places,
20:36
Speaker 1: it's it's it's maybe not top heavy, but there's some
20:39
Speaker 1: good depth in there. And I think that this is
20:40
Speaker 1: a position maybe where you can get the guys behind
20:43
Speaker 1: Johnah Smith, Hunter Henry, get that next generation a guy
20:46
Speaker 1: to develop behind them. Yeah. Absolutely. I mean, look, you
20:49
Speaker 1: talk to people about this draft. Corner obviously stands out,
20:53
Speaker 1: but I think most people think the tight end class
20:55
Speaker 1: is the best, the best group in the draft. Michael
20:58
Speaker 1: Mayer is going to be the first round pick. I
21:00
Speaker 1: think Kincaid, musk Grave. I think they have a chance
21:03
Speaker 1: to go end of first round or maybe like that
21:05
Speaker 1: Dallas Goddard range, which is like the mid thirties, low thirties,
21:08
Speaker 1: something like that, at the top of the second round.
21:11
Speaker 1: I think that that's where you're gonna see those guys
21:13
Speaker 1: come off the board, but you know there's a lot
21:15
Speaker 1: of them, Tucker Craft, Laporta. You know, I think it
21:19
Speaker 1: goes on and on and on. I can't remember the
21:22
Speaker 1: other guy that I'm thinking of about too, well, obviously lots.
21:25
Speaker 1: You know I like a lot too, but you'd like
21:28
Speaker 1: him a lot too. Sorry, again, we're punchy here, as
21:32
Speaker 1: our producer, As Bradley, shakes his head and well, that's
21:35
Speaker 1: it's only a single face palm, which is literally which
21:38
Speaker 1: is pretty good. It's shutting down around us. Let's let's
21:41
Speaker 1: give a shout out to the Lions. Over the Lions
21:43
Speaker 1: and Patriots. We are the last man standing here were
21:46
Speaker 1: the only ones who really care. They're they're about to
21:49
Speaker 1: shut the lights off on us in here. They're about
21:51
Speaker 1: to kick us out. But yeah, it's it's too funny,
21:54
Speaker 1: but yeah, we I like this tight end class. There's
21:57
Speaker 1: a lot of good tight ends in this class. I
22:00
Speaker 1: do gravitate a little bit towards Mayor as a first
22:03
Speaker 1: round option. I just want Patriots fans. And I'm talking
22:06
Speaker 1: to you Alex Bars because he doesn't. Me and him
22:08
Speaker 1: argued about this the other day after I told him
22:10
Speaker 1: how impressive Mayor was at the podium. I want Patriots
22:13
Speaker 1: fans to remember what it was like in twenty eleven
22:16
Speaker 1: when Rob Gronkowski was dunking on the league and Aaron
22:19
Speaker 1: her Nanez was dunking on the league. You can build
22:21
Speaker 1: an offense through a dynamic tight end. It didn't necessarily
22:24
Speaker 1: work out with the twenty twenty one guys. I get it,
22:26
Speaker 1: Hunter Henry and john H. Smith didn't pan out at
22:29
Speaker 1: that level. But if you get a guy like Mayor Er,
22:31
Speaker 1: if you think that a guy like Kinkaid is that
22:33
Speaker 1: move Travis Kelsey type of tight end, then it's doable.
22:37
Speaker 1: It's definitely doable to build your offense that way. And
22:40
Speaker 1: we want them to dominate in the middle of the
22:42
Speaker 1: field with a quarterback like Mac Jones, and maybe it's
22:45
Speaker 1: a tight end. Like be open minded to that, because
22:48
Speaker 1: I don't want people to think about, well, we don't
22:50
Speaker 1: need a tight end because we have two tight ends.
22:52
Speaker 1: But you don't have two game changers at that position.
22:55
Speaker 1: You have two fine tight ends, you know. I think
22:57
Speaker 1: Hunter Henry is a starting caliber tight end. Think Johnny
23:00
Speaker 1: Smith is a fine piece in your offense. I think
23:04
Speaker 1: Mayor has got the potential to be Jason Witten. You
23:08
Speaker 1: know this one of these guys. It's a ten year
23:10
Speaker 1: with thousand yard receiver. They don't have that guy. Yeah, yeah, sure,
23:13
Speaker 1: had a presence about him. All right, Well, we're gonna
23:15
Speaker 1: put a put a bow on this in a second,
23:17
Speaker 1: but first we want to take you to Jordan Reid,
23:18
Speaker 1: who we talked to was awesome. He's from ESPN. He's
23:21
Speaker 1: like the next coming of you have. Everyone knows mel
23:25
Speaker 1: Kiper and Tom McShay. They're the big two in ESPN,
23:27
Speaker 1: and I mean talk about milk. Kiper's been doing this
23:29
Speaker 1: stuff since probably anyone who's here wasn't even into it.
23:32
Speaker 1: So he's kind of the next guy in that in
23:34
Speaker 1: that so we're hoping we're establishing a long term relationship
23:36
Speaker 1: with him. He had a great, great interview, provide a
23:39
Speaker 1: lot of insight. You can check that out right here.
23:42
Speaker 1: All right, we're excited now to be joined by Jordan
23:43
Speaker 1: Read from ESPN. I want to call him a friend
23:45
Speaker 1: of the program because he's friends with Tamara Brown of
23:47
Speaker 1: course of pages and felt there not maybe not yet,
23:49
Speaker 1: but hopefully by the end of this podcast, we'll call
23:50
Speaker 1: him a friend of the program. But Jordan, you're here
23:52
Speaker 1: with us on Saturday. It's just the final cruise here,
23:55
Speaker 1: like you know that that the just the die hard
23:57
Speaker 1: the diehards getting the offensive lineman and running back. So
24:00
Speaker 1: thank you for joining us. And you know, just how
24:02
Speaker 1: how is your combine week so far? What's good? You know,
24:04
Speaker 1: it's like Christmas Day for me, just leading up to everything.
24:07
Speaker 1: And this is the fun part, right getting to figure
24:09
Speaker 1: out these prospects, getting to meet him in person for
24:11
Speaker 1: the first time. You're watching so much film, and I
24:13
Speaker 1: kind of compare it to buying a car. You're scrolling online,
24:16
Speaker 1: you see cars that you like. You see the xterior,
24:18
Speaker 1: but now this is where we get to see the interior,
24:20
Speaker 1: the console, do we like the stern wheel? We actually
24:22
Speaker 1: get the test drive the car too. So this is
24:24
Speaker 1: the fun part of the process because I have to,
24:27
Speaker 1: you know, cover the Patriots and we have NFL football
24:30
Speaker 1: in the fall. I only like moonlight as a as
24:32
Speaker 1: a draft guy, right, I come in in like January
24:35
Speaker 1: and the Patriots season ends and try to play catch up.
24:38
Speaker 1: So I'm curious about your process though, because you are
24:41
Speaker 1: a full time draft guy. How does it start? You know,
24:44
Speaker 1: where what do you kind of focus on in the
24:45
Speaker 1: fall season and how does it go from there? So
24:49
Speaker 1: I'll say the month after the draft en so May
24:52
Speaker 1: I take the whole month of May off. That's where
24:54
Speaker 1: I just reanagize the battery, get everything, spend some family time.
24:57
Speaker 1: But once June hits, that's where we start to comp
25:00
Speaker 1: a list of everything. And there's two programs in the
25:02
Speaker 1: NFL where they combine a list of underclassmen and also seniors.
25:06
Speaker 1: So that's your first list of what are what it's
25:08
Speaker 1: called draft eligible guys, So you're juniors are guys that
25:11
Speaker 1: are three years removed from high school. So you're going
25:13
Speaker 1: through that list, and what I do is I break
25:15
Speaker 1: it down by position. That's how I developed my film list,
25:18
Speaker 1: just because these are the guys that we potentially could
25:21
Speaker 1: be talking about in twenty twenty four. And I go
25:23
Speaker 1: through all the seniors first, just because I know that
25:26
Speaker 1: these are the guys that they are going to be
25:27
Speaker 1: at the East West Shrine game, they're going to be
25:29
Speaker 1: at the Senior Bowl. Then after that I get into
25:30
Speaker 1: your bigger name underclassmen, and then it's just a collision
25:33
Speaker 1: course from there, watching hours and hours of tape, and
25:35
Speaker 1: then during the season, every weekend I do what's called
25:38
Speaker 1: live scouting. So I'm traveling to games and I'm based
25:40
Speaker 1: in Charlotte, so I stay in the Southeast for the
25:43
Speaker 1: most part, so I'm right in the middle of the SEC,
25:45
Speaker 1: the a SEC and schools like that, So most of
25:47
Speaker 1: the big time prospects are right in my area and
25:49
Speaker 1: seeing those guys throughout the year and up in press boxing,
25:52
Speaker 1: rubbing elbows with a bunch of scouts. So that's what
25:54
Speaker 1: the fall and spring really consists of for me. I
25:57
Speaker 1: know you're with the countdown, that true countdown is to
25:59
Speaker 1: the draft. Of course, this Combine week it's just I
26:01
Speaker 1: mean everybody who's anybody is here. It's you know, you
26:04
Speaker 1: get every one of the guys just overall before we
26:06
Speaker 1: get into the Patriots. Just your general thoughts on kind
26:08
Speaker 1: of this class and if anything stood out to you
26:11
Speaker 1: this week, maybe that you weren't expecting having. I know
26:13
Speaker 1: you've done so much work on these guys already, but
26:15
Speaker 1: you get here, you finally get to see him, talk
26:16
Speaker 1: to him, anything that maybe change your mind or change
26:19
Speaker 1: your perspective a little bit. Oh, I'm not necessarily changed
26:21
Speaker 1: my mind. I don't think this class is very strong
26:24
Speaker 1: at the top as far as guys that can come
26:25
Speaker 1: in and be immediate contributors. Like there's no Aidan Hutchinson,
26:28
Speaker 1: there's no Sauce Gardener. I don't think there's any guys
26:31
Speaker 1: like that. But if you're looking to build depth at
26:33
Speaker 1: certain positions, I think rounds two through four, there's plenty
26:36
Speaker 1: of guys to build death in this draft class. So
26:38
Speaker 1: and that's not a knock on this class at all.
26:40
Speaker 1: It's just it's just different phases as far as how
26:43
Speaker 1: you're trying to build a team. But if you're looking
26:44
Speaker 1: for an instant impact type of guy, there's gonna be
26:47
Speaker 1: some challenges with finding that guy. There's not any there's
26:50
Speaker 1: no such thing as a safer, sure fire player, but
26:52
Speaker 1: you can kind of know that a Sauce Gardener or
26:54
Speaker 1: you know, Aidan Hudson, those guys are going to step
26:56
Speaker 1: in and be ready right away. I just don't see
26:58
Speaker 1: a whole bunch of players at the top and this
27:00
Speaker 1: class like that. I'm glad you said that, actually, because
27:02
Speaker 1: my whole take on the wide receivers. Everybody in New
27:05
Speaker 1: England Watson wide receiver, as you can imagine, And my
27:07
Speaker 1: whole take on the wide receivers is that I'm just
27:10
Speaker 1: not in love with any of the receivers in this draft.
27:13
Speaker 1: I don't think that there is a Justin Jefferson or
27:16
Speaker 1: DeVante Smith or somebody that did fall a little bit,
27:20
Speaker 1: wasn't a top five Calvin Johnson type of guy. And
27:23
Speaker 1: people in New England they love Jordan Addison, they love
27:25
Speaker 1: Zay Flowers of Quinton Johnston. What do you think of
27:28
Speaker 1: those guys at fourteen for the Patriots? Because to be
27:31
Speaker 1: honest with you need to convince me a little bit
27:33
Speaker 1: because I'm not well. I will say this, We've been
27:37
Speaker 1: really spoiled with really good wide receiver classes over the
27:39
Speaker 1: past three or four years. So the mindset from a
27:42
Speaker 1: media perspective and fan perspective is going to be a
27:44
Speaker 1: little bit different just because you're seeing guys like DeVonta
27:47
Speaker 1: Smith and Jalen Waddle. These guys come in and have
27:49
Speaker 1: instant impact type of contributions on their team. So you
27:53
Speaker 1: really expect that going forward from every wide receiver class.
27:57
Speaker 1: And I think your spot on as far as with
27:59
Speaker 1: this class, there's no bona fide wide receiver one that's
28:01
Speaker 1: going to step in and be a superstar. There's no
28:03
Speaker 1: Jamar Chase or Justin Jefferson, like you said, but if
28:06
Speaker 1: you're looking for a complimentary option has a number two,
28:08
Speaker 1: I think this is a really good class. Like Jordan Addison,
28:11
Speaker 1: I think you can step in and be a Calvin
28:12
Speaker 1: Ridley type Quinn Johnston can step in and be a T.
28:15
Speaker 1: Higgins type of player. So there's no bona fide superstar
28:18
Speaker 1: that's coming to the league. But if you're looking for
28:20
Speaker 1: a complimentary option that eventually could get to that point,
28:22
Speaker 1: I think this is a good class for that. I
28:24
Speaker 1: really liked your car metaphor earlier because I made a
28:26
Speaker 1: similar amountaphor for offensive Lineman. I said in the past,
28:29
Speaker 1: it's like buying tires for your car. Like nobody wants
28:31
Speaker 1: to buy tires for your car. There's nothing sexy about tires.
28:34
Speaker 1: But if you don't have tires, you're not gonna go anywhere.
28:36
Speaker 1: We got to look at some of these guys today.
28:38
Speaker 1: Peter Scronski's one that a lot of you know, Patriots
28:41
Speaker 1: fans are looking at. The arm link is you know
28:43
Speaker 1: the question. He's a three year starter than Roderick Jones,
28:46
Speaker 1: Paris Johnson, Darnell Wright. That's the other big need. I
28:49
Speaker 1: feel like cornerback, which which we'll get to. I'm sure
28:51
Speaker 1: wide receiver, an offensive tackle or the big needs. How
28:53
Speaker 1: do you see that kind of playing out? You know,
28:56
Speaker 1: with Roderick Jones, Paris Johnson being a little bit less
28:58
Speaker 1: experienced but have all the measurable by fourteenth overall, do
29:01
Speaker 1: you think any of those could all three of those
29:03
Speaker 1: guys potentially be even be gone. I think that's kind
29:06
Speaker 1: of the sweet spot for all these guys from that
29:08
Speaker 1: ten to twenty five range, as far as those top
29:10
Speaker 1: four or five guys and not just those three. Anton
29:13
Speaker 1: Harrison from Oklahoma is another interesting name, Darnielle Right from Tennessee.
29:16
Speaker 1: So this class is very similar to what we talked
29:18
Speaker 1: about with wide receiver, of where there's no bona fide
29:21
Speaker 1: number one guy as far as it's going to step
29:23
Speaker 1: in and be a blind side protective for ten plus years.
29:26
Speaker 1: But Scronski, I think he's the best of the group
29:28
Speaker 1: as far as from a versatility standpoint, And a lot
29:31
Speaker 1: of people don't know he actually came to Northwestern as
29:33
Speaker 1: a center, so he initially played center, he moved to guard,
29:36
Speaker 1: and then when Rashaun Slater declared for the draft and
29:38
Speaker 1: ended up going a top fifteen to the Chargers. He
29:41
Speaker 1: kicked out the left tackle and he was so good
29:43
Speaker 1: there They're like, Okay, let's just leave him there, not
29:45
Speaker 1: worry about it. So he has the versatility that you love.
29:47
Speaker 1: You're gonna hear about the arm link with him. Is
29:49
Speaker 1: he a guard or a tackle? But that's a good
29:51
Speaker 1: problem to have, especially when you're talking about offensive lineman.
29:54
Speaker 1: After that, Broderick Jones from Georgia, he's one that I
29:57
Speaker 1: like a lot. I got an opportunity to see him
29:58
Speaker 1: against South Carolina. Looks the part, very athletic, but is
30:01
Speaker 1: a little bit rough around the edges, just because he's
30:03
Speaker 1: only started one season. I don't even count his rest
30:06
Speaker 1: freshman year of where he started the final four games
30:09
Speaker 1: of that year, so fifteen game starter. Natural as far
30:12
Speaker 1: as a pass protector, but has some improvement to do
30:14
Speaker 1: as a run blocker. He ducks his head quite a
30:16
Speaker 1: bit and things of that nature, so he has some
30:19
Speaker 1: improvement to do there. And then Paris Johnson Junior, he
30:21
Speaker 1: has experience at guard, but he just didn't look natural
30:24
Speaker 1: there this season ago. I think he's a left tackle
30:26
Speaker 1: without questions, So it's going to be really interesting to
30:29
Speaker 1: see how did the order As far as these guys
30:31
Speaker 1: are selected just because talking to some scouts, there's some
30:33
Speaker 1: people that like Jones at the top. There's some people
30:35
Speaker 1: that like Skronski and then Johnson. There's others that like
30:38
Speaker 1: Anton Harrison. So it's gonna be really interesting to see
30:40
Speaker 1: how these guys come off of the board. The Patriots
30:42
Speaker 1: tend to gravitate towards Senior Bowl, Shrine Bowl guys, guys
30:46
Speaker 1: with experience. That's the one thing that I have a
30:49
Speaker 1: question about with Brodrick Jones. So I loved watching, but
30:52
Speaker 1: I'm not he's only got that what nineteen starts. I
30:54
Speaker 1: think it is under his belt. But one of the
30:56
Speaker 1: guys that you mentioned though quickly, was Darnell right who
30:59
Speaker 1: we just spoke to here briefly but the podium, and
31:02
Speaker 1: he's a Senior Bowl guy and a multi year starter
31:04
Speaker 1: against all those boxes checked, kind of like Scarnsky, what
31:07
Speaker 1: do you think of him as more of a right tackle.
31:10
Speaker 1: I'm sure at the next level, but somebody that can
31:12
Speaker 1: come in and start right away. I think he's the
31:14
Speaker 1: best right tackle in this draft class. I think it's
31:16
Speaker 1: between him and Dwan Jones, another Senior Bowl guy that
31:19
Speaker 1: performed really well that first day. But with Darnell, it's
31:22
Speaker 1: been really fun to just see his story unfold, just
31:25
Speaker 1: because big time recruit. I think he was like top
31:27
Speaker 1: ten ranked in the country when he came in, was
31:29
Speaker 1: a little bit overweight when he came in, had to
31:31
Speaker 1: slim his body down, but the matturation that he showed
31:34
Speaker 1: from his junior to his senior year was just phenomenal.
31:36
Speaker 1: And he played predominantly right guard during his first two seasons,
31:39
Speaker 1: but the past two years he kicked outside the right
31:42
Speaker 1: tackle and he was a little bit rough around the edges.
31:44
Speaker 1: I keep using that thank cliche, a little bit rough
31:46
Speaker 1: around edges as far as his technique. But you see
31:49
Speaker 1: him go against Will Anderson. He was lights out great
31:51
Speaker 1: against Brian Brici in the Bowl game. So I think
31:54
Speaker 1: as far as a run blocker, he's NFL ready right now.
31:57
Speaker 1: But what's gonna be really interesting to see with him
32:00
Speaker 1: is just a testing numbers. That's something that a lot
32:02
Speaker 1: of people are waiting on with him, just because the
32:04
Speaker 1: biggest question with him is just how athletic he is.
32:06
Speaker 1: But he shows to me plenty of athletic on tape,
32:09
Speaker 1: but with scouts, they just want to actually see those
32:10
Speaker 1: numbers to confirm what they saw. Yeah, a lot of
32:12
Speaker 1: our podcast listeners love Dwan Jones and mentioned from Ohio
32:16
Speaker 1: State just kind of like a Trent Brown almost dum
32:19
Speaker 1: with him in New England. Of course, what do you
32:22
Speaker 1: see from him? And you mentioned with Fright, you know
32:25
Speaker 1: some foot speed concerns. I think there are some of
32:27
Speaker 1: those with Dwan as well, but he's so long and
32:30
Speaker 1: so big that it might end up pattering at the
32:32
Speaker 1: next level. Yeah. So I saw Duan walking around the
32:35
Speaker 1: convention center like two days ago, and I was like, no, way,
32:38
Speaker 1: that guy's real. Yeah, he's just I mean everything with
32:41
Speaker 1: Trent and the Yeah, yeah, I mean these guys make
32:45
Speaker 1: are all podium team here and these guys are just massive,
32:49
Speaker 1: and it's like, man, I see why nobody was able
32:51
Speaker 1: to get around you. But he was a bit of
32:53
Speaker 1: in what I like to call an acquired taste for me. Um,
32:55
Speaker 1: I didn't really I wasn't a huge fan of him initially,
32:58
Speaker 1: but it's just like, man, he just doesn't get beat. Yeah,
33:00
Speaker 1: and even though it's not pretty, he just gets the
33:02
Speaker 1: job done. And he's not going to be for everybody
33:04
Speaker 1: as far as like zone scheme, man blocking scheme, things
33:07
Speaker 1: like that. But if you're looking somebody, for somebody that
33:10
Speaker 1: can just plug and play right now, and you're not
33:12
Speaker 1: really worried about his technique, initially, I think he's your guy.
33:15
Speaker 1: And with the Patriots obviously to have a huge need
33:18
Speaker 1: at right tackle or excuse me, at both tackle spots
33:20
Speaker 1: offensive tackle, so and they've had experience with a guy
33:23
Speaker 1: like Trent Brown, So I think them already seeing that
33:26
Speaker 1: type of body type, and then with the wand being
33:28
Speaker 1: so successful at that position, and then just his monstrous measurables,
33:33
Speaker 1: I think they're gonna be big fans of him. Not
33:34
Speaker 1: necessarily at fourteen, I think that's way too early. But
33:36
Speaker 1: if you're talking about day two somewhere, yeah, just before
33:39
Speaker 1: we move over to defense really quickly, who's your favorite
33:42
Speaker 1: mid round or later round tackle prospect that you could
33:45
Speaker 1: see as a starter down the line in case they
33:47
Speaker 1: miss out on the first wave of guys. So I
33:49
Speaker 1: think this guy can be a guard or a tackle.
33:51
Speaker 1: And his Tyler Steen from Alabama. I like him a lot.
33:54
Speaker 1: He played his first three years at Vanderbilt and then
33:57
Speaker 1: he stayed in conference and transferred excuse me too, Alabama,
34:00
Speaker 1: and I thought he played really well there. Another player
34:02
Speaker 1: that you know, he has them cleaning up to do
34:04
Speaker 1: as far as his technique, but as far as the
34:06
Speaker 1: athleticism and just the mentality that he plays with, he
34:08
Speaker 1: has that from day one. Bill O'Brien connection, He just
34:11
Speaker 1: talked to him earlier, and Tamari's texts me right now,
34:13
Speaker 1: she's very excited that we're talking to you. So I
34:15
Speaker 1: was going to interview him Monday, but I guess so.
34:19
Speaker 1: Turning the page to the guys we watched last night,
34:21
Speaker 1: the cornerback. Yeah, and that's another big position to need
34:23
Speaker 1: for the Patriots. Jonathan Jones as a free agent, you know,
34:26
Speaker 1: they had some size issues. I just think they've drafted
34:28
Speaker 1: Marcus Jones, Jack Jones not the biggest guys last night.
34:31
Speaker 1: I think we were all blown away by this this group.
34:33
Speaker 1: I know you said it's kind of a class overall,
34:35
Speaker 1: but in terms of a year to need a cornerback
34:37
Speaker 1: maybe too, it seems like this is pretty good year.
34:39
Speaker 1: There's a lot options and this was one of the
34:41
Speaker 1: positions that a lot of people hyped up, including myself
34:43
Speaker 1: coming into the event. But I thought they lived up
34:45
Speaker 1: to the hype. I mean, this cornerback class. Just watching
34:47
Speaker 1: those guys move around in the stadium yesterday. From start
34:50
Speaker 1: to finish, they were phenomenal. And I mean I think
34:53
Speaker 1: I was talking to some people yesterday. I think we
34:56
Speaker 1: could see as many as fifteen on side of the
34:58
Speaker 1: top three rounds, which would be a record over. So
35:00
Speaker 1: if I was the Patriots, I would even consider double dipping.
35:03
Speaker 1: I think I think that class. I think this class
35:06
Speaker 1: is that special. Yeah. I the one guy that obviously
35:09
Speaker 1: not gonna say JR. Corny Benne because he's running right there. Yeah, yeah,
35:13
Speaker 1: he's sneaky. Though I got to put him on my list.
35:15
Speaker 1: I didn't. I didn't know that he had that kind
35:17
Speaker 1: of speed. The one guy that is the other Maryland
35:19
Speaker 1: corner actually who I was gonna bring up, Dante Banks
35:22
Speaker 1: is my draft crush. I just watching him against Ohio State,
35:25
Speaker 1: and I felt like he was one of the only
35:27
Speaker 1: corners that I watched consistently hang with Marvin Harrison Junior
35:30
Speaker 1: and not just get completely blown off the field no
35:33
Speaker 1: offense keiey Ringo. So I thought that, you know, he
35:36
Speaker 1: was somebody that really stood out. We know about the
35:38
Speaker 1: first round guys, you know, Gonzalez, port Or Junior, Witherspoon,
35:41
Speaker 1: but what do you see in Banks because, as Mike mentioned,
35:45
Speaker 1: some size and physicality is something that Patriots could use
35:48
Speaker 1: on the outside. So funny story about Banks. I was
35:50
Speaker 1: talking to my colleague mil Kuiper back in this was
35:53
Speaker 1: in like October, and he was like, Hey, Maryland has
35:57
Speaker 1: this corner that I think is really special. When we
35:58
Speaker 1: was like, no way, Mal, you're just hyping this guy
36:00
Speaker 1: up like you always do. He's like, his name is
36:02
Speaker 1: Deontay Banks, and he was like, I think he could
36:04
Speaker 1: be a top fifteen pick. So come to find out
36:07
Speaker 1: here we are now. It was right. So just seeing
36:09
Speaker 1: Deontay and just his ascension throughout the year, it's been great.
36:13
Speaker 1: He has the size, as you mentioned, he came in
36:15
Speaker 1: I think six foot like one hundred and ninety seven
36:17
Speaker 1: to words ninety eight pounds, so big corner, goes out
36:19
Speaker 1: and runs forty three, which is great for him. And
36:21
Speaker 1: I thought he looked very fluid in the drills too,
36:23
Speaker 1: And he's one of the few guys that I think
36:25
Speaker 1: can play man or zone in this class. And you know,
36:28
Speaker 1: he does have some troupe's finding the ball in the air.
36:29
Speaker 1: I think that's something that he does need to clean up.
36:32
Speaker 1: But as far as just being NFL ready right now.
36:34
Speaker 1: I think he's that. But the great thing about him
36:36
Speaker 1: is that if he doesn't work out a corner, I
36:38
Speaker 1: think he can slipping him back in the back end
36:39
Speaker 1: and play safety too. I think he has that type
36:41
Speaker 1: of versatility. So if you want him, you're probably gonna
36:44
Speaker 1: have to take him at fourteen. If the Fatures want
36:45
Speaker 1: him though, really yeah, I mean that's where it's trending
36:48
Speaker 1: because I sort of had him at They have the
36:50
Speaker 1: forty sixth pick in the second round, and I was
36:52
Speaker 1: thinking that maybe that would be a spot that they
36:54
Speaker 1: could get him anymore, right, And I just watching him
36:58
Speaker 1: against Ohio State and he had this jam or It's
37:01
Speaker 1: almost like he was a gunner on literally couldn't the
37:04
Speaker 1: guy couldn't get off the line. He was like trying
37:06
Speaker 1: to dance around him and he was he literally pushed
37:09
Speaker 1: him off the screen. Yeah, it was it was I
37:11
Speaker 1: think he was flexed out to the right, so yeah,
37:13
Speaker 1: and he would just pushed him off. Yeah. And it
37:16
Speaker 1: is a team that runs so much press man for
37:18
Speaker 1: like the Patriots. I was like, oh, yeah, like you
37:21
Speaker 1: give me some of that, all right, I'll go to
37:22
Speaker 1: the first round. Guys though, because I think you know
37:24
Speaker 1: that last one just to general and you know, fourteenth overall.
37:28
Speaker 1: We talked about kind of the three main positions, but
37:29
Speaker 1: just you know, for you, how do you kind of
37:31
Speaker 1: see things playing out? And who do you think might
37:33
Speaker 1: make sense? They are at the fourteenth overall pick for
37:34
Speaker 1: the Patriots, I think it's a good spot for offensive tackle,
37:37
Speaker 1: just because I think there's a bit of a drop
37:39
Speaker 1: off after that that second round range. I think there's
37:42
Speaker 1: a precipitous drop off there, So I would look for
37:44
Speaker 1: offensive tackle just because I think this cornerback class is
37:47
Speaker 1: so deep. I don't think you need to take one
37:49
Speaker 1: so early. I think you could take one and round two,
37:51
Speaker 1: a round three and be just fine. So one of Scarronsky,
37:54
Speaker 1: Paris Johnson or Broderick Jones and then coming back in
37:57
Speaker 1: the second round and getting one of those corners. As
37:58
Speaker 1: much as I want banks, I think that you're right
38:01
Speaker 1: though about the corners at this point, watching these guys yesterday,
38:04
Speaker 1: the Patriots could probably pluck one in the second or
38:06
Speaker 1: the third round and there'll be a system fit and
38:09
Speaker 1: it'll work out for them. I wanted to ask you,
38:11
Speaker 1: are we done with the first round? Guys? Can we
38:12
Speaker 1: go to I'm sure you were at the Shrine Bowl.
38:14
Speaker 1: He's for a time period, and the Patriots obviously coached
38:17
Speaker 1: out there in Vegas. Who were some of the guys
38:19
Speaker 1: that stood out to you on Day three? Maybe a
38:22
Speaker 1: little bit later in the draft at the Shrine Bowl,
38:23
Speaker 1: because they're gonna take like six guys from the Shrine Bowl.
38:26
Speaker 1: So I'm just waiting for that. So there's one guy
38:30
Speaker 1: that I absolutely love and I'm surprised he's not getting
38:32
Speaker 1: more intention So his name is Lance Boyken from Coastal Carolina,
38:35
Speaker 1: and he was terrific yesterday. And he's not super fast.
38:39
Speaker 1: He ran in low four fives I think yesterday, but
38:41
Speaker 1: everybody six foot one, two hundred pounds, and he was
38:43
Speaker 1: terrific at the East West Shrine. He actually was on
38:46
Speaker 1: the Patriots squad, I believe at East West Shrine, so
38:48
Speaker 1: they got up close and personal look at him. Was
38:50
Speaker 1: terrific at Coastal Carolina. I think he had four interceptions
38:54
Speaker 1: last year. So Lance boym Coastal Carolina. He's like my
38:56
Speaker 1: deep sleeper in this class. He's been terrific throughout the
38:59
Speaker 1: pre drift process. I like it anything else before we
39:02
Speaker 1: let him go. Trying to think There's obviously a bunch
39:05
Speaker 1: of Shrine Bowl guys that I could rattle off right
39:07
Speaker 1: now and ask you about. But I think the one
39:09
Speaker 1: guy that really stood out to me and my podcast
39:12
Speaker 1: cohouse Alex barth out there was Ketchall Clark from Louisville
39:15
Speaker 1: who had just like a great week out in Vegas.
39:18
Speaker 1: He's maybe a little bit more undersized for what the
39:20
Speaker 1: Patriots would want in this class, just because of the
39:23
Speaker 1: Joneses and things like that they already have on the team.
39:25
Speaker 1: But what did you think of his week out there?
39:27
Speaker 1: One of my favorites. I mean, especially as a nickel corner,
39:30
Speaker 1: you want to see those guys have infectious energy, just
39:32
Speaker 1: because I think half the battle, especially at cornerback entering
39:36
Speaker 1: the league is confidence. You're guarding some of the best
39:38
Speaker 1: athletes in the world. You're moving backwards while they're moving forward,
39:41
Speaker 1: So you have to have that type of confidence and
39:43
Speaker 1: swagger entering the league, like I think all the top
39:47
Speaker 1: corners in the league have it. You think of with
39:48
Speaker 1: Jalen Ramsey or Jaire Alexander, those guys that you know
39:52
Speaker 1: chart back at those guys, but they back it up
39:54
Speaker 1: with their play and key trill. He had a fantastic week.
39:57
Speaker 1: I thought he was one of the top five best
39:59
Speaker 1: players they're regardless of position. He has the production that
40:01
Speaker 1: you look for, plenty of interceptions, played outside predominantly, But
40:05
Speaker 1: I think he's probably gonna have to be a nickel
40:06
Speaker 1: on the next level. But I think he's gonna be
40:08
Speaker 1: a day one starter for someone. Okay, very last one
40:10
Speaker 1: for you and let you go. We could do this
40:12
Speaker 1: all day. Dr Yeah, because he was with the Patriots
40:17
Speaker 1: at the Shrine, they seem to really like him. I
40:19
Speaker 1: think he threw the ball really well, and they might
40:23
Speaker 1: need another quarterback in that room that has a little
40:26
Speaker 1: bit more athletic upside and can run a little bit
40:28
Speaker 1: more than the two guys that they have like Mack
40:30
Speaker 1: and Bailey. Zappers report this morning that they're probably gonna
40:33
Speaker 1: let Brian Hoyer release Brian Hoyer at the start of
40:35
Speaker 1: the league year. So looking at those two guys, DTR
40:38
Speaker 1: would be a nice kind of different type of prospect
40:40
Speaker 1: to add to that room. It's funny you mentioned that,
40:43
Speaker 1: just because one of my biggest takeaways that I'll never
40:45
Speaker 1: forget about the East West Shrine was actually so I
40:49
Speaker 1: think they were doing like a special team's period during
40:51
Speaker 1: the Patriots practice at the East West Shrine, DTR, coach
40:54
Speaker 1: O'Brien and coach Belichick were going through a progression that
40:57
Speaker 1: he had messed up on, and I'm just standing beside
40:59
Speaker 1: behind him. I'm a formal quarterback, so I'm eating stuff
41:01
Speaker 1: up like that, just hearing them go through it and
41:03
Speaker 1: how quickly he was able to pick it up and
41:05
Speaker 1: how he messed up about it. So that was really
41:07
Speaker 1: interesting to hear. But as far as just DTR the player,
41:09
Speaker 1: I thought he was much better last year compared to
41:12
Speaker 1: his previous three seasons, and he's my favorite developmental quarterback.
41:15
Speaker 1: Him and Jakner from Fresno State, those are my two
41:17
Speaker 1: favorite developmental quarterbacks of this bunch. But I think he
41:20
Speaker 1: could probably go forth or fifth round. I think that's
41:22
Speaker 1: probably the sweet spot for him. But as far as
41:24
Speaker 1: a developmental guy that has the mobility that you're looking
41:26
Speaker 1: for that's really required of young quarterbacks, now, I think
41:29
Speaker 1: DTR would be a good bit absolutely awesome stuff. Well, hey,
41:32
Speaker 1: Jordan Ready, thank you so much for joining us. Him
41:34
Speaker 1: a follow at Jordan underscore read on Twitter, and I
41:36
Speaker 1: guess maybe this is the start of a beautiful relationship.
41:39
Speaker 1: Anything here I mean, it's so funny listening to though,
41:41
Speaker 1: you know, talk about mel Kiper and it's like you're
41:42
Speaker 1: you're the young rising star and we've all been watching
41:44
Speaker 1: those guys forever and so now I feel like, you know,
41:47
Speaker 1: we got an end with with the new guys. So
41:48
Speaker 1: it's great. Absolutely, Thanks TV, Thank you guys. As always.
41:52
Speaker 1: All right, we're back to put a bow on it
41:54
Speaker 1: here in Indy. Evan, what are your your final thoughts?
41:57
Speaker 1: You're one big takeaway from this this this this week
42:00
Speaker 1: we've been here in India. I don't know, have you
42:01
Speaker 1: ever been here for this full thing. This is the
42:02
Speaker 1: first time I've been here for the whole thing, and
42:04
Speaker 1: and yes I'm a little bit tired, but man, I
42:06
Speaker 1: just I feel like I'm going back to Foxbro with
42:09
Speaker 1: so much you know, knowledge and insight to share with
42:11
Speaker 1: the fans and you know, hopefully get everybody ready for
42:13
Speaker 1: what should be, you know, an outstanding draft. You got
42:15
Speaker 1: eleven picks, we know what they need. It's it's a
42:18
Speaker 1: big draft and I'm really excited coming out of here
42:20
Speaker 1: about it. My very first combine, I was here the
42:22
Speaker 1: whole time. I actually flew out with the Patriots scouting
42:25
Speaker 1: department on the last plane from India to Boston on
42:28
Speaker 1: the last day of the combine. So I have been
42:31
Speaker 1: here the whole time before. But I think what's really
42:33
Speaker 1: cool for me in this draft process is I went
42:35
Speaker 1: to the Shrine Bowl, was out there for the week
42:37
Speaker 1: of Pradice is at the Shrine Bowl, and then I
42:39
Speaker 1: came here. I know this draft better than probably most
42:43
Speaker 1: drafts that I've ever covered because of that. So I
42:45
Speaker 1: got the no offense to the Shrine Bowl. I got
42:47
Speaker 1: the Day three covered with the Shrine Bowl. Now I
42:50
Speaker 1: feel like I came here and focus a little bit
42:51
Speaker 1: more on the top fifty guys and got to know
42:53
Speaker 1: some of the guys they might pick in the first round.
42:56
Speaker 1: So it's been a lot of fun. It has been,
42:58
Speaker 1: and we're basically a draft report and we're not done
43:01
Speaker 1: yet either. And then you're listening to this podcast. We're
43:02
Speaker 1: recording it here on Saturday, but we have, you know,
43:04
Speaker 1: plenty of leftover content that we're just going to be
43:07
Speaker 1: plowing through over the next few days. It'll be written,
43:09
Speaker 1: it'll be video. We got a lot on the pipeline
43:11
Speaker 1: that that is still to come. But the main part
43:14
Speaker 1: of it for us is over We have some testing that'll,
43:16
Speaker 1: you know, maybe color some of our opinions and insight
43:19
Speaker 1: as well, but overall that this is going to do
43:21
Speaker 1: it for us. It's a little bit sad, but we
43:22
Speaker 1: got to pack up. We're heading back to Boston. And
43:24
Speaker 1: of course we want to thank you guys for you know,
43:26
Speaker 1: listening to these All your comments have been great. We
43:28
Speaker 1: really appreciate it. And hey, let's put a wrap on
43:30
Speaker 1: Indie twenty twenty three. We'll see you back in Foxboro.
43:33
Speaker 1: It was funny