Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Locked On Patriots February 21, 2019 - Take Thursday

Episode Date: February 21, 2019

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Hey there everybody, welcome on in to a Take Thursday installment of the Lockdown Patriots Podcast. Mark Schofield slided into the big chair on today, Thursday, February 21st, 2019. I am emerging somewhat unscathed, slightly scathed. Okay, maybe partially. Okay, fully scathed. Yesterday here in the DC area, a snow day. So the kids were home. Everybody was home. I had two different podcasts, three different radio shows to do. It was somewhat chaotic. Let's just say that the kids watched a little bit more screen time than they probably should have. But we're back at it.

Just a couple of days away now from the NFL scouting combine. We're all excited about that. What we're going to do today, some Take Thursday stuff. I put out the Clarion call for questions last weekend, some of which I'm going to use in a column over at the Matt Waldman Rookie Scouting Portfolio. But I got a lot of Patriots-centric questions that I figured, you know what? Roll them into a Take Thursday episode. So we will do that. Before we dive into the great questions I got, though, a reminder to follow me on Twitter at Mark Schofield. Please, please, please check out the work at places like InsideThePylon.com,

Pro Football Weekly, The Score, Matt Waldman's rookie scouting portfolio, Big Blue View, part of the ESPN Nation family of websites. Friends, as I've said, if they're covering football, chances are I'm covering this game for them. Let's kick it off now. And this first question gives me a chance to sort of talk a little bit about some big picture stuff. If you haven't seen it, I'm going to be on with Matt Williamson on Locked On NFL every Wednesday now. Matt and I doing some stuff every Wednesday. You should check that show out. And on Wednesday's show, we got into this topic. So it's a good

chance to sort of hit some big picture, Pat's kind of tangential stuff here. Question from our great friend, Dave Ackman at Davidid david akman on twitter hope the little man is doing well do you foresee the patch trading for a veteran with any of their expected seven picks in the top four rounds and obviously you hear that right now and the names that probably pop into people's minds antonio brown odell Beckham, maybe Le'Veon Bell, probably not Le'Veon Bell because that's a different situation. So we'll focus on the two wide receivers, Antonio Brown and Odell Beckham. This is something I got into with Matt Williamson. And first of all, what do you think, and this is a debate that Matt and I had, the return would be to get one of those two guys. What would it take to get one

of those two receivers? And I think it's a different set of calculations. For some, I look at Odell, and I think you're probably looking at two wide receivers. I mean, two first round picks, excuse me. That's probably what you're going to get because you're talking about a receiver that's about to turn 26 or maybe just turn 26, hitting his prime right now. Whereas for AB, you're looking at a 30, 31-year-old receiver. It's probably a first at most. Obviously, a lot of contractual stuff and numbers there. So that's probably what you're looking at in terms of cost. Maybe for an Odell, you could get by with a first, a second, and a future second, or a first and a future first or something like that. You're probably going to have to cost more to acquire.

You're going to have to give up more to acquire an Odell. Now, is that something the Patriots would do? And you ask that, particularly when it comes to Odell, because you would think that that might be a situation where the Giants would be happy to see him go out of the NFC. And we are seeing some reporting that when they shoved him around last year, that it probably would have been the Patriots that were the most aggressive in going after Odell.

Now, do I think the Patriots do it? No. We'll get to that in a second. Do I think the Giants eventually move Odell? No, I don't think so. And part of the reason for that is if we're seeing them sort of make this load up and make this one last sort of run with Eli,

you're going to have to get him weapons. So if you've basically written off this quarterback group, which maybe the Giants have, maybe not. I'm still not sold on what they're going to do at six. But let's say the idea for the Giants is we're punting on this quarterback group. We don't like it. We'll make him one last run with Eli. Why in the world are you going to take one of your two best offensive weapons and ship him away? Now, maybe the thought process is you get an extra first round pick. Let's say, hypothetically, you do this trade with New England just for grins and giggles here. You've now got six and you've got 32. And then maybe you get that first, second round pick as well, or maybe you get

a future first, whatever. You can then package that up. You can get guys at six and 14 or wherever and really address two needs. Maybe you do that. That's not Gettleman's way of thinking. He usually doesn't do stuff like that. Usually he sits there, he takes the best player available at six and he goes along his merry way. And so I don't think the Giants would move him anyway.

And if they were going to, why not move him before the big deal? You know, when it's easier to do so. And you could probably find a lot more in terms of a compensation package coming back to you. Because now, you know, the team that's going to trade for Odell is going to take on that contract. Whereas before, you're getting him on the cheap.

Yeah, you know you're going to have to sign him into an extension, but you know, you could have some more command over what you're going to have to pay the guy and not be at the whim of what the Giants do. And so I don't think the Odell thing happens. As far as the Patriots, do I think they acquire a veteran? That's kind of in their mode. We've seen New England do this before. They acquire veteran guys and find a way to make it work. You look at some of the guys that are looking for deals now,

Hogan and Patterson and players like that. And so I'll throw out a couple of names to watch. Emmanuel Sanders, I think a lot of people have talked about Emmanuel Sanders now or seen how it seems like he thinks his days in Denver are done. That's a name to watch. Another name to keep in mind, Cameron Brate, depending on how this Gronkowski thing shakes out, he might become available.

They might kick the tires on him. Donald Penn, the offensive tackle with the Raiders, maybe they look to address tackle as a plan B situation, kind of similar to how they handled it last year. We anticipate Trent Brown getting paid, so maybe they look at the situation and they say, look, let's go out, try to get another plan B type situation. If I say a win doesn't work out,

there might be some guys they could you know look at in this draft and so i think they probably go the more veteran route but like the second and third tier run of guys i don't envision them making a big splashy type move going out and getting a guy like odell now that's just me maybe they surprise us but i'm not so sure about that up next some, some more of your questions. We're going to talk a little Danny Etlin. We're going to talk a little Obi-Mellon Fonwu and some other stuff from you. Got a ton of questions to get to. That's all ahead on this Take Thursday installment of Locked on Patriots. Mark Schofield back with you now on this Take Thursday installment of the Locked on Patriots podcast.

Going to take a moment here. I'm going to plug my appearance. I'm going back with my boy, and jawned on Sportsnet 650 out in Vancouver, British Columbia today at 105 Eastern. You can check it out. The best way to find that show is this way, at Sportsnet 650 on the Twitter machine, sportsnet.ca backslash or forward slash, whichever slash.

I got burned on that once. It's the slash. You burned on that once it's the slash you all know what slash it is so sportsnet.ca slash 650 please please please listen if you see me tweet it out and you get a chance retweet that retweet the show and stuff like that show my boys satin john some love you know they've been good to me always good to be back with them after two weeks away two weeks away from satin. Kind of miss those guys. Let's get back into it now with your questions. Brian Zukowski at FLOES420 on Twitter.

Is it possible Danny Etlin has progressed to a point where drafting a quarterback high is not a priority? I don't think they draft a quarterback high anyway. Now, partly because the guys that are going to go in that, I don't think they're going to get up into the top 10. Okay. And the guys that are going to go in the top 10, that top 15, your, your Haskins, your Murray, your lock. I don't think they're going to go up and get those guys. If there's going to be a guy that falls to them, I think in this draft, it's the Daniel Jones type. And look, I don't want to say I'm fully out on a guy, but if they draft Daniel Jones at 32, well, we're going to be in for some fun, kids. Now, maybe he pans out. This is one of those things that happens sort of in the draft evaluation world. You have your takes on a guy,

you do your evaluation on a player, and people think, oh, you want to see him fail. Look, one of my proudest moments is seeing Dak Prescott excel beyond where I rated him, you know, because I learned something from that. I want all these guys, I want every quarterback I evaluate to be drafted in the first round and play in the Hall of Fame. But we got to be honest about what we're seeing. And with Daniel Jones, I don't see it. But I don't think the Patriots still go quarterback early. I really don't. At least not this year.

And it's not because of Etlin or Hoyer per se. It's because they've seen that they can squeeze out perhaps one more year out of Brady beyond next season, given what we've seen from them. And so I think if they go quarterback, and again, maybe these are my Brett Rippon colored glasses leading me down this path, but I think they would go more the day two, day three range

where they go with a Brett Rippon or maybe a Will Greer or a Ryan Finley, one of these other guys in this class. And they think, okay, look, we've got enough options here where if Brady goes down, look, they're probably not going anywhere. But if Brady goes down, they've got Brian Hoyer, next man up, they can do that, and then they can see what they have with these other two guys.

And so I don't think Etlin or his development or not you know that they're gonna go quarterback early you know as far as etlin's development i think something that was kind of telling you know was when we heard the stories about super bowl practices and things like that it was still hoyer that was sort of running the show and running the scout team offense and being Jared Goff. And so that probably tells you that either they didn't trust Edlin to do that or they're working more with Edlin. So maybe there is something to a developmental idea. Look, they keep him around, and so there you go.

That tells you something. Similar to how they kept Brady around, kept three quarterbacks. Not a lot of teams are running three deep at the QB spot. Maybe we see more of that. But the Patriots are holding on to the guy for one reason or another. Similar to Philadelphia and Nate Sudfeld. They're handing on to that dude. Next question, Hytham Winterbottom, at hytham__winterbottom on Twitter.

The X-Raiders safety, Obi-Wan Fonlan, do we see him as an eventual starter or just a piece? I think they have a role in mind for him. I do think that they look at him as sort of the tight end weapon, the tight end killer type. There's a reason that they had him active down the stretch. We thought maybe AFC Championship game, that didn't happen. They obviously had a role for him on special teams you know i think it's an interesting safety class

there are some nice options but if they decide look we're out on the safeties he's an interesting piece to have you know you can sort of move him around he's more athlete than pure corner or pure safety so he's that kind of swiss army knife hashtag dave archie at dave archie on twitter for that quote you know he's that sort of swiss army. Hashtag Dave Archie, at Dave Archie on Twitter for that quote. You know, he's that sort of Swiss army knife type player that Belichick likes to have. And if Chun struggles a bit coming back from injury, if he's not back right away, I'd expect maybe an interesting type of role for him. Next question from my buddy Richard Schrager, R-S-S-C-H-R-A-G-E-R on Twitter.

How many homers will Kyler Murray have this year? Schrager. If he gets drafted in the first round, which he's going to, he's playing pro football. So he's not hitting any homers this year. That should count as some sort of charity softball game that he runs. And Kyler Murray is going to hear his name called in the first round. And so, look, he's not playing baseball.

Schrager, I know you'd like to see him in a Yankees uniform, see him in the pinstripes. It's not going to happen. It's not going to happen. It's not going to happen. By the way, who's hosted a banner come opening day? Who's that? Schrager?

Can't hear you. Can you say it a little louder into the microphone? Oh, cat got your tongue? I got you, buddy. Next question from my buddy, Michael Kist. How many pages of notes did Haskins' 73-throw day against Purdue come out to be? Follow-up, are you manufacturing your own paper from trees in your neighborhood? I'll answer the second question first. No, I buy a lot of notebooks and notepads from Amazon. What can I say? And yes,

I am old school. This is all pen and paper, kids. Why do I do it this way? Because it commits this stuff to memory. So when I'm on a radio show three weeks from now, and somebody asks me, look, why should I buy in on Dwayne Haskins and his mental process? I say, look, on a first and 10 situation in the first quarter against Purdue

in a game in which they lost, they got down, there was snow, there was some wind swirling. He threw it 73 times. He had a first and 10 play early in that game where you could see the mental process, and it worked. They ran a flat seven smash concept where he looked the safety off pre-snap. He adjusted the lump protection, looked off the mic linebacker as well, identifying him pre-snap. And he just missed the throw.

It was wide open because he looked off that free safety and that cover three coverage and looked him off. How do I know that stuff off the top of my head? Because I write it down by hand. So look, if there are any kids listening, boys, girls, still in school, I know you love the computers. You love to take notes in class if you can, if you're in college.

Use the pen and paper. You commit that stuff to memory. That's the way my brain works. Maybe you're the same way. Use the pen, use the paper, take the notes by hand. And plus, look, maybe the dog can eat your homework, maybe you're the same way use the pen use the paper take the notes by hand and plus look you know maybe the dog can eat your homework but maybe you can hit the delete key by mistake and maybe i'm old school maybe i am but it helps so yeah i do this stuff by pen and paper i'm a man

i'm 41 up next some more of your questions to close out this take thursday installment of locked on patriots mark scoffield back with you to close out this Take Thursday installment of Locked on Patriots. Mark Schofield back with you to close out this Take Thursday installment of the Locked on Patriots podcast. And a couple more questions to sort of get to here. First, Celebridge Gooner at C-E-L-B-R-I-D-G-E-G-O-O-N-E-R. I guess we got, you know, a Gooner here in the room. Away the lads. That's all I'll say to that. Number one draft priority for the Patriots. And it's going to be hard to answer that until we see how the franchise and transition tag period pans out, until we see what the Patriots decide

to do with, you know, a lot of the guys we've been talking about, Trent Brown and Trey Flowers, Steven Kostowski and others, until we hear from Gronk that he's back, McCourty that he's back. It's hard to sort of picture what would be the number one priority draft-wise. I think, look, they're in an interesting position at 32 because there are some pieces that they might want to add. They might want to address tight end. They might want to bolster the offensive line.

They might want to address safety. They might want to look tight end. They might want bolster the offensive line. They might want to address safety. They might want to look at quarterback. They might want to look at wide receiver, depending on what's available. They could go to a number of different options at 32. For me, I think whether Gronk comes back or not, you need an upgrade. If he comes back, you still need one at tight end too. And this is a great tight end class.

It is a very good tight end class. I was on the radio out in Denver on Wednesday afternoon, and they were asking me, look, if they don't go quarterback at 10, what are some things to do? And I said, look, if TJ Hawkinson is staring you in the face at 10, and you're Denver and you just signed Joe Flacco to at least be a quarterback for this year, a guy that loves throwing to tight ends, you go get him. He's that do-it-all type tight end that is so rare to find. Hawkinson probably won't be there at 32, but Font might be.

Irv Smith might be. And if one of those two guys is staring you in the face, I think you pull the trigger. An interesting thing to consider is Jeremy Simmons. I've talked about him a bit on this show and elsewhere. If you decide to move on from Malcolm Brown or Danny Shelton, you're going to need to get some interior defensive line help at some point. You've got Guy, you've got Butler, you've got some pieces where you could piece together the interior

defensive line. And you could probably sign somebody via free agency and draft somebody maybe in the third, fourth round that could play right away. But if a Jeremy Simmons is there at 32, I think you'd think long and hard about pulling the trigger there because a tremendously talented player, top 15 player based on film. Now, he's got some question marks with the knee as well, some off-the-field stuff. But if you draft him at 32 with the full understanding that, look, it's a medical redshirt situation and you're not going to get him this year. When it comes to be next year, you're getting a top 15 type player ready to go without even expending an additional draft pick. And so that's an interesting thing to consider at

32. They could go in a number of different directions. We'll know more in the next couple of weeks where they might want to go, you know, but those are some options right now. Last question we will get to, I think, let me just make sure. Yeah, this is the last question we're going to get to. I know I got a lot of people that sent me questions. If you don't hear your question today, it's because I'm going to be using it in a piece over Matt Waldman's website that you can check out, mattwaldmanrsp.com. This is from Brady Forces Jets fans to cry at pats underscore 1988. Fantastic Twitter handle there. Love to our Jets fans to cry at Pats underscore 1988. Fantastic Twitter handle there.

Love to our Jets fans, of course, that listen to this show. Would Jordan Tamu fit with the Pats? I really like his quick release. And he does have a very quick release. That's a great note there from Brady forces Jets fans to cry. It is a great note. And, yes, I did want to say the handle again. I'll just say that.

It is a great note. And it's a good piece of scouting evaluation there. I think he's more of a vertical threat than the Patriots, a vertical passer than the Patriots are right now. I think if you look at him on tape, his game against Southern Illinois, I think I said it the other day, so much fun to evaluate.

But I think he's more of a vertical thrower right now. I think of an offense like Carolina and offense like Tampa Bay might be great fits for him. I'm not so sure that New England is a great fit for him schematically, you know, but I think if they decide, look, we're going to punt to a day three type quarterback, would I be upset if they drafted him? No, I think he does some nice things. You know, I don't know if it's the best schematic fit, but I think he does show some things on tape, does make some bucket throws, that ability in a vertical-based passing offense,

which Mississippi was. Look, if they thought that in a post-Brady era that was what they wanted to move towards, then I think it might make some sense. There are obviously some day three quarterbacks that I've talked about, Finley and Rippon among them, that I think I'd be more excited about. But if they draft a quarterback, you know I'm going to get excited. I worked up some excitement over Danny Entlund. So you know

if they draft one of these guys, I'm going to be talking about more that I'm going to be juiced up for. That will do it for today's show. Thank you all so, so much for the questions. I really appreciate it. Again, if you've listened to the show and you've heard some of these Twitter handles, show some people some love, either retweeting the questions they ask, giving them a follow, that kind of good thing. Let's build a little friendly community here. This is what the off-season is about, a little camaraderie. Speaking of which, we're going to be talking tight ends in the Locked On Patriot Slack

channel. Maybe by the time you listen to this, we're going to be getting that discussion underway. If you want to see the discussion or be a part of it, hit me up for an invite. No better time than the present to get involved. Off-season is a great time to sort of bounce stuff off people, especially the draft, because look, none of us know what we're talking about, okay? I put myself firmly at the top of that list. I don't know the first thing that I'm talking about here, but yet I get paid to do it. Imagine that. What a time to be alive. So again, if you want to be part of that conversation, hit me up at Mark Schofield on Twitter, mark.schofield

that inside the pylon.com. If you want to do it via email, you know all that good stuff. You know how to find me. Be a part of the conversation over at the Lockdown Patriot Slack channel. That will do it for today. I am off tomorrow, next week. I am four shows a week. And then we are back to it after the combine, back to five shows a week.

Doing it how we do it here at Locked on Patriots. Until then, have a great weekend, everybody. I'll be back Monday for our second mock draft. Monday, hope to do a little bit better. Wasn't pleased with how that mock came out. Do a little bit better next time. Until then, have a great weekend. See you Monday here at Locked on Patriots.