Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Locked On Patriots October 12, 2017 - Talking Jets with Connor Rogers

Episode Date: October 12, 2017

Connor Rogers from Bleacher Report and FanRag joins the show to break down the 2017 New York Jets. Connor and Mark talk about Josh McCown, the play from rookie safeties Jamal Adams and Marcus Maye, and what to expect on Sunday. Also, check out our friends over at MyBookie.AG: http://record.webpartners.co/_DK_3VE4-6vsWqcfzuvZcQGNd7ZgqdRLk/1/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Whatcha doing? Ran out of space on my phone, so I'm deleting some stuff. Bye singing dog. Bye goal. Bye wedding ceremony. Stop! At MetroPCS you get two free phones with twice as much memory. Really? Don't say bye to your memories.

Switch to MetroPCS and get two free LG K20 Plus phones with 32 gigs when you switch two lines. MetroPCS. Wireless. Figured out. Coverage not available in some areas. Sales tax not included in phone price. Excludes numbers on the T-Mobile network. See store for details and terms and conditions. Hey, everybody. Mark Schofield from Locked On Patriots.

And I just wanted to let you know that today's episode is brought to you by our great friends at mybookie.ag. You are Locked On Patriots. Your daily podcast on the new england patriots part of the locked on podcast network your team every day

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J J J J J J J J J J J J J J J J J We know we are a much better team than we came up and represented ourselves. We're pissed off. We're afraid to come back and show the kind of defense, what kind of team this was, what kind of character we had.

We take a lot of slack. People gave us no chance like we barely made it playoffs. We're a good football team. It looks like this team played with anger all day long. All you non-believers, disrespect us, talk crap about the defense, and we're the third best defense in the league. All we hear is about that defense. They can't stop a no-ble the third best defense in the league. All we hear is about that defense. They can't stop a no-bleed 25th in the league.

And we don't want to get disrespected. Can't wait. Can't wait. Can't wait. Can't wait. Welcome everybody to the Locked On Patriots podcast for Thursday, October 12th. We are one day away from Friday, October 13th. A little scared about that. I'm a little scared about this weekend's game too, to be honest. Obviously, we get the Jets Week intro rolling. Little Bart Scott, little can't wait action to get you fired up for that.

I know the show's coming out a little bit late here on Thursday, but when you hear who the guest is, you will understand. He is one of the best guys in this business. He does work over at Bleacher Report, does work over at FanRag. He's the co-host, and for my money, I mean, he's the main draw of the Stick to Football podcast. He hosts that with Matt Miller. He is Connor Rogers. He's at ConnorJRogers on Twitter.

Connor, my man, how you doing, buddy? Hey, Mark. Thanks for having me on. That was probably the nicest intro anyone's ever given me, so I really appreciate that, man. It's good to be here. We've got a lot, surprisingly, a lot to talk about. We have a lot to talk about. I mean, I kind of thought that, and I'll ask you about this in a second, Connor, but this isn't where we thought the Jets were going to be right now. No, not at all. And for me, it was kind of an interesting August

because it kind of changes how you look at things. Not even just to say like a media guy, but what are we going to talk about? You hope the young players play well because you want to see a foundation in place for the future. But when you're talking about a 3-2 record, and granted when you're beating the Browns and the Dolphins, it's not the biggest accomplishment. But this is a team a lot of people thought was a 1-2 win team. And here we are five games in, and they have a winning record.

And they're playing for first place this weekend. Yeah, it's amazing. And, you know, when you think back to August, Connor, and you heard all the takes. We all heard them. This was an 0-16 team. This was planned tank this was you know stink for Sam or whatever you wanted to call it

is that all scrapped now do you think you know this is a team that's going to try to make a run and you still think that they're going to eventually fall off like what are your thoughts there I would definitely say the you know hope to get the number one pick plan is out I've had a lot of people

asking me over the last week i think they're kind of coming to that realization that hey what do we do now you know are there day two quarterbacks i get a lot of questions about luke falk out of washington state mason ruff out of oklahoma state a lot of baker mayfield talk that secondary quarterback you know those secondary guys in this class so it's interesting for the Jets because the second half of the schedule was no joke it's going to be really tough I mean this is a team that I don't think they're going to eclipse the six you know six win mark but six wins puts you out of the top five range often so they do have to find another plan and but the end of the day there's a difference between winning six games and you're not really looking forward to anything in the future and there's a difference in winning six games and saying wow all of our rookies and

second year players are the guys getting us there we're going into an offseason with over 80 million dollars in cap space they have some extra picks they got seattle's second they got dallas's fifth so you're talking about a foundation where you can go and make moves in the draft you can go fill starting holes in three agencies so it's been a while since we've been able to say this, but the future, the long-term outlook, actually looks like there's a plan for the Jets for once. There is, there is. Is there anybody out there in Jets' world

that might have envisioned a 3-2 start, or is this kind of nobody saw this one coming? I mean, some of the fans, you know, and everyone's been a fan before is a fan of the game. You always have the optimistic outlook. And I think some people said, hey, this team isn't, you know, a two win team. They have they have too much pride for that. And I think the biggest thing is a lot of people forgot what kind of defensive coach Todd Bowles is. I think Todd's biggest flaw his first two years was allowing his staff to do too much of the defensive game planning when that was Todd's

draw and the reason he got a head coaching gig in the first place. He's clearly taken over that, and that's been the difference for, you know, the people that did say they'll win more games. I think their reasoning goes back to that because Todd's a better coach than given credit for. He's never going to be, you know, the best leader or the best offensive guy but he can game plan with anyone defensively and now that he has the personnel to do that it's shown up week in and week out let's dive into this roster a little bit Connor and you know me I'm a quarterback guy so let's start there I've been pleasantly surprised what I've seen from Josh McGowan. A couple of mistakes here and there, but it seems like, you know, for this West Coast offense,

they're running under Morton. It seems like he's running it very effectively. He's not making a ton of mistakes, completing a lot of passes, but that's my quick thought. What have your thoughts been on McCown so far? Yeah, I looked into a lot of it last night when I was trying to write up this preview for this game, and it's simple as that he's been so efficient.

He has over a 90 quarterback rating. Yes, he's thrown and you know he has a five to four touchdown interception ratio but there hasn't been those kind of picks where it's like it doesn't feel as like the Fitzpatrick picks last year was consistently putting them out of games he hasn't done that especially in the first half of games they've been fortunate enough that the offense isn't taking them out of football games for once whereas that was the problem last. And even the year before when they won 10 games, the defense really stepped it up, you know, to really carry them to those 10 wins. It felt like very often. So I think with McCown is, I don't want to say he's overachieved, but it does feel a little bit like that because we're getting the best possible Josh McCown. And I think the

addition of Jermaine Kearse has been vital. And people don't talk about that enough. Like, when you look at that late trade the Jets made, they got Seattle's two. That was the big kicker in the Sheldon Richardson trade. But I talked to Matt Forte two or three weeks ago, and the first guy he brings up is what Jermaine Kearse has done, not just for the receivers, but that offensive huddle. This is a guy, he's a Super Bowl winning player. He's been there before. He understands what it takes. He wants to win, and he's reliable.

This brought consistency to John Morton's West Coast offense, where a guy that runs good routes, a guy that knows how to find the soft spot in the zone, in the red zone. He's caught three touchdowns already. So that's been the big factor for McCown, along with Austin Safarian Jenkins. You have a big tight end that can work the middle of the field, especially on first downs, especially one-on-one outside in the red zone. We saw him win the fade against Cleveland for the Jets basically to touch down

and won them the game. These guys are difference makers, and they don't get talked about a lot because the biggest knock on the Jets going into the season was this is an offense that could be historically bad with no skill players. They lost their best one in Quincy and noon one in the preseason. And these guys are stepping up, and Josh McCown is building chemistry with them. And like I said, it comes down to being an efficient quarterback and we've gotten the best version of McCown this year. Yeah, Con, I want to talk about those two guys you mentioned in a second,

but before we do, you know, we're both draft guys. You mentioned at the outset, do you think we've seen enough from josh mccown that the team might think about going that secondary quarterback market going to day two guy or do you think there's still a thought that look we're going to try to get somebody in the first round i think that's an interesting point i think it always comes down to what goes on during draft week into draft weekends i think now with you know the rapport and just the leadership mccown bro mccown had a job offer to be a quarterback coach this year. I believe it was in Cleveland from Hugh Jackson.

So this is a 38-year-old quarterback that was ready to take the next step into his career. So he kind of is a dual threat. He's been an efficient quarterback, but he also really is another coach on that team. I think if you're the Jets, you have to be thinking, let's bring this guy back next year. We're not going to promise him a starting be thinking, let's bring this guy back next year. We're not going to promise him a starting gig, but, and he's okay with that. He knew that going into this year that he could have lost that starting gig to Christian Hackenberg. It was an open competition, you know, over summer. So he's not, he's not a guy coming in and saying, I need to start wherever I go. The Jets have to think about bringing him back, whether he's a bridge

option next year, whether he's a number two quarterback next year, and you go into draft weekend with flexibility if you get that done in free agency. You can go in and say, hey, we're able to move up in the draft, whether it's with the 49ers, whether it's with Cleveland, one of those teams that are going to be picking at the top, and you can land a Josh Rosen, a Sam Donald, one of those guys. Say the plan falls through. Things happen on draft weekend last minute. Say that falls through. You can go get weekend last minute say that falls through you

can go get your day two quarterback maybe a guy that's a developmental guy maybe a guy that's a bit of an outlier and a bit eccentric like baker mayfield and you believe in him like the seahawks did with russell wilson a long time ago they said it works out it works out but you have someone in place that can hold it down for you while those guys develop. I'm all here for some Baker Mayfield hype, man, believe me. But let's talk about those two guys you mentioned because, you know, I'm looking at some numbers here. I'm looking at some stats. Has Jermaine Curse dropped or missed a target this season yet? Because the last time I checked, it seems like he's caught everything that's come his way. If he has, I haven't seen it. I mean, if the ball is near him, he's catching it. It's as simple as that. And the biggest thing with him is he's creating separation. You know,

this was kind of an offense that the question was, is anyone ever going to be open? And he's getting it done. The funny thing is Jeremy Curley is doing the same thing. These are guys that live in the six to eight to maybe 12-yard range of receptions. And that's okay in the West Coast offense. Robbie Anderson is their downfield target. They're going to start working a little more downfield probably to ASJ up the seam because he has enough speed and has the size to be a mismatch, especially against a Patriots pass defense that is currently ranked last in the NFL.

They're going to look to exploit that. But look at how good and reliable Kers has been. He's been the mainstay in the offense and just finally a model of consistency for one that really needed to find it. And speaking of needing to find something, this Jets team, this Jets offense needed something at the tight end spot. That was a bit of a black hole last year. You mentioned Austin Safarian-Jakins. They really got him involved last week. He had the touchdown pass on that goal line fade. It seems like he's going to be a critical component of this offense going forward,

at least to me. The biggest thing that really has surprised me is because I remember him coming out of college. He always said, man, this guy can really do it all. He can be an in-line threat, but he can be a pass catcher. He had to buy in as a blocker. And this is the first year where you go back and you look at the coach's film and you see him in line winning matchups against edge rushers and opening up the run game. And now you're talking about a guy that, is he ever going

to be a Jordan Reed, a Delaney Walker, a Rob Gronkowski, Travis Kelsey in the pass game? No, he's going to be a very average. And when you're an average pass catching tight end, you need to find your way in as a blocker. And he's bought in and done that. And that's been the difference in his game. When you can do that, you can play 85, 90% of the snaps, especially in a league that offensive five man offensive lines, they just can't always get it done. The defensive front are too good. You're seeing a lot of jumbo packages. You're seeing tight ends, two tight end sets. You need that to develop the run game. And when you don't have a top quarterback, you better be able to develop

the run game. We're going to have more with Connor Rogers in a second, but first I want to remind everybody about our great friends over at mybookie.ag. We've got a little special something for you on this Thursday. Hey everybody, Mark Schofield from Locked On Patriots, and got something special for you here this Thursday in conjunction with our friends over at MyBookie.ag.

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mybookie.ag, place those bets. Let them know I sent you. Use promo code LOCKEDON. Get over there and get the best odds anywhere. MyBookie, you play, you win, you get paid. All right, so check out our friends over at mybookie.ag. Look for those picks. Look for those locked-on picks of the week when you get signed up. Connor, let's switch gears. Look at the defensive side of the ball. And I want to start with those two rookie safeties. I went back this week, looked at some of what they've done so far in film,

Jamal Adams, Marcus May. I'm kind of impressed with what they've done. I know they're not perfect yet. They've missed some plays, but I've walked away pretty impressed. But what are your thoughts on those two guys? They've completely blown away my expectations. And these were two players I had in my top 25 coming into the draft last year. I thought Jamal Adams was the second best player in the class, only behind Miles Garrett. I thought Marcus May was a top 25 player and way better safety than people gave him credit for. He got

hurt his last year. And people forget how good you are when you can't go to the combine, when you miss your last couple games. But he's the guy that was next to Keanu Neal at the season that Keanu Neal ended up being a first round after. So the thing is, this is a back end of a defense that finally has communication and consistency as tacklers. Last year, Calvin Pryor and Marcus Gilchrist brought the exact opposite. The Jets were burned by the big play time and time again.

They missed a lot of tackles and gave up a lot of yards after the catch and yards after contact to the running backs. You're not seeing that this year. You're seeing Jamal Adams. He's a chess piece. He plays a lot of linebacker. He plays on the edge. He even lines up out in corner and takes tight ends on one-on-one. Marcus May, he got labeled as a box safety or a strong safety. He's been a true free

safety for Todd Bowles this year. He's playing single high. He's sitting in cover two. He's doing so much in coverage. He's the last line of defense and cleaning up a lot of tackles that were missed last year. So it's kind of crazy when you start not one rookie safety, but you start two rookie safeties and there hasn't been any communication breakdowns through five weeks. This is probably the biggest reason the Jets are exceeding expectations. I don't think people realize not only how good these guys would be, but how fast they would be this good. Yeah, I've been really impressed with them. Another young defender that you guys picked early, this is last year's draft, was linebacker Darren Lee out of Ohio State. And I know there are some out there in

Jets world that are a little, shall we say, disappointed with how he's played so far. But what have you seen from him on tape? Are there still some struggles or is he starting to figure it out? It's been a lot of up and down. The thing with Lee is he really needs to find consistency because he hasn't been as bad as people think. because, you know, you get those plays clipped out where you see the Raiders, you know, offensive line just burying him into the turf. That's going to happen to a lot of 230-pound linebackers. When you draft an athlete that is Deron Lee that came to Ohio State as a quarterback and defensive back out of high school and moved to linebacker and now declared as a redshirt sophomore he was 20 21 years old it takes time to mold your way into a physical nfl linebacker the plan for him kind of was to be todd bulls is daryl washington a guy that you can keep clean

let him run around make plays the jets it's as simple as this they haven't had the talent to keep him clean and when he does he lives in the backfield he blew up you know a couple run plays isaiah isaiah crowell on sunday where you say damn that's the darren lee we were hoping for so you hope that he can build off that he's got to get more physical he's got to be able to shed blocks i know that i said he needs to be kept clean but at some point when you're a linebacker in the nfl you're going to have to shed blocks whether it's against tight ends fullbacks pulling guards it's gonna tight ends, fullbacks, pulling guards. It's going to happen.

So the thing is with the Jets, DeMario Davis has been very solid this year, but I think they go into free agency, look to sign a linebacker that can really be their thumper and kind of keep space for Darren Lee. I think he's going to be fine in the long run. The one big concern you have to have is him in coverage. He hasn't been able to cover. When you're a 4-5 linebacker, you should be able to run with anyone. But the problem with him is just turning his hips and running downfield

and seeing the ball. He's got to get better at that. But once again, this is a young player. People need to be patient. Not every single prospect is Jamal Adams and Marcus May that come in and dominate from day one. Downhill thumper man Jason Cabinda out of Penn State. That's a dude that people should keep their eyes on. I really like that kid. And I see you nodding your head. I will say that he doesn't

get the kind of love that guys like Jerome Baker and Malik Jefferson get week in, week out. You know, Connor, traditionally the strength of this Jets defense has been that defensive front. Obviously you mentioned the Sheldon Richardson trade. How has that impacted the D-line, the guys up front? And do you see them starting to try to use more scheme rather than winning one-on-one matchups up there? It's been the biggest problem. There's no doubt about that.

And it's kind of amazing how much doesn't get talked about. If this Jets team is lacking, if this Jets defense is really notably lacking anything, it's a pass rush. There is none. They're getting there by the blitz. And Todd Bowles has always been good at calling that. That's no secret. But when you just look at just winning one-on-one matchups, especially with Kony Ealy out now, it hasn't happened.

Mo Wilkerson is a shell of himself. It's hard to say that, but he's just not winning one-on-one matchups ever. Leonard Williams is being game-planned around because of that. He's the guy. He's getting all the double teams, and he's not splitting them. It's as simple as that. So it's a concern. Losing Richardson, it was big because he's a guy that he pins his ears back. You see it in Seattle. He can beat anyone. He can make any offensive lineman look stupid. He can win from the interior and get in the pocket in under three seconds. Not a lot of guys have that talent. You're talking about the Aaron Donalds of the world that can do that. There's just not many guys like that. So it's been a huge loss. And

you like the addition of Kirst. You hope the second rounder from Seattle really pays dividends going forward. But you just can't doubt how big of an impact it's had losing Richardson all right Connor we're a couple days here from what nobody anticipated being but a first place type matchup between the Pats and the Jets got to get your thoughts on Sunday what your expectations are what's maybe a couple of things you might see first half that would have you thinking look Jets might pull this one out Jets might win this one they need to hit the big play it's as simple as that they're probably going to be without Bilal one. They need to hit the big play. It's as simple as that. They're probably going to be without Bilal Powell, and he's kind of their big play guy.

But I keep calling Elijah McGuire Bilal Powell Jr. I mean, we've seen some big plays from him. You got to break one. You got to get one against this New England defense that has looked soft and lacking skill. And it either comes from McGuire on the outside run, the screen game, or hitting robbie anderson downfield on a vertical route it's as simple as that you have to go get a lead and allow you to be a little more aggressive you can't try to you know get into a shootout with new england it's as simple as that because that's when we're going to see mccown turnovers and it's you know you kind of you kind of want to keep that new england offense off the field

it's just can the Jets do it? You hope with the West Coast offense, these short passes. Developing a run game. Now, with a sixth-round rookie, not easy to do, but they're going to have to if they want a shot at winning this game. Connor, man, tremendous stuff. Excellent to talk to you. I'm going to give you the microphone here.

Plug some stuff. Let the people know where to find you, what they can check out from you. Oh, no doubt. Well, we've got the stick to football podcast uh in the bleach your poor app i tweeted out all the time still writing for fan rag jets nfl draft uh follow me at connor j rogers on twitter mark thanks a lot man this is a lot of fun connor man thank you so much for coming on it's been a pleasure uh everybody do check out connor and his work listen to the stick to football podcast it's great stuff. Great stuff year-round about the draft and other stuff too.

I definitely check it out. Matt and Connor do great work there. Also, again, mybookie.ag. Check them out as well. I will be back tomorrow with your game day edition of Locked on Patriots. Until then, keep it locked right here to me, Mark Schofield, and Locked on Patriots. Whatcha doing? Ran out of space on my phone, so I'm deleting some stuff.

By singing dog. By goal. Bye wedding ceremony. Stop. At MetroPCS, you get two free phones with twice as much memory. Really? Don't say bye to your memories. Switch to MetroPCS and get two free LG K20 Plus phones with 32 gigs when you switch two lines.

MetroPCS. Wireless. Figured out. Coverage not available in some areas. Sales tax not included in phone price. Excludes numbers on the T-Mobile network. See store for details and terms and conditions.