Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Forgotten: Who’s The New England Patriots’ Most Overlooked Difference Maker?

Starting point is 00:00:00 Christian Gonzalez has been a top storyline throughout this offseason, but it's his tag team partner who's been criminally overlooked. 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, the UDFA, who could be a roster revelation by making the interior

Starting point is 00:00:36 offensive line deeper by opening night. In the second segment, the Pat's running back room falls short according to the rest of the league. But first, the most overlooked Patriot heading into this camp. The Patriots roster, here's the good news, is much better than it's been the past couple of years. And because it's much better, it means it's much deeper. When you have a deeper roster, you have more people to talk about, more storylines, not just to mention the Christian Gonzalez contract situation in Drake May's development in the second year with Josh McDaniels and the A.J. Brown trade. Not everyone is going to get attention. Offensive guys usually get the love. Oh, we love talking offensive guys. We love talking fantasy football. Give me all the quarterback talk.

Starting point is 00:01:24 Give me all the wide receiver talk. Shoot, even give me some running back talk. Slide in a little tight end action as well. Everybody loves talking. talking offense. Who are you drafting in the first round of your fantasy football draft this summer, right? Quarterbacks first, especially if you have Drake May, they dominate the conversation. They're in the most critical position in all of sports. The wide receivers are sexy to talk about. So when you make a big trade like A.J. Brown, oh boy, lots of content there. So I was thinking about this over the past couple of days. Who is the most overlooked patriot this offseason?

Starting point is 00:02:08 Who do you think has been overlooked the most? Doesn't mean who you think is the most important. Doesn't mean who you think is the best player. Who do you think has been overlooked the most? And I came up with Carlton Davis. I think Carlton Davis has been overlooked all off season. Carlton Davis is a critical part to this. this secondary. And I would argue the secondary is the strength of this Patriots defense. I would also

Starting point is 00:02:38 argue that the Patriots secondary is one of the best in all of football. When they are healthy from top to bottom, you're talking about your top three corners. You're talking about Kevin Byard and Craig Woodson on the back end at safety. They have one of the best secondaries in all of football. and Carlton Davis is a critical piece to that secondary. Pro football focus in 2025. They graded Carlton Davis as the 34th best cornerback in football. That is out of 114 qualified corners. Now you might sit there and say, Nick, the 34th cornerback,

Starting point is 00:03:19 whoopity-doo, what's the big deal? Let's not go crazy. Let's not get the duckboats ready because Carlton Davis was graded as the 30. fourth best corner in football. And I would agree with you. I would think you're being a little bit overdramatic, but I would agree with you. Carlton Davis, again, he's not going to lead any type of conversation,

Starting point is 00:03:37 but he has not been mentioned hardly at all over the past several months. And when you are the 34th graded corner from pro football focus, and your job is to not be the first corner on the team, but the second corner on the team, that is a great, great. If you're stacking it up one through 32 and you say that each team has a top corner. And let's say hypothetically, each of those corners are graded in the top 32, then that would tell us, in turn, that Carlton Davis, according to pro football focus, was the second best number two corner in the entire NFL.

Starting point is 00:04:20 He did his job. He was very good last year. And people always talk about Christian Gonzalez. and the injury concerns, he missed the first few games last season. Carlton Davis is very important. If Christian Gonzalez goes down, you have somebody who can replace Christian Gonzalez, and even though he's not Christian Gonzalez, don't get that twisted, but you have somebody who can do a solid enough job where you say to yourself,

Starting point is 00:04:48 okay, it is not falling off a cliff. You can move Carlton Davis to cornerback one, Marcus Jones, a cornerback two, and then you're trying to shuffle that cornerback three. But Carlton Davis is almost as good as it gets for somebody to replace a number one corner on a roster. And that's to me, I don't know about you. That's pretty darn important in my world. Just think about it this way.

Starting point is 00:05:14 If you are wondering if I'm wrong on this, if you went to a bar on Friday night, and you started talking about this Patriots defense with your buddies, how many defensive players get named before you get to Carlton Davis? Obviously Christian Gonzalez gets named. Obviously Milton Williams gets named. I would be willing to bet that Christian Barmore gets named before Carlton Davis. I would even think you start talking about the edge position before you get to Carlton Davis. Is Harold Landry coming back?

Starting point is 00:05:50 What's going on with Gabe Accus? Is Draymont Jones better than Calvon Chase? is Elijah Ponder going to take that leap? I would also say that many of you would have the conversation about the linebacker position. Robert Spillane is it going to be healthy? Christian Ellis improved during last year. How good can he be this year? And who in the world is actually going to play behind those guys?

Starting point is 00:06:13 And if you don't talk about the linebackers, if you don't talk about the edges before you talk about Carlton Davis, I wouldn't be shocked if you talked about the safeties before you got to Carlton Davis. Kevin Byard. Interesting new signing. Was an all pro last year. A lot of people, including myself, excited about what Kevin Byard can bring to this program. Craig Woodson, many Patriots fans are hyped about Craig Woodson's second season. You might even talk about Marcus Jones before you get to Carlton Davis because Marcus Jones has the electricity.

Starting point is 00:06:51 Marcus Jones returns the punts. So Carlton Davis, if you're just going through the roll call with your friends over a beard this weekend, Carlton Davis might be the fifth, sixth, seventh dude, maybe even deeper down the chart than that mentioned when you're discussing the Patriots defense in 2026. Think about if Carlton Davis doesn't post, as they say, this upcoming season. Think about if he misses games. Think about if you miss them, God forbid, for a month, two months. What do you do? Now you could slide Marcus Jones to cornerback two, certainly. But Marcus Jones, he's not the best solution for bigger outside wide receivers.

Starting point is 00:07:38 So now you start to suddenly dig into cornerback four, cornerback five, cornerback six. Do you like any of those guys? Do you trust any of those guys? Carlton Davis, staying healthy is just so pivotal to what this defense can do. But Carlton Davis, in the same breath, I think would be one of the last guys that you would discuss with your buddies. I think we need to sit back and give Carlton Davis some love. I think we need to give Carlton Davis some attention. We need to appreciate Carlton Davis and what he did for this defense in 2025 and what he could

Starting point is 00:08:20 do for this defense in 2026. He is a forgotten man. Maybe he likes it that way. But this spotlight, I think, to start today's episode, is justified. So shout out to Carlton Davis, who I think is the most overlooked patriot over the past few months. Speaking of overlooked underappreciated, Ramandre Stevenson completely dismissed by the rest of the NFL. That's coming up. This is Lockdown Patriots, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, now the number one sports podcast network, your team every day. This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp.

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Starting point is 00:10:11 as they made their late season run in 2025. But the rest of the NFL just doesn't see him as much of a factor. to the latest polling. Thank you for making us your first listen and for being an everyday. Don't forget if you're watching us on YouTube, click that thumbs up. Give us a like. We appreciate it. Throw a comment in, who is your choice for most overlooked Patriot as we get ready for camp?

Starting point is 00:10:35 And don't forget to subscribe. We appreciate every single solitary one of you as we continue to build this community. ESPN. They do this every offseason as we get ready for camp. They talk to executives, coaches, and scouts throughout the NFL, and they rank each position. And when you look at the running back rankings this year, this just came out within the past 24, 48 hours, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN. If you look at the running back position, neither Ramandre Stevenson nor Travion Henderson are in the top 10 of the running backs. Now, not only that, but they're not in the honorable mention section, the three or four guys after the top 10.

Starting point is 00:11:25 Now, it is tough. It is very tough to argue that either guys should be in the top 10. When you actually sit down and you think about it and you try to come up with your list of top 10 running backs, it is difficult to justify slotting either, Andre Stevenson or Trayvion Henderson amongst that company. As a matter of fact, I'll give you the top 10 from ESPN's list. Again, this is from the executives, coaches, and scouts throughout the NFL. This is not from ESPN pundits and personalities and writers and insiders. Number one is Bejohn Robinson.

Starting point is 00:12:04 Number two is Jemir Gibbs. Number three is Sequam Barkley. Number four is run CMC. Number five is Jonathan Taylor. Number six is Derek Henry. Number seven is James Cook. Number eight is Devon A-chan. number nine is Kenneth Walker. Number 10 is Brees Hall.

Starting point is 00:12:18 I would not put Ramadre Stevenson or Trayvion Henderson ahead of any of those 10. I think all 10 guys I just mentioned going into 2026 should be considered better running backs than the two that are in New England. So I don't really have much of a beef as far as the top 10. But here is my beef. Ramandre Stevenson did not even receive a single vote. There wasn't a single executive, coach, or scout that thought Ramandre Stevenson

Starting point is 00:12:55 should be mentioned in the top 10, which again, I get it. Tough to argue. But how about the honorable mention? How about just receiving votes? Nothing, nothing for Ramandre Stevenson. Quinn Sean Jenkins actually got an honorable mention. And Jenkins finished with 827 yards, 3.6 yards per carry.

Starting point is 00:13:23 Now, I know a lot of people think that Quinshawn Jenkins could be a good running back, if not really good running back. But did he prove that last year? Now, I know, Ramadre Stevenson only had 600 rushing yards last year, but at least he had 4.6 per carry. Quinshan Junctions had 3.6. Remandre Stevenson was also top 20 in yards per carry. When you take that 4.6 number, it's in the top 20 from 2025.

Starting point is 00:13:53 The most telling stat to me is that Ramandre Stevenson was in the top 10 of rushing yards over-expected. 176 of Ramandre Stevenson's 603 rushing yards were over-expected. We were talking about almost a third, almost a third of his rushing yards last year, where yards he should not have gotten. Ramadre Stevenson also top 30 and 10 plus yard runs. And if we're going to have this conversation about running backs, how about the other things that running backs do? Is that part of the equation?

Starting point is 00:14:29 Now, it might not be part of the equation for, you know, Tommy and Tewksbury. You know, Tommy might say, I don't care. Give me the fantasy football stats, baby. give me the yards, give me the touchdowns, that's what I'm looking at. But we are discussing executives, coaches, and scouts. And I would just have to imagine that from those categories, somebody would appreciate what Ramandre Stevenson does aside from running the football.

Starting point is 00:14:57 How about his past protection? He was fantastic last year in past protection. He might be one of the better backs in football, protecting the quarterback. We've seen him catch the ball. How about his receiving ability? So overall, Ramadre Stevenson is a good running back,

Starting point is 00:15:16 and you could argue when he's healthy, he's a very good running back. And for him not to receive a single vote, I don't know, man. I mean, Trevion Henderson got votes. Travion Henderson got votes, and Ramandre Stevenson didn't. I don't think there's much of an argument right now.

Starting point is 00:15:36 Maybe this changes during 2026. But I don't think there's much of an argument that Ramandre Stevenson is the better running back than Trayvion Henderson, the better all around the most complete running back on this roster. I don't think there's much to beef about with that statement. Now, Trayvionn Henderson has the home run ability for sure. Trayvion Henderson can take, you know, a carry to the house in the blink of an eye. Trayvion Henderson can have a couple of ridiculously gigantic runs like he had against Tampa Bay and all of a sudden he is the superstar of that football game. Trayvion Henderson can explode against the New York Jets in prime time like he did last year.

Starting point is 00:16:23 Trayvion Henderson has the home run ability. But when we're talking about down to down, carry to carry week to week, Ramandre Stevenson right now is the better running back. just because he can't hit the home run every once in a while. And he can, by the way, but not as much as Travion Henderson. Doesn't mean he's not better than Trayvion Henderson. If Ramadre Stevenson stays healthy, I believe he could be a top 10-ish back.

Starting point is 00:16:54 Now, he might not be able to break into the names I just mentioned. And by the way, the top 10 running backs, if you're waiting towards the end of 2026, Jeremiah Love is obviously not ranked because he hasn't played, but Jeremiah Love is going to be out there this year. Judarium Price is going to be out there this year. But I think Ramandre Stevenson, when fully healthy, when he's taking care of the football,

Starting point is 00:17:20 which he did the vast majority of the year after that Pittsburgh game last season, when Ramandre Stevenson is healthy, he's good to really good. And I do think he could be top 10-ish. Now, Trayvion Henderson, he's interesting. You know, we talked about him a couple of weeks ago. If Trayvion Henderson can take that next step, he might slide into the honorable mention.

Starting point is 00:17:47 So, I mean, even though the executives and the coaches and the scouts, I think dismissed from Andre Stevenson, him not even getting a single vote while Trayvion Henderson got votes, even though that was done, and even though I think it's, you know, an error in judgment, I would say big picture 30,000 feet as a Patriots fan, you should feel really good about your back field. Because I do think, again, Ramandre Stevenson, I think at his best could be towards the end of that top 10. And Trayvion Henderson, if he can just fix a couple of the bugs that we've discussed,

Starting point is 00:18:30 if he can protect the quarterback at a higher level, if he has a little bit more patience and better vision in between the tax. this backfield is set up to be really freaking good this season. And then you sprinkle Reggie Gilliam on top. That should make them even better. Now, of course, the other part of this is when you have two backs that I think are good backs, it's tough to get two guys listed because of the opportunities, right? because of the snaps.

Starting point is 00:19:08 If you are splitting the touches, it's a little bit more difficult to have one of the guys stand out. I mean, if you go back to the top 10 list, right, Bejohn Robinson, Belkow, Jamir Gibbs, pretty much a Belkow. I mean, especially now that David Montgomery is in Houston. Sequin Barclay, Belkow.

Starting point is 00:19:28 Christian McCaffrey, same thing. Jonathan Taylor, same thing. Derek Henry, same thing. James Cook, same thing. Devon A. A. Chan, same thing. Kenneth Walker. I think he's in the top 10 because of what he did towards the end of the season, the playoff run the Super Bowl.

Starting point is 00:19:42 When Zach Charbonneau got hurt, Kenneth Walker became that guy, Brees Hall. So, I mean, eight or nine of the top 10 are your bona fide bell cow running backs. And so that is also going to impact the value, not only in this top 10 list, but even if you go to a top 10 list in 2027, because inevitably, you are split. some of the touches, and you have a quarterback who runs the football very well,

Starting point is 00:20:12 which also impacts, I think, the thought process here. But come on, man, you've got to give me Ramadre Stevenson, at least getting a vote. If you're giving Trayvion Henderson a vote, you've got to give Ramandre Stevenson a vote. Getting to know a UDFA that could make the 53-man roster, that's coming up next. This is Lockdown Patriots, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network. your team every day. As we continue to keep a close eye on the depth of the interior offensive line, a new name has walked into the room.

Starting point is 00:20:55 And the UDFA might just find himself in Seattle for week one. Thanks for checking out the Lockdown Podcast Network. Now the number one sports podcast network. The depth of the interior offensive line has to be figured out. Last week we discussed Caden Wallace. Could Caden Wallace stay on this 50s? three man. Can he find a spot at guard this year? When you look at Ben Brown, I like Ben Brown, but he can't back up, you know, both positions if, you know, somebody gets hurt. He's going to have

Starting point is 00:21:26 to take one position. That leaves one position open. And right now, Ben Brown is, is your top backup at both guard and center. And I would just feel better if you had a top backup at guard and center. And you had one guy devoted to one spot, another guy. devoted to another. And so I still think the Patriots, when they get into camp in a couple of weeks, they've got to figure out ultimately what this depth chart looks like behind Ben Brown. And that begs the question, can a UDFA make some headway at camp? Mike Reese at ESPN.com wrote about Jacob Rizzy this weekend.

Starting point is 00:22:12 Here's what he wrote. An undrafted free agent from Florida State, and before that Harvard, the 6-foot-5-3606-pound Rizzi spent the spring as the third unit center, simply due to Rizzi being the only pure center behind Jared Wilson and Ben Brown. And teams generally wanting to have three centers in-house, he has a chance to make a mark. Now, that's a great point by Mike Reese. You know, if you look at NFL team, they usually, generally speaking, as Mike, Mike, points out have three centers on their roster. And right now, the Patriots only have two. So does that change? Does Ben Brown, you know, stay back up OGC and then you say, all right, well, let's keep a guy on the roster because if that guy can play center, then we're not as much

Starting point is 00:23:12 in a hole. And I know Greg Bedard wrote about this going back a month or two ago that the Patriots, they were kind of keeping their eye on the veteran center market. So let's talk about Jacob Rizzy. What are his traits? His traits physically are impressive. We love the relative athletic score, as you know. Jacob Rizzi's RAS was a 9.88. The highest you can get is 10. And when you compare Jacob Rizzi to other prospects since 1987. This is kind of a wild number. But Jacob Rizzi is ranked 24th overall in relative athletic score at the guard position. 24th overall at the guard position in relative athletic score out of 1898 guards who qualify for a score.

Starting point is 00:24:10 24th out of almost 1900. You go back to 1987, you fast forward to 2026. Jacob Rizzi is in the top 25 of the most athletic guard prospects the league has seen. That's different type stuff. He also had a great score on his bench press. He had 31 reps on the bench. So the traits, just as an athlete, the strength, the raw strength, they're there. Evan Lazar wrote about Jacob Rizzi at Patriots.com as soon as the Patts signed a number of UDFAs.

Starting point is 00:24:56 And here's what Evan Lizarre wrote. Rizzi's movements are segmented with stiffer redirects, making him vulnerable to sudden movements across his face. However, Rizzi was Florida State's super sub last season, logging snaps at all three interior spots. So if you were wondering, what are the weaknesses? As Evan Lizarre pointed out, his movements are segmented with stiffer redirects, making him vulnerable to sudden movements across his face.

Starting point is 00:25:28 So sounds like while he's a great athlete, he doesn't necessarily have an excellent, quote unquote, twitch to him. The sudden movements get the, best of him at times and stiffer redirects, which means, you know, maybe kind of the agility isn't as great. But with that athleticism, man, you feel like you got the traits. You got the traits, at least for someone that you can work with. And we discussed last week that Mike Vrable's staff values versatility big time, right? That is significant to them. And we went through the line of

Starting point is 00:26:10 offensive lineman that they have on the roster, you're starting five, and even if you go to, you know, six or seventh guy on the roster, the amount of versatility that is there is pretty impressive. And Jacob Rizzi, as Evan Lazzar pointed out, you know, he's got the ability to play all three interior spots. And that's what Florida State did with him. He was their go-to guy behind their top five that could play left, guard, center, right guard. So, That versatility is there. And inevitably, the question for the Patriots is going to be, does Jacob Rizzi have a higher ceiling than a Caden Wallace or an Andrew Rupsich?

Starting point is 00:26:52 Maybe you think he has a little bit lower of a floor. But if he has that higher ceiling and you get a good camp out of him, I would not think it's absolutely bananas that the Patriots say, we are going to take Jacob Rizzi into the season on the 53, instead of Caden Wallace or Andrew Rupsich. Now, of course, these conversations and these decisions that are happening towards the end of camp, what also matters is whether or not you believe you can tuck that player into the practice squad. And I would imagine, as a UDFA, the Patriots would likely be able to tuck Jacob Rizzi into their practice squad fold.

Starting point is 00:27:34 It might be a little bit more difficult with Caden Walvis because, you know, he was what, what, third round pick, I believe, right? Andrew Rupcich, he's been around the league a little bit. So, you know, that could also be a situation where a team is, you know, privy to what Andrew Rupstitch can do. And they bring him in because he's a vet hand. And if you think, you know, if it's close towards the end of camp between Caden Wallace and Andrew Rupsich and Jacob Rizzy,

Starting point is 00:28:10 then do you put Rizzi on the practice squad because you think you can get him onto the practice squad and you bring one of the other two onto the 53 instead. So there is some, you know, chess, there is some roster math to do. But Jacob Rizzi ultimately is an interesting name to keep an eye on during camp

Starting point is 00:28:31 to see how he holds up once they put the pads on. That wraps up this edition of Lockdown Patriots. reach out to me on Twitter at Nick C. Radio and don't forget to like, comment and subscribe on YouTube. Thank you for making Lockdown Patriots your first listen. For your second listen, check out Lockdown NFL scouting. Kyle Crabs and Joe Marino will make you the most informed NFL fan this offseason. Find Lockdown NFL scouting on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts. Have a fantastic day and we will see you next time.

Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Forgotten: Who’s The New England Patriots’ Most Overlooked Difference Maker?

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