Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Dynamic Duo: Patriots’ A.J. Brown-Drake Maye Form Perfect Football Union

Starting point is 00:00:00 The happiest quarterback in football right now is Drake May. May and A.J. Brown are a perfect football fit and should form a dynamic duo. This is Locked-on Patriots. You are Locked-on Patriots. Your daily New England Patriots podcast. Part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. What's happening? I am your host, Nick Cattels. On today's episode, A.J. Brown speaks for the first time as a Patriot. and Morgan Moses leaves OTAs with an injury.

Starting point is 00:00:38 In the second segment, we objectively assess the clear risks of trading for A.J. Brown after last season in Philly. But first, Drake May should be downright ecstatic. The number one priority for this organization, the last two off seasons, has been pretty simple to me. It is support your franchise quarterback. Support Drake May. And A.J. Brown, when you look at supporting your quarterback, is a. big time get. Drake May will be a better quarterback in the short and long term because of

Starting point is 00:01:12 AJ Brown's edition. Let's start here. A.J. Brown, legitimate boundary alpha who can make plays, something the Patriots did not find consistently. Yes, Kishon Booty could make some plays. Defondig's made a couple of plays, but we are talking about play in, play out, week in, week out, a dangerous, a dangerous boundary receiver that defenses have to prepare for. We're talking about a wide receiver that is not just good when it comes to contested catches. We're talking about a wide receiver that is elite when it comes to contested catches. You know how many drops A.J. Brown had last year in the regular season? That would be one.

Starting point is 00:01:54 One single solitary drop the entire year. He's a big target, literally six foot one, 226 pounds, 78 inch wingspan, which is above average if you're wondering for a wide receiver. And we all know, Drake May loves big targets. Mack Hollins last year, Hunter Henry, since he's been starting for the Patriots, right? Drake May loves big receivers. That's why you have somewhat of a problem with Pop Douglas and Drake May consistently finding Pop, even though Pop gets. open a decent amount because Pop Douglas is not a big target. Drake May loves big targets. And at 6126, that's exactly what A.J. Brown is. Mike Garifolo of the NFL network, he mentioned over the past 24 hours

Starting point is 00:02:45 that Drake May, when you look at it, the type of routes that he was very productive throwing last year, the go route, post route, slant routes. Those are perfect fits for A.J. Brown. A.J. Brown historically kills the middle of the football field. This is from November 13, 2025 Liberty Line. A.J. Brown is one of the most dominant, in-breaking route runners on the planet. He is a slant monster, a dig machine. In Drake, May, I've talked about this from day one with Drake. May loves throwing the football in the middle of the field.

Starting point is 00:03:24 He loves throwing to the intermediate areas. that is precisely where AJ Brown can eat. Yeah, he's a boundary guy. He can make plays down the field, which we'll get to. But he also absolutely dominates the middle of the football field within breaking routes. Josh McDaniels calls a ton of those. Drake May loves throwing the football to the middle of the field. You know what else is great about AJ Brown, his fit with this offense,

Starting point is 00:03:52 and why Drake May right now is the happiest quarterback in football? if you go back to 2025 and you could go back to 2024, you can go back for several years. One of the biggest issues with this Patriots offense is their lack of the ability to beat man coverage. Their wide receivers have not been consistently able to beat man coverage. Again, Brown not only historically kills the middle of the football field. Brown historically is great against man coverage. NFL researcher posted on Twitter regarding Drake May, A.J. Brown versus man coverage. May in 2025, this is per next-gen stats.

Starting point is 00:04:35 Against man coverage, Drake May threw for 1149 passing yards. That was fourth best in the NFL. Against man coverage, Drake May threw the third most touchdown passes in the league last year with 18. Meanwhile, A.J. Brown against man coverage since 2022, has the most catches in the entire league. 129. A.J. Brown against man coverage since 2022 has the most receiving yards in the NFL. 1970.

Starting point is 00:05:08 He has the fourth most touchdowns against man coverage since 2022, with 22 receiving touchdowns. Chad Graff from the athletic, he wrote about A.J. Brown in what he does against man coverage. Last year, this is last year, AJ Brown ranked eighth in the league in yards per route run against man coverage. That's from pro football focus among receivers with more than 15 targets against man. The season before that, in 2024,

Starting point is 00:05:43 AJ Brown was second in yards per route run against man coverage. In 2023, he was seventh. So consistently in the top 10 when it comes to yards per route run against man coverage, Evan Lazar, to follow that up, A.J. Brown versus man coverage, according to pro football focus, Brown's 338 receiving yards against man last season ranked 10th in the league. So this offense that has had all sorts of trouble against man coverage, they just landed one of the best wide receivers in the NFL. against man.

Starting point is 00:06:23 Let's dive deeper into the 2025 offense against man coverage. Chad Graff again from the athletic. He wrote last season, opposing defenses determined that man-to-man coverage was the best way to slow the Patriots offense. New England faced man coverage at the ninth highest rate in the league last season per true media. What's worse? Teams pivoted to man coverage after scouting the Patriots.

Starting point is 00:06:49 Through the first eight weeks of the season, the Patriots faced man coverage at the 17th highest rate. Again, first eight weeks of the season, Patriots faced man coverage at the 17th highest rate. After teams had studied the offense through eight weeks, the Patriots faced man coverage at the third highest rate. Defenses watched the film and said, this team doesn't have the receivers to beat man coverage. They just don't. going to play more men against them. If you beat man coverage, you start to dictate coverage. If you beat man coverage, you start to see more too high shells, the two safeties, right? Way back, GTFB. And when you have those two safeties, when you force the too high safety,

Starting point is 00:07:39 look, that opens up the underneath. It opens up the underneath for somebody like Romeo Dobbs who can go to work. It opens up the underneath so you can run the football against two high safeties. This is why it's critical to have an element like A.J. Brown in your offense. How about play action? That's another aspect of this offense where Drake May, A.J. Brown, great fit. Evan Lazard on A.J. Brown and play action. In 2025, Brown only had 11 catches for 134 receiving yards off play action. Philly only ran play action on 14% of their dropbacks. But when you go back to AJ Brown's final season with Tennessee, Brown ranked ninth in the NFL with over 400 receiving yards off play action on 22 catches.

Starting point is 00:08:33 Lord Reeves on Twitter, Rich Rebar from Sharp Analysis, he posted, AJ Brown had 19 total targets with under-center quarterback play over the past four years. For his career, Brown has posted 4.3.4.4.5. three, five yards per route run with his quarterback under center. It's an unbelievable number. Drake May was 10th and under center rate on pass plays in 2025. The Patriots love to have Drake May under center. They love calling play action when they feel like they can.

Starting point is 00:09:10 And now you have a receiver who has done very well in the play action pass game and has done very well with this quarterback under center. You want to talk about fit, that's fit. How about Red Zone? A.J. Brown in the Red Zone, 11 touchdowns in 2020 and 2022. He has had seven touchdowns, three consecutive years. When you look at it, Chad Graff noted last season, New England's offense, struggled inside the 20.

Starting point is 00:09:43 They were 24th in scoring percentage in the Red Zone, 17th in touchdown percentage. The Eagles ranked first in touchdown percentage, with A.J. Brown as part of that offense. Brown has had 10 touchdowns in his last 18 games. You need help in the red zone. A.J. Brown can help you in the red zone. These are tangible football. Facts, stats, analysis.

Starting point is 00:10:11 A.J. Brown is a big target. Perfect for Drake May. A.J. Brown is a legitimate boundary alpha who can make plays elite contested catch guy. Perfect for Drake May. He historically kills the middle of the football field. Perfect for Drake May. Historically great against man coverage. Much needed for this offense and this quarterback.

Starting point is 00:10:37 He is really good in play action, really good with his quarterback under center. Drake May does good with play action and does well. And you saw the play rate go up last year under center with Drake May. This is why I think to say perfect union. A perfect football union, a marriage of the styles, a marriage of the strengths. Not to mention A.J. Brown's swagger, confidence, leadership, and what that brings to the offense in and out of the huddle. You need somebody to make a big catch on third down. You need somebody to make a big catch in the red zone, even if he's blanketed by man coverage, AJ Brown is your guy.

Starting point is 00:11:21 The happiest quarterback in football right now is Drake May. On paper, May and Brown, perfect fit. However, not everything is sunshine and butterflies. We're going to dive into the possible risks of adding AJ Brown next. This is Lockdown Patriots, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network. Now the number one sports podcast network, your team every day. This episode is brought you by Indeed. Filling an open position shouldn't feel like a shot in the dark.

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Starting point is 00:12:56 I would have pulled the trigger, but that doesn't mean this deal is a home run or a no-brainer. There are risks that come along with acquiring A.J. Brown. We're going to dive into those in just a minute. 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. Do it right now. Start your seven day free trial and get closer to your team without the interruptions. Click the link in the show notes or go to lockdown patriots.

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Starting point is 00:13:48 We continue to march towards that goal. Again, I appreciate every single one of you for joining us, watching, listening, all the good stuff. Check out my guy, Tom. Greetings from Vienna, Austria to all Patriots fans. Hashtag Go Patz. Thank you, Tom. I appreciate the comment. I want to see your comments.

Starting point is 00:14:08 All right. So I love the addition of Brown. I love the addition of Brown. This makes the offense theoretically complete, which we'll get to at some point this week or next week. But there are risks with this move. Now, I'm here to tell you, as much as I love A.J. Brown,

Starting point is 00:14:26 and as much as I waxed poetic in the first segment, of this live stream about the perfect football union between Brown and May, AJ Brown, even though I think could be a top 15 receiver this upcoming year, he's not the same guy. He's not the same guy. I don't expect Brown to be a top five, top six, top eight receiver. I think he's closer to 15 than he is, you know, top eight or top 10. The decline in receiving yards is obvious.

Starting point is 00:14:58 In 2022, he had 1,496 yards. In 2023, it went from 1496 to 1456. In 2024, it went from 1456 to 1,079. And then last year, it went from 1,079 to 1,03. Now, some of this, I think, could be explained when you watch the Eagles offense from last year. When you watch that quarterback, that is something else we're going to discuss. at some point, whether it's this week or next. But when you look at the statistics, when you look at the production,

Starting point is 00:15:35 A.J. Brown's receiving yards have declined every single year since 2022. But not only that, his average yards per reception last season were the lowest of his NFL career at 12.9. You can go back to 13.8 in 2021, 13.7 in 2020.3. those were the lowest average yards per reception numbers of his career until last year. Again, he was sub 13 yards per catch at 12.9. And then we got to discuss the elephant in the room, the knee condition. Now, there have been differing reports.

Starting point is 00:16:14 Some people say the Rams weren't scared off by the knee. Other people report that the Rams were scared off by the knee. I know that Bert Breer of Sports Illustrated has talked about this debilitating knee condition, deteriorating. It's a ticking time bomb or whatever. And if the knee is that bad, it could cost him games. And it's obviously going to cost him impact. Matt Harmon of Yahoo Sports, who came up with the reception stuff. Here's what he wrote about his concerns on A.J. Brown.

Starting point is 00:16:50 There was a noticeable drop-off in Brown's ability to separate as a route runner. And he was not as impactful as a tackle breaker. in the open field. The lower body injuries are beginning to add up. He said prior to the season that he had to get his knee drained twice before each game in 2024. I think you would be burying your head deep in the sand to not at least raise an eyebrow at the fact that he had the least inspiring output of his career from an efficiency and eye test standpoint right after all of that, given his history of maladies. There it is, maladies. So, you know, Matt Harmon of reception, perception says, yeah, there should be some concerns. And he's not the same guy. The eye test tells you that. When you look at yards after the catch, something that A.J. Brown has been a beast, right? I mean, you look at Yack, and he's been one of the best receivers when it comes to making plays with the football in his hands pretty consistently.

Starting point is 00:17:52 But even the yards after the catch numbers, you know, that decline could be more about, you know, know, his health, then the game plan or the opportunity. When you look at yards after the catch in 2022, 579, which was sixth in the NFL. But then since 2022, when A.J. Brown was sixth in total yards after the catch, in 2023, he was 21st in the NFL with under 500 yards. In 2024, he was 49th in the NFL with 358. And then last year, he was 74th in the NFL in yards after the catch, 268 yards. So he's gone from 579 in 2022, 6th in the NFL, to down to 268-74th in the league by this past

Starting point is 00:18:41 season. Now, again, it could be some bad play calling, bad quarterback play. It could be him trying to understand his limitations. Greg Bedard of Boston Sports Journal wrote recently that last season, Brown achieved a max speed of at least 19 miles per hour and 13% of his games. He went over 18 miles per hour and 53%. If you look at the numbers in 2024, he reached the max speed of at least 19 miles per hour at 54% of his games. Last year was 13%. If you look at 2024, he reached a max speed of over 18 miles per hour, 77% of the time.

Starting point is 00:19:24 in 2024 last season, that dropped to 53%. So when you look at A.J. Brown, when you look at his acceleration on the field, it is declining. I don't know if you would consider a precipitous decline, but it is declining. But Dard also writes, Brown was 52nd among receivers with at least 40 receptions, an average separation at Target at 2.4. So you can look at some of these numbers. You can look at some of these analytics and say, A.J. Brown is declining. And I don't think that's breaking news. He is declining. It just, the question is, how much is that decline? How steep is it? How quickly is he going to inevitably fall off the cliff like every football player does at a certain point?

Starting point is 00:20:16 How long is that going to take? How much were the mitigating circumstances of Jalen Hertz, Kevin Petulow's offense and A.J. Brown's frustrations, how much did that play a role in the declining numbers last year? We'll have to wait and see. I mean, I know that's not the strongest opinion in the world, but we're going to have to see when A.J. Brown is out there first month of 2026, does he look like a different guy? Does he look like he has more juice? The Patriots obviously feel like he has more juice. They wouldn't have made the trade if they didn't. And, you know, that decline in play could lead to frustration, some of the eventual drama that played out.

Starting point is 00:21:01 So if that continues, it could be an issue. We still don't know about the contract. Does A.J. Brown want a revised contract? Does he want a restructured contract? Does he want an extension with new money? Not sure yet. I think we can all look at this deal. And I know a lot of people say the Patriots

Starting point is 00:21:20 going to make the AFC championship game. They're going to make the Super Bowl for this deal to be worth it. I don't agree with that. You know, football changes every year. Teams get better, teams get worse. Just because they made the Super Bowl last year doesn't mean they're going to make it this year. Doesn't mean that's an indictment on A.J. Brown. We've gone over the schedule and how tougher it is this year than last.

Starting point is 00:21:40 I think it's pretty simple. A.J. Brown has to give you two years of top production because you gave up that first round pick. He's got to give you two years of top production. And I think he can do that. I think A.J. Brown can give you top production for at least. two years. And to me, that would make this deal worth it because what that means for Drake May and what that means for this offense. Coming up, A.J. Brown speaks as a Patriot for the first time. And we've got updates from OTA practice, including one important Patriot that left

Starting point is 00:22:13 practice early. This is Lacton Patriots, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. The NBA finals are here. San Antonio, New York, every possession matters. And if you're looking to get even closer to the action. Fanduel has a great offer to get you started. Right now, new customers can bet just $5 and get $150 in bonus bets if your first bet wins. That's right. Turn five bucks into $150 in bonus bets just for getting started. You'll love using Fandul during the finals because everything you need is right there in one single solitary place. You can check the stats, the trends, and the matchups before making your picks, which makes the whole experience feel a lot more informed. Whether you're looking at player props or just following your favorite stars,

Starting point is 00:23:03 it adds another level of excitement to every game. And here's what's cool. It's a really easy app to navigate and it makes playoff basketball, including the finals, even more engaging from start to finish. So head to fandul.com to get started. Again, that website is fandul.com. Fandual, play your game. Don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe as you watch on YouTube. AJ Brown has officially spoken for the first time as a patriot, and it's clear that he's not only happy, but he's experiencing all the fields. And unfortunately, not everyone lasted until the end of Brown's first official practice

Starting point is 00:23:43 with team. We'll get to Morgan Moses as well in just a minute. Thanks for checking out the lockdown podcast network, now the number one sports podcast network. So AJ Brown passed his physical. That's a huge bit of news just because of what we discussed last segment. You look at A.J. Brown, he has passed his physical. Patriots say he's ready to go. He practiced on Tuesday. Now, he didn't practice a ton. Some reps, handful of reps, whatever, had one catch, nice little one-handed catch.

Starting point is 00:24:13 But Brown spoke for the first time. And we all know that A.J. Brown grew up a Patriots fan. And he's clearly excited about joining the Patriots. He did an interview with Maria Taylor on Carmelo Anthony's podcasting network. whatever it's called. I think it's 7 p.m. in Brooklyn. And Maria Taylor asked Brown how he felt about being traded to New England. He said, quote, dream come true. Truly a kid in a candy store. Last night was like Christmas.

Starting point is 00:24:41 I'm just excited. The kid in me is ecstatic right now. This is my team. This is my team since I was a kid, unquote. Taylor Kyle's posted. Brown caught himself not paying attention during practice at one point because he was taking in his new reality, saying to himself, damn, I'm a patriot.

Starting point is 00:25:02 Mike Reese posted. Quote, obviously I know this isn't heaven, but it's close to it, unquote. AJ Brown, I'm playing for his favorite team growing up. So he's ecstatic. He's thrilled.

Starting point is 00:25:17 Absolutely over the moon to be a New England patriot. And if that gives him any extra motivation, great. I think it's a fun story. I think it makes it easy to root for him. I think, you know, a lot of Patriots fans are just going to be in love with AJ Brown, not just because of what he does on the field, but because he grew up a Patriots fan. He said, you know, I'm going to wear number one and not number 11 because I have so much respect for Julian Edelman.

Starting point is 00:25:43 He mentioned that Edelman gave him the okay to wear number 11, but he said he was not going to do that out of respect to Edelman. So he's wearing number one now with the Patriots. He understands the privilege of playing for the Patriots. and in front of this fan base because he lived it as a fan growing up. Live through the Brady era. Live through the dynasties. He knows.

Starting point is 00:26:08 He has watched it. He's talked about being emotional when the Patriots lost Super Bowls. He's talked about the helmet catch. He's talked about crying his eyes out when he wasn't drafted by the Patriots when the Pats instead drafted Nikiel Harry. Brown also had an interesting anecdote about Drake May. Back to Taylor Kiles, who posted Brown on what? what excited him about playing with Drake May, quote, everything, unquote.

Starting point is 00:26:33 You think he's thrilled to play with Drake May after playing with Jalen Hertz the last couple of years? Brown added that May respectfully, took control of the room from Josh McDaniels earlier on Tuesday during a meeting, which quickly impressed the veteran-wide receiver. And this is why when we talk about Drake May, he matters. He matters in the recruitment. If you're a receiver, you want to play with the top quarterback. And obviously part of the alert to New England was not only being a Patriots fan for Brown, but the opportunity to play with Drake May.

Starting point is 00:27:05 And as far as taking over the meeting from Josh McDaniels, I think that's a fantastic example of Drake May growing up as a leader. And his growing status on this team as a leader, which is something that Mike Vrable consistently pointed to last year, he wanted to see May take steps. And he has. AJ Brown talking about his knee. He said no injury, no injury, I'm good. Now, of course, I don't expect him to say, damaged goods.

Starting point is 00:27:32 I'm in trouble. But he said there's no injury with the knee. He's good. He's good to go. Nothing holding him back again. Pass the physical was out there on the field today. My favorite quote was when AJ Brown was asked, how much do you have left?

Starting point is 00:27:49 And he said, quote, unquote, you'll see. I think we're going to see a very motor. I think he is incredibly motivated to prove that he is still a top 10 receiver. Meanwhile, Mike Vrable called A.J. Brown a premium player on Tuesday, which tells you how the Patriots feel. The Patriots are not buying into 2025's numbers. They're not necessarily buying into the film. Mike Vrable, this front office, they still feel like A.J. Brown is a premium player at a premium position. All right, OTA updates. Morgan, Moses left with a trainer. He did not return. I am not going to freak out every time the 35-year-old tackle

Starting point is 00:28:33 walks off the practice field, especially when it's a voluntary OTA. But we do stick a pin in this. Let's remember this because this is why you drafted Caleb Lomu. This is why it made sense to draft a tackle in the first round, even though you drafted a tackle in last year's first round. So Morgan Moses left practice with a trainer, did not return. We'll keep an eye on it. Caleb Lomu, Marcus Bryant, got a ton of snaps at right tackle. Drake May was really good at OTA practice. He finished 17 of 22, including 14 straight completed passes. Now, I will give you a disclaimer.

Starting point is 00:29:14 Drake May was facing a defense that was without their top four cornerbacks. Marcus Jones was not out there. Charles Woods was not out there. And of course, Carlton Davis and Christian Gonzalez, they have been absent from OTAs. So Drake May had a good day, but he was going against the backups of the backups, pretty much.

Starting point is 00:29:35 Ben Brown, Andrew Rupsich, both spent time at left guard one and center two during this practice. So we found out last week, Andrew Rupsich was replacing Elijah Veritucker, who still remains limited, coming back from the triceps injury. Last week, Andrew Ruppich. Upsich got a ton of snaps at left guard one.

Starting point is 00:29:57 Ben Brown more in the mix at Tuesday's practice. Jack Westover, we did a bonus podcast on Julian Hill getting hurt. You can check it out on the channel. We did that earlier on Tuesday. But Jack Westover, tight end two on Tuesday. I'm not against it. Give Eli Raarden some time. I don't expect Eli Raarden to get, you know,

Starting point is 00:30:18 tight end two snaps and reps right off the bat. He's got to prove himself. I just don't know what. Jack Westoper can do as far as blocking goes. He's not the greatest blocker. We saw that last year. I still think it's possible the Patriots go with one of the UDFAs we talked about on that bonus episode or maybe the free agent we talked about on that bonus episode.

Starting point is 00:30:40 Finally, a couple quick notes here. Housekeeping. I'll try that again. Mandatory minicamp was supposed to be June 15th to the 17th. Mandatory minicamp will now be June 9th and 10th. So it moves forward a week, back a week, however you look at it. But next week, mandatory minicamp. And joint practices, Mike Vrable announced joint practices,

Starting point is 00:31:04 one with the Colts on August 11th, day before my birthday. Hey, hey. And the Eagles, two joint practices, August 19th and August 20th. That wraps up this edition of Lockdown, Patriots. Thank you for making us your first listen for being an every day. Reach out to me on Twitter at Nick C Radio. Don't forget to throw a comment in on the YouTube channel. hit the like button and subscribe.

Starting point is 00:31:25 And if you never miss an episode, check out the Everydayer Club. Head to Lockdown Patriots.com or check the link and the show notes to learn even more. Have a great day and we will see you next time.

Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Dynamic Duo: Patriots’ A.J. Brown-Drake Maye Form Perfect Football Union

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