Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Locked On Patriots February 28, 2019 - Take Thursday with Shane Alexander

Episode Date: February 28, 2019

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Welcome everybody to a Take Thursday episode of the Locked On Patriots podcast. Mark Schofield back into the big chair for today, February 28th, 2019. Last day of the month of February. And this is the last show of the week. This is the last time we were going four shows a week. Like I said, after the combine, we're back at it five days a week, getting you ready the full sprint up to the draft. But this is a take Thursday.

We're going to be doing some draft takes, some Patriots takes, some roster construction type stuff. And to do that, I'm bringing on my good buddy Shane Alexander from Inside the Pylon. You can follow him on Twitter at Shane the number one Alexander. Shane, buddy, what's going on my friend my man it's good to be on the flagship podcast of the new england patriots so thanks for having me on uh thanks thanks for being on buddy and i like the way you sort of described that there the flagship show i'm gonna start stealing that tagline man um we are in combine season now we are everybody except for you and i think is in

indianapolis right now yeah i know we're going to do some combine stuff a little bit later but i do want to start with look let's sort of do this at the outset let's talk about where the patriots are right now in terms of roster construction and decisions that have to be made you've got decisions to be made on trey flowers decisions to be made on trent brown malcolm brown danny shelton the wide receivers let's take it from the top trey flowers if you're bill belichick are you bringing him back so i know they don't like to pay pass rushers right uh they've made a history out of getting rid of guys chandler jones comes to mind richard seymour comes to mind um they they. They don't tie themselves. They look at the group as a whole greater than an individual part.

When I look at the way the roster is constructed right now, they have Derek Rivers, who saw a limited kind of role last year. They've got Wise, who really come along. John Simon, are they going to bring him back? I would franchise Trey Flowers, to be candid. I mean, I know it's a big cat pit, but I don't know if I would just let him walk straight out. Like, I think when you look at the way that the Patriots like to do things, we're going to get to Trent Brown. You know, they draft Isaiah Wynn last year, and he'll probably slide right in, barring a recovery from his injury, to where Brown's role was last year. I don't know if they really have a guy on this roster that's as high in as Trey Flowers

that can play defensive tackle sub package. And I don't know if in the draft there's going to be a guy sitting there at 32 because of how edge rushers get pushed up, really how defensive linemen get pushed up. Mike Mayock talked about it a lot today about how you know you've got to draft interior pressure as much as exterior pressure in the nfl today and with flowers offering you both i don't know if a guy that you can slide in for him will be there at 32 so when i look at flowers i think franchise him uh for a year draft someone that can replace him in a year and then you let him walk next year,

and then you get a really nice comp pick out of it. I know that's a little bit outside of what we're used to the Patriots doing. You're obviously way more in tune, and I can't wait to hear your opinion, but that's where I would be looking. Do you think that there's a possibility that, and believe me, Shane, I get the argument. I'm on record here on this show as saying that I think if they do franchise anybody out of this group it will be Flowers but do you think the given like you said what we've seen from the Patriots over the years you've got Rivers you've got Wise you've got Claiborne you know you can probably resign John Simon at a fraction of the price that you're gonna have to pay Trey Flowers you've got Keonta Davis you look at this edge class yeah you're probably not going to get a top-flight edge rusher at 32

because, like you said, they'll get pushed up the board. But do you think that there's a possibility that they take that group, add in sort of a third, fourth-round pass rusher, and say, all right, we're going to roll with this group because there are other things we can do. We can take a Donta Hightower and drop him on the edge at times. We can take a Kyle Van Nooy and do that with him. Do you think that because of what we've seen from the Patriots in the past,

they'll be more inclined to let Trey Flowers test the market, get a big payday, and say sayonara, and try to reload rather than putting all their eggs in that Trey Flower basket? No. I mean, you make a really good point, and it would be classic Patriots to do that. What I would say is, yeah, I could see that. You look at Wise, for instance. I think he is sort of the quintessential Patriot. He's not a guy that was obviously thought of highly coming out, but he was more of a technician that you felt safe with a pretty high floor. I remember Justice Mosqueda, probably a guy that everybody that listens to the show knows.

Him and I talked extensively about why he's coming out. I could see them going for a guy maybe in the third, fourth round, maybe an LJ Collier from TCU, maybe a Ferguson from Louisiana Tech. Maybe they do find a guy that obviously is not going to be Chandler Jones or Richard Seymour or even Trey Flowers, per se, but they can get minutes and snaps out of, get production out of, and kind of rotate him in this year or this coming year. So yeah, I could totally see that mindset because I do think there are some guys like Wise in the third and fourth round this year that kind of fit the, and I hate to say it, Patriot way. Where were on derrick rivers when he came out so i had a i had a late first on derrick rivers i thought that in a you know in a vacuum you

probably would like to get him in the second round but i just think when you look at the value of pass rushers pass rushers are defensive quarterbacks like you pay those guys you get those guys i really like derrick rivers and i hated so much that he got hurt so early on his rookie season so i was huge on rivers and i think maybe he's just now finally getting back around into um into rhythm maybe he's finally starting to develop i mean you hate to lose basically a season and a half of him but i really i really liked river so in an ideal world i mean i would love to see him become what you think back back five seasons ago, Dominic Easley. He never panned out, and he got hurt.

I would love to see Rivers be the success story. He gets hurt, but he comes back and has a pretty nice floor and a really nice career. Trent Brown, are we sort of working under the assumption that similar to edge rushers, left tackles in this league get paid, and when you look around the league right now, you've got teams that need offensive line help you've got teams in the afc east like the jets and the bills that have a ton of cap space need some offensive line help are we just sort of assuming i think you sort of alluded to it brown is gone isaiah when he of the short arms

of course we'll get to that is going to slide in at left tackle. Yeah, and I actually know someone that knows Trent Brown, and in a very humble and excited and really grounded way, I've been told he's looking forward to being a free agent and getting that career contract that we want everyone to get, and I think he's ready for it and earned it. And I don't think the patriots are going to to resign him knowing they just drafted win and knowing that there are guys with the amount of picks that they have that they can select um that can play um on the exterior if they

need to you know adult and risner comes to mind i think we'd make a great patriot if they want to draft another tackle if they're worried about wins, progression, and development without injury or with it. So, yeah, I think Brown walks. There's going to be a lot of teams with cap space that need a tackle, and they're going to throw money at him. So I think if it comes down to a franchise tag, I don't know if the Patriots want to pay that cap either, knowing that they can slide Wynn in easier maybe than they can slide somebody in

for Trey Flowers. So, yeah, I'm operating under the assumption he's leaving. First of all, look at you sort of breaking a little bit of news here in the Locked On Patriots podcast. That's why we bring you on here, my friend. When you look at this tackle class, because I'm with you, I think that the New England Patriots will probably look to slide Wynn in and then probably look at tackle sometime on day two. Do you think Risner is there at, say, 56, 64, where the Patriots are on the clock in the second round?

Or do you think he's a guy that they might have to go earlier on? Do you think he can even get to that spot in the draft? Yeah, personally, I think Risner is a first-round guy. There's been a lot of talk, and I saw someone tweet it today, and I wish I could fully credit them. But basically, Risner's been getting talked a lot as an interior player in the NFL despite being a really nice tackle at Kansas State. And when he shows up today, it measures a little bit bigger than Jonah Williams, who also is in conversation about moving inside.

So I think Risner has tackle size. Smaller tackle size, sure, but tackle size. And the NFL needs guys that can be as versatile as him. I think Risner played four of the five offensive line positions at Kansas State. It may have been all five, but I do know he was a consistent guy across the line. That type of play is needed in the NFL where there's not 64 really good tackles. So I don't see Risner sliding into the 50s and 60s. And if he does, I just think it would be like a Grady Jarrett type of situation

where the NFL just totally overthinks him. And at that point, the Patriots should jump on it. If they want to draft a tackle, which I don't know if they want to, they're probably going to have to get on him early in the late first with their first pick or get into that early middle second round area. Let's talk about the wide receivers here. Patriots right now have five receivers that are on contract for next year. Julian Edelman and then Matthew Slater, who's a special teams guy,

Cody Hollister, Braxton Berrios, and then Damoon Patterson. Other than that, that's it. Patterson is a free agent. Cordell Patterson is a free agent. Cordell Patterson is a free agent. Phillip Dorsett is a free agent. Chris Hogan is a free agent. If you're Belichick, do you brain one, two, all three of those guys back? Do you let them walk?

How are you addressing free agency? Is that something, I mean, this wide receiver position, is it something you're going to do in free agency, the draft, a mix? How do you handle it? Yeah, I could obviously see all three of those guys walking. Hogan is on the side of 30, and I don't know if they want to bring him back. He might could get a couple of, or three-year deal from another team with some decent guaranteed money, and I don't know if New England want to compete with that. Cordero Patterson and Philip Dorsett, they've kind of had their careers revived a little bit in New England, especially, I think,

Patterson. There's real value there for him in the run game, the return game, and he's kind of developed a little bit as a receiver. He's getting closer to 30. I mean, Philip Dorsett, I believe, is only 25. But I just think once guys hit the open market, any bid drives up their price, and New England just probably doesn't want to get in a competition for system receivers, for lack of a better term. They've got Edelman, they've got Gronk, and they've got the running backs.

And I don't really know if they want to pay anybody more than that when they can find those guys in the draft. And so I would be surprised if any of them are brought back. Honestly, if it were just me and the money was right, the only guy I would really want to bring back would be Patterson just because I think he fits the Patriots really nicely. They can get him involved in a lot of ways, and then he adds that dynamic element on special teams. But I think we may be transitioning this point to draft eligible receivers, and I just think there's a lot of guys that fit the Patriots' profile. We'll talk about draft prospects up ahead, but first, before we do that,

I'll just give you a couple minutes here to talk about, are there any sort of free agents that are out there right now? It doesn't even have to be big names like the Le'Veon Bells, the Antonio Browns, whatever, that you think New England might be interested in. I don't think it obviously would be Le be uh levion bell um i am uh doing this we're going to do it live i'm pulling up the free agent list right now um we're doing it live baby we're doing it live i think the biggest free agent while i'm filling time till i get my list pulled up um you know i think the big the biggest free agent is in-house uh trey flowers and then

from there um you know i don't see them spending big money because everybody that's on the market, and I've got the list pulled up, they're not going to go out and spend on any of the edge rushers because they've got Flowers. They'll just tag him, and I think all those guys are going to get franchised or sign long deals anyway. You've got guys like Ndamukong Suh, who I might could see. Suh is a really weird – if he wanted to take minimal money just

to win more sue would absolutely be a personality that could fit in new england and i that is probably completely unrealistic i just think it would be really interesting that's more probably a first take talking point than legitimate thing but i really like i really like that as i say it out loud honestly um but no i don't think and this is not going to be a great answer, I don't know if anybody other than like a Golden Tate, if they really wanted to spend on a receiver that fit what they wanted to do, timing routes, quick guys, Golden Tate would be somebody I would look at. But I just think, again, if you want a tight end or a receiver, just draft these guys.

I could see actually them, if they're going to address free agency, it being on the defensive side of the ball and maybe them bringing in a cornerback. You know, Darkweeds Denard is a Michigan State guy. He might be a free agent and somebody that you could bring if you wanted another cornerback body. I look at the safeties. They're pretty good there, but maybe a Jimmy Ward.

He fits the profile of someone that the Patriots would like to use in a multitude of coverages. He can play safety, he can play cornerback, and he may be cheaper. If they bring in guys like that, it will be versatile players, but I think that the bulk of the Patriots' core is intact, and the players they add that will create value next season to repeat as champions will be found through the draft. You know, looking at sort of, say, the wide receiver group, and you've got Adam Humphreys, you've gotrell williams two receivers that sort of intrigue me do you think those guys what are both of those guys might be possibilities for new england see i i find i find the the humphries um is that just like two on the nose it's just two on the nose and and uh you know

i follow a couple of temporary bucks riders and they believe that that adam humphries is going to be a really nice payday probably more than that i can uh that i would want to pay for somebody like him but yeah like humphries would be really good williams i think is a really undervalued free agent like it's weird to me that he's going to hit the market i think he's a low-key really nice player and if new england could grab him just because the market doesn't recognize him i mean obviously that would be that would be enticing signing i just i just assume that new england don't want to pay these guys what some cap uh cap luxury you know teams have you know

there's a lot of money out there now um and i just think teams are going to throw money at these players in new england are just going to back away. In an ideal world, yeah, either of those guys would make a lot of sense. Mark Schofield, Shane Alexander, we're going to move a little bit in a moment here. We're going to talk some draft stuff, some guys at some different positions of need. But before we do that, a reminder that, look, we're in that day and age now where you can hop into your car and you can say to your lexer or your assistant or whatever, hey, play podcast Locked On Patriots. We're really pushing that here at the Locked On Podcast Network.

So next time you get a chance, either tell your Alexa or your personal assistant, your Google assistant, to play Locked On Patriots. Mark Schofield, Shane Alexander back with you. And Shane, let's sort of switch, since it is the combine, talk a couple of positions at need, at various levels of need for the New England Patriots, and guys that you might like. And let's start tight end. Gronk, we still don't know officially if he's coming back or not,

but it seems like he's leaning towards it. There have been some signs. He's been around Gillette. So let's assume Gronk comes back. You still probably want to address tight end. Who are some guys you like in this group? It's such a good group it's such a deep group it's it reminds me of of gronk's class where they double dip with him and

hernandez and you know it it would it would behoove them i think to at least take one and maybe double dip knowing that you've got probably drunk realistically for one more year um i love tj hawkinson he's probably my top tight end. If I was going to make a big board, he would be up there. And I don't know if he makes it to 32, but he's a guy that just feels like a great patriot. I think he's going to be long gone. The two guys that I think are more realistic are Noah Fant,

his teammate from Iowa, who I think is probably the most under-the-rad radar offensive player right now just because of how much love Hawkinson's getting and then Herb Smith a guy from my state and here in Alabama who I think that in terms of viewing him as a tight end prospect he may actually be a little bit undervalued just because OJ Smith came or excuse me OJ Howard came out two drafts ago now and so we still have that mental image of what O.J. Howard looked like as an Alabama guy. But Irv Smith, honestly, I've watched every game of Alabama,

both of their careers. He was as dynamic, and honestly, he was included more in the passing game than Howard was at his time. I think a lot of that was because of the quarterback and the offensive coordinator. But both of those guys can commit to blocking, especially Irv Smith. You know you're going to have to block in New England with as good of an offensive line as they have,

with the run game that they're committed to. Irv Smith is a tremendous, a tremendous blocker, and I believe he'll probably be there at 32 because offensive linemen and pass rushers and defensive tacklers are going to get pushed up the board, and tight ends in the first round just aren't prioritized. So if New England really wanted to stay put or trade back a couple of spots into Friday night where someone's maybe coming up for a quarterback,

if they want to prioritize tight end early, I hope to God it's Irv Smith. When you watch Smith, and I had this sort of inkling study in the tight ends this past week or so, you see Hawkinson, he's sort of like the prototypical do-it-all end he can block he's a receiving threat you know no offense more of a move type tight end i look at smith as kind of like the child of those two yes where you know smith can move around a bit you can move him around you can put him in the slot he can be a vertical threat but he's also a pretty good blocker whether from the win and line is that the sense you get from him that he's a more complete tight end but he has a bit of both worlds oh absolutely i mean you look he he played under dabble who's who's now at the

buffalo bills and you saw the kind of offense they run and what they like to do they they just cut charles clay i think they want someone that can block better at that position and be a little bit more productive but he was really productive with Dabble. And then you get Mike Loxley this year, and he was just a star, 710 yards, receiving seven touchdowns. And he was a move guy. But also Alabama, no matter how spread they get, no matter how prolific their passing game,

they're always going to be committed to the run. To play tight end at Bama, you have to be committed to blocking. And so Smith and Hale Hinges, who's a guy that probably won't get drafted, both of those guys are excellent blockers or were excellent blockers for Alabama. And he really is the best of both, which when you think about it, the four or five best tight ends in football right now, obviously they add a lot in the passing game, but they don't come off the field fucking worth their cash and the urban myth really is

the best of both i think he's going to be an early and often type weapon for whoever lands him hopefully in this scenario it'd be new england one of the things that i've talked about you know you mentioned them potentially double dipping at the tight end position is trying to pair like complementary tight ends like you know say you go no offense who's that more move type guy and then do you go with like an isaac not a little bit later who's more of a blocking type guy at times you can give you that like what would be an ideal double dip at the tight end spot for new england do you think i'm so glad you asked that because i wanted to say if if they could get if they could get irv smith um at 32 let's say

let's say they stay put uh if they could get him at 32 and then they could get in the third round uh they could get like jay stern burner from texas a&m who is an incredible move tied in yeah he had an outstanding year in his first year under Jimbo Fisher he was the most dynamic player on the field for Texas A&M on every snap I thought because he offered so much in terms of stretching the field I mean he's not this guy that is a possession catcher at the tight end position he is a vertical threat and so if they could get someone like Smith in the first round and then get him mid-late third, I mean, all of a sudden, you really do kind of have, in theory,

a recreation of what Gronk and Hernandez were or what they were supposed to be. Let me ask you this sort of evaluation-type question here. If you had to pick one and give it the cost, whether it's Noah Fant 32 or you get Jace, let's say, at 74. Yeah. Which do you do? Who's available at 32? Let's say – oh, go ahead. I was going to say, is Jeffrey Simmons available at 32? Oh, that's an interesting – so let's say that.

Simmons is there at 32. Noah Fant is there at 32. But Sternberg is going to be there at 74 who's the team doctor for new england like if i like it's like james andrews for instance if james andrews is my team doctor and he says simmons is going to be ready to play this year worst case scenario he can be at 110 percent next year if it's not a dominic dominic easily thing like if i know he's back um i think he's a top five player in this draft so at that point i'm probably taking simmons because i know like pass rushers are quarterbacks right and interior pressure can you pressure, you can rush the passer from the interior. I would take him and then look at an Isaac Nauta or a Jay Sternberger later on in the draft. That's where I would prioritize. But if Simmons is gone, let's say Cleland Farrell, Montez Sweat, Wilkins, and Simmons are all gone. Let's say the line guys in the middle late first round are gone

and I'm kind of stuck and I can't trade out, I'd probably just take Fant or Smith. That makes sense. That makes sense. Let me ask you this. A position near and dear to my heart, the quarterback group. New England's probably not going to be in a position to draft, say, one of the top three guys.

You have them in some order, Haskins, Locke, Murray, whatever. How do you think the Patriots address quarterback in this draft? Do you think they address it at all? Do you think they roll with a combination of Brady Hoyer and Danny Etlin into the 2019 season? What do you see them doing there? I think they have to draft somebody at some point because they have the luxury of it. They're defending champions, and they've manipulated the cap, and they have a luxury of it they they're they're defending champions and they've manipulated the cap and they have a lot of picks and there's just the ability for them to use one of those picks on a quarterback i don't believe it's going to be a garoppolo situation where they take him in the

second round unless some crazy scenario happened where like a drew lock or collar mary actually fell to them and then they maybe just say screw it worst case scenario we can flip this guy for you know a lot more than we invested in him and they take him but in all actuality they're probably going to sit there i think probably to the mid late rounds because this draft is so top heavy and then there's everybody in like in the fifth round but i do think that they're they will take someone i think they should take someone just to kick the tires because you may be about to transition to this question, but you see what San Francisco got out of Nick Mullins this year.

Kick the tires on a guy because he might turn out to at least be a dang serviceable number two that can spot start for you. Yeah, you brought up Nick Mullins, so let's go there to sort of close out the quarterback part of this show here. Would you kick the tires on Mullins? Because I made the argument this week that you can make the case that San Francisco, they've got three quarterbacks, and the guy that they might be most in a position to deal, or they might want to deal the most, would be Mullins because he's on contract for one more year. They've at least got Beathard for two more years. You're obviously not trading Garoppolo.

You study Mullins on film. It seems like he fits what New England does. If you're Bill Belichick, do you call up Kyle Shanahan and say, look, we've done a couple of deals here in the past couple of years, the Jimmy G trade, the Trent Brown trade. Let's see if we can do one more here for Nick Mullins. What? Yes. I think it's always easier to trade for a known commodity than an unknown,

and all of these quarterbacks are unknown. It really depends on what San Francisco values Mullins at, because if they believe Garoppolo is coming back healthy and they don't need him like the Eagles needed Nick Foles at the beginning of the season, they may cut him loose because he'll never be more valuable than he is right now. If Garoppolo is starting, he'll never be more valuable than he is right now if Garoppolo starting He'll never get more playing time New England's got a lot of Assets is it worth it to you to trade their fourth?

Let's just say fourth because it's the it's a pick that they only have one selection in that round If would you rather trade the fourth for Nick Mons, or would you rather draft? Anybody in that range? Stidham, Garner Minshew, Will Greer? I mean, if you're telling me at that 135 that Greer or Stidham are on the board? Because I'd probably roll with one of those guys. Now, if the question is— Okay, what if it's Brett Rippin, Brian Finley, or like a Kyle Shermer?

And those are the guys that are left. Look, I'm fine with Brett Rippin. I mean, I'm on Rippin Hill. I've been there for a while. I fully envision him being a guy that the Patriots would draft in the fourth round. Provided that hand size checks out, that's going to be an interesting thing. So I'm fine with Brett Rippon in the third round. I mean, I'm going to have,

he's going to be one of my top quarterbacks in this group. And so if he's there the third round, I'm fine with it. I think the interesting question or scenario for me to work through is a fourth round for Nick Mullins or say Will Gray or Jared Stidham at 56 or 64. Like that's the one that I have struggled with, and I'd probably go down the Mullins road rather than one of those two guys, even though I kind of like both of those guys.

See, I like Will Greer. I liked Will Greer a lot more until the Senior Bowl week. Yeah, he had a tough week. And I wanted to, like Jarrett said, I really wanted him to develop into more than he did. I would not take those guys in the second or maybe even the third round. So at that point, if I have a fourth-round value on those guys, I would probably just trade what I know for what I don't know and go with Mullins.

If you, who have studied both much more extensively than I have, felt comfortable taking them in the third more than you felt comfortable trading a fourth for Mullins. I think it's six in one hand, half a dozen in the other. Right. I mean, if you're looking at, say, Will Greer at 98 as opposed to Nick Mullins at 135, I'm okay with taking the guy on the rookie deal

and getting a couple of years out of him. I just think that we know what's going to happen. A team like Washington, maybe they miss out on and getting a couple of years out of him, I just think that we know what's going to happen. A team like Washington, maybe they miss out on the Drew Locke scenario. Maybe they miss out on a Nick Foles situation where they don't get a chance to sign him. And so, yeah, they say right now that they want to roll back in with Colt McCoy. But if Will Greer is there at 46, I would be stunned if he gets past them. Can I ask you a question? Can I go off script? Sure question let's do it we we talked about free agent wide receivers but then we didn't touch on draft

prospects i do you do expect them to at least draft at some point one wide receiver in the draft correct i think so but i know a lot of people like like I like Debo Sammo, for example. I don't know that they go that kind of route. I think we might see more of the, you know, obviously Andy Isabella and Hunter Renfro. Look, again, like we talked about a little bit earlier, that's kind of on the nose for them. I mean, a Penny Hart, we saw him down at Mobile, liked him. I think he kind of fits with what they'd like to do.

I think they go more of the day three round because they don't want to invest early at wide receiver because when they've done that it hasn't panned out and because of the way that offense is structured you know it almost doesn't make sense from a value standpoint to sink an early pick into what will probably be a redshirt year that's what they've tended to do with receivers lately we saw it with Braxton Berrios last year they basically gave him a redshirt kind of to learn the system more than anything else and then bring him back. Yeah, I know.

Just to break the fourth wall here, I did a mock draft on the draft network for the Patriots yesterday just thinking about this podcast, and I kind of drafted how I would approach it if the board fell that way. I thought an interesting pick would be Deebo Samuel, and you just said, you know, yes, but no, they're not going to draft a receiver that early. I mean, again, they've got 12 picks to play with, though. Yeah. And so if there's a year for them to sign and maybe do something outside of the box, you know, maybe they would do that. And in your mock, Debo at 32 and Irv Smith at 56 and then Tillery at 64 and Sternberger at 73.

Look, if they do that, like Lord, good Lord. Yeah. Yeah. That's incredible. That's one of those, you know, the mock might be broken type scenarios because if they walk out of this draft with those four picks out of the gate, you can do anything else with the rest of them. I think most people would be happy. Hey, really quick, because I kind of had my wits about me when i pulled up that wide receiver list the free agent list what about on a cheaper deal because both guys are coming off different issues

and need a you know sort of a revitalization of their career what about a randall cobb or a john brown or no i mean cobb i think interest me more I mean both guys are interested in a sense um but they would I think they would have to be team friendly deals yes absolutely but I mean I think you get one of those guys on a prove-it type situation I'd be okay with it I mean I follow the Packers agreement Packers very closely and you know for all intents and purposes Randall Cobb is not coming back because they don't really want him to. I think they want to move on. They like who they got.

So he's gone. He's going to be out there. If he was just taking a prove-it, friendly, let me win a Super Bowl deal, I think Cobb has some football left to play. I just thought that was an interesting name to throw out. I love it, buddy. All right, let's just hit the pause button for a second.

We'll come back on the other side. It closes out with some quick hitter type stuff coming out of the combine. That's ahead with me, Mark Schofield, and Shane Alexander here at Locked on Patriots. All right, friends. We are back to close out this Take Thursday installment of the Locked on Patriots podcast. And since it is Take Thursday, let's get some quick fire type takes here from Shane. And I want to start here. Jonah Williams, he comes in.

He measures. He doesn't hit the 34-inch length when it comes to the arm length. Shane, do you even care? I don't. My favorite day on Twitter is when NFL offensive lineman Twitter lambased everybody else over arm size, hand size. Jonah Williams is a dang good player. I think he's the second best offensive lineman in his class. I like Jawan Taylor from Florida a little bit better, but Jonah Williams is going to play football at a high level. He can play right tackle. He can play guard. He can play left tackle. I don't care. I would take him as high as five if the Bucs love him. I think he goes at least by 13, 14 overall.

I think he's going, I don't care. I don't care. You know, what's interesting is listeners to this show probably remember the similar conversation last year with Isaiah Wynn and Dante Skarniecki being asked about arm length, and he said, you know, that expletive doesn't matter. You know, honestly, I'm censoring myself here. But the situation was similar with when you know he

talked about skarnacki talked about matt light you know he had 33 inch arms and he was an all pro pro bowl left tackle can the guy play tackle in the nfl well he started 43 straight games at alabama seems to check that box don't you think yes absolutely and there is a minimum number now if a guy walks in with 29 you know inch arms you're not going to take the guy but at 33 and 5 8s you're being extremely meticulous and nitpicky to it to a fault i think you can't overthink good football players and i know at times in the past i've let something never arm length but i've let something like that bite me and on the other side of it, I thought, man, get out of your own head with it.

Just draft the player, plug him in. He'll be good for a long time. Shane, when he steps on the scale here in a couple of days, what would you consider a win for Kyler Murray? I think, like, this is going to sound, this is so arbitrary, but I think 20, like this is going to sound, this is so arbitrary, but I think two Oh seven. Okay.

Like, I think two Oh five seems too clean. Like it would be like he tried really hard to get to that specific number. So something a little bit over that makes it seem like it's more natural, but I do not think anything under two Oh five. Um, I think that's going to be a worry because you had your, you had an entire two months to get ready to weigh this amount.

So I think 207 plus is a slight win. Now what about his height? Does he have to hit 5'10 to calm general managers down? Let me ask a two-part question. What do you think he has to hit for general managers and what do you think he has to hit for you? If he hit 5'11, and what do you think he has to hit for you? If he hit 511, and I don't think he will, but if he for some reason hit 511,

I think that would alleviate a lot of concern, which seems insane to think that 510, 7-8 is that much more of a big deal. But I just think there's something about the 10 in that number. If he hit 510 and 7-", for me, that would be huge. I think for GMs, he just has to be above 5'10". Like 5'10", exactly, and under is a huge problem. Just put an eighth of an inch above that 10 number, and I think all it takes is one. I've been tweeting about this.

Kyler Murray just has to keep being outgoing and keep playing off his success because all it takes is to get one GM emotional about what he can be. And so if he can alleviate that one concern, which is his height, I think he can. There's 32 teams. The chance of him convincing one GM to get really jacked up about him is highly likely.

So hit that 5'10 plus number, and I think he's okay. If he comes in at 5'9 and 7'8, how far does he fall, do you think? Does he fall out of the first round? I don't think he falls out of the first round no matter what he measures in at. I don't either. Do you think it's possible? Yeah, I mean, I think it's possible because everything is possible when you get guys that are just very, you know,

there's a lot of hubris in NFL front offices, and they know what they know and they want what they want. So I think it's possible. But I agree with you. I do not see any chance because I'll be honest with you. At 5'9", I think he is a much better thrower of the football than Lamar Jackson was coming out a year ago. And he went to the first round because the Ravens, you know, they got him.

Even if he fell, per se, I think a team would trade up with New England to guarantee they get that fifth-year option so they can kick the tires on him. So, yeah, I don't see any chance he falls out of the first. Quarterback hand size. This is a discussion we actually have on the Locked on Patriots Slack channel because it seems like the Patriots are one of those teams that buys into hand size, and a quarterback we were just talking about, Brett Rippin, seems to just be at nine.

Does QB hand size matter to Shane Alexander? Again, it matters. It doesn't matter until it does. Yeah. Like there is a number to where you're like, all right, you have the hands of a nine-year-old. But like nine and an eighth, I think that's okay. Because what do you ask Brett Rippon to be? You're taking a fire on him.

You like him, and I trust you and I and I think you probably like him more than the consensus NFL does so he'll probably fall a little bit further than where you may grade him so what are you wanting him to be what does it matter if his hands are uh nine or nine and eight because you're just hoping he develops into a spot starter backup and if he's anything more than that then you've got crazy surplus value in that pick. So it's fine. Yeah, and I think you're right. It seems that the sort of draft Twitter world

has Rippon as one of their top five quarterbacks. Me, Krabs, Clausen. People have him. Matt Waldman, for example. There are people that have him in their top five. But then you look at the NFL, he didn't get a senior bowl invite. A guy like Greg Gabriel in the Pro Football Weekly Draft Magazine doesn't even have him listed as one of the quarterbacks.

There's this huge gulf between how the NFL views him, how we view him on the outside. And I'm very curious to see how that pans out. Shane, to get you out of here on this, first quarterback taken? Dwayne Haskins. You think? Yeah. Yeah, I think it's either going to be the Giants or the Jaguars

via a trade-up. And sort of my hot take lock of the week would be that the Jets will trade back because they have an awful roster, but they have a franchise quarterback, and they can sweeten the deal enough to get teams to trade above oakland and so i think um you know i think arizona and and um in san francisco should stay put and take quinn williams nick bosa in either

order and i think the jets like josh allen will be there at 5, 6, 7, 8, wherever. Trade back. Let whomever get Haskins for maybe a more discounted value than we've seen the Wentzes, Goffs, and Trubisky's go in the last couple years. Get a couple of day two or day three guys, day three picks. So, yeah, I think it's going to be Haskins to the Giants or to the Jaguars. And if you're asking me today, I think that the Jaguars are loving that Nick Foles isn't tagged and they can sign him on a more QB-friendly deal,

team-friendly deal, excuse me, and maybe they draft Haskins and wean him in over the course of the year or next year and let Foles play a little bit and then they dump Blake Bortles. That's kind of like my Bill Simmons trade machine theory. There you go. I love it, buddy. Fantastic stuff, Shane.

Let everybody know where they can find you on the social media and all that good stuff. You can find me tweeting occasionally on Twitter at Shane, the number one Alexander. Before it's all said and done, I'm going to have a mock or two up at Inside the Pylon because the people deserve it.

There you go, buddy. Fantastic stuff from Shane. Friends, please go follow him on Twitter, as you said, at Shane, the number one Alexander. Look for some walks he'll be doing over at Inside the Pylon. That would do it for this week. That would do it for today. I will be back Monday. Until then, have a fantastic weekend. Watch as much of the combine as you want. You know

we'll all be talking about it. And until next time, keep it locked right here to me, Mark Schofield, and Locked on Patriots.