Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Locked On Patriots April 25, 2018 - Mayock's Big Board and Off-Ball LB Options

Episode Date: April 25, 2018

Mark Schofield takes a brief look at Mike Mayock's big board and how it might impact New England's plans. Then he works through off-ball linebacker options in the draft.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Good morning and welcome into Locked On Patriots for Wednesday, April 24th, 2018. It is Draft Miss Eve, as it were. Mark Schofield here in the big chair as it will be all week long and perhaps even into the weekend covering the 2018 NFL D draft for all of you loyal listeners. Reminder to follow me over on Twitter at Mark Schofield. You can follow the work over at InsideThePylon.com where I'm working on my day one expectations, will versus should at the quarterback position.

Also, you can follow the recent work over at Pro Football Weekly. Got a piece in the works that should come out right before the draft about why we might see six quarterbacks in the first round and a number of reasons why that could happen. You can also check out the video work over at youtube.com slash inside the pylon. Check out the video on why Josh Rosen is my QB1. Today, Will, we're going to talk about linebackers, some off the ball linebackers that the Patriots might be interested in at various spots throughout the draft. But before we do that, I want to talk Mike Mayock for a second because Mike Mayock comes out before the draft each year with his board. Some interesting names to think about sort of from a Patriots perspective. Relative to the

consensus and sort of when I say consensus, I'm kind ofative to the consensus and sort of, when I say consensus, I'm kind of looking at the consensus board as put together by Arif Hasan, who is at Arif Hasan NFL on Twitter. He puts together the consensus draft board when he takes as many draft boards

as he can find, puts them together and spits out the consensus draft board. Inside the pylons, top 300 is a part of that. Relative to the consensus, however, there are players that Mayock is lower on. He's got Rosen at 21 overall.

Baker Mayfield at 22 overall. Isaiah Witt at 24 overall. Josh Jackson, who's a very intriguing corner, somebody we will probably talk about in our final draft sort of positional preview show, but he's more of a zone guy. He's at 44 overall. Maurice Hurst at 42. And I've talked about him potentially being a fit for the Patriots.

He might slide down boards. I talked about him in our defensive lineman show. He's at 42. Now that could be medical or other, but there's a chance he's going to be there when the pitchers are on the clock in the second round. So that's something to think about. Josh Sweat, 91 for Mike Mayock. And so some of the names we've talked about, here they are. Dallas Goddard at 62. But then there are some players he's higher on, and there are two names of note here. Mason Rudolph at 37, and Kyle Lauletta at 66. And if you remember the Final Mock Draft I did on Monday's show,

both of those guys were off the board in that simulation before New England's pick at 63, I believe. If not, they were certainly gone by 95. And this is something to consider. Kyle Lauletta, we've all been talking about Kyle Lauletta being linked to the New England Patriots, particularly maybe at that 95th pick overall. Reading through the tea leaves here, it seems like he's moving upwards,

even this late in the process. And if Mike Mayock's got him at 66, chances are Lauletta's going to come off the board at some point in the second round. So then if you're the Patriots, you've got to decide, you know, the value. Rosen, do you trade up and get him?

Or Kyle Loretta at, say, 63, at even 43. Rudolph, and this is part of the piece I'm working on for Pro Football Weekly, Rudolph's going to sneak into the first round. I have this feeling that he's going to sneak in. Which, if you had asked me five weeks ago, three weeks ago, last week, if that would have been possible, I would have said no.

But it seems like we're on the cusp of that playing out. So again, Mike Mayock's board is out. You can check that out over at NFL.com. But now, let's talk some off-ball linebackers, a position that the Patriots do need to address here in the upcoming draft. Some players they could look at early in the first round of picks 23 and 31.

Those include Leighton Van Der Esch, Rashawn Evans, and maybe even a player that has gotten a lot of buzz here as we're getting closer to the draft. Some people are looking at him as perhaps one of the top 10 players. That's Tremaine Edmonds from Virginia Tech. But those three guys, I think, are your sort of guys in the mix in the first round.

Rashawn Evans could fall. You look at him, he might be the guy that sort of falls a little bit. He's okay in zone coverage. He can get after the quarterback as a blitzer and edge rusher. Does that sound familiar? Does that sound a little bit like Dante Hightower another linebacker from Alabama where the Patriots

have sort of used him as more of a blitzer and edge rusher later in his career he has the ability to play Mike linebacker as well as the ability to play Sam and come off the edge Evans is an interesting fit Leighton Vander Esch everybody keeps pointing

to him as somebody that's going to play his way into perhaps the top 10. I've seen him come off the board maybe at 15 a bunch, at 14, excuse me, to the Green Bay Packers. Team's looking at him there. What you're getting in Leighton Van Der Esch, you're getting a one-year starter, but somebody who is fairly athletic, turns some heads at the combine, has ideal size, length, and keen diagnose skills to play the run and to drop into zone coverage as well. The athletic score that we found over at Inside the Pylon from Kentley Platt at MathBomb on Twitter, 9.97. You know, with a 1.56 10-yard split, a 4.65 40-yard dash, a three-cone of 6.88.

Always something to watch when we're talking about the Patriots. So Vander Esch is a name to keep in mind for the first round. I think the fit would be fairly well there. Same with Rashawn Evans. I think you're getting your eventual high-tower replacement in Rashawn Evans. And then there's Edmonds, who, again, is moving his way up draft boards. We had him as our linebacker too over at ITP. But if we start seeing quarterbacks come off the board,

he might be there at some point in the first round. We get in Edmonds, Michael Yun was our lead scout on him over at ITP. An incredibly young and athletic prospect who looks tailor-made for an attack and one-gap defense. Has sideline-to-sideline range, the ability to play man coverage, and great football intelligence so the scheme fit about the one gap defense versus a two gap defense something to keep in mind but you you kind of throw scheme fit out the window when you're talking about a linebacker with sideline to sideline range and the ability to play man coverage which fits in

today's nfl you're not having to take him off the field on third downs. You could even see on tape, he could switch routes between wide receivers and cover them up the seam, which is pretty impressive for a linebacker in the college game today. And so those are your three guys, Leighton Vander Esch, Tremaine Edmonds, Rashawn Evans to keep in mind for the first round at the linebacker spot. I doubt that Edmonds would be in play. I think he's off the board. But the other two, Evans and Leighton Vander Esch, are certainly one of them I think is going to be there at 23. They both might be there. So those are names to watch in the first round at this sort of off-ball linebacker spot.

Next, we're going to look at some of the other names as we get to day two. And then day three of the NFL draft, thinking about off-ball linebacker options for the New England Patriots. That's ahead with me, Mark Schofield, in Locked on Patriots. Mark Schofield back with you now, working our way through the New England Patriots draft picks in the 2018 NFL draft, talking off-ball linebackers. We're going to get into the second round now.

Two perhaps outside-the-box names here as we think about the linebackers. We're going to get into the second round now. Two perhaps, you know, outside-the-box names here as we think about the linebacker position. First, we're going to look at Sky Moore. There are concerns here. I get that. And we'll talk about those. But he came back to start all 13 games for South Carolina last year. Led them in tackles for the fourth time.

Instinctive,ive athletic and strong cover prospect who should play weak side linebacker that's from michael young over at the inside the pylon draft guide and if you want a copy of that itp draft guide.com use that promo code l-o-n-f-l when you make your purchase to get five dollars off continuing on sky more football intelligence is excellent run fits are excellent backside Backside pursuit is excellent. Shows excellent range with the foot speed to run the seam in cover two and to take away the number two and number three inside receivers. Again, thinking about that cover two, Tampa two coverage where that middle linebacker is required to drop and take away those routes in the middle of the field. Exhibits fluid hip movement and zone coverage. Demonstrates rare

ball skills. Reads the quarterback's eyes with a precise footwork to plant and to drive and to intercept passes and return them. But there are concerns. He required a fusion disc surgery in 2016, missing the entire season. That's a problem. You know, a surgery to repair a herniated disc is an issue. In my previous life as a lawyer, I saw many surgical repairs of herniated discs, and they're not always clean, and they're not always easy to bounce back from. Now, that's from car accidents, but a football game is basically a continual car accident. You're talking about doing it 16 games. That's tough. But SkyM Moore with at least

on the field projection, he can come in and have a key role as a linebacker, an off-ball linebacker, as a rookie, football intelligence and athletic ability to contribute to all three linebacker spots and base as well as sub packages. If you're talking about getting him in the second round,

I really like it. I know ITP, we were kind of higher on him than some. For example, if you look at some of the other, you know, rankings on him, John Ledyard over at NDT Scout has him, you know, as an early day three guy. But he's a versatile guy that can play all three spots, brings it as a blitzer according to John. I like him in the second round. Maybe I'm higher on him the most, but I like it. Another guy to look him in the second round. Maybe I'm higher on him the most,

but I like it. Another guy to look at in the second round and the guy that John Ledger likes a little bit more, Fred Warner. We've talked about him on this show and other places. Had a great senior bowl, but he was used in a strange way at BYU.

He was used more as sort of a slot defender and a non-pass Russian edge defender. But now he's sort of making this transition to off-ball linebacker. I think it fits him well. And that's something that we also found over at Inside the Pylon, where we liked him in sort of that next tier of linebackers. We had him a bit behind Sky Moore. But I think when you look at Fred Warner and his ability to transition, his ability to be athletic and break on routes in zone coverage situations, he should be a very, very solid player as a rookie, and he's probably somebody that can contribute very early on in his

career. Above average play strength at the point of attack. Above average tackler. Very good key in diagnose to anticipate and scrape downhill on inside runs. I think there's probably a bit more of a projection to him than other people. But from studying him a bit, I really sort of like Fred Warner, especially when you're talking about late in the second round, that pick there at 63. I think he would make a great deal of sense for the New England Patriots. Again, similar to Sky Moore, I might be a little bit early on him, but I'm okay with that because I think the Patriots need to give a boost, so to speak, to that off-ball linebacking group.

They need to get more athletic there. We saw that last season. It was one of the sort of Achilles heels to this team. Now, again, they're getting Dante Hightower back. They're getting some guys back, but still, it's an issue. When you look at the New England Patriots right now and how their roster is constructed, you're looking at a group that you can tell needs some help at that position. I mean, yes, you're getting Hightower back. Okay. You've got Van Noy, sure, but there are other issues here. I mean, you've got Marquise Flowers, okay, and Landon Roberts struggled at times. There's not a lot of depth to this group,

and this is a team that I know uses a lot of sub packages, does a lot with sort of, you know, six and seven defensive back packages. They probably use a lot more defensive backs in linebacker alignments, you know, thinking Jordan Richards, thinking Patrick Chun. But still, I think it'd be a good boost to this defense to add in another guy. Finally, looking at the third round, a player that I'm sitting here right now, I don't know when he's coming off the board. I could see him come off the board in the sixth round. I could see him come off the board in the second. And that's Shaquem Griffin, the linebacker, sort of versatile player from UCF

who was a standout at the Senior Bowl, loved watching him in person down there. And then when you get to see what he does at the Combine, he's got an unbelievable story, but he's an incredible athlete with movement skills that are almost unparalleled at the linebacker spot. You do have the question, Marco, obviously about the lack of a hand. That's an issue. But there was one play that stood out to me when I was studying Riley Ferguson. UCF's game against Memphis. Memphis had the ball in the red zone. And Griffin forces a fumble, forces a strip sack, and UCF recovers. And he does it with the arm, not with his hand.

And that just blew me away. It was one play when I was studying another player, but I stopped and rewound that over and over and over again. And to me, that was a moment where my mind was made up. And this was before the Senior Bowl. This was before the combine. I just me, that was a moment where my mind was made up. And this was before the Senior Bowl. This was before the combine. I just said, look, give me that. That can work in the National Football League. There might be limitations to his game as a tackler, as a block shedder, because he does have the physical limitation of having just one hand. But at the end of the third round, I am fine with drafting him right there. I think he has the potential to go sooner.

Teams might shy away from him because of his physical limitation and draft him on day three. But at 95, I'm good with it. So those are the sort of your day two options. Up ahead, we're going to get through those picks in the sixth and seventh round, some later round options for the Patriots if they decide to wait an interesting linebacker on day three. That's ahead with me, Mark Schofield, in Locked On Patriots.

Mark Schofield back with you now to close out our look at the off-ball linebacker spot. Working our way through the Patriots' picks in the 2018 NFL Draft. We're now into the sixth round. And with these last three guys, I'm going to talk for a minute about some draft binkies, basically. As a quarterback guy, I typically can stay in my lane for the most part and really do the bulk of my work on quarterbacks. But I'm still human. I still have interests away from the quarterback position. I don't study it as in-depth as I do the quarterback spot. But there are guys that catch my eye,

and these next three guys are three such examples. Maybe I'm the only guy in the world that likes these three guys. There might be one or two of them, but I like all three. Maybe they're not a fit for some teams, but I think they could be a fit for what the Patriots could use at the linebacker spot. First is Josie Jewell from Iowa, a four-year starter and a player that I first got fascinated with when I was writing the book 17 Drives and I broke down Michigan State's drive against Iowa in a Big Ten championship game.

And what fascinated me, so many things fascinated me about that drive to win that game. But one was the fact that Iowa basically stayed in their base 4-3 defense the entire drive, even though they were seeing 11 personnel at times. And what they would do is they would just take guys, usually Josie Jewell, move them outside, sort of play them in the slot area of the field, and he could still do that. And I think he sort of turned some heads maybe at the combine, did some nice things at the combine.

He's not the most athletic guy, but a 1.63 10-yard split, 4.82 40-yard dash, better athletically than I think we thought, at least from watching him on tape. And you're talking about a four-year starter at inside linebackers, so the football intelligence is basically off the charts. The pre-snap and post-snap diagnosis, they're off the charts. He was our linebacker 12 at inside the pylon. Patrick Jr. did the write-up on him. Sturdy build, but limited athleticism. He can play

in the middle of a defense with his rare ability to diagnose and find the ball through traffic. I think that there's a need for guys like this in the National Football League. I said it yesterday. Yeah, you've got to get off the field on third and seven, but you've got to get off the field on third and two. And I think if the Patriots decide to sort of wait on a linebacker and address it later, he's a guy that I think would fit what Bill Belichick wants in a defense. A similar guy, T. Grace Gales, who's a player that got a chance to watch in person when I was up at Penn State, watching Penn State, Indiana. And in a similar sense, I think Scales is an interesting player that I think could fit that sort of mold of a guy that can play on basically every single

down. I think he could stay on fields on third down. ITP we thought in all likelihood he's more of a two down guy I think he can be on the field on third downs but again smarter people than me took a look at him and said he's a two down player he lacks the burst and speed for man coverage which might be the issue but I think schematically you can

do some things with him use him in a different way and keep him on the field on third downs. Strengths when you're watching Tigre scales, again, football intelligence, toughness, keen diagnosability, tackling and awareness in zone situations. I think that fits for what Bill Belichick likes having on the defensive side of the ball, what he likes having in linebackers. He's a two-down middle linebacker, I think, as a rookie, but he's

got depth at all the other spots and base and sub-packages as well. So look, there's some flexibility there. He can still contribute on all three downs. It's just you might have to move him around a little bit on third downs to take advantage of some of the things that he does well. And finally, Jason Cabinda, who I've been talking about a lot. Similar situation. I saw him, you know, Penn State versus Indiana. When you get into that seventh round, maybe he has a pretty limited, you know, ceiling in what he could bring to the National Football League. But here you're probably talking more of a two-down thumper type guy.

But in the seventh round, I think if you're looking for value plays there, Jason Cabinda out of Penn State might be a linebacker to sort of watch and keep in mind. But that will do it for the off-the-ball linebacker types. We've got one more show before the draft itself. That will be Thursday's show. We're going to look at some corners and safeties. Maybe even mention a couple of specialists, punters, kickers. We're going to talk about those guys too.

Don't want to shortchange them. So we'll have a loaded show for Thursday and then the draft on Thursday night I will be back with you live right after the Patriots picks

haven't decided yet if I'm going to do two quick shows one after each pick or maybe just roll them into one still figuring that out but I'll be back with you

you know at some point Thursday night early Friday morning, breaking down what the Patriots do in the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft. Until next time, keep it locked right here to me, Mark Schofield, and Locked on Patriots.