Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Locked On Patriots April 12, 2018 - Lamar Speculation and RB Draft Fits

Episode Date: April 12, 2018

Mark Schofield addresses some of the recent speculation about Lamar Jackson and then dives into some running back fits for each of New England's picks in the 2018 NFL Draft. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Good morning, welcome into Lockdown Patriots for Thursday, April 12th, 2018. Mark Schofield in the big chair. This is going to be our last four shows a week week. Coming up next week, we're going to go back to five days through the draft and into the aftermath of the draft because now it's showtime. Reminded to follow the work over on Twitter at Mark Schofield. Follow the work at Inside the Pylon. Get my Check With Me piece out, which we talked about a little bit yesterday.

I'm going to retouch on that briefly today. Also, reminder to follow the work over at Pro Football Weekly, where I've been contributing to their draft coverage. Got a piece out on day two, day three, and perhaps UDFA quarterback fits. That's up right now. You can check it out over at profootballweekly.com. Today's show, we're going to continue the trend we started yesterday. We're going to talk about running backs at each spot of the draft.

We're going to kind of go quickly through the guys at the top because with four running backs in the stable plus Brandon Bolden, I'm not sure they're going to be wasting an early pick on a running back. But with the loss of Deion Lewis, there are some intriguing guys, I think in the day three range, including a name that nobody's been talking about, nobody's probably heard about, unless you've read the InsideThePylon.com

draft guide. And this is a guide that I scouted, did a little cross-check on. Again, nobody wants me as a lead scout on another position other than quarterback, but I'll chime in if need be. And we needed multiple eyes on this guy. But first, did want to mention, in that Check With Me piece I talked about, and all the Check With Me pieces I do this season, I include at the end a segment I call Help In Another. And part of it is trying to make Twitter and this football media world work for good, be a force for good in the world. And I've included links to some charity work,

some charity work that other members I have been working on, such as Benjamin Solak over at NDT Scouting. He did a real spring break trip down to Tijuana, where he worked with an orphanage down there. And as most of you who listen to this show know, next Monday is Patriots Day in New England, the Boston Marathon.

One of the best days of the year in the Boston area because you get the marathon, you get the Sox game. Might be some Celtics and Bruins playoff games. I haven't checked the schedule, but that's certainly a possibility with both teams in the playoffs. Got my buddy Jason Burke, who I grew up with. He's one of those crazy people you can read about on the Boston Globe, one of the double Boston people. So sometime shortly before dawn on Marathon Monday,

Jason and about 10, 15 other people are going to be at the finish line of the marathon and they'll start running west. Because what they do, they run the marathon backwards, not physically backwards, but they go from Boston to Hopkinton. They get there, give them enough time to sort of rest, recuperate,

and when the real marathon kicks off, they double back. They call it the double Boston. Berkey's been doing that for a while. Good luck to Berkey. But as I said, at the end of that check with me piece, I have help in another, and I talk about Sean Feeney, who's a guy that I played, you know, Pop Warner

with, started playing football with when I was 10, played all the way through high school. I was the quarterback, he was the running back, although Sean was, and I said this in the article, you could tell from an early age that he was different, he was special, he was incredible. You know, he's such a talented kid, could play

pretty much any position other than nose tackle on defense. If he had a little bit of a better throwing motion, I might have been worried about my job. But he was such a great running back, set the Waltham High School single-season Russian record when we were seniors. And he's running the Boston Marathon for a cause that's near and dear to his heart, neurofibro-rotosis, northeast. Neurofibrotosis is a condition which, it's a genetic disorder of the nervous system that causes tumors to grow in the nerves anywhere in the body.

So if you could, go to that piece that's up at InsideThePylon.com right now. It's my Check With Me self-evaluation on the 2016 quarterback class. There's a link in there. If you can, check it outvaluation on the 2016 quarterback class. There's a link in there. If you can, check it out. Donate if you can. It would be tremendous. And if you do, let them know that Sko sent you.

You might get a kick out of that. Let's talk some Patriots stuff now. And a bit of a firestorm touched off over the past 24 hours or so. It started with a tweet from Mike Freeman indicating that of the teams that are interested in Lamar Jackson, the team showing the most interest is your New England Patriots. Perhaps a bit of a surprise. You know, there are some sort of questions about Lamar Jackson in terms of whether he can transition to the National Football League.

Now, if you've been listening to this show, if you've been following me and my various appearances throughout draft season, you know that I'm rather high on Lamar Jackson. And I think he can be a quarterback in the National Football League. And I've said it on here and elsewhere. I think he would be a great fit in New England's offense because he's running a version of it right now. I think his more ideal fit is a West Coast slash Air Raid hybrid like New Orleans, which is a fit I mentioned in a piece over at Pro Football Weekly. But I do think the fit in New England would be good.

And you know who else might agree with that? Number 12 himself. Because what really put this into high gear, it happened late last night as I was getting ready to go to bed. One last check of the timeline to see if there's anything I need to know about. And you see an Instagram snapshot, a screenshot of an Instagram post from, I think it was the NFL Network or NFL.com itself,

talking about Lamar Jackson and how Bill Belichick might be looking at him in the wake of their game against Houston and thinking, oh, I need a guy like that. And there's a comment in there from Deion Sanders, and then there's another comment right behind Deion in response to Deion's comment from Tom Brady himself called Lamar Jackson a beast.

And everybody instantly explodes. Could that mean something? Maybe, maybe not. But it goes to show you that, you know, that among the sort of quarterback fraternity, I think if you talk to other quarterbacks in the NFL, in college, they will have a high level of appreciation for what Lamar Jackson can do, what he brings to the table as a quarterback. And perhaps a guy like Tom Brady sees some of Lamar Jackson's sort of athletic, electric type plays outside of the pocket and has a level of appreciation for that because that's not Tom Brady's game, but he can certainly appreciate somebody that brings that to the table. And so you wonder if Brady would be willing to sort of serve as a mentor to a Lamar

Jackson. Of course, you know, something like that, it makes the mind sort of go in a lot of different directions, but that's what makes the draft so fun. Up next, we're going to talk running backs. I'm going to quickly touch on some guys early in the draft that I like when the Patriots are on the clock. Again, not expecting them to pick running back early, but when we get into the third segment of the show, we're going to talk about some day three guys that I really like, including a name that might be new to all of you. That's ahead with me, Mark Schofield and Locked On Patriots.

Mark Schofield back with you now, and we're going to dive into the running backs a little bit here in the rest of this show. As I mentioned earlier, it's unlikely that the Patriots expend some early draft capital on the running back spot. Look, you've got Rex Burkhead,

Jeremy Hill, Mike Gillisley, James White, Brandon Bolden. You've got a stable of five, Jeremy Hill, Mike Gillislee, James White, Brandon Bolden. You've got a stable of five running backs. So it's unlikely that they would address this position early in the draft, say, you know, in round one or two, maybe even in round three. Maybe it's if they do address running back, it's probably a day three selection. But there are some guys that I want to mention briefly that I like at these spots. And again, right now, and saw this today on Twitter, Patriots have some of the top draft capital

in this class right now. And only one team that made the playoffs has more. So they've got a lot of options available to them, including two picks in the first round. They're at 23. They're at 31. Some guys to mention in that range, Ronald Jones from USC and a guy that I helped scout over at the InsideThePylon.com draft guide, Nick Chubb from the University of Georgia. And we can start here with Chubb, who again, I contributed to doing some work on. I put these guys both in the same sort of area. You know, we had Paul Garanaja. He was our main scout on Nick Chubb. Looks at him as a running back who thrives with power, balance, vision,

and patience on inside runs to consistently put positive yards on the board. He's not a home run threat and must improve his third down ability. That's one of the weaknesses with some of these running backs is in the pass game, particularly in pass protection, there are some questions there. And when you look at protecting number 12 as job one for everybody that's not number 12, you do wonder about that. Tested well at the combine, 4.5240, 1.5210 yards split.

His strengths, balance, vision, patience, and mental toughness. He could be a starter year one in an inside zone or gap scheme. This is from Paul's report. Only his pass protection recognition and execution hold him back. His patience, vision, and instinct with the ball separate him from others, and he constantly falls forward and rarely uses yards. Has the acceleration to separate, but not the long speed for the home run. Some weaknesses identified on Nick Chubb, pass protection, pass routes, and long speed.

But, you know, he's, I think, he was our fifth running back inside the pylon. I think this is kind of the area, maybe at 31 or early in the second, where you might see him come off the board. Again, not sure the Patriots go this route. Not sure they would go with a Ronald Jones. An athletic and productive college back. Looks like he could be a full-time NFL starter. Outstanding fit for an outside zone-based running attack.

Patriots do do some of that. Excellent athletic ability. Excellent athletic ability, excellent quickness, agility, and explosiveness with very good balance. Again, this is from Paul Garanazza's report. Shows very good vision and patience on inside and outside zone runs. Good burst through the hole on inside

and outside zone runs. Also looking at Ronald Jones here out of USC some weaknesses on him situational awareness and strength in pass protection with respect to situational awareness there were times when he didn't know when to stay in bounds or not

in situations whether it's end of half end of the game there were some times when you know, swing passes were thrown in his direction it seemed like he just didn't play to the whistle. He's a guy that could compete for a starting time in year one, would be best fit in a zone scheme. Not sure, again, that the Patriots would go in this route,

but these are some guys that might be there, you know, at 23, at 31 to consider. In those second-round picks, another running back from Georgia, Sonny Michel, as well as Royce Freeman, the running back from the University of Oregon. Let's start with Royce, who, again, comes from the University of Oregon. Very talented player. We weren't that high on him over at InsideThePylon.com.

We had a good number of running backs listed ahead of him. In fact, when you come down to it, Royce Freeman was our RB7, which kind of puts him into that second-round range. Tom Bede, the lead scout on him. Tom Wright's a scheme-diverse running back who wins off his athletic ability and burst that can create consistent mismatches in space for an offense. We'll need to address this technique and strengthen pass protection. Again, that common theme of pass protection. A lot of these

running backs in college, they weren't asked to do pass protection a ton. You know, they were more used as offensive weapons rather than true pass pro. So that's going to be a question mark with a lot of these guys. But when you look at Royce Freeman, again, athletic ability, play speed, vision, decision making, change of direction ability, yardage after contact, those are some areas where Royce Freeman really sort of

stands out for us. Weaknesses though, the pass game, blocking, ability to separate in the pass game versus man coverage and his technique in pass protection. And when you consider how valuable the pass game, blocking, ability to separate in the pass game versus man coverage and his technique in pass protection. And when you consider how valuable the pass game is to the New England Patriots, how much they use their running backs in the pass game,

those are some big question marks when you try to project him to the New England Patriots. So that second round might be sort of the sweet spot for Freeman, especially that pick at 63, but not sure about the fit. Same thing for Sonny Michel. Some similar things on him. Again, a player that I helped study. He was a player that we were actually pretty high on.

I think we're a little bit higher on him than the league is. He was our RB3. We identified him as a scheme-diverse running back who wins off his athletic ability in bursts that can create consistent mismatches in space for an offense. Needs to address his technique and strength in pass protection. Again, the pass protection question. But he's more of a home-run threat guy.

Has the ability to take the distance every time he touches the ball due to his ability to generate yardage after contact and his play speed play speed, burst, athletic ability, the strengths being identified on him he will compete immediately for start and time and touches in both zone and power schemes due to his athletic ability, his vision and his patience as well as being able to press the hole and explode through it.

Plus, he can be used as a weapon out of the backfield in the passing game. And, you know, if you check out the ITP draft guide, you can see the cross-check conversation with a bunch of people where they're talking about how he's an explosive athlete. He could be a game-changing back, and that's why we had him third. I think the league's probably a little bit higher on some of the other guys and doesn't have him as high, which is why he might be there at, say, 43. But that's an intriguing option as well.

Now, we're going to pause for one quick moment here. We're going to come back with more of your round three and beyond guys. These are guys that I think really could be in the mix for the Patriots as they start thinking about running back. That's ahead with me, Mark Schofield, in Locked on Patriots. Mark Schofield back with you now on this Thursday edition of Locked on Patriots running through some running back potential prospects here for the New England Patriots at each draft spot.

We're now into the third round here, and this is probably going to be a little bit of a reach here, both in terms of how other people in the media view him, how we viewed him inside the pylon where he was our RB14. But I'm going to look at Naeem Hines here, the kid from NC State, who I've talked about on this show. I think if you want to try to replace Deion Lewis, this is your guy. And, you know, when you talk about big boards, for example,

I think, you know, he's a player sort of ranked in the, like, 120s by most outlets I've seen. But I look at Naeem Hines and I think that, look, if you want to address running back, if you want to draft him, if he's a guy that you've identified that you want, you might have to do it with that 95th pick overall because you don't pick again until the sixth round at 198. You know, unless you trade back a bit. Chris Van Dyke was our lead scouting him over at ITP. A small and explosive running back who can leverage his block

and provide a home run threat, doesn't present the size or strength to break tackles or push the pile for yards after the contact. That was a similar knock on Deion Lewis. And having watched him, having seen his ability sort of contribute in the kick return game, I mean, I think that's a tremendous value. You know, you get Julian Edelman off the field

and punts and kick returns. One-year projection on Naeem Hines. He'd carve out a role as a home run hitter, third down back, will need some pass protection refinement, will likely receive returner reps as a rookie. Has the quickness to get to the corner and good lawn speed to go the distance and run away from defenders at all levels of the field. Shows good technique, effort, and mental toughness in pass protection.

Showing solid mental process and blitz pickup. That's better than some of the guys we've talked about already. Is it probably early at 95 for Naeem Hines? Yeah, probably. But again, when you don't pick until 198, you might have to do it a little bit earlier than you would want. So sit here right now. If Naeem Hines is a guy they've identified, it might be at 95.

Now we go to those six-round picks, 198 and 210. Akram Wadley and Ryan Nall. Wadley is somebody that we were higher on over at ITP again than most people are because you do wonder sort of about the scheme fit. Undersized but smart and decisive back who will thrive in an outside zone scheme that takes advantage of his quickness, burst, and decision making. That's from Drew Jacobs at the ITP Draft Guide.

He was somebody that was kind of underwhelming at the senior bowl. I think a lot of people wanted to see more from him. There were times when you saw him in sort of pass protection situations and it wasn't good. You know, blocking is a big question mark on him. Strengths though,

athletic ability, mental processing, vision, burst, change of direction, and play speed. Change of direction makes sense because of his experience in a zone run scheme, a zone block and run scheme. Fits best in an outside zone run scheme.

Can make big plays with his vision, his change of direction, his burst. Can make defenders miss both in the hole and in space. But he will need to improve his sort of play strength in both running

through tackles, finishing runs, as well as in pass protection. He's somebody that might come off the board a little bit earlier than this. But I think if he's there in this range, it would be a player that I would consider definitely. The other player sort of in this spot is Ryan Nall, who, you know, hasn't gotten a ton of attention, you know, as we've gone through this draft process here.

Other running backs have certainly gotten far more attention than Ryan Nall, but with Ryan Nall, you wonder about the usage in the NFL. He doesn't really have the athletic ability, the quickness, the footwork to create much as a running back. But a very decisive runner, good vision to see holes, will not dance around, won't make a ton of cuts.

Look, he's going to be downhill getting a go. Could be a short yardage back, but they kind of have that Mike Gillisley. He could be a position switch. Might want to look at him like an H-back or even a fullback. He has experience as an H-back. That was kind of what he was recruited as,

6'2", 232. So Ryan Nall has some versatility there. So he might be an interesting option at the end of that sixth round. And then finally, pick one of the seven. We're going to talk about a guy that hasn't gotten almost any attention yet. That's Jeffrey Wilson, who ended up as our RB16. And an interesting little side note, this is how the ITP draft guide works, because we had an initial scout, Chris Van Dyke. We had another scout on him. They brought me in

for a third set of eyes. Then we brought in like two more people to really make sure we weren't, you know, too wild in the eyes for this guy. We initially had him higher. We ended up sort of revising our grades down on him a little bit. But we look at him as an explosive running back who wins with his athletic ability, natural explosiveness, and vision as a true home run threat. We'll need to bulk up in pass protection and ball security.

Ball security an issue with him. Lots of fumbles, so that's something that you do wonder about. But he has, as we described. Elite balance. Through contact. Routinely is not brought down. Until the third defender.

Makes an excellent decision. That shows good football intelligence. When cutting back across the field. And creating. Does a very good job. Creating when the point of attack. Is not open. Has the explosion.

To pull off long runs in pass protection when i watched him you know this is what i said on him we have my cross check you know discussion in there explosive athlete can be a weapon early because of his ability in the passing game as well as his ability to run to the edges i think a smart offensive coordinator can use his skill set when he's a rookie. Pass protection-wise and blocking-wise in general, it's a technique and not an effort thing. Very quick to leave his feet and chip lead with his shoulder and head. Now some refinement might come if he adds size and mass to his frame,

but he does show potential and will there. Curious to see how he tests this week, but I get the love. There were questions again. Fumbles one in every 33 carries. 17 fumbles, 11 lost. There's an issue there. David Archibald with perhaps the cross-check. And we got a lot of cross-check

stuff and discussion in here. You should check this out if you get your hands on the ITP draft guide. Dave Archibald with perhaps the greatest sort of commentary in a cross-check discussion in the entire ITP draft guide. Dave Archibald, and I'm quoting here. I checked last night and didn't see a lot of Twitter buzz on Wilson, but Bill Carroll is a big fan. Also, there is a video where he played a game with the flu and barfed before back-to-back plays.

So, look, if you want a guy that's going to show the effort like that to play through vomiting, Jeffrey Wilson's your guy. But all joking aside, very intriguing player. Not a lot of people are talking about him. Get to know Jeffrey Wilson. I know it sounds crazy talking about a guy that might go in the seventh round, but he's a name to watch. That will do it for this Thursday episode of Locked

On Patriots. That will do it for this week as well. We'll be off Friday, but coming back, like I said, coming back next week, going back to five days, because it is now draft season. It's time to roll people. We're going to roll through some of the other positions. We're going to do another mock draft Monday. Getting

all the information we can to you before the NFL draft kicks off down in Dallas. Until next time, keep it locked right here to me, Mark Schofield, and Locked on Patriots.