Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Locked On Patriots September 1, 2018 - Cutdown Day Edition

Episode Date: September 1, 2018

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Hello everybody, welcome into a cut down day edition of Locked on Patriots. Mark Schofield easing into the big chair on this Saturday, September 1st, 2018. The first day, the first true week of the college football season. We had week zero last week. Today, roster cut down day in the National Football League. And, well look, there's just, there's no easy way to say this, but to you dear listener of Locked On Patriots, coach wants to see you in his office and you need to bring your playbook.

Okay, okay, I'm not cutting any of you guys, but not cutting any of you guys and girls out there, but unfortunately for over a thousand NFL or at least hopeful NFL players, they got that news, they got that request over the past couple of days or so with all 32 NFL teams getting down underneath that 53-man roster cut down the New England Patriots. No exception to that rule. And before we dive into the current state of the 53-man roster or 52-man roster, the Patriots are leaving themselves some wiggle room. Reminder to follow me on Twitter at Mark Schofield. Check out the work at places like InsideThePylon.com where I'm one of the head writers.

Pro Football Weekly where I'm going to be doing some Bears scheme stuff, some overall NFL scheme stuff, The Score, The Score NFL app, where it features NFL contributor doing some scheme stuff over there, Matt Waldman's Rookie Scouting Portfolio, check that out as well, as well as Big Blue View, part of the SB Nation Network. If they're covering football, chances are

that website or that outlet has me covering it for them. Also, huge shout out to everybody who's joined up over the Locked on Patriots Slack channel. We've had an incredible discussion going over the past couple of days throughout Cutdown Saturday. A lot of people chiming in. If you want to be a part of that ongoing and growing group of people talking about the Patriots 24-7, hit me up on Twitter at Mark Schofield for an invite. Or you can email me, mark.schofield at insidethepylon.com.

But let's get into it now with the Patriots making the moves on this Saturday to get under that 53-man threshold. Obviously no surprises or no true surprises at the quarterback spot. We'll start on offense. Tom Brady, Brian Hoyer making the active 53-man roster. Danny Etlin was waived by the team, but the expectation is, from guys like Doug Kayed and Jeff Howell, that they're going to look to get Etlin back onto the practice squad.

So that's the quarterback position right now. Patriots carry in two. Carry in five running backs with a bit of a couple of surprises, I'd say, at the running back spot. Rex Burkhead, James White, Jeremy Hill, Sonny Michel, and James Devlin are your five Patriots running backs on the roster right now. That means Kalfani Mohamed has been waived. Ralph Webb was released.

Mike Gillisley, that probably wasn't a big surprise given how the preseason is shaking out. But he was released by the team. Henry Poggi and Kenneth Farrow as well, and Brandon Bolden. Now the thing to remember with Bolden is he doesn't have to go on the practice squad. He doesn't have to go through waivers. He doesn't need to pass through waivers at this point in his career.

And so the Patriots, they could bring him back. They've done this before with Brandon Bolden. We were talking about it in the Locked on Patriots Slack channel. They did it last year with Brandon Bolden, where they waved him and then brought him back. So while Bolden is not on right now, it wouldn't surprise me to see him get back onto this team at some point. Tight end. Tight end brings perhaps one of the first surprises overall,

in addition to, I guess, Brandon Bolden, although the Patriots have done that before with Bolden. Rob Gronkowski, Jacob Hollister, Dwayne Allen, and Ryan Izzo. There was early reporting that Izzo was going to be put on injured reserve, but the Patriots put him on the active roster. Now, he may go to injured reserve at some point, and that wouldn't end his season. He could be put on IR and then brought back. But interesting that the Patriots have found a spot for Izzo,

at least on the active 53-man roster right now. That tells you a couple of things. It tells you, again, this is a team that's going to be looking to use multiple tight ends. He might not be active on game days or anything like that. He might go on IR pretty quickly. He might get moved somehow. But there's at least that aspect to it. And the other is they perhaps do view a future for this guy.

Maybe he's the next sort of Dwayne Allen, that blocking-type tight end. So an interesting move there with the Patriots keeping Ryan Izzo. Now let's go to offensive line where the Patriots made a couple of other interesting decisions. I thought they might go a little bit bigger numbers-wise at offensive line. The injury to Isaiah Wynn, I've been wondering if that might cause them to alter their plans but they go a different way they keep seven Ted Karras Trent Brown Joe Thune David Andrews Shaq Mason Marcus Cannon Adrian Waddle so they basically keep Waddle as your swing tackle type and Karras as your interior swing guy you know there was thought the guys like you know Matt Tobin Cole Cr You know, there was guys like, you know, Matt Tobin, Cole Croston.

They might find their way in, but, you know, they were waived along with Jason King, James Ferentz, and Brian Schwenke. Ulrich John, Isaiah Wynn, both of those players were put on injured reserve. And Luke Boatanko, he was released with an injury settlement. So that's the offensive line group. You know, interesting the way they did it. They just kept two swing players. A lot of speculation that they might go after an offensive lineman

in this sort of post-cutdown day period. You often see moves in that time frame. The Patriots have made some moves in that time frame in the past. Mike Loyko, who does work for Boston Sports Journal, he pointed out that Austin Howard, an offensive tackle, rookie offensive tackle, or veteran offensive tackle, excuse me, was a player that the Patriots reportedly showed some interest in last offseason.

He was cut by the Colts today. So, you know, Loyoco puts out some speculation that maybe that's the direction that the Patriots go. Maybe they do a move with Izzo onto the IR and bring somebody else back. So, some things to look at. And finally, the wide receiver group. I'm surprised they went this lean.

Hogan, Dorsett, Pattersonson and technically slater are your wide receivers obviously edelman on suspension right now but he will come back at some point so devin lucian paul turner kj may they're all waived braxton berrios that dream is deferred for a year as the patriots decide to put him on ir that tells you that they still have plans for him. So that's interesting. And Riley McCarron is waived. That's interesting as well. Wasn't guessing that was going to happen.

I thought that he was going to make this team. Apparently not. And so that's an interesting move as well. It brings into question, as we're going to talk about in a minute, the punt return again. Maybe Patrick Chun is just going to be fair catching punts for the first four weeks. Or the Patriots can probably, you know, maybe they look at bringing somebody in that got cut. For example, Isaiah McKenzie, more of a burner type guy. He was cut by the Denver Broncos. I know he's had some issues on punt returns. Patriots have made some big plays against him in the punt return,

punt coverage area last year at least. And so maybe they don't, but that's a name that's floating out around there. But that's your Patriots offense as it stands right now. You're hearing maybe they look around at a wide receiver type. Maybe they look around at an offensive tackle type. But barring something like that, this group's probably set. Up next, we're going to run through the defensive side of the ball. A couple of surprises there on this cut-down day edition of Locked on Patriots. Mark Schofield back with you now on this cut-down day edition of Locked on Patriots.

And again, a little reminder to all of you out there, you loyal listeners, the Locked on Patriots podcast, the Locked On Patriots podcast, the Locked On Patriots Slack channel is up and running. Discussions going on all the time right now. It's been a lot of fun getting this up and running. People have been really interested in it so far. As we get into the season, it's going to be even better. I'd imagine game day Sundays are going to be fantastic in there.

So if you'd like to be a part, get involved with the growing community of Locked On Patriots listeners, just hit me up on Twitter at Mark Schofield for an invite, or you can reach out via email mark.schofield at insidethepylon.com. Let's look at the defensive side of the ball now with a couple of surprises. The one thing I will say, in addition to quarterback, I nailed the interior defensive line projections, looking at my last 53-man roster projection. Adam Butler, Lawrence Guy, Malcolm Brown, Danny Shelton, there you go. Four interior defensive linemen, those are the guys. Those are the guys I've had in basically since day one. Frank Herron, John Atkins, and Vince Valentine all released. Valentine, perhaps a little bit of a surprise. I know there are some people out there thinking that Valentine might find a way onto this

team, might even have a breakout season. He performed well at times, but I think with the addition of Shelton and the emergence of another player who we're about to talk about, Valentine kind of found himself the odd man out. Kicking it to the edge now. Two, one surprise, one that's perhaps not that much of a surprise, and then four guys. They keep six here, which is more than I thought they'd go.

Obviously, the big four, Trey Flowers, Derek Rivers, Dietrich Wise, Adrian Claiborne, those were the guys people thought were in from the start. Maybe there was some trepidation about Rivers. Maybe he wasn't coming along as quickly as people hoped

or thought that he would, but the raw talent is undeniable. Evan Lazar from CLNS, when he was on with us a couple of weeks ago, talked about the raw talent. I know Evan's a big fan of Derek Rivers, and it's clear that the organization is as well as he makes the roster. Two other names, though. One a bit of a surprise.

Do you know Grissom makes it on? And it was pointed out by Doug Kayette and others that, look, maybe he hasn't grown into the edge that people might expect him to, although he did flash it a couple of moments throughout preseason and during the preseason slate of games. Big contributor on special teams. Moves incredibly well for a guy of his size. And so because he's got that special teams versatility,

he finds himself on this roster. And also, Keonta Davis, he makes it on. Obviously misses last year because of that bulge and disc issue. Was going to be a draftable type player until that injury was discovered. I've loved what I've seen from him. I envision more of a sub-package interior rusher type role for him. I'd be surprised to see him on the field on first and second downs. Had him some struggles on Thursday night setting the edge in moments like that but as a pass rusher I think he's got some moves to him I think he's got some ability to him and again on those subtype rushing situations where they can kick him inside

get him matched up against the guard or even a center that's ideal for him and so I'm looking for that for him this season a great nice way to sort of get him into the roster and get him into the mix and you him into the mix. And, you know, basically his first year in the NFL since he lost last season. So I thought that was an impressive decision by the New England Patriots and the defensive coaching staff in the front office. So that was good to see. Eric Lee, Trent Harris, those were the players that were released there. Lee, probably not a surprise, you know, given the numbers at this position. Harris, he flashed a little bit early against Washington in that first preseason game, but again, with this deep group, tough to imagine him getting in.

Let's kick it to the second level now. A couple of surprises here from where I sit. Nicholas Grigsby gets in. I wondered about that in the wake of the preseason game and the preseason finale against the Giants. I thought in the last two preseason games, you know, first the Eagles game and then the Giants game, he sort of showed that he had a role to play as a depth linebacker on this team.

Did some nice things in underneath coverage. Did some nice things as a linebacker, whether it was man coverage situations, zone coverage situations. I was impressed with some of the ways he handled himself against what the Eagles love to do, those mesh routes, those crossing routes. And so that impressed me. He finds a way onto the roster. Obviously, Dante Hightower, Kyle Van Nooy,

Juwan Bentley makes it onto the roster. I don't think people were that surprised. If you were to ask me, say, back in April or May, if Juwan Bentley makes this roster, I'd have said it was probably a long shot. But he might see some starting roles. He might play early and often for this team because he had a fantastic, fantastic preseason. Landon Roberts makes it on as well.

And Brandon King, he makes it on as well, probably more from a special team standpoint than anything else. Guys that didn't make it. Harvey Lange, obviously he had sort of the injury situation and the accident situation. I know the Patriots have expressed some interest in getting him onto the make it. Harvey Lange, obviously he had sort of the injury situation and the accident situation. I know the Patriots have expressed some interest in getting him onto the practice squad, you know, because they've lost out on a lot with him, but they do see something with him because there's still interest there, and so I'd expect to see him come back somehow. Christian Sam put on injured

reserve, sort of similar to Braxton Berrios. The dream gets delayed for a year. They give him basically, you know, the NFL equivalent of a redshirt there. And Marquise Flowers does not make the team. I had wondered and posited here and elsewhere that perhaps he was going to find a way onto this roster. Given the athleticism they're going to be facing at the quarterback position, starting in week one against the Houston Texans, but it doesn't seem like that's going to happen. Kicking it to the cornerback group. The two young kids get in.

I'm truly excited about that. However you break this down, six or seven corners. I'm going to say six, as we're going to talk about in a minute. So we'll say six corners make the team. Duke Dawson, Jonathan Jones, Eric Rowe, Stephon Gilmore, and yes, JC Jackson and Keon Crossan. And with Jackson getting on again, it keeps that streak alive of undrafted free agents. I believe it's now 15 straight years, making the New England Patriots roster.

And fantastic to see those two young kids make it. I thought both of those guys flashed at times. When you're reading about the Patriots around the league, around the interwebs, as the kids say, it seemed like Jackson had really solidified his spot. Crossan was a bit more of a question mark, but I really like Keon Crossan from a competitive toughness standpoint. I think JC Jackson's done some great stuff for them, as we were talking about in the Locked On Patriots Slack channel.

Great ball skills on him. We saw that on the two interceptions against the Giants. So those two young kids are in, fantastic to see. I didn't mention one name who is on this roster. We'll get to him in a second, but before we go to the safety spot, that means Ryan Lewis, Jamal Wilson, yes, Cyrus Jones, all released by the Patriots today. Cyrus Jones, a name that a lot of Patriots fans were wondering about.

Obviously, his special teams ability, his kick return ability, something to consider, but it seems the Patriots move in a different direction, getting away from Cyrus Jones. That brings us to the punt returner question, which is why we think Patrick Chun probably handles that duty to start, but we'll have to see as the rest of this regular season starts to unfold. That brings us to the safety spot, and I'm going to put Jason McCourty here because let's not forget, probably lost in the wake of all the roster movement,

Patriots did make a trade on Friday afternoon, trading Jordan Richards to a conditional seventh-round pick in the Atlanta Falcons. And so that means they're a little bit thinner at safety than you expected. And so the guys we expected to make it, Devin McCourty, Patrick Chun, Nate Ebner, Deron Harmon, now make it, Devin McCourty, Patrick Chun, Nate Ebner, Deron Harmon, now I think you put Jason McCourty,

who is on this roster right now, into that mix as well. Because I think we've seen him more and more at safety. With Richards gone, Patriots probably feel comfortable enough that, look, we can put him at safety now. He can be a depth spot there for us. With the two young kids coming in,

they've got some depth at corner now, so they can start working Jason McCourty in at safety it's safety if somebody goes down they can move them in if they want to go real you know safety heavy at times you know they could potentially go with a four safety type look with jason mccourty is more of a hybrid corner slash safety if you want to call it that and so that gives them a little bit of flexibility at the safety spot as well as the corner spot so jason mccourty as we started to wonder when we saw more of him at safety, gets his way onto this roster as a result. Finally, the three specialists, no surprise there. Steven Kostowski makes it. Ryan Allen makes it, beating out the rookie from New Mexico State. And

Joe Cardona, your lawn snapper for the 2018 Patriots season. So there you have it. There's your roster. I don't think there are any real mind-blowing surprises in terms of cuts or anything like that. I mean, maybe Cyrus Jones was a little bit surprising. Maybe to me, Matt Tobin, I thought he was working his way into this roster, but he did have a couple of bad moments against the Giants. Maybe Riley McCarron. I know some people went,

well, he didn't really do much to branch himself apart, set himself apart from some of the other receivers that they had in camp. But I thought he had shown some. I think maybe that New England does kick the tires on a potential wide receiver out there. We're seeing some names trickle in, players that the Patriots might be interested in. I'll nip the Corey Coleman speculation in the bud right now. From what I've been told from people close to

Cleveland, from what I've been told from people close to Buffalo, he couldn't learn the playbook. He didn't even know where to line himself up on given plays. Don't go down that Corey Coleman road. You know, if you want to make jokes about, oh, don't draft a wide receiver out of USC or don't draft a wide receiver named Mike Williams or don't draft a quarterback from USC or whatever, Baylor wide receivers, that's another position, at least from the Art Bryles type era because that offense really was not conducive to wide receiver development. I just kind of put it that way. So I'm nipping the Corey Coleman stuff in the bud.

Other names that have been floating around there, I mean, there's some interesting names out there. You know, Connor Cook, you know, he was released by the Raiders. By the way, we're going to talk about this a little bit more on Monday's show, but if you know a Raiders fan, if you are related to a Raiders fan, if you have any sort of affection for a Raiders fan, if you love a Raiders fan, give them a call. Send them a text.

If they're nearby, give them a hug. They've had a tough, tough day. Khalil Mack getting traded. Martavius Bryan, who they shipped a third-round pick for, they get rid of him. I don't know what they're doing out there. We're going to talk about that more on Monday's show, but tough day for Raiders fans.

So there's your Patriots 53-man roster. Some speculation about, or at least nipping some speculation in the butt about some other guys. That's going to do it for this special lockdown edition of Locked on Patriots. I don't want to take up too much of your time here on a Saturday. For those of you that aren't kind enough to listen to this as it drops on Saturday afternoon, Saturday evening, I truly thank you. But

to all of you listeners of the Locked on Patriots podcast, again, I'm now into my second year hosting this show. I couldn't be more excited and more honored to be welcomed into your homes, into your commutes, your rides, your walking to work, your workouts, your time on the treadmill for 20 to 25

minutes a day. It means the world to me. You guys let me in. As I said, this is your show. I'm just the caretaker of it. If you would be as kind to leave a subscribe rate and review over on iTunes, that would be fantastic. Closing in on that 100 review mark, which would be a fantastic, fantastic way to kick off the regular season. Speaking of which, Monday, we're going to get into sort of the final practice squad roster. Hopefully some final moves will be solidified by then so we can really have the roster set ready

to go. We're going to talk Khalil Mack and Aaron Donald a little bit on Monday, and then we're going to get into it. We're going to look at the Houston Texans, take a quick look at them in Monday's show, and then we're going to get through our usual game day stuff. We're going to be doing some tape stuff on Tuesday, some crossover stuff on Wednesday, Thursday, some Patriots takes, another guest coming on to talk Pats. And then Friday is your game day edition as we get into it. And don't forget, once we get into the regular season, be on the lookout for those Sunday morning tailgate shows,

pretty much giving you a last sort of minute recap, rundown of everything that's going on in the league to get you ready for your NFL Sunday. So that would do it for this week. I will be back Monday. Until then, keep it locked right here to me, Mark Schofield in Locked on Patriots.