Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Combine Wrap-Up, Mock Draft Monday and Read Tom’s Lips?? - 3/2/2020

Episode Date: March 2, 2020

With the 2020 NFL season fast approaching, host Mike D’Abate recaps the Draft Combine, and offers his take on those that impressed and those that underwhelmed in Indianapolis. He also analyzed the latest selection for the New England Patriots in Mock Draft 6.0 by TheDraftNetwork.com for #MockDraftMonday. Finally, he puts a button on the numerous and frivolous attempts at reading Tom Brady’s lips on Saturday.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello to all of you Foxborough faithful. It's Monday and it's a brand new week here on the Locked On Patriots podcast. Your daily dose of news notes and analysis infused with the occasional opinion on your six-time Super Bowl champions, the New England Patriots. I'm Mike DeBate, your host of Locked On Patriots, which as always is a proud part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. And because it's your team every day, that means that your questions, your comments, and your feedback, always welcomed, always appreciated. Please feel free to reach out to me and follow me on Twitter at MDABATEFPC. And while you're out there roaming around in the Twitterverse, please be sure to follow the Locked On Patriots account as well at LO underscore Patriots. This guy or he's not.

Did he say it or didn't he say it? Well, folks, to quote Dwayne The Rock Johnson, it doesn't matter what Tom Brady said over the weekend. And I'll be briefly explaining why I believe it doesn't matter. But what does matter a lot more than that is some of the great talent that was showcased over the weekend. That's right, folks. The 2020 NFL Draft Combine is now in the books.

And last week here on the Locked On Patriots podcast, I was honored to be joined by some great guests providing some amazing analysis. Mark Schofield, Thomas Murphy, Alex Barth, all providing some great insight on who caught their eye, who might have underwhelmed a little bit, and ultimately, because this is Locked On Patriots, folks, who might be the best fit for your New England Patriots. And now that all of the workouts have been completed, I'm going to take a little bit of a deep dive into who caught my eye over the weekend. And some of the names that I'll be mentioning are names you'll probably expect me to mention,

but some of them might not, and a couple of them might even surprise you. So keep a sharp ear out for that. And last but certainly not least here on Locked On Patriots, it's Monday, which means Mock Draft Monday. And our friends over at thedraftnetwork.com are at it again. They have made yet another selection for your New England Patriots in their Mock Draft 6.0. And this week, NFL Draft guru Trevor Sykema is up at the Mock Draft podium for thedraftnetwork.com. And once again, Trevor has the Patriots holding on to this pick instead of trading it away. His choice with the 23rd pick in the first draft is a name you've heard a lot here on Locked On Patriots, and it's one that I very much agree with.

And seeing that this mystery 23rd pick is fresh off of a pretty impressive showing at the Combine, I'm going to give my analysis of Trevor's selection with a little bit of scouting mixed in with my evaluation of how I believe this gentleman did as far as a combine performance goes. So who am I talking about? I'll tell you what, we'll get to that in just a little bit. But first, folks, we start with the news of the weekend. And I promise, folks, I'm not going to spend a lot of time on this, simply because I just don't believe it's worthy of a whole lot of in-depth analysis.

And I know you all know what I'm talking about. After last Thursday's rollercoaster ride that was the latest chapter in the will-he-or-won't-he Tom Brady saga, the speculation machine was kicked into a whole new gear on Saturday. And I never make assumptions here, so for the benefit of those of you

that don't know what I'm talking about, on Saturday, Tom Brady, Julian Edelman, Jimmy Fallon, yeah folks, that Jimmy Fallon, hosted the Tonight Show. And if you were surprised by that, don't worry, folks, I was too. And that's definitely not a knock to Jimmy. I like Jimmy. I just wouldn't have guessed him as the third man in that trio.

I would have probably guessed someone like Damon or Affleck or Wahlberg. But whatever, folks, you're not listening to the Locked On Patriots podcast today to hear my thoughts on pop culture. Back to the relevant part. Brady, Edelman, and Fallon were all seated courtside at Saturday's college basketball game between the Syracuse Orange and the UNC Tar Heels. And at first glance, it really didn't look like anything major, just three friends hanging out watching a college basketball game. And as you might have predicted, the ESPN cameras picked up on this pretty quickly. And very shortly thereafter, so did social media.

Now of course, folks, we can all assume that social media took this in stride, didn't make a big deal out of it, and let these guys just have their privacy. Survey says, Wrong. It became quite the trending topic on social media fairly quickly. And it became even more popular when the camera panned to Brady Edelman and Fallon sitting there, looking pretty aware that the camera was filming them. And at that point, Julian looked at the camera, started chuckling and grinning a little bit,

and uttered the phrase, he's coming back, he's coming back. And if you watch the video, Tom really looked to take it in stride. I've seen some people say he looked at him with a shocked look on his face. He actually didn't. He looked frustrated. In fact, the way I would describe the look that Tom gave Julian was sort of that look that a father gives his son when the son just said something he wasn't supposed to say. Yeah, folks, if you've been on the receiving end of that look, you know exactly what I'm talking about. It's that, what are you doing? You're not supposed

to say that. Shut up. Not one more word type of look. And at first, especially in Patriots Nation, this was taken as a great sign. Tom and Julian are hanging out together. Why would they be doing that unless they plan on playing together in 2020? Julian just said Tom's coming back. Things were looking good for about a minute and a half and then another video surfaced and this one folks was a tighter shot of just Tom and Julian sitting there again Edelman was grinning looks into the camera and says he's coming back He's coming back and Tom's giving him that shut up Jules look But this time the camera shot lasted

a little bit longer. This time the camera picked up Tom shaking his head, looking away from Julian, and then he said something. And folks, if you thought the first video set off a social media frenzy, this one cannonballed it into a whole new level of absurdity. For starters, I definitely learned something new. I had no idea how many trained speech pathologists and lip readers there were out there in social media.

Prior to Saturday, I had always assumed this was a very rare skill, a skill that took many years of education and practice to master. But obviously I was wrong, because within mere seconds of this video making the rounds on social media, everybody seemed to have an opinion on what Tom said. And you know what's really amazing folks? Those that were certain that they knew exactly what Tom Brady just said had an opinion that was directly linked to how they feel about the New England Patriots. Those that can't wait to watch the Patriots fail were convinced he said he's not, meaning

that he wasn't coming back to New England. Did you see that? Tom Brady just said he wasn't going back, followed by about 10 or 12 rolling on the floor laughing smiley face emojis. Which, by the way, folks, I like emojis, but one'll do it. Anything more than that, attention-seeking overkill. But I digress. The members of Patriots Nation seem to have a little bit of a different interpretation. They believe that Tom was saying,

this guy, meaning this guy, Julian, I can't take him anywhere. He never shuts up. But this set off a storm of speculation that hasn't settled since Saturday afternoon. In fact, folks, as you're listening to this podcast right now, it's being tweeted about on Twitter. It's being discussed on Instagram. It's being dissected on radio stations all throughout the country. As Greg Bedard of the Boston Sports Journal said on Saturday,

this will be the equivalent of the New England Zapruder film for the next week in Foxborough. So what did Tom say? And folks, I promise this is going to be my last movie quote of the day, but as Tommy Lee Jones said in The Fugitive, I don't care. And neither should you. Here on Locked On Patriots, I have been very vocal from the start about my feelings on Tom Brady and the likelihood that he returns to New England for 2020. My position remains as strong today as the day I first said it before the season ended.

I fully expect Tom Brady to be the starting quarterback of your New England Patriots when the 2020 NFL season kicks off. Now, some may roll their eyes and suggest that I'm making that decision with my heart and not my head, and that my fandom is getting in the way. I don't believe that. If you've listened to Locked On Patriots in the past, you know that my'm making that decision with my heart and not my head, and that my fandom is getting in the way. I don't believe that. If you've listened to Locked On Patriots in the past, you know that my belief is that Tom Brady and the New England Patriots are both all about winning. It's the common bond that binds them.

And at the end of the day, all the Andy Dalton to the Patriots trade rumors, or the rumors that Tom is signing with the Tennessee Titans because he was FaceTiming Mike Vrabel at that UNC Syracuse game. Which, just as a quick aside, folks, Tom and Mike are very close friends. They interact socially. In fact, you can find pictures of them hanging out together last year at Churchill Downs at the Kentucky Derby, when they were actually in the same place at the same time. Not FaceTiming.

But, again, let the social media sleuths have their fun. Because what's ultimately going to decide Tom Brady's fate in New England, folks, is not going to be comments that he made at a basketball game, or the educated guesses of journalists, or where he's buying a house, or what color sweatshirt he's wearing. It's going to come down to one simple point. What is ultimately in the best interest for either side? For the Patriots, it's all about putting the most competitive team on the field each and every season to give them a chance to win at a maximum level. As Tommy Curran of NBC Sports Boston eloquently put it in his Sunday column, and folks, if you haven't checked this out yet, definitely read it. In my opinion, along with Jeff Howe's piece in The Athletic

Boston last week, they are truly the definitive words on the subject. But Curran's point is that the Patriots absolutely realize, with very little doubt, that their best chance to win in 2020 is going to be with Tom Brady taking snaps under center. But the Patriots have a number of years and a dollar amount in mind. And while they might be willing to make some concessions when it comes to negotiating, they're not going to stray too far from that. And that's where Tom Brady comes in. As I've said before, what's most important to Tom Brady is a level of commitment that

he feels from the Patriots. That commitment is going to come from two sources. Primarily, it's going to be about the number of years that the Patriots are willing to offer Tom. One year is not going to get this done. Two years, I think he signs on the dotted line without hesitation. But do the Patriots feel that way? I guess we'll find that out in due time, folks.

But the other manner in which the Patriots can show their commitment to Tom is by bringing in additional players that are going to allow him to do his job a little bit easier at age 43 and 44 as we approach that magic number of 45. And surprisingly, folks, that doesn't exactly mean a ton of offensive skill position weapons. They don't need three receivers and two tight ends. As a matter of fact fact one player at each position might be more than enough to be able to get this done but it will also include getting some help on the offensive line and we'll discuss the offensive line in just a moment folks i promise

that but when it comes to tom brady and the new england patriots coming together fear not they're going to do it it's not in either one of their best interests to not meet with each other and try to find a common ground. You heard Alex Barth say that here on Locked On Patriots on Friday. This was a team that had a free agent meeting with Trent Brown, knowing full well that they were not going to be able to sign him. They still did their diligence and had to see for themselves. If anyone thinks for one minute that the New England Patriots are going to let the most important piece of their franchise for the last 20 years simply walk out the door without so much as a dialogue, well then you haven't been paying attention to this team. From a Brady standpoint, this is the

only organization, professional organization, that he's ever played for in his life. In his own words, the relationship between the two sides are still quote-unquote pretty good. So even if Tom is determined to test free agency or determined to go elsewhere, he's still going to do his due diligence of meeting with the Patriots. Once those meetings take place, anything can happen. Grievances can be aired and concerns can be ironed out. That's why trying to read Tom's lips from his comments on Saturday mean absolutely nothing. If he truly said this guy, well then those comments are really

insignificant. But even if he did say he's not, in a moment of frustration, how many times have all of us said something we don't mean? I'm willing to bet it's more often than any of us want to admit. But again, that's not what the social media detective agency would like us to believe. So Pats fans, until both sides come together,

you can expect a lot more of this kind of talk, but I wouldn't pay too close attention. If there should be news that comes from the Patriots beat, from guys that are connected to this team, whose job it is to cover them on a daily basis, I would be the first to say that it's safe to assume that their information carries a bit more weight than those at a national level without a direct connection to either the Brady camp or the team, and certainly a lot more than a social media sleuth that's only looking for clicks and likes. Until both sides finally do come together,

we're all left to play the waiting game just like everybody else. But again, Patriots fans, Brady's blurting out at a basketball game was the most high-profile story, but it wasn't the biggest story in Patriots Nation over the weekend. That was the combine, and in just a moment, I will be giving you my insight on who impressed me, who underwhelmed, and who are the best fits for your New England Patriots heading into the 2020 NFL season. Patriots fans, once again, I hope you didn't spend your entire weekend worried about trying to read lips, because there was a lot of action

going on within the NFL realm, and that means the NFL Draft Combine. As I always state in my opening, each and every day last week, I tried to bring you the latest news, notes, and analysis from Indianapolis. And again, a very special thanks to my good buddy Mark Schofield, who joined me from Indy last week on Wednesday. Mark helped to provide us all with some on-site insight from the comings and goings in Combine Week. It was tough not being able to make the trip this year. Hopefully next year I'll get out to Indy.

But that's a conversation for another day. We're in the here and now and all about the prospectus for the 2020 draft class when it comes to your New England Patriots. On Friday, I briefly touched on the workouts that happened on Thursday night when it came to the quarterbacks, wide receivers, and the tight ends. Once again, my position on the tight ends has not changed the two that stood out to me above all the rest Colcomet of Notre Dame and Adam Trotman of Dayton if the Patriots are looking for the type of player that's going to be able to come in and have an immediate

impact in the passing game as well as the blocking game to me these are the only names that should be on their radar that's not to say that they can't get a good amount of value at the position if they draft in later rounds and look for a prospect. But to me, those two guys are top of the list when it comes to players that could come into Foxborough and help the team right from the get-go. As far as the wide receivers go, I'm still a big fan of Justin Jefferson. Evan Lazar of CLNS Media, Bernd Buchmasser of Pat's Pulpit, including Mark Schofield of Pat's Pulpit as well, all had glowing things to say about Justin Jefferson and what's not to like.

The route running, the intelligence, the sure-handedness, and now even the speed. With his performance at the Combine, Jefferson might have just ensured that he's a first day, first round selection, which means that the Patriots, if they wanted him, might have to use that number 23 pick to get him. But as much as I love Justin Jefferson, folks, I still think the Patriots are better off going in another direction. And if you've listened to the Locked On Patriots podcast over the past few weeks, you know where my mind is headed.

I'll get to the O-line in a minute. But when it comes to the quarterback position, I agree with Alex Barth's assessment on Friday. Because I believe that Tom Brady will be back, I don't necessarily believe that the Patriots will be looking for quarterback in an early part of the draft, namely that number 23 pick. Unless a player like Jordan Love or a Tua Tungvaloa magically falls to number 23, I don't believe this is where the Patriots will spend their early draft capital. Of course, in the chance that Tom doesn't come back, all bets are off.

But here are the two names that I think might make a good fit in New England. One of them is a name that you heard a lot last week, and I want to thank Alex and I want to thank Mark Schofield for raising my spidey sense when it comes to Hawaii's Cole McDonald. Much like Mark said on Wednesday and Alex reiterated on Friday, the reason why I love McDonald as a fit in New England so much is because of the tremendous upside that he can bring to New England and also the way in which he can diversify the position when it comes to how the Patriots have played quarterback. If Tom Brady does indeed leave New England, this is not a pick that's going to come in and win you games right off the bat.

There's still a lot of question marks on McDonald. To me, he is the true definition of the word project. But he really has an ideal size for the position. He's got a big frame, strong arm, and what I really like in what I've seen from McDonald is that he makes the most of his size by pushing the ball downfield, and he does that with distance and velocity. He seems to have a good sense of pressure, and he knows when to bail on the pocket. His performance in the drill section in the combine really helped to improve his draft

stock. He ran the 40-yard dash in 4.58 seconds. For a quarterback, that's impressive. He completed the three-cone drill in 7.25. So without question, he's an athletic guy. If there's something that does worry me a little bit about McDonald, and this is actually something that is universally praised for, it's that he's a fearless thrower, and he's going to take chances.

Now, a lot of times those chances are necessary to win football games, but sometimes they can lead you into problems. McDonald is used to playing in a rhythm offense in Hawaii, and when he tries to challenge coverages, things can go off rhythm a little bit, and that can lead to a concerning drop in accuracy. And if there's one mark against Cole McDonald that most can universally agree on, it's his accuracy issues. Doing my additional homework on Cole this weekend, I discovered via the draftnetwork.com

and our good friend Trevor Sykema, who we're going to get to in Mock Draft Monday in a moment here on Locked On Patriots, indicated that McDonald's throwing motion is long and inefficient. It's not really consistent with his release point, and this can lead to inaccuracy issues. I completely agree with this. Some of the problems that he had connecting with his wide receivers in Hawaii this year was because the timing was off. And any type of glitch or impediment in your throwing motion is going to throw timing off. For the sake of this argument, we'll take Tom Brady out of the equation. Josh McDaniels is one

of the best in terms of quarterback development when it comes to getting receivers and quarterbacks on the same page. And before you start yelling at the device on which you're listening to me right now, I'm not talking about 2019. There were a lot of factors that prevented Tom Brady from getting the type of synergy he needed with his receivers. I'm talking about a body There were a lot of factors that prevented Tom Brady from getting the type of synergy he needed with his receivers. I'm talking about a body of work here, folks. And I think McDaniels could work wonders with this kid. That's why I agree with guys like Mark Schofield and Alex Barth that Cole McDonald might be

a great fit here in New England as a mid-to-late round pick. Now, on the flip side, one of the names that I was pretty high on going into the Combine and had a little bit of a change of heart as the week wore on was Georgia's Jake Fromm. Now Fromm was one of the guys that met with the Patriots at the Combine, but I didn't think he had a particularly encouraging workout on Thursday. He's not really as gifted of a thrower as the other quarterbacks in this year's draft, but he has a very high football IQ, which is why I thought he might be a good fit in New England. His body of work at Georgia shows that he tends to be a pretty good decision maker.

And if he were to be the guy to succeed Tom Brady in New England, being a very good decision maker is a good place to start. But at the combine, he seemed to have some problems with deep passes. This is definitely something that I noticed, and I thought Bernd Buchmasser of Pat's Pulpit put this perfectly in saying that his receivers had to either slow down or he was overthrowing them. Either way, the accuracy beyond the short and intermediate range looked off. Now again, these are problems that can be corrected, and I'm definitely not saying that I've soured completely on Jake Fromm, but judging by the combine performance of both McDonald and

Fromm, two guys I had a quote sharp eye on, I would rank McDonald higher than Fromm in terms of being a fit in New England on my personal draft board. And before I take my leave of the quarterback position and get on to the other positions that were worked out over the weekend, I wanted to take just a moment to bring your attention to a player that is kind of being universally panned right now. And I think that actually might be a mistake. And that's Oregon State's Jake Lutton. Now I know some of you might be ready to laugh me off the face of the earth, but hear me

out when it comes to Lutton. At 6'7", he has tremendous size and strength for the position. But even with that kind of size, his mobility is pretty solid for such a big guy. He has a pretty good feel for when to climb into the pocket and when to break the pocket. Lutton is the type of player that can maximize his protection, and with the way the Patriots employ their schemes on the offensive line, that's an important part of succeeding in New England. At Oregon State, you rarely saw him pressured or sacked, and a lot of that is because he is so

aware of his protection. From a mechanic standpoint, that's where Lutton starts to have his problems, and it's for that reason that you hear people describe him as being kind of lunky. For a guy of his size, his arm strength tends to be a little bit underwhelming. In fact, Benjamin Salik of thedraftnetwork.com described Lutton's arm strength as average at best, and that he has to do a lot of extra work to get a little more strength on those intermediate rope throws or deep bombs. In Salik's analysis, Lutton's problems with his velocity tend to stem from poor mechanics in his lower torso. This is something that shows pretty prominently when you watch Lutton throw the football. He does a pretty average job of using

his hips, and he'll lock his front knee at times, which again, according to Salek, only tends to make things worse. And it's true, you can see it. When you read the scouting report on Jake Lutton, and then you watch film on him, or watch him do some live throwing, you can definitely see that. And if we're being honest, I think that's what makes people kind of squeamish when it comes to Jake Lutton as a prospect for their team, especially for the Patriots. Here's why I think it's worth the Patriots keeping an eye on him. I really like the fact that Lutton shows the ability to keep a cool head. Sometimes possessing all the physical attributes in the world can't prepare you for being able to slow down and take a level-headed approach to the game. I mentioned earlier that this is not a guy that's prone to

sacks or to pressures. That's because he plays the game with a cerebral style. And for a guy his size, that's a good attribute to have. If he's going to be a solid quarterback in this league, he's going to have to develop his lower body mechanics. If he doesn't, quite frankly, folks, he's never going to be a starter in this league. But I think he can be. And if his draft stock falls to the point where the Patriots feel that they might be able to take a flyer on him in late rounds, I for one wouldn't be shocked to see the Patriots take a chance on Jake Lutton.

Surprised? Yes. Shocked? No. But folks, the 2020 NFL Draft Combine was so much more than just Thursday night's workouts of the skilled position players. While I definitely don't count anything out, the Patriots look pretty set at running back right now.

I for one would be very surprised to see the Patriots utilize early draft capital when it comes to the running back position. So even though the running backs put on a great show of athleticism on Friday night, I didn't quite have the sharp eye I should on that position. As I start sharing my mock drafts with you here on Locked On Patriots, and I expect you to share yours with me as well, I'll take a little bit of a closer look at the running back position. Offensive line?

They were on display on Friday. Again, folks, I'm going to get back to the O-line in just a minute. But Saturday and Sunday was all about the defense. And even though the Patriots' defense was their bright spot in 2019, they still may be looking to use some draft capital to beef up that defense in 2020. Saturday was the showcase of the linemen and the linebackers. And as much as I hate to admit it, folks, the Patriots may be in the market for help

at both positions, especially when you look at the fact that guys like Danny Shelton, Jamie Collins, Kyle Van Noyer, all free agents. And one player at each of those positions really stood out to me on Saturday. One of them is a player that I think the Patriots can snag in a later round, meaning that that number 23 pick could be better put to good use. Yeah, I know, folks. I'm alluding to that a lot today. I promise you I will get there shortly.

But the player I'm referring to right now is defensive tackle Khalil Davis out of Nebraska. This is my third shout-out of the day to Byrne Buchmasser of Pat's Pulpit, and there's a reason for that. It's because his coverage was that good. Byrne, much-deserved kudos on this stat, and I love this. Aaron Donald, Ed Oliver, what do they have in common with Khalil Davis? Well, all three of them reached an athleticism score of 99 as calculated by NFL's NextGenStats for their combine workouts. That's pretty impressive company. Now, Davis didn't participate

in the three-cone or the short shuttle drills, and that may not endear him too well to Bill Belichick. We all know how much Bill loves the three-cone drill. But what impressed me the most is that he was able to run the 40-yard dash in an impressive 4.76 seconds. Keep in mind, Khalil Davis is 6'1", 308 pounds. For a guy his size, that's pretty quick. He also registered 32 reps on the bench press, and that combination of size and speed could be a very welcome addition to the Patriots' defensive line, especially the middle. Now, as impressive as his 40 time was, because Davis didn't participate in the cone drill or the short shuttle, I don't necessarily know how much he improved his draft stock. To me, that's something that the Patriots should keep an eye on, especially in mid-to-late

rounds. I came away from Saturday's workout looking at Davis as a project with a lot of potential upside. And speaking of upside, a player that has a lot of it, especially after Saturday's workouts, is linebacker Malik Harrison of Ohio State. Now, with the exception of cornerback folks, linebacker is generally considered to be the gem of Bill Belichick's eye. And the two draft gems at this position in the 2020 NFL draft are Isaiah Simmons out

of Clemson and Patrick Queen out of LSU. And judging by Saturday, little has changed. Those guys are the top of the heap. But they're also very likely to be off the board when the Patriots go to pick at number 23. Now right now, Harrison is projecting as being a day two selection. Keep in mind that the Patriots don't exactly have a second day selection right now. They don't currently own a second round pick. So unless his draft stock falls between now and then,

the Patriots would likely need to trade in order to get Harrison in the fold for 2020. At first glance, Harrison is the prototypical Patriot. He's a very physical player, and he had a very strong workout on Saturday across the board. He ran the 40 in 4.66 seconds, and that's pretty impressive, considering he measured in at 6'2.5 and 246 pounds. But where Harrison really jumped off the page were his agility numbers. He reached 36 inches in the vertical jump and 122 inches in the broad jump, and he finished the three-cone drill in an outstanding 6.83.

Again, folks, he's a linebacker that did very well in the cone drill. You know, somewhere, Bill Belichick is smiling, and he doesn't do a whole lot of that, folks. But you know he has to be loving this. Now, something to keep in mind here, folks, when it comes to Harrison. He still does require some development, especially when it comes to his pass defense. But he's got good foundational skills there. And he's definitely the type of player that can come in and help on early downs right away.

I believe Harrison to be one of the better off-the-ball linebackers in this year's draft. And if the Patriots are intent on using draft capital to upgrade at that position, then Harrison might provide them the best value to do so. Keep a sharp eye on this one, folks. He could be a potential draft-day trade target for the Pats. But last and certainly not least, folks, I've been dancing around the subject of the offensive line all day long, and that's because I still feel that this is the position that the Patriots will target

with the number 23 pick in the 2020 draft. And yes, that is assuming they hold on to it, but I still feel that the player that provides the most upside, ability for immediate impact, and ideal fit in Foxborough is an offensive lineman. And it just so happens that the author of this week's Mock Draft 6.0 for the draftnetwork.com's Mock Draft Monday here on the Locked On Patriots podcast agrees with me. Okay, folks, I know. It's probably more like I agree with him. And he is Trevor Sykema of the draftnetwork.com. And I fully defer to him being the superior mind

when it comes to the NFL draft. But in this week's Mock Draft for Mock Draft Monday, he has the Patriots holding on to the number 23 pick. And his choice is a familiar name to all of you who have been listening to Locked On Patriots for the past few weeks. Because with the 23rd pick in the Mock Draft 6.0, courtesy of the DraftNetwork.com, your New England Patriots select offensive lineman Cesar Ruiz from the University of Michigan.

And here on the Locked On Patriots podcast, you heard it first from my good green buddy, Thomas Murphy. And from that point, the love for Ruiz only began to grow. Evan Lazar, Mark Schofield, Podvader himself, Jay Soderbergh, all agree that Ruiz is the ideal Patriot. His size, his speed, his footwork can all be seen in the numerous pieces of scouting film that's available on him. He's athletic, he's tenacious, and he has the combination of skills

and technique to fit into a variety of blocking schemes on the next level. This is something that really endears him to the New England Patriots. The offensive line schemes that the team employs can be a bit complex at times. It requires the right blend of speed and smarts. Ruiz has it without question. NFL.com describes him as being someone that wins early with initial quickness and fast hands into first contact. Ruiz works to convert early advantages into wins. And again, that's something that translates into success when blocking both in the passing game and in the running game.

He's consistent in securing down blocks and has the athletic traits to really become a second level factor. He does list as a center, but he's extremely versatile. And he has the ability to switch to a guard position if need be. And with New England, he would be needed as a guard. Because by all accounts, Joe Tooney is likely gone from New England. If there was any question about whether or not Ruiz was going to be able to live up to his pre-combine hype, he settled that on Friday.

And he excelled virtually across the board at the combine. His numbers? Very good, folks. He ran the 40-yard dash in 5.08 seconds, which is tied for 9th out of 40 participants, so that's a pretty good score for an offensive lineman. His time in the 10-yard split was 1.77 seconds, that was 10th out of 40 participants, and in the shuttle run, he completed it in 4.64 seconds. That means he finished 4th out of 40 participants, and in the shuttle run, he completed it in 4.64 seconds. That means he finished 4th out of 26 participants.

In fact, the only drill where he wasn't among the top quartile of participants was actually the 3 cone at 7.91 seconds. But he still finished 13th out of 25, which is more than respectable. Strength and agility? Ruiz checked all the boxes. 28 in the bench press, which was 6th out of 39 participants. 33 inches in the vertical leap, which tied for 5th out of 36 who participated, and in the broad jump, he was 9 feet 5 inches, which was good for 6th out of 35 participants. So any questions about Ruiz's physical acumen were definitely answered at the combine. In case you haven't figured it out, I definitely agree with Trevor's selection for the New England Patriots at number 23.

In fact, if it was my job to make a selection for the New England Patriots with the 23rd pick, Cesar Ruiz would be my guy as well. He was the one that I was watching most closely this weekend, and coincidentally, he just happened to be the topic of our Mock Draft Monday here today on Locked On Patriots. Not gonna lie to you folks, I was pretty happy to see that. But I still believe that Ruiz would be the ideal fit here in New England for a lot of reasons, not just the physical. It's about his attitude and his determination. Last Wednesday here on Locked On Patriots, you and I both heard Mark Schofield detail the tragedy and the adversity that the

Ruiz family had to overcome. When Cesar was only eight years old, his father, who was helping a stranger fix a tire on the side of the road in Camden, New Jersey, was struck by a car and killed instantly. As I was listening to Mark tell this story, it touched me deeply. Those of you that have listened to Lockdown Patriots before know that I lost my dad suddenly and without warning. Albeit, I was much older than Cesar at the time, and I'm not equating the two tragedies in any stretch of the imagination. But I can understand how it feels to have your father healthy, very much a part of your life one minute, and seemingly in the blink of an eye, he's gone.

I identified with this, especially when he talked about wearing a chain with a dog tag that had a laser image of a photograph that featured his father giving him a haircut when Ruiz was just a toddler. Each day, I wear a chain with a cross that belonged to my dad. It's a piece of him that's always with me. And by his own admission, Cesar wears his dog tag for the same reason I wear my cross. It's a constant way to honor the memory of his father, while serving as a motivation to be the best possible person that he can be. Despite the adversity, he still continues to play for his dad. His father lives through him, and he plays to make his mother proud.

It was his mother's strength and determination that motivated him to be a professional football player. And as good as he is on the field, and as much as a Patriots fan, I would love to see him come to New England. My fandom of Cesar Ruiz goes much deeper than that. I can identify of that daily motivation of trying to make a parent proud that you can't hug, embrace, and converse with every day. It's so hard to do that. But continuing to do that gives you another level of strength that unless you've actually gone through it, you just can't understand it. I see that strength now in the way Ruiz plays the game, in the way he speaks about his family, even in the way he speaks about himself. And regardless of where he's drafted, I truly wish Cesar Ruiz the utmost of

health, happiness, and success in what I hope to be a very long and prosperous NFL career for him. If by chance it just so happens to be in Foxborough, then it'll make a legion of Patriots fans very happy, including yours truly. Folks, I hope that you've enjoyed this Mock Draft Monday and Combine Recap episode of the Locked On Patriots Podcast. I will be back tomorrow to bring you the latest news, notes, and analysis from Foxborough, and I will be joined by a special guest to help me break down the latest trending topics in Patriots Nation. As always, please be sure to join me each and every day here on the Locked On Patriots

podcast. Subscribe and download via your preferred podcast provider. Once again, I'm Mike DeBate, and I thank you so much for listening today, and most of all for staying locked in to Locked On Patriots. Have a great day, everyone.