Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Locked On Patriots April 27, 2018 - Round 1 Recap

Episode Date: April 27, 2018

Mark Schofield has his instant analysis of Isaiah Wynn and Sony Michel, the two new members of the New England Patriots.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Good evening, good morning, whatever time you're listening to me. Welcome into Lockdown Patriots, your round one recap show. Mark Schofield here in the big chair coming to you late night. It is now Friday morning on the East Coast. I'm going to be with you to recap what was a rather eventful first round of the 2018 NFL Draft. Reminder to follow me on Twitter at Mark Schofield. You can follow the work over at InsideThePylon.com as well as Pro Football Weekly. I have to say, I whiffed on that Pro Football Weekly piece.

I said six quarterbacks in the first round would make sense. We only saw five. Again, you can follow the work over at youtube.com backslash, excuse me, forward slash inside the pylon where I do quarterback breakdowns in visual form for you all. But this is after all locked on Patriots. So we will be Patriots focused tonight. We can get into the rest of the first round and how that shook out at a later date. We can talk about some of the other guys where they went. Baker Mayfield, Lamar Jackson coming off the board at 31. Some guys that fell. Will Hernandez. Surprising to me that the UTEP guard is still available as we look ahead to round two.

But let's stay focused here for tonight's show. Let's talk about the two picks that the Patriots did make. And for all the talk about the Patriots maybe moving up to go get a quarterback, for all the talk about the Patriots maybe addressing defense, the Patriots decide to stay pat at 23 and 31, and they address offense with both picks. At 23, the Patriots decide to go offensive line. They go with Isaiah Wynn, tackle slash guard At 23, the Patriots decide to go offensive line. They go with Isaiah Wynn, tackle slash guard from the University of Georgia.

And there are some options that they could have gone. There's some different directions they could have gone with that pick. Guys they could have drafted. They could have drafted, you know, DJ Moore, who came off the board right after that. The wide receiver from Maryland who goes to the Panthers, but would have been surprised if the Patriots went with a wide receiver at 23. You know, they could have gone corner. Mike Hughes, he gets drafted at 30 by the Vikings. Patriots don't address corner.

They could have done that there. You know, Isaiah Oliver was available. What was interesting, and, you know, I'm only going to be doing the one show tonight. I know I promised to one for each pick, but I was lucky enough to be invited back onto the Football Guys Audible Live show. Sigmund Bloom, Matt Waldman, and the guys over there were kind enough to have me back for the third

year in a row on round one. Doing some live analysis as the picks come in. I was on for basically the final, I'd say, 15, 20 picks or so. I was on with them while the Isaiah Wynn pick was made as well as the pick at 31, which we'll get to in a second. And the reason why I sort of bring that up is,

as we were sort of working our way through the board here and working about the potential options and looking at some of the players that the Patriots had available to them. It was interesting that there were so many different directions that the Patriots could have gone with these picks. There were so many different ways that the Patriots could have addressed needs in this draft. But it was interesting to see some of the guys that fell,

guys that I thought could have been options for the Patriots. And one of those was Rashawn Evans, a linebacker from Alabama. And as I was on that show with them, you see the Titans make the trade to get up, to get right ahead of the New England Patriots to get up to 22, dealing with the Baltimore Ravens, which Baltimore had an interesting night. And so you must have, you know, Titans must have known that the Patriots would have been interested in Rashawn Evans. And if that's the guy that they wanted,

they had to get ahead of New England at 23. So the Patriots stay at 23. They don't move. They take Isaiah Wynn, who is a player that we've been talking about for a long, long, long time here. I mean, I came back from the senior bowl. And if you remember that first senior bowl sort of recap show, who was a. I mean, I came back from the Senior Bowl. And if you remember that first Senior Bowl sort of recap show, who was the player I talked about? It was Isaiah Wynn. I've been talking about Isaiah Wynn at length, not just on this show. I'll go on radio shows,

I'll go on other outlets, other podcasts, and people often ask me, you know, nine times out of 10, I get asked about quarterback takes and that's it. But every once in a while people ask, oh, what are some other positions, some other guys that you like, some other, you know, non-quarterbacks that you're interested in? One of the first names, if not the first name I bring up is Isaiah Wynn. And it wasn't just me that loved him. I know I talked about him on our previous show when I was working through the Patriots options on interior line. I talked about Marcus Johnson and his write-up on him over at the InsideThePylon.com draft guide who described him as a dominant, technically developed, and scheme-diverse offensive guard who wins with his ability to locate his assignment, dominate with strength and attack angles,

and protect the quarterback. Can play offensive tackle in a pinch. And I'll say it right now. I love Isaiah Wynn. I love what he brings to the table. I love his versatility. I think this is a tremendous pick for the New England Patriots. They needed to address offensive line. They needed to potentially address both the interior and the tackle spots. You get both of that in Isaiah Wynn. You get a guy that played left tackle in the SEC, that can still play left tackle in the NFL, I believe,

but is making the transition to guard. One of my favorite people in the entire football universe is Brandon Thorne, at VeteranScout on Twitter. One of the smartest trench guys, one of the smartest offensive line guys I've ever had the chance to work with, to watch film with, to watch practices with, down at Mobile at the Senior Bowl. And when this pick was made,

one of the first people to sort of interact with me on Twitter after it was made was Brandon, who basically said that you know he could probably start for new england at four of their five offensive line spots he has no qualms about him winning the left tackle job in camp and this is from brandon who is a name that i value who's a name that I trust. Same thing with Dan Hattman, who I work with over at Inside the Pylon, founder of the Scouting Academy, former NFL scout. He reached out to me immediately. He was like, please let me know when I can come on this show, when I can come on Locked on Patriots to talk about my son Isaiah.

This is a tremendous pick for the New England Patriots. And maybe I'm missing on something. Maybe we're all missing on something. But I don't think we are. And with Dante Skarniecki, you can just imagine what he can do with Isaiah Wynn. I think this is a brilliant pick for the New England Patriots. It allows them to sort of extend the Brady window a little bit. If you have any qualms about taking a guard at 23, taking a guard slash swing tackle at 23, I implore you to watch Super Bowl 52. Just watch the end of that game. I've talked about Shaq Mason.

I've raved about Shaq Mason. Shaq Mason get beat on one play, sure. But it's the overall philosophy of interior linemen needing to be able to protect the quarterback, needing to be stout on the inside, needing to protect against immediate interior pressure, especially with a quarterback like Tom Brady. It's been one of the things people have talked about with Tom Brady for years now. Quick, agap pressure. I stressed agap pressure all season long on this show. Isaiah Wynn helps with that. I'm a big fan of this pick.

Up next, we're going to talk about a pick that was a bit of a stunner for New England, but I like that one too. That's ahead with me, Mark Schofield, and Locked On Patriots. Mark Schofield back with you now on this post-Round 1 recap show of Locked On Patriots. And Patriots, again, making two first-round picks here in the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft. And the first one, I kind of saw it.

I think we all sort of figured that the Patriots might address offensive line. Maybe we thought they would go in a different direction. Guys like Colton Miller, Connor Williams if he fell. And if Connor Williams, unless I'm missing something, he's still on the board. You know, Tyrell Crosby, Mike McGlinchey, if somehow he fell, but I thought that was kind of, you know, outside the realm of possibility.

You know, maybe another guy, James Daniels. Not sure if he would draft a center, but he had some sort of positional flexibility too. But they draft Isaiah Wynn, and as you just heard, I'm a fan of that pick. Interest in selection at 31. And again, this is something that I've been talking about, not just on this show, but on other shows.

It's just an interesting draft for the Patriots because there are needs perhaps there are some glaring needs you know you might look at the linebacker spot right now and wonder you know what are they going to do but I think they missed out on their top two guys you know they missed out on LVE they missed out on Rashawn Evans and Tennessee Titans making that move which I think makes sense because that would have been a good pick for the Patriots. So I think they addressed linebackers sometime on day two, whether it's a Fred Warner, maybe they go with a Lorenzo Carter and, you know, look at him to be sort of a hybrid off-ball edge type guy. You know, maybe they look at a Fred Warner, you know, maybe they look Josie Jewell a little bit later in the draft. And so there are some options, as we've talked about on this show.

But again, it's an interesting draft for the Patriots because, again, the needs, some are perhaps a little bit pressing, but nothing is really glaring. It's not like a big hole that you just got to fix right away, no matter what. And I think we saw that play out with pick 31, because the Patriots go with Sonia Michelle, running back from the University of Georgia, taking two Georgia Bulldogs in the first round. They must have really liked watching Georgia tape this year. What's interesting with Michel is

you've got to be confident in your medical staff here because the report came out over at Roto-World that one of his knees is a bone-on-bone situation, so you worry about longevity with him. Now the issue sort of becomes when you look at the shelf life on running backs, you're hoping to get one, maybe two good contracts out of them. They take a beating. They take abuse.

It's a tough position to play. But what are you getting in Sonny Michel? And again, when I was on with Cecil Bloom and Matt Waldman, I think those two guys put it perfectly you're basically getting the best parts of each of new england's current running backs rolled up together into one guy and what's interesting about michelle from my perspective is he's a player that i actually did study for the inside the pylon.com draft guide as we up that process, we had multiple looks on every single player, sometimes more than that.

And I helped out with some cross-checks on different positions, non-quarterback positions. And I pulled up my report on Sonny Michel because I did the cross-check on him. It didn't go into the guide, but it was an important part of the process. My year one projection on him, likely rookie starting running back, a rookie starter who

can function well in both his own and gap power schemes. Because of his athletic ability, route running, and willingness in pass protection, he can be a three down running back early in his career. And that's an important factor here. Think about how much the Patriots throw, how much they rely on their running backs both as receivers and as pass protectors for Tom Brady. The fact that he can give you that as a rookie is a huge plus for him. My year three projection on him should be a mid- to upper-tier running back

in the league by his third season. Scheme fit, utilized mostly behind zone blocking schemes, projects best to his zone heavy system, but he showed good awareness and vision behind blockers on gap and power plays. His scheme versatility is a plus in a talented running back class. We always hear about versatility. How much can you do? How many ways can you contribute for the New England Patriots? You're getting that in him. The ability to be a three down back and the ability to run in different offensive settings. Best traits on him? Very explosive running back who gets into a high gear very quick in the play. Good vision and burst on both zone and gap power running designs. Willing

to get small and run through smoke. Only needs to identify a small crease to create a big play in the run game. Very adept at manipulating second-level defenders with his eyes, feet, and hips, and consistently makes linebackers and safeties miss in the open field. Strong finisher whether on the second or third levels. Strong enough to shed poor tackling attempts. Can identify leverage in the open field and will set up defenders with either

his angles or his blockers in front of him. Can get upfield quickly and force the cut on the backfield or at the line of scrimmage. Willing blocker and pass protection. He has a very good job of identifying pressure and blitzers whether in the interior or off the edge. See the Tennessee game in 2017. Serviceable route run with good good hands can deke coverage players on routes such as flat routes and shallow crossers. Lawn speed is a plus. Shows good awareness in the scramble drawer situation as a receiver. He will mirror his running back in those situations and try to find open grass.

Worst traits on him that I identified sometimes can be slow to get his hips and shoulders parallel to the line of scrimmage on outside zone running plays or when he is forced to make a cut in the backfield. While he's a strong finisher, he lacks the upper level strength of some other backs in this class and can be brought down by single defenders. Does have an issue with fumbles. That's going to be something to watch, but guys have had that before. Alvin Kamara had that last year. We had a fumble issue coming out, but he was able to rectify that and have a big year for the Saints. As a receiver, there are times that he uses too many steps and or false steps on his routes and cuts. Needs to be quicker and more efficient as a route runner.

That's what I saw on him on film. Again, it's an interesting pick. And I've said again a lot tonight, it's been a long night and I still have radio shows to do. So it's going to be a long one, folks. Hand in there with me. But as I was saying, it's an interesting pick from the standpoint that you don't need to address running back right now. But I think the fact that he was available and the skill set he brings and the impact he can have as a rookie plus when you look at how he has all of these traits he's a three down back as a rookie it makes a lot of sense provided the medicals check out I hope they will if they do the Patriots got a great running back at pick 31. Up ahead, we're going to talk a little bit about day two, what we might expect to see,

and what the Patriots, and I'm sure some of the consternation is on Twitter right now as we look ahead to both look ahead to day two and kind of recap here day one. We'll close it out here in a few minutes with me, Mark Schofield, and Locked On Patriots. Mark Schofield back with you now to sort of close out this round one recap show. And I'm sure that some of the consternation in Patriots Nation is as follows. They needed help on the defensive side of the ball.

They drafted a running back. Why? Well, I think we just addressed the positives of Sonny Michel and why that pick makes sense for the New England Patriots and the things that he brings to the table. Let's now think about the defensive side of the ball for a minute. There are some good defensive players that are still available that you can get now in the second round.

And you've got two picks now in the second round you know we've talked about some of the corners carlton davis is still on the board isaiah oliver is still on the board harold landry is still on the board if you're worried about edge two guys at the safety spot ronnie harrison justin reed they're Nathan Shepard, the defensive tackle from Fort Hayes State. Maurice Hurst is falling. He's going to probably be there, probably on your first pick on day two. There's still some good to great players on the defensive side of the ball. Harrison Phillips, another defensive tackle. He's still available. Sam Hubbard, who's been linked to the Patriots throughout this entire draft process. He's available. And so I think if you look ahead now to round two, they're going to

be able to address defense probably with at least one of those picks, if not both of them. The caveat being, how soon do you have to go quarterback? Do you go quarterback? Those are the questions that are going to have to be answered tomorrow because we've often assumed that the Patriots will address quarterback at some point. We've often assumed that it's going to be in the second round or in the third round whenever they get Kyle Oletta. The fact that Rudolph did not go tonight, that Mason Rudolph is still on the board,

gives you some breathing room there. You might see a team reach for Mason Rudolph at some point early in the second round. That might change the calculus. Or maybe it doesn't. Maybe the thought process here is we're going to now address defense. And if Kyle Oletta is there at 95, great. If not, we'll address another position and move on down our board. Because remember, Bill Belichick doesn't get caught up in need or whatever.

He tries to draft the best football players that are available at a given spot in the draft whenever he's on the board, whenever he's on the clock. And that's going to be the approach. I understand that there might be some consternation about the fact that you needed to address linebacker, you needed to address edge, and you haven't done it. But yeah, there's no depth right now at linebacker

behind Van Noy, Hightower, and Flowers. There's an issue there. The two best options weren't going to be on the clock, weren't going to be on the board when the Patriots were on the clock, and Leighton Van Der Esch and Rashawn Evans. Now you address it with more mid-tier guys. And there are some options like we've talked about. Same thing with Edge. And remember, at Edge, you're getting Derek Rivers back. You've added Adrian Claiborne.

So we all love pass rush. We want to see more pass rush. But you can still address Edge later in the draft, if at all. Maybe you look at the fact that you're getting Rivers back and you're looking at him as, say, a rookie that's coming in through the draft because you lost him to the entire season last year. Same thing with Claiborne. He's a new addition. He's giving you that boost. Maybe you don't have to worry about an edge player unless you like Harold Landry, and he's

there when you're on the clock with that first pick in the second round. And so there's a lot of draft left to be had. It's not time to get worried yet. I think the Patriots made two very good picks tonight, both in terms of schematic fit and versatility and what these guys can bring right away. Both of these guys, I think, are year one starters. And when you have two first round draft picks and you get two first year starters out of it, I think that's a good draft. Time will tell on these guys.

But sitting here right now, my instant reaction is this was a good night for the New England Patriots. It's a good night for Tom Brady, number one. And it's a good night, perhaps, for their next quarterback, whoever that may be, because you might have two stable guys, both one behind you and one in front of you, to help protect you.

So that will do it for the round one recap show. I will be back tomorrow night, late again, working you through day two. Hope you enjoyed this show. Check out LockedOnPatriots.com as well. Got some quick little snapshot pieces on both of these guys that were drafted tonight. My quick and dirty thoughts on them.

I will be up. I will have up, excuse me, a piece on the quarterback stuff over at InsideThePylon.com that will go up at some point on Friday. And like I said, I will be back tomorrow night with some more analysis. Until then, keep it locked right here to me, Mark Schofield, and Locked on Patriots.