Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Locked On Patriots April 24, 2018 - Looking at the DL Group

Episode Date: April 24, 2018

Mark Schofield has potential DL fits for the Patriots up and down their draft board.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Good morning, welcome into Lockdown Patriots for Tuesday, April 24th, 2018. We are now just a couple of days away from the 2018 NFL Draft. Mark Schofield here with you as I will be all week getting you ready for that NFL Draft itself. Reminded to follow me on Twitter at Mark Schofield here with you as I will be all week getting you ready for that NFL draft itself. Reminded to follow me on Twitter at Mark Schofield. Check out the work over at InsideThePylon.com as well as Pro Football Weekly. Got one more piece that I'm working on to come out over at PFW right before the draft. Also at ITP, my top 20 quarterbacks have now been released. You can check that over at InsideThePylon.com

as well as my final first sound video of the 2018 draft season. That came out in conjunction with those aforementioned rankings. My final video, Josh Rosen, QB1. You can check that out over at YouTube.com slash InsideThe pylon. That's right. Got to give a shout out here right now to a very, very wise and astute listener here. Tyler Rowe, who is on Twitter at T-D-R-O-W-E 87.

Give him a follow. Tyler pointed out the fact that every time I dropped in that YouTube address, I screwed up the slash. Called it a backslash. It is not a backslash. It's a forward slash or more accurately, just a slash. Tyler's setting me right, getting my head on straight. I appreciate him reaching out. So give Tyler a follow. Thanks again, Tyler, for listening and for getting my mind right. We are going to work our way through the defensive tackle board. Talk about some potential defensive tackle options for the new england patriots in the upcoming draft but first a quick few words about lamar jackson because yes it was confirmed jackson in for what they called a quiet visit with

the new england patriots but the word out of foxborough when this came out was that the Patriots were very impressed. The report out of NFL Media and Ian Rappaport, he left the organization intrigued and impressed. That's a direct quote with the Heisman Trophy winner. And as Ian points out, they may have the option at 23. I'm not sure about that. That piece I'm working on for Pro Football Weekly is going to talk about how this might be the season we see six quarterbacks in the first round akin to that 1983 class. And for a number of reasons, we might see that. Teams that need quarterbacks.

The new economics of the National Football League. So because of that, Lamar Jackson might be gone by 23 but maybe not and if he's there as you know from listening to this show i do love the fit but we also want to talk defensive tackle and there's some fits there i love as well let's work our way down through the defensive tackle board started Started with Maurice Hurst. Maurice Hurst is D-tackle one, at least with respect to the film. That's how we had him over at ITP, the insidethepylon.com draft guide. Reminder, you can pick that up, itpdraftguide.com. Use that promo code LONFL when you do to get $5 off. Look, I loved Hurst watching him. When I watched a lot of Big Ten stuff this year, I did some work for the Rivals website. I covered Minnesota football. I got to watch a lot

of Maurice Hurst. He's a special player. He's a very talented defensive tackle. Somebody that I think that if there weren't the health concerns, he'd probably be one of the top players off the board. But as you know, at the Combine, they find the heart condition, which has kind of put his sort of career not exactly in limbo. He's been cleared to return. But one of the best sort of defensive tackles we've seen in a while. Charles McDonald over at Football Outsiders has a great piece in their Futures

series. Futures Maurice Hurst. It came out on March 16th of 2018. Describes him as somebody that creates explosive plays within the confines of the defensive scheme. He doesn't freelance or go rogue on his own adventures. He works within his triangle and disrupts offensive lines and structure. Charles has a great, great piece where he

breaks down a lot of the tape. I'd highly recommend that you check him out. Look, he's a penetrating three technique. One of the best we've seen in this class. And when you look at the Patriots right now sure defensive tackle not an immediate need you bring in Danny Shelton you have Malcolm Brown you've got guys behind them like Vince Valentine Lawrence Guy so there are some guys that you have that you can play with up front now the issue becomes what about after that what about after this season because looking ahead the Patriots have some question marks at the at the defensive tackle spot both Brown and Shelton are up for new deals before the 2019 season you can't imagine the

Patriots paying both of those guys market value one of them probably will be moving on so the Patriots will need to address the position Maurice Hurst I think is a great fit. I think he's somebody that can come in and play for the Patriots right away. And if the medicals check out, you'd love to have him fall to the Patriots. Whether at 23, or I've even seen him fall to 31.

And there aren't... Mike Mayock just dropped him basically out of his top 5, I think, in terms of defensive tackles. He's a very talented player, but the medical seemed to be do hurting them But if they check out gotta love his ability to come on to this roster and contribute right away Another potential first round option for the Patriots Look at the defensive tackle spot Duran pain from Alabama

Logan Pullen wrote him up for the ITP draft guide a versatile lineman with the strength burst to cause havoc. His best tape is excellent, but stamina issues as well as inconsistency mean he does not always play at that level. But when we look at the bright spots for him, athletic ability, play strength, awareness, pass rush, run defense. Those sound like things that Bill Belichick might want, and he's very versatile. When we studied him over at ITP, we could use him as a one technique, a two technique, a three technique, a five technique. He could fit in both a three-four and a four-three. Only place we didn't like him was at a zero technique and a three-four. But other than that, he's a very scheme, versatile defensive lineman. And if he's there at 31, I think he makes a ton of sense for New England if they haven't addressed defensive line already.

So those are some round one options up ahead. We'll talk about some of the guys on day two that the Patriots might consider for defensive lineman help. And then later in the show, we'll look at those day three options. That's ahead with me, Mark Schofield, and Locked on Patriots. Mark Schofield back with you now, working our way through the defensive linemen in the 2018 NFL Draft, taking a look at each of New England's picks in the 2018 NFL Draft, trying to identify some players that the Patriots could look at at each spot in the draft that

the defensive lineman in position. We're into the second round now. We're looking at that pick. 43 overall. The 11th selection in the second round. The pick they got as part of the Garoppolo deal from San Francisco. And we're going to look at Taven Bryan. Defensive tackle from the University of Florida.

Somebody that we liked over at ITP. Bryan, when we studied him, he was our defensive lineman for Mike Backhams did the write up on him described him as a terrific athlete with explosive bursts to penetrate at the snap he could become one of the NFL's most disruptive interior players if he can refine his use of hands

and attack plan that's really high praise and when you look at the trade grades we have on him and one of the grades one of the trades we grade for defensive tackles is burst, Mike gave him a 1 in that area, showing an elite burst off the snap. Also, athletic scores from Kent Lee Platt at MathBomb on Twitter. Relative athletic score of 9.90. That puts him into the elite category,

and his rise up the board probably correlates to his impressive combine. 1.68 10-yard split in the 40, 4.98 40-yard dash, 30 reps on the bench, vertical jump of 35 inches, and a broad jump of 119 inches. He's doing all that at 6'5", 291. He's also one of the higher ranking defensive tackles for a good friend John ledger host of locked on NFL draft he has him as his defensive tackle 3 and the way John writes him up you know with his good film combined with elite combine testing and his but this behemoth from Florida is securely inside the top 32 players on his board.

That's top 32 overall. John goes on to say that while Taven Bryant sometimes has no idea what he's doing. He's explosive and powerful. Capable of holding the point of attack as easily as he can create penetration up front. Again, that burst and that penetration up front. Mental processes and pad level need to improve. So yeah, like we found, need some development. But he could be a good player in the National Football League right now. And the ceiling could be pretty high on him.

Working our way further down the board, we're going to talk about somebody that getting a lot of buzz throughout this draft process. Somebody that people probably looked at. We're really excited to see him down in Mobile for the Senior Bowl, but he did suffer an injury. And that's Nathan Shepard. Nathan Shepard, defensive tackle out of Fort Hayes State. He was defensive lineman 5 for us. Very raw, but he dominated small school competition. Nick Fol is too high. Fairly versatile though.

You look at him, you see somebody that plays a three technique in the 4-3, but in passing downs he can slide over, be a quality one technique inside working against guards. He could also play five technique in a 3-4. Probably can't play nose, doesn't really have the size for that. But when you're looking at him, you're looking at somebody that's going to be more at that three technique, maybe that five technique spot, can give you some pass rush insight on designed pass and downs. Something that I've been talking about for a while, that's sort of the future of the NFL. You need to get guys who can give you that on third and long situations, on third and seven situations, to make sure your defense can get off of the field. Also looking at Brian, some of his strengths include

interior pressure, very critical to what we've just been talking about, athletic ability, explosiveness, lateral agility and quickness, change of direction, toughness, pursuit in space, flexibility, hands, and pass rush moves that include a good pull and swipe move. He's somebody that really did dominate lower level competition. Yeah, it was was division two but that's what you want to see and I said this just last week about another player the plate at a lower level you want to see them consistently dominate against that kind of competition and he did that also you look at some of the testing scores on him a vertical of 31 inches a broad jump of 112 inches, 1.77 10-yard split.

Elite test and score again from Mathbomb, that relative athletic score of 9.04. That puts him into the elite category. Surely needs some refinement. But I think if you're looking at somebody at the end of the second round to address with the defensive line, Shepard if he's there Would be a great fit That's the big caveat here because I've heard from people from a couple of different teams People with sources with a couple of different front offices. You might hear his name called on day one

Is it likely I'm not sure but I've heard from two different teams now that they like Nathan Shepard early in this draft So we'll see but I think in terms two different teams now that they like Nathan Shepard early in this draft. So we'll see. But I think in terms of his value in a vacuum, that's where I'd kind of see him come off the board to the Patriots and I would love to fit there. When we get into the third round here, some other players that you could consider but I'd put among them

and somebody else we really liked over at ITP, Deidre Sanat from South Florida. He's somebody that when we studied him, we liked him. We liked his ability to come in and contribute in a role on the defensive line. Kirk

Kalen did the write-up on him. He doesn't have the burst of the athleticism to rack up big sack totals, but he'll be a valuable contributor on a defensive line, defeating run blockers with smarts, discipline, strength, and violent hands. John Ledger described him as a fire hydrant in his defensive lineman rank. It's 6 feet even, 3'14", short in squat. But that seemed to work for Aaron Donald.

Now, I'm not making a one-to-one comparison here, but don't look at sort of height as being sort of a threshold thing for defensive linemen so not very productive three-year starter as a nose tackle and defensive tackle he was used in zero one two and three technique alignments he did both one and two gap assignments and executed those extremely well kurt said he found found when he watched him on tape good initial quickness good process and good use of the hands at the snap in response to offensive lineman movement. Strengths on him, defense against the run, play strength, competitive toughness, use of hands. Weaknesses, pass rush, range in pursuit, roll versatility, and length. so there are some question marks about him but he's probably a prototypical high floor low ceiling

type guy who can be a rotational player at the outset but will be a solid interior run defender which you need in the national football league you got to get off the field we just talked about getting off the field on third and long you had to get off the field on third and short too and he can come in and help you in that area. And you know that sounds like something Bill Belichick would want in the heart of this defensive line, especially when you're going to be losing guys who sort of play that role right now

in your zero or one technique interior guys. So somebody to consider would be Sanad here with that 95th pick overall. That will do it for the day two picks. We're going to get to those day three guys, some sort of diamonds in the rough. That's ahead with me, Mark Schofield, and Locked On Patriots. Mark Schofield back with you now here on this Tuesday edition of Locked On Patriots. We are working our way through the defensive linemen in the 2018 NFL Draft.

As we talked a little bit earlier, the Patriots, they do sure have Danny Shelton and Malcolm Brown. But they only have them for this season. One of those guys might be walking since both players are up for new contracts in 2019. Patriots might address defensive linemen. Some names we've mentioned already. Maurice Hurst, Derron Payne, Taven Bryan And Nathan Shepard as well as Deidre Sanat out of South Florida

Now we're going to look at those Final three picks, those day three picks The two in the sixth round and one in the seventh Some later round guys We're going to start with Trenton Thompson An early entrant from the University of Georgia A high motored Long arm rotational tackle who

flashes to quickness burst and a nice swim move he must improve his play strength and pad level while adding moves to his pass rush arsenal that's from the ITP draft guide somebody that employs a very good swim that's his go-to pass rush counter move it's effective when he's able to time it properly somebody that shows excellent overall motor and hustle good range motor and effort to pursue runs down the line of scrimmage one of the things we really liked from him was his pursuit on tape that was his highest trait grade of a two overall this done but from lead scout joy had some padding notice weaknesses include his lack of true play strength, his pass rush plan needs refinement,

needs to finish on quarterbacks, missed some sacks, left some plays on the field at Georgia, needs to anchor better against the run, and probably needs to add some size and bulk. 6'2.5", 288 pounds. Could add some size to that frame. Ideal fit as a three technique in a one gap system.

He could also fit as a five technique in an odd front. He does have value in schemes as an interior pass rusher, nickel and dime. Doesn't fit though in a two gap system. So you do wonder if the Patriots will look at that lack of scheme versatility. And that might dent him a little bit. Other potential name you might hear in that sixth round, B.J. Hill, senior from NC State. Mike Backhams did the lead right up on him, described him as a solid, technically sound interior run defender that projects best as a two down one technique in even fronts or as a five technique in odd fronts. So that's as we get into that sixth

round here at the end of the sixth round that's why you where you might see a player like bj hill some strengths on him you watch the ability to show good snap reaction good burst off the line of scrimmage you can see that on film displays good toughness to fight through blocks, very good hand technique, demonstrates good play strength on his bull rushes. Limited athletically, probably can't consistently penetrate as an interior pass rusher, but he can do it more as a nose tackle, but he's more of a cleanup rusher as described by Mike Backhams. Solid defensive line depth is probably his one-year projection, but might need to bulk up to add strength to play one technique at a consistent rate in the National Football League.

But by his third year, he's somebody that should be a two-down player and a four-down front as a one technique. Doesn't excel at any area, but will be a quality role player for an NFL franchise. And that's not a bad get when you're talking about a late pick in the sixth round. And finally, working our way down the board final player we'll talk about andrew brown a senior from the university of virginia highly touted recruit coming out of high school he has issues with mental process and consistency and gap discipline those have kept him from reaching his ceiling that's from nick falato over at itp he flashes

quickness and bursts that will intrigue teams looking for a three technique project. Very good at timing the snap at a one technique, a two technique, or a three technique. Has good powerful hands with jolt linemen when he uses his extension to gain their chest. Very good at getting skinny through interior gaps as a three technique. While using his very good initial burst and good overall explosiveness to disrupt plays in the backfield. Also very good in the twist game. That's something we've talked about a lot on this show over the past season. Patriots relying on stunts and twists up front to generate pressure on opposing passers.

So there you go. That's kind of a look at how I sort of project the defensive lineman board for the New England Patriots. Some guys that might fit throughout this board, throughout the Patriots draft picks. Again, to recap those names, Maurice Hurst from Michigan, De'Ron Payne from Alabama, Taven Bryant from Florida, Nathan Shepard from Fort Hayes State, Deidre Sanant from South Florida, Trenton Thompson, and B.J. Hill, Andrew Brown, those three players we just discussed in this final portion of the show.

That will do it for today, though. Tomorrow, we're going to start getting to that second level. We're going to talk off-ball linebackers. And then on Thursday's show, the day of the first round, we're going to look at guys in the corner, quarterbacks as well as safeties. We're going to close it out by looking at the secondary players that might be on the Patriots' radar.

As always, check out the work over at InsideThePylon.com. Hit me up on Twitter, at Mark Schofield on Twitter, like our boy did. Let me know. Get my mind right about the difference between backslash and a forward slash. Appreciate that. Give our boy Tyler a follow for that as well. Again, that will do it. Until next time, keep it locked right here to me Mark Scofield

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