Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Locked On Patriots March 6, 2018 - Scouting Combine Recap: Defense

Episode Date: March 6, 2018

Mark Schofield breaks down some standouts from the defensive side of the football.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Good morning and welcome into Locked On Patriots for Tuesday, March 6th, 2018. Mark Schofield here in the big chair as I am four days a week until we get a little bit closer to the NFL Draft and then we'll kick it back to five. Bringing you all the Patriots news, notes, and analysis you need to get on with your day. Reminder to follow me on Twitter at Mark Schofield. Check out the work over at Inside the Pylon where I am one of the lead writers. Got a piece up right now, one of my check with me columns looking at how the quarterbacks performed at the combine. Reminded to check out all the video work over at youtube.com backslash inside the pylon.

Today we're going to look at the scout and combine from the defensive perspective. We're going to talk about some guys at all levels of the defense that truly help themselves. Some players we've talked about, some players we haven't. Some guys that the Patriots might have on their draft boards. We're also going to talk about one guy on the defensive side of the ball that just blew the door off the combine. Let's start up front now. We're going to talk about some edge prospects, some linebackers, some defensive linemen that sort of helped themselves during the combine, that made themselves some money that the Patriots might want to have on their radar. We're going to start with Taven Bryan, defensive lineman from the University of Florida. He comes in, weighing 291 pounds, 6'5", even on the height.

He's more of your traditional three technique, one gap type player. So you wonder about Belichick being more of a traditionally two gap guy, playing that 3-4 front. But defenses have changed over the years. He's drafted one-gap players before Malcolm Brown most recently. And you'd have to think that Belichick is going to be excited about what he saw from Taven Bryan. He didn't have a fast 40, 4-9-8 in the 40-yard dash. Obviously, you're talking about defensive linemen. But when you're looking at the big guys, what you want to be curious about is the 10-yard split.

Incredibly quick 1.68 10-yard split. 35-inch vertical. 119-inch broad jump. Agility numbers. Put him on the same level as some of the edge guys. 7.123 cone. 4.48 short shuttle. Basically, he had the same vertical as SMU wide receiver Cortland Sutton, who we've already talked about. Had a fantastic combine.

Sutton had an incredible three cone, which probably puts him on New England's radar. One of the fastest three cones we've seen in a while. And JJ Watt, who had a freakishly incredible combine. Arif Hasan, by the way, who had a freakishly incredible combine. Arif Hasan, by the way, pointed this out on Twitter the other day. You should follow Arif on Twitter, at ArifHasanNFL. Sometimes people get wrapped up in making comparisons

in some of the athletic testing to guys like J.J. Watt. Watt blew the doors off his combine at every single test. So when you comp somebody to JJ Watt, remember that you've got to do it across the board to be on the same level as what Watt did at his combine.

But one of the areas Watt stood out was the broad jump. 120 inches. Taven Bryan, 119. So that's pretty impressive. Now, is it impressive enough to be what the Patriots would look for? Taven Bryan, 119. So that's pretty impressive. Now, is it impressive enough to be what the Patriots would look for? Late in the first round of the pick 31? Maybe.

It comes down to the question of scheme. Would he be somewhat redundant? Another sort of one-gap guy similar to Malcolm Brown. But with testing like that, you'd have to think he's on New England's radar right now. Obviously the edge guy's got a lot of attention. And somebody that really tested

well. Josh Sweat, edge defender from Florida State. 6'4", 6 1⁄8", 251 pounds. But then you look at the athletic testing. 39 1⁄2 inch vertical, 124 inch broad jump, 4.53 40-yard dash with an incredible 1.55 10-yard split. At 250 pounds, that size, that speed, that quickness, that burst,

that's incredible. Now, he does have some medical issues. He does have a knee injury that needs to be checked out, but this is a first-round pass rusher, and for a team that's starving for pass rush, you have to think

that if sweatat somehow falls to where the Patriots could go up and get him, that would be something to consider. The issue is, though, if the medicals check out, if the need checks out, he's not falling too far. A guy that might fall,

thanks to how his production sort of nosedived in 2017, Harold Landry, edge defender from Boston College, 16 and a half sacks his junior year, had an ankle injury in 2017, really sort of hurt his production, comes in 6'2 and 3 eighths, 252 pounds,

so a little shorter than Sweat, one pound heavier, but similar to Sweat, some insane athleticism. 4.6440, 36 inch vertical, 11 similar to Swat, some insane athleticism. 4.6440, 36-inch vertical, 119-inch broad jump, 6.883 cone, 4.19 20-yard shuttle. That's where you're talking the short area quickness. That's elite for a pass rusher. So he probably put himself, maybe the top 10, top 15 type discussion so that's another player that might not be in a position where the Patriots could get him

but if he somehow falls maybe, just maybe another player that I think established himself as perhaps the quintessential New England Patriot, Sam Hubbard, edge defender from Ohio State. We talked about him with John Ledyard. Seems like the prototypical Patriots player. Very fundamentally sound. Very assignment sound.

6'5", 3'8", 270. So a bit bigger of a guy. But he put up some impressive numbers as well. 6.84 in the three cone. You know, we just got done talking about Landry, 6.88 in the three cone. Hubbard a little bit better there. We got done talking about Josh Sweat.

I haven't seen a three cone on him. I don't know if he ran it. That's 6.84. A really nice time for Sam Hubbard. Also, on the short shuttle, 4.32. Just four hundredths of a second. Four tenths of a second, excuse me. Slower than Sweat in the short shuttle.

So, Hubbard had a nice little combine for himself. Hasn't been talked about a ton coming out of this combine because he sort of worked out with a defensive lineman, I think, and flew a bit under the radar. But those numbers are good. The assignment, stability the fundamentals are Belichickian in a sense

and then there's the lacrosse angle he was a lacrosse player so I think Sam Hubbard is somebody to keep on your your radars as you get ready for draft season as you start looking at block drafts some other guys that up front that did well Deron Payne

had a nice little combine for himself. Defensive lineman from Alabama. Leighton Vander Esch, the linebacker from Boise State. We've talked about him some. Another very athletic player. Evan Lazard over at Boston Herald

does a lot of great Patriots work for the Herald, for Pat's Pulpit. He's been talking ever since the final play of Super Bowl 52 about how the Patriots need to get more athletic at linebacker. Well, you look at mockdraftable.com and the spider web chart for Leighton Vander Esch. 66th percentile in the 60-yard shuttle. 85th percentile in the 20-yard shuttle. This is among linebackers. 89th in the three-cone.

96th in the bronze jump. 98th percentile in vertical jump. Strong player too with... I guess I take that back. Only 20 reps on the bench. 35th percentile there. So maybe not the strongest player, but the athletic stuff, the explosive stuff, when you're looking at vertical jump, 98th percentile, broad jump, 96th percentile,

89th percentile for three cone. If you want to get athletic, Leighton Van Der Esch might be the guy to fill that role at the linebacker spot. Problem is, you're hearing Green Bay might be in on him in the first round. Pittsburgh might be in on him in the first round. Not sure if he'll fall to New England at 31. But if he does,

somebody also to keep in mind. One last guy that I think stood out up front. Somebody nobody's been talking about a ton. John Ledger wrote a piece about him over at NDT Scout and included him in some under the edge defender risers under the radar edge defender risers

from the combine Kylie Fitz edge defender from Utah he was good doubt in Mobile as John points out but other people drew the attention such as Marcus Davenport Kimiko Torre for example But other people drew the attention, such as Marcus Davenport, Kimiko Ture, for example.

But as John points out, his three-cone is short-suttle, the same as Harold Landry, but at 11 pounds heavier. So if he's there, he'll be there at 31. He might be there at the end of the second, too. He might be there at the end of the second too. He might be there at the end of the third. If you miss out on some of the top guys we've talked about, Kylie Fitz later in the draft might be some incredible value at the edge position. That will do it for the guys up front. Up next, we're going to talk about the back half of the defense.

Some standouts at corner and safety, as well as the overall winner of the combine. I don't think it's a surprise who it is, but it's important to talk about them nonetheless. That's next with me, Mark Schofield, and Locked on Patriots. Mark Schofield back with you now. We're going to talk about some of the secondary guys that stood out out in Indianapolis. Some of them we've talked about already.

One of the names we've talked about already is Jair Alexander. Cornerback from Louisville. We talked about him with our good friend Luke Inman, host of the Draft Rap Podcast. Alexander, 5'11", 169 pounds, 4.38, 40-yard dash, 35-inch vertical. So pretty good numbers from him. We talked about three-cone and the importance there. 6.71 three-cone. 3.98 short shuttle. Really good short area quickness.

And then when you watch him in the drills, the ability to flip his hips, to turn, to move, change direction. He checks all those boxes. He's a first round corner. I think if he's there at 31 and you want to address corner, that's a really good, good,

good selection. Quinton Meeks, haven't talked about how much, 6'1", 209 in terms of weight, a little bit longer corner, 39 inch vertical jump, 6.723 cone. Some really nice testing numbers there. Another corner that had a really nice set of drills, Anthony Averitt from Alabama. 5'11 and 1'8. 183 in terms of weight, so he's a bit smaller. You're probably looking at him as more as your slot corner type. But here's what's going to draw New England's attention. 4.36 in the 40, which is obviously very quick. 6.933 cone too that's not too bad short shuttle of 4.4 that's a little bit slower than you'd like

particularly when you're thinking about a slot corner it's going to have to change direction a ton when you're dealing with those pivot routes or option routes but when you combine at least some of the athleticism and the lawn speed with the fact that he's coming from that Saban defense, there's some schematic familiarity there.

He might be a nice little late round value. Another corner to keep in mind. Troy Brown, another Alabama corner. 4.35 40-yard dash. Also incredible lawn speed there.

Now again, similar to Averitt, 511 7-8, 199. So you're talking about a little bit of a smaller, undersized corner. 6.78 in the three-cone, 4.11 in the short shuttle. So, three-cone on par with, or a little faster than what Averitt did. Definitely faster in the short shuttle. So again, those two Alabama corners, they might be more slot-type guys in the NFL, but players that could fare well in a Belichickian-type system. Finally, a safety to talk about.

That's Justin Reed from Stanford. Now, Reed, a player that people might not have done a ton of work on coming into the combine. Six even, four eighths in terms of height, 207 in weight, 4.53 in the 40 didn't do any of the other testing other than the broad where I think it was 10 feet 1 inch but what stood out to me and you may have seen this yourself on Twitter John Ledger got a chance to sit down with him and interview him

and he put a quote from the interview which I'm going to read here and tell me if this doesn't sound like a Belichick defensive back. The quote, Watch the Notre Dame game to see me in single high coverage. Per game plan, I was exclusively in the post for that game. It's not that different.

They're all techniques, and that's the way I see defense. I see defense as techniques and coverage. So if I'm playing in a seam flat in a fire zone, that lets me know there is a five-man rush. It lets me know that I have a middle safety. It lets me know that it's going to be tight because every guy is going to be on somebody. Or say I'm playing a curl final two, which is like a linebacker position and a max drop coverage. I know it's a three-man rush. I know eight people are dropping. I know I've got help all around me, so I know where I can pass off routes and things like that. That's the way that I see defense, and that's what allows me to be so versatile.

So it's not different for me playing seam flat as a nickel or playing seam flat as a safety. They're the same technique. It's just what coverage you're in. End quote. How beautiful is that? You know, that's a Belichick defensive player. Belichick loves versatility.

The ability of a defender to play middle safety in a cover one scheme or drop down into the box, put him in the slot, put him on the outside if you need to. And it sounds like Reid is a guy that can do that, that understands that, that understands the importance of versatility. So there's another player to keep in mind. Finally, the big winner from the combine, overall, it has to be Shaquem Griffin for the University of Central Florida. Obviously, we know the issue with him losing his left hand when he was a young child.

But he was a standout player at UCF and somebody that, as I'll talk about in a second, jumped out when I was watching other players. He was a standout down at Mobile. He wasn't even supposed to be invited to the Combine, but sort of the...

I don't want to say it was the draft Twitter outrage that got him the invite, but I think everybody sort of looked around and said, look, this guy can play. Let's get him to the combine and see what he can do. And what did he do there? You know, using the prosthetic on the bench, 20 bench reps. 4.38 40-yard dash.

One of the fastest we've seen from a linebacker. And that's one of the situations where the drills and the testing confirm what we saw on tape. Because, for example, Josh Norris over at NBC and Roto World, he had a clip earlier this draft season from the end of UCF's bowl game against Auburn. UCF's defense had been on the field for about 90 plays. There's a play late in the game where it looks like everybody's playing at half speed on the field

except one player, Shaquem Griffin, who sugars the A-gap pre-snap, then drops into an underneath zone, then chases the quarterback down for either a sack or he forces a throw away with incredible speed. And the thing that's been amazing about Griffin is when I was studying Riley Ferguson, for example, quarterback from the University of Memphis,

I knew who Griffin was. So obviously I was kind of watching him from here, a couple plays here and there. Memphis had a play in the red zone. And Griffin forced a strip sack of Riley Ferguson using his left arm. And that was one of those put the pen down, I've seen what I need to see from this guy. The kid can play.

And as we talked about when we were talking about Leighton Van Der Esch, if the Patriots want to get more athletic at linebacker, Shaquem Griffin should be at the top of their positional board for the linebacker spot or near the top. Just incredible athleticism. And he's one of those kids, similar to Baker Mayfield, I'm not going to bet against him. No way. And he's going to win games for teams in the NFL. And I'd like to see him doing it in New England rather than somewhere else. Now you wonder about where he would go in the NFL, and I'd like to see him doing it in New England rather than somewhere else. Now, you wonder about where he would go in the draft, where he would fall in the draft.

Would it be like a fourth round, a fifth round? After that combine, I've got to think he's rising up the board a bit. I've got to think that he's now getting himself into the day two discussion. And depending on how the board falls, if he's there at the end of the third round, go get him. If he's there at the end of the second, I think you give it some serious thought.

Because he's going to win games for teams. His athleticism, his drive, his competitive toughness, that's a guy that will win you games and the other thing that came out of Indy I've read this in numerous stories

was his smile and his infectious nature if you watch some of the coverage Mike Mayock talked about this. Mike Teniero of Bleacher Report talked about this. Kimberly Martin over at the Washington Post talked about this. He's the player that people gravitate to.

He's got that gravitational pull to him. He's going to be a leader for a team. He's going to be the heart and soul of a defense. You know, I think when you look at New England right now, you look at the defensive side of the ball, the current heart and soul of that defense is Dante Hightower, but he's had some injury problems. He's getting a little bit longer in the tooth, so to speak.

Maybe Shaquem Griffin is the guy next in line. I'll end in this, not that this matters a ton, but I showed the video of him doing the bench to my son Owen, who's six. And ever since then, he's been asking me, Daddy, can I see that video again? Daddy, can I see that video again?

I heard him the other day. He was just in the playroom downstairs playing with his sister, Simone, who's four, and he was telling her all about it. And you could tell it resonated with him. Because I think seeing what Shaquem Griffin did at the Combine would resonate with anybody. I think his story would resonate with anybody. But stripping all that away, what you have is an incredible football player. And somebody that the Patriots would

benefit greatly from having them in their defensive huddle. That will do it for this Tuesday show. Reminder, get in some questions for our Wednesday mailbag show. Looking forward to what is on your mind, addressing your questions.

Until then, keep it locked right here to me, Mark Schofield, and Locked on Patriots.