Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - 2025 Patriots Training Camp Concerns | Defensive Deadly Weapon

Starting point is 00:00:00 Three things that I'm most concerned with as we creep closer to training camp. That's where we start on this episode of locked on Patriots You are locked on Patriots your daily New England Patriots podcast Part of the locked on podcasts network your team every day. What's up, Patriots fans? I'm your host, Nick Cattles, born and raised in New England. Also the host of the Everything Pats podcast, the co host of the Greg Bedard Patriots podcast with Nick Cattles and a sports talk show host veteran on today's episode, we'll discuss one defensive characteristic that could give the Pats defense an edge. And speaking of defense

Starting point is 00:00:44 will highlight the three top defenses Drake, May and company will face in 2025. But first three pre camp concerns. We appreciate you joining the show, making us your first listening for being an everydayer, the Lockdown Patriots podcast, a proud partner of the Lockdown podcast network, your team every day.

Starting point is 00:01:02 And a reminder, we've got today's episode, Friday's episode, and then starting next Monday, we are right back at it. July 14th, Monday through Friday, you get an episode every single day of the week. And today's episode is brought to you by Fandool. Right now, new customers can get $150 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins. I am optimistic you are optimistic that 2025 will be better than 2023 or 2024. I'm optimistic that 2025 football season is going to be much

Starting point is 00:01:36 better than 2023 and 2024 for Patriots fans. But we're still talking about a team. We're still talking about a franchise that has had back to back top four picks. And of course that means you weren't very good the last couple of years. And you're not going to be able to turn over the entire roster to the point where you won't have any questions. So I wanted to take a look at the top three pre-training camp concerns that I have. We're just a couple of weeks away from training camp, July 23rd. Can't wait for that to happen. But here are the three concerns.

Starting point is 00:02:15 Age. I start with age at critical spots. Morgan Moses is a very important part of the offensive line. Kaden Wallace, not trustworthy, reportedly. Patriots don't really know what to think of him. He has all the potential and talent in the world, but as Greg Bedard recently wrote, there is quote unquote something missing with Wallace. So your back upright tackle might not be your back upright tackle.

Starting point is 00:02:43 That's an issue. Marcus Bryant, seventh round pick. Who knows what you get from him? tackle might not be your b That's an issue. Marcus Br pick who knows what you g Moses is pivotal for this offensive line critical t he's 34 years old. He's 3 off of one of his worst s 567 years Coming off a surgery.

Starting point is 00:03:06 So I have some concern about 34-year-old Morgan Moses being able to give you week in and week out above average play at right tackle. Then we look at Robert Spillane. Spillane is a tremendous football player, incredibly underrated, criminally overlooked, is going to be the quarterback of this defense. If you read anything about the OTAs and mandatory minicamp, but Spillane turns 30 years old

Starting point is 00:03:34 in December. And as we know, especially linebacker, very physical position, as you get to 30 years old, you might not be the same guy. Then we go to outside corner. Carlton Davis, opposite of Christian Gonzalez, this idea is a great idea. You have two very good corners, one second team all-pro, another guy who is one of the better second corners in football, now that he's with the Patriots. Somebody who could probably be a number one corner for at least some teams in the league.

Starting point is 00:04:06 But Carlton Davis turns 29 years old in December. And we know if there's one thing about Davis that makes us concerned, it's his injury history. Last time I checked, as professional athletes get older, they usually don't get healthier. So Moses, 34, Spillane, 30,, Davis 29 of December, Harold Landry is 29 years old. Pass rush win rate, depending on which analytic that you use, pro football focus versus ESPN, Landry did not have a very good pass rush season a year ago for Tennessee. Now we hope that that's because Tennessee changed coaching staffs, Landry might have just had a little bit of an off year, but he is 29 years old. So the age of

Starting point is 00:04:52 some of the most critical players, pass rusher in Landry, outside corner in Davis, quarterback of your defense in Spillane, right tackle Morgan Moses, those guys are older. And so I do have some concern. They've got to get through camp healthy, and then they've got to get through the season healthy. Here is concern number two, verticality within the offense. Theoretically, we can sit here and talk about Kyle Williams being the guy.

Starting point is 00:05:21 He got drafted in the top 70. Obviously the Patriots love him. I am excited about Kyle Williams. But how many times have we been burnt by this position coming out of the draft? Way too many times to count. We all have PTSD. If Kyle Williams isn't shot out of a cannon week one, if he's not ready in the first month if he doesn't show more during training camp Then he showed at OTAs and mandatory minicamp You can't walk into 2025 believing that Kyle Williams is the answer to all of your verticality issues in the passing game So we don't know what to expect from the rookie

Starting point is 00:05:59 Then you might go to Kaishan Booty Booty was the guy last year for Drake May He was the target downfield plenty of times, but there's an issue with that. Ben Solak of ESPN wrote in early to mid-June the following about the Patriots' vertical threats in Booty. Quote, not only could the Patriots not protect May long enough to let Routes develop downfield, but they also lacked a receiver who could make a play there of his 32 downfield targets last season 14 went to booty booty hauled in exactly three of those targets 14 passes downfield to booty he came down with three of the 14 now some of that is on may but some of it is on booty. So can you trust him to make consistent plays downfield? If you go off 2024, the answer is no.

Starting point is 00:06:53 Mac Collins, how much can you depend on Mac Collins? He's not necessarily a game breaker week in and week out. He's capable of making some plays downfield because he's a big dude, week in and week out. He's capable of making some plays downfield because he's a big dude. But consistency, I mean, if he gives you 35 catches, you feel like it was a very good season for Mack Collins. He's going to be an impact player more, I think, in the red zone than he will be consistently making plays downfield. Pop Douglas got some snaps on the outside during OTA's mandatory minicamp. That is a change for him, but he's not a big target. Not necessarily a contested catch guy. He can go up and get it.

Starting point is 00:07:31 He's made some great catches as a Patriot through his first two years, but he's not that big target. Jayvon Baker might not even make the team. Actually seems unlikely that he's going to make the team. Actually seems unlikely that he's going to make the team. He was the theoretical get down field receiver out of last year's draft. It didn't work out. So the verticality or lack thereof in this offense, it might lead to Josh McDaniel's manufacturing some of this verticality through his scheme and through his play calling, but to me it's a concern. It's a question The final concern for me as we get ready for training camp is the offensive line

Starting point is 00:08:11 I talk about the consistency or lack thereof big plays downfield I think the offensive line consistency is a question mark to me as we get ready For camp to start on July 23rd Will Campbell We, we've talked enough about him, rookie left tackle. Every rookie in the league, you don't know what you're going to get. You hope for the best, just like we hope for the best with Kyle Williams in verticality. We hope for the best with Campbell at left tackle that he can hold his water. But we've got to see him with pads on, we've got to see him in those joint

Starting point is 00:08:41 practices, and we hope that he's consistent. Left guard, we don't know who's going to be left guard. I'm not totally sold on Cole Strange starting there. You look at the other options. Tyrese Robinson showed a couple of flashes during OTAs. Is he the answer? Question mark. Leighton Robinson falling down the depth chart.

Starting point is 00:09:02 I'd watch out for City So, but left guard, again, can you consistently get good play from left guard throughout camp? Is somebody going to step up to battle that center between Garrett Bradbury and Jared Wilson? Either of those guys going to give you some kind of consistency in the heart of your offensive line, smack dab in the middle. consistency in the heart of your offensive line smack dab in the middle Michael Wenu What kind of shape is a when I'm going to show up in for training camp? It's been reported that he was looking a little bit big this year. Just like he looked a little bit big last year last season He was up and down but as a when I'm going to show up in shape and

Starting point is 00:09:41 Be ready to be that guy. He was limited during OTAs and mandatory mini camp, had an injury, sounded like it was a hand injury. Is he ready to play physically with his weight and with the hand? Because you need a Ueno to be one of the acres. And of course we talked about Morgan Moses and some of the questions with him. So those are my three pre training camp concerns. I probably have more than that, but those are the top three for me right now as we get ready a couple weeks away. The Patriots have a special sauce defensively that can make them even better than you think. That's coming up next as we continue with today's episode of Lockdown Patriots, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, Your Team Every Day.

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Starting point is 00:11:11 That's right, just $5 and get $150 in bonus bets if your first bet wins. Bet 5 could win $150 in bonus bets. Open the FanDuel app today or visit FanDuel.com slash locked on to get started. There's a certain characteristic of the Patriots defense that will give them the edge in 2025. Here it is. Defensive line versatility. Pro Football focus recently wrote about this and Ben Lindsay focused on defensive line versatility and here's what Lindsay wrote in part. There were a lot of numbers involved with this column. I took most of them out. Don't want your eyes to

Starting point is 00:11:57 glaze over. Hopefully you get the gist here. Lindsay wrote again at pro football focus Pittsburgh Steelers. They finished with the highest team PFF pass rushing grade in the NFL last season, but just the 14th highest pressure rate. So wait a minute, highest Pro Football Focus pass rushing grade, 14th highest pressure rate. How did that happen? Lindsay wrote, it's easy to make an argument that a core of Watt, Highsmith, Hayward, and Benton gives Pittsburgh the

Starting point is 00:12:30 most talented defensive front in the NFL, but offenses were able to game plan around that advantage particularly late in the 24th season. It's easier to take a defensive player of the year caliber guy like Watt out of the game when you know where he's going to be on every snap. On the other end of the spectrum, Lindsay writes, several edge rushers drive the role where they did move across the defensive line. Will Anderson Jr., Jonathan Grenard, Yahya Diaby, and Jared Virst all finished in the top 40 among defensive linemen in alignment and tropy score

Starting point is 00:13:06 out of 300 plus qualifiers and in the top 15 at their position in pff war so simply put you could have a very talented guy like watt but if you don't move them around and the opposing team can game plan for that then you can limit you can limit, then you can limit. You can limit his impact. You could limit his effectiveness. But when you look at guys like Vers and Granard and Anderson Jr., those guys moving around the defensive line causes headaches for the offense. Offensive line has to figure out where he's lined up. How do you attack him? Do you get help to that side? The unpredictability, thanks to the versatility, creates problems and creates more impact. Lindsay writes, in recent years, we have seen defenses more often move players such as Micah Parsons, Miles Garrett, and

Starting point is 00:13:59 Chris Jones to hunt matchups and give them favorable one-on-ones. Defensive line versatility gives a defense an edge. How does that coincide with what the Patriots want to do? Well, Mike Vrabel, Terrell Williams, they like undersized interior defensive linemen. And I believe a part of that is because when you're an undersized interior defensive lineman. And I believe a part of that is because when you're an undersized interior defensive lineman, you could move along the defensive line. You're not that big, snot-blowing, run-stopping guy

Starting point is 00:14:34 in the middle of the D-line. When you have the athleticism and the mobility to move along the line, it helps the defense because it causes issues for the offense. It becomes unpredictable. And I think we'll see this a lot with Milton Williams in 2025. And Mike Giardi at Boston Sports Journal recently wrote about it. Here's what Giardi wrote. I quoted league sources calling Williams Mike Vrabel's new Jeffrey Simmons. If you don't know who Jeffrey Simmons is, Google him. As they say, Jeffrey Simmons, one of the best defensive linemen in football. So Giardi says, I quoted league

Starting point is 00:15:11 sources calling Milton Williams, Mike Vrabel's new Jeffrey Simmons. That caught on like wildfire with good reason, because that's the Patriots plan internally. Williams is not just an interior penetrator, but if the Pats go into a week wanting to be bigger up front, he can kick outside and be a 290 pound edge setter. The versatility of Milton Williams will create migraine headaches for a lot of offenses on this schedule in 2025. Freyball and Williams understand that. They will lean in on that

Starting point is 00:15:52 You want to look at Williams and you want to look at the offensive line that you're going against and create that advantageous one-on-one If he can beat the interior offensive line with his quickness do it if he can manhandle some tackle because the tackle is Not good do it Finding those one- one matchups. And as Lindsay wrote for PFF hunting those matchups. Chris Jones, perfect example of the chiefs. He will line up as an edge setter. He will line up as an edge pass rush. He will line up on the inside. He moves all over the place and just creates havoc 24 seven, three 65. And that's what the Patriots want out of Milton Williams. That's what we should expect from Milton Williams. But it doesn't stop with Williams. Keon White's another

Starting point is 00:16:32 guy on this defensive line. You know, some have called White a tweener. Is he an end? Is he a defensive tackle? Where is he most effective? Well you can look at white as a tweener or you can look at white as a versatile chess piece for defense. And Vrabel and Williams will look at white as that versatile chess piece. Pro Football Focus in this same article written by Lindsay about defensive line versatility has a chart looking at the highest alignment versatility among defensive linemen in the NFL with at least 100 snaps. Keon White.

Starting point is 00:17:14 Keon White in 2024, according to Pro Football Focus, had the second highest alignment versatility in the league. You can line them up all over the place and you can create those one-on-ones. Here's the deal. Milton Williams moving around the defensive line creating an advantageous one-on-one. Meanwhile, Keon White moving along the defensive line creating an advantageous one-on-one. You still have Christian Barmore Who also could move around a little bit to create an advantageous one-on-one you've got three guys that you can move around and

Starting point is 00:17:56 Create matchups mismatches for your defense and the offense can handle one of those guys but can they handle two can they they handle three? This is the issue. And this is why the defense for the Patriots on that defensive line, their versatility is a characteristic that should make them even better than we expected when they put this roster together. And don't forget about the staff. Staff is no joke. Highly respected, experienced staff for the front seven. One last point. It really is a perfect nightmare for any offensive line if this defense is playing to the best of its ability.

Starting point is 00:18:44 We pounded the versatility point, but I want you to think about the versatility of this D line combined with a couple of other things. I want you to think about the versatility of the D line when you also add on simulated pressures. When you take that defensive line versatility and you get even more out of it because you look at a guy Like Keon white and say we can drop him into coverage from time to time We might be able to drop Milton Williams into coverage and mess around a little bit We can drop Harold Landry into coverage and mess around a little bit if you've got white and Landry dropping into coverage

Starting point is 00:19:24 Handling within five to eight yards of the line of scrimmage, you drop one of those guys into coverage every once in a while, and you surprisingly and unpredictably send a linebacker on a blitz, which leads me to blitzing. Defensive line versatility plus simulated pressure plus blitzing equals a perfect nightmare for any offense. That's why I'm excited about this defense and you should be excited about this defense. We'll stick with defense as we discuss the top three defenses the Patriots face this season. Next as we continue with today's episode of Lockdown Patriots part of the Lock On Podcast Network, your team every day.

Starting point is 00:20:16 Now we look at this schedule in 2024, and I'll be honest, on paper, it's mostly soft. It's a mostly soft schedule for the Patriots. They are favorite in a bunch of different matchups. I think they were favored in like 11 or 12 games the last time I read about that. A four-win team last season being favored in 11 or 12 games in 2025. Again, all of this is on paper, but it gives you a good gauge, really a great gauge, as to how we should feel about this team and their chances week in and week out on paper, quote unquote. But don't get it twisted. Challenges exist.

Starting point is 00:20:55 And what I wanted to do is I wanted to look at the top three defenses that the Patriots are going to face in 2025. And again, I'll stress it, this is on paper. We don't know about injuries. We don't know about random decline from some guys. We don't know about it. There's gonna be one team in particular that we talk about that has a new head coach

Starting point is 00:21:16 that could change a lot. But let's just focus on paper the top three defenses that the Patriots will face this season. I begin with the Pittsburgh Steelers. We just talked about the Steelers and the fact that they had a great pass rush grade. Even though, as Ben Lindsay at PFF pointed out, they didn't have a great pressure rate, only the 14th highest, they still are very, very capable of winning the one-on-one matchups in front of them.

Starting point is 00:21:48 That's how you get the number one pass rush grade. Watt is a problem. One-on-one is a big time problem. Highsmith is also a problem. Hayward is also a problem. I just wax poetic about the Patriots defensive line and their ability to impact games and their versatility and all of that. Steelers don't move their guys around, but we can't sit here and act as if these guys aren't very talented because they

Starting point is 00:22:15 are tremendously talented, tremendously talented. And even if it's predictable, you're still going to get beat from time to time. And if your offensive line is below average, even if it's predictable, you're going to get beat more than from time to time. Think about Mike Tyson. Predictability. Got to watch for the uppercut. Still landed it.

Starting point is 00:22:40 Still knocked dudes out because he was so good at what he did. Same could be said about the Steelers. If they were more unpredictable, they could be even more devastating. Now, maybe they will be unpredictable in 2025. I find it hard to believe because that's not their calling card. But with that defensive line, with that talent, they're no joke. They will absolutely win one on ones against you. and you can't help everybody. You can't help Campbell and Moses and Bradbury. You can't help your entire offensive line if you're Josh McDaniels. You can help one guy but you can't help them all.

Starting point is 00:23:13 And then we're not just talking about the front seven and the D-line. Their defensive backs, their cornerbacks just acquired Jalen Ramsey. They've got Daria Slay, you've got Joey Porter Jr. You've got a number of talented cats in this secondary. And I know they're a little bit older. I understand that when you look at Ramsey and you look at Daria Slay, say, man, they've been around for a long time, little long the tooth. I get it. Not so much Porter. He's still younger, but they're still good. They're still good. Ramsey still put up some stats last year and analytics that tell you he is still a good football player. And we think about the Patriots, their inability to separate the past several years at wide receiver. That could be an issue. Ramsey Slay, Porter Jr. No joke in that secondary.

Starting point is 00:24:11 The defensive numbers for Pittsburgh last year, they were 12th in blitz percentage. They're going to send some heat. And if you're not prepared on the offensive line, if you're playing below average in any of those spots, they're going to blitz you. They're going to cause a lot of trouble. It's going to test O-line communication. It's going to test Drake May. Does he see it? Does he understand it?

Starting point is 00:24:31 Can he diagnose it and respond to it quickly? So 12th in blitz percentage. They were the sixth best run defense in the league when it came to yards per carry. So they're very tough to run against. Just barely over four yards a carry last season eighth best team in the nfl in scoring defense tough to put points up on the board and they were last year they were the second best third down defense in the league they shut you down if you have a very good third down defense, it usually means you have an effective first and second down defense because if you're forcing a lot of

Starting point is 00:25:12 third and longs, your defense is going to be better on third down. If you can't convert third downs, my friends, you can't continue drives. Pittsburgh's a tough defense. Another tough defense. Stay in the same division. How about the Baltimore Ravens? You're going to get Pittsburgh when you're healthy, fingers crossed, early in the season, week three. You're going to play Baltimore in that final month of the season.

Starting point is 00:25:38 After your bye week, you got Buffalo coming off a tough Buffalo game in New England. You then have to go to Baltimore, Baltimore late in the season The weather probably an issue facing a defense that is incredibly physical Facing a defense that has playmakers at all three levels defensive line matta bouquet old friend Kyle Van Noy Oh Way, you've got three guys that can get after the quarterback Van Noy has really had a Renaissance type run in Baltimore. He's been a perfect fit for that defensive scheme

Starting point is 00:26:16 And he has produced every single year year in year out for them Linebacker Roquan Smith you want to talk sideline to sideline athleticism, dude that can create headaches, he can do it. Defensive backs, let's look at the defensive backs for Baltimore. Another pretty tough trio, we just went through Pittsburgh's, but you look at Baltimore, Marlon Humphrey, one of the better cornerbacks in football. They just signed Jair Alexander. Now, can Jair Alexander be healthy? I don't know. But if he is healthy, all it takes is the one week. He might not be healthy for most of the year, but he could be healthy against you. And if he's healthy against you, it's a very tough assignment for any of these receivers. And then you've got Nate Wiggins, a guy who was pretty highly regarded coming out in the draft.

Starting point is 00:27:01 So no joke at corner. Safety, I'm a Notre Dame football fan. I'll sit here and tell you all about Kyle Hamilton until I'm blue in the face and how great that guy is and what kind of impact playmaker he is on the on the back end of a defense. You've got Kyle Hamilton and then they back it up by drafting Malachi Starks. That secondary is legit. Few numbers to remember about the Ravens. 15th in pressure percentage, so right in the middle of the pack, but they were second. They were second in the league last year in quarterback hits. They will make you feel it. Drake May will understand very quickly that this defense is tough, this defense is physical, this defense will get after you. Head on a

Starting point is 00:27:45 swivel and they were a top 10 scoring defense. They were ninth in the NFL in scoring defense. Let's wrap it up with the Jets. Now the Jets, interesting because you bring in Aaron Glenn, new head coach, how will that change the defense? As we know, Robert Sala was the guy the past few years, Albrecht took over. But the Jets defense, they've got talent. If we have concerns, we have concerns. I have concerns, I think you have concerns. Left garden center, interior offensive line.

Starting point is 00:28:15 We all know about Quinn and Williams. Guy's a beast. He can change a game. He can single handedly change a game on the inside of that defensive line. Quinn and Williams is an awesome football player And then you've got two younger edges and McDonald and Johnson is coming back Then you've got a linebacker that the Patriots wanted The number one target for the Patriots was not Robert Spillane is Jamie and Sherwood

Starting point is 00:28:43 Sherwood stayed with the Jets. Sherwood's like a safety. You could even characterize or describe him as a borderline cornerback at linebacker with his coverage skills. Sherwood's all over the place. And then you've got Sauce Gardner. Now Sauce needs a bounce back, but we all know he's a talented guy. And we don't know what Aaron Glenn's going to do when it comes to pass rush and his attack, but I could tell you that the Jets last year were fifth in hurry percentage, they were 11th in pressure percentage, and they were 13th in blitz percentage. It's a very difficult defensive line. You got a division

Starting point is 00:29:20 rival. Aaron Glenn knows Terrell Williams. Terrell Williams knows Aaron Glenn. Will that help their prospective offensive coordinators? I guess we'll see. But those three defenses, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Jets, they're physical. They get after the quarterback. They've got some good talent, if not great talent in the secondary. And their second level defense is no joke. That wraps up this edition of Lockdown Patriots. Reach out to me on Twitter at Nick C. Radio. Don't forget to throw a comment in on the YouTube channel, and don't forget to hit that

Starting point is 00:29:53 like button and subscribe. Over 5,000 subscribers now, thanks to all of you. And thank you for making Lockdown Patriots your first listen today. For your second listen, check out Lockdown NFL Scouting. Krabs and Marino will make you the most informed NFL fan this off season. Find Locked On NFL Scouting on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts. Have a great day and we will see you on Friday.

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Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - 2025 Patriots Training Camp Concerns | Defensive Deadly Weapon

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