Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Locked On Patriots - August 22, 2019: Best Pats-Panthers Pregame Show

Episode Date: August 22, 2019

With the New England Patriots set to host the Carolina Panthers for preseason Game Three at Gillette Stadium, host Mike D’Abate welcomes William Bendetson of BestPatsCoverage.com to preview the evening’s action, and discuss some of the Pats hottest roster questions.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

and hello to all you Foxborough faithful and welcome to your game day edition of Locked On Patriots your daily home for news notes analysis and the occasional opinion on your six-time Super Bowl champion the New England Patriots Locked On Patriots as always is a part of the Locked On Podcast Network I am your host Mike debate and I cover the Patriots for fullpresscoverage.com, which is where you can always find my written work. And you can also reach out to me on Twitter at M-D-A-B-A-T-E-F-B-C. And be sure to follow Locked On Patriots on Twitter as well,

at L-O underscore Patriots. I'm excited for this show, a great show for you on tap for today. In fact, one might call it the best, because in just a moment, William Benditson of bestpasscoverage.com will join me to preview tonight's Patriots-Panthers tilt in Foxborough, because that's right, at 7.30 p.m., the Patriots and Panthers will face off at Gillette Stadium. It's the third preseason game that some like or hate to call it, depending on your perspective, the dress rehearsal game. Me

personally, I'm not a big fan of that term, but some people use it. In any case, this means that we're likely going to get a look at most of the past starters, as well as the Panthers starters. Don't want to discount them either, for an extended period. Tom Brady, Stephon Gilmore, Dante Hightower, and others that are hopeful to play as the Pats take another step toward the season opener on September 8th versus the Pittsburgh Steelers. Now the Pats are returning to Gillette Stadium tonight for their first competitive action, albeit preseason, for the first time since January 13th, where the Pats defeated the LA Chargers 41-28 en route to the AFC Championship game in Kansas City and an eventual Super Bowl championship.

Now, don't make any misconstrues here. No one is comparing the action and the level of play and the stakes that you saw in those games to tonight's action. But Patriots fans and everyone around is basically excited to see their team in action and with probable and due cause. There's no question about it. It's an exciting time when we know that Patriots football is right around the corner and we're really inching closest to that.

Now, William's going to be sure to let you know what to watch for for tonight, and he's going to absorb and give us some of his wisdom and counsel in a moment. But before I welcome in William today, I wanted to take a minute to remind you that it is a new NFL season. Antonio Brown is on the Raiders, or at least we still think he is as of press time right now. Le'Veon Bell is with the New York Jets. Odell Beckham is in Cleveland. But the one thing that hasn't changed, where I'm putting my money down on all the games,

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His site, BetsPassCoverage.com, features up-to-date analysis, stellar content, and insider views you won't find anywhere else. He also happens to be one of the more adept podcasters anywhere in sports media, not just in England, anywhere. He is the one, the only William Benditson. William, thank you so much for joining me today. Welcome to Locked On Patriots. Yeah, it's really a pleasure to be with you. I've been a big fan of your work for a long time.

You know, I think you do a great job, and I'm really excited. We're only about two weeks away, two and a half weeks away from the start of the season. I think two weeks from tonight is the opening game between the Bears and the Packers, and then Patriots start in two and a half weeks against the Steelers. So with the Red Sox in free fall, not much else going on, I think everybody's ready for football season. Oh, without question. And thank you for the kind words. I appreciate it.

I assure you I am equally as big of a fan as your work. Long time have been, and that continues, and continue to do some great job with bestpatscoverage.com. And really, if anyone is looking for a subscription recommendation, I can definitely give that to you. You won't be disappointed and you will be satisfied with the result. But you're absolutely right. Football is on the horizon and we are inching closer to the beginning of the NFL season.

And before we get into tonight's game, there's a question that I've been wanting to ask you for a long time, and I'm glad I have the locked-on platform to be able to do it this morning. And that is, you were among the first, if not the first, to predict that Jared Stidham would be Tom Brady's primary backup this year. You did so way back when Jared Stidham was drafted. And really, at that point, it simultaneously would spell the end of the Brian Hoyer era in New England. If Stidham was going to be Tom Brady's primary backup, Hoyer would not be needed to be carried

as the third quarterback. So with Stidham's impressive play thus far, we've seen several roster predictions that are now starting to share that sentiment. Most of them, mine included, actually did include three quarterbacks having Hoyer be the primary backup, but we're seeing Stidham's name now being slotted into that number two. We're seeing a lot of roster predictions in that genre. So my question to you was, when you saw Stidham's draft plays,

was your prediction more about praise for his game? Was it really kind of setting the record straight on maybe Hoyer's value or, I don't want to say lack thereof, because I do like Brian Hoyer as a player, but was it more of a situation where you saw Stidham being a better fit, or was it just simply seeing greater needs on the roster than to carry three quarterbacks and maybe saving a little cap space in the process? Yeah, it was a combination of those things. First of all, I liked the Stidham pick. I liked him at Auburn, so I thought that was that.

I thought that they would save money by just going with Stidham and not Stidham and Hoyer. I've never been the biggest Brian Hoyer fan in terms of his – I think he's a good leader. I think he's a good backup because he's got experience. He likes Brady. He understands the offense. But I just thought Stidham would be a better player.

And then, you know, you just look at Bill Belichick's history. He generally likes – I mean, I don't have the exact numbers in front of me, but I think of the last ten years, he's kept only two quarterbacks eight or nine times. So it's rare now that he likes to keep three quarterbacks the trend around the league is to go with two I think he'd prefer the roster space somewhere else so you take those factors into account and obviously Stidham's going to make the team you know draft a guy in the fourth round you know without a you know understanding

that you're going to have a roster spot for him so I just didn't see the need for Hoyer too I understand that he's a more veteran presence. You know, he's good on the scout team. But I think that, yeah, I just expected Stidham, you know, to become the backup for those different reasons. And I completely agree in a lot of ways. And it's something early on where I looked at everyone talking about, and even in my own, you know, to cover the team on the periphery,

and seeing what Hoyer's value brings to the team in terms of scout team acumen. And a lot of people were saying that the way he ran the scout team, especially in the playoffs last year, mimicking Pat Mahomes, mimicking Jared Goff, being able to do that, really kind of helped his standing and his stature in the Patriots roster. But Stidham has looked impressive, and I agree. I was very impressed with the pick as well. I was a fan of his coming out of Auburn. Our former co-host here at Locked On and a mutual friend of ours, Mark Schofield, did quite an extensive preview and had a chance to actually

interview Stidham one-on-one before the Patriots drafted him. He's one of the best quarterback minds in our business and really identified this kid as being potentially something special. So, yeah, I do. I share your sentiment, and I think this could be a good thing for the Patriots. You mentioned the roster space, and that was part of the question that I asked you when you did address that and say that you do believe that Bill Belichick would like to free up that roster space for potentially someone else on the roster. And we've heard so much about the wide receiver core. It's gone from being very thin to being stacked within the last couple of days,

naturally with the return of Edelman, Gordon, Demarius Thomas. But keeping those returns aside for now, is there someone on this roster right now in the wide receiver depth chart that you think we may see a heavy dose of tonight, possibly even into the fourth preseason game, that essentially might be singing for their supper out there that could end up taking that extra roster spot if they do decide to part ways with Hoyer and carry an extra wide receiver. Yeah, I mean, obviously I think at this point everybody thinks

that Jacoby Myers is going to make the team. And, you know, he's had a great preseason, a great training camp. So I think they're going to continue to look at him a lot. They want to see that he has the durability. He played all the game in Tennessee. So I think that he going to continue to look at him a lot. They want to see that he has the durability. He played all the game in Tennessee. So I think that he's going to keep. But if you look at it, I think Edelman, Harry, well, unless Gordon begins on the non-football injury list,

Gordon, Myers, and Dorsett are guaranteed. So as for who the extra receiver is, I don't know. It could be Ryan Davis. But I would give the edge if they're going to keep anybody to Braxton Berrios. I think that they want to continue to develop him. I think they think that he could be a productive receiver down the line. And with Ben Watson being suspended the first four games, I think that it makes sense to carry an extra wide receiver at least through the first games, because Watson obviously doesn't count against a 53-man roster. Then you see through the first four games, are you using all those guys? And then you can make a decision about who to cut. So I think if they're going to keep an extra receiver, I would think it would be Braxton Berrios. Yeah, and again, I share your sentiment. I know it kind of sounds like we're like-minded, but I'm happy to report that as well, because Berrios was the guy that I

had looked at as being a possibility that could benefit from them using a roster spot that they had previously used elsewhere and choosing to put that into the wide receiver core. I like what he brings to the table on special teams as well. He's a very adept punt returner and something that the Patriots, I know, would rather not have Julian Edelman doing at 33 years of age. So if they can bring him in and bring him along, I think that does make a good effort there. And they were high on Berrios last year when they were able to bring him in, and a lot of people liked his game.

I was a big fan of them drafting him last year. Yeah, I think last year they just didn't think he was ready, and so they essentially gave him a redshirt year by putting him on injured reserve so absolutely i don't think they want to do that again this year so either they're going to keep him i mean look they could release him and then see if he clears waivers and gets a and then if he clears waivers and is still out there they could put him on the practice squad because he still has practice squad eligibility i think they would obviously but i'm not convinced that he would clear waivers. I mean, there's a lot of need for receivers out there. It only takes one team.

I think it would be 50-50 whether he clears waivers or not. Yeah, absolutely, and I do agree with that. I don't think that there's a huge chance. There is a chance, but I don't think there's a huge chance that he would clear waivers. That is a little bit of a risk, and I think if they really like Berrios, they're going to have to use a roster spot to be able to keep him around, hoping that he's able to stay in New England. Keeping on the wide receiver core and kind of dipping into the tight end a little bit, William, I just wanted to kind of digress into that a little bit,

and that's some of the veterans that they've brought in on this team. You mentioned Jacoby Myers has had a great preseason. It's looking very likely like he will procure a roster spot. And Berrios coming on, who started off pretty steadily in minicamp. We saw him be like the media camp darling, quote-unquote. A lot of people were really singing his praises. His production tailed a little bit during training camp, but still shows that ability. Of course, there's the injury right now that he's nursing with his hamstrings,

so that could be a wild card here. But Philip Dorsett and Demarius Thomas, a lot of people are pitting those two against one another, and Demarius, I think, has the higher of the ceiling and the higher of the potential at this point. But I'm reticent to say that Dorsett is going to be an immediate cut, simply because he has experience in this system, and he has synergy with Tom Brady. Those are two things that I don't think can be easily thrown away. So if there is a veteran right now that is going to be a lock,

or I wouldn't necessarily say a lock, but would be a good fit for this roster, do you see it being Dorsett? Do you see it being Thomas? Or simply have we not seen enough of Demarius Thomas yet to make that call? Yeah, I'm skeptical on the Demarius Thomas thing. I mean, look, when in his prime there was no bigger fan of Demarius Thomas than I was. He was one of the best receivers in the league. I think it's hard to argue that.

He was on the 2013 Broncos, one of the most productive offenses statistically of all time. But he's coming off, I think it's two torn Achilles. He's had a lot of injuries. I think it was a good signing in the sense that there was no risk to it. They didn't have to guarantee him a lot of money. But I don't know that he won't begin the year on the non-football injury list. I mean, he's off of that now. He's practicing.

But I'm not sure what he's going to be able to give you. I mean, if anything will be of use of the next two preseason games, tonight against Carolina and next week against the Giants, we'll see if Demarius Thomas has anything there. And I agree that Philip Dorsett, I mean, look, with Josh Gordon coming back, if you remember last year when Gordon came, Dorsett essentially stopped playing. And then when Gordon left on suspension, Dorsett played again. When Dorsett has been asked to play, he's been productive.

He was productive early in the year. He had a big touchdown catch in Kansas City in the AFC championship game. So I think he's a hard cut. And I think they'd be reticent to cut Philip Dorsett. And so, you know, they're left with a tough decision. I mean, that sixth guy, you know, I mentioned Berrios. You also could put Harris in there. You also could put Harris in there. You also could put Thomas in there. So, and they could even keep seven wide

receivers the first four weeks. And then after, you know, Watson comes back, they'll cut one and go with six because I only think they're going to have two tight ends on the roster. So I think that there is some flexibility there, but I just think Bill Belichick really likes Philip Dorsett. He likes his work ethic. He thinks that he's reliable. He's worth keeping in case of an injury, even if he doesn't produce in a game or he's not active because of Josh Gordon. I think that they really like Dorsett, so I don't think that they cut him. And I do agree, again, and I think that it's going to be a tough cut for them simply because of the fact that like you said there is some concern with Demarius Thomas right now I think

a lot of people and you put it very eloquently is that you know he's coming off of an ACL injury he's coming off of a very difficult injury and you don't know what type of productivity you're going to get from him right off the bat, whereas Dorsett has been called upon and has delivered in the time that he's called upon, albeit having some difficulty cracking the roster and really kind of even moving ahead of what Chris Hogan was last year. A lot of people expected him to leapfrog him and wasn't able to do it. William, I just want to say I think it's the toughest group of roster decisions

they've had to make in some time because there's a lot of depth on this roster and it's not going to be easy, especially a receiver. You know what Edelman is. Edelman's 33, though, but he's obviously your most... Everyone else is a question mark in terms of Harry still learning the offense. He's injured uh dorsett you know you want to see that

he can stay healthy put together a consistent year uh demarius thomas coming off injury maurice harris has an injury history so it didn't work out with don traulindman they already released him so everyone else is a question mark so they're choosing between a lot of question marks a receiver i mean obviously harry being a first round pick is going to be on the team and So everyone else is a question mark. So they're choosing between a lot of question marks a receiver. I mean, obviously, Harry being a first-round pick is going to be on the team. And Myers is, you know, I just think given the uncertainty and the way he's played, definitely deserves a roster spot. No, definitely. And like everything that happens at one Patriots place in Foxborough,

we'll find out on the field. Bill Belichick lets his talking be done out there, and really it's hard to argue with the track record that he's had. So whatever buttons that he presses, I mean, I'm not saying that every movie he's ever made has been top-notch and right on the money, but he's been right more often than he's been wrong for all the stuff that he takes about being Bill the GM

versus Bill the coach. I'm sure he's got a plan, and we'll definitely see what that shakes out like. William, I wanted to switch gears just for a moment and talk about the defense a little bit, and a great piece that you recently wrote for bestpatscoverage.com was on Danny Shelton. The Pats defense has been praised very highly thus far, and it's been well-deserved. We've seen pretty stellar play on the secondary. linebacking core looks like it's upgraded from last year and the defensive line especially at defensive end Michael Bennett looks like he will be a good fit Chase Winovich is really lighting it up as a rookie and really helping some of the

defense take pressure off of the fact that they do not have Trey Flowers there, and you were one of the first to call it, that Flowers was not going to be a re-sign, first of all, and that the Patriots would still be okay without him, and I applaud you for that, because it looks like you're hitting it right on the money. But with Shelton, it almost looked like he wouldn't even be back, and then all of a sudden he came back to New England, came back leaner. It looks like he came back with a better understanding of the playbook. What in your estimation has been the key to the turnaround of Danny Shelton?

The story fascinated me on a number of levels because Shelton was a first round pick, I think number 12 overall with Cleveland in 2015. He played there for three years, and he played okay. He was good, but he was kind of lost on a team that was terrible. He, Josh Gordon, and Jason McCourty were on the 2017 0-16 Browns, so he didn't even come close to tasting winning. You talk to guys out there, I mentioned in the piece,

that he was a good leader on the team. Even when they were 0-7, he would encourage guys to tasting winning. You talk to guys out there, I mentioned in the piece, that he was a good leader on the team. Even when they were 0-7, he would encourage guys to stay focused. And then last year, I thought he was okay at times, a bit overweight. He got benched for three games mid to late in the year and then played better when he came back. I think Belichick used it to motivate him. He clearly had his best game in the Super Bowl. He had a nice three-yard loss of C.J. Anderson against the Rams in the Super Bowl. And then, you know, the Patriots

really didn't have much interest, obviously, in bringing him back. He lingered. He didn't sign with the Patriots until May 20th. Free agency begins at the beginning of March. So pretty much any team in the league could have had him, you know, with a more respectable offer. The Patriots, you know, offered him essentially a one-year, $1 million deal, which is close to the minimum for a guy of his experience. So, you know, they didn't – and only $75,000 guaranteed. So it wasn't, you know, that they were that interested in bringing him back. They ended up bringing him back because it was a low-risk move.

And, you know, they signed Mike Pennell, who I think they thought would be the starting nose tackle, and Shelton, to his credit, had lost weight. He's just outplayed Pennell in training camp and preseason. Right now, he's ahead of him on the depth chart, so you really have to give him credit. He's lost the weight that Bill Belichick... I think he lost 17 pounds. Clearly, if you watch the preseason games, he has a quicker burst. He has a focus now that I didn't think he had in his younger parts of his career. And obviously, Belichick noted this, that his second year in the system has really benefited him. Certain guys improve, some guys

stay the same, but I think Shelton really understands what's asked of him, and I expect him to have a good year. Absolutely. And I, for one, have always been a Shelton fan. And you can look at the desire that he has to be here in New England and the gratefulness that he has to be here in New England. And yeah, it might be sort of a flowery story. But at the same time, it also does buy into the fact that I think he realizes just how fortunate he is to be here. You mentioned that he was with that 0-16 Cleveland team,

as was Jason McCourty, as was Josh Gordon. And coming into a culture like you see here in Foxborough, it really is a culture shock and a positive culture shock because it makes you realize just how special it is to be on a team that is consistently in contention year after year after year. The other thing I pointed out in the piece that I thought was interesting, Cleveland, he started, I think it was 45 out of 46 games or whatever it was that he was eligible to play.

He could just get by starting on his athletic ability because the Browns obviously didn't have that much talent. But here he really had to focus on the finer points of the game. I think that was something he learned last year when he got benched for three games. And, you know, he's had a tough life. You know, his father left, I think, the family when he was five. His brother was shot to death when he was in high school. So he's been through a lot of adversity.

He's a lover of nature. He has four dogs. So it's just an interesting guy to write about. And, you know, I think he's one of the more interesting, just as forgetting even his ability at nose tackle, one of the more interesting people on the team. Agreed. And absolutely, I highly recommend checking out this piece. William did a brilliant job with it, and I couldn't recommend it high enough. So definitely check that out to learn a little bit more about Danny Shelton. William, one more question here before I allow you to have the rest of your day back and

continue to hit the Pat's beat. I did open up the DM mailbag in my Locked On Patriots Twitter and asked about questions that they may want to pose to you. And the number one question that came up was, how much, if any, will we see of Tom Brady tonight in the preseason tilt? Do we expect him to play beyond the first quarter, well into maybe even the second half, or is this going to be a few snaps and then he's going to take his leave from the game? Obviously, him being 42 years of age is factoring into that, but I think there also is some

sentiment that they want to see what they have uh this year in terms of being able to get some synergy with some of the guys out there so how much brady are we going to see tonight i looked at history as a guide i really think the first half into the early third quarter he he has not played uh the first two preseason games uh part of the re normally he plays the second and the third. He just about never plays the first and the fourth. I don't expect him to play the fourth next week against the Giants. So the reason he didn't play last week was they had two physical practices against Tennessee. Belichick had seen enough. He's 42. But tonight's going to be really his only preseason, real game action before

Pittsburgh, who they play in the season opener. I think he'll play at least a half and maybe into the third quarter. I just think if they're going to stick him out there, they want to get him into the routine, what it's like. There's no sense in just bringing him out there for two or three series. I think that he will play a half into the third quarter. This is the dress rehearsal. And if history is a guide, he usually plays a half. There's a couple of times he's played into the third quarter.

So I think you will see Brady. I mean, luckily, if there's one preseason game you want at home, it's the third one because it's when the starters play the most. You know, I think we'll get a look at Julian Edelman. I think we'll get a look hopefully at Demarius Thomas. So it'll be the first time we really get a look at the starters playing in extended period. And I know Brady wants to play, obviously, the competitor in him.

But, yeah, I expect him to play a half, maybe a little bit more. Yeah, and that'll be great for not only the fans, but also, you know, the media and definitely, you know, NFL fans across the board to be able to see some of the Patriots starters and take a look at the type of team they'll be fielding in 2019. William, what can I say? Thank you so much for joining me today. Yeah, I really enjoyed it any time, Michael. Absolutely, my honor. And before I let you go, I just wanted to give you an opportunity to let our listeners know where they can find you on social media and where they can find some of your great work across the media platform. Sure. Well, on Twitter, it's easy enough. I'm William Patriots. So just again, William Patriots. And then my website is bestpatscoverage.com, all one word,

again, bestpatscoverage.com, bestpatscoverage.com. And it's $12.95 for a season, $49.95 for a lifetime. And I put some of my videos on Twitter. I put more videos on the website. I have articles, a lot of articles, and I do a podcast like you. And so, yeah, again, bestpatscoverage.com. It's been very heartwarming, a lot of praise for my work, and we've had a lot of subscriptions sign up so far. So I couldn't be more pleased. Well, definitely.

And like I said, I can definitely highly recommend it. So for all you locked honors out there, if you're listening and you're a Patriots fan, great coverage. Definitely go ahead and take a look at what William's got to offer and sign up because it'll be well worth your time and your investment. Again, I thank William Bendenson for joining me today. As for me, I will be back tomorrow with your Friday edition a recap of Patriots Panthers and Russell Baxter

a pro football guru will be joining me in the hot seat as well so make sure to tune in also make sure to join us each and every day on the Locked On Patriots podcast and subscribe to Locked On Patriots via your preferred podcast provider once again I'm Mike DeBate. Thank you so much for listening. Have a great day, everybody, and enjoy tonight's game in Foxborough.