Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Josh McDaniels: HEAVY Influence On 2025 New England Patriots Draft

Starting point is 00:00:00 Josh McDaniel's heavy influence on this year's draft. 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 podcasts network your team every day What's up Patriots fans? I am 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, Trevion Henderson's usage is at the heart of the potential of this Patriots offense

Starting point is 00:00:43 and a telling profile on Will Campbell from a local scribe. But first, it's clear Josh McDaniels had heavy influence within the Patriots offseason in draft decision making. We appreciate you joining the show, making us your first listen and for being an everydayer, the Lockdown Patriots podcast is a proud partner of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. I want to take you back to 2024, just for a minute. I don't want you running away from this podcast because 2024 was so brutal for Patriots fans, so brutal for the organization, but I want to take you back to 2024.

Starting point is 00:01:22 Alex van Pelt, obviously offensive coordinator last season. And it was interesting because van Pelt, it seemed like he did not have a firm grasp as to what they wanted to do offensively, what they wanted to run. You could look at Alex van Pelt in the run scheme, felt like they wanted to run more outside zone as a team. And then you look at some of the talent on the field and it didn't match that zone run scheme. Ramondre Stevenson more downhill duo type running back.

Starting point is 00:01:58 You can look at the offensive line and they really did not have the level of athleticism on the offensive line that would fit that zone run scheme. So it was weird. It seemed like what Alex van Pelt wanted to do did not necessarily match the players on the roster. Well, this year, Josh McDaniels, it's obvious He has a heavy influence into what's going to happen with this team

Starting point is 00:02:26 offensively as he should as the OC, but it's also pretty obvious that Josh McDaniels had a heavy influence on the draft. Let's start with Kyle Williams, pick 69th overall out of Washington State. When you think of Kyle Williams and his traits and what he does as a receiver, a lot of it fits what McDaniels likes to do as a play caller. You think about Williams and his ability to gain separation quickly at the line of scrimmage. I mean, that quick line of scrimmage separation that we see from Williams' film, it fits perfectly what McDaniels likes to do.

Starting point is 00:03:04 He likes receivers that can quickly get open off the line of scrimmage and take advantage of that. And how do you take advantage of that? Well, you throw the football underneath and you take advantage of Williams' ability to gain a bunch of yards after the catch. So you have somebody with that yakack ability in Kyle Williams getting that quick separation off the line of scrimmage matches perfect with what McDaniels likes to see from most of his receivers. There's another part of Kyle Williams game as well and that's verticality being

Starting point is 00:03:37 a vertical threat. Mike Giardi at Boston Sports Journal wrote about Williams over the weekend and here's what he wrote, I couldn't find too many dissenters about Williams' skill set being a fit in the Josh McDaniels system. Quote, Josh has this reputation for being someone who loves the underneath stuff, but look at the Vegas tape. He wanted his quarterbacks to push the ball more, unquote. That was from an assistant coach to Mike Giardi.

Starting point is 00:04:04 Also, this quote, Williams gives them that element of verticality and separation that the Patriots offense hasn't had in a long time unquote. McDaniels, the fact that he's here in New England and we know the history of McDaniels and we know the history of McDaniels and wide receivers, he's been able to get a lot out of the wide receiver position. You look at what he did in 2021 with Kendrick Bourne and all of those new, all those new players brought into that Patriots offense. He was able to put that together and have a pretty good season.

Starting point is 00:04:39 You look at what he did, even going back to his Denver days being able to find receivers. So I have confidence that Kyle Williams is going to work and I know we've seen a lot of draft picks over the past several years with the Patriots not work out a lot of wide receivers drafted not work out first round second round all throughout the draft they just have not worked out consistently. But with McDaniels here I have more confidence in the idea that Kyle Williams will work. Then we go to the second round pick, Trevion Henderson out of Ohio State. Henderson is the quintessential Josh McDaniels, quote unquote, speed back. Somebody that brings

Starting point is 00:05:22 a different dynamic to the offense. And we've seen this in McDaniel's offenses throughout his career as a play caller. He wants a running back that he can match up against linebackers. He wants a running back where he can utilize that player's versatility, line them up at the line of scrimmage, line them up in the backfield. Maybe we even see some pony formation with two running backs in the backfield in 2025. But McDaniels loves to utilize running backs that can catch the football, run routes, and take advantage of some of those linebackers and safeties and coverage if those guys aren't good.

Starting point is 00:05:59 He loves to do it. And Trevion Henderson is the perfect fit for that speed running back who can attack the matchups make the most of the linebackers and safeties that can't cover in the league. McDaniels also runs a decent amount of shotgun and we know that Drake May ran almost exclusively a shotgun offense at North Carolina. Now they mixed in some under center offense last year for May with Van Pelt. But I would imagine with Drake May loving to run offense out of shotgun, McDaniels utilizing shotgun a lot throughout his play calling career.

Starting point is 00:06:38 And now having Henderson, who is the perfect fit as a running back out of the shotgun formation. I'm just going to guess we're gonna see lots of shotgun offense. McDaniel's influence not only impacted the draft, but you could also look at how it impacted the undrafted free agents. Even the UDFAs are perfect fits for Josh McDaniels in what he wants to do. When you think about a Josh McDaniels offense, you think about a receiver that has the ability to just absolutely devastate a defense in the short areas.

Starting point is 00:07:20 Julian Edelman, Wes Welker, you think about these guys, even Jacoby Myers to a point, that they could just decimate a cornerback, decimate a safety, decimate a linebacker in short area. Well, when you look at Efton Chisholm, he's somebody who has that short area quickness, that short area agility, perfect fit. Don't know if he's gonna make the team. But that kind of receiver is somebody

Starting point is 00:07:48 that has worked very well within a McDaniels offense. Then you look at running back, Land Larison. Patriots gave him a nice guaranteed chunk of money as a UDFA to bring him in. Larison, another type of back, an all purpose back, had 62 catches at UC Davis last year. So somebody that can beat coverage, somebody that can get out of the back field quickly, throw them the football and let them do something.

Starting point is 00:08:21 It's this idea of taking advantage of the matchups and utilizing players that have that versatility. I mean, you could even look at the fullback position. UDFA, Brock Lamp, fullback. We know that Josh McDaniels loves the fullback position. He went out to Vegas, Jakob Johnson followed him. McDaniels loves running plays with a full back and that backfield with his running back. So when you look at it from top to bottom, Josh McDaniels, his

Starting point is 00:08:54 influence was heavy here because it runs throughout who they drafted and that's the way it should be. Finding talent that fits what your offensive coordinator wants to do, finding talent that makes your quarterback's life much easier. And that's what the Patriots did. But from Kyle Williams to Trevion Henderson to the UDFAs, a lot of these players are prototypical Josh McDaniels offensive players. And that should tell us that McDaniels had some heavy influence as to who the Patriots were going to bring in. Speaking of the offense, the success of the running back room will have a lot to do

Starting point is 00:09:33 with the usage of Trevion Henderson. 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. part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Scaling your business requires the right expertise at the right time. With Upwork, you can find specialized freelancers in marketing, development, design, and more. Experts ready to help you take your business to the next level. Upwork gives businesses flexibility by connecting them with top freelance talent across multiple industries, including IT, AI, web development, and marketing. Whether you need extra hands for a project

Starting point is 00:10:13 or a long-term partner, Upwork makes hiring simple and affordable. If you need help with a marketing campaign, for example, Upwork can connect you with a freelance expert who delivers incredible results. And posting a job is Free and simple and within a day you'll have multiple qualified candidates to choose from visit up work comm right now Post your job for free. That's you p

Starting point is 00:10:36 Work calm up work comm to connect with top talent and grow your business and not only grow your business Grow your business today with upwork. It's Upwork.com. The 2025 running back room on paper is deep. Ramondre Stevenson is a legitimate NFL running back. At his best, you could argue he's a top 10 to 15 guy at that position. Antonio Gibson, I think he was vastly underused last year by Alex van Pelt. I think he's a good NFL running back. In Trevion Henderson, we've talked a lot about him and his skill being picked in the top 40 of this year's draft, legitimate talent. So Stevenson, Gibson, Henderson, the running back room is set to succeed on paper. But we do have a question. How will these guys be deployed? What will the usage

Starting point is 00:11:35 look like between these three gentlemen? Will all three have a role within this offense? And I was thinking about this over the weekend as I read Mike Giardi at Boston Sports Journal, and he wrote the following, quote, Henderson's body didn't hold up at OSU, unquote, said an NFC assistant whose team was in the market for a running back in this draft. Quote, he needed the other kid talking about Quincyon Jenkins to put him in a more suitable role. There's nothing wrong with that, but the idea that he will be able to be an 18 to 25 touch guy is a reach." A scout said the following to Giardi, quote, he couldn't withstand the punishment of playing the lead role in the Big Ten, of course, talking about Henderson.

Starting point is 00:12:21 What the hell will it look like against the best in the world? Unquote. So Trevion Henderson, I think it's fair to say he's not going to be in every down back. Now you could say he's a three down back because of his skill set. His skill set screams three down back. His ability to pass, protect protect run and catch the football. So his skill set tells you he has a three down back skill set. But to ask Henderson to be in every down back, I do think is a reach. I do agree with that quote from the NFC assistant.

Starting point is 00:13:00 I do think asking him to be an 18 to 25 touch guy every single week, that is a reach. And I don't think the Patriots are going to ask Trevion Henderson to be that guy. But let me ask you this, how many bell cows as they call them truly exist in the NFL in 2025? There were six guys in 2024 that had 300 carries or more. So the idea of somebody who's gonna run 325, 350 times, the Derek Henrys, the Saquon Barkleys, there's only so many of those guys in the league.

Starting point is 00:13:34 Five or six guys, so we're talking about roughly a handful, a handful of running backs that you can depend on for 300 plus carries out of 32 teams, less than one sixth of the league. So when you look at this idea of the bell cow it's not really a reality for most of the teams and Then you look at who the Patriots have the Patriots bell cow If you wanted to pick one before this draft the bell cow would be Ramon Dr. Stephenson to pick one before this draft, the bell cow would be Ramondre Stevenson. But Ramondre Stevenson, the most carries that he has ever had in an NFL season was in 2022, and that was 210.

Starting point is 00:14:14 So he's not the kind of guy that's going to give you 300 carries. His rookie season, he had 133 carries. 2022, 210 carries to go along with 69 catches, by far most touches of his NFL career. But in 2023, it was 156 carries and 38 catches and last year was 207 carries and 33 catches. Ramondre Stevenson has not been a bell cow. He wasn't a bell cow in college. He has not been a bell cow for the Patriots. So that's one point that we have to keep in mind. And when you think about Henderson and his usage, I would imagine, and I could be totally wrong, but I would imagine that when McDaniels looks at Henderson and he tries to figure out

Starting point is 00:15:05 what this offense is going to look like I would imagine that when it's third down in medium to long if we're talking third and three third and four third and five third and seven plus I would think that Henderson will be out there on a lot of those downs. When it's third and medium to long, Henderson's going to be out there because his past protection, he's a better past protector than anybody on this roster at that position. He's a much better past protector than Antonio Gibson. And that was part of the problem with Gibson. I love him. And I do think they could have used him more last year.

Starting point is 00:15:43 But part of the reason why he was limited was because his past protection was not consistent or good enough So when you're on third down You don't want to put Drake may and the crosshairs because you're running back messed up He missed the block or he got run over so when we're talking about third and medium third and long Henderson's gonna be out there because of his pass protection, number one, and then number two, his ability to catch the football and gain yards after the catch. So third and medium, third and long, I think we could chalk that up to Trevion Henderson, write his name in Sharpie.

Starting point is 00:16:21 And then we think about the shotgun. Ramadre Stevenson, not as good of a shotgun running back as Henderson is. And as I mentioned in the last segment, I do think the Patriots will run a decent amount of shotgun offense in 2025. And so Henderson will get his chances, his opportunities, in a number of those shotgun formations.

Starting point is 00:16:43 That's how you slide them in. I went back to 2023, because one of the comparisons that's been made for Henderson is Jameer Gibbs. And I went back to Jameer Gibbs, his rookie season, 2023 with the Lions. And I wanted to see the amount of touches that Gibbs had compared to the amount of touches that David Montgomery had. Montgomery is very similar to Ramadre

Starting point is 00:17:05 Stevenson when you look at usage. In 2023, David Montgomery had 219 carries and 16 catches. That's 235 touches in 14 games. He played in 14 games in 2023. So Montgomery averaged just under 17 touches a game. What did Jameer Gibbs do? Well, in his rookie season, Jameer Gibbs had 182 carries and 52 catches, which is 234 touches. 234 touches in 15 games. Montgomery had 235 touches in 14 games. So Montgomery was hovering around 17 touches a game. Gibbs was hovering around 15 to 16. That's how the Lions divvied up the opportunity with their two running backs. We talk about thunder and lightning Montgomery and Gibbs thunder and lightning, Ramon Dre and Trevion. It would stand to reason realistically thinking about 2025 for the Patriots, Stevenson

Starting point is 00:18:08 could have 200 carries, let's say, in 10 to 15 catches. That'll get them to 210, 215 touches. Trevion Henderson gets 150 carries. Put him down for 50 catches if healthy, that's 200 touches. And if Antonio Gibson makes the team, he's your third act of running back, he gets about 50 touches, unless there's an injury or fumble issues again, get in the way of productivity. But that's the way I would look at it. Stevenson gets about 200 touches, Henderson gets about 200 touches, and then Gibson makes up the other 50 or so when Ramondre might need a breather. You put Gibson in for a series. You also need Ramondre Stevenson insurance because Stevenson, as we know, he's not a guy that plays every week.

Starting point is 00:19:02 Now you go back a few years ago, 2022 2022 his best season, he played in 17 games. But his rookie season, 2021 he played 12 games. In 2023 he played 12 games. Last year he played 15 games. So you go into every season believing and feeling like Ramon Dre is good for 13, 14 games. So he's going to miss two, three games. He might miss four games. So you need that insurance.

Starting point is 00:19:35 And I think it's also quite possible that land Larison could replace Antonio Gibson on this team. It's quite possible, but there's going to be competition in the running back room, and that's what Mike Vrabel wants and I think they could divvy up they could split those touches and deploy those guys in a reasonable way a Very telling behind-the-scenes profile on Will Campbell That's coming up next as we continue with today's episode of Lockdown Patriots, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Will Campbell being an average to above average left tackle would dramatically shift the offensive trajectory of the 2025 Patriots. If you tell me that Campbell can play average to above average at that position,

Starting point is 00:20:32 everything else falls in line for this offensive line. And you're not so desperate at left guard, you figure it out between so Robinson, Strange and Schweitzer. If Will Campbell can hold down that spot, you feel pretty good about this offensive line, especially compared to what they were last season. So let's talk about Will Campbell, because there was a behind the scenes profile done on Campbell. It was great work by Evan Lazar at Patriots.com and the czar caught up with LSU offensive line coach Brad Davis. And here's what Davis said to Evan, quote, Campbell has a level of pride in his work

Starting point is 00:21:14 that is unmatched, unquote, a level of pride in his work that is unmatched. Davis gave examples, quote, he spent countless hours in our weight room and with our nutritionist. When you talk about his work ethic, getting in the building at 5 a.m. Davis talked about how on Sundays after games, Campbell would drive down to New Orleans and work with a physical therapist. Davis said, quote, this kid put in hours upon hours and invested his own money from nil unquote Think about that. This is a 20 year old young man going to lsu Within a drive of new orleans

Starting point is 00:22:01 Making good nil money and he decided to pour at least a portion of his NIL money into nutrition, weight room, getting a physical therapist. He put his own NIL money towards improving himself. I mean, you want to talk about a crazy professional at 20 years old that is crazy professionalism at 20 shown by Campbell while at LSU and There's zero doubt there is zero doubt that will Campbell will do everything Everything that he can possibly do to become a franchise left tackle. There's no doubting his work ethic.

Starting point is 00:22:50 There's no doubting his professionalism. There's no doubting how serious he takes his job. He took his job at LSU like it was an NFL gig. Now he's in the NFL. How do you think he's going to treat it? How do you think he's going to approach his job on a daily basis? If he was this serious, if he was this buttoned up at 20 years old, how do you think he's going to approach being a professional football player? He was acting like a professional football player at LSU. And really, with NIL and all of that, college players are now professionals.

Starting point is 00:23:28 But how many of those college football players, how many of those college athletes are putting their NIL money towards nutrition and physical therapy? I don't know the answer to that, but I would imagine it would be the minority of college athletes putting their own money into stuff like that.

Starting point is 00:23:49 And of course, it doesn't mean that Will Campbell is guaranteed to be successful. Limitations are limitations. He might end up not being a left tackle. Three years from now, four years from now, we might be saying he's a really good left guard, all pro level left guard, but he was never able to actually play left tackle like they wanted him to. When they drafted him forth overall in 2025, they thought he was going to be their franchise left tackle. He just could never do it, but it's not going to be because of a lack of trying. It's not going to be because

Starting point is 00:24:27 of trying. It's not going to be because Will Campbell doesn't care. He's going to put the work in. He's got the traits. And he's going to put that work in because he did it at LSU. And there would be no reason why he'd stop doing it now. There's something else about Campbell when you're reading this story from Evan Lazar, again at Patriots.com. When you're reading this story about Will Campbell, and you read these quotes from Brad Davis, who again is the LSU offensive line coach, it really makes you appreciate what kind of change Will Campbell could make With this offensive line room and this offensive line group. Here's what Davis said to Lazar quote He changed the culture the day he walked in the room When you see this kid out there on the practice field, he's your best player

Starting point is 00:25:17 But he's practicing and pushing himself harder than anybody else around him He reestablished the standard in the room. Your old line culture, I'm excited to see where it goes. If you surround him with other individuals who aren't afraid of putting work in and breathe life into him. Changing the offensive line room. And that's what's needed.

Starting point is 00:25:44 The past couple of years have been brutal. There have been some injuries. There's been an obvious lack of talent. But there's also been some murkiness in the room. And things haven't always gone according to plan on the field, but it's also been a little bit weird off the field. Think about Trent Brown and all the stuff that Trent Brown talked about before he left town. All the complaints that Trent Brown had with Bill Belichick and how that program was run. Then you think about last year and Chuksa Korafor gets up and he quits after the first week of the season. Something's been off in that room for years now. Something has been off in that offensive line room. And you put somebody in there like Will Campbell, as Brad Davis

Starting point is 00:26:35 said, he changed the culture at LSU the day he walked into the room. He's practicing and pushing himself harder than anybody else around him. He reestablished the standard in the room. That's what the Patriots need. The Patriots need somebody to reestablish the standard in the offensive line room to get that room serious. They need somebody who can go out there and play nasty and play with finish. As we know, Ryan Cowden has said, Mike Vrabel has talked about it.

Starting point is 00:27:07 Vrabel's all about playing with finish, effort and finish. And Will Campbell brings both effort and finish every single time he's out there on the field. And this offensive line desperately needs a boost of nastiness, desperately needs a boost of that finish. They frankly need confidence. When you think about the offensive line over the past few years, do you think about confidence? You think about an offensive line that is questioning themselves. I mean, Vidarian Lowe, Vidarian Lowe talked about hoping to be a swing tackle in the NFL, being able to fulfill that role. And he was thrown in as the starting left tackle last year.

Starting point is 00:27:53 Does he ooze confidence? No, he doesn't ooze confidence. So this offensive line group, they desperately needed nastiness, finish, they desperately needed confidence. They need to be able to trust each other. And according to Davis, Will Campbell will absolutely breed that trust within the room. And then you not only have Campbell, but you have the wise man at right tackle, Morgan Moses. The way he spoke at that introductory press conference had me ready to run through a freaking

Starting point is 00:28:25 wall. So between Morgan Moses and Will Campbell, it feels like those two guys are going to be the anchors. Those two guys are going to be the consciousness of the offensive line. And with those two gentlemen in the room, you feel like you're in a great spot as an offensive line when it comes to mentality Moses and Campbell are going to bring a different level of Professionalism a little bit of nastiness finish

Starting point is 00:28:57 confidence leadership work ethic they're gonna bring that into the room and That's what that offensive line has needed. That wraps up this edition of Lockdown Patriots on tomorrow's show. The safety room is mighty congested. Let me know your thoughts on today's topics. Reach out to me on Twitter at Nick C Radio. Don't forget to throw a comment in on the YouTube channel as well.

Starting point is 00:29:21 Thank you for making Lockdown Patriots your first listen today. For your second listen, check out Locked On NFL Scouting. The NFL draft, we know it's over. The roster moves. The news never stops. Hosts Kyle Krabs and Joe Marino will make you the most informed NFL fan this off season. Find Locked On NFL Scouting on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts. Have a great day and we'll see you tomorrow.

Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Josh McDaniels: HEAVY Influence On 2025 New England Patriots Draft

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.