Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Josh Allen Gushes Over Drake Maye | Patriots Surprise O-Line Addition

Episode Date: June 25, 2025

Nick Cattles breaks down Josh Allen's high praise for Drake Maye, highlighting the Buffalo Bills quarterback's insights on the young Patriots signal-caller.The discussion shifts to New England's surprising signing of offensive tackle Yasir Durant from the UFL's DC Defenders. Cattles analyzes the Patriots' cornerback situation, exploring Christian Gonzalez's potential, Carlton Davis's health concerns, and the critical role of the third cornerback.Will Durant's addition reshape the Patriots' offensive line strategy? Can the cornerback group become a formidable force if all pieces fall into place? Tune in for an in-depth look at these pivotal developments shaping New England's upcoming season.Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms…🎧 https://link.chtbl.com/LOPatriots?sid=YouTubeLocked On NFL League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft & More🎧 https://linktr.ee/LockedOnNFL#patriots #newenglandpatriotsSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Rugiet150,000 men have made the switch →Rugiet.com/LOCKEDONNFLUse code LOCKEDONNFL to get 15% off your order!GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.FanDuelRight now, new customers can get $150 in BONUS BETS when your first $5 BET WINS! Download the app or head to FANDUEL.COM to get started.Monarch MoneyTake control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONNFL at monarchmoney.com/lockedonnfl for 50% off your first year.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)

Josh Allen praises Drake May. That's where we start on this episode of 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 up, Patriots fans? I'm your host, Nick Cattles, born and raised in New England, your New England Patriots expert, host of the Everything Pats podcast, co-host of the Greg Bedard Patriots podcast with Nick Cattles, and also a sports talk show host veteran. On today's episode, the Pats add to their offensive line,

and we take a look at the status of the cornerback position before we get to camp. But first, Josh Allen loves himself some Drake May. We appreciate you joining the show, making us your first listener for Being an Every Dayer, the Lockdown Patriots podcast, a proud partner of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. And as a reminder, we're doing three podcasts a week, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, until we go back to five podcasts a week. That'll start again on Monday, July 14th, a top division rival has spoken and has

nothing but adulation for Drake May. Josh Allen caught up with si.com and he said the following during a Q and a, I think Drake is super talented. He's one of my favorite young quarterbacks in the league. I've spent some time around him and he's got his head on his shoulders the right way. He just does things the right way. I think that he exemplifies football.

He'll take it and run, he'll throw it. So there is Josh Allen waxing poetic about one Drake May. And if there's anybody in a league that can recognize real, it's real. Players know if other players are good, not good, great, terrible. They know there are the stories from Julian Edelman and other people about, you know, seeing guys that go out there on the field, the Nikhil Harry stories of his teammates knew right away that he didn't have quote unquote it, they knew he was not going to be an NFL wide receiver. Players know, they know it before anybody. No

matter how the front office feels, some of the coaches feel players can recognize other good to really good players. In the fact that you have Josh Allen, we're talking about a guy who is easily one of the three or four best quarterbacks in football. And he's looking at Drake May and he is telling all of us what he's telling us. Quote, I think Drake is super talented, super talented. Allen looks in the mirror. He knows his own talent level.

For him to look at another quarterback and call that quarterback super talented, that means an awful lot. And I don't think this is a situation where Josh Allen's just trying to be nice. I mean, think about it. He did not have to embellish. He didn't have to brag almost about Drake May.

He didn't have to go into the details May. He didn't have to go into the details that he went into saying that, you know, he spent some time around May and that May has his head on his shoulders the right way. He does things the right way. These are specifics. These are, you know, personal experiences that Josh Allen has had with May. He could have said nice things because I know some of you might say, well, Nick, what's he going to kill him? What's he going to throw May under the bus? No, of course not.

He's not going to throw Drake May under the bus. He's not going to rip him to shreds. That's not what he's going to do. But he could have said, yeah, I think he could have a bright future. Yeah, I've seen May play. We played against them last year. I think he's got some talent. I think he could end up being a future franchise quarterback.

I think the Patriots picked a good quarterback. He could have said a bunch of different things. He didn't have to go out of his way and call Drake super talented. He didn't have to tell us that he believes Drake has his head on his shoulders the right way. He didn't have to continue and say that Drake May exemplifies football. That's a very specific evaluation of a player.

And when somebody like Allen has that to say about Drake, you got to feel good about it. You have to feel good about one of the best quarterbacks in football telling you that your quarterback is somebody who is super talented. And when we look at what Alan had to say regarding May, specifically the idea of what he brings to the table, having his shoulders, having his head rather on his shoulders, and thinking the right way, doing things the right way. When you can take somebody who has the raw talent

like May has, very similar to Josh Allen, we know through the draft process, everybody was talking about how May reminds them of Allen. He has the strong arm, he's got the frame, he's got the athleticism, how he runs is kind of similar to Alan. Now, Alan is bigger, he's thicker, Alan, I think has a stronger arm. But the similarities are there. And we could see the similarities throughout the evaluation process. But what made Josh Allen take that huge leap in

year three, was that he had that raw talent, but he also wanted to get better. He had intangibles work ethic, football IQ, one of the most glaring of the intangibles Allen has is the fact that he's just highly competitive. And you can see that. I mean, he tries to highly competitive. And you can see that. I mean, he tries to run through linebackers to get that extra yard. I don't know if I would love that for my quarterback, if I'm the head coach or the OC, but that competitive level that Alan shows when you can mix the raw talent with the intangibles,

that's the secret sauce. That's the magical recipe. And I also love the fact that Alan, who I think many in the game and I myself would categorize Alan as a dog, D-A-W-G. Alan's a dog. And so for Alan to come out and tell us that he believes that Drake exemplifies football, we have to understand what that means. What is Alan's description of football? How would he describe football to us? Just think about it in your mind's eye. Think about Alan again trying to push for that first down, dropping his

shoulder, trying to run through a linebacker. To me, Alan looks at football as a physical, violent, competitive sport. And if he's looking at May and telling me that that quarterback exemplifies what my vision of football is, you know what that means? That means Drake May is a dog. Not only is Josh Allen a dog, Josh Allen is recognizing that May has the same qualities that he has and that May is a dog as well. That may wants more.

He wants to be better. And of course, when we talk about Josh Allen, we've got to talk about his experience with Stefan Diggs. Josh Allen did not make this gigantic leap in year two. He got better in year two, no doubt. More touchdowns and picks completion percentage went up. But it was year three when people took a sit back position like this and said, you know what? Josh Allen is going to end up being one of the best quarterbacks in football. It took until year three for

us to recognize that and understand. I'm sure some Buffalo fans felt that way, but it took until year three. And a major part of of that a major part of that was digs Buffalo acquiring digs it it helped Josh Allen get to that next level and here's what Allen had to say regarding digs in May quote to have someone like Stefan is going to help him out a lot I think digs brings a lot of security. Obviously, having the knowledge of playing in the league for so long, he has that veteran mentorship that he can give to Drake. The Diggs impact cannot be overlooked. If he is healthy and ready for week one, we cannot underestimate or underrate Stefan Diggs's impact to May's season.

You just can't. Many different ways. Diggs can pull May aside, talk to him about how to attack a particular defense. How he's going to attack a particular cornerback. Diggs has seen all the tricks of the trade. He's been in the league long enough. He can pull May aside. He's been in the league long enough. He can pull May aside, make sure his quarterback takes a deep breath and understands what is going on in front of him defensively. You think watching film with Diggs is a good idea? I do.

I could just imagine Diggs sitting down alongside May watching some film and breaking down a defense together and I agree with Alan this idea that digs is going to be a security blanket for Drake May. Ted Wynn from the Athletic wrote about this recently. Last season Hunter Henry was targeted on 23.4% of the Patriots third down passes ranking fourth amongst tight ends right below Travis Kelsey Nguyen says it was clear May's comfort level with Henry far exceeded his comfort level with any other receiver For Drake may to take that step forward this year. He needs to rely on other guys Not just hunter Henry on third down. May needs options.

He needs that security blanket. He needs that binky. And if he has that binky out there, it's going to bring confidence, even more confidence to Drake May's game. So I love reading these quotes from Josh Allen. I love him pumping the tires of Drake may The Patriots they have signed an offensive lineman before camp begins. They've added one of those guys up front

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please visit Rougiette website for full safety information. The Patriots have signed an offensive lineman. They are obviously not content with their offensive line depth. They've made that new addition. Let's talk about them. Mark Daniels posted the following last night, Patriots are signing offensive tackle Yaseer Durant to a one year deal. Durant just won a title with the DC defenders and was named to the all-UFL team after starting

at left tackle, the all UFL team. So who is Yaseer Duran? How can he help? Will he help? Should we expect him to help? Well, he played in the NFL from 2020 to 2022. During those three seasons, he played for three different teams, including the Patriots in 2021.

He began his NFL career with Kansas City. He then moved on to New England in 2021. And then he finished his career until now with the Saints in 2022. He played one game for the Saints in 22 overall through those three years in the NFL. Durant played 19 games. He started two of them. So this is not somebody who was starting every week. This was not somebody who I would even categorize as a top backup.

This is a guy who played a depth position on the offensive line, really everywhere he went. I think he got into double digit games with the Chiefs back in 2020. But this is not somebody who was out there starting a bunch, only two starts over three years. The last game he played in the NFL was 2022. And we know the NFL, they're searching high and low for offensive linemen. If you're an offensive lineman, if you're even slightly below average, you're going

to get a job. It's very difficult to not have employment in the NFL if you have the size of a Durante, you know, 6'6", 330. If you have the size of a Yaseer Durante and you've been in the NFL, it's very difficult to go two, three, four years without having a job in the NFL at any offensive line position. Offensive line play is not good. It's not great in college. It's not great in the NFL. So if a team feels like you're at least adequate, they're going to keep you. So it speaks volumes that Durant has not

played an NFL game since 2022. He does bring versatility. He played both tackle and guard in his NFL career. So he's somebody that could slide over to the inside. He could play the outside. Obviously he was just playing left tackle in the UFL. So he's capable of playing on the left side, but he's not athletic. It's interesting when we look at what the Patriots have done,

Garrett Bradbury is a good athlete. Jared Wilson, rather, is a good athlete. Will Campbell is a very good athlete. Cole Strange is a very good athlete. Not so much with Yaseer Duran. His relative athletic score was 2.39. That is God-awful, folks. So he's not a supreme athlete on the O-line,

and he's played 19 games, two starts, last time seen, 2022. So why are the Patriots signing him? I've got some questions here. They're not just doing this to do it. They're signing Durant for reasons. The first question I have is, do they think he could play a role at left guard? Do they feel like he can be part of that competition? West Schweitzer retired a couple of weeks ago. Is this just a simple replacement for Schweitzer? Do they look at it and say, okay, West Schweitzer, that level of player, he's gone. Yaseer Durant was obviously here in 2021. We have some knowledge about him. McDaniels was here in 2021.

So I'm sure he worked with him at camp. So maybe it's just as easy as looking at West Schweitzer's out. Yaseer Durant is in same level of player. Maybe Durant is slightly worse. Maybe he's slightly better. I'd have to imagine he's slightly worse because Schweitzer was actually in the league last season and Durant hasn't been in the league since 2022. But this could just be an easy swap for the coaching staff. All right, let's take Schwyzer out. He's retired. We've got to find a body. Let's plug in Yaseer Durant. He's the body. Maybe the Patriots are not happy with what left guard is doing right now. Maybe they look at it and say, Leaden Robinson has fallen on his face. Tyrese Robinson showed a couple of flashes, but we don't know if he's going to be that guy. City so we've had him at right guard. We've played him some at right tackle. Uh, we're not really sold on him being the left guard of the future. Cole strange. Yeah, he had potential, but

he's coming off of the patellar tendon and we, we don't feel comfortable, you know, just riding with Cole Strange as our starting left guard. So maybe it's just a combination of the guys who are at left guard competing for that starting job have not won over the coaching staff. Wes Schweitzer retires. They've got to find somebody and they might have seen something in Yaseer Durant back in 2021 that makes them believe, you know what, he just had a pretty good season in the UFL.

The UFL is the UFL, folks, but he had a good season in the UFL. Maybe he's changed some techniques. Maybe Doug Marrone or Jason Ho-Tailing or Robert Kugler feel like they can get to the bottom of Yaseer Durant and work with him and make him a better football player? We'll have to wait and see. The other question I have is if Yaseer Durant isn't being looked at as a possible Lancer at left guard, then could he be looked at as an answer at tackle? And I'm not saying starting tackle.

Don't get it twisted. Okay. The starting tackles, Will Campbell, Morgan Moses, Yaseer Durant is not going to supplant either of those guys. However, how about the depth behind those guys? Is the Patriots coaching staff looking at Kaden Wallace wondering what's going on? Now Wallace, he took some reps at guard.

We don't know if he took those reps at guard because the Patriots coaching staff aren't happy. They're not happy with how Wallace has looked at tackle. We don't know if Wallace took those snaps because again, the numbers were really thin. Tyrese Robinson's sister passed away. He missed mandatory mini camp. Owenu has been limited.

Schweitzer retired. So was it just a numbers game and they slid Wallace over and they said, oh, that didn't look good. We're not going to put Caden Wallace at left guard or right guard. We're putting them right back at tackle. We're not going to mess around with that. Or are they bringing Durant in because they're not thrilled with Caden Wallace because they have questions about Caden Wallace and they're not sure Wallace is going to make this roster Maybe they feel like they've got to create some competition at the back upright tackle spot To push Wallace's feet a little closer to that fire Maybe the Patriots aren't thrilled with you know,, Viderian Lowe. And they say, hey, we need some insurance.

So Yaseer Durant could be, let's put him in there, left guard competition, mix it up, Schweitzer's out. He could also be, no, let's get some insurance for Kaden Wallace, Viderian Lowe, DeMontre, Jacobs, these guys on the roster. But let's bring Durant in. He had a good season in the UFL. And worst case scenario, he pushes's bring Durant in. He had a good season in the UFL and worst case scenario, he pushes those guys to play better. And at the end of the day, we release Yaseer Durant. He gets to the practice squad and we stick with what we have. But let's see if he can spark some kind of competition

with some of this tackle depth. Not a bad idea. I'm all for it. This also could tell us that Marcus Bryant, Jack Conley, the seventh round pick and the UDFA, respectively, maybe they're not developing as quickly as the Patriots would like them to. And maybe they're further on the outside looking in

than the Pats thought they would be. But you sear Durant, I don't have much expectation. I'm not sure he's going to make this team, but it's fascinating. If he sticks, you get the training camp. Where is he playing? Is he playing guard? Is he playing tackle? Who's reps? Whose reps is he taking from? Keep a close eye on it. We check in on the corner back room before we get to training camp.

That's coming up next as we continue with today's episode of Locked On Patriots, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Ever wish managing your money felt easier? With Monarch money, it can. Whether you're growing your savings or planning a big purchase. Monarch puts you in the driver's seat. It's like having your own personal CFO giving you full visibility and control over your finances. Monarch Money is more than a budgeting app. It's a complete

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of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKDOWNNFL at MonarchMoney.com for 50% off your first year. That's MonarchMoney.com, code LOCKDOWNNFL for half off your first year. If everything falls right over the next few months, the Patriots' cornerback position could be absolutely and would be absolutely loaded. If everything fell into place perfectly, just right. But I have three questions as we get ready for training camp. Three questions at the cornerback position. My first question is, will Christian Gonzalez reach his ceiling? Will he fulfill his potential? Now what's interesting about Gonzalez is pro football focus wasn't necessarily in love with his 2024 season.

His coverage grade was 17th. Now I think that's on the lower end to me personally. We have to keep the context moving here. He played a lot of man coverage. He had a lot of tough matchups. So the 17th ranked coverage grade feels a little bit low to me. The run defense grade was terrible. Pro football focus had Gonzalez ranked as the 139th cornerback against the run. Now, one of the things I wonder is, does Mike Rable, Terrell Williams, this more aggressive defense, will that change Gonzalez's mentality? Will they ask more of Gonzalez? Will Gonzalez be a willing recipient to that information from his coaches and respond to the information accordingly? It's going to be intriguing to watch Gonzalez with this new staff to see if they reach him

in a different way and he brings a little bit more aggression. Now, the overall grade from Pro Football Focus last season for Gonzalez was 20th. He was ranked as the 20th cornerback in football. Now that's tough for me to square the fact that Gonzalez was a second-team all-pro after playing only 20 NFL games. I think this is where you have the metrics, the analytics versus the eyeball test. The eyeball test tells me that Christian Gonzalez is better than the 20th cornerback in football. And I think many would argue, including myself, that he is significantly better than the 20th cornerback in football.

I think he's closer to being number one first team all-pro versus the 20th guy in the league at his position. But how does pro football focus feel about Gonzalez in 2025? They ranked him 13th. So his grade last year was 20th. Getting ready for this upcoming season, they have him ranked 13th. So they do think that there's going to be a boost from Gonzalez. But I don't think that boost is as much as we're hoping for. I think Patriots fans, Patriots media, Patriots pundits, we're looking at Gonzalez and we're

saying this guy could be the best corner in the league. He could be one of the best corners, at least top three, top four. Here's what Pro Football Focus wrote about their ranking for 2025. Gonzalez started 24 slowly before catching fire in week four against the 49ers. He played man coverage at a 50.1% rate last season, which is pretty crazy, and earned a 78.2 coverage grade, which ranked ninth among cornerbacks. So yes, Gonzalez was ranked 17th in coverage grade last year, but what Pro Football Focus is telling us is starting in week four, he actually from that point

to the end of the season was top 10 in coverage. Now that sounds a little bit more like the Gonzalez that I remember from last season. And there is a difference between being a truly elite corner like a Darrell Rivas in a really good corner. There is a difference. And my question, can Gonzalez reach the tippity top, the tippity top of his ceiling? Can he fulfill that potential all the way? Because if he can, we are talking about a Darrell Revis type talent, a true eraser in the secondary. Here's my second question about cornerback as we get ready for training camp. Can Carlton Davis stay healthy? It's a pretty simple question but the history speaks for itself. When you look at Carlton Davis, he was drafted in 2018.

That year he played 13 games, started 12. 2019, he started 14 games. 2020, he started 14 games. 2021, started 10 games. Then 13 games in 22, then 12 games in 23, then 13 games last year. Are you sensing a trend? Is there a theme? Of course there's a theme. The theme is this. Carlton

Davis misses three, four, five games a year. His rookie season, he missed four games. Well, nope, sorry, scratch that. I think they were playing 16 back then. So we missed three games, then he missed two, then he missed two. But then he then he missed, you know, six or seven games, four games, five games, four games. That's the biggest question about Carlton Davis, not his ability. It's can he stay on the field?

Because if Carlton Davis is out, you got to look at that third cornerback, which we'll get to in a minute. So Davis is history with injury doesn't make you super confident that he's going to be able to get through 17 weeks. He's 28 years old. Just like all of us, he's getting older, not younger. And as you get older, the more wear and tear that you have, the more issues that you can have.

Now, if Carlton Davis is healthy, if you tell me that Davis is healthy and he's gonna give you 15, 16 games, he has legitimate lockdown potential against the number two receiver on almost any team. He's that good. He's really long. He's aggressive. He'll smoke you on the tackle.

He has absolutely no problem playing man press coverage against you and being physical with you. And I think if he is somebody that's out there 15 weeks out of the season, that combination of Gonzalez and Davis, man, you feel great about it. He's very, very experienced. He's been around the block. He's won a Super Bowl. He played on a very successful Lions team.

And so if Davis can stay healthy, then your starting corners are as good as they've been in a long time. Which leads us to what if Davis is not healthy. The third cornerback as we get ready for training camp is one of the most pivotal positions on this team, because of the injury history of Davis. And even if you want to go back to year one with Gonzalez, he missed most of the year. So you need that steady hand as the third cornerback. Is Marcus Jones going to be that guy?

Or does his frame hold him back? Is he capable of giving you 15, 16 games? If he's going to be your plan in the slot, can he give you 1516? Because you need Carlton Davis insurance folks You need somebody as your third corner that you feel pretty damn good about as you play in 2025 as you get ready to play this season. You need a third corner that makes you feel confident That you won't fall back. You won't fall off a cliff. And when you look at Marcus Jones, can he play outside as well as inside? I don't think he can play much outside. He's tried, but his size holds him back. So if you can

find a third corner that can give you that Carlton Davis insurance, that gives you some flexibility, versatility, can play inside, can play outside, then you have less mismatches to worry about, less mismatches to face. But that third cornerback's pivotal. And I think my personal guess, my thought is the Patriots will carry six cornerbacks,

and I think you'll see Christian Gonzalez Carlton Davis Marcus Jones Alex Austin Marcellus dial and Isaiah Bolden now if they don't carry six and they carry five it's between dial and Bolden But I still like Alex Austin as as the corner that can provide you the most behind Davis and Gonzalez Because of his size, the versatility, the flashes we've seen. That wraps up this edition of Lockdown Patriots. Reach out to me on Twitter at Nick C Radio. Don't forget to throw a comment in on the

YouTube channel and don't forget to hit that like button and subscribe. Thank you for making Lockdown Patriots your first listen today. For your second listen, check out Lockdown NFL Scouting, Krabs, Marino, make you the most informed NFL fan this off-season. Find Lockdown NFL Scouting on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts. Have a great day, and we will see you on Friday.