Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Locked On Patriots April 26, 2019 - Yodny Cajuste, OT, West Virginia

Episode Date: April 27, 2019

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Mark Schofield back with you now here on Friday night we're getting near to the end of day two of the 2019 NFL draft the Patriots have made their final pick of the night and they address the offensive line let's sort of take you through how this pick came to be. The New England Patriots were originally slated to be on the clock for their last pick of the night at the 96th spot. But as we've seen so many times before, Bill Belichick and company decided that they're going to trade out of it. And initially, I was watching it on a little NFL.com draft tracker

here in the iPad here while I'm actually watching some 2020 quarterback film. Yes, that's what I watching it on a little NFL.com draft tracker here in the iPad here while I'm actually watching some 2020 quarterback film. Yes, that's what I'm doing on a Friday night, podcasting and some 2020 quarterback film. I'm just living the dream here, my friends. And so initially, I thought, look, the night's done. I can start recording the rest of the pods and get this thing wrapped up and get to bed. But the Patriots just traded back a couple of spots in the third round. The trade they ended up making with the to bed. But the Patriots just traded back a couple of spots in the third round. The trade they ended up making with the Los Angeles Rams, the Patriots send pick 97, that pick at the end of the third round,

and, of course, pick 162, that fifth-round pick. They didn't keep it for long, did they? And they get in return picks 101 at the end of the third round and pick 133, a fourth-round rounder tomorrow from the Los Angeles Rams. Now, interestingly enough, the Rams select Bobby Evans, offensive tackle from Oklahoma. And right before that pick, the pick was Dawson Knox from Buffalo. And so maybe that's who they were hoping to draft anyway. And with him off the board, decided they could slide back a bit.

So the Patriots do slide back and they address, as I said, offensive line. Yudnicka Juice from West Virginia is the pick. And interestingly enough, he was a player that Mel Kiper, for example, had him as offensive tackle too. There are a lot of people that looked at him and said, this is a player that could perhaps be one of the good offensive tackles in this class. And he was a player that was at the Senior Bowl

and did a very good job down there at the Senior Bowl. And he helped parlay that into a pretty good pre-draft process. As a matter of fact, he ended up ranked 80th on the draft network sort of overall predictive big board, which is sort of their way to try to predict what would be some of the top players in this class. And in terms of sort of an overall ranking at the offensive tackle spot, you look at their offensive tackle rankings over at the Draft Network,

and you see he was ranked offensive tackle six, ranked ahead of some guys that were drafted before him, including Bobby Evans, Greg Little from Mississippi, Max Sharpener, Northern Illinois, Juma Doga from USC, Caleb McGarry, who came off the board in round one. And so there are some things to like about Yanni Caduce. And he's got a bit of a mean streak to him. That's something that certainly jumps off the tape. You see him finishing a lot of blocks, finishing a lot of cut blocks.

He got an ejection against Texas, I believe. And so that's something you'd like in somebody that can be a left tackle. And he does look to have left tackle capability. He's got some tremendous length. He can use that well. He can ride some pass rushers outside and around the edge. He does that extremely well. Very powerful at the point of attack.

In terms of a scheme fit for him, he's probably more of a gap or power type of player as opposed to a zone blocker, but he has enough lateral movement and flexibility where he should be able to execute in both designs. I mean, his best fit is probably a lot of gap and power, but he can still do both. Has the ability to sort of carry the hands high, can strike well, uses his hands extremely well. When you see him in the run-blocking environment, good play strength, as I said, good power at the point of attack, can get defenders off the ball, can get defenders off the line, can work to the second level. And he can be trusted to be blindside protection for Tom Brady, I do believe. He's got the length and the footwork to do that.

Now, speed might get him, particularly as he adjusted to life in the National Football League. So he might have to get used and acclimated to handling speed rushers off the edge. That might be a difficult thing for him. But when it comes to power and strength, that really jumps out. And so you wonder how they could use him. I think initially they would look at him as a potential left tackle, maybe behind Isaiah Wynn. He's probably a Wynn sort of backstop, and maybe a swing tackle potential type player.

If it turns out that Wynn sort of locks down that left tackle spot, as we all sort of hope he does, then he's your Adrian Wadham replacement and probably has the ability with his feet and with the way he can sort of handle and punch to play right tackle in the National Football League. He'd probably need to develop that a little bit, moving from left to right, but he could probably do it.

And so I think coming into this draft, we thought that they were probably going to have to address offensive line. It didn't happen on round one. At 32, they go wide receiver, and they address some other positions, and they get him, and best case scenario for him, he ends up playing left tackle in the National Football League. That's not a bad thing, especially if Wynn doesn't pan out. Ideally, Wynn pans out, and here's your swing tackle type guy

to replace Adrian Waddell. And so I think this is a solid pick, a player that a lot of people thought was probably going to hear his name called earlier than at the end of day two. But I think it's a nice little value selection by the New England Patriots. So that will do it for their picks here on day two. I'm going to send this podcast out, get back on the mic and record a recap show for the entire round. Talking about round two, round three, picks I liked, picks I didn't. Then I'm going to talk about what the Patriots probably still need to address as we look ahead to day three.

Some names that I'll be watching, some of the other interesting stuff we can look forward to on day three of the 2019 NFL Draft. So, hang tight. I'll get that out to you in probably 20 minutes or so. Until then, keep it locked right here to me, Mark Scofield, and Locked on Patreons.