Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Alert: Patriots’ Eliot Wolf Reveals NFL Draft’s Strengths & Weaknesses

Starting point is 00:00:00 Elliot Wolf opens up and shares several interesting nuggets with just over a week to go until the NFL draft. This is 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 happening? I am your host, Nick Cattles on today's episode. Elliot Wolf lets us into the Pat's thought process regarding best player available in positional value. In the second segment after Wolf's press conference,

Starting point is 00:00:40 we could have a much better idea of targets at edge in this draft for the paths. But first, an honest assessment of this draft's talent, or in some cases, the lack thereof. Elliot Wolf met with the media on Monday to talk about the upcoming draft. Let me first say this. This is not a court of law. What Elliot Wolf said at this press conference doesn't necessarily mean it was the truth. he could be leaving some crumbs out there for other teams to chase.

Starting point is 00:01:10 So we don't know. It's not a court of law, but I did think that Elliot Wolf gave several interesting answers during this press conference. And I think he gave us an idea of how the Patriots feel about this draft in certain positions they are interested in the types of players they are interested in. Let's start with the talent in this draft. Wolf said, quote, every draft is different. I think if you had to look historically, this draft probably isn't great.

Starting point is 00:01:39 But if we do our job and do everything right, we're going to be able to get a good player with every pick. About the positions, I think it's a pretty strong draft on the offensive and defensive line. Secondary, maybe not as much. Receiver and tight end are pretty good in comparison to some of the recent years. Let's start with offensive line, defensive line, and Wolf calling each strong in this draft. Now, I would love to know. I would love to know if Elliot Wolf is talking about the tackles in this draft or if he's talking about the guards slash centers in this draft.

Starting point is 00:02:18 There is a difference between the tackles in the interior offensive line. We've discussed the tackle situation. And if you don't get a tackle in the first 30 to 35 picks in this draft, it feels like you're staring straight down the barrel of drafting a developmental guy on day three. So there's not a lot of depth to the tackle class. Interior offensive line, that's a bit different. I think you can get some quality guards, centers, day two, even day three in this draft. As far as the defensive line, does Elliott Wolf and the Patriots, do they believe?

Starting point is 00:02:54 that the interior defensive line is as strong as the edges in this draft class? Or do they think the edges are stronger? We don't know. I will say the interior defensive linemen, a lot of those guys in this draft are run stuffers. So if you're looking for a run stuffing type interior defensive lineman, you'll have a number of choices late day two, day three to choose from. As we've discussed, Daniel Jeremiah has said this. the defensive ends, the edges in this draft, it's a flavor draft.

Starting point is 00:03:26 There are different types. And we'll dig more into the edge class in what Elliott Wolf had to say about the edges and what the Patriots are looking for. We'll talk more about that in the next segment. Now, when you discuss, like Elliot Wolf is discussing here, when you discuss the strength of certain positions, other positions being not so strong like the secondary, which Wolf pointed out, this is a supply and demand business.

Starting point is 00:03:56 I mean, you could take Elliott Wolf's answer, and it could mean that you're going to take players from the strong category because of the talent level. And so when Elliott Wolf says receiver and tight end are pretty good in comparison to some of the recent years, you could read that as we really like a number of receivers and tight ends in this draft, and we want to go get one of those guys ASAP, because we think this class is strong,

Starting point is 00:04:22 but the top of the class is even stronger because it's deep. So it's kind of a how you take what Wolf had to say. Is he talking about these positions that are strong, like the offensive and defensive line, and saying, well, we want to take one of those guys because the talent level is higher at those positions, or you can read it as we don't have to take one of those guys early at those positions that we feel are strong because we actually think we can wait around.

Starting point is 00:04:55 We can sit back, kick our feet up, not literally, and wait on a position. I'll give you an example. So Elliot Wolf says that the secondary says the secondary may be not as much. It's a pretty strong draft on the offensive and defensive line. Secondary maybe not as much. Okay. Let's say the Patriots are looking at a scenario at pick 30. where you have somebody that plays in the secondary,

Starting point is 00:05:24 you have somebody who plays on the defensive line. And you're sitting there, you're Elliot Wolf, you're the Patriots. Do you take the guy that is in the secondary because the draft is not as strong in the secondary and you want to land somebody who's really good and put them in your secondary, if not at the beginning of this year, by the end of this year? Or do you lean in on the defensive end, the defensive line?

Starting point is 00:05:49 even though it's a stronger position in the draft, you still want to lean in on that position because you just think that, hey, this guy's a good football player. And if this guy is ranked in the top five or six at that position and that position is deep in this draft, then that means that player has more value to you. So let's look at Emmanuel McNeil Warren, for example,

Starting point is 00:06:12 a safety in this draft. He could be there for the Patriots at 31. Many people believe that Emmanuel McNeil Warren is a top 20 talent in this draft. Then you could look at T.J. Parker. T.J. Parker could certainly be there for the Patriots at number 31. So do you lean in on the position that is not as strong, not as deep in this draft and say, we're just going to go with Emmanuel McNeil Warren because we feel like we can get an edge

Starting point is 00:06:38 that might not be as good as T.J. Parker, but we still feel like we can get a good edge day two, maybe even day three. or do you pick T.J. Parker because, yes, it's a position of need, but you feel like T.J. Parker is one of the better edges in this draft in a very deep class. So you rank him pretty much as one of the guys that you need to take. It's kind of an intriguing situation, right, of how you handle the supply and demand of a draft. And that's where the runs come into play. And that's, you know, if you wait too long, if you don't draft T.J.

Starting point is 00:07:16 Parker at 31 because you know the secondary is thin and you happen to really, really like Emmanuel McNeil Warren. So you draft McNeil Warren at 31 and you say, we're going to wait on an edge and then you can't trade up from 63 in the second round. And now you're left with maybe an option that you're not necessarily in love with. Yes, you got McNeil Warren and you're happy about that, but you're going to take a significant impact at edge because you let Parker go by and then the run happened. Now, when we look at interior, we look at offensive and defensive lines, we're talking trenches.

Starting point is 00:07:55 And Mike Vrable is known as a head coach who believes in playing great football at the line of scrimmage. It's an old school mentality, but I think it's the right mentality. If you win the line of scrimmage, you're going to win the majority of your football games. The Patriots did not win the line of scrimmage in the Super Bowl, and they got handled by Seattle. So knowing that Mike Vrable is a trenches head coach, you know, I'm sure, I'm sure they're looking at offensive and defensive lines. And I'm sure lots of homework has been done on offensive and defensive linemen during the pre-Jaff process. And we've heard about top 30 visits. We've heard about maybe some guys that the Patriots are interested in.

Starting point is 00:08:39 And there are a number of dudes that are at the line of scrimmage that the Patriots have been linked with. So we just have to keep that in mind. How does the talent in this draft align with the needs and where the Patriots are drafting? And will they feel urgency at certain positions because they're not in love with the depth at that position? Or do they just say, no, we're not worried about that. Talk about that later on. We're just going to draft a guy we like the most here, even if that position is deeper in this draft. and then that gets us to the best player available conversation,

Starting point is 00:09:15 which we will have later in segment three, because Elliot Wolf did talk about best player available versus positional value. All right, Wolf outlines the type of edge the team's looking for, and we have some targets in mind. That's next. This is Lockdown Patriots, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network. Now the number one sports podcast network, your team every day. NHL playoffs are here.

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Starting point is 00:11:00 Also, don't forget to like, click that thumbs up, like, comment, and subscribe. Want your thoughts on what Elliot Wolf had to say about the talent in this draft or lack thereof in certain spots. So don't forget to comment and don't forget to subscribe. as we march towards 10,000 subscribers, our next goal. Appreciate every single one of you. All right, there's been lots and lots of edge talk the last two months. We've talked about it an awful lot.

Starting point is 00:11:25 A lot of other places have talked about it a bunch. In my third mock draft that we did earlier this week, we found out the difficulty of taking an edge at 31 and how that might leave you at other spots in the second and third round. Now, this is part of the conversation we just had last segment. If you're staring at Emmanuel McNeil Warren and T.J. Parker at 31, well, if you draft T.J. Parker at 31, where does that leave you in other spots at, you know, 63 and 95 in your two fourth round picks? So what did Elliott Wolf have to say about the edge position and what the Patriots are looking for? Wolf said, quote, I never want a smaller guy. Now, Wolf did chuckle and he said like, no after this as if he wanted to write that off.

Starting point is 00:12:14 Don't know if he said that because he was being too honest in that moment or if he was saying we never want a smaller guy as like a joke. It was kind of confusing if he was joking or not. But Wolf went on to say, yeah, we could compliment our room with some speed. That's evident. That's an area that we're looking to improve the depth on the roster, unquote. Now, as I said earlier, Daniel Jeremiah has called this draft that edge and wide receipts. receiver a quote unquote flavor draft. And if you read what Elliott

Starting point is 00:12:50 Wolf had to say or you listen to what he had to say, it could lead us to certain edge targets in this draft. And it could lead us away from some others. And so, you know, we take the smaller guy comment. We take it at face value. So we don't want, we never want a smaller guy. Maybe it's never, you know, maybe it's not never. But he said we never want a smaller guy.

Starting point is 00:13:14 guy and we need to compliment our defensive end edge room with some speed. So let's talk through this. If the Patriots don't want smaller edge players, then you look at somebody like R. Mason Thomas, who has been a name that's been thrown out there an awful lot linked with the Patriots. Do they draft him at 31? Do they try to move up in the second round if they need to to draft him? So you've got somebody like R Mason Thomas. and you also have Ramello height, another guy who has been linked with the Patriots.

Starting point is 00:13:47 Those are two guys that we've discussed on this podcast over the past several weeks. Now, our Mason Thomas, Romello height, they're both at about 240 pounds. That's what they weighed in at, at the combine. So if you are, if, if we take Elliot Wolf at his word and we are not focused on smaller edges, are Mason Thomas, Romello, height, they should be taken off the board. Now, I'm not telling you that's what's happening. Again, this is not a court of law.

Starting point is 00:14:22 Elliot Wolf could be just feeding us, you know, bad information here. But if you take him at his word, an edge at 240 pounds, even though Mike Grable had an Arden Key in Tennessee, who's about 240, if we're not looking for smaller defensive ends, those two guys not looking great when it comes to being picked as a patriot. Now, if Elliott Wolf, again, is being truthful in the Patriots want speed, and I would have to believe that is a true statement from Wolf

Starting point is 00:14:56 because we've talked about the idea of adding speed to the defensive end position. Harold Landry is not the fastest, speediest guy around the edge. He's got good bend. He's got explosive first step. When he's healthy, he's pretty quick. And Draymont Jones, again, you know, we talked about him. He started as an interior defensive lineman. He can move along the line.

Starting point is 00:15:18 He can, you know, as Elliot Wolf said during this press conference, Draymont Jones can sneaky beat you with speed every once in a while, but it's not his quote unquote bread and butter. So if the Patriots want speed and I believe they want speed, then do you rule out somebody like Zion Young, who's not as explosive off the edge? We've discussed him. Obviously, top 30 visit with the Patriots.

Starting point is 00:15:43 There's some interest there. But Zion Young is more seen as somebody who's, you know, more explosive on the interior than he is on the outside. He's not really your super speed option. So maybe you look at somebody like Zion Young and you write him off the list. Maybe you look at Gabe Accus, another guy that we've talked about, not the fastest dude in this draft off the edge. Maybe Acis is left off this list.

Starting point is 00:16:07 Keldrick Falk, a very, very interesting prospect in this draft who could go really anywhere from like 12 in this draft to like 35. I have no idea where Keldrick Falk is going to land. And you could fall in love with the, you know, possible vision of what Keldrick Falk could be at the NFL level. But he's 276 pounds. He's not the speediest dude in the world. So again, if you're looking at defensive lines. who are more hold the edge right now might have to move to the inside. If you are going to look for pure speed, those guys don't really fit the bill.

Starting point is 00:16:48 So that Zion Youngs, the Gabe Accuses, the Kedric Falks, those guys all could be left off the list. So if you're looking at the, we don't want any smaller guys and you're looking at we want speed, Armazin Thomas, Ramello Heights, Zion Young, Gabe Accus, Keldrick Falk, all those guys could be left off the Patriots board, not entirely, but where they're going to be likely picked, they would be off that board. Now, the one guy that I have no idea about is Cassius Howl. Because if you look at Cassius Howell, he's got the speed, he's got the bend, he's got the athleticism, he's 253 pounds, which pretty much fits the sweet spot that we've talked

Starting point is 00:17:34 about, you know, 253, 254, 255, up to like 260 or so, feels like almost the perfect weight for a Patriots edge player rushing the passer. So, you know, Cassius Howell has the speed. He has the athleticism. He has the bend. He has decent size at 253 with his frame. But you have the arm length conversation. So would you consider Cassius Howell, quote, unquote smaller because of the arm length question. We know the Patriots weren't bothered by that with Will Campbell. So I would imagine that Cassius Howell is a fit for the Patriots, but maybe just maybe he's not.

Starting point is 00:18:13 I would think he is, but maybe he's not. And then you look at guys on film in the way they play versus the testing. T.J. Parker, we've talked about him a number of times. T.J. Parker had a very good combine. His numbers more explosive than people thought. The senior bowl was good for him. So if you look at his testing numbers, he tested quicker and more athletic than he shows on film. So where do you land on a player like that?

Starting point is 00:18:44 Deny Dennis Sutton is another one from Penn State. His athletic numbers are great, the three cone. Incredible, right? We've talked about that. But when you watch and play at Penn State, he's more of a run stopping edge right now. than a pure pass rushing edge. So do you think that he projects differently at the NFL if you're the Patriots at the NFL level? So you're looking at the film, the play style versus the testing numbers.

Starting point is 00:19:12 Now, guys that I think, again, just going off of we don't want smaller, we want speed, the play style. To me, there are two guys who should be seen as great fits. Malachi Lawrence from UCF, the size, the athleticism, and Keirond Crawford from Auburn. Again, he has speed. He's at 253 pounds. Those two edges. And I think Keiron Crawford is more a second round guy.

Starting point is 00:19:47 Malachi Lawrence, you know, began as a second round guy around the combine because he was so great at the combine. But that combine has kind of launched him in the close. where we get to the draft, the more you hear about Malachi Lawrence possibly being an end of the first round type player. So if you put all of that together, what Elia Wolf had to say, guys that aren't small, they've got good size, they've got that speed and athleticism. Malachi Lawrence and Keirang Crawford are two names I would keep in mind at edge. Coming up, best player available strategy, the likelihood of drafting a linebacker early and more. This is Lockdown Patriots, to be locked on podcast network, your team every day.

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Starting point is 00:21:58 But you also have to factor in who's going to be a free agent next year because this isn't just a one-year filler. It's a long-term commitment, especially with the early round guys. I like to look at it more along the lines of what don't we need because there's a lot less of that when you look at it that way. I think about it as what can we eliminate from consideration, especially when you're picking down at 31. At the end of these rounds, it's a little bit harder to predict exactly who's going to be there.

Starting point is 00:22:26 You just have to make sure you're going to pick a good football player. A few things about that quote. number one, I do think it's interesting and it makes a lot of sense when Wolf talks about long-term commitments, focusing on, you know, guys that you have to factor in are going to be free agents next year. And, you know, that will give you some intel as far as trying to fill holes slash having needs. If you look at the could be free agents, for example, Michael Wenu, Christian Barmore, Robert Spillane, Carlton Davis, and Morgan Moses, all of those guys could be free agents next season or will be free agents next season.

Starting point is 00:23:13 To go along with Hunter Henry and Kevin Byard, you know, if you look at the options, right, players have these outs in their contracts. Teams could say goodbye to them. Carlton Davis is a perfect example. Now he was technically signed for, I think it was three years, but he has that contractual out after this upcoming season. So the Patriots, they know how they feel about these guys. So even if we, you know, if we looked at Carlton Davis, for example,

Starting point is 00:23:39 and we said, well, he's technically not a free agent after this upcoming season. Well, if the Patriots know that he's either going to have to take a massive pay cut or they're going to let him walk after this year, then he is a free agent in their eyes. So we have to keep in mind, not the obvious guys who were running out of their contract time and will be unrestricted free agents. We also have to look at these contracts, how they're structured. And if there are contractual outs, if all the guaranteed money is done like Christian Barmore, the last of his guaranteed money just hit last month. So is he a free agent after this season?

Starting point is 00:24:16 Technically not. But the Patriots could be looking at Barmore saying he's got one more year left with us. We're going to move on after that. Now, as far as the don't need list, right? Elliot Wolf said, I like to look at it more along the lines of what we, what don't we need because there's a lot less of that when you look at it that way. The don't need list is a very short list because of all the bad drafts the Patriots have had before last year's draft.

Starting point is 00:24:46 So I would look at it and say, you don't need a quarterback, you don't need a running back, you don't need a center, you don't need a kicker. you don't need a kicker. Now, you could draft a running back if you wanted to in the sixth round. Maybe that guy can become your third running back, but you don't need a running back. And you certainly don't need a quarterback. And Jared Wilson, Ben Brown should have you set at center.

Starting point is 00:25:11 And Andy Boragallis was fine and had a good rookie season, so I don't think you're stressing about that. But that's pretty much it. I mean, you could look at every other position on this team and say, well, yeah, we need that position for one reason or another. How about linebacker? How does Elliot Wolf view linebacker in this draft class?

Starting point is 00:25:32 Quote, solid. I think it's probably a little bit similar to the way it was last year. I thought it was going to be a little bit better, but I do think it's a good position. Day three, from a depth standpoint. I think there's a lot of players you could justify using a day three pick on. Again, I would say this is not a court of law.

Starting point is 00:25:51 We will not hold Elliot Wolf to every single solitary. word that he had at this press conference. But if you did take Elliot Wolf at his word, it doesn't sound like the Patriots are going to be interested in drafting a linebacker in the first round, second round, or even the third round. It sounds like Wolf believes, like many believe, linebackers pretty deep.

Starting point is 00:26:12 Offball linebacker in this draft is pretty deep. And you can get a good football player at that position on day three. And so the Patriots, you know, you've got two fourth round picks. You've got a fifth round pick. You have four sixth round picks, which, of course, you can try to move a couple of those to move up in a spot. So what kind of names would be looking at? Linebacker, day three type.

Starting point is 00:26:37 Well, Caleb alarms ore, somebody we talked about back at the Combine, stood out to me at the Combine from TCU. He is seen, according to Dame Bruegler, as a third-slash-fourth-round guy. Bryce Betcher from Oregon, seen as a fourth-round guy. Jimmy Rolder. I know some people have linked Jimmy Rolder from Michigan to the Patriots. He's a fourth round guy.

Starting point is 00:26:59 One of my favorite names in this draft, Red Murdoch from Buffalo. He's a fourth slash fifth round guy. And Aidan Fisher from Indiana is a fifth round guy. So those are just, you know, four or five names that would make sense going off what Elliot Wolf had to say about the linebacker position. So maybe you use that pick, you know, maybe you use one of those fourth round picks. Maybe you use that fifth round pick on a linebacker because you're comfortable of what those guys can bring to the table. All right.

Starting point is 00:27:30 Mike Vrable's involvement over the last week or so. It was a greatly worded question by Phil Perry because obviously the implication was stemming from the New York Post pictures with Diana Rusini, who on Tuesday resigned from the athletic. As far as Rable's involvement over the last week, Wolf said very involved, business as usual. I'd say he's been in there with us probably this round of meetings a little bit more than he was last year. He has an opinion on these guys. It's helpful. Sometimes there's players that the scouts like, me included, and he'll be like, well, this is the reason maybe this guy's not the best fit for us.

Starting point is 00:28:10 So, you know, the wolf comment there, the quote there to me, if you compare that quote to what Wolf, has said about prior regimes recently, it's rather obvious. Mike Vrable collaborates more than maybe a Bill Belichick. Vrable identifies his guys for the front office, for the personnel people,

Starting point is 00:28:37 more than Gerard Mayo, identified guys. So it's clear that Elliott Wulf is very comfortable with how Mike Vrable does his business around draft time. Now, you know, as far as over the last week and what happened and, you know, the pictures, look, if there's anything extra, right? Like if anything is eventually confirmed between Diana Rusini and Mike Rable, professionals compartmentalize. And, you know, if you're going to do the job right, there's a lot of things that could happen in your personal life that you have to push aside.

Starting point is 00:29:21 and focus on the task at hand. And so when, you know, when you are Mike Vrable, whether something truly happened or not, just the noise that's happening around this, if you are a really good head coach, then you are going to compartmentalize and focus on your job. And you know it's draft time

Starting point is 00:29:45 and you've got to get certain things done by a certain time. You know, pro athletes, personnel people, coaches, they have a great way of isolating themselves from the noise. They find ways to do that. Not every single one of them. Some of them get damaged by that type of stuff.

Starting point is 00:30:03 But if Mike Vrable can compartmentalize professionally and focus on the draft, then there shouldn't be much of a change as far as how involved he is and how much he means to the program. All right, that wraps up this edition of Lockdown Patriots. Thank you for making us your first. first listen for being an everydayer reach out to me on Twitter at nick c radio don't forget to throw a

Starting point is 00:30:25 comment in on the youtube channel hit that like button and subscribe if you never miss an episode the every day or club is built for you get locked on patriots ad free plus members only discord access and more head to lockdown patriots dot supercast dot com or check the link in the show notes to learn even more have a great day and we will see you next time

Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Alert: Patriots’ Eliot Wolf Reveals NFL Draft’s Strengths & Weaknesses

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