Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Alert: How Can Drake Maye Break out? | Wide Receiver Room in Chaos

Starting point is 00:00:00 We break down where Drake may has to improve individually to have a breakout 2025. 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 podcast network, your team every day. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Your team every day. What's up Patriots fans? I am your host Nick Cattles, born and raised in New England, also host of the Everything Pats podcast, co-host of the Greg Bedard Patriots podcast with Nick Cattles, and a Sports Talk Show host veteran. On today's episode, the wide receiver room has plenty of bodies, but we still have plenty of questions. Meanwhile on the defensive side of the football, Terrell Williams, the expected defensive coordinator, will talk about him and how his status will impact camp. But first, Drake May faces a crucial year too. We appreciate you joining the show, making us your first listener for Being an Every Dayer. The Lockdown Patriots podcast is a proud part of the lockdown podcast network, your team

Starting point is 00:01:08 every day. And today's episode is brought to you by Fandle right now. New customers can get $150 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins. I believe Drake may has all the potential in the world. I believe he can potentially be a top 10 quarterback in the league of ventrually now how fast he gets there. A lot of it will have to do with this season and the steps that he takes does he take a step forward does he take multiple steps forward and by the end of twenty twenty five are we looking at drake may saying. forward and by the end of 2025 are we looking at Drake may saying that dude's a top 10 quarterback or we feel really good about the opportunity of him becoming a top 10 quarterback by 2026 are we having those conversations I believe he has the potential to be in those types of conversations and I'm not the only one Pro Football Focus recently wrote about Drake May,

Starting point is 00:02:06 and he was picked as one of their possible fantasy football breakout quarterbacks for the upcoming year. This was written by Jonathan Macri of Pro Football Focus. May didn't get a chance to take over until week six in his rookie season, but flashed plenty of potential as a fantasy difference maker heading into year two.

Starting point is 00:02:27 May finished as the overall QB 21 on the season tied for QB 17 in points per game but with an improved offense, an upgraded coaching staff and another year in the league, May has the potential to deliver top 12 numbers in 2025. Now some of you might say Nick, you're getting this all twisted. You're talking fantasy football. Well, when we talk about offensive players, if you are a top 10 or top 12 player at any offensive position, that means you produced that means you produced consistently. And you're still stacking that production up against fellow quarterbacks, fellow receivers, fellow

Starting point is 00:03:05 running backs. That's how it works. So yes, we're talking fantasy football in this instance. But if you're a top 12 quarterback in fantasy, that means you're a top 12 quarterback in the NFL numbers wise. And that's what we're looking at the production of Drake May, is he going to take that step forward to be a top 12 quarterback by the end of this season? Could he possibly be a top 10 quarterback by the end of the year? Yes, he could be a top 10 quarterback by the end of 2025, but it's going to depend on whether

Starting point is 00:03:41 or not May improves individually in a number of different ways. Let's start out here. Drake may in 2025 needs better pocket awareness. That was a weakness from time to time in his rookie season. And when we talk about pocket awareness, we're talking about understanding where the rush is coming from, feeling the rush behind you. But also, while you understand the rush is on its way, hang in the pocket, stay in the pocket, exhaust your progressions. We saw this during his rookie campaign where, you

Starting point is 00:04:17 know, there would be just a little bit of pressure coming his way. And Drake would feel a little bit shook, get out of the pocket, scramble and run for his life. Even if the pressure wasn't breathing down his neck, he felt like it was and he would tuck and run. And while I understand the idea of him tucking and running because the offensive line was so putrid last season, I truly understand why he felt like he had to get out of dodge before it got ugly.

Starting point is 00:04:46 I do understand why, but there were too many times where he felt the rush that really wasn't there, cut the play short and ran out of the pocket. He needs to have better pocket awareness. He needs to hang in, exhaust those progressions and improve his pressure to sack ratio, which back a couple of months ago, wrote this on blue sky and I stuck a pin in it because I knew eventually I would get here. One area of concern for May pressure to sack ratio. This is something which is often stable year to year and something rookies often struggle with. And when you look at the pressure to sack ratio. This is something which is often stable year to year and something rookies often struggle with. And when you look at this graphic

Starting point is 00:05:31 that Patriots Analytics posted on Blue Sky, you see that Drake May had the fifth highest pressure to sack ratio in the league last year. Number one was Will Levis, and we know how bad he was. Number two was Caleb Williams. He and we know how bad he was. Number two was Caleb Williams. He didn't have a great rookie season. Interestingly enough, Jaden Daniels,

Starting point is 00:05:51 this was a number that Jaden Daniels had a hard time with in college. He had a hard time with it again in his rookie season, no matter how spectacular he was. He had the third highest pressure to sack ratio. Jalen Hurts, that's interesting. So your two NFC championship game quarterbacks were in the top five when you talk pressure to sack ratio,

Starting point is 00:06:10 which tells you it's not the end of the world, but it is an important number. Drake May was there fifth, 40.96% pressure to sack ratio. If May can improve in that number, it's telling us that the pressure is not necessarily leading to sacks. The pressure is not leading to disasters. And you'd like to see him hang in a little bit more and have better awareness. Here's a second thing I want to see from Drake may and this might be your first thing you want to see from May in 2025.

Starting point is 00:06:46 And that is taking care of the football ball security Mike Frabel and almost every press conference in the early stages of his Patriots tenure has talked about ball security. Take care of the football. We need to take care of the football, make less mistakes, take advantage of the opposition's mistakes. Drake May needs to lesson. He has to lessen the amount of turnover worthy plays because when you look at his rookie season, that was a major issue.

Starting point is 00:07:12 Evan Lazar at patriots.com recently wrote about it saying there are areas that may can look to improve in 2025. We're talking about him right now. Thank you, Evan. Mainly he had the sixth highest turnover worthy play rate with 15 total turnovers in his rookie season. So he had the sixth highest turnover worthy play rate in the NFL last year. I don't know how much you want to count the garbage time against the Jets when he first got into a regular season game He also left early Against the Jets at Foxboro when he got that concussion So you're talking only a quarter and a half between those two games

Starting point is 00:07:56 So he really only played, you know 11 games 11 and a half games and he had 15 turnovers and the turnover worthy play rate was too high. He put the football in harm's way. Now some of that had to do with his receivers not separating. Some of that has to do with the offensive line giving up way too much pressure. But some of that is absolutely on Drake May. And when we talk about ball security, we also have to understand that May is likely going to run more this season. I would expect Josh McDaniels to call more designed runs than Alex Van Pelt did in 2024. And we saw some of that where like the loaf of bread, the loaf of bread

Starting point is 00:08:39 from Drake May as he's running with the football ball security, take care of it. Something else that Drake may needs to do a better job of is anticipatory throws. And now part of this will be quickly learning the McDaniels offense, being comfortable with the verbiage, being comfortable with that relationship with his offensive coordinator, quarterbacks, coach Ashton Grant, having chemistry with his receivers, but he needs to anticipate better than he did in his rookie season. Ted Winn of The Athletic wrote this, May's mobility was a difference maker that couldn't block last season, but there were times when he could have avoided pressure or sacks by throwing with a tick more anticipation. So that

Starting point is 00:09:22 goes back to the pressure to sack ratio as well. If you're anticipating things, you're running it through your head quicker, you get rid of the football, you save yourself, you save the pressure, you save yourself from a sack. And we all know those can cause some major issues, including what we just talked about with turnovers. So if May does a better job of anticipating what's happening in front of him consistently in 2025, he will be a better quarterback. Now, Nguyen also did point out that May did a better job of throwing with anticipation later in the season, particularly against zone coverage, which would tell you May was learning during his rookie year like a lot of rookies do and he got better.

Starting point is 00:10:05 He progressed and I would imagine he'll continue to get better with this. You got upgrades at wide receiver all line OC that should also help may feel like he can get rid of the football sooner rather than later. So I think may will be better with anticipatory throws. He'll get better with pre snap reads and adjustments. He'll help the offensive line because of that. He will understand his outs. He will understand those outs more quickly than he did in 2024. If he gets better in those areas that we just addressed, if he improves, and I do think he's going to improve, he has a chance to be in that conversation by

Starting point is 00:10:42 the year's end of being a top 10 guy. Some of it, if not a lot of it though, will depend on the wide receivers. And the wide receiver room will be a focal point of this camp. We'll discuss how the pieces might or might not fit next as we continue with today's episode of Lockdown Patriots, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Guys, you have probably heard of Viagra or Cialis, maybe you've even tried them. But if you're looking for something beyond the usual pill, it's time to meet Rougiette ready. Rougiette ready is a next gen prescription treatment designed to amplify

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Starting point is 00:12:52 group of pass catchers around second year quarterback Drake May. There are hundreds of targets up for grabs in the Patriots offense. No exaggeration. Someone needs to emerge in August if this offense is going to take a step in the right direction. Wholeheartedly agree? I think you wholeheartedly agree with Ben Solak. So let's look at this wide receiver room and let's begin with Stefan Diggs.

Starting point is 00:13:15 We talked about this on yesterday's episode. Seems like he's going to be fully ready for day one of training camp. Looks like he's going to be shot out of a cannon just about eight months after ACL surgery. It's pretty amazing. If he is out there day one, if he is ready, then I believe Stefan Diggs is going to be your number one slot receiver. He's going to play a lot in the slot. He played a lot in the slot last year in Houston. That was his primary role. He's getting older. He's not as explosive. He's not necessarily an outside guy consistently. He works more in short and intermediate areas now as he's into his thirties. So he can play the outside and I think

Starting point is 00:13:59 he'll play some on the outside. But the primary role of Stefan Diggs, I believe, is going to be in the slot for this Josh McDaniels offense, which leads us to a number of questions. If Diggs indeed is the number one slot, what does that mean for Pop Douglas? Pop Douglas has had a great early camp. He was really good in OTAs, really good in mandatory mini camp. He's been off to a great start, but Diggs, he was not taking on those 11 on 11s. He was off to the side working with coaches and working on drills. If Diggs is out there, how do you split the usage up between Diggs and Pop? Because Pop showed you something. He has showed you something through the first two years and he showed you something during the OTAs

Starting point is 00:14:43 and minicamp. So how do you split those up? Interestingly enough, Solak wrote about Pop Douglas playing in the slot and we always view Pop as a slot guy because that's where he's been put. Even though we did read that during OTAs during Manicamp at times Pop showed up on the outside. But here's what Solak wrote at ESPN. Douglas is just OK at slot receiver. Among 27 players who ran at least 60% of their routes from the slot last season, he ranked 17th in yards per route run and 19th in first downs per target. Now, yes, some of that has to do with quarterback play. Some of that has to do with the offensive line play. But the point of Solak is Pop Douglas is a good slot receiver. He hasn't necessarily been a great slot receiver when you look at the analytics. And Solak writes, that's not prolific

Starting point is 00:15:36 enough to have a stranglehold on that role. And any smart usage of digs includes a decent diet of slot routes. So you got to mix that up. Not only do you have to mix up the usage between digs and pop in the slot, you also got to look at Kyle Williams. Now Williams was drafted to be that X receiver. He's going to be on the outside. I would imagine a decent amount. That's how I envision his role. But Solak also wrote about Kyle Williams in the slot.

Starting point is 00:16:00 He wrote the following. There's also the wrinkle of Williams, a five foot 11 one foot one foot one foot one foot envision his role. But Solak also wrote about Kyle Williams in the slot. He wrote the following. There's also the wrinkle of Williams, a five foot 11, 190 pound speedster who you guessed it deserves some snaps in the slot. You also have F'in Chisholm that's going to be in camp. Chisholm got off to a great start during rookie mini camp and OTAs. Mandatory mini camp took a little bit of a step back, but people around the team have talked about Chisholm and they believe he has a chance to make this roster. And so if he makes the roster, what are you doing with all these guys? Diggs is going to play a nice chunk in the slot. Pop

Starting point is 00:16:44 Douglas, you would imagine he has to play a decent amount in the slot. Are you going to try to sprinkle in Kyle Williams snaps at the slot? If Chisholm makes this team, he's a slot guy. I don't think he's playing on the outside. Are we going to have a slot receiver by committee? Is that what's going to happen here in 2025? Do you have enough snaps for all of these guys to work out of the slot? It's going to be some very difficult decisions and it's a

Starting point is 00:17:11 fascinating camp to watch all of this unfold. Let's keep talking about Kyle Williams. The ex-receiver, the outside guy, that opportunity with this particular team is wide open. Mack Hollins is going to start camp on the PUP. He was brought in to be your big bodied ex. We talked about it yesterday. Well, if Hollins is out, he's on the PUP to start camp. We don't know what issue he's dealing with physically. If he can't get out there quickly, that's opportunity for Williams.

Starting point is 00:17:45 That's even more snaps that he can get. K. Sean Booty. What do we think about K. Sean Booty? Well, Ben Solak wrote about him in another receiver when looking at the X. Diggs and Williams can play on the outside, Solak writes, and probably should to some degree. I agree with that. Diggs will play some on the outside. Williams has to play. I don't think some on the outside. I think Williams has to play the majority of his snaps on the outside. That's my two cents. Solak writes, how much will be decided by Kaishan Booty,

Starting point is 00:18:17 who got the Lions share of snaps at ex-receiver last season but failed to impress. He also mentions Jaylen Polk, who fell out of favor with last year's offense was the top 40 pick in 2024. I'm not banking on Jalen Polk and I think Kaishan Booty is inconsistent. We know that Booty was at least in trade talks conversations before the draft probably during draft weekend. I wouldn't necessarily hang my hat on the idea of Kaishan Booty being your ex receiver. So Kyle Williams, step on up, my man, step on up. This is the opportunity of a lifetime rookie season. You're going to get a lot of snaps in training camp.

Starting point is 00:18:56 You're going to get a lot of opportunity and you should get a lot of opportunity and see if you get anything out of that. And if you do, then you get more opportunity. That's how it works. So slot by committee, I don't know. X receiver. Does Kyle Williams grab that from Mac Collins and Kay Sean booty? Does he have a good enough camp? He was a little bit up and down OTAs and mandatory mini camp as you would expect from a rookie, but does he find a different gear in training camp? Can he be that guy? And of course you got to balance the opportunity for Williams without overloading him, overwhelming him. We know Elliot Wolf brought that up with Jalen Polk. He said part of the

Starting point is 00:19:36 problem last year was that they asked way too much of Polk way too early. You don't want to do that with Williams. So there's a balance. There's a balance of giving him those snaps, giving him that opportunity, but also not making the young man feel a little bit underwhelmed, overwhelmed and put too much on his plate. And that'll go to Josh McDaniels. This is why you want McDaniels experienced OC, respected OC, because you've got a lot of guys in that wide receiver room that could play different roles. And you know, it's not only McDaniels having to scheme non-separators, which they still have some non-separators in that group, he's got to scheme those guys open from time to time.

Starting point is 00:20:12 He has to find the right roles for each of these guys with this versatility. Find the roles for each and every dude. And can McDaniels get anything out of Polk and Baker? I'm more confident about Polk than I am about Baker, but I'm not overly confident about Polk. Gonna give him a shot, deserves it, liked him coming out of college, haven't completely given up on him just yet, but it's gonna be up to McDaniels to do a lot of work with this group and of course wide receivers

Starting point is 00:20:43 coach Todd Downing will have a heavy, heavy hand in it as well. The latest on Terrell Williams and how his status impacts upcoming training camp that's coming up next on today's episode of lockdown Patriots, part of the lockdown podcast network, your team every day workplace stress is at an all-time high. 61% of the global workforce is reporting higher than normal stress levels. This summer is the perfect time to take small steps to focus on your wellness and manage the challenges that come with your workday. Of course, most of us can't just quit our jobs or take endless vacations, but we can start small, whether it's getting outside for a few minutes, adding movement into your day,

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Starting point is 00:22:51 $150 and bonus bets if your first bet wins again five bucks to get 150 if your first bet wins Open the fandel app today or you can visit fandel.com and when you visit fandel.com Make sure you put slash locked on to get started. Mike Vrabel is meeting with the media on Tuesday and one of the biggest questions about this training camp that starts this week is whether or not your expected defensive coordinator Terrell Williams will actually be at camp and Mike Reese wrote about this over the weekend at ESPN and he wrote one of the top storylines. When the Patriots begin training camp will be whether Williams is present after remaining

Starting point is 00:23:36 away in the spring following a quote unquote health scare. Vrabel hinted at the end of spring practices that things were trending in that direction when he said quote he'll be here soon and we're excited about that unquote. Among other things Reese writes it would lessen the burden on inside linebackers coach Zach Kerr who is handling Williams is in person role in the spring. It's a significant question. One of the top coaches on your staff, he has not been around, at least in person. Now I know he's been zooming and I know he's been talking to Zach Kurt, he's been talking to

Starting point is 00:24:10 players, but he has not physically been on the field working with these guys. And it begs the question if that's going to change this week. Now if Williams is not at training camp, it might be time to start thinking about how to handle the DC role in 2025. I mean, if Williams is not ready, we're now in late July, you're a week or two away from having a joint practice against Washington. And then you follow that up with another joint practice against Minnesota.

Starting point is 00:24:43 You'll be playing preseason games in a couple of weeks. So if Williams is not there, and we certainly hope that he is, but if Williams is not going to be at training camp, if we find out he's going to miss at least the beginning of training camp, you really have to start wrapping your head around how you're going to handle the situation because now it's getting even more real as far as football goes life. It was real from the beginning. And we're very happy that Williams got through the health scare, according to him and is on the mend. He's ready to come back as far as life goes day in and day out.

Starting point is 00:25:16 But when we talk football, it gets much more significant this week if he's not around. Does Mike Vrabel step up and end up being the de facto DC? Is he calling defenses during these joint practices and during the preseason or will that fall onto Zach Kerr? Kerr has been again as Reese wrote filling in for Williams in person while Williams has been out. But that would be a lot on the plate of Zach Kerr. And he's only been coaching for about four or five years in the NFL. So he's still relatively young to be handed the responsibilities.

Starting point is 00:25:57 Now Williams has spoken highly of Kerr, Vrabel has spoken highly of Kerr. They obviously feel good about him or he wouldn't be around. But is he ready for that type of responsibility? Is there anybody else that you could give this job to? Mike Smith, outside linebackers coach, pass rush specialist, Clint McMillan, your defensive line coach. Is there anybody else on this staff? If it's not Vrabel, it's not Ker williams isn't there if he's not there.

Starting point is 00:26:26 You can't call plays in via telephone you can't text plays in the robert spleen was out there on the field so who will take over. If williams isn't there we certainly hope that he will be there. The expectation based on what variable said. At mandatory many camp would tell us that he will be there. But if not, who takes the reins because it's too late to add somebody from the outside. It's too late. You can't bring somebody in from the outside in mid to late July and say, this is what we plan on doing. This is what we're going to run. Like the playbook is set. Guys have been hired around the league, who would even be

Starting point is 00:27:10 available? If somebody is available, are they any good? There's a reason why they're available in July. So I don't think it's reasonable to expect the Patriots to say, okay, Williams is going to be out. Let's make a move. Now you would also believe if they were going to do that, if they felt like Williams wasn't going to be around, uh, in late July and August, then we might've heard something about them talking to somebody outside the organization to bring in for some possible help. And the fact that we haven't heard that makes me feel at least decent that Williams will be back this week.

Starting point is 00:27:46 But the outside option, I don't think is an option. You already have a bunch of relationships with the players. You've built that camaraderie throughout OTAs and mandatory mini camp and of course, rookie mini camp for the young defenders. And you also have the connection between Vrabel and Williams and this whole staff. A lot of these guys know each other. A lot of these guys have worked together. So to bring somebody in from the outside and give them that responsibility, maybe you bring somebody in from the outside and give them, you know, Zach Kerr's initial job,

Starting point is 00:28:18 primary job, which is, you know, inside linebackers and maybe Kerr takes over as DC. But that's still a decent amount of juggling. And I don't love the juggling act in mid to late July. So hopefully Williams gets back because Williams is important. If he's there on Wednesday, great sign. He has that history with variable. These guys trust each other. They know each other.

Starting point is 00:28:40 They can practically complete each other's sentences. Terrell Williams, you believe would have had a shot at the Lions defensive coordinator job knowing that Aaron Glenn was leaving to be a head coach. Williams chose to go to New England because of the relationship he has with Vrabel, because they're close. Williams is very experienced. He's the kind of guy that sets the tone of a defense. By the way he talks, by the way he walks, by the way he handles guys.

Starting point is 00:29:06 He's a tone setter like Vrabel is, and he has a great reputation. So we certainly hope Williams is going to be there when we hear from Vrabel this morning, you know, later today, hopefully Vrabel tells us that Terrell Williams is in town and we don't have to worry about any kind of unnecessary headache or juggling job by this coaching staff. Hopefully everybody is in line and ready to go by Wednesday's practice. Hopefully. All right, that wraps up this edition of Lockdown Patriots.

Starting point is 00:29:40 Reach out to me on Twitter at Nick C Radio and don't forget to throw a comment in on the YouTube channel and don't forget to help us out hit that like button and subscribe helps us with the algorithm also the lockdown NFL top 100 is available on lockdown sports today the NFL top 100 was voted on by the NFL hosts of lockdown don't miss where your favorite players were ranked right before training camp subscribe to lockdown sports today on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. Have a great day and we will see you tomorrow. Training camp kicking off.

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Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Alert: How Can Drake Maye Break out? | Wide Receiver Room in Chaos

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