Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Breakout: New England Patriots Rave About Drake Maye’s Mental Leap

Episode Date: May 20, 2026

The New England Patriots are raving about Drake Maye’s rapid development, sparking excitement for a breakout 2026 campaign. Can Maye’s mental leap make him “borderline unstoppable” and lead the Patriots back to playoff contention? Host Nick Cattles highlights how Maye’s command of the offense, improved ball security, and leadership could be game-changing for New England’s hopes in a challenging season. Cattles also spotlights the crucial need for Joshua Farmer to step up on the defensive line after Khyiris Tonga’s departure, and assesses the team’s hunt for depth at center and guard with names like Ben Brown and a potential free agent target in the mix. The episode covers key roster decisions, the impact of losing guaranteed money for Christian Barmore, and how New England’s moves could shape their long-term success. Will the Patriots’ offseason adjustments set the stage for a deep postseason run? Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms 🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/podcasts... Locked On NFL League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft, & More 🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/leagues/... #patriots #newenglandpatriots Everydayer Club If you never miss an episode, it’s time to make it official. Join the Locked On Everydayer Club and get ad-free audio, access to our members-only Discord, and more — all built for our most loyal fans. Click here to learn more and join your team’s community: https://lockedonpodcasts.com/everydayerclub Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! Square If you’re starting a business, or running one that deserves better tools, Square helps you sell, manage, and grow without slowing down. Right now, you can get up to $200 off Square hardware at https://square.com/go/LockedOnNFL. FanDuel Today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now new customers can bet just five dollars and get one-hundred and fifty dollars in bonus bets if your first bet wins. Visit https://FANDUEL.COM to get started — Play Your Game. Indeed Listeners of this show get a $75 Sponsored Job Credit to help give your job the premium placement it deserves at http://Indeed.com/podcast. Rugiet Get 15% off your treatment → https://rugiet.com/lockedonnhl Rugiet. Performance medicine for men. Gametime Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDON for $20 off your first purchase. FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

reportedly the Pats are absolutely ecstatic about Drake May's development behind the scenes. This is Lockdown 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, the Pats are looking to add at a sneaky, important spot on the roster. In the second segment, there is a certain second year. player that could make a significant impact in 2026 if he manages to take a leap.

But first, the team is raving about Drake May. On a prior podcast this week, we discussed Drake May. And I had said, Drake May has to have more impact this year than last year. And I understand runner up, MVP, fantastic season. He was tremendous, huge leap forward in his second year in the NFL. But to be good in 2026 as a team, the Patriots are going to need Drake May to be even better than he was last year. Now, it doesn't have to be statistically necessarily. You can be better in a lot of different ways, which we'll get into in this segment.

But for the Patriots to get back to the playoffs to have any chance of making a deep run in 2026, may has to be more impactful during the game. this season than he was last year because of the schedule and the challenges of that schedule. And now I wonder, is May already on his way to being more impactful this year than last? I was recording a podcast this week with my buddy Greg Bedard, the Greg Bedard Patriots podcast with, you guessed it, Nick Cattels. And during the pod, Greg said the following, quote, the Pats are telling people this. Watch out for the quarterback this year. You thought he was good last year. wait until you see it now.

It's hard to tell physically, but that's not it. From what I understand, it's the mentality. It's how much he knows the offense, how he has the tools that are in this offense, unquote. May's biggest leap this year is going to happen mentally. That's the biggest leap. That's how he gets even better than he was as the runner-up last season to the MVP.

because if he can mentally improve, mentally grow, to go along with what he does athletically, he is borderline unstoppable. And so it's all about between the ears this season for May. If he can make that leap mentally, then the Patriots are in really good shape and get ready for an even more devastating Drake May. And he should.

He should be taking that step forward mentally because he now has the knowledge of being in the scheme. You think about Drake May. Think about how many different offensive coordinators he had before last season. This was one of the major reasons we discussed why Josh McDaniels was a great hire, because Josh McDaniels was going to stick around New England at least for a couple of years. And when you go back and you look at what May had to go through, whether it was his last couple of years at UNC, his first year in New England with Scott Van Pelt,

then jumping to Josh McDaniels. It was different OC after different OC after different OC. Now he gets to breathe. Now he gets to appreciate being in the same offense for the second straight year. And with that scheme knowledge comes command at the line of scrimmage. One of the issues that May faced in the Super Bowl against Seattle was being surprised at the line of scrimmage, being surprised by some of the blitzes that Seattle threw at May. Go back.

Evan Lazzar wrote this in February. Although they didn't blitz much, Seattle blitzes effectively, and Mike McDonald times up blitzes extremely well. Seattle blitzed May only 11 times, or 20.8% of his dropbacks, but generated an insane 85.7% pressure rate when they did blitz. May was just 4 of 10 for 22 yards with a pick and a sack versus the blitz. An example of what Seattle did, blitzing the mic and the nickel, Devin Witherspoon, throwing Drake May off. They did that. They blitzed the mic and they blitzed Devin Witherspoon while popping out two interior pass rushers that simulated a cover zero. And they overloaded the left side of the offensive line. And Evan Lazar writes all about that in the piece back in February.

those types of looks, those types of surprises, May should be surprised less as he continues to play at this level of football, understanding pre-snap, setting the protections, knowing his hot routes. It goes back to Tom Brady saying, I feel like I have all the answers to the test now. Now, of course, Tom Brady was in the league for a long time at that point, but you get the idea. Drake May taking the step forward mentally will also improve his decision.

decision making versus the pass rush. Because as you are mentally more prepared, you get to slow things down. And when you slow things down, you see things better. You see things better. You throw the football away quicker. You take less sacks that are like one or two yard losses or right near the line of scrimmage. When that happens, that's on the quarterback.

When you're getting sacked, you know, one or two yards behind the line of scrimmage or at the line of scrimmage right behind it, that's on you as the quarterback. We should see less of that as May continues to improve mentally. And also because things slow down, because you see things better, because you are prepared for whatever's going to be thrown your way, you should have better ball security, which has been a question with Drake through his first two years. Pat's Pulpit, burned Buckmasser, and Taylor Kyle's wrote on Wednesday about May's fumbles. They're an issue. Here's what they wrote. While May's interception numbers are in a reasonable range, 24 fumbles and 1,322 combined career dropbacks and carries.

Too much. Basically, one every 55 such plays, as they pointed out at Pat's pulpit. Well, things slow down. You see the rush. You understand where guys are coming from. You should be able to tuck the football with two arms and get down in time. You should have better ball security. throwing it away, better ball security.

We've discussed how May has to continue to work on the pressure to sack rate, one of his weaknesses in college. If you can deal with the pressure without getting sacked, the efficiency of your offense will end up going through the roof. And the potential is absolutely unequivocally there in 2026 for Drake May and the offense to do just that. Work on the pressure to sack rate and up the efficiency within this offense. And when you mentally improve, when you understand what's going on, when you have

more confidence in the system, you get to instruct others. You're instructing the skill guys on what to do, where to be. Again, you go back to the hot route idea, being on the same page, because you see it, you communicate it, and now everybody understands it. That's how this works. And when you are a leader of men, when you are instructing the skill position players on what to do or where to be. You are setting the expectations. And as you continue to be able to set the expectations, understanding what is about to happen, those expectations continue to climb and climb and climb. Leadership, by the way, improves. Your leadership improves when guys in the room believe that you see and understand what you need to see and understand. There's no doubt.

Guys are looking across saying, Drake knows what's going to happen here. We trust in Drake. Not to say that there wasn't trust in Drake last year, but that trust builds. And it continues to build. The more you see Drake may react to certain things, certain play calls. And Drake can sit guys down now and explain this offense to them. He knows the terminology like the back of his hand. He has the knowledge. And this is one of those things where going through that gauntlet last year in the postseason, this is where it pays off. Because Drake saw so many different things during that postseason run. He had to deal with so many dangerous pass rushers.

He had to deal with so many really, really, really good defenses just littered with top five defenses during that run last year. And he didn't play great. We know that. He did not play great from beginning to end. But it's a learning process. and I don't think you can replicate that type of education in any other way than going against that gauntlet he did in the playoffs. I mean, the biggest thing physically for Drake is just more consistent mechanics against pressured pockets.

When pressure hits him, he's got to be able to keep with his mechanics. Two hands on the football. Simple things, right? The footwork getting in and out of the pocket. making sure when you carry the football as a runner that you're taking care of it. But mostly the physical stuff, I mean, we know it's there. It's been there from day one. The arm strength, the size, all of that, the athleticism, it is there.

And what we have to hone in on is the mental, which is why when Greg Bedard says, people in the building, people in the facility saying, watch out for the quarterback this year because of how much he knows the offense and how he has the tools that are in this offense that he can work with. Yeah, I'm excited. And you should also be excited. All right, he played less than 30% of the snaps last year

but could play a much bigger role this season. Find out who I'm talking about next. This is Lockdown Patriots, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network. Now the number one sports podcast network, your team every day. Support for today's show comes from Square, the system that helps fix one of the biggest headaches in running a business. Starting a business is exciting, but actually running it, that's where things can get complicated fast. Payments, inventory, staff, scheduling, online orders.

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Run your business smarter with Square. Get started today. The Pats have depth on the interior defensive line, but they'd love for second-year defensive tackle Joshua Farmer to step up to fill a significant void after this offseason. Thank you for making us your first listen and for being an everydayer. Get your daily Patriots fix completely ad-free by joining the Everydayer Club today. Start your seven-day free trial right now and get closer to your team without the

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We appreciate every single one of you. One hole from 2025 that has yet to be filled is the hole left by Kyrie's time. And Kyris Tonga was tremendous last year when he was healthy. And at times, Kyris Tonga was one of the best defensive players on the football team. And that includes Milton Williams and Christian Gonzalez. But Kyrie's Tonga, before that injury, man, oh man, I mean, up to about halfway, three quarters of the season, my man was doing work. He was tremendous, easily one of the best defensive players on the team. early down run defense, creating more pressure on the quarterback than we ever anticipated,

even more than Kyrie's Tonga thought that he could, that he was capable of. He got pressure on the quarterback. He was really good against the run. And because of Kyrie's Tonga's ability to play in that middle and play the pass and the run, that helped move Milton Williams and Christian Barmore around if you wanted to. It gave you options. So when we look at the interior defensive line without Kyrie, Tanga. We look at the names. Then there's depth. There's depth in names. Joshua Farmer,

Corey Durdon, Eric Gregory, Leonard Taylor, and a few others. Guys like Jeremiah Farms are still on the roster. The Patriots, they are eyeing a Joshua Farmer leap. They're hoping for it. I'm hoping for it. And you should hope for it. Greg Bedard, again, my guy Greg, writing recently that the Patriots, the interior defensive line, they are quote unquote, full up there with a lot of eyes on Joshua Farmer for a year to jump. It would be significant, man. It would be so significant if Joshua Farmer took that step, took that leap. It would be significant in both the short term and the long term.

For all intents and purposes, Christian Barmore is walking into the final year of his contract. And he's walking into the final year because the guaranteed money dries up. It's over with. You go back to March, Barmore, I think got what, $10 million guaranteed back in March? That was it for the guaranteed money left on his contract. So once this season is over, my man is, again, for all intents and purposes, he's looking for more money.

He's looking for a payday. because he's just not going to be able to sit back and, you know, collect that check post 2026. The Patriots, they have an out on Christian Barmore. You know, so, you know, of course they could be out on Barmore. This, during this offseason, they made the decision to not take advantage of that out. But the guaranteed money's dried up. He signed with the Patriots. I'm not telling you he'd be an unrestricted free agent.

He signed through 2028. but the guaranteed money is over with. That guaranteed money, the $10 million, the third league day of this year was the last of that guaranteed money. So if he wants to stay with the Patriots and get more guaranteed money, get a contract extension or restructuring and get a signing bonus and big fat money up front, or he wants to go somewhere else and get that kind of money, be traded somewhere else and get that kind of money, he needs to have an excellent year.

But for the Patriots, if you don't want to be in the business of Christian Barmore after 2026, what would help that? What would make you feel great about that, or at least better about that, is if Joshua Farmer takes the step. If he makes a leap, you feel much better about moving on from Barmore and enrolling with Joshua Farmer and Milton Williams. I mean, you invested. You invested in this guy.

you made a pick in the fourth round. You brought in Joshua Farmer and you said back last year in 2025 during that draft, we think Joshua Farmer could be a piece for us moving forward. You don't just spend a top, you know, 100, 150 pick on a player. I mean, it's something that obviously the entire team, the scouting staff, the front office, the coaching staff, they're working day and night to try to nail the value on these guys. And when you use a fourth round pick on a player,

you think that guy has a good shot of being a piece for you. And so invest in that fourth round pick last year, it means something. That investment means something. It's not a dart throw. It's not a lottery ticket in the late fifth round, six round, seventh round, or signing a UDFA.

And the more younger, cheaper players that you can find that produce for you means you can spend money elsewhere. The more Joshua farmers that you can find, the more Joshua farmers that you draft and develop, you can have absolutely zero issue with paying other guys. You can throw all the money at Drake May, Christian Gonzalez, A.J. Brown, if you trade for him, to go along with other names. because you have that cheaper, younger talent in some of those spots. It provides you wiggle room to spend money in other places that you might have to spend money.

So let's revisit Joshua Farmer's scouting report in his pedigree coming out of the 2025 draft. Dane Bruegler had Farmer ranked as his 76th player overall. So Dane Bruegler had Farmer comfortably within his top 100. Farmer was the 10th ranked defensive tackle for Dang Bruegler. Dane Bruegler had Farmer as a third round grade. And again, he was picked 137th overall in the fourth round. And here was the scouting report at the time from Bruegler. Farmer is a burly power-packed lineman who can deliver pop-at contact

and get himself free with his active hands in short area quickness. He can muddy things up in the run game, although his base strength shows cracks when he loses leverage, and his block recognition must continue to develop. Overall, Farmer goes through too many quiet stretches on film, but he is a force creator with his natural power as a two-gapper in promising pass-rush tools. He should step into a rotation as a rookie, which he did,

and has the potential of a full-time starter. So Bruegler was a fan of Farmer. No doubt. Saw him as a possible full-time starter, a guy, a two-gapper who could play the run and also rush the passer, had too many quiet stretches in college and a couple of fundamental things that needed to be coached up. But overall, a pretty intriguing prospect. And when you look at Farmer's 2025, I went through my notes this morning. When you look at Farmer and what he did in his rookie season,

he showed flashes. And I thought he showed improvement from the beginning of the season towards the middle three quarters of the season. He played 29% of the snaps. So just under 30% of the defensive snaps. So he was out there. He was a rotation guy. And I had him personally,

you could take this for what it's worth. But my personal plus minus watching film on Farmer, I had him as a plus graded player. Many more positives than negatives. And his game against the New York Giants on, Monday night was a really good game for him. He finished with, again, in my grading system, he finished at a plus three. So Joshua Farmer, he made some plays last year.

He showed some flashes. He made some improvement. And if he can take that and carry it into his second season and show that potential of one day full-time starter, he would be such a gigantic help for the Patriots defensive line and helping fill that spot that was left open by Kyrie's Tonga. Coming up, the pads reportedly might not be done adding to the offensive line. This is Lockdown Patriots, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. The NBA playoffs are here, and every possession matters.

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Head to Fandul.com to get started. Again, new customers, $5. Get 150 in bonus bets if your first bet wins. Fandul, play your game. The Pats have done a good amount of work on their offensive line this offseason, adding Elijah Verit Tucker, moving Jared Wilson back to his natural position at center after trading Garrett Bradbury to Chicago. But the Pats reportedly are still looking to add some depth to a key spot on this roster. Thanks for checking out the lockdown podcast network.

Now the number one sports podcast network, your team every day. Don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe as you watch us on YouTube if you do so. There are a lot of guys on this team that you could say, man, there's a decent amount on that player's plate. one of the guys that might be overlooked to me is Ben Brown. And I know he's a backup. But right now currently, when you look at this roster, there is a lot on the plate of Ben Brown. He is the top backup guard.

He's also the top backup center option for you. And so he is right now pretty darn vital. And it makes you wonder, are the Patriots done on the interior offensive line? I've gotten this question a couple times during the mailbags over the past month or two. this idea of, hey, Nick, who could the Patriots go out and sign? Who's a free agent that might be able to help them? And we talked about dudes like Joel Betonio and Kevin Zitler

in how they could help the offensive line and absolutely address the depth questions. But those two guys in particular are likely waiting for injuries or, you know, the opportunity to start somewhere. I'm not so sure that either one of Betonio or Zitler are, you know, speeding, rushing to camp to sit back and be, you know, the second or third option at guard. I don't think that's what they want. I think they want starting reps.

They want a legitimate opportunity and probably a legit opportunity with a good football team. So what are the Patriots doing? Are they done on the interior? Maybe not. Greg Bedard recently wrote at BSJ that the Patriots are, quote, unquote, fine with Jared Wilson and Ben Brown. but I know they are looking to add another center unquote. So Bedard says the Patriots are actively looking to add another guy who can play center.

And finding a third option at center or guard, it makes so much sense. If one of Jared Wilson or Ben Brown go down due to injury, all of a sudden things get pretty murky. And when you add the fact that Elijah Vera Tucker has his injury history, things get even murkier. I mean, you're keeping your fingers crossed that ABT can stay healthy, let alone Jared Wilson and Ben Brown. And so right now on this roster, the veterans you have, Caden Wallace, Mackay Butler, Andrew Rupssich. I don't know if I'm confident in any of those guys being able to quickly, you know, plug in play in case of one of the prior names gets injured. I would not be super confident in that. And we've talked about linebacker, and it's similar with the interior offensive line.

I think the Patriots would have addressed the interior offensive line if they kept those two fourth round picks. But as we know, they didn't. And so when you look at linebacker, you look at guard slash center, I think that's where it hurt. I think those two positions in particular were more likely to be targeted. in the fourth round than in any other round. And taking that huge break from pick 95 to, you know, what at 170, whatever it was for Karan Prunty, you didn't get a chance to swing. We talked about guys like Jeremiah Wright being there in the, you know, the fourth, fifth

round, maybe early six. You didn't get a chance to swing at those guys. So you didn't draft anybody. UDFAs, the Patriots, have signed a couple of guys that stand out the most to me. Rizzy, who's a guard slash center. John Darius Morgan is another guard. You know, those are UDFAs. Maybe those guys can make some noise.

It's not completely out of the realm that one of those two guys pop. And they end up making the team. I would not write that off. You know, the interior offensive line, one of those positions that you can find diamonds in the rough. I mean, Michael Wenu was a sixth round pick. So it's not nuts to believe that a UDFA could find his way on this team and might end up making some kind of an impact over the next couple of years.

Now would I be super confident? And even if they make the roster, one of those two guys, both those guys, would I be super confident in them that they could step right in day one NFL? No, I would not be. Which leads us to, okay, if it's not Joel Betonio and Kevin Zitler, who else is out there? And there's one name. There's one name. There are other names.

It's not like there's just one dude beyond Betonio and Sightler, who was a free agent still. But an interesting option is somebody that early in the process I was looking at, and that's James Daniels. James Daniels has played both guard and center. He signed a three-year, $24 million contract with the Dolphins just last offseason. But he tore his peck, and he missed pretty much all of 2025. but he's only 28 years old. And so that's a name I would look at. James Daniels might be the perfect type of option still in his 20s,

in his late 20s, signed a decent deal last year with Miami, was going to start, got injured, make sure he's fully healthy, make sure the rehab process went well, and that's a guy that could play guard and or censor for you. That's the type of player I think we're looking at. So just a name to remember, stick a pin in it. James Daniels. That wraps up this edition of Lockdown Patriots. Thank you for making us your first listen and for being an everydayer. Reach out to me on Twitter at Nick C Radio. And don't forget to throw a

comment in on the YouTube channel, hit that like button and subscribe. And if you never miss an episode, the Everydayer Club is built for you. Get Lockdown Patriots, ad free, plus members-only discord access and more. Head to Lockdownpatriots.com or check the link and the show notes to learn even more. Have a great day and we will see you next time.