Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Big Move on Mock Draft Monday - Trent Brown, Musing the Draft and More — 3/21/22

Episode Date: March 22, 2022

The New England Patriots make a big move to fortify their offensive line by re-signing right tackle Trent Brown. Joining host Mike D’Abate is fan-favorite Thomas ‘Murph’ Murphy as the duo discuss Brown’s return, as well as grading the Mock Draft submissions from four of Locked On Patriots’ listeners.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKED15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.BetOnlineBetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts!Rock AutoAmazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Patriots fans, it is Monday, March 21st, 2022. Hope you all had a great weekend. It's time to mock the draft? No, it's time to muse the draft here on Locked On Patriots. And the Pats make a big move? Yeah, they made a big move. My good friend Thomas Murphy joins me here today. I'm Mike DeBate, and you are about to be locked in to the locked on Patriots podcast.

You are. You are. You are locked. Are locked on Patriots. Your daily new England Patriots podcast. Part of the locked on podcast network. Your team every day. All of you, Foxborough faithful, and thank you once again for making Locked On Patriots your first listen every day. Sorry for the tech foos there to begin, folks, but we are live.

We are here on YouTube, anywhere you get your podcasts. Locked On Patriots, your first listen every day. Thank you for, again, making Locked On Patriots a daily part of your New England Patriots coverage. I'm Mike DeBate, your host of Locked On Patriots. You can find my written work at PatriotMavenOfSportsIllustrated. Also, if you're out there on the Twitterverse, please be sure to follow the Locked On Patriots account as well,

LO underscore Patriots. And if you're at it, you might want to follow me along with it at MDABATENFL. But it's Monday, so you know why you're all here, folks. You're here for the green wisdom and counsel of my good friend, the counter Murphy Fisto himself, the legendary Thomas Murphy. Thank you so much for joining me today. Thank you for bringing your wisdom and counsel here. Don Murphy.

What a great Monday. That doesn't even count the fact that you and I get to sit down and do a little musing of the drafts. It was a good Monday. Tell all the people out there, Michael, why it's a great Monday. Well, it is a great Monday because we're going to be able to kick it off by talking some offensive linemen. One of our favorite topics here on Locked On Patriots, Murph, you know that. Murph did allude to the fact that we are musing the draft because, as you know, Murph and I do not make fun of the draft.

We do not insult it in any way. We use it as our muse. We use it as our inspiration. So to inspire all of you today, we'll be looking at four great mock drafts submitted by some of the great listeners here on Locked On Patriots. And, Murph, we do have some amazing loyal listeners here on Locked On. If you are a first-time listener or a new listener, thank you for continuing on in the journey with us. Murph is here every single Monday to bring you the wisdom and counsel

the way only he can. Bud, the Patriots made a big move on Monday morning. A huge move, if you will. A 6'8", 380-pound move. Trent Brown coming back to the New England Patriots on a two-year deal.

Murph, I don't think this requires much spin at all. This is just a great move for the New England Patriots. They needed to fortify that offensive line. You're losing Ted Karras. You're losing Shaq Mason. You needed continuity. You needed someone with experience on that line, on the opposites, on the end of the line playing right tackle.

Brown had a great year when he was healthy in 2021 uh to me this is a no-brainer this is a win-win for the Patriots and for Trent who really loves playing here yeah it really is it's it's a fantastic move um I called it last week when they were talking about uh Trent going on his little tour he went out to to Seattle and it's like you know Trent Brown is not going to, no, no, it's not happening. No Russell Wilson to protect it. There's no reason for him to go there. I had a really good feeling that he was going to come back. I'm glad that Bill made it a two-year deal. So hopefully we're not going through this again next year. All the details haven't come out yet. I'm sure that this is going to be a heavily laden contract with incentives for playing time, but no, a fantastic time. It would have been

really difficult for the Patriots to go into this season with the young quarterback down three-fifths of its starting offensive line. line yeah without any question and i mean you know you bring someone not only with the experience of trent brown back into the fold you're bringing back a player that fits here scheme wise but he fits here in terms of the leadership and in terms of the buy-in that he has in this system i don't think trent has ever felt about an organization the way he feels about the new England Patriots. He spent time with two good organizations, San Francisco 49ers, Las Vegas Raiders, just never seemed to assimilate himself into that culture. But I remember listening to Trent last year on Zoom conferences. Obviously, we had to do this in a much more less personal because of COVID restrictions, but hearing the enthusiasm and Trent's voice about being back in New England

and about working, even just something as simple as working with the training staff. He was really impressed by being back in New England and utilizing that wisdom and counsel of Bill Belichick. And let's face it, the Patriots gained a lot more ground yardage, a lot more yardage overall when Trent was in the lineup, as opposed to when he wasn't in the lineup.

I encourage you all, Alex Barth of 98.5, the Sports Hub, has a great tweet articulating both of those points. I used it in a piece that I wrote for Sports Illustrated this morning on Trent's return. Alex does great work, great friend of the program. Check him out as well, folks. I know most of you probably are, but if you're not, hidden gem in the New England media when it comes to covering your New England Patriots, in my humble opinion.

Oh, yeah. But bottom line, this is a big move for the New England Patriots. And now we're hearing that they're going to be hosting offensive lineman Ryan Bates, formerly of the Buffalo Bills. He could come in, maybe compete for that starting left guard position. All of a sudden, that New England Patriots offensive line is looking a little bit more fortified, maybe a little bit better than people thought it was looking last week. And, you know, justifiably so. I mean, you lose Ted Karrasch, you lose Shaq Mason, people are going to panic.

I don't blame them for that. But maybe Bill Belichick did know what he was doing after all, Murph. Isn't that a normal concept? You know, just surprise people. He's been doing this for 20 years. It's something that he does very well. We've always been able to put together a fantastic offensive line here. A lot of people are losing their minds that Skarnecchia isn't around. Skarnecchia is a phone call away, folks.

He's a phone call away. What do you see wrong? He'll give Bill the lowdown in five seconds, and then he goes out and fixes it. But no, this was a good move. I would really like to see a little more depth before going into camp at this position, at offensive line. But no, it's rounding out. And surprise, surprise, people. Free agency doesn't stop at one week into it.

Yeah, exactly. You don't win free agency in the first two days. You may get the big splashes. You may get the big names. But in terms of building a complete roster, Bill Belichick and his crew have been at this for a while. And think that you know a little bit of temperance a little bit of patience believe me I do I understand I'm not going to berate fans no you know looking at you know teams signing these huge free agents and you know your division rivals and and conference rivals getting much better and

you know you're worried about the the fate of your team and you should be as fan, but trust in the process because there is a process that's being followed. Believe me when I tell you, don't listen to what you hear on terrestrial radio. Bill Belichick and his team know what they're doing, folks. They've got a plan in place and they'll put it in place. And now you're starting to see that with the beginning of second wave free agency. And also, I mean, I think Murph will probably back me up on this. I still think offensive line is a position that the Patriots identify in the draft. I don't think this precludes it. Isaiah

Wynn is on his last year of his rookie deal. They picked up the 50-year option, but I don't know what their plans are for him in the immediate future or the long-term future. Trent's here on a two-year deal, so 2022, 2023, we don't know what's going to happen beyond that Patriots need to get younger they need to get wiser and they need to get players in that can make that type of transition and be Patriots lineman for the better part of the next few years and since we're mentioning the draft Murph we have a ton of mock draft material to cover here today on Patriots so we're going to get right into that without much further ado. But first, Murph, I want to take a moment to give you Team Butchie's favorite

segment here on Locked On Patriots, because we're going to talk a little bit about the great folks at Built Bar and the amazing product that they put out. Folks, you're always looking for sweet treats to snack on. It's the big college basketball tournament all week long. Folks, you're always looking for sweet treats to snack on. It's the big college basketball tournament all week long. You know you're looking for some sweet treats to watch your team in the Sweet 16. Well, most of us are anyway. Sorry, Murph. But in any case, I had to do it. In any case, folks, in any case, the great folks over at built bar have done that because not only do they have a sweet treat that gives you more protein less calories just more energy everything that you'd possibly want in a candy bar they put into a protein bar that tastes phenomenal they always

go for the taste first and then they figure out how to make it healthy and murph they pull it off i don't know how they do it but they do it and you're looking for flavor they have a plethora of flavors and Murph knows all what it's like to know you Murph you know what it's like to have a plethora you know exactly I'm talking mint brownie peanut butter brownie coconut almond salted caramel whatever your desire they probably have a flavor for it. So do yourself a favor, go to built bar.com today, excuse me, built.com today, put on the promo code lock 15 to get 15% off your next order. That's built.com B U I L T.com. Put in the promo code lock 15 for 15% off your next order today at built.com. There's a flavor for everybody in the family, folks.

Go get some. Absolutely. Definitely do that. Patriots fans, we are here on Mondays because of this man here joining me on the microphone. It's not Monday unless it's hashtag LockedOnMurfMonday. No one else will have me. Usually, I don't know about that. He graces us with his presence each and every week,

and we're extremely happy to have them. He even lets me get some NCAA tournament digs in there as well. And the guy takes it graciously. What more can you ask for than a friend and a colleague? But, Don Murph, normally during the season, this is our opportunity to recap the action that we've seen on sundays but in the off season mondays are still fun we still put the fun in monday no no that didn't make any sense but bear with me folks to monday morning coffee still kicking in we muse the draft here

on locked on patriots because as my good friend always says we don't make fun of the draft we hold it sacred and because we use it as our inspiration, as our muse, we take a little liberties with the play on words and we decide to muse the draft. Murph, let's get right into it. We've got four pretty interesting drafts and we'll start off with one that's submitted by a first time submitter here on Locked On Patriots. Love this Twitter handle, Captain seven at captain underscore seven reigns that's r-e-i-g-n-s um i like the number seven my dad was born on the seventh of the month gotta

love that it's all good um his draft included quite a few trades uh there were i think yeah some interesting moves here that he uh was able to make and kind of manipulating the draft board in order to be able to fill Patriots positions of need. Yeah. Not necessarily with the names that you're hearing all the time, some of which you are. But I don't know about you. I liked this one. The Patriots. I'm sorry.

Go ahead, Murfkin. Yeah, I did. I like the way that he attacked this draft. He went up and down the board. Very, very Belichickian in his movements up and down. So like I said, some of the names that you are going to hear coming up are names that you might not have, but are good, solid choices. Absolutely. And trading his way down from a trade with the Arizona Cardinals to a trade with

the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a trade with the Chiefs, including a trade with the New York Giants. And folks, don't worry, we're going to be posting all of the still images of these trades while you're listening to this. Be sure to open up another window, check out L-O underscore Patriots, and you'll see the graphic of the trades that i'm talking about using our guys over at the draft network.com so kudos seven rings we appreciate that captain and he has the patriots settling in ultimately with their first pick of the 2022 nfl draft being at pick number 36 and he has them going wide receiver and christian watson coming to new england murph we know the patriots are in need of a wide receiver and Christian Watson coming to new England.

Murph, we know the Patriots are in need of a wide receiver. If this is the first pick that the new England Patriots make right pick right time. Is this a stretch? Is this, you know, a little bit too late? What's your thoughts on Watson at number 36?

You know, not to pick on the new guy, but I really don't see this happening. I'm not a huge fan of Watson, especially here. If you wanted to talk about him in the middle of round three, sure, go ahead. He's a one-trick pony. He's an outside guy with not a lot of speed. He does not have the separation that I'd like to see

and doesn't really get the yak that you know that I love so much. I really can't understand taking him at this position. I'm sorry, bud. Yeah, I think in a lot of ways, I know there's still some hesitation when it comes to Watson. And I do get it. I'm not saying that it's a bad pick. I definitely don't think it's a bad pick at all. I can understand the fit there.

I think the positioning of where he's taking him might be a little bit of a stretch. But again, I think the ingenuity here by the captain is definitely something interesting. And I applaud him for utilizing the draft and being able to utilize trades. Very creative use of that. Again, very belichickian

so this was a different type of look and feel um i liked this um i'm sorry go ahead no i'm sorry i misspoke he does get the act that that i tend to enjoy it's just you know it there there's something there's better players at this position at this point in time in the draft to take it. And I'm guilty of this myself, watching a certain ball player and really falling in love with him. But like I say, his route tree is just really limited, and I think the Patriots would be better off going somewhere else. But sorry about that misspeak.

No, no worries. No, that's fine. that's why we're here you know what we correct on the fly and we always make things work and uh we appreciate that we always appreciate that for our guests especially the esteemed mr murphy right here uh to my left um roger mccreary cornerback yeah coming in at number 47 now mccreary is at that echelon he's at the top of a lot of the corners that are being mentioned out there. Maybe the, one of the more complete corners in this draft. I liked, I would like to see Roger McCreary and to see what he can do in new England, especially knowing now that JC

Jackson is not going to be coming through that door here in Foxborough. When you look at McCreary at number 47, the only issue that I have with this is I just don't think he's going to be coming through that door here in Foxborough. When you look at McCreary at number 47, the only issue that I have with this is I just don't think he's going to be there at 47. But if he's there, if the Patriots can somehow pull this off, this would be an amazing coup in my opinion. Yeah, I agree. You're going to need a little luck for him to be there.

But this kid is a fluid athlete who just, you know, he glues on to somebody. He has fantastic top-end speed. I really like this pick, man. Way to bounce back after the dragging that I just gave you. Again, sorry. Sorry. But, no, no, way to bounce back. I would definitely enjoy this pick at this spot.

I think I'd do cartwheels over it. Yeah, definitely. Absolutely. And, again, I really like McCre pick at this spot. I think I'd do cartwheels over. Yeah, definitely. Absolutely. And again, I really, I like McCreary's potential fit. I wrote about him as a guy that the Patriots needed to watch during the senior bowl, during someone that they needed to watch during the combine. And it's nice to see him getting a little bit of play. I know we hear a lot about Elam lately, and we're going to get to Kyrie Elam, and I love

him as well. I think he is one of the more dynamic talents at the position in this draft, but don't sleep on McCreary, folks, either. I think he can be a solid fit here. So good pick, Captain. Like that one. Rounding out some of the draft here with him, Ed Ingram, interior offensive line coming over at number 85,

the 85th selection. Number 87, Quay Walker coming over at a linebacker position. They can get someone as adept at being able to move into this system at Quay Walker in the 80s in terms of overall selections. Patriots doing something right. Claire, pay attention. At number 91, tight end Kate Otten coming over. A little more tight endage fuel for the fire

um and of course uh you know rounding out some of the later round picks uh asan haskins i thought was interesting in number 170 coming over as the running back uh kellen dyche coming over as an offensive tackle patriots definitely need tackle depth to round out the uh the draft uh overall i thought a solid effort from the captain i do want want to give a definitely an A plus for effort in terms of the trades. I thought there was a good amount of, um, uh, you know, ingenuity and, uh, a lot of creativity shown. So overall, overall, I like this draft. I want to give him a solid B plus. Yeah. I'm going to give him a B on this draft. I re I really am. Uh, there was a reach in the first round, but the rest of the draft, if it fell this way, I would be I don't want to say ecstatic, but I would be thrilled if it came out that way. I would love Walker on this team. There's a little bit of a question as to whether or not his size and speed are going to translate to the next level.

And other than that, man, this is a solid draft. This is a solid draft right here. Absolutely. And again, I think a solid draft, a lot of trades. We're switching things up a little bit here on Mock Draft Monday, and we kind of like that. We like doing things a little bit differently. And speaking of differently,

I think we're going to segue into the next draft that we're going to break down, which is not just a Patriot-centric draft, Murph. It's an overall first-round draft submitted by our good friend Jason Sullivan at Sully6827. And Sully got in a draft very much under the wire last week. I believe it was 11.58 it in uh for the deadline and this time around sol chose to go a little bit of a different direction and i thought it would be fun to break down a draft that we haven't really done yet here on mock draft monday which is a complete draft of uh the nfl um and the first round and of course jacksonville number one pick

aiden hutchinson edge uh rusher a lot of people are saying this could Jacksonville, number one pick. Aiden Hutchinson, edge rusher. A lot of people are saying this could be a consensus number one pick. Your thoughts just off the bat on that. Did he get it right on number one? Yeah, he sure did. He sure did. There's nobody else in this class that I would take number one overall. There isn't that quarterback.

There isn't that wide receiver. There isn't that cornerback that you're really going to want to run out and trade up for. Fantastic first pick. You can't go wrong. Yeah, absolutely. And you're absolutely right on that. I think with everyone's needs and with the way this draft is setting up, it's really going to be tough to pinpoint exactly what teams need. There's no real consensus, number one. I think if you're looking at Hutchinson going number one to the Jaguars, this is a great move for them in terms of what they need on defense. So good selection there, Jason. I agree with this. But Sully, you know, sending Kyle Hamilton

to the Jets at number four, I hate you. Flippin' hate you. Yeah, I think a lot of, yeah, that would elicit a lot of groans coming from the Foxborough area, folks. Without any question. But we're lucky. The Jets are going to screw it up. When you're a Jet,

you're a Jet all the way. Jet all the way. Absolutely. This is where it gets interesting to me, because everyone, obviously, you're listening to Locked On Patriots, folks. You want to know where the Patriots fell in terms of Jason's draft. And you can, again, check out the draft, check out the graphic, excuse me, on Locked On Patriots, LO underscore Patriots on Twitter.

But number 21, interior offensive lineman out of the University of Iowa, Tyler Linderbaum. Now, Tyler is one of the top offensive line prospects in this draft. He is a surefire center prospect. I like this kid. I love his game. I love what he brings to the table. He's a pro caliber ready player from the day he's, you know, steps off the dais in Las Vegas and becomes a full fledged member of the NFL. My thought process is I just, I don't know if I see the Patriots doing this at number 21. With all due respect, Saul. First of all, I don't think Linderbaum projects well at any other position other than center right i know people are saying that the contract that david andrews signed last year might be a cuttable contract but andrews lends so much

wisdom counsel experience yeah um you know solidarity well whatever type of uh trait that you want to assign to him that shows that he is one of the true leaders and captains on this team, I'm not sure the Patriots are going to be willing to cut bait with that just yet. There's some question with arm length. I know a lot of people mentioned that with Linderbaum as well. What are your thoughts on this? Is this something the Patriots should entertain? Yeah.

No. I do believe we have one more contract in our center. Linderbaum is a fantastic ballplayer. He really is, but he is a center. And I can speak to this myself because I was a center. When you can't move around, at least on the interior, it really limits your draftability, especially in the mind of Bill Belichick. A fantastic pick.

One of those guys that it would be hard to pass on if you needed a center, but the Patriots just don't need a center. They just don't. There's another contract there coming up. I'm not really worried about it. If I was worried about it, uh, I would go ahead and make this pick, but I'm not. Yeah. I, I would definitely say that I agree with you on that.

Uh, and again, like, uh, you know, Jason, we don't mean any disrespect here because you know, we don't disrespect our, our, our great, great listeners. But, uh, yeah, this one surprised me a little bit because when you look at the players that were still on the board for the Patriots at the time and players that could come in and make an immediate impact here. Chris Olave goes number 22 to the Green Bay Packers. I mean, he'd be a phenomenal fit in Green Bay, no question about it. Devin Lloyd is still on. Yeah, Devin Lloyd, number 26 of the Tennessee

Titans. And you want to talk about offensive line, I think guys that might fit better into what the Patriots scheme is going to be. Go ahead, go say it. Zion Johnson out of Boston College. Bernard Ryman coming over from Central Michigan. These guys, big Austrian, these guys right now, I think fit what the Patriots would want to do if they're going to go offensive line in the first round, which by the way, I can definitely them doing yeah um I just don't know if Linderbaum is the guy that they would use that pick on knowing that for at least the next year or two David Andrews is going to be manning that position in New Orleans at least two years maybe four it's you know if this was 2024 um yeah, I'd think about making this move.

But right now, no. And as Mike said, there are just too many good offensive linemen that are still on the board here that would fit an immediate need. Yeah, absolutely. So, so, great in time, Murph. Overall, I think I like the fits that he has for some of the uh the teams out there I definitely want to give him a solid B for the effort um again I just I'm not sure it's something that the New England Patriots are going to do right now but you know bottom line I mean the

Patriots know better than anybody what their needs are I mean if they do end up coming away with someone like Linderbaum or Linderbaum himself you definitely do a lot worse this guy's NFL ready so it's not like you picked a player that doesn't belong to go number 21. I'm just not sure about the fit. That's why I give it a B. Yeah, me too. I'll give it a straight B, even a B plus. If Sully was drafting for the Jets right now, I'd probably unfollow him.

Well, in that case, folks, we will continue on with Patriot-centric drafts here. We thank Sully for having the ingenuity and the temerity to submit a full first round. We love going over these types of drafts here. So keep them coming, folks. No matter what your draft preference is, Murph and I, if it catches our sharp eye, we'll definitely break it down right here on Locked on Patriots. And we'll continue to do that in just a moment. But first, as you know, it is that time of year again.

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for all your sporting wagering information needs, including live betting and even your favorite Vegas casino games. Head to the website today or use your mobile device to learn more about the trends and the action. Bet online where the game starts. Patriots fans, we are in the midst of Locked On Murph Monday.

We are also in the midst of Mock Draft Monday. But as you know, here on Locked On Patriots, we do not mock the draft. It is our muse, our inspiration. So Murph and I share our musings with you. And in the previous segment, Bud, we talked about an interesting draft, a lot of trades coming from our friend, the captain, as well as a full first round breakdown

by our good friend, Jason Sullivan. But we go and we transition now to a mock draft submitted by one of our favorites here, one of my favorite listeners, one of my favorite interact. It really, one of my favorite Twitter follows. LJ, you are a true treasure and we love you, buddy. We really and truly do. Great follow. It was fantastic. LJ is so eager for the Patriots to get that number one wide out to make Mac Jones as great as he possibly can. He wants to see this team do well.

The passion that you give LJ is just tremendous. But he didn't go wide receiver in his mock draft in the first round. I love this pick. I think this is great. Yeah, me too. Oh, my God. I really did. I really enjoyed LJ's draft.

This was a lot of fun to break down. Yeah, I went and kissed my wife after reading this draft. I was like, oh, my God. Hey, come here, honey. did i really enjoyed lj's draft this was a lot of fun to break down yeah i went number 20 after reading this draft i was like oh my god hey come here honey yeah absolutely yeah that's that's yeah definitely it uh it works folks let's just say that um number 21 davante wyatt um when it comes to interior defensive linemen uh my good friend Kevin Tame of Sports Illustrated, my colleague at Patriot Maimon, has loved Devontae Wyatt for quite some time. Wrote a great piece on him in terms of a draft profile and how he fits the Patriot scheme. This, to me, would be a great pick at number 21.

If the Pats come away with Wyatt at number 21 to shore up that defensive line, I think they could definitely do a lot worse. What are your thoughts on Wyatt coming in at number 21 to shore up that defensive line. I think they could definitely do a lot worse. What are your thoughts on Wyatt coming in at number 21? A lot worse. They could do a below-the-equator type worse here than this pick. I would lose my mind if he was there. This kid is everything that I want in a defensive lineman. He is a fantastic run blocker.

He sheds blocks like nobody else on the planet. We all saw how quick he was at the combine and him chasing down these mobile quarterbacks that are running outside. Don't get me wrong, folks. Jordan Davis is the best defensive lineman in this in this class but there's no way in hell he's going to be here but if wyatt is there and they don't take it i will jump off the tobin yeah i think a lot of people will you know bottom line when you look at

guys that can come in have an immediate impact um yep wyatt to me is just he's one of those types of players where you can plug him in all over, and you can really utilize his skill set pretty much in every type of formation. And I think New England, and I wrote about this a little bit yesterday, I think New England is a little bit more apt to incorporate more 4-3 this year than you've seen in the past. I think the way that they want to try to match speed for speed, it makes sense. They want to try to sell out, stop the run. But this is a team that's never going to go away from its 3-4 sets. That's part of Bill Belichick and a part of what he does.

So in my opinion, getting Wyatt here is a huge clue for the New England Patriots. Great pick. The kid could play anywhere. Exactly. You could stand him up as a, as a middle linebacker for Christ's sakes. And I, and I, it would work out. That's how good he is. He's just, he's that fast. He's that athletic and that huge. This is not a, this is not a puny human people. No, definitely not without any question. And coming in next, because LJ did not without any question and coming in next because LJ did not make any trades in his,

uh, in his draft, uh, which is certainly fine. We, uh, we support that, uh, actually makes it a lot easier for us to break it down. So keep that coming. LJ, no kidding. Um, LJ gets his whiteout, but yeah, and it's a whiteout that we've talked about here several times. Not much more can be said than what we've already said about this man. Number 54, John Mechie. If Mechie is there at 54 and the Patriots don't do this, yeah, something is a-brewing in Foxborough, and it's not brewing all that well. Yeah, this to me is – If they pass on Mechie here,

it's because that Bill is just channeling his inner Navy run game attack from the 1950s. And I will. I'll lose my mind if they do. This kid is the proven playmaker in this draft. The only reason he might be here is because of the injury that he's dealing with. But take him. Take him.

I don't care if you have to wait a year for him to get on the field. Take him. I don't care if you have to wait a year for him to get on the field. Take him. Yeah, absolutely. Rounding out the, the, the tops of this draft, I guess you can call them the tops. Number 85 for Darian Mathis comes in, shore up the interior defensive line, another D lineman. So right.

Sandwiched in between two D linemen, you get the wide receiver that you're looking for. I like this pick at number 85. I think it's pretty well, you know, in line with where he may go in his skill set. I think he could be a good swing interior defensive lineman, provide some beef and a little bit of help there for the New England Patriots as well. LJ addresses the offensive line, goes with Andrew Stuber coming in at number 127 and there this is a great pick i think this is really one of the ones that if the patriots can snag something

like this this late in the draft i think it could be potential steal time uh he's a good you know tackle can really fill some of the the void that the patriots have at that position and isaac taylor stewart a cornerback coming in at number 170. murph your overall impressions on lj's draft i know wyatt mechi and and mathis coming in uh at the top and stuber uh really helped uh to uh tip this one uh i'm thinking the b plus with a solid uh a rising that this yeah i really i really liked lj's effort this is a solid b draft that could end up as an a draft in in a year or two um these are there there are a lot of guys in this in this uh round that lj put out that that are i don't want to call projects but guys that are going to have to grow into their role bill is very um

uh comfortable uh in allowing that to happen and not rushing guys in, into anything. The only thing, you know, that the, the double dip at 21 and then coming back at 85 for another defensive lineman is, you know, I can understand what LJ is doing here. He wants to build that depth on the offense, on the defensive line. And I like it. I'm not sure Bill's going to do it, though. But, you know, heads up. I mean, you know, thumbs up for you, LJ.

You froze. And Mike has froze. I'm not sure if I'm on air or if he's on air, but I'm going to keep talking. LJ, you did a great job. You really did. This was a fantastic pick at 127. You know, really good stuff. Really good stuff. No, folks. I mean, our good friend Andrew Carraway came in, and he really hit the ball out of the – you know really kicked the ball right out of the stadium today. Kierion out of Florida, he traded back and took him at 31. I think this is a fantastic pick.

Abraham Lucas out of Washington State. Wow. I don't want to call that. Oh, I'm sorry. Here's Mike's back. We have returned folks, technical difficulties all around on lockdown Patriots today, but that does not stop us from the grind. And this man has carried the torch in the absence. Uh, and I do appreciate that.

What more could I ask for, man? Thank you so much. And I know you're already knee deep in Andrew Carraway's trade here. Let's start over with what Andrew's doing here. Yeah, definitely. No, I think we can kind of pick up exactly where you left off. And Kier Elam coming in at number 31 after the trade that he was able to pull off. And I like the trade, by the way, as well.

Giving up the number 21, but you pick up number 31. You also pick up number 63 and I think that is great opportunity for the Patriots to turn two potential good players into three and that's exactly what he's done here Elam I think is that type of alpha core that the New England Patriots would love to see here follows that method of a guy like a Stefan Gilmore not I'm not comparing the playing styles no comparing the attitudes you get that swagger in that position right there and he's going to bring it very similar to what you know JC Jackson was able to bring to that position um say what you will I mean I know he's taken a lot of lumps here over the last few years but you know Asante Samuel had that when he played here and you know you know, Ty Law had it, obviously. I mean, comparing someone to Ty Law is very difficult,

but, you know, I think Elam has an opportunity to be that type of impact player, so I like it. As a rookie coming in, I don't have a problem with that assessment. I think he's a fantastic fricking guy. You know, he's, he's had some injury problems over the past couple of years. He's not a pure athlete. You know, he, he gave up some big plays, but in this system, I think that would be, you know, dialed down a little bit, but he's a long physical guy with a high motor. He's got the size at six, two. He's a little bit, but he's a long physical guy with a high motor. He's got the size at 6'2".

He's a fluid guy, even though he has that bigger frame that you're looking for. And what I like most, he was a wide receiver. Yeah, absolutely. The guy was a wide receiver. And I love when they flip those guys. Oh, you got your hands aren't, you know know the best on the planet let's just flip you over and you go ahead and prove it prove it on the other side of the ball it's it's a good pick i i would absolutely with this at all no i wouldn't be upset with it either i agree with that i think you

know switching from the receiver yeah yeah absolutely but not not at 31. not at 31 no definitely not this is a great uh great move and exactly where he needs to be. And I'm so glad that you mentioned him switching over from being a receiver. To me, this has the aura of a very gifted defense attorney that decides that maybe he's better off putting the guilty in jail, and he switches over and he does it. He knows how to play both sides. So this is something that I think is a great move. carraway again pulls it off i think here um i'm maybe not as high on on this

one as i was with the elon but i'm still pretty high on this one as well abraham lucas out of washington state coming over um at the tackle position gives the patriots what they need in terms of tackle depth um your thoughts on picking him up with number 54. This is the original Patriots pick. This is not one of the trades. This is where they would have been. I think the guy comes in here and as a second round pick will contribute from the get-go.

You can't tear this pick up. It's a fantastic pick. Yeah, absolutely. I really, really do. I like this. And the Patriots are getting the depth that they need. They've solved the problem at corner. They've solved the problem at tackle.

They solved the problem at wide receiver, number 63, John Mechie again. Not happening. You know, if Mechie does not come to the New England Patriots, folks, Murph and I may weep here on Locked On Patriots the day after the draft is completed. We'll be on the air that Monday. And yeah, this could be a very difficult situation for me and Murph. But right now, again, I love the selection of Mechie. I'm a little surprised that PFF gave him a C-plus here.

Maybe it's the timing. Maybe it's the placement. But in terms of someone that can come in and be an effective weapon in this system i don't understand how you uh you negate what john mechi can do right you know such as life but you know it's really it really befuddling i i think the the way the algorithms work um i think that they see that mechi is coming off of that that terrible freaking injury. But there's no way that this should be a C-plus move. If you got John Meschi at 63, that's an A. That's like sitting back at the Christmas story

and the teacher going A-plus, A-plus all around the room. I would love this at 63. I don't think he's going to be there. And I don't think Andrew thinks so either. He and i i don't think andrew thinks so either he was just so shocked that he was there he had to take him yeah absolutely i mean and if that is the windfall that the patriots experience on draft night uh i think they'll be very happy with that yeah um number 85 and three we're here for the Patriots now in all of their picks now. So now we're looking at Darian Beavers, linebacker from Cincinnati, coming over. Dante Hightower, 2.0, Murph?

Yeah, that's a perfect example. I love Beavers. I love everything he does. I like Chad Moua, but Beavers is just – you folks keep talking about the prototypical Patriot linebacker. This is it. You know, you all want to take us, you all want to take Mike and myself to task for N'Kobe Dean. This is the anti-N'Kobe Dean, folks. But he still does it all.

I'd be happy as pie with, as pie with, with, you know, you know, with, with this pick here. Yeah. I know the fans are clamoring for additional speed. We heard over the weekend that the Patriots are telling linebackers, they want to get quicker. They want to get younger at the position. Uh, this allows them definitely to get younger and it allows them to maintain that type of prototypical linebacker. Not sure if the fit is as hand-in-glove. I may have liked this one a little bit more if they didn't bring back Juwan Bentley, but at the same time, you can't go wrong.

These guys just have a knack of being able to succeed here in a Belichick system, so this could be a right fit for them. I like the placement here at 85, so good job, Andrew. If the Patriots take Beavers here, be a right fit for them and i like the placement here at 85 so good job andrew if the if the patriots take beavers here then every quarterback in the afce should be a little nervous right absolutely without any question uh rounding out the uh the the best of the rest uh i'd like to call it here for the new england patriots in andrew carraway's draft um at the tackle position zach tom coming over from uh wake forest uh and number

127 um micah mcfadden at linebacker coming really indiana great pick this was one of my favorites uh from uh if you can snag yeah linebacker is versatile exactly at number 170 pff gave him an a plus i give him an a plus on this uh this was a great one this really opened my eyes huge huge move heads up move for andrew carraway here uh jerrion ely coming over uh at number 200 gives the patriots a little bit of depth in the uh backfield um slade bolden rounding out i know a lot of people he's become the fan favorite here uh for uh for the Patriots to take in late rounds. More bold and more better. Yeah, exactly.

Bye, Brandon. Enjoy. You notice I didn't bring that up, Murph. I didn't want to lessen the mood. No, it's all right. We are going to mention Brandon Bolden just for a minute here. I'm personally going to miss him tremendously. Absolutely.

I am. I'm going to miss him tremendously. New England will, but life goes on, my friend, unfortunately. The locker room will. You'm going to miss him tremendously. New England will, but life goes on, my friend. You got to take care of the family, you know? Absolutely. You know, when it comes down to it, you got to take care of the family. And he really did. And I wish him nothing but the best out there in Las Vegas. Just hats off to everything that he's done here over his career. A lot of you people do not understand. Some people saw it last year with the expanded role,

but what he has been able to do in his career as an undrafted free agent is nothing short of amazing. And it's, you know, just keep going. Absolutely. And you know, if there are, if there was a place that he had to move on to, you're happy to see him going to somewhere like Las Vegas, where he's not only going to be under the tutelage of Josh McDaniels, Dave Ziegler, but he's got some guys on that roster that he knows very well. Obviously, Jakob Johnson going over Chandler Jones is going to be over in, um, in, uh, Las Vegas as well. So, uh, good spot for him. And I think he'll be able to do well there in the silver and black Murph.

It's just about time to wrap things up here, but not before we give Andrew our grade, our final grade here on his mock draft for this Monday episode of lockdown Patriots. Um, I got to go with an A on this one. I think he really, I think he hit, I think he hit this one out of the pocket in all ways. A plus. It gets dragged down for some reason, taking Mechie in the third round, and I think that's ridiculous.

But Slade Bolden, everybody's favorite little inside guy I'm not sure about anymore. But no, other than that, man, solid Bs across it. And there's an A in here at the top of the draft with Elam at 31. Yeah, I got an A-plus grade here, you know, between Mechie, Beavers, and then coming back with McFadden. Wow, this is brilliant. this is the best draft that that andrew has sent into us to date yeah without any question uh again uh some of the uh the moves that

he was able to pull off mcfadden to me at number 170 gives this one the a plus rising as far as i'm concerned uh but i love elam at number 31 i like lucas mechi beavers all the whole nine yards zach tom i think can you know provide some good depth of tackle if they can snag him in the early part of the middle 100s i like that as well so folks thank you all so much we really appreciate lj the captain jason sullivan andrew carraway for submitting the great mock drafts again folks head over to lo underscore patriots on twitter to check out the graphics the the visuals of all of these mock drafts that we broke down here today. But most of all, my friend, what can I say?

You lend your wisdom and counsel the way you only can. You are the true Don of Locked On Patriots. And you helped even navigate us through some technical snafus today. What more can I say? Before I let you go, buddy, please enlighten all of our listeners where they can find you, your great work, whether it be pen to paper, whether it be voice to microphone, the baseball coverage that this man provides is second to none. I don't trust it until it comes from Murph when it's MLB related. So, bud, please, the floor is yours. I'm honored. I'm always humbled by your presence. Thank you so much for having me back each and every week, Mike.

Folks, you can follow me on the Twitter sphere at TeamRF207. Of course, tomorrow we'll be out with another amazing One Patriots Place with Klazzy Clare and, of course, Steve Balistrieri. You can find all of my writing exclusively over at etgsports.com. Yeah, I'm really getting into baseball right now, but no, you'll get me, you'll catch me dipping my toe back into Patriots land every now and then. But no, thank you. Thank you again for having me. Folks, thank you for tuning in and reading everything that I do. Absolutely. And again, folks, if it's pen to paper, if it's voice to microphone, if it comes from

this man right here, I cannot recommend it highly enough. It's point, click, learn enrichment material. You become a smarter fan. You become a better fan. You just become better at life for reading what this man and hearing what this man has to say. It's going to be fun next week, Murph. We're going to continue to break down your mock drafts right here on Locked On

Patriots. In the meantime, thank you for continuing to make Locked On Patriots not just your first listen every day, but a daily part of your New England Patriots coverage. On behalf of the Count of Murphy, Fisto himself, the great Thomas Murphy, I'm your host, Mike DeBate. Stay safe, folks.

Stay well. Continue to be the change that you wish to see in the world thank you for navigating with us through our technical difficulties have a great day everyone