Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - LOCKED ON PATRIOTS- 4/10/17- Discussing LeGarrette Blount, Brandon Bolden, & Identifying CBs the Patriots May Target In The NFL Draft

Episode Date: April 10, 2017

Chris Simoneau, Patriots Insider for Scout.com, discusses the LeGarrette Blount situation, the signing of Brandon Bolden, updates you on other Patriots news, and takes a deep dive into cornerbacks that will be available when the Patriots are on the boards. #patriots Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hi, it's Jamie, Progressive number one, number two employee. Leave a message at the... Hey Jamie, it's me, Jamie. This is your daily pep talk. I know it's been rough going ever since people found out about your acapella group, Mad Harmony, but you will bounce back. I mean, you're the guy always helping people find coverage options with the Name Your Price tool. It should be you giving me the pep talk.

Now get out there, hit that high note, and take Mad Harmony all the way to nationals this year! Sorry, it's pitchy. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and Affiliates. Price and coverage match limited by state law. Good afternoon, I'm Chris Simino, PatriotsInsideOfAScout.com, and also your host of Locked On Patriots, your source for everything Patriots. Today is Monday, April 10th, 2017. It hasn't been very busy over the last couple weeks. This has been a little bit smaller things going on, but we will report to you guys some of those

small moves that have been made, that have been made, and as always we'll have some other news for you guys today too. We also today want to take a deep dive into the rookie cornerback pool to get an idea of who the Patriots will target at that position. Like we've been saying, we're not going to waste your time with the Adorey Jacksons or players like that because the Patriots simply won't have a chance to draft the top tier guys. We've focused on the prospects ranked 50 and down at the cornerback position and every other position for that matter too. And we're going to pinpoint who fits and why. So before we get started, I just want my listeners to know that I can be found on Twitter under the handle

Chris underscore Siminoe at C-H-R-I-S underscore S-I-M-O-N-E-A-U. If you have any questions for the show, be it about the Patriots, myself, Patriots Insider, or if you're looking to advertise here on Locked On Patriots, you can email me directly at simono.christopher5 at gmail.com that's S-I-M-O-N-E-A-U dot C-H-R-I-S-T-O-P-H-E-R

the number 5 at gmail.com If you're a member of Patriots Insider on scout.com, you can contact me directly on the site via message. Alright, enough with the formalities. Let's get down to some news, Patriots news. So first thing I want to talk about today, apparently there's an offer on the table for LeGarrette Blount.

That just may not cut it. Blount is still an unrestricted free agent, and now we know that he does have at least one offer, and it's from New England. Blount was interviewed at the Celtics game recently and said that there is, quote, an offer on the table. He just wants the team to give him some money. That's another way of saying he wants more guaranteed money,

which is understandable coming off a season where he ran for nearly 1,200 yards and 18 touchdowns. As we said at the start of the show, the Patriots did bring in Adrian Peterson, and it wasn't just a meeting, it was an actual tryout, so Belichick could see for himself how Peterson looks physically. If that isn't a team serious about finding another option at running back, I don't know what it is. Blount needs to understand that regardless of the numbers he put up, he's 30, he quit on the last team that signed him to a big deal, and he's been more blackballed from teams than

Colin Kirkpatrick in a way. Kaepernick, sorry. Colin Kaepernick. If I'm Blount, I'm reading the writing on the wall, ask for more performance bonuses, see if the Patriots will help you out in that way, and then sign the deal before Peterson comes in and steals your job, because that could very well happen. I just think that this is one of those things where it's timing. And I know that the Peterson situation, if he hasn't signed with a team before the draft

and it comes draft time and the draft comes and goes and he's still out there and the Patriots haven't signed Blount, don't be surprised if New England leans Peterson's way and he comes here and Blount's sitting there without a team to play for. We'll keep you guys updated on the situation as it develops. The Patriots also went out and re-signed their, I say running back, but he's really more of just a special teams demon in Brandon Bolden. The Patriots like Brandon Bolden, and Bolden likes the Patriots. He should, considering that his skill set as a running back is very limited

but he does make plays and coverage on special teams his coverage ability is what earned him another deal with New England this time one year deal worth $775,000 $50,000 of that is going to be in the signing bonus and $30,000 of that comes from his work bonus this according to Mike Reese of ESPN deal counts for $695,000 against the Patriots cap also. So, again, Bolden is one of the core coverage guys on special teams.

So, although some people may see him as a below-average running back, I do. I see him as that. The Patriots see him as an above-average special teams player, and that's one of the reasons why him and Slater and Ebner and guys like that are around, because the Patriots value special teams, which I respect as a special teams coordinator myself. If special teams doesn't do their job, it's definitely going to affect the game.

So Belichick understands this, and this is why he pays his middle class better than anybody else in the league. So welcome back, Brandon Bolden. I'm sure you'll make the roster strictly as a special teams guy. Speaking of Bill Belichick, he's been on a scouting tour, and his recent stop has brought him to Texas. He's making up for his lost scouting time from when he was in the playoffs and winning his fifth Super Bowl, technically his seventh actually,

by getting out and personally working out players that his scouts have pointed to as their best fits. Latest stop on the tour is in Texas, and that's a place where the Patriots recently drafted from when they selected Malcolm Brown with their 2015 first-round pick. We spoke of a prospect from Texas that we liked here on Lockdown Patriots. We spoke with him last week, and that is running back Dante Freeman, the 6'1", 249-pound back that I think has the perfect build to take a beating and keep on running in the NFL and be able to play at that level.

Let's hope that Freeman was part of Belichick's meeting because I really think that a big, bruising young back might be an ingredient that pushes the Patriots offense to even greater heights. It certainly didn't help John Elway when Terrell Davis was drafted, so it makes sense to find a stud running back to help Brady as he starts to officially get old. It is what it is. He's getting old, and if you can put a stud running back next to him, it's going to make it a lot easier.

I've been saying this for like 15 years. A couple times they've done it, and they've been dominant when they have, so it definitely works. It also doesn't hurt to draft a running back when the only one on the roster signed beyond 2017 is DJ Foster, a guy who barely sees the field. So the Patriots definitely need to draft somebody, and I think Dante Freeman is a guy that they like, and the fact that Belichick was in Texas this past weekend,

I think will definitely help to get an idea of what they think Freeman can bring to the table and if he's somebody the Patriots are going to be interested in. All right, shifting gears. So apparently we were all excited about it last week, Patriots fans, media. We were excited about it here at Locked on Patriots. But unfortunately, the Patriots say their Sherman interest, Richard Sherman interest, has come and gone. We discussed it at length, what we thought he could bring to the Patriots, but the front office is saying, no, you can just put that away.

This was reported by Tommy Curran, a great, great reporter on Comcast Sports New England. The Patriots did inquire about Sherman's services and did have preliminary discussions with Seattle, but that is as far as it got. The good news, and this was pointed out to by one of the few guys on 98.5 who I can actually listen to, Mark Bertrand, the Patriots are looking to move forward with their two top-flight cornerbacks in 2017,

which is the same thing they did in 2014 when they faced one of the toughest schedules in the league. So if the trade market was to open back up on Sherman, I wouldn't be surprised to hear the Patriots' name come back up, especially if they haven't gotten anywhere with Malcolm Butler. I know that they're going to probably sign him to his tender and keep him for the one year, but there's no question that they're going to continue to try to talk to his agents about re-signing a long-term deal. And if they say there's no chance they're going to be able to get him back after the season, and the Sherman thing comes up and Butler's name gets roped into that, don't be surprised.

Don't be surprised that the Patriots end up shipping him out of here, and he comes to some handshake agreement with Seattle or Seattle decides, you know what, we'll just franchise you and move forward from there. Because it's funny when you hear people talk about Malcolm Butler and his situation and how he really can't trade him now. There's nothing you can do with him now. Well, that's not true.

Once he signs his tender, he's actually more, I think he's a more valuable guy to trade because teams will look at him and say, well, listen, we can trade for this guy, have him play under the $3.9 million, $9.1 million tender, first-round tender. Then we can go ahead and franchise him if we can't come to an agreement with him. And guess what? He wants to be paid in the top five corner. Well, you just franchised him. You're going to pay him as a top five corner anyways. Say the next season, you still haven't come to an agreement. You franchise him again. corner well you just franchised him you're going to pay him as a top five corner anyways say the

next season you still haven't come to an agreement you franchise him again and guess what you just got three years out of him you got his prime years out of him and you paid him what he expected you didn't have to say you didn't have to give him a long-term deal and you get three years of malcolm butler so in probably we'll be able to keep him long-term, but you never know. Maybe you only get three years out of him, but those are his 27, 28, and 29 years, the three prime years for a cornerback in the NFL. So I just don't think that thing's done yet, and I think if Sherman's name comes back up again, then he really, the Patriots in Seattle really does want to trade him.

I think the Patriots would definitely entertain it, especially if it was Malcolm Butler and, say, a fourth-round pick. But as of now, according to Curran, it's dead. So his one subject I'm not going to spend a lot of time on ever. It's just one of those things that, as a Patriots supporter and working for the team and writing for the team, I have to bring this up because it's my job. So the Hernandez

jury still hasn't given a verdict. Aaron Hernandez double murder trial, again, something I've tried to avoid talking about. It's in its final stages now. The jury gets to decide if the former Gator and Patriot tight end is guilty of double murder. Hernandez already is serving a life sentence for the 2013 murder of Odin Lloyd, his quote-unquote friend, and also the boyfriend of his fiancée's sister. He is now awaiting his fate in the double murder of Daniel De Abreu and Saffiro Furtado, two men he is accused of shooting on July 16, 2012, after he had a run-in with them at a Boston nightclub. One of them apparently spilled a drink on him and smiled at him,

and that set off the lunatic. The main reason I don't talk about this case, the case is, is simple. I don't see the point. The guy got hooked on angel dust, lost his mind, shot and killed three people, tried to kill a fourth, and is clearly a sociopath because he played it off like nothing bothered him. It's disturbing and not something we want to focus on on this show. So we'll talk one more time about this when the verdict comes down,

and that's it. Enough Aaron Hernandez talk. That's all you guys are going to get out of us. When the verdict comes out, we'll let you know, and then we're moving on, and we're going to pretend that he was never even part of the team. I want to take a minute to tell you about one of our sponsors. Patriots Insider on scout.com provides daily news, video

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In today's day and age where the ball is flying all over the field, all it takes is one guy getting beat to be the difference between winning and losing, and possibly winning and losing a Super Bowl. The Patriots are still on a stare down with their starting cornerback, Malcolm Butler, one of their starters, and the rest of the depth chart, besides Stephen Gilmore, is looking a little up in the air. So it would make sense for the Patriots to once again draft a corner. They always have their eye on defensive backs,

and this is the deepest class of strong defensive backs the NFL has seen in some time, if ever. Patriots may not have a first or second round pick, but there are definitely going to be corners available late in the draft, and then free agency that will catch Belichick in companies' eyes. Let's take a look at a few that I think the Patriots could be looking at. First guy. So remember, these guys are ranked between 54 and 133.

I didn't go deep into the guys that were going to be top tier, and we talked about that earlier. It's a waste of time. Chidobe Awuzie from Colorado. 6'200". I think that he would be an excellent fit for New England, especially as a slot corner. Now it appears Malcolm Butler will probably play under his one-year tender. Awuzie would most likely have to be selected with the 72nd pick because he is flying up teams' draft boards. He's an excellent coverage corner, excelling in both zone and man scheme,

but he isn't the flashiest guy. He doesn't make a ton of picks, in part because quarterbacks don't want to go his way and also due to his patient style. Uzi also needs to improve as a tackler, but that's going to come with NFL coaching too. I think he'd be an excellent pick for New England because he could fill that slot corner role in 2017 and possibly blossom into the corner who replaces Malcolm Butler in 2018. So keep an eye on him.

Chidobe Iwuzi out of Colorado. Again, 6'2", he's got good size too. The second corner who I think the Patriots are going to take a look at, Razul Douglas out of West Virginia. Good size, 6'3", 209. Douglas is a tough guy to gauge because he's pretty much came out of nowhere to become one of the stronger prospects in this year's draft. He wasn't highly recruited when he came out of high school in East Orange, New Jersey.

He was forced to go to JUCO. He went to Nassau Community College. He did struggle his first year there, but in 2013 he exploded onto the JUCO scene, and then the offices started to pour in. He passed up on office to FSU in Louisville, choosing to go to the Mountaineers, where he had actually, his family had relocated, and he was closer to that area, so he decided that that's where he was going to go. Douglas has a size that NFL general managers covet, especially nowadays as receivers and tight ends continue to get taller and more athletic. He does play

very upright though, which is going to be an issue when he has to cover receivers with good agility and quickness off that line. Plus it tends to hurt him when he attempts to get a jam at the line of scrimmage. So I think he's more suited for a team that runs zone. New England does both. They run zone and man. It seems they've run man more lately, but again, sometimes it depends on the skill set of the players that they have. So if they really like Douglas, I wouldn't be surprised if they used him and then used him more in zone than they do in man,

but Douglas definitely fits what they're looking for as far as size, but I think his rawness may scare the Patriots off, so we'll see what happens there. Third on the list, Cameron Sutton out of Tennessee, 5'11", 188. Sutton is one of those guys who may have been better off coming out as a junior, but he chose to stick around and finish his career in education, which is a great thing. One thing about Sutton, I think his stock may have dropped,

but it doesn't change the fact that he has a chance to be a strong cornerback in the NFL. It will work. It will take work to get there, but I think he can do it. Sutton was a four-year starter for Tennessee. He did miss five games his senior year due to the only injury he ever received in college. One area that Sutton must improve, though, is his overall strength. He struggles in man-to-man press, mainly due to that lack of strength, and that's something an NFL coach isn't going to want him to do,

just to get stronger. Sutton is smooth in coverage, though, and his coaches love him because he really gets called for P.I., and he doesn't give up many touchdowns. He only gave up three over the course of his four-year career, which is incredible. He also had an impressive 37 pass breakups,

so not only is he around the ball, he does it without making too much contact. I personally like Sutton's makeup and coverage ability. If he's still available in the fourth round, even with that third-round pick, I think he'd be a great fit as either a nickel corner or, again, a strong depth corner that could eventually take over as a starter in 2018. I am a big Cameron Sutton guy. I like him. He's fluid.

He's a good cornerback, and I really think he's a guy that would fit in very nicely with the Patriots due to his demeanor and just the way he goes about the game, and I know Belichick loves those type of guys, so keep an eye on him because I have a feeling that he's going to be somebody that the Patriots take a very, very long look at. Again, that's Cameron Sutton from Tennessee. Next on the list, a guy who's actually kind of the opposite, a little flashy. Tease Tabor out of Florida, 6'1", 99. Tabor declared for the draft early, left after Florida after his junior season. Tabor can definitely play at the NFL level, but coming out early may not have been the smartest move for the confident cornerback out of Washington, D.C.

He was a very good corner at Florida, being named all-SEC as a sophomore and a junior, and he was also AP third team his junior year, too, which is a high honor when you consider the amount of talent at the cornerback position heading into this draft. Some scouts actually like Tabor's ability, but they aren't huge fans of his flaws. He missed 13 tackles in 2015. He was suspended for failed drug tests, and he also had a run-in with a teammate in practice. The Patriots typically stay away from players with these types of issues,

but there are also times when this is simply a case of immaturity that changes when the player reaches the NFL setting. I don't know if the Patriots are ready to take a gamble on that guy yet because I know the guy we just talked about recently was one of those guys out of the same college. So Tabor may be in that category for them. There are some that believe that he struggles with deep speed too, and he may be more suited to cover slot and possession receivers in the NFL, which is okay because he'd be excellent in that role,

but that's going to limit where he gets drafted and probably push him down a little bit. I would say Tabor should be selected in the third round. Third round selection, I think, would be him, and I don't think the Patriots are going to take him. I just don't think he's a fit for what they're trying to do. Fourth on the list is DeMonte Casey out of San Diego State. Good size, 5'10", 184, not overly

tall, but not overly short. He's just another very good cornerback in a class loaded with talent at that position. Casey didn't have a hard time adjusting to college football. He appeared in 12 games as a freshman. He made his mark. He finished with 27 solo tackles, 13 assisted, and he picked the ball off two. He was officially on the map. The next three years, he started 41 out of 41 games at San Diego State played in, and he was extremely productive. He finished his college career with 171 solo tackles, 69 assisted tackles, 14.5 tackles for loss, 17 picks and 29 passes defended, a fumble recovery, and six forced fumbles.

This guy's a ball hawk. He has good instincts. He plays very well in zone and off man. So he is a potential fit for the Patriots. I like Casey a lot. I think he would definitely be a guy the Patriots are looking at. Casey's another corner that he can play the slot in the outside, and that's a skill set that's going to allow him to have a very long

and productive NFL career. I like Demonte Casey. I definitely think the Patriots, they're a team that's going to be big and have him on their list. I guarantee it. He's definitely a guy that fits. Next on the list, Fabian Moreau. Again, we're sticking with guys with good size. The UCLA, 6'2", 6'. He has great ability. In fact, Jim Moore Jr., who was his coach, thought he was a, quote, first-round talent. There's a lot of guys that are first-round talents,

but the fact is that prevent that from happening, and that appears to be the case with Morrow. Morrow got on the field right away his freshman year. He appeared in 11 games, mostly on special teams. He would never come off the field again, though, in college. Morrow started 38 games in four years. Three of those starts coming in 2015 before he got hurt and he was knocked out for the season.

He did receive a medical redshirt to play for one more year. He finished his career with 99 solo tackles, 50 assisted tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, 3 picks, 21 passes defended, and 2 forced fumbles. He does a good job of jamming receivers. Some

scouts actually think he has the ability to be even more physical due to his awesome strength. He's a converted corner running back, so he's really strong and fast. Moreau could go anywhere from the second to the fifth round, depending on how scouts see him. I personally see him going in the fourth, and don't be surprised to hear he's being drafted by New England, because he's the type of guy that they would love to take a chance on, because of his athletic ability and the fact that he was so productive as a senior. I think Moreau is a guy that the Patriots have definite interest in.

So keep an eye on Fabian Moreau out of UCLA. Next, Shaquille Griffin. Shaquille with no E out of Central Florida. Another 6-footer, 6 feet, 194. He played for UCF, a smaller school, but he was heavily recruited coming out of Lakewood High School down Central Florida. Another 6'6", 194. He played for UCF, a smaller school, but he was heavily recruited coming out of Lakewood High School down in Florida. He chose to stay home and go to school instead of venturing out,

and it worked out for him. Started one game, appeared to date as a freshman, but he didn't look like a guy who didn't belong. His sophomore year, he started six games, appeared in all 12, and was on his way to join the night's starting lineup. Junior year, he started 11 of 12 games, and also started 13 games his senior year. In all, he finished with 79 solo tackles, 34 assisted, three tackles for loss, six picks. Four of them actually came his senior year. Two touchdown returns, 27 passes defended, and one fumble recovery. He's got excellent speed in short

areas, but his long speed is questionable. And his instincts, according to many scouts, is just average. Scouts think that because of his issues with long speed, his talents will be best suited for a team that runs a cover two. That's not really what New England does. They do occasionally, but that's not really the system in total. So he could be a Tampa two type guy.

So keep an eye on that. Some other names to remember here as we wrap this up, first one, Corduroy Tankersley out of Clemson, 6'1", 199, his career numbers, 90 solo tackles, 27 assisted, 10 for loss, 1 sack, 9 picks, 1 touchdown, 20 passes defended. He ran a 4-4 in the 40 at the Combine, and he's been compared to Drake Kirkpatrick, so quarter-rate tanker, so keep an eye on him. Sidney Jones out of Washington, 6'1", 186. His career numbers are also impressive, 105 solo tackles, 40 assisted tackles, 8.5 for a loss,

one sack, eight interceptions, two total touchdowns, 21 passes defended, three fumble recoveries, six forced fumbles, and he also ran a 4-4-7-40 at the combine here's the problem sydney jones tore his achilles at the pro day so taking him means you're taking on a project that you're not going to see in 2017 you're not going to have him until 2018 but before this he was considered a first or second round pick so he could be a guy that a team takes and maybe the fifth or sixth round is kind of like a red shirt, keep him on the roster,

and then you've got a good cornerback coming back in 2018. So that's a lot of names for you guys to soak up and think about and go out and do your research on these guys too. Watch some video on them, try to get an idea of what these guys can do, and make your own opinion. Feel free to go on, log on to Audioboom and comment on the show. If there's some corners out there that you like, put them on there. Maybe we'll talk about it a little bit because there's always guys that are rookies and players that

fans know about that maybe we just missed that have good skill set to feel what the Patriots are looking for. If there's anybody on that list that you think we're missing, feel free to say something. I want to thank you guys all for listening and thank you for joining us for this Monday edition of Locked On Patriots. Be sure to go to iTunes and subscribe to our show today, as in right now, and tell your friends about us.

Here at Locked On Patriots, we're all about getting Patriots fans the most info you need to be the most in-the-know Patriots fan. Be sure to join us again tomorrow as we'll provide you with up-to-the-minute news on the world champions. Again, I'm your host, Chris Simino. Thank you for joining us today, and be sure to join us again tomorrow. Have a great day, Patriots fans. Carlos Gutierrez and others take on this question in the fall edition of The Catalyst,

a journal of ideas from the Bush Institute. Surveys show Americans place less trust in institutions like the media and business. Others contend America has faced far more challenging periods and emerged strong. Leading policymakers, Bush Institute experts, and respected journalists take on this debate. Read about it at bushcenter.org slash catalyst.