Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Locked On Patriots April 23, 2018 - Mock Draft Monday!

Episode Date: April 23, 2018

Mark Schofield puts together his final Patriots' Mock Draft before the festivities get underway.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Good morning and welcome into Locked on Patriots for Monday, April 23rd, 2018. Mark Schofield here in the big chair as I am five days a week, bringing you up to and through the 2018 NFL Draft. Reminder to follow me on Twitter at Mark Schofield. Follow the work over at InsideThePylon.com. My top 20 quarterbacks by this time have dropped, including a video over at YouTube, YouTube.com backslash InsideThePylon,

with my video breakdown of why Josh Rosen is my QB1. You can also check out some of the recent work over at Pro Football Weekly, where I've been contributing quarterback analysis for them as well. Today, a Meat Crafters Mock Draft Monday. That's right. As I teased last week, this is the final, the sort of game day edition of a mock draft here. We are going to use Matt Miller's big board to do a live mock

draft working through the Patriots picks in the 2018 NFL draft. And I mentioned my friends again over at MeCrafters, MeCrafters.com. I'm just plugging them because I love them. They have great stuff over there. Their skinny salamis, which they were kind enough to send over, are fantastic. Their salamis as well. I stumbled across those at a butcher shop recently. Love those. Their cacciatore salami is fantastic. Their fuet salami, their fennel salamis, they're fantastic as well.

If you're in the DMV area, you can find them at Balducci's. Yes, organic markets. If you're not in the district of Columbia, Maryland, or Virginia area, you can check them out. Mecrafters.com. They will ship anywhere. Again, if you do that, let them can check them out. Mecrafters.com. They will ship anywhere.

Again, if you do that, let them know I sent you. Let's get to it, though. Mock draft Monday. Final mock draft before the real thing. We're going to use Matt Miller's board. Matt does a very good job. His board often lines up with what the boards look like from the National Football League itself.

Let's not waste any more time. Let's dive in. Patriots on the clock at 23. Lots any more time. Let's dive in. Patriots on the clock at 23. Lots of options available. They could go corner. Josh Jackson from Iowa is on the board. Jair Alexander from Louisville is on the board. Isaiah Oliver from Colorado is on the board. Mike Hughes from Central Florida is on the board. And in what I've been talking to people when I've been doing other shows, other mock drafts, it seems the Patriots could have a pick of any of these corners at both 23 and 31. So if you're somebody that wants them to address corner, you might get your crack at some of the top guys in this class,

depending on how the board falls. Those are some options. You could go edge. Sam Hubbard is available. You could go offensive tackle. Colton Miller is available. But I think you go linebacker here. He's a linebacker class. Does thin out a little bit. Rashawn Evans is available. That's a very enticing option, the linebacker from Alabama. Malik Jefferson is available, more of the athletic type.

But we'll go with a name that's been linked to the New England Patriots often throughout this draft process. I know there are some concerns about his neck, but Leighton Vander Esch, the linebacker from Boise State, one-year starter, athletic player, showed some signs of being potentially a very good player in the National Football League throughout this season. He'll need some season and some development, but I think at this point in the draft,

at this point with the Patriots roster, you need to address the linebackers, so we will go. Leighton Vander Esch, linebacker, Boise State, with the Patriots roster you need to address linebackers so we will go Leighton Van Der Esch linebacker Boise State with the 23rd overall pick for those of you who might be wondering who may have come off the board right before this pick at least in this simulation Connor Williams goes off the board at pick 18 to the Seahawks Calvin Ridley at 19 to the Cowboys and interestingly enough Ridley I think I mentioned this last week the over-under in his draft spot is 19 and a half but there he is at 19 Vegas knows what they're doing friends and finally you get will Hernandez from Detroit a 20 Marcus Davenport to Cincinnati at 21 and

Billy price to the Buffalo Bills at 22. Wasting no time. The Patriots back on the clock here at 31. In case you were wondering who might have come off the board before this pick. Josh Jackson at 26 to Atlanta. Mason Rudolph makes it off the board here at 27 to the New Orleans Saints. I'd wonder about that pick. But that gives you five first-round quarterbacks.

The big five are now off the board in this simulation. Rashawn Evans, off the board to the Pittsburgh Steelers at 28. James Daniels to the Jaguars at 29. The center from Iowa. And Austin Corbett, the guard from Nevada. He goes at 30 to the Vikings. Options right now for the Patriots. Isaiah Oliver, he's still on the board. Mike Hughes still on the board. Colton Miller still on the Vikings. Options right now for the Patriots. Isaiah Oliver, he's still on the board.

Mike Hughes still on the board. Colton Miller still on the board. Mike Jacecki still on the board. Sam Hubbard still on the board. Malik Jefferson still on the board. But there's a guy that's fallen here, and I think this could happen on draft night. And if he does, and if the medicals check out, I think it's a tremendous tremendous pick at 31 overall and that's maurice hearst the defensive lineman from michigan he's still on the board right now if the medicals check out this is a situation where you run to the podium and turn the card in immediately before somebody sort of wakes up and realizes what has happened i think maurice hearst could be an instant impact type defender up front on the defensive line.

Patriots, I know they have Malcolm Brown. I know they have Danny Shelton. But those guys have contract issues at the end of this year. You might need to get somebody at least locked up for the 2019 season. And who better than the defensive tackle from Michigan? Maurice Hurst comes off the board to the New England Patriots at 31. Rollin' right along now. Rollin' right along?

That was a tongue twister. Rollin' right along now. We are now back on the clock, the New England Patriots, back on the clock with their first of the two second-round picks in the second round of the 2018 NFL Draft. Looking at the board, looking at some players that have come off already. Mike Hughes comes off the board at 38 to the Buccaneers.

Arden Key at 39 to the Bears. Dante Jackson, another corner at Denver to 40. Rashawn Golden, another corner at 41. And Malik Jefferson finally off the board at 42 to the Miami Dolphins. Options available to the New England Patriots. You could go wide receiver. Corton Sutton and Christian Kirk, SMU wide receiver, Texas AMU wide receiver.

Both of those players are on the board. Tight end options are available as well. Mike Giusecchi and Dallas Goddard, both on the board. You could go Hayden Hurst as well. He Giusecchi and Dallas Goddard, both on the board. You could go ahead and Hurst as well. He's still on the board. Taven Bryan, we just addressed defensive line, but he's available. Offensive tackles remain. Jamarco Jones from Ohio State. Tyrell Cosby Jr. from Oregon. But there's a player that's on the board that I think screams New England Patriot. I think his versatility, the fact that he's more of a Swiss Army knife on the board that I think screams New England Patriot. I think his versatility,

the fact that he's more of a Swiss Army knife on the defensive side of the football, somebody that can come in and sort of replace maybe Patrick Chun at some point. You can get him into the mix, get ready to develop him to take over that sort of versatile safety role. And that's Justin Reed, safety from Stanford. So with pick 43 overall, the Patriots address defense yet again. Three defensive picks and they go with Justin Reed, the safety from Stanford. So those are the first three picks of this Monday mock draft. Up ahead, we're going to get to that other second round pick as well as that pick in the third round. And then those day three picks. That's ahead with me, Mark Schofield and Locked On Patriots. Mark Schofield back with you now.

The New England Patriots again on the clock at 63. Players that have come off the board just before this simulated pick. Derek Nottie, defensive lineman to the Atlanta Falcons at 58. Jamarco Jones, offensive tackle to the 49ers at 59. Safety

Jesse Bates, who's caught some recent buzz here. He's off the board at 60 to the Steelers. Dallas Goddard, tight end to the Jacksonville Jaguars at 61. Nathan Shepard off the board. The defensive lineman, the small school kid out of Fort Hayes stayed at 62 to the Vikings.

Now the Patriots on the clock. Some options available. Ronald Jones, running back from USC. Hayden Hurst tight end South Carolina he's still there Anthony Averitt corner from Alabama is an option you could go offensive tackle with Jerron Christian from Louisville who got some first-round buzz from Ned Kuyper I'm excuse me Mel Kuyper Nick Chubb running back from Georgia is available quarterbacks coming into focus

now again Luke Falk from Washington State is available. Looking at how this board sort of stacks up right now, looking at some of the Patriots' needs coming up, I think we're going to go and address the tight end position. I think this is sort of a spot to do it. I think we've got to prepare for potentially life after Gronkowski. And so Hayden Hurst comes off the board at 63. The tight end from South Carolina, the former baseball player.

He comes off the board here at 45. So now we move ahead to the Patriots' third round pick, that pick at 95. And sometimes when you roll the dice, you get snake eyes. Was hoping to come back and get Kyle Lauletta here at 95. That's unfortunately not going to happen. Kyle Lauletta comes off the board at 79 to the Arizona Cardinals. And Mike White comes off the board at 83 to the Baltimore Ravens. Meaning as far as quarterbacks go, Kirk Bankert, Riley Ferguson, Tanner Lee, Chase Litton, Logan Woodside, JT Barrett.

Those are your options at this point. So again, this is part of the wisdom of doing mock drafts and simulating these out and why the Patriots do it themselves. There's a potential here that if you really wait into the third round, you might miss out really on the top tier of quarterbacks. That top tier for me being guys, you know, the top five guys, Mason Rudolph, Kyle Lauletta. And if you want to throw Falk and White in there as well, as sort of maybe the top two tiers of quarterbacks, they might be gone by 95.

So that's something to definitely keep in mind as we look ahead to the draft itself. Patriots might have to address it in the second round if they want to. Again, I've talked about some intriguing late-day three options or even UDFA types. And the Patriots might have to do that

and I might have to do that right now. But that's going to be down the road. Looking at this pick at 95 now, some options available. If you want to address wide receiver Dante Pettis, who I know some people like Brad Kelly, who does a good job studying wide receivers. He really likes Dante Pettis. You should follow Brad on Twitter. He is at BradKelly17. He even has a wide receiver draft guide that you can check out as well. And again, his top wide receiver is Dante Pettis and he's here on the board in 95. So that's definitely something

to think about. Other options available to the Patriots with this 95th pick. You could go offensive tackle here. Joseph Noteboom from TCU is available. Orlando Brown from Oklahoma is available. If you want to go offensive tackle, you could go running back.

Naeem Hines is on the board. Other wide receiver option, Anthony Miller, who I've talked about on this show. I think he might be a nice slot type guy in the National Football League that could fit for what the Patriots want to do. In terms of edge, we have not addressed edge yet. That's a concern for the New England Patriots. And that's what we're going to do here. I'd be surprised if this player is still on the board at 95.

But since he's on the board here, we're going to take advantage of it. Josh Sweat from Florida State. I think he's probably more of an earlier day two type pick. But the fact that he's here at 95, we're going to take advantage of that. We'll address Edge with the Edge Josh Sweat from Florida State. Got some explosiveness to him. Got some burst to him. Sweat was Edge 7 for us over at ITP.

With a relative athletic score of 9.69. Puts him in the elite athleticism category. 4.53 40-yard dash, 1.55 10-yard split. Nick Filato, who was our lead scout on him, described him as an agile, fast, flexible athlete. He must improve his play strength and snap timing and show his injury histories behind him to reach a considerable ceiling as a pass rusher. So yeah, there are some question marks, but to get him here at 95, I think that's well worth the value at this point in the draft. So yeah, there are some question marks, but to get him here at 95, I think that's well worth the value at this point in the draft. And again, having missed out on perhaps some of

the top quarterbacks, this is what you might expect if you're New England, potentially waiting on QB. You might get a guy here like Josh Swett at 95. Up ahead, we're going to deal with the rest of the day three picks, those two picks in in the sixth round as well as that pick in the seventh round but to recap where things are right now for the new england patriots looking at this mock draft here on this final mock draft before the real thing kicks off on thursday night layton vander esch that 23rd or of all selection linebacker from boise state maurice hurst defensive lineman from Michigan, taking advantage of him falling a bit. Justin Reed, safety from Stanford. Hayden Hurst, tight end from South Carolina.

And Josh Sweat, the edge defender from Florida State. Up ahead, we'll do the final three picks in this final mock draft before the big day and big night on Thursday. That's ahead with me, Mark Schofield, and Locked On Patriots. Mark Schofield back with you now on this Mock Draft Monday here at Locked On Patriots.

We are working our way through a potential draft scenario for the New England Patriots this weekend as we look ahead to the 2018 NFL Draft. Patriots back on the clock with pick 198. A couple of potential ways they could go here. They could go corner Devontae Harris from Illinois

State. He's on the board. You could address perhaps offensive tackle and I think you kind of got to go offensive tackle right now although there are some wide receiver options that are available. Alan Lazard from Iowa State. Brian Pringle from Kansas State.

Equal Mania. St. Brown from Notre Dame, who I know a lot of people like. My boy Braxton Berrios is on the board, but if you've listened to this show, you know when he's coming off the board. But there's an offensive tackle we talked about the other day, and that's Zachary Crabtree from Oklahoma State. Multiple-year starter at right tackle for the Oklahoma State Cowboys and some experience, some versatility to him. He could probably move around a little bit up front,

could probably play him at both tackle spots. He's probably better suited for the right tackle position in the National Football League. So Zachary Crabtree, he comes off the board to give the Patriots some depth on offensive tackle. Again, they could go two different directions on this. If the Patriots are satisfied with Antonio Garcia and where he is health-wise, you've got potential starting tackles, three guys that can play tackle in the National Football League, in Garcia, in Adrian Waddell, and in Marcus Cannon. So you could choose to go the depth route and add somebody more in the Day 3 realm of, say, whether it's Zachary Crabtree like we do here, or maybe a Brett Toth,

Greg Sinat from Wagner, Brandon Parker from North Carolina A&T. There are some day three options at the offensive tackle spots that the Patriots could use. But that's the pick at 198, Zachary Crabtree, offensive tackle from Oklahoma State now at 210 Patriots back on the clock and it's time to go quarterback here and there are some names available look Riley Ferguson is available Tanner Lee is available Chase Litton is available Logan Woodside's available JT Barrett is available as well you know the direction I'm going to go here. I'm going to go with Logan Woodside for a couple of reasons. When I look at the other guys, I've got some concerns about Tanner Lee from a processing standpoint.

I think Litton and Ferguson are interesting developmental talents. They're a bit more raw. The Patriots do have some time to develop one of those guys. I can understand why. But I think overall, Logan Woodside out of these guys is the better fit for what the Patriots want to do. I love him from a timing, rhythm, and anticipation standpoint. I like his ability to move around the pocket. I love his footwork. You might have some schematic limitations with him, very similar to Kyle Lauletta.

Doesn't have an overpowering arm, so you might worry a little bit about being able to push it downfield with velocity. But I think for what the Patriots do offensively, Logan Woodside makes a ton of sense, and that's why he is the pick here. A 2-10 overall, that second of New England's two picks in the sixth round. And now the Patriots back on the clock with pick. Can't do the math here off the top of my head, so let's scroll for a second. Pick 219 overall. That first pick in the seventh round, and surprise, surprise, Braxton Berrios is on the board, and if you've been listening to the show, you know that's the direction we're going to go. Braxton Berrios, the slot-wide receiver type from Miami, although has some

lawn speed to him. He's a mid-4-4s guy, but I think he fits the mold of what the Patriots look for in a slot receiver, potential replacement down the road for Julian Edelman. And that's the pick here to start the seventh round. So there you have it. To recap, Leighton Van Der Esch off the board at 23 overall, the linebacker from Boise State. Maurice Hurst, we take advantage of him falling,

perhaps due to some health concerns. Defensive lineman from Michigan off the board at 31. At 43 overall, that first pick in the second round, Justin Reed, the safety from Stanford. And then at 63 overall, pick 31 in the second round, Hayden Hurst, the tight end from South Carolina, perhaps a part of the eventual Gronkowski replacement. At 95 overall, we find out what happens or what could potentially happen if the Patriots wait on QB. Kyle Lolleta, Mike White, Luke Falk, all off the board by that point, at least in this simulation. So the Patriots go with the edge player, Josh Sweat,

the edge from Florida State, the athletic player who has some injury questions. Then the Patriots finally back on the clock in the sixth round with two picks. First up will be Zachary Crabtree, offensive tackle from Oklahoma State. And then Logan Woodside, perhaps my quarterback binky of this class, at least as you get into the later rounds. He comes off the board at.210, a player I like the fit for in New England. And finally, Braxton Berrios.

You've heard about him ad nauseum. Won't talk about him some more right now, but as I've probably done on almost every single Patriots mock draft, he's the pick with that first selection in the seventh round. So there you have it. A mock draft using Matt Miller's Bleacher Report board, his final board, or at least I think his final board, before the 2018 NFL

draft. That would be your potential New England Patriots 2018 draft class. Is it good? Is it bad? We'll have to wait a couple of years to find out how these players fare in the National Football League. That will do it for today's show. I will be back tomorrow. We are going to do on Tuesday's show, we're going to do defensive linemen. Wednesday, we're going to do linebackers. Thursday, we're going to combine corners and safeties in a final sort of draft preview before the madness happens on Thursday night. I will be back, of course, late Thursday night

with an analysis of the Patriots' picks, pick, or maybe no picks at all. Who knows what happens in the first round? But whatever happens, I'll have some breakdowns for you. But until next time, keep it locked right here to me, Mark Schofield, and Locked on Patriots.