Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Locked On Patriots July 11, 2018 - News, Tyree Jackson and the 2007 Draft Revisited

Episode Date: July 11, 2018

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Good morning, everybody. Welcome into Locked On Patriots for Wednesday, July 11th, 2018. Mark Schofield back in the big chair for your Wednesday installment of your favorite daily Patriots podcast. Reminder to follow me on Twitter at Mark Schofield. Check out the work over at InsideThePylon.com where I'm one of the head writers. Also, my debut piece over at the Matt Waldman Rookie Scouting Portfolio,

MattWaldmanRSP.com. That's going to be dropping shortly. And I'm going to be talking about Tom Brady, among other things. Figured that was the way to go on making a debut over there. On a personal note note i will have some other places i'll be contributing that i'll be announcing over the next couple of days or so once ink gets put to paper on those deals but i'm really excited get a nice busy fall shaping up for your boy here which is always good busy is good speaking of busy loaded show for you today. We're going to talk about a quarterback who might be who people thought Josh Allen was.

We're going to do a little draft prospect talk. I know it's July, but it's never too early for that. Also, we're going to look at the 2007 Patriots draft. It's a draft that you probably need to zoom out and take a little more of a wide-angle lens view at, given some of the moves that the Patriots made in terms of training away picks and what they got in return. Obviously that draft set the stage for an undefeated season that didn't end the way most of the listeners to the show hoped. But first we're going to talk some NFL news and notes at the outset here. We're going to start

with today's a big day on the calendar for those draft Knicks out there. It is Supplemental Draft Day. What is a supplemental draft? Well, it's exactly what it sounds like. Supplemental draft is basically a draft. It's like an appetizer. It's like how Cartman described an appetizer. It's kind of like, you know, it's what you eat before you eat to make you more hungry. You know, but basically what it is kind of like, you know, it's what you eat before you eat to make you more hungry. You know, but basically what it is, it's, you know, guys that decided to enter the draft late, guys that, you know, decided for whatever reason it was time to leave school or they were suspended and they weren't allowed to be eligible for the NFL draft. You know, now they get the chance to, having met the eligibility requirements, and try to find their way into the National Football League.

It's similar to a silent auction. Teams place bids privately to the league office using next year's draft picks as currency. The team with the highest bid, in terms of the highest round, will be awarded that player. And the team loses the draft pick that it bid. Now, in terms of the order, it's sort of a tiered type system.

Teams with five or fewer wins are in that first tier. Teams with more than five wins but did not play playoffs are in a second tier. And then the playoff teams from last season. And that's kind of how it roughly works. And there are some interesting players available in this year's supplemental draft. Two guys getting the bulk of attention. Sam Beal, a cornerback from Western Michigan. He's getting a lot of attention.

People are thinking that he's probably going to get drafted. As well as Adonis Alexander Alexander another cornerback from Virginia Tech you know and if you sort of work your way around NFL media draft media you know there's expectations that these guys might go in the quote second round you know for example the Chiefs have two second round picks they need some help with corner you know they might go for one of these guys in the second or they might little maybe wait on another when you looked at for example Beal he's a guy that probably was looked in sort of that third to fourth round range maybe so you might see him come off the board today. Adonis Alexander, a similar type cornerback.

Again, the Chiefs probably have some interest there. Other teams like Washington, Indianapolis, they might have some interest. Other names, Brandon Bryant, safety from Mississippi State. Martavius Carter, running back, Grand Valley State. But the name I want to focus on here for Locked On Patriots is Bright Ugwebu. He's a linebacker. Linebacker is kind of putting quotes there.

He's very much a hybrid-type defender. He's a three-year starter for Oregon State. He played as a safety, kind of like an edge safety. I've heard people use that term. When they would bring him down on the box. He'd work against receivers and tight ends, but sometimes come off the edge as well. He's listed as a linebacker, but he's got some versatility to him. He's got the ability to cover tight ends. He's got the ability to rush the passer. And Patriots have done that with defensive backs

off the edge before. We all remember the Kyle Arrington days. And so edge safety is a position that the Patriots might have some interest in. Now, there are some concerns with him. There are some red flags. He's very raw. Didn't test well at his pro day. 4.9540 our dash, 7.383 cone, despite coming in at 6'1", 205. I mean, those aren't great metrics to him. He also turns 23 in late September.

He'd be older than most rookies, but still extremely, extremely, extremely raw. And he was a player that was suspended indefinitely by Oregon State during the spring due to undisclosed reasons. That's why he's entering the draft. Now, will the Patriots draft him? Maybe. I think he's the type of player, at least that hybrid, versatile type guy

that they might show some interest in. When you look at what the Patriots have in terms of draft capital headed into next year's draft, it probably doesn't surprise you given all the moves that they made during this year's draft that the Patriots have a terms of draft capital headed into next year's draft. It probably doesn't surprise you given all the moves that they made during this year's draft that the Patriots have a ton of picks. They've got a first rounder, two second rounders. They've got three third rounders, two of which are compensatory, a fourth rounder, a fifth rounder, a sixth rounder, and two, like three seventh rounders. Now, would it be worth taking one of those seventh rounders and taking

a flyer on this guy? I think so. I think when you look at his skill set, the tools, the versatility, the flexibility from a position standpoint, and how the Patriots like to use hybrid type players, I think it might make a lot of sense. So that's a guy, Bright Agwebu from Oregon State, hybrid type defender. Keep an eye on him as we get into the rest of this day. Also briefly, briefly on the LaShawn McCoy situation, which is unfolding as we speak. And I was at the gym yesterday, checking my phone. Yesterday was my first leg day back from vacation and it was as brutal as you might imagine leg day is always tough to begin with and in between sets i'm looking at my phone

and i start seeing rumblings of mccoy stuff and then you see the instagram post which was deleted by a friend of mccoy's former girlfriend and now you have the letter released by attorneys for mccoy's former girlfriend. Situation seems to be reading that letter as submitted by these lawyers. The allegation reading in between the lines is that McCoy either hired or directed somebody to go to this house where the woman was at some point living with McCoy. Although there's an allegation and inferences that they had parted ways. She was still living there, but he was trying to evict her. That process was ongoing. And this woman was brutally attacked. You know, the Instagram photos, the imagery there

is brutal. It does look like those photos were taken when she was receiving medical care. The police are involved. And the allegation seems to be that whoever committed this assault was demanding some jewelry that McCoy had given her. And that's an interesting sort of connection to make because it takes it from the realm of this was a random thing. This was a more directed incident. So there's that aspect to it there's the ongoing issue between the McCoy and this woman about the eviction you know so that's a question mark she was still there there was an eviction process going on and McCoy would do this it's a process

that's unfolding right now not all of the facts are known but what we do know is this when the NFL looks at discipline, when there's video evidence, when there's photographic evidence, things tend to happen much more quickly. And the Instagram post in question certainly was indicative of a brutal, brutal assault. And if that is what happened, obviously, we hope that this woman recovers. We hope that she gets better and she gets past this. But all things point to this being a brutal assault. Now, whether McCoy was involved directly or indirectly, we don't know. I mean, there's multiple possibilities. Sure, LeSean McCoy could have said to somebody, go rough her up. That's a possibility. He could have indirectly said to somebody, look, I need to get

this jewelry back, man. I can't go be seen with it. Can you go ask her for this stuff back? And things escalated from there. We just don't know. But the fact that there is at least what seems to be photographic evidence of the aftermath of this assault and this ongoing tension between McCoy and this woman, it does not look good for LaShawn McCoy. Obviously, we'll wait to see how all of the facts play out. It just seems to be a very, very horrible situation, to say the least. Up next, we're going to talk about the 2007 Patriots draft with a bit of a wide-angle view. Because as I was alluding to earlier, you've got to take a bigger picture and look at that draft class because of what the Patriots did in other ways. But first, we're going to look at a guy who might be, who might be, who we thought Josh Allen was in this year's draft.

That's ahead with me, Mark Schofield, in Locked on Patriots. Mark Schofield, back with you now forofield, in Locked On Patriots. Mark Schofield, back with you now for this Wednesday installment of Locked On Patriots. And I'm going to get back on comfortable footing here and talk a little QBs, a little draft evaluation here, just for a minute. Because there's a guy that I want to talk about.

And what if I told you that there was a quarterback, perhaps, perhaps, in the upcoming NFL draft that was who we thought, who people hoped, who people wanted to believe Josh Allen was? What if I told you that that player also comes from a small school? What if I told you that that player was closer to the New England area than you might think? What if I told you that player came from the University of

Buffalo? And that player is Tyree Jackson, who is a 6'7", 245 pound quarterback for Buffalo. And now you might not have heard of him yet, but you will because when you get a chance to watch this guy, and I'm already working around my calendar to see if I can get a chance to see him in person because when I got the chance to study him this summer, I was blown away by a lot of the stuff that he did. You know, when I have my notes in front of me, and as far as strengths go, good touch on the fade ball, on the deep ball, on the nine rounds. And I wrote this down, seems well advanced, well beyond where Josh Allen was in this area. He also has incredible velocity,

sounds like Josh Allen. And as I wrote, he's basically Josh Allen with better touch despite worse mechanics, which probably sounds awkward, and I admit that. But one of my knocks on Allen was his lack of touch, his lack of feel, his lack of using the off-speed pitch, to borrow a baseball analogy, to put the ball where it needs to be, to move the ball, work it around defenders, work it around coverage. Jackson seems to have an understanding of that already, and obviously he's got at least one more year to go.

I watched two of his games, broke them down in depth. His game against Florida Atlantic where he was knocked out early, his game at Army just really sort of blew me away from some of the stuff he does from both an athletic profile as well as his ability to throw the football. His play strength and his burst as a runner is incredible. He has a long touchdown run against Army. He's got running back, Saquon Barkley type burst on that play. I kid you not. It blew my mind when I saw it. He's got good timings on stop routes, hitch routes, curl routes,

comeback routes, better timing and rhythm than I think Josh Allen had at this point in his career. He can drop and adjust his arm angle in response to pressure. He shows good feel for those situations. He doesn't always vacate the pocket. He doesn't always bail to his right, which was one of my knocks on Josh Allen as well. His TD run again against Army, you've got to check that out. He also has great anticipation for a college quarterback, and that's one of the things I love to see from college quarterbacks because if they can anticipate throws, if they can anticipate receivers coming open and throw them open, I love seeing that, and Jackson shows that already. As far as some things I want to see him improve, get better at,

similar to Jackson, similar to Allen, excuse me, feel for underneath defenders. That's something that's always tough to learn. You've got to widen your field of vision so you can feel those guys, so you can know where those linebackers are and understand where they are in relationship to the route you're trying to throw underneath or over the middle. I want to see him improve in that area. Accuracy under duress is an area I'd like to see him improve in as well. It seems that there are times when accuracy dips a bit.

There also seems to be some times when he perhaps shies away from contact. There was a throw he made against Florida Atlantic where it seemed like he was almost like a fadeaway jumper type of situation. Sometimes as a quarterback, you know you're going to get hit. You have to accept that. Stand in there and make the throw. Don't let pressure impact accuracy in placement that's your job you know and it's not an easy job if playing quarterback in the nfl was easy i'd be

doing it but i can't because i was bad that's why i sit here and talk about it those who can't do those who can't critique as they say and so that's something I want to see him improve. Footwork on his drops can be sloppy at times. I'm just a stickler for that. I think as we get more into spread offenses, working into the NFL, we're going to see sort of the need for crisp, clean footwork move away. But until we fully get to that point in the National Football League,

I'm still going to look for that. And so that's something I'd like to see cleaned up. And while he doesn't vacate the pocket as much as Josh Allen did, there are still times when he does it. Sometimes he does run into sacks. And so, you know, I'd like to see him do less of that. I'd like to see him sort of, and it goes in line with, you know, the duress thing that I was just talking about, sort of handle and pressure a little bit better. But he's a fascinating prospect. And I'm going to be talking about more and more of the 2019 quarterbacks as we start looking ahead to the college football season.

Partly because it's my never-ending crusade to readjust and recalibrate expectations for quarterback classes. Because people are still saying that, look, the 2019 quarterback class is bad. And while it might not rise up to what we saw last year there's still time for these guys to develop i know there are people saying look i hope you got your guy last year and you can say that right now but come you know september october november once we see these guys playing people might readjust again and say wait a second maybe we were a little too low on these guys but that's's Tyree Jackson. Check him out if you can.

Up next, a quick look at the 2007 Patriots draft. Looking back at that and again, got to go wide angle because a lot of things happened in terms of trade and away picks. But the Patriots recouped some incredible value in return. That's ahead with me, Mark Schofield and Locked on Patriots. Mark Schofield and Locked on Patriots. Mark Schofield is back with you now. Quick look at the 2007

Patriots draft class and I'm going different ways on how I want to set the stage for this one. Now we all know after this draft class the Patriots then go on to a undefeated season.

18-0 heading into the Super Bowl. And we know how that game ended in Super Bowl XLII. Let's move past that for a minute. Let's do it this way. Here are the players the Patriots selected in the 2007 NFL draft. Brandon Merriweather, safety, University of Miami, first round, picked 24 overall. Big bang clock. Yeah, he had his moments. Yeah, there were times when he

for whatever reason was targeting, roughing penalties, things like that. But he still was a very good contributor for the Patriots over his time in New England. Even though the helmet-to-helmet hits and things like that, those were some issues that he had to deal with.

He bounced in and out of the lineup at the start of the 2010 season, but you did get a guy that was named to a Pro Bowl, that was named AFC Defensive Player of the Week in Week 7 of the 2008 season. So he's a good player. Now, the rest of the draft class isn't much to write home about. Kareem Brown in the fourth round,

a defensive end out of Miami. Clint Oldenburg, offensive tackle out of Colorado State in the fifth round. Justin Rogers, linebacker from SMU in the sixth. Mike Richardson, cornerback, Notre Dame in the sixth. Justice Hairston, running back, Central Connecticut State in the sixth. Corey Hillard, offensive guard, Oklahoma State in the sixth. Oscar Lua, linebacker, USC in the seventh. Mike Elgin, center, Iowa in the seventh round, pick 247. But as I said, you've got to take a bigger approach to looking at what this team did in this draft.

In the first week of free agency, they traded, the Patriots did, their second and their seventh round picks in this draft. That's why they didn't have a second round pick to the Miami Dolphins for Wes Welker. So there's a big addition. On day two of the draft, the Patriots sent a fourth round pick

to the Oakland Raiders for Randy Moss. A fourth round pick for one of the greatest wide receivers of all time. You know, and let's sort of run through just for a second. Randy Moss's resume. Six-time Pro Bowler. Four-time first-team All-Pro. NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year.

Five-time NFL Receiving Touchdown Leader. NFL 2000's All-Decade Team. Two NFL records. 23 receiving touchdowns in a season and 17 receiving touchdowns in a rookie season. And those 23 touchdowns in a season and 17 receiving touchdowns in a rookie season. And those 23 touchdowns, that record he set in 2007, the year, his first year with the Patriots. And over four years with the Patriots, 23 touchdowns in 2007, 20, excuse me, 11 touchdowns in 2007. Excuse me, 11 touchdowns in 2008 playing with Matt Castle. 13 touchdowns in 2009 and just four games with New England in 2010.

Three touchdowns. He had over 1,400 yards receiving for the Patriots in 2007, over 1,000 in 2008, again with Castle, and over 1,000 in 2008, again with Castle, and over 1,200 in 2009. So even though the 2007 Patriots draft class returned basically just one player that was a contributor, they also got, via trade, Wes Welker and Randy Moss. And Welker, again, another huge contributor

to the New England Patriots over his time in New England. I mean, you look at what Wes Welker meant to the New England Patriots and to Tom Brady. You know, he was the sort of Julian Edelman before Julian Edelman, right? 112 receptions in 2007. 111 receptions in 2008. 123 receptions in 2007, 111 receptions in 2008, 123 receptions in 2009, a bit of a down year in 2010, 86 receptions, and then coming back, 122 receptions in 2011,

118 receptions in 2012. He had almost 1,600 yards receiving for the Patriots in 2011. Moss and Welker, Welker for a more extended period of time, they were the receiving threats for this team during that sort of stretch. Obviously, as we get into that 2010-11-12 timeframe, you get Gronkowski, you get Hernandez added into the mix. But those two guys were critical contributors to this team,

particularly in that first season. And so, yeah, the draft itself, not a big return. But when you factor in Welker and Moss, it gets a lot brighter. That will do it for today's show. I will be back Thursday to close out the week. Getting closer to full time here. Once we get into training camp a little bit later this month, we will be back to five days

a week, taking you through Super Bowl 53 and beyond. But until tomorrow, keep it locked right here to me, Mark Schofield, and Locked on Patriots. Thank you.