Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Locked On Patriots November 22, 2017 - Timeline Takes!

Episode Date: November 22, 2017

Mark Schofield has a Timeline Takes edition of Locked On Patriots. He dives into Tom Brady's "regression," who the MVP candidates are and gets riled over a Lamar Jackson take.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You are Locked On Patriots, your daily podcast on the New England Patriots, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Good morning, everybody. Welcome into Locked On Patriots for Wednesday, November 22nd. This is Thanksgiving Eve. Mark Schofield here with you in the big chair as I am five days a week. And it will be five days again this week. Tomorrow, Thanksgiving, it's a holiday I know, but no days off here.

Because here's the thing. I know what it's like to be driving to Grandma's house over the river, through the woods, to Grandmother's house we go. You need something to listen to. I don't want to let you down. So I'm putting together a little sort of special holiday episode of Locked On Patriots. I've solicited help from the listeners,

football memories, Thanksgiving football memories. I've gotten some great responses, putting together the show as we speak. It's going to be a good one. So it'll give you something to listen to whether you're driving to the festivities, driving home, whatever the case may be.

So look for that tomorrow. Also in the show, I'm going to have a little bit of update on a new sponsor, Draft.com. It's a new way to play daily fantasy sports. I've got myself an account set up over there. I can talk about how you can get involved in leagues with me.

That could be a lot of fun. Start building the Locked On Patriots listener community, something I'm really excited about doing. So that will be a little bit later in the show. We're going to do timeline takes here today. Do something a little bit more relaxed. Again, it's a big travel day. Maybe you're driving. Maybe you're flying. Give you something a little bit more relaxed. Again, it's a big travel day. Maybe you're driving.

Maybe you're flying. Give you something a little bit more light, so to speak. So we'll do some timeline takes. And I'm actually going to start with a take of my own. And if you haven't heard a timeline takes show before, basically I go through the Twitter timeline, address some of the takes that are flying around there. And this is a take from me from November 20th. And the quote is, the tweet is simply this, I want to regress and decline

this well. And I'm quote tweeting another tweet from James McGill, who is at Pat's Beer Guy on Twitter. And his quote is this this Tom Brady completion percentages the past five seasons it's all in the tweet here 2013 age 36 60.5 percent 2014 age 37 64 2015, age 38, 64.4%. 2016, age 39, 67.4%. And finally this year, so far, 2017, at the age of 40, completion percentage 68.7%. And that seemed sort of crazy to me when I first saw it. But then I double-checked, just to be sure. And James McGill, at PatsBeerGuy, has it dead on. Go to ProFootballReference.com, Tom Brady's player page.

And those are the completion percentages for each of the past five years, obviously 2017 in progress. How can this guy be playing the quarterback position at such a high level at the age of 40? It is mind-boggling to me sometimes. I'm a man. I'm 40. I'm six months older than Tom Brady. I was doing some Thanksgiving day grocery shopping today. I literally popped my shoulder out of joint for a second, reaching for some Italian sausages.

Quick little aside, Italian sausage stuffing. That's it. That's the list. We make two stuffings every Thanksgiving. We make my wife's side of the family because everybody else likes that one. And we make the Italian North End sausage stuffing because I like it. But I digress. Back to Tom Brady. Here's the thing. Part of the reason why he's playing at such a high level, at least in my estimation here,

is something we've been talking about a lot this year here on Locked On Patriots. And that's his pocket movement. The ability to slide away, slide away from pressure, avoid pressure, stay upright,

avoid hits. That's sort of been the key to Tom Brady playing at such a high level for such a long period of time. Getting the ball out quickly, sure. But hits accumulate over time. I've often used the boxing analogy when it comes to playing quarterback, whether it's using your feet to create enough space to get off a pass, just like a boxer uses his feet to maybe create enough distance to get off a punch. But it's the same thing when you look at the hits and the toll that that takes on you as a quarterback. It's like body

blows. When you see a guy or see a boxer working the body in the first and the second round, you're banking those shots because in the eighth and the ninth round, it's going to take its toll on the other guy. And it's the same thing as a quarterback. You get hit repeatedly. You get dumped repeatedly. You take those shots repeatedly. It's going to take a toll. In the short term, it's going to speed up your mental process. Look at Dak Prescott on Sunday night. He's been under siege in the pocket the past two weeks. Got sacked eight times two weeks ago against Atlanta. He starts to speed up the process, and what do we see?

The ball placement. It's off. And that was a concern I had about Dak Prescott coming out of Mississippi State. Sometimes the ball placement was a little bit off, a little bit too erratic. Plays that should go for yardage don't because the ball isn't where it should be. And that's what we saw over the past two weeks, particularly on Sunday night with Dak Prescott. Ball placement on his first two interceptions was a key factor in those being turnovers.

But with Brady and his ability to avoid those hits, to slide around, move around in the pocket. That's been so critical to his playing the position now at such a high level and seemingly getting better year to year. I know completion percentage is just one statistic. It's just one thing to look at. But here's another. I've talked about A and Y, adjusted net yards per pass attempt.

You go back to the first year we mentioned, 2013, when Brady was completing 60.5% of his passes. His A&Y that year, 6.13. 2014, it goes up to 7.01. 2015, it goes up again, 7.48. 2016, goes up again, another big leap now, 8.81. And this year, it's at 8.33. So it's dipped a little bit this year as opposed to last year, but still, much better from where he was in 2013. Which is sort of what led me to the tweet that I made. I'd like to regress and decline this effectively. Because there were people out there that said Tom Brady was in decline, that his velocity was off, that his ball placement is off. As an aside, the person that made those statements also made similar statements such as,

it is illogical to think that Carson Wentz will ever read an NFL defense. That Vernon Adams is QB1 and the only first round draftable quarterback in the 2016 class. That Deshaun Watson is a bust and will never be able to use his eyes to play the quarterback position. Now, I've only been in the industry for a couple years, but I'd like to think if I had takes like those, included in the Tom Brady is in decline and is in regression, that I'd be laughed out of this industry.

But back to Tom Brady. He's playing at a high level. Year in and year out, he's getting better over the past five years. And I do believe that it is in large part to his ability to move in the pocket. It's getting better and better and better. It's keeping him upright in the pocket. He's avoiding those hits and it's been a huge part of what he's been able to do so far. We're going to have some more timeline takes in a second. I'm going to dive into sort of the NFL MVP talk. But first, I want to talk about draft.com. And here's the thing. It's not too late for you to join the half a million people

that have already downloaded Draft this season. What do we like so much about fantasy football? More than anything, it's the draft process itself. And you can get to play in a real live snake draft, but you're done in under five minutes and they last for just one week. You can join one right now for week 12. And the best part, you play for money. And get this, your chances of winning are 80% better than on the salary cap side, such as FanDuel, such as DraftKings. Go to Draft.com right now. All new players get a free entry into a real money draft when you make your first deposit.

But you have to use the promo code LONFL. That's right, LONFL. You can play a real money game for free just by using that promo code LONFL. It gets even better. Draft is so sure you'll love it. They're even offering listeners to Locked On Patriots a money back guarantee

up to $100. So you can try it out. I'm on there right now. I am M-A-S-C-H-O-030916. We can get into a draft before the week 12 games kick off. I would love to do that with all of you.

So just search draft in your app store. Go to draft.com right now. Come play for free right now using that promo code L-O-N-F-L. There's no salary cap. It's just a snake draft. It's fast. It's fun. So check it out. Go to draft.com. Search for me. I'm M-A-S-C-H-O-0-3-0-9-1-6. Looking forward to seeing you guys on there. Okay, everybody. Now we're going to get into some NFL MVP stuff. This is a tweet from Sam Hawk Badger, who is at HWKBGR on Twitter.

NFL MVP odds after last night via Unibet, which is at UNI BET. Here's their top six. And this came out on Tuesday. Carson Wentz, 5-4. Tom Brady, 6-4. Drew Brees, 13-2. Russell Wilson, 14-1. Alex Smith, 14-1. Jared Goff, 14-1. Now I want to start sort of at the bottom and work my way up here. Goff and Smith, they've been great stories this year. As somebody that was very high on Jared Goff coming out of the University of California,

it is great to see his progression so far this year. Sean McVay has done an incredible job for Jared Goff. Working on a piece right now for Bleacher Report talking about just this. And Alex Smith, you know, the Chiefs, they draft Patrick Mahomes. You're thinking they're going to make the change, but Smith has played at a high level through the early part of the season.

They're on a bit of a slide right now. They had that loss to the Giants this week. But I sort of dismiss those two guys right now. Not saying they can't go on to Winifred P if they really catch fire here down the stretch. But the other four guys are the ones that I really want to focus on. And I'm going to then take them from top to bottom. Starting with Carson Wentz.

And similar to Goff, as a guy that loved Carson Wentz, dating back to 2014 when nobody was talking about him. As a guy that is literally recording this podcast with a signed Carson Wentz card handed on the wall looking at me. Again, a gift from my incredible wife. She got me that because Carson was one of the first guys I sort of discovered. Carson Wentz has had a great year. He's playing at an MVP type level. And he deserves to be sort of in the mix,

in consideration for it. But when I look at sort of most valuable player, I look at the word value. That's kind of where I focus on things. Would the Eagles be 9-1 without Wentz? Probably not. They'd probably be like 7-3. I think there have been some games where Wentz was a huge reason

why they emerged victorious. But then when you look on some of the other names on this list, I get more into the value part of the most valuable player tag. I mean, you look at Brady. Where are the Patriots without Tom Brady? I know some out there like Scott Kazmaier, football outsiders, you know, making the argument that, the argument that Brady's been good, but it wasn't like he was overcoming a completely horrible defense.

The defense is starting to round into form. So I get the argument against Brady. I understand the argument against Brady right now. But I certainly think he's going to get some votes. He certainly deserves some votes. And I know that there are people out there that think he's still going to win this thing going away. And he's certainly worthy of consideration. But I'm going to go back down on the list a little bit more.

Drew Brees at 13-2. I love what the Saints are doing this year. You know, they've got, what They've got eight straight wins. But a lot of their success this year, Brees hasn't been sort of an integral component to it. They've rebuilt that defense. Alvin Kamara, their running game, that's been a huge aspect to what they're doing offensively.

So, Brees, again, he's having a Drew Brees type year and their victory over Washington that was one of those games where they needed Drew to be Drew

you know they could get by with the run game like when they went and beat Buffalo where they had 14 a 14 play drive with all 94 yards coming on the ground

like they're able to win some games without relying solely on Drew Brees. But then we get to Russell Wilson. And if you watched that Monday night game, you heard some baffling, eye-blowing statistics. You know, ESPN pointed out, you know, headed into Monday night,

Wilson had basically accounted for over 80%, 82.1% of the Seahawks' scrimmage yards this season, which would be the highest percentage for a single player in the Super Bowl era. In the first half, he accounted for 153 of Seattle's

179 scrimmage yards, 85.5%. How'd that game end up? He finished the night accounted for 344 of Seattle's 360 total yards. That's 95.5%. 95.6%. That is astounded. Russell Wilson is their entire offense right now. 95.5%, 95.6%. That is astounded.

Russell Wilson is their entire offense right now. He's almost their entire team right now. They've got so many injuries on the defensive side of the ball. The defense is still great, don't get me wrong. Guys like Michael Bennett, Earl Thomas, they still have a great defense. Sheldon Richardson got his first sack of the year last night. It was a big one.

But Wilson means so much to this team right now. And so I think when you sort of look at Russell Wilson, look at what he means to Seattle, look at what he means to the Seahawks, look at how much of the production comes from his arm, his legs, even his voice and a hard count from time to time. Yeah, you know, he's sitting there at 14-1 on the same level with Alex Smith and Jared Goff. If I were gambling, man, that's where I'd put my money. Because Wilson has just meant so much to that offense right now. It's incredible to watch.

He's incredible to watch play the position. I know that there are some that don't think it's sustainable, the way he runs around. There are times when he bails from clean pockets. Yeah, I get some of the criticism, but you can't argue with the effort and the results and what he's doing for the Seattle team. And so that's been sort of a quick look at some of the MVP discussion. On the other side here in a second, we're going to take one last take from the timeline. We're going to dive into some college QB stuff for a second because something was flowing around on the timeline that I've got to dive into. That's here up next with me, Mark Schofield, and Locked on Patriots. Okay, everybody, we're going to do a little draft QB talk here

to kind of close out the show. And a tweet from Riley Allman, at Junior Allmanac, J-U-N-I-O-R-A-U-M-A-N-A-C. Riley, son of Greg Allman, who covers the Tampa Bay Bucs. Riley, brilliant football mind. Great follow on Twitter. Give him a follow. He's got a tweet out there.

Reporter covered a team that put a top 50 pick into Christian Hackenberg. Thinks Lamar Jackson is, quote, simply not in the same stratosphere, close quote, as Christian Hackenberg. And he attaches a screenshot of an article by Manesh Mehta, who covers the Jets. And the screenshot that he includes has this quote. Lamar Jackson deserves plenty of credit for his achievements at Louisville, but he's simply not in the same stratosphere as Sam Darnold, Josh Rosen, and Josh Allen as a pro prospect. So, don't waste your breath even discussing the possibility of Jackson

being in the conversation for their first round pick in the upcoming draft. He won't be. The notion that the Jets would even consider Jackson in the second round is high comedy. Game Green simply isn't going to invest a premium pick, quote, first three rounds, close quote, on him. Period. And you know what? They shouldn't because it would be a wasted selection. My blood is boiling

just reading that. I've caped a bit here for Lamar Jackson on articles on Inside the Pylon, on Twitter, various Twitter discussions, Twitter threads, various other podcasts. My sort of QB rankings aren't set, but I've got a top three of Baker Mayfield, Josh Rosen,

and yes, Lamar Jackson. Sam Darnold has the potential to sort of get in that mix, but I'm hearing and seeing and reading a lot that he's going back to USC, and I think he should. Because there are things that Donald, I think, can fix from a footwork, mechanical, upper body. Mechanics need some work there. Turnovers and stuff are an issue. But the idea that Lamar Jackson isn't in the same stratosphere

as Josh Allen as a pro prospect might be one of the most asinine things I have ever read on twitter.com. Josh Allen is Nucleoluche. He's a million-dollar arm, and everything else needs work. Do you know who probably shouldn't be in the mix for a premium pick, quote, first three rounds as a quarterback? It's Josh Allen. Not Lamar Jackson. I started a thread on Twitter.

You can find it. Where I pulled together a bunch of resources from different writers, different evaluators, different football minds, all work into the same conclusion. Lamar Jackson is a quarterback prospect, is a quarterback, and a very good one who can play the position at a very high level in the national football league. The idea that discussing lamar jackson being in the conversation for a first round pick would be a waste of breath again asinine he won't be hot he should be he should be in the mix and rodley's point is a brilliant one you know this is a team the jets that used a second round pick on christian hackenberg

who has seen as many regular season snaps as I think I have for the Jets. And Josh Allen as Christian Hackenberg, 2.0, brilliant sort of piece of right in there from Riley. Because it's Josh Allen that shouldn't be in that mix. Will Josh Allen get drafted in the first round? Here's the thing. I said this on Twitter a couple of weeks ago. Two things are true. Josh Allen will get drafted in the first round,

and Josh Allen should not get drafted in the first round. But Lamar Jackson should definitely at least be considered. It should be discussed. It is a possibility, and it would not be a wasted selection. If you're telling me Lamar Jackson is sitting on the board in the third round, it would be a wasted selection.

Are you kidding me with that? That's absurd. You're talking about a one potentially two-time Heisman running quarterback on the board in the third round, and it would be a wasted selection. Watch Josh Allen play the quarterback position sometime, and then watch Lamar Jackson play the quarterback position sometime. Watch Lamar Jackson run a quarterback position sometime. Watch Lamar Jackson run a pro offense sometime. Watch Lamar Jackson work through progression sometime. Watch Lamar Jackson work through multiple pro-style reads on a single play sometime. And then factor in what he can do as an athlete, as a playmaker. If you want to tell me that Lamar Jackson is QB3, QB4, fine.

Don't tell me he'd be a wasted pick. Don't tell me picking him in the second round would be high comedy. Having a take like that is high comedy. I got to stop. My cardiologist is going to get mad at me. That's enough of that topic. That's been your timeline take show here, everybody. Getting a little riled up here. I will be back. Like I said, I'll be back Thursday, the little holiday show. There's still time.

If you got a story you want, you want to record a quick little minute or two yourself, just let me know. Hit me up on Twitter, at Mark Schofield. So like I said, I will be back for the holiday show. I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday

with your family, with your friends, that you enjoy it. And then I'll be back Friday with your game day edition of Locked on Patriots. Have a great Thanksgiving, everybody. Until we talk again, keep it locked right here to me,

Mark Scofield, and Locked on, Patriots.